Although reports continue to emerge about Google setting up systems to co-operate with the NSA’s surveillance and data-collection programs, the company’s chief lawyer repeatedly denied on Wednesday that it has done so. Read more »
Jeff Dean, a Google Fellow who helped develop some of the web giant’s most innovative infrastructure projects, says focusing on one problem at a time is crucial for success Read more »
With more users aware of their privacy, trackless search engine DuckDuckGo sees a huge spike in traffic. Read more »
It’s now easier than ever to create your own maps — and to pick exactly what you want to feature. That’s a good thing, says the founder of one mapmaking firm, because more creative maps will lead to more creative ideas. Read more »
RightScale, which knows a little something about cloud infrastructure performance, put Google Compute Engine through its paces. Read more »
What can we expect the IoT landscape to look like, and how will its impact be felt? And is the attention being given by governments, manufacturers, and industry players merited, or is this just a fad? In this paper we look at the trends leading the growth of the internet of things, its components, and its characteristics. We examine the scale of the different opportunities and early examples of use cases. Finally, we look at potential inhibitors to adoption and potential challenges, notably around security, privacy, and system failure. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Google has sued to shine more light on the secret court that approves controversial national security letters — the petition also represents part of the ongoing PR strategy of tech companies caught up in a surveillance scandal. Read more »
New research shows that it’s possible to train Google-style neural networks with GPUs and Infiniband at low cost. The work could help drive further GPU adoption. Read more »
Some cloud executives believe PRISM threatens the growth of the public cloud, and proposed legislation could tamper with the privacy of private clouds. Read more »
Connecting the ends of the Earth with internet access will require tapping into various types of clean power. Google’s Project Loon is just the latest wacky way to use renewable energy to connect the world. Read more »
Google has always had a thing for balloon-based Internet, blimps and connecting the unconnected. Five years after it first started talking about it, Google is finally launching a seemingly loony project called Project Loon in New Zealand. Will balloon-based Internet finally fly? Read more »
Whatever the details might be, it seems clear that dozens of technology companies — and perhaps even more — have co-operated with the NSA on its surveillance program. And they could pay a high price for doing so. Read more »
After a trail of breadcrumb evidence, an FCC certification report indicates that a new Nexus 7 is on the way. The device forgoes an Nvidia chip for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S600. Read more »
A Bloomberg report suggests widespread cooperation between U.S. tech firms and the nation’s intelligence agencies that could help those spies hack into foreign computers. Read more »
A division of the Swedish government has prohibited government bodies from using Google Apps, giving more credence to privacy concerns around public-cloud services. Read more »
The UK Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has suggested that Google’s average payment of less than 0.1 percent in corporation tax may not be entirely legal. Read more »
Google Image Search just got a whole lot better, and the company’s purpose-built machine learning system infrastructure is a big reason why. No surprise, Jeff Dean helped build it. Read more »
Facebook, Google and Microsoft want to show users just how much the federal government requests access to data. The actions are attempts to save face on the privacy front following reports of the PRISM program. Read more »
After a wave of initial shock at the revelations about NSA surveillance, there seems to be a pervasive feeling of resignation about our data being collected by the government. Have we grown too used to being spied on? Read more »
Four years after it launched at our Mobilize conference, Waze is finally sold to Google for about a billion. It certainly was a windfall for its early investors. And one surprising one! Read more »
Google wants more marketshare in the Infrastructure-as-a-Service market, so it’s cutting prices on the BigQuery data-analysis service and adding features to boost the appeal of the larger Cloud Platform. Read more »
After months of rumors that speculated the company was the target of an acquisition by either Facebook or Google, social-mapping provider Waze is set to be snapped up by Google and added to the web giant’s map service. Read more »
Cloud-based business software can save significant energy, according to a new report from Berkeley Lab. To prove this the researchers built a model that crunches the data around the cloud and energy. Read more »
Doubleclick, an ad service owned by Google, published new findings that suggest the online video ad market is rapidly becoming bigger and more diverse. Read more at paidContent »
Developers playing with the previews of Safari for iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks have discovered the inclusion of Russia’s leading search engine as an option in some countries for the first time. Read more »
Google plans to build two stories inside a new data center building on its campus in The Dalles, Ore. It’s yet another method of optimizing critical infrastructure for the web giant. Read more »
If a piece of information has been collected but has never actually been seen by the human eye, is it considered surveillance? Read more »
Waze, a mapping data service with social features has been subject of acquisition rumors for a while. There was speculation of Apple buying them. There there was Facebook and its rumored $1 billion offer. Now Israeli-media reports are speculating that Google is the new buyer. Read more »
Google’s standard Android keyboard with gesture typing and floating word suggestions is available for all Android 4.0 or better devices. Sony’s Xperia Z looks like the next Google Experience phone while Samsung boosted the Galaxy S 4 free storage with an update. Read more »
YouTube’s rollout of premium pay channels may sound promising, but transitioning from the home of free online video to a pay site will be challenging – and may be of little value for existing brands. Read more at paidContent »
Facebook built a system for the U.S. government that would allow intelligence agents easier access to personal data requested under a federal surveillance law, according to a report, and other companies agreed to work with investigators. Read more »
Pouring money into Google Wallet is getting Google nowhere. Slow adoption, reluctant phone carriers and lack of enthusiasm for NFC are weighing heavy on the mobile payments trend, and something’s got to give. Read more »
There’s a growing amount of research that says the Internet has a greater net positive effect on the environment than a negative one. But the research is still new and the question is very complex. Read more »
Google has provided a lengthy statement on the reports of government spying on user data through some of the country’s largest tech companies. Read more »
The past few days have seen a blizzard of leaks about surveillance activity by the government’s ultra-secret NSA arm, including data collection from phone companies and internet giants. Here is what you need to know about this developing story. Read more »
Whether these top tier tech vendors were complicit or dupes in government spying on people’s data, this news does nothing to help their credibility. Read more »
Another manufacturer may be joining Samsung and HTC in offering “Google Experience” smartphones. Sony is expected to announce a version of the Xperia Z with pure Android as the Nexus line could be lower priced phones. Read more »
The revelation that U.S. spies are able to monitor communications over Google, Facebook and other American web firms’ platforms will have a big impact overseas, and nowhere more so than in Europe. Read more »
Here’s how nine Silicon Valley companies have responded to reports that the U.S. government can reach into their servers and extract personal data, almost at will. Read more »
On Thursday, the Apple ebook trial brought testimony from Amazon and Google executives, and some tough and often funny questioning from Apple’s attorneys. Read more at paidContent »
