It's been a long time coming, but Google Talk is now officially dead. Though Google has been in the process of phasing out Google Talk for years now, it wasn't until March that it actually gave us an end date for the long-running chat service. It may be sad to hear it, but the users who have hung on throughout the years will no longer be able to use Google Talk in any capacity from here on out.
A study published this week found that Amazon Echo with Alexa - and Alexa in general - was not nearly as ready to answer questions as Google's Google Home. The systems were tested by New York firm 360i who suggest they've used their own proprietary software to test both home assistant technologies. In their first brief on the subject, they say that their Voice Search Monitor (VSM) software shows Google Home as "six times more likely to provide an answer than Amazon Alexa."
Google is finding itself in quite a bit of trouble with the European Commission this morning. The Commission has found that Google violated EU antitrust laws by giving search preference to its own comparison shopping service at the expense of its competitors. As a result, Google is going to have to pay a record fine that climbs into the billions.
Avis Budget Group has announced a new partnership with Alphabet's Waymo, saying that it will maintain and support the latter company's self-driving car fleet. The maintenance/support offered under this partnership will take place at Avis's various rental locations, enabling Waymo to keep its vehicles maintained and ready for use in many locations. The Alphabet company is creating a 600-vehicle fleet, among other things, for riders to utilize.
As it stands, it's a little difficult to watch a YouTube video with friends if you aren't all in the same room. Uptime, an app from Google incubator Area 120, looks to solve this exact problem, but before today, there's a solid chance you'd never heard of it. What was once an app that was an invite-only affair has now opened up to the general public, giving you the chance to watch YouTube videos alongside your friends.
![Pixely Launcher brings Google Now to most Androids [APK download]](https://c.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/googlelauncher.jpg)
This week the user known as deletescape has released his first Rootless Pixel Launcher. This launcher is very similar to some other recently released launchers - such as the launcher literally called "Rootless Pixel Launcher" - but this one's got some unique features. As the developer, also known as Till Kottmann, explains - this app is unique in its ability to deliver the Google Now Page on any smartphone- or at least most Android smartphones from the past several years.
Users that've downloaded the app "Magic Browser" at any point in the past should delete the app immediately. This app has been found to contain malware of a simple sort - but terrible nonetheless. This app's malware is especially dangerous not because of what it can do to an average user's phone, but because of how crafty it is in making it's way into the phone - trickery!
This week the folks at Nokia have revealed their plans to release the Nokia 6 in the United States. This device runs Android and is the first device in what's expected to be along line of similar devices from the brand. These devices - including the Nokia 6 - will bring the brand Nokia back into smartphones in a big way, starting with Android and growing with Google's mobile operating system app ecosystem.
Raid Battles have begun in Pokemon GO and the whole in-game universe has begun to wonder when it'll be their turn to take a shot. As of this weekend, Niantic began rolling out the RAID Battle update to all players. This does not mean that every single player got the opportunity to participate in a Raid battle right off the bat. Some users had to wait until it was their turn - for their player level - to come up in the cards.
It might surprise some people but almost a quarter of Canada call French their second tongue. That makes it a bit tricky to roll out products in this major market that have to straddle not only English but also French, specifically French Canadian. Google, however, as sufficiently overcome that hurdle and, starting today, users in the French-speaking quarters of the country can comfortably talk with Google Home in French. Oh, and they can buy the smart speaker too.
With the summer now in full swing, we're getting closer and closer to the expected fall debut of the next generation of Google's Pixel smartphones, tentatively known as the "Pixel 2." We've already heard about how Google was once considering three different sizes for the devices, with the middle-sized model, codenamed "Muskie," getting canned. But now we're getting the first solid leaks on the specs for the "Walleye" and "Taimen" models, or what will become the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, respectively.
Personal medical records showing up in search results is a big problem, and now Google is addressing it. The Internet giant will start pulling these records from results when someone asks them to, helping individuals maintain privacy in a world where hackers are increasingly breaching medical facilities' networks. This marks a change in policy for the company, which recently updated its policy page to reflect the new removal category.
