Area 120

Checks, the AI-powered data protection project incubated in Area 120, officially ‘exits’ to Google

After Google cut all but three of the projects at its in-house incubator Area 120 and shifted it to work on AI projects across Google, one of the legacy efforts — coincidentally also an AI proje

Google spares three Area 120 R&D projects, including team working on a ‘Gen Z consumer product’

Last week, we learned Google’s in-house R&D group, Area 120, had been severely impacted by the broader Google workforce reduction, impacting teams working on some of Google’s more expe

Area 120, Google’s in-house incubator, severely impacted by Alphabet mass layoffs

Area 120, the Google in-house incubator responsible for products such as Checks, Tables, Stack and ThreadBite, has been significantly affected by broader layoffs at Google parent company Alphabet. A s

Google cancels half the projects at its internal R&D group Area 120

Google CEO Sundar Pichai, speaking at the Code Conference last week, suggested the tech company needed to become 20% more efficient — a comment some in the industry took to mean headcount reduct

Google’s Area 120 debuts Checks, an AI-powered privacy compliance solution for mobile apps

A team at Google is today launching a new product for mobile app developers called Checks which leverages AI technology to identify possible privacy and compliance issues within apps, amid a rapidly c

Pinterest launches TwoTwenty, its own in-house incubator for new projects

Pinterest today announced a new initiative designed to help the company increase its pace of innovation. The company is introducing an in-house, experimental products team called TwoTwenty — nam

Google reorg moves AR, VR, Starline and Area 120 into new ‘Labs’ team

Google Labs is back, but this time around, it’s not a consumer-facing brand delivering a range of experimental products. Instead, it’s the internal name given to a new team at Google creat

Google’s R&D division experiments with newsletters powered by Google Drive

Following entries into the newsletter market from tech companies like Facebook and Twitter, Google is now experimenting with newsletters, too. The company’s internal R&D division, Area 120,

Google’s AirTable rival, Tables, graduates from beta test to become a Google Cloud product

Last fall, Google’s in-house incubator Area 120 introduced a new work-tracking tool called Tables, an AirTable rival that allows for tracking projects more efficiently using automation. Today, G

Google’s Area 120 launches Stack, an app that digitizes personal docs and extracts key information

Google’s in-house incubator, Area 120, is today releasing its latest project called Stack, an app that will help you digitize your documents, receipts and other papers you have lying around the

Google Area 120’s ThreadIt is bite-size video for team collaborations

The team at Google’s Area 120 in-house incubator says the idea for ThreadIt came well before COVID-19 made remote work a necessity for large swaths of the globe. Of course, the pandemic certainly ac

Area 120 is beginning to use Google’s massive reach to scale HTML5 GameSnacks platform

Hundreds of millions of users, especially in developing markets, don’t own high-end smartphones and can’t afford fast data plans to enjoy much of anything on the web. Google has been exploring mul

Google launches a work-tracking tool and Airtable rival, Tables

Google’s in-house incubator Area 120 is today introducing a new work-tracking tool, Tables, which aims to make tracking projects more efficient by investing in automation. Instead of simply trac

Google’s latest R&D project is Shoploop, a mobile video shopping platform

Google’s latest experiment is a video shopping platform designed to introduce consumers to new products in under 90 seconds. The company today is launching Shoploop, a project from Google’

Google’s latest experiment is Keen, an automated, machine-learning based version of Pinterest

A new project called Keen is launching today from Google’s in-house incubator for new ideas, Area 120, to help users track their interests. The app is like a modern rethinking of the Google Aler

GameSnacks, from Google’s Area 120, brings fast, casual online games to developing markets

A new project called GameSnacks is launching today from Google’s in-house incubator, Area 120, with the goal of bringing fast-loading, casual online games to users in developing markets. Billion

The engineers behind Google’s Bookbot have launched a delivery robot startup

The engineers behind Google’s short-lived Bookbot — a robot created within the company’s Area 120 incubator for experimental products — have launched their own startup to bring the sid

Google’s Area 120 launches Tangi, a short-form video app focused on creativity and DIY

The latest project to emerge from Google’s in-house incubator, Area 120, takes the newfound interest in short-form video and focuses it on the DIY space. The company today is launching a short v

Google’s CallJoy phone agent for small businesses gets smarter, more conversational

Earlier this year, Google’s in-house incubator launched CallJoy, a virtual customer service phone agent for small businesses that could block spammers, answer calls, provide callers with basic b

Pigeon, a ‘Waze for public transit’ from Google’s Area 120, expands across the US

Crowdsourced transit app Pigeon, developed within Google’s Area 120 lab for experimental projects, is today rolling out to five new cities across the U.S., in addition to New York — includ
Load More