The releases stories our desk judged worth your time, written so anyone can follow them.
Amazon is letting some US customers text an AI shopping assistant to order groceries, get gift ideas and track deals, with millions more to follow.
Read more: Amazon lets you text Alexa to order groceries and giftsTom's Guide measured nearly 2,000 nits on Apple's new 16-inch MacBook Pro, a lab record among 80 laptops tested this year, with HDR video the big winner.
Read more: Apple's new MacBook Pro has the brightest laptop screen we've testedSamsung's new $700 Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 got about three days of use per charge in Engadget's test, with a brighter screen and a much bigger battery.
Read more: Samsung's $700 Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 lasts three days on a chargeKugelblitz is a new Mac app that shows Earth as a 3D globe using open map data. It needs no account, but it only runs on very recent Macs.
Read more: Kugelblitz is a free-to-browse 3D globe app for Mac, no account neededBlotato, a social media scheduling service, is now an official ChatGPT plugin. It can schedule posts and run Instagram and Facebook DM automations, but it needs a paid plan.
Read more: Blotato Lets ChatGPT Users Schedule Social Posts and Send DMs by ChatSamsung Galaxy owners in the US can buy USDC, a digital coin tied to the dollar, inside Samsung Wallet, with Stripe running the process behind the scenes.
Read more: Samsung phone owners can now buy digital dollars in their wallet appOukitel's WP63 rugged phone has a pop-out heating coil that can light paper and dry leaves, plus night vision and a 20,000 mAh battery. It is $339 for now.
Read more: A rugged Android phone has a built-in fire starter and night visionAndroid Authority still calls the Apple Watch Series 12 superb, but says Google's rival watch has closed the gap, which gives shoppers a real choice.
Read more: Apple Watch Series 12 is still great, but Google's watch has caught upGoogle's $180 Fitbit Edge is a comfortable everyday tracker, but a Tom's Guide reviewer found its button, workout tools and GPS battery use fall short.
Read more: Google's $180 Fitbit Edge tracker has a button that does very littleAmazon's cloud arm now sells a tool that proves a software flaw can be exploited before suggesting a fix. The price rises with every flaw it handles.
Read more: Amazon launches a tool that tests software flaws before fixing themThe Enough Phone has a 5.3-inch screen and a swappable battery, and it offers a mode that blocks social media, games and web browsers. Price and date are unknown.
Read more: The Enough Phone is a small, calm phone for people tired of big screensThe 2026 iPad mini swaps in a bigger OLED screen and a faster chip, but it now costs just $50 less than the larger iPad Air.
Read more: Apple's new iPad mini gets a brighter, bigger screen and a higher priceChatGPT's Images 2.6 update turns a photo into an animated GIF from a plain request, and it can remember a favorite picture so you do not have to upload it again.
Read more: ChatGPT can now turn a photo into an animated GIFTencent's new Hy4 model can read images and control software, but it often makes up answers when it can't search the web.
Read more: Tencent's new AI can read images and run software on its ownGoogle's Find Hub on Android can now alert you when a tracker is separated from your phone, so you can catch a forgotten item before you walk away.
Read more: Google's Find Hub now warns you when you leave a tracker behindOpenAI's new ChatGPT Slides builds decks inside the chatbot, but reports say Japanese text can go wrong when you export to PDF.
Read more: ChatGPT can now build slide decks, but Japanese PDFs can breakA new app called Oraku says it can turn a photo or one sentence into a short video in well under a minute, and it shows the credit cost before you start.
Read more: New App Oraku Turns a Photo or a Sentence Into a VideoPerplexity has launched Teammates, AI helpers that work around the clock on business tasks. They require its $200 a month Max plan.
Read more: Perplexity launches AI helpers that work around the clockMacPaw added two tools to CleanMyMac that clear space in Gmail and flag memory-hungry Chrome tabs, but only subscribers get them.
Read more: CleanMyMac can now tidy your Gmail inbox and slow Chrome tabsApple has opened public betas of iOS 27.3 and macOS Golden Gate 27.3, but the safer move for most people is to wait for the December release.
Read more: Apple opens public testing of its next iPhone and Mac updateMeta's Muse AI agent can now hold spoken conversations in real time and show an avatar that moves its mouth as it talks. It is live in the US app.
Read more: Meta's Muse AI assistant can now talk back to you out loudSamsung's rugged Galaxy XCover 7 Pro can now update to One UI 9 in the US, so owners and business teams should check their phones.
Read more: Samsung's tough Galaxy XCover 7 Pro gets its big One UI 9 update in the USAnthropic's new Personal Finance feature lets Claude read your bank and card accounts to explain spending, but it means sharing up to two years of activity.
Read more: Claude can now read your bank accounts and explain your spendingDroidDeck lets some recent Snapdragon Android phones run full PC games from Steam, installed on the phone and playable offline, without streaming or rooting.
Read more: A new app lets some Android phones run full Steam PC games
