Google have unveiled Chrome 17, the latest stable release of their increasingly popular web browser.

A major upgrade for the browser, it has re-vamped its page pre-rendering process, meaning that when you begin to type a web address into the omnibox bar, the browser begins to pre-load pages based on your bookmarks and browsing history. In some cases, it means pages load near-instantly, before you've even hit the enter key.

"When I visit my favourite sandwich shop, I always order the same thing: a chicken cashew salad sandwich on whole wheat (it's awesome)," said Chrome software engineer Noé Lutz on the Chrome blog.

"Now, the owners know what I want as soon as I walk in the door. Which means they can start making it before I say a word. Which means I get my sandwich faster.

"Chrome now does the same thing. Except not with sandwiches. When you start typing in the omnibox and the URL autocompletes to a site you're very likely to visit, Chrome will prerender the page, so it will appear faster - sometimes, even instantly - as soon as you hit Enter."

Other updates for Chrome 17 include enhanced malware and spyware protection.

Click here to grab the broswer. It's free.

Google are about to get into the cloud storage game, and are all set to launch the Google Drive to rival Apple's iCloud and Dropbox.

"People familiar with the matter" have told the Wall Street Journal that:

"Like Dropbox, Google's storage service, called Drive, is a response to the growth of Internet-connected mobile devices like smartphones and tablets and the rise of cloud computing, or storing files online so that they can be retrieved from multiple devices."

Google's cloud Drive has long been rumoured, but with cloud storage solutions becoming more and more ubiquitous (Dropbox now has 50 million users and is worth almost $2 billion) it seems the time is right for Google to show their hand. Integration into their Android platform, and perhaps with additions like Google Docs support and Google+ photo album storage, Google could quickly build up a loyal following.

Compared to Dropbox's initial free offering of 2GB, Google, through their impressive ad-funded services, could offer far more than that.

With much of the necessary framework already in place, we wouldn't be too surprised to see this launch fairly soon.

Google have today used their search engine Doodle image to celebrate the 80th birthday of New Wave cinema pioneer François Truffaut.

Three images, each depicting a scene from one of his films, have been popped up on the site today in place of the standard Google logo.

Truffaut, born February 6th 1932, kicked off his career as a film critic on the Cahiers du cinéma and Cahiers magazine before deciding to get behind the camera himself. Kicking off with the short film Une Visite in 1955 and following on in his career with highlights such as Jules et Jim (1962) and Fahrenheit 451 (1966), Truffaut went on to win an Oscar and a BAFTA for La Nuit Américaine in 1973.

Truffaut died on 21 October 1984, aged 52 at the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine in France.

Google are churning out Doodle's by the dozen these days; just 37 days into 2012, we've already had 25 themes adorn the search engine.

Users of the cloud-based Google Docs word processor app for Android get a useful new feature added to the software today. You'll now be able to access a drop-down menu that allows you to cache files for offline access, allowing you to edit your documents without fear of losing the changes if you're out of range of a web connection.

Those using the app on tablet devices also get an upgrade, with a new high-res page preview option and sideways swiping controls for easier navigation of the app.

"There may be times when you don't have an Internet connection on your Android device, but you still want access to a file you've saved in Google Docs," said software engineer Freeman Liu over on the Google Mobile blog.

"Now you can select any file in Google Docs to make it available offline. So regardless of whether you're connected to the internet, you're always connected to those files.

"Even better, Google Docs automatically updates your offline files when you're on Wi-Fi. You can also manually update files anytime you have a data connection by opening the file or tapping 'Update' from the Offline section of the app."

Google have lost over 500,000 Euros due to unfair practice concerning their Google Maps service in France.

Bottin Cartogaphes, who offer a similar mapping service to Google, but charge a fee, took the search giants to court, citing the free nature of the service gave Google an unfair advantage and constituted unfair competition.

A French commercial court sided with the local mapping service, and has ordered Google to pay 500,000 Euros of damages, as well as a 15,000 Euro fine.

"This is the end of a two-year battle, a decision without precedent," said Bottin Cartographes' lawyer, Jean-David Scemmama.

"We proved the illegality of (Google's) strategy to remove its competitors... the court recognised the unfair and abusive character of the methods used and allocated Bottin Cartographes all it claimed. This is the first time Google has been convicted for its Google Maps application."

A Google France spokesperson responded, saying: "We will appeal this decision. We remain convinced that a free high-quality mapping tool is beneficial for both Internet users and websites. There remains competition in this sector for us, both in France and internationally."

Motorola have announced that they too (alongside Nintendo and Nokia in the consumer tech world) have seen a loss in profits during Q4 of the 2011 fiscal year.

The firm announced they'd experienced an $80 million (£51 million) loss over the quarter, citing poor sales of their mobile devices as the primary cause.

Motorola only managed to sell 10.5 million mobile devices across the 3-month period, 5.3 million of which where smartphones. Their much-hyped Xoom tablet line performed poorly too, selling roughly 200,000 units across the quarter for a total of just 1 million for the entire year.

As a result, Motorola have posted yearly losses of $249 million (£158 million), up considerably from last year's figure of $86 million (£54 million).

Motorola, whose buyout from search giant's Google is expected to be finalised early this year, are now expected to take a similar course of action as HTC over the coming 12 months, focussing on a few core products that excel rather than the wide range currently offered.

Via: Tech Radar / So Mobile

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Motorola Mobility are bringing a new lawsuit to Apple's lawyers, claiming the iPhone makers have infringed on a number of the company's key technology patents.

Filed in a Florida federal court, the patent suit sees Motorola claim that between both the iPhone 4S and iCloud service, Apple have infringed upon six Motorola patents. These include patents relating to wireless antennae, data filtering and messaging. Apple have yet to respond to the claims.

It's also worth noting that the suit filed cites the same patents as a separate Motorola vs. Apple case that has also been filed in Florida.

Interestingly, Motorola's latest bout of legal action has had to have come with the full backing of Google. After being bought out by the search giants last year, Motorola had to agree to a contract clause that they would not proceed with any legal action without prior approval from Google first. With Google and Apple almost constantly at loggerheads over patent disputes relating to Android and iOS, it's no wonder Google have agreed to back Motorola here.

There's a long history of court cases between Motorola and Apple. In recent times, the courts have tended to side with Motorola; in the US the ITC recently sided with Motorola in a case where Apple claimed Motorola had infringed upon three patents, while a similar story played out in German courts that saw an injunction taken out against Apple.

Via: Reuters

Google are streamlining their privacy policy, preparing to establish one privacy policy to rule all their 70+ products, give or take a few for unique legal reasons.

Google announcement comes ahead of the EU's planned overhaul of their 17-year old data protection rules. European Union Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding announced that the new guidelines will address the way companies like Google use information on the web, putting their data processing mehtods under greater scrutiny.

Google+, Search, YouTube, Gmail, Reader and more will all be served by the same privacy policy, designed to make a "beautifully simple, intuitive user experience across Google". Users signed in to Google (no matter what the app) will come under the new privacy policy, meaning that you'll have to keep a track of each individual Google product you're signed in to, should you want your data to remain truly private.

"There's so much more that Google can do to help you by sharing more of your information with ... well, you," said Alma Whitten, director of privacy, product and engineering at Google.

"We can make search better - figuring out what you really mean when you type in Apple, Jaguar or Pink. We can provide more relevant ads too. For example, it's January, but maybe you're not a gym person, so fitness ads aren't that useful to you. We can provide reminders that you're going to be late for a meeting based on your location, your calendar and an understanding of what the traffic is like that day. Or ensure that our spelling suggestions, even for your friends' names, are accurate because you've typed them before."

Google are keen to point out that data handling remains unchanged, stating: "We don't sell your personal information, nor do we share it externally without your permission except in very limited circumstances like a valid court order [...] We try hard to be transparent about the information we collect, and to give you meaningful choices about how it is used."

The EU changes could potentially cause quite a shake-up for Google. Mark Owen, partner at media and entertainment law firm Harbottle & Lewis, got in touch with Tech Digest to explain:

"The EU is putting a lot more pressure on companies to collect only the minimum data they need to conduct business, and to report breaches of the rules within 24 hours or face very punitive fines. These were capped before at £500,000, but are now a percentage of global turnover.

"There is also now a 'right to be forgotten' when individuals choose to leave a social network or withdraw from a business which has their data. Firms will have to make sure they can permanently delete any information they hold on an individual.

"All this may well make it much more difficult for companies to use behavioural advertising techniques and will also place an administrative burden on insurance companies and suppliers of credit who routinely rely on statistical profiling. Organisations must get consent before building a profile of an individual based on their individual characteristics and behaviour and before making any decisions about them based purely on automated processes."

"Behavioural advertising" is a massive part of Google's business. Larry Page, Eric E. Schmidt and Sergey Brin better make sure this new privacy policy is airtight.

Picnik, the online image editing service, have announced that they are to close their website on April 19, 2012.

Users will need to download any images stored on the site before that date or lose them forever, though the Picnik team have put steps in place to make the process as easy as possible.

Photos can easily be downloaded into batched .zip files, or alternatively can be transferred across to Google's Google+ network.

Google bought Picnik back in 2010, and are now thought to be using the Picnik team to develop Google-branded image editing tools of their own. In fact, many of the image editing tools popular on Picnik are now being ported over to Google+

"Since joining Google in 2010, the Picnik team has been working on Picnik while helping to create photo editing magic in Google's products. But now we get to focus on even awesomer things," reads a post on the Picnik blog.

Available both in free and premium versions, those who have paid the $24.95 to use the premium service will recieve a full refund, regardless of the amount of time left on their current subscription plan.

The team behind CyanogenMod, the popular Android custom ROM, could soon be launching their own application store, which would house apps previously removed from Google's own Android Market store, as well as those specifically suited to rooted phones.

Following on from a suggestion made by Koushik Dutta on his Google+ account, the store would be an added source of income for the CynaogenMod team, whose ROM has now been installed on over a million Android phones.

The CynogenMod team had initially been in talks with Amazon, potentially bundling the Amazon App Store with their ROM in return for a cut of app sales, but Amazon failed to commit.

Great news for fans of emulators and tethering apps, which are always the first to be pulled from Google's own store. However, those reading the news as a new outlet for illegal dodgy apps are sorely mistaken: Dutta has stated the store will only play host to legal apps.

Google Maps have joined forces with thetrainline to offer nationwide UK train travel information as part of their journey planning service.

As well as getting London Underground info and car and pedestrian direction, Google Maps users will now be able to check travel information on 2,500 train stations and 170,000 train trips, as well as 8,000 bus stops.

Integrated into the existing Google Maps platform, national rail, Underground, bus, tram and Docklands Light Railway (DLR) line information will be accessible through train and bus icons on maps, providing both timetable information and walking directions too.

"Google Maps seeks to provide a wide range of relevant local information, and public transport station and schedule information is definitely a part of that," said Ed Parsons, Google UK's geospatial technologist.

"It is great to be able to partner with companies like thetrainline.com and have their schedule information available in Google Maps for the whole of Britain. This means we can reach and help a larger number of people with useful national rail train information."

The service also gives users the ability to book journeys, with timetables linking out to the thetrainline booking page.

Available through the desktop version of Google Maps, the feature has yet to hit the dedicated mobile apps. However, mobile mappers can still access the info by checking Google Maps through their phone web browsers rather than the dedicated app.

Media mogul and News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch has taken to his recently-opened Twitter account to attack search-giants Google, accusing them of enabling internet pirates and profiting in the process.

In a tirade that also pulled in Barrack Obama, the multi-billionaire criticised the president for supporting Google on some terms of the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act, which, if passed, could see widespread censorship of the internet in an attempt to protect against copyright infringement.

So Obama has thrown in his lot with Silicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy, plain thievery," said Murdoch.

"Piracy leader is Google who streams movies free, sells advts around them. No wonder pouring millions into lobbying. Film making risky as hell. This has to lead to less, hurting writers, actors, all concerned," he added (without making mention of the fair few bob his News Corp. makes through the ownership of 20th Century Fox too).

To illustrate his point, Murdoch used Google to search for free streaming sites on which to view the latest Mission Impossible film, Ghost Protocol.

"Just been to google search for Mission Impossible. Wow, several sites offering free links. I rest my case," said the ageing media giant.

Murdoch did however spare a few kind words for Google:

"Google great company doing many exciting things. Only one complaint, and it's important."

Google, not taking Murdoch's accusations lightly, hit back with a statement calling the rant "nonsense"

"Last year we took down 5 million infringing web pages", said Google spokesperson Samantha Smith.

"Like many other tech companies, we believe that there are smart, targeted ways to shut down foreign rogue websites without asking US companies to censor the Internet."

Panic on the streets of cyberspace today, as eagle-eyed fans of The Smiths have found a tiny digital version of quiffed crooner Morrissey hanging around on Google Earth.

Head on over to Google Maps and hit the 3D Google Earth mode (or download the desktop application), then search for the postcode "M5 3RX" in the "fly to" box.

You'll be presented with a 3D re-creation of the iconic Salford Lads Club, which featured in The Smiths' classic The Queen Is Dead album artwork.

The 3D model of the building was created by landscape architect Ste Allan, who created it in SketchUp as part of Google's Your World in 3D campaign. Obviously a bit of a Morrissey fan, he's popped a black and white, highly pixellated model of the Moz father outside the building, in the same pose as you'd find him on the album cover.

A great little Easter Egg comfort for indie fans, knowing that, at least in one corner of the Internet, there is a byte that never goes out...

Sorry.

LG are throwing their hat into the Google TV ring, announcing that they will be showcasing a 3D flatscreen TV at CES 2012 that will have the search giant's web-connected UI onboard.

Pairing with LG's own Smart TV platform and Cinema 3D technology, the passive screen will also come with a new "magic remote QWERTY", specially designed to ease navigation through the Google TV interface.

"LG has constantly strived to provide consumers with wider choices in home entertainment that bring the highest level of sophistication and convenience," said Havis Kwon, President and CEO of LG Electronics Home Entertainment Company.

"Through Google TV, LG has merged Google's established Android operating system with LG's proven 3D and Smart TV technologies, offering consumers a new and enthralling TV experience."

However, despite mimicking much of Google TV's own functions, LG will keep their own NetCast connected platform onboard the TVs too.

"Alongside Google TV, LG will continue to advance its own Smart TV platform based on NetCast, which will be available in more than 60 percent of LG's flat panel TVs scheduled for introduction over the coming year.

"With a growing collection of content and services, LG's Smart TV platform will continue to provide consumers with a unique user experience."

LG's Google TVs will hit the US first, sometime before the end of 2012, while UK consumers will have to wait until early 2013.

Apple and Google are each expected to be planning to buy the rights to Premier League football coverage in the UK, taking on the might of broadcasters like Sky and ESPN for the priviledge.

According to the Daily Mail, Apple will be looking to boost their rumoured Apple TV revamp and iPad live offerings with the footie coverage, as will Google be looking to bring more attention to their Google TV platform when it launches in the UK later this year.

"The involvement of Apple - and their great multimedia rivals Google are also expected to make similar soundings - would give the PL a hugely competitive market at a time when the price of other TV sports rights are in decline," reads the Daily Mail's report.

In the US Apple already has deals in place with the NHL, MLB and NBA, (with HD coverage and season tickets available) but in the UK its sports coverage is more than a little lacking. Premier League football would be a great boon to their catalogue, especially if the Apple HDTV finally is launched this year.

Sky currently hold the majority of Premier League coverage rights in the UK, picking up 5 of the available 6 package for a gigantic £1.6 billion. ESPN have the remaining package, thought to have cost around £90 million.

Google have revealed that 700,000 devices packing their Android mobile OS are now being activated every single day.

Andy Rubin, Senior Vice President of Mobile at Google, took to the search giant's social network Google+ to reveal the figures.

"There are now over 700,000 Android devices activated every day," he posted

When probed further by his followers on the network, Rubin revealed:

"We count each device only once (ie, we don't count re-sold devices), and "activations" means you go into a store, buy a device, put it on the network by subscribing to a wireless service."

It's a massive jump in just a few months from the figure of 400,000 activations per day back in May of this year, resulting in an incredible 200 million devices in total being activated by November 2011.

And these figures are surely set to rise even more quickly in 2012. With the gradual roll-out of Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of the OS first seen in the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Android is quick becoming the dominant force in the smartphone sphere.

Google has signed a 3 year deal with Mozilla that will see the latter's Firefox browser continue to benefit from a lucrative search deal.

Google will continue to be the default search provider for Firefox, leading to valuable revenues for the open-sourced browser.

It's been a tense time at Mozilla over the past couple of weeks, with their previous search partnership contract, upon which they rely for a major chunk of their revenue, having run out in November. Since the last deal was signed in 2008, Google's own Chrome browser has been going toe-to-toe with Firefox, and some wondered if Google would make a tactical move to not renew the deal in order to hinder Firefox's progress.

It appears that recent charges of anti-competitiveness may have forced Google's hand.

Mozilla, in an attempt to not fall into a similar trap in the future, have now arranged similar deals with Microsoft's Bing search engine.

Via: blog.mozilla.com

First Apple's Santa iPhone 4S ad, and now Google's latest search Easter egg; it seems everyone's getting into the festive spirit this week!

Head on over to Google.com and type "Let it snow" into the search box.

You'll then be faced with a digital snow storm that lays a blanket of the white stuff all over your search results, with flakes falling slowly down from the top of the screen.

Once the screen is suitably covered, you can take an ice scraper and clean the screen up, or hit a "Defrost" button to start all over again.

What a great little trick! Up there with Google's best, but is it better than the "do a barrel roll" Starfox videogame hidden search treat?

Thanks to Kate L. for the tip-off!

British Telecom (BT) have filed suit against Google, claiming that the search giant has infringed upon six of the company's patents.

It's a potentially sticky situation for Google, as the patents involved concern products right across Google's portfolio, including Google Search, AdSense, Google+, Google Docs,Google Maps, Gmail and Android.

One patent in particular that BT are claiming Google have ripped off is one that uses a technology to recognise location and then tailor options or sources of information based on that data. Such location features are embedded deep within many of Google's services.

BT's is the latest in a string of high-profile lawsuits thrown Google's way. Apple and Microsoft in particular have worked against Google's smartphone Android efforts, claiming many patents had been infringed upon with the search giant's platform.

Via: fosspatents.blogspot.com

Google have revealed their 2011 zeitgeist list, rounding up the most searched-for terms on their dominant search engine over the past 12 months.

Celebs, memes, tech and games all make the list, with "Friday" viral pop star Rebecca Black announced as the number one rising search across the globe, landing ahead of Apple and their products the iPad 2 and the as-yet-unannounced iPhone 5. The tech company's legendary late CEO Steve Jobs also ranked highly.

Further down the global lists and console shooter Battlefield 3 proved very popular, ranking higher than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 despite the fact that the later has just overtaken Avatar in terms of the speed with which it earned its first billion dollars. Overall, the tech-heavy list suggests that globally gadget and gaming fans are a dominant force when seraching the web.

Delve deeper into the localised top searches and things are a little different in the UK, with Fifa 12 a popular game search, as were the iPhone 5, Royal Wedding, late Jackass prankster Ryan Dunn and popstars Adele and Ed Sheeran.

The UK also ranked as the top overall search user, showing we're a bit lazy when it comes to typing out a full .com domain address. We let Google do all the hard work!

The full list of top 2011 UK search terms through Google is as follows:

1. Facebook

10. Yahoo

For more info, visit googlezeitgeist.com