Apps

Photo: United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Judge Blocks Trump Plan to Strip Immigrant Permits

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from stripping work permits from tens of thousands of asylum seekers and TPS holders, keeping enforcement paused as lawsuits challenge the new immigration rules tied to the 2025 Tax and Spending Act. The ruling, issued in Boston, could shape whether USCIS can implement employment and fee changes for TPS and asylum cases, with a longer-term decision due by August 5.

6 sources

Photo: Fritzober / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

Instagram introduces Replace Audio for old posts

Instagram introduced a “Replace Audio” feature that lets users swap the music on published posts and carousels without losing likes, comments, shares, or reach, giving creators ongoing control to refresh content and align with trends. The rollout follows a series of creator-focused updates and ongoing push to address past feature criticisms by offering small but useful tools for content growth.

12 sources

Meta plans Threads parental controls rollout in US

Meta is rolling out parental supervision tools for Threads via Family Center, letting parents see teen time spent, set daily limits, enforce sleep hours, and manage privacy and tagging for their teens. The expansion, prompted by regulatory scrutiny and lawsuits over teen safety, targets roughly 500 million monthly users with a US-first rollout and a global rollout by year’s end.

14 sources

Photo: FirstWeek FlipPhone / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Light Flip to Ship April 2027 With No Camera

Light is launching the Light Flip, a minimalist flip-phone with a 2.8-inch internal display, no exterior screen, a T9 keypad, and LightOS aimed at reducing smartphone distractions while preserving essential features like calls, texts, and voice-to-text. Priced at $299 with 128GB of storage, 6GB RAM, 5G, USB-C, a 3.5mm jack, six colors, and a paid option of $39/month for a two-year plan, it targets Gen Z and millennials seeking a non-smartphone lifestyle and is slated to ship in 2027.

20 sources

Photo: Artem Katranzhi from Bakashikha, Russia / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

MiG-29 destroyed at Kursk airfield, Ukraine says

Ukraine’s General Staff says the 15th Separate Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade “Black Forest” struck Khalino airfield in Kursk Oblast, destroying a MiG-29 and a Pantsir-S1 system as part of a broader campaign to degrade Russia’s air defenses and military infrastructure; officials indicated ongoing, systematic strikes and released video of the operation. Other reported targets that night included radar sites, drone depots, and logistics facilities, underscoring Kyiv’s aim to curb Russian attacks and sustain pressure on the frontline.

7 sources

Gritt funding reaches $34M to automate solar farms

Gritt, a startup founded by Carnegie Mellon engineers, has raised $34 million to develop AI-powered robotics that can operate on outdoor solar-farm construction sites, aiming to speed installations and alleviate labor shortages in the rapid solar rollout. By leveraging off-the-shelf hardware like rented robotic arms, Gritt’s AI systems automate the loading and precise placement of solar panels, potentially dramatically increasing daily installation throughput.

5 sources

Samsung establishes RX Office to advance robotics

Samsung is establishing the RX (Robotics eXperience) Business Promotion Office, reporting directly to the CEO, to unify dispersed robotics capabilities and push robotics as a core growth driver across consumer and industrial domains. It will build a data factory at the Gumi plant, create global research hubs in the US, China, and Japan, recruit leading talent, and coordinate mid- to long-term strategy, technology development, and commercialization to accelerate field deployment of intelligent robots.

23 sources

Photo: Striker9498 / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

Samsung Galaxy Card debuts in US

Samsung, in partnership with Barclays and Visa, is launching the Samsung Galaxy Card as its first US credit card integrated into Samsung Wallet to streamline payments and financing for Samsung devices, with no annual fee and tiered cash back including 5% on Samsung purchases plus bonuses for using Samsung Wallet and streaming services. The rollout, timed around Samsung’s Unpacked event and set to begin July 22, expands digital-wallet native cards in the US and marks Barclays’ continued foray into such partnerships.

14 sources

Photo: U.S. Air Force / Trevor Cokley / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

X Rebuilds Android App After Year-Long Overhaul

X released a rebuilt Android app after nearly a year of work, built from scratch to significantly improve loading, scrolling, and notifications, and it now coincides with the launch of standalone X Money and X Chat apps. While most core improvements are in place, some features remain under development—such as Spaces support and optimization for older devices—with ongoing plans to roll out additional features to Android to expand global reach.

10 sources

Natural Raises $30M to Rebuild AI Agent Payments

Natural raised $30 million in a Series A to build payments infrastructure for AI agents, enabling autonomous payments and positioning itself to challenge Stripe. The round drew lead investor Forerunner and other tech founders, fueling development of the platform’s wallets, payments, and related tools for agentic finance.

6 sources

Photo: Emily J. Higgins / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Vance Defends Michelle Obama Remark, Backlash Grows

Vice President JD Vance said the backlash to Josh Hokit's Michelle Obama remark at a White House UFC event was totally disproportionate to the comment itself, arguing that outrage culture is harming politics. He framed the incident within the White House setting and broader debates over humor, media reaction, and political rhetoric, noting criticism from UFC chief Dana White and some Trump supporters.

5 sources

Photo: Apple Inc. / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Apple plans Maps ads rollout in US, Canada

Apple is rolling out Maps ads with a selective, 'organic-looking' approach, banning broad home-services categories and certain high-risk industries while evaluating medical ads case-by-case, signaling a focus on trusted, physically visitable locations as it delays a formal launch to this summer in the U.S. and Canada with a policy effective July 14, 2026. The strategy contrasts with Google’s Local Services Ads by prioritizing ad quality and brand safety over rapid expansion, aiming to simplify verification and reduce friction for advertisers.

15 sources

Photo: Ralf1969 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Chief Engineer Killed, Officials Say

Russian authorities say a Ukrainian drone strike killed Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant chief engineer Aleksandr Yakovlev and the driver, with Rosatom urging a prompt IAEA response and condemning the attack. The plant has been under Russian control since 2022, with all reactors reportedly shut down for safety; Ukraine offered no immediate public comment on the incident.

7 sources

Photo: SWinxy / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

Thinking Machines Inkling Open-Weights AI for Enterprise

Thinking Machines Lab unveiled Inkling, a 975-billion-parameter open-weight model led by Mira Murati, designed for enterprise customization with downloadable weights and a Tinker platform for fine-tuning; it uses a mixture-of-experts architecture to balance efficiency and task-specific performance while signaling uncertainty. The company positions Inkling as a flexible alternative to closed models from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, and as a competitive option against Chinese open models.

16 sources

Photo: Brian Wong / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Microsoft patches critical Age II RCE

Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday included a fix for a critical vulnerability in the remastered Age of Empires II that could let an attacker take remote control via a malicious game invite, though no exploits have been publicly reported. The updates, aided by AI from Microsoft and researchers, address a record number of bugs and underscore ongoing cybersecurity risks in gaming platforms, with Rapid7 detailing the CVE-2026-50663 entry and the need for users to apply patches.

8 sources

Google Images Launches Pinterest-Style Redesign with AI

Google Images is undergoing a Pinterest-style redesign that turns the site into a browsable, real-time gallery with personalized collections, while also adding built-in AI image generation in AI Overviews to support prompt-based creation. The updates are part of a broader 25th-anniversary overhaul that emphasizes discovery and staying within Google’s ecosystem for image inspiration.

9 sources

Switch plans $10B IPO with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan

Switch is lining up an IPO that could raise up to $10 billion and value the company at about $80 billion including debt, with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase as lead underwriters and a potential fourth-quarter listing. The move highlights robust demand for AI infrastructure and data-center capacity, as Switch serves major clients and expands its role in the AI compute ecosystem.