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Samsung Electronics America has introduced its 2025 TV lineup, featuring the integration of Samsung Vision AI across a broad range of displays, including Neo QLED 8K, Neo QLED 4K, OLED, QLED, and The Frame.

I tested the Samsung NQ990F, the new 8K NEO QLED TV with an 85-inch display, a month ago at the Samsung Labs. The image quality is impressive, with the new glare-free 2.0  technology.

To celebrate the debut, Samsung is offering a special promotion: now through May 4, customers who purchase a qualifying 2025 TV or audio product on Samsung.com can receive a free Music Frame (one of our Best of CES 2024) —a customizable speaker that plays music while displaying a favorite photo. Alternatively, eligible buyers can choose to receive a $100 Samsung credit with their purchase of select 2025 TVs and soundbars.

At the core of Samsung Vision AI are features designed to make content discovery, interaction, and personalization more intuitive. With Click to Search, viewers can access real-time information such as actor bios and content suggestions without interrupting the program. Live Translate removes language barriers by converting closed captions from live broadcasts into one of seven supported languages. Viewers wearing a Galaxy Watch can use Universal Gestures to pause a show, adjust volume, or navigate menus using hand movements. Meanwhile, Generative Wallpaper transforms the TV into a dynamic art display by creating custom images based on user preferences.

Samsung Vision AI also integrates seamlessly with the SmartThings platform, placing TVs at the center of the connected home. The Home Insights feature provides updates about the household environment, including a 3D Map View showing all connected devices. Pet Care and Family Care features use on-device AI to detect a dog barking or a baby crying, sending alerts to the user and offering the ability to check live video feeds from connected cameras.

AI Picture uses AI Upscaling to transform older content with lower pixel count into 4K or 8K resolution for audio and visual enhancements, delivering improved clarity and sharpness. AI Sound adapts the audio output to suit the acoustics of the room and the type of content being played. Samsung is also promising up to seven years of OS updates via its new One UI Tizen platform, which features a streamlined interface and support for custom user profiles to cater to individual viewing habits.

A month ago, I tested a few of the new NEO QLED and OLED TVs at the Samsung Labs. Stay tuned for my hands-on review article.

Samsung Expands 2025 Soundbar Lineup with Smarter Audio and Sleeker Designs

Two weeks ago, Samsung expanded its Q-Series and B-Series soundbar offerings for 2025. The new soundbars include key features such as 3D Dolby Atmos for immersive audio, SpaceFit Sound Pro Plus for AI-powered room calibration, and Q-Symphony, now optimized to sync audio with the Music Frame’s placement in the room. Other highlights include Active Voice Amplifier Pro for enhanced dialogue clarity and Dynamic Bass Control for cleaner, distortion-free low frequencies.

Samsung HW-Q990F flagship soundbar set

New soundbar models include the HW-Q990F ($1,999), HW-Q900F ($1,399), HW-Q800F ($999), and the newly introduced HW-QS700F ($699), which offers a slim design and built-in gyro sensor for flexible vertical or horizontal placement. The HW-Q600F ($599) is also slated to launch soon. The B-Series lineup will feature models such as the HW-B750F ($449), HW-B630F ($299), HW-B550F ($199), and HW-B400F ($119), all of which are expected to arrive in the near future.

Samsung’s S-Series soundbars will continue to be offered alongside the new models. With this comprehensive expansion of both TVs and audio products, Samsung is emphasizing long-term support, intelligent personalization, and immersive entertainment experiences. For more information, visit Samsung.com.

New models include:

Q-Series

• HW-Q990F – $1,999
• HW-Q900F – $1,399
• HW-Q800F – $999
• HW-QS700F – $699 – features a slim design and built-in gyro sensor for flexible placement
• HW-Q600F – $599 (Coming Soon)

B-Series

• HW-B750F – $449 (Coming Soon)
• HW-B630F – $299 (Coming Soon)
• HW-B550F – $199 (Coming Soon)
• HW-B400F – $119 (Coming Soon)

Samsung’s Latest Vision AI TVs Offered with Limited-Time Discount (May 4th) and New Audio Lineup

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Google’s annual I/O developer conference is coming on May 20, and for the first time, there’s two major events you’ll want to watch to stay on top of all the updates the company’s making to its software platforms. I/O 2025 kicks off on May 20, and a week earlier on May 13, there’s also The Android Show: I/O Edition, a dedicated showcase for the Android ecosystem.

The Android Show: I/O Edition airs on May 13 at 1PM ET / 10AM PT. Android is developed partially in the open, so there’s already some indication of what could be coming with Android 16. So far, that’s a visual redesign of some of the operating system’s core features, like the notification shade, a take on Apple’s Live Activities for tracking ongoing events and possibly a Samsung DeX-like “Desktop Mode” for Android phones.

I/O 2025 starts on May 20 at 1PM ET / 10AM PT with Google’s keynote, typically a series of updates on Android, Search, Google Workspace and Gemini. It’s worth noting: Google typically doesn’t set aside separate time for Android announcements. The company said there will be some Android news at I/O, but the safe bet is that Gemini will be the star. We expect Google to share Gemini updates, along with Android XR news and maybe further demonstrations of experimental projects like Project Astra.

Google’s I/O keynote will be available to watch on Google’s YouTube channel and right here once the livestream is up on May 20 at 1PM ET. 

The Android Show: I/O Edition will air on Google’s Android YouTube channel on May 13 at 1PM ET, and since it appears to be pre-recorded, we’ve already embedded it above.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/how-to-watch-google-io-2025-and-the-android-show-213327054.html?src=rss

NotebookLM, the Google research tool that gained notoriety for its uncanny AI-generated podcasts, is getting an official app on May 20, 2025. You can pre-register for the Android or iOS version of the app right now and have it automatically downloaded to your device on May 20, the first day of Google I/O 2025. 

Based on the listings in the Play Store and App Store, Google seems intent on keeping all of the core functionality of the web version of NotebookLM intact for its mobile debut. You can upload a variety of different sources (PDFs, website URLs, YouTube videos and copied text) and have NotebookLM, powered by Gemini, do stuff with them. That could be answering specific questions, generating study guides or creating an Audio Overview, the previously-mentioned “podcasts.”

Google

NotebookLM started life as Project Tailwind back at I/O 2023 and has gradually transitioned from research project to real product over time. The service officially launched as NotebookLM in December 2023 and gained Audio Overviews in September 2024. As of April 2025, NotebookLM is now offered in more than 50 languages. Getting an actual app release is the best sign yet the service is here to stay.

Critical to its sucess, NotebookLM makes more sense as a tool you can trust than basically any other Gemini product. The service’s output is grounded in documents and sources you choose. That means Google’s AI is less likely to hallucinate because it’s quoting a research study directly, and it’s easier to double check its answers because you can view the source directly in NotebookLM.

Google has already signaled that I/O 2025 will be Gemini-focused by breaking out Android announcements into their own stream, so there’s a good chance NotebookLM won’t be the only AI product getting some love on May 20. It remains to be seen whether Google has any ideas as cogent as “an AI that helps you digest long PDFs,” though.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/notebooklm-the-acceptable-face-of-google-ai-is-getting-an-app-in-may-182041294.html?src=rss

The knock-on effects continue for Apple after a blistering ruling from a federal judge earlier this week that ordered the company to stop collecting fees for purchases made outside the App Store. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple was using loopholes to circumvent her own ruling against the company from 2021. Companies are wasting no time streamlining payments outside of Apple’s walled garden, and Spotify is the latest to make these changes.

With the latest update available in the App Store, version 9.0.40, Spotify has added external links for subscription purchases, allowing it to advertise lower prices and different tiers without giving nearly a third of its revenue generated back to Apple from those subscription sales. These changes also lay the groundwork for content-specific microtransactions, like audiobooks, taking place outside the app. Spotify expressed its hope that these changes will create “seamless buying opportunities that will directly benefit creators.”

In a blog post shared on the Spotify website, the company was incensed that it took this long for Apple to comply with the same judge’s previous order in the landmark Epic Games case dealing with the exact same issue. It reads in part: “The fact that we haven’t been able to deliver these basic services, which were permitted by the judge’s order four years ago, is absurd. The ruling made it clear that Apple deliberately abused its market power to intentionally harm others and benefit only itself.”

Epic Games, which kicked all this off with its original court case, celebrated the legal victory by announcing a limited zero-commission policy for games sold through the Epic Games Store. The company also announced EGS Webshops to support out-of-app purchases launching next month.

While Apple has said it will comply with the judge’s ruling, the company also made clear it intends to appeal. It’s been a busy week for Apple’s legal team, as this comes on the heels of a separate ruling Apple faced from a patent dispute in UK courts, where the iPhone maker has been ordered to pay over $500 million in damages to Optis.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/spotify-breaks-free-from-apples-app-store-fees-170617269.html?src=rss

Kuwait is cracking down on cryptocurrency miners throughout the country, as reported by Reuters. Officials have blamed the practice for blackouts and for causing stress on its power grid. The country started this crackdown just before the onset of summer, which experts say could reach scorching temperatures of 125 degrees Fahrenheit.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior said in a statement that it has been conducting a “wide-ranging” security operation that targets homes suspected of being used for cryptocurrency mining. The government agency went on to say that crypto mining is illegal, as the country’s Capital Markets Authority banned the practice in 2023. Crypto trading was also banned at that time.

The crackdown has been targeting homes in the Al-Wafrah region of Kuwait, which is located in the southern part of the country. The region’s electricity ministry has said that around 100 homes were being used for mining operations, often consuming up to 20 times the normal power levels. To that end, energy consumption in the area dropped by 55 percent following the operation, according to a government statement.

It’s no secret that cryptocurrency mining gobbles up vast amounts of computing power and, as such, electricity. Kuwait isn’t the only country to regulate or outright ban the practice. Russia has banned crypto mining in several regions throughout the country. Kosovo outlawed the practice back in 2022 and Angola did the same in 2024. European countries like Iceland and Norway have strictly regulated the industry due to energy shortages.

As for Kuwait, researchers at the University of Cambridge estimated that the country was responsible for just 0.05 percent of the world’s bitcoin mining in 2022. Alex de Vries-Gao, founder of a research project that tracks crypto energy use, told Reuters that “it only takes a very small share of the total bitcoin mining network to have a significant impact on the relatively small total electricity consumption of Kuwait.”

Recent data indicates that crypto mining accounts for almost 2.5 percent of the total energy consumption of the US. That’s approximately half of the energy used by the entire commercial sector of the US economy. But hey, at least we get some fake coins we can’t buy anything with for our trouble.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/kuwait-cracks-down-on-crypto-miners-to-cut-down-on-electricity-usage-161200772.html?src=rss