The Register

Rocket Lab has just completed one of the most rapid space launches ever, kicking off a complicated exercise that will test the US Space Force’s ability to respond to and characterize potential threats in orbit. The Victus Haze mission, as the project is known, saw Rocket Lab lob one of its Pioneer spacecraft into orbit for the Space Force on June 19 in just 16 hours and 42 minut...

Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) will switch off its 2G network starting in summer 2029, meaning that anyone still operating devices that use the technology must start planning an upgrade. The UK network operator says it will start to switch off its 2G signal in 2029 as part of an ongoing mobile transformation plan. This will see it expand and upgrade its 4G and 5G support, leading to red...

Valve has opened pre-orders for its forthcoming Steam Machine – but it is going to cost you quite a lot, thanks to the AI-induced storage shortage. However, the company is expecting such high demand that it is setting up an automated lottery system, so that the lucky people whose orders go through will get random places on the waiting list. The machine will come with an AMD Zen ...

Oracle's workforce shrank by 21,000 over the last year, according to the company's annual report. In June 2025 [PDF], Big Red reported that it employed "approximately 162,000" employees. By June 2026 [PDF], that figure had fallen to 141,000. US headcount fell by 9,000, while the international workforce declined by 12,000. "Our periodic workforce restructurings and reorganization...

President Trump has ordered the development of a quantum computer to ensure that the US maintains a strategic technical advantage, along with a nationwide migration to post-quantum cryptography to protect sensitive data against just such a computer. In an executive order signed Monday, Trump directed various federal agencies to establish a national program to deliver a quantum c...