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Finally, after nearly a year of trying
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to decipher exactly what Google's been
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working on behind the scenes with
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Project Aluminium, Google has officially
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announced Google Book, a brand new
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category of laptops designed from the
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ground up for Gemini Intelligence that
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are just the upgrade to Chromebooks many
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of us have been hoping for for a very
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long time. Look, there's a lot to cover
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here. I'm incredibly excited about all
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of it. So, let's dive in and get a bit
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more familiar with Google Book and all
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it is poised to do to shake up the
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laptop space later this year.
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According to Google, computing is
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shifting from being based around an
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operating system to what they're now
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dubbing as an intelligence system. And
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Google's completely rethinking the
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laptop as a result of this. Now, unlike
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the shift to Chromebook Plus a few years
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back, this isn't just a rebrand. Google
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Book is set to bring together the full
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desktop Chrome browser experience,
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native, not emulated, Android apps from
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Google Play, and a new modern OS built
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around AI, all wrapped up in really
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premium hardware. Google Books are being
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built to deliver proactive help right
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where you need it. And Google showcased
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an example of this in the Android show
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with the Humble Cursor. Let's be honest,
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for being arguably the most used tool on
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your laptop, the cursor really hasn't
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changed much over the past like 20
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years. However, on Google book, Google
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teamed up with DeepMind to create what
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they are calling magic pointer. By just
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wiggling your cursor, it comes to life
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with Gemini to give you quick contextual
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suggestions based on just whatever
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you're pointing at. For instance, if you
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point at a date in an email, it can set
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up a meeting. If you select a picture of
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your living room and a new couch, it can
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instantly help you visualize those
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things together. It's built to let you
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go from a quick idea to a finished task
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in just a couple clicks. And it looks
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like something that could actually be
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far more than just a gimmick, for sure.
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Google is also adding a feature called
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create your widget. By simply entering a
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prompt, Gemini can search the internet
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and pull data from your connected apps
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like Gmail, calendar, photos, and build
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this like completely personalized widget
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for your home screen. For example, if
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you're planning on like a family reunion
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in Ohio, Gemini can organize your flight
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info, your hotel info, restaurant
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reservations, even a countdown, all in
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this one like customized widget right on
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your desktop. It all sounds really
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awesome and I cannot wait for this on a
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Google Book and on my phone, too. And I
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won't take too much time to point out
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the obvious, but Google Book will
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finally give Chromebook users like
2:26
myself a usable desktop with icons and
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widgets the way you'd expect from a
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desktop OS. It's a smaller addition that
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Google didn't even really point out in
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the presentation, but it's yet another
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thing we've wanted on Chrome OS for what
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feels like forever, and I'm so happy to
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see this addition with Google Book. And
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speaking of things we've all wanted as
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longtime Chromebook users, we've all
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been hoping for tighter Android phone
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integration for a long time. And it
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looks like Google Book is perfectly
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positioned to deliver exactly that.
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Google built these laptops to be
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seamlessly compatible with Android
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phones since they're running Android
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under the hood as well. And it keeps you
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in the flow and switching between
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devices far better than ever before. Not
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only can Google Books run powerful apps
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natively, but you can actually use the
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apps from your phone directly on your
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laptop screen with ease. Say you get a
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reminder for your daily Dolingo lesson,
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you can pop over and do it right on your
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Google book without ever leaving the
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screen. Or if you need to quickly tap a
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phone app to get like a food order out,
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you can do that and jump right back into
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your work. It's the Phone Hub
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integration that's been poorly
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implemented on Chrome OS for years done
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right and it looks really awesome. File
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management is getting a massive upgrade,
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too. A new quick access feature lets you
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view, search, or insert your phone's
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files directly from your Google books
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file browser without needing to transfer
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or actually move anything around. This
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sort of behavior in PhoneHub on Chrome
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OS has been really fantastic with things
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like recent photos. But full access to
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all your phone's files on your desktop
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without friction sounds pretty amazing.
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And we're quite certain many, many more
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Better Together experiences will be on
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the way by launch. As our awareness of
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Project Aluminium moved along over the
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past year or so, we really weren't sure
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what form these new devices were going
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to take. To be frank, we assumed this
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would all be about a new OS that
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leveraged the best of Android and Chrome
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OS. But we really assumed Google would
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kind of move away from branding actual
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hardware that was running this new
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thing. However, just like Chromebooks,
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Google Books will be clearly branded as
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such while still being manufactured by
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other OEMs apart from Google. And I love
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this approach. It means we'll still get
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like varied and competitive hardware in
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the Google Book space, but with Google's
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oversight on everything. And that means
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you won't have to wait on just Google to
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make these new devices. Google is
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working with industryleading partners
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like Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo to
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launch the first wave of Google books.
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They're promising that every Google book
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will feature premium craftsmanship,
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fantastic materials across a variety of
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shapes and sizes. And because Google's
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name is on the branding here across the
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board, I have a good feeling that they
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will 100% enforce their standards and
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and their regular attention to hardware
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detail on every single model. Like
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Chromebooks before them, Google Books
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will require Google's seal of approval.
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And this should keep the fragmentation
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issues at bay while also maintaining a
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Google hardware level of fit and finish,
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too. While I'm sure Google will one day
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throw their own hat into the Google Book
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ecosystem, I absolutely love this
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approach and I think it creates the most
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space for diversity of hardware
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competition and great new hardware
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additions down the road. One last thing,
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Google's also gone and added my favorite
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hardware feature to ever adorn a
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Chromebook ever, the newly named Glow
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Bar. Google says it is a statement piece
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that's both functional and beautiful and
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we should expect not only a head turning
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LED bar at the top of Google books but
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something that actually has some
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functionality to it as well. This is an
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amazing time for Chromebook fans.
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Honestly, this is the most exciting
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thing to happen in this space in a very,
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very long time. Seeing OEMs like Dell
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get back on board tells us Google has
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something special up its sleeve. And if
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I'm just being transparent, Google Book
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feels like something that was made for
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people just like me. So, I'm more
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excited about this than anything in the
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personal tech space in the past decade
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or so. We also have way more details in
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our exclusive Google Book interview with
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Google VP John Molus if you want to dive
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way deeper into all of that right now.
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One thing I'd love to share really
6:24
quickly from that interview is the fact
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that major app developers are already on
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board with Google Book. So, we can
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expect all the apps and services you
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would want in a premium laptop
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experience to arrive with Google Book as
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well. Now, we don't have exact prices or
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firm release dates just yet, but the
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first wave of devices are slated to
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become available this fall. You can
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check out more over at googlebook.com as
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well right now. And again, hit the link
6:47
in the description to watch that
6:49
in-depth interview with John Molus. This
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is just the start, and we absolutely
6:54
cannot wait to get our hands on the
6:56
first set of Google books later this
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year. But guys, that's it for this one.
6:59
If you enjoyed this video, give us a
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