Author: News Room

Xbox sales have been tanking for a while now — and the story hasn’t gotten any brighter. Microsoft just released its Q1 2026 earnings and Xbox hardware revenue was down 29 percent year-over-year. Last quarter, it was down 22 percent. Down 29 percent in the first two quarters of 2025, down 42 percent in Q4 of 2024… You get the picture.As tariffs and inflation take their toll, Microsoft has dramatically increased the prices on its gaming hardware, with the Series X now starting at $599.99. Microsoft’s response has been to deemphasize the console and pursue an “Xbox everywhere” strategy. That…

OnePlus has confirmed it plans to launch the latest OnePlus 15 smartphone globally on November 13 – a little over two weeks from now. That’s very much ahead of schedule for users in the US, the UK and Europe. Last year we had to wait until January 7 for the global launch of the OnePlus 13 phone. The handset, which was revealed for the company’s home market in China this week, will be revealed for the rest of the world during a launch event streaming on YouTube on November 13. We know the phone will arrive with a Qualcomm’s Snapdragon…

Bending Spoons has made a flurry of acquisitions in recent years, a few of which were followed by layoffs and, in some cases, higher prices for customers. The company expects its acquisition of AOL to close by the end of this year, with CEO Luca Ferrari saying that Bending Spoons will “invest significantly to help the product and business flourish.”Even though it’s hard not to think about which company will acquire AOL next, Ferrari says in the press release that Bending Spoons has “never sold an acquired business,” and will serve AOL’s “large, loyal customer base for many years to…

YouTube has announced it will use AI technology to automatically upscale creators’ uploads, in an effort to make low resolution clips look better on television sets. In a blog post today, Google says AI will generate high definition videos of standard definition uploads. That’s just the initial phase. Google says there are plans for 4K upscaling in the future. The surprising part of this is Google turning this feature on by default. Creators can turn it off and opt out, but if they don’t, artificial intelligence will do its thing without express consent. “Creators will retain complete control over their…

Over the years, I’ve tested a fair few whacky health devices. A set of cooling gloves that claimed to help you weightlift, included. But when Withings sent me a clam-looking device to sit in my toilet bowl, even I had to do a double take. The idea is simple: the U-Scan regularly takes a sample of your urine when you go to the bathroom and gives you a quick analysis at home. As someone with an Apple Watch, Whoop, and who regularly does blood tests to get fitness data, I was instantly on board. Fast forward three months, and I’ve…

You’re going to start seeing more warnings in Chrome when accessing insecure sites. Starting next October, Chrome will soon warn users when they visit a public website without an encrypted HTTPS connection.Chrome already issues a “Your connection is not private” message when you visit pages that have an HTTPS connection that’s misconfigured. But this will expand the warnings to websites that don’t use HTTPS at all.Google first offered insecure connections warnings for HTTP pages in 2021, but users had to opt in to see them. HTTPS — or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure — uses encryption to establish a secure connection…

Apple is planing to bring OLED display technology to more iPad tablets and MacBook models beyond the most expensive Pro lines. According to the Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, Apple is already testing the possibility of a MacBook Air, iPad Air and iPad mini with an OLED display. That would mean displays that have deeper contrasts than their predecessors. However, as with most changes in display technology, users might face a wait before they can upgrade those models. The first MacBook Air is pencilled in for 2029 according to the report, and that’s at the earliest. Before that we’re likely to…

The thing about carrying multiple devices is you usually end up hauling a nest of cables along with them. Now imagine trimming your kit down to a single, versatile cord that can provide power to your smartphone and laptop simultaneously. That’s where Anker’s 140W 2-in-1 USB-C to USB-C Cable comes in, and right now you can pick it up for its second lowest price of $16.99 ($6 off) at Amazon (with a Prime membership) and Anker’s online storefront after the code is automatically applied.Anker’s 2-in-1 cable lets you plug one end into a wall adapter for power, while the other…

Starting at approximately 16:00 UTC, we began experiencing Azure Front Door issues resulting in a loss of availability of some services. In addition. customers may experience issues accessing the Azure Portal. Customers can attempt to use programmatic methods (PowerShell, CLI, etc.) to access/utilize resources if they are unable to access the portal directly. Read the full article here

If you want one of the best home theater experiences LG can provide, the 65-inch LG G5 OLED is down to a new record low price. Regularly $3,399.99, you can buy the TV for around $1,996.99 at Amazon and directly from LG. Other configurations are also on sale, with the 77-inch going for around $3,456.99 (about $1,000 off) at Amazon and LG. If you purchase the TVs from LG, you’ll also get free professional wall mounting or stand set up with a free matching TV stand through November 16th.While it didn’t win this year’s “TV Shootout” award for flawless picture…

The majority of Amazon smart speakers lean more into the “smart” than the “speaker,” except for the Echo Studio. That device, which arrived in November 2019, was an imposing, sound-quality-first speaker that delivered Alexa functionality alongside impressive sound for a $200 device. But that was nearly six years ago — an eternity in tech product years — and the Studio has been due for a redesign.The 2025 model of the Echo Studio, which costs $219.99, is one of four new Echo devices — alongside the Echo Dot Max, Echo Show 8, and Echo Show 11 — designed for Alexa Plus.…

It’s a cliché of Apple’s iPhone launch cycle that the latest Phones are ‘the best ever’ but they don’t always take a large enough step forward. As you’ll be pleased to hear, this year’s Pro lineup does take a large step in the right direction. In terms of performance and versatility, this phone sits head and shoulders above anything else in Apple’s range –  the standard iPhone 17 Pro comes close, but there are some appealing facets that make going Pro Max something of The Pro series still carries a price premium over the iPhone Air ($100/£100 more), marking the…