Google will pay a total of $1.1 billion to end a four-year probe into its tax activities in France. This is a combination of fine and repayment of additional taxes Google didn’t pay first time around.
France and Germany have both pushed for tighter tax regulations of multination tech giants. Others — Apple included — have been charged in the past. They may have to stump up more cash in the future, too.
The accusations Google recently made about iOS security flaws were greatly overstated, deliberately “stoking fear” in iPhone users, according to Apple. The iPhone maker points out that the issues were much more narrow than its rival indicated, and were online for only a brief time.
Separate groups of US state attorneys general are investigating Facebook and Google for antitrust violations. So far, there has been no word of AGs probing Apple.
However, that doesn’t mean the iPhone maker has escaped probes by other government bodies, both in the US and Europe.
The Department of Justice has ordered Apple and Google to turn over names, phone numbers and IP addresses for users of a gun scope app that allows gun owners to calibrate scopes and capture video.
Data privacy activists say the government’s ask would set a “dangerous precedent,” giving officials access to data on thousands of innocent people.
More than half of U.S. state attorneys general are preparing an antitrust investigation into Google.
This will mark a major ramp-up in the battle between U.S. regulators and Silicon Valley tech giants. The investigation is likely to be announced Monday. Other tech giants also may face antitrust scrutiny.
Google’s Project Zero team said it found gaping security holes in iPhone software that left users exposed to hackers before Apple fixed the flaws earlier this year.
Project Zero released a report on the flaws for the first time Thursday night. The team’s Threat Analysis Group found 14 different exploits that hackers used to gain private data, including photos, messages, contacts and real-time location information from iPhones.
A class-action lawsuit filed this week takes aim at Apple for storing some iCloud data on third-party servers.
The company is accused of breaching consumer trust to sell iCloud subscriptions. It states iCloud data will be “stored by Apple,” but offloads some of it to Amazon and other companies.
Apple’s decade-long run as the company with the world’s largest cash pile has finally come to an end.
Financial paperwork filed by Apple and Google’s parent company Alphabet revealed that the search engine giant now has $15 billion more in the bank than the iPhone-maker does.
Google Chrome just got a big new update that improves upon two important features.
The version 76 release disables Flash by default to improve browsing performance, while Incognito Mode has been tweaked to prevent websites from detecting it.
The change means that you will now be able to bypass paywalls on some websites.
Google’s next flagship smartphone will borrow one of the iPhone’s most popular new features when it launches later this year.
Full details of the upcoming Pixel 4 will be revealed this fall. For now, Google seems pretty content to keep spilling out teasers of the new phone. The company already gave a glimpse of the giant new camera on the back. Today we’re getting a look at the new Face ID copy-cat feature and another big surprise.
Check out the teaser:
The $1 billion Apple spent on Intel’s modem business is the second-largest acquisition in the company’s 42-year history.
Still, while a huge amount of money by most normal standards, rival tech giants regularly dwarf Apple’s big spend on Intel. For a variety of reasons, Apple just doesn’t roll that way.
Google has confirmed plans to eliminate Chrome extensions that steal too much of your data.
Its new policy, which goes into effect on October 15, no longer allows extensions to freely collect browsing activity. Those that do must be transparent in how they use it, and transmit it securely.
Stock prices of the major U.S. stock companies all took a tumble in after-hours trading today after the U.S. Justice Department revealed that it is launching a broad antitrust investigation into tech companies.
The department has not said which companies will be investigated specifically but it’s pretty likely that Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook will be swept up in the case.
DuckDuckGo is a private search engine. Unlike Google, it doesn’t track your internet use, save your searches, or track your location. DuckDuckGo’s reason for existing is to protect your privacy on the internet, but it’s also a great search engine. And when it doesn’t find the results you want, it’s easy to run that search in Google.
Today we’ll see how to switch all your searches to DuckDuckGo, and how to add a one-tap Google backup search.
The good news is that you don’t have to do anything weird or difficult to switch to DuckDuckGo. Both iOS and macOS offer it as a default option in their settings. On the Mac, this setting is in Safari. On the iPhone and iPad, you’ll find it under Safari in the Settings app.
Google plans to make its AdSense apps on iOS and Android worse over the next few months before killing them entirely at the end of 2019.
Instead of using mobile apps, Google plans to invest more in its mobile web interface for Adsense to deliver a more uniform experience that is supported on all platforms.
Google’s latest Waze update on iOS makes it easier for drivers to prepare for toll roads during their next journey. Users in the U.S. and Canada will now see exactly how much they’ll have to pay at tolls on their route.
Apple fans are no longer caught in a long-running tiff between Amazon and Google. The Amazon Prime Video iOS app has been updated with support for Google’s inexpensive Chromecast player.
When you talk to a Google Home smart speaker, you might have an unsuspected eavesdropper. The company admitted today that it uses humans to review a small percentage of voice interactions.
This is true for all types of voice-control systems, like Amazon Alexa and even Siri. But Apple’s system has some crucial differences.
Google has decided it will no longer support the Nest app for Apple Watch. The move means you can’t control Nest smart devices from your wrist anymore. The Nest app for Google’s own Wear OS platform has also been ditched.
HomePod owners are becoming increasingly frustrated with the latest AirPods ad. The full version of the “Bounce” commercial keeps triggering “Hey Siri” on Apple’s pricey smart speaker.
Some say they end up hearing the “crappiest” music, while others say their HomePod randomly calls out “I’m here.”
Google is working to deliver an AirDrop clone that will allow Android users to quickly share files with nearby devices.
Its new “Fast Share” feature, which will also make its way to Chrome OS, can be used to send images, videos, links, and other files without an internet connection. It can already be enabled on some Android Q devices.
3oogle is taking the folding phone concept to the extreme. It dreamed up a concept design reminiscent of a book with several pages, each of which is a flexible display.
You can now ask the Google app on iOS to automatically wipe your location and activity history.
The new feature, which was showcased during Google I/O in late May, takes the hassle out of covering your tracks. You only have to set it up once and it will take care of itself going forward. Here’s how to get started.
Microsoft is rumored to be working on a new dual-screen Surface tablet that will run Android apps.
The slate, which is codenamed Centaurus, will reportedly pack two 9-inch displays that fold together like a book. Supply chain sources expect it to launch in the first quarter or first half of 2020.
UPDATE: See the statement received from Google at the bottom of this story.
You might want to think twice about buying used Nest security cameras.
A new report reveals that secondhand models can allow previous owners to spy on new users — even if they correctly follow Nest’s instructions on resetting the device. There’s currently no fix for the security flaw.