These are the articles, videos and more that caught the attention of TechCentral’s editorial team in the past 24 hours.
- Hacked robot vacuums across the US started yelling slurs: It’s a tale as old as … the internet-of-things era. Robot vacuums made by Ecovacs have been reported roving around people’s homes, yelling profanities at them through the onboard speakers after the company’s software was found to be vulnerable to intrusion. More on Gizmodo. TS
- The American who waged a tech war on China: Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, has shifted from advocating free trade with China to strategically restricting access to advanced semiconductors, citing security concerns. Recently, he coordinated with Japan and the Netherlands to limit China’s tech capabilities, driven by fears of surveillance and military advancement under President Xi Jinping. Sullivan’s focus is now on maintaining US technological superiority. Read more on Wired. DM
- The woman who revolutionised the fantasy genre is finally getting her due: Judy-Lynn del Rey, a dwarfism-affected publishing icon, revolutionised fantasy and sci-fi by founding Del Rey Books. Known for taking risks, like acquiring Star Wars novel rights, she made fantasy mainstream with hits like The Sword of Shannara. Despite commercial success and numerous accolades, she was never nominated for a Hugo Award, though her impact on genre fiction remains undeniable. Read more on Gizmodo. DM
- Adobe’s AI video model is here, and it’s already inside Premiere Pro: Adobe’s new Firefly Video Model brings AI video generation to Premiere Pro, allowing users to extend clips and create videos from text or images. Current beta tools like Generative Extend offer small tweaks to footage, while Text-to-Video and Image-to-Video tools provide five-second clips at 720p. Firefly promises commercial safety, appealing to users wary of content rights issues in AI-generated media. Read more on The Verge. DM
- Mystery drones swarmed a US military base for 17 days. The Pentagon is stumped: For 17 days, mysterious drones flew over Langley Air Force Base, prompting military and federal agencies to investigate. Despite high-tech attempts to trace them, the drones vanished each night. Suspicion fell on Fengyun Shi, who was later arrested for flying drones near a Navy shipyard, but no direct links to the Langley incidents were found. The mystery remains unsolved. Read more in The Wall Street Journal (hard paywall). DM
- Countdown to mission hunting alien life on a distant moon: A spacecraft headed for Europa, a moon orbiting gas giant Jupiter to search for living organisms in the ocean beneath Europa’s icy surface has taken off from Florida. Europa is five times bigger than Earth’s moon and could harbour twice as much water as there is on Earth. Read more on BBC News. NN
- Apple headset stalls, struggles to attract killer apps in first year: Developers, developers, developers! That is the mantra Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Apple competitor Microsoft, once chanted incessantly at a Microsoft keynote. This was Ballmer’s way of communicating Microsoft’s understanding of how important the developer ecosystem is to making great products work. Now Apple is struggling to attract developers to create apps for its very expensive Vision Pro VR headset, threatening the product’s success. Read more in The Wall Street Journal (hard paywall). NN
- 13 camping gadgets you must have: As cool as that one Chuck Norris-like uncle who can light a match by striking it on his fingernail may be, modern camping gadgets are making the outdoor experience enjoyable without the need to evoke the inner caveman. From taking a hot shower to sleeping like a king, watch how new-age tech makes it possible in this video by Future Tech on YouTube. NN
- Google is preparing to let you run Linux apps on Android, just like Chrome OS: Although a lot of work can be done in a web browser these days, some tasks still require installing apps that aren’t available on Chrome OS, which is why Google lets you install Linux apps on your Chromebook. While there are ways to run some Linux apps on Android devices, all those methods have some limitations and aren’t officially supported by Google. Fortunately, though, Google is finally working on an official way to run Linux apps on Android. More on Android Authority. TS
Top stories on TechCentral in recent days:
- Eskom call for 36% price hike blamed on politics
- South African banks are too slow in embracing digital currencies
- Karpowership deal is dead
- Tesla Cybercab design puzzles experts
- Eskom marks 200 days without load shedding
Bookmarks is a daily feature on TechCentral and published Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.
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