Google is rolling out Gemini Personal Intelligence on Android Auto, letting the Gemini assistant draw on a user's Gmail, Calendar, Photos and other Google services to tailor in-car responses. The feature is opt-in and off by default, and users can choose which apps and services to permit. The article reports no vulnerability, attack or in…
CNET Group is launching TechPulse, a free iOS and Android app that combines articles and videos from ZDNET, CNET, PCMag, Mashable, Lifehacker and ExtremeTech into a single feed. Users can choose which publications appear, and the feed is described as algorithm-free. No subscription is required. The article is product news with no security…
Amazon's Ring announced its first smart lock, the Ring Smart Lock, which has a manual dial that generates enough power to wake the keypad and fingerprint reader when the battery is dead. The lock supports fingerprint scanning, PIN codes (including temporary codes), Alexa commands and the Ring app. The battery pack, called Quick Release Ul…
Amazon announced three Android-based Alexa Tablets (Tablet 8 from $230, Tablet 11 from $330, Tablet 12 Pro from $500) built around the Alexa+ AI assistant, with shipping set to start on October 14. They are the first of Amazon's newer tablets to support Google Play in addition to Amazon's own app store. Amazon also launched two Kids Table…
At Open Source Summit Europe in Prague, Linus Torvalds told Dirk Hohndel (Ericsson Software Technology) that he likes using AI, particularly for beginners and for tasks outside his expertise. He cautioned that it must be used carefully in important work such as the Linux kernel. AI tools now help find and fix kernel bugs, including genuin…
Microsoft announced changes to its Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, Premium and Pro subscriptions, replacing per-member 1 TB OneDrive allowances with a single shared storage pool and shared AI usage credits. Family and Premium plans drop from up to 6 TB of total storage to 2 TB, and the new Microsoft 365 Pro plan offers 5 TB at about $100 …
This ZDNET consumer review by Maria Diaz assesses Apple's new Home Collection, which includes the HomeView smart panel ($299), a new HomePod mini, an Apple TV 4K and nine smart home devices priced from $40 (sensors) to $400 (security cameras). It concludes that only the LG Indoor Cam ($200) and LG Outdoor Cam ($300) are well suited to ren…
Apple has reportedly invited media to an "all-day product launch" in Los Angeles on Oct. 28, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Expected announcements include its first touchscreen OLED MacBook line (14- and 16-inch, M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, possibly 5G), a 14-inch M6 MacBook Pro, an OLED iPad mini with an M6 chip at a rumored $799, an…
Nvidia has released Nemotron 3.5 Super VL, a 120-billion-parameter open-weight model aimed at agentic workloads, together with two edge models, Nemotron 3.5 Bolt 74B-A9B 24GB and Nemotron 3.5 Bolt E4B 4GB. Nvidia claims it is 5x faster than the next-best model in its class, based on Artificial Analysis benchmarks that ranked InclusionAI's…
Google announced Universal Cart and the When to Buy Guide, two consumer shopping features ahead of the holiday season. Universal Cart saves products from multiple retailers via AI Mode in Search or the Gemini app. It tracks price drops and restocks using the Shopping Graph (60+ billion product listings). It is built on Google Wallet, inte…
Google has announced the Fitbit Edge, a $180 slim smartwatch positioned between the screenless Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 5. The article is a consumer product preview with no security, vulnerability or threat content. The Edge is 11.5 mm thick, has a hybrid OLED touchscreen with Corning Gorilla Glass 3, and adds a side button for star…
Employ's annual Recruiter Nation report, based on an August 2026 Zogby Analytics survey, finds that AI-polished resumes are now the top recruiter stressor at 33%. This is the first time in the report's 19-year history that it has overtaken a lack of qualified candidates. Confirmed AI-driven candidate fraud rose to 27% of surveyed organiza…
Google announced that anyone with a standard Google account can now build personal Android apps in Google AI Studio by describing them in a prompt. The apps run on the creator's own device, are launched from a private section of Google Play, and are not listed in the public Play Store. The feature extends the existing AI Studio app creato…
Linus Torvalds submitted a set of Linux kernel patches that were largely written with Anthropic's Claude Code, according to a ZDNET report. The series targets cache-line contention in the page cache, a known issue since 2024 that slows multi-core systems. Torvalds disclosed in his Git submission that the code, test programs, review and fi…
On October 13, Apple held a small, non-livestreamed "Welcome Home" event and announced seven smart home products. They are the HomeView smart panel, the HomePod mini 2, a new Apple TV 4K, and a Home Collection of accessories built with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric. This is product news with no reported vulnerability, incident or …
Apple announced the HomePod Mini 2, its first update to the small home speaker in six years. It is powered by the S10 chip and adds Siri AI, surround sound with the new Apple TV 4K, and an ambient "Sound Glow" light. Connectivity moves from Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5 to Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 6. The article says this brings lower latency and…
Apple announced the HomeView smart home hub on Oct. 13, with preorders open and general availability on Nov. 13. The device combines a touchscreen, smart speaker, Siri AI and a security camera dashboard, and competes with the Amazon Echo Show and Google Nest Hub. This is consumer product news with no vulnerability, incident or threat acti…
The Netherlands' Tax and Customs Administration has abandoned its planned Microsoft 365 public-cloud rollout and will move to an on-premises, open-source approach, citing digital sovereignty and data control concerns. About 5,000 employees had already migrated when the Dutch Advisory Council on ICT Assessment recommended reversing the rol…
MapQuest announced on Bluesky that its navigation app now has a surveillance layer showing the locations of license plate reading cameras from Flock and other companies. Cameras appear as small red eye icons with a vision cone showing the direction each one faces. The app does not yet offer routing that avoids the cameras. MapQuest has no…
This ZDNET article is not a cyber threat report. It covers US state legislation on plug-in (balcony or backyard) solar systems, which consist of panels, an inverter and a battery that connect to a standard 120-volt outlet. Utah was the first state to legalize them, and ten states have now done so. About two dozen others are still working …