It's been more than two years since Google plopped down $2.1 billion for Fitbit, but there hasn't been much integration between the two companies' products thus far. That looks like it'll change this fall. Not only is the upcoming Pixel Watch set to get a shiny Fitbit integration, but it also appears that the rumored Fitbit Sense 2 and Versa 4 might have some kind of Google Wallet integration as well. According to 9to5Google, the latest version of Android's Play Services shows signs that Google Wallet -- which includes Google Pay -- is adding Fitbit smartwatch support. That includes a new menu with graphics resembling a "squircle" Fitbit smartwatch.

Alphabet's Q3 financial results, released Tuesday (July 26), showed that Google Search and Google Cloud were big factors in the company's growth, along with greater innovations around artificial intelligence (AI). "In the second quarter our performance was driven by Search and Cloud," Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai said. "The investments we've made over the years in AI and computing are helping to make our services particularly valuable for consumers, and highly effective for businesses of all sizes. "As we sharpen our focus, we'll continue to invest responsibly in deep computer science for the long-term." Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat added that the company had a "solid performance" in the quarter.

Google kicked off its annual I/O developer conference Wednesday. As usual, the company took the occasion to announce a bunch of new hardware products and software updates. While the shiny new gadgets might have stolen the show--you can learn about the Pixel Watch, new Pixel phones, and other objects that were announced in our separate story--I/O is still primarily a software affair. To that end, Google used its keynote event to detail a dizzying array of new features for Android, Search, Maps, and Google's voice assistant services. Here are the biggest updates Google announced.

Every summer, I get the travel itch. Before you head out, make sure your home is locked down. The bad news is security cameras, from video doorbells to a full-fledged security system, aren't always hack-proof out of the box. Tap or click here for the steps to make sure only you can access your security and video doorbell camera's feed. Speaking of cameras, best check your rental for any hidden cameras.

Google may not be ready to hold an in-person developer conference quite yet, but Google I/O was full of new developments across all of Google's products and services. Well, one line of products was missing: hardware. If you were hoping for details on new Pixels, Chromecasts, Stadia consoles, or Nest smart home gear, you'll have to wait. But Google did offer new details on the long-awaited Android 12; enhancements to its core Search, Photos, and Shopping experiences; and reminded us over and over that, yes, it really cares about privacy. There was even a "one more thing" moment in Project Starline.

Our entire financial system is built on trust. We can exchange otherwise worthless paper bills for fresh groceries, or swipe a piece of plastic for new clothes. But this trust--typically in a central government-backed bank--is changing. As our financial lives are rapidly digitized, the resulting data turns into fodder for AI. Companies like Apple, Facebook and Google see it as an opportunity to disrupt the entire experience of how people think about and engage with their money. But will we as consumers really get more control over our finances? In this first of a series on automation and our wallets, we explore a digital revolution in how we pay for things. This episode was produced by Anthony Green, with help from Jennifer Strong, Karen Hao, Will Douglas Heaven and Emma Cillekens.

Google this week unveiled a major redesign of Google Pay for Android and iOS. The app is meant to take on not just Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, but also PayPal, Venmo, and Mint all in one. Google also announced partnerships with 11 U.S. banks and credit unions to launch a mobile-first bank account service called Plex next year. Just like with health care, tech companies are becoming increasingly interested in banking. More competition in an industry that still hasn't embraced the internet, let alone the latest tech like artificial intelligence, is exciting.

Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai has announced a Google for India Digitisation Fund through which the company will invest Rs 75,000 crore, or approximately $10 billion, over the next five to seven years to drive digital transformation in the country. "We'll do this through a mix of equity investments, partnership investments, and operational, infrastructure and ecosystem investments. This is a reflection of our confidence in the future of India and its digital economy," Pichai said during the Google for India virtual conference. The fund will focus on four areas that are important to India's digitisation. These include enabling affordable access to the internet and to information for every Indian in their own language and building new products and services that are deeply relevant to India's unique needs including consumer tech, education, health and agriculture.

Innoviti Payment Solutions runs a payments platform that has an ability to add intelligence to traditional payment channels, enhancing their value. Merchants, brands and financial service providers use these intelligent payment channels to reduce cost and drive sales of their products. In a media report recently, the company claimed that its machine learning (ML)-based Path Predictor technology has helped enable Google Pay across its stores. The combination of UPI through Google Pay and Path Predictor has led to volumes climbing to nearly 10% for several stores on the Innoviti network.

NEW DELHI: Google has launched an artificial intelligence (AI) research lab in Bengaluru to "tackle big problems", the technology giant announced on Thursday during its fifth edition of Google for India event. Other key announcements at the flagship event included its partnership with BSNL to bring "fast, reliable and secure public WiFi to villages in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Bihar" and with National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) for their Skill India programme to make entry-level jobs easily discoverable online. According to Google, the lab will be led by Manish Gupta, a SEM (Society for Experimental Mechanics) fellow. Director of Harvard Centre for Computation & Society, professor Milind Tambe, will serve as director of AI for social good. "Professor Tambe will build a research programme around applying AI to tackle big problems in areas like healthcare, agriculture, or education," the company said.