Google has integrated its Gemini Spark AI assistant with Google Photos, letting it perform multi-step tasks like editing, organizing, and sharing images from a single prompt. Spark can also extract text from photos, summarize events, build visual stories, and run recurring tasks such as weekly album updates sent automatically to family or friends. The feature is rolling out gradually and currently limited to US users 18 and older with a Google AI Pro or Ultra subscription.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-04
An Android Authority writer who has tested watches from Garmin, Apple, Samsung, OnePlus and Withings says the Pixel Watch 5 impressed him with its bright Actua 360 display, accurate dual-frequency GPS and improved health tracking, but he still won't buy one. He lists five changes Google needs to make, starting with the watch's bulky 12.3mm case and dated 'water droplet' design.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-04
Android Authority ran a reader poll after reviewing Google's Tensor G6 chip inside the Pixel 11, which improves AI and efficiency-focused tasks but falls behind rivals in gaming and raw performance. Of over 2,800 respondents, 34.3% said they'd prefer more raw power, 30.5% valued efficiency instead, and only 15.7% felt the chip strikes a good balance between the two.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-04
Philips Hue has released the Play Screen Sync camera, a $119.99 device that mounts above a TV and uses a fisheye lens to read whatever is on screen—including native smart TV apps and live broadcasts—then adjusts connected Hue lights to match. Alongside it, the company introduced a slimmer $149.99 Play HDMI Sync Box 4K with a single HDMI input and output, supporting 4K at 60fps.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-04
Solipsism Browser is a new open-source Android browser built on Chromium that launched about three months ago, offering extensive customization and design options typically associated with Firefox forks rather than Chrome. Despite its early stage, reviewers note it already feels highly polished and distinct from mainstream Chromium-based browsers.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-04
GrapheneOS developers discovered that Google's Pixel 11 phones do include hardware support for Memory Tagging Extension (MTE) after examining code in the Android 17 QPR2 Beta 4 release. This contradicts the project's earlier assessment, made just days prior, that the phones lacked MTE and its accompanying warning against purchasing them.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-04
Google is backing a new initiative in parts of the Bay Area that subsidizes homeowners installing heat pumps, with incentives reaching as much as $10,000 per household. The program frames residential energy upgrades as part of broader grid infrastructure rather than isolated consumer purchases.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-04
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.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-04
Google released Chrome version 152.0.7977.82/.83 to fix a high-severity zero-day flaw, CVE-2026-85046, a type confusion bug in the V8 JavaScript engine that is already being exploited in the wild. The update also patches 11 other vulnerabilities, including use-after-free and out-of-bounds memory issues across several Chrome components.
bleepingcomputer.com
· 2026-09-04
Luna has opened global availability for its Luna Band, a screenless fitness tracker announced at CES this year, after a limited invite-only first shipment in July sold out among over 100,000 waitlist sign-ups. The device costs $149 in the US and €149 in the EU, is available directly through Luna's website, and comes in multiple strap color options.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-04
Teardown of the latest Google Phone app beta (v237.0.973536915) reveals Xiaomi has been added to the list of supported manufacturers for Scam Detection. The AI-powered call-screening tool already works on Pixel phones and Samsung's Galaxy S26 series, with vivo support also expected soon. It's not yet clear which Xiaomi models will get the feature first, though a globally sold flagship is the likely candidate rather than the China-only Xiaomi 18 Fold.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-04
Google has begun selling the Stephen Curry edition of its Pixel Watch 5, weeks after the standard models debuted on August 20. The bundle pairs a 45mm Satin Pyrite case with an exclusive Rye-colored Performance Loop band that has a water-repellent coating and Curry/#LockIn branding, priced at $579.99 on the Google Store and Amazon.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-04
GoKawiil