Do You Actually Need to Pay for Transcription Software? I tested Wispr Flow and various AI-powered transcription software to see whether you should bother subscribing or stick with free services. The pitch--that you'll be able to write faster by talking out loud instead of typing-- is compelling, especially if you're a slow typist. The marketing promises you'll be able to write at the speed of thought, 4x faster than your keyboard. I already type faster than I can think.

When most of us think of AI chatbots, we think of complex systems running on powerful hardware in massive data centers. Ask ChatGPT or Gemini a question, then watch it think as it pings some faraway server network to process, before it generates an answer. The reality is that's just one way to interact with the latest AI models, and you can run an open-weight chatbots on a recent iPhone. A local chatbot might not be as powerful as its cloud counterparts, but there are compelling reasons to ditch ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, which I'll go over in this guide. I'll also explain how to install a local AI model on your phone. It might seem complicated, but I promise it's easier than you think.

Gemini can trigger smart home routines based on what your cameras see. Google is updating Gemini for Home, the version of its AI assistant for smart homes, with new camera-based automations, reliability improvements and an updated version of the Google Home app. Gemini for Home launched in early access in October 2025, and has replaced Google Assistant on Google's smart home cameras, speakers, doorbells and displays. At I/O 2026, Google expanded its Google Home Gemini built-in program to make it easier for companies to make compatible cameras and speakers. That focus on cameras wasn't a coincidence; the biggest change the company is rolling out now is the ability to use Gemini to create automations triggered by what your cameras see.

PCWorld reports that Google's AI services are increasingly resembling advertisements, with new premium offerings like the $100/month Spark AI agent for digital life management. Google has shifted Gemini to a compute-based usage model while introducing advanced AI glasses that raise significant privacy concerns due to integrated cameras.

PCWorld reports Google's new Gemini-powered smart glasses prototype represents a refined approach to smart eyewear, manufactured by Samsung with discreet camera and touch controls. The lightweight glasses integrate Google's AI assistant for real-world navigation, search functions, and phone replacement capabilities while maintaining a normal sunglasses appearance. Despite improved public acceptance and seamless design, limitations include basic heads-up display, battery concerns, and sometimes forced AI features. A decade after Google launched Google Glass to spectacular failure, it's trying again. And I think that the world (and I) will be more receptive to what Google's online AI interpreter, Gemini, can do when plugged into your ear.

Google is sprucing up its Gemini models, revamping search, and enabling AI agents in everything. There are also some spiffy new smart glasses coming this fall. Google just wrapped its keynote address at its annual I/O developer event . The company showed off a swath of new agentic AI features and some demos of its upcoming Android-powered smart glasses. As it has in the past few years, the spectacle largely revolved around Google's perpetual stream of AI efforts.

PCWorld reports that Google's new Docs Live feature uses Gemini AI to transform verbal "brain dumps" into formatted documents, pulling information from Drive, Gmail, and other Google services. This productivity enhancement aims to reduce cognitive load for mentally fatigued users by enabling conversational document creation and automatic task generation in Google Keep. The advanced AI features, including Gmail's new AI Inbox for enhanced search and email drafting, will require Google AI Pro or Ultra subscriptions starting this summer. We've all been in this situation: You know what you want to say, but you're too mentally exhausted, distracted, or confused to actually say it. Google's new conversational AI, Docs Live, wants to help. The metaphor Google is using here is a "brain dump," and Google is applying this technique to Docs, Gmail, and Google Keep. Google's trying to offload more of the "thinking" away from you and on to Google apps, using what it knows about you -- naturally!

Google is transforming its search engine into an AI-powered assistant called Spark, featuring conversational interactions and a personalized'daily brief' for task management. PCWorld reports the company is expanding mobile search capabilities to handle complex queries using text, images, and video while integrating restaurant reservations and payments. This evolution blurs the line between traditional search and AI assistance, keeping users within Google's ecosystem through proactive monitoring and personalized results.

Go fully hands-free with these tips for Android and iOS. With the arrival of digital assistant apps like Gemini and Siri, most of us have grown used to talking to our phones. But conversing with your Android or iOS device can go way beyond interacting with AI. You can also use your voice to launch apps, fill out text fields, and do just about everything that was previously only possible with your fingers and thumbs. Of course, the traditional touchscreen input will often be the way to go.

AI chatbots are giving out people's real phone numbers People report that their personal contact info was surfaced by Google AI--and there's apparently no easy way to prevent it. A Redditor recently wrote that he was "desperate for help": for about a month, he said, his phone had been inundated by calls from "strangers" who were "looking for a lawyer, a product designer, a locksmith." Callers were apparently misdirected by Google's generative AI. In March, a software developer in Israel was contacted on WhatsApp after Google's chatbot Gemini provided incorrect customer service instructions that included his number. And in April, a PhD candidate at the University of Washington was messing around on Gemini and got it to cough up her colleague's personal cell phone number. AI researchers and online privacy experts have long warned of the myriad dangers generative AI poses for personal privacy.