Tech Industry

Google-owned VirusTotal today released a version of the VirusTotal uploader application (via The Next Web) compatible with Mac OS X. Previously the software was only available for Windows-based machines.

VirusTotal Uploader works in conjunction with the VirusTotal web service to check files and links for malware. Google hopes that the release of the software for the Mac will help users more easily detect attacks on Apple’s platform. From the VirusTotal blog:

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Google’s home state, California will start granting driver’s licenses to driverless cars in September. The DMV will charge $150 a pop for an autonomous car’s driving permit and will allow the self-driving vehicles to cruise public roads as long as the automobile meets the state agency’s strict requirements. California will issue licenses to autonomous vehicles if its test drivers are employed by its manufacturer and have the proper permits and documentation. The car’s driver/passenger must remain behind the wheel at all times and be ready to take over if needed. This doesn’t sound too bad, right? But here comes the boom.

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Nest is recalling 440,000 smoke detectors due to a glitch that causes the internet-connected alarm to fail when users wave their hands at system. The Nest Protect Smoke + CO system is equipped with a silencing feature that mutes its alarm when users wave their hands near its vent, however a bug could possibly prevent the system from sounding off in a timely manner. To remedy this issue, the company is sending out a firmware update to disable the gesture control feature and notes that the smoke alarm needs to be connected to the internet in order to receive the software fix.

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A Dutch appeals court today upheld a 2011 decision that banned the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy S II and Galaxy Ace phones, as noted by Re/code. The devices in question were found to have infringed on Apple’s design in an earlier ruling and blocked from sale.

Apple’s original intent was to get an injunction against all Galaxy devices, but the company was forced to settle instead for just the two devices listed above.

Even though Apple and Google recently decided to settle their differences, thus halting the “thermonuclear warfare” instigated by former CEO Steve Jobs, there’s no indication that Apple plans to stop going after Samsung or other manufacturers directly any time soon. In fact, Samsung was recently found to have infringed on Apple’s design yet again with some of its newer devices and order to pay nearly $120 million in damages.

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Earlier today, Verizon revealed that it will launch its nationwide VoLTE service across its massive network later this year. If you’re unfamiliar with the terms “voice over LTE” or “VoLTE,” it’s voice calls between two compatible devices being placed over a wireless carrier’s LTE network. To do this, Verizon will be using the Adaptive Multi-Rate Wideband (AMR-WB) speech coding standard to provide its customers with high-quality voice calling. In addition to voice calls, Verizon’s VoLTE will feature video support. This will let users place and receive video calls directly from their contact lists.

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After a couple of rumors, Verizon’s new XLTE network is now official and cranking out up to two times the bandwidth previously offered in some of the carrier’s major markets. Customers in cities throughout Alabama, Arizona, California, Indiana, Illinois and New York are among the first to take advantage of Big Red’s new AWS-powered setup.

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Verizon may soon be launching an “XLTE” network that will be powered by AWS spectrum. Recently rumored and reaffirmed by wireless news leaker @evleaks, Big Red’s new setup could be going live sometime this year. The carrier is expected to make an announcement next week, which will hopefully fill in some blanks about its new service.

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Google’s annual I/O conference is a little over a month away and today the company has shed a little light on this year’s show by releasing its schedule. The overall theme of the event appears to be “design, develop and distribute,” so segments will most likely focus on these talking points. Things are set to start on June 25th at Moscone West in San Francisco. The first day of the show will include presentations about making your cloud apps faster, cross-platform design, an introduction to Polymer and an interactive Android fireside chat.

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Last year, Nest launched its Rush Hour Rewards that offered rebate checks of up to $60 to owners of the Google-owned thermostat system in exchange for a reduction of their air conditioning use. Today, the company announced that the program was a success, managing to cut energy use by 55 percent during peak hours in the summer of 2013.

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After a recent ruling by the European Union Court of Justice, Google users have been flooding the company with requests to have unflattering links removed from its search engine. People ranging from politicians to sex offenders have already reached out to Google asking the software giant to purge their tainted web history.

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Many believe that healthy wearable tech is the wave of the future and LG definitely wants its piece of the pie granola bar. Today, the South Korean electronics maker announced its new Heart Rate Earphones and Lifeband Touch fitness band. While the former reminds us of a recent internet fib, we assure you that it’s the real deal. LG’s new earphones are designed to do more than crank out tunes during your spin class. These over-the-ear buds are loaded with sensors that track your heart rate by measuring blood flow signals in your ears. They can be used with a compatible smartphone via Bluetooth, however LG would prefer that you use them with its Lifeband Touch.

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Google is at odds with German regulators that are accusing the company of pooling customer information without consent. Mountain View’s practice of storing data from web search histories, video viewing habits and other activities into a single group, has caused officials to step in and review the firms operations.

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An experimental feature in Chrome that is set to prevent phishing attacks, may be backfiring, according to security firm PhishMe. Google is in the process of testing an “Origin Chip” that hides the view of a website’s full URL. This new setup instead displays the domain name of the site being visited, along with a search bar available for fast access. The idea is that only displaying a site’s domain name is far less distracting than a lengthy URL.

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Google X, Google’s top-secret lab thought about creating a jetpack, but determined the idea wasn’t practical. The same R&D group that didn’t shy away from trying to build a space elevator felt that such a contraption might not fit in with Google’s eco-friendly projects.

Astro Teller, Google X’s “Captain of Moonshots,” is tasked with overseeing long-term projects that think outside of the box to solve serious world problems. We’ve seen some exciting things like Glass come out of Google X, but sometimes things just don’t work. One of the team’s abandoned ideas was a secure jetpack.

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Today in San Francisco, Google and Intel announced a brand new fleet of Chromebooks in various shapes and sizes. While some of these devices will be powered by Intel’s familiar Haswell processors, the big news today is that the chip maker is bringing its newer Bay Trail platform to Mountain View’s take on the notebook. Partners like ASUS, Lenovo, LG, HP and Acer will all be producing Bay Trail-powered Chromebooks. 

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JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon isn’t just keeping an eye on other financial institutions like Wells Fargo and Bank of American. The company’s CEO is also sizing up Google and its online services like Wallet. “We move $10 trillion a day,” Dimon said today at the Euromoney Saudi Arabia conference in Riyadh. “We’re one of the largest payments systems in the world. We’re going to have competition from Google and Facebook and somebody else.”

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Google may be publicly denouncing some of the NSA’s recent tactics, but the search giant might be closer to the agency than it has led people to believe. A chain of emails between Google execs and former NSA director Keith Alexander suggests that the company may have downplayed how closely the two have worked together in the past.

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