Gadget Hacks: Page 10

Prime Day is wrapping up, but there’s still time to snag one of the year’s most compelling smartphone deals. Amazon’s October Prime Big Deal Days event launched on October 7th, bringing significant discounts to Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S25 lineup (Mashable). Several Samsung Galaxy models even hit their lowest prices of the year during this window (Mashable). Unlocked versions are the sweet spot, full carrier flexibility without plan strings attached (Mashable).

The UK government has just hit Apple with another secret demand for encrypted user data. This time, the target is British citizens only. According to reports that surfaced this week, the Home Office issued a second Technical Capability Notice (TCN) in early September, demanding Apple create backdoor access to encrypted iCloud backups specifically for UK users. That undercuts earlier claims from US officials that Britain had completely backed down from its encryption-busting efforts.

Apple's latest strategic pivot tells a fascinating story about reading the market and knowing when to change course. Bloomberg reports that Apple has paused work on a cheaper Vision Pro headset to focus on smart glasses development, following the slow uptake of Vision Pro with limited content and a $3,499 price tag.

Reviewed by Meg Flores

Nothing's latest widget creation feature is making waves in the Android community, and for good reason. Nothing Phones now lets you make your own widgets, and here's the kicker: you can use them not just on Nothing Phones, but on any Android device.

When regulatory agencies handle confidential tech schematics, one small mistake can expose months of carefully guarded secrets. That is exactly what happened when the FCC mistakenly leaked confidential iPhone 16e schematics, giving us an unprecedented look at Apple's latest budget powerhouse before its official release. The iPhone 16e debuted in February 2025 as a $599 budget powerhouse, quickly becoming a game-changer in Apple's lineup. Beyond the leaked documents, what makes this story...

Google has been making waves in the tech world with a significant expansion of its AI-powered photo editing capabilities. Google has just announced that it is rolling out conversational editing to other Android phones in the U.S., marking a major step forward in making advanced photo editing accessible to a broader audience. This feature leverages Gemini's sophisticated AI capabilities to transform how we interact with our photos, allowing anyone with an eligible phone to make AI edits within...

Reviewed by Jame Jimenez

Looking at the sticker price for American Express's Platinum card, you'd expect some pretty impressive perks when you're shelling out nearly $900 annually. Free airport lounge access? Absolutely. Hotel upgrades and solid dining credits? You bet. What you probably wouldn't expect is that one of the "premium" features you're paying for is the ability to make your mobile app a slightly darker shade of blue.

When thieves make off with someone's smartphone, they probably do not expect that device to become a star witness against them. Yet that is exactly what happened in recent UK cases where Apple's Find My technology helped police dismantle major theft operations. Everyday consumer tech, once just convenience, now doubles as a quiet crime-fighting partner.

Apple finds itself in hot water over delayed AI features, but the company isn't backing down. Apple filed a motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit targeting its Apple Intelligence rollout delays on Thursday. The company says two missing Siri features do not justify sweeping legal claims. The twist, and it is a big one, is how this fight spotlights the stakes of the AI arms race and the risk when Apple's famously polished marketing collides with the messy reality of shipping AI.

Apple's making waves at Fenway Park tonight, and it has nothing to do with batting averages or stolen bases. For the first time in broadcasting history, Apple will use the iPhone 17 Pro to capture live professional sports footage during the Red Sox vs. Tigers game on Apple TV+. Not a tech demo. The real thing, with Apple believing this marks the first use of iPhone in a live professional sports broadcast workflow.

Reviewed by Meg Flores

Reviewed by Jame Jimenez

Apple's Visual Intelligence just got a major upgrade in iOS 26, and honestly, it's about time. The original feature launched in iOS 18.2 as a Camera Control button that could describe your surroundings and translate text. Now Apple has extended Visual Intelligence in iOS 26 to work with content that's on your iPhone. Not a minor tweak, a shift in how you act on what you see, from shopping finds to event planning.

The smartphone world just got a lot more interesting, and honestly, I wasn’t expecting Xiaomi to shake things up this dramatically. Xiaomi just dropped a bombshell with the launch of their 17 series—the kind of announcement that makes you sit up. The Xiaomi 17 series was announced on September 25 in China, marking a bold leap into next-generation territory.

When two tech giants like Intel and Apple start talking investment, you pay attention. Intel has reached out in hopes of securing an investment from Apple Inc., a move that could shape the next chapter of semiconductor history. The timing is a twist worth savoring. Apple was a longtime customer of Intel before developing its own in-house chip in 2020. Now the old partners might reunite, only with Intel in the supplicant seat rather than the supplier chair. Intel's stock rose about 6.4%...

American Express just rolled out what might be the most talked-about app update of 2025, and honestly, the conversation is pretty fascinating. Starting September 18, users can download the latest version of their mobile app featuring the ability to choose between light mode and dark mode. You might be thinking, "that's it?" Here's where it gets interesting. This seemingly simple feature arrives as the Amex Platinum Card's annual fee jumps to $895, which makes some people wonder if they're...

Since the DMA entered into force on Nov. 1, 2022, and began to apply from May 2, 2023, Apple isn't pulling any punches. The company claims regulators have created a mess that's hurting the very people the law was supposed to help. It argues that the DMA is forcing "concerning changes" to how it designs products, while Samsung currently leads European smartphone shipments and, unlike Apple, was not among the Commission's first designated DMA gatekeepers (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta,...

Qualcomm just dropped a bombshell with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, officially unveiled on Sept. 24, 2025, as perhaps the fastest smartphone chip in the world. The naming might catch you off guard. Many expected it to be called the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2, but Qualcomm decided the "Gen" suffix now applies to their entire series, making this the fifth generation.

Reviewed by Jame Jimenez

OnePlus is making waves again, but this time with some intriguing mathematical logic. OnePlus has announced that the OnePlus 15 premium smartphone will soon debut, and they are skipping the number 14 entirely. Why the leap? Rumor has it OnePlus is dodging that number for cultural reasons, jumping straight from 13 to 15. In OnePlus math, 13 plus one equals 15, and honestly, that is not the strangest thing we have seen in the tech world.

Google's latest legal maneuver is a last-ditch bid to avoid a rewrite of Android. Google has petitioned the US Supreme Court for emergency relief to halt sweeping changes to its Android app store after losing its antitrust fight with Epic Games. The company asked the court to decide by October 17 whether to pause the order, and it is planning to file its appeal to the Supreme Court by October 27. The stakes reach beyond one platform or one lawsuit, straight into how digital marketplaces are...

The European Union did not flinch. Faced with Apple's latest challenge, officials said there is "absolutely no intention" of backing down from the Digital Markets Act. The standoff is a hinge moment in the fight between Big Tech and European regulators, and the ripple effects go well beyond Apple's walled garden.

When tech giants flex their app store muscles, whole communities feel it. The recent removal of ICE-spotting applications from both Apple and Google's platforms was not just another moderation call, it put the collision of technology, civil liberties, and corporate responsibility on center stage.

Apple's rumor mill is in overdrive, and the latest whispers about a 20th anniversary "iPhone 20" and the long-awaited iPhone Fold have us genuinely excited about what could be the biggest iPhone shake-up in years. With production schedules ramping up for 2026 and leaked specifications painting a picture of Apple's most ambitious iPhone yet, this could be the most significant evolution since iPhone X transformed the industry. Here is what we know, what we think we know, and why Apple's foldable...

Every September, Apple drops the familiar line about the "best iPhone lineup ever." Most years, that is marketing gloss on small tweaks. This time, with the iPhone 17 series, it actually lands. 9to5Mac notes that Apple has made four fantastic new iPhone models, and every new iPhone this year is a winner. The numbers agree, analysts reported pre-order demand was about 25% higher than the iPhone 16 series a year prior. Here is why this lineup feels like a real reset of Apple's iPhone hierarchy.

Just days after the iPhone 17 Pro hit shelves, a familiar tech-world pattern shows up. Brand-new phones, fresh out of the box, already sporting scratches and scuffs. Normally, the internet gave it a name: Scratchgate.

You know that feeling when you see something so impossibly thin you almost can't believe it's real? That was me when I first held the iPhone Air's remarkable 5.6mm profile. Then came the wild part, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reports that next year's iPhone Fold could measure just 4.5-4.8mm when unfolded. Let me put that in perspective. We are talking about a foldable phone that is potentially a full millimeter thinner than Apple's thinnest device ever.

You have probably heard Apple just switched to its own cellular modems. Here is the twist that caught everyone off guard: the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, Apple's flagship models, are still running on Qualcomm hardware. Meanwhile, Apple quietly shipped two in-house modems in other devices, a strategy that favors refinement over spraying new silicon across the lineup.

Reviewed by Jame Jimenez

When two tech titans start talking money, the industry perks up. Intel has approached Apple about a potential investment as part of its comeback strategy, a twist in a long, complicated relationship. The talks land as Intel is partially owned by the U.S. government and scrambling to regain footing in semiconductors. When the news hit, Intel's stock jumped 6% and Apple's dipped 1%. Both companies kept quiet. Of course they did.

YouTube has been listening to its users, and for once, the feedback loop actually worked. After years of viewers complaining about those pesky end-screen popups cluttering up their viewing experience, Engadget reports that YouTube will now let viewers dismiss the popups and video suggestions that appear at the end of videos with a new "Hide" button. While these end screen popups are a standard part of most YouTube videos (Engadget), viewers increasingly wanted the ability to dismiss them and...

When Samsung announced its latest price cuts on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, it wasn't just another seasonal sale. It was a calculated strategic maneuver that sends ripples throughout the entire smartphone industry. With the iPhone 17 Pro Max hitting shelves at $1,199 and Samsung's flagship starting at $1,299, this move signals more than competitive pressure, it is Samsung doubling down on value while Apple leans into premium positioning.

When emergencies strike, every second counts. Whether you are caught in severe weather, facing a natural disaster, or dealing with other urgent threats, timely, accurate information can be the difference between life and death. That is exactly what makes TuneIn's new partnership with FEMA so compelling, it brings real-time emergency alerts directly to drivers through their vehicle dashboards and mobile streams.

Three days out, Apple TV+ yanks a major series. Something is up. Apple’s decision to postpone "The Savant" on Tuesday, September 23, originally set to debut September 26, created a rare public rift with one of its biggest stars. Jessica Chastain expressed her disappointment with the call, a striking break from the usual united front. The timing made it sting more, with Apple pulling mentions of the launch from social channels just as viewers were getting ready to hit play.

Ad, skip, another ad. Sound familiar? YouTube Premium Lite aims to break that loop without blowing up your budget. YouTube Premium Lite costs $7.99 a month, positioning itself as a more affordable alternative to the full Premium experience. The service removes ads on most YouTube videos, wherever you are watching them, while YouTube doesn’t charge a cent for hosting all of your uploaded videos or showing them to the world. With interruptions getting longer and more frequent, the question is...

Your iPhone is about to become your passport, well, sort of. Apple confirmed that iPhones will add US Passport support by the end of 2025, marking a significant evolution in how we think about digital identity. Not a gimmick. It is Apple’s answer to the slow rollout of digital driver’s licenses and a direct response to Google Wallet’s passport support that launched in December 2024. The feature will let you create an ID with your passport in the Wallet app, so you can verify your identity at...

Apple's iPhone 17 Pro is in the spotlight for two very different reasons: a bold thermal design and some eyebrow-raising durability quirks. iFixit's comprehensive teardown analysis takes us inside the hardware, showing why Apple made its first return to aluminum in eight years, and how the new cooling system and the so-called "scratchgate" can both be true at once.

Ever been stuck with a dying iPhone battery when you need your phone most? Picture this: you are halfway through a cross-country flight, your iPhone’s battery icon is flashing red, and you have three hours of travel left. That used to mean scrambling for cables and wall outlets. Not anymore. MagSafe technology has changed the game entirely. WIRED confirms that MagSafe is integrated into iPhone 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 models, using a ring of magnets that lets you attach wireless charging...