Learning a new language is one of those goals that many people share, but is hard to achieve in practice. Tools like Duolingo have gained popularity by gamifing the language learning experience, but now Google has taken its own approach, rolling out an experimental set of playful language learning tools powered by its Gemini AI.
Google describes the new feature, called Little Language Lessons, as “a collection of three bite-sized learning experiments, all powered by Google’s Gemini models.” The idea is to tweak language tips to the particular context you’re currently in — such as visiting a restaurant, taking a flight, or dealing with a travel problem like a lost passport.
The Tiny Lesson experiment lets you input the language you’re trying to learn and the context you’re in, then gives you vocabulary words, phrases, and some helpful tips which give you more information about topics like politeness or how to phrase a request. At the bottom of each section, you can hit the See More button to bring up even more entries, giving you a quick overview of key words and phrases for your current activity.
The Slang Hang experiment will be appealing to those looking to practice their language skills in a more natural, casual way. It generates simulated conversations between two native speakers, including the kinds of slang and casual phrases that people use in real life but that don’t always appear in textbooks. The option to translate each section of text helps explain any phrases you don’t recognize or understand.
Finally, the Word Cam experiment might be the most dramatic feature, as you can use it to take a photo with your phone camera and then have it identify objects in your surroundings. It’ll show you the words for those objects in your chosen language, making it quick way to pull up a bunch of relevant vocabulary based on what you’re seeing.
The current number of supported languages is limited depending on which of the three experiments you try out, but includes Chinese, French, Spanish, German, English, Portuguese, and Russian. You can also select particular dialects for some languages, such as Austrian for German or Argentinian for Spanish, which is helpful for further localization.
You can try out the Little Language Lessons on Google Labs, though Google warns users that this is an early-stage experiment and, as content generated by AI, they should check any information with reliable sources.
Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind.
The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year).
Two residents of Chicago have filed a lawsuit in the US over claims that robots run by Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics captured their facial and hand measurements without consent, bringing renewed attention to the food delivery robots. The cases raise a troubling question: If a robot delivers food to your door, can it also be gathering sensitive information about you?
According to a report by The Associated Press, the proposed class-action lawsuits were filed in Cook County on Oct. 9 and allege violations of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act. The complaints claim that the robots’ cameras and LiDAR sensors captured information on customers’ faces and hands as they approached the machines to pick up their orders. Both have denied the allegations.
Nearly a month after announcing the GPT-6.1 Sol model, OpenAI unveiled GPT-6.1 Terra today. The latest addition to the family focuses on computer use, visual reasoning, coding, and professional work, while costing 50% less through the API than GPT-5.6 Terra.
OpenAI says Terra can handle everything from filling out browser forms and working inside spreadsheets to interpreting technical drawings and editing videos. The company says it can also complete computer-based tasks more than three times faster than GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol.