Tech
49 articles found
Netflix–HBO Max: The Real Cost of a "One‑Click" Exit
Netflix says users can “just cancel” if an HBO Max merger raises prices. The real issue for US and EU viewers is shrinking choice and growing gatekeeper power.
Nintendo’s 9‑Year Miracle: What the Switch Record Really Tells Us
Nintendo Switch is now Nintendo’s best‑selling console ever. Beyond the headline, here’s what the nine‑year‑old hybrid’s record means for players and rivals.
Crunchyroll’s Price Hike Exposes the Real Cost of Anime Consolidation
Crunchyroll’s price hike after killing its free tier shows how Sony’s anime consolidation reshapes streaming, pricing power, and options for European fans.
Raspberry Pi Is No Longer a $35 Computer – And That’s a Strategic Problem
AI-driven RAM shortages have pushed Raspberry Pi prices to mini-PC levels. We analyse what this means for makers, schools, industry and Europe.
Panther Lake finally gives Intel a laptop story that makes sense
Intel’s Panther Lake Core Ultra finally unifies CPU, GPU, efficiency and AI in laptops. Here’s why it matters for buyers, rivals and the European market.
TV’s Resolution Arms Race Is Over: Why 8K Lost Before It Began
Major TV makers are backing away from 8K. Our analysis explains why the format failed, what it means for 4K, and where TV innovation goes next.
Nvidia’s decade-old Shield TV shames the rest of Android
Nvidia’s Shield TV has 10 years of Android updates. Here is what this outlier reveals about long‑term support, EU regulation and the future of devices.
Windows 11 at 1 Billion Users: Victory Lap or Warning Sign?
Windows 11 has hit 1 billion users. Here’s what that really means for Microsoft, the PC ecosystem, and increasingly assertive European regulators.
Apple’s Creator Studio Is Really an AI Strategy Disguised as a Bargain Bundle
Apple’s Creator Studio looks like a bargain, but it’s really Apple’s on‑ramp to subscription‑funded, AI‑driven creative tools—especially in Europe.
AMD’s Ryzen 7 9850X3D: When “fastest” stops being interesting
AMD’s Ryzen 7 9850X3D is technically the fastest gaming CPU, but higher power use and tiny gains raise a bigger question: when does “fastest” stop mattering?
LG Wants You to Rent Your Living Room: What TV‑as‑a‑Service Really Means
LG’s new UK-only LG Flex TV rental program reveals how big tech wants to turn living-room hardware into recurring revenue. Here’s who really wins.
Apple’s Resurrection Of Ancient iPhones Isn’t Charity – It’s Control
Apple’s update for very old iPhones keeps iMessage and FaceTime alive to 2027. What this really reveals is Apple’s power over device lifespans and EU pressure.
AirTag 2 Is a Small Upgrade With Big Strategic Consequences
Apple’s AirTag 2 looks like a minor update, but better range, a louder speaker and airline ties reveal Apple’s long-term strategy in location tracking.
BitLocker, the FBI, and your keys: when “convenience” becomes a backdoor in practice
Microsoft quietly stores BitLocker recovery keys in the cloud for many Windows 11 PCs. Here’s why that design matters for privacy, law and Europe.
Intel’s Panther Lake Bottleneck: When the AI Gold Rush Starves the PC
Intel’s Core Ultra Series 3 "Panther Lake" faces shortages as Intel prioritizes AI and server chips. What this means for PC buyers, OEMs, and Europe.
Telly’s “Free TV” Experiment Shows How Much Your Living Room Is Worth
Telly’s “free” ad-based TVs reveal how valuable living-room attention has become—and why Europe may push back hard against this model.
Kioxia says its flash memory is sold out for 2026—and SSD prices will feel it
Kioxia says its flash memory capacity is sold out through 2026, keeping SSDs in a “high-end and expensive phase” as AI data centers drive a prolonged memory crunch.
YouTube quietly broke its most advanced captions. Google says it’s “temporary.”
Google quietly disabled YouTube’s advanced SRV3 captions, citing playback bugs. Uploads are blocked, many captions vanished, and there’s no timeline for a fix.
Sony hands TCL control of its high-end Bravia TV business
Sony is ceding 51% control of its Bravia TV and home audio business to TCL in a new global joint venture, set to launch in April 2027 under the Sony Bravia brand.
M5 MacBook Pro refresh looks closer as M4 Max models slip
M4 Max MacBook Pro shipping delays, Creator Studio’s launch, and a budget A‑series Mac all point to an imminent M5 Pro/Max refresh and a busy 2026 for Macs.
Asus Puts Smartphone Business on Ice to Chase AI Money
Asus is putting its smartphone business on indefinite pause—no new Zenfone or ROG Phone in 2026—as it pivots hard into AI servers, robots, and smart glasses.
Meta’s VR layoffs freeze beloved fitness app Supernatural
Meta’s latest layoffs gut Supernatural’s team and freeze new content, leaving VR fitness diehards mourning a beloved app that’s now in limbo.
AI’s Memory Binge Is Breaking PC Budgets: GPUs and Storage Now in the Firing Line
AI data centers have pushed DDR5 and NAND prices so high that GPUs, large SSDs, and even hard drives are getting more expensive and harder to find.
Spotify’s third price hike in 2.5 years is starting to look like the new normal
Spotify is raising US subscription prices again in February, its third hike in 2.5 years, pushing Premium to $13 and signaling a new normal for music streaming.
“WhisperPair” bug lets attackers hijack Google Fast Pair headphones
KU Leuven researchers reveal “WhisperPair,” a flaw in Google Fast Pair that lets attackers hijack headphones, access mics, and track users from up to 14 meters.
Are iPhone users really skipping iOS 26 over Liquid Glass? Not exactly
Analytics data made iOS 26 look like a disaster, blamed on Liquid Glass. A closer look shows slower—but not catastrophic—adoption and a privacy tweak breaking stats.
US data shows streaming subscription prices jumped 29% in 2025
US Labor Department data show prices for video and gaming streaming access jumped 29% in 2025, far outpacing overall inflation and even cable TV.
RAM shortage forces PC makers to cool the AI PC hype
A global RAM shortage is pushing PC makers to raise prices, cut memory specs, and quietly step back from overhyped “AI PC” marketing—at least for now.
Apple finally bundles its pro creative apps in a $13 “Creator Studio” subscription
Apple launches Creator Studio on January 28, bundling Final Cut, Logic, Pixelmator Pro, and more for $13 a month while keeping Mac one-time purchases alive.
Paramount sues WBD to blow up Netflix’s $82.7 billion deal
Paramount has sued Warner Bros. Discovery to challenge its $82.7 billion Netflix deal, pushing a hostile $108.4 billion bid, while WBD calls the lawsuit meritless and the offer financially inadequate.
The wildest monitors we saw at CES 2026
From a 51.5-inch UltraSharp and Lenovo’s tall AIO to RGB-stripe OLEDs, 6K 3D panels, G-Sync Pulsar, a $550k “portable data center,” and 1,000 Hz gaming monitors, CES 2026 went all-in on displays.
AI’s RAM Hunger Hands Samsung and Memory Rivals Record Profits
Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron are posting record profits as AI soaks up DRAM and HBM, pushing a 32GB DDR5 kit from $80 to $340 and keeping RAM prices elevated for years.
Samsung’s Ballie home robot is now basically vaporware
Six years after its CES 2020 debut, Samsung’s Ballie home robot has been “indefinitely shelved” and relegated to an internal “innovation platform.”
Expired certificate bricks Logitech’s Mac apps and wipes custom settings
An expired security certificate has completely broken Logitech’s Logi Options+ and G Hub apps on macOS, forcing users to manually patch them to restore custom settings.
Bose open-sources SoundTouch speakers instead of fully bricking them
Bose is ending cloud support for its SoundTouch speakers on February 18 but will keep AirPlay and Spotify Connect working and has open-sourced the API for developers.
Motorola’s Razr Fold Takes Aim at Big Book-Style Foldables This Summer
Motorola teases the Razr Fold, a book-style foldable with an 8.1-inch 2K OLED, Moto Pen Ultra stylus, triple 50 MP cameras, and new Qira AI, launching this summer.
Nvidia skips new GeForce cards at CES and bets on DLSS 4.5 instead
Nvidia skipped new GeForce GPUs at CES 2026 and leaned on DLSS 4.5 and Multi‑Frame Generation updates instead. Here’s what changed and why hardware is on hold.
HP’s EliteBoard G1a puts a Ryzen Windows 11 PC inside a keyboard
HP’s new EliteBoard G1a puts a Windows 11 Pro PC with an AMD Ryzen AI 300‑series chip and 32 W battery inside a membrane keyboard, targeting hot‑desking offices.
Dell’s XPS comeback is a quiet rebuke to the “AI PC” hype
Dell resurrects the XPS 14 and 16, dials down “AI PC” marketing, and brings back practical design features like physical function keys and a bordered touchpad.
AMD’s 2026 Ryzen lineup is mostly a reheat, with a few smart tweaks
AMD’s 2026 Ryzen lineup leans on refreshed Ryzen AI 400 laptop chips, new Max+ 392/388 APUs for gamers, and a faster Ryzen 7 9850X3D for AM5 desktops.
Intel’s Panther Lake Core Ultra 3 lands this month on new 18A process
Intel’s new Core Ultra Series 3 “Panther Lake” laptop CPUs debut the 18A process, promise big CPU/GPU gains, 50 TOPS NPUs, and ship in premium ultraportables this month.
Amazon’s new Alexa+ escapes the Echo and hits the web in free early access
Amazon’s rebooted Alexa+ is now free to use on the web at Alexa.com during early access, before a planned Prime-linked subscription paywall kicks in.
SanDisk kills WD Blue and Black SSD brands, rolls out new Optimus line
SanDisk is killing the WD Blue and Black SSD brands and rebadging them as SanDisk Optimus drives with the same model numbers, amid a volatile SSD market.
Stewart Cheifet, PBS host who chronicled the PC revolution, dies at 87
Stewart Cheifet, creator of PBS’s Computer Chronicles and Net Cafe and a key chronicler of the PC and early Internet revolutions, has died at 87 in Philadelphia.
Streaming in 2026: Higher prices, fatter bundles, less “infinite”
Streaming in 2026 will feel less infinite and more like premium cable: higher prices, more bundles, safer content, and a slow HBO Max reshuffle.
eSIM Regret: When Killing the SIM Slot Breaks Everything
Ars Technica’s Ryan Whitwam explains how going eSIM‑only with the Pixel 10 led to two SIM failures in three months—and why SMS-based security makes it worse.
Windows 10’s “death” explains why Windows 11 feels so annoying
Windows 10 is “dead” on paper, but its legacy explains why Windows 11 feels so pushy. Here’s how a good OS laid the groundwork for Microsoft’s most annoying era.
Next.js 15 Server Components: A Complete Tutorial
Master React Server Components with practical examples and performance tips.
Building Scalable APIs with Supabase Edge Functions
Learn how to deploy serverless functions at the edge for lightning-fast APIs.