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In a Verge Q&A, Discogs founder Kevin Lewandowski discussed his everyday tools and habits, naming his AeroPress coffee maker as his most indispensable item and citing 30-50 open browser tabs across his devices. He also mentioned tinkering with Home Assistant software to control his garage door and outdoor lights, and said he uses X and Instagram only occasionally without posting.
Sony's last standalone 4K Blu-ray player, the UBP-X700K, was listed as out of stock in Japan on October 22, with retailers reportedly told not to expect further shipments, according to Forbes. The player remains listed on Sony's US site and at Best Buy for $329.99, though Amazon no longer sells it new. Sony's UK division declined to confirm or deny plans to exit the market, calling the reports speculation.
Sony is ending production of its last affordable 4K Blu-ray player, according to a report. The move follows the company's earlier decision to stop manufacturing game discs, further narrowing its physical media hardware offerings.
Sony Japan has marked its UBP-X700/K player as "Discontinued," removing the company's last standalone Blu-ray player from sale, according to FlatpanelsHD. Sony had already stopped shipping the units in February, selling only remaining stock since then. The PlayStation 5 remains the sole Sony device that plays Blu-ray discs, though Sony has said it will halt physical game disc production by January 2028.
Japanese retailer blog Kunkoku reports Sony has discontinued the UBP-X700/K, its final standalone UHD Blu-ray player, which now shows as out of stock with no restock date on Sony's site. This leaves the PlayStation 5 as Sony's only remaining device capable of playing UHD Blu-ray discs. The move follows Sony halting Blu-ray recorder sales globally in February and its summer announcement that it will stop producing physical PlayStation games starting in 2028.
The RPCS3 development team announced that its open-source PlayStation 3 emulator can now run games straight from physical Blu-ray discs, provided users have a compatible internal or external drive from an extensive supported-hardware list. The update also brings faster installation times for package installs from disc and extends support beyond Windows to Linux, FreeBSD and macOS, including PS4 and PS5 consoles running Linux.
The RIAA reported that US recorded music revenue rose 6.9% in H1 2026 versus H1 2025, with physical formats up 25.9%—vinyl grew 17.7% and CDs jumped 58.6%. Streaming still dominates overall revenue at $4.9 billion, but the outsized physical growth stands out amid rising anger over digital ownership issues.
The RIAA reported that 17.5 million CDs were sold in the US during the first six months of 2026, up from 12 million a year earlier, generating $171.1 million in revenue. Vinyl sales also grew nearly 21 percent to 26.5 million units, while other physical formats like cassettes and DVDs rose over 73 percent to 1.6 million units. Streaming still dominates overall, growing 4.7 percent to $4.9 billion in revenue, far outpacing physical formats combined.