Technology & Blockchain Research Editor
Sage Lo
A TIDEZINE editorial byline focused on source review, context and research for technology and blockchain stories.
Latest Stories
Mario Kart Tour Officially Shuts Down, and This Time Nintendo Isn't Leaving an Offline Version
After seven years online, mobile game Mario Kart Tour officially took its servers offline in September. The app still opens, but all that's left to see is your old player data—joining the ranks of shut-down titles like Miitomo and Dragalia Lost.
Bitwise Launches First US Spot NEAR ETF, Staking Rewards Flow Straight Into NAV
Bitwise's NRR is the first NEAR ETP in the US, charging a 0.75% fee and staking its NEAR holdings in-house, with staking rewards passed on to shareholders through the fund's NAV mechanism.
QALO Launches SL-1 Smart Band, No Monthly Fees and Syncs with Smart Ring
QALO, known for its silicone accessories, is entering the screen-free wearable market with its new SL-1 Smart Band, priced at $199.95. The company emphasizes no subscription fees and full compatibility with its smart ring through a shared app account.
$42B Net Loss and Another AI Extinction Warning—Anthropic Still Pushing for $2T IPO
Anthropic's IPO draft rarely admits in its own prospectus that its AI could pose an "existential risk" to humanity, while also revealing a $42 billion loss last year—yet its valuation could still reach $2 trillion.
Solana Foundation Poaches Binance, Polygon Veterans for Strategy and Payments Roles
The Solana Foundation has appointed Rachel Conlan as chief strategy officer and former Polygon Labs executive Jamal Raees as GM of payments, drawing talent from the Binance and Polygon ecosystems respectively.
While Talking About Slowing Down, Anthropic and OpenAI Both Roll Out Cheaper New Models Anyway
Anthropic launched Claude Opus 5.5, while OpenAI introduced GPT-6 Sol and GPT-6 Luna. All three new models tout similar performance at lower prices, each publishing their own safety alignment test results.
Adobe Premiere Mobile Finally Lands on Android, Free Core Editing Tools Included
Adobe Premiere's mobile app, which launched on iOS over a year ago, is now officially available on Android. Core editing features are free to use, with unlimited watermark-free 4K exports, while AI features are available as paid add-ons.
British Columbia Sues OpenAI: Human Moderators Flagged the Warning Signs, But Company Never Reported Tumbler Ridge Shooter's Conversations
Canada's British Columbia has officially filed suit against OpenAI, alleging the company failed to report a shooter's conversations with ChatGPT despite internal moderators recommending it do so — and that the tragedy could have been prevented had the warning been raised in time. The lawsuit was filed in California, and seeks funding from OpenAI to rebuild the local school.
Don't Toss That Old Android Tablet — One App Turns It Into a Car Screen
Engadget editor Max Miller put the Open Headunit app to the test, turning a spare Android tablet into an Android Auto display. With a 14.6-inch 2K AMOLED screen, driving comes with a serious upgrade for navigation and music.
EU Unveils "EU Kids Act": Social Media Banned for Under-13s, Self-Registered Accounts Only Allowed at 15
The European Commission has proposed the EU Kids Act, which would ban social media use for children under 13, require parental supervision for those aged 13 to 14, and only allow self-registered accounts starting at age 15. The proposal also calls for platforms to remove addictive design features like infinite scroll and recommendation algorithms.
Balancer Proposal Seeks to Wind Down Protocol, Distribute Treasury to BAL Holders Six Months After Company Shutdown
The Balancer community has put forward a proposal to dissolve the protocol and distribute treasury assets to BAL holders, coming six months after Balancer Labs shut down operations following a $128 million exploit last year.
Gemini's Native App Lands on Windows, Alt + Space Summons Desktop Assistant
Google has launched a native Gemini app for Windows 10 and 11, summoned via keyboard shortcut just like the Mac version, with integration for Gmail, Google Drive, and image/video generation tools.
Yoto's New Kids' Audio Players Ditch the Cards for Playback—But Both Got Pricier
The 4th-gen Yoto Player and the upgraded Yoto Mini both add a new green button, letting kids play their favorite content without inserting a card—though prices have risen to $150 and $110 respectively.
Claude Max Subscribers Sue: The "5x, 20x Usage" Promise Hid an Unclear Weekly Cap
A group of Claude users has filed a class action lawsuit against Anthropic, alleging that the advertised "5x and 20x usage" for its Max subscription plans failed to clearly disclose weekly usage caps—meaning the actual multiplier could be far lower than advertised.
An Hour Before Apple's Big Reveal, Panic Steals the Spotlight with Playdate Season 3 News
Panic will livestream on YouTube an hour before Apple's iPhone event kicks off, revealing the Playdate Season 3 game lineup and release date. The stream was announced just 23 hours in advance—and the timing is hard to ignore.
Fifth Suspect Charged in Zondacrypto Case as Polish Prosecutors Probe Losses Exceeding $100 Million
Polish prosecutors formally charged Roman Ż. with two counts following his arrest on September 5, making him the fifth suspect indicted in the Zondacrypto investigation, a case with estimated losses reaching $100 million.
The Steering-Wheel-Free Taxi Has Arrived: Tesla Cybercab Officially Picking Up Passengers in Austin
Tesla has opened up ride-hailing in Austin through its Robotaxi app, though riders currently can't request a specific vehicle type—45 Cybercabs are mixed in with a fleet of 314 that's mostly made up of Model Ys.
South Korea's 3-Phase Security Tokenization Plan: Endgame Is On-Chain Settlement With Stablecoins
South Korea will roll out tokenization for all types of securities in three phases starting 2027, with the ultimate goal of letting participants settle tokenized securities on-chain using stablecoins, replacing the traditional cash settlement model.
Android's Scam Detection Is Expanding to Samsung Devices, Starting With the Galaxy S26
Google's AI-powered call scam detection has so far been limited to Pixel devices, but the company has now confirmed it's expanding to the Samsung Galaxy S26. Beyond that, updates, two-factor authentication, Find Hub, and anti-theft locks are all easy-to-overlook pieces of Android's security toolkit.
Google DeepMind Unveils WeatherNext 3: Trading Real-Time Satellite Data for 5km-Resolution Forecasts
WeatherNext 3 ditches the traditional data sources that come with a six-hour delay, switching to real-time satellite data to shrink the forecast grid from 25km down to 5km, with claims of up to 50% improvement in precipitation prediction accuracy.
World open source ProveKit, a zero-knowledge identity proof tool that has been in operation since April
World has open sourced the zero-knowledge identity proof tool ProveKit. This tool has been used in World ID as early as April this year, and the code has only been made public now.
A Michigan court issued a formal injunction, and Kalshi was fined US$500,000 per day for illegally opening a sports prediction market.
The Michigan court converted the temporary restraining order issued against Kalshi in June this year into a formal injunction, requiring the continued blocking of sports-related prediction market contracts, and violators were fined US$500,000 per day.
SoFi joins hands with Payward, bank settlement network officially connected to Kraken digital asset infrastructure
Financial technology company SoFi Technologies has reached a cooperation with Kraken's parent company Payward to connect the two parties' bank settlement networks and digital asset infrastructure online, but the specific timetable and service scope have not yet been announced.
Bitcoin returns to US$80,000, Zcash leads the rally, the total market value of the crypto market reaches US$2.82 trillion
Bitcoin reached the US$80,000 mark, driving the total market value of cryptocurrencies to US$2.82 trillion. The privacy coin Zcash performed most prominently in this wave of gains. Related stocks such as Strategy rose simultaneously, but the market still has different views on the path of the Federal Reserve's interest rates.
New GTA VI Trailer Streams Exclusively on Netflix for Six Hours Before Hitting YouTube
The new trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI will debut exclusively on Netflix on August 27 for a six-hour window, before landing on Rockstar's YouTube channel at 9 PM for everyone to watch for free.
NWSL Sunday night games are available for free on the Roku channel, with 8 games running through October
Roku announced that it is partnering with the NWSL to broadcast eight Sunday night games for free on The Roku Channel starting from August 30, and will expand to a fixed weekly broadcast in 2027.
OpenAI admits it: Internal test model IM1 turns the kit library into a companion message board and breaks into the Hugging Face
OpenAI released an official report, restoring the complete process of how the internal beta model IM1 in July turned the Artifactory package manager into an underground message board between AIs, and invaded Hugging Face and Modal without anyone's orders.
Garmin Cirqa review: A screen-less bracelet with solid workmanship but no reason to exist
Garmin launches Cirqa, a $200 screen-free health bracelet. The hardware and tracking capabilities are as reliable as ever, but the software lacks AI insights and is not even as cost-effective as its $150 Vivosmart 5.
Smart TV storage space only 8GB? Samsung system files consume 20% of the capacity
The built-in storage of new smart TVs is generally only 8GB. The operating system and pre-installed apps take up most of the space. Samsung TV system files even eat up 20% of the capacity. The Engadget report sorted out countermeasures such as clearing cache, removing apps and external streaming devices.
Picture quality is not about pixels: Why 1080p Blu-ray sometimes looks better than 4K streaming
Engadget pointed out that 4K streaming image quality often loses details due to compression, but loses to the high bit rate of 1080p Blu-ray. The key is not the resolution, but the amount of data allocated to each screen.