Tech Roundup: Google Material 3 Expressive, Microsoft Windows 11 AI Agent & More

[A recurring feature on the latest in Science & Technology.]

• Uber and Chinese company Pony.ai partner to deploy Pony.ai's robotaxis on Uber's platform, starting with a launch in "a key market in the Middle East" in 2025.
• Google updates its iOS app to add a "Simplify" feature to simplify complex text in a Search result or Discover article; previews an updated version of Gemini 2.5 Pro with improved coding capabilities; unveils AI Max for Search ad campaigns, a suite of AI-powered targeting and creative enhancements.
• Uber acquires an 85% stake in Turkish food delivery platform Trendyol GO for about US$ 700 million in cash.
• Amazon updates its iOS Kindle app to add a prominent orange "Get book" button, enabling purchases via the mobile browser after recent changes to the Apple App Store rules that prohibits the company from collecting a 27 percent commission on purchases made outside of apps or restrict how developers can direct users to alternate payment options. (In the meanwhile, Apple has an emergency motion asking for a stay on the ruling, stating it's unwarranted, that it "dramatically" increases the scope of the earlier injunction and that these changes would cause irreparable harm and cost it substantial sums annually.)
• Spotify debuts a "plays" metric for podcasts that shows users and creators how many times people have actively listened to or watched an audio or video episode.
• Google says it is testing an "AI Mode" button on the Search homepage with Labs users, replacing the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button; to add Gemini to its broader ecosystem Wear OS 6, Android Auto, Google TV and Android XR later this year.
• Samsung updates Samsung Wallet to add a "Tap to Transfer" feature that lets U.S. users quickly exchange money between themselves.
• Instacart launches Fizz, a Gen-Z focused app for group orders of drinks and party snacks with a flat US$ 5 fee and a rewards program for brands to offer discounts.
• Microsoft announces new features for Windows 11 and Copilot+ PCs, including an AI agent in Settings and updates to Start menu, Photos, Paint, Notepad and Snipping Tool with AI-supported features; unveils Surface Pro 12 tablet and Surface Laptop 13.
• Microsoft officially shuts down Skype, ending a 21-year run, as it urges users to switch to Teams.
• DoorDash agrees to acquire U.K. food delivery company Deliveroo for £2.9 billion in cash; also plans to buy hospitality tech company SevenRooms for US$ 1.2 billion in cash.
• AI-powered newsreader Particle debuts on the web, allowing users to catch up on the latest news in various categories.
• Substack launches an audio-only livestream feature that it says is perfect for "lower-pressure updates, call-in-style formats, or for publishers who prefer to remain anonymous."
• Reddit says it will start working with "various third-party services that can provide us with the essential information and nothing else" to ensure that the content being shared on the platform is generated by a human and not a bot.
• Web browser Brave announces a new "Block Elements" feature for Android to remove visual clutter from web pages, similar to Apple's Distraction Control feature in Safari.
• PayPal announces plans to debut contactless payments in Germany, allowing iPhone users to make tap-to-pay purchases in stores using their PayPal accounts.
• Meta threatens to cut off access to Facebook and Instagram in Nigeria after the company said it's facing large fines and "unrealistic" regulatory demands from local authorities for violating various laws and regulations.
• Google updates Maps with a new optional feature to scan screenshots in iPhone's photos and save any found locations to a dedicated list; rolls out AI-powered defenses to help combat scams on Chrome, including the use of Gemini Nano, its on-device AI model, in Enhanced Protection mode on desktop.
• Meta rolls out its Account Status feature to Threads, letting users see when the company has removed or demoted posts or handed out other penalties; says it will start testing video ads on Threads with a "small number" of advertisers and "Reels trending ads" on Instagram which will be shown next to trending Reels.
• Alibaba researchers detail ZeroSearch, a technique allowing LLMs to develop advanced search capabilities via simulation, claiming it cuts costs by up to 88%.
• Pinterest reports 570 million monthly active users in Q1 2025, up 10%.
• OpenAI announces a new GitHub connector for its deep research tool to help users ask questions about a codebase and engineering documents; adds a powerful PDF export feature to its Deep Research tool, enabling users to download comprehensive research reports with fully preserved formatting, tables, images, and clickable citations.
• Google introduces a new Messages feature that allows users to set custom profile photos for their group chats; appears to be readying an Advanced Protection feature in Android to enhance device security by disabling2G connections and activating Theft Detection Lock and Offline Device Lock.
• Google updates its GFiber app with live video support for quicker equipment issue resolution; adds a new Network Health feature that shows "a real-time assessment of speed, coverage, and overall performance."
• Microsoft plans to phase out password management and autofill features from its Authenticator app between June and August 2025 and move them to the Edge browser.
• Amazon partners with online pet pharmacy Vetsource to help pet owners to order prescriptions online for their dogs and cats through its online storefront.
• Telegram introduces a raft of new features to its popular messaging app, including end-to-end encrypted conference calls, support for AI-powered bots to manage messages for business accounts, posting several stories at once by selecting multiple photos or videos in one go, allowing channel owners to enable auto-translation for all users, and the ability to appeal account bans.
• Google Chrome gets described as the "most data-hungry" web browser for collecting 20 different data types across numerous categories, including contact info, financial details, location, browsing history, search history, user content, identifiers, usage data, diagnostics, and other types of data, according to a report from Surfshark; Microsoft Edge/Bing, Pi Browser and Apple Safari take other top spots.
• Apple acquired Canadian startup Mayday Labs, the maker of an AI-powered calendar, task manager, and scheduling assistant for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, in April 2024, according to a European Commission listing.
• SoundCloud quietly changes its policies to allow the company to use audio uploaded by users on its platform to "inform, train, develop or serve as input to AI"; says it was "intended to clarify how content may interact with AI technologies within SoundCloud’s own platform" and that it "has never used artist content to train AI models."
• Apple faces fresh setback after a federal court in Brazil reverses earlier decision to prevent sideloading for users in the country and urges the company to enable the feature within 90 days.
• Google experiments with a new "Discussion" panel to display user opinions in search results, starting with sports matches, as it unveils its Material 3 Expressive design, which it will roll out to Android and Wear OS, nearly four years after introducing Material You, and gives its iconic "G" logo a minor facelift that blurs its colours into a gradient, nearly 10 years after debut.
• Apple releases iOS 18.5 with new Wallpaper, Screen Time changes that alert parents when a passcode is used on a child's device, and carrier satellite support for iPhone 13; also releases macOS Sequoia 15.5, watchOS 11.5, tvOS 18.5 and visionOS 2.5, and plans to implement a change to pasteboard, the iPhone's internal clipboard, that will prevent Mac apps from being able to read the pasteboard without the user being alerted.
• Airbnb revamps its app with a Services section to allow users to book chefs, masseuses, personal trainers and other types of service professionals.
• TikTok launches TikTok AI Alive, which lets users turn static photos into videos in TikTok Stories using Story Camera; rolls out a digital wellbeing feature that encourages teens to wind down after 10 p.m. to curb excessive use.
• Google rebrands Find My Device to Find Hub after the recent inclusion of a People section to track contacts; also dds UWB support to the app for more precise tracking.
• Google unveils Android 16 security features like expanded fraud detection in Messages and prevention of some actions while on calls; says over one billion RCS messages are sent each day in the U.S.
• Global tablet shipments grow 8.5% YoY to 36.8 million in Q1 2025, led by consumer and education refresh cycles; Apple's market share surges 14% to 37%, above Samsung's 18%.
• Austrian privacy non-profit noyb (none of your business) sends Meta's Irish headquarters a cease-and-desist letter, threatening the company with a class action lawsuit if it proceeds with its plans to train users' data for training its artificial intelligence (AI) models without an explicit opt-in.
• Netflix says it's working on a new type of ad that will use AI to let advertisers "marry" their product with the streaming service's shows and movies.
• Google's YouTube launches a weekly top podcast shows chart in the U.S. and rolls out a redesigned miniplayer for its Android app; unveils a new ad system called Peak Points that will use its Gemini AI to place ads in videos at "contextually relevant" moments where viewers are most likely to be engaged.
• X is once again accepting payments from sanctioned terrorist groups and other entities subject to U.S. sanctions in return for a premium account on the platform, according to a report from the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), a little over a year after the company was caught providing premium, paid services to accounts associated with terrorist and sanctioned entities.
• The European Commission provisionally finds that TikTok breached the DSA by failing to offer a publicly searchable ad library, potentially opening the platform up to a fine.
• Google updates Chrome for Android with a new accessibility feature that allows uses to zoom in on text without affecting the appearance of the web page and adds the ability to highlight, copy and search for text in scanned PDFs on desktop Chrome browser; expanding Gemini integration in TalkBalk, Android's screen reader, to let users ask questions and get responses about their images.
• AI company Mistral releases Medium 3, which it says focuses on efficiency without compromising performance; comes as Alibaba's Quark, China's most popular AI app, launches deep search.
• App intelligence provider Appfigures estimates Apple made US$ 10.1 billion in revenue from the U.S. App Store commissions in 2024, up from US$ 4.8 billion in 2020, US$ 6.7 billion in 2021, US$ 7.4 billion in 2022 and US$ 8.8 billion in 2023.
• Google adds the ability to format text in the web version of Google Keep; tests a new feature in Search that lets users debate results related to sports matches like it's a forum under a new "Discussions" tab.
• Language learning app Duolingo says it's moving on from hearts in favour of a new "energy" mechanic to "motivate you to focus on things you're getting right rather than penalising for the things that you're making mistakes on."
• Chinese shipments of foreign-branded cellphones, including iPhones, drop by 49.6% YoY to 1.887 million units in March 2025.
• Amazon's Audible partners with U.S. publishers to convert print books and e-books into audiobooks narrated by over 100 AI voices across English, Spanish, French and Italian; says the ad tier of Prime Video now reaches more than 130 million U.S. customers.
• Music streamer Spotify updates its AI DJ to let Premium subscribers use English voice commands to personalise what music it plays, like taking artist, genre and mood requests.