Gold-plated Cat Vomit - DTNS 5116

And Google unleashes Gemini into the home. 

Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, and Dr Niki.

TOM: This is the Daily Tech News for Wednesday, October 1, 2025. We tell you what you need to know, follow up on the context of those stories, and help each other understand.

SARAH: Today, Dr Niki tells us about gold-plated cat vomit and Google’s custom Gemini attempts to outdo Amazon for your smart home.

I’m Tom Merritt,

I’m Sarah Lane.

TOM: Let’s start with what you need to know with the big story.

[[BIG STORY]]
[[SOLO story of the day. Basic details, monitor commentary and sound when possible.]]

This is Gemini for Home and the redesigned Home app
Google Smart Home Revamp: 2K Cameras, Doorbell, Home Speaker and Gemini AI - Bloomberg
Google Announces New Nest Cams and Home Speaker Built for Gemini
The new Google Home Speaker is built for Gemini | The Verge
Google launches its latest Nest Cams, a new Google Home speaker and more
Gemini for Home: Expanding the Platform for a New Era of Smart Home AI - Google Developers Blog

TOM: The day after Amazon announced new smart home products, Google unveiled two new cameras, a new doorbell, and a new smart speaker of its own. It also revamped the Home app and announced that Gemini will replace Google Assistant for the home.

First the hardware

The Nest Cam Indoor, available now for $100

The Nest Cam Outdoor is available now for $150

Both cameras have a wider 152-degree field of view.

The third-gen Nest Doorbell is available now for $180. It has a wider 166-degree field of view.

All three of these have 2K video, record in HDR, and promise improved low-light performance, meaning the color video doesn't switch to infrared as fast.

You can access six hours of event history with 10-second clips of triggered recordings for free. If you pay for Google Home Advanced for $20 a month, you get 60 days of clips and 10 days of 24/7 recordings. There's also a 30-day event history option for $10 a month.

Google Home Speaker will play sound in all directions and has a light ring to indicate when it is listening and responding. It will ship spring next year for $99.

And Walmart is releasing new versions of its onn Indoor Camera Wired for $22.96 and onn Video Doorbell Wired for $49.86, both with Gemini for Home capability.

Google Home app got a redesign. Along with being faster and crashing less, it now has three tabs for Home, Activity, and Automations. And with the new resolutions you can now zoom in and crop images.

Gemini for Home is in early access and lets you use natural language to control smart home devices. It can understand context, like "I want to cook, turn on the lights" will cause it to turn on the lights in the kitchen. Or you can say "Turn off every light except the bedroom." That kind of thing.

Also, notifications can be more detailed. Instead of "motion detected," it can say "A delivery person left a package" or "A cat passed by."

You can also ask things like "What happened to the couch," and it will show you a video of the dogs helpfully rearranging your pillows and blankets for you. And a "Home Brief" feature can summarize all the notifications from a day.

Intelligent alerts and Gemini Live come in the Google Home $10 a month subscription, but some of the more advanced features, like search video history, event descriptions, daily summaries, and more descriptive alerts in notifications, are reserved for the $20 a month Google Home Advanced subscription.

If you do subscribe, you can use Gemini on older devices, going all the way back to the Google Home Max from 2017. You will need to opt in to do that.

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[[BREAK]]
[[PAUSE]]

TOM: There’s more we need to know today, let’s get to the briefs.

[[BRIEFS]]
[[3-9 more solo reads with sound to complete the day in tech news. These are informational with minor commentary.]]

Sony’s updated PS5 Slim launches with less storage in Europe | The Verge
Microsoft revamps Xbox Game Pass plans and hikes Ultimate to $29.99 a month | The Verge
Xbox Cloud Gaming comes out of beta with improved 1440p resolution | The Verge
Amazon Luna will offer controller-free party games in an attempt to woo Prime subscribers
Amazon Prime Gaming's Luna Changes, Execs on AAA Video Games

SARAH: A few different gaming notes for you today.

Sony updated its PlayStation 5 Digital Console in Europe. It still costs €499, but has an 825GB solid-state drive instead of 1TB. Shrinkflation! It also has a matte finish and is 100 grams lighter.

Microsoft raised the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate from $20 a month to $30 a month. For the cost, you get 400 more titles and unlimited cloud gaming at 1440p. Cloud gaming is no longer in beta either. Ubisoft Plus Classics is also now part of Game Pass Ultimate. And Fortnite Crew will be part of the service starting November 18th. The less-expensive plans also get unlimited cloud and more titles.

And not to be left out, Amazon's Luna game streaming service added "GameNight," a collection of social party games you can play with friends on your phone. It includes 25 titles, like Exploding Kittens, Ticket to Ride, and more.

UK government tries again to access encrypted Apple customer data: report | TechCrunch
Imgur pulls out of UK after data regulator warns of fines | TechCrunch

TOM: The UK Information Commissioner's Office said on Tuesday that it had reached provisional findings in its investigation of MediaLab AI's operation of Imgur. The ICO indicated it would fine the company for how it handled the data of minors. Imgur is now unavailable to users identified as using a UK IP address.

And the Financial Times reports that the UK Home Office has sent a "technical capability notice" to Apple, requiring that it build access to iCloud data for official access to encrypted cloud backups of British citizens, when legally required. Apple received a previous such notice in January and ended its Advanced Data Protection service in the UK. That notice was withdrawn after a court declined to make the proceedings secret, and the US government negotiated an end to the request. It's unknown yet how this new request differs.

Epic Games says Apple's new install process cuts user drop-offs by 60% | TechCrunch

SARAH: Epic Games says that after Apple made a change to warnings for third-party apps and app stores, users were more likely to install the Epic Games Store in the EU. Prior to iOS 18.6, which was released this summer, Apple had multiple warnings when EU users attempted to install third-party apps and stores. The EU requires Apple to support third-party installations and warned Apple not to make the process too difficult.

After the summer update, there was only one warning that certain features, like subscription management, would not be available through Apple, and that the third party would handle all user data. Prior to that update, 65% of people attempting to install the Epic Game Store stopped. After the update, only 25% stopped.

AI is not killing jobs, US study finds

TOM: Economists at Yale University Budget Lab and the Brookings Institution published a study of the effects of generative models like ChatGPT on the job market in the US. Molly Kinder, a senior fellow at Brookings who co-authored the research, told the Financial Times, “Despite how quickly AI technology has progressed, the labour market over the past three years has been a story of continuity over change. We are not in an economy-wide jobs apocalypse right now; it’s mostly stable.” The unemployment rate for new graduates with a bachelor's degree doubled from 4.4% in April to 9.3% in August, but the mix of the type of jobs offered did not change, indicating it did not have to do with technology, but with economics. In fact, the changes are similar to the changes that came with the rise of computers and the Internet. The Yale University Budget Lab intends to update the numbers monthly to look for any rise in the future.

Meta Will Begin Using AI Chatbot Conversations to Target Ads - WSJ

SARAH: Starting December 16th, Meta will start using the text of conversations you have with its chatbots to inform which ads and content you receive. Conversations involving religious or political views, sexual orientation, health, and racial or ethnic origin won’t be used to customize ads or content. It also won't apply to users in the EU, South Korea or the UK.

Samsung, SK Hynix Ink Deal to Supply Gear to OpenAI’s Stargate - Bloomberg
OpenAI debuts Sora 2 AI video generator app with sound and self-insertion cameos, API coming soon | VentureBeat

TOM: OpenAI signed a letter of intent on Wednesday to buy memory chips from Samsung and SK Hynix for its buildout of data centers. It also signed a deal with SK Telecom to explore building one of the data centers in the southwest near Gwangju.
OpenAI also officially launched Sora2, its video creation tool that can make up to 10 seconds of video from a text prompt. That's two more seconds than Veo 3. It's available to all ChatGPT users in Canada and the US. There's also an iOS app called Sora that lets users scan "cameos" of themselves into the app and share their generated creations with friends.

AI-Generated Actress Draws a Rebuke From Hollywood Actors Union - Bloomberg

SARAH: At a panel during the Zurich Film Festival, producer Eline Van der Velden discussed AI actress Tilly Norwood. It is the first product from his talent studio, a spin-off from Van der Velden’s production studio Particle 6. Van der Velden said they would announce which agency will represent it in the next few months. SAG-AFTRA has issued a statement condemning Tilly Norwood, saying that the use of synthetic performers must comply with contractual obligations. Van der Velden said Norwood “is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work – a piece of art.”

Meta Ray-Ban Display Is Now On Sale, But Only In Select US Stores
Book an Appointment | Ray-Ban® USA

TOM: Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, with a small video display in one corner of view, are now available in select stores by appointment only. Appointments are largely unavailable at Best Buy, LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut, and Ray-Ban stores, as well as the Meta Lab. What appointments can be booked, are in December or January.

TOM: And finally, a few quick headlines that are just good to know if you want to understand the news in the future.

Peloton increases fees and introduces new hardware including a $6,695 treadmill | The Verge

SARAH: Peloton raised its monthly subscription price and announced a new Cross Training series of hardware, including a $1,695 Bike and $6,695 Tread Plus, and AI-based Peloton IQ that can track your workouts across machines.

New project makes Wikipedia data more accessible to AI | TechCrunch

TOM: Wikimedia Deutschland announced the Wikidata Embedding Project that will support MCP (Model Context Protocol) and make Wikipedia's data easier to access for LLM queries.

Afghans rejoice as internet returns after Taliban blackout

SARAH: The government of Afghanistan began restoring some internet and telecom service after disconnecting fiber optic cables on purpose earlier this week and taking the entire country offline.

Microsoft confirms Windows 11 version 25H2 bugs and issues | Windows Central

TOM: Windows 25H2 is now generally available for installation by Windows 11 users, with two known issues affecting digital video playback and updating from a shared folder.

TOM: Those are the essentials for today. Let’s dive a little deeper.

[[SEGMENT A - FROM SCHEDULE]]

SARAH: If your cat (or dog) has coughed up a hairball recently, it may have been for science! Dr. Niki explains.

[TRT - 6:26]

[[PROMO]]

TOM: We do live streams! Catch them by becoming a subscriber at youtube.com/dailytechnewsshow.

[[BREAK]]
[[PAUSE]]

[[HELPING EACH OTHER UNDERSTAND]]
[[Short missives from people with experience. Could be written email or pre-recorded from the person.]]

SARAH: We end every episode of DTNS with some shared thoughts. Today Tim has some kudos for us

TOM: Tim writes:
Dear DTNS,
For over three weeks running, your coverage of the introductory "Big Story" on your Briefing podcast has been excellent. You have had some episodes where the topic was deep and you had extensive coverage and discussions, while other episodes had less deep of a story and required less time to still cover it well. Good on you for moderating the pacing to match the stories. Thanks!
Tim "the DBA" from the Buzz Out Loud days

[[DISCUSS]]

SARAH: What are you thinking about? Got some insight into a story? Share it with us feedback@dailytechnewsshow.com

TOM: Thanks to Dr. Niki and Tim the DBA for contributing to today’s show. And thank YOU for being along for Daily Tech News Show. You can keep us in business by becoming a patron, at Patreon.com/dtns