Author: News Room
Apple kicked off its annual developer conference with bold promises about AI. The company, CEO Tim Cook said, would be “introducing new technologies and innovations that push the limits on what’s possible.” But its slew of announcements — centered on a brand-new “Siri AI” — had more to do with catching up.After almost entirely neglecting Siri and punting its AI promises down the road in 2025, Apple went all in on the tech this year. It pitched Siri as an all-encompassing virtual assistant that ties together all your Apple devices, with multimodal features, a dedicated app, an all-in-one AI agent,…
It took a few years, but Apple finally made its AI look useful. Now millions of iPhone users in Europe are being told they won’t be getting Siri AI anytime soon, if ever — and Apple wants them to blame the EU.Apple says its new AI-powered Siri will not launch on iPhones and iPads in the European Union because of the Digital Markets Act, the bloc’s competition law designed to stop powerful tech companies from acting as gatekeepers over their platforms to shut out rivals. In practice, the DMA requires platforms to give competitors the same kinds of data access…
Marshall has unveiled the Stockwell III, the first major update to its portable Bluetooth speaker range since 2019. The new model promises more than 40 hours of battery life, upgraded acoustics, and a more repairable design aimed at extending its lifespan. The headline upgrade is battery life – Marshall claims that the Stockwell III can now deliver more than 40 hours of wireless playback – double the endurance of its predecessor – which should make it one of the longest-lasting portable speakers in its class. Marshall says that the speaker’s audio has been upgraded too. The Stockwell III uses the…
Whether you’re shopping for Father’s Day or trying to keep your kids entertained over summer break, you don’t need to spend a fortune to get a great Fitbit right now. You can currently pick up the Fitbit Charge 6 for $50 off at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target, the Fitbit Ace LTE for $80 off (Amazon, Best Buy, Target), and the new Fitbit Air (Amazon, Best Buy, Target), and all come in around $100.While all three cost about the same, they’re designed for very different users. The Fitbit Air is geared toward anybody who wants a simple wearable focused mainly…
Marshall’s mid-size Stockwell Bluetooth speaker has returned with a huge upgrade – its first big refresh since 2019. Stockwell III boasts one key upgrade – huge battery life that will keep your tunes going for over 40 hours, similar to Marshall’s much bigger Bromley 450 and putting rivals like the JBL Charge 6 in the shade. It’s available from August for $250/£200 and will be in black and cream colours. I’ve had a previous Stockwell by my patio door for a few years now and it’s the perfect speaker to take outside with you thanks to water resistance – now…
Apple used to question whether generative AI-powered editing features were worth the risk of distorting our perceptions of the world. Now it seems Apple no longer believes that photos should accurately capture reality. At WWDC 2026, the company announced a host of new AI-powered photo editing tools. They give users effortless powers of manipulating images that Apple still refers to as “photos.”Two years ago, Apple launched Clean Up — an AI-powered object removal tool in Apple’s Photo app that’s similar to the Magic Eraser feature in Google Photos. At the time, Apple software chief Craig Federighi said that it was…
Porsche has taken a break from launching amazing EVs to unveil three one-of-one 911 models at the world premiere of Toy Story 5 in Los Angeles. Each has been extensively customised to embody one of the film’s iconic characters: Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and Jessie. The work was carried out by Porsche’s Sonderwunsch department (German for “special wishes”) the same team responsible for the Sally Special from the Cars franchise. Porsche has gone all in there – these are full-on character cars, rather than subtle nods. The highlight of the collection is Buzz Lightyear. It gets the most extreme hardware: a…
Sending an email, having a conversation with a colleague, putting together a PowerPoint — sub-tasks will increasingly become digitized, automated, and we can basically generate more and more of them. That does not necessarily mean that the role goes away at all. It just means that the work can be done faster and more efficiently, which is today often work that is quite rote, is quite manual, is quite labor-intensive, and is time-consuming. And so the natural progression of technology is to make your life easier, faster, less friction for more seamlessness. Read the full article here
Apple didn’t announce a folding iPhone at WWDC 2026. Instead, the company’s final developer conference keynote under Tim Cook focused almost entirely on software, from iOS 27 and Siri AI to upgrades for Apple Music and CarPlay. But buried inside Apple’s freshly released iOS 27 beta are what could be the strongest signs yet that its first foldable iPhone is finally on the way. Developer Sam Henri Gold discovered on X several references within iOS 27’s frameworks that appear to relate directly to foldable hardware. These include code strings labelled “foldState” and “angleDegrees”, along with a new key designed to…
Meta is planning to use the data shared by other businesses to personalize your feed and its AI responses. In a blog post on Tuesday, Meta explains that it already uses your off-platform activity, like the games you play or your purchases on other websites, to serve you ads. But now it’s expanding the scope of the content it personalizes across Facebook and Instagram.For example, Meta says if you bought a tent online recently, you might see camping-related videos in your Reels feed. “We aren’t collecting any new data as part of this update,” the blog post says. “This is…
Rivian may be all in on robotaxis and autonomy, but it’s still got human drivers — and EV buyers — to win over. The pricey R1S SUV and R1T pickup brought Rivian A-list media attention and cult-hit status, but the company faces a critical next step. The 2027 R2 is Rivian’s bid for mainstream success, scaled-down but not dumbed down.We drove a R2 Performance model from the streets of Park City, Utah, into Wasatch Mountains’ twisties and then off-road trails, an idealized triathlon for the do-it-all driving that Rivian intends for its adventure-minded customers. In its newly attainable price range,…
Instagram has finally added one of its most-requested features, and if you’ve ever spent far too long trying to make your profile grid look presentable on the latest smartphones, you’ll probably be pleased. The Meta-owned social network is now letting users rearrange posts on their profile grid, regardless of when they were originally published. Until now, profile grids were largely locked into chronological order, aside from the ability to pin a handful of posts at the top. That meant anyone chasing a carefully curated aesthetic either had to plan posts meticulously in advance, or resort to deleting and reposting content.…