google

Google to settle FTC antitrust probe tomorrow, report says

Google is expected to settle the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's long-running antitrust investigation tomorrow by agreeing to voluntarily change some of its business practices, Bloomberg reports.

The FTC has been investigating a wide range of Google's business practices, focusing mostly on the way Google displays search results, which critics say favor the company's own services over those of its competitors. The U.S. trade agency was also examining Google decisions on technology licensing, which some argue are anti-competitive.

The settlement of the trade agency's 20-month probe, the search giant has agreed to voluntarily change the … Read more

Does Apple's shadow still loom over CES?

At the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, one company always comes up during the cocktail conversations and hallway chats of the show. Its presence looms large and can be seen everywhere, even though it never attends CES.

That company is Apple, the undisputed juggernaut of the consumer electronics world and the planet's most valuable company (even with its recent stock slump).

Ever since Apple unveiled the iPhone, the rest of the consumer electronics world has been playing catchup. Samsung, Acer, Dell, Motorola, HTC, Nokia, Microsoft and others have been making up ground in the smartphone wars (… Read more

Google, Yahoo accused of funding piracy

Google and Yahoo's advertising networks are accused of financially supporting those who pirate music and movies online, according to a report from the University of Southern California.

The school's Annenberg Innovation Lab studied which ad networks placed the most ads on sites accused of infringing music and film copyrights and today issued a list of the top 10. Google is No. 2, and Yahoo came in at No. 6.

OpenX, a company based in Pasadena, Calif., that supplies digital and mobile advertising tools, was the top advertiser on pirate sites, the report said. To help compile the list … Read more

Google's Eric Schmidt to meet Kim Jong-Un?

Wouldn't you like to be a wall on the flight?

Can you imagine what Google's Eric Schmidt will be muttering to other members of a U.S. delegation that is reportedly going to Pyongyang, North Korea for a little diplomatic pying-pyong?

According to the Associated Press, this trip might even happen in the next few weeks, with former Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson also in the party.

Naturally, details of this alleged trip are being kept very close to official chests. But one can surely hope for nothing more than a meeting between Schmidt and North Korean … Read more

Microsoft repeats YouTube gripe as Google probe winds down

Google has yet to address an alleged YouTube-Windows Phone compatibility issue, Microsoft says, despite the fact that Google is under antitrust scrutiny in the U.S. and abroad and the issue is allegedly more than a year old.

With this latest charge, Microsoft seems to be trying to get ahead of the expected slight wrist-slap Google could receive from the Federal Trade Commission this month -- if news reports about the likely outcome of a two-year-old Google antitrust investigation are correct, that is. (It's worth noting there's new evidence the FTC might be turning the screws on Google a bit tighter than originally anticipated.) … Read more

Get a high-quality 'Read Aloud' voice in Google Play Books

The Google Play Books app was recently updated with a "Read Aloud" feature for Android devices. Once enabled, your Android device will read the text of books acquired from Google Play Books.

There's just one problem; the voice reading the books sounds horrible. It's slow, words are awkwardly broken up, and it just doesn't lend itself to a great experience. The good news is you can enable a high-quality voice to read the book to you directly in the app.

To enable the high-quality Read Aloud voice in Google Play Books, make sure you're … Read more

Google Maps parks inside 2014 Kia Sorento

Google Maps is coming to the Kia Sorento in the next few months.

The automaker announced today that the 2014 Kia Sorento, which is slated to hit the road in the first quarter of this year, will come with Google Maps integration, offering full mapping and driving directions from the search giant. In addition, points of interest will be made available from both Google Maps and Google Places.

Google Maps integration is possible via Kia's second-generation UVO telematics system built into Sorento, a midsize crossover SUV. In addition to incorporating Google Maps and Places information, UVO allows people to … Read more

Get free Google Voice home-phone service with $40 adapter

The other day, in my post listing the best money-saving tips of 2012, I suggested ditching your landline in favor of a voice-over-IP option like MagicJack or Ooma.

But there's another option, one that lets you embrace the goodness that is Google Voice: Obihai's OBi100 VoIP phone adapter, which Amazon has for $39.24 shipped. It's been that price for a while now, but Google's recent announcement that free calling would continue through 2013 makes this worth another look.

The OBi100 works much like an Ooma or MagicJack Plus: You plug your existing cordless phone system … Read more

Google's arty after-party New Year's Day doodle

Are you experiencing a slightly dry feeling in your mouth? Are your limbs offering involuntary jitters and twitches?

The fiscal cliff negotiations can do that to you.

However, Google would like to tell you that it understands the pain of entering 2013 without a sheet to the wind.

Having presented a charming doodle for New Year's Eve (below), featuring so many of the characters from the doodles of 2012 (you can see all Google's doodles here), today it presents the cleanup.

Reality has chimed. The cleaners have arrived. Robert Moog, Moby Dick, and Niels Bohr have all gone … Read more