Google X is working on a project to map perfect human health

Google X, the search giant's research and development arm, has set off on a new endeavor called the Baseline Study project. The goal of the project is to one day be able to detect health risks such as heart disease earlier in a patient's life such that preventative measures can be taken before it's too late.

The project is being led by Dr. Andrew Conrad, a molecular biologist credited with creating a cheap way to scan donated blood for HIV. He joined Google in March of last year and has put together a team of roughly 70 to 80 experts in the fields of biochemistry, imaging, molecular biology, optics and physiology.

The Baseline Study got under way earlier this summer through an unnamed clinical testing firm where doctors began collecting bodily fluids like urine, blood, saliva and tears from 175 anonymous volunteers. From there, Google will use its massive computing power to try and find patterns called biomarkers.

The hope is that these biomarkers will help researchers be able to detect health issues before a person even shows signs of them.

For example, a specific biomarker could reveal whether or not someone is able to break down fatty foods efficiently. Those that lack the biomarker could be at risk for early heart attacks in the future. By noticing this trait early and modifying their behavior now, they may be able to avoid the risk altogether.

Next Facebook wants to integrate car-hailing service Uber into MessengerPrev Users can now make web-based calls on Google Voice via Hangouts without a G+ account

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Google reportedly seals the deal on Twitch $1 billion acquisition

Google has agreed to purchase game livestreaming service Twitch for $1 billion according to sources familiar with the matter. Both companies have declined to comment as of writing.

VentureBeat, who is reporting the news, admits they don't have all of the specifics on the deal or when it'll be officially announced, but they claim Twitch investors that participated in past funding rounds are pleased with the returns they are getting.

News of the merger first broke back in May when Variety claimed YouTube was looking to spend $1 billion to acquire Twitch. If announced under the YouTube banner, it would be the largest acquisition related to YouTube since it was acquired by Google back in 2006 for $1.65 billion.

Twitch has exploded in popularity over the past few years. In June 2011, the service boasted 3.2 million monthly active users. That figure has since jumped to more than 50 million monthly active users with more than 1.1 million people broadcasting each month. Over 13 billion minutes of video are watched each month through the service.

Twitch's popularity goes hand in hand with the rise in popularity of eSports in general. Valve inked a deal with ESPN just last week for coverage of The International Dota 2 Championships, an eSports tournament with a prize pool of more than $10 million. A five-man Chinese team by the name of NewBee took home the $5 million first place prize.

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Users can now make web-based calls on Google Voice via Hangouts without a G+ account

There are a number of rumors out there pointing at Google merging its Voice service with Hangouts. The company has been unifying its services and social network for some time, and now it looks like Google Voice is getting another step closer. 

Google's Alex Wiesen took to Google+ recently to announce that users can now make web-based phone calls using Hangouts from directly on the Google Voice site. Requiring no connection to Google+, users can now hit the option from within the "phone to call with" drop down menu. Gmail users have had very similar functionality right in the inbox for a while, but the service was never available directly on Google Voice. 

As some have mentioned, the move to have the service being available even to those without a Google+ profile is an interesting one considering how aggressively the company has been integrating its social network in with its other services. 

While the update is a minor one, some users will likely find it a handy addition. The move doesn't directly point at the services one day merging into one, but even without Google+ being a requirement with Hangouts calls in Google Voice, is still feels like a fully unified service is where the company is headed.

Next Google X is working on a project to map perfect human healthPrev China Telecom to carry Xbox One starting this September

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Google buys 3D graphics startup drawElements for north of $10M

In an effort to boost its mobile 3D graphics capabilities, Google has acquired 3D graphics firm drawElements. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Arcticstartup is reporting that the sale price was over $10 million.

Launched in 2008, the Helsinki, Finland-based company specializes in analyzing and assessing mobile 3D graphics. Its primary product, called dEQP, is a powerful toolkit used to benchmark the accuracy, feature conformance and stability of openGL ES and OpenCL GPUs.

It enables detailed quality comparisons between different vendors and GPU architectures, as well as providing high-quality tools for analyzing and debugging any issues uncovered by the tests.

"Over the next few months, we’ll be working with our colleagues on the Android team to incorporate some of our technology into the compatibility test suite", the startup said on its website.

For Google, whose Android operating system runs on hardware from different smartphone and tablet manufacturers, each having its own set of GPU parameters, the move seems logical as the company will likely use the newly acquired technology for device standardization and to make sure manufacturer fragmentation is low across devices. The company hasn't yet officially announced the deal.

While the startup's management will reportedly move to the search giant’s headquarters in Mountain View, California, the remaining members of the team will stay in Finland.

DrawElements is one of the smaller acquisitions made by Google so far this year. The company bought thermostat maker Nest Labs for $3.2 billion and satellite company Skybox Imaging for $500 million, among others.

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Google offers three months of free streaming music to celebrate Chromecast anniversary

Today marks the one year anniversary of Chromecast, Google's uber affordable streaming dongle that allows you to push content from your phone, tablet or notebook to your television. It was unveiled during a media event alongside the second generation Nexus 7 tablet and Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with a jaw-dropping $35 price tag.

To celebrate the occasion, Google has released some updated usage stats as well as a sweet offer for existing Chromecast owners.

Since its launch, Chromecast users have cast media more than 400 million times. Google has also added hundreds of apps and a mirroring feature for Android devices over the year. We still don't know exactly how many dongles Google has sold but given its low price, the fact that initial batches sold out quickly and its availability in more than 30,000 stores across 20 countries, it's probably a pretty big number.

What's more, Google is offering all Chromecast owners a 90-day free trial of its premium music screaming service, Google Play Music All Access. The service launched at last year's I/O conference and is one of several offerings consumers can choose from in the crowded streaming music space.

Chromecast has spawned a couple of copycats like the Roku Streaming Stick although none have been able to match Google's $35 price point.

Have you tried Chromecast yet? If so, what are your thoughts on it? Let us know in the comments below!

Next Facebook exceeds expectations again with Q2 2014 resultsPrev The new Oculus Rift kits have begun shipping out to developers$(function(){$('img', 'img-wrap', 'li', '.related-products .teaser-list').equalHeights();});

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Users can now make web-based calls on Google Voice via Hangouts without a G+ account

There are a number of rumors out there pointing at Google merging its Voice service with Hangouts. The company has been unifying its services and social network for some time, and now it looks like Google Voice is getting another step closer. 

Google's Alex Wiesen took to Google+ recently to announce that users can now make web-based phone calls using Hangouts from directly on the Google Voice site. Requiring no connection to Google+, users can now hit the option from within the "phone to call with" drop down menu. Gmail users have had very similar functionality right in the inbox for a while, but the service was never available directly on Google Voice. 

As some have mentioned, the move to have the service being available even to those without a Google+ profile is an interesting one considering how aggressively the company has been integrating its social network in with its other services. 

While the update is a minor one, some users will likely find it a handy addition. The move doesn't directly point at the services one day merging into one, but even without Google+ being a requirement with Hangouts calls in Google Voice, is still feels like a fully unified service is where the company is headed.

Next Google X is working on a project to map perfect human healthPrev China Telecom to carry Xbox One starting this September

View the original article here

Google buys 3D graphics startup drawElements for north of $10M

In an effort to boost its mobile 3D graphics capabilities, Google has acquired 3D graphics firm drawElements. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Arcticstartup is reporting that the sale price was over $10 million.

Launched in 2008, the Helsinki, Finland-based company specializes in analyzing and assessing mobile 3D graphics. Its primary product, called dEQP, is a powerful toolkit used to benchmark the accuracy, feature conformance and stability of openGL ES and OpenCL GPUs.

It enables detailed quality comparisons between different vendors and GPU architectures, as well as providing high-quality tools for analyzing and debugging any issues uncovered by the tests.

"Over the next few months, we’ll be working with our colleagues on the Android team to incorporate some of our technology into the compatibility test suite", the startup said on its website.

For Google, whose Android operating system runs on hardware from different smartphone and tablet manufacturers, each having its own set of GPU parameters, the move seems logical as the company will likely use the newly acquired technology for device standardization and to make sure manufacturer fragmentation is low across devices. The company hasn't yet officially announced the deal.

While the startup's management will reportedly move to the search giant’s headquarters in Mountain View, California, the remaining members of the team will stay in Finland.

DrawElements is one of the smaller acquisitions made by Google so far this year. The company bought thermostat maker Nest Labs for $3.2 billion and satellite company Skybox Imaging for $500 million, among others.

Next The NES30 controller is a throwback that looks and feels like a true classicPrev Sony to settle PlayStation Network class action suit for $15 million in goods and services

View the original article here

Google reportedly seals the deal on Twitch $1 billion acquisition

Google has agreed to purchase game livestreaming service Twitch for $1 billion according to sources familiar with the matter. Both companies have declined to comment as of writing.

VentureBeat, who is reporting the news, admits they don't have all of the specifics on the deal or when it'll be officially announced, but they claim Twitch investors that participated in past funding rounds are pleased with the returns they are getting.

News of the merger first broke back in May when Variety claimed YouTube was looking to spend $1 billion to acquire Twitch. If announced under the YouTube banner, it would be the largest acquisition related to YouTube since it was acquired by Google back in 2006 for $1.65 billion.

Twitch has exploded in popularity over the past few years. In June 2011, the service boasted 3.2 million monthly active users. That figure has since jumped to more than 50 million monthly active users with more than 1.1 million people broadcasting each month. Over 13 billion minutes of video are watched each month through the service.

Twitch's popularity goes hand in hand with the rise in popularity of eSports in general. Valve inked a deal with ESPN just last week for coverage of The International Dota 2 Championships, an eSports tournament with a prize pool of more than $10 million. A five-man Chinese team by the name of NewBee took home the $5 million first place prize.

Next iFixit teardown reveals Amazon Fire Phone not designed for easy DIY repairsPrev Pinterest has a better male-to-female workforce ratio, but lags in ethnic diversity

View the original article here

Google offers three months of free streaming music to celebrate Chromecast anniversary

Today marks the one year anniversary of Chromecast, Google's uber affordable streaming dongle that allows you to push content from your phone, tablet or notebook to your television. It was unveiled during a media event alongside the second generation Nexus 7 tablet and Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with a jaw-dropping $35 price tag.

To celebrate the occasion, Google has released some updated usage stats as well as a sweet offer for existing Chromecast owners.

Since its launch, Chromecast users have cast media more than 400 million times. Google has also added hundreds of apps and a mirroring feature for Android devices over the year. We still don't know exactly how many dongles Google has sold but given its low price, the fact that initial batches sold out quickly and its availability in more than 30,000 stores across 20 countries, it's probably a pretty big number.

What's more, Google is offering all Chromecast owners a 90-day free trial of its premium music screaming service, Google Play Music All Access. The service launched at last year's I/O conference and is one of several offerings consumers can choose from in the crowded streaming music space.

Chromecast has spawned a couple of copycats like the Roku Streaming Stick although none have been able to match Google's $35 price point.

Have you tried Chromecast yet? If so, what are your thoughts on it? Let us know in the comments below!

Next Facebook exceeds expectations again with Q2 2014 resultsMore See a summary of the most popular topics in tech right now$(function(){$('img', 'img-wrap', 'li', '.related-products .teaser-list').equalHeights();});

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Google X is working on a project to map perfect human health

Google X, the search giant's research and development arm, has set off on a new endeavor called the Baseline Study project. The goal of the project is to one day be able to detect health risks such as heart disease earlier in a patient's life such that preventative measures can be taken before it's too late.

The project is being led by Dr. Andrew Conrad, a molecular biologist credited with creating a cheap way to scan donated blood for HIV. He joined Google in March of last year and has put together a team of roughly 70 to 80 experts in the fields of biochemistry, imaging, molecular biology, optics and physiology.

The Baseline Study got under way earlier this summer through an unnamed clinical testing firm where doctors began collecting bodily fluids like urine, blood, saliva and tears from 175 anonymous volunteers. From there, Google will use its massive computing power to try and find patterns called biomarkers.

The hope is that these biomarkers will help researchers be able to detect health issues before a person even shows signs of them.

For example, a specific biomarker could reveal whether or not someone is able to break down fatty foods efficiently. Those that lack the biomarker could be at risk for early heart attacks in the future. By noticing this trait early and modifying their behavior now, they may be able to avoid the risk altogether.

Next Facebook wants to integrate car-hailing service Uber into MessengerPrev Users can now make web-based calls on Google Voice via Hangouts without a G+ account

View the original article here

Google may convert New York City phone booths into Wi-Fi hot spots

Back in 2012, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg first tossed an idea to convert the NYC's thousands of largely unused phone booths into something useful. Two years later, Mayor Bill de Blasio has revived interest in the plan, vowing to create a robust, citywide network of Internet hotspots.

Now, Bloomberg is reporting that Google might be looking to get in on the action. According to a request for proposals (RFP) from the city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, the search giant was among more than 50 attendees to a meeting on May 12 to discuss the project. The meeting was also attended by Cisco, IBM, Verizon, Samsung, and more. Responses to the RFP from vendors were due Yesterday.

The project would allow the selected vendor to charge for phone service (except, of course, 911 and 311 calls) and make money from advertising, though Wi-Fi would have to remain free. The city administration expects the service provider to pay it a minimum annual compensation of $17.5 million or 50 percent of gross revenues, whichever is greater.

For Google, the opportunity to blanket much of New York’s streetscape with Wi-Fi falls in line with the company's efforts to provide fast and efficient connectivity in the US and around the world. The company already provides free wireless access around its West Coast and East Coast main offices in Mountain View, California, and New York's Chelsea neighborhood, and is also working on other Internet ventures like Google Fiber and Project Loon.

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Italy gives Google 18 months to comply with privacy policy changes

Google been dealing with a long run of privacy and other legal issues in Europe, and now the Italian government says the company has 18 months to comply to its latest demands.

The search giant has had to deal with several other European Union nations regarding its unified data policy, and now it is being forced to obey local Italian privacy laws. The Italians do not want profiles made for them without direct consent and Google must accommodate requests from users to have certain data removed from its servers. Mountain View is being given two months to honor such requests and 6 months to have said data completely removed from back ups.

Early this year Google complied with the EU's demand to create a data removal request infrastructure for Europeans looking to have personal data taken out of Google search results. So it doesn't come as any surprise that the company will also comply with Italy's requests. 

The company told Reuters recently that it should have a clear plan ready for officials by late September. While fines of up to 1 million euros or more barely scrape the edges of the tech giant's bank account, the lengthy and possibly ugly criminal cases that could come as a result of the company choosing not to comply are likely something even Google wants to avoid.

Image via Shutterstock

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