Portraits of healthcare heroes on Google Arts & Culture
August 20th, 2020
In March, the UK locked down the country to contain the spread of COVID-19. For many, this led to a heightened period of dread and anxiety, but also creativity and heroism. During lockdown artist Tom Croft created #portraitsforNHSheroes to galvanize artists across the country to celebrate workers on the frontline. Tom collaborated with the charity…
Google Play is helping to safeguard elections
August 19th, 2020
At Google Play, our policies are designed to promote transparency for our users and help protect against misinformation. This work is critically important when it comes to safeguarding elections as people use apps to research candidates, register to vote, or find a polling place. As mobile apps disseminate voting information and increasingly support voting activity,…
A new way to video call with Google
August 19th, 2020
Like many people, I went through my fair share of “quarantine trends.” I baked all kinds of bread and organized a closet or two. Plenty of activities momentarily kept my interest over the last five months, but one thing that isn’t going anywhere? Video calling. While I miss visiting in person, for me, the next…
The sound of India’s AI potential
August 18th, 2020
On August 15, India’s Independence Day, it’s customary to sing Jana Gana Mana: the Indian national anthem, originally composed by the poet Rabindranath Tagore and adopted as the anthem after India gained full independence. This year, together with Prasar Bharati and Virtual Bharat, we offered Indians a new take on the familiar with Sounds of…
House music: New multi-room audio control from Nest
August 18th, 2020
As a new parent, my Nest home audio system has become a go-to, whether it’s to keep my daughter entertained during bathtime with some music…or keep myself entertained with a podcast while I’m making a bottle at 3 a.m. Controlling the audio throughout my home, no matter who’s listening has been incredibly helpful. Today, we’re…
Doodling for kindness: Check out our 54 contest winners
August 17th, 2020
In January, we kicked off the 12th annual Doodle for Google contest by inviting K-12 students across the country to submit their artistic interpretations of this year’s contest theme “I show kindness by…”. I was particularly excited about this year’s prompt, given how critical kindness is today. To me, showing kindness means doing your best…
Google’s AI hardware, in new hands
August 17th, 2020
A robot that turns portraits into manga. A vest that helps people navigate. Gloves that transmit the feeling of bird songs. These aren’t props from the set of a Sci-Fi movie, they’re a few of the finalist projects presented in New Orleans during the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST), the premier…
How Nikiya Simpson brought meaning to her work
August 14th, 2020
In 2009, Nikiya Simpson was dealing with burnout. She’d been working in data processing at a tech company for six years but recently found herself wanting “something more meaningful.” “I felt like the long nights and weekends, the overtime and stress, didn’t contribute to making anyone’s life better,” Nikiya says. “Especially my own.” Nikiya decided…
It’s Music Week on Inside Guide
August 14th, 2020
This summer is a weird one. The season known for long days, beaches, and cross-country road trips has moved indoors, where a lot of us are spending more time hanging out at home with our families. In this alt-version of summer, people are searching for new ways to spend their time—and we’d like to help….
Finding live TV shows and sports just got easier in Search
August 13th, 2020
Sports around the world look a little different this year, with important new measures to keep players, officials and fans safe. As the cheering section moves to the couch, everyone is asking the age-old question: “What channel is the game on?” So today we’re adding new features to Google Search in the U.S. to help…