Gadget Hacks

The Galaxy S27 Pro Exynos 2700 chip story just moved from spec leak to factory floor. Samsung has reportedly started full-scale front-end production of the Exynos 2700, the processor expected to power next year's Galaxy S27 lineup, according to industry sources cited by The Elec last week. Wafers typically take three to four months to go from entering a fab to becoming finished chips, so this stage of production is a firmer signal of real deployment plans than an early benchmark leak.

Samsung raised official US prices on every Galaxy A phone it currently sells: the A17 5G, A27 5G, A37 5G, and A57 5G. Notebookcheck reported yesterday that Samsung's US site now lists higher prices across the full lineup, putting the Samsung Galaxy A series price increase into effect for anyone shopping Samsung.com right now.

Samsung's stable One UI 9 update, built on Android 17, started landing on US Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 units on Oct. 2, following an earlier stable release in South Korea, TechRepublic reports. The same US push covers the Galaxy S25 lineup alongside the foldables, and the build landing on the Fold 7 and Flip 7 carries firmware CZIH, according to Android Headlines and SammyGuru.

Apple's macOS Full Disk Access changes are arriving because AI agents are gaining enough autonomy to turn a convenience permission into a serious privacy risk, and the company says it needs to act before that risk grows further. A notice posted on Apple's developer site states that going forward, anyone who wants to grant Full Disk Access (FDA), the macOS permission that lets an app slip past most of the system's privacy protections, will have to take "very explicit user action," as reported by...

iOS 27 merges Siri and Spotlight into a single search interface, and by default the redesigned assistant now digs through Messages, Notes, and email to answer questions with more personal context. That's exactly why learning how to limit Siri access to personal data matters the moment you update: the same indexing that made Siri "much improved" in beta testing, according to Engadget's Mat Smith, also means far more of what's on your phone is now readable by an AI system.

AppleInsider deleted Apple Intelligence's model folder on a test Mac last week and watched the Storage pane's AI figure drop from 27.59GB to 3.07GB, a 24.52GB swing. Available disk space only grew by about 14GB (AppleInsider). That gap matters before anyone touches anything: a Storage-pane number, a folder's measured size, and actual free space are three different things, and no method in this guide can promise an exact number back.

A fresh APK teardown suggests the Pixel Search app coming to older Pixels might finally go official, though Google still hasn't said a word about it. Code inside Pixel Search version 1.0.983036833 points to support for Pixel 6 and newer, a Gemini-powered suggestions feature, and new privacy controls, Android Authority found. Only one of those three things is actually live right now: the privacy toggles. The rest is still buried in code.

Search for "Google Antigravity" from a Pixel or Galaxy phone, and nothing shows up in the Play Store. That's because Google Play marks ordinary Android phones as incompatible with the app, a restriction Android Authority confirmed last week by testing the listing directly. If the search result is confusing, that will probably explain why Google Antigravity isn't available on Android the way most Play Store apps are.

Samsung's next Galaxy flagship lineup may include a new Galaxy S27 Pro, and supply-chain reporting says its Exynos 2700 chip could ship in some regions instead of Qualcomm Snapdragon silicon (India Today, 3 days ago). None of this comes from Samsung. The regional chip map and the production numbers behind the story trace back to a Korean trade outlet, The Elec, and other publications have spent this week relaying and expanding on that reporting.

Apple confirmed this week that it's tightening macOS Full Disk Access controls, requiring a "very explicit user action" before any Mac app can receive the permission. The company says autonomous AI agents have pushed the risk of that access high enough to justify the change.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Apple plans to unveil a new smart home hub alongside a refreshed HomePod mini and an updated Apple TV 4K on Tuesday, October 13, an event already being tagged online as the Apple HomeHub October 13 launch.

Amazon recently unveiled the new Fire TV Stick 4K, priced at $59.99 and replacing both the outgoing Fire TV Stick 4K Select and the 4K Plus in one move. It's now shipping in the US, Canada, and several other markets, and Amazon is running a launch promotion that drops the price to $30 for the upcoming Prime Big Deal Days.

Samsung just introduced the Galaxy Tab S12 series, a new tablet lineup built around Galaxy AI, a bundled S Pen, and a new MediaTek chip. The Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra and Galaxy Tab S12+ go on sale October 7 in select and major markets.

Apple released Final Cut Camera 2.4 recently, giving the app direct control over the iPhone 18 Pro's variable-aperture lens for the first time. This Final Cut Camera iPhone 18 Pro variable aperture support lets users dial in specific aperture settings or switch to shutter-priority and aperture-priority modes while recording video, instead of leaving exposure to the camera's automatic choice.

Google Photos' Wardrobe feature may be getting fixes for two of its biggest gaps: a way to add new clothes without wiping the digital closet, and a way to redo item images that come out looking wrong. Android Authority found both controls in an unreleased Google Photos build, version 7.95, enabled through manual tinkering rather than any Google announcement, according to its regeneration report and refresh report. Neither control is public, and the cited reports don't describe either as a live...

Paramount Skydance is the name of the corporate entity acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery. It is not an announced streaming brand, and there is no confirmed HBO Max and Paramount Plus merger into a single app, according to a Paramount SEC filing from earlier this year. That distinction matters because online chatter has treated "Paramount Skydance" as a future consumer app name, when the filing uses it only to identify the company buying Warner Bros. Discovery.

Samsung recently unveiled the Galaxy SmartTag3, and for the first time in the SmartTag lineup, the tracker supports iPhone finding and sharing alongside Galaxy devices. T

Downloading a map to an iPhone before a hike doesn't guarantee it will still work once the signal drops. Gaia GPS's own support documentation warns that its app caches recently viewed tiles, so a trail can look available offline even though it was never actually downloaded. That's a quirk specific to how Gaia checks download status, not proof that offline map apps generally fail.

The Microsoft Windows and Surface event on October 7 is shaping up to focus on local AI, RTX Spark hardware, and new Windows experiences, though Microsoft has not yet confirmed pricing or a release date for either new device. The event takes place in San Francisco at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET, with CEO Satya Nadella, Windows and Surface chief Pavan Davuluri, and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang all confirmed to appear on stage.

Motorola has become the first phone maker to announce a device built around Qualcomm's new flagship chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. The company unveiled the Motorola Signature 27 at Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii, with Qualcomm and Motorola both confirming the new platform inside the phone.

Apple Watch GPS vs GPS + Cellular comes down to one question: do you need the watch to stay connected when your iPhone isn't nearby? Within the same Apple Watch model and case material, the two versions share the same core health, fitness, display, and GPS features.

Typing "remove static IP Windows 11" into a search bar usually surfaces ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew. Those are real commands, but they won't remove a manually configured address on their own. /renew only works on adapters already configured to obtain an address automatically.

Xiaomi has now launched the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max in China, locking in the camera hardware that was being teased before their Sept. 23 debut. Samsung, meanwhile, hasn't officially revealed the Galaxy S27 Ultra camera system yet, and leakers are still disagreeing over parts of its telephoto setup.

iOS 27 arrived earlier this month, and among its Apple Intelligence features is a new way to build automations: describe what you want in plain language, and the Shortcuts app builds it for you (MacRumors; EFF). Tap New Shortcut and the app can open to a "Describe a Shortcut" screen instead of dropping straight into the manual action editor, based on MacRumors' testing during the beta this summer (MacRumors). The update also brings new automation triggers and several new actions across...

Apple's iOS 27 bill-splitting feature is now live, letting Apple Cash users photograph or select a receipt, assign individual items to different people, and calculate each person's share before sending payment requests.

Apple released watchOS 27.0.1 for Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 on Sept. 23, with release notes describing bug fixes "including an issue that could cause the Apple Watch to restart unexpectedly," according to MacRumors.

YouTube freezing on Samsung Galaxy phones is turning into a recurring complaint, and the reports cluster around three recent models: the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, the standard Galaxy Z Fold 8, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

If Smart App Control just blocked an install and you're wondering whether you have to disable it to get past the warning, the short answer is: probably not.

The 2026 WNBA Playoffs began Sunday, Sept. 27, and the schedule is spread across broadcast networks, cable channels, and streaming services rather than one simple destination.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate got cheaper this year, but figuring out how to get the most out of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate now takes more than glancing at the new sticker price. Starting April 21, 2026, Ultimate dropped from $29.99 to $22.99 a month, with PC Game Pass falling from $16.49 to $13.99, according to Xbox Wire. Prices vary by region, so those U.S. figures might not match what actually shows up on your bill (Xbox Wire).

A Tom's Guide reporter spent about four hours trying to book a family trip to Disneyland Paris, phone parked in an online queue the whole time. The reporter said the checks on that booking page came about every 20 minutes in that case, part of a range the same person observed elsewhere running anywhere from 10 minutes to a full hour (Tom's Guide, last week). That inconsistency is the whole problem with an otherwise clever tool.

Apple told developers to "start getting ready ... today" for the iPhone Duo, eight days ago. Eight days later, the iPhone Duo app developer update timeline still has a gap right in the middle of it: no Xcode 27.1 beta, the actual tool developers need to act on that instruction.

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.

Microsoft has fixed the Windows 11 KB5124008 bug that broke Plan9 host-folder sharing for some Linux virtual machines, including environments used by Claude Cowork and the Windows Subsystem for Linux.

Changing the refresh rate in Windows 11 usually takes one trip through Settings. If you're here, though, you're probably dealing with one of two more annoying problems: a 144Hz option that keeps sliding back to 60Hz on its own, or one that never shows up in the dropdown at all. This guide covers the quick fix first, then a compatibility check that tells you which problem you actually have, followed by separate repair paths for each.

iOS 27 splits Apple's Clean Up tool into three processing modes: Auto, Fast, and High Quality, and picking the right one is the difference between an edit that holds up and one that looks obviously doctored. This guide covers how to use Clean Up in iOS 27 Photos to remove unwanted objects from iPhone photos, including which mode to trust and when to override it. Hands-on tests from Macworld and TechRadar show High Quality producing noticeably more convincing results than Fast in complex...

Samsung is boosting compensation as engineers weigh offers from rival SK hynix, but the gap between its memory and foundry businesses remains wide.

Google closed its Pixel 11 launch event in New York on August 12 the way it opened: with Trevor Noah on stage. Near the end, Rick Osterloh, Google's hardware chief, joined him, apparently to wrap things up, after a lineup expected to include Alex Cooper, Steph Curry, PinkPantheress and Ayami Nakajo, according to Engadget's live coverage of the show. It made for solid television. It made for a thinner night of proof.

Microsoft announced Project Zenith this week, a preconfigured Windows 11 setup built for developers who want to run 30B+ parameter AI models locally, according to Microsoft's announcement. Microsoft Project Zenith Windows 11 targets developers trying to cut recurring cloud-token bills, not casual users hoping for a free feature drop.

iPadOS 27 became available as a free update Sept. 14, and the headline addition is Siri AI, Apple's rebuilt assistant. Installing the update is one decision; getting Siri AI to work is another.