• Mercedes-Benz S-Class getting AMG-style flat-plane crank V8 in 2026 overhaul

    January 14, 2026

    A significantly updated Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan will reportedly be revealed this year, powered by a more powerful V8 petrol engine the automaker has confirmed will use a flat-plane crankshaft. The new engine is part of what Mercedes-Benz describes as the “most extensive update in one generation”. According to Autocar, the current seventh-generation S-Class is set to receive a major overhaul in the coming weeks, including an updated exterior design, a substantially upgraded cabin, and the aforementioned V8 engine. A flat-plane crankshaft not only gives an internal combustion engine (ICE) a distinctive timbre, but also offers performance advantages such as reduced…

  • Anker’s Solix E10 battery backup can power your entire house in a blackout

    January 14, 2026

    Anker is going up against Tesla in the home battery backup segment with Solix E10 that promises “whole-home backup” at an affordable price. The system delivers enough power to handle heavy-duty air conditioners and other high-power appliances in the event of a blackout. It also claims that the E10 supports DIY-friendly installation thanks to the stackable, plug-and-play design. Each Anker Solix E10 unit can deliver up to 37.2kW of surge power and stacking two boosts that to 66kW. It also comes with a “turbo output” mode that can output 10kW per unit for 90 minutes maximum. That level of power,…

  • Superorganism raises $25M to back biodiversity startups

    January 14, 2026

    Superorganism launched in 2023 as what it claims is the first venture capital firm focused on biodiversity, aiming to serve as the conservationist on the cap table for nature-friendly startups. Now, the firm has closed its first fund, securing $25.9 million in capital commitments from Cisco Foundation, AMB Holdings, and Builders Vision, among others, along with individuals like Jeff Jordan, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Superorganism backs companies across three categories: tech that slows or reverses extinction, startups that operate at the intersection of climate and biodiversity, and tools that enable conservationists to do their work more effectively. The firm…

  • Apple bundles creative apps such as Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro into a single subscription

    January 14, 2026

    Apple has been putting more onus on its services for the past several years — the company makes tens of billions of dollars in revenue from that side of the business, which it claimed had a record year in 2025. Apple is nudging a little more in that direction with a new subscription bundle called Apple Creator Studio. This allows creators to pay a single fee ($13 per month or $129 per year) to use Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor and MainStage. Subscribers will get access to “premium content” in Pages, Keynote and Numbers (as well…

  • ElevenLabs CEO says the voice AI startup crossed $330M ARR last year

    January 14, 2026

    ElevenLabs, the AI voice-generation startup, crossed $330 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), CEO Mati Staniszewski said in an interview with Bloomberg. “Really, what this [growth in ARR] shows is that trajectory across the company. We started the company in 2022 and launched the first product in 2023. It took us 20 months to reach $100 million in ARR, 10 months to reach $200 million, and five months to reach the current number,” he said. Staniszewski mentioned that both Fortune 500 companies and startups are adopting its voice agent technology, which uses company data and knowledge bases to power customer…

  • Meta refocuses on AI hardware as metaverse layoffs begin

    January 14, 2026

    As we expected, Meta has begun laying off more than 1,000 employees from its Reality Labs division, which focused on virtual reality and metaverse products, Bloomberg reports. The company will refocus on developing wearables, like its recent batch of AI-powered Ray-Ban smart glasses, according to a memo from CTO Andrew Bosworth. The news isn’t too surprising. Reality Labs has lost more than $70 billion since the beginning of 2021, and while Meta has done a solid job of delivering desirable consumer VR headsets and smart glasses, that business hasn’t been nearly profitable enough to justify the cost. And of course,…

  • Doctors think AI has a place in healthcare — but maybe not as a chatbot

    January 14, 2026

    Dr. Sina Bari, a practicing surgeon and AI healthcare leader at data company iMerit, has seen firsthand how ChatGPT can lead patients astray with faulty medical advice. “I recently had a patient come in, and when I recommended a medication, they had a dialogue printed out from ChatGPT that said this medication has a 45% chance of pulmonary embolism,” Dr. Bari told TechCrunch.  When Dr. Bari investigated further, he found that the statistic was from a paper about the impact of that medication in a niche subgroup of people with tuberculosis, which didn’t apply to his patient.  And yet, when…

  • Ford Bronco RTR: Raptor-inspired off-roader more forbidden fruit for Australia

    January 14, 2026

    The Ford Bronco RTR is yet more proof the Blue Oval has a big off-roader-shaped hole in its local lineup. Revealed today, the RTR is a new member of the Bronco off-road SUV family, which Ford says delivers “Raptor-inspired high-speed capability with a lower starting price than Badlands Sasquatch”. For context, the Badlands is an “extreme off-roading” variant of the body-on-frame off-roader, while the Sasquatch package brings a higher ride height, more sophisticated automatic four-wheel drive system, and a different final drive ratio, among other changes. RTR Vehicles, meanwhile, is perhaps best known as a tuner of Mustangs, but has…

  • reMarkable E Ink tablet bundles are up to $90 off right now

    January 14, 2026

    E Ink tablet maker reMarkable is running a that can save you between $80 and $90 when buying a reMarkable 2 along with a Marker stylus and a folio case. The savings vary depending on the bundle you configure, but this can bring your out-the-door cost down to $449 from $529 for the tablet, Marker stylus and polymer weave book folio. reMarkable The company also sells a newer stylus called Marker Plus that lets you erase by flipping it around just like a real pencil, but that will cost you an extra $50. If you’ve been eyeing a dedicated writing…

  • Man to plead guilty to hacking US Supreme Court filing system

    January 14, 2026

    A resident of Springfield, Tennessee, is expected to plead guilty to hacking the U.S. Supreme Court’s electronic document filing system dozens of times over several months.  Prosecutors say between August and October 2023, Nicholas Moore, 24, “intentionally accessed a computer without authorization on 25 different days and thereby obtained information from a protected computer,” according to a court document.  As of this writing, there aren’t any more details about exactly what information Moore accessed, nor how it was accessed. Moore is scheduled to plead guilty in court by video link on Friday. When reached, a spokesperson for the U.S. District Court…