Jordan Kahn

Back in May of last year, Google started enforcing a policy that requires Chrome extensions be hosted on its Chrome Web Store, but only on Windows. The goal was to prevent malware hidden in extensions installable from outside its store, and it even started disabling extensions already installed on users’ systems that weren’t hosted on the Chrome Web Store. Now, Google says it will bring that requirement to Mac Chrome users over the coming months, as well as the Chrome developer channel for Windows that wasn’t previously enforcing the policy:
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Google’s HTC-made Nexus 9 tablet

HTC appears to have a new tablet on the horizon as often reliable leaker @upleaks claims a new tablet called “HTC H7” is currently planned for a Q2 release. That means that, if accurate, we should see the tablet introduced by the end of next month in order to meet the currently planned second quarter timeframe for release.
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Following rumors that ASUS could look to release a non-Android Wear device and reports of delays for its next-generation smartwatch, today the company confirmed that the new Asus ZenWatch will arrive early in Q3 and will indeed be running Android.

The news comes from the focustaiwan.tw news channel, which reports the company’s CEO confirmed plans are still on track for the next-gen Asus ZenWatch powered by Android Wear:
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LG’s series of G Pad tablets might be getting a new addition as images showing a new variation of the tablet leak online courtesy of reliable leaker Evleaks.
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Greenpeace today released an update to its “Clicking Clean: A Guide to Building the Green Internet” report, and while Apple continues to lead for renewable energy efforts, Google once again increases its score thanks to new initiatives.
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In a move that could reportedly threaten Google’s campus expansion plans on its home turf in Mountain View, California, BizJournals reports that LinkedIn has won a bid for valuable real estate that Google was hoping it to use for a previously announced futuristic campus:
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New data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows that smartphone users ditching Android devices in recent months helped drive iOS growth across the EU. The data tracked the EU’s biggest markets in 1Q15— Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain— and shows iOS grew 1.8 percentage points from last year to 20.3% market share this year. That includes around 32.4% of new Apple customers switching from an Android device, according to the report, while Android lost 3.1 percentage points during the quarter. Although, in some markets, such as the UK, Android’s lead remained strong:
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Google today announced that it’s acquiring Timeful Inc, the company behind the Timeful app that offers a central location for time management, calendar functions, to-do list and scheduling features.

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Samsung is reportedly planning to introduce two new tablets— the Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 and Galaxy Tab S2 9.7— sometime next month. Some details have leaked previously, including specs that come in thinner than Apple’s latest iPad Air, but today SamMobile reports that the tablets will get an official debut in June:
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Google has reportedly flipped the switch on a new Google Now card that alerts users of discounts online based on products they’ve searched for in the past.
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Today Google released a new Chrome Dev app, a way for developers to access the latest Chrome builds and experimental features before they’re ready for beta and public releases.

Google has always had a developer release channel for Chrome, allowing devs to get access to the latest builds and features even before regular users are encouraged to start testing through its beta and public release channels. Previously the dev channel was only for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome OS, but today the company is bringing it to Android.

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Google today is launching a new tool called Password Alert that will allow users to keep track of sign-ins on their account with notifications and change their password if necessary. The new tool comes in the form of a Chrome extension and allows users to easily change their password if a fraudulent sign-in attempt is detected.
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After it started showing notifications from 40 Android apps as cards in its Google Now app back in January, today Google turned on the feature for an additional 70 partners.

Google highlighted a few of the new additions including news and updates from ABC News, Circa and Feedly, reminders from Eat24 and Allrecipes, and fitness goal alerts from RunKeeper, Jawbone, and Adidas. You’ll also get prompted from OpenTable to pay your bill and playlist recommendations from Spotify, TuneIn, YouTube, and more.
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Today YouTube is announcing partnerships with some of its top creators to bring original series and feature length films to the video network. 

Today’s launch brings four original series to YouTube from content creators Fine Brothers’, Prank vs Prank, Joey Graceffa, and Smosh, as well as news that YouTube plans to release feature length films in the coming years:
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As it usually does, Samsung is giving away a bunch of free content to owners of its new Galaxy S6 and S6 edge and now it has revealed what exactly will be included this time around.
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Ahead of IFA in Berlin this September—the event where Samsung, Sony, and just about every other Android device maker unveils their latest products each year—a select group of companies have been giving a taste of what’s to come for the last 5 days at IFA’s Global Press Conference.

So what can you expect? Android-powered TV sets, app connected appliances, and drones are just a few product categories you can expect to see grow at this year’s show.
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Google just announced that it’s launching an experimental service that will act as marketplace for those interested in selling the company patents.

Google noted that the usual process of buying and selling patents can “be challenging, especially for smaller participants who sometimes end up working with patent trolls.” It hopes to offer patent holders an alternative to selling to so-called patent trolls that it says rarely “provide any meaningful benefit to the original patent owner… bad things happen, like lawsuits, lots of wasted effort, and generally bad karma.”

To do so it will allow patent holders an easy way to offer their patents to Google for sale through a program called the Patent Purchase Promotion:
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