Amazon may be muscling into the field of augmented reality glasses. According to a report by The Information, sources claimed that the company is working on AR glasses for consumers, allegedly with plans to release the product in late 2026 or early 2027.
Insiders told the publication that the project, internally dubbed Jayhawk, would equip AR glasses with microphones, speakers, a camera and a full-color display in one eye. Amazon is reportedly using Chinese company Meta-Bounds for the AR tech.
Amazon is also working on a separate model of AR glasses specifically for its delivery drivers under the codename . This productivity-focused option, which would reportedly shave seconds off drivers’ times, could be ready by the second quarter of 2026, according to The Information‘s sources.
If Amazon does release these AR sets, it will primarily be in competition with Meta, which already sells simpler smart glasses with Ray-Ban. The social media company is expected to launch a new product currently dubbed at its Connect conference next week, a set that pushes more into a true augmented reality experience with a similar one-eye AR concept.
Yesterday’s iPhone 17 Pro reveal introduced a new design language for Apple, but also a new signature colorway in an orange iPhone 17 Pro and… uh… bring on the orange Android phones. Or, at bare minimum, let’s embrace the return of actual colors on Pro phones.
In its new iPhone 17 Pro, Apple has switched back to an aluminum build, ditching the titanium design it hyped up for the past couple of generations. Ultimately, that doesn’t matter seeing as the benefits of titanium were minimal. But it is allowing Apple to introduce a striking new “Cosmic Orange” design.
This new colorway brings back memories of the Pixel 4’s underrated “Oh So Orange,” which was a unique entry at the time. Not only was it one of the most vibrant colors on a smartphone at the time, but orange had been a bit of an outlier up until then. It made rare appearances in accent colors, but it was far from a common choice.
And, since the Pixel 4’s demise, it’s a color we’ve still not seen a ton of. Google somewhat revisited orange in 2022’s “Coral” Pixel 7a, while Motorola also introduced a Razr in orange in some regions. Nothing’s CMF brand has also launched two smartphones in orange.
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But, with Apple now adopting orange in the iPhone 17 Pro, the floodgates are open.
It’s almost a guarantee that we’ll be seeing orange pop up in various Android phones over the next year or two because, well, that’s the pattern. If Apple focuses on a new color, Android brands often tend to follow not too far behind in one way or another.
Arguably the bigger deal here, though, is that Apple broke the rule of boring colors on its “Pro” phones.
Almost every smartphone brand, Apple included, is guilty of putting out “Pro” phones with horribly boring color options. A great example of that is the Pixel 10 series, where the base Pixel 10 has some vibrant blue and yellow options, but the Pro lineup is devoid of saturation. As mentioned, Apple usually does the same, with every “Pro” iPhone being some variation of neutral in its colors. Weirdly, the iPhone 17 series just flips this entirely. The base iPhone 17 mostly consists of fairly subdued color choices, while the new iPhone Air comes in black, white, white with some blue, and white with some gold. It’s this “Cosmic Orange” Pro that stands out from everything.
I really hope that Android brands will follow suit, both in vibrant colors on “Pro” devices, and incoporating orange.
But what do you think?
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Much more coverage to come in the next few weeks, though!
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An empty Ward 7 polling station at Frederick Harris Schooi on Tuesday.(Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
SPRINGFIELD — A preliminary election broke records in a way no one wanted to see: It had the lowest vote turnout in at least 70 years.
In Tuesday’s three-race election, 1,508 of the 44,407 registered voters cast ballots in the four wards where there were elections to cut the field of candidates to two. That meant a 3.4% turnout.
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With Anduril’s help, Australia has done what the U.S. Navy has struggled to accomplish: transition an extra-large undersea drone from white board to under contract in just three years.
Anduril announced Tuesday that a fleet of its XL uncrewed undersea vehicle (XLUUV) “Ghost Shark” will begin operations in Australian waters next year under a massive AUS$1.7 billion (US$1.1 billion) contract.
The five-year award structure is the defense-startup holy grail; it’s a program of record that essentially locks in recurring revenue by becoming a line item in the country’s defense budget. The contract for the platform, which provides long-range, stealthy surveillance and strike operations, covers delivery, maintenance, and continued development.
It also reflects political urgency in Australia to field new capabilities in the Indo-Pacific to deter the rising threat from China.
“At the end of the day, this comes down to having seriousness, having imagination, and having will to conceive a new idea and bring it to fruition. And that’s what the Australian government has done,” Anduril President Chris Brose said in an interview. “Australia has fewer people, a lot less money, and many of the same bureaucratic challenges that our Pentagon has, and they have been able to accomplish this.”
The contrast with the United States is stark.
The only XLUUV under development, Boeing’s Orca, is years behind schedule. By comparison, Anduril and Australia co-developed and jointly funded Ghost Shark in 2022, each putting in $50 million. The first prototype was delivered in April 2024, twelve months ahead of schedule, and production has already begun.
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The program presents a new model for defense procurement. Anduril put some of its own capital on the line to derisk Australia’s otherwise rapid acquisition timeline.
Anduril isn’t stopping with Australia.
SVP Of Maritime, Shane Arnott, said Ghost Shark can be rapidly “missionized in country,” meaning that governments can plug in their own payload modules as needed. Anduril has already produced a U.S. payload that is being tested off the California coast, and it has stood up a 150,000-square-foot factory in Rhode Island to produce Ghost Sharks in the U.S. if a contract materializes.
“The United States has had an XLUUV program that has been struggling for the better part of a decade,” Brose said. “It has spent a significantly greater amount of money on that program than the Australian Government and Anduril have spent developing the Ghost Shark capability, and it’s further behind. We have spent more time in, on, and under the water. We have an ability to work across more missions. We are more ready to go. We are more ready to deliver at scale, and we will do all of that at a lower price.”
For Australia, the urgency is clear. It is the largest island nation with a small population and proximity to Western adversaries. Chief among them is China, which has rapidly expanded its navy and pushed its ships deeper into the Pacific, including conducting provocative drills off the coast of Australia. That pressure has made Ghost Shark a compelling solution.
Apple Music is running a promo in which three free months of the Family Plan tier. That’s a savings of $51, which is nothing to sneeze at. After this lengthy free trial is up, it costs $17 per month.
The Family Plan allows six different users to access the platform. It offers cross-device support and each user is tied to an Apple ID, so their favorite music won’t mess with anyone else’s algorithm.
Apple
Remember to cancel at the end of the free trial if you aren’t digging it.
Apple Music actually topped our list of the , and for good reason. It sounds great and it’s easy to use. What else is there? All music is available in CD quality or higher and there are plenty of personalized playlists and the like. The platform also operates a number of live radio stations, which is fun.
The service is available for Android devices, but it really shines on Apple products. To that end, the web and Windows PC apps aren’t as polished as the iOS version. It doesn’t , but that’s true of every music streaming platform. Apple Music does pay out more than Spotify, but that’s an incredibly low bar.
Offer for new subscribers redeeming on eligible devices. Auto-renews at $16.99/mo until cancelled. Requires Family Sharing. Terms apply.
Some users are reporting that one of Google’s first magnetic accessories is starting to weaken at the seams. Screws on the Pixelsnap Ring Stand designed for the Pixel 10 appear to be loose for some.
According to a couple of recent reports, the Pixelsnap Ring Stand’s two screws that hold the ring portion to the magnetic panel are already coming undone. In one user report on Reddit, the loose screws had completely come out of the Pixelsnap Ring Stand, somehow wedging between the case and stand. Another report indicates that the ring stand had become loose enough to lose the ability to hold the Pixel 10 up.
The two screws near the hinge of the stand hold the ring in place, and they provide enough friction to keep the Pixel 10 elevated or secure in hand. It appears that, in some cases, these screws are getting loose. This comes less than a month after the accessories were announced and made available for Pixel 10 users.
To address the loose Pixelsnap Ring Stand, users can take what looks like a T1 Torx bit to the screws. In our own testing, this seemed like the closest fit, but even a T1 didn’t feel like a perfect fit.
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With a bit of careful tightening, the stand gets firm enough to hold the phone up again. A T1 bit can be hard to find, and trusted brands like iFixit don’t seem to sell them in kits. There are options out there like this one from Jorest, though they might not be the best quality. It might not be a perfect permanent solution for a loose Pixelsnap Ring Stand, but it’ll get the job done.
There are also a few other alternatives if you’re looking into magnetic ring stands for the Pixel 10. We’ll leave a few options below:
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The board of grocery store chain Market Basket voted unanimously Tuesday evening to fire President and CEO Arthur T. Demoulas, months after placing him on leave.
Demoulas met with the board in mediation on Sept. 3 and Sept. 9, but both sides apparently could not reach a resolution.
“We assure our valued associates and customers that, as we have demonstrated over the past several months, Market Basket will not change its operations, profit-sharing, bonuses or culture, and will continue to offer the best groceries at the lowest prices anywhere in New England—well into the future,” said Board Chair Jay K. Hachigian in a statement.
Demoulas and two other company executives were placed on leave in May, when the board accused them of preparing to lead a work stoppage and launched an investigation. Shortly after his suspension, Demoulas denied the board’s claims, calling it a facade for a “hostile takeover” of the grocery store chain.
The firing comes 11 years after Demoulas was fired from his position in 2014, with another wing of the Demoulas family, led by his cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas, taking over.
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What a difference a changing regulatory environment makes.
Roughly nine months after suggesting that a young copy trading platform could only operate because it flew “under the radar” of regulators, Robinhood has announced its own entry into the space with “Robinhood Social,” a new feature that will allow users to follow and manually replicate the trades of prominent investors.
The move represents a striking about-face for the online brokerage, which has historically been cautious about features that could attract regulatory scrutiny. The company famously ditched its celebratory digital confetti feature ahead of its 2021 IPO after regulators raised concerns about gamifying trading, making its embrace of copy trading, another potentially gamified feature, all the more notable.
This wariness was on full display in December, when in a conversation with this editor about upstart copy trading platform Dub, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev suggested that such platforms could operate primarily because of their smaller size, proposing that “copy trading could become of greater interest to regulators” and that Dub may not yet be under the “magnifying glass” because of its “comparatively smaller size.”
Now, Robinhood is betting that the regulatory landscape has changed enough to safely enter the copy trading market.
The timing is particularly notable given the pointed criticism Robinhood faced earlier this year from Dub’s 23-year-old founder Steven Wang, who has positioned his platform as a more educationally-focused alternative to traditional trading apps.
“I have a lot of respect for what [CEO] Vlad [Tenev] has done in making trading free,” Wang told me back in February. “But at the end of the day, making it super easy to trade without expert guidance, without education, is really just gambling for the broader population.”
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Wang has consistently argued that Dub’s approach – which includes risk scores, risk-adjusted returns, and portfolio stability metrics – represents a safer alternative to platforms like Robinhood. In his conversation with TechCrunch, Wang was also critical of Robinhood’s decision to offer meme coins like TRUMP, saying the incentives are “misaligned between these big platforms that are public companies now that need to make money.”
Tuesday’s news, announced at Robinhood’s company event earlier in the day, brought to mind the possibility that Robinhood had, in fact, acquired four-year-old Dub, which officially launched just last year and has so far raised $47 million in funding from investors. But reached for comment, a Robinhood spokesperson responded via email, “No, this is not an acquisition, we are building our own platform in Robinhood.” A request for comment from Wang was not returned by press time.
Robinhood’s version of copy trading differs meaningfully from platforms like Dub and established players like eToro, which has offered copy trading to U.S. users for years through its CopyTrader feature. While eToro allows automatic copying of other traders’ portfolios in real-time (with U.S. users limited to copying only other U.S. traders due to regulations), Dub allows users to automatically copy entire portfolios for a $10 monthly subscription, and Robinhood Social will require users to manually replicate trades, a distinction that may help address regulatory concerns.
The platform, set to launch early next year, will feature verified traders and display the activities of famous investors and members of Congress. Unlike the informal copy trading that happens on social media, Robinhood will require identity verification and proof of actual portfolio positions. The plan, according to the company, is to first invite 10,000 Robinhood Social users to test out the service before rolling it out more widely.
The launch comes at a time when the regulatory landscape is fast evolving. Crypto companies were scrutinized heavily under the Biden administration, while numerous crypto companies have become publicly traded companies in recent months, their path eased by the Trump administration’s crypto-friendly stance. Meanwhile, copy trading – long common in Europe but heavily restricted in the U.S. – may be gaining acceptance finally.
Seen through that lense, Robinhood’s entry into copy trading represents more than just another feature launch; it could signal the opening of floodgates for a wave of new platforms. If Robinhood can successfully negotiate the legal landscape that has long limited copy trading in the U.S., other fintech outfits seem likely to follow suit. eToro’s successful May IPO, which raised $310 million and saw shares surge 29% on their debut, has already demonstrated strong investor appetite for copy trading platforms.
Whether this potential wave is good news or bad for retail investors – or it will mostly serve to boost fintech valuations – is an open question. For right now, Robinhood’s shareholders are probably the clearest winners.
Beats has launched a new collection of cases to go with Apple’s latest iPhones, including one with a removable lanyard that doubles as a kickstand. Lanyards and cross-body straps for phones are becoming pretty common these days. If you’re someone who travels every now and then, they can help protect you from pickpockets or from accidentally leaving your phone behind while you struggle with your luggage. The lanyard on Beats’ case comes with something extra: It has an adaptor at the end that slides open and attaches to a magnetic part on the side of the case so that it can act as a kickstand for hands-free phone use. The Beats iPhone 17 Kickstand Case with MagSafe & Camera Control is available in Granite Gray, Bedrock Blue, Lime Stone and Pebble Pink. You can get it from Apple’s website for $59.
The new collection also includes a basic case that Beats describes as “thin, light, and precisely crafted.” It’s available in the same colors, with the same matte hard outer shell that prevents fingerprints and an interior microfiber lining. This model will set you back $45 and is the only one in the collection that you can get for the iPhone Air.
Finally, the Beats iPhone 17 Rugged Case with MagSafe & Camera Control will give you some extra protection if you tend to drop your devices. Beats designed it with a rugged polymer backing that’s complemented by impact-absorbing sidewalls. It has an enclosed bottom for enhanced protection and a textured matte exterior to give you a good grip on your phone. The manufacturer said it put the case through repeated drop and scratch tests, as well as multiple thermal, mechanical and chemical tests to simulate real world use. Beats’ rugged case is available in Everest Black, Rocky Blue, Alpine Gray and Sierra Orange for $79.
Like most Google apps, Messages A/B tests many features. However, it takes the RCS/SMS client a rather long time to actually launch these capabilities in stable even after they are announced. From various reports, Google itself, and devices we’ve checked, this is the current state of Messages.
Update 9/9:
Still rolling out (beta)
These are Messages features that Google announced or have been spotted in the wild by beta users.
Key Verifier
As previewed in May, Key Verifier will “help protect you from scammers who try to impersonate someone you know” in Google Messages. This tool lets you “verify the identity of the other party through public encryption keys.” These contact keys take the form of a QR code that will be available in the Google Contacts app.
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For example, if an attacker gains access to a friend’s phone number and uses it on another device to send you a message – which can happen as a result of a SIM swap attack – their contact’s verification status will be marked as no longer verified in the Google Contacts app, suggesting your friend’s account may be compromised or has been changed.
In Messages, go to the Details page and tap Verify encryption to get “Your QR code” or “Scan contact’s QR code.”
Universal Profile 3.0 adds support for the Messaging Layer Security (MLS) protocol that makes possible cross-platform (Android-iOS) RCS that is end-to-end encrypted (E2EE).
You can check whether this is live for a conversation by long-pressing on a message and opening the redesigned Details page. The portion relevant to MLS is the “Encryption Protocol” section. Value “0” is the existing E2EE, while value “1” is the upcoming approach.
Image viewer redesign
Google is testing a revamp of how images appear in a thread, with photos sent at the same time now grouped together. The fullscreen image viewer has also been redesigned with a blurred background and preview of the last and next image, while you can react from the new bottom row.
Read receipts redesign
Following the last redesign in early 2023, another revamp places read receipts in a circle at the bottom-right corner of message bubbles (and images).You swipe left to see all timestamps and the end-to-end encryption status, while you swipe left to reply/quote a message. This started rolling out in August 2024, with more people receiving it in November.
Ellipsis
Sending
Single check with ring
Sent
Double check with ring
Delivered
Double check solid circle
Read
In January 2025, Google tweaked the design to make the circular background white. In no longer matching the bubble color, the read receipts stand out a great deal more.
L-R: Current, redesign, latest
Recent launches (stable)
[New] Updated name in app bar
With the initial Material 3 Expressive redesign, the app bar had a four-color ‘G’ in a circle followed by “Messages.” It’s now “Google Messages,” with the full color logo in the light theme. With the dark theme, it’s white text on your Dynamic Color background.
[New] Standalone gallery
Google addressed a complaint about the fullscreen camera and gallery redesign introduced in June by letting users access the latter separately. You can open the ‘plus’ menu for a new “Gallery” grid that takes up the entire screen. “Camera” opens the existing combined interface.
Material 3 Expressive redesign
Like the homepage, the chat interface is now its own container with rounded corners at the top. Google has removed the bubbly backgrounds for solid colors. The ‘plus’ menu is its own container with larger pills that lack any background color.
The Emoji, GIFs, Stickers, and Photomoji pickers make use of connected button groups, with that row and the search bar flipped. As such, you don’t have back-to-back text fields.
Old vs. new
The “Search messages” page has been redesigned with heavy use of containers.
That’s also the case in the “New chat” contacts list, and Settings.
A small tweak sees the Call, Video, Contact info, and Search buttons become pills. In comparison, the previous circles were under-sized.
Wear OS app redesign
Ahead of the big Wear OS 6 redesign on the Pixel Watch, Google Messages is getting modernized. The changes are subtle, with the homescreen barely changing save for the bolder “Start chat” at the top. There’s also a new keypad.
The conversation view sees the bulk of updates with emoji, microphone, and keyboard now pills placed inside a container. The suggested replies (Yes, No, OK) are grouped together instead of being standalone buttons. This redesign is using the new read receipts.
Sensitive Content Warnings
This safety feature blurs images “that may contain nudity” with the ability to delete them before viewing. It also reminds “users of the risks of sending nude imagery and preventing accidental shares” before they send or forward something that may contain nudity.
Sensitive Content Warnings work on-device (via Android System SafetyCore), with no “classified content or results” sent to Google. Those over 18 can optionally enable it from Messages Settings > Protection & Safety > Manage sensitive content warnings.
Details page redesign
Instead of a pop-up, Details is now a fullscreen page. To access, long-press on a text/chat > three-dot overflow menu > View details. Making use of Material 3 Expressive’s containers, it starts with a nice large preview of the message. Next is a “Status” section that makes use of the read receipts even if they don’t appear anywhere else in the app. “From” rounds things out.
Old vs. new
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![What Google Messages features are rolling out [September 2025]](https://eyeobserver.online/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/google-messages-name-cover-768x402.png "What Google Messages features are rolling out [September 2025]")
