Category Archives: Google

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's top aide is married to a lobbyist who represent clients such as Verizon, Airbnb and Alphabet's Google.

Hochul named Karen Persichilli Keogh, a veteran of Hillary Clinton's U.S. Senate office and the wife of longtime lobbyist Mike Keogh, as secretary to the governor. Prior to taking her new job with Hochul, Karen Keogh was an executive at Wall Street giant J.P. Morgan Chase, where she once held a state lobbying position.

The secretary to the governor is a crucial position in New York's state government. Melissa DeRosa held the job under Andrew Cuomo, who resigned this week due to a sexual harassment scandal. DeRosa was mentioned repeatedly in a report by the New York State Attorney General detailing alleged instances of Cuomo sexually harassing at least 11 women. Cuomo has denied wrongdoing.

DeRosa was also tied to a major Albany lobbyist: her father Giorgio DeRosa, who is a leader at Bolton St. Johns. Mike Keogh is a partner at the same firm.

After an inquiry from CNBC, a spokesman for the firm said in an email Thursday that Mike Keogh will not lobby Hochul or her team.

"For over 20 years, Bolton-St Johns'entire firm has followed all ethics rules and laws, and Mr. Keogh has decided he will not lobby the Executive Chamber," the spokesman said.

A spokeswoman for the governor later said the secretary to the governor will recuse herself in any discussions and decisions related to her husband's lobbying efforts.

Mike Keogh has several marquee clients that have recently been trying to influence New York lawmakers and officials including Hochul's office when she was lieutenant governor according to state disclosure reports. Mike Keogh and his team lobbied Hochul's staff as recently as June.

Hochul's office said at the time of Karen Keogh's appointment that "recusals will be put in placeby midnight to ensure that any New York State business relating to the secretary's spouse will be delegated in order to prevent any appearance of conflicts of interest."

The Keogh situation nonetheless presents a complicated problem for the new governor. The corporations represented by Mike Keogh conduct extensive business in the state. Google, for instance, has said it plans to invest $250 million in New York City this year with more jobs on the way.

Among other items, Verizon announced last year it would were investing $43 millionin New York City, in a bid to help provide digital learning tools to students who were forced to work from home due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A Hochul press representative did not respond to CNBC's follow up questions about how exactly Keogh is going to recuse herself from her spouse's work.

Hochul said this week that a stronger ethics code will be part of her new administration, which will include "requiring ethics training for every employee of New York State government," she said on Tuesday. Hochul on Thursday announced New York State Senator Brian Benjamin will be her lieutenant governor.

The governor herself could have to answer for potential conflicts that go beyond members of her team.

CNBC reported that her daughter-in-law is a lobbyist at a pharmaceutical firm that has been seeking to influence state and federal lawmakers.

William Hochul, the governor's husband, is the senior vice president and general counsel at gambling and hospitality giant Delaware North, which is based in Buffalo.Hochul's administrationwill have authority over key regulators that have ties to the gambling industry, including theNew York State Gaming Commission.

Hochul's office previously told CNBC that Delaware North has set up a firewall that prevents William Hochul from having any involvement in state business, restricts his compensation from New York State-related businesses and establishes strict monitoring of any communications with Delaware North.

Government watchdogs say that they expect Hochul to be more transparent than Cuomo.

"As Governor Hochul commits herself to the task before her of addressing thepast decade of abuses under Cuomo, we know she wants to lead by example, and that's why we urge her and her team to be as transparent with the public as possible," Susan Lerner, an executive director at Common Cause/ New York, told CNBC in a statement on Thursday. "Once they've settled in, we expect themto release meeting schedules and verify that those with previous conflicts of interest were not involved in the discussions."

TESTD, a private company that provides vaccine verification and helps businesses keep track of tests for diseases such as Covid, had Mike Keogh and other Bolton St. Johns lobbyists engage with state lawmakers between May and June, a lobbying report says.

The disclosure says that Cuomo and Hochul's staff were lobbied "regarding potential partnerships for Covid testing and vaccination process in the state of New York."

A lobbying report also shows that pharmaceutical company Emergent BioSolutions also tapped Keogh and lobbyists at his firm to lobby officials on a bill that "relates to prescribing an opioid antagonist with a patient's first opioid prescription each year." That piece of legislation has passed both the state Senate and Assembly but has yet to make it's way to the governor's desk.

Verizon, Google and Airbnb all tapped Keogh and the firm to lobby earlier this year.

Between March and April, Google paid the firm $20,000 to lobby Cuomo and Hochul's staff on issues pertaining to the budget. Airbnb paid $25,000 for the firm to lobby executive chamber staffers " regarding short-term rental legislation in the state of New York."

Verizon paid the firm just over $18,000 between January and February to lobby Hochul's staff on issues surrounding a permit and the state budget.

Karen Keogh also has ties to lobbying campaigns.

Her LinkedIn page says she was once a managing director and head of state government relations at J.P. Morgan.

State lobbying reports show that J.P. Morgan Securities spent about $22,000 between January and June in trying to influence local officials. Hochul's previous office is not listed among those targeted by the investment arm of the Wall Street giant.

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NY Gov. Kathy Hochul's top aide is married to a lobbyist for Verizon, Google and Airbnb - CNBC

Since 2017, Microsoft has offered its Office suite to Chromebook users via the Google Play store, but that is set to come to an end in a few short weeks.

As of September 18, Microsoft is discontinuing support for Office (which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook) on Chromebook. Microsoft is not, however, abandoning the popular mobile device altogether. Instead of an app that is downloaded, Microsoft is encouraging users to go to the web instead.

In an effort to provide the most optimized experience for Chromebook customers, Microsoft apps (Office and Outlook) will be transitioned to web experiences (Office.com and Outlook.com) on September 18, 2021, Microsoft wrote in a statement emailed to TechCrunch.

Microsofts statement also noted that this transition brings Chromebook customers access to additional and premium features.

The Microsoft web experience will serve to transition its base of Chromebook users to the Microsoft 365 service, which provides more Office templates and generally more functionality than what the app-based approach provides. The web approach is also more optimized for larger screens than the app.

In terms of how Microsoft wants Chromebook users to get access to Office and Outlook, the plan is for customers to, sign in with their personal Microsoft Account or account associated with their Microsoft 365 subscription, according to the statement. Microsoft has also provided online documentation to show users how to run Office on a Chromebook.

Chromebooks run on Googles Chrome OS, which is a Linux-based operating system. Chromebooks also enable Android apps to run, as Android is also Linux based, with apps downloaded from Google Play. Its important to note that while support for Chromebooks is going away, Microsoft is not abandoning other Android-based mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones.

For those Chromebook users that have already downloaded the Microsoft Office apps, the apps will continue to function after September 18, though they will not receive any support or future updates.

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Microsoft is discontinuing its Office apps for Chromebook users in favor of web versions - TechCrunch

Otter.ai is one of our favorite transcription tools thanks to the accuracy of its machine learning-generated notes. If youre a paying user, you can also use its Otter Assistant feature to plug into your calendar and automatically join and transcribe meetings even if youre not there. Previously, Otter Assistant only worked with Zoom meetings, but today the company is expanding it to integrate with Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Cisco Webex meetings.

Its a handy feature, depending on the platform (or platforms) on which you tend to have meetings. Zoom already offers third-party transcription features, for example, while Teams has its own built-in free transcription tool. If youre already using one of these services, then the expansion of Otter Assistant wont mean much.

However, if youre having meetings across lots of platforms and are already signed up to Otter.ai, then the Assistant tool is a handy way to keep all your notes in one place. Like Microsoft Teams transcription tool, the notes it generates are also available to view live, letting you search the transcription even while the meeting is still in progress. It does cost, though, and requires an Otter Business plan. That costs $20 a month and gets you access to a bunch of other features including custom vocabulary, audio imports, and the like.

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Otter.ai can transcribe Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Cisco Webex meetings if youre not there - The Verge

Google has teamed up with Setu, a fintech specialising in providing application programming interfaces (APIs), to allow its users to book fixed deposits (FDs) through Google Pay, a person with knowledge of the matter said on the condition of anonymity.

In the initial roll-out, FDs of Equitas Small Finance Bank will be offered for up to one year. The maximum interest rate is 6.35%. Users will have to complete an Aadhaar-based KYC (know your customer) through a one-time password (OTP).

Setu has already created a beta version for the API, which Mint has reviewed. A second person with knowledge of the matter confirmed the development.

The beauty of the system is that you can book an Equitas FD on Google Pay even if you do not have a savings account in Equitas Small Finance Bank. The money will flow out of your existing account and back into your existing savings account. Other banks, including Ujjivan Small Finance Bank and AU Small Finance Bank, are also in the pipeline. If successful, the system will also be extended to other payment apps," said the second person. While attention is usually focused on mutual funds and stocks, FDs are the largest component of savings in India. They are largely overlooked," he said.

The beta version of the API offers FDs of various tenors including 7-29 days, 30-45 days, 46-90 days, 91-180 days, 181-364 days, and 365 days, with interest rates ranging from 3.5% for the shortest FD to 6.35% for the one-year FD. According to media reports, Google Pay has 150 million monthly active users in India.

Small finance banks have aggressively teamed up with fintechs to offer high-interest savings accounts and fixed deposits. Equitas Small Finance Bank has partnered with fintechs such as NiYO and Freo (Moneytap) to offer its savings accounts with interest rates of 7% for balances more than 1 lakh. Under Reserve Bank of India rules, small finance banks have to lend at least 75% of their adjusted net bank credit to priority sectors compared with 40% for scheduled commercial banks. At least 50% of their portfolios must consist of loans up to 25 lakh.

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Google ties up with fintech to let its users open FDs on GPay - Mint

In recent months, YouTube Music has seen a slew of tweaks that refine the app but dont fundamentally change the experience. Thats par for the course at Google, but whats been incredibly odd is how the YouTube Music team has not meaningfully talked about any of these new features until last week.

YouTube Musics last major feature launch that warranted a blog post from the company was the addition of the Home feed activity bar and availability of personalized My Mixes in November. The last time YouTube actually talked about its Music streaming service was in mid-February when previewing upcoming features for the main video, TV, and Kids apps, as well as creators.

At that, the YouTube Music bullet point was mostly just a regurgitation of the November personalized mixes news while hinting at making user-created playlists more discoverable to others on the platform. That functionality eventually rolled out in April by having search distinguish between Featured and Community playlists.

That launch along with a slew of other enhancements to search, outline-style icons, and usability was never detailed in a public manner until last week. (The only exception is YouTube Music for Wear OS, though it was never really detailed in-depth before release.)

Last week, Google announced it was launching a bi-monthly roundup of product improvements on the YouTube Music Help Community.

Every other month, youll hear new updates directly from us with the hope that these posts keep you better informed about all the things were working on at YouTube Music.

The inaugural one for August 2021 covers May, June, and July, with the company seeking your thoughts on these launches and improvements as well.

Know that different members of the music team will keep checking these posts to see what YouTube Music listeners think of their launches, and may prioritize future changes based on your feedback!

Highlights are below, and this is a positive development from the YouTube Music team. The steady tweaks in recent months have indicated to users that the streaming service is still being developed with a focus on usability enhancements though some argue that there are no big features. While most are not expecting some radical update, the lack of communication threw into question Googles commitment.

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Google meaningfully talks about new YouTube Music features for the first time in 2021 - 9to5Google

Google

Google officially took the curtain off its latest phones, the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, just a few weeks before the tech giant unveiled the Pixel 5A. It wasn't a detailed launch and we still have plenty to learn about the Pixel 6, but Google promises exciting features stemming from a brand-new camera system and its own in-house developed Tensor system-on-a-chip. I, for one, am already excited about what Google's 2021 phone lineup can offer.

Here are the main reasons why I'm keen to get my hands on Google's new phone -- and why you should be, too.

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As a professional photographer, I'm most excited about new camera innovations on phones that let you take amazing images without having to haul back-breaking amounts of gear. Google's Pixel phones have always had solid cameras, with great low-light and HDR performance, but the last couple of models haven't really pushed the boat out.

The Pixel 5's dual camera setup did take great images, but up against the triple array on Apple's iPhone 12 Pro Max or the Galaxy S21 Ultra's amazing zoom, it didn't really do much to tempt people who are in pursuit of the best photos possible (like me).

The Pixel 5 had a good camera, but it didn't offer as much excitement as its rivals from Apple and Samsung.

The Pixel 6 promises to be an improvement, with an upgraded image sensor that promises to capture 150% more light than its predecessor. And more light means better-looking photos, particularly in low-light situations. There's also a 4x optical zoom lens, which I'll particularly focus on as zoom lenses can offer a great way of finding new, creative compositions in your photography that you might have missed with just a wide-angle lens.

Only the Pixel 6 Pro is destined to get the telephoto zoom lens, with the standard Pixel 6 getting the standard zoom and ultrawide lens. Megapixel numbers for these cameras are still unknown, but rumored specs from leaker Jon Prosser list a 50-megapixel wide camera and a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera on both models. The Pro's telephoto zoom lens is rumored to come in at 48 megapixels.

The Tensor processor, which we'll shortly go into more, should also give these cameras a boost. Google reckons its new custom chip will help in computational photography, achieving better-looking, sharper images, even when there's a lot of movement. Photography demos given to several tech outlets demonstrating the Tensor's capabilities displayed how the chip can intermix elements of the photos taken by the Pixel 6's multiple cameras, putting all of those details together into a single photo.

Updates to the Pixel 6's camera could make it a formidable photography tool.

All in all, the Pixel 6 is likely to have a formidable camera setup, and one that I'm excited to take for a spin. It's going to need to be the best it can be as it'll have some stiff competition from the rumored iPhone 13, which we currently expect to launch in September -- likely sometime before the Pixel 6.

Previously Google used Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips in its phones, but it's going in a bold new direction for the Pixel 6 by launching its own silicon, named Tensor, as the brains inside the handset. Google hasn't been specific about what kind of performance upgrades we can expect, but it has said that upgrades to AI and speech recognition will be particularly noticeable, along with the photography improvements.

Google has typically used Qualcomm chips in its phones, but now it's using its own custom-made Tensor processor.

It might seem an odd move for Google to start making its own chips, but it's a move that's exciting for the future of its phones. The Tensor chip isn't just about raw processing power -- most phones have way more power than they need -- but by controlling both the hardware and software, Google will be able to develop applications that take full advantage of the onboard components. Hopefully, it could also extend the number of years of software support with that control, allowing you to hold onto a Pixel 6 for more years with security updates.

It's much the same as what Apple has done for some time: using its own silicon in iPhones and thus having complete control over how the hardware and software interacts. It's one of the reasons why Apple's phones tend to age better, with even 5-year-old handsets still running the latest iOS. It's also why Apple recently shifted to using its own M1 chips for its most recent Mac line.

The Pixel 6 will be among the first phones to launch withAndroid 12 on board. We've been using Android 12 in its beta form for a little while already, and there's plenty to like and to be excited about trying properly on the Pixel 6.

Android 12's ability to create a whole interface theme based on one image looks really fun.

The Material You design language looks great, especially the option to create custom themes from your own images. Whenever you pick a new background image, Android will sample the dominant color in that image and use it to customize the notification bar, icons, texts and everything else across the interface to provide a cohesive look. I love customizing my phone, and I'm really excited to see how the interface looks when I use some of my photography as backgrounds.

Android 12 also makes improvements to privacy, including giving the option to turn off system access to the cameras and microphones -- just in case you get paranoid about certain apps listening in when you don't want them to.

The software gets a variety of tweaks, most of which aren't groundbreaking, but which do add up to a slick new experience that should look lovely on the Pixel 6 Pro's whopping 6.7-inch display.

You can read more about Android 12 in our ongoing guide, and make sure to check on our full Pixel 6 rumor roundup, which we'll continue to update as we find out more about the phones ahead of their release later this year.

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

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Pixel 6: 3 reasons I'm excited for Google's new phone - CNET

Google has confirmed its shutting down the standalone Android Auto for Phone Screens app with Android 12. Instead, anyone who wants a driving-friendly interface for their Android phone should use the Google Assistant driving mode, which is available within Google Maps, or the native Android Auto interface available in select cars.

For those who use the on phone experience (Android Auto mobile app), they will be transitioned to Google Assistant driving mode, Google said in a statement. Starting with Android 12, Google Assistant driving mode will be the built-in mobile driving experience. We have no further details to share at this time. Google says that the experience isnt changing for anyone using Android Auto in compatible cars.

Googles confirmation came after XDA Developers reported that some users were seeing a message in the Android Auto for Phone Screens app that said the service is now only available for car screens and pointed phone users towards Google Assistant driving mode as a replacement. Meanwhile, 9to5Google reports that the Android Auto for Phone Screens app now says its incompatible with Pixel devices running Android 12.

Android Autos app history is a little bit messy, but this is a move thats been a long time coming. The saga started in 2019, when Google decided to build most of Android Autos features into Android 10 as a system level feature, and discontinue the previously downloadable app. Thats fine for anyone with an Android Auto-compatible car, but anyone with an older vehicle would have lost access to the driving-friendly interface available directly on their phone. Bad times.

Googles plan for these users was a new Google Assistant driving mode, but this software was delayed, and despite being announced in 2019, it only started rolling out late last year (its subsequently expanded internationally). That meant Google effectively needed a stopgap measure, and the clunkily named Android Auto for Phone Screens app was born. The Verges Dieter Bohn did a great rundown of the situation in 2019 if you want to learn more.

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Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant - The Verge

Apples Mac has long been an afterthought for the video game industry, and few think of Google as a games company despite running Android, one of the biggest game platforms in the world. But Google had a plan to change those things in October 2020, according to an explicitly confidential 70-page vision document dubbed Games Futures.

The need-to-know document, which was caught up in the discovery process when Epic Games hauled Apple into court, reveals a tentative five-year plan to create what Google dubbed the worlds largest games platform. Google imagined presenting game developers with a single place they can target gamers across multiple screens including Windows and Mac, as well as smart displays all tied together by Google services and a low-cost universal portable game controller that gamers can pair with any device, even a TV.

Theres some reason to be skeptical that this document reflects Googles true direction: Brought to you by partially funded and i have a dream productions, an early slide reads. And we know that Google lost some of its gaming ambition this February, when it decided to pull the plug on its original game studios for Google Stadia.

And yet, the heavily redacted document suggests that to start down this path, Google would first bring emulated, native and streamed games to Windows, something that no longer sounds far-fetched: Microsoft just announced in June that Android apps are coming to Windows 11, admittedly with Amazons Appstore as the initial partner.

If Google is actually going in this direction, you can get a glimpse of what to expect in the full 70-page document embedded below. It includes how Google would try to establish its Play Games brand as an indie game destination, bring roughly 100 of the best of Android mobile games to PC, require developers to support controllers and multiple platforms, and mandate minimum prices so it can attract super-premium games to the platform. Theres a lot that hasnt been redacted, and its ambitious stuff.

And if youd like more where that came from, you can find our whole list of the best emails from the Epic v. Apple trial right here.

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Googles secret plan to organize games for play on any screen - The Verge

Google is adding an option to its Calendar service to let you show where youre working on any given day of the week, the company has announced. The feature will start rolling out from August 30th for users on select Google Workspace plans, and will be accessible via Calendars settings menu alongside its existing working hours options, as well as on the weekly calendar view below where it shows each days dates. Available work locations include Office, Home, Unspecified, or Somewhere else.

According to Google, the option is being added so its easier to plan in-person collaboration or set expectations in a hybrid workplace. It follows a surge in the popularity of home and hybrid working due to the pandemic. This has meant employees increasingly have to keep track not just of peoples working hours, but also their location, when planning in-person meetings and other events. Google Calendars new feature should help here.

Google says the new working locations feature will be switched off by default, but users will have the option of enabling it after it starts to roll out at the end of the month. The feature will be available across the following tiers: Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Nonprofits, and G Suite Business. However it wont be available for G Suite Basic customers, as well as customers on the Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, and Education Fundamentals plans.

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Google Calendar will let you record where youre working to help organize office meetings - The Verge

Ford-owned micromobility company Spin has announced an integration with Google Maps. Now, users planning their trips in 84 cities, towns and campuses across the U.S., Canada, Germany and Spain will be able to view Spins electric scooters and bikes on the app while planning their trip.

Spin joins its top competition on the popular mapping app, Lime, which also recently announced an integration with transit planning app Moovit. We can expect to see further integrations of micromobility operators with mapping apps as shared mobility becomes part of the broader transit ecosystem.

A recent report from the North American Bikeshare & Scootershare Association on the state of the micromobility industry found that 50% of riders reported using shared mobility to connect to transit, and 16% of all micromobility trips were for the purpose of connecting to transit.

Similar to Lime, the Spin icon will now show up under Google Maps bike section when planning a journey only in the mobile app, not on the desktop. A user will see the nearest available Spin vehicle, how long it will take to walk to it, what the estimated battery range is and the expected arrival time if using the vehicle. Choosing that option will direct users to the Spin app to pay for and unlock the vehicle.

With this integration, Spin is making it easier for millions of Google Maps users to easily incorporate shared bikes and scooters into their daily trips, Ben Bear, CEO of Spin, said in a statement. Our goal is to make it as low friction as possible for consumers to plan multi-modal journeys. It needs to be just as easy, and even more convenient to get around with bikes, buses, trains and scooters as it is with a personal car.

Bear also said this collaboration with Google is Spins largest yet, and he teased many more in the pipeline. Spin is already integrated into platforms like Citymapper, Moovit, Transit and Klner Verkehrs-Betriebe. This news comes not long after Spin announced it would be adding e-bikes to the mix and trying to capture market share with exclusive or semi-exclusive city partnerships. A major app integration such as this one could be a vote of confidence for Spin looking to partner with more cities in the future.

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Spins electric scooters and bikes are now on Google Maps - TechCrunch