The day in tech.

Apple's glass-centric iPhone redesign remains on track for 2027, refuting claims of cancellation. The 20th-anniversary device will feature front and rear glass wrapping around a thin metal band, with iPhone Pro models adopting a new glassy look next year.

Samsung's Galaxy S26 FE will feature the Exynos 2500 chipset, 8GB RAM, and 128GB or 256GB storage. The 128GB model is expected to cost €800, €50 more than the S25 FE. It keeps the 4,900mAh battery, 45W charging, and 6.7-inch AMOLED display.

Zurich-based Exclaim Robotics exited stealth with $4.95 million in funding. Veteran roboticist Helen Oleynikova will lead the startup, which develops repair robots for hyperscale data centres.

Nvidia partnered with Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs, and KKR to raise over $500 billion for AI data centers, treating compute as an investable asset class. CEO Jensen Huang said the firms will independently underwrite AI infrastructure projects.

Apple is developing "Apple Reference Image," a photo provenance system found in iOS 27 beta 5 that verifies images were captured with an iPhone. An opt-in Reference mode in the Camera app embeds provenance data, with authentication via Private Cloud Compute and a Reference badge.

Aptoide became the first third-party Android app store available directly through Google Play in the U.S., following Judge James Donato's ruling in Epic's lawsuit. The Portugal-based store offers over 40,000 apps to roughly 25 million monthly active users.

Aptoide Games is the first third-party app store available on Google Play in the US, following Google's antitrust defeat and settlement with Epic Games. Users can now install the game marketplace directly from Google Play without sideloading an APK.

Google Play now accepts Venmo in the United States, letting users pay for apps, games, subscriptions, and in-app purchases with their Venmo balance or linked cards and bank accounts. Users link Venmo through the Payment methods section in Google Play settings.

Intel is said to be nearing an upsized share sale to raise $20 billion, up from an earlier plan for a $15 billion offering. The move would bolster the company's capital position amid ongoing strategic shifts.

Google is testing a homepage for signed-out users that replaces the Search button with three AI shortcuts: Create images, Ask about files, and Brainstorm. The layout reverts upon sign-in, and Google has not confirmed the test's size or whether it will ship.