Tag Archives: Internet Access

Bringing internet access to millions more Indians with Jio

Today we signed an agreement to invest $4.5 billion (INR 33,737 crore) in Jio Platforms Ltd, taking a 7.73 percent stake in the company, pending regulatory review in India. This is the first investment from the Google For India Digitization Fund announced earlier this week, which aims to accelerate India’s digital economy over the next five to seven years through a mix of equity investments, partnerships, and operational, infrastructure and ecosystem investments.

Google and Jio Platforms have entered into a commercial agreement to jointly develop an entry-level affordable smartphone with optimizations to the Android operating system and the Play Store. Together we are excited to rethink, from the ground up, how millions of users in India can become owners of smartphones. This effort will unlock new opportunities, further power the vibrant ecosystem of applications and push innovation to drive growth for the new Indian economy.

This partnership comes at an exciting but critical stage in India’s digitization. It’s been amazing to see the changes in technology and network plans that have enabled more than half a billion Indians to get online. At the same time, the majority of people in India still don’t have access to the internet, and fewer still own a smartphone—so there’s much more work ahead.

Our mission with Android has always been to bring the power of computing to everyone, and we’ve been humbled by the way Indians have embraced Android over recent years. We think the time is right to increase our commitment to India significantly, in collaboration with local companies, and this partnership with Jio is the first step. We want to work with Jio and other leaders in the local ecosystem to ensure that smartphones—together with the apps and services in the Play Store—are within reach for many more Indians across the country. And we believe the pace of Indian innovation means that the experiences we create for India can ultimately be expanded to the rest of the world.

For Google, our work in India goes to the heart of our efforts to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible. We opened our first Indian campuses in Bangalore and Hyderabad in 2004. Since then, we’ve made India central to our Next Billion Users initiative—designed to ensure the internet is useful for people coming online for the first time. We’ve improved our apps and services so they’re relevant in more Indian languages and created offline versions for those facing network constraints. We’ve extended our tools to small businesses, sought to close digital divides with initiatives like Internet Saathi, and we’re increasingly focused on helping India harness AI. More and more, apps we create for India—like Google Pay or our Read Along language-learning app—influence what we do globally.

Jio, for its part, has made an extraordinary contribution to India’s technological progress over the past decade. Its investments to expand telecommunications infrastructure, low-cost phones and affordable internet have changed the way its hundreds of millions of subscribers find news and information, communicate with one another, use services and run businesses. Today, Jio is increasing its focus on the development of areas like digital services, education, healthcare and entertainment that can support economic growth and social inclusion at a critical time in the country’s history.

In partnership, we can draw on each other’s strengths. We look forward to bringing smartphone access to more Indians—and exploring the many ways we can work together to improve Indians’ lives and advance India’s digital economy.

Posted by Sanjay Gupta, Country Head & VP, India, and Sameer Samat, VP, Product Management

Source: Official Google India Blog

Empowering a new generation of localization professionals

When her grandmother Chadia turned 80, Christina Hayek—an Arabic Language Manager at Google—and her sisters wanted to give their beloved sitto a gift that would bring her closer to them. Chadia lives in Lebanon, but her children and grandchildren are spread across the world. To bridge this geographical gap, Christina and her siblings gave their grandmother an Android smartphone. Much to Chadia’s surprise, she was able to use her phone in Arabic straight out of the box.

This isn’t magic—it’s the work of a dedicated localization team at Google, whose mission is to create a diverse user experience that fits every language and every culture. Spread over more than 30 countries, our team of passionate translators and reviewers makes sure that all Google products are fun and easy to use in 70+ languages—and sound natural to people everywhere. Localization goes beyond translation. For example, while references to baseball and donuts work well in the U.S., these aren’t necessarily popular concepts in other cultures. So for we might change them to football in Italy and croissant in France.

With more and more people from around the world coming online every day, the localization industry keeps growing—and so does the demand for great translators, reviewers, and localization professionals. So, as part of Google’s mission to build products for everyone and make the web globally accessible, no matter where people are, we’re launching a massive open online course (MOOC) called Localization Essentials.

Localization Essentials was developed in collaboration with Udacity, and is free to access. It covers all localization basics needed to develop global products, from the types of software that we use to the jobs available in this industry. By sharing our knowledge, we hope that more culturally relevant products will become available to people everywhere, and provide opportunities to them that they didn’t have before.

Source: Education

Empowering a new generation of localization professionals

This isn’t magic—it’s the work of a dedicated localization team at Google, whose mission is to create a diverse user experience that fits every language and every culture. Spread over more than 30 countries, our team of passionate translators and reviewers makes sure that all Google products are fun and easy to use in 70+ languages—and sound natural to people everywhere. Localization goes beyond translation. For example, while references to baseball and donuts work well in the U.S., these aren’t necessarily popular concepts in other cultures. So we might change them to football in Italy and croissant in France.

Source: Education

Empowering a new generation of localization professionals

This isn’t magic—it’s the work of a dedicated localization team at Google, whose mission is to create a diverse user experience that fits every language and every culture. Spread over more than 30 countries, our team of passionate translators and reviewers makes sure that all Google products are fun and easy to use in 70+ languages—and sound natural to people everywhere. Localization goes beyond translation. For example, while references to baseball and donuts work well in the U.S., these aren’t necessarily popular concepts in other cultures. So we might change them to football in Italy and croissant in France.

Source: Education

CSquared gets new investors to expand internet access in Africa

Three billion people around the world are now online, but access remains critically low in Africa, where only 10 percent of households can connect to the internet.

In 2011, a team of Googlers identified a major barrier to affordable, reliable broadband in Africa: the lack of fiber optic networks in large cities. This led to Project Link, an initiative to build world-class, high-speed urban fiber networks in Africa’s metropolises. In 2013 we folded these efforts under a new Google brand called CSquared with the aim of bringing other companies into the market, expanding access and lowering costs. CSquared has built more than 800 km of fiber in the cities of Kampala and Entebbe; and 840 km of fiber in the Ghanaian cities of Accra, Tema, and Kumasi. In both Ghana and Uganda, more than 25 internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile network operators (MNOs) now use these metro fiber networks to offer broadband services and 4G data to end users, with more than 1,200 tower and commercial building sites connected directly to CSquared’s fiber.

Suzan Kitariko, Country Manager for Uganda (fourth from left) with Uganda’s Minister of Communications, John Nasasira (fifth from left) along with partners and Googlers.

CSquared’s network infrastructure supports the needs of entrepreneurs, innovators, and corporate offices. For example, in Uganda, CSquared’s fiber system provides the high-speed last-mile connections for higher education and health research institutions located in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area through the Research and Education Network for Uganda.

In the process of building these wholesale-only, carrier-neutral networks, we realized that CSquared could move even faster by bringing in new partners with strong backgrounds and experience in infrastructure in Africa. So today, CSquared is becoming a four-way partnership that combines the expertise and experience of four companies: Google, Convergence Partners, International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. CSquared will benefit from Convergence Partners’ deep experience of information and communication technology sector investing in sub-Saharan Africa, IFC's experience as the world’s largest global development finance institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets as well as Mitsui’s cross-industry capabilities, vast investment portfolio, global business presence, and experience as a strategic investor in the ICT segment. Together with our new partners, we believe CSquared can roll-out and operate affordable, high-speed, and reliable infrastructure to further expand internet access in Africa.

While CSquared will work to improve access, we’ll continue to give users, businesses and entrepreneurs in Africa a great experience online and help them make the most out of being connected to the internet. Our Digital Skills for Africa project, for example, has now trained more than 1 million people, and will look to provide offline versions of the training materials in local languages to reach individuals and businesses in low-access areas.

This is on top of our Google.org education grant of $2 million to support Tangerine, which boosts curriculum development in Kenya and boosts teachers’ skills. Earlier this year, we launched Street View in Ghana, Senegal and Uganda to help people better navigate their cities. Meanwhile, the African content ecosystem is growing: In November 2016 we held the first-ever SSA YouTube Awards in Johannesburg to support video creators in Africa.

The internet is transforming Africa, both Google and CSquared are committed to ensuring that as many people as possible have access to the internet and all the opportunities it can bring.

Source: The Official Google Blog

Google for Brazil: Building a more inclusive internet for everyone, everywhere

Brazilians love the internet. With more than 139 million people online, Brazil ranks among the top five internet populations in the world. Brazilians are also heavy users of Google products, from Search and Android to YouTube and Maps to Photos and Waze. And Brazil is an innovation hub for Google. Our engineering team in Belo Horizonte has made remarkable contributions to our products globally, such as improving health-related searches.

But we know there is still a lot of work to do in Brazil and elsewhere to make technology work better for more people. So today at our Google for Brazil event in São Paulo, we made several announcements about how we're working to make the internet more inclusive and to make our products work better for people in Brazil—and around the world.

Google Duo audio calling

Last year we created Google Duo to bring simple, high-quality video calling to users on Android and iOS. Now we’re adding audio-only calling in Duo. So in those moments when video calling isn't an option—like when you’re about to hop on a crowded bus or have a poor network connection—you can stay connected with family and friends through audio calling. Duo audio calls work well on all connection speeds and won't eat up your data. This feature will be available starting today first in Brazil, and we'll be rolling it out to users around the world in the coming days.

Google Allo file sharing and Smart Smiley in Brazilian Portuguese

Since launching Google Allo last September, users in countries like Brazil have requested the ability to share documents in group chats. Starting today, Android users everywhere will be able to share documents and other files (.pdf, .docs, .apk, .zip, and mp3) with friends on Allo. And for users in Brazil, we're also rolling out Smart Smiley in Portuguese, which uses machine learning to help you find the right emoji faster. Tap the Smart Smiley icon on the compose bar, and the app will suggest relevant emojis and stickers to help you finish your thought.

Google Photos: Faster backup and sharing, no matter the connection

We built Google Photos to help people store, organize and share photos and videos in a hassle-free way. But it can sometimes be difficult to back up and share photos and videos , especially when you're on the go and don't have an internet connection. So today we're rolling out two new features on Android and iOS to make backup and sharing easier on low connectivity. Now your photos will back up automatically in a lightweight preview quality that's fast on 2G connections and still looks great on a smartphone. And when a good Wi-Fi connection becomes available, your backed up photos will be replaced with high-quality versions. We’re also making it easier to share many photos at once even on low connectivity. Never mind if you're at the beach or hiking in the mountains, with Google Photos you can now share pictures quickly even with a spotty connection by sending first in low resolution so friends and family can view them right away. They'll later update in higher resolution when connectivity permits.

It can be hard to find time to organize your pictures, so Google Photos automatically creates animations, movies, collages, and albums. For movies, Google Photos will select the best moments, put them together with professional-style transitions, and set it all to music. With Brazil in mind, we recently rolled out a great example of these kinds of movies—your best photos from Carnival, set to a soundtrack of samba.

Maps location sharing

We're adding a new location sharing feature in Google Maps that lets you tell your friends and family where you are and when you’ll arrive at your destination. You have complete control over whether you share your location, who you share it with, and how long you share it. You can stop sharing at any time. No more "where are you now?" messages back and forth. To manage your location sharing settings across Google products go to the "Your personal info" section of My Account and select Location Sharing.

Posts on Google

Last year we started experimenting with allowing people and places to post directly on Google Search. We started out with the U.S. election and have completed dozens of other experiments around the world. Starting today, in the U.S. and Brazil, we’re taking it to the next step and opening up the application process so that organizations and people within specific categories can post directly on Google.

Now, when you search for museums, sports teams, sports leagues, movies and, in Brazil for now, musicians, you can find content from that participating organization or person, right on Google. So if you’re searching for the Henry Ford Museum in the U.S. or for Vanessa da Mata in Brazil, you'll see updates directly from the source with relevant information, like new exhibits, timely updates and interesting facts. Beyond these categories in the U.S. and Brazil, we’ll continue to experiment globally and look forward to making Search even more useful and timely.

We made some Brazil-specific announcements at our event in São Paulo today as well, including plans to roll out the Google Assistant in Brazilian Portuguese on Android phones running Marshmallow or Nougat. We also extended a $5 million Google.org grant to the Lemann Foundation for an exciting tech-based education project in Brazil, launched the iconic São Paulo Museum of Art on Google Arts & Culture, and announced plans to roll out Waze Carpool in Brazil later this year.

All of today's announcements were inspired by your feedback. We do extensive research in places like Brazil, and we use those insights to make new product features tailored to people's needs in mobile-first countries. The great thing about building products for the most difficult, limited internet conditions is that you end up creating great products for everyone, everywhere.

Source: Google LatLong

Google for Brazil: Building a more inclusive internet for everyone, everywhere

Google Duo audio calling

Google Allo file sharing and Smart Smiley in Brazilian Portuguese

Google Photos: Faster backup and sharing, no matter the connection

We built Google Photos to help people store, organize and share photos and videos in a hassle-free way. But it can sometimes be difficult to back up and share photos and videos, especially when you're on the go and don't have an internet connection. So today we're rolling out two new features to make backup and sharing easier on low connectivity. Now on Android your photos will back up automatically in a lightweight preview quality if you aren't able to back up in high quality, and still look great on a smartphone. And when a good Wi-Fi connection becomes available, your backed up photos will be replaced with high-quality versions. We’re also making it easier to share many photos at once even on low connectivity. Never mind if you're at the beach or hiking in the mountains, with Google Photos on Android and iOS you can now share pictures quickly even with a spotty connection by sending first in low resolution so friends and family can view them right away. They'll later update in higher resolution when connectivity permits.

Maps location sharing

Posts on Google

Source: The Official Google Blog

Google for Brazil: Building a more inclusive internet for everyone, everywhere

Google Duo audio calling

Google Allo file sharing and Smart Smiley in Brazilian Portuguese

Google Photos: Faster backup and sharing, no matter the connection

We built Google Photos to help people store, organize and share photos and videos in a hassle-free way. But it can sometimes be difficult to back up and share photos and videos, especially when you're on the go and don't have an internet connection. So today we're rolling out two new features to make backup and sharing easier on low connectivity. Now on Android your photos will back up automatically in a lightweight preview quality if you aren't able to back up in high quality, and still look great on a smartphone. And when a good Wi-Fi connection becomes available, your backed up photos will be replaced with high-quality versions. We’re also making it easier to share many photos at once even on low connectivity. Never mind if you're at the beach or hiking in the mountains, with Google Photos on Android and iOS you can now share pictures quickly even with a spotty connection by sending first in low resolution so friends and family can view them right away. They'll later update in higher resolution when connectivity permits.

Maps location sharing

Posts on Google

Source: Search

Partnering toward the next generation of mobile networks

[Cross posted from the Official Google Blog]

Over the years, we’ve built and managed networking infrastructure to help us provide Google services to people around the world. Our infrastructure spans many areas, from the fabric that binds together servers within our data centers, to the backbone network that links these data centers, to our edge nodes which hundreds of network operators deploy to deliver our services efficiently. Across all of these, we’ve relied on common design and operational principles, such as the use of software defined networking (SDN), network function virtualization and site reliability engineering, to help us deliver our services reliably.

As people increasingly access the Internet through their mobile devices, mobile operators are now designing their next-generation networks based on many of the same principles that we’ve adopted to power our own networking infrastructure. To support our partners as they roll out these networks, we’re working on a number of initiatives that we’re excited to share progress on today.

We’re announcing that we’re partnering with leading mobile network operators globally, including Bharti Airtel and SK Telecom, and building a platform for operators to run their network services. This platform brings to partners a set of powerful building blocks that we have developed over time. Our SDN framework enables networks to adapt to new services and traffic patterns. Fast user space packet processing on commodity hardware increases the ability to deliver new features quickly while reducing costs. And simplified workflow management and automated testing help quickly launch and iterate on new features. This platform also builds on our existing efforts to jointly experiment with mobile operators on richer APIs. These APIs will enable new operational models and help operators bring new features (such as Smart Offline) to people.

We want to bring the benefits of this platform to as many people as possible. So, in addition to partnering with more operators for this platform, we’re also bringing our design and operational experience to CORD—a vibrant open-source project with active participation from leading mobile ecosystem partners.

There’s a lot more to come as we continue to partner with operators on their next generation networks.

Posted by Ankur Jain, Principal Engineer

Source: Official Google India Blog

Partnering toward the next generation of mobile networks

There’s a lot more to come as we continue to partner with operators on their next generation networks.