Category Archives: Google

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Have you ever forgotten to send a happy birthday text message to a friend? Or had an idea in the middle of the night that you desperately wanted to share with co-workers but didn't want to risk waking them if their ringer was on? The next time that happens, use Google Messages' new scheduling tool to pick the exact time and date you want to send a message.

The text message scheduler is one of several new Google updates to its Android apps. Google recently announced updates to several of its Android apps, including Google Maps, Google Assistant and TalkBack.

Get the latest news, how-to and reviews on Google-powered devices in CNET's Google Report newsletter.

Before you can schedule a message, you'll need to have the latest version of Google Messages installed on your phone. Note that this feature will not work with your phone's default text message app, only Google Messages. If you don't know how to change your default messaging app, don't worry -- the first time you open Google Messages you'll be asked if you want to make the switch. The easiest way make sure you've got the latest version of Messages is to open the Play Store app go to My Apps and check for updates. (I have the new feature with Messages version 7.4.050.)

Below I'll show you how to schedule a text message, including picking a custom send time and how to edit the message if you want to change anything.

Scheduling a message is easy peasy.

The first time you launch the Google Messages app and open a conversation after updating to the latest version, you'll see a small pop-up window appear over the Send button letting you know you can schedule messages. This is similar to what you see with scheduling an email in Gmail.

To schedule a text, start typing your message then long-press the Send button. I recommend picking the scheduled time before you fully compose your message, so you don't write out the message and accidentally send it.

After you long-press on Send, you'll see a pop-up with preselected dates and times. You can go with one of those suggestions, or tap Pick date and time. That will open Android's date and time picker that lets you customize when the message will be sent, to the minute. (Handy if you want to wish someone happy birthday at the exact minute they were born.)

Once you're done setting the time, tap Save.

You can then finish writing out your message. You're not limited to scheduling only text messages, but you can also add pictures and videos. When you're done, tap the Send button, which should now have a small clock icon on top of the paper airplane.

You can always edit a message.

A scheduled message will appear in your conversation thread, however, it will have a clock next to it and a note that says Scheduled message underneath it. You can hide the message with a tap on Scheduled message if you prefer.

To edit the message or the scheduled delivery time, tap the clock icon. A menu with three options will show up. Those options are update message, send now or delete message.

Update message will let you edit the text or pick a different time. Send now will immediately send the message. Delete message will discard the text.

Being able to schedule a message is a feature that's sure to be useful, especially if you often remember to send a message at an inconvenient time and then end up forgetting.

Google Messages is a powerful text messaging app that has more tricks up its sleeve, like Google's Chat feature that adds iMessage-like features to Android. Android 12 was also recently announced, and there's a lot to look forward to when it launches later this year. Or, if you're brave enough, you can install it now.

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Google Messages gives us the Android texting feature we've wanted forever - CNET

GlobeNewswire

Fingrid OyjStock exchange release 5 March 2021 at 12:00 noon EET Fingrids consolidated financial statements have been drawn up in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Unless otherwise indicated, the figures in parentheses refer to the same period of the previous year. The information published in this report is based on Fingrids audited financial statements for 2020, published in connection with this bulletin. Fingrids financial result for 2020 was weaker than planned, mainly due to exceptionally warm weather. Operatively, the year went according to the plan, despite the coronavirus pandemic. Grid transmission tariffs were kept unchanged in 2020.Finlands electricity consumption in 2020 amounted to 80.9 (86.1) terawatt hours.Fingrid transmitted 68.4 (68.7) terawatt hours of electricity in its grid, representing 77.9 (76.0) per cent of the total transmission volume in Finland (consumption and inter-TSO).The transmission reliability rate of the main grid was the best ever, at 99.99995% (99.9998%). KEY FIGURES 1-12/20 1-12/19 change % 7-12/20 7-12/19 change % Turnover M 682.5 789.4 -13.5 339.1 374.1 -9.4 Capital expenditure, gross M 169.7 126.9 33.7 99.4 67.9 46.3 - of turnover % 24.9 16.1 29.3 18.1 Research and development expenses M 4.5 3.4 30.4 1.9 1.8 8.3 - of turnover % 0.7 0.4 0.6 0.5 Average number of employees 400 384 4.2 413 385 7.3 Number of employees at end of period 408 380 7.4 408 380 7.4 Salaries and bonuses, total M 26.7 22.3 19.6 12.7 9.0 41.1 Operating profit M 118.4 115.5 2.5 63.2 48.7 29.7 - of turnover % 17.3 14.6 18.6 13.0 Profit before taxes M 113.3 105.8 7.1 54.8 36.8 49.0 - of turnover % 16.6 13.4 16.2 9.8 Profit for the period M 94.0 84.6 11.1 45.8 28.7 59.3 Comprehensive income for the period M 95.0 84.7 12.2 45.8 28.8 59.1 Cashflow after capital expenditure M 139.9 147.7 -5.2 38.2 53.3 -28.4 Return on investments (ROI) % 7.0 6.4 Return on equity (ROE) % 14.3 11.6 Equity ratio % 27.4 32.0 27.4 32.0 Interest-bearing net borrowings M 1,049.0 1,037.2 1.1 1,049.0 1,037.2 Net gearing 1.7 1.5 1.7 1.5 Earnings per share 28,269.56 25,452.50 11.1 13,768.99 8,644.75 59.3 Dividend, Series A shares 53,500.00 * 58,500.00 Dividend, Series B shares 19,600.00 * 21,400.00 Equity per share 190,210 206,213 -7.8 Dividend payout ratio, A shares % 189.2 234.9 Dividend payout ratio, B shares % 69.3 86.0 Number of shares Series A shares qty 2,078 2,078 2,078 2,078 Series B shares qty 1,247 1,247 1,247 1,247 Total qty 3,325 3,325 3,325 3,325 * The Board of Directors proposal to the Annual General Meeting on the maximum dividend to be distributed Jukka Ruusunen, President & CEO of Fingrid: Best-ever transmission reliability rate the exceptionally warm year affected the result In terms of capital expenditure, 2020 was a record-breaking year for Fingrid: we built transmission lines and substations at dozens of worksites. Even during the coronavirus pandemic, the capex projects progressed as planned. As a company critical for the security of supply, we are well prepared for a wide range of exceptional circumstances. Despite the record level of capex activities and the coronavirus pandemic, the main grid operated very reliably. The transmission reliability rate of the grid was the best ever, at 99.99995 per cent. 2020 was the warmest year on record in Finland, as a result of which the electricity consumption decreased by an average of 6% year-on-year. Also overall, weather played the leading role in the Nordic electricity markets. An exceptionally mild winter and the resulting substantial decrease in electricity consumption, heavy rains and the consequent good availability of hydropower as well as strong winds and high production of wind power led to very low electricity market prices in the Nordic countries and large regional price disparities. Finland imported electricity from Sweden, using the full transmission capacity between the countries, but the existing transmission capacity did not meet the actual market needs. Our cross-border connections functioned very well, however, and we succeeded in making all the existing capacity available to the markets. Due to the decrease in electricity consumption, our grid service income fell year-on-year. The market conditions also resulted in a decrease of the cross-border transmission income for the capacity imported from Russia. The exceptionally intensive spring floods increased the prices for the reserves required for balancing consumption and production for several weeks, resulting in increased costs for us. Due to the weather conditions, our result was significantly lower than planned. Through cost-effective operations, we have managed to keep our transmission tariffs at an affordable level regardless of the intensive investment tempo. We have been able to lower our grid service fees by more than 10 per cent since 2017, and they will remain unchanged also in 2021. Financial result Fingrids consolidated financial statements have been drawn up in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Unless otherwise indicated, the figures in parentheses refer to the same period of the previous year. Fingrids consolidated financial statements have been drawn up in accordance with the same accounting principles as in 2019. The Groups turnover was EUR 682.5 (789.4) million. Grid service income decreased to EUR 373.6 (385.0) million, due to the low energy consumption during the unseasonably warm winter months. Electricity consumption in Finland totalled 80.9 (86.1) terawatt hours during the year. Imbalance power sales also decreased year-on-year, to EUR 260.8 (346.7) million, due to the low electricity prices. Cross-border transmission income from the connection between Finland and Russia decreased, to EUR 6.9 (11.6) million, due to a lower transmission volume, affected by the low area price compared with north-western Russia. As a result of the transmission situation in the Baltic Sea region, ITC income increased to EUR 17.1 (14.4) million. Other operating income declined to EUR 2.4 (4.2) million. The Groups total costs amounted to EUR 569.3 (651.6) million. Imbalance power costs decreased, due to low electricity prices, and totalled EUR 234.4 (323.5) million. Loss power costs amounted to EUR 52.6 (53.9) million. The volume of loss power grew slightly, while the price of loss power procurement decreased. The realised average price of loss power procurement was EUR 38.03 (39.57) per megawatt hour. The cost of reserves to safeguard the transmission system security increased to EUR 63.5 (55.9) million, mainly due to the increased hours procured for frequency restoration reserves (FRR). Depreciation amounted to EUR 98.5 (97.8) million and grid maintenance costs to EUR 23.6 (21.6) million. Personnel costs increased to EUR 31.2 (26.4) million because of the higher headcount in response to a growing workload, both domestically and in international cooperation. The Groups operating profit was EUR 118.4 (115.5) million. To recognise changes in the fair value of electricity derivatives and the currency derivatives related to capital expenditure and other operating expenses, EUR 3.0 (-26.6) million was recorded in operating profit. The Groups profit before taxes was EUR 113.3 (105.8) million. Profit for the financial year was EUR 94.0 (84.6) million. The equity ratio was 27.4 (32.0) per cent at the end of the year. Fingrids total capital expenditure in 2020 amounted to EUR 169.7 (126.9) million. This included a total of EUR 137.3 (103.4) million invested in the transmission grid and EUR 9.6 (5.5) million for reserve power. ICT investments amounted to EUR 21.1 (17.0) million. The costliest single ICT investment was the centralised information exchange system for electricity retail markets, datahub, which the company is currently building. A total of EUR 4.5 (3.4) million was used for R&D projects during the year under review. The parent companys turnover was EUR 679.8 (786.2) million, profit for the financial year EUR 136.0 (148.1) million and distributable funds EUR 186.8 million. Based on the companys own calculations, the return according to the regulatory model that governs grid operations amounts to a deficit of around EUR 30 million for 2020. The size of the deficit was positively affected by cost efficiency and quality incentives. The Energy Authority has confirmed a cumulative deficit of EUR 28.4 million for the previous regulatory period, 20162019. Financing Fingrids credit rating remained high, reflecting the companys strong overall financial situation and debt service capacity. The Groups net financial costs were EUR 4.0 (10.1) million, including EUR 0.7 million in interest expenses on the lease liabilities booked into the balance sheet. The Groups net interest expenses on loans during the year totalled EUR 13.3 (14.7) million. The change in the fair value of financial derivatives was EUR 3.8 million positive (EUR 8.1 million positive). The Groups finance income was increased during the review period by an EUR 8.4 million dividend attributable to the sale of the Nord Pool shares. Interest-bearing borrowings totalled EUR 1,174.9 (1,120.0) million, of which non-current borrowings accounted for EUR 1,032.8 (884.7) million and current borrowings for EUR 142.1 (235.3) million. At the end of the year, the companys interest-bearing borrowings included a total of EUR 31.2 million in lease liabilities, consisting of EUR 2.3 million in short-term liabilities, to be paid within a year. The companys liquidity remained good. Cash and cash equivalents and other financial assets totalled EUR 125.9 (82.8) million on. The company additionally has an undrawn committed revolving credit facility of EUR 300 million to secure liquidity (until 11 December 2022) and a total of EUR 225 million in committed and uncommitted bilateral facility arrangements with banks. The counterparty risk arising from derivative contracts relating to financing was EUR 26.2 (22.4) million. Fingrids foreign exchange and commodity price risks were hedged. Fingrid has credit rating service agreements with S&P Global Ratings (S&P) and Fitch Ratings (Fitch). The credit ratings valid on 31 December 2020 remained high and were as follows: S&Ps rating for Fingrids unsecured senior debt and long-term company rating at AA- and the short-term company rating at A-1+, with a stable outlook.Fitchs rating for Fingrids unsecured senior debt at A+, the long-term company rating at A, and F1 for the short-term company rating, with a stable outlook. Customers Fingrid provides grid services and electricity market services to its customers: utility companies, electricity-consuming industry and electricity market parties. Fingrids operations are largely based on fulfilling statutory duties, and they are conducted with a maximum customer focus, impartially and on equal terms. Grid services secure reliable transmission of electricity in the main grid in accordance with the needs of utility companies and energy intensive industry. The transmission reliability rate broke the all-time record in 2020. Significant quantities of wind power capacity are currently under planning and construction. We received around 160 enquiries about connecting to the main grid, totalling tens of thousands of megawatts in capacity. The connection agreements signed during the year enable the grid connection of roughly 1,800 MW of new wind power capacity. We also received inquiries about the grid connection of new types of consumption. Fingrids electricity market services provide the electricity market operators with a unified price area for electricity trading in Finland as well as the benefits of the open European electricity markets. In 2020, the full cross-border transmission capacity was utilised for Finlands electricity imports from Sweden. The transmission capacity did not meet the needs of the market, but our cross-border connections functioned very well. According to a study carried out by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) in 2019, the transmission tariffs for electricity in the Finnish transmission system are the third lowest in Europe, when compared with transmission grids of a similar size. The comparison included 36 countries. In 2021, the grid service fees will be maintained at the previous years level. According to the customer satisfaction survey conducted in autumn 2020, the customers trust in Fingrid remains strong and our work for the benefit of society at large is considered a particular strength. More than half of the customers felt that the companys operations had improved during the past year. According to the survey, customers perceive Fingrid as an open and cooperative player who works for the benefit of the whole of society and treats its customers impartially. Our customers gave us a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 45, a good result for a natural monopoly in a business-to-business industry. Main grid In this decade, Fingrid will invest two billion euros in Finnish grid networks and substations. The main grid must be reinforced because achieving the goal of a climate neutral Finland by 2035 requires a significant increase in emission-free electricity production and consumption. Wind power connections have in particular increased the need for investments. We are working on a grid vision, aimed to create an understanding of the development needs in the main transmission grid (400 kV and 220 kV) and proposed solutions for the long term. Roughly 10 kilometres of new transmission lines were completed and 570 kilometres were under construction. 250 kilometres of transmission lines were under general planning. Twelve new or expanded substations were completed and 22 were under construction. Fingrids ongoing major electricity transmission projects included the construction of a transmission line from Oulu to Petjvesi, the so-called Forest Line. The construction of a third AC connection to Sweden is under preparation to boost the functioning of international electricity markets. Another project currently in the planning phase is the upgrading of the OuluLappeenranta connection, or Lake Line. Fingrid scored top results in ITOMS (The International Transmission Operations & Maintenance Study) and was the only TSO to achieve a Top Performer nomination both in the transmission line and substation maintenance categories. ITOMS looks into the effectiveness of maintenance based on criteria such as maintenance costs and disturbance statistics. Power system Electricity consumption in Finland amounted to 80.9 (86.1) terawatt hours in 2020. Fingrid transmitted a total of 68.4 (68.7) terawatt hours of electricity in its grid, representing 77.9 (76.0) per cent of the total electricity transmission in Finland (consumption and inter-TSO). The imported and domestic production capacity was high enough to meet peak demand of the year. The electricity consumption peaked at 12,388 (14,542) MWh/h on Friday 28 February between 8 and 9 a.m., with Finlands electricity production contributing 9,849 MWh/h and the remaining 2,539 MWh/h being imported. The area price of electricity on the day-ahead market in Finland was 46.98/MWh during the peak consumption hour. The water resources in the Nordic countries clearly exceeded the long-time average, which led to lower year-on-year wholesale electricity prices. The electricity transmitted between Finland and Sweden mostly consisted of large imports from Sweden to Finland. In 2020, 18.8 (16.3) terawatt hours of electricity was imported from Sweden to Finland, and 0.3 (0.5) terawatt hours was exported from Finland to Sweden. The electricity transmissions between Finland and Estonia were dominated by exports from Finland to Estonia, totalling 6.6 (3.8) terawatt hours. Electricity transmission from Russia to Finland amounted to 3.0 (7.6) terawatt hours. In contrast to the previous year, electricity was also exported from Finland to Russia on a few occasions. In 2020, 0.3 (0.2) terawatt hours of electricity was imported from Norway to Finland. The transmission reliability rate of the main grid was the best ever in 2020, at 99.99995% (99.9998%). An outage in a connection point in the main grid caused by a disturbance in Fingrids transmission system lasted an average of 0.51 (4.3) minutes. The calculated cost of the disturbances (regulatory outage costs) to consumer customers was EUR 0.9 (2.7) million. If rapid reclosures are included, the cost of disturbances amounts to EUR 3.2 million. The availability and reliability of Fingrids HVDC transmission links remained very high. Disturbance-clearing and fault elimination measures were highly successful, and the connections were quickly restored and made available to the market. The volume of transmission losses in the main grid increased somewhat from the level of the previous year, amounting to 1.5 (1.3) terawatt hours. This was 1.8 (1.5) per cent of the total volume of transmitted electricity. Electricity market The average market price of spot electricity on the power exchange (Nordic system price) was EUR 10.93 (38.94) per megawatt hour. The wholesale area prices on the Nordic and European electricity markets were the lowest in market history. The price differences between areas were significant, both among the Nordic price areas and on the Central European markets. The price decrease in the Nordic market area was primarily caused by extremely high hydropower production volumes and warm weather. The day-ahead market prices fell to negative figures several times in the Nordic countries. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the production and consumption of electricity and on the electricity market was fairly insignificant in the Nordic market area. Large quantities of electricity were imported to Finland, based on market incentives, throughout the year under review. Finland has been dependent on imported electricity, as the domestic production capacity does not meet the demand. The area prices in Finland and Sweden diverged in situations where the transmission capacity between the countries was insufficient to meet the demand. Our cross-border connections functioned very well, however, and we succeeded in making all the existing capacity available to the markets. Fingrids congestion revenue from cross-border transmission lines totalled EUR 146.7 (73.0) million, of which the cross-border transmission lines between Finland and Sweden accounted for EUR 122.7 (65.5) million. The links between Finland and Estonia generated EUR 24.0 (7.5) million in congestion revenue. A total of EUR 219.1 million in congestion revenue remained unused at the end of 2020 and will be used, in accordance with the regulatory guidance, for the Forest Line connection currently under construction and other grid investments that will improve the functioning of the electricity market. To increase the cross-border transmission capacity between Finland and Sweden, a third AC connection to Sweden is currently being prepared, in cooperation with the Swedish TSO. The increased transmission capacity will help to decrease the price disparities between the countries. The transmission link is due for completion in 2025. The Forest Line connection currently under construction will substantially increase the NorthSouth transmission capacity necessary for the Finnish power system and help to keep Finland as a single price area in electricity trading. The project is due for completion in 2022. Competitive trading between the Nordic power exchanges started in June 2020. The competition between electricity exchanges will increase the number of alternative trading services available to electricity market operators. The competition makes it possible for more than one Nominated Electricity Market Operator to connect with the European market coupling on the day-ahead market in the Nordic price areas. Fingrid has several on-going projects to develop the electricity market, the most notable of which is the centralised information exchange system, i.e. datahub, to go live in Finland in February 2022. The on-going Nordic cooperation projects include the Nordic Balancing Model and the related Higher Time Resolution project (15-min imbalance settlement) as well as the adoption of a new transmission capacity calculation methodology. Fingrids development of flexibility market solutions has progressed within the INTERRFACE and OneNet projects funded from the EUs Horizon2020 research programme. Corporate responsibility Fingrid Oyj employed 408 (380) persons, including temporary employees, at the end of the year. The number of permanent personnel was 363 (338). At the end of the year, 23 (24) per cent of the personnel were women and 77 (76) per cent were men. The average age of the personnel was 44 (44). Fingrid is an expert organisation where the most important resource is the knowledge and skills of the personnel. In an expert organisation, work can be organised autonomously and independently, while also supporting the team and common goals. This concept of specialists focusing on their area of expertise was also successful in 2020, in the exceptional circumstances, when most of the experts were forced to transfer to remote work almost full-time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fingrid is charged with a mission of high responsibility and great societal significance: to ensure the entire population of Finland has electricity available to them and to carry out the grid investments necessary for a clean power system. We support particularly the UNs global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to climate actions, energy and infrastructure. Fingrids corporate responsibility performance is reported according to the Global Reporting Initiative framework and the data is verified by an independent external party. In 2020, the topics important to Fingrids business activities and corporate responsibility, in addition to successfully fulfilling the companys core mission, included areas such as safety and security, procurement practices, stakeholder trust, financial result, Code of Conduct, and taking care of the work community. Compliance and corporate responsibility management is integrated with Fingrids management system and risk management practices, using the corporate strategy as a starting point. Fingrids Board of Directors updated and approved the companys Code of Conduct, monitored the responsibility of operations, and ensured that corporate responsibility management is properly organised and integrated into business operations. Fingrid is committed to the United Nations Global Compact initiative, and its Code of Conduct is in line with the initiatives principles on human rights, labour, the environment, and anti-corruption. The Code of Conduct was updated in 2020 to match with the companys updated values, and the requirement to promote diversity was included in the Code of Conduct. The company scored an eNPS of 71 and overall satisfaction of 87/100 in the Siqni employee survey. The grade for responsible operations in the personnel survey was 4.6 out of 5. The companys customers gave us a net promoter score (cNPS) of 45. Fingrid has made a pledge to support human rights and included it in the Code of Conduct. To ensure that we correctly understand our human rights impacts, Fingrid has carried out an overall assessment in compliance with the due diligence process recommended in the UNs Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Human rights are included in the corporate responsibility commitment Fingrid expects from its suppliers and their realisation is monitored using a risk-based approach. In 2020, ten Fingrid worksites were audited to verify compliance with contractor obligations, occupational safety and environmental management. In international goods sourcing, third-party supplier audits were carried out at 15 production plants, and six follow-up audits were carried out in order to rectify any non-compliances observed during these or earlier audits. Fingrid seeks to improve its occupational safety culture and achieve its zero accidents goal. In 2020, the Executive Management Group approved Fingrids policy and goals for occupational safety and health management. Fingrids own personnel had 2 (0) lost-time accidents and suppliers personnel 14 (7). 5 (2) of the lost-time accidents resulted in an absence from work of more than 30 days or in a permanent handicap/bodily injury and were classified as serious. The suppliers and Fingrids combined lost time injury frequency (LTIF) increased from the previous year to 11.1 (5.3) per million worked hours. Landowners and other stakeholders were taken into account when building and maintaining the power grid, and environmental impacts were mitigated at all life-cycle stages. Outsourced contractors and service providers were required to commit to environmentally responsible operating practices through contract terms, training and audits. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure was applied to the transmission line projects with the most significant impacts, with on-going assessments in four projects during 2020. Fingrid reports on its tax footprint and refrains from any special arrangements to minimise taxes. In 2020, the personnel and external stakeholders had a confidential and independent whistle-blower channel available to them. No breaches of anti-competition laws, complaints related to the privacy of private individuals, incidents of bribery or other corruption, human rights violations or discrimination incidents occurred in Fingrids operations. Legal proceedings and proceedings by authorities An accident took place on a worksite in Laukaa, Finland, on 25 August 2017, where an employee of Revilla y Garcia S.L. died after having fallen from a transmission line tower. A civil court case, as well as proceedings concerning social-security-based damages, have been initiated in Spain for damages against Fingrid (the client linked with the accident), the main contractor, Technolines S.R.L. filial i Finland, and its subcontractor, Revilla y Garcia S.L. Fingrid does not believe the claim against it is likely to succeed and, in Fingrids view, the legal proceedings or their outcome are not likely to have a substantial impact on the companys earnings or financial position. On 30 June 2020, the Market Court received an appeal on the companys decision to exclude a bidder from a competitive tender for 400-MVA transformers to be acquired in 20222025. The company decided to discontinue the tendering process on 14 July 2020. After the decision to discontinue the tendering process, the appeal to the Market Court was withdrawn on 28 July 2020. Events after the review period and future outlook Fingrid Groups profit for the 2021 financial period, excluding changes in the fair value of derivatives and before taxes, is expected to improve somewhat compared to 2020. Results forecasts for the financial year are complicated especially by the uncertainty related to grid service revenue, ITC income and cross-border transmission income, and to reserve and loss power costs. These are dependent on the variations in outside temperature, precipitation, windiness, and hydrological conditions in the Nordic countries, which affect electricity consumption and electricity prices in Finland and neighbouring areas and thus also grid transmission volumes. The companys debt service capacity is expected to remain stable. Board of Directors proposal for the distribution of profit The guiding principle for Fingrids dividend policy is to distribute substantially all of the parent company profit as dividends. When making the decision, however, the economic conditions, the companys near-term capital expenditure and development needs as well as any prevailing financial targets of the company are always taken into account. Fingrid Oyjs parent companys profit for the financial year was EUR 136,014,363.58 and distributable funds in the financial statements total EUR 186,751,302.32. Since the close of the financial year, there have been no material changes in the companys financial position and, in the Board of Directors view, the proposed dividend distribution does not compromise the companys solvency. Since the closing date, the Board of Directors has proposed to the Annual General Meeting of shareholders that, on the basis of the balance sheet adopted for the financial period that ended on 31 December 2020, a dividend of EUR 53,500.00 at maximum per share be paid for Series A shares and EUR 19,600.00 at maximum for Series B shares, for a total of EUR 135,614,200.00 at maximum. The dividends shall be paid in two instalments. The first instalment of EUR 35,500.00 for each Series A share and EUR 13,000.00 for each Series B share, totalling EUR 89,980,000.00, shall be paid on 12 April 2021. The second instalment of EUR 18,000.00 at maximum per share for each Series A share and EUR 6,600.00 at maximum per share for each Series B share, totalling EUR 45,634,200.00 at maximum in dividends, shall be paid subject to the Boards decision after the half-year report has been confirmed, based on the authorisation given to the Board in the Annual General Meeting. The Board has the right to decide, based on the authorisation granted to it, on the payment of the second dividend instalment after the half-year report has been confirmed and it has assessed the companys solvency, financial position and financial development. The dividends that have been decided on with the authorisation given to the Board shall be paid on the third banking day after the decision. It will be proposed that the authorisation remain valid until the next Annual General Meeting. Annual General Meeting 2021 Fingrid Oyjs Annual General Meeting is scheduled to be held on 7 April 2021 in Helsinki. In Helsinki, on 5 March 2021 Fingrid Oyj Board of Directors Attachments Financial_Statements_Bulletin Corporate_Governance_Statement Remuneration_Report Annual_Review_and_Financial_Statements ESEF_report

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Google stops selling its Cardboard VR goggles after seven years - Yahoo Finance Australia

TipRanks

In a casino, if you play long enough, the House always wins; this is just a matter of probabilities and available resources. Its different in the stock market, even though there is a tendency to refer to stock investing as a game. Smart investors dont have to beat the house to come out ahead; this is not a zero-sum game. Rather, its a game of strategy. Successful investors will look for some edge, an in that will lead them toward winning investments. This search naturally leads some investors to the corporate insiders company officers and board members whose positions give them an inside track on the background that will impact stock prices. To the great good fortune of the investing public, the regulatory authorities require that inside traders regularly publish the stock transactions they make in the companies they run. This generates a wealth of information from the SEC, and TipRanks makes it easy for investors to use the raw data, with the Insiders Hot Stocks tool. This tool features a variety of filters letting investors search stocks by trading strategies, making sense of a difficult data set. Weve used the data to pinpoint a pair of stocks showing two clear signals for investors: A Strong Buy analyst consensus rating, and a recent informative buy from a company insider. Fiserv, Inc. (FISV) We will start with Fiserv, a financial tech company providing services to banks, credit unions, securities brokers, finance companies, and retailers. The companys products include payment services, account and billing solutions, customer management and online banking, risk compliance tools, and data analytics. In short, Fiserv is a full-service fintech, with customers in a wide range of sectors, including banks, government, healthcare, insurance, telecom, and utilities. After seeing revenues slide in 1H20, Fiserv bounced back in the second half. The top line came in at $3.79 billion for Q3 and $3.83 billion for Q4; full-year revenues for 2020 reached $13.9 billion. While these were considered solid numbers, and beat expectations, the coronavirus impact was felt in year-over-year declines. Earnings, however, fared better. Fiserv registered a profit of $4.42 per share in 2020, for a 12% increase over the prior year. On the insider front, the informative buy here was made by Denis OLeary, Director and Chairman of the Board at Fiserv. OLeary spent $1.01 million on 9,100 shares of FISV. Turning to the analyst community, Mizuhos Dan Dolev believes the company has a lot going for it and a bright future. Following marked organic outperformance vs. peers in 2020, we view FISV on track to impress again in 2021, with strong growth across the board Investors often think of FISV as a legacy operator with fewer analytic capabilities than next-gen firms. This is not true, in our view FISV deploys advanced analytics to measure every client interaction, investing in automation to improve engagement. While the journey never ends, FISV is already seeing strong success in these efforts, seeing just low-single-digit senior level attrition, Dolev commented. In line with his optimistic approach, Dolev rates FISV a Buy, and his $160 price target implies a 38% upside for the year ahead. (To watch Dolevs track record, click here) Overall, there are no fewer than 19 reviews on file for Fiserv, and they break down 17 to 2 in favor of Buys versus Holds. This indicates a broad view on Wall Street that the stock is a buying proposition, and makes the consensus rating a Strong Buy. Shares are priced at $115.80, and their $134 average price target suggests room for ~16% growth on the one-year time horizon. (See FISV stock analysis on TipRanks) Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding (BHVN) From fintech we move to the pharmaceutical sector. Biohaven focuses on neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases, and has a pipeline with therapies in various stages of development, and one treatment which has already gained FDA approval. Last year, Biohaven's NURTEC was given the go ahead for the acute treatment of migraine in adults and has been performing well since its launch. The treatment has another upcoming catalyst on the horizon. The FDA has accepted an sNDA (supplemental new drug application) for the prevention of migraine and a PDUFA date is expected in the second quarter. Turning to the insider trades, on March 2, John Childs, one of the companys Directors, paid $851,370 for a bloc of 10,000 shares. His display of confidence gets the backing of H.C. Wainwrights Douglas Tsao. The 5-star analyst anticipates the US approval of NURTEC in preventative migraine followed by an immediate launch. Tsao is also impressed by NURTEC's continued linear growth. Despite being on the market for only about one year, NURTEC continues to take share from triptans and even mAbs used in preventative treatment, though the share is still relatively small, suggesting plenty of room for growth, Tsao said. Importantly, neurologist and patient attitudes towards Nurtec are overwhelmingly positive, with 58% of patients satisfied compared to just 37% on Ubrelvy, again suggesting robust growth potential based on the drugs best-in-class attributes. Accordingly, Tsao has a Buy rating on BHVN shares, to go alongside a $111 price target. This figure implies a 43% upside from current levels. (To watch Tsaos track record, click here) Biohaven also has plenty of support amongst Tsaos colleagues. The analyst consensus rates the stock a Strong Buy, based on 8 Buys and 1 Hold. At $103.13, the average price target implies gains of 33% over the next 12 months. (See BHVN stock analysis on TipRanks) To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

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Google will give its AR features a boost with dual camera support - Yahoo Tech

Google announced the availability of Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) Autopilot, a fully-managed and operated Kubernetes environment for Google Cloud customers. The underlying infrastructure is completely hidden from users while exposing the environment needed for running cloud native workloads.

Drone in Autopilot Mode

Google Kubernetes Engine is one of the first managed container orchestration services available in the public cloud. Since its launch in 2015, Google has been enhancing the service to make it enterprise-ready. GKE Autopilot is the latest move to accelerate the adoption of Google Cloud and create a unique differentiation for Google.

Like any distributed platform, Kubernetes has two components - the control plane and worker nodes. The control plane is responsible for managing the entire cluster infrastructure and the workloads running on it. The nodes act as the workhorses that run customer applications packaged as containers.

When Kubernetes became available as a managed service, cloud providers owned and managed the control plane, which is the critical part of the cluster infrastructure. Since the worker nodes are essentially a set of virtual machines, they have always been accessible to users. In GCE, the worker nodes translate to a set of Google Compute Engine instances for customers.

There are two aspects to running a managed Kubernetes cluster in the cloud. The first is making the right choice of compute, storage and network configuration, while the second is maintaining the worker nodes as a part of day-2 operations. The former deals with selecting the right size of VMs, choosing the container network interface, and overlay storage. Once the cluster is provisioned and running, customers need to manage and maintain the worker nodes. Depending on the OS, network, and storage stack, they may have to perform on-going maintenance, patching, and upgrades of the worker nodes. Despite being a managed service, container orchestration leaves quite a bit of management and configuration to customers. It is firmly grounded in the philosophy of shared responsibility applicable to most public cloud-based services.

With GKE Autopilot, Google wants to manage the entire Kubernetes infrastructure and not just the control plane. It dramatically reduces the decisions that need to be made during the creation of the cluster. The stack chosen for GKE Autopilot by Google has the best of the breed components such as shielded VMs, VPC-based public/private network, CSI-based storage, among others.

GKE Autopilot aims to simplify the choices for provisioning a secure and production-grade cluster infrastructure. There are very few knobs and switches available during the provisioning of a GKE Autopilot cluster. You dont even have to decide the number of worker nodes and their configuration while creating the cluster. The autopilot service will determine the best in class configuration and the ideal fleet size at runtime based on the characteristics of the workload you deployed.

The most exciting aspect of GKE Autopilot is the billing based on the unit of deployment, the pod.

GKE Standard, the original avatar of GKE, has a flat cluster management fee plus the cost of GCE instances. It doesnt matter how many pods - the fundamental unit of deployment in Kubernetes - you run in the cluster. You are always charged for the number of GCE instances.

With GKE Autopilot, the fundamental unit of deployment used for calculating the bill shifts from the VM to a pod. While the flat cluster management fee remains, you would only pay for the compute, memory, and storage resources consumed by the deployed pods. By default, GKE Autopilot assigns half-a-CPU, 2 GiB of RAM and 1 GiB of storage to a pod. Of course, this can be overridden by explicitly mentioning the resource requirements in the pod specification.

Behind the scenes, GKE Autopilot implements an autoscale policy that dynamically adds and removes the worker nodes to accommodate the workload requirements. You wouldnt be charged for the additional worker nodes as the unit of deployment and billing is based on the number of pods and not the number of nodes.

GKE Autopilot takes Kubernetes-as-a-Service to the next level by entirely abstracting the infrastructure. It comes close to a Platform-as-a-service model where developers are expected to bring their source code and walk away with a URL. I am waiting for Google to add Istio and Knative to GKE Autopilot, which brings true platform capabilities, including the ability to scale to zero.

GKE Autopilot comes with its own set of limitations. If you need absolute control and customization of the environment, GKE Standard is still the best choice. For example, configuring 3rd party storage platforms such as Portworx by Pure Storage or a network policy based on Tigera Calico is not supported by GKE Autopilot. Adding nodes with AI accelerators based on GPU or TPU is not available either. Deploying applications from the marketplace is another capability missing from GKE Autopilot.

Power users with advanced scenarios will continue to use GKE Standard while GKE Autopilot becomes the first-time Kubernetes users choice.

At the time of launch, only Datadog monitoring and GitLab CI/CD capabilities are fully integrated with GKE Autopilot. Other 3rd party services are expected to become available in the future.

Its interesting to see the shift in the unit of deployment. For a long time, the VM remained as the fundamental unit of deployment and billing. With the introduction of managed Kubernetes, clusters became the deployment unit. Services such as AWS Fargate for EKS and GKE Autopilot, the pod has become the lowest common denominator as the deployment and billing unit.

With GKE Autopilot, Google delivered another industry first that removes the complexity of running cloud native workloads while creating a strong differentiation factor for its cloud platform.

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Google Makes Kubernetes Invisible In The Cloud With GKE Autopilot - Forbes

If youve ever searched for a transparent image on Google, youve probably run across fakes. You save an image only to realize the checkered background is solid. Thankfully, theres a simple little trick in Google Images to avoid this.

For those unfamiliar with this phenomenon, allow me to explain. Images that have transparency often illustrate it by using a gray and white checkered pattern. The idea is that you can see which parts of the image will be transparent before you save it.

Heres how it plays out: You search for an image, maybe a logo with a transparent background, and you see a result like this:

It appears that the background behind the Microsoft logo will be transparent when you save the image, but heres what it actually looks like (black border added):

The checkered pattern is the background. Theres no transparency. Heres how to prevent that from happening.

Go toGoogle Imagesin your desktop web browser (such as Chrome or Microsoft Edge) and search for something with transparency. Unfortunately, this doesnt work on the Google mobile site.

Next, click Tools underneath the search bar.

A toolbar will expand with a few extra options. Select Color.

From the drop-down menu, choose Transparent.

Thats it. All of the results will now be images that contain at least partial transparency.

Now, thisphoto is a truly transparent image.

As someone who dabbles in design, this problem has always bothered me. Ive learned how to spot the fakes, but with this trick, you dont even have to. Its a real game-changer.

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How to Avoid Fake Transparent Images on Google Images - How-To Geek

Are you ready to learn more about Android 12?

Google recentlyannounced Android 12, and with it, several new features that improve the software that powers your Android phone. Android 12's primary mission is to improve overall performance on your phone, with a focus on app stability and redesigned notifications.

Google has also included some new privacy features, allowing Android users to control how they're tracked across sites.

Now playing: Watch this: Our first look at Android 12

6:27

If you're clamoring to get Google's latest software on your phone right now, there's good news and bad news. The bad news is, this is the very first developer preview. That means that it's going to be full of bugs, issues and poor battery performance. Google has specifically made it difficult for the average user to install for those reasons.

Read more:3 things Android 12 can do that Android 11 can't

The good news is, if you're tech-savvy enough and don't mind living with some bugs, you can install it today, so long as you have a compatible phone.

You can install the beta on any Pixel phone going back to the Pixel 3.

I can't emphasize this enough: The first beta is for developers to begin updating their apps for the new software. Google recommends installing the update on a test device and not your daily phone, because there's no guarantee the preview will be stable enough for daily use.

Instead of offering the first preview via an over-the-air update, you'll have to download the system image and install itusing the Android Flash Tool, or sideload an OTA update using ADB commands. If none of that makes sense for you, then you definitely should stay away from installing the beta. Right now, the beta is only available for the Pixel 3, 3a, 4, 4a and Pixel 5.

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

On top of using command line tools to install it, the process will factory reset your phone, forcing you to set it up as if it were new. Then if you decide you want to go back to Android 11, guess what? Yup, you'll have to factory reset it again.

It's a lot of work just to get an early look at software that's sure to give you problems.

With all of that said, if you still want to install Android 12, you can find the proper files and instructions on Google's Android 12 site.

We're installing Android 12 as fast as we can to find the new logo.

Google typically launches a public beta of the next Android update around May, or when it has held the Google I/O developer conference. But we can go one step further and narrow down the time when Google plans to release a more refined version of Android 12 to the public. Here's the release schedule Google plans on using:

Google's release schedule for Android 12.

Based on that, we know that the first public beta should launch sometime in May.

With the launch of Android 11 last year, Google extended the public beta to more than just its own Pixel line of smartphones. It seemed to be successful for Google and its hardware partners, so we'd expect a similar launch this year. Samsung phone owners, however, we can't make any promises. The smartphone maker has never participated in Google's early beta program.

In addition to more devices being supported, the public beta traditionally has fewer bugs and issues. It's not completely free of them, but it's better off than the early developer betas.

Google typically releases the finalized build of a major Android update late in the third quarter, around August or September. Thus giving the company and developers plenty of time to get ready for the launch.

If you find yourself wanting to take part in the Android 12 beta, I suggest waiting as long as possible to install it. The later you get into the development cycle, the more polished the update will be and the fewer issues you're likely to experience.

We will have plenty more Android 12 coverage in the coming days, weeks and months. Until then, make sure toread about everything that's included in Android 12.

Originally posted here:

Try out Android 12 early (if you dare): Here's how to get the developer beta - CNET

In a huge expansion of its industry-cloud portfolio, Microsoft is preparing to compete directly against partners SAP and Oracle as well as rival Google in what could be the hottest cloud segment of 2021: industry-specific solutions.

(In my weekly Cloud Wars Top 10 rankings, Microsoft is #1, Google Cloud is #3, SAP is #5, and Oracle is #6.)

While Microsoft has been fairly low-key about its first three industry cloudsgovernment, retail and healthcareCEO Satya Nadella himself showcased the expansion of those vertical-industry efforts with a YouTube video outlining the expansion into manufacturing, financial services and nonprofits.

I believe this surge into vertical-industry solutions from each of these powerful and innovative organizationsMicrosoft, Google Cloud, SAP and Oraclerepresents a much-needed renaissanceperhaps even a reformation?in an enterprise software industry that can at times seem unable to sever its ties to the past.

While the world went digital and organizations flattened and business networks multiplied and become more complex, and as consumers moved to the center of the business universe and employee experience massively disrupted the entire HCM world, the enterprise-apps vendors chugged along, endlessly refining the tools created for the last decade: ERP, HCM, CRM.

Now, theres surely great value in those applications and will be for many years to comebut they represented a world gone by, and the lack of a next-gen approach to business processes was becoming a vacuum that not only nature but also customers were starting to abhor.

But all that has changed rapidly and dramatically in just the past few months as I described last month in SAP, Google, Oracle Battle over Industry-Specific Solutions: 5 Predictions. The move toward vertical applications is one I focused on intently in 2020heres a sample of our major analyses:

And now with Microsoft jumping into the industry-specific battle pointedly and aggressively, the entire industry seems about to unleash a wave of high-impact and high-value solutions aligned to the fast-emerging digital processes and business models remaking every industry.

On top of the major moves from Microsoft, SAP, Google and Oracle, Salesforce has set up some industry clouds, ServiceNow has been raising its focus on industry-specific solutions and even IBM is leveraging its extensive and long-tenured industry expertise with some vertical-market clouds.

So huge benefits are in the offing for business customers. The three in particular that Nadella focused on from Microsofts industry clouds are:

Heres how Nadella outlined in the YouTube video Microsofts overall approach to its newly expanded industry-cloud business, along with 3 customer examples.

Over the past year, weve worked closely with leaders in every industry to help them navigate the crisis, equipping them with technology and tools to accelerate their transformation. Our deep commitment to industry is not new, but its taken on a new urgency and were committed to helping every organization use technology to improve time to value, increase agility, and reduce cost, said Nadella.

Novartis is using AI to make it easier and cheaper to discover, develop and deliver new medicines. It typically takes 10 years and more than $2 billion to develop and bring to market a new prescription drug. Now Novartis is empowering its associates with AI tools at each step of the drug-development process so they can uncover the insights hidden in the vast amounts of data in a quest to improve their time to value, Nadella said. This quest by Novartis is one of my favorite stories from 2020, and you can read about their fascinating exploration into the future in Medical Moonshot: How Novartis and Microsoft Are Using AI to Reimagine Medicine.

In financial services, Nadella continued, BlackRock is migrating Alladin, their portfolio-management platform, to the cloud to accelerate innovation and enhance the experience for its broad and diverse client base. During the early days of the pandemic, the number of transactions on Alladin increased by an order of magnitude as customers rebalanced and derisked their portfolios. And using the cloud, BlackRock was able to quickly scale in a highly controlled and transparent way, increasing its agility.

And in manufacturing, Johnson Controls is using digital twins to transform how buildings and spaces are designed, built and managed. For example, digital twins enable building managers to support COVID-19 safety protocols including maximum-occupancy guidelines, and theyre able to better monitor and optimize systems and ultimately reduce costs.

Next week, Ill be digging more deeply into this exciting move by Microsoft. And hey, who knowsmaybe Ill even start a new newsletter next month focused on these industry-specific solutions

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Microsoft Faces Off with Google, SAP, Oracle in Industry Cloud Blitz - Cloud Wars

If you have a spare Pixel phone, you can install Android 12 right now.

Google released the first developer preview of Android 12, giving developers and early-adopters a chance to check out the search giant's latest mobile operating system. Installing the Android 12 developer beta isn't for everyone -- it's likely full of bugs and issues -- but we've installed it on a test device and have been looking for any notable changes.

Read more: 3 things Android 12 can do that Android 11 can't

The first preview doesn't have a lot of user-facing features -- it's mainly under-the-hood improvements -- but there are a few notable items worth pointing out. For example, there's a new double-tap gesture that you trigger by tapping the back of the phone to perform a task, like take a screenshot. Google always adds more features to the release as we get closer to the public beta in May and the final release later this year, so expect more improvements and new goodies to come.

Below we'll highlight some of the new features we can find in the current build, and keep updating the list as Google releases more updates and enables more features. I recommend waiting at least until the first public beta is released by Google before taking the plunge and installing Android 12, but here's what you can start looking forward to.

Now playing: Watch this: Our first look at Android 12

6:27

Apple's iPhone has a cool feature that lets you tap on the back of the phone a set number of times to trigger an action of your choosing. It looks like Google is going to borrow that idea with a new Double-Tap gesture.

On my Pixel 5, I went to Settings > System > Gestures > Double tap where I turned on the new feature. Once it's enabled, you'll see a list of actions that you can trigger. Tasks include taking a screenshot, playing and pausing media or opening Google Assistant.

That said, I haven't been able to successfully trigger the gesture yet. I even turned off the setting at the bottom of the screen that requires a hard tap with no luck. Clearly it's a feature coming to Android 12, but it doesn't appear to be fully integrated yet.

Another sign that Google's work is unfinished here: The animation that plays at the top of the screen shows the person double-pressing the power button instead of tapping the phone.

Press the power button five times to call for help.

You can now quickly call for help by quickly pressing the power button on your phone five times. A countdown alarm will play letting you know your phone is about to call for help, and then it will call your local emergency number.

Emergency SOS was turned on by default after I installed the beta, but you can view the settings by opening the Settings app and going to Safety & Emergency > Emergency SOS.

Interface changes are coming.

This is a minor change, and one that's sure to be expanded on in future updates. The notification panel has a new look that's very subtle. When you're using the light theme, there's a blue tint to the notification shade, and the app icons are more pronounced.

It's a small change, but it shows a glimpse of the new approach to the interface that we expect to see more of in future releases.

Media controls are no longer an 'every app' affair.

Instead of allowing any and every app that plays audio or video to use the media control panel in your quick settings panel, Android 12 adds the option to turn off individual apps. For example, if you want to be able to control playback of Spotify in the quick settings panel shade, but you don't really want YouTube taking up space, you can turn it off.

Open Settings > Sound & vibration > Media and turn off all of the apps you want to ban.

The developer preview is only available for the Pixel line of phones right now.

We know that Google has a lot more in store for Android 12 based on what people are finding buried in the current preview. Features and settings that require tech-savviness to enable. Check out this Twitter thread to see a list of features that are currently turned off, but XDA Developers' editor-in-chief Mishaal Rahman has been finding and showing off.

Yea, there's a lot to be excited about.

We'll update this story with new features as they're officially added to Android 12. Until then, make sure to bookmark this page and check back frequently. In the meantime, make sure to check out our favorite Android 11 features. And, if you insist, here's how you can install the Android 12 developer preview right now.

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

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4 main Android 12 features you can look forward to trying - CNET

Two months after the jarring departure of a well-known artificial intelligence researcher at Google, a second A.I. researcher at the company said she was fired after criticizing the way it has treated employees who were working on ways to address bias and toxicity in its artificial intelligence systems.

Margaret Mitchell, known as Meg, who was one of the leaders of Googles Ethical A.I. team, sent a tweet on Friday afternoon saying merely: Im fired.

Google confirmed that her employment had been terminated. After conducting a review of this managers conduct, we confirmed that there were multiple violations of our code of conduct, read a statement from the company.

The statement went on to claim that Dr. Mitchell had violated the companys security policies by lifting confidential documents and private employee data from the Google network. The company said previously that Dr. Mitchell had tried to remove such files, the news site Axios reported last month.

Dr. Mitchell said on Friday evening that she would soon have a public comment.

Dr. Mitchells post on Twitter comes less than two months after Timnit Gebru, the other leader of the Ethical A.I. team at Google, said that she had been fired by the company after criticizing its approach to minority hiring as well as its approach to bias in A.I. In the wake of Dr. Gebrus departure from the company, Dr. Mitchell strongly and publicly criticized Googles stance on the matter.

More than a month ago, Dr. Mitchell said that she had been locked out of her work accounts. On Wednesday, she tweeted that she remained locked out after she tried to defend Dr. Gebru, who is Black.

Exhausted by the endless degradation to save face for the Upper Crust in tech at the expense of minorities lifelong careers, she wrote.

Dr. Mitchells departure from the company was another example of the rising tension between Googles senior management and its work force, which is more outspoken than workers at other big companies. The news also highlighted a growing conflict in the tech industry over bias in A.I., which is entwined with questions involving hiring from underrepresented communities.

Todays A.I. systems can carry human biases because they learn their skills by analyzing vast amounts of digital data. Because the researchers and engineers building these systems are often white men, many worry that researchers are not giving this issue the attention it needs.

Google announced in a blog post yesterday that an executive at the company, Marian Croak, who is Black, will oversee a new group inside the company dedicated to responsible A.I.

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A second Google A.I. researcher says the company fired her. - The New York Times

The tech giant had also banned political ads on its platforms, including YouTube and Google search pages, after the 2020 election. | Richard Vogel/AP Photo

Google will lift its ban on political ads on Wednesday, ending a self-imposed prohibition that had been active since the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Google announced the decision in an email to political clients Monday morning. The tech giant had also banned political ads on its platforms, including YouTube and Google search pages, after the 2020 election as part of a broader effort to clamp down on political misinformation. Google will now return ads from campaigns and ads on political topics to those sites, which have seen nearly $750 million in advertising since the spring of 2018, according to Google's ad disclosure portal.

Facebook which temporarily and narrowly lifted its own political ad ban ahead of the Georgia Senate runoffs in January before reimposing it once again has not yet announced when (or if) it will lift its own ban on political ads.

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Google to lift political ad ban this week - POLITICO