The Latest from Gadget Hacks: Page 20

Samsung's QN70F and QN80F Neo QLED TVs are currently available at discounted prices, with the 65-inch QN70F cut roughly 29% from its original listing and the QN80F down around 21%. For the right buyer, these Samsung Mini LED TV deals represent a genuine opportunity. For the wrong one, they're a good price on a TV that won't fit how you actually watch.

Europe's major broadcasting groups this week formally asked the EU to designate smart TV operating systems and virtual assistants as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act. The complaint names Apple TV and Siri alongside Google, Amazon, and Samsung, and targets something more specific than hardware market share: who controls what audiences see when they turn on a television or ask a voice assistant what to watch. No smart TV platform and no virtual assistant has yet been designated a...

A hidden GPS tracker on a $1,699 e-bike stolen from a Florida high school led police to the suspect's garage within days of the theft. An AirTag on a stolen e-bike in Canberra guided its owner to a serviced apartment the same day it was taken, where police found 15 bikes, five e-scooters, and an estimated $50,000 in stolen property. Both cases ended in arrests. Both turned on a small device the thief didn't know was there.

Robin Liu, who joined OnePlus in 2018 and oversaw what sources describe as a turnaround that kept the brand in India's market, has stepped down as CEO of OnePlus India. His departure, confirmed today by Android Authority, is the most visible result of a restructuring that places OnePlus under closer OPPO group oversight. His notice period ends March 31. He has already relocated to China.

Code in the Google Messages v20260306 beta points to renewed Ultra HDR support for RCS photo sharing, spotted by code tracker AssembleDebug and reported by Android Police. This matters for anyone who shares photos over RCS: Google Messages has been capable of preserving Ultra HDR gain maps through transmission since late 2023, per third-party reporting, but a combination of narrow device availability, no user-facing indicators, and an unconfigured viewer meant the capability was almost entirely...

Europe's largest commercial broadcasters formally asked the EU this week to extend its toughest tech regulations to smart TV operating systems and virtual assistants, arguing that the home screen on your television and the voice assistant you use to navigate it have become powerful enough chokepoints to warrant Digital Markets Act oversight. The request puts Apple TV and Siri under DMA gatekeeper scrutiny alongside Android TV, Amazon Fire OS, and Samsung's Tizen. Whether the European Commission...

The first thing to do with a new Galaxy phone isn't downloading apps or customizing the wallpaper. It's disabling Customization Service Samsung's built-in data-profiling tool that activates the moment a Samsung account is created, with no separate prompt. That's the highest-priority change on this list, and the one most likely to quietly revert after a system update.

Samsung Display secured the largest share of iPhone 17e OLED panel orders, overturning earlier forecasts that had BOE leading on Apple's entry-tier phone, DigiTimes and The Elec reported earlier this month. The shift traces directly to BOE's unresolved yield problems, which have reshaped the Apple OLED display supply chain more broadly over the past several months. The clearest evidence of that reshaping: a deliberate three-tier model in which Samsung gets the launches Apple cannot afford to...

Three problems kill most old-PC reuse attempts: leftover data on a machine that wasn't properly sanitized, a project that outstrips what the hardware can actually run, and a failure mode nobody mentioned until the build collapsed three weeks in. This guide addresses all three in that order. By the end, you'll know how to wipe the machine responsibly, match it to a realistic project based on specs and duty cycle, and avoid the gotchas that end these builds early.

Apple's foldable iPhone is now widely expected to land this September alongside the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, and the supply chain is moving in ways that point to a real product rather than another rolling forecast. Samsung began DRAM shipments in Q2, timed to Apple's production schedule, MacRumors reported eleven days ago. A Chinese assembly-line source claimed Apple submitted production line orders, the kind of hardware commitment that typically precedes a launch rather than anticipates one,...

Two Apple laptops hit stores earlier this month. At least four more products are close behind and the Apple new products launching soon rumors, laid out in sequence, tell a consistent story about where the company is expanding its range and why.

A rumor placing OnePlus in the handheld gaming console market has circulated widely enough to reach mainstream tech coverage. The problem: the only confirmed development from OnePlus is a pair of gaming smartphones. For anyone trying to read the company's actual 2026 roadmap, that distinction matters.

Hands-on images of the vivo X300 Ultra surfaced on Weibo last Thursday, confirming the dual-tone green colorway vivo had already teased in its own marketing materials. The vivo X300 Ultra colors leak is more than a color preview: buried in the same images are the battery capacity, chipset details, and storage configurations that together amount to the most complete pre-launch picture yet, according to GSMArena. With a China debut tipped for March 30, the phone is nearly ready.

Apple's cheapest iPad is expected to land in April, with a possible slip into May, according to reporting this week. The device will swap its current A16 chip for the A18, the same processor in the iPhone 16 family and that single change is the entire point. It brings Apple Intelligence support to the one current Apple product that has been locked out of the platform.

Govee launched its Outdoor Chromatic String Lights today, and the hardware spec is the most technically ambitious the company has brought to outdoor string lights: each globe packs 55 RGB LEDs alongside 54 dedicated white LEDs, enabling color gradients and animated transitions within a single bulb. At 240 lumens per globe and IP67-rated throughout, including the control box, these are built for permanent patio installation. They're also Matter-compatible, giving Apple Home users native access...

The iPhone Air captured 6.8% of U.S. Speedtest samples during the iPhone 17 launch window in Q4 2025, more than doubling the 2.9% share the iPhone 16 Plus achieved in the comparable period a year earlier, according to Ookla. That comparison cuts against the "flop" narrative that formed around the Air's rank within the iPhone 17 lineup and it's the right benchmark for evaluating what this product was actually supposed to do.

The smartphone industry stands at a fascinating crossroads where artificial intelligence meets storage economics. As we head toward 2026, a perfect storm is brewing: AI workloads are getting hungrier for local storage just as NAND flash supply chains face mounting pressure. This convergence could fundamentally reshape how we think about smartphone configurations, pricing tiers, and upgrade cycles.

Google Contacts is getting ready to tackle a problem that's been quietly frustrating users since the introduction of Calling Cards. The app currently supports multiple photos per contact - both traditional profile images and the newer Calling Card visuals - but recent evidence suggests that Google is preparing a smarter interface to handle this growing complexity. With contact screens feeling increasingly cluttered, Android Authority reports that version 4.73.27.871645217 contains early work on...

If you've ever tried to use Google Messages on your laptop or tablet, you know the drill—pull out your phone, open the Messages app, scan a QR code, and hope everything connects properly. Then repeat this dance every time the connection drops or you switch devices. Well, Google finally heard our collective sighs of frustration and decided to do something about it.

The theft of my beloved Pixel phone forced me into an unexpected experiment: living in Samsung's Android world after years of Google's pure vision. What started as an emergency phone replacement turned into a fascinating deep dive into how two interpretations of Android can feel worlds apart, even when running the same underlying operating system.

The Galaxy S26 has arrived, and while everyone's talking about the latest cameras and performance upgrades, Samsung has quietly introduced two AI-powered notification features that might just change how you interact with your phone daily. These aren't flashy gimmicks—they're practical tools that address one of the most persistent problems in our smartphone-saturated world: notification overload.

When I picked up my old Pixel 7 Pro sitting in a drawer, I didn't expect it to become my go-to portable gaming machine. But after some experimenting with controller grips and emulation apps, this thing actually delivers a surprisingly solid handheld experience. Modern smartphones pack serious processing power, and emulation performance still depends heavily on hardware, making the Pixel 7 Pro's flagship specs perfect for this kind of project. The timing couldn't be better either—emulation has...

Apple's latest external storage price increases aren't just another routine adjustment—they're a stark indicator of how artificial intelligence is reshaping the entire tech supply chain. When a 1TB drive jumps from $120 to $360, we're witnessing the downstream effects of AI data centers consuming memory and storage components at unprecedented rates, according to WCCFtech. The culprit isn't Apple's typical pricing strategy, but rather a fundamental shift in global semiconductor allocation that's...

Your mobile device senses an unlimited data buffet every time it connects to Wi-Fi—which usually works great until you're relying on a mobile hotspot or limited data plan. I discovered Android's metered connection feature after burning through my hotspot allowance in record time while working from a coffee shop. Here's the thing: this simple setting can transform how your phone handles any Wi-Fi network, treating it with the same data conservation principles it applies to your cellular...

When Apple's CEO takes the stage at China's most important economic forum to praise local developers, the timing couldn't be more revealing. Tim Cook's diplomatic words at the China Development Forum come just days after Apple made unprecedented concessions to Chinese regulators by slashing App Store commission rates—a move that signals how even tech giants must adapt when faced with sustained government pressure. Cook addressed the forum on March 22, highlighting China's talented developer...

Apple's journey into foldable technology has been the subject of intense speculation, and recent rumors suggest the company is taking a unique approach to one of the biggest challenges in foldable design: screen durability. While competitors have struggled with crease formation and display longevity, whispers from the supply chain hint at Apple's potential solution—a revolutionary "glass sandwich" screen construction that could redefine how foldable devices handle the stress of repeated folding.

The Mobile World Congress always delivers surprises, but Honor's latest creation stands out as something truly unprecedented in smartphone design. This isn't just another flagship with incremental camera improvements—it's a device that fundamentally reimagines how smartphones capture content through its integrated three-axis motorized gimbal system that actively tracks subjects.

Samsung's Galaxy S26 lineup is generating significant buzz among developers and power users, and for good reason. While Google launched Linux Terminal support last year, Samsung's flagship devices remained conspicuously absent from the compatibility list. The S25 Ultra had all the necessary hardware but have not publicly supported AVF/Linux Terminal features. Recent discoveries in pre-release log files suggest this limitation may finally change with the S26 series. Early evidence points to the...

Xiaomi's upcoming 17T series has reached a critical milestone in its development journey, with fresh regulatory approvals suggesting we might see these devices much sooner than expected. Singapore's regulatory watchdog, the IMDA, has just certified two devices that industry watchers are identifying as the global variants of the Xiaomi 17T and 17T Pro. According to All Blog Things, these certifications confirm both devices are 5G-enabled smartphones packed with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC...

You might remember those countless moments of "Where are you?" texts followed by awkward screenshots of map pins or jumping between three different apps just to let someone know you're actually stuck in traffic. Google Messages has started rolling out real-time location sharing, and honestly, it's one of those updates that makes you wonder why it took this long to arrive.

The age-old question about fast charging damaging smartphone batteries has sparked countless debates among tech enthusiasts and everyday users alike. We've all heard the warnings from well-meaning friends or read conflicting advice online about whether plugging into that speedy charger will slowly kill our phone's battery life. But what if someone actually took the time to test this theory properly—not with a handful of devices over a few weeks, but with a massive, methodical experiment...

When you think about it, the biggest frustration with smartphones isn't the battery life or camera quality anymore—it's the complete loss of privacy the moment you pull your device out in public. Samsung seems to have cracked this code with something they're calling Privacy Display technology, and honestly, it might be Samsung calls it the world's first smartphone with a built-in privacy display.

The Pixel lineup has always been Google's playground for testing innovative features before they make their way to the broader Android ecosystem. But Google's latest move with Now Playing represents something different entirely—a shift that could reshape how we think about exclusive features and app distribution. The company is transforming the beloved Now Playing feature from a system-level Pixel exclusive into a standalone Play Store application, marking a significant departure from their...

Choosing between Apple's M5 MacBook Air and M5 MacBook Pro isn't just about picking a laptop—it's about finding the perfect balance between performance, portability, and your specific workflow needs. With Apple's latest M5 silicon architecture pushing both machines to new performance heights, the decision has become more nuanced than ever.

We all know that feeling—you're in a busy group chat, trying to get someone's attention, but your message gets lost in the endless stream of conversations. Well, Google Messages is finally addressing this pain point with a feature that's been a long time coming. The company has begun testing @mentions in RCS group chats, allowing users to tag specific people and ensure they get notified even when they've muted the conversation (9to5Google). Google confirmed this rollout in a support update on...

The world of retro computing has always fascinated tech enthusiasts, but what happens when you take that nostalgia and squeeze it into something impossibly small? DIY makers across communities like Reddit's r/RetroBattlestations and Hackaday have been pushing the boundaries of miniaturization, with projects transforming everything from mint tins to alarm clock chassis into fully functional classic Mac emulators. This isn't just another novelty build – it's a masterclass in creative engineering...

Setting up your own Network Attached Storage (NAS) server might sound like a project reserved for IT professionals, but it's actually more accessible than you'd think. With the right guidance, you can build a powerful home server that handles both automated backups and seamless content streaming across all your devices. Whether you're tired of paying monthly fees for cloud storage or want complete control over your digital media library, a DIY NAS offers the perfect blend of functionality,...

Let's face it – Ryobi makes solid tools, but sometimes you need that one specific accessory that doesn't exist in their catalog. That's where the magic of 3D printing comes in. The DIY community has created some incredibly clever solutions that'll make you wonder why these weren't included from the factory.

The OnePlus 15T is making waves with its latest camera sample reveal, and if you're wondering whether this represents a genuine leap forward in smartphone photography, you're asking the right question.

The advertising world has lost one of its most influential voices. Steve Hayden, the creative mastermind behind Apple's legendary "1984" commercial, passed away at 78 on August 27 in Patchogue, New York. Now here's the thing—this isn't just about losing a talented copywriter. We're saying goodbye to someone who fundamentally changed how we think about technology advertising, someone who helped convince the world that personal computers weren't just for techies and corporations.