Google

Google has partnered with Parallels to bring Windows to enterprise Chromebooks, meaning business users can now run full-featured Windows apps – including Microsoft Office – and Chrome apps simultaneously.

The Nest Thermostat from Google is one of the most recognizable smart home devices of recent years. The latest model to launch simplifies the design and lowers the price, while packing in some helpful controls using technology from the Pixel 4.

Google has unveiled its latest Pixel phones for 2020 – the Pixel 4a 5G and the Pixel 5. So how do they stack up against the previous generation? New Atlas compares the specs and features of the Google Pixel 4, 4 XL, 4a, 4a 5G and Pixel 5.

Like most tech launches at the moment, Google's October event was an online-only, livestreamed affair, but there was still plenty of new hardware on show: two new Pixel phones, a new Chromecast with Google TV on board, and a new Nest Audio speaker.

Seven months after the first developer preview, Android 11 is officially rolling out now for selected phones (including the newer Pixels). Among the new features are upgrades to notifications, messaging, security and media playback controls.

Google has started using the vast number of Android smartphones across the planet to help detect and warn people about seismic events. Your phone will begin transmitting accelerometer data if it detects something similar to an earthquake.

Google researchers have come up with a textile-covered cable that can pause music playback on a smartphone with a tap, skip tracks with a double-tap and control volume with a twist.

Since many of us can no longer have face-to-face chats with family and friends, we've turned to online video meetups. Google is opening up its Meet video conferencing portal to everyone with a Google account for free.

Google first dipped its toes into wireless earbuds with the original Pixel Buds in 2017. Having been announced last October, the new and improved Pixel Buds are now on sale in the US, ready to give Apple's AirPods even stronger competition.

Google and Apple are working together to develop a smartphone-based system that can notify those who have been in proximity to someone with COVID-19. The Bluetooth-based technology will begin rolling out on both iOS and Android devices from mid-May.

As promised, Google has rolled out its dedicated COVID-19 website, featuring information on the disease, regularly updated stats and links out to resources you may need as the situation develops.

The developing field of connectomics – the attempt to produce a neuron-and-synapse-level wiring diagram of the brain – has taken a major leap forward, as a Janelia team with the help of Google has released a full map of the hemibrain of a fruit fly.