Weeks after European regulators announced they were opening an investigation into Google’s requirements that Android-based devices come pre-loaded with Google apps, the tech company is reportedly poised to put a second, longer-running European antitrust case related to its search behind it, to the tune of a $3.4 billion fine. [More]
Burned By Too Many Scams, Microsoft Bans Tech Support Ads In Bing Search Results
By 5.13.16
Imagine if an entire section of the phone book (remember those?) was dominated by fake companies and scam artists. You’d hope the phone book people would wise up and get rid of that section. That appears to be Microsoft’s way of thinking as it bans tech support ads from its Bing search results. [More]
Google Launches iOS Keyboard That Allows Searches Within Other Apps
By 5.12.16
Imagine a world in which you don’t have to leave your riveting text conversation to search the web for the appropriate GIF. Dream no more: Google today announced that it has created a new keyboard for iOS devices that allows users to perform searches from their messages. [More]
“Chirp” Is Google’s Answer To Amazon Echo; Could Be In Your Home Later This Year
By 5.12.16
The Amazon Echo can do just about everything — order pizza, pay your credit card bill, and answer all your spur-of-the-moment questions, among other things — but can it compete with other connected home speakers? That’s something Google is poised to find out with its own connected-device that could launch later this year. [More]
Google Bans Payday Loan Ads In Search Results
By 5.11.16
Google can’t stop you from searching for “payday loans,” and the company’s search engine will continue to turn up results for people inquiring about these short-term, high-interest loans, but it can choose to stop running ads for payday lenders. [More]
Government Asks Wireless Manufacturers & Carriers About Device Security Updates
By 5.9.16
At the same time as their counterparts at the Justice Department are trying to circumvent smartphone security, the folks at the FCC and the Federal Trade Commission are talking to manufacturers about how to make these devices more secure. [More]
Google Tests Using All-Black Text For Search Result Links
By 5.9.16
We’re all very familiar with Google search results. Linked sites are shown in blue text (unless you’ve already clicked that link), and the text related to that link is in black. Now the tech giant is testing a move that has users confused: making all search results text black.
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Apple’s App Store Is Having Some Serious Issues Finding Popular Apps Right Now
By 5.5.16
UPDATE: As of about noon on the east coast, the App Store seems to have sorted itself out. I was able to search for Tidal and actually get the music app, instead of an app to track the tide. [More]
Google & Fiat Chrysler Rumored To Be Working On Driverless Minivans Together
By 5.3.16
Taking the kids to soccer practice in the future might still involve minivans, but mom and dad won’t necessarily be driving them. Rumor has it that Fiat Chrysler and Google are teaming up to develop an autonomous vehicle based on the carmaker’s Pacifica minivans. [More]
Google Chrome Dethrones Internet Explorer To Become Most Popular Browser
By 5.2.16
If the technology world was a high school hallway, Google Chrome would be shoving past former prom queen Internet Explorer while wrinkling its nose like it smells something particularly offensive. That’s because Chrome is now the most popular browser, as it recently took home a larger share of the market than its rival for the first time. [More]
Regulators Widen Investigation Into Google’s Pre-Loaded Android Apps
By 4.27.16
A week after European regulators announced an investigation into Google’s requirements that Android-based devices come pre-loaded with Google apps, a similar stateside probe is finally getting off the ground. [More]
YouTube Introduces 6-Second Video Ads For Mobile Users With Short Attention Spans
By 4.26.16
Internet users are spending more of our time online staring at the tiny screens of our mobile phones rrather than the larger screens of our computers, and that includes short videos. Users don’t really have a long attention span for ads before the video that they actually tapped on, though, and that’s why YouTube is now selling 6-second “bumper” ads to keep viewers from tuning out. [More]
Microsoft & Google Continue Lovefest, Agree To Drop Regulatory Complaints Against Each Other
By 4.22.16
Google and Microsoft are building off the new lovey-dovey relationship they embarked last year on when they agreed to stop suing each other over patents: the two best friends you ever did meet are not promising to drop all pending regulatory complaints against each other across the globe. [More]
Google Adding Live TV Listings To Search Results
By 4.21.16
Although your binge-watching brain might not remember a time when television shows and movies were anything but on-demand, live TV is still around. Soon, if you want to find out what’s on and when, Google search results will include listings for live TV. [More]
Did U.S. Use Secret Court To Force Tech Companies To Weaken Encryption?
By 4.19.16
Legislators in D.C. are currently considering a law that would compel tech companies to have weak device and software encryption so that law enforcement can snoop when necessary, while federal prosecutors have repeatedly used a 227-year-old law to try to force Apple and Google to work around existing security on their products. A new lawsuit seeks to find out if the government has also been using a highly secretive court to force tech companies to assist in breaking their own encryption. [More]
Google’s Pre-Loaded Android Apps Target Of EU Competition Probe
By 4.18.16
While Android smartphones may allow you to install all manner of apps that compete with the pre-installed Google products like Maps, Gmail and its namesake search engine, is the fact that these apps are required to come pre-loaded on Android devices hurting competition and innovation just to benefit Google’s bottom line? That’s the question being asked by the European Commissioner for Competition. [More]
4 Things You Need To Know About New Bill Requiring Weak Encryption On Devices
By 4.13.16
A week after it was first reported that Senators Dianne Feinstein (CA) and Richard Burr (NC) were prepping a bipartisan bill that would compel tech companies to build their devices and software with weakened encryption or built-in backdoors for law enforcement, the actual bill has been introduced. Here’s what you need to know about why consumer and privacy advocates are concerned.
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Google Drops Free Fiber Option In Kansas City
By 4.11.16
Ever since Google began providing the residents in Kansas City the option of signing on for its Fiber service in 2011, the tech company has offered a hard-to-refuse deal: pay a one-time installation fee, and you get internet access for free – in some cases up to seven years. But it looks like the almost-free ride is over. [More]
