It’s a bad news Monday for up to 950 million — yes, that’s almost 1 billion — Android device owners worldwide. A vulnerability that would let a hacker take over your phone remotely has been announced, and it’s a doozy. [More]
Bad News: Security Hole Can Let An Attacker Take Over Your Android Phone With A Single Text
By 7.27.15
Apple Once Again Removes The Competition, Yanks Nest Thermostats From Retail & Online Stores
By 7.24.15
As is Apple’s usual M.O. when it comes to launching products similar to those made by other companies but already being sold in its retail stores, the tech giant is cleaning house and removing the competition. In this case, it’s ditching Google’s Nest thermostat to make room for a device using its own technology. [More]
Microsoft Now Accepting Requests To Remove Revenge Porn From Bing, Xbox Live & OneDrive
By 7.23.15
Microsoft joined the growing list of tech companies taking steps to crack down on so-called revenge porn – the posting of nude photos or videos online without the consent of the subject – by honoring requests to remove links to the images or the content from appearing in results on its search engine Bing and other platforms. [More]
Universal Studios Copyright Bot Stupidly Asks Google To Delist IMDb Page For “Furious 7”
By 7.22.15
Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, it’s against the law to knowingly misrepresent a copyright infringement claim, and yet copyright holders and the automated bots they use to spit out these takedown and delist demands continue to make sweeping, obviously inaccurate claims without penalty. The latest example comes to us courtesy of Comcast-owned Universal Studios. [More]
Google Shutting Down Google+ Photos Next Month, Because Two Picture Storage Sites Is A Bit Much
By 7.21.15
Sometimes having the same thing twice is nice: that sweater you love or an extra toothbrush, you know, just in case. But having two similarly named photo synching and sharing applications – Google+ Photos and Google Photos – that pretty much do the same thing is a bit, well, redundant. And so, Google announced yesterday that it plans to send Google+ Photos to pasture with all the other outdated and seldom used apps and programs that came before it. [More]
Google’s Self-Driving Car Involved In Collision Resulting In Injuries For First Time
By 7.17.15
Google’s self-driving prototypes have been tooling around on real roads for some time now, and like cars that are driven by people, they’ve had a few bumps and traffic incidents, but no one has gotten hurt. That’s all changed now, as the company reports one of its driverless vehicles has been involved in an accident that involved injuries for the first time. [More]
Google Begins Testing Buy Button On Select Mobile Searches
By 7.15.15
Google has finally made good on those reports that it would simplify the smartphone shopping experience by allowing users to simply hit a “buy button” to complete a transaction straight from sponsored search results, rather than toggling between retailer websites. Today, the company announced it is officially testing what it calls Purchases. [More]
Should We Have The “Right To Be Forgotten” By Google In U.S.?
By 7.7.15
Even those of us who didn’t grow up in the Internet age can still find traces of our much younger selves online, which can occasionally make for a fun trip down memory lane. But not everyone is pleased with the idea that every online mention of their name may be forever etched into Google’s search memory. In 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that people have a legal “right to be forgotten” by Internet search engines, requiring Google and others to consider such removal requests from residents of the 28 EU countries. A new complaint filed today with federal regulators is calling for a similar program in the U.S. [More]
Google Takes Self-Driving Prototypes To Texas For More Testing
By 7.7.15
Google is taking its driverless car technology on the road: after unleashing a new generation self-driving prototypes on the streets near its California home recently, the company says there’s a new driverless vehicles that will be tooling around Austin, TX. [More]
Google Subsidiary Apologizes For Including Concentration Camps In Mobile Game
By 7.2.15
It can be a good thing for game developers to include real-life sights in the unreal world of video games, but there are cases where such inclusions are simply unacceptable. This was the case for a unit of Google, which has apologized after including Nazi concentration camps as “portals” in a mobile role-playing game. [More]
America’s Biggest Companies React To SCOTUS’ Same-Sex Marriage Ruling
By 6.26.15
While it might not seem like there’s a direct link to same sex marriage and our country’s biggest businesses, even before the Supreme Court of the United States ruled today that marriage is a constitutional right for any American, many major companies came out in support of same-sex marriage, saying those rights help them do business better. Today, some of those companies — and more — spoke out in celebration of the landmark ruling. [More]
Self-Driving Cars From Rival Companies Have A Close Call In California Traffic
By 6.26.15
UPDATE: A spokeswoman for Delphi who was also in the car at the time of the previously reported “near miss” between her company’s car and a Google prototype says things didn’t go down quite like the story made it seem. [More]
Google Answers Prayers, Officially Adds “Undo Send” Button To Gmail
By 6.23.15
Everyone makes mistakes, some are just more embarrassing than others. Take for example, accidentally sending an email venting about your in-laws to your in-laws, when you meant to send it to your spouse (for the record, I’ve never done this and I love my in-laws). While that scenario may have once led to an awkward family dinner, it might not anymore, thanks to Google’s new magical “undo send” option in Gmail. [More]
CFPB Asks Google, Bing & Yahoo To Help Stop Student Loan Debt Scams That Imply Affiliation With Feds
By 6.22.15
The Internet is teeming with scammers, fraudsters, and hustlers determined to part consumers from their money, and as a $1.2 trillion venture, student loans often present an attractive avenue for these ne’er-do-wells. In order to better protect individuals from such schemes, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is enlisting the help of the country’s major search engines. [More]
Google Giving Revenge Porn Victims A Way To Remove Pics From Search Results
By 6.19.15
This past spring a number of tech companies took steps to crack down on so-called revenge porn – the posting of nude photos or videos online without the consent of the subject. Today, Google announced it was joining those sites by honoring requests to remove nude or sexually explicit images shared without the featured person’s permission from search results. [More]
Google: Calm Down, Artificial Intelligence Research Won’t Lead To Robot Revolution
By 6.8.15
For those of you eyeing your smart refrigerators and with suspicion and demanding that Siri tell you her plans to precipitate the downfall of humanity, Google wants everyone to take a chill pill. The company’s head of artificial intelligence research is trying to reassure folks that Google’s work in that field won’t lead to the eventual extermination of the human race by robots. [More]
Google Issues First Monthly Report On Traffic Incidents Involving Its Self-Driving Cars
By 6.5.15
Before Google’s self-driving cars become an everyday reality for consumers, the company not only needs to test the vehicles extensively, but it also has to make sure the public isn’t put off over concerns that the technology is unsafe. Amid recent reports that they’ve already been in minor accidents, Google has now started releasing public reports detailing traffic incidents involving its driverless cars. [More]
Google Maps Adding Offline Search And Navigation “Later This Year”
By 5.28.15
For all those times you’ve glanced around at an unfamiliar intersection, cursing the wireless signal gods for denying your phone service and thus depriving you access to mapping apps, Google says it’s here to help: The company announced today that soon Google Maps will offer offline search and navigation capabilities. [More]
