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Tech News
Leaker Ice Universe reports that Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra uses four-way baffles to block screen visibility from top, bottom and both sides, while Huawei's Mate XT 2 and Xiaomi's 18 Pro series only block side views. This makes Samsung's privacy screen more thorough, but the tighter light control brings side effects like dimmer off-axis brightness, blurrier images, and reported eye strain or nausea for some users.
Ahead of its launch, Xiaomi detailed the dual 200MP camera system on its upcoming Xiaomi 18 Pro and Pro Max, revealing that the primary sensor measures 1/1.28-inch, slightly larger than the ISOCELL HP2 used in Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra. The phones also feature a Leica-backed camera setup wrapped around a secondary rear display, in a design reminiscent of the iPhone 17 Pro's camera island but repurposed for screen functionality.
A new leak attributed to Korean and Weibo sources outlines memory and storage tiers for Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S27 lineup. The base S27 and S27 Plus start at 12GB RAM with 256GB storage, while the S27 Ultra tops out at 16GB RAM and 1TB storage. The leak also claims Samsung will move to faster UFS 5.1 storage and LPDDR6 memory on the Ultra and Pro models, a step up from the UFS 4.0 and LPDDR5X found in the Galaxy S26 Ultra.
Weibo leakers Smart Pikachu and Digital Chat Station claim vivo executives confirmed an X500 Ultra model is in development, pointing to a March or April 2027 release. The report follows vivo's China launch of the X500, X500 Pro, and X500 Pro Max, with the Ultra variant still unconfirmed by vivo itself. Separately, the standard X500 lineup has reportedly appeared on the EU's EPREL database, hinting at an international rollout.
Google opened preorders Monday for its new 'Googlebook' laptops starting at $899, offering a choice of Intel Core Ultra Series 3 or Snapdragon X Elite chips paired with NPUs for AI processing. The devices ship October 4 in the US and a day later in Canada, the UK, Ireland, France, Germany and Australia, featuring deep integration of Google's Gemini assistant into the operating experience itself.
MediaTek unveiled the Dimensity CX C10 Max, its debut chipset for Google's new Googlebook laptops, promising all-day battery life and Gemini Intelligence support. A spec comparison shows it is nearly identical to MediaTek's existing Kompanio Ultra Chromebook chip, sharing the same TSMC 3nm process, CPU and GPU cores, cache sizes, NPU, and wireless standards, with only a slightly higher clock speed and faster RAM support.
Developers digging through the iOS 27.2 beta code have found unreleased features beyond what's already visible in testing. Discoveries include a live countdown timer for upcoming Apple Music album releases, expanded third-party app support for Shortcuts' 'Describe a Shortcut' AI tool, and a new 'Drive Mode Theme' option for CarPlay Ultra that adjusts gauge styles, colors, and ambient lighting.
Apple's Mac Studio lineup ranges from a $2,500 base model with the M5 Max chip up to configurations exceeding $5,899, with a separate M5 Ultra tier starting at $5,500 that supports up to 512GB of unified memory. The M5 Ultra combines two M5 Max chips and can be clustered four-wide over Thunderbolt 5 for even greater performance, aimed at running massive local AI models and handling uncompressed 8K video work.
Apple's new Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 use a Health Sensing System that samples heart rate every five seconds instead of every five minutes, requiring the optical sensor's green light to flash almost continuously. To avoid that light being visible in dark settings, Theater Mode automatically slows heart rate readings back to five-minute intervals, but a new setting lets users override this and keep continuous measurements.
Apple's official refurbished store is now selling the entry-level 2026 Studio Display with a Tilt-adjustable stand for $1,359, down $240 from its $1,599 list price, though supplies appear limited. The deal arrives alongside other launch-week discounts, including AirPods Pro 3 at $50 off timed to iPhone 18 Pro delivery day, early markdowns on the new Apple Watch Ultra 4 and M6 Mac mini, and a $50 discount on the upcoming 2026 Mac Studio ahead of its release.
Apple has built native live step tracking directly into the watch face on the new Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, joining live heart rate as a standard complication option from the Fitness app. Previously, step data was only viewable inside the Fitness or Health apps, even though third-party apps like Pedometer++ had offered on-face step counts for years.
Amazon has discounted the Dreame L40s Ultra AE robot vacuum and mop to $569.49 from its usual $729.99, a 22% price cut. The device offers roughly 19,000Pa suction, dual rotating mop pads, edge-cleaning, and a self-emptying, self-washing, hot-air-drying dock. It also uses AI-driven obstacle avoidance with RGB vision and 3D sensing, and requires an active Amazon Prime membership to unlock the discount.