J World: new tech from around the world.
Jason’s World. Each week we pick real stories from around the globe, explain them in plain English, and tell you if you can buy the thing yet.
6 stories, 3 countries
A home robot from China, AI glasses that take notes, a flying car you can pre-order, a free AI assistant and a robot neck for your iPad. Every story links to its sources.
Chery's robot brand opens pre-orders for a home companion humanoid
AiMOGA, the robot brand of Chinese carmaker Chery, is showing Mobo, its first humanoid robot made for homes, at a Chery event in Wuhu running October 19–23. Mobo is built to talk with family members, recognize objects, remember people's habits and move around the house. Global pre-orders open at the event (Robot24 reports the date as October 21).
AI glasses with no camera that write your meeting notes
XGIMI, a projector company, put its MemoMind One AI glasses on presale in China on October 15. They have small displays in both lenses, translation in 53 languages and speakers tuned with Harman. There's no camera, but the glasses can listen and take meeting notes automatically.
A flying car jumps over a Tesla, and you can pre-order one
California startup Alef Aeronautics released a video of its electric flying car flying over a Tesla Roadster, a playful nod to Tesla's recent flying demo. Alef's car is meant to drive on normal roads and take off straight up. Electrek reports that the first cars should go to a small group of early buyers by the end of 2026, for testing under very controlled conditions.
Wabi: a free AI assistant you can share with family and friends
Wabi, from Eugenia Kuyda, the founder of Replika, opened to everyone on October 19 for iPhone, Android and Mac, after an invite-only start in late September. You chat with it in group threads, and it can plan trips, build a shared calendar from school emails, track things and make small custom apps for you. You choose which accounts it can connect to, and it asks before taking important actions.
kubi 2.0: a little robot neck for your iPad
Kobe-based iPresence released kubi 2.0 on October 15. It's a desktop robot that holds an iPad and lets someone far away turn “their head” left, right, up and down to look around the room. It can help a child in the hospital join class, or let you visit family from far away. A beta AI-agent mode can also turn to face visitors and talk with them, for example at a reception desk.
Bonus: an air taxi flies over San Francisco Bay
Archer Aviation flew its Midnight air-taxi prototype over San Francisco Bay three times, about 20 minutes each, with a pilot on board, as part of its “No Roads” demo tour. The flights took off and landed on a runway at Oakland airport. The prototype can't yet switch from vertical to forward flight. Next stop is Los Angeles, where Archer wants on-demand rides in time for the 2028 Olympics.
Future tech you can actually buy
Prices as shown on each maker’s page when checked on Oct 20, 2026. They can change.
Ray-Ban Meta Audio
The easy starter pick: AI glasses with open-ear audio and no camera.
Unitree R1
R1 Air $4,900, R1 $5,900, tax and shipping excluded. Shipping is $300–$1,200, and the buyer pays customs duties. One of the cheapest humanoids you can order. It's a developer and hobby robot, not a home helper.
Jetson ONE
Excluding taxes and fees, with an $8,000 non-refundable down payment. Estimated delivery is 2028, since 2026 and 2027 production is sold out. The dream-garage pick for future-tech buyers.
ArchiveIssue #1 · Oct 11–18, 2026
8 stories, 6 countries: robots, flying cars, AI glasses and new AI models.Read Issue #1 +Close −
Humanoid robots get the green light to work beside people
South Korea relaxed its factory-safety rules, which were written for robots that stay in one place, so humanoid robots can now share space with human workers. Robot maker Robros will test 20 two-legged humanoids at a chip plant, a car-parts plant, a shipyard and a logistics site. The government will use what it learns to write new safety rules.
15 humanoid robots now work regular shifts at a car-parts plant
At an auto-parts factory in Hangzhou, robot maker Leju and its partner Zhaofeng say 15 humanoid robots now load parts during regular shifts, with about a 98% success rate. They are still slower than people: up to about 40 seconds per task, versus about 15 seconds for a skilled worker.
Toyota's basketball robot and Honda's ASIMO successor
At Japan Mobility Show Bizweek near Tokyo, the big theme was "Physical AI," meaning AI that controls machines in the real world. Toyota showed its basketball-playing robot CUE7 and a "Smart Pole" for self-driving cars. Honda showed a remote-controlled robot it describes as carrying on the legacy of ASIMO.
Elon Musk shows a "flying" Tesla Roadster
At SpaceX's test site in Texas, Elon Musk showed the Tesla Roadster 2, which he calls the world's first flying car. In the video, the remote-controlled car drives up a curved ramp, then uses thrusters to flip, fly briefly and land. It was a short remote-controlled stunt, not a certified flying car people can ride in yet.
The UAE gets ready for air taxis from Joby and Archer
The UAE's aviation regulator visited Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation in California to go over certification and safety rules. Joby plans to launch in Dubai and Archer in Abu Dhabi, and both have done piloted test flights in the UAE.
Meta's new AI glasses with no camera
Meta started selling Ray-Ban Meta Audio on October 13: AI glasses with open-ear speakers and no camera, for music, calls and Meta AI. Meta says they weigh 43 grams, last up to 12 hours and can take prescription lenses.
Alibaba puts its Qwen AI assistant in glasses
Alibaba launched Qwen Glasses N1 in China, with a 50-megapixel camera and the Qwen AI assistant for translation, meeting notes and shopping. The Pro model adds eye tracking, iris scanning for payments and health sensors.
Europe's answer in AI: Mistral Large 4
French AI company Mistral released a preview of Mistral Large 4. It is open-weight, meaning anyone will be able to download and run it, and it works in more than 160 languages. Reuters reports the full public release is set for October 27.
XREAL 1 Pro+ AR glasses
New AR display glasses with a brighter screen and smoother 2D-to-3D conversion.
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