The Latest from Gadget Hacks: Page 10

When you first see the leaked One UI 8.5 build running on a Galaxy S25 Ultra, it is clear Samsung is cooking up something special. Android Authority showcased this early firmware, revealing rounded corners, pill-shaped icons, and bottom bars that signal a major shift in Samsung's design philosophy. While SamMobile demonstrated features like the fully customizable quick settings panel and Direct Voicemail in their hands-on video, the firmware remains buggy and incomplete, hinting at Samsung's...

Apple's Visual Intelligence just got a major upgrade in iOS 26, and honestly, it's about time. The original feature launched in iOS 18.2 as a Camera Control button that could describe your surroundings and translate text. Now Apple has extended Visual Intelligence in iOS 26 to work with content that's on your iPhone. Not a minor tweak, a shift in how you act on what you see, from shopping finds to event planning.

Reviewed by Jame Jimenez

When two tech giants like Intel and Apple start talking investment, you pay attention. Intel has reached out in hopes of securing an investment from Apple Inc., a move that could shape the next chapter of semiconductor history. The timing is a twist worth savoring. Apple was a longtime customer of Intel before developing its own in-house chip in 2020. Now the old partners might reunite, only with Intel in the supplicant seat rather than the supplier chair. Intel's stock rose about 6.4%...

Microsoft's latest venture into handheld gaming is here, and the pricing is already sparking debate. The ROG Xbox Ally has been priced at $599.99, and its premium sibling, the ROG Xbox Ally X, commands a hefty $999.99. What makes that pop is that the ROG Xbox Ally X costs substantially more than a current Xbox Series X; the base Ally ($599.99) is cheaper than the Series X following Microsoft's Oct. 2025 price updates. The ROG Xbox Ally X is potentially the most expensive Xbox-branded device to...

Since the DMA entered into force on Nov. 1, 2022, and began to apply from May 2, 2023, Apple isn't pulling any punches. The company claims regulators have created a mess that's hurting the very people the law was supposed to help. It argues that the DMA is forcing "concerning changes" to how it designs products, while Samsung currently leads European smartphone shipments and, unlike Apple, was not among the Commission's first designated DMA gatekeepers (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta,...

The Apple ecosystem just got more complicated, and more exciting. Apple's standard AirPods now offer active noise cancellation for an additional $50, bringing them closer to the AirPods Pro than ever before. At the same time, the AirPods Pro 3 adopt a more streamlined case design, but Apple hasn't announced a hidden LED indicator or capacitive pairing button. While adding headline features like heart rate monitoring and stronger active noise cancellation. With many new differences, the choice...

Reviewed by Jame Jimenez

Reviewed by Jame Jimenez

Google's latest legal maneuver is a last-ditch bid to avoid a rewrite of Android. Google has petitioned the US Supreme Court for emergency relief to halt sweeping changes to its Android app store after losing its antitrust fight with Epic Games. The company asked the court to decide by October 17 whether to pause the order, and it is planning to file its appeal to the Supreme Court by October 27. The stakes reach beyond one platform or one lawsuit, straight into how digital marketplaces are...

Reviewed by Jame Jimenez

When tech giants flex their app store muscles, whole communities feel it. The recent removal of ICE-spotting applications from both Apple and Google's platforms was not just another moderation call, it put the collision of technology, civil liberties, and corporate responsibility on center stage.

Apple just dropped some serious updates to the ecosystem, and there's plenty to chew on. iOS 26 came out recently, with a fresh interface and power-user capabilities. Right on its heels, Apple released the first iOS 26.1 developer beta for iPhone, pushing the platform even further. But it's not all smooth sailing. We're also seeing concerning durability issues with the iPhone 17 Pro that have Apple scrambling to respond. So what actually matters here?

Every September, Apple drops the familiar line about the "best iPhone lineup ever." Most years, that is marketing gloss on small tweaks. This time, with the iPhone 17 series, it actually lands. 9to5Mac notes that Apple has made four fantastic new iPhone models, and every new iPhone this year is a winner. The numbers agree, analysts reported pre-order demand was about 25% higher than the iPhone 16 series a year prior. Here is why this lineup feels like a real reset of Apple's iPhone hierarchy.

Reviewed by Jame Jimenez

You know that feeling when you see something so impossibly thin you almost can't believe it's real? That was me when I first held the iPhone Air's remarkable 5.6mm profile. Then came the wild part, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reports that next year's iPhone Fold could measure just 4.5-4.8mm when unfolded. Let me put that in perspective. We are talking about a foldable phone that is potentially a full millimeter thinner than Apple's thinnest device ever.

Google is intensifying its efforts to bring a full-fledged Android experience to desktop PCs, teaming up with semiconductor company Qualcomm to challenge traditional operating systems. Qualcomm's CEO Cristiano Amon has lauded an early version of the Android desktop software as "incredible." Sounds exciting. Still, the red flags are hard to miss. The pitch feels revolutionary, the early signals point to headaches.

Reviewed by Jame Jimenez

If you've been hit with an unexpected popup telling you to verify your age on YouTube, you're not alone. What started as a limited test is now a broad rollout affecting users across the platform. That rapid expansion means millions more people are suddenly subject to algorithmic age checks that can reshape what they can watch.

YouTube has been listening to its users, and for once, the feedback loop actually worked. After years of viewers complaining about those pesky end-screen popups cluttering up their viewing experience, Engadget reports that YouTube will now let viewers dismiss the popups and video suggestions that appear at the end of videos with a new "Hide" button. While these end screen popups are a standard part of most YouTube videos (Engadget), viewers increasingly wanted the ability to dismiss them and...

When Apple enthusiasts lined up to get their hands on the shiny new iPhone 17 Pro models, they probably didn’t expect to witness what’s quickly becoming known as "Scratchgate." Yet here we are, just days after launch, and customers are reporting scratches on brand-new iPhone 17 Pro units that look like they’ve been through a pocket full of keys.

When emergencies strike, every second counts. Whether you are caught in severe weather, facing a natural disaster, or dealing with other urgent threats, timely, accurate information can be the difference between life and death. That is exactly what makes TuneIn's new partnership with FEMA so compelling, it brings real-time emergency alerts directly to drivers through their vehicle dashboards and mobile streams.

Apple's latest flagship has just gone under the knife, and what iFixit found inside is a fascinating mix of engineering brilliance and design compromises. The teardown video, nearly 11 minutes long, starts with two Torx screws at the bottom and quickly gets interesting. A new cooling system. A camera plateau that scratches too easily. Plenty to chew on.

Ad, skip, another ad. Sound familiar? YouTube Premium Lite aims to break that loop without blowing up your budget. YouTube Premium Lite costs $7.99 a month, positioning itself as a more affordable alternative to the full Premium experience. The service removes ads on most YouTube videos, wherever you are watching them, while YouTube doesn’t charge a cent for hosting all of your uploaded videos or showing them to the world. With interruptions getting longer and more frequent, the question is...

Reviewed by Jame Jimenez

Apple's iPhone 17 Pro is in the spotlight for two very different reasons: a bold thermal design and some eyebrow-raising durability quirks. iFixit's comprehensive teardown analysis takes us inside the hardware, showing why Apple made its first return to aluminum in eight years, and how the new cooling system and the so-called "scratchgate" can both be true at once.

Apple's Live Translation feature for AirPods is one of the boldest attempts yet to chip away at language barriers with everyday tech. Curious if this sci‑fi idea actually works in the wild? You're in the right place. Here's what to know, from setup to the feel of a real conversation.

When I examine the Android ecosystem, with its commanding 70% global market share, what strikes me most is the mobility between brands. I keep coming back to this: people move. A lot. While Samsung dominates with 19.7% market share in Q2 2025, recent survey data reveals something unexpected, Galaxy users are not automatically planning to stick with Samsung for their next upgrade.

YouTube’s latest policy reversal reads like a plot twist. Alphabet announced Tuesday that YouTube will give creators a path back if they were banned under COVID-19 and election misinformation policies that no longer exist. The move reflects the company’s commitment to free speech and continues YouTube’s loosening of moderation.

Disney's latest price hike announcement couldn't have come at a worse time. While Disney has raised prices every October for three years running, this round lands with a thud. The company is hiking prices across almost all streaming plans starting October 21, 2025, with increases ranging from $2 to $3 per month. What makes this especially problematic? The timing collides with ongoing subscriber cancellations after recent controversies, with subscriptions reportedly "hemorrhaging" after the...

The European Union just fired its biggest regulatory salvo yet at Big Tech's handling of online financial fraud, and Apple finds itself right in the crosshairs. The timing is hard to ignore. Just as regulators forced Apple to support third-party app marketplaces in Europe, they are asking whether the company is doing enough to stop scams across its ecosystem. This is not another routine skirmish, it is a direct test of how Apple balances security, control, and compliance in a messy, real-world...

When you look at the payments landscape today, it is hard not to be impressed by how quickly Apple turned a complex, hardware dependent process into something as simple as tapping two phones together. The company’s latest announcement that Tap to Pay on iPhone is now available in five countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Monaco, and Norway might read like a routine expansion. It is not. We are watching the late innings of a transformation in how European businesses accept payments.

When Elon Musk's legal team filed papers in a Texas federal court this August, they were not just taking aim at Apple's App Store policies, they were launching what could be the most consequential antitrust battle in the AI era. xAI's lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI alleges a coordinated effort to suppress competition, with Apple and OpenAI jointly moving to dismiss the claims. The stakes? Billions of dollars in damages and potentially the future of AI competition itself.

Google Home just got a game-changer that’s been quietly rolling out, and honestly, it’s about time. The Verge reports you can now control more Google Home devices from your desktop, while 9to5Google confirms device controls are now widely rolled out to the Google Home web app. This ability to control smart devices from Home’s web app was first teased by Google back in June, and is now widely rolled out.

Apple's announcement that Tap to Pay on iPhone is now available in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Monaco, and Norway is not just another feature drop. It is a strategic move that shows how regulatory pressure, technological innovation, and market demand are reshaping Europe’s payments scene. Apple announced on 2025-09-23 that the contactless solution turns any iPhone into a payment terminal, no extra hardware required beyond a partner-enabled iOS app. The timing matters, coming after Apple's 2024...

T-Mobile's digital transformation journey represents one of the most aggressive moves we've seen in the wireless industry recently. T-Mobile says it expects T-Life to handle the majority (or nearly all) of account transactions by 2026 as it embraces a comprehensive digital-first approach that's reshaping how millions of customers interact with their carrier. Not just another app update. A fundamental shift that touches everything from upgrading your phone to managing your account.

You know that feeling when a software update makes you do a double-take? That's exactly what these One UI 8.5 leaks are doing. While One UI 8 is just starting to roll out to Galaxy phones worldwide, Samsung is already cooking up something that might make iPhone users pause and wonder if the grass really is greener on the Android side.

WhatsApp just made communicating across languages ridiculously easy. Engadget reports that the messaging giant is now rolling out message translations on both iOS and Android apps, a big step for more than 3 billion monthly users who chat across borders. The twist, and it matters, is that translations are handled entirely on your device to maintain privacy, so WhatsApp still cannot peek at your encrypted chats.

Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S26 series is getting real buzz, and not just from spec-sheet chasers. The latest leaks point to the Samsung Galaxy S26 getting support for APV, Samsung's Advanced Professional Video codec, the kind of feature that can flip how we think about shooting on a phone. With APV supporting visually lossless recording and LOG profiles plus HDR metadata, pros get latitude and hobbyists get headroom. And because APV offers up to 20% better space than Apple ProRes (per early...

Apple's latest iPhone releases have sparked intense curiosity about their real-world durability. With the iPhone Air being Apple's thinnest phone (5.64mm) and the iPhone 17 Pro featuring new aluminum unibody designs, tech enthusiasts are eager to see how these devices hold up under extreme conditions. Thin is in, but durability still matters. Recent testing reveals a fascinating story of engineering triumph and persistent vulnerabilities that every potential buyer should understand.