After experiencing a video call through Google’s Project Starline, the most impressive part of the demo was the ability to make meaningful eye contact.
Expand Expanding CloseGoogle’s Project Starline has a secret weapon – eye contact
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Kyle Bradshaw joined 9to5Google in 2018 with a special interest in Google’s Fuchsia OS, rooted in his experience of being the first to offer a visual preview of the revolutionary design of the in-development operating system. Since then, his attention has broadened to include the secrets hidden within other areas of Google’s public codebases.
By reading the public Fuchsia code, Kyle was able to prove the existence of the Nest Mini and the Nest Hub Max months ahead of their respective announcements. With evidence from Chromium, he reported on Google’s since-canceled efforts to create an offshoot of Android designed for “touchless” feature phones.
In 2018, Kyle reported on three distinct Made by Google Chromebooks in development, the Pixel Slate, the Pixelbook Go — a full year before its release — and “Meowth,” the original version of the Pixel Slate that was canceled due to Intel’s delays that year. For ChromeOS itself, Kyle was the first to demonstrate the upcoming light theme redesign in action.
Looking at the early evidence of the Pixel 5’s specs, Kyle accurately predicted in February 2020 that the Pixel 5 might not be a traditional “flagship” phone. In 2021, he reported that Google’s next headset would be the “Pixel Buds A.”
Kyle was the first to report that the Pixel 6 would mark the debut of Google’s in-house processors, later revealed to be the Tensor chips.
Kyle contributes to the APK Insight column at 9to5Google, discovering the hidden changes in Google’s apps. These efforts have revealed hotly anticipated features, details about upcoming devices, and unexpected connections between companies.
He can be reached for tips or just friendly chat by Threads, Mastodon, Bluesky, or email. If you’re looking for his other works or side projects, head over to Kyle’s personal portfolio.
After experiencing a video call through Google’s Project Starline, the most impressive part of the demo was the ability to make meaningful eye contact.
Expand Expanding CloseNotebookLM, Google’s free tool for using AI to study or ask questions about a specific set of information, is massively expanding across the globe and gaining new support for websites and Google Slides.
Expand Expanding CloseFor more than a year now, Google has made it clear that this is the company’s “Gemini era.” With what seems to be a Nest hardware renaissance on the horizon, where does Google’s smart home fit into the Gemini era?
Expand Expanding CloseGoogle is launching the first preview of Wear OS 5, which is set to significantly improve battery life for smartwatches.
Expand Expanding CloseGoogle is bringing its signature AI-assisted “Help Me Write” feature to the Chrome browser with help from Gemini Nano.
Expand Expanding CloseWhile there were quite a few exciting consumer announcements during Google’s annual conference, Google I/O has always been a developer-focused event. Here’s everything developers will want to know from Google I/O 2024.
Expand Expanding CloseAs part of the Google I/O 2024 pre-show, musical guest Marc Rebillet showcased Google’s MusicFX AI generation tool, incorporating it into his signature “Loop Daddy” style.
Expand Expanding CloseGoogle is upgrading NotebookLM, its AI tool for asking questions about a set of documents, with new “audio overviews” that generate a podcast-like discussion between two speakers.
Expand Expanding CloseGoogle is working to bring Spatial Audio to Chromebooks, enabling a more immersive listening experience.
Expand Expanding CloseSet to launch in the coming months, the new “App Mall” for ChromeOS is available now to preview (even if you’re not on a Chromebook).
Expand Expanding CloseIn an email going out to the apps’ users, Adobe has announced that it will soon be shutting down the Photoshop Mix and Photoshop Fix apps on Android.
Expand Expanding CloseOnce upon a time, Google had a cloud gaming platform with a handful of exclusive titles, many (but not all) of which have thankfully reappeared on other platforms. If you never got your chance to play Orcs Must Die! 3 on Google Stadia, you can now pick it up for free on the Epic Games Store.
Expand Expanding CloseNvidia has announced a simplified new way to install GeForce Now on the Steam Deck, opening the handheld to the service’s hundreds of streamable titles.
Expand Expanding CloseLast month, Google reworked the cards that appear at the top of your Discover feed. Now, the company is expanding what it calls “your space” with a new Shopping card to promote deals you may be interested in.
Expand Expanding CloseIn a bizarre set of posts, the official Google Play account on Twitter/X has shared a wildly inaccurate timeline of Sonic the Hedgehog designs over the years.
Expand Expanding CloseAfter years of defaulting to Google’s well-loved Roboto font, it seems the company is preparing to change ChromeOS to use a new default font in most cases.
Expand Expanding CloseWe’re just a few weeks away from Google I/O 2024, and the company has seemingly revealed that major updates are coming in the form of Wear OS 5 and a new version of Android TV.
Expand Expanding CloseThings are really heating up for Google’s 2024 hardware releases, and the hits keep coming. In the latest update to the Google Home app, our team has found evidence of a new Nest Audio speaker and, surprisingly, a new Nest Hub Max.
Expand Expanding CloseAhead of what is sure to be a busy year of hardware launches for Google, a new Wear OS-powered smartwatch has been listed with the FCC today, but it doesn’t seem to be the Pixel Watch 3.
Expand Expanding CloseLast week, Google announced that it would soon shut down the VPN service included with Google One. The company pointed to it only being used by a fraction of subscribers, and I wonder if part of that is due to a lack of consumer trust.
Expand Expanding CloseToday, Acer is showcasing its latest ChromeOS hardware, the Chromebook Plus 514, striking a strong balance between affordability, productivity, and portability.
Expand Expanding CloseGoogle Photos is preparing to replace the Library tab with a redesigned “Collections” page alongside a new way to filter out “clutter.”
Expand Expanding CloseFollowing rumors of a Pixel Tablet 2 in the works, Google appears to be readying a new “Look and Sign” feature to enable a new way to interact with the Google Assistant.
Expand Expanding CloseAccording to a new report, Google appears to be aligning its next foldable Android phone with the rest of this fall’s Pixel 9 lineup by branding it the “Pixel 9 Pro Fold.”
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