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    in Robotics

    Your Roku TV just got 5 feature updates for free – including a big one for Roku City

    Maria Diaz/ZDNETYour Roku TV is getting a slew of updates to make finding something to watch easier — including one for your favorite purple city.Also: Should you buy a Roku streaming stick in 2025? Here’s my buying advice after testing oneAt an event in New York City last month, Roku introduced its new TVs and streaming devices, smart home products, and TVs, but it also announced some new additions that will be coming to all existing Roku TVs.Here’s what’s on the way.What’s coming to all Roku TVsRoku understands the struggle of finding something to watch, it says, so it’s rolling out several ways to make content more personal. These include: “Coming Soon to Theaters,” a row that shows you what’s currently in theaters. If you’d rather wait until you can watch it at home, you can add a movie to your saved list and Roku will alert you when it’s available.Short-form content rows are headed to the All Things Food and All Things Home tabs, letting you browse videos like recipes, home cleaning hacks, and more one after the other (essentially TikTok or Reels for your TV). A personalized highlight row in the Sports Zone lets you follow the latest action from your favorite teams and players. You can also get notifications when it’s gametime for your favorite teams.If you want to see the best of the best, watch for Roku’s new badges that will identify award-winning films.Missing your favorite purple-hued cityscape? Instead of having to wait for your set to go idle to visit, you can now head to Roku City with one click with a dedicated tile. This fake city, complete with its own mass transit, homes, restaurants, and even a city hall, has become a fan-favorite over the past few years, and now it’s even easier to pay a visit.Hardware updates On the hardware side, new versions of the Roku Streaming Stick and Roku Streaming Stick Plus are on the way. The new models are so power-efficient, Roku says, that they are powered directly by your TV — meaning no more hanging cables. The new sticks are also getting a sleek redesign that ensures they don’t block neighboring HDMI ports. The classic Roku Streaming Stick is also getting a voice remote. More

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    in Robotics

    Google Gemini gets an iPad app at last – here’s why that’s a big deal

    Lance Whitney / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNETGoogle Gemini users who’ve been patiently waiting for an official iPad version of the AI now finally have one. On Wednesday, Google rolled out a new flavor of the app designed to take advantage of the tablet’s larger real estate.Sure, you’ve always been able to run the Gemini iPhone app on an iPad. As with any app developed only for the iPhone, doing so runs it in compatibility mode. That means it can appear either in a scaled-down, iPhone-size screen or in a larger, slightly blurry window. Both options look bad, feel clumsy, and can’t tap into the power of the iPad. Also: Gemini for kids is rolling out, and it comes with 3 warnings from GoogleNow available in the App Store, the free Gemini iPad app eliminates the limitations of the iPhone version and offers all the skills of Google’s AI. Gemini Advanced subscribers and free users alike can perform any of the following tasks: Type or speak your request at the promptLaunch Gemini Live for natural back-and-forth conversationsGenerate images and videosAnalyze photos, documents, and other filesRun Deep Research to get a detailed report based on online sourcesUse Canvas mode to write and revise code and documents in real timeAccess Audio Overview to create an AI-hosted podcast on any topic More

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    in Information Technology

    How Google’s AI combats new scam tactics – and how you can stay one step ahead

    ZDNETScammers are always looking to exploit the tools and technologies we use to steal our personal information, money, or both. That’s why companies like Google must defend us from hackers, security threats, and other hazards. It is also why we must take responsibility for our own security. In a blog post published Thursday, Google explains how it thwarts online scams across key products and how we can protect ourselves. Google’s scam detection systemWith the largest share of the search engine market, Google uses AI to detect hundreds of millions of malicious and suspicious search results each day. With the help of AI, the company said its scam detection system has been able to catch 20 times more scammy pages than before. Specifically, the latest advancements in AI help Google analyze more text on the web, identify scam campaigns, and detect emerging threats to its search page.Also: Multimodal AI poses new safety risks, creates CSEM and weapons infoAs one example cited in the blog post, Google has seen a significant increase in attackers impersonating airline customer service providers. With this scam prevalent, travelers who search Google for airline customer service may be taken to a malicious phone number where the scammer tries to capture their personal information. Thanks to AI, the company has been able to reduce the number of such scams by more than 80%. Chrome is another Google product that offers enhanced security protection. Its Enhanced Protection mode in Safe Browsing is its highest level of defense, offering tighter security than Standard Protection mode. Now, AI makes that security even stronger.Gemini Nano, Google’s on-device large language model (LLM) on the desktop, serves up instant analysis on risky and scammy websites, protecting users against new scams not seen before. As one example, Gemini Nano is helping to thwart remote tech support scams, one of the largest online threats. As the next step, Google wants to extend this protection to Android devices.Also: Why Google seems to be losing its iron grip on search – and what I use now insteadAnother way scammers try to pull off an attack is by sending you a host of notifications from malicious websites. To address that threat, Google is kicking off new AI-powered warnings in Chrome for Android. If the AI detects a scammy notification, the content is blocked, and you’ll receive an alert with an option to unsubscribe, view the blocked content, or allow future notifications from that site if you think the warning was a false positive. More

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    in Robotics

    4 ways to arm your employees against cyber threats

    Manuel Breva Colmeiro / Getty Images While businesses are powered by technology – email, texts, video calls, file-sharing, communications platforms, and the telephone – they remain driven by humans. That means human error can be the weakest link in cybersecurity. Last year, data breaches cost businesses across the world an average of $5 million, according […] More

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    in Robotics

    You should update your Google Pixel phone ASAP – here’s why

    Kerry Wan/ZDNETGoogle is rolling out its Pixel Update for May 2025, and it includes a critical security patch. Here’s what you can expect from the company’s latest update. What’s in the May Pixel update?The update bundles a fix for a bug that causes degraded microphone recording quality in certain apps, a fix for a problem that causes issues with Bluetooth pairing to certain smartwatches, and a fix for a glitch that causes quick settings menu items to appear in a secondary language. Then there are the security patches.Nearly 30 security fixes are a part of this update, but the most important is one called CVE-2025-27363, which Google says “may be under limited, targeted exploitation.” In other words, it’s a vulnerability that’s being actively exploited by people with bad intentions. Also: 6 rumored Android 16 features that are making this loyal Pixel user ecstaticGoogle didn’t offer any more details about what this exploit is or how it’s being taken advantage of, but the fact that Google named it specifically in the patch notes shows it’s critical. Google says this update also includes a bootloader update that prevents your device from being rolled back to a previous, vulnerable version of Android. Once you install this update, your phone won’t be able to go back to an earlier build.What devices are getting the May Pixel update?All supported Pixel phones and tablets (the 6a and beyond) running Android 15 will get this update, Google says. Rollout will start today and continue over the next week in phases, depending on your carrier and device. You’ll get a notification once the update is available.You can always check your Android version manually, too. To see if an update is available, open Settings, scroll down, and tap on “Security and privacy.” Tap “Check for updates” under “System & updates” and follow the prompts.Get the morning’s top stories in your inbox each day with our Tech Today newsletter. More

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    in Robotics

    T-Mobile is rewarding loyal users with a free line – here’s who qualifies

    NurPhoto / Getty Images If you’ve been a loyal T-Mobile customer, you might have a free line coming your way. According to documentation from The Mobile Report, the carrier is offering a free line to select accounts. The new line will be available today, and eligible customers will receive an automated text soon to let […] More