Category: tech

Technology news, AI, gadgets, apps

  • This Solar-Powered Smart Sprinkler Keeps My Lawn Watered Without Any Power Cables

    Once configured, setup proceeds much like the Aiper and pricier Irrigreen apps: You create a zone, then use the app to define its boundaries. Similar to the aforementioned systems, Oto’s sprinkler is designed for precision watering, firing water in a beam in a single direction instead of a wide spray. That said, Oto’s spray is read more

    This Solar-Powered Smart Sprinkler Keeps My Lawn Watered Without Any Power Cables
  • A hotel check-in system left a million passports and driver's licenses open for anyone to see | TechCrunch

    A hotel check-in system left more than 1 million customer passports, driver’s licenses, and selfie verification photos to the open web after a security lapse. The data is now offline after TechCrunch alerted the company responsible. The hotel check-in system, called Tabiq, is maintained by the Japan-based tech startup Reqrea. According to its website, Tabiq read more

    A hotel check-in system left a million passports and driver's licenses open for anyone to see | TechCrunch
  • Silicon Valley’s vacationland needs a new energy provider just as AI is driving prices up | TechCrunch

    It’s no secret that AI data centers have been straining the grid. But Silicon Valley has been relatively insulated from it all, thanks to high land and power prices that have pushed hyperscaler projects elsewhere. The tech elite might soon get a taste of the power crunch, though. The Bay Area’s vacationland, Lake Tahoe, has read more

    Silicon Valley’s vacationland needs a new energy provider just as AI is driving prices up | TechCrunch
  • Tesla reveals two Robotaxi crashes involving teleoperators | TechCrunch

    Tesla Robotaxis have crashed at least twice since July 2025 while a teleoperator was remotely driving the vehicles, according to newly unredacted information submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Both crashes happened in Austin, Texas, and occurred at low speeds. In each case, there was a safety monitor behind the wheel and read more

    Tesla reveals two Robotaxi crashes involving teleoperators | TechCrunch
  • Anthropic Mythos helped build a working macOS exploit in just five days

    Calif researchers used Anthropic’s Mythos Preview to chain two bugs and techniques into a macOS kernel exploit on Apple M5 The exploit bypassed Apple’s new Memory Integrity Enforcement, achieving root shell in five days despite years of Apple investment Attack highlights Mythos’ power in surfacing unknown flaws; Apple is reportedly working on a fix Cybersecurity read more

  • Two from MIT named 2026 Knight-Hennessy Scholars

    MIT master’s student Sunshine Jiang ’25 and Rupert Li ’24 are recipients of this year’s Knight-Hennessy Scholarship. Now in its ninth year, the highly competitive scholarship provides up to three years of financial support for graduate studies at Stanford University. Sunshine Jiang ’25 Sunshine Jiang, from Hangzhou, China, graduated from MIT in 2025 with a read more

    Two from MIT named 2026 Knight-Hennessy Scholars
  • An Engineer’s Post Protesting Laptop Surveillance Is Going Viral Inside Meta

    Meta’s decision to track employee keystrokes and mouse data is causing an uproar within the company. “Selfishly, I don’t want my screen scraped because it feels like an invasion of my privacy,” wrote an engineer in an internal post seen by nearly 20,000 coworkers this week. “But zooming out, I don’t want to live in read more

    An Engineer’s Post Protesting Laptop Surveillance Is Going Viral Inside Meta
  • Report: Intel is Testing Production of Some iPhone, iPad, and Mac Chips

    TSMC has been the exclusive supplier of Apple’s systems-on-a-chip since 2016, but that 10-year streak could be nearing its end. Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said that Intel has “kicked off” small-scale testing of lower-end iPhone, iPad, and Mac chip fabrication, with production expected to ramp up throughout 2027 and 2028. Kuo did read more

    Report: Intel is Testing Production of Some iPhone, iPad, and Mac Chips
  • Nimble Wally Stretch Review: A Colorful Charger With a Retractable USB-C Cable

    Last year, accessory maker Nimble came out with the Wally Stretch power adapters, and they’ve become some of my favorite charging options. The Wally Stretch is available in 35W and 65W options, and it has an excellent design. It’s a simple cube with prongs that fold down, a retractable USB-C cable, and an extra USB-C read more

    Nimble Wally Stretch Review: A Colorful Charger With a Retractable USB-C Cable
  • What It Will Take to Make AI Sustainable

    Building AI sustainably seems like a pipe dream as tech giants that previously made promises to cut emissions have been racing to build out massive data centers powered by fossil fuels. The rush to build out AI at all costs has been reinforced by the Trump administration, which is also rolling back environmental protections. Despite read more

    What It Will Take to Make AI Sustainable
  • Inside the Race to Develop a Test for the Rare Andes Hantavirus

    As passengers return to the US from the cruise that saw a rare hantavirus outbreak, much of the country is lacking a basic public health tool: a test to diagnose the illness in the earliest stages of infection. Nebraska may be the first state with the ability to do so. In just a few days, read more

    Inside the Race to Develop a Test for the Rare Andes Hantavirus
  • Submit Your Questions: AI Is Changing Your Job—Now What?

    Whether you like it or not, AI is embedded in every aspect of every industry that matters. Employers are demanding employees become “AI native,” while employees are worried that AI will render them unnecessary. This transformation is coming on fast—and fueling anxiety, dread, and confusion among workers of all ages and industries. Our panel will read more

    Submit Your Questions: AI Is Changing Your Job—Now What?
  • Google Unveils Googlebook, a New AI Laptop Built Around Gemini

    Google today announced a new series of Googlebook laptops that will be built with Gemini at the core. Googlebooks will run software built on a foundation that combines Android and ChromeOS. Google says the new laptops are designed for Gemini Intelligence for a more personalized and proactive experience. Instead of a cursor, Googlebooks have a read more

    Google Unveils Googlebook, a New AI Laptop Built Around Gemini
  • Much Brighter iPhone Display Still Years Away, Leaker Suggests

    Chinese leaker “Instant Digital” today said the iPhone 18 Pro will not feature dual-layer OLED technology, adding that Apple’s current thermal management approach remains a limiting factor for sustained outdoor brightness on Pro iPhones. In a new post on Weibo, Instant Digital commented on a question about when dual-layer OLED would arrive on iPhone, saying read more

    Much Brighter iPhone Display Still Years Away, Leaker Suggests
  • Why Soccer Still Defies Statistical Analysis

    The role of advanced analytics in sports is a contentious subject. To its defenders, data-driven pragmatism is a natural evolutionary step in the way we play and watch games. For detractors, the approach prioritizes results above all else and drains the soul from a pursuit that should be spontaneous and joyful. As someone who is read more

    Why Soccer Still Defies Statistical Analysis
  • Steve Jobs U.S. Commemorative $1 Coin Goes on Sale

    The United States Mint today began selling a new $1 American Innovation Coin featuring Steve Jobs, purchasable from the U.S. Mint website. The $1 Steve Jobs Coin features a young Steve Jobs in a turtleneck, jeans, and sneakers, sitting in front of the Northern California landscape. Jobs is said to be “captured in a moment read more

    Steve Jobs U.S. Commemorative  Coin Goes on Sale
  • iOS 26.5 Features: Everything New in iOS 26.5

    Apple released iOS 26.5 after a few months of beta testing, and while it doesn’t have the Siri features we were hoping for since those are being held until iOS 27, there are a handful of useful changes worth knowing about. End-to-End Encryption for RCS Support for end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages between iPhone read more

    iOS 26.5 Features: Everything New in iOS 26.5
  • Testing for ‘Bad Cholesterol’ Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story

    For decades, assessing cholesterol risk has been built around a simple idea: Lower “bad” cholesterol, lower your chance of a heart attack. The test at the center of that approach measures how much low-density lipoprotein, or LDL cholesterol, is circulating in part of the blood. It has shaped everything from clinical guidelines to the widespread read more

    Testing for ‘Bad Cholesterol’ Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story
  • Papa Johns Is Getting Into Drone Delivery—but Not for Pizza

    Starting today, eager customers of the US pizza restaurant chain Papa Johns living in one corner of southern North Carolina will have the opportunity to receive their food from the sky, thanks to a new collaboration with Alphabet’s drone company, Wing. But Papa Johns’ signature pizzas won’t be on offer. Instead, drone-loving North Carolinians will read more

    Papa Johns Is Getting Into Drone Delivery—but Not for Pizza
  • WhatsApp Plus Lands on iPhone With Custom Themes, Icons, and More

    WhatsApp has started rolling out its paid WhatsApp Plus subscription to iOS, following beta testing of the new personalization-focused tier amongst a small group of users, reports WABetaInfo. The plan is light on practical features, and is aimed more at heavier users who want to customize various aspects of the WhatsApp experience. It gives you read more

    WhatsApp Plus Lands on iPhone With Custom Themes, Icons, and More