Qualcomm has unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which the company says has “the world’s fastest mobile CPU,” a custom version of the second generation Qualcomm Oryon. The platform is purpose-built to power on-device generative AI, “built to handle the complexities of multi-modal AI seamlessly while prioritizing privacy,” per Qualcomm. Smartphone brands and OEMs including Asus, Honor, iQOO, OnePlus, Opposite, RealMe, Samsung, Vivo and Xiaomi are onboard to launch devices powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, starting before the end of the year, according to Qualcomm’s announcement. Read more

Samsung is releasing a Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition that will initially debut in South Korea on October 25 at a price of roughly $2,000. This thinner, lighter new Z Fold sports larger displays and a superior 200MP camera system, an AI-friendly 16GB of RAM and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, though by the time it debuts in the U.S. it may have the newer Snapdragon 8 Elite, which Qualcomm says will start showing up in products by the end of this year. Samsung is positioning the exclusive limited run as “a thank-you” to local customers. There are rumors of a possible China release forthcoming. Read more

Penguin Random House, the world’s largest commercial book publisher, has updated the copyright disclaimer that appears in every book to say “no part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems.” The warning will roll out globally on all new releases as well as backlist titles that are reprinted. Tom Weldon, CEO of Penguin Random House UK, has told staff the company will at its discretion “use generative AI tools selectively and responsibly, where we see a clear case that they can advance our goals.” Read more

YouTube has added new features to its apps for mobile, Web and TV, including expanded controls for playback speeds, badges, a miniplayer redesign, and the ability to create collaborative playlists. The company is also debuting an authenticity tool. By affixing a “captured with a camera” label, creators can indicate their work is shot with an actual camera, with unaltered visual and audio. Among the general platform improvements that YouTube implements annually, users can now share playlists via link or QR code, and create custom thumbnails for those lists, either by uploading an image or generating one with AI. Read more

Amazon has launched a new Fire TV Stick HD, supplanting the Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite as its entry level television device. Priced at $34.99 the black stick plugs into the HDMI port at the back or side of most TVs. A micro USB cable and power plug are included. The Fire TV Stick HD streams at up to 1080p HD and also supports HDR, HDR 10, HDR10+ and HLG. While the new device does not feature support for Dolby Vision or Dolby Atmos, its HDMI port will support Dolby-encoded audio. The platform streamlines access to all major streaming services, which of course require independent subscriptions. Read more