After failing to get a court order to block an antitrust ruling, Google on Wednesday said it will allow users in India to choose default search engine on Android-based smartphones. As part of the key changes the tech giant will make to its platforms and business in India in the aftermath of the landmark CCI ruling, OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) will be able to license individual Google apps for pre-installation on their devices. Google is also updating the Android compatibility requirements to introduce changes for partners to build non-compatible or forked variants, the company said in its blog.
Industry leaders including Google's India-born chief executive Sundar Pichai on Wednesday mourned the death of Ratan Tata, saying the veteran industrialist cared about making India better. "He leaves an extraordinary business and philanthropic legacy and was instrumental in mentoring and developing the modern business leadership in India. He deeply cared about making India better," Pichai said in a post on X. Pichai recalled that his last meeting with Tata was at Google's office where they spoke about the progress of self-driving car Waymo.
'It was the early days of my 5th standard school vacation, and my mother asked me, 'Robotics classes or swimming classes for the weekends?' I chose robotics classes because technology fascinated me.'
TikTok's app effectively shut down in the US, just hours before a law banning the popular video-sharing platform was set to go into effect. The app was shut down on Saturday, displaying a message that the app "isn't available right now," but expects resolution under President-elect Trump. The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the divest-or-ban law, which gave TikTok's China-based parent company ByteDance until Sunday to divest from the app. President Trump said Saturday that he would most likely give TikTok a 90-day extension. Following Friday's Supreme Court decision, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew thanked the president-elect for his commitment to finding a solution to keep the app accessible in the US.
Trump spoke approvingly of his recent telephone conversation with Xi Jinping. This could indicate the possibility of America and China reaching some level of tactical accommodation, which would not be good news for India, points out Ambassador Shyam Saran, a former foreign secretary.
'Unsurprisingly, Trump shared Modi's podcast with Fridman on his Truth account.' 'The intentions of Trump, a transactional president, are never easy to tell.' 'We will know in the next fortnight if and when he unfolds reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods, whether Modi's flattering words made any significant difference to Trump's compass,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has banned the use of third-party tools like WhatsApp and Gmail for transmitting sensitive official documents, citing security concerns. The order, issued by the General Administration Department, states that these platforms are not designed to handle classified information and their security protocols may not meet the stringent standards required for official communications. It highlights potential risks such as unauthorized access, data breaches, and leaks of confidential information. The order emphasizes the importance of using government email facilities, instant messaging platforms, and secure networks for handling sensitive information. It also prohibits the use of digital assistants and smartphones during discussions on classified matters. The government has warned of disciplinary action for non-compliance with these directives.
JioMeet, which has already got the endorsement of top government officials and politicians, saw a huge surge in its ranking on Google Play, based on its downloads.
Divya Nair/Rediff.com speaks to students and experts to find out whether it is better to study management in India or try for an international MBA.
The US on Wednesday mourned the death of veteran industrialist and philanthropist Ratan Naval Tata, remembering him as someone who drove India to greater prosperity and development. Tata, the former Tata Group chairman who transformed a staid group into India's largest and most influential conglomerate, breathed his last at south Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital at 11.30 pm on Wednesday. He was 86. "My last meeting with Ratan Tata at Google, we talked about the progress of Waymo and his vision was inspiring to hear. He leaves an extraordinary business and philanthropic legacy and was instrumental in mentoring and developing modern business leadership in India.
India's e-commerce market alone is projected to reach $200 billion by 2026, making it a prime industry for ambitious entrepreneurs, explains rediffGURU Harsh Bharwani.
A tech architect must have certifications across ERP platforms (SAP, Oracle, Microsoft) and Cloud platforms (MS, Google, Low code SAAS platforms such as Salesforce, and ServiceNow).
Google's chief privacy officer, Keith Enright, has warned policymakers that frequent and large-scale sharing of citizen data, even if anonymized, can damage users' privacy. Pointing to research that shows data sets lose their anonymity if shared consistently over time, he said: "I would encourage policymakers and companies to be extremely circumspect while proceeding in that direction." Anonymization is a technique that removes or modifies personally identifiable information, resulting in data that cannot be associated with any one individual.
While prevalent web conferencing apps have been charging fees for getting a large number of users in a session, Jio is neither charging any fee nor has put any time limit on the sessions at present.
Google has announced a slew of new features including new privacy settings, AI tools and release of the first beta of Android 12 that will become part of its products over the course of the year. Kicking off Google I/O 2021 in a virtual format from the Mountain View campus, Google CEO Sundar Pichai also announced additions to Google Workspace that will enable richer collaboration, especially in view of the pandemic that has driven enterprises across the globe to embrace remote working solutions. Pichai said that COVID-19 has deeply affected every community over the past year, and "places like Brazil, and my home country of India, are now going through their most difficult moments yet".
The scheduled meeting of Internet search engine Google's founders and promoters with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was called off late on Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged CEOs of US majors to take advantage of India's growth story as the country is making all efforts to become the third largest economy of the world in his third term. India is currently the fifth largest economy of the world after the US, China, Germany and Japan with a GDP of around $3.9 trillion. India has been the fastest growing large economies of the world with GDP growth rate of over 7 per cent for the last three consecutive years.
Facebook and Google officials in New Delhi on Tuesday deposed before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology on the issue of misuse of social media platforms.
The sources said the Centre had decided in 2007 to frame a policy on this issue and Wednesday's meeting was the first move in this connection.
'When there was a match, he would be up all night watching it on his laptop with Kishori Amonkarji singing on the side.'
Demi Lovato and Meghan Markle top the list.
With both the Nexus phones touted to be the first to carry Android's Marshmallow edition, the latest offerings from Google seem tempting, but surely, gone are the days of cheap Nexus phones, says Himanshu Juneja
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio on Friday announced deferring the roll-out of the JioPhone Next - the low-priced smartphone it has developed with Google - to Diwali. The phone was previously to be launched on September 10. Ambani at the shareholder meeting of his flagship Reliance Industries in June, had stated that the JioPhone Next will be available for purchase on September 10.
Foxconn's business in India has grown to over $10 billion till 2024.
Google's multi-device plan also helps Android attract many third-party apps. But over 3 billion apps have been downloaded for the iPhone and iPod touch from the App store. So even if Android phones outsell the iPhone, Google will have to do a lot of running to catch up with Apple, which is not sitting idle either.
Google is all set to launch its newest line of smartphones and maybe a whole bunch of other hardware products
The Indian men and women's hockey teams have turned tech-savvy in order to maintain social distancing while continuing with their indoor workout regime during the coronavirus-forced lockdown. The core probable group housed in the Sports Authority of India Centre here suspended high-intensity hockey training in the third week of March following a nationwide lockdown.
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
The dairy company has alleged that Google India and also goDaddy.com were misusing their platforms for earning revenues through advertisements on fake B2B campaigns that duped innocent individuals seeking Amul franchise across India.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday met top officials of the finance and corporate affairs ministries to review the implementation of various announcements of the Union Budget FY24. "The finance minister underlined the importance of continuous assessment of progress to ensure that various announcements are implemented in a time-bound manner," the finance ministry said in a tweet. Sitharaman also discussed in detail various issues on the digital competition laws with Rajeev Chandrashekhar, the minister of state for entrepreneurship, skill development, electronics and technology.
The company said this new approach allows developers to train artificial intelligence models without the user data leaving the device, while allowing it to do more with less data.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday directed Facebook and Google to remove alleged derogatory material related to Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sasikala Pushpa who claimed that her image was being tarnished by purported morphed photos and videos with a man on social media.
Google's email service, Gmail, is facing a disruption in service since Thursday morning, affecting some users in various parts of the world.
The publishing of compliance reports by Google, Facebook and Instagram is bound to turn up the heat on Twitter, which has been engaged in a tussle with the Indian government over the new social media rules.
'In Krrish, I was playing Hrithik's child version.' 'I also did Ishq Vishk with Shahid Kapoor.' 'In Aetbaar, I remember doing scenes with Amitabh Bachchan.'
Two Indian girls Shree Bose and Naomi Shah emerged winners at the Google Science Fair held last month for their projects on ovarian cancer and treatment of asthma respectively. Read on to know more about their interesting projects.
The partnership will also see the two parties cooperate on technology initiatives, including development of affordable smartphones.
'Salman wanted to do the interview properly. That's why he was nervous, you know, that dad should be happy.'
"We are delighted to welcome Google as a strategic investor in Jio Platforms. We have signed a binding partnership and an investment agreement under which Google will invest Rs 33,737 crores for a 7.7 per cent stake in Jio Platforms," Mukesh Ambani said at the company's annual general meeting.
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