Google's Ambient Mode turns charging phone into smart display

The tech giant had initially announced the Ambient Mode in September and said was coming to the Lenovo Smart Tab M8 HD and Smart Tab tablets, the Nokia 7.2 and 6.2 smartphones.

"The new ambient mode shows a quick greeting message at the top, followed by your calendar, weather, upcoming flights, and notifications.

"Below that is a quick settings section that shows things like a do-not-disturb toggle and smart home controls for lights and thermostats. There's also a photo frame mode. It looks like a handy screen that could pop up when you're just charging your phone before bed," ARS Techica reported on Tuesday.

The Ambient Mode is reportedly going to be rolled out for Sony, Transsion and Xiaomi smartphones too.

Surprisingly, Google's own Pixels line up of smartphones are not on the company's list yet.