GoKawiil
Tech News
Anthropic is embedding its own browser directly within Claude Cowork, removing the requirement for a separate Chrome extension to handle many everyday browsing tasks. This lets Claude operate web pages and complete tasks natively inside its own app environment rather than relying on Google's browser infrastructure.
Google has released Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash, adding creative controls and generative video features aimed at developers building media and editing tools through the Gemini API in Google AI Studio. The update introduces scene extension, letting users continue existing videos using up to 10 seconds of prior context instead of just the final second, and extend clips in 10-second increments up to 40 seconds total.
Google unveiled a special-edition Fitbit Air designed to integrate with the Pokémon Sleep app, timed to Pokémon's 30th anniversary. The device tracks daytime activity metrics like heart rate and movement alongside nighttime sleep data, syncing with both Google Health and Pokémon Sleep. It's priced at $129 and available for preorder now, shipping September 15 through Google Store and Target.
Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic and roughly 97 other companies—including Visa, MasterCard, Capital One, Adobe, Oracle and IBM—have jointly signed an open letter urging governments and organisations to strengthen cybersecurity before AI-driven attacks escalate. The signatories argue existing defences are outdated and chronically underfunded, especially for critical infrastructure like hospitals and water systems, and are calling for governments to supply advanced defensive AI tools and testing support.
The home of Flock Safety's chief executive has had its image blurred out on Google Maps and its listing obscured on Zillow, apparently after users flagged the address in response to privacy concerns about the company's surveillance camera network. Commentators note that such blurring requests are free and available to any homeowner who wants their property hidden from these mapping services.
Google is rolling out new trip-planning tools inside AI Mode, including a price-tracking feature from Google Flights that emails users when fares change, and the ability to view flight and hotel costs in miles or points. The company is also enabling in-chat hotel booking via Google Pay, starting in the US with partners like Expedia, Marriott and Priceline.
Google has expanded its AI Mode search feature to let users track flight prices across more than 180 countries, receiving email alerts when fares change. The tool can also display flight and hotel costs in points or miles, and in the US, users can now book hotels directly within AI Mode using Google Pay through partner services.
Google announced that its AI Mode conversational search tool can now track flight prices, help users book hotels, and show flight and hotel costs in points or miles. Flight price tracking pulls from over 300 airlines and travel sites and is available in more than 180 countries, while hotel booking is rolling out first in the U.S. in English through partners like Booking.com.
Google has updated Gemini Notebook with an 'Expert Intelligence' feature that lets users import books bought through Google Play Books, enabling them to ask questions, generate summaries, plans, infographics, and AI podcasts based on the text. More than 100,000 titles from publishers including Penguin Random House and O'Reilly Media support the feature at launch, and Google partnered with 15 authors like Michael Pollan and Steven Pinker to build customized 'Featured Notebooks.'
Google has expanded its screenless Fitbit Air fitness band with a new special edition inspired by the Pokémon Sleep app, featuring a Sleepy Blue strap and a silk-print label showing a sleeping Pikachu. Pre-orders begin today through the Google Store and Target, with shipping starting September 15.
Josh Mackanic, a former Pacific Gas and Electric engineer, founded CivilGrid in 2020 after experiencing costly delays caused by unknown buried pipes during excavation projects. The startup aggregates data on utility lines, property ownership, and environmental regulations into a unified underground mapping platform, and has now raised a $26 million Series A led by Spark Capital, with participation from Afore, A*, Ford Street Ventures, SNR, and Energy Impact Partners.
Meta was granted a patent last week for a hardware-enforced privacy system that includes a 'mute or lock' switch capable of disabling sensors on devices like its Ray-Ban smart glasses. The filing, submitted in February, comes as the company's camera-equipped glasses have drawn widespread criticism and earned the nickname 'pervert glasses' due to misuse by harassers and voyeurs.