Perplexity has released Photon, an in-house Rust retrieval and ranking engine that now handles all production search traffic and powers a new Fast Search mode. Perplexity reports p99 retrieval and ranking latency fell from about 800 ms to about 65 ms, while Fast Search costs about 68% less than the default preset but scores slightly lower.
Russian overnight drone and missile attacks hit Kyiv’s communications, data-center and energy infrastructure, with debris reported at a Western embassy. NATO condemned Moscow’s nuclear rhetoric over Kaliningrad as Poland raised its alert level.
Manus released Manus 2.0 and Cue, giving personal agents email, phone numbers, wallets and computers, while 2Do rolled out a rebuilt task manager with modern UI and new sync tools.
TP-Link has begun selling the Archer 8 Ultra, the first Wi-Fi 8 router, in the UK, Australia, Germany and other markets. UK preorders cost £669.99 before rising to £899.99, though no Wi-Fi 8 client devices are available yet.
Facer redesigned its Android and iOS watch face store, adding curated tabs and Timex, Sonic and Angry Birds partners.
At ECCV 2026 and in tests reported on September 30, researchers and companies moved AI beyond visual recognition: NVIDIA generated missing audio and manipulation data, GPT-6 Astra controlled a Unitree G1 and a gimbal, while office agents exposed the gap between execution and judgment.
Android Authority teardowns of Google Photos 7.95 show work-in-progress tools to regenerate AI wardrobe images, add outfits without resetting the wardrobe, and delete all Ask Photos Remember List entries.
WONE combines psychometrics, wearables and AI coaching to track workplace stress continuously and prevent burnout.
BMW has unveiled the eighth-generation 3 Series, codenamed G50, with a new design language and cabin while keeping a longitudinal engine, rear-drive basis and an inline-six in the M350.
SMGCommunity has fully decompiled Super Mario Galaxy, the first Wii game to reach 100 percent decompilation, while Luma's Workshop says an unofficial PC port called AstroCore is already in development.
A Copernicus ocean state report says the world's seas absorbed a record 23 zettajoules of heat last year, driving sea-level rise, acidification, marine heatwaves and damage to coral reefs and plankton.
Which? says menopause supplements costing up to £485 a year lack key nutrients and are no better than a £22 multivitamin.
On September 30, 2026, advances in robot-free training data, physics-aware video generation and large-scale agent sandboxes were disclosed by teams in China and the U.S., alongside new claims about high-degree-of-freedom dexterous hands.
A QbitAI ROBO review of 36 listed robot-related companies in A-share and Hong Kong markets shows humanoid revenue is emerging at a few firms, while most remain far from stable profits and cash flow as regulators reportedly slow some humanoid IPOs.
A Leiphone report says Chinese visuotactile sensor makers reject the idea that their technology is simply a camera plus silicone, pointing to materials, calibration, durability, frame rates and data-model integration as hard barriers.
Samsung rolls out September 2026 security patch to Galaxy S24 series and S24 FE, fixing 90 issues but not adding stable One UI 9.
AI Greta Garbo stars in SKF ball-bearings ad; estate weighs AI film role, The Guardian reports.
UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy said banning under-16s from high-risk social media is only a 'staging post' and pledged a more active state role in policing online spaces, according to The Guardian.
TechRadar reports the Philips Baristina coffee machine is now AU$359 in Australia, AU$60 below the AU$419 price its writer had already called the coffee machine deal of the year.
Amazon Prime Big Deal Days 2026 discounts Garmin devices in Australia, led by 50% off the Epix Pro (Gen 2) Sapphire Edition at AU$829, according to TechRadar.
A Sept. 30 article on Shaoshupai's Matrix describes a family's seven-day National Day road trip from Shanxi to Henan, planned with Xiaohongshu's AI assistant Diandian and local AI agents, while stressing human verification before final decisions.
A new Exeter exhibition explores fungi's cultural world, with music generated from the electricity fungi emit.
Android 17 QPR2 Beta 6.1 adds message support to the Pixel 11 Pro's HiLight LED, making it glow twice for messages from favorite contacts. The beta is available now, with a stable release expected in December.
Tech workers in San Francisco calling themselves DrivingBench connected GPT-6 Astra, Claude Fable 5.1, Grok 4.6 and GPT-5.6 Sol to a Toyota Corolla and let them steer, accelerate and brake on a cone course. Only GPT-6 Astra completed it, according to a Slashdot report citing 404 Media.