Articles about Google

OnePlus has a decent track recording of supporting its handsets for longer than most other companies, pushing out security updates and even operating system upgrades long beyond the point at which other manufacturers have let their handsets fall by the wayside.

Having already rolled out Android Pie to the OnePlus 5 and 5T, it wasn't long before we learned that the company hadn’t forgotten about owners of older handsets. Now you can sign up to take part in a beta program to test Android Pie on your OnePlus 3 or 3T ahead of the impending launch of the Pie-based OxygenOS 9.

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The European Commission has hit Google with another large fine, this time €1.49 billion ($1.69 billion) for engaging in anti-competitive practices with its advertising tool AdSense.

Google was found guilty of breaking antitrust laws by blocking third party rivals from using AdSense to display advertisements. This is the third fine the Commission has levelled against Google in the last couple of years, but this most recent one is less than a third of the previous record fine for other antitrust violations.

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Google is no stranger to investigations into and questions about its practices, and in Europe the company has faced great interest from the European Commission for violating antitrust laws. Now, in a move that echoes that of Microsoft's Browser Choice nearly a decade ago, Google is going to give Android users the option of choosing their default web browser and search engine.

This is not something that will be happening on a global scale, however -- at least not to start with. As Google is merely keen to avoid accusations of being anticompetitive in Europe, it is only European Android users that will be affected.

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Downloading and installing is just so passé, and Google knows it. It is with this fact in mind -- and an eye firmly on the future -- that the company today announces its new game streaming service, Stadia, at GDC 2019.

The audience at this year's Game Developers Conference were treated to a preview of the cloud-based gaming service that can be accessed from mobiles, desktops, laptops, TVs and more. Google is hoping that the allure of cross-platform, instant-play gaming will attract droves of gamers to the platform.

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Google is far from being a stranger to launching and shuttering apps and services willy-nilly, and the latest victim is Inbox.

We have actually known for a little while that Google Inbox was due to close down -- it was just a matter of when. Now Google has revealed the closure date, and it is just two weeks away: April 2. We wave goodbye to Inbox on the same day as Google+.

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Google will be holding a keynote at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco shortly, where it is widely expected that the search giant will take the wraps off its new cloud gaming platform.

Google says it will be revealing its "vision for the future of gaming" at the event and you can watch the announcement here, live, as it unfolds.

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It is now just a couple of weeks until Google+ closes down forever. While few will mourn its passing, there is still a lot of content on Google's social site that is worth preserving. Maybe.

Google+ users have the option of downloading their own data for posterity, but the Archive Team, in conjunction with the Internet Archive, has grander plans: it is looking to archive as much of the site as possible before it is deleted forever.

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If you attempt to visit a bad site in Firefox or Chrome, your browser will often warn you, so you can decide whether or not to take the risk and continue to your destination.

Microsoft has joined the fight to prevent users unwittingly visiting bad sites by creating new extensions for Google and Mozilla’s browsers which automatically redirect users from untrusted sites to Windows Defender Application Guard for Microsoft Edge.

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Update to Chrome 73 and you might be in for a ­bit of a shock. With absolutely no fanfare whatsoever, Google has added DuckDuckGo to the list of search engines available in its web browser.

In fact, the company has updated the default list of search engines it offers in over 60 markets, but it is the addition of privacy-focused DuckDuckGo that comes as the most welcome surprise.

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BetaNews has what we like to call a rather rowdy comments section. Any post to do with Windows 7 and Windows 10 usually sparks a commenting war that can run for weeks and get very heated at times.

We’re far from alone here though. Plenty of sites have similarly unruly comments sections, and the situation has got so bad that a growing number of popular websites have turned off commenting altogether, which is a shame.

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It is a year since Google's parent company Alphabet launched the cybersecurity outfit Chronicle. Now the startup has launched its first product, a security platform called Backstory.

Backstory is an enterprise-level cybersecurity and analytics platform; Chronicle describes it as "the first global security telemetry platform designed for a world that thinks in petabytes". Coinciding with the launch, Chronicle has teamed up with security firms Avast and Proofpoint.

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Google's Project Zero has gone public about a "high severity" flaw in the macOS kernel after Apple failed to patch it 90 days after being told about the problem.

A security researcher discovered a problem in XNU that means it is possible to perform malicious activities. The security bug related to copy-on-write (COW) behavior, enabling an attacker to manipulate filesystem images without the operating system being notified. Apple was informed of the vulnerability back in November, but has failed to release a patch.

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Times are hard out there, y’all. Look, I get it -- disposable income is hard to come by. At the same time, a smartphone really isn’t a luxury anymore -- it is a necessity. That’s why it hurts so badly when companies price the latest and greatest devices at $1,000 or more. Even worse, the cost for cellular service is a monthly drain on your bank account too.

Thankfully, you can have a quality smartphone experience without breaking the bank. The Google Fi service, for instance, is affordable without being low quality. The search giant’s offering aggregates services from Sprint, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular to help you have a solid connection wherever you go. Today, Google Fi announces support for an additional phone -- moto g7. This budget smartphone from Motorola will support all Google Fi features for a very reasonable price.

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Google recently launched the new top-level domain, .dev. When the TLD was introduced, pricing was a little out of the reach of most people -- there are few who would be willing to part with $11,000.

Now, however, pricing has dropped dramatically. The crazy pricing was only part of the Early Access registration period, but now the domain is available from a range of registrars for a far more reasonable $12-$15.

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One of Google's current crop of messaging tools, Duo, is spreading its wings and breaking out of the confines of being a mobile app.

Google Duo is now available to use online in a desktop web browser -- providing, that is, that you're using Chrome, Firefox or Safari (Microsoft Edge and Opera users are left out in the cold). The web-based version of the messaging tool can be used to make and receive voice and video calls.

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