Designator

Valve’s open-source ‘Lepton’ brings Android games to the $1,059 Steam Frame

Valve released Lepton, an open-source tool, enabling developers to port Android-native games, including Meta Quest titles, to Linux and the new $1,059 Steam Frame VR headset.

18 Sept2 min read

Inertia co-founder Jeff Lawson’s next big bet is fusion: Go inside it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

Inertia, co-founded by Twilio's Jeff Lawson, secured $450 million in Series A funding to develop laser systems and manufacture fusion fuel targets for grid-scale energy.

18 Sept4 min read

Pixel Now Playing update brings interface tweaks & notifications [U]

A Pixel Now Playing update introduces interface adjustments, including a new bottom sheet for song actions, date and time displays in the Favorites tab, and minor icon and spacing tweaks.

18 Sept2 min read

Waymo says Singapore will be its next international robotaxi city

Waymo plans to launch a commercial robotaxi service in Singapore by 2028, expanding its international presence after announcing services in London, Tokyo, and Munich.

Ask A Monk – A digital wilderness for thoughts with no immediate answer

Ask A Monk is a digital platform where users can anonymously ask questions and receive human-written responses from strangers, fostering a space for reflection and shared experience.

Telstra outage: The night a network decided the year was 2006

A single GPS receiver believing the year was 2006 caused a Telstra mobile network outage, disrupting calls, emergency services, trains, and payment systems in Australia.

18 Sept17 min read

Khosla-backed Mazama Energy just raised $135M to drill deeper into super-hot-rock geothermal

Mazama Energy raised $135 million to develop horizontal wells in super-hot rocks, accessing 750˚ F heat to generate up to 10 times more power than traditional geothermal technologies.

18 Sept3 min read

Crusoe raises $3.9B to build massive data centers and small modular ‘AI factories’

Crusoe raised $3.9 billion to expand its data center operations, including a large facility for OpenAI and new modular "AI factories" that can be rapidly deployed.

Google DeepMind launches institute to widen the AGI debate

Google DeepMind launched an institute to foster diverse perspectives on artificial general intelligence, releasing essays on economic policies, preserving human-readable model reasoning, and evaluating frontier AI models.

Google Keep update tweaks the homescreen widget on Android

A Google Keep update for Android alters the homescreen widget, replacing the Material You sidebar with a circular floating action button for note creation.

17 Sept2 min read

I tried Tovala’s smart oven for two weeks — here’s whether it beats takeout

Tovala's smart oven and meal delivery service offers convenience for busy individuals, but the food quality, particularly meat texture, may not fully replace home-cooked meals.

17 Sept4 min read

Ars Technica

After being sidelined, Boeing's Starliner to get starring role in NASA's spaceflight plans

NASA will order two additional Starliner missions, fund thruster repairs, and support new rocket certification to ensure Boeing's Starliner spacecraft can continue flying after SpaceX retires its Crew Dragon.

17 Sept7 min read

Galaxy Z Fold 8 saw a surge in popularity as soon as Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo

Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 experienced a 10% sales increase in South Korea after Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo, suggesting some buyers were unconvinced by Apple's offering or its higher local price.

Huawei plans Q1 2027 launch of new AI chip as it takes on Nvidia

Huawei plans to launch its Ascend 960DT AI chip in Q1 2027, accelerating its challenge to Nvidia and aiming to build large AI computing systems.

Lunacy Audio Nova is a place to build and sell your own AI-powered music plugins

Lunacy Audio launched Nova, a platform allowing creators to build and sell AI-powered music plugins using pre-made effects blocks and AI prompts, rather than traditional coding.

17 Sept4 min read

Microsoft AI CEO says AI threats are real, and Anthropic is making it worse

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman states that AI threats are real, criticizing Anthropic's philosophy on AI consciousness for exacerbating safety concerns.

17 Sept40 min read

The streamers are fighting over Halloween

Four streaming services, Peacock, Netflix, Amazon, and AMC, are premiering new horror series in October, intensifying competition for Halloween viewership among platforms.

DeepSeek-v4.1 Flash: Pushing the Limits of KV Cache Compression

DeepSeek-v4.1 Flash significantly compresses KV cache by 4x through architectural optimizations, including head count compression, block-based compression, and cross-layer compression, to address the challenges of long-horizon agent workflows.

17 Sept55 min read

Snap tries to make the case again for its $2,200 smart glasses

Snap introduced new features and enterprise applications for its $2,200 smart glasses, Specs, including an "anticipatory AI" system and corporate workflow integrations, to justify the device's purpose.

The Return of Sail Power: Cargo Ships Are Turning Back to the Wind

Cargo ships are increasingly readopting wind propulsion systems, like rotor sails and rigid wings, to reduce fuel consumption and emissions across various vessel types, including containerships and tankers.

17 Sept7 min read

Musk’s long-time backer is giving SpaceX stock to its investors

Valor Equity Partners, an early SpaceX investor, distributed 8.5% of its holdings, valued at $8.5 billion, to limited partners, avoiding a market dump and offering tax advantages.

16 Sept2 min read