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While many have moved on to wireless earbuds in recent years, Google is experimenting with something new. Google’s experimental “I/O smart braid” uses a fabric cord to send controls to a connected smartphone all through the cable on headphones.
Between the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing projects, and recent reports, things are kind of a whirlwind for Google at the moment. In an interview released today, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai discussed the future of the Google Pixel lineup, progress of RCS, and how COVID-19 has been affecting Google’s business. Here’s the summary.
Last September, federal and state governments announced an antitrust investigation into Google. A new report today says that the US Department of Justice and state attorneys general are likely to proceed with a lawsuit in the coming months.
Before the launch of Android and the T-Mobile G1, Steve Jobs had quite a close relationship with Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Rare pictures of Jobs, Page, and then-Google CEO Eric Schmidt at the Googleplex have surfaced today.
In the craziness of a world affected by the coronavirus pandemic, e-commerce has become more popular than ever and has also led to hefty delays in shipping. To help customers find products locally, Google is now showing a “curbside pickup” badge for local shopping ads.
Over a two-week period in April, a Google Doodle series thanked coronavirus helpers providing essential services around the world. Google is now running a series of “thank you” video ads that aim to express gratitude and highlight what it’s doing to help.
Last night, it emerged that most Google employees will be working from home for the rest of the year. While tech companies are well-equipped for remote work, some roles do not translate, and the company is planning to reopen offices with limited capacity. Meanwhile, Googlers will be getting an “official day off” later this month.
For the past few weeks, most Googlers have been working remotely in light of COVID-19. That policy’s end date has been extended several times now — most recently to June 1 — but Sundar Pichai told employees today that Google is likely to continue remote work for the rest of 2020.
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In recent years, Google’s messaging services have been split between consumer and enterprise. The latter has seen a slew of changes in recent weeks, including a rebrand and expanded availability. That barrier between the two types of apps is now blurring as Google today placed G Suite head Javier Soltero in charge of consumer messaging, and unified both teams.
RCS messaging has had a rocky rollout so far, but Samsung and Google are now teaming up directly to enable the rich text message service on more Galaxy phones.
Google appears to be testing a new ‘heart’ preference option for the content shown on your Discover personal information and news feed.
Last month, quite a few people across the US received a flu questionnaire in Google Opinion Rewards. That data helped Carnegie Mellon University’s COVID-19 forecasting efforts, with Google and YouTube now promoting another research survey from the school.
The coronavirus outbreak in the United States has forced many businesses to give up their offices and allow workers to keep things going from home. As coronavirus restrictions begin to be lifted, Google CEO Sundar Pichai is telling employees that they won’t return to the office until at least June.
Google’s Project Zero security team shared their findings of a series of zero-click vulnerabilities that affected the iPhone and other Apple hardware.
Personal protective equipment is in short supply across the US as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Google today helped its local community by donating 49,000 face shields that it designed and assembled.
Alphabet today announced Q1 2020 earnings with $41.16 billion in revenue. These numbers range from January to March, and includes the impact of COVID-19.
In an email to employees last week, Sundar Pichai laid out Google’s internal response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A new report today reveals a significant impact on marketing budgets across the company.
The Australian government is set to force Google and Facebook to pay for local news content in the region.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has had an impact on every type of business as millions are told to stay at home. In many cases, that means cutting jobs too. Today, Google has announced that it will be cutting fees for Ad Manager for the next few months to support publishers.
During the keynote for the Nokia 8.3 5G, HMD Global had an ace up its sleeve for Android Go-powered smartphones — Google Camera Go.
While tech companies are uniquely positioned from a logistics standpoint to continue operating, they are not immune to the broad impacts of the coronavirus. Google today laid out its internal response to COVID-19, including changes in hiring this year.
If you haven’t heard by now, “Killed by Google” is a hilarious trip through the ever-growing graveyard of projects and apps that Google has shut down over the years. In an interesting bit of irony, Google wants to hire the creator of Killed by Google.
Overnight, Google flipped the switch for a ton of Gboard users that put the company’s logo smack dab in the middle of the spacebar. Some people don’t care, others are outraged. Where do you stand on the matter?