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A new audio series called 'The AI Therapist' explores the growing use of artificial intelligence tools for mental health support, with a producer sharing key insights on the trend. The coverage also touches on rising cannabis use among baby boomers and research suggesting vacations can benefit physical health.
Multiple Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro XL users say their videos contain repeated bursts of static noise, appearing roughly every five seconds when Video Boost is active. The glitch seems tied to the Audio Zoom feature, and some affected users say clearing the camera app's cache and turning off Audio Zoom stops the noise. Google has not yet issued an official response to the reports.
Google has released Gemini Audio, a set of three new speech-focused AI models: Gemini 3.5 Live, 3.5 Live Experimental, and 3.5 Transcribe. These models are meant to handle real-time conversation and speech-to-text tasks and are rolling out across Search Live, Gemini Live, Docs, Keep, Gmail, the Gemini app, and Gboard. Notably, Gemini 3.5 Transcribe replaces Google's older Chirp 3 model and adds features like filler-word removal, auto-formatting, and voice editing.
Volvo has confirmed a software update bringing Spatial Audio support through Apple CarPlay to the EX90, following earlier plans to add the feature to the EX60 and ES90. The immersive sound experience relies on Dolby Atmos and requires the optional Bowers & Wilkins premium sound system with 25 speakers.
Google has released three new Gemini Audio models: 3.5 Transcribe, 3.5 Live, and 3.5 Live Experimental. Transcribe automatically strips out filler words like 'um' and 'uh', formats text, adapts to custom vocabulary and jargon, and can identify up to three speakers with word-level timestamps. The Live models improve handling of interruptions, multilingual recognition, and real-time reasoning narration for voice chat.
Reese Witherspoon's book club is moving beyond online recommendations into small, in-person gatherings, hosting an event for under 100 fans at Manhattan's Hudson Yards. Attendees, mostly women, relaxed on beach chairs, swapped book recommendations, and discussed topics like audiobooks versus hardbacks and favorite book-to-screen adaptations.
Amazon has cut the price of the Aurzen BOOM Mini Google TV projector to $249.99, a $100 reduction from its $349.99 list price. The device offers native 1080p resolution, 500 ANSI lumens, and a projection range of 40 to 200 inches, along with built-in Google TV streaming and voice control. It also includes autofocus, keystone correction, obstacle avoidance, dual 10W speakers with Dolby Audio, and multiple connectivity options like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and HDMI.
Spotify suffered an outage that stopped many users from playing or downloading audiobooks across phones, desktops, and the web, with symptoms ranging from stalled loading to chapters skipping without playing. Spotify acknowledged the problem on its Community forum and has since marked the incident as fixed, though some users still report ongoing playback issues.
Threads platform head Connor Hayes announced the app is experimenting with new podcast-oriented features, including a tool that automatically generates text transcriptions for audio clips shared in the feed. This would let users follow along with podcast content even when scrolling silently or without sound on. Hayes noted more podcast-sharing tools are in development, though none are confirmed for a full rollout.
After confirming each speaker in a Dolby Atmos system works individually, the recommended next step is testing with real content mixed for the format. Netflix's five-minute anime short Sol Levante is highlighted as an ideal benchmark since its extensive spatial audio mix stresses positional accuracy without requiring a full movie's runtime.
Researchers discovered that AliExpress's homepage runs hidden, inaudible audio-processing code tied to Alibaba's security systems, which measures how a device's hardware handles an audio signal to create a unique fingerprint without cookies. The behavior was uncovered by a developer whose Bluetooth headphones failed to switch between devices while an AliExpress tab stayed open, since the silent audio graph kept the system's audio path active even when muted. The same scripts reportedly also collected canvas, WebGL, and hardware configuration data as part of a broader tracking setup.