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U.S. states announce antitrust investigation into Google
Alphabet and Google facing US Department of Justice antitrust investigation
Comment: Fewer leaks and far less hype — is that bad news for Google Pixel 4?
Last year’s Pixel 3 brought with it unequivocally one of the wildest phone leak seasons ever, but this year has been different. I don’t want to speak too soon, given that we still have a month or more before its launch, but the Pixel 4 has unarguably leaked less. That means less hype at large, and more noticeably, in the smartphone and gadget media bubble. Is that bad news for Google?
Report: State attorneys general announcing Google antitrust investigation next week
In recent years, Silicon Valley and Big Tech has been under increasing antitrust scrutiny. An investigation by state attorneys general into Google’s market power could be announced as soon as next week.
Google’s progress w/ RCS ‘hasn’t been sufficient’ as rollout prepares to ramp up
RCS has been in the works for a few years now, but it’s still not available for the majority of Android users. In a WIRED piece today, a Google executive explains how the RCS rollout hasn’t been sufficient while researchers try to pinpoint where the service will be headed next.
Google says Huawei Mate 30 can’t be sold w/ Android or Google apps
According to a report today, Huawei’s next smartphone is going to launch without some crucial features. Apparently, Google has confirmed the Huawei Mate 30 can’t be sold with a supported version of Android or Google apps and services.
Report: Google set to move Pixel production from China to Vietnam
According to a report from Japanese news outlet Nikkei, Google is set to move production of the Pixel from China to Vietnam amid the growing US-China trade war.
[Update: Google Contacts too] Google account quick-switch gesture arrives in Drive and Maps on Android
If you’ve got multiple accounts logged into Google Drive or Maps, you’ll be pleased to hear that the latest version 2.19.332 adds a new swipe up or down gesture to quick-switch between your logged-in accounts.
Google Go hands-on: Super cut-back ‘browser’ [Video]
Open up your smartphone web browser and the experience is probably pretty snappy if you have a new or reasonably new smartphone. Enter Google Go, a cut-down version of Google Search that is designed specifically for modest hardware and slow connections.
Google shut down ‘Mobile Network Insights’ service for carriers due to privacy concerns
According to a new report, for two years, Google apparently provided mobile carriers access to anonymized network data from Android phones in a program called “Mobile Network Insights.”
PSA: Google sign-in is currently down, some other services affected
There are a ton of Google services that we rely on daily, and this afternoon some users are seeing problems arise. If you’re seeing outages on Google services, especially Google sign-in, you’re not alone.
Nvidia CEO: Google is only customer building its own silicon at scale
According to a new report via CNBC, Nvidia CEO, Jensen Huang, claims that Google is the only customer of the chipmaker that is building its own silicon at scale.
Google to cease listening to Assistant recordings in EU pending investigation
Google is under investigation by Germany for possibly breaking GDPR requirements following reports of the company using humans to quality check recordings of private voice queries to the Assistant. While the investigation is underway, Google will reportedly cease listening to recordings from EU customers.
Report: Why some Googlers support pro-regulatory presidential candidates, like Warren
Big Tech is due for meaningful regulation in the United States from both sides of the political aisle. On the Democratic one, several presidential candidates — most notably Elizabeth Warren — have laid out plans on how they would break up companies. Interviews with Googlers reveal that some support regulatory action.
Alphabet reports Q2 2019 income of $9.18 billion
With the year well underway, Alphabet today announced Q2 2019 earnings with $38.94 billion in revenue. These numbers range from April to June, and slightly surpassed expectations with the stock up 7.39% in after-hours trading.
Google will pay $13 million in Street View lawsuit for ‘mistakenly’ stolen data
Google is settling in a lawsuit from 2010 regarding its Street View program after private data was obtained over Wi-Fi by the company’s Street View vehicles over the course of three years.
Google set to pay out $11 million in age discrimination lawsuit
After an extensive legal process that began in 2015, Google is set to pay around $11 million in settlements to over 200 people who believe they were wrongly denied the opportunity to forge a career at the company due to their age.
Google Transparency Report for election ads may not reveal Russian influence
A Google Transparency Report designed to reveal who is behind election ads for presidential and congressional candidates is said to be ‘fraught with errors and delays.’ The report was first created for the 2018 midterms.
Even official presidential ad campaigns created by the two main political parties are not always tracked, with some suggesting that if Google can’t even get this right, then there is little hope of it tracking ads being run by foreign states like Russia …
Google confirms to US Senate that it has ‘terminated’ Dragonfly search project for China
After stirring up controversy over the past several months, Google has apparently stated to the US Government that it has terminated its Dragonfly search project for the Chinese market.
Employee who helped lead ‘Google Walkout for Change’ protests to leave company
Meredith Whittaker, the employee who helped lead a number of protests that included the “Google Walkout for Change,” Google’s work with the military, and AI ethical decisions, is leaving the company.
Google kills its Blog Compass blogging tool in less than a year
Another week, another Google service bites the dust, this time in the form of the Blog Compass blog management tool. Google hasn’t hung around, killing the Blog Compass app after just 10 months.
Google Maps gets local restroom locator in India
Is there anything worse than needing the restroom and not knowing where to go? Google Maps in India is set to offer the solution of a local restroom locator built directly into the app.
Shoelace is a hyperlocal social network from Google’s Area 120
You would think that given the failure of Google+ to really leave much of an indelible mark on the internet, Google wouldn’t be too keen to attempt to build another social networking site. How wrong you’d be, as Google’s more “experimental” Area 120 incubator is creating a hyperlocal social network called Shoelace (via TNW).
Google still uses humans to review Assistant queries, raises privacy concerns
A report from a Belgian network, VRT, has uncovered how Google is using human subcontractors to help transcribe and improve its Assistant speech-recognition systems around the globe and how this could be a privacy concern (via BoingBoing).