What if online ads weren’t the distracting, privacy-invading, malware-laced, battery-gobbling mess they’ve become? What if they could even fund worthy websites? That’s what startup Brave hopes to accomplish with a major new phase of its browser business. Brave began its existence three years ago by blocking all ads by default. On Tuesday, it’ll start offering …
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Privacy-minded recommendations startup Canopy is adding to its ranks of Silicon Valley vets with two hires Tuesday: Matthew Ogle from Facebook’s Instagram and Bassey Etim from the New York Times. The company is being built by people who’ve worked at Spotify, Instagram, Google and The New York Times, many of whom became disillusioned with how most digital personalization exploits consumers’ data. Canopy’s concept …
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Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has recruited some well-known and experienced industry veterans to help get its wireless broadband project Loon to market. On Tuesday Alphabet announced a new advisory board and said one of the founding members will be Craig McCaw, who started McCaw Cellular. McCaw Cellular was one of the first cellular companies in the US and was sold …
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Google is bringing a serious update to its Google Fi network by adding Rich Communication Services to its Messages app. RCS is a big advancement over standard SMS texting. It lets you use read receipts, see when someone else is typing, text over Wi-Fi and send higher-resolution pictures and video. These features have been available in Apple’s iMessages for quite some …
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Privacy concerns are far from over even as we move into the new year. Google is removing apps that collect users’ SMS and call log information from its Play store in the coming weeks, it said in a blog post Monday. The post serves as a reminder to developers of the search giant’s new policy to restrict access to SMS …
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Google is no longer making the Chromecast Audio. Google has confirmed the news to CNET, following a report by Variety. A Google spokesperson told CNET the following: “Our product portfolio continues to evolve, and now we have a variety of products for users to enjoy audio. We have therefore stopped manufacturing our Chromecast Audio products. We will continue to offer …
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Hardware security key maker Yubico has a new product in the works to give iPhones the same authentication technology available today to Android phones and to Windows and Mac personal computers. Previewed at the CES show this week, the YubiKey for Lightning supports Apple’s proprietary iPhone and iPad port on one end and the USB-C port common on Android phones …
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AT&T says it will no longer sell your location data to aggregation services. Lawmakers called on the FCC to investigate breach of privacy after Motherboard reported that mobile carriers, like T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T, provided phone location data to third-party trackers. Carriers offered location data for legitimate services, such as fraud prevention and emergency roadside assistance, but the information was frequently abused by …
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Late last year, Google changed the name of its wireless carrier service from Project Fi to Google Fi, opened up to more Android devices and launched a beta program for iPhone ($899 at Amazon) users. If you’ve signed up for Google Fi with an iPhone, or are thinking about it, here’s what you need to know about setting up an …
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Google was as visible as any company at CES in 2019, with loads of promotion, integrations with other companies and product announcements of its own. Its Chrome operating system got some love, too, featured in a handful of new laptops and convertibles from Acer, Asus and HP. Marking one of the most significant milestones for the operating system in years, AMD announced …
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