Meta has blinked. The new business terms that news publishers say would let it crawl their websites for free won't take effect on 30 October after all.
Latest in Tech
Canva launches Craft, its first home-grown image model
Canva released Craft, its first in-house image generation model, on 22 October. It makes 2K images in more than 30 aspect ratios and is open to all users.Disney hires most of Character.AI's staff in bankruptcy deal
Disney is paying US$20 million for a licence to Character.AI's tech and about US$180 million over three years for the staff it hired.Neuralink's 50,000-hour brain model shortens calibration
Neuralink says pretraining on 50,000 hours of trial brain data shrank some users' calibration to 10 minutes a week and set an 11.32 bps cursor record.Schwab and JPMorgan join sites locking out AI agents
Schwab's CEO says AI agents like Meta's Muse won't get into client accounts, joining JPMorgan, Amazon, Delta and Yelp. The Verge tallied it on 17 October.iPhone Duo sells out, Apple shipping slips to 25 January
Apple's US$1,999 iPhone Duo sold out within 30 minutes of pre-orders opening on 16 October. New Apple US store orders won't ship until 25 January 2027.Meta's Muse Spark Open runs on Apple Mac Studios via MLX
Meta's 816 billion parameter open model runs on two or four M5 Ultra Mac Studios using Apple's MLX. No cloud needed, but the hardware bill is steep.Apple TV 4K (4th generation) brings Siri AI for A$449
Apple's new Apple TV 4K costs A$449, ships 13 November and adds far-field mics and an A19 chip. Siri AI also comes in beta to older 4K boxes.Apple HomeView hub opens preorders ahead of a November launch
Apple opened HomeView preorders on 13 October at US$299, with availability from 13 November for the 7-inch home display.Google Fitbit Edge brings a screen and a replaceable battery
Google's Fitbit Edge is a US$179.99 tracker with a bigger screen, GPS and Fitbit's first replaceable battery. Preorders are open and it ships 27 October.Korean banks got an AI hacking warning weeks before breaches
South Korea's Financial Security Institute showed bank staff an AI agent hack on 17 September. Within two weeks, seven financial firms had been breached.Amazon launches Alexa Tablets with Alexa+ and Google Play
Amazon's Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, 11 and 8 open for preorder from US$229.99, with Alexa+ and Google Play, shipping 14 October.Telstra's Aura fibre now runs Perth to Sydney: what it means
Telstra switched on the Perth to Sydney route of its Aura fibre network on 7 October. Here's what Aura is, who's buying it and what it costs.Telstra, Optus and TPG launch disaster roaming for the regions
Temporary Disaster Roaming went live on 1 October. Telstra, Optus and TPG customers can use a rival's network in regional disasters at no extra cost.Bose buys FMOD maker Firelight Technologies of Melbourne
Bose said on 1 October it's bought Firelight Technologies, the Melbourne maker of FMOD game audio tools. FMOD stays open and supported. Terms are private.Facebook groups and Meta's Forum app test a top voices role
Meta said on 29 September it's testing a top community voices role in Facebook groups and new AI answers in its Forum app. The role replaces old badges.Amazon redesigns the Kindle with flush screens and aluminium
Amazon's redesigned Kindle, Paperwhite and Colorsoft arrived on 1 October. The base Kindle's on sale in Australia now from A$279.vivo takes its X Fold6 foldable global with a 6,900 mAh battery
vivo launched its X Fold6 foldable outside China on 30 September. It packs 6,900 mAh into a 4.4 mm body, and Basic Tutorials says it's €2,199 in Germany.Amazon's new Fire TV Stick 4K can run off your TV's USB port
Amazon's new Fire TV Stick 4K went on sale on 30 September. It runs off a TV's USB port and costs A$129 in Australia, Digital Reviews Network reports.Shopify's Canvas builds an online store by chat with Sidekick
Shopify launched Canvas on 1 October. Merchants can now design a whole online store by chatting with its Sidekick AI agent and watching it change live.
