2 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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All the news you need to keep up with the latest developments in the tech world, from product announcements and live events to tariffs, policies, and regulations. Tech touches every aspect of daily news, and our experts are here to keep you informed on what happens and how it all affects you.

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
Mulder and Scully get the minifigure treatment in Lego’s first X-Files set.

Launching on August 4th for $199.99 the 1,478-piece modular set features Mulder’s messy office and a close encounter of the third kind with an alien and a hovering UFO. It’s yet another set that could be worth it for the minifigures alone with tiny versions of Skinner, Krycek, Mr. X, Carl Busch, and the Flukeman.

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1/6Image: Lego
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
Philips Hue’s latest camera might be for your TV.

According to Hueblog.com, the smart lighting company is readying a new solution for its popular entertainment sync feature. “Screen Sync” is a TV-mounted camera that matches Hue lights to on-screen content. Unlike Hue’s HDMI Sync box and TV Sync apps, a camera-based system — popularized by rivals Govee and Nanoleaf — should be able to sync with any content on the screen.

Philips Hue may soon launch a camera-based solution for its entertainment sync system.
Philips Hue may soon launch a camera-based solution for its entertainment sync system.
Image: HueBlog.com
Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Google reportedly leaked the Pixel 11 Pro XL.

According to a Droid Life report, spotted by 9to5Google, an image of the phone briefly showed up on the Google Fi website, ahead of an August 12th Pixel launch event. Google appears to have removed the image, but the phone in Droid Life’s screenshot matches the “Dune” colorway in an earlier Pixel 11 leak.

A screenshot of a removed Google Fi ad for the Pixel 11 Pro XL, via Droid Life
Image: Droid Life
Image: Google / Droid Life
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Adventures in modern cinema.

The first full trailer for Avengers: Doomsday may not reassure you that the MCU is back on track, but it does suggest Marvel is finally pushing artistic boundaries.

swingdingaling:

The haters said it couldn’t be done but they’ve done it: they made a whole movie of people looking at stuff just off screen

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Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Anthropic has to pay authors.

In what is thought to be the largest copyright recovery case in history, a federal US judge granted final approval of Anthropic’s landmark $1.5 billion class-action settlement. In 2024, authors sued Anthropic over the training of its Claude AI chatbot using copyrighted works. Authors will be paid “as promptly as possible,” just as soon as lawyers take their $101 million cut.

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
20th anniversary iPhone will be largest ever?

Right now, the iPhone maxes out with a 6.9-inch display. That could climb to a full 7 inches if reliable leaker Digital Chat Station is correct. We’ll have to wait until next year to find out.

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Vibecoded apps flood Apple.

According to sensor tower, apps added to the App Store almost doubled to about 560K in the first half of 2026, compared to about 600K added in all of 2025. The surge comes as AI makes it increasingly trivial to develop apps. That’s good if it means useful apps finding an audience, bad if Apple’s reviewers can’t keep up and more junk and malware slips through.

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
NYT recognizes Google Zero.

Nilay called it back in 2024, and now the Gray Lady is on board with recognizing the demise of the open web. It takes a look at how Google went from being a gateway to the internet to becoming the internet for many users who never leave the cozy confines of its AI summaries.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
This gaming mouse is equipped with a teeny Noctua fan.

The Feinmann F01 Noctua Edition is made in collaboration with peripheral maker Pulsar Gaming Gears, and like other fan-equipped mice, is designed to cool sweaty palms during intense gaming sessions. It’s available starting today for $179.95, providing customizable fan speeds and a 8,000Hz polling rate.

The Feinmann F01 Noctua Edition mouse besides a Noctua fan.
His palms are sweaty, team’s weak, ping is heavy.
Image: Pulsar Gaming Gears
Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Fire TV now easier to view and navigate.

Amazon is today delivering on the April promise of Adaptive Display, according to Engadget. The feature increases the size of things like text and menus while scaling the artwork proportionally. Users can choose from large or larger.

<em>Regular.</em>
<em>Large.</em>
<em>Larger.</em>
1/3
Regular.
Image: Amazon
Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Samsung has a credit card now.

The Samsung Galaxy Card is issued on Visa by Barclays US Consumer Bank, with applications opening on July 22nd. Samsung says the card is available as both virtual and physical, metal cards, and that users can earn “a host of cash rewards and other benefits.” It’s essentially an Apple Card — launched seven years ago — but for people loyal to Samsung products.

Someone using a Samsung Galaxy credit card.
The Samsung branding makes this look like a brand new SIM card.
Image: Samsung
Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
X “completely rebuilt” its Android app.

X says the new version of the app, rolling out starting today, is “faster, smoother, and more reliable,” with better scrolling, loading, and notifications. Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, called it “one of the largest engineering projects in the company’s history,” but warned users that “There are still some rough edges.”

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Ayaneo’s Next 2 handheld got a $1,000 price hike.

PC Gamer spotted a listing for the Next 2 on Ayaneo’s website with a top configuration priced at $5,299. The same configuration, with 128GB of RAM and 2TB of storage, was already pricey at $4,299 earlier this year, before Ayaneo suspended preorders, saying the handheld was “unsustainable” due to skyrocketing RAM costs.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
US AI safety agency head resigns three months after being appointed.

Chris Fall was picked to be the Trump administration’s leader of the US Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI, previously called the AI Safety Institute until it was renamed last year) in April, but now CNBC and Reuters report he is out. The reasons for his departure are unclear, as is the role of CAISI in the administration’s constantly shifting priorities around AI.

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
Edelkrone’s new robotic camera system folds down small enough to carry in a backpack.

The $5,579 kit bundles three of the company’s motorized camera control units including its DollyOne v2 that can autonomously roll around a studio, a JibOne v3 that can raise and lower, and Edelkrone’s HeadPlus v3 mount that can pan, tilt, and roll a camera.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
AMC just had its best quarter ever — and it expects to keep going strong.

The theater chain reported earning $1.6 billion over the past few months, its highest quarterly revenue to date. In the earnings report (pdf), AMC CEO Adam Aron says he expects theaters to have their “strongest yet post-pandemic year” in 2026, citing the blockbuster release of The Odyssey and the upcoming debuts of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Dune: Part Three, and Avengers: Doomsday.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Tesla admits one of its robotaxis was being remotely-operated when it crashed.

Tesla filed an NHTSA crash report that lists the driver as “Remote (Commercial / Test),” which Electrek says is a first for Tesla. It’s one of numerous accidents with Tesla’s robotaxis in the past year, and involved a Model Y hitting a tree stump while trying to get out of a dead end road.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Apple might start getting your iPhone ready for iOS 27 a little early.

As 9to5Mac reports, the release notes for the latest iOS 26.6 beta say it “optimizes the Spotlight index to prepare for iOS 27.” This is likely aimed at speeding up the indexing process so it doesn’t take days when iOS 27 officially launches, like some users on the developer beta have reported.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Is j-hope holding the Galaxy Z Fold 8?

A story posted to Instagram showed the BTS member holding a passport-shaped device that resembles recent Galaxy Z Fold 8 leaks, as spotted earlier by SamMobile. Samsung is expected to reveal this rumored device, alongside its other newest foldables, during Galaxy Unpacked on July 22nd.

Image: j-hope via SamMobile
Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
One Piece is returning to Netflix “in brick form.” 

Netflix just released a trailer for the “two-part, multi-brick” Lego One Piece special premiering on September 29th, which will recap the first two seasons of the live-action One Piece, narrated by Usopp.

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Victoria Song
Victoria Song
Leaning into ‘pervert glasses’ sure is a choice.

Leonardo Del Vecchio, president of Ray-Ban and chief strategy officer at EssilorLuxottica, posted these to his Instagram story. The first is a picture of an activist ad plastered over an actual Meta Glasses ad… and the second is Del Vecchio saying, “If we can’t laugh about it why should anyone trust us?”

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Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Fairlife pauses US milk production following a ransomware attack.

The Coca-Cola-owned company announced last week that it “identified unauthorized access” to its production-related systems “in connection with a ransomware event.” Though Fairlife says “product quality and safety have not been impacted,” it’s halting production as it continues investigating the breach.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
UK’s new Prime Minister will scrap digital ID plans.

Andy Burnham has now officially replaced Keir Starmer, and is reportedly planning to drop his predecessor’s plans to introduce a government-issued digital ID for all British adults by 2029. Burnham’s spokesperson told BBC News that resources allocated for the scheme will instead go towards “helping with the cost of living.”

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Someone bought Jensen Huang’s jacket for almost $1 million.

The identity of the winning bidder hasn’t been identified, but they were among the 45 collectors who bid on one of the Nvidia CEO’s black Tom Ford leather jackets when it went up for auction. Originally valued between $40,000 to $60,000, it actually sold for $960,000 — roughly the same price as 480 GeForce RTX 5090 GPUs.

Electric air taxis go to warElectric air taxis go to war
Andrew J. Hawkins
Robert Hart
Robert Hart
Moonshot pauses Kimi K3 sign-ups after surging demand.

The company said it temporarily paused new subscriptions after high usage “pushed close to the limits of our current capacity.” New subscription spots will open in “batches.” Kimi K3 was one of two Chinese models that launched over the weekend claiming to rival leading US systems from OpenAI and Anthropic.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
macOS 27 has a Siri AI writing secret you can try.

A hidden popover interface has been discovered in the macOS 27 Golden Gate beta that surfaces AI-powered contextual actions and writing tools when text is highlighted, including Rewrite, Proofread, and “Edit with Siri.” Beta users can try the unfinished feature by following the instructions provided by MacRumors.

A screenshot showing a disabled Siri AI popover in the macOS 27 Golden Gate beta.
This is what the Siri AI popover looks like when enabled, but there’s no guarantee it’ll make it to the final macOS 27 Golden Gate release this fall.
Image: MacRumors
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey gets off to a great start.

The epic made $264.1 million worldwide this weekend — Nolan’s biggest global opening yet — with $124.5 million in the US alone. Not bad for an R-rated adaptation of a 3,000-year-old poem. Fittingly, it’s likely to run on and on too, with no big competition until Spider-Man arrives, and IMAX 70mm screenings sold out for weeks.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Polymarket is being blocked in France.

The country’s gambling regulator ordered local internet service ​providers to block access to the Polymarket website on Friday, citing noncompliance concerns with rules for gambling and gaming services. The regulator also said that some bets on the platform “appeared to be rigged.”

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Honor’s Robot Phone made it onto the pitch at the World Cup final.

Two separate videos captured Spain’s Eric Garcia testing the gimbal-equipped phone in the aftermath of his team’s victory over Argentina. Preorders for the Robot Phone just opened in China, though it isn’t expected to launch in either Spain or the US, where the final was held.