Gadget Hacks

NBCUniversal and YouTube announced this summer that eligible YouTube Premium subscribers in the U.S. will get access to ad-supported Peacock Premium starting in early 2027 (YouTube; NBCUniversal). As of this week, though, there's nothing to sign up for, nothing to switch to, and no pricing to compare.

Affinity for iPad launched today as a free download, finally giving Mac-based Affinity users a matching iPad app built around the same unified sketch, vector, photo, and layout toolset (Thurrott; 9to5Mac, today).

A claim of a Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold $250 off Amazon discount is not verifiable from the reporting reviewed for this article. No live listing, seller name, SKU, or timestamp backing that price cut turned up anywhere in that reporting. That gap doesn't prove the deal is fake, it just means there's nothing yet to check the claim against.

Google calls the $179.99 Fitbit Edge its "smartest fitness tracker ever" (Google, two weeks ago). But according to Android Authority's reporting, which draws on direct correspondence with Google, anyone chasing the fullest set of AI health features should skip the Edge and "buy a Pixel Watch 5 and a Pixel phone" instead. That's the core tension behind any Fitbit Edge vs Google Pixel Watch comparison right now: two products from the same company, running the same health platform, with...

A leaker claims OPPO is testing its unannounced Find X10 Ultra with MediaTek's Dimensity 9600 Pro, then says a Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 version is now more likely (Android Central, today). The OPPO Find X10 Ultra MediaTek Dimensity 9600 Pro rumor is still just that: a leak, not a product announcement. OPPO hasn't confirmed the phone exists at all, so there's no official chipset, camera hardware, price, or release date to weigh against anything.

Google quietly confirmed that receipt scanning is coming to Google Wallet in the changelog for Google Play Services v26.40, dated Oct. 12, 2026. The entry says users can now scan to add receipts, a change that could make it easier to save purchase records without entering their details manually.

Choosing a VPN in 2026 is not as simple as finding the provider with the largest server network or the fastest advertised speeds.

The Delta 2.0 update launched Oct. 22, giving the retro-game emulator a dual-screen layout built specifically for Nintendo DS games on Apple's new iPhone Duo and adding Sega Genesis and Mega Drive emulation for every user. It's the first new system Delta has supported since its 2024 App Store debut, according to iThinkDiff. The release went live on the App Store and AltStore PAL in time for the Duo's Oct. 23 retail launch.

At $899, Apple's M6 Mac mini looks like a bargain beside the new $1,499 iMac. That's $600 saved before you've even turned either computer on. But there's a catch: the Mac mini doesn't come with a screen, keyboard, or mouse, and buying those separately can eat into the savings.

Searching for an Apple Creator Studio update preorder page won't get you anywhere, because Apple isn't running one.

Motorola has started rolling out stable Android 17 to the Razr Ultra 2025, but only a narrow group of owners has confirmed receiving it so far. The update has been reported on an unlocked unit in the United States, according to Android Authority and TuttoAndroid.

Start with one question: did tap-to-pay ever work on this phone, or did it work fine for weeks and then suddenly stop? That answer helps determine whether you're dealing with a setup problem you can fix yourself or an intermittent issue that ordinary troubleshooting may not resolve.

Samsung has started rolling out the Galaxy M54 One UI 9.0 update, based on Android 17, according to SamMobile and Zoomit, which reported the release on Oct. 27. Zoomit cites SamMobile for the global rollout, rather than independently confirming a separate release. Samsung's model-specific update documentation has not yet established which Galaxy AI features are included.

Creating a password-protected ZIP on Android starts with choosing a file manager that supports encrypted archives. Files by Google can create ordinary ZIP files, but its documented compression workflow doesn't include a password option. That's a limitation of Files by Google, not Android as a whole.

Google has confirmed that Find Hub will add Left Behind notifications, alerting users when a tracked device separates from their phone, but the only hardware with a committed launch date so far is Pixel Tag, Google's own tracker arriving November 11 for $29 solo or $99 for a four-pack.

Samsung has begun releasing a second October 2026 update for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold 8, and Galaxy Z Flip 8, following the earlier security patch that expanded from South Korea to Europe and India.

A Galaxy tablet owner asked Samsung Community how to reorder "the first 6 buttons" on their Quick Panel, and the reply pointed to a setting called Edit top quick settings. Samsung now documents that option in its official support materials for newer Galaxy devices, although the exact menu layout can vary by software version and model. For One UI 7 users, the key distinction is between editing the full Quick Panel and customizing the shortcuts shown in the combined notifications view.

Samsung's unreleased Exynos 2700 reportedly scored around 13,000 in a Geekbench 6.5 multi-core benchmark test against roughly 11,000 for Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, a lead of nearly 20%, according to industry sources cited by The Korea Herald on Oct. 25.

Google Meet's real-time voice translation jumped from six languages to 63 this week, powered by a new Gemini 3.5 Live Translate model that automatically detects which language someone is speaking instead of locking a call into one fixed pair. This expansion brings Google's Gemini 3.5 Live Translate model to Meet's web and mobile apps, and it removes the old meeting-wide language-pair limit so each participant can pick their own translation language. Most people will still need an eligible paid...

OnePlus has already started rolling out Android 17-based ColorOS 17 ahead of its original Oct. 29, 2026, schedule.