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Google promises better 3D maps

TechCrunch LA

Using photogrammetry, the same technology that also allows Microsoft’s Flight Simulator to render large swaths of the world in detail, Google is also building a model of the world for its Maps service. Image Credits: Google. Image Credits: Google. Image Credits: Google.

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Google Maps gets improved Live View AR directions

TechCrunch LA

Google today announced a few updates to Live View, the augmented reality walking directions in its Google Maps app that officially launched last year. Image Credits: Google. Image Credits: Google.

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Sonos Continues To Battle Google Over Patents

socalTECH

Santa Barbara-based smart speaker manufacturer Sonos is continuing to battle Google over patents, asking the U.S. Sonos called the Google changes "half-baked" and "trivial". Sonos sued Google in January of 2020, alleging patent infringement on a number of its patents, as Google's smart speakers have cut into Sonos sales. sonos google patent infringement lawsuit wireless audio

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Google Renews Patent Melee with Sonos

socalTECH

Santa Barbara-based whole-home audio system maker Sonos, and Internet giant Google are heading back into a patent battle, after Google filed two new lawsuits againt Sonos this morning. According to Bloomberg Law, Alphabet Inc's Google LLC filed two lawsuits this morning alleging that Sonos audio players infringe on multiple patents owned by Google. sonos google patent voice lawsuit legal infringement

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Google Boosts Two LA Venture Capital Firms

socalTECH

Google said today that it has backed two, Los Angeles area venture capital firms, as part of a bigger effort to invest in Black-led venture capital firms. According to Google, it has made investments in seven, Black-led venture capital firms, including two Los Angeles venture investors--Collide Capital and Share Ventures. investment equity diversity capital collide share black venture google

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Google Cloud opens its Las Vegas region

TechCrunch LA

Google Cloud today announced the official opening of its Las Vegas data center region. With this, Google Cloud now operates four regions in the western U.S., with Las Vegas complementing Google Cloud’s existing data centers in Los Angeles, Calif.;

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Bird Integrates With Google Maps

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based on-demand scooter and bicycle company Bird has integrated its rentals with Google Maps, the company announced this morning>. According to Bird, anyone using Google Maps will be able to quickly locate nearby Bird scooters and bikes, as well as determine approximate trip duration, estimated price and optimized route. bird google maps micromobility scooter bicycle bike

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Swoogo Snags Exec From Google

socalTECH

Harkness was previously Head of Partnership at Google Cloud, and prior to that was Director of Strategic Alliances at Looker, before Looker was acquired by Google. Los Angeles-based Swoogo, which develops event management software, said today that it has added Sam Harkness as the company's SVP of Partnerships. Swoogo recently raised $20M in a Series B funding from Bain Capital and others.

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Tinder's Parent Company, Match, Suing Google Over App Payments

socalTECH

Match Group, the parent company of Los Angeles-based dating app developer Tinder has filed a lawsuit against Google, claiming the Internet giant has too much control over payments in its Google Play app marketplace. The lawsuit revolves around Google's 30 percent cut of payments on Google Play, and Google's attempt to ban apps from using alternative payment services. tinder match google lawsuit legal payment monopoly antitrust

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Google Sues Sonos Over Patents

socalTECH

Google has counter-sued Santa Barbara-based Sonos , with a patent infringement lawsuit, saying that Sonos has illegally used a number of Google patents in the development of its wireless audio technology. The lawsuit, Google LLC v. google sonos patent infringement lawsuit legal

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Famebit Acquired by Google

L.A. Business Journal

Multichannel media network Famebit has been acquired by Google for an undisclosed amount

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Google's Venice Offices Hit By Large Covid Outbreak

socalTECH

In a demonstration of the difficulties facing high tech companies in getting back to "normal" after the pandemic, Google has been hit by a large outbreak of COVID at its Venice address, according to Deadline. The outbreak--disclosed through numbers from the Los Angeles County Public Health department--apparently included a total of 159 infections at Google's fancy Frank Ghery-designed offices in Venice. google covid pandemic outbreak

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FameBit Acquired By Google

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based FameBit , the online marketplace which helps brands connect with YouTube influencers, has been acquired by Google , the company's backer--Science--announced on Tuesday afternoon. jones mike science scienceinc youube branding google acquisition merger famebitFinancial terms of the acquisition were not announced. Famebit-- founded by David Kierzkowski and Agnes Kozera--first received funding from Science in 2014.

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Sonos Gets Patent Win Over Google

socalTECH

Santa Barbara-based smart speaker manufacturer Sonos has scored a win in court over Google, over an intellectual property dispute over wireless audio technology. International Trade Commission judge ruled that the patents held by Sonos are valid, saying Google violated a part of the Tariff Act. sonos google patent infringement lawsuit wireless audio

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Bird Looks To Google's AR For Better Scooter Parking

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based micromobility provider Bird has rolled out a new plan to get people to park the company's scooters in better location, tapping augmented reality technology from Google. According to Bird, it has launched something called "Bird VPS" (Visual Parking System), which uses Google's augmented reality APIs to geo-localize parked scooters. The company said it is using that AR technology, and Google Street View to detect and prevent improper parking.

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Google Cloud will launch its Los Angeles region in July

TechCrunch LA

It’s no secret that Google has long planned to open a cloud region in Los Angeles. But as Google announced today , the new Los Angeles cloud region will go live in July, making it the company’s fifth region in the U.S. During an event in Los Angeles today, Google specifically positioned this region as ideal for the media and entertainment industry in the area. That’s not what Google is focusing on today, though.

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SpaceX, Google Cloud In Data Center Deal

socalTECH

Hawthorne-based SpaceX and Sunnyvale-based Google Cloud said on Thursday that the two are in a new partnership, where Starlink will locate its ground stations within Google's data center properties. According to Google Cloud and SpaceX, the deal will provide low-latency and reliable delivery of data from Starlink's satellites to locations on the network edge connected into Google's cloud. google cloud spacex starlink datacenter connectivity

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Google Cloud’s LA region goes online

TechCrunch LA

Google Cloud’s new region in Los Angeles is now online, the company announced today. This isn’t exactly a surprise, given that Google had previously announced a July launch for the region, but it’s a big step for Google, which now boasts five cloud regions in the United States. It was only three years ago that Google opened its second U.S. When it first announced this new region, Google positioned it as the ideal region for the entertainment industry.

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Google Starts Downgrading Speakers Due to Sonos Patent Win

socalTECH

Santa Barbara-based smart speaker maker Sonos has scored a major win in its patent efforts, winning a patent infringement case it had filed against Google. As a result of that win, Google has started stripping functionality from its speakers, rather than pay Sonos for licensing. sonos google patent infringement lawsuit wireless audio

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Warrantless Requests For Video From Ring, Google Nest Raises Questions

socalTECH

New, US rules that allow law enforcement to request video from Ring and Google Nest cameras are raising questions about privacy, and exactly how law enforcement officials can get access to private video taken by those cameras. ring video doorbell camera enforcement legal privacy google nest

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Goldstar Partners With Google

socalTECH

Goldstar , the online service which helps connect people with special deals on live entertainment, has tied with Google on support of Google Now. The Pasadena-based company said it has integrated with Google Now, to provide consumers with information about live entertainment in their area. goldstar google ticketing live event tickets bargain discount

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Wix Can Now Integrate with Google My Business

Tech.Co

The leasing website builder has announced an expanded partnership with Google to integrate Google My Business into the platform. To say Google is important when it comes to keeping your business relevant would be something of an understatement.

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Sonos Lobs New Patent Lawsuit At Google

socalTECH

Santa Barbara-based whole home audio systems maker Sonos has filed another patent infringement suit at Google , saying that Google has infringed on five wireless audio patents held by the company. The lawsuit is the second filed against Google by Sonos, which also sued Google over similar patents in January. The two companies are in a back and forth tussle by the two, as Google has attempted to muscle its way into the home audio streaming market.

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Sonos, Google In Court Over Patents

socalTECH

Santa Barbara-based Sonos and Internet giant Google were in court this week , accusing each of patent infringement, with Sonos hoping to move a Google patent suit out of California and into Texas, in the Western District of Texas court, which has a reputation as being friendlier to patent lawsuits. Sonos is being represented by Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, with Google represented by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP.

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Google partners with Sony Pictures Imageworks to launch an open source VFX render manager

TechCrunch LA

Google today announced that it has partnered with Sony Pictures Imageworks , Sony’s visual effects and animation studio, to launch OpenCue , an open source render manager. Google, of course, is interested in bringing these workloads to its cloud and it has made a concerted effort to bring the Hollywood studios to its Cloud Platform. Google worked with the company to open source the system, which Google and Imageworks have scaled to up to 150,000 cores.

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Metacloud Snags Google Exec

socalTECH

Pasadena-based private cloud provider Metacloud announced today that it has hired on Conner Grey, the former head of Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) at Google for Southern California, as its new VP of Operations. Metacloud said Grey had been at Google for the last decade, and also has served at Yahoo!, google executive openstack enterprise private cloud metacloud

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Google's Nest Takes Aim At Sonos

socalTECH

Santa Barbara-based Sonos is getting some additional competition from Google's Nest , as Google announced new, whole-home music features to its products. According to Google's Nest, it is now launching multi-room control, so its users can group together speakers, Smart Displays, and Chromecasts into multiple rooms, which can all be controlled together. google nest sonos music whole home audio

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Bitium Acquired By Google

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based Bitium , a developer of cloud identity and single sign-on software, has been acquired by Google , Google said on Tuesday afternoon. According to Google, the acquisition of Bitium will help it with its "Cloud Identity vision". bitium merger acquisition googleFinancial terms of the acquisition were not announced.

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Google Delays Office Reopenings On Virus Surge

socalTECH

Google appears to be pulling back on plans to reopen its offices after the July 4th weekend, after it has become apparent there is an ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases in the United States. According to Bloomberg, Google is now planning on keeping its offices closed until at least September 7th, at the earliest--a big change from plans to open them up in July. Google has significant operations in the Los Angeles area. Image: Google's Playa Vista studios READ MORE>>.

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Disney, Google Ink New Advertising Deal

socalTECH

Google and The Walt Disney Company said on Tuesday that the two companies have inked a new, global strategic relationship, where Disney will move its digital video and display business onto Google's Ad Manager. disney google advertising platform serving waltdisney content streaming video

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Google Fiber Paused In Los Angeles

socalTECH

In a move which may put off the addition of high speed fiber in Los Angeles from Google indefinitely, Google said it is "pausing" the addition of Los Angeles, and the rest of its current potential cities, to its Google Fiber service. According to Google Fiber's outgoing CEO , Google is looking towards "new technology and deployment methods" and "refine" its ability to bring super-fast Internet to cities. google fiber fibre angeles wireless telecom high speed

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ITC Investigating Sonos Complaint Against Google

socalTECH

International Trade Commission has taken up a complaint, filed by Santa Barbara-based Sonos , that Google has been importing and selling goods which Sonos says infringe upon its patents. According to the ITC, it is investigating Google and parent company Alphabet, over the allegations by Sonos that Google has violated parts of the Tariff Act of 1930, by selling certain audio products and controllers. The move is the latest in a big battle between Sonos and Google.

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Google Suggests Employees Work From Home

socalTECH

Google , the Internet giant, which has a big presence and offices in the Los Angeles area, is now suggesting all of its North American employees work from home, as the spread of the COVID-19 virus has extended into the Bay Area and elsewhere in the nation. Google--which had already recommended its Washington State employees work remotely last week--said it is looking to mitigate the potential spread of COVID-19 worldwide. Google just opened up a new studio in Playa Vista last week.

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Google spinoff Cartken and REEF Technology launch Miami’s first delivery robots

TechCrunch LA

The company, founded by ex-Google engineers and colleagues behind the unrequited Bookbot , was formed to develop market-ready tech in self-driving, AI-powered robotics and delivery operations in 2019, but the team has kept operations under wraps until now. Self-driving and robotics startup Cartken has partnered with REEF Technology, a startup that operates parking lots and neighborhood hubs, to bring self-driving delivery robots to the streets of downtown Miami.

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Google Puts Support Behind Backstage Accelerator

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Backstage Accelerator , the startup accelerator run by Backstage Capital, which seeks to support underrepresented founders, has received a big boost to its efforts today, after Google said that it will be supporting Backstage Accelerator to help it scale its efforts. Google did not say how much it is investing in the support for Backstage Capital. backstage capital startup accelerator angeles minority venture investment diversity google

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Getty Gets Google Goggles

socalTECH

Google said Monday afternoon that the museum has just gone high tech with its displays, with a new link to Google's "Google Goggles" mobile app. According to Google, its app now allows users to take a photo of any of the paintings in the Getty's permanent collection, and instantly access more information the art. Google Goggles is available on Android and iOS devices. mobile iphone android smartphone tour museum getty goggle google

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ReachLocal Ties Into Google

socalTECH

Woodland Hills-based ReachLocal , the provider of local online marketing services to small and medium sized businesses, said Tuesday that it has become a global premier Google AdWords partner. The firm said the strategic partnership with Google will "accelerate the delivery" of Google's AdWords advertising to local businesses. reachlocal google partnership adwords marketing local online advertising

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Google Releases High Resolution Montecito Disaster Satellite Map

socalTECH

Google and its navigation app subsidiary, Waze , have just released incredibly detailed satellite maps of the disaster zone around Montecito, California, as part of efforts of Google's "Crisis Response" team. satellite disaster mapping resolution high technology google

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EVgo Links Into Google Maps

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based EVgo , which operates a network of electric vehicle fast charging stations, says that it has inked a deal with Google Maps to feature the exact location and availability of more than 1,000 of its chargers on the map software. The addition of EVgo's chargers comes as part of a larger addition of EV charging stations to Google Maps. cleantech station charge fast vehicle electric maps google evgo

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NearWoo Connects With Google DoubleClick

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based NearWoo said today that it has linked up with Google''s DoubleClick Ad Exchange, allowing its 4,000 local mobile advertisers to access the ad inventory on DoubleClick. According to NearWoo, the deal gives its local mobile advertisers access to the sites, apps and games where Google delivers it mobile ads. nearwoo google doubleclick exchange local business advertising

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DivShot Acquired By Google

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Divshot , which had offered up hosting of static web pages for web developers, has been acquired by Google , and will join Gogole's Firebase software development team. divshot merger acquisition google firebase software developers hostingFinancial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Divshot says it will shut down all of its products and services as of Monday, December 14th, 2015.

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Green Dot To Power New Google Pay Bank Accounts

socalTECH

Pasadena-based Green Dot is powering a new banking offering from Google Pay , called Plex Accounts , which will allow Google Pay customers to open up and manage a FDIC-insured digital bank account through the app, the company said today. According to Green Dot, the new Google Pay offering will roll out sometime in 2021. green greendot google plex fdic banking fintech financial

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CrowdStrike Raises $100M From Google, Others

socalTECH

Irvine-based CrowdStrike , the developer of security software led by George Kurtz, said this morning that it has raised $100M in a Series C financing round, which was led by Google Capital, and also included Rackspace, Accel, and Warburg Pincus. crowdstrike google capital venture investment rackspace endpoint saas software foundstone mcafee cybersecurity security

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