Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
Highlighting MOOCs—a new way to learn
Saturday, August 24, 2013
From the abacus to the chalkboard, the biro to the desktop PC, new technology has always helped people in their quest for knowledge. So it’s no wonder that widespread use of smartphones, social networks, and faster video streaming are fuelling dramatic changes in educational opportunities.
Take MOOCs for example
—
Massively Open Online Courses, which enable an unlimited number of students to take courses spanning almost any topic, from computer science to music, taught by some of the world’s leading institutions. Over the last few months there’s been real growth in the use of MOOCs, with many based on
Course Builder
, an open source tool created by Google staff.
Some MOOCs have mass appeal, like those from the
University of Alicante in Spain
and the
Humboldt Institute in Germany
who both offer MOOCs teaching the practical aspects of starting up a business. The University of Alicante is now on its second version and has already welcomed 30,000+ attendees.
Other MOOCs are more niche, like the one coming up soon on cellular metrics offered by the
Institute Mines-Telecom
, which will also make use of simulated environments to aid learning.
MOOCs can also be creative or unique. If you’ve ever wanted to figure out just how and why footballers get paid as much as they do, then sign up for the
Valoraction de Futbolistas MOOC
offered by University of Valencia. In this programme, you’ll learn all you ever wanted about how to evaluate a footballer’s value. Watching a football match might never be the same again!
Particularly in Europe, where youth unemployment remains high, MOOCs offer a new way to boost skills and employability.
Google is committed to helping young people create businesses and find jobs
, so we’re delighted to see MOOCs strike such a chord.
Posted by Michel Benard, University Relations Manager, Google
Google Map Maker expands in Europe
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Google Map Maker
is an editing tool that enables you, and people around the world, to contribute knowledge and expertise directly to Google Maps. By sharing information about the places you know best, you can ensure that the map accurately reflects the world around you.
Today, we’re launching Google Map Maker in Bulgaria, Italy, San Marino and the Vatican. Share the delights of Bulgaria’s Black Sea Coast by adding all of your favorite destinations in the famed resort city of Golden Sands. Lend a hand by improving driving directions through the Italian Riviera, or trace the best hiking trails across San Marino’s Apennine Mountains. Your updates will be reviewed, and once approved, will appear on
Google Maps
,
Google Earth
, and
Google Maps for Mobile
for people all over the world to see.
before after
A map view of Tuscany, Italy before and after Map Maker users added details to the map
such as local sport fields and parks
We look forward to seeing the edits you contribute to Google Maps, as we work together to create a comprehensive, accurate and useful map of the world. To get started, join other mappers on the Google Map Maker
community forum
, explore the
Help Center
for tips and tricks, or watch mapping in real-time with
Map Maker Pulse
.
Posted by Nilesh Tathawadekar, Software Engineer, Google Maps
Savoring summer holidays with a dose of tech
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
As Europe heads into high holiday season, we have been thinking about how to take the stress out of the break. Vacations are the one time of year when we’re supposed to kick back and relax, yet juggling the vacation itinerary and travel arrangements often takes away most of the pleasure.
Here are some
suggestions
for using technology to make the most from your time off:
Download Google Now
-- Google’s ‘personal assistant’ software aims to provide you with just the right information at just the right time. When traveling abroad,
Google Now
will show you the time back home, provide one-touch access to translation between more than 60 languages, and a handy currency converter. If you've got an Android phone, such as a Nexus 4, HTC One or Samsung Galaxy S3, you can activate Google Now by swiping up from the home screen. If you have an iOS device, download the
Google Search App
and switch on Google Now.
Enjoy a digital guidebook
: Unlike printed books, digital guidebooks and dedicated travel apps can be updated on a daily basis to reflect the latest hot hangout or place to see and be seen. And, thanks to the latest generation of smartphones and tablets, it’s easier than ever to arm yourself with a ton of useful digital travel apps and guides that you can dip into when abroad. Feel free to buy books from Amazon’s Kindle store and read them on your Android device or take a look
here
at the travel section on Google Play.
Bring a tablet
: smartphones and tablets are modern day Swiss army knives for the savvy traveller -- providing everything from destination guides to local maps, from translations and currency conversions at the touch of a button to all the entertainment you could ever need for a long haul flight. Google’s Nexus 7 tablet is small enough to slip in a handbag. Load it up with all your favourite music, download a selection of holiday reading from the Google Play store, and rent a couple of movies for the journey.
Capture your road trip journey
: Make your home videos pop with the YouTube Capture App. Shoot, enhance, and share. Who knows? You may discover a hidden talent.
Try out voice search
: Want to know how tall the Eiffel Tower is, or when the Coliseum was built? No need to type in a query. Just hit the microphone icon on the Google search bar, speak your query into the phone, and Google will read back the answer (324 meters and 70 AD, in case you’re wondering). You can ask Google to find the nearest petrol station, tell you how far you are from a popular tourist attraction, find good nearby restaurants or have phrase translated and read aloud.
Indoor Maps
: Google Maps are a great resource for travelers. We now even have indoor maps for museums, airports and other places of interest.
What next for the ‘digital tourist’? Virtual wallets would eliminate the need to grapple with tricky foreign currency when holidaying abroad. Imagine walking around the Louvre in Paris your own personal tour guide providing snippets of additional information as you stop beside a photo, or allowing you to ‘manipulate’ a virtual rendering of a painting to really see the brushstrokes up close.
The possibilities look endless. Surely, we are just at the beginning of a true digital travel revolution.
Posted by Gareth Evans, Communications and Public Affairs Manager, London
Searching in Summer
Friday, August 9, 2013
For much of Europe, August is synonymous with holidays and we’ve been trolling through
Google Trends’s new Hot Searches
tool to see what is amusing, fascinating or titillating Europeans during the summer.
The clear winner - football.
Even before the Premier League kicked off, UK searchers went looking for game scores as lower Championship League swung back into action. Liverpool's Luis Suarez and Manchester United Wayne Rooney’s
transfer sagas
scored high and
Charlotte Green’s appointment
as the first woman announcer of the BBC’s Saturday Football topped the ranking of the August 7 Hot Searches.
In Germany, results of the first round of the DFB Cup, particularly Bayern Munich’s crushing 5-0 victory, led the August 6 results. Russians searched for the fortunes of the
Anzhi team’s
financial issues and St. Petersburg’s Zenit’s
purchase
of two players, full-back "Rubin" and Argentinian Cristian Ansaldi.
Admittedly, some serious issues received serious attention. When Bavarian judges ordered the immediate release of 57-year old
Gustl Mollath
, from an institution for the criminally insane, the legal scandal surrounding the case soared to the top of Germany’s searches.
Severe storms
affecting German train traffic received wide attention, as did Amazon founder
Jeff Bezos’s purchase
of the Washington Post. Russians searched for news about government’s decision to accept American leaker
Edward Snowden’s asylum request
and the
mass protest
against a new Internet anti-piracy law.
Take a look yourself at Google Trends and see for yourself what people, places and issues are making waves.
Posted by William Echikson, External Relations, Europe, Middle East and Africa
Get an All Access music pass on Google Play
Thursday, August 8, 2013
With millions upon millions of songs out there, it can be a daunting task to figure out what to choose. Sometimes you just want to sit back, press play and hear something new. Starting today, you can do just that.
All Access
, our new monthly music subscription service in Google Play, is now available in Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and the UK.
All Access provides an unlimited pass to a huge library of music on all your devices — from all the major record companies, as well as top local and independent labels.
The new service lets you create an ad-free, interactive radio station from any song or artist. You can add, remove or re-order your station and see what’s coming next. Or browse recommendations from our expert music team and explore songs by genre. The “Listen Now” tab puts artists and radio stations we think you’ll like front and center allowing you to start listening the minute you open your library.
When millions of songs just aren’t enough, Google Play Music lets you combine our collection with your own collection. You can store 20,000 songs for free online, and listen to them alongside the All Access catalogue on any Android device, or via the web at
play.google.com
. You can even ‘pin’ specific albums and playlists songs so they’re available offline.
Try it today for free for the first month and -- as a special introductory offer -- pay only EUR7.99 each month after that. Regular pricing for those who sign up after September 15 will be EUR9.99 a month, with a 30-day free trial.
With today’s launch, Google Play moves one step closer to your ultimate digital entertainment destination, where you can find, enjoy and share your favourite apps, games, books, movies, magazines, TV shows and music on your Android phone or tablet. Go ahead and start discovering a whole new world of music.
Posted by Paul Joyce, product manager for Google Play Music
Inspiring the next generation: Apply for a 2014 RISE Award
Monday, August 5, 2013
Inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers is crucially important—breakthroughs don't happen without people to make them. We want students to not just be consumers of technology, but also creators of it; to enrich not only their own lives, but those of their communities. That's the motivation behind the
Google RISE
(Roots in Science and Engineering) Awards.
Given once a year, Google RISE Awards are designed to promote and support education initiatives to increase engagement in science and technology, especially computer science. Google grants awards of $15,000 - $50,000 USD to non-for-profit organizations around the world working to expand access to these fields for K-12/Pre-University students, specifically girls and underrepresented groups.
In 2013, 30 organizations
received
RISE grants—with projects ranging from robotics contests in Germany to programming challenge days for girls in New Zealand. In June, we brought all of our partners together for a Global Summit. It was an inspiring meeting, and since the Summit several organizations have begun to work together to expand their reach.
For example, our RISE partners in Nigeria,
WAAW Foundation
and
W-TEC
, have teamed up to organize a one-week residential Advanced STEM Camp. The program launched this week and will provide 27 public school girls exposure to robotics. Over in Argentina, an
organization
already connecting Belgium to Argentina is is now collaborating with
another
on programming workshops for students and teachers. And organizations in
Liberia
and
India
are sharing resources to overcome common challenges in access to technology for girls.
The hard work of RISE organizations has also drawn support from leading figures such as
President Obama
, Ireland’s
Taoiseach Enda Kenny
and
HRH Prince Andrew
.
We’re looking for more organizations to partner with in 2014.
Submit
your application by September 30, 2013. You can submit your application in English, French, Japanese, Russian or Spanish; all eligible countries are listed on our
website
. Show us what you can do to get students excited about STEM and CS!
Posted by Marielena Ivory, K12/Pre-University Education Outreach
Dude, where’s my phone? Protecting your Android device
Sunday, August 4, 2013
This summer we’re
posting regularly
with privacy and security tips. Knowing how to stay safe and secure online is important, which is why we created our Good to Know site with advice and tips for safe and savvy Internet use.
-Ed.
With summer vacation in full swing, you’re likely out and about, using your smartphone or tablet to get answers on the go or check out the latest cool apps and games. But you don’t have to leave safety at home! In this post, we’re sharing a few tips and tools that you can easily set up if you’re on an Android phone or tablet to keep your device—and the contents inside—safe and secure, including a new service that makes it easy to locate a misplaced device.
1. Lock your device screen.
Whether you’re on a phone or a tablet, it’s easy to set up a
screen lock
. This is important to do in case your device gets left in the back of a car, or you’re worried about someone picking up your phone and scrolling through your stuff. You can lock your device with a pin, password, pattern (or even
your face
!) by going to Settings > Personal > Security > Screen Lock.
2. Protect your phone from suspicious apps.
We automatically scan Google Play to block and remove harmful apps. That makes Google Play the safest place to get Android apps. But Google Play can also help
protect you
even for apps you get elsewhere, like the web or a third-party app store. The first time you start to install an app from an unknown source, a message will pop up asking if you’d like Google to scan the file to make sure it’s not harmful. Tap “OK” to let Google help protect you from harmful apps.
3. Locate, ring and wipe a misplaced device.
Have you ever lost your phone in between the couch cushions or left it in a restaurant? Later this month, you will be able to use a new service called Android Device Manager, which can quickly ring your phone at maximum volume so you can find it (even if it’s been silenced), or locate it on a map, in real time, using Android Device Manager. If your phone can’t be recovered, or has been stolen, you can quickly and securely erase all of the data on your device to keep your data from ending up in the wrong hands. The Android Device Manager will be available for devices running Android 2.2 and above, as part of Google Play. You can read the full announcement on the Android blog.
For more advice on how to protect yourself and your family online, visit our
Good to Know site
, and stay tuned for more posts in our security series.
Posted by Adrian Ludwig, Android Security Engineer
Following in Galileo’s footsteps
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Many of us spend the summer lounging on Europe’s beaches and use the Internet to plan our vacation and satellite navigation to get there. This summer, hundreds of ambitious students are spending their vacation in a different way - improving their computer programming skills with
Google’s Summer of Code
. Among them is Italy’s Mara Branzanti, a 26-year old PhD student in geomatics at the University of Rome’s La Sapienza. She’s working to, among other goals, improve your holidays.
Her
project
, financed by Google, is to write software that will make it quicker and easier to use the European Union’s Galileo
global navigation satellite system
. The EUR 5 billion
Galileo programme
being built by the European Union and
European Space Agency
is named after the Italian astronomer
Galileo
. It aims to provide a high-precision positioning system upon which European nations can rely, independent of competing Russian and U.S. systems.
Mara Branzanti in
EconomyUp.it
Branzanti is helping write open source source software that will enable satellite receivers back on earth to better identify and connect with Gallileo satellites in orbit. Her work is part of a larger software
effort
under the leadership of Javier Arribas at the non-profit Catalonian research foundation
Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya
. Currently, the software in Gallileo receivers is only designed to 'see' the satellites that are already in orbit, and needs to be adapted so it can discover new satellites as they are launched. Branzanti’s code will make it easy to find the nearest orbiting Galileo signal, even from the most remote of locations. The European Commission recently
praised
her contributions.
Google Summer of Code is a global program that offers student developers stipends to write code for various open source software projects. We work with many open source, free software, and technology-related groups to identify and fund projects over a three month period. Since its inception in 2005, the program has brought together nearly 6,000 successful student participants and over 3000 mentors from over 100 countries worldwide, all for the love of code. To learn more about the program, read our 2013
Frequently Asked Questions
page.
Meanwhile, enjoy your holidays and let’s thank Mara and other summer coders for developing technology that improves them. Mara gave up a planned trip to New York to stay at home and code. though she will take a week this month on the beach in Sardinia. “But I’m taking my computer,” she promises. “I need to finish by September.”
Posted by Marco Pancini, Public Policy Senior Counsel, Brussels
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Highlighting MOOCs—a new way to learn
Google Map Maker expands in Europe
Savoring summer holidays with a dose of tech
Searching in Summer
Get an All Access music pass on Google Play
Inspiring the next generation: Apply for a 2014 RI...
Dude, where’s my phone? Protecting your Android de...
Following in Galileo’s footsteps
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