The Space Development Agency taps 19 companies for future defense demo missions

The Space Development Agency (SDA) has selected 19 companies to compete for future contracts under a new program designed to rapidly onboard new contractors for defense demonstration missions. Each company will receive an initial $20,000 to cover administrative expenses.  These companies have es

Boox's phone-size e-reader gets faster processing and a fingerprint reader

In 2023, Boox turned heads with the Palma. The device blurred the line between e-readers and smartphones, by combining e-paper with Android. The initial pitch was something along the lines of a phone-sized Kindle that's small enough to slip into a pocket. The product would be enticing for many

Tesla Cybertruck pushes past Ford Mach-E to become third best-selling EV in America

Tesla’s Cybertruck was the third best-selling electric vehicle in the United States in the third quarter, beating out every other EV not made by Tesla. The only two vehicles that sold better were the Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV. The polarizing truck notched this achievement despite selling

Devialet launches new high-end audio amplifier

Devialet, the French company at the intersection of audio engineering and luxury, is known for its egg-shaped Phantom speakers, but the company's first product was in fact an audio amplifier that you could connect to stand-alone speakers. After releasing soundbars, portable speakers, wireless

Philly’s Portal is like social media come to life

For once, the biggest tourist attraction in Philadelphia's Love Park isn't the iconic artwork that gives the plaza its name. While a couple of tourists trickle through to take pictures with the love sculpture, the main attraction this week is the Portal, which was encircled by a crowd of ab

Bookcase can turn an iPhone into an e-reader

Amazon made a big splash in e-reader land last week with the release of its first-ever color Kindle. When it comes to devoted e-readers here in the States, Amazon is very nearly the only game in town. Plenty have tried to knock the Kindle off its perch, but the brand maintains around 80% of the mar

Longtime policy researcher Miles Brundage leaves OpenAI

Miles Brundage, a longtime policy researcher at OpenAI and senior adviser to the company’s AGI readiness team, has left. In a post on X on Wednesday and in an essay in his newsletter, Brundage said that he thinks he’ll have more impact as a researcher and advocate in the nonprofit sect

Flock Safety paid over $300M for 17-month-old drone startup Aerodome

Last week, police surveillance startup Flock Safety announced that it had bought drone startup Aerodome. The acquisition price was over $300 million, according to sources in the venture world. The number has not been previously reported.  Both Flock Safety and Aerodome are backed by Andreesse

This Week in AI: The AI agents cometh

Hiya, folks, welcome to technewss's regular AI newsletter. If you want this in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. The agents are coming — the AI agents, that is. This week, Anthropic released its newest AI model, an upgraded version of Claude 3.5 Sonnet, that ca

Image Playground, ChatGPT, and more Apple Intelligence features roll out in beta

Apple on Wednesday rolled out the latest developer beta release of its top operating systems, including iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2. The releases arrive a week prior to the public launch of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 — though Apple has yet to specify a day. N

Here's how ChatGPT integration works for Apple Intelligence

Developers on Wednesday are getting their first taste of Apple Intelligence's ChatGPT integration courtesy of the newly released iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 updates. The integration arrives alongside other Apple Intelligence features, including Genmoji, Image Playground, Visua

Apple releases APIs for Apple Intelligence and localized English language support

Apple on Wednesday released developer betas iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2, delivering new Apple Intelligence features including Genmoji, Image Playground, Visual Intelligence, Image Wand, and ChatGPT integration. The software updates arrive the week before the public release of OS

DuckDuckGo will be making more early-stage investments in privacy-focused startups

DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused search alternative to Google, wants to put money into startups that have a similar focus on privacy. The company says that it’s actively seeking startups looking for investment, or startups that might be interested in partnering up or being acquired. In a blog

Google releases tech to watermark AI-generated text

Google is making SynthID Text, its technology that lets developers watermark and detect text written by generative AI models, generally available. SynthID Text can be downloaded from the AI platform Hugging Face and Google’s updated Responsible GenAI Toolkit. R