Articles about Google

Starting early next year, Chrome users will benefit from an ad blocker built into the web browser. As part of its work with the Coalition for Better Ads, Google is looking to clamp down on intrusive ads that web users find most irritating.

Google is a company whose business model is built largely on advertising, and it is keen for the experience of being subjected to ads to be as painless as possible for people. But rather than block all ads -- killing revenue streams for many websites -- Google wants to block only those that do not comply with Better Ads Standards.

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If you have automatic updates enabled on your Android phone, your index fingers and your brain may have hit a moment of panic and confusion as you realized everything was rejiggered from top to bottom, literally.

Par for the course with Google, you will now have to get used to a new interface, different placement of on-screen buttons, and more confusing navigation streams to get to the menu you want. That is, until you get used to it all, at which point you'll appreciate that they were all actual improvements after all.

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We are currently in the the Muslim holy month of Ramadan (May 26 - June 24). This is an important time for Muslims all over the world. They will be fasting during daylight -- a very arduous task indeed. In fact, not only do Muslims abstain from food during these hours, but beverages too -- including water! To our Muslim readers, we say Ramadan Mubarak and Ramadan Kareem!

To mark this wonderful time in the Islamic community, Google is offering some special websites and notifications in its services. This includes Maps, YouTube, Google Play, and more.

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A letter signed by more than 30 major technology companies has been sent to the House Judiciary Committee calling for a number of key changes to be made to NSA surveillance. The letter, signed by the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Google and Mozilla, asks lawmakers to make a number of considerations when reforming Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act.

The signatories refer to themselves as "U.S.-based companies that provide consumer and business technology, products, and services around the world through the use of electronic data." Their letter is timed to coincide with debate about the reform of Section 702 which is used to justify NSA surveillance programs, and is due to expire at the end of the year. There are calls for increased transparency and controls, as well as the suggestion that surveillance should be reined in.

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Personalized results in Google search are not exactly new, but the company has now introduced a new way to section off truly personal results. A new Personal tab (which you would be forgiven for missing as it's a little hidden out of the way) filters search results to show you only matches from your own Google content.

What this means is that you are able to easily see search results from your Gmail emails, Google Photos, Calendar and other G Suite components without having to conduct searches in each one individually. But is there cause for concern when it comes to privacy?

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As names go, it's clear that little thought went into Google's new Data Gif Maker. It's a simple tool that lets you create animated GIFs to compare statistics about two different topics. Google says the free tool is aimed at journalists, but anyone with a website is able to use it however they want.

The idea is simple. Rather than just saying Android is more popular than iPhone, you can let a graphic do the work for you. Data Gif Maker produces bar charts that we have all become familiar with during elections, giving an easily-interpreted visual representation of basic stats -- but these are animated to make them more eye-catching.

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Google announced the Jamboard way back in October of last year. Then, in March, the search giant revealed that the Microsoft Surface Hub competitor would go on sale in May of 2017. Unfortunately, May came and there was no Jamboard -- until today.

Yes, Google's Jamboard -- which requires a G Suite plan -- goes on sale starting today (in the USA, at least). If you have been clamoring for the opportunity to purchase it for your business' meeting room, you can finally part with your $5,000. Google will also charge $600 a year for management and support, but if you buy before September 30, the company will give you 50-percent off your first year.

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Google has announced the launch of a new service to help businesses handle large volumes of data created by their IoT devices.

IoT Core will look to take on the likes of AWS and Microsoft, although a company's spokesperson says that Google is not playing catch up.

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BlackBerry has a pretty decent market share. When was the last time you heard that sentence? If you're talking about smartphone competition, it's been a while. In the world of in-vehicle operating systems, however, a new story is beginning to unfold.

As with its phone business, BlackBerry has a storied history with in-car telematics, with a footprint dating back more than 20 years. Its most relevant current presence, though, goes back to 2010. That's when BlackBerry (then known by the now-defunct parent company name Research in Motion) acquired the Unix-based embedded operating system QNX.

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Netflix is the first big name on Google Play to block Android devices that are rooted or have an unlocked bootloader from downloading its app. And it looks like it may not be the last, as now Google is officially giving all developers the option to do the same.

Developers on Google Play can enforce support exclusions based on a device's SafetyNet status, which is also what Netflix has used to restrict access. Out of the box, rooted devices or devices with an unlocked bootloader are supported, but developers have two options that they can choose to change that.

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The number of digital assistants installed is on track to exceed 7.5 billion by 2012, which is more than the world population.

According to technology research company Ovum, Google Assistant will dominate the voice AI–capable device market with 23.3 percent market share, followed by Samsung's Bixby (14.5 percent), Apple's Siri (13.1 percent), Amazon's Alexa (3.9 percent), and Microsoft's Cortana (2.3 percent).

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Google revealed a lot of new features and products during yesterday’s opening two-hour long I/O keynote, including more about Android O, a stripped down OS for cheap phones called Android Go, an improved way to protect users from bad Android apps, and competition for Siri in the form of Google Assistant for iOS.

That’s not the end of things though, as Google has another keynote today.

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Google's own bot filtering catches only a small percentage of the bot traffic that hits most sites, leading to traffic analysis data being skewed.

Bot detection specialist Distil Networks is launching a free tool designed to remove the bad data created by bots.

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Google has showcased a number of major changes coming to Android at its I/O event yesterday, like Google Play Protect. It is designed to keep your smartphone safe using app usage analysis and machine learning, and includes a feature that many Android users are already familiar with.

Part of Google Play Protect is Find My Device, which has been previously known as Android Device Manager. Google decided to change the name, and add new functionality in the process, likely because it is more appropriate, considering what it is mainly used for -- which is to locate Android devices and remotely wipe or ring them.

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There's no getting away from the fact that Android has something of an issue with dangerous and malicious apps. Google's latest weapon in the fight against such apps is Google Play Protect which uses machine learning and app usage analysis to weed out the bad guys.

The new system sees Google not only checking apps as they are submitted to the Play Store, but monitoring the apps you already have installed. By analyzing app behavior, Google is able to identify suspicious software that may have slipped through the net or has been installed from outside of the Pay Store.

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