Category Archives: Google

Alberta has run into a roadblock with its COVID-19 contact tracing app after the federal government intervened with Albertas relationship with tech giants Apple and Google, Premier Jason Kenney said Monday.

The ABTraceTogether app was launched May 1, by the province and Alberta Health Services, and uses Bluetooth to more accurately and efficiently identify contacts of a confirmed COVID-19 case.

In a news conference Monday, Kenney fielded questions surrounding the functionality of the app which has run into problems, including Apple iOS users needing to have their phone open and the app running in the foreground to record data.

In late May, the province announced an update that would enable the app to operate in the background when an iPhone is locked, however, Kenney noted the federal government is blocking app developments for Alberta users.

Story continues below advertisement

We have been trying to resolve that problem, which requires cooperation with Google and Apple, Kenney said.

Unfortunately, the government of Canada has told Google and Apple not to work with the government of Alberta, or other provincial governments, on improving the Trace Together app.

Theyve done so because they say they want cooperation on a single national platform, but there isnt one, Kenney added.

Kenney said the provincial government has made repeated requests to the federal government to remove their barrier to ensure the app functions effectively amid the pandemic.

I will renew that call now publicly, he said. Every week, we press the federal government.

At the end of the day, by standing in the way between us and the large tech companies, they are effectively reducing the functionality of an app which can help us in the midst of a public health crisis.

Albertas app was the first of its kind to launch in North America and Health Minister Tyler Shandro added the province has been working with the federal government to create similar contact tracing apps across the country.

Story continues below advertisement

There is no national contact tracing app at this time, Shandro said. Our assistant deputy minister is taking the lead on assisting the federal government on the development of it.

In terms of first steps, they did turn to us to help them with that development.

Related News

He added that in light of offering their help, Alberta has been reaching out to the federal government and international affairs to stop the blocking of the provinces contact tracing advancements.

Lets allow Apple and Google to work with us to make sure that the ABTraceTogether app is fully functional, he said. Were happy to do that once Google and Apple are allowed to do that.

The province does not yet know when the update will be available to iOS users.

In a statement to Global News on Monday, press secretary to the federal health minister said the federal government is working with both Apple and Google to develop a national contact tracing app that can be used by all Canadians.

We continue to work with Apple, Google and our partners in jurisdictions across Canada on a voluntary national app that will be ready for download very soon, Cole Davidson said.

Story continues below advertisement

Davidson said having one app that is accessible to the entire country will reduce confusion for users.

Apple and Google have made their API available to us to create a national notification app. Having one app for the country reduces confusion and is as efficient as possible in notifying Canadians if they may have come into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

Davidson said a launch date for the national app has not yet been confirmed

Related News

2020 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Read this article:

Kenney says federal government told Apple, Google not to work with Alberta on contact tracing apps - Global News

The Kano PC, built by London-based startup Kano in partnership with Microsoft.

Kano

Microsoft is betting that a British computing start-up can take on Google in the educational technology industry, which has thrived during the coronavirus pandemic.

London-headquartered Kano, which is focused on teaching kids how to code, raised more than $1 million in an investment from Microsoft, with the tech giant taking a minority stake. The company has raised a total of about $45.5 million to date from investors including Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff.

The deal, announced Tuesday, expands on an existing partnership with Microsoft on Kano's bright orange Windows-powered PC. It also sees Kano join the ranks of large IT players like Lenovo and Dell in obtaining original equipment manufacturer licensing from Microsoft.

That means Kano is now able to ship its PCs with Windows 10 Pro a premium version of Microsoft's operating system toschools and has also formed a co-selling agreement with Microsoft.

Kano has received a tender from the Japanese government to sell 3 million of its devices in the country and is in talks to sell thousands of units in the United Arab Emirates. The firm's PC retails at $299, cheaper than Microsoft's Surface Go hybrid PC and on par with some of Google's cheaper Chromebook computers.

It comes as demand for educational technology, or "edtech," has surged amid the Covid-19 outbreak. Lockdowns across the world caused nationwide school closures in 190 countries at the peak of the pandemic in mid-April, impacting 90% of the world's pupils.

Meanwhile, the global PC market has recently returned to growth after suffering its worst decline in sales since 2013. According to Gartner, worldwide PC shipments grew 2.8% in the second quarter, as demand for laptops and tablets increased and vendors recovered from coronavirus-related supply chain disruptions.

Kano started out in 2013 as a venture aimed at teaching kids how to build their own computers and code. It gained traction selling easy-to-build computer kits based on compact Raspberry Pi circuit boards that came with the open-source Linux operating system.

While it hasn't retired the Raspberry Pi kits altogether, CEO and co-founder Alex Klein told CNBC that the company has increased investment into the PC it built in partnership with Microsoft.

Klein said the Linux-based computers created an "accessibility barrier" for some users but stressed his firm hasn't forgotten the "punk rock spirit" it embraced in its early days of existence.

A big part of the deal, Klein said, is helping his company compete with Google in the multi-billion dollar educational computing market.

Google's Chromebooks have swiftly become the top-selling computers in U.S. schools over the years. In 2018, they made up 60% of all laptops and tablets in K-12 classrooms, up from just 5% in 2012, according to data from consulting firm Futuresource. Microsoft accounted for 22% of the market in 2018, while Apple trailed behind on 18%.

"We shouldn't be putting Chromebooks in the hands of kids," Klein said, referring to a warning from international non-profit Electronic Frontier Foundation that the devices enable spying on students. "They're catching your data all the time."

For its part, Google has said it's committed to maintaining students' privacy and doesn't use their data for advertising purposes.

Speaking about Kano's deeper ties with Microsoft, Klein said he was "inspired" by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's commitment to open-source technology. In recent years, the tech giant has bought the software development platform GitHub and built its Edge browser based on source code from Google's open-source Chromium project.

As well as PCs, Kano also sells motion-sensing coding kits based on AT&T-owned Warners Bros' "Harry Potter" franchise and Disney's "Star Wars" series. Once assembled, the devices allow users to create code and interact with Kano's software.

But Kano has yet to turn a profit. It racked up losses of 11 million in the 12 months to March 2018. The start-up also laid off around 15 employees late last year, though Klein says it hasn't had to make any redundancies or furloughs during the coronavirus pandemic.

More:

Microsoft backs a start-up looking to challenge Google in the 'edtech' market - CNBC

File photo: The Google logo is pictured at the entrance to the Google offices in London, Britain January 18, 2019 Reuters

Investors, including Facebook and KKR & Co, have already poured in a combined $15.64 billion for just over 25% in Jio Platform

Alphabet Incs Google is in advanced talks to invest $4 billion for a stake in the digital arm of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

An announcement could come as soon as the next few weeks, according to the report.

Google declined to comment, while Reliance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Investors, including Facebook and KKR & Co, have already poured in a combined $15.64 billion for just over 25% in Jio Platforms. The funding spree, which began late April, and a share sale by Reliance have helped make Indias biggest company by market value net-debt free.

The report comes a day after Google said it would spend around $10 billion in India over the next five to seven years through equity investments and tie-ups, in its biggest commitment to a key growth market.

Shares of Reliance pared some losses to trade down 0.7% as of 0928 GMT, while the broader market was down 1.68%.

Read more from the original source:

Google in talks to invest $4bn in Reliance's digital arm - Dhaka Tribune

Dark theme support is available on Google Docs, Sheets or Slides.

If you've found Google Docs, Sheets or Slides a little too bright on your Android device, perhaps a noir color scheme will be more to your liking. Google is rolling out dark theme support for all three tools, it said in a blog post. Not only is using a dark mode or night theme on your Android device easier on your eyes, but italso saves battery life.

Google is rolling out the new dark mode, which can take some time to reach your Android phone or tablet. If you don't see the setting quite yet, just keep checking. As with most software rollouts, it can take a few weeks before it shows up. It's also a good idea to double-check that you've installed all pending app updates in the Play Store app.

We'll walk you through where you can check for the new dark mode switch, as well as a way to preview a document using a light theme just to make sure it looks how you want.

The new Theme setting should appear on your Android phone or tablet soon.

Once your account has access to the new feature, you'll find a new Theme setting in each of the Sheets, Docs or Slides apps. Here's where to look:

1.Open Sheets, Docs or Slides and then tap on the menu button in the top-left corner. It's the icon with three lines.

2. Tap Settings from the list of options.

3. Select Choose Theme.

4. Finally, select Dark, Light or System default.

After the feature is added to your device, it should already be set to System default, which means dark mode in the app follows the dark mode setting of your phone or tablet. If you want the apps to go dark or light, independent of what your Android is doing, you'll need to adjust the theme setting in each app.

You don't always have to look at a document in dark mode.

There will surely be a time when you want to see how a document looks in the more traditional light mode, so Google added a toggle to do just that.

When viewing a file in Docs or Sheets, tap on the More button with three dots, then select View in light theme. The app will quickly change the preview theme, letting you verify everything looks as it should without forcing you to change the apps' settings.

The search giant didn't mention if the iOS version of the Google apps will be getting the feature, and didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

There are plenty of Android apps that have already added a dark mode, and we've rounded up some of the best we can find. While we're on the topic of Android, make sure to check out all of the gestures you can use to get around your Android 10 device. And if you ever lose your phone, you'll be glad you took the time to readour tips for locating a lost phone.

Read the original:

Google adds dark mode to Docs, Sheets and Slides. Here's how to use it - CNET

NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) announced on Tuesday that just weeks after its release, the A100 Tensor Core graphics processing unit (GPU) has been adopted by Google Cloud, a division of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG).

The Accelerator-Optimized VM (A2) family, available on Google Compute Engine, is designed specifically to handle some of the most demanding applications out there, including artificial intelligence (AI) workloads and high performance computing (HPC). This makes Google the first cloud service provider to offer the new NVIDIA GPUs.

The NVIDIA A100 GPU. Image source: NVIDIA.

For the most demanding workloads, Google Cloud will offer users up to 16 GPUs on a single VM (or virtual machine). The cloud provider will also offer the A2 VMs in smaller configurations to match the individual user's computing needs. The system will be available via a private alpha program to start, before opening up to the general public later this year.

In a blog, NVIDIA said the A100 can also power a broad range of compute-intensive applications in cloud data centers, including "data analytics, scientific computing, genomics, edge video analytics, 5G services, and more."

Based on NVIDIA's new Ampere architecture, the A100 represents the "greatest generational leap" in performance in the company's history, boosting both machine-learning training and inference computing performance by 20 times compared with its predecessors. Previous versions of the technology required separate processors for training and inference. The A100 also offers a 10-fold increase in speed versus the previous generation technology.

Google plans to roll out access to additional instances in the near future, with the NVIDIA A100 coming soon to Google Kubernetes Engine, Cloud AI Platform, and other Google Cloud services.

Read the original:

Google Teams With NVIDIA on New Cloud Computing Offerings - The Motley Fool

However, from one-time-password issues to user interface bugs, Elyments has left many users wanting. Its rating on the Google Play Store has dipped to 3.5 stars.

Advertisement

Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are no strangers to censorship. They have often been called out for propagating misinformation or being biased towards one side of arguments. Internet censorship and the biasing tendency of social media is always in question. Elyments must ensure zero biasing, said Adarsh M, the product lead for Rosate, in a LinkedIn post.

Other things for Elyments to keep in mind will be app integration for easier sign-ups, user privacy and ensuring that funding remains indigenous. The app is still in its nascent stages and has a long way to go before it can measure up to likes of global giants.Advertisement

Read more here:

Elyments dips to 3.5 stars on Google Play Store Here's what analysts believe India's new social network need - Business Insider India

Photo taken of high-elevation Google balloon near Cary, North Carolina

The red tracking indicators shows a Google high-elevation balloon passed directly over Martinsville on Monday.

There have been various reports of people in the region seeing unidentified objects in the sky on Monday. Lisa Rich of Cary, N.C., about 100 miles southeast of Martinsville, managed to take a picture of one.

Chief Meteorologist Brent Watts with WDBJ-Ch. 7 in Roanoke went online identifying the objects as "high altitude balloons that are part of a research project by Google's parent company, Alphabet, to create wireless network across the globe in places where towers can't easily be constructed."

The helium balloons can be tracked in real time using Flightradar24's service.

The Bulletin discovered that one of the balloons, HBAL217, traveled directly over the city of Martinsville on Monday while travelling in a southerly direction at about 11 knots ground speed and at a height of 61,600 feet.

HBAL217 was just south of Charlotte, N.C., at noon on Tuesday.

NASA officials say anything large enough and above 50,000 feet is visible over a wide area around its flight path. That path entered the U.S. from Canada on Sunday near Ohio and then made its way into West Virginia, across southwest Virginia, including Martinsville, and then into North Carolina.

"Under just the right conditions, the high altitude balloons can be visible through a pair of binoculars when sunlight hits them just right as they float at around 50,000 feet" Watts said. "For perspective, most commercial aircraft fly between 30,000 and 38,000 feet."

Link:

WATCH NOW: Want to know about the UFO seen over Martinsville? Google the answer - Martinsville Bulletin

I dont know why, but yesterday was a day for Google peripherals. There were three or four pieces of news that were all harbingers of future products that you might use in conjunction with an Android phone. But while its getting easy to divine whats going to happen with Android phones thanks to all the leaks, its still very unclear what Google really intends to do with watches, smart glasses, or even its Stadia controller.

Googles hardware division acquired the smart glasses company North which comes on the heels of the last years Fitbit acquisition. This is a weird one! Google still makes Glass, but has specified that its meant mainly for industrial purposes. North made a valiant run at consumer smart glasses, including presumably pricey physical stores. It even acquired the patents from Intels abandoned Vaunt project, which I reported on two years ago. Like Vaunt, though, North glasses had a clear vision with an unclear business plan.

Notably, the person at Google who made the announcement was Rick Osterloh, the head of hardware at Google. So perhaps this is about more than just snapping up some IP. If you can connect the Fitbit and North dots beyond the fact that both are happening under the auspices of the hardware division, you have a better sense of what the heck Google is planning than I do. Two different products? One? Just an acquihire of engineers who are good at making accessories?

Next, we got the announcement of Qualcomms new Snapdragon 4100 processors, which will feature much-needed improvements for the next Wear OS watches. The last smartwatch processor update from Qualcomm didnt speed anything up at all, it just helped a bit with battery life.

Every year or so I end up writing a piece suggesting that its going to take some time (ahem) and much more groundwork for Google to make Wear OS something other than an also-ran. Heres me in April 2018, October 2018, September 2019, and in October 2019 after the Fitbit acquisition announcement. Right now, Wear OS serves mainly as a way for Fossil to bolster its brand image. Its not a platform, its a billboard.

Its a thing. Meanwhile the Apple Watch is superb and selling well. Samsungs smart watches arent as well loved (and are somewhat annoying to pair with a non-Samsung phone). But they are competent, which is more than I can say for most Wear OS watches.

Yesterday, we also saw Samsungs Galaxy Watch 3 software detailed in a new leak. The Galaxy Watch is the default smartwatch I recommend to Android users who definitely want a smartwatch.

There are also changes coming to the watchs apps. According to Weinbach, Outlook has replaced Samsungs own email app, and Spotify will come preinstalled on the watch in the US. Samsungs apps are also being updated. Theres a new music player app, the calendar is getting a new week preview, and the background of the weather app will now change based on current conditions.

Anyway, back to this new Qualcomm 4100 chip. It will not singlehandedly save Wear OS, but it is a necessary piece of groundwork that could help future Wear OS watches be, well, competent.

Qualcomms new chip moves to a new 12nm process, which should help with both speed and battery life. Thats good, but what Wear OS needs is a hot-shit new watch with new features, good looks, and a smallish form factor to take advantage of the new capabilities the 4100 affords.

I dont know if Google has the desire or ability to pull that off this year. There certainly havent been any notable rumors, and that Fitbit acquisition is going to take a while to yield real results. I hate to say it, but the short term outlook still isnt great. Even Google CEO Sundar Pichai thinks that Google hasnt done a great job with watches, telling us on the Vergecast, I look at areas maybe where we havent done opinionated [work] maybe [smart]watch is a good example where we havent.

Next up, Google also finally made the Stadia controller do a thing it should have done from the jump: work wirelessly with Android devices. I dont know if I still think Google should be calling Stadia a beta or not this year, but at least its heading in the right direction.

Last but not least, Google confirms that its AirDrop competitor is finally coming. Its way, way past time Google did something about transferring files from Android directly instead of going through a cloud service which, hey, Im calling peripheral news too because its close enough.

Were currently conducting a beta test of a new Nearby Share feature that we plan to share more information on in the future, Google told Android Police. Our goal is to launch the feature with support for Android 6+ devices as well as other platforms.

Its frankly bizarre that Google hadnt tried to develop something like this earlier. Getting files from an Android phone to a computer is still too hard, especially if youre not read up on what the current options are. I think the assumption is that everything was going to go through some kind of cloud sync, but for lots of workflows thats just not tenable.

I think the important thing to remember with all of the above is that you get so much more early information about Googles plans than you get from other companies. When you hear about a new Apple or Samsung product move, usually the thing you can go buy is imminent. With these bits of Google news, on the other hand, the improved products it will hopefully create as a result are months if not years away.

That seemingly slow progress the long time between some piece of news and its result can make it feel like Google is not good at this whole hardware thing, despite years of effort. But I encourage you to adjust your expectations when you see these puzzle pieces. Besides, if youre looking for examples that Googles hardware efforts havent been going to plan, theres plenty of better evidence.

YouTube TV sharply increases monthly subscription to $64.99. There are ways to justify paying this: YouTube TV is genuinely more convenient and has a better interface than cable. Still, this stings. Remember when we thought we were going to get a la carte channels and the bundle would finally die? Nope.

In a blog post announcing the new price and channels, YouTubes VP of product management Christian Oestlien sympathizes that the increased cost is difficult for some of its members, but that the new price reflects the rising cost of content and we also believe it reflects the complete value of YouTube TV, from our breadth of content to the features that are changing how we watch live TV.

ESPN Plus increases to $5.99 in August, making it the same price as Hulu.

Gaming cant fix its abuse problem one person at a time. Important piece by Megan Farokhmanesh. Read the whole thing:

If companies want to fix their problems with sexual misconduct, harassment, and assault, they have to examine their relationship to alcohol-driven events, in-house policies for reporting, and the structure of their teams. Its easy to disavow a single person and harder to identify the points of failure that allowed them to rise in the first place. This requires studios across the industry not just those exposed in each new round of allegations to get their houses in order.

The hosts of The Nod want Spotify to hand over their podcast. Ashley Carman:

Luse and Eddings are only two of the podcasters who have begun speaking out about the constraints of their podcasting contracts, which were written before they hosted successful shows.

Color of Changes Jade Ogunnaike wants tech platforms to do better. Russell Brandom:

The Verge spoke with Jade Magnus Ogunnaike, Color of Changes deputy senior campaign director, about what the campaign wants from tech companies and how they can get ready for the long haul.

See the original post here:

Googles Android peripherals are going to take time - The Verge

Antitrust regulators and consumer advocacy groups are increasing their scrutiny of Googles planned acquisition of fitness tracker firm Fitbit.

Google announced it was buying Fitbit last year for $2.1 billion and said it hoped to complete the deal some time in 2020. But its possible the acquisition will be delayed over fears about the search giants increased access to sensitive data from Fitbits hardware, including users heart rates, their fitness activity, and their sleep patterns.

The Financial Times reports that EU regulators have sent 60-page questionnaires to Google and Fitbits rivals, asking them to assess how the acquisition will affect the digital healthcare space; whether it will disadvantage fitness tracking apps hosted in Googles Play Store; and how Google might use the data to profile users for its search and advertising business.

EU regulators have set a deadline of July 20th for their next decision regarding the deal. The trading bloc can choose to approve the deal, or ask for concessions from Google (regarding how Fitbits data is used, for example), or open a four-month investigation to fully explore concerns. The FT says the level of detail in the recent questionnaires sent to the companies rivals suggests an extended investigation could be in the works.

The EU isnt the only party worried about the acquisition, either. Last month, Australias Competition and Consumer Commission announced its own concerns. Buying Fitbit will allow Google to build an even more comprehensive set of user data, further cementing its position and raising barriers to entry to potential rivals, said ACCC Chairman Rod Sims.

Worry from regulators has also been matched by consumer advocacy groups. This week, 20 consumer groups, from the US, EU, Mexico, Canada, and Brazil, wrote to regulators saying the deal was a test case to see if they could effectively reign in data monopolies.

Google could exploit Fitbits exceptionally valuable health and location datasets, and data collection capabilities, to strengthen its already dominant position in digital markets such as online advertising, said the group, according to a report from CNET. Google could also use Fitbits data to establish a commanding position in digital and related health markets, depriving competitors of the ability to compete effectively.

Google has made some concessions to allay these fears, saying last year that Fitbit health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads. In reaction to the letter from consumer groups, the company said the deal is about devices, not data, adding that the wearables space is highly crowded and that the acquisition of Fitbit will only increase competition.

This line of argument is likely to deter antitrust regulators from simply blocking the deal, reports Fortune, as Fitbit and Google arent direct competitors, and neither of them holds enough of the wearables market to make the argument that the deal creates a monopoly.

It would be extraordinarily difficult to bring a case, antitrust attorney David Balto, who was policy director at the FTC during Microsofts antitrust trials, told Fortune. There are no successful oppositions to vertical mergers like this.

According to data from analysts IDC, Fitbit had less than 5 percent of the wearables market in 2019, while Apple, the largest player, had 32 percent. The next two biggest companies, Xiaomi and Samsung, have 12 percent and 9 percent market share respectively. None of these firms use Googles software in their wearable devices.

However, concerns about data access might be more persuasive considering Googles strong position in online advertising, where it controls 90 percent of the market for some specific tools, like those used by publishers to sell displays ads. This is a sensitive area for Google at the moment, as the US Justice Department is nearing the end of its own antitrust investigation against the company regarding alleged abuse of its advertising dominance.

Follow this link:

Googles $2.1 billion Fitbit acquisition is getting closer scrutiny from EU regulators - The Verge

Two days after India blocked 59 apps developed by Chinese firms, Google and Apple have started to comply with New Delhis order and are preventing users in the worlds second-largest internet market from accessing those apps.

UC Browser, Shareit, and Club Factory and other apps that India has blocked are no longer listed on Apples App Store and Google Play Store. In a statement, a Google spokesperson said that the company had temporarily blocked access to the apps on Google Play Store as it reviews New Delhis interim order.

Apple, which has taken a similar approach as Google in complying with New Delhis order, did not respond to a request for comment.

Some developers including ByteDance have voluntarily made their apps inaccessible in India, a person familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.

Indias Department of Telecommunications ordered telecom networks and other internet service providers earlier this week to block access to those 59 apps effective immediately. Websites of many of these apps have also become inaccessible in India.

Thursdays move from Apple and Google, whose software power nearly every smartphone on the planet, is the latest escalation in an unprecedented tension in recent times between China and India.

A skirmish between the two neighbouring nations at a disputed Himalayan border site last month left 20 Indian soldiers dead, stoking historical tensions. Earlier this week, India blocked 59 Chinese apps including ByteDances TikTok citing national security concerns in a move that some saw as retaliation.

In its order, Indias Ministry of Electronics and IT alleged that these apps were compiling, mining and profiling users data that posed threats to national security and defence of India.

The Indian government has invited executives at these companies to give them an opportunity to answer concerns. Kevin Mayer, the chief executive of TikTok, said on Wednesday that his app was in compliance with Indian privacy and security requirements and he was looking forward to meeting with various stakeholders.

On Thursday,Chinese social network Weibo said it had deleted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis account at the request of the Indian embassy. Modi had amassed about 200,000 followers on Weibo before his account was deleted.

India has emerged as the biggest open battleground for Silicon Valley and Chinese firms in recent years. Like American technology groups Google, Facebook and Amazon, several Chinese firms including Tencent, ByteDance and Alibaba Group also aggressively expanded their presence in India in the last decade. TikTok, which has 200 million users in India, counts Asias third-largest economy as its biggest overseas market.

The 59 blocked apps, which include Likee, Xiaomis Mi Community and Tencents WeChat, had a combined monthly active user base of over 500 million users in India last month, according to mobile insights firm App Annie data of which an industry executive shared with TechCrunch. (A significant number of smartphone users in India use several of these apps so theres a lot of overlap.)

Link:

Apple and Google block dozens of Chinese apps in India - TechCrunch