Spotify reported operating profit that missed estimates even as it saw a surge in subscribers in the first quarter. The profit miss overshadowed a stronger gain in subscribers in the first three months of the year, showing that the streaming service’s strategy of expanding beyond music into audiobooks and podcasts is luring more fans even as it raises prices.
Gemini app will get new personalisation features to make users’ experience more immersive. A Google executive revealed that the company is working to upgrade the chatbot app with enhanced memory and the ability to draw upon information from users’ Google accounts. The AI app might also get new agentic capabilities similar to the Deep Research tool. These features will be unveiled at Google I/O 2025, the executive added.
Spotify claims to have submitted an app update to Apple with an external link to buy subscriptions. Both Spotify and Apple have been engaged in a longstanding and contentious rivalry, centered around the Cupertino, California-based company's App Store policies and their impact on the streaming company's business operations.
Google listed the Android and iOS apps of NotebookLM on Thursday. These apps are currently not available for download, but those interested can pre-register, and the app will be automatically installed once it is launched. On the App Store, the app page says that it will go live on May 20, which is also the first day of Google I/O 2025.
Google is expanding the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered native image editing feature to the Gemini app. Announced on Wednesday, this new capability will allow users to make specific changes to images without leaving the AI chatbot. This new capability was first unveiled in March within the Google AI Studio platform.
Apple violated a court order requiring it to open up the App Store to third-party payment options and must stop charging commissions on purchases outside its software marketplace, a federal judge said.
Duolingo announced the launch of 148 new language courses on Wednesday. These courses were generated using the company’s native artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The ed-tech learning platform introduced these new courses just days after the company CEO revealed shift to an AI-first strategy. These new courses were created within a year and they more than double the platform’s total offerings.
Samsung is reportedly working on a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature that will show summaries of videos to users. As per the report, the feature is part of the South Korean tech giant’s One UI 8 operating system (OS), which is speculated to be released later this year. The OS will introduce the AI video summarisation tool that is said to offer a text summary of any online video.
Google reportedly hinted that new Gemini features and capabilities will be unveiled at the Google I/O 2025. As per the report, the information was shared with Gemini Advanced subscribers in the April newsletter. The Mountain View-based tech giant teased a “more personalised assistant” and new productivity tools for users.
Nothing Phone 3a series was launched in India in March. Both the Nothing Phone 3a and the Phone 3a Pro models are promised to get three years of Android updates and six years of security upgrades. The company has released a software update for both phones in the lineup. It introduces the Privacy Space feature and support for 4K video recording on telephoto and periscope cameras.
Meta is introducing a new technology called Private Processing for WhatsApp that will allow users to access artificial intelligence (AI) tools in a private and secure environment. On Tuesday, the Menlo Park-based tech giant shared a first look at the technology and how it is ensuring both data security as well as transparency at the user level.
Meta released a standalone app for its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, Meta AI, on Tuesday. The new Meta AI app is available on Android via Google Play and iOS via the App Store. The Menlo Park-based tech giant has added a social element to the app where users can see others' posts and images in a Discover feed.
Reddit, the discussion forum-style social media platform, announced the expansion of its automatic translation feature on Monday. In September 2024, the company introduced a machine learning (ML) feature that automatically translates posts and comments on the platform to users’ preferred language. It is now expanding the feature to introduce the Hindi language. Additionally, the artificial intelligence (AI) feature will soon support the Bengali language, the company added.
Duolingo, the ed-tech platform focused on teaching languages, mathematics, and music, is making a decisive pivot towards becoming an AI-first company. On Monday, the company released an all-hands email from its CEO, Luis von Ahn, which highlighted the company’s vision for the near future. A major focus of this shift would be to phase out the company’s contract workers with artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
OpenAI announced new capabilities for its ChatGPT Search feature on Monday. The San Francisco-based AI firm is adding a new experimental shopping experience to the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, which will showcase products in a more visual manner and share a direct link to buy. Additionally, the company is also adding several other utility features.
Google is expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Gemini to younger users. Last month, the Mountain View-based tech giant announced allowing users younger than the age of 13 years (or the applicable age in the respective country) to access its AI chatbot across Android, iOS, and on the web. The company is also letting parents and school administrators manage and supervise their access to the AI chatbot.
WhatsApp launched emoji reactions on the platform long ago, which lets users express their feelings toward a message with six different emojis. Now, the Meta-owned instant messaging service appears to be taking a step ahead with message reactions to express yourself with stickers. WhatsApp is reportedly adding sticker reactions for messages and media files on its Android app. The feature has been spotted in WhatsApp for Android beta Android 2.25.13.23 update, which is available via the Google Play Beta programme.
OpenAI updated the GPT-4o artificial intelligence (AI) model on Saturday. The update was aimed at improving the intelligence and personality aspects of the large language model (LLM), which powers the default experience for those on the free tier of ChatGPT. However, on Sunday, the company found that the update had unexpected results, and the AI model’s responses became too agreeable.
Google Photos has a hidden shortcut that allows users to switch to the classic search experience from Ask Photos-driven search. Ask Photos was first unveiled at Google I/O last year and started rolling out to users in September 2024. The artificial intelligence (AI) feature allows users to make natural language queries to find relevant images from their images and videos stored in their Google Drive.
Google reportedly pays an “enormous sum of money” to Samsung to preinstall the Gemini app. As per the report, the Mountain View-based tech giant began paying the South Korean tech giant in January. The information was said to be revealed by a Google executive while testifying in the ongoing antitrust case against the US Justice Department.
OpenAI is expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) agent Deep Research to the free users of ChatGPT. Announced on Friday, the San Francisco-based AI firm is now offering a “lightweight” version of the tool to all users, including paid subscribers. This version of Deep Research will be powered by the o4-mini AI model and will be available with specific rate limits.
Apps developed by India-based developers were downloaded more than 75.5 crore times on Apple devices via the App Store’s 175 global storefronts in 2024. This resulted in the Cupertino-based tech giant’s ecosystem facilitating Rs. 44,447 crore in developer billings and sales in the same period, according to a recently published study. A 94 percent share of this revenue was accrued solely to developers and businesses, without any commission paid to Apple.
Motorola announced major upgrades for Moto AI, the company’s in-house artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot. Announced on Thursday, the Lenovo-owned brand is adding four new AI features to Moto AI — Next Move, Playlist Studio, Image Studio and Look and Talk. Additionally, the company is also partnering with major AI players such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Perplexity to integrate their offerings into Moto AI.
YouTube announced on Wednesday that it is testing a version of Google Search’s AI Overviews on its platform. The video streaming giant is experimenting an implementation of the artificial intelligence (AI) feature to show users clips from videos in a carousel which could be most relevant or helpful to the searched query.
Reddit is rolling out its artificial intelligence (AI) conversational chatbot to more users. Dubbed Reddit Answers, the chatbot is now available in India, and users can access it via the website, mobile web, as well as Android and iOS apps. The discussion forum-style social media platform first began testing the feature in December 2024.
Adobe announced a slew of new features and improvements at its annual Adobe Max conference on Thursday. The software giant announced new Firefly artificial intelligence (AI) models, support for third-party models, new Adobe Express features, a new Firefly mobile app, and more. The company also introduced a new Adobe Boards tool for storyboard creation, and a Vector model to let designers create editable vector-based artworks.
Google updated the Gemini 2.0 Flash artificial intelligence (AI) model last week. The new update refines the model’s conversational capability and makes it better suited for creative tasks, the Mountain View-based tech giant said. The company claims that users will notice the difference when talking to the AI about certain topics and tasks.
YouTube is said to be rolling out a new user interface (UI) for the video player as part of its 20th anniversary celebrations. As per a report, the existing gradient layer has been removed from the bottom of the screen and is replaced by individual pill-shaped capsules for media controls. Additionally, the platform has announced the rollout of new features such personalised radio stations using Ask Music feature and 4x playback speed option.
Perplexity released a voice assistant for iOS on Wednesday. Powered by the company's native artificial intelligence (AI) answer engine, the voice assistant comes with web browsing capability and can access multiple apps to complete tasks. The AI assistant for iPhone devices comes three months after the company rolled out the Perplexity Assistant for Android devices.
Meta Platforms said on Wednesday it is expanding advertising on its social network Threads to all eligible advertisers globally. A growing user base on Threads—exceeding 320 million monthly users—and uncertainty surrounding a potential TikTok ban in the US could bolster Meta's ability to attract advertisers.
WhatsApp has introduced the "Advanced Chat Privacy" feature that adds an extra layer of protection to one-on-one and group conversations. The new privacy and security feature is designed to prevent attempts to save media and export chat content. WhatsApp already offers end-to-end encryption for messages and calls.
Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom testified that the app could have succeeded without being acquired by Meta Platforms. Systrom, testifying Tuesday at Meta’s antitrust trial in Washington, recounted how quickly Instagram was growing before Zuckerberg’s purchase offer.
Baidu reportedly made its artificial intelligence (AI) agent Xinxiang available for Android devices on Wednesday. The Chinese tech giant is pitching the mobile-focused agentic tool as an upgrade over AI-powered chatbots in surfacing and analysing information. The app is currently available for the Android platform in China, however, it is unclear if the company will introduce the AI agent outside the country.
Grok, the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot by xAI, is getting a couple of new features. Announced on Wednesday, the AI firm is rolling out Grok Vision, a computer vision feature, to its iOS app. Additionally, xAI is also shipping multilingual audio support and real-time web search to both the Android and iOS apps.
Google Photos is said to be rolling out a new feature which lets you turn standard images into Ultra HDR photos. As per a report, the new editing tool is available with the latest version of the Google Photos app for Android which repackages clicked photos to include more image data.
Character AI, the California-based artificial intelligence (AI) platform, unveiled its first video generation model on Monday. Dubbed AvatarFX, it is an image-to-video model that can generate 2D and 3D animated characters. The AI firm claims the generated videos will hold temporal consistency with face, hand and body movement. Additionally, the videos will also feature speech, which is being powered by the company’s native text-to-speech models.
Instagram rolled out the Edits app to the public on Tuesday, nearly three months after it was first announced. It is a mobile video editing solution which brings a suite of creative tools such as high quality video capture, keyframing, automatic captions, and camera settings for resolution, frame rate and dynamic range. Instagram says Edits users can leverage artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to edit their videos with even more creativity, using features such as AI image animation and other effects.
Uber was sued by the US Federal Trade Commission. In a complaint filed Monday, the FTC alleges the company charged consumers for its Uber One product without their consent, misled users about the program’s savings and made it “unreasonably” burdensome to cancel the service.
Zoom launched several new enterprise-focused features last week, expanding its agentic tools. The San Jose-based communications technology company is introducing several AI agents across the Zoom Workplace, including Custom AI Companion, Zoom Tasks, and more. Additionally, the company is also rolling out multiple new features for its existing products such as Zoom Phone, Whiteboard, and Zoom CX.
Instagram is expanding its Teen Accounts setting, which was first rolled out in 2024, with a new proactive technology and parents' reach-out campaigns. Announced on Monday, the Meta-owned social media platform is testing the use of AI-powered age detection tools to identify teenagers on the platform who have added an adult birthday.
Microsoft announced the rollout of Copilot Vision to all users in the Microsoft Edge browser last week. The computer vision-enabled artificial intelligence (AI) feature was first unveiled by the company in December 2024, and so far, it has only been available to Copilot Pro subscribers. The Redmond-based tech giant is now expanding the AI feature to all Edge browser users.
WhatsApp has begun testing a new in-app message translation feature on its Android app. Spotted by a feature tracker, the new message translation feature enables seamless, automatic on-device translation. The 'translate messages' feature processes chats directly on the user's device, and will ask users to select and download language packs for offline processing.
WhatsApp is developing a new feature allowing users more control over automatic media download quality. A feature tracker revealed the platform is testing an option to choose between standard and HD quality for automatically downloaded images and videos. Read on to know how this feature will work when it is rolled out to users in the future.
xAI announced the rollout of a new memory feature for the Grok artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot on Thursday. Similar to ChatGPT and Gemini, the feature will allow Grok to remember specific details about users, which it can use to personalise future conversations. Memories will also enable the chatbot to deliver tailored advice and recommendations, making conversations more fluid.
WhatsApp has rolled out a new feature which makes it easier to sort out stickers. Meta Platforms’ instant messaging client now enables users to create custom sticker packs without leaving the app. They can organise saved stickers in multiple folders to speed up the process of finding the relevant sticker and sending it to their loved ones. WhatsApp has also introduced the ability of sending an entire sticker pack, instead of sharing each sticker individually.
Perplexity is reportedly exploring partnership options to increase the visibility of its artificial intelligence (AI) assistant. As per the report, the company is in talks with Lenovo-owned Motorola and Samsung to integrate the virtual assistant into their devices. It is said that the partnership with Motorola could be announced soon, while discussions are still ongoing with the South Korean tech giant.
Instagram 'Blend' feature for users on Thursday, a new private co-operative feed that works similarly to direct messages. Users can invite friends to a blend, and Instagram's algorithm will automatically curate a unique, ongoing feed of recommended Reels for both members, based on their individual platform activity.
Microsoft has reportedly begun internally testing Copilot for Gaming, its under-development artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot for Xbox gamers. As per the report, the AI app is currently available to the company’s employees. The Redmond-based tech giant unveiled the Xbox Copilot in March and showcased some of its features.
Google announced the rollout of the Gemini Live with Camera and Screen Share features to all compatible Android devices on Wednesday. Last week, the Mountain View-based tech giant announced the availability of the features to the Google Pixel 9 and Samsung Galaxy S25 series. Now, the company is rolling it out to all Android devices that support the Gemini app.
Google has begun beta testing a new metric to help Android app developers identify apps causing excessive battery drain. A new Android Vitals metric to pinpoint excessive wake locks, a key factor behind in idle battery drain. The company suggests these metrics could eventually highlight optimised apps on the Google Play store.
