Big announcements from Google. At Google Io. I'm rich Dmiro. This is rich on Tech Daily. Well, in case you can't tell, I'm in Mountain View, California for Google Io. This is the company's Big Developers conference. Thousands of people come from around the world for a three day event
that I kind of call a nerd carnival. I say that in the nicest possible way, because you literally get to meet all the important folks at Google that kind of create the technologies that power the products we use, like Google, Google Assistant, Google Home, Android, and Google Maps, just to name a few. It's also here that Google announces some of the new things it is working on.
So let's go through some of those. Gmail for starters.
If you've used smart replies in Gmail, you're really gonna love a new.
Feature called smart Compose.
Yes, Gmail can literally finish your sentences for you as you type.
Now.
The new feature uses artificial intelligence to learn what you type about and understand the questions people are asking you in your emails. Now.
The example they showed had to do with.
Someone talking about getting together for tacos gmails. Artificial intelligence was smart enough to suggest things like chips, Salsa, and guacamole. And if you start typing something like here's my address, smart Composed will just finish your sentence with your home address that it learned from your other emails.
Pretty cool. Google Photos continues to get better.
The main feature they're adding here is what Google calls artificial intelligence actions.
So basically, if you're looking at a photo that's.
Too dark, a little button will pop up that offers to fix it in one tap. Similarly, you can make the colors pop on a photo.
Of a kid.
And if you take a photo of a document, Google Photos will offer to convert it into a PDF, which is going to be super useful. And finally, you can add color to your old black and white photos in just a tap. I ask Google how they figure out what color things are and they said, well, they know for things like the sky and the grass and the rest.
Their AI just figures out Google Assistant this is a huge part of Google.
It's getting six new languages, including one that's inspired by the musician John Legend. He went inside and recorded his voice for Google Assistant. They also explain how they can make AI voices in the past compared to now. In the past, they would literally have someone sit in a voice booth and say a bunch of words and the computer would stitch them all together.
But now Google says they can make voices faster.
Than ever because the person only has to say fewer words and the computer can do the rest synthesizing their voice for all the things that we ask Google Assistant.
Then there's a feature parents will like. It's called pretty Please.
This encourages kids to use the word please when they're commanding Google Assistant on their speakers and other connected devices. And if you might recall, Amazon introduced a similar feature for its Echo devices that launches on May ninth. It's called Amazon Free Time on Alexa and you'll be able to activate it on.
Your Echo for free.
One of the craziest things Google showed off is a feature called Duplex.
This helps Google Assistant.
Schedule you and appointment even if a business doesn't allow online booking.
So how does it do this?
A Google bot will call the business for you and make a reservation or schedule a time. They can even talk back and forth with the person like they're a real human.
Google showed off a.
Sample call and the AI voice get this even adds mmms and hms to the conversation, so it sounds realistic. Google calls the feature an experiment, and I asked them how they're letting the business notes a robot caller, and they said they're trying out all kinds.
Of like little subtle cues.
This is kind of strange, but also pretty neat if it can help small shops and restaurants get more business. Google says a business can opt out at any time. And finally, Google made a big deal about combating screen addiction.
You know the problem.
We are constantly distracted by our smartphones. So for starters, YouTube is going to prompt you to take a break when you've been watching for too long. So how long is too long? Well, you can set a timeframe in the app's options.
Then Android is.
Getting a bunch of tools for quote digital well being as they call it. There will be a dashboard that lets you see how much time you're spending in certain apps and on your phone in general. Then there's a new shush mode that automatically activates when you put your phone face down on a table. This will silence all your calls and notifications, although you are still free to set a group of contacts that can always get through. Additionally, there's a wind down mode. This will be handy at night.
It activates when you're going to sleep. It turns your screen black and white when it's time to.
Go to bed.
Google says that this is a que to your brain that your phone just isn't very exciting, so you'll want to put it down and go to sleep.
That one I gotta try out now.
Google made other announcements like the ability to take pictures of an item and shop for similar looking items online. We've heard about that before, still waiting for that to happen, as well as this virtual map mode that lets you navigate complex city streets with ease. But all these features are coming later than sooner. Thanks so much for listening
from Google Io twenty eighteen. If you like this podcast, be sure to leave a rating and view in Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Omrich Tomiro.
You can see links and pictures and videos to everything I mentioned here in.
The podcast on my website. Just go to richon tech dot TV.
Sorry about all the background noise, but I am on location here at Google Io, so thanks for bearing with me.
Omrich Demiro. I'll talk to you real soon