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ZDNET published a roundup of the ten products its readers bought most often over the past month, with phone cases making up a large share of the list. The list is compiled from actual reader purchase data through ZDNET's affiliate links rather than editorial rankings alone.
The Federal Trade Commission, joined by more than 20 states, plans to file a lawsuit against Amazon alleging it deceived advertisers by manipulating ad pricing on its retail platform. The suit reportedly claims Amazon generated billions of dollars through this practice.
Phil Schiller has reportedly stepped down from running Apple's App Store and product launch events, according to Bloomberg, though Apple has not made a formal announcement. He will remain at the company as an Apple Fellow working on unspecified projects, while App Store oversight returns to Eddy Cue, who led it before Schiller took over in 2015.
Satechi has released the OntheGo Foldable Stand Hub, an $80 accessory that doubles as a tablet, phone, or laptop stand and a USB-C dock. A ZDNET reviewer tested the device and found it solved long-standing ergonomic and connectivity problems that had left previous tablets gathering dust.
ZDNET tested two sub-$300 AMOLED sports watches, the Garmin Forerunner 170 and Coros Pace 4, over several weeks of running, biking, and hiking. Both offer similar 1.2-inch displays and weight, but the Coros Pace 4 lasts roughly 19 days per charge versus 10 for the Garmin, with a similar edge during GPS use. The Garmin counters with a traditional five-button interface that some athletes prefer for reliability in bad weather or heavy sweat.
Microsoft confirmed a widespread outage of Exchange Online on Monday, causing Outlook users to experience delayed or failed emails, authentication errors, and search failures. The company traced the problem to an authentication component and began testing a fix on part of its infrastructure before a broader rollout. Downdetector logged over 5,000 user reports by 2 PM ET, with complaints also flooding social media.
Apple is set to unveil its first foldable phone, the iPhone Ultra, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro line at next week's event. While earlier rumors suggested a delay into late 2026 or even 2027, the most recent supply chain reports from Weibo leaker Fixed Focus Digital and Cailian News Agency indicate the device remains on track for a September release, though with very constrained initial stock.
An explosion at a THC extraction facility in Sand Springs, Oklahoma killed two people and damaged more than 25 nearby buildings, with shockwaves felt 30 to 40 miles away. Facility owner Ryan Bassham was arrested on murder charges after reportedly ignoring a fire marshal's order to stop extraction operations before the blast. Investigators suspect the explosion stemmed from butane hash oil extraction, a common but volatile method of producing cannabis concentrates.
Prediction market Kalshi has permanently banned former Rep. George Santos after finding reasonable cause he bet on whether he would attend Trump's State of the Union address, allegedly netting him nearly $18,000. Kalshi also fined him over $71,000 and separately suspended or penalized several other political candidates, including Ben Midgely, Laurie Buckhout and Stephen Cloobeck, for allegedly wagering on their own races.
Advances in AI tools like Cursor and Claude Code have automated much of the routine work of writing code, allowing agents to generate pipelines, tests, and API integrations from plain-language prompts. As a result, the role of software engineers is shifting away from producing logic themselves and toward defining the guardrails, intent, and system constraints that keep AI-generated work coherent and correct.
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple has internally prototyped and tested an Apple Pencil designed for its upcoming foldable iPhone, reportedly called the iPhone Ultra. However, Gurman says it's unlikely the stylus will be included when the device debuts at Apple's Sept. 9 event, with a shorter 'stubbier' Pencil variant possibly coming later.
Blue Voice, a Boston startup founded by Harvard Law dropout David Lawrence, has emerged from stealth with $6 million in funding led by SignalFire and Las Olas VC. The platform gives police officers instant, real-time access to department-specific policies, laws and protocols, and is already used by officers across 225 county agencies in 25 states.