Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory
As if Jeff Bezos needed a bigger head, the Amazon founder’s space company, Blue Origin, just hit a big milestone. The company has (successfully, we might add) re-used a first-stage booster, mimicking what SpaceX has been doing for more than a decade. Still, more billionaires with space tech is a good thing. Right?
After New Glenn survived its November 2025 outing, Blue Origin managed to get its GS1 booster up and running for another mission. After launching smoothly, the first-stage booster detached itself and returned to Earth safely. That’s where the wins end, though. The job Blue Origin was tasked with never reached completion.
Meant to carry AST SpaceMobile’s satellites into orbit, the company later confirmed that Blue Origin hadn’t quite succeeded. The New Glenn rocket did its job, releasing the payload correctly. The issue was when it was detached, which incorrectly placed the satellite into a lower-than-planned orbit, according to AST:
“While the satellite separated from the launch vehicle and powered on, the altitude is too low to sustain operations with its on-board thruster technology and will (be) de-orbited,” AST said.
Tech companies wasting a bunch of money is never a laughing matter. But it is rather funny to see Amazon flawlessly execute all the difficult bits of a space launch (i.e. launching a literal rocket) and struggling to deliver a satellite simply because it got a little too excited. We’re confident it’ll figure it out next time.
iOS 27 may add even fewer features than usual
These days, iOS updates are a hodgepodge of promises and assurances that this time will be different for Apple Intelligence (AI). iOS 27… will be no different, if the leaks from backend code are anything to go by. Currently on track to be unveiled at WWDC 26 in June and released in September, it looks light on, well, everything.
At the top of the list is the revamped Siri we’ve heard so much about. Whether it’ll actually be ready for the September rollout remains to be seen, though with Google lending a helping hand, it may just make it. Next up is enhanced autocorrect, meant to fix issues that have plagued iPhone users for years.
Then there’s talk of iOS 27 supporting 5G satellite connectivity, though it’s speculated that it’ll be limited to the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro models (the ones supporting Apple’s C2 modem). It may be joined by other satellite connections, like accessing Apple Maps or sending and receiving images sent via satellite. As for what’s in store on the Apple Intelligence front, Nicolás Alvarez has a couple of ideas. And you know what? They all suck.
Perhaps you’ll feel differently. But with AI’s supposed intelligence, we’d hope it’s adding something more exciting than new scanning powers. iOS 26 will add the power for Visual Intelligence to scan nutrition labels for easier tracking or a business card to make adding contacts easier. The Wallet app will also add new scanning features, able to digitally recreate a ticket or something similar.
Lenovo’s new power bank is more than a mouthful
China gets all the cool tech. That makes sense, seeing as most of it is made there. Normally, we can handle the rejection, but occasionally, we can get really jealous of certain products. Lenovo’s new ThinkPlus Retractable Cable Power Bank 190W 20K (try saying that three times quickly) should make quick work of your deflated devices.
That much output has got to go somewhere, and Lenovo’s hoping it’ll charge up three devices all at once. It supports a range of different fast-charge protocols, making this ideal for just about anything you throw its way. There’s even a built-in display to keep an eye on its juice levels, on top of 20,000mAh units to dish out, too.
This thing would have done numbers throughout load shedding. Unfortunately, even if Eskom does begin to show some slack, we won’t be getting a turn. Thus far, Lenovo has only confirmed a China release. We may get to see it — one day. The company currently sells similar power banks in the US and even in South Africa, though notably without the same style as the ThinkPlus.
Street Fighter 1, FIGHT!
Now that video game adaptations actually stand a chance of generating revenue, it seems inevitable that Street Fighter would get the silver screen treatment. Again. 2026 is officially the year of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat 2. We’ve already seen Karl Urban step into the shoes of Johnny Cage. Now, it’s Noah Centineo’s turn.
You might think Netflix’s go-to white guy would’ve been relegated to dismissible side characters forever, but Street Fighter went a different way by making him the lead. Centineo plays Ken, and is just one of the colourful-but-stacked cast of characters here. 50 Cent (?) is Balrog, Jason Mamoa is Blanka, and David Dastmalchian is… M. Bison. It’s all a little bizarre, but the weird cast lends itself to the vibe Street Fighter is going for.
Which, based on the new trailer, is utter goofiness. That’s about the best you can hope for from Street Fighter, with just about every bit of fight choreography bathed in colour. It’s also loaded with references, meant to distract viewers if the script falls victim to the usual pitfalls we see in game adaptations. Look, we can see it working. It won’t have much to compete against when it lands in theatres on 16 October 2026.
