Category Archives: Google

Even with numerous indicators that Assistant with Bard is finally nearing release, it looks like Google still doesn't know what it wants to call the feature. When the company announced Assistant with Bard last year, it said the feature was "coming soon," Google has quietly continued developing it.

The question now is whether the feature first announced as Assistant with Bard will actually debut under that name. 9to5Google has been on top of the developments, most recently spotting Gemini instead of Assistant with Bard in the Google app.

All code strings and user-interface references to Assistant with Bard now say Gemini in beta version 15.4.31.29 of the Google app. Previously, these UI elements referred to the feature as Bard. That leaves us with at least three names that Google is considering for this feature: Assistant with Bard, Bard, or Gemini.

Gemini is the name Google uses for its suite of artificial intelligence models. Gemini Nano is the AI model that runs locally on devices like smartphones, while Gemini Pro is the model that currently appears in Bard's standard version. Then, there's Gemini Ultra, which is Google's most powerful AI model to date. Google plans to release Gemini Ultra and incorporate it into Bard Advanced this year.

Gemini appears to be Google's strongest brand in AI so far, and there's a lot of hype about the new AI modes. In that sense, it's easy to see why Google would want to leverage that name recognition on Assistant with Bard. On the flip side, Bard has existed for much longer than Gemini and is likely more familiar to casual users as a result.

Either Bard or Gemini would be better than Assistant with Bard as far as names are concerned. The latter is clunky and could complicate things for users. For example, users will have the choice between using classic Google Assistant or Assistant with Bard. Simplifying the latter's name and removing the word "assistant" could make it easier for users to understand the difference.

Speaking of complications, rebranding Assistant with Bard to Gemini would be inherently confusing, as 9to5Google has pointed out. We haven't yet seen the same brand used for both the name of the software and the AI model behind it. For example, ChatGPT uses the GPT-3.5 model and Microsoft Copilot uses GPT-4. By comparison, a rebrand could result in a situation where we refer to Assistant with Bard as "Gemini powered by Gemini Pro."

Gemini is the latest name Google has tested for Assistant with Bard. However, it doesn't necessarily mean it is the one Google will stick with. If anything, Google's willingness to swap names in and out for this feature suggests it doesn't know exactly what to call it yet.

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Google app update reveals Google doesn't know what to call Assistant with Bard - Android Central

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Spring a leak? Google will find it through a new partnership aimed at saving water in New Mexico - The Caledonian-Record

When news broke over the weekend that Fossil was throwing in the towel on Wear OS smartwatches, I instantly began to hear the iconic Queen song, "Another One Bites the Dust." However, instead of feeling sad that yet another brand is getting out of the Android smartwatch game, I felt frustration and disappointment. As I've said many times, I'm a fan of smartwatches. For better or worse, I keep one on my wrist at all times, which is, more often than not, a Wear OS device. This is for a few different reasons, but one of the main ones is that I like variety.

So, as the options for Wear OS wearables continue to dwindle, my irritation towards Google, and to a certain degree Samsung, grows. While there are some really great Android smartwatches to choose from, and the quality of hardware and software is arguably better than it ever has been, fans of the platform are quickly losing choice. One of the things that we get to enjoy on the smartphone side of things is variety. But even in that space, the US is less fortunate than in other parts of the world. Ultimately, we can look at Google as the primary reason Wear OS is crumbling.

This isn't the first time that I've been critical of Wear OS and what Google is, or rather isn't, doing to the platform. Last fall, I wrote about how the Wear OS relaunch has been a failure and the fact that Google Assistant is a mess on Wear OS. While inside, I hoped Google's neglect of the platform was done and that it would do better in supporting its OEM partners in the future. Yeah, I was wrong.

To be honest, we should have seen the exit of Fossil from Wear OS coming when Google bought a large chunk of "smartwatch technology" from Fossil back in January 2019. Fossil made some of the nicest-looking wearables up until that point and had come up with some good ideas for its devices. At least as much as Wear OS would allow back then. Because back in 2019, smartwatch brands using Wear OS couldn't customize the software. All that was allowed was some custom apps for the watch. So, at that point, all manufacturers could do to differentiate from the next watch was in custom apps or, more often than not, in watch styles.

It was the style that really separated Fossil from the rest of the Wear OS players. Fossil has been making traditional wristwatches for decades and brought that lineage to its more technologically advanced wearables. Unfortunately, between Google snatching up parts of the smartwatch business and then launching Wear OS 3 in partnership with Samsung, Fossil was doomed.

When Wear OS 3 arrived in August 2021, Samsung got first crack at it with the Galaxy Watch 4 series. At the time, Android smartwatch fans were elated. Despite how good Samsung wearables had been when those devices were running the in-house Tizen OS, the platform lacked some key components mainly access to the Google Play Store. But as time went on and news about when (or if) older Wear OS watches would be able to get updated was slow to trickle out, like many others, I got nervous.

After initially saying that existing Wear OS devices would not get updated to the new platform, months later, Google said that some watches would be eligible for the update so long as the internal specs were up to scratch. Fossil was the first OEM to get the Wear OS 3 update out to its wearables, but it took nearly a year after Samsung debuted it and another year to get Wear OS 3.5, with that update not arriving until November 2023. By that time, Samsung had released both the Galaxy Watch 5 series and the Galaxy Watch 6 series, the latter arriving with Wear OS 4.

This isn't even mentioning the fact that Google also happened to launch its first-ever smartwatch, the Pixel Watch, and its successor, the Pixel Watch 2. The only other noteworthy Wear OS OEM that is still in the game is Mobvoi with its TicWatch line. In 2023, we finally got a new smartwatch from the brand in the TicWatch Pro 5, running Wear OS 3.5. It's a great wearable with top-notch specs. But so were the previous models. Unfortunately, the Wear OS 3 update for Mobvoi took even longer, rolling out until December 2023.

These delays aren't entirely on Google, but it plays a key part in the issue. While not all the details are public, it sure appears that Google had to sell part of its "soul" to get Samsung onboard with Wear OS in the first place and, in doing so, seems to be letting the Android behemoth dictate platform access. Not even Google gets to have the latest version of Wear OS on its wearable before Samsung.

It does make some sense that Google would want Samsung on its wearable platform so badly. It is the largest Android brand in the world. But to secure Samsung's participation, the Wear OS platform as a whole has suffered. Google took so long to make any real effort to refresh the platform that it had to do something drastic in handing over at least partial control to another brand. That is Samsung. Unfortunately, all Wear OS has really gained since its relaunch is Samsung, OEM skinning, and for non-Samsung devices running Wear OS 4, the ability to back up and transfer your watch to a new phone. I say non-Samsung devices because Galaxy wearables have been allowing this feature for years.

As I wrote back in September, Android wearables need some fresh ideas to compete with the Apple Watch, and this isn't it. Diluting the options that Wear OS fans get to choose from by neglecting the platform for years and then tying one watch hand behind the case of brands not named Samsung or Google continues to weaken the platform. The way the Wear OS relaunch happened and the long delays from third-party OEMs in getting the update really make it seem that the updated code wasn't shipped to brands until Samsung released its new watches. Putting all those manufacturers at a big disadvantage in the marketplace.

For as great as the Apple Watch is, it's the antithesis of what Android is and by extension, what Wear OS was. While Wear OS fans do have more options than Apple users do, it has drastically dwindled over the years, shrinking even further around the Wear OS 3 release. Now that we're losing Fossil, Android smartwatch users who want a Wear OS watch are down to three main choices: Samsung, Google, or Mobvoi. And the latter doesn't even have access to the Google Assistant on its newest smartwatch running Wear OS 3.5.

With the way things are going, Mobvoi may not be around much longer, either. This would make me very sad as I have been a fan of what the brand does for a long time. But even more so because, with only watches from prominent phone manufacturers to choose from, Wear OS would largely be a bad copy of what Apple has to offer. Sure, we'd have two choices remaining, but just barely. Though the exit of Fossil from Wear OS isn't entirely a shock, it is a stark reminder that unless you have a massive marketing budget and can give away your Wear OS smartwatches, life as an Android smartwatch maker can be a short one.

$262 $350 Save $88

The TicWatch Pro 5 is Mobvoi's most versatile smartwatch with newer features and software that makes it a really intriguing choice for your wrist. Its dual-layer display takes the concept a little further, making it easier to see and saving battery life.

The Google Pixel Watch 2 is the sequel to Google's first self-branded smartwatch. The second generation doesn't reinvent the wheel, instead offering a handful of low-key improvements like a redesigned digital crown, Wear OS 4 out of the box, and a newer chipset that should offer better performance and battery life.

$235 $300 Save $65

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 is surely one of the best Android watches available, especially if you are already in the Samsung ecosystem. With a sapphire crystal display, Exynos W930 processor, 2GB of RAM, and up to a 425mAh battery, this watch is built to be a solid performer.

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Fossil Wear OS watches are dead, and it's Google's fault - Android Police

Microsoft and Google delivered solid corporate earnings on Tuesday as the tech giants said demand for artificial intelligence services stoked revenue.

The tech titans have made big bets on generative AI, with their cloud computing divisions seeing a boost in demand as clients seek the hefty -- and more expensive - computing power that drives the technology.

Microsoft has moved the fastest and furthest into the AI space, investing in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and pushing AI across products while others chose to move more carefully.

The company said sales leaped to $62 billion for the October to December period, up 18 percent year-on-year and above the $61.1 billion projected by analysts.

The AI revolution has helped propel Microsoft past Apple as the world's biggest company by market capitalization at more than three trillion dollars in value. The company's share price is up a staggering 70 percent from a year ago.

"We've moved from talking about AI to applying AI at scale," said Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO of Microsoft.

Crucially, revenue for Microsoft's Azure cloud services jumped by 30 percent in the period, driven by the bigger computing needs that come with the adoption of AI.

Overall, Microsoft's cloud services sales were up by 24 percent, the company said.

"By infusing AI across every layer of our tech stack, we're winning new customers and helping drive new benefits and productivity gains across every sector," Nadella said.

Google also credited AI for boosting its profit in the same quarter.

Alphabet reported a profit of $20.7 billion on revenue of $86.3 billion, with strong contributions from video-sharing platform YouTube and its cloud computing unit.

Still mainly driven by ads, full-year revenue at Google reached $307.4 billion, up 8.7 percent from the previous 12 months.

Ads brought in a total of $65.5 billion in the quarter, compared with $59 billion in the same period the prior year.

While better than last year, this was lower than some market expectations and Google's share price was sharply lower in after hours trading on Wall Street.

But sales in Googles cloud-computing business climbed 26 percent, supporting the company's argument that it too is a major AI provider.

Google trails Microsoft and Amazon's AWS, which are the world's top providers of cloud computing services.

The search engine juggernaut has for years discreetly developed AI powers but was caught off guard when OpenAI in late 2022 released ChatGPT and teamed up with Microsoft to make its capabilities available to users worldwide.

Alphabet Chief Executive Sundar Pichai told an analyst call that his company's newly developed Gemini AI model would deliver new capabilities across all products for the company.

Matching moves by Microsoft with its office tools, Google has already infused its Google search engine as well as GMail and other tools with AIs powers.

Continued here:

Microsoft, Google ride AI wave as revenues surge - Napoleon Northwest Signal

Notifications from websites are a good idea in theory, but theyre abused incredibly often by sites that try to trick you into flipping on notifications just because theyre not easy to turn off. Google Chrome for Android, though, is working on a way to make it faster and easier to unsubscribe from website notifications.

As highlighted by Windows Report, Google Chrome is working on a new one tap notification unsubscribe option for its Android version. This would allow users to unsubscribe from a websites notification directly from the push notification in Android.

The short version is that Chrome notifications would show an unsubscribe button directly in Androids notification tray.

Google describes:

To improve user control over web push notifications displayed on behalf of websites, we rework the UX flow that stars with the user tapping the [Site Settings] button, which Chrome already places on each web push notification on mobile. Today, however, this flow then requires two additional taps and two context switches to complete.

We streamline this flow by replacing the [Site settings] button with an [Unsubscribe] button that revokes the permission from the given website (i.e. origin) in one tap, and instead offers an [Undo] action on the subsequently displayed confirmation notification, just in case the unsubscribe was accidental.

The functionality can be enabled now in the latest Chrome Canary releases under chrome://flags#notification-one-tap-unsubscribe. Its not entirely clear when this would be available in stable builds.

Notably, Google also offers an undo option that shows temporarily in the notification shade if you hit this button on accident, much like Gmail notifications do when you tap archive.

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Google Chrome is making it easier to unsubscribe from website notifications on Android - 9to5Google

The AI startup is one of the first companies to leverage Google Cloud's new TPU v5p

SUNNYVALE, Calif. and SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Essential AI and Google Cloud today announced a new multi-year partnership to simplify and scale the development of full-stack generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) products that will help empower enterprise users to make data-driven decisions. With Google Cloud as its preferred cloud provider, Essential AI can deliver enterprise-tailored large language models (LLMs) that can help increase business productivity by automating time-consuming and monotonous workflows.

"Delivering sophisticated gen AI models that meet the heightened needs of enterprise users requires extensive training periods and compute-heavy workloads," said Ashish Vaswani, CEO, Essential AI. "By partnering with Google Cloud, we will be able to provide the tools and capabilities companies need to make complex workloads more simple and less time consuming."

As part of the partnership, Essential AI will leverage Cloud TPU v5p to train its models. Cloud TPU v5p is Google Cloud's most powerful, scalable, and flexible AI accelerator and is optimized for large scale training. With Cloud TPU v5p, Essential AI will be able to train its LLMs faster and more efficiently to help organizations solve complex problems and make data-informed decisions.

Additionally, Essential AI will also build its LLMs on top of Google Cloud's global infrastructure and will use the company's best-in-class analytics tools including BigQuery, Looker, and Google Analytics to help train its models. These tools will help Essential AI's models better understand how its customers' data connects with their business goals, while delivering insights and metrics that are easy to understand.

"Google Cloud is committed to building the most open AI ecosystem in the industry, and our partnership with Essential AI underscores our shared vision to help organizations digitally transform with generative AI," said Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud. "With Google Cloud's integrated AI stack, Essential AI can more easily empower enterprises to address their complex business challenges and succeed in today's competitive landscape."

About Google CloudGoogle Cloud accelerates every organization's ability to digitally transform its business and industry. We deliver enterprise-grade solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology, and tools that help developers build more sustainably. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to enable growth and solve their most critical business problems.

SOURCE Google Cloud

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Essential AI Chooses Google Cloud to Power Enterprise Decision Making with Generative AI - PR Newswire

Google is expected to update its crypto advertising policy on Monday, with market observers speculating it could rope in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

Initially posted in December 2023, the policy revision will allow for crypto ads, specifically products dubbed Cryptocurrency Coin Trusts that let investors trade shares in trusts holding large pools of crypto.

The updates language has fuelled speculation on social media that the newly launched Bitcoin ETFs would be included in the revision.

Firms issue ETFs representing a basket of financial assets, like stocks or bonds. Those financial assets are held by custodians.

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Google did not immediately respond to DL News request for comment.

A lot has changed since Google last updated its crypto policy in 2018. Earlier this month, the US securities regulator greenlit 11 issuers to begin listing US spot Bitcoin ETFs.

If approved, Google could begin offering ETF issuers, including heavyweights BlackRock and Fidelity, a broader platform to advertise to new investors.

The internet giant has already enjoyed a hefty rise in ad-generated revenues.

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According to Googles latest earnings report, the tech giant generated roughly $76.6 billion in revenue in Q3, an 11% increase from the previous years $69 billion.

Total advertising revenue for Google, combining Search, YouTube and Network revenues, increased from $54.4 billion to $59.6 billion over the same period. Googles latest financial data is expected on Tuesday.

The California-based search giants relationship with crypto advertising over the years has been mixed.

In June 2018, Google banned crypto-related advertisements, including those for initial coin offerings, crypto exchanges, wallets, and any crypto trading advice.

The move was intended to shield investors from what Google viewed as predatory advertising to a susceptible class of retail investors at the time.

Advertisements for crypto exchanges and wallet services targeting the US market were again permitted in August 2021, provided they met certain conditions.

Those included registration with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network as a money services business and either state-level registration as a money transmitter or landing chartered-bank status.

Sebastian Sinclair is a markets correspondent for DL News. Have a tip? Contact Seb at sebastian@dlnews.com.

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New Google crypto policy to allow 'cryptocurrency coin trust' ads from today - DLNews

Googles new video generation AI model Lumiere uses a new diffusion model called Space-Time-U-Net, or STUNet, that figures out where things are in a video (space) and how they simultaneously move and change (time). Ars Technica reports this method lets Lumiere create the video in one process instead of putting smaller still frames together.

Lumiere starts with creating a base frame from the prompt. Then, it uses the STUNet framework to begin approximating where objects within that frame will move to create more frames that flow into each other, creating the appearance of seamless motion.Lumiere also generates 80 frames compared to 25 frames from Stable Video Diffusion.

Admittedly, I am more of a text reporter than a video person, but the sizzle reel Google published, along with a pre-print scientific paper, shows that AI video generation and editing tools have gone from uncanny valley to near realistic in just a few years. It also establishes Googles tech in the space already occupied by competitors like Runway, Stable Video Diffusion, or Metas Emu. Runway, one of the first mass-market text-to-video platforms, released Runway Gen-2 in March last year and has started to offer more realistic-looking videos.Runway videos also have a hard time portraying movement.

Google was kind enough to put clips and prompts on the Lumiere site, which let me put the same prompts through Runway for comparison. Here are the results:

Yes, some of the clips presented have a touch of artificiality, especially if you look closely at skin texture or if the scene is more atmospheric. But look at that turtle! It moves like a turtle actually would in water! It looks like a real turtle! I sent the Lumiere intro video to a friend who is a professional video editor. While she pointed out that you can clearly tell its not entirely real, she thought it was impressive that if I hadnt told her it was AI, she would think it was CGI. (She also said: Its going to take my job, isnt it?)

Other models stitch videos together from generated key frames where the movement already happened (think of drawings in a flip book), while STUNet lets Lumiere focus on the movement itself based on where the generated content should be at a given time in the video.

Google has not been a big player in the text-to-video category, but it has slowly released more advanced AI models and leaned into a more multimodal focus. Its Gemini large language model will eventually bring image generation to Bard. Lumiere is not yet available for testing, but it shows Googles capability to develop an AI video platform that is comparable to and arguably a bit better than generally available AI video generators like Runway and Pika. And just a reminder, this was where Google was with AI video two years ago.

Beyond text-to-video generation, Lumiere will also allow for image-to-video generation, stylized generation, which lets users make videos in a specific style, cinemagraphs that animate only a portion of a video, and inpainting to mask out an area of the video to change the color or pattern.

Googles Lumiere paper, though, noted that there is a risk of misuse for creating fake or harmful content with our technology, and we believe that it is crucial to develop and apply tools for detecting biases and malicious use cases to ensure a safe and fair use. The papers authors didnt explain how this can be achieved.

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Google's Lumiere brings AI video closer to real than unreal - The Verge

It would seem Google Assistant with Bard is closer than ever to arriving on some phones. Announced back at the yearly Google hardware event in October of 2023, the overhauled and AI-injected Assistant with Bard has been leaking out here and there, and this latest look (from the Pixel Tips app) shows off the new, hopefully more-capable Assistant in action. Check it out!

According to Mishaal Rahman on X, well only see Bard come to the aid of the ailing Assistant on a few phones to start; and likely in March. The publication date in the Pixel Tips app is set for March, so its a simple assumption that the earliest versions of Assistant with Bard will arrive with the March Pixel update. Additionally, it looks like well only see an initial availability on Pixel slab phones with Tensor inside. Sorry Pixel Tablet, Pixel Fold, Pixel 5 and earlier. No Bard for you all just yet.

Assistant with Bard has appeared a bit early in the Pixel Tips app, giving us another look at how the upcoming feature will work.

But it also reveals when it'll arrive and on what devices it'll be available on. This is early info and could be wrong, but here's what I found:

1) https://t.co/qIgSJ60WMl

But those restrictions at least the Tensor-specific parts will likely lift after some initial testing. If the Pixel 6 can handle Assistant with Bard, theres no reason devices like the Pixel Tablet and Pixel Fold cant do the same. When March rolls around, however, if you dont have a Pixel 6, Pixel 7 or Pixel 8 around, you are likely going to be left out of the initial phases.

As I said above, Im eager to see this all tested out by regular people. The Google Assistant has languished as a helpful, digital aid in the past year and its going to take a massive overhaul to convince users that they should even consider giving it a try again. While Bard (and Googles Gemini overall) has the ability to bring that vitality back, Im sure I speak for many users when I say that Ill be taking a slow, measured approach to actually using any digital assistant for more than simple tasks like driving directions moving forward.

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Here's Google Assistant with Bard in action - Chrome Unboxed

We spotted two weeks ago that Google might rebrand Assistant with Bard to just Bard. The company might not have decided on a new Assistant with Bard name yet as the latest version of the Google app introduces Gemini as a candidate.

About APK Insight: In this APK Insight post, weve decompiled the latest version of an application that Google uploaded to the Play Store. When we decompile these files (called APKs, in the case of Android apps), were able to see various lines of code within that hint at possible future features. Keep in mind that Google may or may not ever ship these features, and our interpretation of what they are may be imperfect. Well try to enable those that are closer to being finished, however, to show you how theyll look in case that they do ship. With that in mind, read on.

With the latest Google app beta (version 15.4.31.29) today, all strings and UIs that previously mentioned Bard previously Assistant with Bard now say Gemini.

Assistant with Bard, as announced in October with the Pixel 8, being rebranded to just Bard made some sense. It matches the Bard experience people are familiar with on the web, while Google Assistant gets to stay its own thing for the time being.

However, directly referring to a product by the model name is very strange. This apparently includes Bard Advanced which was officially announced in December being renamed to Gemini Advanced. As such, it would be something like: Gemini Advanced powered by Gemini Ultra.

What happens when Google comes up with a new Large Language Model (LLM)? Would the name of the product people actually use change every time?While Im not the biggest fan of the Bard name, people are familiar with it now and a rename feels counterintuitive to Googles momentum.

That being said, now before launch would be the time for Google to rename things. Whatever the case, we dont have the complete story yet.

Meanwhile, Google app 15.4 also reveals that YouTube Music will become a Bard Extension that you can invoke:

Thanks to JEB Decompiler, from which some APK Insight teardowns benefit.

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Google considering another Assistant with Bard name: Gemini - 9to5Google