TECHNOLOGY
Google disables Take a Message on older Pixel phones after rare microphone leak
Google has confirmed a rare bug affecting the Take a Message feature on older Pixel phones, where background audio was unintentionally sent to callers. As a precaution, the company is disabling the feature on Pixel 4 and Pixel 5 models that no longer receive Android updates.
TECHNOLOGY
iOS 26.3 quietly signals Apple’s openness to deeper third-party AI integration
A subtle change in iOS 26.3 is allowing Google’s Gemini app to offer deeper, more native-style integrations on iPhone, hinting at how Apple may approach third-party AI tools on iOS going forward.
TECHNOLOGY
X hints at edited image labels but leaves key questions unanswered
The speculation follows a brief and cryptic post from Elon Musk that read “Edited visuals warning”, shared alongside an announcement from the anonymous X account DogeDesigner.
TECHNOLOGY
AirTag 2 teardown suggests Apple has quietly hardened the speaker against removal
A new teardown of AirTag 2 shows that Apple has made the internal speaker significantly harder to remove, reinforcing its broader push to reduce unwanted tracking and misuse.
TECHNOLOGY
Mozilla’s Mark Surman wants a ‘rebel alliance’ to challenge Big AI’s grip on the future
Mozilla president Mark Surman is assembling what he calls a “rebel alliance” of startups, developers, and public-interest technologists to counter the dominance of major AI players like OpenAI and Anthropic, with a long-term push for open, trustworthy, and economically viable AI.
TECHNOLOGY
Apple paid $851 million in fines last year, and critics say regulators still lack teeth
Apple was fined a total of $851 million in 2025 for privacy and antitrust violations, a sharp drop from the previous year, but campaigners argue the penalties remain far too small to meaningfully change Big Tech behaviour.
TECHNOLOGY
Amazon layoffs deepen as internal messages reveal which teams were cut
Internal Slack posts and executive memos show Amazon’s latest layoffs hit key AWS and retail teams, filling in details missing from the company’s official announcement.
TECHNOLOGY
Google takes its low-cost AI Plus subscription global, launches at $7.99 per month in the US
Google has rolled out its more affordable AI Plus plan to all markets where its AI subscriptions are available, including the United States.
TECHNOLOGY
Halide co-founder Sebastiaan de With returns to Apple as part of Human Interface Design team
Sebastiaan de With, the co-founder of the acclaimed iPhone camera app Halide, has rejoined Apple to work on its Human Interface Design team, marking a high-profile return to the company after years of independent design work.
TECHNOLOGY
Google clarifies Gemini AI Plus limits as NotebookLM lands inside the iOS app
Google has detailed what users actually get with its new Gemini AI Plus plan in the US, outlining daily prompt caps, context limits, and feature access, while also rolling out NotebookLM integration for iPhone and Workspace users.
TECHNOLOGY
YouTube quietly blocks background playback trick in third-party Android browsers
A long-standing workaround that allowed YouTube videos to keep playing in the background through third-party Android browsers appears to be breaking, with reports suggesting Google is tightening checks for non-Premium accounts.
TECHNOLOGY
Gemini 3 Flash gets Agentic Vision to deliver more accurate, evidence-based image understanding
Google has introduced Agentic Vision for Gemini 3 Flash, a new capability that improves how the model understands and responds to image-based prompts.
TECHNOLOGY
Samsung Galaxy S26 tipped to add satellite texting and SOS support
Fresh FCC certifications suggest Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S26 series will support satellite-based texting, calling, and SOS features, bringing it closer to what Google and Apple already offer on their flagship phones.
TECHNOLOGY
Windows 11 expands Android app resume support with Spotify and web browsing
Microsoft is extending Windows 11’s Cross-Device Resume feature to support Spotify, web browsing, and select productivity apps from Android phones, signalling a renewed push toward tighter cross-platform continuity.
TECHNOLOGY
LinkedIn introduces verified AI skill certificates powered by real tool usage
LinkedIn is rolling out a new verified skills programme that lets users showcase AI and coding proficiency based on how they actually use popular tools, rather than relying on self-declared skills or traditional exams.
TECHNOLOGY
Apple taken to court over Continuity Camera copycat claims
Reincubate, the developer behind the popular Camo app, has filed a lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of copying its iPhone-as-webcam technology for Continuity Camera and using its platform power to sideline competing apps.
TECHNOLOGY
iPhone 18 pricing may hold steady despite Apple’s rising chip and component costs
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests Apple is likely to keep iPhone 18 starting prices unchanged, even as component and chip manufacturing costs rise sharply, betting on market share growth and services revenue to offset margin pressure.
TECHNOLOGY
2026 may be the year when smartphones get more RAM, here's why
New forecasts suggest higher RAM configurations will become more common, even as volatile pricing threatens to push handset costs higher.
TECHNOLOGY
EU turns up pressure on Google over AI access rules on Android and Search data
The European Commission has launched specification proceedings under the Digital Markets Act to clarify how Google must give rival AI services and search engines fair access to Android features and Google Search data, warning that non-compliance could eventually lead to heavy fines.
TECHNOLOGY
SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son abandons $50 billion Switch takeover in setback for US AI data centre plans
SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has reportedly dropped plans to acquire US data centre operator Switch Inc after months of negotiations. The collapse of the proposed $50 billion deal raises fresh questions about the future of the Stargate AI infrastructure push in the United States.
TECHNOLOGY
Jensen Huang slams ‘Circular Financing’ claims as Nvidia doubles down on AI bets
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has dismissed criticism that the company’s growing investments in AI firms amount to circular financing, calling the claims absurd and insisting the bets reflect confidence in long-term, generational businesses rather than financial engineering.
TECHNOLOGY
Larry Ellison says all major AI models share the same flaw and it is making them a commodity
Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison believes today’s leading AI models are fundamentally limited because they are trained on the same public internet data. He argues the real opportunity lies in applying AI to private enterprise data, not in building ever-larger public models.
TECHNOLOGY
Adobe boosts Photoshop AI with sharper 2K output, cleaner edits and smarter generative fill
Adobe has rolled out a fresh set of AI upgrades for Photoshop, promising higher resolution results, fewer visual artifacts, and more precise creative control through new adjustment layers, improved Generative Fill, and enhanced Firefly models.
TECHNOLOGY
OpenAI security chief Matt Knight steps down after five years; Sam Altman thanks him publicly
Knight shared a farewell note on X reflecting on building OpenAI’s security programme from the ground up, with CEO Sam Altman responding publicly to acknowledge his impact.
