Morning Brief

1. Samsung to Bring Perplexity AI to Galaxy Phones
2. Linux Kernel 7.0-rc1 Released
3. Firefox 115 ESR to End Support for Windows 7/8 This Month
4. PayPal Confirms Data Breach in Its App
5. Google Releases AI Music Generation Model Lyria 3
6. Microsoft Edge to Remove Custom Master Password Feature
7. Rumors You Can Just Glance At

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Samsung to Bring Perplexity AI to Galaxy Phones

On February 22, Samsung Mobile announced that Galaxy AI is further expanding its multi-AI agent ecosystem to deliver more diverse and flexible user experiences. Perplexity AI will be introduced to flagship Galaxy devices, and Samsung stated that it plans to collaborate with more partners in the future to jointly develop Galaxy AI into a more inclusive AI ecosystem. Samsung has also adapted a new wake word, “Hey Plex,” for Perplexity AI. Users can alternatively long-press the side button to activate it. Similar to Bixby, it can interact with Samsung’s first-party and some third-party apps for system-level integration. Specific supported models will be announced soon. Source

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Linux Kernel 7.0-rc1 Released

Linux kernel version 7.0-rc1 was officially released on February 22, bringing multiple changes and new features. In terms of new hardware support, it adds compatibility for Intel Nova Lake and Diamond Rapids processors, AMD Zen 6, and Qualcomm Snapdragon X2. Performance improvements are also notable, including better PostgreSQL performance on AMD EPYC, improved sequential read performance for exFAT, various F2FS file system enhancements, memory management optimizations, improved concurrent direct I/O writes in EXT4, default enablement of Intel TSX auto mode, scheduler performance and scalability work, and the return of large page memory support for Nouveau to boost NVK performance. Source

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Firefox 115 ESR to End Support for Windows 7/8 This Month

On February 18, Mozilla updated its official support documentation, confirming that it will end maintenance support for the Firefox 115 ESR (Extended Support Release) browser on Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 by the end of this month (February 2026). This makes Mozilla the last major browser vendor to drop support for these legacy systems, following Chrome and Edge. Mozilla had originally planned to end support for Firefox 115 ESR in September 2024. Source

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PayPal Confirms Data Breach in Its App

PayPal recently confirmed that its PayPal Working Capital app experienced a data breach caused by a code vulnerability. The flaw existed for six months, from July 1, 2025 to December 13, 2025. At the time of the announcement, PayPal had contacted approximately 100 potentially affected customers whose names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, email addresses, phone numbers, and business addresses were exposed to unauthorized access. Some users have already reported discovering unauthorized transfer records in their accounts. PayPal Working Capital is a lending service app under PayPal that provides small business loans based on merchants’ transaction histories. Source

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Google Releases AI Music Generation Model Lyria 3

On February 19, Google released a new AI music generation model named Lyria 3. The model can create high-fidelity, 30-second audio tracks based on text, image, audio, or video prompts, supporting a wide range of styles—from short ad jingles and lo-fi beats to more complex arrangements and full songs. Users can control genre, vocals, and rhythm through prompts. Lyria 3 can also automatically generate lyrics based on the prompt, and when paired with Nano Banana, it can create matching album artwork. The model currently supports English, German, Spanish, French, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese, with more languages planned for future updates. It has already been integrated into the Gemini app, where users can access it by selecting the “Music” option from the “Tools” dropdown menu. Google has also released a prompt guide for Lyria 3 to help users get started quickly. Source

Microsoft Edge to Remove Custom Master Password Feature

According to the Edge Beta channel update log, starting from Edge 146, the custom master password feature in the Edge password manager will be removed, and users will no longer be able to create new custom master passwords as a security measure for saved credentials. Users who have already enabled this feature will receive a warning notification, but it will remain available until June 4, 2026. After that, affected users will be automatically migrated to device-based authentication methods such as Windows Hello.

Additionally, in this update, the “Passwords” option will be removed from the “Clear browsing data” tab to prevent users from accidentally deleting saved account credentials when clearing browser data. Source

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Rumors You Can Just Glance At

• On February 23 (local time), Anthropic posted on X alleging that DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, and MiniMax used more than 24,000 fake accounts to conduct large-scale distillation attacks on its models, generating 150,000, 3.4 million, and 13 million interactions with Claude respectively to improve their own model performance. Source
• According to 9to5Google, Google is adjusting the experience of the built-in Google Weather service on Android. Previously, tapping the Google Weather widget would open a full-screen weather information interface that resembled a standalone app, but was actually a dedicated page within the Google app. Some users who updated the Google app have found that this weather page has been removed. Now, tapping the widget redirects directly to the Google app’s search page, where weather information is presented in card form as part of search results. In addition to traditional forecasts, air quality data, and detailed weather metrics, AI-generated forecast summaries will also be included, aligning the experience more closely with standard web search results. Notably, Pixel users are unaffected as they rely on the Pixel Weather app. Source
• According to Game File, Tencent has shut down its TiMi Montreal studio. In addition to reports from internal sources, LinkedIn posts by former employees (now deleted) have corroborated the development. The studio was established in July 2021 with the goal of developing AAA open-world multi-platform games. Source
• On February 23, Uber announced the acquisition of SpotHero, an app that offers parking reservation services in crowded areas. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Uber stated that it plans to integrate parking services directly into its own app. Source
• According to Android Authority, Google is developing a facial recognition system called Project Toscana for future use on Android phones and Chromebooks. Test devices equipped with Project Toscana reportedly require only a circular camera cutout. The system is said to function reliably under varying lighting conditions, similar to Face ID, though the underlying technology remains unclear and is currently speculated to involve infrared cameras. Source
• According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, due to the global popularity of the “Starlight Orange” color this year—especially in the Chinese market—Apple is considering introducing a deep red color option for the iPhone 18 Pro. Previous rumors of purple or brown variants may have been testing adjustments for this color. The iPhone Fold, however, is expected to avoid bold colors, offering only dark gray or black, as well as white or silver options. Source
• Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that most of last year’s Trump-era tariff policies were unlawful, Apple—which had previously lobbied for exemptions on many products—may now face a uniform 10% tariff, potentially higher than before. Source
• In Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26300.7877, the Paint app (version 11.2601.391.0) introduces a free rotation feature, allowing any shape, text, or selection to be rotated at any angle. Source