Author: alex

Alphabet allegedly to pay $22M to settle Trump’s YouTube lawsuit — unconfirmed Multiple reports claim Alphabet will pay $22 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit filed by former President Donald Trump over YouTube account suspensions after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, with other plaintiffs reportedly splitting an additional $2.5 million. The payment is said to be routed to the Trust for the National Mall and earmarked for a ballroom that President Trump plans at the White House. Those reports also tie this settlement to prior related payouts: X (formerly Twitter) reportedly settled with Trump for roughly $10 million, and Meta reportedly settled earlier this year for $25 million. Important: I checked reputable outlets and could not find independent confirmation of the claimed Alphabet settlement. The article citing the settlement (linked…

Samsung Galaxy Ring battery swells, owner requires ER removal On Sept 29, 2025, YouTuber Daniel Rotar (Twitter/X: @ZONEofTECH) reported that the battery inside his Samsung Galaxy Ring began swelling while he was wearing the device, causing the ring to become stuck and painful. Rotar says he was denied boarding on a flight, sought emergency care, and had the ring removed at a hospital. What happened The ring reportedly swelled on the inside surface as its internal battery failed, creating pressure on the finger. Attempts to remove the ring at the airport were unsuccessful; ice and medical lubricant reportedly helped during the successful removal at the hospital. Rotar said he was denied boarding and had to arrange a hotel stay as a result of the incident. Samsung response A Samsung spokesperson…

Amazon Fall Hardware Event — What to Expect (Sept 30, 10AM ET) Amazon will hold a hardware showcase in New York City on September 30 at 10AM ET. Expect announcements around its Echo smart speakers, at least one new Kindle, updates to Fire TV, and possible new products from Ring, Blink and Eero. Reports suggest Amazon may not provide a public livestream; tech outlets often liveblog such events. Likely announcements Echo speakers — refreshed Echo Studio / new Echo models. Search: Echo Studio Kindle update(s) — rumors of a color Kindle Scribe and a smaller high-quality color Kindle. Search: Kindle Scribe Echo Buds — possible new generation with better ANC and bass. Search: Echo Buds Fire TV — updates to Fire TV devices, TVs or sticks (speculation around updated Omni…

OpenAI reportedly launching Sora 2 social app — AI-only short videos OpenAI is reportedly preparing a standalone social app powered by Sora 2, a video model that will generate short vertical clips. According to reports, the app will closely resemble TikTok with a swipeable vertical feed, but with some key differences: AI-only content: users cannot upload photos or videos from their device — all clips are generated by Sora 2. Short clips: Sora 2 will be limited to generating videos of 10 seconds or shorter inside the app. Identity verification: an optional verification tool will let users allow the model to use their likeness in generated videos; the platform will notify users when their likeness is used by others. Copyright & safety: OpenAI will block some generations for copyright reasons,…

Report of 1.7M+ Disney Streaming Cancellations Unverified; Jimmy Kimmel Live! Suspension Confirmed Summary: A Bluesky post (via reporter Marisa Kabas/The Handbasket) claims that more than 1.7 million paid Disney streaming subscriptions (Disney+, Hulu and ESPN) were canceled between September 17 and September 23, allegedly a 436% increase over the usual churn rate. The report ties the cancellations to backlash after Disney suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! on September 17 and the company’s recent subscription price increases. What we checked No independent, reliable outlets or official Disney statements were found that corroborate the 1.7M cancellations or the 436% churn spike as of the time of this post. It is verified that Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended around Sept 17 and reinstated on Sept 22 (the show returned Sept 23). This timeline is…

What to Expect at Amazon’s Fall Hardware Event — Sept 30, 2025 Amazon will hold its fall hardware event on Tuesday, September 30, 2025 at 10:00 AM ET in New York City. The company is expected to announce updates across several product lines — Echo (Alexa+), Kindle, Fire TV, Ring and Eero — though the event will not be livestreamed. Likely announcements Echo — New smart speakers and displays to make the most of Alexa+ (more conversational AI-driven assistant). Kindle — Possible new models, including color options or a device that blends Kindle Scribe 2 and Kindle Colorsoft features; basic Kindle may also be refreshed. Fire TV — New TVs or streaming devices, potentially with updated software/OS/improved performance. Ring & Eero — Home security and Wi‑Fi hardware updates from Amazon-owned…

Meta expands facial-recognition tools in UK, EU & South Korea to fight impersonation scams Meta has launched facial-recognition-powered safety features on Facebook in the UK, EU and South Korea to detect and remove accounts impersonating public figures; Instagram rollout will follow in the coming months. Public figures in Europe must opt in to the program, and Meta says the system compares the profile photo on a suspicious account to the public figure's existing Facebook/Instagram profile pictures and removes matches. Key points Where: Facebook live now in the UK, EU and South Korea; Instagram coming soon. How it works: Facial-recognition compares profile photos and deletes confirmed impostor accounts; public figures opt in in Europe. Use cases: Prevent "celebrity bait" ads, stop scammers posing as public figures to solicit money, and help…

Security Flaws in Tile Trackers Could Enable Stalking — What You Need to Know Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have reported serious security flaws in Tile Bluetooth trackers that could allow third parties — and potentially Tile’s parent company Life360 — to track users' locations. The issue stems from how Tile devices broadcast identifying data. What the researchers found Tile devices broadcast unencrypted data including a static MAC address and a rotating ID. The MAC address does not change, making persistent fingerprinting possible. The rotating ID generation is predictable, so observing past IDs can allow an attacker to predict future ones. Because this data is transmitted in cleartext, anyone with a Bluetooth scanner can intercept it — enabling stalking or even framing an innocent Tile owner by making…

Apple releases iOS 26.0.1 — fixes Wi‑Fi, cellular and camera bugsApple has released iOS 26.0.1, a follow-up update to address several issues reported after the iOS 26 launch. The update is aimed at all iPhone users but is especially important for owners of the latest models — iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air.Key fixes include:Resolved Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth connectivity problems on iPhone 17 lineup.Fixed cellular network issues affecting some users after the iOS 26 update.Addressed photo artifacts on new devices.Corrected app icon tinting causing blank icons in some cases.Fixed VoiceOver being disabled unexpectedly for some users.Install via Settings → General → Software Update. For more details see MacRumors and iClarified:MacRumors: iOS 26.0.1 releaseiClarified: iOS 26.0.1 detailsOfficial update/security info: Apple SupportHave you updated yet? Tell us in the comments…

Anthropic Introduces Claude Sonnet 4.5 Anthropic has announced Claude Sonnet 4.5, which the company calls its strongest coding model to date and its "safest" system yet. Key claims in the release and press coverage: Benchmark performance: Sonnet 4.5 scored a record 61.4% on OSWorld, reportedly 17 percentage points higher than Opus 4.1. Long-running autonomy: The model can autonomously work on multi-step projects for 30+ hours — a major jump from roughly seven hours for Opus 4 at launch. Safety: Anthropic says Sonnet 4.5 underwent extensive safety training and is released under its AI Safety Level 3 framework, with stronger protections against prompt injection and reduced tendencies for sycophancy, deception, power-seeking, and delusional outputs. Product updates: Claude Code received UI improvements and a new "checkpoints" feature for save/rollback during coding sessions.…