Google took a much needed step on Monday to update its terms of service that govern the use of its many products and offerings. As part of the update, and more than likely as part of a direct response to the numerous privacy lawsuits that are underway against the company, Google has provided some clarity on its automatic email scanning tools that form an integral part of its mail service, Gmail. Whether or not the new terms of service will be enough to appease those who have brought claims against the company via the legal system is still unknown.
Those looking to attend Google's big I/O developer conference can now register their interest in obtaining tickets for the event. The Big G is holding a lottery for tickets, so there's no need to rush over to the registration page, and you have the next three days to sign up for a chance to win.
With Google clearly feeling extremely confident about the future of Glass, and with a whole heap of new users likely to come on board, Google has announced that Glass Updates are back. Owners of the powerful Glass headset will be able to update its firmware later this week and receive a number of powerful updates that should boost the overall Glass experience for end-users.
Google is apparently preparing to give its next major version of Android the iOS 7 treatment, with some cleaning up some of the visual elements offering a slicker-looking overall interface. Jony Ive and the software design team in Cupertino were radical in their redesign and ruthless in their disposal of skeuomorphism, and while it is not thought that Android 4.5 will be quite such a departure from the current configuration, the company is thought to be planning some notable aesthetic tweaks.
Google Glass is an exciting and developing product, but it does have its fair share of naysayers. One of the common critiques of the Big G's face computer is that it's ugly, and while you may disagree with this assessment, it's fair to say that in a style-conscious society, Google will need to smarten up the current design. Having signed up a deal with Luxottica Group, the company behind Ray-Ban and Oakley, late last month, the search giant has outlined its intention to blend fashion with technology, and the concept below gives a very appealing, albeit idealistic idea of what said specs could look like.
Google has just announced via the official Android blog that it is in the process of rolling out some additional security mechanisms to the world's most popular mobile operating system. The blog post, which was written and published by an Android security engineer by the name of Rich Cannings, gives a brief overview on some of Android's existing security based positives before continuing to announce that the newly added features will boost the already existing Verify Apps functionality in the going fight against malicious content.
Google's Android 4.4.3 update may well be on the way for select devices, but while this rudimentary bump could be rolled out in the next couple of weeks, something much more significant is said to be on the horizon. Currently referred to as 'Project Hera,' the future implementation will aim to bring an aligned, synchronized experience across Android, Chrome and Web apps, with users able to carry out tasks in a seamless manner throughout the range of Google platforms.
Even though the Play Store is moderated to ensure that dodgy, malicious apps don't make it through the gates and onto people's devices, it's not a completely foolproof system. Virus Shield, a relatively new app that claimed to protect users from viruses and other such non-niceties, has scammed many folks out of their money because, at $3.99 a pop, it didn't actually provide any speakable anti-virus features. Although it has since been ousted by the search giant after being exposed, it remains to be seen whether the 10,000+ customers that parted with the substantial sum will see any kind of refund.
Android's biggest weakness may be the huge numbers in which smartphones running the software have sold, but it's fairly safe to say at this point that phones and tablets running various flavors of Android are less than secure. In fact, the hacking of Android-powered devices is such a problem that it's been the beneficiary of plenty of attention from the security fraternity.
The Motorola / Google connection may have been relatively short lived and not exactly a perfect match, but it clearly gave Google a thirst for innovative hardware. That thirst is still being quenched today thanks to Project Ara and we can now get an additional insight of those involved with building the block based smartphone thanks to a new Phonebloks video.
