Google’s AI image creation app Gemini is getting a lot of criticism. But that’s not stopping the search and mobile giant from riding the AI wave and rolling it out to more of its services. Today, Google announced a new set of features for phones, cars and wearables — using Gemini to create messages, AI-generated captions for images, AI-powered text summarization for Android Auto, along with pass access to Wear OS.
The new features were unveiled at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona — an event where Google, as the company behind Android, has held sway for years.
The company said that starting this week, Google Messages will get a feature that lets you access Gemini in the app. The feature is currently in beta and only supports English.
Google also has a feature for Android Auto that reads summaries of long text messages and configures group conversations. The feature, first announced last month, also provides quick suggestions for answers.
The search giant is also launching a few accessibility-related features at MWC. First, the company’s Lookout app, which helps the visually impaired with things like food labels and documents, will now generate AI captions for images that are missing or have inaccurate captions or alt text. The feature is now available to all users worldwide with support for English. Last year, Google updated its Lookout app with an AI-powered assistant that allowed users to ask questions about images.
Google also has improved screen reader support for Lens in Maps. Users can point their phone’s camera around and TalkBack will read information about places and signs.
In the area of productivity, Google is expanding support for handwritten notes on documents on Android phones or tablets using just a finger or a stylus. You can choose from different pen styles and colors to highlight certain points in a document.
In addition, the company is launching support for Spotify via an exit switch on the Android home screen. This means you can continue listening to a song or podcast from one source to another with Spotify. Previously, this feature only supported YouTube Music.
Google is also updating the Fitbit app with support for downloading data from different sources like AllTrails, Oura Ring and MyFitnessPal. The company redesigned the app with a new three-tab layout last year. The Today tab shows you data like exercise, steps, calories burned and floors climbed. And the “You” tab shows data from different apps along with Fitbit’s own data.
There are also a few updates related to Wear OS as part of this announcement. You can now access Google Wallet cards like boarding passes, event tickets, gym memberships and loyalty cards right from the watch. Additionally, you can get transit directions using your voice. Additionally, there is an option to mirror directions from the phone or receive navigation directions with a compass.
