Google I/O 2024: Top 5 features coming to Android smartphones, from big Gemini enhancements to AI fraud protection

AI was once again a big topic at Google’s I/O 2024 event on Tuesday, with the company announcing a new Gemini 1.5 language model, a new text-to-video generator, an all-new AI voice assistant, and more. But there was also plenty to be excited about for Android fans, with Google announcing that it was bringing a slew of AI features to its operating system, including a new Gemini Nano model, updates to Circle to Search, Google Photos, and more.

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Key new features coming to Android smartphones:

1) Circle to Search helps students complete their homework.

Google first introduced Circle to Search last year on the Pixel 8 series, and later extended the feature to Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S24 series. The Android maker is now planning to extend the capabilities of this AI feature by allowing students to complete their homework. A new update to Circlce to Search provides students with a step-by-step guide to solving a variety of physics and math problems.

Google also said that while Circle to Search is already available on more than 100 million devices, it plans to bring the experience to even more devices this year. It remains to be seen whether this feature will be limited to Google and Samsung devices or will be rolled out to more OEMs in the future.

2) Upgrade to Nano AI model:

Google on Tuesday announced significant enhancements to Gemini Nano, its lightest on-device AI model found in its flagship Pixel and Samsung devices. The new Gemini Nano 1.0 model has multimodal capabilities, meaning it can understand sights, sounds, and spoken words in addition to text prompts. The latest AI models will first be introduced on his Pixel 9 series later this year.

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3) Protection from AI fraud:

Google has confirmed that it uses Gemini Nano’s multimodal features to provide real-time alerts when it detects patterns that match common scams.

The tech giant has confirmed that its AI fraud prevention feature will be an opt-in feature. This means it will not be turned on by default and users will have to manually confirm their choice to use the new AI tool. Additionally, Google says its use of on-device AI means your conversations remain private.

4) Gemini will play a bigger role in Android:

Google has confirmed that Gemini can now be used to understand content on Android devices and improve the user experience. Gemini will soon be able to overlay and assist existing apps, providing the ability for an AI assistant to answer questions related to the current content on the device. For example, users will be able to ask Gemini questions about specific videos and drop AI-generated images directly into her Google Messages or her Gmail.

5) New AI assistant features:

Google on Tuesday announced a new “see and talk” AI agent as part of Project Astra. The new agent is built on Gemini and provides a glimpse into the company’s plans for future AI assistants that can talk to users in real-time while running on their phones or glasses.

In a video shared by Google, the new AI assistant can be seen identifying the purpose of a code, finding a user’s glasses, looking out the window to figure out their exact location, and even coming up with a creative name for their dog. It will be done. Google says some of Project Astra’s features will be coming to the Gemini app and web experience later this year.