Google

Whenever winter rolls around, it's hard not to think of home energy use -- insulation doesn't seem to quite work, power bills go up, and it still feels cold.

It appears energy is also on Google's mind. According to The Information, the company reportedly has been testing Internet-connected thermostats aimed at making the energy grid more efficient and helping users control their power use. The trial program is said to be called EnergySense.

Google's quest to build a fiber network in Austin, Texas has hit a snag in the form of AT&T.

It is that holiday season! Google's Chromebook is one of the hottest gift ideas under $300 (e.g., Samsung Chromebook priced at $229 from Amazon). While some of you may dismiss Chromebook as an incapable barebone laptop, the matter of fact is that sales of Chromebooks continue to soar while the rest of PC sales are plummeting.

If you want to try out Google's Chrome OS powered Chromebook without purchasing Chromebook hardware, you can actually test-run Chromium OS as a virtual machine (VM). In this tutorial, I will explain how to install and run Chromium OS on VMware Player.

A new Gmail policy that allows e-mailed imaged attachments to load automatically comes at a price, say two security researchers.

Google announced on Thursday that Gmail would once again load attached images by default. The feature had been disabled years ago, as a way of clamping down on malware and phishing attacks.

Google Inc. (GOOG) is considering designing its own server processors using technology from ARM Holdings Plc (ARM), said a person with knowledge of the matter, a move that could threaten Intel Corp. (INTC)’s market dominance.

By using its own designs, Google could better manage the interactions between hardware and software, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Google, among the largest buyers of server processors, has made no decision and plans could change, said the person.

Google today released a mobile app for its Android Device Manager service. Available for free in the Google Play store, the app lets users manage and secure an Android tablet or phone associated with their Google account from another Android device (running Gingerbread and up).

The app gives access to all Android Device Manager features, including locating a tablet or phone on a map, resetting its lock code, and erasing it completely. Just note that your missing device must be connected to the cellular network or to Wi-Fi for it to perform the commands.

It isn’t just online advertisers that benefit from user-tracking cookies. The National Security Agency has been taking advantage of the cookies that companies force on users to pinpoint targets they want to hack, according to newly released Edward Snowden documents.

Google's practice of combining personal data from different Google services violates the Dutch data protection act, the Dutch data protection authority (DPA) said Thursday. But Google will not face any enforcement actions for now.

In March 2012, Google introduced a new privacy policy that allows Google to share personal data across all its products and services. However, Google made the changes without having adequately informed users, and without asking for their consent, the Dutch DPA said in a news release.

Google has extended its Patch Reward Program to include a raft of new platforms and technologies including its own Android system as it looks to improve the securiry of open source software.

The firm announced an overhaul to its security patch policies last month, offering white hats up to $3,133 for fixes.

Contributing to free/open-source software is one of the best ways to learn how to be a better hacker, both technically and ethically.

Most devs end up using a huge amount of open-source code in their projects, so giving back to these projects only makes sense. That’s the main idea behind the Google Code-in, a contest for teens to jump-start their participation in open-source software.