Google wants you to give the gift of music this Valentine’s Day, and to help, it’s offering 50 percent off Play Music subscriptions. For a limited time, you can get a whole month for just $4.99 — down from $9.99.
It’s Safer Internet Day 2016, and Google just announced two big changes for Gmail that will make it even more secure. Starting this week, the company will make it easier to identify unencrypted and unauthenticated emails to make life even harder for scammers.
If you use Google’s Chrome web browser, you’re now even safer from sneaky advertisers that try to get you to download their crummy software with fake download buttons.
Chances are you’ve seen these around, even on some large sites like Sourceforge and CNET, and might have clicked on one or two by accident, as intended.
Google’s new addition to its Safe Browsing initiative will block sites that have these deceptive download buttons on them.
Google’s flagship Nexus 6P delivered significant design improvements last year, putting its hardware on par with the best devices from rival manufacturers. But Google wants the Nexus lineup to be even more like the iPhone.
To make that happen, the company will reduce its reliance on third-party manufacturing partners like Huawei and LG and assume greater control over Nexus hardware, according to one report.
If you think everyone and their sister has a Gmail account or uses WhatsApp these days, you wouldn’t be too far off.
Both tech giants, one a messaging app, the other an email service, have hit some serious milestones today.
Good news for iOS users who prefer Chrome: Google’s browser is now as fast as mobile Safari.
Chrome has switched to the WKWebView engine, which first became a feature in 2014 with iOS 8, allowing third-party browsers access to the same rendering engine as Safari.
WhatsApp made millions of smartphone users happy with week when it announced it will be ditching its annual subscription fee, but its next move might not be so popular.
According to a hidden option found in the latest WhatsApp beta for Android, the service is planning to share user data with Facebook “to improve [your] Facebook experiences.”
Android and iOS may be mortal enemies in some ways, but Google clearly realizes the value of having Apple’s hundreds of millions of customers use its search engine.
So much so, in fact, that in 2014 Google paid Apple a massive $1 billion to keep its search bar on the iPhone.
Android has reportedly earned Google $31 billion since the mobile operating system’s inception, according to a stat revealed during the company’s ongoing court battle with Oracle.
Apple’s been known as the world’s most valuable company ever since 2013, but it could soon be overthrown depending on how well its earnings call goes this coming Tuesday.
Compared to some of the other automotive naysayers, Ford has been outspoken about the fact that Silicon Valley might (shock horror!) actually be able to successfully disrupt the car industry.
Now a Ford exec says his company actually welcomes the competition from companies like Google and Apple.
Have you heard the one about the phone encryption bill in New York that will fine retailers $2,500 for each cell phone they sell that can’t be decrypted?
That set-up is its own punchline. This bill is a terrible idea.
If you’re dreaming about being a software engineer at either Google or Apple, you should brace yourself for an ordeal.
A new report comparing the difficulty, experiences, and lengths of interview processes from a variety of tech companies says that a Google interview is the hardest one you can undertake. Apple did slightly better in that regard; it was the fourth toughest. But the data suggest that one of those two processes is considerably more pleasant.
The Google Chromebook has moved past Apple to the head of the class for sales of tech products in the K-12 market.
Chromebook sales surpassed 51 percent, up from 40 percent, for the first time, according to third quarter figures for 2015.
2016 is here and that can only mean one thing: It’s time for CES.
The world’s biggest consumer electronics show, CES 2016, is getting underway this week in Las Vegas, which means nerds and all the companies that make the gadgets they love are instinctively flocking to the desert oasis like the salmon of Capistrano.
This year’s show promises to be bigger than ever, with all the latest tech trends on full display. Cult of Mac will be on the scene all week long bring hands-on looks at the coolest and weirdest gadgets CES has to offer.
Here’s what we expect to see at the show:
We aren’t going to pretend we’re perfect, but that doesn’t mean we have no appreciation for the mistakes of others. They make us feel better about our own glaring flaws, and they also make for some good fodder for “weirdest of 2015” news roundups.
This year, we saw some really impressive corporate blunders as well as some head-slapping moments from Apple fans.
Robots are cool, but there are some things visionary engineers in the robotics field should not mess with – like eight tiny reindeer.
Boston Dynamics put their famous robotic dogs through another test – harnessing three Spot bots to a sleigh, pulling a waving Santa-like figure (not the real Santa, but a real person dressed as Mrs. Claus). The Google-owned company posted a video on YouTube of the prancing robo dogs, apparently showing the world once again that even the job of Rudolph can be replaced by a robot.
George Hotz made a name for himself at 17 years-old as the first person to hack the iPhone, but his next project could be headed on a collision course with Apple’s self-driving car.
Using affordable electronics that any nerd on the street can purchase, Hotz revealed that he hacked an Acura ILX to become a self-driving car. The hack uses a lidar system on the roof with cameras mounted on the front and back that plug into a computer in the glove box. To top it off, Hotz added a 21.5-inch touch screen to the dash, and replaced the gear shift with a joy stick controller.
“Modern cars are very electronic and computer,” Hotz told Bloomberg. “If you ask me, I know a bit about cars, but I’m not a car guy. I’m a computer guy. Cars are computers.”
You no longer have to rely on third-party apps to track your fitness on a Pebble watch. Pebble is today rolling out a new update that adds Pebble Health, a new fitness and sleep tracking feature that wants to help you become fitter and healthier.
A major breakthrough from Google’s quantum-computing team could eventually lead to artificial-intelligence systems complex enough to make sci-fi nerds lose sleep in fear of the robot apocalypse. The breakthrough sounds simple, but it has massive implications: The quantum computer the team co-operates with NASA actually works.
And not only does it work, but it can do the same process up to 100 million times faster than its predecessors.
Google Calendar is bringing your appointments and to-do list together with a new update that adds support for reminders. Calendar will display your tasks and to-dos alongside meetings and events so they’re harder to forget, and sync them across Inbox, Gmail, Google Keep, and Google Now.
When it comes to innovation, American-based corporations are pushing the envelope more than any other nation and Apple is leading the charge.
According to the latest rankings from Boston Consulting, Apple was the world’s top innovator for the tenth year in a row, followed closely by Google.
When it comes to innovation, Apple is proving that it’s not all about the money.
While competitors like Google, Facebook and Qualcomm dump huge percentages of their revenue back into R&D on projects like autonomous cars and Internet drones, a recent Bloomberg report highlights how Apple has gotten the biggest bang for its buck in R&D, despite spending less than any other major tech company.
As a company staffed by some bona fide geeks (and, hey, we’re not complaining!) Google is undoubtedly excited about the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
And what better way to show it than with possibly my favorite Easter egg in Google history? If you haven’t heard about it yet, read on to discover more.
Google has teamed up with Disney and Verizon to develop a new virtual reality series in celebration of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The story ties directly into the new movie, and Google Cardboard owners can enjoy it on December 2 — but there’s more to check out today!