In the latest edition of “can it run Doom?” a high school student has discovered a way to port the classic PC game to a PDF file. Taking advantage of this, Allen created the Doom PDF, which can run the game if it’s viewed in a Chromium-based browser, such as Google’s Chrome.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/even-a-pdf-file-can-run-doom
What blew people away about Google Docs was that multiple people could be editing the same document live in real-time. It’s one thing to do this for simple text input, but drawing and image editing are a different story. So, Adobe is bringing that same gee-whiz capability to its category-leading image-editing software, Photoshop, in a beta you can apply for now.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/adobe-brings-live-co-editing-to-photoshop
This update is critical for Apple to build momentum around its flagship AI product, especially after the first batch of features that arrived in October with iOS 18.1 were a bit of a letdown. Though they had the stellar design and ease of use we expect from Apple, none revolutionized the way we use our devices. I've even found myself wanting to turn off the notification summaries at times because they don't always accurately sum up emails and texts.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/apple-intelligence-what-to-expect-ios-18-2-chatgpt
AI is Google's main focus, and Pichai, perhaps unsurprisingly, suggested his company's AI models compete well against those from Microsoft. "I would love to do a side-by-side comparison of Microsoft’s own models and our models any day, any time," Pichai said, adding: "They’re using someone else’s models." Microsoft is backing OpenAI, and the two firms have been working together closely to share resources in AI development (and fight lawsuits).
https://www.pcmag.com/news/google-search-may-change-profoundly-in-2025-sundar-pichai-ai
Meta execs have acknowledged that ads are coming to its newest social network. "We definitely plan to bring ads to Threads," Instagram Head Adam Mosseri, who also oversees Threads, said in April. "At the end of the day, we're a business, and Threads needs to make enough money to pay for the people and servers that it takes to run the service and provide it to people for free."
https://www.pcmag.com/news/brace-yourself-for-ads-on-threads-in-january
Android developers will get a few more ways to seek your attention and then virtually tug at your sleeve as you browse Google’s Play Store for new Android apps. The most eye-catching change among those Google announced today will be full-screen playback of app portrait videos. In a blog post, Paul Feng, Google Play VP of product management, notes the non-trivial upsides among app developers who tested this format: “+7% increase in total watch time, a +9% increase in video completion count, and a +5% increase in conversions."
https://www.pcmag.com/news/google-announces-play-store-tweaks-to-entice-more-of-your-attention-and
Apple Intelligence debuted this week with iOS 18.1, adding a slew of generative AI smarts to long-standing features, like Siri. Apple's digital assistant is no longer a pulsing ball at the base of the screen. Instead, it's a multi-colored, neon glow around the edges, which you can interact with in two new ways: Pressing the lock button or a new text-to-Siri option.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/new-vs-old-siri-how-much-of-an-upgrade-is-apple-intelligence