Tag Archives: TechCrunch

In the latest bit of regulatory woe for Big Tech in Europe, Google is trying to settle a German antitrust investigation into its news licensing product by offering not to expand the display of News Showcase “story panels” into general search results. The German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) announced today that the company has proposed several measures in response to its antitrust concerns — which also include taking steps to put clear blue water between News Showcase contracts and… Source link

Google unveiled at CES on Wednesday a range of new ways to keep its Android devices connected, and that includes cars. As more vehicles go electric and automakers evolve into software developers, we can only expect to see more plays directed at turning cars into connected devices. One exemplar of this phenomenon is Volvo Cars, which will launch a direct integration with the Google Home ecosystem in the coming months, both Volvo and Google announced on Wednesday…. Source link

In a decision as significant as it is unexpected, Germany’s antitrust regulator has concluded that Google’s business meets the threshold for special abuse control which was established under an update to competition law targeted at digital giants and passed at the start of last year. The finding that Google has “paramount significance across markets” is the first such decision taken by Germany’s Federal Cartel Office (aka the Bundeskartellamt) — which has ongoing procedures… Source link

To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PST, subscribe here. Hello and welcome to Daily Crunch for January 4, 2022! Yesterday we noted that startup news was kicking off the year a little light, but that that would change quickly. And change it has. In the following we have IPO news, robot news, canned-water startup news, acquisitions and more. Let’s go! —Alex The TechCrunch Top 3

Cybersecurity breaches are at a high watermark, and so any company serious about expanding its credibility and business in enterprise IT has to continue investing in tackling it. To that end, Google is kicking off the new year by stepping up its operations in cloud-based and enterprise security. Today the company confirmed that it has acquired Siemplify, an Israel-based cybersecurity startup that specializes in end-to-end security services for enterprises, typically referred to as… Source link

Today started with big news from Lenovo, followed by Waymo and Intel. Now it seems that Google is extracting itself entirely from its in-person presence at CES. A spokesperson for the company tells TechCrunch: After careful consideration we have decided to withhold from having a presence on the show floor of CES 2022. We’ve been closely monitoring the development of the Omicron variant, and have decided that this is the best choice for the health and safety of our teams. We will… Source link

Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. The app industry continues to grow, with a record number of downloads and consumer spending across both the iOS and Google Play stores combined in 2021, according to the latest year-end reports. App Annie said global spending across iOS and Google Play is up to $135 billion in 2021, and that figure will likely be higher when its… Source link

Alphabet’s smart city project is winding down and Google will take over its products. Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff announced the news in a letter, in which he noted he is stepping down for health-related reasons. A spokesperson confirmed to Engadget that Sidewalk Labs products will be folded into Google, though Alphabet plans to spin out Canopy Buildings as a separate company. “Starting next year, Sidewalk products Pebble, Mesa, Delve, and Affordable Electrification will join Google,… Source link

Internet giant Google announced today that it has made the first investment from its Africa Investment Fund in Ugandan super app SafeBoda. The undisclosed investment comes two months after Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai announced the tech giant’s intentions to commit $1 billion over the next five years in “tech-led initiatives”, which includes a $50 million Africa Investment Fund targeted at early- and growth-stage startups on the continent. He made this known at the Google for Africa… Source link

A team at Google is today launching a new service called Qaya, which will allow creators to easily set up new web storefronts where they can sell their products and services directly to their audiences. The project is the latest to emerge from Google’s in-house project incubator, Area 120, which was recently a part of a broader reorganization at the company that elevated its status after many of its earlier projects exited to different parts of Google, including its Cloud, Search,… Source link