36 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
Skip to main content

Allison Johnson

Allison Johnson

    More From Allison Johnson

    Allison Johnson
    Allison Johnson
    AI did a weird one.

    We got a chuckle as one of the generative AI options in the Magic Editor demo produced two normal-looking hot air balloons and a weird one that looked like a cross between a loaf of bread and a basketball. AI, everybody!

    Allison Johnson
    Allison Johnson
    Oh, here’s the “What is a photo?” segment.

    Magic Editor comes with some new tools this year, including Auto Frame to correct the angle in a slanted photo while using gen AI to fill in the gaps. Oh, and then you can reimagine the grass on the ground as wildflowers. It’s something!

    Allison Johnson
    Allison Johnson
    Jimmy Butler is here and he’s wearing one of those goofy hats.

    We’re getting a live demo of Add Me, which lets you add yourself to a group photo by combining two frames. Why did we need Jimmy Butler for this? Why is he wearing the little Google propeller hat? Unclear.

    Allison Johnson
    Allison Johnson
    Dang, they went there.

    We just saw a side by side of low-light panoramas between the Pixel’s new panorama mode and the iPhone 15 Pro — the sample was labeled onscreen but was referred to as “another camera” in the presentation. Shots fired?

    Allison Johnson
    Allison Johnson
    Live Pixel Studio demo!

    We’re watching the new image generating feature as it creates a a picture of a beach bonfire with a sky full of fireworks from prompts. It runs on a combination of on-device and AI in the cloud. What is a photo, etc., etc.

    Allison Johnson
    Allison Johnson
    Back to the live demo table.

    We’re getting a look at Call Notes on Pixel 9. There’s a transcript of a recorded conversation in the phone app — and it all stays on-device. The demo went fine, but the loud thud behind the stage was slightly concerning?

    Allison Johnson
    Allison Johnson
    “The pinnacle of mobile computing.”

    The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is getting its time in the spotlight, and Google is emphasizing its thinness and the eight-inch inner screen, which the company calls the biggest screen you can buy on a phone. Which, yeah, that seems about right.

    Allison Johnson
    Allison Johnson
    It’s been 25 minutes and we’re finally seeing the phones.

    The Pixel 9 series is finally onscreen — all four of them. But we’ve been talking about Gemini features coming to the whole Android ecosystem right up til now. That’s a lot of time before the phones!

    Allison Johnson
    Allison Johnson
    More live demos!

    We’re getting a look at Gemini Live for the first time, with a couple of voice options called things like “Dipper” and “Ursa.” Notably, none of them sound like... her.

    Allison Johnson
    Allison Johnson
    Now we’re watching a demo on the Moto Razr Plus.

    Gemini pulls out a list of foods mentioned in a video and adds them to a grocery list. It really does feel like Google is going out of its way to highlight partner devices in this new era of Android and Pixel on one team...