https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Germany in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Germany's antitrust regulator on Wednesday classified Google a company of "paramount significance across markets", a move paving the way for the authorities to clamp down on any potentially anti-competitive activities. https://www.thelocal.de/20220105/germany-paves-way-to-clamp-down-on-google-activities Wed, 05 Jan 2022 13:01:18 +0100 germany-paves-way-to-clamp-down-on-google-activities Together with some German banks, Apple is pushing for a change in Germany’s cash-loving culture by making contactless payment via mobile phones more accessible to users. https://www.thelocal.de/20191211/hundreds-of-german-banks-make-apple-pay-service-available-for-first-time Wed, 11 Dec 2019 16:40:43 +0100 hundreds-of-german-banks-make-apple-pay-service-available-for-first-time A German data protection official has convinced Google to stop human workers from listening to audio recorded by its digital assistant across the EU, after a leak showed staff could hear private conversations. https://www.thelocal.de/20190802/germany-orders-google-to-stop-listening-in-on-audio-recordings Fri, 02 Aug 2019 17:00:40 +0200 germany-orders-google-to-stop-listening-in-on-audio-recordings France and Germany jointly agreed a scaled-back version of an EU digital tax Tuesday, that they hoped would break significant opposition to the plan amongst bloc partners. https://www.thelocal.de/20181204/germany-teams-up-with-france-in-bid-to-save-eu-digital-tax-proposal Tue, 04 Dec 2018 09:14:44 +0100 germany-teams-up-with-france-in-bid-to-save-eu-digital-tax-proposal It’s not immediately obvious but there’s a sense of victory in the air on the banks of the Landwehrkanal in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district. Just ask the shop owners and residents near the Umspannwerk, an old electrical substation, that towers above the canal. https://www.thelocal.de/20181026/how-a Fri, 26 Oct 2018 19:47:14 +0200 how-a Google has called off plans to open a campus in the Kreuzberg area of Berlin. After months of anti-gentrification protests, the tech giant announced Wednesday it has given the site to two social organizations. https://www.thelocal.de/20181024/google-shelves-plans-to-open-campus-in-berlins-kreuzberg Thu, 25 Oct 2018 01:07:04 +0200 google-shelves-plans-to-open-campus-in-berlins-kreuzberg German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said in an interview for publication Sunday he backed a global minimum fiscal regime for multinationals as Europe looks to levy tax notably on US tech giants. https://www.thelocal.de/20181021/germany-urges-global-minimum-tax-for-digital-giants Sun, 21 Oct 2018 04:29:07 +0200 germany-urges-global-minimum-tax-for-digital-giants EU finance ministers battled Saturday over a controversial proposal to slap a European tax on US tech giants amid rising worries that it is ineffective and protectionist. https://www.thelocal.de/20180908/eu-ministers-battle-over-proposed-tax-on-big-tech-facebook-google Sat, 08 Sep 2018 16:58:20 +0200 eu-ministers-battle-over-proposed-tax-on-big-tech-facebook-google Germany's huge network of public sector Sparkassen savings banks will on Monday launch its own mobile payment app, taking on Google Pay in a country where cash is still king. https://www.thelocal.de/20180727/sparkasse-to-take-on-google-pay-with-new-app Fri, 27 Jul 2018 17:56:10 +0200 sparkasse-to-take-on-google-pay-with-new-app Google Pay made its debut in Deutschland on Tuesday, making it the 19th country in the world to introduce the mobile payment service. Some experts say though, that the technology is answering a question Germans aren't asking. https://www.thelocal.de/20180626/google-pay-launches-in-cash-loving-germany Tue, 26 Jun 2018 18:33:05 +0200 google-pay-launches-in-cash-loving-germany If you take a walk around Kreuzberg these days you might think Google is about to buy up the whole neighbourhood. In fact ten people tops will be employed here by the tech giant. So what is the fuss about? https://www.thelocal.de/20180625/google-is-coming-to-berlin-kreuzberg-and-locals-are-far-from-happy-heres-why Mon, 25 Jun 2018 14:45:42 +0200 google-is-coming-to-berlin-kreuzberg-and-locals-are-far-from-happy-heres-why The Berlin 'Ampelmann' or 'Ampelmännchen', meaning little traffic-light man, is an icon of the city and today Google Germany is celebrating his 56th birthday with his very own animation. https://www.thelocal.de/20171013/google-celebrates-ampelmanns-birthday-with-special-google-doodle Fri, 13 Oct 2017 16:09:54 +0200 google-celebrates-ampelmanns-birthday-with-special-google-doodle Tech giant Google has partnered with startup Pavegen to create a colourful, interactive installation that is believed to be the biggest ever energy harvesting pathway, on display until Sunday in Berlin. https://www.thelocal.de/20171012/google-builds-largest-ever-energy-harvesting-walkway-at-berlin-festival-of-lights Thu, 12 Oct 2017 19:29:23 +0200 google-builds-largest-ever-energy-harvesting-walkway-at-berlin-festival-of-lights Following in the footsteps of other big tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft, Google now plans to introduce cloud services from Germany. https://www.thelocal.de/20170912/google-steps-up-its-game-with-new-offer-of-cloud-services-from-germany Tue, 12 Sep 2017 17:30:10 +0200 google-steps-up-its-game-with-new-offer-of-cloud-services-from-germany As much as Germans mourned the loss of their adopted son David Bowie this year, apparently a TV horse whispering star had a bigger place in their hearts. https://www.thelocal.de/20161214/more-germans-googled-this-horse-whisperer-in-2016-than-david-bowie Wed, 14 Dec 2016 13:39:18 +0100 more-germans-googled-this-horse-whisperer-in-2016-than-david-bowie Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Tuesday for internet giants to make public their closely-guarded algorithms, claiming that they are not giving people diverse enough information. https://www.thelocal.de/20161026/merkel-demands-transparency-from-internet-giants Wed, 26 Oct 2016 13:51:55 +0200 merkel-demands-transparency-from-internet-giants Google CEO Sundar Pichai hit back Sunday at accusations that the global internet giant failed to pay enough taxes in Europe, and warned of the potential fallout from Britain leaving the EU. https://www.thelocal.de/20160717/google-ceo-defends-europe-tax-practices Sun, 17 Jul 2016 17:20:46 +0200 google-ceo-defends-europe-tax-practices A German team is one of the final five teams in Google's space race project. But can they make it all the way to the moon? https://www.thelocal.de/20160316/berlin-scientists-space-moon-google-lunar-xprize Wed, 16 Mar 2016 13:04:36 +0100 berlin-scientists-space-moon-google-lunar-xprize Thursday is Ludwig van Beethoven's 245th birthday, and Google is celebrating by asking users to re-assemble the legendary composer's works after an accident on the way to the concert hall. https://www.thelocal.de/20151217/play-google-fetes-beethoven-with-birthday-game Thu, 17 Dec 2015 11:36:14 +0100 play-google-fetes-beethoven-with-birthday-game With so many massive breaking news events in 2015, you might think it would be easy to guess what Germans searched for most. But new statistics released by Google on Wednesday turn up a surprising winner. https://www.thelocal.de/20151216/and-germans-top-search-of-2015-is Wed, 16 Dec 2015 12:06:18 +0100 and-germans-top-search-of-2015-is