Google turns 18 today

In some countries, Google is now considered an adult. The tech giant celebrates its 18^th birthday today and it commemorates it with a Google Doodle, of course. Gerben Steenks created the festive GIF you see today on September 27. But while Google has been celebrating its big day today since 2006, no one knows why this date has been picked—not even Google.

The first Google Doodle to celebrate the company’s fourth anniversary was released on September 27 but when it comes to significant dates for the company it doesn’t quite add up. Larry Page and Sergey Brin registered the domain on September 15, 1997 and incorporated it on September 4, 1998. Let’s just say September is a big month for the tech giant.

Source: CNET

Lenovo lays off more employees from Moto’s mobile phone division

Lenovo is letting go of more people as the company works towards streamlining its mobile phone business. While the technology company claims the new round of layoffs less than two percent of its approximately 55,000 employees, it has already let go of around 3,200 employees last year. The layoffs Lenovo says is “part of the ongoing strategic integration between Lenovo and its Motorola smartphone business as the company further aligns its organization and streamlines its product portfolio to best compete in the global smartphone market.” At the same time, Lenovo says it still intends to keep the Motorola Mobility headquarters in Chicago, striking down speculation that they plan to move staff to North Carolina with Lenovo’s other offices.

Source: The Verge

Tim Hortons brings NHL players to life with trading card AR app

While augmented reality has been around for a while, it’s gotten extremely popular as of late. And so Tim Hortons gets in on the hype with its own AR app—which also coincides with the launch of Tim Hortons Collector’s Series 2016-2017 NHL Trading Cards. The Tim Hortons Augmented Reality Hockey Cards app lets you scan the cards you buy to see models of NHL stars appear on your Android or iOS device. And if you’re a collector, you can put various card combinations side by side to get hidden animations.

You can buy a three-card pack from Tim Hortons for $1 plus tax with a drink or $1.99 plus tax for just the cards. Tim Hortons partnered with NHL and NHLPA as well as exclusive licensed trading card Upper Deck.

Source: VR Focus

Moto Mods Dev Kit lets you make the Mods you want

Motorola is opening up its modular Moto Z line to people who want to develop Mods for it. It has released a development kit for the Moto Mods, allowing anyone to build any accessory they can conceive. The dev kits come with a reference mod, which is a computer itself with its own processor, input and output ports (including a DisplayPort), perforated board with 364 solder points. The Lenovo-owned brand is also selling add-ons and sample mods separately to show off the capabilities of these mods. These include a HAT adapter which can be slapped onto any Raspberry Pi HAT and “Personality Cards” for audio, display, and sensors that can connect to the Reference Moto Mod.

The Dev Kit is currently available for US$125 in China, Europe, and South America. It will be coming to Canada on October 5. Those who plan to sell the Mods they create can join Motorola’s certification program.

Source: SlashGear