Introduced with the Samsung Galaxy S24, the “Circle to Search” function will be available on the Google Pixel 8 from January 31. A first step before expanding the Gemini multimodal language model to the rest of the Android ecosystem.
With the Galaxy S24 on January 17, Samsung was proud to launch “Surround to Search,” a new feature designed in partnership with Google. It allows, after touching the home button for 1 to 2 seconds, to circle the element of your choice on the screen to perform a reverse image search, without having to open a specific application. A kind of Google Lens generalized system-wide, which Samsung presented as a launch exclusive for Galaxy AI, its suite of software dedicated to artificial intelligence.
A week later, Google is already breaking this exclusivity. The web giant announces that it is deploying “Surround to Search” on its Pixel 8 smartphones, which continue to be expanded with AI functions. Logic would dictate that this new way of performing searches would gradually be extended to the entire Android universe.
A restricted function in the European Union
In Europe, Circle to Search is limited to a reverse search. The fault is the unavailability of the Gemini Pro model in the European Union, for privacy reasons. Google should soon launch its new language model in Europe.
In the United States, “Circle to Search” then allows you to chat with an image. Did you circle a t-shirt? Ask him “in which store is it available? ». A chatbot will respond to you. A first step towards the multimodal artificial intelligence desired by Google.
The new Pixel 8 update will be officially deployed on January 31, with “Surround to Search” as a new feature. Logically, Google could extend it to the rest of Android in May, with the future Android 15, which should be very AI-oriented. Since the function depends on Gemini Pro, which runs in the cloud, it does not require any special power. You just need Internet.
Another function of the Galaxy S24 integrated into the Pixel 8
Also new in this update: the “Magic Editing” function, which also appeared first on the Galaxy S24. Thanks to the Gemini Nano model, which works locally, it allows you to rewrite a message in a different tone (an “ok, don’t worry” can become a “Received, I’ll take care of it as soon as possible”).
In short, after the chatbot war, Google continues to deploy AI on smartphones. Apple is expected to do the same in June, unveiling iOS 18 during its WWDC.
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