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Archives for December 2025

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
JerryRigEverything bends the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold beyond its limits.

Samsung’s three-panel foldable phone won’t be officially available in the US until next year, but it’s already hit the YouTuber’s durability test table. Its thin frame (that’s different sizes across all three sections) doesn’t deal well with being bent the wrong way, even if Samsung’s hinge technology is pretty resilient, but... it didn’t explode.

Press play for a peek at the test results and a look at all three internal battery cells.

I re-created Google’s cute Gemini ad with my own kid’s stuffie, and I wish I hadn’t

AI can help you make it look like a plush toy is traveling the world. But I’m not convinced that’s a great idea.

Allison Johnson
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Waymo is working on a Google Gemini-powered in-car AI assistant.

In addition to an update for its power outage problem, Waymo is also working on an AI Ride Assistant. That’s according to security researcher Jane Manchun Wong, who found details on the bot’s system prompt from Waymo’s mobile app code.

Details of the Waymo bot’s protocol for reassuring a rider who expresses anxiety, and a sample response reading “I understand it can feel different being driven this way. Please be assured that the Waymo Driver sees all around the vehicle and is designed to maintain a safe distance from everything it sees. Your safety is our absolute highest priority.”
The Waymo Ride Assistant’s “reassurance_protocol”
Screenshot: Jane Manchun Wong
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Waymo explains Saturday’s self-driving shutdown in San Francisco.

When a substation fire cut off electricity across the city, Waymo SUVs stuck at malfunctioning stoplights quickly became another headache, and now the company is explaining it as an issue of too many remote operator assistance requests:

While the Waymo Driver is designed to handle dark traffic signals as four-way stops, it may occasionally request a confirmation check to ensure it makes the safest choice. While we successfully traversed more than 7,000 dark signals on Saturday, the outage created a concentrated spike in these requests. This created a backlog that, in some cases, led to response delays contributing to congestion on already-overwhelmed streets.

How AI broke the smart home in 2025 

The arrival of generative AI assistants in our smart homes held such promise; instead, they struggle to turn on the lights.

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Alphabet is acquiring a data center company.

Google’s parent company will acquire Intersect for $4.75 billion to “enable more data center and generation capacity to come online, faster, while accelerating energy development and innovation,” according to a press release. Intersect will “remain separate from Alphabet and Google.”

Phones were fashionable again in 2025Phones were fashionable again in 2025
Allison Johnson