Tech News Roundup — June 12, 2026 (AM)
This morning’s tech roundup covers NASA’s next-gen lunar spacesuit technology revealed for the Artemis program, Microsoft’s announcement that Edge will move to a two-week major-version release cycle matching Chrome, and the European Commission giving Meta five days to reopen WhatsApp to third-party AI or face a massive fine. The bipartisan “Jawbone Act” lands in Washington to let Americans (including Jimmy Kimmel) sue officials who coerce platforms, Amazon discloses that its data centres consumed 2.5 billion gallons of water last year, and hardware, gaming, and open-source stories round out the edition.
Microsoft & Windows
Microsoft Edge moves to a two-week major-release cycle. Microsoft confirmed that Edge will now ship major versions every two weeks, matching Chrome’s accelerated cadence. The change brings Edge’s stability and feature updates in line with the Chromium upstream release rhythm.
“It is intentional” — Windows 11’s broken folder icons are by design. Following the latest security update, Windows 11 and Windows 10 now block untrusted
desktop.inifiles, breaking long-time folder customisation. Microsoft confirmed the new behaviour is deliberate, even though users have depended on the old mechanism for years.
Gaming
Gears of War: E-Day ranks among showcase season’s top five “most covered, watched, and discussed” games. New LevelUp data puts Xbox’s Gears of War: E-Day in fifth place overall for showcase-season engagement, with Spyro: A Realm Reborn joining it in the top 10 — giving Xbox two franchises on the list and a strong pre-launch signal.
Xbox floats in-game ads to “keep products affordable” and “fund outstanding work.” Xbox CSO Matthew Ball is publicly considering in-game advertising, framing it as a way to offset rising development costs and keep the platform accessible — a controversial pitch that has already drawn pushback from players and developers.
Star Wars: Galactic Racer prepares for liftoff. Fuse Games and Lucasfilm Games have shared new details on the upcoming Star Wars racing title, building hype ahead of its eventual release.
Linux & Open Source
Mesa 26.2 lands initial support for AMD GFX1156 — post-Strix-Halo RDNA 3.5 graphics. The upcoming Linux 7.2 kernel is bringing in initial support for AMD’s GFX 11.5.6 graphics IP block alongside several newer blocks (SDMA 6.4, NBIO 7.11.5, IH 6.4, HDP 6.4, MMHUB 3.4.2, SMU 15.0.5, ATHUB 3.4.2, VPE 2.2). Mesa 26.2 user-space support is now in the merge queue, paving the way for next-generation integrated and discrete AMD GPUs.
Python for beginners, part IV: where to start. Pplware continues its Portuguese-language introductory series on Python, reinforcing the language’s reputation as one of the most accessible entry points into programming.
AI/ML & Policy
European Commission gives Meta five days to reopen WhatsApp to third-party AI — or face a massive fine. The EU has set a hard five-day deadline for Meta to comply with competition rules requiring WhatsApp to interoperate with rival AI assistants. Failure could result in a multi-million-euro penalty in a long-running dispute that has resurfaced in force.
Policy & Regulation
The “Jawbone Act” arrives: a bipartisan bill letting Americans sue officials who coerce platforms. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) have introduced legislation that would let private citizens (including Jimmy Kimmel) seek damages if a government official illegally tries to coerce a social-media, AI, or broadcasting company to remove their content — regardless of whether the platform ultimately complies.
[The Verge]
Infrastructure
Amazon discloses its data centres used 2.5 billion gallons of water last year. The disclosure, reportedly the first of its kind from Amazon, comes just after Seattle enacted a one-year data centre moratorium that some of Amazon’s own employees pushed for. Water and energy consumption from AI data centre construction has become a flashpoint in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
[The Verge]
Hardware & Gadgets
Amazon’s Echo Hub gets a customisable new look and Ring’s AI features. A free software update for Echo Hub devices gives the 2024-launched home screen a long-overdue interface refresh, with a cleaner customisable layout that fits more smart-home controls at a glance. The update also adds Ring’s AI features that previously required the Alexa Plus subscription.
[The Verge]Logitech’s MX Master 3S mouse drops to $89.99 on Amazon, matching its best 2026 price. The platform-agnostic wireless mouse is $30 off and includes Logitech’s signature second thumb scroll wheel — the feature that makes the MX Master line the perennial favourite for productivity users.
[The Verge]Blink’s six-piece outdoor camera kit drops under $200 ahead of Prime Day. Amazon’s bundle includes a Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+, five Blink Outdoor 2K+ cameras, and a Blink Sync Module — marked down to $166.99, a strong discount for a full home-security starter pack.
[The Verge]Roborock Q10 S5 Plus robovac is over half off, matching its best price. The Q10 S5 Plus comes with a self-emptying dock and is now under $300 — features typically reserved for pricier robovac models are available at a fraction of the price.
[The Verge]
Hardware & Space
Artemis’s AxEMU spacesuit: the technology that will keep astronauts alive on the Moon. When astronauts return to walk on the Moon under NASA’s Artemis program, they’ll wear one of the most advanced life-support systems ever built — the AxEMU spacesuit, with its pressurised garment, life-support backpack, and dust-mitigation features designed for extended EVAs at the lunar south pole.
Self-hosted & Homelab
How to install LeafWiki on your UGREEN NAS. LeafWiki is a lightweight, self-hosted wiki built as a single Go binary with SQLite and Markdown files stored on disk. It offers tree-structured navigation, full-text search, tags, backlinks, a Markdown editor with live preview and Mermaid support — an attractive low-overhead alternative to heavier wiki platforms for homelab use.
In Brief
Portugal opens applications for EV-purchase subsidy. The Portuguese government has opened a €10M incentive programme for zero-emission vehicle purchases, with backdated eligibility for buyers since January 2025.
Opel Grandland revealed as a police patrol vehicle. The top-of-the-range Opel SUV, marketed as a family car, has now been shown in law-enforcement trim with elevated ride height — illustrating the model’s versatility across fleet and consumer use cases.
Roundup compiled from the TTRSS Tech feed. 18 articles from 5 sources summarised, 18 clusters formed, 4 images fetched.