Apple has announced a dizzying array of products this year, though none more central to its business than

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Twitter is threatening Meta with a lawsuit after the blockbuster launch of Meta's new Twitter rival, Threads — in perhaps the clearest sign yet that Twitter views the app as a competitive threat.

Some of the world’s biggest corporate consumers of air travel are investing in cleaner jet fuel, using a

Huawei Technologies Co. is conspiring with the Chinese government to “wrongfully dominate” the market for telecom equipment by

Twitter has broken after seemingly being hit by an unusual bug. Some users were unable to log in or get online at all. But those who were could see something more strange: tweets displaying as if they were posted in 1970, and various posts refusing to load.

Researchers have invented a new battery that they claim could have profound implications for the future of energy storage and renewable technologies. The lithium-based redox-flow battery, developed by a team at the University of Cincinnati, could prove crucial for wind and solar operations, where large-scale batteries are needed to store energy during times of overproduction and release it when production drops off. “Energy generation and energy consumption is always mismatched,” said Jimmy Jiang, who led the research at the University of Cincinnati. “That’s why it’s important to have a device that can store that energy temporarily and release it when it’s needed.” The novel design removes the membrane that separates the positive and negative sides of the battery, which is one of the most expensive parts of this type of battery and has previously hindered development. The membrane-free battery exhibited high voltage and energy density that could potentially meet the demands of large-scale green energy operations at an economically viable cost for the first time. “This design significantly decreases material costs,” said Soumalya Sinha, a visiting professor at the University of Cincinnati who was involved in the research. “We’re trying to achieve the same performance at a cheaper cost.” The team has submitted patent applications for the design, which Dr Jiang said will herald a “battery revolution” within the next 20 years. “I am confident about that,” he said. “There is a lot of intense research going into pushing the boundaries of battery performance.” The research was detailed in a paper, titled ‘Development of high-voltage and high-energy membrane-free nonaqueous lithium-based organic redox flow batteries’, published in the journal Nature Communications. Read More Volcano discovery could power electric cars for decades, scientists say

Beats has launched a new version of its Studio Pro over-ear headphones, with a host of updates. The Studio headphones were Beats’ first product, launched 15 years ago. Since then, the company has been acquired by Apple and undergone a host of changes – and now released a new version of the Studio Pro. They include a new look as well as changes on the inside. The new headphones include better sound, adaptive noise cancellation and transparency modes, personalised spatial audio, better battery life, lossless audio and better performance on calls, Apple said. “When Beats approached me to bring a new design language to the Studio Pro, my goal was to retain the integrity of the design while creating a more sophisticated look and feel that compliments all of the technological advancements,” said Samuel Ross, Beats Principal Design Consultant. “The result is the perfect blend of design culture, creative culture, and engineering coming together.” Beats has also added new leather cushions to the ears, which it calls “UltraPlush”. Those should make the headphones more comfortable through the day, it said. The sound has also ben improved, with new components that reduce distortion at high volumes by up to 80 per cent. As with many Beats products, the headphones bring a range of features best known from Apple. They include spatial audio, for instance, which can be boosted by using an iPhone to examine your ears to customise the sound. But it also offers extra Android compatibility, too. They include fast pairing on Android and Chrome devices and the ability to switch between them, as well as compatibility with Google’s Find My Device app. Beats Studio Pro will go on sale from 10 August, for £349.99 – £200 cheaper than the now almost three year old AirPods Max made by Apple. The new Beats are available in four colours and available from Apple. Read More Rare ‘Holy Grail’ iPhone sells for almost $200,000 Apple’s next iPhone may include new battery technology, report suggests Apple launches huge new payment upgrade for iPhone

An Indian court on Friday fined Twitter $61,000 after dismissing its plea challenging orders to remove tweets and accounts critical of Prime...

By Lisa Baertlein LOS ANGELES Logistics startup Flexport on Tuesday unveiled services to make it easier for small

Amazon is adding the same kind of brain that powers ChatGPT into Alexa. The new technology is intended to allow the virtual assistant to be more powerful and able to speak with its owners in more natural conversations. The announcement were part of a wide array of new devices launched by Amazon this week. It also revealed new tablets and Echos, including those with screens, as well as plans to use generative artificial intelligence to create art to show on those screens. Every year, Amazon announces a number of Alexa devices, which have in the past included everything from soundbars to microwaves. This year, much of its focus was on artificial intelligence. While Alexa was one of the first virtual assistants of its kind to go mainstream, Amazon has lagged behind rivals such as Microsoft and Google in integrating new large language models into those systems. The sudden rise of such technology has sparked greater scrutiny of AI from regulators, given its explosion into general use and concerns over its potential impact on human life as well as industry, jobs and education. During a live event to unveil its latest range of Alexa-powered devices, Amazon looked to reaffirm its position as a market leader in AI by showing off an update to the assistant that will allow for more natural conversations with Alexa, rather than just the transactional request fulfilment it currently runs on. In a live demonstration of Alexa’s new large language model (LLM), Amazon devices boss Dave Limp showed how the new version of the assistant will be able to be more expressive in its responses - for example sounding happier when returning a positive sporting result for a user’s favoured team. Based within a new section of the service called “Let’s Chat”, Alexa will respond without the use of a wake word first, be able to pick up a conversation after a break and still understand the context, as well as understand inferences and more vague prompts in a way that Limp said is “like talking to a friend”. For example, the new Alexa will respond to the prompt “I’m cold” by turning on the heating in a connected home. Amazon has not confirmed a general release date for the new version of Alexa, instead focusing on an early preview programme in the US to try out the new capabilities among some users. Technology expert Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, said it was “little surprise” to see Amazon discussing the power of its AI assistant in this way. “It undoubtedly knows that it needs to keep pace with rivals such as Google and Microsoft so articulating what it is doing in this area was essential for this event,” he said. “The upgraded way to talk to Alexa certainly makes it a more personal experience but success will depend on Amazon being able to get consumers to engage with the Echo devices in a very different way to the transactional and basic requests used today. “Some users may find it a little intimidating, but if successful it could make interactions a lot more conversational.” Elsewhere at its hardware event, Amazon unveiled a string of new hardware products, including several new Alexa-powered Echo smart speakers and smart home hubs, as well as new Fire tablets and updated Fire TV Stick devices. Read More Neuralink’s monkeys may have died due to brain implants contrary to Musk’s claims Facebook changes logo to ‘make F stand apart’ – but can you tell the difference? What is ‘Rumble’, where Russell Brand is posting videos? Neuralink’s monkeys may have died due to brain implants contrary to Musk’s claims Facebook changes logo to ‘make F stand apart’ – but can you tell the difference? What is ‘Rumble’, where Russell Brand is posting videos?