News written by Petteri Pyyny

Google has released the first official preview - or beta - version of its upcoming Android 17 operating system.

The beta was originally scheduled to become available on February 11th, but for unexplained reasons Google delayed the rollout - and the release only went live on February 13th.

Android 17 will likely be a largely invisible update for most everyday users, as Google has in recent years shifted to a development approach where major Android releases mainly improve under-the-hood system functions. Visual changes, meanwhile, are now distributed as separate updates, typically at very different speeds depending on the manufacturer.

One major change arriving with Android 17 will still affect regular users: it forces app developers to properly support large screens.

With Android 17, apps will no longer be allowed to lock themselves to a specific aspect ratio or, for example, run on tablets only in portrait orientation. Apps must also function on devices that support windowed modes.

In other words, Google is requiring developers to better account for tablet and foldable-phone users. Poor tablet app support in particular has long been one of Android's weak points compared to Apple's ecosystem.

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The last major optical media format still standing, Blu-ray, is once again taking another step toward the sunset.

One of the format's original creators, Japan's Sony, has announced that it will end production of recordable Blu-ray players.

Recordable Blu-ray devices never became especially popular in Western markets, but in Sony's home country of Japan they have been fairly common - effectively "modern VCRs" used to record television broadcasts into a more permanent format on physical discs.

The final batches of Sony's recordable Blu-ray players will be shipped to retailers by the end of February 2026.

The decision does not come as a huge surprise. A year ago, Sony decided to stop manufacturing blank Blu-ray discs.

The format has faced other setbacks in recent years as well. Korean electronics giant LG ended production of all Blu-ray players at the end of 2024. And another Korean giant, Samsung, had already announced back in 2019 that it would no longer release new 4K Blu-ray players.

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The European Union's Ecodesign regulation, formally known as Ecodesign, has been phased in over the past couple of years.

The directive is known, among other things, for enabling smartphones to be sold without bundled chargers, provided they can be charged with a standard charger (and in most cases, with any manufacturer's fast charger).

The Ecodesign regulation came into force with considerable impact in the summer of 2025.

At the time, one encouraging detail drew attention: the new regulation would force smartphone manufacturers to provide software updates for new phones for at least five years.

That is what everyone thought. We thought so, and many other media outlets thought so too.

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Pioneer of the television industry and Japanese quality brand Sony is ending the manufacturing of its own televisions.

In a press release, the company says it has reached an agreement with Chinese manufacturer TCL to establish a new joint venture.

The new joint venture will be responsible for designing and manufacturing all televisions sold under the Sony brand and Sony's Bravia brand. TCL will hold a slim majority stake in the joint venture (51%), while Sony retains the remaining ownership.

Going forward, all televisions sold under the Sony brand will be based on TCL's technology. The joint venture is expected to begin operations in March 2027, pending approval from competition authorities.

Sony has been one of the last Japanese manufacturers to remain relatively competitive in the increasingly tough television market. Chinese (TCL, HiSense) and Korean (Samsung, LG) brands have year after year squeezed Japanese manufacturers into an ever tighter corner.

Many long-established TV makers have, of course, ended up with similar or even more radical arrangements. For example, Philips has for years been a brand licensed from the Dutch "original" Philips to Hong Kong-based TPV Technology, and is used on televisions manufactured by TPV.

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The signs had already been there earlier, when Taiwanese electronics giant Asus revealed that it would not be launching any new smartphones at all in 2026.

Now, however, the company's chairman has confirmed (in Chinese) that Asus is withdrawing completely from smartphone manufacturing.

According to Asus' Jonney Shih, the company will continue to provide software updates, servicing, and support for its existing smartphones. However, no new phones will be released by Asus going forward.

Asus was the last major Android manufacturer still producing compact smartphones. The company's final small handset was the Asus Zenfone 10, launched in 2023. After that, the company shifted its focus to gaming phones under the ROG Phone series.

Advertising giant Google has secured a brand-new web address for itself.

The company has been reshuffling its domains over the past year as well. In the spring of 2025, the company shut down its country-specific Google domains, and redirected them all to a single google.com address.

Google's latest domain works a little differently. G.AI also redirects to google.com, but instead of opening the regular search tab, it takes users directly to the AI Mode tab.

AI Mode is a conversational interface that looks and feels very similar to, for example, ChatGPT in terms of functionality. However, Google's AI Mode is designed primarily for information retrieval rather than for open-ended conversations with an AI.

With its new robot vacuum, Roborock has solved what has long seemed like one of the last major challenges in robot vacuum development.

Unveiled today, the Roborock Saros Rover can actually climb stairs.

Over the years, several other companies have showcased various concepts of stair-climbing robot vacuums, but little has been heard of them beyond demo stages. Roborock's new model, however, is set to go on sale for real.

Saros Rover also stands apart from every other stair-climbing robot vacuum we've seen before in that it cleans the stairs while climbing them.

Rover's agility is not limited to stairs alone. The device operates on two wheeled legs that can freely extend and retract. Thanks to this design, the robot can also avoid obstacles on the floor, climb over thresholds, and free itself from various types of jams.

Roborock says the Saros Rover is still in the development phase, and the exact launch date has yet to be confirmed.

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The Taiwanese electronics giant Asus is best known as a manufacturer of computers and PC components.

However, the company is also a smartphone maker - and has been producing phones for years. For a long time, Asus was effectively the only major brand still making compact smartphones. Its last small Android phone, the Zenfone 10, received high praise from various reviewers - but apparently didn't sell well enough.

Now, though, the company appears to be pulling back from the smartphone business - at least temporarily.

According to DigiTimes sources, Asus does not plan to release any new smartphone models during 2026. The company has not said it is exiting the phone business entirely, but for now, nothing new is expected this year.

Asus has, in any case, become a marginal player in the smartphone market over the years. The company already scaled back its lineup in the late 2010s, narrowing its focus to two product categories: compact flagship phones (Zenfone) and gaming-focused smartphones (ROG Phone).

Even those lines have since been wound down. Asus discontinued compact phones after the Zenfone 10, and the most recent ROG Phone gaming handset was launched in early 2025 -- nearly a year ago.

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The long-struggling American robot vacuum manufacturer iRobot has been sold.

iRobot is best known for its products -- the company is the maker of Roomba robot vacuums -- and it has played a key role in shaping the modern robot vacuum market, having operated in the field for some 35 years.

At its peak during the pandemic in 2021, iRobot's market capitalization stood well above $3 billion. However, intensifying competition and poor strategic decisions pushed the company into serious trouble.

In 2022, iRobot had already reached a fully negotiated acquisition agreement, under which Amazon was set to acquire the company.

The European Union ultimately blocked the deal, citing concerns that Amazon could distort the robot vacuum market by favoring iRobot products it owned over those of competing manufacturers.

After the deal collapsed, iRobot was unable to turn its finances around, and the company's debt continued to balloon year after year.

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In spring 2025, it was announced that the legendary smartwatch manufacturer Pebble is making a comeback.

Now Pebble is expanding its product lineup into the smart ring market -- a segment currently dominated by the Finnish company Oura.

But Pebble's approach to smart rings is entirely different from all of its competitors.

First of all, the Pebble Index 01 ring does not measure any vital signs of its wearer: no heart rate, no activity, nothing.

Its only function is a button that the user presses. When the button is pressed, the ring records audio for as long as the button is held down, up to a maximum of five minutes.

The recorded audio is transferred wirelessly to the phone paired with the ring, where it is converted into text. According to Pebble, the app can transcribe audio into text in 99 languages. If the user chooses, the recording can also trigger an on-device AI that executes spoken commands, such as setting a calendar reminder.

However, the most surprising feature of the ring is related to its charging. Or rather, to the fact that Pebble's smart ring cannot be charged at all, in any way.

Once the ring's battery runs out, it becomes recyclable waste that the manufacturer hopes users will send back to Pebble for proper recycling. The battery lasts for approximately 12–14 hours of recordings.

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Media outlets reported a couple of days ago that media giant Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) was up for sale and that several purchase offers had been submitted. Now, the winner of that bidding process has been confirmed.

Netflix will acquire Warner Bros for $82.7 billion.

The current WBD television channels were excluded from the deal and will be separated into their own Discovery Global company. Discovery Global will become an independent, publicly listed company. Only after the split will the remaining parts of the entity transfer to Netflix ownership. The estimated timeline for completion is set for the third quarter of 2026.

As part of the acquisition, Netflix will gain the legendary Warner Bros. film studio, the rights to Warner Bros films, DC Entertainment, and of course, HBO. In HBO's case, the acquisition includes the HBO Max streaming service, all HBO content, and the HBO premium television channel.

This means Netflix will also become a company that operates a traditional premium TV channel (HBO) -- unless Netflix later decides to sell or outsource the TV channel.

Netflix states in its announcement that beloved and iconic series and films such as Harry Potter and Stranger Things will be available under the same roof once the acquisition is finalized.

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Google has issued an urgent warning to all Android users.

The warning applies to all Android devices, regardless of whether the manufacturer is Samsung, OnePlus, Xiaomi, or Honor.

The flaw, identified as CVE-2025-48593, affects Android versions starting from Android 13 and includes the very latest Android 16. Its preliminary severity score is set at 9.8 out of 10.

According to Google, the vulnerability allows attackers to target any Android device and make it execute malicious code of their choice. The exploit doesn't require elevated privileges, meaning the malicious code can run freely within the system once executed.

As the cybersecurity site GBHackers describes, the attacker can potentially gain full control over the victim's phone or tablet.

Google informed all Android manufacturers about the vulnerability a month before publicly disclosing it, so device makers would have time to respond and release security patches for their devices.

Now the recommendation for users is this:

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Robotic vacuum development has been interesting to follow over the past few years. The leap in progress began around 2018, when tighter competition between Chinese manufacturers and long-time market leader iRobot started producing real innovations.

First came self-emptying dustbins. Then smarter maps, rotating mop plates, self-cleaning mops, obstacle avoidance, and more recently the ability to climb over thresholds.

So in that context, the new model from the industry giant Roborock feels in many ways a logical continuation of the ongoing development.

We got our hands on the spring 2025 release, the Roborock Saros Z70 robot vacuum, whose most unusual characteristic is the built-in arm.

Yes. An arm.

The robo uses its emerging hand as a cleaning aid - essentially to move forgotten socks and toys out of the way of the cleaning path.

But is the Roborock actually a good vacuum - or a jaw-dropping tech demo? We subjected the Saros Z70 to our usual multi-month test, where the robot was tasked with cleaning a very ordinary Nordic home for about three months. During that time it was the only floor-cleaning tool in the residence.

So let's see how the Saros Z70 ultimately fared...

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TiVo was once a synonumous for digital recording of linear television programs, especially in the United States.

But times have changed, as streaming services have become a commonplace and virtually all traditional TV broadcasters have started offering their shows through one of the many streaming providers.

According to Cord Cutters, TiVo has removed all its hardware from its website - even all references to such devices.

TiVo's fortunes have dwindled as cable TV subscriber figures have dropped across the United States. Company's final physical device was TiVo Edge, launched back in 2021 that merged streaming services and live TV recording into one device.

Virtually all modern TVs have some sort of app support built-in with them, so, external device like TiVo apparently seemed like a hassle for most potential consumers.

And that is also the very route TiVo, as a company, is taking, as it focuses on selling its own operating system for TV manufacturers. The very same OS was at the core of the company's own hardware products, too. Company has made such deals already with HiSense and TCL in the U.S.

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This week, the world of activity tracking was rocked by major news. The American company Strava, arguably the most famous sports app developer globally, has sued American sports watch maker Garmin.

Strava accuses (paywall) Garmin of violating its patents and is demanding that the court immediately block sales of all Garmin-made smartwatches as well as devices like bike computers.

At the heart of the dispute are two of Strava's software patents.

One concerns route sections, or segments, while the other covers so-called heatmaps.

Segments are a highly popular feature among Strava users, where, for instance, a specific stretch of a park becomes its own "section." In Strava, you can automatically track how well you performed on that stretch compared to others who have run along the same route.

Surprisingly, Garmin has had a similar feature in its Connect app since 2014 - though its implementation was so confusing that it was rarely used. Instead, Strava and Garmin later jointly developed the segment feature now found in Strava, launching it a year later.

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