The Latest from Gadget Hacks: Page 2

Samsung is going bigger again with the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra, a 14.6-inch Android flagship built around a massive OLED display, an included S Pen, expandable storage, and desktop-style multitasking. Samsung will release the tablet in the US on Oct. 7, 2026, putting it directly against Apple's 13-inch iPad Pro M5 at the top of the premium tablet market.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 deal spotted by Tom's Guide puts the foldable at $1,649 on Best Buy's site, a price the outlet called $250 off, in a report published five days ago (Tom's Guide). That listing surfaced roughly two weeks before iPhone Duo preorders open on October 16, with Apple's foldable starting at $1,999 for the 256GB model (Apple Newsroom). If the Best Buy price still holds and both phones are matched on storage, the Fold 8 would land roughly $350 cheaper than Apple's entry-level...

Google Find Hub NFC tracker support is rolling out via Play services version 26.39 and later, changing what happens the moment someone finds a lost tag. Tapping an NFC-compatible phone against an NFC-compatible Find Hub tag can surface its details and settings, or help identify a lost tag, according to 9to5Google. The same release lets owners name a tracker, assign it a category, and turn on Left-Behind Reminders during initial setup instead of circling back into the Find Hub app later, per...

Google Messages has changed where several familiar actions live. Swipe left on a conversation now reveals timestamps and RCS encryption status, and swiping right on an individual message opens a direct reply that quotes the original text above your response. Learning these Google Messages gestures now will save you from hunting around for options that used to sit in plain sight.

A specific button sequence on your Roku remote opens a live Wi-Fi diagnostics screen that isn't documented in the Roku support pages reviewed for this guide. It surfaces wireless readings that may help explain buffering: signal-to-noise ratio, signal strength, packet error rate, and the exact Wi-Fi channel your device is using. In one outlet's own test, repositioning the router and TV after checking this screen improved a signal reading from -58 dBm to -40 dBm (MakeUseOf).

Audible announced three new AI-powered listening features on October 1, but only one of them, Character Guide, was confirmed live when the beta opened. The other two features announced that day, Interactive Stories and Visual Explorer, are still marked "coming soon" or "rolling out this fall," not live.

A tipster claims Samsung's first Googlebook has surfaced in a Geekbench database listing, with specs showing a Snapdragon X Elite chip, 16GB of RAM, and Android 17. The post comes from Abhishek Yadav on X, relayed through Android Headlines and reported today by Android Central. Samsung has not announced an Android-powered Galaxy Book or given it a launch date, according to SamMobile. This Samsung Googlebook leak is still only a reported claim, not a confirmed product.

Continuity isn't one setting tucked into a menu. iOS, iPadOS, and macOS bundle nearly a dozen distinct tools under that name, everything from AirDrop and Handoff to lesser-known features like Continuity Sketch and Instant Hotspot (Apple Support, earlier this year). Knowing how to use Apple Continuity well means matching the right feature to the right task, not switching everything on and hoping it sorts itself out.

Buying a TV with the IMAX Enhanced badge doesn't automatically make every movie look bigger or sound better. What you get depends on the title, streaming service and hardware in the playback chain.

Apple told developers to "start getting ready ... today" for the iPhone Duo, eight days ago. Eight days later, the iPhone Duo app developer update timeline still has a gap right in the middle of it: no Xcode 27.1 beta, the actual tool developers need to act on that instruction.

A hidden screen tucked inside a Google Messages beta build caps pinned chats at six, well below the 20 conversations the app currently lets most users pin. The find points to a broader Google Messages pinned chats redesign that would show pinned chats as large contact icons in a row at the top of the inbox, replacing today's smaller pin treatment.

TikTok videos on Disney Plus are becoming real, and Disney+ subscribers will start seeing that content inside the app within the next few months. The rollout stems from a global Disney Plus TikTok partnership the two companies announced yesterday, according to The Walt Disney Company's announcement and USA Today. Opt-in creators will have their short-form videos appear on both TikTok and Verts, the vertical-video feed built into the Disney+ mobile app.

Pay TV has been losing subscribers for years, but analysts at MoffettNathanson now see a possible floor. The firm projects the US pay-TV market could stabilize at more than 50 million subscribers by 2030, down from roughly 62 million today.

Samsung's stable One UI 9 update is now reaching the Galaxy S25 series, Galaxy Z Fold 7, and Galaxy Z Flip 7, with the rollout confirmed live in South Korea, according to Android Authority. It's the next phase of a staged rollout that started with the Galaxy S26 family, and it puts Samsung's 2025 flagship lineup on the same Android 17 build already running on the newer S26 and Z8 devices.

Motorola has become the first phone maker to announce a device built around Qualcomm's new flagship chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. The company unveiled the Motorola Signature 27 at Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii, with Qualcomm and Motorola both confirming the new platform inside the phone.

Samsung is boosting compensation as engineers weigh offers from rival SK hynix, but the gap between its memory and foundry businesses remains wide.

The 2026 WNBA Playoffs began Sunday, Sept. 27, and the schedule is spread across broadcast networks, cable channels, and streaming services rather than one simple destination.

Apple's iOS 27 parental controls started arriving on devices on September 14, 2026, as part of a broader software rollout that also touched iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, visionOS 27, and tvOS 27. The features getting the most attention, child accounts, Ask to Browse, and a redesigned Screen Time, aren't spread evenly across that whole list. Apple says they require installing the Screen Time update specifically on iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27.

Crack an iPhone 17 screen without coverage and Apple bills $329; do the same to a Pro Max and the number climbs to $379. File that same repair through AppleCare+ instead, and the fee drops to $29 (iDrop News, about a year ago; Engadget, two weeks ago). That gap explains why AppleCare+ can be valuable, and also why so many people buy it without checking whether they actually need it.

Apple's macOS 27 Golden Gate update lets Mac owners route a question, and related follow-ups, to ChatGPT instead of the new Siri AI, but there's no switch that makes the swap permanent. Here's how to use ChatGPT with Siri on Mac: turn on the ChatGPT extension once in System Settings, then ask for ChatGPT by name every time you want it instead of Siri AI, since every new query defaults back to Siri AI otherwise.