Googleis marking its 23rd birthday on Monday witha new Doodle. The animated Doodle features a layered birthday cake with rainbow sprinkles and the number 23 written on the top. Officially established on Sept. 4, 1998, Google was co-founded bySergey BrinandLarry Page. The following year, the pair developed the first prototype of Google together in their dorms. Sundar Pichai, the current CEO of Google and its parent, Alphabet, succeeded Page in 2015....

The fine was earlier reported byThe Moscow Times. (Russia refers to the war as a “special military operation.") The agency also said that YouTube was promoting extremist views and telling people to protest. The fine is based on Google’s annual revenue in Russia. Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The search giant has pulled advertising from Russia, cutting ad revenue from YouTube and other services. YouTube alsobanned videosthat made light of Russia’s invasion....

The problem apparently occurred because of Google’s partnership withT-Mobile. The mishap could be related to a majorT-Mobile breach affecting 37 million customersearlier in January. It was theeighth time the telecom company had been hacked since 2018. Google said none of its internal systems or systems it oversees was accessed. Neither Google, USCellular nor T-Mobile immediately responded to requests for comment. Google Fi doesn’t own its own cellular web connection infrastructure....

Itinerary planning is one of the most established, everyday uses of AI tools. Similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google has a subscription model for the more sophisticated version of Gemini. The Advanced tier costs $20 per month and includes these upgraded travel planning capabilities, amongother features. CNET’sImad Khanreviewed Gemini, running it through an array of tests, including travel planning. He asked for an itinerary to visit Columbus, Ohio, the town where I grew up....

Very Good Ventureswrote the app over the last 10 weeks, Chief Executive David DeRemer said Wednesday. Curious developers can check outGoogle’s Flutter talk from Google I/O. Flutter plays a role in that effort. “It’s truly one thing that can do almost anything,” he said of Flutter. Cross-platform programming can be tough because of interface differences, but the pinball game makes some accommodations. On a desktop net web client, you use right and left arrows to operate the flippers....

Google pulls this information from websites and links to sources used when generating an answer. It’s also possible to ask follow-up questions in SGE to get more precise results. To join, hit the linkhere. SGE can be accessed via the Chrome desktop web internet tool or the Android and iOS Google apps. Google didn’t respond to a request for comment. Google unveiledBardearlier this year, an AI chatbot similar to ChatGPT....

Google’s augmented reality team was also hit with layoffs, according to a report by9to5Google. It recommitted to its goal to protect workers. Tonight, Google began another round of needless layoffs. We wont stop fighting until our jobs are safe! Google’s layoffs come as the tech industry saw massive firings early last year. There were263,000 people laid off in tech last year alone, according to Fortune. 2024 is already showing that the tech layoff trend will continue....

Deepfake images and video use AI technology to impose one person’s face on another person’s body. These changes are intended to help remove that imagery. Google declined to respond to a request for further comment. There’s been a rise inmisinformationandcybercrime. AI systems also require significant power to run,which is bad for the environment. But, on the visual side, there’s been an increase of fake generated nudes. Google also says it’s improving its ranking system to protect against harmful content....

Not only will the fake reviews disappear, but businesses will face penalties for using them to begin with. “That’s why we take fake and/or incentivized reviews and ratings on businesses very seriously.” Google outlines the various rules and penaltieson its support website. Among the penalties is a sanction where the business won’t be able to receive new reviews or ratings. In addition, all existing ratings will be unpublished, leaving the business review section completely blank....

Google Messages is getting an update – this time with some pizzazz. Google is testing theaddition of color and background customizationfor the RCS messaging app onAndroid phones. Still in beta, the options will allow you to set custom backgrounds and chat bubble colors. They’ll be available more broadly in the “near future.” Google’s RCS, aniMessage-like standard, allows you to send higher-quality images via messaging and also use encryption. For its part, Google Messages is the tech titan’s latest effort to bring communication under one app....

Previously, it was an option to encrypt your Google Messages, but now it’s set to default. Encrypted messaging is already the default on services likeWhatsApp, Signal, Telegram and Apple’s iMessage. Unfortunately, text messages betweeniPhoneandAndroidusers still lack this encryption. That’s because Apple uses iMessage as the default messaging app, which isn’t available onAndroid. For encrypted messaging between Android andiPhone, it’s best to use a third-party instant messaging app instead. Their messages also appear in green bubbles....

Google on Thursday is offering developers a first look atAndroid 13, its newest operating system. Android 13 Developer Preview 1 will be available for manual download and includes a few notable updates. The new system will have more specificprivacycontrols. It’ll also minimize location data sharing through new Wi-Fi permissions. “First Android 13 developer preview!” said Dave Burke, Google’s vice president of engineering, in a tweet sharing the news. First Android 13 developer preview!...

That’s a particular challenge for phones' small image sensors. Staggered HDR is designed to counteract that ghosting problem by capturing multiple frames closer to simultaneously. The sensor on thePixel 7, reportedly theSamsung GN1, doesn’t support staggered HDR. Wojciechowski said the next Pixel could use theSamsung GN2 sensor, which does support the feature. Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Thisecosystem approachmirrors the strategy of smartphone leaders Samsung and Apple....