Technology News
Latest technology news and updates
Total: 302
Apple Services Disrupted: App Store, Apple TV and iTunes Hit by Ongoing Outage
Apple reported an ongoing outage affecting the App Store, Apple TV and iTunes, with knock-on problems for Photos, iMessage and iCloud iWork. The disruption highlights operational and reputational risks for Apple and immediate economic consequences for developers and content providers.
Beijing Doubles Down on 6G, Quantum and Heavy Industry to Rewire China’s Tech Future
China’s MIIT announced accelerated progress across 6G, quantum, AI and heavy manufacturing, reporting substantial gains in chip‑related output, robots and new energy vehicles. Officials emphasised China’s strong position in 5G patents and early 6G trials, and outlined policy measures to fast‑track commercialization and create future‑industry hubs.
Hongqi Unveils First Car with All‑Solid‑State Battery After Sulfide Electrolyte Breakthrough
FAW’s Hongqi has produced a sample car featuring a 66Ah all‑solid‑state battery that passed a 200°C thermal abuse test, with a sulfide electrolyte reaching ionic conductivity above 10 mS/cm. The milestone narrows the technical gap between solid and liquid electrolytes but industrial scaling, cost and long‑term stability remain major obstacles before mass commercialization.
China Moves 6G From Lab to Field: Second‑Phase Trials Mark a New Stage in the Race for Next‑Gen Networks
China has begun second‑phase 6G trials, moving from foundational research to system‑level testing and field validation. The shift enhances Beijing’s ability to influence standards, bolster domestic supply chains, and shape the commercial and strategic trajectory of next‑generation wireless networks.
Global 8‑inch Wafer Market Tightens as Chip Giants Cut Capacity — China Fabs Cash In with Price Hikes
A supply squeeze in 8‑inch wafer manufacturing, driven by capacity cuts at TSMC and Samsung and growing AI‑era demand for power and analog chips, has pushed prices up by roughly 5–20%. Chinese mainland foundries including SMIC and Hua Hong are filling the gap, raising prices and running near full capacity, but the longer‑term migration to 12‑inch production continues to shape the market.
Zhipu Limits Sales of GLM Coding Plan to Protect Long‑standing Users After GLM‑4.7 Demand Spike
Zhipu has limited daily sales of its GLM Coding Plan to 20% of previous volumes as a temporary measure after GLM‑4.7 triggered heavy demand that strained compute resources and slowed model responses during peak hours. The cap, beginning Jan 23 and refreshed daily, aims to protect existing users while Zhipu expands capacity and tightens control over malicious traffic.
Zhipu AI Temporarily Caps GLM Coding Plan Sales After GLM‑4.7 Triggers Surge in Demand
Zhipu AI will temporarily cap daily sales of its GLM Coding Plan to 20% of current levels starting January 23 after the GLM‑4.7 release caused spikes in usage and intermittent slowdowns during weekday peak hours. The move protects existing subscribers and highlights persistent infrastructure and cost challenges for providers of code‑focused large language models.
Chinese Supplier Confirms It Made Grid Fins for 'Xingji Rongyao', Signalling Deeper Commercial Space Supply Chains
Guanglian Aviation confirmed it supplied grid fins for the Chinese vehicle 'Xingji Rongyao', a sign that private suppliers in China are producing flight‑critical hardware associated with guided re‑entry and potential stage recovery. This reflects growing technical sophistication and supply‑chain depth in China’s commercial space sector, with implications for market competition and technology governance.
Swiss ‘Dexterous Hand’ Leaps Forward: A Robotic Hand That Grasps, Flips and Crawls Its Way to Real-World Tasks
EPFL researchers have developed a modular robotic hand that replicates 33 human grasp types and adds dual‑sided grasping plus autonomous crawling, enabling it to handle oversized objects and reposition itself to process multiple targets. Published in Nature Communications, the device bridges a gap between laboratory dexterity demonstrations and practical applications in industry, service robotics and field exploration, though challenges in sensing, energy and integration remain.
China’s Low‑Orbit Internet Accelerates: From Drone Firefighting to Phone‑to‑Satellite Ambitions
Chinese commercial space firms are moving fast from tests to scaled deployments of low‑Earth‑orbit internet constellations. Trials combining satellites with drones, cars and experimental phone‑direct links demonstrate practical applications for disaster response, logistics and ubiquitous connectivity, while mass manufacture and falling component costs point to broader commercialisation by 2030.
China’s 6G Pitch: How Integrated Communication-and-Sensing Could Rewrite Industry Connectivity
Professor Wang Jiangzhou urged that 6G should be built around integrated communication and sensing, arguing 5G cannot meet the latency, reliability and situational awareness needs of industrial and safety‑critical applications. He stressed multi‑station cooperative sensing, shared hardware and unified waveforms as central technical directions, and positioned China’s policy moves alongside global efforts to capture leadership in 6G.
Fu Sheng: AI Will Make Machines Orbit People — Robots, Agents and the Case for ‘Start with the End’
Fu Sheng, founder of Cheetah Mobile and OrionStar, argues the AI era will flip human–machine roles and calls for rebuilding apps as AI‑native products. He stresses a scenario‑first approach for robots and devices to secure commercial returns, while warning that foundational models still need improvement for decision‑critical tasks.