YouTube Shorts’ Dream Screen AI Feature Upgraded With Video Background Generation Capability

YouTube first began testing a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature for Shorts dubbed Dream Screen in June. The feature earlier could generate AI-generated image backgrounds for the vertical short video format, but on Thursday, the company announced a new capability. Dream Screen can now generate video backgrounds alongside image backgrounds allowing users more cre...

Threads Algorithm Updated to Show Users Less Recommended Content

Threads has updated its algorithm to show users more posts from people that they follow. Users will see fewer recommended posts, which are published by accounts that they don't follow, according to details shared by Instagram head Adam Mosseri, who said that content creators on Threads will see a drop in 'unconnected' reach, while 'connected' reach will increase, afte...

Spotify Tests Video Clips, Author Pages and More Features for Audiobooks

Spotify has rolled out several new features in the pilot phase to improve the audiobook listening experience. One of the most notable changes is the introduction of video clips in audiobooks, enabling users to view a short snippet containing information about it or even a message from the author before pressing play.

WhatsApp Rolls Out Voice Message Transcripts With Support for English and Other Languages

WhatsApp rolled out a new feature on Thursday that aims to make sharing voice messages more convenient. It introduces voice message transcripts on WhatsApp for Android and iOS platforms, enabling users to see a text-based transcription of the voice message received from others. The feature is said to come in handy while on the move or in a loud environment.

ChatGPT Live Video Feature Spotted on Latest Beta Release, Could Launch Soon

ChatGPT might soon get vision capabilities. As per a report, evidence for the Live Video feature, which is part of OpenAI’s Advanced Voice Mode, was spotted in the latest ChatGPT for Android beta app. This capability was first demonstrated in May during the AI firm’s Spring Updates event. It allows the chatbot to access the smartphone’s camera and answer queries...

Android Switch App for iOS Users Launched; Google Says Improved Data Transfers Coming to More Phones in 2025

Google has launched a redesigned app called Android Switch as it attempts to simplify the process of transferring data from an iPhone to a new Android smartphone. The company has also announced that the delayed data transfer feature, first seen on the Pixel 9 series, will be available on other Android devices in 2025.

Meta Rolls Out AI-Powered Backgrounds, HD Video Calls and More for Messenger Calling

Meta Platforms has introduced new features for Messenger which aim to improve the experience during audio and video calls. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), users will be able to take advantage of custom backgrounds during Messenger video calls for better expressivity. It also brings HD video calls to the app, in addition to other updates such as background noi...

Google Reportedly Working on AI-Powered ‘Help Me Draw’ Feature for Google Keep

Google is reportedly working on a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature for Google Keep. As per the report, the company’s note-taking app might soon offer AI-powered enhancement to hand-drawn text and sketches. Dubbed Help Me Draw, the evidence of the feature were said to be found within the latest version of the Google Keep app for Android.

Google AI-Powered Air View+ Announced With Real-Time Hyperlocal Air Quality Information Across India

Google announced Air View+, an ecosystem-based solution to address the gaps in air quality data across India, on Wednesday. The system uses the Mountain View-based tech giant’s artificial intelligence (AI) models to process a large volume of air quality data at the hyperlocal level and provide actionable insights to Indian government agencies.

Google’s Chrome Worth Up to $20 Billion If Judge Orders Sale

Chrome browser could go for as much as $20 billion if a judge agrees to a Justice Department proposal to sell the business. Antitrust officials, along with states that have joined the case, also plan to recommend Wednesday that federal judge Amit Mehta impose data licensing requirements.

Gemini AI Chatbot Gets Upgraded With Saved Info Feature, Can Remember Users’ Interests and Preferences

Gemini is getting upgraded with a new feature that will allow it to remember specific information about a user’s interests and preferences. On Tuesday, Google announced the new update for its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot. With this, users can ask Gemini to remember information about themselves and it will continue to tailor its responses accordingly in all f...

Instagram Will Let Users Reset Their Content Recommendations

Instagram will let some users reset the algorithm that determines what types of posts and videos they see in their feed. The change is designed to give people more control if they find the content in their Instagram feed no longer matches their interests.

Perplexity AI ‘Buy With Pro’ and ‘Snap to Shop’ Features Rolling Out for Paid Subscribers

Perplexity added two new features to its platform on Monday to offer users a new shopping experience. The artificial intelligence (AI) search engine is rolling out ‘Buy with Pro’ and ‘Snap to Shop’ features for paying subscribers. With the former, Perplexity Pro users can now purchase products directly on the platform after asking for recommendations.

Google Play Best of 2024: Indus Battle Royale, WhatsApp Among Top Apps and Games on Play Store in India

Google on Tuesday announced its annual list of top games and apps on the Play Store in India. The Google Play Best of 2024 awards focus on apps that have a practical and user-centric design at their centre, developed by Indian developers for niche audiences. The company highlights the advancements made across sectors such as personalised news, fashion styling, social ...

Xiaomi Said to Replace GetApps With PhonePe's Indus Appstore in India

Xiaomi will likely soon discontinue its GetApps app store for Indian users. Although the company has yet to officially announce the store's discontinuation, information regarding the same has surfaced online. The Chinese smartphone maker is said to replace the app store with Indus Appstore, an Android-based mobile app marketplace by PhonePe.

Yahoo Mail for iOS Updated With AI Features, Gamification Tools

Yahoo Mail is getting a new makeover. Last week, the company announced that it is redesigning the app with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI). It now offers new features such as summarising messages and helping users compose emails as well as letting them sort and categorise their emails. Apart from the AI features, the app is also introducing a messaging-inspire...

Bluesky Confirms It Will Not Train Its Generative AI Models on User Posts

Bluesky social media platform officially stated on Friday that it does not train its generative artificial intelligence (AI) models on user data. The company also highlighted the areas where it uses AI tools and claimed that none of the models have been trained on the public and private posts made by users. The statement was released after several creators and users r...

Google Shielded Email Feature Reportedly in Development; Could Help Users Hide Email ID Addresses

Google is reportedly working on Shielded Email, a new feature that could protect user privacy while using apps that ask for their email address. The new Shielded Email feature could allow users to share email address 'aliases' when signing up for apps or newsletters and might work similarly to Apple's Hide My Email service that is available to iCloud+ customers.

Google Maps Updated With Product Search, Trailer-Friendly Routes and Weather Disruption Alerts

Google Maps has introduced several new features designed to enhance the user experience for shopping and driving during the upcoming holiday season. Users will be able to search for specific products within Google Maps, while drivers in North America can use 'trailer-friendly routes' to avoid obstacles and tunnels.

Netflix Hopes for Live Sports Knockout with Jake Paul-Mike Tyson Fight

Mike Tyson and social media influencer-turned-fighter Jake Paul on Friday is the latest one-two punch from Netflix. The OTT streaming service has dabbled in sports content before, with exhibition golf and tennis events and the wildly popular docuseries "Formula 1: Drive to Survive".

Google Launches Gemini for iOS App With Gemini Live Capability, More

Google has rolled out the Gemini app for iOS users globally, days after being reportedly spotted in a test run in select regions. It enables users to generate images using its multi-modal capabilities, find information across apps like Gmail and YouTube, or enable problem-solving via image queries.

Meta Will Face Antitrust Trial Over Instagram, WhatsApp Acquisitions

Meta will be facing a trial in a US Federal Trade Commission lawsuit seeking its break-up over claims that it bought Instagram and WhatsApp to crush emerging competition in social media.

Google Introduces AI-Powered Safety Tools to Protect Users from Phone Call Scams and Malicious Apps

Google introduced two new artificial intelligence (AI) safety tools for Android devices on Wednesday. These tools are aimed at protecting users from phone call-based scams and malicious apps by monitoring the activity in real time. The first is Scam Detection in Phone by Google, which monitors conversation patterns to determine whether an incoming call could be potent...

Google Chrome for iOS Receives Shopping Insights, Other New Features

Google Chrome for iOS has rolled out several new features that aim to make finding information and completing tasks easier. The web browser now lets iPhone users add text queries to visual searches via Google Lens for more helpful and relevant results. It also introduces new ways to save space on iPhone, find better deals while shopping online, and view maps of addres...

Slack Is Reportedly Working On an AI-Powered File Summary Feature

Slack, the work management and productivity platform, is reportedly working on a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature. As per a report, the new feature is called AI file summary, and it can summarise documents uploaded to the platform. The new feature is said to be able to summarise text-heavy files to help users quickly get a gist of the topic. This is an under-d...

Meta to Offer Less Personalised Ads in Europe to Appease Regulators

Meta Platforms plans to offer Instagram and Facebook users in Europe the option to receive "less personalised ads". These ads will also target users based on age, gender, and location, with some being unskippable for a few seconds.

Instagram AI Feature That Lets Users Generate Profile Pictures Spotted in Development

Instagram might be working on a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature that will allow users to upload AI-generated images. A new leak claims that the Meta-owned social media platform is testing a feature that will allow users to use AI models to generate profile pictures using AI. While not a lot is known about the feature at this point, similar features are report...

Apple Gets EU Warning to Stop Geo-Blocking on App, ITunes Stores

Apple's App Store, iTunes Store and other media services unlawfully discriminate against European customers based on their place of residence, according to a European Commission statement on Tuesday. 

Signal Updated With Call Links Feature, Raise Hand Button, Emoji Reactions and More Improvements

Signal has been updated with Call Links, a feature that enables users to initiate a group call with multiple participants without the need to form a separate group chat. Additional updates include a "raise hand" button, emoji reactions, and a dedicated calls tab on Signal.

Google's Quick Share App Now Available for Snapdragon X Elite, Other ARM Devices Running Windows 11

Google has announced the silent rollout of its Quick Share app for ARM-powered devices running Windows 11 or later. Users can now easily send and receive photos, documents, and more data between nearby Android devices and ARM-based Windows PCs including the new Snapdragon X Elite laptops.

Gemini App for iPhone With Gemini Live Capability Appears in the App Store for Some Users

Gemini app might have been released on iOS. On Sunday, a Reddit user posted screenshots of the iOS version of the app. In the screenshots, the Gemini Live feature, which offers a two-way voice conversation with the AI, was also visible. The user also shared the app’s App Store listing URL, however, several others claimed that it was not available in their region.

WhatsApp for iOS Gets Drafts Label for Unread Messages in Chats, New Widget for Home Screen

WhatsApp for iOS has rolled out a new feature which lets users check their drafted and unsent messages without opening a specific chat. With the app’s latest update, a new 'Draft' label appears next to the chat which contains an incomplete message, enabling the user to find it quickly without the hassle of scrolling through the chat list.

Zomato’s New Food Rescue Feature Lets Users Grab Cancelled Orders at a Discount

Zomato has rolled out a new feature which aims to minimise the wastage of food caused by cancelled orders. The feature, dubbed Food Rescue, lets users grab orders cancelled by others from nearby restaurants at discounted prices for a limited time. The food delivery platform says orders will be received by customers in a short time and in their untampered packaging.

Instagram Gets Rid of ‘Annoying’ Automatic Feed Refreshing When App is Opened

Instagram is implementing a change for the removal of a feature that was long been considered annoying by users, the company head has confirmed via social media. From now on, the social media platform’s feed will not automatically refresh when the app is opened after a period of brief inactivity, enabling the user to see the posts which first appear on their screen.

MS Paint Gets AI-Powered Generative Fill Feature in Preview to Windows 11 Insiders

MS Paint in Windows 11 is getting a couple of new artificial intelligence (AI) features. On Wednesday, Microsoft announced new preview features for Windows Insiders including the major AI upgrade to the Paint app. It is getting a new Generative Fill feature that uses AI to generate objects based on text prompt. Apart from that, the company is also introducing a Genera...

Meta Says App Stores Should Police Australia Under-16 Social Media Ban

Australia will impose a ban on social media for people aged under 16 despite calls by Meta Platforms for it to consider shifting responsibility for policing. The legislation will be brought before parliament in the week beginning November 18.

Google Photos App for Android and iOS Gets New Updates Page for Viewing Incoming Activity

Google Photos app is rolling out a new feature that aims to make it easier for users to catch up on incoming activity. It appears as a new feed with options to see updates to shared albums, conversations, memory and storage. The feature has been released for the Google Photos app for both Android and iOS platforms and can be accessed from the home page.

Google Vids AI-Powered Video Creation Tool Rolling Out to Select Workspace Users

Google Vids, the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) video creation tool, is now rolling out to select Google Workspace users. Announced on Thursday, the tool can assist users across multiple steps in the video and presentation-making workflow. Interestingly, Google Vids is not an AI video generation tool like Runway or Pika, which can generate videos using text ...

Australia Proposes 'World-Leading' Ban on Social Media for Children Under 16

Australia is trialing an age-verification system to assist in blocking children from accessing social media platforms, as part of a range of measures that include some of the toughest controls imposed by any country to date.

Google Working on 'AI Replies' for Call Screen Feature on Pixel Phones: Report

Google Pixel devices’ Call Screen feature is reportedly getting new artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. As per the report, the Mountain View-based tech giant is working on an AI Replies feature which will generate smart replies based on what the caller has said, instead of the standard replies seen in the current version of the feature.

ToxicPanda Banking Trojan Infects Over 1,500 Android Smartphones, Targets 16 Banks: Report

ToxicPanda has been detected by security researchers as a new banking trojan, infected devices in Europe and Latin America. It is used to remotely take over accounts on compromised phones, allowing attackers to transfer funds while bypassing a bank's security measures. ToxicPanda was reportedly found on over 1,500 devices, while targeting users of 16 banking instituti...

Paytm UPI Statement Download Feature Introduced to Help Users Track Transactions

Paytm, the digital payments company, introduced a new unified payments interface (UPI) feature on Wednesday. The new feature, dubbed UPI statement download, allows users to get a detailed statement of their transaction history for the desired period. The service is available to all users without any cost. The company highlighted that the feature will enable users to b...

Gemini AI Assistant Gets Google Home Extension, Can Control Smart Home Devices

Gemini artificial intelligence (AI) assistant is getting support of a new extension that will allow users to control their smart home appliances. The AI-powered virtual assistant for Android devices has been receiving regular extension support to perform more tasks on the device and match the performance level of the older Google Assistant. Currently, Gemini assistant...

Google Cloud Will Make Multi-Factor Authentication Mandatory for All Users Starting 2025

Google Cloud will soon make multi-factor authentication (MFA) mandatory for all users, the platform’s Vice President of Engineering announced on Tuesday. The company says this decision has been taken in a bid to strengthen the cloud platform’s security without affecting the convenient online experience that it provides.

Amazon Prime Video Gets AI-Powered X-Ray Recaps Feature That Generates Spoiler-Free Summaries of Shows

Amazon Prime Video is getting a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature that will let users easily check the recap of the show they are watching without any spoilers. Announced on Monday, the feature is called X-Ray Recaps and joins the existing X-Ray experience that allows viewers to get trivia about shows and movies as well as information about the cast, soundtrack...

EU to Assess if Apple's iPad Operating System Complies with Digital Markets Act

EU's move followed Apple's publication of a compliance report for its iPad OS, designated by the commission in April as an important gateway for businesses to reach their customers.

Instagram Now Lets Creators Filter Message Requests in DMs With Its New Feature

Instagram has rolled out a new feature for creators that aims to make interactions with other creators and businesses easier, the platform’s head recently announced via social media. Following its rollout, they can now sort and filter message requests received from others in direct messages (DMs) based on the account type, instead of having to scroll through each on...

X Begins Rolling Out Updated Block Feature That Lets Blocked Users See Posts, Followers List

X (formerly known as Twitter) announced the roll out of the new block function on Sunday. The social media platform first announced the decision to change the way block works last month. With the new system, the blocked users can see the profile, posts, as well as followers and following lists of the users who had blocked them.

Anthropic Introduces PDF Image Understanding With Claude 3.5 Sonnet AI Model

Anthropic released another new artificial intelligence (AI) feature for its chatbot Claude on Friday. The feature, dubbed PDF image understanding, now allows Claude to see and process images embedded within PDF files including charts and graphics. This capability has been added to the recently released Claude 3.5 Sonnet AI model. The company claims that this ability w...

Apple to Buy Pixelmator, Maker of Popular Photo-Editing Apps

Apple will purchase Pixelmator, the maker of a popular high-end photo-editing app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac computers. Pixelmator said in a blog post that its team would be joining the iPhone maker. Apple's customers should gain access to a high-end photo editing app for the first time since the company discontinued Aperture.

WhatsApp Rolling Out Custom Lists Feature to All Users Globally

WhatsApp recently introduced a feature where users could categorise certain groups and individual chats as favourites for quick access. This was accessible through a tab in the chat filters bar alongside tabs like unread, groups and all. Now the company has announced that it is rolling out a Custom Lists feature where users will be able to create and edit customisabl...

OpenAI Introduces ChatGPT Search AI-Powered Web Search to Take On Google’s AI Overviews, Perplexity

ChatGPT Search, the artificial intelligence (AI) search engine for the OpenAI-built chatbot, was introduced on Thursday. The feature arrives after months of speculation about the AI firm’s SearchGPT waitlist. The web search feature allows users to run a web search about a topic and get natural language results based on information sourced from various websites. This...

Google Confirms Early Android 16 Release Timeline, Second Minor Android Update to Follow

Google has announced that Android 16 is set for release in the second quarter of 2025. The next major Android update will be launched at least three months earlier than Android 15 and Android 14. Google says it will also roll out a minor Android 16 SDK release towards the end of 2025.