The US Department of Justice wants to break up Google. After launching to horrible reviews earlier this year, the Rabbit R1 is getting a little more useful through software updates. Pine64 stuck a 2MP camera on the end of a tiny computer with a RISC-V and ARM processor. And Google may be done with tablets... again.
Here's a roundup of recent tech news from around the web.
If you've seen any tech news today, you've probably seen this one. But the long and short of it is that the US government alleges that Google has violated antitrust laws by leveraging its Chrome web browser, Android mobile operating system, and Google search engine to create a sort of inescapable Google experience.
One proposed solution? Make Google sell off its web browser and maybe even its mobile operating system. But it's unclear to me what that would actually mean for the general public that uses these apps and services - it would certainly be a setback for Google that could theoretically lead to increased competition.
But a big part of the reason Google offers Chrome and Android for free is that they're bundled with Google search and other apps in a way that helps Google make a LOT of money from advertising. Would an independent Chrome browser be a financially viable product? I guess that depends on who buys it and what changes they implement. This is all hypothetical until a judge rules early next year though.
The Rabbit R1 is inching closer to living up to its potential. The long-promised "teach mode" is now available in beta, allowing users to train the R1 to interact with websites on their behalf. Theoretically this opens the door to doing things like ordering groceries for you, but right now the simplest functions are things that it'd probably be easier to do manually.
When you set up a new Android phone, odds are that you'll have the chance to import your apps and data from your old phone. One thing that you normally still need to do though, is login to most of your apps. But Google has introduced a new Restore Credentials feature that could save you the trouble... assuming third-party developers update their apps to use the feature.
The company behind the PinePhone, PineBook, PineTab, and PineNote line of hacker-friendly products is returning to putting out monthly progress/status updates. The latest brings news of a new PineCam featuring a SG2000 RISC-V + ARM processor and a 2MP camera. The RISC-V powered PineTab V has also received a small hardware update: it now has an accelerometer and status LED as well as some bug fixes.