Google

Android 12 will turn your Pixel phone into a car key — assuming automakers bother

Nearly a year after Apple announced the iPhone would become your digital car key, Google is doing the same. Android 12 will officially let “select Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones” natively double as a car key later this year, the company just announced at its Google I/O 2021 developer conference today. It’s not like Google… Read more

Android 12 preview: first look at Google’s radical new design

There are new features, but it’s the biggest design update in years Google is announcing the latest beta for Android 12 today at Google I/O. It has an entirely new design based on a system called “Material You,” featuring big, bubbly buttons, shifting colors, and smoother animations. It is “the biggest design change in Android’s… Read more

There are over 3 billion active Android devices

There are over 3 billion active Android devices in the wild now. Sameer Samat, VP of product management at Google, announced the news at Google I/O 2021, which is live, but totally online, this year. Google added over 500 million active Android devices since its last developer’s conference in 2019 and 1 billion devices since… Read more

Google Photos is adding a locked folder for your private images

Google is introducing a new feature to Google Photos that lets you hide specific pictures so they won’t show up in your photo feed or in other apps. The feature, called Locked Folder, will put whatever sensitive pictures you’d rather not share behind a password. In its I/O presentation, Google used the example of parents… Read more

Android introduces new privacy-friendly sandbox for machine learning data

At the I/O developer conference on Tuesday, Google announced a range of new privacy measures, including a new partition within Android to manage machine learning data more securely. Android’s new Private Compute Core will be a privileged space within the operating system, similar to the partitions used for passwords or sensitive biometric data. But instead… Read more

Google showed off its next-generation AI by talking to Pluto and a paper airplane

Artificial intelligence is a huge part of Google’s business, and at this year’s I/O conference, the company highlighted its work with AI language understanding. The star of the show was an experimental model called LaMDA, which Google says could one day supercharge the ability of its conversational AI assistants and allow for more natural conversations…. Read more

It’s about to get easier to change compromised passwords in Chrome for Android

Google is adding a feature to its Chrome password manager that allows you to change a compromised password with a few button taps. If its security check feature finds a password that was potentially leaked, the message will now include a “Change Password” button for supported sites. Tapping that button will automatically take you to… Read more

Live blog: Google I/O is back for 2021

Google is actually doing it live Sundar Pichai at Google I/O 2017 After taking a year off, Google is back with its I/O developer conference for 2021. Like most tech events over the past year, this is not an in-person event and will be streamed over the internet instead. Unlike most tech events over the… Read more

Chia Coin Won’t Drive Up Most HDD Prices, Analysts Claim

Home News (Image credit: Toshiba) Financial analysts believe that while hard disk drive pricing has spiked in recent weeks due to Chia coin mining and will continue to be higher than usual for a while, average HDD prices will not get considerably higher than they are today as there is extraordinary demand for specific models… Read more

Google I/O 2021: rumors, news, and announcements

The event kicks off at 1PM ET / 10AM PT today Since Google I/O was canceled completely last year due to COVID-19, this year’s festivities — which will be available online to anyone who wants to watch — are sure to be, well, festive. Today’s two-hour event will introduce what is expected to be a… Read more

Amazon’s Echo Frames can now come with sunglass or blue light filtering lenses

Amazon is launching new lens options today for its Echo Frames smart audio glasses: two types of polarized sunglass lenses for use outside, and blue light-filtering lenses for staring at bright screens. The blue light and blue mirror sunglass options will ship on May 18th, and the “Classic” dark sunglass lenses will arrive later on… Read more

How to watch the Google I/O 2021 keynote

It’s been over a year since Google last held I/O thanks to the pandemic, but with the COVID-19 outlook slightly more positive in 2021, the company is making its triumphant return to the (virtual) stage with an entirely online Google I/O developer conference. And with a year and some change between I/O 2019 and now,… Read more

Forget AirPods 3 leaks, Beats Studio Buds have now shown up in iOS beta code

Home News (Image credit: MacRumours) Apple is working on a new pair of Beats true wireless earbuds, according to images found in the latest tvOS and iOS beta codes by MacRumours and 9to5Mac. Referenced as ‘Beats Studio Buds’ in the tvOS 14.6 and iOS 14.6 codes, they will reportedly feature noise cancellation and, courtesy of… Read more

Apple’s Phil Schiller gives Epic iPhone testimony

What does ‘locked in’ mean, though? We’ve gotten through the expert witnesses of Epic v. Apple, and as a reward, Phil Schiller — currently an “Apple Fellow,” whatever that is, and previously the senior vice president of worldwide marketing — took the stand like a twinkly App Store St. Nick. To hear him tell it,… Read more

Hugo Barra is leaving Facebook

Facebook’s vice president of AR and VR Hugo Barra is leaving the company, he announced (where else) on Facebook Monday. “Today is my last day at Facebook Reality Labs, after 4 years working on projects that have been more exciting and more challenging than anything I’ve encountered in my career, with some of the brightest… Read more