GoKawiil
Tech News
The open Jabber/XMPP protocol is celebrating a quarter-century of existence, having been designed from the start as a federated, non-proprietary alternative to closed messaging platforms. The piece uses this anniversary to argue that digital services should be treated as infrastructure owned collectively, rather than left to corporate or single-nation control.
A Weibo leaker known as Fixed Focus Digital claims Apple is adapting the glass-assembly process used for the iPhone Air to build next year's iPhone Pro models, which are expected to feature an all-glass, quad-curved bezel-free design for the device's 20th anniversary. The leaker says Apple has made progress improving heat dissipation while trying to keep the device slim, though it's unclear how thin the final design will be.
Digital car keys, which rely on UWB or NFC to confirm phone proximity, avoid the relay attacks that plague traditional key fobs. However, they introduce new vulnerabilities: a stolen or dead phone could theoretically lock owners out or grant access to thieves, though automakers build in safeguards like remote lockdown features and reserve battery power for NFC access lasting up to five hours after a phone dies.
Dolby Digital Plus, or E-AC-3, is a lossy audio codec that can support up to 7.1 channels, but it can also carry standard 5.1 audio, meaning its presence doesn't guarantee extra surround channels. It was built specifically for streaming and downloadable content, which is why services like Netflix rely on it, and it can also serve as a delivery method for Dolby Atmos object-based audio.
Nidia Webb, who has lived in the UK for eight years with settled status, was blocked from boarding her flight home from Spain after the Home Office's eVisa system confused her digital immigration record with that of her identical twin sister. She spent hours on the phone before the issue was resolved and she was allowed to fly home, though a confirmation email meant to reassure her was mistakenly sent to her sister instead.
Walmart is turning to digital fabrication techniques, including 3D printing, to construct parts of its retail stores rather than relying solely on traditional building methods. The company's scale is helping accelerate adoption of this construction approach across the commercial building industry, as it looks to lower its own operating costs.
Seven prominent architecture firms are developing their own AI tools instead of waiting for frontier labs like Anthropic to serve their needs, since the specialized data behind architectural work—3D models, technical drawings, hand sketches—sits locked in private firm archives rather than on the open web. This scarcity of scrapable data makes architecture a much harder AI target than domains like coding or writing, pushing firms to build in-house solutions using their own proprietary project records.
A new leak from Weibo tipster Digital Chat Station claims the OnePlus 16 will feature the thinnest bezels of any OnePlus phone yet, paired with a custom-built, high-clarity screen. The device is also expected to carry a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro chip, a 6.78-inch panel, and design cues similar to the OnePlus 15's square camera module.
Stanford economist Erik Brynjolfsson, working with the Digital Economy Lab, now says there is no evidence of economy-wide job losses from AI, though entry-level positions remain vulnerable. His updated research finds productivity growth accelerating instead, with nonfarm business productivity rising over 2% annually, the strongest pace since the late 1990s.
Derek Chadwick, cofounder of the gay dating app Goose, has resigned after reports surfaced that the platform used fake, AI-generated influencer accounts on Instagram to lure users into signing up. Chadwick announced his departure on Instagram, citing a divergence between his personal vision and the company's direction, without directly admitting wrongdoing. The exit follows a Wired investigation revealing suspicious accounts with AI-generated photos and unusual follower patterns tied to Goose's marketing.