Tag: Google

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Tech

Google Pixel 3 XL Devices Present The Most Bizarre Bug Ever Seen, A Second, Fake Notch

A bizarre bug exists on some Google Pixel 3 XL devices. The recently released Google smartphone series, which has a notch on the top, start to display another fake notch on the part of the screen. It is sometimes shown on the right, sometimes on the left, for no apparent reason. Google is now working on a patch to fix this weird Google Pixel 3 XL glitch.

Users who experienced this troubling bug explain on different forums that a restart of the Google Pixel 3 XL device is sufficient to remove the fake notch and thus restore the handset to its normal condition. But this glitch may reoccur over time, requiring a new restart of the device.

It’s evident to everyone that the second notch is a software problem, but that’s not good news for those who can not use their Pixel 3 gadgets in optimal conditions. The unpleasant situation has created a significant buzz on social networks, over the last few days, and is hard to appreciate when it will be fixed by an update from Google, even though, fortunately, the company is aware of this and knows where the problem comes from.

Google will soon launch a patch to fix the fake notch glitch affecting Google Pixel 3 XL devices

The giant Internet company informed the renowned Android Police news portal that a patch would soon be available, but it did not give a specific date when the fix would be available. However, Google would most likely release the patch in just a few days when the Android security update for November will become available for download.

Google always takes the opportunity of launching security updates to fix some bugs here and there for various devices.

As a reminder, both Google Pixel 3 and Google Pixel 3 XL are already available across the United States but will become available in other countries on November 2nd, 2018.

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News Tech

Google Accused Of Covering Up Sexual Harassment Situations, According To A New York Times Report

According to the New York Times, Google got involved in a sexual harassment scandal involving several of its senior executives. This information was tempered by the company, which announced on Thursday that it had dismissed 48 employees for inappropriate behavior over the past two years.

In a survey published Thursday, the New York Times revealed that Google had suppressed three cases of sexual harassment that occurred internally. That led to a rapid reaction from the General Manager, Sundar Pichai. He pointed out that 48 employees had been dismissed over the past two years for sexual harassment, among them being involved about 13 senior managers. He also pointed out that no dismissed employees had received severance pay.

However, the New York Times claims in its investigation that Andy Rubin, the mastermind behind Android, was allegedly obliged to leave Google in 2014, accused by sexual harassment. However, Gooogle would have paid him $90 million to quit

Google got involved a vast sexual harassment scandal, disclosed yesterday by The New York Times

“Mr. Rubin left Google voluntarily in 2014 to develop Playground, a technology investment fund and a startup incubator,” replied his spokesman Sam Singer. “He has never had any inappropriate behavior at Google or anywhere else, and no one has ever told he has had any,” he added.

“Any relationship Mr. Rubin had while at Google was consensual and did not involve anyone under his direct orders. He had a consensual relationship in 2012. To his knowledge, at that time, there were no internal rules prohibiting relations between employees,” Sam Singer said.

However, on the other hand, in his internal letter, Sundar Pichai reminded its employees that the company now requires senior managers to disclose any intimate relationship with another Google employee. The Director-General advised that a telephone line had been set up. A way for employees to report cases of sexual harassment.

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Tech

Google Forces Android Smartphone Manufacturers To Release Security Updates

Google has become severe about mobile manufacturers that use Android. In addition to charging them for including the Google Play Store, the company wants their handsets to be up to date with the latest security updates and the newest versions of Android. However, if the manufacturers don’t accept that, they will lose the advantages offered by Google.

Google launches security patches, monthly, to fix the security vulnerabilities in Android. The majority of smartphone manufacturers usually include these updates a few days after they roll out, but many are typically sending updates quarterly.

As for the system updates that Google launches annually, manufacturers are usually at least half a year late.

Smartphone manufacturers usually offer up to 2 years of support and then they stop releasing new updates with the latest security patches or new versions of Android. Google, however, is now going to force all manufacturers to launch at least four security updates a year within the first year after they launch a mobile model. In the second year, they also have to continue to send updates and patches.

Google Forces Android Smartphone Manufacturers To Release Security Updates For At Least 2 Years After Launch

These measures apply to any device launched from January 31st, 2018, that totals more than 100,000 customers. From July 31st, the action was already employed by 75% of manufacturers, and as of January 31st, 2019, it will be mandatory for all smartphone producers.

If a manufacturer does not meet the criteria set by Google, the giant Internet company could stop approving future devices from the respective manufacturer, which would prevent producers from launching smartphones with Google apps included.

The measures that Google has started to implement this year are already showing the first results. The majority of the more than 200 Android mobiles from 30 different manufacturers already have security updates launched. Additionally, Android One phones receive updates every month.

Google is also working on making Android more straightforward to update by smartphone manufacturers, as the update process has many steps to follow and is too slow.

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Tech

Chrome 70 Comes With Picture-In-Picture Support on Windows and MacOS

Even though Google Chrome’s latest version eliminated one feature, Chrome 70 comes with picture-in-picture support on Windows and MacOS, as reported by Android Police. Although this function could have been activated manually in Chrome 69 Beta, in the new version of the renowned Google Internet browser, the feature is on by default.

As mentioned, the first time the picture-in-picture function appeared in Chrome was in the Chrome 69 Beta version. Back then, the service was just manual, users activating and deactivating it at will. Now, with the Google Chrome’s latest release, Chrome 70, the PiP feature is on by default.

“In September 2016, Safari added Picture-in-Picture support through a WebKit API in macOS Sierra. Six months later, Chrome automatically played Picture-in-Picture video on mobile with the release of Android O using a native Android API. Six months later, we announced our intent to build and standardize a Web API, feature compatible with Safari’s, that would allow web developers to create and control the full experience around Picture-in-Picture,” stated Francois Beaufort on the Google Developer site.

Chrome 70 Comes With Picture-In-Picture Support on Windows and MacOS

In short, Google Chrome’s latest version, Chrome 70, the most popular Internet browser in the world brings Picture-in-Picture support by default. In the previous version, Chrome 69 Beta, on the other hand, the PiP mode could only be activated manually.

The devs, however, would still need to turn on picture-in-picture on their end. Thus, users wouldn’t be able to enjoy the new PiP support in Chrome 70 with every video they play in Chrome, at least not for the moment being.

To test the new Picture-in-Picture support in Google Chrome 70, go to YouTube, double-right-click on a video on the platform and go to the “Picture in Picture” section from the menu. Then, the respective video will instantly shrink down and pop up in the bottom corner. You can then move the video frame wherever on the screen.

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Markets Tech

Google Will Charge Android Smartphone Manufacturers For Pre-Installing Google Play Store

The European Commission fined Google last July and forced it to pay a total of 4,34 billion Euros for its dominant position in the market for its Android mobile operating system, as they forced smartphones manufacturers to include apps such as Chrome or Google Search. Also, according to the European Commission, the giant Internet company even paid some large mobile phones manufacturers to add these apps as default to their handsets. Now, Google is reportedly charging mobile manufacturers for Google Play Store.

Google is going to start charging a fee to smartphone manufacturers for using Google Play Store

Additionally, the European Commission gave Google 90 days to stop forcing manufacturers to include Google Chrome and Google Search on their mobile phones as mandatory for implementing the Google Play Store. The company also prevented the creation of Android forks, which the company argued would not be as stable as the original versions.

Now, as the period granted by EU ended, Google announced changes to comply with the European Commission’s requirements. The most significant difference is that the giant Internet company will now charge a fee to Android smartphones manufacturers for adding the Google Play Store as a default app.

Google’s decision would come in force on October 29th, across the European Economic Area, which affects the 28 EU members, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. Thus, the prices of smartphones might surge across the EU.

The European Commission paved the way to third-party pre-installed Internet browsers, search engines, and other apps

Thus, manufacturers such as Samsung or Huawei will have to pay for pre-installing the Google Play Store on devices sold across the European Union. In return, these smartphone manufacturers will not have to add Google Search or Google Chrome, although they will be able to do it for free if they want.

However, the European Commission paved the way to third-party pre-installed apps, allowing companies to deal with other Android developers for adding other Internet browsers and search engines than Google’s ones. For example, they could install browsers such as Microsoft Edge, Opera or Firefox, and they could even create their own Android forks with a more significant presence of apps developed by Microsoft, for example.

The smartphones manufacturers can now opt for other search engines, as well, such as Bing or DuckDuckGo. Until now, that was impossible because of the strong restrictions Google implemented for its Android OS.

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