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This year’s Founders' Letter
28. April 2016
Every year, Larry and Sergey write a Founders' Letter to our stockholders updating them with some of our recent highlights and sharing our vision for the future. This year, they decided to try something new. - Ed.
In August, I announced Alphabet and our new structure and shared my thoughts on how we were thinking about the future of our business. (It is reprinted
here
in case you missed it, as it seems to apply just as much today.) I’m really pleased with how Alphabet is going. I am also very pleased with Sundar’s performance as our new Google CEO. Since the majority of our big bets are in Google, I wanted to give him most of the bully-pulpit here to reflect on Google’s accomplishments and share his vision. In the future, you should expect that Sundar, Sergey and I will use this space to give you a good personal overview of where we are and where we are going.
- Larry Page, CEO, Alphabet
When Larry and Sergey founded Google in 1998, there were about 300 million people online. By and large, they were sitting in a chair, logging on to a desktop machine, typing searches on a big keyboard connected to a big, bulky monitor. Today, that number is around 3 billion people, many of them searching for information on tiny devices they carry with them wherever they go.
In many ways, the founding mission of Google back in ’98—“to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”—is even truer and more important to tackle today, in a world where people look to their devices to help organize their day, get them from one place to another, and keep in touch. The mobile phone really has become the remote control for our daily lives, and we’re communicating, consuming, educating, and entertaining ourselves, on our phones, in ways unimaginable just a few years ago.
Knowledge for everyone: search and assistance
As we said when we announced Alphabet, “the new structure will allow us to keep tremendous focus on the extraordinary opportunities we have inside of Google.” Those opportunities live within our mission, and today we are about one thing above all else: making information and knowledge available for everyone.
This of course brings us to Search—the very core of this company. It’s easy to take Search for granted after so many years, but it’s amazing to think just how far it has come and still has to go. I still remember the days when 10 bare blue links on a desktop page helped you navigate to different parts of the Internet. Contrast that to today, where the majority of our searches come from mobile, and an increasing number of them via voice. These queries get harder and harder with each passing year—people want more local, more context-specific information, and they want it at their fingertips. So we’ve made it possible for you to search for [Leonardo DiCaprio movies] or [Zika virus] and get a rich panel of facts and visuals. You can also get answers via Google Now—like the weather in your upcoming vacation spot, or when you should leave for the airport—without you even needing to ask the question.
Helping you find information that gets you through your day extends well beyond the classic search query. Think, for example, of the number of photos you and your family have taken throughout your life, all of your memories. Collectively, people will take 1 trillion photos this year with their devices. So we launched Google Photos to make it easier for people to organize their photos and videos, keep them safe, and be able to find them when they want to, on whatever device they are using. Photos launched less than a year ago and already has more than 100 million monthly active users. Or take Google Maps. When you ask us about a location, you don’t just want to know how to get from point A to point B. Depending on the context, you may want to know what time is best to avoid the crowds, whether the store you’re looking for is open right now, or what the best things to do are in a destination you’re visiting for the first time.
But all of this is just a start. There is still much work to be done to make Search and our Google services more helpful to you throughout your day. You should be able to move seamlessly across Google services in a natural way, and get assistance that understands your context, situation, and needs—all while respecting your privacy and protecting your data. The average parent has different needs than the average college student. Similarly, a user wants different help when in the car versus the living room. Smart assistance should understand all of these things and be helpful at the right time, in the right way.
The power of machine learning and artificial intelligence
A key driver behind all of this work has been our long-term investment in machine learning and AI. It’s what allows you to use your voice to search for information, to translate the web from one language to another, to filter the spam from your inbox, to search for “hugs” in your photos and actually pull up pictures of people hugging ... to solve many of the problems we encounter in daily life. It’s what has allowed us to build products that get better over time, making them increasingly useful and helpful.
We’ve been building the best AI team and tools for years, and recent breakthroughs will allow us
to do even more. This past March, DeepMind’s AlphaGo took on Lee Sedol, a legendary Go master, becoming the first program to beat a professional at the most complex game mankind ever devised. The implications for this victory are, literally, game changing—and the ultimate winner is humanity. This is another important step toward creating artificial intelligence that can help us in everything from accomplishing our daily tasks and travels, to eventually tackling even bigger challenges like climate change and cancer diagnosis.
More great content, in more places
In the early days of the Internet, people thought of information primarily in terms of web pages. Our focus on our core mission has led us to many efforts over the years to improve discovery, creation, and monetization of content—from indexing images, video, and the news, to building platforms like Google Play and YouTube. And with the migration to mobile, people are watching more videos, playing more games, listening to more music, reading more books, and using more apps than ever before.
That’s why we have worked hard to make YouTube and Google Play useful platforms for discovering and delivering great content from creators and developers to our users, when they want it, on whatever screen is in front of them. Google Play reaches more than 1 billion Android users. And YouTube is the number-one destination for video—over 1 billion users per month visit the site—and ranks among the year’s most downloaded mobile apps. In fact, the amount of time people spend watching videos on YouTube continues to grow rapidly—and more than half of this watchtime now happens on mobile. As we look to the future, we aim to provide more choice to YouTube fans—more ways for them to engage with creators and each other, and more ways for them to get great content. We’ve started down this journey with specialized apps like YouTube Kids, as well as through our YouTube Red subscription service, which allows fans to get all of YouTube without ads, a premium YouTube Music experience and exclusive access to new original series and movies from top YouTube creators like PewDiePie and Lilly Singh.
We also continue to invest in the mobile web—which is a vital source of traffic for the vast majority of websites. Over this past year, Google has worked closely with publishers, developers, and others in the ecosystem to help make the mobile web a smoother, faster experience for users. A good example is the Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project, which we launched as an open-source initiative in partnership with news publishers, to help them create mobile-optimized content that loads instantly everywhere. The other example is Progressive Web Apps (PWA), which combine the best of the web and the best of apps—allowing companies to build mobile sites that load quickly, send push notifications, have home screen icons, and much more. And finally, we continue to invest in improving Chrome on mobile—in the four short years since launch, it has just passed 1 billion monthly active users on mobile.
Of course, great content requires investment. Whether you’re talking about Google’s web search, or a compelling news article you read in The New York Times or The Guardian, or watching a video on YouTube, advertising helps fund content for millions and millions of people. So we work hard to build great ad products that people find useful—and that give revenue back to creators and publishers.
Powerful computing platforms
Just a decade ago, computing was still synonymous with big computers that sat on our desks. Then, over just a few years, the keys to powerful computing—processors and sensors—became so small and cheap that they allowed for the proliferation of supercomputers that fit into our pockets: mobile phones. Android has helped drive this scale: it has more than 1.4 billion 30-day-active devices—and growing.
Today’s proliferation of “screens” goes well beyond phones, desktops, and tablets. Already, there are exciting developments as screens extend to your car, like Android Auto, or your wrist, like Android Wear. Virtual reality is also showing incredible promise—Google Cardboard has introduced more than 5 million people to the incredible, immersive and educational possibilities of VR.
Looking to the future, the next big step will be for the very concept of the “device” to fade away. Over time, the computer itself—whatever its form factor—will be an intelligent assistant helping you through your day. We will move from mobile first to an AI first world.
Enterprise
Most of these computing experiences are very likely to be built in the cloud. The cloud is more secure, more cost effective, and it provides the ability to easily take advantage of the latest technology advances, be it more automated operations, machine learning, or more intelligent office productivity tools.
Google started in the cloud and has been investing in infrastructure, data management, analytics, and AI from the very beginning. We now have a broad and growing set of enterprise offerings: Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Google Apps, Chromebooks, Android, image recognition, speech translation, maps, machine learning for customers’ proprietary data sets, and more. Our customers like Whirlpool, Land O’Lakes and Spotify are transforming their businesses by using our enterprise productivity suite of Google Apps and Google Cloud Platform services.
As we look to our long-term investments in our productivity tools supported by our machine learning and artificial intelligence efforts, we see huge opportunities to dramatically improve how people work. Your phone should proactively bring up the right documents, schedule and map your meetings, let people know if you are late, suggest responses to messages, handle your payments and expenses, etc.
Building for everyone
Whether it’s a developer using Google Cloud Platform to power their new application, or a creator finding new income and viewers via YouTube, we believe in leveling the playing field for everyone. The Internet is one of the world’s most powerful equalizers, and we see it as our job to make it available to as many people as possible.
This belief has been a core Google principle from the very start—remember that Google Search was in the hands of millions long before the idea for Google advertising was born. We work on advertising because it’s what allows us to make our services free; Google Search works the same for anyone with an Internet connection, whether it is in a modern high-rise or a rural schoolhouse.
Making this possible is a lot more complicated than simply translating a product or launching a local country domain. Poor infrastructure keeps billions of people around the world locked out of all of the possibilities the web may offer them. That’s why we make it possible for there to be a $50 Android phone, or a $100 Chromebook. It’s why this year we launched Maps with turn-by-turn navigation that works even without an Internet connection, and made it possible for people to get faster-loading, streamlined Google Search if they are on a slower network. We want to make sure that no matter who you are or where you are or how advanced the device you are using ... Google works for you.
In all we do, Google will continue to strive to make sure that remains true—to build technology
for everyone
. Farmers in Kenya use Google Search to keep up with crop prices and make sure they can make a good living. A classroom in Wisconsin can take a field trip to the Sistine Chapel ... just by holding a pair of Cardboard goggles. People everywhere can use their voices to share new perspectives, and connect with others, by creating and watching videos on YouTube. Information can be shared—knowledge can flow—from anyone, to anywhere. In 17 years, it’s remarkable to me the degree to which the company has stayed true to our original vision for what Google should do, and what we should become.
For us, technology is not about the devices or the products we build. Those aren’t the end-goals. Technology is a democratizing force, empowering people through information. Google is an information company. It was when it was founded, and it is today. And it’s what people do with that information that amazes and inspires me every day.
Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google
Sundar Pichai
CEO
Google
Expeditions career tours can take kids to work, virtually
28. April 2016
Soledad O’Brien is a broadcast journalist and founder of
Starfish Media Group
. She is also CEO of the Starfish Foundation, which provides financial assistance and mentoring to help kids go to college. Recently, the Starfish Foundation launched virtual career tours using Google Expeditions, about which O’Brien joins us to talk about today. To become part of the Expeditions Pioneer beta program, sign up
via this form
. -Ed.
Kids dream about what they want to be when they grow up, but these dreams are often limited—built around the few professional people they know. What if children don’t know a veterinarian, an airplane pilot, a paleontologist, or someone in dozens of other careers? What if they lack access to internships or mentors? Can they ever dream big?
I know from watching my own kids visit me at work, and from the scholars I mentor, that exposure to all kinds of professionals is the key to inspiring young people. When I first found out about Expeditions, I saw its potential for broadening the horizons of the student scholars we help at Starfish Foundation. I envisioned creating virtual reality Expeditions that let kids step into someone’s work day, simply by using phones and Google Cardboard viewers. So that’s what we did.
Soledad O'Brien with scholars from the Starfish Foundation.
Working with the
Google Expeditions
team, we created virtual reality tours that show kids the ins and out of careers they might not ever learn about otherwise. From flying an airplane to testing fossil samples, kids can see with their own eyes exactly what people do in many different scenarios. They can watch Carolyn Brown, director of surgery for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, perform a procedure on a cat. Or join Mark Norell, a paleontology professor with the American Museum of Natural History, as he examines a velociraptor specimen up close. And today, schools participating in the
Google Expeditions Pioneer Program
and
Expeditions beta
will be able to go on an Expedition of the Google Mountain View campus to see what it’s like to work at Google.
A career Expedition on American Airlines Pilot, Pam Torell. The view is from the cockpit of one of her scheduled flights.
These Expeditions reveal what professionals like about their jobs, what they studied in school, and how they apply their knowledge to their work. Regular field trips are logistically challenging, and they don’t usually focus on careers. But with Expeditions, teachers can share an experience with students right in the classroom. You can’t fit 30 students in the cockpit of a plane, but you can get a virtual reality tour of one using Expeditions. And today, on “Take Your Kids to Work Day,” there’s no better time to get creative about exposing students to different types of jobs and workplace environments.
Children won’t know what jobs are possible if they don’t know the careers exist. Rather than just telling them, teachers can actually show them. With these career Expeditions, students can travel outside the classroom walls and be exposed to more ideas, places and opportunities than ever before.
Posted by Soledad O’Brien
(Cross-posted on the
Google for Education Blog
)
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Soledad O’Brien
Ten years of Google Translate
28. April 2016
Ten years ago, we launched Google Translate. Our goal was to break language barriers and to make the world more accessible. Since then we’ve grown from supporting two languages to 103, and from hundreds of users to hundreds of millions. And just like anyone’s first 10 years, we’ve learned to
see and understand
,
talk
,
listen
,
have a conversation
,
write
, and
lean on friends for help
.
But what we're most inspired by is how Google Translate connects people in communities around the world, in ways we never could have imagined—like
two farmers with a shared passion for tomato farming
, a
couple discovering they're pregnant in a foreign country
, and a
young immigrant on his way to soccer stardom
.
Here’s a look at Google Translate today, 10 years in:
1. Google Translate helps people make connections.
Translate can help people help each other, often in the most difficult of times. Recently we visited a community in Canada that is using Translate to break down barriers and make a refugee family feel more welcome:
2. There are more than 500 million of you using Google Translate.
The most common translations are between English and Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Portuguese and Indonesian.
3. Together we translate more than 100 billion words a day.
4. Translations reflect trends and events.
In addition to common phrases like “I love you,” we also see people looking for translations related to current events and trends. For instance, last year we saw a big spike in translations for the word "selfie,” and this past week, translations for "
purple rain
" spiked by more than 25,000 percent.
5. You’re helping to make Google Translate better with Translate Community.
So far, 3.5 million people have made 90 million contributions through
Translate Community
, helping us improve and add new languages to Google Translate. A few properly translated sentences can make a huge difference when faced with a foreign language or country. By reviewing, validating and recommending translations, we’re able to improve the Google Translate on a daily basis.
6. Brazil uses Google Translate more than any other country.
Ninety-two percent of our translations come from outside of the United States, with Brazil topping the list.
7. You can see the world in your language.
Word Lens is your friend when reading menus, street signs and more. This feature in the Google Translate App lets you instantly see translations in
28 languages
.
8. You can have a conversation no matter what language you speak.
In 2011, we first introduced the ability to have a
bilingual conversation
on Google Translate. The app will recognize which language is being spoken when you’re talking with someone, allowing you to have a natural conversation in
32 languages
.
9. You don't need an Internet connection to connect.
Many countries don’t have reliable Internet, so it’s important to be able to translate on the go. You can instantly translate signs and menus
offline with Word Lens
on both Android and iOS, and translate typed text offline with
Android
.
10. There's always more to translate.
We’re excited and proud of what we’ve accomplished together over the last 10 years—but there’s lots more to do to break language barriers and help people communicate no matter where they’re from or what language they speak. Thank you for using Google Translate—here’s to another 10!
Posted by Barak Turovsky, Product Lead, Google Translate
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Barak Turovsky
Product Lead
Google Translate
A new digital stage for The Sydney Opera House
26. April 2016
Just say the word Australia, and people immediately think of the elegant sails of the Sydney Opera House, jutting out into the water of Circular Quay. An Australian icon, this architectural wonder transcends its location. And starting today it’s easier for anyone, anywhere in the world to experience the many sights and sounds of this masterpiece, with the opening of the
Sydney Opera House on the Google Cultural Institute
.
The Google Cultural Institute provides a new digital home for the Sydney Opera House, bringing together more than 1,000 artifacts and 60 years of history in a single online platform. From architect
Jørn Utzon’s
early designs, to the inner workings of the
world’s biggest mechanical organ
, to
spectacular late night shows
, these 50 online exhibits capture the Sydney Opera House from every angle.
“
The Story Begins Here
” exhibit explores the history of the building, the performances and events that have taken place on Bennelong Point.
This new collection
showcases the variety of culture on offer at one of the world’s busiest performing arts centers, and brings many treasures out of the archives and into the spotlight for people to appreciate. Some of the rare content includes
photographs of the opening
with Queen Elizabeth II in 1973,
roof design sketches
from master builder and lead engineer
Ove Arup
, the
diaries
of architect
Peter Hall
, and
Utzon's personal collection of photographs
from the project, spanning nearly a decade.
The sculptural elegance of the Opera House has made it one of the most recognizable buildings of the 20th century. In addition to exhibits which tell the stories of the
history and development
of this architectural masterpiece, today’s launch includes a
brand new 360° experience
offering insights into the between-the-acts magic of the House. Starting at dawn beneath the sails, you can continue on to enjoy incidental performances by
Soprano Nicole Car
and the
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
, and then journey to many seldom seen areas of the House.
See the Opera House as never before—from dusk till dawn in an immersive 360° experience
With new
Street View imagery
, you can virtually wander in and around the Opera House at your own pace, taking in stunning views from all angles.
Gaze at the white sails
overlooking Sydney’s picturesque harbor, feel what it’s like to stand on the
Joan Sutherland Theatre stage
and look up at the
acoustic clouds
of the
Concert Hall
.
The iconic
acoustic clouds
of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall
The new collection opens today at
g.co/sydneyoperahouse
on the Google Cultural Institute website and is available for anyone on mobile phones, tablets and desktop computers. You can also view it via the new Google Arts & Culture mobile app from your
iOS
or
Android
device. We hope you enjoy experiencing the past, present and future of this World Heritage masterpiece.
Posted by Kate Lauterbach, Program Manager, Google Cultural Institute
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Kate Lauterbach
Program Manager
Google Cultural Institute
Helping people stay informed and connected in Japan and Ecuador
19. April 2016
Over the last few days, Japan and Ecuador have been affected by significant earthquakes. Hundreds have been killed, and many thousands injured or displaced. We’re doing a few things to try to help.
Find and call loved ones
To help people post and search for family or friends affected by the disaster we activated
Person Finder
in Spanish and Japanese. We’re also offering free calls via Hangouts, Hangouts Dialer or Google Voice to and within Ecuador to help people communicate with loved ones.
Learn more on the ground
For people in and around the affected areas, we have Google Now cards with critical crisis-related information like missing person resources, safety zones, and aftershock safety tips. We’ve made the same information available on search for earthquake-related searches. In Japan, we launched a
landing page
and
crisis map
showing accessible roads and places where people can get disaster resources like fresh water. In Ecuador, we updated Waze with more than 90 safe place locations, including local shelter information.
Support for the response
Given the scope of the damage and need in Ecuador, Google.org has committed $250,000 to support relief efforts on the ground. We’re also providing up to $250,000 in Google employee gift-matching for both Japan and Ecuador.
Posted by Jacquelline Fuller, Director, Google.org
Jacquelline Fuller
Director
Google.org
Welcome to Google Play Music, the podcast episode
18. April 2016
Hello, and welcome to the latest episode of Google Play Music. Today we’re going to talk about something near and dear to my heart: podcasts.
People love podcasts. In fact, these days, there are so many podcasts to choose from, it can be hard to pick which one to listen to at any given time. That’s where Google Play Music comes in. Google Play Music already gives you the right kind of music for the right moment—whether you want to
have fun at work
, prepare for a
dance party
, or just
need to focus
—and now, that includes podcasts.
Starting today on the web and rolling out on Android in the U.S. and Canada, we’ll connect you with podcasts based on what you’re doing, how you’re feeling and what you’re interested in. Similar to our contextual playlists for music, we want to make it easy to find the right podcast—whether you’re a podcast aficionado or listening for the first time.
Try “
Learning Something New
” to talk about at a dinner party and listen to our favorite episodes from
Stuff You Should Know
or
How To Do Everything
. Enjoy a Sunday afternoon by “
Getting Lost in a Story
” with episodes from
Radiolab
or
Reply All
, or relax after a long day by “
Laughing Out Loud
” to Marc Maron’s
WTF
or Chris Hardwick’s
The Nerdist
. If you find something you love, subscribe to download the last several episodes automatically on your device or choose to be notified every time a new episode comes out.
And to all you creators who want to make your podcast available in Google Play Music, check out the
podcast portal
for more details.
Thanks to our invaluable partners without whom the world would be a boring place. And to all you podcast lovers, keep listening!
This week’s episode is brought to you by
Google Play
. With Google Play, you can get millions of apps, games, songs, movies & TV shows, books and news sources—all your favorites, all in one place.
Posted by Ilia Malkovitch, Product Manager, Google Play Music
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Ilia Malkovitch
Product Manager
Google Play Music
Celebrate National Park Week with Street View and the Cultural Institute
16. April 2016
The National Parks have famously been called “America’s Best Idea.” The 400+ parks, preserves, historic sites and other areas in the National Park System are a source of national pride, home to hundreds of species of flora and fauna, a place for researchers to study and discover—and above all, destinations for explorers and adventurers of all ages, backgrounds and abilities.
This week (April 16-24) marks National Park Week, and we thought we’d do our part in celebrating the occasion by helping you get one step closer to visiting these amazing places. With
Street View in Google Maps
and the
Cultural Institute
, you can park hop your way through 50 states, from sea to shining sea.
Start at the southern tip of Florida with the
Everglades
—the largest subtropical wilderness in the U.S. and a UNESCO heritage site. Go deep inside the longest known cave system in the world at
Mammoth Cave in Kentucky
, or take in the sun and the scene at
Fire Island National Seashore
. On your way, wave to
Lady Liberty in New York
.
Next stop: The homes of some of our U.S. presidents. Peek inside Truman’s
desk
, or compare and contrast the Lincoln home’s refined
hall chairs
with Mary Lincoln’s wooden
commode
. Then take a trip to see battle sites and memorials including
Gettysburg
and
Valley Forge
National Historic Sites.
Tour locations and objects from civil rights history, including the homes of activists
Frederick Douglass
and
Maggie L. Walker
. With Google Expeditions, you can see the
Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site
in 360 degrees, then explore photos from its archives in the Cultural Institute.
Group of Tuskegee Airmen, Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site
Now it’s time to hit the road and ride off into the west. There’s a little something for everyone this side of the Mississippi. Get some “me time” on some of
Glacier National Park
’s 700 miles of trials. Gaze at the puffy white clouds above
Grand Teton National Park
, you can see why they call this Big Sky country. And no visit to the parks is complete without
Yellowstone
, which was first designated as a park “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people” back in 1872.
Once you’ve seen
Old Faithful
erupt, it’s time to marvel at the crystal colors of the
Petrified Forest
and the amazing rock formations of
Natural Bridges Monument
. Take in the Seussian world of
Joshua Tree
, or the lunar landscape at
Death Valley
.
For some shade, head for California’s forests.
Sequoia
is home to the largest tree in the world, while the
Redwoods
boast the tallest. Either way, even in Street View it’s hard not to relax as you look up at the sun filtering through the branches.
Compare the real thing with artistic interpretations from the National Park Service Collection on the Google Cultural Institute
Climb up
El Cap
, then cool off in the mist at some of Yosemite’s famous
falls
. Or head north for the icy blue waters of
Crater Lake in Oregon
and the glacier-capped peaks of
Olympic National Park
a stone’s throw from Seattle.
Last but not least, take a virtual ferry to
Alcatraz
, home of the infamous federal penitentiary on the San Francisco Bay. There, you can see objects from the famous June 1962 escape from Alcatraz, including the
fake heads
the escapees put in their beds to cover their absence. Luckily, you’re also free to go beyond the bars to learn about the first lighthouse on the West Coast and see
Street View
of the island’s gardens, tide pools, bird colonies, and bay views. Welcome to the Rock.
Whether you visit in person or online, we hope you #FindYourPark this week!
Posted by Emily Wood, Managing Editor
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Managing Editor
How technology can help us become more sustainable
14. April 2016
We want to create technology that helps millions of others
understand our changing world
and live more sustainably—whether it’s connecting people with public transit routes, or using the data that powers Google Earth to help you see if your roof is good for solar panels. In honor of Earth Day this month, we’ve gathered together some of the ways Google can help you reduce your everyday emissions and learn more about preserving our world.
Monitoring forests and wildlife
Google Earth satellite technology gives scientists and environmentalists a way to measure and visualize changes of the world on both land and water. This technology can have great impact on monitoring endangered animal populations around the world. For example, with the help of
Global Forest Watch
, powered by
Google Earth Engine
, scientists at the University of Minnesota are suggesting that
wild tiger populations may rebound by 2022
, due to the efforts to restore tiger habitats in key regions.
Anyone can now view tiger conservation areas (in orange and yellow above) using Global Forest Watch.
Going solar
Looking to generate clean energy savings with solar power on your home? Check out
Project Sunroof
, a solar calculator that estimates the impact and potential savings of installing solar on the roof of your home. Taking Google Earth imagery and overlaying annual sun exposure and weather patterns, Sunroof is able to assess viable roof space for solar panel installation, estimate the value of solar and savings based on local energy costs, and connect you with providers of solar panels in your area.
As of this week, Sunroof expanded to 42 states across the U.S. (from
10 states in December
), which makes imagery and data available for a solar analysis to 43 million rooftops. We’re also working with organizations like Sierra Club and their
Ready for 100 campaign
to help analyze the solar potential of cities across the U.S.
Project Sunroof shows you the solar potential of your home and city, allowing you to realize its renewable potential. The image on the right shows how much sunshine Denver, CO residents can capture with solar.
Measuring air pollutants
For the past few years,
Google Earth Outreach
and the
Environmental Defense Fund
(EDF) have been working together to map methane leaks from natural gas pipelines under our streets. Since methane is a very potent greenhouse gas (GHG), even small leaks can add up to big emissions that can hurt our climate. By attaching methane analyzers to select Street View cars, we’ve driven more than 7,500 miles and have
mapped 4,200+ leaks in 10 cities
. What we found ranges from an average of one leak per mile (in Boston) to one leak every 200 miles (in Indianapolis), demonstrating the effectiveness of techniques like using plastic piping instead of steel for pipeline construction. We hope utilities can use this data to prioritize the replacement of gas mains and service lines (like New Jersey’s
PSE&G announced
last fall). We’re also partnering with
Aclima
to measure
many more pollutants
with Street View cars in California communities through this year.
Anyone can explore the maps at
www.edf.org/methanemaps
.
Technology is crucial to increasing energy efficiency, raising climate change awareness, and sustainability efforts. To learn more about what you can do to help, take a moment to explore our
Google Earth Outreach
site, where these tools and more are described in depth.
Posted by Rebecca Moore, Engineering Director, Google Earth, Earth Engine & Outreach
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaX9a5SLSX3ezGE51LHllNhPvF_16wLkbkFhT0G8w3gJjL_Rgc_sQrNNh-KuFNjvFs-mgLyEcXzbNrsoGpnDI95AGBcx_1lUCJUh_5CvEpTjddjxGyJkKOQyI4RAwenvrptjni/s1600/1032+lupine.png
Rebecca Moore
Engineering Director
Google Earth, Earth Engine & Outreach
Find time for your goals with Google Calendar
12. April 2016
Whether it’s reading more books, learning a new language or working out regularly, achieving your goals can be really hard. One day it's "I got called into a last-minute meeting." The next day it's "I have a friend in town." And before you know it, your goals are delayed or forgotten. In fact, with all the things you need to do in a given week, it’s probably harder than ever to find the time—even when your goal really matters to you.
That’s why starting today, we’re introducing Goals in Google Calendar. Just add a personal goal—like “run 3 times a week”—and Calendar will help you find the time and stick to it.
Goals are easy to set up
To set a goal (like “Work out more”), simply answer a few questions (like “How often?” and “Best time?”), and you’re all set. From there Calendar will look at your schedule and find the best windows to pencil in time for that goal.
Goals adjust to your busy life
Goals aren't easy—especially when the unexpected comes up—but Calendar can help you adjust in a number of important ways. For example, Calendar will automatically reschedule if you add another event that's a direct conflict with a goal.
You can also defer a goal at any time, and Calendar will make time for it later.
Finally, Calendar actually gets better at scheduling the more you use it—just defer, edit or complete your goals like normal, and Calendar will choose even better times in the future.
Calendars should help you make the most of your time—not just be tools to track events. So as Google Calendar turns 10 today (🎉), we're excited to invest in more updates like Goals, and to help you find time for everything that matters—from your daily
must-dos
, to exercising more, to just a little "me time."
To get started, download the Google Calendar app for
Android
or
iPhone
, and set your first goal.
Posted by Jyoti Ramnath, Product Manager
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsoUWX8QbMv9YUACp7F8_u1xGUmf5p4W47IHg0fnm_sGnDYnTPjRm8YiHQpRN8jhLMv1eEZCzeYBKa2QAxYtXmQA5wTVqdvV947Hkn_fTYlo1PctFmToT2BcDTomUPGe9uon1S/s1600/Calendar_hero.jpg
Jyoti Ramnath
Product Manager
Creating a world that works for everyone with Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities
12. April 2016
More than a billion people have a disability. And regardless of the country or community they live in, the gaps in opportunity for people with disabilities are striking: One in three people with a disability lives in poverty. In places like the United States, 50 to 70 percent of people with disabilities are unemployed; in developing countries that number increases to 80 to 90 percent. And only 10 percent of people with disabilities in developing countries have access to the assistive devices they need.
Last spring, Google.org
kicked off the Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities
, an open call to global nonprofits who are building transformative technologies for the billion people around the world with disabilities. We’ve been amazed by the ideas we’ve received, coming from 1,000+ organizations spanning 88 countries. We’ve shared a
handful
of the organizations we’re supporting already—and today we’re excited to share the
full list of 30 winners
.
The organizations we’re supporting all have big ideas for how technology can help create new solutions, and each of their ideas has the potential to scale. Each organization has also committed to open sourcing their technology—which helps encourage and speed up innovation in a sector that has historically been siloed. Meet some of our incredible grantees below, and learn more about all 30 organizations working to improve mobility, communication, and independence for people living with disabilities at
g.co/disabilities
.
The Center for Discovery, $1.125 million Google.org grant
Power wheelchairs help provide greater independence to people with mobility limitations—allowing them to get around without a caregiver, or travel longer distances. But power chairs are expensive and often not covered by insurance, leaving many people limited to manual wheelchairs.
With their Google.org grant, the
Center for Discovery
will continue developing an open source power add-on device, the indieGo, which quickly converts any manual wheelchair into a power chair. The power add-on will provide the mobility and freedom of a power chair for around one-seventh the average cost, and will allow people who mainly use a manual wheelchair to have the option of using power when they need it. The device design will be open sourced to increase its reach—potentially improving mobility for hundreds of thousands of people.
A young man using the indieGo to greet friends.
Perkins School for the Blind, $750,000 Google.org grant
Turn-by-turn GPS navigation allows people with visual impairments to get around, but once they get in vicinity of their destination, they often struggle to find specific locations like bus stops or building entrances that GPS isn’t precise enough to identify. (This is often called the “last 50 feet problem.”) Lacking the detailed information they need to find specific new places, people tend to limit themselves to familiar routes, leading to a less independent lifestyle.
With the support of Google.org,
Perkins School for the Blind
is building tools to crowdsource data from people with sight to help people navigate the last 50 feet. Using an app, people will log navigation clues in a standard format, which will be used to create directions that lead vision-impaired people precisely to their intended destination. Perkins School for the Blind is collaborating with transit authorities who will provide access to transportation data and support Perkin’s mission of making public transportation accessible to everyone.
Perkins School for the Blind employee, Joann Becker, travels by bus. It can be hard for people with visual impairments to locate the exact location of bus stops and other landmarks.
Miraclefeet, $1 million Google.org grant
An estimated 1 million children currently live with untreated clubfoot, a lifelong disability that often leads to isolation, limited access to education, and poverty. Clubfoot can be treated without surgery, but treatment practices are not widely used in many countries around the world.
Miraclefeet
partners with local healthcare providers to increase access to proper treatment for children born with clubfoot. They will use Google.org support to offer support to families via SMS, monitor patient progress through updated software, and provide extensive online training to local clinicians. To date, Miraclefeet has helped facilitate treatment for more than 13,000 children in 13 different countries; this effort will help them significantly scale up their work to reach thousands more.
Miraclefeet helps partners use a simple, affordable brace as part of the clubfoot treatment. Here, a doctor in India shows a mother how to use the
miraclefeet brace
.
Ezer Mizion and Click2Speak, $400,000 Google.org grant
People with high cognitive function but impaired motor skills often have a hard time communicating—both speaking or using standard keyboards to type.
Augmentative and alternative communication devices
(AAC) help people more easily communicate, but are often unaffordable and restricted to specific platforms or inputs. Without an AAC, people may have difficulty maintaining personal relationships and professional productivity.
Ezer Mizion
is working with
Click2Speak
to build an affordable, flexible, and customizable on-screen keyboard that allows people to type without use of their hands. With the grant from Google.org, Ezer Mizion and Click2Speak will gather more user feedback to improve the technology, including support for additional languages, operating systems, and different devices like switches, joysticks, or eye-tracking devices.
A young girl learns to use the Click2Speak on-screen keyboard with a joystick controller.
From employment to education, communication to mobility, each of our grantees is pushing innovation for people with disabilities forward. In addition to these grants, we’re always working to make our own technology more accessible, and yesterday we shared
some of the latest
on this front, including
voice typing
in Google Docs and a
new tool
that helps Android developers build more accessible apps. With all these efforts, our aim to create a world that works for everyone.
Posted by Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink, Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities Project Lead for Google.org
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWK477L8GrSZLabhPMD9VY6SJ3Y5QjhgTZxosNNPQUsGVQNC-KCvsBH70WeJHTXTdhjwuKbfQHzzMCkzzZ-uQSUsDxJCw-6lujcXDLuFCH5eAX1J5ZchbM32Pmu7UPb75YErcV/s1600/miraclefeet.jpg
Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink
Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities Project Lead
Google.org
Building more accessible technology
11. April 2016
Nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population will have a disability during their lifetime, which can make it hard for them to access and interact with technology, and limits the opportunity that technology can bring. That’s why it’s so important to build tools to make technology accessible to everyone—from people with visual impairments who need screen readers or larger text, to people with motor restrictions that prevent them from interacting with a touch screen, to people with hearing impairments who cannot hear their device’s sounds. Here are some updates we’ve made recently to make our technology more accessible:
A tool to help develop accessible apps
Accessibility Scanner is a
new tool for Android
that lets developers test their own apps and receive suggestions on ways to enhance accessibility. For example, the tool might recommend enlarging small buttons, increasing the contrast between text and its background and more.
Improvements for the visually impaired in Android N
A few weeks ago we
announced
a preview of Android N for developers. As part of this update we’re bringing Vision Settings—which lets people control settings like magnification, font size, display size and
TalkBack
—to the Welcome screen that appears when people activate new Android devices. Putting Vision Settings front and center means someone with a visual impairment can independently set up their own device and activate the features they need, right from the start.
An improved screen reader on Chromebooks
Every Chromebook comes with a built-in screen reader called ChromeVox, which enables people with visual impairments to navigate the screen using text to speech software. Our newest version, ChromeVox Next Beta, includes a simplified keyboard shortcut model, a new caption panel to display speech and Braille output, and a new set of navigation sounds. For more information, visit
chromevox.com
.
Edit documents with your voice
Google Docs now
allows typing, editing and formatting using voice commands
—for example, “copy” or “insert table”—making it easier for people who can’t use a touchscreen to edit documents. We’ve also continued to work closely with
Freedom Scientific
, a leading provider of assistive technology products, to improve the Google Docs and Drive experience with the JAWS screen reader.
Voice commands on Android devices
We recently launched Voice Access Beta, an app that allows people who have difficulty manipulating a touch screen due to paralysis, tremor, temporary injury or other reasons to control their Android devices by voice. For example, you can say “open Chrome” or “go home” to navigate around the phone, or interact with the screen by saying “click next” or “scroll down.” To download, follow the instructions at
http://g.co/voiceaccess
.
To learn more about Google accessibility as a whole, visit
google.com/accessibility
.
Posted by Eve Andersson, Manager, Accessibility Engineering
Eve Andersson
Manager
Accessibility Engineering
Tilt Brush: painting from a new perspective
5. April 2016
From the earliest cave drawings, to classical paintings, to crayon scribbles, humans just have a thing for visual expression. These days
digital art
has spurred new opportunities for creativity, going well beyond good old pencils and paper. It's against this canvas that we bring you
Tilt Brush
—a new virtual reality (VR) app that lets you paint from an entirely new perspective, available today on the
HTC Vive
.
With Tilt Brush, you can paint in three-dimensional space. Just select your colors and brushes and get going with a wave of your hand. Your room is a blank slate. You can step around, in and through your drawings as you go. And, because it’s in virtual reality, you can even choose to use otherwise-impossible materials like fire, stars or snowflakes.
3D artwork drawn in Tilt Brush
One of the best parts about any new medium is just seeing what's possible. So, we brought Tilt Brush to
The Lab
at Google Cultural Institute—a space in Paris created to bring tech and creative communities together to discover new ways to experience art. Since then, artists from around the world and from every discipline have come to explore their style in VR for the very first time.
We've already seen some incredible pieces from professional animators, painters, and street artists, but even casual doodlers can start painting in seconds. To get inspired, check out #TiltBrush on Twitter for even more art created with Tilt Brush.
Posted by Andrey Doronichev, Group Product Manager, Google VR
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkbaeLdqiAkLxD_AO43dgQzYSv1go4REudXfTh3zu-kQUPaZm-VZmFT6X00M2zKhKEhnDyhITymphp_DsvCS1V2wZnGgxhjerdlNp_HZEOlZ5MJ_LuddtgPxtSPOpPdJQp029w/s1600/Tilt+Brush+%25281%2529.jpg
Andrey Doronichev
Group Product Manager
Google VR
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