Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic renders have been leaked, showing a design that’s inspired from the Galaxy Watch Ultra but with the famous rotating bezel with which Samsung has had a love-hate relationship in the past few years. Here’s everything to know about the new leak.
The report comes from SammyGuru, confirming that the Classic model is making a comeback after being left out last year and getting replaced by the Ultra. The report says that the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic could arrive in a single 47mm size and could pack a 435mAh rated battery, which typically translates to a 450mAh typical capacity.
The report further shared the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic renders which shows that the watch could get a squircle dial, similar to the Watch Ultra from last year, paired with a rotating bezel. Samsung left it out in the Watch 5 series, brought it back with Watch 6 series, just to leave it out again in the Watch 7 series, and now, the rotating bezel is coming back this year. Aside from that, we get to see two buttons on the right, along with a third orange button.
Compared to the 47mm Watch 6 Classic, which had a 425mAh battery, this year’s model will have a marginally bigger cell, rated at 435mAh capacity. “While it’s still smaller than the Watch 5 Pro or Watch Ultra’s batteries, that’s likely due to the rotating bezel taking up extra internal space,” the report says.
It is unclear at this point whether the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic is a successor to the Watch 7 Classic or the Watch Ultra. In other words, there could be a Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, but there’s no information regarding that as of yet.
The Galaxy S25 Edge, priced starting at Rs 1,09,999, is one of the unique devices Samsung has launched aside from its regular set of flagships. It combines a sturdy and premium build with other powerful hardware but with a few tradeoffs too. Ahead of our full review, here’s a detailed look at the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge battery and gaming performance.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge Gaming Review
The Galaxy S25 Edge packs a Snapdragon 8 Elite Chipset along with 12GB of RAM which are some of the most high-end specs you’ll find on a smartphone at this point. The 8 Elite is known to handle gaming titles with ease and on the S25 Edge, that’s no different.
The Galaxy S25 Edge performs well when playing titles like BGMI and Call of Duty Mobile. Even at the highest graphics, the device could easily output a consistent frame rate. As for thermals, they are manageable too, for the most part. While the device does get hot to the touch when playing such titles, it didn’t affect the performance of the game adversely.
When it came to Call of Duty Warzone Mobile, though, the device not only heated excessively but the game also began to lag. However, we’ll give the device the benefit of the doubt considering the title itself is known for poor optimisation and taking into account the handset’s performance in other demanding titles.
Games like Bullet Echo work without any issues and don’t cause any heating. It runs at 120 FPS which makes the gameplay much more fluid than some other flagships I have tested the game on.
The touch responsiveness in all the titles remained exceptional, along with high graphics quality and consistent fps.
As for gaming features, you do get the likes of an in-game panel that can lock auto brightness, enable touch booster, touch protection, or help you quickly take a screenshot or enable screen recording while you play a game. It also shows you some device metrics while gaming and can open apps in a pop-up window so you don’t have to leave the game if you want to reply to a text or do other tasks.
Aside from that there’s the Game Booster, where you get to choose the Game profile for the device from options like Performance, Battery Saver, and Balanced.
Then there’s customisation for individual games where you can adjust the fps, screen resolution, game optimisation, and frame booster, for each game you install.
Next, you can enable “Pause USB PD charging when gaming” which essentially bypasses the battery and instead gives power to the CPU while gaming so the device doesn’t heat up and also maintains power.
You can also customise an in-game panel such as its position, ability to reorder the tools, and add apps for the pop-up apps feature.
There’s also auto-touch protection which can keep the game running in the background and not lock the phone if you remain inactive for the specified period. Finally, you can also choose the screenshot format and screenshot Resolution as well.
To sum up, the Galaxy S25 Edge isn’t designed with gaming in mind and understandably lacks the features found in dedicated gaming devices. However, the device can still handle demanding titles fairly well—though it does tend to get a bit warm during extended sessions.
The most questionable feature of the device is its battery. The Galaxy S25 Edge packs a 3900mAh battery with 25W Fast charging and one can straight up tell that its a considerably small cell for a device that packs a 120Hz QHD display, supports lock screen wallpaper AOD, and at the same time, is powered by a demanding Snapdragon 8 Elite chip.
I have gone through multiple cycles with the Galaxy S25 Edge since I got the device. I’d say that the battery life isn’t particularly impressive if you are someone like me who uses all the features mentioned above.
Cycle 1
With all those enabled, on Wi-Fi, along with using apps like Instagram, Apple Music, Chrome, and some amount of calling while playing Bullet Echo for more than an hour, the device got me around 4h 45m of screen-on time which is average considering the device costs over a lakh.
Cycle 2
During this other cycle, with a similar usage, I got around 4h 15m of screen-on time. However, during this time, the device was learning my usage patterns and Samsung users know that once the device gets past this stage, the battery backup improves to some extent and it did with the S25 Edge, too.
Cycle 3 After Usage Patterns Were Learnt
After my usage patterns were learnt, the device could get me up to 5 hours of screen-on time with a similar usage. In some cases, the screen-on time could go above 5 hours as well. While the device can make it through a full day, it’ll be running on the edge by the time you reach the end.
If you, by any chance, start performing demanding tasks throughout your day, including navigation on 5G, regular 5G use, using the cameras, or gaming, the device will most likely require a top-up mid-day. For instance, the battery dropped by 5% within a matter of 10 minutes when using the cameras outdoors in bright sunlight.
Speaking of charging times, the device can charge from 1% to 100% in about an hour and a fifteen minutes which is again quite high considering the size of the battery. Batteries much larger this size can charge in under an hour and that’s a bummer for Samsung, keeping in mind the cost of the device.
Another major concern is how frequent top-ups could degrade the battery life quicker in the longer run compared to competitor phones.
The battery backup and the charging times for the Galaxy S25 Edge not the best among the S25 series of smartphones. It seems to be the compromise you’ll have to make if you want a device that’s powerful yet so thin and gorgeous.
Stay tuned for our full review coming soon, where we’ll dive into the device’s everyday performance, display quality, and camera capabilities.
Google has announced the release of Android 16 QPR1 Beta which comes with the much-awaited Material 3 Expressive design language for Android. The new update completely changes some of the user interface elements in Android on Pixel devices and here’s how you can install it.
Android 16 QPR1 Beta: What’s New?
Android 16 QPR1 includes some of the Material 3 Expressive changes covered in last week’s announcements, with visual refreshes to notifications, quick settings, the lock screen, and the launcher.
Material 3 Expressive feels more fluid and introduces a system of more natural, springy animations. Android is also getting updated dynamic color themes, responsive components and emphasized typography so you can customize your phone to your style and preferences. And Google is working to bring these visual choices across Google apps like Google Photos, Fitbit and Gmail.
The design balances modern aesthetics with improved functionality. You can now customize Quick Settings to fit in more of your favourite actions like Flashlight and Do Not Disturb. The whole notification shade and the quick settings shade has also been redesigned. The all-new Live Updates feature helps you easily track progress notifications from select apps. For example, after placing an Uber Eats order, you get a glanceable Live Update to track your delivery progress.
Google says that unlike developer previews and betas for unreleased, major versions of Android, the QPR beta builds are suitable for general use.
The supported devices for this update include all those Pixel phones that have a Tensor chip. The device list is as follows:
Pixel 6
Pixel 6 Pro
Pixel 6a
Pixel 7
Pixel 7 Pro
Pixel 7a
Pixel Tablet
Pixel Fold
Pixel 8
Pixel 8 Pro
Pixel 8a
Pixel 9
Pixel 9 Pro
Pixel 9 Pro XL
Pixel 9 Pro Fold
Pixel 9a
As for the installation guide, you can get the OTA update for Android 16 QPR1 by opting into the beta program through the dedicated website.
After logging into your Google account, tap on the “Opt-in” button below your supported Pixel device and then accept the terms and continue. Finally, tap on “confirm and enroll”. Now, open the Settings app, go to “System”, tap on “System Update”, and download and install the update.
Alternatively, if you have a PC, you can also sideload the update but make sure to download the correct OTA builds for your phone.
CMF by Nothing debuted the CMF Buds 2 a couple of weeks back as the successor to the original CMF Buds which came back in early 2024. A year later, with a price tag of Rs 2,699, are the CMF Buds 2 worth considering and do they pack any improvements over their predecessors? We’ll answer all these questions in our CMF Buds 2 review.
CMF Buds 2 Review: Design and Comfort
When it comes to design, CMF stuck to the old saying: ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ The case keeps a familiar look, much like the earlier CMF Buds, but with a twist — the plastic dial now has a transparent finish and features two holes for attaching a lanyard.
Aside from that, the dial is also prone to scratches so you might want to keep it with care. The rest of the case has that matte plastic finish which doesn’t feel the most premium but the quality is still decent given the price.
The case opens with a spring mechanism and isn’t flimsy at all. There’s a button inside for pairing while an LED light on the front tells you the charge and battery status of the buds and the case both.
The buds are nearly identical in terms of shape and design, which also means that they are as comfortable as their predecessors. They fit well in my ear and I didn’t face any fatigue while wearing them for extended periods. The black coloured buds look average and ordinary and won’t turn any heads but the signature orange shade definitely will.
The customisable touch controls work well without any issues. However, I still miss the single tap gesture that’s missing for some reason and you’ll have to choose between one of the earbuds to play/pause the music using one of the gestures, which in my case was the double tap one as the rest of the gestures were taken up for other useful actions. Due to that limitation, I had to use the double tap gesture on the right earbud for play/pause and use it for skipping forward to the next song on the left one.
On the durability front, the earbuds are IP55 rated for dust and water resistance, while the case is splash-resistant with an IPX2 rating.
The CMF Buds 2 pack 11mm custom drivers tuned with Dirac Opteo and Nothing’s Ultra Bass Technology 2.0. They also come with upgraded Bluetooth 5.4 for better connectivity, dual device pairing, and support for both Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair.
Speaking of audio quality, you get a balanced sound signature with no frequencies overpowering the other which was the case with the CMF Buds which mainly focused on the bass and the mid-range. The vocals sound crisp on the CMF Buds 2 and so does the bass and mid-range frequencies. You can hear each beat vibrate in your ear while the treble is maintained with clarity at the same time. Even the instrument separation was handled much better than what I expected.
Note that my entire testing took place with the Dirac Opteo equaliser which did a great job at handling my music and giving me a satisfactory experience. However, if you want more control, you can choose the custom equaliser and adjust the bass, treble, and mid frequencies accordingly, through the Nothing X app. Further, if you want more thumping bass, you can turn on the Ultra Bass option and cycle through a 5-level intensity slider with level 5 offering the most bass-heavy experience.
Overall, the CMF Buds 2 sound drastically better than their predecessors and offer a crisp and clear experience which exceeded my expectations.
Coming to the Nothing X app, with it, you can enable or disable the low lag mode which works the best if you have a Nothing or a CMF Phone and in my experience, it did a good job while gaming. There’s support for in-ear detection and multi-device connectivity, both of which worked optimally.
You can also use the Find my Earbuds feature through the app or do a ear tip fit test so you know you are wearing the earbuds right and with the correct size of ear tips.
It also lets you set one of the touch controls to trigger ChatGPT for voice assistance through a single tap but I didn’t find myself using it much and stuck to the traditional settings including volume control, skip forward or back, and the ability to cycle through ANC and Transparency modes.
The app also lets you switch between ANC and transparency modes. Talking about the ANC performance, CMF claims that the hybrid ANC can block out up to 48dB of ambient noise, covering a wide 5,200Hz range that adapts in real time based on your environment.
While I mostly used the High ANC mode, the buds didn’t disappoint in this area either. They cancel out a good amount of noise while the music is playing and handle high pitched noises surprisingly well. Other regular noises like those of people talking around you, car horns, etc., are again nicely cancelled out even at lower volumes.
The transparency mode, however, feels a bit muddy. It does amplify ambient sounds, but not as much as you’d expect from a good transparency mode. That said, for this price, I haven’t come across any earbuds that do it better.
Next, the Nothing X app also offers a Spatial Sound feature which creates an echo chamber effect to make it sound as if the music is coming from different locations. The feature works fine for movies as it creates an immersive effect but for music, it may not sit well with most.
CMF Buds 2 Review: Call Quality, Battery Backup
Coming to call quality, each bud has three mics and there’s support for Clear Voice Technology 3.0 and Wind Reduction Technology 3.0. However, the call quality still remains average at best. The wearer’s voice isn’t the most clear to the person on the other end and some amount of background noise is always picked up by the buds.
Finally, for battery life, the brand claims that you can get up to 13.5 hours of playback on a single charge, and a total playback time of up to 55 hours with the charging case with ANC off.
I didn’t go for such long sessions at a time but what I can confirm is that the buds offer exceptional backup even if you listen to music at high volumes and use ANC most of the time. I could easily get more than a week of use when coupled with the case. My usage included daily sessions of about two hours at 70 – 80% volume and ANC turner on, and at the end of the week, I had about 55% left in the case which is great.
The CMF Buds 2 offer great value, delivering impressive sound quality and effective ANC for the price. Though the call quality and transparency mode could be better, the long battery life and a solid set of features make them a strong choice for most users.
Sony Bravia 2 II series has been announced in India featuring 4K Ultra HDLED display technology, Google TV, X1 picture processor, and more. The series is available in multiple screen sizes up to 75-inches. Here’s everything to know about the newly announced Sony TVs in India.
Sony Bravia 2 II: Price, Availability
The pricing and availability details for all screen sizes of the Bravia 2 II series is as follows:
K-75S25M2 (75-inch): Rs 1,45,990 – Available now
K-65S25M2 (65-inch): Rs 97,990 – Available now
K-55S25M2 (55-inch): Rs 75,990 – Available now
K-43S25M2 (43-inch): Rs 50,990 – Available now
K-50S25M2: Details to be announced
K-50S22M2: Details to be announced
K-43S22M2: Details to be announced
These models will be available across all Sony Centers & major electronic stores and e-commerce portals in India. As part of ongoing offers, customers can avail cashback of up to Rs. 5,000/- on purchase of BRAVIA 2 II televisions. Additionally, easy EMI options are also available, starting from Rs 1,849 for 108 cm (43), and Rs 2,995 139 cm (55), 164 cm (65), and 189 cm (75) screen sizes.
Sony Bravia 2 II: Features
The new set of TVs from Sony feature the X1 Picture Processor, which uses advanced algorithms to reduce noise and enhance detail. With an even clearer 4K signal, everything you watch appears closer to true 4K resolution, enriched with lifelike colors powered by Live Color technology.
Content filmed in 2K or even Full HD is upscaled close to 4K Resolution by 4K X-Reality™ PRO, using a unique 4K database. Motionflow XR technology creates and inserts extra frames between the original ones for a smoother video playback. It analyzes key visual elements across successive frames and calculates split-second moments of missing action.
BRAVIA 2 II series features open baffle down-firing twin speakers that deliver 20 watts of powerful sound, along with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. The open baffle speakers offer impressive low-end sound, ideal for movies, sports, and music, says Sony.
With the new BRAVIA 2 II series, you can download over 10,000 apps and access more than 700,000 movies and TV episodes, plus live TV—all in one place, thanks to Google TV. The BRAVIA 2 II series boasts a minimalist design with its ultra-narrow bezel.
With ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) in HDMI 2.1, the BRAVIA 2 II recognizes when a console is connected and powered on, automatically switching to low latency mode offering a smoother, more responsive gameplay crucial for fast-paced, high-intensity games. With Auto HDR Tone Mapping, HDR settings are optimized instantly during your PS5 console’s initial setup.
The BRAVIA 2 II series includes SONY PICTURES CORE, a movie service that offers a selection of the latest Sony Pictures releases and classic blockbusters. With Pure Stream, you can stream HDR movies at up to 80 Mbps, delivering picture quality comparable to 4K UHD Blu-ray. The BRAVIA 2 II television comes with movie credits, allowing you to redeem up to five movies and enjoy up to 12 months of access to a curated selection of up to 100 movies, updated regularly.
OPPO has announced the Gemini integration in core OPPO apps, following Samsung’s move from earlier this year when Gemini began to take requests for Samsung’s system apps. With the integration, Gemini will soon be able to connect to OPPO apps and services, including OPPO Notes, Calendar, and Clock.
OPPO’s flagship Find X8 recently announced support for Android 16 Beta 3, showcasing the close collaboration between Google and OPPO. Furthermore, in OPPO’s upcoming Reno14 Series, coming soon Gemini will be able to pull information and help you take action across multiple apps and services, including OPPO Notes, Calendar, and Clock. “This significant milestone underscores OPPO’s commitment to providing seamless and intuitive AI experiences to its users,” said OPPO.
OPPO says it has collaborated “closely with Google to take AI integration to the next level.”
In the upcoming Reno14 Series, coming soon is Gemini integration in core OPPO apps and services, including OPPO Notes, Calendar, and Clock, which will allow the users to pull information and complete tasks directly in their chat. With a single prompt, users will be able to ask Gemini to work across their apps, simply by pressing and holding the side button to activate Gemini.
Further, Gemini will support multi-app journeys to help users complete complex tasks and save time. For instance, users will be able to ask Gemini to summarize key points from a lengthy document and save the summary directly into OPPO Notes for easy access. Leveraging Gemini’s multimodal capabilities, users will be able to capture essential steps from recipe tutorials on YouTube, instructing Gemini to save them efficiently within OPPO Notes.
Managing schedules and daily routines will also become more intuitive. After booking travel arrangements, users will be able to ask Gemini to “add this to my OPPO Calendar” and it will automatically create an event in OPPO Calendar.
”The strengthened collaboration between OPPO and Google Gemini on the upcoming Reno14 Series represents a significant step forward in OPPO’s commitment to providing a truly seamless and intuitive AI experience, driven by its collaboration with partners like Google. OPPO remains dedicated to leading innovation in AI-powered user experiences,” the company noted.
Acer Swift Neo OLED AI PC has been announced in India by the brand with an Intel Core Ultra 5 series chipset, Intel Arc graphics, along with an OLED display with 92% NTSC and 100% sRGB coverage. Here’s everything you’d want to know about the new launch from Acer.
Acer Swift Neo OLED: Price, Availability
The laptop is listed on Flipkart for Rs 99,999 for the 512GB model and Rs 1,04,999 for the 1TB model. According to an image shared on X, however, the laptop will start at Rs 59,999. This price includes discounts and could likely be a part of a limited time offer. The laptop is available in a single Metallic Brown shade and the first sale will be held on May 22 at 12 noon.
Acer Swift Neo OLED: Specifications
The Acer Swift Neo OLED sports a 14-inch OLED display Slim Bezel, full-HD+ 1920 x 1200 pixels resolution, 60Hz refresh rate, along with 92% NTSC and 100% sRGB coverage. As for internal power, the laptop comes powered by the Intel Core Ultra 5 115U Processor with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB or 1TB of SSD storage.
Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 6 (802.11a/b/g/n+ax) wireless LAN, and Bluetooth v5.2. As for ports, the laptop offers 2 X USB Type C Full function ports, 1 USB 3.2 Type C Port, 1 X USB 3.2 Type A Port and 1 x HDMI 2.0 Port
The laptop packs a 55 Wh battery that comes with 65W charging support The machine features a 1080p FHD webcam, stereo speakers, backlit keyboard, a fingerprint sensor, and a multi-gesture supported trackpad. The laptop runs on Windows 11 Home operating system.
Google, at its Google I/O 2025 conference, made a number of AI-related announcements, including the new Veo 3 model, Imagen 4, new capabilities for Gemini 2.5 Pro and 2.5 Flash, 2.5 Pro Deep Think, and more. Here’s everything you’d want to know about the latest developments.
Google Beam
At Google I/O 2025, the company announced Google Beam. Beam is a new AI-first video communications platform which uses a new state-of-the-art video model to transform 2D video streams into a realistic 3D experience, using an array of six cameras and AI to merge video streams together and render you on a 3D lightfield display.
It has near perfect head tracking, down to the millimeter, and at 60 frames per second, all in real-time. The result is a much more natural and deeply immersive conversational experience. In collaboration with HP, the first Google Beam devices will be available for early customers later this year.
Speech Translation in Google Meet
In near real time, Speech Translation in Google Meet can match the speaker’s voice and tone, and even their expressions. Translation in English and Spanish is rolling out to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in beta, with more languages coming in the next few weeks. This will come to Workspace business customers for early testing this year.
Agent Mode
Google is starting to bring agentic capabilities to Chrome, Search and in the Gemini app. For example, a new Agent Mode in the Gemini app will help you get even more done. If you’re apartment hunting, it will help find listings that match your criteria on websites like Zillow, adjust filters and use MCP to access the listings and even schedule a tour for you. An experimental version of Agent Mode in the Gemini app will be coming soon to subscribers.
Personal Context: Personalised Smart Replies in Gmail
With your permission, Gemini models can use relevant personal context across your Google apps in a way that is private, transparent and fully under your control. One example of this is Google’s new personalized Smart Replies in Gmail.
“If your friend emails you for advice about a road trip that you’ve done in the past, Gemini can do the work of searching your past emails and files in Google Drive, such as itineraries you created in Google Docs, to suggest a response with specific details that are on point. It will match your typical greeting and capture your tone, style and even favorite word choices, all to generate a reply that’s more relevant and sounds authentically like you,” said Google.
Personalised Smart Replies will be available for subscribers later this year.
AI Mode in Search
AI mode, as Google calls it, is a “total reimagining of Search.” With more advanced reasoning, you can ask AI Mode longer and more complex queries. It is available as a new tab right in Search. AI Mode is coming to everyone in the U.S., starting today. With the latest Gemini models, the AI responses are at the “quality and accuracy you’ve come to expect from Search, and are the fastest in the industry.” And starting this week, Gemini 2.5, is coming to Search in the U.S., as well.
Improvements to Gemini 2.5 Flash, 2.5 Pro
With the improvements, Gemini 2.5 Flash is better in nearly every dimension — improving across key benchmarks for reasoning, multimodality, code and long context. It’s second only to 2.5 Pro on the LMArena leaderboard.
Google is also making 2.5 Pro even better by introducing an enhanced reasoning mode we’re calling Deep Think. It uses the company’s latest research in thinking and reasoning, including parallel thinking techniques.
New Features in the Gemini App
The new set of features in the Gemini app includes:
Gemini Live with camera and screen sharing, is now free on Android and iOS for everyone, so you can point your phone at anything and talk it through.
Imagen 4, the new image generation model, comes built in and is known for its image quality, better text rendering and speed.
Veo 3 is Google’s new state-of-the-art video generation model which comes built in and is the first in the world to have native support for sound effects, background noises and dialogue between characters.
Deep Research and Canvas are getting their biggest updates yet, introducing new ways to analyse information, create podcasts and vibe code websites and apps.
Gemini is coming to Chrome, so you can ask questions while browsing the web.
Students around the world can easily make interactive quizzes, and college students in the U.S., Brazil, Indonesia, Japan and the UK are eligible for a free school year of the Google AI Pro plan.
Google AI Ultra, a new premium plan, is for power users who want the highest rate limits and early access to new features in the Gemini app. It costs $249.99 (approx Rs 21,300) a month in the US.
2.5 Flash has become Google’s new default model, and it blends enhanced quality with “lightning fast response times.”
Flow can help storytellers explore their ideas without “bounds and create cinematic clips and scenes for their stories.” It’s custom-designed for Veo with high prompt adherence and cinematic outputs that excel at physics and realism. Behind the scenes, Gemini models make prompting intuitive, so you can describe your vision in everyday language. You can bring your own assets to create characters, or use Flow to make your own ingredients with Imagen’s text-to-image capabilities.
Once you’ve created a subject or a scene, you can integrate those same ingredients into different clips and scenes with consistency. Or you can use a scene image to start a new shot. Flow also comes with a range of features for professionals or those just getting started:
Flow TV: Enhance your creativity with an ever-growing showcase of clips, channels, and content generated with Veo. You can see the exact prompts and techniques used for clips you like, providing a practical way to learn and adapt new styles.
Camera Controls: Master your shot with direct control over camera motion, angles and perspectives.
Scenebuilder: Seamlessly edit and extend your existing shots — revealing more of the action or transitioning to what happens next with continuous motion and consistent characters.
Asset Management: Easily manage and organize all of your ingredients and prompts.
Google AI Ultra Subscription Plan
At Google I/O 2025, the company announced the new Google AI Ultra subscription plan with the highest usage limits and access to Google’s most capable models and premium features. “If you’re a filmmaker, developer, creative professional or simply demand the absolute best of Google AI with the highest level of access, the Google AI Ultra plan is built for you — think of it as your VIP pass to Google Al,” said Google.
Google AI Ultra is available today in the U.S. for $249.99/month (with a special offer for first-time users of 50% off for your first three months), and coming soon to more countries. Here’s what you get with Google AI Ultra:
“Gemini: Experience the absolute best version of our Gemini app. This plan offers the highest usage limits across Deep Research, cutting-edge video generation with Veo 2 and early access to our groundbreaking Veo 3 model. It’s designed for coding, academic research and complex creative endeavors. In the coming weeks, Ultra subscribers will also get access to Deep Think in 2.5 Pro, our new enhanced reasoning mode.
Flow: This new AI filmmaking tool is custom-designed for Google DeepMind’s most advanced models (Veo, Imagen and Gemini). It enables the crafting of cinematic clips, scenes and cohesive narratives with intuitive prompting. Google AI Ultra unlocks the highest limits in Flow with 1080p video generation, advanced camera controls and early access to Veo 3.
Whisk: Whisk helps you quickly explore and visualize new ideas using both text and image prompts. With Google AI Ultra, get the highest limits for Whisk Animate, which turns your images into vivid eight-second videos with Veo 2.
NotebookLM: Get access to the highest usage limits and enhanced model capabilities later this year, whether you’re using NotebookLM for studying, teaching or working on your projects.
Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Vids and more: Make everyday tasks easier with access to Gemini directly in your favorite Google apps like Gmail, Docs, Vids and more.
Gemini in Chrome: Starting tomorrow, get early access to Gemini directly within the Chrome browser. This feature allows you to effortlessly understand complex information and complete tasks on the web by using the context of the current page.
Project Mariner: This agentic research prototype can assist you in managing up to 10 tasks simultaneously — from research to bookings and purchases — all from a single dashboard.
YouTube Premium: An individual YouTube Premium plan lets you watch YouTube and listen to YouTube Music ad-free, offline and in the background.
30 TB of storage: Offers massive storage capacity across Google Photos, Drive and Gmail to keep your creations and important files secure.”
As for the existing AI premium plan, which is now called Google AI Pro, is also getting better. For no additional cost, Google AI Pro subscribers will now also get access to AI filmmaking capabilities in Flow, where you can try the tool with our Veo 2 model, as well as early access to Gemini in Chrome. These new benefits are coming to Google AI Pro subscribers in the U.S. first, with availability in more countries to follow.
Bharti Airtel has announced a partnership with Google that brings the Google One Cloud Storage subscription service for Airtel customers. Under the new introductory offer, Airtel will offer a free Google One subscription for Airtel postpaid and Wi-Fi customers for six months at no extra cost.
“The partnership aims to address the issue of growing data storage constraints faced by users by ensuring that customers have ample space to store their cherished photos, videos, documents and other digital content without the need to frequently delete files or resort to expensive physical storage expansions,” said Airtel.
“Additionally, WhatsApp chats on Android are backed up to Google Account storage which will make device switching easier for customers. The cloud storage provision is compatible with both Android and iOS platforms, making it widely accessible to Airtel’s diverse customer base,” it added.
As an introductory offer, the free Google One subscription for Airtel postpaid and Wi-Fi customers will be available from the date of activation. To avail of this offer, customers will have to simply log on to the Airtel Thanks App and claim the benefit.
After six months of 100 GB storage at no charge, a nominal fee of Rs 125 per month will be added to the customer’s monthly bill. If a customer chooses not to continue the subscription, they can cancel the subscription at their will and cease to be a Google One member.
With Google One storage, members can:
Avail of family sharing with up to five additional people at no extra cost.
Get 100 GB cloud storage to use across Google Photos, Drive and Gmail.
Keep photos, files and WhatsApp chats safely backed up to the cloud in case of damage or when switching to a new phone.
Qualcomm confirmed at the Computex 2025 keynote that its Snapdragon Summit 2025 will take place earlier than last year’s summit, meaning the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 launch will also be happening nearly a month earlier. The Snapdragon 8 Elite was launched in October of 2024.
Qualcomm has officially confirmed that its “Summit 2025” will run from September 23 to 25—nearly a month earlier than last year’s October 21 event. The date was spotted by NotebookCheck, who captured a slide during Qualcomm’s presentation.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 launch will also take place during the Summit and is expected to headline the show. However, it won’t be the only major reveal. Qualcomm is also set to introduce its new generation of laptop chips, likely powering future Windows devices, including Microsoft’s Surface lineup.
Considering the launch timeline for the chip has shifted, we expect Chinese players to also launch phones with the new chip earlier than before. Last year, brands like Xiaomi and OnePlus were the first ones to launch their flagships with the 8 Elite and with Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 launch taking place in September, one could expect these companies to land phones in the market before the end of the year.
Some players, like Samsung, could stick to their traditional launch timeframes, where they’ll launch phones in early 2026, such as the Galaxy S26 series. Whatever the case may be, it’ll be interesting to see which brands will debut devices with the 8 Elite 2 chip before 2025 ends.
In related news to Qualcomm, the chipmaker announced in February that smartphones launching on new Snapdragon 8 and 7-series mobile platforms will be eligible to receive this extended support of 8 years of Android updates. Qualcomm Technologies has worked with Google to allow chips like the Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile platform to receive up to eight consecutive years of Android updates and security patches.
