Last week’s Apple event meant we were in for a barrage of reviews this week. We spent lots of time putting the iPhone 17 family, including the new iPhone Air, through its paces. We also tested the AirPods Pro 3 and Apple Watch Series 11 that were unveiled just over a week ago. In non-Apple reviews, there’s in-depth analysis of a premium Chromebook and the latest Tamagotchi device. Read on to catch up on everything you might’ve missed over the last few weeks. 

Apple iPhone Air

Apple replaced the iPhone 16 Plus with the ultra-thin iPhone Air, but the new phone is more than just a gimmick. As senior reviews writer Sam Rutherford observed, the company opted for sleekness with a purpose, and it did so without sacrificing too much battery life. “While Apple might not want to say so just yet, I’m willing to bet that this device will also be the template for an upcoming foldable iPhone,” he concluded. 

Apple iPhone 17

We’ve become bored with Apple’s tickle-down scheme for the regular iPhone over the years. The company has repeatedly opted to bring features from the Pro line down to these devices. This time, it finally gave the iPhone 17 a 120Hz display, and you won’t have to wait for the best camera updates. “Even if you’re coming from the iPhone 16, you’ll reap the benefits of the overhauled display and improved cameras,” I wrote. “I don’t say any of that lightly as I’m not a person who recommends getting a new phone every year.”

Apple iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max

The Pro and Pro Max versions of the iPhone have always held a camera advantage over the regular model, and that’s still true. But the main differences now also include better thermal management, an aluminum unibody case and an optional 6.9-inch display. “This year’s iPhone lineup is forcing me to re-think the idea of a Pro phone,” managing editor Cherlynn Low said. “Is it one that looks and feels expensive or is it one that’s slightly more durable and maybe doesn’t appear as stylish?”

Apple AirPods Pro 3

If Apple had only improved both the active noise cancellation (ANC) and sound performance of the AirPods Pro 3, it would’ve been a decent upgrade. However, the company went well beyond that with the additions of Live Translation and heart-rate tracking. But the best part about this model is the strong possibility that the company isn’t done with it yet. “If recent history is any indication, the company will continue to add new features to this third-generation version,” I said. “I highly doubt that Apple is finished exploiting the power of the H2 chip, so it’s just getting started with what the AirPods Pro 3 can do.”

Apple Watch Series 11

The best smartwatch for iPhone owners keeps getting better. With upgrades to design, battery life, health monitoring and more, the Series 11 is a big refresh for the wearable device. However, it might not be the best option for most people. “With the Watch SE 3, you’ll still be able to access a wide range of health and fitness features like wrist temperature monitoring, sleep score, emergency SOS, fall and crash detection and more,” Cherlynn concluded. “It’s a compelling option at an appealing price.”

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514

There’s some wide variance in performance among Chromebooks, but Acer’s Chromebook Plus Spin 514 offers power, longevity and utility. The main downside is you’ll have to pay a premium for it. “At $700, we’re pushing the top of what anyone should spend on a Chromebook,” deputy editor Nathan Ingraham wrote. “While the more powerful chip and long battery life will be worth it for some people, Acer itself is providing some strong competition with its standard Chromebook Plus 514 which came out this summer.”

Tamagotchi Paradise

If taking care of a virtual pet is more your speed these days, weekend editor Cheyenne McDonald spent some time tending to her digital flock. “All in all, Tamagotchi Paradise feels fuller than 2023’s Uni, especially as the latter existed at its launch before all the downloadable content started coming in,” she said. “There’s a lot of fun to be had with this one, so long as you’re open to a little (okay, a lot of) change.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-review-recap-iphone-17-lineup-airpods-pro-3-apple-watch-series-11-and-more-120014319.html?src=rss

Mickey Mouse’s first movie Steamboat Willie entered the public domain in 2024.
Now one of America’s largest personal injury firms is suing Disney, reports the Associated Press, “in an effort to get a ruling that would allow it to use Steamboat Willie in advertisements…”
[The law firm said] it had reached out to Disney to make sure the entertainment company wouldn’t sue them if they used images from the animated film for their TV and online ads. Disney’s lawyers responded by saying they didn’t offer legal advice to third parties, according to the lawsuit. Morgan & Morgan said it was filing the lawsuit to get a decision because it otherwise feared being sued by Disney for trademark infringement if it used Steamboat Willie.
“Without waiver of any of its rights, Disney will not provide such advice in response to your letter,” Disney’s attorneys wrote in their letter (adding “Very truly yours…”). A local newscast showed a glimpse of the letter, along with a few seconds of the ad (which ends with Minnie Mouse pulling out a cellphone to call for a lawyer…)

Attorney John Morgan tells the newscast that Disney’s legal team “is playing cute, and so we’re just trying to get a yes or no answer.. They wrote us back a bunch of mumbo-jumbo that made no sense, didn’t answer the question. We tried it again, they didn’t answer the question…” (The newscast adds that the case isn’t expected to go to court for at least a year.)

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

When Meta finally unveiled its newest smart glasses, CEO Mark Zuckerberg “drew more snickers than applause,” wrote the New York Times. (Mashable points out a video call failing onstage followed by an unsuccessful recipe demonstration.)

Meta chief technology officer Andrew Bosworth later explained the funny reason their demo didn’t work, reports TechCrunch, while answering questions on Instagram:

“When the chef said, ‘Hey, Meta, start Live AI,’ it started every single Ray-Ban Meta’s Live AI in the building. And there were a lot of people in that building,” Bosworth explained. “That obviously didn’t happen in rehearsal; we didn’t have as many things,” he said, referring to the number of glasses that were triggered… The second part of the failure had to do with how Meta had chosen to route the Live AI traffic to its development server to isolate it during the demo. But when it did so, it did this for everyone in the building on the access points, which included all the headsets. “So we DDoS’d ourselves, basically, with that demo,” Bosworth added… Meta’s dev server wasn’t set up to handle the flood of traffic from the other glasses in the building — Meta was only planning for it to handle the demos alone.

The issue with the failed WhatsApp call, on the other hand, was the result of a new bug. The smart glasses’ display had gone to sleep at the exact moment the call came in, Bosworth said. When Zuckerberg woke the display back up, it didn’t show the answer notification to him. The CTO said this was a “race condition” bug… “We’ve never run into that bug before,” Bosworth noted. “That’s the first time we’d ever seen it. It’s fixed now, and that’s a terrible, terrible place for that bug to show up.” He stressed that, of course, Meta knows how to handle video calls, and the company was “bummed” about the bug showing up here… “It really was just a demo fail and not, like, a product failure,” he said.

Thanks to Slashdot reader fjo3 for sharing the news.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The consumer advocacy nonprofit PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) is now petitioning Microsoft to reconsider pulling support for Windows 10 in 2025, since “as many as 400 million perfectly good computers that can’t upgrade to Windows 11 will be thrown out.” In a petition addressed to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, the group warned the October 14 end of free support could cause “the single biggest jump in junked computers ever, and make it impossible for Microsoft to hit their sustainability goals.”

About 40% of PCs currently in use can’t upgrade to Windows 11, even if users want to… Less than a quarter of electronic waste is recycled, so most of those computers will end up in landfills.

Consumer Reports recently also urged Microsoft to not to “strand millions of customers.”. And now more groups are also pushing back, according to a post from the blog Windows: Central

The Restart Project co-developed the “End of 10” toolkit, which is designed to support Windows 10 users who can’t upgrade to Windows 11 after the operating system hits its end-of-support date.

They also note that a Paris-based company called Back Market plans to sell Windows 10 laptops refurbished with Ubuntu Linux or ChromeOS Flex. (“We refuse to watch hundreds of millions of perfectly good computers end up in the trash as e-waste,” explains their web site.) Back Market’s ad promises an “up-to-date, secure operating system — so instead of paying for a new computer you don’t need, you can help us give this one a brand new life.”

Right now Windows 10 holds 71.9% of Microsoft’s market share, with Windows 11 at 22.95%, according to figures from StatCounter cited by the blog Windows Central. And HP and Dell “recently indicated that half of the global PCs are still running Windows 10,” according to another Windows Central post…

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The consumer advocacy nonprofit PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) is now petitioning Microsoft to reconsider pulling support for Windows 10 in 2025, since “as many as 400 million perfectly good computers that can’t upgrade to Windows 11 will be thrown out.” In a petition addressed to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, the group warned the October 14 end of free support could cause “the single biggest jump in junked computers ever, and make it impossible for Microsoft to hit their sustainability goals.”

About 40% of PCs currently in use can’t upgrade to Windows 11, even if users want to… Less than a quarter of electronic waste is recycled, so most of those computers will end up in landfills.

Consumer Reports recently also urged Microsoft to not to “strand millions of customers.”. And now more groups are also pushing back, according to a post from the blog Windows: Central

The Restart Project co-developed the “End of 10” toolkit, which is designed to support Windows 10 users who can’t upgrade to Windows 11 after the operating system hits its end-of-support date.

They also note that a Paris-based company called Back Market plans to sell Windows 10 laptops refurbished with Ubuntu Linux or ChromeOS Flex. (“We refuse to watch hundreds of millions of perfectly good computers end up in the trash as e-waste,” explains their web site.) Back Market’s ad promises an “up-to-date, secure operating system — so instead of paying for a new computer you don’t need, you can help us give this one a brand new life.”

Right now Windows 10 holds 71.9% of Microsoft’s market share, with Windows 11 at 22.95%, according to figures from StatCounter cited by the blog Windows Central. And HP and Dell “recently indicated that half of the global PCs are still running Windows 10,” according to another Windows Central post…

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shared this article from the Washington Post:

A student taking an online quiz sees a button appear in their Chrome browser: “homework help.” Soon, Google’s artificial intelligence has read the question on-screen and suggests “choice B” as the answer. The temptation to cheat was suddenly just two clicks away Sept. 2, when Google quietly added a “homework help” button to Chrome, the world’s most popular web browser. The button has been appearing automatically on the kinds of course websites used by the majority of American college students and many high-schoolers, too. Pressing it launches Google Lens, a service that reads what’s on the page and can provide an “AI Overview” answer to questions — including during tests.

Educators I’ve spoken with are alarmed. Schools including Emory University, the University of Alabama, the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of California at Berkeley have alerted faculty how the button appears in the URL box of course sites and their limited ability to control it.

Chrome’s cheating tool exemplifies Big Tech’s continuing gold rush approach to AI: launch first, consider consequences later and let society clean up the mess. “Google is undermining academic integrity by shoving AI in students’ faces during exams,” says Ian Linkletter, a librarian at the British Columbia Institute of Technology who first flagged the issue to me. “Google is trying to make instructors give up on regulating AI in their classroom, and it might work. Google Chrome has the market share to change student behavior, and it appears this is the goal.”
Several days after I contacted Google about the issue, the company told me it had temporarily paused the homework help button — but also didn’t commit to keeping it off. “Students have told us they value tools that help them learn and understand things visually, so we’re running tests offering an easier way to access Lens while browsing,” Google spokesman Craig Ewer said in a statement.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shared this report from the Washington Post:

Finnish tech firm Bluefors, a maker of ultracold refrigerator systems critical for quantum computing, has purchased tens of thousands of liters of Helium-3 from the moon — spending “above $300 million” — through a commercial space company called Interlune. The agreement, which has not been previously reported, marks the largest purchase of a natural resource from space.
Interlune, a company founded by former executives from Blue Origin and an Apollo astronaut, has faced skepticism about its mission to become the first entity to mine the moon (which is legal thanks to a 2015 law that grants U.S. space companies the rights to mine on celestial bodies). But advances in its harvesting technology and the materialization of commercial agreements are gradually making this undertaking sound less like science fiction. Bluefors is the third customer to sign up, with an order of up to 10,000 liters of Helium-3 annually for delivery between 2028 and 2037…

Helium-3 is lighter than the Helium-4 gas featured at birthday parties. It’s also much rarer on Earth. But moon rock samples from the Apollo days hint at its abundance there. Interlune has placed the market value at $20 million per kilogram (about 7,500 liters). “It’s the only resource in the universe that’s priced high enough to warrant going out to space today and bringing it back to Earth,” said Rob Meyerson [CEO of Interlune and former president of Blue Origin]…

[H]eat, even in small doses, can cause qubits to produce errors. That’s where Helium-3 comes in. Bluefors makes the cooling technology that allows the computer to operate — producing chandelier-type structures known as dilution refrigerators. Their fridges, used by quantum computer leader IBM, contain a mixture of Helium-3 and Helium-4 that pushes temperatures below 10 millikelvins (or minus-460 degrees Fahrenheit)… Existing quantum computers have been built with more than a thousand qubits, he said, but a commercial system or data center would need a million or more. That could require perhaps thousands of liters of Helium-3 per quantum computer. “They will need more Helium-3 than is available on planet Earth,” said Gary Lai [a co-founder and chief technology officer of Interlune, who was previously the chief architect at Blue Origin]. Most Helium-3 on Earth, he said, comes from the decay of tritium (an isotope of hydrogen) in nuclear weapons stockpiles, but between 22,000 and 30,000 liters are made each year…
“We estimate there’s more than a million metric tons of Helium-3 on the moon,” Meyerson said. “And it’s been accumulating there for 4 billion years.” Now, they just need to get it.
Interlune CEO Meyerson tells the post “It’s really all about establishing a resilient supply chain for this critical material” — adding that in the long-term he could also see Helium-3 being used for other purposes including fusion energy.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A large U.S.-made bomb left over from World War II was discovered at a construction site, reports the Associated Press:

Police said the bomb was 1.5 meters (nearly 5 feet) in length and weighed about 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms). It was discovered by construction workers in Quarry Bay, a bustling residential and business district on the west side of Hong Kong island… [A police official] said that because of “the exceptionally high risks associated with its disposal,” approximately 1,900 households involving 6,000 individuals were “urged to evacuate swiftly.” The operation to deactivate the bomb began late Friday and lasted until around 11:30 a.m. Saturday. No one was injured in the operation.

Bombs left over from World War II are discovered from time to time in Hong Kong. The city was occupied by Japanese forces during the war, when it became a base for the Japanese military and shipping. The United States, along with other Allied forces, targeted Hong Kong in air raids to disrupt Japanese supply lines and infrastructure.

“Bombs from the war have triggered evacuations and emergency measures around the globe in recent months,” reports CBS News:

Earlier this month, a 500-pound bomb was discovered in Slovakia’s capital during construction work, prompting evacuations. In August, large parts of Dresden, Germany, were evacuated so experts could defuse an unexploded World War II bomb found during clearance work for a collapsed bridge. In June, over 20,000 people were evacuated from Cologne after three unexploded U.S. bombs from the war were found… In March, a World War II bomb was found near the tracks of Paris’ Gare du Nord station. In February, more than 170 bombs were found near a children’s playground in northern England. And in October 2024, a World War II bomb exploded at a Japanese airport.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

It’s barely been two weeks since Apple announced the AirPods Pro 3, but you can already find them at a slight discount. The new earbuds are currently listed as $239 on Amazon, which is $10 cheaper than their normal price. The AirPods Pro 3 were introduced at Apple’s “Awe Dropping” iPhone event, boasting Live Translation, heart-rate tracking and significant improvements to sound quality and active noise cancellation (ANC). But, if you’re not looking to shell out that much, the AirPods Pro 2 are on sale right now too for $199.

The AirPods Pro 3 are no small upgrade from the previous generation. ANC is twice as effective as that of the AirPods Pro 2, thanks to a combination of ultra-low noise microphones, computational audio and new foam-infused ear tips, which make for both a better fit and improved noise isolation, according to Engadget’s Billy Steele, who spent some hands-on time with the earbuds. The Live Translation feature fared well when tested on Spanish-to-English and French-to-English translations, making the earbuds a potentially handy tool to have for travel. (You’ll need an iPhone with Apple Intelligence in order to use Live Translation, though).

The earbuds earned a score of 90 in Engadget’s review, which notes noticeable improvements in sound quality and battery life. Apple says you’ll get up to eight hours on a charge with ANC enabled. With the addition of heart-rate monitoring and support for 50 workouts using Apple’s Fitness app, the AirPods Pro 3 allow you to get heart rate metrics during exercise without wearing an Apple Watch.

There’s a lot to like about the latest version of the AirPods Pro, so discount or not, you can’t go wrong if you’ve been holding out for a meaningful upgrade. Per our review, “The AirPods Pro 3 is the biggest update to Apple’s earbuds lineup in years.”

Check out our coverage of the best Apple deals for more discounts, and follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-new-airpods-pro-3-are-already-on-sale-220017794.html?src=rss

“A cyberattack targeting check-in and boarding systems disrupted air traffic and caused delays at several of Europe’s major airports on Saturday,” reports the Associated Press.

“While the impact on travelers appeared to be limited, experts said the intrusion exposed vulnerabilities in security systems.”

The disruptions to electronic systems initially reported at Brussels, Berlin’s Brandenburg and London’s Heathrow airports meant that only manual check-in and boarding was possible. Many other European airports said their operations were unaffected… Airports said the issue centered around a provider of check-in and boarding systems — not airlines or the airports themselves. Collins Aerospace, whose systems help passengers check themselves in, print boarding passes and bag tags and dispatch their luggage from a kiosk, cited a “cyber-related disruption” to its MUSE (Multi-User System Environment) software at “select airports.”
Brussels Airport initially reported a “large impact” on flight schedules,” according to the article, with a spokesperson telling broadcaster VTM that by mid-morning nine flights had been canceled, with four more redirected to another airport and 15 delayed an hour or more. The airport later told Reuters there were “delays on most of the departing flights.”

Reuters notes it’s “the latest in a string of hacks targeting governments and companies across the world, hitting sectors from healthcare and defence to retail and autos.:

A recent breach at luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover brought its production to a halt…

At Heathrow, Berlin and Brussels, 29 flight departures and arrivals had been cancelled as of 1130 GMT, aviation data provider Cirium said. In total, 651 departures were scheduled from Heathrow, 228 from Brussels and 226 from Berlin on Saturday… Brussels Airport said it had asked airlines to cancel half of their scheduled departing flights on Sunday to avoid long queues and late cancellations, signalling that the disruption would continue through the weekend.
A European Commission spokesperson said there were currently no indications of a “widespread or severe attack” and that the origin of the incident was still under investigation.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

“Betelgeuse may have competition for the most exciting star about to go nova near Earth,” writes Space.com.

“Astronomers have discovered the secret of a strange star system that has baffled them for years, finding it contains a dead star about to erupt after overfeeding on a stellar companion.”

The supernova explosion of this cosmic cannibal could be as bright as the moon, making it visible with the naked eye over Earth even in broad daylight. The system in question is the double star V Sagittae located around 10,000 light-years from Earth, containing a white dwarf stellar remnant and its victim companion star, which orbit each other roughly twice every Earth day. The new research and the revelation of this white dwarf’s imminent catastrophic fate answer questions about V Sagittae that have lingered for 123 years…

White dwarfs represent the final stage of stars with masses around that of the sun, occurring when they run out of fuel for nuclear fusion… [W]hite dwarfs that have a stellar companion can get a second lease on life and a more conclusive and explosive end… [T]he stolen stellar material piles up on the surface of the white dwarf until it pushes this stellar remnant past the so-called Chandrasekhar limit of 1.4 solar masses. This is the mass limit that a stellar remnant has to exceed to trigger a supernova…

However, this team found something very different and extraordinary happening with the stellar material being stolen by the white dwarf in V Sagittae… This investigation revealed that there is a giant halo of gas comprised of material stolen from the companion star wrapped around both the cannibal white dwarf and its stellar victim… “The white dwarf cannot consume all the mass being transferred from its hot star twin, so it creates this bright cosmic ring,” team member Pasi Hakala from the University of Turku said. “The speed at which this doomed stellar system is lurching wildly, likely due to the extreme brightness, is a frantic sign of its imminent, violent end.”
“The matter accumulating on the white dwarf is likely to produce a nova outburst in the coming years, during which V Sagittae would become visible with the naked eye,” Pablo Rodríguez-Gil from Spain’s Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias said. “But when the two stars finally smash into each other and explode, this would be a supernova explosion so bright it’ll be visible from Earth even in the daytime.”
The research was conducted with the Very Large Telescope (four individual telescopes high in the mountains of Chile) — and published last week in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A few months after the release of Grok 4 and an extremely problematic antisemitic meltdown of its chatbot, xAI is already trying to move on with its latest AI model. Elon Musk’s xAI announced the release of Grok 4 Fast, a faster, more efficient reasoning model compared to its recent predecessor. According to xAI, Grok 4 Fast offers similar performance to Grok 4 while using 40 percent fewer thinking tokens on average.

Along with faster results, xAI said Grok 4 Fast “results in a 98% reduction in price to achieve the same performance on frontier benchmarks as Grok 4,” whether it’s handling tasks that involve writing code or just browsing the web for quick responses. Similar to OpenAI’s GPT-5 that alternates between a smart, efficient model and a deeper reasoning model, xAI’s latest update includes a unified architecture that can transition between handling complex requests with its “reasoning” model and quick responses through its “non-reasoning model.”

In tests on LMArena, a platform that pits AI models against each other and provides side-by-side comparisons, Grok 4 Fast ranks first in search-related tasks and eighth in text-related tasks. xAI made Grok 4 Fast available for all users, including the free ones, on web, iOS and Android. However, with how competitive the LLM race is getting, it’s only a matter of time before Google releases the next-gen version of Gemini or Anthropic updates the Claude Opus model beyond the recently released 4.1 version.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/xai-debuts-a-faster-and-more-cost-effective-version-of-grok-4-192815570.html?src=rss

Libraries nationwide are fielding patron requests for books that don’t exist after AI-generated summer reading lists appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times and Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this year. Reference librarian Eddie Kristan told 404 Media the problem began in late 2022 following GPT-3.5’s release but escalated dramatically after the newspapers published lists created by a freelancer using AI without verification.

A Library Freedom Project survey found patrons increasingly trust AI chatbots over human librarians and become defensive when told their AI-recommended titles are fictional. Kristan now routinely checks WorldCat’s global catalog to verify titles exist. Collection development librarians are requesting digital vendors remove AI-generated books from platforms while academic libraries struggle against vendors implementing flawed LLM-based search tools and AI-generated summaries that undermine information literacy instruction.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.