Spotify has announced a new partnership with United Airlines that aims to enhance your in-flight experience by giving you access to free content while onboard. Now, passengers will be able to stream over 450 hours of Spotify-curated playlists, podcasts, and audiobooks for free on over 130,000+ seatback screens.
Spotify is already available on the in-flight entertainment systems of several other airlines, including Emirates, Delta Airlines, and Virgin America – though they don’t offer video podcasts.
In Spotify’s blog post, the streaming platform said that this collaboration ‘marks the first time [we’ve] offered audiobooks and video podcasts onboard an airline’. Passengers will have access to a selection of titles including popular shows Good Hang with Amy Poehler, The Dave Chang Show, and The Comment Section with Drew Afualo.
Recently, Spotify has been improving the way users keep track of their favorite shows, adding a podcast recommendations in the Home page. (Image credit: Spotify)But that’s not all. This new partnership will also let travelers on Starlink-equipped aircraft stream Spotify on their personal devices between gates – without interruptions, and free of charge.
The only requirement is that you log into your MileagePlus account, United’s frequent-flyer program, and accept the terms and conditions. From there, you’ll be able to stream content in Spotify as normal on the Starlink network.
Following these announcements, CEO of MileagePlus, Richard Nunn, provided a comment on the collaboration: “Spotify has a huge audience and people love their content. And now our customers can enjoy it all in a simple and easy way, at 35,000 feet”.
There’s more to come…When it comes to United’s new collaboration with one of the best music streaming services, this is just the beginning of their growing relationship and as of 2026, users will be able to have more freedom with the in-flight Spotify content they choose to stream.
Next year, passengers will be able to use their personal devices to log into the Spotify app in United’s in-flight entertainment system to display their account on the seatback screen. The aim of this is to allow United passengers with a Spotify Premium to access and enjoy their own personal content beyond what’s already available for free on United’s system.
Having this freedom will allow you to pick up where you left off with your favorite albums, audiobooks, and podcasts, and give you wider access to Spotify content as you fly. Though we don’t know if United’s in-flight Spotify content is ad-supported, we’ll bring you updates as soon as more details are announced.
You might also likeIt's almost that time of year again: WWDC time. Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference is an annual event, where it reveals to developers and the rest of us what's coming in terms of software updates. That covers iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS, so it's always a packed show.
When it comes to official WWDC 2025 news, all we really know is when it's happening. Unofficially, there have been a ton of leaks and rumors hinting at what's to come – and we've collected them all here so you can prepare yourself for the big day.
If Apple sticks to its usual schedule, we'll get beta versions of some of these updates shortly after WWDC 2025 has ended, followed by full launches later in the year. When it comes to iOS 19 (or iOS 26) for example, the software should start rolling out to iPhones in September to coincide with the launch of the iPhone 17.
Cut to the chaseThis year's WWDC is happening on Monday, June 9, as announced by Apple.
There are meetings and presentations all week, but most of the main announcements will be made by Tim Cook and his colleagues in a keynote speech that kicks off the event: that's scheduled to get underway at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm UK (that's 3am AEST on June 10, for those of you in Australia).
As usual, the keynote will be livestreamed over the web, and here's how to watch it.
WWDC 2025: what can we expect?It looks as though WWDC 2025 is going to be particularly busy, based on the rumors and speculation we've come across in the run up to the event. Bear in mind that none of this is official yet, but here's what we're expecting.
A major software rebrandWe were expecting iOS 19 to follow iOS 18, as you would, but a reliable source says Apple plans to name the next iPhone operating system update iOS 26 – to match the year 2026, even though it's launching in the third quarter of 2025.
Not only that, but the rumor is that every Apple software platform will be renamed to match. This would fix the rather confusing situation we have now, where macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS are all on different version numbers.
That would be quite a jump in some cases – from visionOS 2 to visionOS 26 – but it would make everything more consistent. It's also going to be interesting to see which devices will be eligible for the upcoming updates.
Revamped interfaces(Image credit: Apple)Another leak that's emerged ahead of time suggests most of Apple's software platforms are going to get a modern visual refresh – one that actually matches the least widely used of those platforms, visionOS.
From what we've heard, it sounds like the new look will be more consistent, more straightforward, and with more use of translucent, glass-like elements. We've actually seen hints of this in the official invite to WWDC 2025.
What's more, the tagline of the event is "sleek peek" – pointing towards something that involves a visual overhaul. It could be the biggest update to the aesthetics of Apple's software and apps since iOS 7, all the way back in 2014.
Big app upgradesAs well as refreshing the underlying operating systems, Apple tends to save all its individual app update announcements for WWDC 2025 too. This year it's been rumored that Messages will get automatic translation and support for polls, for example.
The same leak predicts animated album art on the lock screen when you're listening to your tunes in Apple Music, as well as the ability to export Notes in markdown format. An overhaul to the CarPlay interface has also been predicted.
Apparently, a dedicated gaming app is on the way for Apple devices too, a central hub where all your games, chats, leaderboards, and other game-related information can live and sync across your various gadgets.
Not much Apple IntelligenceApple Intelligence hasn't had the best of starts (Image credit: Apple)Apple has gone big on AI recently, like just about every other tech company in business – but after several delays to the rollout of Apple Intelligence, it seems we won't get much in the way of new AI announcements at WWDC 2025.
That's according to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, who is usually reliable when it comes to Apple predictions. Apparently it's going to be pretty quiet on the Siri front, while Apple engineers regroup and make sure the next update is a polished one.
We may still see a few Apple Intelligence tweaks, such as battery optimizations, but don't expect too much in terms of AI – even if there's a possibility that Apple could open up its platforms to more third-party AI voice assistants.
More leaks and rumorsThat's not quite the end of the leaks and rumors when it comes to WWDC 2025. Software updates for the Apple AirPods are rumored to be adding features such as camera control, support for more gestures, and a new mic mode.
Then there's the Apple Watch: we won't see new hardware at WWDC 2025, but we suspect Apple may well introduce some new tracking features in watchOS, as well as perhaps a smattering of Apple Intelligence features.
No doubt Apple will have some surprises in store, so join us on June 9 for the full story: we'll be running a live blog alongside speedy updates from Apple, as we hear all about its software plans for the rest of the year.
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Google has boasted that Chrome is now faster than ever, outlining the improvements it's made to its popular web browser to achieve this speed boost.
Neown flagged up the latest blog post from Google in a series entitled the ‘Fast and the Curious’ for those who are intrigued to see what tinkering Google has been doing.
We’re told that Chrome has recorded its highest score ever on Speedometer 3.0, a browser benchmarking tool, and that it’s now 10% faster than in August 2024 with the release of the latest version 139 (still in testing, in the Dev channel).
Google says these improvements have been possible due to the Chrome team working across all the main ‘rendering paths’ of the browser, referring to the fundamental mechanisms that convert the nuts-and-bolts of code for a website into a visible web page in Chrome.
With that work happening more swiftly across multiple fronts, you see web pages rendered in the browser a bit faster, and it should act more responsively overall.
Clearly, though, performance mileage depends not just on the browser, but on a lot of factors (including any given website itself, and how it’s implemented, alongside the spec of the PC and its current overall workload).
(Image credit: Pixabay)Analysis: faster than ever – but some RAM concerns remainThere’s a fair bit of techie detail provided in terms of the exact tweaks Google has applied here, but to summarize, they include memory-related optimizations, better use of caches, and work on refining data structures.
Fortunately, us mere non-programmer mortals don’t need to know those ins and outs. The simple takeaway is that, as mentioned, Chrome is now 10% faster – at least based on this run of benchmarking.
This is the latest in a series of boosts for Chrome, as Google showed us how much faster its browser was at around the same time last year, as Neowin pointed out.
The benchmarking tool employed, Speedometer, is a respected suite of tests for web browsers, generally acknowledged to reflect a real-world browsing experience with a commendable degree of accuracy. What we don’t see here, though, are any comparative results that show how fast Edge, or Firefox, or some of the other best web browsers are in relation to Chrome.
That said, a quick scan of recent independent testing with Speedometer does suggest that Chrome is no slouch, and it seems like it currently has the edge (no pun intended) over other browsers.
Google appears to be doing good work on the performance front, then, despite Chrome’s reputation as a RAM hog, an issue it has sought to address. There have been improvements in terms of streamlining memory usage with Chrome in the more recent past, though – and overall, Google’s browser seems nippy enough these days.
That said, concerns around RAM-related performance headwinds remain. How much of this is down to tainted perceptions is debatable, but complaints certainly persist on various online forums that Chrome doesn’t fare so well here, and overreaches with its demands on the system, particularly with lower-end PCs that aren’t well-equipped in the RAM department.
There’s more to web browsers than speed, too, and one of the thornier remaining issues for Chrome is one of trust – or rather a lack of it, regarding Google ‘spying’ on its users, which is a common theme in terms of accusations leveled online. Not that Google is alone in terms of tech giants in this respect – far from it.
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I assigned my five-year-old daughter chief reviewing duties for the VTech KidiZoom Duo FX, a popular cheap compact camera for younger kids that can be picked up for as little as $45 / £40 at leading retailers like Amazon.
After she'd used if for a few months it was time to hear her thoughts. "What do you like most about the camera?" I ask. I can predict the one-word answer before it has left her lips: "Games!"
To be fair, the KidiZoom Duo has had more use than a number of other toys, gadgets and cameras for kids in our house, but I picked one up for her in the hope that she might be inspired to become the next Vivian Maier, not zone out playing the basic games on board.
She might well develop a creative eye over time and start taking fantastic photos, but it won't be the KidiZoom Duo that sends her on that path.
It's just the right fit for small hands, and it'll survive plenty of drops onto hard surfaces too. (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)That said, when I did direct her focus to the KidiZoom Duo's camera, she found it incredibly easy to use. There's a generous grip for both hands that was perfectly sized for her little hands, and it's come away from multiple mishaps and drops onto hard surfaces unscathed.
She can apply various animated filters to the photos, which has brought many smiles over the months, even if the basic photo quality hardly inspires – not that I'd expect anything better from such a low-cost camera.
Practically speaking, the use of four regular AA batteries is a pain. The first batch were flat after less than two days of use (you guessed it – from mainly playing games). I invested in rechargeable batteries, which in the long run has been more cost-effective.
Better battery life topped the list of my daughter's responses to the question "What could make this camera better?", along with more color options for the finish. And from my perspective, better-quality photos might inspire her to use the camera itself more.
Would I recommend the feature-packed VTech KidiZoom Duo FX as a first camera? Absolutely. No other camera comes close at this super-low price. Will it inspire your young ones to take up photography? Probably not.
VTech KidiZoom Duo FX: Price and availabilityThe best-selling VTech KidiZoom Duo FX has been available for some years now, and its price has settled at around $45 / £40 / AU$100 at leading retailers. It's recommended for children aged thee to nine years, and features and design-wise you'll be hard pressed to find a better alternative.
The FX version of the Duo is available in blue and pink versions. There's also a newer and pricier Duo 5.0 version that we've yet to test.
VTech KidiZoom Duo FX: specsQuick SpecsRecommended age:
3-9 years
Photos:
Dual cameras; 8MP front, 2MP selfie
Video:
640p
Lens:
4x digital zoom
Memory:
256MB internal, expandable with micro SD
LCD:
2.4-inch, non touch
Connectivity
Micro USB for image transfer, headphone jack
Power:
4x AA-size alkaline batteries (LR6)
VTech KidiZoom Duo FX: designThe KidiZoom Duo is a pretty easy camera to control. It features large buttons for key functions, including a joystick to navigate menus and a control wheel for the 4x digital zoom.
The twin viewfinders are simple windows, nothing fancy, spaced so the user can look through both, binoculars-style. My daughter barely used the viewfinders, however, instead focusing her attention on the basic fixed 2.4-inch LCD, which can be pretty hard to see in bright light.
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)I was thankful for the headphone jack on the camera's underside, which meant I could ask my daughter to use headphones rather than having to listen to the music of the on-board games coming out of the KidiZoom Duo's built-in speaker.
Photo and video files are tiny, but the camera's internal 256MB memory still fills up soon enough, so a cheap microSD card is a must-buy. You won't need to go big – even a 32GB one will easily store years' worth of images.
Images can be transferred to a computer by a now-dated micro USB port – the cable is supplied with the camera.
(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)To keep costs down, the KidiZoom Duo is powered by AA batteries. You'll need four in all, with two slotting into the left grip and two into the right. You'll need a mini screwdriver to unscrew the internal door that helps secure the batteries in place.
A built-in lith-ion battery would be preferable, making recharges much simpler and quicker. However, if you've got a set of rechargeable AAs, then it's not too much bother to go through the process.
(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)VTech KidiZoom Duo FX: PerformanceImage quality is, as you'd expect from such a cheap camera, basic. Photos in JPEG format from the main front camera top out at 8MP, while the selfie camera is just 2MP.
Photo resolution is further reduced when using any one of a number of built-in animated templates and filters, while video quality is even more basic at just 640p.
A soft lens and a tiny image sensor compound matters; the KidiZoom struggles to hold detail in high-contrast sunny scenes, and low-light images are super noisy. Detail is soft, and the 4x digital zoom only further reduces image quality.
You get the picture, but to be fair I wouldn't expect any better for the money. Also, thankfully, there's a built-in flash, which can give a little fill light to your subjects, with a range up to 3m. This flash is super helpful in dim conditions, especially indoors.
(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)It's best to put aside any expectations for photo quality, and focus more on the creative tools on offer, which are more likely to engage young creatives.
For example, there's panorama, wacky slideshow, animation maker, photo editor and voice recorder options, all of which add a little extra to the creative arsenal where the camera alone comes up short.
And what kid doesn't enjoy composing themselves or a family member into animated templates, of which the KidiZoom Duo has in spades?
Yes, any of today's smartphones will take better pictures and probably offer more creative control. But for a device that you can safely leave your child alone with, the cheap KidiZoom Duo fits the bill. It's excellent value too.
VTech KidiZoom Duo FX sample imagesImage 1 of 9The selfie camera takes 1600 x 1200 pixel images and focuses closer than the front camera (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Image 2 of 9You know it – rocking one of the many animated filters on offer. (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Image 3 of 9I took this selfie with the main front camera, which has higher resolution pictures than the selfie camera, however its minimum focus distance is beyond me so detail is soft (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Image 4 of 9Don't expect photos packed with detail (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Image 5 of 9Here the sky is really washed out (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Image 6 of 9You can't really take closeup photos of little details because of the limited minimum focus. The flowers are soft here. (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Image 7 of 9(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Image 8 of 9(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Image 9 of 9(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Should I buy the VTech KidiZoom Duo FX?Buy it if...You want a kid's camera that's rugged and easy to handle
The VTech KidiZoom Duo FX big, bold, easily held, and can withstand knocks and drops.
You want a feature-packed toy
The KidiZoom Duo FX is more than a camera, it's a handheld gaming device, voice recorder, audio player and more.
You hope to encourage photography skills
The KidiZoom offers an element of creative development thanks to its filters and various tools, but the camera itself is very basic.
You'd like decent-quality photos
Photo and video quality is poor, even if the built-in flash somewhat improves the picture.
The Camp Snap camera is essentially a digital version of the single-use film camera. With no screen and singular purpose, it's the ideal antidote to the KidiZoom Duo's multi-function, games-distracting features.
Read our in-depth Camp Snap camera review
myFirst Camera 50The pricier myFirst Camera 50 has elements of the KidiZoom Duo, but is more likely to draw attention to the creative aspects, plus the camera and its photos are slightly better quality.
Read our in-depth myFirst Camera 50 review
(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)How I tested the VTech KidiZoom Duo FXThis is a long-term review of an older camera that all of my family has contributed to.
We've exhausted the KidiZoom Duo's creative tools, including both cameras for photo and video, its various shooting modes, animated templates and audio recording.
And yes, we got pretty good at the basic selection of games.
The fact that Garmin is entering the best sleep tracker race with a new product, said to be called the Garmin Index Sleep Monitor, isn't news anymore. Several leaks over the last two weeks have all but confirmed the product's existence. However, this time the leak has apparently come from Garmin itself, as it published – then quickly took down – a video featuring the product. The call is coming from inside the house!
First reported by Gadgets & Wearables, a regional arm of Garmin first posted the video. The report doesn't mention which region, and as the video has been taken down, we're unable to work our way back to the YouTube channel that originally posted it.
Nevertheless, Gadgets & Wearables apparently grabbed some screenshots of the video before it was removed, showing the device in action. The shots show a wearable heart rate monitor attached to the user's upper arm via a Velcro strap, designed to be worn during sleep only. It's not a Whoop-style screenless fitness tracker as previously thought. You can view those images in the link above.
Gadgets & Wearables confirms the device will pack a vibrating smart alarm as well as a seven-day battery life and Garmin's usual suite of data collected by its optical heart rate monitor and sensor arrays.
These include heart rate, heart rate variability and skin temperature, as well as a new metric called breathing variation. This is likely a move towards recording instances of sleep apnea.
Garmin's big bet on sleepWe reported on previous leaks stating the device was likely to cost 170 euros, around $200 / £150 / AU$300. That's quite a lot of money for an add-on device that does something your Garmin watch can already do, that isn't a fitness tracker too.
It's said to interface with Garmin Connect in the same way as your watch, so the intention is likely to wear your watch during the day and the more accurate Index Sleep Monitor at night.
As a sleep-only tracker, the upper arm positioning will allow for more accurate heart rate readings, but we're particularly interested in the sleep apnoea feature. Apple debuted its Sleep Apnoea Notifications feature on the best Apple Watches last year, and Samsung's gone hard into sleep with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Ring.
Your bed is rapidly becoming the next big wearables frontier. We'll know more for sure about the Garmin Index Sleep Monitor when it launches – and if promotional materials have already been leaked, that can't be far away.
You might also like...The CEO of Google's parent company Alphabet has hit back at fears growing AI adoption will lead to job cuts.
Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, Sundar Pichai said AI could actually help Alphabet grow its workforce, rather than lead to redundancies and losses.
“I expect we will grow from our current engineering phase even into next year, because it allows us to do more,” Pichai said, noting AI could be "an accelerator" driving new product development, which in turn needs more human workers.
AI job concernsAlphabet has made several large-scale layoffs in recent years, with 12,000 workers cut in January 2023, and around a thousand let go over the course of 2024, with Google also announcing several hundred more cuts in 2025.
However, many of the largest technology firms in the world have also been forced to make similar cuts, such as Microsoft, which recently announced 7,000 roles would go.
Pichai was hopeful about the impact AI will have on Alphabet's workers, noting the technology could free them from repetitive or dull admin work to tackle more creative tasks.
He did acknowledge concerns about AI taking human jobs, and addressed recent comments by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei suggesting AI could remove half of entry-level white-collar jobs within five years by saying, “I respect that … I think it’s important to voice those concerns and debate them.”
"There’s a lot of forward progress ahead with the paths we are on, not only the set of ideas we are working on today, [but] some of the newer ideas we are experimenting with,” Pichai added.
“I’m very optimistic on seeing a lot of progress - but you’ve always had these technology curves where you may hit a temporary plateau. So are we currently on an absolute path to AGI? I don’t think anyone can say for sure.”
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