Google

Today Google officially introduced the Pixel and Pixel XL, and it’s everything we expected and more. Google nailed a lot with these phones, especially in the software department. However, the company also did a lot of things that I really dislike with these devices. Yet, I have a confirmation email for my very own Pixel XL sitting in my inbox. Why? Let’s dig in a bit…

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Google is trying really hard to change its image today, presenting itself as a renewed company that wants to personally tackle hardware end-to-end. However, there are some bad old habits that the Mountain View firm simply does not seem able to shake off…

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The Google Pixel and Pixel XL phones have just been announced — and alongside the confirmation of everything we pretty much knew already, various bits of information have arrived regarding the bigger meaning behind what Pixel actually means for Google, and two things stood out in particular…

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After launching the impressive OnHub last year, Google has today unveiled another home wireless router dubbed Google WiFi. This new option is less of a replacement for the OnHub, but an answer to a different use case.

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Just ahead of its long-awaited October 4th press event, Google has posted the live stream for the event to its YouTube channel…

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We’re less than a day away from Google’s October 4th event, and it has been Pixel leaks galore. Over the weekend we saw Canadian carrier Bell leak renders of the Pixel and Pixel XL in black and white followed by Carphone Warehouse leaking promotional material. Now, a little over 12 hours away from the start of the event, Verizon has the Pixel and Pixel XL listed on its website. The best part? Verizon has also unofficially confirmed the highly-anticipated blue model.

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We’re less than 24 hours away from Google’s highly anticipated unveiling of the Pixel phones, but that’s not all we’re going to see. We’ve known since Google I/O that Google has been working on a special virtual reality headset for Daydream, and we even expected to see it at this event, but now we know the price tag too.

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Alphabet and the European Union have been in court for some time now over several alleged antitrust violations. These have been over claims that Google has favored its products in search results, forcing Android manufacturers to pre-install its applications, and even claims that the company makes it hard for advertisers to switch to other ad platforms. A new report claims that the EU looks to fine Google for incentivizing Android manufacturers to install Google Search on devices…

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According to Google’s Android SVP Hiroshi Lockheimer, the company’s upcoming October 4th event — which, yes, is just a few days away now — is going to be something to go down in the Googley history books. According to him, “8 years from now we’ll be talking about Oct 4, 2016.” That comes in a tweet where he reflects on the fact that 8 years ago, Google announced the very first version of Android.

We announced the 1st version of Android 8 years ago today. I have a feeling 8 years from now we'll be talking about Oct 4, 2016.

— Hiroshi Lockheimer (@lockheimer) September 24, 2016

So Google thinks this event is going to be a big deal, and with such strong words coming straight from the mouth of Android’s SVP, we’re inclined to believe it. But what is Google planning to announce? We know almost for a fact that they’re planning some consumer-facing “Made by Google” smartphones, but what else could the Mountain View company have up its sleeve for next week?…

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One of the main concerns around using Google’s “free” services and applications is that the company tracks and uses people’s data to better serve them ads. This is especially true for anyone who wants to protect their privacy and doesn’t want their data sent all over the internet. Thankfully, a developer on Github has created ungoogled-chromium — Chrome without the built-in Google services…

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Google has announced that you will now be able to view your upcoming Google Calendar events in Google Maps. This can be a helpful tool because now, instead of opening up a calendar event and then copying the address into Maps, you can just pull up a list of upcoming events without leaving the Google Maps app iself…

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We’re right around the corner from Google’s October 4th event where, among other things, the company is expected to launch the Google Home, its Amazon Echo competitor. We know the price and basic functionality of the Home device already, but the biggest question is compatibility.We now know one major platform that will be compatible at launch.

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Remember the Chromecast? Yes, of course you do. Google’s highly successful $35 dongle has been a hit among consumers, but its virtues may expand far beyond that. According to an exclusive Variety report, in fact, it may well have proved to be a proper Trojan horse for Google, who’s now seeking partners’ attention to build yet more appliances around its technology…

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We’ve been hearing about Google’s upcoming Pixel smartphones for quite some time, but until just recently, we hadn’t had a good look at what each device actually looked like. Over the past two days, Evan Blass has leaked out two new renders of the Pixel and the Pixel XL, giving us a better idea of what to expect. Both phones are going to look pretty much the same with nothing more than a half-inch of screen separating them.

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Last night we first got word that Google was sending out some last minute invites to its October 4th press event, and now we can definitely say that the Mountain View company is opening up its big announcement to some of the public. Or perhaps not the “public,” but rather — so far, at least — some non-press that are close to Google…

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Today’s Google Doodle has the company celebrating its 18th birthday – old enough to almost buy beer in its home state of California. But perhaps the company has already been drinking, because as the Telegraph notes, it doesn’t quite seem to be able to remember its own birthdate …

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Google-related news may be all about Pixel, Nexus and Andromeda right now, but such a narrowed down field of topics would neglect the actual number of things the company — or, rather, the parent Alphabet — is actively working on; a big number. And one of its craziest, most interesting projects is Project Loon, which made extraordinary progress over the past few months…

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