Tech Trends Roundup: New Emojis, Google AI Mode, and Best Buy's Gaming Clearance

Ever had that moment when you're sipping coffee and suddenly think, "Gosh, I really need an emoji of Bigfoot playing the trombone?" Well, your oddly specific prayers have been answered! The Unicode Consortium (yes, there's actually a nonprofit organization that decides which emojis make it to your phone) has announced their next batch of digital expressions coming our way.

The upcoming emoji lineup includes a trombone, treasure chest, bulging-eyes face, fight cloud, apple core, orca whale, gender-neutral ballet dancer, landslide, and yes - Bigfoot! They're also improving support for skin tone options in emojis showing multiple people. Now you can properly illustrate that time you went hiking with friends of diverse backgrounds and collectively discovered buried treasure while ballet dancers performed nearby. You know, everyday stuff.

Meanwhile, Google is expanding its AI Mode search experience beyond just English speakers. After six months of English-only availability, the AI-powered search is now rolling out in Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese. This expansion allows more people worldwide to ask complex questions in their preferred language.

Google's AI Mode is their answer to competitors like Perplexity and ChatGPT Search, utilizing a customized version of their Gemini 2.5 model. They've even added some nifty "agentic features" that can help find restaurant reservations, with support for booking local services and event tickets coming soon. However, these premium features currently require the Google AI Ultra subscription at a hefty $249.99 per month. Ouch! My wallet just made the bulging-eyes emoji face.

For gamers looking to score deals, Best Buy is having a massive clearance sale on physical video games across Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch platforms. While you'll need to wade through numerous outdated sports titles, there are some genuine bargains to be found. This clearance might signal another retailer potentially moving away from physical game sales in favor of more cellphones, Funko Pops, and appliances. If you're a collector who enjoys having actual game discs (remember those?), this could be your chance to grab some titles at significantly reduced prices.

And for Porsche enthusiasts with deep pockets, here's a quirky option: carbon-fiber windshield wiper arms for the 2026 911 models. At $1,310, these fancy wipers are 50% lighter than standard ones and "aerodynamically optimized." Because nothing says "performance vehicle" like saving half an ounce on your windshield wipers, am I right? Apparently, this technology trickled down from Bugatti, which pioneered carbon fiber wipers on their Chiron Sport in 2018.

So whether you're expressing yourself with new emojis, searching in your native language with AI, hunting for gaming bargains, or splurging on carbon fiber car parts, technology continues to evolve in ways both practical and... well, let's just say interesting.

*This post was created with the use of generative AI.*