On Thursday, Google debuted Android XR, the OS it wants mixed reality OEMs to use in their next AR or VR headsets.
A live demo of Android XR on Samsung’s VR headset, Project Moohan, showed off how right-at-home Gemini AI looks on the new operating system.
But we shouldn’t get too ahead of ourselves — so far, the new hotword has only been seen on Android XR, and there’s no word on if it might come to Google’s Android assistant.
Google Maps gets unlikely new data as it prepares to delete the old Google Maps is solving one of its biggest challenges in the UK by tapping into an unlikely new data source: Dashcam video.
With construction zones rerouting streets and speed limits being tweaked along the way, Google needs to constantly update the data Maps uses for navigation.
We were beginning to believe that there was an Android version for every gadget—TVs, cars, touchscreen devices, you name it—when Google once again upended the consumer electronics market. Despite the lackluster reception of the Apple Vision Pro, it is evident that mixed reality remains the next big thing in technology, and Google believes Gemini’s multimodality makes it ideal for taking the lead.
Although Google’s new Android XR platform was the week’s biggest story in mobile, there was also a lot of related news about Gemini. Additionally, Google Maps added new information as it prepared to remove the previous data, and with the December Feature Drop, Pixel phones discovered a charging trick from companies like Samsung and Asus.
Android becomes virtual.
Although the next version of Android is available, no hardware has been made available for public testing yet. The OS that Google wants mixed reality OEMs to use in their upcoming AR or VR headsets, Android XR, was unveiled on Thursday. There appear to be two more general user interfaces designed to work with different hardware: one for VR headsets with video passthrough, which resembles the Apple Vision Pro’s user interface, and another, simpler interface for AR glasses.
Gemini is prominent no matter which user interface is being used. Through a live demonstration of Android XR on Samsung’s VR headset, Project Moohan, Gemini AI’s natural appearance on the new operating system was demonstrated. Give the AI eyes a chance to supplement your own, and Gemini 2.0’s native audio and video processing skills really come into their own. This is advantageous for the young platform because, at the moment, there aren’t many games and apps that are prepared for launch day.
Alright, good-bye, Google?
An entirely new buzzword was somewhat obscured by the commotion surrounding Google’s release of a completely new operating system: in those Android XR demo videos, a person calls Google’s virtual assistant by saying “Hey Gemini” rather than the standard greeting. Although Google had positioned the new OS as the “first Android platform built for the Gemini AI era,” this was the first official use of a hotword other than “Hey Google” or “OK Google Now” since the Moto X days.
“Hey Gemini” should undoubtedly offer some linguistic relief to those who find Google’s name a bit odd. However, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves because the new buzzword has only been seen on Android XR thus far, and there is no indication that it will be included in Google’s Android assistant. However, later in the week, Google was seen adding new Gemini functionality to its Nest smart speakers, suggesting that the writing may already be on the wall.
The era of AI agents (and virtual reality headsets) is upon Gemini 2.0.
Let me refresh your memory in case you haven’t been following the latest buzzwords in AI news. At this time last year, “multimodal” AI was quite popular, and Google was adamant about developing Gemini from the ground up with the notion that it should be able to handle more than just text input and output. AI “agents” have been the talk of the town lately, with many in the industry predicting that in the not-too-distant future, chatbots and LLMs may be able to leave their browser windows and carry out mundane tasks for you.
The arrival of Gemini 2.0 this week created an incredible buzzword salad. The most recent models from Google are able to process audio and images natively, which eliminates the need for text conversion before the LLM can comprehend them. In addition to the customary iterative performance enhancements, Google has declared that Gemini is now prepared for the agentic era. However, based on the AI’s dominant presence in every Android XR video, Gemini 2.0’s new native capabilities might be more advantageous for your next pair of AR glasses.
All of the Thanksgiving-delayed updates came in at once last week. One of those was the December 2024 Pixel Feature Drop, which this week began to appear on phones from US carriers. One of the more useful features was a new setting that, if you choose, would keep your battery from charging past 80 percent, extending its lifespan.
It turns out that this new feature had a secondary benefit of extending battery life: your Pixel can now be powered solely by wall outlets when enabled. Previously seen on Samsung and Asus phones, bypass or passthrough charging differs in that your Pixel’s battery does not receive current when this mode is enabled; rather, the phone is powered directly by the AC adapter while in use. With this new feature, heavy users who multitask while plugged in could significantly reduce battery wear.
Google Maps receives improbable new data as it gets ready to remove the previous data.
Dashcam video is an unexpected new data source that Google Maps is using to address one of its largest problems in the UK. Google must continuously update the data Maps uses for navigation because construction zones frequently reroute streets and change speed limits. Two dashcam OEMs have now joined forces with it to develop an opt-in program that sends recent drive videos to Google for analysis in order to accomplish that.
