Google has announced updates to Emoji Kitchen, including a YouTube Shorts integration, and shared that it will feature new characters from Unicode 16.0, including a fingerprint, leafless tree, harp, splat, face with bags under eyes, shovel, and root vegetable. The new characters will be available as a web font in both color and monochrome in September, and will come to Android phones in March 2025. Emoji Kitchen now features over 100,000 drawings and will be available in Google products in early 2025.

Source: https://9to5mac.com/

Google has updated Gemini to allow users to ask general questions without unlocking their Android device. Previously, Gemini was limited to controlling alarms, timers, media, and some phone features. With the update, users can ask questions like 'what's the weather' and receive an answer read aloud, without needing to unlock their device.

Source: https://9to5mac.com/

Google is bringing Android Studio app development to the web through its Project IDX, a web-based development environment. The technology will allow users to stream Android Studio from the cloud to their browser, making it universally available. The service will be available at idx.google.com and more, and features AI coding assistance with Gemini. Google is hosting satellite developer events in Berlin, Bengaluru, and Beijing, including I/O Connect Bengaluru, where the technology was shared.

Source: https://9to5mac.com/

Google Docs is adding features to improve interoperability with other Markdown supporting tools, including the ability to convert Markdown to Docs content on paste, copy Docs content as Markdown, export a Doc as Markdown, and automatically detect Markdown. This update is aimed at technical content writers, such as developers who can collaborate on software documentation in Docs and then export it.

Source: https://9to5mac.com/

Google DeepMind's AlphaFold 2 model has been used by over 2 million researchers since its launch in 2020, helping solve a 50-year-old problem. The team has now launched AlphaFold 3, which predicts not just protein folding structures but also the structure and interactions of all life's molecules, including DNA, RNA, and ligands. The new model builds on the previous one, predicting hundreds of millions of structures.

Source: https://blog.google/technology/ai/rss/

The upcoming Google Pixel Watch 2 will allow users to customize their watch faces, including storing favorite designs and variations. This feature aims to provide users with a constantly updated watch face to match their outfit or activities.

Source: https://9to5google.com/

Google's Spanner, a fully managed, globally distributed database, has introduced geo-partitioning to improve latency for users worldwide. Spanner is designed for demanding, global workloads with features like automatic sharding, zero planned downtime, and strong consistency. With geo-partitioning, users can retain a single, global database while reducing latency for geographically dispersed users.

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

Amazon is offering the Google Nest Thermostat with Matter for $84.99, a $45 discount or 35% off the typical price of $130. This is a match of the lowest Amazon offer tracked. The thermostat was updated last year to add support for Matter, allowing it to work with Apple HomeKit and other major players.

Source: https://9to5google.com/

Amazon is offering the Google Pixel Watch 2 at an all-time low price of $269.99 shipped, which is a $80 discount from its regular $350 MSRP. The smart watch features a wrap-around bubble-style display, three new sensors for heart rate tracking, skin temperature, and stress management, and is available in black and silver 100% recycled aluminum cases.

Source: https://9to5google.com/

Data Commons, a Google initiative, has developed a new Gemini extension that allows users to visually explore and interact with data. The Data Commons team has standardized and processed thousands of data sets from publicly available sources, including the United Nations, Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, and United States Department of Commerce. The data sets cover various topics such as demographics, economics, education, and public health, with over 200 sources to date.

Source: https://9to5mac.com/