Google – News Stories About Google - Page 30

Google's Own
'Siri' Named
for Star Trek

rumor mill

Dec 15, 2011 3:20 PM CST

Google's Own 'Siri' Named for Star Trek

Software to be called 'Majel' after Enterprise voice: reports

(Newser) - Siri's got competition. Google is reportedly working on its own version of the voice-activated smartphone assistant, and rumor has it the software's name honors Star Trek. Google is apparently calling the system "Majel," after Majel Barrett, who did the voice for Star Trek's talking computer,...

2011 Google Zeitgeist Shows
We're Pretty Shallow

OPINION

Dec 15, 2011 10:17 AM CST

2011 Google Zeitgeist Shows We're Pretty Shallow

Time to don the hairshirt

(Newser) - There's no way to sugarcoat this: We are one shallow nation. Google today revealed its annual Zeitgeist , in which it crunches billions of Google searches "to capture the year's 10 fastest-rising global queries and the rest of the spirit of 2011." Here's what the spirit...

Could Google's
Alfred Rival Siri?

Dec 14, 2011 11:12 AM CST

Could Google's Alfred Rival Siri?

After criticizing Siri, Android looks to follow

(Newser) - Less than two months after Google's mobile chief panned Siri and said Google had no interest in adding a Siri-like assistant to Android , the company yesterday announced that it has bought the tech company that makes Alfred, a personal assistant smartphone app. In a look at the move, Reuters...

Google Gives $11.5M
to Fight Slavery

Dec 14, 2011 6:37 AM CST

Google Gives $11.5M to Fight Slavery

Move is a 'game-changing investment,' anti-trafficking group says

(Newser) - Google has made what is believed to be the biggest-ever corporate contribution to the fight against modern-day slavery. As part of $40 million in donations the search-engine king is making over the holiday season, Google coughed up $11.5 million to organizations working to end human trafficking, CNN reports. Up...

Google's Photo ID Feature Calms Privacy Fears

Dec 11, 2011 7:57 AM CST

Google's Photo ID Feature Calms Privacy Fears

Security experts applaud opt-in requirement

(Newser) - Google has quietly launched a facial recognition service for Google+, but unlike Facebook's more intrusive photo ID feature , Google is earning praise from privacy experts for keeping Find My Face an opt-in feature, reports eWeek . Like Facebook's Tag Suggestions, which launched about a year ago, Find My Face...

Google's
Next Big Idea:
Same-Day
Delivery

Dec 2, 2011 7:15 AM CST

Google's Next Big Idea: Same-Day Delivery

Would allow customers to purchase from nearby stores online

(Newser) - Google's online empire might be about to get a little bigger: In a move that would ramp up its rivalry with Amazon, the company is planning its own same-day delivery service, according to three insiders. Google won’t be selling things directly—instead, the system would allow customers to...

Intense Fight Forms Over SOPA Law to Crack Down on Online Piracy

Online Piracy Bill
Becomes Major Battle

Nov 17, 2011 2:20 PM CST

Online Piracy Bill Becomes Major Battle

Lobbyists dig in over controversial SOPA measure

(Newser) - A battle is heating up on Capitol Hill over a controversial new bill targeting online piracy. Yesterday Google, Facebook, Yahoo and other web companies took out full-page newspaper ads railing against the House’s recently introduced Stop Online Piracy Act, even as supporters sung its praises at a hearing. “...

Google Unveils Digital
Music Service

Nov 16, 2011 4:43 PM CST

Google Unveils Digital Music Service

Cloud storage is free for up to 20,000 songs

(Newser) - Google unveiled its much-anticipated digital music store today, opening a new front in its battle with Apple to provide services over mobile devices. For the first time, Google will sell songs on the Android Market, its online store for apps, movies, and books. Some songs are free, while others were...

Google Tries Again
with Gmail iPhone App

Nov 16, 2011 1:58 PM CST

Google Tries Again with Gmail iPhone App

This time it loads, but still lacks some key functions

(Newser) - Google is trying again with its Gmail app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch after its first attempt two weeks proved to be a quick failure . The new app is out today, and Business Insider reports progress: It loads this time without errors, and Google fixed the problem related...

Inside Google X Lab: Office Robots, Space Elevators

Nov 14, 2011 6:57 AM CST

Inside Google X Lab: Office Robots, Space Elevators

'Google X' lab envisions future of technology

(Newser) - To Google is to search, but in the future it could mean much more. Google operates a secret lab in the Bay Area devoted to projects far beyond the cutting-edge: ideas like robots that go to the office for you and dinner plates that communicate with your social network, the...

'Dreary' Google+ Is Doomed

OPINION

Nov 12, 2011 9:29 AM CST

'Dreary' Google+ Is Doomed

Facebook has nothing to worry about from boring competitor: Farhad Manjoo

(Newser) - Did you think that Google+ was one of the hottest, fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet? Well, that was so last September. Just five months after Google launched its social media challenge to Facebook, signing up about 40 million users in record time, Farhad Manjoo of Slate is declaring Google+ to...

Google's New Plan:
Be Your Cable TV Provider?

Nov 4, 2011 6:53 AM CDT

Google's New Plan: Be Your Cable TV Provider?

Search giant may offer TV channels within video, phone, Internet service

(Newser) - Watch out, Comcast: Google is discussing a plan that could turn traditional cable on its head. The search giant is looking into providing video and phone services along with an already-announced high-speed Internet service in Kansas City, the Wall Street Journal reports—and the video service could include TV channels...

Google 'Barrel
Roll' Search
Sets Screens
Spinning

Nov 4, 2011 1:01 AM CDT

Google 'Barrel Roll' Search Sets Screens Spinning

Another round of applause for Google

(Newser) - Relax. It's not your head that's spinning, it's your computer screen. Google has launched a trick search that sends a screen image rolling in a circle when users type in the search words: "Do a barrel roll." The 360-degree gimmick that set Twitterverse tongues wagging...

Gmail Immediately
Pulls Buggy iPhone App

Nov 2, 2011 2:01 PM CDT

Gmail Immediately Pulls Buggy iPhone App

Users complain it's 'unusable'

(Newser) - Google finally released its long-awaited stand-alone Gmail client for iPhones, iPads, and iPods today—only to immediately pull it down after a flood of complaints over bugs. “The iOS app we launched today contained a bug with notifications. We have pulled the app to fix the problem,” Gmail’...

US Cuts Off Funding to UNESCO Over Palestine

Oct 31, 2011 2:26 PM CDT

US Cuts Off Funding to UNESCO Over Palestine

Political workaround unlikely to go anywhere

(Newser) - The US has officially cut off all funding to the UN’s Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization over its acceptance of Palestine as a full member. The impact will be felt immediately, because the US had a $60 million dues payment due in November, the AP reports. The Obama administration’...

Google Apparently Doesn't Like Romney's Chances

Oct 28, 2011 2:48 PM CDT

Google Apparently Doesn't Like Romney's Chances

The phrase 'Romney can win' doesn't go over so well

(Newser) - Mitt Romney can't catch a break. First George Will dumps on him , and now it looks like Google's search engine isn't a big fan. The folks at Slate's Browbeat blog have noticed that when users type the phrase "Romney can win" into the search bar,...

Occupy Trumps Tea Party
in Google Searches

Oct 27, 2011 5:30 PM CDT

Occupy Trumps Tea Party in Google Searches

Search engine's blog compares data

(Newser) - Americans are more fascinated by Occupy Wall Street than the Tea Party—if Google is the judge. The first “spark of interest” in the Occupy movement on Google was Sept. 16, and it overtook the Tea Party about a week later, Google’s politics blog reports. Sure, the Zuccotti...

Google Looking to Buy Yahoo

Oct 23, 2011 8:59 AM CDT

Google Looking to Buy Yahoo

Google wants more users for Google+, more advertising markets

(Newser) - Google is trying to buy rival Yahoo and has talked to at least two private equity firms about financing the deal, reports the Wall Street Journal . Despite Internet ad revenues soaring around 20% a year, Yahoo revenue has foundered for several years, spurring talk the Internet giant could go private...

Jobs: I'll Spend
Every Cent
Apple Has
to Kill Google

Oct 21, 2011 9:29 AM CDT

Jobs: I'll Spend Every Cent Apple Has to Kill Google

Called Android 'stolen product'

(Newser) - Steve Jobs was furious over what he called Google’s “grand theft” of Apple ideas, and he didn’t mince words about it, the Huffington Post reports. “I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this,” he says in Walter Isaacson’s biography , discussing Apple’s patent...

Far-Flung
Amazon Village
Hitting Google
Street View

Oct 19, 2011 5:48 AM CDT

Far-Flung Amazon Village Hitting Google Street View

Brazilian villagers had never heard of Google before

(Newser) - Google's effort to extend Street View to places well off the beaten track has brought it to a remote village on a tributary of the Amazon. A Google trike with nine cameras attached was sent to the remote Brazilian community of Tumbira and traveled up and down its paths...