Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been prominent in the news lately with some of its innovations, rumors, innuendo and speculation. Following Google and its Android operating system has been its own full-time job and a sport in its own right. While we don’t think that “Google oogling” will be a sport in the 2016 or 2020 Olympics (though there could a possibly for the 2018 Winter Games), CEO Larry Page and executive chairman Eric Schmidt are certainly in favor of all the attention their company has been getting.
The company made a big splash with a little widget a couple weeks back when Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) unveiled its Chromecast device to get into the digital TV world. But more recently, the company is gaining some press for news within existing realms of its massive and still-growing empire. NSA surveillance and Google Glass be damned, that is.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) New Nexus Not Impressing?
It is usually not a good sign when a company introduces a new device and within a month retailers are already pushing sales to try to drive down inventory and increase sales volume. So it goes for those supposed Android fanboys, who apparently are not yet embracing the new Google tablet called the Nexus 7.2.
Just unveiled last month, already some retailers are lowering the price, and Office Max is introducing an in-store sale that cuts 20 percent off the retail price for both the 16- and 32-GB versions. GSMArena writer Sunil reported that the the discount is available through Saturday via an online coupon code and only applies to devices that are picked up in the store rather than shipped.
This was originally reported by Ryan Whitwam, our friend from the Android Police site. Is this one of the signs that the Nexus 7 is not so impressive or revolutionary for those ‘Droiders out there to part with their original Nexus tab?
Going to the Depths in Search
Maybe while ‘Droiders and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) search for the next big thing in tablets, they might also consider searching for more in-depth information. Greg Sterling of Search Engine Land reported on the latest addition to Google Search – a feature called “In-depth Articles,” which would list three at a time from sources that Google determines (how?) are from higher quality or more reliable sources, for a general inquiry topic. This new feature was tested a couple months ago and is supposed to begin rolling out for everyone in the coming weeks starting this week.
The pieces will be labeled as “In-depth Articles” on the first page of certain general search results, in the middle of the page, showing longer-form essay type stories about a particular topic. (A couple of examples showed pieces from National Geographic and The New Yorker magazine on the term “population growth,” while Wired and The Atlantic were shown under the query term “secret societies.”) Pandu Nayak of the Google tech staff first wrote about this on Google’s official Search blog.
How About Some Pie?
There has been a lot of talk recently about Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) finally breaking away from its Android fragmentation when it finally unveils its new Android OS called Key Lime Pie. But there has been some question as to when it would be revealed. It seemed that the release of the Nexus 7.2 would be a perfect time, but that did not happen. Now, Scott Webster of the Android Guys website reports the latest on the impending appearance of Android 5.0.
Webster seems to be one of those fanboys who jumps at any sniff of something that might be possibly semi-legitimate rumors about a new innovation. However, he enthusiastically wrote that the Chromium bug tracker had apparently contained some code that seems to suggest the software build-out of Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie.
How does he know, or why does he think so?
The letter “K” at the front of a coded Android build. It seems that just that letter has our Mr. Webster salivating. He conjectures that Google will introduce Key Lime Pie perhaps in the fall with a “next-generation” Nexus device.
So we guess the latest Nexus 7 does not count as a next-gen device, huh? Interesting. No wonder the price of the device is already dropping after just a month on the market.
Before you look real hard at how investors like fund manager Stephen Mandel will handle Google in the coming weeks, take a look at this video regarding a “wish list” of Key Lime Pie features. What would you like to see in the new OS?
DISCLOSURE: None
