Google is testing the new Gemini upgrade ahead of the release of the much-anticipated “Ask Photos” feature… (+).
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A new report claims that Google is one step closer to delivering its most significant upgrade to Google Photos in years.
As revealed by Android Authority and prominent app research firm Assemble Debug, Google has begun testing new extensions to its Gemini AI model that are supposed to power the “Ask Photos” feature announced earlier this year. Ask Photos allows users to interact with their Google Photos library using natural language commands like “Show me the best photos of the national parks you've visited” or “What's your license plate number?”, with photos and videos acting as a visual database of the user's life from which Gemini can intelligently extract information and context.
While Ask Photos hasn't been officially released, reports say text about the feature has started appearing within the code of the latest version of the Google app for Android, which allows users to perform search tasks on the device based on images and text, and also offers the familiar “Discover” news feed that appears when you swipe left from the home screen.
The new text includes the following (emphasis added):
Google Photos Images
Google Photos extension results
Google Photos
Google Photos icon
Here, “robin” is believed to be an internal code name for Google Gemini, so the code suggests that a Gemini extension for Ask Photos is currently being tested. Reports suggest that the extension is expected to have a lot in common with the Ask Photos feature that's set to appear in the Google Photos app. This exciting development means that some of the Ask Photos features may become available outside of Google Photos.
There's no further information on how this will work, but it's likely that Ask Photos content will start appearing alongside regular search results, or that Google will enhance the output of Ask Photos with additional information gleaned from online searches through Google Lens — for example, finding out prices of items featured in the photo or gleaning background information about landmarks.
So the combination of Ask Photos and Google Lens gives you a very powerful tool for searching your Google Photos library with up-to-date context from the web.
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