Google Products To Change The World

9 ways Google is changing the world

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella thumbed his nose at Google for its various "moonshot" projects, currently housed at Google's semi-secret X Labs.

When asked if Microsoft could learn a thing or two from X Labs, Nadella retorted that there's always something to learn from "from people who market themselves well."

He was right to some degree. Project X creates a lot of hype for Google even though most of those projects aren't quite ready for the public.

But you've still got to hand it to Google for being so ambitious about ventures others would label "implausible" to "impossible."

Google has already changed the world with its various software services and platforms like Gmail, Google Maps, Android, and of course Google search, but what Google is working on next is even more awe inspiring.

Google glass: The head-mounted optical display is one of the only projects to actually leave the Google X labs. Though it has some practical applications for searching and navigating, it's still not quite ready for consumers just yet it's still in beta and has a prohibitive $1,500 price tag.

Still, Google's wearable technology has found important enterprise, military and government uses. In June, Nepal's government and military opted to use Google Glass to track its various wild animals, but also poachers that threatened the country's endangered flora and fauna.

Self-driving car: The first official X Labs project, Google has spent the last four years developing its autonomous cars with the help of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, even if "the technology is ahead of the law in many areas," as one attorney for the California Department of Motor Vehicles put it to The New York Times.

Most recently, Google unveiled a new prototype of its self-driving car that has no wheels or pedals. Though it's a cute design, Google said it aims on pitching its incredibly intelligent software, called Google Chauffeur, to automobile manufacturers, giving them the data and tools they need to bring the noble technology to market.

Smart contact lens:The lens, which contains a mini glucose sensor and a wireless chip, aims to help people living with diabetes by measuring the sugar levels in their tears.

It's only been in development for two years now, but last month, Google announced it will be working with Novartis' eye-care division called "Alcon" to bring the smart contact lens to market.

Google loon: Like Mark Zuckerberg's Internet.org initiative, Project Loon aims to bring internet access to the two-thirds of the world that don't have it yet except Google's solution involves Wi-Fi enabled hot air balloons that remain in the stratosphere for about 100 days at a time to create a big 3G-like wireless network.

Though it's faced a few bumps along the way, Project Loon actually reached its one-year milestone in mid-June. However, it's not quite ready yet: Google's X chief Astro Teller told Wired the company is improving the balloons' flight times.

Machine Vision: To organize the world's data and multimedia, Google (with the help of its DeepMind acquisition) is working on giving computers "corresponding perception capabilities," so machines can do things like "listen to soundtracks and music, and build descriptions of their perceptions."

Google is constantly updating its research archives with new papers, describing how to do things like annotate images and video and be able to describe visual objects, but most recently, Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page sat down with VC Vinod Khosla last month to insist "we will be able to make machines that can reason, think and do things better than we can."

Makani power: Google previously invested in the green energy startup, but eventually purchased Makani Power last May and wrapped the team into its Google X Labs.

Google believes airborne wind turbines could be the dominant form of clean energy, and though the technology presents some serious challenges, the company currently has a working prototype. Google's April purchase of drone maker Titan Aerospace will also reportedly help Makani achieve its goals of bringing clean, efficient wind-powered energy to the US

Android Covering the World's Smartphone Market....

Android grabs 85 percent of World's Smartphone Market

Smartphones powered by the Android operating system captured 85 percent of the worldwide market in the second quarter, threatening to marginalize rival platforms, a new survey shows.

Strategy Analytics said overall smartphone shipments were up 27 percent from a year ago to 295 million, with most of the growth in devices using Android, the free mobile system from Google.

Apple's iPhone managed to increase sales to 35 million in the quarter, the survey showed, but Apple's global market share fell to 11.9 percent from 13.4 percent a year ago, said the report released Wednesday.

"Android is on the verge of turning smartphone platforms into a one-horse race," said Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston.

"Its low-cost services and user-friendly software remain wildly attractive to hardware makers, operators and consumers worldwide. Rival OS vendors are going to have to do something revolutionary to overturn Android's huge lead in smartphone shipments."

Mawston said the only significant threats to Android are the large-screen iPhones expected to come from Apple later this year and the ultra-low cost Firefox phones.

Global smartphone growth in the past quarter is at its lowest level for five years, according to the survey, but there are wide regional differences.

"Africa and Asia are booming, while North America and Europe are maturing," said analyst Linda Sui.

According to Strategy Analytics, Microsoft saw Windows Phone sales decline to eight million units in the quarter from 8.9 million a year ago. That dropped its market share to 2.7 percent from 3.8 percent.

BlackBerry's woes are deepening, according to the survey, which found unit sales tumbling 66 percent to 1.9 million, and market share falling to 0.6 percent.

A report earlier this week from research firm IDC showed smartphone sales at a similar level of 295 million, with the largest gains coming from Chinese makers Lenovo and Huawei.

World‘s 10 most internet addicted countries

World‘s 10 most internet addicted countries

In this modern world Internet is the basic means for communication, trading, entertainment, knowledge, social engagement. With every passing day the utility of Internet is increasing worldwide with rise in flow of information. Here is a list of 10 most internet addicted countries in 2014:

1. Iceland. Iceland doesn't have the fastest internet service in the world, but 96.2% of population is connected. The denizens use renewable energy to access the web. They have been the core of international web traffic. 

2. Norway. With 95% of connected population, Norway became the first non-English speaking country to go online. It is among the top 10 countries having fastest internet speed.

3. Sweden. Globally Sweden holds 8th and 5th place in desktop and mobile internet access speed, respectively. The most influential torrent site "The Pirate Bay" was founded in Sweden in 2003. 94% of its population is online.

4. Netherlands. Netherlands has the fastest desktop internet speeds among the internet-addicted countries. After the country's 2010 initiatives, the availability of internet exploded from around 700,000 homes to over 7 million. 93% of the population is connected.

5. Denmark. Denmark has the 6th fastest desktop internet speed and the 2nd best mobile speed in the world. 93% of its population has access to internet.

6. Finland. Finland has a comprehensive web infrastructure and local country code '.fi'. It is the first country to declare fast broadband access as a part of human right in 2009, with the aim to provide 100 Mbps speed to all by 2015.

7. New Zealand. 89.5% of New Zealand's population has access to internet. It is 46th in the list of countries having highest download speed. The country aims to connect 97.8% of its population by 2019.

8. United Kingdom. With 87% of population online, UK was among first few countries to build up a modern web infrastructure, and the country code '.uk'.

9. Switzerland. Switzerland has the fastest internet connection in the world. 85.2% of the population is connected

10. Canada: In a country with 86.8 percent of online population, Canadian internet addicts suffer the extreme problem of worst connections in the developed world. A recent Net Index ranked Canada's upload speed at 5.67 Mbps, far below the global average of 7.6 Mbps, and while some regions do have much faster access available, the country's service providers offer at exceptionally uncompetitive rates.