A federal class action filed by Hagens Berman on behalf of three consumers in California, New York and Washington accuses Starbucks of falsely marketing certain protein lattes and matcha drinks as 'sugar-free' when they contain 13 to 21 grams of sugar per serving. Starbucks says the sugar comes naturally from its protein-boosted milk, that no sugar is added, and that it uses sugar-free syrup, with nutrition info posted online. The lawsuit seeks damages for affected buyers and a court order barring the 'sugar-free' label on products containing sugar.
TechCrunch's Disrupt 2026 conference takes place October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, expecting around 10,000 attendees including founders, investors and tech executives. Online ticket discounts of up to $100 expire when the event opens at 8 a.m. PT on October 13, with a discounted Expo+ Pass available for those affected by layoffs and a 50%-off second-ticket offer.
Wall Street firms, led by Blackstone, are marketing AI data centers as a real estate investment category, including a new publicly traded REIT called Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust launched this year. Blackstone CEO Nick Pell said the fund focuses on 'stabilized' data centers in established markets like Northern Virginia and Dallas, aiming to tap what the company estimates is a $300 billion market, even as community opposition and state-level moratoriums on new data center projects grow.
Nick Park made most of 'A Grand Day Out,' the first Wallace and Gromit film, by himself over several years in the 1980s as a solo graduation project at Aardman. He premiered it alongside 'Creature Comforts' at the 1989 Bristol Animation Festival, where it won a BAFTA while 'Creature Comforts' took the Oscar. Park says he nearly quit repeatedly during production and was unaware the film was even Oscar-eligible.
Gigabyte announced a BIOS update extending support for upcoming Intel processors to its full lineup of B760 and H610 motherboards, covering both DDR4 and DDR5 variants, with the chips expected in early 2027. The update excludes other LGA 1700 boards like Z690, Z790, and B660, and Gigabyte has not revealed SKUs, specs, or pricing for the new CPUs.
Amazon is selling the 256GB black Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra for $949.99, down from its usual $1,399.99 price. The phone features an adjustable privacy display that can obscure part or all of the screen from onlookers, along with a built-in stylus and upgraded camera hardware.
Apple has switched its recommended software update in Settings to iOS 27.0.1 for devices still running iOS 26, after initially keeping iOS 26.7 as the featured option when iOS 27 launched September 14. Users can still choose to remain on iOS 26, but iOS 27.0.1 now appears prominently under Software Update rather than tucked into an 'Also Available' section.
Surveillance company Flock Safety is reducing its workforce by roughly 18%, or about 270 employees, with departures effective at the end of October, according to Reuters. Flock says the reductions came through a voluntary separation program rather than layoffs, though Wired reported last month the company had asked some staff to leave to avoid mandatory cuts.
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol said the coffee chain's recovery is taking hold, attributing the progress to a leadership focus on returning to core operational fundamentals. He framed the strategy as less about product innovation and more about disciplined execution of basics.
Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy told Restaurant Business he welcomes growing competition in the chicken segment, including McDonald's new push to gain 1.5 points of chicken market share by 2030 as part of an $8.5 billion modernization plan. Technomic data cited in the report shows chicken chains grew 5.3% in sales in 2025, outpacing the broader restaurant industry's 3% growth and burger chains' 1.5%. Cathy said his focus remains on order accuracy, food quality and hospitality, and that Chick-fil-A has no plans to replace human order takers with AI.
Users on Reddit report that Amazon's latest base-model Kindles, which feature a flush bezel design, show shadows or visible LED strips around the screen edges, especially in dark mode with brightness turned up. The issue reportedly affects both plastic and aluminum models across all color options. Good e-Reader reports Amazon has acknowledged a manufacturing issue may have caused defects in the current batch, though Amazon declined to give The Verge an on-the-record statement.
A graduate student examining crustacean specimens at the University of Tübingen discovered that a roughly 12.7-inch isopod, long catalogued as a known species, was actually a previously undescribed one. The specimen had sat unrecognized in the collection for more than three decades before the mix-up was caught.
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