Google tracks Android users, even with location turned off Google has confirmed it has been able to track the location of Android users via the addresses of local mobile phone masts, even when location services were turned off and the sim cards removed to protect privacy. Revealed by a report by Quartz, Google’s Android system, which handles messaging services to ensure delivery of push notifications, began requesting the unique addresses of mobile phone masts (called Cell ID) at the beginning of 2017.(Guardian)
Tech titans at war: Google pulls YouTube from Amazon Fire TV and Echo Show http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/12/05/google-pulls-youtube-from-amazon-fire-tv-and-echo-show/
Let's just say someone I know got into a world of trouble w/their SO due to auto uploads to the cloud.
Google to acquire GIF search platform Tenor Google is going all-in on GIFs with the news that it’s acquiring GIF search engine Tenor. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2014, Tenor is one of a number of GIF-focused platforms to come to the fore in recent years. The San Francisco-based company offers a web-based GIF search engine in addition to a keyboard app for Android and iOS that enables users to easily access GIFs from within any app.(VentureBeat)
Google backs startup working on remote-controlled cars Alphabet Inc.’s Google is getting into self-driving cars in a new way. Gradient Ventures, an early-stage venture fund within Google, is leading a $6 million investment in a new company that’s building software to let humans control cars remotely. Scotty Labs, a nine-person startup, works on “teleoperations,” an emerging slice of the autonomous vehicle business that may grow more critical as the field faces closer scrutiny. (Bloomberg)
Oscar raises $165M with backing from Alphabet companies Manhattan insurance startup Oscar Health has raised another $165 million from investors, the company's chief executive, Mario Schlosser, and co-founder Joshua Kushner, wrote in a blog post. The funds will help the company expand to more markets and invest in the technology platform it uses to interact with members and lower their health costs.(Modern Healthcare)