Google is giving Android TV a rare update, with some new promoted categories appearing on the homescreen for some.

Rolling out now as spotted by users on Reddit, the Android TV homescreen is adding some new promoted categories that appear on the usual “Play Next” row under your app shortcuts. These new categories include:

• Top Selling Movies
• Popular Movies and Shows
• Trending on Google

For Google TV users, these should feel rather familiar, as they appear on Google TV’s homescreen as well.

While the Android TV experience has mostly gone by the wayside at this point, it’s still active on a lot of older TVs. Google maintains the platform primarily through homescreen tweaks which have previously added several other features to better align with Google TV.

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It’s unclear how widely this new update is rolling out, but it was spotted on a device still running Android 9.0, so it’s definitely a server-side or app update. The Android TV Home app was last updated in May.

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The so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” will, if passed, make sweeping changes to the US’ clean energy market. While some of the worst provisions affecting the industry were stripped out during Senate proceedings earlier this week, it’s still pretty bad. In fact, the current language of the bill might as well be a middle figure to the domestic solar manufacturing industry.

As it stands, the bill guts many of the clean energy programs of Joe Biden’s signature 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. That includes killing off incentives for domestic and utility-scale solar power as well as the . Even worse, the bill axes the that incentivized the use of US-made gear.

There were a number of provisions that did not survive its journey through the Senate, like the excise tax on renewable energy. As reported, the levy would have imposed an additional charge on projects that used materials from foreign As explained, this would have cut renewable energy projects in favor of extending the life of coal and gas turbine plants.

Rob Gardner is Vice President of Congressional and Regulatory Affairs for SEMA, the Solar Energy Manufacturers for America coalition. He walked me through the bill, explaining the effects of the changes for the US solar industry. “A positive is that it maintains production tax credits for manufacturers of clean energy components,” he said.

One tweak from an earlier version of the bill was the speed at which the existing tax credits would be withdrawn. As it stands, projects that are already approved will qualify for the present regime, as will any project beginning construction before June 2026. “Basically, a year after enactment [companies have] to begin construction on utility-scale solar projects to receive the full amount of the credit,” said Gardner. And, according to § 70512 (4)(a) those plants will need to be “placed in service” no later than December 31, 2027.

The bigger issue, however, is that the bill creates “uncertainty for long-term demand for US products,” according to Gardner. Put simply, American-made solar panels are than their Chinese counterparts due to higher manufacturing costs. By removing the incentives, including the Domestic Content bonus, the US is opening the door for Chinese-made alternatives. Gardner added “after the tax credits that incentivize domestic production and consumption expire, you will see a flood of Chinese product [in the market.]”

The US’s that the US’ total domestic energy consumption will grow by almost two percent in the next year. A slowdown in new energy additions is the last thing the US needs, especially as renewables of all new power generation capacity in 2024. But it’s likely that even with all of the changes in the bill, solar will remain the biggest technology used to implement new power generation capacity.

Abigail Ross Hopper, CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association pulls no punches in . She said the bill “undermines the very foundation of America’s manufacturing comeback.” Hopper added that “families will face higher electric bills, factories will shut down, Americans will lose their jobs and our electric grid will grow weaker.”

Jason Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Power Association the bill as a “step backward” for American energy policy and an “intentional effort” to undermine “one of the fastest-growing sources of electric power.”

Environmental groups also believe the bill’s passing marks a dark day in the world’s fight against climate change. Greenpeace USA Deputy Climate Program Director John Noël, said in a that “this is a vote that will live in infamy” for its role in “doling out fossil fuel industry handouts.”

Environmental Defense Fund’s Vice President for Political and Government Affairs Joanna Slaney agreed. She said that the bill is “effectively cutting off supply of cheap energy right when the US needs it most.” In contrast, the bill offers a “10-year reprieve from paying a fee on wasteful methane pollution,” a carbon dioxide to the environment.

Research by clean energy company suggests the bill may jeopardize up to 600GW of new renewable energy capacity. This is because of the tight deadlines the bill imposes to qualify for the existing credits, which again, need to begin construction before June 2026. That 600GW figure includes solar farms and battery storage projects in California and Texas that would need to be rushed to get working.

A jury is ordering Google to pay $314.6 million in damages for acquiring and misusing data from Android users in California without their permission.

A California class action lawsuit that has been ongoing since 2019 has been decided by a jury, according to a report by Reuters. The result is a fee of $314.6 million that Google must pay to Android users in California. According to the lawsuit, Google obtained data from Android devices while they were not in use.

The lawsuit claims that data was taken from users with no real way to opt out. The data acquisition was “unavoidable” on the user’s part, and the plaintiff noted that this transfer was a mandatory process when it shouldn’t be.

The action on Google’s part was also argued to take up cellular data without the consent of the users while gathering data for targeted advertising.

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According to Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda, the decision “misunderstands services that are critical to the security, performance, and reliability of Android devices.” Google is arguing that the data acquired from devices while they’re idle is necessary to continue to make improvements on device security and performance, whether that’s for current devices or upcoming releases.

Google also noted that Android users were not harmed by the data acquisition, and these terms were agreed to in the accepted conditions by each user.

The company has been the target of several lawsuits over the last few years, with the most recent decision ruling that Google is a monopoly in the search business.

Google is expected to appeal this decision.

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US government officials have condemned ICEBlock and CNN’s recent coverage of it, leading to more people hearing about its existence and downloading it from the App Store. Now the application, which allows users to add a pin on a map to show where ICE agents have recently been spotted, has climbed to the to the top of Apple’s App Store charts. It’s currently the number one free social networking app in the US and the third most downloaded free app overall.

CNN’s piece talked about how the app’s developer, Joshua Aaron, launched it in early April after seeing the Trump administration crack down on immigration. When the piece went live, Aaron said the app had 20,000 users, many of whom live in Los Angeles, where ICE has been raiding neighborhoods. In addition to letting users pin ICE agent locations on a map, the app also gives them a way to add notes, such as what the agents are wearing or what car they’re driving. Any user within a five mile radius of the sighting will get an alert.

But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested that the CNN piece was “an incitement of further violence against… ICE officers” when asked to respond to the report on the podium. She said that there’s been a 500 percent increase against ICE agents who are just “trying to do their jobs and remove public safety threats from… communities.” ICE acting Director Todd M. Lyons also issued a statement, saying that the app paints a target on federal law enforcement officers’ backs. “CNN is willfully endangering the lives of officers who put their lives on the line every day and enabling dangerous criminal aliens to evade US law,” he continued. “Is this simply reckless ‘journalism’ or overt activism?”

Meanwhile, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and US Attorney General Pam Bondi both said the government is going after Aaron. “He’s giving a message to criminals where our federal officers are,” Bondi said. “…we are looking at it, we are looking at him, and he better watch out, because that’s not a protected speech. That is threatening the lives of our law enforcement officers throughout this country.”‘

Aaron told CNN that ICEBlock doesn’t collect personal data, such as device IDs and IP addresses, which TechCrunch has confirmed in a test. The app is only available on iOS, because it would have to collect information on Android that could put people at risk.

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