Monday Google opened preorders for its "Googlebook" laptops, pricing them at $899. A Google's blog post added that "At launch, you can choose between Intel Core Ultra Series 3 and Snapdragon X Elite processors" (paired with NPUs to power AI features). "Devices will hit shelves on October 4 in the U.S. and on October 5 in Canada, the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, and Australia," TechCrunch points out. But "the real pull for the new devices is that they'll prominently feature Gemini's latest capabilities in a new format: the laptop." Google is trying to offer a laptop with unique features like an AI-powered cursor, vibe-coded widgets, and support for AI-enhanced dictation. The latter is a feature called Rambler, which cleans up messy, rambling brain dumps into readable text. The move is a bet that AI, specifically Google's Gemini, could be enough of a draw to get people to buy a new laptop that bakes in AI instead of running them via desktop apps you install or access through the browser... On the Googlebook, Google is trying to reinvent the "point-and-click" experience of desktop computing to now include an AI element: The cursor serves as a conduit to Gemini. The company suggests various ways this could be used, like highlighting content on a web page for Gemini to work with, asking Gemini to see if an email you've hovered your cursor over is suspicious, or selecting images and then asking Gemini to visualize them together... What's more interesting about the Googlebook is how it's seemingly part of Google's longer-term plan to capture a large part of the K-12 market that currently relies on Chromebooks and push them toward the company's Gemini AI. There are somewhere around 50 million Chromebooks in schools, used by students and educators, Google has said. In May, the company told TechCrunch that its current Chromebooks would continue to be supported, though many would become eligible to transition to the new Googlebook experience in the future... Flagship devices in the new range are being built by Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo, with materials like aluminum, magnesium alloy, and carbon fiber... Google says the device will offer up to 14 hours of battery life. Googlebooks will be decorated with an exterior Glowbar "which dances when you boot up, sweeps to show battery level, and supports other playful patterns," according to Google's blog post. "We're also opening Glowbar access to developers to build custom, interactive animations." After testing actual Googlebooks, The Verge's reviewer first acknowledges that "it might be just another Trojan horse for Gemini." Still, "The hardware is polished (since it's based on current laptops). The OS is familiar (if you've ever used a Chromebook). But most impressive, it integrates your Android phone with your PC so they feel more like one device. It's the culmination of a series of new ideas that blur the two devices together. "After my first look, I went from doubtful to excited by the prospect of Google pulling it all off..." The Asus was incredibly lightweight; the Lenovo has plenty of ports and an optional mouse with a matching Glowbar light; the Acer's convertible form factor allows some tablet-like use (and it's pretty affordable for a Panther Lake laptop). The HP had a great-looking screen and a latticeless keyboard I surprisingly didn't hate, and the Dell is basically a gold XPS 13 (which is excellent) but with a different chip... But everything really special about Googlebooks comes down to software... You can cast apps from an Android phone directly to a Googlebook, even without touching your phone. Googlebooks essentially have two app drawers: a G-logo start menu for installed Googlebook apps and a second one beside it that pulls up mobile apps from your phone. Click a phone app and you can fully use that app with the mouse and keyboard or the Googlebook's touchscreen. It's a bit like iPhone Mirroring on macOS, but the apps are individually extracted to the desktop OS instead of showing your whole phone interface. Googlebooks also have a nifty feature called Continue On where the icons of apps you're currently using on your phone appear in the bottom bar — allowing you to click it on the laptop and hand it off to the Googlebook. These app handoffs can transition to a native app or a web app, depending on how developers have programmed it... The other big way Googlebooks interact with an Android phone is Quick Access, allowing you to see and access all the files stored on your phone right in the desktop Files app... If you have an iPhone then you're limited to a Link to iOS app that just does some message syncing and replying... [W]hen it comes to mainline gaming, Nvidia's GeForce Now service is also coming to Googlebooks, and the first year is free with one of Google's new laptops. "It's not every day we get a new player in the desktop operating system and laptop spaces," the reviewer points out. "There seems to be a higher ceiling of potential with Googlebooks than there was with Chromebooks, along with some cool features, but Google has a lot to prove at higher prices than people are used to paying for its laptops."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

• lien nᵒ 1 : L'annonce officielle
• lien nᵒ 2 : La page Wikipedia

Commentaires : voir le flux Atom ouvrir dans le navigateur

Android AOSP (l'Android "opensource" de Google sur lequel est basé GrapheneOS) est dans un tel état d'abandon et de délabrement de la part de Google que GrapheneOS a décidé de ré-implémenter eux-même tout un tas de choses, de la galerie au clavier en passant par le support des RCS.
Gros travail en perspective, vu que Google n'en a plus rien à foutre de l'Android opensource.
(Permalink)

Vous voulez utilisez Shazam (pour reconnaître une chanson) sans subir le tracking de l'application ?
Audile fait la même chose, passe aussi par l'API de Shazam, mais peut aussi utiliser d'autres API (AudD, ACRCloud).

En gros, c'est comme l'appli Shazam, mais qui démarre plus vite et sans trackers.
(Permalink)

Pour bloquer les trackers et la publicité sous Android, si vous ne pouvez/voulez pas installer personalDNSFilter sur votre smartphone (voir https://sebsauvage.net/wiki/doku.php?id=dnsfilter), il y a toujours la possibilité de configurer un DNS externe ("DNS privé" dans les réglages Android). Ça permet, en 2 minutes, de bloquer la majorité des trackers et publicités sans installer la moindre application.

Il y en a un qui marche bien: ➡️ dnsforge.de
Ma propre liste de blocage bloque un peu plus de 400 000 domaines, dnsforge.de en bloque... 1,4 millions !

Et ils ont même une version plus forte: ➡️ hard.dnsforge.de
qui en bloque 2,7 millions.

Si un site vous pose problème, vous pouvez bien sûr temporairement le désactiver. Il peut également arriver qu'il faille le désactiver quand vous vous connectez à un point d'accès Wifi gratuit avec portail.
(Permalink)

Bizarre... une appli de navigation qui utilise les services Google (trafic, StreetView...) mais sans compte Google, sans les PlayServices.
L'application tire aussi une partie de ses données d'OpenStreetMap (les cartes par exemple). Les POI, ça reste du Google (avec la pauvreté des données et plein d'erreur, bien sûr). Les POI OSM sont absents 😕
Curieux mélange.
(Strikedown de l'appli par Google dans 3... 2... 1...)
Il y a quand même la possibilité de télécharger les cartes pour une utilisation offline (pas testé !)
Les sources sont là : https://github.com/PimpinPumpkin/Vela

Premier avis : ça tente d'imiter fortement l'interface de GoogleMaps/Waze, et personnellement je déteste (c'est pas pratique à utiliser, gestion des favoris merdique, etc.)

Je dirais, pour l'instant par rapport à CoMaps, le seul avantage c'est d'avoir l'info-trafic (et je ne sais pas s'il recalcule les trajets en cas de bouchons).

EDIT: on me signale que c'est vibe-codé. Ça explique pourquoi tout a l'air de travers dans cette appli.
(Permalink)

Motorola is working with GrapheneOS to officially support the privacy-focused Android alternative on its 2027 flagship phones, starting with a non-folding model and later expanding to the next Razr Fold and Razr Ultra. "These will ship with Motorola's normal Android skin, but you will be able to switch to GrapheneOS later if you want to," notes GSMArena.com. GrapheneOS says the devices will "meet or exceed" its hardware and update requirements, and will include seven years of "proper updates." Interestingly, Motorola will be doing much of the porting work itself.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Une recensement communautaire des applications qui fonctionnent:
- totalement sans les services Google.
- ou avec MicroG (émulation des services Google).
(Permalink)