Author: Julianne Omamos

In June and August 2026, two of Europe’s most closely watched launch startups, Isar Aerospace and Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), picked up new funding and backing from the European Space Agency (ESA). That gives Europe’s push for sovereign launch access some real weight.

Isar Aerospace said in June 2026 that it had raised €270 million in a Series D from new investors Island Green Capital and Molten Ventures, with HV Capital, Lakestar, and UVC Partners also taking part. That brings its total funding to about €870 million and gives the company more room to scale Spectrum rocket production toward 40 rockets a year.

RFA’s position looks stronger too. KKR invested €30 million in August 2023, OHB completed a capital increase that Rocket Factory Augsburg announced in June 2026, and ESA awarded the company a €186.9 million European Launcher Challenge contract in August 2026.

ESA also selected Isar Aerospace and Spain’s PLD Space. Private investors and public institutions are both putting money behind a tougher, more resilient European launch market after years of relying on established providers outside Europe.

If you follow Europe’s launch sector closely, this is one to watch. The real test, though, is still getting to orbit and doing it reliably.

The next markers to watch are Isar Aerospace’s next Spectrum flight from Andoya in Norway, its planned second site in Nova Scotia, and Rocket Factory Augsburg’s inaugural RFA ONE launch from SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland.

Google Maps on Android Auto looks to have picked up a visual tweak in Android Auto beta 17.6.663424 on Android. The map itself appears darker now, which should feel a lot less harsh on those bright in-car screens.

Google Maps Download

What people are seeing so far in beta 17.6.663424 points to a deeper background and toned-down accents in both light and dark mode, so the whole interface may stay more subdued no matter which one you’re using. Reports from the beta also say the turn indicator drops the brighter teal in favor of a darker gray. In practice, that could cut glare, reduce reflections, and make nighttime driving easier on the eyes, especially on bigger dashboard displays. It could also help in those moments when Android Auto bugs out and leaves Google Maps stuck in bright day mode even after the sun’s gone down.

If you use Google Maps in the car all the time, this is one to keep an eye on. The late-2023 color redesign got a pretty mixed response, and this looks like Google adjusting again, even if quietly. Still, Google hasn’t said anything publicly, there’s no timeline for a wider rollout, and nobody knows yet how easy the new colors will be to read at a glance, or how they’ll work for people with color vision deficiencies.

Right now, it’s only showing up in Android Auto beta 17.6.663424 on Android.

Android Auto Download

The Weather Channel has brought its Storm Radar app to Apple CarPlay, which means your car’s display can now show live radar maps, severe weather alerts, and warnings based on the route you’re actually taking.

Apple still doesn’t offer its own Weather app on CarPlay, so this fills a pretty obvious gap. Storm Radar can show precipitation, cloud, and satellite layers, estimate what conditions will be like when you reach your destination, and in some cases reroute you around major storms instead of only warning you that they’re there.

That’s a lot more useful than checking a basic forecast on your phone before you leave. On a longer drive, weather can change a lot from one region to the next.

If you spend a lot of time behind the wheel, the CarPlay update is probably worth downloading. Apps like MyRadar, Weatherology, and Drive Weather have already shown that in-car weather is becoming its own category, and The Weather Channel has been steadily expanding across the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and now CarPlay.

This kind of in-car weather data matters for more than just day-to-day commuting. It can affect road trips, EV range planning, driver-assistance systems, and later on, autonomous driving. There’s also a downside: extra detail on a touchscreen can distract you, and apps like this depend heavily on your location, route data, and driving patterns.

You can get Storm Radar on Apple devices and use it with CarPlay in compatible vehicles.

Meta has started rolling out new firmware for its Ray-Ban smart glasses. The update fixes a gap that let recording continue if someone covered the privacy LED after filming had already begun.

Up to this point, the glasses only checked the LED before recording started. That meant you could hit record, then block the light afterward and keep filming. Meta took a first step in July 2026 with a mandatory update that disabled the camera if the LED had been tampered with or physically destroyed. Now it’s closing the easier workaround too: cover the indicator mid-recording, and the glasses stop. The company is treating that light less like a formality and more like a built-in safety feature, which tracks with the concern around covert recording.

These glasses aren’t niche anymore.

Meta sold 7 million pairs in 2025. It held 69.2% of the smart-glasses market in Q1 2026, is reportedly aiming for 20 million annual shipments by the end of 2026, and said daily use had tripled year over year by Q1 2026.

That still doesn’t settle the privacy debate. Some users say the glasses can cut out by mistake in darker scenes, and critics still argue that a tiny LED doesn’t really address the bigger problem. There are also broader questions about how voice and video could be stored or reused in future wearables that are always aware of what’s happening around them.

If you use Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses regularly, this is an update you’d want to install. It closes an obvious loophole that should’ve been shut from the start.

The firmware is rolling out now for Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses.

Rockstar Games has set August 27, 2026 at 3pm ET for GTA VI: An Extended Look. In Australia, it goes live at 5am AEST on August 28. The runtime is listed at 26 minutes on both Netflix and Rockstar, which makes this look like a proper gameplay deep dive, not just one more teaser.

Netflix Download

Netflix subscribers get first. The full presentation will hit Rockstar Games’ YouTube channel for free six hours later, at 9pm ET / 2am BST / 11am AEST. Netflix and Rockstar also say all of the footage was captured in-game on PlayStation 5, and a lot of fans are taking that to mean the base PS5, not the PlayStation 5 Pro.

If you’ve been waiting to see how Grand Theft Auto VI actually plays, this is probably the one to watch. Rockstar Games is presenting it as the first official gameplay showcase following the more cinematic trailers from 2023 and 2025, and it should give a much clearer look at mission design, world systems, traversal, combat, character interactions, Leonida, Vice City, and the two leads, Lucia and Jason.

You can watch GTA VI: An Extended Look on Netflix first or catch it later on Rockstar Games’ YouTube. Grand Theft Auto VI launches on November 19, 2026, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, and after months of speculation, the recent leak-related legal reports around Take-Two Interactive, and this unusual Netflix partnership, the whole thing feels closer to a full media event than a normal trailer drop.

YouTube Download

FromSoftware has announced Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition, its Nintendo Switch 2 version of Elden Ring. It launches on August 28, 2026, and includes both the base game and the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion.

ELDEN RING Download

Early hands-on coverage, including reports based on roughly 10 hours of play, says Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition holds close to 30 fps in both handheld and docked mode, with only minor dips. More to the point, it still delivers the huge world, punishing combat, and pick-up-and-put-down rhythm that makes Elden Ring fit both short portable sessions and longer stretches on a TV.

There are compromises. Character detail is dialed back, and textures look softer. Even so, the early hands-on read is that those cuts don’t really damage the experience, especially in a game where precision, visual clarity, and responsiveness matter so much. That also makes Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition a pretty serious test of how well Nintendo Switch 2 can handle modern third-party games.

If you’ve been waiting to play Elden Ring on the go, this one looks easy to recommend, especially when you factor in the official sales numbers: Elden Ring has passed 30 million copies, and Shadow of the Erdtree is already above 10 million. FromSoftware is also bringing The Duskbloods to Nintendo Switch 2 as an exclusive.

You’ll be able to pick up Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition on Nintendo Switch 2 on August 28, 2026.