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WhatsApp is rolling out new parental control tools letting parents monitor when their teen joins or leaves groups and adjust privacy settings, such as who can see a profile photo or add them to groups. Parents will not be able to read messages or hear calls, which remain end-to-end encrypted, and the controls can be turned on or off using a parent-set PIN.
Amazon announced a major update to its Alexa Plus AI assistant, adding a dedicated hub on Fire TV devices, improved reasoning, and the ability to factor in cultural context and viewing history when answering questions. The assistant will also gain support for follow-up questions and threaded conversations, and will extend to the Fire TV mobile app. Amazon says some features roll out in November, with others arriving in 2024.
Amazon has introduced a new Fire TV Stick 4K alongside a redesigned Fire TV Remote featuring differently shaped, indented buttons meant to be identifiable by touch. The company says the device is 20-40% faster at powering on and loading content than a similarly priced competitor, and it also outperformed three top-selling 4K smart TVs in Amazon's own testing. The updated stick has a slimmer design, supports Direct Power via a TV's USB port, and runs Amazon's Vega operating system with Alexa Plus built in.
Nanoleaf has released a Model Context Protocol server enabling its smart lights to be controlled through AI assistants like ChatGPT and Claude using natural language commands. The system can also let lights react to real-time data such as weather. Developer tools are available now, with pre-built integrations for major AI assistants arriving in October.
The piece recounts how financial information delivery evolved from carrier pigeons and ticker tape to telegraph and early electronic quote screens like Quotron in 1960. It situates the eventual creation of the Bloomberg Terminal within this long history of firms racing to supply faster, more proprietary market data to traders.
A wave of TikTok creators, including accounts like @hallysicle and 'Fiber Daddy,' are promoting high-fiber foods and recipes under the label 'fibermaxxing,' often using exaggerated or comedic language about digestion. Some creators sell fiber supplements, such as Liquid Salad, while others focus on recipes like a pea-based pesto delivering 18 grams of fiber per serving. Healthcare providers have also begun participating in the trend online.
When temporary tariff structures were struck down earlier this year, e.l.f. Beauty received roughly $50 million in cost relief and used it to reverse price increases across 80% of its product lineup instead of keeping the extra margin. The following quarter, the company reported net sales up 36% to $479.4 million with profits roughly doubling.
Amazon unveiled a slimmer, faster Fire TV Stick 4K along with a redesigned remote and updated interface and app that more deeply integrate Alexa+. The company is simplifying its lineup by dropping the 'Select' and 'Plus' naming for its 4K dongles, and the new stick includes 8GB of storage, a quad-core 1.7GHz processor, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3/LE support.
Amazon has consolidated its Fire TV streaming player lineup, cutting it from five models to four by replacing the Fire TV Stick 4K Select and 4K Plus with a single new Fire TV Stick 4K. The updated roster now consists of the Fire TV Stick HD, Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Stick 4K Max and Fire TV Cube, alongside a new remote control announced the same day.
Shure has released the MV6 Gen 2, an updated version of its USB microphone for gamers and streamers, adding a white color option, a longer 2-meter USB-C cable, and expanded software controls. Users can now adjust how loud their voice sits in the mix, how quickly the mic reacts to volume changes, and how much background noise the real-time denoiser filters out, all through Shure's free Motiv app. The microphone costs $169 and is available now from Shure and authorized retailers, working across Mac, PC, Android, iPhone and iPad.
Amazon announced that starting in November, US Fire TV users will get a new Alexa+ hub on the TV interface and mobile app, offering personalized suggestions and more complex reasoning about shows, movies and current events. The mobile app will also let Alexa+ build watchlists from shared article links, suggest titles based on uploaded photos, and deep-link directly into streaming apps. Amazon also added live content from over 40 apps and a Games Hub for cloud gaming, with global rollout planned for early next year.
Amazon has launched a new Fire TV Stick 4K priced at $60, replacing both the previous 4K Select and 4K Plus models. It supports HDR10 and HDR10 Plus, includes 8GB storage, a quad-core 1.7GHz processor, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3, and ships with a redesigned remote that drops the dedicated Alexa button in favor of a home button. Amazon also said a premium remote with backlighting and a find-my-remote feature is coming in 2027.