Latest news, developments and reporting on Products & Applications.
Google and Unity have announced Playground, a platform that lets users 18 and older generate and customize video games from natural-language prompts without coding. Unity Spark, a more advanced creation experience, is set to be integrated later in 2026.
TechRadar published Oct. 8 hints and answers for Quordle #1718, NYT Strands #949 and NYT Connections #1215.
Amazon has cut the KYY K3-1 15.6-inch portable monitor to $67.99 from $79.99 for Prime Day, the lowest price TechRadar reports for the 1080p USB-C display.
WhatsApp has begun rolling out its Liquid Glass redesign to the iPhone video player, adding a translucent progress bar and refreshed bottom controls, according to WABetaInfo.
Rivian's 2026.36 update lets R2 owners watch a live Pet Cam feed or refreshed snapshots of their pets from the phone lock screen, and adds remote Pet Mode controls plus the Rivian Assistant voice AI.
BMW's iX4 SUV offers up to 428 miles of EPA range and starts at $66,200, as BMW positions its Neue Klasse lineup against Chinese EV imports.
A 9to5Mac review finds Rhinoshield's $30 Minimalist Impact Bumper for the iPhone 18 Pro delivers near-caseless handling and camera protection, but loose fit, mushy buttons and dust pickup are drawbacks.
A Highwire survey of 1,034 corporate employees finds 78% of managers used AI to shape feedback in the past year, while employee reactions to the results are mixed.
Artcraft developer Brandon Thomas used Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5.5 to create seven open-source apps that mimic Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Lightroom, After Effects, InDesign and Acrobat Pro, Ars Technica reported. The software is in a “super early alpha” state and has drawn criticism, but Thomas promises future fidelity.
TechRadar reports that a four-pack of Philips Hue Essential smart bulbs is $44.97 for Prime Day, the sale's only standout Hue deal, at just over $11 per bulb.
TechRadar recommends discounted premium peripherals to improve GTA 6's look, sound and feel.
NBC's Chicago Med, Chicago PD and Chicago Fire return Oct. 7, with U.S. viewers able to watch on NBC or stream on Peacock the next day. TechRadar outlines free-trial options, a $1 Walmart+ Peacock offer and VPN use for international viewers.
Apple released the first release candidates of macOS Sequoia 15.8.2 and macOS Tahoe 26.7.2 on Oct. 7, saying the updates carry important security fixes. The builds later reached public beta testers with unchanged numbers.
Pixel 11 owners still await Android 17 QPR1, announced September 17, while older Pixel phones have received it, Android Authority reports.
TechRadar reports the MSI Roamii Be Pro is the cheapest tri-band Wi-Fi 7 mesh system in its comparison, priced at $245 in the U.S. and £240 in the U.K., with no subscription fees for security and parental controls.
Amazon's October Prime Day sale runs until 3 a.m. ET on Oct. 8, 2026, with dozens of accessories, trackers and smart home devices discounted to $50 or less, according to a roundup by The Verge.
Cisco announced at WebexOne a broad Webex expansion that adds AI agents to meetings and calls, introduces customer-service automation, and connects Anthropic and OpenAI models. Most new features are planned for early 2027.
Aston Martin runs back-end AI on Infor software but keeps AI agents off its customer website, CIO Steve O'Connor says.
Googlebook keyboards now use F1-F3 keys for Android’s classic triangle, circle and square navigation buttons, The Verge reports.
Code found in iOS 27.2 lists a Schneider-branded thermostat and a temperature/humidity sensor as 'second-party' HomeKit devices, suggesting Apple's co-development push extends beyond its reported work with LG.
OpenAI is rolling out new GPT-6 models in ChatGPT with Intelligent UI, which lets the chatbot combine text, graphics, buttons, forms, charts, and interactive tools in responses. Paid users get access first, with Free and Go users following on October 8.
Arista unveiled an open Ethernet rack-scale portfolio for AI scale-up and scale-out fabrics, led by Etherlink SU-144, which connects up to 144 XPUs in one hop and 1,024 across racks.
Microsoft unveiled Nvidia RTX Spark-powered Surface PCs, including a $6,000 developer workstation and a laptop starting at $2,600, plus Windows 11 tools for sandboxing AI agents.
Spotify is expanding audiobooks to over 180 markets, with 350,000 titles in 120 languages and new subscription access.