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Siri AI Hands On: A Smart, Helpful Assistant
The new Siri AI is conversational, omnipresent, and actually helpful. I'm outside hiking and testing a developer beta of Siri AI, Apple's revamped voice assistant, when fog engulfs the Golden Gate Bridge behind me. So, I pull out my iPhone and ask this new Siri where I can grab some fluffy pancakes nearby. A translucent orb at the top of the smartphone screen spins around a few times, then the voice assistant responds with a recommendation: a spot called Eats in the Inner Richmond. This version of Siri--conversational, omnipresent, actually helpful--has been long delayed.
Try One of macOS 27's Best Features Right Now
Try One of macOS 27's Best Features Right Now Apple's fall macOS release will let you build Shortcuts by typing what you want to happen. But Claude Code and Codex users don't have to wait. Buried deep inside everything announced at WWDC this year was something I, an Apple Shortcuts enthusiast, can't wait to try: the ability to make Apple Shortcuts using generative artificial intelligence. In macOS 27, you'll be able to just type what you want a shortcut to do, and the app will build it. Anyone who builds shortcuts regularly knows the process of doing so can be tedious, even if the end results save you a lot of time.
The Gemini-Powered Google Home Speaker Is Finally Here
Arriving six years after Google's last smart speaker, the new HomePod-style device was redesigned to play host to Gemini's chatbot. The last time Google released a smart speaker, the world was in the throes of a pandemic . Yes, it's been six years since the company trotted out a dedicated speaker. However, this newest Google Home Speaker brings a big change with it: The device has been redesigned to showcase the new Gemini assistant instead of the Google Assistant that powered all previous speakers and smart displays. Google announced the speaker last fall alongside new Nest smart home cameras and video doorbells, promising a spring 2026 launch.
You Can Finally Buy Snap's New AR Specs--for 2,150
You Can Finally Buy Snap's New AR Specs--for $2,195 Snap CEO Evan Spiegel lays out the company's vision for its augmented-reality smart glasses, arriving later this year. Snap--maker of the popular social app Snapchat--has a new pair of augmented-reality smart glasses called Specs. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel revealed the new glasses at an event during the Augmented World Expo (AWE) tech conference in Long Beach, California. As Snap frames it, this isn't a prototype or developer device--it's the first actual consumer version of the Specs AR glasses, unlike the previous generation exclusively sold to developers and creators. Snap says it expects the devices to ship this fall in the US, UK, and France.
Qobuz Is the Anti-Spotify Music Streamer You've Been Waiting For
Qobuz Is the Anti-Spotify Music Streamer You've Been Waiting For With its music focus, no-AI content policy, and larger artist royalties, the hi-res streaming service is scooping up all sorts of switchers. When Dan Mackta, Qobuz's New York-based managing director, was looking for musicians to endorse the music streaming service after its US launch in 2019, he tapped up a friend--the manager of the Flaming Lips. It was mid-pandemic levels of tricky. "I flew to Oklahoma to shoot with Wayne Coyne," Mackta says. "He shows up wearing one of those helmets, with the ventilation system to protect you, a metallic puffer jacket and big silver moon boots."
Meet the New Dyson Vacuums: V16 Piston Animal, V10 Konical, V8 Cyclone (2026)
The rest of Dyson's promised 2026 vacuum lineup is here, from the new Dyson V16 Piston Animal to an updated version of the favored Dyson V8 Cyclone. Dyson's vacuum lineup had a new look planned for this year . Some of the vacuums have already arrived, like the Dyson PencilVac and Dyson Spot+Scrub robot vacuum, but others we've still been waiting to see. That wait is over as of this month, as Dyson has finally dropped the rest of its anticipated models. Dyson now has three new cordless vacuums you can shop, plus one with a Submarine head variant: the Dyson V16 Piston Animal ($980) and Dyson V16 Piston Animal Submarine ($1,100), the Dyson V10 Konical ($500), and the Dyson V8 Cyclone ($400) .
Rivian's CEO on Tesla's Cybertruck, Ferrari's Luce, and What Happens If the R2 Fails
RJ Scaringe, the CEO of Rivian Automotive, joined us for a wide-ranging interview about how his company's new electric SUV fits into the current EV industry, and what comes next. RJ Scaringe got his PhD from MIT studying internal combustion engines. Then he founded a company to make them obsolete. In 2009, fresh out of grad school, he launched what would become Rivian. The company spent nearly a decade in stealth mode before arriving at the 2018 LA Auto Show with two electric rides nobody had seen coming. The road, however, hasn't been easy. Rivian lost $3.6 billion in 2025, and has burned through nearly $25 billion in the past eight years. It has spent more money over the same period than almost every other pure EV maker. Rivian's IPO was the largest worldwide in 2021, and one of the largest in US history, within days valuing the company at over $100 billion. Its stock has dropped from a high of $130 to around $16. Since the R1 went on sale in 2021, Rivian has sold 175,000 cars.
Crypto Guys Bought the Answer to the CIA's Mysterious Kryptos Sculpture
They swear they haven't peeked at the closely guarded secret and that they'll keep the cryptographic competition going. On a blustery March day, the artist Jim Sanborn received visitors at his studio on an isolated island in the Chesapeake Bay. The visitors sat him down in front of a laptop, and he typed in a secret message. They compressed the message using a unique hash function, sent that to the cloud, and wiped the laptop clean. Sanborn hoped that this action would set him free.
Apple's Camera Chief Thinks AI Can Give You Superpowers
Apple's Camera Chief Thinks AI Can Give You Superpowers The generative features in iOS 27's new Photos app will add fake pixels to some of your shots, but Apple's Jon McCormack says the company isn't using AI "for the sake of AI." What even is a photograph these days? As tech giants pack generative AI capabilities into our phones and their camera software, the line between what is a real image and what isn't continues to blur. Phones from Google and Samsung, for example, now come with features that let you drastically alter a photo by erasing people, moving people around in the shot, and even adding new objects to the scene. Apple is getting in on the action by adding new generative features to its Photos app, though the company's iPhone camera chief, Jon McCormack, stresses that Apple is taking a more measured approach than its competitors and isn't "doing AI for the sake of AI."