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Android's Motion Assist Adds Moving Dots to Fight Car Sickness

Google is rolling out Motion Assist, a Play Services feature for Android 17 that places moving dots along the screen edges to track a vehicle's motion using the phone's accelerometer and gyroscope, aiming to reduce or eliminate motion sickness — two years after Apple shipped a similar Motion Cues feature in iOS 18.

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Tesla Confirms Sept. 3 Austin Event to Unveil Production Cybercab Robotaxi

Tesla has confirmed a September 3, 2026 "exclusive experience" event in Austin, Texas, where it will unveil the production version of Cybercab, its steering-wheel-free, two-seat robotaxi that Elon Musk has said will cost under $30,000 and reach production by 2027. The confirmation follows Nevada regulators clearing Tesla, Waymo and Uber to run up to 8,000 robotaxis in Clark County, even as Tesla shares fell 3.8% the day the event was confirmed.

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SST3 and FARCX-1: NYCU-Led Teams Set New Marks in Same-Day Flight Tests at Pingtung Xuhai

SST3 and FARCX-1, two research rockets developed by NYCU-led teams, completed flight tests at Pingtung Xuhai on the same day, with SST3 reaching 8.3 kilometers on solid propulsion and FARCX-1 completing Taiwan's first fully student-built liquid rocket flight at 532 meters, as the Xuhai site logged its 19th sounding rocket launch.

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Supermicro Investigation Clears Current Management in Export-Control Case, Board Adopts Compliance Overhaul

Supermicro's independent directors have completed an internal investigation into an export-control case tied to two employees and one contractor indicted in March 2026, finding no evidence that current senior management knew of the diversion, that the company sold controlled products directly to restricted parties, or that prior financial reports were affected. The board has adopted all recommendations to strengthen export compliance, and the three implicated individuals are no longer affiliated with the company.

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Apple Scraps Per-Install App Store Fees in the EU, Shifts to 5% Transaction Commission

Apple will replace its installation-linked Core Technology Fee with a single 5% Core Technology Commission for EU apps distributed outside the App Store, effective October 1, 2026. The overhaul also revises in-app commission tiers, eases third-party marketplace requirements, and adds child-protection rules, following a €500 million DMA fine and recent dialogue with the European Commission.

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Chengchi (2425) to Divest 51% of Siteng Heli for RMB167 Million (~NT$790 Million) After US Entity List Listing

Chengchi (承啟, TSE:2425) has approved selling a 51% stake in Siteng Heli (思騰合力), its indirectly held Tianjin subsidiary, for RMB167 million (about NT$790–791 million), after Siteng Heli was added to the US Entity List in April 2024. The buyer is a group of four companies set up by Siteng Heli's own executives, making this a related-party deal pending an October 8 shareholder vote.

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Taiwan Financial Holding Firms' Overseas Exposure Hits Record NT$31.48 Trillion as Japan's Growth Leads Top 10 at 45.9%

Taiwan's financial holding companies reported combined overseas exposure of NT$31.4782 trillion in the second quarter, up 2.8% from the prior quarter and a new record<CITE:E1>. The United States held its 45-quarter run as the largest market at NT$11.1 trillion, while Japan's exposure grew 45.9% year on year to NT$1.6 trillion, the fastest pace among the top 10 countries<CITE:E2>.

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Trump Administration Drafts Ban on Chinese-Made Data Center Components, Reuters Reports

The Trump administration is drafting a ban on imports of new Chinese-made data center components, and the FCC is separately preparing a rule targeting Chinese optical transceivers that officials want finalized this year<CITE:E1><CITE:E12>. The move threatens Zhongji Innolight, which holds 27% of the global transceiver market and could raise costs for US cloud providers like AWS<CITE:E9><CITE:E8>.

林紀旭 James Lin ·
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Taiwan Legislature Approves NT$44.2 Billion Drone Industry Budget; TAITRA's James Huang Says Sector 'About to Take Off'

According to a CNA report also carried by UDN Money, Taiwan's Legislative Yuan passed a six-year, NT$44.2 billion 'Unmanned Vehicle Industry Development Program' budget on August 15, 2026. Taiwan External Trade Development Council (外貿協會, TAITRA) Chairman James Huang (黃志芳) called it a boost, saying the drone industry is 'about to take off,' and detailed upcoming trade shows and forums to help local firms reach global markets.

林紀旭 James Lin ·
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Google Activates Security Operations Platform in Taiwan to Address Data Sovereignty Demands

According to CNA and UDN Money, Google Cloud activated Google Security Operations (Google SecOps) in its Taiwan Region on August 7, 2026, letting regulated organizations keep security data in-country. Google Cloud says the platform cuts alert investigation time from 30 minutes to under 60 seconds and already serves 1,200+ customers globally.

Nathan ·
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SpaceX Falcon 9 Debris Set to Hit the Moon Aug. 5, Could Kick Up Over 1 Million KG of Debris

According to a report by Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA), a discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 second stage is set to strike the Moon on August 5, with an impact CNA says is equivalent to roughly 3 tons of TNT. CNA estimates over 1,000,000 kg of ejected debris and a 20-to-30-meter crater, while the UK's Independent, as relayed by udn.com, puts the crater at about 27 meters wide and 5 meters deep.

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Google Launches Selfie Video Sign-In in Taiwan to Help Users Recover Locked Accounts

Google introduced a 'Selfie Video' sign-in option in Taiwan this week, letting users regain access to locked accounts by recording a short video of head movements instead of using a trusted device. According to CNA and Inside, the rollout date was July 24, while iThome reported July 23. Google says the videos are encrypted at rest and can be checked at g.co/signin-selfie.

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Alphabet Beats on Revenue and Cloud Growth, But Capex Hike and CEO's Coding Admission Send Shares Lower After Hours

According to reports from MoneyDJ and TechNews, Alphabet's Q2 revenue rose 24% to $119.796 billion, topping analyst estimates, while Google Cloud revenue surged 81.8% to $24.768 billion. Capex jumped 100% to $44.9 billion, and Alphabet raised its full-year 2026 capex guidance to $195-205 billion. CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged that coding and agentic coding still need improvement, and Alphabet Class A shares fell 3.16% after hours to $331.27.

林紀旭 James Lin ·
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R.K.C. Drops Social Media Addiction Suit Against Meta Days Before LA Trial

According to The Verge, R.K.C., a Florida teenager, withdrew his social media addiction lawsuit against Meta less than a week before a Los Angeles bellwether trial was set to begin. TechCrunch reports the withdrawal came a day after co-defendant Snap reached a tentative settlement, and Meta says R.K.C. received no payment. The plaintiff's lawyers cited the "overall successful result" of the broader litigation, which had already produced a $375 million New Mexico penalty and a $6 million Los Angeles jury verdict against Meta.

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Facebook Web Version Goes Down, Users See 'Account Temporarily Unavailable' Message

According to a Central News Agency (CNA) report, Facebook's web version experienced an outage on the afternoon of July 19, 2026, with users seeing an 'account temporarily unavailable' message. CNA's own test found the mobile app still worked, while Downdetector.com data showed website errors accounted for 62% of user reports.

Nathan ·
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China Enters Reusable Rocket Era After SpaceX: Long March 10B's Net Recovery Innovation

On July 10, 2026, China's state-owned aerospace company successfully launched and recovered the first stage of its Long March 10B rocket—a global first in net-capture recovery technology. According to reports, the booster separated from the upper stage after 6 minutes and vertically returned to a sea platform using a net-capture mechanism, contrasting with SpaceX's propulsive landing approach that began in 2015. China aims to complete re-flight testing by year-end and enter small-batch regular launch operations within 3–5 years.

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