Google is getting ready to ad some new AI features to the Pixel line, with the branding ‘Google AI.’ It will encompass both existing and new features, including Google Gemini, Circle to search, and more. Androidauthority.com reports that new features include Add Me, which is supposed to ensure that everyone is in a group photo. Studio is another new…or actually improved feature. It looks like it is the Creative Assistant made better. Also included is Pixel screenshots…which looks a lot like Microsoft’s Recall feature…you know the one…that creepy background record that captures everything you are doing on-device and then their AI can go find information you are looking for. Google is including more privacy….it will only work on screenshots you actually take yourself. Apparently Motorola is also working on such a feature…and like Google, it will only attach metadata for the AI if you manually take the screenshot yourself. 

As they have raised prices for monthly subscriptions and added ad-subsidized plans, it should probably be no surprise that now Netflix is phasing out its cheapest ad-free tier for present subscribers. According to theverge.com, some users have gotten a notification on the Netflix app saying  “Your last day to watch Netflix is July 13th. Choose a new plan to keep watching.” Subscribers paying $9.99 / month for the basic plan will have to choose either the $6.99 ad-supported tier, the $15.49 ad-free tier, or the $22.99 ad-free 4K premium plan. Right now, the sunsetting of the plan is hitting Canadian and UK users. Netflix hasn’t said when it will start phasing it out for US subscribers. 

Mastodon has rolled out a new feature aimed at making the app more appealing to those that use it to keep up on news and information from writers and journalists. Mastodon is the open source, decentralized answer to X…one of a number of platforms working to syphon away the former Twitter users who are fed up with Elon Musk’s X. Techcrunch.com says that now the platform is adding clickable author bylines on link posts that can send Mastodon users to the authors account on the fediverse…giving journalists more exposure and potentially increasing their following. The new bylines go beyond the typical @username references that often accompany link posts from news publications and those pointing to other written content, like a WordPress blog or Substack. Instead, the change will feature the news publication’s headline and image followed by another reference underneath that includes the author’s profile photo and name.

A drug that has been used successfully for type 2 diabetes, weight loss, and heart health is doing so well at helping folks with sleep apnea in trials, some have even been able to abandon their CPAP machines. Bgr.com reports that the medication, sold as Zepbound and Mounjaro, has had really good results in its first trial for sleep apnea. Participants saw disturbance events per hour of sleep drop from 51.5 per hour to 25.3. In a second trial, they went from 49.5 events per hour down to 29.3 or less. The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The best results came with consistent use, not surprisingly. Now, researchers are studying long term efficacy in treating sleep apnea. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.