Spotify finally adds lossless audio, Larry Ellison briefly overtakes Elon Musk as world’s richest human

After years of speculation and broken promises, Spotify is finally rolling out lossless audio streaming to its premium subscribers.  The long-awaited feature, which the company first hinted at as far back as 2017, will be available at no extra cost to users on the Premium plan, a move that directly counters earlier rumors of a separate, higher-priced “HiFi” tier. The new Spotify offering will stream in 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC, a quality level that is higher than a standard CD and provides a richer, more detailed listening experience. Tech Digest

US tech billionaire Larry Ellison is neck-and-neck with Elon Musk in the contest to be the world’s richest person after briefly overtaking the Tesla chief executive on Wednesday Ellison’s wealth surged after Oracle, the business software company in which he owns a stake of 41%, reported better than expected financial results. Oracle shares rose by more than 40% in early trading, at one point valuing the business software company at approximately $960bn (£707bn) and Ellison’s stake at $393bn, just ahead of Musk’s fortune of $384bn, according to Bloomberg’s billionaires index. The Guardian

When Audi executives first saw the Zeekr 001 in 2021, a long-range electric vehicle with European aesthetics, it was a wake-up call for the premium German auto brand – if it wanted to compete with the Chinese, it needed their technology. “The Zeekr 001 back then shocked quite everyone,” said Stefan Poetzl, president of SAIC Audi Sales and Marketing. “We needed to do something about it.” To boost its EV lineup for Chinese consumers, Audi built the AUDI E5 Sportback in just 18 months using technology provided by Chinese partner SAIC, including batteries, electric powertrain, infotainment software and advanced driving-assisted systems. Reuters

“Leopard spots” found on a rock on Mars contain the clearest signs yet that life once existed on the red planet, NASA has announced. The space agency said analysis of the unusual markings by the Perseverance rover has revealed they contain minerals that on Earth can be a byproduct of microbes. Scientists can’t rule out that the spots were caused by natural geological processes. But Nicky Fox, associate director of NASA’s science mission directorate, said after a year of “pressure testing” the evidence, it still points to a biological origin. Yahoo!

When Apple previewed watchOS 26 in June at WWDC, the company didn’t reveal any new watch faces, but now we know Apple was just holding them back to show off with the new Apple Watch models that it unveiled on Tuesday.

During its “Awe dropping” event, Apple also dropped the release candidate of watchOS 26. As it turns out, there are four new watch faces included in the upcoming update, some of which you may have already seen adorning the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3. Mac Rumors

Huawei is launching its Watch GT 6 series on September 19, and the brand has now confirmed a key detail about the upcoming watches. The GT 6 series will feature up to 21 days of battery endurance on a single charge. That’s presumably for the larger GT 6 Pro model, and with certain features like Always On Display disabled.

In related news, Huawei UK has now started an early bird offer, which promises users a £50 coupon if they sign up with their email. GSMArena