TechCapsules

Adam Driver told The Rich Eisen Show that his tenure as Kylo Ren is finished and he sees no further Star Wars work for himself, though he would return if Disney revived the canceled “The Hunt for Ben Solo.” The project, a sequel to The Rise of Skywalker conceived by Driver and director Steven Soderbergh, spent two years in development before Disney rejected it, citing doubts about resurrecting the character. Kathleen Kennedy had initially supported the film, but Disney’s leadership declined to [...]

Apple Music received two feature upgrades in the iOS 27.3 developer beta released this week. The most prominent addition is “Selfie Sing,” a karaoke‑style video mode that lets users record themselves singing along to tracks and share the clips on social platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. The feature was uncovered by beta tester Aaron Perris and can be accessed via a dedicated “Selfie Sing” playlist. A second enhancement improves the landscape lyrics view: animated album artwork now extends into the [...]

Apple released macOS 27.3 developer beta 1, which permanently blocks eight eMudhra certificates that were found in October to use absurdly short cryptographic keys, some as short as a single digit. The certificates, issued in April 2025, had been trusted for TLS and code‑signing across Apple, Chrome, Microsoft and Mozilla root stores. Earlier patches stopped their use on iOS, iPadOS and other platforms, but macOS’s curl tool ignored revocation data, leaving older Macs vulnerable. The new update [...]

DuckDuckGo is courting K‑12 schools after Google announced it would disable its Gemini AI tools but warned that turning off all AI features would also remove Google Search. The move opens a niche for the search engine, which promotes an AI‑free experience. Google’s ecosystem powers roughly 50 million Chromebooks and serves over 150 million Classroom users, giving it a foothold. DuckDuckGo’s CEO Gabriel Weinberg posted instructions for schools to set the company’s engine as the default, while chief Kamyl [...]

Leonardo DiCaprio and Joaquin Phoenix were both approached for the Joker role in Christopher Nolan’s 2008 film The Dark Knight, according to casting director John Papsidera, who disclosed the details at the Nashville Film Festival. The script was first sent to DiCaprio, who never replied, after which the offer went to Phoenix. Phoenix declined, saying he was not interested in big‑budget movies, and the part eventually went to Heath Ledger, whose performance became iconic. Ledger’s casting marked [...]

Apple TV announced two upcoming series this week. The streaming service confirmed “Lenni,” a darkly comedic mystery starring Toni Collette as a child‑welfare worker whose personal life spirals while she tackles a high‑stakes case. The show adapts Norway’s hit “Pernille” and includes a supporting cast featuring Ciarán Hinds, Dan Wyllie, Josh McKenzie and others; production is underway in Sydney, though a premiere date has not been set. Separately, Variety reported that Justin Timber‑Lake will return to Apple TV [...]

Shift Up, the studio behind Stellar Blade, confirmed a cyberattack on the PC launcher of its game Goddess of Victory: Nikke. On November 4, the official account announced that third‑party tampering had altered the launcher’s script files. The company is investigating the extent of the impact and collaborating with Level Infinite to develop a permanent fix. Shift Up apologized for the disruption and pledged to release further updates on mitigation measures.

Apple TV is preparing a sequel to its dystopian series “Silo,” according to industry‑insider Sigmund Judge, who has previously broken similar stories. The new project will enter pre‑production later this year and will extend the narrative beyond the show’s fourth and final season, which concludes the television adaptation of Hugh Howey’s novels. Sources say standing sets remain on the lot and hiring for the expansion has already begun, though no premiere date has been set because filming [...]