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 Apple today released a firmware update for the AirPods Pro 3. The latest firmware has a version number of 8B34, up from the previous version 8B30.
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Former Trump administration insider and Goldman Sachs powerhouse is joining as president and vice chairman to spearhead a $600 billion infrastructure plan.
The post Trump Insider Dina Powell McCormick Joins Meta as President appeared first on eWEEK.
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Owen Poole covers today's biggest tech stories. Apple partners with Google's Gemini 3 to power a "more personalized" Siri. Meta removes over half a million accounts for teens and children in Australia due to world-first social media ban. Countries consider banning X after Grok AI created nonconsensual explicit images.
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 Apple is preparing to mass-produce its own AI-focused server chips in the second half of 2026 amid reliance on a short-term partnership with Google to meet immediate AI expectations, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
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As we expected, Meta has begun laying off more than 1,000 employees from its Reality Labs division, which focused on virtual reality and metaverse products, Bloomberg reports. The company will refocus on developing wearables, like its recent batch of AI-powered Ray-Ban smart glasses, according to a memo from CTO Andrew Bosworth.
The news isn't too surprising. Reality Labs has lost more than $70 billion since the beginning of 2021, and while Meta has done a solid job of delivering desirable consumer VR headsets and smart glasses, that business hasn't been nearly profitable enough to justify the cost. And of course, Mark Zuckerberg's huge gamble on the metaverse, which involved renaming the company from Facebook to Meta in 2021, has gone nowhere.
According to Bloomberg, Meta's metaverse plans will now focus on mobile devices, which could mean a combination of its future wearables as well as existing mobile apps. "With the larger potential user base and the fastest growth rate today, we are shifting teams and resources almost exclusively to mobile to continue to accelerate adoption there," Bosworth wrote in a memo to staff this morning.
Meta isn't dumping its VR headset plans entirely, but according to Bosworth the VR divion will "operate as a leaner, flatter organization with a more focused road map to maximize long-term sustainability." Basically, don't expect a Quest 3 follow-up anytime soon.
This article originally a
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Pentagon adopts Elon Musk's Grok AI, fueling debate over ethics, anti-woke defense policy, and the future of AI in modern warfare.
The post ‘Not Woke': Pentagon Embraces Elon Musk's Grok AI Despite Global Backlash appeared first on eWEEK.
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Use these seven prompt templates to generate sharper ChatGPT images in 2026, from hero sections and product shots to retouching and pricing layouts.
The post 7 Best ChatGPT Image Prompts in 2026: How to Get Better AI Photos appeared first on eWEEK.
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 Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 26.3, iPadOS 26.3, tvOS 26.3, and watchOS 26.3 updates to public beta testers, with the updates coming four weeks after Apple provided the first betas to testers.
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If you follow Anthropic, you're probably familiar with Claude Code. Since the fall of 2024, the company has been training its AI models to use and navigate computers like a human would, and the coding agent has been the most practical expression of that work, giving developers a way to automate rote programming tasks. Starting today, Anthropic is giving regular people a way to take advantage of those capabilities, with the release of a new preview feature called Claude Cowork.
The company is billing Cowork as "a simpler way for anyone — not just developers — to work with Claude." After you give the system access to a folder on your computer, it can read, edit or create new files in that folder on your behalf.
Anthropic gives a few different example use cases for Cowork. For instance, you could ask Claude to organize your downloads folder, telling it to rename the files contained within to something that's easier to parse at a glance. Another example: you could use Claude to turn screenshots of receipts and invoices into a spreadsheet for tracking expenses. Cowork can also navigate websites — provided you install Claude's Chrome plugin — and make can use Anthropic's Connectors framework to access third-party apps like Canva.
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 Apple today introduced a new Apple Creator Studio bundle that offers access to six creative apps, as well as exclusive AI features and content, as part of a single subscription. In the U.S., pricing is set at $12.99 per month or $129 per year.
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The cuts represent roughly 10% of the division's workforce and signal Meta's accelerating pivot away from its metaverse ambitions toward AI dominance.
The post Meta Cuts 1,500 Reality Labs Jobs as AI Takes Priority appeared first on eWEEK.
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Elon Musk's satellite company has been a key factor in Iran as in Venezuela amid a rapprochement between the billionaire and President Trump.
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Apple's Creator Studio takes in all its mainstay apps for a subscription price seven times cheaper than Creative Cloud.
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 Apple appears close to supporting end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages, almost a year after the GSM Association said it was working to implement the privacy feature for messages sent between Android and iPhone devices.
Je viens de vérifier les carrier bundles d'iOS 26.3 bêta 2, et Apple a ajouté un nouveau paramètre permettant aux opérateurs d'activer le chiffrement pour le RCS
Pour le moment, aucun opérateur ne l'a encore activé
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Apple and Google have confirmed that Gemini's models power the new version of Siri and other generative AI features. CNBC broke the news, but Apple and Google soon followed up with a lengthy joint statement. Here's part of it: "Apple determined that Google's Al technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models… Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute, while maintaining Apple's industry-leading privacy standards."
In June, it was reported that Apple was considering partnerships with OpenAI and Anthropic for Siri (the voice assistant can currently tap ChatGPT for certain queries as part of Apple Intelligence). Two months later, Google emerged as a contender. Another report suggested Apple might build the new Siri using a custom version of Gemini — and that it would pay Google around $1 billion a year for the privilege. However, no official deal numbers were shared.
It's also notable that current iPhones have direct access to OpenAI's ChatGPT. But how long for?
— Mat Smith
The other big stories this morning
Engadget Podcast: Best of CES 2026 and a chat with Pebble's founder
Meta closes 550,000 accounts to comply with Australia's kids social media ban
The best winter tech to get y
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 Apple today announced that 2025 was a "record-breaking year" for many of its services, including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, and Apple Podcasts.
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 Apple emerged as the global smartphone market leader in 2025, capturing a 20% market share with 10% year-over-year shipment growth - the highest among the top five brands, according to data released today by Counterpoint Research.
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 OpenAI today announced the launch of ChatGPT Health, a dedicated section of ChatGPT where users can ask health-related questions completely separated from their main ChatGPT experience.
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The annual CES tech event kicks off this week, with all kinds of companies showing off new products that are going to launch throughout 2026. Unsurprisingly, AI is the theme of this year's show, and almost everything you can think of is getting an artificial intelligence upgrade.
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If Windows 11 is on the table for you, today is your lucky day because you can get Windows 11 licenses for super cheap on the PCWorld Software Store right now. Seriously, both Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Pro are currently priced at $14.97 each. That's down from $139 (89% off) and $199 (92% off), respectively. Huge savings!
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How to activate your Windows 11 license
After you've made your order, you'll have to check your email inbox for the license key. Once you have that and your chosen Windows 11 copy is installed, here's how to activate t
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When looking for the best VPN, you'll want to consider a few things: First and foremost, does it have a good privacy record; how are its average connection speeds; is it able to effectively and consistently unblock streaming services; and finally, does it have a large enough server network for your location needs? All of my curated picks below deliver these essentials and more.
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