TechCapsules

Google has launched its experimental AI storytelling app Dreambeans in India, marking the service’s first rollout beyond the United States. The Android and iOS app now supports 13 Indian languages, including Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali, as well as English. Dreambeans draws on data from users’ Google services—Calendar, Gemini, Gmail, Photos, Search and YouTube—to automatically create illustrated personal stories without a user prompt. A recent update adds Veo‑powered video animation to selected narratives. Google chose India [...]

South Korea’s sixth national supercomputer, Hangang, entered full operation on Feb. 2 at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) in Daejeon. Equipped with 8,496 Nvidia GH200 GPUs and 9,936 CPUs, the system delivers theoretical performance 24 times that of its predecessor Nurion, with storage capacity ten times larger and network speed four times higher. Direct liquid‑cooling reduces power‑usage effectiveness to about 1.15, improving energy efficiency. The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to link Hangang [...]

Modder Arhkain is developing “Retro Forever,” a first‑person overhaul for Blizzard’s upcoming World of Warcraft: Forever that mimics the look and feel of classic RPGs such as Morrowind and Hexen. The project combines existing addons, a custom UI and bespoke spell‑casting animations, allowing players to experience combat, cooking and flight from a true first‑person perspective. Currently the mod supports only a limited set of mage spells and other abilities, but the creator says an artist has expressed [...]

In a recent SlashFilm interview, Andy Weir, author of The Martian and Project Hail Mary, warned that he may belong to the last cohort of wholly human novelists as artificial‑intelligence writing tools advance. He likened AI to a hammer—neutral technology whose impact depends on the user—while noting that other inventions, such as race cars and forklifts, have already eclipsed human limits in speed and strength. Weir expressed optimism about AI as a creative aid, emphasizing its “plug‑and‑play” nature and his intent to incorporate it [...]

In Episode 268 of The Robot Report Podcast, Connie Bowen, founding general partner of Farmhand Ventures, discusses common misconceptions AgTech founders have about return on investment. Bowen, an engineer with hands‑on farming experience, explains that many startups overemphasize short‑term financial metrics while neglecting the broader impact on farm labor, productivity, and rural resilience. She highlights Farmhand’s impact‑first approach, which prioritizes solutions that make agricultural work more attractive, profitable, and sustainable. Bowen cites investments in companies such as L5 Automation, [...]

Apple issued a new tvOS 27.2 build (24K154) exclusively for the upcoming fourth‑generation Apple TV 4K, which is slated for a November 13 launch and starts at $299. The build follows last week’s universal tvOS 27.2 release (24K122) that added a Shuffle screen‑saver option, finer photo‑selection controls, and American and British Sign Language support for select titles. While Apple has not published separate release notes, insiders on X reported that the new build unlocks Siri AI on the fourth‑generation device—a capability previously [...]

Researchers at Cisco Talos have identified a new Windows infostealer, VOLTA‑AUTODOXER (VOLTA), that leverages large‑language models to evaluate the monetary value of stolen data. The malware harvests credentials, cookies, payment cards, cryptocurrency seed phrases, cloud keys, Wi‑Fi profiles and screenshots, then scans Gmail receipts to verify addresses and purchases. Collected data are packaged into a structured “evidence bundle” and sent to an AI routing service (OpenRouter) that queries Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.6, Moonshot’s Kimi K2 and Google’s [...]

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority unveiled a Post‑Quantum Cryptography (PQC) Toolkit on 2 November to guide banks through the shift to quantum‑safe encryption. The Toolkit offers a comprehensive structured framework for assessing cryptographic assets, assigning responsibilities, prioritising migrations and setting timelines, as worksheets for inventorying dependencies and engaging suppliers. It is designed to help banks improve their Quantum Preparedness Index, which the HKMA introduced in July 2026 and rated [...]