On a podcast, Google’s Robby Stein says to expect “new and novel ad formats,” but the company is still figuring out how they’ll show up, as spotted by Search Engine Land.
[Search Engine Land]
Ars Technica reports that Google’s new Gemini capabilities on Nest Cam are causing confusion, such as mistaking a dog for a deer, while others have reported fake people in notifications.
The AI-powered text descriptions and daily summaries arrived with the new cameras this month. I’m currently testing Gemini for Home, and so far, no deer in the house. I’ll have a full review next week.
Google Creative Lab co-founder Robert Wong told The Wall Street Journal that Google doesn’t plan to start making every ad with tools like Veo 3, but consumers don’t really care if ads use AI anyway. Wong also says that marketers sometimes seem “drunk on AI,” however.
Just as it did with its Weather app for wearables in September, Google has announced that new Wear OS devices from other manufacturers will have to rely on something else. If you have a non-Pixel watch with the Clock app already, it will keep working, but without new updates.
With your favorite watch brands offering their own default clock apps on Wear OS, Google’s Clock app (alarm, timer, and stopwatch) is no longer available for download on Wear OS smartwatches – except for pre-installed on the Pixel Watch.
Google is launching a bunch of new tools for developers, including a way to automatically localize apps into select languages. There’s also a new Prompt API that will allow developers to build and integrate custom AI features powered by Google’s on-device model, Gemini Nano, into their apps.
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, just released its Q3 2025 earnings report (pdf), reporting revenue is up by 16 percent from the same period last year, at $102 billion for three months, compared to $88.2 billion in 2024 and $76.6 billion in 2023.
Sundar Pichai:
Our full stack approach to AI is delivering strong momentum and we’re shipping at speed, including the global rollout of AI Overviews and AI Mode in Search in record time... The Gemini App now has over 650 million monthly active users... And we have over 300 million paid subscriptions led by Google One and YouTube Premium.
Android Headlines and leaker OnLeaks have shared CAD renders of next year’s affordable Pixel handset based on leaked info, and you’d be hard-pressed to spot the difference between it and this year’s 9A. Hopefully Google has some upgrades planned under the surface if the design really is going to change so little.
Android Authority has done its usual digging around and discovered code for home screen widgets in Android Auto. They’re clearly still a work-in-progress, but should eventually let you run one widget at a time on the left third of the screen.
The glasses combine “Magic Leap’s waveguides and optics with Google’s Raxium microLED light engine” according to a Magic Leap announcement, and they’re under 50 grams and have a monocular design. Magic Leap is also now positioning itself as an “AR ecosystem partner to support companies building glasses.”
