GoKawiil
Tech News
Volvo has updated the interior of its XC40 and EX40 models with a bigger 11.2-inch touchscreen, up from 9 inches, mounted atop the dashboard rather than recessed into it. The updated software runs the latest Android Automotive build with Google's Gemini assistant, which can adjust vehicle settings, suggest restaurants with dietary details, and recommend scenic routes.
Android Authority found code in a beta build of the Google app (version 17.56.14) suggesting Gemini's floating overlay could soon let users assign tasks to Spark, Google's autonomous AI agent, without launching the full Gemini interface. The same handover option is also being tested in the main Gemini app, alongside a possible model-switching shortcut in the overlay.
Google has started rolling out a new 'Remembered' tab within its Find Hub app, letting users log the locations of untracked physical objects using Gemini AI or manual entry. The feature, previously announced as part of the September Android Drop, appears in app version 3.1.732-02 but is not yet widely available to all users.
Siskiyou County rescuers pulled three young men off Mount Shasta after they used Google's Gemini chatbot to plan their climb. The group started at 3am, missed the noon turnaround guideline, summited at 7pm, and had to be rescued after spending the night in Mud Creek Canyon.
Google has launched beta 'Live' voice features across Gmail, Docs and Keep, letting subscribers talk to these apps instead of typing. Users can ask Gmail to find or summarize emails, have Keep organize notes from spoken input, and tell Docs to draft or pull in content from Gmail, Chat and Drive. The features, first shown at Google's I/O conference in May, are currently limited to AI Plus, Pro and Ultra subscribers, with Docs support restricted to Pro and Ultra tiers.
Google has begun a gradual rollout of a new minimize feature for its Gemini assistant overlay on Android devices. The update adds a visible 'Minimize Gemini' button that shrinks the full-screen overlay into a small draggable bubble, letting users switch to other apps while Gemini continues processing in the background. Reports suggest only a limited number of users currently have access to the feature.
Google has released the first software update for the Pixel Watch 5, moving the firmware from CD5A.260611.008 to CP3A.260905.002 while keeping the device on Wear OS 7 based on Android 17. The rollout includes September security fixes, but the accompanying changelog largely restates Gemini and gesture features that already shipped at launch rather than introducing new capabilities.
Android Authority discovered that Google Gemini's Android app, version 17.55.8, contains unreleased code for a redesigned camera interface that shrinks the viewfinder to roughly half the screen instead of taking up the full display, letting users see chat content behind it. The same build also reveals a reworked '@' menu meant to look cleaner and to automatically hide disabled Connected Apps.
Google is expanding its Gemini Live conversational AI, first shown at I/O, into three Workspace apps as Gmail Live, Docs Live, and Keep Live. Gmail Live lets users verbally query their inbox for details like meeting times, Docs Live acts as a spoken co-writer that can pull context from other Workspace apps, and Keep Live converts rambling voice notes into organized, actionable lists. The features are rolling out now to eligible paying Workspace subscribers.
Three climbers attempting an 8-hour summit of Mount Shasta ended up stranded for three days after one was injured during the descent and the group got lost. Rescuers with the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office said the hikers had used Google's Gemini AI to plan their route and supplies, but the tool told them to pack far less food and water than they needed once the trip stretched into a multiday emergency. The group also lost phone battery power and had no offline maps, worsening their disorientation before being airlifted to safety.
On the morning of Sept. 3, multiple leading AI chatbots—OpenAI's ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude, Google's Gemini and xAI's Grok—went down around the same time, roughly 9:30 a.m. ET. Anthropic confirmed an infrastructure issue affected Claude.ai, Claude Code, Claude Cowork and its API, restoring service by about 12:16 p.m. ET, while other providers' services also returned to normal later that day.
Google has launched Gemini 3.8 Flash, its third Flash-tier model release in six weeks, which it says leads on the DeepSWE coding benchmark. A specialized version, Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber, is tuned for vulnerability detection but is currently restricted to trusted testers and government users. The standard model rolls out across Google's ecosystem today at discounted API pricing through year-end.