OnePlus rolls out Android 17-based ColorOS 17 early to four phones, including the OnePlus 13 and 13R. See what's new, supported devices, and US availability.
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OnePlus rolls out Android 17-based ColorOS 17 early to four phones, including the OnePlus 13 and 13R. See what's new, supported devices, and US availability.
AI data centers are creating new challenges for power grids. Learn how emerging reliability standards and power technologies could reshape their operations.
The post AI Data Centers Are Straining Power Grids. New Rules Aim to Reduce the Risk appeared first on TechRepublic.
AI data centers are creating new challenges for power grids. Learn how emerging reliability standards and power technologies could reshape their operations.
Apple's new M6 iMac skips the M5 generation, adding faster AI processing, Wi-Fi 7, and optional 2.5Gb Ethernet. Here's what buyers should know.
The post Apple Skips M5 With New M6 iMac: What’s Changed appeared first on TechRepublic.
Samsung unveils the Galaxy A18 and A08 with AI features and six years of security updates. Compare specs, Philippine prices, and availability.
The post Samsung Galaxy A18 and A08: AI Features, Specs, and Prices appeared first on TechRepublic.
There’s something satisfying about choosing a CD, even if most of us have become accustomed to tapping a screen instead. The trouble is finding audio equipment you’d actually want to leave on display. km5’s newly announced Sp1 speaker and Mp1 mixer give its Cp1 CD player some equally minimalist company, letting you listen to favorite albums or try your hand at mixing them.
Both borrow the Cp1’s flat, frame-like format, with black or white finishes that let the pieces sit together without lookin
There’s something satisfying about choosing a CD, even if most of us have become accustomed to tapping a screen instead. The trouble is finding audio equipment you’d actually want to leave on display. km5’s newly announced Sp1 speaker and Mp1 mixer give its Cp1 CD player some equally minimalist company, letting you listen to favorite albums or try your hand at mixing them.
Both borrow the Cp1’s flat, frame-like format, with black or white finishes that let the pieces sit together without looking like an assortment of unrelated electronics. The Sp1 puts a perforated grille where the player displays its disc, while the Mp1 fills that space with knobs and sliders. They share the same size, but each makes its purpose clear through its front surface.
The speaker has a few surprises behind that otherwise quiet appearance. A dot-matrix display sits beneath the grille, showing the time and playback information without carving out a separate screen on the front. Physical buttons occupy the top edge alongside a retractable metal antenna. That last detail gives away the Sp1’s other role as an FM radio that doesn’t need to borrow your phone.
Inside are two 1.77-inch full-range drivers and two passive radiators, though their presence alone doesn’t tell us how convincing the bass will be. Bluetooth and microSD playback offer other ways to listen, and you can record radio programs, too. Pairing two Sp1 units provides stereo playback, letting a single speaker become part of a larger arrangement rather than something you’ve outgrown.
The Mp1, meanwhile, invites you to do something with the music beyond pressing play. Its two channels have separate level sliders, with a crossfader below for blending between sources. Three-band EQ controls adjust the bass, midrange, and treble, while filters change the sound further. Loop buttons repeat sections of a track, giving a favorite passage permission to stick around a little longer.
Two Bluetooth inputs let the mixer receive music from sources such as a Cp1 and a smartphone, then send the combined sound wirelessly to a compatible speaker. You aren’t required to own an entire matching set, thankfully. Line inputs and outputs also accommodate wired connections, though the published information doesn’t establish how much delay the completely wireless arrangement introduces when you’re trying to mix.
Built-in batteries make it easier to move the arrangement away from a desk, with km5 quoting approximately 12 hours for the speaker and six for the mixer. Optional wall-mount accessories offer another way to free up a surface. The mixer can even be operated on the wall, an unusual invitation to get up from the sofa and fiddle with the music yourself.
Preorders are scheduled to open on November 16, 2026, with km5 expecting shipments in February 2027 or later, though pricing remains unconfirmed. There’s also a practical limit to that portable party setup. The speaker’s quoted battery life is twice the mixer’s, so it might be ready for another album when your DJ booth is looking for a charger.
Vietnam and India are advancing AI, cybersecurity, and digital payments partnerships, but key projects and cross-border payment services remain in development.
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Vietnam and India are advancing AI, cybersecurity, and digital payments partnerships, but key projects and cross-border payment services remain in development.
Apple’s October has turned into a full-on home makeover. First came HomeView, a $299 smart display for the kitchen with a generous helping of iMac nostalgia baked into its design. Now the iMac itself is back with the M6 chip, which feels a bit like the original star showing up after the spinoff already aired. The two aren’t rivals at all, because a 7-inch hub and a 24-inch desktop live very different lives. They play for the same team, with HomeView running the house while the iMac sits on the
Apple’s October has turned into a full-on home makeover. First came HomeView, a $299 smart display for the kitchen with a generous helping of iMac nostalgia baked into its design. Now the iMac itself is back with the M6 chip, which feels a bit like the original star showing up after the spinoff already aired. The two aren’t rivals at all, because a 7-inch hub and a 24-inch desktop live very different lives. They play for the same team, with HomeView running the house while the iMac sits on the desk handling homework, taxes, and the occasional late-night gaming session.
The new iMac skips the M5 generation and goes straight to Apple’s 2nm M6 chip, with two more CPU and GPU cores than before. It starts at $1,499 for the 10-core, two-port model, while $1,699 gets you 12 cores, four Thunderbolt ports, and 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet living inside the power brick. Apple also swapped in its own N1 wireless chip for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread, which fits neatly with all that smart home energy. Those prices match what the M4 iMac cost after June’s price hike, so the extra cores are basically a free upgrade. Pre-orders open October 28, and the first deliveries land November 6.
Designer: Apple
The iMac skipped M5 and went straight to 2nm
The M6 is built on TSMC’s first-generation 2nm process, swapping the M4’s FinFET transistors for gate-all-around nanosheets that leak less power at these tiny sizes. The $1,499 model gets a 10-core CPU split into two super cores, three performance cores, and five efficiency cores. The $1,699 model bumps that to 12 cores, with two super, four performance, and six efficiency cores. Both get a matching GPU with a Neural Accelerator in every core, plus two 16-core Neural Engines totaling 32 cores. Memory bandwidth climbs from 120GB/s to up to 170GB/s, and the SSD now supports PCIe 5.0 for up to twice the read and write speed.
Apple’s own numbers put the M6 iMac up to 1.5 times faster than the M4 in Microsoft Excel and up to twice as fast for photo editing in Affinity. Ray-traced gaming performance doubles too, which is great news for anyone secretly using the family computer as a gaming rig. The biggest jump is on-device AI, with prompt processing in LM Studio up to five times faster than M4. Apple’s press release even name-drops vibe coding as an iMac use case, a very 2026 thing to say about a computer that comes in pink. If you’re coming from an Intel iMac, Apple claims up to 18 times faster performance, which should feel like time travel.
The Ethernet port lives in the power brick now
The $1,699 model comes with a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port as standard, and the $1,499 model can add one for $30. Apple builds that jack into the power adapter instead of the computer itself. That keeps the iMac’s 11.5mm-thin body free of a chunky network port, and your cable clutter ends up under the desk where it belongs. The previous model used the same brick trick, but it topped out at 1 Gigabit. At 2.5 Gigabit, pulling a giant photo library off a home server should feel a lot less like waiting for a kettle to boil.
Apple’s own N1 wireless chip replaces Broadcom, bringing Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread, the low-power mesh network behind a lot of Matter smart home gear. External display support gets generous on the four-port model, which can drive two 6K screens at 60Hz, two 4K screens at 165Hz, or a single 4K panel at 240Hz. It can even run both external displays off a single Thunderbolt port. Everything you see and hear stays the same, from the 24-inch 4.5K Retina display at 500 nits to the 12MP Center Stage camera and six-speaker system. The seven colors carry over too, along with color-matched keyboards and mice that charge over USB-C.
Same $1,499 price, two more cores
The M4 iMac launched at $1,299 back in 2024, then jumped to $1,499 in June when Apple raised prices across the Mac lineup to cope with soaring memory and storage costs. The M6 model keeps that $1,499 starting price, but the base chip now has 10 CPU and GPU cores instead of eight. Compared to yesterday, that’s two extra cores of each for the same money. Compared to two years ago, the cheapest iMac costs $200 more. The four-port model at $1,699 is the one I’d point most people toward, since it bundles Ethernet, more display options, and the full 12-core chip.
If you bought an M4 iMac, enjoy it, because the display, camera, speakers, and design are identical and your browser tabs won’t notice the difference. Families still running an Intel or M1 iMac are the real audience here, and the jump will feel enormous. Pre-orders open October 28, with deliveries starting November 6. That makes it the third new Apple product in two days, after the iPad mini and alongside the M6 MacBook Pro, with touchscreen Macs still on deck. HomeView may have gotten the nostalgic looks this month, but the iMac is still the one doing the family’s homework.
Singapore's SIMBA faces potential licence suspension after alleged spectrum violations. Here's what the investigation means for mobile customers.
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Anthropic moves Agent Skills to the Agentic AI Foundation. Learn what the handover means for IT teams, workflow portability, compatibility, and security.
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Anthropic moves Agent Skills to the Agentic AI Foundation. Learn what the handover means for IT teams, workflow portability, compatibility, and security.
See what you missed in Daily Tech Insider from Oct. 19–23.
The post This Week in Tech: AI Agents Clock In as Apple Buyers Wait and IT Scrambles appeared first on TechRepublic.
We are already wearing clothing with heaters and Bluetooth speakers built in. But tech-infused clothing to do more than that still feels ugly and nerd chic. Changing that perspective for good and giving us a reason to believe that the next touchscreen interactive device will not be made from plastic- it will be woven into the sleeves- researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a touchscreen sewn into clothing.
The team of scientists led by Assistant Professor Tural
We are already wearing clothing with heaters and Bluetooth speakers built in. But tech-infused clothing to do more than that still feels ugly and nerd chic. Changing that perspective for good and giving us a reason to believe that the next touchscreen interactive device will not be made from plastic- it will be woven into the sleeves- researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a touchscreen sewn into clothing.
The team of scientists led by Assistant Professor Tural Khudiyev from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at CDE, has created fiber that functions as pixels and senses touch at the same time. They have integrated 54 specialized fibers into a sleeve, which they described as the world’s first touchscreen built into a garment. The findings of their research were published in Nature on 21 October 2026.
Opening doors for tech-integrated clothing that does more than the usual heating and playing music features, it has a 96 x 54-pixel display on the sleeve, which can show images, play videos, and respond to touch. For the real-world mathematicians, it can also do some calculations. While the techier have the option of pairing the touch-sensitive layer on their sleeve with another Bluetooth device, or interact with it over voice commands.
The scientists inform that this is not a screen integrated into the fabric, instead, it features electronics that are built right into the fibers themselves, ensuring that in addition to carrying out some of the functions on the mobile device in your pocket, it can also display body temperature readings when required. The fiber comprises a display and sensing capability, while an integrated touch-sensitive layer helps detect finger inputs and helps activate the corresponding pixels.
Talking about their creation, Asst Prof Khudiyev said, “What made this possible was our ability to construct the GUI system from electronic building blocks in fibre form — similar to traditional yarn, but with the sophisticated electronic functionality built directly into the fibres.” The display that has been created is for now a pretty low-resolution interface, so you cannot expect to play high-res videos on it just yet, but from what we are seeing, it can have a range of applications, such as health monitoring. Imagine a display on your garments that displays your physiological readings?
One concern that instantly comes to mind is how safe a garment GUI system like this one. According to the scientist behind the innovation have found that the display and touch sensitivity of the fabric remains almost unchanged after “50 machine-washing cycles and 1,000 bending cycles.” Also, the garment embedded with the electronics and the touch display remains flexible and breathable, making it usable for everyday wear. The team has not yet announced any possible release date for such a technology, but we already sense that the possibility of its release in the very near future is immense.
Meta's Ray-Ban and Oakley AI glasses are now available in Malaysia. Compare four models, their prices, features, and prescription compatibility.
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If you log into Claude across web, desktop, or mobile apps today, you might notice a subtle yet transformative shift in how the AI assistant handles its work. Anthropic has officially transitioned Auto Mode to the default operational setting for subscribers across Pro, Max, and Team tiers. Rather than stopping to request user permission for […]
If you log into Claude across web, desktop, or mobile apps today, you might notice a subtle yet transformative shift in how the AI assistant handles its work. Anthropic has officially transitioned Auto Mode to the default operational setting for subscribers across Pro, Max, and Team tiers. Rather than stopping to request user permission for […]
Anthropic introduces Claude Duet, a proactive AI agent that automates business tasks across connected apps. Explore its features, limitations and availability.
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Anthropic introduces Claude Duet, a proactive AI agent that automates business tasks across connected apps. Explore its features, limitations and availability.
China's Unitree unveils the H2-X humanoid robot with kung fu moves and rescue demonstrations, but questions remain about its autonomy, safety and endurance.
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China's Unitree unveils the H2-X humanoid robot with kung fu moves and rescue demonstrations, but questions remain about its autonomy, safety and endurance.
Australia is preparing legal action against Meta, TikTok, Snap, and Google over alleged breaches of its under-16 social media ban. Here's what could happen next.
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Australia is preparing legal action against Meta, TikTok, Snap, and Google over alleged breaches of its under-16 social media ban. Here's what could happen next.
Southeast Asia's digital economy is set to reach $368 billion in 2026 as AI investment grows, but fragmented data rules complicate regional operations.
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Southeast Asia's digital economy is set to reach $368 billion in 2026 as AI investment grows, but fragmented data rules complicate regional operations.
It was just a few days ago that I was unboxing the new ASUS ROG XBOX Ally X20, which went on sale just five days ago on October 15th, and now both the handheld ($1,299) and the $2,499 bundle (handheld + XREAL glasses, dBrand skin) are sold out at both Best Buy and ASUS.com.Indeed, I'm not even saying they sold out today, but rather that today was the first day I checked to see if there was any inventory left. Going by a Reddit thread, it appears it sold out somet
It was just a few days ago that I was unboxing the new ASUS ROG XBOX Ally X20, which went on sale just five days ago on October 15th, and now both the handheld ($1,299) and the $2,499 bundle (handheld + XREAL glasses, dBrand skin) are sold out at both Best Buy and ASUS.com.
Indeed, I'm not even saying they sold out today, but rather that today was the first day I checked to see if there was any inventory left. Going by a Reddit thread, it appears it sold out sometime yesterday or Sunday.
That's a very impressive metric, when you consider the pricing here. The current ROG XBOX Ally X is available for $999, while this refreshed model (which is better in every way) is $300 more. And the $2,500 bundle is also no joke, especially for what many would consider a secondary gaming PC.
Sure, we can attribute this to limited production and a finite inventory on hand, but it’s worth noting that preorders began almost two months ago on August 25th, giving ASUS ample time to prepare for demand.
And we know there was demand. Looking at our internal numbers for click-throughs, we saw back in August an unusually high amount of interest in the ROG XBOX Ally X20, more than you might expect from the most expensive ROG Ally to date.
A lot of this goes back to what I've been saying for years: Gaming is one of the few price-proof areas in tech, practically insulated from the harsh economic realities that many people are facing, on top of the overall higher prices attributed to AI-driven demand for RAM and NAND (storage).
ASUS
ROG Xbox Ally X20
A refined celebration of ASUS’s gaming legacy, the Ally X20 Anniversary Edition pairs its upgraded Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme chip with a vibrant 7.4‑inch OLED HDR display and a boosted 80 Wh battery. It’s a sleeker, more efficient Windows gaming handheld built to mark the milestone with sharper visuals, quieter thermals, and longer play sessions.
Whether a recession, a pandemic, a RAM shortage, or a crypto mining craze (remember that?), gamers are almost always willing to fork over big bucks to have the latest gear. It's one reason that, despite some of the doom-and-gloom over PC sales in the last decade, gaming PCs grew year-over-year consistently.
Front view of the ROG Ally X20 handheld, which is in very high demand. (Image credit: Daniel Rubino)
If you haven't followed this story closely, you'd be forgiven for thinking this is just a simple refresh of last year's XBOX Ally X, albeit with an OLED panel replacing the IPS.
That ... would be way oversimplifying it.
Yes, the same AMD Z2 Extreme and 24GB of RAM are here (albeit slightly faster memory), so overall performance is very much the same, but ASUS basically completely rebuilt this entire device with all new components. In fact, I've been documenting all the changes that I've noticed and collected from talking to ASUS and from past press events.
So, here's what's actually new:
Larger 7.4-inch OLED panel (up from 7.0 IPS)
1,400 nits peak HDR (no HDR before)
600 nits peak SDR (was 500 before)
Dolby Vision support
Corning Victus + DXC anti-reflection coating
Smaller bezels
Redesigned airflow channel specifically for cooling the OLED panel
Completely redesigned PCB USB4 ports
Upgraded fan and heatsink fins for better cooling
Hybrid metal dome switches for a more tactile D-pad
Transforming D-pad
TMR joysticks (Hall-effect style)
LEDs increased from 2 to 4 per stick
Quieter, more tactile ABXY buttons
Realigned shoulder buttons
Smoked black translucent housing
Rubberized ergonomic grips
Upgraded microSD Express slot (up to ~1 GB/s)
And this translates into a major real-world difference in terms of fit and finish, as well as overall enjoyment of the device, which is why so many people are praising the build quality.
While Intel's G3 Extreme trounces AMD in performance, the overall gaming experience on the ROG XBOX Ally X20 is very likely the best of any handheld. Plus, a faster AMD or newer Intel chip would have driven the price up even further (see MSI's $1,800 Claw).
Of course, the one pain point is still ... Windows 11. At least for the out-of-the-box experience (OOBE), but we'll talk about that another time. Once you're set up, the Ally X20 is top-tier.
ROG XBOX Ally X20 is getting great reviews
(Image credit: ASUS)
It's worth noting that reviews, both professional and from consumers, have been near-universal in their acclaim for the ROG XBOX Ally X20.
Yeah, Best Buy only has 10 reviews posted, but it's a solid 5.0 across the board, with some noting, "This is the single most refined PC handheld ... I’ve tried." and "it might be the best quality handheld device in the market," and "ASUS Definitely hit it out of the park with this one."
Going by more professional reviews, IGN says the OLED takes the machine "to a completely new level" and argues that the extra $300 is"absolutely worth it" if you have the cash. Notebookcheck is similarly effusive, calling the OLED a "game changer" and describing the image quality as "simply stunning."
And one of my favorite YouTube channels, 128KB, dedicated to handheld gaming, also gave high praise (you can see the podcast embed above).
That kind of word of mouth goes a long way, and ASUS seems to have quite a hit on its hands despite the current market circumstances.
Of course, my review is coming out shortly, but spoiler alert: I don't differ much from most of the other conclusions. Sure, "The X20 should have been the original Ally X last year" is a common theme, but OLED displays this small with variable refresh were hard to come by in 2025, so ASUS went with what it could mass-produce at the time.
The Ally X20 selling out across every configuration shows just how aggressively ASUS has captured the handheld gaming PC conversation. This launch isn’t a blip or a lucky surge; it’s a clear sign that ASUS understands what Windows handheld buyers want and is willing to push the category forward faster than anyone else.
When a premium bundle disappears instantly, it tells you the audience is hungry, confident, and ready to invest in hardware that feels genuinely next‑gen. ASUS, in my opinion (and others'), set a new bar, and the rest of the industry now has to decide whether it can keep up with the pace ASUS just established.
Anyway, let me know in the comments what you think about the state of handheld gaming in 2026, and whether the ROG XBOX Ally X20 is on your radar (if it comes back in stock).
ASUS
ROG Xbox Ally X20 Bundle
Twenty years of ROG innovation, marked by the limited ROG Edition 20 lineup in an exclusive colorway. The ROG XBOX Ally X20 Bundle carries that celebration forward, pairing the handheld with the ROG XREAL R1 Edition 20 Gaming AR glasses to create a complete gaming setup that travels with you.
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Apple's 512GB Mac Studio is coming in late October 2026. Here's what to know about its M5 Ultra chip, AI capabilities, pricing, and availability.
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MiniMax launches M3.1 Flash with claims of faster, cheaper AI agents. See how its pricing, benchmarks, and reliability compare with enterprise requirements.
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MiniMax launches M3.1 Flash with claims of faster, cheaper AI agents. See how its pricing, benchmarks, and reliability compare with enterprise requirements.