Gadget

August will see several major game releases, including a host of remasters and remakes and new titles for the Nintendo Switch 2. Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater releases on August 28 across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X, while Gears of War: Reloaded hits PC and consoles on August 26.

Google is reportedly testing a new Live Translate feature within Circle to Search. Though not active yet, it was spotted in the app drawer alongside screen translation and song recognition. When enabled, it lets users choose translation for the whole screen or specific apps. The tool reportedly launches with a rainbow edge animation and offers a movable floating overlay to set language, minimise, or crop text, though the crop tool isn’t working yet. Currently, dynamic translations appear only briefly, limiting proper testing.

Realme P4 5G is all set to go official on August 20. Days ahead of the formal reveal, Realme has announced the India pricing and key specifications of the upcoming P series smartphone. It is advertised to be the only smartphone sub-Rs. 20,000 segment to have a dedicated graphics chip.

Apple’s standard iPhone 17 model has reportedly entered the mass production phase. The upcoming Apple handset is allegedly being manufactured at Foxconn’s Bengaluru facility, which is its second-largest unit outside of China. The Taiwan-based contract manufacturer is said to be manufacturing the phone at its Bengaluru and Chennai facilities simultaneously.

SpaceX successfully launched 24 new Starlink satellites on Aug. 14, lifting off at 1:05 a.m. EDT from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The first-stage booster, B1093, completed its fifth flight and landed smoothly on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. This mission marked SpaceX’s 98th Falcon 9 flight of 2025, raising the active Starlink constellation to over 8,100 satellites. Starlink currently delivers broadband service to about 130 countries and territories, targeting near-global coverage with a planned 12,000-satellite network. SpaceX’s next mission, Starlink 17-5, is set for Aug. 15, aiming to send another 24 satellites into orbit to further expand the network.

NASA’s PUNCH mission has reached full operational status, enabling continuous monitoring of the Sun and solar wind from multiple vantage points around Earth. This collaborative effort complements other major solar missions and promises valuable insights into the Sun–Earth connection. Early public release of PUNCH’s science data marks an exciting opportunity for researchers and space enthusiasts worldwide.

In a groundbreaking discovery, astronomers observed SN 2023zkd, a supernova that may have been triggered by close interaction with a black hole. Featuring unusual brightness peaks and extended pre-explosion activity, the event offers new insights into star black hole dynamics. Real-time AI detection played a key role, and upcoming surveys promise to uncover more of these rare stellar phenomena.

A rare NASA satellite image shows 10 sharply defined “dark voids” above Heard Island, a volcanic peak in the southern Indian Ocean. Formed by von Kármán vortices bent nearly 90 degrees by fierce westerly winds, the striking gaps pierce thick cloud cover, offering a vivid glimpse of nature’s intricate atmospheric patterns from space.

Lilo & Stitch is a Disney Sci-Fi movie that follows a girl called Lilo, who adopts a dog, unaware that he is an Alien. Soon, she names him Stitch and then watch how beautifully the duo connect. However, things take a tense turn when the creator of the Alien is on a hunt for him. Will he find him?

NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) has made surprising observations in a black hole binary system, detecting a high degree of X-ray polarisation that challenges current models of corona structure and accretion discs. In X-ray binaries, black holes pull matter from nearby stars, forming hot accretion discs and coronas.