Our gifting experts are obsessively searching for holiday gifts that are unique, thoughtful and suitable for any budget. With the latest betas for iOS and other platforms, Siri AI is now available to all developers for full integration into their apps. Here are the ones I hope will jump on board. Lance Whitney is a technology journalist with an IT background. He's written for TechRepublic, PCMag, Macworld, and Time, among others, He also teaches classes in AI, cybersecurity, and social media.

PCWorld notes that Windows 11 may be getting a centralized hub for managing app updates, expected to arrive with the Windows 11 26H2 update. The feature uses the Windows Update Orchestration Platform and targets apps installed outside the Microsoft Store, helping users avoid missing critical security patches. Developers must opt in manually, and full functionality with a confirmed release date for all users remains unconfirmed. Most Windows programs use their own systems to check for and install updates. However, this can result in an annoying number of reminders.

Hailing from Cyanogen's cofounder, Kora is a next-gen alternative to Windows and macOS for power users running local AI models. Kirt McMaster knows that his new operating system--Kora--won't be for everyone, and he's fine with that. Kora, announced on Tuesday, is designed as a desktop alternative to Windows or macOS for "the AI native, not mass market," he says. McMaster, the company's CEO and cofounder--who also cofounded Boost Mobile--likens his strategy to how Steve Jobs targeted creators when overhauling desktop publishing with the Mac . This "next-generation" desktop OS can integrate context from user interactions across multiple AI tools.

Nor does every form factor make sense for every PC game. McWhirter points to triple-A gaming's struggles on smartphones: controller requirements, limited storage, and games designed for sustained attention don't disappear merely because the software technically runs. "Play anywhere" doesn't mean will run on a toaster.

The Dell Laptop Buying Guide 2026: Which XPS or Alienware Laptop Should You Buy? The Dell Laptop Buying Guide UK: Which Dell Laptop Should You Buy? When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. It's not just Sam Altman: AI will ruin PC gaming in ways you don't expect From platforms like Steam to giant publishers like EA to the continuing RAM crisis, AI is making pretty much everything worse for the world's biggest entertainment medium. Good lord, it's been a bad week for gaming.

AI data centres could undermine UK's emissions goals Image caption, Four planned "hyperscale" data centres are already considering using gas-fired power to meet their electricity needs The UK government's ambition of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 could be undermined by its new deal on AI data centres, according to BBC research. During Wednesday's Budget speech, Chancellor John Healey said data centres would be allowed to build onsite power generation while they wait for a grid connection. BBC File on 4 Investigates has discovered that four planned "hyperscale" data centres - including three in the south of England - are already considering using gas-fired power to meet their electricity needs, creating more CO2 than the cities of Manchester, Liverpool and Southampton combined. Labour MP Toby Perkins, who chairs the Environmental Audit Select Committee, said a substantial increase in the use of natural gas "can't be the future". "Government absolutely shouldn't be in the business of just saying anyone who wants to bring it here, can do whatever you like to power it, because that is not acceptable," he said.

WIRED uncovered some 400 apps and websites linked to Chinese-language developers that look like regular AI tools but had secret features that let users create violent AI-generated images and video. At first glance, the self-proclaimed "pet portrait" app Viefur appears to be just another AI slop generator. Using digital coins sold in the app--around $4 will buy 130 coins--pet photos can be turned into an "anthropomorphic portrait," with the critter dressed in "human clothing" and inserted into bizarre scenes. Think a hamster wearing beach shorts, sunglasses, and lounging in a swimming pool or a Hawaiian shirt-wearing cat, drinking from a coconut. All of this is cover for what appears to be the app's true purpose: creating sexually abusive deepfake images.

Our gifting experts are obsessively searching for holiday gifts that are unique, thoughtful and suitable for any budget. Now that agents are writing so much code, Entire is trying to reinvent the coding platform itself. Radhika Rajkumar is a senior editor at ZDNET based in New York City. Entire is a GitHub rival built around coding agents. The platform is designed to remove coding bottlenecks.

Between crushing layoffs, ballooning budgets, and bland end products, video game makers need to stop chasing AAA glory. Grand Theft Auto finally arrives in November . A staggering 13 years and two console generations after the release of its predecessor, the long-awaited sequel has effectively become one of gaming's holy grails--a title that some thought they'd never actually see, its development cycle so legendarily long that there's a dedicated " we got [x] before " meme. The latest criminal opus lets players control Jason and Lucia, a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde, and bears all the hallmarks of Rockstar's incredible attention to detail. Leonida, the open-world setting based on Florida, looks almost impossibly vast yet meticulously detailed, with its own weather systems and hundreds of animal species roaming around.

A plan to funnel the heat given off by data centers into nearby homes has run aground in Germany. Across Europe, policymakers are weighing AI ambitions against climate objectives. Earlier this year, the German government laid out an ambitious plan: By 2030, it would double the scale of the country's data center fleet, and quadruple the amount of compute available for running artificial intelligence models. The idea was to minimize Germany's dependence on the United States for access to AI--a point of concern across Europe--and boost its faltering economy. However, Germany has found that its AI ambitions are butting up against its climate commitments.