Google News

Google is updating its “about this result” feature for search results with an interesting new addition: context about how and why the company’s algorithm landed on the specific results for the links that it surfaces when you search for things. The company added the “about this result” information box earlier this year as a way to help users properly vet sources that they weren’t familiar with using data sourced from Wikipedia. The menu — accessed by clicking the triple dots… Source link

Epic has renewed its fight against mobile platforms’ app store restrictions, filing an update to its antitrust case against Google. The filing adds mostly redacted details about Google’s alleged monopolistic behavior on Android, including banning Epic’s game Fortnite from the Google Play Store last year. The amended complaint comes soon after a judge officially linked the case with a recent multi-state lawsuit, which took aim at Google’s Play Store policies. Epic’s complaint… Source link

Google is launching a new beta tester program for Android Auto, giving users the chance to get early access to features if they’re prepared to put up with the potential instability of unfinished software. Android Auto has had a testing program, but attempting to sign up for it has shown a message warning that the program had reached its “maximum number of testers.” “As a beta tester, you can help us build a better version of Android Auto. You can test how well new features work… Source link

Google has finally given its new, unified smartwatch platform a name — and it’s an obvious one: Wear OS 3. That little detail was part of what may be a more contentious set of information about which current Wear OS smartwatches will be updated, when those updates will come, and what those updates will entail. On all three of those fronts, it’s not very good news. Google says that Wear OS 3 updates will start rolling out to a limited set of smartwatches in the “second half of… Source link

The 2020 Olympic Games are currently still on in Tokyo, Japan — against all odds — and in celebration of Japanese culture and sports in general, Google is debuting a new interactive Doodle on Thursday with art from Japanese animation house Studio 4°C. The new Doodle, called Doodle Champion Island Games, is actually a series of Olympic event-themed 16-bit mini-games that you can play, contributing to the scores of four teams Google will track on a global leaderboard. Playing as Lucky… Source link

We’re not saying they’ve been discontinued, but if you head over to Google’s online store in the US and Canada, you’ll find that there doesn’t seem to be any option to buy its second-generation true wireless Pixel Buds. Its more recent Pixel Buds A-Series are still available, but the dedicated listing for the Pixel Buds themselves has disappeared. Google won’t officially say whether the second-generation Pixel Buds are reaching the end of their life. What it will confirm is… Source link

ATLANTA and SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Google Cloud and The Home Depot have extended their multi-year cloud partnership to expand on the retailer’s digital transformation and provide customers with enhanced shopping experiences by blending physical and digital environments. As one of the first major retailers to migrate its website to the cloud, The Home Depot has built upon Google Cloud’s expertise in infrastructure, artificial… Source link

All the sessions from Transform 2021 are available on-demand now. Watch now. A day after its Security Summit, Google announced new features heading to Looker, the business intelligence platform it acquired in 2019 for $2.6 billion. The newest version of Looker — Looker 21 — introduces a revamped portal and extension framework as well as support for hosting on Microsoft Azure. Looker makes use of a modeling language called LookML that lets data teams define the relationships… Source link

If your out-of-warranty Pixel 4 XL has been exhibiting some problems, you might be able to get a free repair. Google recently posted a support page outlining a “one-year extended repair program” for the larger of its two 2019 flagships. Those who are eligible can receive a free repair for up to a year after their original warranty expires. As for who’s covered by this program, Google points to “certain power-related issues.” More specifically, the company says these are the… Source link

Google Maps will show you which cars are the lease crowded on some train lines. Google Google on Wednesday announced several new features for Google Maps. It’s expanding a feature that shows you how crowded a transit line is to 10,000 cities across 100 countries. But it’s also testing something even more granular: the option to see which cars on a specific train are the most crowded on New York’s Long Island Railroad and for transit lines in Sydney, Australia. Both features may help you avoid… Source link