January, 2026 - Faz Business | فاز الأعمال

Finally, I found a room-filling soundbar that makes a subwoofer unnecessary for me

Posted on January 9, 2026 by faz_business

ZDNET’s key takeaways

The Bluesound Pulse Cinema soundbar is available from Amazon for just under $1,500
You’ll get rich, dynamic, and room-filling, while not missing a word of dialogue
The Pulse Cinema requires an app for control.

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When it comes to watching TV or playing games, I prefer my sound to fill a room with rich, dynamic, and accurate sound. To date, my favorite soundbar has been the JBL Bar 1000, and no other has come even close to topping that device.

My bar has been set very high.

Also: The coolest audio gear I listened to at CES 2026 (including brain-reading headphones)

When I received the Bluesound Pulse Cinema, I was certain it would fall short of the JBL’s sound. After all, this soundbar didn’t include a subwoofer (although it does have a single RCA output for one), so how could it possibly compare to the bass produced by the Bar 1000?

Turns out, the Pulse Cinema delivers some surprises. Let me explain.

Best bluetooth speaker deals of the week

Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.

My experience

I connected the Pulse Cinema to my TV via HDMI eARC, which was significantly nicer than connecting via Bluetooth (with less delay and more codec support). HDMI also meant connectivity was easier and instantaneous. I would always prefer a wired connection for my soundbars over Bluetooth.

Pulse Cinema connection ports. — You get plenty of options for connectivity.

Jack Wallen/ZDNET

In other words, connecting the Pluse Cinema soundbar was simple.

Then came the app.

Bluesound App. — This app could use a major redesign to make it easier to understand and use.

Jack Wallen/ZDNET

I don’t know about you, but I am so over everything requiring an app. I get it: It’s probably cheaper for manufacturers to rely on consumers for installing apps and using their phones as remotes (instead of having to build and ship a physical remote with the device).

Sometimes, these apps aren’t bad. In the case of the Bluesound Pulse Cinema, the app is bad. The UI is subpar, the controls are inadequate, and the overall experience is confusing. On top of that, the ability to alter the sound is, well, not there.

There’s no EQ, which would be highly beneficial for this speaker. Additionally, you should be able to connect the soundbar to services like Spotify. Try as I might, the connection could not be made (even with my phone connected to my Spotify account).

Also: I changed these 5 soundbar settings for a better TV viewing (and audio) experience

The app also has a bit of a learning curve, which really shouldn’t be the case.

But how does it sound? After all, that’s the single most important aspect of a soundbar.

Fortunately, the sound produced by the Bluesound Pulse Cinema makes up for the issues with the app. Yes, it would greatly benefit from having a subwoofer connected, but even without a sub, the sound is rich and dynamic.

There’s also something Bluesound calls Surround Upmixer, which turns channel-based audio into a virtualized surround sound.

My JBL Bar 1000 includes two satellite speakers, which do a great job of filling a room with beautiful sound from every corner. That being said, the Pulse Cinema does a remarkable job of simulating surround. This feature is enabled by default, and you would expect to find satellite speakers conveniently placed around the room.

It’s really impressive.

Also: The best soundbars: Expert tested and recommended

Also, even without a sub, you get a surprising amount of rumble and thump from the speaker. The average ear will not miss the subwoofer. I would speculate that the average ear might think a sub connected to the Pulse Cinema would be overkill.

The reason why this soundbar is able to deliver such amazing sound is due to its 16 drivers, including dedicated upfiring and center channels. The speaker arrangement creates a surprisingly wide 3.2.2 Dolby Atmos soundstage, and you’ll never miss a word of dialogue, a note of music, or a single detail.

Even listening to the latest episode of Fallout, with all the ambient sound, I had no issue hearing dialogue. To my surprise, the dialogue didn’t sound at all tinny (which is a pet peeve of mine). Voices sounded dimensional and lifelike.

The look

Although I’m partial to the look of the JBL Bar 1000, the Pulse Cinema is a beautiful piece of tech. It’s a long pill-shaped speaker with a design scheme that isn’t interrupted by LED displays, lights, or anything else. It’s clean and elegant. And with the ability to use it either placed flat on a table (or TV stand) or mounted to a wall, this soundbar should fit in with nearly any aesthetic.

Also: I compared the best soundbars from Samsung and Sonos, and here’s my preference

But again, I go back to the sound, and the Bluesound Pulse Cinema delivers. I spent a few hours listening to the Pulse Cinema and when I finally went back to the JBL, I didn’t find myself thinking, “Whew, I’m glad I’m back to this.”

In fact, after going back to the JBL, I was surprised that the sound seemed a bit less dimensional than the Pulse Cinema — and that’s saying a lot.

ZDNET buying advice

The Bluesound Pulse Cinema isn’t cheap. At just around $1,500, you could certainly buy cheaper soundbars. Given that the JBL Bar 1000 can now be had for almost half the price of the Pulse Cinema, it’s a hard sell.

However, with the Pulse Cinema, you get more for less, as well as a higher level of flexibility. Having a soundbar that gives you the feeling of a subwoofer, without actually needing one (and taking up space), is a significant advantage.

Also: I was struggling to hear TV dialogue, until this soundbar fixed everything for cheap

I love a good subwoofer, but I’ve been in situations where having one just isn’t practical. In those cases, I’ve always felt a lack of low-end diminished the experience. You don’t have to worry about that with the Pulse Cinema, and that alone could make it worth the price.

I’d have a tough time choosing between the Pulse Cinema and the JBL Bar 1000. The Pulse Cinema delivers amazing depth, smooth mids, and brilliant highs — all from a single bar. So, if you’re pressed for space but still want booming, clear, dynamic sound, the Pulse Cinema is hard to beat.

The specs

3.2.2 Dolby Atmos soundbar with 16 drivers
Built-in amplification and Dolby Atmos decoding
Smart DSP with automatic orientation sensing
HDMI eARC, optical, analog inputs simplified for TV setup
Subwoofer output for wired or wireless bass extension
Tailored surround sound with Pulse M, Pulse F,lex and SUB+
Seamless multi-room streaming with BluOS
Wall-mount bracket included
Movie, Music, and Late Night listening modes
High-res audio and MQA playback support

Adira Nusantara Free Download – WorldofPCGames

Posted on January 9, 2026 by faz_business

Adira Nusantara Preinstalled Worldofpcgames

Adira Nusantara Direct Download

Master authentic Silat combat as Adira, a fierce heroine battling flesh-eating monsters to break a curse on her village. Experience a unique fantasy world rich with South-East Nusantara culture, stunning visuals, and an evolving arsenal of powerful weapons. Prepare for an unforgettable journey!

About This Game
(Gif character)Adira Nusantara is a side-scrolling adventure game featuring a strong female protagonist. It blends South-East Nusantara culture into a fantasy setting, offering a unique and interesting story-driven experience. The Power of Fish Free Download
INTRODUCING SILAT
Adira primarily uses silat as her fighting style. She can also throw projectiles to slow down enemies before engaging in close combat. Her movements, including combat actions, will be modeled after actual silat movements,

Features and System Requirements:

Features a strong female protagonist named Adira.
Conceptually blends East Malaysian Nusantara culture into a fantasy setting.
Zombie-killing game where Adira battles crazed, flesh-eating monsters.
Experience authentic and fluid combat as Adira utilizes the ancient, powerful martial art of Silat as her primary fighting style. Every strike, dodge, and counter is designed for impact and precision.
Prepare for intense, heart-pounding action as you face off against relentless hordes of crazed, flesh-eating monsters. Every encounter is a fight for survival!
Explore breathtaking new levels, each a distinct environment with unique challenges and secrets. From cursed villages to ancient caves, lush swamps, and volcanic mountains, to magical floating islands,
discover diverse biomes infused with rich Nusantara lore! Confront varied zombie types, each embodying the dark magic of this cursed land.

Screenshots

System Requirements

Minimum
OS *: Windows XP or later
Processor: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: OpenGL
Storage: 20 GB available space
DirectX: Version 11
Support the game developers by purchasing the game on Steam

Installation Guide

Turn Off Your Antivirus Before Installing Any Game

1 :: Download Game
2 :: Extract Game
3 :: Launch The Game
4 :: Have Fun 🙂

GTA 6 speculation mutates into delay ‘rumor,’ leading to anxious fans and a prediction market betting frenzy for no good reason

Posted on January 9, 2026 by faz_business

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Someone made a speculative remark on a podcast and within a couple days it had somehow morphed into a big scary “rumor,” in this case that another Grand Theft Auto 6 delay is incoming, despite there being no new information on the topic one way or another.

Today’s game of internet telephone started when Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier said on a recent episode of The Ringer’s Button Mash podcast that GTA 6 might follow the same delay pattern as Red Dead Redemption 2, which was delayed twice before release. If it does turn out that way, GTA 6’s current November 19, 2026 console release date will be its actual release date, because it’s already been delayed twice, but a news outlet misinterpreted the comment as a prediction of another delay.

It’s impossible to overstate how stupid this is

— @jasonschreier.bsky.social (@jasonschreier.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-01-09T02:00:16.687Z

RPS article in question has since been updated) was not a huge deal from my perspective, but whether it was the trigger or something else was, the internet ultimately managed to turn that bit of podcast chit-chat into a great revelation. A Screenrant headline currently claims “GTA 6 Third Delay Has Gamers Kissing Goodbye To Their November Dreams” despite no such delay having been announced, or even ‘rumored’ in any meaningful way. Social media platforms and the GTA 6 subreddit have of course also been vibrating with debate over the veracity of the supposed rumor.

It’s a whole lot of fuss over nothing. The only nugget of insider information in play is Schreier commenting: “The last I heard, [GTA 6] was still not content complete.”

Unless the arrow of time has inexplicably turned itself around, GTA 6 would also not have been content complete when the last delay was announced a couple months ago, so that information doesn’t tell us a lot about the possibility of another delay, and Schreier didn’t claim that it did. He said on the podcast that it’s “hard to say” whether or not GTA 6 will make its current November 2026 release date, but that it “feels a little bit more real than fall 2025 did.”

That’s it! Despite there being nothing here but a bit of casual conversation and the observation that all unreleased games exist in a state of maybe being delayed and maybe not being delayed, Schreier pointed out that bets on a third GTA 6 delay spiked today on prediction market Polymarket.

“It’s impossible to overstate how stupid this is,” the reporter wrote. Agreed!

My prediction is that, whether GTA 6 is delayed again or not, something like this will probably happen a couple more times this year. There is no game more anticipated than GTA 6, not just by prospective players, but by the industry as a whole—and, apparently, by the entire stock market and the online gambling sphere that surrounds it. Even the tiniest hints of insider information are going to be blown out of proportion.

December 2025 (version 1.108)

Posted on January 8, 2026 by faz_business

Release date: January 08, 2026

Downloads: Windows: x64 Arm64 | Mac: Universal Intel silicon | Linux: deb rpm tarball Arm snap

Welcome to the December 2025 release of Visual Studio Code.

Traditionally, the month of December is a time where our team focuses on cleaning up GitHub issues and pull requests across our repositories. This year, we managed to reduce our open issues by nearly 6,000 and triaged over a thousand more.

In addition to our housekeeping efforts, we have also made several improvements and feature updates across various areas of VS Code.

Happy Coding!

If you’d like to read these release notes online, go to Updates on code.visualstudio.com.

Insiders: Want to try new features as soon as possible?
You can download the nightly Insiders build and try the latest updates as soon as they are available.
Download Insiders

Agents

Agent Skills (Experimental)

Setting: chat.useAgentSkills

VS Code now supports Agent Skills, allowing you to teach the coding agent new capabilities and provide domain-specific knowledge. Agent Skills are folders of instructions, scripts, and resources that GitHub Copilot can load when relevant to perform specialized tasks.

Skills are stored in directories with a SKILL.md file that defines the skill’s behavior. VS Code automatically detects skills from the .github/skills folder in your workspace (or .claude/skills/ for backwards compatibility). They are then loaded on-demand into the chat context when relevant for your request.

Enable support for Agent Skills by enabling the chat.useAgentSkills setting.

Learn more about creating and using skills in the Agent Skills documentation.

Improvements to Agent Sessions view

This iteration, we further improved the Agent Sessions view with several enhancements:

Keyboard access support for actions such as archive, read state, opening a session
Grouping of sessions based on state and age when showing side-by-side
Provide information on changed files and associated PRs for a session
Support for archiving multiple sessions at once from the new group sections
General accessibility improvements

Note: chat.viewSessions.orientation no longer provides the auto option. Use sideBySide as alternative.

Chat

Chat picker is based on agent sessions

The Quick Pick for chat sessions is now based on the same information that drives the Agent Sessions view. You can access any previous chat session from there and perform actions like archiving, renaming or deletion.

Note: Agent sessions can also be accessed by typing agent in the Quick Open control (⌘P (Windows, Linux Ctrl+P)).

Chat title improvements

The Chat view title control is now showing up, irrespective of how the Activity Bar is configured. Previously, it only showed up in the default Activity Bar configuration.

To quickly jump from one session to another, select the chat title to open the sessions Quick Pick and choose another session.

Open empty Chat on restart

Setting: chat.viewRestorePreviousSession

From now on, previous chat sessions are not automatically restored when VS Code is restarted. Instead, an empty Chat view is shown where you can then access previous sessions from the Agent Sessions control.

Modify this behavior with the chat.viewRestorePreviousSession setting.

Terminal tool auto approve default rules

Settings: chat.tools.terminal.enableAutoApprove, chat.tools.terminal.autoApproveWorkspaceNpmScripts

The following commands are now auto approved by default when terminal auto approve is enabled (chat.tools.terminal.enableAutoApprove):

git ls-files
git --no-pager <safe_subcommand>
git -C <dir> <safe_subcommand>
rg (excluding --pre and --hostname-bin)
sed (excluding some args and usage patterns)
Out-String

In addition, npm scripts run through npm, pnpm or yarn are now auto approved by default when they are included within the package.json. We do this because using agents already requires Workspace Trust, and we protect agents from editing sensitive files like package.json. This can be disabled with chat.tools.terminal.autoApproveWorkspaceNpmScripts.

To improve transparency around auto approve, there is now an informational message when a rule was explicitly denied by either default or custom rules:

Add session and workspace rules for future terminal tool commands

The allowed commands or command line entries in the Allow dropdown now have options a corresponding action to allow them for the current session or for the workspace.

Terminal tool preventing adding to shell history

Setting: chat.tools.terminal.preventShellHistory

When shell integration is enabled and working, commands that are run by the terminal tool are no longer included in shell history for bash, zsh, pwsh and fish. The method this uses differs for each shell, for bash for example HISTCONTROL=ignorespace is set and a space is added to the start of the command being run.

If you prefer to keep terminal tool commands in the shell history, configure this with the chat.tools.terminal.preventShellHistory setting.

Accessibility

Streaming chat responses in Accessible View

The Accessible View now dynamically streams chat responses as they are generated. Previously, you needed to close and reopen the Accessible View to see updated content. Now, you can stay in the Accessible View and monitor output as it comes in, making it much easier to follow along with AI responses in real-time.

MCP server output excluded from Accessible View

To reduce noise, MCP (Model Context Protocol) server output is now excluded from the Accessible View by default. The standard chat output remains fully accessible, as it’s presented in a text area that works well with screen readers.

Language ID variable in window title

A new ${activeEditorLanguageId} variable is now available for the window.title setting. This variable displays the language identifier of the currently active editor, which is useful for accessibility tools like Talon that need to determine the current programming language to enable appropriate voice commands.

"window.title": "${activeEditorLanguageId} - ${activeEditorShort}"

Editor Experience

Import profile by drag and drop

You can now import a settings profile by dragging and dropping a .code-profile file into VS Code. This makes it easier to share profiles with teammates or quickly set up a new environment.

When you drop the file, the Profiles editor opens and lets you preview and import the profile. This provides a similar experience to dragging and dropping a .code-workspace file to open a workspace.

Copy breadcrumbs path

Setting: breadcrumbs.symbolPathSeparator

You can now copy the breadcrumbs path to the clipboard by using the Copy Breadcrumbs Path command. This is useful when you need to share the exact location of a symbol with your team or for documentation purposes.

The breadcrumbs.symbolPathSeparator setting enables you to customize the separator character used to join breadcrumb segments.

Go to Symbol in Workspace supports special characters in query

The Go to Symbol in Workspace (⌘T (Windows, Linux Ctrl+T)) feature no longer incorrectly filters out all results when the search query contains a # character.

This fix enables language extensions like rust-analyzer to use # as a modifier in symbol searches. For example, in rust-analyzer, appending # to a query like main# searches for functions in current workspace only.

Code Editing

New snippet tranformations

There are two new snippet transformations available: snakecase and kebabcase. This is how you can use them:

For snake_case transformation:

${TM_FILENAME/(.*)/${1:/snakecase}/}

This transforms the filename to snake-case format. For example, from MyFileName.txt it makes my_file_name.txt. The kebab-case transformation would be my-file-name.txt.

Source Control

Git blame information settings

Settings: git.blame.ignoreWhitespace, git.blame.editorDecoration.disableHover

The new git.blame.ignoreWhitespace setting enables you to configure Git blame to ignore whitespace changes when determining which commit last modified a line. This is particularly useful when working with code that has been reformatted, as it helps you identify the commit that made the actual functional change rather than just whitespace adjustments.

Additionally, the git.blame.editorDecoration.disableHover setting lets you disable the hover tooltip that appears when you hover over a Git blame editor decoration. This can be useful if you prefer a cleaner editing experience and only want to see the inline blame annotations without the additional hover information.

Authoring commit messages using the editor

Some time ago we added the capability to use the full editor to author a commit message but the actions to commit or cancel were difficult to discover in the editor title toolbar. We improved the editor overlay control in the lower right-hand corner of the editor and moved these actions there to make them easier to use.

Worktrees in the Source Control Repositories view (Experimental)

Settings: scm.repositories.explorer, scm.repositories.selectionMode

This milestone, we have added a Worktrees node to the Source Control Repositories view. Under this node, you can see the list of the repository worktrees with an inline action to open the worktree in a new window. The context menu also contains an action to open the worktree in the current window, as well as an action to delete the worktree.

You can enable the experimental repository explorer by setting the scm.repositories.selectionMode and scm.repositories.explorer settings. Give it a try and let us know what other repository artifacts you would like to see in the Repositories explorer.

Learn more about using source control in VS Code.

Terminal

Terminal IntelliSense default UX rework

During the past two releases, we rolled out terminal IntelliSense to all VS Code Stable users. While much of the feedback was positive, there was a segment of users (mostly terminal power users) that did not like the feature breaking their muscle memory. After a lot of discussion, we decided to switch some defaults, improve discoverability and allow easier inline configuration of the feature.

The feature itself is still enabled by default, but instead of showing the control automatically when typing (quick suggestions and suggest on trigger characters), it now needs to be explicitly triggered via Ctrl+Space.

We also improved the “status bar” on the bottom. Previously, it showed insert on the left and Learn more/Configure on the right with their associated keybindings. We got feedback that it’s not clear that these can be interacted with, so we now show icons on the right and no longer show the keybindings. The left action now allows rotating through the options for “selection mode”, which determines how Tab and Enter react when it’s brought up. There’s a new eye icon on the right, which enables quick suggestions and suggest on trigger characters again.

Finally, to still make this powerful feature relatively discoverable without being overbearing, a hint shows when opening a terminal that explains how to show suggestions. The lifecycle of the hint is simplified and it’s as easy as clicking “don’t show” to get rid of it permanently, just like the similar feature in the editor.

Beyond this UX rework, these improvements were also done to terminal IntelliSense:

We now show files with the executable bit on macOS/Linux
Improved completions for npm and git
Several fixes to the feature

Performance and stability improvements

The terminal saw several important performance and stability improvements this release:

node-pty#831: On macOS and Linux, pasting more than 50 characters at once or having Copilot run a large command is no longer throttled and should apply essentially instantly, scaling similarly to other terminals with KBs/MBs of data. This also fixed a crash that could happen on macOS when doing the same thing.
vscode#285031, vscode#285032, xterm.js#5548: Fixed several layout thrashing issues that could cause the editor to get laggy.
vscode#239541: Fixed a crash that could occur when fonts such as CommitMono were configured in the terminal.

More comprehensive custom glyphs

The terminal’s GPU accelerated renderer (on by default) has supported custom glyphs for some time for box drawing, block element, and a subset of powerline symbols. This means that you can see these characters without needing to configure a font and they also scale with line height, letter spacing, and should align with each other perfectly.

In this release, we expanded the number of characters supported to almost 800 by including the majority of custom glyphs supported by any other terminal. This includes ranges that are generally useful in a terminal, specifically these ranges:

Box Drawing (U+2500–U+257F)
Block Elements (U+2580–U+259F)
Braille Patterns (U+2800–U+28FF)
Powerline Symbols (U+E0A0–U+E0D4, Private Use Area)
Progress Indicators (U+EE00–U+EE0B, Private Use Area)
Git Branch Symbols (U+F5D0–U+F60D, Private Use Area)
Symbols for Legacy Computing (U+1FB00–U+1FBFF)

Here’s a visual of the complete set of glyphs:

Improved rendering of curly underlines

VS Code has been able to parse and display colored and styled underlines for some time now, but the curly underline’s rendering always left something to be desired. The curly underlines should now look very close to how they look in the editor.

You can try this out for yourself by running this command in bash: echo -e '\x1b[4:3mCurly\x1b[0m \x1b[4:3m\x1b[58;5;1mRed\x1b[0m'

Dimensions visual overlay on resize

Inspired by a feature in ghostty, we added a brief overlay that shows the current terminal dimensions (columns x rows) when you resize the terminal. This is useful if you want to resize your terminal to a specific size for testing or other purposes.

New VT features

The terminal now supports the follow VT features/sequences:

Synchronized output: can be used by applications to pause rendering and batch updates in the terminal, which is particularly useful to prevent tearing when rewriting the buffer.
- DECRQM (CSI ? 2026 $ p)
- BSU (CSI ? 2026 h)
- ESU (CSI ? 2026 l)
XTVERSION (CSI > 0 q): allows applications to query details about the terminal, the response VS Code will give currently is the “xterm.js” and its version

Debug

Organize breakpoints by file

Setting: debug.breakpointsView.presentation

Breakpoints can now be shown as a tree, grouped by their file. Enable this by setting debug.breakpointsView.presentation to tree.

Testing

Navigate to uncovered regions

We’ve added navigation buttons to the test coverage toolbar that allow you to easily jump between regions of uncovered code. You can toggle the test coverage toolbar using the Test: Show Coverage Toolbar command in the Command Palette.

Contributions to extensions

GitHub Pull Requests

There has been more progress on the GitHub Pull Requests extension, which enables you to work on, create, and manage pull requests and issues. New features include:

Change a pull request’s base branch from the pull request description webview.
Convert open pull requests to draft from the pull request description webview.
Generate a pull request description for an existing PR, not just new ones.

Review the changelog for the 0.126.0 release of the extension to learn about everything in the release.

Extension Authoring

New Quick Pick properties for prompts and resource URIs

The Quick Pick API includes two new properties for creating interactive selection interfaces.

Use the prompt property on QuickPick to display persistent instructional text beneath the input box. The text remains visible while users type, which helps provide guidance or context.

const quickPick = vscode.window.createQuickPick();
quickPick.prompt = 'Select a file to open';
quickPick.items = items;
quickPick.show();

Use the resourceUri property on QuickPickItem to automatically derive item properties from a resource URI. When provided, VS Code derives:

The label from the file name (when set to an empty string)
The description from the file path (when set to undefined or an empty string)
The icon from the current file icon theme (when iconPath is set to ThemeIcon.File or ThemeIcon.Folder)

This is useful when building file or folder selection interfaces.

const items: vscode.QuickPickItem[] = [
  {
    label: '',
    resourceUri: vscode.Uri.file('/path/to/app.ts'),
    iconPath: vscode.ThemeIcon.File
  },
  {
    label: '',
    resourceUri: vscode.Uri.file('/path/to/src'),
    iconPath: vscode.ThemeIcon.Folder
  }
];

Engineering

Housekeeping

As part of our annual December housekeeping, we spent a majority of time cleaning up GitHub issues and pull requests across all our maintained repositories. This year, we managed to reduce our open issues by 5,951 and triaged another 1,203 issues.

By using improved triage tooling and deduplication processes, we were able to close a significant number of stale and resolved issues. This has left us with a more manageble project, enabling us to move forward and develop the features that have the most impact for our users. In our core VS Code repository alone, we closed 2,872 issues and triaged another 1,697!

In June of 2025, we also announced that Copilot had become Open Source! This meant that all related issues would also be filed in the microsoft/vscode repo, and that we had a backlog of issues remaining in microsoft/vscode-copilot-release to take care of. This month, we triaged every issue in the repository and closed 1,659 issues, leaving only 175 open to be migrated.

Below is a graph that shows how our core vscode repository has grown over the years, and how many issues our amazing community has contributed over time. We appreciate everyone who has contributed issues to our repositories over the years and continued to engage with us. Your feedback is what has made VS Code the product that it is today! 🚀

Authoring extensions in TypeScript (Experimental)

It is now possible to author VS Code extensions directly in TypeScript without requiring a build step. This works… but there is still a bit of adventure involved! Many aspects are still untested, such as how to write and run tests, how to publish extensions, and other workflow considerations.

Learn more about this experimental approach in this GitHub comment.

Notable fixes

vscode#283356 – Fixed regression causing jumping around while scrolling past some chat output

Thank you

Contributions to vscode:

Contributions to vscode-copilot-chat:

Contributions to vscode-js-profile-visualizer:

Issue tracking

Contributions to our issue tracking:

We really appreciate people trying our new features as soon as they are ready, so check back here often and learn what’s new.

If you’d like to read release notes for previous VS Code versions, go to Updates on code.visualstudio.com.

Google DeepMind and Boston Dynamics to Trial Gemini-Powered Robots in Hyundai Factories

Posted on January 8, 2026 by faz_business

Google DeepMind and Boston Dynamics are partnering to trial Gemini-powered robotics in Hyundai automotive factories. The project will involve the latter company’s humanoid, Atlas, and its dog-like Spot robots, with Google DeepMind’s Gemini Robotics model used to inform their decision-making and functions.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with the Google DeepMind team,” said Alberto Rodriguez, director of robot behavior for Atlas at Boston Dynamics. “We are building the world’s most capable humanoid, and we knew we needed a partner that could help us establish new kinds of visual-language-action models for these complex robots. Nobody in the world is better suited than DeepMind to build reliable, scalable models that can be deployed safely and efficiently across a wide variety of tasks and industries.”

Although Boston Dynamics has spent years demonstrating advances in robotics, environmental perception, and versatility in navigation and locomotion, it only announced the development of a commercial humanoid robot in 2024. Integrating Google’s Gemini Robotics model should give the robots greater ability to perceive and act within their physical environments and to receive inputs from various external sensors, helping them complete specific tasks.

Boston Dynamics is beginning its trial at a Hyundai facility, as Hyundai has been its parent company since 2021. It was previously a Google X project before being sold to SoftBank and, most recently, to Hyundai. It clearly hopes to leverage these cutting-edge robotics to augment its automated production facilities. Automotive production lines are already heavily automated and often designed around the robotics that assemble vehicles. Adding additional robots, such as Atlas and Spot, would likely be easier and safer there than in other facilities with less pre-existing automation.

Even if the robots aren’t entirely successful at the outset, Boston Dynamics claims they’ll learn on the job, improving efficiency and capabilities as the experiment progresses. That data will then be used to refine Google’s robotics AI model, potentially enabling broader and more varied use of these robots in the future.

They are facing stiffer competition, though, as the humanoid robotics industry picks up the pace. There are now over a dozen US-based humanoid robot companies, and many more around the world, rushing to be the first to create something truly viable for home and commercial use.

These $300 OnePlus smartphones have bigger batteries than the Galaxy S25 and iPhone 17 combined

Posted on January 8, 2026 by faz_business

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer has launched two new smartphones in its native market — the OnePlus Turbo 6 and the Turbo 6V — both of which feature a gargantuan 9,000 mAh battery. In a market where phones over $1,000 feature 5,000 mAh batteries, the OnePlus smartphones set new endurance benchmarks.

Let me give you some context. Samsung’s $1,049.99 Galaxy S25 Ultra features a 5,000 mAh battery (and the Galaxy S26 Ultra isn’t expected to have any significant improvements in that area). The $1,199 iPhone 17 Pro Max (eSIM variant) sports a 5,088 mAh cell.

When midrange phones outlast premium flagships

Even the newly launched $899.99 OnePlus 15 and the $699.99 OnePlus 15R, which are among the biggest battery smartphones, feature 7,300 mAh and 7,400 mAh batteries, respectively. However, the OnePlus Turbo 6 and Turbo 6V virtually break all the standards set by these phones.

Both the Turbo 6 and the Turbo 6V, which cost less than $350 when converted from the Chinese price (for the baseline variants), feature a 9,000 mAh battery, almost as big as the combined capacity of the S25 Ultra and the iPhone Pro Max.

With such a massive battery, the Turbo smartphones should easily last over a day between charges, leaving you with around 40-50% battery for the next day (depending on your usage). I consider this a legitimate step toward normalizing two-day battery life on smartphones.

Furthermore, the OnePlus handsets also support 80W wired charging, which might not sound a lot for 9,000 mAh batteries, but should still charge the phone in around an hour and 30 minutes. In retrospect, the charging speed is faster than most non-Chinese flagships available in the United States.

Unfortunately, none of the smartphones is available outside of China yet. There’s a good chance the Turbo 6V makes it to the Nord outside of China, but OnePlus hasn’t confirmed anything yet.

Talking about other specifications, the Turbo 6 and the Turbo 6V sport a 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED screen that supports an extremely high refresh rate (165Hz on the former, 144Hz on the latter). Powering the Turbo 6 is the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 SoC (also found on the Nothing Phone 3), while the Turbo 6V runs on the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 SoC.

Both phones are available in multiple memory and storage variants: Turbo 6 with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage, and Turbo 6V with up to 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage. Cameras, however, are similar on both phones: a 50MP primary camera, a 2MP monochrome sensor, and a 16MP selfie shooter.

The baseline OnePlus Turbo 6 (12GB + 256GB) costs CNY 2299 in China, which is about $328, while the entry-level Turbo 6V (8GB + 256GB) costs CNY 1899, about $271. They’ll be available for purchase in China from January 8, 2026.

While we’re not certain when these handsets will be available in the U.S., they’ll surely help shift buyers’ expectations away from budget smartphones and encourage other manufacturers to up their battery game.

Witcher 3 DLC rumors pick up strength as IGN Poland says it knew about all of this years ago

Posted on January 8, 2026 by faz_business

We first reported on rumors of a new Witcher 3 DLC back at the tail end of 2025, after a Polish financial analyst and a known leaker said separately that a surprise new expansion is in the works. And while that DLC remains firmly in the realm of hopes and dreams for now, with a new year now upon us I am here to tell you that the foundation for that rumor has grown somewhat stronger.

There are two big reasons for this. The first comes from IGN Poland, which said earlier this week (Google translated) that it first heard about this new expansion, “from someone who has repeatedly provided us with reliable insider information,” years ago. IGN Poland said it didn’t publish anything about it at the time because the information all came from a single source (that’s how actual journalism works), but in light of these new rumors it’s opted to make the story public.

IGN Poland said its source at the time claimed the new expansion would take players to the far-off desert of Zerrikania, which is mentioned in passing at a few points in The Witcher games. Zerrikania is also different enough from The Witcher kingdoms we already know that it could be a place where, for instance, Ciri could successfully undergo the Trial of the Grasses, which is commonly believed to kill girls who attempt it—although The Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski clarified in 2025 that he never said in his books that women can’t survive the process and, in fine Sapkowski fashion, he doesn’t care either way.

The second reason the rumor feels at least somewhat grounded is far more practical, and has nothing to do with the game. Instead, it’s all about CD Projekt itself. You may recall that when CD Projekt said The Witcher 4 won’t be out until 2027 at the soonest, it did so using some archaic corpo-financial speak during an investors call: “The game will not be launched within the time frame of the first target for the incentive program which ends 31st of December.”

CD Projekt said during that same call, in March 2025, that it still needed to generate a little more than 1 billion Polish zloty (around $277 million) by the end of 2026 in order to achieve that incentive program target—something one investor on the call noted would be “extremely difficult” without releasing any new products.

To repeat what I said in December, all of that and 20 bucks will get you a copy of the brilliant Witcher 3 expansion Blood and Wine (which you really should play if you haven’t already): CD Projekt has remained stubbornly closed-mouthed about the whole thing, and we don’t have any handy leaks from, say, PEGI or Ubisoft that effectively confirms it. But the sheer weight of the claims are starting to add up. I can’t say that I believe just yet, but I want to.

Top 51 Medical Device Design Companies for New Prototype Engineering Services in the US

Posted on January 8, 2026 by faz_business

With few exceptions, new product development companies almost never specialize in just one product category. For example, if a prototype design firm develops medical devices, chances are it also provides similar services in other sectors, like consumer goods such as home appliances and electronics. Some even offer to develop more sophisticated industrial equipment, like robotics and laboratory instruments, as well. Medical device development is a complex undertaking, often a multidisciplinary effort involving user research, design engineering, safety and risk management, pre-clinical and clinical tests, and interactions with regulatory bodies (FDA in the United States, MDR in Europe, or their equivalents in other regions).

Even well-known medical device brands turn to new product development companies not only to transform ideas and concepts into real products but also to manage regulatory compliance. Apart from design firms, specialized freelancing platforms like Cad Crowd can be an excellent alternative, as they allow you to collaborate directly with pre-qualified engineers and designers at an affordable rate. To help find a competent partner, here is a list of 51 companies providing medical device development services.

In the United States

Working with an onshore design firm simplifies a lot of things in an otherwise intricate project. Maintaining good communication and collaboration isn’t always easy, but you can avoid potential difficulties throughout the partnership in the project by working with a domestic product development firm.

1. Cad Crowd

Perhaps a peculiar name in the list, yet the most likely option for everyday inventors, startups, and small businesses alike. Cad Crowd comes up at the top for its massive range of services, straightforward user interface, and affordability. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill medical device development company; instead, it’s a specialized freelancing platform to help you connect with multidisciplinary engineering and 3D design professionals of any product category.

The “professionals” in question may include mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, industrial designers, firmware developers, and project managers with proven track records in the field of product development. The design and manufacturing services cover such medical applications as surgical devices, dental equipment, orthopedic braces, veterinary equipment, and customized prosthetics. In short, the services are available for the development of medical instruments under FDA classifications, including Class I (low-risk), Class II (moderate-risk), or Class III (high-risk) devices.

One of Cad Crowd’s biggest strengths lies in its ability to match clients (or rather their projects) with 2D & 3D design professionals who have domain-specific expertise. Within the context of medical device development, you’ll be granted access to a massive database of engineers specializing in biocompatible materials, ergonomics design, microfluidics, regulatory-compliant systems, interoperability, user safety, CAD modeling, DFM (Design for Manufacturing), digital and physical prototyping, and so forth.

Cad Crowd gives the options to launch a design contest or work directly with the professionals you choose under NDA to ensure privacy and IP protection. If you want, the platform can function as a project manager to help you on an ongoing basis, practically facilitating an end-to-end medical device development service. Flexibility is another major reason why Cad Crowd makes for an excellent choice. The medical devices design service encompasses the entirety of the project workflow, from ideation and prototyping to product certification and manufacturing support.

But it doesn’t mean you can’t hire professionals from the platform to handle only certain portions of the development stage. Say you’ve already had a 3D model made, and now you need a qualified engineer to fabricate a physical prototype. Cad Crowd can step in at any point in the development and connect you with a professional to handle the task. It also provides complementary services such as patent finding and filing, product licensing, and invention marketing.

Website: Cadcrowd.com

2. Karten Design

An established medical device design company, Karten Design, maintains a long-term partnership with hospitals and clinicians to help inventors get the necessary funding and acknowledgement for their product development projects. The company also serves on boards at accelerators in various healthcare institutes and C-suite committees in the United States. Having been around for more than 30 years, Karten Design is among the most knowledgeable product design companies to recognise some of the biggest obstacles in medical device development overcome the challenges.

Thanks to its deep access into the healthcare landscape, the company has a unique insight into the market, ensuring quicker adoption across the ecosystem. Some of its best works include the Cardiac Science Automated External Defibrillator (AED), the Starkey Livio AI hearing aid, the MedVector Telemedicine Device, and the Bruin Biometrics OrthoSonos monitor. Karten Design is based in Los Angeles, California.

Website: Kartendesign.com

3. Whipsaw

Throughout 25 years of history, Whipsaw has completed more than 1,000 projects for clients of all sizes and accumulated over 700 patents to its name. Whipsaw also boasts a strong history of partnerships with early-stage companies as well as international corporations in popular projects like the Dell Precision computers, the Dropcam home security cameras, the Google Chromecast and OnHub router, and the TP-Link networking devices, among others. In the medical device category, some of Whipsaw’s project highlights include the Aescape Fully Automated Massage Experience, the Omnicell Syringe Dispenser, and the Empatica EmbracePlus Health Smartwatch. The company is situated in San Francisco, California. It’s spearheaded by Dan Harden, who, in 2014, was listed in Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business.

Website: Whipsaw.com

4. StarFish Medical

Every new product development project must deal with the challenges in market adoption, and even more so if the product is a medical device from a relatively unknown brand. StarFish Medical is a new product design and development company with a strong focus on commercial launch. More than just creating a new product based on an idea, the company helps you tackle the potentially complex regulatory landscape and navigate the intricate path to compliance.

It provides a comprehensive range of services for clinical trials and even facilitates tech transfers if needed. Based in Irvine, California, StarFish Medical is powered by a multidisciplinary team of experienced product engineering professionals and in-house capabilities to transform a mere concept of a design into a fully functional product. It has state-of-the-art facilities in the United States and Canada, equipped with everything you need to handle not only rapid prototyping, but also Verification and Validation testing and pilot-scale manufacturing.

Website: Starfishmedical.com

5. Delve

For more than 55 years, Delve has been a prominent name in the product development sectors, specializing in medical devices, commercial and industrial equipment, and consumer products. Along the way, it has earned more than 200 design awards and more than 1,500 patents. Delve maintains four locations in the United States, including Boston (Massachusetts), Madison (Indiana), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), and San Francisco (California). Some of its best-known works in the medical device category are the BK Ultrasound’s Sonic Window, the Dexco G6 Continuous Glucose Monitoring System, and the Phlex EDGE goggle-worn fitness tracker. In fact, the Sonic Window earned a gold recognition in the Radiological and Electromechanical Devices category from the Medical Design Excellence Award (MDEA) in 2016.

Website: Delve.com

6. Goddard Technologies

As an industrial design and low-volume manufacturing company, Goddard Technologies provides new product development services not only for medical devices but also for consumer products, robotics, and automation as well. It caters to both an end-to-end 3D design service and an on-demand engineering assistance at any phase of the development of new medical devices and launching them to market. Goddard Technologies is an ISO 13485:2016 certified company, meaning it has put in place internationally recognized standards for safety, efficacy, and regulatory compliance in the design and manufacturing of medical devices. Some of its best works include the Guard Medical Negative Pressure Wound Therapy and the Arthrex MIS Hip Distractor System. Goddard Technologies is based in San Diego, California.

Website: Goddardtech.com

7. Battelle

Gordon Battelle founded the institute in 1929. The institute initially focused on contract development and research projects in material science, but quickly expanded the specializations to cover the larger scope of applied science and technology. As it stands today, Battelle is a private nonprofit company that offers its services in the development and commercialization of technologies as well as the management of laboratories.

Around the 1960s, Battelle added medical technology to its service portfolio, offering expertise in medical device designs, life science research, and chemical and biological countermeasures. Since then, the institute has amassed over 100 patents (granted and pending) in related fields of study. Some of its most notable works in the medical field are the COVID rapid test equipment and the N95 respirator decontamination. Battelle is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, with satellite offices across the United States.

Website: Battelle.org

8. Veranex

Although a relatively new company founded in 2021, Veranex has a respectable history spanning more than 20 years in the industry. It has been around long enough to oversee the development of more than 1,000 products and get involved in over 2,500 preclinical and clinical trials. Veranex claims to be the industry’s first global Innovation Contract Research Organization (iCRO), which operates with a profoundly different approach compared to traditional CRO. In a typical medical device development workflow, there might be multiple companies involved in the process to handle separate stages of development, including design and engineering, preclinical research, clinical research, commercialization, regulatory affairs, pathology, quality management, and manufacturing.

Because each specific task is handled by a separate team, the entire workflow is interrupted by frequent handoffs that decelerate progress. Veranex takes care of all eight distinct phases under one roof for better efficiency. According to Veranex, an integrated team can cut development time by up to six months per phase compared to silo practices and increase the regulatory clearance rate to 96%. Veranex specializes in microfluidics, optics, sensing systems, artificial tissue, and advanced analytics. The company is based in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Website: Veranex.com

9. MED Institute

The medical device engineering experience of MED Institute’s medical device designers covers the studies of orthopedics, cardiology, urology, endoscopy, biologics, and endovascular. Its range of services includes concept development, product planning, and therapeutic device design. The company also offers comprehensive design controls for a range of Class II and Class III medical devices. Like many other product development companies specializing in medical devices, MED Institute is ISO 13485 certified. But the biggest promise revolves around the claim that the company has what it takes to help slim down the budget for early R&D phases to accommodate small businesses and startups, who often have limited funding. MED Institute is based in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Website: Medinstitute.com

10. DeviceLab

Situated in Tustin, California, DeviceLab offers a comprehensive medical device development service that encompasses early research and study, design and engineering services, prototyping, and pre-production. The company is known for its expertise in developing medical devices and instruments for home use, point of care, and hospital environments. DeviceLab maintains a strategic collaboration with Microchip’s 32-bit MPU Design Partner Program, LabVIEW, and Texas Instruments to speed up product development in most projects. The ISO 13485 certified company is also a recipient of the gold medal from MDEA. Some of its best works include the Zoom Dental UV Lamp designed for Philips, the TracPatch developed for Consensus Orthopedics, and the ARGOS optical biometer built for Santec.

Website: Devicelab.com

11. RKS Design

While RKS Design doesn’t explicitly mention that it specializes in medical device development, it’s an industrial design company that builds physical products of various categories across all industries, including healthcare. The company is known for its “Psycho-Aesthetics” approach, which focuses on how a design makes users feel about themselves rather than asking users about how they feel about the product.

Having been around for more than 45 years, RKS Design has developed a number of innovative medical devices, including the ViSi Mobile wearable continuous vital monitoring platform for Sotera Wireless, a wearable stroke detector for StrokeDx, composite resin syringes for Dental Discuss, CleanTech EVO Automated Handwashing Station for Meritech, cardiac ablation platform for Synaptic, and Juvederm Syringe for Allergan. RKS Design makes clear that the clients have complete ownership of the IP of the device, unless the company makes a significant contribution to the final design, in which case there might be shared ownership of the patents. RKS Design is based in Thousand Oaks, California.

Website: Rksdesign.com

12. Paragon Medical

A turnkey medical device development company, Paragon Medical, boasts a massive rapid prototyping center and a separate manufacturing facility reserved for complex products. Apart from making high-precision surgical instruments, the company also caters to the development of drug delivery devices, implants, and cases and trays. The end-to-end service covers medical device design and development, testing and validation, contract design engineering services, contract manufacturing, and even product assembly and packaging. That being said, Paragon Medical is willing to lend its expertise at any stage of your product development project; whether you’re still in the early stages or already approaching the commercialization phase, the company can help bridge the milestones to reach full market launch. Paragon Medical is an ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100D certified company, situated in Pierceton, Indiana.

Website: Paragonmedical.com

13. Frog Design

An industrial design company with a long history, Frog Design made a name for itself in the business when the company developed its earliest works for WEGA, a German consumer electronics manufacturer that was later bought by Sony. It maintained partnerships with Sony and was involved in the development of a few renditions of the Walkman. Some of its more prominent design works include the case of the portable Apple IIc and several Macintosh models, the NeXT Computer, and Sun Microsystems’ SPARCstations.

In the ice category, Frog Design is known for such innovative products as the UV-C Enhanced Respiratory Protection for XCMR, the aScope Duodeno single-use sterile endoscopy device for Ambu, the Aixplorer Mach 30 Ultrasound platform for SuperSonic, a fully automated retinal imaging device for identifeye HEALTH, the Lumen CO2 tracker, and the MeMed Key portable multiplexed protein measurements device. In 2021, Frog Design became part of Capgemini Invent. Frog Design is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Website: Frog.co

14. IDEO

A global industrial design company, IDEO offers first-class product development services covering a broad range of industries and sectors, including but not limited to consumer goods design services and retail, climate, manufacturing, media and entertainment, mobility, technology, and health. The company has been around for more than 40 years, creating innovative products and providing creative capabilities for clients worldwide. In the health (medical device category), most of the products in IDEO’s portfolio are developed in collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company, a multinational pharmaceutical company operating out of Indianapolis, Indiana. Examples of such products include the HumaPen SAVVIO insulin injection pens, the refillable kid-friendly HGH injector, and a reconstitution device to mix Lilly’s liquid-and-powder HGH. IDEO is based in San Francisco, California.

Website: Ideo.com

15. Ammunition Design Group

Winner of the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Product Design (2016), the Ammunition Design Group is best known for its involvement in the development of such popular consumer electronics as Beats by Dr. Dre, the Polaroid Cube, the Square Stand, Adobe Ink and Slide (internet-enabled stylus compatible with iPad), Lyft Glowstache, the UNICEF’s Kid Power Band, and the packaging for NOOK e-book readers, to name a few. Ammunition has also created medical devices before, for example, the Larklife fitness tracker developed for Lark and an invisible hearing device for Fargo. The company is based in San Francisco, California, and Brooklyn, NYC.

Website: Ammunitiongroup.com

16. Smart Design

Another industrial design company in Brooklyn, New York City, Smart Design specializes in five industries, including technology, healthcare, consumer goods, financial services, sports and fitness, and mobility. In the healthcare category, the company works in several sub-sectors such as fitness, medical devices, consumer health and retail, nutrition, patient education, and mental health. Among the highlighted medical devices in the company’s portfolio are the AutoClicks disposable autoinjector pen developed for UCB, an acne-healing face mask for La Lumiere, and the Gx Sweat Patch for Gatorade. Smart Design’s product designers are popular for their tendency to produce prototypes quickly and iterate on them in rapid succession throughout the development process.

Website: Smartdesignworldwide.com

17. Beyond Design

Since 1994, Beyond Design has been providing industrial design consultancy and engineering services for NPD (new Product Development) projects. It specializes in consumer electronics, commercial equipment, and, of course, medical devices. Some of the company’s best medical devices so far include the point and measure thermometers developed for 180 Innovations & CVS Health, the WP-600 Oral Hygiene Orator created for Waterpik, the AirGuard XP advanced aerosol guard for AirGuard Health, and the GUM Proxabrush Go-Betweens interdental brushes for SUNSTAR. Beyond Design is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Website: Beyonddesign.com

18. Studio Red

Situated in Palo Alto, California, Studio Red boasts an advanced prototyping facility capable of producing photorealistic models and high-tolerance parts for just about any physical product engineering project. The company is backed by a team of mechanical engineers with extensive experience in end-to-end product development of various complexity levels, from simple consumables to high-tech equipment. Thanks to the in-house expertise and prototyping capabilities, Studio Red has what it takes to implement the DFM approach from the get-go while ensuring tooling cost efficiency and safety compliance. A few examples of medical devices in the company’s portfolio include the LAP-BAND System developed for Allergan, the LifeChoice portable oxygen concentrator for Inova Labs, the Aluma skin renewal system for Lumenis, and the Heartstring III Proximal Seal System built for Getinge.

Website: Studiored.com

19. NewDealDesign

At the helm of NewDealDesign is Gadi Amit, who earned the National Design Award in 2013 for his commitment to building creative designs in everyday tech objects. The company has been around for more than 25 years, providing new product development services to consumer electronics, health and wellness, commercial equipment, robotics, and automation industries. NewDealDesign is probably best known for its long-running collaboration with Fitbit, which resulted in well-received products such as the Fitbit Zip and the sporty Fitbit Charge. It also played a pivotal role in the development of Avive’s connected AED (Automated External Defibrillator).

Website: Newdealdesign.com

20. Fuseproject

Founded in 1999, Fuseproject has developed hundreds of new products for Fortune 100 brands and launched at least 90 early-stage ventures as well. The company is known for its many unique approaches to product design, often resulting in innovative solutions created on behalf of disruptive startups and established companies alike. In the medical device category, some of its best works include the Juno high-throughput DNA testing platform developed for Fluidigm, the mobility-enhancing robotics suit built for Seismic, and the Neural Sleeve bionic clothing for CIONIC. Fuseproject, in collaboration with CIONIC, also developed a modular, pneumatically driven ventilator during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company is based in San Francisco, California.

Website: Fuseproject.com

21. Bleck Design Group

An end-to-end industrial design company, Bleck Design Group’s product developers specialize in the development of medical devices, consumer goods, office products, and industrial equipment. The range of services in the medical device category covers capital medical instruments, surgical tools, clinical test platforms, and consumer health products. Its portfolio includes such products as the PicoSure laser skin revitalization device developed for Cynosure, an app-controlled smart thermometer created for Kinsa Health, the PillStation for SentiCare, the Endo360° suturing device for EndoEvolution, and the Xhale medication adherence system for Xhale. Bleck Design Group is based in North Chelmsford, Massachusetts.

Website: Bleckdesigngroup.com

22. Speck Design

Yet another turnkey product development service, Speck Design transforms an idea into a fully functional product and provides manufacturing support for clients. The service covers major business sectors including consumer goods, retail, industrial, transportation, telecommunication, wearable, robotics, and medical devices. Speck Design has been around for more than 25 years, creating innovative medical devices such as the Intellisense Medical Drill and the Rainin Medical Pipettes. In collaboration with Providence Medical Technology, the company developed the DTRAX minimally invasive surgical tools for cervical spinal surgeries. Speck Design maintains three locations in the United States, including San Jose and San Francisco (California), and NYC.

Website: Speckdesign.com

23. MAKO Design

In the United States, you can find MAKO Design in Austin, Texas, and Oakland, California. The company is now part of the TriMech Group. They are industrial engineering specialists with the resources and expertise to help you develop products of just about any category in existence, from toys and office supplies to garden tools and medical devices. MAKO Design is known for its inventor-friendly services, in which the company sets up a client-specific approach and provides the necessary resources to transform ideas into tangible products. Its works in the medical device category include the crossbody training machine developed for Pro X and the MedTech Mobility Headrest for Adaptive Switch Labs & Invacare.

Website: Makodesign.com

24. Porticos, Inc.

A turnkey industrial design company with post-production support, Porticos promises to stay engaged with your venture for as long as you need, even after market launch. The post-production support covers such services as component obsolescence, feature enhancements, and sustainable engineering throughout the entire life of the product. Porticos has handled more than 200 projects over the course of 20 years. Medical devices in its portfolio include the TelePatch cardiac monitoring device developed for Medicomp, the Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) systems for Bioptigen, the adaptable medication-dispensing device for Livi, the Portray dental imaging system for Surround Medical, and the Cap Tube and Medication Dock for Sensal Health. Porticos is headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina.

Website: Porticos.net

25. Brash Inc.

In the US, the Brash product development company is situated in Carlsbad, California. It also maintains a location in Ottawa, Canada. Their new product development team specializes in the development of consumer products, IoT, and medical and dental devices. For more than a decade now, the company has served startups, entrepreneurs, and well-known companies, transforming mere concepts and ideas into market-ready products. Its portfolio highlights various medical devices such as the touch-control patient lift developed for Handicare International, the Metered Dose Inhalers (MDIs) for Breathesuite, the SoloWalk movement recovery robotics for GaitTronics, and the robotic enclosure for the Kinarm Brain Injury Recovery device.

Website: Brashinc.com

More US-based medical device development companies to consider

26. MCRA

One of the leading regulatory advisors for medical device industries in the United States, MCRA claims to have cultivated strategic relationships with government agencies and invaluable insights to help you go through the regulatory application clearance. The company understands all too well the typical lifecycle of medical devices, making it uniquely qualified to be a reliable partner all the way from conception to commercialization. MCRA is based in Washington, DC.

Website: Mcra.com

27. EMERGO by UL

In 1997, Emergo first came into existence primarily to assist IVD (In Vitro Diagnostics) and medical device manufacturers with regulatory affairs. It has since grown into a full-scale product development company designing hardware medical devices, software interfaces, and instructional materials. Emergo is situated in Concord, Massachusetts, and Austin, Texas.

Website: Emergobyul.com

28. Flex

An end-to-end 3D product modeling company that’s willing to partner with you at any point of the product development stage. With more than 35 years of experience creating medical equipment and drug delivery systems for clients worldwide, Flex has what it takes to build any medical device and meet even the most stringent regulatory standards in the US. The company is based in Austin, Texas.

Website: Flex.com

29. HS Design

An ISO 13485 certified company and a Qmed qualified supplier, HS Design takes pride in its “common sense” approach to medical device development practices. This means the designers and engineers strive to build a product that’s both aesthetically pleasing and fully functional. The company says the approach makes it easier to uncover a lot of ergonomic concerns during the prototyping stage. HS Design is based in Morristown, New Jersey.

Website: Hs-design.com

30. Glassboard

Backed by an in-house team of specialists and generalists, Glassboard isn’t fixated on any specific approach to medical device development. Instead, everything is done in accordance with what’s best for the clients’ needs and business strategies, all the way from concept stage to market launch. Glassboard is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Website: Glassboard.com

31. Plexus

Primary services from Plexus include new invention development services, manufacturing, and supply chain solutions. Within the healthcare sector, it focuses on developing FDA Class II and III devices, including therapeutic technologies for point-of-use applications and at-home monitors. Plexus is known for the DFX (Design for Excellence) approach, where product development is optimized for manufacturing, testing, and cost efficiency. The company is based in Neenah, Wisconsin.

Website: Plexus.com

32. Kapstone Medical

Since 2007, Kapstone Medical has developed and launched more than 150 products and filed over 75 regulatory submissions. It serves clients of all sizes, including individual inventors and large medical device OEMs. Kapstone Medical is an ISO 13485-certified and FDA-registered company, situated in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Website: Kapstonemedical.com

33. Biomerics

Every medical device development handled by Biomerics follows the established ISO requirements and standard operating procedures, including the validation protocols. Biomerics is a proponent of a proactive DFM service approach to bring clarity to product specification, confirm quality, and provide cost-effective pricing options. The company is located in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Website: Biomerics.com

34. Omnica

Over the last 36 years, Omnica has worked on an average of 80 projects annually. It serves startups, medium-sized companies, and big corporations from all around the world. Omnica’s main office is in Irvine, California, but it has a separate engineering and industrial design facility situated in Los Angeles.

Website: Omnica.com

35. D&K Engineering

The Total Commercialization Solutions by D&K Engineering provides support through the entire product lifecycle, from concept creation and system architecture to rapid prototyping services and post-launch. Apart from specializing in medical device development, it also serves the military and defense as well as the life science industries. D&K Engineering is based in San Diego, California.

Website: Dkengineering.com

Outside US

If you plan to sell medical devices in Europe or outside the United States in general, it might be a good idea to partner with offshore companies based in the target market location. Some of the best firms are as follows.

36. PQ Design Group

Throughout 15 years of history, PQ Design Group has managed to handle more than 250 product development projects; every single one of them was an end-to-end effort, transforming an idea into a functioning design. The company specializes in medical devices, design services for wearable products, and toy design. For the medical device specialization, PQ narrows it down a little bit further to focus on consumer health, neonatal care, and hospital-based applications. Some of its best works so far include the smart drone or capsule intended as a medical product (medicines, organs, blood, etc.) delivery vehicle developed for ABZero, a distribution arm to be used in operating rooms for LM Medical, and the DOC.D saliva-monitoring toothbrush for AICube. PQ Design Group is located in Pisa, Italy.

Website: Pqdesign.com

37. CLEIO

Established in 2005, CLEIO has now completed more than 2,500 medical device and high-tech product development projects; most of them were end-to-end services. In the medical technology and healthcare category, the company focuses on developing wearable devices, RPM (remote patient monitoring) tools, surgical instruments, catheters, drug delivery systems, and medical imaging equipment. CLEIO also offers manufacturing support that covers supplier sourcing, manufacturability verification, lab testing, and cost estimation. Some of its best works include the osmolarity test device for dry eyes developed for I-MED Pharma, the tinnitus assessment device for Menodys, the veterinary anesthesia ventilator for Dispomed, and the FreeO2 medical oxygen therapy device for OxyNov. CLEIO is based in Quebec, Canada.

Website: Cleio.com

38. WILDDESIGN

One of the best things about WILDDESIGN is the all-encompassing regulatory compliance medical device development services, whether you plan to market the product in the United States, Europe, or China. The company makes sure to integrate product requirements set by regulatory bodies such as the FDA, MDR, and NMPA into its development services from the outset to improve the chances of approval. WILDDESIGN’s range of services includes industrial design, rapid prototyping, DFM (Design for Manufacturing) services, ergonomics study, 3D visualization, packaging, labeling, and IFU design.

Some of the highlighted projects in the company’s portfolio include the Polaris operating light for Dräger, the PraluBase medication pens for SANOFI, the Magnos digital dermoscopy system for Magnosco, the Basic Orthopedic Instrument Set for Aesculap, the ELISA clinical intensive care ventilation systems for SALIVA (now Löwenstein Medical), and the laparoscopic instruments for Erbe. WILDDESIGN is based in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

Website: Wilddesign.com

39. Design 1st

One of the best things about Design 1st is the ability to transform or translate technical sophistication into user-friendly products. Simplification doesn’t mean reducing features; instead, the company identifies the product’s core functions and presents them in an approachable way so that users quickly recognize and master them without the need for extensive training. The approach proves to be useful, especially in the development of medical devices. The company’s portfolio includes the Universal High-Speed Dental Drill System developed for ProDrive, the pain and addiction therapy using neuromodulation for Nuraleve, the pharmaceutical tank cleaning device for Swabbot, and the therapeutic tool for myofascial release and trigger massage for SoloRolo. Design 1st is based in Ottawa, Canada.

Website: Design1st.com

40. Haughton Design

Initially specializing in automotive design & engineering services and the aerospace sector when it was founded 25 years ago, Haughton Design gradually shifted focus to medical device development along the way. The UK’s Companies House listing describes the company’s nature of business as “specialized design activities” and “manufacture of medical and dental instruments and supplies.” It’s an ISO:9001 and 13485 certified company, with a flexible quality management system to make sure that all the product development projects under its roof are compliant with the EU MDR and the US FDA. Highlighted products in its portfolio include the Stomacher 400 laboratory paddle blender developed for Seward, a blood sampling device for Sirus Diagnostics, and various pharmaceutical testing instruments for Copley Scientific.

Website: Haughtondesign.co.uk

More design firms to consider

41. TTP

The medical device development services from TTP cover biosensors, neurotechnology, drug delivery systems, surgical instruments, ophthalmology, and optometry. Despite being situated in Cambridge, England, the company also offers services to US-based clients and builds products to meet FDA regulations. TTP is an ISO 13485-certified company.

Website: Ttp.com

42. D+I

The product development services from D+I include industrial design, mechanical engineering, hardware electronics, and software. Part of Capgemini, the company has been developing a range of complex medical devices for nearly four decades now. It has worked with such big-name clients as Siemens Healthcare, Chattanooga, and Trajan Scientific & Medical. The company is based in Melbourne, Sydney, and Newcastle (Australia).

Website: Design-industry.com.au

43. Celestica

Besides developing medical devices, Celestica also specializes in the aerospace, defense, smart energy, and communications industries. The company focuses on rapid prototyping and supply chain management for its NPD services. The supply chain management solution would involve local and global sources to help optimize product design so that it meets the regulatory requirements. Celestica is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Website: Celestica.com

44. Marturion

The main capabilities of Marturion are electronic device design and firmware for medical devices, but it also develops in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) readers. The services include on-site support at external test laboratories and device submission for regulatory compliance, such as the 510(k) to the FDA, and technical files for CE approval. Marturion is based in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.

Website: Marturion.co.uk

45. Nordson Medical

One of the biggest selling points of Nordson Medical is the PDP (Product Development Process) Service, which aims to develop medical devices in alignment with ISO and FDA regulations, standardized practices, and concurrent engineering. PDP also implements a flexible business model to cater to different project scopes. Nordon Medical is located in Boyle, Ireland.

Website: Nordsonmedical.com

46. Cortex Design

Working with Cortex Design means you’ll be connected to a vast network of product development partners for die casting, injection molding experts, metal forming, and PCBA to make sure that the final product comes out exactly as intended. You also receive assistance from a team of NPD advisors who operate under ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2016 standards. Cortex Design is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Website: Cortex-design.com

47. Fearsome

The full in-house team of product design & development expert designers and engineers at Fearsome all specialize in the development of high-risk medical devices, or the equivalent of FDA Class III. The company has been making ocular equipment, surgical instruments, drug delivery systems, neurosurgical tools, and diagnostic devices since 2002. Fearsome is based in Glasgow, Scotland.

Website: Fearsome.co.uk

48. Creation Technologies

An NPD company, Creation Technologies works in the aerospace, defense, and healthcare industries. The company boasts advanced manufacturing systems for the development of Class I, II, and III medical devices and pharmaceutical OEMs. Every product development process is done with the proprietary LEAP (Launch with Excellence to Advanced Production) approach. Creation Technologies is situated in Burnaby, Canada.

Website: Creationtech.com

49. Tiller Design

The core product prototype team at Tiller Design is composed mainly of program managers with expertise in production, industrial design, regulatory compliance, and commercialization. In the development of medical devices, the company works with its CRO (Clinical Research Organization) partner, Mobius Medical. Tiller Design is based in Rozelle, New South Wales, Australia.

Website: Tillerdesign.com

50. Planet Innovation

A healthcare product specialist, Planet Innovation focuses its development services on medical devices such as wearables, consumables, and high-tech laboratory equipment. It’s a full-spectrum industrial design company with engineering and manufacturing capabilities to transform your concepts into commercialized products. Planet Innovation is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, but it also maintains a US location in Irvine, California.

Website: Planetinnovation.com

51. Freudenberg Medical

The journey of Freudenberg Medical began in 2004 when it acquired Jenline Industries in Massachusetts. Since then, it has grown into a specialized medical and pharma development company boasting more than 800,000 square feet of manufacturing facility and 12 production sites worldwide. Freudenberg Medical is headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

Website: Freudenbergmedical.com

How Cad Crowd can help

Developing a new medical device and actually bringing it to market are rarely straightforward processes. A small oversight can lead to excessive delays and costly modifications. In most cases, you must work with a development and prototyping partner to help you navigate the technical, clinical, and regulatory challenges along the way.

An end-to-end industrial design company can be a good choice, but engineering-specialized freelancing platforms like Cad Crowd might be even better, as they allow you to assemble your own team of professionals while maintaining affordability. Cad Crowd also provides a comprehensive IP protection service through NDA, patent search, and filing, and product licensing. Contact us for a free quote.

MacKenzie Brown is the founder and CEO of Cad Crowd. With over 18 years of experience in launching and scaling platforms specializing in CAD services, product design, manufacturing, hardware, and software development, MacKenzie is a recognized authority in the engineering industry. Under his leadership, Cad Crowd serves esteemed clients like NASA, JPL, the U.S. Navy, and Fortune 500 companies, empowering innovators with access to high-quality design and engineering talent.

Connect with me: LinkedIn ✦ X ✦ Cad Crowd

visual studio – Why can’t I use Microsoft.Data.SqlClient with .NET 8?

Posted on January 8, 2026 by faz_business

I am trying to create a C# class library using Visual Studio 2022 Community.
The project is using Microsoft.Data.SqlClient. NuGet recommended to get version 5.8.2.

This did not work when using the DLL of the class library from a Console application C# targeting .NET 6. I was receiving an error:

Microsoft.Data.SqlClient is not supported on this platform

I then tried to lower the versions of Microsoft.Data.SqlClient to 4.0.5 and when calling this class from a Console application I receive:

System.IO.FileNotFoundException
HResult=0x80070002
Message=Could not load file or assembly ‘System.Runtime, Version=8.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a’. The system cannot find the file specified.

Can anyone suggest what combination of Target Framework and Microsoft.Data.SqlClient can work?

Make way for AI in Action

Posted on January 8, 2026 by faz_business

Stuck in the AI middle?

Stakeholders are demanding impact, yet 85% of pilots never leave the lab. Leaders see competitive potential in agentic AI, but fragmented systems, governance hurdles, and skill gaps hold them back.

Fewer than one in five have the infrastructure to support production AI. Investments rise, ROI remains out of reach, and innovation gets stuck in proofs of concept.

It’s time to take AI forward.

AI is changing how core functions run — supply chain, finance, people operations, customer service. When intelligence is built into workflows, organizations report 26% to 31% cost reductions.

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And the focus is shifting. By 2027, over half of Agentic models will be industry- or function-specific, compared to just 1% in 2023. Generic tools are giving way to solutions designed for the realities of each sector — where accuracy, compliance, and performance matter most.

Scaling AI remains the biggest hurdle

85%

of Gen AI pilots today, do not scale beyond proof-of-concept.

80%

of organizations lack the infrastructure to move AI into production.

1.7x

ROI already being realized by companies that scale AI successfully.

From stalled pilots to fragmented systems, scaling AI has been tough — but the tide is turning, faster than ever. Be a part of it.

Download the Guide

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About Sogeti

Sogeti is a global IT consulting and technology services company specializing in digital assurance, cloud, and application development. It helps organizations implement innovation by combining agility, local client-focused teams, and global scale. Sogeti’s expertise is driven by emerging technologies like AI, data, and automation, with a focus on areas like testing, cloud, and cybersecurity.

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