Category "notizie dai blog"

Combating climate change requires action from everyone—businesses, governments, cities and people. We believe that by investing in technology we can help build novel solutions and empower people to take action. Which is why we’re focused on elevating people using technology to combat climate change and create a healthier planet for everyone. 

This month we launched the Google for Startups Accelerator: Climate Change for climate-focused technology startups across Canada and the United States. This 10-week program helps bring the best of Google to startups using artificial intelligence and machine learning to combat climate change. In addition to mentorship and technical project support, the accelerator will focus on product design, customer acquisition, and leadership development for founders. If you or someone you know would be a great fit for the Google for Startups Accelerator: Climate Change, encourage them to apply by April 1, 2021.

This program builds on the success of last year’s Google for Startups Accelerator: Sustainable Development Goals which supports startups from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Through this program, we supported Everimpact from France, a company that combines satellite imagery and ground sensing to monitor air quality and carbon emissions in cities, and Ororatech from Germany, a commercial supplier of infrared satellite data used for early detection and real-time monitoring of wildfires. 

Supporting startups focused on climate change is just one way we’re taking action as a company. Last September, our CEO Sundar Pichai announceda set of ambitious sustainability commitments, including a vision for a carbon-free future for everyone and our mission to empower people and communities to realize their own potential for impact. Recently, we released our 2020 Climate Report and reaffirmed our ongoing commitment to making sure that everyone—people, cities, governments and businesses—have the tools to be part of the solution. We’re optimistic that technology and entrepreneurship can help avert climate change.

In 1895, Thaddeus Cahill, an inventor from Iowa, started work on the world’s first electromechanical musical instrument. Weighing in at 200 tons and measuring 60 feet long, the Telharmonium was a colossal machine for producing and sharing music on the telephone.

In the 126 years since, electronic music has evolved in similarly bold and ingenious ways, a testament to the magic that occurs when human beings build and interact with machines. We listen to it while working out, riding the subway, studying for exams — and hopefully soon again at the clubs and festivals that have made it what it is today.

Music, Makers & Machines, the new exhibit from Google Arts & Culture and YouTube, celebrates the history of electronic music: its inventors, artists, sounds and technology. More than 50 international institutions, record labels, festivals and industry experts have come together to capture the crucial role electronic music plays within wider culture, from the WDR Studio for Electronic Music to Blacktronika to the “Diva of the Diodes” Suzanne Ciani. There are more than 250 online exhibitions, an extensive archive of photos, videos, 360° tours and 3D-scanned objects, including synthesizers and the door of Berlin’s legendary Tresor techno club.

In the spirit of pioneers like Cahill, you can also compose your own electronic music. Use the augmented reality feature of AR Synth to mix and match five famous synthesizers in a virtual electronic music studio.

MUSIC: Let’s get to know some of the legendary tracks and artists:

MAKERS: Go behind the scenes in studios and see iconic inventors in action:

MACHINES: Play with the instruments that made the tunes: 

Electronic music brings people together from all walks of life and from all over the world. Its community has always been one of creativity and shared experiences. And while it may take a while until club doors open again, fans and musicians keep connected through new online forums and formats.

We hope that Music, Makers & Machines will let you explore and appreciate the stories of electronic music and celebrate the creativity of its makers. Find the project on the Google Arts & Culture app for iOS and Android and at g.co/musicmakersmachines .

As a Dublin native who started a company to help small retailers get online, I’ve seen local retailers adapt to many situations. It’s safe to say that the pandemic has brought challenges unlike any other, and we’ve seen it directly affect many of our favorite local shops.

Due to lockdown restrictions, it’s become critical for brick-and-mortar retailers to be visible online. I also know firsthand how helpful it is to be able to search online and see what a store has in stock prior to heading out of the house. 

But sharing in-store inventory online can be challenging for smaller businesses, as they may not have the resources to build and maintain an e-commerce platform. Pointy from Google meets that need by creating an online presence for these retailers to help them showcase their product offering and potentially reach new customers. 

Starting today for a limited time, Pointy from Google will offer free Pointy devices to qualifying small and medium retailers in Ireland, enabling them to display their in-store products online. Irish retailers who connect with Pointy within the next six months will also get €100 ad credit to trial Pointy’s Product Ads feature.  

Pointy works by creating a connection between physical stores and Google so that their products can appear in local Google search results, which can help attract shoppers in the surrounding area to the store. Retailers don’t have to do any extra work: As they scan items to be sold, the products are added to their Business Profile on Google Search and Maps so that potential customers can easily see them.

Ten years ago, Chrome OS principal designer Jenn Chen was hardly what you’d called a techie. “I was the last person I knew who got a smartphone,” she says, laughing. “I was a total Luddite! I didn’t want to do it!” But today, things are different — and not just for Jenn. The devices we use and how we use them have both changed dramatically over the years. “Technology plays a bigger part in our day to day,” she says. “So it’s increasingly important that we have a human, respectful approach in how we design and build products.” 

Chrome OS embraced that change, and Jenn’s seen the evolution from the inside. Originally, she was the only person on the team dedicated to Chrome OS user experience (UX) — now, she leads an entire team. We recently had the chance to talk to Jenn about a decade of Chrome OS, and what her path to design work was like. 

What kickstarted your interest in working in UX and design?

Growing up, I had a lot of different interests but never felt like they quite added up to a clear career path. I dabbled in biology because I loved marine life, read up on cognition because I was fascinated by how minds worked and even explored being a full-time pianist. One day in college, I tagged along with a friend who organized a visit to a design agency and I found it absolutely riveting. Here were different people with different professions — anthropologists, surgeons, engineers — all working together to solve a problem through a multifaceted, human-centered approach which I learned was called “design thinking.” This really sparked my interest in learning more about product design and building creative solutions to serve real user needs, which led to studying HCI (human-computer interaction) and user experience.

What’s the “movie version” of your job? How is it portrayed in pop culture, and how does that compare to reality? 

The perception is that UXers are in the lab all day, and that every user insight we learn immediately leads to a light bulb moment and design solution! There’s so much testing out ideas, learning that they won’t work and moving on — or years later, bringing that thing back and seeing there is something there, but the timing wasn’t right or the tech wasn’t ready before. There’s a lot of constant failure. We designers call it “iteration,” but I think people forget that also means being wrong a lot — and being OK with being wrong, because it helps us learn. The movie version of my job glosses over all that.

Chrome OS was such a new idea. What were some of the early challenges of launching something so different?

Computers have been around much longer than Chromebooks, so people have established expectations and habits. The challenge is meaningfully rethinking what a computer can be while also meeting people where they are. I’ve been incredibly lucky to work with and learn from experts in this space as a part of the Chrome OS team and a part of the broader Google UX community.

One good example of this was that Chrome OS started out with a minimal approach when it came to task management: Users could only have full-screen windows with multiple tabs. We quickly learned that how people manage their tasks is personal, so flexibility is absolutely necessary. We introduced more window controls and tools over time. Today, we’ve expanded task management abilities for Desks to help people organize their apps, windows and tabs across virtual work spaces, but still benefit from a simplified, more constrained model when they only have a touchscreen handy. 

A decade ago, we launched a small pilot program with a handful of schools. Council Bluffs in Iowa and Fon du Lac in Wisconsin were among the very first to use Chromebooks. Today, Chromebooks are as essential as a backpack for students learning in the US and in places like Australia, Brasil, Canada, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and Sweden. As we celebrate our 10th birthday, we’re taking a look back at how far Chromebooks have come in the classroom, and announcing new features for educators and students. 

From pilot program to 40 million 

Googlers took the first Chromebooks into schools in the U.S. for a pilot program in 2010, and we found that students, teachers, and education leaders immediately loved how fast, simple and secure they were — three principles we still adhere to today. And with the rapid introduction of Chrome Education Upgrade, which unlocked advanced features in the operating system, Chromebooks rapidly became a hit with schools and IT administrators for their shareability and ease of management at scale. With Google Admin Console, school administrators were suddenly able to manage devices remotely, which has fundamentally shifted the computing model for schools from “computer rooms” to “shared carts” to today, assigned Chromebooks for most students – because hundreds of thousands of devices can all be managed by a single person.

Chromebooks expanded globally, scaling up in partnership with manufacturers like Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung. More recently, NEC and Sharp have all started building Chromebooks for the Japan Education market–making Chromebooks the #1 device in K-12 education globally for the last year. To open up possibilities for note taking, digital reading, art, filming video reports, podcasts, and early learning apps, Chromebooks are now available in multiple formats, like convertibles, clamshells and tablets, and come with stylus support and touchscreen functionality. And to increase access, Chromebooks now come with multiple connectivity options including WiFi and mobile broadband. Today there’s a device for every learner and a growing ecosystem of apps for students and teachers alike– over 40 million of them around the world– with the Chromebook App Hub offering engaging apps and fresh lesson ideas. 

Chromebooks were built to be the foundation for teaching and learning, no matter where you are. And in 2020, as schools turned to distance learning, we’ve worked hard to improve the video conferencing capabilities of older as well as newly released devices to run Google Meet and Zoom, and introduced new features like Zero Touch Enrollment to help admins remotely enroll and ship devices to students and teachers at home, and extended support for automatic updates to eight years, so devices stay secure and equipped with the latest features for years to come.