Google News

Google is trying to make it easier for Chrome users to install useful extensions without having to scrutinize where they come from. The company says it has begun applying two new badges to extensions. The first, Featured, looks like a prize ribbon and will be displayed on extensions that “follow our technical best practices and meet a high standard of user experience and design.” Google says this is a manual process that involves evaluating extensions for an “enjoyable and… Source link

Google is rolling out detailed information about air quality in Search, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Wednesday. The company notes that the launch currently only supports city-level queries. Google first rolled out the feature in India last November. The company says it’s now bringing the feature to Search in the United States to help people find timely and actionable information about air quality in their area. The new feature was first spotted by Source link

Google is testing some significant changes to featured snippets. Both will give searchers a more diverse set of sources in the coveted featured snippet position.  From the web. A typical featured snippet features text from, and a link to, one website. In this From the web test, Google shows brief excerpts from two or three different websites, linking to each source separately. Google also includes the site’s favicon. Here’s an example screenshot (shared via Twitter by @vladrpt):  Other… Source link

We’ve been hearing rumors about Google’s Pixel Watch for years now, but it does finally seem like pieces for the project are finally falling into place. A purported render of the device shared by Evan Blass over at 91Mobiles lines up with past leaks and rumors, showing a device with a familiar circular design, physical crown, and Fitbit integration. Of course, there’s also a lot missing from the render. The image doesn’t include the watch’s lugs (which would show how the strap… Source link

Brave announced a new feature for its browser on Tuesday: De-AMP, which automatically jumps past any page rendered with Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages framework and instead takes users straight to the original website. “Where possible, De-AMP will rewrite links and URLs to prevent users from visiting AMP pages altogether,” Brave said in a blog post. “And in cases where that is not possible, Brave will watch as pages are being fetched and redirect users away from AMP pages… Source link

CodeVA to start network of computer science schools Published April 19, 2022 by Courtney Mabeus Gov. Glenn Youngkin announces Google’s $300 million investment in Virginia at Google’s offices in Reston on April 19, 2022. Google will invest $300 million in Virginia in a plan that includes data centers, the technology giant announced Tuesday during a press conference at its Reston office. That’s in addition to a $250,000 grant to Richmond-based nonprofit CodeVA… Source link

When Google launched Nearby Share in 2020, Android users everywhere rejoiced. They finally had a tool to rival Apple’s AirDrop, a simple way to move files between devices without having to attach them to an email or upload them to Google Drive just to download them again on a new device. Now, ahead of Google I/O, a few users have noticed an upgrade lurking in Google Play Services that makes Nearby Share even easier. The new “self-share” mode, as spotted by Esper’s Mishaal Rahman… Source link

Google has today announced the launch of a product development center in Nairobi, its first in the continent, to build “transformative” products and services for the African market and the world. This comes after the tech giant revealed plans to invest $1 billion over the next five years in October last year. The center is Google’s second major research and development investment in Africa, after the tech giant set up an AI and research center in Ghana in… Source link

Last week, TechCrunch first spotted the long-rumored “Switch to Android” app for iOS users had been quietly published on the App Store. The app helps users to migrate important content — like contacts, calendars, photos, and videos — from an iPhone to a new Android device. But while the app was technically live, it wasn’t yet “officially” available to App Store users via search or discovery mechanisms. Now, that’s changing, Google says. On Monday evening around 6 PM PT,… Source link

Google executives announced this week that they’ll invest $25 million in their company’s Montgomery County data center this year. Specific details on how the funding will be distributed were not available, but the announcement was part of a corporate-wide, $9.5 billion investment confirmed for 2022. Google has a $600 million data center in Corporate Business Park North off Guthrie Highway. “All I do know is that the $25 million relates to the current data center, but Google had no other… Source link