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Tech News
A robotics industrial cluster in Shanghai that houses over 100 companies opened its doors for a carnival-style event where visitors could watch quadrupedal robots climb stairs, remote-controlled bots duel with water beads, and humanoid machines perform tasks like brewing coffee and folding laundry. DexForce and other firms used the event to let families interact directly with their technology.
Scientists including Curtin University's Joshua Newton found that spiderwebs collect exceptionally rich environmental DNA from surrounding wildlife, outperforming other passive sampling methods like vegetation swabs, water, and soil in identifying vertebrate species. Because collecting real webs means destroying spider homes, University of Waikato genomicist Angela McGaughran tested synthetic Halloween webs instead, finding they captured DNA from livestock, birds, and even fungal spores just as effectively.
Tesla has stopped accepting new orders for its Solar Roof shingles, telling certified installers the product is no longer available for new projects. The company will keep selling conventional solar panels and home battery systems, and its old Solar Roof web page now redirects to its solar-panel offering. Sources told Electrek the product was scrapped because it was not financially viable.
New spending data from payments firm Ramp, covering 70,000 US companies, shows Anthropic's top-tier model Fable 5 accounts for just 11 percent of total spending on the company's AI tools. Businesses are increasingly reserving expensive frontier models for complex tasks while routing routine work to cheaper options, including Anthropic's own older models and open-weight offerings from Chinese competitors.
The Australian Recording Industry Association has updated its Charts Code of Practice to exclude music that is wholly AI-generated from national chart eligibility, effective with the chart dated August 31. Songs made with AI assistance can still qualify, but only if the recording is substantially human-made, with humans writing the song and performing lead vocals and primary instruments using authorized tools.
Asus confirmed pricing for its ROG 20th Anniversary Xbox Ally X20, a translucent gold-trimmed handheld with a 7.4-inch 1080p OLED screen, starting at $1,300. The original $1,000 Xbox Ally X and $600 Xbox Ally will remain available alongside it, while a $2,500 bundle adds ROG XREAL X1 glasses, a Dbrand Killswitch case, and a Pelican carrying case.
Shadowserver identified 274 Zimbra Collaboration Suite instances already breached through exploitation of CVE-2026-73570, a command injection flaw in the SNMP monitoring component that allows unauthenticated remote code execution. Synacor patched the bug in ZCS 10.1.20 on July 20, but Shadowserver still counts over 8,200 unpatched instances exposed online, though not all are necessarily exploitable due to non-default configuration requirements.
Following its announcement that PlayStation disc production ends in January 2028, Sony sent customers copies of its Terms of Service and End User License Agreement, which state that PlayStation software is licensed rather than sold. The emails, likely routine notices tied to recent PlayStation Store purchases, arrived amid ongoing backlash over the discontinuation of physical media and a planned consumer boycott running August 23-30.
CNET published a guide recommending smart devices to upgrade home desks and offices, starting with a smart surge protector like Tapo's model that lets users label, remotely control, and track energy use of connected devices. The guide also highlights smart speakers, such as Google's newest model, for hands-free reminders, timers, and voice commands while working.
TCL has released the Note A1 Nxtpaper tablet, a device that blends a full-color 120Hz LCD screen with a matte, low-glare display and a pressure-sensitive stylus designed to mimic the scratch of pencil on paper. Rather than a standard Android home screen, it opens to a note-and-calendar interface inspired by devices like the Remarkable, though it still allows full access to the Google Play Store.
GameSir released GameHub v6.2.0, adding the ability to mod Steam titles and locally imported games directly on Android devices. The update also introduces controller key/mouse mapping with cloud sharing, deeper Steam integration for friends, achievements and Workshop access, plus a redesigned library sorted by platform.
VK, formerly Mail.ru Group, has filed a lawsuit against Apple in a Moscow arbitration court after Apple pulled VK apps like VKontakte, VK Messenger, and Mail Cloud from the App Store in June to comply with EU sanctions. VK is demanding the apps be reinstated and is seeking daily penalties of roughly $696,000 if Apple refuses, which would total over $250 million annually.