Product Launch

Austin – October 15, 2026 -- Interplay Learning has launched Skill Verification, a simulation-based assessment tool with an initial catalog of 20 assessments that lets employers test whether a worker can perform trades-specific tasks before dispatch, contractor authorization, new-hire placement or promotion.

Simulated assessments replace interviews and multiple-choice tests

Employers in skilled trades and industrial roles have limited ways to verify hands-on ability before putting someone on the job, according to Interplay. Traditional assessments can require expensive equipment, dedicated facilities and significant supervisor time. Interviews and multiple-choice tests do not show whether a worker can execute a task.

Skill Verification uses simulations that mirror real equipment and conditions. Supervisors and safety leaders receive objective, step-level evidence of readiness across electrical safety, industrial controls and other areas.

Paris – October 15, 2026 -- Biomemory has launched DNA Shield, a managed service that stores encrypted customer data as synthetic DNA in offline custody, and opened its Early Access Program to organizations that need an independent layer for critical digital assets. It is the company's first commercial product.

The service is built as a separate layer held at rest, apart from the active control plane and outside the network-reachable attack surface. Biomemory pitches it at information that must stay trustworthy for years or decades, including against risks from advances in artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

Toronto – October 15, 2026 -- miniMonster Automation, a Canadian maker of compact CNC machining centers, has launched an augmented reality (AR) product experience that lets buyers place 1:1 scale 3D models of its machines in their own workshops before purchase. The tool, built with Shivoo Studios LLC, is available on supported iPhone and Android devices.

The launch targets remote capital-equipment evaluation, where spec sheets and 2D video do not show how a machine will fit, move, or function in a customer's workspace.

Buyers can place three products at full scale in their shops

Users can view 1:1 scale models of the lemontart 33metal, the lemontart 24pico, and the +1 Rotary Axis. Prospective buyers, machinists, and fabricators can position CNC frame kits within an existing shop to check overall footprint and operating clearances.

Atlanta – October 15, 2026 -- Popmenu has launched Spotlight Menu, a video-led menu product that pairs its SEO and AEO tools with Instagram-style dish videos, as U.S. consumers cut restaurant spending to an average of $100 a week from $115 in June 2025.

The product is aimed at helping restaurants rank higher in Google and AI searches and win more orders. Popmenu serves more than 12,000 restaurants globally.

Popmenu survey finds 82% of U.S. diners favor menus with photos and reviews

In a 2026 Popmenu survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers, 82% said they are more likely to choose restaurants whose online menus feature photos and reviews over text-only menus. The same share said they are more likely to order a dish that has a video than one with only a photo.

Vienna – October 15, 2026 -- Huawei has unveiled its Next Generation OTN solution, offering 800G to 2T capacity for data center interconnection (DCI), as the core of a "LIGHTS" all-optical network aimed at AI data center (AIDC) traffic. The company presented the concept at the Optical Transport Innovation Summit during NetworkX 2026.

Huawei Identifies Three AI-Driven Revenue Waves for Operators

Huawei outlined three opportunities for operators: DC interconnection for hyperscalers, private lines for enterprise computing power, and integrated computing and network services. The company argues these shift optical transport from a network serving consumer and home users to one serving enterprises and AI, and move planning from administrative divisions to an AIDC-centric model.

New York – October 15, 2026 -- CorelDRAW Graphics Suite's September 2026 Update makes its PowerTRACE bitmap-to-vector tool up to four times faster and adds Text-to-vector AI, a combination Better Business Advice has singled out for apparel and sign-making production workflows.

Text-to-vector AI generates editable graphics from prompts or existing artwork

The headline feature is available through the AI Generate docker or inspector. It creates editable, scalable vector graphics from text prompts or existing artwork, so the output is not a flattened image. Generated graphics can be refined inside CorelDRAW and placed into larger projects.

Three visual styles are named: Line art, Comic book and Icon. Results follow the document's color mode, which matters when artwork is prepared for specific production requirements.

Vienna – October 15, 2026 -- Fibocom has extended its flagship FG390 5G-Advanced fixed wireless access (FWA) module to the Upper 6 GHz spectrum, unveiling the update at Network X 2026.

FG390-MEA-30 adds NR n104 support on MediaTek T930 platform

The new FG390-MEA-30 variant runs on the MediaTek T930 platform. A new hardware design supports NR n104 and enables coordination between Upper 6 GHz and Sub-6 GHz. The FG390 is also shortlisted for the Network X Awards 2026 in the Best Indoor Connectivity Solution category, with its PC1 high-power capability cited as a key technical feature.

FG200 reaches engineering-sample stage alongside X85 and Wi-Fi 7 demo

Fibocom is demonstrating an X85-based 5G FWA solution paired with Wi-Fi 7. The FG200 is now ready for engineering samples, and the company describes the demo as part of its move toward 3GPP Release 18 and higher-performance broadband platforms.

Redmond – October 15, 2026 -- Halfpricesoft.com released ezW2 2026, tax software that starts at $119.00 per single installation for the E-File version and $69.00 for the Print-and-Mail edition, ahead of the 2027 tax season.

Both editions support unlimited forms for unlimited companies. The software covers W-2, W-3, 1099-NEC and 1096 preparation.

Direct in-app filing removes the need for agency accounts

The recommended filing path transmits W-2/W-3 data to the Social Security Administration (SSA) and 1099-NEC/1096 forms to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from inside the application. Users do not need an IRS Transmitter Control Code (TCC) or SSA registration, so they skip those application processes.

Submissions run through Halfpricesoft's authorized systems. The company says users get real-time status updates and error monitoring.

Italy – October 15, 2026 -- Anatomage has added two obesity reference bodies, Class I (BMI 30–34.9) and Class III (BMI above 40), to its Anatomage Table software. Eligible tables receive the update at no additional cost.

Obesity models target a condition affecting one in eight people worldwide

The models follow WHO and CDC classifications and are described as one of the first full-body, interactive 3D resources for studying clinical obesity. They show external changes such as skin folds, stretch marks and increased subcutaneous and visceral fat, which can displace and compress organs. Internal changes include muscle hypertrophy, myosteatosis, liver changes linked to MASLD and ovarian changes linked to PMOS.

London – October 15, 2026 -- Twinnin, a human likeness consent and licensing registry, has launched two services, Human Verified and Defend Twinn, and signed Model Management as its first Human Verified partner under an exclusive agreement covering a network of more than three million models.

Defend Twinn lets individuals register timestamped objections to AI use of their likeness

Users verify their identity, file a timestamped objection to AI use of their likeness, and initiate and track takedown requests through the service. Twinnin was co-founded by Kat Grobler and William Haakon Berg.

Human Verified accredits businesses that use human likenesses with consent

Model Management will display the Human Verified mark on its website to show its commitment to consent-based AI use of human likenesses. The agreement opens Twinnin to the company's network of more than three million models.