Google explains why the Pixel 6’s fingerprint scanner may be sluggish.
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richardtech

There’s a lot to rave about with the Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, but their fingerprint scanners are not among those things. Since the Pixel 6 release in October, users have been complaining about its sluggish, unreliable fingerprint scanner that makes the phone a hassle to unlock. Google has finally responded to those complaints, and while it provided an explanation, it didn’t really offer any solid solution (via Engadget).

In a reply on Twitter, Google attributes the issue to the “enhanced security algorithms” that the Pixel 6’s fingerprint scanner uses. Google says that these security measures can make your fingerprint “take longer to verify or require more direct contact with the sensor.” It then provides a link to a Google support page that really doesn’t offer much help, besides suggesting to ensure your fingers are clean and that you’re using a finger that you’ve registered with the phone.

Replies from other Twitter users suggest that it may be a hardware issue. The Pixel 6 uses an under-the-screen optical fingerprint scanner instead of a fast ultrasonic one like the Samsung Galaxy S21, which some users say could be the reason behind the sensor’s poor performance. But as noted by Engadget, other users on Reddit say that the optical fingerprint scanner works fine on their OnePlus phones, possibly indicating a software issue specific to the Pixel 6.

For now, it looks like there’s no clear solution to the Pixel 6’s finicky fingerprint scanner, and Google’s answer is vague at best. There’s no telling whether Google can patch the issue in a software update, or if the scanner’s so-called “enhanced” security system really is picky when it comes to prints.

Until Google decides to resurrect face unlock, which had its own security flaws, you’ll just have to resort to typing in your PIN. Otherwise, the Pixel 6 will test your patience as you try to scan your fingerprint over and over again.

https://www.msn.com/en-US/news/scienceandtechnology/google-explains-why-the-pixel-s-fingerprint-scanner-may-be-sluggish/ar-AAQqxc7?ocid=sapphireappshare

Microsoft and Google openly feuding amid hacks, competition inquiries
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richardtech

Google and Microsoft are at knives drawn. Driven in part by pressure from lawmakers and regulators over the extraordinary power the two technology companies wield over American life, the California-based search engine giant and Washington-based software firm are wrestling to throw each other under the bus.

Tensions between Microsoft Corp and Alphabet-owned Google have been simmering for a while but the rivalry has become unusually public in recent days as executives from both firms have been put on the defensive over competing crises.

Google faces bipartisan complaints – and journalistic ire – over its role in gutting the media industry’s advertisement revenue, the subject of a Congressional antitrust hearing on Friday.

Microsoft, meanwhile, faces scrutiny for its role in back-to-back cybersecurity breaches.

In the first, the same allegedly Russian hackers who compromised the Texas software firm SolarWinds Corp also took advantage of Microsoft’s cloud software to break into some of the company’s clients. The second, disclosed on March 2, saw allegedly Chinese hackers abuse previously unknown vulnerabilities to vacuum up emails from Microsoft customers around the world.

Addressing lawmakers on Friday (12 March) at a House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee on news, Microsoft President Brad Smith was due to fire a shot at Google, telling representatives that media organizations are being forced to “use Google’s tools, operate on Google’s ad exchanges, contribute data to Google’s operations, and pay Google money,” according to excerpts of his testimony published by Axios.

Google fired back, saying that Microsoft’s “newfound interest in attacking us comes on the heels of the SolarWinds attack and at a moment when they’ve allowed tens of thousands of their customers — including government agencies in the U.S., NATO allies, banks, nonprofits, telecommunications providers, public utilities, police, fire and rescue units, hospitals and, presumably, news organizations — to be actively hacked via major Microsoft vulnerabilities.”

Source: https://www.euractiv.com/section/digital/news/microsoft-and-google-openly-feuding-amid-hacks-competition-inquiries/