The European Commission slapped Google with a record $2.7 billion fine—2.4 billion euros—on Tuesday for favoring some of its own search results above those of its rivals. “What Google has done is illegal under EU antitrust rules,” Margrethe Vestager, the commission’s top antitrust official, said in a statement. “It denied other companies the chance to…
Google has just confirmed its Pixel smartphone, available in 5- and 5.5in versions as the Pixel and Pixel XL. Headline features include the new Google Assistant, which allows for natural dialogue between Google and a user to get the information they need, a 12.3Mp camera that has won the highest ever rating from DXOMark Mobile…
Google’s new app, Duo, is a simple video-calling service that’s available for Android and iOS today. Alongside the upcoming messaging app Allo, it’s one of two communication apps Google announced earlier this year at its I/O conference, and one of four altogether from the company.
Gboard is a new iOS keyboard by Google with built-in search features so users can easily find information without having to switch between apps. The keyboard also features Glide Typing , emoji search, and GIF search for fast input of both words or images. The Gboard keyboard is available now in the App Store.
Google disabled one of its April Fools’ Day jokes built this year after many complaints, a few lost jobs, and some awkward silences. Gmail’s MicDrop function—a special version of the send button—fired off a GIF of a Minion character dropping a microphone at the end of your email—and meant that if someone responded to your…
Google CEO Sundar Pichai spoke out in support of Apple’s refusal to comply with a federal court order to assist the FBI in unlocking an iPhone owned by one of the San Bernardino shooters. Pichai tweeted, “forcing companies to enable hacking could compromise users’ privacy” and would set a “troubling precedent.” The Google chief’s comments…
GOP candidates for President gather tonight in Des Moines, Iowa one final time before Monday’s Iowa Caucus. The Fox As has been the case for all of the prior GOP debate events, the night will be split into two separate portions: an undercard and a mainstage event. The undercard debate will begin at 7:00 p.m.…
Google has a new logo that’s sleeker, brighter, and for the first time, animated. When you visit the main Google search page, you’ll notice an interactive that shows the logo morph into its newest form. The company says the change reflects the tech giant’s shift beyond the traditional Web browser, reads a company statement. “Once…
Changes will be coming soon to GOOGLE+ Google announced changes for Google+ over the next few months as it restructures the social network. They will focus on two items: Streams and photos. Previously, many tasks within Google productsrequired a Google+ profile, but that won’t be the case in the future. “People have told us that…
Google’s prototype self-driving car pods will take to public roads for the first time around its headquarters in Mountain View, California this summer. The pods, which resemble a Smart Car crossed with a Nissan Micra, will be fitted with a removable steering wheel, brake and accelerator pedals, and will require a human “safety driver” at…
Today’s Google Doodle honors Inge Lehmann, the female seismologist who discovered the earth’s inner and outer cores. Designed by Doodler Kevin Laughlin, the animated logo uses a glowing orb to represent Lehmann’s discovery. Born in Østerbro, Denmark, Lehmann was appointed the head of the department of seismology at Denmark’s Geodtical Institute in 1928. After intensive…
Google announced today that it’s getting into the business of selling consumer wireless service. The new service is called “Fi.” The prices are attractive. In general, users will pay $20 per month for the service, plus $10 for every gigabyte of data they use. The new service will be available in most U.S. cities, but…
The Google Doodle today celebrates Earth Day with a quiz that asks, “Which animal are you?” After clicking on the rotating globe in the doodle, Googlers are taken to a page where they can answer a few quick questions about their personality before finding out which animal is their kindred spirit.
Google wants you to search the legendary creature, affectionately known as “Nessie” on Google Street View. Eighty-one years after the “Surgeon’s Photograph”—which claimed to show the monster peeking out from the misty waters of the lake—Google is bringing 360-degree Street View imagery of Loch Ness to the masses. “Sail across the freshwater lake and take…
Sites whose mobile versions are not up to par will tumble in Google rankings, the search engine giant announced, as it activates an overhaul to its ranking algorithm that takes into account mobile adaptabilities. Sites will also be punished for hard-to-read links and annoying horizontal scrolling. Yet despite these changes, a Google spokeswoman reassured the…
On Wednesday Google opened its first branded store. The London flapship features an interactive Google Earth surround screen installation and an interactive doodle wall. The Google shop is a store within a store, housed inside a Currys PC World, an electronics retailer. It will sell Android devices, Chromebook laptops and Chromecast. It will also offer…
Mattel announced it is teaming up with Google to create a virtual reality-based View-Master. The device won’t start selling until the fall and will work with Android smartphones. Check out this gadget for what you can get right now The PrioVR.
Twitter reportedly reached a deal to include the 140-character tweets in Google search results. The deal means Google will have automatic access to the stream of data from Twitter’s website, which it previously had to crawl for information. The move is part of a larger effort to attract more people to Twitter as growth slows…
Google decided to leave behind the year with a special doodle showing some of the most trending searches of 2014. The image shows a simple animation that reflects some of the most important moments of the last year: The World Cup, the Rosetta Space Mission, India’s Mars Orbiter and the ALS.
Google mail service Gmail has reportedly been blocked by China’s Great Firewall following months of disruption, an anti-censorship group said Monday. GreatFire.org said many Gmail users were cut off in China on Friday and services were still down Monday. “We’ve checked and there’s nothing wrong on our end,” a Google spokesman in Singapore said in…
Merry Christmas LNC Family!! Google Doodle Celebrates This Holidays 2014 with a festive animation inspired by the season kindness. Some ski, some cycle and some skateboard to make it home in time for December 25. Matt Cruickshank, the doodle’s creator, said: “I set about creating multiple people that transform and adapt to their surroundings. “It’s…
Google News will shut down in Spain on Dec. 16, due to a new intellectual-property law that requires Spanish publications to charge services such as Google News for displaying even a brief snippet from their publications. While the new regulation, dubbed locally as the Google Tax, did not specifiy how much the online search giant…
Google has signed a 60-year lease for part of a historic Navy air base, where it plans to renovate three massive hangars and use them for projects involving aviation, space exploration and robotics. The tech giant has agreed to pay $1.16 billion in rent over the next six decades for the property, which also includes…
Google Doodle on Sunday celebrate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with an interactive video doodle.The Google doodle shows a video depicting the scenes as West Berliners greet their eastern counterparts on the night in 1989. The video also shows pieces of the fallen wall in various parts of the world,…
Scientists say they have treated a man they believe is the first patient with Internet addiction disorder brought on by overuse of Google Glass. The 31-year-old U.S. Navy serviceman had been using the wearable technology that comes with an optical head-mounted display for about 18 hours a day, removing it only to sleep and bathe.…
Google has started showing old versions of its search page to people using out-of-date versions of some web browsers. At the weekend, many people reported in a Google forum they were seeing 2013 versions of the Google and image search homepages when using older browsers. The problem was most pronounced among those using variants of…
The NSA has built up a secret database with “Google-like” features that allows nearly two dozen government agencies to search through 850 billion records, including calls, emails, and Internet chats. ICREACH has data on the private communication of foreigners and millions of Americans, according to documents released by Edward Snowden. ICREACH appears to have gone…
Artificial intelligence-based method of creating guides to cities using public photos appealed to Google’s drive for building smart systems. Google is buying Jetpac, a “city guides” company with a twist which used image recognition and neural network technology to recommend places it deemed the happiest, most popular or with the best views and scenic hikes.…
Google removes ‘Bomb Gaza’ mobile game from its app store after prompting complaints – but not before it is downloaded 1,000 times A phone app in which players drop bombs on Gaza from an Israeli military plane has been removed from Google Play following complaints. Bomb Gaza, which instructs users to ‘drop bombs and avoid…
Tech investors last week discovered business at Intel and IBM isn’t as slow as some feared, that Google’s plan for Internet domination is still humming along and that Yahoo’s core business — minus cash and its Alibaba stake — is probably only worth about $3 or $4 a share. This week, they’ll find out whether…
