Google is rolling out Android 17’s Motion Assist in phases in 2026, starting with some Pixel phones, to cut car motion sickness by using accelerometer/gyroscope data to move edge “dots” with vehicle motion. Users can tweak opacity, shapes, colors, and auto-activation via Quick Settings; it mirrors Apple’s Motion Cues (introduced in 2024).
Ox Alpha appeared on OpenRouter in August 2026 as a free, anonymous “stealth” reasoning model for coding and sustained agentic work, listed on a Thursday. Stripe CEO Patrick Collison called it “very impressive,” while Z.ai GLM and Microsoft MAI theories remain unconfirmed.
Bloomberg reports Apple cut more than 200 jobs in Aug. 2026 across Siri and Vision Pro, largely shutting a Vision Pro gaming team and shrinking immersive content work. Apple says the changes aim to evolve for better user experiences and add new roles.
Patreon announced a broad set of platform updates in August 2026, including a revamped discovery algorithm, new video tools, and enhanced security features aimed at improving the experience for both…
A hacker posing as an employee of a prominent cryptocurrency news website targeted multiple cybersecurity professionals in August 2026, using a fake conference invitation and a manipulated Google Doc…
Patreon rolled out 30 updates on Aug. 20, 2026, led by iOS Clips that convert videos into downloadable short clips or Quips, plus suggested preview tests from paid videos. It’s overhauling discovery using post-by-post topic, craft, style, and theme, alongside Niches communities and live Q&A.
HiLight Studio by X dev Dhananjay_Tech expands Pixel 11 Pro’s HiLight LED beyond Google’s 2026 defaults—Gemini face-down glow or favorite-call alerts, with only five colors. It adds triggers like Slack keyword notifications, rainbow/wave animations, per-cycle timing/brightness control, and import/export presets, but must be installed via GitHub sideloading (not Play Store).
Amazon announced in August 2026 that its AI-powered assistant, Alexa+, will roll out automatically to all compatible Fire TV devices in the United States at no cost — regardless of whether users hold…
Bloomberg (Aug 2026) reports hidden code in TikTok’s current U.S. iPhone app suggesting peer-to-peer DM payments: recipients “tap to accept,” senders attach messages like Venmo, using TikTok Pay. TikTok says it isn’t being tested, and Reuters (early 2026) noted a Brazil central bank fintech application.
Apple will replace its per‑install Core Technology Fee in the EU with a flat 5% commission, and detailed the update Tuesday after an August 2026 announcement. Standard in‑app purchase fees drop to 26% (from 30%); alternative payments cost 20% or 10% for qualifying programs, with a 12‑month payment lock, as the company responds to a €500M EU DMA fine.
Bluesky said an August 2026 DDoS flooded its servers with junk traffic for 24 hours, causing a day-long outage as it upgraded defenses and kept monitoring. Researchers at IFIN claim Iran-backed attackers took responsibility, following similar April 2026 traffic-flood outages.
Reddit started testing audio and video versions of popular posts on Aug. 18, 2026, in limited iOS/Android experiments across select English-language communities. Compatible posts get “read” or “play” options without changing the original text or comments; CEO Steve Huffman outlined it on the July 2026 Q2 earnings call to gauge usefulness and authenticity.
