Alphabet Archives - SlashGear

The Google team behind Pixelbook and Pixel Slate just got slashed

Chris Burns | Mar 13, 2019

Google may be cutting down on its work with hardware products in the very near future, per an announcement made to some employees at the business this week. It's been suggested by several people familiar with the matter that Google's informed "dozens" of engineers and program managers that they should seek employment elsewhere within Alphabet. That doesn't bode well for any sort of major expansion of products in the near future.

Jigsaw’s Tune Chrome extension filters out toxic comments

Ewdison Then | Mar 12, 2019

The Internet is something of an equal opportunity tool that empowers both the good and the bad. The anonymity it provides has encouraged frightened voices to speak up in opposition to oppressive powers but it has also emboldened less conscientious actors to say things they would never say face-to-face. That's why Alphabet's Jigsaw is working on an experimental Tune Chrome extension that lets users tune out those toxic comments for some temporary peace of mind.

Nest responds to home security hack reports

Chris Davies | Feb 6, 2019

Nest has responded to recent reports of a security breach, contacting owners of devices like the Nest Cam IQ and Nest Secure to insist that there has been no grand hack of the company. The outreach comes after claims that a US family found their Nest security system had been remotely accessed, and the speaker used to taunt the home's occupants with racist obscenities.

Verily smart shoes tipped as a doctor for your feet

Chris Davies | Feb 1, 2019

Verily, the health focused division of Alphabet which span out of the Google X moonshot lab, is looking to smart shoes for its next big advance. The company - which is attempting to coax healthcare breakthroughs by applying big data principles and cutting-edge technology to the human body - has already experimented with smart contact lenses and heart-monitoring watches.

Alphabet’s Verily ECG watch gets FDA approval as medical device

Brittany A. Roston | Jan 18, 2019

Alphabet unveiled Verily Study Watch in 2017, describing it as a smartwatch designed specifically for capturing health data from clinical study participants. The watch has been put to good use in the months since its launch, including in studies involving Parkinson's disease. The wearable features an on-demand ECG device and has just earned FDA approval as a Class II medical device.

Verily shelves diabetes-tracking contact lenses

Chris Davies | Nov 16, 2018

An ambitious project to make contact lenses that could track glucose levels for people with diabetes has been shelved, with Alphabet's Verily admitting the technology just wasn't up to scratch yet. The health-centric lenses were one of the company's first public projects to break cover back in 2014, and a headline example of how it would work with the pharmaceutical industry.

Alphabet kills all bipedal robot development at Schaft

Shane McGlaun | Nov 15, 2018

Alphabet is the holding company for search giant Google, and under the Alphabet umbrella, a company called Schaft has been developing bipedal robots for years now. Way back in 2013, Schaft won a DARPA Robotics Challenge Trial with its bipedal robots. Things went off the trials a bit for the company when its director, Andy Rubin, left and went on to found Essential.

Waymo paid autonomous taxi service could launch in December

Chris Davies | Nov 13, 2018

Waymo's driverless car service could begin taking paying customers as soon as December, sources claim, with the Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle project finally taking on Uber and Lyft. The Google spin-off had promised earlier this year that it would launch a commercial ride-hailing service somewhere in the US.

Waymo’s autonomous cars are leaving human drivers furious

Chris Davies | Aug 28, 2018

Waymo's autonomous cars may not be as advanced as widely believed, with insiders along with human drivers sharing the roads with the Alphabet company's Arizona trial warning a reality-check is required. The self-driving car project was spun out of a Google division, and began real-world testing in Phoenix, AZ in 2016.

Google’s AI drone project is causing staff to quit

Chris Davies | May 14, 2018

Google employees are quitting the company in protest of Project Maven, the artificial intelligence collaboration with the US Department of Defense. Promising to speed up the analysis of drone footage by assessing images for photos or objects, Maven has prompted serious controversy within the search giant among those who disagree with AI being potentially involved in warfare.

Alphabet Verily wearable project tipped with exploding micro-needles

Brittany A. Roston | May 11, 2018

Alphabet company Verily is working on a health device that collects blood using exploding micro-needles, according to sources. The device reportedly features magnets and tiny needles, attaching to the patient's body to collect blood in a less invasive way than existing blood collection tech. Sources claim the company has been working on this device for several years.

Waymo driverless car crash video released after Arizona collision

Chris Davies | May 4, 2018

Waymo has released a video from the driverless car involved in a collision in Arizona today, suggesting there was little either the vehicle or the safety driver could have done to avoid the crash. The incident took place in Chandler, Arizona, one of the cities in which Alphabet-owned Waymo is running trials of its autonomous vehicle technology.