Apple's Mac mini gets upgraded to next-gen M6 and M5 Pro chips

Credit: Apple

Apple announced its next-generation Mac mini lineup, featuring the all-new M6 and high-performance M5 Pro silicon. Despite maintaining its ultracompact footprint, the updated mini desktop is engineered to supercharge "always-on" agentic AI computing and intensive pro workflows. Equipped with up to 4x faster AI performance, 2x faster graphics, and 40% faster CPU speeds on the base M6, the line gains GPU Neural Accelerators and a Dual 16-core Neural Engine. Power users can opt for the M5 Pro model, which scales up to an 18-core CPU, 20-core GPU, and 64GB of unified memory with 307GB/s bandwidth to effortlessly run large language models, rendering tasks, and complex 3D simulations.

Click to read more ...

Reddit experiments with audio and video features for text posts

Reddit is officially testing new audio and video capabilities to make text posts and comments more interactive. Rolling out in a limited test across select communities on its apps and desktop site, the feature allows users to listen to or watch short-form video adaptations of popular threads.

Despite the shift toward rich media, a spokesperson confirmed with Engadget that the original text posts and comments will "remain unchanged," with the new media formats serving as direct links back to the source material.

Click to read more ...

Spotify introduces new Running Mode to match your stride

CreditL Spotify

Spotify is making it easier to have your running playlist up and, well, running with its new feature. The Running Mode is launching for Premium users using Android devices in Canada, the US, the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden. It is available in Spotify's Fitness hub, where you can choose from 25 presets covering different workouts or genres. You can start things like a Just Run session playlist or choose one to suit your training routine, like picking intervals, pyramid workouts, longer sessions, etc. The workout duration can be tweaked between 10 and 90 minutes.

Of course, you can also choose the genre to listen to and decide whether Spotify will introduce familiar tracks or throw in discoveries. Since the mode uses Spotify's Prompted Playlist feature, you can edit the prompt to generate a playlist that suits your taste. For example, you can change it up to play tracks you haven't listened to in a while or to add music that isn't longer than three minutes. The playlist will refresh every day, but you can save the music you want to be used for another run.

Click to read more ...

Google introduces new Pixel 11

Google launched the latest iteration of its Pixel smartphones, the Pixel 11 series. The base Pixel 11 model runs on the new Google-designed Tensor G6 (like the Pro models) and has more stripped-down hardware (unlike the Pro models). For one, it has a 6.3-inch 1080p+ LTPS OLED display and gets minor camera upgrades. The Pixel 11 now gets a larger 48-megapixel 1/1.56" sensor, paired with a 13-megapixel ultra-wide with a 120° lens (f/2.2) and a 1/3.1" sensor and a 5x 10.8-megapixel telephoto camera that supports up to 30x Super Zoom thanks to its processor. Its selfie camera is unchanged from its predecessor, which is a 10.5-megapixel sensor with an ultra-wide 95° autofocus lens.

Click to read more ...