Apple is making major moves with a billion-dollar annual payment to Google for Gemini AI integration. Meanwhile, EU users lose Watch Wi-Fi syncing while everyone gains a browsable web App Store. iOS 26.2 brings Podcast AI enhancements too.
Google’s agentic Deep Research feature in Gemini now integrates with Workspace data including Gmail, Drive, and Chat. The feature launched in December 2024 alongside Gemini 2.0 and was recently updated for higher-quality reports. It’s now available on desktop with mobile support coming soon.
Spotify is rolling out a weekly version of its popular Wrapped feature that gives users a snapshot of their listening habits. The feature shows top artists and songs while creating curated playlists, available globally across more than 60 regions for both free and premium subscribers.
Apple is reportedly paying Google $1 billion per year to handle Siri’s backend processing. This comes as Google pays Apple around $25 billion annually to remain the default search engine on Apple devices.
ARC Raiders continues its explosive launch with rock-solid player counts topping 300,000 concurrent users nightly. The game has achieved an 87 Metascore, making it the second-highest rated pure multiplayer shooter in history behind only Overwatch’s 91.
Snap’s stock surged 13% after announcing a major AI partnership with Perplexity and beating revenue expectations. The deal involves $400 million in cash and equity payments to Snap over the next year.
PlayStation appears to be developing a cross-buy system between PS5 and PC based on new backend symbols discovered by data miners. This would mirror Microsoft’s Xbox Play Anywhere program that’s been running for years.
Google is embedding its Gemini AI directly into Google Maps to revolutionize navigation. The update brings hands-free assistance, landmark-based guidance, and smarter traffic alerts. US users get first access to these features rolling out throughout 2024.
Perplexity has developed software that makes massive AI models practical on cheaper, older hardware. Their optimizations specifically target Amazon’s Elastic Fabric Adapter networking technology. This could democratize access to cutting-edge AI models.
Apple has finally revealed how creators can produce content for its Apple Immersive Video format on Vision Pro. The $33,000 Blackmagic cameras are now shipping to studios, and editing tools like DaVinci Resolve support the format. This could mean a flood of new immersive sports and entertainment con
