November 18, 2025, 6:22 PM EST. Apple posted a bumper October in China as iPhone 17 models drove a 37% year-over-year sales jump, with one in four smartphones sold in the month being an iPhone. New models accounted for more than 80% of unit sales, and the iPhone 17 family led a market-share milestone not seen since 2022. Analysts cited momentum ahead of possible competition from Huawei's Mate 80, while domestic brands like Xiaomi lifted overall Chinese smartphone sell-through. The report marks the best start to a December quarter for Apple in China, even as some markets report lukewarm reception to the iPhone Air. Counterpoint notes strong demand across the premium segment and a robust, resilient growth trajectory for the October period.
November 18, 2025, 6:20 PM EST. explores Cluely, an AI overlay that can read text, summarize live conversations, pull web context, and generate follow-ups to 'cheat' at chats. The author tests whether outsourcing dialogue to AI improves interaction and finds the opposite: any genuine understanding or connection seems to come despite the AI. The piece argues that AI cannot capture a person's conversational style or the lived experience behind speech. Even if AI scanned all of someone's writings and calls, it wouldn't reproduce their full life. The author's attempts in casual chats and interviews with linguists like Deborah Tannen and anthropologist N. J. Enfield show that the best approach may be to translate ideas into one's own voice rather than rely on AI. Human connection, not automation, remains central.
November 18, 2025, 6:18 PM EST. On October 22, 2025, the Internet Archive celebrates a milestone: archiving one trillion web pages. The non-profit, which hosts the Wayback Machine at archive.org, was founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle to preserve digital artifacts and create an Internet library for researchers and historians. The organization stores two copies of every item across a storage cluster built from tens of thousands of datanodes and rising petabytes of data. Back in 2016 they ingested ~13-15 TB per day and housed about 20,000 drives, upgrading to higher-density drives (up to 8 TB) while keeping two copies. The milestone underscores the value of digital preservation and open access to humanity's online history.
November 18, 2025, 6:16 PM EST. Samsung's new Smart Keyboard is a slim, 4.3mm aluminum tenkeyless that can pair with up to three devices via Bluetooth 5.4. A dedicated switch with LEDs lets you cycle between Galaxy phones, tablets and laptops, with no 2.4GHz dongle. It's built for desk setups-especially with DeX-thanks to a DeX key and F1-F3 shortcuts. An AI button summons Bixby or Google Gemini on Android, or Microsoft Copilot on Windows, when on One UI 8.0+. Power comes from a CR2032 coin cell, promising long life, though Samsung hasn't shared exact figures. A caveat: there's no matching wireless mouse, so you'll need a compatible multi-device mouse as well. Available in several regions, with a price around $110.
November 18, 2025, 6:14 PM EST. Counterpoint Research says the iPhone 17 lineup is selling exceptionally well in China, delivering a record October performance. Apple captured 25% of all smartphones sold in China in October, with iPhone sales up 37% YoY and strong growth across the three iPhone 17 models. Despite geopolitical and regulatory headwinds, Apple's China dependence remains: the company is expanding manufacturing to India and other regions but still relies on China, even as it navigates data localization and app-store pressure. The report notes a banner December quarter start and a shift of Huawei buyers toward iPhone, leaving rivals like Mi and Vivo trailing. Overall, the iPhone 17 is driving premium segment momentum and solidifying Apple's leadership in China's premium market, even as manufacturing in China continues to be central to Apple's global strategy.