Hardware Tech News

A classic engineering catalog detailing 507 mechanical movements has been fully digitized and animated for modern web viewing. This newly updated online archive allows users to explore historical mechanical principles through interactive digital animations.

Open-source developers have released OpenTIE and OpenXWA, which are modern engine ports of the classic space combat games TIE Fighter and X-Wing Alliance. The projects are hosted on GitHub and are currently seeking community contributions to help further their development.

Microduck is a 25 cm bipedal robot featuring 15 motors, a camera, LiDAR, and a grasping beak. Priced at $399 for pre-order, it is playable out of the box and includes an open-source stack that allows users to train and deploy new behaviors via simulation.

Anthropic is launching a research preview of the Model Hardware Standard (MHS), a new specification designed to allow AI agents to safely control physical devices. The initial release is being shared with a select group of scientific research labs and advanced manufacturers to test and refine the framework.

Developed in the 1990s, Suica was Japan's first IC transit card and has kept the nation moving for nearly three decades. This article explores the origin story of the pioneering smart card and its enduring impact on the country's transportation infrastructure.

M5Stack has launched PaperMono, a compact ESP32-S3-powered E-Ink development terminal featuring a 3.97-inch grayscale touch display, integrated frontlight, and a built-in battery. Designed for low-power IoT applications, the device includes NFC and LoRa connectivity to support projects like digital badges, mini readers, and remote status screens. Both the fully featured PaperMono and a connectivity-stripped Lite version are available now through the M5Stack Store.

Nvidia has agreed to acquire the artificial intelligence platform Hugging Face in a deal valued at more than $13 billion. This major acquisition highlights the chip giant's aggressive expansion and strategic dealmaking within the broader AI ecosystem.

Salem Robotics, a YC S26 company, has launched a software platform designed to power industrial inspection robots in complex, unstructured environments. The startup utilizes a hybrid approach that leverages AI for semantic scene understanding while relying on explicit geometric planning and control for precise physical interactions. Community discussions surrounding the launch also explored broader industry challenges, including defining software abstraction boundaries and optimizing large container deployments for edge robotics devices.

Nvidia has agreed to acquire the AI platform Hugging Face for more than $13 billion. This massive deal highlights the chip giant's aggressive expansion of its artificial intelligence dealmaking strategy.

The Asahi Linux project has released a new progress report for kernel version 7.2, detailing ongoing efforts to port the operating system to Apple Silicon hardware. This update highlights recent advancements in kernel support and feature integration to improve overall compatibility and performance on M-series Macs.

At the FOSSY 2026 conference, the Software Freedom Conservancy highlighted an ongoing AGPL license violation involving a 3D printer. Representatives discussed the broader challenges of enforcing open-source compliance when hardware manufacturers fail to release the source code for their modified software.

IBM has unveiled its first dual-architecture mainframe processor, enabling enterprises to run both IBM and Arm-based operating systems simultaneously on future IBM Z and LinuxONE systems. Emerging from a 2026 collaboration between the companies, this advancement allows organizations to leverage Arm-native Linux environments alongside traditional z/OS while maintaining IBM's established security, reliability, and scale.

Apple has unveiled the new M6 and M5 Ultra processors, debuting them in the updated Mac mini and Mac Studio, respectively. These latest chips deliver a significant upgrade in both raw computing performance and artificial intelligence capabilities.

The FDA has authorized the Libre Duo, the first wearable device capable of continuously monitoring both blood sugar and ketone levels. This new dual-monitoring system is approved for use by individuals aged two and older living with diabetes.

OpenAI's custom-designed AI chip, codenamed Jalapeño, reportedly outperforms Nvidia's Blackwell and Rubin architectures in critical efficiency metrics. The new ASIC boasts a lower total cost of ownership and higher throughput per megawatt, highlighting the company's strategic push to reduce its reliance on third-party silicon suppliers.

Apple has announced the next-generation Mac Studio equipped with the M5 Max and the all-new M5 Ultra processors. This updated desktop delivers a monumental leap in artificial intelligence capabilities alongside significantly faster graphics performance.

Apple has announced the new Mac mini, which is powered by the M6 and M5 Pro chips to deliver a dramatic performance boost. The updated desktop retains its signature supersmall design while introducing enhanced versatility for users.

Readers discussing an article about running OpenBSD on DigitalOcean are debating the merits of major cloud providers versus budget indie hosting companies. While some users argue that smaller hosts offer significantly better hardware specifications for the same price, others warn that these cheap providers are often unreliable and poorly managed. Consequently, many recommend sticking with established providers for critical workloads, while suggesting self-hosting or serverless alternatives for hobby projects.

A new project named CarWatch transforms a vehicle into a local AI chat agent using a Raspberry Pi 5 and a dashcam. Powered by the Qwen language model, the system runs entirely offline to provide an interactive, conversational experience for drivers.

Firefox 157 will enable JPEG XL support by default across all platforms using jxl-rs, a new Rust-based decoder developed by Google Research that prioritizes memory safety and outperforms the legacy C++ library. While the Rust version handles decoding, the older C++ implementation will remain in use for image encoding until a dedicated Rust encoder is completed.

Xiaomi's new processor matches Apple's single-threaded performance while significantly outpacing it in multi-threaded tasks, giving the smartphone maker a temporary edge over the iPhone. However, this performance advantage may be short-lived as Apple is expected to announce its next-generation processor soon.

SiFive has announced its first dedicated server platform, marking a significant milestone for RISC-V architecture in the enterprise data center market. This new platform aims to deliver scalable, high-performance computing solutions to challenge traditional proprietary server processors.

A security researcher utilized the AI model Claude to audit the firmware of five USB and WiFi peripherals, uncovering several critical vulnerabilities. The analysis revealed a hidden command shell in a microphone, a defeatable webcam activity LED, and unauthenticated memory writes over the network.

A new technical guide details the process of migrating data from a legacy Synology NAS to the UniFi UNAS Pro 8. The tutorial demonstrates how to maximize transfer efficiency during the transition by leveraging Robocopy and SMB Multichannel. This provides a practical roadmap for users looking to upgrade their network storage infrastructure to the UniFi ecosystem.

Kaspersky researchers have discovered a new Android malware strain that infects DoFun automotive head units through seemingly legitimate software. Once installed, the malicious firmware serves unauthorized advertisements and recruits the compromised devices into a proxy botnet.

A new search engine dedicated exclusively to the Internet of Things has been launched to help users navigate internet-connected devices. This first-of-its-kind platform aims to simplify the discovery and management of smart technology within the rapidly expanding IoT ecosystem.

Users can now easily connect and operate the classic Kodak DC50 digital camera with the vintage Apple II computer. This new compatibility provides a seamless way to integrate early digital photography hardware with legacy Apple systems.

Reflecting on a 2005 article about a user's personal journey with NetBSD, readers shared how open-source operating systems like Gentoo and NetBSD profoundly shaped their careers and lives. Commenters praised NetBSD for its extreme hardware portability, robust base install, and ability to run on obsolete architectures like SPARC. The discussion highlights the lasting impact these early Unix-like systems had on sysadmins, contrasting NetBSD's broad compatibility with the specific utilities of FreeBSD and OpenBSD.

A hardware enthusiast has brought the classic cellular automaton Conway's Game of Life into the real world by building it entirely out of physical switches. This impressive project translates the famous digital simulation into a tangible display, allowing viewers to watch the evolving grid patterns unfold in real time.

The 1970s Z80 microprocessor remains highly relevant today, with tech enthusiasts building modern DIY computers and emulations to celebrate the classic chip. Despite its messy instruction set architecture resulting from backward compatibility requirements with the Intel 8080, programmers continue to enjoy hacking on the Z80 in assembly as a refreshing contrast to the high abstraction of the modern LLM age.