You can now download Google's Nik Collection of $149 photo tools for free

Google is generously giving away its $149 Nik Collection suite of digital photography desktop plugins. Google acquired the company to bolster its Snapseed application and it looks like it is done with the remnants of the company.

Nik Collection includes Analog Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Viveza, HDR Efex Pro, Sharpener Pro, and Dfine, all of which work in Photoshop, Lightroom, and Aperture. Buyers of the suite will be duly refunded. The download is available here.

Source: The Verge

Google's Sundar Pichai weighs in on FBI encryption issue, sides with Apple's Tim Cook

Google's CEO Sundar Pichai took to Twitter to raise his concerns over the FBI's attempt to gain access to an iPhone backdoor which could expose user information. Pichai seems to agree with Apple CEO Tim Cook who today released a strongly worded public letter in response to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's desire to be able to access the contents of people's iPhones in investigations.

"The government is asking Apple to hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements that protect our customers — including tens of millions of American citizens," Cook declared in his open letter.

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Google unveiling new Canadian engineering HQ in Waterloo

Google plans to unveil its new Canadian engineering headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario later this week. The new Kitchener-Waterloo venue will be the headquarters of Google’s Canadian development team. 

A handful of Googlers opened the company’s first office in Kitchener back in 2005. Since then, Google has steadily expanded its investment in the region and absorbed a lot of talent that had come to the hub. The new 185,000 sq feet headquarters unveiled this week will be home to over 350 engineers who work on products used by billions of people around the globe. It is a great vote of confidence on Canada's potential to create talent and technology hubs.

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Review: Google Pixel C

Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

The 10.2-inch Pixel C is a device of many firsts. It is the first Google designed and built Android device, it is a bona fide Android-powered 2-in-1 tablet that professes to work as a notebook thanks to an accessory keyboard, and it is also the first device to carry the Pixel brand that isn’t a ChromeBook. 

Pixel C is available in Canada and globally via the Google Play Store starting at $649 for the 32GB version, $799 for the 64GB version and the Pixel C Keyboard will set users back $199. These prices make the Pixel C one of the most expensive Android tablets ever sold, but you only need to spend some time with this device to realize its high end fit and finish.

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