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Apple CarPlay users can rearrange app icons via their iPhone's Settings > General > CarPlay menu rather than the car display itself, and iOS 26 adds widgets for weather, calendar and clock with a Smart Rotate feature that swaps them automatically. Users can also adjust brightness with Automatic light/dark mode and customize wallpaper and icon colors through CarPlay's own Settings menu.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports Apple is widely testing a home hub smart display powered by Siri AI, which could debut as early as next month. The device reportedly uses Face ID for user recognition and will come in both stand-mounted and wall-mounted versions, with its own home screen, widgets and StandBy-like clock faces.
Some Google Home speaker owners are reporting that the devices' LED lights stay on and pulsate continuously, only pausing briefly after a voice command before resuming. One user found the behavior tied to a notification about Hispanic Heritage Month, but the pattern has appeared across multiple Reddit reports without a clear common trigger. Google has not yet confirmed a cause.
Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, positioned as a step above its previous flagship mobile chipsets. The company is marketing this variant as its most powerful processor yet, aimed squarely at high-end Android devices competing with Apple's upcoming iPhone lineup.
Qualcomm has officially unveiled two new mobile processors, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, both built on 2nm TSMC processes and featuring the first 5GHz CPUs seen in a smartphone chip. Both use a 2+6 Oryon CPU layout with two Prime cores at 5GHz and six Performance cores at 4GHz, paired with 16MB of new Oryon FlexCache. The Extreme variant adds major camera and AI upgrades, including 8K/60fps video capture, 4K/240fps slow motion, a GPU with Adreno Neural Fusion, and more powerful AI hardware.
A growing number of people are buying gadgets, including a $60 plastic cube, designed to lock down smartphone features and reduce compulsive scrolling. These tools intentionally strip phones of advanced functions, pushing them back toward the simplicity of older devices.
Motorola announced the Signature 27 smartphone at the Snapdragon Summit, calling it its most advanced phone yet. The device uses Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 processor, pairs a 50MP main camera with a 200MP telephoto lens, and includes Bang & Olufsen speakers and an upgraded cooling system. It runs Android 17 with seven years of promised OS updates and Gemini-based AI tools, but Motorola has not disclosed pricing, display specs, or an exact release date beyond a 2026 global launch target.
Qualcomm introduced two new flagship smartphone chips, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Extreme Gen 6, at its Snapdragon Summit, emphasizing on-device AI capabilities. The Extreme version can run a 30-billion-parameter mixture-of-experts model locally, includes a new sensing hub for personalized AI agents, and supports 8K60fps video recording. Motorola announced its Signature 27 phone will use the Extreme chip, with availability planned later this year.
A study covered by The Conversation had 58 adults cycle while wearing devices from Apple, Samsung, Garmin, and Fitbit alongside a metabolic analyzer that measures actual gas exchange to determine calorie burn. Comparing the watches' estimates to that gold-standard measurement, researchers found substantial inaccuracies, with errors reaching 100% or more in some cases, particularly among people with higher body fat percentages.
Todd Sheridan Yeary, a 13-year air traffic control veteran, publicly criticized the FAA's planned AI system SMART (Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories), saying its intended use—predictive versus prescriptive—remains unclear even to aviation professionals. He said his top concern is that the AI could 'hallucinate' inaccurate data, and insisted any deployment must allow human controllers to override its outputs.
Amazon is currently selling the Oura Ring 4 for $319.99, down 20% from its $399 list price, matching the lowest price seen since Prime Day. The smart ring tracks sleep, recovery, readiness, heart rate, temperature and stress, and offers roughly 5 to 8 days of battery life depending on size and settings.
Beats' new 360 headphones adopt design elements from Apple's AirPods Max 2, including rotating ear cups, a stainless steel arch, and a more flexible headband, while still carrying the Beats logo. Unlike the aluminum AirPods Max 2, the Beats 360 uses mostly plastic construction, making them noticeably lighter at 294 grams versus 386 grams. The two also differ in accessories, with Beats offering a magnetic fabric case compared to Apple's minimal Smart Case.