Category Archives: Google

To participate in contact tracing with your phone, you have to manually download an app and agree to the terms and conditions.

COMAL COUNTY, Texas Exposure is a big factor in deciding to get tested for coronavirus.

Health departments across the country are already conducting their own contact tracing investigations.

Now smartphone apps are starting to offer notifications that let users know if theyve been around someone with the virus.

Whether youre all for contact tracing or want to be left alone, just know the choice is yours.

To participate in contact tracing with your phone, you have to manually download an app and agree to participate.

Contact tracing is a practice commonly used by health experts to finds and follows up with people who may have been exposed to viruses. The concept is being used during the coronavirus pandemic as well. It allows people to decide if they should get tested, if they may need to quarantine and provides resources for basic necessities if in isolation.

Were picking up those contacts already before theyre actually going into the environment or in the community or shopping; before even transmitting this disease to anybody else, said Dr. Anil Mangla, an Epidemiologist for Comal County during a briefing to Commissioners. He takes part in local contact tracing investigations.

Smartphone apps are starting to hit the market that offer exposure notifications. A recent update from Apple has some questioning privacy.

Google and Apple are announcing a joint effort to enable the use of Bluetooth technology to help governments and health agencies reduce the spread of the virus, with user privacy and security central to the design, read part of a statement on Apples website.

iPhone users can go to settings, privacy, then health to see the new exposure logging and notification option. This defaults to off and only works if the user also downloads a contact tracing app. Apple says developers have to include consent in their app as well, where users accept terms.

Users must explicitly authorize an app to participate in exposure notification, read details on an Apple page for app developers.

Meanwhile, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) says the contact tracing conducted by health departments and others already is also a voluntary process. Generally, epidemiologists call people who may have been in contact with a coronavirus patient. DSHS says the government cannot require you to participate in contact tracing, you can refuse to take a coronavirus test and the government will not monitor your movements.

The state says the benefit of contact tracing is that it helps others make crucial decisions about their health.

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Google and Apple working to help track coronavirus spread with voluntary contact tracing apps - KENS5.com

Google is committing to spending more than $175 million on racial equity initiatives with a focus on financing black-owned businesses and supporting black entrepreneurs. The funding was announced by Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Wednesday alongside a number of other commitments and changes meant to fight anti-black racism and support black Google employees and their families.

The $175 million commitment is part of an economic opportunity package that Google breaks down into four groups. The largest sum is $100 million in funding to be directed toward black-led venture capital firms, startups, and other organizations focused on black entrepreneurs. Another $50 million will be used as financing and grants for small businesses focused on the Black community.

Google says $15 million will go toward training programs for black job seekers, which will be operated by partners, while $10 million will be used to support black developers within Googles ecosystem by offering access to education, equipment and economic opportunities. In addition to that funding, Google is committing $3 million to support black students with a focus on early computer science education.

The commitments follow widespread protests over the death of George Floyd. Many companies across the US have started taking a look at their failures to support black communities and what they can do to improve opportunities for black employees and fight anti-black racism. Google announced an initial $12 million in donations to fight racial inequities earlier this month. Other large tech companies, including Amazon and Facebook, have announced donations as well. Last week, Apple launched a $100 million program called the Racial Equity and Justice Initiative.

Google is also making a number of changes within its company to support black employees and black representation. The company has committed to adding more black employees to senior leadership and improving the general leadership groups inclusion of people from underrepresented groups by 30 percent by 2025. In Googles 2020 diversity report, it said that white+ employees accounted for 65.9 percent of leadership roles in the US and Asian+ employees accounted for 29.6 percent. Black+ employees made up just 2.6 percent.

Pichai also said Google would do more to improve hiring, retention, and promotion of people from underrepresented groups and work to create a stronger sense of inclusion and belonging for Googles black+ employees. Among the changes is an end to Googles policy of asking employees to monitor for unauthorized visitors walking in the office doors behind them without swiping through. Pichai writes that we have realized this process is susceptible to bias, so Google is now going to rely on other security checks instead.

Google also plans to add additional anti-racism training programs and scale them to its entire workforce. The company was recently criticized by employees who alleged it had heavily scaled back its diversity and inclusion programs; Google defended itself by saying some of the programs it ended couldnt be properly scaled to the entire company. Pichai also said today that Google is working to expand mental health resources and other benefits to better support black employees and their families.

The announcements follow a $12 million commitment from Google to organizations working to address racial inequities that was announced earlier this month. YouTube, which is owned by Google, also announced a $100 million fund to support black creators.

Creating meaningful change starts within our own company, Pichai wrote in a memo sent to the company. Strengthening our commitment to racial equity and inclusion will help Google build more helpful products for our users and the world.

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Google commits $175 million to racial equity with focus on black-owned businesses - The Verge

As great as Google Chrome is one has to accept the fact that its known less for efficient internet browsing and more for being an absolute glutton when it comes to the RAM used to keep it up and running. Its been one of the main complaints laid against the platform and is surely one of the things Google is most aware of when updating the program. Yet while Chrome has gone almost untouched in the browser space for a while now, even beating out Firefox with which it competed for some years, it seems to have been resting on its laurels for too long. Microsoft Edge has recently reinvented itself, showing the world that its possible to browse the web without dedicating a full stick of RAM to the experience and Chrome has apparently been taking notes.

MSPowerUserreportedthat Google will soon be revealing and releasing a version of Chrome that plans on cutting back on memory usage by a substantial amount. Learning a lesson from Edge, Chrome will soon be implementing a form of memory management called Segment Heap management which should cut down on the amount of RAM need to consistently run the browser by 27%.

This reduction is just an average and considering the amount of different systems running Chrome, one can expect a vast discrepancy in the reductions across the board. Still, wed like to remind you all that this isnt a good reason to keep dozens of tabs open. Seriously, clean those suckers up. You sit there and wonder why youre not being as productive as you should be and then sift through 34 different tabs to find a single sentence you need to quote. Youre your own worst enemy and you know it.

(Source:Engadget)

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Google is updating Chrome to be less greedy with your RAM - Stuff Magazines

Cheap phones are about to get really, really good. Thats because the OnePlus Z and Google Pixel 4a two affordable yet powerful Android phones will soon release, offering premium looks and features for a budget price.

Or, at least, soon, was what we were led to believe. The OnePlus Z could certainly still see release in July, but every time we hear news about the Pixel 4a, its seemingly tied to a delay. The latest rumor is that the device has been delayed until October, which would square it up with the flagship Pixel 5s reveal, already expected to happen that month.

Ultimately, were not sure when youll be able to buy either of these attractively-priced smartphones. Strangely, though, we do know enough about them based on leaks to help you decide which you should probably look forward to buying once they finally break cover. Hopefully, this OnePlus Z vs Google Pixel 4a face-off can shed some light on that question.

Again, forecasting when either of these devices will be available is easier said than done. Our best guesses have been dashed repeatedly especially in the case of the Pixel 4a, which is rumored to be missing summer 2020 entirely in favor of a fall launch.

Googles handset is reportedly complete and ready to ship weve seen a number of rumors and leaked shots of finished devices suggesting as much and yet its still missing in action. Thats especially disappointing, considering Apples excellent iPhone SE could use some healthy competition, and Android fans could use an alternative to Apples cheapest handset. The Pixel 4a has even been rumored to cost as little as $349, which would make for a $50 savings over the iPhone SE.

The OnePlus Z, theoretically, should be available much sooner than the Pixel 4a perhaps as soon as July. It could also be a fair amount more expensive than the Pixel, at anywhere from $499 to $599, based on leaks to date. Its worth pointing out that the OnePlus 8 starts at $699, so its hard to imagine OnePlus making a compelling case for the OnePlus Z if its too similar in price to the OnePlus 8.

When the Pixel 4a does release, look for it to be sold through a variety of carriers as it stands, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint all offer the Pixel 3a, and of course the latter two carriers are in the midst of merging. The OnePlus Zs carrier prospects are harder to ascertain, though Verizon and T-Mobiles partnerships with the Chinese phone maker hint at possibilities for the entry-level device.

Both the OnePlus Z and Pixel 4a look to incorporate aspects of the aesthetics OnePlus and Google have respectively developed for their premium phones, albeit in a more affordable package.

For the OnePlus Z, that could translate to a metal-and-glass design with the same kind of gradient finish OnePlus lavishes over for its high-end products, except with a boxier footprint and a fully-flat display that doesnt pour over the sides of the phone.

The Pixel 4a will echo the design of the existing Pixel 4 in many ways, while simultaneously making a few noticeable changes. Outside of an all-polycarbonate design for the least-expensive Pixel, everything weve seen of the phone suggests Google will trim the top bezel and extend the display all the way up to the upper edge, while stashing a front-facing camera into the panels upper-left corner, hole punch style.

A capacitive Pixel Imprint fingerprint sensor will likely handle authentication duties at the back, while the rear camera housing will take the form of a square, in keeping brand identity with the Pixel 4, except itll house just one lens rather than two. The Pixel 4a may lose the brands Active Edge functionality, however, which allows you to squeeze the devices sides for instant access to the Google Assistant.

Theres one final distinction between these two devices that will likely earn Google some points back in the Pixel 4as favor. While the 4a has been rumored to carry a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, the OnePlus Z hasnt. Of course, OnePlus will gladly recommend its OnePlus Bullets Wireless 2 headphones for those inconvenienced by this design decision, but for some users, theres simply nothing better than tried-and-true wired buds and that trusty old connector.

Rumors suggest that the OnePlus Zs display will measure 6.4 inches from corner to corner, and the panel itself will be OLED, with a 90Hz refresh rate just like the OnePlus 8 has.

Its possible OnePlus turns to an LCD panel for its cheapest new handset, however OnePlus has not released a phone with an LCD screen since the OnePlus 2 in 2015, so wed consider that an unlikely cost-saving measure.

The Pixel 4as screen is expected to be sized at 5.8 inches, and utilize OLED technology just like its predecessors. Unfortunately, it will likely miss out on the Pixel 4as 90 Hz refresh rate, putting it at a disadvantage compared to OnePlus handset at least where animations and smoothness are concerned.

Based on what weve heard in the run up to launch, the cameras inside the OnePlus Z and Pixel 4a couldnt be more different.

The Pixel 4as rear shooter is expected to continue the tech thats underpinned shooters in the last several generations of Pixel handsets. Buyers will get a 12.2-megapixel, /1.8 single-lens camera lavished with Googles latest computational photography tricks, whatever those may be.

We expect Night Sight and Super Res Zoom to make appearances once again, perhaps joined by Live HDR+, which allows users to witness HDR processing results through the viewfinder in real time. That particular feature missed the Pixel 3a, because Google's current cheap phone isnt powerful enough to pull it off.

The OnePlus Z, on the other hand, could sport between two and four lenses, headlined perhaps by a 64-MP main lens, as well as ultrawide and macro optics at 16-MP and 2-MP, respectively. Thats at least according to specs of a yet-unannounced budget-minded OnePlus device that leaked in a survey on an Indian shopping site. However, weve also heard rumblings more recently that the OnePlus Z will equal the quantity of lenses in the companys range-topping OnePlus 8 Pro model, which notably includes a color filter lens.

For what its worth, early renders of the OnePlus Z back when it was known colloquially as the OnePlus Lite depicted a device with two cameras on the back. But no matter how many lenses OnePlus ultimately stuffs in its next device, the firm will need to tune up its post-processing and software if it has any hope of delivering a camera experience on par with Google and Apples flagships something the Pixel 3a and iPhone SE achieve quite effortlessly already.

While both the OnePlus Z and Pixel 4a appear as if theyll incorporate Snapdragon 7-series power, the OnePlus Z should have a slight spec advantage. Thats because OnePlus device has been tipped to include Qualcomms Snapdragon 765 chipset, which will also allow it to connect to 5G networks.

The Pixel 4a, conversely, is said to use the Snapdragon 730 chipset. Thats still formidable silicon for a midrange phone, though its not quite as capable as the Snapdragon 765, and it also lacks 5G connectivity.

The Pixel 4a should see a bump in RAM, up from the 4GB allotted in the Pixel 3a to 6GB in the new model. We dont know precisely how much RAM the OnePlus Z will tout, but it could be as much as 12GB, to keep parity with other, more premium OnePlus hardware. In all honesty, though, if it would keep the price of the phone down, 8GB seems fine enough.

The Pixel 3a benefitted from solid battery life last year, lasting just a minute shy of the 12-hour mark in Toms Guides custom web-surfing test over LTE. That phone had a 3,000-mAh battery, and the Pixel 4a has been tipped to carry a 3,080-mAh unit, at least according to a report from 9to5Google back in April.

One thing the Pixel 4a probably wont have is wireless charging. Thats a feature on pricier Pixels, but one scrapped on last year's Pixel 3a, and oftentimes lacking from cheaper handsets in general. One render of a wirelessly-charging Pixel 4a leaked courtesy of case maker ESR a few weeks back, though all other rumors weve heard to date would appear to suggest this was an error. While case makers are often eager to advertise that their accessories dont impede wireless charging, that particular detail might not be relevant in the case of the Pixel 4a.

With the OnePlus 8 Pro, OnePlus introduced 30-watt wireless charging a first for its handsets. However, given that the less-expensive OnePlus 8 lacks wireless charging, we dont see the feature making a jump to the OnePlus Z. Weve seen OnePlus upcoming midrange device linked to a 4,000-mAh battery, which seems sufficient though we wont know for sure until the device is launched.

In terms of charging speed, the Pixel 4a is expected to continue the 18-watt USB Power Delivery charging system introduced on the very first Pixel phone, and present in the Pixel 3a. The OnePlus Z, conversely, is tipped to utilize OnePlus proprietary Warp Charge 30T wired technology.

The OnePlus Z and Pixel 4a look like a pair of compelling midrange handsets with premium designs and features. However, theyre quite different.

Although we cant recommend one handset over the other for certain until weve actually had a chance to test them, our hunch is that power users who want the most speed for their buck from gaming performance to downloads and even display refresh rates will probably gravitate toward the OnePlus Z.

On the flip side, buyers that arent as chiefly concerned with performance, who perhaps prioritize photography above all else, will likely find more to like with the Pixel 4a. Googles phone is also quite certain to be cheaper, with a more playful design and likely a longer period of software update support than youd probably get from the OnePlus Z all factors which work in the Pixel 4as favor.

Itd be nice to say that well have confirmation on these educated guesses soon, but the reality of the matter is that we dont know when well be able to compare these two phones in earnest, side-by-side with real analysis and testing. That seems to depend in large part on whether Google can get the Pixel 4a out before the fall. The coming weeks will be crucial in determining when these highly-anticipated handsets will see the light of day.

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Google Pixel 4a vs OnePlus Z: Which budget Android phone will win? - Tom's Guide

Share This Article:A Google building in Mountain View. Photo via Wikimedia Commons

The coronavirus is still with us, but San Diego is beginning to reopen, creating a situation almost as challenging and confusing and in need of news coverage as the beginning of the pandemic itself.

Support Times of San Diego's growthwith a small monthly contribution

Thanks to a generous grant from Google, Times of San Diego will be devoting extra coverage for the next 13 weeks to three areas that have been especially hard hit: local business, education and the arts.

How will San Diego small businesses adapt? When will different school districts reopen, and in what form will they do so? How will local art organizations survive and thrive? These and many related questions will be the focus of this new coverage.

In addition, long-time business journalist Tom York will be reprising his popular weekly column in the daily newsletter on Tuesdays, bringing another perspective to how San Diegos business community has been changed by coronavirus.

As we ramp up coverage, we want to hear from you our readers. If you have press releases and story ideas, please send to news@timesofsandiego.com.

The grant is part of Google News Initiative Emergency Relief Fund, which is providing funding to assist 5,300 small and medium-sized newsrooms throughout the world during the pandemic.

Google Grant Helps Times of San Diego Cover Regions Reopening from Pandemic was last modified: June 22nd, 2020 by Chris Jennewein

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Google Grant Helps Times of San Diego Cover Regions Reopening from Pandemic - Times of San Diego

Aria Ashton, a Google.org Fellow

Google has always been famous for its program that allowed employees to use 20% of their time to work on whatever they wanted - an initiative that famously produced Gmail, Google Maps, Google News, and even AdSense.

Extending that idea even further but now focusing on social impact, Google.org has just celebrated the one-year anniversary of its Fellowship program, which enables Googlers to apply to do full-time pro bono work for up to six months with grantees working in areas like education, criminal justice, or economic opportunity. The Fellowship program is a key part of Google.orgs approach to philanthropy as Fellows and nonprofits work as a team to build solutions that have a sustained and lasting impact.

The approach is rooted in Googles purpose which is To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. For example, this past December, thanks to the help of its Fellows, the Vera Institute of Justice released People in Jails 2019, a first of its kind look at real-time jail data which includes surface trends and draws actionable insights about U.S. jail populations.

I sat down with Google.org Fellow, Aria Ashton, who participated in the Fellowship with Vera, to find out more about her journey.I began by asking how the program first caught her attention. Volunteering in my community has always been an important part of my life and Im usually looking for ways to help folks in need. I learned that Google.org runs a Fellowship program that enables Googlers to do pro bono work full-time for up to six months, to help nonprofits solve some of their toughest challenges by filling in gaps that Google technology and expertise can help address. I was fortunate to learn that they were seeking a Program Manager for a project with Vera Institute of Justicean organization working to improve justice systemsto bring transparency to jail data nationwide. It was the perfect fit not only was this an opportunity to apply my own set of skills to an urgent problem, but I was already personally connected to the issue of criminal justice reform. Its incredible, really, to be given the opportunity to put your normal day job on hold for a period of six months in order to work full-time on a project with an enormous potential for positive impact, said Ashton.

The issue of criminal justice reform is something Ashton was passionate about for personal reasons. Ive seen first hand some of the failures within our criminal justice system as my brother cycled in and out of lock-ups from a young age. With a history of mental illness and substance use disorder, his behavior was regularly criminalized. My communitys solution for getting him off the streets was to lock him up, rather than provide an opportunity for medical intervention. Using detention facilities in this way not only harms individuals and their families but ultimately contributes to a cycle of poverty in our society which goes largely unchecked. In my work with Vera, I learned that county jails are often filled with people arrested on charges related to substance use (which often goes hand in hand with mental illness). If our work eventually contributes to a decline in this trend, it would benefit a lot of people like my brother.

The team at Vera: Terin Patel-Wilson, Sarah Minion (Vera Outreach Associate), Eital ... [+] Schattner-Elmaleh (Vera Data Scientist), James Wallace-Lee, Colin Adams.

Ashton elaborated on the experience of working with Vera and what they were able to achieve. It was humbling to work with an organization like Vera, which has been doing really important work in the criminal justice space for a long time. As volunteers, the other 11 Fellows and I were bringing our skills to the table, but most of us had never worked on this type of problem before. By working with the Vera team, we were able to build a tool to ingest anonymized up-to-date jail data to help surface trends and draw actionable insights for Vera to use in their work. This is meaningful because the most recent jail data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics is usually at least a couple of years old; which is eons in the dynamic environment of criminal justice reform. Gaps in data are a big issue for advocatesif you dont have data showing how jail populations are changing over time, its tough to convince anyone that things need to change. When you can point to data, you have a much more powerful tool for enacting change.

I asked Ashton what some of the key insights worth sharing were. The data revealed that there has been an overall increase in the nationwide jail population; an increase due to larger jail populations in rural counties as well as small and mid-sized metropolitan areas. For me, the most important thing to remember is that the majority of people in jail are pre-trial. This means that our local jails are primarily used to incarcerate legally innocent people. These are folks who have not been convicted of the charges they are facing; many of whom are being detained in civil matters, which can include people incarcerated pretrial for immigration cases, or for something as banal as unpaid fines and fees. The difference between being in jail and being free is often a question of what resources a person has available to them at the time.

Finally, I asked her whether this had sparked a desire in her to do more work in this field. Working alongside folks who have devoted their lives to this kind of work was incredibly rewarding and it has inspired me to do more. I am particularly passionate about the kinds of structural shifts that need to happen in order to welcome masses of people back into our communities as we continue the work of decarceration in the United States. These populations will need housing, access to work, and affordable health care, so Im hoping to continue to work on projects in the future which look to solve these kinds of problems. Ultimately, there is an important investment to be made in formerly incarcerated communities, so that these vast stores of human potential dont go untapped.

Originally posted here:

How Google.Org Fellows Are Helping Use The Power Of Data For Criminal Justice Reform - Forbes

What's that COVID-19 tracking 'app' that's suddenly appeared on your Android or iPhone device?

Social media is buzzing with complaints from people after apparently discovering that Apple or Google has suddenly uploaded a COVID-19 tracking app to their phone without permission. Here's what actually happened.

If you have opened up your Facebook or Twitter apps only to be bombarded by messages from people warning that Apple or Google has suddenly and stealthily installed a COVID-19 tracking app to their phone, and you should check yours, then you are not alone.

I'm sorry to disappoint those readers looking forward to a good old rant about the state violating their right to privacy or expecting fuel to feed another conspiracy theory fire. Neither Apple nor Google have uploaded an app to your smartphone without your permission; no stealthy and automatic tracking app installation has taken place.

Yes, there is now an entry at the top of the Google settings on my Android smartphone, for example, that states: "COVID-19 exposure notifications."

Android device settings for Google show COVID-19 exposure notification entry

No, that does not mean an app has been installed. Indeed, if I were to click on that entry, it would take me to a screen that tells me I have to install or finish setting up a participating app to activate the exposure notifications.

One click and you would discover exposure notifications are disabled

So, what has been installed? This is a case of nothing to see here as all that's happened in the last Android or iOS update is that the application programming interface (API) that will enable exposure notifications to work has been added. It's not an app; it's the framework within the operating system that will allow such an app to function once it becomes available and if you decide to install it.

It's quite clear that you have to download the tracking app before exposure notifications can work

Apple and Google published a joint statement about this back on May 20. "What weve built is not an app - rather public health agencies will incorporate the API into their own apps that people install. Our technology is designed to make these apps work better."

To sum up, then: nobody can or will install a COVID-19 tracking app on your phone but you. At that point, you will have to agree to the various permissions the application requires to work effectively. As you were, nothing to see here.

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Have Apple And Google Suddenly Uploaded A COVID-19 Tracking App To Your Phone? The Facts Behind The Furore - Forbes

He started with the unglamorous search advertising team where his job was to make sure the systems remained up. Even in those days, an outage could cost Google $1,000 a second. His rise at Google mirrored a shift in how people bought ads. It was no longer the realm of art directors but something more akin to traders making automated bids on where ads would go and how much to pay.

In 2013, he became Googles senior vice president for advertising and commerce, overseeing all of the companys ad systems. His responsibilities included overseeing advertising at YouTube to take a video service replete with problematic content and turn it into something that could challenge television networks for advertising revenue.

He felt it was a no-win situation. If YouTubes automated systems held a high bar for what was suitable for advertising, the company risked angering some vocal creators upset at being ineligible for ad revenue. With a less restrictive approach, the chances of a troubling video running with ads was higher. This would anger advertisers and effectively create a financial incentive to keep making problematic content.

In 2017, when The Times of London published examples of videos that exploit young children and appeal to pedophiles carrying ads, Mr. Ramaswamy reached a breaking point.

This is an impossible conflict and we kind of muddled our way through it, he said. All of us have boundaries for what we will tolerate in our jobs. There comes a point where you say the environment I am working in has a situation that is not acceptable to me.

After he left Google, Mr. Ramaswamy appeared ready to follow the well-worn path of accomplished Silicon Valley executive to venture capitalist, joining Greylock Partners. But after a few months, he quietly started working on Neeva, recruiting former Google colleagues including his co-founder, Vivek Raghunathan, a former vice president at the company who worked with Mr. Ramaswamy on search ads and YouTube ads during his 11 years there.

Neeva, which is based in Googles hometown, Mountain View, Calif., has raised $37.5 million with equal investments from Greylock, Sequoia Capital an early investor in Google and Mr. Ramaswamy himself. It has 25 employees.

Continued here:

A Former Google Executive Takes Aim at His Old Company With a Start-Up - The New York Times

You may want to wait until you've had your first cup of coffee before diving into the news report from a Google Home.

I'm not a morning person. I am, however, hooked onGoogle Home Routines. But there's one type of Routine I've just never been able to nail down: a morning Routine. The problem is I need awake-up routinethat's just barely motivating enough to rouse me out of bed, but not so grating that I just end up shouting "OK,Google, stop!" and pulling a pillow over my head. So, I decided to take on one of the greatest challenges I've ever accepted willingly as a smart home enthusiast: tocraft a morning routine that I'll actually use.

This has been especially important these last few months, as quarantine and working from home have all but obliterated my old set of morning rituals. Maybe you're in the same boat and, like me, long for more consistency. Or maybe there's just stuff you want your Google Home to do for you in the morning (play the news, report the weather forecast) but you haven't quite figured out how to get it all done with just one command.

Well, I cracked the code. I sussed out which elements of a Google Home ($30 at Best Buy) morning Routine energized me -- and which ones made me want to crawl back beneath the covers. Here's how I did it.

You can start a Routine from any compatible device, like this Nest Hub on a nightstand, but then direct other Google Home smart speakers to carry out various Actions.

In case you're unfamiliar, a Google Home Routine is a set of tasks Google Assistant will carry out in response to a single voice command. You can create your own Routines, but there are a handful of default ones you can use and customize as well -- including one you trigger by simply saying, "Hey, Google, good morning."

To see which Routines you have for your Google Home setup, open the Google Home app, tap the Routines icon near the top and then at the bottom of your screen tap Manage routines. At the top of the list you should see your Good morning routine, which you can tap to edit. (To create a Routine from scratch, tap the + sign icon in the lower right corner.)

What Routines are not, however, is automatic. You have to trigger them with a voice command, which means if they annoy you so much you just avoid them, you probably won't get any benefit from them. That's why it's important to set them up right.

The average smart speaker household now has 2.6 devices,according to an April recent survey by NPR and Edison Research. I've got three Google Home and Nest Mini speakers and two Nest Hubs ($80 at Best Buy), so practically one for every room in my house (including the owner's suite bathroom). When crafting a Routine, you don't have to limit Actions to the speaker that hears the command -- you can actually direct traffic, as it were, to any or all of your other devices.

The average smart speaker household has an average of 2.6 devices, according to a survey by NPR and Edison Research.

This was key to creating a morning Routine that worked for me. You see, there's a conflict between what I want my morning to look like and what I'll actually tolerate -- but distributing my wants across multiple devices gives my brain the space it needs to wake up on its own terms.

For example, I want to hear the news in the morning, but in the first few minutes after waking up my brain just isn't ready for it. Solution: Play the news on the kitchen speaker, so I can start listening just as my first cup of coffee starts to kick in. Same goes for music -- I know an upbeat playlist will jazz me up in the morning, but I'm not really ready to rock out while I'm still struggling to open my eyes. Solution: Play music from the bathroom speaker to coincide with my morning shower.

There are really only a couple of things I want to happen with my smart home devices when I first wake up: I want to turn up the thermostat and turn on my bedroom lights. Both my Google Nest Learning Thermostat and my Philips Hue lighting system are connected to my Google Home account, which makes this easy.

You can reorder your Google Home Routine's Actions by tapping "Change order."

The only confusing part is the Google Home app has two settings that could affect my smart bulbs: Adjust scenes and Adjust lights, plugs and more. I control my Philips Hue color bulbs by selecting Adjust scenes and choosing a scene I created called Golden White that turns my three bedroom lights on to a nice, warm white light set to 50% brightness. If you want that kind of granular control, you'll have to set up a scene in your smart bulb app ahead of time.

The other option, Adjust lights, plugs and more, only gives you the choice to turn your bulbs either off, or on to their most recent state. That means if the previous night I had been chilling in my bedroom with my Blood Moon scene (two dim dark blue lights and one dim red one) that's what would turn on -- not really a great vibe for in the morning.

Once I realized I could distribute Actions across multiple devices, I had to decide what I wanted my bedroom Nest Hub to tell me about in those first few moments of consciousness. Turns out I'm mentally competent enough to handle the weather, my calendar and reminders and not much else.

If you have a Google Nest Learning Thermostat, controlling it with a Google Home Routine is a breeze.

Here's what my morning Routine now looks like:

Now that I have a Google Home morning Routine that doesn't get on my nerves, waking up with a Google Home has definitely earned its place on mylist of the top five ways I love the Google Home ecosystem (even though I doadmit the Google Home isn't perfect). To get the most out of your own Google Home, I highly recommend you go in and change these five settings right away.

Now playing: Watch this: Google Home's best talent lets you customize responses

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Google Home Routines can get annoying. Here's how to avoid that - CNET

Google is rolling out a software update that improves network performance for Nest Wifi and Google WiFi routers on slow network connections, the company announced in a blog post. Your Wi-Fi will better support multiple video calls, gaming sessions and more simultaneously, Google Nest product manager Sanjay Noronha wrote in the post, adding that the latest software update will also improve device connection speeds on wireless networks and optimizations so your devices move to faster Wi-Fi radio channels.

The update includes improvements to general security and stability. The priority device feature, which lets users choose which device temporarily gets the strongest Wi-Fi available, is getting smarter as well, according to Google. That should be a welcome update to families working and schooling at home; theres nothing like slow Wi-Fi freezing your Zoom call with the boss because the kids are playing Fortnite.

Google launched the Nest Wifi system back in October, combining a router and smart speaker into one product. Prior to that, it released the Google WiFi mesh router system.

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Google and Nest routers now work much better with slow home internet connections - The Verge