TechCapsules

Les Benjamins celebrated its 15th anniversary with “From Earth to Sky,” a runway show in Turkey’s Cappadocia that featured ten floral‑inspired garments and three custom hot‑air balloons. Designer Bunyamin Aydin used an iPad Pro, Freeform, Procreate, and an Apple Pencil Pro to sketch, refine, and share designs with his team. The balloons were engineered by Pasha Balloons, while French filmmaker Neels Castillon captured the event on an iPhone 18 Pro Max, using 4K 120 fps footage and ProRes RAW for [...]

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026’s Startup Battlefield finals feature five finalists across four categories: Apate, Flox Intelligence, Intero Biosystems, Industrial Next, and Satlyt. Apate deploys AI agents to lure scammers, Flox Intelligence uses edge devices to deter wildlife, Intero Biosystems develops multi‑cell intestinal organoids for drug testing, Industrial Next offers AI‑driven robotic stations that retool production lines in minutes, and Satlyt creates satellite‑based shared computing for space missions. The finals begin Thursday at 11:30 am PT, with the winner receiving [...]

Xbox has reportedly surveyed its player base about a potential shift to full exclusivity for all its games, except Call of Duty. The Windows Central‑shared survey asks fans whether they would switch hardware or skip titles if franchises like Fallout or Minecraft became exclusive to Xbox and PC. It also probes reactions to removing Minecraft from PlayStation and Nintendo while keeping existing copies. Xbox’s move follows recent exclusivity announcements for Gears of War and Clockwork Revolution, signaling [...]

WhatsApp announced a new feature that lets anyone join a voice or video call without a WhatsApp account. Users create a call link in the Calls tab, share it, and recipients open the URL in a web browser, enter a name and request to join. The host admits them, and the call supports up to 32 participants, preserving end‑to‑end encryption and core tools such as hand‑raising and screen sharing. Only account holders can generate links, but guests [...]

Apple has added its Detailed City Experience to Austin, Texas, ahead of the October 25 Formula 1 Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. The update includes Pixar‑style 3D graphics for the track, nearby attractions, and city landmarks such as the Apple Domain Northside, Black’s Barbecue, and the LBJ Presidential Library. Enhanced navigation data—grandstand locations, entry gates, rideshare pick‑ups, and pedestrian walkways—helps racegoers navigate the venue. A new Apple Maps Guide highlights Dylan Gossett’s Austin spots, adding local cultural [...]

Siloton, a Bristol‑based med‑tech start‑up, has been awarded an £8.4 million, two‑year Innovate UK contract to fast‑track development of its handheld GiraffeOCT retinal imaging system. The funding will support creation of both in‑clinic and at‑home versions, with clinical trials to be run at Sunderland Specialist Eye Hospital and economic analysis by the York Health Economics Consortium. Siloton expects the grant to cut the product timeline by up to two years, enable UK‑based manufacturing, and grow its staff to 16 [...]

Apple has expanded its Detailed City Experience to Austin, Texas, adding elevation data, building models, trees, road features, and landmarks such as the Texas Capitol, Q2 Stadium, Blanton Museum of Art, Paramount Theater, and Congress Avenue Bridge. The update improves driving and walking navigation, enhances CarPlay, and introduces a detailed Formula 1 experience for the Circuit of the Americas ahead of the United States Grand Prix. Users can access the new features immediately on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, [...]

NVIDIA announced the expansion of its CUDA-X library suite, adding cuPotential for accelerated atomic‑scale simulations, cuEST for electronic behavior modeling, and cuDSS for complex engineering calculations. The move targets AI‑defined fabs, where AI agents optimize manufacturing processes and improve yield. Early adopters such as Synopsys, Cadence, COMSOL, and Voltai report speedups ranging from 2‑3× to 30×, enabling faster digital twin testing before production changes. NVIDIA’s libraries aim to automate more engineering tasks across chip design and fabrication. [...]