The name Google is synonymous with online searches, but over the years the company has grown beyond search and now builds multiple consumer products, including software like Gmail, Chrome, Maps, Android, and hardware like the Pixel smartphones, Google Home, and Chromebooks. Its name can also be found on internet services such as Google Fi, Flights, Checkout, and Google Fiber. Here is all of the latest news about one of the most influential tech companies in the world.
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The biggest findings in the Google Search leak
A set of 2,500 internal documents, including some related to search, call into question past statements made by the company.
Google Zero is here — now what?
Search is an invisible platform that shaped the entire web. And it’s changing.
Google’s Pixel 8A is a midrange phone that might actually go the distance
It’s still $499, but this time, it comes with seven years of software updates.
A new Canary test build of the Chrome browser (I see it in version 128.0.6611.0 in macOS) has a new performance alert to tell you when a tab is hogging resources, Windows Report spotted.
To try it, open the Canary Chrome browser, navigate to chrome://flags/#performance-intervention-ui, enable “performance intervention suggestions,” and restart. Now Chrome can complain about Chrome’s memory usage, too!
The professional-grade video recording app debuted on Android in June but was only available on a small number of Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel devices.
An updated version of the app is now available on the Google Play Store adding features like HDMI monitoring while also expanding supported devices to OnePlus and Xiaomi phones running Android 13 or later.
Two new must-have Android apps
Plus, in this week’s Installer: a new space-biz doc on HBO, EA Sports College Football is back, and the silliest Apple Watch accessory ever.
A few weeks with the Daylight DC-1 tablet: rethinking screen time
So far, this thing doesn’t seem like a very impressive tablet. But Daylight is more a display company than a tablet company — and the display is pretty great.
Just when you thought we’d learned (and seen) everything there is to know about the Pixel 9 lineup, Android Authority reveals details about iPhone-like satellite features hinted at within Android 15 beta 4.
There’s notification text saying, “Your Pixel has been updated to support satellite communication,” and other text about two years of free satellite service, although that may be just placeholder text.
[Android Authority]
Google is improving its support for Markdown in Google Docs, including giving users the ability to convert Markdown to Docs formatting when you paste and the ability to copy Docs content as Markdown.
The updates make it possible for developers to “collaborate on software documentation in Docs and then export it as Markdown for use in other Markdown supporting tools,” Google says.
[Google Workspace Updates]
Google is trying to steal the Ray-Ban partnership from Meta
The smart glasses market is heating up. Also: layoffs and a strategy shift hit Magic Leap.
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Pixel 8 and 8 Pro review: in Google we trust?
These might just be the Pixel phones we’ve been waiting for, but it all depends on how much trust you’re willing to put into Google.
The country’s competition watchdog suspects Google may provide “incomplete and misleading” about how the company uses personal data when users link their accounts to other apps and services. In a statement to Bloomberg, Google says it will “examine the case and work with the authorities.”
Android 15’s fourth beta is now available, marking the second release since it reached platform stability. Google says that “apps targeting Android 15 can be made available in Google Play” since APIs and app-facing behaviors are now final. Seems like the newest Android OS version is right on track for the big event in August.
The people who ruined the internet
SEO experts got very rich filling the web full of garbage. But are they to blame, or is Google?
Google is celebrating July 17th by revealing its take on the new Unicode 16.0 emoji.
Google says the emoji will appear on Android phones “by March 2025” and in “your favorite Google products in early 2025.” Hopefully, Apple will add support at around the same time.
If you’ve wondered how emoji are made, I wrote about submitting proposals for the yawning face and waffle emoji.
You can grab the app from Google Play right now. It’s free and “accessible with all plans, including Pro and Team,” the company says in a blog post.
Anthropic released an iOS app in May.
[Anthropic]
J.D. Vance is anti-Big Tech, pro-crypto
The former tech investor likes the FTC’s Lina Khan and wants to break up Google, citing its liberal bias.
There are light and dark versions of the icon with a colorful G and with a monochrome G.
If you have version 324.0 of the app or newer (it’s currently on 325.0), you can set your app icon from Settings > General > Change app icon. (To get the option to appear, I had to force-close the app and reopen it.)