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Google Hangouts is finally finally finally getting proper status indicators (on Android) so you can tell if you’re bugging someone who’s actually online! It’s no SMS support, but this is one hell of a welcome update.

YouTube Comments Will Soon Be Less Racist, Homophobic, and Confusing

Ever read the comments on a popular YouTube video? There is no faster way to strip yourself of faith in humanity. It’s a cesspool. And this is coming from someone who writes for the Gawker network. We know a little something about rowdy comments sections. YouTube’s is worse, but it’s finally about to smarten up.…

Remote Lock Comes to Android

A new remote locking feature just appeared in the Android Device Manager. Users running Android 2.2 or better can now lock a lost or stolen phone, even if it’s in use. The new functionality asks you to enter a PIN that will unlock your phone once it’s found — Google recommends you use something different…

How to Get Rid of That Annoying Blue Gmail Favicon

Over the course of the last several days or weeks, your beloved Gmail icon—that red envelope sitting comfortably in your left-most Chrome tab—may have been replaced by a hideous blue gear and equally off-putting gold wrench. It is gross. Here’s how to fix it. One industrious mind at DevBlog has shared a mostly perfect solution…

Android Turns 5 Years Old Today

Today in 2008, Google executives stood on stage and announced the much-rumored T-Mobile G1 (also known as the HTC Dream). It was the first commercial product to run a new, Linux-based operating system called Android. It turned out pretty OK. Des Smith, one of the members of the original Android team, shared some of his…

Alleged Android 4.4 KitKat Images Suggest a Flattened, 2D Design

Some images of what’s alleged to be Android 4.4 appeared over the weekend, with screen captures of a phone supposedly running the new KitKat release giving us a look at what may be Google’s ever-so-slightly redesigned new mobile OS. The most obvious change of all is visible in the stock Android floating dock icons, which…

A Love Letter to My First Four Phones

Last month was spent in a state of upheaval. After seven years in New York I was heading back to the opposite coast, which had led me to go though the hundreds of pounds of accumulated junk one accidentally collects in boxes over the years. Shifting my focus to a plastic tower that has sat…

How to Use Android and iOS Together

You don’t have to fully commit yourself to either Android or iOS, and there are many of us that make use of both major mobile operating systems simultaneously. That said, Android and iOS don’t always work very happily together. No worries, though; we’re here to tell you the best ways to make sure your Nexus…

Our Favorite iOS, Android, and Windows Phone Apps of the Week

Hello! You might notice that Apps of the Week looks a little different this week. You might also have noticed that our usual App of the Day posts were conspicuously absent. Things are changing, and we’re replacing App of the Day with a new, improved, and Windows Phone-inclusive Apps of the Week. Let us know…

Google wants you to live forever

Google has announced Calico, a new company that will focus on health and well-being. But its ultimate purpose is to radically extend the human lifespan. As TIME put it, “That would be crazy — if it weren’t Google.” By launching Calico, Google CEO Larry Page hopes to tackle some of health care’s most pressing problems.…

Will Google’s new project make humans immortal?

Scientists have already reversed aging in some experiments. Google’s newest company wants to defeat death building on these discoveries. Can it be done? Nobody can really tell at this point, but it may be within reach. In fact, some life extension scientists think it may happen in about 20 years. For now, however, it’s all…

Oh hey, Google Wallet is on iOS. The new app comes a few days after Wallet’swide release to Android phones. Since iOS devices don’t support NFC, you won’t be able to use the “tap and pay” function, but you can send money to friends with just an email address, as well as scan in your…

Report: Google May Stop Using Cookies to Track Users

According to a report from the WSJ, Google is considering ditching cookies to track its users. Instead, Google would “create its own anonymous identifier for each individual”. Google, which has previously secretly planted cookies in Internet Explorer and the iPhone, says it’s an attempt to make the Internet more secure for users. A Google spokesperson…

Calico: Google’s Ambitious New Project to Stop Illness and Aging

Google just announced its most recent plan in a long list of crazy moonshots. This one isn’t self-driving cars or internet in the sky, instead it’s a company called Calico that’s going to try and put an end to aging and disease. There aren’t too many details about exactly how Calico will go about its…

Google honors French physicist with interactive pendulum doodle

Today marks the 194th birthday of Léon Foucault, the French physicist who used a pendulum to confirm the rotation of the Earth. Today’s Google Doodle pays tribute. The interactive doodle is based on the Foucault pendulum, a device introduced in 1851 to confirm the long-held assumption that the Earth spins on its axis. Foucault’s most…

Offline Viewing Is Coming to YouTube’s Mobile Apps

You’ve been able to pre-cache YouTube videos on Android to watch—while still online—for a while. But by November, you’ll be able to watch them offline, too. According to the YouTube Creators Blog, users of the YouTube Android app will be able to store videos and watch them one offline a “short time” later. It’s not…

Google Wallet’s latest version is available this week for all Android phones running version 2.3 and higher. Send money to any of your contacts with just an email address, and you’ll also get early access to using Gmail to send out payments from your desktop. Got too many loyalty cards lying around (or have a…

What the Google Street View Wi-Fi Decision Actually Means

Is a Wi-Fi signal the equivalent of an FM radio station, blasting classic rock ballads through your car speakers? Not to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which issued its long awaited decision in Joffe v. Google this week, the case where Google was sued for allegedly violating the Wiretap Act when its Street View…

New Leaked Nexus 5 Shows Off Its Giant Screen and Giant Camera

So a Nexus 5 apparently got left at a bar. It happens! And when it happens, pictures get taken and we lucky folks get to see what one of the most anticipated phones of the year looks like up close. It matches up quite nicely with the leaked phone in the Android 4.4 Kit Kata…

The Nexus 4 Is Completely Sold Out and Supposedly Never Coming Back

After a wonderful price cut last month, Google has now completely sold out of both the 8GB Nexus 4 and the 16GB Nexus 4 on Google Play. Impressive! https://gizmodo.com/you-can-buy-a-nexus-4-8gb-for-200-and-a-16gb-for-250-1211597361 And also a little bit sad because The Verge is reporting that Google has “no plans” to bring the Nexus 4 “back in stock in any…