Author: Geek Planet

When you think of influencer marketing, you typically picture brands working with a younger creator to target Gen Z (ages 13-28) or Gen Alpha (up to 12 years old). That’s not always the case. As the influencer marketing space and creator economy continues to grow, so-called silver influencers, or creators from Gen X (45-60 years old) and boomer generations (ages 61-79) are increasingly catching marketers’ attention.Progresso Soup and Harmless Harvest, a coconut product company, are eyeing the older cohort of creators to earn some cultural cache and boost brand awareness. They’re not alone. Brands’ interest in Gen X and Boomer…

GrapheneOS is doubling down on privacy at a time when most platforms are moving the other way. The security-focused Android alternative says it won’t require personal information from users, even as governments tighten identity and data collection rules. In a recent public post, the team said the OS will remain usable without accounts or ID checks worldwide. That decision comes with a clear tradeoff. If local laws demand verification, access in those regions could disappear instead of the platform changing its approach That puts GrapheneOS on a direct collision path with a broader push toward verified online services. While most…

The agency has called the city home for 53 years, according to GSD&M CEO Duff Stewart, and the party is a way to participate in the the South by Southwest festival and represent its hometown. What started as backyard concerts in 2009 has morphed into a mini-festival on the Monday night of SXSW, where somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 attendees will make a stop at the agency’s fete. Throughout the years, acts like The Hold Steady, Gary Clark Jr., Toro y Moi, Charley Crockett and Reggie Watts have taken the stage at GSD&M’s party. The shop will kick off its…

A McDonald’s in the Chinese megacity of Shanghai is testing humanoid robots in roles usually the preserve of human workers, with other types of robots also let loose inside the restaurant to greet and entertain diners. Truth be told, the robots don’t look particularly advanced, but a video (below) showing them in action does hint at a future where bipedal bots and other machines handle routine tasks at fast food restaurants, from welcoming customers and taking orders to delivering food and cleaning the floor. The McDonald’s trial, using robots supplied by Chinese firm Keenon Robotics, comes at a time of…

Recent leaks point to Amazon gearing up for a return to smartphones with an AI-focused device. However, analysts aren’t convinced the timing makes sense. According to a new report, industry experts believe this could be “the worst possible time” for Amazon to re-enter the smartphone market, even after adding AI into the mix. Why an Amazon AI phone doesn’t make sense right now One of the biggest concerns outlined by the report is the broader state of the smartphone industry. Due to the rising cost of components and the ongoing memory shortage, the market is expected to fall by around…

Apple’s plans to seriously upgrade the iPhone camera just got… complicated. We recently reported that Apple was exploring ways to bring Halide-inspired pro features to the iPhone 18 Pro, even going as far as considering an acquisition of the app’s developer, Lux Optics. But as it turns out, that story has now taken a legal turn, with a lawsuit now at the center of it all. According to The Information, Lux Optics’ co-founder Ben Sandofsky has filed a lawsuit against fellow co-founder Sebastiaan de With, who recently joined Apple’s design team. What exactly is the lawsuit about? First things first,…

Samsung’s S Pen has been a defining feature of its Ultra phones for years. However, recent releases have seen some of its more advanced features removed, shifting it from an active stylus to a more basic writing tool. Earlier this year, a report claimed that Samsung was planning to switch to a new technology for future S Pens, which could bring back some of those capabilities, but a new report suggests they may not return with the Galaxy S27 Ultra. Why is Samsung sticking with the current S Pen tech? According to ETNews, Samsung tested a new stylus system for…

When Amazon killed its TikTok-style feed, Inspire, last month, most advertisers were unsurprised. In their eyes, it just didn’t seem to have gained any real interest.“It never really felt like it had enough traction, in terms of scale, to invest more than an initial test for many brands,” said Joe O’Connor, senior director of innovation and growth at Tinuiti. O’Connor noted that his team didn’t see much adoption from their clients, so they weren’t shocked that Amazon sunsetted it. And while Amazon was nowhere near reliant on the video feed to generate any significant revenue, it’s still a little surprising…

ASUS has refreshed its ROG Strix gaming laptop lineup, launching updated versions of the Strix G16 and Strix G18 models powered by Intel’s latest Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor. The new machines were built for gamers and creators who need the best performance on offer. From competitive titles to demanding AAA games and content creation workloads, these laptops are designed to handle everything. What’s exciting about it? The real highlight is the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus at the heart of the new ROG Strix lineup. This is a high-end chip built to handle heavy multitasking, next-gen games,…

Google has been big on AI, pushing many of its services to include Gemini. Chrome is no exception, with the latest build on the iPhones making this AI-first direction even clearer. A new “Ask Gemini” shortcut is being tested in Chrome for iOS, which brings instant access to an AI assistant directly from the browser interface. The feature isn’t buried in menus; rather, it is now a persistent bottom bar that sits alongside other options like new tab and tab switcher. What does this mean from Chrome on iOS? If you tap the Gemini button, Chrome launches an AI panel…