Cell Phone Satisfaction Tumbles to 10-Year Low in Latest ACSI Survey By John P. Mello Jr. May 21, 2025 5:00 AM PT ADVERTISEMENT Proven Tactics to Scale SMB Software Companies in Competitive Markets Gain market share, boost customer acquisition, and improve operational strength. Get the SMB Software Playbook for Expansion & Growth now -- essential reading for growing tech firms. Free Download. What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, cell phone satisfaction was riding high in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), which surveys U.S. consumers. This year, it has hit an all-time low. The ACSI, a national economic indicator for over 25 years, reported Tuesday that after reaching an all-time high in 2024, cell phone satisfaction fell to its lowest point in a decade, scoring 78 on a scale of 100. “Brands keep racing to add new capabilities, yet customers still judge smartphones by the fundamentals,” Forrest Morgeson, an associate professor of marketing at Michigan State University and Director of Research Emeritus at the ACSI, said in a statement. “Only when companies strengthen the essentials — battery life, call reliability, and ease of use — does innovation truly deliver lasting satisfaction,” he continued. “I totally agree,” added Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies, a technology advisory firm in San Jose, Calif. “Battery life is the number one issue we see in our smartphone surveys,” he told TechNewsWorld. “And call reliability is always a concern because dropped calls or disconnects during social media sessions are frustrating.” People are still getting excited about new features, but they still want greater battery life and their phones to be easier to use than before, countered Bryan Cohen, CEO of Opn Communication, a telecommunications agency based in Sheridan, Wyo. “Take my father. He’s 72 years old, and he wanted an iPhone 16,” he told TechNewsWorld. “I finally went out and got it for him. He got really excited about AI, but then he gets frustrated with it because it’s not easy to use, and he gets mad at the phone.” Phone Makers Take a Hit Dissatisfaction with cell phones affected manufacturers’ ratings, too, according to the ACSI study, which was based on 27,494 completed surveys. Both Apple’s and Samsung’s ratings slipped a point to 81, although Samsung had a slight edge over Apple in the 5G phone category. Both, however, had significant leads in satisfaction compared to their nearest rivals, Google and Motorola, which slid three points to 75. The ACSI researchers also found a widening gap in satisfaction between owners of 5G and non-5G phones. Satisfaction with 5G phones fell two points but still posted a respectable score of 80. Meanwhile, satisfaction with phones using legacy technology plummeted seven points to 68. “It’s very important to understand that the mobile networks in the U.S. use different spectrum bands,” explained John Strand of Denmark-based Strand Consulting, a consulting firm with a focus on global telecom. “If you have an old phone, it may not run so well on all spectrum bands,” he told TechNewsWorld. “It certainly won’t work as well as a new phone with a newer chipset.” The dissatisfaction can also be due to a technology misunderstanding, added Opn Comm’s Cohen. “People will have a phone for four or five years and not understand their phone might not have been built for 5G,” he explained. “People expect their LTE phones to automatically go to the next generation,” he continued. “That’s not necessarily the case. Their phone might not be 5G compatible, just like some phones still are not eSIM compatible.” ISPs See Modest Satisfaction Improvements On the plus side, the study found that satisfaction with ISPs, including fiber and non-fiber services, ticked up a point to 72. Satisfaction with fiber declined by one point, to 75, the study noted, while non-fiber jumped three points, to 70. The improved satisfaction rating can be attributed to new investments by the carriers, said Creative Strategies’ Bajarin. “They are gaining new technologies that boost their signal, including some redundancy technologies to make their lines more stable,” he explained. The study noted that AT&T Fiber is leading the fiber segment in satisfaction, scoring a 78 on the index despite a three-point drop. Hot on the heels of AT&T are Google Fiber and Verizon FiOS, at 76, and Xfinity Fiber, at 75. A big gainer in the fiber segment was Optimum, which jumped eight points to 71. The ACSI researchers explained that Optimum’s satisfaction burst was driven primarily by its efforts to add value by strengthening the quality of its customer service. The remaining group of smaller ISPs didn’t fare as well. They dropped nine points to 70. The study noted that “all elements of the fiber customer experience have worsened over the past year, with notable decreases in measures relating to the quality of internet service.” In the non-fiber segment, T-Mobile gained three points to tie leader AT&T at 78. According to the study, T-Mobile has been successful in improving the consistency of its non-fiber service while adding value through improved customer service and plan options. Not far behind the leaders is Verizon, which saw its satisfaction score jump four points to 77. Kinetic by Windstream was a big gainer in the non-fiber segment. It surged 11 points to 62. “By making significant improvements in practical service metrics, Windstream drives customer perceptions of the value of its Kinetic service higher,” the study explained. Wireless Service Satisfaction Slips Declining satisfaction afflicted the wireless phone service industry, according to the ACSI. Overall, the industry dropped a point to 75. Its segments also saw satisfaction declines: value mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) slid three points to 78; mobile network operators (MNOs) fell one point to 75; and full-service MVNOs slipped three points to 74. Individual MNO players in the market experienced similar declines, with T-Mobile dropping one point to 76, AT&T falling five points to 74, and UScellular losing three points to 72. Verizon was the only gainer in the top four, with a one-point increase to 75. The ACSI researchers explained that in addition to measuring satisfaction with operators, the study measures satisfaction with call quality and network capability. Over the last year, AT&T suffered the largest decrease in both, dropping six points to 77 for call quality and eight points to 76 for network capability. A new feature of this year’s telecommunication and cell phone report is the addition of smartwatches. The study found that Samsung, with a score of 83, edged Apple Watch, which scored 80 in satisfaction. Fitbit finished third with a score of 72. John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John. Leave a Comment Click here to cancel reply. Please sign in to post or reply to a comment. New users create a free account. Related Stories More by John P. Mello Jr. view all More in Smartphones

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Make no mistake, Google wants to run the technology inside your first pair of luxury smart sunglasses, but it’s not leaving the looks to chance or for its own internal designers to handle. Instead it’s turning to established eyewear partners with experience in the space it clearly wants to dominate, as it aims to make Android XR the go-to software for eyewear brands to adopt.  Big names with the right experience  During the keynote presentation for Google I/O 2025, the company’s annual developer conference, Android XR was showcased towards the end of the two-hour event using prototype smart glass hardware. Google’s ongoing decision not to show any consumer-ready models of its own suddenly made sense when it announced two partnerships related to smart glasses — Gentle Monster and Warby Parker — on stage, along with a third, Kering Eyewear, outside of the keynote. Recommended Videos It doesn’t look like Google intends to make glasses of its own, preferring to outsource the hardware to other brands, rather than add another homegrown product to its own Pixel mobile device range. It’s by far the best decision it could have made. Making spectacles of any kind is not like making a phone or a smartwatch, and although Google’s pockets are deep enough to hire experts, it’d be a long time before it nailed the design and fit, and likely impossible to build an extensive range of shapes for different faces required for wide success in a short amount of time.  It hasn’t just chosen any old sunglasses manufacturer as partners though. The names already confirmed are not only well-known, they also have clear ambitions in integrating technology into their business, and they’re all approaching the challenge from different directions too. Google’s handling the software, and letting others deal with the hardware. If you’ve been around Android for a while and remember its smartphone beginnings, this will be a familiar strategy. Gentle who, Warby what?  We’ll come back to Warby Parker and why it’s a great choice for Google in a moment, as you may not be familiar with Gentle Monster, yet it’s probably the most exciting of the three partners. The South Korean brand started out in 2011 and although it sells its products globally, it’s best known in its home country, Japan, and China. It’s recognized for its creatively exciting retail stores, partnerships with big fashion brands, and its continued use of technology.  Gentle Monster has already fully embraced technology. From its wild, futuristic, often cyberpunk-inspired designs to the crazy high-tech art installations inside its retail stores, the brand is the perfect match for Google’s software. It has already tried its hand with smartglasses, having worked with Huawei several times, starting out during the audio-first smart glass wave around 2020. Outside of actual smart glasses it has introduced augmented reality try-on technology, produced a collaborative mobile game, worked with video game brands on some crazy designs, and has a well established online retail presence.  Warby Parker sunglasses Warby Parker Warby Parker will likely be the more familiar name due to its unusual direct sales platform, the Buy a Pair, Give a Pair charitable program, and clever marketing through online sources such as podcasts. It’s not as tech-forward as Gentle Monster and that’s a good thing, as its classic designs will appeal to those who don’t want to make a strong statement. Google is doing more than just signing a partnership agreement with Warby Parker, it’s investing $150 million into the brand, with half set aside to develop new products. This is evidence of its serious commitment to developing smart glasses. The final new partnership is with Kering Eyewear, a conglomerate designing products for 14 top luxury names including Gucci, Montblanc, Balenciaga, Cartier, and others. It also has its own eyewear brands, including Lindberg and Maui Jim. Google’s vice president of XR, Shahram Izadi, made its intentions with the company clear in the press release, saying, “Integrating our immersive XR platform with Kering Eyewear’s iconic styles will give consumers the fashion and function to get the most out of Android XR.” Leaving nothing to chance Maui Jim (a Kering Eyewear brand) sunglasses Mark Thompson/Getty Images / Maui Jim Meta’s partnership with EssilorLuxottica for the Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses helped make the product a success. Ray-Ban’s expertise and product understanding allowed Meta to release essentially one pair of glasses which are so well designed and timeless, they suit the vast majority of faces. However, the Wayfarer is fairly unique in the world of glasses, where one size almost never fits all.  By partnering with Gentle Monster, Warby Parker, and Kering Eyewear, Google has already got the majority of not only faces, but also tastes neatly covered. Not everyone will be able to pull off a pair of Gentle Monster glasses, or even want to try, but Warby Parker will be there to provide a pair they feel comfortable with, while those who love the latest fashion will likely find something from Kering Eyewear’s list of brands.  Ray-Ban Meta Andy Boxall / Digital Trends All the while, it’ll be Google’s Android XR platform working behind the scenes, providing an optimized and consistent user experience. Google’s Wear OS platform for smartwatches went through a rocky period, but it has improved massively since Wear OS 4, showing the company is now taking wearable tech software seriously, and making us less concerned about it delivering a strong software platform for smart eyewear than we may have been before. High-tech luxury sunglasses are coming Google A consistent and reliable software experience will be more critical than you may think. There’s nothing luxurious about poorly functioning software, and its partners won’t want anything to sour their reputations. Google needs Android XR to practically blend into the background and barely be part of the conversation when it comes time to buy a pair of luxury smart glasses, and that will only come through confidence in the product from all sides. There’s a lot riding on Android XR.  Eyewear is chosen and purchased because of the way it looks on our faces, and the version of ourselves it projects to others. This will be the number one consideration, and Android XR needs to impress by being instantly usable, never intrusive, and almost invisible. By not building the hardware on its own, it appears Google is well aware of this, and its choice of partners shows it also knows it has to cater to as many people as possible to make the platform a success.  Perhaps the only problem here is time, because nothing is happening very quickly. Neither Gentle Monster or Kering Eyewear have talked about when an Android XR product may arrive, and Warby Parker has only said its first products will come after 2025. Provided that means early 2026, the ingredients are there for Google to finally banish the ghost of Glass with its latest high-tech eyewear push, and for your next pair of luxury sunglasses to have Android XR inside. 

Maybe other people are content just knowing the temperature and chance of rain each day, but some of us want to find out every last detail about the weather and in multiple locations. That’s why the Weather Hi-Def Storm Watch Plus app is such a big deal, and it’s so exciting that new users can use code TAKE30 to get a lifetime subscription for just $27.99 (reg. $199.99). Weather Hi-Def Radar goes far beyond normal forecasts. It features weather radar images on interactive satellite maps in real time and with future animations. You can choose a full-screen view to hide the app buttons and have a crystal clear overview of detailed radar activity. Simply tap and hold on the map for current conditions and forecasts, such as checking the direction of a storm in the next few minutes. Of course, this app offers all the usual features of other weather apps, but it also does so much more. It can track 10-day temperatures, rainfall and flooding, winter storm conditions, hurricanes, tropical storms, tornadoes, and more. You can also install Lock and Home Screen Widgets to quickly view hourly weather. A Snow Report displays conditions for your saved locations, including any recent snowfall and the current snow depth. Severe Weather Alerts are activated when precipitation falls or lightning strikes near you and in all saved locations, so you can be prepared and stay safe. Also, be alerted about earthquakes, as well as watches and warnings for floods, tornadoes, thunderstorms, tropical and winter storms, and marine and coastal conditions. In fact, you can get push notifications when precipitation is detected as far as 10 miles from any saved location. Advanced Map overlays provide vital weather information about icy road conditions, tropical storms, earthquakes, air quality, lightning strikes, and even active wildfires. Weather Layers show detailed imagery with layers for temperature, clouds, radar, and more. Enable location permissions to view your GPS position, direction of travel, and elevation on the map. It’s no wonder that Weather Hi-Def Storm Watch Plus has a 4.6 out of 5 stars rating on Apple’s App Store. Get a lifetime subscription to Weather Hi-Def Radar Storm Watch Plus while it’s available to new users for only $27.99 (reg. $199.99) with code TAKE30. StackSocial prices subject to change. _ Weather Hi-Def Radar Storm Watch Plus: Lifetime Subscription See Deal

May 20, 20253 min readIs Your Tech Listening? Apple Settles Claim for Siri EavesdroppingApple is paying $95 million over claims that Siri secretly recorded private chats and fed targeted adsBy Deni Ellis Béchard edited by Dean Visser Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesSex, drug deals and doctor visits: according to allegations, Apple’s Siri eavesdropped on these and much more—on people’s iPhones, HomePods and Apple Watches—and used the content to target advertisements on users’ devices. Despite having denied selling our pillow talk to marketers, Apple just cut a $95-million check to settle a lawsuit in which plaintiffs reported eerie coincidences: discussing Air Jordan sneakers and immediately seeing ads for them; mentioning Olive Garden only to be served pasta commercials; talking privately with a doctor about a surgical procedure before seeing a promo for that very treatment. In early May the settlement administrator opened a claims website, allowing U.S. owners of every Siri-enabled gadget bought between September 2014 and December 2024 (essentially the lifespan of “Hey, Siri”) to request a payout of up to 20 bucks per affected device—enough for a drink and a wary glance at your phone.The lawsuit, Lopez v. Apple, dates back to July 2019, when the Guardian published the allegations of an anonymous whistleblower—an Apple subcontractor whose job was to listen to Siri recordings to determine if the voice-activated assistant was being correctly triggered. The whistleblower claimed that accidental Siri activations routinely captured sensitive audio. Despite Apple’s promises that Siri listens only when invited, background noises (often just the sound of a zipper, according to the whistleblower) could switch it on. The contractor said user location and contact information accompanied recordings.Apple had never explicitly told users that humans might review their Siri requests, and within a week of the Guardian report, the company halted the program. The first Lopez v. Apple complaint was filed in August 2019, and two weeks later Apple issued a public apology in which it promised to make human review opt-in-only and to stop retaining audio by default. That apology was framed to allay customer concerns—not as an admission of wrongdoing. Apple denied all allegations in the lawsuit, which is common in class-action settlements in U.S. courts.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.If the situation sounds familiar, your memory works. In 2018 Amazon’s Alexa recorded a married couple’s conversation about hardwood floors and sent it to one of the husband’s employees. Amazon blamed an unlikely chain of misheard cues—basically, it came down to Alexa butt-dialing someone with living room chatter. The following year Bloomberg reported that Amazon had thousands of workers transcribing clips to fine-tune the assistant. Later Google faced similar allegations. The pattern was clear: robots needed to be trained to make sure that they were hearing voice commands correctly, and this training needed to come from humans who, in the process, inevitably heard things they shouldn’t via consumer gadgets. Even TVs were implicated: in 2015 Samsung warned owners not to discuss secrets near its smart sets because voice commands were sent to unnamed third parties, a disclaimer that could have been written by George Orwell.This isn’t tin-foil-hat territory. A 2019 survey found that 55 percent of Americans believe their phones listen to them to collect data for targeted ads, and a 2023 poll pushed the number north of 60 percent. In the U.K., a 2021 poll found two thirds of adults had noticed an ad that they felt was tied to a recent real-life chat. But psychologists say this perception of “conversation-related ad creep” often relies on a feedback loop driven by confirmation bias: we ignore the thousands of ads that form a constant backdrop to our lives but build a campfire legend from the one time we mentioned “fire,” and an app tried to sell us tiki torches. The result is a low-grade cultural fear, with people placing masking tape on device mics and TikTokers begging Siri to stop stalking them. Knowing how ravenous tech companies are for data, people can hardly be blamed for this attitude.As for Apple, which once put “What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone” on a Las Vegas billboard, the settlement doesn’t force it to admit fault—but lands a dent in its titanium halo: If the Cupertino, Calif.–based company can’t keep a lid on hot-mic moments, who can?(Asked for comment by Scientific American, Apple shared information on the settlement and emphasized its commitment to privacy. And Amazon reiterated its commitment to privacy, writing, “Access to internal services is highly controlled, and is only granted to a limited number of employees who require these services to train and improve the service.” Samsung and Google had not responded to requests for comment by the time of publication.)

From the opening AI-influenced intro video set to "You Get What You Give" by New Radicals to CEO Sundar Pichai's sign-off, Google I/O 2025 was packed with news and updates for the tech giant and its products. And when we say packed, we mean it, as this year's Google I/O clocked in at nearly two hours long. During that time, Google shared some big wins for its AI products, such as Gemini topping various categories on the LMArena leaderboard. Another example that Google seemed really proud of was the fact that Gemini completed Pokémon Blue a few weeks ago.But, we know what you're really here for: Product updates and new product announcements. You May Also Like Aside from a few braggadocious moments, Google spent most of those 117 minutes talking about what's coming out next. Google I/O mixes consumer-facing product announcements with more developer-oriented ones, from the latest Gmail updates to Google's powerful new chip, Ironwood, coming to Google Cloud customers later this year. We're going to break down what product updates and announcements you need to know from the full two-hour event, so you can walk away with all the takeaways without spending the same time it takes to watch a major motion picture to learn about them.Before we dive in though, here's the most shocking news out of Google I/O: The subscription pricing that Google has for its Google AI Ultra plan. While Google provides a base subscription at $19.99 per month, the Ultra plan comes in at a whopping $249.99 per month for its entire suite of products with the highest rate limits available.Google Search AI ModeGoogle tucked away what will easily be its most visible feature way too far back into the event, but we'll surface it to the top.At Google I/O, Google announced that the new AI Mode feature for Google Search is launching today to everyone in the United States. Basically, it will allow users to use Google's search feature but with longer, more complex queries. Using a "query fan-out technique," AI Mode will be able to break a search into multiple parts in order to process each part of the query, then pull all the information together to present to the user. Google says AI Mode "checks its work" too, but its unclear at this time exactly what that means. Google announces AI Mode in Google Search Credit: Google AI Mode is available now. Later in the summer, Google will launch Personal Context in AI Mode, which will make suggestions based on a user's past searches and other contextual information about the user from other Google products like Gmail. In addition, other new features will soon come to AI Mode, such as Deep Search, which can dive deeper into queries by searching through multiple websites, and data visualization features, which can take the search results and present them in a visual graph when applicable.According to Google, its AI overviews in search are viewed by 1.5 billion users every month, so AI Mode clearly has the largest potential user base out of all of Google's announcements today.AI ShoppingOut of all the announcements at the event, these AI shopping features seemed to spark the biggest reaction from Google I/O live attendees.Connected to AI Mode, Google showed off its Shopping Graph, which includes more than 50 billion products globally. Users can just describe the type of product they are looking for – say a specific type of couch, and Google will present options that match that description. Google AI Shopping Credit: Google Google also had a significant presentation that showed its presenter upload a photo of themselves so that AI could create a visual of what she'd look like in a dress. This virtual try-on feature will be available in Google Labs, and it's the IRL version of Cher's Clueless closet.The presenter was then able to use an AI shopping agent to keep tabs on the item's availability and track its price. When the price dropped, the user received a notification of the pricing change.Google said users will be able to try on different looks via AI in Google Labs starting today.Android XRGoogle's long-awaited post-Google Glass AR/VR plans were finally presented at Google I/O. The company also unveiled a number of wearable products utilizing its AR/VR operating system, Android XR.One important part of the Android XR announcement is that Google seems to understand the different use cases for an immersive headset and an on-the-go pair of smartglasses and have built Android XR to accommodate that.While Samsung has previously teased its Project Moohan XR headset, Google I/O marked the first time that Google revealed the product, which is being built in partnership with the mobile giant and chipmaker Qualcomm. Google shared that the Project Moohan headset should be available later this year. Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up! Project Moohan Credit: Google In addition to the XR headset, Google announced Glasses with Android XR, smartglasses that incorporate a camera, speakers, and in-lens display that connect with a user's smartphone. Unlike Google Glass, these smart glasses will incorporate more fashionable looks thanks to partnerships with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker.Google shared that developers will be able to start developing for Glasses starting next year, so it's likely that a release date for the smartglasses will follow after that.GeminiEasily the star of Google I/O 2025 was the company's AI model, Gemini. Google announced a new updated Gemini 2.5 Pro, which it says is its most powerful model yet. The company showed Gemini 2.5 Pro being used to turn sketches into full applications in a demo. Along with that, Google introduced Gemini 2.5 Flash, which is a more affordable version of the powerful Pro model. The latter will be released in early June with the former coming out soon after. Google also revealed Gemini 2.5 Pro Deep Think for complex math and coding, which will only be available to "trusted testers" at first.Speaking of coding, Google shared its asynchronous coding agent Jules, which is currently in public beta. Developers will be able to utilize Jules in order to tackle codebase tasks and modify files. Jules coding agent Credit: Google Developers will also have access to a new Native Audio Output text-to-speech model which can replicate the same voice in different languages.The Gemini app will soon see a new Agent Mode, bringing users an AI agent who can research and complete tasks based on a user's prompts.Gemini will also be deeply integrated into Google products like Workspace with Personalized Smart Replies. Gemini will use personal context via documents, emails, and more from across a user's Google apps in order to match their tone, voice, and style in order to generate automatic replies. Workspace users will find the feature available in Gmail this summer.Other features announced for Gemini include Deep Research, which lets users upload their own files to guide the AI agent when asking questions, and Gemini in Chrome, an AI Assistant that answers queries using the context on the web page that a user is on. The latter feature is rolling out this week for Gemini subscribers in the U.S.Google intends to bring Gemini to all of its devices, including smartwatches, smart cars, and smart TVs.Generative AI updatesGemini's AI assistant capabilities and language model updates were only a small piece of Google's broader AI puzzle. The company had a slew of generative AI announcements to make too.Google announced Imagen 4, its latest image generation model. According to Google, Imagen 4 provides richer details and better visuals. In addition, Imagen 4 is apparently much better at generating text and typography in its graphics. This is an area which AI models are notoriously bad at, so Imagen 4 appears to be a big step forward. Flow AI video tool Credit: Google A new video generation model, Veo 3, was also unveiled with a video generation tool called Flow. Google claims Veo 3 has a stronger understanding of physics when generating scenes and can also create accompanying sound effects, background noise, and dialogue.  Related Stories Both Veo 3 and Flow are available today alongside a new generative music model called Lyria 2.Google I/O also saw the debut of Gemini Canvas, which Google describes as a co-creation platform.Project Starline aka Google BeamAnother big announcement out of Google I/O: Project Starline is no more.Google's immersive communication project will now be known as Google Beam, an AI-first communication platform.As part of Google Beam, Google announced Google Meet translations, which basically provides real-time speech translation during meetings on the platform. AI will be able to match a speaker's voice and tone, so it sounds like the translation is coming directly from them. Google Meet translations are available in English and Spanish starting today with more language on the way in the coming weeks. Google Meet translations Credit: Google Google also had another work-in-progress project to tease under Google Beam: A 3-D conferencing platform that uses multiple cameras to capture a user from different angles in order to render the individual on a 3-D light-field display.Project AstraWhile Project Starline may have undergone a name change, it appears Project Astra is still kicking it at Google, at least for now.Project Astra is Google's real-world universal AI assistant and Google had plenty to announce as part of it.Gemini Live is a new AI assistant feature that can interact with a user's surroundings via their mobile device's camera and audio input. Users can ask Gemini Live questions about what they're capturing on camera and the AI assistant will be able to answer queries based on those visuals. According to Google, Gemini Live is rolling out today to Gemini users. Gemini Live Credit: Google It appears Google has plans to implement Project Astra's live AI capabilities into Google Search's AI mode as a Google Lens visual search enhancement.Google also highlighted some of its hopes for Gemini Live, such as being able to help as an accessibility tool for those with disabilities.Project MarinerAnother one of Google's AI projects is an AI agent that can interact with the web in order to complete tasks for the user known as Project Mariner. While Project Mariner was previously announced late last year, Google had some updates such as a multi-tasking feature which would allow an AI agent to work on up to 10 different tasks simultaneously. Another new feature is Teach and Repeat, which would provide the AI agent with the ability to learn from previously completed tasks in order to complete similar ones without the need for the same detailed direction in the future.Google announced plans to bring these agentic AI capabilities to Chrome, Google Search via AI Mode, and the Gemini app.

Google I/O 2025, Google’s biggest developer conference of the year, takes place Tuesday and Wednesday at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View. We’re on the ground bringing you the latest updates from the event.  I/O showcases product announcements from across Google’s portfolio. We’ve got plenty of news relating to Android, Chrome, Google Search, YouTube, and — of course — Google’s AI-powered chatbot, Gemini. Google hosted a separate event dedicated to Android updates: The Android Show. The company announced new ways to find lost Android phones and other items, additional device-level features for its Advanced Protection program, security tools to protect against scams and theft, and a new design language called Material 3 Expressive. Here are all the things announced at Google I/O 2025. Gemini Ultra Gemini Ultra (only in the U.S. for now) delivers the “highest level of access” to Google’s AI-powered apps and services, according to Google. It’s priced at $249.99 per month and includes Google’s Veo 3 video generator, the company’s new Flow video editing app, and a powerful AI capability called Gemini 2.5 Pro Deep Think mode, which hasn’t launched yet. AI Ultra comes with higher limits in Google’s NotebookLM platform and Whisk, the company’s image remixing app. AI Ultra subscribers also get access to Google’s Gemini chatbot in Chrome; some “agentic” tools powered by the company’s Project Mariner tech; YouTube Premium; and 30TB of storage across Google Drive, Google Photos, and Gmail. Deep Think in Gemini 2.5 Pro Deep Think is an “enhanced” reasoning mode for Google’s flagship Gemini 2.5 Pro model. It allows the model to consider multiple answers to questions before responding, boosting its performance on certain benchmarks. Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | June 5 REGISTER NOW Google didn’t go into detail about Deep Think works, but it could be similar to OpenAI’s o1-pro and upcoming o3-pro models, which likely use an engine to search for and synthesize the best solution to a given problem. Deep Think is available to “trusted testers” via the Gemini API. Google said that it’s taking additional time to conduct safety evaluations before rolling out Deep Think widely. Veo 3 video-generating AI model Google claims that Veo 3 can generate sound effects, background noises, and even dialogue to accompany the videos it creates. Veo 3 also improves upon its predecessor, Veo 2, in terms of the quality of footage it can generate, Google says. Veo 3 is available beginning Tuesday in Google’s Gemini chatbot app for subscribers to Google’s $249.99-per-month AI Ultra plan, where it can be prompted with text or an image. Imagen 4 AI image generator According to Google, Imagen 4 is fast — faster than Imagen 3. And it’ll soon get faster. In the near future, Google plans to release a variant of Imagen 4 that’s up to 10x quicker than Imagen 3. Imagen 4 is capable of rendering “fine details” like fabrics, water droplets, and animal fur, according to Google. It can handle both photorealistic and abstract styles, creating images in a range of aspect ratios and up to 2K resolution. Both Veo 3 and Imagen 4 will be used to power Flow, the company’s AI-powered video tool geared towards filmmaking.  A sample from Imagen 4.Image Credits:Google Gemini app updates Google announced that Gemini apps have more than 400 monthly active users.  Gemini Live’s camera and screen-sharing capabilities will roll out this week to all users on iOS and Android. The feature, powered by Project Astra, lets people have near-real time verbal conversations with Gemini, while also streaming video from their smartphone’s camera or screen to the AI model. Google says Gemini Live will also start to integrate more deeply with its other apps in the coming weeks: It will soon be able to offer directions from Google Maps, create events in Google Calendar, and make to-do lists with Google Tasks. Google says it’s updating Deep Research, Gemini’s AI agent that generates thorough research reports, by allowing users to upload their own private PDFs and images. Stitch Stitch is an AI-powered tool to help people design web and mobile app front ends by generating the necessary UI elements and code. Stitch can be prompted to create app UIs with a few words or even an image, providing HTML and CSS markup for the designs it generates. Stitch is a bit more limited in what it can do compared to some other vibe coding products, but there’s a fair amount of customization options. Google has also expanded access to Jules, its AI agent aimed at helping developers fix bugs in code. The tool helps developers understand complex code, create pull requests on GitHub, and handle certain backlog items and programming tasks. Project Mariner Project Mariner is Google’s experimental AI agent that browses and uses websites. Google says it has significantly updated how Project Mariner works, allowing the agent to take on nearly a dozen tasks at a time, and is now rolling it out to users. For example, Project Mariner users can purchase tickets to a baseball game or buy groceries online without ever visiting a third-party website. People can just chat with Google’s AI agent, and it visits websites and takes actions for them. Project Astra Google’s low latency, multimodal AI experience, Project Astra, will power an array of new experiences in Search, the Gemini AI app, and products from third-party developers.  Project Astra was born out of Google DeepMind as a way to showcase nearly real-time, multimodal AI capabilities. The company says it’s now building those Project Astra glasses with partners including Samsung and Warby Parker, but the company doesn’t have a set launch date yet.  AI Mode Google is rolling out AI Mode, the experimental Google Search feature that lets people ask complex, multi-part questions via an AI interface, to users in the U.S. this week. AI Mode will support the use of complex data in sports and finance queries, and it will offer “try it on” options for apparel. Search Live, which is rolling out later this summer, will let you ask questions based on what your phone’s camera is seeing in real-time.  Gmail is the first app to be supported with personalized context. Beam 3D teleconferencing Beam, previously called Starline, uses a combination of software and hardware, including a six-camera array and custom light field display, to let a user converse with someone as if they were in the same meeting room. An AI model converts video from the cameras, which are positioned at different angles and pointed toward the user, into a 3D rendering. Google’s Beam boasts “near-perfect” millimeter-level head tracking and 60fps video streaming. When used with Google Meet, Beam provides an AI-powered real-time speech translation feature that preserves the original speaker’s voice, tone, and expressions. And speaking of Google Meet, Google announced that Meet is getting real-time speech translation. More AI updates Google is launching Gemini in Chrome, which will give people access to a new AI browsing assistant that will help them quickly understand the context of a page and get tasks done.  Gemma 3n is a model designed to run “smoothly” on phones, laptops, and tablets. It’s available in preview starting Tuesday; it can handle audio, text, images, and videos, according to Google. The company also announced a ton of AI Workspace features coming to Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Vids. Most notably, Gmail is getting personalized smart replies and a new inbox-cleaning feature, while Vids is getting new ways to create and edit content. Video Overviews are coming to NotebookLM, and the company rolled out SynthID Detector, a verification portal that uses Google’s SynthID watermarking technology to help identify AI-generated content. Lyria RealTime, the AI model that powers its experimental music production app, is now available via an API. Wear OS 6 Wear OS 6 brings a unified font to tiles for a cleaner app look, and Pixel Watches are getting dynamic theming that syncs app colors with watch faces.  The core promise of the new design reference platform is to let developers build better customization in apps along with seamless transitions. The company is releasing a design guideline for developers along with Figma design files. Image Credits:Google / Google Play Google is beefing up the Play Store for Android developers with fresh tools to handle subscriptions, topic pages so users can dive into specific interests, audio samples to give folks a sneak peek into app content, and a new checkout experience to make selling add-ons smoother. “Topic browse” pages for movies and shows (U.S. only for now) will connect users to apps tied to tons of shows and movies. Plus, developers are getting dedicated pages for testing and releases, and tools to keep an eye on and improve their app rollouts. Developers using Google can also now halt live app releases if a critical problem pops up. Subscription management tools are also getting an upgrade with multi-product checkout. Devs will soon be able to offer subscription add-ons alongside main subscriptions, all under one payment. Android Studio Android Studio is integrating new AI features, including “Journeys,” an “agentic AI” capability that coincides with the release of the Gemini 2.5 Pro model. And an “Agent Mode” will be able to handle more-intricate development processes. Android Studio will receive new AI capabilities, including an enhanced “crash insights” feature in the App Quality Insights panel. This improvement, powered by Gemini, will analyze an app’s source code to identify potential causes of crashes and suggest fixes.

Gaming consoles have come a long way from the days of simple joysticks and monochrome screens. As we move further into 2025, the landscape continues to evolve rapidly, with new devices blurring the boundaries between traditional gaming, social connectivity, and creative expression. When choosing the right console, it’s no longer just about specs or exclusive titles. Today’s best devices are about how they fit into your life, how they connect you with others, and how they foster creativity or healthy habits. They’re as much about self-expression and lifestyle as they are about graphics and gameplay. We have curated a collection of five exciting gaming consoles—each with a unique vision for the future of play. Dive in and pick your favorite! 1. Nintendo Wii U Revival Handheld Nintendo’s legacy of innovation finds new life in a modern handheld that pays homage to the underappreciated Wii U gamepad. This concept isn’t about replicating the hybrid appeal of the Switch – instead, it’s a focused portable device built for pure gaming pleasure. The design is refreshingly straightforward—a central, high-resolution screen flanked by familiar symmetrical analog sticks and a thoughtfully arranged button layout. Unlike the original Wii U’s somewhat cumbersome form, this new iteration is compact and portable, making it easy to slip into a bag or pocket. USB-C charging, an authentic D-pad, and a visually striking range of colorways (including a stunning gold Zelda edition) make it clear this is a modern device for devoted Nintendo fans. By reviving the Wii U’s backward compatibility and expanding on it, it offers a treasure trove of classic titles from the NES era to the Game Boy Advance—all playable locally, without subscriptions or cloud dependencies. What we like Access to a massive selection of classic Nintendo titles across multiple generations, playable offline and without ongoing fees. Slim, ergonomic form factor with contemporary features like USB-C charging and a responsive D-pad. What we dislike While nostalgic, the focus on past games may not appeal to those seeking cutting-edge, next-gen exclusives or mainstream AAA releases. Unlike the Switch, this device is a dedicated handheld, with no option to dock for TV play, potentially limiting its appeal for some users. 2. Kimera In an era where screens too often serve as conduits for endless scrolling and digital noise, the Kimera AI handheld introduces a refreshing alternative. This device is engineered for those seeking a more mindful relationship with technology, prioritizing creative expression and personal growth over passive consumption. Kimera’s AI-driven platform encourages users to disconnect from social media and instead invest their time in building unique, story-driven games, short films, animations, or even entirely new interactive worlds. Its sleek, distraction-free design invites you to put down your phone and channel your curiosity into something constructive. What we like Designed to help users break free from social media addiction and replace passive habits with creative pursuits. Offers guided experiences for game design, animation, and storytelling, making creativity accessible to all skill levels. What we dislike Its focus on creativity and self-development may not resonate with gamers seeking action-packed or traditional gameplay experiences. Those unfamiliar with creative software or design principles may need time to fully unlock the device’s potential. 3. Nintendo Niino Imagine a console that fits comfortably on your wrist, ready for gaming whenever and wherever you are. The Nintendo Niino takes inspiration from the portability of smartwatches and the playful essence of classic Nintendo handhelds, resulting in a device that’s both charming and functional. Its design is minimalist yet instantly recognizable – a SIM card-shaped body with a black base, accented by red, blue, and grey buttons, echoing Nintendo’s signature colors. The touchscreen and streamlined three-button layout are perfect for quick microgames and bite-sized fun, while the option to wear it like a gaming smartwatch makes it a conversation starter. It’s small enough to be a constant companion, whether you’re waiting in line, commuting, or taking a break at work. What we like Its compact, wrist-friendly design ensures gaming is always within reach, blurring the line between console and smart device. Quick, microgame-focused gameplay encourages spontaneous play and sharing among friends. What we dislike The small screen and minimal controls restrict the types of games that can be fully enjoyed, making it less suitable for deep or immersive experiences. While its novelty is undeniable, long-term engagement may wane if not supported by an excellent library or meaningful connectivity features. 4. Nex Playground For those who crave movement and shared experiences, the Nex Playground reimagines what it means to play together at home. This innovative cube-shaped console transforms any living room into a hub for active gaming, blending the best aspects of classic motion-based systems like the Wii and Kinect with the convenience of modern technology. The built-in motion-tracking camera captures players’ movements without the need for wearable sensors, making setup effortless and play instantly immersive. The console’s approachable design and family-friendly focus ensure that gamers of all ages can join the fun, whether they’re dancing, kicking, or competing in friendly mini-games. What we like Motion-tracking technology encourages players to move, making gaming a healthier, more dynamic experience. Suitable for all ages and skill levels, fostering family fun and group interaction. What we dislike Focus on motion-based and party games may limit appeal for solo players or fans of traditional genres. To fully enjoy the active gameplay, you’ll need ample room—something not every living space can accommodate. 5. ORBIS The ORBIS handheld is a love letter to personal expression and flexible gaming. Taking inspiration from classic clamshell devices, it brings a modern twist by allowing users to customize the look of their console through removable ABS covers. The ORBIS lets you swap out covers as easily as you change phone cases. RGB lighting around the analog sticks amplifies the gamer vibe but also serves a practical purpose, enhancing visibility in low-light settings. Beyond its appearance, the ORBIS is packed with powerful specs to ensure smooth gameplay across a variety of titles. It’s more than just a fashion statement—it’s a versatile platform that appeals to both serious and casual gamers. What we like Removable covers and RGB lighting allow for unprecedented personalization, making each unit truly one-of-a-kind. The folding design protects the screen and controls during transport, enhancing portability and longevity. What we dislike Customization options and premium features may drive up the price compared to more basic handhelds. The clamshell mechanism and removable parts could make the device thicker or heavier than sleeker competitors. The post Top 5 Gaming Consoles To Consider In May 2025 For Every Gamer first appeared on Yanko Design.

Cable broadband may have more subscribers, but fiber customers remain more content with their connectivity, per the latest survey from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).As in last year's ACSI survey, fiber broadband's fast speeds—not just downloads but also uploads—place it far ahead of cable. AT&T Fiber ranked highest, with a score of 78 out of 100, followed by Google Fiber (GFiber) and Verizon Fios at 76 each. Third place goes to an unlikely company: Comcast, whose small Xfinity Fiber network earns a score of 75.Comcast's mainstream Xfinity cable service, meanwhile, comes away with a mediocre score of 69. That lands the Philadelphia firm in the middle of a group of cable operators in the non-fiber category of ACSI's report: Cable One's Sparklight and Charter's Spectrum, tied at 71, and Cox, 68. (On Friday, Charter announced plans to buy Cox, a deal that would make the combined firm the biggest cable broadband service.)The top two non-fiber services, however, are both fixed-wireless 5G: T-Mobile's leads the category at 78, with Verizon right behind at 77. AT&T, which sells a hybrid-fiber service it confusingly brands as just "AT&T Internet" as well as "AT&T Internet Air" fixed-wireless 5G, has a less impressive 70. Fiber providers did well in PCMag's Readers' Choice awards for 2024, with GFiber winning best overall and best fiber ISP, followed by Verizon as best major ISP. Our Best ISPs of 2024 survey had similar results, with GFiber winning Best Major ISP and T-Mobile taking Best All-Around ISP. ACSI's survey results line up even closer with our readers' picks in wireless carriers and wireless resellers, also known as MVNOs, short for "mobile virtual network operators." Once again, the ACSI finds people like wireless service better when they pay a different company for it: The highest-ranked service, the AT&T reseller (and regular occupant of a top spot in our Readers' Choice lists) Consumer Cellular, earns an 82, while AT&T itself gets a 74. Recommended by Our EditorsAT&T-owned Cricket also does better than its parent firm with a score of 76.T-Mobile does best among the big three with a 76, but its Mint Mobile brand does three points better. And while Verizon comes just behind T-Mobile at 75, Spectrum Mobile, based on resold Verizon capacity, also comes in three points above. Two prepaid services owned by Verizon—Straight Talk, 78, and Tracfone, 77—also do better than their corporate parent.ACSI chalks up slight declines across the wireless industry to "call quality and network capability issues" that hurt both the wireless carriers and the services reselling their networks. This latest ACSI survey also assessed customer happiness with smartphones and smartwatches. In the former category, Apple and Google tie with scores of 81, followed by Google and Motorola tied at 75. In what should surprise nobody who has ever picked up a phone, respondents are least satisfied with battery life, although that 77 rating still beats the wireless industry's sector-wide score of 75.We can endorse this comment in the ACSI report: "Customers have largely shrugged off AI-driven enhancements to date and continue to value the practical basics of calling ease, texting ease, and phone design while craving better battery life."The latter category, a new addition to ACSI surveys, has Samsung wearables leading Apple, 83 to 80. Google's Fitbit comes in third at 72; the survey did not cover Google's Pixel Watch series.ACSI, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., collected 27,494 surveys from its pool of respondents, picked at random and quizzed via email from April 2024 to March 2025.

Now that Memorial Day sales have begun, here are the best deals on Apple products, including MacBooks, iPhones, AirPods, iPads, and accessories from online retailers.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.If you're looking for a Garmin watch at a great price, the recent drops of the Forerunner 570 and 970 is excellent news—not because you should pick up those models (they're fine, I guess) but because the older generations of Forerunner, which remain excellent watches, are now going for ludicrously low prices. The previous models, the 265 and 965, are great, but you can go back one more generation to the 255 and 955—released in 2022—and save hundreds of dollars without sacrificing any major functionality. I truly can't think of any fitness watch that is a better deal right now, given the prices we're seeing on these two: currently $247 for the Forerunner 255, and $373 for the Forerunner 955, which is the upgraded version with maps and a few extra training features. Garmin Forerunner 255 GPS Running Smartwatch (Gray) $247.50 at Amazon $349.99 Save $102.49 Get Deal Get Deal $247.50 at Amazon $349.99 Save $102.49 Why am I recommending three-year-old watches? I'll get into the specs below, but the important context here is that Garmin's Forerunners have serious longevity. Running app Strava releases year-end trend reports that consistently show older Forerunners among the nation's and the world's most popular running watches. The most recent report, for example, had the Garmin Forerunner 245 in third place, after the Apple Watch and Apple Watch SE. That's a five-year-old watch. Not long ago, the Forerunner 235, then an eight-year-old watch, was the most popular worldwide. These things last!What the 255 and 955 are missing compared to newer models (not much) Left: 265S (the smaller, newer model). Right: 255 (the larger one with the MIP screen that's currently on sale). Credit: Beth Skwarecki The numbered models can get confusing, but I promise you’ll be able to follow along. All the watches that start with a 9 are the top-of-the-line Forerunners (the 955 was replaced by the 965 and most recently the 970) and most of those came with a little sibling that starts with a 2 (respectively: the 255, 265, and in a break from tradition, 570). The 9xx series have onboard maps that let you see exactly where you are and where you're going. The 2xx watches have breadcrumb navigation that shows you the general shape of the route you've already taken. If you need a map on your wrist, you probably want to go for a 9xx. I wrote about the newest models here, so you can see what the 970 has over the 965 (and what the 570 has over the 265). The big feature is that the 570 and 970 support voice calling and voice texts, and the 970 has a built-in LED flashlight. If those features aren't must-haves for you, take a look at the next generation back. The 265 and 965 are excellent watches with important functionality, like dual-band GPS. you can read my review of the 265 here:, and note that the 265 is my own personal running watch, the one that I bought with my own money because I love it. The 265 has a ton of great features for runners. Some are concrete and functional: physical buttons, lots of options for data screens, and a dual-band GPS for extra location accuracy. Others are more software-y but still arguably useful: training status, daily suggested workouts. The battery also lasts between one and two weeks, depending on how many workouts you do. The 965 has all that, plus onboard maps, so you can see where you are relative to roads, bodies of water, and so on. It's also got a few extra training statistics, like an endurance score and a heat acclimation score. The 255 and 955 have all of these same features. The only features that are meaningfully different between the x55 and x65 series are:The 255/955 have the older, always-on MIP screen, while the 265 has a smartphone-style AMOLED screen. I have more here on the difference between those screen types.The 255/955 don't have touchscreens. You’ll use the UP and DOWN buttons on the left side to scroll through options. The 255 can’t store music, unless you buy the 255 Music version. The 955 has music storage built in, just like the 265 and 965 do.The 255 doesn’t have Training Readiness, but it does have Training Status. (Personally, I never use Training Readiness, so this isn’t much of a loss. You can always look at your HRV trend, which the watch also reports, if you want a sense of how recovered you are each morning.) The 955, 265, and 965 all have Training Readiness.For the detailed list of every minor feature that’s different between the two, you can check out this comparison page on Garmin’s site. Which Forerunner 255 version you should getThere is only one Forerunner 955, but there are four versions of the 255, and two versions of the 265. The regular Forerunner 255 is the larger size (45.6 mm) and does not have music storage. The Forerunner 255S is the smaller size (41 mm) and also does not have music storage.The Forerunner 255 Music is the larger size (45.6 mm) and does have music storage, so you can play tunes from the watch while leaving your phone at home.The Forerunner 255S Music is the smaller size (41 mm) with music storage.  Personally, I always have my phone with me when I run, so I’ve never found the standalone music feature very helpful. If you think you might use it, though, it’s normally a $50 upgrade, but currently only a $20 upgrade on the larger size of the watch.To help you decide, the photo above shows the difference in screens between the AMOLED 265S (left) and MIP 255 (right). It also shows the size difference between the smaller and larger models; the 265S on the left is 41.7 mm, very close to the 255S at 41 mm. How old is the 255, anyway? The 255 is only one year older than the 265. They were released in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Before that, Forerunner releases tended to be three to four years apart. The quick turnaround between the 255 and 265 makes sense when you realize they’re basically the same watch with a different display.So I wouldn’t expect a 255 to feel outdated anytime soon. The main question you need to ask yourself is: How do I feel about a MIP screen? I’ve written more about the difference between MIP and AMOLED here. MIP screens don’t light up, although they have a backlight that can come on automatically when you raise your wrist. At rest, they are “always on,” in the sense that they’re always displaying something, so you’ll never look down at a blank screen. They’re also brightly reflective in sunlight. AMOLED screens are more like a smartphone screen, with glowing pixels, and watches typically turn off the display when you’re not using it to save energy. (You can enable an always-on setting, but it eats battery.) That said, the overall battery life on both watches is similar on default settings—14 days not counting activities for the 255, and 13 days for the 265. Some people prefer the MIP screens, and if that includes you, this is a no-brainer: snag the 255 or 955. You can even get a refurbished version for $179.99, which makes this one of the cheapest Garmin watches in any line. The bottom line (check prices) Prices on Forerunners have been fluctuating lately, so I'm hesitant to give any dollar-for-dollar comparisons, but here's what I'm seeing at the moment I write this. Officially, Garmin is selling the 255 and 265 for the same price, $349.99. The 955 and 965 are going for the same price, $499.99. At those prices, you might as well get the -65 version of whichever watch you prefer. But over on Amazon, I'm seeing prices as low as $247 for the 255 and $373 for the 955. That means a 255 is the same price as the anemic Forerunner 165 (it's OK as a budget watch, but it's missing a lot of features that the 255/265 have) and the 955 is the same price as a 265! Check prices to see if these deals are still live by the time you read this, and ultimately decide based on features.