Articles about Google

The possibility of Google making a return to China was leaked this summer, but the company has remained pretty tight-lipped about the matter. But now CEO Sundar Pichai has spoken publicly about the prospect of Google producing a censored version of its search engine to comply with Chinese regulations.

Speaking at a conference in San Francisco, Pichai revealed that Google has, internally, built a search engine for China, because "we wanted to learn what it would look like". He said that the company is "exploring" the idea, and pointed out that 99 percent of searches would not be censored.

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Last week, Google said that it had concerns about the use of AI in the US Department of Defense's JEDI (Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure) project, and as such it would not be bidding for the contract.

Now Microsoft employees have published an open letter expressing their concerns about JEDI, the secrecy it is shrouded in, and the potential for it to cause harm or human suffering. The letter has a simple message: "Microsoft, don't bid on JEDI".

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Google has long been eyed with suspicion, and incidents such as covering up potential data leaks does nothing to help. Privacy and security have increased in importance for the average internet user, and this has seen people moving away from Google and investigating the alternatives.

One beneficiary of this shunning of Google is DuckDuckGo. The privacy-focused search engine has enjoyed a 50 percent surge in usage over the last year, and it can now boast a new record of 30 million daily searches.

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Yesterday's Google event was primarily about the launch of the new Pixel phones and Slate tablet, but there was much more announced. One of the more interesting products to be revealed was the Google Home Hub.

Ostensibly a smart display, Home Hub lacks something found on Facebook's Portal -- a camera; considering the leakiness of Google, this is probably no bad thing. But what does Google's latest addition to the growing selection of smart devices have to offer?

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Google's Chromecast is a curious product. It solves a major consumer need -- getting media content from a smartphone's small screen to a larger television screen. And it accomplishes that goal fairly well. When it was first released in 2013, its biggest selling point was its low price. These days, the $35 asking price is far less impressive. For instance, for just $5 more, you can get a 4K Roku box with a remote.

Realizing that the Chromecast was in desperate need of an upgrade, Google today launches a new model. The $35 price remains, but the hardware gets a significant refresh. The processor is apparently 15 percent faster, enabling 1080p at 60fps -- a big upgrade from the 720p found on the prior generation. Sadly, it is apparently not capable of doing 4K. Also of significance, it now supports 5GHz 802.11ac Wi-Fi.

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There have been so many leaks surrounding Google's latest Pixel phones that today's announcements felt like little more than a formality. Nevertheless, the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL are now official.

Taking design inspiration from numerous other handset manufacturers, the new Pixels move away from previous models and have a glass construction. The 5.5-inch Pixel 3 does not feature a notch, but the 6.3-inch XL model does; both handsets feature a Snapdragon 845 SoC, 4GB of RAM, and 64 or 128GB of storage -- and, of course, Android Pie.

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Interest in tablets has been waning for years -- even Apple can’t really get us that excited about new iPads. People are still buying Amazon’s Kindle Fires, but mainly because they are so attractively priced.

At its 'Made by Google' event in New York today, Google revealed a brand new Chrome OS tablet called the Pixel Slate with an optional keyboard and Pixelbook Pen.

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Google has given people plenty of reasons to hate it over the years, primarily because of concerns over privacy. But with the revelation that the company knew about a bug in Google+ API that exposed the private details of tens of thousands of users, many people are ready to walk away.

Completely purging Google from your life may seem tricky if you have invested time in any of its services, but if you're thinking that now is the time to part ways, here's what you need to do.

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Today is the day that Google takes the wraps off a number of new hardware products. Top of the list will be the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL smartphones, both powered by a new Snapdragon 845 processor.

We’re also expecting to see a refreshed Chromecast, a new Google Home Hub, new Chromebooks possibly, and maybe even a wireless charging stand for the new Pixels.

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Google has announced that it will not be placing a bid for a cloud-computing contract with the Pentagon. The Department of Defense's JEDI (Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure) project could have worth up to $10 billion.

The bidding process is due to end this week, but Google will now not be taking part. The company says that this particular project is not in line with its AI policies, but it will continue to work with the US government in other ways.

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Google has introduced privacy and security focused changes as part of an update to Google Play Developer policies. In a move designed to protect sensitive data, there are new rules for apps that request SMS and Call Log permissions.

With immediate effect, it will only be possible for apps configured to be the default calling or text app to access phone and SMS data.

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The private data of nearly half a million Google+ users was exposed to third-party developers, and Google failed to notify anyone. A bug in Google+ APIs meant that users' names, email addresses, occupations, gender and age were accessible from 2015 until Google discovered and patched the problem in March this year.

Despite the data possibly having been accessed by 438 apps, Google chose not to go public about the security breach until now. And in a dramatic move, the company has announced that it is shutting down Google+ for consumers. Google has also revealed details of Project Strobe, an audit program through which it discovered the problem.

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The UK's High Court has blocked legal action brought against Google by the group Google You Owe Us. The group represented Apple smartphone owners and claimed that Google had collected personal data from over 4 million iPhone owners.

Fronted by former Which? director Richard Lloyd, Google You Owe Us said that between August 2011 and February 2012 the search giant bypassed iPhone privacy settings and gathered user data for advertising purposes.

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Google has announced that its Safety Centre hub is rolling out across Europe. The announcement means that people in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK have access to Google's selection of tools and tips for staying safe online.

The launch has been timed to coincide with European Cyber Security Month, but Google doesn't quite seem to have decided how to spell the name of its own offering.

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If you're a Gmail user, you've probably noticed a new feature in the web version recently. Building on the Smart Reply feature that makes it possible to insert stock responses with a click, Google has been rolling out a predictive text component called Smart Compose.

The idea is simple, and will be familiar to users of the Gboard keyboard on Android. As you type a message, Gmail guesses what you might be trying to say and offers to complete your sentences for you. In theory this sounds helpful, but many people find it irritating and invasive -- and very possibly a privacy concern when you consider that it means your messages have to be analyzed. Here's how to disable Smart Compose.

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