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Google's Nano Banana 2: pro-grade AI image tools go free
1 hour ago•Source: The Verge
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Block halves its workforce to pursue AI-native future
Block is cutting over 4,000 jobs, shrinking from more than 10,000 employees to under 6,000, in a pivot to an AI-native, faster company, per a post by Jack Dorsey. He says the move isn’t due to trouble but a strategic shift to leverage AI, announced alongside Q4 2025 results.
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Galaxy S26 series sticks to updates as prices climb
Samsung’s Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus are mostly software updates with a higher price tag, while the Galaxy S26 Ultra gains a new Privacy Display. In the US, the S26 and S26 Plus get a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip (Ultra also uses it in other regions), the S26 Plus adds faster 20W wireless charging, and the S26’s battery grows to 4,300mAh. Storage starts at 256GB for both base models, with prices at $899 for the S26 and $1,099 for the S26 Plus (RAM remains 12GB across the lineup). Features like Audio Eraser, Google Gemini-powered tasks, scam detection, and contextual keyboard hints are highlighted as updates likely to reach older models too. Overall, a modest upgrade that costs more.
Adobe Firefly’s Quick Cut speeds up first-draft video edits
Adobe is beta-launching Quick Cut for Firefly’s video editor, which automatically stitches uploaded footage or AI-generated clips into a structured first cut from text prompts and simple inputs. It offers a transcription timeline and controls over aspect ratio and length to speed creation, aiming to reduce tedious manual assembly—though the result still requires refinement before final polish.
Google folds ProducerAI into Labs with Lyria 3 music model
ProducerAI, an AI-powered music‑making platform, is joining Google and will run under Google Labs powered by a preview of the Lyria 3 music model. It lets users chat with an AI producer to generate sounds, workshop lyrics, remix songs, and create new instruments, with Google coordinating Gemini‑style chat, Nano Banana image generation for album art, Veo for AI videos, and SynthID watermarking. ProducerAI remains a standalone service with free credits and tiered subscriptions, now available in 250+ countries.
AI Slop Looms Over Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Unpacked
The Verge preview of Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Unpacked warns that AI-powered photo and video edits could push smartphones beyond mere capture, prompting questions about authenticity as features promise natural-language edits and enhanced imaging, while hinting at broader uses like privacy-aware displays and non-camera AI tools.
Acme Weather: iOS forecast app offers multiple forecast paths
After selling Dark Sky to Apple, its creators launch Acme Weather for iOS, a forecast app that shows a primary daily prediction alongside several alternate forecasts derived from satellite, ground‑station, and radar data. The app uses closely grouped forecast lines to signal reliability and wider spreads to indicate potential changes, and it lets users report conditions on a map with radar, lightning, rain, wind, and other data, plus customizable notifications. It costs $25/year after a two‑week free trial, with an Android version planned.
Xbox reset: Sharma takes over as Spencer retires and Bond exits
Microsoft is reshaping its gaming leadership: Phil Spencer is retiring, Xbox president Sarah Bond is leaving, and AI-focused executive Asha Sharma is promoted to EVP and CEO of Microsoft Gaming to steer Xbox beyond the console era, signaling a strategic reset amid declining hardware revenue and internal debates about Sharma’s gaming experience and the direction of Bond’s ‘Xbox Everywhere’ push.
Samsung adds Perplexity to Galaxy AI to power a multi-agent phone ecosystem
Samsung is integrating Perplexity into Galaxy AI, letting Galaxy S26 users trigger Perplexity with "Hey, Plex" and enabling a multi-agent AI ecosystem that can be used across Samsung Notes, Clock, Gallery, Reminders, Calendar, and select third-party apps. The move aims to differentiate Galaxy devices from Apple and Google, with more details expected at the upcoming Unpacked event on Feb. 25.
Fulu launches $10K bounty to move Ring doorbell footage off Amazon’s cloud
The Fulu Foundation is offering an initial $10,000 bounty (with potential to match more via donors) to anyone who can integrate Ring doorbells released in 2021 or later with a local PC or server and ensure recordings no longer rely on Amazon servers, effectively moving Ring footage off the cloud. This aims to give users more control over their footage, building on Ring’s existing options (local storage via Ring Edge only with Ring Alarm Pro and ongoing cloud storage with a subscription) and amid DMCA concerns that could limit bounty solutions.
Meta mulls Malibu 2: a health-tracking AI smartwatch to challenge rivals
Meta is reportedly planning to launch a Malibu 2 smartwatch with health tracking and AI features this year, alongside an updated Ray-Ban Display AR glasses, as it pursues an AR/MR roadmap that includes delayed Phoenix glasses to 2027; the move would follow Meta’s 2022 scrapped smartwatch plan and heighten competition with Apple, Google, Samsung, and others.
Apple plots AI wearables: smart glasses, AI pendant, and camera AirPods
Apple is pushing into AI hardware with plans for in-house smart glasses (no built-in display but cameras and AI features), an AI-powered pendant worn as a necklace or pin with an always-on camera, and upgraded AirPods that may include cameras, all connecting to iPhone to let Siri act on environmental context; production could begin in December for a 2027 launch, with Apple aiming to outpace Meta in AI wearables.