Overview
Today was a study in agency and touch. AI agents took the wheel on real tasks, robots edged closer to factory floors, and spaceflight picked up pace. At the same time, makers pushed against flat glass with keyboards and foldable phone tricks, while artists and developers showed what nimble tools can do.
The big picture
Clicks goes from cases to a full phone with a keyboard
Clicks unveiled the Clicks Communicator, a standalone Android 16 phone built around a physical QWERTY keyboard and voice-first features like real-time transcription. The team, rooted in the BlackBerry fan scene with Kevin Michaluk, has stepped up from those viral iPhone cases to a compact 4-inch AMOLED device with a 50MP camera, 4,000mAh battery, and microSD support up to 2TB.
Pre-orders open with a $199 deposit for early bird pricing up to $200 off, with shipping planned later in 2026 to 67 countries. Nostalgia meets utility here, aimed at people who want tactile typing and fewer on-screen compromises.
Foldy Bird turns your folding phone into a controller
Developer Rebane shared a Flappy Bird spin where you steer by folding your phone. The web game reads hinge angles on devices like the Galaxy Z Fold, so the bird rises and falls with the hardware, no taps needed. It is playful, a bit cheeky about durability, and a neat proof of what foldable APIs can unlock.
It also hints at a wider design space, where motion and posture become inputs that go beyond touch.
Claude books a flight on your Mac while you watch
Osaurus showed a local-first runtime on Apple Silicon that lets Anthropic’s Claude control Safari through macOS Accessibility, from searching Google Flights to reaching checkout. The demo, sped up but complete, ran through a January LAX to Tokyo round trip without user input.
Replies compared it with agent benchmarks such as T2-bench and noted that native OS control goes further than browser-only tools. If agents can handle this cleanly, the list of desk tasks they can take on gets longer.
The top Twitch sub count belongs to an AI
AI Safety Memes flagged that Neuro-sama, an AI VTuber on Vedal987’s channel, now leads Twitch by subscriber count at 162,459. A clip shows TimTheTatman reacting as the stat rolls in, a tidy snapshot of how synthetic creators can run round the clock and climb leaderboards.
The post ties this to broader 2025 data on AI content across the web, music, video, and social feeds. Discovery and authenticity pressures are only going to rise.
Jensen Huang on robots creating new kinds of jobs
In a shared clip from late 2025, NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang talks about Tesla’s Optimus and the work it could spark in maintenance, manufacturing, and even apparel. He draws a line to the early car industry, which seeded millions of roles as it scaled.
With Optimus Gen 3 already sorting objects and 2026 eyed for limited trials, the question shifts to timelines, training, and how quickly factories and service sites adapt.
Pixar vets use Moho to bring a new graphic novel to life
Moho highlighted a teaser for Feo the Chupacabra, written by Sequoia Blankenship and illustrated by Rob Thompson. The video walks through vector drawing, bone rigging, and lip-sync, ending in lively squash-and-stretch shots. The book hits in April 2026 and is up for pre-order now.
Pros in the replies praise Moho’s 2D rigging against After Effects, pointing out how accessible it is for indie teams and short-form work.
Open-source dashboard with board, card, and timeline views
Designer-developer Jason Duong shared a Next.js and shadcn/ui project that packs Kanban boards, lists, and Gantt-style timelines into a clean template. The repo has started to attract stars and forks, helped by a community push that frames it as a ready starting point for teams.
It is the kind of kit that saves hours on scaffolding so people can focus on the workflow that matters.
Artemis II rolls to the pad soon, launch window from 6 February
NASA signalled that Artemis II, the first crewed lunar flyby since Apollo 17, will roll to LC-39B within two weeks to start final integrated testing. Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen will take Orion round the Moon on a 10-day mission.
The window opens on 6 February and runs through April, with schedule set by testing and crew safety. Public mood spans excitement and concern, as recent spacecraft hiccups are still fresh in mind.
Falcon 9 sticks another landing at Vandenberg
SpaceX landed booster B1081 at Landing Zone 4 after the CSG-3 launch for Italy’s Cosmo-SkyMed Gen 2 satellite. The short clip shows a night descent through cloud, grid fins trimming the path, and a tidy touchdown.
With more than 300 landings logged and reuse stretching toward 25 flights per booster, the cadence keeps costs down and access to sun-synchronous orbits brisk.
Why it matters
- Touch fights back: A physical keyboard phone and a foldable-as-controller game show that people still want satisfying, precise inputs and fresh interactions. Expect more niche devices that favour feel and focus.
- Agents are getting hands-on: A model booking a flight on macOS marks a practical turn for autonomy. Native OS control broadens what agents can do, which raises both productivity hopes and safety questions.
- Synthetic creators are competing head-on: An AI topping Twitch subs is not a curiosity, it is a signal. Platforms, advertisers, and audiences will have to reckon with identity, trust, and moderation at new scales.
- Robots and labour can grow together: If Optimus-class systems move from demo to deployment, support roles, training, and supply chains will grow around them. The pace of that build-out matters more than headlines.
- Space is back in the public square: Artemis II rolling out and Falcon 9 landing again shows a government programme and a commercial workhorse pulling in the same direction, towards cheaper launches and a credible return to crewed lunar flight.
- Tools shape the craft: From Moho’s pro-grade 2D rigging to a polished open-source dashboard, the best software now puts power in reach for small teams and solo makers. That widens the funnel of who can ship and who can tell stories.
