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There comes a time in every person’s life when they have to say goodbye to a situation that they have outgrown. The same concept applies to eaglets who fledge or leave the nesttypically, when they reach 10 to 14 weeks of age. Millions of people have been watching this happen in real time thanks to a viral nest camera operated by the nonprofit Friends of the Big Bear Valley (FOBBV), located in California. Since the beginning of 2025, the live-stream of this family of bald eaglesheaded by Jackie and Shadowhas emerged as a bonafide phenomenon of internet culture, providing an escape for Americans burned out on news and politics. Now Jackie and Shadow’s offspring, Sunny and Gizmo, have officially flown away from home for the first time, meaning the end is near for their time at home. Here’s what to expect next: Gender reveal (or something close) Although the only way to know definitively is through a blood test, at the end of May, FOBBV announced that it believes both Sunny and Gizmo are females. This is because of the sisters’ size and vocalizations. Another indication is their love of food. Speaking of eating, the best way to tell the sisters apart is their mouths. The corner of Gizmos is thicker and more of an orange color. Sunnys is not as curved. Timeline: When did the eaglets first leave the nest? Sunny is the oldest by four days, so it makes sense that she decided to take off first. At 90 days old, she left the nests Y branch on Monday, June 2, at 10:46 a.m. local time. Gizmo looked on in awe as Sunny made her way to the nearby Roost Tree. Parents Jackie and Shadow spent the night with her perched below. FOBBV warned viewers that Sunny might not return to the nest right away because a flight of that height would require some major wing power. Sunny said challenge accepted and returned to check in on her sister the very next day. She continued to drop in especially during mealtimes. Gizmos turn On Saturday, June 7, it was Gizmos turn to fledge. Her first flight was not as graceful as her sister’s. At around 8:27 a.m. local time, it almost appeared as if she fell, misstepped, and was forced into flight. Regardless of whether this was accidental or not, she made the best of it and landed on the nearby Simba Tree. This happened at the same time that Shadow was bringing breakfast to the empty nest. The caring dad found his daughter on the Simba Tree and kept an eye on her as she recovered from her big moment. Whats next for the eagles? Sunny and Gizmo returned to the nest on Monday for dinner. Fans were happy for this reunion because they know these days are numbered. The eaglets will hang around the area for a couple of months, learning important survival skillssuch as huntingfrom their parents. After that, they may disperse and find a new territory of their own. Bald eagles can be found in most of Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico. They like to live near a body of water, which acts as a food supply. Their iconic white heads will come in at 4 to 5 years of age, around the time of sexual maturity. Then the cycle will repeat itself all over again, proving that goodbyes are often just the beginning of new adventures. Be sure to watch the web camera embedded below for these last precious moments. (At last check it had more than 15,000 concurrent viewers in the early-morning hours of Tuesday.)
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After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech’s pivotal race to capitalize on artificial intelligence, Apple tried to regain its footing Monday during an annual developers conference that focused mostly on incremental advances and cosmetic changes in its technology.The presummer rite, which attracted thousands of developers from nearly 60 countries to Apple’s Silicon Valley headquarters, subdued compared with the feverish anticipation that surrounded the event in the last two years.Apple highlighted plans for more AI tools designed to simplify people’s lives and make its products even more intuitive. It also provided an early glimpse at the biggest redesign of its iPhone software in a decade. In doing so, Apple executives refrained from issuing bold promises of breakthroughs that punctuated recent conferences, prompting CFRA analyst Angelo Zino to deride the event as a “dud” in a research note. More AI, but what about Siri? In 2023, Apple unveiled a mixed-reality headset that has been little more than a niche product, and last year WWDC trumpeted its first major foray into the AI craze with an array of new features highlighted by the promise of a smarter and more versatile version of its virtual assistant, Siri a goal that has yet to be realized.“This work needed more time to reach our high-quality bar,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s top software executive, said Monday at the outset of the conference. The company didn’t provide a precise timetable for when Siri’s AI upgrade will be finished but indicated it won’t happen until next year at the earliest.“The silence surrounding Siri was deafening,” said Forrester Research analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee said. “No amount of text corrections or cute emojis can fill the yawning void of an intuitive, interactive AI experience that we know Siri will be capable of when ready. We just don’t know when that will happen. The end of the Siri runway is coming up fast, and Apple needs to lift off.” Is Apple, with its ‘liquid glass,’ still a trendsetter? The showcase unfolded amid nagging questions about whether Apple has lost some of the mystique and innovative drive that has made it a tech trendsetter during its nearly 50-year history.Instead of making a big splash as it did with the Vision Pro headset and its AI suite, Apple took a mostly low-key approach that emphasized its effort to spruce up the look of its software with a new design called “Liquid Glass” while also unveiling a new hub for its video games and new features like a “Workout Buddy” to help manage physical fitness.Apple executives promised to make its software more compatible with the increasingly sophisticated computer chips that have been powering its products while also making it easier to toggle between the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.“Our product experience has become even more seamless and enjoyable,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told the crowd as the 90-minute showcase wrapped up.IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said Apple seemed to be largely using Monday’s conference to demonstrate the company still has a blueprint for success in AI, even if it’s going to take longer to realize the vision that was presented a year ago.“This year’s event was not about disruptive innovation, but rather careful calibration, platform refinement and developer enablement positioning itself for future moves rather than unveiling game-changing technologies,” Jeronimo said. Apple’s next operating system will be iOS 26 Besides redesigning its software. Apple will switch to a method that automakers have used to telegraph their latest car models by linking them to the year after they first arrive at dealerships. That means the next version of the iPhone operating system due out this autumn will be known as iOS 26 instead of iOS 19 as it would be under the previous naming approach that has been used since the device’s 2007 debut.The iOS 26 upgrade is expected to be released in September around the same time Apple traditionally rolls out the next iPhone models. Playing catchup in AI Apple opened the proceedings with a short video clip featuring Federighi speeding around a track in a Formula 1 race car. Although it was meant to promote the June 27 release of the Apple film, “F1” starring Brad Pitt, the segment could also be viewed as an unintentional analogy to the company’s attempt to catch up to the rest of the pack in AI technology.While some of the new AI tricks compatible with the latest iPhones began rolling out late last year as part of free software updates, the delays in a souped-up Siri became so glaring that the chastened company stopped promoting it in its marketing campaigns earlier this year.While Apple has been struggling to make AI that meets its standards, the gap separating it from other tech powerhouses is widening. Google keeps packing more AI into its Pixel smartphone lineup while introducing more of the technology into its search engine to dramatically change the way it works. Samsung, Apple’s biggest smartphone rival, is also leaning heavily into AI. Meanwhile, ChatGPT recently struck a deal that will bring former Apple design guru Jony Ive into the fold to work on a new device expected to compete against the iPhone. Regulatory and trade challenges Besides grappling with innovation challenges, Apple also faces regulatory threats that could siphon away billions of dollars in revenue that help finance its research and development. A federal judge is currently weighing whether proposed countermeasures to Google’s illegal monopoly in search should include a ban on long-running deals worth $20 billion annually to Apple while another federal judge recently banned the company from collecting commissions on in-app transactions processed outside its once-exclusive payment system.On top of all that, Apple has been caught in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, a key manufacturing hub for the Cupertino, California, company. Cook successfully persuaded Trump to exempt the iPhone from tariffs during the president’s first administration, but he has had less success during Trump’s second term, which seems more determined to prod Apple to make its products in the U.S.The multidimensional gauntlet facing Apple is spooking investors, causing the company’s stock price to plunge by 20% so far this year a decline that has erased about $750 billion in shareholder wealth. After beginning the year as the most valuable company in the world, Apple now ranks third behind longtime rival Microsoft, another AI leader, and AI chipmaker Nvidia.Apple’s shares closed down by more than 1% on Monday an early indication the company’s latest announcements didn’t inspire investors. Michael Liedtke, AP Technology Writer
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Apple has unveiled iOS 26, its new operating system for the iPhone. The new software brings many changes and advancements with it, including an all-new transparent design language called Liquid Glass, which allows background colors of content on your iPhones screen to show through interface elements like buttons and toolbars. iOS 26 is also introducing other useful features, including major improvements to the way the iPhone handles phone calls, a dedicated gaming app, enhancements to its artificial intelligence offerings, updates to Messages and Maps, and more. However, while Apple has now showcased iOS 26, not everyone can get their hands on it yet. Some can download iOS 26 today, while others will need to wait until later in the summeror into the fall. Heres when and how you can download iOS 26. iOS 26 developer beta: download it now Apple unveiled iOS 26 at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on Monday, June 9. That day, the company made what is known as the iOS 26 Developer Beta immediately available for download onto iPhones. However, as the developer beta moniker suggests, this version of iOS 26, which is now available, is only accessible to registered Apple developers. The good news is that anyone can register for the Apple Developer Program (membership costs $99 per year). But unless youre an actual developer, its best to stay clear of the iOS 26 Developer Beta. The reason for this is that developer betas are notoriously buggy. In fact, one of the primary purposes of a beta program is to allow users to identify and report bugs, enabling Apple to fix them before the software is released to the general public. And some bugs can be nastyleading to lost data or even damaged devices. Thats why, unless you are an actual developer making apps for iOS, its best to steer clear of the iOS 26 Developer Beta. iOS 26 public beta: download it in July The good news is you dont have to be a developer to beta test iOS 26. Apple also offers a public Apple Beta Software Program that allows anyone who signs up for it to get early access to beta software, including iOS 26. This iOS 26 beta, released through the Apple Beta Software Program, is colloquially known as the iOS 26 Public Beta. This beta is generally safer to use than the Developer Beta, but Apple releases it after it has had the chance to fix some of the critical bugs that developers report finding in the Developer Beta. That bad news about the iOS 26 Public Beta is that Apple wont release it to the public until July. The public beta is also updated a few weeks later than the Developer Beta, which means developers get any beta improvements first, while public beta testers will have to wait a while longer (again, this is primarily done to protect public beta testers from any critical bugs). Anyone can sign up for the Apple Beta Software Program for free, which will then enable you to install the iOS 26 Public Beta when Apple releases it next month. iOS 26 general release: download it in September If putting potentially buggy software on your phone doesnt appeal to you, then youll want to wait for what is referred to as the iOS 26 general release. This is the finished version of iOS 26.0 that Apple will release to iPhone owners everywhere in the fall. The general release is a thoroughly tested piece of software that has (at least in theory) all of the critical bugs fixed and most of the minor bugs, too. Its the safest version of iOS 26 to put on your iPhone and is the release that Apple considers the finished version. Apple has historically made the general release of the latest iOS available for download in September, and we expect Apple to continue that trend this year.
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