Last week before the holidays begin, and many things released an announced – from Star Wars, VR & Google to Android, Cloud and Google Play.

This is part 15 in the Latest from Google series.

Cardboard Camera

Happy to announce the Cardboard Camera! An easy way to turn your smartphone into a VR (Virtual Reality) camera

Google Photos introduces shared albums

Shared memories made easy with Google Photos, Introducing shared albums.

Google Santa Tracker

The Google Santa Tracker is now live! Go play in Santa’s village. 🙂

Star Wars & Google: VR and LightSaber Escape

Love Star Wars? Google & Star Wars have teamed up delivering a VR experience for Google Cardboard on Android & iOS. Go download the Android or iOS app and have a great time!

There were also some limited awesome Star Wars VR Cardboards released!

Lightsaber Escape

We also just announced the Lightsaber Escape! Go there on your desktop to wield your very own lightsaber!

Lightsaber Escape uses WebGL, WebRTC & WebSockets, developed with Disney, Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic. You can also read up in Creating a Lightsaber with Polymer for how to set up a high FPS WebGL project with Polymer.

Android news

Here’s some exciting news in the Android world:

Android Studio 2.0 Preview: Android Emulator

• One tap sign-up and automatic sign-in without password entry using Smart Lock
  
• Google just made taking screenshots way easier in Android Marshmallow.
• Tap. Pay. Next. – Android Pay rolls out in the US.
• Android Wear: Dress things up with new designer watch faces
  
• Google and Udacity offer you 31 courses on Android, web, Cloud and Entrepreneurship

Offline navigation for Google Maps on iOS

Offline navigation Google Maps is now available on iOS, and also showing gas prices and business hours for stores etc.

Demo on Android phone

Pixel C released

We launched the Pixel C, a mix of a powerful tablet and a full-size keyboard.

Google Launchpad Accelerator & the new Agency Program

Google just launched the Launchpad Accelerator, initially available in Brazil, India and Indonesia. We also announced Google’s new global program for Developer Agencies.

More news & releases

• Google will start sending search traffic to fast-loading AMP news articles in February 2016
• Walk the ruins of Peru’s most historic site: Machu Picchu, with Google Street View
  
• Google most popular searches in 2015
• Gmail’s Inbox app makes it easier to share travel info
  
• BigQuery cost controls now let you set a daily maximum for query costs
• Now you can bookmark Google image searches for later reference
• A world of change: #climatechange interactive data from Google
• Google Cloud Vision API changes the way applications understand images
  
• Powering the Internet with renewable energy: Through new wind and solar projects, Google is one step closer to our commitment to triple our purchases of renewable energy by 2025 and our goal of powering 100% of our operations with clean energy
• Building games with Unity? You should check out the Google Cast Remote Display plugin
  
• Google’s virtual exhibitions immerse you in orchestra and theater performances
  
• More ways to discover and manage services on Google Cloud Platform
• Google Chromecast is the best-selling media-streaming device in the world
• A new Family Playbook to help you find success with family and kid-focused apps and games on Google Play
• Google Play Music launches $14.99 family plan for up to six people, which also means that Google’s group payments let anyone in your family buy apps
• Google’s OnHub router is now a Slinky (and other fun design hacks)
• VR as “a vehicle for enchantment.” Fly among the stars with NY Times