At WWDC 2025, Apple unveiled new features for Apple Intelligence including upgrades to Genmoji and Image Playground arriving with iOS 26 and other updated operating systems. Apple integrated ChatGPT into its Image Playground, allowing for the creation of generative AI images within the feature. In Messages, Image Playground will be able to generate new backgrounds for group chats. Apple is also adding live translation to its Phone app, as well as Messages and FaceTime. On audio-only calls, Apple Intelligence will generate a real-time voiced translation, while FaceTime will display live captions. Apple Intelligence updates span the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro. Continue reading WWDC: Apple Intelligence Gets Updates, iOS 26 Is Unpacked

Apple is acquiring its first game studio — Vancouver-based RAC7, a two-person company best known for Apple Arcade’s breakout hit “Sneaky Sasquatch.” While Apple is couching the move as an exception rather than a calculated expansion into gaming, the lack of exclusive Apple Vision Pro gaming IP could be considered a disadvantage against competing platforms. In January, Nvidia announced that its GeForce NOW cloud gaming platform added support for more than 2,000 visionOS-compatible titles accessible through Apple’s Safari browser for 4K streaming at 120 fps. Continue reading Apple Buys into Game Industry with Purchase of RAC7 Studio

Texas has codified a new law that requires the Apple and Google app stores to verify users’ ages for downloads, providing parents and guardians more control over children’s downloads. California and Illinois are considering similar measures, but so far Texas is the largest among 20 states that have evaluated similar smartphone laws aimed at child safety. In March, Utah became the first state to establish such regulation. As part of a broader national push Congress this month reintroduced the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) requiring social media platforms to police harmful content. Continue reading Texas Enacts App Store Accountability Act to Protect Children

Two years after entering into a collaboration to develop an AI device to succeed the smartphone, OpenAI has agreed to purchase io, Jony Ive’s device and design startup. The $6.4 billion all-stock deal will bring OpenAI to the hardware business and possibly foster the next steps toward ambient computing. “The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco,” OpenAI announced, adding that Ive will assume “deep creative and design responsibilities across OpenAI and io.” Continue reading OpenAI Acquiring Jony Ive’s io in a Deal Valued at $6.4 Billion

Amazon’s Audible audiobook service is partnering with select publishers to bring more print and e-books into the spoken word realm and is leveraging AI narration and translation to help it happen at scale. This move aims to quickly boost Audible’s product offerings so it can compete more effectively against streamers like Apple and Spotify who have rapidly expanded their literary market share. “Audiobooks are the fastest-growing format in publishing,” yet of the millions of titles available today in print and as e-books, only 2-5 percent exist in audio form, according to the company. Continue reading Audible Using AI Narration and Translation to Expand Catalog

Fresh off its legal victory in the years-long courtroom battle with Apple, Epic Games is getting ready to relaunch “Fortnite” in the App Store with a Rewards program offer that encourages people to use its own payment option rather than the iPhone maker’s system. Gamers who make purchases in “Fortnite,” “Rocket League” or “Fall Guys” using Epic’s payment system will get 20 percent credited back as Epic Rewards. The global offer for those in-game purchases is good in perpetuity, whether made using iOS, Android, a PC or the Web, as long as Epic’s payment system is used. Continue reading Epic Games Rewarding Players for Using Its Payment System

Design software startup Figma is rolling out new products and AI upgrades that aim to make the company a one-stop creative ecosystem for taking projects from concept to execution without any third-party apps. At its flagship Figma Config event in San Francisco, the company introduced new products for branded marketing, digital illustration, website building and AI coding, all designed to compete with leaders in the field. “In a world where software is growing exponentially, design is a differentiator that will make great companies and products stand out,” said Figma CEO and co-founder Dylan Field. Continue reading Figma Intros AI-Powered Web Building App, Marketing Tools

Microsoft has announced two hew ultra-thin Copilot+ PCs, the Surface Laptop 13-inch and Surface Pro 12-inch, designed with AI experiences and portability in mind. Both are powered by the Snapdragon X Plus processor for speed and long battery life. The Surface Laptop 13 is the “lightest, most portable Surface Laptop ever,” weighing just 2.7 pounds — nearly a pound lighter than last year’s model — making it light and small enough to be comfortably transportable in a backpack. The 2-in-1 Surface Pro is only 1.5 pounds without a keyboard. Continue reading Microsoft Unveils Two New Lightweight Surface Copilot+ PCs

Apple has teamed with Anthropic on a “vibe coding” AI platform that will write, edit and test software for developers. The system is essentially an update on Xcode, Apple’s free integrated development environment (IDE) that will be powered by Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet model, according to reports. Apple’s plan is said to be introducing the software internally then deciding later whether to launch it publicly. Apple developed the proprietary Xcode suite of tools and began using it in 2003 to code, debug, test and vet submissions to the App Store for software that runs on all of its operating systems, from iOS to visionOS. Continue reading Apple Reportedly Using Anthropic’s Claude for AI Code Tool

Apple had a legal setback last week when a federal judge in California ruled in favor of Epic Games, which sued the tech giant for violating a court order to stop demanding commission fees for purchases outside of the Apple App Store. In a ruling last week, Apple was found to be in “willful violation” of a 2021 injunction prohibiting it from anticompetitive practices involving pricing. U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers went so far as to refer the case to prosecutors for a possible criminal investigation. Apple has already filed a notice of appeal. Continue reading Stakes Escalate for Apple as Epic Scores Lower Court Victory

Apple reported revenue increased 5 percent to $95 billion in Q1, beating Wall Street analysts’ expectations. Net income was up by nearly 5 percent, to $24.8 billion, from the January-to-March period in 2024, and iPhone sales increased by 2 percent, helped by demand for the more affordably priced 16e model. Services were particularly strong, with $26.6 billion in revenue for the quarter, up from $23.9 billion year-over-year, also beating analysts’ expectations. But it isn’t exactly business as usual. CEO Tim Cook said tariffs will increase costs by $900 million in the June quarter. Continue reading Apple Quarter Beats Expectations, But Tariff Concerns Loom

IBM plans to invest $150 billion over the next five years to fuel the U.S. economy. Included in the spending plan is more than $30 billion devoted to research and development for mainframe and quantum computers to be manufactured in the U.S. The announcement comes as President Trump is pressing global companies to invest more here, including with trade tariffs that threaten to make products manufactured overseas more expensive to sell at home. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna says the company has “been focused on American jobs and manufacturing since our founding 114 years ago.” Continue reading IBM Unveils 5-Year Plan for $150B in Manufacturing and R&D

Perplexity AI has entered into a deal with Motorola to preinstall its artificial intelligence search engine technology in Motorola smartphones, giving buyers three free months of Perplexity Pro, which costs $20 per month and includes a deep research feature. Earlier this year, Motorola launched a Moto AI beta program to test core features like “Catch me up,” “Pay attention” and “Remember this” prompts. Based on feedback, Motorola says it has enhanced these features further as well as developed new AI experiences that will be available on the new generation of Razr and Edge devices. Continue reading Motorola Will Preinstall Perplexity on New Razr, Edge Models

The new Vivo X200 Ultra smartphone is being released in China with a triple back-camera array and the ability to upgrade the main 35mm camera to zooms — including an 8.7x converter — for capturing still photos or video that makes it comparable to a dedicated device. No news yet if or when it will launch in the U.S., but shutterbugs are buzzing. Powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite — the processor inside Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra — the X200 Ultra packs up to 16GB of RAM and can accommodate up to 1TB of storage. An optional photographer kit comes with a removable grip and 8.7x converter that captures native telephoto. Continue reading Vivo Unveils Its Latest Smartphone with Emphasis on Camera

Google’s Gemini coding assistant has gained agentic capabilities, available as part of Gemini in Android Studio, a subscription service for businesses designed to make app development for the Android ecosystem easier and more secure. This agent-centric “AI-powered cloud for developers and operators” is designed to infuse AI into all stages of application development, laying the groundwork for more rapid software creation cycles. The service is available to those who subscribe to Gemini Code Assist Standard or Enterprise editions. The new offering was unveiled at the Google Cloud Next 2025 developer conference in Las Vegas. Continue reading Google Pushes Gemini in Android Studio for App Developers