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Tech News
Research on leadership psychology finds that many leaders struggle to deliver constructive criticism, even though guiding people toward better performance often requires telling them things they don't want to hear. The pattern shows up across organizations, where leaders prioritize comfort and likability over honest, corrective feedback.
Proxy advisers ISS and Glass Lewis are recommending investors vote down a proposed $800 million performance-based compensation package for Arm CEO Rene Haas ahead of the company's September 9 annual meeting. The award consists of 425,000 performance share units split into three tranches tied to Arm hitting market capitalizations of $1 trillion, $1.5 trillion, and $2 trillion by 2029-2031, with Arm currently valued near $250 billion.
Epilogue makes USB-C cartridge readers, the $50 GB Operator for Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance carts, and the $60 SN Operator for Super Nintendo and Super Famicom titles, with an N64 version in development. The devices connect real cartridges to Windows, Mac, Steam Deck, Xbox Ally or even phones, letting users back up save data and play games through companion Playback software that pulls the ROM and runs it in an emulator.
A teardown of Android Auto beta version 17.6.663424 reveals Google testing a new color palette for Google Maps, with a darker map background and a dark-gray turn indicator replacing the current light background and teal accent. The change also appears in dark mode, where the map surface would become even darker and the turn indicator would drop its teal tint for gray.
California lawmakers passed SB 868, a bill that sets rules for small, plug-in solar devices—often mounted on balconies, yards or roofs—capped at 1,200 watts per home. The bill replaces the costly utility interconnection process for these systems with a free online registration, provided devices meet electrical codes, carry third-party safety certification and include anti-backfeed protection. It now awaits Governor Gavin Newsom's signature, with compliant products potentially available by spring 2027.
Dell introduced the 14s, a thin and light 14-inch Windows 11 laptop targeted at students and young adults, available in Linen, Dusty Rose, Washed Denim, and Velvet Green finishes. The device uses an aluminum chassis, Intel Panther Lake processors, up to 16GB of RAM, up to 1TB storage, and a battery Dell claims lasts up to 21 hours of video playback. Pricing and release date remain unannounced, though Dell suggests the laptop will be positioned as an affordable option.
Dell has announced the 14S, a mainstream 14-inch laptop offered in four colors with a 61.2 Whr battery for all-day use. It comes with up to an Intel Core 7 processor, choice of FHD or 2.8K displays, up to 16GB of RAM, up to 1TB of storage, and weighs just over 2.5 pounds. Pricing hasn't been announced yet; Dell says details will come closer to its fall launch.
Dell is expanding its mainstream 14S laptop series with lower-cost configurations built on Intel's more efficient Wildcat Lake chips instead of Panther Lake. The new models start at 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, come in four bright colors, and pricing won't be confirmed until closer to their fall launch.
IBM has released an open source initiative called the CE Store, providing a research environment for ITA Controlled English, a structured form of English designed to be readable by both people and machines. The system lets users define concepts and instances through simple English sentences that form data models, and it can be deployed via IBM Cloud or run locally by cloning the code from GitHub.
Apple has updated Apple Maps to display Lake Ontario as 'Lake America' for users in the United States, following Google's earlier change to its maps. The renaming stems from an executive order President Trump signed after US-Canada trade talks collapsed, with Canadian users still seeing 'Lake Ontario' and the rest of the world seeing both names. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Trump personally contacted Apple to push through the naming change.
iRobot has unveiled the Roomba Max 875 Combo, a robot vacuum that lowers a skirt to seal its chassis against carpet fibers, concentrating airflow instead of letting it escape around the edges. The company says this SealForce technology lets the device reach 35,000 pascals of suction and clean three times deeper into carpets than prior models. iRobot is showcasing the device at IFA Berlin 2026.
Loudoun County, Virginia turned to former AOL infrastructure and empty fiber-optic networks left after the dot-com crash to attract data center investment, led by economic development official Buddy Rizer. The strategy shifted the county's tax base from over 80% residential to just over half commercial revenue, transforming it into a hub handling a large share of global internet traffic.