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Deutsche Telekom's chief executive responded to reports that Elon Musk is exploring a wireless carrier business, noting Musk has acquired only 76 megahertz of spectrum compared to T-Mobile's 400. He estimated that building a competitive network, including spectrum, towers and antennas, would require at least $200 billion.
OqtaDrive, a hobby project started on 9 May 2021 by an Arduino-based emulator of Sinclair Microdrives for the ZX Spectrum and QL, has reached its fifth anniversary and 34th release. Over that time it added a web UI, CP/M support, snapshot loading via Z80onMDR, ZXDB search integration, and in April 2024 gained the ability to act as an internet gateway for the Sinclair Network, letting users transfer files with friends remotely using standard SAVE and LOAD commands.
A Nature study analyzing more than 2,300 neurons found that over a quarter of neurons sampled from fetal brains carried major chromosomal gains or losses, compared with only about 6% in neurons examined after birth. Researchers, led by Diane Shao of Boston Children's Hospital, say this points to a natural culling process that removes genetically abnormal neurons around the time of birth.
Nvidia confirmed a $3 billion investment in Meta's stock offering, a day after Meta said it would raise $95 billion (later revised to $97.5 billion) to fund AI spending. The two companies said they will deepen collaboration on Meta's Muse AI models, aiming to improve training and inference performance while cutting running costs. Meta also plans to expand use of Nvidia's Vera Rubin systems, Vera CPUs, Spectrum-X networking and BlueField-4 technology.
A former team member writing for IEEE Spectrum's careers newsletter describes leadership comparing engineers unfavorably to ChatGPT and weekend-built apps during 2024-2025, as Claude and ChatGPT adoption surged. The author argues AI demos create a false impression that software work is simple, leading some executives to question the need for full engineering teams, while ignoring legacy systems, legal and accessibility requirements, and deployment complexity.
An independent maker, unaffiliated with the official Spectrum Next Kickstarter team, has built a redesigned laptop housing for the ZX Spectrum Next dev board. The new version uses salvaged laptop hinges, a 14-inch HD screen supporting both HDMI and VGA, and an authentic Spectrum Next keyboard in place of the generic USB keyboard used in the first attempt. It also adds a touchpad, dual micro-SD slots, stereo speakers with volume control, dual joystick ports, and USB connectivity.
A hobbyist programmer has finished a retro-style demoscene intro running on a stock 128Kb ZX Spectrum, featuring a scrolling text with custom fonts, a three-channel AY soundtrack, VU meters and a parallax starfield. The project, started on December 13th, compiles to 10287 bytes of code (19552 bytes as a full tape image), and is available as a downloadable .tap file, a YouTube capture, a pouet.net listing, and a browser-runnable version via the creator's TNFS site.
SpaceX announced it has agreed to acquire Grain Management's nationwide 800 MHz low-band spectrum portfolio for roughly $8 billion, giving it up to 14 megahertz of paired airwaves. Elon Musk said the acquisition is the final piece needed for SpaceX to offer complete phone coverage across America, though the deal still requires FCC approval. Separately this week, the FCC authorized SpaceX to launch 15,000 additional satellites.
SpaceX said the FCC has approved deployment of 15,000 next-generation Starlink Mobile satellites optimized for 2 GHz spectrum, offering over 100 times the bandwidth of the current fleet. The company also applied for a nationwide low-band spectrum license intended to improve signal penetration through walls and buildings, though that approval is still pending.
SpaceX announced a deal to acquire all of Grain Management's nationwide 800 MHz low-band spectrum licenses, covering up to 14 megahertz of paired spectrum, pending FCC approval. The company says this follows its earlier acquisition of spectrum from EchoStar and will let Starlink Mobile signals penetrate walls and other obstacles, something its satellite-only service cannot currently do well indoors.
SpaceX is purchasing wireless spectrum licenses to support a mobile network built around its Starlink satellite system. The move would let the company offer direct cellular connectivity, positioning it to compete with established telecom carriers.
SpaceX announced a deal to acquire a nationwide spectrum license portfolio, covering up to 14 megahertz of paired low-band spectrum in the 800 MHz range, from digital infrastructure firm Grain Management. The agreement still requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission. Elon Musk called it a 'very big deal' on X, while SpaceX said the spectrum fills a key technical gap for its Starlink Mobile service.