All posts tagged: Google I/O 2025

Android Auto will get Spotify Jam and support for video apps and web browsers

Android Auto will get Spotify Jam and support for video apps and web browsers

Published by Webster

Android Auto is getting more than just Google’s Gemini assistant after the Google I/O developer conference. The company has also announced or otherwise shown off a slew of changes coming to the infotainment operating system, including an updated Spotify app, a light mode, and the introduction of web browsers and video apps. Let’s start with Spotify. Google revealed in a video last week that the Spotify app for Android Auto is getting an overhaul through new media app templates the company is making available to developers. One feature the music service is adding to Android Auto is Spotify Jam, a feature that lets users share control of an audio source from their individual devices. In cars with Android Auto, that means anyone with Spotify will jump in by tapping a new “Jam” icon on the car’s touchscreen, then scanning a QR code to start adding upcoming songs to the playlist. Being a Spotify feature, it’s much more inclusive than Apple Music’s similar SharePlay feature, which requires everyone to have an Apple device to participate. Spotify …

Google’s Veo 3 AI video generator is a slop monger’s dream

Google’s Veo 3 AI video generator is a slop monger’s dream

Published by Webster

Even at first glance, there’s something off about the body on the street. The white sheet it’s under is a little too clean, and the officers’ movements are totally devoid of purpose. “We need to clear the street,” one of them says with a firm hand gesture, though her lips don’t move. It’s AI, alright. But here’s the kicker: my prompt didn’t include any dialogue. Veo 3, Google’s new AI video generation model, added that line all on its own. Over the past 24 hours I’ve created a dozen clips depicting news reports, disasters, and goofy cartoon cats with convincing audio — some of which the model invented all on its own. It’s more than a little creepy and way more sophisticated than I had imagined. And while I don’t think it’s going to propel us to a misinformation doomsday just yet, Veo 3 strikes me as an absolute AI slop machine. Google introduced Veo 3 at I/O this week, highlighting its most important new capability: generating sound to go with your AI video. “We’re …

OpenAI and Jony Ive are building a ChatGPT-powered super-gadget

OpenAI and Jony Ive are building a ChatGPT-powered super-gadget

Published by Webster

Here’s what we know: it’s probably not smart glasses. Beyond that, we don’t know much about what Jony Ive and OpenAI are building through their newly combined company io, except that it’s some kind of AI super-gadget. But after a couple of years of watching the industry try and shove AI into every form factor you can imagine, we have some guesses. On this episode of The Vergecast, Nilay and David are joined by The Verge’s Alex Heath to talk through all the things we know, kind of know, and don’t know at all about what io is up to. There’s some interesting reporting on the notion of the device as a companion to your phone and laptop, some connections to the original iPod Shuffle, and still a lot of questions about how this will work and whether you’ll want it. We won’t see this device for a while, but don’t worry — we’ll surely keep talking about it. Finally, in the lightning round, it’s time for another edition of Brendan Carr is a Dummy, …

Google teases an Android desktop mode, made with Samsung’s help

Google teases an Android desktop mode, made with Samsung’s help

Published by Webster

Google is working with Samsung to bring a desktop mode to Android. During Google I/O’s developer keynote, engineering manager Florina Muntenescu said the company is “building on the foundation” of Samsung’s DeX platform “to bring enhanced windowing capabilities in Android 16,” as spotted earlier by 9to5Google. Samsung first launched DeX in 2017, a feature that automatically adjusts your phone’s interface and apps when connected to a larger display, allowing you to use your phone like a desktop device. A demo during the presentation revealed a Samsung DeX-like layout, with apps like Gmail, Chrome, YouTube, and Google Photos centered in the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. It also showed how Android 16’s adaptive apps can move and stretch across the screen. The time sits at the top-left corner of the screen, with the Wi-Fi signal and battery on the right. Disclaimer: We do not own any of the content, ideas, images, or text presented here. All rights belong to their respective owners. For more information and to view the original source, please visit the …

Google’s Gemini AI is coming to Chrome

Google’s Gemini AI is coming to Chrome

Published by Webster

Google is adding its Gemini AI assistant to Chrome, the company announced at Google I/O on Tuesday. Initially, Gemini will be able to “clarify complex information on any webpage you’re reading or summarize information,” according to a blog post from Google Labs and Gemini VP Josh Woodward. Google envisions that Gemini in Chrome will later “work across multiple tabs and navigate websites on your behalf.” I saw a demo during a briefing ahead of Tuesday’s announcement. In Chrome, you’ll see a little sparkle icon in the top right corner. Click that and a Gemini chatbot window will open — it’s a floating UI that you can move and resize. From there, you can ask questions about the website. In the demo, Charmaine D’Silva, a director of product management on the Chrome team, opened a page for a sleeping bag at REI and clicked on a suggested Gemini prompt to list the bag’s key features. Gemini read the entire page and listed a quick summary of the bag. D’Silva then asked if the sleeping bag was …

We tried on Google’s prototype AI smart glasses

We tried on Google’s prototype AI smart glasses

Published by Webster

Here in sunny Mountain View, California, I am sequestered in a teeny-tiny box. Outside, there’s a long line of tech journalists, and we are all here for one thing: to try out Project Moohan and Google’s Android XR smart glasses prototypes. (The Project Mariner booth is maybe 10 feet away and remarkably empty.) While nothing was going to steal AI’s spotlight at this year’s keynote — 95 mentions! — Android XR has been generating a lot of buzz on the ground. But the demos we got to see here were notably shorter, with more guardrails, than what I got to see back in December. Probably because, unlike a few months ago, there are cameras everywhere and these are “risky” demos. The Project Moohan VR headset. First up is Project Moohan. Not much has changed since I first slipped on the headset. It’s still an Android-flavored Apple Vision Pro, albeit much lighter and more comfortable to wear. Like Oculus headsets, there’s a dial in the back that lets you adjust the fit. If you press the …

Google I/O 2025 live blog: Gemini takes center stage

Google I/O 2025 live blog: Gemini takes center stage

Published by Webster

We’re back at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California, for Google I/O. This year, we’re not expecting much hardware, but we’re naturally expecting a lot of AI news. The pressure is on to prove that ChatGPT won’t make Google Search obsolete, and that Google has what it takes for Gemini to become a household name. Going into this year’s I/O, Google somehow feels bigger and more vulnerable than ever. The stakes are high, and we’re here with real-time updates from where it’s all happening. Disclaimer: We do not own any of the content, ideas, images, or text presented here. All rights belong to their respective owners. For more information and to view the original source, please visit the following link: Source link

Google I/O 2025: how to watch and what to expect

Google I/O 2025: how to watch and what to expect

Published by Webster

Google’s annual I/O developer conference is almost here, and all eyes will be on the company’s opening keynote. But for the first time in years, we know there’s little reason to hope for major Android OS announcements, since Google already did that last week. Instead, we’re expecting I/O’s keynote to be (almost) all about AI, though we do know there’ll be at least a little time devoted to XR. When Google I/O will happen and where you can watch If you’re planning to watch, be sure to set aside ample time. I/O keynotes usually run for a couple hours, and even with no new Android announcements, we’d expect the same this time. As my colleague Allison Johnson put it over the weekend, the fact that this year’s I/O keynote will be focused on AI shouldn’t come as a surprise. Gemini and its ilk have dominated the event for two years running, and Google is embroiled in an AI race with OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and more. In fact, I/O kicks off a day after Microsoft’s Build …

Google I/O 2025 will be an AI show

Google I/O 2025 will be an AI show

Published by Webster

Android is getting its biggest visual update in years, and rather than unveiling it for the first time at its big annual developer conference, Google announced Material Three Expressive at a pre-show event broadcast on YouTube the week before. If a major design language shift for the world’s most popular mobile OS doesn’t qualify as a headliner at I/O, then what does? You guessed it: AI. We expect Google to talk all about Gemini during I/O, which kicks off on Tuesday, and how it’s improving it and bringing it to products in areas that consumers will see even more. If you’ve paid attention to the past couple of I/O keynotes, this won’t be a surprise. Android was barely mentioned in 2023, and CEO Sundar Pichai said AI so many times that we lost count. Last year’s keynote was more of the same, except that Pichai saved us some trouble and counted mentions of AI for us. All of this reflects the very obvious, inescapable shift that Google and every other tech company have made recently …