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Android Authority reports that Google is developing an automatic local backup feature in Quick Share settings that saves phone files directly to a PC. New code strings indicate the tool will not support Samsung-branded computers, extending an earlier exclusion that already ruled out Samsung phones.
Alphabet reported quarterly results that fell short of analyst expectations, with growth in search advertising revenue slowing. The company's cloud-computing division showed strength, but Alphabet posted negative free cash flow of $9.1 billion for the period.
Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer described using her new app Dazzle, an AI assistant trained on a user's camera roll, to generate talking points describing her daughter for a school presentation and to plan birthday themes, playdates and vacations. After backlash online, Mayer posted on X clarifying she was testing the prototype's ability to surface old photos rather than relying on it to summarize her child's personality.
Google's AI Mode in Search gives a direct answer confirming Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election when queried from outside the United States, but avoids stating that fact plainly for users located in the US. Google has acknowledged the inconsistency and says it is working on a fix.
Discord announced that Discoverable Servers with more than 1,000 members will get dedicated web pages summarizing community descriptions and public channel conversations, making them findable through search engines like Google and DuckDuckGo. Private DMs, group chats, and non-discoverable servers will remain unaffected, and admins can opt out via Server settings > Web presence.
Google has announced Gemini 4 Carbon, a frontier AI model released just two weeks after Gemini 4 Argon, which it says improves on coding, agentic tasks, scientific analysis and cybersecurity. The company reports gains such as doubled vulnerability-free code generation versus Argon and a 10x improvement in patch quality claimed by its Chrome team, plus an 89-point jump on the WebDev Arena leaderboard. Despite announcing the model, Google is not yet making it broadly available, instead pursuing a staged rollout.
Growing AI data center construction is pushing water consumption to levels that rival mid-sized cities, with hyperscale facilities using between 1 and 5 million gallons daily. Independent researchers dispute water-use figures released by Google and OpenAI, arguing the companies understate the broader cooling and power demands of their data centers. Communities near these facilities are increasingly organizing in opposition as they compete with tech companies for local potable water.
Testing by Ars Technica found Google's AI Mode responded to queries about who won certain presidential elections, including 2020, 2024 and 2012, by directing users to outside sources like the FEC rather than stating a winner directly. The same tool answered questions about other elections, including those from 2000 through 2016, with direct, correct responses. Different staffers at the outlet got inconsistent results depending on which election years they asked about.
Xreal has opened preorders for its Aura mixed-reality glasses, which connect to a separate processor puck and run Google's AndroidXR software. The device ships mid-November at a discounted $1,099 for the 256GB/12GB RAM model and $1,299 for the 512GB/16GB version, down from previously announced prices of $1,279 and $1,500 respectively, with the lower pricing lasting through year-end.
Google introduced the Connected Apps Platform, a new program letting developers integrate their apps with Gemini and Search's connected apps feature. The platform is currently in a limited preview available only to US-based developers, who can sign up for a public beta waitlist. Google also said additional apps, including Calm, Adobe, Experian, Localiza, and Peloton, are joining or expanding within the connected apps ecosystem.
Google announced at its Android Dev Summit that the Play Store will begin evaluating how well apps and games perform on foldable devices starting next year, with better-adapted apps receiving increased visibility and prominent store placement. Detailed Play Store requirements for this evaluation will be released later this year. Alongside this, Google is rolling out updated developer tools, including Compose adaptive capabilities, to help apps adjust across foldables, laptops, and other form factors.
Google announced an update to Chrome's autofill feature that uses AI to scan users' Gmail for information like flight confirmation numbers, membership IDs, tracking numbers, addresses and phone numbers to fill out online forms. The feature, part of Google's Personal Intelligence suite that also powers Gemini, is opt-in and rolling out to U.S. desktop users and the iOS and Android Gemini-in-Chrome apps, with Google saying sensitive data is encrypted.