With this announcement, Bard will be available in 180 countries and territories, and more will be added. 

Google also revealed that Bard now supports Japanese and Korean. Soon it will support 40 different languages.

RELATED CONTENT: Google announces updates to Android, Google Cloud, Workspaces, Google Play, and more at Google I/O

Since its initial launch, Google has also made some improvements to Bard, such as changing the large language model (LLM) to PaLM 2, which enables Bard to have more advanced math, reasoning, and coding skills. 

An upcoming update will add visuals to Bard. For example, the prompt “What are some must-see sights in New Orleans?” will provide images along with text. 

In addition to responses containing images, prompts will also be able to use images, with Google Lens being used to analyze photos. For example, you could upload a photo of your dog and ask Bard to write a funny caption for it, and it will analyze the photo, detect your dog’s breed, and write a few captions. 

Google will also be improving on the coding side of Bard, with new features like better citations that can be clicked through to see the source, dark mode, and an export button so that code can be run in Replit. 

It is also adding an export function to Gmail and Google Docs. “For example, let’s say — like me — you’re a die-hard pickleball fan. You can ask Bard to write an email invitation for your new pickleball league, summarizing the rules of the game and highlighting its inclusivity of all ages and levels. Just click the ‘draft in Gmail’ button so you can make those final tweaks before getting your pickleball league off the ground,” Sissie Hsiao, vice president and general manager for Google Assistant and Bard, wrote in a blog post. 

In the next few months, Google also has planned integrations with Adobe’s suite of products. It will integrate with Adobe Firefly, which is a set of generative AI models for image creation, and the results can be exported to Adobe Express. Other upcoming partners include Kayak, OpenTable, ZipRecruiter, Instacart, Wolfram, and Khan Academy.

“There’s a lot ahead for Bard — connecting tools from Google and amazing services across the web, to help you do and create anything you can imagine, through a fluid collaboration with our most capable large language models,” Hsaio wrote. 

The post Google removes waitlist for Bard, highlights recent and upcoming improvements appeared first on SD Times.

Among these announcements was the launch of the Watch Face Format. This offers developers a new way to build watch faces for Wear OS smartwatches with a declarative XML format to design the appearance and behavior of watch faces.

According to Google, this means there is no need for the executable code involved in building a watch face, and there is also no code embedded in the watch face APK.  With this release, users can create analogue and digital watch faces, watch faces with complications, customizable watch faces, and more. 

Updates have also been made to Jetpack Compose, including the ability to bring Compose everywhere that the developer is building UI, whether that be on a phone, tablet, foldable device, watch, or TV. These changes are available in the May 2023 release and the most recent alpha versions of the Compose libraries.

Furthermore, the performance of Compose has been improved. The company stated that since October, modifiers have started to migrate to an improved system, and with this, text has seen a 22% performance gain that can be seen in the latest alpha release.

The alpha version of the UI framework for creating functional apps for Android TV Compose for TV has also been released. With this, apps can be built with less code, easier maintenance, and a modern Material 3 look. 

Next, Android Studio Hedgehog was launched in order to offer developers an AI powered conversational experience geared at heightened productivity. This offers improved tools when developing for multiple form factors, and helps to improve the quality of applications with new insights, debugging, and testing solutions.

Android for Cars also received updates intended to expand the reach developers have with users in the car.

Among these updates is the global rollout of Waze on the Google Play Store for all cars with Google built-in. Additional templates were also created for Android for Cars App Library in order to accelerate development time across several app categories, such as navigation.

This update also brings tools to port media apps across Android for Cars; new app categories for driving experiences; and video, gaming, and browsing in cars. 

Additionally, Google Play has been updated so that on top of the ability to tailor by country and pre-registration status, users can now customize listings for inactive users, so they have the chance to try out an app or game again.

Google also announced that custom store listing groups for Google Ads App campaign ad groups are set to be launched in the near future. This will allow for custom listings to be served to users coming from specific ads on AdMob and YouTube.

Next, Google Workspace adds Duet AI, combining all of Workspace’s generative AI features and allowing users to collaborate with AI so they can enhance their productivity. Duet AI is also coming to Google Cloud, enabling users to solve common work challenges with the AI collaborator.

There have also been several updates to Vertex AI, including three new foundation models that can be accessed through API, tuned through an AI in Generative AI Studio, or deployed to a data science notebook. 

Lastly, Google Cloud has launched the next-generation A3 GPU supercomputer. With this, Google Cloud offers users a complete range of GPU for the training and inference of machine learning models. 

For more information on these releases, visit the website. 

The post Google announces updates to Android, Google Cloud, Workspaces, Google Play, and more at Google I/O appeared first on SD Times.

Today the company is announcing that passkeys can now be used to sign into your Google Account. 

“Using passwords puts a lot of responsibility on users. Choosing strong passwords and remembering them across various accounts can be hard. In addition, even the most savvy users are often misled into giving them up during phishing attempts. 2SV (2FA/MFA) helps, but again puts strain on the user with additional, unwanted friction and still doesn’t fully protect against phishing attacks and targeted attacks like “SIM swaps” for SMS verification. Passkeys help address all these issues,” Arnar Birgisson, software engineer at Google, and Diana K Smetters, principal engineer at Google, wrote in a blog post. 

When you add a passkey to your Google Account, it is stored locally on your device. This means that passkeys cannot be shared or written down like a password, so they are less prone to phishing attempts or ending up in the wrong hands. 

Because of their strong security, Google allows you to also skip two-factor authentication when using them. 

While passkeys are stored locally, this doesn’t mean you can only sign in from that one device. Each new device you enroll will have its own passkey. 

You can also sync passkeys in your own backup service if you desire. For example, you can create a passkey on your iPhone and back up the key in your iCloud account, and it will be available on all your Apple devices signed into that iCloud account. This makes it less likely that you are locked out of your account when you lose your device. The company advises against doing this on devices that are shared with other people as they would also gain access to your passkey. 

“While that might sound a bit alarming, most people will find it easier to control access to their devices rather than maintaining good security posture with passwords and having to be on constant lookout for phishing attempts,” Birgisson and Smetters wrote. 

The post Google begins its passwordless future with support for passkeys appeared first on SD Times.

The accelerator will provide a 10-week program for 8-12 startups and will offer them access to Google Cloud resources, mentorship, technical expertise, and networking opportunities. 

Startup founders and leaders can also benefit from deep dives and workshops on product design, customer acquisition, and leadership development. 

“Thanks to truly amazing mentorship and direct access to Googlers, we have been able to reach new levels of specialized knowledge and deployment capability in our GCP architecture and artificial intelligence projects. From a technical perspective to a business growth standpoint, this is simply invaluable,” said Francois Gand, founder, and CEO at NURO. “What we have built in three months with Google will be a part of our upcoming next-gen product line in both Healthcare and Non-Healthcare settings. We deeply thank all Googlers for their exceptional participation in our journey.”

Applications are now being accepted until May 30, and the Accelerator will kick off this July. Google has already partnered with digital-native companies such as cart.com to democratize e-commerce and with startups like kimo.ai which leverages tools to transform traditional approaches to online learning. 

“Around the world, the cloud is helping businesses and governments accelerate their digital transformations, scale their operations, and innovate in new areas. At Google Cloud, we’re helping businesses solve some of their toughest challenges,” Google stated in a blog post. 

The post Google launches inaugural North American Google for Startups Accelerator appeared first on SD Times.

These features have been launched in over 20 different programming languages, including C++, Go, Java, Javascript, Python, and Typescript. Users can also export Python code to Google Colab without needing to copy and paste. 

Bard can also now help write functions for Google Sheets and help explain code snippets for the customer. This update also enables Bard to help with the debugging of code, even code that Bard wrote itself. 

According to Google, if the user receives an error message, they can inform Bard that “this code didn’t work, please fix it,” and the tool will help debug.

In some instances, the tool can also help improve code by making it quicker or more efficient. Users can make this happen by responding to Bard’s initial output with “could you please make that code faster?” or “find error handling causes you might have missed.”

The company warned, however, that Bard is still an early experiment, and may provide inaccurate, misleading, or false information. There is still a risk that Bard may produce working code that does not provide the expected output or code that is not optimal or complete, so it is important for users to always double check the code themselves.

For more information, read the blog. 

The post Google announces an expansion to Bard’s development capabilities appeared first on SD Times.

The new release of the IDE includes improvements to help build UIs with Live Edit, new features that assist with inspecting apps, IntelliJ updates, and more. 

Developers can build an app using Compose by pushing code changes directly to attached devices or emulators. You can automatically push any changes made to a file, and the user interface will update in real time. This feature called Live Edit, is still experimental, and you can activate it in the Editor Settings. However, it is important to note that there are some known limitations to this feature.

Also, a new System UI Mode selector on the toolbar enables users to switch wallpapers and see how themed app icons react to chosen wallpapers. Dynamic colors can be enabled in the app and the new wallpaper attribute. 

Network Inspector Traffic interception now shows all traffic data for full timelines by default and users can create and manage rules that help test how an app behaves when encountering different responses. 

Updates to App Quality Insights help to discover, investigate and reproduce issues reported by Crashlytics and the latest update now enables users to close issues or add useful annotations in the Notes pane.

Additional features include build analyzer task categorization, one-click automated profileable build and run, Lint support for SDK extensions, and Android Gradle Plugin 8.0.0. 

According to Google, Jetpack Compose and Material 3 templates are now recommended for new projects. 

Additional details are available here.

The post Android Studio Flamingo released with several UI improvements appeared first on SD Times.

In this release, developers can expect updates to the system UI, additional graphics capabilities, and privacy and security features. 

The UI has been updated with a more prominent back arrow when using gestures to navigate and the ability to add custom actions to system sharesheets.

One of the graphics updates is that you can now query the path API to discover what is inside of paths. The API was also updated so that you can interpolate between paths with matching structures.

This release also adds the accessibilityDataSensitive attribute, which allows apps to limit visibility of specified views to accessibility services. According to the team, this attribute can be used to protect user data and prevent critical actions from being unintentionally executed, such as transfering money or checking out in a shopping app. 

Even though this is just the first beta of many, the Android team recommends developers begin testing their apps for compatibility with Android 14. 

The post Android 14 Beta 1 shows new back arrow for gesture navigation appeared first on SD Times.

One improvement is the “About this result” feature soon available in all languages where Search is offered. This feature aims to help users assess information and its origin. 

When searching on Google, users will notice three dots located next to most of the results, which will lead to more details about the source of the information and how Google’s systems have determined its relevance to their query. This will provide users with additional context that can aid in making an informed decision on which sites to visit and which results are the most beneficial to their needs.

Secondly, Google is also aiming to bring more voices into Search with an upcoming feature called Perspectives. The feature appears as a carousel that appears below Top Stories and showcases insights on the search topic from a range of people, including journalists, experts, and other relevant voices

Next, Google is expanding the “About this result” feature to include “About this author” so that readers can find more information about the background and experience of the voices writing the content that appears in the results. 

Starting today, users will be able to quickly see how websites are described by the creator, what others on the web have said about a site and any recent coverage of it. 

Lastly, Google Search recently added content advisories in situations when a topic is rapidly evolving. These advisories provide context about the whole set of results on the page, and searchers can always see the results for their query, even when the advisory is present. Now, the company is planning to expand this offering to German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese in the coming months.

“International Fact-Checking Day on April 2 is a call to action – because in this day and age, nearly everyone has found themselves needing to put on their own fact-checking hat to verify a claim or check a source. Everyone should be empowered with the tools they need to find information they can trust. That’s why we build features to help you evaluate the information you come across online while expanding the range of helpful information you can find. Today we’re sharing how we’re expanding and improving these resources on Google Search,” Itamar Snir, 

product manager at Google News, and Nidhi Hebbar, product manager of information literacy at Google, wrote in a blog post that contains additional details. 

The post Google attempting to combat spread of misinformation with new Search features appeared first on SD Times.

According to Google, responsible AI means not just avoiding risks, but also finding ways to improve people’s lives and address social and scientific problems, as these new technologies have applications in predicting disasters, improving medicine, precision agriculture, and more. 

“We recognize that cutting-edge AI developments are emergent technologies — that learning how to assess their risks and capabilities goes well beyond mechanically programming rules into the realm of training models and assessing outcomes,” Kent Walker, president of global affairs for Google and Alphabet, wrote in a blog post. 

Google has four AI principles that it believes are crucial to successful AI responsibility. 

First, there needs to be education and training so that teams working with these technologies understand how the principles apply to their work. 

Second, there needs to be tools, techniques, and infrastructure accessible by these teams that can be used to implement the principles.

Third, there also needs to be oversight through processes like risk assessment frameworks, ethics reviews, and executive accountability. 

Fourth, partnerships should be in place so that external perspectives can be brought in to share insights and responsible practices. 

“There are reasons for us as a society to be optimistic that thoughtful approaches and new ideas from across the AI ecosystem will help us navigate the transition, find collective solutions and maximize AI’s amazing potential,” Walker wrote. “But it will take the proverbial village — collaboration and deep engagement from all of us — to get this right.”

According to Google, two strong examples of responsible AI frameworks are the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology AI Risk Management Framework and the OECD’s AI Principles and AI Policy Observatory. “Developed through open and collaborative processes, they provide clear guidelines that can adapt to new AI applications, risks and developments,” Walker wrote.  

Google isn’t the only one concerned over responsible AI development. Recently, Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, Andrew Yang, and other prominent figures signed an open letter imploring tech companies to pause development on AI systems until “we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable.” The specific ask was that AI labs pause development for at least six months on any system more powerful than GPT-4. 

“Humanity can enjoy a flourishing future with AI. Having succeeded in creating powerful AI systems, we can now enjoy an “AI summer” in which we reap the rewards, engineer these systems for the clear benefit of all, and give society a chance to adapt. Society has hit pause on other technologies with potentially catastrophic effects on society. We can do so here. Let’s enjoy a long AI summer, not rush unprepared into a fall,” the letter states.

The post Google outlines four principles for responsible AI appeared first on SD Times.

Standalone chat LLMs don’t have a project’s context and can’t be used to their full potential until they’re brought into an IDE, according to the Replit team in a blog post. The new partnership with Google Cloud aims to solve this. 

Replit is a popular online coding platform that allows users to write and run code in various programming languages, collaborate with others, and host their projects on the platform. 

While Google Cloud and Workspace developers will get access to Replit’s collaborative coding platform, Replit will gain access to Google Cloud infrastructure, services, and foundation models via Ghostwriter, Replit’s software development AI.

Using Ghostwriter, developers can create full websites in minutes without any coding experience. They can deploy and scale their applications with a few clicks and get Google Cloud’s reliability, security, and other benefits.

They can also use the tool’s fully conversational AI directly in the IDE, have instant debugging capabilities in real-time, and gain the ability to earn money on-platform – through Replit Bounties where they can complete software jobs for others. Replit’s development environment is available on iOS and Android. 

“Generative AI can bring significant new capabilities to businesses and developers, including the ability to easily, safely, and scalably create new software applications and online experiences with little or no coding experience,” said June Yang, the vice president of Cloud AI and Industry Solutions at Google Cloud. “Google Cloud infrastructure and foundation models in Vertex AI will power Replit’s widely-adopted platform, delivering more performance and scalability to millions of developers around the world.”

The post Google is partnering with Replit to provide AI-assisted IDE appeared first on SD Times.