The Latest from Gadget Hacks: Page 14

Google says Search query growth accelerated through 2025, with AI Mode already driving incremental total query volume and Search revenue up 17% in Q4 2025, according to CEO Sundar Pichai's earnings remarks published in early February. Google's explanation: AI features are making people search more, not less.

Apple shipped Adaptive Temperature, its most ambitious Apple Home new features addition in years, back in September 2025. For months, it worked on exactly zero thermostats. The first compatible device only launched earlier this month. That gap between software ambition and hardware reality defines where Apple Home stands right now: genuinely improving, but only accessible if you own the right gear, most of which comes from a single manufacturer.

Google announced Wardrobe on Wednesday, a feature that uses AI to automatically scan clothing across a user's entire photo library and compile it into a dedicated digital closet inside Google Photos. The Google Photos wardrobe feature pushes the app beyond finding pictures and toward extracting a structured inventory of objects from them. That is a different kind of product than a photo archive, and it raises questions the official announcement does not yet answer.

YouTube is rolling out free picture-in-picture to non-paying users on Android and iOS worldwide, ending a policy that had kept the feature either U.S.-only or locked behind a Premium subscription in every other market. The rollout is live now, with full global availability expected over the coming months, 9to5Google reported today.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman now says the long-rumored Apple foldable iPad may "end up being a wacky experiment that doesn't see the light of day," per The Verge this past Sunday. The rumored launch window has slipped from 2024 to 2026 to 2028 to 2029, and now carries no date at all. Whether the Apple foldable iPad is cancelled outright or stuck in indefinite limbo, the distinction is mostly semantic at this point.

Google announced today that a new AI-powered wardrobe feature is coming to Google Photos this summer, one that automatically scans a user's photo library, catalogs clothing seen in photos into a dedicated digital collection, and lets users virtually try on outfit combinations before getting dressed. Android gets it first, with iOS to follow, according to Google's announcement.

Google is bringing YouTube Shorts to the Google TV home screen this summer with a dedicated "Short videos for you" row that plays videos without opening the YouTube app, 9to5Google and The Verge reported today. The rollout is limited to US devices, with no exact date beyond "by the end of the summer."

Starting next month, the Microsoft Xbox employee email address appearing in developers' inboxes, press contacts' threads, and partner correspondence will read @xbox.com, not @microsoft.com. It's a routine-sounding IT rollout. It's also the most concrete step yet in a deliberate push to make Xbox present itself as a brand in its own right rather than a subdivision of its parent company.

Google has updated Quick Share for Windows with a visual overhaul that brings the desktop app's interface in line with the Android version. The redesign is cosmetic. The underlying transfer functionality is unchanged.

LibrePods for Android no longer ships two separate APKs. Version 0.2.3, released five days ago, folds the old "no-di-hook" variant into a single in-app toggle. The change is real but modest: for most Android users, root is still the default path, and the devices where LibrePods runs without root remain a short list by any measure.

Apple's ambitious OLED roadmap just hit a significant speed bump. While the tech giant has successfully brought OLED technology to its iPad Pro lineup, the transition to MacBooks is proving more complex than initially anticipated. The MacBook Air's journey to OLED displays is reportedly targeted for around 2028, with some analyst estimates suggesting a later window, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, with some analysts suggesting it could slip even further to 2029. This delay stems from the...

The MacBook Pro is about to get its could see one of its most significant transformations in years, according to supply chain reports, and the timing couldn't be more intriguing. While Apple's laptop lineup has seen steady evolution with each generation, industry whispers suggest something much bigger is brewing behind the scenes in Cupertino. We're not talking about the usual spec bumps or minor design tweaks—this appears to be a fundamental reimagining of what a professional MacBook can be.

The tech world loves a good "what if" story, and the MacBook Neo concept has sparked one of the most compelling conversations about Apple's future in years. This isn't just another designer's fever dream or wishful thinking—it's a glimpse into what could happen when we stop thinking about our devices as separate entities and start imagining them as different expressions of the same core technology.

Picture this: you're scrolling through your phone, launching apps, switching between tasks, and everything just feels... snappier. The apps open a split second faster, transitions feel smoother, and your battery seems to last a bit longer. You might wonder if you imagined it, but there's actually something pretty clever happening behind the scenes.

The relationship between tech giants and publishers has always been complex, but Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature has pushed this tension to a breaking point. What started as a privacy-focused initiative has now become the center of a heated regulatory battle, with German publishers taking their grievances directly to antitrust authorities.

You know what caught my eye recently? A purple Motorola Razr 2026 has surfaced, and honestly, it's about time we saw some personality in foldable phone colors. While Motorola just rolled out its reportedly showcased a book-style foldable concept at MWC 2026 with those traditional Pantone Blackened Blue and Pantone Lily White options, this purple variant signals something deeper than just design flair—it suggests Motorola has solved the fundamental engineering challenges and now feels confident...

The smartphone camera arms race just took a wild turn. A March 2026 leak reported by Android Authority have highlighted the potential for Android flagships to incorporate multiple high-resolution sensors, possibly including triple 200-megapixel configurations. While these developments remain speculative, they raise fascinating questions about where mobile photography is headed and whether more megapixels always mean better photos.

You know that feeling when your 3DS lights up green after passing someone on the street? That little moment of discovery when you opened your system to find a new Mii waiting in StreetPass Mii Plaza made the simple act of carrying your Nintendo 3DS everywhere feel purposeful. StreetPass officially ended its run in April 2024, closing a chapter on one of Nintendo's most innovative social gaming experiments. But here's where things get interesting: developers are breathing new life into that...

Weeks before any official announcement, the Motorola Razr 70 series is almost entirely mapped. Press renders, CAD leaks, and spec sheets from multiple credible sources point to the same conclusion: an Ultra flagship that carries over most of what made the Razr 60 Ultra, and a standard model that diverges more clearly on paper. The processor is the one variable nobody has resolved, and it's the one that matters most.

Apple's gaming subscription service continues its steady march forward with an exciting April lineup that showcases the platform's evolving strategy. The tech giant recently revealed that six new titles will join Apple Arcade throughout the month, according to MacRumors, marking another significant content drop for the $6.99 monthly service. Apple's catalog expansion now encompasses over 200 games that remain completely free of advertisements and in-app purchases, as noted by Apple. This latest...

The smartphone industry is bracing for another wave of price increases, and this time the culprit isn't processors or displays—it's something most consumers never think about until it's too late. Random Access Memory (RAM) costs are climbing, and the ripple effects could reshape how we think about smartphone value in 2026 and beyond.

When Apple announced a $599 MacBook, it wasn't just tech enthusiasts who took notice—the entire PC industry collectively held its breath. Apple's MacBook Neo represents the company's cheapest laptop ever released, according to HotHardware, and it's sending shockwaves through boardrooms across Silicon Valley. The device runs on Apple's A18 Pro chip (the same A18 Pro chip used in Apple's iPhone 16 Pro lineup) paired with 8GB of RAM, as reported by HotHardware. Early reviews are painting a...

The smartphone industry has reached a fascinating inflection point where battery technology might be about to take a massive leap forward. Recent reports suggest Samsung is experimenting with battery capacities that would fundamentally change how we think about smartphone endurance, with one particular configuration pushing the boundaries of what's physically possible in a mobile device.

The smartphone industry is facing an unprecedented crisis that's about to hit consumers where it hurts most: their wallets. After years of relatively stable pricing, memory chip shortages caused by artificial intelligence demand are creating a perfect storm that's reshaping the entire mobile market. Research from CnTechPost shows that major Chinese manufacturers are implementing price increases starting in March 2026, with some devices seeing jumps of up to $146 per unit. This isn't just...

The Champions League is back with one of the most anticipated matchups of the season, and if you're looking to catch Newcastle vs. Barcelona without being tied to traditional cable, you've got more streaming options than ever before. The challenge isn't finding a way to watch—it's navigating the maze of streaming platforms, geographic restrictions, and device compatibility to get the best viewing experience possible.

When the MacBook Air M4 launched, everyone got excited about the M4 chip's performance improvements and that stunning Sky Blue color option. But there's been another change quietly happening in the background—one that finally addresses a design quirk that's been annoying Mac users since 1999.

The streaming hardware landscape just got a little more interesting with some behind-the-scenes revelations from Sonos. The company's CEO recently opened up about a significant strategic decision that could have reshaped how we think about premium streaming devices and the competitive dynamics with Apple's ecosystem.

Cricket fans worldwide are gearing up for what promises to be an electrifying showdown between two cricketing powerhouses. The T20 Cricket World Cup 2026 Final featuring India versus New Zealand represents more than just a match—it's a clash of strategies, skills, and national pride that will captivate millions of viewers globally. With streaming technology evolving rapidly and cord-cutting becoming the norm, watching this epic finale has never been more accessible, regardless of your location...

The question is not hypothetical in the abstract. Streaming consolidation has followed a recognizable pattern across the past decade, and a merger between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global would be the largest test of that pattern yet. The combined entity would control HBO, CNN, DC, Paramount Pictures, CBS, Nickelodeon, and MTV under a single owner. That is a content library large enough that a meaningful share of U.S. subscribers would find it genuinely difficult to cancel either...

Camera Control, the oval capacitive button on the iPhone 16 lineup, ships with two problems. It fires when you didn't mean it to, because swipe detection is sensitive enough to read a grip shift as a deliberate gesture. And the defaults assume a shooting style many people don't have. Fix those two things and the button becomes useful. Leave them alone and it keeps interrupting you.

The mobile development landscape is experiencing a fundamental shift that's catching many Android developers off guard. Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) have evolved from a promising concept into a formidable alternative to traditional native Android development, challenging long-held assumptions about mobile app performance, distribution, and user experience.

Apple celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024, and here's something that might surprise you: while Steve Jobs gets most of the credit for Apple's success, a key architect behind the company's transformation into a tech giant was someone most people have never heard of. Mike Markkula didn't just write a check and walk away—he fundamentally shaped how Apple thinks about business, and his influence is still visible in everything the company does today.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra just landed with a feature that's honestly changed how I think about personalizing my phone. We're talking about AI-powered sketch-to-wallpaper conversion that takes your terrible doodles—and trust me, mine are impressively bad—and transforms them into surprisingly gorgeous backgrounds. This isn't just another gimmicky AI add-on; it's the kind of practical creativity tool that makes you wonder why nobody thought of this sooner.

The smartphone camera race is heating up in 2026, and Vivo just might have dropped its biggest bombshell yet. Fresh leaks surrounding the upcoming X300 Ultra suggest this isn't just another incremental update—we're looking at a device that could fundamentally change how we think about mobile photography.

Remember when everyone assumed Samsung owned the foldable phone market? Well, here's a plot twist that would make even the most seasoned tech analyst do a double-take: Motorola has quietly pulled off one of the most stunning upsets in the smartphone world, claiming half the US foldable phone market and while Samsung's share has declined IDC research reveals that Motorola now commands roughly 50% of American foldable sales, a remarkable achievement for a brand many consumers had written off....

Apple's iPhone Fold is generating serious buzz, and the latest leaks suggest we're looking at premium pricing that could rival high-end MacBooks. If you thought foldable phones were expensive before, Apple's entry into this space might redefine what "premium" actually means.

Apple's latest patent filing reveals something that sounds straight out of science fiction: a future Apple Pencil that could physically transform itself to mimic the feel of drawing with fountain pens, paintbrushes, or other traditional art tools. The US Patent and Trademark Office recently granted Apple a patent for an advanced stylus that goes far beyond today's capabilities, according to recent reports. This isn't just about software simulation—we're talking about hardware that could...

The 2026 Oscar nominations have dropped, and if you're anything like me, you're already mapping out your viewing strategy. From blockbuster sequels to indie darlings, this year's nominees span every corner of the entertainment landscape—which means they're scattered across just as many streaming platforms and rental services.

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