Month: September 2026

DeepSeek V4.1-Flash is now available: 1M-token context

DeepSeek just shipped DeepSeek V4.1-Flash. The headline items are a 1 million-token context window and, if DeepSeek’s numbers hold up, less overhead when you’re running very long contexts.

DeepSeek says the model uses 890 bytes of global KV cache per token. That’s about 4x smaller than DeepSeek V4-Flash and 437x smaller than DeepSeek V1. The model sits on a 552 billion-parameter backbone, plus 196 billion Engram parameters, with 8 billion activated per token during prefill and 16 billion during decode. DeepSeek also says the 40-layer encoder-decoder split cuts prefill compute by nearly half for the kinds of workloads people actually throw at this stuff: long documents, codebases, and agent workflows.

Most of what’s new comes from Compressed Sparse Attention 2. DeepSeek says it adds Full, Reindex, and Reuse modes, along with KV reuse, FP4 E2M1 main KV, 128-token replay, decoder KV kept in host DRAM rather than SSD, and a 72-hour global KV lifetime. If you’re trying to serve million-token contexts, that’s probably the part you’d want to look at first. Early testers, though, reported uneven multimodal behavior and weaker physics results, even as throughput reached 427 tokens per second, again on DeepSeek’s figures. DeepSeek also lowered DeepSeek V4-Flash pricing while lining up DeepSeek V4.1-Flash against DeepSeek V4 Pro.

You can grab the MIT-licensed weights on Hugging Face for vLLM, SGLang, and Transformers, or use the public API with low, high, and max reasoning tiers.

Apple hasn’t raised iPhone 16 or iPhone 17 prices yet: the claims are still rumors

Right now, Apple hasn’t announced the iPhone 16, iPhone 17, iPhone 17e, iPhone Air, or iPhone 18 Pro. It also hasn’t confirmed any iPhone price increases, no matter what some reports are saying about Apple quietly bumping prices.

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What those reports mostly hinge on is a $100 increase on several older iPhones. One example even lists an iPhone 16 at $799, then argues it’s a worse deal than a supposed iPhone 17e because the 17e would have more storage and a newer chip. Maybe. But until Apple actually launches those phones or posts pricing on its own site, that belongs in the rumor pile, not the news column. And yes, even if the same report says the iPhone 16 would still have better cameras and faster charging, that doesn’t make the pricing claim official.

Still, this is something to keep an eye on. Apple has been dealing with higher hardware costs, and multiple outlets have already reported that the iPhone 15 Pro Max cost more to build because of parts like the A17 Pro and the new telephoto system. Apple also gave us a pretty clear example with the iPhone 15 staying flat while the iPhone 15 Pro Max went up by $100. That suggests the company may attach price increases to higher-end features. I’ve been tracking these changes, and that explanation lands as a lot more believable than claims based only on shortages or on unverified iPhone 18 Pro Max battery numbers.

If you want confirmed pricing, check Apple’s official iPhone pages. That’s still the cleanest source. Future models could absolutely get more expensive, though, with semiconductor supply, geopolitics, tariffs, exchange rates, micro-OLED displays, and a bigger push into in-house Apple silicon all in the mix.

Trump promises $5,000 payments: if Republicans win the House and Senate

Ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, Donald Trump has floated the idea of sending every adult American citizen a $5,000 payment if Republicans take both the House and the Senate.

Speaking in Dallas, Trump called it a “dividend” and urged supporters to vote “as if I’m on the ballot,” even though he isn’t. Do the math and the plan lands somewhere around $1.2 trillion to $1.35 trillion for roughly 240 million adults, added to a national debt that’s already above $40 trillion.

Trump argues tariff revenue could help cover it. The numbers don’t come close. Gross customs revenue from January 2025 through June 2026 came to about $284 billion, and analysts say net revenue was closer to $118 billion once refunds and interest are counted, which still leaves a gap of about $1.08 trillion.

For anyone who follows U.S. politics closely, this is one to watch, mostly because it looks tailored to drive Republican turnout. Critics immediately called it vote-buying. Trump has tried versions of this pitch before too, including a $2,000 tariff rebate and a “DOGE dividend,” and neither of those ever became law.

There’s also the basic question of whether it could happen at all. Congress would have to approve it under the U.S. Constitution’s Appropriations Clause. Legal analysts are split. Economists are warning about inflation and larger deficits. Sen. Bernie Moreno has backed the idea, Democrats have brushed it off, and even some Republicans don’t seem comfortable with it.

Google Pixel Tablet disappears from the Google Store: the clearest sign yet it’s done for

Google seems to have quietly pulled the Pixel Tablet, its Android tablet, from sale today. The Google Store product page is gone, and the Tablets category has vanished from the Google Store in the US, UK, and Canada.

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Google hasn’t formally said the Pixel Tablet is discontinued. Still, with the recent out-of-stock notices, redirected listings, and earlier reports that Google had dropped a follow-up and that the company’s hardware team would stop making its own tablets, this is the clearest sign yet that the device’s run is over.

Google announced the Pixel Tablet at I/O 2023 and launched it in June 2023. It was a hybrid Android tablet and docked smart display, sold with a charging speaker dock for $899 and pitched as something you’d use on the couch, in the kitchen, or by your bedside.

If you already use the Pixel Tablet regularly, it’s still probably worth keeping. Google promised software and security updates through June 2028, even if Google’s patchy history with tablets, the competition from the iPad and Galaxy Tab, and the lingering problem of Android apps that still aren’t really built for tablets make this retreat hard to miss.

You can no longer buy the Pixel Tablet directly from Google. Amazon no longer lists it, and Best Buy says the Pixel Tablet is no longer available new. Google still has accessories up, including the case and charging speaker dock, though most of those are out of stock too.

What’s left is the Wasserstein Pixel Tablet Speaker Stand. That’s usually the kind of thing you see when a product is at the very end of its life.

NVIDIA DGX Spark is now available: desktop AI with 128GB unified memory

NVIDIA has released DGX Spark, a compact desktop AI workstation built around the GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip. It brings a 20-core Arm CPU and 128GB of coherent unified memory to a local-first desktop system.

That 128GB memory pool is the headline feature. The CPU and GPU share the same pool, which makes DGX Spark a better fit for local model work than a typical high-end PC.

NVIDIA says DGX Spark can run models with up to 200 billion parameters locally and fine-tune models up to 70 billion parameters. Link two DGX Spark systems over ConnectX-7, and that number goes up to 405 billion parameters.

There’s also a lot of server tech packed in here: NVFP4, CUDA, TensorRT, vLLM, NVLink-C2C, 2.5D multi-die packaging, and DGX Base OS. You can use DGX Spark as a workstation or as a personal cloud, then move projects between your desktop, the cloud, and larger servers.

If privacy matters, latency is a problem, or you just want costs that don’t swing around like cloud bills do, DGX Spark looks worth considering. The catch is the price. It’s now $4,699, up from $3,999, which NVIDIA says comes down to memory supply constraints, and that puts it head-to-head with Ryzen AI Halo systems and RTX 4090 PCs.

You can buy NVIDIA DGX Spark directly from NVIDIA as a local-first desktop AI system.

iPhone Duo vs iPhone 18 Pro: these are the differences

Apple has just unveiled one of the most interesting iPhone lineups of recent years: the iPhone 18 Pro and the company’s first foldable, the iPhone Duo, are here. They are very different phones, and yet similar in some ways, so we’re going to compare the two models, as far as possible.

Two ways of understanding the iPhone

The iPhone Duo comes in a foldable form factor with a 5.4-inch outer screen and a 7.6-inch inner one. The iPhone 18 Pro, meanwhile, sticks with the familiar 6.3-inch display. Thus, when folded, the iPhone Duo has 90% of the iPhone 18 Pro’s screen size, but thanks to the aspect ratio, the amount of information we can see is very similar. 

On the Duo the Dock, the menus and even the connectivity and battery indicators shift to the right edge of the device. This leaves the full main screen area for content, whether in vertical format or horizontal.

Once we open the Duo the difference is simply astonishing. Because of its proportions and dimensions, it’s basically like using an iPad mini screen, which has a 7.9-inch screen. Multitasking, use in landscape, and the flexibility of using it half-folded, half-open, right side up and upside down make the iPhone fit around us instead of the other way around.

Cameras, battery and features

In photography, the iPhone 18 Pro is clearly the more complete option thanks to its 48 MP main camera with variable aperture and the presence of the telephoto lens. The Duo, for its part, offers Split View when taking photos and special landscape and portrait views depending on how we fold the screen.

Support for the Apple Pencil USB-C is another big difference. With its iPad-like focus we can use Apple’s stylus on both the inner screen and the outer one.

Battery life goes up to 44 hours of continuous video playback with the Duo’s outer screen, 31 hours with the inner one and 36 hours on the Pro.

Price and availability

The iPhone Duo starts at €2,339 or $1,999, compared with €1,469 or $1,199 for the iPhone 18 Pro. Pre-orders for the former will open October 16, while those for the latter will open this Saturday the 12th.

All in all, Apple positions each model differently and targets a different audience: the Pro prioritizes photography and performance, while the Duo stands out for its versatility and its new way to use the iPhone.

Apple unveils the iPhone Duo, all the new features in a few words

Apple has unveiled the iPhone Duo, its first foldable iPhone. After months of rumors, speculation and educated guesses, we finally know exactly what this new iPhone will be like. An iPhone that redefines what an iPhone can be. Let’s talk about all the new features.

Two displays and a very carefully designed hinge

The iPhone Duo features a 5.4-inch outer display and a 7.6-inch inner display, both with the same aspect ratio. Apple uses titanium —necessary given the device’s extreme thinness— and a hinge with more than 100 components in its design. By design, the display crease is practically imperceptible, but Apple also uses a nanotextured finish that greatly reduces the visibility of the crease from any angle.

On the software side, iOS 27.1 adapts apps to the open, closed, or partially folded format and lets us use two apps at the same time. With the new vertical dock and the controls on the side, near the thumb, the interface takes full advantage of the new design and expands what iOS 27 can do.

A20 Pro, dual battery, and new cameras

The iPhone Duo packs the same A20 Pro chip as in the iPhone 18 Pro, along with the new C2 modem. Each half of the iPhone also houses a battery, although iOS manages them as a single battery, delivering up to 44 hours of video playback on the outer display.

The main camera and the ultra-wide are 48 MP, and the outer front camera is 12 MP. The Smart Take, Duo Preview, and FaceTime Duo features make great use of the two displays, letting you see more people on a call or frame selfies with the main cameras, among other things.

The iPhone Duo starts at €2,339 or $1,999 with 256 GB and, if you pre-order it on October 16, it will ship to early buyers and be in stores on October 23.

Will we get more Bucky soon? Sebastian Stan has proposed a sequel to ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’

It’s been 12 years since we met the Winter Soldier (that is, Bucky Barnes) in the Marvel movies, and since then Sebastian Stan has never let go of the character: we’ve seen him a total of 9 times (including his series), he’s now part of the New Avengers, although it looks like he won’t be one of the people who survive the bloodbath of Secret Wars. That said, one way or another he’s so sure he’ll keep going with Bucky, in fact, that he’s already pitched Kevin Feige a new movie for his character.

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The Spring Soldier

Lately, actors, following Ryan Gosling’s lead, are pitching new projects half seriously, half jokingly. You know, the same strategy a lot of people use to flirt: it’s a joke, but unless you’re interested, it’s not a joke. “We keep the budget really low. It’s about a guy who thinks he recognizes someone from the time when he was brainwashed, and he becomes obsessed with this person. He sets out on a journey to try to find out who this person is. It’s a thriller”. Honestly, take my money, Sebastian.

That said, Feige seems to prefer playing it safe, so he told him “Yeah, sounds good” and left the matter there. In fact, Stan doesn’t sound very convinced the project will move forward the way other Ghost Rider-style ideas have. You can’t have everything.

This movie, which would be a kind of Marvel Sicario, would be, at the very least, something different from what we’re used to from the studio, a kind of evolution of the idea DC has with releasing Clayface: that is, smaller movies in different genres, but set in the same universe. Come on, Kevin, how hard would it be for you to slip it in between Avengers and X-Men?

Metroid Ravenous announced for Switch 2: launches January 28, 2027

Nintendo showed off Metroid Ravenous during a Nintendo Direct, confirming a new 2D Metroid for Nintendo Switch 2. Nintendo says it arrives on January 28, 2027.

From the trailer, Ravenous looks like the next main 2D Metroid game, and more to the point, it feels like a real follow-up to Metroid Dread, not some side project or remake. Samus gets attacked on a moon, pulled underground, and dropped into what looks like a rougher, more survival-heavy setup. Nintendo leans hard on the line, “It’s eat or be eaten,” and the footage hints at some kind of new energy-drain or absorption mechanic. There are suit changes too, including a green, energy-charged armor form that seems connected to new abilities, movement options, combat, and progression, even if Nintendo still hasn’t fully spelled out how any of that works.

If you’ve been waiting for the next big chapter after Dread, this looks like an easy one to pick up. That goes double when you remember that Metroid Dread sold more than 2.9 million copies, according to Nintendo, and that MercurySteam is making Metroid Ravenous. That’s the same studio behind Metroid Dread and Metroid: Samus Returns, which probably explains the quick movement and the more cinematic feel in the trailer. On January 28, 2027, you’ll be able to buy Metroid Ravenous, a special edition that comes with a SteelBook, and new Amiibo, including Samus and a Chozo statue. It’s only coming to Nintendo Switch 2.

Google Maps on Android Auto: some users are now losing the speedometer

Google Maps on Android Auto seems to have picked up a strange intermittent bug: the speedometer disappears, and for some people the speed limit indicator disappears right along with it.

Google Maps Download

User reports make the whole thing harder to pin down. It can show up one day, then be gone the next. One phone has it, another doesn’t. People have floated a few theories, including a specific Google Maps or Android Auto version, account settings, a server-side test, or switching between beta and stable builds. So far, though, nothing’s been confirmed.

The timing makes it even more frustrating. The speedometer reportedly only started reaching beta testers in July 2026, and it still hasn’t rolled out to everyone. So some of you are losing a feature that only just arrived. At the same time, other complaints about missing stop signs, traffic lights, and live traffic point to a wider Google Maps rendering issue, and that may overlap with an older traffic bug.

If you use Google Maps a lot in the car, keep an eye on this. Google hasn’t acknowledged the problem, and it’s still not clear which phones , cars, versions, accounts, or regions are affected.

Google Maps and Android Auto are both available on Google Play. Until Google says something, all you can really do is try different versions or wait it out. That’s happening while Android Auto 17.3 and 17.4 are also rolling out to fix separate crashes and connection failures that have reportedly affected Waze users too.

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