Technology

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hint

Boredom.

SEE ALSO: Apple’s new M3 MacBook Air is $300 off at Amazon. And yes, I’m tempted. Hurdle Word 1 answer

ENNUI

Hurdle Word 2 hint

To seize.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for July 4, 2025 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

USURP

Hurdle Word 3 hint

Alert.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 4 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for July 4, 2025 Hurdle Word 3 answer

AWAKE

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Amazing.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for July 4 Hurdle Word 4 answer

GREAT

Final Hurdle hint

To leave quickly.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Games available on Mashable Hurdle Word 5 answer

SCRAM

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Since its debut in 2022, The Bear has been a haunted show. The ghosts aren't paranormal visitors but a collection of regrets, fears, and traumas as diverse as the series' many characters. Each individual is trailed by a destructive shadow, ready to sabotage any progress toward being a less dysfunctional person.

Sometimes the haunting is an attempt at a pressure-relieving punchline; sometimes it's just a gut-punch. Either way, the way characters grapple with their never-quite-buried losses deftly teach the audience something about the trajectory of heartbreak, the punishing nature of anxiety, depression, and addiction, and what it takes to heal.

SEE ALSO: 'The Bear' Season 4's biggest problem is time: Full season review

Still, Season 3 pushed the conceit of haunting to its limit, leaning into a repetitive emotional deadlock over the course of 10 episodes. The audience watched as chef Carmy Berzatto, played by Jeremey Allen White, remained stuck in his head, and mired in memories of working for an abusive boss.

But Season 4 delivers the audience from this psychological spiral, and not just for Carmy.

Beyond Carmy's determined effort to make space for other people's feelings — hell, even their existence — numerous characters get a meaningful chance to confront the ghosts that haunt them.

An avoidant Syd (Ayo Edebiri) makes the decision (and the phone call) she's been dreading. Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) figures out his place in his own family as Tiff (Gillian Jacobs) marries Frank (Josh Hartnett). He also gets the chance to tell Carmy about the guilt he felt when Mikey (Jon Bernthal) died by suicide. Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis) makes a tearful apology to Carmy for decades of parental neglect, among other regrets.

Opportunities like these become key to the characters' healing, masterfully revealing how recovery from addiction, trauma, and emotional damage is possible.

Kassi Diwa-Kite, a licensed marriage and family therapist at BetterHelp who has watched all four seasons of The Bear, told Mashable that the series' latest outing "absolutely" felt less haunted. She says that's primarily because the characters are slowly embracing their personal and professional identities, which requires self-awareness and emotional regulation they didn't previously possess. She adds that the characters develop a curiosity about themselves and the patterns they seek to break that ultimately empowers them.

As a result, "that hauntedness has to start sliding away because they're coming more into themselves," says Diwa-Kite.

Not every character goes on the same journey as Carmy, Syd, Donna, and Richie. Mashable's Belen Edwards makes the convincing case that Season 4 failed Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas), who is mostly seen trying to cook a certain pasta dish in under three minutes.

Whether or not this makes for critically-acclaimed television is also a concern. Some critics felt Season 4 still stalled in terms of narrative momentum and lacked urgency, even if it was an improvement on the show's third installment.

Yet watching key players each chart a unique, if not straightforward, path toward happiness and redemption remains special to behold. It all happens in a world absent of therapy- and wellness-speak, too. There's nothing wrong with those conventions; they help countless people inch toward recovery every day. Still, there's something simple and relatable about Carmy's refrain throughout Season 4: "I'm trying."

After three seasons of focusing only on what he can accomplish in the kitchen, Carmy slogs through being fully present in his life, visibly uncomfortable with finding and saying the words people need to hear. He stutters and staggers, but manages to make progress.

Carmy shows up on Claire's (Molly Gordon) doorstep months after having literally ghosted her early in their romantic relationship. Pressed on why he became so fearful of intimacy, he finally blurts out an apology.

When Carmy realizes in a separate scene that it took weeks for him to meet his newborn niece, he more calmly summons an apology to his sister Sugar (Abby Elliott) for failing to show up.

Diwa-Kite particularly appreciated Carmy's arc in Season 4 because the character begins to make the connections that have long eluded him: He escaped to culinary school after growing up with an absent father and a mother addicted to alcohol, then found himself in an abusive professional relationship. Now that he wants a different future, it might not look pretty or feel easy.

"Recovery from trauma is going to be clumsy." - Kassi Diwa-Kite, licensed marriage and family therapist at BetterHelp

"Recovery from trauma is going to be clumsy," Diwa-Kite says, noting that she appreciated how the show depicts Carmy's process. "Just let it be messy. That's where the healing is happening."

While Season 4 is full of moments in which characters makes more fulfilling, grounded choices, there is perhaps none as beautiful as the scene that unfolds when Richie and Tiff's daughter, Eva (Annabelle Toomey), hides under a large table during the celebration of her mother's marriage to Frank.

Afraid to dance with Frank in front of an audience of adults, she refuses to come out. Soon every major character — and some minor ones, too — find themselves under the table with Eva, sharing their fears, one-by-one. Carmy admits that his is the "opposite of chaos," and math. Richie gets a chuckle by saying his fear is artificial intelligence, specifically the Singularity. Frank confesses that he's afraid of heights.

On it goes like that, as many adults with a history of trauma reassure a little girl about whom they care deeply that it's normal to feel fear.

"There was so much healing that you could see among all of those adults." - Kassi Diwa-Kite, licensed marriage and family therapist at BetterHelp

"There was so much healing that you could see among all of those adults," Diwa-Kite says.

The episode, entitled "Bears," is an unexpected bookend to Season 2's "Fishes," which depicted another family gathering that couldn't be more different.

"Fishes" was a tense hourlong observation of family dysfunction and the toll that it takes on everyone it touches. "Bears" demonstrates how loving relationships, even when they're imperfect, can sustain people who otherwise feel broken, and can possibly achieve generational healing.

"If this were a real girl, imagine the core memory that was created for her in that moment," Diwa-Kite says of Eva. "She will remember that forever. She will draw on that experience forever."

The impromptu community that came together for Eva during that scene echoes an overarching theme of Season 4: People heal in community and through the relationships they've built, Diwa-Kite says.

None of this means that Season 5 will be easy-going for any of the characters.

Indeed, the final episode of Season 4 was fraught as Carmy, Syd, and Richie spent a half-hour arguing, in close-ups, over Carmy's imminent departure from the restaurant. Carmy says he wants to learn who he is when he's not trying to escape his pain. Richie and Syd, though, suspect he's running away — again.

Whether or not Carmy will truly find himself might seem like a gamble. But, then again, Carmy spent the season repairing the relationships that matter most to him rather than severing those ties, and seems more than ready to instead walk away from his proverbial ghosts.

Viral racist and antisemitic TikTok videos appear to be made with Google's new AI video generator Veo 3, according to a new report from Media Matters.

The nonprofit research organization found that some of the hateful videos had racked up hundreds of thousands or millions of views.

A TikTok spokesperson told Mashable that the platform has firm policies against hate speech, and that it uses comprehensive technologies and moderation processes to implement them.

"We proactively enforce robust rules against hateful speech and behavior and have removed the accounts we identified in the report, many of which were already banned prior to the report publishing," the spokesperson told Mashable in an email.

One TikTok, labeled "Average Waffle House in Atlanta," featured a restaurant setting overrun by monkeys that throw watermelon and carry buckets of fried chicken. It had been viewed more than 622,000 times when Media Matters took a screenshot of the video.

SEE ALSO: Google's Veo 3 AI video generator is unlike anything you've ever seen. The world isn't ready.

Some of the commenters affirmed the video's racist stereotypes. One person said, "all their mannerisms…to the T…"

A different TikTok uploaded in mid June, with at least 835,000 views, came with the prompt, "i asked ai: 'average spirit airlines experience." The video featured monkeys as well, climbing all over the plane.

Media Matters said the videos it identified ran a maximum of eight seconds, the length of Veo 3's publicly available text-to-video clips. The videos were also labeled "Veo" in the corner, or used hashtags, captions, or usernames related to Veo 3 or AI. They also included errors, distortions, and nonsense text common to AI-generated videos.

Media Matters published a compilation of the clips it identified to its own YouTube account.

Mashable contacted Google for comment on the Media Matters report but hadn't received a response at the time of publication.

While Media Matters focused on videos that appeared on TikTok, some of the same objectionable clips have also been posted to YouTube and Instagram.

However, the examples Mashable viewed had far less engagement, sometimes receiving only a few hundred likes and a handful of comments, suggesting they have not been as widely viewed as the content that went viral on TikTok before it was removed.

In general, videos created with Veo 3 that feature hateful or racist content have become popular on other social media platforms, including Instagram.

When Veo 3 was released in late May, Mashable tech editor Timothy Beck Werth described its realism as both "impressive" and "scary." Google told Werth that Veo 3's safeguards against misinformation include digital watermarks, and that it employs AI safety guidelines.

The AI-generated videos identified by Media Matters included anti-Black stereotypes about criminality, food preferences, and absent fathers. Some featured police encounters with Black people, including one in which a white officer shoots a "Black one" from his car. That clip had been viewed more than 14 million times.

The clips also portrayed racist imagery against Asian and South Asian people, and depicted antisemitic stereotypes, including Jewish men chasing after a gold coin.

One clip, viewed a million times, featured a gaunt man standing in front of a crematorium, vlogging while at a Nazi concentration camp. "Well everyone is having a great time here," the man says. It's unclear if the minute-long video was made with Veo 3.

Another style of AI-generated videos seemed to focus on acting violently toward immigrants and protesters defending them.

The videos appear to violate Google's hate speech policies. Google's generative AI policy forbids users from generating or distributing content that facilitates hatred or hate speech; harassment and abuse of others, and violence or the incitement of violence.

TikTok prohibits hate speech and hateful behavior that "includes attacking, threatening, dehumanizing or degrading an individual or group based on their protected attributes."

UPDATE: Jul. 3, 2025, 1:02 p.m. PDT The story was updated to include a statement from TikTok.

TL;DR: Watch Spain vs. Portugal in Women's Euro 2025 for free on ITVX. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Women's Euro 2025 is starting with a number of high-profile fixtures, but the biggest game from the first round is probably Spain vs. Portugal. Both sides will be looking to progress into the knockout rounds, but Group B is tough. Every point will be crucial.

If you want to watch Spain vs. Portugal in Women's Euro 2025 for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Spain vs. Portugal?

Spain vs. Portugal in Women's Euro 2025 kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on July 3. This fixture takes place at the Wankdorf Stadium.

How to watch Spain vs. Portugal for free

Spain vs. Portugal in Women's Euro 2025 is available to live stream for free on ITVX.

ITVX is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in another country, meaning you can unblock free live streams on sites like ITVX from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Spain vs. Portugal in Women's Euro 2025 by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK

4. Visit ITVX

5. Stream Spain vs. Portugal in Women's Euro 2025 from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can gain access to free live streams without committing with your cash. This is obviously not a long-term solution, but it does give you time to watch Spain vs. Portugal (plus the rest of the tournament) before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for ITVX?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.95 (including money-back guarantee).

Watch Spain vs. Portugal in Women's Euro 2025 for free with ExpressVPN.

A day after reports surfaced of mass layoffs at Microsoft and its gaming division, Xbox, Sony-published video game Helldivers 2 announced it's coming to Xbox next month.

Where once game publishers kept their products exclusively available to their own gaming systems — e.g., Sony games on Playstation, Microsoft games on Xbox — that wall appears to be breaking down. Helldivers 2, one of the most popular games of 2024, will be available on Xbox Series X and S starting on August 26. The game premiered on PlayStation 5 and PC in February 2024 and was an instant smash, selling tens of millions of copies, according to IGN. Helldivers 2 still remains a favorite on Steam.

Helldivers 2 is a cooperative, third-person shooter set in the 22nd century, with human soldiers battling hordes of aliens to save Super Earth. With crossplay enabled, Xbox, PC, and PS5 players will all be able to play Helldivers 2 together.

The news of Helldivers 2's Xbox launch is even more surprising considering it happens the same day Microsoft releases Gears of War: Reloaded on PlayStation 5, the first time the once Xbox-exclusive series debuts on PlayStation. Meanwhile, Xbox's The Outer Worlds 2 arrives on PlayStation in October.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer elaborated on his exclusivity (or, rather, non-exclusivity) plans earlier this year.

"We are finding that our games shipping on multiple platforms is a good thing for Xbox," Spencer told The Destin Channel podcast. "It makes Xbox stronger...give[s] our teams the time they need, for us to invest in platform, for us to invest in hardware. I think all of this is a part of what Xbox will be, going forward."

Australia’s search engines are about to have age restrictions similar to the ones in effect for Porn Hub in the UK. Starting at the end of 2025, Australians will have to verify their ages when surfing the web while logged into their Google or Microsoft accounts and using each company’s respective search engines. 

The new rules come as part of a new set of regulations put into effect earlier this week. According to the regulations, search engines will be required to verify the age of their account holders before allowing them to use search engines. Since Google and Microsoft are the two biggest search engines in the country, those are the two companies who are under the biggest fire to make this happen. 

Per the rules, search engines with account holders must “implement appropriate age assurance measures for account holders” and “apply tools and/or settings like ‘safe search’ functionality, at the highest safety setting by default for an account holder its age assurance systems indicate is likely to be an Australian child.”

SEE ALSO: Meta lobbies Apple and Google to take over age verification for young people online

The purpose of the legislation is to prevent children from running into pornographic content and “high-impact violence material” via search engines. Per the regulations, when the search engine is engaged in ‘safe search’ mode, such content must be filtered out entirely. In instances where age assurance cannot be done (like if the user isn’t logged in), such images and materials must be blurred. 

According to the Australian Computer Society, the measures are similar to what’s being considered for the country’s under-16 social media ban. The legislation, which was passed in Nov. 2024, has a 12-month clock when it goes into effect. That means the age assurance rules for search engines and the under-16 social media ban will happen within a month or two of each other. 

Whether or not age assurance laws like this will be effective is a matter of debate. Digital privacy experts and free speech advocates agree that children should not have access to materials intended for people of legal age. However, there’s growing concern that age verification laws don’t work. VPNs allow people to surf from other locations, bypassing location-specific rules while some porn sites aren’t based in the U.S. and therefore may simply choose not to follow the rules. 

Python is one of the most approachable languages to learn, thanks to its object-oriented-first approach and its minimal syntax. The standard library includes many useful modules that you can use to write all sorts of programs, big and small.

The best early Prime Day tablet deals Best iPad deal Apple iPad (A16 chip, 128 GB, WiFi) $299 (Save $28) Get Deal Best Android tablet deal Lenovo Tab M9 (32GB) $105.99 (Save $59) Get Deal Best Samsung tablet deal Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (64 GB) $169 (Save $50.99) Get Deal

Amazon is coming in hot this year with the longest Prime Day run ever. What was once a simple one day event will now span four days from July 8 to 11. Once the first day of the sale kicks off, the deals will pour in, but leading up to the event, it's more of a trickle of sales.

That's certainly the case with tablet deals right now. While there are is a pocketful of good deals right now, we're still holding out for more. Apple deals are especially lacking so if you're looking for an iPad, we say hold out.

But if you want to get a head start on Prime Day deals, here are all the best tablet offers that you can shop right now.

Best early Prime Day tablet deal Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple iPad (A16 chip, 128 GB, WiFi) $299 at Amazon
$349 Save $50 Get Deal Why we like it

If you're in need of a new tablet for your summer adventures, the latest basic iPad just dropped in price. It's down to $299 from its usual $349, saving you $50 for 14% off. Apple's base tablet features the A16 chip and upgraded starting storage, now 128 GB. It's the most budget-friendly iPad that still provides plenty of power for streaming or working on the go.

Grab the Apple iPad with A16 chip and 128 GB storage for $299 ahead of Prime Day.

More early Prime Day dealsApple iPad deals

• Apple iPad (A16 chip, 128 GB, WiFi) — $299 $349 (save $50)

• Apple iPad mini (A17 Pro, 128GB, WiFi) — $399 $499 (save $100)

• Apple iPad Air, 11-inch (M3 chip, 128 GB, WiFi) — $549 $599 (save $50)

• Apple iPad Air, 13-inch (M3 chip, 128 GB, WiFi) — $749 $799 (save $50)

Android tablet deals

• Lenovo Tab M9 (32 GB) — $105.99 $164.99 (save $59)

• Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (64 GB) — $169 $219.99 (save $50.99)

Amazon Fire tablet deals

• Amazon Fire HD 8 (32 GB) — $54.99 $99.99 (save $70)

• Amazon Fire HD 10 (32 GB) — $69.99 $139.99 (save $70)

• Like-New Amazon Fire Max 11 (64 GB) — $129.99 $199.99 (save $70)

I like gaming on my Linux PC in my office, but I also like my living room couch. I don't care to buy a console for my living room and enter a new gaming ecosystem, but I realized I could turn my mini PC into a Steam-based gaming console that lives in my entertainment center. Here's how I did it and how it turned out.

SAVE $150: The 15-inch MacBook Air (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) is on sale for $1,049 at Amazon. That's $150 offf and matches the lowest price we've ever seen.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple 15-inch Apple MacBook Air (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) $1,049 at Amazon
$1,199 Save $150 Get Deal

We're just a few days away from the longest Prime Day event ever. Amazon went all-in this year by doubling the sale length from 48 hours to four days. If you've been on the lookout for a discounted MacBook, you might be wondering if this'll be your moment. Wee we've got some good news, because Amazon has the 15-inch MacBook Air back at its lowest-ever price.

As of July 3, the 15-inch MacBook Air (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) is on sale for $1,049, marked down from the usual price of $1,199. That's a $150 saving on list price. This sale price matches the lowest price we've ever seen at Amazon and it applies to all colorways.

You have options if you're looking for a new MacBook before Prime Day. Not only is the 15-inch model on sale today, the 13-inch MacBook Air is also $150 off. That brings it down to just $849, but if you're interested in the larger 15-inch, today's deal is here for you. For many of us, the larger display is well worth the price.

SEE ALSO: Best Prime Day Apple deals: Watches, AirPods, and iPads dropped super low

The new M4 chip is a welcomed upgrade and both the 13 and 15-inch sales are on the significantly better 16GB RAM machines, double what previous generations came with. Mashable Senior Editor Stan Schroeder reviewed the new MacBook Air M4 in March and concluded that it's the best laptop Apple has ever put out. "The new MacBook Air is great. It's powerful, silent, and comes with a couple of much-needed upgrades. It's also cheaper than before, making it the best-buy Apple laptop, period," he wrote in the review.

If you don't feel like waiting around until Prime Day officially kicks off, the 15-inch MacBook Air is already down to its record-low price. You'll be taking $150 off what Mashable considers to be Apple's best laptop yet.

The best early Prime Day deals to shop this week

• Fire TV Stick 4K Streaming Device With Remote (2023 Model) — $24.99 (List Price $49.99)

• Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 1070Wh Portable Power Station — $448.98 (List Price $799.00)

• Ring Indoor Cam 2nd Gen 1080p Camera With Cover (White, 2-Pack) — $59.98 (List Price $99.99)

• Blink Outdoor 4 XR 2 Camera Kit With Mini 2 Camera — $129.98 (List Price $219.98)

• Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones — $269.00 (List Price $348.00)

• Shark AV2511AE AI Robot Vacuum With XL Self-Empty Base — $297.99 (List Price $599.00)

• Amazon Fire HD 10 32GB Tablet (2023 Release, Black) — $69.99 (List Price $139.99)

• Amazon Fire Max 11 64GB Wi-Fi Tablet (2023 Model) — $139.99 (List Price $229.99)

• Fire TV Stick 4K Max Streaming Player With Remote (2023 Model) — $34.99 (List Price $59.99)

• Ring Battery Doorbell Pro With Ring Battery Outdoor Cam Plus — $329.98

• 55" Amazon Fire TV Omni Mini-LED Series 4K QLED Smart TV (2024 Model) — $699.99 (List Price $819.99)

From cheap TV sets to slightly more expensive ones, Doctor Who has been a constant icon of sci-fi television. The time-traveling hero, known only as The Doctor, has been saving galaxies for decades (perhaps millennia, from his perspective). With his TARDIS, disguised as a police box, he’s encountered everything from dinosaurs to Daleks.

Mobile gaming is cheaper than console gaming, but that's not the whole story. I recently bought a Nintendo Switch 2, and I'm spending around the same price for games on the eShop as I have on Android. What's going on here?

Smart home ecosystems such as Alexa and Apple Home are great for simple smart home control and basic smart home automations. But if you want more powerful control and the ability to integrate with almost any smart home device you can think of, Home Assistant is one of your best options.

While the Linux terminal is still a part of Linux, you can break your system with it if you're not careful. Here's how I stay safe in the terminal, and I show you how you can fix things if you do make mistakes.

For many people living in the post-physical-office era, it's the ultimate nightmare: Being in a video call only to realize there's something utterly inappropriate going on in your background. Or foreground.

A new FaceTime feature in iOS 26, highlighted by iDeviceHelp, puts an end to at least some of the possibly unpleasant scenarios, as it pauses the video if someone is undressing during a FaceTime call.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

The video for other participants will be paused, and you'll see a message saying "Audio and video are paused because you may be showing something sensitive. If you feel uncomfortable, you should end the call." Two possible options are presented: Resume Audio and Video, or End Call.

As 9to5Mac noted, Apple actually announced something similar last month, as part of new family tools that are coming for child accounts.

"Communication Safety expands to intervene when nudity is detected in FaceTime video calls, and to blur out nudity in Shared Albums in Photos," said Apple in an announcement at the time.

SEE ALSO: Apple is now on Threads

It appears, however, that this has been expanded to all users. The feature is currently live in the iOS 26 developer beta; we'll see if it sticks once the iOS 26 public beta launches, which should happen sometime in July.

German sports sedans are known for their sharp handling, refined interiors, and autobahn-bred performance, but they’re rarely considered affordable. In 2025, however, one standout model breaks that mold, offering an authentic German driving experience at a price that’s surprisingly accessible.

Gems, Google's AI experts that can be customised to a specific task, are rolling out in Workspace.

Available in the Gemini app, Gems will now also appear in a side panel in Google Docs, Sheets, Drive, Slides, and Gmail — the latest in a number of big AI updates in Workspace.

SEE ALSO: Gemini now autogenerates summaries for long Gmail threads

Although the side panel will be populated with pre-made Gems (uncut, if you will), users can also create their own tailored AI helper. If you're not really sure why you'd need one of these things, Google has a few examples in its blog post: You may want to "leverage an 'assistant Gem' tailored to your job role to help provide more relevant summaries for you and content for internal communications," for instance, or you could "create a Gem that helps with sales interactions that is grounded on information for a specific company, prospect, or industry."

How to use Gems

Gems can be accessed in Workspace by clicking on the "Ask Gemini" spark button in the top right of a document. This opens up a panel which contains both pre-loaded Gems and the option to "Create a Gem" (Google has a separate help doc on how to do this).

It's worth noting that you may not see Gems right away, though — the rollout started on Wednesday, but Google says it may be "potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility".

Google has been expanding Gemini in a bunch of ways recently, with the AI autogenerating email summaries in Gmail, integrating into your car, watch, and TV, and being added to Chrome. Google AI has also been struggling a bit with certain basic questions, mind you, so tread carefully.

Google seems to fancy some lasagna, offering up a perfect Easter egg ahead of Oasis' reunion tour kicking off this weekend.

When you type the words "Oasis tour" into Google, the search engine will try to correct you with the proper term Oasis fans use for extreme enthusiasm:

Yes, we did mean madferit. Credit: Mashable screenshot: Google

Considering it's been 16 years since Liam and Noel Gallagher split, with Oasis set to kick off a 41-date world tour on Saturday in Cardiff, Wales, fans are indeed enjoying this lovely online day in the sunshyyyyyyyyyne.

SEE ALSO: Forget Ticketmaster: The All-American Rejects are playing your backyard

It's not the only Easter egg Oasis fans will find in Google, either. If you type "Rock 'N' Roll Star" into Google, you'll be corrected on the only way to say the 1994 Definitely Maybe track title aloud:

Yes, we did mean Rock 'N' Roll Staaaaaaaaaar Credit: Mashable screenshot: Google

It's not as heartfelt as Google's Lewis Capaldi Easter egg, but it's still fookin' biblical, man.

You’ve probably heard about the Xbox-branded handhelds and a VR headset by now. You’re also probably aware that the Xbox brand has started popping up elsewhere, including on smart TVs from Samsung and LG.

Perplexity has added another subscription tier, one that the company calls its "most powerful." And it's got a price tag to match.

Announced by the Nvidia- and Jeff Bezos-backed company in a Wednesday blog post, Perplexity Max is the new premium offering for the AI search engine. An upgrade for the existing Perplexity Pro tier, Max is now available on iOS and web app, coming soon to Android.

SEE ALSO: Perplexity's voice assistant is now available on iOS

As well as everything included in Pro, Max includes unlimited use of Labs (the AI tool that can generate projects like reports, presentations, and simple web apps in about 10 minutes), early access to new features like the upcoming Comet agentic search browser, access to advanced AI models like Anthropic's Claude Opus 4 and OpenAI o3-pro and "priority support" for these models.

Reader, it's not cheap. Perplexity Max costs $200 per month or $2,000 a year; the tier down, Perplexity Pro, costs $20 per month or $200 per year. It's the same monthly price as the top tier of OpenAI's offering, ChatGPT Pro; in comparison, the most expensive tier of Google's AI, Gemini, is Google AI Ultra, which costs $249.99 per month.

The company says Perplexity Max is for "professionals...content creators...business strategists....and academic researchers." Users can upgrade their subscription at Settings > Account > Subscription > Upgrade Plan.

Featured Video For You How Google is using Gemini for robotics

Perplexity has been making more than few headlines of late, with the BBC threatening legal action over allegedly unauthorised content use and reports that Apple may be looking to acquire Perplexity.

Disclosure: This article mentions OpenAI. Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.