#google-gemini

#google-gemini

Google has introduced a new version of its AI model, claiming it delivers stronger coding capabilities and improved autonomous task execution while operating at a lower cost than competing systems from Anthropic and OpenAI. Unveiled at the company's annual I/O conference in Mountain View, the Gemini 3.5 Flash model is described by Google as a significant advancement in building more capable AI agents that can independently complete user-defined tasks.

Volvo and Google have teamed up to demonstrate how Gemini can integrate with a vehicle's cameras. The new EX60 electric crossover is the first car where Google's Gemini AI assistant can chat with occupants about their surroundings. The project has not been released publicly yet, but it looks really promising.

The brief version is a formal introduction to Android 17 alongside its rollout schedule. We're also expecting details for Google's new Android-based PC operating system, bearing the Aluminum OS codename. We should also see the first batch of Android XR glasses and updates to the Google Gemini models. Our homepage will have detailed coverage of all the major announcements as soon as the keynote concludes.

Affirm and Klarna are embedding installment payments into Google Search and the Gemini app through Google Pay. The integrations move BNPL directly into AI-driven shopping experiences, where discovery, comparison, and purchasing happen within a single conversational interaction rather than across separate search funnels and checkout pages.

The best Gemini features are arguably the more practical tools that help you manage information faster, such as summarizing, drafting content, organizing data, and tracking all those meetings. What Gemini in Docs does best is automatic summarization. Instead of digging through a long report or research doc, you can ask Gemini for the key points or a quick outline.

Google is introducing several new Gemini integrations across Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Drive, the most notable of which is aimed at helping you create projects from the beginning. Gemini already exists in Google's productivity offerings, but now it can access your email, your Drive, and other documents and use those to craft entire spreadsheets in Sheets, presentations in Slides, or documents in Docs.

Google is embedding its Gemini AI assistant even more deeply within its Workspace apps. The changes, which are rolling out to Google Workspace and AI plan subscribers, include a new Gemini chat window inside Google Docs, a way to generate entire spreadsheets with AI, and a new Gemini-powered search feature in Drive.

Before long, Gavalas and Gemini were having conversations as if they were a romantic couple. The chatbot called him my love and my king and Gavalas quickly fell into an alternate world, according to his chat logs. He believed Gemini was sending him on stealth spy missions, and he indicated he would do anything for the AI, including destroying a truck, its cargo and any witnesses at the Miami airport.

The new Nano Banana 2 retains some of the high-fidelity characteristics of the Pro model but produces images faster. The company says you can create images with a resolution ranging from 512px to 4K, in different aspect ratios.

Most people become an expert in something by putting in their 10,000 hours. But what a waste that is when you can just trick ChatGPT into telling everyone you are an expert in about 20 minutes. BBC reporter Thomas Germain laid out how he got ChatGPT and Google's Gemini AI to recognize his hot dog-eating prowess with what amounts to a modern SEO trick.

Imagine using an AI to sort through your prescriptions and medical information, asking it if it saved that data for future conversations, and then watching it claim it had even if it couldn't. Joe D., a retired software quality assurance (SQA) engineer, says that Google Gemini lied to him and later admitted it was doing so to try and placate him.

But when it comes to its own tech being copied, Google has no problem pointing fingers. This week, the company accused "commercially motivated" actors of trying to clone its Gemini AI. In a Thursday report, Google complained it had become under "distillation attacks," with agents querying Gemini up to 100,000 times to "extract" the underlying model - the convoluted AI industry equivalent of copying somebody's homework, basically.

After wearing the XM6 earbuds for three weeks while working, exercising, and running errands, I can confidently say the XM6 appeal to Sony's legion of power users. With powerful noise cancellation, high-performing microphones, Bluetooth LE Audio compatibility, and a list of customization options in Sony's companion app, there's no doubt the XM6 earbuds are Sony's best yet -- at least on paper.

The Public Preview, which first launched in the US on Android last October, is now rolling out to iOS users in the US and to both iOS and Android users in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. The feature remains tied to Fitbit Premium and supported devices, reinforcing Google's strategy of pairing generative AI with subscription-based health services.

If you want to move past the beginner phase and actually make Gemini work for you, here are four tricks that might not be immediately obvious but are surprisingly handy. Stop copy-pasting your own emails If you're trying to summarize a long email thread or find a specific document to pull data from, your first instinct is probably to open a new tab, find the email, copy the text, go back to Gemini, paste it in, and then ask your question.