Tech news for October 14, 2026 is led by Apple’s newly announced HomeView smart display, which will support select third-party apps that already work with CarPlay, and a SpaceX cargo launch that created a glowing ‘space jellyfish’ effect visible up the East Coast.
Table of Contents
This tech news roundup also covers Meta’s camera-free Ray-Ban Audio glasses, the disappearance of Apple’s redesigned Health app from the latest iOS beta, a quick checklist for locking down your Chrome privacy, and which smart TV brands offer the longest software support. In AI and science, we cover a $42 million enterprise AI-security raise, a milestone vision-restoring retinal implant, a Marvel cameo from ‘Space Gal’ Emily Calandrelli, and a new gene therapy study that restored partial vision in blind trial participants.
The TLDR
- Tech & Apps: Apple’s New $299 HomeView Display Will Support Some Third-Party Apps – With a Catch
- AI Tools: Pluto Security Raises $42M to Police How Employees Use AI Tools
- Science & Space: SpaceX’s Pre-Dawn Cargo Launch Created a ‘Space Jellyfish’ Over the East Coast
Tech & Apps
Apple’s New $299 HomeView Display Will Support Some Third-Party Apps – With a Catch
Apple’s newly announced HomeView, a $299 smart home display with a 7-inch screen for controlling connected accessories, making FaceTime calls, and streaming music and video, will support select third-party apps, per 9to5Mac. That support leans on the existing CarPlay framework, so apps like Spotify that already work in CarPlay can appear on HomeView automatically – but Apple says some apps will require a compatible iPhone nearby to work. If HomeView ends up paired with your phone full-time, it’s worth revisiting which apps are allowed to back up to iCloud in the background; Apple hasn’t said whether third-party support will expand beyond media apps.
Meta’s Camera-Free Ray-Ban Audio Glasses Are Out, and a Reviewer Doesn’t Miss the Camera
Meta’s Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses – a $349 pair of open-ear smart glasses with speakers, microphones, and Meta AI but no camera or display – began shipping this week, and The Verge’s early hands-on says skipping the camera isn’t a dealbreaker. The glasses still handle music, calls, and Meta AI requests through built-in speakers and microphones. Dropping the camera also sidesteps the privacy concerns that dogged earlier Ray-Ban Meta models.
Apple’s Redesigned Health App Got Pulled From the Latest iOS Beta
The overhauled Health app that had been running in earlier iOS 27.2 developer and public betas is missing from iOS 27.2 beta 4, according to 9to5Mac. Apple still plans to ship the redesign – which adds a “health age” score and lets users schedule lab work through Quest Diagnostics – later this year, likely in a subsequent iOS 27.3 beta. While you wait, it’s a good time to clear up iCloud storage so your Health data has room to sync once the update lands.
A Quick Checklist for Locking Down Your Privacy in Chrome
If you haven’t touched Chrome’s privacy settings in a while, Engadget rounded up the adjustments worth making: block third-party cookies, turn off “Web & App Activity” and “Timeline” in your Google Account, and disable personalized ads through My Ad Center. On the security side, running Chrome’s built-in Safety Check and turning on Enhanced Safe Browsing adds real protection against malicious sites and downloads without installing anything extra.
Here’s Which Smart TV Brands Actually Keep Updating Your TV
If you’re shopping for a new TV, software support varies a lot by brand: Hisense promises up to 8 years of updates for its European VIDAA-based sets, and Samsung commits to 7 years for 2024-and-newer Tizen models, per Engadget. LG’s webOS Re:New program covers 4 years for 2022-and-later sets, while TCL only promises security updates for “at least two years” and Vizio doesn’t guarantee a fixed support window at all. Worth checking before you buy if you want your smart TV’s apps to keep working long-term.
AI Tools
Pluto Security Raises $42M to Police How Employees Use AI Tools
Pluto Security has raised a combined $42 million – an $8.5 million seed round led by TLV Partners and a $34 million Series A led by Jump Capital – to help companies track and control how employees use AI tools, apps, and agents, TechCrunch reports. The platform monitors which AI skills, extensions, and MCP servers employees connect to, and can step in to flag or block an AI agent that tries to grab excessive permissions. It’s part of a growing wave of startups responding to the security gaps created when every employee gets easy access to powerful AI tools.
A Vision-Restoring Chip Was Implanted in a Stargardt Disease Patient for the First Time
Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt this week, Science Corporation CEO Max Hodak revealed that the company’s PRIMA retinal implant has now been placed in its first patient with Stargardt disease, an inherited condition that causes progressive vision loss, TechCrunch reports. The procedure took place in May at Sydney Eye Hospital in Australia, where the patient reportedly saw a letter during their first rehab session and read a word by the second. Hodak, a Neuralink co-founder, said a next-generation version of the implant is expected to begin human trials within a year.
Science & Space
SpaceX’s Pre-Dawn Cargo Launch Created a ‘Space Jellyfish’ Over the East Coast
SpaceX’s Tuesday morning cargo launch to the International Space Station lit up the pre-dawn sky with a glowing “space jellyfish” effect, visible from Florida up through much of the East Coast, Space.com reports. The effect happens when a rocket climbs into sunlight while observers on the ground are still in darkness, lighting up the expanding exhaust plume against a dark sky. The Falcon 9’s booster also returned to land back at Cape Canaveral, which can produce sonic booms along Florida’s Space Coast.
‘Space Gal’ Emily Calandrelli Makes a Marvel Cameo on Disney Jr. Today
Science communicator and astronaut Emily Calandrelli guest-appears in a new episode of Disney Jr.’s animated “Marvel’s Iron Man and His Awesome Friends,” airing October 14, Space.com reports in an exclusive. It’s a fun crossover between real-world space science communication and Marvel’s animated universe, aimed at the show’s preschool-age fans.
Gene Therapy Restores Partial Vision in a Small Trial for Blind Patients
A gene therapy that pairs an injected light-sensitive protein called ChrimsonR with special light-stimulating goggles improved vision in several blind participants with retinitis pigmentosa, according to a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, via ScienceAlert. Seven of the 10 participants in the small trial showed increased light sensitivity, and four consistently got better at detecting objects over a year or more of use. The treatment can’t yet restore detailed vision like face recognition, but researchers called it a meaningful step forward.
Explore more: Fix iCloud Storage Almost Full Without Paying for More, Stop iPhone From Backing Up Apps You Never Use to iCloud.
Tech News FAQs
Do the new Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses have a camera?
No. The $349 Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses, which began shipping this week, drop the camera entirely and focus on open-ear audio, microphones, and Meta AI.
When will Apple’s redesigned Health app be available?
It’s still planned for later this year, according to Apple, even though it was pulled from iOS 27.2 beta 4. It’s expected to reappear in a future beta, likely iOS 27.3.
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Photo: Moonrivers / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.