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YouTube is broadening its 24/7 Stations feature, which launched earlier this year with continuous music streams, to now include podcasts, media channels, and general creator videos. The rollout is limited to a small group of creators for now, and Stations will surface intermittently in Home and Search feeds rather than through a dedicated section.
Google has confirmed it fixed a YouTube bug on iPad that caused comments, titles, descriptions and other details to vanish after exiting full-screen playback. The fix ships with app version 21.33.6, and users experiencing the issue are advised to update immediately. The same release also updates Android's seek gesture, showing a scrub bar and skipped time when double-tapping to fast-forward or rewind.
As part of Google Summer of Code 2026, contributor Emmanuel Nyarko has been enhancing NetBSD's RAIDframe disk management system. The work adds an N-way RAID 1 extension letting mirrors span more than two disks with one primary and multiple secondaries, and introduces scrubbing support to proactively detect read failures across disks.
A ZDNET reviewer who has used Apple Watch since its debut in 2015 switched to the revived Pebble Time 2, a stripped-down smartwatch with a 1.5-inch color e-paper display, stainless steel casing, heart rate and sleep tracking, and long battery life. The device lacks advanced features like cellular calling or extra sensors, but the reviewer found its simplicity and lack of constant notifications appealing amid a desire to be less digitally connected.
Google has begun rolling out an 'Ask Gemini' shortcut inside Android's text selection menu, letting users send highlighted text straight to Gemini without manually copying and pasting it first. The feature was spotted in Google app versions 17.51.18 and 17.51.19, though it's unclear exactly when it started appearing for users.
Google is reportedly working to bring back the notification feature for its Now Playing music-recognition app on Pixel devices, according to code found in the latest Android System Intelligence app for Pixel 11 devices. The feature was removed earlier this year when Google gave Now Playing its own dedicated app, breaking workflows that relied on notifications to log tracks into services like Last.fm. Code strings also hint at upcoming support for multiple user profiles, each with its own track history.
Google is reportedly launching a new premium laptop line called Googlebook, developed with partners including HP, Acer, Lenovo, Dell, and Asus, expected around September. The devices will run a new Linux-based operating system called Aluminum OS that merges Android and ChromeOS, centering Gemini AI as a core feature and enabling closer integration between phones and laptops.
Code inside Google Play Store version 52.8.55-34 reveals that the Ask Play conversational search feature will soon accept image attachments from a phone's camera or gallery. Users could upload a screenshot of a home screen widget or app feature and ask Ask Play's AI to identify it or find similar apps. Google also appears ready to drop the separate 'Ask Play about this app' section, replacing it with scrollable suggested-question chips.
AI chatbots like Gemini, ChatGPT and Claude often store user conversations on company servers and use that data by default to train future AI models. Users can disable this training option and delete past activity, though turning off tracking does not automatically erase previously stored data. For Gemini specifically, users must disable both Google's Web & App Activity and Gemini's own Activity setting, then manually delete existing records.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott told ABC that AI companies have caused their own backlash by building data centers without coordinating with state or local governments. This marks a sharp reversal from just months ago, when Abbott championed Texas as the 'epicenter of AI development' and celebrated a $40 billion Google investment tied to tax breaks. Abbott recently imposed a moratorium on new data center projects, citing strain on the state's power grid.
Google's new Pixel 11 Pro Fold shaves about 1mm off its overall thickness compared to its predecessor, but the design achieves this by making the two halves of the device asymmetrical rather than uniformly flat when unfolded. The side housing the cover display is noticeably thicker than the other half, a departure from the flat-backed design of every prior Pixel Fold model. The change accompanies other trade-offs, including a smaller battery capacity than the previous generation.
WIRED highlighted the Dreo Air Purifier Tower Fan MC710S as a standout multiuse home appliance, priced around $330 on Amazon. The unit combines a 99.97 percent HEPA filter with a fan that can run independently, controllable via remote, the Dreo app, or voice assistants like Alexa and Google Home.