Google Play Books adds new practice feature to help kids learn how to read
Google Play Book is getting a new feature that is designed to help new readers independently improve their vocabulary and comprehension skills. Google announced today that the new feature, called R
Google Wallet adds support for QR-based cards and insurance cards
Google announced an update to Google Wallet today with new features, such as the ability to convert images into passes, a boarding pass integration with Google Messages and an additional layer of secu
Pixxel’s hyperspectral orbital imagery attracts investment from Google
Hyperspectral imagery startup Pixxel has closed $36 million in funding as it prepares to roll out new remote sensing and analytics capabilities to customers. The LA and Bangalore-based startup also sc
Google DeepMind introduces Barkour, a benchmark for quadrupedal robots
The bipedal humanoids may, in fact, be coming — but the quadrupeds are already here. They’re in labs, doing inspections in power plants and refineries, playing soccer and even — much to
Google starts opening up access to its new generative AI capabilities in Search
Google announced today that it’s starting to open up access to new generative AI capabilities in Search after teasing them at its I/O event two weeks ago. The tech giant is opening up access to
Top Indian tech advocacy group replaces Big Tech execs following criticism
The Internet and Mobile Association of India, an influential tech industry body, has appointed Dream Sports co-founder and chief executive Harsh Jain as the new chairperson of the association, bucking
Google Play Games for PC is now rolling out to Europe and New Zealand
Google is now rolling out Google Play Games for PC Beta — a service that lets you play Android games on Windows — to users in Europe and New Zealand. The company officially announced the annual Go
Chrome makes it easier to customize the appearance of your browser
Google Chrome is releasing a new update that makes it easier to customize and personalize your browser’s look, the company announced on Tuesday. For years, Chrome has had a “Customize Chro
Google introduces Product Studio, a tool that lets merchants create product imagery using generative AI
At its Google Marketing Live event today, the tech giant announced that it’s launching Product Studio, a new tool that lets merchants easily create product imagery using generative AI. Brands wi
Google Search ads will soon automatically adapt to queries using generative AI
Google is going to start using generative AI to boost Search ads’ relevance based on the context of a query, the company announced at its Google Marketing Live event today. Last year, the tech g
Google to experiment with ads that appear in its AI chatbot in Search
AI chatbots have only just been put into consumers’ hands, but tech giants are rushing to monetize them. For instance, shortly after Bing Chat’s arrival, Microsoft began slipping ads into
Google challenger Neeva gives up on consumer search, goes all in on AI and the enterprise
Challenger search engine Neeva is no more, in its current guise at least, as the Mountain View, California-based company revealed that it’s winding down its consumer business. Founders Sridhar
This Week in Apps: ChatGPT comes to iPhone, Bing AI efforts expand, Instagram’s Twitter clone
Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. The app economy in 2023 hit a few snags, as c
YouTube will no longer be deleting videos from inactive accounts
Google updated its policy on inactive accounts on Tuesday, declaring that any account that has not been active in two years will be deleted. The people of the internet quickly pushed back: What about
Google’s podcast search results can now open shows directly in Apple Podcasts
Google has made it easier to stream from Apple Podcasts and others when searching for podcasts in Google Search. After earlier this year winding down a feature that let users play podcasts directly fr
Google will disable third-party cookies for 1% of Chrome users in Q1 2024
Google’s Privacy Sandbox aims to replace third-party cookies with a more privacy-conscious approach, allowing users to manage their interests and grouping them into cohorts based on similar brow
Google pushes ahead with in-app billing policy in India, insists watchdog compliance
Google said on Wednesday that its Google Play’s payments policy is compliant with the Indian watchdog’s order and it is moving ahead with plans to enforce the policy in the South Asian mar
Google to delete accounts inactive for two years in security push
Google, which hosts billions of user accounts, said on Tuesday that it plans to delete accounts that have remained inactive for two years. The decision is part of the internet giant’s ongoing ef
Alphabet’s Intrinsic launches Flowstate, a robotic app development platform
The hottest corner of the robotic space right now isn’t the robots themselves. Those companies have done an excellent job getting their systems out into places like warehouses and factories, but the
Chipolo brings its lost item trackers to Android’s Find My Device network
Smart item tracker Chipolo, a competitor to Apple’s AirTag and others, opted to grow its business by partnering with the Cupertino tech giant, not fighting them, as rival Tile has done. When App