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Of all the ways tech companies are guing to drive virtual reality, Google may be working on something no one else has done yet: make the experience self-sufficient.The search giant is developing a stand-alone headset, which would be the first VR goggle that isn't powered by a smartphone, laptop or gaming console, according to a report Thursday by The Wall Street Joual that cited uamed sources.The move would represent a novel approach as a scrum of tech companies, including Facebook, Samsung and HTC, jostle to bring the nascent technology to a mass audience. Facebook's $599 Oculus headset, available starting next month, requires a PC, while HTC and Sony's offerings are also tied to a PC or ga...

Of all the ways tech companies are guing to drive virtual reality, Google may be working on something no one else has done yet: make the experience self-sufficient.The search giant is reportedly developing a stand-alone headset, which would be the first VR goggle that isn't powered by a smartphone, laptop or gaming console, according to a report Thursday by The Wall Street Joual, which cited uamed sources.Google may be taking a novel approach as a scrum of tech companies, including Facebook, Samsung and HTC, jostle to bring the nascent technology to a mass audience. Facebook's $599 Oculus headset, available starting next month, requires a PC, while HTC and Sony's offerings are also tied to a...

RoadshowAuto TechFeds declare that Google's self-driving car is its own driverEnlarge ImageNHTSA determined that the computer inside Google's self-driving car is a driver for purposes of the car's design. Wayne Cuingham/CNET US regulations detail much of how cars are designed, from steering wheel placement to headlight brightness, all based on the idea of having a human in the driver's seat. But w...

RoadshowAuto TechFeds declare that Google's self-driving car is its own driverEnlarge ImageNHTSA determined that the computer inside Google's self-driving car is a driver for purposes of the car's design. Wayne Cuingham/CNET US regulations detail much of how cars are designed, from steering wheel placement to headlight brightness, all based on the idea of having a human in the driver's seat. But wha...

Enlarge ImageGoogle is reportedly plaing to release a new VR headset made of more rigid materials instead of cardboard. James Martin/CNET Google has virtual reality ambitions that stretch beyond cardboard.The Web giant is plaing to release a new VR headset later this year, according to a report Sunday by the Financial Times. A successor to the Cardboard VR viewer the company released in 2014, the new smartphone-...

Google is reportedly plaing to release a new virtual reality headset this year, one made of more rigid materials -- like the Oculus Rift -- instead of cardboard. Nick Statt/CNET Google has virtual reality ambitions that stretch beyond cardboard.The web giant is plaing to release a new VR headset later this year, according to a report Sunday by the Financial Times. A successor to the Cardboard VR viewer the company released in 2014, the new smartphone-based headset will sport improved sensors and lenses housed in a solid plastic casing, according to the report.The move would further buttress the growing interest tech companies have shown in VR, which promises to transport goggle-wearing users...

Google's head of AI will be taking over search. © Richard Levine/Demotix/Corbis How important is artificial intelligence to Google's future? Hint: The search giant is promoting its head of AI to take over its biggest business.Google on Wednesday said AI chief John Giaandrea will take over search responsibilities when current search boss Amit Singhal retires at the end of the month. That move signals profound changes for how we find things online. Many believe AI will deliver some of the biggest breakthroughs in computing technology over the next few years. The goal of AI is to create systems that understand their environment and even handle everyday tasks, from recognizing speech and handwri...

Google's head of AI will be taking over search. © Richard Levine/Demotix/Corbis How important is artificial intelligence to Google's future? Hint: The search giant is promoting its head of AI to take over its biggest business.Google on Wednesday said AI chief John Giaandrea will take over search responsibilities when current search boss Amit Singhal retires at the end of the month. That move signals profound changes for how we find things online. Many believe AI will deliver some of the biggest breakthroughs in computing technology over the next few years. The goal of AI is to create systems that understand their environment and even handle everyday tasks, from recognizing speech and handwri...

Google is lending a hand in communities where its ultra-fast Fiber broadband service is available.A resident of a housing project in Kansas City and her son are among the first to receive gigabit Inteet from Google Fiber at no cost.The Mountain View, Califoia, company said in a blog post Wednesday that it will give public housing residents free access to its Google Fiber broadband service. It's kicking off the effort in Kansas City, where Google first deployed the all-fiber network in 2011. Google already provides free service to the poor in Austin, Texas. But the speed offered there for free is lower than the 1 gigabit-per-second coection it provides to its customers and will be providing l...

Google's self-driving car technology gets plenty of test time in the labs before taking to the streets. Google Google's autonomous cars drive millions of miles each day along virtual roads. In its self-driving car report for January, Google notes that actual road testing is a vital but that simulation plays an equally important role. Each time Google improves or refines a key feature in the technology, it tests that feature in a virtual environment using thousands of variations. As a result, Google's vehicles drive a simulated 3 million miles each day. "That's the equivalent of circling the equator five times every hour," the company said. The report offers a glimpse of how Google is using s...

Enlarge ImageRuth Porat, Alphabet's CFO, gave us new information about the company's experimental projects. Ringo Chiu/ZUMA Press/Corbis Alphabet, the new parent company of Google, is the Willy Wonka factory of tech: driverless cars, Wi-Fi beaming balloons, glucose-reading contact lenses and even plans for smart cities.If founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin can pull off all those so-called "moon shots," they'll certainly deliver a future full of intrigue. But iovation isn't easy -- or cheap.On Monday, CFO Ruth Porat gave us our first real glimpse into the operations b...

When Larry Page charges at you with a hockey stick, he doesn't talk trash. Known for being the silent type, Page is quiet and focused and lets his brother-in-arms, Sergey Brin, do the whooping. That was the dynamic between the duo whenever they played roller hockey, a favorite pastime. But it's also what defines Google, the company they co-founded in 1998 as twentysomethings. Now the two have a bold new play. Their goal: to have their now-giant tech company feel once again like a scrappy startup, with Page focused on expanding the businesses and Brin touting their most ambitious projects. Next week Page and Brin will give us our first real glimpse inside Alphabet, a new corporate structure t...

When Larry Page charges at you with a hockey stick, he doesn't talk trash. Known for being the silent type, Page is quiet and focused and lets his brother-in-arms, Sergey Brin, do the whooping.That was the dynamic between the duo whenever they played roller hockey, a favorite pastime. But it's also what defines Google, the company they co-founded in 1998 as twentysomethings. Now the two have a bold new play. Their goal: to have their now-giant tech company feel once again like a scrappy startup, with Page focused on expanding the businesses and Brin touting their most ambitious projects.Next week Page and Brin will give us our first real glimpse inside Alphabet, a new corporate structure tha...

Google doled out some cash after losing and regaining control of its domain name last fall. Google Google shelled out some cash last fall after losing and regaining ownership of Google.com. Now the company has revealed how much the slip-up cost. Former Google employee Sanmay Ved purchased Google.com for $12 at 1:20 a.m. ET on September 29. He bought the domain name on the Google Domains registration service website after the company somehow lost ownership of it. He owned Google.com for one minute. The transaction was reversed when Google sent Ved a cancellation order, which retued ownership to the company. Conflicts over domain ownership aren't always settled amicably or cheaply. So-called d...

So when can we see a match between Google's AlphaGo and IBM's Watson?The Google DeepMind team accomplished something that no one thought a computer could do for another ten years: beat a human at the board game Go. Watch Update below to lea why this ancient Chinese game required a different type of programming, and what it means for the future of artificial intelligence....

Time for redesign and possibly a rebranding. Sarah Tew/CNET Remember Google Glass? Well, Google would apparently rather you didn't.The tech titan last weekend erased all the social media chaels dedicated to its $1,500 smart specs, which it stopped selling in January 2015. Google Glass wearers, or Explorers as they are known, are left with only a support page bearing a phone number and email address.At the heart of the Glass community was the Glass Explorers group on Google+. This is where Google execs posted point-of-view videos of themselves jumping on trampolines and of models wearing Glass at New York Fashion Week. The page remains, but all content has been wiped. The Glass presence on Fa...

A Google Chrome lapel pin Stephen Shankland/CNET If you're like a lot of iPhone customers who use Chrome, there's one gripe at the top of your list: crashes. Go to the wrong website and Google's browser disappears from undeeath your fingertips, forcing you to restart the app."Our biggest criticism has been 'This app crashes a lot,'" said Abdel Karim Mardini, the Google product manager who leads work on Chrome for Apple's iOS-powered devices, the iPad and iPhone. But Google's new Chrome 48, scheduled to arrive today, cuts crashes by 70 percent, he said.The new Chrome version also is faster at handling complex and interactive Web pages and at scrolling thanks to an extensive rewrite of the bro...

Before we start, a caveat: Yeah, Google is now owned by an umbrella company called Alphabet. And it's Alphabet that owns many of these crazy-cool technologies. But the people who own Alphabet are, essentially, Google's top brass. You'll forgive us the minor liberty.Why have contacts that just help you see? According to Google, the company is developing a smart contact lens that's "built to measure glucose levels in tears using a tiny wireless chip and miniaturized glucose sensor that are embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at ...

Before we start, a caveat: Yeah, Google is now owned by an umbrella company called Alphabet. And it's Alphabet that owns many of these crazy-cool technologies. But the people who own Alphabet are, essentially, Google's top brass. You'll forgive us the minor liberty.Why have contacts that just help you see? According to Google, the company is developing a smart contact lens that's "built to measure glucose levels in tears using a tiny wireless chip and miniaturized glucose sensor that are embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at ...