The Latest from Gadget Hacks: Page 21

If you've ever juggled two SIM cards on a Samsung Galaxy phone, you know the drill: swapping between lines for data, calls, or texts isn't exactly seamless. You're constantly diving into settings, tapping through menus, and second-guessing which SIM is actually active. For frequent travelers, dual-line professionals, or anyone managing multiple carriers, it's a friction point that adds up fast. But Samsung's upcoming One UI 8.5 update is about to change that—and if you're a power user who...

Apple's CEO Tim Cook just wrapped up the company's Q1 2026 earnings call, and one exchange is making waves across tech circles. When pressed about whether rising memory costs might force Apple to raise product prices, Cook didn't shut the door—instead, he left it conspicuously ajar. Memory expenses had only a modest effect on the most recent quarter, according to Apple's earnings transcript, but Cook acknowledged the company has "a range of options" to address future cost pressures.

NVIDIA's Shield TV has long been the streaming device of choice for power users who demand more than basic video playback. Now, with the company dropping hints about potential next-generation hardware, it's worth exploring what upgrades might be on the horizon—and whether they'll address the gaps that have emerged as competing devices catch up. The current Shield TV models continue to offer unique capabilities, but according to recent analysis, even NVIDIA's flagship faces pressure to evolve...

YouTube has been locked in a long-running battle with adblockers, and the latest skirmish might be hitting users right in the comments section. Recent reports suggest that some users with adblockers enabled are finding comment sections mysteriously absent from videos—a potential new tactic in the platform's ongoing effort to discourage ad-blocking software. While YouTube hasn't officially confirmed this as an intentional anti-adblock measure, the pattern emerging from user experiences raises...

Android users have dealt with a frustrating quirk for years: Driving Mode either refused to turn on when you needed it, or worse, activated randomly while you were sitting on the couch. Google has now addressed this long-standing automation headache by restoring Bluetooth-based triggers for Driving Mode on Pixel devices through version 26.05.32 of Google Play Services, according to Android Central. This change means your phone can now recognize when it connects to your car's Bluetooth head unit...

The foldable phone market has been steadily maturing over the past few years, and while Samsung and Motorola are high-profile players in clamshell foldables — Motorola has recently expanded its market share, one manufacturer has been quietly experimenting with a radically different approach. Huawei's first-generation Pura X flip phone turned heads not for following industry norms, but for boldly ignoring them—featuring a compact / square cover display (≈3.5-inch, ~980×980) and an unconventional...

Apple Pay might seem like just a convenient way to tap your phone at checkout, but beneath that seamless experience lies one of the most contentious legal battles in modern tech. The payment service has become a lightning rod for allegations that range from corporate theft to anticompetitive monopolization—claims that could fundamentally reshape how Apple monetizes its ecosystem.

Imagine this: you're browsing the Play Store, eyeing a new app, and you've got questions. Does it work offline? Can it sync with your other devices? What's that subscription really going to cost you? Until now, you'd probably install the app to find out, dig through reviews, or fire up a separate Google search. Google is changing that dynamic with a smarter version of its AI-powered Q&A tool, now rolling out more widely across the Play Store. The company is leveraging Gemini AI to put answers...

The music streaming landscape has undergone a seismic shift, and one platform now stands at the absolute center of the industry's financial ecosystem. Spotify distributed over $11 billion in royalties to the music industry in 2024, according to the company, marking what Spotify says is the largest annual payment to music from any single retailer in history.

Google just rolled out a significant expansion to Android's anti-theft toolkit, introducing stronger authentication barriers and more granular user controls designed to protect your data when your phone is stolen. The tech giant announced the updates recently, building on protections that were first previewed at I/O 2024 and tested in select markets throughout the year.

How Record Labels Use iTunes to Manipulate Billboard Charts

Samsung's February event is shaping up to be one of the most significant tech launches of early 2026. Based on the latest intelligence from industry insiders, we're looking at a showcase that could redefine Samsung's flagship lineup while introducing some genuinely exciting innovations. The timing represents a slight shift from Samsung's usual schedule, with reports indicating the event is scheduled for February 25, per Samsung's invitation, marking a departure from their typical January or...

Making the jump from a four-year-old iPhone to Apple's latest flagship brings some surprising discoveries alongside the expected upgrades. After spending quality time with the iPhone 17 Pro Max, the improvements are more nuanced than Apple's marketing suggests, with some changes feeling transformational while others prove less impactful than anticipated.

The AI era isn't just changing how we build technology—it's fundamentally reshaping how companies work together. Apple's groundbreaking $1 billion annual partnership with Google demonstrates that even the fiercest competitors must collaborate to deliver the AI experiences users demand. Initial talks were reported back in August 2025, but the formal announcement in January 2026 confirmed what many suspected: the complexity of modern AI development requires strategic alliances that would have...

Google Photos is stepping into the meme game with its latest AI-powered feature, and honestly, it's about time. The company has officially launched "Me Meme," a generative AI tool that lets you insert your face into popular meme templates with just a few taps. Google announced this experimental feature through its Photos Community site, bringing a fun twist to how we interact with our photo libraries.

iOS 26.4 is shaping up to be one of the most significant mid-cycle updates we've seen in years. You know how Apple usually saves the big stuff for their major releases? Well, they're breaking that pattern this spring with something that could fundamentally change how we interact with our iPhones. We're talking major AI enhancements, a completely redesigned Siri, and substantial app improvements that'll make your device feel genuinely smarter.

Apple Discontinues Pro Apps Bundle for Education: What Students and Schools Need to Know

When Apple announced Creator Studio for $12.99 monthly, the company wasn't just packaging professional creative apps together. They were making a calculated move that had less to do with subscription revenue and everything to do with keeping creative professionals locked into Apple's ecosystem for years to come. Let's break down what's actually happening here and why it matters far beyond the monthly price tag.

When you think about the iPhone Air, one thing immediately stands out—this device was never supposed to accept a physical SIM card. Apple designed its thinnest smartphone ever at just 5.6 mm thick and weighing only 165 grams, with a very deliberate choice: eliminate physical SIM card slots entirely worldwide. It was a bold statement about the future of mobile connectivity, pushing users toward eSIM technology whether they were ready or not.

Google Photos has been steadily evolving from a simple storage solution into a more comprehensive creative platform, and its latest update marks a notable shift. The platform recently introduced a major overhaul of its video editing capabilities, according to ZDNet, adding features that were previously found primarily in dedicated editing apps. These changes address long-standing user frustrations with the platform's limited video creation tools. The update arrives as mobile video creation...