Technology News

Customers in Australia and New Zealand who preordered Apple's PROLED MacBook Pro, OLED iPad mini, M6 MacBook Pro or M6 iMac started receiving them on Friday, November 6. The 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,899 and the 16-inch at $3,399, while the OLED iPad mini starts at $699. Australia is the first country where buyers can pick up the new products at an Apple retail location.

Perplexity has rolled out Teammates, always-on agents that take on multiple roles in a workspace and pull in projects, skills and memory from the Perplexity tools users already use. Teammates can perform different jobs simultaneously, and users can track their progress in the Perplexity app or interact with them in Slack. The feature requires the $200-a-month Max plan, which makes Perplexity's version much more expensive than OpenAI's Dots and Claude Duet.

OpenAI announced today that its new cybersecurity model, ChatGPT Cyber, will go to the top tier of users in its Daybreak Red program. The company said the same model had scanned Linux kernel code and found 948 potential issues, plus 81 novel vulnerabilities in Firefox. Max Justicz, co-founder and CTO of Charge Robotics, said GPT 5.6 Sol found a severe Ubuntu server vulnerability in two hours, and he spent about $5,000 on subscriptions and tokens.

OpenAI consumer product lead Adam Fry told a press event on Monday that search queries run through ChatGPT now equal 20 percent of the volume run through Google. Fry defined a search as any query that triggers a web search, and he did not say where the Google volume figure came from. For comparison, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said during Google's 2023 antitrust trial that Bing held about 3 percent of the search engine market share.

The French Blood Establishment (EFS) said hackers affected cold rooms storing blood, with temperatures set to rise, but staff intervened to protect supplies. Until now only supermarkets were known to have been hit by the freezer hacks. Russian hacktivist groups Noname057(16) and Z-Pentest Alliance reportedly claimed responsibility on Telegram, but their posts have since been deleted and the claims are met with scepticism.

Microsoft said on Tuesday it was 'raising the bar' for machines with only 8 GB of memory, with Windows 11 keeping up to 2 GB more active data in RAM. It says such a machine will be up to 20 percent more responsive and 40 percent faster at multitasking. Pavan Davuluri, Microsoft's EVP of Windows and devices, wrote that 8 GB suits everyday tasks, while 3D modeling and advanced video editing benefit from 16 GB or more.

Binance suffered a $6.3 billion hack last Thursday, and CEO Richard Teng told CNBC on Tuesday that the company has replenished 98% of $6.34 billion in affected assets. Tether, Circle and Ripple moved to freeze about $3 billion in stolen assets. Morgan Stanley analyst Felix Stratmann said repeated breaches could push investors toward independent custody. Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume.

Nobel prize-winning computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton told the Guardian that a large-scale incident, such as a temporary blackout of financial or power systems, could occur this year or next. Hinton, 78, said within a decade, possibly sooner, humanity will know whether it can manage AI risks and achieve "radical abundance". He said he did not trust OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman "at all", accusing AI leaders of taking risks because "they'd rather have the money".

US bank State Street said on the first day of the Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit in Hong Kong that artificial intelligence uses in finance are expected to 'multiply' in the coming years. It stressed that 'responsible deployment' is vital as the industry confronts daunting potential security risks. Executives from leading firms including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were among those at the summit.

Apple is letting Siri use the Apple Watch microphone in the watchOS 27.3 developer beta, which is rolling out now. Live Rewind shows the last 15 seconds of conversation as text after a double-press of the Digital Crown, while Siri Recap creates a title and key points in the new Siri app after a conversation. Apple's Audio Intelligence Privacy Overview says raw audio "is handled within dedicated hardware, is not saved as a file, and is not accessible to the operating system, apps, or Apple.

The PC gaming mods repository Nexus Mods announced today that authors must declare whether AI was used. AI-assisted mods must also carry a public explanation of how and where AI was used. Site owner Victor "Foledinho" Folmann said the platform will not ban AI-generated mods outright. Authors have 60 days to update existing mods before enforcement begins January 2nd.

Google is making it easier for schools to restrict its A.I. tools for students, but schools that block A.I. entirely will lose student access to Google's search engine. The move follows outrage from elected officials over Google turning off search at schools that ban AI. The company said search can be turned back on with AI Overviews.

Apple announced developers can now integrate Siri AI's new features in 'all apps' as part of the iOS 27.3 update rolling out on Tuesday. The update adds an 'app skills' feature that lets third-party developers combine several tasks into one action. Apple says users won't need to name an app in requests made while it is in the foreground or during a Live Activity.

Many indie developers have posted on social media about unexpectedly long Steam review waits, with some missing planned launches. Studio Daimon submitted the build for Food Devils on October 12th and was still awaiting approval, game director Alfred Kamon said. Publisher 2 Left Thumbs said in October it missed its Wheel Make It launch "by nearly two weeks," while Kamon suspects AI "slop" is clogging the review queue.

Apple announced on Monday new App Store age rating descriptors that will require developers to declare location sharing and dating or romantic features, including those with virtual companions. Apps with dating and relationship features will receive a minimum age rating of 18, while location-sharing apps may see rating changes in some regions depending on local regulations. The new questionnaire starts November 16, and all apps must complete the declarations by January 12, 2027.

Apple has unveiled a MacBook Pro with a PROLED XDR display and touch functionality, with sales starting November 6. A full configuration, including an M5 Max chip, 128 GB RAM and 16TB storage, can cost up to Rs 18.78 lakh in India, according to the article. The article compares that price with compact SUVs such as the Citroen Basalt X, priced from Rs 8.55 lakh to Rs 13.90 lakh.

Apple will ask developers new questions in App Store Connect, its web-based management platform, so that age ratings reflect app content, and the new descriptors appear on November 16. Apps declared to have dating or relationship content will get a minimum 18+ rating and will be hidden from under-18 users whose parents have set app content restrictions. Developers must answer both questions for all their apps by January 12, 2027.

CRISPR Therapeutics said Casgevy revenue reached $99 million in the third quarter of 2026, up 30% quarter-over-quarter. That was nearly six times the figure for the third quarter of 2025. Casgevy was also approved in the U.K. for children 5 years of age and older with severe SCD or TDT.

Raspberry Pi has added $80 to its 16GB Pi 5, which now sells for $385, company boss Eben Upton announced. The 16GB Compute Module 5 variants rose $40, while the Raspberry Pi 500+ was spared. Upton blamed soaring memory costs and a lack of alternative 16GB DRAM supply, and the model cost $120 at its January 2025 launch. Buyers now pay $265 more than less than two years ago, a 221 percent rise.

Apple CEO John Ternus said on Monday he was "thrilled" by early demand for the $1,999 iPhone Duo, which sold out just over a week after its release. COO Sabhi Kahn told analysts on a results call that supply constraints on advanced-node chips from TSMC are expected to last into next year. Apple reported iPhone sales up 17% to $57bn in the three months to 26 September, a period that excluded Duo sales.