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Google’s AI Duet lets you make music with a virtual pianist

February 17, 2017 Staff Writer

Google’s latest artificial intelligence experiment is a music-playing piano bot that digests whatever keyboard melodies you give it and tries to respond in kind. The neat tool is called Artificial Intelligence Duet, and it’s part of an ongoing push from Google’s Creative Lab division to help the public familiarize themselves with AI and all the ways it can mimic human behavior — and even create art. According to the Verge, a collection of music-focused Artificial Intelligence tools were first shown off last fall, but now AI Duet in particular has…

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Google ordered to pay $20M for ripping off anti-malware patents in Chrome

February 15, 2017March 3, 2017

Google has been ordered to pay $20m damages after its Chrome browser was found to have infringed four anti-malware patents. According to The next web, Google is tremendously dedicated to improving its Chrome browser, but it appears the search engine giant might’ve gotten a little carried away in the process – and now it has to pay the piper. A District Court in Texas ordered the tech giant to spew out $20 million in damages for infringing four anti-malware patents in Chrome. The verdict was delivered on Friday following a jury…

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Google Assistant on the Pixel can now control your smart home devices

February 10, 2017 Staff Writer

Google is rolling out a new voice-controlled hub in Pixel phones so you can manage your smart home devices straight from Google Assistant reports The Verge. The search giant appears to be rolling out a “Home control” center in the Google Assistant settings, from which you can send out commands to your smart home devices using just your voice, as spotted by Android Police. According to The Verge, the feature called Home Control, lets you use voice commands to control products like Belkin’s WeMo, Nest, Philips Hue, and Samsung SmartThings.…

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Google Gets Rid of 1.7 Billion Bad Ads

January 31, 2017 Staff Writer

Google has reported that it removed 1.7 billion bad advertisements from its various sites in 2016, more than double the prior year’s totals. The firm took several steps to crack down on the deceptive advertising, including updating its policies to protect users from “misleading and predatory offers.” It also beefed up its technology to help identify misleading ads and remove them, according to Scott Spencer, Google’s director of product management, sustainable ads. The director noted that free and open Web is a vital resource for individuals and businesses around the…

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Google is bringing AI to your Raspberry Pi

January 26, 2017 Staff Writer

Google is working to bring a wide range of tools for artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other developer tools to the Raspberry Pi Fossbytes reports. The tech titan has exciting plans for the maker community,” the website says. The company intends to make the start by releasing the first set of tools this year. With these tools, the users will be able to create powerful projects. Raspberry Pi boards have earned the honor of being one of most impressive success stories of recent times. Having sold 10 million single board computers, Raspberry…

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Russia Requires Apple and Google to Remove LinkedIn from Local App Stores

January 9, 2017

Russian authorities have required Apple and Google to remove the LinkedIn app from the App Store and Google Play in Russia, reports The New York Times. The move comes a couple weeks after Russia blocked LinkedIn’s website. When LinkedIn’s website was blocked, the apps stopped functioning properly. Removing them from the Google Play store and Apple’s App Store may not have cut off access to content, but it sent a signal that countries can push the tech giants to remove the apps. The New York Time Reports that Direct blocking of websites has been done by…

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Technology firms team up to curb ‘terrorist content.’

December 6, 2016

Facebook to invest $57 Billion in Africa’s Economy in next five years

Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and You tube have embarked on a move to curb online terrorism responding to pressure from governments around the world. The announcement by Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and Google-owned YouTube aims to use “digital fingerprints” to block or remove violent content or efforts to recruit social media users for attack cells. “There is no place for content that promotes terrorism on our hosted consumer services. When alerted, we take swift action against this kind of content in accordance with our respective policies,” said a statement issued by the…

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U.S. tech look to Africa for developers

November 11, 2016

Tech companies founded in the United States are setting up software development centers in Nigeria and Kenya, where a number of young developers has led to growing tech communities. Microsoft has launched its Microsoft 4 Afrika initiative, aiming to help empower African youth, entrepreneurs, developers and others to make their ideas a reality. Steve Case, the AOL founder, and his wife Jean, Generation Investment Management and Sir Richard Branson have provided $19 million to Kenyan pay-as-you-go energy start-up M-KOPA Solar. Andela, which has attracted $24 million of funding from a scheme led by…

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