A tech explainer details how modern smartphones rely on multiple proximity sensors to handle tasks like dimming the screen during calls, detecting when a phone is in a pocket, and supporting other automated behaviors. The piece traces how sensor-heavy design became standard after the original 2007 iPhone, noting that manufacturers have since competed to add more sensors, including some novelties like external temperature readers once found on certain Google Pixel phones.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-13
Google rolled out Gemini 4 Argon with an update that embeds its Antigravity agent-based coding platform directly into the Gemini macOS app, accessible via a new Liquid Glass pill in the top-right corner. The Gemini app also added a Chat/Task switcher, a Scheduled view, search repositioning, and replaced slash commands with @ mentions for Skills, while renaming Connected Apps to Connectors. Antigravity access requires an AI Ultra subscription, while the new Gemini 4 Argon model itself needs AI Pro or higher.
9to5google.com
· 2026-10-13
Google has widened access to its Gemini 4 Argon model, previously limited to AI Ultra subscribers at launch, so it now reaches both AI Pro and AI Ultra tiers in the Gemini app and AI Mode. The model also appears in Google Antigravity and its CLI, though that integration still requires an AI Ultra subscription. Google says the model offers more direct answers, better adherence to style instructions, improved coding performance, and a new toggle in the Gemini app for macOS to switch between chat and agentic coding tasks.
9to5google.com
· 2026-10-13
Google DeepMind has expanded access to Gemini 4 Argon beyond its initial cybersecurity-focused rollout, making it available to Google AI Ultra and Pro subscribers, enterprises, and developers through Android Studio, Google AI Studio and Antigravity. Introductory pricing starts at $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens, rising to $4 and $20 respectively after November 30.
cnet.com
· 2026-10-13
Google has started a wider rollout of its Gemini 4 Argon model in the Gemini app and Antigravity coding tool, restricting access to paying subscribers, with lower-tier plans not getting full capabilities. The company says the model's reasoning and safety features, including a misalignment monitor, remain unchanged from benchmarks published last month. Google cited internal uses, including efficiency gains on YouTube's comment system and bug discoveries in Project Wing's drone simulator, as evidence of Argon's capabilities.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-10-13
Google has broadened availability of its Gemini 4 Argon AI model beyond the Fairwind Program to developers via the Gemini API and Antigravity platform, and to Google AI Ultra and Pro subscribers through the Gemini app and AI Mode in Search. Introductory pricing is $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens through November 30, after which costs double. Google says Argon handles complex tasks in finance, coding, creative writing and cybersecurity, and VP Josh Woodward noted it responds faster with fewer hedges and can surface answers while still processing longer queries.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-13
Apple announced HomeView, a $299 smart display, on October 13. The device arrives roughly nine years after Amazon's Echo Show and eight years after Google's Home Hub introduced similar wall- or countertop-mounted screens for homes.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-13
Apple unveiled the HomeView, a $299 smart home hub with a touchscreen, speaker, Siri AI, and security camera dashboard, set to go on sale November 13 with preorders starting October 13. The device can recognize up to six individual users via facial recognition and presence sensors, switching to personalized home screens, and supports FaceTime and shared photo albums.
zdnet.com
· 2026-10-13
India's National Payments Corporation has delayed its planned October 15 introduction of a 0.4% fee on UPI merchant transactions above ₹2,000, citing the festive shopping season. NPCI did not announce a new date for the rollout. The fee, first announced last month, had drawn opposition from retailers and petrol station operators, some of whom threatened to stop accepting UPI payments.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-13
Google announced a redesigned Play Store interface for vehicles with Google built-in, which will adapt to different car screen sizes and orientations and add a streamlined navigation menu. The update, rolling out over coming weeks, lets drivers download featured apps with one tap and introduces new apps like Starz, Firefox, Ludo King, and JioHotstar for use while parked, plus YouTube video playback when parked for Premium subscribers.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-13
Google announced a new US feature letting people install personal apps built with AI Studio's vibe-coding tool directly through the Play Store, skipping the need to sideload via a connected computer. These apps remain private and separate from the public store catalog, are tied to a standard Google account, and Google says sharing with select groups is coming soon.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-13
Google has released Gemini 4 Argon, a new frontier AI model it says matches or beats GPT-6 Astra, Claude Fable 5.1 and Claude Opus 5.5 on benchmarks spanning coding, cybersecurity, science, finance and law. The model is rolling out to Gemini app Pro and Ultra subscribers, AI mode in Search, and Ultra users of the Antigravity development platform, starting at $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens before prices double in late November.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-13
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