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New Google Lens features are now live on Android phones
It wasn't too long ago that Google announced a slew of new features coming to its various products, from the terrifyingly realistic Duplex phone-calling Assistant to the tantalizingly useful camera-based navigation for Maps. These new tools are starting to trickle out, and some of the first to arrive are updates to Lens, Google's app that provides "real-time answers to questions about the world around you." Now, things like Style Match and Smart Text Selection are available to all "devices featuring Lens in Google Assistant," according to the company. That means basically all Android phones now have the updates, while iOS users will have to wait awhile till Google Photos receives the new software.
Recommended Reading: Google Assistant's new bag of tricks
Google's Duplex could make Assistant the most lifelike AI yet Richard Nieva, CNET Google has big plans for Assistant, and some of what it showed at I/O this week is equal parts fascinating and worrisome. CNET took a closer look at the so-called Duplex technology that will allow Google Assistant to do things like make phone calls on your behalf. The company has since said it will alert the person on the other end that they're speaking to AI, but for many, questions remain.
I hope Google won’t nag me about my digital wellbeing
We all know someone who could benefit from a digital time-out. You know the type: phone attached to the hand, posture permanently hunched in a looking-down-at-the-screen slouch, plagued with ailments like phantom vibrations and sleep texting. Most of the disruptions I receive each day are things like incessant notifications from Photos telling me I have new selfie collages ready, or Maps asking me to rate the 300 hotels I walk by in New York every day. Google services can be needy as fudge, but like a sucker I get dragged into looking at my phone and clearing out alerts. I can't help myself, and Google isn't helping me either.
Three days in, life with the Android P beta has been mostly painless
The first public preview of Android P is finally here, and as you might have guessed from the jam-packed keynote, there's a lot going on in this new build. As Google tells it, Android P is centered around intelligence, simplicity and what the company refers to as "digital well-being." All together, those themes represent the most compelling case we've heard for Android in years. This is beta software, though, so you probably shouldn't install this build with the intent of using it as your daily driver. Not everything works the way it's supposed to, and reverting to good ol' Android Oreo requires you to flash a factory image onto your phone. That said, since there's a pretty good chance you're probably going to take the plunge anyway, I'm pleased to report that life with Android P has been more pleasant than painful.
Google's News app is a tool for gaining perspective, not an arbiter of facts
It may have been overshadowed by Android P or a slightly terrifying AI phone call, but Google's new News app was one of the most important things the search giant announced at I/O this year. It relies completely on artificial intelligence to bring you breaking news, but the most fascinating -- and potentially most valuable -- addition is what Google calls Full Coverage. Fire up the News app on your Android phone and you'll see a tiny icon in the corner of certain stories -- tap that and you're taken to a dedicated page that surfaces related stories Google's AI deems trustworthy.
Google’s AI advances are equal parts worry and wonder
I laughed along with most of the audience at I/O 2018 when, in response to a restaurant rep asking it to hold on, Google Assistant said "Mmhmm". But beneath our mirth lay a sense of wonder. The demo of Google Duplex, "an AI system for accomplishing real-world tasks over the phone," was almost unbelievable. The artificially intelligent Assistant successfully made a reservation with a human being over the phone without the person knowing it wasn't real. It even used sounds like "umm," "uhh" and tonal inflections to create a more convincing, realistic cadence. It was like a scene straight out of a science fiction movie or Black Mirror.
Google: Duplex phone calling AI will identify itself
After an impressive Google I/O demo where its Duplex AI system called a restaurant and salon to set up appointments, one of the big questions concerned the ethics of the technology. The Google Assistant voice took steps to pretend to be human, inserting "umms" and "ahs" into the conversation while a person on the other end appeared to be unaware that they were talking to a program. As a Turing Test candidate, it was impressive, but we'd like to know if the "person" who just called us has a heartbeat and a favorite One Direction member.
I wish I could live inside this massive Google Home Max
We're in the final stretch here at Google I/O 2018, and I don't know about everyone else here, but I could really use some proper alone time. Too bad that's impossible to find here. Strangely enough, the closest I've been able to find is the inside of a massive Google Home Max with three other people.
Google Home finally works with its own Play Movies service
Google Assistant can now finally beam Play Movies to a Chromecast when you issue voice commands through the tech giant's Home speaker. It's weird how that hasn't been available until now when Home has been able to recognize spoken commands to stream Netflix shows from the start. Thankfully, the tech giant has fixed the oversight and quietly announced the integration at its annual I/O conference. And from the sound of things, the feature has already started rolling out to users.
Chrome will let you have AR experiences, no app needed
Google believes that 2018 is the year the web turns a corner and starts becoming more immersive, and the company's new WebXR API is at the heart of its efforts. Long story short, WebXR provides a platform to more easily optimize and integrate VR and AR experiences right into web browsers, and developers can start crafting VR experiences for Chrome with the API today. In-browser VR has been a thing for a while, though — web-based AR, however, feels more immediately helpful. It'll be a while before you can virtually plop 3D objects into an augmented reality space inside Chrome, but we just got to take it for a spin and honestly, the AR-friendly web can't arrive soon enough.
The new Google Maps is more than just a Yelp alternative
Google announced so much stuff at I/O 2018 that there was barely enough time to cover them all. In addition to new Android P features, a "Digital Wellbeing" initiative and all manner of AI and accessibility improvements, the company also unveiled a redesigned Maps app that might change the way we explore places. I checked out a demo of the new app with Maps product lead Sophia Lin, and frankly can't wait till the new features roll out this summer.
Android P makes Volvo’s in-car infotainment system even better
Android Auto has been around for years. I know Android Auto when I see it. What's running inside a sleek Volvo at Google I/O isn't Android Auto. This is an automobile running full-blown Android P. We've seen no shortage of pure Android-powered cars at I/O in years past, but this crimson XC40 is different: it's one of the first cars in the world to fully integrate Google services, like Google Maps and the Play Store, right onto automotive hardware. That's right: you can finally download apps straight onto your car.
Google and Apple might lose the infotainment war
Android Auto and CarPlay are both pretty great. You plug your smartphone into your car and you're greeted with a familiar set of icons. In most vehicles on the road, it's an improvement. Why wade through a confusing interface, when two of the biggest tech companies in the world have made it easy for you to use the map and media apps you already know? But in the tech world, if you're not constantly improving, something else will appear -- and automakers, they're not sitting around.
Google makes it easy to create your own VR tours
With Google Expeditions, you can take tours of ancient sites like Machu Picchu, visit attractions like the Burj Khalifa or even take a trip to the International Space Station and now Google is making it easier to create tours yourself. With a new platform called Tour Creator, anyone can now put together a VR tour of whatever they'd like using their own 360-degree photos and Google Street View images. "The tool is designed to let you produce professional-level VR content without a steep learning curve," says Google.
Watch the Google I/O 2018 keynote in under 20 minutes
Google's annual developer conference usually gives us a pretty good idea of what to expect from the company for the next several months. This year's I/O opening keynote was no different as yesterday's 2-hour event was jam-packed with AI, Android, accessibility and more. We saw the new Android swipe navigation UI in action -- gone are the trio of buttons you've come to know and loathe. And we heard all about the under the hood changes that will make your phone's battery last longer and put little "slices" of apps at your fingertips throughout the OS. But, being a Google event, the big focus was on AI. Machine learning is power everything from news curation to image recognition and eve enabling you to copy and paste text from the real world to your phone. You probably don't have a couple hours to burn rewatching the whole thing, so we've distilled the important bits down to a 20-minute clip. While take a snack break this morning, you can catch up on what you might've missed in a fraction of the time. Though, after you have your mind blown by the Google Assistant making a phone call and booking a hair appointment you may to go lay down for a while. Click here to catch up on the latest news from Google I/O 2018!
Here’s what you won’t find in the Android P beta
Developers and enthusiasts have had access to a very early version of Android P for a while now, but Google has made it more easily accessible to the brave with the launch of its public Android P Beta. At this point, you can get it up and running on 11 devices, but a considerable chunk of the features Google talked up during its keynote aren't actually there yet. Bummer. The broad strokes are well understood at this point, but (thankfully) we got to play with a slightly more feature-complete version of Android P inside Google's sandbox demo space. We'll continue to play with the publicly available Android P Beta, so expect a deeper dive soon, but one thing is clear after playing with a more-complete version: Android P is only going to get more capable in time.
Google Lens hands-on: Copy-and-paste the real world to your phone
Google may have teased us with exciting new AR features for the Maps app, but it's not forgetting to make its Lens camera more useful, either. Since its launch last year, Lens has rolled out to iOS and gained a few skills, like identifying cat and dog breeds. At its I/O developer conference today, Google announced three new features for Lens -- Smart Text Selection, Style Match and Real-time results. After checking it out here at the show, I'm most intrigued by the text-recognition tools, which actually seem useful.
Five ways Android P changes how you will (or won't) use your phone
Google has pulled a surprising switcheroo, designing Android P to help you reduce your smartphone usage while also making it less irritating and more approachable. To pull that off, it added a big dose of artificial intelligence smarts, iPhone X–like swiping gestures, and a new "digital wellbeing" dashboard. It may even help with that perennial smartphone issue: battery life. Should you decide to try Android P -- and you can, today, on a variety of devices via the public beta -- here's a guide to the major features that could make you more efficient and less attached to your smartphone, in a good way.
Google is weaving itself into the fabric of our lives
This is how Google takes over the world. It won't be with the inception of an all-powerful artificial intelligence application, via the advent of self-driving cars, or through Assistant's steady creep into our everyday lives, though Google will certainly use these tools to dictate our decisions, possibly before we've even made them ourselves. No, Google's plans for world domination are much more subtle than that. It all starts with the beer emoji.
Google's Lookout will help the blind navigate their environment
Google has announced one of its upcoming apps called Lookout as part of the annual I/O conference, and it has nothing to do with the mobile security application of the same name. The tech giant's Lookout was designed to help the blind and the visually impaired be more independent by giving them spoken notifications about their environment. For instance, it can tell them that there's a "chair 3 o'clock," so they don't bump into the object to their right. The app can also read texts, such as Exit signs over doors.
