Google I/O: will the empire strike back?

So, is Gemini not everything everyone thought it would be?

I've not tinkered with it a lot but when asking for it to search for something on youtube for example, it'll give you links but you have to then copy and paste them into the web browser, they're not clickable at all.

It forgets things, I asked it to ask me about harry potter questions and to not vear away from the subject until I told it to and it failed, as soon as i asked it something else it just answered.

Oh and the gemini has stopped typing thing, then it not telling you what it said is very very annoying, oh and get this; you can have google voices read out the answers, by pushing a button above each answer.

No, I can't say I'm impressed with google's Gemini at all.

Let's see what they say this week but I'd not expect anything huge.

… And that is why I do not get excited about all these AI announcements that are currently floating around the Interwebs.

There's a good reason to get excited, open AI really will be a game changer, google will have to do something huge to even come close.

Did anyone notice how Open AI did everything live? I wonder if that was in response to Google getting busted for faking live demonstrations last time with Gemini. I think Open AI were saying we can do it for real.

Me too. It’s such a strange world we’re living in, What google were showing would have rocked my world a few weeks ago but now its like a flatter, less dynamic version of what we already know is in the post. Nothing to get excited about. I did like when it remembered where her glasses were though even though she hadn’t asked it to.

GO on, what happened that made you stop?

Is it that they're just behind chat gpt and it's obvious?

Wow, they really are trying to be chat gpt aren't they? It's clear to see how desperate they are to catch up, oh this is so funny, google used to be huge but I think they will be more of a meh product in the years to come.

Oh I hope someone else buys youtube and makes it what it used to be... Come on AI gods, nudge someone to bye youtube from google, plese?

I've so far only seen recaps of the google I/o but to me it seems we shouldn't count google out, they're playing an entirely different game. Ironically their focus seems to be more in the on device ai space, gemini nano is much more interesting than gemini pro or ultra. If we can finally get a voice assistant that is reasonably context aware, can actually control my device without needing to set up shortcuts, routines or whatever it is with your preferred thing I think that's almost as big as Open AI's recent announcements, maybe bigger. Yes, GPT O is better at GPT things, we all know that. Gemini seems to be carving out it's own little niche though, just better for different use cases.

I generally don't have the will to watch these things in the first place, I broke my own rule with the Apple event last week and damn near tore my rapidly greying hairs out in sheer frustration. Why can't we just have a MacPad pro or something ...you've got the horsepower for it now but I'm getting off track! I don't think you can escape this side of generative AI on either phone platform, it'll be coming to an iPhone near you before too long and it looks like the next pro pixel will have 16 gb RAM (12 in the base version!) just to push these generative search type things onto us. I don't like it either, even now my talkback Braille keyboard keeps telling me it can proofread the myriad errors in my writing ... I know how to write better than you silly computer thank you very much! Never mind I've always got tons of typos before I edit my submitted posts here, we don't talk about that...

Yep, the ideal device. It’s not going to happen until users say they’ve had enough though. If people keep buying then Apple will have no choice but to put the options there to buy. They even said a couple of days ago that the Mac and iPad are complimentary devices, I assume they mean the £3000 for a mac compliments the £1500 for an iPad very nicely in their bank account. There’s no reason not to allow iPads to run Mac OS X other than its way better for share holders to offer 2 devices instead of one that you need to buy plus you’re obviously going to have to buy a phone because you would have anyway and if you want a smart watch, you’ll need theirs and you’d probably like some headphones to go with your iPad and iPhone that they took the headphone jack off. They’ve got this so tightly controlled to ensure you need to buy the maximum number of devices. A very impressive achievement.

I am slowly pulling away from the Apple boot camp. Ha! See what I did there?

Since iOS 17/macOS 14 and the funtime I had with my rather short-lived iPhone 15 Pro, I have just about given up.

There was a time when I worshipped at the Altar of Apple. Not so much these days.

Since going back to school, I have found much more enjoyment out of my deceptively powerful PC running Windows 11. I have yet to find any of the issues I used to encounter all of the time on my MacBook Pro. Granted it is an entirely different OS, different hardware, etc, but still. The end goal is presumably the same; to have a stable, yet powerful device capable of things such as web surfing, word processing, multimedia capability such as gaming and streaming media, and so on.

Now I am seeing more and more people on AppleVis who seem genuinely interested in the Android ecosystem.

While I technically still have my MBP, and it works well enough on macOS 12.7.2 (Monterey), I haven't turned it on in a couple of months. My iPhone I still use, of course, but I am honestly to the point where I am just waiting until next year when I will be ready to upgrade again, and am strongly considering giving up the (Apple) ghost and switching to Android.

I’m sorry, but Google is about 2 to 3 years behind open AI.

I think you might be confused on the topic of this thread.

Well the 2 AI that JAWS uses for picture smart does a nice job of putting thing together to get a nice picture. I know that is a window and not android just making a comment on it.

Google's product development over the last 10, 15 years has been terrible. don't expect them to catch up to anyone. At this rate, even Apple has a possibility at passing them

Nope. Just replying to the comments about iPad and Macs. 🤷

The Astra model which runs locally and can provide real time descriptions as a camera pans a video feed is on the right track. Hopefully everyone will keep pushing each other, and we can get a super Astra put on Glidance and Apple Vision Pro some day. I really want it on Glidance the smart cane.

You know what I hope I get to experience in my lifetime? Above all else, not that anything else is any less important, mind you, but I look forward to the day I can converse with someone, or several someones, face to face, while wearing a pair of smart glasses thatare subtly describing (in real time) facial expressions! Call me what you will, but I miss being able to read facial expressions and body language. . . 😳

If you get several billions you can higher someone who can do that for you. You just point to something and she will tell you what it is. Just need several billions. Fast, quick and reliable.

You are my hero, Holger.

The way things are going, you might need trillions. lol
So back to the idea of the glasses reading facials. I think I would find having the glasses telling me all that at the same time I'm actually trying to engage in the conversation would be beyond distracting, but this is coming from a person who can barely walk and chew gum.

As a woman, I would think you would find such a device that does any such 'sensation' to one's chest. . ., distracting. 😲

Open AI has the best software but do not have any hardware Google has everything in hands include the most inteligent smartphone in the planet
and together with software offer the best services up today
They talked about how low vision or blind user could use from Pixel smart phone and Gemini nano

The company announced that Gemini Nano capabilities are coming to the company’s accessibility feature, TalkBack. This is a great example of a company using generative AI to open its software to more users.
Gemini Nano is the smallest version of Google’s large-language-model-based platform, designed to be run entirely on-device. That means it doesn’t require a network connection to run. Here the program will be used to create aural descriptions of objects for low-vision and blind users.
In the above pop-up, TalkBack refers to the article of clothing as, “A close-up of a black and white gingham dress. The dress is short, with a collar and long sleeves. It is tied at the waist with a big bow.”
According to the company, TalkBack users encounter around 90 or so unlabeled images per day. Using LLMs, the system will be able to offer insight into content, potentially forgoing the need for someone to input that information manually.
“This update will help fill in missing information,” Android ecosystem president, Sameer Samat, noted, “whether it’s more details about what’s in a photo that family or friends sent or the style and cut of clothes when shopping online.”
The device will be arriving on Android later this year. Assuming it works as well as it does in the demo, this could be a game changer for blind people and those with low vision.

Do not be jealous.

That reminds me of the YouTube video from several years ago. No idea if it is still up or not, but the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) posted a video of a blind person driving a automobile that, as I understand it, had sensors all over it. The driver had these prototype haptic gloves that gave feedback when the driver was nearing an obstacle.

This video was filmed at the Daytona International Speedway, if I recall correctly, in my hometown/birth place. 😎

Now that.... would be just friggin cool! While I haven't ever really had a longing to see, and feel pretty happy the way I am, the idea of having either a car that can self drive, or other tech that would enable me to do it, would just be awesome, especially if said tech could be made not insanely expensive, like not having to sell the next three generations of my family to be able to afford it. lol I've had the experience of driving on a country road with people telling me when and where to turn, and that was pretty cool, and would love to one day have a car of my own, and at that one I could use on my own .

In the film, "Scent of a Woman", Al Pacino plays a blind retired military officer, and Chris O'Donnel (I believe) is his personal assistant. There is a scene where Al Pacino's character drives a car while his assistant is yelling, "Left!", "Right!", "Left!", etc.

Ha Ha!

That is the all American way of doing it. ;)

the day that comes to talkback, is the day I switch back to android, especially if Apple does nothing by then, though I have no reason to suspect any such thing, if they want to stay relevant that is.

That is a really good movie! Not a fan of some of the language, but nonetheless, fantastic flick. I remember the scene very very well.

Wondering how that will work if not on a specific Google device, so Samsung, etc. And do you have to have Gemini on the phone or not? I really like what Google has already done with Talkback over the past few years, and I for one am very optimistic about the future of Android and Talkback.