News
Apple Watch Series 8 Could Tell You If You Have A Fever
The body temperature sensor won’t function like a traditional thermometer and give on-demand readings.
According to Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, the Apple Watch Series 8 will ship with a body temperature sensor. The sensor would extend the device’s health tracking capabilities, something the Apple Watch Series 7 failed to accomplish.
Gurman shared this information last week in his Power On newsletter. “You can expect some new health-tracking features in this year’s Apple Watch,” he wrote.
Besides the regular Apple Watch Series 8, the body temperature sensor is expected to make its way into a new rugged edition of the smartwatch. Unfortunately, the lower-end Apple Watch SE, which is also scheduled for release later this year, is unlikely to get it.
The body temperature sensor won’t function like a traditional thermometer and give on-demand readings. Instead, it will alert the user when their temperature increases by a certain number of degrees above their baseline, which can vary from person to person.
It’s likely that Apple has decided to go with this approach to body temperature detection because it doesn’t require the sensor to be highly accurate.
Also Read: How To Clean Your Apple Watch Like A Pro
Gurman also stated that other hardware changes would probably be minor. The Apple Watch Series 8 will probably use the same chip as the previous two models because Apple’s chip development team has been focused on the new M2 chips.
The use of the aging chip could keep the price of the Apple Watch Series 8 the same as the Apple Watch Series 7 despite the rising inflation and supply chain bottlenecks all tech manufacturers are currently experiencing.
On the other hand, Apple didn’t hesitate to increase the base price of the new MacBook Air from $999 to $1,199 when it announced the device in June 2022, so it’s possible that it won’t hesitate to increase the base price of the Apple Watch as well.
News
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget
The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
RØDE’s New DS3 Studio Arm Is Built For Heavier Creator Setups
Dubai Turns AI On Its Own Civil Service To Measure Productivity
Former Rockstar Director Dismisses GTA 6 Leaks As “Nothing Burger”
Qatar Airways Flies The World’s First Starlink-Equipped 787-9
Spotify Will Now Tell You If Your Favorite Artist Isn’t Real
Instagram Redraws Its Wordmark And The Internet Reads “Instagzam”
Anghami’s New Elite Program Starts With A Three-Decade Catalog
Qatar Is Getting Its First EV Plant, Built To Cope With Gulf Heat
Dubai’s aradus Wants AI To Run The Back Office Of Physical Trade
-
News3 weeks agoInstagram Redraws Its Wordmark And The Internet Reads “Instagzam”
-
News3 weeks agoAnghami’s New Elite Program Starts With A Three-Decade Catalog
-
News3 weeks agoQatar Is Getting Its First EV Plant, Built To Cope With Gulf Heat
-
News3 weeks agoDubai’s aradus Wants AI To Run The Back Office Of Physical Trade