A High School Student, An Inexpensive Ebola Test and a $50,000 Grand Prize  A science fair took place where 20 finalists’ projects – originally selected from thousands of submissions from more than 100 countries – came from 11 countries: Bosnia, Canada, France, India, Lithuania, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This […]

Google Life Sciences to Focus on Diabetes Outcomes Through Data and Disease-Centric Approaches  Earlier in the week, it was reported in WIRED (and other publications) that the newly created Alphabet holding company’s Google Life Sciences has its first big mission — developing new ways to treat and manage diabetes. In a sign that the company is serious […]

I read with interest the restructuring announcements from Google this week, as they rebrand the parent company into Alphabet, building out the letters with innovative products and business models — starting with “G” for Google, which remains a wholly-owned subsidiary. It’s a bold move for a company that doesn’t want to be conventional. This got me thinking about […]

They say that imitation is the best form of flattery. The new Google OnHub looks, well, almost identical to the Amazon Echo — both are cylindrical towers. Google’s is a Wi-Fi hub that’s designed to be a central controller for everything Google-owned or “approved” that can keep you entertained through your TV (or Android phone […]

On Monday evening, after spending a bit of time on social media as well as searching the internet (on Google no less), I came upon an article that announced a major shake-up of Google’s operating structure, creating a new holding company which will contain subsidiaries to separate its core internet businesses from ventures including driver-less […]

Hypersign today announced the availability of a new digital signage solution for K-12 in collaboration with Google and Samsung Electronics America. The bundled offering enables students and staff to receive a wide range of content on digital signage and desktop PCs such as standard school broadcasts to timely alerts for emergency preparedness. With the combination […]

Since last year’s Digital Signage Expo and the introduction of Chrome’s single app kiosk mode, many customers and developers have built digital signage applications on Chromeboxes. Now, Chrome is coming to digital signage in an even bigger way: The Chrome Sign Builder is designed to help create intelligent digital signs that are easy to build, […]

Home automation has long been the domain of the upper middle class and wealthy. Expensive, professionally installed proprietary systems have traditionally dominated the home automation landscape. The rise of mobile tech and ubiquitous wireless communications — combined with less expensive and more powerful sensors and electronics — are finally enabling the availability of relatively affordable devices. […]

It began in August 2013 when Google introduced the Chromecast. A small, Rubenesque HDMI dongle that allows you to stream music and video to your TV or home theater, the $35 Chromecast was an instant hit. This groovy petite player allows popular media services like Pandora, YouTube, and Netflix to easily be sent to your home theater from any […]

By Christopher Bundy CORE Brands This is still our industry… isn’t it? A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Google (Nest) taking steps to get deeper in the home automation industry with its purchase of home hub company Revolv. The company did this to acquire talent more than Revolv’s product offering, as part of […]

Meet Google’s Security Princess. From an article published in Elle Magazine in August of this year, the header gives a unique description of her: As Google’s top hacker, Parisa Tabriz thinks like a criminal—and manages the brilliant, wonky guys on her team with the courage and calm of a hostage negotiator. Whoa. Weeks back I […]

Every Friday we give you a second look at some of the top stories from the week. This week we are featuring a post from Gary Kayye where he asks the question, “Will Google or Amazon buy CEDIA?” In addition, Almo Professional A/V has added three new manufacturer partners, Comprehensive Cable, TASCAM and Tightrope Media […]

Have you heard the news? As you are well aware of by now, the hottest smart home product ever sold is the Nest HVAC controller. In fact, it was so hot that Google took note earlier this year and bought the company for a little over $3 Billion. Well yesterday, Amazon was outed for secretly […]

Last week I published a blog on the Internet of Things and convergence, basically highlighting two companies — Cisco and Google as those leading the way in IoT and IT. However I felt the need to clarify that while I mentioned the cloud collaboration environment that Cisco has built through acquisitions as strategic to an overall […]

SYNNEX Corporation has announced that it is the first distributor to offer Google Play for Education on tablets to authorized solution providers. Especially beneficial for K-3 environments that use a high level of touch devices in the classroom, Google Play for Education gives resellers the ability to sell management of both tablets and content, including […]

In a true move of AV/IT convergence, Google has acquired AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc for $8.6 Billion Dollars. Google has been matching Apple point for point with their mobile OS Android, the Google Play Store, ChromeCast, Nest and Google Nexus tablets. It seems they are now trying to round out the content and media creation ends […]

Vidyo announced details of a partnership with Google – a software-based solution that enables H.323/SIP video conferencing and IP PBX systems to connect users into Google+ Hangout Sessions. The new product will extend usability by allowing connectivity with existing business voice and video solutions from Cisco, Polycom, Lifesize, Avaya and Vidyo. VidyoH2O for Google+ Hangouts […]

The biggest news in electronics the week after the giant CES (Consumer Electronics Show) wasn’t even talked about at CES because it happened the very next day. Google puts up $3.2 Billion to buy Nest, the three year old company started by former Apple design guys Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers. Nest is best known […]

It is more common to talk about new trends that could shape an industry at the beginning of the year than in the middle of spring. There is no rule about this, it just seems right to do it at the beginning of the year. However, this does not mean that the industry does not […]

It was supposed to save TV makers all the trouble of launching and maintaining their own Internet web sites and, in theory, Google’s long history of delivering search data online could be leveraged to finally conquer the television programming guide, with a catch-all guide that would allow users never to miss another episode of Psych […]

Google bought video conferencing software from Sweden’s Marratech. Just to clarify, they bought the software product, not the company itself. Marratech technology comes from research at the Centre for Distance-Spanning Technology (CDT) at Luleae University of Technology. It was initially developed for distance learning but turned into e-meeting and web collaboration software. The deal “will […]