Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

The holiday season is seen by many companies as being as good a reason as any to highlight the benefits of their products and services, and Google is no different in this regard. Using the perceived stress of preparing for everything that this time of year involves for many people, Google says that Chrome autofill is here to make life easier.

The company points to now fewer than four ways in which this feature of the web browser can help you out, trying to show how it is about more than just saving time filling in your address.

Limitless has announced that it has been acquired by Meta. Formerly known as Rewind, Limitless is a company that says, “our vision is to free the human mind from its biological limitations”.

To this end, the company produces AI-powered wearable, including a pendant that can record and transcribe conversations. Numerous usage scenarios have been put forward, including helping people with dementia, ADHD or Alzheimer’s.

WhatsApp is popular enough to be considered ubiquitous these days, with the group chat feature used by families, work colleagues, friends and other collections of people to keep in touch. But while group chats are very useful, there are undeniable issues with WhatsApp’s approach.

A key issue is that when a new member is added to the group, they are only able to see messages which are sent from that point in time forward. Anything that was sent previously is invisible. But an important update could see this changing quite soon.

Microsoft may wish that things were different, but not everyone is as enamoured with artificial intelligence as the company is. Windows 11 is gradually becoming infested with endless AI components, and it is not something that all users are happy about.

One particular bone of contention is the AI Actions entry in the context menu. Even people who are fans of AI sometimes struggle to see the value in its presence, and it is actively loathed by many. Microsoft is, it seems, finally listening to feedback and giving users the option to hide it.

We know that PowerToys fans are always looking out for new modules to play with, and Microsoft is quite generous in sprinkling these across releases. But new releases are also about new features, bug fixes, and important tweaks and changes.

In an upcoming release, Microsoft is planning some significant changes for the suite of utilities. Key among the changes is support for theming and using custom backgrounds. One of the modules in line for these changes is the beloved Command Palette.

In addition to the roundups of individual media consumption by individuals, companies such as Google also use this time of year to look at things more globally. As in previous years, the company has now launched its Year in Search.

Google’s Year in Search 2025 covers not only its famous search engine, but also searches conducted in Google Maps.

Having only recently announced a new vice president of AI, Apple has now said that there are other changes coming at the company. This time around, it is the position of general counsel that is changing, with Jennifer Newstead taking the role next year after becoming Apple’s senior vice president. She is moving from her previous role as chief legal officer at Meta.

On top of this, Apple says that its vice president for Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives, Lisa Jackson, will retire in late January 2026.

Despite its age, there are many inconsistencies to be found in Windows 11. New-look aspects sit alongside components which have not been updated since the days of Windows 10, or even earlier.

As part of the continual evolution of the operating system, Microsoft has plans to bring a visual update to the Run dialog. What does this UI update mean?

Microsoft has addressed a security flaw in Windows that has been exploited since at least 2017. The company has not made an official announcement about the fix, but it was spotted by 0patch.

The flaw is known as the Microsoft Windows LNK File UI Misrepresentation Remote Code Execution Vulnerability and has been tracked as CVE-2025-9491. The fix was included in the November batch of updates for Windows.

The yearly roundup you have (probably) been waiting for is here. Spotify Wrapped 2025 has landed, and this time around it is different to previous years.

This year Spotify has chosen to deliver more than just raw stats – although there are definitely still here.  In addition to learning which artist you’ve listened to the most, and how long you have spent listening to music throughout the year, you can also learn your “listening age” and compete in fan leaderboard. But there is more.

The likes of Spotify have normalized the idea of looking back over the previous 12 months’ streaming habits. Spotify Wrapped, and other similar roundups from streaming music service have become something of a tradition, and now YouTube is getting in on the action.

While YouTube Music subscribers already have YouTube Music Recap, the is now a new YouTube Recap that is solely focused on videos. How has Google approached this?

Making Android better is not always about making it faster, smoother or more packed with AI. Going some way to prove this, Google has unveiled no fewer than seven new accessibility focused features for its mobile operating system.

The features take into account the varying needs and expectations of users. Google says that the additions are designed to help “make it easier to see your screen, communicate with others and interact with the world”. So, let’s take a look and see what has been added.

Microsoft has managed to do it yet again. On the face of things, the KB5070311 preview update is a great update that not only addresses problems such as File Explorer freezing, but also introduces a raft of new Copilot features.

But, as you will have probably gathered, it does not end there. The KB5070311 preview update is another issue-riddled update, this time breaking dark mode in File Explorer.

The new version of Outlook has not proved as popular as Microsoft would have liked, and the company has just been forced to admit to another problem with the email client.

Microsoft has published a warning about a problem with open Excel file attachments, noting that the issue has been around for about two weeks. The cause appears to be the use of non-ASCII characters in file names, and a fix is in the works.

Every so often there are posts that do the rounds on social media that suggest terrible policy changes are coming. This is happening again, with a message claiming that Meta is going to start using the content of private DMs to train AI.

The unfounded claims are being tied to a Privacy Policy update which is due to come into force on December 16. While it is certainly true that Meta’s new policy kicks in in a couple of weeks, there are falsities being attached to it in scaremongering posts that have gone semi-viral.