Thanks to some excellent detective work done by 9to5Google via their APK Insights report, the latest Google Contacts app has been decompiled, and with it, the latest candidate for a Material You widget redesign has been chosen. In fact, this redesign has been known about for a few months now, but today, we’re seeing more […]
Continue ReadingNew & Upcoming Features
System-wide Live Captions coming to a Chromebook near you
Live Captions are a very useful feature for any device. As an accessibility feature, live captions are a must-have when viewing or listening to content on your laptop, TV or smartphone. Outside of those with accessibility needs, live captions can be useful when you’re in noisy environments or you want to consume some content without […]
Continue ReadingYour Chromebook’s calendar widget will soon show you which event is coming up next
The awesome, new calendar widget for ChromeOS pops up from the bottom-right of your laptop’s shelf in month view and shows which events you have scheduled for that day over on Google Calendar. At this time, it’s fairly rudimentary, not allowing for event creation locally or anything. Despite this, it’s quickly gaining features, like the […]
Continue ReadingGoogle Photos may soon let you sync your Locked Folder to the cloud for convenience
Yes, I know it sounds contradictory, and perhaps it is, but that’s not stopping Google. Pretty soon, you may be able to back your Locked Folder up to the Photos cloud for safekeeping. While anyone who values their privacy to the fullest extent may take issue with this update, those who use Google Photos for […]
Continue Reading‘Control Overlays’ for mouse and keyboard support in ChromeOS now appear for all games [Canary]
Previously only discussed near the end of last year, Google’s ‘control overlays’ for Android games on Chromebooks were said to be coming first to a select few titles in alpha. The developer flag to enable it was added to ChromeOS this December, but I wanted to cover it today because it forces the overlay to […]
Continue ReadingIn development: Bard AI could let you speak with your Chromebook as though it’s a person
I’m literally going to be talking today about how you could talk to your laptop like Tony Stark does to Jarvis – something I never thought I’d say because it just seems so far-fetched to say out loud. We’ve had Google Assistant baked into the ChromeOS launcher for years, but it’s a far cry from […]
Continue ReadingGoogle Tasks checks “Material You makeover” off of its To-Do list in latest update
You’re probably tired of hearing about Google’s gorgeous, new design language by now, but I’m not. A slew of Google products, services, and apps are now rocking the look that centers its theming elements around you (hence the name), and we see more join their ranks every day. In the latest update I received for […]
Continue ReadingGoogle officially reveals its ChatGPT competitor and it’s going to be baked directly into Search
The official Live from Paris Google event just aired yesterday and several interesting things were discussed. First, the company is getting deeper into generative AI and will soon allow users to use a combination of text, voice, and image search with Lens to stack search modifiers for more meaningful results. One example that was given […]
Continue ReadingAndroid 14 will let you know what bloatware your phone carrier has snuck onto your device
Yesterday, we covered many of the most notable features and changes that dropped with the Android 14 developer preview. Today, it was revealed that Google will detect and show you which applications your phone carrier has installed in the background without your awareness upon setting a device up out of the box. You may know […]
Continue ReadingAndroid 14 developer preview now available as Google further prepares for Pixel Tablet launch
Starting today, Google is making the first developer preview for Android 14 (Upside down cake) available to users who aren’t afraid to flash their devices. Let it be noted, however, that at this stage in development, the average user should not concern themselves with installation of the new operating system update as it’s not an […]
Continue ReadingBiometric fingerprint protection is being added as an option to Chrome for password autofill
You’re probably accustomed to clicking in a password box for a website and selecting your autofill settings to log in quicker. While convenient as it is, it’s not exactly super safe. Let’s say – for example – that you left your Chromebook or desktop unlocked. In this situation, someone could autofill your bank password and […]
Continue ReadingChrome will soon automatically blur explicit Google Image search results
Today is “Safer Internet Day”, and Google often celebrates with new updates to the privacy and security tools across its ecosystem. For this year’s festivities, the company announced that it’s going to start automatically blurring images marked or detected as explicit in Google Image search. In the Keyword blog post covering the feature, a test […]
Continue ReadingGoogle is working on an Apple AirTag competitor codenamed “Grogu”
Many of you may be familiar with Tile, an accessory that you can attach to many household objects or personal belongings and track or locate it via (UWB) Bluetooth if it gets lost. Apple has created something similar within its ecosystem called the Apple AirTag. To date, Android users have no Google-branded accessory to attach […]
Continue ReadingAndroid 14 may introduce the ability to use your phone as a webcam for your Windows or Mac PC
I was personally not aware of this, but apparently, you can use your Android phone as a webcam for your Windows or Mac PC. Color me surprised, though I suppose I shouldn’t be – the technology is capable. I simply never thought to use my phone as a camera for the computer because I’ve always […]
Continue ReadingGoogle is airing a Search and AI live stream next week and may discuss its answer to ChatGPT
Earlier this week, we discussed how Google has been internally testing several AI chatbots since it’s gone on red alert in wake of ChatGPT’s rise to dominance. Its competition is being touted as capable of putting Google Search out of business within just a few short years, and whether or not that’s possible, it certainly […]
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