Highlights: Project Kuiper became Amazon Leo, Razer showed a holographic AI assistant, and Apple is preparing a CEO transition.
🛰️ Space and Connectivity
Amazon Leo is the new Project Kuiper
In November, Amazon rebranded its satellite internet as Amazon Leo. Their website now reports the launch of 27 new satellites in January, with the service preparing for commercial launch in the US and Europe this year.
The Lazuli private telescope is bigger than Hubble
Eric Schmidt's foundation announced the Lazuli project — a private telescope with a 3-meter mirror (larger than Hubble), set to launch in 2029.
🕹️ Gadgets and Hardware
Razer Project AVA: AI on your desktop
Razer showed the AVA concept — a holographic assistant in a transparent case for gamers. Inside lives the Grok model from xAI, which helps with game tactics and scheduling.
Samsung triples profits on AI
The company reported operating profit growth to $13.7B (+160%) for Q4. The reason — insane demand for HBM and DDR5 memory for servers.
🍏 Big Tech Insider
John Ternus — Tim Cook's successor?
Bloomberg confirms that Apple is accelerating its succession plan. Tim Cook is preparing to move to chairman of the board, and hardware chief Ternus is being called candidate #1 for his replacement.
Meta is preparing Mango and Avocado
To stop the talent drain after LeCun's departure, Zuckerberg is preparing two models for spring: the multimodal Mango (video/photo) and text-based Avocado for coding.
🔮 What to expect this week (January 12–18)
🗓 Tuesday, January 13: Hytale release
It's happening! The long-awaited "Minecraft killer" enters early access. Hypixel servers are bracing for millions of players.
🗓 Wednesday, January 14: Crew-11 evacuation
NASA will conduct a complex operation to return astronauts from the ISS. SpaceX has already prepared the Dragon spacecraft for undocking.
🗓 Thursday, January 15: DLD Munich 26
Europe's top tech conference kicks off in Munich. This year's theme — "It's Gonna Be Wild!" Expecting talks from Amazon and Signal leaders about data sovereignty and AI agents.
🗓 Thursday, January 15: Switch 2 update
Nintendo rolls out a big wave of releases for the new console, including the updated *Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch 2 Edition*.
🗓 Saturday, January 17: Heading to Davos
Right after DLD, the global tech elite moves to Switzerland. The main WEF agenda this year (starting the 19th) — AGI regulation and quantum security.