Tech news from around the world, rewritten in plain English.
Xiaomi has registered the “XIAOMI SU9 LUX” trademark for vehicles, adding to reports that it is developing a larger executive sedan. Chinese automotive reports link the name to a longer-wheelbase SU7 derivative previously called the SU7L, and road-test sightings show a longer body and signs of rear-wheel steering. Xiaomi has not formally announced the model name, specifications, or launch date.
Furusato Choice, Japan's furusato tax portal operated by TrustBank, announced on October 19 that it had temporarily suspended its service after detecting an event with suspected unauthorized access. A specialist team is investigating the facts and the scope of impact, and the company said it made preventing further damage and ensuring safety its top priority. The company will announce its next steps based on the investigation results.
A Teikoku Databank survey of 1,328 companies found that 16.2% have experienced information leaks or possible leaks, including those caused by human error or cyberattacks, with 5.5% occurring within the past year. Large companies reported a higher rate of 30.2%, and 14.8% of respondents said they did not know whether leaks had occurred.
Rokid has partnered with Tencent Mobility Services to offer ride-hailing through its AI glasses, announced October 16. Users can state a destination by voice and receive vehicle details and estimated arrival times through the glasses. The integration links Rokid's assistant with Tencent's travel-service agent via the Agent-to-Agent protocol, with Tencent providing destination recommendations, pickup-point selection, nearby vehicle searches, fare estimates, booking and order-status updates.
LineageOS has released version 24 of its custom ROM, based on the AOSP version of Android 17, about four months after Google's Android 17 release. It supports many current and older devices from manufacturers including Asus, Google, Motorola, OnePlus, Samsung, and Xiaomi, and 24 devices have been newly added. The release also updates core apps to Material Design 3 Expressive, adds the Canvas image editor, and makes updates stream by default.
Microsoft has been refused permission by the Court of Appeal to take its legal dispute with ValueLicensing to the UK Supreme Court, with no reasons given. The case concerns a November 2025 ruling that ValueLicensing may resell pre-owned software licenses. Microsoft could still apply to the Supreme Court within 28 days, and a Consent Order now requires documents from past and present Microsoft executives, including a 2013 internal deck the order calls a "Known Adverse Document."
Heavy rain and weekend traffic caused vehicle exits to be delayed at the Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam branch in Seoul, with some customers trapped in the parking lot for over five hours. The store said no accident occurred inside the parking lot and blamed the traffic congestion on the nearby roads and the sudden rain. Customers who could not leave were allowed to exit the next day without extra parking fees, and the congestion gradually eased around 10 p.m. the previous day.
REA (Reverse Engineer Anything) is an open-source AI reverse-engineering tool that helps analyze how existing programs work, even without source code, and then build similar features. It connects analysis tools with OpenAI's Codex and Anthropic's Claude Code, and its GitHub stars passed 320,000 after gaining about 200,000 in the past week. The developers warn that AI-based analysis can be incomplete or wrong and that copying protected code from commercial software may violate copyright.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics has signed a long-term supply agreement (LTA) worth 360.5 billion won with a global major company for package substrates used in memory chips. The contract runs from January 1 to December 31, 2027. The company has signed seven disclosed LTAs since May this year, bringing the cumulative contract value to 4.3 trillion won.
Kolon Benit is launching AI-driven digital transformation projects at manufacturing sites in auto parts, textile materials, and petrochemicals, applying AI-based quality prediction and predictive equipment maintenance. The company has selected Lee Su Chemical, Seowoo Industrial, and Seowoo Advanced Materials as participating firms in the government's shared-growth AX leading model program. Each project will run for one year.