Techmeme
January 5, 2026, 2:15 PM

Top News

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon unveils a Fire TV UI redesign with rounded corners, 20 app slots, and Alexa+ built in, and launches a $899+ Ember Artline TV series with colorful frames  —  Amazon is rolling out a Fire TV redesign that puts more focus on the content, while also simplifying the navigation and layout.
Terrence O'Brien / The Verge:
Amazon launches Alexa+ in early access for all users via a new Alexa.com web interface, after launching on Echo, and lets users upload docs, emails, and images  —  Anyone can sign up and chat with Amazon's new AI assistant in their browser. … Alexa Plus was already popping up online …
Hyunjoo Jin / Reuters:
Samsung co-CEO TM Roh says the company has rolled out Gemini AI features to ~400M mobile devices so far and aims to hit 800M in 2026; Samsung's stock jumps 5%+  —  Samsung Electronics plans to double this year the number of its mobile devices with “Galaxy AI” features largely powered by Google's Gemini …
Chris Welch / Bloomberg:
Samsung updates its TVs to add new AI features, including a Sound Controller feature that independently adjusts the volume of dialogue, music, or sound effects  —  Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled its 2026 home theater lineup, aiming to cement its position as the leading TV maker amid intensifying competition …
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge:
Samsung adds AI features to its Family Hub refrigerators, such as Bixby voice control to open and close the door and Gemini-powered AI Vision to track inventory  —  Voice control opening and closing comes to Samsung's Family Hub smart fridges. … Samsung's latest update …
Jake Roach / Tom's Hardware:
Katie Collins / CNET:
Qualcomm unveils the Dragonwing IQ10 Series, a full-stack robotics architecture integrating hardware, software, and AI for industrial and consumer humanoids  —  A new wave of humanoids are coming.  Qualcomm is ready to power them.  —  It might be a little early to declare 2026 the year …
Terrence O'Brien / The Verge:
Google plans to add Nano Banana and Veo support into Gemini on Google TV, letting users generate AI videos, modify family photos, and more, first on TCL TVs  —  You'll also be able to ask for custom ‘deep dives’ on subjects, complete with narration and interactive elements.
New York Times:
A Chinese hospital says Alibaba's PANDA AI tool has analyzed 180K+ CT scans to help doctors detect ~24 pancreatic cancer cases since its November 2024 rollout  —  A tool for spotting pancreatic cancer in routine CT scans has had promising results, one example of how China is racing to apply A.I. to medicine's tough problems.
Shakeel Hashim / Transformer:
Why Claude Code is much more than a coding agent: it is a general-purpose AI agent that can do almost anything on a computer with impressive capabilities  —  It's a general-purpose AI agent.  And it's already a pretty good knowledge worker  —  Over the holiday break, the news spread like wildfire.
Satya Nadella / sn scratchpad:
Satya Nadella says the tech industry needs to move past “slop vs sophistication” arguments and view AI as a “cognitive amplifier”, not a human substitute  —  As I reflect on the past year and look toward the one ahead, there's no question 2026 will be a pivotal year for AI.

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More News

Tage Kene-Okafor / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

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Ian Hodgson / Financial Times: