From streaming shake-ups to space races and breakthrough gadgets, here are the biggest tech stories and expert insights from August 5–6, 2025 (excluding AI). Consumer Tech & Media: Price Hikes and Podcast Pivots Gaming & Entertainment: Nintendo’s Next-Gen Moves Big Tech & Market Moves: IPO Surges and Stock Milestones Electric Vehicles & Transportation: Bumpy Roads…
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Apple launched Emergency SOS via satellite in late 2022 with the iPhone 14, becoming the first mainstream phone to offer satellite messaging. Apple’s satellite system uses Globalstar’s LEO satellites (about 1,400 km altitude) with custom hardware and extremely low bandwidth, delivering a few bytes per second and requiring the user to point and hold the…
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Spotify raised its Premium Individual plan price to €11.99 from €10.99 across Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, effective September, and shares jumped almost 8% on the news. Nintendo offered a late-July Switch 2 showcase, signaling more simultaneous third-party launches and no official release date yet. Figma debuted on July 31 with…
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Norway adopted EASA’s unified drone rules in 2021, aligning Oslo’s laws with the EU Open, Specific, and Certified framework. Drone operators must register to obtain a unique operator ID; EU/EEA citizens register in their home country and do not need a separate Norwegian registration, while non-EU travelers must register in Norway or another EASA country…
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Blue Origin launched six passengers on the NS-34 suborbital flight on Aug. 3, 2025 at 8:43 a.m. ET from West Texas, including Justin Sun who paid $28 million for a seat in 2021. NS-34 marked Blue Origin’s 13th crewed space tourism launch. SpaceX’s Starlink Group 10-30 mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Aug. 4,…
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Crewed Missions & Space Station Updates Global Launch Activities & Satellites Space Policy, Cooperation & Security Space Science & Exploration Highlights Sources:
By 2025 Starlink had surpassed 8,000 satellites launched and served over 5 million users in 125+ countries, operating at about 550 km altitude with speeds of 50–200 Mbps and latencies of 20–40 ms. Ama zon’s Project Kuiper began launching its 3,236-satellite Ka-band LEO network, with its first 27 satellites launched in April 2025 on an…
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In 2024 the median U.S. household paid about $85 per month for broadband, up from roughly $76 two years earlier. The United States is among the most expensive internet countries, with the average broadband bill around $65–$70 per month while the UK averages about $39 and South Korea about $26. The average cost per Mbps…
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Google Fiber ranks #1 in 2025 for overall performance and customer satisfaction, offering up to 8 Gbps symmetric speeds with real-world speeds around 279 Mbps, a footprint of about 20+ metro areas in roughly 14 states, $70/mo for 1 Gbps, and 83% of users reporting they are very satisfied. AT&T Internet provides nationwide FTTH up…
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SR-71 Blackbird set the official world speed record for air-breathing crewed aircraft at 2,193 mph (Mach 3.3) in 1976. In 1965, a Lockheed YF-12A interceptor achieved 2,070 mph (Mach 3.17), a world speed record for its time. In 1958, the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter set a world speed record above Mach 2, proving fighters could double…
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