Amazon has long followed the same formula for its tablets. Fire tablets are known to be cheap, durable devices good for watching video and doing casual tasks like browsing, playing basic games and checking out Facebook. Amazon's own app store has received plenty of support from developers over the years, but it's still missing plenty of crucial options like Whatsapp and YouTube, just to name a few. This year, however, Amazon is changing up its strategy. Its new series of Alexa tablets may highlight the company's services and assistant first and foremost, but they're also full-fledged Android tablets with plenty of Google's own apps and access to the Play Store.

Our gifting experts are obsessively searching for holiday gifts that are unique, thoughtful and suitable for any budget. It just got a whole lot easier to vibe code the exact Android app you need - no developer experience required. Artie Beaty is a freelance writer, based just outside Charlotte, with a passion for smart home tech and tech news. Google AI Studio now lets you make your own personal apps. The apps bypass the public Play Store, but you can share with friends.

Amazon's tablets have always ran a forked version of Android with its own ecosystem, apps and app store. It's been that way since the company launched the original Kindle Fire way back in 2011. The company's latest Alexa Tablets also run custom Android, and they come preloaded with Kindle, Prime Video, Audible, Amazon Music, Amazon Quick and Amazon Luna. However, unlike their predecessors, they have full access to the Google Play store and all the apps you can download from it, as well. Previous Amazon tablets only had access to the Amazon Appstore, which has a much smaller number of applications.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Amazon's Fire HD 8 tablet just hit $79.99, its lowest price ever The Fire HD 8 tablet with 13 hours of battery life is now $50 off. Its main downsides are camera and display quality. Tablets with a compact 8-inch display are especially appealing if all you want to do is read ebooks, watch videos, browse the web, and use simple apps while on the go. Compared to larger models, 8-inchers are easier to carry around and fit into tight bags and backpacks.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Google's new Googlebook OS is basically Android for laptops Previously known as Aluminium OS, Googlebook OS is the Android-based laptop operating system that's replacing ChromeOS. Not even a year ago, a rumor arose that Google was working on a new operating system for mobile platforms. Known as Aluminium OS, the OS would combine the best aspects of Android and ChromeOS, all while sidelining ChromeOS as Google's OS of choice for laptops. Now, Aluminium OS is finally here but under a completely different name.

I wore the world's first HDR10 smart glasses TCL's new E Ink tablet beats the Remarkable and Kindle Anker's new charger is one of the most unique I've ever seen I wore the world's first HDR10 smart glasses TCL's new E Ink tablet beats the Remarkable and Kindle Anker's new charger is one of the most unique I've ever seen I tried Android's first alternative app store on Google Play - and it's a mess Aptoide Games just landed in the Play Store - no sideloading required. I tested it, and caution is advised. There's a new app store found in the US Google Play Store. Aptoide Games is a limited version of the Aptoide app. Aptoide still has to be sideloaded.

The City Attorney's Office sent the tech giants cease-and-desist letters this week telling them to stop profiting from 13 "face-swap" apps that are overwhelmingly used to target women and girls. Apple and Google have been ordered to take down apps that can "nudify" or "undress" people and told that they must stop profiting from the harmful technology, according to cease-and-desist letters sent to the companies seen by WIRED. On Thursday, San Francisco city attorney David Chiu sent legal notices to Apple and Google demanding that they remove from their app stores 13 face-swapping apps, which allow users to create AI-generated nonconsensual nude images. The letters say the Silicon Valley giants should stop "aiding and abetting" the sale of explicit deepfake images and "sever" business relationships with the app developers. "Generating non-consensual intimate images is illegal, harmful, and completely unacceptable," Chiu tells WIRED.

These laptops feature deep Android phone integration, allowing app casting and cross-device functionality, while supporting Android games through Google Play Store. Despite Google partnering with major manufacturers like HP and Dell, success remains uncertain given past mixed results with similar initiatives. We've been hearing about Google's push to unite Android and ChromeOS into a new laptop operating system rumored to be called "Aluminum" for a while now. A week before this year's Google I/O conference, the company is ready to talk about it. And to the surprise of absolutely friggin' no one, these seem more interested in Gemini "AI" than the actual product.

The app reads your email inbox and your meeting calendar, then gives you a short audio summary. It can help you spend less time scrolling, but of course, there are privacy drawbacks to consider.

Microsoft will be shutting down the Microsoft Lens app next month, reports Neowin. The app debuted back in 2014 as Office Lens, which was later renamed as Microsoft Lens in 2021. Microsoft Lens is a free app, available on both Android and iOS devices, that lets you do things like scan documents, convert images to PDF/Word/Excel/PowerPoint files, digitize handwritten text, save to OneNote and OneDrive, and more. It's one of Microsoft's most highly rated apps, with 4.8 stars and 50M downloads on the Play Store. Unfortunately, Microsoft Lens will begin its phase out in mid-September.