Google Updates

Google   is ramping up its efforts to return to China. Earlier this year, the search giant detailed plans to bring its ARCore technology — which enables augmented reality and virtual reality — to phones in China and this week that effort went live with its first partner, Xiaomi . Initially the technology will be available for Xiaomi’s  Mix 2S devices via an app in the Xiaomi App Store , but Google has plans to add more partners in Mainland China over time. Huawei and Samsung are two confirmed names that have signed up to distribute ARCore apps on Chinese soil, Google said previously. Google’s core services remain blocked in China but ARCore apps are able to work there because the technology itself works on device without the cloud, which means that once apps are downloaded to a phone there’s nothing that China’s internet censors can do to disrupt them. The ARCore strategy for China, while subtle, is part of a sustained push to grow Google’s presence in China.

Google's A.I. Camera Shoots What You'd Miss PM Approved: The body-mounted Google Clips camera films only when there’s something worth capturing. Every time there’s a new hands-off life-capture device ( GoPro , Snap’s new  Spectacles ), I get excited, wondering how I’ll stay grounded once I become Instagram famous. Instead, I use it for a week, get tired of slogging through all the footage, and then introduce it to my tech junk drawer. But unlike those cameras,  Google Clips (starting at $250) shoots only when there’s something worth capturing. Point it at a scene, twist the lens to turn it on, and the A.I. looks for criteria culled from years of data analysis—smiles, gesticulation, a pet entering the frame. The result is seven-second videos, sans sound, at 15 fps. At any time, open the phone app and swipe to save or delete, and select stills (up to 12-megapixel in resolution) from the videos. The machine-learning software will then try to capture mor