It has been one other busy week on the earth of tech, which included us testing new Android XR glasses and watching the brand new Supergirl trailer.
You could like
7. IKEA gave us a helpful little good gentle
(Picture credit score: IKEA)
IKEA has been on one thing of a sensible residence roll just lately – and this week it adopted up its colourful new speaker-lamps with a helpful little motion-sensitive gentle.
The Gömpyssling – an LED gentle that mechanically activates when movement is detected – wasn’t formally introduced, as an alternative simply quietly sneaking onto IKEA’s European shops. It seems to be preferrred for cabinets and a two-pack prices simply £3 / €4, although we don’t but know when (or if) it’s coming to different international locations.
At that value, we clearly can’t anticipate any Wi-Fi smarts or cellphone connectivity, however it’s already shot to the highest of our IKEA impulse buys record.
6. DC instructed us to ‘Look Out’ for Supergirl
(Picture credit score: DC Studios)
Spoiler alert: there’s a second on the finish of final Summer season’s blockbuster Superman movie from James Gunn that actually left you craving for extra; it’s when a dishevelled and maybe barely inebriated Supergirl (aka Kara Zor-El, aka Superman’s cousin) stumbles into the Fortress of Solitude. It was a quick, comedic bit, however from that second ahead, all of us wished to see and be taught extra in regards to the DCU’s up to date model of the final surviving citizen of Krypton.
We now have the primary teaser trailer for the Supergirl film, set to drop this summer season. From the seems to be of issues, that transient look in Superman was solely the start of Kara’s troubles and adventures. There’s nothing right here that appears like a straight continuation of the Superman film story, aside from Krypto, the tremendous canine.
In actual fact, the settings, character, and tone all really feel purposefully totally different. There was a lot to interrupt down from the trailer reveal; we advise you reread our exhaustive liveblog.
5. Paramount pitched a hostile takeover
(Picture credit score: Getty Pictures)
Final week, Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery introduced plans for the previous to accumulate the latter, however Paramount wasn’t able to get shut out of the negotiations, and so it has introduced a attainable hostile takeover of WBD.
You could like
In some ways, its $108 billion supply trumps Netflix’s – not solely is it paying extra, however it’s additionally all money moderately than a mixture of money and shares, plus it buys the entire of WBD, not simply the manufacturing studios and again catalogue that Netflix is making an attempt to nab. It’s additionally powerful to disregard the non-public ties between US President Donald Trump and the Paramount deal.
Not solely is he pleasant with the Ellison household – David Ellison runs Paramount, and his father Larry Ellison is an in depth ally of Trump’s and is stumping up a number of the money for the deal – however his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s personal fairness agency can be placing some cash behind the Paramount bid.
Nevertheless, the Paramount bid additionally consists of monetary funding from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, which may elevate issues for regulators who might not need international powers to have such important involvement in a serious media empire.
4. We met a special form of good ring
(Picture credit score: Core Gadgets)
Like your futuristic devices with tactile buttons that work, as an alternative of yelling a wakeword at a display screen half-a-dozen occasions? So does the Pebble founder, Eric Migicovsky, who invented a brand new form of good ring.
Stated to be a “a button and a microphone, a little bit of memory and a Bluetooth chip”, the Pebble Index 01 is a great ring designed to be a note-taker and organiser, linked to an LLM on the Pebble app in your cellphone. With no assistant character or subscription, you simply speak into the ring, and it’ll transcribe recordings and interpret your instructions. It doesn’t even must be recharged: it’s stated to final years, and as soon as finished, you ship it again for recycling.
The primary items are scheduled to ship in March 2026.
3. The Home of Mouse embraced AI
(Picture credit score: Disney/OpenAI)
This may need been one of the crucial shocking moments of the week, however The Walt Disney Firm has struck a take care of OpenAI to permit over 200 of its characters to seem in Sora and ChatGPT Pictures. Meaning, come early 2026, you’ll be capable of ask for Mickey, Sew, Elsa, Yoda, and even a number of the Avengers to sit down alongside you or be animated in user-generated movies.
Furthermore, choose Sora-generated movies can be accessible on Disney+. As a part of the deal, Disney is investing $1 billion in OpenAI and has a multi-year licensing settlement that may permit Disney’s characters to seem on OpenAI’s platform. Nonetheless, for an organization that’s been so protecting and intentional with its characters and tales, a partnership with OpenAI and the usage of these in Sora is a daring, large transfer.
2. ChatGPT 5.2 made its debut
(Picture credit score: Getty Pictures/ Cheng Xin)
ChatGPT 5.2 is now accessible, and it comes at an attention-grabbing time for the world of AI as OpenAI tries to meet up with the severely spectacular Google Gemini 3.
The brand new AI mannequin for the world’s hottest chatbot is a delicate enchancment, delivering upgrades throughout the board, in accordance with Sam Altman, who says it’s “the smartest generally-available model in the world.”
The headline enchancment is reasoning. OpenAI says GPT-5.2 is healthier at working by means of multi-step issues, retaining maintain of context in longer chats, and delivering solutions that really feel extra thought-about moderately than rushed. In apply, which means clearer plans, extra structured explanations, and fewer moments the place the mannequin confidently goes off within the incorrect path.
Preliminary reactions are fairly blended, with some customers taking to Reddit to debate how “boring” and “corporate” the brand new mannequin feels. That stated, it’s nonetheless early days, and we’ll must correctly check ChatGPT 5.2 over the following week or so to get a transparent sense of the way it compares to five.1 and Gemini 3.
1. The Android XR thriller was revealed
(Picture credit score: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
The form, dimension, weight, and expertise of Android XR glasses are not a thriller. We received to strive not one, however three totally different Android XR-powered glasses, together with a light-weight pair with two shows (for stereoscopic visuals) and a connection to your Pixel cellphone for all of the processing energy.
Basically, this seems to be like a promising begin to the light-weight Android XR wearable journey and maybe a greater foot ahead than the Samsung Galaxy XR, which is kind of good however nonetheless costly and never one thing you’ll put on exterior the house or workplace.
So prepare for video cellphone calls, turn-by-turn instructions, and on the spot entry to an ever-watchful Gemini (in case you permit it) in your future, and all proper earlier than your eyes.
