<p>Apple CEO Tim Cook took to X Thursday to tease &#8220;the newest member of the family,&#8221; set to arrive February 19. The safe money is on a fourth-generation iPhone SE. The budget-minded handset had previously been tipped for a potential release a week prior, but we got new Beats headphones instead. It’s been three years [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Seagate, the data storage company, has announced its intent to acquire Intevac, a hard drive equipment producer, in an all-cash deal worth $119 million. Seagate said on Thursday that it&#8217;ll pay $4 per share in a tender offer for Intevac, which is publicly traded. Seagate will initially purchase a minimum of &#8220;at least one share [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Alibaba on Thursday confirmed recent reports of a partnership with Apple that’s set to bring AI features to iPhones sold in China. The deal is an important one for Apple, as iPhone sales have dropped precipitously in the world’s largest smartphone market. The handset experienced an 11% year-over-year drop in China, according to Apple’s most [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Helsing, the German defense tech startup backed by Spotify’s Daniel Ek and others, is producing 6,000 HX-2 strike drones in addition to the 4,000 HF-1 strike drones financed by Germany that are currently being delivered to Ukraine. “We are scaling up production of HX-2 in response to additional orders from Ukraine,” Helsing co-founder Gundbert Scherf [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Apple is exploring both humanoid and non-humanoid robotic form factors, according to a new scoop from longtime Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The intel comes on the heels of a research paper from the iPhone maker that explores human interactions with “non-anthropomorphic” robots — specifically a Pixar-style lamp. While Apple’s research paper highlights elements that could [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Meta is reportedly in talks to acquire a South Korean chip firm as the social media giant looks to bolster its AI hardware infrastructure. Meta may announce its intent to purchase FuriosaAI, a chip startup founded by former Samsung and AMD employees, as soon as this month, per Forbes. FuriosaAI develops chips that speed up [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Apple Tuesday announced the long-awaited debut of Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds. The new headphones arrive nearly six years after the original Powerbeats hit the market. The new model maintains the familiar ear hook for workouts, while delivering upgraded sound, better battery life, and a wireless charging case. The earbuds also mark a major next step [&hellip;]</p>

<p>According to a report published Tuesday by The Information, Apple is partnering with Alibaba to bring its Apple Intelligence platform to China. The deal is said to arrive after the iPhone maker reportedly explored &#8212; but ultimately rejected &#8212; a potential partnership with uber-buzzy AI startup DeepSeek, as well as with ByteDance. Apple initially selected [&hellip;]</p>

<p>A report from The New York Times over the weekend highlights the small — but apparently growing — trend of users wearing their Apple Watches on their ankles. What&#8217;s becoming something of a viral sensation on social platforms like TikTok is the result of a pragmatic decision. Some Apple Watch owners’ wrists are simply too [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Apple could launch a new iPhone SE and PowerBeats Pro headphones as early as February 11, according to reporting from Bloomberg. The announcement is likely to be on the smaller side, given that the company has not yet issued invites for either an in-person or virtual event. A new iPhone SE would mark the fourth [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Last month, Apple offered up more insight into its consumer robotics work via a research paper that argues that traits like expressive movements are key to optimizing human-robot interaction. “Like most animals,” starts the report, “humans are highly sensitive to motion and subtle changes in movement.” To illustrate its point, Apple pays homage to Pixar, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>A former iOS engineer, who was sued by Apple for leaking confidential information to journalists, has issued an apology after the lawsuit against him was dismissed. The lawsuit, which was filed last year, alleged that Andrew Aude sent thousands of messages to journalists at The Wall Street Journal and The Information about more than a [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Meta on Friday announced PARTNR, a new program designed to study human-robot interaction (HRI). The research is specifically focused on how humans and robots might collaborate in the home environment. That includes mundane tasks like cleaning, cooking, and picking up food deliveries. Automated housework is a decades-old dream, most prominently captured by Rosey on &#8220;The [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Google on Thursday announced that effective this week, it will begin adding a digital watermark to images in Photos that are edited with generative AI. The watermark applies specifically to images that are altered using the Reimagine feature found in Magic Editor on Pixel 9 devices. Announced in 2024, Reimagine utilizes generative AI to alter [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The mechanical keyboard maker Qwertykeys announced Wednesday that it has suspended all U.S. product shipments owing to new tariffs levied by the Trump administration. The Guangdong-based outfit cites a February 1 announcement of 10% tariffs on imported Chinese goods as the motivating factor. “This new policy replaces all previous tariff exemptions, including the exemption for [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Boston Dynamics Wednesday announced a partnership designed to bring improved reinforcement learning to its electric Atlas humanoid robot. The tie-up is with the Robotics &amp; AI Institute (RAI Institute), earlier known as The Boston Dynamics AI Institute. Both organizations were founded by Marc Raibert, a former MIT professor who served as Boston Dynamics&#8217; CEO for [&hellip;]</p>

<p>And it&#8217;s the latest in an ongoing saga over the company&#8217;s future ownership.</p>

<p>Sonos announced that it has laid off 200 people in a letter posted to its site Wednesday. The news follows a 100-person layoff in August. Both rounds arrive in the wake of a disastrously botched update to the Sonos app that alienated broad swaths of the premium audio hardware firm’s extremely loyal fanbase. The new [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Amazon may be gearing up to release a next-gen, AI-powered Alexa experience, according to Reuters. Per the outlet&#8217;s report, Amazon plans to preview an upgraded version of Alexa, the company&#8217;s smart home assistant that runs on a number of first- and third-party devices, at an event on February 26. The revamped Alexa is said to [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Brightpick, a maker of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), on Tuesday announced a lofty addition to its current line. The appropriately named Giraffe system is notable for its large, retractable platform capable of reaching up to 20 feet (6 meters) in height to pick items from warehouse shelves. It’s a novel approach to warehouses with ceilings [&hellip;]</p>