Google

Why Doesn’t Google Encrypt All of Your Data?

Google’s coasting on the wave of cyber anxiety following the NSA leaks with some new encryption features. From now on everything you put on Cloud Storage will be automatically encrypted on Google servers. Which raises the question: Why isn’t everything encrypted on Google servers? The benefits of encryption are undeniable, from the user’s point of…

Google Search Can Now Answer Questions About Your Specific Life

Between the always-listening Moto X and the promise of conversational search, it’s pretty clear that Google’s ultimate goal is to become your very own, sci-fi, voice controlled personal assistant. And the new features Google’s adding to search are bringing us even closer. https://gizmodo.com/moto-x-hands-on-forget-specs-this-thing-is-awesome-991536492 Google has slowly been incorporating more and more of your personal information…

Society crumbles as Google admits “Literally” now means “Figuratively”

I’m all for the flexibility of language. Modern pronunciations don’t bother me, I think many common grammatical errors should be added to the rulebook, and I fully support letting words’ meanings change over time. That said, there’s something kind of heartbreaking about Google’s new “expanded” definition of “literally.” Yes, the Google Dictionary now says “literally”…

Google: Non-Gmail Users Have No Legitimate Expectation of Privacy (Updated)

Here’s some more bad news to add to the pile of concern over email vulnerability, a brief filed by Google’s attorneys has just surfaced and revealed that Gmail non-Gmail users who exchange emails with a Gmail user should have “no legitimate expectation of privacy”—ever. https://gizmodo.com/another-secure-email-service-silent-circle-is-shuttin-1075763867 The brief, unearthed by Consumer Watchdog, was filed on July…

Gmail’s New Compose Window Will Soon Be Your Only Choice

Gmail’s latest in a series of changes, the updated compose window, will soon go from opt-out to your only choice. Today’s Gmail blog post says that all Gmail accounts will switch to the new compose window in the next few days. If you’re not a fan of the new default, Google says you can expand…

How to Turn an Old Android Device Into a Chromecast (Kinda)

If you failed to snap up a Chromecast, all is not (quite) lost: if you have an old Android device, running 2.2 or up, you can use Cheapcast to kinda sorta replicate the experience. https://gizmodo.com/google-chromecast-review-a-little-dongle-with-big-pote-898743646 Designed to ape Google’s dongle, it basically gives phones and tablets the ability to stream from Chromcast-friendly apps to another…

Google Fiber Continues the Awful ISP Tradition of Banning “Servers”

In a Wired piece published recently, Ryan Singel assails Google’s newfound hypocrisy when it comes to net neutrality. And he’s right. Having spent many years fighting to stop Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from discriminating between different types of Internet traffic, the tech giant is now perpetuating a long-standing form of that discrimation with Google Fiber,…

It seems the new Nexus 7 is having some teething problems, with users reporting erratic touchscreen, keyboard and GPS function so far. Have you been having any problems?

Stream Everything To Your Chromecast With This Clever Workaround

People are greedy. We just are. What we want is all the content. All the content streaming to our Chromecasts. And as the dog days of summer have slowly ticked by Vimeo, Redbox Instant and Hulu have been the main streaming services to promise apps for our precious little dongles. Which is great, but we…

Android Apps of the Week: Instagram, Quick Terminal, and More

Quick Terminal: Terminal apps aren’t exactly known for being efficient as far as UI goes. QuickTerminal at least makes things a little easier on you by letting you store specific commands and assigning them to different shortcuts. The app already includes several basic commands like rebooting into recovery or wiping the Dalvik cache. However, you…

How Different Countries See Each Other, According to Google

Google search suggestions are a mixed blessing—but sometimes they can prove hilarious. Like this series of locality based suggestions, which show what different countries really think of each other. Put together by Noah Veltman, this graphic relies on the variation of search suggestions by location. And it really works. Here, you can see suggestions for…

According to Taylor Wimberly, who was correct on a few Moto X leaks, Motorola will be making the next Nexus device and it’ll be completely different from the Moto X. We’ll see.

Google Maps Mobile Apps Will Now Be Polluted With Ads (Sad Face)

Google Maps app on your smartphone is one of those wonderful things that makes owning the gadget an absolute joy. Instant, essential knowledge. Today, Google announced that it would be robbing its iOS and Android apps of their purity by allowing advertisers to advertise against your searches. So as in the example in the device…

LG G2 Hands On: Killer Hardware, Software Dead on Arrival

We just got some hands-on with the LG’s new flagship, the G2. It’s a phone that has everything going for it, except for the using it part. https://gizmodo.com/lgs-new-g2-is-a-pretty-little-jack-of-all-trades-1054281055 For starters, the G2 feels very thin and light, comparable with the Samsung Galaxy S4. The two phones even look alike—much to Samsung’s chagrin, we’re sure. They…

Google Will Now Show a Listing of #Longreads In Your Search Results

Google’s great for getting quick answers fast, but sometime you don’t just want the Wikipedia summary. Sometimes you want to READ. And for exactly those situations, Google will start showing you a listing of in-depth stories relating to your query. The new results will roll out over the next few days, so start flexing your…

Moto X Review: The Android Phone for Everybody

When we first got our hands on the Moto X last week, we were way more impressed than we thought we’d be. We’ve been using and abusing it since then, and we’re happy to say that the good first impression has held up. Forget specs. This is a phone that punches above its weight. https://gizmodo.com/moto-x-hands-on-forget-specs-this-thing-is-awesome-991536492…

Frosted Glass Effects: Why I Switched to Android After All These Years

Some people have called me an Apple fanboy. I stood in line for hours for the first iPhone and then again for almost every new iOS device that came out. I own more Apple devices than t-shirts (I’m not a big t-shirt fan, but still, it’s a lot of devices…). And I have convinced quite…

Android’s Pattern Lock Might Be Getting a Little More Convenient

The worst part about keeping your Android phone secure—besides the slight hassle—is having to sacrifice fun, convenient little lockscreen shortcuts. A newly granted Google patent shows a potential solution, if they ever decide to actually use it. The images pretty much speak for themselves, but the trick is to have a pattern unlock with options…

Android’s One-Click Google Auth Is a Buffet for Hackers

If you’ve got an Android device, you’ve probably used Google’s handy one-click authentication shortcut, that handy little button that lets you sign into various Google service sites without having to enter your password. It’s super convenient! For you and for hackers. Craig Young, a researcher at security firm Tripwire, did some digging into how the…

Genius New YouTube Feature Could Fix Your Browser’s Most Annoying Habit

Google Chrome YouTube just added a simply little feature you’ll wonder how you ever lived without. YouTube tabs that are playing video now show a little play icon so you can tell which one of your bajillion tabs is making noise in the background. I’m so happy I could cry. This one, tiny trick is…