WIRED's laptop docking station roundup adds several alternative picks beyond its main recommendations, including the $200 Baseus Spacemate Air 12-in-1, the $300 Belkin Connect Pro Thunderbolt 4 Dock, and the $200 Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Slim Pro Hub. Each option targets a different need, from dual 4K display support on older MacBooks to a minimalist three-port Thunderbolt 4 setup for decluttered desks.
Google has carried its Qi2-based Pixelsnap magnetic charging system over to the new Pixel 11 phones, refreshing the accessory lineup with new cases from Google and third-party makers like dbrand, Spigen, Mous, Case-Mate and Bellroy. The Ring Stand accessory also returns in colors matching the new phones, though the Pixelsnap Charger Stand no longer matches the new Fog color option.
Local officials overseeing data center projects in Marshall, Michigan, Salix, Iowa, and Box Elder County, Utah, have reported credible death threats and safety concerns tied to their votes. Marshall's council faced threats after passing a building moratorium, Salix's leaders were threatened over a land annexation for a possible Google site, and a Utah commissioner now has police stationed at his home. NBC News reports this pattern is spreading nationally, with officials targeted regardless of how they vote on data center proposals.
Zimperium researchers found a new version of the ToxicPanda Android malware that requests VPN service permissions to intercept and control device network traffic, allowing it to cut off communication with Google Play and Play Protect. The updated trojan, spread via Amazon AWS-hosted buckets, now supports 167 remote commands and phishing overlays for 349 banking, crypto, and e-wallet apps across 16 countries, plus a separate module that harvests PINs from 140 financial apps.
Ed Brady, CEO of the Home Builders Institute, says the rush to build AI data centers is pulling scarce skilled tradespeople away from residential construction. He notes the US already faces a shortage of roughly 300,000 skilled trades workers, and many of those still available are opting for data center jobs instead of homebuilding.
An Android Authority contributor reflects on a decade-plus of Android use, singling out six apps she's kept installed the entire time despite trying countless others. The list features lesser-known picks like the streaming aggregator Just Watch and the productivity tool Notion, alongside other apps not covered in the excerpt, deliberately excluding mainstream staples like Spotify or YouTube.
Between late 2016 and August 2026, China brought 27 new nuclear reactors online, while the United States added only two in the same period. MIT nuclear engineering professor Jacopo Buongiorno notes that China has become the global leader in building nuclear power plants, part of a broader strategy to support its shift toward a fully renewable grid.
YouTuber TrashBench cut apart the stock coolers on Nvidia GTX 1060, 1070 and 1080 Ti cards and bolted on a dual-tower CPU cooler with extra fans instead. The frankenstein setup dropped GPU temperatures by as much as 32°C, cut power draw by roughly 30W, and boosted overclocked frame rates by about 9% in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
A report examines the booming gray market for injectable peptide drugs, showing how sellers like Qingdao Sigma build slick, professional-looking websites using AI coding tools. These sites feature fake TrustPilot-style review pages filled with AI-generated testimonials, despite the companies having no actual presence on TrustPilot itself.
Google unveiled the Pixel 11 Pro Fold as part of its Pixel 11 lineup, offering a slimmer and 19-gram lighter design compared to last year's Pixel 10 Pro Fold. Despite these physical refinements, a hands-on comparison found the changes largely cosmetic, with the device still lagging behind Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra in overall polish and innovation.
Disk Union, in collaboration with Maxell, has released a special-edition run of UD-60U cassette tapes in Japan, reviving the original 1970s ferric oxide formula. The companies are marketing the tapes toward nostalgic buyers who remember the original UD series, suggesting uses like dubbing vinyl records and making mix tapes.
WIRED's Reece Rogers tested iOS 27's rebuilt Shortcuts app, which now includes an Apple Intelligence feature called 'Describe a Short' that lets users create automations by typing plain-language requests instead of manual scripting. Rogers, a longtime Shortcuts skeptic, says the tool successfully generated useful daily automations, including a habit-breaking shortcut that questions him whenever he opens Instagram, though some glitches occurred during beta testing.