Google is expanding Gemini Live beyond casual conversation, adding features like Personal Intelligence, Daily Brief, hands-free Gmail management, and integration with Gemini Spark. The Spark integration lets users speak unstructured thoughts aloud, which Gemini Live then organizes into actionable, multi-step tasks such as meal planning or grocery lists. Some features, including Spark and Daily Brief, require paid Google AI Pro or Plus subscriptions.
GKIDS is bringing 'The Last Blossom,' a new anime feature from the creators of the acclaimed mystery series ODDTAXI, to theaters for a limited two-night engagement on August 30 and 31. The film follows a former yakuza member whose story is paired symbolically with a plant, a choice the director discusses as central to the narrative's themes.
The IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu honor society is holding its first Innovating the Future conference on November 6, giving undergraduate and graduate IEEE members a venue to present original research. Participants submitted abstracts by May 1, received mentorship from IEEE volunteers, and those accepted by August 1 will present their work, with proceedings slated for the IEEE Xplore Digital Library.
Dolly Parton, the country music icon and philanthropist, died on August 25 at age 80. Fans and public figures responded with tributes ranging from landmarks illuminated in pink to a special Google search Easter egg celebrating her life and career.
Netflix has secured a temporary exclusive window to premiere 'Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look' at 3PM ET on August 27, reportedly for a significant sum. The trailer will remain Netflix-only for six hours before Rockstar posts it publicly on its YouTube channel at 9PM ET the same day, free for anyone to watch.
Salesforce and Anthropic unveiled an expanded partnership called Claudeforce, centered on a new plugin, Salesforce in Claude, that lets sales teams query and update live CRM records directly from Claude's CoWork interface. The tool ships with 37 built-in sales skills for tasks like meeting prep and pipeline reviews, is rolling out to pilot customers now, and will reach open beta in September with more business-function skills arriving later in the year.
JBL has unveiled the Pulse 6, a portable Bluetooth speaker priced at $330 that is now available for preorder ahead of a September 6 shipping date. The speaker features a lantern-like design with 360-degree LED lighting, offering 16 preset themes split between ambient and party modes, and can sync with other JBL products via Auracast.
Apple broke a decade-long pattern this week by quietly releasing updated Mac mini and Mac Studio models in late August, even though they won't ship until September 22. This timing suggests Apple needed to clear these updates off its plate before the September 9 'Surprise and shine' event, which is rumored to feature five to nine or more new products.
At Black Hat USA 2026, PortSwigger research director James Kettle unveiled an open source AI-driven tool called HTTP Terminator, designed to test whether AI could invent original hacking techniques rather than just find known bugs. The tool autonomously produced new HTTP desync, or request smuggling, attacks and used them to breach real enterprise sites, including several belonging to financial services firms.
Meta reached a settlement of nearly $18 billion with almost all US states over claims it designed Facebook and Instagram to foster compulsive use among children and hid mental health risks. The deal, still pending court approval, requires Meta to impose a default two-hour daily time limit for teens, a midnight-to-6am usage block, and a school-hours notification mute, while Texas separately secured $1 billion outside the main $16.7 billion pact.
Roku announced it will stream eight Sunday night NWSL matches for free via The Roku Sports Channel, beginning with Seattle Reign FC versus Houston Dash on August 30 and ending with San Diego Wave FC versus Boston Legacy FC on October 25. The company also plans to carry a Sunday night match every week during the 2027 season.
Soundcore has launched the Nebula X1S, an upgraded version of its Nebula X1 triple-laser 4K projector. While the original topped out at 3,500 ANSI lumens using a three-lamp engine, the X1S adds a fourth lamp to reach 6,000 lumens, making it one of the brightest consumer projectors available. It keeps the same 4K UHD, Dolby Vision support, optical zoom, and high dynamic contrast ratio as its predecessor.
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