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Tech News
A multi-day nor'easter bringing heavy rain and strong winds to the East Coast has prompted organizers to cancel several outdoor concerts and festivals this weekend, including Global Citizen and Oceans Calling. Performers affected include Ed Sheeran, Ludacris, and Dave Matthews Band.
In the latest episode of 9to5Mac's Happy Hour podcast, hosts Benjamin Mayo and Chance Miller give hands-on impressions of the new M6 Mac mini and AirPods 5, discuss early bug fixes for Apple's latest operating systems, and touch on Apple Music Hall. A Happy Hour Plus segment separately assesses how Apple's Siri AI has performed since launch.
Scientists used chemical vapor deposition to grow atomically aligned 1H-stacked bilayers of molybdenum disulfide, a two-dimensional semiconductor. Unlike conventional bilayer MoS2, which typically shifts to an indirect band gap, this stacking arrangement preserves a direct band gap and shows stronger light emission and valley polarization than standard bilayers, according to the study published in Nature.
Microsoft released an out-of-band update this week for Windows 11 versions 26H2, 25H2, and 24H2 to fix an audio bug that broke sound on older USB devices using the legacy Audio Class 1.0 driver. The flaw, introduced by the September 8 security update, left affected headsets and speakers silent, with unresponsive volume controls or a Device Manager error. The new patch also resolves several other recent issues alongside a couple of security flaws.
Illustrator and researcher Avery Robinson published an essay examining how heavy metal's iconic distressed visual style—torn flyers, gritty band logos, smudged toner—originated from the limitations of cheap photocopiers and low-quality paper used by DIY scenes decades ago. The piece argues these analog printing flaws became a deliberate aesthetic choice that metal culture has preserved even as design tools moved to digital.
An independent developer has released Kinesis, a free macOS app that lets users control their Mac using Meta's Neural Band wristband. The app supports gestures like swiping between desktops, opening Mission Control, managing music playback, and pinching to adjust volume or brightness, with customizable mappings. It requires macOS 14 or later, works on both Apple Silicon and Intel machines, and is built on the developer's earlier neural-band-poc project using Meta's Astra platform.
Dual-band routers transmit Wi-Fi simultaneously on two frequencies, 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz, to spread device traffic across separate channels instead of one shared lane. The 2.4GHz band covers longer distances and passes through walls better but runs slower and gets crowded, while the 5.0GHz band delivers faster speeds and more capacity at the cost of range. Most modern routers automatically assign devices to whichever band suits them, though some networks still show separate SSIDs for each frequency.
A Brazilian ANATEL certification filing lists 10 unannounced Garmin products with nearly identical model numbers, differing mainly by a single letter prefix. This pattern mirrors a similar Indonesian filing last month for a 'CIRQA Smart Ring' that was later removed from public view. The number and structure of variants suggest Garmin is preparing multiple sizes of a wearable device rather than a smartwatch.
Using Bluetooth or other signal jammers is banned in nearly all countries except for limited military use, under laws like the US Communications Act of 1934 and FCC regulations, alongside international rules from the ITU. These devices can disrupt Wi-Fi, medical equipment, security systems, and even emergency responder communications within a wide radius.
Router shoppers often encounter confusing labels like dual-band and tri-band alongside terms such as Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 7, and 6GHz. Dual-band routers broadcast on 2.4GHz and 5GHz, while tri-band routers add a third channel, either a second 5GHz band or, in newer Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 models, a dedicated 6GHz band. This extra band gives tri-band routers more overall bandwidth than dual-band alternatives.
At IFA 2026 in Berlin, Xiaomi introduced the Smart Band 11, a successor to last year's Smart Band 10 that trims the device down to 9.99mm thick and boosts screen brightness to 2,000 nits from 1,500 nits. The tracker keeps its 1.72-inch, 212x520 pixel display and offers metal or ceramic casing options, along with new color choices, HyperOS 4 software, 5ATM water resistance, and claimed improvements to heart rate and SpO2 sensing.
Luna has opened global availability for its Luna Band, a screenless fitness tracker announced at CES this year, after a limited invite-only first shipment in July sold out among over 100,000 waitlist sign-ups. The device costs $149 in the US and €149 in the EU, is available directly through Luna's website, and comes in multiple strap color options.