Indholdsfortegnelse for #713 i Techlife News

Xiaomi, known for its smartphones, has launched its second electric vehicle, the YU7 SUV, priced at 253,500 yuan ($35,360), targeting Tesla’s Model Y in China, the world’s largest EV market. The YU7 undercuts the Model Y’s starting price of 263,500 yuan by about 4%, offering a longer range of up to 760 kilometers (472 miles) compared to Tesla’s 719 kilometers. CEO Lei Jun unveiled the SUV at a high-profile event, directly comparing it to the Model Y, much like he pits Xiaomi’s phones against Apple’s iPhone. The YU7 comes in three trims: Standard, Pro, and Max, with the top model boasting 681 horsepower and a 0-100 km/h sprint in 3.23 seconds. All versions feature an 800-volt architecture for fast charging, adding 620 kilometers in 15 minutes, and include lidar for…

A federal judge in California has ruled in favor of Meta Platforms, dismissing a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by 13 authors, including Sarah Silverman, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Jacqueline Woodson. The authors accused Meta of using their books without permission to train its Llama AI model, claiming the practice violated their intellectual property rights. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria granted Meta’s motion for summary judgment, finding that the authors failed to prove Llama’s outputs infringed their copyrights or caused market harm. The lawsuit, one of several targeting AI companies, argued that Meta illegally sourced books from “shadow libraries” like Bibliotik and Library Genesis, online repositories of pirated works. The authors sought damages, alleging that Llama’s ability to generate text relied on their creative content without consent or compensation. Chhabria acknowledged that…

Apple continues to push the boundaries, delivering cutting-edge updates to its ecosystem and captivating entertainment through Apple Original Films. tvOS 26 reimagines the Apple TV experience with a stunning redesign and enhanced features, whilst the launch of F1: The Movie underscores the Cupertino company’s commitment to blending tech and storytelling to create immersive experiences. INTRODUCING TVOS At this year’s WWDC, Apple unveiled tvOS 26, a significant update that elevates the Apple TV platform with a breathtaking redesign and a suite of features designed to make home entertainment more immersive, intuitive, and enjoyable. This update introduces a visually striking aesthetic, seamless user interactions, and innovative ways to engage with content, from movies to music. At the heart of tvOS 26 is the introduction of Liquid Glass, a new material that transforms…

Qunnect, a Brooklyn-based quantum networking company, has secured a $10 million extension to its Series A funding round, with Cisco Investments joining as a new backer. The round, led by Airbus Ventures and joined by Quantonation, fuels Qunnect’s mission to build scalable quantum networks using existing telecom fiber. The investment will support product development, manufacturing, and real-world deployments for industries like finance, telecom, and defense. The funding follows Qunnect’s success in deploying quantum networks in New York City and Berlin, showing its tech can work over commercial fiber at room temperature. Unlike most quantum systems that need extreme cooling, Qunnect’s Carina product suite—featuring entanglement sources, repeaters, and quantum memory—operates in standard server racks, making it practical for widespread use. The Cisco partnership, sparked by Qunnect’s proven testbeds, aims to turn…

A federal judge has ordered OpenAI to stop marketing its partnership with Jony Ive’s AI hardware startup, io Products, due to a trademark dispute with another AI company, iyO. The ruling, issued by U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson, bars OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman, and Ive from using the “io” name or any similar mark until a hearing resolves the issue. The decision came after iyO, a startup developing AI-powered earbuds, sued for trademark infringement, claiming the “io” name could confuse consumers. OpenAI quickly removed all mentions of the io partnership from its website, including a splashy announcement page and a promotional video featuring Altman and Ive. In place of the page, the company posted a message stating the content was down due to the court order but maintained it disagrees…

A HISTORIC LAUNCH A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying four astronauts on Axiom Mission 4, or Ax-4, to the International Space Station. The crew, led by veteran U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson, includes first-time spacefarers from India, Poland, and Hungary, marking each country’s initial visit to the orbiting laboratory. The mission, organized by Houston-based Axiom Space in partnership with SpaceX, underscores a new era of international collaboration in private spaceflight. The astronauts—Shubhanshu Shukla of India, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, Tibor Kapu of Hungary, and Whitson—rode atop a Crew Dragon capsule, which separated from the rocket’s second stage to begin its journey. Live footage captured the spacecraft soaring through the night sky, trailed by a glowing plume of exhaust, with the…

Cloudflare has rolled out a public beta of its Containers product, letting developers run resource-heavy applications at the edge of its global network. The platform, part of Cloudflare’s connectivity cloud, allows code to execute in secure, isolated environments, handling tasks like video processing, backend services, or command-line tools. Available to all users on paid plans, Containers builds on the Cloudflare Workers platform, offering a way to tackle compute-intensive jobs without complex setup. The system uses Docker images, enabling developers to deploy apps written in languages like Python, Go, or Rust, which were previously limited in Workers’ JavaScript-focused environment. With a network spanning over 300 cities, Containers run close to end-users, cutting latency and boosting performance. Developers can deploy globally with a single command, skipping the need to configure servers across…

Google has introduced a feature for Chrome on Android that lets users move the address bar, also called the Omnibox, from the top of the screen to the bottom. This change, already available on iPhone since 2023, makes one-handed browsing easier, especially on larger phones where reaching the top is a stretch. Users can now tap and hold the address bar to shift it to the bottom or adjust it through the Settings menu, giving a choice between top or bottom placement. The update responds to a long-standing user demand for better reachability. With phone screens growing—some now exceed seven inches—the top-placed address bar can be tough to tap without shifting your grip. By placing the Omnibox closer to your thumb, Chrome feels more comfortable for quick searches or typing…

Tesla has launched a driverless taxi service in Austin, Texas, using a small fleet of Model Y vehicles equipped with unsupervised Full Self-Driving software. The service, available to a select group of invited riders, operates in a limited area of South Austin, covering neighborhoods like South Congress and South Lamar. Each vehicle carries a Tesla employee in the passenger seat as a safety monitor, though no steering wheel or pedals are available for manual control. Riders book trips through a dedicated Robotaxi app, paying a flat fee for the experience. The rollout marks Tesla’s first foray into paid autonomous rides, a long-promised goal for CEO Elon Musk. Unlike the futuristic Cybercab, a purpose-built robotaxi still in development, these Model Ys are standard models upgraded with new software to drive without…

OpenAI is crafting features for ChatGPT that let teams edit documents together and chat within the app, positioning it as a direct competitor to Google Workspace and Microsoft Office. The tools, still under wraps, aim to turn ChatGPT into a hub where workers can draft reports, share notes, and message colleagues without switching apps. This move expands the platform beyond its chatbot roots, aiming to carve a space in the productivity software market dominated by Google and Microsoft. The document editing feature allows multiple users to work on a single file, much like Google Docs or Microsoft Word’s collaborative mode. Users can type prompts to generate text, refine drafts, or summarize content, all powered by ChatGPT’s language model. The chat function integrates conversations alongside documents, letting teams discuss changes in…

A BARELY VISIBLE SPY China’s National University of Defense Technology has developed a drone the size of a mosquito, designed for covert military operations. The microdrone, showcased on state television, mimics an insect with a stick-shaped body, two leaf-like wings that flap like a bug’s, and three hair-thin legs for perching or landing. Barely bigger than a fingernail, it’s built to slip into tight spaces, gather intelligence, or monitor targets without being noticed, making it a new tool for battlefield reconnaissance. The drone’s small size is its biggest asset. It can blend into urban settings or dense environments, dodging detection where larger drones would stand out. Controlled by a smartphone or small device, it’s easy to deploy, letting soldiers or operatives send it into areas too risky for humans or…

Microsoft is bracing for another round of layoffs in its gaming division, with managers expecting significant reductions across Xbox teams. The cuts, part of a broader company reorganization, follow three prior waves totaling over 2,550 jobs lost since the $69 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition. Most of the latest reductions target corporate and support roles, particularly at Activision Blizzard, though some mobile game teams, like those behind Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile and Warcraft Rumble, face downsizing as they shift to live operations. No games, devices, or studios are being canceled, but the scale of the layoffs has raised alarms about Xbox’s direction. The gaming division, which includes Bethesda, Obsidian, and 343 Industries, employs about 22,000 people. Earlier cuts hit hard, with 1,900 jobs slashed in January and 650 in September,…

A SECOND WAVE OF BROADBAND SATELLITES A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket roared into orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, carrying 27 satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper, a broadband network designed to deliver high-speed internet worldwide. This second batch of operational satellites joins an earlier group launched on the same rocket type, boosting the constellation’s early total to 54. The mission, dubbed Kuiper 2, marks another step toward Amazon’s goal of a 3,232-satellite network to rival SpaceX’s Starlink. The Atlas V, in its most powerful 551 configuration with five solid rocket boosters, hauled the heaviest payload it has ever carried. After liftoff, the rocket’s boosters separated, followed by the payload fairing, which protected the satellites during ascent. The Centaur upper stage then guided the spacecraft to a low…

Microsoft is rolling out a series of updates to make Windows tougher against crashes like the one caused by a faulty CrowdStrike update that knocked out millions of PCs and servers worldwide. The changes, part of the Windows Resiliency Initiative, aim to stop such disruptions by tightening how security software interacts with the operating system’s core. The goal is to keep critical systems—think hospitals, airlines, and banks—running smoothly even if a third-party update goes wrong. The CrowdStrike incident, triggered by a flawed software patch, hit 8.5 million Windows devices, a small fraction of the total but enough to ground flights, halt surgeries, and disrupt banking. The problem stemmed from CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform running at the kernel level, the heart of Windows with full access to system memory and hardware. A…

Verizon has launched a sweeping overhaul of its customer service, dubbed Project 624, blending artificial intelligence with human agents to tackle issues faster. The initiative introduces a Customer Champion team, trained to resolve complex problems on the first call, using Google’s Gemini AI models tailored for Verizon’s needs. These models analyze calls, pinpoint solutions, and keep customers updated, aiming to fix 90% of issues immediately, with a goal to hit 95% or higher. The system creates a small language model for each customer case, focusing only on relevant details like billing or connectivity issues. Unlike broader AI models that pull in vast data, these mini-models deliver precise answers, reducing errors to under 10%. If a problem stumps the AI, senior representatives step in, ensuring no one gets stuck in a…

Tesla’s all-electric Class 8 Semi truck is hitting the road with a promise to shake up the U.S. trucking industry. Powered by three motors, the Semi boasts a 500-mile range, using less than two kilowatt-hours per mile, and can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 20 seconds, even when fully loaded at 82,000 pounds. Its sleek, central-driver cab and glass-surrounded design prioritize visibility and comfort, setting it apart from diesel rigs. After years of delays, Tesla delivered its first Semis to PepsiCo, with plans for full-scale production at a new Nevada factory capable of building 50,000 units annually. The Semi’s efficiency is a standout. It costs about half as much per mile to charge compared to diesel fuel, with Tesla estimating savings of up to $150,000 in three years…

A federal judge in California ruled that Anthropic, an AI company backed by Amazon and Alphabet, did not violate copyright law by using books to train its Claude large language model. The decision, penned by U.S. District Judge William Alsup, declared the training process “fair use” under U.S. copyright law, as it transforms copyrighted works into new, original outputs without reproducing the authors’ creative elements. The ruling is a significant win for AI companies facing a wave of lawsuits over how they use copyrighted material to build their models. The case, brought by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson, accused Anthropic of using their books without permission to train Claude, a chatbot designed to generate human-like text. The judge found that this use—feeding books into AI to…

MANUFACTURING KICKS OFF Production for the 2025 iPad Pro is underway, with Samsung Display and LG Display starting mass production of OLED panels earlier this month. The new models, expected to launch around October, will feature Apple’s next-generation M5 chip, built on a 3-nanometer process for better speed and efficiency. The tablets will likely keep the sleek design and Tandem OLED displays introduced in 2024, with 11-inch and 13-inch sizes, but a minor tweak could see the rear Apple logo shift to a landscape orientation for better alignment with keyboard use. The manufacturing push, led by China’s BYD Electronics as the primary assembler, signals Apple’s confidence in its supply chain, despite earlier concerns about high costs. The company aims to produce enough units for a fall rollout, aligning with its…

Xero, a New Zealand-based accounting software company, has agreed to buy Melio, a US payments platform, for $2.5 billion in a cash-and-stock deal, with up to $500 million more tied to performance and retention goals over three years. The acquisition aims to strengthen Xero’s foothold in the US, where it earns just 7% of its revenue despite dominating markets in Australia and New Zealand. Melio’s platform, which processes over $30 billion in payments annually for 80,000 small and medium-sized businesses, integrates accounting and payment workflows, offering tools for accounts payable and receivable. The deal aligns with Xero’s “3x3 strategy,” which focuses on growing its core accounting, payroll, and payments solutions in three key regions: Australia, the UK, and the US. By combining Melio’s payment capabilities with Xero’s cloud-based accounting, the…