James Altucher:

A Japanese Startup Built a Speaker That’s Basically a Sheet of Fabric

Japanese startup Sensia Technology has introduced what it describes as the first portable speaker made entirely of sound-emitting fabric, an approach that replaces rigid cones and enclosures with flexible electronic components, allowing the woven material itself to function as an audio transducer across its entire surface.

The technology originated at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in 2018, where researchers demonstrated a thin, lightweight, bendable electronic textile. Sensia's new product represents the first commercial application of that research, adapting the concept into a consumer-ready format.

The design is based on electrostatic speaker architecture, a method that uses electrical attraction and repulsion to generate sound. Sensia's fabric integrates conductive fibers into a capacitor-like structure: two flexible conductive layers separated by a thin dielectric film.

When an audio signal is applied, it modulates the electric field between these layers, causing the fabric to vibrate and subtly displace air. The result is audible sound distributed evenly across the entire textile surface, without the need for localized driver components.

If the technology scales, Sensia's fabric speaker could inform the next generation of embedded or wearable audio systems, integrating sound into everyday materials rather than enclosing it in rigid devices.

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Enrique Abeyta:

U.S. Unemployment Rate Rises for 4 Consecutive Readings, First Time Since 2009

A double dose of long-delayed jobs data landed this morning, with the release of nonfarm payrolls for October and November. The unemployment rate rose by more than expected to 4.6% in November, while 64,000 jobs were added.

Economists expected nonfarm payrolls growth of 50,000 with the unemployment rate edging higher to 4.5%. The U.S. unemployment rate has now risen for four consecutive readings for the first time since June 2009.

Event contracts indicated that the masses thought nonfarm payrolls growth for November would come in above 25,000 (74%) but below 100,000 (with above that level having a probability of 21%) heading into this release.

This was a messy set of data, as these reports had been long delayed in light of the government shutdown, and no unemployment rate was produced for October.

The delayed impact of federal government buyouts related to DOGE meaningfully weighed on October’s nonfarm payrolls figure, which contracted by 105,000. More than all of this was tied to a 162,000 decline in federal government jobs. Private payrolls rose by 52,000 in the 10th month of the year.

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Davis Wilson:

Ford Just Pulled the Plug on the All-Electric F-150 Lightning

Ford has decided the F-150 Lightning has run out of juice.

The Detroit giant has revealed that the rumors are true and that it is ending production of its all-electric truck, according to the Associated Press. The company will still make a pickup with an electric motor, but it will be joined by a gas-powered range extender going forward, making the vehicle a hybrid.

The automaker announced on Monday that production of the F-150 Lightning came to an end when it finished building its final 2025 examples this month. In doing so, the company has admitted defeat on a vehicle that it touted as one of the most important in its history when it debuted in 2021.

The move represents a drastic pivot in the manufacturer’s multi-billion-dollar electrification strategy. No model was more vital to the company’s embrace of EVs than the F-150 Lightning, which was an all-electric of the company’s perennially best-selling truck.

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