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Google’s premium Dark Web monitoring feature is rolling out to all users from July

Rajesh Regmi — Sat, 13 Jul 2024 17:28:08 +0000

In a move that seems to prioritize data security over virtual private network (VPN) access, Google is expanding its Dark Web Monitoring service. Previously available only to paying Google One subscribers, this feature will be integrated into all Google Accounts by late July 2024. This announcement comes shortly after Google phased out the VPN service within the Google One app.

What is Dark Web Monitoring?

The Dark Web refers to encrypted online networks that are difficult to access with traditional search engines. These networks are sometimes used for illegal activities, and can also contain leaked personal information from data breaches.

Dark Web Monitoring scans these hidden corners of the internet for your personal details, such as name, address, email address, and phone number. If a match is found, Google will notify you and suggest steps to take, like changing passwords or reporting stolen credit cards.

Previously a Paid Feature Now Available to All

Previously, Dark Web Monitoring was only accessible to users with a Google One subscription. This paid service offered additional features like increased cloud storage and family sharing. Now, the core functionality of monitoring the dark web will be available to all Google Account holders for free.

Users will be able to see the change within “Results about you” tab on Google one app starting July 204. “Results about you” allows you to identify and request removal of your personal information from public search results. Dark Web Monitoring complements this by scanning the darker corners of the internet for leaks that might not be readily apparent.

Improved User Privacy in the Age of Data Breaches

The increased focus on Dark Web Monitoring reflects the growing concern around data breaches. With online services and products regularly falling victim to cyberattacks, having a way to track your personal information can be a valuable security measure.

By offering Dark Web Monitoring for free, Google is taking a step towards empowering users to protect themselves in the digital age.

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Google One plan now includes Fitbit Premium and Nest Aware at no extra cost, but only in the UK

Rajesh Regmi — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 10:34:35 +0000

Google One, the subscription-based cloud storage service, is offering a few extra perks for consumers residing in the UK. If you’re on the Premium plan, you can now enjoy extras like Fitbit Premium and Nest Aware for completely free.

Google One provides a range of benefits and features alongside its core cloud storage options (starting at 100GB and scaling to 30TB).

Existing perks of the subscription include a VPN across all plans, family sharing for up to five members, Google Photos editing features, and Google Play credits. The top-tier 2TB AI Premium Plan also offers Gemini Advanced access.

Starting this week, the company has added two new services to the Google One subscribers in the UK. That is, if you’re on the Google One 2TB Premium Plan, you’ll now get Fitbit Premium and Nest Aware at no extra cost.

The search giant confirmed the news to the outlet 9to5google saying that “Fitbit Premium & Nest Aware are currently available with Google One Premium plans in the UK.”

It’s a significant value addition for users, considering that Fitbit Premium and Nest Aware usually cost $9.99 and $8 per month, respectively.

If you’re a Google One customer in the UK, you can also upgrade your Nest Aware to Nest Aware Plus for £5.99 per month, saving you over the standard $15 per month cost.

In case you’re not familiar, Fitbit Premium is a subscription service in the Fitbit app that offers personalized insights, your sleep score breakdown, your monthly sleep profile, and a wellness report based on your Fitbit stats.

Nest Aware is a subscription for your Nest products to help keep you informed about important events at your home.

While UK users can now enjoy these benefits, it’s uncertain whether these extra Google One perks will be available in other countries.

Google One Surpasses 100 Million Subscribers

Rajesh Regmi — Sun, 11 Feb 2024 08:25:34 +0000

Google One, Google’s cloud storage subscription service, has reached a major milestone by exceeding 100 million paying subscribers. CEO Sundar Pichai underscores the company’s plans to boost future expansion with its recently launched AI Premium Plan.

Google One offers a way for users to increase their storage capacity beyond the free 15GB provided with services like Gmail, Drive, and Photos. Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the pricing plans:

Basic (100GB): $1.99/month or $19.99/year. Includes sharing with up to five users, additional photo editing features like Magic Eraser, VPN access, and dark web monitoring.
Standard (200GB): $2.99/month or $29.99/year. The primary difference is a 3% reward on Google Store purchases.
Premium (2TB and up): Starts at $9.99/month or $99.99/year, offering larger storage, Google Workspace premium features (for tools like Meet and Calendar), and a 10% reward on Google Store purchases. There are higher tiers than 2TB for those needing even more storage.

Apart from this, the company recently launched the AI Premium plan ($19.99/month) that introduces powerful tools built on Google’s Gemini AI model.

These features offer advanced capabilities like generating drafts in Gmail, organizing content in Slides, and providing data visualizations within Sheets. Subscribers on plans with 5TB or more storage currently have a limited-time trial of AI Premium features until July 31, 2024, for free.

Google intends to make AI Premium available to other subscriber groups, including Google Fi Unlimited users and those who pay for Google One through third-party billing providers.

Pichai emphasizes that the addition of these AI features is pivotal to the service’s continued growth. This subscriber milestone for Google One interestingly coincides with YouTube Music + Premium also reaching 100 million users.

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Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro price leaks via Official Promo Material

Simranpal Singh — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 16:48:29 +0000

Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro launch is around the corner, and, massive leaks have started unfolding. Following the trend from the past few years, this time too Google remained unsuccessful in keeping the secrets of the new Pixel 8 series. Apart from the leaks from external sources and materials, there are an increasing number of leaks being sourced from internal sources. In such a leak, we have got to know the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro prices along with some specifications and features information.

Must See: Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro to get price increase in the US

A user on X.com (formerly Twitter) – @Za_Raczke posted official promo material for the upcoming Pixel 8 series where it compares with the previous generation smartphone lineup. As per the promotional poster, the Pixel 8 with 8GB RAM is priced at $699, while the Pixel 8 Pro coupling 12GB RAM is set at $899.

Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro Specifications and Features (Expected)

The document further confirms the Presence of Google Tensor G3, and the presence of improved security features like VPN by Google One, FaceUnlock, and Fingerprint Unlock support. There will be several other software-based features that will enhance the photography experience like Magic Eraser, Photo Unlur, Face Unblur, Night Light, Real Tone, and much more.

Further, the poster unveils a dual-rear camera module for Pixel 8 which comprises a 50MP primary sensor and a 12MP ultrawide lens. The Pixel 8 Pro sits with a 50MP primary sensor, a 48MP ultrawide camera with Macro Focus, and a 48MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom. Both smartphones house the same 10.8MP front camera.

The Pixel 8 will support a 60-120Hz refresh rate, meanwhile, the Pro edition will come with a 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate.

Surprisingly, the pricing for the new Pixel 8 lineup is quite similar to the Pixel 7 series. However, the pricing above is only for the base storage variants, the Pixel 8 Pro will have a more expensive price tag for its other large storage models.

The new Tensor G3 chip is set to unleash new potential with its new cores and a new GPU. Meanwhile, the bigger batteries equipped with fast charging will surely come in handy in real life.

All the rumors and the leaks will fade away with the official launch which is scheduled for October 4. The phones will start retailing on October 12.

Google One Subscription Now Comes with a VPN for All Plans

Anubhav — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 08:02:27 +0000

A Virtual Private Network, commonly known as VPN, is a powerful tool that allows users to connect to the internet securely and privately. VPN technology uses encryption to scramble data, making it unreadable to anyone who might intercept it. It then routes this encrypted data through a private network of servers located in different parts of the world. This technology provides several advantages to users, including online privacy, improved security, and access to content that may be restricted in their location.

With the increasing number of cyber threats and online privacy concerns, VPNs have become increasingly popular among individuals and organizations alike. Google, one of the biggest tech players in the game previously announced that its Google One Subscription will now come bundled with VPN. This included only the highest tiers of the subscription, until now. As per the latest blog post from the company, the VPN benefit will now extend to all Google One subscription tiers.

Google One plans already come with increased storage space to ensure your important files and media are safely backed up. To offer even more peace of mind and protection, VPN by Google One is expanding to all plans and will also include access to a dark web report in the U.S., allowing users to better monitor their personal information. The VPN will be available for all Google One subscription tiers, even the $1.99 base plan. This may be a great way to attract those users who were on the cusp of getting into the Google One plan. Users will be able to use Google VPN on Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac devices.

VPN by Google One is currently available in select countries and regions, including Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and United States. Eligible Google One members can take advantage of this feature to enhance their online security and privacy.

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The Rise of Google One: One Billion Downloads on Android and Counting

Oğuz Çakır — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 09:33:41 +0000

Google One has reached a major milestone, having been downloaded over one billion times on Android devices. The app, first offered in 2018, provides users with additional storage for Google Drive, Google Photos, and Gmail. In addition to additional storage, Android and iOS subscribers to the 2TB storage tier have access to a free Virtual Private Network (VPN), which encrypts their internet traffic and hides their identities, making it harder for third parties to track them and steal their data.

Google One users also have access to 24/7 support from “Google experts” via email, phone, and chat. Users of the 2TB and 200GB storage plans also receive a 10% cashback on Google Store purchases. Subscribers to Google One also gain the ability to use enhanced editing features for Google Photos, such as portrait light, blur, color pop, and more.

Prices for Google One storage plans vary depending on the subscriber’s country. For example, prices in Turkish lira are 80% cheaper than prices in U.S. dollars. All Google Account members start with 15GB of free cloud storage. In the U.S., prices for Google One’s storage tiers are as follows: 100GB for $1.99 per month or $19.99 per year, 200GB for $2.99 per month or $29.99 annually, 2TB for $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year, and plans for 10TB, 20TB, and 30TB, which can be purchased on a month-to-month basis only, are $49.99/month, $99.99/month, and $149.99/month respectively.

Storage can be shared with up to 5 additional family members, with each family member getting the default 15GB of storage. Google One users are also distinguished by a circle surrounding their avatar icon in the four “Google colors” of blue, red, yellow, and green, indicating that they are a subscriber in good standing of Google One. The app is available on the App Store for iOS and the Google Play Store for Android users.

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Google One VPN service now available for Mac and Windows users

Jeet — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 05:32:42 +0000

Google One subscribers who are using the Premium Plan or above get access to the company’s own VPN service free of cost. So far, the service has been limited to Android and iOS devices, but now Google is rolling it out to desktop users.

The company has confirmed that it is bringing Google One VPN support to Mac and Windows devices. It is made available in 22 countries across the globe, allowing users to mask IP addresses and block trackers.

Google One VPN Service on Windows PC

Users of the desktop version will need at least macOS Big Sur or Windows 10. While the Mac app works for both x86 and ARM users, the Windows app doesn’t support 32-bit or ARM-based systems.

It’s noteworthy that unlike many premium VPN services available in the market, Google One’s VPN doesn’t allow users to change their location to access or unlock other regions’ media content on streaming platforms. Similar to Apple‘s iCloud Plus VPN, the Google One VPN automatically assigns an IP address in the region from where the user is getting connected.

Google also has independent bodies audit its VPN service. The company also shares the source code for its app libraries to ensure transparency. The search engine giant has revealed that the audit for the desktop apps will be made public in the “coming weeks.”

The company had originally started offering VPN service for free to Google One subscribers with a 2TB plan in the United States in 2020, but since then, Google has expanded the offering to 22 markets, including Mexico, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy, and others.

Future Pixel devices would be devoid of unlimited Google Photos backup

Balaji S — Fri, 13 Nov 2020 20:11:44 +0000

Google recently announced that it will terminate unlimited ‘High-quality‘ backup on Google Photos starting June 1, 2021. While the existing Pixel devices are exempt from this change, new reports suggest that future Pixel devices won’t be able to escape it.

As quoted by Android Authority(source 1, 2), Google has confirmed to Android Police and Android Central that Future Google Pixel smartphones won’t have Free Google Photos backup. In fact, it won’t even get the unlimited ‘high-quality’ option that current pixels(till Pixel 5) are going to get. This totally negates the point of People who basically prefer to buy them for unlimited backup.

Instead, as reported earlier, the company has started emphasizing more on its Paid Cloud Storage, Google One. If you notice at the end of the blog post about Google Photos, it has mentioned Google One subscriptions. Accordingly, it costs $99.99(USA)/₹6,500(India) a year or $9.99/₹650 a month, and includes VPN service for Android as well(2TB Plan).

That said, this confirmation basically means that if you are someone who is planning to buy future pixel devices(after Google Pixel 5), you need to start saving for cloud storage. In case you run out of the free 15GB, Google will constantly alert you. And entice you to get the extra storage. Do note that, if you leave the completed storage unattended for 24 months, Google might delete some content by itself.

Besides, If you track Google’s approach over the years, you can see a trend here. The first Pixel introduced unlimited “original-quality” backup to Google Photos. However, after Pixel 3a, and subsequently 4, the tagline changed to “high-quality” images. Ironically, the same company, which used “unlimited backup” as a marketing tagline earlier, now says that the free 15GB it offers is enough to store three years of memories.

That said, we do understand Google’s concern about maintaining a sustainable App experience in the future. And catering to the insane demand for cloud storage every day. However, it needs to find a way to lure future Pixel buyers by giving plans similar to “three months of Google One(100GB)” with Pixel 5.

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Google will terminate unlimited ‘high quality’ backup on Google Photos from June next year

Balaji S — Thu, 12 Nov 2020 11:37:00 +0000

Google has taken everyone by surprise as it announced a storage cap for Google Photos. Accordingly, from June 1, 2021, Google Photos will also come under the ambit of the free 15GB storage the company already offers.

Google, in a blog post(via The Verge) says that all the photos and videos you upload from June 1 of next year will count towards that 15GB. That is, the free 15GB cloud storage will be shared by Photos, Gmail, and Drive. So far, Google Photos offers unlimited backup of Photos in ‘High Quality’ format. However, the company says the App has 4 trillion photos stored so far. And apparently, about 28 billion new photos, videos are being uploaded every week.

Hence, to keep up with the demand for storage, and make the App sustainable, it is bringing this change. That said, the already uploaded ones, and the contents uploaded before June 1, 2021, are exempt from this change. This means you can upload n number of photos, and videos before the cut-off date as they are free till then.

Although this is a big change, Google says users don’t need to worry about it right now. It assures that it will send alerts via App, email as we approach the 15GB mark. Additionally, it will also introduce features like “Personalized estimates” and a ‘Tool’ inside the Google Photos app from June 2021. This will reportedly help users manage their storage better by deleting dark/blurry images to save space.

Credit: Google

Besides, the change also doesn’t affect ‘Original quality’ photos as Google already counts it under 15GB free storage. Further, Google’s Pixel users(Google Pixel to Google Pixel 5) are immune to this change. This means, if you own a Pixel device, you can continue to enjoy the free ‘High quality’ backup even after the cut-off date.

Google also talks about the in-active policy in this change. Accordingly, it may delete contents of either Drive, Gmail, Photos if users aren’t active for 24 months. A similar action extends to users who cross the storage limit and don’t take any action for 2 years. That said, if the 15GB free storage isn’t enough, you can always try Google One. Currently, it costs $99.99(USA)/₹6,500(India) a year or $9.99/₹650 a month, and includes VPN service for Android as well(2TB Plan).

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Google launches VPN service for Android; coming to the US, and other countries soon

Balaji S — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 15:45:09 +0000

Google is the place where we search all of our queries. And now, it could just make us anonymous and protected as well. It has announced a new VPN service for Android by Google One is coming to the US, and other countries soon.

In a blog post(via The Verge) Google says it is introducing a new VPN service for Android users who have the 2TB and higher Google One plans. It costs $99.99(USA)/₹6,500(India) a year or $9.99/₹650 a month. This service will reportedly encrypt and protect the entire online traffic irrespective of browser or app being used. However, it is built into the Google One App(Android-only as of now). And as said above, users need a Google One Membership.

VPN by Google One

For the unaware, Google One is a subscription service that gives more cloud storage. With every Gmail, users get 15GB of free color storage. But if you want to upgrade it, you need to subscribe to Google One. However, if you are in the US and already on a 2TB plan, you will get the VPN support through an update soon in the coming weeks on the Google One App. But if you are somewhere else, you might have to wait longer.

Additionally, Google is also rolling out Pro sessions by Google One with VPN support for 2TB plan users. This is basically a support service that schedules conversations. And connects you to a Google Expert to know more about the VPN service.

How to enable it? -That said, to enable the update, after getting it, open the Google One app and navigate to VPN on the Home section. On the next page, enable the VPN. Also, if you share your 2TB plan with family members(Max:5) they can enable the service at no extra charge.

Availability

The new VPN by Google One service is limited to Android as of now. But it will expand to iOS, macOS, and Windows, and other countries in the coming months. As said earlier, it will roll out to the USA in the coming weeks. And Pro sessions will also roll out to the USA, United Kingdom, and Canada in a few weeks.

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