9-Year-Old Returns Thousands Of Dollars Found In Parking Lot

WALPOLE, MA- A heartwarming story out of Massachusetts.

As a nine-year-old girl turns in an envelope she found on the street stuffed with nearly $3,000.

The money then making its way back to the owner, 91-year-old woman who had accidentally lost it.

The girl found the envelope in the parking lot next to a Walpole Park where she was attending summer camp on Monday.

FOX 29 News Philadelphia | WTXF-TV

Something drew her attention to the bin where she came across the loot.

"She knew it wasn't hers so she went and told the director and she in turn told me," said Officer John Thayer of Walpole Police.

Officer Thayer in turn did some dumpster-diving himself to help find the money's owner.

"It was in between a couple of magazines and newspapers that had this person's name on it," Thayer explained.

Officer Thayer was able to track the cash to a 91-one-year-old woman in Belmont.

That's a good 40 miles from where the money turned up in Walpole.

Brought there accidentally by a friend of the woman who lives there.

"She did not even know it was gone it happened to be tossed out with the recycling they were cleaning out some items in her house and it must have got mixed up in the box," said Thayer.

And after meeting the girl's parents, it clear her compassion is spawned by their humility.

Fortunately for everyone involved, they got to see the fruits of their parenting.

Here's What Google's Game Controller For Android TV Looks Like

Google+ / Artem Russakovskii

Google will launch the Android TV later this year.

DAVE SMITH

Gaming will be a big focus in the new Android TV ecosystem launching this fall, as the software will allow users to play their mobile games right on their televisions.

Google says players can use their Android phones or tablets as controllers, but the company is also launching a unique game controller exclusive to Android TV — and now we know what it looks like.

According to Google I/O 2014 attendee Artem Russakovskii, who posted images of the Android TV game controller to his Google+ account, every Android TV box will ship with the game controller, which comes with two thumbsticks, a directional pad, four face buttons, shoulder buttons, four LEDs, a home button and two navigation buttons.

Basically, it’s an Xbox controller with a little bit of Android button flair (scroll down to see the controller in greater detail).

The images on Google+ seem to confirm a set of Android TV game controller renderings previously posted to Reddit a few days ago. The renders were apparently found buried within the official developer preview for Google's new Android L software.

We’ve reached out to Google to learn more about the controller — whether it will also be sold separately from the Android TV and work with other peripherals — and we’ll update this story when we learn more. However, Google did have the controllers available for testing at its I/O developers conference last week.

Games aside, the Android TV is Google’s second attempt at creating TV software, after Google TV flopped back in 2010. Android TV offers similar features to most TV set-top boxes, including the ability to search and stream movies and TV shows from video apps like YouTube, Netflix and HBO GO. And thanks to advanced voice search and its deep Knowledge Graph, Android TV can also answer complex queries like, “Who plays Johnny Blaze in ‘Ghost Rider’?” or “Oscar-nominated movies from 2005.”

Android TV will also offer full support for Chromecast, Google’s $35 TV streaming stick, and the Google Cast platform, which lets smartphone users beam their content to the Chromecast over the Wi-Fi network.

Here's another look at the Android TV game controller (via Reddit):

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/android-tv-game-controller-2014-6#ixzz36CA4dRYe

How Google and Apple Plan to Invade Your Next Car

Jared Newman for TIME

Jared Newman @OneJaredNewman

Between Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, the road to smarter cars is looking less rocky.

Just plug in your phone.

That simple step is how Apple and Google will shave years off the process of getting their software into automobiles. Instead of trying to bake iOS and Android into car makers’ infotainment systems, the two tech giants have come up with a workaround: You just plug in whatever phone you have, and send the software to the car by wire.

We’ve known for a while now that Apple was going this route withCarPlay. As announced in March, users will connect their phones to supported vehicles through a Lightning cable, and a specialized version of iOS takes over the center screen. You can then ask Siri for directions, put on some music, make a phone call through the car’s speaker system or dictate a text message. It’s supposed to be just as safe as any in-car dashboard–and much safer than looking down at your phone while driving.

Last week, Google announced a similar system called Android Auto. Instead of using a Lightning cable, it uses MicroUSB. Instead of speaking to Siri, you use Google voice search. Instead of Apple Maps for directions, you get Google Maps. Both Apple and Google are also soliciting app developers so that certain apps on your phone–such as your favorite streaming music service–will show up in the car.

Naoki Sugimoto, Senior Program Director for Honda’s Silicon Valley Lab, told me during Google’s I/O conference that it can take five years to develop a new car. But since Android Auto doesn’t involve specialized hardware, Honda has figured out how to quickly integrate Google’s software.

“These are mostly software features, so the way we work is to try to decouple software architecture from hardware architecture,” he said. “So this way, in the five-year process, we can wait until the last moment to put a new feature into the production schedule.”

And here’s the kicker: Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are similar enough in their underlying architecture that some auto makers–including Honda and Volvo–are planning to support iOS and Android at the same time. So at least in some vehicles, you won’t have to pledge allegiance to a single platform when you buy your car.

The plug-in system doesn’t just provide more choice for users. It also allows auto makers to retain some control over the dashboard, and frees Google and Apple from having to support things like FM radio, climate control and Bluetooth connectivity. For all those things, you’d still use the car’s built-in system. But when you want your car to be a little smarter, you’ll just bring along your cable of choice–MicroUSB or Lighting–and plug in the phone you’ve got. (Both Google and Apple are letting auto makers decide how the car’s native systems should integrate with Android Auto and CarPlay. Google is also letting auto makers add some of their own features to Android Auto, such as vehicle diagnostics and roadside service requests.)

The trade-off is that performance can be a little laggy–at least that was the case in my Android Auto demo at Google I/O last week–and you’ll always have to take the phone out of your pocket to use Android Auto or CarPlay. Maybe someday we’ll see a system that connects wirelessly to your phone while still providing the entire Android or iOS interface, but doing so today would cause a huge hit on the phone’s battery life. I imagine people will still rely on Bluetooth connectivity some of the time, even if it means having no apps and no on-board navigation.

I haven’t tried CarPlay yet, but I spent some time in a Honda demo car with Android Auto at Google’s I/O conference this week. In short, it looks like a much safer way to listen to music, make phone calls and get directions while driving. Both Apple and Google claim that their software will start showing up in cars later this year; I’m looking forward to when plugging in your phone is as common as popping in a CD once was.

Google Boss Eric Schmidt Leads a Visit to Cuba

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, Sanchez wrote, “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.

Microsoft's Cross-Platform Smartwatch Might Be Here In October

Pranav Dixit

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]

One of Google’s Least Heralded Features May Change Your Summer

Visit Amsterdam! 

Photo by ERIK VAN 'T WOUD/AFP/Getty Images

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.)

But not everyone has been happy about Google’s service. After acquiring ITA software for $700 million in 2010, online travel sites practically howled, forming an anti-Google alliance called FairSearch in response. Their arguments seemingly hinge on the fact that Google’s search results were much faster than their own, which is, in fact, the greatest benefit of the service. (Kayak offers a similar mapping service, with much slower results.)

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.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University.

Tyler Lopez is a writer living in Washington, D.C. Follow him on Twitter.