It seems you can’t throw a rock in the street these days without hitting a ride-sharing vehicle (but don’t do that, seriously). Google is going to make that marketplace even more crowded with a major expansion it has planned for the carpooling function included in its Waze navigation app. [More]
YouTube Does Everyone A Favor, Kills Off 30-Second Unskippable Pre-Roll Ads
By 2.17.17
You know the moment: You’ve just spent the last few minutes telling your friends how great — nay! — how utterly life-changing this video you watched last night and how they just have to watch it immediately. Your audience primed, you find it on YouTube, hit “Play”… and then everyone is forced to watch a 30-second ad that cannot be skipped. Buzz. Kill. [More]
Is Google Trying To Make Maps A Social Network?
By 2.13.17
Sure, it might seem social networking giants like Snapchat and Instagram continuously mimic each other in a phenomenon we’re calling “samification,” but now it looks as if a seemingly unrelated app is dipping its toes in the social pool, too: Google is adding a more social, sharable function to its Maps app. [More]
Will Our Robot Overlords Work Together Or Work Against Each Other?
By 2.9.17
One day, robots and computers with artificial intelligence will inevitably be tasked with managing everything from our economy to our traffic systems. But will these man-made managers have the empathy, reasoning, and emotions needed for cooperation? [More]
Nexus 5X Owners Say Device Boot-Looping Kills Phones; Getting Runaround From LG
By 1.27.17
Even in an age where you’re expected to regularly shell out hundreds of dollars on a new smartphone, you expect each new pricey device to last at least a year before becoming worthless. Yet, some owners of relatively new Nexus 5X phones tell Consumerist that their smartphones have unexpectedly been rendered useless. Making matters worse, the manufacturer is allegedly giving them the runaround, leaving them without a phone for months. [More]
Google Maps Parking Assistant Is Live In 25 Cities
By 1.26.17 — Updated: 1.27.17
That didn’t take long. Just a week after a beta test of Google Maps’ latest app version showed the company was testing a new feature intended to alert users to potential parking problems, the service is now live. [More]
Why Is Google Blocking This Ad-Blocker On Chrome?
By 1.18.17
Ad-blockers might have started out as kind of a weird niche thing for techies and privacy advocates, but they’re now commonplace. Every major browser app lets you run plug-ins or extensions that can banish unsightly, privacy-compromising ads from your sight, and these browsers generally stay out of the escalating war between ad-blocking users and ad-blocker-blocking sites. Yet, the makers of one ad-blocker say Google has thrown their app out of the Chrome store, and disabled the service’s function in Chrome for all users. So what gives? [More]
Google Maps Could Soon Include Parking Information
By 1.17.17
When heading to a destination in a popular or busy area, you’re taking a chance on parking — will there be a spot for you? Google Maps is currently testing a new feature intended to alert users to potential parking problems. [More]
The Internet Is Transfixed By The Wonderfully Pointless, Surreal, Circular Debate Between Two Google Home Devices
By 1.6.17
Hundreds of thousands of people have tuned in to Twitch today to be amused, befuddled, and delighted (often at the same time) by the Internet of Things’ version of a dog chasing its own tail — two Google Home hubs speaking to each other about everything and nothing, with no immediate end in sight. [More]
Waymo Preparing To Test Self-Driving Minivans On Public Roads
By 12.19.16
A week after Google renamed its self-driving car project Waymo, the company is expand its testing to a fleet of autonomous minivans that will be hitting streets soon. [More]
Google Spinning Self-Driving Car Project Off Into Company Called ‘Waymo’
By 12.13.16
Google’s self-driving car project is now a separate company and it has a new name: it wants you to call it Waymo. Perhaps short for “way more” driverless cars? [More]
Google’s New ‘Trusted Contacts’ App Lets Users Keep Tabs On Friends, Family
By 12.5.16
Two years after Facebook added a safety check feature to let users notify family and friends they were safe after a disaster or public tragedy, Google is following suit, launching its own standalone personal safety app. [More]
Nashville Asks Court To Dismiss Comcast’s Google-Fiber-Blocking Lawsuit
By 12.1.16
It’s time for the next episode of everyone’s favorite legal drama, “Comcast and AT&T do everything they can to block Google Fiber from coming to Nashville.” Most court proceedings are a months- or years-long series of back-and-forth filings before any hearings on the merits ever take place, and this one is no exception. This time around, it’s Nashville’s turn to ask the court to hear it out. [More]
Google Restores Accounts To Users Banned For Reselling Their Pixel Phones
By 11.18.16
Earlier this week, we told you about a handful of Google users who found that the internet giant had suspended their accounts, apparently because they had violated Google’s terms of service by daring to resell their Google Pixel smartphones. Now the company has made good on its pledge to let these users back into the Google fold, but with a warning to not do it again. [More]
Is Google Shutting Down The Accounts Of Users Who Resell Their Pixel Phones?
By 11.17.16
Hundreds of people who ordered Google Pixel phones and then resold them are reportedly finding themselves locked out of their Google accounts, potentially causing a lot of headaches for anyone who enjoys having access to their emails, photos, and other files. [More]
Google, Facebook To Fight Fake “News” Sites By Blocking Them From Ad Money
By 11.15.16
Google and Facebook are, hands down, the two most common ways for basically everyone to find information: either you’re searching for links on one, or browsing your news feed on the other. They’re also the two biggest advertising companies in the world, which gives them some leverage to feed or starve some content. And when it comes to totally bogus news, both are now going to take the “starve” approach. [More]
Google To Warn Users Of Sites Repeatedly Infected With Malware
By 11.9.16
A year ago, Google updated its “Safe Browsing” technology to provide a warning to internet users who are about to visit a site full of software meant to infect devices and potentially steal consumers’ personal information. While the warnings are removed once sites clean up their act, some merely do so for a short time. Now, Google is taking steps to ensure visitors of those pages know it’s a repeat offender. [More]
Google Launches New Tool To Fight Toxic Trolls In Online Comments
“Don’t read the comments” is perhaps the most ancient and venerable of all internet-era axioms. Left untended, or even partially tended, internet comments have a way of racing straight to the bottom of the vile, toxic, nasty barrel of human hatred. But now, Google says it’s basically training a robot how to filter those for you, so human readers and moderators can catch a break. [More]