Nina Raemont/ZDNET Alexa Plus is Amazon’s revamped version of its virtual assistant, now powered by generative AI. Though Amazon is rolling out Alexa Plus to many existing Echo devices, it’s not available for free. Using Alexa Plus will cost $20 monthly, which is the same cost as ChatGPT Plus. Thankfully, there are ways you can use it for free — at least for a limited time. Also: 7 useful AI features coming with Alexa Plus…

Maria Diaz/ZDNET Amazon’s early-year Devices and Services event took place today, and the company made it clear that AI will continue to be at the center of its hardware universe. Driving the buzzword of the century is Alexa, arguably the most popular virtual assistant in the world. SVP of Devices and Services Panos Panay suggested that millions of new customers use it every day during the event. Also: Everything Amazon announced at its Devices and…

Nina Raemont/ZDNET Alexa Plus is Amazon’s revamped version of its virtual assistant, now powered by generative AI. Though Amazon is rolling out Alexa Plus to many existing Echo devices, it’s not available for free. Using Alexa Plus will cost $20 monthly, which is the same cost as ChatGPT Plus. Thankfully, there are ways you can use it for free — at least for a limited time. Also: 7 useful AI features coming with Alexa Plus…

Apple Watch Ultra 2 (left) with the Oura Ring 4 (center) and OnePlus Watch 3 (right) Matthew Miller/ZDNET I’m fortunate to have a strong immune system — and I often frustrate my wife by refusing to acknowledge any signs of illness. But the Oura Ring 4 no longer lets me deny reality. Named ZDNET’s 2024 Product of the Year, this wearable continues to prove its value every day. With so many smartwatches to test, I…

Slack If you use Slack for work, you’re (probably) not fired. But it might be a good time to take a long lunch break. The widely used workplace platform is facing serious issues today, with many users unable to log in at all. Affected users trying to access Slack (myself included) are greeted with a message saying, “We’re having trouble loading your workspace.” The message continues: “This is one of those times when we’re not…

Maria Diaz/ZDNET Amazon has announced a gen AI-powered Alexa Plus, a revamped version of its popular virtual assistant that leverages the power of generative artificial intelligence to enhance the user experience. Alexa Plus is exactly what you may have envisioned when you first heard of voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google, but without the accompanying disappointment at their shortcomings.  The improved voice assistant will be able to generate responses instead of repeating what it’s been programmed…

Google/ZDNET If you find your personal information online, like your phone number, address, or email, Google is making it easier to make sure it doesn’t show up again. Also: Google Lens adds a cool search trick to iPhones – how to try it Several years ago, Google introduced a “Results about you” tool that lets you track your personal information online and remove it from search results. It wasn’t exactly easy to find this tool, though,…

Kerry Wan/ZDNET Did you know that whenever you turn on your smart TV, you invite an unseen guest to watch it with you? These days, most popular TV models utilize automatic content recognition (ACR), a form of ad surveillance technology that gathers information about everything you watch and transmits it to a centralized database. Manufacturers then use your data to identify your viewing preferences, enabling them to deliver highly targeted ads. Also: The fastest VPNs of 2025:…