Today's Consumer Tech Pulse
Apple rolls out AI‑powered tools at WWDC 2026
Apple introduced a suite of AI features at its WWDC 2026 event, including the Spatial Reframe tool that converts 2‑D images into 3‑D scenes and a revamped Siri that rivals leading chatbots. The announcements also added tighter child‑online safety controls and reinforced Apple’s privacy‑first stance.
Can I Play ARC Raiders on Steam Deck?
Embark Studios' extraction shooter ARC Raiders is now officially Steam Deck verified, allowing handheld play alongside its PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC releases. Early builds strained portable hardware, but recent Server Slam optimizations have lifted performance to a playable level. The game runs best with low‑quality settings, delivering 40‑60 fps on the Deck. Valve’s Proton Experimental layer is recommended for added stability during installation and launch.
Here's What's Included In The Xbox February 2026 Update
Microsoft’s February 2026 Xbox update rolls out 1440p, high‑bitrate cloud streaming for Game Pass Ultimate members on Series X|S, One X and One S consoles, expanding the service beyond PC and TV devices. The Xbox PC app receives subtle navigation sounds that enhance controller‑based...
China to Increase Leading-Edge Chip Output by 5x in Two Years, Report Claims — Aims to Lift 7nm and 5nm...
China plans to quintuple its leading‑edge chip output within two years, raising 7 nm and 5 nm wafer starts from under 20,000 to about 100,000 per month. The long‑term goal is to reach 500,000 advanced‑node wafers monthly by 2030. SMIC, the only...
7 Reasons the Virtual Boy on Switch Online Works
Nintendo revived its notorious Virtual Boy by adding seven titles to the Switch Online + Expansion Pack on Feb 17 2026. The lineup includes the Japan‑only horror game *Mansion of Innsmouth*, a full‑featured *Wario Land* platformer, and other experimental titles like *Red Alarm* and...
$300 a Month Android Malware ‘Oblivion’ Uses Fake Updates to Hijack Phones
A new Android Remote Access Trojan called Oblivion is being sold on the public web for $300 a month, with longer‑term plans up to $2,200. The malware disguises itself as a legitimate Google Play update, hijacking the Accessibility Service to...
Dell, Lenovo to Launch Thin‑And‑Light Gaming Laptops Early 2024
Dell and Lenovo laptops with Nvidia CPUs 'could come in the first half of this year' — so get ready for some thin-and-light gaming powerhouses (hopefully) https://www.techradar.com/computing/cpu/dell-and-lenovo-laptops-with-nvidia-cpus-could-come-in-the-first-half-of-this-year-so-get-ready-for-some-thin-and-light-gaming-powerhouses-hopefully
Google to Power Street View with Nano Banana AI
Google is working to integrate its Nano Banana AI image generation model into Google Maps’ Street View ✅ Details - https://t.co/JMv9WRuUbC https://t.co/ngPaRkBYOG
$10,000 Bounty Offered if You Can Hack Ring Cameras to Stop Them Sharing Your Data with Amazon
Ring’s new “Search Party” AI feature sparked privacy outrage after a Super Bowl ad, prompting a backlash against the company’s data‑sharing practices. In response, the nonprofit Fulu Foundation announced a $10,000 bounty for anyone who can modify Ring doorbells to...
Touchless TSA Cuts Wait to Under a Minute
I was expecting a mess at the airport with TSA but with touchless I got through in 1 minute with 3 people ahead of me. Nice job @TSA.
MSI SPATIUM M571 DLP Targets Gen5 Peak Speeds with Phison
MSI has added the SPATIUM M571 DLP to its Gen5 SSD portfolio, featuring Phison’s 6 nm PS5028‑E28 controller and LPDDR4 DRAM cache. The drive ships in 1 TB, 2 TB and 4 TB capacities, delivering up to 14,500 MB/s sequential reads and 11,000 MB/s writes, with...
MSI Refreshes AM4 Budget Lineup with Two DDR4 B550 microATX Boards
MSI announced two new B550 micro‑ATX motherboards for the AM4 socket, extending DDR4 support for Ryzen 5000 builds. The PRO B550M‑B retails at $78.96 and offers dual M.2 slots, while the B550M‑A PRO costs $67.66 with a single M.2 slot and a simplified...
MWC 2026 | Ericsson to Showcase 6G Capabilities with Apple, MediaTek
Ericsson announced at MWC 2026 that it will showcase live 6G demonstrations in partnership with Apple and MediaTek. The Apple demo will feature Multi‑RAT Spectrum Sharing (MRSS) to illustrate seamless 5G‑to‑6G coexistence, while MediaTek will present a 6G centimeter‑wave data‑call prototype...
Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition "Switch 2 Vs. PS5 Vs. PS4" Graphics and Framerate Comparison
Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition arrived digitally on Nintendo Switch 2, delivering the complete base game, six official expansions, and over 150 Creation Club items. The launch coincides with a side‑by‑side video that pits the Switch 2 version against PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 in graphics...
5 Gadgets Samsung Makes That Apple Doesn't
Samsung’s product lineup now spans five categories Apple doesn’t offer: foldable smartphones, a smart ring, stylus‑enabled phones, AI‑powered refrigerators, and AI‑driven vacuum cleaners. The Galaxy Z Fold7, Z Flip7 and the three‑paneled Z TriFold illustrate Samsung’s early lead in foldable...
First‑Party Studio Drives Early Hardware Collaboration with Microsoft
the most interesting part of this: "Our studio system is fully built around being first-party. We're not built to just be a publisher," Matt Booty explained. "It is core to our partnership with the Microsoft platform, being involved in early hardware...
AI Accelerator Market Needs Diverse Solutions; Intel Takes Step
The AI accelerator/compute market is not a one-size-fits-all market. There will be a host of solutions and a variety of workloads. While Intel has yet to show an AI accelerator solution, this is a step in the right...
From Our Conversations with Xbox Leadership: A Firm Stand Against AI‑generated Junk — "We're Committed to Art Made by People"
Microsoft announced that longtime Xbox leader Phil Spencer is stepping down, with Asha Sharma—formerly head of Microsoft CoreAI—taking the helm. Sharma publicly pledged that Xbox will not tolerate AI‑generated junk, emphasizing human‑crafted art as the core of its games. She...
Discord Delays Age Verification Measures as It Admits What It Got 'Wrong'
Discord announced it will postpone the global rollout of its "teen‑by‑default" age verification system until the second half of 2026, after user backlash and privacy concerns. The company will still enforce verification in jurisdictions with legal mandates such as Australia,...
Exclusive: Talking to New Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and CCO Matt Booty — "This Team Has Brought It Back Before,...
Microsoft announced Asha Sharma as Xbox's new CEO on February 23, 2026, alongside Chief Commercial Officer Matt Booty. Sharma pledged a "return to Xbox," emphasizing renewed focus on the console platform and the long‑standing fan community. She also signaled a...
Dual Screen Laptops Stopped Being a Gimmick
ASUS unveiled the 2026 ROG Zephyrus Duo, the first dual‑screen gaming laptop designed for practical use rather than a novelty. It features two 16‑inch 3K OLED panels with 120 Hz refresh, an RTX 5090 GPU running at 135 W, and a five‑mode hinge...
Touchscreen MacBook Pro: Handy for Photo Editing
"We don't need a touchscreen MacBook Pro" takes are genuinely silly. Foolish. If nothing else, as a frequent photographer, I can't wait to more directly edit images and move sliders around. Doing that is already better on an iPad than...
GPS Vs. Real-Life Experience: Do Navigation Apps Really Know the Fastest Route?
Modern GPS can locate a vehicle within a few feet, enabling navigation apps such as Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Waze to calculate routes in real time. These apps combine historical traffic patterns, road characteristics, weather conditions, and crowdsourced pings...
4 Unexpected Uses For Your Old Nintendo Wii Remotes
The article outlines four DIY ways to repurpose old Nintendo Wii Remotes: as a PC/TV air mouse, a PowerPoint clicker, a retro light‑gun controller, and a Home Assistant smart‑home interface. Each project relies on Bluetooth connectivity and software such as...
Everyone Says You Need a NAS for Plex—You Don't
The article debunks the common belief that a NAS is required for Plex, showing that any computer running Windows, macOS or Linux can host the media server. It cites real‑world tests on an old MacBook and a low‑end Core i3 mini‑PC...
1Password’s Annual Subscription Plans Are Getting a Price Hike Next Month
1Password announced a price increase for its annual plans effective March 27 2026. Individual subscriptions will rise to $47.88 per month and family plans to $71.88 per month, representing a $12 yearly bump. The company attributes the hike to added value and...
Microsoft Just Released an Actually Good Windows 11 Update — with System Performance Improvements, Better Wake From Sleep, and More
Microsoft released the February optional Windows 11 update (KB5077241), delivering a suite of quality‑of‑life enhancements without any AI overlay. The patch introduces a built‑in network speed test, native WebP wallpaper support, and integrated Sysmon for deeper threat monitoring. Performance tweaks improve...
NV Re-Enter ARM PC Market in Q1-2026?
Nvidia is reportedly preparing to re‑enter the ARM‑based PC market with a launch slated for the first quarter of 2026. Leaked specifications suggest a high‑end SoC featuring up to 20 CPU cores, a 48‑stream‑multiprocessor GPU delivering around 4 TFLOPs, and LPDDR6...
A 'Striking' Red Honor Magic V6 Is so Thin and Tough that It's Rewriting What Device Strength Means
Honor unveiled a striking red edition of its upcoming Magic V6 foldable, emphasizing a thin profile paired with unprecedented durability. The device boasts both IP68 and IP69 dust‑water resistance, a 2800 MPa Super Steel hinge, and Advanced Display Protection with a...
This Hidden Windows Setting Is Slowing Down Your SSD — Here’s the Fix
Windows defaults to the “Quick removal” policy, which disables aggressive SSD write caching and can slow down small, frequent write operations. Changing the policy to “Better performance” enables write caching, allowing the drive to acknowledge writes once data reaches the...
It’s Time to Kill Slow Fingerprint Scanners on All Phones over $300
Optical fingerprint scanners remain common on mid‑range and premium Android phones despite slower performance. Ultrasonic sensors cost only $6‑8 more per unit, yet manufacturers like Samsung and Google continue to use cheaper optical units in $400‑700 devices. Xiaomi demonstrates feasibility...
Google Messages More Widely Rolling Out Circular Read Receipts Redesign
Google Messages is now broadly rolling out a circular redesign for read receipts to beta testers, following an August 2024 test. The new UI places a single circular indicator in the bottom‑right of each bubble, showing four states: sending, sent,...
Reimagining Compute in the Age of Dispersed Intelligence
At the 2025 RISC‑V Summit, DeepComputing CEO Yuning Liang argued that AI will shift from cloud‑centric models to on‑device intelligence, leveraging aggressive quantization to run multiple models on a smartphone. He envisions a lightweight AI operating system that orchestrates models,...
OpenAI Acquired OpenClaw and Hired Peter Steinberger
OpenAI announced the acquisition of OpenClaw and the hiring of veteran engineer Peter Steinberger. The move aims to accelerate development of next‑generation personal AI agents and embed multi‑agent capabilities into OpenAI’s core offerings. OpenClaw will be transitioned to an open‑source...
AMD Rembrandt/Zen 3+ APU Speculation and Discussion
AMD’s upcoming Rembrandt APU is rumored to migrate to TSMC’s 6nm N6 process and adopt RDNA 2 graphics with a 12‑compute‑unit iGPU. The chip is expected to support DDR5/LPDDR5 memory, PCIe 4.0 and possibly a shared L3 or infinity cache that could...
AMD Readies Ryzen AI 400 Gorgon Point for AM5 Desktops in Q2
AMD is preparing to launch its Ryzen AI 400 “Gorgon Point” processors for AM5 desktop platforms in the second quarter of 2026. The chips, derived from the Strix Point and Krackan Point families, will bring the company’s AI‑focused NPU and...
So Concrete Gaming Keyboards Are Now a Thing, and I Think I Need One in My Life
Keychron has launched the K2 HE Special Edition in two premium materials – translucent black resin and a novel concrete frame. The Concrete Edition features a brutalist aesthetic, a 75% layout, wireless connectivity, and Hall‑Effect magnetic switches with 40 g linear...
SanDisk Refreshes Portable SSD Lineup, Extreme PRO Claims up to 4GB/S
SanDisk is set to launch a refreshed portable SSD portfolio in the second half of the year, introducing three performance tiers. The flagship Extreme PRO Portable SSD claims up to 4 GB/s sequential reads and 3.8 GB/s writes, with capacities of 2 TB, 4 TB,...
Turn Any Remote Button Into Custom Home Assistant Action
⚠️ Save it for later: how to make your smart remotes finally smart :) Switch Manager is a custom integration for Home Assistant that allows you to assign custom HA actions to any button for each supported event (single/double/triple/long press, rotate,...
Cellular Backup Keeps Your Eero Network Online
"eero Signal 4G LTE provides peace of mind with dedicated cellular backup connectivity for your entire eero network whenever your primary internet connection goes down." https://t.co/NX67V7itic
Best Buy Just Quietly Carved $400 OFF One of My Favorite Garmin Watches — Now It's over $600 Cheaper than...
Best Buy has slashed the Garmin Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar from $899.99 to $499.99, a $400 discount that makes it over $600 cheaper than the newer Fenix 8 Pro. The 7X remains a rugged, solar‑charged smartwatch with 37‑day battery life and a full suite...
Mibro Explorer S Titanium: Accessible Outdoor Performance in a Titanium Body
Mibro launched the Explorer S Titanium, a rugged outdoor smartwatch priced at $249.99. It features an aerospace‑grade titanium unibody that is 40% lighter than stainless steel and meets MIL‑STD‑810H durability standards. The watch offers dual‑frequency GNSS, offline maps, 10 ATM water...
Oppo Teases the Find N6’s Crease-Less Display Ahead of Rumored March Launch
Oppo has unveiled a teaser for its upcoming Find N6 foldable, highlighting a crease‑less interior display. The device retains an 8.12‑inch main screen and a 6.62‑inch outer panel, with a larger battery hinted at. Launch is slated for China in...
NotebookLM Reportedly Testing Custom Banners Beyond Limited Emoji Labels
NotebookLM, Google’s AI‑driven note‑taking tool, is testing a new custom banner image feature that appears as a “customize” button with an image‑generation icon. The functionality may let users upload personal graphics or generate AI‑based visuals tied to notebook content. This...
Fanatical's Play on the Go Elite Collection Bundle for Feb 2026 Has some Gems in It
Fanatical has refreshed its Play on the Go Elite Collection bundle for February 2026, offering a pick‑and‑mix of 18 Steam‑Deck‑Verified games. Prices tier from £7.50 per title for two or more games down to £7.00 each when buying five or more....
Google Photos Backup Settings Get Expressive UI Redesign
The old and the upcoming Expressive UI for the backup settings in Google Photos app. https://t.co/8cDFzIcE8u
Google Tests Voice Search Pause, Adds Auto or Tap Option
The Google app is testing a new feature to improve how voice search behaves, aiming to solve the common issue of queries being submitted before the user is finished speaking You will be able to choose between Auto Search and Tap...
This Braun Electric Shaver Is the Best We’ve Ever Tried – and It’s Now £260 Cheaper
The Braun Series 9 Pro+ electric shaver, T3’s top‑rated grooming tool, is now priced at £239.99 after a £260 discount at Boots. Originally £499.99, the deal includes a charging stand, travel case and cleaning brush. The shaver boasts Ultra Thin Precision Blades,...
Your Watch Will One Day Track Blood Pressure
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin demonstrated a non‑contact method for measuring blood pressure by reflecting near‑field radio waves off the wrist. They built a wearable prototype using a patch antenna, circulator and a custom 2.4 GHz integrated circuit...
Here's How You Can Get a Meta Quest 3 for Just $1 with This Shooting Star of a Bundle
Meta’s latest standalone headset, the Quest 3, ships with a Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor, 2064 × 2208 per‑eye resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate, positioning it as the market’s most capable consumer VR device. The headset supports a growing library of exclusives such as...
Startech.com Thunderbolt 5 Universal Docking Station Review
StarTech’s Thunderbolt 5 Universal Docking Station offers a surprisingly low‑priced entry into the emerging TB5 ecosystem, retailing around £253. It supports three simultaneous 4K displays, 2.5 GbE Ethernet, and delivers up to 140 W of power to connected laptops. Performance tests show 3,130 MB/s...