HeyWhatsNew: AI Recreates Voice Lost to MND and Microsoft Brings Copilot Directly Into Excel Cells
Hello, Heyuppers! Ready for your weekly fix of tech, gaming, and innovation? Here’s what’s trending for the week of August 18, 2025.
Hyperkin’s DualSense-Inspired Xbox Controller Arrives This October
Xbox players who’ve been eyeing the PlayStation 5’s sleek DualSense controller finally have something to cheer about. Hyperkin’s long-awaited Competitor controller is hitting shelves this October for $49.99. First teased in 2019, the controller takes clear design cues from PlayStation’s DualSense with its symmetrical joystick layout and modern look. At launch, black and white versions will be available in North America, while red, blue, and gold editions will arrive in Europe and Australia before expanding to other regions.
Under the hood, the Competitor brings solid upgrades for Xbox gamers, including anti-drift Hall effect joysticks, impulse triggers, a separated D-pad, two back buttons with locks, and a dedicated mic mute button. While it doesn’t pack the haptics and adaptive triggers of Sony’s controller, its wired-only setup guarantees no battery headaches, making it a reliable and affordable option for players looking for a fresh controller design.
Microsoft Brings AI Copilot Directly Into Excel Cells
Microsoft is integrating its Copilot AI directly into Excel spreadsheet cells with a new in-cell function, =COPILOT(). This lets users run large language model (LLM) tasks like data analysis, text classification, and content generation without switching between tools. You can type requests in plain English and even pull in specific cell ranges as context. Results update automatically when data changes and can be combined with Excel formulas like IF, SWITCH, or LAMBDA.
The function can summarize datasets, classify text, generate ideas, or create tables and lists directly in Excel. Data privacy is maintained—nothing sent to Copilot trains AI models, and live web or internal company data isn’t pulled in yet. Currently available to Microsoft 365 Beta users, the tool uses pre-trained AI (likely GPT-4o) and will be upgraded to GPT-5. Microsoft is also improving features like large array support and date handling, marking a major workflow upgrade from the previous sidebar-only Copilot experience.
Android Users Turn Away From X, Revenue Takes a Hit
X is hitting a wall on Android. In July 2025, Google Play installs fell 44% year-over-year, dragging overall downloads down 26% despite iOS growth of 15%, according to Appfigures. The Android app’s buggy reputation seems to be catching up with it, but new product chief Nikita Bier says an “Android Dream Team” is on the way to rebuild the app and turn things around.
That slump is also hitting subscriptions. X made $16.9 million in net revenue in July, slipping from $18.8 million in March. Some users are leaving for Grok’s new AI app, while Meta’s Threads is steadily catching up in mobile activity. Ads remain X’s main money-maker, but the drops in installs and subscriptions show the platform needs to steady its footing fast.
Nvidia Developing More Powerful AI Chip for China
Nvidia is developing a new AI chip for China that’s set to outperform the H20 model currently approved for sale there. Tentatively called the B30A, it’s based on Nvidia’s latest Blackwell architecture and includes high-bandwidth memory and NVLink for fast data transfers. Samples could reach Chinese clients as early as next month, though U.S. regulatory approval is still uncertain.
China is a key market for Nvidia, accounting for around 13% of its revenue last year, and the B30A is part of the company’s plan to stay competitive in the region. Nvidia is also developing a simpler, China-specific chip for AI inference tasks, designed to meet regulatory rules while keeping developers in its ecosystem. The move comes as Nvidia faces competition from rivals like Huawei and aims to maintain its position in the global AI market.
Umamusume Fan Turns Smart Fridge Into Gaming Luck Booster
A dedicated Umamusume: Pretty Derby player has gone viral for taking his love of the game to the next level—by playing it on his smart fridge. TikTok user ‘Soultgs’ showcased training his horse girl Mihono Bourbon on a Samsung refrigerator, joking that if he can use a fridge, why not? In one clip, he faced a risky 24% failure chance while training, but claimed that playing on the fridge gave him “boosted luck.” Surprisingly, the gamble paid off, adding a quirky and playful twist to his gameplay.
While Mihono Bourbon didn’t ultimately win her race, Soultgs celebrated her effort, noting that she had “tried her hardest.” His fridge-based gaming has sparked laughs and admiration online, as viewers marvel at his creativity and dedication. The clips highlight not just his unusual setup, but the lengths fans will go to make their gaming experience fun, interactive, and maybe even a little lucky, showing the playful side of the Umamusume community.
AI Recreates Real Voice for Woman Silenced by Motor Neurone Disease
Sarah Ezekiel lost her voice and the use of her hands to motor neurone disease (MND) at age 34, shortly after becoming a mother for the second time. For 25 years, her children only knew her through a robotic synthetic voice, while Sarah relied on eye-gaze technology to communicate and even return to her passion for painting. Recently, Bristol-based company Smartbox used just eight seconds of audio from an old VHS tape to recreate her real voice using AI, giving Sarah the chance to speak again in her own tone for the first time in decades.
The impact on Sarah and her family has been profound. Her children, Aviva and Eric, can now hear their mother’s real voice, helping them connect with her emotions in a way that was impossible with a synthetic voice. Hearing her restored voice brought Sarah to tears, and the technology has brought the family closer together, allowing her personality, humor, and emotion to shine through. Experts say AI voice restoration is transforming lives by preserving individuality and the unique qualities of people’s voices, giving those affected by conditions like MND a way to truly be themselves again.
Catch you next week, Heyuppers! We’ve got more exciting stories and tech news coming your way.
