Google I/O 2018: all of the news from the keynote – The Verge

The 5 most important Android Pie updates

2018-08-06T14:25:00-04:00

Android Pie could be one of the most consequential Android updates in years. Not only is Google changing the way Android is navigated, but it's also changing the way we interact with our phones - and how our phones interact with us. The update's overarching goals are to make our phones less distracting and less stressful and to give people control over how much of their attention they suck up. It's all about taking on notification and app overload.

Pie is now available for the Pixel, Pixel 2, and Essential Phone, and it's supposed to come to other phones that had beta access within the next few months. Unfortunately, not all of Pie's bigges …

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Google will require some Android phone makers to roll out ‘regular’ security patches

2018-05-11T16:39:27-04:00

Google says it will require Android phone manufacturers to roll out security patches on a "regular" basis - though it isn't clear who that requirement will apply to or how rigorous the mandate will be. On Wednesday, during a talk at Google's annual developer conference that was caught by 9to5Google via XDA Developers, the company announced that many more users would receive regular security patches thanks to new agreements it's making with partners.

"When you have billions of users, it's a large target. And so it deserves the strongest possible defense," says David Kleidermacher, Google's head of Android security. "We've also worked on buil …

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How to use Google Lens

2018-05-11T10:00:02-04:00

Google came out with a new version of Google Lens in beta, the company announced at its annual developer conference on Tuesday. If you have one of the ten additional Android devices that are getting Google Lens inside their native camera apps, you'll be able to access the feature simply by going into your camera and seeing the icon on the bottom right.

Tapping on the icon activates the Google Lens feature and you'll be able to point your smartphone camera at objects and different sights to identify more information about them. Google Lens is also getting a real-time finder that will analyze what your camera sees even before you tap on the d …

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What do we even mean when we say ‘Android’?

2018-05-11T09:43:40-04:00

The thing that's given me greatest amusement at this year's Google I/O has been the number of iPhone users raising an eyebrow at Google's new focus on digital well-being and openly declaring that Android has leapfrogged iOS. As an avid Android acolyte, my reflexive response has been to say that Android has already been ahead of iOS in a number of important respects like its first-party apps, cloud services, and digital assistant. But then that got me thinking: which Android? Is it the Android on your 2016 Samsung Galaxy A7, or the Android on the latest Huawei P20 Pro, or the Android on Google's own Pixel devices? These are all different flav …

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Google now says controversial AI voice calling system will identify itself to humans

2018-05-10T19:46:38-04:00

Following widespread outcry over the ethical dilemmas raised by Google's new Duplex system, which lets artificial intelligence mimic a human voice to make appointments, Google has clarified in a statement that the experimental system will have "disclosure built-in." That seems to mean that whatever eventual shape Duplex takes as a consumer product will involve some type of verbal announcement to the person on the other end that he or she is in fact talking to an AI.

"We understand and value the discussion around Google Duplex - as we've said from the beginning, transparency in the technology is important," a Google spokesperson told The Ver …

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Google’s new focus on well-being started five years ago with this presentation

2018-05-10T14:13:48-04:00

In the keynote talk at this week's Google I/O developer conference, executives announced new system-level features in Android to help people understand and manage their smartphone usage. "Great technology should improve life, not distract from it," declared a banner headline on a new site from the company, wellbeing.google. The site continues: "We're creating tools and features that help people better understand their tech usage, focus on what matters most, disconnect when needed, and create healthy habits for the whole family."

Not long ago, it would have sounded strange to hear a big tech company talk plainly about the need to disconnect. …

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AI is Google’s secret weapon for remaking its oldest and most popular apps

2018-05-10T14:00:02-04:00

Google shocked the crowd at its I/O developer conference on Tuesday when it kicked off a fascinating discussion about AI ethics with Duplex, a human-like voice system for its Assistant product that makes phone calls on behalf of users. But while Duplex remains a more experimental and far-off effort - one we'll likely be debating in the weeks and months to come - Google's more measured approach to artificial intelligence as it pertains to legacy product development didn't garner as many headlines. However, it's those subtle AI-powered changes to existing and pervasive products that will have a far more visible impact on how we use software to …

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Google’s software design is having a reformation

2018-05-10T10:42:58-04:00

Material Design launched in 2014, and it was mostly thought of as a new design language for Android - though it later came to the web and iOS. It had a bold idea: there should be a physicality to software design not unlike the physicality of paper. It should follow some rules that are almost physical, with layers of magic paper and strictures for how different software elements like buttons and drawers should behave.

"We went out with the original Material Design with what was a very fresh and very opinionated style. We wanted to get attention," says Matias Duarte, the head of the Material Design group at Google. "And it was so strong and s …

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How close is Google to building a Paul?

2018-05-09T15:25:30-04:00

As someone who recently got a haircut, Google's presentation yesterday at I/O really resonated with me. Finally, a service that can make phone calls on my behalf and negotiate appointment times with hair salons.

Google's Duplex technology even uses the word "um" and sometimes misunderstands what people on the phone are talking about. Just like me!

It got me thinking: how close is Google to replacing me altogether?

For instance, Google can already write most of my text messages, and now it can help compose for me. Could it write my Verge articles, too?

My ego would like me to believe that my writing process is a little more complicated th …

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The selfishness of Google Duplex

2018-05-09T12:45:02-04:00

The more technology advances, the clearer it becomes that our smartphones are no longer about conversing but more about transfers of information. This was evident at Google's I/O keynote, where the company unveiled that its AI can now make phone calls on your behalf, booking salon appointments or restaurant reservations. The demo was stunning, both because of how human this next-level chatbot sounded and how dystopian the world would be with our robot imposters flooding the phone lines. But as I walked out of the conference yesterday, I couldn't stop thinking about the person on the other end of the line. When did human service workers becom …

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