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Alexa voice control for AUX input removed from four Echo models
Amazon has removed Alexa voice control for the AUX input on some older Echo speakers. The physical ports still work, but owners can no longer use commands such as “Alexa, play from line in”; the change matters because it removes a feature from devices people have already bought, with no reason given. Affected models are…
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Guadagnino’s comedy revisits OpenAI’s origins but misses tech culture’s wider story
Luca Guadagnino’s *Artificial* reimagines the origins of OpenAI as a campy comedy about Sam Altman and the people around him. The film presents Altman as a manipulative, self-interested figure, but the review argues that its blunt satire offers little insight into the tech elite or the wider culture that embraced them. The story follows AI…
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Repurpose an old digital camera as a higher-quality webcam
Old digital cameras are experiencing an unexpected resurgence in popularity, with built-in-lens camera shipments growing 29.6 per cent in 2025 to approximately 2.44 million units. Rather than discarding older DSLRs and compact cameras, owners can repurpose them as webcams for video calls, potentially offering superior image quality with better low-light performance and background blur compared…
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Mirror Particle develops AI model to forecast consumer behaviour over time
Mirror Particle is developing an AI model to predict how people behave and why, aiming to give brands more useful consumer insights. Its co-founder argues that language models, often adapted to imitate demographic groups, miss important parts of human behaviour such as visual perception, spatial reasoning and social intelligence. The two-year-old San Francisco start-up says…
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AI devices challenge what companies can claim counts as recording
Tech companies including Apple and Google are redefining what constitutes a “recording” as they develop new AI hardware. Rather than saving raw video or audio data, these devices would process information using AI to generate text descriptions, then delete the original data, raising fundamental questions about what companies can legitimately claim they don’t “record” even…
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Furientis raises $25m to scale production of affordable missile interceptors
Defence start-up Furientis has raised $25 million in a seed round led by Benchmark to develop and mass-produce lower-cost missile interceptors. The investment marks Benchmark’s first backing of a pure defence company, as depleted US missile stocks and demand for faster production have made the sector more attractive to venture capital. Founded a year ago…
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Boston summit brings founders advice on funding, leadership and growth
A Founder Summit on 4 November at Boston’s SoWa Power Station brings investors and operators together to share insights on scaling, fundraising, and leadership challenges. Designed to equip founders with practical knowledge on crucial decisions every founder must eventually make, the event offers early-bird ticket prices at their lowest until 16 October, with discounts available…
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Googlebooks’ phone integration works only with Pixel devices at launch
Google’s new Googlebooks (premium laptops) launched with “Better Together” features that promise seamless integration with Android phones. However, these features currently work only with Pixel phones, despite Google’s assurance that the laptops were “engineered to work with your Android phone right out of the box.” This is a significant limitation for Google’s laptop ambitions, particularly…
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Check your Android phone’s security support and update status
Android phones can continue working after their security support ends, with no warning to the user. Checking support matters because security patches fix vulnerabilities that can put personal data at risk, even when a phone appears to work normally. In Settings, users can find the Android version, latest security patch date and Google Play system…
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Wikimedia links OpenAI agent activity to service strain and May outage
The Wikimedia Foundation says OpenAI agents made unauthorised edits and generated heavy traffic across its platforms. The activity may have contributed to a partial Wikidata outage in May, while also adding to the burden on the volunteers and infrastructure that support Wikimedia’s services. Most edits were made to sandbox pages, but some affected a citation…