- Android’s youthful new design language just droppedAn eye-catching new treatment for Android. | Image: Google Google just announced a bold new look for Android, for real this time. After a false start last week when someone accidentally published ... read more
- Gemini is coming to TVs and cars, eventuallyGoogle is bringing its Gemini AI assistant to devices with Google TV, cars with Android Auto and Google built-in, Wear OS smartwatches, and Android XR. But Google isn’t saying exactly when ... read more
- Wear OS 6 puts Google Gemini on your wrist
- Android launches new protections against phone call scammersGoogle is rolling out several new features to protect Android users from falling victim to phone call scams. Now, Android will automatically block users from sideloading an app for the first ... read more
- Google adds UWB support to its rebranded Find Hub tracker appFind My Device just became Find Hub. A year after launching its Find My Device location tracking network, Google is adding support for ultra wideband (UWB) for more precise tracking using compatible ... read more
- ESPN’s standalone streaming app launches this fall for $30 a monthDisney is launching its direct-to-consumer ESPN streaming service this fall. The service, which will simply be called “ESPN,” will cost $29.99 per month for the “unlimited” plan, which will include all of ... read more
- Google I/O’s Android Show: live updates and announcementsGoogle did something a bit different this year. Instead of talking about Android during the I/O developer conference, which kicks off on May 20, it’s hosting a show dedicated to its ... read more
- Cocomelon makes the jump from YouTube to theaters with new movieCocomelon Lane. The Cocomelon empire is expanding once again. A few years after the massively popular kids YouTube channel turned into a Netflix series, now it’s also becoming a feature film. Cocomelon ... read more
- Most Best Buys will have extra Switch 2 stock on launch dayIf you don’t have a Nintendo Switch 2 preorder, Best Buy might still be able to help you get a console on launch day. For the retailer’s midnight openings for the ... read more
- Here’s where you can preorder Samsung’s ultra-thin S25 EdgeThe S25 Edge is noticeably thin when you hold it. | Image: Dominic Preston / The Verge<br> At its virtual Unpacked event on Tuesday, Samsung officially announced the launch date for its ... read more
- Valve will soon let you know if a game is compatible with your SteamOS deviceAhead of the release of the Lenovo Legion Go S running SteamOS later this month, Valve has announced a new compatibility rating system for SteamOS devices. As the name implies, the ... read more
- Donkey Kong Bananza for the Switch 2 is $7 cheaper at CostcoThe Nintendo Switch 2 isn’t even out yet (it’s coming June 5th), and one of its launch window games already has a preorder discount at Costco. With a membership, you can ... read more
- Apple turned pop songs into lofi beats to work / study / sleep toApple is getting into Lofi Girl’s turf. The company has teamed up with Universal Music Group (UMG) to make the Sound Therapy collection of tracks for Apple Music that are “designed ... read more
- Google Photos adds ‘Quick Edits’ when you share imagesGoogle Photos on a Pixel 6. Google has announced that it’s now added a “Quick Edits” feature that lets you edit an image as you’re sharing it without necessarily saving those changes ... read more
- Microsoft announces layoffs that will impact at least 6,000 employeesMicrosoft is laying off more than 6,000 employees, around three percent of the company’s entire workforce. These are the biggest job cuts at Microsoft since it laid off 10,000 employees in ... read more
- AI therapy is a surveillance machine in a police stateMark Zuckerberg wants you to be understood by the machine. The Meta CEO has recently been pitching a future where his AI tools give people something that "knows them well," not ... read more
- Nintendo might brick your Switch if you break the rulesConsole modding enthusiasts beware, Nintendo might take away your system. According to a recently updated account services user agreement and privacy policy, Nintendo reserves the right to, “render the Nintendo Account ... read more
- Apple will add App Store accessibility labels and new support for brain interface controlsMagnifier for Mac A wave of accessibility announcements today from Apple reveals updates that should help people read, see, and even speak via its various devices. We’ll highlight a few here, but ... read more
- Google Reportedly Develops Software AI Agent With Visual FeaturesAt one of its major events next week, Google is expected to announce a software AI agent that will have visual features like Pinterest - to inspire users when they think about topics related to ... read more
- The CryptoPunks NFTs are being sold to a non-profit as their value continues to fallCryptoPunks owner and Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs hasn’t disclosed the terms of the deal. It would seem that the money-making days for CryptoPunks, one of the oldest and most ... read more
- GM says new battery chemistry will enable 400-mile range EVsGM’s current high-nickel battery pack, seen here in 2022 with a Hummer EV. It has enough energy for around 300 miles of range. General Motors is teaming up with LG to develop ... read more
- Why one obscure app could help crumble Meta’s empireIf the question, "Who is Meta's biggest rival?" were on a Family Feud survey, TikTok would likely be the winning answer. In the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust case against the Facebook ... read more
- Apple will let the Vision Pro ‘see’ for youApple previewed new Vision Pro accessibility features today that could turn the headset into a proxy for eyesight when they launch in visionOS later this year. The update uses the headset’s ... read more
- How AI Will Force Agencies To Rethink Pricing ModelsThe subject came up during S4 Capital's first quarter earnings call as analysts questioned company officials about the efficiencies wrought by AI and how clients and agencies would benefit. ... read more
- Square’s $399 Handheld accepts tap-to-pay at your tableThe new Square Handheld POS device is roughly the same size as a large phone. The Square Handheld is available today for $399 with support for traditional card transactions and tap-to-pay, scanning ... read more
- Apple’s new Accessibility Reader can customize text across apps — and in real lifeApple has revealed a new reading mode “designed to make text easier to read for users with a wide range of disabilities, such as dyslexia or low vision,” the company announced ... read more
- Letterboxd announces curated online film rental storeLetterboxd – a film tracker app and the only good social network – announced a Letterboxd Video Store at the Festival de Cannes on Tuesday. Unlike a traditional video-on-demand service, Letterboxd ... read more
- The Trade Desk unfurls OpenSinceraRelated Insights The Programmatic Marketer A check on The Trade Desk’s risks and rewards Read More After making one of the few company purchases in its 15-year history, ... read more
- Spotify’s AI DJ now takes requestsPremium subscribers can hold down on the AI DJ button at the bottom-right of the feature to give it voice commands. Spotify is giving users more control over which songs are spat ... read more
- Retail Media's Rapid Growth Threatened By Fragmentation, Complexity, Platform GapsAmazon and Walmart remain the juggernauts of retail media, forecast to command a combined 84.2% of total U.S. retail media ad spend by 2025. ... read more
- Upfronts 2025: Live Content – The Biggest Brand TV Lure?Nearly half of NBCU's prime-time nights will feature sports in 2026. "Seventy percent of all the programming across NBC is live," NBCU Chairman, Global Advertising/Partnerships Mark Marshall said at NBCU's upfront event Monday. ... read more
- A buggy Sonos mysteryProduct design requires considering lots of different things. How things look; how they work; how people will understand how to use them. Here's one probably not on a lot of designers' ... read more
- DJI is skipping the US with its most advanced drone yetThe Mavic 4 Pro. | Image: DJI Today, DJI is officially announcing the Mavic 4 Pro, which could be the most versatile drone it's ever made. It's the first with a 360-degree ... read more
- How to watch Google’s Android Show: I/O Edition todayThere’s still a week to go until Google I/O 2025 starts in earnest, but some of the developer conference’s biggest announcements are likely to arrive today in a one-off livestream called ... read more
- Microsoft extends Office app support on Windows 10 to 2028Microsoft revealed earlier this year that it was planning to stop supporting Office apps (Microsoft 365) on Windows 10 after the October 14th end of support cutoff. Now, Microsoft is performing ... read more
- Peacock Was Standout Star At NBCU Streaming-First UpfrontPeacock got top billing at the NBCU Upfront, positioning NBCU as streaming-first heading into this spring's upfront sales season. ... read more
- Amazon Upfront Focuses On Sports, A-Lister ContentAmazon entertained advertisers during its upfront Monday with premiere sport events and a lineup of A-list entertainers including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis. ... read more
- Toyota is shortening the bZ4X’s name to just ‘bZ’
- Microsoft reveals its rejected Start menu redesignsMicrosoft is redesigning the Start menu in Windows 11 this month with a new, wider design that finally lets you disable the recommended feed of files and apps. While the new ... read more
- Google might replace the ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ button with AI ModeOnly Google Labs users can currently see the experiment. | Image: Google / <a href="https://www.threads.com/@chris/post/DJkf7LZB8eC?xmt=AQF0-VsPgfBDfV46VV2jdT3gJzbSeP1jQuParZuSHd99jA">Chris Messina</a> Some Google Search users are starting to see the platform’s AI Mode search engine chatbot in ... read more
- Trump reduces tax on cheap imports from ChinaHours after announcing a 90-day mutual reduction in tariff rates with China, the White House has followed up by confirming a similar reduction on duties for cheap imports from the country. ... read more
- The Xperia 1 VII is a greatest hits of Sony R&DSony has announced its latest flagship smartphone, the Xperia 1 VII, and it fits right into the company’s wheelhouse: a familiar design, tech cobbled together from across Sony’s other hardware brands, ... read more
- Amazon positions NBA rights and live sports portfolio as a lure for its broader ads businessAt this year’s upfront negotiations, advertisers are set to weigh tariff impacts and consumer sentiments against big-ticket TV deals and major media investments. eMarketer projects that linear TV upfront spending will fall 9.1% compared with ... read more
- In Graphic Detail: How YouTube redrew the TV mapIt’s upfront week, and YouTube’s influence looms large over every pitch and negotiation. No better moment to revisit how, over the past 20 years, it’s become the tip of the spear in the transformation of ... read more
- Marketing Briefing: Here’s what marketers put on the back burner for the foreseeable futureEveryone in advertising is dealing with the same problem: uncertainty. As a few agency execs put it while chatting with me on Monday, there’s a constant nervous energy in the industry right now, with ... read more
- How Digitas is navigating search’s shift to the AI eraSubscribe: Apple Podcasts • Spotify Google’s search engine isn’t the only one in town, and marketers are taking notice. Increasingly, people are shifting search behaviors to AI chatbots, like ChatGPT and Perplexity. This means ... read more
- Twitch’s Discovery Feed isn’t delivering, creators sayAs platforms increasingly compete for livestreaming creators and their audiences, Twitch’s discovery issues remain a sticking point for some streamers. It’s been just over a year since Twitch launched its Discovery Feed in April 2024. ... read more
- Amazon Goes Upfront: Prime Video Monthly Viewing Hours Rises 40%Prime Video's ad option, which started up over a year ago, has been a "game changer" with a strong viewer-to-consumer connection to Amazon's e-commerce business, ... read more
- Samsung’s S25 Edge is a thin phone with two big tradeoffsThe S25 Edge is just 5.8mm thick, not counting the camera bump. Samsung's thin phone is here. The Galaxy S25 Edge - first teased back in January - is essentially a slimmed-down ... read more
- Gartner: Marketing Budgets 'Flatline,' But Media's Share Rises Due To InflationA Gartner study found 59% of CMOs reported having an insufficient budget to execute strategies in 2025 - down five percentage points since 2024. Paid media continues to dominate marketing spend, but investments are down ... read more
- Marketing Budgets 'Flatline' In 2025, Gartner CMO Spend Survey ShowsA Gartner study found 59% of CMOs reported having an insufficient budget to execute strategies in 2025 - down five percentage points since 2024. Paid media continues to dominate marketing spend, but investments are down ... read more
- Fallout’s second season premieres in December and will be followed by a thirdGet ready for more Fallout. The second season of the hit Prime Video show will premiere in December, and the show has already been renewed for a third, Variety reports. The ... read more
- Fox's Upfront Ad Plan: More Contrarian ThinkingTotal time viewing on all Fox Corp. platforms was up 26% in the last 12 months, with 24% of commercial time on Fox airing on programs with over one million viewers, Fox President of Ad ... read more
- Snapchat Brings Out Kid Cudi For Its First 'Under The Ghost' SessionSnapchat kicked off the live music series with music from rapper Kid Cudi, who performed a soon-to-be-released single and other unreleased music for a small crowd of Snap's most viral creators, as well as what ... read more
- PHD Taps IPG's Piner As Chief Investment OfficerThe move marks a return to PHD for Piner, who did an earlier tour with the agency from 2007-2015, lastly as senior vice president-group director, leading investment for auto, entertainment and luxury goods clients. ... read more
- Duolingo is replacing hearts with energyDuolingo is making a big change: it’s moving on from hearts in favor of a new “energy” mechanic. The idea is to switch from a system that punishes mistakes to one ... read more
- Trump administration announces ‘illegal’ rollback of energy and water efficiency standardsThe US Energy Department says it’s rolling back long-standing efficiency standards for appliances, which advocates are calling a clear violation of the law. Continuing the Trump administration’s assault on federal water ... read more
- Google To Pay $1.375 Billion To Resolve Texas Privacy BattleGoogle has agreed to settle claims that it violated a Texas biometric privacy law, as well as claims that it deceptively collected location data and tracked users who browsed in Chrome's incognito mode. ... read more
- Ad Tracker Turns Forecaster, Guideline Projects 'Material Slowdown' This YearFive months into 2025, Guideline is drawing on a quarter of actual spending data, as well as a quarter of "forward bookings" and certain assumptions to forecast a 4% increase in U.S. ad spending. That's ... read more
- Apple could use AI to help your iPhone save batteryApple’s iOS 19 update could include an AI-powered feature designed to conserve battery, according to a report from Bloomberg. The battery management tool will reportedly optimize your iPhone’s power consumption based ... read more
- Philips will let you fix your trimmer with 3D printable parts and accessoriesIf you’re constantly losing all the accessories that come with your beard trimmer, Philips is going to let you make your own replacement using a 3D printer. | Image: Philips Philips has ... read more
- The AI Upfront: Fixed Deals, Flexible Audience StrategiesThe upfront has long been a cornerstone of media buying — and for good reason. It guarantees access to premium inventory, especially around live events that command national attention. Sports, award shows, and tentpole cultural ... read more
- Dentsu’s Jeff Greenspoon: AI, Deep Learning and the End of the ‘Free Pass’ in Media PerformanceMIAMI – The age of siloed marketing metrics and passive brand storytelling is over, according to Jeff Greenspoon, chief global client officer at advertising and marketing agency Dentsu. In a sweeping vision of the industry’s future, ... read more
- Anker’s fast, two-headed USB-C cable is 31 percent offOne of the most convenient USB-C cables around is back down to its lowest price ever, which we last saw in early March. Anker’s 2-in-1, braided USB-C cable that can charge ... read more
- TikTok Invites Customers To Direct Message Live StreamersTikTok is rolling out a new "Live" feature designed to help live streamers better engage with their viewers, according to screenshots flagged on Threads. ... read more
- YouTube's Evolution: From Reach To RuleWhile advertisers still fund the ecosystem, they're increasingly guests in a house they don't own. ... read more
- Ticketmaster will finally show the full price of your ticket up frontTicketmaster will now show how much you’ll pay for tickets — fees included — before checkout. The company announced the “All In Prices” initiative on Monday as part of its efforts ... read more
- iOS 18.5 is out nowThe iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Apple has released iOS 18.5, and one of the most notable features is that it allows the ... read more
- Peacock’s Office spinoff starts streaming in SeptemberThe Office cinematic universe is expanding this fall. Peacock has given the previously announced spinoff of the mockumentary series a streaming date and name, while also revealing a first image. It’s ... read more
- YouTube To Settle Children's Privacy SuitGoogle has reached a "settlement in principle" that would resolve class-action claims that it violated children's privacy by tracking their YouTube activity in order to serve targeted ads. ... read more
- S4 Capital Reports 11.4% Organic Shortfall In The First QuarterSpending cuts by a large client contributed to the decline while technology clients generally are prioritizing investments in areas like AI instead of marketing. ... read more
- The upgraded VMU Pro turns the Dreamcast’s memory card into a handheld emulatorThe VMU Pro can play retro games on its tiny color screen, but it’s limited to older 8-bit titles. | Image: 8BitMods The Sega Dreamcast wasn’t the first home console to store ... read more
- The Switch 2 has a handy battery preservation modeNintendo will give Switch 2 owners the option to sacrifice a little per-session playtime in the interest of battery health longevity. The company announced, via its Nintendo Today news app, that ... read more
- The Switch 2 will let you set an unlock PINThe Nintendo Switch 2 will have an option to set a PIN to unlock your console when you turn it on. You can see the new “System Lock” option in a ... read more
- Amazon Unveils AI-Powered 'Pause' Ads, Do More Than Just Run CommercialsIn Amazon's innovative AI-powered streaming ad formats, the server reads the tone of the scene to determine the brand and when to serve ads. ... read more
- Google just changed its ‘G’ logoGoogle’s old logo (left) vs. its new one (right) Google has updated its colorful “G” logo for the first time in almost a decade. An update to the Google app on iOS ... read more
- Peacock’s NBA coverage will add an overlay with live shot statsPeacock’s homepage will display live NBA games with some stats. | Image: Peacock The NBA is headed to Peacock this October, and with it a range of new features making the viewing ... read more
- The Substack Power Shift: How Writers Are Taking Back ControlWe've lived through the chaos. We're still living it. But now we've got a glimpse of something better. ... read more
- Don’t delete that ‘Lopez Voice Assistant’ email — it’s about Apple’s Siri settlementIf you’ve been wary after getting an email with the subject line “Lopez Voice Assistant Class Action Settlement,” that’s understandable — but it’s likely a notification that you’re owed part of ... read more
- Fox Premium Streamer Branded 'Fox One'Fox One will feature all news, sports, and entertainment content in one streaming platform - including Fox News Channel, Fox Business, Fox Sports, Fox-owned TV stations and the Fox Television Network. ... read more
- Fox’s new streaming service will arrive just in time for football seasonFox expects to launch its upcoming streaming service before this year’s NFL season, the company announced on Monday. The new service, which it will call Fox One, will allow viewers to ... read more
- Did Apple get too big for its own good? With Daring Fireball’s John GruberWe’re doing something a little different on today’s episode of Decoder. I asked my friend John Gruber, of the website Daring Fireball, to come on the show and talk about the ... read more
- The Overwatch developer team has unionizedThe team of nearly 200 Activision Blizzard developers behind the Overwatch franchise has unionized. Formed under the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the Overwatch Gamemakers Guild is the latest wall-to-wall Blizzard ... read more
- Biden On 'The View': How Did He Do?Joe Biden's appearance on "The View" last Thursday for his first live TV interview since leaving office went pretty much as expected. ... read more
- Sports TV Is A 'Rental' Business – Remedy? Buy The HouseLeaving the NBA will help WBD save around $300 million in annual sports costs (not including the Olympics). ... read more
- Apple’s Murderbot series is goofy sci-fi with a side of existential crisisI did not expect a TV show called Murderbot to be quite so relatable. On the surface, the Apple TV Plus sci-fi comedy is a somewhat generic futuristic story about a ... read more
- OMD Expands Boehringer Ingelheim RemitThe agency's new contract expands the agency's media account in the U.S. The company spent $182 million on measured media last year according to COMvergence. ... read more
- Can LinkedIn Build A Real B2B YouTube-Like Monetization Business?Since launching the Wire Program in 2024, advertisers have seen 130% higher video-completion rates and a 23% higher view rate vs. standard video ads, and viewers are 18% more likely to convert to leads. ... read more
- MRC, IAB Release Attention Measurement Guidelines DraftThe guidelines, which will be open for public comment through July 12, are intended as a first step toward Media Rating Council accreditation for attention measurement suppliers. ... read more
- Comcast, Charter, Cox Venture Eyes AI: Data Will Target Small AdvertisersThe joint venture will use large language models and generative AI to develop TV-ready creative to give even the smallest advertisers a chance to use multiplatform video in streaming. These smaller companies have not reached ... read more
- Indigenous scientists are fighting to protect their data — and their cultureDr. Max Liboiron, Professor in the Department of Geography at Memorial University in St. John, Newfoundland, Canada. Every month, a group of Indigenous scientists from around the world gathers on Zoom. They ... read more
- Google Keep brings text formatting to the webGoogle Keep has finally expanded the text formatting options to its web app, almost two years after making them available for Android users. The update for Google’s web-based note-taking service is ... read more
- Google’s AI image-to-video generator launches on Honor’s new phonesMy cat Noodle, brought to life with an unsettlingly large, humanlike tongue. Chinese phone manufacturer Honor has launched an image-to-video AI generator powered by Google, before it’s available to Gemini users. It ... read more
- US and China slash tariffsThe pause aims to provide time for further trade negotiations. The United States and China have mutually agreed to a 90 day reduction on tariffs implemented in April, marking a significant attempt ... read more
- Roblox courts advertisers with fresh data on its ad effectivenessRoblox is pushing its case to advertisers, releasing new data aimed at proving the value of ads on its platform. At its NewFronts event on Thursday, Roblox unveiled the results of a MediaScience study that ... read more
- Media buyers anticipate a slower TV upfronts season amid economic uncertaintyMarketers attending the TV upfront presentations in New York this week are likely to drag their feet during negotiations for major media commitments once the market starts to move. The upfronts season draws marketers, media ... read more
- A check on The Trade Desk’s risks and rewardsThe Trade Desk is at a crossroads. Companies don’t make this many moves unless they see storm clouds on the horizon. Between intensifying competition and a bruised reputation, the pressure is real. Still, the first ... read more
- ‘Trade Desk is the Spirit Airlines of the DSP world’: Overheard at the Digiday Programmatic Marketing SummitFor all the hubbub around Google’s return to third-party cookies in Chrome (for now), it seemed to be the last thing anyone wanted to talk about at the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit, which took place ... read more
- Media Buying Briefing: Buyers to weigh the flexibility of digital with the Upfront’s legacy scaleNewFronts week is done, and the video ad marketplace is about to hear from the veteran TV sellers of linear, cable and streaming — with YouTube pushing itself right into the middle of proceedings. Could ... read more
- Mexico is suing Google over how it’s labeling the Gulf of MexicoMexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum speaking on April 22, 2025. | Photo by YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced Friday that her government is suing Google for relabeling the ... read more