Google is doubling down on AI across its services
The artificial intelligence (AI) wars are heating up as Google tries to play catch-up with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which is now being used by many tech companies to improve their services.
Judging by the mishaps we’ve already seen, the Alphabet company has a long way to go. Google has had AI capability baked into its products for some time (including better translation quality in Google Translate), but generative AI will take things to a new level.
Help me write
The world’s most popular email service already has autofill options to help you finish sentences, but now it can do much more. Let’s say you need to request a refund or get out of a party you really don’t want to attend. Just enter a prompt of what you need and hit create.
Gmail will compose a message using information from previous messages in your inbox. You can adjust the length of the email and the tone (use formal for work and casual for friends). Make any other changes as you see fit and fire away when ready!
Know before you go
Did you know that Google Maps Street View owes its existence to AI? How else could billions of images be stitched together to give you that first-person perspective?
Immersive View kicked things up a notch with 3D views of select locations worldwide. Now you can combine that experience with your route to better understand the area.
Want to take a bike ride by the water but can’t decide where to begin? How about checking the conditions before setting out on that summer road trip? Now you can see the sights, weather, traffic and air quality before heading out.
Immersive View for routes will roll out over the summer and launch in 15 cities by the end of the year, including London, New York, Tokyo and San Francisco.
Photo magic
I hope you had a good Mother’s Day and took lots of photos. But wait — the one time you were able to get the whole family to stand still for one produces a pic rife with problems.
Can't access Outlook? Here's the fix until Microsoft patches it
Google’s Gmail is one of the most popular email services in the world. But the tech giant is known for tracking your every move. If you want more privacy, there are options. Tap or click here for details on a Gmail alternative focused on privacy.
Have a Google account you created years ago? Do this or it could disappear
Gmail is the most popular email service globally and has been so for some time. Though Google has been the topic of questionable privacy practices, people still love their Gmail accounts.
Some Gmail users recently received emails from Google saying that their accounts would be marked as inactive. The messages appeared legitimate and their accounts were active, so what was the problem? Tap or click here for our report.
Do this now before your Gmail account is deleted
Google’s Gmail is a behemoth when it comes to email providers. It has billions of users worldwide who log in daily to check their emails, set up meetings and track calendar entries. You also need a Google account when you set up an Android phone or download apps from the Play Store.
Use Hotmail or Outlook? You might have to start paying for it
If you still have an active Hotmail account, it is a testament to just how long you have been on the internet. The email service was launched in 1996 and was eventually acquired by Microsoft.
After several name changes and product relaunches, Microsoft retired the Hotmail brand and renamed it Outlook in 2012. Everybody on the system was automatically switched over to Microsoft Outlook back in 2013, and it has been impossible to create a Hotmail account since. Tap or click here to see what free email providers know about you.
Practical Tech Tip: How to change your mobile email signature
You have work to get done, but you’re also running from one errand to another today. So, you do the sensible thing: you reply to emails from your phone.
When you finally get back to a desktop computer, you discover those emails you sent have that pesky “Sent from my iPhone” message at the bottom and it looks unprofessional. Tap or click here to see what today’s email etiquette looks like.