Meta agrees to pay $16.7bn to settle social media case, Fitbit founders announce new wearable

Social media giant Meta has reached a settlement with US states and territories to resolve a court case related to child safety on Facebook and Instagram. The tech company will pay a maximum of $16.68bn (£12.26bn), according to court documents. The settlement requires Meta introduce certain rules for teenage users, including daily limits and night-time blocks. Meta denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. It was alleged the company had violated numerous federal and state privacy laws for children. The states suing Meta claimed it used its platforms “to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens,” and ignored the damage they did to the “mental and physical wellbeing of America’s youth”. BBC 

Computer glitches have led to a soaring number of car breakdowns, new figures show. The AA said the number of breakdowns attributed to faulty electronics inside cars, known as body control modules (BCMs), had doubled in six years to become one of the top five causes of call-outs. More than 36,000 breakdowns involving the components, which control increasingly advanced car computer systems, were reported last year. BCMs act as the central hub of modern vehicles, controlling electric signals going to mirrors, lights and door locks. Telegraph 

Sony has announced the newest addition to its budget line of smartphones – enter the Sony Xperia 10 VIII. It offers a handful of upgrades over its predecessor, the Xperia 10 VII, and follows on from the Award-winning Xperia 10 VI. The new model boasts a claimed peak brightness that is double that of the previous smartphone to deliver “improved visibility even outdoors”, although Sony has not disclosed the exact figures. The Japanese brand also claims that the stereo speaker system (made up of the earpiece and a bottom-firing speaker) features “revised tuning”, which will supposedly deliver “improved volume and sound quality”. WhatHiFi

Apple on Tuesday heralded the imminent refresh of its headless Mac kit with new versions of the Mac Studio and the Mac mini that you can pre-order now for shipping on September 22, 2026. The diminutive desktops promise a high level of local AI performance with memory prices to match.  “[T]he new Mac Studio is our most powerful Mac ever,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s chief hardware officer, in a statement. The Register

The internet has settled on a grim nickname for what has become, in essence, my favourite pair of walking headphones: “pervert glasses”. That’s awkward, because headphones really are what my Ray-Ban Metas mostly are to me. Most of the time, I use them as open-ear headphones while walking around town or through the woods near my home. I average around 20,000 steps a day, and I can still hear cars, cyclists, and other people around me. They sound much better than the bone-conduction headphones I’ve tried, too. Occasionally, I’ll listen to an audiobook or YouTube video instead, and they help me stay more in the moment when playing with my son, or going on hikes. Stuff.tv