Google’s latest Android update is bringing a feature long associated with Apple’s ecosystem to Pixel and Android users. With Android 17, Google is enabling a new “handoff” capability that lets users seamlessly move app activity from one device to another – including to the web.

Seamless app continuity comes to Android

With Android 17, Google is introducing a cross-device handoff system designed to make switching between phones, tablets, Chromebooks, and even web browsers feel more fluid. The feature allows users to continue what they were doing in a compatible app on another device without starting over.

For example, a user browsing a product in Chrome on their Android phone could continue that same session on a tablet or desktop browser. Similarly, messaging or document-based apps may allow activity to resume mid-task across devices signed into the same Google account.

The functionality appears to build on Google’s existing cross-device services and account syncing, but Android 17 formalizes this experience into a clearer, system-level capability. Developers will need to integrate support, meaning adoption may vary depending on the app.

Why this matters in a multi-device world

The update signals Google’s push to strengthen Android’s ecosystem continuity – an area where Apple’s Handoff feature has long been a competitive advantage. As more users operate across multiple devices throughout the day, switching between them without losing context has become increasingly important.

Modern workflows rarely stay on one screen. A user might start drafting an email on a phone during a commute, refine it on a laptop at work, and reference it later on a tablet at home. Android 17’s handoff feature aims to remove friction from those transitions.

For Google, this is also about ecosystem stickiness. As Chromebooks, Android tablets, and web apps continue to evolve, making them work more cohesively could encourage users to stay within Google’s platform instead of mixing ecosystems.

If you use multiple Android devices – or regularly shift between mobile and desktop browsing – this feature could reduce interruptions in your daily routine. Instead of manually reopening apps and navigating back to where you left off, Android 17 may surface prompts to continue your activity elsewhere.

However, the experience will depend on developer support and device compatibility. Like many platform-level upgrades, its usefulness will grow over time as more apps adopt the new APIs.

Privacy will also be an important consideration. Because activity handoff involves syncing session data across devices, users will likely need to ensure they are signed in securely and comfortable with cross-device syncing behavior.

What’s next for Android 17

Android 17 is currently rolling out in beta phases, with Google continuing to refine features ahead of a stable release later this year. Handoff appears to be part of a broader push toward tighter integration between Android, ChromeOS, and web experiences.

As testing expands and developers begin building support, Google may provide more details about how deeply handoff integrates into system settings and notifications.

For now, Android 17’s handoff feature represents a significant step toward making the Android ecosystem feel less fragmented – and more like a connected, unified experience across screens.

Photo credit: Kakooli98
A Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus production prototype appeared on Craigslist this week, and the seller is asking a whopping $1650 for it. It’s unusual that someone outside of Samsung would have access to it this early, given that Samsung plans to publicly announce the entire Galaxy S26 series, including the normal model, the Plus, and the Ultra, on February 25th at its next Unpacked event.

Now that date is still a week and a half away, but photographs of what appears to be a working test unit have begun to circulate after a tipster shared a copy of the Craigslist listing. The seller claims it’s a Galaxy S26 Ultra, but a closer look at the camera layout suggests they have a Plus model in their hands.

Sale

Google Pixel 9a with Gemini – Unlocked Android Smartphone with Incredible Camera and AI Photo Editing…

• Google Pixel 9a is engineered by Google with more than you expect, for less than you think; like Gemini, your built-in AI assistant[1], the incredible…
• Take amazing photos and videos with the Pixel Camera, and make them better than you can imagine with Google AI; get great group photos with Add Me and…
• Google Pixel’s Adaptive Battery can last over 30 hours[2]; turn on Extreme Battery Saver and it can last up to 100 hours, so your phone has power…

When you look at the back of the phone, you can see the same old pill-shaped camera island that we’ve been expecting the S26 plus to look like based on all the leaks we’ve seen for months. It also sports a greyish-black finish on the back panel, which “insiders” say will be available in stores rather than merely on test models. The Samsung wallpaper on the phone’s screen tells us one thing: it’s an engineering sample. That wouldn’t normally be a major thing, but having a functional pre-launch phone circulating around raises concerns about supply chain security. This is not an uncommon occurrence, as we have seen many incidents of Galaxy phones leaving controlled environments prior to formal release, although usually through workers or contractors.

The asking price of $1,650 is enough to make most people think twice, since the phone is far more expensive than the estimated retail pricing for a Galaxy S26 Plus, which is said to range between $1,000 and $1,070, depending on storage and location. So, anyone interested in bidding on this offering would be facing significant risks: no warranty, no official support, and the phone could just end up being a brick.
[Source]

Airbnb plans to double down on artificial intelligence to improve its user experience for both guests and hosts. During a fourth-quarter earnings call, Airbnb’s CEO, Brian Chesky, said the company is building an “AI-native experience” aimed at helping guests book trips, assisting hosts with their listings, and running the company more efficiently. According to Chesky, there’s an AI search tool to help guests book trips that’s live for a small percentage of users right now.

In a shareholder letter posted on Airbnb’s website, the company said it’s conducting early testing with an AI-powered search that is “focused on giving guests a more natural way to describe what they’re looking for, and ask questions about the listing and location.” The letter added that the AI search tool will become “a more comprehensive and intuitive search experience that extends through the trip,” but the company didn’t offer a definitive date on when it would be available to the public.

While it may feel like Airbnb is late to incorporating AI into its ecosystem, it introduced an AI chatbot that handles customer service requests last year. While the AI agent is only available to users in North America currently, Airbnb said that it already handles a third of customer requests without the need for human intervention, as reported by TechCrunch. Chesky also said during the earnings call that the AI chatbot would tackle “significantly more” customer tickets a year from now and that it would roll out to the rest of the world.

Hollywood organizations are pushing back against a new AI video model called Seedance 2.0, which they say has quickly become a tool for “blatant” copyright infringement.

ByteDance, the Chinese company that recently finalized a deal to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations (it retains a stake in the new joint venture), launched Seedance 2.0 earlier this week.  According to the Wall Street Journal, the updated model is currently available to Chinese users of ByteDance’s Jianying app, and the company says it will soon be available to global users of its CapCut app.

Similar to tools such as OpenAI’s Sora, Seedance allows users to create videos (currently limited to 15 seconds in length) by just entering a text prompt. And like Sora, Seedance quickly drew criticism for an apparent lack of guardrails around the ability to create videos using the likeness of real people, as well as studios’ intellectual property.

After one X user posted a brief video showing Tom Cruise fighting Brad Pitt, which they said was created by “a 2 line prompt in seedance 2,” “Deadpool” screenwriter Rhett Reese responded, “I hate to say it. It’s likely over for us.”

The Motion Picture Association soon issued a statement from CEO Charles Rivkin demanding that ByteDance “immediately cease its infringing activity.”

“In a single day, the Chinese AI service Seedance 2.0 has engaged in unauthorized use of U.S. copyrighted works on a massive scale,” Rivkin said. “By launching a service that operates without meaningful safeguards against infringement, ByteDance is disregarding well-established copyright law that protects the rights of creators and underpins millions of American jobs.”

The Human Artistry Campaign — an initiative backed by Hollywood unions and trade groups — condemned Seedance 2.0 as “an attack one very creator around the world,” while the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA said it “stands with the studios in condemning the blatant infringement enabled by Bytedance’s new AI video model Seedance 2.0.”

Seedance videos have apparently featured Disney-owned characters such as Spider-Man, Darth Vader, and Grogu, better known as Baby Yoda, prompting the company to take legal action. Axios reports that Disney has sent a cease-and-desist letter accusing ByteDance of a “virtual smash-and-grab of Disney’s IP”and claiming the Chinese company is “hijacking Disney’s characters by reproducing, distributing, and creating derivative works featuring those characters.”

Disney isn’t necessarily opposed to working with AI companies — while it has reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google over similar issues, it’s signed a three-year licensing deal with OpenAI.

TechCrunch has reached out to ByteDance for comment.

We’re six weeks into 2026 and there have been three major camera launches so far; the Leica Q3 Monochrom, Ricoh GR IV Monochrome and Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo Cinema.

That’s two pricey black-and-white-only compact cameras and a Super 8-style instant camera…that also shoots video.

from the inevitable-outcomes dept

U.S. media mergers always follow the same trajectory. Pre-merger, executives promise all manner of amazing synergies and deal benefits. Post-merger, not only do those benefits generally never arrive, the debt from the acquisition spree usually results in significant layoffs, lower quality product, and higher rates for consumers. The Time Warner Discovery disaster was the poster child for this phenomenon.

After paying Trump his $16 million bribe, CBS and Skydance (Trump’s friends in the Ellison family) recently finalized their $8 billion merger. It didn’t take long for the company to announce that the only way it could pay for the debt of the pointless deal is by firing a whole bunch of people in “painful” fashion.

Despite a lot of promises last summer by Paramount executives that the layoffs would come in one fell swoop, CBS News boss Bari Weiss has implemented staggered cuts as she converts what was left of CBS into yet another safe space for right wing autocrats and their dwindling cult.

Apparently “a lot of people” at CBS News are taking Weiss up on a January town hall promise of buyouts for those insufficiently deferential to Larry Ellison’s ambitions:

“They include at least six producers out of the show’s total of roughly 20, according to another source, who added: “Seems like people are jumping ship.”

“It’s a lot of people,” a CBS insider said.”

In her head, I really do think Weiss believes she’s reshaping CBS News into a better news organization. In reality, Weiss was specifically hired by billionaire Trump ally Larry Ellison to convert CBS into yet another autocrat-friendly safe space for the perpetually aggrieved.

Weiss’ problem to date has been that she’s not just bad at management, judgment, and journalism, she’s bad at ratings-grabbing agitprop — the real reason she was hired by billionaires in the first place.

Weiss’ inaugural “town hall” with opportunistic right wing grifter Erika Kirk was a ratings dud, her new nightly news broadcast has been an error-prone hot mess, and her murder of a 60 Minutes story about Trump concentration camps — and the network’s decision to air a story lying about the ICE murder of Nicole Good — spurred a revolt among the CBS journalists who hadn’t quit yet.

Weiss’ weird ego trip is playing out alongside the old traditional failures of mindless media consolidation, the last refuge of executives who are all out of original ideas, but desperately want to goose quarterly earnings, generate temporary tax cuts, and get “savvy dealmaker” stamped on their LinkedIn profile.

The thing is, merger related promises both before and after the deal are always meaningless. The layoffs are driven by debt from acquisitions, and the new CBS has been making plenty of those, including a new $7.7 billion deal to acquire the exclusive rights to MMA fights, a costly campaign to steal Warner Brothers, and that $150 million deal to acquire Bari Weiss’ lazy contrarian propaganda blog.

Larry Ellison clearly wants to hoover up what’s left of corporate media (including CBS, CNN, HBO) — and fuse it with his co-ownership of TikTok to create a sort of Hungary-esque autocratic state media. The only thing saving us from this outcome to date is the fact that absolutely nobody in this weird assortment of nepobabies and brunchlords appears to have absolutely any idea what they’re doing.

Filed Under: bari weiss, cbs news, consolidation, journalism, larry ellison, layoffs, media, mergers

Companies: cbs, paramount, skydance

Very few consumer A/V brands reach a century in operation. Luxman has already passed that mark, and the D-100 SACD/CD Player and L-100 Integrated Amplifier are not presented as anniversary products, but as current production models that define the company’s direction going forward.

With these components, Luxman is positioning itself clearly within the high-end segment. Rather than competing on volume or feature density like Denon or Yamaha, Luxman continues to operate in a smaller category alongside manufacturers such as McIntosh, Pass Labs, and Mark Levinson. The emphasis is on long term ownership, conservative engineering, and product lifespans measured in years rather than release cycles.

Integrated amplifiers have been part of Luxman’s core lineup since the 1960s, and the L-100 CENTENNIAL Integrated Amplifier makes that continuity explicit. The recent wave of new products is not driven by short update cycles or marketing pressure, but by development timelines extended during the pandemic.

Luxman has always felt aspirational in the best possible way. The gear is built to an exceptionally high standard, it sounds better than 98 percent of what is out there, and it manages to do so without requiring the sale of a child or a second mortgage. This is not part of the new wave of affordable high end audio and no one is pretending otherwise. The D-100 and L-100 are eye watering in terms of price, but they would land on any serious endgame short list without hesitation. Luxman lasts. It has soul. And yes, it still has VU meters that look unapologetically sexy because great engineering should never be afraid to look the part.

L-100 Integrated Amplifier Defines Luxman’s Vision for Its Second Century

The Luxman L-100 Integrated Amplifier sits at the center of the company’s 100 Centennial Series and makes its priorities clear immediately. Rated at 20 watts per channel into 8 ohms and 40 watts into 4 ohms, the numbers are modest on paper and entirely deliberate in execution. This is a pure Class A integrated amplifier, not Class A/B and certainly not Class D. Every watt is delivered in continuous Class A operation, with the output devices conducting at all times. That choice favors linearity and tonal density over headline power, and it comes with the usual side effect. Yes, the amplifier runs warm. That is the cost of admission. JCP&L will be thrilled. Your accountant? Not so much.

The output stage uses a triple parallel bipolar push pull configuration supported by a substantial power supply built around a custom EI core transformer and eight large filter capacitors totaling 80,000 microfarads. This foundation provides the current stability required for Class A operation and helps explain the L-100’s damping factor of 300, which is unusually high for a low power Class A design. Luxman has focused on maintaining control and composure rather than chasing wattage for its own sake.

At the circuit level, the L-100 employs version 1.1 of Luxman’s LIFES architecture, an evolution of the company’s long running Only Distortion Negative Feedback concept first introduced in 1999. Instead of applying global feedback indiscriminately, LIFES concentrates on detecting and correcting distortion components only.

By using multiple field effect transistors in parallel at the input of the error detection circuit, Luxman aims to reduce distortion and improve linearity while preserving the tonal weight and harmonic structure the brand is known for. The result is extremely low measured distortion without the flattened dynamics often associated with heavy feedback designs.

Volume control is handled by the LECUA1000 attenuator, an 88 step electronically controlled system integrated directly into the amplifier circuitry. Shortened signal paths and discrete buffer stages derived from Luxman’s flagship preamplifiers are used to minimize degradation and maintain drive capability.

Connectivity is comprehensive and practical, with balanced and unbalanced line inputs, a high quality MM/MC phono stage, pre out and main in connections, dual speaker terminals for bi-wiring, and both 6.3 mm and 4.4 mm headphone outputs. The balanced headphone output uses independent grounds for left and right channels to improve separation and imaging.

Measured performance is consistent with Luxman’s design goals. Total harmonic distortion is specified at 0.005 percent or less at 1 kHz into 8 ohms, rising modestly to 0.015 percent across the full audio band. Frequency response extends from 20 Hz to 100 kHz on line inputs, while signal to noise ratios reach 98 dB for line level sources. Power consumption is substantial at 260 watts under operation, which again comes with the territory when running true Class A.

Physically, the L-100 weighs 25.4kg (56 lbs) and looks exactly like what it is. A serious integrated amplifier built to last. The illuminated VU meters, brushed aluminum front panel, and restrained proportions are unmistakably Luxman, but the execution is modern rather than nostalgic. Meter illumination and the central LED volume display can be switched off if desired, though few owners are likely to do so.

The L-100 is not chasing trends, efficiency charts, or lifestyle friendly form factors. It is a deliberately uncompromising Class A integrated amplifier that prioritizes operating purity, long term ownership, and musical density over convenience. It will get warm. It will not be cheap. And it sounds like Luxman doing exactly what Luxman has always done best. If that does not move the needle for you, this was never your amplifier anyway.

D-100 SACD CD Player Reminds the Streaming Crowd Why Discs Still Matter

The Luxman D-100 SACD/CD Player serves as the digital counterpoint to the L-100 integrated amplifier and replaces the long-running D-10X. This is not a light refresh or a cosmetic update. Luxman has rebuilt its disc playback platform from the ground up, making it clear that optical media remains a core part of its second century rather than a legacy side project.

At the heart of the redesign is Luxman’s proprietary LxDTM-i disc transport, short for Disc Transport Mechanism improved. The mechanism is fully integrated into the main chassis and reinforced with thick aluminum side frames, a steel top plate, and an aluminum base to improve rigidity and suppress vibration. Mechanical stability remains a defining Luxman priority and the D-100 doubles down on that philosophy with cast-iron isolation feet.

Digital conversion is handled by ROHM BD34302EKV DACs in a true dual-mono configuration. File playback support is extensive, with PCM up to 768 kHz at 32-bit and DSD up to 22.5 MHz via USB, alongside native SACD and CD playback. Luxman has also focused heavily on clocking and noise management, employing a large quartz oscillator and ultra-low phase-noise circuitry to stabilize timing across both disc and file-based playback paths. Assuming it follows the same functional model as the D-10X, the D-100 can also operate as an external DAC for a high-end streamer.

The analog output stage mirrors the amplifier’s approach, using the latest LIFES 1.1 circuit in a fully balanced configuration feeding both RCA and XLR outputs. A large monochrome OLED display replaces the fluorescent panel used on earlier Luxman players, modernizing usability without turning the front panel into a glowing tablet. Luxman has not yet confirmed whether coaxial or optical digital outputs will be included as they were on the outgoing model, and the company has remained quiet on several secondary specifications.

Physically, the D-100 is very similar in size and mass to the D-10X, but weighs 3kg (6.6 lbs) more at nearly 50 lbs. The D-100 measures 440mm (17.3″) wide by 154mm (6.1″) high by 420mm (16.5″) deep.

The D-100 exists because Luxman believes physical media still deserves reference-level hardware. It is unapologetically heavy, mechanically serious, and engineered for listeners who still care about discs and are willing to pay for the privilege. Streaming may be convenient. Luxman is clearly arguing that convenience is not the same thing as satisfaction.

The Bottom Line

Luxman’s D-100 and L-100 are not casual upgrades, they are statement pieces built for listeners who still care about engineering, longevity, and physical media. The L-100 is a pure Class A integrated that prioritizes operating purity over bragging rights, pairing Luxman’s LIFES 1.1 feedback architecture with the LECUA1000 88 step attenuator, a serious power supply, and full featured connectivity including balanced inputs and MM MC phono.

The D-100 is its matching digital counterweight, a ground up disc platform with the LxDTM-i transport, dual mono ROHM conversion, fully balanced analog output using LIFES 1.1, and the kind of mechanical overbuild that makes most modern disc players feel like toys.

Who is this for. The buyer who wants an endgame two box front end, values build quality and service life, and still spins discs while using a streamer as a transport when it suits the mood. Not for bargain hunters, not for minimalists, and definitely not for anyone who thinks a phone and a soundbar counts as a system.

Price & Availability

The products will begin shipping in North America in late May or June 2026, with their first public showing expected at AXPONA in April.

North American retail pricing is set at $11,995 for the L-100 and $18,995 for the D-100. Nothing about this pairing suggests affordable. It suggests buy it once, keep it for 20 years, and stop shopping.

For more information: luxman.com

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