Tag Archives: google

Google Play Points has arrived in the US, Google said in a Monday tweet. The rewards program previously launched in Japan and South Korea. Users can earn points on purchases, including in-app items and subscriptions, and can score up to four times as many points during special events. They can also get bonus points for …

Just days after Google announced it was buying Fitbit in a deal worth $2.1 billion, it will add even more features to its range of smartwatches. Tweaks to sleep and exercise tracking are all part of Fitbit OS 4.1, and although it won’t arrive for a few weeks, the improvements look like they’re worth waiting for. All of Fitbit’s current …

Facebook is removing posts that name the whistleblower involved in the impeachment of US President Donald Trump, Reuters reported Friday, a move that follows publication of a story by Breitbart News that claims to identify the person. Similarly, Google-owned YouTube is removing videos that mention the name of the potential whistleblower, as CNN reported earlier.  The White House whistleblower wrote a nine-page …

Disney Plus is set to launch Tuesday, and die-hard Star Wars fans are counting down the minutes until they can start streaming The Mandalorian, the streaming service’s big-budget spinoff taking place in a galaxy far, far away. But when exactly is the time to count down to? Disney had at least two online countdown clocks ticking down to different hours recently, …

Google has launched an Incognito Mode feature that lets you go MIA while using the Maps app. In other words, you can use Google Maps without letting others see where you’re going, which can be useful if you’re birthday shopping or planning a surprise get-together. When in incognito mode, Maps won’t save any of the spots you’ve searched for, in …

Dozens of people have reported receiving strange, out-of-context messages Wednesday night and Thursday morning on all networks in the US, with many of the messages originally meant for Valentine’s Day. Not only were texts delayed from February to November, some of them had first been sent on Valentine’s Day two years ago. “Early this morning my sister and I received text messages …

Google just announced quantum supremacy, a milestone in which the radically different nature of a quantum computer lets it vastly outpace a traditional machine. But Microsoft expects progress of its own by redesigning the core element of quantum computing, the qubit. Microsoft has been working on a qubit technology called a topological qubit that it expects will deliver benefits from …

Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 augmented reality headset, which was introduced at Mobile World Congress back in February, is now available to buy, the company announced Thursday. Earlier this year, Microsoft showed CNET the next-generation headset up-close. The self-contained, comfortable flip-up device has no controllers. It uses hand and eye tracking, and slides over glasses. I was impressed how easy it was to use.  …

YouTube is offering desktop users a way to take the wheel that steers what YouTube plays next, and it’s also morphing the look of its homepage on desktop web browsers and its tablet apps. The changes for Google’s massive video service start rolling out Thursday. The desktop-only additions give viewers more control over choices traditionally made by YouTube’s recommendation algorithm, a …

When you think of this time of year, you no doubt imagine idyllic scenes of sleds on snow-covered hills, charming holiday decorations and families gathered around a warm fireplace. The reality for most of us is a psychotic frenzy of work and anxiety unrivaled at any other time of year. Need to unclench your brain? Right now, you can take …