Meta has unveiled an overhaul for the WhatsApp experience on Apple Watch. The first official such app for the wearable is rolling out today and it includes support for what the company calls “many requested features.” You’ll now be able to see everything your friends are saying via your Apple Watch as longer WhatsApp messages won’t be truncated. You’ll have the option to respond to messages with quick emoji reactions.
The Apple Watch app will enable you to record and send voice messages from your wrist. In addition, you’ll be able to see call notifications with details on who’s trying to get in touch with you without having to look at your iPhone. Other features include the ability to see “clear images and stickers” on the Apple Watch app, as well as more of your chat history. Of course, there’s still end-to-end encryption for your messages and calls.
The new app is a major upgrade over only being able to reply to WhatsApp messages via mirrored iPhone notifications on Apple Watch. To use it, you’ll need an Apple Watch Series 4 or newer that’s running at least watchOS 10.
It’s a little wild that it has taken Meta so long to create a proper Apple Watch app. Even BlackBerry made a BBM app for the wearable, and that was a decade ago. But perhaps it shouldn’t be too surprising given how long we had to wait for an Instagram iPad app.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/meta-finally-made-a-proper-whatsapp-app-for-apple-watch-150000781.html?src=rss
Dangerholm’s latest project is these prototype aero rims with ludicrous proportions that may shape the future of gravel wheel design.
The new gravel wheels feature a massive 52mm width and 70mm depth, and are said to be optimised around 2.1 to 2.25in mountain bike tyres.
Dangerholm, whose real name is Gustav Gullholm, says the project is purely experimental, blending aerodynamics and new ride characteristics, with zero production plans.
The prototype was done in collaboration with the Canadian design and engineering firms Faction Bike Studio and Lx Lab.
While the wheels aren’t for sale, they may break the ice for more radical designs down the line.
Dangerholm says the best width combination in testing was 2.25in, with only a small trade-off to 2.1in in width, but more air volume to play with. Dangerholm
We have seen gravel tyres becoming wider and wider over the past couple of years, with brands and racers seeing the benefits of increased grip and a more cushioned ride feel.
The theory came from road tyres, where the traditional thought of thinner tyres being faster due to less drag was put to bed.
Dangerholm says tyre size has been something that’s left him scratching his head when it comes to regular gravel bikes.
“Sure, I get that a 40-45mm tyre can be really fast on fine hardpack, but otherwise I didn’t really see the appeal of trading away the wide yet relatively lightweight MTB tyres,” he says.
Mountain bike tyres tend to offer more grip than gravel tyres. Dangerholm
This new prototype has been designed around 2.1 to 2.25in mountain bike tyres, with Dangerholm saying: “I have nothing but positive things to say. So much so that I don’t want to move back to 30mm rims no matter the weight savings.”
“Going with a 45mm internal width is pushing it to the extreme end of the spectrum, but I’d rather test the max size option right away and learn from it.
“Oftentimes, when experimenting, you want to find the limit by pushing a tiny bit too far, then step back a little. My guess is that a 40-42mm internal width rim with thick sidewalls to maintain a 50-52mm external width would be the optimal numbers.”
A drop-bar Scott Spark was used to display the wheels. Dangerholm
This puncture resistance enables riders to run lower tyre pressures, meaning they can achieve a more cushioned feel on rough gravel surfaces.
Dangerholm says he has to give credit to Zipp’s XPLR wheels, which opened his eyes to using wider tyres.
“The aero aspect was a big deal, but I’m one of those riders who really dislikes a squirmy feel from my tires which has had me riding some pretty high tyre pressures,” he says.
“But now, with 32mm inner width rims paired to 40-45mm tyres, I could suddenly drop the pressure while having improved stability, along with better comfort, grip and rolling speed on the rough stuff.”
The staggered rim profile is designed to offer better aerodynamics. Dangerholm
In this project, Dangerholm has also focused on aerodynamics, saying: “The aerodynamics is quite self-explanatory, with the 52mm-wide and 70mm-deep rim profile hopefully improving the aerodynamics enough to provide some gains.
“Sure, you’re fighting an uphill battle from the start with a knobby wide MTB tyre, but that also means that you have a big reason to improve it.”
Explaining how Faction shaped the industrial design and overall look of the wheels, Dangerholm says: “I was expecting maybe 2-3 options, but early on I was presented with a whole bunch of different rim shapes to consider. And not only that, but various graphics too, which were surprisingly helpful as it accentuated the designs even further, making them easier to compare.”
Only four rims are being made and there are no plans to go into production.
Extralite HyperSmart 3 hubs are used to keep the weight of the wheelset down. Dangerholm
Julia is a modern programming
language that is of particular interest to scientists due to its high
performance combined with language features such as Lisp-style macros, an
advanced type system, and multiple dispatch. We last looked at Julia in January on the occasion of
its 1.11 release. Early in October Julia 1.12
appeared, bringing a handful of quality-of-life improvements for Julia
programmers, most notably support, though still experimental and limited,
for the creation of binaries.
Dick Cheney, who served four Republican presidents and became one of the most powerful and controversial vice presidents in American history as an architect of the post-9/11 war on terror, died at 84. His family said he died from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease.
Cheney served as vice president under George W. Bush for two terms beginning in 2001 and relentlessly advocated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Many Americans came to view the war as a strategic and humanitarian disaster. The conflict had far-reaching policy and political consequences that helped turn the public against intervention and upheaved Republican politics. Cheney continued to defend the invasion long after leaving office in 2009.
He had heart disease for most of his life and underwent a transplant in 2012. That allowed him to live to see his daughter Liz Cheney follow in his political footsteps to become a House GOP leader. Before serving as vice president, Cheney was defense secretary under George H.W. Bush and chief of staff to Gerald Ford at age 34.
The AI arms race is afoot and in a bid to stay in front of the 8-ball, OpenAI is forming a multi-year partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to rapidly scale agentic workloads. As part of the massive $38 billion deal, OpenAI will have access to AWS compute comprising hundreds of thousands of NVIDIA GPUs, and potentially tens of millions
The ARMEL and MIPS64EL architectures have been dropped from Debian unstable and experimental. This is the end of the road for these aging ARM and MIPS targets in the Debian world…
Amazon has launched its new and improved AI assistant in the Amazon Music app. From today, anyone signed up to Alexa+ Early Access with the latest version of the app downloaded to their iOS or Android device can start using Amazon’s reimagined virtual assistant for music discovery and organizing their libraries.
To access the chatbot, you tap the “A” button in the lower right corner of the screen when Amazon Music is open. You can then test its knowledge by asking it a range of questions, from something as basic as finding a recently released song by a particular artist, to more complex searches based on a single lyric or the name of the TV show the song you’re trying to find is featured in.
Alexa+ is designed for more conversational interactions, so you can use natural language prompts and then ask follow-up questions as you would if you were talking to a friend, to narrow down its search results. Amazon says you can search for specific eras, moods and instruments, as well as telling Alexa what you don’t want it to serve up.
Alexa+ can also be used for playlist creation, allowing you to request something as specific as a high-energy running playlist with songs from a particular decade that starts with a song from a certain artist. You can also be more vague, asking for something that fits your current mood or the time of day.
Alexa+ in Amazon Music is being marketed not only as an AI tastemaker and personal DJ, but also a music expert, so you can ask it things like the inspiration for a song’s lyrics, where an album charted and questions about upcoming live performances.
Alexa+ has been gradually rolling out in Amazon’s various smart devices since the beginning of the year, with mixed results. You’ll be using it in everything from new Ring devices, to the latest Kindles and Vega, Amazon’s new smart TV operating system. It’s also built into the new Echo Studio speaker, and Engadget’s Billy Steele was impressed by the AI assistant’s more human-like conversation skills, even if it’s still prone to basic errors right now, such as getting the day of the week wrong in a response.
Alexa+ is currently available in Early Access for all tiers of Amazon Music. Eventually it’ll be free to all Prime members, and available to non-Prime members for $20 per month (more than an Amazon Prime subscription on its own).
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/alexa-comes-to-the-amazon-music-app-143234227.html?src=rss
Whether you’re hosting a party or just cleaning the house, sometimes it’s nice to have audio in multiple rooms. You could do that by running wires through your house, or by purchasing a multi-room audio system, but if you have a Mac you don’t have to do any of that.
There’s a feature that makes it possible to send your Mac’s audio to multiple speakers, including Bluetooth ones. The feature is a little obscure, though—you won’t find it in System Settings, or anywhere obvious.
No, to send audio to multiple devices on your Mac you need to open an application called Audio MIDI Setup, which you can find using Spotlight or by browsing to Applications > Utilities in Finder.
Credit: Justin Pot
Open the application and click the + button in the bottom-left corner, then click Create Multi-Output Device. You will see a list of all audio devices, including the built-in speakers, any wired audio outputs that are connected, any Airplay-compatible devices on your network, and any Bluetooth devices that support audio.
Credit: Justin Pot
Check as many of these as you like. You can give a name to your combined audio device, if you like, by clicking and holding the current name in the left-hand sidebar. Then you can switch to your new combined audio device by clicking the audio icon in your menu bar and selecting it.
I recommend putting on some music and testing things out, adding or removing devices. I had the best results by checking one device connected to my Mac using a wired and another that is connected by Bluetooth. Multiple Bluetooth devices tended to get out of sync quickly, though you can alleviate the syncing issues by checking the Drift Correction box for your wireless devices.
This isn’t a perfect replacement for a proper multi-room audio system, but it works surprisingly well without the need to buy anything, run wires in your walls, or even purchase any software. Try it out the next time you feel like walking around your house listening to music.
EF Pro Cycling is currently selling its old team bikes – and with big discounts.
The team has two models of Cannondale SuperSix Evo 4 Hi-Mod for sale on its website, from the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
Available in sizes from 44cm to 58cm, the 2024 model has the biggest reduction. The bike comes with a Shimano Dura-Ace groupset, with an FSA Gossamer Pro crankset (and either a Dura-Ace or Ultegra cassette and chain), plus FSA wheels, a Prologo saddle and Vittoria tyres.
The bike is on sale for £3,848, which is over £8,000 less than the consumer replica version, which Ash Quinlan described as “one of the few all-round race bikes to feel truly at home wherever you ride it”.
The 2025 EF Pro Cycling Cannondale SuperSix is on sale for £4,509. This bike also has a Shimano Dura-Ace groupset, but with an FSA K-Force team-edition crankset and the option to upgrade the wheelset.
The 2025 EF Pro Cycling Cannondale SuperSix Evo. EF Pro cycling
EF Pro Cycling says its pros raced and trained on these bikes, and they’ll only be on sale for a limited time.
Although the graphics on both bikes include Cannondale’s top-spec Lab71 branding, EF Pro Cycling says the bikes are Hi-Mod specification. This means they will have a very slight weight penalty over the Lab71 bikes.
Amazon’s data-center expansion turned Umatilla, Oregon into an unlikely nerve center for American infrastructure investment. The community of roughly 8,000 residents has seen home prices double and local government budgets surge from $7 million in 2011 to a hundred and $44 million in the past fiscal year. Yesenia Leon-Tejeda, a Realtor and daughter of Mexican-born farmhands who once worked 12-hour shifts at a distribution center, is now on pace to close 35 deals this year.
Federal data shows investment in software and information-processing equipment drove most of America’s GDP growth in the first half of 2025. Goldman Sachs estimated that roughly 72% of all server-farm capacity sat in just 1% of counties as of July. The region’s hydroelectric dams and cheap power attracted Amazon Web Services more than a decade ago. Growth has brought rising costs for housing and child care. Political tensions over spending erupted this year when Mayor Caden Sipe sued the city manager and council members.
Rendever, the company behind Tilt Brush-based multiplayer Quest app MultiBrush (2022), has secured nearly $4.5 million in grant funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), which the company says it will use to bring its elder-focused VR experiences to the home care market.
The studio says in an announcement the latest funding includes $3.8 million for the Thrive At Home Program and an additional grant to build a caregiver support network in VR.
“These funds will pave the way for Rendever to bring their technology to the large majority of individuals and caregivers who are aging in place and lacking in structural social support,” the studio says.
Rendever is currently partnered with the University of California in Santa Barbara, research organization RAND, and home care service Right at Home.
The company says these organization will help it conduct studies to evaluate the effectiveness of VR technology in building relationships across living environments. The aim is to reduce social isolation, improve mental health, and enhance overall well-being in elders. Additionally, Rendever maintains studies gauging the impact of caregiving tools, including its recent Dementia & Empathy training program, will continue as a result.
“Our Phase II trial has shown the power of VR to effectively build and enhance family relationships across distances – even across country lines. The future of aging depends on technology that effectively reshapes how we experience these core parts of the human experience as we get older,” said Kyle Rand, Rendever CEO. “We know there’s nothing more holistically impactful than our social health. Over the next three years, we’ll work across the industry to build the next generation of community infrastructure that delivers real happiness and forges new relationships, all while driving meaningful health outcomes.”
Additionally, the company announced it’s adding Sarah Thomas to its Board of Directors, an expert on aging and venture partner in the AgeTech industry.
Next week’s VR Games Showcase promises fresh looks at Star Trek: Infection, Syberia, and more alongside new game reveals.
Marking this year’s third VR Games Showcase – not to be confused with our own biannual showcases – the Fall 2025 edition goes live on November 13 at 9am PT with games for Quest, PC VR, PlayStation VR2, “and beyond.” This will feature five brand-new reveals with games “from veteran VR studios and traditional teams,” offering a mix of “new IP and familiar franchises.”
Finally, there’s also a Pre-Show featuring new projects and updates from both indie developers and mixed reality games, though it’s currently unknown how long this segment will run for. Going by the YouTube trailer’s thumbnail, we’d speculate this part of the presentation is where we’ll likely see Penguin Festival.
The VR Games Showcase airs on YouTube on November 13 at 9am PT.
Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked will launch with two campaigns, Embers of Chaos and Crown of Frost, later this month.
Since its reveal earlier this year, we’ve only seen Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked showcase the fantasy game’s first campaign, Embers of Chaos. Now, weeks away from its November 20 release, Resolution Games and Wizards of the Coast have released details of the crossover D&D experience’s second launch campaign, called Book 2: Crown of Frost.
Set in the far north of the Forgotten Realms, this campaign sees you battle through snowy landscapes against appropriately frosty foes as Icewind Dale braces for war. Here, dire wolves roam alongside ravens, giants, goblins, and kobolds. This northern setting also features notable locations to traipse through, such as the streets of Ten Town’s Lonelywood and the Spine of the World mountain range.
“Icewind Dale, Ten Towns, Frost Keep: these are not just backdrops, but characters in their own right,” said Matt Sernett, Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked’sNarrative Designer and former Wizards of the Coast writer in a prepared statement.
“Setting a story here, in contrast to our already announced campaign that features settings like Neverwinter Wood and Cragmaw Castle, gives us the ability to deliver two full campaigns at launch that honor the breadth of adventure to be found in the Forgotten Realms.”
Resolution states both campaigns will likely offer “a combined 12+ hours of playtime at launch,” while further campaigns will be released in the future via DLC. Today’s reveal art teases the “Mushroom Hollow” campaign, but little else is otherwise known.
Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked will launch for $29.99 on November 20 for PC VR, PlayStation VR2, Quest, PC, and PS5.
Q36.5’s latest announcement might come as a surprise. The Italian cycling clothing brand hasn’t revealed a new winter jacket or jersey. Instead, it announced today that it is releasing a new set of pedals made in collaboration with the power meter manufacturer SRM.
And that’s where the second surprise comes in. The new release is not a power meter pedal system; it’s a design that reduces stack height.
Q36.5 founder Luigi Bergamo is said to have discovered the advantages of a low stack height while testing the setup with an ultra-thin sole construction and a specific cleat attachment system.
Bergamo asked Ulrich Schoberer, founder of SRM, if it would be possible to design pedals that reduced stack height even further than the best road bike pedals.
Following a few further conversations, and just over six months later, Schoberer is said to have presented Bergamo with a working prototype.
The new pedals will only be available with Q36.5’s Unique Pro Shoes. Q36.5
It’s generally considered that the lower the stack height – the distance between the centre of the axle and the top of the pedal body – the higher your pedalling efficiency. This means a low stack height can be better, although a reduced stack height isn’t going to lead to a big jump in performance.
Q36.5 says its new pedals will be available exclusively with its Unique Pro Shoes. “The new game-changing pedal and shoe system reduces pedaling stack height by over 8mm relative to existing systems, offering the most direct and efficient power transfer on the market,” Q36.5 claims.
However, the brand hasn’t provided a specific stack-height measurement.
Typically, the best road bike pedals have a stack height of between 8mm and 12mm, with some power meters having a slightly higher stack.
It appears that the pedals will be available in a range of colours. Q36.5
The complete stack height of a pedal system also includes the cleat. This means the most popular clipless pedal systems for the road typically have a system height of around 15mm.
The Wahoo Speedplay pedals have a stack height that is lower than other big brands, at either 8.5mm or 11.5mm, depending on your setup.
The road pedal with the lowest stack height is the Ekoi PW8. It has a stack height of 8mm, but it requires a specialist shoe made by Ekoi and costing £450.
If Q36.5 is reducing stack height by more than 8mm compared to existing systems, it’s likely we’ll see a figure in a similar ballpark to Wahoo and Ekoi’s pedals.
But we’ll have to wait until December for a final answer – and to find out the price.
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The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds take a sharp turn from the brand’s usual noise-canceling dominance. Instead of sealing you off from the world, they sit outside your ears, letting in ambient sound while still delivering rich, detailed audio. Priced at $199 (down from its original $299), this is their lowest price yet (according to price trackers), and they cater to people who prefer awareness over isolation. Think cyclists, runners, or anyone who doesn’t want to miss the honk of a car while listening to music.
The fit takes a minute to figure out. The silicone band adds just enough tension to keep them in place, but how you clip them changes the sound more than you’d expect. Too high and it gets tinny; too low and you lose stereo balance. Once you find the alignment, though, they stay put through walks or light workouts and handle sweat or drizzle without a fuss, thanks to their IPX4 rating.
Sound-wise, Bose mostly nails what’s hard to get right in open audio: clarity. The Ultra Opens avoid the hollow sound that plagues similar models, keeping vocals crisp and highs bright. The low mids have a pleasing warmth, though the deep bass doesn’t hit with much punch. You’ll notice that most in EDM or hip-hop, where the kick feels restrained. Still, for casual listening, podcasts, and calls, the balanced tuning works. Also, they use Bluetooth 5.3 and support AAC, AptX Adaptive, and SBC codecs, which means Android users get slightly better audio quality than iPhone users.
Volume holds steady even outdoors, and there’s minimal distortion at full blast—per this PCMag review, the earbuds sound their best around 70 percent volume, delivering a full, detailed mix while still keeping you aware of what’s happening around you. If you prefer a more low-end presence, the adjustable EQ in the Bose app lets you tweak the sound. Battery life holds up nicely, too, around 7.5 hours on a charge and about 27 hours with the case. That said, wireless charging isn’t built in, though there’s a separate case for that if you prefer it over the USB-C setup.
Motorola has been consistently offering solid budget smartphone offerings, and the company back with new refreshes to its Moto G and Moto G Play for 2026. The latest versions offer some incremental tech upgrades and a couple lovely new color options for the aesthetic upgrades.
These smartphones both sport 6.7-inch displays with 120Hz and peak brightness of 1,000 nits. The Moto G boasts a 50MP camera as well as a 32MP front camera for selfies, while the Moto G Play has 32MP for its main camera and 8MP for the front camera. Both devices’ photography is backed by quad pixel technology to provide detailed image capture in a variety of lighting conditions. These two phones have a 5,200mAh battery and adds some quick-charging options: 30W for the Moto G and 18W for the Moto G Play. On the durability front, the Moto G is still using Gorilla Glass 3 and boasts an IP52 water resistance rating, as the 2025 model did, and the same will also be available in the Moto G Play model.
Both phones are getting some Pantone color options in leather-inspired finishes. The Moto G will have a gray color called Slipstream or the purple of Cattleya Orchid, while the Moto G Play comes in Pantone Tapestry blue.
Moto G will continue to retail starting at $200 and will be available directly from Motorola starting on December 11, followed by Amazon and Best Buy availability on January 15. The Moto G Play will be available online from Motorola, Best Buy and Amazon on November 13 for $170; the model will arrive in stores some time in the coming months.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/motorola-introduces-its-latest-takes-on-the-moto-g-and-moto-g-play-phones-140000620.html?src=rss
Nintendo is raising its Switch 2 sales forecast by millions of units after the second-generation handheld set an historic pace in console sales with 10.36 million systems sold in the first four months. For context, the first generation Switch, which ranks as a massive success in its own right, sold less than half as many units in its first
