Tech news for November 1, 2026

An Apple Watch on a wrist showing an audio feature, with a gavel in the background symbolizing legal concerns.

Mobile1 min read

Apple Watch Audio Intelligence may violate US wiretap laws

US lawyers warn that Apple's new Live Rewind and Siri Recap features on the Apple Watch could fall under state laws against eavesdropping.

Artist's illustration of a NASA orbiter circling Mars above the red planet's surface.

Science2 min read

NASA Keeps Mars Odyssey and MRO Running 25 Years On

Mars Odyssey and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter were built to last a few years. Now NASA relies on clever workarounds to keep both relays alive, and worries about their successors.

A chalkboard covered with handwritten mathematical equations in a university lecture hall.

AI2 min read

Over 1,000 Mathematicians Join Anti-AI Group Targeting OpenAI

More than 1,000 mathematicians have joined the new Association for Human Mathematics, pledging to avoid AI in their research and criticizing OpenAI's mass proof release.

Illustration of institutions securely sharing data across a network to train AI models under a government framework in India.

AI1 min read

MeitY Unveils DEPA Handbook for Trusted Data Sharing in AI

India's IT ministry has released a DEPA handbook describing a techno-legal framework that lets institutions pool data for AI training while keeping control of it.

Exterior of a government office building in India with a gavel and bank documents symbolising a money laundering investigation.

Business2 min read

ED Arrests Armstrong Exchange Founder Sagar Dash in Betting Probe

India's Enforcement Directorate has arrested Armstrong Exchange founder Sagar Dash over an alleged online betting scam involving mule accounts and shell entities.

Illustration of rising and falling bar charts representing weekly Indian startup funding totals across sectors.

Startups2 min read

Indian Startups Raise $130.2 Mn in Last Week of October, Down 29%

Indian startups raised $130.2 Mn between October 26 and 30, down 29.2% week on week, though the number of funded companies jumped to 32 from 17.

AI2 min read

Google Brings Personal Avatars With Your Face and Voice to Gemini

Google has launched Personal Avatars in the Gemini app, letting adults create AI images and videos that use their own face and voice and share them with others.

Illustration of an AI chat interface with a hidden safety review layer flagging a conversation for human review.

AI2 min read

Anthropic Adds Self-Assessment to Claude to Flag Harmful Chats

Anthropic's new self-assessment feature has Claude silently review its own conversations and flag possible misuse for human review, at under 2% extra compute cost.

A designer editing a presentation slide in Canva's editor using a text prompt while the original layout stays intact.

AI2 min read

Canva Brush: New AI Model Edits Existing Designs by Text Prompt

Canva has launched Canva Brush, an in-house AI model that edits existing designs from text commands while keeping untouched elements intact. It is open to Canva Pro users.

Volkswagen electric cars on display at a European showroom, illustrating the carmaker's struggle with EV profitability.

Automotive2 min read

Volkswagen admits EVs earn less than combustion cars

Volkswagen's finance chief says the company makes less money on electric cars than on combustion models, yet EV sales must keep growing to meet EU CO2 rules.

Conceptual illustration of stacked memory layers sitting directly above an AI accelerator chip.

Hardware2 min read

Z2RAM: Pat Gelsinger Backs Memory Meant to Break the Memory Wall

Former Intel chief Pat Gelsinger is investing in Nagare Labs and its Z2RAM, a stackable memory that promises SRAM-class bandwidth with density closer to DRAM.

Rendering of the Boom Supersonic Overture airliner in flight above the clouds.

Business2 min read

Boom Supersonic Overture Delayed? United CEO Doubts 2029 Date

United Airlines chief Scott Kirby says Boom's 2029 target for the Overture is unrealistic, while the company pivots to gas turbines for AI data centers.

An iPhone displaying a camera app with a cinematic color look, held in front of a film set backdrop.

Mobile2 min read

Chromagraph Camera: Rian Johnson's iPhone App Tops the App Store

Director Rian Johnson had his cinematographer Steve Yedlin build an iPhone camera app. Chromagraph Camera costs €14.99 and quickly reached No. 1 among paid photo apps in France.

Illustration of Earth surrounded by the doughnut-shaped Van Allen radiation belts during a geomagnetic storm.

Science2 min read

Van Allen Belts: May 2024 Solar Storm Breached the Barrier

A Japanese study finds the May 2024 solar storm boosted ultra-energetic electrons more than 5,000-fold inside the Van Allen belts' so-called impenetrable barrier.

A Mac mini on a desk beside a screen showing low earnings from an AI compute-sharing network.

AI2 min read

Darkbloom Admits Renting Your Mac to AI Pays Far Less Than Promised

Eigen Labs now warns that earnings on its Darkbloom network are weak and unlikely to recover soon, months after touting $120 to $200 a month for Mac owners.

A customer taps a smartphone on a payment terminal in a Nigerian shop, illustrating contactless mobile payments.

Business2 min read

Verve plans phone tap-to-pay and AI agent payments in Nigeria

Nigeria's largest card scheme, Verve, now at 130 million cards, plans phone tap-to-pay and, later, AI assistants that make payments for customers.

A high-end gaming PC with glowing components next to an electricity meter in a German home.

Business2 min read

SWK Energie launches meinGAMING, a power tariff for gamers

Krefeld utility SWK Energie is selling meinGAMING, an electricity plan for high-consumption homes. It makes sense above roughly 2,500 kWh a year, the company says.

A MacBook on a desk with its lock screen being unlocked by a person's face detected by the front camera.

Software2 min read

Hey Mac: Free App Unlocks Your Mac With Your Face, No Face ID

Macs still have no Face ID, but a free open-source app called Hey Mac unlocks the screen when you look at the camera. Here is how it works and what to know.

A smartphone showing a deleted AI chat conversation being recovered from device memory by a forensic tool.

Security2 min read

ORISA Tool Recovers Deleted AI Chats From Android Phone Memory

Georgia Tech researchers built ORISA, a forensic system that restores deleted conversations with locally run AI assistants from the working memory of Android phones.

A Tesla electric car driving on a road in South Korea with its driver-assistance display active.

Automotive1 min read

South Korean police probe 80 Tesla drivers over FSD lockouts

Police in South Korea are investigating 80 Tesla drivers suspected of illegally bypassing restrictions on Full Self-Driving using external devices.

A MacBook screen showing a security warning next to a popcorn bucket, symbolising the old Popcorn Time streaming app.

Security1 min read

Popcorn Time: Abandoned update servers put Mac users at risk

The once-feared P2P streaming service Popcorn Time is largely forgotten, but abandoned update servers have created a risk for Mac users who still have a client installed.

A laptop screen showing an AI-generated animated chart and explainer video clip created with Claude Motion.

AI2 min read

Claude Motion: Anthropic's New AI Animation Tool Tested

Anthropic's Claude now includes Claude Motion, a simple animation tool for turning data into clips and explainer videos. A first hands-on test shows strengths and limits.

Row of electric scooters from Indian manufacturers parked at a showroom in India.

Automotive2 min read

India E2W Registrations Rise 2.9% to 2.15 Lakh in October

India's electric two-wheeler registrations hit 2,14,654 units in October, up 2.9% on September and 48.1% year on year, as TVS and Hero MotoCorp gained share.