Google’s aesthetic has always been rooted in a clean appearance—a homepage free of advertising and pop-up clutter, adorned only with a signature “doodle” decorating its name. Part of why many users love Google is its sleek designs and ability to return remarkably accurate results. Yet the simplicity of Google’s homepage is deceptively static. Overtime, the way that the corporation returns information has shifted ever so slightly. These incremental changes go largely unnoticed by… Source link

Google is stepping up its background effects in Google Meet. The company’s videoconferencing software has been offering all sorts of effects for a while now, allowing you to blur your background or remove it entirely, adding a virtual background instead. But the way these effects worked left a lot to be desired. OK, I’ll be frank, they sucked. Now, they’re getting better. In a blog post Monday, the company said it has improved the background and foreground separation, allowing for more… Source link

Citi doesn’t like what it sees ahead of Zoom’s Aug. 22 earnings report. The investment bank’s tech analyst Tyler Radke slashed his rating on Zoom stock to Sell from Neutral on Tuesday, adding the stock is “high risk.” The analyst sees the video-conferencing outfit’s shares falling about 20% from current price levels. “Zoom’s post-COVID growth trajectory has always been more challenging, given pull-forward dynamics, but we see new hurdles to sustaining growth including rising competition… Source link

Lori Systems, an African on-demand logistics and trucking company digitizing haulage and providing shippers with solutions to manage their cargo and transporters, has raised a pre-Series B round in which Google participated along with other existing investors. Sources say the company raised at a slightly higher valuation than its last $110 million valuation in 2020.  This undisclosed investment is Google’s third from the $50 million Africa Investment Fund targeted at the… Source link

In the 21st century, we love life hacks, cheat codes and shortcuts. We want positive results with minimal effort, and we want it now! Did our great-grandfathers need cheat codes to storm Normandy? (Well, I guess they did use spies.) Did our grandfathers need shortcuts during the tumultuous ’60s and ’70s? (Then again, I suppose Watergate was America’s greatest cheat code.) OK, let’s start over. As a human race, we’ve always loved cheat codes and shortcuts! Viva la hack! Hacking a… Source link

After multiple rounds of judging, including a public vote, the winning artwork for the Doodle for Google 2022 contest is now live on the Google.com homepage and in Chrome. Every year, Google allows students across the United States to submit Google Doodle artwork suited to a particular theme. This year’s theme was “I care for myself by…” and encouraged students to reflect on the positive ways to renew their mental and emotional health. Google’s panel of judges, which… Source link

Stocks held on to gains Monday, reversing earlier declines, with the Nasdaq leading the way, closing up 0.62% to 13,128.05. Here are the top trending after-hours tickers on Yahoo Finance: Apple (AAPL), Activision Blizzard (ATVI), Ally Financial (ALLY): Berkshire Hathaway boosted its stake in Apple, Activision Blizzard, Ally Financial, Paramount Global (PARA) and Celanese (CE), according to a regulatory 13F filing. Berkshire added about 3.9 million shares of Apple, bringing its total stake in… Source link

Photos is updating Archive to now be Hidden With as many pictures as we snap on our smartphone cameras, it’s easy to get a little overwhelmed. Pixel users (as well as everyone else who prefers using Google Photos) can hide images from their photo gallery’s primary view using the Archive option. At least, that’s the way things have worked, but perhaps in an effort to make its app a little more modern sounding, Google is in the process of renaming Archive to Hidden.

A fan was briefly removed from the Western & Southern Open on Sunday after a Russian player complained to the umpire during their match that the fan was sitting there with a Ukrainian flag draped around her shoulders. During the first set of the qualifying match between Anna Kalinskaya and Anastasia Potapova, both of whom are Russian, on Sunday in Cincinnati, one of the players stopped and complained to umpire Morgane Lane. [Set, hut, hike! Create or join a fantasy football league now!] The… Source link

Google appears poised to launch an updated Nest router equipped with Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth Low Energy, and Thread mesh networking radios later this year, according to a new FCC filing. It has the model number A4R-G6ZUC, which is similar to IDs assigned to not only the previous Nest Wifi but also the Nest Mini, Thermostat, and even the Google Glass. In June, a source confirmed with 9to5Google that a new Google / Nest router was on its way, and now the outlet says it has confirmed this is the… Source link