The Latest from Gadget Hacks: Page 32

Qualcomm this week announced the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 and 4 Gen 5, two chips designed to push capabilities previously limited to flagship devices into affordable Android phones. The 4 Gen 5 is the larger generational jump: Qualcomm claims a 77% GPU performance gain and says it's the first 4-series chip capable of 90fps gaming, per Notebookcheck. The 6 Gen 5 leads with connectivity: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, and AI camera features, though it steps back on ISP hardware relative to its predecessor.

Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 last year, targeting budget Android phones with a set of capabilities that previously required spending significantly more. The chip delivers a 29% GPU performance boost, an 11% CPU improvement, support for 144Hz displays at FHD+ resolution, and a dedicated NPU with on-device AI features, Android Authority previously reported. HONOR, realme, and OPPO are named as the first launch partners, with devices expected in the coming months, per the same report.

Google and Fitbit have acknowledged a permission reset bug that is causing Pixel Watch SpO2 and skin temperature tracking to stop working for some users, and the fix is not as simple as flipping a toggle. The permissions page on affected devices shows no app requesting access to those sensors, leaving users with no visible way to restore them. Both the PixelCommunity and FitbitHelpCommunity accounts confirmed the issue this week and said work is underway.

Windows 11 April 2026 Update BitLocker Recovery: KB5083769 Bug Explained

TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro: Display Features, Specs, and Who It's For

Windows 11 Dev Build Secure Boot Monitoring Lands in All Insider Channels

YouTube TV Unskippable Ads: What Google Actually Changed

League of Legends KeSPA Cup on Disney+: Global Streaming Deal Explained

Blizzard is launching a Diablo Immortal StarCraft crossover next week, and it comes packaged with something most limited-time events skip entirely: a permanent change to the game's gear system. The Battle for Beyond event runs May 13 through June 10, bringing faction-themed combat mechanics, a new Legendary Gem, and competitive leaderboards. Shipping in the same update is a permanent expansion of gear-slot access for every player, according to Blizzard's announcement published this week.

Google plans to let Fit users move their historical data into the rebranded Fitbit app, Google Health, with the Google Fit to Google Health data migration option expected sometime before the end of this year, Android Authority reported. The tool does not exist yet, Google has not set a specific launch date, and the company has not specified which data types will transfer or how the process will work. Google has indicated Fit will be phased out later in 2026, but has not announced an exact...

Apple Liquid Glass Developer Gallery Explained: Adoption Gaps and Wins

OnePlus launched the Ace 6 Ultra in China last week, adding an 8,000mAh battery and 120W fast charging to a gaming-focused phone that also ships with a 165Hz display, a dedicated touch chip for reduced input latency, and a companion controller. The OnePlus Ace 6 Ultra battery sits between the Nord 6's 9,000mAh cell and the OnePlus 15's 7,300mAh unit, now extended into the gaming segment. No global launch is confirmed.

Apple Foldable iPhone Production: Samsung and Rivals Already Adapting

Apple App Store Takedown Lawsuit Explained: Guideline 2.5.2 and AI Dev Apps

Galaxy S26 Ultra Blurry Photos Fix: No Hardware Swap Needed

Samsung Electronics crossed the $1 trillion market cap threshold today, becoming only the second East Asian company ever to reach that level alongside TSMC. Its stock surged 12% in a single session. But the Samsung $1 trillion valuation rests on something more specific than AI leadership and more precarious.

Chrome has been quietly downloading a file called weights.bin onto eligible computers, with no prompt, no notification, and no indication the transfer is happening, The Verge and Android Authority both reported today. The file ranges from 3GB to 4GB. Users are discovering it only after noticing unexplained drops in available disk space.

Google updated AI Overviews in late January 2026, adding a follow-up prompt that routes users directly into a full back-and-forth exchange in AI Mode, with the original query context preserved. The change converts what was a one-shot summary into a handoff point for longer research sessions. AI Overviews are used by more than a billion people and have required no sign-in since March 2025, putting this new conversational entry point in front of a mass-market audience with no login barrier, per...

Alleged CAD files surfaced this week showing the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max with a top cutout described as "much smaller" than the pill-shaped opening Apple has used since the iPhone 14 Pro, GSMArena reported. A tipster on X claims to have received the files, which, if genuine, most likely passed through a case manufacturer that received them from Apple, per GSMArena. The leak doesn't confirm anything on its own.

The most frustrating thing a smart camera can do isn't miss a motion event. It's sending you an alert, then showing you a dead screen when you tap it.