Tech News – Page 35 – by Arlin Schaffel

The Browser Company, maker of Arc and Dia, is being acquired

Mike Cannon-Brookes, the CEO of enterprise software giant Atlassian, was one of the first users of the Arc browser. Over the last several years, he has been a prolific bug reporter and feature requester. Now he’ll own the thing: Atlassian is acquiring The Browser Company, the New York-based startup that makes both Arc and the new AI-focused Dia browser. Atlassian is paying $610 million in cash for The Browser Company, and plans to run it as an independent entity.
https://www.theverge.com/web/770947/browser-company-arc-dia-acquired-atlassian

Google avoids break-up but must share data with rivals

Google will not have to sell its Chrome web browser but must share information with competitors, a US federal judge has ordered. The remedies decided by District Judge Amit Mehta have emerged after a years-long court battle over Google's dominance in online search. The case centred around Google's position as the default search engine on a range of its own products such as Android and Chrome as well as others made by the likes of Apple. The US Department of Justice had demanded that Google sell Chrome – Tuesday's decision means the tech giant can keep it but it will be barred from having exclusive contracts and must share search data with rivals.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8zdrenm1zo

Will drones deliver your next hot food order?

A Swedish firm hopes that drones will open up a new market for hot food delivery. Värmdö is just eight miles (13km) from Stockholm as the crow flies, and accessible by car, bus and ferry. But its population of around 46,000 – rising to up to 100,000 in the summer – has few hot food delivery options. At the moment Aviant is in a "beta phase" – only delivering 10 items a week, while they check everything works.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crlze41zygdo

End of an Era: Adobe Pulls the Plug on Aero as AR Industry Reality Bites – XR Today

Adobe’s Aero discontinuation isn’t just about one company’s strategic shift—it’s a reality check for an industry still searching for its mainstream moment. While mixed reality continues evolving, this development reminds us that even tech giants can misjudge market timing and demand.
https://www.xrtoday.com/augmented-reality/end-of-an-era-adobe-pulls-the-plug-on-aero-as-ar-industry-reality-bites/

Blogging service TypePad is shutting down and taking all blog content with it

image via arstechnica.com

In the olden days, publishing a site on the Internet required that you figure out hosting and have at least some experience with HTML, CSS, and the other languages that make the Internet work. But the emergence of blogging and "Web 2.0" sites in the late '90s and early 2000s gave rise to a constellation of services that would offer to host all of your thoughts without requiring you to build the website part of your website. The TypePad shutdown is rough news for the site's remaining user base—and it's yet another tranche of old Internet content that will only be available via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, when it's available at all.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/08/one-time-wordpress-competitor-typepad-ends-its-slide-into-obscurity-by-shutting-down/

Taco Bell Rethinks Future of Voice AI at the Drive-Through

The most transformative technology in over a century may have finally found its limit: ordering tacos. Since last year, Taco Bell has rolled out voice AI-powered ordering at more than 500 drive-through locations, and now the chain is realizing that not every customer is a fan of the new tech. Mathews said he is now thinking carefully about where and where not to use this tech in the future. It might not make sense to exclusively use artificial intelligence at every drive-through, he said. For example, at super busy restaurants with long lines, a human team member might handle things better, he said.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/taco-bell-rethinks-future-of-voice-ai-at-the-drive-through-72990b5a?mod=tech_lead_story