Daily Archives: March 5, 2021

On Wednesday, Google dropped either a bombshell or a nothingburger (depends who you ask) with its announcement via blog post that it will stop selling ads based on cross-site browsing and third-party cookies.

The bigger news, arguably, is that Google will explicitly not support and perhaps even take steps to hinder industry identity initiatives, such as Unified ID 2.0, initiated by The Trade Desk.

But on the cookie front, people in the advertising industry were a little surprised by the intense reaction to Googles news, considering that its already been more than a year since Google pledged to kill third-party cookie tracking in Chrome by 2022. And because the bell had been tolling for third-party cookies long before then.

The idea that cookies need to be deprecated is quite an old idea, like a decade old, said Jonathan Nelson, CEO of Omnicom Digital. We were talking about this when I was on the board of Aggregate Knowledge, and cookies going away was one of the reasons we sold to Neustar when we did which was nine years ago.

So, why the furor over Googles blog post?

What Google is NOT saying

The answer comes from reading between the lines of what Google has said it will do and what Google doesnt mention.

Google is saying that it will not build alternate identifiers to track individuals on Chrome and also wont use them in its products, by which one can assume Google is talking about its third-party ad products, including DV360, Google Ads and Campaign Manager.

What Google is not saying, or at least makes no mention of, is anything to do with app tracking on Android, tracking on YouTube or tracking on any of its other owned-and-operated properties or services, including Search, Maps and Gmail. (YouTube and search ads are massively lucrative for Google.)

Repudiating third-party signals in Chrome and within its web-based ad products is completely unrelated to Googles ability to continue tracking users across its own services and properties, said Jrgen Galler, CEO and co-founder of Zurich-based cookieless DMP 1plusX.

Google has a universal ID the Google login meaning it will still be able to identify users across all of its services, Galler said.

And there is no reason to believe that Googles assurance that it wont replace third-party cookies marks a shift away from behavioral targeting on Googles owned-and-operated properties, said Nii Ahene, chief strategy officer at performance marketing agency Tinuiti.

But were awaiting further clarity here, Ahene said.

Walling up

For example, Google hasnt provided a third-party cookie sync with YouTube for some time, said Arun Kumar, chief data and technology officer at IPG.

We expect [Google] to continue to use their existing first-party solutions, like first-party cookies and authenticated users, [and] we do expect them to be consistent in this across their range of offerings, Kumar said. Our thinking is that theyll use this approach across all of their inventory, inclusive of YouTube.

The focus on first-party is directly tied to a pattern of recent decisions that demonstrate Google no longer wants to receive, store, process or transmit user-level data, even hashed or pseudonymized data, that comes from outside of their own logged-in products or that isnt of a first-party nature, such as Google Analytics, said Myles Younger, senior director of the data practice at S4-owned programmatic marketing agency MightyHive.

You can draw a straight line from the announcement of the redaction of DoubleClick log files in 2018 to the debut of Privacy Sandbox in 2019 to [the current] announcement, Younger said. Wherever possible, Google clearly doesnt want to handle external user-level data where it cant track that datas provenance or control how its used.

Fly on the wall

But how much better is a tactic like FLoC than third-party cookie tracking from a privacy perspective? That depends on a lot, including how large a cohort is and how many attributes are included.

And although FLoCs are aggregated, they essentially serve the same purpose as third-party cookies, which is to market to individuals based on their observed browsing behavior, said Ghostery President Jeremy Tillman.

Google is scrambling to save face and appease growing user privacy expectations and, once again, is doing so by throwing new labels on old tactics, he said. We should assume that Google doesnt need cross-site web browsing signals to build profiles they have so many other sources of data.

And if Google is missing anything, its safe to assume that itll use some form of predictive analytics to fill in the blanks, Tillman said.

And so its hard not to be a cynic, said Alice Sylvester, a partner at measurement consulting firm Sequent Partners.

I dont necessarily trust them to be doing this for consumer benefits, she said.

Read the rest here:

What Google Is And Isn't Saying When It Says It Won't Build Alternative IDs After The Death Of Third-Party Cookies - AdExchanger

The Sell Sider is a column written for the sell sideand contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media.

Today's column is written by Tom Kershaw, CTO of Magnite and Chairman of Prebid.org.

For the second time in the past 13 months, Google managed to plunge the world of ad tech into complete chaos Wednesday, despite not saying much thats new or noteworthy. If you believe what you read, its the end of the open Internet as we know it, the upending of the entire publisher ecosystem, and (of course) a financial meltdown to go with it. And its not the first time.

Unfortunately for the sensationalists, the reality is that Googles bombshell announcement was entirely predictable. And even though it ducked the important, difficult questions that the Internet faces as it charts a necessary course to a consumer-first privacy regime, I actually think this is a good thing.

What did Google say? To paraphrase: We are not using e-mail address-based systems as identifiers on our properties. We are focused on the Privacy Sandbox efforts. This was obvious from the start.

But whats not so obvious is its significance. Google is no longer going to use its billions of logged-in users to oppress the rest of the Internet.

What did the industry hear instead? Google is shutting down UID, LiveRamp, and every other ad industry effort to solve for identity with a consent-based model. This is something that Google never said and couldnt really do if it wanted to.

Googles announcement, which was made by Googles Ads team, not Chrome, will have no impact on email-based identity systems such as UID 2.0 and LiveRamps ATS. These solutions will continue because they are based on consumer choice and opt-in.

But more importantly, user log-ins are just one part of the solution that the industry is putting forward to allow for relevant, effective advertising without third-party cookies. Its always been the case that logins would only cover a small percentage of the overall Internet community. In fact, most analysts feel that 20% is the upper bound of how many users we can expect to opt-in to a targeted ad experience.

The majority of the Internet will need another solution and the good news is that solution already exists and is being actively deployed by publishers and advertisers based on open-source and collaboration. That solution is publisher-driven audience segments: addressable audiences created by publisher first-party data, that is collected in a privacy-compliant manner, and presented to buyers in a fully-anonymized fashion.

How did we get here? Publishers have always had direct relationships with consumers. Through those relationships, they got permission to capture data about their interests and preferences, and then use that data to deliver tailored messages and content. In the past, that data was fragmented and uncoordinated, so it didnt provide the scale that advertisers needed.

With the evolution of identity away from third-party cookies (and towards a more privacy-friendly model), publishers have emerged as the party thats best-positioned to obtain meaningful consent from consumers. But this time, publishers are doing it differently. Organizations such as Prebid.org (where Im Chairman) are providing a real sandbox for them to collaborate and innovate.

Prebid publishers are creating collective standards for expressing audiences which theyre presenting to advertisers as anonymized, but highly performant segments. And it's working. Thousands of publisher-based segments are already running in production across the industry. For example, at Magnite (where I moonlight as CTO), more than 10% of our revenue is running through these curated markets and we are just getting started.

Too much of the privacy debate is about competing solutions, but in reality, the new Internet will consist of a combination of user logins, browser-based auctions, and critically publisher-driven solutions that preserve the accuracy and relevancy of todays model while providing an anonymized user experience. Its actually really cool stuff, not the sort of thing that should elicit panic for advertisers or developers.

Ironically, the overlooked part of Googles announcement this week was that they indicated full support for publisher controlled first-party solutions. Publishers play a key role in creating a privacy-first Internet because they are the reason consumers are online to begin with.

In the end, Googles announcement that they will focus on Privacy Sandbox isnt just predictable, its welcome. It means theyre going to actually use the same tools as the rest of the industry. Compared to the last 10 years of ad tech where Google largely left the independent Internet to fend for itself, I count this as progress. Were finally moving in the direction of a level playing field.

To be clear, the announcement will not impact the efficacy of log-in solutions. UID 2.0 and ATS will continue without Googles support, as they have from the beginning. Open source, transparent solutions that give consumers choice will always win. The combination of user logins, publisher first-party segments, and the Chrome-controlled solution, will all coexist to create the foundations of a new, better Internet.

Link:

Google's Non-Announcement Shocks The Ad Industry Again - AdExchanger

YouTube has more than 2 billion users. It generates $20 billion a year. But those numbers dont begin to explain the size and impact of the worlds biggest video site.

So lets try this: YouTube is so big that you almost dont notice it. Its just always there, always on. It seems fundamental to digital life, like texting or email. Maybe, like my kids, you actively go to YouTube for entertainment or education. Maybe youre like a lot of other people and end up watching YouTube without even knowing youre doing it: Youre just watching a video, which means youre watching YouTube.

Its also hard to get your head around how quickly YouTube got to this place: The site didnt exist until 2005. And when Google bought it in 2006, it still seemed possible that the search giant had just wasted $1.65 billion. Sure, YouTube was a good place to watch dogs on skateboards or pirated Lazy Sunday clips, but what else could you do there?

Now we know: YouTube is a place where you can watch everything great stuff, dumb stuff, useful stuff, dangerous stuff. And its a place where you can upload almost anything, if youre inclined. Google is an open platform, meant to quickly distribute anything and everything, without any friction getting in the way.

Whether thats a good thing or a bad thing, or both, depends on your perspective.

As Shirin Ghaffary and I explore on this weeks episode of Land of The Giants: The Google Empire, YouTube and Google didnt take a linear path to get to this place.

For instance: YouTube started out as a money-losing novelty built by a couple of guys from PayPal, and Google had its own plans to dominate internet video. But Google quickly pivoted and killed off its in-house site (theres a reason you dont remember something called Google Video) and snapped up YouTube instead.

Likewise: The first people who succeeded on YouTube didnt really have a plan to succeed on YouTube. They were often just kids, like Smoshs Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox, who were doing it for fun and because using YouTube was easy.

But YouTube quickly figured out that it could give the Ian and Anthonys of the world a chance to make money from YouTube by giving them a cut of some of the sites ad revenue. And now theres a universe of people uploading videos and using YouTube for profit or power or both and a constant push and pull within YouTube, which wants all of those videos on its site, except when it discovers that some of them have crossed the line.

What that line is and how YouTube decides what that line is, and why it decides to ignore other stuff that seems line-crossing to many people is a source of continual discussion in and outside of YouTube. It can be very difficult trying to figure out how and why YouTube polices its platform up until June 2020, for instance, David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, had his own YouTube channel.

It also seems cleaning up the site will be a never-ending problem for YouTube and the world that YouTube affects. Thats because YouTube is an open platform, so it seems impossible to imagine a world where some combination of carefully written rules, thoughtful moderation, and robust machine learning keep the site free of odious users the kind who might want to use the worlds biggest video site to spread misinformation about vaccines or election results or white supremacy.

But YouTube executives continue to insist that the benefits of running the site as an open platform are worth it that YouTube, just like the internet, is full of everything, and were better off in a world where almost everythings available with a click. Its a complicated discussion, and an important one, which made it a great subject for a podcast: Listen here, and let us know what you think.

For more stories about Googles incredible rise, covering everything from the mobile phone wars to the companys internal tensions to its current antitrust battles, subscribe now to Land of the Giants: The Google Empire.

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The story of YouTube: Recodes Land of the Giants Google podcast - Vox.com

Virtual meetings on Google Meet can sometimes feel a little one-sided. It makes a big difference when participants can actively contribute to the conversation.

That's where Google Meet's poll feature comes in. You can quickly create questions featuring multiple choice answers during the meeting to help keep things engaging and get attendees' responses on record.

Important: To use Google Meet polls, you'll need to have a G Suite Business, Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise plus, or Google Workspace for Education Plus account.

If you're ready to create a poll in Google Meet, access the Activities tab and select "Polls" from the list of options.

Quick tip: To conduct a poll in Google Meet, you'll need to be the meeting's host meaning either you created the meeting, or someone transferred the meeting to you to moderate.

The Activities tab is to the right of the digital clock. Abbey White/Insider

Quick tip: The Activities icon is a triangle, a circle, and a square stacked on top of each other.

The Polls option is second on the Activities tab. Abbey White/Insider

Enter the information you want to poll Google Meet users on. Abbey White/Insider

Quick tip: To add another poll answer, click "Add an option."

Launching a poll will distribute it to everyone in the call. Abbey White/Insider

Quick tip: When you hit "Save," Google Meet will store the poll under the "Activities" tab so you can go back and edit and launch it at a later time.

To respond to a Google Meet poll, you must join a Google Meet with an account that allows polls.

Once a poll is live in Google Meet, you'll see a green dot over the Activities icon notifying you that a poll has launched. Click on "Activities," select the Polls option, and then select your answer from the options listed.

Quick tip: Google Meet will also notify you with a small pop-up message that a poll is live and ready to answer.

Google Meet will keep the poll results private unless the moderator enabled the "Show everyone the results" option. In either case, users will never be able to see the names of other respondents, just the number of votes on the poll.

There are a number of options and tools at your disposal to help you moderate your Google Meet poll.

Once the Google Meet is over, the moderator will receive an automatically generated email with a report on any polls that were conducted.

The moderator can click on the report attachment included in the email to see the names and votes of people who took the poll.

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How to create a poll in Google Meet to engage meeting attendees and gather reactions - Business Insider

Several Android apps are getting some useful updates.

Google recentlyannounced it's rolling out updatesto six different Android apps, from theTalkBack screen reader to Android Auto. The updates add useful new features, like the ability to schedule when a text message will be sent in the Messages app. Google Maps is also receiving an update of its own that adds a true dark mode throughout the entire app, not just when you're using navigation.

There's also an update to Google's password autofill tool that will tell you if your passwords have been leaked and let you know it's time to change it.

Keep in mind, these are rolling updates. That means you may not have access to them right away. The best advice I have is to keep checking the Play Store for app updates.

Below I'll walk you through the new features and how to use them.

Now playing: Watch this: Android's useful new features

3:06

If you use Google's Password Manager to autofill your usernames and passwords in Chrome or Android apps, then this update is for you. Google will now check all of your login credentials to see if they've been leaked or exposed in a hack. If it finds your information, a prompt will let you know you need to change your password.

The new Password Checkup tool is rolling out to Android devices running Android 9 or higher. You can check if you're using Google's autofill service by opening theSettingsapp, then go toSystem>Languages & Input>Advancedand tapAutofill Service. If that path doesn't take you to the right place, since every Android phone is a little bit different, you can use the search tool in the Settings app to look forAutofill. (For example, on the Galaxy S21 Ultra the setting is underGeneral Managementin the settings app.)

Here's what it looks like when Google finds a bad password.

Once you navigate to the Autofill section, you'll want to make sureGoogleis selected.

If you haven't been using Google's autofill tool, then start saving your credentials when it prompts you. If you have been using it, then keep using it as you have been. The tool will let you know when it finds your information was leaked -- you don't have to do anything special to trigger it.

Full dark mode is finally coming to Google Maps.

For fans ofdark mode in Android apps, you'll want to keep checking the Play Store for an update to Google Maps.

Google is finally adding a true dark mode throughout the entire app. Huzzah! Prior to the latest update, Google Maps only offered a dark mode when you were actively using navigation mode. It was better than nothing, sure, but it wasn't ideal.

Once Google Maps updates on your Android phone or tablet, you can turn dark mode on all the time by going toSettings>Themeand then selectAlways in Dark Theme.

Scheduling messages is a convenient feature.

If you're not already using Google Messages as your default text messaging app, this might finally get you to make the switch. Google is rolling out an update that adds the option to schedule when a message is sent. Scheduling messages is especially useful if you don't want to bother someone at the wrong time because they're in a different time zone, or you know they're busy at work. Or you can use it to schedule a message canceling plans that you regret even making.

Once your Messages app receives the latest update, you can start to compose a message just like you always do, but instead of tapping on the send button -- long-press it. A menu will pop up, asking when you want it sent. It's as easy as that.

TalkBack is also receiving a hefty update.

Google's TalkBack accessibility feature is getting a big update to help blind or low vision users navigate and use their Android devices. There are new gestures, navigation options, spoken feedback and menus.

We have more information about theTalkBack update here. If you want to check it out for yourself, make sure to check for app and service updates in the Play Store.

Google is also adding new features to Android Auto and Google Assistant. They're relatively minor updates, but worth taking note of.

Android Auto users are getting the ability to set custom wallpapers that are displayed on their vehicle's screen. Google is also adding voice-activated games that your passengers can play during long road trips. One of the games Google mentions is Jeopardy, which is always a hit. Finally, Google is adding shortcuts to the Android Auto launch screen that will make it easy to check the weather or quick access to contacts for messaging and calls.

Google Assistant is getting improvements when you use voice commands to interact with the digital assistant when your screen is off and the device is locked. Google says that the cards that show information are now bigger, making it easier to read responses from across the room. To ensure the feature is working as expected turn onLock Screen Personal Resultsin your Google Assistant settings page.

Google does big feature releases like this every quarter or so. For example,here are some features added to Google Assistantlast year. If you're someone who'd rather look forward, then check out thenew features we've found so far in Android 12. We also have a running list ofhidden features in Android that we love.

Discover the latest news and best reviews in smartphones and carriers from CNET's mobile experts.

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Google Maps is getting a new trick (plus 5 other Android features coming) - CNET

Sarah Tew/CNET

Have you ever forgotten to send a happy birthday text message to a friend? Or had an idea in the middle of the night that you desperately wanted to share with co-workers but didn't want to risk waking them if their ringer was on? The next time that happens, use Google Messages' new scheduling tool to pick the exact time and date you want to send a message.

The text message scheduler is one of several new Google updates to its Android apps. Google recently announced updates to several of its Android apps, including Google Maps, Google Assistant and TalkBack.

Get the latest news, how-to and reviews on Google-powered devices in CNET's Google Report newsletter.

Before you can schedule a message, you'll need to have the latest version of Google Messages installed on your phone. Note that this feature will not work with your phone's default text message app, only Google Messages. If you don't know how to change your default messaging app, don't worry -- the first time you open Google Messages you'll be asked if you want to make the switch. The easiest way make sure you've got the latest version of Messages is to open the Play Store app go to My Apps and check for updates. (I have the new feature with Messages version 7.4.050.)

Below I'll show you how to schedule a text message, including picking a custom send time and how to edit the message if you want to change anything.

Scheduling a message is easy peasy.

The first time you launch the Google Messages app and open a conversation after updating to the latest version, you'll see a small pop-up window appear over the Send button letting you know you can schedule messages. This is similar to what you see with scheduling an email in Gmail.

To schedule a text, start typing your message then long-press the Send button. I recommend picking the scheduled time before you fully compose your message, so you don't write out the message and accidentally send it.

After you long-press on Send, you'll see a pop-up with preselected dates and times. You can go with one of those suggestions, or tap Pick date and time. That will open Android's date and time picker that lets you customize when the message will be sent, to the minute. (Handy if you want to wish someone happy birthday at the exact minute they were born.)

Once you're done setting the time, tap Save.

You can then finish writing out your message. You're not limited to scheduling only text messages, but you can also add pictures and videos. When you're done, tap the Send button, which should now have a small clock icon on top of the paper airplane.

You can always edit a message.

A scheduled message will appear in your conversation thread, however, it will have a clock next to it and a note that says Scheduled message underneath it. You can hide the message with a tap on Scheduled message if you prefer.

To edit the message or the scheduled delivery time, tap the clock icon. A menu with three options will show up. Those options are update message, send now or delete message.

Update message will let you edit the text or pick a different time. Send now will immediately send the message. Delete message will discard the text.

Being able to schedule a message is a feature that's sure to be useful, especially if you often remember to send a message at an inconvenient time and then end up forgetting.

Google Messages is a powerful text messaging app that has more tricks up its sleeve, like Google's Chat feature that adds iMessage-like features to Android. Android 12 was also recently announced, and there's a lot to look forward to when it launches later this year. Or, if you're brave enough, you can install it now.

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Google Messages gives us the Android texting feature we've wanted forever - CNET

GlobeNewswire

Fingrid OyjStock exchange release 5 March 2021 at 12:00 noon EET Fingrids consolidated financial statements have been drawn up in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Unless otherwise indicated, the figures in parentheses refer to the same period of the previous year. The information published in this report is based on Fingrids audited financial statements for 2020, published in connection with this bulletin. Fingrids financial result for 2020 was weaker than planned, mainly due to exceptionally warm weather. Operatively, the year went according to the plan, despite the coronavirus pandemic. Grid transmission tariffs were kept unchanged in 2020.Finlands electricity consumption in 2020 amounted to 80.9 (86.1) terawatt hours.Fingrid transmitted 68.4 (68.7) terawatt hours of electricity in its grid, representing 77.9 (76.0) per cent of the total transmission volume in Finland (consumption and inter-TSO).The transmission reliability rate of the main grid was the best ever, at 99.99995% (99.9998%). KEY FIGURES 1-12/20 1-12/19 change % 7-12/20 7-12/19 change % Turnover M 682.5 789.4 -13.5 339.1 374.1 -9.4 Capital expenditure, gross M 169.7 126.9 33.7 99.4 67.9 46.3 - of turnover % 24.9 16.1 29.3 18.1 Research and development expenses M 4.5 3.4 30.4 1.9 1.8 8.3 - of turnover % 0.7 0.4 0.6 0.5 Average number of employees 400 384 4.2 413 385 7.3 Number of employees at end of period 408 380 7.4 408 380 7.4 Salaries and bonuses, total M 26.7 22.3 19.6 12.7 9.0 41.1 Operating profit M 118.4 115.5 2.5 63.2 48.7 29.7 - of turnover % 17.3 14.6 18.6 13.0 Profit before taxes M 113.3 105.8 7.1 54.8 36.8 49.0 - of turnover % 16.6 13.4 16.2 9.8 Profit for the period M 94.0 84.6 11.1 45.8 28.7 59.3 Comprehensive income for the period M 95.0 84.7 12.2 45.8 28.8 59.1 Cashflow after capital expenditure M 139.9 147.7 -5.2 38.2 53.3 -28.4 Return on investments (ROI) % 7.0 6.4 Return on equity (ROE) % 14.3 11.6 Equity ratio % 27.4 32.0 27.4 32.0 Interest-bearing net borrowings M 1,049.0 1,037.2 1.1 1,049.0 1,037.2 Net gearing 1.7 1.5 1.7 1.5 Earnings per share 28,269.56 25,452.50 11.1 13,768.99 8,644.75 59.3 Dividend, Series A shares 53,500.00 * 58,500.00 Dividend, Series B shares 19,600.00 * 21,400.00 Equity per share 190,210 206,213 -7.8 Dividend payout ratio, A shares % 189.2 234.9 Dividend payout ratio, B shares % 69.3 86.0 Number of shares Series A shares qty 2,078 2,078 2,078 2,078 Series B shares qty 1,247 1,247 1,247 1,247 Total qty 3,325 3,325 3,325 3,325 * The Board of Directors proposal to the Annual General Meeting on the maximum dividend to be distributed Jukka Ruusunen, President & CEO of Fingrid: Best-ever transmission reliability rate the exceptionally warm year affected the result In terms of capital expenditure, 2020 was a record-breaking year for Fingrid: we built transmission lines and substations at dozens of worksites. Even during the coronavirus pandemic, the capex projects progressed as planned. As a company critical for the security of supply, we are well prepared for a wide range of exceptional circumstances. Despite the record level of capex activities and the coronavirus pandemic, the main grid operated very reliably. The transmission reliability rate of the grid was the best ever, at 99.99995 per cent. 2020 was the warmest year on record in Finland, as a result of which the electricity consumption decreased by an average of 6% year-on-year. Also overall, weather played the leading role in the Nordic electricity markets. An exceptionally mild winter and the resulting substantial decrease in electricity consumption, heavy rains and the consequent good availability of hydropower as well as strong winds and high production of wind power led to very low electricity market prices in the Nordic countries and large regional price disparities. Finland imported electricity from Sweden, using the full transmission capacity between the countries, but the existing transmission capacity did not meet the actual market needs. Our cross-border connections functioned very well, however, and we succeeded in making all the existing capacity available to the markets. Due to the decrease in electricity consumption, our grid service income fell year-on-year. The market conditions also resulted in a decrease of the cross-border transmission income for the capacity imported from Russia. The exceptionally intensive spring floods increased the prices for the reserves required for balancing consumption and production for several weeks, resulting in increased costs for us. Due to the weather conditions, our result was significantly lower than planned. Through cost-effective operations, we have managed to keep our transmission tariffs at an affordable level regardless of the intensive investment tempo. We have been able to lower our grid service fees by more than 10 per cent since 2017, and they will remain unchanged also in 2021. Financial result Fingrids consolidated financial statements have been drawn up in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Unless otherwise indicated, the figures in parentheses refer to the same period of the previous year. Fingrids consolidated financial statements have been drawn up in accordance with the same accounting principles as in 2019. The Groups turnover was EUR 682.5 (789.4) million. Grid service income decreased to EUR 373.6 (385.0) million, due to the low energy consumption during the unseasonably warm winter months. Electricity consumption in Finland totalled 80.9 (86.1) terawatt hours during the year. Imbalance power sales also decreased year-on-year, to EUR 260.8 (346.7) million, due to the low electricity prices. Cross-border transmission income from the connection between Finland and Russia decreased, to EUR 6.9 (11.6) million, due to a lower transmission volume, affected by the low area price compared with north-western Russia. As a result of the transmission situation in the Baltic Sea region, ITC income increased to EUR 17.1 (14.4) million. Other operating income declined to EUR 2.4 (4.2) million. The Groups total costs amounted to EUR 569.3 (651.6) million. Imbalance power costs decreased, due to low electricity prices, and totalled EUR 234.4 (323.5) million. Loss power costs amounted to EUR 52.6 (53.9) million. The volume of loss power grew slightly, while the price of loss power procurement decreased. The realised average price of loss power procurement was EUR 38.03 (39.57) per megawatt hour. The cost of reserves to safeguard the transmission system security increased to EUR 63.5 (55.9) million, mainly due to the increased hours procured for frequency restoration reserves (FRR). Depreciation amounted to EUR 98.5 (97.8) million and grid maintenance costs to EUR 23.6 (21.6) million. Personnel costs increased to EUR 31.2 (26.4) million because of the higher headcount in response to a growing workload, both domestically and in international cooperation. The Groups operating profit was EUR 118.4 (115.5) million. To recognise changes in the fair value of electricity derivatives and the currency derivatives related to capital expenditure and other operating expenses, EUR 3.0 (-26.6) million was recorded in operating profit. The Groups profit before taxes was EUR 113.3 (105.8) million. Profit for the financial year was EUR 94.0 (84.6) million. The equity ratio was 27.4 (32.0) per cent at the end of the year. Fingrids total capital expenditure in 2020 amounted to EUR 169.7 (126.9) million. This included a total of EUR 137.3 (103.4) million invested in the transmission grid and EUR 9.6 (5.5) million for reserve power. ICT investments amounted to EUR 21.1 (17.0) million. The costliest single ICT investment was the centralised information exchange system for electricity retail markets, datahub, which the company is currently building. A total of EUR 4.5 (3.4) million was used for R&D projects during the year under review. The parent companys turnover was EUR 679.8 (786.2) million, profit for the financial year EUR 136.0 (148.1) million and distributable funds EUR 186.8 million. Based on the companys own calculations, the return according to the regulatory model that governs grid operations amounts to a deficit of around EUR 30 million for 2020. The size of the deficit was positively affected by cost efficiency and quality incentives. The Energy Authority has confirmed a cumulative deficit of EUR 28.4 million for the previous regulatory period, 20162019. Financing Fingrids credit rating remained high, reflecting the companys strong overall financial situation and debt service capacity. The Groups net financial costs were EUR 4.0 (10.1) million, including EUR 0.7 million in interest expenses on the lease liabilities booked into the balance sheet. The Groups net interest expenses on loans during the year totalled EUR 13.3 (14.7) million. The change in the fair value of financial derivatives was EUR 3.8 million positive (EUR 8.1 million positive). The Groups finance income was increased during the review period by an EUR 8.4 million dividend attributable to the sale of the Nord Pool shares. Interest-bearing borrowings totalled EUR 1,174.9 (1,120.0) million, of which non-current borrowings accounted for EUR 1,032.8 (884.7) million and current borrowings for EUR 142.1 (235.3) million. At the end of the year, the companys interest-bearing borrowings included a total of EUR 31.2 million in lease liabilities, consisting of EUR 2.3 million in short-term liabilities, to be paid within a year. The companys liquidity remained good. Cash and cash equivalents and other financial assets totalled EUR 125.9 (82.8) million on. The company additionally has an undrawn committed revolving credit facility of EUR 300 million to secure liquidity (until 11 December 2022) and a total of EUR 225 million in committed and uncommitted bilateral facility arrangements with banks. The counterparty risk arising from derivative contracts relating to financing was EUR 26.2 (22.4) million. Fingrids foreign exchange and commodity price risks were hedged. Fingrid has credit rating service agreements with S&P Global Ratings (S&P) and Fitch Ratings (Fitch). The credit ratings valid on 31 December 2020 remained high and were as follows: S&Ps rating for Fingrids unsecured senior debt and long-term company rating at AA- and the short-term company rating at A-1+, with a stable outlook.Fitchs rating for Fingrids unsecured senior debt at A+, the long-term company rating at A, and F1 for the short-term company rating, with a stable outlook. Customers Fingrid provides grid services and electricity market services to its customers: utility companies, electricity-consuming industry and electricity market parties. Fingrids operations are largely based on fulfilling statutory duties, and they are conducted with a maximum customer focus, impartially and on equal terms. Grid services secure reliable transmission of electricity in the main grid in accordance with the needs of utility companies and energy intensive industry. The transmission reliability rate broke the all-time record in 2020. Significant quantities of wind power capacity are currently under planning and construction. We received around 160 enquiries about connecting to the main grid, totalling tens of thousands of megawatts in capacity. The connection agreements signed during the year enable the grid connection of roughly 1,800 MW of new wind power capacity. We also received inquiries about the grid connection of new types of consumption. Fingrids electricity market services provide the electricity market operators with a unified price area for electricity trading in Finland as well as the benefits of the open European electricity markets. In 2020, the full cross-border transmission capacity was utilised for Finlands electricity imports from Sweden. The transmission capacity did not meet the needs of the market, but our cross-border connections functioned very well. According to a study carried out by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) in 2019, the transmission tariffs for electricity in the Finnish transmission system are the third lowest in Europe, when compared with transmission grids of a similar size. The comparison included 36 countries. In 2021, the grid service fees will be maintained at the previous years level. According to the customer satisfaction survey conducted in autumn 2020, the customers trust in Fingrid remains strong and our work for the benefit of society at large is considered a particular strength. More than half of the customers felt that the companys operations had improved during the past year. According to the survey, customers perceive Fingrid as an open and cooperative player who works for the benefit of the whole of society and treats its customers impartially. Our customers gave us a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 45, a good result for a natural monopoly in a business-to-business industry. Main grid In this decade, Fingrid will invest two billion euros in Finnish grid networks and substations. The main grid must be reinforced because achieving the goal of a climate neutral Finland by 2035 requires a significant increase in emission-free electricity production and consumption. Wind power connections have in particular increased the need for investments. We are working on a grid vision, aimed to create an understanding of the development needs in the main transmission grid (400 kV and 220 kV) and proposed solutions for the long term. Roughly 10 kilometres of new transmission lines were completed and 570 kilometres were under construction. 250 kilometres of transmission lines were under general planning. Twelve new or expanded substations were completed and 22 were under construction. Fingrids ongoing major electricity transmission projects included the construction of a transmission line from Oulu to Petjvesi, the so-called Forest Line. The construction of a third AC connection to Sweden is under preparation to boost the functioning of international electricity markets. Another project currently in the planning phase is the upgrading of the OuluLappeenranta connection, or Lake Line. Fingrid scored top results in ITOMS (The International Transmission Operations & Maintenance Study) and was the only TSO to achieve a Top Performer nomination both in the transmission line and substation maintenance categories. ITOMS looks into the effectiveness of maintenance based on criteria such as maintenance costs and disturbance statistics. Power system Electricity consumption in Finland amounted to 80.9 (86.1) terawatt hours in 2020. Fingrid transmitted a total of 68.4 (68.7) terawatt hours of electricity in its grid, representing 77.9 (76.0) per cent of the total electricity transmission in Finland (consumption and inter-TSO). The imported and domestic production capacity was high enough to meet peak demand of the year. The electricity consumption peaked at 12,388 (14,542) MWh/h on Friday 28 February between 8 and 9 a.m., with Finlands electricity production contributing 9,849 MWh/h and the remaining 2,539 MWh/h being imported. The area price of electricity on the day-ahead market in Finland was 46.98/MWh during the peak consumption hour. The water resources in the Nordic countries clearly exceeded the long-time average, which led to lower year-on-year wholesale electricity prices. The electricity transmitted between Finland and Sweden mostly consisted of large imports from Sweden to Finland. In 2020, 18.8 (16.3) terawatt hours of electricity was imported from Sweden to Finland, and 0.3 (0.5) terawatt hours was exported from Finland to Sweden. The electricity transmissions between Finland and Estonia were dominated by exports from Finland to Estonia, totalling 6.6 (3.8) terawatt hours. Electricity transmission from Russia to Finland amounted to 3.0 (7.6) terawatt hours. In contrast to the previous year, electricity was also exported from Finland to Russia on a few occasions. In 2020, 0.3 (0.2) terawatt hours of electricity was imported from Norway to Finland. The transmission reliability rate of the main grid was the best ever in 2020, at 99.99995% (99.9998%). An outage in a connection point in the main grid caused by a disturbance in Fingrids transmission system lasted an average of 0.51 (4.3) minutes. The calculated cost of the disturbances (regulatory outage costs) to consumer customers was EUR 0.9 (2.7) million. If rapid reclosures are included, the cost of disturbances amounts to EUR 3.2 million. The availability and reliability of Fingrids HVDC transmission links remained very high. Disturbance-clearing and fault elimination measures were highly successful, and the connections were quickly restored and made available to the market. The volume of transmission losses in the main grid increased somewhat from the level of the previous year, amounting to 1.5 (1.3) terawatt hours. This was 1.8 (1.5) per cent of the total volume of transmitted electricity. Electricity market The average market price of spot electricity on the power exchange (Nordic system price) was EUR 10.93 (38.94) per megawatt hour. The wholesale area prices on the Nordic and European electricity markets were the lowest in market history. The price differences between areas were significant, both among the Nordic price areas and on the Central European markets. The price decrease in the Nordic market area was primarily caused by extremely high hydropower production volumes and warm weather. The day-ahead market prices fell to negative figures several times in the Nordic countries. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the production and consumption of electricity and on the electricity market was fairly insignificant in the Nordic market area. Large quantities of electricity were imported to Finland, based on market incentives, throughout the year under review. Finland has been dependent on imported electricity, as the domestic production capacity does not meet the demand. The area prices in Finland and Sweden diverged in situations where the transmission capacity between the countries was insufficient to meet the demand. Our cross-border connections functioned very well, however, and we succeeded in making all the existing capacity available to the markets. Fingrids congestion revenue from cross-border transmission lines totalled EUR 146.7 (73.0) million, of which the cross-border transmission lines between Finland and Sweden accounted for EUR 122.7 (65.5) million. The links between Finland and Estonia generated EUR 24.0 (7.5) million in congestion revenue. A total of EUR 219.1 million in congestion revenue remained unused at the end of 2020 and will be used, in accordance with the regulatory guidance, for the Forest Line connection currently under construction and other grid investments that will improve the functioning of the electricity market. To increase the cross-border transmission capacity between Finland and Sweden, a third AC connection to Sweden is currently being prepared, in cooperation with the Swedish TSO. The increased transmission capacity will help to decrease the price disparities between the countries. The transmission link is due for completion in 2025. The Forest Line connection currently under construction will substantially increase the NorthSouth transmission capacity necessary for the Finnish power system and help to keep Finland as a single price area in electricity trading. The project is due for completion in 2022. Competitive trading between the Nordic power exchanges started in June 2020. The competition between electricity exchanges will increase the number of alternative trading services available to electricity market operators. The competition makes it possible for more than one Nominated Electricity Market Operator to connect with the European market coupling on the day-ahead market in the Nordic price areas. Fingrid has several on-going projects to develop the electricity market, the most notable of which is the centralised information exchange system, i.e. datahub, to go live in Finland in February 2022. The on-going Nordic cooperation projects include the Nordic Balancing Model and the related Higher Time Resolution project (15-min imbalance settlement) as well as the adoption of a new transmission capacity calculation methodology. Fingrids development of flexibility market solutions has progressed within the INTERRFACE and OneNet projects funded from the EUs Horizon2020 research programme. Corporate responsibility Fingrid Oyj employed 408 (380) persons, including temporary employees, at the end of the year. The number of permanent personnel was 363 (338). At the end of the year, 23 (24) per cent of the personnel were women and 77 (76) per cent were men. The average age of the personnel was 44 (44). Fingrid is an expert organisation where the most important resource is the knowledge and skills of the personnel. In an expert organisation, work can be organised autonomously and independently, while also supporting the team and common goals. This concept of specialists focusing on their area of expertise was also successful in 2020, in the exceptional circumstances, when most of the experts were forced to transfer to remote work almost full-time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fingrid is charged with a mission of high responsibility and great societal significance: to ensure the entire population of Finland has electricity available to them and to carry out the grid investments necessary for a clean power system. We support particularly the UNs global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to climate actions, energy and infrastructure. Fingrids corporate responsibility performance is reported according to the Global Reporting Initiative framework and the data is verified by an independent external party. In 2020, the topics important to Fingrids business activities and corporate responsibility, in addition to successfully fulfilling the companys core mission, included areas such as safety and security, procurement practices, stakeholder trust, financial result, Code of Conduct, and taking care of the work community. Compliance and corporate responsibility management is integrated with Fingrids management system and risk management practices, using the corporate strategy as a starting point. Fingrids Board of Directors updated and approved the companys Code of Conduct, monitored the responsibility of operations, and ensured that corporate responsibility management is properly organised and integrated into business operations. Fingrid is committed to the United Nations Global Compact initiative, and its Code of Conduct is in line with the initiatives principles on human rights, labour, the environment, and anti-corruption. The Code of Conduct was updated in 2020 to match with the companys updated values, and the requirement to promote diversity was included in the Code of Conduct. The company scored an eNPS of 71 and overall satisfaction of 87/100 in the Siqni employee survey. The grade for responsible operations in the personnel survey was 4.6 out of 5. The companys customers gave us a net promoter score (cNPS) of 45. Fingrid has made a pledge to support human rights and included it in the Code of Conduct. To ensure that we correctly understand our human rights impacts, Fingrid has carried out an overall assessment in compliance with the due diligence process recommended in the UNs Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Human rights are included in the corporate responsibility commitment Fingrid expects from its suppliers and their realisation is monitored using a risk-based approach. In 2020, ten Fingrid worksites were audited to verify compliance with contractor obligations, occupational safety and environmental management. In international goods sourcing, third-party supplier audits were carried out at 15 production plants, and six follow-up audits were carried out in order to rectify any non-compliances observed during these or earlier audits. Fingrid seeks to improve its occupational safety culture and achieve its zero accidents goal. In 2020, the Executive Management Group approved Fingrids policy and goals for occupational safety and health management. Fingrids own personnel had 2 (0) lost-time accidents and suppliers personnel 14 (7). 5 (2) of the lost-time accidents resulted in an absence from work of more than 30 days or in a permanent handicap/bodily injury and were classified as serious. The suppliers and Fingrids combined lost time injury frequency (LTIF) increased from the previous year to 11.1 (5.3) per million worked hours. Landowners and other stakeholders were taken into account when building and maintaining the power grid, and environmental impacts were mitigated at all life-cycle stages. Outsourced contractors and service providers were required to commit to environmentally responsible operating practices through contract terms, training and audits. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure was applied to the transmission line projects with the most significant impacts, with on-going assessments in four projects during 2020. Fingrid reports on its tax footprint and refrains from any special arrangements to minimise taxes. In 2020, the personnel and external stakeholders had a confidential and independent whistle-blower channel available to them. No breaches of anti-competition laws, complaints related to the privacy of private individuals, incidents of bribery or other corruption, human rights violations or discrimination incidents occurred in Fingrids operations. Legal proceedings and proceedings by authorities An accident took place on a worksite in Laukaa, Finland, on 25 August 2017, where an employee of Revilla y Garcia S.L. died after having fallen from a transmission line tower. A civil court case, as well as proceedings concerning social-security-based damages, have been initiated in Spain for damages against Fingrid (the client linked with the accident), the main contractor, Technolines S.R.L. filial i Finland, and its subcontractor, Revilla y Garcia S.L. Fingrid does not believe the claim against it is likely to succeed and, in Fingrids view, the legal proceedings or their outcome are not likely to have a substantial impact on the companys earnings or financial position. On 30 June 2020, the Market Court received an appeal on the companys decision to exclude a bidder from a competitive tender for 400-MVA transformers to be acquired in 20222025. The company decided to discontinue the tendering process on 14 July 2020. After the decision to discontinue the tendering process, the appeal to the Market Court was withdrawn on 28 July 2020. Events after the review period and future outlook Fingrid Groups profit for the 2021 financial period, excluding changes in the fair value of derivatives and before taxes, is expected to improve somewhat compared to 2020. Results forecasts for the financial year are complicated especially by the uncertainty related to grid service revenue, ITC income and cross-border transmission income, and to reserve and loss power costs. These are dependent on the variations in outside temperature, precipitation, windiness, and hydrological conditions in the Nordic countries, which affect electricity consumption and electricity prices in Finland and neighbouring areas and thus also grid transmission volumes. The companys debt service capacity is expected to remain stable. Board of Directors proposal for the distribution of profit The guiding principle for Fingrids dividend policy is to distribute substantially all of the parent company profit as dividends. When making the decision, however, the economic conditions, the companys near-term capital expenditure and development needs as well as any prevailing financial targets of the company are always taken into account. Fingrid Oyjs parent companys profit for the financial year was EUR 136,014,363.58 and distributable funds in the financial statements total EUR 186,751,302.32. Since the close of the financial year, there have been no material changes in the companys financial position and, in the Board of Directors view, the proposed dividend distribution does not compromise the companys solvency. Since the closing date, the Board of Directors has proposed to the Annual General Meeting of shareholders that, on the basis of the balance sheet adopted for the financial period that ended on 31 December 2020, a dividend of EUR 53,500.00 at maximum per share be paid for Series A shares and EUR 19,600.00 at maximum for Series B shares, for a total of EUR 135,614,200.00 at maximum. The dividends shall be paid in two instalments. The first instalment of EUR 35,500.00 for each Series A share and EUR 13,000.00 for each Series B share, totalling EUR 89,980,000.00, shall be paid on 12 April 2021. The second instalment of EUR 18,000.00 at maximum per share for each Series A share and EUR 6,600.00 at maximum per share for each Series B share, totalling EUR 45,634,200.00 at maximum in dividends, shall be paid subject to the Boards decision after the half-year report has been confirmed, based on the authorisation given to the Board in the Annual General Meeting. The Board has the right to decide, based on the authorisation granted to it, on the payment of the second dividend instalment after the half-year report has been confirmed and it has assessed the companys solvency, financial position and financial development. The dividends that have been decided on with the authorisation given to the Board shall be paid on the third banking day after the decision. It will be proposed that the authorisation remain valid until the next Annual General Meeting. Annual General Meeting 2021 Fingrid Oyjs Annual General Meeting is scheduled to be held on 7 April 2021 in Helsinki. In Helsinki, on 5 March 2021 Fingrid Oyj Board of Directors Attachments Financial_Statements_Bulletin Corporate_Governance_Statement Remuneration_Report Annual_Review_and_Financial_Statements ESEF_report

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Google stops selling its Cardboard VR goggles after seven years - Yahoo Finance Australia

TipRanks

In a casino, if you play long enough, the House always wins; this is just a matter of probabilities and available resources. Its different in the stock market, even though there is a tendency to refer to stock investing as a game. Smart investors dont have to beat the house to come out ahead; this is not a zero-sum game. Rather, its a game of strategy. Successful investors will look for some edge, an in that will lead them toward winning investments. This search naturally leads some investors to the corporate insiders company officers and board members whose positions give them an inside track on the background that will impact stock prices. To the great good fortune of the investing public, the regulatory authorities require that inside traders regularly publish the stock transactions they make in the companies they run. This generates a wealth of information from the SEC, and TipRanks makes it easy for investors to use the raw data, with the Insiders Hot Stocks tool. This tool features a variety of filters letting investors search stocks by trading strategies, making sense of a difficult data set. Weve used the data to pinpoint a pair of stocks showing two clear signals for investors: A Strong Buy analyst consensus rating, and a recent informative buy from a company insider. Fiserv, Inc. (FISV) We will start with Fiserv, a financial tech company providing services to banks, credit unions, securities brokers, finance companies, and retailers. The companys products include payment services, account and billing solutions, customer management and online banking, risk compliance tools, and data analytics. In short, Fiserv is a full-service fintech, with customers in a wide range of sectors, including banks, government, healthcare, insurance, telecom, and utilities. After seeing revenues slide in 1H20, Fiserv bounced back in the second half. The top line came in at $3.79 billion for Q3 and $3.83 billion for Q4; full-year revenues for 2020 reached $13.9 billion. While these were considered solid numbers, and beat expectations, the coronavirus impact was felt in year-over-year declines. Earnings, however, fared better. Fiserv registered a profit of $4.42 per share in 2020, for a 12% increase over the prior year. On the insider front, the informative buy here was made by Denis OLeary, Director and Chairman of the Board at Fiserv. OLeary spent $1.01 million on 9,100 shares of FISV. Turning to the analyst community, Mizuhos Dan Dolev believes the company has a lot going for it and a bright future. Following marked organic outperformance vs. peers in 2020, we view FISV on track to impress again in 2021, with strong growth across the board Investors often think of FISV as a legacy operator with fewer analytic capabilities than next-gen firms. This is not true, in our view FISV deploys advanced analytics to measure every client interaction, investing in automation to improve engagement. While the journey never ends, FISV is already seeing strong success in these efforts, seeing just low-single-digit senior level attrition, Dolev commented. In line with his optimistic approach, Dolev rates FISV a Buy, and his $160 price target implies a 38% upside for the year ahead. (To watch Dolevs track record, click here) Overall, there are no fewer than 19 reviews on file for Fiserv, and they break down 17 to 2 in favor of Buys versus Holds. This indicates a broad view on Wall Street that the stock is a buying proposition, and makes the consensus rating a Strong Buy. Shares are priced at $115.80, and their $134 average price target suggests room for ~16% growth on the one-year time horizon. (See FISV stock analysis on TipRanks) Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding (BHVN) From fintech we move to the pharmaceutical sector. Biohaven focuses on neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases, and has a pipeline with therapies in various stages of development, and one treatment which has already gained FDA approval. Last year, Biohaven's NURTEC was given the go ahead for the acute treatment of migraine in adults and has been performing well since its launch. The treatment has another upcoming catalyst on the horizon. The FDA has accepted an sNDA (supplemental new drug application) for the prevention of migraine and a PDUFA date is expected in the second quarter. Turning to the insider trades, on March 2, John Childs, one of the companys Directors, paid $851,370 for a bloc of 10,000 shares. His display of confidence gets the backing of H.C. Wainwrights Douglas Tsao. The 5-star analyst anticipates the US approval of NURTEC in preventative migraine followed by an immediate launch. Tsao is also impressed by NURTEC's continued linear growth. Despite being on the market for only about one year, NURTEC continues to take share from triptans and even mAbs used in preventative treatment, though the share is still relatively small, suggesting plenty of room for growth, Tsao said. Importantly, neurologist and patient attitudes towards Nurtec are overwhelmingly positive, with 58% of patients satisfied compared to just 37% on Ubrelvy, again suggesting robust growth potential based on the drugs best-in-class attributes. Accordingly, Tsao has a Buy rating on BHVN shares, to go alongside a $111 price target. This figure implies a 43% upside from current levels. (To watch Tsaos track record, click here) Biohaven also has plenty of support amongst Tsaos colleagues. The analyst consensus rates the stock a Strong Buy, based on 8 Buys and 1 Hold. At $103.13, the average price target implies gains of 33% over the next 12 months. (See BHVN stock analysis on TipRanks) To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

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Google will give its AR features a boost with dual camera support - Yahoo Tech

Google announced the availability of Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) Autopilot, a fully-managed and operated Kubernetes environment for Google Cloud customers. The underlying infrastructure is completely hidden from users while exposing the environment needed for running cloud native workloads.

Drone in Autopilot Mode

Google Kubernetes Engine is one of the first managed container orchestration services available in the public cloud. Since its launch in 2015, Google has been enhancing the service to make it enterprise-ready. GKE Autopilot is the latest move to accelerate the adoption of Google Cloud and create a unique differentiation for Google.

Like any distributed platform, Kubernetes has two components - the control plane and worker nodes. The control plane is responsible for managing the entire cluster infrastructure and the workloads running on it. The nodes act as the workhorses that run customer applications packaged as containers.

When Kubernetes became available as a managed service, cloud providers owned and managed the control plane, which is the critical part of the cluster infrastructure. Since the worker nodes are essentially a set of virtual machines, they have always been accessible to users. In GCE, the worker nodes translate to a set of Google Compute Engine instances for customers.

There are two aspects to running a managed Kubernetes cluster in the cloud. The first is making the right choice of compute, storage and network configuration, while the second is maintaining the worker nodes as a part of day-2 operations. The former deals with selecting the right size of VMs, choosing the container network interface, and overlay storage. Once the cluster is provisioned and running, customers need to manage and maintain the worker nodes. Depending on the OS, network, and storage stack, they may have to perform on-going maintenance, patching, and upgrades of the worker nodes. Despite being a managed service, container orchestration leaves quite a bit of management and configuration to customers. It is firmly grounded in the philosophy of shared responsibility applicable to most public cloud-based services.

With GKE Autopilot, Google wants to manage the entire Kubernetes infrastructure and not just the control plane. It dramatically reduces the decisions that need to be made during the creation of the cluster. The stack chosen for GKE Autopilot by Google has the best of the breed components such as shielded VMs, VPC-based public/private network, CSI-based storage, among others.

GKE Autopilot aims to simplify the choices for provisioning a secure and production-grade cluster infrastructure. There are very few knobs and switches available during the provisioning of a GKE Autopilot cluster. You dont even have to decide the number of worker nodes and their configuration while creating the cluster. The autopilot service will determine the best in class configuration and the ideal fleet size at runtime based on the characteristics of the workload you deployed.

The most exciting aspect of GKE Autopilot is the billing based on the unit of deployment, the pod.

GKE Standard, the original avatar of GKE, has a flat cluster management fee plus the cost of GCE instances. It doesnt matter how many pods - the fundamental unit of deployment in Kubernetes - you run in the cluster. You are always charged for the number of GCE instances.

With GKE Autopilot, the fundamental unit of deployment used for calculating the bill shifts from the VM to a pod. While the flat cluster management fee remains, you would only pay for the compute, memory, and storage resources consumed by the deployed pods. By default, GKE Autopilot assigns half-a-CPU, 2 GiB of RAM and 1 GiB of storage to a pod. Of course, this can be overridden by explicitly mentioning the resource requirements in the pod specification.

Behind the scenes, GKE Autopilot implements an autoscale policy that dynamically adds and removes the worker nodes to accommodate the workload requirements. You wouldnt be charged for the additional worker nodes as the unit of deployment and billing is based on the number of pods and not the number of nodes.

GKE Autopilot takes Kubernetes-as-a-Service to the next level by entirely abstracting the infrastructure. It comes close to a Platform-as-a-service model where developers are expected to bring their source code and walk away with a URL. I am waiting for Google to add Istio and Knative to GKE Autopilot, which brings true platform capabilities, including the ability to scale to zero.

GKE Autopilot comes with its own set of limitations. If you need absolute control and customization of the environment, GKE Standard is still the best choice. For example, configuring 3rd party storage platforms such as Portworx by Pure Storage or a network policy based on Tigera Calico is not supported by GKE Autopilot. Adding nodes with AI accelerators based on GPU or TPU is not available either. Deploying applications from the marketplace is another capability missing from GKE Autopilot.

Power users with advanced scenarios will continue to use GKE Standard while GKE Autopilot becomes the first-time Kubernetes users choice.

At the time of launch, only Datadog monitoring and GitLab CI/CD capabilities are fully integrated with GKE Autopilot. Other 3rd party services are expected to become available in the future.

Its interesting to see the shift in the unit of deployment. For a long time, the VM remained as the fundamental unit of deployment and billing. With the introduction of managed Kubernetes, clusters became the deployment unit. Services such as AWS Fargate for EKS and GKE Autopilot, the pod has become the lowest common denominator as the deployment and billing unit.

With GKE Autopilot, Google delivered another industry first that removes the complexity of running cloud native workloads while creating a strong differentiation factor for its cloud platform.

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Google Makes Kubernetes Invisible In The Cloud With GKE Autopilot - Forbes

Are you ready to learn more about Android 12?

Google recentlyannounced Android 12, and with it, several new features that improve the software that powers your Android phone. Android 12's primary mission is to improve overall performance on your phone, with a focus on app stability and redesigned notifications.

Google has also included some new privacy features, allowing Android users to control how they're tracked across sites.

Now playing: Watch this: Our first look at Android 12

6:27

If you're clamoring to get Google's latest software on your phone right now, there's good news and bad news. The bad news is, this is the very first developer preview. That means that it's going to be full of bugs, issues and poor battery performance. Google has specifically made it difficult for the average user to install for those reasons.

Read more:3 things Android 12 can do that Android 11 can't

The good news is, if you're tech-savvy enough and don't mind living with some bugs, you can install it today, so long as you have a compatible phone.

You can install the beta on any Pixel phone going back to the Pixel 3.

I can't emphasize this enough: The first beta is for developers to begin updating their apps for the new software. Google recommends installing the update on a test device and not your daily phone, because there's no guarantee the preview will be stable enough for daily use.

Instead of offering the first preview via an over-the-air update, you'll have to download the system image and install itusing the Android Flash Tool, or sideload an OTA update using ADB commands. If none of that makes sense for you, then you definitely should stay away from installing the beta. Right now, the beta is only available for the Pixel 3, 3a, 4, 4a and Pixel 5.

Discover the latest news and best reviews in smartphones and carriers from CNET's mobile experts.

On top of using command line tools to install it, the process will factory reset your phone, forcing you to set it up as if it were new. Then if you decide you want to go back to Android 11, guess what? Yup, you'll have to factory reset it again.

It's a lot of work just to get an early look at software that's sure to give you problems.

With all of that said, if you still want to install Android 12, you can find the proper files and instructions on Google's Android 12 site.

We're installing Android 12 as fast as we can to find the new logo.

Google typically launches a public beta of the next Android update around May, or when it has held the Google I/O developer conference. But we can go one step further and narrow down the time when Google plans to release a more refined version of Android 12 to the public. Here's the release schedule Google plans on using:

Google's release schedule for Android 12.

Based on that, we know that the first public beta should launch sometime in May.

With the launch of Android 11 last year, Google extended the public beta to more than just its own Pixel line of smartphones. It seemed to be successful for Google and its hardware partners, so we'd expect a similar launch this year. Samsung phone owners, however, we can't make any promises. The smartphone maker has never participated in Google's early beta program.

In addition to more devices being supported, the public beta traditionally has fewer bugs and issues. It's not completely free of them, but it's better off than the early developer betas.

Google typically releases the finalized build of a major Android update late in the third quarter, around August or September. Thus giving the company and developers plenty of time to get ready for the launch.

If you find yourself wanting to take part in the Android 12 beta, I suggest waiting as long as possible to install it. The later you get into the development cycle, the more polished the update will be and the fewer issues you're likely to experience.

We will have plenty more Android 12 coverage in the coming days, weeks and months. Until then, make sure toread about everything that's included in Android 12.

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Try out Android 12 early (if you dare): Here's how to get the developer beta - CNET