News and Updates from Gadget Hacks: Page 4

Some Nest Doorbell owners outside the US are hearing their doorbell announcements delivered in an American accent, even though every other Google Home interaction on the same account still matches their configured language, according to Android Authority, two days ago. 9to5Google, citing Reddit reports it reviewed, describes the same Nest Doorbell American accent bug: Google Home announcing doorbell notifications in a US accent regardless of a user's set language or dialect, according to...

Google's Android chief just handed Apple a compliment wrapped in a competitive jab. Speaking about Apple's newly announced iPhone Duo, Android Ecosystem president Sameer Samat called it "wonderful" that more people are realizing "the foldable space is the place to be," while adding that Android is "usually where you see the future first," according to Tom's Guide.

The Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios merger is official. Xbox is combining its two Forza studios into one team focused on the Forza and Fable franchises, according to a memo from Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty shared today (The Verge, today).

iOS 27's Wallet app now includes a bill-splitting tool that can scan a restaurant receipt, identify individual items, calculate each person's share of tax and tip, and let people settle up through Apple Cash.

Xiaomi launched the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max in China on September 23, 2026, and the headline feature across the Xiaomi 18 Pro series is a hardware-level privacy display that switches on for a single app, a single notification, or one pane of a split screen. Both phones also bring back the rear display from last year's 17 Pro, now rebuilt around Xiaomi's Xiao AI assistant (GSMArena, yesterday).

Horror fans have an unusually crowded month ahead. Prime Video, Netflix, Peacock, and AMC+ all have new horror series arriving in October 2026, with four premieres landing within a little more than two weeks of each other.

Vivo officially unveiled the X500 Pro Max on September 21, and the Vivo X500 Pro Max camera phone is shaping up as the company's most aggressive imaging flagship yet.

Microsoft released Visual Studio Code 1.139.0 to the Stable channel on September 23, 2026, replacing the sparse Insiders page that had appeared earlier in the month.

A teardown of My Pixel version 8.9.1 has uncovered in-development code for color-matched app icons on the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, and Pixel 9 Pro XL, extending a feature Google currently offers on the Pixel 11 series.

The Galaxy S26 FE now has its own teardown, and it earned a 9/10 repairability score from PBKreviews.

Apple shipped watchOS 27 on Sept. 14, and the update removes a familiar Apple Watch multitasking shortcut.

Microsoft drops Copilot+ PC branding from its newest Surface hardware, even though those machines still meet every technical requirement the label was built around. Surface CVP Brett Ostrum confirmed the change directly to Windows Central this week: "These are not called Copilot+ PCs." The devices affected are Microsoft's newest Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, both of which still qualify under the original Copilot+ specification bar despite losing the name.

Spotify began rolling out a beta feature called Taste Profile to Premium subscribers ages 18 and older in the United States on Sept. 23, letting listeners type plain-language notes that steer their Home feed.

Game Pass subscribers who rely heavily on cloud streaming have a change to plan around starting in November: unlimited Xbox Cloud Gaming is going away.

Disney+ and Hulu now cost $21.49 a month each for their standalone ad-free plans, up from $18.99. Their ad-supported standalone plans rose 50 cents, from $11.99 to $12.49 a month.

The most useful iOS 27 HomeKit changes have little to do with new hardware. Apple added several HomeKit Secure Video features powered by Apple Intelligence: plain-language descriptions of recorded activity, natural-language search across camera clips and a single notification that can combine related activity instead of sending separate alerts one after another.

Microsoft has turned Copilot in Excel from a chat-based assistant into a tool that can edit workbooks directly. That change matters more in shared files, where multiple people may be changing formulas, formatting, charts, and data at the same time.

In December 2017, Microsoft and Qualcomm pitched a new category of Windows Always Connected PCs that would behave more like smartphones: instant wake, long battery life, and cellular connectivity without hunting for a hotspot.

Google AI Studio can now turn a plain-language prompt into a native Android project and push that build directly into Google Play testing.

Microsoft plans to let Microsoft 365 Copilot write, update, and delete data inside connected third-party apps, not just read it. Microsoft's September 22 Message Center entry lists the feature as "In development," with general availability targeted for October 2026, per the Microsoft 365 Message Center archive.

"Excel multiple values in one cell" can mean two completely different things.

Every Googlebook apparently hides an app called Glowbar Disco that syncs the laptop's light strip to whatever audio is playing, according to Android Authority, which reported the feature today. A Google product executive named it directly in a recent interview, though he never said where it lives on the device or how to launch it. Android Authority also reports that owners will need to "do some digging" once Googlebooks start reaching buyers in the US, a detail that puts the US retail rollout...

The Google Photos virtual closet feature is now available on iOS, not just Android. Google's AI tool that catalogs a person's clothing into a digital wardrobe expanded beyond Android on September 24, following its debut on Android this summer, according to Google's product blog and TechCrunch.

A hidden screen tucked inside a Google Messages beta build caps pinned chats at six, a drop from the 20 conversations the app currently lets you pin, according to an APK teardown from NerdsChalk. The find points to a broader Google Messages pinned chats redesign: reporting that surfaced roughly two weeks later describes pinned chats shown as large contact icons in a row at the top of the inbox, replacing today's small pin badge, according to Android Headlines and Droid Life.

Hands-on footage of the OnePlus 16 has been circulating all week, and one detail keeps stopping people mid-scroll: a glowing pattern built into the back panel. OnePlus calls it the Interstellar Lighting Effect, a rear LED array wired into the phone's Tomorrow's Starlight colorway, and it looks striking enough on video that it's easy to miss how little is actually confirmed about how it works. Reservations for the OnePlus 16 are already open in China, T3 reports, which puts the OnePlus 16 LED...

Samsung's stable One UI 9 update is now reaching the Galaxy S25 series, Galaxy Z Fold 7, and Galaxy Z Flip 7, with the rollout confirmed live in South Korea, according to Android Authority. It's the next phase of a staged rollout that started with the Galaxy S26 family, and it puts Samsung's 2025 flagship lineup on the same Android 17 build already running on the newer S26 and Z8 devices.

Apple is testing its redesigned Health app in iOS 27.2, giving beta users an early look at the new Insights and Longevity tabs before the full experience launches later this year.

Spotify launched Fresh Finds Forward on Sept. 17, turning its decade-old Fresh Finds playlist brand into a 12-month support program for independent artists. The company says the program will support around 10,000 emerging artists each year.

Microsoft has until Oct. 31, 2026, to explain why a June 2013 internal presentation called "Second-Hand Software" was not identified and disclosed earlier in its long-running antitrust dispute with ValueLicensing.

Every time a Surface Dial clicks under a fingertip or a Surface Slim Pen 2 pulses after a completed gesture, three things happen in sequence: something detects the input, software decides how to respond, and a small motor produces the sensation felt. That pipeline sits at the center of Microsoft Surface touch interface design, and Microsoft has now documented, at least partially, how it works at the operating system level.

Google confirmed on September 28, 2026 that a Chromebook upgrade to Googlebook OS is coming for at least some devices, though it still hasn't said which models qualify, when the migration will roll out, or how the process will work, according to PCWorld and 9to5Google. The announcement came through a new Google support page.

If Google Photos is unresponsive after editing on your Pixel, you're not imagining it. Pixel owners report that cropping or rotating a photo leaves the Share, Edit, and Trash buttons visible but unresponsive to taps, with no error message or loading indicator appearing on screen (Android Central, 2 days ago; Android Police, 3 days ago).

Mac owners running macOS 27 "Golden Gate" are watching Apple Intelligence eat into their free storage well beyond the figures Apple lists in its own documentation, according to iThinkDiff, which compiled owner and tester storage readings last week. Reported figures range from about 14GB to over 30GB, against Apple's stated maximums of 8GB to 14GB. The gap in macOS 27 Apple Intelligence storage usage shows up in both pre-release beta and Release Candidate builds and in reports from Macs running...

Apple now markets the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max as an intelligent personal hub, pairing AI capability with personal context and calling privacy and security core to the design. That's a confirmed claim from Apple's own announcement. It doesn't tell you which parts of that hub are working today, or whether they apply to the phone you already own.

A Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra 360-degree leak is giving the clearest unofficial look yet at Samsung's next tablet lineup. New video and press renders, published by Android Headlines and NokiaPowerUser, show the Tab S12 Ultra and Tab S12+ from every angle, alongside a separate spec sheet claiming everything from chipset to pricing.

A single Galaxy Z Fold 7 wearing a Temdan MagSafe Kickstand Case went through repeated pocket-height drops onto concrete, and it came away with no damage. The reviewer at Tech with Jerad reported the phone survived the drops intact and the case itself showed only minimal wear (Tech with Jerad). That's a strong result for one case built around impact and scuff resistance. It says nothing about a major durability concern with foldables: dust working its way into the hinge and scratching the inner...

If you're weighing Waze vs Google Maps on Android Auto, one detailed month-long comparison offers a useful starting point: a reviewer who ran both apps side by side on a Galaxy S25 Ultra and an 8-inch Android Auto head unit found Waze more proactive about rerouting and easier to read on a dashboard display, but still reached for Google Maps on longer or unfamiliar trips. The comparison is really about how these two apps behave once you're actually driving with them, not whether either one works...

Google hasn't even released the Pixel 11 yet, and already four codenames and a chip nickname for the phone after it have leaked online. That's where Google Pixel 12 rumors stand right now: reports about reports, built on a single leaker's Telegram posts rather than anything resembling a product announcement (Android Authority, 3 months ago).

Google has reportedly told suppliers it wants to move Pixel production out of China entirely by 2027, covering every phone, watch, and earbud the company sells, according to Nikkei Asia. That's a different ambition than simply adding factories elsewhere while keeping Chinese production running as a backstop.

Apple's next few years in the smart home are starting to take shape, at least according to people briefed on the company's internal plans. The Apple smart home product roadmap now being reported includes refreshed Apple TV and HomePod mini hardware, a first-ever room-by-room display hub, and Apple's first self-made security camera and doorbell (9to5Mac, 2 days ago). Apple has not publicly announced any of it in the reporting cited here.