GoKawiil
Tech News
A CNET reviewer used an iPhone 17 Pro Max for roughly 11 months without a case, skin, or screen protector, tracking how the device's finish and screen held up through daily drops and pocket wear. The phone showed minor chipping and dents but retained its color, and its screen showed noticeably fewer scratches than a similarly used iPhone 16 Pro Max, attributed to Apple's upgraded Ceramic Shield 2 coating.
A CNET writer used an iPhone 17 Pro Max for nearly a year without any case, skin or screen protector, relying only on a ring stand, to test Apple's durability claims. Despite accidental drops and daily pocketing, the Cosmic Orange finish held its color well, with only minor chipping and dents, and comparison against a similarly used iPhone 16 Pro Max showed noticeably fewer screen scratches on the newer model.
A CNET reviewer used an iPhone 17 Pro Max caseless for nearly a year, enduring drops and pocket wear, and found the Cosmic Orange finish largely intact aside from minor chipping and dents. Comparing it to a similarly used iPhone 16 Pro, the newer model's screen showed noticeably fewer scratches, suggesting Apple's Ceramic Shield 2 coating delivers a real durability improvement.
Right to Repair Europe examined 2,334 smartphone model records in the EU's Product Registry for Energy Labelling and found that only about 18 percent link to a working page with spare-parts prices or repair instructions, a year after the rules took effect. Roughly half the entries leave the required URL blank, and 19 percent point to unrelated pages, while some manufacturers still award themselves top repairability grades despite the missing information.
Several Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 buyers say the corners of the phone's inner folding screen flex noticeably more than the rest of the panel when pressed, suggesting the corners lack proper structural support. Android Authority tested a loan unit and confirmed some give in one corner, though less severe than clips circulating online, and noted a teardown showing pads under the corners that appear to be magnets rather than adhesive. Samsung has not yet confirmed whether this is a defect or a normal design trait.
Huawei unveiled the Mate XT2, its second-generation triple-folding phone, featuring a 10.2-inch unfolded display, a slimmer design, and a special edition with a privacy screen borrowed from its laptops. The device runs on Huawei's own Kirin 9050 Pro chipset, which the company claims delivers major CPU and GPU performance gains over its predecessor.
Stella Parton took to Instagram to condemn a wave of AI-generated content and misinformation circulating online following her sister Dolly Parton's death on 25 August at age 80. While thanking fans for genuine expressions of support, she said the volume of fabricated posts had been difficult for her family to cope with during their grief.
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, based on a mountain in Arizona, has completed a five-year survey producing the largest three-dimensional map of the universe to date. The updated DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys tool, now available online for free, contains 5.6 trillion pixels capturing roughly 4 billion stars, galaxies, black holes and asteroids across most of the observable sky. The project builds on 13 years of prior groundwork and has already generated over 1,800 scientific papers from more than 160 contributing researchers.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and GTA III are once again playable directly in a web browser, this time hosted on a site called Quenq, after an earlier browser port on DOS Zone was pulled following a DMCA claim from Take-Two. The new version still carries DOS Zone branding in its pause menu, supports keyboard, controller and touchscreen input, and includes a save/mod manager plus adjustable frame rate, running smoothly past 100 FPS on desktop and working instantly on mobile devices like the OnePlus 12.
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument team has published an updated version of its Legacy Imaging Surveys, offering free public access to the largest three-dimensional map of the cosmos ever assembled. The dataset spans 5.6 trillion pixels and roughly 75 percent of the sky, cataloging about 4 billion stars, galaxies, black holes and asteroids captured in visible and near-infrared light.
Samsung includes a built-in feature called Edge Panel on all Galaxy devices, offering a customizable shortcut bar accessible by swiping from the screen's edge. It provides seven panel types—Apps, People, Tasks, Weather, Tools, Clipboard, and Reminder—that users can enable and arrange from the Display settings menu. Despite being standard on every Galaxy phone, many owners are unaware of it or have stopped using it.
Elegoo is offering discounts of up to 35% on its Neptune 3 Pro and Neptune 4 Plus 3D printers as part of a limited-time Labor Day sale. The Neptune 3 Pro drops to $169, while the larger Neptune 4 Plus is priced at $309, both cheaper than listings on major retailers like Amazon. Both printers have previously earned strong reviews for build quality, auto-leveling, and ease of use.