Articles about Google

Google is a company that's well-known for its beta products -- there is a long-running joke about so many of its services being in permanent beta. Beta testing on Android has tended to be limited to a select few, but with the Google Maps app the beta programme is being opened up to everyone.

After signing up to take part, you will be able to download a newer version of Google Maps than is currently available in the Play Store. At the moment there is a fairly insignificant version number difference, and no notable changes, but this should all change as beta testing progresses.

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With the size of apps and games spiralling upwards faster than the amount of storage increases in phones, it's very easy to run low on space. To help overcome the problem of not having enough room to install a new app, Google is starting to suggest rarely used apps that could be installed.

The feature has not appeared completely out of the blue, with references having been spotted to it in APK teardowns some months ago. But now Google Play's intelligent uninstall manager has been spotted in action.

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There are lots of services that help you find your lost smartphone, but nothing beats the convenience of a built-in tool like Android Device Manager or Find My iPhone. However, Google might have something that's even better.

Google believes that locating a smartphone should be as simple as a Google search, so the company has introduced a new feature in My Account that lets you do just that. And it works no matter if you have an Android smartphone or iPhone.

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One of the concerns -- for those focused on privacy, at least -- with the likes of Siri, Cortana and 'OK, Google' is that the way these features works means they are constantly listening to what you say. In the case of Google, these recordings are stored in the cloud for the company to use to improve the service.

But voice recognition is an art rather than a science, and your phone is not always able to distinguish between commands you direct at it and ordinary conversation. As such, Google may well have recorded audio of you going about your day to day business. The good news, however, is that you can review these recordings and delete any of them -- or all of them if you want.

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Airport security has been a big deal since the September 11, 2001 attacks that took down the World Trade Centers and damaged the Pentagon. But it's often criticized as being a facade of security and not real protection.

How bad is it? A recent investigation uncovered a Somali colonel working as a security guard at Dulles airport right outside the US capitol.

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Regardless of your religious affiliations or beliefs, meeting the Pope is a very monumental thing. After all, he is the leader of the Catholic Church, which has many millions of members. The current Pope, who adopted the moniker of "Francis", is quite popular with some folks thanks to his apparent rebuke of riches and excess.

Eleven lucky YouTube creators got to meet Pope Francis, even taking a selfie with His Holiness. However, the meeting was not just a photo opportunity. Actually, they got to speak with the Catholic Church leader, even asking him questions.

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It feels like we complain about Microsoft a lot here. We do; in recent months there has been a lot to get upset about. There has been a lot of negativity surrounding Windows 10, so let's have a change of subject. Now Microsoft is spamming the Android notification tray with ads for Office.

The notification tray in Android serves a very specific purpose. There's a clue in the name -- and it's nothing to do with advertising. Android user Thom Holwerda was upset this week when Microsoft Office for Android starting to spam him with ads for apps he already had installed. There are many questions here, one of which is why is Microsoft ignoring Google's guidelines and using the notification tray to display ads?

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Google has won a case brought against it by Oracle in which it was accused of infringing on copyright by using Java APIs in Android. But at the end of a two-week trial, the jury found in Google's favor saying that 'fair use' was an acceptable defense.

Had Google lost the case, it could have cost the company billions of dollars and would have set something of a precedent. This was the first major case in which a company tried to use copyright law to control the use of APIs.

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Google wants to do away with traditional passwords on Android and replace them with "trust scores".

The company outlined how it is planning to make the transition away from passwords on its mobile platform by 2017 during its I/O conference last week. By using a variety of different metrics, Google’s Trust API technology would be able to replace traditional passwords and pins used to unlock its smartphones.

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Google's tax affairs in Europe have been the subject of some interest for a while now. Today the company's headquarters in Paris was raided by French investigators as part of an ongoing financial probe.

While other European countries have questioned whether Google is paying enough tax, in France the company finds itself accused of "aggravated financial fraud and organized money laundering". It is also accused of evading taxes by channelling money through other countries.

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Every summer, many students get excited for some well-deserved time off from studies; well, if their region practices such a vacation, that is. In some cultures, school is year-round. While this is unfortunate from the standpoint of socializing and having fun, it arguably keeps the students on track for great success.

For students that are particularly motivated and education-focused, Google hosts its legendary Summer of Code. This program pairs future developers with open source projects. Not only do these young folks learn, but they get to contribute to the projects as well. Today, the search giant shares the nationalities of the students participating in Summer of Code 2016. For the first time ever, Albania has a representative -- woo-hoo! This may surprise you, but the USA is not the most-represented nation. The top country, however, may shock you -- or not.

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When Google announced the launch of two new messaging apps, the world wondered why. Duo is focused on video calling, while Allo is a more traditional messaging tool, albeit one with a Google assistant built in.

But while the world shrugged, Edward Snowden issued a stark warning. He says that Allo should be avoided, pointing out that the lack of end-to-end encryption makes it "dangerous".

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While all jobs and careers are important to society, scientists are arguably the greatest drivers of change. These professionals are responsible for curing diseases, improving our quality of life, and advancing our knowledge of the world.

In order to keep a steady crop of quality scientists coming out of universities, it is important to create ways to foster interest in STEM -- science, technology, engineering and mathematics -- at a young age. With this in mind, Google releases an Android app, called Science Journal, aimed at helping young students record and trend scientific experiment results.

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The world wide web used to be like the wild west (and still sort of is). Visiting the wrong site would often mean an infection with malware or other nastiness, such as getting taken by scams. While that can still happen today, web surfers are much more protected. Some security suites don't only scan for and remove viruses on your hard drive, but prevent the download entirely. Not to mention, users are often better trained to recognize a scam.

Unfortunately, no web browser or security software package is infallible -- nor is any user. Thankfully, Google is working around the clock to keep the world protected. Its Safe Browsing API is available to developers, allowing software -- such as Chrome -- to warn a user before they visit a dangerous site. Today, the search giant launches the fourth version of the API.

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Answer: Your kids. Chromebook leads laptop and desktop sales through U.S. commercial channels to schools, according to NPD. Education is overwhelmingly the primary market for the computers. The institutions can't buy enough of the thangs, for their utility and low-cost compared to notebooks running either OS X or Windows. That cost is as much about extended webapps and services from Google (or its developer partners), available for free or comparatively next-to-nothing, set against software for the other platforms.

Wrinkle in the Google firmament: iPhone and Chromebook are like water and dirt. The sediment settles unless shaken up. Sure youngsters can do all their Googly things—Docs, Gmail, Maps, Photos, YouTube, etc. -- on iOS but the experience is smoother and more homogenous when mixed Android and Chrome OS. What the kiddies lack, and their educators, is a swath of useful apps like the Apple kids get.

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