Former Activision studio Toys for Bob just announced a partnership with Xbox to release its first game after spinning off as an independent entity. The company, which developed recent entries in the Spyro the Dragon and Crash Bandicoot franchises, hasn’t released any concrete details about its upcoming release, except to say that it’s early in development and that the team has been working hard.
This is, of course, something of a homecoming for the developer. Activision is owned by Microsoft, making Toys for Bob its… former grandchild? In any event, it’s likely easy to get pitch meetings and the like with a company you’ve worked with in the past. Also, the developer has a fairly stellar pedigree, having created the Skylanders franchise and the well-reviewed Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, among others.
Toys for Bob spun out as an indie back in February after Microsoft instituted sweeping layoffs that impacted 86 employees, which was more than half of the staff. At the time, the company said the transition to an indie would allow it to return to “being a small and nimble studio.” This sentiment harkens back to its early days of the 1980s and 1990s, back when Toys for Bob was cranking out games like Star Control.
The developer also said back in February that Microsoft has “been extremely supportive of our new direction and we’re confident that we will continue to work closely together as part of our future.” It looks like it wasn’t lying about that last part.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/former-activision-studio-toys-for-bob-partners-with-xbox-to-publish-its-first-game-as-an-indie-170033303.html?src=rss
If you're on the hunt for an Apple Watch Ultra 2 deal, now is a good time to take the plunge — and not only because the wearable can be used as a dive watch. The device has dropped by $85 to $714 at Amazon. That's a discount of 11 percent, fact fans. The deal only applies to one certain variant, which has a titanium case and green/grey Trail Loop band, and only in a small/medium size (the larger option is $740). Still, that's a record low price for this particular option.
This is our pick for the best Apple Watch for adventurers. As noted, the rugged Apple Watch Ultra 2 can be used in the water, where it measures the temperature, dive duration and gauge up to 40 meters of depth. On terra firma, dual-frequency GPS support means that you should see more accurate pace calculations and route tracking than with other Apple wearables. When you're out in the wild, you can set waypoints in the Compass app to help you find your way back to your starting point, while an onboard siren could help others find you if you need help.
Meanwhile, you can set up the action button to carry out more or less any function you want when you push it. The battery should run for around 36 hours before it needs to be recharged and the low-power mode can help extend that timeframe. As with the Apple Watch Series 9, the S9 SiP (system in package) supports on-device Siri processing and the double tap function for hands-free use.
Apple is working on a version of its Siri voice assistant that will use advanced AI powered by large language models (LLMs), Bloomberg has reported. The technology will allow users to perform specific app functions with their voices, such as opening documents, sending emails and more.
The new version of Siri will only work on Apple's own apps to start with. It won't arrive with iOS 18 but may be released subsequently as an update early next year, the report states.
The assistant will be able to analyze your phone's activity and automatically enable Siri-controlled features. It'll support "hundreds" of commands but will only be able to process one at a time at first, according to the article. Later, Siri will support multiple tasks in a single request.
At first, supported commands would include sending or deleting emails, opening a specific site in Apple News, emailing a web link or asking for an article summary. Once multiple commands are enabled, it'll be able to summarize a recorded meeting then text it to a colleague, all in one request. "Or, an iPhone could theoretically be asked to crop a picture and then email it to a friend," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman wrote.
It's unclear which LLM Apple will use to power this version of Siri, but the company reportedly just reached a deal with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into iOS 18. At the same time, Apple may also be negotiating with Google to integrate Gemini AI into search on iPhones. Apple will reportedly handle many AI requests on-device, while using the cloud for more complex commands.
Apple is expected to focus on AI for its WWDC 2024 conference that runs from June 10 to June 14. At that point, it may reveal that it reached a deal with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into iOS 18. We may also see AI-powered features like voice memo transcriptions and summaries, website recaps, automated message replies and more.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-is-reportedly-overhauling-siri-with-ai-for-improved-voice-controls-120033411.html?src=rss
Liz Reid, head of Google Search, has admitted the company’s search engine has returned some “odd, inaccurate or unhelpful AI Overviews” after the feature rolled out to everyone in the US.
The executive’s explanation outlined some new safeguards to help the new feature return more accurate (and less funny) results. Some of the worst AI Overview results doing the rounds were apparently faked, but the glue-on-pizza example was real, as was the viral answer to how many rocks you should be eating. Also real. Reid said Google came up with an answer because it had tapped into a comedy satire site.
The issue for Google is this could erode trust in the search engine’s results and accuracy. Reid said the company tested the feature extensively before launch, but “there’s nothing quite like having millions of people using the feature with many novel searches.” Maybe it needed a little more testing first.
It’s been a long time since we had a first-person shooter from a PlayStation studio. Finally, Firewalk Studios’ Concord has broken cover. Firewalk says it focused on tight movement, precise gunplay and a range of abilities — just as you might expect from a studio led by former Destiny developers. It’s a five vs. five hero shooter, suggesting comparisons to Overwatch 2 — now a Microsoft-owned title. Expect 16 heroes, six game modes and some cinematic scenes between all the fighting. It’s coming to PS5 and PC on August 23, with a beta in July.
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is right around the corner. Expect the company to reveal some of the main features of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, as well as what’s ahead for the likes of watchOS, macOS and visionOS at WWDC 2024. Expect all kinds of generative AI tricks — hopefully even some compelling ones. I’d appreciate more photo-fill features to match Google’s efforts on Android. It seems unlikely we’ll get any major hardware announcements at the event, but you never truly know until Tim Cook wraps things up — maybe we’ll get a next-gen Vision Pro VR headset.
‘ThreadsDeck’ makes Threads on the web much more usable.
Meta is rolling out a new TweetDeck-like column view to all Threads users after it started testing the feature earlier this month. The new look, which some Threads users have nicknamed ThreadsDeck, allows you to pin up to 100 feeds to the Threads home page. Each column can also be set to auto-update. Yeah, it’s TweetDeck but Threads. And you can more easily hide Threads’ trashy for-you feed. At least, mine is particularly trashy. Perhaps I’m the problem.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-google-tightens-up-its-ai-overview-feature-after-suggesting-glue-on-a-pizza-111502061.html?src=rss
Liz Reid, head of Google Search, has admitted the company’s search engine has returned some “odd, inaccurate or unhelpful AI Overviews” after the feature rolled out to everyone in the US.
The executive’s explanation outlined some new safeguards to help the new feature return more accurate (and less funny) results. Some of the worst AI Overview results doing the rounds were apparently faked, but the glue-on-pizza example was real, as was the viral answer to how many rocks should I eat? Also real. Reid said Google came up with an answer because it had tapped into a comedy satire site.
The issue for Google is this could erode trust in the search engine’s results and accuracy. Reid said the company tested the feature extensively before launch, but “there’s nothing quite like having millions of people using the feature with many novel searches.” Maybe it needed a little more testing first.
It’s been a long time since we had a first-person shooter from a PlayStation studio. Finally, Firewalk Studios’ Concord has broken cover. Firewalk says it focused on tight movement, precise gunplay and a range of abilities — just as you might expect from a studio led by former Destiny developers. It’s a five vs. five hero shooter, suggesting comparisons to Overwatch 2 — now a Microsoft-owned title. Expect 16 heroes, six game modes and some cinematic scenes between all the fighting. It’s coming to PS5 and PC on August 23, with a beta in July.
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is right around the corner. Expect the company to reveal some of the main features of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, as well as what’s ahead for the likes of watchOS, macOS and visionOS at WWDC 2024. Expect all kinds of generative AI tricks — hopefully even some compelling ones. I’d appreciate more photo-fill features to match Google’s efforts on Android. It seems unlikely we’ll get any major hardware announcements at the event, but you never truly know until Tim Cook wraps things up — maybe we’ll get a next-gen Vision Pro VR headset.
‘ThreadsDeck’ makes Threads on the web much more usable.
Meta is rolling out a new TweetDeck-like column view to all Threads users after it started testing the feature earlier this month. The new look, which some Threads users have nicknamed ThreadsDeck, allows you to pin up to 100 feeds to the Threads home page. Each column can also be set to auto-update. Yeah, it’s TweetDeck but Threads. And you can more easily hide Threads’ trashy for-you feed. At least, mine is particularly trashy. Perhaps I’m the problem.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-google-tightens-its-ai-overview-feature-after-suggesting-glue-on-a-pizza-111502685.html?src=rss
Liz Reid, the Head of Google Search, has admitted that the company's search engine has returned some "odd, inaccurate or unhelpful AI Overviews" after they rolled out to everyone in the US. The executive published an explanation for Google's more peculiar AI-generated responses in a blog post, where it also announced that the company has implemented safeguards that will help the new feature return more accurate and less meme-worthy results.
Reid defended Google and pointed out that some of the more egregious AI Overview responses going around, such as claims that it's safe to leave dogs in cars, are fake. The viral screenshot showing the answer to "How many rocks should I eat?" is real, but she said that Google came up with an answer because a website published a satirical content tackling the topic. "Prior to these screenshots going viral, practically no one asked Google that question," she explained, so the company's AI linked to that website.
The Google VP also confirmed that AI Overview told people to use glue to get cheese to stick to pizza based on content taken from a forum. She said forums typically provide "authentic, first-hand information," but they could also lead to "less-than-helpful advice." The executive didn't mention the other viral AI Overview answers going around, but as The Washington Post reports, the technology also told users that Barack Obama was Muslim and that people should drink plenty of urine to help them pass a kidney stone.
Reid said the company tested the feature extensively before launch, but "there’s nothing quite like having millions of people using the feature with many novel searches." Google was apparently able to determine patterns wherein its AI technology didn't get things right by looking at examples of its responses over the past couple of weeks. It has then put protections in place based on its observations, starting by tweaking its AI to be able to better detect humor and satire content. It has also updated its systems to limit the addition of user-generated replies in Overviews, such as social media and forum posts, which could give people misleading or even harmful advice. In addition, it has also "added triggering restrictions for queries where AI Overviews were not proving to be as helpful" and has stopped showing AI-generated replies for certain health topics.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-is-putting-more-restrictions-on-ai-overviews-after-it-told-people-to-put-glue-on-pizza-011316780.html?src=rss
It'll soon be Apple's turn to talk about its next major operating system updates, giving developers a chance to get their apps ready ahead of a broad rollout this fall. The company's Worldwide Developers Conference is right around the corner. Apple is sure to reveal some of the main features of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, as well as what's ahead for the likes of watchOS, macOS and visionOS at WWDC 2024.
Given the current tech climate, though, it seems likely that Apple is about to follow its rivals by making a big leap into the realm of generative AI. That could be a major focus of the keynote, since those are the only two letters investors seem to give a hoot about hearing these days.
The Apple rumor mill never stops churning, so we've heard some bits and pieces about what WWDC will perhaps entail. It seems unlikely that we'll get any major hardware announcements at the event, but you never truly know until Tim Cook wraps things up. After all, we did see the Apple Vision Pro make its first appearance at the last WWDC.
In any case, here's what to expect from Apple's WWDC 2024 keynote:
When is WWDC 2024?
WWDC 2024 starts on June 10 and runs through June 14. There will be a variety of events throughout the week, but the bulk of the attention will be on Apple's keynote which is set for 1PM ET on June 10. You'll be able to watch the keynote on apple.com, the Apple Developer app, the Apple TV app and Apple's YouTube channel.
The keynote is where Apple tends to reveal many of the key features for the next major versions of its main operating systems: iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and most likely visionOS. Apple has also used the WWDC keynote to unveil new hardware over the years, though we expect that to be less of a concern this time around.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
AI
Even though Apple has largely shied away from uttering "AI" too often during its events, there's no getting away from the big tech buzzword of the last two years. Generative AI is quickly seeping into more aspects of our lives and Apple seems primed to grab a piece of that pie.
It's believed that Apple doesn't yet have its own AI chatbot that's ready for primetime. While it continues to beaver away on that, the company has reportedly reached a deal with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into iOS 18. According toBloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is still interested in reaching an agreement with Google to offer that company's Gemini AI assistant on iPhones too, but that may not happen until further down the line. Siri, meanwhile, is expected to get an upgrade across compatible devices using Apple’s own large language models.
Apple's approach to generative AI in both iOS 18 and macOS 15 is said to be a practical one that's based on helping regular folk in their everyday lives rather than letting them, say, quickly generate long reams of text they can sell as ebooks for a quick buck. Instead, you're more likely to see GAI features like suggested email and message replies, TL;DR text summaries, voice memo transcriptions (finally!) and improved photo touchup tools in core apps.
Apple is expected to handle as much of the AI processing on-device as it can, with the remainder being sent to data centers. That raises questions about how Apple will ensure user privacy, one of the company's core tenets. It will have to spell out how it's keeping user information secure as it moves between the device and a data center.
Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget
iOS 18 / iPadOS 18
As ever, new features are coming to a swathe of iOS and iPadOS apps. Arguably the most notable is the expected introduction of RCS to Messages.
GMSA's RCS, or Rich Communications Service, is a more advanced messaging protocol than the three-decade-old SMS. RCS is more secure than old-school SMS, since it offers end-to-end encryption. It allows for improved media sharing, with high-resolution images, video and audio clips. RCS allows for proper group chats and it supports Wi-Fi messaging too.
And yet for years, Apple refused to bring RCS to its platform — something Google had long been needling it to do — to keep iMessage more of a walled garden. Of course, iMessage itself has many of the same features as RCS. At one point, Apple CEO Tim Cook's response to someone who asked for improved Android texting compatibility so they could share videos with their mother was to "buy your mom an iPhone."
Apple eventually relented on its RCS stance last year, possibly to ensure it complies with strict EU regulations. The company said it would enable RCS support in 2024, so it makes sense that this feature would debut in iOS 18. That means messaging between iOS and Android should be much better in the near future (even if texts from Android devices will still appear as green bubbles on an iPhone). Meanwhile, Google just started allowing Android users to edit RCS messages within a 15-minute window of sending them.
Gurman also noted that Apple is likely to support custom emoji generation based on what you're writing in text messages. It seems that you'll also be able to change the colors of app icons on your home screen and no longer have to keep apps locked to a rigid grid system.
Apple Music may gain an auto-generated playlist feature, following an OpenAI-powered tool that Spotify rolled out in 2023. Custom routes and topographic maps (which debuted on Apple Watch last year) are said to be on the way to Apple Maps. In addition, Apple is rumored to be adding a voice-recording tool to Notes, which would dovetail nicely with the expected transcription function, as well as the option to display mathematical notation.
Other core apps are reportedly in line for some changes, such as generative AI functions in productivity apps like Keynote and Pages. Others like Mail, Fitness and Health are also expected to get new features, but the details haven't been leaked as yet.
Calculator
This long-expected update deserves its own section. That's right, the Calculator app is said to be getting a major overhaul on iPhone and Mac. Snarkiness aside, the revamp actually sounds like it'll be useful, with Notes app integration, improved unit conversions and a sidebar listing recent activity. The app is also said to be coming to iPadOS.
Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
macOS 15
Let's take a wild guess out of the gate here and declare that Apple will name the next version of macOS after a notable location in California. In all seriousness, that would be the least shocking thing Apple could possibly do on the keynote stage.
Many of the iOS app updates are expected to be replicated in macOS 15, such as the Apple Music, Notes and productivity changes. Rumors suggest that Apple is reorganizing the System Settings app based on importance and priority of the various categories, so the General tab is likely to be bumped up while Sound and Notifications are expected to drop down the list.
Elsewhere, Siri's menu bar icon may get a new look with a flat monochrome design expected to supplant the current colorful version. There may be some welcome accessibility upgrades too, such as a Shortcuts option that allows users to trigger a certain setting or action using a custom spoken phrase.
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
Apple hardware
Last year's WWDC was a hardware bonanza, with Apple finally announcing the Vision Pro along with the 15-inch MacBook Air and the M2 Ultra-powered Mac Pro and Mac Studio. We're not expecting much from Apple on the hardware front this time around, though.
The company just updated its iPad lineup and it's likely a little too early for any new laptops given the MacBook Pro and iMac updates in October and MacBook Air refreshes in March. Of course, iPhones will remain under wraps until September, as will the next Apple Watches. However, Apple may take the opportunity to slot its M3 or even M4 chips into its other desktop systems, which remain mired in the M2 generation.
We could see some refreshed peripherals and other devices too. There's always the possibility that Apple will unveil an (official) version of the AirPods Max with a USB-C charging port.
Back in January 2023, Gurman reported that a new Apple TV box would arrive in the first half of 2024. There's still just enough time for that to happen. There's a possibility that Apple may add a camera to the Apple TV as well. In that case, there'd be no need to use an iPhone or iPad for FaceTime chats on the biggest screen in your home.
Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
Apple Vision Pro
One thing we are expecting on the hardware side is for Apple to reveal where the Vision Pro is going next. Until now, the headset has only been available in the US. That's probably going to change in the coming weeks and months. Multiple reports have suggested that the next phase of the rollout will include Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and the UK. However, there hasn't been much in terms of visionOS 2 leaks so far, so it's unclear what kind of updates the mixed reality operating system will get.
Everything else
The rumor mill has been quiet about watchOS updates too. There will surely be some notable changes to Apple's wearable operating system, but we could be in for a relatively minor iteration of watchOS after last year's massive overhaul.
It's rare that tvOS gets much love during an Apple keynote, but it's bound to get an update that we'll learn about at some point during WWDC. You might have to wait until the Platforms State of the Union event at 4PM ET for the scoop. The same goes for CarPlay and HomePod.
Bear in mind, none of this is certain until the likes of Cook, Craig Federighi et al hit the WWDC keynote stage and start discussing what's next for Apple's products and services. But based on the reporting of several Apple-focused journalists with a strong track record of getting things right, we do expect to hear about many of the above updates and announcements.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-wwdc-2024-what-to-expect-including-ios-18-ai-and-more-195802569.html?src=rss
Apple has just announced that its WWDC 2024 keynote is scheduled for 10AM PT/1PM ET on June 10 at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. The remaining festivities for the 35th edition of WWDC will run through to June 14, online and free for developers to attend.
What should we expect at this year’s keynote? WWDC is typically a software-centric event, so we might hear some details on the work Apple has been doing around AI over the last year or so. Other reports indicate that Apple will show off a suite of upcoming updates, including iOS 18, iPadOS 18, tvOS 18, macOS 15 and watchOS 11, according to MacRumors. It’s also likely the company will reveal the next operating system for the recently-released Apple Vision Pro headset, visionOS 2.
It’s even possible we’ll get some new hardware announcements. Though typically software-adjacent, last year’s WWDC was chock full of product announcements, from the aforementioned Vision Pro to the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air. The Mac Mini has been missing from recent product refreshes, so maybe the company will announce an M3-based update.
As for the new software, there have been plenty of rumors regarding iOS 18. It has been reported that Apple might integrate Google’s Gemini AI with Siri and various iPhone apps. Check the suspicious capitalization of "Absolutely Incredible" in the above post from Apple's VP of worldwide marketing Brad Joswiak for a winking acknowledgement of the move. It’s also been suggested that the smartphone software will allow users to place apps anywhere on the home screen grid and will offer RCS support in the Messages app, along with the usual array of design changes.
The keynote event will be available on the Apple Developer app, the Apple website and YouTube. The company is also inviting 50 winners of its annual Swift Student Challenge to attend WWDC in person.
Update, May 28, 1:15PM: This story was updated after its original March 26 publishing to include the time of Apple's WWDC 2024 keynote.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-wwdc-2024-keynote-is-scheduled-for-june-10-at-1pm-et-180558382.html?src=rss
Microsoft is banking on the debut of a new Call of Duty title on its subscription service leading to a significant bump in the number of Game Pass members. It's a bit of a gamble, as for nearly every year in recent memory, the latest Call of Duty release has been the best-selling game. Microsoft is likely to see lower direct sales of Black Ops 6 on Xbox and PC, though it will still generate revenue from Game Pass and the PlayStation version (and perhaps even a Nintendo Switch release), as well as through microtransactions.
Meanwhile, Microsoft released a live-action trailer for Black Ops 6. It features depictions of Bill Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, George H. W. Bush and Saddam Hussein, lending credence to rumors that the next Call of Duty game will be set during the Gulf War. We'll find out much more about Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 during a showcase that take place immediately after a broader Xbox event on June 9.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/call-of-duty-black-ops-6-is-coming-to-xbox-game-pass-on-its-release-day-142823681.html?src=rss
Two weeks ago, Google announced a slew of new AI-powered features at its I/O developer conference. Microsoft followed suit last week with the introduction of its Copilot+ PCs that have, you guessed it, a slew of new AI-powered features. Somewhat predictably, Google is announcing its answer to the Copilot+ PC initiative with… the humble Chromebook. The Chromebook Plus line that it first announced last October, to be specific. When Google first announced Chromebook Plus, it focused on a combination of higher-performance hardware as well as some modest AI software features compared to what you’d get on regular Chromebooks.
Now, however, Google is delivering on what it first announced: Chromebook Plus models are getting a host of features that Google first teased last year as well as some new ones we haven’t heard about before.
Google
AI features
For starters, the “help me write” feature Google soft-launched earlier this year is now available on all Chromebook Plus laptops. This should work across any text entry field you find on a website, whether that’s a Google product like Gmail or a site like Facebook. You can use it to get a prompt, or have it analyze what you’ve already written to make it more formal, or more funny (though Google did admit the jury’s out on whether AI can actually be funny). Basically it’s a generative text tool that you can use across the web. It’s not surprising to see it show up in Chromebooks, as Google said you could turn it on in Chrome for Windows and Mac back in February. But Google says that it's being implemented at the OS level on Chromebooks so that you can use it outside the browser
The next feature is another one Google announced last fall, and it’s purely for fun. A built-in image generator will enable you to generate wallpaper and video call backgrounds by typing in a prompt. It’s not at all dissimilar to what you’d do with other image generators, though I can’t yet say how fast it works or how well it sticks to what you ask it for. Google is including a few prompts for you to try or customize to get you started.
Google
The last update is that the Magic Editor in Google Photos is coming to laptops exclusively as a feature for Chromebook Plus devices. First available on Google’s Pixel devices, Magic Editor was part of the Google One subscription plan for a while, but now it’s more broadly available provided your phone meets the minimum specs. As for laptops, though, Chromebook Plus models are the only ones that can use Magic Editor. The reasoning seems pretty simple: Chromebooks can run Android apps, including Google Photos.
Google
Still, if you’ve wanted to mess around with Magic Editor on a bigger screen than your phone, doing so on a Chromebook seems like a decent option. As a refresher, Magic Editor basically lets you manipulate your photos in a variety of ways to change the reality of what you captured, but much faster and easier than using something like Photoshop. You can select people or objects to move them around, have the app turn a cloudy sky blue, resize or delete other objects and generally make it even harder to trust that photos you create or share are authentic.
Unsurprisingly, Google is also baking its Gemini chatbot more directly into Chromebooks by having the app pre-installed and sitting right on the launcher. More significant though is that Google is giving Chromebook Plus buyers a full year of its Google One AI Premium plan, which puts Gemini features right in Gmail, Docs and other Workplace apps. It also includes access to Gemini Advanced, which adds support for things like uploading documents for analysis and access to Gemini Pro 1.5 and its 1 million token context window (which Google said would grow to 2 million tokens soon).
Given that the Google One AI plan costs $20 a month, double the standard pricing for the 2TB storage plan, this is a pretty good perk for Chromebook Plus buyers, even if they don’t care about using Gemini. And it sounds like even if you already subscribe to another Google One plan, you'll be able to get the year of Google One's AI option.
Smaller tweaks
There are also a number of new software tweaks coming to all Chromebooks too. Probably most notable is Game Dashboard, a sort of control center for gaming-related activities. While most Chromebooks still can’t run a lot of games, there are more options now between cloud gaming services like GeForce Now and Android titles. Indeed, Google said that 25 percent of Chromebook owners use them for games, and they’ve seen a 40 percent year-over-year increase in the number of people gaming on a Chromebook.
Google
Game Dashboard has a handful of features, but the most notable one is a comprehensive key-mapping system. This lets you take games that are designed for a controller or touch screen and map their buttons to various keys on your laptop. For Android games with specific swiping patterns, you’ll be able to say pressing a key is the same as doing a certain swipe in a certain direction.
It also provides one-click recording — that’ll start recording both your gameplay as well as a view of you playing via the laptop’s webcam, if you want to be in the video. And you can quickly upload to various services like YouTube or Discord from the Game Dashboard, as well. This feature is exclusive to Chromebook Plus, at least for now.
Google
Other new features include Google Tasks integration into the menu bar — there’s already a calendar widget that shows you your upcoming appointments there, and now it’ll also show you items from your Tasks list, making it a solid one-top look at what’s coming in your day. The screen recorder can now generate GIFs, something we all want to be able to do at any time. And you can set up an Android phone via your Chromebook now, as well. If you scan a QR code on your Chromebook with the phone you’re setting up, your Google account and Wi-Fi info will all sync over.
Future updates
It doesn’t stop there, though. Google also announced a bunch of forthcoming software features to look forward to, just like they did last fall. I appreciate the little sneak peak at what’s coming, and since Google is indeed delivering on what they showed in October I feel confident we’ll see most of these sooner or later.
Chief among them is Google’s Gemini-powered “help me read” feature. As the name suggests, it’ll offer summaries of web pages, documents or PDFs, and you’ll be able to ask follow-up questions. Of course, your results may vary on how useful this all is. Google’s also working on an AI-powered overview screen that’ll pop up when you open your laptop — rather than throw you back into the dozens of tabs you have, it’ll try and organize and show you the apps and pages you have open so you can decide where you want to go from there. It’ll also take into account things you’re doing on Chrome on other devices, so if you’ve been reading on your phone you can jump back in on your laptop.
Google
In the same vein, there’s a new focus tool that combines Google Tasks and YouTube Music with a count-down timer. You can basically pick an urgent task, a playlist and a timer and you’ll go into do not disturb mode while you crank away on what you’re supposed to be doing. Not exactly a game-changer, but it’s kind of clever.
Google
Perhaps most interesting is a new accessibility feature based on the hands-free “Project Gameface” tool it showed off at I/O in 2023 and 2024. Google says it’s building Gameface right into ChromeOS, which will use face and gesture tracking to help people do things on their computer without a keyboard or mouse. It’s “early” in the project’s timeline, so I don’t think we’ll see this six months from now, but it’s definitely an important feature that could make Chromebooks a lot more useful for more people.
Google
Of course, Google and its hardware partners are launching a slew of new Chromebook Plus devices to go along with all of this — you can read about the new hardware here. As for the software, everything should start rolling out today, aside from all of the stuff Google is promising for a later date.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-is-bringing-a-slew-of-ai-powered-software-features-to-chromebook-plus-laptops-130049652.html?src=rss
