Author Archives: Aaron Brindle

GNI continues to work towards supporting Canadian journalism of all sizes




When we launched the Google News Initiative in 2018 with a mission of helping to create a sustainable landscape for journalism, the news industry and the world were in very different places. Now, more than three years later, we are reflecting back on what we’ve accomplished together with Canadian news organizations, nonprofits and journalists while at the same time deepening our commitment to helping newsrooms solve challenges. 



Reporters and editors around the country told us that using technology to build digital journalism skills to adjust to the digital age and combating misinformation are critical priorities. That’s why we’ve expanded our News Lab trainings in Canada and have committed to training 5,000 journalists over the next three years on digital skills for the newsroom.



The COVID-19 pandemic has placed increasing pressure on the business side of newsrooms, impacting their ability to cover essential stories for their communities. That led us to create the Journalism Emergency Relief Fund, putting much-needed funding of $1.5 million into the hands of over 230 local Canadian newsrooms. The COVID-19 pandemic was also the impetus for the Support Local News campaign in the U.S. and Canada, which encouraged people to support their local paper. 



In 2019, we held our first North American Innovation Challenge which supported four Canadian news organizations in understanding their communities and developing new publishing business models. And we’ve just announced the winners from our third North American Innovation Challenge, out of the 25 projects selected, 7 are with Canadian newsrooms. Winners include Energeticcity.ca, a local news organization in Northern BC, which will focus on helping rural media operators connect with their audiences, and Metroland, which will address the deficiency in news coverage of and for Indigenous people in Ontario. 



Throughout, we strive to ensure that our work touches a diverse group of publishers and audiences. We have recently announced the Global News Equity Fund, a multi-million dollar commitment to driving transformational change with a focus on diversity and equity. The fund will provide direct financial support to news organizations that are owned by or serve underrepresented communities around the world, and it is our hope that it builds upon our existing work of supporting underrepresented publishers and communities. 



We also developed the GNI Ad Transformation Lab, a program to support Canadian and American publishers serving underrepresented communities in their transition to digital. The first round of the Lab helped 28 Black and Latino publishers advance their digital businesses and build digital advertising capabilities required to achieve growth today. The application for the 2022 Ad Transformation Lab is now live. The application window will close on Monday, November 29 at 11:59 p.m. EST. We encourage news organizations and publishers who serve diverse and underrepresented communities in the United States and Canada to apply.



We recently made a conscious effort to broaden our support to focus on local and emerging news organizations. Publishers have shared with us that adapting their business models to digital is immensely difficult. So together with industry associations and thought leaders worldwide we are bringing the Digital Growth Program to Canada to help news organizations accelerate growth in advertising and reader revenue and strengthen their core foundations in audience development, product and data. The feedback we received from partners also encouraged us to grow our investment in our audience insight tools, including our recently launched, News Consumer Insights.



Additionally, we are supporting aspiring news entrepreneurs through efforts like our Startups Boot Camp, an 8 week program in partnership with LION publishing designed to help participants with hands-on coaching and support to launch or develop a news offering. Applications have just closed for this upcoming all-Canadian cohort, and we cannot wait to see the news products that this group brings to market. 



We’ve also just announced The Data-Driven Reporting Project, a partnership between the GNI and the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University. Medill will run The Data-Driven Reporting Project, which aims to address the inequality of resources for local newsrooms and freelancers when doing essential data-driven, investigative reporting. The project is committed to awarding $2 million to journalists working on document-based investigative projects that serve local and underrepresented communities throughout the United States and Canada. Learn more on how and when you can apply.



This is just a snapshot of our work. Over the last three years we’ve accomplished a lot, but there’s much more to do. Achieving a healthy, sustainable and diverse news industry isn’t something Google or any single entity can or should do alone. This is a shared responsibility across publishers, companies, governments, civic society and more. Today we remain as committed as we’ve always been to playing our role in supporting Canadian newsrooms of all sizes for years to come. 



Posted by Mladen Raickovic, Head of Global Partnerships, Google Canada

Liard Aborignal Women’s Society Selected for Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls Funding

Editor's Note: This blog was guest written by Ann Maje Raider, Kaska Elder and Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society Executive Director

More than 20 years ago, a small group of Indigenous women in northern Canada created an organization to address the impacts of abuse committed by residential schools in the region. I am honored to have shared in the humble beginnings of our organization which has since grown into a significant social movement. Known today as the Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society (LAWS), we offer leading-edge social development services to Kaska communities in southern Yukon and northern British Columbia, addressing barriers to economic empowerment including gender discrimination, cultural displacement, addictions and violence.

Over the next 20 years we intend to deepen the impact and reach of our services, creating a Centre in the form of a virtual hub to vastly improve services and support for Indigenous women. Using culturally informed training and mentorship, the Centre will strengthen access to safe, culturally appropriate practices that enable Indigenous women to recover from violence, realize their economic potential and improve their quality of life.

It is with this Centre in mind that we submitted our ideas and plan to the Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls, and we are gratified that our project is one of 34 global projects selected for funding out of nearly 8,000 applications globally. In addition to funding, we will participate in a four-month accelerator program led by Google’s Accelerator and Women Techmakers communities and Impact Challenge partner Vital Voices to move our project forward.

The LAWS Centre Project is focused on transformative action enabling Indigenous women to reclaim power and place through a multi-faceted, community-led approach, drawing on cultural and critical expertise, and built upon three core principles: Empowerment: The project opens pathways to economic independence for Indigenous women through the sharing of traditional knowledge, through specialized training in leadership and in culturally grounded responses to gender-based violence, and through a skills and knowledge transfer process, empowering Indigenous women as their own trainers.
Indigenous Women-Led: The project will provide diverse opportunities for Indigenous women to engage in training design and delivery, by and for Indigenous women and survivors of violence.
Paradigm shift: Led by Indigenous women/LGBTQ2S, the project intends to decolonize and transform the service field at multiple levels, understanding violence using the response-based lens, addressing racism and promoting justice-oriented and dignity-driven responses to the needs of Indigenous women and girls.

The assistance of the Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls will enable the LAWS Centre Project to support Indigenous women, who are amongst the most marginalized in Canadian society, and help them overcome socio-economic barriers. This assistance comes at a crucial time and will be used to create an intra-community support system marked by Indigenous women supporting other Indigenous women.

As Indigenous women, we already have the power and solutions to transform public policies that will enable us to achieve our economic potential – the power and solutions borne of our cultural knowledge developed over a millennia and awaiting recognition and implementation by and within current colonial systems. Our ancestors and our cultural knowledge guide us and show the way forward for ourselves and for future generations to rise up and thrive.

Editor's note: More about the Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls
The $25 million philanthropy challenge was launched in March with a challenge to submit the boldest and most innovative ideas to create a more equitable economic reality for women and girls.

Google.org partnered with a women-led panel of experts, including leaders like Rona Ambrose, and gender equity-focused organizations Vital Voices and Project Everyone to evaluate proposals based on four key criteria: innovation, impact, feasibility, and scalability. The selected organizations have outlined projects that will help women and girls, especially those in geographically, economically, or socially marginalized populations, reach their full economic potential.

For more information about our project, other Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls recipients, please follow this website link.

Our Shared Responsibility: YouTube’s response to the Government’s proposal to address harmful content online

At YouTube, our mission is to “give everyone a voice and show them the world.” Implicit in that mission is a sense of responsibility to our community: our users, our creators, and our advertisers. Responsibility is our number one priority at YouTube, and we want to protect our community while enabling new and diverse voices to break through. 


The Government of Canada is drafting legislation to address “Harmful Content Online” and we are committed to helping them achieve that objective. Everyone deserves to feel safe online. At YouTube we feel a deep responsibility to keep our users safe and remove content that violates our policies. Part of that responsibility includes working together with governments and other stakeholders to get regulatory frameworks right. 


It has been encouraging to see so many voices contribute to the government’s consultation, and transparency around this issue is incredibly important. That's why, like so many others, we are taking the step of publicly releasing our submission made to the Government of Canada. You can read our entire submission here. 


YouTube has existing, robust policies in place for content hosted on our platform, including prohibitions on hate speech, terrorist content, nudity, harassment and incitement to violence. Through the Global Internet Forum to Combat Terrorism (GIFCT) and the Technology Coalition we work closely with government partners around the world to tackle illegal content online. We understand the calls for increased transparency and it is why we publish quarterly reports of how YouTube deals with content that violates our Community Guidelines. There are more than 20,000 people across YouTube and Google working to tackle abuse of our platforms and keep our users safe. You can read more about our approach to moderating content online here. We are committed to sharing our experiences and expertise to offer constructive recommendations to the Canadian government as it develops this new regime. 


Our starting point is that we believe the same standards should apply to expression in online and offline environments. As currently drafted in the Government’s proposal, what is legal to say offline may not be permissible to share online. We believe it is critical that content regulated by the proposed framework be precisely defined and limited to illegal content in order to avoid undermining access to information; restricting the exchange of ideas and viewpoints that are necessary in a democratic society; and creating a legal framework that could be used to censor political speech in the future. 


There are aspects of the Government’s proposal that could be vulnerable to abuse and lead to over removal of legitimate content. Some categories of content, such as defamation, are highly dependent on context and require nuanced decision making. We need to take the time to properly review and assess these types of content. The government’s proposal contains a provision that would require platforms to take down user-flagged content within 24 hours. YouTube receives hundreds of thousands of content flags on a daily basis. While many are good-faith attempts to flag problematic content, large numbers of them represent mere disagreement with views expressed in legitimate content or are inaccurate. As pointed out by Emily Laidlaw and Darryl Carmichael, from the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Law, user-submitted flags can be used as a tool to harass and infringe on the expression of others, and would “disproportionately impact marginalized, racialized and intersectional groups.” In other words, the proposal could harm the diverse voices we hope will thrive on YouTube. 


We act rapidly in responding to user flags; however, it’s essential to strike the right balance between speed and accuracy. User flags are best utilized as “signals” of potentially violative content, rather than definitive statements of violations. In Q2 2021, 17.2M videos were flagged by users. In that same period, we removed over 6.2M videos for violating our Community Guidelines, and of those removed, 296,454 were first flagged by users. 


We’re also strongly recommending that the legislation does not impose a requirement for proactive monitoring —a system where content is pre-emptively scanned for potentially offensive material before it can be posted. The European Union has already taken a strong stand against proactive monitoring. The EU Commission stated that requiring monitoring “could disproportionately limit users’ freedom of expression and freedom to receive information, and could burden service providers excessively and thus unduly interfere with their freedom to conduct a business.” Imposing proactive monitoring obligations could result in the suppression of lawful expression (potentially including content that is intended to educate and inform the public about societal challenges) and would be out of step with international democratic norms. 


We appreciate the opportunity to share our submission with the Government and with Canadians. Many have voiced concerns with the proposal and while we share some of those concerns, we also believe that there is a path forward. We’re at the table, ready to work hand-in-hand with the government, civil society, and Canadians on this critical issue. We all deserve to feel and be safe online. 


Posted by Jeanette Patell, Head of Canada Government Affairs & Public Policy at YouTube

Meet the Canadian Artists and Producers Joining the #YouTubeBlack Voices Music Class of 2022


Earlier this year, we introduced the inaugural #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund Artist Class of 2021. In doing so, we had one goal: Amplify Black voices on YouTube. To accomplish this mission, we provided the participating artists with the following: 
  • Dedicated partner support from YouTube 
  • Seed funding invested into the development of their channels 
  • The opportunity to participate in training and networking programs focused on production, fan engagement, and wellbeing 
As we shared back in July, the inaugural class achieved incredible feats on our platform, far outperforming any expectations. From Mariah The Scientist’s exclusive live set in support of NIVA, to Rexx Life Raj, Joy Oladokun, and Tkay Maidza taking center stage at YouTube’s annual Brandcast event, and every success in between. We want to thank each and every one of these individuals for bringing so much energy and passion to the program and for sharing the power of their music with fans around the world. 

As we celebrate the success of these artists, today we’re excited to grow and reaffirm our commitment to Black musical excellence by announcing the #YouTubeBlack Voices Music Class of 2022. Expanding on our commitment, this new Class will not only include songwriters and producers, but we are also expanding the cohort to include music creators from the UK and Canada. 

The Class of 2022 includes one producer, and three artists from Canada, who help demonstrate the passion, energy and talent of Black music creators in our country. Joining the songwriter and producer cohort is Toronto-based music producer WondaGurl, whose credits already include hits from artists like Jay-Z, Drake and Rihanna. The musicians joining our artist cohort include rapper NorthSideBenji, from Brampton; Savannah Ré, an R&B singer from Toronto, and Liza, a singer-songwriter from Toronto. 

These artists and producers will join 50 others as part of the #YouTubeBlack Voices Class of 2022. For the first time ever, they will have the opportunity to come together to co-write and collaborate. 

We’re also honored to introduce Hip Hop ICON and the genre's most notable storyteller, Slick Rick, as the inaugural mentor member of the #YouTubeBlack Voices Artist Class of 2022. In this capacity, Slick Rick will play an additional role, sharing his wisdom and experience with fellow grant recipients within educational and networking programs for the class. 

These artists, songwriters, and producers — from the United States, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, Nigeria, Uganda, and now, the United Kingdom and Canada — speak to the vastness of the pool of Black genius. Limitless in genre, identity, talent, innovation, and creativity, their voices and the music they make encapsulate the global experience of Black people–past, present, and future. 

Please meet the the #YouTubeBlack Voices Music Class of 2022: 

#YouTubeBlack Voices Artist Class of 2022

Azawi (Kampala, Uganda), Barkaa (Barkindji Nation, Western NSW), Blanco Brown (Atlanta, Georgia, United States), Bree Runway (East London, England, United Kingdom), Budjerah (Fingal Head, Australia), Cico P (Jacksonville, Texas, United States), Cimafunk (Pinar del Rio, Cuba), CKay (Anambra, Nigeria), Dijon (Ellicott City, Maryland, United States), Elaine (Pretoria, South Africa), EST Gee (Louisville, Kentucky, United States), Jonathan Ferr (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Jords (Croydon, England, United Kingdom), Kadhja Bonet (Long Beach, California, United States), Kamille (London, England, United Kingdom), Liniker (São Paulo, Brazil), Liza (Toronto, Canada), midwxst (Carmel, Indiana, United States), Monaleo (Houston, Texas, United States), Nija (Union City, New Jersey, United States), NorthSideBenji (Toronto, Canada), NSG (London, England, United Kingdom), Omah Lay (Port Harcourt, Nigeria), Rico Dalasam (São Paulo, Brazil), Savannah Ré (Toronto, Canada), Tai Verdes (Palos Verdes, Los Angeles, CA), Tamera (Kent, England), Tasha & Tracie (São Paulo, Brazil), Teezo Touchdown (Beaumont, Texas, United States), whiterosemoxie (Detroit, Michigan, United States) and one of the globes most legendary voices in hip hop, the legendary Slick Rick The Ruler (from The Bronx, New York United States).  

For more information on the Artist Class, click here. 

#YouTubeBlack Voices Songwriter & Producer Class of 2022


Cadenza (London, England, United Kingdom), Compass (North London, England, United Kingdom), Dallas Woods (Wyndham, West Australia, Australia), Dj Lag (Johannesburg, South Africa), Gloria Kaba (Irvington, New Jersey, United States), HARV (Kansas City, Missouri, United States), IamTash (Boston, Massachusetts, United States), Jay Versace (Pleasantville, New Jersey, United States), jetsonmade (Columbia, South Carolina, United States), Kobie Dee (South Sydney, Bidjigal Land, Australia), Léo Casa 1 (São Paulo, Brazil), Major League DJz (Johannesburg, South Africa), Mu540 (Praia Grande, São Paulo, Brazil), Nova Wav (Tallahassee, Florida / Atlanta, Georgia, United States), OG Parker (Atlanta, Georgia, United States), P.Priime (Lagos, Nigeria), RDD (Paulo Afonso, Bahia, Brazil), Rodriguinho (Bauru, São Paulo, Brazil), Telz (Lagos, Nigeria), Walshy Fire (Miami, Florida, United States), WondaGurl (Toronto, Canada), YAOB (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) 

For more information on the Songwriter & Producer Class, click here.

Personal meets powerful: Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are here

The wait is over: Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, the completely redesigned Google phones, are here. Powered by Google Tensor, Google’s first-ever processor, and shipping with Android 12, both phones are fast, smart, secure and designed to adapt to you. 

Pixel 6 is an outstanding all-around phone and it starts at only $799. If you want all the advanced capabilities and upgraded finishes, Pixel 6 Pro is the right phone for you, starting at $1,179. 

Powering the new Pixel lineup is Google Tensor, a mobile system on a chip designed specifically around Google’s industry-leading AI. Google Tensor enables entirely new capabilities for your smartphone, and makes Pixel 6 and 6 Pro more helpful and more personal. 

Distinct design 
Pixel has a bold new design this year with a cohesive look across the software on the inside and the hardware on the outside. The first thing you’ll notice is the Camera Bar, giving the phone a clean, symmetrical design that puts the camera front-and-center.
Pixel 6 has a distinctive graphic and vibrant look.. The matte black metal band complements the expressive, versatile colour options. Pixel 6 Pro was inspired by the finishes you see in luxury jewelry and watches. It’s made with a polished metal unibody and transitions into gorgeous curved glass in colors that complement the metallic frames. 

Speaking of color, Android 12 brings a full redesign to the OS, with Material You. 

Android 12 on Pixel 6 
Android 12 builds on the best features of Android so your phone can really be your phone: It can adapt to you, it’s secure by default and private by design. And Android 12 looks especially stunning on Pixel 6.
When you choose your wallpaper, your entire UI will update to reflect that choice. Everything will feel more responsive and smoother. At a Glance, which shows up on the home and lock screen, has a fresh new look and some new capabilities. Here, you’ll find what you need, right when you need it — like your boarding pass the day of your flight or stats from your current workout.

New Pixel, new camera 
Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro have the most advanced cameras we’ve ever built. The entire camera experience is improved from the hardware to Pixel’s revolutionary computational photography. 

Both Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro have a new 1/1.3 inch sensor on the back. This primary sensor now captures up to 150% more light (compared to Pixel 5’s camera), meaning you’re going to get photos and videos with even greater detail and richer colour. Both phones also have completely new ultrawide lenses with larger sensors, so photos look great when you want to fit more in your shot. 

Pixel 6 Pro also has an amazing telephoto lens with 4x optical zoom and up to 20x zoom with an improved version of Pixel’s Super Res Zoom. There’s also an upgraded ultrawide front camera that records 4K video. You can make use of that wider front camera in Snapchat’s new ultrawide selfie feature. Plus, for instant Snapchat access, the new Quick Tap to Snap feature is coming exclusively to Pixel 6 and 6 Pro later this year. 

Magic Eraser makes distractions in your photos disappear, just like that. With a few taps in Google Photos, remove strangers and unwanted objects.
Motion Mode features options like Action Pan and Long Exposure, which bring movement to your shots. You can use Action Pan to take photos of your kids riding their scooter or landing crazy skateboarding tricks against a stylish blurred background. Or create beautiful long exposure shots where your subject is moving, like waterfalls or vibrant city scenes.

    

Another significant advancement in photography across Pixel and Google Photos is Real Tone. Going back decades, cameras have been designed to photograph light skin — a bias that’s crept into many of our modern digital imaging products and algorithms. Our teams have been working directly with photographers, cinematographers and colorists who are celebrated for their beautiful and accurate imagery of communities of colour. We asked them to test our cameras and editing tools and provide honest feedback, which helped make our camera and auto enhancement features more equitable. 

Smarts and speech 
Pixel 6 and 6 Pro also have improved speech recognition and language understanding models, so it can make everyday tasks easier. For instance, you can now use your voice to quickly type, edit, and send messages with Assistant voice typing in Messages, Gmail and more. Let Google Assistant help with adding punctuation, making corrections, inserting emojis and sending your messages – hands-free. 


Finally, Live Translate enables you to message with people in different languages, including English, French, German, Italian and a beta version in Japanese. It works by detecting whether a message in your chat apps, like WhatsApp or Snap, is different from your language, and if so, automatically offers you a translation. All of this detection and processing happens entirely on-device within Private Compute Core, so no data ever leaves the device, and it works even without network connectivity. With support for Interpreter mode, you’ll also be able to take turns translating what is said in up to 48 languages. Activate Assistant and say “Be my interpreter.” 


One more thing: when you get an incoming call, just say “accept” or “decline” without having to use “Hey Google” every time by enabling Quick phrases. You can also “stop” and “snooze” alarms and timers! Get your hands on the new Pixel Pre-order Pixel 6 today, which starts at $799 and $1179 for the Pixel 6 Pro. You can preorder at gStore, Best Buy, Rogers, Telus, Glentel, Freedom and Amazon. The phones will be available on store shelves with all major Canadian carriers starting on October 28. We’re also launching a new collection of specially designed cases for Pixel 6, so you can protect your phone in style. 

However you buy it, and whichever Pixel 6 you pick, we know you are going to love your new phone.

Posted by Brian Rakowski, VP, Product Management

Helping 600,000 Canadian businesses transform during the pandemic

For over 20 years, Google has helped Canadian businesses of all sizes use our digital tools to grow and reach customers across the globe. But 2020 wasn’t business-as-usual. We spent the year helping Canadian businesses adapt to the biggest challenge of a generation – making a decade’s worth of technology innovation happen in a matter of months. 


Before COVID-19, making the transition to digital was aspirational for most business owners. When the pandemic upended all of our lives, it became essential. And now, for companies, it is existential. To explore how Google products helped Canadian workers and businesses in 2020, Google commissioned independent consultancy Public First to take a look. 





How Public First calculates Google’s economic impact: 
Leveraging methodology from previous Google impact reports from markets including Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, independent consultancy Public First used traditional economic modelling built upon third-party estimates of Google Canada’s market size and standard returns on investment (ROI) to measure the economic activity driven by Google’s core products, including Google Search, Google Ads, AdSense, Android and YouTube. You can see a fuller explanation of this methodology at https://googleimpactcanada.publicfirst.co/canada/#appendix 


Introducing the new Nest Cam (indoor, wired)

Meet the second-generation Nest Cam (indoor, wired): a wired camera that helps you keep track of what’s going on inside your home and matches your unique interior decor. Starting at $99.99, it’s our most affordable Nest Cam ever. It has an adaptable design for tabletops or walls, and it comes in four colors: Snow, Linen, Fog and Sand with maple wood base ($119.99). 

The new Nest Cam has 10 times more machine learning power than the previous generation, enhanced HDR video quality, and processes events on-device, which makes for more accurate and timely alerts. It can detect people, animals and vehicles, only sending you alerts for what matters most. We’ve also included three hours of event video history and the ability to create Activity Zones (which help the camera focus on the important places in your home). All of this works without the need for a subscription. Nest Cam also has local storage backup to help with reliability: If your Wi-Fi goes out, it will keep recording and upload your clips to the Google Home app when service returns. 

Nest Cam is built specifically for the Google Home app, where you can view and control your camera anytime. You can choose which notifications you want to receive, set up Activity Zones and view your whole home history across your compatible devices, like displays, thermostats and new Nest Cams and Doorbell. A Nest Aware subscription expands your event video history to 30 days, and a Nest Aware Plus subscription provides 60 days of event video history and 10 days of continuous video history. Both subscriptions also come with Familiar Face detection to help your cameras identify people you know. 

We designed this Nest Cam for the many ways you can use an indoor camera. To show you just how versatile it is, here’s how members of the Nest team are using it in their own homes. 


Isabelle Olsson — Director, Design for Home
I installed my Nest Cam (in Sand with a wooden base) in my kids playroom. It naturally fits in with my wood shelving, and for the first time, I was comfortable installing a security camera in our most precious space. Being able to check in on my kids without interrupting their play is such a great, delightful experience. 


Félix Senepin — Product Manager 
I have my Nest Cam set up in my living room so I can keep an eye on my dog when I'm out or in a different room. She finds the sofas to be quite comfy…even though she's not allowed on all of them. So I created Activity Zones on those sofas, and set up alerts for animal detection there. Whenever she decides to take a nap in the wrong spot, I can talk to her through the camera. I'm glad the cable it comes with is pretty long so I could put it high on a piece of furniture and get the whole room in the field of view. 


Sung Bai — Industrial Design Manager 
I think about two things when I place an indoor, wired camera in my home: Is there an area that needs to be monitored and protected? And is there a place where the camera will fit naturally with everything else in the room? We have our Nest Cams in the office, living room and main bedroom. They’re on a shelf in the office, side table in the bedroom and we move the one in the living room around. The cameras all face doors or windows and handle backlighting well, so the video is always easy to view. Plus, we enabled Home & Away Routines so they turn off when we’re home. 


JJ Nold — User Experience Design Manager 
We placed our Nest Cam in the entryway of our new home. We mainly use it to keep an eye on who is coming and going when we're away, but it's also a great way to keep track of what our three cats (Bacon, Mac and Cheddar) are up to. 


George Hines — Software Engineer 
I’ve placed my Nest Cam in my favorite part of my home: It keeps a watchful eye on my "Evil Mad Scientist's lair" (aka, the garage). It’s reassuring to know it’s on the job 24/7, making sure no one is messing with my toys (aka, vintage bicycles and computers, which I fix up in my spare time) — and it can see clearly out the open garage door. 

Rue Song — User Experience Designer
We placed our Nest Cam Indoor in our living room to keep an eye on our dog when we’re out. We can see through the app that she mostly just naps, but occasionally we’ll use the built-in speaker and mic to remind her that our baby’s stuffed animals aren’t her toys. It works every time! 

Andy Hengel — Product Manager 
I put one of my Nest Cams inside my workshop and installed it with the built-in wall mount. A few family members have a key, so it's nice to know when tools go walking out the door. It also provides extra security since the workshop backs up to an alley, but so far the only intruder has been a wayward squirrel when I left the door open one afternoon. 

Make the new indoor wired Nest Cam your own — it’s available today on the Google Store and at select retailers.

Introducing Nest Cam with floodlight

A floodlight does two great things for your front porch: It creates ambient light that welcomes family and visitors to your home — and it deters unwanted guests. But traditional floodlights are activated purely by motion sensors, which can be helpful when you’re walking outside in the dark, but not so much when a moth is flying in front of the light. 

So when Nest set out to build our first connected floodlight, we wanted to integrate the smarts in our new Nest Cam to create a more helpful floodlight camera — one that turns on when activity is detected, and can be easily installed and replace an existing exterior light fixture. 

Meet Nest Cam with floodlight, available today for $379.99. It’s designed to work exclusively with the Google Home app, so you can check on home or control your floodlight from anywhere. Here are 11 things to love about the newest nocturnal Nest Cam. 

  1. Two of a kind: Nest Cam with floodlight combines our newest camera technology with a high-quality LED floodlight. The device is hardwired for continuous power and provides the option for 24/7 continuous video history (with a Nest Aware Plus subscription). 
  2. A smarter floodlight: The floodlight is controlled by the smarts of the camera (rather than motion sensors alone) to light up the scene and capture important activity. Instead of the light switching on and off for activity that you don’t care about, you can select the types of activity that your floodlight turns on for, such as when a person, animal, or vehicle is detected. For example, set an activity zone so it lights your way when you pull into your driveway. 
  3.  Replace your existing lighting: Install Nest Cam with floodlight where you have an existing exterior light or wiring. It comes with what you need to upgrade your existing exterior light right in the box. We’ve created a step-by-step video as part of the setup process in the Google Home app to make installation a breeze, but you can also enlist the help of a Pro if you need a hand. 
  4. Built for the Google Home app: Like the new battery-powered Nest Cam and Doorbell, Nest Cam with floodlight is built exclusively for the Google Home app. In the app, you can adjust the brightness of the lights, turn the floodlight on and off manually or control what kind of events turn the floodlight on. 
  5.  Enhanced by Nest Cam features: Nest Cam has built-in intelligence and on-device processing, meaning more features are available right out of the box that used to require a subscription — for example, animal, vehicle and person detection and the ability to create Activity Zones. It also has local storage fallback, meaning the camera will record up to an hour of footage (about a week’s worth of events) on-device if the power or internet go out, and when service returns you’ll be able to view your clips in the Google Home app. 
  6. Your extra set of eyes: In addition to being powered by Nest Cam’s intelligence and delivering 1080p video with HDR, Nest Cam with floodlight is equipped with 180-degree motion sensors to detect movement. It’s optimized to give you a clear view to be your extra set of eyes where you need them. The floodlights also illuminate the scene, which makes for a clearer image in the dark. 
  7. Ambient light you can control: At 2400 lumens, the lights are bright enough to illuminate your patio or front yard in the middle of the night. In the Google Home app, Nest Cam with floodlight can be controlled like a smart light: adjust brightness, motion sensitivity, what the lights turn on for and how long — or manually turn the lights on or off with just a tap. 
  8. Set up routines: Nest Cam with floodlight works with your other Nest speakers and displays, so you can control the lights with your voice. In the Google Home app, schedule when your floodlight turns on and set up custom routines either by time or voice command. For example, turn on your floodlight when you say “turn on the backyard light,” or at 9:00 p.m. every night. 
  9.  A floodlight you can count on: With an IP54 rating, Nest Cam with floodlight can withstand the elements so it’s there for you when you need it the most. And similar to our other new cameras, it also requires a Google account, which provides added protection like security checkup, suspicious activity detection and two-step verification. 
  10. Add a Nest Aware subscription: With a Nest Aware subscription, you can extend your video history from three hours of event video history (comes with the device, no subscription required!) to 30 days of event video history and add familiar face detection. A Nest Aware Plus subscription extends to 60 days of event video history and 10 days of 24/7 continuous video history. 
  11. Thoughtful, durable design: Made of durable, high-quality materials and a sleek, white design inspired by the lighting we use for the inside of our homes, Nest Cam with floodlight was designed to complement your home’s unique character, rather than looking like high-tech security gear. 
 If you’re interested in learning more about the new Nest Cam with floodlight, visit the Google Store. Now available to purchase in stores at Best Buy, The Home Depot, Staples, Walmart and Bed Bath and Beyond. Available online only at The Source, Lowes, Rona, Costco and Reno Depot.

Don’t stop the music!

Introducing a new YouTube Music app listening experience
From introducing personalized mixes for your everyday moods and moments to bringing you the most popular music from every part of the globe, YouTube Music looks to provide its users with the most immersive music experience imaginable. Every new update to YouTube Music begins by listening to people, and we’ve heard you loud and clear: Keep the music playing. 

Today, we’re excited to announce that we will begin rolling out background listening to music listeners in Canada, free of charge, beginning on November 3, 2021! Canadian music lovers using the YouTube Music app will be the first to enjoy this new feature before it becomes available to listeners around the world. 

This update will allow people to continue listening to YouTube Music while using other apps or when your screen is off. Within this, you can engage with the YouTube Music app through an exciting ad-supported, radio-like experience featuring the artists, songs, and albums you love, plus personalized mixes on shuffle without the hassle of having to keep the YouTube Music app open on your device. 

Here’s what you’ll get: 

  • Listen to your music in the background: You can now keep your music playing after minimizing the app or turning off your screen. Go on a run, answer a text, or check some emails without stopping your music. 
  • Enjoy continuous stations and shuffle: Dive into this new playback experience with continuous radio stations based on your favorite songs, albums, and artists. Further your listening through personalized playlists on shuffle, like Mixed for you on the Home tab, which features mixes inspired by your ever-changing music ecosystem. If you've uploaded songs on the YouTube Music app, you can continue to play them anytime, and you can also keep streaming music and videos, on-demand, with the YouTube app. 
  • Focus on what’s important: With Google Assistant driving mode, drivers can now keep their focus on the road while staying safe and entertained with a hands-free YouTube Music experience. 
Stay tuned for additional information and expansion plans. In the meantime, sit back, relax and don’t stop the music! 

If you don’t already have YouTube Music, download the YouTube Music app in the Play Store or App Store. 

Posted by Jason Robinson, Product Manager, YouTube Music

Honouring Indigenous Survivors, Families and Communities for the First Annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Editor's Note: This blog was guest written by Stephanie Scott, Executive Director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR), and Monika Ille, Chief Executive Officer of APTN. 

On the first-ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (NDT&R), we invite all Canadians to honour residential school survivors and reflect on the lasting impact of the residential school system on Indigenous Peoples. Since 2013, September 30 has been known as Orange Shirt Day, in recognition of the harm and tragedies of the residential school system. In June 2021, the federal government passed legislation to mark September 30 as NDT&R. Read on to learn about NDT&R’s origins, how you can observe the day, and what special programming APTN and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) will be sharing during the inaugural holiday. 

What is Orange Shirt Day? 
Since 2013, September 30 has been recognized as Orange Shirt Day. This annual movement opens the door to a global conversation about residential schools in Canada. 

Phyllis Webstad recounted her first day attending St. Joseph Mission Residential School at six years old. Webstad described how all of her clothes were taken from her upon arrival, including the orange shirt her grandmother had recently gifted her. Today, the orange shirt represents the Indigenous identities stolen from the children forced into residential schools. In light of the recovery of more than 1,300 unmarked graves on the grounds of former residential schools just this year, it is a day to reflect on the tragic legacy these schools have left behind. 

What is NDT&R? 
September 30 marks the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. As part of the Canadian government’s commitment to reconciliation, legislation was passed to make NDT&R a federal holiday. This is not just any holiday, but a day for doing the work of reconciliation and honouring Indigenous Peoples. NDT&R responds to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Call to Action 80. The TRC’s Calls to Action are not political. Rather, they were developed so that all Canadians can walk together on a shared path towards reconciliation. 

As a federal holiday, NDT&R applies to federal public sector employees, federally-regulated private sector workplaces and most federal crown corporations. British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon and the Northwest Territories have also recognized September 30 as a statutory holiday. 

NDT&R is also part of Truth and Reconciliation Week, a week of educational programming hosted by the NCTR. The NCTR derives its mandate from the TRC's Calls to Action and is a place for dialogue and learning, where the truths of residential school survivors are kept for future generations. The NCTR’s mandate is to build a foundation for reconciliation through public education about the residential school system and Canada’s long legacy of colonialism and violence. 

How Can I Observe NDT&R? 
There are many ways to participate in this day of remembrance and reconciliation. Allies are encouraged to wear an orange shirt in solidarity with Indigenous communities, but that alone is not enough. 

Here are some other meaningful actions you can take today and going forward: 
NDT&R is a day for action, remembrance, reflection and learning about the colonial history of the lands we live on. We all have a role to play in reconciliation.

Please take a moment to honour the survivors and communities who have so courageously shared their stories. Observe a minute of silence, put out a small pair of shoes or light a candle for the children who never made it home. What matters is that you do it with intention.