Google wants to kill third-party tracking cookies used for ads in Chrome with the "." Since Google is also the world's largest ad company, though, it's not killing tracking cookies without putting something else in its place. Google's replacement plan is to have Chrome locally build an ad interest profile for you, via a system called "FLoC" (Federated Learning of Cohorts). Rather than having advertisers collect your browsing history to build an individual profile of you on their servers, Google wants to keep that data local and have the browser serve a list of your interests to advertisers...…Google wants to kill third-party tracking cookies used for ads in Chrome with the "." Since Google is also the world's largest ad company, though, it's not killing tracking cookies without putting something else in its place. Google's replacement plan is to have Chrome locally build an ad interest profile for you, via a system called "FLoC" (Federated Learning of Cohorts). Rather than having advertisers collect your browsing history to build an individual profile of you on their servers, Google wants to keep that data local and have the browser serve a list of your interests to advertisers...WW…

The Rich Communication Services (RCS) rollout continues to be a hopeless disaster. A year and a half ago, the cellular carriers created the "Cross-Carrier Messaging Initiative (CCMI)," a joint venture between AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon that would roll out enhanced messaging to the masses in 2020. Now,  is reporting that initiative is dead, meaning that the carriers have accomplished basically nothing on the RCS front in the past 18 months.RCS is a carrier-controlled GSMA standard introduced in 2008 as an upgrade for SMS, the ancient standard for basic carrier...…The Rich Communication Services (RCS) rollout continues to be a hopeless disaster. A year and a half ago, the cellular carriers created the "Cross-Carrier Messaging Initiative (CCMI)," a joint venture between AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon that would roll out enhanced messaging to the masses in 2020. Now,  is reporting that initiative is dead, meaning that the carriers have accomplished basically nothing on the RCS front in the past 18 months.RCS is a carrier-controlled GSMA standard introduced in 2008 as an upgrade for SMS, the ancient standard for basic carrier...WW…

RIP to the Google Shopping app. XDA spotted a hidden closing message in the app , and late Friday, Google confirmed to that the Shopping app is on the way out. Here's the company's statement:Within the next few weeks, we’ll no longer be supporting the Shopping app. All of the functionality the app offered users is available on the Shopping tab. We’ll continue building features within the Shopping tab and other Google surfaces, including the Google app, that make it easy for people to discover and shop for the products they love.The Google Shopping app launched only , when it took over...…RIP to the Google Shopping app. XDA spotted a hidden closing message in the app , and late Friday, Google confirmed to that the Shopping app is on the way out. Here's the company's statement:Within the next few weeks, we’ll no longer be supporting the Shopping app. All of the functionality the app offered users is available on the Shopping tab. We’ll continue building features within the Shopping tab and other Google surfaces, including the Google app, that make it easy for people to discover and shop for the products they love.The Google Shopping app launched only , when it took over...WW…

It sounds like this custom Google SoC-powered Pixel is really going to happen. Echoing reports from , is reporting that the Pixel 6 is expected to ship with Google's custom "Whitechapel" SoC instead of a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip.The report says "Google refers to this chip as 'GS101,' with 'GS' potentially being short for 'Google Silicon.'" It also notes that chip will be shared across the two Google phones that are currently in development, the Pixel 6 and something like a "Pixel 5a 5G." 9to5 says it has viewed documentation that points to Samsung's SLSI division (Team Exynos) being...…It sounds like this custom Google SoC-powered Pixel is really going to happen. Echoing reports from , is reporting that the Pixel 6 is expected to ship with Google's custom "Whitechapel" SoC instead of a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip.The report says "Google refers to this chip as 'GS101,' with 'GS' potentially being short for 'Google Silicon.'" It also notes that chip will be shared across the two Google phones that are currently in development, the Pixel 6 and something like a "Pixel 5a 5G." 9to5 says it has viewed documentation that points to Samsung's SLSI division (Team Exynos) being...WW…

Fairphone—the sustainable, modular smartphone company—is still shipping updates to the 5-year-old Fairphone 2. The company won't win any awards for speed, but the phone—which launched in 2015 with Android 5—is now to Android 9.0. The most interesting part of this news is  from Fairphone detailing the update process the company went through, which offers more transparency than we normally get from a smartphone manufacturer. To hear Fairphone tell the story of Android updates, the biggest barrier to longer-term support is—surprise!—Qualcomm.Fairphone wants consumers to keep...…Fairphone—the sustainable, modular smartphone company—is still shipping updates to the 5-year-old Fairphone 2. The company won't win any awards for speed, but the phone—which launched in 2015 with Android 5—is now to Android 9.0. The most interesting part of this news is  from Fairphone detailing the update process the company went through, which offers more transparency than we normally get from a smartphone manufacturer. To hear Fairphone tell the story of Android updates, the biggest barrier to longer-term support is—surprise!—Qualcomm.Fairphone wants consumers to keep...WW…

Qualcomm has its $1.4 billion acquisition of silicon design firm Nuvia, a move that will lead to in-house Qualcomm CPU designs. The acquisition should allow Qualcomm to compete with Apple's silicon division and focus on pushing bigger, better ARM chips into the laptop market. The deal was announced inDon't feel bad if you've never heard of Nuvia; the company was only and has never made a product. Nuvia was focused on building , but Qualcomm seems mainly interested in the engineering pedigree here, since the company by three high-ranking engineers from Apple's silicon...…Qualcomm has its $1.4 billion acquisition of silicon design firm Nuvia, a move that will lead to in-house Qualcomm CPU designs. The acquisition should allow Qualcomm to compete with Apple's silicon division and focus on pushing bigger, better ARM chips into the laptop market. The deal was announced inDon't feel bad if you've never heard of Nuvia; the company was only and has never made a product. Nuvia was focused on building , but Qualcomm seems mainly interested in the engineering pedigree here, since the company by three high-ranking engineers from Apple's silicon...WW…

US District Judge Lucy Koh has ruled that a class-action lawsuit against Google's Incognito tracking policies can go forward, reports. The lawsuit contends that Chrome's private browsing "Incognito" mode should also stop Google's server-side tracking and that Google's failure to cease such tracking violates federal wiretap laws. The lawsuit seeks at least $5 billion, or $5,000 per violation for "likely" millions of users.Google attempted to get the lawsuit thrown out on the basis of Chrome's Incognito explainer, a message that shows every time you start up Incognito mode and explains that...…US District Judge Lucy Koh has ruled that a class-action lawsuit against Google's Incognito tracking policies can go forward, reports. The lawsuit contends that Chrome's private browsing "Incognito" mode should also stop Google's server-side tracking and that Google's failure to cease such tracking violates federal wiretap laws. The lawsuit seeks at least $5 billion, or $5,000 per violation for "likely" millions of users.Google attempted to get the lawsuit thrown out on the basis of Chrome's Incognito explainer, a message that shows every time you start up Incognito mode and explains that...WW…

Samsung is on Android updates and offering four years of security updates on many of its Android devices. The company's full update package is now three years of major OS updates and four years of security updates, besting even what Google offers on the Pixel line.In the announcement, Samsung says, "Over the past decade, Samsung has made significant progress in streamlining and speeding up its regular security updates. Samsung worked closely with its OS and chipset partners, as well as over 200 carriers around the world, to ensure that billions of Galaxy devices receive timely security...…Samsung is on Android updates and offering four years of security updates on many of its Android devices. The company's full update package is now three years of major OS updates and four years of security updates, besting even what Google offers on the Pixel line.In the announcement, Samsung says, "Over the past decade, Samsung has made significant progress in streamlining and speeding up its regular security updates. Samsung worked closely with its OS and chipset partners, as well as over 200 carriers around the world, to ensure that billions of Galaxy devices receive timely security...WW…

Does the Pixel camera have a hardware problem? has tracked down numerous reports of broken cameras on the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3, and the Pixel-exclusive Google Camera app has been getting review-bombed with tons of from users who say their cameras no longer work. Google told the site it doesn't know of any software issues, suggesting that all these people are experiencing a hardware failure.The problems include the camera app instantly crashing when it is opened, displaying a black screen, or showing an error message that reads "Something went wrong. Close and open the camera app again."...…Does the Pixel camera have a hardware problem? has tracked down numerous reports of broken cameras on the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3, and the Pixel-exclusive Google Camera app has been getting review-bombed with tons of from users who say their cameras no longer work. Google told the site it doesn't know of any software issues, suggesting that all these people are experiencing a hardware failure.The problems include the camera app instantly crashing when it is opened, displaying a black screen, or showing an error message that reads "Something went wrong. Close and open the camera app again."...WW…

CNBC that 4chan founder Chris Poole no longer works at Google. Google hired Poole  to work on the company's doomed social media project, Google+. Poole lasted just five years at Google, which CNBC notes is usually just long enough for any employee's shares attached to hiring to vest. It sounds like Poole never found a solid landing spot at Google, as he had three different positions during his five years.Poole's 4chan is an anonymous, ephemeral imageboard that is often given the title "cesspool of the Internet." The site is broken up into boards of various topics, and some of the more...…CNBC that 4chan founder Chris Poole no longer works at Google. Google hired Poole  to work on the company's doomed social media project, Google+. Poole lasted just five years at Google, which CNBC notes is usually just long enough for any employee's shares attached to hiring to vest. It sounds like Poole never found a solid landing spot at Google, as he had three different positions during his five years.Poole's 4chan is an anonymous, ephemeral imageboard that is often given the title "cesspool of the Internet." The site is broken up into boards of various topics, and some of the more...WW…