Tech News - Page 45

Amazon has launched three Alexa Tablets that run Android with full Google Play Store access and its Alexa+ assistant built in. Prices, UK shipping date, the opt-in screen-reading feature, and which claims are Amazon's own.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it has received the first part of Blue Energy's phased construction permit application for a single BWRX-300 reactor at the Port of Victoria, Texas, including a request for limited early work. It is an application, not an approval. Here is what the notice says and what happens next.

Google Cloud has announced the Gemini agent, a single agent for knowledge work, media and code that can spin up sub-agents and "coworker" agents with their own identities. The Financial Services and Legal versions are in preview; Google gave no general-availability date. What it does, how Google says it is fenced in, and what is still unproven.

Three agent-security stories from 8 October. Zenity says one prompt to an exposed AWS AgentCore agent could lead to control of every agent in the same account and region, and AWS disputes it. Claude Code adds an option that blocks an action when a safety hook fails. Cisco Talos finds malware that writes to AI analysts. What each shows, and what it does not.

Neutron is Rocket Lab's reusable medium-lift rocket, built to carry up to 13,000 kg to low Earth orbit. It has not flown. Rocket Lab's own August filing says the window for a launch this year "is narrowing". What the rocket is, how it is designed, and where it stands.

An unreleased "Additional sandbox options" setting found in Google's Gemini desktop app for Mac would let the AI reach files, apps and network connections beyond the folders users connect today. It is hidden, unconfirmed by Google and arrives just as Apple is tightening Full Disk Access.

At the White House's "Science: A New Golden Age" summit on 8 October, six technology leaders received the US's top science and technology honours. What the two medals are, how winners are normally chosen, and why the choice of tech chief executives is drawing attention.

Samsung's third-quarter guidance points to about ₩107.4 trillion in operating profit on ₩195 trillion of sales, up from ₩12.17 trillion a year ago, with AI data-centre memory demand credited. AWS becomes a Platinum member of the Linux Foundation, with a board seat. What the numbers say and what they leave out.

DARPA has moved Atom Computing, Diraq, IBM and IonQ into the final, hands-on stage of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, and says it increasingly expects a useful quantum computer by 2033. UK trapped-ion firm Universal Quantum has raised more than $100m, IonQ claims big speed-ups for error-corrected operations in simulations, and a peer-reviewed Cornell paper shows a full gate set on a qubit that partly tolerates its main error. Plus a Jülich preprint and Infineon's ion-trap chips. What each confirms, and what is only claimed.

A GAO audit found none of 24 major US agencies had fully done three basic steps to prepare for quantum-safe encryption, and only one had a complete inventory of vulnerable systems. The same day, Chrome 155 gave web developers built-in post-quantum algorithms and OpenSSH 10.6 added quantum-resistant login signatures; Surfshark says its WireGuard VPN is now post-quantum for authentication too. What each means, and why quantum-safe website certificates are a separate, later job.