Month: May 2024

Image: The Verge

Anthropic is releasing a new feature for its AI chatbot Claude that will let anyone create an email assistant, a bot to purchase shoes, or other personalized solutions. It’s called “tool use” (or the nerdier “function calling”), and it hooks up to any external API of your choosing.
While I’m not a huge fan of the term “AI agents,” that’s essentially the game plan here. For instance, the tool can analyze data to create personalized product recommendations based on a user’s purchase history or provide quick responses to customer inquiries, such as tracking order status or offering real-time technical support. To spin up an assistant, all it needs is access to an API and someone who knows how to code.
Also, this tool can work with images, enabling applications that analyze visual data. An example Anthropic gave is that a virtual interior design consultant can use this tool to process room images and provide personalized decor suggestions.
This AI assistant will be available through Anthropic’s Messages API, Amazon Bedrock, and Google Vertex AI. Pricing is based on the volume of text Claude processes, measured in “tokens.” Typically, 1,000 tokens equate to about 750 words. During the beta phase, most users opted for Anthropic’s fastest and most affordable option, Haiku, which costs approximately 25 cents per million input tokens and $1.25 per million output tokens.
According to Dianne Penn, a project lead at Anthropic, the team has been beta testing the Claude tool since April with a few thousand customers. She anticipates some cool startup solutions: one of the spotlighted customers was Study Fetch, which used it to build a personalized AI tutor called Spark.E.
AI assistants or agents (or whatever you call them) seem to be where this technology is headed. At Google I/O, the search giant unveiled all sorts of ways to let Google do the shopping and searching for you using AI. At OpenAI, the company is working on a Her-like voice assistant that can respond in real time and observe the world around you (in a demo, it suggested a change of clothes before an important job interview).
Anthropic’s release of this new tool allows people to create various assistants to meet their needs, with or without Google and OpenAI.

Image: The Verge

Anthropic is releasing a new feature for its AI chatbot Claude that will let anyone create an email assistant, a bot to purchase shoes, or other personalized solutions. It’s called “tool use” (or the nerdier “function calling”), and it hooks up to any external API of your choosing.

While I’m not a huge fan of the term “AI agents,” that’s essentially the game plan here. For instance, the tool can analyze data to create personalized product recommendations based on a user’s purchase history or provide quick responses to customer inquiries, such as tracking order status or offering real-time technical support. To spin up an assistant, all it needs is access to an API and someone who knows how to code.

Also, this tool can work with images, enabling applications that analyze visual data. An example Anthropic gave is that a virtual interior design consultant can use this tool to process room images and provide personalized decor suggestions.

This AI assistant will be available through Anthropic’s Messages API, Amazon Bedrock, and Google Vertex AI. Pricing is based on the volume of text Claude processes, measured in “tokens.” Typically, 1,000 tokens equate to about 750 words. During the beta phase, most users opted for Anthropic’s fastest and most affordable option, Haiku, which costs approximately 25 cents per million input tokens and $1.25 per million output tokens.

According to Dianne Penn, a project lead at Anthropic, the team has been beta testing the Claude tool since April with a few thousand customers. She anticipates some cool startup solutions: one of the spotlighted customers was Study Fetch, which used it to build a personalized AI tutor called Spark.E.

AI assistants or agents (or whatever you call them) seem to be where this technology is headed. At Google I/O, the search giant unveiled all sorts of ways to let Google do the shopping and searching for you using AI. At OpenAI, the company is working on a Her-like voice assistant that can respond in real time and observe the world around you (in a demo, it suggested a change of clothes before an important job interview).

Anthropic’s release of this new tool allows people to create various assistants to meet their needs, with or without Google and OpenAI.

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Google’s latest grab bag of Android updates is rolling out throughout May and June. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google is releasing seven new updates and features to make Android devices and services more useful. The most notable update is to Google Messages, which now lets users edit messages up to 15 minutes after they’ve been sent.
This is achieved by tapping and holding on sent RCS messages and then selecting the pencil icon that appears at the top of the screen. The feature has been expected since last year, when references to editing first appeared inside the Messages app code. The Google Messages update starts rolling out today for all phones running Android 8 or later. Similar editing features have already been added to rival messaging services like WhatsApp and iMessage.

Image: Google
Just tap and hold your sent message to correct typos or other required edits.

Image: Google
You can soon switch between connected devices while in the middle of a Google Meet call.

Google also announced improvements to instant hotspot, which will soon allow users to connect an Android tablet or Chromebook to their phone’s hotspot with a single tap — no password required. The update to instant hotspot also lets users switch between connected phones, tablets, or web browsers during Google Meet calls by tapping the Cast icon. These features all start rolling out to Android phones, foldables, and tablets running Android 11 or later on June 10th.
The Google Home Favorites widget, which allows users to quickly view and control their most-used smart home devices, is now available in public preview and can be added to the homescreen on Android phones. Starting today, smartwatches running Wear OS 3 or later can also run the Google Home Favorites tile, alongside a new PayPal option for Google Wallet in the US and Germany.

Image: Google
Updates to Wear OS make it easier to manage smart home devices when you’re away from your phone.

Emoji Kitchen is also getting some new sticker combinations on June 10th for users to share via Gboard. And lastly, digital car key support is being extended to cover additional vehicles, including select Mini, Mercedes-Benz, and Polestar models. The digital key update is available for Android 12 or later. Support for Mini vehicles, which is already available in the EU, started rolling out in the US on May 13th. Support for Mercedes-Benz will be available on June 10th, while Polestar support will roll out between June 17th and 21st.

Google’s latest grab bag of Android updates is rolling out throughout May and June. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google is releasing seven new updates and features to make Android devices and services more useful. The most notable update is to Google Messages, which now lets users edit messages up to 15 minutes after they’ve been sent.

This is achieved by tapping and holding on sent RCS messages and then selecting the pencil icon that appears at the top of the screen. The feature has been expected since last year, when references to editing first appeared inside the Messages app code. The Google Messages update starts rolling out today for all phones running Android 8 or later. Similar editing features have already been added to rival messaging services like WhatsApp and iMessage.

Google also announced improvements to instant hotspot, which will soon allow users to connect an Android tablet or Chromebook to their phone’s hotspot with a single tap — no password required. The update to instant hotspot also lets users switch between connected phones, tablets, or web browsers during Google Meet calls by tapping the Cast icon. These features all start rolling out to Android phones, foldables, and tablets running Android 11 or later on June 10th.

The Google Home Favorites widget, which allows users to quickly view and control their most-used smart home devices, is now available in public preview and can be added to the homescreen on Android phones. Starting today, smartwatches running Wear OS 3 or later can also run the Google Home Favorites tile, alongside a new PayPal option for Google Wallet in the US and Germany.

Image: Google
Updates to Wear OS make it easier to manage smart home devices when you’re away from your phone.

Emoji Kitchen is also getting some new sticker combinations on June 10th for users to share via Gboard. And lastly, digital car key support is being extended to cover additional vehicles, including select Mini, Mercedes-Benz, and Polestar models. The digital key update is available for Android 12 or later. Support for Mini vehicles, which is already available in the EU, started rolling out in the US on May 13th. Support for Mercedes-Benz will be available on June 10th, while Polestar support will roll out between June 17th and 21st.

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A new interactive Google Home widget is coming to Android. | Image: Google

Quick access to smart home devices is coming to Android in the form of a new Google Home Favorites widget. This will let you control devices, actions, and automations directly from the homescreen of your phone. There’s also a new Favorites tile and complication coming to Wear OS for accessing frequently used devices right from your wrist.
The new Favorites widget lets you view and interact with the most-used devices directly on your homescreen, no need to open the Google Home app.
Currently, the easiest way to do this is to tap on the tile shortcut to the Home app, but this opens the full app. An interactive widget should be faster overall for doing something like turning on a light, locking a door, or checking the temperature.

Image: Google
The new Google Home Favorites widget lets you easily interact with smart home devices from the homescreen.

As with most widgets, its size is adjustable, so ideally you could just have a whole page of smart home controls (just me?). The widget is available to those signed up for the Google Home app’s public preview starting today, May 30th.
The new Wear OS Favorites tile and complication brings similar functionality to your wrist. The tile, which you access by swiping left, takes you to quick controls for up to five devices. Tapping on an icon takes you to the device’s controls in the Wear OS Home app, where you can unlock your door, dim the lights, or adjust your thermostat.

Image: Google
The Wear OS Google Home Favorites complication and tile.

The complication can be set to control a specific device right from the watch face, such as a fan or light, and that tapping on it will also take you directly to the control in the Home app.
The Google Home tile and complication for Wear OS is rolling out today, May 30th, on devices running Wear OS 3 or higher.
The widget, tile, and complication all pull from the Favorites section of the Google Home app, so you’ll need to set up the devices you want to access from them in the Home app first.

A new interactive Google Home widget is coming to Android. | Image: Google

Quick access to smart home devices is coming to Android in the form of a new Google Home Favorites widget. This will let you control devices, actions, and automations directly from the homescreen of your phone. There’s also a new Favorites tile and complication coming to Wear OS for accessing frequently used devices right from your wrist.

The new Favorites widget lets you view and interact with the most-used devices directly on your homescreen, no need to open the Google Home app.

Currently, the easiest way to do this is to tap on the tile shortcut to the Home app, but this opens the full app. An interactive widget should be faster overall for doing something like turning on a light, locking a door, or checking the temperature.

Image: Google
The new Google Home Favorites widget lets you easily interact with smart home devices from the homescreen.

As with most widgets, its size is adjustable, so ideally you could just have a whole page of smart home controls (just me?). The widget is available to those signed up for the Google Home app’s public preview starting today, May 30th.

The new Wear OS Favorites tile and complication brings similar functionality to your wrist. The tile, which you access by swiping left, takes you to quick controls for up to five devices. Tapping on an icon takes you to the device’s controls in the Wear OS Home app, where you can unlock your door, dim the lights, or adjust your thermostat.

Image: Google
The Wear OS Google Home Favorites complication and tile.

The complication can be set to control a specific device right from the watch face, such as a fan or light, and that tapping on it will also take you directly to the control in the Home app.

The Google Home tile and complication for Wear OS is rolling out today, May 30th, on devices running Wear OS 3 or higher.

The widget, tile, and complication all pull from the Favorites section of the Google Home app, so you’ll need to set up the devices you want to access from them in the Home app first.

Read More 

Image: Microsoft

The last time Microsoft really needed Windows developers was when it asked them to build a new type of application that could work across phones, PCs, tablets, Xbox consoles, and headsets like the HoloLens. It was all part of a larger effort to transform Windows with a new interface for touch-friendly apps, designed to rival the iPad.
It failed miserably. Developers didn’t flock to universal Windows apps, and Microsoft eventually abandoned its touch-friendly UI in favor of a more traditional desktop in Windows 10. The cross-platform dream of the Windows 8 era didn’t last very long.
Now, Microsoft is trying something new, and it needs developers’ help again. It’s adding AI models and tools directly into Windows for this first generation of Copilot Plus PCs — laptops that have powerful neural processing unit (NPU) chips to accelerate AI tasks. I’ve written about how these new laptops will compete with the MacBook Air, transition Windows to Arm-powered chips, and set Windows up for an era of AI. The big selling points are better battery life, better performance, and the promise of AI features inside Windows and the apps you use every day.
But for all of this to work, Microsoft needs developers to adapt their apps again — and get people excited to use Windows.
AI was the talk of Microsoft Build, coming out of every speaker’s mouth and plastered on sign after sign on Microsoft’s campus. There were…

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Image: Microsoft

The last time Microsoft really needed Windows developers was when it asked them to build a new type of application that could work across phones, PCs, tablets, Xbox consoles, and headsets like the HoloLens. It was all part of a larger effort to transform Windows with a new interface for touch-friendly apps, designed to rival the iPad.

It failed miserably. Developers didn’t flock to universal Windows apps, and Microsoft eventually abandoned its touch-friendly UI in favor of a more traditional desktop in Windows 10. The cross-platform dream of the Windows 8 era didn’t last very long.

Now, Microsoft is trying something new, and it needs developers’ help again. It’s adding AI models and tools directly into Windows for this first generation of Copilot Plus PCs — laptops that have powerful neural processing unit (NPU) chips to accelerate AI tasks. I’ve written about how these new laptops will compete with the MacBook Air, transition Windows to Arm-powered chips, and set Windows up for an era of AI. The big selling points are better battery life, better performance, and the promise of AI features inside Windows and the apps you use every day.

But for all of this to work, Microsoft needs developers to adapt their apps again — and get people excited to use Windows.

AI was the talk of Microsoft Build, coming out of every speaker’s mouth and plastered on sign after sign on Microsoft’s campus. There were…

Read More