At this year's Google I/O, the company announced a handful of new features for Chromebooks that are designed to bridge Android and Chrome OS closer together.
Google's Android and Chrome chief Sundar Pichai described how Android phones will closely integrate with Chromebooks after a future software update.
Here's a brief overview of the key new features coming to Chromebooks:
You can now unlock your Chromebook by using your smartphone. If you're phone is near you while you're using your Chromebook, you won't need to manually sign in. The Chromebook will use your phone as verification and automatically unlock your Chrome laptop.
Incoming calls and texts from your Android phone will appear on your Chromebook desktop. This means you'll be able to see when you're getting an incoming call and take calls without having to reach for your phone.
Your Chromebook will be able to tell you when your phone's battery is getting low. If you're phone is close to dying, a notification will appear on your Chrome desktop.
Android apps may come to Chrome OS. Google is working to bring Android apps from the Google Play store to Chrome. Pichai cautioned that this feature is still in it's early stages, so it's not likely to happen soon. On stage, he showcased what the Android version of Evernote would look like on a Chromebook. He even recorded a Vine straight from his Chromebook.
Google has yet to mention when this update will hit Chrome OS, but we're expecting to hear more updates soon.
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Move over, millennials.
Marketers are beginning to target a new crop of young people who are rapidly growing in number and influence: Generation Z.
Studies differ on the exact age range of Generation Z, but most agree they were born after 1990, which makes them the largest generational group in the U.S.
We set out to discover who they are and what they eat and buy. Here's what we found:
Gen Z wants to change the world. 60% of them want to have an impact on the world, compared to 39% of millennials, according to a study by Sparks & Honey, a New York-based marketing agency. Roughly one in four Generation Z-ers are involved in volunteering.
Advanced college degrees are less important to them. 64% of Gen Z-ers are considering an advanced college degree, compared to 71% of millennials.
They are more entrepreneurial than millennials. 72% of high school students want to start a business someday and 61% would rather be an entrepreneur than an employee when they graduate college, according to a study by Millennial Branding, a consulting firm, and Internships.com.
They are digitally over-connected. Gen Z-ers multitask across at least five screens daily and spend 41% of their time outside of school with computers or mobile devices, compared to 22% 10 years ago, according to the Sparks & Honey report. "They suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out) more than millennials, so being culturally connected is critical," researchers wrote.
But they prefer to work independently. "This generation is very individualized," Dan Schawbel, the founder of Millennial Branding, told Business Insider. "While millennials seek mentors, Generation Z is more about helping themselves."
They worry about the economy more than anything else, including crime, politics, their parents' job security, politics, or the cost of goods.
This chart details some of their interests:
They prefer home-cooked foods over processed, ready-to-eat meals such as cold cereal, according to a study by The NPD Group. They aren't big fans of microwaves and would rather use a stove top or oven to prepare meals. Salad consumption is expected to increase the most among Gen Z-ers over the next five years, followed by sandwiches and breakfast foods that require some cooking, such as eggs and pancakes.
Gen Z-ers spend more money on food and drinks than anything else, and -- For more information read the original article here.
At this year's I/O conference, dozens of early adopters could be seen throughout the crowd wearing Google Glass.
But the company's wearable display was noticeably absent from one important part of I/O — the main stage.
During Google's nearly three-hour presentation at its annual conference, the company rolled out a lengthy list that summarizes its big priorities and announcements for the year.
On that list were improvements and updates for Android, new details on Android Wear, the unveiling of Google's connected car effort Android Auto, and the introduction of Android TV among other updates.
Google wowed audiences two years ago when it introduced Glass as a cool new gadget for early adopters, complete with a video showcasing how Glass could be used to capture exciting first-person sky-diving videos. Now, two years later, we seem to be just as far away from a true consumer launch as ever before.
Google Glass was billed as one of Google's most exciting I/O announcements back in 2012, but it has since been completely left out Google's I/O presentations.
Why was it left out? Here are four ideas.
- Google may be putting the finishing touches on Android Wear before it releases Glass to the masses. Android Wear is Google's software for wearable devices — not just smart watches. So far, we've only seen watches like the Moto 360, LG G Watch, and Samsung Gear Live running Android Wear. Google has been very careful to refer to Wear as a platform for wearable devices in general, implying that it can translate to both wrist-worn and head-mounted devices. But if Google is pitching Android Wear as its primary platform for wearable devices, it would seem strange not to include it on its own flagship headset.
- Google likes to make announcements regarding Glass quietly as they happen. Since Glass was unveiled in 2012, we've seen incremental updates essentially happen in real time. The company has taken to Google+ to make announcements such as the availability of prescription options, new partnerships, the extension of its Explorer program, and newly available apps for the platform. Google seems to be quietly rolling out its updates for Glass rather than flaunting them at events, which could be why it was completely left out of I/O. In fact, Google chose to unveil its new version of Glass with more memory and storage just before I/O rather than on stage.
- It simply isn't -- For more information read the original article here.
Tech companies have been releasing their diversity numbers recently, and Facebook is the latest to reveal its stats.
And the numbers are hardly surprising based on what we've seen so far from Yahoo and Google. According to its own report, Facebook's global staff is comprised of 31% women. Its U.S. staff is also predominantly white—minorities represent only 43% of Facebook's U.S. employees.
Most women working at Facebook are relegated to non-tech positions. 85% of Facebook's global employees working in tech jobs are men. The breakdown of non-tech jobs at Facebook is almost evenly split, but men still lead there, 53% to 47%.
The numbers are similar to those released by other tech companies. At Yahoo, the employee breakdown is 62% men, 37% women, and 1% unreported. Google's workforce is composed of 70% men and is 61% white. And LinkedIn's is 61% men and 53% white.
"As these numbers show, we have more work to do—a lot more," Maxine Williams, the company's global head of diversity, said. The company listed a number of diversity-related initiatives it intends to put in place in its report.
SEE ALSO: LinkedIn Admits That It Has 'Some Work To Do' In Terms Of Diversity
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