Category Archives: Google

Real-time collaborative chat, as exemplified by apps such as Slack, has become a common way to communicate between colleagues and friends, especially since last year when so many of us transitioned to working from home. Google has apparently taken note of this and is pitting itself against Slack by taking two of the features from its corporate Workplace app suite Chat and Rooms and integrating them into its standard Gmail app.

Google Chat allows you to hold chat sessions with friends and groups of friends either on an informal or formal basis. The former can be done just between two people or between several in what Google calls a group conversation. The latter is done via a separate space that Google currently calls a Room.

Whats the difference? According to Google, Chat is simply a way for two or more people to chat together without any formalities for example, if you wanted to quickly talk about where you were going to meet for lunch, youd create a group conversation among your friends. Once the conversation is done, its done.

A Room, on the other hand, is for more long-term conversations. Each Room has its own name, remains available for people to leave and rejoin, will send out notifications, and can share files. Its for work projects, party planning, or any other activity where you want to keep the conversation going over the course of days, weeks, or longer.

If this sounds useful to you, then the first thing you need to do is activate Google Chat for your Gmail account. Currently, at least, you need to do it separately on your browser and on your mobile device.

On the bottom of the screen, instead of just Mail and Meet icons, youll now also have Chat and Rooms icons.

Your Gmail screen will refresh, and you will probably get a pop-up welcoming you to the new Gmail. Instead of the Meet and Hangouts boxes that used to be on the left-hand side of your Gmail screen, youll now have a Chat box, a Rooms box, and a Meet box. Any contacts with whom you previously had chats with via Hangouts will appear in the new Chat box; click on their names, and a small pop-up window in the lower left will show you those previous chats. (Note that if you blocked anyone in Hangouts previously, that blocking isnt going to carry over to Chat.)

Before we go into the specifics of how to use Google Chat, you may notice some other small differences after the refresh. To begin, the icon that looked like a quote mark at the bottom of your left column which referred to Google Hangouts will now be replaced by a couple of quote bubbles. The previous large Compose button on the upper-left corner will be replaced (why, Im not sure) by an inconveniently small pencil icon. And you now have a button on the right of the search box that lets you choose to be active, away, or undisturbed; you can also type in your own status.

People who are invited to your chat will get an email with a link, and will have the option of joining the conversation or blocking it; if they are on Hangouts or Chat, they will get a notification.

Whether youre using the web or a mobile app, to add a new message, type into the field at the bottom of the screen. A series of icons to the side or below the entry field lets you add emoji, upload a file, add a file from Google Drive, start a video meeting (essentially, starting Google Meet), and schedule an event.

A couple of notes about rooms: if youve created a room using a personal account (as opposed to a business account), anyone in the room can change its name. There are a few other rules as to the use of rooms that can be found on a Google support page; its a little confusing as to which apply just to business accounts and which to personal accounts, but hopefully Google will fix that in the near future.

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that You can even have rooms within rooms. That is not an available feature, and the line has been deleted. We regret the error.

See the original post here:

How to activate and use Google Chat - The Verge

Every year, I make time reflect on the promises, lessons and ideas that I want my two young daughters to learn when they're older.

As an Asian American parent, husband and business leader, I wrote a Father's Day letter encompassing many of those things that I look forward to sharing with my kids one day:

This past year and 2021 (so far) have been incredibly challenging. A global pandemic killed hundreds of thousands, sickened millions and affected the daily lives of billions.

We're also living through historic social unrest, ignited by long-standing racial injustice. The Black Lives Matter movement feels more profound than any I've experienced in my lifetime.

These events have changed how we live, work, learn and relate to one another. So here are some valuable life lessons I hope you'll contemplate on when you're older:

1. Your mother and I will never stop fighting for the fairness that everyone deserves and you should commit to do the same.

When I was growing up, my family and I didn't have the open dialog about race and human rights that your mother and I do with you today. Nor did we participate in marches. Your grandparents were Chinese immigrants whose aspirations were more centered around survival.

When you're old enough to have kids of your own, I hope you'll look back with deep appreciation for my and your mother's commitment to raising anti-racist daughters.

2. Always look for opportunities to grow as an individual, in both your personal and professional lives.

Beyond family, there are broader cultural forces that will continue to shape your lives and worldviews, and I'm increasingly seeing the positive, amplifying role they can play. Most obvious? Technology and social media.

I hope you'll join these conversations not merely to participate, but to grow. Seek out diverse perspectives. Find ways to educate yourselves. Recognize the risk of "echo chambers."

3. The conversation will always be just the start.

Starting a conversation makes a huge difference. But taking action is the standard, in part because there are fewer barriers today. It's so much easier to discover and support causes you believe in. Advocacy and donation resources, for example, are a click away.

These recent months have been an especially difficult time for Asian Americans. Long-standing issues of discrimination and racism toward us have come to the forefront.

4. Amplify your voices, share your stories and listen to other people's stories, too.

At an alarming rate, Asian Americans have been physically attacked and verbally abused. (Remember when you asked about why there was a guy yelling at us at the mall? He was blaming us for causing Covid-19.)

While these events have made me sad, they've also motivated me more than ever. I'm starting to understand the power of using my voice and sharing my stories. I've spoken on panels, sat in more listening sessions than I can count and have tried to better educate myself and those around me.

5. You're not just an ally to the communities around you, but also to yourself.

In both of you, I already witness deep ownership of your identity, and an abundant sense of self-worth much more than I had at your age.

Your support and pride of Asian culture astounds me every day. When I came home to find you both working on this poster (unprompted), I was filled with pride ... and a bit of sadness.

Your passion, energy and commitment makes you an ally to all communities around you. But as you grow up and the societal pressure to conform intensifies, never forget that you are your own ally, too.

Don't let your support for others overshadow the progress you want to make for your own community. Teach others, and yourselves, about the richness of your culture and history.

Find ways to proudly stand with and stand up for all in the broader Asian American and Pacific Islander community. As with every dimension of your voice, the world will become a better place for hearing it.

Love always,

Dad

Marvin Chow is the VP of Marketing at Google, where he leads marketing for some of the company's largest and most strategic products, including Search, Maps, Chrome, Photos and Messaging. He also oversees global efforts in social media and advises on select stealth products. Marvin and his wife JiYoung live with their daughters, Polaire and Ceboline, in California. Follow him on Twitter @theREALmarvin.

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A Google VP's Father's Day letter to his Asian American kids: 5 lessons to learn when you're older - CNBC

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Google has the ability to remotely install apps on your phone without your explicit permission or even any notification. Thats the lesson from the confusing rollout of MassNotify in June 2021. But how does that work? And what about Apples iPhones?

The rollout of MassNotify is instructive. According to user reports, the MassNotify COVID-19 exposure notifications app was automatically installed on many Android smartphones around June 19, 2021. It appears as if the app was automatically installed on nearly every Android smartphone in the state of Massachusettsand some Android phones beyond that.

While I believe in what this app was meant to do, installing it without so much as a notification is extremely alarming, wrote one userin a review of the app on the Google Play Store. The app doesnt even have an app icon to let users know its installed.

Google told news website9to5Google that the automatic install of the app was intentional and that the app wouldnt do anything unless a user chooses to enable it.

This is particularly strange because no other states COVID-19 exposure app appears to work in this way. All the other apps are installed when you as a user chooses to enable the exposure notifications.

So, under what circumstances will Google remotely install an app on your phone? Did Google audit the apps code for security problems before distributing it? Google isnt really saying muchbut its clear Google has the ability to remotely install Android apps.

While were not aware of Google ever remotely and silently installing an app in this way on Android, you can remotely install apps on your own Android phone.

Just head to the Google Play Store site, sign in with the same account you sign in with on Android, and you can use the Install button on an apps store page to push it to your phone. The Play Store on your phone will begin downloading and installing the app you choose.

Unlike the situation around MassNotify, this isnt silent. You do see a notification while the app is being installed.

Were not aware of Apple ever remotely installing an iPhone app on anyones phones in this way. In fact, iPhones work a bit differentlyto install an iPhone app, you have to go to the App Store on an iPhone and install the app. You cant just sign into a web browser with your Apple ID and click a button to remotely install apps, as you can on Android.

Of course, operating system updates can install new apps on your device. You might install a new version of iOS for iPhones to find a new app, like the Apple Watch app or Apple News app. You might install a new Android update to find a new Google app on your phone.

However, were not aware of third-party apps not written by Google or Apple ever being installed in this wayespecially not outside of normal operating system updates!

Its worth noting that both Google and Apple can remotely delete apps from your phone if they want. This capability was created to protect devices from malware. If a terrible malicious app sneaks into Google Play or Apples App Store and is downloaded by millions of people, both companies want a kill switch they can flip to remotely disable the app.

Google has remotely removed malicious Android apps in the past. In fact, Google has even remotely removed malicious Chrome extensions from Google Chrome browsers.

While we know Apple can remotely disable apps installed on iPhones, were not aware of Apple ever using this capability as of June 2021

Of course, its not like remote-installed app problems are restricted to smartphones. They happen on Windows 10, too. Design firm FTDI has repeatedly used Windows Update to push drivers that brick (disable) counterfeit hardware.

Apps like Candy Crush, Facebook, and FarmVille just keep popping up on Windows 10 PCs, whether you want them or not.

Windows 10 has been teaching PC users this lesson for years: Its Microsofts PCnot yoursand Microsoft will install whatever it wants.

RELATED: Hey Microsoft, Stop Installing Apps On My PC Without Asking

All this being said, even if a company like Apple cant remotely install appsand it seems like its possible Apple cant remotely install apps on iPhones at the momentthat company could roll out a small operating system update that would give the company the capability to do this.

That operating system update would likely be installed automaticallyafter all, these automatic updates are good for security purposes.

Perhaps what matters more is a companys culture. Rather than asking whether a company can remotely install apps on our devices, we should ask whether the company has a history of doing so.

Both Google and Microsoft have remotely installed third-party apps without user consent. Apple hasnt done soyet.

Then again, Apple did once add a U2 album to everyones iTunes libraries. Nobodys perfect.

See more here:

Can Google and Apple Remotely Install Apps on Your Phone? - How-To Geek

Forget this years punchy headlines pitching Tim Cook against Mark Zuckerbergits arguably now Google as much as Facebook thats in Apples sights. This has serious implications for 1-billion-plus iPhone users as the fight for your data and your loyalty has suddenly intensified. This is the context behind recent updates from Apple and Google. And this is why its time to start deleting appsincluding Google Maps.

While Google continues to play privacy catch-up with Apple, as seen in Android 12s likely enhancements, Android Messages and Workspace client-side encryption, and the PR-friendly privacy sandbox, the reality is that Google is the worlds largest data-driven advertising company. Apple is not. Ultimately, who do you trust?

Location data has been central to the privacy debate for years now. First iOS and then Android have given us options to deny, restrict and approximate such data from the dozens of apps that would guzzle our data should we let them. Why exactly do all those trivial games and apps require my precise location, and all that.

But even as we have clicked to deny all these apps access under Location Services in our iPhones settings, we clearly cannot do the same with mapping apps. But while many iPhone users are tied to Google Maps, the alarming privacy label comparison between it and Apples alternative should give serious reason for concern.

Apple Maps Vs Google Maps

Clearly, the issue here is that all the data Google Maps says it may collect is linked back to your personal identity. This is how Google works. Everything links together to build your profile, your timeline. And while you can fish around in Googles account settings to delete some of this data, most dont bother and why should you need to?

Why do we put up with this? Well, as my colleague Kate OFlaherty so aptly puts it in this weeks Straight Talking Cyber (the video at the top of this story), all of Googles stuff works really well; yes, you have to give up your privacy, but if you dont care about your privacy, it all just works, and it all just combines together.

Privacy Labels - Google Maps Vs Apple Maps (April 2021)

Google plays down these privacy risks, telling me that Google Maps is designed to protect your information. We provide controls to easily manage your settings and use industry-leading technologies like differential privacy to keep your data safe. We continue to make Google Maps the best and most accurate way to navigate and explore the worldproviding rich local business information, best in class search and navigation, and helpful features like the COVID layer and live busyness information.

But this is an awkward line to take, when your entire business model is built around user data and targeted ads. When pushed on privacy, Google points out that you can stop Maps harvesting data on your iPhone by selecting Incognito mode, that any data gathered per its privacy label is not associated with specific individuals or accounts.

But this more private mode has a serious impact on functionalityno commute, location history, sharing, search history or completion suggestions, restrictions to Assistant in Navigation, no offline maps or your places. On the plus side, though, Google will stop storing your personalized location history and timeline.

Incognito Mode

Google Maps has always been sticky for iPhone usersyoull likely remember the backlash when Apple made the switch to its own app back in 2012. This was part because users were hooked on Google Maps and part because Apples early Maps offering was woeful. A perfect example of a half-completed product launched too soon.

But Apple Maps is really good now, STCs Davey Winder says on this weeks video episode. I use CarPlay, and Ive been looking at Apple Maps new updates and its way better than Google Maps... Im really surprised.

That said, for many iPhone users, there just hasnt been a need to switch from Google Mapsit remains the most popular navigation download on Apples App Store. But now Apple wants those users to think again, announcing a major refresh for iOS 15.

Apple is committed to building the worlds best map, it says, and iOS 15 takes Maps even further with brand new ways to navigate and explore. Users will experience significantly enhanced details in cities for neighborhoods, commercial districts, elevation, and buildings, new road colors and labels, custom-designed landmarks, and a new night-time mode with a moonlit glow.

And so, back to that privacy strike Apple is launching at Google. Beyond mapping, weve seen Apples Private Relay quasi-VPN as a strike at Chrome, the most popular browser on the App Store; weve also seen Mail Protection as a swipe at Gmail, the most popular mail platform on the App Store. Clearly, Apples stock appsMaps, Safari and Mailare installed by default. But now Apple wants to ensure you use them.

For CarPlay users like Davey, Apples updated Maps will offer a three-dimensional city-driving experience with new road details that help users better see and understand important details like turn lanes, medians, bike lanes, and pedestrian crosswalks.Transit riders can find nearby stations more easily and pin favorite lines. Maps automatically follows along with a selected transit route, notifying users when its nearly time to disembark, and riders can even keep track on Apple Watch. With iOS 15, users can simply hold up iPhone, and Maps generates a highly accurate position to deliver detailed walking directions in augmented reality.

Apple Maps - iOS 15

Ignoring glitzy new functionality, privacy is the critical differentiatorthe idea being you can have Google-like functionality and its seamless ecosystem, without compromising your privacy or paying with your data in return. For its part, Googles business model is built on data, and so while it has earnestly embarked on a game of privacy catch-up with Apple, the motivations and likely end result are very different.

Google is now in a bind with some of its leading iOS apps. Its privacy labels are a nightmare when compared to its peers. Too much data collected, all linked to individual identities. And Apple is clearly looking to consolidate on the 2021 privacy backlash, hammering home the message. Google continues to push its own privacy messaging, and Android 12 will offer improvements for its own users, but as Ive commented before when it comes to such issuesjust follow the money.

The reality is that if you value your privacy, then you should take care over the apps you install and the services you use. And with improvements to Apple Maps, now is the time to cut off Google from the rich seam of data derived from your map searches and navigation. In the same way as you should stick to Safari and Apple Mail, or even more private alternatives like ProtonMail and DuckDuckGo.

If all of usall of youdont give that level of thought to your apps and services decisions, then we send the message that we dont mind being the product, that our data is something of a free-for-all, that were okay if little changes. And, worse, that even though weve paid a premium for a more secure and more private iPhone, we dont mind compromising that with the data we freely give away. Lets not do that.

As much as you may like Google Maps, those stark data harvesting revelations have come just as Apple Maps continues to level the playing field, making it time to consider deleting the app, shutting down at least that part of Googles data collection machine.

Go here to read the rest:

Why You Suddenly Need To Delete Google Maps On Your iPhone - Forbes

June 18 (Reuters) - Alphabet Incs (GOOGL.O) Google told Reuters this week it is developing an alternative to the industry standard method for classifying skin tones, which a growing chorus of technology researchers and dermatologists says is inadequate for assessing whether products are biased against people of color.

At issue is a six-color scale known as Fitzpatrick Skin Type (FST), which dermatologists have used since the 1970s. Tech companies now rely on it to categorize people and measure whether products such as facial recognition systems or smartwatch heart-rate sensors perform equally well across skin tones. read more

Critics say FST, which includes four categories for "white" skin and one apiece for "black" and "brown," disregards diversity among people of color. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, during a federal technology standards conference last October, recommended abandoning FST for evaluating facial recognition because it poorly represents color range in diverse populations.

In response to Reuters' questions about FST, Google, for the first time and ahead of peers, said that it has been quietly pursuing better measures.

"We are working on alternative, more inclusive, measures that could be useful in the development of our products, and will collaborate with scientific and medical experts, as well as groups working with communities of color," the company said, declining to offer details on the effort.

The controversy is part of a larger reckoning over racism and diversity in the tech industry, where the workforce is more white than in sectors like finance. Ensuring technology works well for all skin colors, as well different ages and genders, is assuming greater importance as new products, often powered by artificial intelligence (AI), extend into sensitive and regulated areas such as healthcare and law enforcement.

Companies know their products can be faulty for groups that are under-represented in research and testing data. The concern over FST is that its limited scale for darker skin could lead to technology that, for instance, works for golden brown skin but fails for espresso red tones.

Numerous types of products offer palettes far richer than FST. Crayola last year launched 24 skin tone crayons, and Mattel Inc's (MAT.O) Barbie Fashionistas dolls this year cover nine tones.

The issue is far from academic for Google. When the company announced in February that cameras on some Android phones could measure pulse rates via a fingertip, it said readings on average would err by 1.8% regardless of whether users had light or dark skin.

The company later gave similar warranties that skin type would not noticeably affect results of a feature for filtering backgrounds on Meet video conferences, nor of an upcoming web tool for identifying skin conditions, informally dubbed Derm Assist.

Those conclusions derived from testing with the six-tone FST.

'STARTING POINT'

The late Harvard University dermatologist Dr. Thomas Fitzpatrick invented the scale to personalize ultraviolet radiation treatment for psoriasis, an itchy skin condition. He grouped the skin of "white" people as Roman numerals I to IV by asking how much sunburn or tan they developed after certain periods in sun.

A decade later came type V for "brown" skin and VI for "black." The scale is still part of U.S. regulations for testing sunblock products, and it remains a popular dermatology standard for assessing patients' cancer risk and more.

Some dermatologists say the scale is a poor and overused measure for care, and often conflated with race and ethnicity.

"Many people would assume I am skin type V, which rarely to never burns, but I burn," said Dr. Susan Taylor, a University of Pennsylvania dermatologist who founded Skin of Color Society in 2004 to promote research on marginalized communities. "To look at my skin hue and say I am type V does me disservice."

Technology companies, until recently, were unconcerned. Unicode, an industry association overseeing emojis, referred to FST in 2014 as its basis for adopting five skin tones beyond yellow, saying the scale was "without negative associations."

A 2018 study titled "Gender Shades," which found facial analysis systems more often misgendered people with darker skin, popularized using FST for evaluating AI. The research described FST as a "starting point," but scientists of similar studies that came later told Reuters they used the scale to stay consistent.

"As a first measure for a relatively immature market, it serves its purpose to help us identify red flags," said Inioluwa Deborah Raji, a Mozilla fellow focused on auditing AI.

In an April study testing AI for detecting deepfakes, Facebook Inc (FB.O) researchers wrote FST "clearly does not encompass the diversity within brown and black skin tones." Still, they released videos of 3,000 individuals to be used for evaluating AI systems, with FST tags attached based on the assessments of eight human raters.

The judgment of the raters is central. Facial recognition software startup AnyVision last year gave celebrity examples to raters: former baseball great Derek Jeter as a type IV, model Tyra Banks a V and rapper 50 Cent a VI.

AnyVision told Reuters it agreed with Google's decision to revisit use of FST, and Facebook said it is open to better measures.

Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and smartwatch makers Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Garmin Ltd (GRMN.O) reference FST when working on health-related sensors.

But use of FST could be fueling "false assurances" about heart rate readings from smartwatches on darker skin, University of California San Diego clinicians, inspired by the Black Lives Matter social equality movement, wrote in the journal Sleep last year.

Microsoft acknowledged FST's imperfections. Apple said it tests on humans across skin tones using various measures, FST only at times among them. Garmin said due to wide-ranging testing it believes readings are reliable.

Victor Casale, who founded makeup company Mob Beauty and helped Crayola on the new crayons, said he developed 40 shades for foundation, each different from the next by about 3%, or enough for most adults to distinguish.

Color accuracy on electronics suggest tech standards should have 12 to 18 tones, he said, adding, you cant just have six.

Reporting by Paresh Dave; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Lisa Shumaker

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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EXCLUSIVE Google searches for new measure of skin tones to curb bias in products - Reuters

Google has announced seven new features for Android that it says will help improve accessibility and make Assistant Shortcuts more useful, among other things. The new features announced today are:

Google announced that RCS chats sent through the Messages app will now be end-to-end encrypted. The feature was rolled out in beta last November, but it seems that Google is now releasing it for everyone who has access to RCS. When a message will be encrypted, the send button will have a lock icon on it thatll be important to keep an eye out for, as many people you text may not have RCS, or may not be using messages. Its also worth noting that, according to Google, the feature will only be available for one-on-one conversations, so your group chats wont be getting the feature at this time.

Google says its phone-based earthquake detection and alert system will be coming to Turkey, the Philippines, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The system, which uses Android phones to create an earthquake detection network that will warn people if theyre in a potentially affected area, originally launched in California, but it was made available in Greece and New Zealand in April.

Google says it hopes to bring the feature to more regions over the next year, but that its focusing on first making it available to countries that have a high risk of earthquakes.

If you get sent a text with important info and want to be able to quickly find it, youll be able to star it, which will place it in the starred category so you wont have to scroll back through a conversation to find it. Google says the feature will be rolling out to the Messages app over the coming weeks.

Starting this summer, Gboard will contextually suggest stickers created in Emoji Kitchen, Googles tool that lets users create mashups of two different emoji. The suggestions will show up in the Emoji menu for those writing a message in English, Spanish, or Portuguese.

Googles Assistant Shortcuts let users jump to a specific part of an app, but developers will now be able to show users information in widget form right in Assistant.

Googles Voice Access app, which allows people to navigate their phones using their voice, is getting gaze detection so it can tell whether someone is talking to their phone or talking to other people. The feature, which is in beta, will stop taking commands if it detects that youre not looking at your phone.

Voice Access is also getting improvements when it comes to entering passwords: users will be able to say words like dollar sign, and theyll be translated into the symbol, instead of being written out literally.

Android Auto users will be able to use their phone to personalize the app launcher and manually manage dark mode. Googles also adding the ability to quickly scroll to the top of a list, and the scroll bar is getting an A to Z button.

Google also says the messaging experience for apps like Messages and WhatsApp has been improved, making it easier to send and read messages.

Update June 15th, 2:05PM ET: Updated with information about Google adding end-to-end encryption for RCS chats sent through Messages.

Read more from the original source:

Google adds E2E RCS encryption to Messages, emoji mashup suggests, and more for Android - The Verge

The Honor 50 series will be able to ship with Googles apps and services, Honor officially announced today as it launched the Honor 50 and Honor 50 Pro in China. In a statement, Honor says its phones will go through Googles security review and that Honor devices will therefore have the option to have Google Mobile Services (GMS) preinstalled on compatible devices, in accordance with Googles licensing and governance models.

Consumers will be able to experience Honor smartphones and tablets equipped with GMS, the company said. A spokesperson confirmed that the Honor devices referred to in the statement include the newly announced Honor 50. The device will be available for preorder in China on June 25th and will come to international markets such as France, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the UK at a later date at a price thats to be announced.

Honor hasnt been able to ship Googles apps and services, including the Google Play Store, on its phones since its former parent company Huawei was placed on the USs entity list, forcing Google to pull its Android license. Whats changed with the 50 series is that Huawei sold off Honor at the end of last year, allowing the company to work with Google once again. Huawei, meanwhile, is still unable to use Googles software and is positioning its own HarmonyOS as a replacement.

Reports about the return of Googles software to Honors phones emerged last month, after the companys German Twitter leaked the news in a now-deleted tweet.

Turning to the devices themselves, the most eye-catching thing about the Honor 50 and Honor 50 Pro are their rear cameras, which are arranged into a pair of circular bumps. The phones have four rear cameras in total, including a 100-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel wide-angle, a 2-megapixel macro, and a 2-megapixel depth camera. On the front, the Honor 50 Pro has a pair of selfie cameras, combining a 32-megapixel camera with a 12-megapixel ultrawide, while the Honor 50 just has a single 32-megapixel camera.

Both phones have a 120Hz display, though the Honor 50 Pros is slightly bigger at 6.72 inches compared to 6.57 for the regular Honor 50. Available colors include silver, bronze, green, and black. Internally, theyre powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G processor. The 50 Pro has a 4,000mAh battery that can be fast charged at up to 100W, while the regular 50 has a 4,300mAh battery and supports 66W fast charging.

The return of Googles software to Honors phones is unlikely to make much of a difference in China, where phones typically ship without the Play Store. But their absence has made Honor and Huaweis phones pretty hard to recommend elsewhere. When the Honor 50 eventually releases in the West, that could all change.

In China, the Honor 50 will start at 2,699 yuan (around $422), while the Honor 50 Pro will start at 3,699 yuan (around $578). Alongside the two flagship phones, Honor is also announcing the cheaper Honor 50 SE, which will start at 2,399 yuan (around $375).

Excerpt from:

Honor confirms Googles apps will return to its phones with new 50 series - The Verge

Google announced today its updating and expanding its digital safety and citizenship curriculum called Be Internet Awesome, which is aimed at helping school-aged children learn to navigate the internet responsibly. First introduced four years ago, the curriculum now reaches 30 countries and millions of kids, says Google. In the update rolling out today, Google has added nearly a dozen more lessons for parents and educators that tackle areas like online gaming, search engines, video consumption, online empathy, cyberbullying and more.

The company says it had commissioned the University of New Hampshires Crimes Against Children Research Center to evaluate its existing program, which had last received a significant update back in 2019, when it added lessons that focused on teaching kids to spot disinformation and fake news.

The review found that program did help children in areas like dealing with cyberbullying, online civility and website safety, but recommended improvements in other areas.

Google then partnered with online safety experts like Committee for Children and The Net Safety Collaborative to revise its teaching materials. As a result, it now has lessons tailored to specific age groups and grade levels, and has expanded its array of subjects and set of family resources.

The new lessons include guidance around online gaming, search engines and video consumption, as well as social-emotional learning lessons aimed at helping students address cyberbullying and online harassment.

For example, some of the new lessons discuss search media literacy meaning, learning how to use search engines like Googles and evaluating the links and results it returns, as a part of an update to the programs existing media literacy materials.

Other lessons address issues like practicing empathy online, showing kindness, as well as what to do when you see something upsetting or inappropriate, including cyberbullying.

Concepts related to online gaming are weaved into the new lessons, too, as, today, kids have a lot of their social interactions in online games which often feature ways to interact with other players in real time and chat.

Here, kids are presented with ideas related to being able to verify an online gamers identity are they really another kid, for example? The materials also explain what sort of private information should not be shared with people online.

Image Credits: Google

Among the new family resources, the updated curriculum now points parents to the recently launched online hub, families.google, which offers a number of tips and information about tools to help families manage their tech usage.

For example, Google updated its Family Link app that lets parents set controls around which apps can be used and when, and view activity reports on screen-time usage. It also rolled out parental control features on YouTube earlier this year, aimed at families with tweens and teens who are too old for a YouTube Kids account, but still too young for an entirely unsupervised experience.

Google says the updated curriculum is available today to parents, families, teachers and educators, via the Be Internet Awesome website.

Original post:

Google updates its kids online safety curriculum with lessons on gaming, video and more - TechCrunch

Starting today, Nvidias Shield devices are getting a revamped user interface, similar to what we saw come to other Android TV devices in February. The biggest change is a new Discover tab, which features content recommendations grouped by genre. The All Apps screen has also been tweaked: its now simply called Apps and uses a full-screen layout that Nvidia says shows more apps at once.

The new design appears to have drawn inspiration from the Google TV software on last years Chromecast. Theyre not identical (Google TV has the recommendations-focused For you tab as its home screen, for example), but there are obvious similarities. Most notably, the large circular app icons on the left side of the display have disappeared, and Nvidias screenshot also shows a large promotion for Disneys Loki at the top of the Home screen, replacing the blank space that was there before, which some (many?) might find annoying.

Signs of the redesign appeared back in April, when 9to5Google reported that a screenshot of the new design briefly appeared in the Play Store listing for the Nvidia Games app. Nvidia says the update should start appearing today, with the rollout expected to take around a week in total. Customers in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, and Australia will get the new UI and Discover tab, while those in Italy and Spain will only get the new UI.

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The Nvidia Shields Android TV interface is getting a Google TV-inspired revamp - The Verge

The UKs competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), will collaborate with Google as it attempts to rework online ad targeting, the regulator and Google have announced. It comes as Google is attempting to phase out the use of third-party cookies for tracking and targeting users with ads and instead use a new set of technologies its calling Privacy Sandbox.

In its announcement, Google said this is the first time regulators and technology companies have worked together on new technologies like this. As well as the CMA, the UKs data protection regulator (the Information Commissioners Office, or ICO) will also be involved. The CMA is taking a leading role in setting out how we can work with the most powerful tech firms to shape their behaviour and protect competition to the benefit of consumers, the CMAs chief executive Andrea Coscelli, said in a statement.

The collaboration comes in response to the CMAs announcement in January that it would be formally investigating Googles proposals, which involve using AI to bundle users together into anonymised groups to target them with ads (you can read more about the proposals here). Googles new approach is intended as a more privacy-orientated alternative to tracking cookies, which the company intends to phase out of its Chrome browser over the next year.

However, concerns have been raised that Googles Privacy Sandbox could harm competition, and concentrate yet more power in the hands of the search giant. There have also been concerns raised about whether the proposals are compatible with Europes tough GDPR data protection regulation. Meanwhile, the plans are also facing antitrust scrutiny in the US.

Google has made a series of commitments to the UK regulator about how it will develop and implement the changes. It says it will develop the plans transparently, in a way that doesnt give itself an unfair advantage, or discriminate against its rivals. Its also making a commitment to not combine user data from Chrome browsing histories or Google Analytics with its ad products.

For its part, the CMA says these commitments address its concerns, but its opening up a public consultation to help it decide whether to accept them. If accepted, the commitments would become legally binding.

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Google to work with UK regulators on its big ad-tracking shakeup - The Verge