YouTube Music has added an animated splash screen on Android, following a trend started by Google apps in 2021 with Android 12. The new animation features a fade transition into the circular logo, similar to the main YouTube app and YouTube TV. The update is available in version 7.16/7.17 of YouTube Music for Android.

Source: https://9to5mac.com/

Google's travel tools can help you save money on your next trip by finding and comparing prices for flights and accommodations. You can use Google Flights to browse deals around the world and find the best option for your travel plans. The more flexible your plans are, the more ways you can save.

Source: https://blog.google/

Google has rolled out early access to Ask Photos, an experimental experience that uses Gemini models to understand the context of a user's photo gallery and provide relevant details to help find specific memories. This feature is available to select U.S. users as part of Google Labs. Users can ask questions like 'Where did we camp last time we went to Yosemite?' or 'What did we eat at the hotel in Stanley?' to retrieve information about their photos.

Source: https://blog.google/

Google has redesigned the emoji and GIF picker menu for its Gboard Android keyboard app, which works better on tablets and big-screen devices like foldables. The update, available in the latest Gboard beta version (v14.6.02), allows for a more efficient way to pick emojis, GIFs, and stickers on larger screens.

Source: https://9to5mac.com/

YouTube Music is rolling out live lyrics on Android and iOS, upgrading the Lyrics tab in Now Playing with a new design and larger text. The feature allows users to scroll down and see the current line highlighted in white, with a blurred cover art background. Not all songs support live lyrics, with some displaying the old static version.

Source: https://9to5google.com/

Google is rolling out ChromeOS 128, which brings updates to Chromebooks. The new version pairs snap groups, allowing users to bring windows back together, resize them simultaneously, or move them as a group. Additionally, the ChromeOS Apps settings page will provide actionable reminders for camera and microphone access, and Auto Gain Control (AGC) is enabled by default to optimize microphone volume.

Source: https://9to5google.com/

Google has renamed TensorFlow Lite to LiteRT, reflecting its support for third-party models. LiteRT now supports models authored in PyTorch, JAX, and Keras, allowing developers to run their models on-device with exceptional performance. Google is actively developing the runtime, conversion, and optimization tools under the new name, with future updates planned to improve deployment of classic ML models, LLMs, and diffusion models with GPU and NPU acceleration.

Source: https://9to5google.com/

Google's design team is proud of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold's thin design, which is 1.5 millimeters thinner when closed and 0.7 millimeters when open compared to the Pixel Fold. The design team's 'phone first' mantra was influenced by user behavior, as people often used the original Pixel Fold with the screen closed. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold's camera bar design is distinct from the rest of the series.

Source: https://9to5mac.com/

Google Cloud has been named a leader in the Forrester Wave, leveraging its 20 years of experience in integrating AI into applications. The company's unified platform, Vertex AI, helps customers like Shopify take their AI from prototypes to production. Google Cloud has developed groundbreaking technologies like transformers, compute-optimal training, and specialized chips - the Tensor Processing Unit - optimized for AI workloads.

Source: https://cloud.google.com/blog/

Google has confirmed plans to add ARM support to its Drive app for Windows, with the update expected to arrive in Q4 2024. The app currently doesn't support ARM PCs, but the native support will fill a gap in the market. Qualcomm's IFA 2024 press conference also revealed that NordVPN and ExpressVPN are now available for Snapdragon X laptops, providing VPN support for ARM machines.

Source: https://9to5google.com/