Technologies

Adobe Express Gets Generative AI for Flashy Fliers, Social Videos

The company’s all-purpose creation app gets new video editing abilities alongside AI-powered imagery and fonts. The basic version of the app is free.

Adobe has brought its Firefly tools for generative AI to its Adobe Express app for making posters, videos, fliers and other graphical material. The first two new AI tools let you add images and text effects generated from a text prompt, Adobe said Thursday.

AdobeExpress, available in free or premium versions, is what the company calls an «all-in-one content creation app.» Adobe released thefeatures in a new beta version of the web version of Adobe Express andplans to match them with an updated mobile app in two to three months,said Govind Balakrishnan, senior vice president of Adobe’s CreativeCloud subscription service.

Generative AI has captured the public imagination with the ability to produce song lyrics, essay question answers and countless other tasks. AI is trained to spot patterns in enormous sets of training data, but it can spout plausible sounding but completely wrong information. So be warned if you’re looking for tax advice or medical help.

Adobe’s generative AI tools, like a beta version of Photoshop in testing now, are arguably a more natural fit since many people using it will be looking for flights of fancy like colorful flowers or letters that look like they’re overgrown with ivy.

The new version of Adobe Express also gets video editing abilities, potentially handy for the TikTok or Instagram Reels crowd, and the ability to import, edit, and export PDF files.

Adobe Express is free in basic form but costs $10 per month for people who want more templates, photos, videos and fonts. When the AI tools exit beta testing, they’ll come with a free level of generated images — the threshold hasn’t yet been determined — and some pricing tiers for more.

«We will obviously have to put some sort of a limit on the number of generations,» Balakrishnan said. «These are expensive.»

Expensive it may be, but it’s also potentially very interesting to the creative set that already spends a lot of time coming up with new imagery.

«We continue to view generative AI as a tailwind for Adobe,» RBC Capital Markets analyst Matthew Swanson said in a Wednesday report.

Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to help create some stories. For more, see this post.

Technologies

How Verum Ecosystem Is Rethinking Communication

David Rotman — Founder of the Verum Ecosystem

For David Rotman, communication is not a feature — it is a dependency that should never rely on a single point of failure.

As the founder of the Verum Ecosystem, Rotman developed a communication platform designed to function when internet access becomes unreliable or unavailable.

Verum Messenger addresses real-world challenges such as network outages, censorship, and infrastructure failures. Its 2025 update introduced a unified offline-capable messaging system, moving beyond Bluetooth-based or temporary peer-to-peer solutions.

Verum’s mission is simple: to ensure communication continuity under any conditions.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, Feb. 1

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 1

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Some of the clues are kind of tricky, but I was able to fill in enough of the others to get them all answered. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Spot to shop
Answer: MART

5A clue: Pounded sticky rice sometimes filled with ice cream
Answer: MOCHI

6A clue: ___ Chekhov, «Three Sisters» playwright
Answer: ANTON

7A clue: Like many dive bars and bird feeds
Answer: SEEDY

8A clue: Jekyll’s evil counterpart
Answer: HYDE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: What makes the world go ’round, per «Cabaret»
Answer: MONEY

2D clue: Performed in a play
Answer: ACTED

3D clue: __ Island (U.S. state)
Answer: RHODE

4D clue: Itty-bitty
Answer: TINY

5D clue: Squish to a pulp, as potatoes
Answer: MASH

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 1, #496

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 1, No. 496.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a fun one. The blue group made me think of dusty gum sticks, and the purple one requires you to look for hidden names in the clues. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Splish-splash.

Green group hint: Vroom!

Blue group hint: Cards and gum.

Purple group hint: Racket stars.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Aquatic sports verbs.

Green group: Speed.

Blue group: Sports card brands.

Purple group: Tennis Grand Slam winners, minus a letter.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is aquatic sports verbs. The four answers are kayak, row, sail and swim.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is speed. The four answers are mustard, pop, velocity and zip.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is sports card brands. The four answers are Leaf, Panini, Topps and Upper Deck.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is tennis Grand Slam winners, minus a letter. The four answers are ash (Arthur Ashe), kin (Billie Jean King), nada (Rafael Nadal) and William (Serena and Venus Williams)

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.