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Googles Gemini AI is coming for your car, watch, and TV

Mashable

Starting soon, Google Gemini will be available on your watch, in your car, and on your TV. At The Android Show, an Android-focused mini event leading up to Google I/O, the tech giant announced that its Gemini AI model will be integrated into Wear OS, Android Auto and Google Built-in, and Google TV. With Wear OS in the coming months, Google Pixel Watch users will be able to verbally give Gemini reminders or ask it to pull up event details, such as upcoming dinner reservations. Because of Gemini integration across Google Workspace apps, it can access information from your calendar and emails. For drivers who like to get things done in their cars, senior Android UX director Guemmy Kim shared ways Gemini works with its car dashboard apps.


iOS 19 might help your iPhone battery last all day, thanks to AI

ZDNet

Apple has been sprinkling AI features into its devices via Apple Intelligence and iOS updates. These features have mainly been fun, nice-to-have additive tools, such as Genmoji, Clean Up in Photos, and Natural Language Search in Photos. However, Apple's latest feature, which is still under wraps, targets a major pain point for users -- their phone battery. On Monday, Bloomberg correspondent and Apple watcher Mark Gurman reported that Apple is working on a new Apple Intelligence feature to help users' device batteries last longer. According to sources close to the matter, the feature is expected to be released with Apple's iOS 19 update, slated for September. NEW: Apple prepares a new Apple Intelligence feature for iOS 19 coming this fall -- an AI-powered battery optimization mode to extend battery life.


Your Android devices are getting a major Gemini upgrade - cars and watches included

ZDNet

Ahead of next week's Google I/O developer conference, where AI is expected to be the star of the show, Google on Tuesday unveiled a massive Gemini update, further expanding the AI assistant's availability across the Google ecosystem of devices. For starters, Google announced that Gemini will be coming to WearOS smartwatches later this year. This will allow users to take advantage of Gemini's conversational capabilities and talk to their watches naturally. The biggest advantage is that users can take advantage of hands-free assistance without the help of their phones. Some examples Google offers include setting reminders, getting assistance when your hands are covered in flour while cooking, or in the middle of a workout.


Apple explores letting people control iPhones with their brains, report says

Mashable

Apple is working on a way for people with physical disabilities to control devices with their thoughts. On Tuesday, the tech giant announced a partnership with brain-computer interface (BCI) company Synchron that's developing an implantable device with electrodes that read brain signals. This technology enables Apple to translate these signals into actions like selecting icons on the screens of iPhones, iPads, and Apple Vision Pro "without the need for physical movement or voice commands," according to the press release. Pittsburgh resident Mark Jackson who has ALS has the Synchron brain implant called Stentrode, which is a "a stent-like device that is implanted in a vein atop the brain's motor cortex." The device "effectively translates brain waves, allowing a user to navigate around a screen and select an icon," the Journal wrote.


Google Is Using On-Device AI to Spot Scam Texts and Investment Fraud

WIRED

Digital scammers have never been so successful. Last year Americans lost 16.6 billion to online crimes, with almost 200,000 people reporting scams like phishing and spoofing to the FBI. More than 470 million was stolen in scams that started with a text message last year, according to the Federal Trade Commission. And as the biggest mobile operating system maker in the world, Google has been scrambling to do something, building out tools to warn consumers about potential scams. Ahead of Google's Android 16 launch next week, the company said on Tuesday that it is expanding its recently launched AI flagging feature for the Google Messages app, known as Scam Detection, to provide alerts on potentially nefarious messages like possible crypto scams, financial impersonation, gift card and prize scams, technical support scams, and more.


Apple's Meta Ray-Bans killer is only one of four major launches in 2027 - here's the list

ZDNet

Apple is reportedly preparing a major product overhaul in time for the iPhone's twentieth anniversary in 2027. According to a report from Bloomberg, the Cupertino company could add at least two new products to its portfolio and redesign the iPhone and Watch lineups. Both those products have been my favorite form factors lately, and I can't wait to see Apple's take on them. The potential 2027 Apple product portfolio sounds interesting. Here are four reasons why I'm excited.


Apple to pay out nearly 100m over claims phones listened in on users' conversations... how to get a payout

Daily Mail - Science & tech

Anyone who owned an Apple device over the last decade may be able to claim part of a 95 million class action lawsuit against the tech giant. According to the lawsuit, iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and MacBooks dating back to 2014 may have secretly recorded their users' private conversations after the devices unintentionally activated Apple's voice assistant Siri. A notice about the case, Lopez v. Apple, has advised anyone who believes Siri spied on their confidential or private calls between September 17, 2014 and December 31, 2024 to submit a claim for damages. Apple's iMacs, Apple TV streaming boxes, HomePod speakers, and iPod Touches are also included in the lawsuit. Although Apple has denied that their devices spied on users, the 3 trillion company reached a settlement in the case, agreeing to give users up to 20 per Siri device in their claim.


The Biggest Dating App Faux Pas for Gen Z? Being Cringe

WIRED

When it comes to online dating, Giovanni Wolfram, a 25-year-old living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, isn't all too worried about whether his fellow dating app users will find him attractive. Rather, his biggest fear is that he might come off as "cringey." "You can get away with being ugly," Wolfram says. "But being cringey is just like--that's a character that's imprinted on you." Since he first joined Hinge at 18, he has worked hard to scrub his profile of sincerity.


Deepfakes, Scams, and the Age of Paranoia

WIRED

These days, when Nicole Yelland receives a meeting request from someone she doesn't already know, she conducts a multi-step background check before deciding whether to accept. Yelland, who works in public relations for a Detroit-based non-profit, says she'll run the person's information through Spokeo, a personal data aggregator that she pays a monthly subscription fee to use. If the contact claims to speak Spanish, Yelland says, she will casually test their ability to understand and translate trickier phrases. If something doesn't quite seem right, she'll ask the person to join a Microsoft Teams call--with their camera on. If Yelland sounds paranoid, that's because she is.


STOP SCAM CALLS: Hushed lifetime second number now 19.99

Mashable

Stop scammers from getting hold of your real phone number when you use Hushed to get a lifetime virtual private phone number, now for under 20. Everyone wants your phone number these days, even when you're just signing up for a website account. And forget about trying to sell something online or set up a date with someone from Tinder without exposing your personal number. Hushed protects your privacy, and its entry-level plan is now reduced from 150 to only 19.99 when you use code SAVE20. This basic plan from Hushed comes with enough data and call time to use for remote workers, online sales, or dating apps.