HARMAN Luxury Audio Group has arrived at High End Vienna 2026 with several new high-end audio products, but the headline for JBL is the next generation of its Summit Everest and Summit K2 flagship loudspeakers.

Timed with JBL’s 80th anniversary, the updated Everest and K2 join the Summit Makalu, Summit Pumori, and Summit Ama, which debuted at High End Munich in 2025. Together, they complete the five-model JBL Summit Series for residential audio.

JBL describes the Summit Series as one of its most advanced loudspeaker efforts for the home, and only the fifth JBL loudspeaker family to carry the “Project” designation in the company’s eight-decade history. That label matters: JBL has historically reserved it for its most ambitious engineering platforms, not just another expensive box with prettier woodwork and a Sherpa-friendly name.

The JBL Project Legacy

Only a select few JBL loudspeakers have ever carried the “Project” designation since 1954, beginning with Project Hartsfield, followed by Project Paragon, Project Everest, and Project K2.

Each JBL Project loudspeaker reflects a particular stage in the company’s high-end engineering work, with changes in driver design, enclosure construction, horn geometry, crossover design, and system integration shaping each generation.

For nearly 40 years, Project Everest and Project K2 have been central to JBL’s high-end loudspeaker development. Successive versions have introduced updates to transducers, compression drivers, cabinet construction, waveguides, and overall system tuning.

The latest generation Summit Everest and Summit K2 carry that tradition forward with patented and proprietary technologies developed at JBL’s renowned Acoustic Center of Excellence in Northridge, California.

Summit Everest

Summit Everest, named after Earth’s highest mountain, is the flagship of the Summit Series and the successor to four generations of Project Everest loudspeakers released over the years. 

Mid/High Frequency: The core of the latest Everest is a newly engineered mid/high-frequency system that combines the output of three patented JBL D2820 2-inch dual-diaphragm, dual-motor compression drivers with a custom-designed, patent-pending 3-into-1 expansion manifold, seamlessly mated to a custom large-format Sonoglass High-Definition Imaging (HDI) horn. 

Mid-Bass/Bass: For mid-bass and bass, there are dual 10-inch cast-frame Differential Drive mid-bass drivers and dual 15-inch cast-frame Differential Drive woofers, each utilizing JBL’s triple-layer Hybrid Carbon Cellulose Composite Cone (HC4) for stiffness, low distortion, and exceptional power handling that define a true reference design.

3.5 Way Configuration: The result of its driver configuration, the Everest is a 3.5 Way floor-standing loudspeaker that is designed to support elevated resolution, dynamic authority, tonal precision, and spatial realism across a bandwidth extending from 20 Hz to beyond 23 kHz.

Summit K2

The Summit K2, named after Earth’s second-tallest mountain, is JBL’s most accomplished 15-inch 3-way floor-standing loudspeaker, built upon the legacy of four generations of Project K2 development. The K2 brings signature musicality forward with measurable advances in resolution, transparency, and tonal accuracy. 

Mid/High Frequency: The latest K2 incorporates a newly engineered mid/high-frequency system pairing three patented D2815 1.5-inch dual-diaphragm, dual-motor compression drivers with a custom-designed, patent-pending 3-into-1 expansion manifold and large-format Sonoglass® HDI™ horn. 

Mid-Bass/Bass A 10-inch cast-frame Differential Drive mid-bass driver and a 15-inch cast-frame Differential Drive woofer are included, both of which feature HC4 cones. This design anchors the K2’s sonic foundation, delivering the dynamic precision and emotional immediacy that have defined this speaker since its 1989 debut. 

The Summit Standard

The Summit Everest and Summit K2 bring together the main technologies developed for the Summit Series, including updated transducers, horn/waveguide geometry, crossover design, and cabinet construction.

A MultiCap crossover network, supporting single-wire, bi-amp/bi-wire, and tri-amp/tri-wire connectivity, replaces traditional large capacitors with a greater number of smaller capacitors, reducing electrostatic resistance and minimizing energy loss for greater signal transfer, increased power handling, and ultra-low distortion. 

The Everest and K2 are housed in a precisely engineered enclosure with internally offset, multi-braced, and damped pre-stressed pressed curved-wall construction designed to minimize internal standing waves. 

Custom-designed JBL | IsoAcoustic isolation feet decouple the loudspeaker from the supporting surface, contributing to tighter bass performance, a more expansive soundstage, and imaging defined by greater clarity and spatial precision. 

Finishes and Binding Posts

Summit Everest and Summit K2 are offered with a choice of high-gloss painted black with Summit Platinum accents or high-gloss Macassar Ebony wood veneer with Summit Gold detailing. The Everest and K2 employ sustainably sourced engineered wood cabinetry that reflects JBL’s commitment to materials and execution.

The speaker binding posts are rhodium-plated, wrapped in carbon fiber, with Ohno-Continuous-Cast (OCC) long-crystal oxygen-free silver-plated copper internal wiring.

JBL 2026 Summit Series Comparison

JBL Celebrates 80th Anniversary

JBL is celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2026, marking eight decades since James B. Lansing founded the company in 1946. That is not a small footnote in audio history. JBL has been part of professional studios, cinemas, concert venues, home audio systems, cars, portable speakers, headphones, and more than a few cultural moments where the sound system mattered as much as the crowd.

The brand’s reach is unusually broad. JBL Professional continues to play a major role in cinemas, studios, stadiums, houses of worship, clubs, and live venues, while JBL’s consumer division has become one of the most visible names in portable audio and headphones. Few audio companies can claim that kind of spread without sounding like the marketing department got loose with the espresso machine. In JBL’s case, the claim has some weight behind it.

Founded by one of the most important loudspeaker engineers of the 20th century, JBL built its reputation on high-output loudspeakers, studio monitors, professional sound reinforcement, and home audio products that helped define what American hi-fi looked and sounded like. The company’s history includes major technical achievements in loudspeaker design and recognition from both the film and recording industries, including Academy Awards for sound engineering achievements and a Grammy Award for its long-running contribution to concert, studio, cinema, and broadcast sound.

That legacy still matters because JBL is not just trading on old photographs and orange grilles. The company remains active across professional, luxury, portable, automotive, and personal audio, while also investing in spatial audio, adaptive sound, immersive listening, and more sustainable product design. Not every one of those phrases needs a parade, but they do point to where JBL thinks audio is going next.

“For 80 years, JBL has been defined by an uncompromising pursuit of acoustic excellence, and the Project loudspeakers have always represented the absolute summit of that pursuit,” said David Tovissi, Vice President & GM, HARMAN Luxury Audio. “With Summit Everest and Summit K2, we are honoring four generations of legendary engineering while introducing technologies that move the state of the art forward. These are reference loudspeakers built for listeners who refuse to compromise and who recognize what it means to own the very best.”

The Bottom Line 

With Summit Makalu, Pumori, and Ama introduced in 2025, JBL expanded the Summit Series below its established Everest and K2 flagships. The arrival of the latest Summit Everest and Summit K2 completes the line at the top, giving JBL a five-model residential flagship range tied directly to its Project loudspeaker heritage.

What makes Everest and K2 different is not just scale or price. These are JBL’s statement platforms for horn-loaded compression-driver design, large-format woofers, advanced cabinet construction, and high-output, low-distortion playback in larger rooms. Everest remains the larger dual-15-inch statement model, while K2 continues as the more compact single-15-inch flagship. Both are built for listeners who want JBL’s studio, cinema, and professional audio DNA translated into a domestic loudspeaker system.

These are not lifestyle speakers, and they are not for casual background listening. They are for large rooms, substantial amplification, careful setup, and buyers who want the most ambitious version of JBL’s high-end sound at home. The Summit Ama, Pumori, and Makalu may be more realistic choices for many systems, but Everest and K2 exist for the customer who wants the top of the JBL mountain and has the room, budget, and patience to let them work properly.

Pricing & Availability

The JBL Summit Everest and JBL Summit K2 will be globally available later in 2026 through authorized JBL Summit dealers and partners, with the following prices:

• Everest: $159,990 USD (159,998 EUR / 139,998 GBP) per pair
• K2: $99,990 USD (84,998 EUR / 71,998 GBP) per pair

Previously released in 2025, the Summit Models that round out the prestigious speaker line.

• Makalu: $45,000 USD (43,998 EUR / 36,998 GBP) per pair
• Pumori: $30,000 USD (30,998 EUR / 26,998 GBP) per pair
• Ama: $20,000 USD (17,498 EUR / 14,995 GBP) per pair including stands

For more on the JBL Summit Series, visit jbl.com/summit-series

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Contactless payments are great, but have you ever paid for your coffee with a magic wand?

Cash App, the digital payments service run by Block, has just launched the Cash App Wand – a pearlescent, star-shaped, NFC-enabled keychain accessory that lets you tap to pay at any contactless terminal. Yes, it is a real product that costs $25, and it is available right now for Cash App Card holders to buy in the app.

So how does this magical wand work?

The Cash App Wand is the first product under a new hardware line called Cash App Tags. Tags are NFC-enabled physical devices that require no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection to function. To set one up, you simply hold it to the back of your phone, and it links directly to your Cash App account.

After that, it works exactly like a debit card, except it clips onto your keychain or handbag like a charm bracelet. Block’s hardware lead Thomas Templeton says the whole idea is to make payments feel visible, fun, and expressive again.

He points out that digital payments have made buying things almost invisible, and even Cash App’s own cards spend 90% of their time sitting in people’s pockets. Cash App wants the wand to be the first thing you reach for when it is time to pay.

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This is just the beginning of Cash App Tags

The wand is the first of many quirky tap-to-pay hardware designs coming down the line. Limited runs of new Cash App Tag designs will drop to Cash App cardholders in the coming weeks, with general availability opening up later this summer.

Whether you need a wand to pay for your morning coffee or just want to feel like a wizard at the checkout counter, Cash App has you covered.

And if a magic wand wasn’t enough to make you spend more money, Google is also making online checkout faster and easier than ever by removing OTP and replacing it with a simple biometric check.

A new series of images claiming to be the iPhone 18 Pro chassis have been leaked, showing black, blue, and dark cherry red.

It’s always suspicious when a leaker has just a single image of a purported device, but now a series of shots have shown off most of the colors expected for the iPhone 18 Pro.

On Yeux1122’s blog, fellow leaker Lanzk claims to have samples of the aluminum frame for the iPhone 18 Pro. They comprise the back and sides of the phone, and appear to be stamped with “2026” plus some unclear Chinese-language markings.

Dark Cherry looks ever more certain to be one of the iPhone 18 Pro’s colors – image credit: Lanzk

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The leaker has shown off one Dark Cherry frame, two black ones, and three of the light blue version. There’s no distinguishable difference between the units when two or three are displayed.

There’s no indication of the source of the components. However, each of the black and light blue ones shown have a small plastic bag that appears to contain a SIM-card tray.

That would suggest that, however they got to the leaker, they may have come from manufacturers in China. There are other countries that still require a physical SIM card, however.

Even if the leak is as accurate as it appears, it may not be the complete set of colors due to be unveiled for the iPhone 18 Pro, and iPhone 18 Pro Max. While the current iPhone 17 Pro ships in three colors, previous rumors have said that the iPhone 18 Pro will return to the norm of having four.

Those four are the ones shown in this leak plus a light silver. If reports correct and there will be a Dark Cherry option, it’s predicted to become a hit just as the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s Cosmic Orange has been.

Black version of the same frame part – image credit: Lanzk

However, some users will be more pleased at the return of a black option. That was last seen with 2024’s iPhone 16 Pro.

In the course of this review, we examined the image in depth. While there was no EXIF data to speak of, there generally isn’t and that’s not a sign of a fake.

There are none of the hallmarks of a photo edit, or generative AI having fabricated the images. The chassis’ internal protrusions are not identical to that of the iPhone 17 Pro, either. We think these are the real thing, unlike data gathered from case manufacturers.

That all said, leaker Lanzk has not previously reported on iPhone colors. However, they have leaked accurately about Apple’s plans for what would ultimately become the MacBook Neo.

The big names in the artificial intelligence industry don’t always get along. We’ve seen lawsuits between AI companies and intense rivalries between leaders that turn into all-out feuds. But it seems that they generally agree on at least one thing: AI should not be used to create biological weapons.

CEOs of some of the world’s leading AI companies signed a public letter this week urging governments to address the risks that could come from bad actors using their technology. The letter encourages Congress to enact laws to improve the tracking of synthetic DNA sequences that could be used to create biological weapons. 

Signed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, Meta’s Alexandr Wang, Microsoft AI’s Mustafa Suleyman, Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis and other scientists and AI lab leaders, the letter suggested legislation to require companies that sell synthetic DNA and manufacturers of synthesis machines to thoroughly check “sequences of concern and to verify customer legitimacy before shipping orders.”

The letter, also signed by leaders in the synthetic DNA industry and experts in national security, makes it clear that AI accelerates the threat of biosecurity threats.

“While the issue is not new, the pace of progress in artificial intelligence is. AI systems now outperform Ph.D-level virologists on questions about highly technical laboratory procedures in their own domains of expertise,” the letter states. 

“AI systems are improving rapidly, and alongside incredible benefits to science and medicine, there is a real possibility that the knowledge barriers which have historically prevented bad actors from obtaining biological weapons will meaningfully erode.”

The letter has a distinct sense of urgency, requesting that lawmakers implement guardrails swiftly. “This is a rare moment of agreement across stakeholders that are often at odds,” it reads. “We hope policymakers will meet it with decisive action.”

It more than doubles your gaming time while giving you a better grip.

Generalist hopes to make ‘general intelligence’ robotics a reality.

US AI robotics company Generalist has raised $400m at a reported $2bn valuation to accelerate its plans towards achieving “physical” artificial general intelligence (AGI).

The round was led by Radical Ventures, with participation from Nvidia’s venture arm NVentures, Jeff Bezos’ Bezos Expeditions, World Labs founder and leading AI expert Fei-Fei Li, and Zoom CEO Eric Yuan.

Other participants include 8VC, Union Square Ventures, Hanabi Capital, Norwest, Boldstart Ventures, Spark Capital, NFDG and serial entrepreneur Naval Ravikant.

With a team of AI and robotics experts with experience across Big Tech, Generalist hopes to make “general intelligence” robotics a reality.

The company was founded in 2024 by former DeepMind scientists Pete Florence, Andy Zheng, and former Boston Dynamics roboticist and Harvard machine learning scientist Andrew Barry.

Generalist launched its Gen-0 class of AI models last November, which it said was trained on an “unprecedented” scale of real-world data. The company said the model proved that physical experience and larger models could predictably produce more capable systems.

In April, it launched Gen-1, which showed commercial viability, it added. Gen-1 was three-times faster than similar state-of-the-art models, showcasing 99pc reliability on diverse tasks and demonstrated the ability to learn new and complex physical skills, according to Generalist.

“Scaling robot learning creates better models, better models can do more useful physical work, and data from real businesses drives the next generation of more capable models,” the company said in a statement.

The new funding will allow Generalist to continue “scaling robot learning”, including building new models, scaling its physical data engine, expanding compute and training infrastructure and working with industries for commercialisation.

“Our goal is not to tie ourselves to any single method or label. Our goal is to build whatever is needed to make physical AGI real,” said the company.

The exact definition of AGI is difficult to pin down. According to Google, AGI refers to the hypothetical intelligence of a machine that allows it to “understand” or “learn” intellectual tasks that humans can, while IBM calls it the “abstract goal of AI development”, where human intelligence can be replicated by machines or software.

Robotics rise

The robotics industry has gained renewed energy in recent years, fuelled by AI. For the world’s biggest chipmaker Nvidia, robotics represents the biggest market for potential growth after AI.

Last month, Meta acquired US start-up Assured Robot Intelligence to reportedly pursue its plans for humanoid robotic hardware to help with household chores, and Amazon made its own robotics-related acquisition with Fauna Robotics in March.

Meanwhile, Alphabet’s robotics software R&D company Intrinsic joined Google to work in close proximity with DeepMind, as well as tap into Google’s Gemini AI models and cloud services.

Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

AI apps led App Store growth in 2025, with the entire ecosystem garnering $1.4 trillion in payouts. Apple’s take of that is only 10%, assuming you agree with how they count.

Every year, typically right before WWDC, Apple releases a study showing how the App Store has fared over the prior year. In 2025, the App Store facilitated more than $1.4 trillion in developer billings. And, it said that the App Store ecosystem has tripled in size since 2019.

“Developers are the heartbeat of the App Store, and this year’s incredible milestone is a testament to their boundless creativity,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

“We are deeply committed to providing developers with the tools, technologies, and trusted platforms they need to build for the future,” Cook added. “Together, developers are creating apps that enrich the lives of users around the world.”

Commission eligible and ineligible revenue

Apple notes that for more than 90 percent of the billings and sales, Apple did not receive a commission. That means that most apps are making money outside of the App Store.

The study reports that 90% of App Store sales are commission-free. The study lists this number as $1,437 billion, or what most people, and Apple, generally call $1.4 trillion.

Image credit: Apple & Analysis Group

Interestingly, Apple counts digital goods and services purchased outside the App Store as sales that are not eligible for commissions, but still in the $1.4 trillion total. These include subscriptions to Hulu, Audible, Spotify, and the New York Times.

It’s hard to understand where exactly Apple fits into this. If a person purchases a subscription to, say, YouTube Premium outside of the App Store, but watches it on their Apple TV, does that count in this number?

The methodology mentioned in the study isn’t helpful, either. It reads:

“Sales and distribution of digital goods and services can occur through the App Store in the form of paid app downloads and in-app purchases, through linking out to webstores where content is consumed in-app but payments are made outside of the App Store, or through the sale of digital content and subscriptions from multi-platform apps that allow for the use and consumption of the app, both in the App Store ecosystem and elsewhere.”

It’s unclear whether the data includes purchases made after a user manually enters a website address to buy digital goods, or only purchases made through links accessed via buttons in the app.

The study also doesn’t say where it gets its data, really. A small line reads “data sources include data from Apple, app analytics companies, market research firms, and individual companies.”

So the digital goods and services section is a bit hard to parse. And it accounts for about 10.3% of Apple’s total $1.4 trillion revenue figure, or $149 billion.

Other sources of revenue include physical goods and services, such as buying items on Amazon or ordering delivery through Instacart. Lastly, it mentions in-app advertising revenue, including ads displayed on TikTok, Instagram, and in games.

AI market saturation

This year, Apple is placing special emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), claiming that apps featuring consumer-facing AI have seen four times the growth of their non-AI counterparts. This specifically refers to the top 100 apps, of which 40 currently have some form of consumer-facing AI.

Of course, it’s hard to tell if AI was the primary growth driver or if the most popular apps were going to integrate AI regardless.

For example, 99% of Fortune 500 companies were using AI in some capacity in 2025. Customer service saw a 2199% growth increase between January 2025 and January 2026.

Global growth, by region

The App Store saw growth worldwide in 2025. And in some regions, that growth has exploded in the last several years.

According to the study, billings and sales facilitated by the App Store have more than doubled in China in the last six years. In that same time period, it’s more than tripled in the U.S. and Europe.

Image credit: Apple & Analysis Group

Globally, physical goods and services accounted for the majority of all sales made in the App Store.

However, sales differed a little across regions. For example, travel was the second-largest category of spending in physical goods and services in the U.S., Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil.

However, in Korea, food delivery was the second most popular. In the Chinese market, grocery and food delivery rounded out the top three slots.

Apple’s investment in developers

In 2025, Apple hosted thousands of developers at its developer centers. There are more than 20 Apple Developer Academies around the world, including Brazil, Indonesia, Italy, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and the U.S.

Apple plans to open a Developer Center in Berlin sometime in 2026.

WWDC 2026 kicks off on June 8, allowing Apple to connect with developers and offer the first look at what tools and technologies will be available for the upcoming Apple operating system lineup.

Developers and students will have access to more than 100 new video sessions about tools, technologies, and design. They will also be invited to participate in Group Labs and join conversations in the Apple Developer Forums.