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Tim Cook hints at iCloud Plus tier for AI power users

2026-07-30T18:31:59-04:00

Apple may allow users to pay to increase their AI usage limits. During an earnings call on Thursday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that he believes people will want to use Apple Intelligence and the upcoming Siri AI "a lot," adding that "we will have some kind of upgrade possibilities on iCloud Plus where people can buy up the stack."

This fall, Apple will broadly launch its long-delayed Siri AI with iOS 27, which can do things like answer questions about what's on your screen and take action across your apps. It also includes a new standalone Siri AI app that offers a ChatGPT-like interface.

In June, Apple said that its AI features, including …

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Xbox CEO lays out priorities in memo after major ‘reset’

2026-07-30T18:29:50-04:00

Asha Sharma. | Image: The Verge, Microsoft

After a massive Xbox "reset" that laid off thousands of employees and spun off four studios, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma wants to get Xbox back to growth. In a memo obtained by The Verge, Sharma told staff by the end of fiscal year 2027 (which runs through next June), "we will return XBOX to player and revenue growth." Xbox will also "improve profits back in line with industry averages," Sharma said. "Every function and studio will own part of that outcome."

Since taking over Xbox in February, Sharma has made sweeping changes to attempt to turn things around. Previously, she has cited challenges like a low accountability margin, increasing compone …

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Apple’s iPhone and Mac sales keep growing despite RAM shortages

2026-07-30T17:58:41-04:00

Apple's iPhone and Mac sales are on the rise even as a global memory shortage squeezes device makers. In its third-quarter earnings report released on Thursday, Apple revealed that iPhone sales jumped 22 percent to $54.25 billion and Mac sales increased 29 percent to $10.35 billion, driving the company's overall revenue to $109.4 billion.

The company expects supply chain constraints to worsen in the coming months. During an earnings call, Apple chief financial officer Kevan Parekh said Apple expects "supply constraints to increase significantly" in the next quarter, adding the shortage will impact the iPhone, Mac, and iPad. Meanwhile, Apple …

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LinkedIn actually adds a ‘seems like AI slop’ button

2026-07-30T18:33:19-04:00

A lot of content on LinkedIn might seem like AI slop, and now, you'll be able to report those posts. As part of a series of updates to reduce the volume of AI slop on the platform, LinkedIn is introducing an actual button that lets you flag a post as something that "Seems like AI slop."

The new feature is part of a broader push to reduce the volume of apparent AI slop on the platform. AI detector Pangram recently found that 41 percent of longform LinkedIn posts were flagged as being completely generated by AI, as reported by 404Media.

"AI slop is a top priority for all of us," chief product officer Hari Srinivasan says in a post. "We reall …

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NASA’s Curiosity rover found a ‘sea of polygons’ on Mars

2026-07-30T13:20:06-04:00

The latest discovery from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is a field of honeycomb-shaped polygons covering a Martian valley called Valle Grande. As Gizmodo reports, Curiosity has snapped pictures of the unusual terrain texture before, called polygonal fractures, each about 1.5 to 3 inches wide, but NASA says it's previously only found them in small patches, "nothing on the scale discovered in Valle Grande."

Curiosity captured a 360-degree panorama of the "sea of polygons" on June 19th and 20th (Martian sols 4,930 and 4,931) that shows the texture spreading out in all directions. Project scientist Ashwin Vasavada says the Curiosity team "measur …

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Google DeepMind’s new AI model can control a robot’s entire body

2026-07-30T13:18:45-04:00

Apptronik’s Apollo 2 robot takes a baseball glove off of a shelf. | Image: Google

Google DeepMind says the latest version of its Gemini Robotics AI model can "control entire humanoid robots." While the previous model focused on controlling a humanoid robot's upper body, Gemini Robotics 2 now supports "whole-body motions" ranging from its feet to fingertips, according to an announcement on Thursday.

The new model will allow humanoid robots to perform a wider range of actions, as it allows them to walk, crouch, stretch, and manipulate objects. Videos shared by Google show how Apptronik's Apollo 2 robot can bend over to pick up a watering can, as well as find and take specific items off a shelf.

Though Google DeepMind not …

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Google is working on Chrome updates that don’t require restarts

2026-07-30T11:57:54-04:00

Google is working on a way to apply Chrome updates without requiring you to restart your browser. In a post on Thursday, Google outlines its approach to bug fixes in the age of AI, while noting that it's trying to make updates less disruptive by "investing in 'dynamic patching' that will eliminate the need for a full browser restart."

According to Google, AI-powered security tools have already helped the company find and fix dozens of bugs. Chrome 149 and 150, for example, contained 1,072 bug fixes, exceeding the number of patches in the past 23 major releases combined. That's part of the reason why Chrome is switching to a two-week release …

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Pixel 11 Pro Fold design leaks ahead of Google launch event

2026-07-30T13:04:31-04:00

Weeks ahead of Google's next Pixel hardware event, Leaker Evan Blass has shared what appear to be marketing renders of the unannounced Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold in a post on his Substack.

The renders, if accurate, show that the new foldable will look fairly similar to last year's model - it has a tall outer screen instead of using a shorter style like the new Galaxy Z Fold 8 and the rumored foldable iPhone. The renders also show that the inner screen will retain the 8-inch size. However, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold's back camera array has been slightly redesigned and will apparently get the glowy light that Google has already teased for the Pixel …

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Best Buy is selling an RTX 5080 for more than the RTX 5090’s MSRP

2026-07-30T11:48:10-04:00

Best Buy has raised the price of the Asus ROG Astral RTX 5080 OC to $2,099 - the first time a major US retailer is directly selling an RTX 5080 for more than the $1,999 MSRP of the RTX 5090, VideoCardz reports. The ROG Astral RTX 5080 OC now costs 40 percent more than its launch price of $1,499, and over double the $999 MSRP of the RTX 5080 Founders Edition.

As VideoCardz notes, this is currently the only RTX 5080 directly sold by Best Buy that's priced over the RTX 5090's MSRP. There are still other RTX 5080 GPUs available for significantly less, including at other retailers - Asus is selling the ROG Astral RTX 5080 OC for $1,899, which i …

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Razer’s new keyboards drop the price on powerful gaming features

2026-07-30T10:18:07-04:00

Here be magnets. And RGB. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

Razer has insisted that optical keyboard switches are the best choice for competitive esports stars and the sweatiest of try-hards, but it's now relenting slightly by offering cheaper keyboards with magnetic switches and a similar array of gaming features. The $120 Razer Huntsman V3 HE Magnetic Mini and $140 Huntsman V3 HE Magnetic Tenkeyless, both launching today, are the company's first keyboards to use Hall effect switches. They're wired-only boards loaded with gaming-first features, and I've had a brief chance to test both and take them for a spin.

The new Huntsman boards offer the hallmarks found in many other Hall effect mechanical ke …

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