This afternoon’s lineup of deals surfacing on Google Play are ready and waiting down below as per usual. Alongside the Android game and app offers, we have discounts on Galaxy Z Flip 7 at $150 off as well as Samsung’s 180MB/s 128GB PRO Plus microSD at $15 and a new all-time low on Motorola’s 2025 edition Moto G Stylus at $300. As for the apps, everything awaits below.
Grace. Respect. Dignity.
The words come easily to Sheila Foley. They guide what is a meaningful task that she and Rosemarie “Rosie” Hodgdon carry out at the Sons of Erin, Westfield’s Irish club where scars of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks never fade.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Charlie Kirk stands in the Oval Office on May 28. The Turning Point USA founder played a pivotal role in rallying support for President Trump among young voters in last year’s election.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Charlie Kirk was barely old enough to vote when, at the age of 18, he launched Turning Point USA. The goal: build an organization for young conservatives that would represent for them what groups like MoveOn.org meant for progressives.
“This was in the midst of the Obama presidency in the suburbs of Chicago where Obama was very well liked,” Kirk recalled on his podcast last year. “In my local high school, progressive, left-wing Marxist ideas were widespread, and I looked around and I was unimpressed by the conservative organizations that were out there.”
More than a decade later, Kirk not only met that goal, but he became perhaps the most influential voice in young conservatism, playing a crucial role in national politics, including President Trump’s 2024 victory.
He died on Wednesday at the age of 31, after being shot while hosting an event in Orem, Utah. His death was announced by Trump, who praised Kirk’s political impact.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump wrote in a post on social media. “He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!”
After starting Turning Point, Kirk in many ways became the face of the young MAGA movement — creating a space that acts as a counterweight to the liberal politics that largely dominate on college campuses across the country. Turning Point USA now boasts more than 800 college chapters and an online following in the millions, including Kirk’s accounts. The organization has also launched several connected nonprofits and has reported an annual revenue of roughly $100 million in 2024.
“Charlie literally died for what he believed in. It’s the concept that founded this country. The movement he started has only just begun,” said Joe Mitchell, 28, the former president and founder of the group Run Gen Z, which helps young conservative leaders run for public office. Mitchell himself is now running for Congress, and credits Kirk for supporting his political work since 2019.
Kirk preached free speech, free markets and limited government, often while launching broadsides at the politics of the left.
“The basic things our parents enjoyed are increasingly out of reach for Gen Z and Millennials. You see, the American dream has become a luxury item for the wealthy elite,” he said at last year’s Republican National Convention. “Happy countries have children. Broken countries have addiction, depression, and suffering. Democrats have given hundreds of billions of dollars to illegals and foreign nations, while Gen Z has to pinch pennies just so that they can never own a home, never marry, and work until they die, childless.”
To his critics, Kirk was often a magnet for controversy for the far-right personalities and ideas for which he provided a megaphone — whether at his events, on his social media accounts or his popular podcast, The Charlie Kirk Show. Guests have included a slavery apologist, as well as a pastor who believes women should not have the right to vote. Kirk himself spread falsehoods and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, vaccines, transgender people and demographic change.
Charlie Kirk, founder and executive director of Turning Point USA, speaks at the Turning Point Action conference in West Palm Beach, Fla., on July 15.
Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images
At the time of his death, Kirk had just kicked off a multi-state college tour and was slated to go to more than a dozen colleges and universities around the country in the coming weeks.
He was shot during an appearance at Utah Valley University, holding the same type of event he first became known for: sitting behind a table debating students on various issues.
In recent years, Kirk took on a greater role in GOP organizing. During the 2024 election, Turning Point’s advocacy wing, Turning Point Action, helped with the Trump campaign’s on-the-ground organizing work.
Despite its roots in the youth space, Turning Point Action has a larger stated focus, targeting new voters of all ages. During the campaign, the group announced it was expanding its mobilizing efforts in key swing states like Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, and pledged to raise more than $100 million. That said, ahead of Election Day, the group told NPR it had only raised “tens of millions.”
While it is hard to measure Turning Point’s direct impact on the 2024 presidential race, Kirk was quick to highlight Trump’s gains among young Americans last fall, compared to previous years. Notably, the campaign made a more direct effort to court young voters on nontraditional media platforms.
“The impact he had on young people — reaching them in masses, giving them courage to stand up, to think for themselves, and to fight for freedom — is immeasurable,” said Donald Trump Jr. in a post on social media. “There is no question that Charlie’s work and his voice helped my father win the presidency. He changed the direction of this nation.”
“The goal was, of course, to lose by less,” said Kirk, who spoke with NPR the morning after the election was called for Trump. “But in the last couple of weeks, we were whispering to each other that there might be something bigger.”
To Kirk, who is survived by his wife and two children, Trump was able to speak to the concerns that young Americans have about their future.
“They just want to live in the same country as their parents. I don’t know if that’s a social issue or an economic issue,” he said. “They want a nice life, and they feel it slipping away.”
The California State Assembly took a big step toward regulating AI on Wednesday night, passing SB 243 — a bill that regulate AI companion chatbots in order to protect minors and vulnerable users. The legislation passed with bipartisan support and now heads to the state Senate for a final vote Friday.
If Governor Gavin Newsom signs the bill into law, it would take effect January 1, 2026, making California the first state to require AI chatbot operators to implement safety protocols for AI companions and hold companies legally accountable if their chatbots fail to meet those standards.
The bill specifically aims to prevent companion chatbots, which the legislation defines as AI systems that provide adaptive, human-like responses and are capable of meeting a user’s social needs – from engaging in conversations around suicidal ideation, self-harm, or sexually explicit content. The bill would require platforms to provide recurring alerts to users – every three hours for minors – reminding them that they are speaking to an AI chatbot, not a real person, and that they should take a break. It also establishes annual reporting and transparency requirements for AI companies that offer companion chatbots, including major players OpenAI, Character.AI, and Replika.
The California bill would also allow individuals who believe they have been injured by violations to file lawsuits against AI companies seeking injunctive relief, damages (up to $1,000 per violation), and attorney’s fees.
SB 243, introduced in January by state senators Steve Padilla and Josh Becker, will go to the state Senate for a final vote on Friday. If approved, it will go to Governor Gavin Newsom to be signed into law, with the new rules taking effect January 1, 2026 and reporting requirements beginning July 1, 2027.
The bill gained momentum in the California legislature following the death of teenager Adam Raine, who committed suicide after prolonged chats with OpenAI’s ChatGPT that involved discussing and planning his death and self-harm. The legislation also responds to leaked internal documents that reportedly showed Meta’s chatbots were allowed to engage in “romantic” and “sensual” chats with children.
In recent weeks, U.S. lawmakers and regulators have responded with intensified scrutiny of AI platforms’ safeguards to protect minors. The Federal Trade Commission is preparing to investigate how AI chatbots impact children’s mental health. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched investigations into Meta and Character.AI, accusing them of misleading children with mental health claims. Meanwhile, both Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) have launched separate probes into Meta.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco
|
October 27-29, 2025
“I think the harm is potentially great, which means we have to move quickly,” Padilla told TechCrunch. “We can put reasonable safeguards in place to make sure that particularly minors know they’re not talking to a real human being, that these platforms link people to the proper resources when people say things like they’re thinking about hurting themselves or they’re in distress, [and] to make sure there’s not inappropriate exposure to inappropriate material.”
Padilla also stressed the importance of AI companies sharing data about the number of times they refer users to crisis services each year, “so we have a better understanding of the frequency of this problem, rather than only becoming aware of it when someone’s harmed or worse.”
SB 243 previously had stronger requirements, but many were whittled down through amendments. For example, the bill originally would have required operators to prevent AI chatbots from using “variable reward” tactics or other features that encourage excessive engagement. These tactics, used by AI companion companies like Replika and Character, offer users special messages, memories, storylines, or the ability to unlock rare responses or new personalities, creating what critics call a potentially addictive reward loop.
The current bill also removes provisions that would have required operators to track and report how often chatbots initiated discussions of suicidal ideation or actions with users.
“I think it strikes the right balance of getting to the harms without enforcing something that’s either impossible for companies to comply with, either because it’s technically not feasible or just a lot of paperwork for nothing,” Becker told TechCrunch.
SB 243 is moving toward becoming law at a time when Silicon Valley companies are pouring millions of dollars into pro-AI political action committees (PACs) to back candidates in the upcoming mid-term elections who favor a light-touch approach to AI regulation.
The bill also comes as California weighs another AI safety bill, SB 53, which would mandate comprehensive transparency reporting requirements. OpenAI has written an open letter to Governor Newsom, asking him to abandon that bill in favor of less stringent federal and international frameworks. Major tech companies like Meta, Google, and Amazon have also opposed SB 53. In contrast, only Anthropic has said it supports SB 53.
“I reject the premise that this is a zero sum situation, that innovation and regulation are mutually exclusive,” Padilla said. “Don’t tell me that we can’t walk and chew gum. We can support innovation and development that we think is healthy and has benefits – and there are benefits to this technology, clearly – and at the same time, we can provide reasonable safeguards for the most vulnerable people.”
TechCrunch has reached out to OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Character AI, and Replika for comment.
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.
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?
Much more coverage to come in the next few weeks, though!
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
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.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
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.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco
|
October 27-29, 2025
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.
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:
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
