At IFA 2026 in Berlin, CNET spotted several standout gadgets, including Miele's Diamond G8 dishwasher, which uses an internal camera and AI to tailor its wash cycles and can run during off-peak electricity hours. Plaud also unveiled the Plaud One, AI-equipped earbuds that transcribe conversations and respond to voice commands, while iRobot showed off a Roomba model built to seal itself against carpet for improved cleaning.
Studio Sasayuri has adapted Machiko Kyo's wartime manga into an anime film called 'Cocoon—One Summer of Girlhood,' which dramatizes a real historical tragedy from the perspective of girlhood during war. The film is set for a limited theatrical run beginning September 4.
Smart-ring maker Oura revealed financial details as part of its move toward going public, showing it has become profitable. The company reported 74% revenue growth for the nine months ending in June compared with the prior year.
Researchers built 75 synthetic but realistic code repositories across 10 languages, complete with fake company data and real dependency lockfiles, then tasked coding agents like Claude, Codex and Cursor with implementing missing third-party service integrations. Prompts were written from four different user personas—from vague 'vibe-coders' to detail-oriented enterprise engineers—producing 1,163 task variations that were run repeatedly to generate roughly 17,000 total experiment runs.
Medical device maker Stryker announced its SportSuite Vision app for Apple Vision Pro was used for the first time in a live procedure, a hip arthroscopy performed at Duke Health. The app received FDA De Novo authorization on July 17, and surgeon Dr. Chad Mather III used it to view orthopedic planning tools and imaging directly within his sterile field during the operation.
Microsoft will end unlimited Xbox Cloud Gaming access for Game Pass subscribers, introducing monthly streaming caps of 15 hours for Ultimate, 10 hours for Premium, and 5 hours for Essential tiers. Subscribers who exceed their limit can purchase additional streaming time, though pricing hasn't been disclosed, while downloadable game access remains unaffected.
OpenAI unveiled GPT-6 Astra, touting gains in cybersecurity, software engineering and agentic workflows, and calling it its most capable model yet. The release is rolling out first to enterprise and security customers before reaching Plus, Pro and Business users. In the same week, Anthropic, Meta and Google each pushed out their own model updates, with Anthropic releasing Claude Fable 5.1 and Mythos 5.1.
Market research firm TrendForce projects Apple will raise iPhone 18 prices due to a global RAM shortage, with memory costs for the 256GB Pro model expected to nearly quadruple year-over-year. The report estimates the iPhone 18 Pro Max could start between $1,299 and $1,399, while the foldable iPhone Ultra may launch between $2,099 and $2,299, potentially reaching $3,000.
Market research firm TrendForce forecasts that Apple's next iPhone lineup will carry significantly higher price tags, driven by a global RAM shortage that has pushed memory costs for a 256GB Pro model up nearly 400% year-over-year. The firm expects Apple to absorb some of that cost increase rather than pass it all on, but still predicts the rumored foldable iPhone Ultra could launch between $2,099 and $2,299, potentially reaching $3,000.
Dan Stevens has been cast in the title role of Prime Video's upcoming RoboCop series, and he has hinted the show will incorporate humor into its take on the character. Stevens, known for roles in 'Onslaught,' 'The Terror: Devil in Silver,' and 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,' will lead the sci-fi adaptation for the streaming platform.
Microsoft will begin limiting Xbox Cloud Gaming to monthly hour caps in November: 15 hours for Game Pass Ultimate, 10 for Premium, and 5 for Essential subscribers, after which users must purchase extra playtime. The company says only about 4% of Game Pass subscribers will be affected, and it will also let non-subscribers buy cloud hours to stream eligible owned games.
A new Madrona Venture Group survey of 150 enterprise IT professionals finds that most companies review their AI vendor choices twice a year or continuously, rather than locking into multi-year deals as they did with traditional SaaS. The report also shows fewer than half of enterprise AI pilots reach full production, though that marks an improvement over MIT's earlier finding of a 95% failure rate.
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