Todd R. Weiss

Since 2008, Google has been looking annually at influenza infection statistics around the world and creating models to estimate how serious flu outbreaks are in a wide swath of nations, including the United States. But this year, Google is updating its flu data analysis methods for U.S. cases after last year’s 2012 to 2013 Google […]

Google’s long-awaited new KitKat 4.4 Android mobile operating system is now officially out and will start rolling out to eligible devices over the next few weeks with myriad new features that will help it run well even on older devices. In addition, the first device running KitKat 4.4, the new Nexus 5 smartphone, is also […]

Google has added a reset button in the latest updates for its Chrome Web browser to help users recover their browser settings when malicious apps load themselves and add toolbars or new settings or make other undesired changes. “Online criminals have been increasing their use of malicious software that can silently hijack your browser settings,” […]

Google Glass just got its first up-close look from the law when a Temecula, Calif., woman was stopped by a police officer and ticketed for speeding and wearing Google Glass while she was driving in San Diego on Oct. 29. The driver, Cecelia Abadie, 44, who received her Glass device as a Google Glass Explorer […]

Airline passengers on U.S. flights will soon be allowed to use most personal electronic devices (PEDs) during any phase of a flight, from taxiing to takeoff, climbing and landing, under expanded new rules announced Oct. 31 by the FAA. What that means, according to the agency, is that e-readers, gaming devices, video players and similar […]

Google+ users are getting an assortment of cool, creative new tools that will let them get more out of their photos and experiences in Google+ Hangouts. For the first time, Google+ Hangouts for Android now supports location-sharing and Short Message Service (SMS) communications, while Google+ Photos adds new photo strobe features and much deeper editing […]

Google has replaced its old Google API Console with a new, expanded and redesigned Google Cloud Console to help developers organize and use the more than 60 APIs now offered by Google. The new console was announced by Akshay Kannan, the product manager on the Google Cloud Console Team, in an Oct. 29 post on […]

Google Glass is getting a little easier to buy and use—if you have a friend who is already a Google Glass owner and will “invite” you to share in the fun. That’s the idea behind a new Glass program that will allow existing users to invite up to three friends to buy their own eyewear-mounted […]

Google has quietly and mysteriously placed two tall, large floating barges on opposite ends of the United States, one in San Francisco Bay and the other in Maine’s Portland Harbor, but so far the company isn’t saying what the barges contain. That, of course, has caused a flurry of attention and guesswork by pundits, news […]

Google’s reCAPTCHA anti-bot service just got a whole lot smarter when it comes to figuring out whether a human or an automated online bot is trying to decipher its messages. Under changes made in the latest reCAPTCHA update, users will have an easier time typing in the special random codes used by the app because […]

The European Union has decided to ask Google’s competitors for candid feedback on a proposed Google settlement offer that aims to resolve a three-year-old antitrust case against Google in Europe. The feedback will be collected to help the EU make its decision on whether to accept Google’s latest settlement offer, which came in late September. […]

Fans of music stars and bands are being courted by YouTube to cast their ballots online for the online video service’s inaugural YouTube Music Awards, while be live-streamed online Nov. 3. The nominations in six categories opened Oct. 21 at youtube.com/musicawards, where fans can watch the featured music videos and “share” them with others on […]