Android devices have offered a built-in screen reader feature called TalkBack for years. It helps people with vision problems to make sense of what appears on their phone’s screen and lets them control it with their voice. In 2024, Google added its Gemini AI into the mix to give users a more detailed description of images.
Google is now bolstering it with a whole new layer of interactive convenience for users. So far, Gemini has only described images. Now, when users are looking at images, they can even ask follow-up questions about them and have a more detailed conversation.
“The next time a friend texts you a photo of their new guitar, you can get a description and ask follow-up questions about the make and color, or even what else is in the image,” says Google. This builds on the accessibility upgrade that integrated Gemini within the Talkback system late last year.
The Talkback menu on Android now shows a dedicated Describe Screen feature that puts Gemini in the driving seat. So, for example, if users are browsing a garment catalogue, Gemini will not only describe what appears on the screen, but will also answer relevant questions.
For example, users can ask questions such as “Which dress would be the best for a cold winter night outing?” or “What sauce would go best with a sandwich?” Gemini will also be able to analyse the entire screen and inform users about granular product details, or if there are any discounts available.
In the Chrome browser, Google is giving a small lift to the auto-generated captions for videos. Let’s say you are watching a football match. The captions will no longer just follow the commentator’s words, but will also match their emotions and expressions.
For example, instead of “goal,” users with hearing issues will see a resounding “goooaaal” for an added dash of emotional emphasis. Google is calling them Expressive Captions.
In addition to human speech, they will now also cover important sounds such as whistles, cheering, or even the speaker just clearing their throat. Expressive captions will be available on all devices running Android 15 or a later version, in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.
Another meaningful change coming to the Chrome browser is adaptive text zoom, which is essentially an update on the Page Zoom system available on Android phones. Now, when users increase the size of text, it will not affect the layout of the rest of the web page.
“You can customize how much you want to zoom in and easily apply the preference to all the pages you visit or just specific ones,” says Google. Users will be able to make zoom range adjustments using a slider at the bottom of the page.
A recent update to WeTransfer’s terms of service caused consternation after some of its customers feared that it meant content from files uploaded to
If you’ve had enough of AI-generated images filling up your search results, then the DuckDuckGo search engine is here to help.The Pennsylvania-based c
Meta has tasted quite some unprecedented success with its camera-equipped smart glasses made in collaboration with Ray-Ban. They started off with soci
In what’s believed to be a world first, artificial intelligence (AI) has allowed a slain man to address his killer at the sentencing hearing.Christoph
It feels like all of the big tech companies practically live in courtrooms lately, but it also feels like not much really comes of it. Decisions get m
Machine learning platform, Hugging Face, has released an iOS app that will make sense of the world around you as seen by your iPhone’s camera. Just po
AnthropicOpenAI’s o3 and DeepSeek’s R1 models have some new competition. Anthropic announced Monday the release of its new “hybrid reasoning” model, C
ChatGPT is becoming more accessible to the masses. Its ChatGPT Search feature is now available without having to log in to the popular chatbot. Parent
We are a comprehensive and trusted information platform dedicated to delivering high-quality content across a wide range of topics, including society, technology, business, health, culture, and entertainment.
From breaking news to in-depth reports, we adhere to the principles of accuracy and diverse perspectives, helping readers find clarity and reliability in today’s fast-paced information landscape.
Our goal is to be a dependable source of knowledge for every reader—making information not only accessible but truly trustworthy. Looking ahead, we will continue to enhance our content and services, connecting the world and delivering value.
