Microsoft has released the Xbox Nano controller, its smallest ever at just over 5 inches long and 3.5 ounces, making it lighter and more compact than most smartphones. The controller retains all 18 standard gameplay inputs and a customizable Action Button, and supports both Xbox Wireless and Bluetooth connectivity via a rechargeable battery. It costs $50 and is available for preorder in the US now, with other markets like the UK, Canada and Australia getting it in November.
Apple released version 1.12.1 of its Invites app, adding the ability for hosts to manually add guests and update their RSVP status when confirmations happen outside the app. The update also adds support for an extra-large Home Screen widget introduced with iOS 27, alongside unspecified bug fixes and performance improvements.
The Jev team released version 1.14.0 alongside a set of experimental 'danger zone' features gated behind API header flags, including composable image support, a new data type, and longer context windows. The company says these features are not yet reliable enough for production use but are intended to evolve into stable capabilities over time.
Attorneys general in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho and Montana have each filed separate state lawsuits against OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT is an unsafe product that has harmed children and misled parents about its risks. Iowa's complaint, announced by Attorney General Brenna Bird, accuses the company of giving dangerous medical advice and coaching vulnerable users toward self-harm while marketing the chatbot as safe. OpenAI says it has built age-specific safeguards, including parental controls and break reminders, and is working with states on industry-wide policy.
An image showing a bird resting atop a rhino has been named among the standout photographs honored in the 2026 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. The photo captures an everyday moment of symbiosis between the two animals in the wild.
A suspected drone strike on October 13 sank the Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship Dignity and forced evacuation of the Ukrainian-operated freighter Chelsea 3 near Bulgaria's coast, leaving 11 Dignity crew members missing. This marks the fifth vessel attacked within NATO members' exclusive economic zones in the Black Sea in little over a week, prompting calls for NATO to move counter-drone defenses into the area.
Apple's Newsroom detailed how designer Bünyamin Aydın used an iPad Pro, Apple Pencil Pro and apps like Freeform and Procreate to create 'From Earth to Sky,' a show marking Les Benjamins' 15th anniversary. Filmmaker Neels Castillon shot the event with iPhone 18 Pro Max units, including pairs mounted on custom drones, then edited footage on a MacBook Pro with M4 Max.
Colossal Biosciences says it has built a new AI tool that narrows down which genetic changes would be needed to recreate traits of the extinct Dodo bird. The company, founded in 2021 to pursue de-extinction projects, lists the Dodo among its target species alongside the woolly mammoth and other vanished animals. The Dodo, once native to Mauritius, was wiped out within decades of European contact in the 16th century.
Epic Games has released a preview build of a new, AI-generated Games Launcher, citing third-party benchmarks showing it cold-starts in 5.47 seconds versus Steam's 10.07 seconds on Windows. The company also touts a revamped interface with title summary pages, custom top bars, library aggregation, and storage/download monitoring tools. Epic says Fortnite will eventually come to Linux through this client once Easy Anti-Cheat is rebuilt and kernel-level agreements are reached with major distros.
According to three sources familiar with internal GOP discussions, Trump White House aides now see almost no path to Republicans retaining the House in the midterms and are concentrating resources on protecting the Senate majority instead. The Congressional Leadership Fund has already pulled ad buys in contested districts in Michigan, Ohio, Nebraska, New Jersey and Iowa, signaling a retreat from races once considered flippable.
Colossal Biosciences unveiled GenoMorph, an AI platform combining 3D morphology, comparative genomics and developmental biology to identify key genes in species with scarce genetic data. The company is applying it to its dodo bird de-extinction effort, where only one dodo genome exists compared to roughly 100 genomes available for its woolly mammoth project. CEO Ben Lamm said the tool was built using developmental data from chickens, quail, ducks and pigeons alongside genetic and skull data from over 70 bird species.
Microsoft Threat Intelligence and its Digital Crimes Unit disclosed a Chinese-language phishing ecosystem built around a marketplace called Yam Store, tracked as Storm-3119. The operation sold phishing kits and infrastructure, including repurposed Microsoft and Google domains, and since January has sent over one billion phishing emails and texts to more than 75,000 organizations worldwide. Microsoft and Resecurity identified three kits used in the campaigns—CoGUI, Haozi/Phoenix, and Iron Man System—linked to developers tracked as Storm-2990.
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