Morning Brief: Insta360 releases Insta360 Mic, Anthropic launches Claude Duet, and more

Insta360 releases Insta360 Mic

Anthropic launches Claude Duet AI agent

PFU releases HHKB Professional Elite keyboard

Bose acquires Skullcandy

EA closes BioWare studio and cancels new Mass Effect game

Australian court rules Apple must open iPhone sideloading and third-party payments

EU launches investigation into Booking.com

National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center issues warning report on Weaxor ransomware

Brief news worth a look

Insta360 releases Insta360 Mic

On October 22, Insta360 released the Insta360 Mic wireless microphone. The Insta360 Mic is positioned between the Mic Pro and the Mic Air. The transmitter features the same 1.22-inch 6-color e-ink display as the Mic Pro, supports automatic anti-clipping and dynamic gain, supports two levels of noise reduction and timecode, and has a maximum transmission distance of 400 meters. The microphone unit is the same as the Mic Air, using a single microphone unit and supporting only omnidirectional pickup mode. The Insta360 Mic has no built-in storage but can accept a microSD card, supporting 8GB–1TB expansion; with a card inserted, it supports 32-bit float internal recording. It supports up to four transmitters to one receiver and two transmitters to four receivers, and can be mixed with Mic Pro transmitters, freely combining and connecting to the same receiver. Battery life is slightly longer than the Mic Pro: 13 hours for the transmitter and 34 hours for the charging case. The Insta360 Mic is priced at 439 yuan for a single transmitter, 799 yuan for a one-transmitter one-receiver kit, and 1,199 yuan for a two-transmitter one-receiver kit. Source

Just bought a DJI Mic Mini; it's a bit older but the price crushes the competition

Anthropic launches Claude Duet AI agent

On October 21, Anthropic announced the launch of a new app, Claude Duet, positioned as an AI agent that can work proactively. In terms of skills, the app organizes important items across apps every day, proactively reminds users of issues that need attention, and continues to complete delegated tasks in the background after the user leaves. On the tool ecosystem side, Claude Duet can call on more than 6,000 connectors and plugins in the Claude Marketplace, covering common office and business services such as Gmail, Slack, QuickBooks, Stripe, LinkedIn, Canva, Shopify, and DocuSign. It can also complete online payments confirmed by the user via Link or Shop Pay, and use virtual cards to avoid exposing real card numbers. On security design, Anthropic says Claude Duet will not directly access user passwords or login tokens; sending messages, making payments, signing documents, or deleting content must be approved by the user. The system also has dedicated classifiers to block requests that leak highly sensitive information such as credit card numbers and government ID documents. Claude Duet is built on Claude Opus 5.5 and is available as standalone iOS and Android apps and on the claude.ai web version. The research preview launches immediately, with a waitlist first opened to Pro and Max subscribers in the United States; during the preview phase, usage counts toward the same plan limits as other Claude features. Source

PFU releases HHKB Professional Elite keyboard

On October 22, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of its HHKB brand, PFU announced the special limited-edition keyboard HHKB Professional Elite. This 30th-anniversary product is based on the 2006 10th-anniversary model HHKB Professional HG, while the name Elite traces back to the development codename of the first HHKB Professional. The HHKB Professional Elite has a unibody machined aluminum chassis with a sandblasted and anodized finish; it uses Type-S silent electrostatic capacitive switches and a newly designed internal mounting structure; the bottom supports a new replaceable foot assembly that enables four tilt angles. The product is limited to 300 units worldwide (250 in Japan, 50 in China), and each unit has "HHKB Professional Elite" and the limited-edition number laser-engraved on the bottom. The price excluding tax is 300,000 yen, about 12,700 yuan. Source

Bose acquires Skullcandy

On October 22, Bose issued an announcement stating that it had completed the acquisition of the trendy headphone brand Skullcandy. Bose said the core purpose of acquiring Skullcandy is to expand its user coverage. Skullcandy is known for bold design, trend culture, and sports communities, and has strong influence in music, gaming, fitness, and board sports such as skiing, skateboarding, and surfing, which can help Bose reach younger consumer groups it has previously penetrated less. Skullcandy will continue to operate as an independent brand and retain its headquarters in Park City, Utah, USA, joining Bose's premium consumer audio business. The company will gain more of Bose's audio technology, R&D resources, global distribution channels, and business cooperation opportunities. Before this, the two parties had already established a multi-year partnership, and Sound by Bose technology had been introduced into a range of Skullcandy headphone products. Source Skullcandy? Last time I heard of this brand was around 2015

EA closes Bio

After buying an HHKB in 2015, I never bought or used a new keyboard again. This year a foot pad fell off and I fixed it on Taobao for 5 yuan. I feel it can last at least another 19 years XD 300,000 yen????? South Korea: Aren't you giving me 20 units? Writing prompts and pressing Enter on a 12,700-yuan keyboard is truly delightful. What does this mean? View all 6,113 comments

Bose Acquires Skullcandy

On October 22, Bose issued an announcement announcing that it had completed the acquisition of trendy headphone brand Skullcandy. Bose stated that the core purpose of acquiring Skullcandy is to expand its user coverage. Skullcandy is known for its bold designs, trend culture, and sports communities, and has strong influence in music, gaming, fitness, and board sports such as skiing, skateboarding, and surfing, which can help Bose reach younger consumer groups it has previously penetrated less. Skullcandy will continue to operate as an independent brand and retain its headquarters in Park City, Utah, USA, joining Bose's premium consumer audio business. The company will gain more of Bose's audio technology, R&D resources, global distribution channels, and business cooperation opportunities. Before this, the two parties had already established a multi-year partnership, and Sound by Bose technology had been introduced into a range of Skullcandy headphone products. Source Skullcandy? Last time I heard of this brand was around 2015

EA Closes BioWare Studio and Cancels New Mass Effect Game

On October 21, EA announced in an internal letter to employees that it would cut costs and cancel some projects, including the next-generation Mass Effect game still in early development at BioWare, but it will continue to invest resources in operating sports games, the online shooter Apex Legends, and action-adventure projects, including the next Star Wars Jedi series title and a new game starring Marvel's Iron Man. The company also said it will continue developing the Battlefield series, with its Respawn studio and DICE studio jointly developing new projects. BioWare, the developer of Mass Effect and Dragon Age, subsequently posted a closure announcement on its official account. A person familiar with the matter revealed that EA will cut 400 positions, accounting for 3% of its total workforce. Source As long as Dragon Age 5 is released, everything will be fine! Good, going DEI only leads to DIE. Good, meow 15

Australian Court Rules Apple Must Open iPhone Sideloading and Third-Party Payments

After years of antitrust litigation by Epic Games, an Australian federal judge ruled on October 22 that Apple must make broad changes to App Store rules. Apple has confirmed it plans to appeal. The federal judge simultaneously published a 235-page ruling ordering that, starting March 1, 2027, Apple must allow iPhone users with Australian Apple accounts to install apps from third-party app stores and websites. Apple may apply before February 15 for an extension to May 3, 2027, and the extension request requires court approval. The ruling also mentioned a series of measures Apple took against Epic Games in 2020, including refusing to enable Epic's direct payment scheme, removing Fortnite from the App Store, and subsequently banning Epic developer accounts. The judge considered the removal of the game and the banning of accounts to be "typical cases" of Apple enforcing restrictive clauses, violating Section 46 of the Australian Competition and Consumer Act 2010. The court also prohibited two Apple practices: it may not require developers to report transactions completed through third-party payment channels, nor may it force developers to offer Apple payment in parallel while using their chosen payment method. These two requirements are rules Apple currently implements in regions such as Brazil and Japan. Apple said in a statement to Reuters: "We will seek a stay of the ruling and appeal, hoping for a ruling that respects intellectual property and protects the safe and reliable App Store experience that consumers and developers expect." Source 11

EU Opens Investigation into Booking.com

On October 21, the European Commission announced that it had opened a formal investigation into Booking.com under the Digital Services Act, examining whether it adequately assesses and effectively mitigates risks such as fake listings and phishing scams, and whether it clearly labels paid promotional accommodation listings. The investigation covers nonexistent listings, impersonation of hosts, and non-compliant accommodation information, and will assess whether the platform has taken effective measures to remove them. Regulators will also examine how Booking.com shares order and guest data with accommodation providers, the design of its in-platform messaging service, and measures to prevent such data from being used for phishing and payment fraud. Opening an investigation does not mean the company has been found to have violated the law, and if a violation is ultimately confirmed, Booking.com could face a fine of up to 6% of its global annual turnover. Source 3

National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center Issues Warning Report on Weaxor Ransomware

On October 22, the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center and the National Engineering Laboratory for Computer Virus Prevention and Control Technology issued an announcement stating that recently, relying on the National Computer Virus Collaborative Analysis Platform, they discovered within China's borders multiple incidents in which Chinese users were attacked by the "Weaxor" ransomware. After users' important files were encrypted, the file names were changed to the original file name plus suffix strings such as ".weax". At the same time, the attackers also left ransom notes on users' hosts, demanding that users contact them and pay a ransom. This ransomware has multiple versions, and attackers will deliver the corresponding ransomware program according to the target operating system type, which can cover most Windows and Linux operating system platforms, mainly targeting enterprise databases, OA office systems, and other business systems. It has no active propagation capability and is mainly delivered automatically or manually to the target intranet after cybercriminals carry out an intrusion. Source 1

Brief news worth a look

Spotify has confirmed that it is implementing a set of "routine improvements" requiring members of the same family group to confirm that they live at the same address by scanning a QR code. Users who fail to confirm within seven days will be unable to rejoin a family group or Duo plan for 12 months. Source

Amazon has renamed its Kindle Unlimited subscription to Kindle+ and expanded it to include audiobooks. Source

The Browser Company has announced that it will completely shut down the Arc browser on December 22 of this year. Source

On October 21, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the official establishment of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Industrial Software Standardization Technical Committee. The committee is mainly responsible for the formulation and revision of industry standards in key technologies, data interoperability, products and services, integrated applications, and ecosystem development. Source

Reports say Motorola will release a phone called motorola razr flex 27. The device is suspected to use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, with a 4.97-inch outer screen and a 6.92-inch inner screen, a 165Hz refresh rate, and a wide foldable form factor. It weighs 215g and has a 5000mAh battery. Source

Mozilla, Google, and Apple have all blocked a problematic intermediate certificate from certificate authority eMudhra. Source

Apple will display a Made for iPhone Duo badge in the App Store for apps adapted for iPhone Duo. Source

A large number of users in Europe and the United States have found that their Japanese versions of Sony Xperia models cannot connect to 5G networks or enable dual-SIM dual standby. Affected models include the Xperia 1 V and newer phones. It is suspected that after a certain system update this year, Sony blocked methods of flashing basebands to unlock cross-regional use of 5G and dual-SIM dual standby functions. Previously, Google also actively disabled connectivity capabilities such as 5G, VoLTE, and Wi-Fi calling in unsupported regions. Source

On October 22, Sony discontinued the UBP-X700/K Ultra HD Blu-ray player. This model was released in May 2025 and was previously Sony's only standalone Ultra HD Blu-ray player on sale. Currently, the only device Sony still produces and sells with Blu-ray player functionality is the PlayStation 5. Source

There aren't many PS5 disc versions left now either. After physical game discs are canceled in the next year or two, the production line may be gone. The key is that the PS5 may well be discontinued in a few years and only the PS5 Pro sold. Will the only way to play Blu-ray in the future be high-end brands? Currently, the only device Sony still produces and sells with Blu-ray player functionality is the PlayStation 5. Hahahahahahahahahahaha Sony's crimes are monstrous

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