Technologies

Google’s ChromeOS Will Combine With Android Next Year to Supercharge Big-Screen AI

The success of Gemini and AI on Android has inspired the major update to ChromeOS, Android chief Sameer Samat says at the Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii

Bringing AI to smartphones and tablets has been a massive success for Google, which earlier this month saw its AI assistant Gemini become the top free app on Apple’s App Store for the first time. More specifically, AI and Gemini have become integral parts of the past few major Android updates and are super-well integrated into the Android ecosystem.

For now, the same can’t be said of ChromeOS, Google’s lightweight operating system for computers and laptops. But that’s all set to change.

Earlier this year, Android chief Sameer Samat confirmed that ChromeOS and Android would combine to create a more seamless experience across devices. Speaking at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii on Wednesday, Samat said it’s one of the things he’s «super excited about for next year» and gave a bunch of additional details about the how and why behind the move.

«For a long time, mobile phones and PCs have been communicating… now we have this opportunity with large-screen compute to add that in,» he said. «In the Android ecosystem, you have all these different devices, and you want your AI to be able to work across all of them. So that’s the new era.»

That doesn’t mean ChromeOS is going away, though. «If you think about the laptop form factor, we’ve had ChromeOS for a long time, and we’re super committed to that platform, and it’s been really successful for us,» Samat said. In fact, the ChromeOS experience will remain, but its the baseline technology will switch to running on Android, he added.

Speaking on Tuesday at the Snapdragon Summit, Google’s SVP of Devices and Services, Rick Osterloh, shed some more light on the technicalities of the project. «We’re building together a technical foundation for our products on PCs and desktop computing systems,» he said. «This is another way that we can leverage all of the great work we’re doing together on our AI stack, our full stack, bringing Gemini models, bringing the assistant, bringing all of our application and developer community into the PC domain.»

It will be fascinating to see what new experiences Gemini will enable on ChromeOS, and how it might elevate Google’s big-screen OS for this new era. Google will be hoping it can replicate the success of its AI-based mobile operating system across its laptops and make its Chromebooks even more appealing to Android phone owners looking to upgrade their computers, thanks to the seamless integration of Gemini across their different devices.

Technologies

The Most Exciting Video Game Rumors and Leaks Ahead of 2026

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Dec. 17

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Dec. 17.

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? Read on. 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: Nod (off)
Answer: DOZE

5A clue: Naval submarine in W.W. II
Answer: UBOAT

7A clue: Tricky thing to do on a busy highway
Answer: MERGE

8A clue: Heat-resistant glassware for cooking
Answer: PYREX

9A clue: Put into groups
Answer: SORT

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Break up with
Answer: DUMP

2D clue: Falls in line, so to speak
Answer: OBEYS

3D clue: Legendary vigilante who cuts a «Z» with his sword
Answer: ZORRO

4D clue: Rarin’ to go
Answer: EAGER

6D clue: Common reminder for an upcoming appointment
Answer: TEXT

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

Technologies

You Can Watch an Exclusive Avatar: Fire and Ash Scene on TikTok Right Now

Disney and TikTok partner on an immersive content hub for James Cameron’s latest movie about the alien Na’vi.

If you’re not quite ready to head to the theater to watch Avatar: Fire and Ash, an exclusive scene preview might sell you on the visual spectacle. As part of a new collaboration with the social media giant, Disney is posting snippets of its new movie to its TikTok account.

This scene isn’t part of any trailer and won’t be posted to other social media accounts, making TikTok the only place you can view it — unless you buy a movie ticket. A first look at the new movie’s scenes isn’t the only Avatar-related bonus on the social media platform right now, either. TikTok has partnered with the house of mouse to bring an entire «immersive content hub» to the app.

A special section of TikTok includes quizzes and educational videos that explore the alien world of Pandora shown off in the movies. On TikTok, you can take a personality quiz to find out what Na’vi clan you most closely align with and unlock a special profile picture border to use on your account.

Science and fiction blend together with a series of videos from real doctors who explain the basis for some of Avatar’s world-building. If you want to learn about exoplanets or how realistic the anatomy of the movie’s alien animals is, these videos will feed your brain while still providing entertainment value.

Perhaps the most enticing part of Disney’s latest social media collaboration is the opportunity for fans to win prizes and trips. TikTok creators who make edits with the #TikTokAvatarContest hashtag are entered into a competition to win Avatar merchandise. The biggest winners will be able to take a trip to visual effects studio Wētā Workshop in New Zealand or visit Avatar director James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment Studio in Los Angeles.

Avatar: Fire and Ash is the third installment in director Cameron’s cinematic passion project. While the first Avatar movie was released in 2009, Cameron didn’t release another entry in the franchise until 2022. In total, there is a five-movie arc planned for the indigo alien Na’vi on the moon of Pandora.

The Avatar movies are known for pushing the boundaries of CGI visual effects in cinema. They are also historically big winners at the box office: the original Avatar is the highest-grossing film of all time, earning $2.9 billion across its theatrical releases. Its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, is the third-highest-grossing film of all time, trailing Avengers: Endgame. You can stream those movies on Disney Plus.

It remains to be seen whether Avatar: Fire and Ash will financially live up to its predecessors. The film currently has mixed reviews from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.