Google

VirusTotal, a company that produces a free online malware scanner service, says it has been acquired by search giant Google. Google has confirmed the transaction took place, but has not released financial details of the sale. We do know that ... VirusTotal announced the acquisition late last week. The firm's online malware scanner evaluates website addresses (URLs) and also files on your hard drive, to ensure they do not contain viruses, trojan horses, or other forms of malware. VirusTotal says it utilizes more than forty different antivirus strategies to detect potential problems. (Source: pcmag ... (view more)

Google is looking for elite engineers capable of protecting the privacy of the company's users. The nature of the recruitment ads suggests the engineers will be defending users against all threats, even those posed by Google. The ad is for a "data ... privacy engineer." It says that the successful recruits will join a team of "back-end ninjas: protecting your privacy, ensuring your security and leaving no trace behind." Successful applicants will be required to "identify, research, and help resolve potential privacy risks across all of our products, services, and business processes in place ... (view more)

Google has agreed to pay a $22.5 million penalty for misleading users of the Safari browser about its privacy policies. It's the largest penalty ever imposed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for this type of offense. The case involves cookies, ... the small text files which a website places on a user's computer to identify and help track them. In many cases, cookies help advertisers deliver particularly relevant advertisements (Amazon's "Recommended for You" feature is one example). Google Tricks Safari With Bogus Code Since many web users don't like being followed, Apple decided ... (view more)

A new study by third-party warranty supplier SquareTrade has shown that the Google Nexus 7 tablet is considerably more durable than Apple's iPad. The findings are based on drop tests and a water immersion experiment. SquareTrade, a leading vendor of ... after-market warranties on a wide variety of electronic gear, recently posted a video on YouTube showing Google's 7-inch Nexus 7 tablet taking more of a beating than the market-leading iPad. iPad Suffers Broken Display in Drop Tests SquareTrade's video shows two drop tests, with both tablet devices plopped onto concrete. In the first test, both ... (view more)

Google has announced it will sponsor a conference aimed at reducing illegal drug and human trafficking. The conference is part of Google Ideas, a project designed to examine how technology can help solve major world problems. The project's first ... major work came in 2011, when it held the Summit Against Violent Extremism (SAVE) in Dublin, Ireland. SAVE brought together 84 former extremists, ranging from gang members to violent nationalist and religious extremists, along with victims of gangs and terrorism. Virtual Community Created to Prevent Violence The SAVE conference led to the formation of ... (view more)

Google has announced it will finally close its original video hosting service, Google Video, and will keep both YouTube and its video search site running. The decision, along with the closure of four other services, is part of Google's ongoing ... program to ditch ideas that didn't work out. The search giant says it has abandoned more than thirty programs since fall, 2011. Google Video was first unveiled in 2005. It was originally designed to host videos for users who didn't have their own web servers or couldn't cope with the traffic, if a lot of people watched their clips. After buying the ... (view more)

It has been a big week for Google. The company not only unveiled its budget-priced Nexus 7 tablet computer, it also revealed more information about its upcoming Google Glass computerized eyewear. Nexus 7 is a $199 tablet computer designed to ... challenge Amazon's Kindle Fire, which retails for the same price in the competitive tablet market. Both devices will sell for roughly half the price of Apple's rival device, the iPad, and both will focus on offering basic Internet browsing features. Google: Nexus 7 "Simple" but "Beautiful" "We want things to be simple, beautiful and ... (view more)

Google is funding a project designed to promote languages in danger of falling into disuse. The search giant is producing a series of tools, including specialist social network tools, designed to revive interest in the languages. The Endangered ... Language Project springs from the fact that about half of the 6,000 human languages spoken today are "on the verge of extinction," with few native speakers left alive. Researchers predict there will be no one able to speak these languages by the year 2100, unless special efforts are made to preserve them. (Source: endangeredlanguages.com ) Expansion of ... (view more)

A new report from Google indicates the US government is currently requesting more information about the online activity of its citizens than ever before. In the second half of 2011, it received 6,321 requests for Internet user data, compared with ... 4,601 in the same period in 2010. That's a 37 per cent increase. The figures were revealed in Google's latest Transparency Report. The US requests cover a total of 12,243 Internet users. (Source: google.com) However, the increase in demands for user data isn't necessarily a sign that the US government is snooping more. Google said the increase could ... (view more)

Google's legal problems surrounding its unintentional gathering of personal data from home WiFi networks now seem likely to linger longer than previously expected. After the publication of an internal email that some consider a 'smoking gun,' ... British authorities are reportedly near a decision to reopen their investigation of the search giant's activities. The long-running case involves the vehicles carrying Google's roof-mounted cameras taking "Street View" photos for the company's map service. These vehicles housed computers that scanned for nearby wireless networks. According to Google, the ... (view more)