This new line of laptops isn’t meant to replace the classic, cheap Chromebook per se, but to integrate deeply with Android devices and sit in the premium laptop category. Instead of making the hardware themselves, they’ve partnered with laptop OEMs to make some pretty sleek-looking laptops. We’ve got one on pre-order (the XPS version) and will share our thoughts and how it compares with other laptops later in the year. You can read the full announcement on Google’s blog.

By integrating Google Home with MCP, you can now control your Google Home smart home gadgets from more AI-powered assistants. Read more about it in Jennifer Pattison Tuohy’s excellent write-up for The Verge.

For example, you could tell Google to remember that your passport is in your bedroom drawer. It’ll then add that item to the remembered section of Find Hub. This feature is part of a suite of features that’ll be rolling out to Android phones in September.

Tom sat down with The Verge’s Editor-in-Chief Nilay Patel for a wide-ranging conversation on the state of Sonos, some new products, and new capabilities coming to the Sonos system that people have been asking for for years! (Yes, it’s about wireless surrounds). This one is def worth a listen. And you can read more about the new Sonos 27 software launch here.

It’s not cheap, but my goodness, is it pretty. You can pre-order it for $249, and let’s hope it doesn’t use too much RAM. Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, for The Verge, has an excellent write-up on the new device.

The streaming box will now cost $149.99, not that much cheaper than the Apple TV 4K, which itself saw a price increase to $199 here in the US. Given Apple is likely to upgrade the Apple TV 4K in the next few weeks, we’d hold off buying one unless you see one on sale. Here’s the comparison we did between the two:

The irony is not lost on us that one of the best ways we’ve found to combat subscription fatigue is to subscribe to a service like Monarch (that link will give you 50% off). It connects your entire financial picture and lets you clearly see everything you’ve subscribed to, so you can unsubscribe (which should be easier) and save some money. Highly recommend giving this one a watch.

As reported by AndroidAuthority, just like Android’s new Rambler feature, which came to the Pixel 11 series of phones as an exclusive, Android 17’s new Pause Point feature is also an exclusive. This feature not only allows you to add a delay before opening apps you deem distracting or addictive, but you can also divert to a preferred app, set a time limit for apps, and even force yourself to pause and reflect on why you’re in a particular app before hitting a button to go back into it.

It’s unclear when and if this feature is supposed to come to other Android phones.

The new app lets you customize not just the light color, but also different pulses and animations. Check out David Imel’s piece on The Verge that dives into everything it can do.

In a press release, Samsung confirmed this feature has FDA clearance in the US and should be rolling out to Galaxy Buds between October and December 2026 in the US and other select markets. It’ll come with a hearing aid test users can take to help configure the Buds too.

It sure seems like Amazon is enshitifying their order confirmation emails so your personal AI assistants won’t be able to know exactly what items you’ve bought. The Verge has a good write-up on this whole issue. It seems like AI is to blame, and it’s going to make you have to go to Amazon’s site to figure out what the heck you bought, which kinda sucks.

In a story for the WSJ (gift link), Joe Berrett details how families are being scammed out of thousands of dollars via refurbished phones. Stay vigilant. And remember, if anyone is saying they’re law enforcement and can see everything you’re doing on your phone, it’s likely a scam.

David Imel, reporting for The Verge, got to sit down with the Pixel camera team to discuss what this new software is fundamentally changing when it comes to photo processing on the new Pixel 11 phones. While Pixel cameras, in our experience, never produced the outrageously over-processed look you’d get out of some other phone cameras, we can’t wait to put this new feature to the test! Highly recommend reading David’s piece.