Gadget Hacks

Motorola's Swarovski Razr goes on sale September 10 for $899.99, a $100 premium over the standard Razr 2026, The Verge reported today. The phone isn't shipping yet, and The Verge's report covers price and design only.

Microsoft will begin switching on Memory Integrity, along with Virtualization-based Security where it isn't already running, on eligible Windows 11 machines through next month's Patch Tuesday update. That's according to Peter Waxman, a group program manager at Microsoft, whose comments on the rollout were reported by The Verge yesterday, with the October timing confirmed by OC3D yesterday.

For years, every iMessage conversation looked the same: a flat gray backdrop, no matter who you were talking to. That changed when Apple shipped iOS 26, which lets you swap that plain canvas for a photo, a solid color, an animated preset, or an AI-generated image. Learning how to change the background on iPhone Messages takes about thirty seconds once you know where to look, but the feature works differently than most people expect. It isn't a personal theme sitting quietly on your device. It's...

Xbox Insiders testing the platform's new disc-to-digital feature have reported that it also issues digital licences for games long removed from the Xbox Store. Testers cite successful claims for Deadpool, delisted in 2017, and Minecraft: Story Mode, delisted in 2019, within days of the feature going live. The supplied reporting does not identify an official Microsoft compatibility list, so the Xbox disc-to-digital compatible games list circulating among fans right now is built entirely from...

Google began rolling out Gemini 3.5 Live Translate in Google Translate three months ago, a new audio model built to translate speech continuously as someone talks rather than waiting for them to pause, according to Google. The company frames the goal as a phone-and-headphones setup that functions like a personal interpreter riding along in a conversation.

Open Google Clock on two different phones and you might not recognize it as the same app. The redesign rolled out across Android last year, but the new timer UI that actually changes how a running timer behaves, not just how it looks, has reached only Pixel owners running Android 16 (9to5Google; 9to5Google).

Microsoft has turned Copilot in Excel from a chat-based advisor into a tool that edits workbooks directly. For anyone relying on Copilot in Excel collaborative workbooks, that shift, paired with a set of new controls meant to make those edits visible, is what changed, according to Microsoft's Excel blog, published in April 2026.

Apple's iOS 27, currently moving through beta testing ahead of a fall release, brings a broad set of improvements to Messages.

Buried in a MacRumors roundup of iOS 27 changes Apple skipped on stage is a short but intriguing line: Apple said users will be able to switch between two iPhones using the same phone number, MacRumors reported three months ago. Call it the iOS 27 iPhone Handoff feature if a shorthand helps, though that's not language Apple has used. The supplied report doesn't name it at all, let alone brand it, and no Apple product name appears anywhere in the available material.

Microsoft marked Windows 365's five year anniversary two weeks ago with a disclosure that tens of thousands of organizations worldwide now run Cloud PCs in some form, according to Microsoft's anniversary post. The company paired that figure with a batch of Windows 365 new features that push the platform well past its original 2021 pitch of "Windows from any device," adding options for part-time workers, shared kiosks, contingency access, developers, and now autonomous AI agents. Customer...

Apple has given Siri a dedicated Mac app for the first time, with its own icon in the Dock.

The Pixel 11 Pro Fold cracked along both antenna lines next to its hinge during a bend test, and its outer display popped clean off the frame, Trusted Reviews and Android Authority reported. The test comes from Zack Nelson, who runs the YouTube channel JerryRigEverything and put the phone through a series of scratch, flame, dust and bend tests, according to Trusted Reviews.

Pixel 11 Pro XL Extreme Charging mode can be activated from the phone's Battery and charging settings, the lock screen when eligible, or Quick Settings after the feature has been activated once.

Pixel Watch 4 owners who feel left out of the Pixel Watch 5 launch have a workaround. According to Android Authority, Reddit user m0rr0ng0 found that sideloading a newer build of the Pixel Watch Faces app unlocks five Pixel Watch 5 faces: Weave, Chronograph, a Steph Curry edition, Multicolor Reveal, and Multicolor Modular.

This guide walks you through preordering any of the three new Galaxy foldables in a way that minimizes total cost or preserves flexibility, depending on which matters more to you. By the end, you'll know which channel fits your situation, how to run a real cost comparison, and what to verify before submitting your order.

For years, Apple Notes was a one-way street. Text went in and mostly stayed there, with no built-in way to hand a note back out in a format other writing tools could actually read. iOS 26 changes that by building native, two-way Markdown support into Notes, and this guide walks through how to import and export Markdown in Apple Notes on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

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.

On one Android phone, apps, texts, call history, and settings combined added up to less than 132MB, while photos and videos on the same device totaled 76GB (Android Police, 15 months ago). That's a striking example, not a universal rule, but it points toward the real question behind how to reduce Android backup storage in Google Drive: check what's actually filling the account before touching a single setting.

Granola Apple Watch App Explained: Features, Privacy Gaps, and Timing

Four months ago, Google Messages for web began warning users that "QR code pairing is going away soon." The prompt urges people to sign in to Google Messages for web with a Google account "to avoid interruption," an early warning of a removal Google has since completed in the United States.