Author

Élyse Betters

Google improves Search by Image results with Knowledge Graph

Élyse Betters Jul 2 2012 - 12:16 pm PT

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t99BfDnBZcI]

Google launched Search by Image last year, and then updated algorithms for it almost every week since, but now the search engine will use its Knowledge Graph to power the popular feature.

Search by Image allows users input an image, and then Google offers images and search results related to that image. Users select an image through the ‘ole drag-and-drop, and then uploading, or even inputting a URL. Meanwhile, the Knowledge Graph is new technology that allows Google to provide search results for concepts linked between words, rather than showing results for just the query term.

Software Engineer Sean O’Malley explained the inclusion on Google’s Inside Search blog today:

With the recent launch of the Knowledge Graph, Google is starting to understand the world the way people do. Instead of treating webpages as strings of letters like “dog” or “kitten,” we can understand the concepts behind these words. Search by Image now uses the Knowledge Graph: if you search with an image that we’re able to recognize, you may see an extra panel of information along with your normal search results so you can learn more. This could be a biography of a famous person, information about a plant or animal, or much more.

Google wants to improve its image search. When a user uploads an image of a specific type of flower, for instance, Google would previously give general flower search results. Now, Google will try to guess the exact type of flower. Google will also show the most recent content in search results, which is helpful for news images.

Expand
Expanding
Close

CamUp sues Google, says Google+ and YouTube stole Hangouts feature

Élyse Betters Jul 2 2012 - 10:54 am PT

CamUp filed a lawsuit late last week that claimed Google ripped its video-chat feature for Google+ and YouTube.

The lawsuit filing revealed Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president, along with a few Mountain View engineers, approached the New York-based startup at the South by Southwest Festival in March 2011. They later met in London to negotiate adding a Hangout-like button, called “Watch with your friends on CamUp,” to Google’s popular video-sharing platform, YouTube. Despite receiving accolades on its product, CamUp did not hear from the Googlers after the meeting.

By May 2011, CamUp detected an alarming amount of visits from Google’s headquarters in California. The startup suggested that the traffic is evidence of Google beginning to examine its product for copying purposes. Google launched Hangouts with a “Watch your friends” button just one month later, which were allegedly indistinguishable from CamUp’s offerings.

CamUp is seeking damages, an injunction to remove Hangouts on YouTube and Google+, and it is suing Google UK’s Director of Business and Markets Richard Robinson.

The filing (via GigaOM) is embedded below.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google encouraged $80B in US economic activity in 2011, aims to get more businesses online

Élyse Betters Jul 2 2012 - 9:56 am PT

Google is touting its successes again by explaining how it helped boost American business last year.

Vice President of Americas Sales Margo Georgiadis took to the Official Google Blog to first spew some economic statistics:

The growth of our Internet use has naturally helped the ecommerce industry to expand rapidly over the past decade. But the web is also positively impacting brick-and-mortar businesses. According to Boston Consulting Group, American consumers who researched products online last year spent almost $2,000 actually purchasing those products offline. That’s almost $500 billion that went directly to main street retail. All in all, it’s clear that the economic impact of the web is huge; the Internet is where business is done and jobs are created.

From there, the VP explained how Google is “committed to helping make the web work for American businesses.” The Mountain View, Calif.-based Company, through its search and advertising tools, helped provide “$80 billion of economic activity for 1.8 million advertisers, website publishers and nonprofits across the U.S.” in 2011. The full breakdown for each state is available at Google’s Economic Impact website.

“[…] Google is committed to getting even more businesses online. Over the past year, we’ve been traveling the country with our Get Your Business Online program, encouraging businesses throughout the U.S. to create free websites and reach more customers,” Gerogiadis wrote. “So far, we’ve worked with thousands of businesses to launch their new websites. It’s a fact that the Internet is creating jobs and helping the American economy grow. And we’re proud to be a part of that process.”

Expand
Expanding
Close

Nokia hints at Android fallback plan if Windows Phone continues to suck

Élyse Betters Jul 2 2012 - 8:15 am PT

A Nokia board chairperson admitted to a Finnish talk show recently that his company has a backup plan in case the Windows Phone 8 software continues to fail.

According to CNET (via Yle Uutiset), Risto Siilasmaa, who has only been with Nokia since May, hailed the 2011 transition from Symbian to Microsoft’s Windows Phone during Thursday’s interview on “Päivän Kasvo“. Despite the accolades, he said a “contingency plan” is in place should the current mobile operating system “fail to live up to expectations.”

Windows Phone 8 launched in June and barely grabbed 0.18-percent of the marketshare for the month, according to NetMarketShare findings. The prospects do not look good, but Siilasmaa expects the OS to hold its own. Meanwhile, the details of Nokia’s Plan B are unknown. NewGeekGuide thinks the mysterious backup plan certainly hints at Android.

Google’s mobile operating system could be Nokia’s only saving grace, but fierce competition from Samsung and HTC will make a much-needed recovery even harder for the fledging manufacturer.

Expand
Expanding
Close

‘Gayglers’ celebrate LGBT Pride Month, World Pride [Photos]

Élyse Betters Jun 29 2012 - 12:28 pm PT

Google is once-again touting support for the LGBT community by participating in worldwide Pride events and expanding company-wide benefits.

According to “Gaygler” Randy Reyes on the official Google blog:

We encourage people to bring their whole selves to work. And this month Googlers, Gayglers (gay Googlers), and their families and friends took this spirit to the streets in Pride parades and celebrations around the globe. In Sao Paulo, a group of 50 marched as a Google contingent for the first time ever. In San Francisco, more than 1,000 Googlers and allies marched (nearly doubling the number of people we had in 2011!). In New York, more than 700 of our friends and colleagues took over 5th Avenue marching alongside our double-decker Pride bus. And this weekend in Singapore, we’re sponsoring the Pink Dot celebration for the second consecutive year.

Reyes further revealed action-based plans to celebrate World Pride in London this year. The Mountain View, Calif.-based Company will host a “Legalise Love” Conference at Google London, with hopes to “eliminate homophobia” and “decriminalize homosexuality.”

Google also significantly increased coverage of transgender health care for its U.S. employees. Transgender-inclusive benefits, such as “transitioning procedures and treatment in accordance with the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s Standards of Care,” now receive a lifetime maximum coverage of $75,000.

“Next month we’ll carry the energy of Pride into our fourth annual company Diversity & Inclusion celebration, the Sum of Google. The Sum is an opportunity to celebrate and engage in a discussion about diversity and inclusion across our offices around the world,” Reyes concluded.

A picture gallery is below.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google Crisis Response team launches new crisis map for raging US wildfires

Élyse Betters Jun 29 2012 - 9:37 am PT

The Google Crisis Response team just issued a new crisis map for the 2012 U.S. wildfire season.

Major media outlets are reporting on the massive wildfires wreaking havoc in Colorado and Utah, and Google is working to provide related information to those affected by way of maps that feature fire perimeters cropped from the U.S. Geological Survey, Red Cross, and satellite imagery by DigitalGlobe.

“Use the checkboxes along the right-hand panel to turn on and off the layers of information, and the ‘Share’ button at the top of the map to grab the URL or embed code. Note that both the URL and the embed code will automatically restore your current view of the map, including the set of layers that you have turned on,” wrote Googler Pete Giencke on the Google Lat Long Blog, while explaining how to navigate the crisis map.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google Chrome lands No. 1 spot for free iOS apps

Élyse Betters Jun 29 2012 - 7:46 am PT

Google’s Chrome browser is now No. 1 in Apple’s App Store for free apps.

The mobile browser went live for iPhone and iPad owners yesterday, and now it holds the top spot for both device categories. The app notably allows users to view open tabs, bookmarks, and other browser particulars running on other computers and devices. Users can even send pages from Chrome on a computer to their iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad with “one click and read them on the go, even if you’re offline.”

Chrome for iOS already touts 4.5-stars based on over 3,500 reviews as of press time. Despite the glowing accolades, some folks are noticing its lack of Apple-given attention:

[tweet https://twitter.com/piecykw/status/218530635013300224]

This article is cross-posted on 9to5Mac.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Adobe: No support for Flash on Android 4.1; No new installs from Google Play starting August 15

Élyse Betters Jun 29 2012 - 7:17 am PT

Adobe announced it abandoned mobile Flash last fall, but the company just confirmed to the masses that Google’s new Android 4.1 OS does not have certification for Flash. It is also stopping access to Flash Player updates and installations from Google Play on August 15, but security updates will continue for existing users.

Check out the full presser:

An Update on Flash Player and Android

We announced last November that we are focusing our work with Flash on PC browsing and mobile apps packaged with Adobe AIR, and will be discontinuing our development of the Flash Player for mobile browsers. This post provides an update on what this means for ongoing access to the Flash Player browser plugin for Android in the Google Play Store.The Flash Player browser plugin integrates tightly with a device’s browser and multimedia subsystems (in ways that typical apps do not), and this necessitates integration by our device ecosystem partners. To ensure that the Flash Player provides the best possible experience for users, our partner program requires certification of each Flash Player implementation. Certification includes extensive testing to ensure web content works as expected, and that the Flash Player provides a good user experience. Certified devices typically include the Flash Player pre-loaded at the factory or as part of a system update.Devices that don’t have the Flash Player provided by the manufacturer typically are uncertified, meaning the manufacturer has not completed the certification testing requirements. In many cases users of uncertified devices have been able to download the Flash Player from the Google Play Store, and in most cases it worked. However, with Android 4.1 this is no longer going to be the case, as we have not continued developing and testing Flash Player for this new version of Android and its available browser options. There will be no certified implementations of Flash Player for Android 4.1.

Beginning August 15^th we will use the configuration settings in the Google Play Store to limit continued access to Flash Player updates to only those devices that have Flash Player already installed. Devices that do not have Flash Player already installed are increasingly likely to be incompatible with Flash Player and will no longer be able to install it from the Google Play Store after August 15^th.

The easiest way to ensure ongoing access to Flash Player on Android 4.0 or earlier devices is to use certified devices and ensure that the Flash Player is either pre-installed by the manufacturer or installed from Google Play Store before August 15^th. If a device is upgraded from Android 4.0 to Android 4.1, the current version of Flash Player may exhibit unpredictable behavior, as it is not certified for use with Android 4.1. Future updates to Flash Player will not work. We recommend uninstalling Flash Player on devices which have been upgraded to Android 4.1.

For developers who need ongoing access to released versions of Flash Player for Android, those will remain available in the archive of released Flash Player versions. Installations made from the archive will not receive updates through the Google Play Store.

As always this and other Flash runtime roadmap updates can be found in the Adobe roadmap for the Flash runtimes white paper.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Verizon Wireless launches Share Everything plans

Élyse Betters Jun 28 2012 - 12:56 pm PT

Verizon Wireless’ Share Everything plans go live today.

Current Verizon customers can upgrade, but new customers must choose a Share Everything plan. Verizon is scrapping the family plans and individual tiered plans for incoming subscribers, because the new options provide unlimited talk, unlimited text, and shareable data with pricing based on how much data is consumed.

Unlimited plans are not profitable for Verizon, which stopped offering unlimited data last year, due to growing smartphone usage clogging the carrier’s pipelines. The new standard is quickly becoming 4G LTE, so Verizon is likely trying to capitalize on every bit of data funneled through its network.

Verizon’s new strategy is the first of its kind in the U.S. It notably allows users to share data with up to 10 devices through a single account, but users can also fly solo with plans starting at $30 for 2 GB of data.

Visit the Share Everything website for all the details, or check out the full price sheet at Verizon’s Share Everything Calculator page.

This aside is cross-posted on 9to5Mac.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google unveils Compute Engine

Élyse Betters Jun 28 2012 - 11:26 am PT

Google executives are now on-stage for the second day of Google I/O to announce Compute Engine—its full-featured contender against Amazon and Microsoft’s cloud-computing services.

Google Senior Vice President Urz Holzle revealed the Infrastructure platform allows any sized businesses with large computing requirements to run applications on Google data center servers. Computer Engine also features multiple storage options with expansive connectivity to end-users.

It already beta tested with customers, as the Institute for Systems Biology, for instance, applied it to a Genome Explorer app. Holzle even demonstrated the ISB genome explorer running on 600,00 cores, but he noted there are 771,886 cores available to the app.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google Drive comes to iOS and Chrome OS, Android app gets updated

Élyse Betters Jun 28 2012 - 10:34 am PT

Google executives are now on-stage for the second day of Google I/O to announce Google Drive’s launch on iOS and Chrome OS today.

Director of Google Apps Product Management Clay Bavor first showed off real-time collaboration. He also demonstrated image recognition and searching with Optical Character Recognition, which lets users convert images with text into text documents. Using Google Drive on iOS, Bavor searched for “pyramid.” He then received a personal picture from a vacation—even though it was not titled.

While on Google Drive on Chrome OS, Bavor demonstrated silent syncing. He launched the same document across a demo smartphone, tablet, and Chromebook, added a LOLcats image, and then showed it appearing on each device.

The company also revealed the 10-week old cloud storage service reached 10 million users. The infant Google product is on the App Store now, and it launching on Chrome OS at some point this afternoon. Google also updated the Google Drive Android app today that includes the following improvements:

What’s new in this version:
1. Quickly find files that have been recently opened, edited or shared with you
2. Upload/Download all file types to/from your Google Drive
3. Selecting contacts to share with is easier
4. Faster navigation of folders when syncing in the background
5. Choose text alignment in the documents editor

This story is developing.

Expand
Expanding
Close

BlueStacks now lets Android apps run on Macs

Élyse Betters Jun 28 2012 - 9:10 am PT

BlueStacks, the tool that allows Android apps to run on Windows, is now available for Macs.

The software, which is often touted as the “Parallels for Android”, now supports 17 Android apps on OS X. Pulse and Words With Friends are two of the more notable apps packaged in the launch, while high-resolution support for Retina Macs and additional apps are on the horizon.

The company attempted to court more developers—and celebrate the launch of its Mac Alpha —with a mock wedding for Android and Apple at Google I/O yesterday. The free download is available on the BlueStack’s website.

This aside is cross-posted on 9to5Mac.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Sergey Brin interrupts keynote to demo Google Glasses, says I/O attendees can pre-order headset

Élyse Betters Jun 27 2012 - 11:08 am PT

Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin just ran on-stage at Google I/O to introduce skydivers above Moscone—who are wearing Google Glasses and streaming live video from the headsets via Google+ Hangouts to the keynote screen.

The divers lept from the plane, filmed the journey down to Moscone, and quickly landed on the building. Rooftop bikers donning the headsets then scaled down the building, while also filming the adventure, and the two extreme sports groups eventually met inside Moscone to greet Brin.

The demonstration showed the video quality of Google Glasses, as well as the product’s durability. Gimmicky, yes.

From there, executives detailed how the Google Glass project began roughly two years ago. The current prototype weighs less than sunglasses, but Google is still experimenting with different form factors. There are also microphones and speakers to receive information, including sensors and gyroscopes to make it aware of location, and there are multiple radios for communication.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google unveils orb-like, USA-made Nexus Q streaming device

Élyse Betters Jun 27 2012 - 10:43 am PT

Google executives are now on-stage at Google I/O to unveil the Nexus Q—an orb-like, social streaming-media device with a $299 price tag.

It is notably made in the United States and acts as a bridge for Android devices by streaming Google Play Music, Google Play Movies and TV, and YouTube to “the biggest speakers and screen in the house.” Anyone nearby can use an Android device to control what is playing through the Nexus Q.

It touts a 4.6-inch diameter and weighs only 2 pounds. It also features a rotating top dome volume control with a capacitive touch sensor. The Nexus Q comes equipped with a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU, SGX540 graphics core, 1GB LPDDR RAM, and 16GB NAND flash memory. It even runs a version of Android 4.0, while boasting slots for Micro HDMI, TOSLink Optical audio, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, Micro AB USB, and Banana jack speaker outputs. The Nexus Q supports Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, and NFC capabilities.

Google’s streaming device is available for pre-order at Google Play today, but it will not ship for another two to three weeks.

The 2012 Google I/O Developers Conference starts today at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco, Calif., with events continuing until June 29 at 4:30 p.m. PST.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google Play eyes 1.5B app installs every month, introduces magazines and TV content

Élyse Betters Jun 27 2012 - 10:14 am PT

Google’s Chris Yerga is on-stage now to announce Google Play numbers: The marketplace boasts over 600,000 apps and games, roughly 1.5 billion installs every month, and 20 billion total app installs to date.

The executive also said magazine subscriptions and television rental options are coming to Google Play. The magazine-reading experience is premium, Yerga touted, while explaining new interactive aspects to magazine thumbing on the newly unveiled Nexus 7. Television viewing is also exceptional due to download options for offline access. A few of the big television partnerships, Yerga said, include Disney, ABC, Sony, and Paramount.

The 2012 Google I/O Developers Conference starts today at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco, Calif., with events continuing until June 29 at 4:30 p.m. PST.

A picture gallery is below.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google says 1M Android devices activated daily

Élyse Betters Jun 27 2012 - 9:44 am PT

Google’s product head Hugo Barra just announced 400 million total device activations for Android, with 1 million occurring daily at a rate of 12 new devices going live every second.

The 2012 Google I/O Developers Conference starts today at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco, Calif., with events continuing until June 29 at 4:30 p.m. PST.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google’s Nexus 7 tablet introduction video leaks out [Video]

Élyse Betters Jun 27 2012 - 9:28 am PT

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMQdfGFK5XQ&feature=player_embedded]

A leaked image of the widely rumored Nexus 7 appeared on Google’s Play Store servers this morning, but an official video of the tablet just surfaced on YouTube moments ahead of Google I/O.

The video’s description even details a few specs:

With a stunning 7″ display, powerful quad-core processor and all day battery life, Nexus 7 was built to bring you the best of Google in a slim, portable package that fits perfectly in your hand.

The 2012 Google I/O Developers Conference starts today at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco, Calif., with events continuing until June 29 at 4:30 p.m. PST.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Here is Google’s Nexus 7 tablet [Photo]

Élyse Betters Jun 27 2012 - 8:50 am PT

The above leaked image is of the widely rumored Nexus 7.

Reports about the Google tablet have circulated for months, but now we have solid evidence of its existence through a first look on Google’s Play Store servers. The live image surfaced just ahead of Google I/O this morning, and it only begs more questions to be answered.

The 2012 Google I/O Developers Conference starts today at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco, Calif., with events continuing until June 29 at 4:30 p.m. PST. We should have some more information about the Nexus 7 within the next hour during the event’s opening keynote.

The Asus-branded Nexus 7 tablet might run Jelly Bean, which is the latest version of Android expected to unveil at some point today. The user-interface in the leak resembles a tweaked Ice Cream Sandwich layout. The dock looks familiar, but notice it houses six apps now instead of four.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Sergey Brin walks around Google I/O wearing Google Glasses

Élyse Betters Jun 27 2012 - 8:26 am PT

[tweet https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/217751034037141505]

Twitter is abuzz with folks spotting Sergey Brin donning a pair of Google Glasses at Google I/O this morning. There are no pictures of the Google co-founder with the headset yet—but stay tuned.

The 2012 Google I/O Developers Conference starts today at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco, Calif., with events continuing until June 29 at 4:30 p.m. PST.

Expand
Expanding
Close

NYT: X Lab Googlers built a ‘brain’ that identifies cats in YouTube videos

Élyse Betters Jun 26 2012 - 2:25 pm PT

Google X Laboratory scientists have worked on a simulation of the human brain for the last few years, and now they are using it to indentify cats.

According to The New York Times, Google researchers created “one of the largest neural networks for machine learning by connecting 16,000 computer processors, which they turned loose on the Internet to learn on its own.” More specifically, Google turned the “brain” to 10 million images found in YouTube videos about cats:

The neural network taught itself to recognize cats, which is actually no frivolous activity. This week the researchers will present the results of their work at a conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Google scientists and programmers will note that while it is hardly news that the Internet is full of cat videos, the simulation nevertheless surprised them. It performed far better than any previous effort by roughly doubling its accuracy in recognizing objects in a challenging list of 20,000 distinct items.

The research is representative of a new generation of computer science that is exploiting the falling cost of computing and the availability of huge clusters of computers in giant data centers. It is leading to significant advances in areas as diverse as machine vision and perception, speech recognition and language translation.

Google’s brain eventually constructed a digital patchwork of a cat by cropping general features from the millions of images that it identified. The method could eventually prove useful in image search, speech recognition, and language translation. The Googlers maintained caution, however, about whether their research is, as The New York Times put it, “the holy grail of machines that can teach themselves.”

The research project is no longer a part of Google X laboratory, but rather search business and related services.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google opens registration to free online course about ‘power searching’

Élyse Betters Jun 26 2012 - 11:10 am PT

Google just introduced a new online course for those interesting in “power searching” with its search engine.

The free course offers:

Six 50-minute classes.
Interactive activities to practice new skills.
Opportunities to connect with others using Google Groups, Google+, and Hangouts on Air.
Upon passing the post-course assessment, a printable Certificate of Completion will be emailed to you.

“Google Search makes it amazingly easy to find information. Come learn about the powerful advanced tools we provide to help you find just the right information when the stakes are high,” explained Google Senior Research Scientist Daniel Russell on the registration page.

Course registration opens today and closes July 16, but the first class starts July 10. New classes begin Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and all course-related activities end July 23.

Check out the schedule below:

For more information about becoming a “great Internet searcher,” visit the course page at Google Insights.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Report: Amazon’s Kindle Fire 2 aims for July 31 launch

Élyse Betters Jun 26 2012 - 8:58 am PT

The next Kindle Fire is eyeing a July 31 launch date.

CNET just reported that Amazon’s next version of the widely popular Kindle Fire, otherwise dubbed the “Kindle Fire 2” or the second-generation Kindle Fire, would unveil next month. The publication cited “a credible source” but could not confirm the summer date, and it pointed to DigiTimes for specs, which claimed the rumored 7-inch eReader will release with a $199 price tag and 1,2800-by-800 pixel display at the beginning of the third quarter.

According to CNET:

The DigiTimes article cited the usual sources in the “upstream supply chain” and talked about how Amazon would reduce the price of the current Kindle Fire to $149. It also speculated that Amazon’s long-rumored larger tablet is still on hold but that new e-ink Kindles with integrated lighting were expected to be released alongside the Kindle Fire 2 (or whatever Amazon chooses to call it).

Our source didn’t mention the higher resolution display but did say that the new tablet would have a camera and physical volume-control buttons (many users complained that the Kindle Fire only has on-screen volume controls).

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google says more than 500 districts in US and Europe use Chromebooks actively

Élyse Betters Jun 25 2012 - 12:42 pm PT

Google just revealed over 500 school districts in the United States and Europe use Chromebooks on a regular basis, while also naming a few new districts to adopt the technology in both North Carolina and Wisconsin.

In a post on the Official Google Blog, which is appropriately titled “In schools, all you need is web,” Google talked about the functionality of Chromebooks coupled with Google Apps and educational apps available on the Chrome Web Store. The company clearly wants the world to know its marketplace and lineup of notebooks are ideal for teaching, learning, and exploring the Web.

“There are tens of thousands of apps in the Chrome Web Store, and today we’re adding some new ones: ST Math, VoiceThread and Acheive3000,” wrote Chromebooks for Education Product Manager Vidya Nagarajan. “To give you an idea of what’s possible on the web: Leyden High School District from Illinois is rolling out Chromebooks to their 3,500 students and are using apps like WeVideo,EasyBib, Vernier Labquest2, SlideRocket, Geogebra and Pearson’s OpenClass as part of their 1-to-1 learning initiative.”

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google Offers to sponsor free Boingo Wi-Fi in NYC until September, with underground access

Élyse Betters Jun 25 2012 - 9:38 am PT

Google Offers will sponsor free Wi-Fi in New York City this summer starting today.

The sponsorship is possible through an agreement with Boingo Wireless. New Yorkers and tourists can now access free Internet at six subway stations and over 200 Boingo hotzones around the borough of Manhattan. The Wi-Fi coverage extends below street level and will last through Sep. 7.

“New Yorkers using the complimentary Wi-Fi services can check out deals from local businesses from Google Offers when they connect at Boingo hotzones throughout the city and at the following subway stations with wireless networks deployed by Transit Wireless,” explained the press release.

Google Offers is an infant deal-of-the-day website that caters localized savings to major geographic markets in the United States. It is the first sponsor of Boingo Wi-Fi, so today’s news is clearly a brand campaign for Google. However, Boingo will also benefit by expanding its initiative. The wireless tech plans to reach 36 subway stations by the end of 2012, with over 270 stations getting access by 2017, to create “a distributed advertising and sponsorship network reaching the subway system’s more than 1.6 billion annual passengers.”

Boingo Wi-Fi is already available at New York-area airports, retail centers, sports venues, hotels, fast food restaurants, and more.

The press release below.

Expand
Expanding
Close