TechCapsules

Elon Musk told a live audience of about 2,000 at Tesla’s X Takeover event in Giga Texas that China’s export restrictions on permanent‑magnet materials have delayed Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot program by two to three months. He said the robot’s hands are the most difficult component, requiring fine motor control, simultaneous precision and force, and durable touch sensors that can withstand thousands of cycles. Musk dismissed rival robot demos as “canned” and stressed that true AI must [...]

Apple’s share of global smartphone shipments surpassed 20% for the first time in a third quarter, reaching 22% in Q3 2026, according to Counterpoint Research. The overall market fell 20% year‑over‑year, the lowest in 14 years, driven by memory shortages and higher prices. Apple’s rise narrowed the gap with Samsung, which held 23%. Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo each saw declines, while the iPhone 18 Pro launched strongly in China and India, offsetting a smaller launch‑month channel fill.

Apple engineered the iPhone Duo’s thin form by reconfiguring its thermal architecture. Engineers moved the DRAM from a vertical stack to a side‑by‑side layout, using wafer‑level multichip modules to spread heat. A redesigned vapor chamber—three times larger and paired with a “metal over foam” coupling—provides direct silicon access and structural support. A flexible graphite pipe in the hinge links the chambers, while a nanotube copper plate reinforces the foldable display. These four pillars collectively enhance heat dissipation [...]

Apple has supported over 200 languages on the iPhone, a process that began in 2010 and continues with ongoing research and community consultation. The company works with indigenous groups to ensure accurate representation of scripts, including Unicode inclusion, keyboard layouts, and character variations. Recent updates in iOS 27 added Native American languages such as Blackfoot, Comanche, and Northern East Cree, while Cherokee users now benefit from dynamic key options that adapt to typed characters. Apple’s collaboration aims to [...]

Apple launched a “Switch to Safari” campaign to promote its browser over Google Chrome. The initiative includes a dedicated webpage featuring a side‑by‑side comparison chart, highlighting Safari’s superior battery life, privacy safeguards, and performance. Two new YouTube videos showcase Safari’s Distraction Control and Intelligent Tracking Prevention. Apple’s push follows earlier privacy‑focused campaigns and aims to position Safari as the preferred choice for users and organizations seeking enhanced security and efficiency.

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 opens October 13 at Moscone West, drawing over 10,000 founders, investors, and tech leaders for three days of sessions, roundtables, and a Startup Battlefield competition. Attendees can secure ticket savings of up to $100 in the final 24 hours, with a 50% discount on a second pass and additional community pass discounts for groups of four or more. A $75 Expo+ Pass is available for those recently laid off. The event features 300+ startups,

Apple will launch the immersive horror experience “Remnants” for its Vision Pro headset on October 16. The short film, written and directed by Ti West, places viewers inside a haunted castle environment that leverages the mixed‑reality capabilities of the device. Apple staged an exclusive preview inside the historic Woldmere Castle, inviting a small audience to walk through the narrative while the company recorded their real‑time reactions. The event demonstrated how spatial audio, eye‑tracking and hand‑gesture controls can [...]

Microsoft has begun production of its Azure Maia 200 chip, which is now powering production workloads such as Microsoft Copilot, GitHub Copilot, and Microsoft Foundry. The company plans to launch the next-generation Azure Maia 300 in 2027, targeting long‑context reasoning, low‑latency conversational AI, and multi‑step agentic tasks. Maia 300 promises 40% more tokens per megawatt than leading GPU systems and up to seven times the rack‑scale throughput of Maia 200, enabling more efficient, scalable AI inference across [...]