Newsletter
UPDATE (May 15, 2024): Following yesterday’s Google I/O keynote and its announcements, Google just released Android 15 Beta 2, and announced some new changes/features that Android 15 will bring. Remember, Google I/O is a two-day affair now. This article has been updated accordingly. Android 15 changes follow announcements from Google I/O keynote.
The Google I/O 2024 keynote is behind us, and Google had plenty to say during the show. The keynote lasted around two hours, and Android was just a tiny portion of it. Google said it will talk more about Android on May 15, which happened today. Android 15 Beta 2 dropped, along with belonging information. You’ll find two separated sections below, one for Google I/O keynote (from May 14), and another for Android-related information that popped up on May 15 along with Android 15 Beta 2.
Google I/O keynote
During the keynote, Google talked a lot, as it mentioned AI 121 times. This didn’t really surprise anyone, but what did surprise people is the fact Google actually counted and shared the info at the very end of the keynote. The company’s CEO even joked about it, as he knew someone out there was keeping count. In any case, let’s just jump straight into it. We’ll cover new Google I/O 2024 announcements here, briefly, and link to dedicated articles where needed.
Google Photos search getting smarter thanks to ‘Ask Photos’
Google has announced a new feature for Google Photos during the keynote, the ‘Ask Photos’ feature. This feature will basically help you find images with far more precision. AI will be a part of it, and it should make the search function on Google Photos far more useful. The option will be pinned down to the bottom bar, and the results won’t be based only on the location where the photos were taken. Gemini will use its judgment to show you what’s relevant.
AI Overviews coming to a billion people
The AI Overviews feature will become available to a billion people in Google Search by the end of 2024. AI Overviews, for those of you who don’t know, have been known as the ‘Search Generative Experience’. The feature is coming to users in the US, and will soon roll out to the rest of the world. You’ll be able to see an AI-generated s ummary at the top of many of the search results you get.
Gemini AI features coming to Gmail
Google is bringing Gemini AI features to Gmail, making the service smarter. The company announced a trio of features is coming. The ‘Summarize’ feature will be able to summarize longer threads. The ‘Gmail Q&A’ feature is also coming to make sense of emails and help out. While ‘Contextual Smart Replies’ will look through emails and provide more customized and detailed suggestions.
Gemini is coming to NotebookLM
Gemini AI is also coming to NotebookLM. It will be able to generate audio discussions based on text material. It will allows students to join the session in order to grab examples pertaining to the course content. In other words, students will get a truly interactive learning tool with this integration.
Gemini 1.5 Pro improved & expanded
Google announced that it has both improved and expanded Gemini 1.5 Pro. It has now expanded to 1 million tokens to all developers, globally. It’s now available with Gemini Advanced in 35+ languages. The company is also expanding the number of tokens to 2 million, but in a private preview to developers. Gemini 1.5 Pro is also getting injected into Google Workspace, as it’s now available in Labs.
Gemini 1.5 Flash, a trimmed-down Gemini
In addition to talking about Gemini 1.5 Pro, the company also announced the Gemini 1.5 Flash. This is basically a lighter-weight model of Gemini 1.5 Pro, as Google referred to it. It’s optimized for tasks “where low latency and cost matter most”. Developers can use it starting today with up to 1 million tokens in Google AI Studio and Vertex AI.
Project Astra, probably the coolest demo we’ve seen today
Google managed to surprise many with its demo of ‘Project Astra’. This is basically Google’s new project in which it utilizes the camera interface and combines it with Gemini AI in order to create AI with eyes, kind of. In the demo Google shared, the person was able to converse with Gemini AI while walking around with the camera UI and pointing it at things. The person was able to mark down some items and ask questions about them, or get other answers based on what’s in the viewfinder. It’s kind of Google’s competition for GPT-4o.
Imagen 3, the most advanced image generation model yet
As part of Google I/O 2024 keynote, Google also announced Imagen 3. That is Google DeepMind’s “most capable image generation model yet”. It is able to understand the way people wirte, and create more photorealistic images, says Google. The company said that it “produces visuals with incredible detail, realistic lighting and fewer distracting artifacts”.
Music AI Sandbox, simplifying music creation
Google wants to help artists create music, and that’s what Music AI Sandbox is here for. The company partnered up with some creators from YouTube in order to demo how this will work. Creators can request specific patterns to be provided for them, in a specific way, as a tool to help them create music. Based on the demo, it works really well. Google also says that it worked “closely with musicians, songwriters and producers” in order to make this happen.
Veo, a new generative video model
This is also a part of the Google DeepMind announcement. It allows users to create and edit HQ videos with use of a text, image, or a video prompt. It allows for video creation of over 60 seconds in different visual styles. When we say high-quality, we mean 1080p clips, just to be accurate. Here’s an example.
Gemini-boosted Google Search
Google has also announced boost for Google Search, thanks to Gemini AI, of course. Google will soon bring “multi-step reasoning capabilities” to Google Search. It will essentially be able to break down your questions into parts and figure out what problems to solve. Google says that this could enable you to save a lot of time on research. The company also announced that you’ll soon be able to ask questions with video, right in Google Search.
Improved communication between Workspace apps
Google has announced that it’s boosting communication between Workspace apps, apps like Gmail, Docs, and Calendar. Gemini for Workspace will make things even better, as it will be, for example, able to recognize a receipt in Gmail, and allow you to organize it in Drive and Sheets. That’s just one example of a quick jump to another Workspace app. Gemini will also be able to analyze your expenses in Sheets, for example, and so on. There are a lot of possibilities.
Gemini ‘Gems’, a way to get customized AI
Google will offer you the ability to customize Gemini AI, basically. This feature is coming “in the coming months”, and it will enable you to interact with Gemini in a specific way. Google is calling this ‘Gems’. You’ll be able to customize Gemini with personalities and abilities. For example, you’ll be able to make it to be an upbeat gym buddy if you ask it to, or a deep-voiced friend. Those are just some examples.
Android is getting a full dose of Gemini
As you’ve noticed thus far, Gemini AI is the name of the game. Android is getting its fair share. Google will start injecting Gemini straight into Android with Android 15. That will help Android become “more helpful and context-aware”. It will enable apps to be more useful as well. Google also said that later this year, you’ll be able to drag-and-drop generated images into Google Messages and Gmail, and also ask questions about specific YouTube videos and PDFs.
Gemini Nano & Android
Google says that, thanks to Gemini Nano, Android will be able to warn you in the middle of a call if it ends up spotting suspicious activity. Furthermore, Android’s accessibility feature, TalkBack, will also get improved thanks to Gemini Nano. How? Well, you’ll get “clearer and richer” image descriptions.
SynthID for video
Some of you may recall SynthID which Google announced last year. That feature basically adds imperceptible watermarks to AI-generated images and audio. The same will be happening with video content too, as Google is expanding the functionality of SynthID. This will include Google’s ‘Veo’ model, of course.
LearnLM, “fine-tuned for learning”
Google announced ‘LearnLM’, a family of models based on Gemini. The company says that these models are “fine-tuned for learning”, as LearnLM “applies educational research” in order to make Google’s products like Search and YouTube more personal, active, and engaging. Google also mentioned that the new Learning coach Gem is using LearnLM in order to provide ‘step-by-step study guidance’. This feature is going to become available “in the coming months”.
Android 15 Beta 2 & related Android information
Android 15 Beta 2 dropped on May 15, and so did the embargoed information related to it. Google is having an Android session today at Google I/O, but considering that a live stream is not available, the company released the information on the side. A video from that session will become available tomorrow (May 16), for those of you who are interested. You’ll be able to access it from this link. In regards to Android 15 Beta 2 availability for Pixel phones, here’s a list: Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 6a, Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 7a, Pixel Tablet, Pixel Fold, Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro.
Android 15 beta is no longer Pixel-exclusive
Google is not the only company that will be releasing beta builds from this point on. Google announced that it partnered with a number of Android OEMs in order to spread the Android 15 beta love. Those brands include HONOR, iQOO, Lenovo, Nothing, OnePlus, OPPO, Realme, Sharp, Tecno, Vivo, and Xiaomi. This is great news for those OEMs, as they’ll get the chance to optimize their devices ahead of time. That, in turn, should ensure that we get more stable Android builds.
Private space creation
Android 15 Beta 2 allows you to create private space. That’s basically a completely separate user profile that will enable you to keep your apps and media from prying eyes. Once you lock everything down, those apps won’t be visible in the app drawer, system share sheet, or the Recents area. They’ll effectively get paused.
Predictive Back leaves Developer Options
The ‘Predictive Back’ feature is no longer located in Developer Options. It will now be available by default to all apps that have adapted to it. This feature allows you to preview the screen you’re going back to, when you activate the back gesture from the left or right side.
Notifications with vibration effects
Android 15 Beta 2 also delivers a rather interesting feature related to notifications and vibrations. You can now identify notifications just by listening to the vibration effects. This is customizable, of course.
Multitasking improvements for large screens
If you’re using a tablet, or a foldable, by any chance, you’ll love this change. Google’s multitasking improvements for large screens enable pinning apps to the taskbar, and saving split-screen app combinations as well.
Picture-in-Picture (PiP) move improvements
There’s not much to talk about here, really. The bottom line is, PiP mode is getting improved as it will do a better job of handling UI elements overlaid on top of the main UI. The transitions will be smoother too.
Health Connect gets new data types
Health Connect is getting both Skin temperature and Training plans with completion goals and performance goals with Android 15 Beta 2.
AV1 decoding & OpenGL improvements
Android 15 Beta 2 brings support for VideoLAN’s dav1d software decoder for AV1 to devices which lack hardware decode support. It’s optional for now, but it will become a standard moving forward. In addition to that, this build also allows phones to run OpenGL ES on top of Vulcan, for better graphics performance. This will be visible on truly demanding games only, though.
AI-based security improvements for Android 15
Google is pushing out a security boost for Android and Google Play Protect, thanks to AI. Gemini will analyze apps’ use of sensitive permissions and will highlight suspicious behavior when it’s spotted. Google will be aware if Gemini AI finds a serious problem. The scope of what Gemini is paying attention to is vast.
Google TV AI recommendations
Gemini AI will boost Google TV too. It will offer content recommendations for Google TV, basically. Those recommendations will be personalized, of course, and they should also improve in time. Well, they should be great from the get-go if you’ve been using Google TV for a while, as Gemini will already know what your preferences are.