Month: March 2025

Endlagerung: Atommüll zu vergraben reicht nicht

Eine kleine Broschüre zu Schwedens erstem atomaren Endlager illustriert, welche Probleme dieses 60 Jahre alte Kapitel noch bereiten wird. (Atomkraft, Strom)

Eine kleine Broschüre zu Schwedens erstem atomaren Endlager illustriert, welche Probleme dieses 60 Jahre alte Kapitel noch bereiten wird. (Atomkraft, Strom)

Google Pixel 4a’s painful “update” was due to battery overheating risk

Australia made explicit risks of “fire and/or burns” for non-updated 4a models.

Google didn't explain exactly why it shipped a mandatory software update to the Pixel 4a, an Android phone from 2020, earlier this year. The nature of that update, which gave some models all but unusable battery life, provided some clues, as did later software analysis. But now, Australian authorities have provided a more concrete answer: battery overheating and fire risk.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) Product Safety arm issued a recall for the Pixel 4a late last week. The reason, the commission said, is that Google's firmware update and battery changes served to "mitigate the risk of overheating" because "an overheating battery could pose a risk of fire and/or burns to a user."

Product Safety Recall notice, with red border and triangle symbol, asking consumers "Do you own this product?" with an image of a Google Pixel 4a. Do you own this product? Credit: ACCC Product Safety

In the US and elsewhere, Google's messaging did not use the term "recall." Google stated on its "Pixel 4a Battery Performance Program" page that "certain" Pixel 4a models "require a software update to improve the stability of their battery’s performance," which also "reduces available battery capacity and impacts charging performance." Google said it is still safe to charge a Pixel 4a.

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DOJ: Google must sell Chrome, Android could be next

Google says government proposals would “harm America’s consumers.”

Google has gotten its first taste of remedies that Donald Trump’s Department of Justice plans to pursue to break up the tech giant’s monopoly in search. In the first filing since Trump allies took over the department, government lawyers backed off a key proposal submitted by the Biden DOJ. The government won't ask the court to force Google to sell off its AI investments, and the way it intends to handle Android is changing. However, the most serious penalty is intact—Google's popular Chrome browser is still on the chopping block.

"Google’s illegal conduct has created an economic goliath, one that wreaks havoc over the marketplace to ensure that—no matter what occurs—Google always wins," the DOJ filing says. To that end, the government maintains that Chrome must go if the playing field is to be made level again.

The DOJ is asking the court to force Google to promptly and fully divest itself of Chrome, along with any data or other assets required for its continued operation. It is essentially aiming to take the Chrome user base—consisting of some 3.4 billion people—away from Google and hand it to a competitor. The government will vet any potential buyers to ensure the sale does not pose a national security threat. During the term of the judgment, Google would not be allowed to release any new browsers. However, it may continue to contribute to the open source Chromium project.

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Infrastruktur: Doch kein Schuldenjoint mit Merz

Mit ihrem 500-Milliarden-Programm haben Union und SPD die Grünen vor ein Dilemma gestellt. Die Ablehnung der Pläne ist berechtigt. Ein IMHO von Friedhelm Greis (Bundestagswahl 2025, Vorratsdatenspeicherung)

Mit ihrem 500-Milliarden-Programm haben Union und SPD die Grünen vor ein Dilemma gestellt. Die Ablehnung der Pläne ist berechtigt. Ein IMHO von Friedhelm Greis (Bundestagswahl 2025, Vorratsdatenspeicherung)