Many of the most common household brand names in America are not American companies, and that’s been true for decades. When it comes to technological innovation especially — from cars to phones and every appliance in between — we’ve become used to huge numbers of goods coming from countries in Asia. [More]
Google Buys Gigabit Broadband Provider To Speed Up San Francisco Fiber Deployment
By 6.23.16
Building out a new fiberoptic network in a congested metropolitan area can be slow-going, which is why when Google announced in February that it was bringing Google Fiber to San Francisco, it planned to do so on the back of existing “dark fiber” lines controlled by the city. In an apparent effort to expand that model to privately-operated networks, Google has acquired a small, high-speed broadband provider already operating in San Francisco. [More]
Google Rolling Out “Symptom Search” Feature In Effort To Simplify Medical Queries
By 6.21.16
While talking to your doctor is the only way to get a definitive answer about medical issues, let’s face it, we all turn to the internet when we’re not feeling well and aren’t sure what’s going on with the rash that just appeared. That’s why Google is adding a “Symptom Search” feature that seeks to connect folks with more information what could be going on. [More]
Google Pays $550K To People Who Found Security Issues With Android
By 6.17.16
One year after Google launched its Android Security Rewards program that aimed to compensate researchers who discovered vulnerabilities in the company’s products — software, tablets, and phones – the tech giant announced the program was a success, divvying out more than $550,000.
[More]
Google Fiber Copies Comcast, AT&T; Forces Users To Give Up Their Legal Right To Sue
By 6.16.16
Since its introduction in Kansas City, Google Fiber has presented itself as a disruptive force in the pay-TV and internet markets, offering high speeds for reasonable prices, and bringing new competition to markets generally dominated by a single provider. So it’s disappointing to learn that Fiber has decided to follow in the footsteps of AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner Cable, and other reviled providers by quietly stripping its customers of their right to sue the company in a court of law. [More]
Google Fiber Might Take Broadband Battle To AT&T’s Home Turf
By 6.14.16
While Google Fiber is going up against AT&T in a number of markets — including Kansas City, Austin, and Atlanta — it has yet to venture into the Death Star’s home turf of Dallas. However, this morning Google announced that Dallas has been added to the list of possible Fiber markets. [More]
Axl Rose Fails At Scrubbing Internet Of Unflattering Photos
By 6.8.16
We all have photos where we don’t look our best (for some of us, that would be most photos), but we can’t go around claiming we own the copyright to photos just because we don’t like the way we look. Guns n Roses singer Axl Rose is learning this lesson, along with a little something about the Streisand Effect, with his failed attempt to scrub the internet of the so-called “fat Axl” pics. [More]
YouTube Threatens Legal Action Against Service That Lets You Download Videos
By 5.31.16
Most of us are perfectly happy with going to YouTube and streaming that clip of Pookie being exhorted — in language that is not safe for work — to lay waste to his place of work, but some folks may want to watch this video offline, or do some tinkering with the clip. Some YouTube videos are available for download, but most are not, which is why people turn to services that allow you to get your own copy of a streaming video. YouTube, not surprisingly, is not a fan of such services and is dangling the threat of legal action against at least one. [More]
Google Maps Directions Could Soon Include Ads For Businesses Nearby
By 5.24.16
In the future when you’re looking up directions to get somewhere on Google Maps, you could see an ad for a business that happens to be nearby. You know, in case you didn’t realize you probably need to stop for a pizza snack on your way to dinner. [More]
Bank Of America To Allow Android Pay Cash Withdrawals At Some ATMs
By 5.20.16
Back in January, Bank of America jumped on the card-free bandwagon by developing new ATMs that allow customers to withdraw cash or complete other tasks using their cellphones instead of their bank cards. This week, the company took that initiative a step farther, announcing it would let customers perform those tasks through Android Pay. [More]
Google Patents Pedestrian “Glue” For Self-Driving Cars
By 5.20.16
While Google’s self-driving vehicles have been cruising around the streets, the company’s engineers have been working on a way to ensure pedestrians that may come into contact with the bumper of one of those autonomous vehicles are left relatively unscathed. Their apparent solution: an adhesive that makes people stick to the car’s hood. [More]
Google Invests In Payday Lender While Banning Ads For Payday Loans
By 5.19.16
Last week, Google announced it would no longer include ads for payday lenders — financial services, outlawed in many states, that offer short-term, small-dollar loans, often with triple-digit interest rates — to protect “users from deceptive or harmful financial products.” All the while, Google’s parent company is investing in a startup that offers loans with annual percentage rates as high as 600%. [More]
Google Home Will Try To Be More Conversational, Flexible Than Amazon Echo
By 5.18.16
As expected, Google pulled back the covers today on Google Home, the combination WiFi music speaker, voice-activated personal assistant, and connected-home control console that it intends to go face-to-face with Amazon’s Echo device. While Google did not reveal a price for Home, it did detail some of the features it expects to make the product competitive. [More]
7 Products By The Biggest Tech Companies That Failed Miserably
By 5.17.16
Hearing the news that Google is taking another stab at social media with a new group-chatting app dubbed “Spaces” may feel like deja vu for anyone paying attention to the tech giant’s previous, mostly unsuccessful efforts to gain traction in the social media world with Google+. But Google isn’t the only big name in the tech world that’s tried and failed to popularize a new tech product, not by a long shot. [More]
Google Image Search Results Will Now Include Shopping Ads
By 5.17.16
You’re probably used to ads popping up at the top of Google’s search results, but not when you’re trying to find a photo of say, the gadget your friend has that you might also want to buy, but you’re not sure because you have to see what it looks like first. That’s about to change, now that Google is introducing ads in its Image search results. [More]
Waze Taking On Uber, Lyft In San Francisco With Carpool Service
By 5.16.16
Earlier this year, Google’s traffic app Waze joined forces with Lyft, allowing the ride-hailing company to use its navigation technology in an attempt to get riders to their destinations in the fastest manner possible. Now, the tech company is ready to take on the on-demand ride industry all by itself, launching a carpooling service in San Francisco. [More]
Google Chrome Will Disable Adobe Flash By Default By The End Of This Year
By 5.16.16
Google is continuing on its anti-Adobe Flash quest with a new effort to make HTML5 the default on its Chrome browser by the end of the year. [More]
