EU brings Apple, Google to heel in €15.4B courtroom double-whammy
In two separate cases today, the EU’s Court of Justice ruled in favour of back taxes and fines against Apple and Google totalling €15.4bn, a major victory in the bloc’s…
Dublin rejects Google’s new data centre plans over energy concerns
Google’s plans for a third data centre in Dublin have hit a snag. Unimpressed by the lack of on-site renewable energy sources to power the facility, the South Dublin County…
Google’s Early VR Modeling Tool ‘Blocks’ is Getting Revived as Open Source Software
Google announced that Blocks, the 3D asset creation tool released for VR in 2017, is following in the footsteps of Tilt Brush by going open source. Google announced the news in a blogpost,…
AR Content is Coming to Google Maps, But It Won’t Matter Until There’s a Headset to See it Through
Google today announced it’s starting a pilot program that will soon allow select partners to create AR content and display it within Google Maps. While it seems like an important…
Earth Day: Ecosia launches world’s first energy-generating browser
Today — on Earth Day — non-profit search engine Ecosia has launched the “greenest browser on Earth” as it seeks to offer customers a more sustainable alternative to Google Chrome…
Meta Reportedly Rejected Google Partnership to Bring Android XR to Quest
According to a report from The Information, Google and Meta held a meeting late last year wherein the two companies discussed the possibility of bringing Android XR to Meta headsets.…
Two Classic VR Games From Google’s VR Studio Coming Soon to Vision Pro
Owlchemy Labs, the Google-owned VR studio, announced it’s bringing the chart-topping VR games Job Simulator (2016) and its sequel Vacation Simulator (2019) to Apple Vision Pro. The studio’s seminal ‘Simulator’…
Google launches €25M AI drive to ‘empower’ Europe’s workforce
Google has launched a €25mn training and skills programme to help Europe’s workforce “seize the opportunity of AI,” the tech giant announced today. The initiative is targeted at “vulnerable and…
Google’s AR Ambitions Stymied as Company Guts Hardware Team
Google is reorganizing a number of its hardware teams, which will see layoffs affecting a few hundred roles across its Devices & Services units. As reported by 9to5Google, Google’s first-party AR hardware…
Google’s Gemini AI won’t be available in Europe — for now
Yesterday, Google launched its much anticipated response to OpenAI’s ChatGPT (the first release of Bard didn’t really count, did it?). However, the new set of generative AI models that Google…
Google’s VR Studio Owlchemy Labs Now Has Two Platinum-selling Titles
Owlchemy Labs, the Google-owned VR studio behind Job Simulator (2016), announced the game’s sequel Vacation Simulator (2019) just went platinum, having now topped over one million units sold. The studio’s breakout title Job Simulator went…
Meta Wants Android Play Store Apps Officially on Quest but Google “didn’t want to”
There are relatively few 2D Android apps available on the Quest Store, which seems odd since the Quest hardware runs a modified version of Android. According to Meta CTO Andrew…