Apple has officially unveiled its 2025 hardware lineup, introducing the iPhone 17 family, the all-new iPhone Air, the Apple Watch Series 11 and Ultra 3, and the long-awaited AirPods Pro 3. While iPhones were the centerpiece, Apple also hinted at more devices on the horizon—including new iPads, MacBooks, and even an updated Vision Pro—slated for late 2025 or early 2026.

iPhone 17, Pro, and Pro Max

The iPhone 17 series takes a big step forward with design and performance upgrades:

• Larger Display: The standard iPhone 17 now sports a 6.3-inch screen, up from 6.1 inches on the iPhone 16.
• Smoother Experience: Apple finally adds a 120 Hz refresh rate to the base model, doubling the smoothness of its predecessor.
• Camera Boost: A new 48MP ultrawide camera joins the setup for sharper, wider shots.
• Fresh Colors: Available in lavender, mist blue, black, white, and sage.

The Pro lineup has a bold new look with a horizontal camera bar stretching across the back, housing three cameras, flash, and sensors. In a surprising shift, Apple replaced titanium with aluminum for the frame, giving the device a sleeker finish.

Pricing starts at $799 (256GB) for the iPhone 17, while the Pro and Pro Max are priced at $1,099 and $1,199, respectively.

Apple also introduced TechWoven cases, a higher-quality replacement for the short-lived FineWoven line.

iPhone Air: Apple’s Slimmest Phone Ever

The showstopper of the event was the iPhone Air, replacing the Plus model with an ultra-thin profile of just 5.6 mm. Despite being Apple’s slimmest device, it packs impressive features:

• 6.6-inch display with 120 Hz ProMotion
• eSIM-only design for extra thinness
• Colors: black, white, sky blue, and light gold

Priced at $999, the iPhone Air positions Apple to compete with ultra-slim devices like Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge and could pave the way for Apple’s first foldable iPhone, rumored for 2026.

Apple Watch Series 11, Ultra 3, and SE 3

Apple also refreshed its smartwatch lineup:

• Apple Watch Ultra 3: Now with 5G support, satellite connectivity, faster charging, and a larger display.
• Health Innovation: Both the Ultra 3 and Series 11 gain blood pressure monitoring, alerting users to unusual readings.
• Apple Watch SE 3: Adds an always-on display thanks to the new S10 chip but otherwise remains entry-level.

Pricing: $249 (SE 3), $399 (Series 11), $799 (Ultra 3).

AirPods Pro 3: Smarter Than Ever

Apple’s third-gen AirPods Pro bring both design and functionality upgrades:

• Smaller earbuds with better fit
• Enhanced sound quality
• Heart-rate monitoring built into the earbuds
• Live translation powered by Apple Intelligence, enabling real-time language translation

The AirPods Pro 3 are priced at $249.

Conclusion

Apple’s 2025 hardware event showcased a bold mix of refinement and innovation. From the ultra-thin iPhone Air to smarter AirPods and health-focused Apple Watches, Apple continues to expand its ecosystem. Yet, the absence of an AI-powered Siri leaves a gap compared to Google and other rivals. With more products expected in 2025 and 2026, Apple is clearly gearing up for its next big leap—possibly the long-awaited foldable iPhone.

TikTok-owner ByteDance has officially unveiled Seedream 4.0, its latest artificial intelligence model designed for image generation and editing. The company is positioning it as a direct challenger to Google DeepMind’s Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, better known by its viral nickname Nano Banana.

Seedream 4.0 was developed by ByteDance’s Seed department, which leads the company’s AI innovation efforts. ByteDance claims the new model excels in both creating images from text prompts and editing visuals with high precision, two areas where Nano Banana has gained widespread recognition since its August launch.

A Major Upgrade in ByteDance’s AI Lineup

Experts note that Seedream 4.0 marks a significant leap forward from previous ByteDance tools. Unlike earlier models, this release combines two powerful capabilities into one system:

• The text-to-image strengths of Seedream 3.0
• The advanced editing abilities of SeedEdit 3.0

Despite its enhanced functionality, Seedream 4.0 keeps the same price point as its predecessor — US$30 per 1,000 generantios — making it a competitive choice for creators and businesses.

Outperforming Nano Banana?

According to ByteDance, internal testing on MagicBench showed Seedream 4.0 surpassing Google’s Gemini 2.5 Flash Image in three key areas:

• Prompt adherence — accuracy in following user instructions
• Alignment — consistency in generated results
• Aesthetics — overall image quality and appeal

Still, these results remain unverified externally, as no peer-reviewed technical report has been published.

Industry Reaction

Benchmarking firm Artificial Analysis described Seedream 4.0 as a “significant evolution” in ByteDance’s AI lineup. By merging generation and editing into one model, ByteDance has positioned itself as a serious contender in the competitive AI image generation market — one currently dominated by tech giants like Google and OpenAI.

Conclusion

With Seedream 4.0, ByteDance is signaling its ambition to stand alongside the world’s leading AI innovators. If its performance claims prove accurate, creators may soon have a powerful new alternative to Google’s Nano Banana for image generation and editing.

YouTube has officially launched its multi-language audio feature, giving millions of creators the ability to dub their videos in multiple languages. After two years of testing, the platform is now opening this tool to everyone, aiming to help creators reach a wider global audience. The rollout will take place gradually over the next few weeks.

From Pilot to Global Rollout

The feature was first introduced in 2023 as a pilot program with a select group of high-profile creators, including MrBeast, Mark Rober, and Jamie Oliver. At the time, creators had to rely on third-party dubbing services. However, YouTube later introduced an AI-powered auto-dubbing tool built on Google’s Gemini technology, designed to mimic a creator’s tone and emotions for more natural-sounding translations.

Strong Results from Early Testers

According to YouTube, creators testing the feature have seen significant results. On average, videos with multi-language audio tracks gained over 25% of watch time from viewers in non-primary languages. A standout case is Jamie Oliver’s channel, which reportedly tripled its views after adopting the feature.

Localized Thumbnails in Testing

In addition to dubbing, YouTube has also been experimenting with multi-language thumbnails since June 2025. This allows creators to display text in different languages directly on thumbnails, ensuring better engagement from international audiences. The goal is to give global viewers a seamless, localized experience—from the first click to the final watch.

Conclusion

With multi-language audio and localized thumbnails, YouTube is taking a major step toward making content truly global. For creators, this means new opportunities to grow audiences across borders without producing separate videos for each language. For viewers, it promises more accessible and engaging content in their preferred language.

Google is broadening the reach of its AI-powered Search experience, AI Mode, by adding support for five new languages: Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese. This marks the first major language expansion since the feature launched exclusively in English over six months ago.

A Wider Rollout

The update comes shortly after Google extended AI Mode to 180 new markets in English, following its initial launch in the U.S. and gradual rollout to the U.K. and India. With the latest expansion, millions more users can now interact with AI-powered search in their preferred language.

Hema Budaraju, VP of Product Management at Google Search, explained in a blog post that the change will let more people “ask complex questions in their own language while exploring the web more deeply.”

What Is AI Mode?

Introduced in March as an experiment for Google One AI Premium subscribers, AI Mode is Google’s answer to AI-driven search tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT Search and Perplexity. It runs on a customized version of Gemini 2.5, which is built for advanced reasoning and multimodal inputs.

In August, Google began testing agentic features in AI Mode, including the ability to secure restaurant reservations. Upcoming updates promise expanded functionality for booking local services and purchasing event tickets. Currently, these premium features are limited to Google AI Ultra subscribers in the U.S., available via Labs under the “Agentic capabilities in AI Mode” experiment. The Ultra plan costs $249.99 per month.

How to Access AI Mode

AI Mode currently appears as a dedicated tab on the search results page and can also be activated via a button in the search bar. According to Logan Kilpatrick, Group Product Manager at Google DeepMind, Google is working toward making this AI-powered experience the default search option “soon.”

Challenges and Criticism

Despite its rapid rollout, AI Mode hasn’t been free of criticism. Both AI Mode and AI Overviews have raised concerns among publishers, who argue that these features may reduce website traffic by keeping users within Google’s ecosystem. Google, however, has denied that its AI-powered search tools are negatively impacting clicks.

Conclusion

With support for Hindi, Japanese, Korean, and other widely spoken languages, Google is positioning AI Mode as a truly global AI search experience. As the company continues to enhance its agentic capabilities and push toward becoming the default search option, the future of online search may look very different from today.

Snapchat is expanding its AI offerings with the launch of a new Lens that allows users to create and edit images using simple text prompts. The feature, called Imagine Lens, is available exclusively to Snapchat+ Platinum and Lens+ subscribers.

What Imagine Lens Can Do

Imagine Lens gives users the ability to:

• Generate unique images from custom prompts, such as “create an image of a grumpy cat” or “turn me into an alien.”
• Edit and re-create Snaps with just a few words.
• Share AI-generated images with friends, post them to Stories, or send them outside the app.

To make it even easier, Snapchat has included a set of pre-loaded prompts, including:

• “Turn me into a four to five-panel comic where something unexpected but heroic happens.”
• “Make me into a funny caricature.”
• “Make this person skydive.”

Users can edit any of these prompts by tapping the caption bar and typing their own ideas.

Built on Snap’s AI Advances

Earlier this year, Snap revealed a mobile-friendly AI text-to-image research model that it said would help power future features. While it hasn’t confirmed whether Imagine Lens relies on this model, Snap explained that its Lenses are created using a combination of in-house AI models and leading third-party technologies.

The launch continues Snap’s broader efforts to merge augmented reality with AI. In recent months, the company introduced a Lens Studio iOS app and web tool to simplify AR Lens creation using AI. It also rolled out its first video generative AI Lenses earlier this year.

Pricing and Availability

• Snapchat+ Platinum: $15.99 per month
• Lens+: $8.99 per month

Subscribers can find Imagine Lens in the Lens Carousel or under the Exclusive category.

Conclusion

With Imagine Lens, Snapchat is combining its expertise in augmented reality with the creative power of AI. By allowing users to transform simple text prompts into imaginative images, Snap continues to position itself as a leader in bringing new digital experiences to its community.

Google is upgrading its image-to-video feature in Google Photos with the integration of Veo 3, the company’s latest AI video-generation model. The new option is available in the app’s Create tab for users in the U.S., giving them the ability to turn still images into short video clips with improved quality and realism.

From Veo 2 to Veo 3

Google Photos already offered a “Photo to video” tool powered by Veo 2, which allowed users to pick a photo and add simple motion effects. With Veo 3, videos look sharper and more dynamic, representing a step forward in Google’s push to bring advanced AI into consumer products. Google Photos, with over 1.5 billion monthly active users as of May 2025, is an important showcase for these upgrades.

Features and Limitations

The original image-to-video feature gave users two choices: add subtle movements to an image or let the system surprise them with a random animation via the “I’m feeling lucky” button. This generated a six-second clip that could be shared.

With Veo 3, videos are shorter at four seconds but deliver higher quality. The feature will remain free with limited usage, while AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers will get access to additional generations. Videos won’t include audio, but they will carry both visible and invisible watermarks to signal that they are AI-generated.

A Broader AI-Powered Creative Hub

The upgrade comes as part of the Create hub in Google Photos, a space for exploring AI-powered creative tools. Beyond Veo 3, users can:

• Remix photos into new styles
• Build collages and montages from their galleries
• Create cinematic 3D photos with motion effects
• Make GIFs from still images

Expanding Google’s AI Reach

Google introduced Veo 3 at its I/O 2025 developer conference and first rolled it out in July through the Gemini app for paid subscribers. Its arrival in Google Photos makes the technology more widely accessible, allowing everyday users to animate old photos or bring fresh life to their memories with AI-powered videos.

Adobe is expanding its mobile creativity suite by bringing its flagship video editing app, Premiere, to the iPhone. The app is now listed on the App Store for preorder, with an expected release date of September 30.

Professional Editing on the Go

The iPhone version of Premiere aims to provide professional-grade editing tools for creators on the move. Users will be able to trim, layer, and fine-tune frames, as well as work with video, audio, and text layers—features already familiar to desktop users. The app will also support 4K HDR export and include automatic captions with customizable subtitles, helping creators deliver more polished videos.

AI-Powered Features

Adobe is integrating its Firefly AI models into Premiere for iOS. This will allow users to generate images, audio, and even video clips using text prompts. The app will also offer access to Adobe’s stock library of music, sound effects, photos, graphics, and videos, along with fonts and presets from Lightroom.

Audio Enhancement Tools

One of the standout features is Enhance Speech, which reduces background noise during recordings. This tool is designed to help creators capture clearer audio in noisy environments, making it particularly useful for mobile shooting.

Pricing and Platform Expansion

Premiere on iPhone will be free to use, but advanced features such as AI credits and cloud storage will require payment. An Android version is in development, though Adobe has not yet provided a release date.

Rising Competition in Mobile Video Editing

The launch comes at a time when competition in mobile video editing is heating up. Meta recently introduced its editing app Edits, while a16z-backed Captions switched to a freemium model to expand its reach. With Premiere on iOS, Adobe is positioning itself as a top choice for creators on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts.

Adobe’s Mobile-First Strategy

Adobe has been steadily expanding its mobile presence. Earlier this year, it released Photoshop for iOS and a beta version for Android, as well as a standalone Firefly app on both platforms. Premiere on iPhone continues this strategy, making professional creative tools more accessible anywhere.