In 2008 Peter Serafinowicz walked onto a BBC set in the role of an Apple store employee and introduced Mactini, the smallest computer in the world. One key. Press it once for A. Press it 26 times for Z. For a comma, hold four seconds, lift for two, then fire off a rapid little drum fill. The audience laughed. Apple kept making things smaller anyway.

Tucker Osman re-watched the clip eighteen years later and decided that the joke was worth giving a functioning body. His Mactini, a matchbox-sized clamshell, opens in the palm of your hand. He obtained the case from FreeCAD after going through three separate print jobs. The screen is a tiny 1.69-inch color SPI panel from Waveshare, not the rescued iPod display he had hoped for, but their panel ended up being a better alternative because the old connector was difficult to locate.

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The input is not a mechanical switch; instead, Osman printed the touchpad using conductive filament, so the entire thing acts as a capacitive surface. The firmware then determines how long you leave your finger down before lifting it and categorizing the durations as short, medium, or long. When combined with the gaps between taps, it creates a rhythm, which it then compares to a lookup table to determine what it should be. The comma still requires the exact timing specified in the original drawing. Try typing something longer than a word; this is done on purpose to test your patience.

When he started integrating sound and video, things started to lag all over the place. The solution was to use FreeRTOS, which allows gesture recognition, screen rendering, and audio to run as distinct processes, ensuring that none of them freeze. Pixels are copied to the display via DMA in the background, allowing the processor to handle everything else. Sound is coming in through some old speakers he salvaged from damaged iPads, as well as an amplifier board from a water-logged Wyze camera. The volume is relatively low, as you can barely hear it even if the room is silent. The video is a 90-second clip from Tenet, but because the RP2350 lacks a hardware decoder, it is limited to 12 frames per second.

A shimmering martini-glass logo sits on the rear of the lid, and he salvaged the diffusers and backlight components from shattered third-generation iPod nanos. He also had to run some cables through the hinge so that they could withstand the Mactini being opened and closed. He collected and printed every part he could find.
[Source]

The Chinese AI company is reportedly seeking a 30pc share of any revenue generated by Kimi K3-related services hosted on Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud.

Chinese AI start-up Moonshot is in negotiations with US tech giants Microsoft, Amazon and Google for revenue-sharing agreements that would allow them to host the Kimi K3 AI model on their cloud services, Reuters has reported.

The Chinese company is seeking up to a 30pc share of any revenue generated by Kimi K3-related services on Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud, according to Reuters’ anonymous sources that are said to be familiar with the matter.

The publication added that negotiations between the three US companies and the maker of the open-source, open-weight AI model are “at an early stage”, with “no certainty they will result in agreements”.

According to Reuters’ sources, current unresolved issues in the negotiations include how revenue might be split, data access and auditing token usage.

They also said that Moonshot has already signed agreements similar to those being discussed with some smaller cloud platforms, but did not provide details.

Any deal struck could represent the first big revenue-sharing agreement between a Chinese AI provider and a major US cloud company, according to the publication.

Kimi K3 was unveiled in July. The 2.8trn-parameter model was found, across cited benchmarks, to trail behind only OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Sol and Anthropic’s Fable 5, while outperforming them in certain coding and general agent tasks.

Its maker said that K3 performed “competitively” with Fable 5 and “substantially outperformed” Opus-4.8, GPT-5.6 Sol and GPT-5.5. A few days later, the company had to pause taking on new subscribers due to massive demand from interested users – right before it released it for public download.

The launch came amid a prevailing climate of escalating tensions between the US and China over AI leadership and capability.

US curbs on semiconductor exports to China over recent years have pushed China to focus on its own chip capabilities. Earlier this year, China reportedly began restricting overseas travel for its top AI professionals in its escalating battle with the US over technological dominance.

Last month, Moonshot was reported to have closed a $3.5bn funding round at a $35bn valuation – with China’s National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund among the lead investors – and could also be aiming to raise yet more funds at a $50bn pre-money valuation as it works towards a rumoured public listing in the next few months.

In May, the company – founded in 2023 by Tsinghua University graduate Yang Zhilin, and with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba among its most notable backers – raised $2bn at a $20bn valuation.

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.

Microsoft has started rolling out a permanent fix for a known issue that causes system crashes and gaming issues on Windows 11 devices.

On affected PCs, users have also reported games failing to launch and freezing with “EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION” errors.

When it was first confirmed, Microsoft said that this issue affects games like ARC Raiders, MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, and The Finals on systems running Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2.

While it was initially believed that the August 2026 updates may be behind these problems, Microsoft later blamed them on peripherals with built-in RGB lighting.

“Ongoing investigation indicates that this issue is related to peripherals or internal device components which have RGB lighting features,” Microsoft noted. “Such devices may install drivers or code components with file names similar to inpoutx64. In systems where these drivers are found, the issue is then triggered by launching certain games.”

On Wednesday, the company confirmed that the inpoutx64.sys driver causes these issues and said that it has begun rolling out a fix that disables it on affected devices.

“This issue is resolved by a block that prevents the inpoutx64 driver from loading. The block targets devices with this specific driver enabled and the game ARC Raiders installed,” it added in a Windows release health update. “This resolution disables the inpoutx64 driver and displays a message window with information about the disablement. Following this message, the game will launch as normal.”

The fix is now propagating to Windows consumer and business devices that aren’t managed by IT departments and requires a system restart to be applied.

The rollout began on August 26, 2026, at 6 PM PT, and it might take up to 24 hours to reach all affected devices. The driver block will also be included in the September 2026 Windows security updates and future releases.

Temporary workaround for enterprise systems

Microsoft has also shared a temporary fix for enterprise-managed devices where the fix will not propagate automatically.

This requires IT administrators to disable the inpoutx64 driver using the Windows Registry by going through the following steps (however, they should back up the registry first, because they may need to undo the changes if a problem occurs):

1. Open the Windows Registry by opening the Start menu and typing “regedit”. Select the Registry Editor from the results.
2. ​Navigate to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\inpoutx64. You can do this using the folders on the left side of the window or by typing the path into the address bar at the top.
3. ​On the right side of the window, find the registry value named Start. Double-click this key and enter the number “4″ under the field titled Value data.
4. ​Close the window and restart your computer.

“Ongoing investigation does not indicate that disabling this registry key can result in unintended behavior. If you want to re-enable the driver, you may do so by restoring the registry key to its previous value,” Microsoft added.

Microsoft has addressed other gaming stability and performance issues caused by Windows updates in recent years.

For instance, it removed several upgrade blocks set up to prevent players of Star Wars Outlaws, Assassin’s Creed, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and Asphalt 8: Airborne from upgrading their devices to the latest Windows version.

Most recently, Microsoft lifted another compatibility hold in January 2025 after fixing a bug in the Auto HDR Windows feature that was breaking some games on Windows 11 24H2 devices.

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Comcast started rolling out Xfinity Shield this month, and the free piece that has everyone talking is WiFi Motion. Eligible internet customers who rent a recent Xfinity gateway can turn their existing Wi-Fi into a basic movement watcher without buying cameras or extra sensors. Radio waves already fly between the gateway and other gadgets that stay plugged in. A person walking through those paths changes how the waves arrive, and software in the box treats that change as motion.

Compatible boxes include the Technicolor XB7, XB8, XB9, XB10, MXB1, and XER10 variants, with the exception of the CommScope XB7 units. Simply launch the Xfinity app and follow the steps to complete the setup process. You can connect up to five fixed Wi-Fi devices, such as a smart speaker, thermostat, or TV, as well as any approved XE2 extenders you may own. As you do this, you will begin to notice regions of your home that will shape up as oval zones, where activity will trigger notifications on your phone. If you walk through one of those zones and there is any motion near the hallway speaker, for example, a notification may appear. These events will actually be available in the app for a week.

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Home Watch, Away Watch, and Dark Watch allow you to customize which notifications you get. Dark Watch is essentially the overnight option, and it may be configured to turn on automatically at nite. You can also experiment with the sensitivity level, setting it to low, medium, and high. The default settings detect even minor movements, including pets, but you may optionally apply a pet filter. However, this setting may miss a small child. It appears that where you place your gateway is far more crucial than most people realize. For the greatest results, choose a central, open place a few feet from the floor. Unfortunately, confined rooms, thick walls, and weak signal routes all work together to degrade overall reliability. Mobile devices, laptops, and wearables, as well as anything else with the potential to move independently, will not be considered “sensing partners.”

Apparently, Comcast spent three years fine-tuning the algorithms after being disappointed with their previous attempts. Linksys tried something similar and was withdrawn. However, company executives now assert that the most recent version is precise enough for everyday use in an average home. However, they are quick to stress out that it is not a replacement for proper cameras and door sensors. It’s also worth noting that professional monitoring is not included, so don’t expect someone to check your alerts in real time or call the cops for you.

WiFi Shield’s free tier also features CyberSecure network threat filtering and Family Settings, which allow you to establish screen time and website limits. Shield Select is a $15 monthly upgrade that includes an indoor camera, door and window sensors, cloud video storage, and 24-hour urgent response. If you’re willing to pay for the additional gear, WiFi Motion can be used in conjunction with camera notifications.
[Source]

The phones! They were one of the basic utilities of the 20th century, and were just about as reliable as death and taxes. Even when then power grid went down, you still had a fair shot of getting a phone call through thanks to the reliability of the Plain Old Telephone Service.

Today, we eschew the simplicity of copper and mechanical switches for the supreme bandwidth and capability of high-speed cellular connectivity. With that, we accept that the additional complexity comes with a risk of complicated failures that bring everything tumbling down. Australia’s largest telecommunications provider found that out to its peril just a few short months ago.

Networked Failures

Generally, we expect our telecommunications networks to be supremely reliable. There is no moment of the day when someone doesn’t need to make a call, particularly in emergencies, and the wheels of industry and commerce depend on constant connectivity these days. Tolerance for failure is generally very thin. Despite this, and the efforts of engineers to maintain uptime at as many nines as possible, Telstra fell badly short on July 8th, 2026. The company had a nationwide outage that affected 8.8 million people, leaving them unable to make calls or connect to the network at all.

The cause of the outage would prove to be particularly embarrassing. Telstra owns and operates a highly advanced cellular network, offering 4G and 5G service across the nation’s cities and much of its outback areas. The company may outwardly appear to be a shining beacon of modern connectivity, but there was something dank lurking in the company’s server closets. Namely, three aging network time servers that had the capacity to bring the whole system to its knees.

The culprit? A Microchip Technologies SSU 2000 NTP server. The model dates back to the early 2000s. Twenty four years later, Telstra still relied upon three of the units to provide network time protocol (NTP) services across its network. The servers were generally perfectly adequate in this role on any given day. That was, until the Melbourne server had a wobble.

A technician was working in the early morning to replace a backup power feed in the chassis housing the server. This caused the server to be rebooted at 3:38 AM, which normally would not be a problem. However, at some point in the last two decades or so, the server had gone through a configuration change. While it was originally intended to be a Stratum 3 NTP server, getting its time reference from a Stratum 2 unit, that process had failed at some point. It had been reconfigured instead to use its internal GPS card to gain time directly from the satellite network instead. Unfortunately, the server was also remarkably old, and suffered from a well-documented GPS date rollover bug, such that when it rebooted, it reported the time as 2006 rather than 2026.

The problem that stemmed from this was because time is critical to authentication. An endless cascade of devices downstream of the NTP server picked up the wrong time, and started using it to sign digital certificates and the like. This immediately caused other systems on the network to reject the spurious traffic with certificates that were 20 years out of date. The impact was swift and vast—Telstra was quickly facing a nationwide outage affecting millions of customers.

The issue was first detected at 4:20 AM. The naughty server was isolated by 7:11 AM, but it would take until 10:30 AM to identify all the network components which had received erroneous time data. It took several hours further—until 4 PM—to properly quell the NTP issues. In the meantime, a significant portion of the country had seen its phones offline all day, and entire rail networks had ground to a halt as their Telstra-based communications systems went completely offline.

Later submissions to a government inquiry would reveal Telstra had received two reminders to patch the GPS card, in 2020 and 2022. The vendor itself had issued warnings about the GPS rollover bug as early as November 2000. A decision not to fix the bug had been taken as recently as January 2026, because the undocumented change to have the server rely on GPS time was unknown, and thus the update was considered unnecessary. Simply patching the system would have prevented the issue from ever occurring in the first place.

The issue once again brought telecommunications availability in Australia to the forefront of the conversation. Repeat outages across Australian mobile networks have led to particular concerns about the ability for people to reach emergency services by calling Triple Zero from mobile handsets. The latest failure on Telstra’s behalf has led the local telecommunications industry to issue new guidance to the public on what to do when a call to Triple Zero doesn’t go through.

Modern handsets are designed to switch to a different cellular network in the case an emergency call can’t be connected—a process called emergency camp-on. However, this process takes time, and the caller will often hear silence on the line while the phone is attempting to connect. The new advice is that callers should hang up and try again straight away if their first call to Triple Zero doesn’t connect within a few seconds. On the second call, though, the phone should be given up to a minute to find another network to get the call through.

In the case of this outage, camp-on functionality worked—some 3,200 Triple Zero calls were passed to Optus and TPG networks when Telstra’s failed. However, there were some ongoing issues that saw a further 604 Triple Zero calls fail over the period to 2 PM the next day.

Overall, Telstra’s failure was a major one. It’s rare for a major network to go down so completely and over such a wide geographical area. The fact that it happened because of an undocumented change to an ancient network appliance is all the more embarrassing. It will drive home the message that documenting even seemingly minor changes is important, with the lesson likely to be told in the halls of the Australian telco for some decades to come.

Linsoul has spent the past decade selling and distributing a rather staggering number of IEMs, headphones, DACs and headphone amplifiers from other manufacturers. For 2026, however, the company has decided that watching everyone else have all the fun was apparently no longer sufficient.

The $369 Linsoul Avant is the first in-ear monitor developed and sold under the Linsoul name, and it enters one of the most brutally competitive segments of the headphone market with six drivers per earpiece: two dynamic drivers, three balanced armatures and one MEMS solid-state driver. Linsoul officially released the Avant on August 21, following prototype demonstrations earlier this summer, including CanJam London.

That timing is also interesting. Linsoul is scheduled to attend CanJam SoCal on August 29-30, 2026, although the company has not specifically confirmed on its event page that the Avant will be available for demonstration.

Related Reviews:

What Makes the Linsoul Avant Different?

The most important part of the story isn’t really the driver count.

The Avant is significant because Linsoul is putting its own name on an IEM after years of working with dozens of brands and hundreds of models. That also means the company has had a very good seat from which to observe what works, what doesn’t and how crowded the $300 to $500 IEM category has become.

Its 2DD + 3BA + 1 MEMS arrangement is unusual, but it is not unprecedented. The Binary Acoustics EP321 already uses a similar six-driver 2DD/3BA/MEMS configuration and sells for $309.99. Linsoul also sells the Kiwi Ears Halcyon, a $259 tribrid using one dynamic driver, three balanced armatures and a MEMS driver.

So no, six drivers and MEMS technology do not automatically make the Avant revolutionary. Driver count is not horsepower, regardless of what some IEM marketing departments would like us to believe.

What makes the Avant more interesting is how Linsoul is implementing those drivers.

Bass is handled by two custom 10mm PET diaphragm dynamic drivers arranged in what Linsoul describes as a dome-to-dome constant-pressure configuration. The company says this arrangement was designed to deliver stronger sub-bass extension and more focused kick-bass rather than simply increasing overall bass quantity.

The midrange uses two custom Dibei 653011 balanced armature drivers, while a Knowles 33518 BA tweeter contributes to the upper frequencies. A silicon-based MEMS solid-state driver handles additional treble information and transient detail.

Linsoul also claims its MEMS implementation can operate at the same voltage levels as the dynamic and balanced armature drivers, without requiring the specialized high-voltage amplification associated with some earlier MEMS designs. That’s potentially useful for anyone planning to run the Avant from a portable DAC/headphone amplifier rather than a dedicated desktop system.

How Is the Avant Tuned?

Linsoul describes the Avant as having a warm-neutral presentation, with a 9dB sub-bass shelf concentrated between 20Hz and 200Hz. The company specifies only a 1dB change between 200Hz and 1kHz, followed by a 9dB peak around 3kHz intended to increase vocal presence and clarity.

The upper treble then rolls off progressively rather than remaining elevated, which Linsoul says should help prevent the MEMS driver from becoming excessively aggressive. That sounds promising on paper, but frequency-response targets only tell part of the story and we have not heard the production version yet.

Linsoul Avant Specifications

• Type: Wired tribrid in-ear monitor
• Driver configuration: 2DD + 3BA + 1 MEMS per earpiece
• Dynamic drivers: 2 × 10mm PET diaphragm
• Balanced armatures: 2 x Dibei 653011 + 1 x Knowles 33518
• High-frequency driver: Silicon-based MEMS solid-state driver
• Impedance: 12 ohms at 1kHz
• Sensitivity: 104dB at 1kHz
• THD: ≤0.5%
• Connector: 0.78mm 2-pin detachable cable
• Warranty: 1 year on IEMs; 3 months on cable

Linsoul has not published a complete frequency-response specification, shell material, crossover details, supplied cable conductor material or termination information on the current product page. Those are rather conspicuous omissions on a $369 IEM and worth keeping in mind until we get a complete production sample and specifications.

The Bottom Line

The Linsoul Avant is more important as a statement of intent than as another exercise in cramming more drivers into an acrylic shell.

Linsoul already knows the IEM market extremely well, and the Avant represents its decision to compete under its own name with a combination of dual dynamic woofers, dedicated balanced armatures and MEMS technology. The standard-voltage MEMS implementation and dual 10mm bass arrangement are the parts we are most interested in hearing.

At $369, however, the Avant also costs more than the Binary EP321 and Kiwi Ears Halcyon, which means the execution needs to justify that premium. Six drivers make for an impressive specification sheet. Making six drivers sound like one coherent transducer is the considerably harder part.

Where to buy: $369 at Linsoul

Related Reading:

Mark your calendars: on Thursday night, September 10, StrictlyVC — TechCrunch’s boutique evening series — is heading to New York’s West Village (the real one — brownstones, cobblestones, and all — not the Mission Bay stretch of San Francisco that’s earned the nickname “Vest Village” for all the Patagonia-clad VCs roaming around).

It’s our first New York event in two years, and after a run of great nights this year in San Francisco, L.A., and Athens, we couldn’t be more excited to be back — with a stacked lineup to match. What’s in store:

Keith Rabois. We’re kicking off the night with the inimitable Keith Rabois, who recently relocated East from Silicon Valley and, true to form, seems intent on shaking things up wherever he lands. Rabois has never been shy about what he thinks is working in venture and what isn’t — he’s backed Ramp four times and invested as often in State Affairs, a company using AI and local journalists to track statehouse-level news and policy data across all 50 states. He’ll share his strong opinions on founders who raise more capital than they actually need, just because they can. And we’ll get him talking about Khosla Ventures’ boldest AI bet yet: its early $50 million check into OpenAI back in 2019 when the outfit had no clear business model — plus what he makes of the narrative that OpenAI is facing more headwinds right now than its rivals.

Craig Shapiro and Jason Levien. After our sit-down with Keith, stick around for a conversation you won’t find anywhere else. Craig Shapiro’s venture firm, Collaborative Fund, is generously co-hosting the evening with us, and we’ll sit down with Shapiro and Jason Levien, CEO of D.C. United, to talk sports organizations as business investments — and the increasingly tangled intersection of sports, fandom, commerce, and community.

Tristan Walker. Staying on the theme of community, we’ll dig into a conversation with two founders building for a world where AI does more — but also takes something away. Tristan Walker, who sold his last company, Walker & Company Brands (maker of Bevel), to Procter & Gamble in 2018, is back with Heirloom Craft, a startup focused on reshoring American fine craftsmanship — training a new generation of artisans and rebuilding the supply chains behind them.

Brynn Putnam. Walker will be joined by Brynn Putnam, who sold her last company, connected-fitness startup Mirror, to Lululemon for $500 million, just three years after it was launched. Putnam’s newest venture is Board, a game company blending physical play with AI-powered creation tools — built as something of an antidote to the isolation tech has fueled, bringing people back together around, literally, a board.

Deven Parekh. Last but not least, we’re thrilled to catch up with Deven Parekh, who has co-run Insight Partners — the New York powerhouse investment firm — for more than 25 years. Insight doesn’t do a lot of press, but Parekh has agreed to pull back the curtain on how the firm is thinking about a landscape where it’s gotten harder to tell asset classes apart, as some of the biggest funds have grown exponentially larger. What we want to know: how does Insight compete in a world where capital itself is a commodity, but the potential returns on massive investments have also never been bigger?

Expect a fun night all around, with drinks, hors d’oeuvres, and plenty of networking before and after the fireside chats, including with Connie Loizos, Rebecca Bellan, and other TechCrunch writers (as well as our friends from other outlets).

Giant thanks again to the team at Collaborative Fund for making the night possible. More details and ticketing info right here. See you in the (real) West Village.