Google

Google is teaming up with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to try to make " green energy " more practical. It's running a million dollar contest called " Little Box Challenge " to try and reduce the size of a key component in ... bringing renewable power to homes and businesses. The competition is based around the fact that electricity comes in two forms: alternating current (AC), and direct current (DC). Alternating power is used in homes and offices, with its flow of electrical charge changing direction continuously. On the other hand, direct current ... (view more)

If you could control the majority of your home and appliances with a smartphone, which devices would you want to control? Google has pondered that very question, and has recently announced plans to open up its 'Nest' technology to independent ... developers, so that household gadgets can easily communicate with one another. Nest, which Google bought for $3.2 billion in this past January, made its name with an "intelligent" thermostat system. The system automatically learns your patterns of activities in the home with preferred heating and cooling levels. It then automatically develops a ... (view more)

Google has spent half a billion dollars purchasing Skybox, a firm that operates a suite of specialized satellites. It says it will use the satellites to improve its mapping services, offer Internet access to remote areas, and help in disaster ... relief. The move, however, has prompted speculation that the technology might used to gather highly confidential data, and could even find itself commandeered by US government. Skybox Satellite Technology Offers Real Time Insight Skybox is open about the fact that its satellites are designed more for gathering data, rather than communications. It says ... (view more)

A senior executive at Google thinks his company has a serious racial diversity problem. Recent statistics released by the high-profile technology firm, which reveal that just 2 per cent of Google's workforce is black, appear to support that claim. ... Google Overwhelmingly Male, White, Stats Show Earlier this week Google released diversity numbers which show that 61 per cent of the company's workforce is white while 30 per cent are Asian. Only 2 and 3 per cent of Google's employees are black and Hispanic, respectively. Google is also overwhelmingly male, with men making up 70 per cent ... (view more)

Google is set to build its own fleet of self-driving cars from scratch. The new autonomous cars will have no steering wheel, which will present significant legal hurdles in order to get them on the streets. To date, Google has been working with ... traditional auto-makers to make what are effectively modified versions of existing vehicles, retrofitted with autonomous technology. The cars, which have been tested on public roads, have the usual steering wheel and pedals; pressing an emergency button allows the driver to take over the controls from the computer instantly. How the Self-driving Cars ... (view more)

It appears that Google is getting ready to introduce a whole new user interface (UI) for its Gmail cloud-based email service. Leaked screenshots suggest the overhaul is substantial, meaning current Gmail users could face a significant challenge ... adjusting to the changes. If the screenshots are in fact legitimate, Google is hoping to meld its desktop version of Gmail closer to the mobile version, which is accessible through tablets and smartphones. In that way, it's similar to Microsoft's use of the touch-friendly interface that made its way onto desktop PCs when Windows 8 was released ... (view more)

Google says the rate at which governments and other groups ask it to hand over user data has more than doubled in the past five years. However, a growing proportion of those requests are proving unjustified. The figures come from Google's ... twice-yearly Transparency Report, which it has been publishing since the second half of 2009. Back then it received a total of 12,539 requests in six months. That figure has risen in every period and the latest data, covering the second half of 2013, shows 27,477 requests. Since the first report, the number of requests made by governments has increased ... (view more)

Google says it is going to mediation over claims it unlawfully scanned the contents of emails for advertising purposes. It's a surprise move, considering that Google recently won a major court victory over the affair. The legal dispute centers on ... the fact that Google's computers scan through the contents of email messages sent via its free Gmail service. Google then uses keywords that appear in messages to produce advertisements that appear alongside the message in the user's inbox. As an example: if you received a message from a friend mentioning an upcoming golf game, you might ... (view more)

Google's chief executive officer is promising Google users that their data is safe from the prying eyes of National Security Agency (NSA) officials. Eric Schmidt made that claim before a large audience at the South by Southwest Interactive ... conference, which is being held in Austin, Texas. When asked how he felt after it was revealed that the NSA had worked with Britain's top surveillance agency, the GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) to infiltrate Google's data centers, Schmidt admitted that he was shocked. "The very fact that they did this was very suspicious to ... (view more)

Google is adding a 1-click link for Gmail users to stop unwanted marketing messages. But the system won't work in all cases, especially when it comes to dealing with the worst spam offenders. The new service works along the same lines as the ... unsubscribe link which many legitimate websites use in their bulk email messages. More often than not, however, the unsubscribe link is often difficult to find. Typically, it's buried at the bottom of a lengthy email that the recipient didn't want to read in the first place. Another problem is that the unsubscribe link isn't always a one- ... (view more)