Gemini

Google has officially launched Google AI Ultra, a high-end subscription plan that unlocks the company’s most powerful AI tools. It’s being pitched as the best way to experience everything Google AI has to offer. Sure, maybe it is, but at $249.99 per month, it’s hard not to question the timing.

Look, with inflation still hitting wallets and layoffs continuing across industries, launching a $250 monthly plan feels completely disconnected from reality. Google’s positioning it as a VIP pass for filmmakers, researchers, and creatives. But let’s be honest, folks, that’s a very steep price in today’s economy.

Unless you can count yourself among those who have a premium subscription, using YouTube means having to endure ads. This is annoying, but it could be getting a whole lot worse.

And things are getting worse because of artificial intelligence. Google has announced Peak Points, a Gemini ai-powered feature that gives advertisers way to hit you with ads when you are most engaged with a video.

Screenshotting stuff can seem like a great way to remember something for later, but captures soon get lost and forgotten. Google is looking to change this by bringing new Gemini-powered features to Google Maps.

The company thinks that it can help you to make sense of the “travel blogs, news articles or social media posts” you’ve screengrabbed while researching a trip. Turning to AI to make sense of a heap of images is Google’s solution. Here’s how it can help you.

After what feels like an eternity, Google has finally brought a native Gemini app to the iPad. No more stretched-out iPhone version or clunky compatibility mode. This release is the real deal, folks -- a proper iPad app that takes full advantage of the larger display and multitasking capabilities Apple’s tablet has to offer.

Thankfully, this new Gemini experience isn’t just about a fresh coat of paint. It really improves how you use AI on a tablet. Thanks to support for Split View, you can now run Gemini side by side with other apps. That means doing research while writing, or generating code while watching a tutorial -- all without switching screens.

Google may be the current king of search, but thanks to competition from artificial intelligence services like ChatGPT and Grok, its continued dominance is becoming less guaranteed. In other words, Google can no longer rest on its laurels with search -- it must either evolve or dissolve.

In an effort to keep up with the times, Google is delivering its AI Mode feature to more users in the U.S. today. This essentially adds new capabilities that combine visual search with the Gemini AI model. Originally limited to Google One AI Premium subscribers, the feature is now available to millions through the Labs program, accessible in the Google app for both Android and iPhone.

AI-powered digital assistants are now (almost) ten a penny, and the rate at which they are gaining new capabilities is nausea-inducing. Google Gemini has long been able to make use of screen grabs as a prompt or part of a prompt, but now things are moving up a notch.

Some Gemini users are starting to notice a new “Share screen with Live” option on their devices. This goes far beyond the ability to analyze and use static screenshots, enabling Gemini to track what is on-screen in real time -- including user activity and what is picked up by the camera.

After many leaks, Google’s Pixel 9a is finally here! For anyone not locked into Apple’s ecosystem, it’s looking like the smarter choice over the iPhone 16e. At just $499, it packs AI-powered features, a pro-level camera system, and the powerful Google Tensor G4 chip -- all at a lower price than Apple’s so-called budget offering.

The Pixel 9a isn’t just another mid-range phone -- it’s got some legit flagship-level perks. Its 6.3-inch Actua display is the brightest ever on an A-series phone, hitting 2700 nits, while the 120Hz refresh rate makes for smoother scrolling than the iPhone 16e’s 60Hz screen. Google’s color choices -- Peony, Iris, Porcelain, and Obsidian -- also bring more fun and variety compared to Apple’s standard options.

When illness strikes, many people turn to 'Doctor Google' for health advice. While this can be helpful in many cases, searching for symptoms can also throw up some terrifying potential 'diagnoses', but AI has been used to try to avoid providing either fearmongering suggestions or unhelpful advice.

Google is aware that it is often a first port of call for people trying to work out what condition they may have and how to best approach treatment, and the company has announced numerous improvements and new feature to make its offerings more helpful and trustworthy -- as well as starting to provide suggestions from non-medical experts.

Google Assistant is being consigned to history. Almost a decade after it first launched, Google’s voice-activated digital assistant will be replaced by Gemini, Google’s updated AI-powered assistant.

If you’re an existing user of Google Assistant, you will no doubt have noticed the offer of switching to Gemini. While this has been, and remains for now, an optional switch, soon there will be no choice -- it will be Gemini all the way.

Mark your calendars, fellow tech fans! Google I/O 2025 is happening on May 20-21 at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. Can’t make it in person? No worries, you can join in the fun online at io.google -- registration is open now.

This is Google’s biggest bash for developers, where the search giant will show off all the cool new stuff in tech, software, and AI. The event will surely offer some big announcements -- think new gadgets and software updates. After that, there’s a whole bunch of workshops, sessions, and meet-ups for everyone to get hands-on and network.

Although 75 percent of people think chatbots are getting better at managing toxic or inaccurate responses, 50 percent have still experienced bias and 38 percent have seen inaccuracies, according to a new report.

The survey of over 6,300 global consumers, software developers and digital quality testing professionals, carried out for testing and digital quality company Applause, finds 91 percent of respondents have used chatbots to conduct research, and 33 percent of those use them for research daily.

Google's chat-based AI tool Bard, launched last year, has been rebranded as Gemini. Google says that this is the most capable of its AI tools to date. So what does the change from poet to star sign deliver?

The Gemini Pro 1.0 model is available in over 40 languages and more than 230 countries and territories. Thee are also two new additions -- Gemini Advanced and a mobile app-- to make it easier to collaborate with Google AI.