Innehållsförteckning för #727 från Techlife News

T-Mobile and SpaceX’s Starlink have quietly reached a new milestone in their satellite-to-phone partnership, announcing that a small but growing list of mobile apps can now run on the service. It’s the latest step toward turning Starlink’s constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites into a viable backup for everyday smartphone connectivity. A PARTNERSHIP YEARS IN THE MAKING The collaboration between T-Mobile and SpaceX was first announced in 2022 with the promise of extending coverage to dead zones across the U.S. by tapping into Starlink’s rapidly growing satellite fleet. The idea was bold: instead of requiring bulky satellite phones, regular smartphones would connect directly to orbiting satellites for basic services like texting and eventually data. Three years later, the companies are beginning to deliver on that promise. T-Mobile says that a handful…

Artificial intelligence is not just reshaping products and services—it is remaking the way Big Tech sells them. Across Silicon Valley and beyond, companies are reorganizing their sales forces and rethinking strategies as generative AI tools alter customer needs, automate routine work, and create entirely new markets. For some of the world’s largest technology firms, the change looks less like an evolution and more like a structural upheaval. SALES TEAMS AT A CROSSROADS Traditionally, enterprise sales at companies like Microsoft, Salesforce, and Oracle relied on teams of account managers, solution engineers, and customer success specialists working in tandem. But the rise of generative AI is collapsing some of these roles. With AI now able to handle demos, summarize technical specifications, and even generate custom presentations, many mid-tier sales jobs are being…

In September, Apple introduced the Apple Watch Series 11, “the ultimate health and fitness companion.” While it doesn’t reinvent the category with radical design changes, the Series 11 features improvements in health monitoring, durability, connectivity, and battery life. It reflects Apple’s transformation from a luxury accessory into a vital part of everyday life. HEALTH-FIRST The headline feature of the Series 11 is its ability to deliver hypertension notifications. Using the optical heart sensor, the Watch now passively analyses vascular responses across thirty-day periods to identify potential signs of chronic high blood pressure. If such patterns are detected, the device issues a notification, urging users to confirm results with a traditional blood pressure cuff and share them with their healthcare provider. Apple trained this system using data from more than 100,000…

Two of South Korea’s biggest technology companies, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, are set to become key suppliers of advanced memory chips for OpenAI’s ambitious Stargate project, according to people familiar with the deal. The move positions South Korea at the heart of one of the most significant AI infrastructure undertakings to date, while underscoring just how enormous the demand for high-performance chips has become in the global AI race. WHAT IS STARGATE? Stargate is OpenAI’s planned next-generation AI supercomputer, developed in partnership with Microsoft, which has pledged to invest as much as $100 billion in the effort. The system is envisioned as a massive distributed data center complex capable of training and running artificial intelligence models at unprecedented scale. The project will reportedly involve millions of GPUs and custom…

For decades, passwords have been the weakest link in digital security. Too short, too simple, or reused across dozens of accounts, they’ve left billions of users vulnerable to hacks and breaches. Now, Apple and Google are betting big on a replacement: passkeys, a technology designed to make logins more secure and seamless—without the need to remember a single string of characters. HOW PASSKEYS WORK Passkeys are built on the WebAuthn standard, using cryptographic keys stored securely on your device instead of typed passwords. When you log in to an account with a passkey, your phone or computer generates a unique digital signature to verify your identity. The site never sees your actual key, which means there’s nothing for hackers to steal in a traditional data breach. Instead of typing a…

Blue Origin has unveiled a lunar resource mapping initiative to identify water ice and other in-situ materials critical to sustaining human activity on the Moon, framing the effort as foundational to NASA’s Artemis architecture and to longer-term commercial operations. PROJECT SCOPE AND GOALS The program centers on advanced remote-sensing payloads and mapping techniques aimed at characterizing permanently shadowed regions and regolith composition. Blue Origin says the data will inform future landing site selection, propellant production concepts from ice-derived hydrogen and oxygen, and surface logistics for crewed and robotic missions. CORRECTION: NEW GLENN HAS FLOWN — FIRST LAUNCH JANUARY 16, 2025 Contrary to earlier reporting, Blue Origin’s orbital rocket New Glenn conducted its inaugural mission on January 16, 2025, launching from Space Launch Complex-36 (SLC-36) at Cape Canaveral. The NG-1 mission…

Apple’s newly launched iPhone 17 has overtaken Xiaomi’s 17 series in sales across China, according to early market data, signaling a shift in consumer preference at a time when domestic brands have dominated the market. The momentum suggests Apple is regaining ground in the world’s largest smartphone arena after years of intense competition from Chinese manufacturers. APPLE’S RESURGENCE IN CHINA For much of 2023 and 2024, Apple struggled to maintain market share in China as companies like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Huawei attracted customers with competitively priced devices and cutting-edge hardware. But the iPhone 17 appears to have reignited consumer enthusiasm, with retail checks from firms such as Counterpoint Research and IDC showing Apple leading sales charts in the first two weeks of launch. Analysts point to several factors driving demand.…

Tesla has reported its best sales quarter of 2025, capping a turbulent year for the electric vehicle industry with a surge in demand just as the U.S. federal EV tax credit expired. The milestone highlights both Tesla’s pricing strategy and the resilience of its brand in an increasingly competitive market. SALES SURGE BEFORE DEADLINE According to Tesla’s Q3 earnings release, deliveries jumped significantly as customers rushed to secure vehicles before the federal tax credit of up to $7,500 per car expired on October 1. Analysts say the deadline created a pull-forward effect, boosting Tesla’s numbers in the short term and helping the company outperform rivals who are still struggling with weaker demand. Tesla has long been more insulated from subsidy shifts than competitors. The company lost access to credits under…

DoorDash, long known as the dominant name in food delivery, is no longer content to just bring takeout to your door. The company announced it is expanding into restaurant reservations and autonomous robot deliveries, a move that signals its ambition to become an all-encompassing platform for dining and convenience services. BEYOND TAKEOUT: RESTAURANT RESERVATIONS The centerpiece of DoorDash’s new strategy is its push into restaurant reservations, a market historically dominated by apps like OpenTable and Resy. With the new feature, DoorDash users can book tables directly through the same app they use for delivery and pickup orders. For restaurants, the appeal is twofold. First, it drives traffic through a platform already connected to millions of diners. Second, it integrates seamlessly with DoorDash’s existing merchant dashboards, giving restaurants a single tool…

OpenAI has released new research claiming that its flagship artificial intelligence model, ChatGPT, now rivals human experts across 44 different professional domains, from law and medicine to finance and education. The announcement underscores both the rapid improvement of generative AI systems and the growing debate about how far they can or should go in replacing human expertise. THE RESEARCH FINDINGS According to OpenAI, the study evaluated ChatGPT against benchmark tasks used to measure human competence in professional fields. These included bar exam-style legal reasoning, medical case analysis, financial forecasting, programming challenges, and technical writing. In many areas, ChatGPT reportedly scored at or above the level of trained professionals, demonstrating not just memorization but applied reasoning. The company stressed that the evaluation was not limited to text recall. Instead, the AI…

The race to dominate artificial intelligence is entering a new phase. With large language model (LLM) development showing signs of plateauing, major AI firms are pouring billions into world models—AI systems designed to simulate and reason about real-world environments in ways that go far beyond text generation. WHY THE PIVOT TO WORLD MODELS Over the last three years, companies like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Anthropic, xAI, and Meta have pushed LLMs to new heights, producing models like GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, and LLaMA that can write essays, summarize documents, and generate code with remarkable fluency. But researchers now acknowledge that performance gains are slowing downdespite increasing compute and training data. Scaling alone no longer yields the same leaps in intelligence. Models still struggle with commonsense reasoning, spatial understanding, and long-horizon planning. This…

Artificial intelligence has already become the defining investment theme of this decade, but a new forecast suggests the spending spree has only just begun. According to Citigroup, the world’s largest technology firms are on track to spend more than $2.8 trillion on AI infrastructure, software, and applications by 2029—a staggering figure that reflects both the promise and the pressures of the AI boom. THE SCALE OF THE FORECAST Citigroup’s analysis projects that Big Tech companies—led by Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta, Apple, and Nvidia—will ramp up AI-related capital expenditures dramatically over the next five years. Much of this spending will go toward building and upgrading data centers, semiconductor capacity, and cloud services capable of running ever-larger AI models. The $2.8 trillion figure encompasses not only direct infrastructure but also software development,…

Amazon’s Prime Day 2025 doesn’t officially begin until October 22, but the company has already kicked off a wave of early deals under $50, giving shoppers the chance to grab popular gadgets, household essentials, and entertainment favorites at steep discounts. From Lego kits to Apple accessories, the early markdowns are designed to pull in budget-conscious buyers before the official two-day sales event begins. A FOCUS ON AFFORDABILITY This year’s strategy emphasizes volume over luxury. While Prime Day often spotlights big-ticket electronics like TVs and laptops, Amazon has put unusual weight on entry-level tech and everyday items. Analysts say the company is targeting casual shoppers who may not be ready to spend hundreds of dollars but still want the Prime Day experience. DEALS THAT STAND OUT Among the early finds, Amazon’s…

OpenAI has become the world’s most valuable startup, reaching a valuation of $500 billion following a secondary share sale. The milestone puts the artificial intelligence company ahead of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, long considered the heavyweight in privately held tech, and underscores how central AI has become to global markets. HOW THE DEAL CAME TOGETHER The latest valuation was set through a secondary sale of OpenAI shares, in which early investors and employees sold stock to new backers. Unlike a traditional funding round, a secondary sale does not raise fresh capital for the company, but it does reflect how much outside investors are willing to pay for equity. This surge follows multiple waves of investment into OpenAI since its blockbuster launch of ChatGPT in November, 2022. Microsoft remains the company’s most…

Apple and Amazon have been cleared in a long-running lawsuit that accused the companies of conspiring to inflate the prices of iPhones and iPads sold through Amazon’s marketplace. A federal judge dismissed the case this week, ruling that the evidence presented by plaintiffs failed to demonstrate an illegal agreement under U.S. antitrust law. THE ALLEGATIONS The lawsuit, filed in 2019, centered on a deal between Apple and Amazon that limited the number of third-party Apple resellers allowed on Amazon’s platform. Plaintiffs argued that the agreement artificially reduced competition by excluding independent sellers who often listed iPhones and iPads at discounted prices. By restricting supply, they claimed, Apple and Amazon drove up prices and harmed consumers. Consumer advocates framed the case as an example of two tech giants colluding to control…

Apple is quietly testing a ChatGPT-style app designed to give iPhone and iPad users a conversational AI experience integrated directly into its ecosystem, according to reports from people familiar with the project. The move marks one of Apple’s boldest steps yet into generative AI, signaling that the company intends to compete more directly with OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic in the rapidly evolving market for consumer-facing AI assistants. AN APP BUILT FOR APPLE’S ECOSYSTEM The app, reportedly in internal testing under the codename “Apple GPT,” is designed to let users interact with an AI model through natural conversation. Unlike Siri, which is limited to task-based commands and system controls, the new app would be able to draft emails, summarize documents, generate text, and even help brainstorm ideas—similar to what users have…

The global smartphone market in 2025 is defined by speed, design, and AI-enhanced features—but above all, by 5G performance. As networks expand into standalone 5G with faster speeds and lower latency, the gap between average devices and true flagship experiences is widening. In this landscape, the iPhone 17 has emerged as a key player. The question is, how does it compare with the very best 5G phones of 2025? IPHONE 17 AND APPLE’S APPROACH TO 5G Apple has steadily refined its 5G technology since introducing it on the iPhone 12, but the iPhone 17 marks a turning point. Featuring a custom modem co-developed with Qualcomm and deeper integration with Apple’s silicon, the device delivers stronger consistency on mid-band and millimeter-wave 5G networks. Early tests in markets like the U.S., China,…

The U.S. federal electric vehicle (EV) tax credit, long a cornerstone of clean-energy policy, officially expired this month after years of incentivizing car buyers to adopt battery-powered vehicles. The phaseout marks a major turning point for the industry. But while the end of the credit has sparked concerns for automakers reliant on subsidies, one company appears to be weathering the change better than most: Tesla. A POLICY ERA ENDS The EV tax credit, worth up to $7,500 for qualifying vehicles, was introduced to encourage adoption at a time when EVs were considered niche, expensive, and impractical for mainstream drivers. The program helped Tesla and other early players like Nissan and General Motors build momentum, lowering entry costs for consumers and accelerating infrastructure growth. But as EV adoption surged, political consensus…

Microsoft has rolled out a new generation of AI agents inside Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, marking the company’s most ambitious attempt yet to embed artificial intelligence into its core productivity tools. The agents, which began rolling out in preview this week for Microsoft 365 subscribers, are designed to go beyond simple copilots by acting as autonomous assistants capable of handling tasks across documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. HOW AI AGENTS WORK INSIDE OFFICE APPS Unlike the existing Copilot features that focus on single prompts, the new AI agents are designed to operate more like persistent helpers that can track context, remember preferences, and execute multi-step tasks across applications. For example, in Word, an agent can draft a long-form report, insert relevant charts from Excel, and then create a corresponding PowerPoint presentation—all…