• Active Noise Cancellation - The AirPods Max 2 have up to 1.5x more active noise cancellation because of the more powerful H2 chip and a new computational audio algorithm that detects and counters external sound.


• Adaptive Audio - The AirPods Max support Adaptive Audio, adjusting the level of ANC based on your environment.


• Transparency - Apple says it is using a new digital signal processing algorithm built for the H2 and the AirPods Max microphone array to make Transparency sound more natural. Your own voice will sound more realistic, and so will other sounds. Transparency lets you hear what's going on around you, with environmental noise filtered through the AirPods Max microphones.


• Loud Sound Reduction - Adaptive Audio includes Loud Sound Reduction and the AirPods Max will automatically reduce loud environmental sounds like lawn mowers or construction equipment.


• Personalized Volume - Another Adaptive Audio feature, Personalized Volume learns your volume preferences across different environments over time and automatically adjusts.


• Conversation Awareness - When you start to talk, Conversation Awareness kicks on and lowers the volume of what you're listening to while amplifying voices so you can hear a response. When you're done talking, the sound returns to its previous volume.


• High-fidelity audio improvements - Apple says the H2 chip and a new high dynamic range amplifier provide more headroom for the driver, resulting in richer bass, more natural vocals, and improved localization of instruments. Users can expect more accurate and consistent bass along with more natural sounding mids and highs.


• Adaptive EQ - Apple retuned Adaptive EQ for the H2 chip, and the feature now extends to higher frequencies. Adaptive EQ uses inward-facing microphones to sample what you're hearing, adjusting playback in real-time. According to Apple, users will get a more consistent listening experience across different fits, movements, and ear geometry.


• Voice Isolation - Voice Isolation isolates your voice in noisy environments so people can hear you when you're on a call. Voice Isolation also lets creators capture high-quality vocals.


• Reduced wireless audio latency - Apple says latency is lower with the H2 chip in the ‌AirPods Max 2‌. The AirPods Max support Bluetooth 5.3, up from Bluetooth 5.0 in the prior model.

• Turn for volume control


• Press once to play or pause media


• Press once to answer a call or mute or unmute


• Press once for camera remote


• Press twice to end a call


• Press twice to skip forward


• Press three times to skip back


• Press and hold for Siri

• Apple Announces AirPods Max 2 With H2 Chip and More


• AirPods Max 1 vs. AirPods Max 2 Buyer's Guide: 25+ Differences Compared


• What Hasn't Changed With AirPods Max 2

We are extremely excited to share that MotionVFX is joining the Apple team to continue to empower creators and editors to do their best work.

For over 15 years, we've been on a mission to create world-class, visually inspiring content and effects for video editors. From the very beginning, we’ve been all about quality, ease of use, and great design. These are also the values that we admire most in Apple’s products, and we’re thrilled to be able to embrace them together.

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank all our amazing customers and supporters who have been with us through all these years. You inspired us, you challenged us, and you helped our products become what they are today. We are incredibly grateful to be part of this amazing community and excited to continue our work to serve you.

This is the beginning of something truly wonderful!

- Adaptive Audio adjusts the levels of ANC and Transparency in response to the environment automatically to optimize the audio experience.

- Conversation Awareness helps lower content volume and reduce background noise when a user starts speaking to someone nearby.

- Live Translation, powered by Apple Intelligence, helps users communicate across languages in person.

- Voice Isolation uses advanced computational audio powered by H2 to prioritize the voice during calls, while blocking out ambient noise.

OpenProject 17.2 has been released and introduces several improvements across the platform. This release opens new possibilities for integrating AI into your project workflows, improves transparency on the Project Overview page, and continues our work on usability and accessibility.

One highlight of this release is the introduction of the MCP Server, which enables secure connections between OpenProject and AI systems while keeping full control over how project data is accessed.

In this article, we highlight the most important changes and what they mean for your daily work. As always, please see our release notes that contain the complete list of features, changes, and bug fixes.

A quick article navigation:

• Bring AI to your projects with secure MCP Server (Professional plan and higher)
• Reusable meeting templates (Basic plan and higher)
• Project Overview improvements with budget widgets and improved accessibility
• Comment fields for project attributes
• PDF export improvements
• Require login before opening external links (Premium plan and higher)
• UX/UI updates with the Primer design system
• Migration, installation, updates and support

Bring AI to your projects with secure MCP Server (Professional plan and higher)

Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming part of everyday work. Teams are exploring AI assistants that can answer questions, summarize information, and help analyze project data.

Many organizations are therefore asking the same question: How can we bring AI into our project workflows without losing control over our data and systems?

With OpenProject 17.2, we introduce the MCP Server, a new capability that enables secure connections between OpenProject and AI systems.

The MCP Server implements the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and exposes OpenProject’s APIv3 resources as MCP-compatible endpoints. This allows external tools, including large language models (LLMs) and other MCP clients, to access structured project data from OpenProject in a controlled way.

With this connection in place, AI assistants can interact with real project context. For example, they can summarize project status, analyze dependencies between work packages, or support planning workflows based on up-to-date information from OpenProject.

At the same time, control remains fully in your hands. The MCP Server integrates with OpenProject’s authentication mechanisms, including OAuth2, API tokens, and external OpenID Connect providers. Administrators can configure the server directly in OpenProject and control aspects such as response formats and response volume.

The MCP Server was sponsored and developed with the support of Mercedes-AMG, who are actively using it in their OpenProject environment. Their collaboration helped shape the feature based on real-world requirements and demonstrates how large organizations can benefit from securely connecting AI workflows to their project data.

Administrators can configure the MCP Server directly in the OpenProject administration interface and control aspects such as response formats and response volumes. This allows organizations to decide how their project data is exposed and how external tools interact with it.

To learn about how to use the MCP server, please see our documentation.

Note

The MCP Server is available as an Enterprise add-on in the Professional plan and higher. See our pricing page and contact us for more information on upgrading to a higher plan.

Reusable meeting templates (Basic plan and higher)

Preparing meetings often involves recreating the same agenda structure again and again. With OpenProject 17.2, administrators can now define reusable meeting templates that provide a predefined agenda layout for their teams.

Instead of starting from scratch, users can select a template when creating a meeting. The agenda will automatically include predefined sections and items.

This saves time when preparing meetings and helps teams reuse proven formats for discussions and decision-making.

Note

The reusable meeting templates are available as an Enterprise add-on in the Basic plan and higher. See our pricing page and contact us for more information on upgrading to a higher plan.

Project Overview improvements with budget widgets and improved accessibility

OpenProject 17.2 enhances the Project Overview page to provide clearer financial insights, easier editing, and improved accessibility.

Budget widgets for financial insights

Project managers and stakeholders can now see key financial indicators directly on the Overview page.

New widgets display information such as:

• planned budget
• actual costs
• spent budget
• remaining budget

Visual breakdowns by cost type and recent monthly actuals help teams understand financial trends directly within the project context.

Inline editing for project description and status

The project description and project status widgets on the Overview tab can now be edited directly inline. Authorized users can update information directly where it is displayed.

Improved accessibility of Project Overview and dashboard widgets

We have significantly improved the accessibility of widgets on both the Project Overview and Project dashboard pages. Widgets are now fully operable via keyboard, provide clearer structural semantics for screen readers, and follow WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines for focus management, labeling, and navigation order.

These improvements ensure that project information and controls are accessible to all users, including those relying on assistive technologies.

Comment fields for project attributes

Project attributes often require additional explanation. For example, a chosen value may depend on assumptions, governance decisions, or project-specific context.

With OpenProject 17.2, administrators can now enable comment fields for project attributes. This allows users to document the reasoning behind selected attribute values directly where the attribute is maintained.

Comments follow the same permission logic as the attribute itself and are:

• displayed alongside the attribute on the Project Overview page
• tracked in project activity
• included in exports
• accessible via the API

This provides additional transparency and helps teams better understand important project decisions.

PDF export improvements

OpenProject 17.2 enhances PDF exports to provide more comprehensive reporting.

Work package queries can now include relationship columns, which are exported as structured tables in the PDF report. This ensures that dependencies between work packages remain visible in exported documentation.

In addition, WebP images embedded in work package descriptions are now supported in exported PDFs.

Require login before opening external links (Premium plan and higher)

Following external links inside collaboration platforms can sometimes pose security risks.

Building on the external link safety options introduced in OpenProject 17.1, OpenProject 17.2 adds the option to require users to be logged in before opening external links.

When this setting is enabled, users must authenticate before they can follow external links.

Note

This feature is available as an Enterprise add-on in the Premium plan and higher. See our pricing page and contact us for more information on upgrading to a higher plan.

UX/UI updates with the Primer design system

OpenProject continues the transition to the Primer design system, helping unify the user interface across the application.

Backlogs module update

The Backlogs module has been updated using Primer components. This results in a cleaner layout and more consistent interaction patterns.

Work packages can now also be viewed in a split screen, allowing teams to manage backlog items while reviewing work package details.

Improvements in administration interfaces

Administrative interfaces for Custom Fields, Versions, and Groups have also been aligned with the Primer design system.

OpenProject 17.2: Migration, installation, updates and support

Follow the upgrade guide for the packaged installation or Docker installation to update your OpenProject installation to OpenProject 17.2. We update your hosted OpenProject environments (Enterprise cloud) today, March 11, 2026.

You will find more information about all new features and changes in our Release notes and in the OpenProject Documentation.

If you need support, you can post your questions in the Community Forum, or if you are eligible for Enterprise support, please contact us and we will be happy to support you personally.

• New to OpenProject? To test all features of OpenProject 17.2 right away, create a 14 days free trial instance for our OpenProject Enterprise cloud.
• Prefer to run OpenProject 17.2 in your own infrastructure? Here you can find the Installation guidelines for OpenProject.
• Want to upgrade from a Community version to try out the Enterprise add-ons? Get a 14 days free trial token to test the Enterprise add-ons (all plans).

Credits

A very special thank you goes to Mercedes-AMG for sponsoring the MCP server feature and supporting its development. Your collaboration and real-world feedback helped shape this functionality and demonstrate how large organizations can benefit from securely connecting AI workflows to their project data in OpenProject.

We would also like to thank Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, City of Cologne, Deutsche Bahn and ZenDiS for sponsoring released or upcoming features. Your support, alongside the efforts of our amazing Community, helps drive these innovations. Also a big thanks to our Community members for reporting bugs and helping us identify and provide fixes. Special thanks for reporting and finding bugs go to Alexander Aleschenko, Gabor Alexovics, Jörg Mollowitz and Александр Татаринцев.

Last but not least, we are very grateful for our very engaged translation contributors on Crowdin, who translated quite a few OpenProject strings! This release we would like to particularly thank the following users:

• Adam Siemienski, for a great number of translations into Polish.
• Mehmet Coşkun, for a great number of translations into Turkish.
• Liangzdz, for a great number of translations into Chinese Simplified.

Would you like to help out with translations yourself? Then take a look at our translation guide and find out exactly how you can contribute. It is very much appreciated!

As always, we welcome any feedback on this release.

Design

Display

Performance

Battery and Charging

Cameras, Speakers, and Microphones

Connectivity

Other Differences

Which to Choose?

In the north of Bogotá, a new restaurant offers an experience that exists nowhere else in Latin America. 

Sombras, or ‘shadows’, is a high-end eatery run entirely by blind people, offering a unique experience that aims to raise awareness about sight loss and the challenges faced by those living with this condition.

For 90 minutes, diners are provided a sensory experience through a six-course menu while sitting in complete darkness

This project, part of the Seratta Group, costs approximately 325,000 COP (around US$88) and seats around 20 people at a time.

According to the DANE (National Administrative Department of Statistics), in 2025, the labor gap for people with disabilities was critical: roughly 80% of the population was unemployed. Of the 20% who are employed, many relied on informal work as a way of living.

Accordingly, Sombra’s primary goal is to increase job opportunities for people with visual impairment, even offering a ‘BLINDKEDIN’ on their website to promote inclusion in workspaces and bridge the gap between companies and workers.

Into the unknown

Entering the restaurant, guests are asked to place their belongings in lockers as one of the hosts voice announces, “The main ingredient is trust.” Cellphones, smartwatches, or any other distracting items are forbidden from being used in Sombras. Bags are stored as well, so as not to create obstacles as the staff move around the room unassisted. 

Right ahead is the path to darkness; the atmosphere is filled with fear, expectation, curiosity, and excitement. Not knowing what lies inside, guests must simply walk into the unknown.

Taking small steps, hands over the shoulders of a man simply identified as ‘Agent X,’ diners are shown to their seat. Finally, they are left alone at a table that can only be perceived through touch.

A mix of music, played by a blind DJ, is the perfect accompaniment to the dishes and cocktails placed down one by one. 

Each course is served while a voice guides the guests through the dark: “Take this, move your hand to the left.” 

Scenarios described over speakers guide guests through different worlds, prompting them to reflect on how they perceive the dark. Some courses are designed to evoke childhood memories; as diners eat, the flavors, aromas, and narrations conjure up images of their grandmother’s warm soup or the salty smell of seaside holidays. 

Without the visual cue of the food, flavors meld in novel ways, and everything tastes more intense.  

Between courses, a sense of emptiness can settle in. While the mind tries to imagine colors, dimensions, and even the appearance of fellow diners, the silence and darkness produce a feeling of loneliness and a sense of nothingness. Time passes, but without a watch, it is impossible to measure. 

One cycles through intense feelings and emotions as the brain fights to understand what is happening around it. Placed in the shoes of those who live in darkness every day, guests soon realize they can effortlessly perform the ritual of eating without opening their eyes.

Beyond sight

Following the experience, the hosts revealed themselves. 

John Jairo García and Jonathan Benavides (who is responsible for personalizing the ‘Agent X’ character) are in charge of guiding guests through the journey; both men are blind and were trained to lead visitors through an immersive experience of self-reflection, self-knowledge, and incredible food.

“I am here because God gave me the opportunity. Before this, I used to work on the streets… I sang on buses, and I was also an informal street vendor,” García told The Bogotá Post after the experience. Benavides added that before joining the team, he worked as an informal door-to-door salesman.

“We try not only to serve food but to move hearts and emotions. The social perspective in our country toward people with disabilities. In this case, visual impairment is very biased,” confirmed Jonathan during the interview.

At the end, the staff arrives with a message, they invite you to be thankful for seeing colors, for seeing the world that surrounds you. As some tears begin to fall, the last reflection is a call to empathy: “Change your way of thinking and your whole life will change”.

In fact, the blind dining experience at Sombras forces more than self-reflection; it triggers a biological change in the visitor. According to research hosted by the National Library of Medicine, the adult brain has a “rapid plasticity” that triggers almost immediately when vision is blocked. In the 90 minutes spent at Sombras, diners begin to perceive the world through their other senses, assigning “visual power” to taste and touch.

Through this experience, guests can truly empathize – if only for a brief moment – with what it means to lose vision. 

“We try to make the people who visit our restaurant understand that we, even with a disability, can also be useful to society,” concluded Jonathan.

The post Dining in the dark: Inside Latin America’s only restaurant run by blind people appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

Latin America (LATAM) is currently at a pivotal point for Venture Capital (VC). The region had a hallmark year in investment in 2021, but as they say—what goes up, must come down. 

The region isn’t alone in its investment slowdown, however. Overall, global venture funding is down significantly, according to Crunchbase—mostly as a result of numbers being compared to record highs. And naturally, when records are set, a slowdown is not only predictable but is sometimes even projected. 

This past spring, the Latin American Business Associations (LABA) VC conference made this very prediction for LATAM’s regional market. Leaders forecasted this partly because LATAM still lacks a lot of the entrepreneurial infrastructure that startups need, such as more seed investors and better infrastructure. 

But not all hope is lost. 

In an interview with Bloomberg Linea, Carlos Ramos De la Vega, the VC director for LAVCA, an association for private capital in Latin America, said there is still a positive outlook for LATAM. According to the association’s data, 2022 is already the region’s second-strongest year for LATAM’s VC—meaning that the movements made by founders and investors on the ground floor will be critical for where the business sector lands at the end of 2022.

For Colombia, this slowdown could actually be an excellent opportunity to achieve certain benchmarks that need to improve in order to be more competitive in the LATAM VC landscape. 

Fostering the growth of its technological infrastructure, building strategies that help pique the interest of both local and international investors, and developing a supportive network for entrepreneurs on the ground floor will help Colombia evolve into a more mature player in the  LATAM business ecosystem.

Stage 1: Fostering Colombia’s Technological Boom

As of 2022, Colombia is one of the top economic contenders in LATAM alongside Mexico and Brazil, and the country’s economic year in 2021 blew away forecasts—growing at the fastest pace seen in more than a century. This has a lot to do with the country quickly getting on board with digital implementation, allowing modern industry to hit its stride. With much of Colombia’s economic rebound between 2021-2022 due to the technology industry, the country is experiencing a technological renaissance.

Out of the roughly 50 million Colombians, nearly 34 million started using the Internet following the onset of the pandemic, of which about 22 million then became regular online shopping users. According to the Colombian Chamber of Electronic Commerce (CCCE), in 2021, eCommerce remained at levels of more than double what was registered in 2019—even when physical stores had reopened their doors.

“The e-commerce sector went from being considered as a complementary sales channel to becoming the engine for economic reactivation,” said María Fernanda Quiñones, executive president of the Colombian Chamber of Electronic Commerce (CCCE).

This interest in the digital interface is good for innovation and local startups looking to lead the technological transformation. Yet, only 2% of Colombian companies carry out cross-border operations through electronic channels—making for some seriously untapped potential in the country’s online market. The CCCE is one governmental entity currently taking steps to implement infrastructure that will help get the ball rolling for companies wishing to digitize operations. 

“We recently launched eXporta.online, a free digital platform which is sponsored by Google. The platform seeks to prepare people, medium to small enterprises, and entrepreneurs for cross-border electronic commerce,” continued Quiñones. 

The platform analyzes close to 1,517 data points collected from different sources such as the World Bank, UNCTAD, and International Trade Center, among others. The data then creates an automated process that provides recommendations for the three best destination market options for companies who are looking to start utilizing eCommerce. The engine chooses these destinations based on the ideal confluence of demand, market stability, eCommerce, language, and access to that company’s product.

“Through cross-border e-commerce, businesses have the opportunity to diversify their market and not depend solely on the local economy,” said Quiñones. “In addition, strategic alliances can be created abroad that allow businesses to gain experience and become more competitive, expand opportunities, and increase their sales capacity.”

Digitizing commerce will be vital for ensuring that Colombia can remain competitive within the larger regional and international business markets. Now technologically primed and ready, the country can provide new opportunities to startups hailing from the country.

Stage 2: Transitioning Colombian VC From Seed to Series A 

Within the last decade, VCs from all over have been looking to Colombia for investments. Thanks to startups showing significant growth in both size and number, the VC sphere in the country has seen a noteworthy upward trend. 

This is backed by 2021’s numbers, as Colombia increased its overall value of funding to $1.24 billion—making for a 144% increase compared to 2020. Rappi is one example from the country that has helped to prove Colombian startups have the capacity to increase their valuations tenfold and build multi-billion USD companies. 

But this unicorn was the first of its kind, and there are many other startups in the ecosystem wondering how they can also see this kind of success.

“Startups have to show their path to profitability,” says Diego Noriega, Managing Partner at Newtopia, a venture capital firm that has made 60% of its most recent investments in Colombia. “It doesn’t always have to be immediate, but investors are preferring startups that have done their homework in making their company robust and know how to scale themselves.” 

According to the most recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), carried out by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Colombia actually presents the best conditions for entrepreneurship out of all the countries in LATAM. Investors’ confidence in the country has also grown at a global level, with Colombia now ranking at 25 as an investment destination worldwide. 

Global investors often inspire the growth of capital into emerging markets. With international investor notoriety, a ripple effect in funding occurs, leading to investment from multiple local sources and leveling up the market. This gives growing startups access to the knowledge and resources it takes to scale globally. It also means that founders and their teams must step up to the new level of play.

“At the beginning of a startup’s lifecycle, trust (from investors) is built around the problem that the company is solving, as well as their internal team. But, for Series A the game changes dramatically,” says Noriega. “Startups are not going to reach Series A unless they can show metrics that they can do so. There is no magic trick to fast-track this. Companies must achieve revenues and growth rates that show traction to get the interest from VCs who invest at this level.”

The next critical step for Colombia’s emerging businesses is to show investors that they have what it takes to climb the investment ladder from the seed stages to Series A—helping to propel the country to new entrepreneurial heights.

Stage 3: Creating a Supportive Startup Ecosystem

With digital transformation well on its way, and increasing interest from local and foreign investors, Colombia’s last step in maintaining competitiveness in LATAM commerce will be to build a supportive network for startups and enterprises alike. This is especially important in the current funding drought, and even more critical for developing startups that are just coming into their own.

According to Embroker, about 70% of startups fail during years two to five. This phase of hardship is termed “The valley of death”, and typically occurs after the company launches a product but has not yet seen any revenue. For Colombian companies navigating these growing pains, experiential insight can go a long way.

“The CCCE understands the importance of the country’s medium to small enterprises. This is why we seek to create a large community of companies, brands, and people with immense relationship potential that everyone can benefit from,” said Quiñones. “Training is still needed to develop new skills for entrepreneurs in their digital appropriation process. Understanding the importance of business models in digital commerce will make it easier to complete and foster sustainable digital transformation over time.”

The CCCE offers asynchronous courses that guide business owners and entrepreneurs in the construction of their internationalization plans. By improving the business sector’s digital literacy, and working on the articulation of state policies, they hope to promote the adoption of technology to both mature and emerging companies.

Startups also need to understand how the global marketplace works in Colombia, and this is where more seasoned players can come in to help support young startups. The insight of those who have come before them will help emerging companies understand the complexities of the business market within Colombia. 

Newtopia, a hands-on VC firm based in Argentina, is helping to connect startups from either side of the growth spectrum in the Colombian community. One of the most active venture capital firms in LATAM, Newtopia, recently arrived in Colombia to join the country’s entrepreneurs as they find the right product-market fit. Newtopia offers a hands-on mentorship model that guides startups through the more vulnerable initial stages—helping them to grow sustainably.

“Early-stage growth is vital. Without this, it’s impossible to achieve later stages. Latin America is a higher-risk market because sometimes there is no traction and in some cases, no product or revenue—a risk not many VCs are willing to take. At Newtopia we aim to help build startup-to-startup relationships to create healthier local, and thereby regional, ecosystems.”

Each semester, the VC accepts 10-15 startups for a 10-week program, filled with content and advice to help teams take their startups to the next level. The aim of the program is to share knowledge, channel smart money, and enhance experiences for early-stage startups. This week, the VC hosted a demo day in the capital city of Bogota, bringing startups together to exchange knowledge on navigating Colombia’s startup ecosystem.

This limited partner (LP) day was an opportunity for Colombian startups to pitch to Newtopia´s team, plus LPs, and investors hailing from top VCs in the US. Up-and-coming Colombian startups such as Beu, Ubanku, Lizit, Creditop, Orkid, and Alfred were all a part of the session. 

A Future for Colombia’s Entrepreneurial Community 

For Colombia to continue its consistent climb as one of the region’s most viable markets for startups, young companies must show VCs that they can achieve bigger outcomes—which will allow the ecosystem as a whole to graduate to the next level. 

“We must work together, as a society, to articulate the factors that will lead us to a digital as well as an inclusive economy,” said Quiñones. “This will help to promote the country as a business leader in the region.”

The future of Colombia’s startup community is bright, but ensuring that each one of these stages is achieved along the way will help the country commence a new wave of impacting startups for both the LATAM and global markets. 

Disclaimer: This article mentions a client of an Espacio portfolio company. 

The post Fueling The Startup Ecosystem: The Stages of VC Evolution in Colombia appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

Gerüchte im Netz besagen, Israels Ministerpräsident Netanjahu halte sich in Berlin auf. Doch das stimmt nicht, wie eine #Faktenfuchs-Recherche zeigt. Anlass für die falschen Behauptungen ist ein Flug seiner Regierungsmaschine.[mehr]

Design

M5 Max and M5 Pro Chip

Other Possible Updates

Why You Shouldn't Buy an M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pro

Launch Date

Polizisten gehen bundesweit gegen mutmaßliche politische Kriminalität im Netz vor. Unter Führung des Bundeskriminalamts laufen rund 140 Ermittlungsverfahren, es geht vor allem um Postings in sozialen Medien.[mehr]