Author: News Room
The WH-1000XM4C are expected to launch in early September 2026 in black, silver, and lavender color options for €249.99 or £219.99, which is around $289 to $297 after currency conversion.The original WH-1000XM4 launched in 2020 for $349.99, while the WH-1000XM6 debuted at a much steeper $449 last year. The new 1000XM4C’s features will include ANC powered by Sony’s QN1 chip (the 1000XM6 use its newer QN3 chip), spatial audio, support for hi-res audio, and earcup touch controls. The only compromise, according to the leaks, is slightly reduced battery life on the new version. The original 1000XM4 maxed out at up…
What makes the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra so Ultra? Samsung’s first foldable with the Ultra name isn’t a souped-up version of the regular Fold 8, as you might expect. Where the Z Fold 8 is squat and wide, the Fold 8 Ultra retains the thin outer screen and square inner panel of the previous Folds. It does have a substantially better triple rear camera system and a slightly larger battery. But with no support for the S Pen stylus and no Privacy Display, it’s not Ultra in the same way as the Galaxy S26 Ultra.But compare it to…
When I haul my 27-inch desktop monitor into the garage to film fun gadget videos… or want to play Japanese SNES games with friends… or lose the AC adapter for my old external hard disk… I can now power them with a USB battery instead.None of them came with USB-C ports; the entire USB protocol was barely a twinkle in its creator’s eye when Nintendo shipped the Super Famicom in 1990! But a tiny programmable dongle, from a company called Werewolf, can transform old power ports to accept USB-C electricity. I’m so impressed, I just bought a second kit for…
Since the heatwave hit, like everyone else, I’ve suddenly become interested in all things refrigeration – namely portable air con units and cool boxes. Who wants to feel like a sticky mess at home or drink a warm Coke on the beach, when tech offers us alternatives? Igloo’s Playmate KoolTunes cooler, $140/£234, piqued my interest because it doesn’t just keep your food and drinks cool, but it also brings the party, doubling up as a Bluetooth speaker. What’s the story with the Igloo Playmate KoolTunes cooler? Quite simply, it’s a 13-litre cool box and a boombox – two boxes in…
Recently, WhatsApp revealed it would enable users to add others using usernames – breaking the cycle of WhatsApp accounts being tied to a phone number. Interestingly, you won’t be able to browse for other users – you will instead need to know their complete username so they will have to tell you themselves. Although the feature isn’t officially launched yet, WhatsApp is enabling you to reserve your username now, providing someone hasn’t grabbed the same thing already. Reserving a username isn’t currently available on WhatsApp Web or Desktop so you need to use your phone to do it. It’s also…
For roughly an hour this week, Telegram vanished from Apple’s App Store. Even during that blip, it was a stunning absence for such a major app: an avenue of communication for more than 1 billion users around the world, used widely as a secure platform for people who live in countries under censorship. Apple later revealed that it had removed the app due to the presence of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and restored it once that content was removed.But the decision once again stirred up questions and confusion about Apple’s moderation policies and how it treats different companies. And…
1996. Ewan McGregor goes swimming in a Scottish toilet, The Spice Girls launch Girl Power and a sheep gets cloned. Oh, and some other things happen too, like the mighty Stuff magazine making its debut. So now the mag’s in the year of its big three-oh, I thought it’d be fun to pick 30 key tech events from the past 30 years, including the launches of revolutionary smartphones, cars, gaming gear and more. And, no, Will Smith dubiously saving the world by uploading a virus from an Apple PowerBook to an alien mothership isn’t one of them. Sorry, Hollywood. DVD spins into view…
You’re in an aluminium tube, 35,000 feet in the air, doing 550 miles an hour, and somehow you’re streaming a 4K movie better than on your sofa at home. That’s the experience you should get when you fly on a plane equipped with Starlink. Several commercial airlines have now started installing the SpaceX Wi-Fi technology, including Virgin Atlantic, Emirates, United Airlines, Air France, SAS, Qatar and British Airways, to name a few, while others, such as American Airlines and Lufthansa, have announced plans to use it. Some airlines are further along in their rollouts than others – Virgin has Starlink…
Back in January, I was crouched on the CES show floor making laser blaster noises with a Lego X-wing, utterly sold on the idea of Lego Smart Brick. Six months on, with the Star Wars launch sets built, tested, and largely gathering dust, and a batch of new Pokémon sets now sitting on my son’s shelf, I’ve got a very different, and much more complete, picture of these new tech-pack bricks. What are Lego Smart Bricks? For anyone catching up – Lego Smart Brick is Lego’s new interactive building system, built around a brick that looks just like a standard…
Meta has been ordered to pay $567 million in the second phase of New Mexico’s landmark child safety case, bringing total charges to nearly $1 billion for being a “public nuisance.” In a ruling published on Thursday, the Santa Fe district court found that Meta’s platforms are a “significant contributing cause” of a teen mental health crisis affecting public health and safety throughout New Mexico.“This case has always been about protecting children, standing up for families, and making sure that one of the world’s largest technology companies cannot profit from practices that endanger young people without consequence,” New Mexico Attorney…
Another September softly approaches, another collection of shiny new iPhones, and another nagging suspicion that the perfectly good phone in your pocket has somehow become outdated overnight. Only this year could be different. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max in September, potentially alongside its first foldable iPhone. The regular iPhone 18, however, reportedly won’t arrive until the first half of 2027. That makes skipping this year’s launch more than an act of admirable financial restraint. If you don’t need a Pro phone, waiting might simply be the most sensible option. The regular…
There are 8278 pieces in the Lego Icons The Lord of the Rings: Minas Tirith set. I know this because I have now touched, sorted, and clicked together a significant proportion of them, and my fingertips have the tiny cuts to prove it. The plan was simple, or at least it sounded simple when I came up with it. Watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy (Extended Edition, of course) back to back, roughly 11 hours and 23 minutes all in, and build the White City of Gondor alongside it, bag by bag, finishing the final brick as Frodo, Bilbo…