Author: Allen Kurian Thomas

Perplexity—the AI-driven search engine positioning itself as a Google rival—unveiled Perplexity Labs on Thursday as part of its \$20/month Pro subscription. This new feature lets subscribers generate everything from detailed reports and spreadsheets to interactive dashboards and custom mini-apps. Labs is already accessible via the web, iOS, and Android, with Mac and Windows apps “coming soon.” According to Perplexity’s blog, Labs is tailored for tasks that require more sustained effort—around ten minutes or longer—and leverages advanced capabilities such as file generation and on-the-fly app creation. Arriving the same day that viral AI agent platform Manus introduced its own slide-deck maker,…

On Wednesday, Microsoft revealed that the beta of its Copilot for Gaming feature is now available. Participants in the beta can try it out through the Xbox app on both iOS and Android. This initial release lets the assistant answer your game-related queries, direct you to helpful resources, and draw on your account details—such as play history and achievements—to provide tailored responses. For instance, you might ask: “What’s my current gamer score, and how can I boost it?” or “I’m a fan of horror—what game would you recommend?” You can also inquire about specific account details like: “What was my…

Meta confirmed on Tuesday that WhatsApp is now officially available as a native iPad app. The new application supports video and voice calls with up to 32 participants, screen sharing, and both front- and rear-camera use. Previously, iPad users could only access WhatsApp through its browser-based Web interface. WhatsApp for iPad takes full advantage of iPadOS multitasking capabilities like Stage Manager, Split View, and Slide Over. This means you can, for example, browse websites or plan a group trip in one window while continuing a chat or call in another—something that on a phone would require switching apps. The app…

Apple has reportedly been planning a major overhaul of its smart home products, including a futuristic tabletop device with a robotic arm that can traverse your desk. Before that high-end model arrives, though, the company may first release a more affordable version that omits some of the premium features. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, this entry-level hub—codenamed J490—could hit shelves before year’s end. It would sport a roughly 7-inch, iPad-style touchscreen in a square form, complete with a front-facing camera, built-in speakers and battery, and integration with Apple Intelligence. Its interface is said to blend elements of watchOS and the…

Underdogs Studio, an Indian developer, has unveiled gameplay for Mukti, its narrative-focused adventure title currently in development for PC and PS5. Set in mid-2000s India, the game challenges players to navigate a museum and piece together clues about its history. Mukti is being created under Sony’s India Hero Project and is now available to add to your Steam and PlayStation Store wishlists. Mukti Gameplay Trailer Debut Players assume the role of Arya, a young woman determined to solve her grandfather’s disappearance. Drawing inspiration from story-rich adventures like Firewatch and Gone Home, Mukti offers a first-person exploration of a sprawling Mumbai…

On Thursday, Anthropic introduced two additions to its Claude 4 lineup: Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4. According to Anthropic, Opus 4 is now the “world’s best coding model,” excelling at sustained, long-horizon agentic workflows, while Sonnet 4 delivers stronger coding and reasoning than its predecessor, Sonnet 3.7. Starting with Claude Opus 4: on the SWE-bench verified benchmark—which tests real software engineering tasks—it scores 72.5%, edging out OpenAI’s top coder, Codex-1, at 72.1%. When leveraging parallel test-time compute (similar to Gemini 2.5 Pro’s Deep Think mode), Opus 4’s accuracy jumps to an impressive 79.4%. Interestingly, Claude Sonnet 4 tallies…

At Computex 2025, AMD unveiled the newest member of its 9000-series GPUs: the Radeon RX 9060 XT. Positioned below the RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT in the lineup, this mid-range card delivers RDNA 4 capabilities at a more accessible price point. To hit its lower cost, AMD swapped in the Navi 44 GPU—based on RDNA 4—instead of the Navi 48 silicon found in the 9070-series. The RX 9060 XT marks the debut of this chip, which we can expect to see in additional SKUs as AMD expands its range. Serving as the follow-up to 2024’s RX 7600 XT (which…

Designing an app’s interface—one that’s intuitive, polished, and accessible—can be time-consuming and often demands familiarity with design tools like Figma. Now, Google has unveiled an AI-powered solution that can produce a fully realized app UI in minutes, no design background required. Called Stitch, this experimental tool transforms simple text prompts and image inputs into detailed UI mockups and even the corresponding frontend code. For example, you might ask for “a gallery app with a ‘people you may know’ section at the top,” and within moments, Stitch will deliver a polished design. Thanks to Gemini 2.5 Pro’s multimodal capabilities, you can…

Google I/O 2025—Google’s flagship developer event—kicks off Tuesday and Wednesday at Mountain View’s Shoreline Amphitheatre. We’re reporting live with the latest from the show floor. Across Android, Chrome, Search, YouTube and its AI initiatives—most notably the Gemini chatbot—Google has unveiled a slew of features and tools. The Android Show At this dedicated Android event, Google revealed enhanced device-finding capabilities, expanded protections under its Advanced Protection program, new security measures to thwart scams and theft, and introduced Material 3 Expressive, the next evolution of its design language. Below is everything Google announced: Gemini Ultra Available now in the U.S. for $249.99/month,…

Microsoft announced at Build 2025 that it will eliminate the developer registration fee for the Microsoft Store on Windows. Beginning in June 2025, individual developers can create an account and publish apps at no cost—a process that previously carried a roughly $19 charge. This change comes amid growing scrutiny of app-store fees, especially for rivals like Apple, which still enforces a $99 annual subscription despite commission-based charges, and Google, which requires a one-time $25 registration fee for Play. Microsoft will continue to apply its commerce platform fees—12% for games and 15% for apps—but developers who integrate their own payment systems…