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Character.ai lets you talk to your favorite (synthetic) people on the phone – which isn’t weird at all
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Character.AI's collection of virtual personalities based on real and fictional sources will speak up thanks to the new Character Calls audio feature. The artificial intelligence-fueled chatbots can now engage in two-way voice conversations for free on the startup's app.

Augmenting the synthetic people hosted on Character.AI's hub with voices is supposed to make them more fun to talk to, according to the company. Users can tap a button in the window of their chat and start talking to the bot in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Korean, Japanese, or Chinese. Tapping while the bot is talking will interrupt it and you can switch back to texting the same way. 

Character counts

The Character Calls is an extension of the Character Voices feature launched in March, which only allowed audio responses from the AI chatbots, not human voice interaction. Character.ai says there are now more than a million voice options available. For those who'd like to make their own Character.ai chatbot or already have some, the voice options incorporate a lot of styles and accents.

The company tested the new feature before the launch and said more than 20 million calls have already been made by more than 3 million people. Those calls included people learning new languages, practicing for job interviews, and working on game characters and storytelling ideas.

Character.ai was early to the virtual celebrity and AI-powered pal market, but it may need this new feature to help it keep up with some recent competition. Meta now offers Celebrity AI chatbots linked to official partnerships with those celebrities. And Google is reportedly working on doing something similar, potentially centered on YouTube and YouTube influencers, as well as letting people design their own chatbots.

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Rumored Apple and Meta collaboration might make the iPhone 16 a better AI phone
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Apple may be augmenting its new Apple Intelligence Artificial Intelligence (AI) features with models built by Meta, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The two tech giants are supposedly discussing incorporating Meta's generative AI services into iOS 18 and the next generation of iPhone models. 

The WSJ report cites conversations Apple has begun with most of the big names in AI, including Google (Gemini), Anthropic (Claude), and OpenAI (ChatGPT). Plans for Apple Intelligence to include free ChatGPT access and GPT-4o integration were mentioned among the deluge of Apple Intelligence news at WWDC this year. That is clearly a non-exclusive arrangement if a Meta collaboration is underway. 

Apple's interest in Meta's Llama 2 and Llama 3 large language models makes sense on both ends of any deal. Meta would get to bring its AI to the massive global network of iPhone users, while Apple could cite Meta's AI features as another selling point for the iPhone. And while both Meta and Apple have some deals with OpenAI and its main funder, Microsoft, an alliance between the two might help build a competitive alternative even as OpenAI and ChatGPT may be what people first point to as generative AI. 

Mutually beneficial

For Apple as a hardware platform, it's especially good to widen the available AI model choices. That way, Apple can pitch iPhones as an AI hub, switching among models depending on what people want the AI to do. Apple explicitly pointed toward that goal at WWDC this year when announcing the deal with OpenAI to provide ChatGPT on Apple products.

“We wanted to start with the best, and we think ChatGPT from OpenAI and their new 4o model represents the best choice for our users today,” Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering Craig Federighi explained at the event. “We think ultimately, people are going to have a preference perhaps for certain models that they want to use – maybe one that great’s for creative writing, or one they prefer for coding, and so we want to enable users ultimately to bring the model of their choice and we’re going to look forward to doing integrations with models, like Google Gemini for instance, in the future.”

Any speculation on how Apple Intelligence will change thanks to Meta is premature, but the fact it's happening at all might surprise some. Meta's advertising income took a beating after Apple changed its policies to give users more control over their data in 2021. Requiring user permission before tracking data across other apps and websites cost Meta billions of dollars and prompted Meta to release a method for advertisers to avoid Apple's service fee for boosting ad posts. The stakes of those business battles are apparently no match for Apple and Meta's anticipated AI earnings, and both now seem happy to let bygones be bygones. 

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Windows 11 could make checking your phone from your PC even better – so Apple, take note for macOS Sequoia
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Windows 11 could put your iPhone or Android device right into the heart of the Start menu, in a manner of speaking – or at least the Phone Link app is apparently headed this way.

That’s according to clues unearthed by MS Power User, which reported on whispers from Windows 11 testers to the effect that Phone Link is set to be made into a Start menu ‘Companion.’

If you’ve missed the Companion panel appearing in Windows preview builds last month, it’s a floating panel that can be docked to the left or right of the Start menu. The Companions it plays host to are a bit like Live Tiles of old, widget-style affairs that display real-time info which is piped through.

In theory, Phone Link will be one of the apps that’ll appear in the Companion panel, as MS Power User took a deep dive into files from Phone Link and found a number of code strings relating to ‘StartMenuCompanion’ settings.

Analysis: Dialing up the work on phone integration

This would appear to be the groundwork for Phone Link to become a Start menu Companion, but of course, this is just work hidden in testing right now – and we can’t take it for granted this will happen. Indeed, the Companion panel itself might be abandoned yet if Microsoft thinks better of it – only time will tell.

Given the rumors, and at least some concrete evidence that Phone Link will get this treatment, it seems more likely to happen than not, on balance. Phone Link would also be a logical and useful app to have in the Companion panel, in order to pipe notifications through from your smartphone, bringing them to your attention when you’re in the Start menu.

Phone Link has been a key part of Windows for some time now, and it’s not surprising Microsoft is pushing ahead with potential features like this – and work on the Cross-Device Experience Host (albeit that has stumbled of late) and other phone-related capabilities besides – given that Apple now has iPhone Mirroring inbound with macOS Sequoia.

Whichever way you dice it, smartphones are becoming more and more deeply integrated into desktop operating systems these days.

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Windows 11 and Android users will finally get a feature iPhone users have had for ages – the easy copying of text from phone photos over to a PC
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A Microsoft Phone Link update may be in the works to make exchanging text between your phone and your PC a lot easier. In short, you’ll be able to select text in photos synced from your Android phone. 

Phone Link is an app on your PC (also called Link to Windows on your phone) that allows you to sync your calls, messages, notifications, and images from your Android device onto your PC. It’s similar to how you’re able to sync much of your iPhone and its apps to your MacBook, so you can respond to messages and access photos you might need without having to pick up your phone. 

The feature will use optical character recognition (OCR) to spot text within images and highlight them, so you’ll be able to copy the text over to a word processor, email, or text box. This is great news for those of us who hate having to type out important details and are looking for a simpler procedure. Unfortunately, the feature is currently only available through Microsoft’s preview channel. 

Windows Central gave the new feature a go and showcased a simple layout within Phone Link that highlights all the available text in the image, with the option to copy the text to your clipboard in Windows. If you feel like this all sounds familiar, you may remember Microsoft actually started testing this feature out in the Snipping Tool, where your transferred photo would open in the app rather than with Phone Link. 

Welcome to the club 

Apple users like myself may be tempted to turn their noses up at an update like this, but overall it’s still a beneficial change that I’m sure will benefit a lot of people. However, from what we can tell the OCR isn’t 100% accurate, so you will have to double-check the pasted text before you send it off. 

If you’re just looking to paste written notes or basic information, the new feature will probably work just fine for you, however, if you want to paste over longer or more important blocks of text, using cross-device copy and paste may be better (assuming the text isn’t solely confined to an image file). 

So far, the feature is still locked behind the Windows Insider Preview Build, Microsoft’s hub for testing potential new features and changes. While we normally say that we have to take the Preview Build changes with a pinch of salt (not all features make a wide release) we’re fairly confident that this Phone Link update will come to fruition. 

If you want to try it out yourself, you’ll have to make sure you’re part of the Insider Preview Build channel (which is free to join), where you’ll be able to not only play around with the new Phone Link update but also see other features Microsoft has in the works. 

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Could ChromeOS eventually run on your Android phone? Google’s demo of exactly that is an exciting hint for the future
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A recent report has revealed that Google held a private demonstration that showed off a tailored version of ChromeOS, its operating system (OS) for Chromebooks, running on an Android device. Of course, Android is the operating system for Google's smartphones and tablets, while ChromeOS was developed for its line of Chromebook laptops and Chromebox desktop computers.

Unnamed sources spoke with Android Authority and shared that Google hosted a demo of a specially built Chromium OS (an open source version of ChromeOS hosted and developed by Google), given the codename ‘ferrochrome,’ showing this off to other companies. 

The custom build was run in a virtual machine (think of this as a digital emulation of a device) on a Pixel 8, and while this Android smartphone was used as the hardware, its screen wasn't. The OS was projected to an external display, made possible by a recent development for the Pixel 8 that enables it to connect to an external display.

A recent report has revealed that Google held a private demonstration that showed off a tailored version of ChromeOS, its operating system  for es it possible to run a secure and private execution environment for highly sensitive code. The AVF was developed for other purposes, but this demonstration showed that it could also be used to run other operating systems. 

Close up of the Samsung Galaxy S20

(Image credit: Future / James ide)

What this means for Android users, for now

This demonstration is evidence that Google has the capability to run ChromeOS in Android, but there's no word, or remote hint, even, from Google that it has any plans to merge these two platforms. It also doesn't mean that the average Android device user will be able to swap over to ChromeOS, or that Google is planning to ship a version of its Pixel devices with ChromeOS either. 

In short, don’t read much into this yet, but it’s significant that this can be done, and possibly telling that Google is toying with the idea in some way.

As time has gone on, Google has developed Android and ChromeOS to be more synergistic, notably giving ChromeOS the capability to run Android apps natively. In the past, you may recall Google even attempted to make a hybrid of Android and ChromeOS, with the codename Andromeda. However, work on that was shelved as the two operating systems were already seeing substantial success separately. 

To put these claims to the test, Android Authority created its own ‘ferrochrome’ custom ChromeOS that it was able to run using a virtual machine on a Pixel 7 Pro, confirming that it's possible and providing a video of this feat.

For now, then, we can only wait and see if Google is going to explore this any further. But it’s already interesting to see Android Authority demonstrate this is possible, and that the tools to do this already exist if developers want to attempt it themselves. Virtualization is a popular method to run software originally built for another platform, and many modern phones have the hardware specs to facilitate it. It could also be a pathway for Google to improve the desktop mode for the upcoming Android 15, as apparently, the version seen in beta has some way to go. 

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Don’t worry, Google Gemini’s new bank-scam detection for phone calls isn’t as creepy as it sounds
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Google IO brought forth a huge array of new ideas and features from Google, including some useful life hacks for the lazy, and AI was present almost everywhere you looked. One of the more intriguing new features can detect scam calls as they happen, and warn you not to hand over your bank details – and it’s not as creepy as it might at first sound.

The feature works like this: if you get a call from a scammer pretending to be a representative of your bank, Google Gemini uses its AI smarts to work out that the impersonator is not who they claim to be. The AI then sends you an instant alert warning you not to hand over any bank details or move any money, and suggests that you hang up.

Involving AI in the process raises a few pertinent questions, such as whether your bank details ever get sent to Google’s servers for processing as they're detected. That’s something you never want to happen, because you don’t know who can access your bank information or what they might do with it.

Fortunately, Google has confirmed (via MSPoweruser) that the whole process takes place on your device. That means there’s no way for Google (or anyone else) to lift your banking information off a server and use it for their own ends. Instead, it stays safely sequestered away from prying eyes.

A data privacy minefield

A silhouette of a woman holding a smartphone with the Google Gemini logo in the background

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Google’s approach cuts to the core of many concerns about the growing role AI is playing in our lives. Because most AI services need huge server banks to process and understand all the data that comes their way, that means you can end up sending a lot of sensitive data to an opaque destination, with no way of really knowing what happens to it.

This has had real-world consequences. In March 2024, AI service Cutout.Pro was hacked and lost the personal data of 20 million users, and it’s far from the only example. Many firms are worried that employees may inadvertently upload private company data when using AI tools, which then gets fed into the AI as training data – potentially allowing it to fall into the hands of users outside the business. In fact, exactly that has already happened to Samsung and numerous other companies.

This all goes to show the importance of keeping private data away from AI servers as much as possible – and, given the potential for AI to become a data privacy minefield, Google’s decision to keep your bank details on-device is a good one.

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Android 15’s new Bluetooth tool may alter the way users interact with their phone
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Recent Android 14 betas have been a treasure trove of information about possible features coming to Android 15. We learned not too long ago that the operating system may introduce Private Space for securing sensitive information on a smartphone. Now new details are emerging on future changes that could alter how users interact with their mobile devices.

News site Android Authority unearthed these details inside the Android 14 QPR2 patch from early March. Several lines of code reference something called “Bluetooth Auto-On”. According to the publication, it will automatically activate Bluetooth connectivity if it’s turned off. They state that if someone turns it off, a toggle option will appear to give the phone the ability to turn on Bluetooth the following day. Android 15 reportedly will include text reminding users that enabling the connection is important for certain features; namely Quick Share and Find My Device.

Of course, this is all optional. You’ll still be able to deactivate Bluetooth any time you want for as long as you want without having to toggle anything. 

Insight into Bluetooth Auto-On doesn’t stop there as more information was dug up from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) by industry insider Mishaal Rahman. Rahman states only system apps work with the tool. It’s not going to be compatible with third-party software. Also, it may not be exclusive to Android 15. There’s a chance the update could come to older OS versions; however, it won’t work on all devices.

Adapative screens

The second feature is “Adaptive Timeout” which was discovered within a developer preview for Android 15. Very little is known as the lines of code don’t reveal much.

But they do say it will automatically turn off your “screen early if you’re not using your device.” On the surface, this may seem like Screen Timeout although Rahman states it’s something totally different. Judging by its description, it operates similarly to Attention Aware on iPhone. 

Adaptive Timeout would utilize some sort of metric, either by detecting your face through the camera or taking collecting input through sensors, to know if you’re directly interacting with the smartphone. If you stop using the device, the feature will turn off the display. Screen Timeout, by comparison, is just a timer. The screen will stay on until the timer runs out even if you’re not interacting with the phone. An argument could also be made that, due to its proactive nature, the tool can extend a device's battery life and protect your data from prying eyes. 

What's interesting about Adaptive Timeout is it may be an exclusive update for Google Pixel. Rahman says he found evidence of the tool referencing a Google namespace, suggesting it won’t be available on the “open-source version of Android”.

As always, take everything you see here with a grain of salt. Things can always change. And be sure to check out TechRadar's list of the best Android phones if you're looking to upgrade.  

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Windows 11 users can now try a new feature that uses an Android phone as a webcam – here’s how
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Windows 11 users will soon be able to use their Android phones as webcams for video calls, an exciting development for people who don’t want to spend money on a webcam or work on the go and need one in a pinch. 

Earlier this month we reported on the feature being available to just a few select groups (referred to as ‘channels’) in the Windows Insider Program, Microsoft’s community for Windows enthusiasts who want to get early access to potential new features and Windows versions. The feature has had an expanded rollout to all Insider Channels, making it much easier to try it out for yourself. 

Members of the Windows Insider Program can give feedback ahead of a more widespread rollout. So, the fact that Microsoft is opening this feature up to more channels in the program suggests that it’s already taken feedback and improved upon the feature enough to allow more people to give it a try. 

Normally, a new feature being released across all Insider channels strongly suggests that we may see an imminent public release, which is an exciting development for those of us who have been waiting for the feature to drop. 

 Give it a go!  

If you’re not already in the Windows Insider Program, you’ll have to sign up first. It’s free to join, and all you have to do is make sure you’ll be using it on a PC that’s running Windows 10 or Windows 11. 

Once you’ve signed up you’ll need to install the latest preview build, and then make sure your phone is set up and ready to go. Your phone should be running Android 9.0 or later, with the Link to Windows app installed.

Before you can get video calling, you’ll need to quickly hop into your settings and make sure your phone is set as the desired streaming device. This means you’ll need to go to:

Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices

From there hit the ‘Manage Devices’ options and link your Android phone to your PC. You’ll be prompted to download a Cross-Device Experience Host update from the Microsoft Store and you should be ready to go!

Overall this feature should be very useful in the long term, whether you have one of the best webcams on the market or not. When I’m working on the commute or hot-desking it can be such a hassle to find an external webcam and carry it around with me – or having to resort to using the built-in webcam of a laptop, which sometimes isn’t very good quality, especially on older devices. The alternative is just using your phone to join meetings, which is fine, but does mean you have a rather small screen to look at. Of course, sometimes you just want to pick the camera up to show your team something cute your cat is doing, and this feature will be perfect for that as well.

Via MSPowerUser

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YouTube Music will finally let you look up tracks just by singing into your phone
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It took a little while, but YouTube Music is, at long last, giving users the ability to search for songs just by singing a tune into a smartphone’s microphone.

The general YouTube app has had this feature since mid-October 2023, and judging from recently found images on Reddit, the version on YouTube Music functions in the exact same way. In the upper right corner next to the search bar is an audio chart icon. Tapping it activates song search where you then either play, sing, or hum a tune into your device. 

Using the power of artificial intelligence, the app will quickly bring up a track that, according to 9To5Google, matches “the sound to the original recording.” The tool’s accuracy may depend entirely on your karaoke skills. 

Missing details

Because there hasn't an official announcement yet, there are a lot of missing details. For starters, it’s unknown how long you're supposed to sing or hum. The original tool required people to enter a three-second input before it could perform a search. Presumably it will take the same amount of time, but without official word from the platform, it’s hard to say with total confidence.

Online reports claim the update is already available on YouTube Music for iOS. However, 9To5Google states they couldn’t find the feature on either their iPhones or Android devices. Our Android phone didn’t receive the patch either so it’s probably seeing a limited release at the moment. 

We reached out to Google asking if it would like to share official info about YouTube Music’s song search tool alongside a couple of other questions. More specifically, we wanted to know if the feature is rolling out to everyone, or will it require a YouTube Music Premium plan? We will update if we get answers. 

You can't listen to music without a good pair of headphones. For recommendations, check out TechRadar's list of the best wireless headphones for 2024.

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Say cheese! You’ll soon be able to turn your Android phone into a wireless PC webcam in Windows 11
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If you’re a Windows 11 user on a PC, you’ll soon be able to use your Android smartphone (or tablet) as a webcam. This feature is currently being made available to Windows Insiders, Microsoft’s official community for professionals and Windows enthusiasts who would like early access to new Windows versions and features to test and offer feedback ahead of a wider rollout. 

In an official Windows Insider Blog post, Microsoft explains that it’s begun a gradual rollout of the feature that enables users who have a suitable Android device, such as a tablet or phone, to act as a webcam while using any application that involves video webcam functions on their PCs. If you’d like to try this new feature or get access to whatever else Microsoft has up its sleeve that it would like users to test, it’s free to sign up for the Windows Insider Program – you just have to make sure you have a suitable PC that can run Windows 10 or Windows 11. 

Once you install the latest preview build, you’ll also have to ensure that the mobile device you want to use as a webcam is running Android 9.0 or later. You also have to install the Link to Windows app on your mobile device. 

This is really good news for users who don’t have a dedicated webcam or are unhappy with the quality of the built-in webcam of their laptop. Many modern smartphones come with cameras that can offer better quality than a lot of webcams – and this feature allows them to be used wirelessly, which makes them far more convenient as well. On top of being able to function as your webcam, you can also switch between the front and back cameras of your phone, pause your webcam stream, and activate your mobile device’s available camera effects.

Group of cheerful friends teenagers spending fun time together outdoors, looking at phone

(Image credit: Shutterstock/Dean Drobot)

How to set up your Android phone as your webcam

Once you’ve made sure you have all the necessary specifications, updates, and apps, you’ll need to set the feature up on the device you’d like to stream to. You can do this by navigating to the following settings in Windows 11:

Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices

Select “Manage devices” and turn on the setting that allows the Android mobile device that you’d like to use as a webcam to be accessed by your PC. This will then prompt your PC to receive a Cross Device Experience Host update via the Microsoft Store which you should allow, as this is necessary to facilitate the feature. 

It will likely prove to be very useful, offering users more versatility and options for appearing in video calls. With many of us now working from home, either full-time or as part of a hybrid working week, picking the best webcam for your needs is now more important than ever. This upcoming feature could make that search even easier if all you need is a modern Android smartphone.

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