Author: Geek Planet

The e-commerce giant Amazon has announced a major expansion of its AI-based assistant, Alexa+, adding several third-party integrations. The assistant can now handle real-world tasks, such as booking travel tickets or reservations, hiring services, ordering food, and managing payments, all via natural language commands. The first wave of partners includes Expedia (travel planning and bookings), Yelp (local business information), Angi (home repairs and professional services), and Square (digital payments). Why Alexa+ finally feels useful So, instead of juggling multiple apps to do all these things, users can simply ask Alexa+ to do the work for them. For instance, one can…

As generative AI alters the algebra around advertising creative, more CMOs hope to lean on science, rather than art, to judge the value of campaign assets and drive media efficiency.British health and beauty retailer Boots has been working with creative data platform CreativeX to pool results from different third-party creative measurement tools and better monitor the value its ads are generating. The aim is to eliminate poorly performing creative assets before they go out, and boost high performing ones in ongoing campaigns, said Peter Grant, head of media effectiveness, Boots U.K. “The proliferation of digital content continues at pace. We…

The Korean tech giant Samsung has quietly rolled out a new AI-powered feature on Samsung TV Plus, focusing solely on one thing: old K-dramas. It has launched a dedicated channel that streams classic Korean dramas from the 2000s, but there’s a twist: they’re being upscaled to 4K using Samsung’s AI video processing technology. Instead of remastering each show (which would take an immense amount of time and resources), Samsung is applying its on-device AI upscaling technology across the entire channel, cleaning up old Korean dramas in real time. Making old shows watchable on big 4K screens So, expect to see…

Programmatic marketers may not understand AI but they’re even more unsure of themselves. That was the undercurrent at this week’s Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit in New Orleans.  Onstage discussions, offstage pow wows and the usually candid town halls all pointed to the same tension: everyone talking about AI, yet few felt equipped to shape what comes next. The dynamic landed with real force. This moment isn’t about automation muscling out humans. It’s about a shift in which influence sits — technical literacy is the real source of value. “We’re at an inflection point,” said Doug Paladino, head of programmatic at PMG. “Things…

Samsung is celebrating the finale of Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things with some cool new customization options for your Galaxy phone. Fans can now grab a free theme and wallpapers inspired by the show, bringing its iconic eerie vibe straight to their devices. The new Stranger Things theme and wallpapers are available through the Galaxy Store in 186 countries, but users have to download or launch the Netflix app to claim them. The collection is based on the fifth and final season of the franchise, and includes five wallpapers featuring fan-favorite characters and memorable settings from the show. Samsung says…

This holiday season, more people are consulting ChatGPT for gift ideas or asking Google’s Gemini to find them the best Black Friday deals.  And naturally, the brands that are seeing the biggest boost from this shift in consumer behavior are some of the biggest retailers.  Profound, a marketing platform that helps brands create AI-optimized content, released a Black Friday Index, a leaderboard tracking which brands and retailers ChatGPT seems to be favoring the most.  According to Profound, the Black Friday Index highlights the 10 most visible brands — that is, the brands appearing most frequently in shopping-related prompts fed to ChatGPT…

The first big tech event of each year is nearly upon us, with CES 2026 starting on January 6 for three days of new hardware and software launches. Expect home tech, TVs, fitness and gaming announcements galore. Hundreds of companies exhibit on the conference’s Las Vegas showroom floor and plenty of those have online unveilings too, so it’s very easy to get overwhelmed by the number of new products and services shown off. To save you from hours of browsing, or crossing your fingers that your news algorithm will feed you interesting news, here are five big announcements to keep…

Creators and the creator economy aren’t going anywhere, given the market has truly embraced just how important they are to the industry, and it’s no longer a nice-to-have.Which is why Digiday has charted how the creator economy is expected to expand in 2026, including revenue, the types of creators brands are planning to work with, along with what platforms will be key for that content. U.S. annual creator economy ad spend set to rise by around 18% The IAB’s latest report noted that this year, the U.S. annual creator economy ad spend is set to reach $37.1 billion. But it…

Microsoft is working on some low-profile but important tweaks to the Windows 11 File Explorer that could finally curb its hunger for system memory. Currently being tested in the latest Windows Insider builds, these changes aim to optimize how the file manager handles searches – specifically addressing the high RAM and CPU usage that often spikes when you’re digging through large folders. This update is appearing in Windows 11 Build 26220.7523 and above For now, it’s only available to those in the Insider preview program. The core of the fix is about working smarter, not harder: Microsoft wants to stop…

The open internet didn’t grow opaque because of a single bad actor or decision. Marketers chased cheap scale, and the ecosystem expanded around that demand. New intermediaries, auction layers and resellers piled on, creating complexity that no one fully intended. Even earnest transparency pushes on the demand side were diluted as the sell side sprawled into a maze of MFA inventory and supply routes no one could reliably audit. That blend of incentives and structural sprawl is now showing cracks. The strain was evident at this week’s Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit in New Orleans, where agency execs said the industry is…