Technology

Google has opened preorders for the $179.99 Fitbit Edge, a fitness tracker with an OLED screen and a replaceable battery. The Edge, covered in The Rundown this week, sits between the screenless Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 5. Google announced Edge on October 12, with retail availability scheduled for October 27. The company says its modular design is meant to extend the device’s life. The cost and ease of a battery swap remain open questions. What Edge offersThe OLED display measures 1.34 inches and shows workout stats and notifications. Google says it offers 46% more viewing area than the Charge 6. Edge also has onboard GPS, plus ECG with AFib detection, blood oxygen sensing and skin temperature tracking. Google rates battery life at up to seven days, based on preproduction testing with a usage profile that includes features enabled by default in Battery Saver mode. With the display set to stay on, its estimate falls to up to two days. Actual endurance depends on settings and use. Edge works with most phones running Android 11 or later or iOS 16.4 or later. Owners need a Google account and the Google Health app.

Apple announced the HomeView display and refreshed Apple TV and HomePod hardware on October 13, alongside cameras, thermostats, and a smart lock. As The Rundown reported, the lineup broadens Apple’s challenge to Amazon and Google across entertainment, home security, and climate control. Apple plans to release the hardware in stages, from October 30 into early 2027. Siri AI is central to its plan to make those devices feel like one connected household, but access will vary by product, country, and language. What Apple announcedThe $299 HomeView offers FaceTime and home controls on a screen measuring seven inches. Versions for a tabletop or wall are due November 13. The $299 Apple TV 4K, also due November 13, adds an A19 chip, three microphones for Siri AI voice commands, and a remote that works with Find My. It can provide surround sound through four HomePod mini 2 or HomePod (2nd generation) speakers, arranged in matching front and rear pairs. Apple also lists Siri AI support for Apple TV 4K models from the second generation onward. The $149 HomePod mini 2 is due October 30 with an S10 chip, five colors, and Sound Glow lighting that reacts to music.

Libya’s Tripoli based Minister of Housing and Construction, Issam Al-Tamouni, attended the opening of the Kyoto Smart City Expo in Japan (8 to 9 October). He was accompanied by Mr. Abu Bakr Misbah, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Savings and Real Estate Investment Bank, along with several advisors from the Ministry. The Minister and his accompanying delegation toured the exhibition pavilions to explore the latest technologies and innovations in smart cities and sustainable development, with a particular focus on solutions and applications relevant to the housing and urban development sector. The tour included visits to the pavilions of companies specializing in sustainable construction technologies and the design of highly energy- and water-efficient buildings that minimize operational emissions. Some of the participating firms showcased advanced technologies capable of reducing consumption rates by up to 70 percent compared to conventional standards. The Minister and his delegation also held meetings with several specialized companies, including manufacturers of solar panels that utilize cutting-edge technology.

Rendered illustration of five silicon spin qubits controlled in parallel through a shared microwave line. Silicon spin qubits are a promising platform for building scalable quantum computers as they are compatible with the semiconductor manufacturing technologies used to produce today's computer chips. However, they have an important weakness: silicon spin qubits typically lose accuracy when several qubits are under parallel control. To be useful, quantum computers will need to operate many qubits simultaneously without compromising the accuracy of their operations.

Tech companies have settled on a convenient dodge for the privacy problem created by always-listening wearables: redefine what counts as a recording. Apple, Amazon, and Meta all argue that if audio is transcribed and the raw file deleted, nothing has been "recorded" at all. Victoria Song, The Verge's wearables reporter, dismantles that logic in a recent Vergecast conversation, arguing that a transcript is impossible without first recording the audio — and that the public's real discomfort is about being listened to, not about what gets stored. The episode's core framework: previous wearables put only your own data at risk, while always-listening devices make every wearer an "unintentional spy" responsible for stewarding everyone else's conversations. Song uses a poisoned M&Ms metaphor to explain why the public cannot distinguish legitimate users from creeps when 10% of smart-glasses wearers could be recording at any moment. The episode also covers Meta's camera-free Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses, which Song says she didn't miss the camera on at all, and Amazon's $74.99 Bee Frontier wearable, which turns ambient conversation into shopping recommendations.

Israeli ‘ad’ firm helped infect spyware into Al Jazeera devicesNewsFeedAn Israeli spyware disguised as a digital advertisement firm has targeted journalists’ devices at Al Jazeera and other companies. Here is what we know. Published On 15 Oct 2026

NewsFeedHumanoid robots were seen performing the “Macarena” and skateboarding as tech innovators from around the world are showcasing their latest breakthroughs at the annual CEATEC technology exhibition in Chiba, Japan. Published On 15 Oct 2026

Aaron Ardiri opened his old development archive after discovering enthusiasts were still improving apps for the platform A small but active community of retro computing enthusiasts is working to keep Palm OS alive, and a developer who recently became aware of their existence has just handed them a treasure trove of code he had no idea was still useful. Swedish developer Aaron Ardiri published around a gigabyte of Palm OS development resources on GitHub on Thursday in a bid to preserve them for community consumption. Prior to their upload, Ardiri told The Register that the files were languishing in his own personal backups for more than 25 years, preserved only for his own records as part of his past as a developer of Palm OS applications. “Everything in the archive was accumulated during my years as an active Palm OS developer,” Ardiri explained in an email. “It includes SDKs, technical documentation, conference presentations, development utilities, examples, and some limited system source code that was originally made available to developers to help them understand the operating system's UI and internal components.”

There is a certain art to slowing down, and in Provence it comes naturally. The Glenlivet 12-Year-Old Provence Edition brings Scottish whisky heritage together with the French art de vivre, finished in French white wine, Rivesaltes, and Sauternes casks, including casks from Château Sainte Marguerite, a first for the distillery. Bright citrus leads into white peach, floral notes, vanilla, and honey, for a single malt that feels both fresh and rounded. A limited-edition whisky designed not only to be tasted, but to be experienced. Read more at the link in bio. Images by @theglenlivet #TheGlenlivet #Whisky #Provence Open post by sharpmagazine with ID 18496982377096041

Image via Freehold Games/Kitfox GamesCaves of Qud has been in some form of development since 2007 when Freehold Games began development on it. It didn't hit Steam Early Access, the PC gaming store's program for letting in-development games be sold and shaped with community feedback, until 2015, and then spent roughly nine years doing that until a 1.0 release in 2024. But Caves of Qud is, in a form, coming back to Early Access through its new DLC titled Diaspora, which is a first for Steam. Generally when a game leaves the Early Access program, it's akin to a graduation. Caves of Qud bringing new content back to the model has not been done before. It is unclear if there were specific rules prohibiting this or if simply no one ever thought to do it, but DLC content usually just launches in a 1.0 state. "I was a bit hesitant at first to be honest," Kitfox Games co-founder and head of publishing Tanya X. Short tells Game Developer. "But Jason [Grinblat] and Brian [Bucklew] were really keen to continue with the development strategy that had been so successful for the main game throughout their long Early Access.

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