Google is rolling out new Gemini AI and gaming features on Chromebook Plus, including features like Help me Write (English only), Magic Editor for editing photos, and more.
Help me Write, available in English, provides assistance for composing content like a review on a website, a PDF form like a rental application, or a web app. Right-click to get suggestions or change the tone to fit a specific audience. Help be Write generates text from scratch using a prompt or you can rewrite existing text to make it more format, for example, shorter, or rephrase it altogether.
With Generative AI wallpaper and video call backgrounds built into the OS, you can leverage a variety of prompts to build backgrounds, adding an element of whimsy or a more professional look to things like video calls. Choose what you want to see and Google AI on Chromebook will help re-create it.
Magic Editor on Google Photos is coming to laptops exclusively on Chromebook Plus. Select a photo to edit in the Google Photos app and tap the “Magic Editor” button to get started. Tap or circle the object you want to edit, hold, and drag to reposition, or pinch to resize them. You can also use contextual suggestions to improve the lighting and background.
Gemini is now available right from the home screen. To chat with Gemini, tap the icon in your app shelf and start planning, writing, learning, and more.
A Google One AI Premium plan is free for all Chromebook Plus users for the first year who purchase an eligible Chromebook Plus model and activate the feature on or after May 28, 2024. It will be $27/mo. thereafter. The plan includes access to Gemini Advanced, 2TB of storage, and Gemini in Docs, Sheets, Slides, Gmail (English only), and more.
Google is also launching new features that integrate more of Google across all Chromebooks. There’s simple set up with your Android phone by scanning a QR code to share Wi-Fi and Google account credentials without the need to remember nor enter long passwords.
There’s also one-click access to your Google Tasks via a new built-in view of Google Tasks that lets you add or check off to-dos. Tap on the date in the bottom right corner of your home screen. Access your to-dos from across Google Workspace apps and devices. If you’ve added a task from Gmail on your phone, for example, you can pick it up from your Chromebook.
With the built-in screen capture tool, you can choose to automatically save screen recordings in GIF format to make your own homemade demos or reaction GIFs.
Gamers will appreciate the new Game Dashboard, which lets you control your gaming experience with new features like mapping game controls. Play any mobile game and map controls to your keyboard.
If you have a Chromebook already, you’ll get many of these features through an automatic update over the next week or so. For those looking for a new laptop, there are new models from brands like HP, Acer, Asus.
Chromebooks automatically update every few weeks with new features coming later in the year like Help me read with Gemini to summarize websites or PDFs using a right click on Chromebook Plus models. You’ll even also have the option to ask follow-up questions and get AI-generated answers to help you dive deeper.
There will also be the option to pick up where you left off every time you log in. A screen will show you what you had open across your windows, tabs ,and apps. Suggestions from across your devices on other operating systems will point you in the right direction, so if you start reading an article in Chrome browser on your Android or iOS phone you can finish reading on your Chromebook with a click.
A new Focus mode will allow you to choose a window of time, a Google Task you want to finish, and a YouTube Music playlist, and Chromebook will automatically turn on Do Not Disturb and count down your progress.
AI-powered hands-free control with face and gesture tracking, developed from Project Gameface, is now built right into ChromeOS. Compose and send an e-mail, open and use an app, or browse the web, all without using the keyboard or needing to download and manage third-party software. Google says it’s still early days for this project, but it’s on the horizon.