The world of tech and media is abuzz with the latest drops, ventures, and major moves. From a new era officially beginning at Apple to the long-awaited GTA VI and more, we have the top stories. Check out what you may have missed this week in the tech news world!
iRobot Introduces a Roomba That Seals Itself to Carpet
iRobot is introducing the Roomba Max 875 Combo, a new flagship robot vacuum and mop built around a cleaning system called SealForce. When the vacuum detects carpet, a skirt lowers around the cleaning head to create a tighter seal and direct airflow deeper into the fibers, which iRobot says can deliver three times deeper carpet cleaning. The $1,199 model also offers 35,000Pa of suction, LiDAR and camera-based navigation, an anti-tangle brush, and a roller mop with a heated ThermaMist feature for pretreating stains. Its accompanying dock automatically empties debris, washes the mop with hot water, and dries it with hot air, while a less expensive $899 Roomba Plus 678 Combo offers many of the same core features. The new lineup marks a notable product push for iRobot under new owner Picea Robotics as the company works to regain ground in an increasingly competitive robot vacuum market.
Sony Turns Up the Volume With New ULT Party Speakers
Sony is expanding its ULT Power Sound collection with three new tower-style speakers aimed at parties, events, and other large gatherings. The ULT Tower Max, Tower 7, and Tower 5 add USB-C, RCA, and XLR connections, giving users more flexibility to connect microphones, instruments, mixers, and other wired audio equipment. Up to 100 LEDs provide synchronized light effects while also offering visual feedback for settings such as battery life and Bluetooth pairing. At the top of the lineup, the massive 121-pound Tower Max costs $1,499.99 and combines four tweeters, two midrange drivers, and three large woofers for what Sony calls its most powerful ULT bass yet. The lighter Tower 7 and Tower 5 start at $649.99 and $449.99, respectively, with rechargeable battery options designed to make the speakers somewhat easier to take on the road.
John Ternus Takes Over as Apple CEO
Apple officially entered a new leadership era on September 1 as longtime hardware executive John Ternus replaced Tim Cook as CEO. Cook steps down after 15 years at the helm, a period that saw Apple expand far beyond the iPhone with products including the Apple Watch, AirPods, services, and its custom silicon strategy. Ternus, who previously led Apple’s hardware engineering organization, wasted little time signaling what comes next, telling employees that the company has a “huge launch” scheduled for the following week. That event is set for September 9 and is expected to feature new iPhones, including reports of Apple’s first foldable model. The transition puts a longtime product executive back at the top of Apple at a moment when the company faces pressure to deliver both major hardware innovation and a more competitive artificial intelligence strategy.
Dyson Puts a Camera and Automatic Flosser Inside a Toothbrush
Dyson is moving into oral care with the $499 CameraJet, an electric toothbrush that combines live video, artificial intelligence, and automatic flossing technology. A tiny camera built into the brush head can stream a view of the inside of a user’s mouth to a smartphone while an AI system analyzes 28 images every second to identify gaps between teeth. When a gap is detected, the toothbrush can respond within 100 milliseconds by directing a cone-shaped blast of mouthwash into the space, allowing brushing and flossing to happen at the same time. Dyson says the images used for detection remain on the device rather than being stored or sent to the cloud, while the brush itself oscillates nearly 1,000 times per second. Available now in ceramic blue and pink, CameraJet brings Dyson’s familiar combination of premium pricing and unconventional engineering into an entirely new part of the personal care market.
Google Lets Gemini Notebook Learn From Your Books
Google is expanding Gemini Notebook with an “Expert Intelligence” feature that lets users bring eligible books they have purchased through Google Play Books directly into the AI-powered note-taking app. Readers can ask questions about a book, generate plans and infographics, create AI podcasts, or apply ideas from the material to entirely new situations. More than 100,000 titles from publishers including Penguin Random House, Macmillan, Johns Hopkins University Press, and O’Reilly Media will support the feature at launch. Google has also partnered with select authors to create Featured Notebooks containing additional source material and introductions, while protections are designed to keep purchased book content inaccessible to people who do not own it. The company eventually plans to expand Expert Intelligence beyond books to scholarly papers, magazines, and newspapers, signaling a broader effort to turn Gemini into a personalized research and knowledge tool.
Rockstar Offers Its Biggest Look Yet at GTA VI
Rockstar Games has released a nearly 27-minute extended preview of Grand Theft Auto VI. Likewise, the early preview gives players one of their most detailed looks yet at the highly anticipated game. Captured entirely from the PlayStation 5 GTA VI version, the footage focuses heavily on protagonists Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, along with the locations and atmosphere of Rockstar’s sprawling new world. The GTA VI presentation leans more cinematic than a traditional gameplay demonstration, although it includes glimpses of shootouts, police chases, basketball, scuba diving, and other activities. Rockstar has also opened digital preorders for GTA VI, with the standard edition priced at $79.99 and the Ultimate Edition at $99.99 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. Even as attention shifts toward GTA VI, Rockstar is continuing to support GTA V’s roleplaying community with Nopixel V, which begins a closed beta for invited players on September 8.