The Latest from Gadget Hacks: Page 14

The Google Pixel 9a is $399 at Amazon, Google's own store, and other major retailers a $100 reduction from its $499 list price that covers every available color, according to Kotaku this week. Engadget already called it the best-value Android available at $499. At $399, the math shifts considerably.

Samsung's default UI is getting more accessible faster than its screen-reader stack is reaching parity. That's the clearest way to read what early One UI 9 development signals are showing: consistent interface improvements baked into everyday surfaces, with no corresponding progress on the assistive technology problems that One UI 8 left open for blind users.

A fan has remade the Windows 10 Hero wallpaper in the visual style of Windows 11, and you can download this Windows 11 inspired Windows 10 Hero wallpaper right now for free. One hard constraint before clicking anything: the file is 1920×1080 only. If your monitor runs above 1080p and resolution fidelity matters to you, skip this file entirely. The official Hero variants go up to 4K and are already stored locally at %SystemRoot%\Web\Wallpaper\4K on any Windows 10 machine, according to the...

Google has brought its Live Translate feature to iPhone, and the change that matters is this: real-time audio translation now runs through any pair of headphones, covers more than 70 languages, and costs nothing beyond the free Google Translate app. The rollout began Thursday, expanding Google Translate live translate on iOS headphones for the first time while simultaneously extending availability across both platforms to twelve countries, per the Google blog (March 26, 2026).

This guide walks through building a single USB drive that boots Windows 11, runs MemTest86 for memory diagnostics, and holds additional tools all without ever reformatting. By the end, you'll have a drive you update by copying files, not rebuilding from scratch.

The first detailed look at Motorola's next clamshell flagship arrived this week via leaked CAD renders, and the company appears to have changed almost nothing. That's not an oversight. It's a calculated move from a manufacturer that currently holds roughly half the US foldable market.

Android 17 Beta 3 Priority Charging has surfaced in a teardown published today, pointing to a feature that would pause background activity like app updates to free up capacity for a faster charge when time is short. The feature, discovered by Android Authority, has no user-facing presence in Beta 3 settings and has not been confirmed by Google. What makes it worth paying attention to anyway: it suggests Google is building toward a charging system organized around scenarios rather than a single...

On Feb. 11, 2026, Bloomberg reported that iOS 26.5 is planned for a May release and that Apple engineers working on upgraded Siri capabilities have been redirected to continue that work through iOS 26.5 after problems emerged during iOS 26.4 testing. Run Apple's typical four-to-six-week beta window backward from a May public release, and the iOS 26.5 beta release date lands in April or early May. Here's why that window makes sense.

These games exist nowhere else. Friday Night Baseball on Apple TV is the only way to watch two MLB games every Friday night in 2026, and if your subscription isn't set up, you'll miss first pitch tonight. This guide covers exactly what you need: the right plan, which devices work, what it costs, and every confirmed game through June 26.

The March Pixel Drop delivered something Pixel owners have wanted for years: native app icon customization without a third-party launcher. Google Pixel home screen customization took a real step forward this month, but the way Google built the feature draws a clear line around how much control it's actually handing over.

Google released Android 17 Beta 3 on Thursday, and the headline feature is one the company technically announced a month ago: a floating windowed mode called Bubbles that never shipped in Beta 2. It's live now. So is Desktop Interactive Picture-in-Picture for external displays. Both land at Platform Stability, meaning the API surface is locked and the Android Developers release notes confirm stable Android 17 is on track for June 2026.

Android 17 Beta 3, released this week, takes on one of Android's most stubborn camera problems: the gap between what the stock camera app can do and what every other app is stuck with. Google has added support for Android 17 vendor-defined camera extensions, a mechanism that lets phone makers expose custom camera processing pipelines, things like Super Resolution or proprietary AI enhancements, to any third-party app that queries for them, according to Google's official Android 17 release notes...

The world of rugged smartphones just got a whole lot more interesting. While most of us worry about our phones surviving a simple drop, there's a new breed of Android device that's designed to literally help you survive in the wilderness—complete with fire-starting capabilities and enough juice to charge other devices, including some laptops when you're miles from civilization.

Australia's internet regulator is now considering one of the most aggressive digital policy moves we've seen yet—potentially forcing Apple to block AI apps that don't implement proper age verification systems. This development represents a significant escalation from the country's groundbreaking social media restrictions, as Australia became the first nation to ban social media use for children under 16. The Australian government is now expanding its youth protection framework to include app...

Apple's privacy-first approach has always been a cornerstone of its brand identity, but recent developments suggest the company might be preparing for a significant strategic shift. Reports from The Information and other tech industry sources indicate that Apple has reportedly asked Google to explore hosting a future Gemini-powered Siri on Google-run servers, potentially marking one of the most surprising partnerships in Big Tech history.

Vivo X200 Pro: The Telephoto Revolution That's Redefining Mobile Photography

AdHoc Studio's Dispatch is coming to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, supported gaming handhelds, and Xbox Cloud this summer as a full Xbox Play Anywhere title, Xbox Wire confirmed today. The Dispatch Xbox release date is summer 2026, though no specific date within that window has been announced. One purchase covers both console and PC, with save progress shared across devices.

Apple is rebuilding Siri from the ground up. The new version, code-named Campos, is designed to function as a full AI chatbot embedded across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, placing it in direct competition with ChatGPT and Claude. That much is the product story. The platform story is more revealing: as Apple broadens access to third-party chatbots, it's doing so in ways that preserve every structural advantage Siri currently holds. This iOS 27 Siri AI chatbot integration is less about opening Apple's...

Netflix has raised prices across all its U.S. subscription plans, including a first-ever increase to its ad-supported tier. The Netflix price increase 2026 takes effect immediately for new customers and at the next billing cycle for existing subscribers, covering the U.S., Canada, Portugal, and Argentina.

When Apple launched Creator Studio in late January 2026, it came with an explicit footnote: Freeform support was coming later. iOS 26.4, released this week, closes that gap. By adding Freeform, Apple has now brought Creator Studio perks to the last major first-party productivity app that was still missing them, transforming the subscription from a professional software bundle into something with broader reach across Apple's entire creative and productivity suite.

What many headlines call "RCS 4.0 video calls" refers to something more specific: GSMA Universal Profile 3.0, finalized in February 2025, which formally defines IP video call capability as part of the RCS standard for the first time. Android already has the platform infrastructure to execute those calls. What does not exist, as of March 2026, is any app that has shipped it.

The Dynamic Island is surviving the iPhone 18 Pro. After months of conflicting reports about top-left punch-hole cameras, full under-display Face ID, and the outright elimination of Apple's pill-shaped cutout, the strongest available evidence points to a device that looks nearly identical to current models. Two days ago, MacRumors cited Weibo leaker Fixed Focus Digital reporting that Apple's under-display development is hitting snags, with the iPhone 18 Pro's front panel potentially unchanged...

A new iPhone design leak describing glass wrapping all four edges of the device circulated this week, and the underlying concept is genuine. Apple is researching it. Multiple high-confidence sources have been reporting on it for nearly a year. But there's a significant difference between credible research and near-term product, and this new iPhone design leak conflates the two in ways worth unpacking.

21 Quick Apple Music Tips That Will Instantly Upgrade Your Listening Experience

iOS 26.4: Navigating Apple's Vision for Tomorrow's Mobile Experience

Apple still plans to ship a 20th anniversary iPhone all-screen display with no visible cutouts, no Dynamic Island, and every front-facing sensor buried beneath uninterrupted glass. What changed this week is how much confidence anyone should have in the path to get there.

Siri has been underperforming for so long that critiquing it feels like a ritual. But something different is happening with the iOS 27 overhaul. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, reported through MacRumors two days ago, the new iOS 27 Siri chatbot is designed to collapse web search, personal data retrieval, cross-app actions, and conversational AI into a single interface, with no app switching, no re-establishing context, no accepting that your phone has no idea who you are. That's the...

The AirPods Max 2 announcement has arrived, and if you're wondering whether Apple's latest premium headphones justify another look at your wallet, you're not alone. After years of waiting for a meaningful update to the original AirPods Max, Apple has finally revealed what's next for their flagship over-ear headphones. But here's the thing—this isn't the dramatic overhaul many were hoping for.

When Bluetooth breaks on a Pixel, the standard advice toggle it off, reboot, forget and re-pair works fine for a confused pairing. It does nothing for a failure where Bluetooth won't turn on at all, or where the radio stack crashes every time it tries to initialize. Those aren't the same problem. They need different responses.

Apple released tvOS 26.4 this week, and for anyone running an Apple TV 4K with a soundbar or receiver, the headline is a real one: the update fixes a years-long audio glitch that produced pops, dropouts, and clipped dialogue every time the Apple TV switched between sound formats. That fix alone justifies the install. The tvOS 26.4 new features beyond that are smaller but deliberate Apple retiring the last iTunes-era apps, adding a discovery layer to the TV app, and making subtitle adjustments...

A vulnerability in Samsung's Exynos firmware can crash an affected phone remotely, without authentication, and without the device owner doing anything at all. That part is documented. The claim spreading across social media that anyone can reboot a Galaxy phone simply by sending a link goes further than the available evidence supports. Here's what the research on CVE-2025-62817 actually shows, what remains unconfirmed, and what Exynos Galaxy owners should do right now.

You know how frustrating it is when you need to analyze a PDF on your phone, but the mobile version of Google's AI Mode only handles images? That annoyance is about to disappear. Google is finally preparing to bring PDF support to AI Mode on Android, closing a gap that's been forcing users to jump through hoops just to work with documents on their mobile devices.

Apple Maps Visited Places in iOS 26: What It Does and How It Works

The wireless Android Auto adapter market is about to get a fresh contender—and we're getting our first real look at it before the official launch. Motorola's upcoming MA2 dongle has surfaced in an FCC listing that reveals nearly everything about the device, from its physical design to how it'll work in your vehicle.

From UK age prompts to California's 2027 mandate, smartphone operating systems are becoming the new chokepoint for age verification. Apple is shaping what that looks like.

Spotify launched Artist Profile Protection on March 24, an opt-in beta that lets artists approve or reject releases before they attach to their profile, catalog, and recommendations. For the first time, the default works in artists' favor: if nothing happens, the release is blocked. Before this feature existed, an incorrectly attributed track was already live by the time anyone could act on it, according to Music Business Worldwide and Billboard coverage on March 24.

Apple's China smartphone sales jumped 23% in the first nine weeks of 2026. Over roughly the same January-through-early-March window, the broader Chinese smartphone market fell 4% year-on-year. Both numbers come from the same Counterpoint data published six days ago. They are not contradictory. They describe the same phenomenon: Apple taking share in a pool that is actively contracting.

OpenAI announced today that it is shutting down Sora, its standalone AI video app, and the most immediate corporate casualty is a Disney licensing deal that was barely three months old. The three-year agreement, announced in December 2025, had licensed over 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars characters to Sora users. Disney CEO Bob Iger called it "an important moment for our industry." It lasted about a quarter.

macOS 26.4 ships with a new security popup that fires when a user pastes a command into Terminal. Based on developer reports following the release, the prompt appears to halt execution until the user explicitly confirms, and early testing suggests it's enabled by default in the native Terminal application, per Apple's release notes published this week. No configuration appears to be required, consistent with Apple's pattern of shipping security features in an on-by-default state, per Apple's...

Calling Cards on Pixel Watch have gone from a footnote in Google's help documentation to a feature producing real behavior on real hardware. 9to5Google reported earlier this month that live sightings during actual Pixel Watch calls have been confirmed, moving this well past the "coming soon" stage. For Pixel Watch owners, the payoff is straightforward: a glance at your wrist during an incoming call tells you who's calling, no phone required.