Good morning. It’s a new week and we’ve got five things to catch you up on in the world of tech.
1. Foxtel debuts Hubbl
As reported by Always On, Foxtel has decided to get into the TV business and is now releasing two products to shake up the local market – an all-in-one TV called Hubble Glass (featuring an in-built soundbar), and a streaming hub that plugs into a TV. The idea is to bring together your tech and your streaming devices in one easy-to-use package, but whether or not it’ll take off, we’ll have to wait and see. More information will come out later this year.
2. Back to the office for thee but not for me
A year after Elon Musk officially took over Twitter (now X), both he and recently installed X CEO Linda Yaccarino held a joint all-hands Thursday to address some of the changes at the company and suggested that X might be a new financial platform. Neither Musk himself nor Yaccarino showed up, according to a report from Fortune Thursday. The two executives dialled in remotely from Austin and New York City, respectively, according to Fortune’s reporting, which cited an anonymous source within the company. Musk and Yaccarino skipping out on an in-person appearance during the all-hands comes after the former demanded employees return to office 40 hours per week last November, according to Insider, in one of his first sweeping changes as owner. Things are going great.
3. Gurman predicts M3 Macs for Halloween
Apple’s spooky Halloween event is likely to bring the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max-powered Macs, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. More advanced 3-nanometer production technology headline the changes to Apple’s chip, but on the consumer side, viewers can expect major refreshes to the high-end MacBook Pros, which haven’t been revised since 2021. A new 24-inch iMac is also expected.
4. Crypto funds were only ‘borrowed’, says SBF
Sam Bankman-Fried testified before a jury for the first time on Friday, saying he did not defraud FTX customers or take their funds, according to Bloomberg’s live reporting of the trial. The FTX and Alameda’s founder said that Alameda “borrowed” them, but admitted “a lot of people got hurt.” The FTX founder painted himself as being largely unaware of the massive fraud occurring at his companies, and at best, an ignorant founder and CEO. His claims of ignorance, however, are disputed by the sworn testimonies of former FTX and Alameda executives.
5. World’s smallest particle accelerator fits on a coin
As reported by Space, scientists have turned on the world’s smallest particle accelerator, 54-million times smaller than the Hadron Collider, and small enough to fit on a coin. Known as a nanophotonic electron accelerator, this particle accelerator is comprised of a small microchip and a tiny vacuum tube made up of thousands of pillars, through which research fire a laser to operate the device. “The dream application would be to place a particle accelerator on an endoscope in order to be able to administer radiotherapy directly at the affected area within the body,” study lead author Tomáš Chlouba said, according to Space.
BONUS ITEM: Now that’s innovation.
— Musical Instruments with Chaotic Auras (@MusicalChaotic) October 29, 2023
Have a lovely day.
Image: Yalcin Sonat (Shutterstock)