News and Updates from Gadget Hacks: Page 2

A Samsung Galaxy phone can meet every obvious requirement, Bluetooth enabled, signed into the same Google Account, and fully updated, and still refuse to show up as an option under ChromeOS's Connected devices setup.

Apple's Apple Pencil compatibility page, published two days ago, lists only two styluses for the iPad mini (A17 Pro): Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil (USB-C) (Apple Support, published two days ago). Apple Pencil (2nd generation) still appears on that same page, but only under the outgoing iPad mini (6th generation), not the new model.

Microsoft says Windows 11 is now "up to 20% more responsive," with measured improvements across Search, Start, right-click, Settings, Snipping Tool, and File Explorer. The company also says its broader performance work extends from boot and logon through Microsoft 365 and Edge, according to an Oct. 15 Windows Experience Blog post. Microsoft singles out PCs with 8GB of RAM as seeing an "especially meaningful difference" from new memory-management work.

Microsoft is reshaping Copilot Notebooks from a source-grounded question-and-answer tool into something that can act on notebook content: delegating tasks, running recurring automations, and editing Office files directly inside a notebook, according to Neowin.

Nvidia RTX Spark Windows laptops became available from OEM partners on Oct. 16, 2026, after preorders opened ahead of launch. Nvidia and Microsoft are marketing this hardware heavily around local AI agents and large language models that run without a cloud connection. That pitch is only part of the story.

The documented discount on a Roku Pro Series OLED TV sale belongs to the standard 120Hz model, not the faster 144Hz Pro Series LX OLED. During a past sale event, Amazon had the 55-inch Pro Series OLED at $699.99 and the 65-inch at $799.99, well under the set's $999.99 and $1,199.99 list prices (Tom's Guide, two weeks ago). The standard model is confirmed available nationwide on Amazon right now; the pricier LX was only announced for an October 2026 launch, and no sale price has been documented...

Apple's first foldable iPhone goes on sale this Friday, Oct. 23, after preorders opened Oct. 16. The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999, and Apple says the device has an IP68 dust-and-water rating and a stiffer polymer cover layer to protect the folding display.

Microsoft says Windows 11 is now "up to 20% more responsive," with gains the company describes as noticeable from the moment a PC boots and extending through Start, File Explorer, Search, Snipping Tool, Microsoft 365, and Edge, according to the Windows Experience Blog.

Apple posted iOS 27.2 release candidate build 24B115 to its Developer releases page on Monday. An RC follows several rounds of beta testing, and 9to5Mac reports Apple is now putting the final touches on the update. If testing doesn't turn up anything that requires another build, this exact build could become the version everyone gets once iOS 27.2 goes public, though the available Apple release listing doesn't give an exact public-release date.

More than 2,700 Android Authority readers answered a blunt question this week: handed $2,000 of their own money, would they spend it on Apple's iPhone Duo or Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8?

Apple added the 2017 Retina 12-inch MacBook to its obsolete products list this week, a designation that now covers every 12-inch MacBook the company ever sold.

Google AI Plus is losing Pro model selection. Google has begun emailing subscribers to say the option will disappear from the $4.99-a-month plan starting November 13, 2026, according to 9to5Google.

Pre-orders for Apple's HomeView are available now at $299 in the US, with the device launching November 13. Before handing over money, there's a detail worth understanding: Apple's updated CarPlay developer documentation says CarPlay audio and video apps also work on HomeView without developers modifying the app specifically for the new device.

Spotify podcast memberships began rolling out in 34 markets on October 20, giving eligible shows a way to sell exclusive content through Spotify, with purchases handled on the web. Creators can offer paid Memberships with multiple tiers and pricing options, charging listeners in addition to any Spotify plan they already have.

Apple published official iPhone Duo repair costs ahead of the foldable reaching customers, and the numbers are blunt. An inner-display repair without AppleCare+ runs $999, dropping to $99 with coverage, while the catch-all "other damage" category tops out at $1,499 uninsured.

Microsoft PowerToys version 0.102.2803.0 is a confirmed pre-release for Windows 11, published October 8, 2026.

WhatsApp is reportedly developing a call screening feature for Android that would let unknown callers explain why they're calling before the recipient decides whether to answer. The tool, which WABetaInfo describes as a new call filtering feature, would replace the app's single-toggle Silence Unknown Callers setting with three selectable modes.

Apple Wallet can store a state-issued driver's license or ID, but that doesn't mean every state qualifies as one of the states that accept a driver's license in Apple Wallet at TSA checkpoints.

Google built Googlebook to run on Android, then quietly defaulted several of its biggest apps away from it. That's the short answer to why Googlebook apps run as web apps instead of native Android experiences: Gmail, Docs, Calendar, Sheets, and YouTube all open as Chrome-based web experiences on these laptops, not the Android apps that ship on phones. Google Keep is the one confirmed exception, running natively on Android Authority's test unit, though a single result doesn't prove every...

Link to Windows remote shutdown restart sleep controls are now showing up for a small group of Android testers, letting a paired phone power down, restart, or put a Windows PC to sleep without anyone touching the keyboard. Beta build 1.26101.103.0 replaces the app's old single "Lock PC" button with a new Power menu that adds Sleep PC, Shut down, and Restart.