Google

• Launch of new security-centric products and features: Pixel 8 with Tensor G3 chip for enhanced cyber attack resistance, improved Gmail sender requirements for reduced spam, and default passkeys for simplified and secure sign-ins across Google Accounts.
• Inherent security in products aimed at reducing user burden, exemplified by the automatic security features in Google technology allowing users to operate online with a sense of safety.
• Updated privacy controls, including an easier method to clear the last 15 minutes of browsing history on Chrome and a dark web report to check Gmail address exposure on the dark web, all aimed at enhancing user privacy and security.
• Educational initiatives beyond Google products, in collaboration with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA), to raise cybersecurity awareness and provide tools and tips for online safety, including a series of educational videos.

• Change made to allow devices to belong to only one speaker group at a time is being reversed.
• Legal decision invalidated two patents Sonos claimed were infringed, prompting this reversal.
• Devices will again be able to belong to multiple speaker groups without error.
• Update rolling out immediately on Android and soon on iOS.

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• Google announced the launch of Assistant with Bard, an enhancement using generative AI, during the Made by Google event alongside the unveiling of Pixel 8 and Pixel Watch 2.
• Assistant with Bard aims to offer personalized assistance such as trip planning, email details retrieval, and grocery list creation.
• The new assistant integrates with existing Google apps like Gmail and Docs for better information retrieval and summarization, maintaining interaction via text, voice, or images.
• A notable feature is its ability to provide photo captions; by overlaying Bard on a photo, users can generate captions and relevant hashtags for social media posting.
• Privacy settings are customizable according to user preferences, ensuring a level of privacy control.
• The release is staged, with a rollout to early testers "soon" and a broader launch on Android and iOS platforms "in the coming months."

• The Federal Court of Appeal in Canada ruled that Google's search engine is subject to federal privacy law.
• This ruling opens the possibility for Canadians to request a "right to be forgotten," making their names unsearchable.
• The case began with a complaint in 2017 from an individual who suffered personal harm due to outdated and inaccurate information about him on the internet.
• Google argued it acts as an intermediary like libraries or convenience stores, while media organizations supported Google's role in disseminating news.
• The Privacy Commissioner can now review complaints and recommend delisting names from Google's search engine, potentially heading to the Supreme Court of Canada.

• Google may be altering billions of search queries daily to generate results that increase purchases.
• Testimony in an antitrust case revealed an internal Google slide about changes to its search algorithm, involving "semantic matching" to generate more commercial results.
• Google covertly changes user queries, substituting them with ones that generate more revenue for the company and display shopping-oriented results.
• This manipulation benefits Google's profits but harms search quality and raises advertiser costs.
• Despite legal challenges, Google's market dominance allows it to continue these practices, impacting users' ability to access unbiased information.

• Google Calendar now allows sharing events via links, similar to video meeting links.
• When opening a Calendar event, users can find a "Share" button to generate a calendar.app.google link.
• Recipients of the link can view event details and respond, but shared events are public, even if the calendar or event is private.
• This feature is currently available on the Android app for personal Google Accounts and is not widely rolled out.

• Google's Bard is developing a "Memory" feature that allows the chatbot to remember and adapt to user-specific details and preferences.
• Currently, each conversation with Bard starts afresh, requiring users to restate particulars like dietary restrictions.
• The Memory feature will improve personalized interactions, such as recommending recipes based on a user's noted vegetarianism or travel suggestions considering the number of kids a user has.
• Users will be able to manage their stored preferences via a Memory page and can delete incorrect or unwanted memories.
• A toggle will allow users to easily disable the Memory function for privacy concerns or to have non-personalized conversations.

Microsoft’s Nadella to Testify at Google Antitrust Trial Monday   By Leah Nylen and Dina Bass

October 1, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. EDT

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella is set to take the stand Monday as part of the Justice Department’s antitrust trial against Google.

The DOJ has accused Alphabet Inc.’s search division of unlawfully maintaining a monopoly by paying $10 billion a year to rivals, smartphone manufacturers and wireless carriers to make its search engine the default option on mobile devices and web browsers. Google has denied the allegations.

To help prove its case, the DOJ hopes to use testimony from Nadella and other executives from Microsoft to show how even a company of its size and resources couldn’t unlock Google’s hold on the search market.

Last week, Microsoft business development executive Jonathan Tinter testified that the Redmond, Washington-based software giant failed to secure a deal to put its Bing search app on Apple’s products, even though it was willing to offer far better terms than Google and lose multiple billions of dollars on the agreement. In the end, Apple signed a fresh deal with Google.

Tinter also told the court that Microsoft’s Surface Duo smartphone was required to use Google search in order to license the Android mobile operating system and was limited from using Bing on its own devices. Nadella was personally involved in discussing some of these issues with his Google counterpart, Sundar Pichai, and will probably be asked about those conversations.

Nadella was instrumental in the development of Bing, created by Microsoft in an ultimately doomed attempt to catch up with Google and capture a chunk of the online advertising market.

While Bing has gained share on desktop computers, where it was integrated with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and later Edge browser, it has lagged on mobile devices where people overwhelming use Google. Three or so years ago, Microsoft even discussed selling Bing to Apple, a transaction that would have replaced Google as the default option on the iPhone maker’s devices, Bloomberg reported. But a deal never came to fruition.

• Tech startup, Branch Metrics, claims Google hindered its search app development through exclusive revenue-sharing agreements with Samsung, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile.
• The US government accuses Google of illegally maintaining its online search monopoly by having its search engine as the default on PCs and mobile phones, which Google denies.
• Branch Metrics aimed to create a search engine for mobile apps, with significant funding raised and intended integration in Samsung devices starting 2019.
• Due to Google's contract, Samsung limited the functionality of Branch's product, restricting it to search only 25 apps and conceal results from apps not installed on the device.
• Google's revenue-share agreements initially required it to be the sole "web search engine" on devices, later extending to "only connected search and internet search" on devices in 2020.
• AT&T and a Google executive raised concerns about the Branch product violating revenue-share agreements, impacting potential partnerships and Branch's product functionality.