GoKawiil
Tech News
At a September gathering of about 50 enterprise customers in Seattle, CEO Satya Nadella urged companies to widely deploy AI tools, describing adoption as happening 'bottom up, top down, and middle up.' He has also recently spoken publicly about pacing AI development responsibly and addressing safety concerns, even as Microsoft hosts a Windows and Surface event in San Francisco focused on 'local AI' for PCs.
Nvidia increased the price of its Shield TV Pro streaming box from $199.99 to $299.99 starting October 2nd, citing rising component costs linked to the ongoing memory shortage. The company has also discontinued the cheaper entry-level Shield TV, leaving the Pro as its only streaming device.
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin has convened a rare Committee of the Whole hearing, meaning all 51 council members are expected to attend, to question executives from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and Meta under oath about AI safety risks. Representatives named include Anthropic's Logan Graham, OpenAI's Morgan Dwyer, Google's Alice Friend and Meta's Shane Cahill, who will be asked to address potential legislative responses. Former industry researchers, including ex-Anthropic employee Jacob Coxon and former OpenAI and DeepMind staffers, are also expected to attend.
Users running Android 10 on phones like the Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy S9, and Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact are reporting in-car warnings that their devices will soon lose Android Auto support. The messages appear during wired connections and state the phone cannot update to the Android version Android Auto will require going forward. Google has not announced any change, and its support pages still list Android 9 Pie as the minimum for wired Android Auto.
Bloomberg reports Apple is preparing to release two variants of a smart display within the month, alongside a new Apple TV and HomePod mini, as part of a broader home hardware push tied to iOS 27. The move would mark Apple's first serious first-party entry into a smart display category long dominated by Google Nest and Amazon Echo devices.
Android Authority found a work-in-progress Gemini interface redesign inside Android Auto app version 17.9.664004, which it enabled to preview. The new animation adopts Google's Neural Expressive design style with dots around the Gemini interface, spanning the full screen width with Live and close buttons on either side, replacing the current subtle glow indicator.
Google has updated its support documentation to limit which Gemini models free and AI Plus ($4.99/month) subscribers can use. Free users will be restricted to Gemini 3.5-Flash-Lite, losing access to Gemini 3.6 Flash and newer models, while AI Plus subscribers will lose access to Gemini 3.1 Pro and other reasoning models, retaining only Flash and Flash-Lite variants. The changes take effect on October 9th and do not affect AI Pro or Ultra subscribers, who retain full access including a Deep Thinking option.
Android Authority's Aamir Siddiqui argues that for the price of Apple's base 256GB iPhone 18 Pro Max, buyers have strong Android alternatives. His picks include the Google Pixel 11 Pro XL, Motorola Razr Ultra (2026), Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, and Galaxy Z Flip 8. A reader poll accompanying the piece shows the Galaxy S26 Ultra as the most popular alternative at 42% of votes.
An Android Authority columnist praises the Pixel 11 Pro's hardware, cameras and software but says testing uncovered three recurring weaknesses: inconsistent gaming performance, limited battery capacity, and slow wired charging. The writer cites a colleague's investigation finding that the Tensor GPU's rendering approach causes microstutters in games because it lacks native support for certain graphics features.
GrapheneOS says it has traced a regression in Google's Android 17 QPR1 update that causes lag, stuttering, freezes, and app crashes on Pixel devices under memory pressure. The project says the bug originates in Pixel firmware and drivers supplied by Google, meaning it can affect stock Pixel software too, and it has already patched the issue in its own OS release while Google has not yet issued a fix.
A technology commentary argues that widespread dislike of AI reflects frustration with how companies are aggressively pushing the technology, not the technology itself. It notes that US states have proposed or passed over 2,100 AI-related bills in three years, a tenfold increase, and points to open-source alternatives to OpenAI, Google and Anthropic as giving consumers more choice than they had during the social media era.
Multiple Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro/Pro XL owners say Google Maps freezes, flickers, or shows pixelated graphical artifacts when used with Android Auto, over both wired and wireless connections. The issue persists despite clearing app data, reinstalling apps, switching cables, or changing resolution settings, and doesn't affect all users or vehicles.