ICYMI: the week’s 7 biggest tech stories from Alexa+ leaving early access to the Fitbit founders’ a new health tracking platform
This week has been a slightly slower one in the world of tech, but plenty still happened, including the Fitbit founders unveiling a new health platform, and Alexa+ making its proper US debut (sorry folks living outside the States).
To catch up on both of these stories and more, scroll down to read our recap of the week’s seven most important tech news stories.
7. Fitbit founders unveiled a family-tracking health platform
Fitbit’s James Park and Eric Friedman are back, two years after leaving Google post-Fitbit’s takeover, with a new health-tech venture aimed at caregivers. Luffu, a new app designed for family health, acts as a digest for multiple family members’ digital health tools, using generative AI (of course) to collate information about medications, status updates from wearables, upcoming doctor’s visits, and other useful information into a single comprehensive family health calendar.
It’s designed to be a one-stop shop for family health (even pets are included), and everything can be tracked and updated with voice notes in the Luffu app. We’ll be waiting a while for a wide release, as it’s currently in beta, but it could be a powerful tool for those juggling young children, aged parents, or loved ones with chronic illnesses. We do have concerns around the kinds of health anxiety and obsessive checking these tools could enable, but we can also see powerful use cases and benefits.
6. Somehow The Muppets Returned
This week, The Muppets Show returned to our screens via Disney+ – a largely faithful recreation of the original show.
Starring Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Scooter, Fozzie the Bear, Gonzo, Beeker, and special guest Sabrina Carpenter, it seriously feels like reuniting with old friends for fans of the original – you even have Statler and Waldorf in their usual box making cranky commentary.
The Muppets Show revival is not the best version of the show that has ever existed. It’s far from the worst, either. Some writing updates and leaning into what made The Muppets stars in the first place could be precisely what the show needs to edge it from good to great.
5. Elon Musk revealed his ‘orbital data center’ masterplan
Whatever you think of Elon Musk, you can’t say he lacks ambition. This week, he announced that SpaceX would acquire xAI to form a new mega-company that would become the most valuable in the world. Why? The official aim is for the joint venture to launch a million satellites to move AI computing power from the earth into space.
As with any grand Musk venture, serious questions are being asked. Is the plan to create a so-called ‘sentient sun’ (with satellites powered by solar energy) actually feasible? How many years or decades will it be until we see the results? And is this actually just a plan to bail out the loss-making xAI? Those questions remain unanswered, but space-based AI data centers certainly aren’t a flight of fancy – Google, Amazon, and Nvidia have all backed the idea, too.
4. A new ‘biomimetic AI robot’ gave us the creeps
Humanoid robots are having a bit of a moment in 2026. CES 2026 was full of friendly helpers like LG’s CLOiD, and this week Moya – billed as the first “fully biomimetic embodied intelligent robot” – made its debut in China.
Moya has a few disturbingly human-like features, including a body temperature of 32C to 36C (90F to 97F) and cameras to help her respond to people with “micro expressions”. With an expected price tag of around $173,000 / £127,000 / AU$248,000 when it launches later this year, Moya isn’t built for homes – but you might one day bump into one on your travels around East Asia.
3. Nintendo hosted a partner Direct
Nintendo treated us to a deluge of Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 announcements with a new Partner Showcase this week. The stream, which focuses on games developed by third-party teams rather than Nintendo itself, gave us new trailers for highly anticipated upcoming releases like Resident Evil Requiem and the previously announced ports of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Fallout 4.
The ‘90s anime-inspired indie game Orbitals kicked off the show with a lush new trailer, which looks absolutely adorable, with everything rounding off with the surprise announcement that The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered would be coming to the Switch 2. Some games, like a new Super Bomberman retro collection, were available immediately and even sprinkled throughout.
Despite this, many fans felt the stream was a step down from past events. There were plenty of games shown that we already knew about, and a few new reveals aside from ports from other platforms. In our own poll on the show’s quality, the majority of respondents would rate it just 1 out of 10 on a numeric scale.
2. Bethesda dropped a new Fallout game trailer
Following a lot of fan speculation, Bethesda treated us to a new trailer for Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas, though not the remakes fans had been begging for.
Instead, the trailer highlighted classic renditions of these games, as well as newer entries such as Fallout 76 and Fallout Shelter, to promote the franchise following the conclusion of the Prime Video series’ second season.
Bethesda has yet to confirm a remake for either title, but court documents have previously revealed it was working on a Fallout 3 remaster (the same 2023 documents also spoiled last year’s Oblivion Remastered), so fans aren’t hoping for something completely off the table; however, for now, it seems Bethesda has nothing more to share it looks as on possible Fallout rereleases.
1. Alexa+ launched for everyone (in the US)
A year after launching its early access program for Alexa+, Amazon is opening the doors to the next-gen AI for all users in the US.
A limited version is available to all via the web. For the full features, you’ll need either a Prime subscription or to pay for a $19.99-per-month Alexa+ subscription.
This new Alexa is said to be “smarter, more conversational, more personalized, and can get a wide range of things done on your behalf,” according to Amazon, but users are reporting issues with slow responses, smart light connections failing, and problems doing some of the basic tasks that Alexa was fine with.
There’s no word yet on a global rollout.
