Calling all teens: join the latest round of Google Code-inCalling all teens: join the latest round of Google Code-in
Yesterday marked the start of the 7th year of Google Code-in (GCI), our pre-university contest introducing students to open source development. GCI takes place entirely online and is open to students between the ages of 13 and 17 around the globe.
Open source software makes up the backbone of the internet, from servers and routers to the phone in your pocket, but it’s a community-driven effort. Google Code-in serves a dual purpose of encouraging young developers and ensuring that open source communities continue to grow.
The concept is simple: students complete bite-sized tasks created by 17 participating open source organizations on topic areas of their choice, including:
Coding
Documentation/Training
Outreach/Research
Quality Assurance
User Interface
Tasks take an average of 3-5 hours to complete and include the guidance of a mentor to help along the way. Complete one task? Get a digital certificate. Three tasks? Get a Google t-shirt. Mentor organizations pick finalists and grand prize winners from among the 10 students who contributed most to that organization. Finalists get a hoodie and Grand Prize winners get a trip to Google headquarters in California where they meet Googlers, mentors and fellow winners.
Google Code-in began with 361 students from 45 countries and has grown to include, in 2015, 980 students from 65 countries. You can read about the experiences of past participants on the Google Open Source blog. Over the last 6 years, more than 3,000 students from 99 countries have successfully completed tasks in GCI.
Student Ahmed Sabie had this to say, “Overall, Google Code-in was the experience of a lifetime. It set me up for the future by teaching me relevant and critical skills necessary in software development.”
Know of a student who might be interested? Learn more about GCI by checking out our rules and FAQs. And please visit our contest site and read the Getting Started Guide. Teachers, you can find additional resources here to help get your students started.
The Google Code-in contest is now open! Students ages 13 to 17 gain real-world software development experience by building open source software with the support of mentors.Calling all teens: join the latest round of Google Code-inCalling all teens: join the latest round of Google Code-in
Yesterday marked the start of the 7th year of Google Code-in (GCI), our pre-university contest introducing students to open source development. GCI takes place entirely online and is open to students between the ages of 13 and 17 around the globe.
Open source software makes up the backbone of the internet, from servers and routers to the phone in your pocket, but it’s a community-driven effort. Google Code-in serves a dual purpose of encouraging young developers and ensuring that open source communities continue to grow.
The concept is simple: students complete bite-sized tasks created by 17 participating open source organizations on topic areas of their choice, including:
Coding
Documentation/Training
Outreach/Research
Quality Assurance
User Interface
Tasks take an average of 3-5 hours to complete and include the guidance of a mentor to help along the way. Complete one task? Get a digital certificate. Three tasks? Get a Google t-shirt. Mentor organizations pick finalists and grand prize winners from among the 10 students who contributed most to that organization. Finalists get a hoodie and Grand Prize winners get a trip to Google headquarters in California where they meet Googlers, mentors and fellow winners.
Google Code-in began with 361 students from 45 countries and has grown to include, in 2015, 980 students from 65 countries. You can read about the experiences of past participants on the Google Open Source blog. Over the last 6 years, more than 3,000 students from 99 countries have successfully completed tasks in GCI.
Student Ahmed Sabie had this to say, “Overall, Google Code-in was the experience of a lifetime. It set me up for the future by teaching me relevant and critical skills necessary in software development.”
Know of a student who might be interested? Learn more about GCI by checking out our rules and FAQs. And please visit our contest site and read the Getting Started Guide. Teachers, you can find additional resources here to help get your students started.
The Google Code-in contest is now open! Students ages 13 to 17 gain real-world software development experience by building open source software with the support of mentors.Adding three new colors to the Nest Thermostat familyAdding three new colors to the Nest Thermostat family
Your home is your space. It’s also a place where you can express your style with color and personal touches. And we want our products to reflect your aesthetic while giving you the help you need. So we recently introduced three new colors to the Nest Learning Thermostat lineup (bringing the total to seven) to give you more options to fit your style.
These new finishes—black, brass and polished steel—are part of the new Artists Collection, inspired by the work of industrial artists who create beautiful pieces using various metals. Just like the original Nest Learning Thermostat that comes in copper, black, stainless steel or white, these new thermostats are designed to look beautiful in your home while also keeping you comfortable and helping you save energy.
Polished steelis a high-end, highly polished design for those who like to keep things timeless and classy.
Mirror black is striking and bold, with the deep lacquered black look of a grand piano.
Brass is warm and subtle - it can act as a pop of color for your home or blend in with other metal accents you may have.
They can program themselves to create a personalized schedule and turn down automatically to save energy when you’re away. You can control your thermostat from a phone, tablet, Google Home Hub or even an Android Watch or Apple Watch with the Nest or Google Home app. And, you can use your smart speaker or display to change the temperature with your voice—just say, “Hey Google, set the temperature to 68.”
These new Nest Learning Thermostats are available in the US (and the polished steel finish is also available in Canada) for $249.
Robbie Ivey’s story: how technology removes barriersRobbie Ivey’s story: how technology removes barriers
At Google we believe in the power of technology to make a difference in people’s lives. And for 19-year-old Robbie Ivey from Michigan, that certainly rings true.
Robbie has duchenne muscular dystrophy, which has left him able to control only his eyes, head and right thumb joint. Among the many challenges Robbie and his family face, nighttime is one of the key ones. For years, Robbie’s mom Carrie has set her alarm every few hours to get up and change his position in bed so he doesn’t get bed sores or infections. Earlier this year, a sleep-deprived Carrie put out a message to the Muscular Dystrophy Association asking for help to try and find a better way. She got a response from Bill Weis, a retired tech worker, who thought he could set up Robbie’s bed to be controlled by voice activation. While working on the bed, Bill had an epiphany: if he can control the bed this way, why not everything else in Robbie’s bedroom universe?
As part of our efforts to spotlight accessible technologies throughout National Disability Awareness Month, we hear directly from Robbie about how technology has helped him gain more independence in his life as he starts off on his first year at Oakland Universityin Rochester.Robbie, who has duchenne muscular dystrophy, talks about how technology has helped him gain more independence in his life as he starts off on his first year of college.
A better way to share your ETA with Google MapsA better way to share your ETA with Google Maps
Getting where you need to go is important, but making it to your destination safe and sound is the most important thing of all. Today, Google Maps is improving journey sharing on Android and bringing it to iOS, making it easier to share your ETA with loved ones so you can keep your hands off your phone and your eyes on the road. Here’s how it works:
After you’ve started navigating to a destination, tap on the ˄ button and then on “Share trip progress.” From here you’ll be able to share your live location, route, and ETA with all your favorite contacts. Today’s update also allows for sharing across 3rd party apps like Facebook Messenger, Line, WhatsApp, and more—so you can communicate with friends on the platforms you prefer. Once your journey ends, you’ll automatically stop sharing your location.
Improved journey sharing is now available for driving, walking, and cycling navigation on Android and iOS. To get started, make sure to update Google Maps from the Play Store or App Store.
Strike a pose with Pixel 3Strike a pose with Pixel 3
With Pixel, we want to give you a camera that you can always trust and rely on. That means a camera which is fast, can take photos in any light and has built-in intelligence to capture those moments that only happen once. The camera should also give you a way to get creative with your photos and videos and be able to easily edit and share.
To celebrate Pixel 3 hitting the shelves in the US today, here are 10 things you can do with the Pixel camera.
1. Just point and shoot!
The Pixel camera has HDR+ on by default which uses computational photography to help you take better pictures in scenes where there is a range of brightness levels. When you press the shutter button, HDR+ actually captures a rapid burst of pictures, then quickly combines them into one. This improves results in both low-light and high dynamic range situations.
2. Top Shot
Get the best shot on the first try. When you take a motion photo, Top Shot captures alternate high-quality shots, then recommends the best one—even if it’s not exactly when you hit the shutter. Behind the scenes,Top Shot looks for those shots where everyone is smiling, with eyes open and facing the camera. Just click on the thumbnail when you take a picture and you’ll get a suggestion to choose a better picture when one is available. You can also find top shots on photos whenever you want by swiping up on the photo in Google Photos. Top Shot works best on people and is getting better all the time.
Top Shot on Pixel 3
3. Night Sight
In low light scenes when you'd typically use flash—but don't want to because it makes a big scene, blinds your friends, and leaves harsh, uneven lighting—Night Sight can help you take colorful, detailed and low-noise pictures in super low light. Night Sight is coming soon to Pixel.
4. Super Res Zoom
Pixel 3 lets you zoom in and still get sharp, detailed images. Fun fact: this works by taking advantage of the natural shaking of your hand when you take a photo. For every zoomed shot, we combine a burst of slightly different images, resulting in better resolution, and lower noise. So when you pinch-zoom before pressing the shutter, you’ll definitely get a lot more details in your picture than if you crop afterwards.
5. Group Selfie Cam
If you’re having trouble fitting everyone in shot, or you want the beautiful scenery as well as your beautiful face, try our new wide angle lens that lets you get much more in your selfie. You can get up to 184% more in the shot*, or 11 people is my own personal record. Wide angle lenses fit more people in the shot, but they also stretch and distort faces that are on the edge. The Pixel camera uses AI to correct this, so every face looks natural and you can use the full field of view of the selfie cam.
6. Photobooth
You spend ages getting the selfie at precisely the right angle, but then you try and reach the shutter button and lose the frame. Photobooth mode lets you take photos without pressing the shutter button: simply smile, poke your tongue out, or pucker those lips.
7. Playground
Bring more of your imagination to a scene with Playmoji— augmented reality characters that react to each other and to you—and add animated stickers and fun captions to your photos and videos. Playground also works on the front camera, so you can up your selfie game by standing next to characters you love, like Iron Man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Playground on Pixel 3 helps you create and play with the world around you
8. Google Lens Suggestions
Just point the Pixel 3 camera at contact info, URLs, and barcodes and it’ll automatically suggest things to do like calling the number, or sending an email. This all happens without you having to type anything and Lens will show the suggestions even when you’re offline. It’s particularly helpful with business cards, movie posters, and takeout menus.
9. Portrait Mode
Our improved Portrait Mode on Pixel is designed to give you even sharper and more beautiful images this year. Plus we’ve added some fun editing options in Google Photos—like being able to change the blurriness of the background, or change the part of the picture in focus after you’ve taken it. Google Photos can also make the subject of your photo pop by leaving them in color, while changing the background to black and white.
Portrait Mode and color pop with Pixel 3 and Google Photos
10. Smooth video
We’ve added new selfie video stabilization so now you can get super smooth video from the front or back cameras. And if you’re recording someone or something that is moving, just tap on them and the video will lock on the subject as they, or you, move—so you don’t lose focus.
Finally, if you’re a pro photographer, we’ve added a bunch of new features to help you manage your photography from the ability to export RAW, to external mic support, to synthetic fill flash which mimics professional lighting equipment to bring a beautiful glow to your pictures.
Once you’ve taken all those amazing photos and videos, Pixel comes with unlimited storage so you never get that “storage full” pop up at a crucial moment.**
Share your pics using #teampixel so we can see what you create with Pixel 3.
*Compared to iPhone Xs
**Free, unlimited online original-quality storage for photos/videos uploaded from Pixel 3 to Google Photos through 1/31/2022, and those photos/videos will remain free at original quality. g.co/help/photostorage
A new course to teach people about fairness in machine learningA new course to teach people about fairness in machine learning
In my undergraduate studies, I majored in philosophy with a focus on ethics, spending countless hours grappling with the notion of fairness: both how to define it and how to effect it in society. Little did I know then how critical these studies would be to my current work on the machine learning education team where I support efforts related to the responsible development and use of AI.
As ML practitioners build, evaluate, and deploy machine learning models, they should keep fairness considerations (such as how different demographics of people will be affected by a model’s predictions) in the forefront of their minds. Additionally, they should proactively develop strategies to identify and ameliorate the effects of algorithmic bias.
To help practitioners achieve these goals, Google’s engineering education and ML fairness teams developed a 60-minute self-study training module on fairness, which is now available publicly as part of our popular Machine Learning Crash Course (MLCC).
The MLCC Fairness module explores how human biases affect data sets. For example, people asked to describe a photo of bananas may not remark on their color (“yellow bananas”) unless they perceive it as atypical.
Students who complete this training will learn:
- Different types of human biases that can manifest in machine learning models via data
- How to identify potential areas of human bias in data before training a model
- Methods for evaluating a model’s predictions not just for overall performance, but also for bias
In conjunction with the release of this new Fairness module, we’ve added more than a dozen new fairness entries to our Machine Learning Glossary (tagged with a scale icon in the right margin). These entries provide clear, concise definitions of the key fairness concepts discussed in our curriculum, designed to serve as a go-to reference for both beginners and experienced practitioners. We also hope these glossary entries will help further socialize fairness concerns within the ML community.
We’re excited to share this module with you, and hope that it provides additional tools and frameworks that aid in building systems that are fair and inclusive for all. You can learn more about our work in fairness and on other responsible AI practices on our website.Google’s engineering education and ML fairness teams developed a 60-minute self-study training module on fairness, which is now available publicly as part of our popular Machine Learning Crash Course
Open platforms like Android unlock potentialOpen platforms like Android unlock potential
As a scientist, educator and businesswoman, my goal is to engage as many young minds as possible to get them excited about science and technology. That’s why the explosion in affordable technology over the last few years has been so exciting for STEM evangelists like me. Technology is no longer available only to the affluent and the privileged; instead, computers, tablets and smartphones are in the hands of individuals across all income levels. Reaching such a diverse audience is critical to our society’s ability to design the next generation of digital technologies and train the workforce of the future.
As a professor and the founder and Chief Technology Officer atZyrobotics, a company that develops interactive STEM games and learning tools for children, I want our company’s educational programs to be available to the greatest number of people in order to have the greatest level of impact. In order to be successful, companies like mine need to reach kids where they spend their time—on their tablets, phones and other electronic learning devices. That means we want our apps to be compatible with as many devices as possible, and it’s why we’ve chosen to use Android’s open platform for our development. I’ve been able to reach far more people by building upon open platforms like Android than I ever could by teaching in a classroom.
As an app developer, I’ve benefited from Android’s ease of use, open coding platform, and popularity within diverse segments of the population. We've been able to expand our reach to all audiences, particularly those in disadvantaged communities. Many lower-income people (and many in developing countries) rely on more affordable or older Android devices, and because Android lets us update apps on older-model phones, we can ensure we’re providing the best experience to these users. Open platforms are also the main reason why most of our apps, including those that teach young children to code, are free.
Zyrobotics would be far less successful without the app stores housed on Android and Apple and the number of users we are able to reach through those platforms. Both Google and Apple’s app stores have been especially useful in helping us maximize our apps’ exposure to the children and parents with whom we want to connect, and helped us introduce important STEM concepts to children as early as five and six years old through30 STEM-focused apps and games, such as our award-winning Turtle “Learn to Code” app.
The United Statescontinues to lag behind other industrialized nations when it comes to preparing our children for STEM careers, and thattechnology workforce gap is partly a result of a lack of early engagement in STEM. Reaching children when their interests are just beginning to take shape is vital to building a more vibrant, diverse and successful STEM workforce for the future. Android helps us do that. I support smart regulation of technology companies that helps ensure that today’s technology be made even more widely available, accessible and unbiased.
The benefits of technology to educate and empower the next generation are immeasurable. Open platforms create opportunities—for companies like mine, and the people we serve. Let's keep it that way.
Ayanna Howard, Ph.D., is Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Zyrobotics, an educational technology company, and the Linda J. and Mark C. Smith Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and assistive technology research has resulted in more than 250 peer-reviewed publications and a number of commercialized products.
The CTO of Zyrobotics, a company that develops STEM learning tools for children, shares how open platforms like Android help companies like hers reach broad, diverse audiences.Finding my way back to Antarctica with the help of Google EarthFinding my way back to Antarctica with the help of Google Earth
Editor’s note: This guest post comes from Conrad Anker, a rock climber and adventurer who used Google Earth to aid his quest to explore Antarctica's remote Queen Maud Land with other athletes from The North Face team.
Nearly twenty-two years ago, my late friend Alex Lowe, Jon Krakauer and I huddled over a stack of tattered Norwegian maps from the“International Geophysical Year, 1957 - 58.” These were the first maps of Antarctica's remote Queen Maud Land, a stark glacial landscape dotted with impossibly jagged granite spires protruding from thousands of feet of ice. As we scanned the only detailed account of this faraway land, the complex and cryptic landscape made it blatantly obvious why these were some of the last unclimbed peaks on earth.
Back in ‘98, our paper maps were a static window into this dynamic land. We peeked in with trepidation, knowing that once we arrived on the ice cap, our lives would depend on rough estimations and ballpark figures, which still left a lot to chance. How many days would it take to reach the towers from our base camp? What if a storm pinned us down? What if we were unable to cross a dangerously crevassed part of the glacier?
Two decades later, the same thirst for pushing limits in the face of the unknown is calling me back to Queen Maud Land. This time the adventure began with my family in the comfort of our living room in Bozeman, Montana—our paper maps are replaced with smartphones and laptops. With Google Earth, my family was able to explore Queen Maud Land with me before my boots ever touched the ground. Together, we flew over snow covered glaciers and found our way up the massive granite walls I hoped to scale with my fellow teammates who are climbing with me as a part of an expedition put together by The North Face. We understood the complexity and enormity of the expedition together.
I always tell my family that the most important part of the mission is coming home—a goal that requires obsessive preparation, planning and training. Google Earth allowed us to drop pins on potential landing zones suitable for the fixed wing aircraft we were going to travel in. With the ability to visually assess the landscape in 3D, we could better see hazards and challenges before embarking on the expedition. Climate change has dramatically altered the landscape of the Antarctica I explored in the nineties and looking at up-to-date satellite imagery helped me come up with a new approach to navigating the terrain.
When we finally touched down on the ice, my fellow climber Cedar Wright aptly mentioned that “it was pretty surreal to recognize a place you had never physically been by your time spent exploring it remotely using Google Earth.” And he was right. After we got our bearings, we were able to confidently and strategically explore dozens of never-before-climbed peaks in this lunar landscape. The challenges of climbing in the frozen landscape were ever present, but the gift of being able to successfully put up so many stunning new climbs with a team of this caliber was an unforgettable privilege.
Conrad Anker working his way up Ulvetanna, “The Wolf’s Tooth,” in the Drygalski Mountain Range, in Antarctica. Photo by Savannah Cummins.
On expeditions like these we are reminded of why we explore. They’re a physical and mental challenge that demonstrate how we are capable of succeeding in places we never before thought possible. The spirit of exploration is alive and well across our society–and technology like Google Earth opens up even more possibilities to explore ... so, what will your next adventure be?
Learn more about the expedition and check out all of the photos and videos from The North Face expedition to Antarctica.
Conrad Anker and a team of the world’s finest explorers used Google Earth to plan an expedition to the Queen Maud Land territory in Antarctica - where they spent a month setting new climbing routes on the Wolf’s Jaw massif.Titan M makes Pixel 3 our most secure phone yetTitan M makes Pixel 3 our most secure phone yet
Security has always been a top priority for Pixel, spanning both the hardware and software of our devices. This includes monthly security updates and yearly OS updates, so Pixel always has the most secure version of Android, as well as Google Play Protect to help safeguard your phone from malware. Last year on Pixel 2, we also included a dedicated tamper-resistant hardware security module to protect your lock screen and strengthen disk encryption.
This year, with Pixel 3, we’re advancing our investment in secure hardware with Titan M, an enterprise-grade security chip custom built for Pixel 3 to secure your most sensitive on-device data and operating system. With Titan M, we took the best features from the Titan chip used in Google Cloud data centers and tailored it for mobile.
Here are a few ways Titan M protects your phone.
Security in the Bootloader
First, to protect Android from outside tampering, we’ve integrated Titan M into Verified Boot, our secure boot process.
Titan M helps the bootloader—the program that validates and loads Android when the phone turns on—make sure that you’re running the right version of Android. Specifically, Titan M stores the last known safe Android version and prevents “bad actors” from moving your device back to run on an older, potentially vulnerable, version of Android behind your back. Titan M also prevents attackers running in Android attempting to unlock the bootloader.
Lock Screen Protection & Disk Encryption On-Device
Pixel 3 also uses Titan M to verify your lock screen passcode. It makes the process of guessing multiple password combinations harder by limiting the amount of logon attempts, making it difficult for bad actors to unlock your phone. Only upon successful verification of your passcode will Titan M allow for decryption.
In addition, the secure flash and fully independent computation of Titan M makes it harder for an attacker to tamper with this process to gain the secrets to decrypt your data.
Secure Transactions in Third-Party Apps
Third, Titan M is used not only to protect Android and its functionality, but also to protect third-party apps and secure sensitive transactions. With Android 9, apps can now take advantage of StrongBox KeyStore APIs to generate and store their private keys in Titan M. The Google Pay team is actively testing out these new APIs to secure transactions.
For apps that rely on user interaction to confirm a transaction, Titan M also enables Android 9 Protected Confirmation, an API for protecting the most security-critical operations. As more processes come online and go mobile—like e-voting, and P2P money transfers—these APIs can help to ensure that the user (not malware) has confirmed the transaction. Pixel 3 is the first device to ship with this protection.
Insider Attack Resistance
Last, but not least, to prevent tampering, Titan M is built with insider attack resistance. The firmware on Titan M will never be updated unless you have entered your passcode, meaning bad actors cannot bypass your lock screen to update the firmware to a malicious version.
With the Pixel 3, we’ve increased our investment in security and put industry-leading hardware features into the device, so you can rest assured that your security and privacy are well protected. In the coming months, the security community will be able to audit Titan through its open-source firmware. In the meantime, you can test out Titan M and all of the smarts Pixel 3 brings, when it goes on sale on Thursday, October 18 in the U.S.
Tru Biz: A conversation with Deaf artist Jessica Flores about sign language, stickers, and moreTru Biz: A conversation with Deaf artist Jessica Flores about sign language, stickers, and more
Gboard, Google’s on-screen keyboard, is a tool that helps people communicate exactly the way they want on a mobile device. Gboard supports over 400 languages, thousands of emoji and stickers, and an endless number of GIFs.
Part of helping people communicate is making sure Gboard is accessible for all people, and the languages they speak. One language not supported by Gboard, however, is American Sign Language. ASL isn’t a written language, so it’s not suited for a typical keyboard. However, ASL is one of the most expressive languages, and similar to other languages, has its own slang and regional variations. This makes it perfect for a visual communication format like stickers.
We collaborated with Jessica Flores, a Deaf artist, advocate and popular YouTube creator, to design a series of animated stickers for Gboard that feature ASL. We talked to Jessica about her background, her experience creating the stickers, and how she hopes people might use them.
Ryan: How did you get started doing YouTube videos?
Jessica: I started my YouTube channel about two years ago. At the time, I was working at a coffee shop, and a lot of the customers would ask me the same questions about my hearing loss over and over again, which I totally don’t mind. But once I started noticing this, I began to wonder if there was a way I could educate a much larger audience, instead of just one person at a time.
Ryan: What feedback have you received from other Deaf or Hard of Hearing people on your work?
Jessica: I grew up being the only Deaf person I really knew, so I felt very alone and isolated. When I started my YouTube channel years later, I thought there was only going to be a few people who could relate to my content, but boy, was I wrong! I get messages and comments all the time from both Deaf and Hard of Hearing adults and kids telling me they can relate to my videos. Whenever I get these messages, it’s hands down, one of the best feelings in the world.
Ryan: How do you typically use expressions like stickers/GIFs/emoji? What do you like/dislike about this experience?
Jessica: I use stickers, emojis, and GIFs really often. Some might tell you, too often or, more-than-one-normally-should often. (Insert wide eye, straight big smile emoji here)
Personally, a text message just doesn’t allow me to fully express what I am trying to say, or how I am feeling. I probably feel this way because I am a very animated person. Whenever I sign or talk, I feel like I always need to use all of my facial expressions and body language to express what I am trying to say. Even if it is just something simple like, “Hey can you pass the salt?” it ends up being very animated.
Ryan: What was your vision for these stickers? How did the end product compare to your vision?
Jessica: At the beginning of the project, I had no idea what direction these stickers were going to go in. I thought for sure the stickers would feature one character signing all the words.
But after looking at all of our sketches, I realized I wanted a sticker set that would help spread Deaf awareness and expose American Sign Language to more people, even just a little bit. I knew that if we designed a character for the stickers who signed, only those who knew ASL would know what the signs meant, and those who didn’t know ASL might end up ignoring the set completely.
We settled on the perfect solution: making the words become the characters. Now, if you know ASL, you will understand the whole set, as well as the slang. And if you don’t know ASL you will still be able to follow along with most of the signs their meanings.
Ryan: Were there any challenges you encountered as an artist creating the stickers?
Jessica: A lot of people don’t realize that, in sign language, a simple change in facial expression or body language can change a sign’s meaning completely. Just like how a tone of someone’s voice will allow you to figure out if they are mad at you, or if they’re asking you a question.
So when I had a word like “No”, I had to think about what kind of “No” I wanted to sign. Did I want it to be a sad “no”, a happy “no”, a sarcastic “no”? Then, if I picked sad, I had to ask myself, “How sad is it? Is it so sad it’s crying or is it just bummed out sad?” There are so many ways to sign and say “no” that it was hard to pick just one.
Ryan: How do you hope people will use them?
Jessica: I hope it will inspire people to start learning basic ASL or the other many different types of sign language: Mexican Sign Language, British Sign Language, Filipino Sign Language, etc.
My other hope is that the set will encourage people to start learning about Deaf/Hard of Hearing history, community, and culture. People still have a lot to learn about Deaf people. And the faster we can all learn about each other, the faster we can work towards making the world more accessible for one another.
Schools in London give new life to old computersSchools in London give new life to old computers
Replacing aging computers with new devices can be a strain on school budgets, which means that schools often find themselves with out-of-date hardware sitting in cupboards, collecting dust. However, there’s a way to give old devices new life—by replacing their current operating system with one that’s easy to use, manage and is ready for the cloud.
We’re partnering with London Grid for Learning, a nonprofit organization focused on improving schools’ access to technology and Neverware (creator of the CloudReady operating system), to help schools across London extend the life of their old devices. LGfL has committed to purchasing CloudReady licenses for over 85 percent of London’s schools so they can transform their slow, older hardware into fast, nimble devices that run just like Chromebooks. As CloudReady is based on Google’s Chromium OS, it perfectly complements a cloud-first digital approach, such as using G Suite for Education.
At Connaught School for Girls in East London, pupils and teachers were struggling to use old and slow machines, especially once the school started integrating more digital tools, including Google Classroom. Tight budgets hindered replacement of the devices. The school saw Neverware as a budget-friendly way to revive its old laptops for the Google Classroom adoption, without purchasing a fleet of new devices or paying for laptop disposal.
The results were transformative as the students started using the devices more. ‘’In the last academic year, the devices were booked four times. Now the laptops are booked 21 out of 25 periods per week, creating better access to IT for our students,’’ Silk says. “The beauty of Neverware is that it just works and your older devices are no longer a liability; they can be an asset again.”
Given current budgetary pressures and compliance demands, it’s more important than ever to find practical solutions that increase secure, affordable access to technology in schools. By partnering with London Grid for Learning and Neverware, Google for Education is improving access to education technology in London schools, whilst also contributing to the sustainability of older technology. If you are an LGfL school, visit go.neverware.com/LGfL to learn how you can use CloudReady by Neverware to refresh your underperforming or underutilised devices. All other schools in the UK can check out CloudReady directly at their website.
Schools can bring life to old, ageing devices by replacing existing operating systems with one that is easy to manage and ready for the cloud.Pixel 3 and on-device AI: Putting superpowers in your pocketPixel 3 and on-device AI: Putting superpowers in your pocket
Last week we announced Pixel 3 and Pixel 3XL, our latest smartphones that combine the best of Google’s AI, software, and hardware to deliver radically helpful experiences. AI is a key ingredient in Pixel that unlocks new, useful capabilities, dramatically changing how we interact with our phones and the world around us.
But what exactly is AI?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a fancy term for all the technology that lets our devices learn by example and act a bit smarter, from understanding written or spoken language to recognizing people and objects in images. AI is built by “training” machine learning models—a computer learns patterns from lots of example data, and uses these patterns to generate predictions. We’ve built one of the most secure and robust cloud infrastructures for processing this data to make our products smarter. Today, AI helps with everything from filtering spam emails in Gmail to getting answers on Google Search.
Machine learned models in the cloud are a secure way to make Google products smarter over time.
Bringing the best AI experiences to Pixel 3 involved some re-thinking from the ground up. Our phones are powerful computers with multiple sensors which enable new helpful and secure experiences when data is processed on your device. These AI-powered features can work offline and don’t require a network connection. And they can keep data on device, private to you. With Pixel 3, we complement our traditional approach to AI, where machine learning and data processing is done in the cloud, with reliable, accessible AI on device, when you’re on the go.
The most powerful machine learning models can now run directly on your Pixel to power fast experiences which work even when you’re offline.
Benefits of on-device AI
We’ve been working to miniaturize AI models to bring the power of machine learning and computing in the cloud directly to your Pixel. With on-device AI, new kinds of experiences become possible—that are lightning fast, are more battery efficient, and keep data on your device. We piloted this technology last year with Now Playing, bringing automatic music recognition to Pixel 2. This year, your Phone app and camera both use on-device AI to give you new superpowers, allowing you to interact more seamlessly with the world around you.
On-device AI works without having to go back to a server and consumes less of your battery life.
Take Call Screen, a new feature in the Phone app, initially launching in English in the U.S., where the Google Assistant helps you screen calls, including from unknown or unrecognized numbers. Anytime you receive an incoming call, just tap the “Screen Call” button and on-device speech recognition is used to transcribe the conversation from the caller (who is calling? why they are calling?) so you can decide whether to pick up, hang up, or mark as spam and block. Because everything happens on your device, neither the audio nor transcript from a screened call is sent to anyone other than you.
Call Screen uses on-device speech recognition to transcribe the caller’s responses in real time, without sending audio or transcripts off your phone.
This year’s Pixel camera helps you capture great moments and do more with what you see by building on-device AI right into your viewfinder. New low-power vision models can recognize facial expressions, objects, and text without having to send images off your device. Photobooth Mode is powered by an image scoring model that analyzes facial expressions and photo quality in real time. This will automatically capture smiles and funny faces so you can take selfies without having to reach for the shutter button. Top Shot uses the same kind of image analysis to suggest great, candid moments from a motion photo—recommending alternative shots in HDR+.
Playground creates an intelligent AR experience by using AI models to recommend Playmoji, stickers, and captions so that you can express yourself based on the scene you’re in. And without having to take a photo at all, image recognition lets you act on info from the world around you—surfacing Google Lens suggestions to call phone numbers or show website addresses—right from your camera.
Pixel 3 is just the beginning. We want to empower people with new AI-driven abilities. With our advances in on-device AI, we can develop new, helpful experiences that run right on your phone and are fast, efficient, and private to you.
A look at the new AI-powered features on Pixel 3Complying with the EC’s Android decisionComplying with the EC’s Android decision
In July, in our response to the European Commission’s competition decision against Android, we said that rapid innovation, wide choice and falling prices are classic hallmarks of robust competition, and that Android has enabled all of them. We believe that Android has created more choice, not less. That’s why last week we filed our appeal of the Commission’s decision at the General Court of the European Union.
At the same time, we’ve been working on how to comply with the decision. We have now informed the European Commission of the changes we will make while the appeal is pending.
First, we’re updating the compatibility agreements with mobile device makers that set out how Android is used to develop smartphones and tablets. Going forward, Android partners wishing to distribute Google apps may also build non-compatible, or forked, smartphones and tablets for the European Economic Area (EEA).
Second, device manufacturers will be able to license the Google mobile application suite separately from the Google Search App or the Chrome browser. Since the pre-installation of Google Search and Chrome together with our other apps helped us fund the development and free distribution of Android, we will introduce a new paid licensing agreement for smartphones and tablets shipped into the EEA. Android will remain free and open source.
Third, we will offer separate licenses to the Google Search app and to Chrome.
We’ll also offer new commercial agreements to partners for the non-exclusive pre-installation and placement of Google Search and Chrome. As before, competing apps may be pre-installed alongside ours.
These new licensing options will come into effect on October 29, 2018, for all new smartphones and tablets launched in the EEA. We’ll be working closely with our Android partners in the coming weeks and months to transition to the new agreements. And of course, we remain deeply committed to continued innovation for the Android ecosystem.
When Octoberitis spooks your students, we’re here to helpWhen Octoberitis spooks your students, we’re here to help
It's October. Pencils—once sharp and eager to write in August—are starting to dull. Students are gazing out the window, and it's not just because of the falling leaves—this happens every October, when the newness of the new school year has worn off.
To fight this Octoberitis, some educators get students moving by doing a gravity experiment in the stairwell, or role play activities during history. While you’re experimenting in the classroom, we’ll be launching new tools to help you keep the learning spark alive, and make the longer days feel shorter.
And want to know something that’s made our October a bit brighter? We’re excited to announce that over 40 million students and educators are now using Google Classroom, and 30 million are using Chromebooks, on top of 80 million using G Suite for Education globally.
Bring the outside world into the classroomBack when we learned with just pen and paper, math class and functions could seem dull. But now, augmented reality can add another dimension to your lesson. With the latest update to the Acer Chromebook Tab 10, it became the first ChromeOS device to support ARCore, Google’s platform for building augmented reality experiences. Developers can build AR experiences for classrooms, like GeoGebra, an interactive geometry, algebra, statistics and calculus app. Students can toggle between 2D screens and AR in the 3D app as teachers guide them in exploring math in new ways.Using the Acer Chromebook Tab 10, educators can bring everything from a skeleton to the solar system into the classroom with the help of Expeditions AR. With content from partners like Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Oxford University Press, the world comes to you when you can drop the works of Van Gogh into the middle of your Art History lesson, or a great Kapok tree when studying the rainforest. To unlock the power of AR, ask your IT administrator to enable these Android apps, and make sure your tablets are upgraded to the latest operating system.
To conduct a science experiment, the only equipment you’ll need is a Chromebook. Students can complete more than 40 science labs which map to high school biology, chemistry, and physics standards with Labster Chromebook labs. These online labs allow schools to offer unlimited lab practice time without needing to buy any extra equipment. Not only that, but these labs can also be assigned and graded with the Classroom integration, and teachers can track how students are progressing. To get labs at your school, visit labster.com/chromebooklabs.
Collaborate to reach every learnerYou spend hours planning and customizing lessons to engage every learner in your class, but it can be difficult for students to follow along in rigorous and fast paced learning environments. To support students and faculty who are deaf or hard of hearing, we built closed captions in Google Slides (only available on Chrome web browsers), which uses machine learning to turn on automated closed captioning when presenting. Captions are currently available for U.S. English language only, but stay tuned as we explore adding more languages. Learn more about accessibility features in G Suite and ChromeOS.
We’ve launched new Docs updates to make writing a paper in MLA format a smoother process. You can already set left and right indentations as well as set hanging indents via a dialog box. Now, students and faculty can also adjust the margins of headers and footers, and use a vertical ruler to adjust placement of table rows and header and footer margins.
Educators can also give feedback to students in Classroom or Course Kit, our free toolkit that allows instructors to use G Suite within their existing LMS. Using the new grading tool, educators can leverage the comment bank to give feedback on Docs and PDFs. Use G Suite for Education but have a different LMS? Request access to the Course Kit beta today.
Jamboard - the collaborative whiteboard app - can also help shake things up. We’re bringing the jam to the web, where anyone can create and collaborate on jams from individual Chromebooks, no Jamboard hardware required. And with the new View Only mode, teachers can share jam sessions from their lessons that day while restricting edit access. Have a BYOD policy, or enabling Device Off Hours? Jamboard on the web is an easy solution for collaboration.
If you’re interested in trying out a Jamboard device in your classroom, you can apply for the new Jamboard Learning Space Transformation program. Continental U.S. based G Suite for Education customers can submit a proposal on how you’ll transform your learning space with Jamboard today.
Hopefully these new features and product tips are the antidote you need to the Octoberitis that’s bound to hit your classrooms. If not, you have Halloween to look forward to...
Be sure to follow along on Google for Education’s Twitter and Facebook pages. We love hearing from you, so please share your tips for the best October yet.
Get your classroom re-inspired this October with new tips, tools, and treats (but no tricks!) from Google for Education.Explore product search trends with Shopping InsightsExplore product search trends with Shopping Insights
With the world of commerce at their fingertips, consumers are more curious, more demanding and more impatient than ever before. As a result, retailers have to anticipate customers’ needs in order to provide the products they’re looking for and plan marketing strategies. In a recent study, we learned that 84 percent of Americans are shopping in any given 48-hour period, in up to six different categories.1 Whether they’re looking up designer sneakers or DSLR cameras, Google is the first place they go to discover a new brand or product.2
Starting today, a new version of our Shopping Insights tool can help you uncover which products and brands are popular, trending up or down, and how these insights vary by regions in the U.S. This new version includes data for more than 55,000 products and 45,000 brands—significantly increasing coverage over the previous version—as well as nearly 5,000 categories. It’s a free tool, available to everyone, that can help you follow trends in your categories.
In addition to more data, we’ve also added several key features to help you inform your strategies.
Nearly nine out of 10 smartphone users are not absolutely certain of the brand they want to buy when they begin looking for information online.3 That’s a huge number of consumers looking to uncover new brands and products. With this new feature, retailers can track the relative popularity of various brands within a category and adjust their strategies accordingly.
For example, the most-searched backpack brands of last 12 months were JanSport, Fjällräven and The North Face, classic brands that have been around for at least 50 years. Searches for the category and all three brands peaked during back-to-school season in 2018, and saw slight growth during the holiday season.
Example: Relative search volume for top backpack brands, Oct 2017 - Oct, 2018
But if you reset your time range in Shopping Insights to the holiday season in 2017 (see below), you’ll find that a very different brand was popular in search. MCM, a luxury brand that specializes in “street luxe”–a fashion trend popular among millennial shoppers–was the most-searched brand when consumers were shopping for backpacks. It continued to grow in December, even when searches for other brands were tailing off, peaking on December 25. In fact, MCM was also the only luxury brand in the top 10. By tracking this data weekly, marketers can optimize their tactics in season, and respond to changing consumer preferences within different categories.
Example: Relative search volume for top backpack brands, Nov 1 - Dec 31, 2017
You can also use Shopping Insights to understand the relative importance of brands within different categories, and how consumers search for products. In the example above, while MCM was the most searched brand, the top three brands were only mentioned in ~8 percent of the queries. This means most users were searching using keywords that described the category and characteristics of the products they were looking for, rather than specific brands.
In contrast, for video game consoles, the top three brands were mentioned in ~90 percent of the queries. Whether shoppers are searching for specific products, using broader shopping queries or brands, knowing this information will help you adjust your marketing strategy. Showcase Shopping ads, for example, can help retailers tap into consumer demand in such categories.
Example: Shopping searches and top brands in Backpacks category, Nov 1 - Dec 31, 2017
Subscribe to personalized reports with weekly and monthly trendsYou can now create up to 10 weekly and monthly email reports for the products and categories you want to follow, so you don’t miss current or future trends. We’ll send you additional data on popular, growing and trending products and brands. For example, in our monthly category reports, we determine which products are trending up or down by removing noise and seasonality effects from the product’s search volume. In weekly reports, you can see which products grew the most in the previous week, as well as any outliers.
Example: Monthly report about trends in Backpacks, September, 2018
Example: Weekly highlights report for Backpacks, Sep 30 - Oct 06, 2018
Getting started with Shopping InsightsThe Shopping Insights Tool is available on desktop and mobile in the U.S. Start exploring the data and subscribe for free reports on Shopping Insights today.
1. Google/Ipsos, “Shopping Tracker,” Oct - Dec 2017, Online survey, US, n=3,613 online Americans 13+ who shopped in the past two days.
2. Google/Ipsos, “Shopping Tracker”,April - June 2018, Online survey, US, n=2703 adults 18+ who shopped in the past two days
3. Google / Ipsos Connect, Jan. 2018, Playbook Omnibus 2018, n=1,604 US online smartphone users, A18+
Get charged up with Google MapsGet charged up with Google Maps
We built Google Maps to help people get where they need to go no matter what mode of transportation they use. Our newest feature brings helpful information about electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to the Map, so you can be confident that your car will be charged and ready for your ride, wherever you’re headed. Here’s how it works:
A quick search for keywords like “ev charging” or “EV charging stations" will display the nearest supported stations. To help you make a quick decision about which station to use, we’ll show you information about the business where the station is located, the types of ports available, charging speeds, and how many ports there are. You’ll also see information about the station from drivers, including photos, ratings, reviews and questions.
In addition, businesses that have charging stations will now feature a link to information about the chargers.
Google Maps now supports charging stations around the world, including:
Global: Tesla, Chargepoint
US:SemaConnect, EVgo, Blink
UK:Chargemaster, Pod Point
AU & NZ: Chargefox
The ability to search for electric vehicle charging stations starts rolling out today on Android and iOS, with desktop launching in the coming weeks. To get started on mobile, update your Google Maps app from the App Store or Play Store today.
Our newest feature brings helpful information about electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to the Map, so you can be confident that your car will be charged and ready for your ride, wherever you’re headed.Reach YouTube users on connected TVs with new TV screen device categoryReach YouTube users on connected TVs with new TV screen device category
On average, users watch over 180 million hours of YouTube on TV screens every day1. We know that marketers want in on this shift in viewing behavior, so we’ve been hard at work building a rich YouTube experience for set-top boxes, gaming consoles, streaming devices like Chromecasts and smart TVs of all stripes.
Today we’re launching the TV screens device type to make it easy for you to find engaged, valuable audiences while they are watching YouTube on that original device purpose-built for watching video: the TV. The TV screens device type joins computers, mobile phones and tablets in Google Ads and Display & Video 360, meaning you can tailor your campaigns for connected TVs – for example, by using a different creative or setting a specific device bid adjustment. You can also see reporting for ads that run on TV screens to help you determine the impact of these ads within your overall mix.
We’ve already seen that people react positively to ads on the TV screen – based on Ipsos Lab Experiments, YouTube ads shown on TV drove a significant lift in ad recall and purchase intent, with an average lift of 47 percent and 35 percent respectively2. And customers like Pixability are voicing their excitement for the feature:
“Consumers are cutting the cord and this is a tremendous opportunity for advertisers to reach their audiences in the living room with digital video. With the launch of TV Screens device targeting and measurement on YouTube, our customers are better able to understand how their audiences are watching TV screens, and connect with those audiences as they're engaged in leaned-back viewing.” – David George, CEO, Pixability
Start reaching users on devices that stream TV content – such as smart TVs, gaming consoles, and streaming devices like Chromecast – today. To learn how, click here.
1 Google Internal Data, Global, June 2018. Based on 7 day average for TV watch time
2 Google/Ipsos Lab Experiment, US, March 2018 (32 ads, 800 US residents 18-64 y/o)
The Applied Computing Series gets college students into computer scienceThe Applied Computing Series gets college students into computer science
What do fighting wildfires, searching for dogs in photos and using portrait mode on your phone have in common? Data science and machine learning. Experts across a range of businesses and industries are using data to give machines the ability to “learn” and complete tasks.
But as the field of data science is rapidly growing, workforce projections show that there isn’t enough new talent to meet increasing demand for these roles, especially in machine learning. Given the nationwide scarcity of computer science faculty, we’ve been thinking about how to give students a hands-on computer science education, without CS PHD educators.
At a handful of colleges across the country, we’re piloting the Applied Computing Series (ACS): two college-level introductory computer science and data science courses and a machine learning intensive. The Series will help students understand how to use the best available tools to manipulate and understand data and then solve critical business problems.
Students at Bay Path University learning Python programming as part of our first ACS cohort of universities.
The machine learning intensive is meant for students who have already taken introductory computer science classes and who want to pursue more advanced coursework. The intensive will ultimately prepare them for opportunities as data engineers, technical program managers, or data analysts in industries ranging from healthcare to insurance to entertainment and media. Through partnerships with colleges and universities, we provide industry-relevant content and projects; and colleges and universities provide experienced faculty to lead in-class project work and provide coaching for students.
The Applied Computing courses are currently available to students at eight colleges and universities: Adrian College, Agnes Scott College, Bay Path University, Heidelberg University, Holy Names University, Lasell College, SUNY Buffalo State, and Sweet Briar College. If you’re a university and want to apply to be a site for the Applied Computing courses in the fall of 2019, find out more on our website.
The machine learning intensive will start in February 2019 at Mills College and again during the summer session at Agnes Scott College, Bay Path University, Heidelberg University and Scripps College and is open for applications from all U.S. students. If you’re a student who has already completed college-level computer and/or data science coursework and want to apply for the machine learning intensive, learn more at our website.At a handful of colleges across the country, we’re piloting the Applied Computing Series (ACS): two college-level introductory computer science and data science courses and a machine learning intensive
Helping shoppers buy effortlessly from Best Buy, Nike, and Sephora over the holidaysHelping shoppers buy effortlessly from Best Buy, Nike, and Sephora over the holidays
Today, 76% of U.S. holiday shoppers over 18 use three or more channels.1 At the same time, they expect their experiences to be fast, frictionless, and personalized wherever they are, on whatever device they use. A recent study shows that Google is the first place US shoppers go to discover or find a new brand or product. With Shopping Actions, they can move seamlessly from browsing to buying with a universal cart that works across Search, the Google Assistant, and Google Express whether they’re on mobile, desktop or even a Google Home device.
Today, we’re announcing new Shopping Actions partnerships with Nike, Best Buy, and Sephora, enabling shoppers to search and shop effortlessly for tens of thousands of products ahead of this holiday season.
Best Buy knows that when it comes to buying tech, it’s important that customers can shop how, when and where they want. With Shopping Actions, Best Buy’s products are now available on Google Express. Shoppers can use their voice to ask the Google Assistant to check store hours, order status, or even place an order.
"We’re committed to enriching lives with technology, and part of that means giving people the tools they need to research and buy in stores, online and at home. This partnership let’s our customers explore the latest tech in a whole new way."
-Allison Peterson, President of E-commerce, Best Buy
As the first brand from the Footwear and Apparel industry to join Shopping Actions, Nike makes it easy for shoppers to discover and buy from a rich online assortment. Whether they are shopping through Search or with their voice on the Google Assistant, later this month shoppers will be able to find and buy Nike products directly on Google’s platforms.
"We’re excited to partner with Google and together deliver premium Nike content and inspiring experiences to consumers. We’ll enable frictionless discovery and purchase of Nike products across Google’s ecosystem and elevate the consumer experience with direct access to Nike products and additional benefits when they add their NikePlus membership at checkout."
- Eric Wood, VP of Digital Partnerships, Nike
Sephora is passionate about seamless shopping. Across their award-winning App, website, and 400+ stores, Sephora constantly innovates to offer a connected, smart and fast shopping experience. With 1 out of 3 last-minute shoppers saying they choose where to buy gifts based on how soon they can get them, Sephora saw a perfect fit with Shopping Actions.2 Sephora clients can now buy across Google’s properties and earn valuable Beauty Insider points with each purchase as part of Sephora’s robust loyalty program -- with overnight delivery to almost anywhere in the US.
Get startedNike, Best Buy, and Sephora join hundreds of other merchants already taking part in the program, a 7x increase since we first launched the program. It's easier than ever to join Google Shopping Actions, thanks to integrations with e-commerce solution partners including ChannelAdvisor, CommerceHub, Feedonomics, and Zentail. Even more are coming soon.
1. Google/Ipsos, U.S., Omnichannel Holiday Study, Holiday shoppers 18+ who shopped in previous 48 hours, n=5944, Nov. 2017–Jan. 2018.
2. Google/Ipsos, U.S., Omnichannel Holiday Study, Holiday shoppers 18+ who were last minute shoppers n=1121, Nov. 2017–Jan. 2018.