Page 12 - aruba-today-20201002

A12 Technology
Friday 2 OctOber 2020
Google unveils latest Pixel phone, rolls out new TV service

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE Chromecast also faces a
AP Technology Writer wide array of competition
SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) from similar streaming de-
— Google will try to make vices made by Roku, Ama-
a bigger splash in the zon and Apple.
smartphone market with a In an attempt to differenti-
cheaper high-end model ate itself from the rest of the
while it also aims to ex- pack, Google's next Chro-
pand its presence on big- mecast includes a new ser-
ger screens with a new TV vice tying together some
service. of its own services with a
The products unveiled wide variety of apps made
Wednesday focus on two by other companies. It's all
areas where Google has supposed to make it easier
struggled to make signifi- for viewers to sift through
cant inroads. Google also TV channels and streaming
used a half-hour showcase services to find something
streamed online to intro- they want to watch.
duce a $99 speaker that it The service, called "Google
says has better acoustics TV," melds the company's
for playing music than the other big-screen software,
cheaper ones it has been Android TV, and works
selling primarily as a com- more seamlessly with the
mand center for its voice- This March 19, 2018, file photo shows a Google app in Baltimore. Associated Press company's industry-lead-
activated assistant. ing search engine. The
Google's latest smartphone that has prompted Apple The company is trying to able Oct. 15, is coming out new Chromecast, which

represents the fifth genera- to introduce similar features turn the tide with the Pixel two months after Google will cost $50, also will come
tion of a device that was in iPhones. 5, which offers a few new introduced a budget ver- with a small remote control
supposed to prove the Google has sold a total twists, including the abil- sion, the Pixel 4a, that sells for the first time.
Mountain View, California, of 19 million Pixel phones ity to work with the new for $350. Google also re- Google has been trying
company can make hard- so far, including just 3 mil- ultra-fast wireless networks vealed Wednesday that it to make its services more
ware as well as it does soft- lion of the last model re- called 5G that are still be- will make a 5G version of accessible and appeal-
ware after the brand made leased a year ago, based ing built. The new phone the Pixel 4a that will sell for ing on TVs for more than a
its 2016 debut. on estimates from the re- also will boast several new $500 aimed at consumers decade, but so far hasn't
Although Google's software search firm International camera features, including who want faster connec- enjoyed the same success
is used by billions of people Data Corp. By comparison, a tool for taking portraits tions while they also watch on the biggest screens in
on their smartphones, its Apple sold twice as many in low lighting and a wide- their budgets during a re- households as it has on
Pixel phones have barely iPhones in just three months angle lens. cession brought on by the the personal computers
made dent in the market. — April to June — during But perhaps the Pixel 5's pandemic. Google has and phones that have be-
Sales have been disap- the middle of a pandemic biggest selling point will be had more success with a come the main vehicles
pointing despite mostly when millions of people its $700 price, a markdown hardware lineup called for showing the digital ads
positive reviews, especially were stuck at home, based of $100 from last year's Chromecast that streams that brought in $135 billion
for camera technology on IDC's estimates. model. The phone, avail- online video on TVs. But in revenue last year.q

Facebook tightens political ad bans as U.S. election nears

WASHINGTON (AP) — With good chance U.S. election
just over a month to go results will require addition-
before Americans head al time this year because
en masse to the polls in of expanded mail-in ballots
an extraordinarily conten- due to the pandemic.
tious election, Facebook is Also banned are advertise-
expanding restrictions on ments portraying voting
political advertising, includ- or census participation as
ing new bans on messages meaningless and advising
claiming widespread voter people not to take part.
fraud. The Trump administration
New prohibitions laid out in has been trying to end the
a blog post come days af- 2020 U.S. census early, as
ter President Donald Trump part of what opponents say
raised the prospect of mass is a strategy to enhance
fraud in the vote-by-mail the political power of Re-
process during a debate publicans and non-Hispan-
with Democratic rival Joe ic whites by undercount-
Biden. This July 30, 2019 file photo shows an update information of Facebook application on a mobile ing minorities and others in
Banned ads "would include phone displayed at a store in Chicago. hard-to-count communi-
calling a method of vot- Associated Press ties. The census numbers
ing inherently fraudulent or an election," Rob Leath- ply to Facebook and Insta- call an election into ques- are used to decide how
corrupt, or using isolated ern, Facebook's director gram and are effective im- tion because the result isn't many congressional seats
incidents of voter fraud to of product management, mediately, he said. determined on the final each state gets for the next
delegitimize the result of tweeted. The changes ap- The ban includes ads that day of voting. There is a decade. q