Monday, November 18

Tag: Google

Google, Amazon Looking To Acquire Toshiba’s Chip Unit
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Google, Amazon Looking To Acquire Toshiba’s Chip Unit

Google and Amazon joined a list of potential buyers eyeing Toshiba's lucrative memory chip business as the Japanese conglomerate seeks bidders to cover huge losses, a newspaper said today. Toshiba has reportedly completed the first round of bidding for its prized memory chip business, seen as key for the cash-strapped company to turn itself around. Some 10 foreign companies and funds, including Google and Amazon, tendered bids, the mass-circulation Yomiuri Shimbun said, quoting unnamed sources. The two US tech giants are expected to use Toshiba's memory chips for their cloud services, the daily said. Taiwan's Hon Hai, which acquired Japanese electronics maker Sharp last year, has apparently bid more than 2 trillion yen (USD 18 billion), the daily said. Immediate confirmation...
Google Acquires Canadian Cloud Specialist Firm AppBridge
ACQUISITION

Google Acquires Canadian Cloud Specialist Firm AppBridge

Alphabet's Google has announced the acquisition of Canadian technology firm AppBridge that helps companies transfer data to the technology giant's Cloud platform. "We are acquiring Vancouver-based AppBridge that builds connectors to... connect up into Google Cloud," said Prabhakar Raghvan, vice president (apps) Google Cloud at the Cloud Next Conference here. Raghvan, however, did not disclose the details of the deal. The company had yesterday announced the acquisition of start-up firm Kaggle. Google also announced a slew of products and services for both enterprises and individuals including add-ons for Gmail, Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat. "Last year, we talked about doubling our enterprise focus for Hangouts and our commitment to building communication tools focused on the ...
Google Acquires Data Science Startup Kaggle in a Boost to Data Play
ACQUISITION

Google Acquires Data Science Startup Kaggle in a Boost to Data Play

Technology giant Google has announced the acquisition of Kaggle, a start-up that hosts a number of data scientists, for an undisclosed amount at the Cloud Next 2017 conference. "Kaggle is going to maintain independent brand for a while... what Kaggle has contributed to the community is democratisation of data, developer community... partnership with Kaggle is going to be very positive for us," said Chief Scientist Google Cloud (artificial intelligence and machine learning) Fei Fei Li here. Founded in 2010, Kaggle is home to the worlds largest community of data scientists and machine-learning enthusiasts.More than 8 lakh data experts use Kaggle to explore, analyse and understand the latest updates in machine learning and data analytics. "We are providing them best technology to tak...
Google sells satellite imaging business Terra Bella to Planet Labs
ACQUISITION

Google sells satellite imaging business Terra Bella to Planet Labs

Alphabet Inc's Google said on Friday it would sell its satellite imaging business, Terra Bella, to Planet Labs, a San Francisco-based private satellite operator founded by former NASA scientists. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. As part of the deal, Planet Labs will acquire the Terra Bella business including the SkySat constellation of satellites, Alphabet said. bit.ly/2kqmTfL Google will enter into a multi-year contract to purchase Earth-imaging data from Planet Labs after the deal closes. Google had acquired Terra Bella, originally known as Skybox Imaging, for $500 million in 2014. The deal will help Planet Labs broaden its available data and add new customers. Planet Labs is one of several startups aiming to harness technology allowing satellites to ...
Google Acquired Twitter Mobile App Developer Platform Fabric
ACQUISITION

Google Acquired Twitter Mobile App Developer Platform Fabric

Google is acquiring Twitter's mobile application developer platform Fabric, a move which could give some breathing room for the social network after charting an independent path without a suitor. Terms of the deal were not announced. Twitter last year was in talks to sell itself with several firms including Google parent Alphabet, but without a deal decided to continue on an independent path, cutting jobs and refocusing on its core services. The sale of Fabric will shift to Google the platform used by developers for mobile apps. "When we launched Fabric in 2014, our goal was to provide the best tools to help developers create amazing apps," the Fabric team said in a blog post. "Today we enter the next chapter for Fabric and are pleased to announce that we've signed an agreement for ...
When Google CEO Sundar Pichai Thought “Abey Saale” Was Friendly Greeting
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When Google CEO Sundar Pichai Thought “Abey Saale” Was Friendly Greeting

Abey Saale is how Googles tactful and tactical chief executive Sundar Pichai had yelled out to a friend across the mess at his alma mater, IIT- Kharagpur more than two-and-half-decades back thinking its a way of greeting people. Chennai-born Pichai, who returned to his alma mater after 23 years, said his comment led to "temporarily" shutting down of the mess. "I came from Chennai. I learnt Hindi in school but I never spoke it much. So, just listening to how people are speaking, I just thought you address people this way. So one day, there was someone in the mess and I had to call him. I called him Abey Saale," he reminisced to an audience of over 3,000 people. "In the first couple of weeks, I thought you call people that way. Next thing I know is the folks in the mess were quite u...
Sundar Pichai Announced Google Digital Unloack Initiatives For Small, Medium Business
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Sundar Pichai Announced Google Digital Unloack Initiatives For Small, Medium Business

Technology giant Google today announced a slew of initiatives, including a new app Primer and training modules under its My Business offering, as it looks to further tap the 51-million strong small and medium businesses (SMB) market in India. Making the announcements, Google's India-born CEO Sundar Pichai said the company is working on products for India that can be expanded globally. "When we solve for a place like India, we solve for everyone around the world. That has led us to grow our team here and spend more time and ensure the products are useful for everyone," he said. Google's My Business will help small businesses set up website from their mobile devices and all they need is a smart phone and a few minutes, he said. The company has also launched Digital Unlocked, an educati...
TeamIndus Inks Pact With ISRO; Aims to Raise $45 Million By October 2017
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TeamIndus Inks Pact With ISRO; Aims to Raise $45 Million By October 2017

TeamIndus has inked a commercial launch contract with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for its mission to land a spacecraft on the moon as it attempts to win the USD 25 million Google Lunar XPRIZE. TeamIndus is the only Indian team competing for the Google Lunar XPRIZE that requires privately funded teams to land their spacecraft on the surface of the moon, travel 500 metres and broadcast high definition video, images and data back to earth. The team, which has received support from industry veterans including Ratan Tata (Tata Group), Nandan Nilekani (Infosys), Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal (Flipkart) and Venu Srinivasan (TVS Group) among others, also aims to raise about USD 45 million by October next year to fund the project. "The total expense of the project is abo...
7 Indian Startups to Join Google Launchpad Accelerator Program
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7 Indian Startups to Join Google Launchpad Accelerator Program

Tech giant Google today said it has selected seven startups from India that will join the third class of its Launchpad Accelerator programme. The shortlisted startups from India include an on-demand wardrobe rentals service (Flyrobe), furniture and appliances rental service (RentoMojo) and tutor help service (HashLearn). Other chosen startups include Curofy (a platform for doctors to discuss medical cases with peers), Happy Adda Studios (offers an Indian word game Jalebi), Playment (allows users to earn money for playing games) and Kapture CRM (helps businesses to do better lead management). These companies will join startups from Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico Argentina, Colombia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam as part of the programme, Google said in a statement. These startups wi...
Crackdown on Immigration could affect Google’s Future Plans- Sundar Pichai
Entrepreneurs Talk

Crackdown on Immigration could affect Google’s Future Plans- Sundar Pichai

Google's Indian-origin chief Sundar Pichai today said the global tech giant remains committed to Britain and will go ahead with a new one-billion-pound London headquarters that will create 3,000 jobs by 2020, but warned that post-Brexit crackdown on immigration could affect future plans. "Here in the UK, it's clear to me that computer science has a great future with the talent, educational institutions, and passion for innovation we see all around us," he told BBC during his first visit to the UK as Google's chief executive. "We are committed to the UK and excited to continue our investment in our new King's Cross campus," he said. Pichai's remarks will be a big boost to British economy after the June referendum in favour of the UK leaving the 28-member European Union. But Pichai did...
Google Launches Photo Scanning App Google PhotoScan
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Google Launches Photo Scanning App Google PhotoScan

Tech giant Google has rolled out a new scanning app Google PhotoScan that allows users to scan and Digitise physical photographs. The free standalone app detects edges, straightens the image, rotates it to the correct orientation and removes glare, Google said in a statement. Scanned photos can be saved in one tap to Google Photos to be organised, searchable, shared and safely backed up at high quality, it added. "We all have those old albums and boxes of photos that are some of our most treasured memories. Such as photos of grandma when she was young, or of your childhood pet, and even that hairstyle you wish you could forget. But we just keep thinking about scanning the photos to preserve these moments, but never really get around to it. Well, here is an easy option," it said. ...
Now Book Ola, Uber Through Google Search in India
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Now Book Ola, Uber Through Google Search in India

Consumers will now be able to book a ride on Ola and Uber directly from Google Search. Earlier this year, Google had introduced the feature on Google Maps, where a dedicated tab with information for cab services was made available to Indian users, in addition to the existing driving, public transport, or walking options. "Now with this integration, commuters across the country can ask Google for directions and book ride services directly from Google Search," Google said in a statement. They will get to see a tab for ride services, both Uber and Ola, with fare estimates and pick-up times if a car is available near their location, it added. When a user requests for specific information like Taxi to Delhi or Ola/Uber to airport, the Google Search app or browser will direct the use...