Google joins forces with other tech giants to create next-generation video format

Google has joined forces with six other industry giants, including Microsoft, Amazon, and Mozilla, to form the Alliance for Open Media. The alliance's main goal is to work together to create new open source formats and codecs for online video, audio, and other streaming media.
In all, the Alliance for Open Media is made up of Amazon, Cisco, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla, and Netflix. Each member will contribute its expertise to an initial project in an effort to create an open, royalty-free "next-generation" video format that adheres to the following:

• Interoperable and open;
• Optimized for the web;
• Scalable to any modern device at any bandwidth;
• Designed with a low computational footprint and optimized for hardware;
• Capable of consistent, highest-quality, real-time video delivery; and
• Flexible for both commercial and non-commercial content, including user-generated content.

It will definitely be interesting to see if the combined might of these tech giants can succeed in creating widely adopted codecs for online media consumption. While the initial list of founding members already includes some of the biggest names in tech, we could see other tech titans join in the future.

Draw your own 360-degree view of Earth with new Google app

Google  has launched a new Street View app that will not only let you navigate through the Earth with a 360-degree view but allow you to shoot your own 360-degree photos and upload directly on the app.

Once you download the app, there’s a “Collections” tab that lets you see a grouping of similar imagery, such as art installations or zoos.
The “Explore” tab lets you see all the Street View imagery that exists, dotted on a map of Earth, Wall Street Journal reported in a blog.
"Profile” lets you see what the photo spheres you and others have shared to Google Maps.
A “Private” tab lets you see what images you have shot but have not shared publicly.
An orange button in the lower right corner takes you into a photo-sphere camera from anywhere in the app.
An orange dot directs you where to point your phone.
The Street View app also lets users create their own “photo spheres” that can be submitted to Google.
The app will be available on both Android and iOS mobile platforms.

Microsoft's Cortana assistant launches on Android

Microsoft said Monday its Cortana virtual assistant software was available to users of Android mobile devices.

Cortana is Microsoft's answer to Apple's Siri and Google Now, which respond to voice commands on mobile devices.
The launch is part of an effort by Microsoft to expand its mobile presence despite a weak showing for its Windows Phone devices.
"The Cortana app can do most of the things Cortana does on your PC or on a Windows phone," Microsoft's Susan Hendrich said in a blog post.
"With the app, you can manage your hectic lifestyle by setting and getting reminders, searching the web on-the-go, tracking important information such as flight details as well as starting and completing tasks across all of your devices."
A beta version of Cortana is being made available as of Monday to US users of Android devices, and "we are planning to roll it out to other markets," Hendrich said.
Microsoft said in May it was working on the Android version as well as another for Apple devices.
According to research firm Gartner, Windows had just 2.5% of the global smartphone market in the second quarter compared with 82% for Google's Android and 14.6% for Apple's iOS.