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Gmail was always a gateway drug for the greater Google ecosystem. When it launched in 2004, Gmail stood out by offering then-wild amounts of storage for free. Despite few updates to its design in two decades, it now boasts 2.5 billion users and is the largest email service in the world. Andlike so much of the tech industryGoogle is betting that email will sell you on its next big bet: AI. Starting today, Gmail will begin rolling out three new AI services that will significantly impact the way you use your inbox. Gmails new AI features Two of the services require a $20/mo subscription to its Gemini AI service, while the third will come to all users, free. (And yes, you will be able to opt out if you dont want them.) The biggest, and most exciting update is AI Overviews. In essence, this is the Gmail search bar you knowthat perplexing window that stares you in the face as you wonder, what combination of keywords do I need to recall from a random message thread from 6 years ago? [Image: Google] But now, the search bar is infused with AI. So you can ask anythinglike, who was the recruiter I talked to last weekand itll pop up their name alongside other recruiters you may have been talking to a bullet point summary that includes names, dates, and other details from your conversations. Whats interesting about those summaries is that they might include things that your friends said about these recruiters and companies in other emails on the topicwhich Gmail cites with its now-familiar notation we see in Googles main AI search. Then below this new AI summary, youll find all your related emails, much like in classic Gmail search. The next feature is a bit more disquieting, and a direct extension of Googles autocomplete Smart Replies. Now called Suggested Replies, its essentially an auto-email writer. At the bottom of someones email to you, Suggested Replies floats a gray preview of an already-written response. If you tap on itmuch like you can tap on Googles autocomplete suggestions todayit transforms from a gray preview into a fully editable email box. Suggested Replies is actually coming to all users, free, as is a related Help Me Write feature which generates an email from a prompt. (Pro users also get a set of features that also includes a more generalized proofread grammar check, for those who respect the people theyre emailing enough to actually write a note themselves.) [Image: Google] Finally, all users will get access to a new Gmail AI inbox. This is at least the third attempt Gmail is making to cut through the clutter of your emailswhich is necessary for most people, as the average, overwhelmed person gets dozens of emails a day but takes action on fewer than five, according to Yahoo. [Image: Google] AI Inbox has two big features. The first turns your emails into a to-do list. Instead of showing you an email you haven’t responded to, it actually gives you a job like send Ernies vaccination records to Doggy Daycare. Whats clever in the UI is that these to-dos are actually presented a lot like emails. Theyre familiarwhich is key to a platform used by billions of people. You see someones avatar alongside a two-line summary of what you have to do. And by clicking a reply button, and youre ushered into the proper email thread to do it. Just below the to-do list, theres a second, catch me up list. This goes into various topics, ranging from your childrens school updates to your bills. It summarizes the state of play, reminds you of upcoming chats, and lists pertinent dates coming up. Its also heavily cited, with direct links to emails on each topic. Google’s greater AI-meets-email strategy For Google, AI is not just a means to improve your inbox clutter in the immediate. In the longer term, Blake Barnes, head of Gmail product, shared that Google is building a future where the lines between the rich data inside our inboxes and our search queries combine into a far more satisfying, and effective manifestation of Google AI. Assuming youre willing to open up your email to Googles wider service stack. What if Gemini could help you plan a vacation with all of the context Gmail has? Imagine that experience. We know what kind of places you like to go to. We know the budget you usually spend. We know how many people youre traveling with, Barnes told us for an essay in Fast Companys Winter issue, imagining that it could eventually help with about any task you wanted to do. Its like having your own personal chief of staff, he said. However, in the immediate, a Google spokesperson confirmed that Gmails AI is being operated as a separate silo from Gemini AI, and using Gmail AI does not involve ads or commingling with core Search. That seemingly trial separation is enough to make Gmail AI seem like an inevitable, and irresistible toe dip for a large swath of the global population into having a personal AI assistant. Just please, please write me that next email yourself.
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E-Commerce
Health tech gadgets displayed at the annual CES trade show make a lot of promises. A smart scale promoted a healthier lifestyle by scanning your feet to track your heart health, and an egg-shaped hormone tracker uses AI to help you figure out the best time to conceive.Tech and health experts, however, question the accuracy of products like these and warn of data privacy issues especially as the federal government eases up on regulation.The Food and Drug Administration announced during the show in Las Vegas that it will relax regulations on “low-risk” general wellness products such as heart monitors and wheelchairs. It’s the latest step President Donald Trump’s administration has taken to remove barriers for AI innovation and use. The White House repealed former President Joe Biden’s executive order establishing guardrails around AI, and last month, the Department of Health and Human Services outlined its strategy to expand its use of AI.Booths at the conference showcased new tech designed to help people living in rural areas with their health care needs amid doctor shortages, boost research into women’s health and make life easier for people with disabilities.AI technologies have benefits in the over $4.3 trillion health care industry, according to Marschall Runge, professor of medical science at the University of Michigan. They’re good at analyzing medical imaging and can help streamline doctors’ busy schedules, but they can also promote biases and “hallucinate,” providing incorrect information stated as fact.“I would urge people not to think that the technology is the same as a well-resourced, thoughtful, research-driven medical professional,” said Cindy Cohn, executive director of the digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation.Privacy protections like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act do not cover information collected by consumer devices, and the companies could be using the data to train their AI mode ls, or selling it to other businesses, Cohn said.With a lot of the gadgets at CES, it’s difficult to find out where your information is going, Cohn said.“You have to dig down through the fine print to try to figure that out, and I just don’t think that’s fair or right for the people who might rely on it,” she said.But the creators of the products say their innovations fill in health care gaps, and they maintain they protect their customers’ privacy.Sylvia Kang, founder and CEO of Mira, said she created the egg-shaped hormone tracker because many of her friends were trying to conceive and realized they had no knowledge of their hormonal health. To use the “world’s mini hormone lab,” you dip a wand in urine, insert the wand into the monitor and look at the results on the app.Kang said her company uses AI to analyze female hormone data and has one of the world’s biggest hormonal health banks. The data is stored on the cloud and is not shared with anyone, Kang said.“There was no such thing before,” Kang said of her $250 product.Many gadgets at CES focused on women’s health, which has been historically under-researched and underfunded. Before 1993, women were excluded from clinical trials, and there still is little research on areas like menopause.While not every woman will have a baby, all women go through menopause, and “yet we know nothing about it,” said Amy Divaraniya, founder and CEO of the women’s health company Oova, during a session.One gadget called Peri aims to better understand perimenopause the transitional phase before menopause. The wearable device monitors hot flashes and night sweats and provides the data via an app. Improving accessibility to health care Other products at CES were promoted as a way to increase accessibility to health information. The free medicine-focused AI chatbot called 0xmd helps improve access to medical information in areas with doctor shortages and provides a cost-effective alternative, said its founder and architect Allen Au. People can ask the chatbot questions about medicine, upload photos of a mole or rash, and submit their doctors’ notes for an easier-to-understand translation, Au said.“At the end of the day, I don’t think we will replace doctors,” but it can give people a second opinion, Au said.OpenAI announced on Wednesday its launch of ChatGPT Health, a similar platform.Cohn remains skeptical of consumer tech. She said they can help prepare people to ask the right questions of their medical professional, but they’re not going to be a substitute for a doctor.“People need to remember that these are just tools; they’re not oracles who are delivering truths,” she said. Jessica Hill, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
We live in a world of ambient hums, from air conditioners and distant traffic to the whir of our own thoughts. Its no surprise many people reach for active noise-cancelling (ANC) headphones to escape it all. Originally designed for planes and offices, ANC devices, including earbuds, have become a popular bedtime tool for chasing total quiet. But the brain doesnt actually want silence to sleep, and forcing it can backfire. The best way to fall and stay asleep is to quiet the mind, not just what enters your ears. We call this creating “cognitive silence, and ANC often gets in the way. Even during sleep, the brain keeps an ear out for danger. Its an evolutionary survival mechanism in which the auditory system monitors the environment for changes: a creak, a bark, or a door slam. When the surrounding world grows too quiet, that alert system can become hypersensitive, scanning for the next disturbance. Research has shown that sudden noises are more likely to fragment sleep. Fragmented sleep affects everything from mood and metabolism to cognitive performance. Even minor disruptions can increase stress hormones and reduce the deep sleep stages responsible for recovery and memory consolidation. For sleep, the goal isnt to eliminate sound entirely, but to give the brain a safe, steady acoustic background so it can rest rather than react. WHERE ANC FALLS SHORT ANC uses tiny microphones to detect external sound and then produces an equal-and-opposite anti-noise signal to cancel it out. It works well for consistent, low-frequency noise like airplane engines, HVAC systems, or the hum of a refrigerator. Thats also where its effectiveness tends to end. Dan Gauger, retired distinguished engineer at Bose, the cocreator of their ANC division, and someone I worked closely with says, At frequencies above where ANC can cancel, it actually amplifies the noise a bit. When it comes to sleep, our needs and our sound environment are far more complex. And thats where ANC can start to work against us. Heres why ANC in sleep technology can be unhealthy: It amplifies what youre trying to avoid: Real-world sound isnt always consistent. A door slam, a barking dog, or footsteps overhead are irregular, high-frequency noises that ANC cant cancel effectively, and these sharper sounds often stand out even more. It disrupts the bodys natural equilibrium: ANC can introduce a subtle but uncomfortable pressure change in the ear. Many users describe it as a plugged or vacuum feeling, especially in quieter settings. That pressure, combined with the unnatural stillness of total quiet, can be distracting enough to delay or fragment sleep. Gauger adds, ANC cant create a steady pressure in the ear, but it mimics the low-frequency drop your ears notice during, say, altitude changes. From experience, some people interpret this sonic change as uncomfortable pressure. It doesn’t address the mental noise: Maybe most importantly, racing thoughts and anticipatory anxiety arent fixed by cancellation. The internal soundtrack remains, making sleep even harder to get. WHY PASSIVE NOISE BLOCKING IS A STRONGER OPTION Passive noise blocking takes a simpler, more natural approach. Instead of electronically canceling sound, it physically reduces it using materials that seal off the ear and absorb or deflect noise before it reaches the eardrum. A well-fitted silicone seal can reduce outside noise by 15-30 decibels, dulling most environmental disruptions without the ear pressure or artificial quiet that ANC can create. Because the ear isnt fighting internal pressure or electronic hiss, the result feels calmer, more organic, and less fatiguing. Pairing that physical protection with gentle, consistent noise masking sound, such as white or pink noise, or relaxing audio from a sleep app, gives the brain a steady, predictable auditory background. White noise contains all audio frequencies at equal intensity, similar to pink noise. Pink noise, however, sounds deeper and less harsh. Studies suggest pink noise may help people fall asleep faster and even enhance deep sleep. This combination of physical protection and consistent soothing audio helps the auditory system stand down, signaling that nothing unexpected is coming and its safe to rest. The benefits extend far beyond your nightly sleep. By improving rest quality, these techniques can directly boost daytime cognitive performance and productivity, areas where sleep deprivation takes a staggering toll. Currently, up to one-quarter of adults struggle with inadequate sleep, resulting in an economic impact of over $411 billion and the loss of 1.23 million working days annually in the U.S. alone. Sleep is the foundation for how we think, perform, and connect. When we chase total silence during sleep with ANC, we risk disrupting the very systems that help the brain recharge. True recovery happens when the mind feels safe, not sealed off. Passive noise blocking and gentle, consistent noise-masking audio support the brains natural rhythms, creating an environment where both body and mind can truly rest. The payoff is deeper sleep, steadier moods, sharper focus, and better performance. N.B. Patil is CEO and CTO of Ozlo.
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E-Commerce
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