Voice
4 stories, newest first.
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Google tests Gemini calling businesses for you on Pixel phones
Google is testing Call for Me, which lets Gemini call a business, get through its phone menu and handle tasks like booking a table, TechCrunch reports. It starts with Pixel 11 owners on a Gemini subscription in the US, and shows a live transcript of the call.
Why it matters. A phone call is now a task surface for agents, so voice UX and consent design matter as much as chat interfaces.
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Google gives Gemini Live an animated face that lip-syncs in 97 languages
Google's Gemini 3.8 Live update adds Live Avatar, an animated persona that lip-syncs and shows facial expressions while it talks, The Verge reports. It supports 97 languages and is open only to Gemini Enterprise customers for now, who can also create their own avatars.
Why it matters. A talking face is now an option for voice agents from a major lab, so teams building video or kiosk agents have a ready-made part to test.
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Qualcomm's new chip for earbuds promises up to twice the on-device AI power
Qualcomm's Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 chip for audio wearables offers up to 2x the on-device AI performance and up to 40% lower power use, 9to5Google reports. It also supports image recognition for earbuds with cameras and Wi-Fi 6E.
Why it matters. Earbuds and audio glasses built on it can run models locally as well as in the cloud, which matters for anyone building voice assistants for wearables.
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Google launches Gemini 3.8 text-to-speech models for custom voices
Google released Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS and Flash-Lite TTS, letting developers direct custom character voices and scene dialogue across more than 100 languages, the company says. The models are built for uses like audiobooks, games and interactive voice agents, with added safety controls.
Why it matters. Developers can direct a custom voice in more than 100 languages from one API, which widens the options for voice agents.