A hands-on comparison of ChatGPT Voice and Gemini Live found both offer real-time spoken responses with multiple voice options, powered respectively by OpenAI's GPT models and Google's Gemini models. The tester noted ChatGPT Voice speaks with more expressive, human-like verbal quirks like stutters and filler sounds, while Gemini Live sounds flatter. ChatGPT Voice was also observed searching the internet more readily, correctly identifying a recent Gemini release that Gemini Live itself denied existed.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-27
Google has released Live Avatar for Gemini Enterprise users, a tool that pairs a lip-synced video avatar with its conversational AI agent to handle tasks like insurance claims over video chat. The feature can process live audio, screen sharing and video simultaneously while running backend tools and API calls, and follows the recent rollout of Gemini 3.8 Live and Gemini 3.8 Live Extended Thinking.
cnet.com
· 2026-09-25
Google has launched Live Avatar, a feature within Gemini 3.8 Live that pairs real-time video generation with speech models to give AI agents lip-synced, expressive on-screen personas. The avatars support 97 languages, can switch between them without quality loss, and use asynchronous tool calling to fetch data mid-conversation. The feature launches today exclusively for Gemini Enterprise subscribers, not general consumers.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-24
Security researcher Gal Weizman of Forever Security found that a single malicious browser extension could take over AI assistants embedded in Chrome, Edge, Opera Neon, Perplexity Comet and Claude in Chrome, using Chromium's declarativeNetRequest feature to manipulate trusted network traffic without any user interaction. The technique, called BragJack, earned Weizman over $20,000 in bug bounties across the five vendors and generated two CVEs, with Google and Microsoft having already patched the issues.
bleepingcomputer.com
· 2026-09-19
Google is rolling out a new way to trigger the Sidekick overlay in Play Games, letting users open it directly from the notifications panel instead of relying solely on the onscreen drag handle. The option appears under Settings > General > Google Play Games as 'Configure Sidekick access,' alongside the existing in-game-only setting. Evidence also points to a double-tap activation method still in development.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-18
Code strings found in version 17.59.17.sa.arm64 of the Google app reveal a feature called 'Ephemeral Video Mode' tied to Gemini's internal codename Robin. The strings describe enabling an ephemeral mode specifically for video input during Gemini Live sessions, suggesting Google is testing a way to keep certain video interactions from being saved.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-17
Google has rolled out its September 2026 Android Drop, a bundle of feature updates spanning several Android apps. Highlights include a new Gemini capability that lets users verbally ask the assistant to remember where they placed objects, saving that location in Find Hub, plus a Gemini Live Guided Vision mode that describes surroundings aloud and suggests reframing for dim or small text. Google Messages also gains built-in Google Keep list sharing and officially launches customizable Chat Themes with matching text bubble colors.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-01
Android Authority found a new floating button in the Google app's Gemini Daily Brief labeled 'Talk through your brief,' which opens Gemini Live and reads the briefing aloud. The audio works, but the accompanying UI is unfinished, currently just showing generic intro text like 'Here's what's on your plate today.' The feature was spotted in Google app version 17.54.10.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-01
GoKawiil