Google

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

With Android phones, just as with the iPhone, the focus has long been on the latest and greatest hardware. But this ignores the fact that not everyone in the world has an ultra-powerful handset. This is something that Google recognizes, and its solution is Android Go.

Android Go is an optimized version of Android that’s designed to be used on less-powerful, cheap phones. By this, Google means phones that could have under 1GB of RAM, and the operating system -- which is essentially an offshoot of Android O -- is due to make an appearance in 2018.

Today was day one of Google I/O and there was no shortage of news. To name a few, the search giant is bringing its assistant to iPhone, Smart Reply to Gmail on mobile, and voice-calling to Google Home. These things should be very interesting to both consumers and technology enthusiasts.

With I/O being a developer conference, however, not all of the news is necessarily consumer-focused. Case in point, there was some rather big developer news that didn't get as much attention. You see, Google announces that it is making five of its "Firebase" SDKs open source.

Android can be a bit of a pain in the butt, as new versions of the operating system don't reach all devices -- even new ones. Unlike iOS where Apple provides updates to all of its devices for years, many Android manufacturers seldom ever issue updates. Heck, it is possible to buy a phone or tablet and never get an OS update!

The best way to avoid such madness is to buy a Nexus or Pixel device directly from Google. This will guarantee you a reasonable amount of updates, although not on the same level as iOS. If you own a Nexus or Pixel device, I have good news. Starting today, you can download the first official Android "Oreo" Beta. While Oreo is not yet the official name, many folks are predicting it to eventually be named after the famed cookie.

Google Home is getting smarter. Today at Google I/O, Google revealed that the Amazon Echo rival will not only be spreading to more countries this summer (Canada, Australia, France, Germany and Japan specifically) but it will benefit from more new features than you can shake a stick at.

In all, there are more than 50 new features coming to the smart little device including Proactive Assistance, integration with the likes of Soundcloud and the free tier of Spotify, as well as hands-free voice calling. There's also expanded Bluetooth support to transform Google Home into a more useful speaker, and much more.

Yes, the rumors were true (as they so often are when it comes to Google) -- the search giant announced at its I/O developer conference today that its personal assistant is coming to the iPhone.

As you might expect (and as is the case with Microsoft’s Cortana), you won’t be able to replace Siri with Google Assistant, instead you’ll need to summon it through a dedicated app. That’s not the only downside.