The December Pixel Drop makes Gemini smarter, screenshots better and subtitles livelier
The December Pixel Drop is here and most of the new features are upgrades to Gemini or are otherwise powered by AI. There are plenty of non-AI improvements too, of course.
Let’s start with Gemini. If you’re running Gemini Advanced, it can remember things about you, e.g. food preferences, so when you ask it to do something, say, suggest a recipe, it will use its knowledge of you to offer better answers.
Gemini is now better at controlling third-party apps and even devices. It can work with your default phone and messaging app to communicate with people and businesses. It can control Spotify thanks to the new extension and can command any device in your smart home, as long as your Google Account has access to it.
Gemini can do the talking for you
Gemini Nano can take calls for you and now you can guide it with the context-sensitive suggestions. For example, when a delivery person calls to ask where to drop off your package, Gemini will suggest possible answers and go with the one you pick. You can interrupt Gemini at any time and take over the call yourself too.
Moving on to camera improvements, Pixels can now capture and share Ultra HDR photos to your Instagram feed. Snapchat now supports the new Photo Picker, so you can easily share a photo – whether the file is on your phone or it is stored in your cloud account.
Ultra HDR photos for Instagram • Photo Picker support for Snapchat • Dual screen preview for Pixel Folds
Pixel Fold and Pixel 9 Pro Fold users can now take advantage of the cover screen, which shows a live preview of the photo, allowing your subject to strike a pose. When taking photos of young children, the outer display can draw their attention with colorful animated characters – including Joy from Inside Out, if you have a 9 Pro Fold.
If you are the type to plan and organize with screenshots, the new Pixel Screenshot features will automatically tag and categorize your screenshots. Ticket and credit card info can be read from a screenshot and stored into Google Wallet for quick and easy (and safe) access. Circle to Search now has the option to save a screenshot for safekeeping.
Pixel Screenshots automatically organizes your screenshots, it can read card and ticket info too
The December Pixel Drop has other cool improvements. For example, the auto-generated captions now try to capture the emotions of the speaker and preserve them in text form. Also, the Recorder app has a noise-suppression feature called Clear Voice.
The Pixel UI gets an improved Simple View – it increases the font size and touch sensitivity, making it easier to control apps and widgets, especially for people whose eyesight is declining.
It’s not just Pixel phones that are getting new features either. For example, Pixel Watch 2 owners can now get a live view from a Nest Cam or a Nest Doorbell. Pixel Watch 3 users in Germany and Portugal have access to Loss of Pulse detection, which joins the Fall and Car Crash Detection features – they will automatically contact authorities in case of emergency.
Simple View for the Pixel UI • Live feed from Nest cameras on Pixel Watch 2
There are even more improvements too, follow the Source link for a complete breakdown. Or, if you are in a hurry, check out this short promo clip that goes over everything in 70 seconds.
