Using passwords as a form of security may not be long for this world, not if Google gets its way. The Mountain View outfit's ATAP (Advanced Technology and Projects) division is hard at work on Project Abacus, a scheme that relies on biometric data to determine a person's identity rather than relying on traditional...Read more...
Rick Osterloh is returning home, so to speak, to Google to head the company’s newly hatched hardware division. Osterloh originally arrived at Google by way of the search giant’s purchase of Motorola in 2011. While under the Google umbrella, Osterloh was promoted to CEO of Motorola, but was unceremoniously booted from...Read more...
If the term “skin tag” grosses you out, you’re not alone, but the intestinally robust can now unlock their Moto X smartphone with a special sticker--an NFC-equipped skin tag--instead of a PIN or other tedious method. A product of collaboration between VivaLnk Inc (with its eSkinTM technology) and Google’s ATAP division,...Read more...
Perhaps it was inevitable, but Google’s Project Tango team has expanded its device experimentation beyond smartphones into tablets. The tablet will, like the Project Tango smartphone, provide real-time 3D mapping overlays of real environments using cameras and sensors. According to the Wall Street Journal’s sources, Google is planning...Read more...
The first Project Ara Developers Conference is underway, and the big news up front is that Google’s ATAP team will get the first model to market in January 2015, and it will cost a mere fifty bucks--at least for developers to make. It’s not yet known how much the devices will cost at retail, but presumably...Read more...
When Google unexpectedly sold off Motorola to Lenovo after investing heavily in the Moto X and Moto G smartphones and owning the Motorola brand for less than two years, the fate of the Project Ara modular smartphone seemed doomed, but it appears that the project is very much alive and well. According to Time’s...Read more...
The latest off-the-wall endeavor from Google is called “Project Tango”, and it’s a smartphone equipped with technology that can 3D map any environment you find yourself in--in real time. A product of Google’s ATAP (Advanced Technology And Projects) group, Project Tango takes a quarter million...Read more...
Choosing a recordable DVD drive has always been somewhat of a difficult task. There was a bit of initial uncertainty as some wondered which format would win out, DVD+R or DVD–R. After all, each format has its advantages. In the end, however, unlike the Beta vs VHS battles of the early 80s, this war was quelled...Read more...
For years Plextor has set the standard for optical drives in both quality and features, being the first to bring major innovations to market on a number of occasions. These days, the competition fierce, with cheaper offerings available that can compete on the same performance level as slightly more expensive Plextor products. However, what...Read more...