Google is fed up with malicious apps. They are now setting standards for apps to protect users from malware, spam, and other harmful types of software that degrade the user experience on the Android platform.

Pre-ordered a Nexus 7 Tablet? You should be receiving it soon if you haven’t already. Time to enjoy some Jelly Bean goodness!

unexpectedtech:

Following the debut of indoor maps in Google Maps back in November, Google announced today that it’s adding the indoor maps for twenty U.S. museums to its Maps app on Android. The museums added include the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Cincinnati Museum Center, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History and 17 Smithsonian museums, the company says, as well as the Smithsonian National Zoo.

The museums now join Google’s collection of over 10,000 indoor maps it has added to its database since the launch in November. At that time, the app included the maps for several major airports as well as some big name retailers, like IKEA. Since then, Google has been steadily improving the product. In April, Google rolled out an Android app for businesses that allows them to provide feedback about how accurate Google’s predications are for the indoor venues. And in May, Google released an even bigger upgrade which introduced indoor walking directions, business photos and even Google Offers integration.

Today’s release may only include a subset of the nations museums, but Google says more are on the way. Specifically, it lists the following as coming soon: SFMOMA, The Phillips Collection, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. Other museums can choose to take matters into their own hands and use the Google Maps Floor Plans tool to upload their own indoor maps for inclusion.

Now I can preview even more museums before I actually pay to visit them!

(via unexpectedtech-deactivated20130)

This is good news for consumers, bad news for Amazon and perhaps some of the current owners of the Kindle Fire. iFixit has just run some battery tests and tore down the device. Basically they found that the Nexus 7 is much more efficient than the Kindle Fire, giving owners up to two more hours of battery life. Apparently, Asus and Google have also managed to make a thin and light device that is not too difficult to repair. This is much different than many of Apple’s recent products, such as the new Retina MacBook Pro or new iPad. 

Perhaps you don’t want to buy a Chromebook because you have never used one. 100 Best Buy stores in the US will carry them for you to try and buy.

Google said they would be more aggressive with their Nexus program and it looks like we may see their first tablet coming later this month!

It’ll be nice to see more Google products instead of other devices that have, in some cases, ruined the Android user experience.

More acquisition news. Google has bought Quickoffice. This could mean that future versions of android will be able to create, edit, and share office documents, without needing to download a separate app. Though I’m sure people have their app preferences, building in these capabilities would be a huge for business users on Android. 

unexpectedtech:

SAN FRANCISCO—A jury today unanimously decided that Google did not infringe on two of Oracle’s patents.

In the decision at the U.S. District Court of Northern California, the jury in the trial said Google did not infringe on six claims in U.S. Patent No. RE38,104 as well as two claims in U.S. Patent No. 6,061,520.

The verdict is a win for Google, and marks the end of the trial’s second phase, which focused on the claims of patent infringement. Closing arguments in the case were made last week. After the decision, a third phase — centering on damages — was canceled.

Following the verdict, Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court of Northern California dismissed the jurors, while noting that it was the longest civil trial he had been a part of. Alsup also noted that he’d be deciding a related copyright issue within the case, which remains unresolved. In the copyright phase of the trial, the jury returned a partial verdict, mostly in favor of Oracle.

“Today’s jury verdict that Android does not infringe Oracle’s patents was a victory not just for Google but the entire Android ecosystem,” Google said in a statement.

“Oracle presented overwhelming evidence at trial that Google knew it would fragment and damage Java,” Oracle spokeswoman Deborah Hellinger told Bloomberg in an e-mailed statement. “We plan to continue to defend and uphold Java’s core write once run anywhere principle and ensure it is protected for the nine million Java developers and the community that depend on Java compatibility.”

(via unexpectedtech-deactivated20130)

Google promises to keep their Android mobile operating system free/open for at least the next 5 years. This is pretty good news, especially for those who were worried about the acquisition of Motorola changing Google’s business model. 

Google tried to sell the Nexus One and that was a big disaster for them. But apparently the search gurus have learned a thing or two from their failures and have studied how retailers such as Best Buy Mobile does business. Google is now looking to partner with OEMs to release not just one, but up to FIVE “Nexus” devices with the next version of Android. This is great news for consumers and Google (if they can pull this off), but it may not be so great for carriers and carrier specific device sales.