Google: Solutions Born In India Will Revolutionize The World

Main Image
  • Like
  • Comment
  • Share

Google is trying to bring the next billion users online, and India is both – a fertile ground and a challenge. Solutions to these challenges will be critical to strengthening Google’s position around the Globe. India is where all the action is and in this laboratory, Google can innovate, improvise if need be and quickly reap results.

This was the gist of today’s #GoogleForIndia event, where the company elaborated on its plans, experiments, and innovations in India, with the underlying message being how critical Indian market is for them. Job was well done, and the sentiment resonated rather strongly amidst countless announcements and updates, most of which weren’t exactly new and have already been discussed in tech circles.

As Google CEO Sundar Pichai intelligibly stated, it’s a three pronged approach.

  • Provide internet access to all
  • Provide Information – The more region specific the better
  • Provide platforms which people can use to contribute to the Internet.

Marian_VP_Access

 

Internet for all and empowering Indian citizens

Providing internet access in India is a big challenge. Marian Croak, Vice President, Access Strategy and Emerging markets spoke with great authority and insightfully on the ‘enormity’ of the task.

-To start with, Google will soon be providing high speed WiFi access across 400 railway stations in India starting from January 2016. This WiFi will rely on fiber cables laid down by Railtel.

-Then there is project loom where Google will use hot air balloons to spread internet connectivity to remote areas.

-To empower rural Indian women, Google has started a project where its training local women, who bicycle to nearby villages and teach others how to access Internet from mobile phones. Google is expanding this project to 300,000 villages in next 3 Years which is half the villages in India

– Google is also investing 20 million dollars in Cloud storage and Play services to help new Indian start-ups

– Google will also partner with 30 universities to train 2 million android developers in India.

Also Read – Asus ChromeBit can convert any display into a PC; Launched at 7,999 INR

Tamar _VP _Search

Making internet better in India

Also, Google is making internet work better on 2G speeds. 50 percent of Indian users are still using 2G in Indian and half of 3G users are getting 2G like speeds. Steps taken in this direction include

  • Lighter versions of webpages for low speed connections
  • Improved data saving mode in Chrome (saves up to 80 percent data)
  • Support for native languages across internet, Android and keyboards
  • Google Now can recognize and answer voice queries in Hindi
  • A new keyboard which you can use to type Hindi script in English. This new keyboard will ship preinstalled in Lava and Intex smartphones
  • YouTube offline
  • Improved buffering for YouTube to roll-out in few weeks. You can pause the video and allow it to buffer. Download progress is clearly indicated in MBs.
  • Offline maps
  • Adding panoramic images of 250 Indian monument on Google Maps
  • Upcoming Tap To Translate, which lets you translate with minimal effort within apps. It will start rolling out from January onwards. The feature will even work offline and language packs won’t take much space either (25MB for Hindi language).

To open the event, Rajan Anandan, Vice President of Google in India and Southeast Asia, helped explain both the promises and challenges of bringing the country online.

“By 2018, more than 500M users will be online in India, from all 29 states, speaking over 23 languages. But in 2020, over 30% of mobile internet will still be from 2G connections. Google has been on a long journey in India to build products that connect more people, regardless of cost, connectivity, language, gender, or location,” Anandan said.

Deepak SinghDeepak Singh
Deepak has more than 8 years of experience in covering technology for several eminent publications in India. He currently leads an enthusiastic team of young writers at Smartprix and tries to uphold the highest quality standards.

Related Articles

ImageCelebrate Holi With Snapchat’s AR Pichkari Filter That Has Over One Lakh Exciting Colors

Popular social platform Snapchat has released a new AR Pichkari lens to celebrate the Indian festival of colors, Holi. The lens utilized augmented reality to overlay splashes of bright colors on users’ faces. Per the official release, the lens has over one lakh exciting colors for playing digital Holi with friends. “This unique lens offers …

ImageGoogle invests in Bharti Airtel to shape India’s Digital Ecosystem

Google has entered into a partnership with Bharti Airtel where it will invest around Rs. 7500 crores in Airtel to help grow India’s digital ecosystem. The deal that has materialized includes an investment of around Rs. 5260 crores to allow Google to get acquire a 1.28% ownership in Airtel and the rest Rs. 2250 crores …

ImageGoogle grants ₹135 Crore to India for its Covid fight

Google has extended a hand to India in its fight against the current COVID crisis. The search giant has announced Rs. 135 Crore in funding to front line organizations such as Give India and UNICEF for medical supplies and other aids including dissemination of critical information.The second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has …

ImageGoogle Partners With The Election Commission Of India To Support The 2024 General Election

Google India has joined hands with the Election Commission to support the upcoming General Elections. It has laid out its approach toward connecting voters to helpful information, combating misinformation, and helping people navigate AI-generated content with moderation. “Supporting elections is a critical part of Google’s responsibility to our users and the democratic process,” Google mentions …

ImageGoogle To Start Manufacturing Pixel Phones In India By Next Quarter: Report

Last year, Google announced it would start manufacturing the Pixel phones in India in 2024. Now, per a recent report by Nikkei Asia, the Alphabet-owned company has told its suppliers to begin manufacturing its phones in the country by the next quarter. The company wants to diversify its supply chain outside of China and benefit …

Discuss

Be the first to leave a comment.