San Francisco, United States | AFP | Google parent Alphabet on Monday reported a sharp drop in profits over the past quarter as it ramped up spending for the launch of a wide array of new gadgets and services. Profit dipped 23 percent from a year ago to $7.1 billion …
Read More »Google in smartphone push with motion-sensing Pixel 4
New York, United States | AFP | Google stepped up its smartphone ambitions Tuesday with updated Pixel handsets, touting a move toward computing with a simple hand wave or spoken command. Pixel 4 models boasting features including gesture and face recognition debuted at a “Made by Google” event showcasing new hardware …
Read More »COURT: Google not required to apply EU ‘right to be forgotten’ outside EU
Google wins EU fight against worldwide ‘right to be forgotten’ Luxembourg, Luxembourg | AFP | Google is not required to apply an EU “right to be forgotten” to its search engine domains outside Europe, the EU’s top court ruled Tuesday in a landmark decision. The European Court of Justice handed …
Read More »Cloud gaming faces challenges as Google prepares launch
Cologne, Germany | AFP | Urging fans to plunge into a virtual high-res surround sound universe of extraordinary games, Google hopes its cloud-based Stadia platform will take the world by storm on its November launch. The US digital behemoth unveiled details of its nascent streaming video platform at this week’s Gamescom …
Read More »French winemakers jittery over Trump tariff threats ahead of G7
Paris, France | AFP | French winegrowers are on tenterhooks as they wait to see whether Donald Trump will follow through with his repeated threats to raise tariffs on French wine in retaliation for the new GAFA tax. As the leaders of the world’s richest countries gather for the G7 opening …
Read More »Google, Facebook, Amazon decry French digital tax as ‘discriminatory’
Washington, United States | AFP | American tech giants Amazon, Facebook and Google joined forces on Monday to decry the French digital tax as retroactive and discriminatory. President Donald Trump is considering retaliating against the tax — approved July 11 — with punitive tariffs on French wine imports, prompting an …
Read More »Privacy missteps cast cloud over digital assistants
Washington, United States | AFP | A series of privacy missteps in recent months has raised fresh concerns over the future of voice-controlled digital assistants, a growing market seen by some as the next frontier in computing. Recent incidents involving Google, Apple and Amazon devices underscore that despite strong growth in …
Read More »France passes law taxing digital giants in defiance of US anger
Paris, France | AFP | France on Thursday became the first major economy to impose a tax on digital giants, with parliament passing the legislation in defiance of a probe ordered by President Donald Trump that could trigger reprisal tariffs. The new law aims at plugging a taxation gap that has …
Read More »Amazon dethrones Google as top global brand
London, United Kingdom | AFP | US retail giant Amazon has moved past hi-tech titans Apple and Google to become the world’s most valuable brand, a key survey showed Tuesday. The brand value of Amazon surged by 52 percent to $315 billion, global market research agency Kantar said in its 2019 …
Read More »‘Plan B’: Huawei’s operating system headache after Android ban
Hong Kong, China | AFP | Google’s decision to partially cut off Huawei devices from its Android operating system has presented the Chinese tech titan with one of its most dramatic challenges yet: how to keep up with the competition if it cannot use the platform that powers nearly every other …
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