Google - page 16

Android Wear, Google’s operating system built to be a rival to Apple’s watchOS, is getting a huge name change.

And the iPhone is a big reason why.

The French government plans to take both Apple and Google to court for what French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire classes as “abusive trade practices.”

This relates to the way that both companies reportedly treat startups and developers. In particular, Le Maire singles out the way that Apple and Google unilaterally impose prices and contractual terms on software devs.

You can navigate the world as Mario for a limited time inside Google Maps.

The awesome new feature, added to celebrate Mario Day on March 10, shows you driving along in Mario’s red kart — complete with familiar sound effects.

Google is making it easier to download all your saved passwords from Chrome. It has long offered the ability to export the data, but the process has been complicated and cumbersome. That’s going to change “soon” with a new export system.

Google Street View now offers panoramic views from nearly a dozen Disney theme parks, giving users a glimpse inside.

These join thousands of other immersive images from attractions around the world already in the app.

Google is using artificial intelligence to make it easier for you to find the files you need inside Google Drive. Its next update will add an interface that predicts the people and files you’re most likely to want and makes them more visible, speeding up your workflow.

The Google iOS app just added an iMessage extension that lets users conduct searches without leaving Apple’s chat app. Google also added a couple other features that should make life easier for Apple fans: a Safari plugin that serves up related content, and iPad drag-and-drop support.

California cops will use decoy buses and undercover officers to try and catch the person who keeps shooting at Apple employee shuttles.

Google shuttle buses have also been targeted by pellet guns, and at least 20 incidents have been reported since January of this year. The FBI has been called in to help with the investigation.

Google just made two big changes to image search, and you’re not going to like either of them.

In addition to killing off the “view image” button, the company has removed the ability to “search by image.”

The heartbreaking changes come after a complaint from Getty Images, which wants Google to make it harder for people to steal its photos.

Google today rolled out a new Maps update for iOS that makes accessing commute information easier than ever.

A new one-tap access bar at the bottom of the app lets you quickly view nearby restaurants and hotels, real-time traffic data, and transit information.

Google will roll out an awesome Chrome ad blocker Thursday that takes aim at some of the most invasive forms of online advertising.

The new Chrome ad-blocking feature won’t annihilate ads entirely. But users won’t need to worry about full-page ads, ads with auto-playing sound and video, or flashing ads anymore.

Google can no longer innovate, claims departing 13-year company vet Steve Yegge in a long Medium post this week.

Yegge puts Google on blast for what he perceives as the four biggest problems facing the company today. How many of them hold true for Apple as well?

Google’s excellent Gboard keyboard is now even better on iOS, thanks to a handy GIF creation tool. Users can make two kinds of animated images using their iPhone’s camera, then send their creations via their favorite messaging services.

2017 was a great year to be an app developer, based on new data that show smartphone users spent more money than ever on apps last year.

According to a new report from Sensor Tower, customers spent $58.6 billion on apps and games in 2017 on the App Store and Google Play. And iOS developers took away the most cash.

Google launched a clutch of “experimental” photography apps for iOS and Android this week. The ones of interest to us are called Selfissimo! and Scrubbies. They’re both single-purpose apps, and they’re both free. What’s more, the two apps are also a lot of fun.

Given how much time we spend Googling things, analyzing the world’s top searches provides a pretty good insight into the people, ideas, products, and news we could consider to be important.

With that in mind, Apple’s got to be pretty happy at the news that iPhone X and iPhone 8 were two of the top three most popular search terms of the year, with the top search being for Hurricane Irma. Fourth and fifth places were taken by Matt Lauer and Meghan Markle.

Working at Apple isn’t quite all its cracked up to be in 2017, based on the latest rankings from Glassdoor that show Apple dropping to its lowest spot ever.

American tech companies are a some of the most effectively managed businesses in the world, according to a new landmark system that ranked the top 250 companies.

Even though Apple is the world’s most profitable company, the rankings found that Amazon is actually the most efficiently run business. But Apple follows at a close second.

Spotify is in for a rough future, according to Apple’s Jimmy Iovine, who is warning the music industry not to place too much faith in the tech industry.

Iovine sat down for a new interview where he discussed the future of the music industry. According to the Apple Music boss, record labels are “100 percent” overly optimistic about where things are headed with technology.

Essential founder Andy Rubin has stepped away from the company following claims he had an “inappropriate relationship” with a colleague while at Google.

Rubin’s leave of absence comes just three months after Essential launched its first smartphone. A statement from his representative denies any wrongdoing.

In an attempt to make itself more appealing to developers, Google is reportedly adding support for Apple’s popular Swift programming language to its mysterious new operating system, “Fuchsia.”

Apple’s not the only company that’s had issues with OLED displays this year. According to early reviewers, Google’s Pixel 2 XL suffers from screen burn-in, which leaves faint outlines of the phone’s navigation buttons on the display.

Needless to say, that’s a bit of an issue if it turns out to be widespread. Google says that it is “actively investigating” the potential problem.

The best web browser on iOS just keeps getting better. Google has updated Chrome to add two new widgets for the Today screen, and drag and drop support for iPad. You’ll need to be running iOS 11 to make the most of it.

iPhone users that love using Gmail will soon be able to make it the only email app on your iPhone. Google revealed today that it has begun testing a new feature that allows users to connect third-party email services to the Gmail app.

Google added a neat new feature to Maps on iPhone this week — then pulled it in under 24 hours following user outrage.

It was seemingly designed to encourage users to walk more frequently by showing how many calories they could burn on their route. But many feel the feature was shameful and judgmental, and a negative trigger for those who suffer from an eating disorder.