Tag: Google alphabets

  • Facebook to change its name next week: report

    Facebook to change its name next week: report

    Social media platform Facebook has reportedly planned to rebrand itself with a new name to reflect its focus on building the metaverse, a virtual-reality space in which users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users, reported The Verge.

    The announcement is likely to take place at the company’s annual Connect conference on October 28th.

    “The metaverse is going to be a big focus, and I think that this is just going to be a big part of the next chapter for the way that the internet evolves after the mobile internet,” Facebook Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg told The Verge.

    The Verge stated a possible name for the company could have something to do with Horizon. Recently, Facebook renamed its in-development Virtual Reality (VR) gaming platform named “Horizon” to “Horizon Worlds”.

    Since July, Zuckerberg has been talking about the metaverse.

    Earlier this week, the social media company also announced plans to create 10,000 jobs in Europe over the next five years to help build this metaverse.

    Facebook isn’t the first tech company to change its company name as in 2015 Google entirely reorganized under a holding company called Alphabet.

  • ‘Social networks are amplifiers for idiots’

    ‘Social networks are amplifiers for idiots’

    Former Google chief executive officer (CEO) Eric Schmidt has said that social networks are amplifiers for idiots.

    According to Bloomberg, he said: “The context of social networks serving as amplifiers for idiots and crazy people is not what we intended.”

    The United States (US) government antitrust lawsuit filed against Google on Tuesday was disturbing, and the excesses of social media are likely to result in greater regulation of internet platforms in the coming years, he added.

    Schmidt personally controlled YouTube for many years. He then stayed on as Google’s CEO until 2011 and was Alphabet’s executive chairman until early 2018.

    Google’s YouTube has tried to decrease the spread of misinformation and lies about COVID-19 and US politics over the last year, with mixed results. Facebook and Twitter have also been under fire in recent years for allowing racist and discriminatory messages to spread online.

  • Google faces $5 billion lawsuit for tracking users’ incognito browsing data

    Google faces $5 billion lawsuit for tracking users’ incognito browsing data

    Google has been sued for allegedly tracking users’ internet searches of browsers set on ‘incognito mode.’

    The lawsuit has accused the Alphabet unit of secretly collecting information about what people search online and seeks at least $5 billion in damages.

    According to the complaint, filed in the federal court in San Jose, California, Google gathers data through Google marketing tools which include Google Analytics, Google Ad Manager, and other applications and website plug-ins, including smartphone apps. 

    “The data collection helps Google learn about users’ friends, hobbies, shopping habits, favourite foods, and even the most intimate and potentially embarrassing things they search online,” said the complaint.

    “Google cannot continue to engage in the covert and unauthorised data collection from virtually every American with a computer or phone,” the complaint added.

    Google’s spokesman, Jose Castaneda said that the company will defend itself against the claims. 

    “As we clearly state each time you open a new incognito tab, websites might be able to collect information about your browsing activity,” he said. 

    The complaint seeks at least $5,000 of damages per user for violations of federal wiretapping and California privacy laws.

  • Work-from-home causes burnout, isolation: Microsoft CEO

    Work-from-home causes burnout, isolation: Microsoft CEO

    The chief executive officer (CEO) of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, has said that making remote work permanent can have a deteriorating impact on social interactions and mental health of the workers, whereas virtual conferences cannot replace in-person meetings. 

    “Those who are used to traditional office setting and appreciate social interactions that take place at the office, a sudden shift to remote work will impact their mental health due to isolation and burnout.”

    After the outbreak of coronavirus, companies around the world made work from home mandatory as a safety measure but according to Nadella, this step is not good for the wellbeing of workers.

    Speaking to a private media outlet, Nadella said that remote setup would be “replacing one dogma with another dogma”. 

    “What does burnout look like? What does mental health look like? What do connectivity and community building look like? One of the things I feel is, hey, maybe we are burning some of the social capital we built up in this phase where we are all working remotely. What’s the measure for that?,” Nadella added.

    His remarks come after Twitter allowed its staff to work from home “forever” even after the end of COVID-19 pandemic. 

    Twitter has become the first company to allow employees to work from home indefinitely as the pandemic changes work culture around the world.  

    Tech giants like Facebook and Google have also allowed most of their employees to work remotely until the end of this year.

    Microsoft has also extended its work-from-home policy until October at least, besides, nothing will hinder the operations and progress of Microsoft as the CEO clearly stated, “We’re going to boldly allocate and acquire, build, innovate, partner, whatever.”

    “We are also going to make sure that we have the ability to do credit for small businesses and other organisations that need that help.”