Tech Shockers: Space Force Rocket Triumph, Massive Data Leaks & Gadget Surprises (Aug 12–13, 2025)
Space Launch Milestone: New Vulcan Rocket Debuts
United Launch Alliance successfully launched its first operational Vulcan rocket, carrying two satellites on a U.S. Space Force mission spaceflightnow.com. This USSF-106 flight marks the Vulcan’s debut as a fully certified national security launcher, slated to replace ULA’s Atlas V and Delta IV rockets spaceflightnow.com. The 198-foot Vulcan, boosted by four solid boosters and Blue Origin’s BE-4 engines, thundered off the pad at Cape Canaveral, reaching geosynchronous transfer orbit. “This mission is headed directly to geosynchronous orbit and will be one of our longest missions to date,” said ULA VP Gary Wentz, noting Vulcan was “purposely designed to support these [direct-to-geo] missions” for the Space Force spaceflightnow.com. The successful launch is a major milestone for ULA as it pivots to an all-Vulcan fleet in competition with SpaceX’s Falcon rockets spaceflightnow.com.
Smartphones & Devices: Google Pixel Fold Teased, iPhone Rumors Emerge
Google offered an early peek at its next flagship foldable. In a surprise move, Google released a teaser video for the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, a week ahead of its official launch event theverge.com. The brief clip shows a device resembling the Pixel 9 Fold with a large inner display and triple-camera bar, coming in a sleek gray finish theverge.com. While specs remain under wraps, the teaser confirms Google’s foldable ambitions are alive and well.
On the Apple front, fresh leaks suggest a practical upgrade in the upcoming iPhone 17 Pro. A reputable tipster claims Apple will implement a new antenna design inspired by the Apple Watch to improve cellular connectivity techradar.com. The redesigned antenna system is expected to reduce dropped calls and boost signal performance in crowded areas, an issue even flagship iPhones struggle with today techradar.com. If true, the iPhone 17 Pro could feature fewer visible antenna lines and a sleeker frame, while delivering more reliable calls when networks are congested techradar.com. (Apple has not commented on the rumor, and the leaker’s track record is mixed.)
Consumer Tech: Samsung’s 115-inch Micro-LED TV Sets Price Records
In home electronics, Samsung unveiled the world’s first micro-RGB (micro-LED) television – and it’s a behemoth. The new 115-inch TV uses microscopic LEDs for each color, delivering what Samsung touts as “a new benchmark for color accuracy, contrast and immersive viewing” in ultra-premium TVs techradar.com. Early adopters, however, will need deep pockets: the model launches in South Korea at roughly $32,000 (₩44.9 million) before global rollout techradar.com. Samsung says smaller, more affordable micro-LED models are planned, aiming to challenge OLED TVs with this technology techradar.com. Tech experts note that while micro-LED offers exceptional brightness and color with no burn-in, it’s currently astronomically priced. Samsung’s move could spur competition to scale up production and drive costs down. For now, the 115-inch titan is a statement piece for the few – but a glimpse at the likely future of high-end TVs.
Streaming Wars: ESPN/Fox Sports Bundle and Content Shakeups
The live sports streaming arena is experiencing a shake-up that could hit fans’ wallets. Disney’s ESPN and Fox announced a joint sports streaming bundle launching October 2, combining ESPN’s upcoming direct-to-consumer service with Fox’s “Fox One” platform techradar.com. Priced at $32.99 per month, the bundle grants access to a “bumper” lineup of leagues: NFL (now moving under ESPN’s streaming rights), NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL, college football/basketball, NASCAR, INDYCAR, UFC, and even the FIFA World Cup – all in one package techradar.com. “[Subscribers can] access the NFL… NBA… as well as the upcoming FIFA World Cup,” Fox executive Tony Billetter said in a statement touting the bundle’s extensive sports coverage techradar.com.
It’s part of a broader power struggle for sports streaming dominance. Media giants are aggressively swapping rights: for instance, UFC fights will move from ESPN+ to Paramount+, and WWE wrestling will jump from Peacock to ESPN in 2026 techradar.com. These deals often cost billions and have already driven up streaming prices techradar.com techradar.com. Analysts say sports are becoming the new battleground for streaming providers to win subscribers as traditional TV fades techradar.com. The result for consumers could be a return to cable-like bundles, as fans juggle services to follow their favorite teams. Bottom line: Expect more bundling and higher costs as streamers compete to lock in must-see sports content.
Cybersecurity Breaches: North Korean Hackers Hacked, Global Data Leaks
It’s been a tumultuous week in cybersecurity, with major breaches and a twist of fate for a notorious hacking group. In an ironic turn, Kimsuky – a state-sponsored North Korean cyber-espionage outfit – got hacked itself. An anonymous hacker infiltrated Kimsuky’s own servers and leaked a 8.9GB trove of the group’s secret files techradar.com. The dump, now hosted on the DDoSecrets transparency site, exposes Kimsuky’s tools and tactics, including logs of phishing attacks on South Korean military and government targets, source code for South Korea’s Foreign Affairs Ministry email system, lists of targeted professors, malware loaders, and more techradar.com. The self-proclaimed hacktivist behind the leak denounced Kimsuky as “morally perverted” and claimed the North Korean hackers steal for “all the wrong reasons” techradar.com. While some experts doubt this breach will truly cripple Kimsuky’s operations, it lays bare the inner workings of one of North Korea’s most prolific cyber units – a potential intelligence goldmine for defenders techradar.com.
Meanwhile, data breaches hit institutions and companies across the globe. In the U.S., officials revealed a major federal courts hack that may have exposed sealed legal documents in multiple states theverge.com. Investigators now believe Russian state actors were “at least partially responsible” for the cyber-intrusion into the federal court records system (PACER/CM-ECF) theverge.com. The breach, first detected in May, prompted emergency measures: judges have been ordered to stop e-filing sensitive case materials and revert to paper or secure offline methods theverge.com. This unprecedented move underscores the severity of the compromise. Observers note it harks back to the 2020 SolarWinds incident and reflects ongoing efforts by foreign hackers to access U.S. government secrets theverge.com.
On the consumer side, a major data leak at Connex Credit Union (Connecticut) put 172,000 customers’ personal data at risk techradar.com. Attackers accessed names, Social Security numbers, account and debit card info, and other identifiers – essentially everything needed for identity theft techradar.com. The credit union discovered the breach in June but disclosed it in August via state filings techradar.com. Affected members are warned to watch out for fraud and phishing, as such data is a hot commodity on criminal markets.
Fighting Back: Ransomware Gang Bust and Law Enforcement Wins
Not all news was grim – authorities scored rare victories against cybercriminals. The U.S. government seized more than $1 million in cryptocurrency from a major Russian ransomware gang known as BlackSuit (aka Royal) techradar.com techradar.com. A coordinated operation by the Secret Service, DHS and others dismantled BlackSuit’s servers, darknet sites and crypto wallets, disrupting a group blamed for extorting over $370 million from 450+ victims since 2022 techradar.com. In one example, agents intercepted part of a 49 Bitcoin ransom that a victim paid last year techradar.com. Retrieving funds from ransomware attacks is extremely difficult, so clawing back even $1M is a big win techradar.com. Officials hope to use seized domains to warn victims and undermine the gang’s business model. Europol and Interpol also announced takedowns of separate cybercrime networks this week, signaling an international crackdown on ransomware crews techradar.com techradar.com.
Social Media & Internet: Threads Hits 400M Users, Google Tweaks News
In social media, Meta’s Threads – the Twitter/X rival launched earlier this summer – appears to be sustaining its rapid growth. According to internal data, Threads has surpassed 400 million monthly active users, up from about 350 million in April theverge.com. That user base, achieved in mere months, is on the cusp of Twitter’s size, highlighting Threads’ momentum thanks to its integration with Instagram. The platform’s early hype has tempered, but if it continues to innovate (e.g. introducing a web version and trending topics), analysts say Threads could pose a serious long-term challenge to Elon Musk’s X. For now, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called increasing engagement a top priority, as usage levels per user remain below Twitter’s.
Over at Google, the search giant is putting a new spin on how users get their news. Google Search is rolling out a “Preferred Sources” feature that lets people choose their favorite news outlets to prioritize in the Top Stories carousel business-standard.com. Available initially to users in the US and India, the tool allows adding any number of preferred publishers. Articles from those outlets will then appear with a special star icon and show up more frequently in one’s search results business-standard.com. Google says the goal is to give readers more control over their news diet instead of purely algorithmic curation business-standard.com. Importantly, Top Stories will still include other sources to maintain diverse perspectives business-standard.com. This update – which emerged from tests that showed users embraced customizing their feeds – could significantly influence traffic patterns for media publishers. It arrives amid broader efforts by Google to surface more personalized and trustworthy content, and may help news junkies ensure they “see more of what they want and less of what they don’t.” (For now the feature lives in Search; it’s unclear if it will expand to Google News app.)
Tech Business: Trump Reverses Course on Intel, Kodak’s Survival in Doubt
Political and corporate drama also made headlines. In Washington, President Donald Trump abruptly U-turned on his stance toward Intel’s CEO, Lip-Bu Tan. Just days prior, Trump had blasted Tan as “highly conflicted” and demanded his “immediate resignation”, insisting “there is no other solution to this problem” techradar.com. But after a face-to-face White House meeting on August 12, Trump struck a completely different tone – praising Tan’s “amazing” rise and enlisting his input on U.S. chip strategy techradar.com. “Very interesting meeting,” Trump posted on Truth Social, saying his Cabinet will work with Tan going forward techradar.com. The whiplash reversal has industry-watchers speculating on what changed Trump’s mind. It comes as the administration pursues hardline tech policies – including considering 100% tariffs on certain foreign semiconductors and even skimming a 15% government cut of high-end chip sales to China theverge.com techradar.com – moves that have rattled the sector. Intel, for its part, has struggled to regain its crown in advanced chips, lagging behind NVIDIA in AI processors and TSMC in manufacturing. Tan, who became CEO earlier this year, is under pressure to execute a turnaround. After the meeting, both Intel and the White House kept details under wraps, but Trump’s softened stance suggests a recognition that keeping Intel strong is vital to U.S. tech leadership.
Finally, an icon of 20th-century tech is facing a bleak future. Eastman Kodak, the 133-year-old camera and film pioneer, warned it may have to shut down after over a century in business theverge.com. In its latest earnings report, Kodak disclosed it doesn’t have the financing to pay about $500 million in looming debt due in the next 12 months theverge.com. The company said this raises “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern. Kodak famously failed to adapt to the digital era – a case study in disrupted innovation – and even after a bankruptcy a decade ago and diversifying into printing and chemicals, the company is again on the brink. Industry experts aren’t totally writing Kodak off yet (it has survived near-death experiences before), but the outlook is grim. Unless Kodak secures new investment or debt restructuring, the maker of the once-ubiquitous yellow film boxes could fade out for good – a somber reminder that past glory is no guarantee of future survival theverge.com.
Sources: Spaceflight Now spaceflightnow.com spaceflightnow.com; The Verge theverge.com techradar.com; TechRadar techradar.com techradar.com; TechRadar techradar.com; TechRadar techradar.com techradar.com; The Verge theverge.com; TechRadar techradar.com; TechRadar techradar.com; The Verge theverge.com; Business Standard business-standard.com; The Verge techradar.com; The Verge/CNN theverge.com.
