Google is Developing Inline Image Editing Feature for Gemini
Delhi News
Google is reportedly enhancing the image generation features of its Gemini chatbot. A recent report reveals that the company is adding an inline image editing option to the AI bot. This new feature was discovered in the latest beta version of the Google app, currently being developed for smartphones. However, it is still unclear if this feature will also be available on the web version. In comparison, the Microsoft Designer platform already includes a similar inline editing feature powered by Copilot.
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Gemini Inline Image Editing
An Android Authority report indicates that a new feature has been discovered in the Google for Android beta app, version 15.40.31.29. The publication found this feature during an APK teardown process. However, users who have joined the Google beta program cannot test it yet, as it is not currently visible.
Editing images with Gemini has been challenging for users. If someone didn’t like a specific detail in an image, they had to add more information in a follow-up prompt to create a new version. Unfortunately, this often resulted in losing the positive aspects of the original image while introducing unwanted changes. There was previously no way to keep the good parts while removing the less desirable ones.
This situation may improve with the new feature. According to a demonstration video shared by the publication, the feature allows users to interact with the image in two ways. After generating an image, users can highlight a specific part they want to change and add a follow-up prompt. Gemini will then adjust only that highlighted portion, leaving the rest of the image intact.
However, the video demo shows that the feature is still in development. In several cases, the entire image was altered instead of just the selected area, despite the user’s instructions. It is likely that these issues will be addressed when the feature is officially released to users.
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US Judge Orders Google to Open Up Play Store to Competition
On Monday, a US judge ordered Alphabet’s Google to revamp its mobile app business, giving Android users more choices for downloading apps and making payments within those apps. This ruling follows a jury decision last year in favor of Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite.
US District Judge James Donato, based in San Francisco, specified the changes Google must make to increase competition in its profitable app store, Google Play. According to his order, Google cannot block the use of alternative in-app payment methods for the next three years. Additionally, users must be allowed to download competing third-party Android app platforms or stores.
The order prohibits Google from paying device manufacturers to preinstall its app store and from sharing revenue from the Play Store with other app distributors.
In response, Google announced that it plans to appeal the verdict that resulted in this injunction to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The company will also request that the courts temporarily halt Judge Donato’s order while the appeal is underway.
“Ultimately, while these changes presumably satisfy Epic, they will cause a range of unintended consequences that will harm American consumers, developers and device makers,” Google said.
Epic Chief Executive Tim Sweeney posted to the social media platform X on Monday that Donato’s order was “big news” and said his Epic Games Store and other app stores will come to Google Play in 2025.
Sweeney said app developers, store makers and others have three years “to build a vibrant and competitive Android ecosystem with such critical mass that Google can’t stop it.”
Following the ruling, Alphabet’s shares fell 2.5% to $164.39 (approximately ₹13,803) on Monday. Judge Donato stated that Epic and Google must form a three-person technical committee to oversee the implementation of the injunction. Both Epic and Google will choose one member each, and those two members will select a third member to complete the committee.
Donato said his injunction would go into effect on Nov. 1, which he said will give Google time to “bring its current agreements and practices into compliance.”
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Epic’s lawsuit, filed in 2020, accused Google of monopolizing access to apps on Android devices and controlling how users pay for in-app transactions. In December 2023, Epic successfully convinced a jury that Google illegally suppressed competition through its control over app distribution and payment processes, which led to Judge Donato’s injunction.
Google argued against Epic’s proposed reforms, claiming they were expensive, overly restrictive, and could jeopardize consumer privacy and security. However, during an August hearing, the judge largely dismissed these concerns.
“You’re going to end up paying something to make the world right after having been found to be a monopolist,” he told Google’s lawyers.
In a different antitrust case in Washington, US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled on August 5 in favor of the US Justice Department, stating that Google had illegally monopolized web search by spending billions to become the default search engine on the internet.
Additionally, Google faced a trial in September in Virginia federal court regarding a Justice Department lawsuit about its dominance in the advertising technology market. Google has denied all the claims made in these three cases.