Being a mom doesn't ever involve swanning around.Google screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET
You have one job today.
It's to ensure that your mom is not one of the 40 percent who say they've endured a miserable Mother's Day. (That was according to a survey, of course.)
Google can only help you in this quest by finding you last-minute gifts that might be appropriate -- and to direct you to mom's house, should you have forgotten where she lives.
The Apple Watch is becoming an increasingly common thing on wrists of people out and about in the real world. Spotting them is helped by a very limited set of watch bands, but that'll be changing in the very near future. This week, Apple outlined its policies for third-party companies that want to make their own bands.
The search giant on Wednesday announced its long-anticipated wireless service in the United States, called Project Fi.
Google hopes to stand out by changing the way it charges customers. Typically, smartphone owners pay wireless carriers like AT&T and Verizon a bulk rate for a certain amount of data. Google says it will let customers pay for only what data they use on their phones, from doing things like making calls, listening to music and using apps, potentially saving them significant amounts of money.
The YouTube app will no longer be accessible on certain older devices.Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET
Google is nixing support for its YouTube app for certain older devices, including TVs and Blu-ray players, iPhones and iPads, and devices that run older versions of Google TV.
Fans of YouTube can access the popular video service through a dedicated app or through its website. Support for the dedicated app on older devices is the piece that's going away.
Why is Google making this move? On a YouTube Help page, the company explained that it's upgrading the YouTube Data API(applications programming interface) to offer more features. (The company told developers of its plans more than a year ago.) As a result, Google began shutting down the existing version Monday, which means the current YouTube app will no longer work on certain devices made in 2012 or earlier.
On the Help page, Google spells out exactly which devices will no longer be able to run the app and what you can do to update them.
Owners of an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch will need to run iOS 7or higher to download and use the YouTube app from Apple. Those still running older versions of iOS will only be able to access YouTube by visiting its mobile site through their browser.
Is he out there? Or is it a she?Google/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET
What better way to advertise that you're a search giant than to search for a giant?
I feel sure some bright light at Google HQ uttered that line and was immediately promoted.
Google is experiencing choppy waters in Europe. So why not curry a little local favor by helping to find a legendary sea monster that everyone believes exists? Well, everyone after 10 pints of Scottish ale.
Margrethe Vestager, European commissioner in charge of the EC's antitrust enforcementEU/Shimera/Chara Kaminara
Europe's antitrust regulator dramatically escalated its case against Google on Wednesday, accusing the US tech titan of abusing its search-engine dominance by favoring its own shopping services and also opening in-depth scrutiny of the company's Android operating system.
Google's actions show its own comparison-shopping results even when they're less relevant than results from competitors, curtailing innovation at those rivals and hurting consumers, said European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager in a press conference.
Google will let app makers apply to give their Android apps a family-friendly designation.Sarah Tew/CNET
Google wants parents to be able to more easily figure out which apps are family friendly.
So the search giant on Tuesday announced a new program called "Designed for Families," which designates which apps in its Google Play online store are safe for children.
Google said it's chosen to do this because it wants to support app makers that are tailoring their content to "educate and entertain" kids.
This is NOT the kind of photo you want to see when googling your ex.Cuddlr
Most of us have googled an ex here or there. If not googled, then perhaps innocently typed their name into Facebook, Instagram or Twitter just to see what Mr. or Mrs. used-to-be-right is up to -- in hopes of finding they're completely miserable without us.
Former Android chief Andy Rubin's new company will focus on hardware startups.James Martin/CNET
Andy Rubin, the former Google whiz that created the Android mobile operating system and headed the company's nascent efforts in robotics, has revealed his next act: a company that helps nurture startups. Specifically, those that build hardware.
His new company, called Playground Global, is based in Los Altos, Calif., and has raised $48 million, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Fortune first wrote about the investment.
The Google Drive app for iOS received a photo-centric update earlier this week. A new Photos folder lets you view photos you may have stashed on Google+, and a new auto-backup feature lets you back up the photos and videos on your iOS device. If you don't see the new Photos folder and auto backup setting, hang on -- Google says the features are rolling out over the next few weeks. The new photo features are useful for non-Google+ people, but if you are already using the Google+ app for iOS, then you've already had an ability to perform auto backups via Google+.
Sundar Pichai, Google's senior vice president of products, announces Google's mobile network plans at Mobile World Congress in March.Stephen Shankland/CNET
Google reportedly is in talks with the operator of the UK's Three and several other mobile networks to let subscribers use its upcoming mobile phone service without charge while abroad.
Google hopes to offer customers free use of its upcoming network while outside the US, with none of the traditional "roaming" fees travelers pay,according to a report Saturday in the Telegraph. That option is the subject of negotiations between Google and Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, the UK newspaper said, citing unnamed industry sources.
Waze's iOS app now sports a traffic bar, along with other new features.Waze
Stuck in another traffic jam? You may be able to tell how long it'll last if you've got the latest iOS version of the Waze navigation app.
Launched on Wednesday, Waze version 3.9.4 for Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users now displays a new traffic bar. Designed to track your progress as you slowly move along, the bar can give you a visual sense of how long it will take until you escape from all that traffic.
An informative text from Muffles the poodle.T-Mobile; screenshot by CNET
Google has thrown things in reverse for April Fools' Day, and, not to be outdone, T-Mobile has announced its latest "Un-carrier" pet project.
It's a rite of spring: Tech companies regularly use April 1 as an occasion for jokey press releases and "Well, aren't we crazy?" pranks about too-good-to-be-true products and other off-the-wall ideas.
The attractive Friday Smart Lock trims off the bulk found on many other smart deadbolts and still manages to pack in plenty of features. Currently it's only going to be shipped in the US and Scandinavia, but given that it's designed to work with Thread for Google and Nest, as well as Apple's upcoming HomeKit, Friday looks poised to be a key -- or keyless -- part of a larger smart home.
Google has offered a way to reduce data usage with Chrome for iOS and Android for more than a year, and now it is delivering the same proxy compression technology to Chrome on the desktop with Data Saver. It routes your Web traffic through Google's servers, where pages are compressed before being sent along to you. As a result, you'll use less data and the lighter pages will load faster.
Google's Safari issue goes back to nine months in 2011 and 2012.
In a landmark ruling, the UK's Court of Appeal has dismissed Google's request to prevent British Web users from suing the company over tracking cookies and privacy violations.
The decision was announced Friday, according to the BBC.
Google's Ingress involves players going to different real-world landmarks. The search giant is reportedly developing a TV show based on the game.Google
Google already makes the software that powers some televisions. Now it wants to make some of the content that shows up on TV.
The search giant is reportedly developing a TV show based on Ingress, a game created by Google's Niantic Labs gaming studio, according to The Information.
Ingress is a game that involves players going to various real world landmarks -- like a public sculpture or a sign -- and "capturing" it for their team by using various commands on their smartphones.
Former NSA chief Keith Alexander testifies before Congress in 2013, as a protester looks on. Surveillance-related Section 215 of the Patriot Act is set to expire June 1.Alex Wong/Getty Images
With an important surveillance-related section of the USA Patriot Act up for reauthorization this year, Google has teamed with other tech firms in sending a letter to lawmakers and others that spells out needed changes to US spy policies.
On Wednesday, Google revealed in a blog post that it has joined the Reform Government Surveillance coalition, civil rights groups and trade associations in sending the letter, which promotes transparency, accountability and an end to the bulk collection of data.
