Here’s a quick rundown of the latest tech news:

• Calling it Quits on the Big Screen: Google Meet, the popular video calling app, will soon be saying goodbye to Android TV and Google TV. While not the most widely used feature, it offered a convenient way to make video calls on your TV with a webcam.
• Storage at a Glance: Gmail on the web is getting a handy upgrade! A new storage indicator has been added to the account switcher menu. With a quick tap, this lets you see how much storage you’re using out of your total Google Drive space.
• Smarter Chat with Gemini: Google Chat is getting a brain boost with the rollout of Gemini to Workspace Labs. This AI-powered tool helps you summarize conversations, generate to-do lists from discussions, and even answer specific questions within a chat.

Let’s dive deeper into each of these updates:

Meet Exits the Living Room:

While Google Meet on Android TV was helpful during the pandemic, it seems its time has come. Recent code updates suggest Google plans to discontinue the app. A message within the app hints at this, mentioning “deprecation” and prompting users to find alternatives. This follows a similar shutdown of Meet on Samsung TVs earlier this year.

For those who relied on Meet for TV video calls, it’s wise to start exploring other options.

Gmail Gets Storage Savvy:

Ever wondered how much storage you’ve used in your Gmail account? Now, checking is easier than ever. A new storage indicator has been added to the Gmail account switcher menu. It displays a clear percentage of your total storage used, along with a handy Google One shortcut if you need more space. This complements the existing indicator already present at the bottom of Gmail’s main page.

This update extends to standalone Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides as well, offering a quick way to monitor your storage usage across various Google services.

Gemini Joins the Workspace Party:

For Workspace users, Google Chat is getting a major upgrade with Gemini. This AI assistant is now available in Workspace Labs, offering a range of helpful tools. With Gemini, you can summarize entire chat spaces or specific conversations, extract actionable items from discussions, and even ask questions and get answers directly within your chat window.

Source/Via

Key Points:

• Quiets the Chaos: Notification cooldown gradually lowers the volume of repeated notifications from the same app.
• Customizable Settings: You can choose to apply cooldown to all notifications or just conversations.
• Important Alerts Excluded: Calls, alarms, and priority conversations won’t be affected.

Tired of your phone constantly buzzing with notifications? Android 15 might be the answer. A new feature called “notification cooldown” aims to reduce the noise and keep your phone from going off like crazy.

How Does It Work?

Imagine you’re in a super active group chat. Without a notification cooldown, your phone might be constantly buzzing. This feature steps in, gradually reducing the volume of repeated notifications over time. This way, you won’t be overwhelmed by constant alerts while still staying informed about important messages.

A Brief History

Notification cooldown was initially introduced in Android 15’s early developer previews. However, it was temporarily removed in the public beta. Now, it seems to be making a comeback with some enhancements.

What’s New?

• Simplified Settings: The feature now has a simpler on/off toggle.
• Educational Animation: A helpful animation explains how notification cooldown works.
• Work Profile Support: You can choose whether to apply cooldown to work profile apps.

When Can We Expect It?

While notification cooldown isn’t available in the latest Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 update, it’s likely to be included in a future release. So, if you’re tired of notification overload, keep an eye out for this handy feature.

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Key Points:

1. Google has temporarily stopped the rollout of Wear OS 5 due to reports of bricked Pixel Watches.
2. The update caused some Pixel Watch users to experience software issues that rendered their devices unusable.
3. Google is likely working to fix the problem before resuming the update process.

Google has decided to pause the rollout of Wear OS 5 for Pixel Watches after several users reported that the update caused their devices to become bricked. This means that their watches could not function properly and required a factory reset to be restored.

While the exact cause of the issue is still being investigated, it seems that the update contained a bug that affected many Pixel Watch users. Google has not released an official statement about the problem, but it appears that they have temporarily halted the update’s rollout to prevent further issues.

If you have a Pixel Watch and haven’t already updated to Wear OS 5, it’s probably best to wait until Google has resolved the issue and resumed the rollout. In the meantime, you can continue to use your watch as normal.

It’s unclear when Google will resume the rollout of Wear OS 5. However, they are likely working hard to fix the problem and ensure that the update is safe and reliable for all Pixel Watch users.

Note: If you have already updated to Wear OS 5 and are experiencing issues, you may need to factory reset your watch to restore it to its original state. Be sure to back up any important data before performing a factory reset.