ReportWire

Tag: Google Messages

  • Gemini can now generate a 30-second approximation of what real music sounds like

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    Google has announced that using its newly incorporated Lyria 3 model, Gemini users will be able to generate 30-second music tracks based on a prompt, or remix an existing track to their liking. The new model builds on Gemini’s pre-existing ability to generate text, images and video, and will also be available in YouTube’s “Dream Track” feature, where it can be used to generate detailed backing tracks for Shorts.

    Like some other music generation tools, prompting Gemini doesn’t require a lot of detail to produce serviceable results. Google’s example prompt is “a comical R&B slow jam about a sock finding their match,” but after playing with Lyria 3, you can definitely get more granular about individual elements of a track — changing the tempo or the style of drumming, for example — if you want to. Outside of text, Gemini can also generate music based on a photo or video, and tracks can be paired with album art created by Google’s Nano Banana image model.

    Google says that Lyria 3 improves on its previous audio generation models in its ability to create more “realistic and musically complex” tracks, give prompters more control over individual components of a song and automatically generate lyrics. Gemini’s outputs are limited to 30-second clips for now, but given how Google’s promotional video shows off the feature, it’s not hard to imagine those clips getting longer or the model getting incorporated into other apps, like Google Messages.

    Like Gemini’s other AI-generated outputs, songs made with Lyria 3 are also watermarked with Google’s SynthID, so a Gemini clip can’t as easily be passed off as a human one. Google started rolling out its SynthID Detector for identifying AI-generated content at Google I/O 2025. The sample tracks Google included alongside its announcement are convincing, but you might not need the company’s tool to notice their machine-made qualities. The instrumental parts of Gemini’s clips often sound great, but the composition of the lyrics Lyria 3 produces sounds alternately corny and strange.

    If you’re curious to try Lyria 3 for yourself, Google says you can prompt tracks in Gemini starting today, provided you’re 18 years or older and speak English, Spanish, German, French, Hindi, Japanese, Korean or Portuguese.

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    Ian Carlos Campbell

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  • Google tests QR code verification for text messages

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    Google is changing the way you confirm if contacts are legit. The company has begun rolling out a QR code to verify that the person you’re communicating with is, in fact, who they say they are, 9to5Google reports. The feature is currently available in beta.

    An end-to-end encryption card isn’t anything new, but verifying the encryption meant seeing an 80-digit code you could compare. Now, you’ll still go Google Messages, tap their name and then go to their details page. But, instead, there will be an option to show your QR code or scan their code.

    Verify keys “ensure only you and your contact can read the RCS messages you send each other,” Google states. The 80-digit comparison is still available if there’s an issue with the QR code.

    Google first announced the new feature last October, stating, “We’re creating a unified system for public key verification across different apps, which you can verify through QR code scanning or number comparison.” At the time, it said the feature would be available on all Android 9 devices and newer.

    QR codes could be the new norm at Google. The company is also planning to switch SMS-based two-factor authentication on Gmail to QR codes.

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    Sarah Fielding

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  • RCS Coming to iPhone This Fall, Leaked Google Promo Image Claims

    RCS Coming to iPhone This Fall, Leaked Google Promo Image Claims

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    Photo: Florence Ion / Gizmodo

    Rich communication services (RCS) is already a big deal on Android phones with more than a billion users. Those numbers might be going up by the fall, as Google claims Apple will be joining the RCS party.

    Apple Unveils Its iPhone 15 and Apple Watch Series 9

    A page for Google Messages lists the benefits of RCS, and it also just happened to have a slide saying the feature will come to the iPhone, as first spotted by 9to5Google Thursday.

    “Apple has announced it will be adopting RCS in the fall of 2024,” the now-deleted slide said.

    Google and Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on this deleted slide.

    Apple already began work on implementing RCS compatibility with its upcoming iPhone last year, but this is the first mention of when this momentous occasion would happen. The timing does seem appropriate as Apple routinely releases its new iPhone in the fall. This could be one of the many announcements of new features for iOS 18 happening in June at Apple’s WWDC.

    As for what this means for Android and iPhone users, it could be the end of the green and blue bubble drama. Now this doesn’t mean that the different color bubbles will go away or that Android phones will now have access to iMessage. Android users will still have the green bubble when texting someone with an iPhone. However, things like emoji reactions, message receipts, and high-resolution pictures and videos could be available between the two devices.

    Texts were one of the points the Department of Justice focused on when it decided to file a lawsuit against Apple for creating a monopoly on the iPhone. In the suit, there was an interaction CEO Tim Cook had with an individual who said how it was tough for him to send her photos as she was on an Android phone. Cook then told the person, “Buy your mom an iPhone.”

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    Oscar Gonzalez

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  • Now You Can Message Google Gemini From Any Android Phone

    Now You Can Message Google Gemini From Any Android Phone

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    You, too, can have your own RCS chat with Google Gemini.
    Image: Google

    Android is becoming the platform of AI fever dreams. At this year’s MWC, an overseas tradeshow where Google typically has a booth to remind the world that its mobile platform is global, the Android maker has announced new ways to interact with Gemini from inside Google Messages as if Gemini were just another buddy.

    No Google AI Search, I Don’t Need to Learn About the “Benefits of Slavery”

    Beginning this week, Google will roll out the ability to access Gemini right from within Google Messages on any Android device. It’s called Chat with Gemini, and like a chatbot in apps like Slack, you’ll be able to dialogue with it to draft messages, plan events, and pin ideas. You won’t have to install the Gemini app to access this feature.

    Even if you don’t plan to interact with Gemini, more AI infusions are coming to an Android device near you. For those who use Android Auto behind the wheel, your car can summarize long texts and noisy group chats. The AI will also talk you through possible replies and other things you can do as you keep your eyes on the road. But speaking from experience, I hope this won’t be one of those interactions that require you to enunciate directly.

    Lookout on Android, a built-in feature geared toward blind and low-vision users, will now offer auto-generated AI descriptions of photos and images that come through with messages. There’s also enhanced screen reader support for Lens inside Maps, so when you point your AR camera at a building or storefront, TalkBack will dictate what’s ahead and its entry into Google Maps.

    Android watch wearers, first, let me say it’s nice to have you here. You should know that Google will allow you to access tickets, passes, and other necessary wallet staples from your wrist in the next Wear OS update. Transit directions will also be available soon, making it much easier to recall the train or bus you’re supposed to catch without taking out your phone.

    Health Connect is the last portion of this mini-news maelstrom. This latest update pipes in all your third-party health data from apps like AllTrails and MyFitnessPal and aggregates them into the Today tab in the Fitbit app. I’m curious about what’s going on with this particular data-sharing suite since Google rolled it out last year. I’ll be testing this more closely as it rolls out.

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    Florence Ion

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