Setting Up Your Home Office

GIMP, the free and open source image editing application long seen as the best free Photoshop alternative, just released a major update: Version 3. The update brings long-awaited improvements to working with filters, layers, and text. There's also a sleeker user interface with improved UI scaling. Among the biggest changes is nondestructive filters. Previously applying filters, such as blurs, was final—you could use the undo function to get back to a pre-filtered state but you couldn't simply edit or remove the filter. You can now tweak the settings of filters, or even remove filters entirely from the layer panel. …

Google is adding a slate of AI features to Gmail that could save some of the hassle of searching for important information buried in messages and threads. Many users will soon see a more personalized inbox with AI-powered suggestions, summaries, and proofreading support. Plus, some AI functionality that was previously available only to paid subscribers will be rolling out to all Gmail users, including Help Me Write, AI Overviews for threaded emails, and Suggested Replies. See personalized, AI-powered snapshots Gmail users will soon have an AI Inbox view with two sections. "Suggested to-dos" will show immediate action items found in your inbox, such as bills to be paid an…

You might not think about it, but you're probably pretty used to how Gmail's search function works. You type in your query, wait a moment, then scroll through the results, looking for the email in question. These results are always in chronological order, with the most recent results appearing at the top. After years of searching this way, you're likely subconsciously expecting this order, scrolling backwards in time to find the result you have in mind. I imagine it's going to be a bit confusing the next time you search for something in Gmail, and the results are not sorted by recency. That's because Google is changing the way it returns Gmail results for users: Google an…

Gmail already adds an Unsubscribe button to every promotional email or newsletter you receive in your inbox. That way, you can stop someone from sending you emails without first visiting their website. The service is now going one step forward, giving you a single place to manage all your subscriptions, and an option to unsubscribe from each with just a tap—kind of like the Subscriptions screen on YouTube. Manage Subscriptions is rolling out nowThere's a clear advantage to the new Manage Subscriptions feature. With it, you no longer need to go through your entire inbox to find all the newsletters, as Gmail will instead surface them for you. You'll see the names and email …

Google's Smart Replies are getting an AI-themed, and to me, slightly creepy update. At its Google I/O 2025 keynote, Google announced a new feature called Personalized Smart Replies. This feature uses Gemini AI, alongside the data in your Gmail and Google Drive, to reply to emails in a way that sounds like you. Google promises is can write like you would, using your tone and writing style, as learned by your Gmail history. With this new update, the Smart Replies option that shows up when you reply to an email will be a lot more powerful and a lot more contextual. On stage, Google CEO Sundar Pichai used planning a trip as an example. Let's say a friend emails you asking for…

It's that time again, for Google to announce that real-time translation has come to one of its communication apps. This time, it's Google Meet, which can translate between English and Spanish as you speak in a video call. If that sounds familiar, it's because it's not the first time Google has announced something like this. Google Translate has had features that let you speak to someone in another language in real time for a while. For example, back in 2019, there was a real-time translation feature called Interpreter Mode built into Google Assistant. It's also been possible on Pixel phones for a while (and even Samsung phones). Most of these, however, have been either te…

It's been clear for some time that the Gemini AI app would be replacing Google Assistant, once it had learned all the necessary tricks and been granted all the required hooks into other apps. Now, Google is in the process of actively dismantling the features available in Google Assistant ahead of its retirement. As per Google's official support document (as spotted by 9to5Google), seven more Google Assistant features have recently been pulled across Android devices and Nest smart speakers and displays. These deactivated features add to a bunch of other capabilities that were taken away last year. On smart displays, you can no longer use your voice and Google Assistant to …

In a strange reversal of the usual seller/customer dynamic, Google is now giving buyers the power to send out their own robocalls. It's not the first time the company has experimented with giving the average Joe the ability to send AI robocalls, but it is much more robust than previous outings. Rolling out today, the feature will show up while you're browsing for certain products on Search, so long as you add a "near me" to the end of your query. If the product is supported, you'll see a "Let Google Call" button, which is where the fun begins. Credit: …

The Google Gemini apps are getting a memory upgrade, with the AI bot now able to recall past conversations you've had with it—building on the tool's existing ability to remember personal details about you, such as the foods you like or what you do professionally. Like several other new Gemini features when they first launched, this is exclusively for Google One AI Premium subscribers ($20 per month), with English language users getting the upgrade first. Google says support for more languages and Enterprise accounts will be added in the "coming weeks." Google's intention here is to make Gemini more useful. You could refer back to something you were chatting about last wee…

Since the days when Google Gemini was still called Bard, it's been able to connect with the company's other productivity apps to help pull context from them to answer your questions—but you still had to connect those apps to the AI manually using extensions. And even after bringing your apps together, you usually had to tell Gemini where to look for your data to get much use out of its abilities. For Instance, if you wanted it to pull information from your emails, you might have started a prompt with "Search my email." Now, Google is making it easier to connect Gemini to its various services, and adding "reasoning" when pulling context from across your Google Workspace. …

Google is announcing a slew of new Gemini features today, this time aimed squarely at its free users. Features that were previously only available with the $20 per month Advanced plan will now be accessible to the public. GemsGems are Gemini's little AI helpers that you can create for any task. You can start with pre-made ones like Google's Career guide. But you can create a Gem for any purpose. You can create one for repeated tasks, or to help you research a topic with very specific prompts. Previously, the Gems feature was exclusive to Gemini Advanced users, but now Google is making them to available to all users. You'll find Gems in the sidebar, where you can easily ge…

Starting this week, Google will start rolling out the ability for kids under the age of 13 to use Gemini on their own accounts. Both on the web and through the Gemini mobile app, kids will be able to use Google Gemini to help with their homework, create songs, draft poems, and more. Parents started getting notified about the update towards the end of last week, according to an email seen by The New York Times and Chrome Unboxed. It makes a major change for the company, and a bold one, too. While parents will receive an email the first time their child uses Gemini, AI access is nonetheless being added as a default, rather than an opt-in. Google does encourage talking to yo…

Google I/O, the company's annual developer conference, is nearly here. The show kicks off May 20, and will likely center around Google's plans for its services and products for the coming year. Android, of course, is a huge Google service that is usually highlighted at each I/O. This year, however, it appears the company is taking a different approach; rather than feature Android as part of the general I/O presentation, Google is giving Android its own event, called, appropriately, "The Android Show: I/O Edition." "The Android Show" itself isn't something new for this year's I/O. It's actually an existing Google podcast that covers new features and changes surrounding the…

Google is adding one of the iPhone's most controversial features to its latest Pixel phones, but it's promising to show a bit more restraint than Apple did. Yes, as part of the November 2025 Pixel feature drop, Pixel 9 and Pixel 10 phones (excluding the Pixel 9a) are getting AI notification summaries. The problem with AI notification summariesIf you're reeling back after reading that, I don't blame you. This is one of the few AI features Apple beat Google to the punch on, and when they came out during the iOS 18.3 beta, the summaries were quickly criticized for handling hard topics like breakups with a cold tone, as well as for misreporting the news. Apple quickly pulled …

If you have a Family Account through Google, you might assume you can control what your child can see or do on their device. You can, but, as it happens, only up to a certain point. When your kid turns 13, Google will send them an email, letting them know they can choose to disable your supervision over their account. You get an email too, but they don't need your permission to lock you out of their device. Once they decide they're ready for a relatively complete Google Account experience, it's their choice to make. Despite being Google's official policy, this situation was not common knowledge. Following a relatively viral LinkedIn post about the subject, parents were p…

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a fantastic security measure, but not all 2FA is created equal. SMS-based 2FA is by far the least secure authentication option, and yet, far too many companies use this method as default. Hackers know this, which is why they target users' 2FA codes to commit fraud and steal access to Google accounts. All that said, any 2FA is better than no 2FA, so it's worth tolerating SMS-based authentication if it's the only 2FA option offered. Now, however, the winds are changing: Google is the latest company looking to switch from SMS codes to an alternative method. As reported by Forbes, the company is planning to shift from SMS codes to QR codes. …

Scammers and cyber attackers are always looking for new ways to steal your information, and even the most cautious among us can be at risk when using our mobile devices for everyday activities. Google is rolling out new security features for Android to help users protect against scams, fraud, and theft, and revealed a bunch of them during its mobile-focused event "The Android Show: I/O Edition," leading up to this year's Google I/O event starting May 20. Here's what's coming soon to your Android device. Expanded scam detection featuresGoogle recently rolled out real-time, AI-powered scam detection that alerts users to possible fraud when suspicious conversational pattern…

Google is bringing back its free year of Google AI Pro for U.S. college students, after releasing its new Gemini 3 Pro AI model today. Because so many of the new model's biggest features are hidden behind paywalls, it's not a bad deal, even if it's not the first time Google's done this. The deal follows similar promotions from April and August, although the most recent one ended in October. That this offer is coming so soon after the last one means Google might plan to keep rolling out these trials on a regular basis. How to claim your free year of Google AI Pro as a U.S. college studentTo get your free year of Google AI Pro, first head over to gemini.google/students and …

Google's Gemini AI is going beyond Android phones, the company officially announced today, prior to its Google I/O 2025 conference later this month. Specifically, Google says it will bring the AI assistant to smartwatches, cars, TVs, and even mixed reality headsets. This is a significant step forward for its Gemini push, as it'll allow people to use the service on almost all devices in the Google ecosystem. Gemini on Wear OS devices Credit: Google The goal of Gemini on your smartwatch is to ensure you've always got your AI ass…

Shopping online? Google wants you to trust AI to click the buy button for you. Rolling out today, Google's new "agentic checkout" adds onto the company's existing price-tracking feature, so it's not something you'll see all the time. Instead, when you get a price drop notification on an object you've been tracking, you might now see a new "buy for me" button that will send all the necessary information to the store's website and make the final purchase for you. Credit: Google Google says the AI will always ask your permission …

Take a look at the top of this article. See that headline? If it looks different than what you clicked on to get to this page, congratulations: Google might have chosen you to participate in its latest AI experiment: rewriting news headlines for some users in Google Discover. Evidence of the new effort was first spotted by The Verge, as it seems writer Sean Hollister was affected by the update. Here's what's going on: When you swipe right on your Pixel or Galaxy home screen (or scroll down in the Google app on iPhone, or open up a new Chrome browser window with Google as your homepage), there's now a chance the article previews you'll see from Google Discover were actuall…

Summer is on the way—at least for those of us in the northern hemisphere—and Google has pushed out some useful upgrades across several apps to make your travel planning a little easier (and a little more reliant on AI). First, the AI Overviews that you've no doubt noticed up at the top of Google search results are being expanded to cover travel itineraries for regions and countries, as well as cities. All you need to do is ask for a plan for a certain place (like the south of France), together with any requirements (such as kids or a specific budget), and the AI will do the rest. You get a day-by-day breakdown of where you should go and what you should do, and you can che…

The Google I/O 2025 keynote was all about Gemini and AI. But it's nice to see that the Chrome desktop browser got some new updates and features, too. While Gemini has been available in every web browser so far, until now, it's still very much just been a website. Meanwhile, over on Android, the Gemini app integrates deeply into the ecosystem. Thankfully for AI fanatics, it can now do that in Chrome, too. Plus, Google is adding some quality-of-life upgrades to the password management system, as the browser can now change your passwords for you, automating one of the most tedious but important security tasks there is. Gemini comes to Chrome on desktop Starting tomorrow, Gem…

Anna's Archive, a popular website for pirating books and articles, seems to be square in Google's sights, according to copyright and digital rights publication TorrentFreak. The search giant is said to have blocked some 749 million Anna's Archive URLs from showing up in search results, TorrentFreak found, after combing through a recent transparency report. The removal wasn't necessarily targeted, as Google regularly delists content at the request of copyright holders. At time of this writing, has taken down links to 15,125,359,564 pages since 2011. But this is the latest in an ongoing, AI-prompted saga that is seeing copyright holders crack down on so-called "shadow libra…

Thanks to some smart (and aggressive) marketing, Duolingo has cemented itself as one of the most popular language learning apps in the world. That said, it isn't without competition: There are plenty of alternatives to consider, and if you're peeved about Duolingo's plans to phase out its contract workers in favor of using AI, you might be looking into them. There's now a new competitor for Duo's crown, but it certainly isn't a replacement for the AI-averse. It's also far from an underdog, considering the service comes from none other than Google. Yesterday, the company announced a new AI-powered language learning experience it calls Little Language Lessons. It isn't an …