Gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live Countdown: Geoff Keighley to Host Two-Hour Game Showcase
Gamescom 2026's opening livestream lands August 25, hosted by Geoff Keighley, with confirmed appearances from Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, Gears of War: E-Day, and a new Witcher 3 expansion.
No Deal, No Free Pass: Australia Passes New Law Forcing Meta, Google to Pay Up for News
Australia's parliament has passed a new law requiring tech companies with annual ad revenue over AU$275 million to pay a 2.75% tax on local revenue if they fail to strike deals with at least eight news outlets, replacing the old 2021 framework.
Fixed 400 Vulnerabilities But Crashed Games Instead, This Windows 11 Update Leaves Gamers in a Bind
Microsoft's KB5121003 security update, released on August 11, patches over 400 vulnerabilities—but it's also causing game crashes, login errors, and system failures, with ARC Raiders and The Finals hit especially hard.
Tesla Robotaxi in Austin Reportedly Goes Fully Driverless, Timing Lines Up Right Before Cybercab Reveal
Data from a tracking site shows all 170 Robotaxi trips in Austin over the past two weeks had no safety driver on board, involving 54 vehicles. The number isn't coming from Tesla or Musk — it's from a grassroots app.
Park and Watch: Crunchyroll Rolls Out on In-Car Infotainment Platform Appning
Crunchyroll has started appearing on Appning, the in-vehicle app platform, with BMW models already onboard. The service is set to expand to over 40 car brands worldwide — though Sony and Honda's Afeela 1 has already been confirmed left out of the lineup.
LG Ditches Metal Masks: FLiPP Tech Makes OLED Panels Brighter, Longer-Lasting, and More Power-Efficient
LG has unveiled its next-gen OLED manufacturing process, FLiPP, which ditches the traditional fine metal mask in favor of photolithography and UV light to pattern pixels directly. The company claims a 1.6x boost in brightness and 2.4x longer lifespan, with no panel size limitations.
PS6 Release Nowhere in Sight: Sony CEO Confirms RAM Shortage Is Worse Than Expected
Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki admits PlayStation 6 still has no launch timeline or pricing strategy, as AI-driven memory costs push PS5 prices to an all-time high.
Still Caught After Two Years of "Fixes": Australian Regulator Finds Kids' Roblox Accounts Can Still Be Contacted by Strangers
Australia's eSafety Commissioner ran real-world tests and found that even with age tiers and parental controls in place, adults can still contact children's Roblox accounts without consent. Roblox has now agreed to sign a legally binding undertaking to close the gaps within three months.
Meta Launches AI Mini-Game App Pocket, Built by the Same Team Behind the Gizmo App It Acquired and Shut Down
Meta's generative AI gaming platform Pocket has wrapped up testing in Brazil and officially launched in the US, letting users generate touch- and tilt-interactive "gizmos" from text prompts, with support for saving, sharing, and remixing.
Rescue Mission Scrapped: NASA's Swift Space Telescope Will Burn Up in the Atmosphere This Year
NASA had planned to send Katalyst Space's LINK spacecraft to boost the Swift observatory into a higher orbit, but the towing plan has been scrapped after LINK suffered an attitude control system failure. Swift is now expected to reenter the atmosphere and burn up later this year.
Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 5: Earbud Batteries Are Finally Not Disposable
Sennheiser has unveiled its latest true wireless earbuds, the Momentum True Wireless 5, with user-replaceable batteries in both the earbuds and charging case—no special tools required beyond a small screwdriver. Launching September 3 in five colors, priced at $300 a pair.
Samsung Sets August 27 Event, Adding an "Unnamed" New Phone to the S26 Family
Samsung has announced a Galaxy event for August 27, where it will unveil the newest member of the S26 lineup. The company hasn't named the device, but leaked specs have all but spelled it out already: Galaxy S26 FE.
Apple Tips Its Own Hand: macOS Tahoe 27.6 Leaks Over a Dozen Unannounced Devices
With just weeks left until the September event, developers have dug up over a dozen unrevealed device codenames—including iPhone 18, the foldable iPhone Ultra, and AirPods with built-in cameras—buried in the macOS Tahoe 27.6 release candidate code.
'Golden Axe' Animated Series Hits Paramount+ September 16, Trailer Leans Hard Into Its Own Game Jokes
Sega's classic arcade game gets the animated treatment, confirmed to premiere September 16 on Paramount+. The first trailer sneaks in self-aware nods like a character select screen and grinding low-level enemies for XP, with voice talent including Liam McIntyre and Lisa Gilroy on board.
Hot New Album Drop Days See US Traffic Deaths Spike 15%, Study Finds
A Harvard Medical School team cross-referenced six years of US car crash data with Spotify charts and found fatal accidents jumped 15% on days major albums dropped—with clear skies, sober drivers, and solo commutes turning out to be the biggest wildcards.
Vine Reboot Divine Opens Public Registration, Explicitly Bans AI-Generated Content
Divine, the Vine reboot app led by early Twitter architect Evan Henshaw-Plath, has ended its three-month invite-only phase and opened up to all users, distinguishing itself from existing social platforms with a strict anti-AI stance.
Fairphone Gen. 6+ Now Officially on Sale in the US: No More Gambling on Carrier Compatibility
US buyers used to have to rely on third-party retailers and guess at signal compatibility. Now the Fairphone Gen. 6+ is officially available in the US for $650, with confirmed support for T-Mobile and AT&T.
Before Buying a Used iPhone, Check Battery Health and Cycle Count First
Just open the Settings app to check an iPhone's maximum battery capacity and cycle count—the most direct way to gauge a used phone's battery condition. Native cycle count tracking only arrived with iPhone 15; older models require a third-party app.
ICE Memo Bans Employees from Wearing Meta Glasses on Duty — But They've Already Been Showing Up at the Border for a While
ICE has ordered employees not to wear Meta smart glasses while on duty, citing the risk of leaking sensitive information. But CBP and Border Patrol agents have already been spotted wearing the same devices in at least six states, while DHS is simultaneously planning to build its own official version with biometric capabilities.
Framework's Cheapest Model Gets New Intel Chip, But Chose to Court Linux Users First
Framework Laptop 12 upgrades to an Intel Core Series 3 processor, adding backlit keyboard and fingerprint reader options, and switches to preinstalled Fedora since 80% of original owners were already Linux users. Starts at $549.
Mattel Unveils 1:1 Scale Original Xbox Brick Set for $330, With One Awkward Easter Egg Buried Inside
Mattel has launched a 1:1 scale brick set of the original Xbox, with 3,509 pieces making up the console and controller, complete with lights and sound effects triggered by three different game scenes. Priced at $330, the timing of one particular scene choice is worth pondering.
Google Giving College Students a Free Year of AI Pro—But the Real Draw Is the 5TB of Cloud Storage
Google is rolling out a deal exclusively for US college students: a full year of AI Pro, normally $200 a year, completely free—plus 5TB of cloud storage and Google Health Premium thrown in. Just watch out for the auto-renewal trap.
Pokémon 30th Anniversary x Polaroid: Poké Ball Shutter Button Steals the Spotlight on Three Cameras
Polaroid is celebrating the Pokémon franchise's 30th anniversary with three collab cameras, each themed around Pikachu, Sylveon, and the Poké Ball. Pre-orders open August 25, with official release on October 5.
Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold Review: 10% Lighter, Still Chunkier Than Rivals in the Hand
Engadget's Sam Rutherford put the Pixel 11 Pro Fold through its paces, finding a new 48MP main camera and the bilingual Rambler voice input, but at $1,899 starting price and 238 grams, it's still heavier than the Galaxy Z Fold 8 lineup and Razr Fold. Final score: 8.5.