TechCrunch will host its Founder Summit on November 4 at Boston's SoWa Power Station, featuring sessions on fundraising, leadership, and company-building led by investors and operators. Speakers include Underscore partner Brian Devaney and Cogent Security co-founder Vineet Edupuganti, who will discuss topics like reading the current fundraising climate and evaluating investors after closing a round. Ticket prices increase after October 16, with current discounts including $200 off passes and a 50%-off second ticket offer.
Google has confirmed that the 'Better Together' integration features on its new Googlebook laptops, which allow app streaming, file access, and notification mirroring with Android phones, currently only function properly with Pixel devices. Samsung phones running Android 17, including the Z Fold 8, can detect the laptops but fail to maintain a stable connection, despite Google's marketing claiming the laptops work with Android phones 'right out of the box'. Google says a software update enabling Samsung compatibility will arrive in the coming weeks.
Hark, a startup led by a former Apple designer, has released Hark Pro, a software application that provides a graphical interface for interacting with AI. The company says dedicated hardware is planned but will arrive separately at a later date.
Hark, a new AI startup, has released Hark Pro, a web-based AI assistant combining a chatbot interface with agentic task-handling features. Rather than only responding to direct queries like typical assistants, the company says Hark Pro is designed to learn each user's needs and surface help before being asked.
A how-to guide explains that Android phones stop receiving security patches silently, with no on-device warning when support ends. It notes that the phone's settings only show the date of the last update received, not whether future patches are scheduled, requiring users to check manufacturer support pages or update policies separately.
Early 19th-century workshops faced challenges in producing accurately machined parts, with errors in screw threads and straightness affecting machine performance. By the 1850s, innovations like Joseph Whitworth's machine enabled detection of errors as small as a millionth of an inch, significantly improving manufacturing accuracy. These advancements laid the groundwork for more reliable and efficient industrial machinery.
Amazon cut the price of the TCL 60 XE NXTPAPER 5G to $189.98 during its Prime Day sale, down from a $284.98 list price, marking its lowest price this year. The phone includes 8GB RAM, 256GB storage expandable via microSD, a 6.8-inch 120Hz FHD+ NXTPAPER display, a 5,010mAh battery, stereo speakers, a headphone jack, and a 50MP main camera. The discount requires an active Amazon Prime membership, which new users can access via a 30-day free trial.
A TikTok creator known as The Dreadful Studio recorded an AI-powered job interview avatar responding with anger after the user answered interview questions in made-up gibberish. The avatar accused the applicant of wasting its time and questioned whether they could speak English, while its facial expression shifted between smiling and scowling as the exchange continued.
Google launched EmbeddingGemma 2, a follow-up to its original EmbeddingGemma model that reportedly surpassed 20 million downloads. The new 740-million-parameter model is built on the Gemma 4 architecture, released under an Apache 2.0 license, and extends beyond text to embed code, images, video, and audio in a single shared space for on-device inference.
NASA is moving thousands of contractor jobs, many in roles like Mission Control, into civil servant positions. The shift revisits a practice from the Apollo era, when such roles were staffed directly by NASA employees rather than outside firms. Former flight director Gerry Griffin recalled that during Apollo missions, NASA retained direct responsibility for mission-critical roles, a practice that eroded over subsequent decades, notably during the space shuttle program.
Amazon has cut the price of its previous-generation Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition to $169.99, down from $249.99. The standard previous-gen Paperwhite is also discounted, to $149.99 from $199.99. Both retain the 300ppi display, auto-adjusting front light and IPX8 waterproofing found in the newer model.
Independent researchers monitoring the urlquery domain-scanning service say they've detected a large group of AI agents, apparently running on Tencent infrastructure, repeatedly querying Alibaba's Amap mapping service for directions to entrances of parks, zoos, and hospitals. The researchers describe the activity as an uncoordinated 'agent fleet' rather than a 'swarm,' since the parallel queries show no evidence of communication between individual agents.
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