Well, that didn’t take long. Less than a week after developer Jane Manchun Wong discovered Clubhouse was working on a new feature called Wave, that functionality is now available to all users on both Android and iOS. Wave allows you to invite your friends to a private audio room. You can start using the feature by expanding the Hallway sidebar and tapping the wave emoji next to someone’s name.

Once you tap the icon, Clubhouse will send your friends a notification they can use to tell you whether they’re ready to join a conversation. You can invite as many people as you want, and once everyone is ready to chat, Clubhouse will create a private room for your group. You can open the space at any time to more people if you want to expand the conversation. If you push the app to the background, the app will pause your invites so that you don’t get pulled into a conversation without realizing it. Now that it’s here, we can’t wait for Facebook and Twitter to copy Wave, much like they did Clubhouse itself.

Add the United Kingdom to the list of countries that says an artificial intelligence can’t be legally credited as an inventor. Per the BBC, the UK Court of Appeal recently ruled against Dr Stephen Thaler in a case involving the country’s Intellectual Property Office. In 2018, Thaler filed two patent applications in which he didn’t list himself as the creator of the inventions mentioned in the documents. Instead, he put down his AI DABUS and said the patent should go to him “by ownership of the creativity machine.”

The Intellectual Property Office told Thaler he had to list a real person on the application. When he didn’t do that, the agency decided he had withdrawn from the process. Thaler took the case to the UK’s High Court. The body ruled against him, leading to the eventual appeal. "Only a person can have rights. A machine cannot," Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing of the Appeal Court wrote in her judgment. "A patent is a statutory right and it can only be granted to a person."

Thaler has filed similar legal challenges in other countries, and the results so far have been mixed. In August, a judge in Australia ruled inventions created by an AI can qualify for a patent. However, only earlier this month, US District Judge Leonie M Brinkema upheld a decision by the US Patent and Trademark Office that said “only natural persons may be named as an inventor in a patent application." Judge Brinkema said there may eventually be a time when AI becomes sophisticated enough to satisfy the accepted definitions of inventorship, but noted, “that time has not yet arrived, and, if it does, it will be up to Congress to decide how, if at all, it wants to expand the scope of patent law.”

Just ahead of the Windows 11 launch, Microsoft is rolling out some updates to Edge. Perhaps the most useful feature for most people is the addition of tab groups. You'll be able to assemble collections of tabs to make your browser a little less chaotic.

To create a group, hold the control button and choose the tabs you want to include, then select "Add tabs to new group" from the right-click menu. You can customize the label with a different color for each group. When you hover over a tab, you'll be able to see a preview of the web page as well.

Microsoft Edge is also getting some handy shopping features. The browser can give you swift access to reviews and ratings for more than 5 million products. When you're on a product page, click the blue tag on the address bar and you'll see expert reviews from reliable sources, as well as the average consumer star rating from various retailers.

When you do figure out what to buy, Microsoft aims to help you complete the transaction a bit faster. If you select a retailer's guest checkout option, you can click "Try express checkout" on the address bar. After you fill in your details manually one time, Edge can save them for future transactions on any shopping site. Once you're sure everything's accurate, click the "Try all coupons and autofill details." Edge will then add your information and automatically find out if there are any coupons that can save you some cash, in a similar way to PayPal's Honey tool.

Elsewhere, Edge now has built-in travel recommendations. When you look up flights, you can click a notification on the address bar and you'll see suggestions of things to visit and do at your planned destination. The tool is only available in the US and on select booking sites for now, but it will be available elsewhere soon.

On top of that, it should be a bit faster for you to look for flights and hotels across multiple websites. Once you enter details on a booking site, Edge can store that info. It can then autofill the travel dates and so on when you visit another site. The company says it has improved flight search results in Bing too with the help of travel industry partners.

Elsewhere, the new personalized news feed called Microsoft Start is integrated into the browser. You'll see headlines and articles relevant to your interests from a range of publishers when you open a new tab.

Twitter will soon make Spaces even more prominent in its app as it looks to add more creator-focused tools to the live audio feature. The company says it’s working on making conversations in Spaces easier to discover, and will begin to feature more Spaces at the top of users’ timelines.

It’s also working on a dedicated tab for the feature, where users can browse recommendations and upcoming Spaces. And it plans to add recording and playback features so users can listen to conversations after they have already ended. The company is also adding new ways for creators to monetize Spaces. In addition to Ticketed Spaces, which began rolling out in August, Twitter plans to start a dedicated fund for Spaces hosts. The program would provide “ financial, technical and marketing support” to “emerging audio creators” who frequently host Spaces, according to the company. 

Twitter

Twitter didn’t provide many details about how this program would work or how it will select creators to participate. But it’s yet another sign of how focused the company is on its live audio features. Even as rival Clubhouse has fallen in popularity in recent months, Twitter sees Spaces as a key part of its strategy to build monetization features for its users.

The company also previewed a new dashboard that would allow creators to keep tabs on their earnings from Spaces. Twitter also expanded its tipping features to include Bitcoin payments and said that all users will be able to send and receive tips on the platform.

Twitter

Elsewhere, Twitter says it plans to test a new feature that could help further minimize harassment or “unhealthy” conversations on the platform. Called “heads up.” The feature would provide “more context about a conversation’s vibes” before you jump in and start tweeting, said Twitter’s lead for conversational safety, Christine Su. She added that the feature would empower users to have more control over their interactions on Twitter much like the platform’s new features for managing replies and the new “safety mode.” The heads up feature will be “coming soon.”

With a little more than three months before the start of the Dakar Rally in January, Audi took its RS Q E-Tron to the deserts of Morocco to test the custom-built hybrid ahead of the endurance competition. Over the two weeks that Audi was in the country, it subjected the RS Q E-Tron to temperatures hotter than 100 degrees Fahrenheit and sandstorms. The automaker says it tested the vehicle in Morocco specifically to put it through the most extreme conditions possible. The heat and other factors pushed the RS Q E-Tron's electric drivetrain and other components to their limit. 

Audi

"The insights we gained in Morocco are invaluable, but they also show us that we still have a lot to do before the Dakar Rally and there is not much time left," said Andreas Roos, project manager of factory racing at Audi Sport.

Audi and the Volkswagen Group have a lot riding on the RS Q E-Tron. If it can win the Dakar Rally, it would be the first electrified vehicle to do so. While not a pure EV, it features an electric drivetrain with two modified Formula E motors. An energy conversion system with a TFSI engine charges the car's high-voltage battery while driving and braking. Volkswagen has already said it expects the RS Q E-Tron will help inform some of its future production cars.   

Four months after Twitter first introduced in-app tipping, the company is expanding its “tip jar” feature in a major way. The company is opening up tipping to all its users globally, and for the first time will allow users to send and receive tips in Bitcoin.

With the update, Twitter users around the world will have access to tipping, which allows users to send each other cash through apps like Venmo, Cash App, or Bandcamp, GoFundMe and PicPay, a Brazilian mobile payments platform.Twitter users in the United States and El Salvador will have the additional option of sending and receiving tips with Bitcoin via Strike, a person-to-person payments app built on the Bitcoin Lightning Network. People in other countries will be able to receive tips via their Bitcoin address.

As with tips using traditional, non-crypto platforms, Twitter won’t take a cut of tips exchanged between users. Tipping is rolling out to all of Twitter’s iOS users beginning today, and will become available on Android “over the coming weeks.” 

Twitter

Twitter sees the change as an extension of its recent work to empower creators on its platform. “We want everyone to have access to pathways to get paid,” Twitter’s Esther Crawford said during a call with reporters. “Digital currencies that encourage more people to participate in the economy and help people send each other money across borders and with as little friction as possible help us get there.”

The move is also Twitter’s first big move into cryptocurrency, which founder Jack Dorsey has been a major proponent of. Crawford, who leads the company’s creator monetization efforts, also said the company is in the early stages of exploring an NFT authentication service, which would allow users to display NFT art on their profile.

Those plans are still in an experimental stage, but the idea is to support NFT creators by giving them a way to showcase NFTs on Twitter, and provide details about their ownership, Crawford said. “By allowing people to directly connect their crypto wallets, we can track and showcase our NFT ownership on Twitter,” she said. It's not clear exactly what this would look like, but she said it could take the form of a badge or another visual cue. “We are interested in making it somehow visually clear that this is a[n] authenticated avatar and, and then giving you some interesting info and insight about the provenance of that NFT.”

Twitter has previously experimented with NFTs or non-fungible tokens. The company recently released its own collection of NFTs, and Dorsey sold an NFT of his first tweet for $2.9 million earlier this year.

You're in luck if you liked Razer's Kaira headset but didn't want the added cost or pairing of a wireless model to your console. Razer has launched a $60 Kaira X line that offers the core functionality of its predecessor to PlayStation and Xbox gamers, just with a 3.5mm wired connection — and, of course, a $40 lower price. You'll still get the 50mm "TriForce" drivers (albeit without a titanium-coated diaphragm), cardioid boom mic and on-headset controls, and the cable opens the door to virtually any device with a standard headphone jack.

The differences beyond that largely boil down to color. The Kaira X for PlayStation is available only in a Sony-friendly black-and-white design, while the Xbox variant is available in five hues that include black, white, and three eye-searing colors (blue, red and "volt" green) that match official Xbox Wireless Controllers. Only the more somber colors of either version are available now, though, as the three brighter Xbox options will only be available for pre-order on October 14th.

Don't worry if you're happy to spend more. Razer has also introduced a "White Suite" of Xbox peripherals that include new shades of the Kaira and Kaira Pro as well as a Wolverine V2 gamepad. They're on sale now for the same $100, $150 and $100 respective prices as other versions. You can also pick up a Universal Quick Charging Stand for Xbox controllers for $40, or $50 if you buy one in an Aqua Shift colorway.

Unagi Scooters has revealed what it claims is the first smart scooter around in the Model Eleven. It includes a bunch of intriguing features, such as audible directions, remote kill and an advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) sensor.

You can play your own music or podcasts using the built-in Bluetooth speaker and hear turn-by-turn directions to help you get where you're going. Unagi teamed up with Google to bring the navigation feature to its iOS and Android app. After you've selected your destination and put your phone away, you'll hear direction prompts through the audio system and see directional signals on the display.

Unagi Scooters

On the security end, there's a motion sensor alarm to deter potential thieves, as well as GPS tracking. You'll be able to kill a stolen scooter remotely from within the app.

Perhaps the Model Eleven's most eye-catching feature is that ADAS sensor in the higher-end version. Unagi says the scooter can tell the difference between people, stop signs, stoplights, cars and other objects. It can warn you of a potential collision through both the audio system and the touchscreen display.

Unagi Scooters

Unagi enlisted industrial designer Yves Béhar to help create the Model Eleven, which it says is the lightest, full suspension scooter on the market in part thanks to its use of long carbon fiber. The foldable scooter features Unagi's existing dual motor system, a swappable battery system and what the company claims are puncture-proof tires you can easily change when needed.

The standard Model Eleven costs $2,440. For the ASAS model, you'll need to fork over $2,860. Unagi is initially offering pre-orders through an Indiegogo campaign, but with the likes of Best Buy now selling the company's scooters, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Model Eleven at retailers in the future.

Unagi Scooters

At the end of August, Airbnb announced it would offer free, temporary housing to 20,000 refugees from Afghanistan. Now, through its Airbnb.org nonprofit, the company says it can go beyond its initial commitment. With help from hosts and donors from across the US, Airbnb announced today it's prepared to house as many as 40,000 refugees temporarily.

As Airbnb itself notes, that doesn't necessarily mean it will max out that capacity. "If demand for housing aligns with supply in communities where refugees are resettling, these new resources could help provide housing for an additional 20,000 Afghan refugees," the company said.

Since announcing the initiative, Airbnb says it has helped place 675 Afghan refugees across the US. "Resettlement agencies expect bookings will increase as more Afghan evacuees move off military bases and into communities where they will resettle," the company noted.

The need for temporary housing for Afghan refugees is dire, particularly in the US. Officials estimate as many as 65,000 refugees will arrive in the country by the end of the month. Additionally, another 30,000 could come over the next year. And that's just in the US. In August, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said there were 2.6 million registered Afghan refugees worldwide. To that point, Airbnb said it's assessing the possibility of expanding the availability of the program to other countries that have committed to resettling Afghan refugees.

You won't need a Pixel phone to use some of Google's handiest (and in one case, face-preserving) features. Google is rolling out a batch of Android feature upgrades that include perks previously reserved for its in-house devices. Google Photos' Locked Folder is coming to Android 6 and newer devices, for instance — you can create a passcode-protected space to keep certain photos and videos separate from the rest.

Similarly, Gboard's Smart Compose is coming to Android 11 and newer hardware. If you're writing a common phrase or just want to save time, you'll get suggestions to complete messages. And there's good news if you're prone to walking into lamp posts — the Heads Up anti-distracted-walking feature is available through Digital Wellbeing on all Android 9 or later devices.

Other additions are new to all Android devices. Google Assistant now has a central Reminders hub. Nearby Share now includes a much-needed privacy control that can limit visibility to no one, contacts only or everyone. Gboard, meanwhile, can automatically suggest pasting addresses, phone numbers, web links and even screenshots. Over 1,500 new Emoji Kitchen stickers are due in the fall. And if you have an Android TV, you'll find remote control features built into Android on your phone.

This strategy is a familiar one for Google. It tends to bring features to Pixels first before a wider release, whether it's to help sell phones or just to ensure they work well before reaching other devices. Whatever the reasons for the staggered launch here, the greater availability might just be welcome if you're privacy-minded or in a hurry.