Technology News of the last 24 hours

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On November 6th, Apple will release an all-new MacBook Pro. It's thinner and lighter and has a beautiful OLED touchscreen. It is very likely what every new MacBook Pro will look like in a couple of years. The M6 MacBook Pro, which is also out on the 6th, is not that laptop. Instead, it's a […]

Early reviews of the latest MacBook Pro gush with praise for the active OLED display, but are more muted about the touchscreen. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Meta has added live voice conversations to Muse, its personal AI agent, so users can talk to it instead of typing. The update also gives Muse an animated avatar that reacts as the conversation goes on. The feature is available now in the Muse app on phones, the web and Mac, but only in the […] This story continues at The Next Web

Yesterday NASA announced the latest addition to its X-series of experimental aircraft that have included the Bell X-1 that first broke the sound barrier nearly 80 years ago, and the more recent X-59 quiet supersonic demonstrator. The new X-70 Fractal is designed to be a "high-performance, highly adaptable research platform" that NASA can use as […]

Detecting a single photon is a challenge in itself. But what if you also want to know exactly how many photons arrive at a particular point at the same time? Physicist Erik Baalbergen is working on light detectors that can do just that. They form a key building block for the optical quantum computer of the future.

Apple refreshed both the iPad mini and iPad Air this year, but the choice is now less straightforward and there is just a $50 price difference between them, so which should you choose? The eighth-generation ‌iPad Air‌ arrived in March with the M4 chip, 12GB of unified memory, Apple's N1 wireless chip, and the C1X modem on cellular models. It remains available in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes. Following Apple's June price increases, the two size options now start at $749 and $949, respectively. In October, Apple announced the eighth-generation ‌iPad mini‌, introducing a larger 8.5-inch display with OLED technology, a thinner and lighter design, the A20 chip, an optional nano-texture finish, a landscape front camera, and more. The changes give Apple's smallest tablet several advantages over the ‌iPad Air‌, even as the Air retains a larger screen and support for Apple's Magic Keyboard. Both devices offer Touch ID in the top button, Apple Pencil Pro and ‌Apple Pencil‌ (USB-C) support, ‌Apple Pencil‌ hover, landscape 12MP Center Stage front cameras with ƒ/2.0 apertures, Apple's N1 wireless chip, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, Thread networking technology, and USB-C ports with transfer speeds of up to 10Gb/s. The new ‌iPad mini‌ also features 12GB of unified memory, matching the Air. Advertised battery life is the same, with up to 10 hours of web browsing over Wi-Fi or watching video, or up to nine hours of web browsing over cellular. Despite the ‌iPad mini‌'s move to ‌OLED‌, neither model offers ProMotion. Our guide helps to answer the question of how to decide which of these two iPads is best for you. ‌iPad mini‌ (eighth generation, 2026) ‌iPad Air‌ (eighth generation, 2026) 8.5-inch display 11-inch or 13-inch display 2316-by-1512 resolution 11-inch: 2360-by-1640 resolution 13-inch: 2732-by-2048 resolution 326 ppi 264 ppi Super Retina XDR ‌OLED‌ display with 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio Liquid Retina display with LED backlighting and IPS technology 600 nits maximum…

Bazzite means to bring a SteamOS-like gaming experience to desktop PCs. Version 45 upgrades to Fedora 45 with newer graphics drivers, KDE Plasma 6.8, and GNOME 51. It also expands handheld compatibility, adds network optimizations, and introduces an anti-cheat compatibility checker. Read Entire Article

Airbnb plans to roll out an AI agent in the first half of 2027 that will help users plan and book travel, the company said in its Q3 2026 earnings shareholder letter released today. "Today's AI agents are good at simple, routine tasks, like making a restaurant reservation or scheduling an appointment," Airbnb said. "But […]

Serve Robotics announced alonsgside its third-quarter earnings that it will launch a new business line called Physical AI Services to offer customers its connectivity and data tools.

Accurate fish-weight estimates can help aquaculture operators manage feeding, monitor growth and plan harvests. However, conventional underwater imaging methods often require substantial computing power and can struggle with reflections, bubbles and turbid water.

Democrats’ success was helped by popular anger over tech, AI and the super rich – life for billionaires could become much more difficult The photo of Silicon Valley centi-billionaires at Donald Trump’s inauguration – Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg, front row and side by side – now looks like a hitlist for a blue Congress hellbent on making life difficult for billionaires. The picture symbolized at the time the bending of the knee by the richest men in the world to its most powerful, a symbiosis of the ultra-rich. Already unfathomably wealthy, Silicon Valley tycoons believed a Maga-sized public shift to the right would enrich them even more. It did. For several years, while Trump seemed an everlasting kingmaker and AI’s expansion seemed unstoppable, their fortunes ballooned to values beyond comprehension. Elon Musk’s surpassed $1tn. Continue reading...

Motorola is trying something it hasn't attempted in the modern smartphone era: to make an all-out flagship slab-style phone. Previous high-end Edge devices never quite hit the mark, and lacked features that would put it in the highest flagship tiers. The company has had plenty of success with its Razr clamshell foldables, leaning on brand […]

WhatsApp is rolling out a new feature that allows you to invite friends and family members to events in the app - even if they don't have the messenger installed. When you create an event in WhatsApp, you can share a link with a friend or family member without the app, and they can still […]

Microsoft is unveiling a new Xbox PC app that launches "up to 60 percent faster" than before, with an overhauled design to match new updates to Xbox Cloud Gaming on the web and smart TVs. Xbox Insiders will be able to start testing the updated Xbox PC app today, and the updated Xbox Cloud Gaming […]

Scientists at the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) in Campinas, São Paulo state, developed an instrument for the Sirius particle accelerator that can observe the interior of solar cells on a nanoscale while they are operating. Rather than analyzing isolated components in a laboratory setting, this new platform enables the evaluation of complete devices generating electricity under real operating conditions. It simulates daily exposure to light, heat and humidity.

Octopuses are extraordinarily versatile. From walking across the seabed on their eight arms to jetting through the water, manipulating tools and squeezing through unimaginably tight spaces, the flexibility of octopuses almost defies belief. "Octopuses can change their body shape to squeeze through tiny holes, almost like water flowing through a gap, so their size doesn't always limit where they can go," says Wenci Xin from the National University of Singapore.

Starting this year, Apple has exclusive streaming rights for Formula 1 racing in the United States, which sees every race stream on Apple TV. Both Apple and the league have proudly reported a very positive response in terms of viewership and subscriber acquisition, although they do not publish exact viewing figures. On the latest earnings call for F1’s parent company Liberty Media, the CEO of Formula 1 Stefano Domenicali said that both parties are happy with the US deal, and he expects that Apple will bid for rights in more countries as the opportunities become available. more…

Just over a month after the launch, Google is rolling out the “Googlebook November update” with “many bug fixes, stability improvements, and firmware updates.” more…

Apple is sending email surveys to some iPhone Duo buyers to get feedback on display size, crease, under-display camera, and other features. The first question asks why the buyer chose the ‌iPhone Duo‌ now, with answers like "I wanted to try Apple's first foldable," "It was an impulse purchase," and "I expect smartphone prices to increase." Other questions ask about the size of the ‌iPhone Duo‌'s display when it's closed, how visible the crease is, whether the under-display camera is distracting, and the camera's image quality. The final question is open-ended and asks what the buyer would add or change about the ‌iPhone Duo‌. View all 6 photos in the full article → It's been about two weeks since the ‌iPhone Duo‌ launched, and it's not too unusual for Apple to conduct surveys following a new product's debut. Some of the questions are about ‌iPhone Duo‌ compromises compared to standard iPhone models. The Duo's outer display is 5.4 inches, making it about the same size as the discontinued iPhone mini line. The inner display's under-screen camera is limited to 4MP, and it was one of the main complaints in reviews. The survey does not ask about Touch ID, the experience of using unoptimized apps, or the display cracks some users have reported, all of which are also top Duo complaints, (Thanks, Willy!) Related Roundup: iPhone Duo Buyer's Guide: iPhone Duo (Buy Now) Related Forum: iPhone This article, "Apple Surveys iPhone Duo Buyers About Crease and Camera" first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

A research group from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has developed a method for manufacturing flexible films that can effectively shield electromagnetic waves across a broad frequency range. The films can be produced on a square-meter scale.

How do cells respond to drugs? A new microscopy technique could provide more precise answers to this question in the future. Researchers from Bielefeld University and the University of Vienna have developed a method as part of the European CHEM-SCAN project that makes the smallest cellular structures visible while also showing how their molecular environment changes.

X-rays with wavelengths between approximately 2.3 and 4.4 nanometers, i.e., in the so-called water window, are particularly well suited to examining biological samples in their natural, aqueous environment. To date, however, it has been technically difficult to access this type of radiation at an appropriate quality and intensity, as only free-electron lasers in large-scale accelerator systems are capable of generating it.

Meta now lets you have voice conversations with your Muse AI agent in real time, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced today. The feature has been rolled out to me, and I gave it a spin on the iOS app while writing this article. As you chat with your Muse agent, the avatar at the top of […]