News and Updates from Gadget Hacks

You lose cell service in the middle of the day, and twenty minutes later, your bank account is empty. Welcome to SIM swapping—the nightmare scenario that's plagued millions and cost victims over $25 million in 2024 alone. The good news? AT&T just rolled out a feature that could slam the door on these attacks before they start. ZDNet reports that Wireless Account Lock is now live for both postpaid and prepaid customers, joining T-Mobile and Verizon in offering SIM protection tools.

Picture this: OnePlus drops news about a 7,100mAh battery in the upcoming Nord CE5, and suddenly everyone's talking about all-day power that could outlast your weekend camping trip. But here's where things get interesting — that massive cell isn't coming to every region. The OnePlus Nord CE5 sports a massive 7,100mAh battery, but not in every region, which means your location might determine whether you get this power-packed experience or something more traditional.

A single tap will soon turn hard-to-read text into words that feel like they were written just for you.

Apple's iOS 18.5's code has introduced a new localization string that suggests the company is preparing support for "5G Advanced," the next evolution of cellular technology.

A good e‑reader lets you disappear into a story without the headaches of blue‑light glare, notification pings, or dead‑weight battery anxiety. The latest crop goes further, adding color E Ink for comics, warm front‑lights for night reading, and waterproofing so you can finish that chapter poolside. We put the year's most compelling models to the page‑turn test and narrowed the field to five standouts for every kind of book lover.

Flagship earbuds like Apple's AirPods Pro, Sony's WF‑1000XM5, Jabra's Elite 10, and Soundcore's Liberty 4 Pro sound fantastic, but they come with equally premium price tags. Luckily, there are plenty of stellar alternatives that won't gut your wallet. Spend less than $100, and you can still land punchy audio, rock‑solid active noise canceling (ANC), and marathon battery life without feeling like you settled.

Apple's iOS 18.4 update for iPhone is finally available, and it brings some exciting new tools, smart refinements, and deeper Apple Intelligence integration that make your iPhone experience even better. Whether you're looking for ways to stay more organized, enhance your daily workflow, or enjoy new forms of entertainment, this update has something for everyone.

Apple just released iOS 18.3, its latest software update for iPhone, on January 27 — after 42 days of beta testing. While it's not as feature-packed as the previous updates for iOS 18.2 and iOS 18.1 were, there are still a few important changes you'll want to know about.

The Unicode Consortium is already hard at work on the next batch of emoji, but don't get too excited just yet. It may be a while before you see these new characters, which include an apple core, orca, and hairy creature, on your devices.

While Apple is full steam ahead on iOS 18, which is expected to drop sometime next month, it hasn't forgotten about iOS 17, which still dominates most users' iPhones. On Aug. 19, Apple issued a rerelease of its iOS 17.6.1 software for iPhone.

Christmas is just one week before Jan. 1. That means a lot of New Year's resolutions filled with promises to better ourselves with increased productivity, focus, and work ethics — but getting started can be challenging. Give the people in your life a leg up this holiday season with these smartphone gifts to keep them on-task in 2020.

So, someone on your shopping list has an iPhone. Lucky for you, Apple's line of smartphones are practically made for accessories. From AirPods to adapters, there's something for every iPhone user in your life. Are you feeling overwhelmed by the options? You've come to the right place.

Need a unique gift idea for the techy person in your life? Look no further than that phone they always have in their hand. There are plenty of great accessories, apps, subscriptions, and other smartphone-related goodies that will improve their quality of life, and thoughtful gifts like that are always the best-received.

With smartphone cameras and software getting better and better every year, more and more users are getting passionate about photography. So when you're shopping for a gift to get someone, if they have a smartphone, chances are they'll more than appreciate some tools and accessories for taking better photos with their pocket friend — and we've got some gear ideas they'll love.

With MP3 players all but dead, phones are now the dominant portable music devices. While smartphones have gotten better at this task over the years, they do have some glaring limitations when it comes to music. On the bright side, we can use these limitations to help find the perfect gifts for the audiophiles in our lives.

Smartphone gaming continues to improve with ever sharper displays and raw processing power to deliver console-quality graphics right in the palm of your hands. Nonetheless, you still stand to improve the gaming experience on any phone by adding the right accessories to the mix.

Rumors about the 2022 iPhone series stirred well before the iPhone 13 models were even released. While Apple remains quiet on the next big iPhone, as it always does, we're seeing more and more leaks and reveals for the iPhone 14 series as we lead up to a likely fall release.

Apple continues to suffer production delays caused by COVID-19 era factory closures, and the products taking the biggest hit are its customized 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro configurations. Long story short, you'd be lucky to get one of those 2021 MacBook Pro models by the end of June 2022.

With the new Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra release, the first thing you may be wondering is how its battery life compares to the iPhone 13 Pro Max, Apple's biggest model from 2021. We've rounded up some of the most popular Galaxy S22 Ultra and iPhone 13 Pro Max battery tests from across the internet to bring you answers.

If you have a cat, trying to get all of the little clumps out of the litter probably feels like an impossible task. It pretty much is, but we've found the best cat litter scoop that gets more of those tiny pieces out than any other scoop. Plus, it's sturdy, degradable, and ethically sourced.

Those of you lucky enough to snag a PlayStation 5 can pair your DualSense controller to Sony's PS Remote Play mobile app to stream and play your PS5 games from anywhere you want. DualSense support for Remote Play has been available on iOS since May 2021, and it's just now arrived on Android.

Amazon really wants to make itself at home in your home. Like, everywhere in your home, from your doorstep to your kitchen, your kids' rooms, and everywhere in between.

With the arrival of Facebook Ray-Ban Stories smartglasses commanding the recent spotlight, the tech world acted like it forgot about Facebook's first foray in consumer hardware — the Portal line of video calling devices.

If you're not planning to upgrade to a new iPhone 13, the new version of the iPhone operating system will breathe some new life into your iOS device.

During its annual autumn keynote address, Apple didn't move heaven and earth. Instead, the company pushed the envelope ever so slightly forward for its marquee consumer devices.

After the dust settled from Apple's annual iPhone event, there's not a lot to get hyped up about the iPhone 13 lineup, particularly if you upgraded your smartphone last year.

Apple released the iOS 14.7 RC (release candidate) today, Tuesday, July 13. The new update — and likely official 14.7 release — includes support for Apple's new MagSafe Battery Pack, adds two Apple Card Family options to combine credit limits and share one co-owned account, among other new features and changes.

Apple released the fifth iOS 14.7 betas to developers and public testers today, Thursday, July 8. The update appears to be minor, adding new splash screens when opening Reminders and Podcasts for the first time.

Apple released the second beta for iOS 15 on Thursday, June 24. The update includes FaceTime's "SharePlay" feature for the first time, a new Maps icon, updates to Focus mode, in addition to many other changes and bug fixes.

Apple released the third iOS 14.7 public beta for iPhone Tuesday, June 15. The update comes one day after Apple released the third 14.7 developer beta, and twelve days after the second iOS 14.7 beta, which was only released to registered developers.

Apple seeded the second beta for iOS 14.7 today, Wednesday, June 2. The update (build number 18G5033e) comes two weeks after Apple released the first 14.7 beta, and nine days after the company released iOS 14.6 to the general public.

When Tim Cook, Craig Federighi, and other core Apple leaders take the stage for WWDC 2021 on June 7, we'll hear a lot about exciting new things to come. We're likely to see what's in store for watchOS 8 and macOS 12, but more importantly, we'll get a glimpse at what iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 will be like.

Apple released the latest version of its iPhone OS, iOS 14.6, today, Monday, May 24. This latest update (build number 18F72) introduces new features like unlocking your iPhone with Voice Control after a restart, Apple Card Family support for up to five people, and subscription support for shows in Podcasts.

Apple pushed out the Release Candidate for iOS 14.6 on Monday, May 17. The 18F71 build includes new features and bug fixes, including an option to unlock your iPhone with Voice Control. It comes just hours after Apple announced Spacial Audio and Lossless Audio playback for Apple Music, new features that will require iOS 14.6 to run.

Apple released the third iOS 14.6 beta today, Monday, May 10. The update fixes a bug that could cause your iPhone to experience performance issues after startup.

Apple seeded public testers the second iOS 14.6 beta today, Friday, April 30. The update (build number 18F5055b) comes three hours after Apple released the second 14.6 developer beta, four days after the launch of iOS 14.5, which introduced over 60 new features and changes to iPhone, and eight days after the first 14.6 beta hit developers' iPhones.