When heat waves descended on California this summer, Shreyas Sudhakar, founder and chief executive officer of heat pump installation firm Vayu, took his chance.

Just 54 percent of homes in the state have central air-conditioning, but rising temperatures are making cooling a must-have. Sudhakar saw the hot weather as an opportunity to sign up multiple households to a heat pump “group-buy” scheme, offering them a chance to purchase technology that provides carbon-free heating and cooling at a discount. After advertising the venture online, he was flooded with queries.

Heat pumps often cost more than cooling-only air conditioners, which is why adoption hasn’t been more widespread in the US. But the group-buy approach offers would-be purchasers a bulk discount that can defray part of the cost. Group-buys also mean installers can line up a tidy string of jobs—a win-win potentially enabling whole neighborhoods to switch to heat pumps.

Along with heat pump marketplace VoltHub, Vayu launched the first California Heat Pump Group Buy last year. “Nobody, to our knowledge, had done it in California,” recalls Sudhakar. “We thought, ‘Let’s try it out.’” The program is available around Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

Air-source heat pumps run on electricity. They work by harvesting heat from outside air and distributing it indoors, or gathering excess internal heat and dumping it outside.

This isn’t exactly rocket science. Except, perhaps, to a former rocket propulsion engineer.

“I tell people this all the time,” laughs Sudhakar, who previously designed rocket engines at Blue Origin. “At the end of the day, it’s a bunch of pipes and a heat exchanger moving energy from one place to another.”

Among the first group of roughly 10 customers in the initial group-buy scheme was Naoya Kanai, a data scientist who lives with his wife and toddler in the Bay Area city of San Mateo. Kanai stumbled on the group-buy online and jumped at the chance, knowing that federal rebates for carbon-free appliances would soon disappear under the Trump administration.

“It was one of the most affordable ways to get a quality system,” he says of the program. Kanai recalls thinking, “I can really sell it to my spouse.”

Once households are signed up to the group-buy, Sudhakar and his colleagues work out what equipment they’ll need for each installation. Then, they shop around for deals from distributors so they can make offers to participants. “We’re looking for what is the best value across the entire group,” he adds. “Typically, we’re getting 15 to 30 percent discounts on the equipment.”

Kanai’s house is a two-story 1980s suburban home that has about 2,500 square feet of space. The new heat pump system cost roughly $14,500 and provides heating and cooling via ductwork that was already in place. Kanai says the flow of temperature-controlled air is much more comfortable and steady compared to his old gas furnace and air conditioner. He’s barely noticed this summer’s heat waves until going outside. “A lot of times we’ll step out the front door [and realize] ‘Oh, wow, it was actually really hot today.’”

Other group-buy programs are available across North America, with one of the oldest operational programs on Gabriola Island, British Columbia, a 58-square-kilometer land mass home to about 4,500 people. In 2010, a group called Energy Gabriola set itself up as a heat pump dealer via a distributor, so it could buy heat pumps in bulk and sell them at cost. This was possible because, until that point, there was no heat pump market or installation service on the island whatsoever.

Relying partly on volunteers, the group has installed more than 1,000 heat pumps to date, electrifying nearly half of the island’s households. “We think we’re the heat pump capital of Canada,” says Steven Earle, of Vancouver Island University, who is involved in Energy Gabriola.

Wireless earbuds have spent years getting smaller, smarter and better sounding, but they still have one rather obvious problem: some people simply hate sticking them inside their ears. SOUNDPEATS has been moving further into open ear designs to address that issue, introducing the Pop Clip and Clip1 in 2025 and now following them with the UU2, also known as the Pop Clip 2, for 2026.

Instead of sealing the ear canal like a conventional true wireless earbud, the UU2 uses a clip-on design that wraps around the ear and directs its drivers toward the ear canal. The goal is a more secure and potentially more comfortable fit while still allowing users to hear what is happening around them.

That combination could make the UU2 particularly appealing to commuters, runners, office users and anyone who has never found traditional earbuds especially comfortable. SOUNDPEATS is also using the new model to push the concept forward with updated drivers, sound processing and wireless connectivity rather than simply changing how the earbuds attach to your head.

Related Reviews:

SOUNDPEATS UU2

According to SOUNDPEATS, the UU2 open ear clip-on wireless earbuds are designed to elevate what listeners can expect from the category. Combining upgraded acoustic architecture with refined ergonomics, the UU2 is intended for listeners who want the comfort and environmental awareness of an open ear design without giving up engaging sound.

Naming Clarification: The SOUNDPEATS UU2 and POP Clip2 refer to the same product. Depending on the market, either name may appear on the product packaging. We will use the UU2 designation throughout this article.

As open ear earbuds continue to gain popularity for commuting, work, exercise and everyday use, many listeners still associate the category with compromised bass performance and reduced overall impact. Rather than accepting that as an unavoidable tradeoff, SOUNDPEATS designed the UU2 with a simple goal: deliver a fuller, more engaging listening experience while remaining comfortable enough for all day wear.

“Open ear listening should not require users to choose between comfort and musical impact,” said Jason Yang, founder of SOUNDPEATS. “With the UU2, we focused on the two things listeners notice every day: fuller, more engaging sound and a lightweight fit designed for extended wear.”

12mm Titanium Driver Targets Better Bass

The UU2 incorporates a newly developed 12mm titanium coated dual magnet dynamic driver. SOUNDPEATS also includes its DynamicEQ technology, which adjusts low frequency performance in real time. According to the company, the combination is designed to produce deeper, more textured bass, wider dynamic range and a more balanced sound signature than listeners might expect from an open ear clip on design.

More Output Without Closing Off Your Ears

SOUNDPEATS says the UU2 also delivers higher maximum output than its previous clip on models, with up to a 6.8 dB SPL increase over the Clip1 and a 3.2 dB SPL increase over the Pop Clip. The additional output is intended to give music greater presence and impact, addressing one of the more common criticisms of open ear earbuds.

Rather than relying on the isolation created by traditional in ear earbuds, the UU2 leaves the ear canal open so listeners can remain aware of their surroundings. SOUNDPEATS is betting that the combination of greater output and improved bass performance can make that convenience less of an acoustic compromise.

Wearing Comfort 

The UU2 is also designed with extended wear in mind. Each earbud weighs approximately 5 grams and uses an updated U Bridge structure with a skin friendly coating intended to improve comfort and stability across a wider range of ear shapes.

Because the clip on design leaves the ear canal open, it also reduces the pressure associated with traditional in ear earbuds. That could make the UU2 a better fit for long workdays, commuting, walking and other situations where listeners want to hear their music without completely tuning out the world around them.

Up to 42 Hours With the Charging Case

The UU2 provides up to 10 hours of playback on a single charge, while the charging case extends total listening time to as much as 42 hours. For those moments when the battery is running low, a 10 minute quick charge provides up to two hours of additional playback.

Bluetooth 6.0, LDAC and Multipoint Support

The UU2 adds Bluetooth 6.0 with multipoint connectivity, allowing users to stay connected to two devices and switch between them as needed. Support for LDAC and Hi Res Audio Wireless certification enables higher quality wireless playback with compatible devices.

The SOUNDPEATS app adds further control with customizable EQ settings, firmware updates and other device management features.

More Features

UU2 provides features designed to enhance everyday use.

• Physical Buttons: To further improve ease of use, UU2 replaces touch controls with physical buttons. This supports more accurate operation while helping to reduce accidental inputs during movement.
• AI-Supported Call Noise Reduction: AI-powered call noise reduction uses intelligent sensing and seamless switching to improve voice clarity for calls. The front mic in each earbud supports precise sound pickup, while the rear mic is designed to block wind noise. AI then provides the best balance for optimal call quality.
• Privacy Mode: This feature reduces high-frequency sound leakage in quieter environments, making listening more considerate in shared spaces.
• Charging Flexibility: Either earbud can be placed in either charging slot, with automatic left/right channel assignment once the case is closed.

Recognized for its innovative approach to open-ear audio, the SOUNDPEATS UU2 has received the VGP 2026 Summer Gold Award.

Comparison

The Bottom Line 

The SOUNDPEATS UU2 improves on the basic clip on earbud formula with a new 12mm titanium coated driver, DynamicEQ, LDAC, Bluetooth 6.0 and up to 10 hours of battery life. Its biggest appeal is simple: better sound without giving up the comfort and environmental awareness of an open ear design.

The UU2 is aimed at commuters, office users, walkers and anyone who finds traditional in ear earbuds uncomfortable or too isolating. It is not the only option in this growing category, but its feature set makes it a more ambitious alternative to basic open ear models.

Price & Availability

SOUNDPEATS UU2 (POP Clip2) are available for $49.99 at Amazon.

Related Reading:

Robot vacuums solved floors years ago, while windows stayed stubborn. Tall panes, frameless panels, sliding doors, and mirrors still demand ladders, squeegees, and a weekend you would rather spend elsewhere. Ecovacs answered that gap with the Winbot W2S Pro Omni, a square climbing cleaner that sticks to vertical glass, sprays solution, scrubs edges, and returns to a portable station that cleans its own pad.

The machine comes in two parts: a small robot and a matching Omni station that work together. On one end is the robot, a nice tiny square that contains the microfibre pads, tank-style treads, and all of the sensors along its outside edges. The Omni station, located next to it, houses the battery, functions as a storage unit, serves as the control panel, and housing four scrubbers that clean the pad between uses. This item is designed to be used simultaneously; the station simply goes with the robot, so you don’t need an outlet right next to each window. When the job is completed, the two are connected by a cable that neatly retracts.

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• Dual Power Modes for Flexible Charging – WINBOT W2 PRO OMNI offers two power modes for flexible use: Battery mode and Plugged-in mode. Battery mode…
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The suction power is rather impressive, reaching 10,000 pa. It can adhere to glass (including tall or frameless surfaces) and remain in place. The robot is equipped with a variety of sensors, including bump sensors, optocoupler edge detection, pressure sensors, and an inertial unit, to aid in direction determination. The system detects every edge, including those challenging pieces of free-standing glass that older models occasionally overlooked. When the robot reaches a border, it simply stops, turns around, and continues on without incident. One of the great features is the auto-lift on the felt pads, which allows for more freedom to clean around corners and reduces the possibility of dirt being pushed into them.

The TruEdge 2.0 system handles the tough element, which is getting into the corners. It has extremely dense felt bristles set in an eight-tooth radial design, allowing it to reach the last millimeter along the frames and corners for a thorough scrub. In addition, the robot is capable of making dedicated edge and corner passes. It has three pressurized spray nozzles on each side that lay down a fine film that loosens all dirt, rain markings, and bird droppings before wiping them away with the microfiber pad. With this, it can cover roughly 90% of the path without leaving any dry places. Ecovacs claims that when combined, it can clean approximately one square meter in 90 seconds and provides a 46 percent efficiency improvement over the previous model.

The station’s battery lasts about 110 minutes, which is adequate for a decent piece of glass. If you find that you need additional time, just plug the station into wall power and continue working on the larger tasks. A full tank of solution will cover several hundred square feet, depending on the mode you choose. You can select your normal cleaning modes (quick, thorough, heavy duty, zone, edge, and deep) using the station buttons, the Ecovacs app, or voice commands.

Ecovacs is concerned about your safety, therefore they developed an exceptional 12-tier solution that combines hardware and software. They’ve also added air-pressure adjustment, which acts in a fraction of a second when suction drops. If the robot begins to lose suction, this will be enough to keep it from sliding off. They also have power-off protection, which keeps it locked for more than 30 minutes, allowing you to retrieve it safely. If you’re concerned about it falling, there’s a one-meter safety rope and enough anchoring power to keep it tight (nearly 800 newtons should suffice), and the noise level is 66 decibels thanks to all the air ducts, vibration control, and insulation.

It costs $599.99 and will be available from Ecovacs and most high-street retailers from August 10, 2026. It’s in the mid-to-upper price range for window cleaning robots, but it has a lot of the top models’ better suction and battery life, as well as improved edge work and pad upkeep, which the mid-range machines lacked. Overall, it’s a useful tool that makes one of the most irritating household duties a little easier.

Jefferies cut Apple from hold to underperform on Monday. That is the bank’s equivalent of a sell rating. It also cut its price target from $285.56 to $263.66.

Fortune’s Sebastian Herrera reported the call. The bank’s supply-chain checks produced three reasons. Apple has cancelled a rumoured all-glass iPhone, memory prices are surging, and there is little visible progress on AI.

The first of those is the one that matters. That handset was expected next year, for the iPhone’s 20th anniversary.

The cancelled phone is the argument

Jefferies put its reasoning plainly. “We believe this shows that introducing new form factors in the iPhone to drive higher [average selling price] is more difficult than expected.”

Average selling price is the lever Apple has pulled for a decade. A new shape justifies a higher number on the sticker. Cancel the shape and the lever goes with it.

That leaves the foldable iPhone, which Apple may reveal next month. Jefferies expects it to be the company’s only margin driver. Memory costs push the bank’s estimate to $2,199 for the 256GB version and $3,099 for the 2TB version.

Those are laptop prices on a phone. They are also an argument that the margin has to come from somewhere.

Memory is eating the hardware business

The cost of computer memory is why Apple raised prices on Macs and iPads. AI data centres are absorbing the supply. Tim Cook signed off his final earnings call with a warning about a “hundred-year flood” in memory chip pricing.

Most of the DRAM supply sits with three companies. Micron, SK Hynix and Samsung control it, a concentration Cook has lamented in public.

Apple has been looking for a way around that. The Wall Street Journal reported that it is testing memory from China’s CXMT. Buying Chinese memory chips at scale could draw objections from the White House.

Six sell ratings, and the last time was 2012

Bloomberg counts at least six firms now carrying sell-equivalent ratings on Apple. That matches a high last seen in 2012, shortly after the death of Steve Jobs.

Jefferies is not the first bank to move this summer. KeyBanc Capital Markets cut Apple to underweight in July, on iPhone demand.

Edison Lee, the Jefferies analyst behind the call, took the argument further on Bloomberg Tech. Apple, he told Ed Ludlow, is no longer the “king of the supply chain”.

The other side of the trade

Not everyone reads six sell ratings as a reason to sell. CNBC’s Investing Club published its counterpoint the same afternoon. Its headline told readers not to let a Wall Street downgrade scare them out of the stock.

Apple also disputes the AI leg of the case. Cook has framed the company’s on-device approach as a deliberate advantage rather than a gap.

“The ability to run some percentage of requests on-device is also very strategic, sort of a competitive weapon if you will,” he said.

Investors have been less patient. They were already running out of patience with Apple’s AI promises before this downgrade landed.

Ternus inherits the argument next month

John Ternus takes over as chief executive next month, succeeding Cook. Apple’s annual iPhone event is expected in early September. The foldable is expected with it.

He arrives with two demands running at once. One is the margin story. The other is product, and the company has spent the past year rebuilding the design team after a run of senior departures.

The quarter was fine. That is the point.

Apple’s July guidance put iPhone sales at mid-teens percentage growth this quarter. The iPhone is roughly half the business. That is a deceleration from 22% growth in the quarter just ended, and Apple warned that gross margins would come under pressure.

Growth at that rate is not a crisis, and Jefferies is not arguing that it is. The argument is narrower than the headline suggests.

If price rises have to carry the margin, the ceiling on what Apple can charge becomes the investment case. The only new shape left is a foldable starting at $2,199. That is a great deal of weight for one handset to hold.

The fintech’s French entity becomes its second full EU banking hub.

Revolut has received a full banking licence in France, giving the fintech giant a second European Union hub.

Revolut Bank SA (RBSA) was granted the licence following a joint assessment by the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) – a part of France’s central bank – and the European Central Bank, with the decision formally adopted by the ECB Governing Council. The company, which claims more than 75m customers worldwide, said the move marks a “historic milestone” in its European journey.

The licence lands as Revolut deepens its roots across western Europe, its largest and fastest-growing region with about 30m customers, including close to 8m who joined in the past year. Ireland accounts for more than 3.4m of those customers.

Over the last year, the company has committed more than €1bn in regional investment, hired more than 600 people and confirmed a 2027 opening for its new western European HQ in Paris.

RBSA will progressively begin serving customers across Europe, starting with France, before Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain follow in later phases. Revolut’s Lithuanian entity, Revolut Bank UAB – which currently serves its Irish customers – remains the cornerstone of operations for the rest of the EEA under a dual-hub model, with both the SA and UAB bodies supervised by their local regulator and the ECB.

“This licence gives us the foundation to build the next generation of banking for more than 30m customers across western Europe,” said Nik Storonsky, founder and CEO of Revolut. “France has become a leading financial hub, supported by a dynamic financial ecosystem and a robust regulatory framework. It is the ideal platform to accelerate Revolut’s next phase of growth, bringing us one step closer to our ambition of becoming one of Europe’s largest and most trusted banks.”

Béatrice Cossa-Dumurgier, CEO for western Europe at Revolut, said: “This achievement reflects months of close collaboration with the ACPR and the European Central Bank, whose rigorous standards have helped us build the right foundations for long-term growth in the region. We are grateful for the constructive dialogue we’ve had throughout this process. Our focus now turns to execution.

“We’ll begin by serving customers in France before progressively expanding across western Europe, while accelerating the localisation of our products and services to better meet the needs of retail and business customers in each market.”

The French approval is the latest in a run of regulatory wins for Revolut this year. It finally secured its full UK banking licence in March after a five-year wait, applied for a US banking licence around the same time, and in July launched its first Asia-Pacific banking entity in Australia after receiving regulatory approval there.

Revolut now operates across 40 markets. The company reported its fifth consecutive year of profitability in March, with group revenues up 46pc in 2025 to $6bn, and is reportedly gearing up for a public listing around 2028 at a valuation of between $150bn and $200bn.

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.

I’ve always thought the Atlas Cross Sport looked like an Atlas that didn’t quite find its personality; competent but a little forgettable. Volkswagen apparently agreed.

The automaker just revealed a fully redesigned 2027 Cross Sport. It now has a sharper exterior, a genuinely upmarket cabin, and, most importantly, more power under the hood. Further, it’s arriving early next year as the sportier five-seat alternative to the three-row Atlas.

So what actually changed on the outside and inside?

Based on an updated MQB Evo platform, the new Cross Sport measures around 4,968mm in length, over 127mm shorter than its three-row sibling. The lower stance and a sharply raked rear roofline give it a sporty look. 

Stacked LED headlights, an illuminated VW badge on every trim (except the base model), and a flush-mounted tailgate round out the exterior overhaul. Volkswagen is also offering three new paint colors, including a Blackberry Metallic option. 

Inside, you’ll get a wraparound dashboard loop, wood trim, contrast stitching, and ambient lighting that replace what used to feel like a fairly utilitarian cabin. Every trim now gets a reworked 12-way driver’s seat. Upper trims also add full-back massage for both front occupants.

What about the tech and the engine?

Following the global trend of larger screens, the 2027 Cross Sport gets a 15-inch infotainment display, which is standard on roughly 90% of the lineup, and a new physical dial for controlling volume and drive modes. There’s a 10.3-inch digital gauge cluster across the board as well.

Power comes from an updated turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder, which now makes 282hp, a 13hp bump. The engine is paired with an eight-speed automatic and optional 4Motion all-wheel drive. 

While the pricing hasn’t been announced yet, I’m expecting the company to reveal more details as the launch approaches in early 2027. With the Atlas family making up roughly a third of Volkswagen’s US sales, this redesign carries real financial stakes beyond just refreshing an aging model. 

• SpaceX and Tesla commit $16.8 billion to build a gigantic Texas chip factory
• TeraFab could cover more than 100 million square feet when fully built
• Elon Musk claims TeraFab will reach 50 times the size of the Pentagon

SpaceX and Tesla have revealed more details in their plan to invest $16.8 billion in a massive semiconductor factory planned for Grimes County, Texas.

The facility, known as TeraFab, is expected to manufacture chips for several computing-intensive applications associated with both companies.

If you were hoping for an all-glass iPhone, a new report from Barron’s might shatter that dream. The financial news source reports that Jefferies analyst Edison Lee believes development on an all-glass mobile device has come to a halt.

According to the report, Lee thinks the device was canceled because of “poor production yield,” or not enough defect-free units being successfully made during production.

An Apple representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The device was rumored to launch in the fall of 2027 to celebrate the iPhone’s 20th anniversary, and Barron’s reports it could have cost an eye-watering $2,060.

Rumors of an all-glass iPhone began after Apple filed for a patent in 2019 on an electronic device with a “six-sided glass enclosure.” The device in the patent resembles an iPhone, with app icons on one side and a way to signal to others that you’re on a call on the other side. The device also has curved glass panels and seemingly no cutouts.

“We believe the plan was to extend the all-glass features to future iPhone Pro and Pro Max models, further raising their average selling price and margin,” Lee wrote, according to Barron’s.

For more on Apple, here’s what to know about iOS 27 and everything the company announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

Zachary McAuliffe

Senior writer

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Zach began writing for CNET in November, 2021 after writing for a broadcast news station in his hometown, Cincinnati, for five years. You can usually find him hanging out with his wife, son and dog in their home.

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