Square has released a new hardware product called the Square Kiosk, a large pill-shaped touchscreen device that lets customers place orders by speaking with an AI agent. The company says the system understands a merchant's full menu and can respond to spoken requests for modifications or substitutions in real time. The 21.5-inch kiosk also includes presence detection, contactless payment and a card slot, and costs $1,999 plus a $99 monthly software fee for Square Plus or Premium subscribers.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-14
Fujifilm has announced the Instax Square 2, a square-format instant camera that adds a mood filter switch letting users slide a warm or cool colored filter in front of the lens. The camera will launch later this month for $119.95 in slate blue, brick red, and misty white, alongside a new Soft Haze film variety priced at $18.99 for 10 exposures that produces reduced saturation and contrast with warm, diffused shadows.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-14
Shaquille O’Neal appeared at a Times Square event for NordVPN, sharing his personal experience with hacking and emphasizing the importance of cybersecurity. He revealed he was targeted by scammers and learned the need for digital protection after a minor hacking incident. The NBA star highlighted his efforts to educate the public about safeguarding personal information, despite not having highly sensitive data on his devices.
wired.com
· 2026-10-07
A formal verification project has completed a machine-checked proof in the Lean theorem prover establishing the optimal side length for packing 11 unit squares into a square container, with the exact value defined as the root of a polynomial equation. The verification run, tied to a specific pinned commit, accepted all 7,920 local Lean modules with zero admissions, using native numerical certificates for computationally expensive exact checks alongside standard Lean proofs for geometry and proof assembly.
github.com
· 2026-10-07
MSG owner James Dolan and his family have donated roughly $108,000 directly to Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive who is trailing Governor Kathy Hochul by nine points or more in most polls. Blakeman has proposed expanded surveillance infrastructure, including license plate readers and biometric tracking along the city-suburb border, and supports data centers, AI deepfakes, Flock surveillance, ICE and private militias. Dolan previously donated to Hochul in the last election cycle and has also given significant sums to Trump's 2020 campaign and the RNC.
wired.com
· 2026-10-01
Square launched an integration letting sellers link their business locations to Apple Business directly from the Square Dashboard. The tool automatically syncs details like hours, address and phone number across Apple Maps, Siri, Apple Wallet and other Apple apps, and lets merchants add branding and action links such as Order, Book or Schedule Appointment to their Apple Maps listings.
9to5mac.com
· 2026-09-24
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman used a live appearance at the Fast Company Innovation Festival to reiterate views he previously expressed on social media, backing President Trump's military action against Iran and criticizing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Ackman argued that Mamdani's policies have driven away the city's most economically productive residents.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-16
Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman joined a conversation moderated by Mansueto Ventures' Stephanie Mehta to discuss how design shapes business outcomes and what the future of design might look like. The session, titled 'The Business of Design—and the Design of the Future,' explored the intersection of investment strategy and design thinking.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-15
Jacob Komarow started selling baklava on New York City streets in 2021 while six months into recovery from drug addiction, building a mobile business called Good Baklava that operates from vans, pop-up stands and online orders rather than a fixed storefront. A viral moment handing out free pastries near Madison Square Garden and a subsequent New York Times profile drove explosive growth, with monthly revenue averaging over $20,000 and peaking near $70,000.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-09-14
A technical write-up walks through why physical phenomena like light and sound intensity fall off with the square of distance, rather than linearly or cubically. The explanation builds from the classical formula for a sphere's surface area, using a paper-cylinder analogy to show how wrapping a sphere in a fitted cylinder reveals the 4πr² relationship at the heart of the law.
blog.coredump.cx
· 2026-09-14
Final Fantasy Resonance is an upcoming Square Enix title built on the HD-2D art style, blending sprite-based visuals with modern lighting and particle effects. The game expands on the decade-old mobile title Brave Exvius, reworking its story and cutscenes into a full standalone RPG with towns, side quests, Chocobos, and airships. It also introduces a new turn-based battle system inspired by classic Final Fantasy design.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-03
Sony will host two consecutive State of Play livestreams on September 3, starting at 9AM ET, streamable on YouTube and Twitch with subtitled options available. The first broadcast covers PlayStation Studios and global partner titles, including an extended look at Final Fantasy 7 Revelation from Square Enix, followed immediately by a Japan-focused stream spotlighting Asian developers.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-02
GoKawiil