IT news, innovations and digital technologies in Kyiv region. Latest tech events
iOS 18.5 has opened APIs for third-party smartwatches under pressure from European regulators. Amazfit has already seized the opportunity. Apple Watch is no longer a monopolist on its own platform — at least in Europe.
A DOU survey among 10,644 specialists shows that most Ukrainian IT professionals are willing to forgo health insurance, gym memberships, and training courses in exchange for higher salaries. However, the data masks inequality — in microenterprises and government institutions, the situation with benefits is significantly worse than the industry average.
At the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026 in Gdańsk, Norwegian Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and Ukrainian DevDroid signed a memorandum of understanding on the development of remotely controlled combat robotic systems. Kongsberg brings scale and resources, while DevDroid contributes battle-tested technologies.
Apple is increasing the base RAM in iPhone 18 and 18e to 9GB to support Apple Intelligence — but iOS 27 has already raised the bar for the most powerful local AI features to 12GB. The upgrade is a step forward, but it falls short of the new minimum requirements.
An insider from Kosutami has reported on the development of iRing — at the very time when Apple Watch sales have dropped by 14%, while the smart ring market is growing four times faster than smartwatches. Coincidence or strategy?
From June 29 to July 1, Ukrainians will not be able to transfer their mobile number to another operator. The NCEC adopted a technical decision that will affect everyone who planned to switch operators while keeping their number.
Google.org is funding the scaling of "Obriyu," a state AI platform for 12.5 million economically inactive Ukrainians. The real question is not about money, but whether the system will be deployed in time before the shortage of skilled workers becomes irreversible.
YouTube is removing the dislike button from Shorts permanently, along with introducing a no-interface mode and accelerating video playback. For creators, this means the metric will stop updating by the end of June.
As the US restricts access to top AI models beyond its borders, Vienna-based startup eustella is entering the market with autonomous agents built exclusively on European infrastructure — cheaper than OpenAI and Anthropic combined.
The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Institute of Geophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences have signed an agreement on joint research at both poles. The first Ukrainian scientists will depart for the Polish "Hornsund" station by late summer 2025 — even before the official program begins in 2026–2027.
DJI has confirmed a dual camera with record 17 stops of dynamic range — and simultaneously releases a flagship device for the second consecutive time that is officially unavailable in the world's largest market due to an FCC ban.
Kyivstar has launched Light Data, enabling the transmission of small data packets via Starlink Direct to Cell. Viber, WhatsApp, and Google Maps now work in areas with no cellular coverage. However, the service is not available on all smartphones and not everywhere.
While the global robotics market is projected to exceed $200 billion by 2030, a Ukrainian IT company is betting on Physical AI right now — and is recruiting specialists who are in short supply even in the United States.
Voting has started in the Diia app for the "We Are Waiting!" stamp — and for the first time, its theme was determined not by artists, but by the Coordination Headquarters on the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Behind the figures stand more than 59 thousand people who are still being searched for.
The Atlantic has published four databases containing over 21 million tracks that were used to train AI models — without the consent of artists and without paying royalties. Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny are just the most famous names among millions of others.
Samsung has finally embedded internet speed display in the Galaxy status bar — through the QuickStar module in Good Lock. However, a stable version of the feature and its rollout to older flagship models remain without a clear timeline.
At Eurosatory 2026 in Paris, Ukroboronprom presented the UAV-290 — a turbofan-powered attack drone weighing 350 kg with a 100 kg warhead. It is launched from a mobile platform and flies autonomously to its target at speeds up to 800 km/h.
Ukrspecsystems has integrated Starlink into the Shark unmanned aerial vehicle — now the drone operates where traditional radio communications are already jammed. Practical result: an operator with a laptop instead of an antenna station.
Competition between smartphone manufacturers and artificial intelligence data centers for the same memory chips has already made RAM and NAND the most expensive components in a phone — and prices show no signs of stopping.
# Tech Companies Conducted 363 Layoff Waves Since Start of 2026, While Profit Figures Tell Different Story Since the beginning of 2026, technology companies have carried out 363 rounds of layoffs. The official explanation is artificial intelligence. However, profit figures tell a different story.
In 2021, Telegram removed its application for Android smartwatches due to low demand and maintenance complexity. Now it has returned to a market where Pixel Watch and Galaxy Watch already exist, devices that simply didn't exist back then.
Samsung has officially confirmed the Galaxy A27 5G — the first model in the A series with support until 2032. However, along with long-term support came a higher price and the disappearance of the microSD card slot.
While millions of users couldn't access Facebook and Instagram, advertising campaigns continued to drain money — and Meta is not obliged to refund it.
At the ILA Berlin 2026 air show, Germany unveiled the Cobra 600 jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicle capable of launching IRIS-T missiles from up to 400 kilometers away from the operator. This could fundamentally change the architecture of air defense systems.
September testing confirmed: F-35C can carry AGM-158C LRASM externally — but this represents a compromise between strike range and stealth capabilities that the Navy will still need to justify.
Harvard's CHIEF Model Outperforms Other AI Systems by 36% in Oncology Diagnostics. Meanwhile, a tool for predicting premature labor has received FDA approval. But behind the accuracy figures lies a question medicine has yet to resolve.
The startup The90 has launched a smart accessory that tracks personal ultraviolet exposure throughout the day. According to statistics, 90% of melanomas are caused precisely by accumulated UV doses — ones that a person doesn't feel.
Starting July 1, 2026, Huawei is revising prices across all gadget categories — due to rising costs of memory and storage. But behind this price hike lies a structural shift: chip manufacturers are massively redirecting capacity to AI memory, crippling supply for ordinary electronics.
Mobi Fold for $90 — Logitech's first foldable mouse without a physical scroll wheel and with "1 minute = 22 hours" charging. But one design quirk may deter buyers.
Areion cruise drones with a range of 600 km have been adapted for Neptune launcher systems — without new infrastructure, but with a fundamentally different type of strike.