Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt speaks during the 2014 SXSW Festival in Austin on March 7, 2014Heather Kennedy / Getty Imageshttp://time.com/author/stephanie-burnett/The visiting team spent two days in the Cuban capital to encourage an open Internet
Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt has visited Cuba to promote “a free and open Internet,” the country’s independent online newspaper 14yMedio reported on Saturday.
Company executives Jared Cohen, Brett Perlmutter and Dan Keyserling also joined the trip, said the news site, which is run by dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez.
The visiting team reportedly “met with officials,” spoke “with youth at polytechnic schools” and visited the University of Computer Sciences.
According to AFP, Google’s visit was not reported in any official Cuban media. In her blog, Generation Y, Sanchezwrote, “We didn’t ask him any questions, and we didn’t want any answers, we just told him who we are and what we are trying to do.”
U.S.-based Schmidt confirmed the business trip in a Google+ postand criticized the U.S. embargo on the Latin American country.
“Cuba will have to open its political and business economy, and the U.S. will have to overcome our history and open the embargo. Both countries have to do something that is hard to do politically, but it will be worth it,” he wrote.
Only government-approved professionals and specialists can access the Internet from their homes in Cuba.
We hope you didn't blow all your cash on that Surface Pro 3. Tom's Hardware says that a "trusted source with knowledge of the development" has verified that a Microsoft smartwatch will be released in October.
There aren't really a lot of details about hardware or pricing yet, but here's what Tom's claims they do know:
The Microsoft smartwatch won't be bulky like the recently announced LG G Watch or theSamsung Gear Live that run Android Wear. Instead, it will be slim, like a thinner, flatter version of the Nike Fuelband.
It will feature a built-in heart-rate monitor.
The display will be on the inside of the wrist unlike most current smartwatches to make it feel more natural.
The device will be cross-platform. You will be able to use it with iOS, Android and Windows Phone (and, presumably, Windows PCs and Macs).
There will be 11 sensors under the hood.
Would you buy a smartwatch from Microsoft? And how much would you pay for it? [Tom's Hardware]
Back in the early 2000s, travel search engines caused panic among venerable career travel agents. Sites like Orbitz, Travelocity, and Priceline wowed tourists and businesses alike with low prices and flashy features. While online travel booking became the norm, the do-it-yourself novelty quickly faded into a hellscape of kitschy commercials, obscure policies, and redundant searches. The Internet-booked honeymoon was over. But it doesn’t have to be that way! One of Google’s less-celebrated features might just make that affordable coveted summer getaway a possibility.
In September 2011, Google unveiled Flight Search. It was still in its nascent stages, but it brought Google’s user-friendly design to the online travel bookings—far away from the garden gnomes and shouting William Shatners that represented the alternative. Then, in December 2012, things got more interesting when the tech giant announced Flight Explorer, which allowed users to view a bar graph showing airfare prices throughout the year—enabling them to get a good look at when prices were a bit more budget-friendly. Users can set limits on price, airlines, dates, stops, and duration of flight.
Best of all, Flight Search integrated Google Maps technology into search functionality, allowing users to enter their departure city, then view a map of the globe. Under each city name is the total airfare. Earlier this month, Google gave “Flights” a makeover, announcing new features that allow users to view airfare by day/month while in maps mode. The company even incorporated its famous “I’m Feeling Lucky” button for more adventurous travelers.
A New Yorker looking to go to Europe in August will see prices around $1,000 in most cities, but a bit of digging shows Copenhagen with a lower fare. A quick tap on the Danish city shows prices dipping as low as $600 for a direct, round-trip flight in late August and early September. And all of this is nearly instantaneous. Other search engines are slow and finicky—requiring users to backtrack and guess new locations and dates to scour for better fares. (A recent search for me also repeatedly and inexplicably changed my departure city from Washington, D.C., to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.)
While everyone continues to distract themselves with Google Glass fashions, Google continues to be Google—quietly making improvements to its bread-and-butter products and striking fear in the hearts of competitors. (Or simply buying them). In this case, it means an affordable trip to Europe. Where you can forget your worries. And be forgotten.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter needs to go. Photo by Michael Bradley/Getty Images
A crazy opening day to the World Cup got crazier when ESPN’s Jorge Ramos reported that FIFA has asked U.S. soccer to prepare an organizing committee if the 2022 World Cup does not happen in Qatar.
Update, June 12, 2014, 9:55 p.m.:Ramos has since deleted the tweet in which he made the report, and U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati has flatly denied the report as "simply not true." Gulati, who sits on FIFA's executive committee, told New York Times reporter Sam Borden "they haven't asked us and I cannot imagine it happening anytime soon."
If the report is true, it could mean a couple of things, but the implication is that FIFA’s internal investigation into charges of corruption related to the decision to award the tournament to Qatar has the world soccer governing body considering a revote.
Earlier this month the Sunday Times of London reported that it had a giant cache of emails, bank statements, and letters proving that a man lobbying for Qatar made $5 million worth of bribes in an effort to influence the decision.
As a soccer fan, my initial reaction to hearing that the World Cup might be coming back to my home country instead of going to a nation whose tournament prep has been marred by labor rights issues and bribery accusations was “please, please, please, please, please.”
But then I remembered just how corrupt FIFA is, and how corrupt the organization will continue to be even if the tournament is ultimately awarded to the United States or another non-Qatar country. There’s no quick fix for FIFA’s long list of sins—for a refresher course on many of them, watch this amazing John Oliver rant. But a good first step would be to start from the top with the removal of President Sepp Blatter.
On Wednesday, Blatter said he planned on running for a fifth term as FIFA president despite calls from European soccer officials for him to step down, including the president of the European soccer federation, Michel Platini, and English soccer federation chairman Greg Dyke.
Every country offered to rebid or bid for the 2022 World Cup, including the United States, should make one of the conditions of accepting to present a bid that Blatter retire. If enough big countries do this, then the 78-year-old Swiss will either be pressured to not seek a new term, or FIFA will be exposed as the crooked, unaccountable organization that it is. If the world rejects FIFA, then sponsors can’t possibly be far behind.
Obviously, this is all incredibly fanciful. If the U.S. were to surprise everyone and attempt something like this, then it’s unlikely anyone else would join them and FIFA would probably just award the tournament to another country, like England or Australia. But the ignominy of being rejected by America would shine one of the biggest spotlights ever on FIFA’s venality, and put more pressure on the group’s corporate sponsors then ever before. Even if all of this failed, at least it would be a true example of American exceptionalism in choosing not to lie down with dogs.
In a live TV segment of CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Friday, co-anchor Simon Hobbs caused a kerfuffle when he inadvertently "outed" Apple CEO Tim Cook as being openly gay. The gaffe came during a discussion with New York Times columnist and CNBC contributor James Stewart, who was on the show to talk up his latest think piece dealing with corporate culture and gay executives.
Specifically, Stewart told "Squawk" anchor Carl Quintanilla that his most recent column focuses on former BP chief John Browne, who recently wrote a book dealing with the "tortured life" he led as a closeted gay CEO. Browne resigned from his post at the huge multinational oil and gas company in 2007 after being outed by a tabloid.
Stewart said he was surprised to learn that Browne is the first executive of a Fortune 500 or FTSE 100 company to publicly acknowledge that they are gay. The column explores why, in spite of civil rights advances, a stigma appears to exist at such high levels of business.
"I just found it very, very fascinating," Stewart said. "Of course, there are gay CEOs in major companies, and I reached out to many them. I got an extremely cool reception — not one would allow to be named in the column."
Then Hobbs jumped in.
"I think Tim Cook is open about the fact he's gay at the head of Apple, isn't he," Hobbs asked. Following a stifling silence from the panel, and a disparaging shake of the head from Stewart, the anchor tried to recover. "Oh, dear, was that an error? I thought not."
The irony of Hobbs' ill-timed mistake was not lost on co-anchor David Faber, who said, "Wow, I think you just...yeah."
Listening closely, Hobbs can be heard just under the prattle of his co-anchors trying to cover for the slip, saying, "I think he's very open about it."
While Cook speaks somewhat frankly about Apple, he is notoriously guarded when it comes to his private life.
Speculation as to Cook's sexual orientation has been bandied about — a profile from Valleywagwent so far as to call Cook the "most powerful gay man in Silicon Valley" — but the Apple chief has never "come out" publicly. Perhaps the closest thing to an acknowledgement was a speech Cook gave in December when he accepted a lifetime achievement award from his alma mater Auburn University. In it, he alluded to discrimination from his past, which was "rooted in fear of people that were different than the majority."
That Hobbs' comment — and executives' reluctance to be named in Stewart's column — created such a flap speaks to the current cultural climate of the corporate world, even for industries that pride themselves on being progressive. Apple itself has on multiple occasions shown support for sexual equality: contributing $100,000 to fight California's gay marriage ban in 2008; publiclyapplauding a U.S. Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriages in 2013; and asking Arizona's governor to veto a bill intended to legalize discrimination against gays and lesbians.
As for Cook, Stewart chose not to offer remarks on what is clearly speculation.
"I don't want to comment on anybody who might or might not be," Stewart said. "I'm not going to out anybody."
Sundar Pichai, a senior vice president at Google, spoke about Android’s expansion during his keynote address at the Google I/O developers conference in San Francisco.
SAN FRANCISCO — Google wants to be everywhere: in your home, your car and even on your wrist.
That vision became increasingly clear at the search giant’s annual conference for software developers here on Wednesday. The company unveiled plans to expand Android, its mobile operating system, for new categories like wearable computers and automobiles.
The announcements came on the heels of the company’s recent acquisition of Nest Labs, the thermostat maker, for $3.2 billion, which gave Google a speedy entry into the nascent market of Internet-connected home appliances.
“This is one of the most comprehensive releases we have done,” said Sundar Pichai, chief of Google’s Android division, in front of a convention center crowded with 6,000 software developers.
Google’s annual software developers’ conference, called Google I/O, has become an important place for the company to woo app makers to build software for its Android software system, which powers more than one billion devices.
Rallying app developers is increasingly vital for Google as competition grows with rivals like Apple and Samsung Electronics, which are also expanding their device and software portfolios.
“What’s striking is the way each of these three major companies — Google, Microsoft and Apple — are seeking to participate across four key domains: the home, the car, the body and the mobile world at large,” said Jan Dawson, an independent telecom analyst for Jackdaw Research. Google said a coming version of Android for smartphones and tablets, tentatively named Android L, would include new features, like smarter authentication and anti-theft software.
If a user is wearing a smartwatch paired with the device, he can unlock the phone without entering a passcode. When the watch is removed, the phone will require a passcode again. Google also said that Android L, which will be available in the fall, would include a so-called kill switch for rendering a device unusable if it were stolen.
In Android L, Google overhauled the design of its software system powering smartphones and tablets. Similar to Apple and Microsoft, Google adopted a“flat” design with more vibrant colors and added effects like shadows and animations. For example, when a user taps the screen, a small water ripple appears on the tapped area.
Dave Burke, director of engineering for Android, controls an Android TV by phone.
Google also shared its ambition to push Android deeper into areas beyond mobile devices, revealing details on Android Wear, a special version of Android tailored for smartwatches, which it introduced this year.
Google said Android Wear was customized to show immediately useful information, like message notifications, the status of a package shipment or the status of traffic for a commuter. The smartwatch system is controlled by speaking or by swiping the touch screen.
When a user is traveling, the watch system will continue to bring up relevant contextual information based on his location, like the local bus schedule or the weather, according to Google.
Google said two smartwatches including Android Wear — Samsung’s Gear Live and LG’s G watch — would be available to order in its online retail store, Play, on Wednesday.
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An LG G smartwatch, which is available on Play, the Google online store.CreditJeff Chiu/Associated Press
For television, Google announced Android TV. Users can speak voice commands into a smartwatch to search for programs and Google will find the programs if they are available for purchase in its online Play store.
Searching “Breaking Bad,” for example, will bring up the show and information about it. Users can also stream music and games from their tablets and smartphones to Android TV. Google said it had become partners with Sony, Sharp and Asus. Products including Android TV should arrive in the fall, Google said.
Television has been a tough market for Google, and Android TV is its fourth attempt to push Android into television. One of its earlier attempts included Google TV, which came with a clunky remote and many limitations to what people could watch.
Google has found some success with Chromecast, a stick that plugs into TVs and allows users to stream content from their smartphones or computers to the television. Released last year, Chromecast has been a top seller on Amazon. Google on Wednesday said it had improved Chromecast, allowing any phone to connect to the device without having to be on the same Wi-Fi network.
Brian Blau, an analyst for Gartner, said Google’s new TV strategy fit much better with its apps and web ecosystem. But he noted that with the example of using a smartwatch as a remote for the TV, he felt the company was being unrealistic.
“They appeared to be implying that your watch should now be the center of your smart device attention, and that just won’t be the case,” he said. “It makes apps look dumb and less functional.”
Google also announced a version of Android customized for cars, called Android Auto. Google said it streamlined the design of the system to keep people’s eyes off the screen and on the road. It emphasizes access to maps, phone contacts and playlists, allowing users to use those features with the tap of a button or voice control. The car system will pair with a smartphone.
In addition, the company is also trying to aggressively expand in business computing. Google showed several changes to its businesses offerings, which include things like corporate email and spreadsheets delivered online, along with storage and videoconferencing.
A version of Android customized for cars, called Android Auto. CreditJeff Chiu/Associated Press
Google unveiled additions to Drive, its online storage service, tailored for businesses. Google said companies would be able to audit which employees were reading what documents, more easily encrypt documents and gain access and work with documents stored in older formats, like Microsoft Office.
All of that is tied with an effort to improve battery life for Android devices, with a tool called Project Volta. A presentation of the feature was interrupted by a protester who stood in front of the stage holding a banner that read “Develop a conscience.” The protester said she was being evicted by a property owner who was a Google employee, before she was escorted out by security guards.
Soon after, she was replaced by another shouting protester who called Google “a company that builds machines that kill people.”
