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Uber booking New removal from Google Maps for Android

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Google Maps can no longer be used to book an Uber on Android. It brings the app in line with the iOS version, which lost the feature last summer, as noted by Android Police. Google has had the ability to show price estimates and pickup wait times for ride-sharing apps for a while. Back in January 2017, Uber alone gained the ability to actually book rides in the Google Maps app by pulling up your account window and hailing your ride without ever leaving the app. But for whatever reason, Google has officially removed the…

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Google brings offline translations for 59 New languages to its Translate app

Staff Writer

Currently, when the Google Translate apps for iOS and Android has access to the internet, its translations are far superior to those it produces when it’s offline. That’s because the offline translations are phrase-based, meaning they use an older machine translation technique than the machine learning-powered systems in the cloud that the app has access to when it’s online. But that’s changing today. Google is now rolling out offline Neural Machine Translation (NMT) support for 59 languages in the Translate apps. Today, only a small number of users will see…

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Google new plan to remove “Secure” Indicator From HTTPS Pages.

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Google announced plans to drop the “Secure” indicator from the Chrome URL address bar and only show a lock icon when the user is navigating to an HTTPS-secured website. The move is scheduled to take effect with the release of Chrome 69, scheduled for September, this year. Emily Schechter, Product Manager for Chrome Security, said the company is now comfortable making this move as a large chunk of Chrome’s traffic is now via HTTPS. Since most traffic is HTTPS anyway, it’s not necessary to draw the user’s attention to the…

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Google is delaying a Chrome audio update that broke countless web games

Staff Writer

Google is partially and temporarily rolling back a recent Chrome change that blocked autoplaying audio, after web developers complained that it had broken countless games and apps. The update rolled out with Chrome version 66 in early May, and it was intended to quiet annoying ads and videos that would drive users toward ad-blocking software. But it also ended up completely removing the audio from interactive web projects that relied on specific commands, which created problems for artists — and doomed any abandoned projects to silence. “The team here is…

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Google will make its paid storage new plans cheaper

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Google is rolling out new changes to its storage plans that include a new, low-cost storage plan and half off the price of its 2TB storage option.It’s also converting all Google Drive paid storage plans to Google One, perhaps in part because you’ll now have one-tap access to Google’s live customer service. Google One will get a new $2.99 a month option that gets you 200GB of storage. The 2TB plan, which usually costs $19.99 per month, will now cost $9.99 a month. Finally, the 1TB plan that costs $9.99…

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New: Google to warn when humans chat with convincing bots

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Google says it will take steps to ensure that humans are not fooled when they get called by software bots that can convincingly mimic the human voice. Anyone called by the bot will be told they are conversing with a machine, Google told tech news site the Verge. The vocal skills of the Duplex bot were demonstrated at Google’s I/O developer conference this week when it was shown booking a hair appointment. The demo left one technology expert “horrified” by what she had seen. Social impact In its statement, Google…

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Google  announced a new version of Google Maps

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Google Maps

Google  announced a new version of Google Maps that will launch later this summer. All of the core Google Maps features for getting directions aren’t going away, of course, but on top of that, the team has now built a new set of features that are all about exploration. “About a year ago, when we started to talk to users, one of the things we asked them was: how can we really help you? What else do you want Google Maps to do? And one of the overwhelming answers that…

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New: Google Assistant to make phone calls for owners

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Google has unveiled artificial intelligence software that books appointments over the phone on behalf of users by conducting voice-based conversations on their behalf. Chief executive Sundar Pichair said that Google Duplex would launch as an “experiment” over the coming weeks. The facility was unveiled at the firm’s annual IO developers conference. Experts have said that if it works it could give the firm a major advantage over rival virtual assistants. Pre-recorded demonstrations played back to the audience featured the software first booking a haircut and then making a restaurant reservation…

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Google Changes New Rules on Election Adverts.

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Google is demanding that those placing political ads during the forthcoming US elections must prove they are US citizens or permanent residents. The demand is part of an update to its policies that tries to make political adverts more “transparent”. In addition, advertisers must reveal who has put up the cash for the advert. Social media firms have updated their policies in the wake of revelations that their ad platforms have been abused by Russian propaganda outfits. Google’s new policy follow similar changes at Twitter and Facebook governing who can…

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Google New Confirms Its Services Are Casualties Of A Russian Blockage Due To The Recent Telegram Ban

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A shower of paper airplanes were darted through the skies of Moscow and other towns in Russia as users answered the call of entrepreneur Pavel Durov to send the blank missives out of their windows at a pre-appointed time in support of Telegram, a messaging app he founded that was blocked last week by Russian regulator Roskomnadzor (RKN) that uses a paper airplane icon. RKN believes the service is violating national laws by failing to provide it with encryption keys to access messages on the service (Telegram has refused to comply).…

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