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* Siri will use Google’s Gemini model to deliver more conversational, factual answers. * Reported upgrades include storytelling, emotional support, booking tasks and creating Notes documents. * Apple will fine-tune Gemini without visible Google branding; some features ship in iOS 26.4, others in iOS 27. What Apple and Google announced Apple
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• Apple has officially put Google’s Gemini at the heart of Siri, cementing a major AI partnership. • The move underscores the tension between foundation models (Gemini) and platform aggregation (Apple’s Siri). • Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol signals a broader push to standardize commerce and retain aggregation power. What happened
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* Key Takeaways: * Microsoft is promoting a new “Copilot+” class of Windows 11 PCs designed for on-device AI. * Copilot+ guidance highlights devices with NPUs offering 40+ TOPS, plus modern storage and memory configurations. * Microsoft says Copilot+ PCs will accelerate productivity with features like Recall, image generation in Paint, Live Captions and
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* Deep neural networks such as PredNet can be fooled by motion illusions, supporting predictive-coding explanations of perception. * Key differences remain: AI models often lack attention mechanisms and perceive scenes differently from humans. * Quantum-inspired networks can reproduce bistable switches (Necker cube, Rubin vase) with human-like timing. * These AI experiments offer a
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* Key Takeaways: * Linus Torvalds published AudioNoise, a GPLv2-licensed open-source project for random digital audio effects. * Parts of the project — notably a Python audio visualizer — were produced using "vibe coding" with Google Antigravity. * AudioNoise grew out of Torvalds' holiday hobby work on guitar pedals and is hosted at
AI
* AI Inbox turns Gmail’s message list into AI-generated summaries and action items. * The feature is an early preview available only to trusted testers and consumer Gmail accounts. * It may help users overwhelmed by email, but offers little change for strict inbox-zero workflows. * Google is still iterating; behavior and availability
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Key Takeaways: * Google is replacing the Gemini side panel on the Gmail web interface for US AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers. * Core features (summaries, suggested replies, drafting) are moving into Gmail’s new in-line AI experiences. * Help Me Write remains, Proofread is upgraded, and AI Overviews can summarize longer
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* Key Takeaways: * The iPhone’s 2007 debut crystallized mass tech enthusiasm by solving many everyday annoyances at once. * Incremental updates, subscription bloat and device "kipple" have reduced marginal utility and consumer excitement. * AI hype without clear consumer value is shifting curiosity toward concern: "How will this hurt
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• Larian Studios will not use generative AI for any concept art in the upcoming Divinity game. • CEO Swen Vincke clarified the change in a Reddit AMA after earlier comments that caused confusion. • The studio will still experiment with generative AI internally to speed workflows, but any in-game assets would be
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* Google is rolling Gemini AI features directly into Gmail for more AI-driven overviews and composing assistance. * The change is being pushed broadly but users retain the ability to disable Gemini features in Gmail settings. * The integration was reported by The Register (Brandon Vigliarolo) on Jan 8, 2026; Google’s rollout
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* Key Takeaways: * Google’s Danny Sullivan warns creators not to fragment content into “bite-sized chunks” to game LLM rankings. * He told Search Off the Record engineers and listeners that this approach may work short-term but won’t endure. * The advice: write for users, not for specific ranking systems; systems will
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• AI Overviews, which summarize email threads, are expanding into Gmail search so natural-language queries return AI-generated summaries that cite relevant messages. • Google is previewing an experimental AI Inbox that surfaces "Priorities" and a "Catch me up" summary built by Gemini; rollout begins with trusted testers and