Category Archives: Google

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As corporations procure more renewables and energy storage directly and increasingly seek to match all of their energy demand with carbon-free power, RMI's paper highlights the need for a holistic approach in order to best utilize the resources being added.

"Hourly load-matching strategies can help lay the groundwork for a decarbonized grid in the long term but should be carefully tailored to region-specific grid dynamics to also maximize emissions reductions in the near term," the report concluded.

To ultimately decarbonize the grid, the report notes annual corporate renewable procurement targets will not be enough but hourly matching comes with higher costs.

"As the level of hourly matching is increased, costs for hourly load matching rise in three distinct stages, well above costs for meeting annual procurement targets," RMI found.The cost to match anywhere from 30% to 80% of a facility's hourly demand with wind and solar are "relatively stable but increase significantly at higher levels of hourly load matching due to the need to use storage."

Buyers targeting "higher levels" of hourly matching greater than 85% "will face high costs in most markets if they rely only on only wind, solar, and lithium-ion batteries," RMI said. However, 100% matching also means buyers "create a demand signal for emerging technologies that can also meet valuable system-wide needs in decarbonized grids."

Microsoft and Google are among a few large companies that have piloted hourly load-matching strategies.Google set a goal of achieving round-the-clock carbon-free power supplyin 2018 and in September unveiled a plan to get there by 2030. In 2019,Microsoft announced a plan to power facilities from renewables 24/7,working with ENGIE to reach its goal.

RMI's report, produced with support from Microsoft, examined the costs, emissions impacts and renewables integration implications of hourly matching strategies in seven electricity markets, including four in the United States:PJM Interconnection, California Independent System Operator, Southwest Power Pool and Duke Energy's territory in the Southeast.

"Hourly procurement works best and can be most beneficial for the grid overall if it is done within the context of an organized electricity market," Dyson said. Corporate procurements and 24x7 matching could grow, "to the extent that wholesale markets with direct access are expanded and reformed." Maintaining the traditionally regulated, vertically-integrated monopoly utility structure in some regions could slow the growth of 24x7 corporate procurements,he said.

RMI's research recommends expanding wholesale market access to scale up hourly-procurement benefits, and ensuring procurements work for the entire grid.

"With more advanced procurement strategies, corporate procurement can play a key role in decarbonization of the grid as a whole," RMI said. "Coordinated action" around hourly-matching strategies "presents a rare opportunity to speed progress to a clean grid."

There is a tremendous amount that leading energy buyers can do to drive both near-term and long-term grid decarbonization, especially if they tailor their actions to needs of the grid as a whole, RMI Principal and co-author of the report Charles Teplin said in a statement.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misstated Google's clean energy goals. The company wants to source round-the-clock carbon-free energy by 2030.

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As Google, Microsoft and others pursue 24x7 clean energy, RMI report shows how they can do it better - Utility Dive

The Amazon shopping app in the Google Play Store on an Android smartphone.

Christoph Dernbach | picture alliance | Getty Images

Apple has removed Fakespot, a well-known app for detecting fake product reviews, from its App Store after Amazon complained the app provided misleading information and potential security risks.

Fakespot's app works by analyzing the credibility of an Amazon listing's reviews and gives it a grade of A through F. It then provides shoppers with recommendations for products with high customer satisfaction.

Amazon said it reported Fakespot to Apple for investigation after it grew concerned that a redesigned version of the app confused consumers by displaying Amazon's website in the app with Fakespot code and content overlaid on top of it. Amazon said it doesn't allow applications to do this. An Amazon spokesperson claimed, "The app in question provides customers with misleading information about our sellers and their products, harms our sellers' businesses, and creates potential security risks."

By Friday afternoon, following a review from Apple, the app was no longer available on the App Store.

Misleading or fake user reviews have proven to be a major problem for online retailers, including Amazon. The company has recently ramped up its efforts to detect and cull fake reviews. Its third-party marketplace, made up of millions of sellers, has grown to account for more than half of the company's overall sales, but it has become fertile ground for fake reviews, counterfeits and unsafe products. Regulators in the U.S. and abroad have taken steps to curb fake reviews on and off Amazon.

As fake reviews continue to proliferate the internet, third-party apps and websites have sprung up to help shoppers spot them, such as Fakespot, ReviewMeta and ReconBob.

Amazon reported well-known fake review detector app Fakespot to Apple for investigation, triggering its removal from the App Store.

Amazon

Apple said in a statement that Amazon on June 8 initiated a dispute with the Fakespot app over intellectual property rights. Apple said it provided Fakespot with steps to keep their app on the store and gave them "ample time" to resolve the issue. It then reached out to Fakespot on June 29, weeks before their app was removed from the App Store.

An Apple spokesperson didn't immediately respond to questions on which App Store guidelines were violated by Fakespot.

But Amazon pointed CNBC to two subsections of Apple's App Store guidelines that Fakespot may have violated. One guideline states that apps must make sure they're permitted to use, access, monetize access to or display content from a third-party service. Another guideline states that apps should not include false information and features.

Amazon also claims Fakespot's coding technique makes it possible for the app to collect and track information from customers. The company last January made similar claims against PayPal-owned Honey, a browser extension that lets users find coupons while shopping online, warning users it could be a "security risk."

In an interview, Fakespot founder and CEO SaoudKhalifah said he disputed Amazon's claim that the app presents security risks and said that while Fakespot does collect some user data, it doesn't sell it to third parties.

Khalifah added that many apps use the same coding technique, called "wrapping," to include a web browser view, such as coupon providers. He said many apps and websites also collect and track user information, including Amazon.

"We don't steal users' information, we've never done that," Khalifah said. "They've shown zero proof and Apple acted on this with zero proof."

Fakespot released a new version of its app at the end of May. Amazon reported the app to Apple in mid-June, Khalifah said.

Khalifah said he was upset that Apple didn't give Fakespot adequate warning that the app would be taken down from the App Store, or the ability to rectify issues with the app.

"Imagine going to a tenant and saying you have to take all your stuff, you have to leave right now. That's how I feel right now, to be quite honest with you," he added.

Fakespot's app is still available on the Google Play Store for Android devices as of Friday evening.

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Amazon asked Apple to remove an app that spots fake reviews, and Apple agreed - CNBC

Googles latest diversity report shows that despite some gains in the number of Black employees, the company is lagging in its goal to double the number of Black workers by 2025. And the search giant is having particular difficulty retaining women of color, the report released Thursday (pdf) shows.

Google uses a scale it calls an attrition index, with the number 100 used as a benchmark. The attrition figure for Black women on that index rose from 110 in 2020 to 146 in 2021, the report shows. Among Native American women the attrition index was up to 148 in 2021, compared to 123 in 2020. The 2021 attrition figures also were higher for Asian men and women and for Latinx men, the report showed.

We recognize the platform that we have and the brand position that we have and we know that there are other companies that are watching us and looking at us, Google chief diversity officer Melonie Parker said in a video that accompanied the report. And we want to make sure that we dont just show our successes, but that we show the areas that we need to get better as well.

The company made some progress in its representation and diversity goals, doubling the number of Black employees hired to its US leadership team to 7.1 percent from 3.6 percent the year prior, and the number of women in Google leadership around the world rose from 26.7 percent to 28.1 percent. Still, Googles US workforce is 68 percent male and 32 percent female, the report shows. Fifty percent of Googles US workforce is white, compared to 42 percent Asian, 6.4 percent Latinx, 4.4 percent Black, and 0.8 percent Native American.

And Google faced a slew of criticism late last year and earlier this year, for how it handled the firing of Black AI ethics researcher Timnit Gebru after she wrote a paper that questioned the dangers of large language models. Gebru accused Google of racism and retaliation, and faced online harassment for months afterward.

In October, CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in a blog post that the company planned to double the number of Black employees by 2025 and increase the number of underrepresented workers in senior positions by 30 percent. Well hold ourselves accountable for creating an inclusive workplace, Pichai wrote.

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Googles latest diversity report shows jump in departures among women of color - The Verge

Google is making it possible to store digital versions of either COVID-19 test results or vaccination cards on users Android devices. The company on Wednesday announced its updating its Passes API, which will give developers at healthcare organizations, government agencies, and other organizations authorized by public health authorities the ability to create digital versions of tests and vaccination cards that can then be saved directly to the users device. The Passes API is typically used to store things like boarding passes, loyalty cards, gift cards, tickets and more to users Google Pay wallet. However, the Google Pay app in this case will not be required, Google says.

Instead, users without the Google Pay app will have the option to store the digital version of the COVID Card directly to their device, where its accessible from a home screen shortcut. Because Google is not retaining a copy of the card, anyone who needs to store the COVID Card on multiple devices will need to download it individually on each one from the healthcare provider or other organizations app.

The cards themselves show the healthcare provider or organizations logo and branding at the top, followed by the persons name, date of birth and other relevant information, like the vaccine manufacturer or date of shot or test. According to a support document, healthcare providers or organizations could alert users to the ability to download their card via email, text, or through a mobile website or app.

In an example photo, Google showed the COVID-19 Vaccination Card from Healthvana, a company that serves L.A. County, However, it didnt provide any other information about which healthcare providers are interested in or planning to adopt the new technology. Reached for comment, Google says there are some other big partners and states in the pipeline, but it doesnt have permission to share those names at this time. Over the next few weeks, some of these names will be released, we understand.

The Passes API update doesnt mean Android users can immediately create digital versions of their COVID vaccination cards something people have been taking pictures of as a means of backup or, unfortunately in some cases, laminating it. (Thats not advised, however, as the card is meant to be used again for recording booster shots.)

Rather, the update is about giving developers the ability to begin building tools to export the data they have in their own systems about peoples COVID tests and vaccinations to a local digital card on Android devices. To what extent these digital cards will become broadly available to end users will depend on developer adoption.

For the feature to work, the Android device needs to run Android 5 or later and it will need to be Play Protect certified, which is a licensing program that ensures the device is running real Google apps. Users will also need to set a lock screen on their device for additional security.

Google says the update will initially roll out in the U.S., followed by other countries.

The U.S. is behind other markets in making digital versions of vaccination cards possible. Today, the EUs COVID certificate, which shows an individuals vaccination status, test results or recovery status from COVID-19, went live. The certificate (EUDCC) will be recognized by all EU members and will aid with cross-border travel. Israel released a vaccine passport earlier this year that allows vaccinated people to show their green pass at places that require vaccinations. Japan aims to have vaccination passports ready by the end of July for international travel.

In the U.S., only a few states have active vaccine certification apps. Many others have either outright banned vaccine passports which has become a politically loaded term or are considering doing so.

Given this context, Googles digital vaccination card is just that a digital copy of a paper card. Its not tied to any other government initiatives nor is it a vaccine passport.

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Google update will allow digital COVID-19 vaccination cards and test results to be stored on Android devices - TechCrunch

Google has shared timing for a change for Google Play developers announced last summer during Google I/O: starting in August, Google will require that new Play apps will have to be published using the Android App Bundle format. Your phone will still download apps as APKs, but the app bundles will create APKs that are optimized for your device.

On a Google page about Android App Bundle, the company touts many potential improvements with the new format, such as smaller app downloads for users. But the format has a catch: Android App Bundles are a format that only Google Play uses, which could complicate app redistribution.

The timing of Googles announcement also comes just days after Microsoft announced Windows 11, which has the ability to let you sideload Android apps as APKs. Googles switch to App Bundles may mean that there will be fewer apps available to run on Microsofts new operating system, though youll also be able to get Android apps on Windows 11 from the Amazon Appstore.

The requirement to use Android App Bundles only applies to new apps, according to Google. Existing apps are currently exempt, as are private apps being published to managed Google Play users, the company says. And if youre a developer planning on releasing a new app, you only have a short time to make sure youre using the new format.

Update July 1st, 6:38PM ET: Clarified how long this change has been in the works and specified more detail about the Android App Bundle format.

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Google is moving away from APKs on the Play Store - The Verge

The Android App Bundle logo.

App Bundles let Google Play servers customize an app for each user.

A midrange phone user gets the base APK, xhdpi image assets, the ARM v7 code, and the English language.

Here, a high-end phone gets the xxxhdpi asset bucket, ARM64, and a whopping three languages.

At Google I/O 2018, Google said APK config splits offered an average of 20 percent space savings, thanks to more targeted languages, image assets, and architectures.

For more specific app-size savings, Google showed off this chart.

Google I/O 2018

Config splits only work on Android 5.0 Lollipop and up. So for older devices, full APKs are generated.

Android's app file format, the APK (Android PacKage), has been with us since the 2008 launch of Android. It's portable, easy to create since it's just a structured .zip file, and widely supported by a variety of tools. Windows 11 is even going to support the format as part of its upcomingAndroid compatibility.Google, though, doesn't want APKs to be the way to publish an Android app anymore. Google's Android Developer Blog recaps how, starting in August, new apps being uploaded to the Play Store will need to use the new Android App Bundles (AAB) format to distribute apps. This sounds like just the beginning, and Google says that App Bundles"will replace the APK as the standard publishing format."

Android App Bundles were introduced to the Android ecosystem in 2018, and I wrote a big section about them in the Android 9 review. The basic sales pitch is that Android devices have plenty of different hardware and language combinations that apps have to support, and shipping all of that code to every individual device is a waste of space.Android supports over 150 languages, four different CPU architectures (ARMv7, ARMv8, x86, and x86_64), and several screen resolution buckets. It's common to pile all of this into a single APK (though sometimes they are split up by CPU architecture), but doing so means each device gets a lot of code and resources that are irrelevant for its specific combination of CPU, locale, and screen size. While this waste of storage space doesn't matter much on high-end phones with good Internet connections, it can be a big deal for cheaper, storage-limited devices and in places where speedy Internet is hard to come by.

Google's solution is the Android App Bundle, which turns Android app distribution from a monolithic, universal APKinto a collection of "split APKs" that can be specifically doled out by the Google Play Store for each individual device. As the name suggests, these "Split APKs" aren't entire apps. They're parts of an app, each targeting a specific area of change, that combine to form the final app. With App Bundles, if you have a high-resolution, ARMv8 device with a locale set to English with App Bundles, the Play Store will spit out a set of Split APKs that supports only that device type. If your friend has a low-resolution ARM v7 phone set for English and Hindi, they'll get another set of APK that supports exactly that. Google Play can generate bespoke APKs for every user, giving them only the code they need and nothing more. Google says the result is apps that are 15 percent smaller than a universal APK.

Developers using App Bundles can even modularize features of anapp. This allows the features to only be delivered to devices that support them, or they're just not included in the initial download and are only available to users as an on-demand download. The same on-demand feature kicks in if a user changes the locale settings.

While the App Bundle system would prefer to send out the fancy, new split APKs, it doesn't have to. Since it can format apps however it wants, a backward-compatible, monolithic APK can still be generated. That makes theapproach universally compatible with all Android phones, no matter how neglected your current device is.

Like many new Android features, the change from APKs to Android App Bundles results in a more complex, sophisticated feature set for rolling out apps. But it also gives Google a lot more control over the Android ecosystem. Android App Bundlesneed to be processed by an app store's cloud computer in order to be useful. While App Bundles are an open source format, and Google has an open source "bundletool" app that can compile them, some other company would need to build its own infrastructure, pay the server costs to host it in the cloud, and handle the scary app signing requirements (more on that later).

The open source nature of App Bundles allows development tools to more easily support them. But an alternative app store would have to take on so much work and responsibility that it's doubtful the format will become anything other than the Google Play App Package.

One major security component of APKs is app signing. This is a digital certificate owned by the app developer that certifies it made the app. The app signature is not really relevant on the first install, but for every point after that, the signatures need to match. That means only the owner of the certificatethe original app developeris able to update that app. No random third party can make an APK called "Google-Pay.apk" that overwrites the real Google Pay app and steal all your bank information.

Google's control over the Play Store means it already owned the street and the driveway, but now it has even more control over your app. If Google Play's roving bands of automated terminator bots target your developer account for some perceived infraction, you'll have even less recourse.

Android App Bundles place an enormous amount of power and responsibility in the hands of the app-store owner. If the app-store infrastructure gets compromised, a third party could get access to the developer keys and start pushing out malicious updates. If you dont trust the app store owner, too bad. It owns the signing key now and can change your app without your knowledge, if it wanted to. A government could compel the app store owner to change your app, too. In the case of Google, the company is probably doing a better job of storage security than most app developers. But again,it's hard to imagine any non-Google stores adopting this.

Google has made some concessions to alleviate concerns about this. Developers can keep a local copy of the signing key they upload to Google, allowing them to generate valid updates that can be installed over Google Play versions. Developers can also download signed "Distribution APKs" from the Google Play Developer Console, which are old-school universal APKs that can be uploaded to other app stores. If you're concerned about Google changing your app without your consent, Google says an optional new "code transparency" feature will let developers verify that the hashes on downloaded app code match what they uploaded.

As of August, App Bundles will be mandatory for new apps.Google says that, for now, "Existing apps are currently exempt" from the app-bundling requirement. We're going to take the presence of the word "currently" as a big indicator of future plans.

For Google, Android App Bundles are a big deal. At Google I/O 2018, the company said that if every app switched to bundles, Google would save 10petabytes of bandwidthper day, which is an incredible number, indicating the scale the Play Store operates at. For those of us who don't care about Google's bandwidth bills, though, is a potential 15 percent space savings really worth upending the entire APK ecosystem and transferring even more power to the Play Store and Google's servers?

Listing image by Google

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Google Play dumps APKs for the more Google-controlled Android App Bundle - Ars Technica

To the Editor:

Google Dominates a Hidden Market With No Rules, by Dina Srinivasan (Opinion guest essay, June 25), makes claims about our advertising technology business that we strongly disagree with.

Independent reports show that the fees we charge our partners are lower than the industry average. In fact, the 100 largest news publishers many of which have in-house sales teams that perform many of the functions provided by Googles ad sales, exchange and brokerage operations using our tools keep more than 95 percent of the revenue that their ad space earns, a far cry from the 50 percent Ms. Srinivasan cites.

While one section of Ms. Srinivasans essay refers to ad intermediaries in general, our advertising tools do not result in publishers selling for up to 50 percent less than what it otherwise would, as Ms. Srinivasan suggests. In fact, our research shows that publishers revenue increases when they use our tools thats why they choose to use them!

Ms. Srinivasan has ignored the inconvenient reality that this industry is highly competitive with rivalry among household names like Adobe, Amazon, AT&T, Comcast, Facebook, Oracle, Twitter and News Corp, a company for which Ms. Srinivasan has consulted. We also face competition from a legion of lesser-known but fast-growing competitors like The Trade Desk and Magnite. Many of these rivals also offer ad platforms and tools similar to ours that cater to both advertisers and publishers.

While it may be an inconvenient truth for the lawsuits she is championing, its clear that competition in online advertising technology has reduced ad tech fees and expanded options for publishers and advertisers.

Adam CohenLondonThe writer is director of economic policy at Google.

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Opinion | From Google, on Its Advertising Tech Business - The New York Times

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., July 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --At last, Pharos is here. Joshua Parry teamed up with The Appineersa leading mobile app design and development agency, established in 2017 and located in Atlanta, Georgiato create Pharos.

Joshua's vision for Pharos came about after wanting to create a platform that shines a spotlight on the world of mobile businesses in your area. From food trucks to traveling hair salons users can easily find their new local spot using this app!

Introducing Pharos - a platform that lets users explore local mobile businesses in their area.

The app appeals include the following user-friendly features:

Visit pharosmobileapp.com for further information about the app including screenshots, features, and a video.

Contact: Mobile U, LLC

Phone:719-657-1307

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pharosmobileapp

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pharosmobileapp

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/pharosmobileapp

Download the app from App Store (iOS):

https://www.google.com/urlq=https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pharos/id1542969475&sa=D&source

=hangouts&ust=1624388309745000&usg=AFQjCNHi3kvb93NoG2CzgqRaThevEHGf4Q

Download the app from Google Play Store (Android):

https://www.google.com/urlq=https://play.google.com/store/apps/detailsid3Dcom.app.pharos&sa

=D&source=hangouts&ust=1624388309745000&usg=AFQjCNFIlhRqmrVvEu5sT-tQFHc-lXc87A

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pharos-is-currently-available-in-the-ios-app-and-google-play-store-301324426.html

SOURCE The Appineers

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Pharos Is Currently Available in the iOS App and Google Play Store - Johnson City Press (subscription)

by: Mike Cronin, Austin Business Journal Staff Writer

AUSTIN (KXAN) To find its next CEO, Austin-headquartered AppSumo is offering $100,000 to anyone who refers the person ultimately hired as chief executive.

Noah Kagan, founder of the company that offers daily deals for software programs, pointed out that paying that kind of finders fee for a CEO actually is really cheap.

How much would you pay for a great wife? Kagan asked rhetorically. Its the same thing with a great CEO, who will make the company millions.

Kagan hit on a truth that might escape other entrepreneurs: If you hire people in the traditional way, youre going to get traditional people. If you recruit exceptionally, youre going to get exceptional talent.

You can read more of this story on the Austin Business Journal website.

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Heres how to beat Apple, Google and other giants in the recruiting game - KXAN.com

Wing, the drone delivery arm of Googles parent company Alphabet, has launched a free app in the US to help pilots fly their drones legally. OpenSky has been available in Australia since 2019 but is now available for both commercial and recreational pilots in the US to use for anything from conducting commercial surveys to filming and photography. Its available now on both iOS and Android.

OpenSky is based on Google Maps, Wing tells DroneLife, and its color-coded to show areas where pilots can and cant fly. Green areas are a-okay, but pilots need to exercise caution in yellow areas, and shouldnt fly at all in red areas. Perhaps its most useful feature is that it lets pilots submit requests to fly in controlled airspace and receive near real-time authorizations. The approval process works in airspace that supports Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC), which includes hundreds of air traffic facilities and airports according to an FAQ on Wings website.

As well as checking where its legal to fly and request authorization, OpenSky also lets pilots log and plan their flights. The app needs an internet connection to operate, Wing notes, so youre advised to take a screenshot of a flight approval if youre going to need it in an area with poor reception.

The launch of OpenSky comes as drones are receiving increased amounts of regulation in the US and around the world, as lawmakers catch up with the relatively new technology. Pilots in the US currently have to register to fly any drones weighing over 0.55 pounds, and from 2023 drones will have to broadcast their location during flight.

Wings argument is that an app like OpenSky makes it easier for pilots to obey the rules and fly the nearly 2 million drones that have been registered in the US. Compliance will ultimately expand the uses and benefits of dronesamong them emergency response, commercial inspections and contactless deliveryto more people, Wing said in a blog post.

Its that last point, contactless delivery, thats perhaps most important for Wing, which is best known as a drone delivery business. As well as Finland and Australia, Wing has been making deliveries in Christiansburg, Virginia. Speaking to DroneLife, Wings Lia Reich said the company has plans to expand its drone delivery service in the US later this year.

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Googles Wing launches free app to help drone pilots obey US regulations - The Verge