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DDR5 might be the obvious choice for a new PC, but DDR4 remains a great, affordable upgrade. And I've found a fantastic deal on the 32GB Kingston Fury Beast DDR4-3200 kit for $180 (was $350) at Newegg when you use code LDSF224.

You get two 16GB DDR4-3200 modules with CL16 latency, 16-20-20 timings, Intel XMP 2.0 support and low-profile heat spreaders. That's absolutely on the money for most everyday workloads, and even gaming on the huge number of systems that still support DDR4 memory.

32GB Fury Beast DDR4-3200 RAM: was $349.99 now $179.99
Kingston's Fury Beast kit provides 32GB across two 16GB DDR4-3200 modules, with CL16 latency, 16-20-20 timings, 1.35V operation, Intel XMP 2.0 support, dual-channel operation and black heat spreaders. For the full discount, use code LDSF224View Deal

Why we recommend it

32GB provides plenty of memory for everyday tasks, and the two 16GB modules let you take advantage of a motherboard's dual-channel memory configuration.

DDR4-3200 with CL16 timings also offers a good combination of speed and latency for compatible DDR4 systems. Intel XMP 2.0 support makes it easy to apply the advertised 3200MT/s profile on a supported motherboard rather than manually configuring the timings.

The modules run at 1.35V and include aluminum heat spreaders. The understated black design should fit easily into builds where you don't want or need RGB lighting.

Price context & historical value

Newegg has already slashed the price of the Kingston Fury Beast kit from $349.99 to $249.99, saving you $100, but applying code LDSF224 reduces the price by another $70 to $179.99.

That means you're paying $170 less than the usual $349.99, which is nearly half price, and a great deal at a time when memory prices are typically sky high.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the 32GB Kingston Fury Beast DDR4-3200 kit if...

Your desktop uses DDR4 and you're currently struggling with 8GB or 16GB of memory. Moving to 32GB gives you considerably more headroom for running demanding applications without replacing the rest of your system.

❌ Skip the 32GB Kingston Fury Beast DDR4-3200 kit if...

You're building a completely new PC around a modern platform that supports DDR5. DDR4 and DDR5 aren't interchangeable, so buying this kit will restrict your motherboard and processor choices rather than providing an upgrade path for the future.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

You'll need to enter the coupon code at checkout to get the RAM for just $179.99. You should also check your motherboard's memory specifications and compatibility. The kit supports Intel XMP 2.0 and is listed for AMD and Intel systems, but achieving its top DDR4-3200 speed depends on the capabilities and configuration of your system.

• Shop all RAM at Newegg

• Chinese companies have reportedly hidden their ownership to operate in Taiwan
• They're also poaching Taiwanese workers, paying them up to 10x more
• China is fighting back against US restrictions, but Taiwan wants to protect its own industry

Taiwan has reportedly increased the pressure on Chinese technology companies that are hiding their Chinese ownership as it tried to protect its own semiconductor business.

The country's Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) has reportedly investigated 166 cases involving suspected illegal Chinese ownership since 2020, resulting in 36 convictions – 33 of which involved in semiconductor research, development or design.

While Taiwanese law doesn't prohibit Chinese companies from operating in Taiwan, they must seek government approval under the Cross-Strait Act, but by obscuring their Chinese ownership they've been looking to circumvent those restrictions.

Chinese companies targeted for operating illegally in Taiwan

Rest of World reports many of the Chinese firms in question established shell companies in third countries or used non-Chinese nationals to register their businesses, making them appear either Taiwanese or generally non-Chinese.

The news comes against a backdrop of heightened geopolitics – China has been investing heavily in growing its semiconductor self-sufficiency amid ongoing US restrictions, and have reportedly been poaching Taiwanese engineers with salaries up to 10x higher than average.

Taiwan itself is said to account for more than 60% of global semiconductor production, producing around nine in 10 of the world's most advanced processors, so alleged Chinese poaching is especially noteworthy. "Taiwan’s high-tech talent has become a key target for recruitment by Chinese enterprises," the MJIB wrote.

In a separate case, the MJIB has also investigated 67 cases involving Chinese companies suspected of stealing Taiwanese trade secrets.

Interestingly, the cases don't just relate to smaller start-ups – Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) were all named in the report.

Fines reported in the cases ranged from around $3,800 to $800,000, with penalties of up to three years' imprisonment also cited.

6K monitors give creative professionals an enormous amount of detail and working space, but they've traditionally been prohibitively expensive. I've found the LG UltraFine Evo 32U990A-S for $1,099 at Amazon.

That's not just its lowest ever price - it's the cheapest 6K monitor I've ever seen. For your money, you get a 32-inch Nano IPS Black display with a 6144 x 3456 resolution, DisplayHDR 600, Thunderbolt 5, 96W power delivery and extensive Mac and Windows connectivity.

It's aimed squarely at creative professionals, with the resolution, color accuracy and connectivity needed for photo editing, video production, design and other demanding visual work.

32-Inch 32U990A-S Ultrafine 6K Thunderbolt 5 Professional Monitor: $1099
This screen combines a 32-inch 6144 x 3456 Nano IPS Black panel, 224 PPI, DisplayHDR 600, Thunderbolt 5, 96W power delivery, HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1 and speakers.View Deal

Why we recommend it

The 6K resolution packs more than 21 million pixels into the 32-inch panel and delivers a 224 PPI density. It offers up to 99.5% Adobe RGB and 98% DCI-P3 coverage, real 10-bit color and a 2000:1 contrast ratio. That combination is ideal for photography, video editing, color grading, design and other work where image accuracy matters.

In his review, our expert Jeremy said: "Thanks to its native 6K resolution, the LG UltraFine Evo 32U990A cranks out an astonishingly sharp image. It has great connectivity, too, including Thunderbolt 5."

He went on to explain: "If you think more pixels makes for a better PC monitor, you're going to love the new LG UltraFine Evo 32U990A. This 6K monster of a monitor has over 21 million of them. For context, a 4K display has just eight million. It's a massive step up."

Price context & historical value

6K tends to sit at the top end of the professional monitor market, but at $1,099, the LG UltraFine Evo 32U990A-S is at the lowest price I've seen. It's also the cheapest 6K monitor I've found to date.

That said, you can buy excellent 4K monitors, including OLED models with better contrast and responsiveness, for similar or less money, so the value here really depends on how much you'll benefit from the additional resolution.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the LG UltraFine Evo 32U990A if...

You work with high-resolution photos, 6K video, detailed graphics or other visual content and can make practical use of the monitor's enormous resolution. Its combination of 224 PPI, wide color coverage and Thunderbolt 5 makes good sense as the centerpiece of a high-end creative workstation.

❌ Skip the LG UltraFine Evo 32U990A if...

You'd rather have the superior contrast, black levels and responsiveness of an OLED display. Our reviewer found the LG's IPS Black panel looked somewhat washed out alongside modern OLED monitors, while its 60Hz refresh rate and 5ms response time are relatively slow for such a top-end display.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

The 6K resolution is exceptional, but the rest of the display technology isn't quite as impressive. DisplayHDR 600 relies on edge-lit backlighting rather than full-array local dimming, and our reviewer found its HDR performance and black levels couldn't compete with OLED.

There are some physical compromises as well. The mix of plastic and metal doesn't have the premium build quality you might expect at this level, while the large external power brick makes for a less tidy setup. The matte anti-glare coating can also introduce a slight visible sparkle.

• Shop all monitors at Amazon

• Brazilian regulatory filings might have just leaked the Garmin Cirqa
• Ten variants of the smart ring were included in the documents
• It suggests the device might be close to launching

In recent months, we’ve seen quite a few tidbits consisting of news and leaks surrounding Garmin’s unannounced Cirqa Smart Ring, and it’s starting to feel increasingly likely that the company is about to launch a new product to take on the likes of Samsung and Oura.

As spotted by Gadgets & Wearables, a new certification listing on the website of the Brazilian National Telecommunications Agency has revealed a spate of mysterious product codes, all of which were filed by Garmin on the same day.

The codes all sit underneath the same certification listing, which implies that they could be different models of the same product – perhaps different colors or sizes, for example. Probably different sizes, as many other smart rings cover sizes ranging from 3-5 or 13-15, and that might be the key clue that points towards this product’s true identity.

If it is indeed the Cirqa Smart Ring, it would be Garmin’s first attempt at a device like this and the second in the Cirqa line. It would follow the Cirqa band, which thoroughly impressed us when we reviewed it earlier this year, and would be designed to take on Oura and Samsung, which are currently responsible for some of the best smart rings on the market.

Not long to go

(Image credit: Circular)

Couldn’t the devices in the Brazilian certification documents be Garmin watches rather than smart rings? After all, Garmin has never acknowledged that it’s even making a smart ring, so how do we know this listing points to that seemingly top-secret device?

While we can’t be sure, the fact that there are ten separate models appears to point towards a smart ring. A watch wouldn’t need so many different variants, as you’d normally only have a couple of different sizing options. A smart ring, though? They tend to come with far more variations to account for the different finger sizes users will have.

One of the model numbers in the Brazilian listing was AA5124. This number also surfaced in a leak in August, whereby a Garmin product explicitly named the Cirqa Smart Ring appeared in Indonesian regulatory filings. Also included in that filing was an unknown device with the AA5124 model number, suggesting it was part of the same family. With AA5124 appearing among the ten variants in the latest leak, the links to the Cirqa are strengthened.

There’s no solid estimation of when the Cirqa might finally be released, so we’ll have to keep waiting for now. But with the strong suggestion that the Cirqa has just appeared in another official certification process, we might not have long to go.

The Labor Day sales can sometimes feel like an awkward time to buy a phone. Not only are the sales traditionally more associated with grills and appliances, but Apple also usually debuts its next generation of devices in early to mid-September. Surprisingly, however, several retailers have some of the best deals I've seen in recent months today.

For example, if you've been thinking about picking up one of the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 devices, then you can currently get an impressive upfront discount of up to $300 at the official Samsung Store on these excellent foldable devices. That's actually $100 better than the initial deal offered when these devices were available for preorder a few months ago.

Another really fantastic discount is on the new Google Pixel 11 series. Right now, you can get $450 off across the range when you pick up a device with a new plan at Mint Mobile. Unlike similar discounts at major carriers, you don't need to trade in to be eligible for this discount. You also get a full year of unlimited data for just $180 (half the usual price).

Just below, you can see a few more Labor Day phone deals that I've picked out as especially good value. Take note that I've focused on Android devices here, as new iPhones are just around the corner. In fact, we could see preorders for the iPhone 18 (or a similar device) later this week, so stay tuned.

The best Labor Day phone deals today

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 / Fold 8 / Fold 8 Ultra: up to $800 off with a trade-in or $300 off without
Samsung's offer on its new Flip and Fold range include trade-in rebates of up to $800 for the Fold 8 and up to $400 for the Flip 8. Don't have a phone to hand over? You can get a flat $300 in Samsung credit when buying the Fold 8 Ultra, $200 on the Fold 8, or $150 with the Flip 8. There are also bundle discounts of up to 15% when buying other accessories, if you're looking for a new smartwatch or a pair of decent earbuds. View Deal

The highlight deal from Amazon's Labor Day sale is undoubtedly this listing on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. With an impressive 27% discount, you're just $20 away from the lowest-ever price on the brand's latest flagship. Aside from a very brief moment when this device was listed for $933 back in June, it hasn't been this cheap on Amazon, so this particular deal is well worth considering. View Deal

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: $300 off upfront, or up to $720 off with a trade-in at Samsung
The outstanding Galaxy S26 Ultra currently has a fantastic promotion at the official Samsung store — with either the option for a trade rebate or upfront discount. Available across all storage variants and colors, this deal can get you a device for as little as $1,049 upfront. Trade-in rebates of up to $720 are also available, but we've seen slightly better offerings in the past for trades.View Deal

Google Pixel 11 series: $450 off, plus a half-price unlimited plan at Mint Mobile
Mint Mobile's latest deal on the Pixel 11 series is the perfect pairing with Google's new flagships. Right now, you don't even need to trade-in to get an excellent $450 discount on these new devices. On top of that, you can also get a full year of unlimited data for just $180 — that's half the usual price. Put together, this is a great deal, although it's exclusive to new Mint customers. View Deal

Samsung Galaxy S26 series: $500 off, plus up to $400 off with a trade-in at Mint Mobile
Mint Mobile's latest deal on the Galaxy S26 series is one of the best I've ever seen from the well-known prepaid carrier. Not only can you get a record-breaking $500 upfront discount on a brand new device, but you'll also get a full year of unlimited data at half price for just $180. On top of that, you can also trade in for an additional discount of up to $400 off, which is enough to cover the entire cost of the standard Galaxy S26. View Deal

• Free-to-play open-world adventure Ananta will feature two massive maps
• The second, Chongxiao, was revealed in a trailer at Gamescom 2026
• It's inspired by the real-world cities Shanghai and Hangzhou, home of the game's developers

Upcoming free-to-play Grand Theft Auto 6 competitor Ananta got a new trailer at Gamescom 2026, revealing a second massive open-world map.

Players will be able to venture from the coastal Nova City to the sprawling futuristic metropolis of Chongxiao, with producer Ash Qi promising "dozens of hours of story content and a huge range of urban gameplay" in a new interview with TechRadar Gaming.

"Our goal is to create the biggest open-world game in the free-to-play space," added Qi.

"Nova City was the first map we created," they continued. "Chongxiao is something we knew we had to make about a year into developing Nova City. In terms of scale, Chongxiao is quite a bit bigger than Nova City, but each map has its own identity, with different stories and a distinct atmosphere.

"Nova City leans more into a modern, entertainment-driven vibe, with a livelier, occasionally chaotic energy. Chongxiao, on the other hand, has more advanced technology, richer cultural content, and large-scale tourist attractions for players to experience and explore."

As well as conveying distinct atmospheres, both cities are also dramatically different from an aesthetic perspective. Nova City looks almost like a blend of Tokyo and Los Angeles, while Chongxiao is decidedly more Chinese in its influences.

"Right now we’re building Lingyun, a city within Chongxiao. The inspiration behind Lingyun actually comes from Shanghai and Hangzhou, where our team lives and works. Both cities have very striking everyday scenery and iconic modern landmarks," explained Qi. "Our goal was to have the real cities as a foundation and layer Ananta's setting on top of it."

Plenty of real-world features from both those places were on show in the latest trailer, including a skyscraper that's almost identical to Shanghai's iconic Oriental Pearl Tower. Chongxiao is also built around a huge ancient body of water known as the Weilan Lake, modelled closely on the famous West Lake in Hangzhou — a UNESCO World Heritage Site featured on the back of China's one-yuan banknote.

The Three Pools Mirroring the Moon (three small stone pagodas) are one of the most recognizable Hangzhou landmarks in the latest trailer.Netease GamesDashiell Wood

"Of course, we’re not just recreating these places one-to-one," added Qi. "We’re giving them new settings and memorable adventures shaped by our IP and story needs."

Ananta has already made headlines with its dizzying range of mechanics, with trailers showing off driving, melee combat, third-person shooting, flying wingsuits, and even Spider-Man-like web-slinging. But the cities themselves will also offer a broad selection of unique activities.

"Anything you’d want to do in a modern city: shopping, grabbing a bite at a restaurant, catching a live music show, or dancing the night away, it’s all there," said Qi. "You can even invite your favorite character to do these things with you. Each city also offers its own distinct activities based on what makes it unique. In Chongxiao, for example, you can go boating to experience Weilan Lake."

It sounds like players will have no shortage of things to do when Ananta launches for PC, PlayStation 5, and mobile on January 15, 2027.

• Xiaomi has unveiled two new EVs at IFA: the SU7 and SU7 Ultra
• It also showed off a Gran Turismo-based electric hypercar concept
• It announced plans to enter the European EV market in 2027, although Germany is the only confirmed country at the moment

Ever wanted to drive in a car that's been shaped by the wind? That's the idea behind Xiaomi's latest hypercar concept, which I just got a sneak peek at in the hallowed halls of IFA 2026.

The Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo is an electric vehicle created specifically — you might be able to guess — for the Gran Turismo franchise. The exterior has been designed to be as aerodynamic as it could possibly be, with every element shaped for minimal resistance.

The interior is rather a different story. Rather than the hardcore, cockpit-style seating setup you'd expect, Xiaomi has plumped for comfort. Inside the teardrop-shaped cabin there are bucket seats — on my tour, the Xiaomi rep explained that they wanted to recreate the feel of playing a racing simulator from your sofa.

FutureFutureFutureFuture

The reason for such artistic freedom is that this car is not built for real-world driving. Instead, it's a "virtual concept car", as part of a showcase project with various brands designing their own Gran Turismo hypercars. It enabled Xiaomi to explore, as the press info puts it, "possibilities free from the constraints of the physical world".

In the real world

If it's real-world cars you're after, Xiaomi also showed off its new-gen SU7 and flagship SU7 Ultra electric sedans, both with Xiaomi describes as "an elegant, sporty design language".

Xiaomi SU7 Ultra is Xiaomi Auto's high-performance flagship. The production version set the official record in the Electric Executive Car category at the Nürburgring Nordschleife racing track. It's complemented by the SU7 .

FutureFutureFutureFuture

Both cars are fully integrated into the brand's wider smart ecosystem — they're designed to work seamlessly in concert with their owner's personal devices (like their phones) as well as their at-home appliances, for maximum convenience.

It's part of the brand's Human × Car × Home vision, which was a key focus at the IFA show. The idea is that multiple gadgets, both inside and outside the home, all 'talk' to each other and work together without automations having to be set up manually.

FutureFutureFutureFutureFutureFuture

That wasn't all Xiaomi Auto had to announce at IFA. Xiaomi Auto has been selling cars since 2024, but thus far, they've only been available on the Chinese mainland. Now, the brand is expanding further afield. It says it's making a "planned entry into European markets, including Germany, in 2027", although it was unable to confirm if there were any plans to launch in the UK.

In its latest financial stability report, the Bank of England warned that an AI crash could plunge the UK into recession, claiming that a “price correction in AI stocks, driven by a change in productivity and profitability among tech-led companies, could cause a 2.2 percent fall in U.K. GDP.”

This should serve as a warning to businesses everywhere.

The risks surrounding AI extend far beyond Silicon Valley.

As leaders prepare for what comes next, however, many are still asking the wrong question.

“Is AI real, or is it hype?”

The last 30 years of technology should have taught us that the answer can be both.

The last tech crisis of the 20th century

Y2K was a real technical risk that came to look, in hindsight, like mass overreaction.

The UK spent billions preparing for the millennium bug, with organizations testing and patching systems that underpinned everything from banking and benefits payments to air travel and the National Grid.

The government established Action 2000 to help businesses prepare, while banks and major infrastructure providers ran extensive contingency plans ahead of the deadline.

Then midnight passed, the planes stayed in the sky, cash machines kept dispensing money and the lights stayed on. The whole affair began to look almost laughable.

Yet the apparent anticlimax obscured an important point. Much of the disruption people feared was likely avoided because organizations took the risk seriously and prepared for it. Cybersecurity has the same problem.

A threat that is successfully mitigated can look, in hindsight, remarkably like a threat that was exaggerated.

Not to burst your bubble

The dotcom bubble taught a different lesson. The internet was not fake, but the valuations often were. Boo.com, for example, raised vast sums to reinvent fashion retail online, only to collapse in 2000 after burning through its funding. Companies with little profit and, in some cases, barely coherent business models were treated as if they had risen above the laws of economics.

Then the bubble burst, fortunes disappeared and many of the supposed pioneers vanished, but the ideas they were betting on did not. In fact, I bet you’re reading this on the internet right now.

Style over substance

Crypto added a third lesson. Revolutionary language can hide weak use cases. There were serious technical ideas beneath it, but the public boom became dominated by speculation, celebrity endorsements and the strange habit of starting with an asset and then searching for a purpose.

At the height of the NFT frenzy, an NFT of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet sold for $2.9 million. A year later, its owner attempted to resell it for nearly $48 million, only to see initial bids fall spectacularly short. The technology had not disappeared. What had disappeared was the market’s willingness to treat digital scarcity as lasting value.

AI’s rise carries elements of all three stories.

A familiar visage

Like Y2K, AI presents risks that may sound exaggerated until they are not. As any cybersecurity expert will tell you, if the worst harms are prevented, the warnings may later look hysterical. This will not prove they were imaginary.

For AI, this means treating cybersecurity and governance as operational disciplines, not innovation-team side projects. Organizations need to understand what data is entering AI systems, what those systems can access, what authority they have, how they could be manipulated and how the business would respond if they failed.

With the dotcom boom, AI looks like a real general-purpose technology wrapped in an overheated investment story. It can already write code, summarize documents, and automate parts of professional work. But that does not mean every AI company is valuable, every AI product is useful, or every data center will earn its keep.

For businesses learning from this, they must invest in capabilities, data foundations, people and workflows, rather than betting everything on whichever vendor, model, or product is making the most noise this quarter.

And like crypto, AI has acquired a mythology. “AI-powered” is becoming what “blockchain-enabled” briefly was, a phrase that can mean something, nothing, or merely “please value us higher.”

For the adoption of AI, business leaders must now ask boring, but necessary, questions. What problem does this solve? Who uses it? What data does it see? What systems can it influence? What authority have we given it? What happens if it is wrong, manipulated or unavailable? And who is accountable when that happens?

This combination is what makes the current moment so hard to read. The lazy argument says AI is either a revolution or a bubble. History suggests a more uncomfortable possibility; it could be both.

“The Spirits of all three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”

Too often, business leaders are trying to win an argument about whether AI is overhyped when they should be building a strategy that survives either answer. The sensible response to AI is neither a moonshot nor a moratorium. It is disciplined experimentation.

This means treating AI less like a campaign slogan and more like a portfolio of bets. Some of those bets should be defensive, focused on understanding where AI is already being used, what data and systems it can access, and whether the organization can respond when things go wrong.

Others should be exploratory, testing where AI can create genuine value across areas like coding, customer support and knowledge management. And some should be deliberately skeptical, particularly when tools sound impressive but cannot demonstrate savings, better outcomes, or clear ownership.

If the aim is simply to have an AI strategy that reads well in a board pack, then the lessons of the past 30 years have been missed. Y2K, dotcom and crypto each showed us that hype and substance are not opposites. Real risks can be exaggerated. Transformative technologies can attract irrational investment. Powerful ideas can coexist with weak use cases.

AI may prove to be all three at once. The businesses that navigate it best will not be those that predicted the future perfectly. They will be those that were prepared to adapt when reality arrived.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

It's been a busy week for the team at Philips Hue. At its annual showcase event in Berlin, the company unveiled not just a new series of smart lights (including some particularly stylish additions to its Liane series), but also a whole new approach to AI, which it's using to take the complexity out of creating bespoke automated lighting setups specifically for your home. No more tinkering with toggles and timers — just tell the app what you want your lights to do and when, and the software will handle the rest.

This isn't Philips Hue's first foray into AI. In 2025, the brand introduced an AI assistant that allowed users to describe a lighting scene and would then either find a match in the library of presets or create a new scene from scratch if nothing suitable existed.

Earlier this year, it also launched SpatialAware for the Philips Hue Bridge Pro, which applies lighting scenes differently depending on the position of smart bulbs, light strips, and lamps in a room, with AI trained using expertise from professional lighting designers.

SpatialAware uses AI trained by lighting designers, and applies scenes based on the location of lights in a room (Image credit: Signify)

After this week's showcase, I spoke to Marco Merolla, Executive Vice President and Business Leader of Consumer Connected Lighting at Philips Hue's parent brand Signify, to find out his thoughts on the future of smart lighting and AI. I started by asking him about SpatialAware, and whether users had welcomed the new feature in their homes.

"It’s something that brings smart lighting to the next level, but also intuitiveness in getting to the result that you want as a user — to the desired ambience," Merolla said. "The reception of the base was very good in terms of adoption. This is an exclusive currently with the Bridge Pro, but the reception of the Bridge Pro was extremely good in terms of adoption, and that’s not surprising, because, as we said, ambience creation is key in smart lighting."

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SpatialAware has been a success, but Merolla says the brand has now turned its focus to the custom AI automations demonstrated in Berlin.

"Really, in our perspective, [that is] the next step, because there is a lot that you could do, or may do today that is a bit limited by the system itself," he said. "By analyzing and assessing the user behavior and the consumer behavior, we create a lot of different layers with which they can create behaviors and automation.

"Clearly there is a limit right now, but with the power of large language models, that is not there anymore, so we can give them the chance and [get them] into concepts that were completely unprecedented before — and that’s part of the things that we launched yesterday. We’re super excited because the consumer experience will change dramatically in the way you can enjoy the system and create beautiful things."

Not AI for the sake of it

The Philips Hue showcase was packed with news and launches, so I asked Merolla which ones he was most excited about.

"I was super excited by three of them," he said. "Custom AI behavior is a great step because it’s not AI for the sake of it — it’s really AI at the service of the consumer experience. Not in the sense of wanting to enter into people’s lives or be intrusive, but in the sense of giving them a chance to unlock possibilities in a very intuitive way. Custom AI from this perspective is an amazing, lovely direction.

"The second key one that’s quite close to my heart is the entertainment area," he said. "You know that over the years we have worked a lot on making the lighting experience better and better, stronger and stronger. Here, the effort we made was really to make it more accessible."

The Philips Hue Play Screen Sync allows users to synchronize lights with their TV, even if they don't have an HDMI setup (Image credit: Signify)

Merolla explained that accessibility isn't just about price, although that is something Philips Hue has addressed with the Sync Box 4K — a more affordable alternative to the Philips Hue Play Sync Box 8K that launched in September 2024. Accessibility, he said, is also about compatibility, which is why Philips Hue has launched Screen Sync — an alternative to the Sync Box that uses a camera rather than HDMI input, so you can synchronize your Hue lights with your TV screen regardless of the source.

"In the area of accessibility, there is also the Bridgeless idea," he added, referring to the ability to use the Sync Box 8K, 4K and Screen Sync without buying an additional Philips Hue Bridge Zigbee hub. "You can have just one strip light in a Bridgeless configuration. And this is again because we believe that everyone should watch TV or watch video with at least one light connected to amplify the experience, and we don’t want to limit the user who, in that specific moment, only wants that kind of benefit [without] having to necessarily join the full ecosystem."

The new Philips Hue Signe pole light is one of Merolla's favorite new launchesSignifyThe Liane 360-degree rope light is another favoriteSignify

The final items on Merolla's list of exciting launches are the new Liane 360-degree rope and Signe pole lights.

"These are beautiful design objects — really beautiful design objects," he said. "We did not invent the archetype in the design world — that archetype is something that already exists, but of course we can create the mix between a beautiful design object and an amazing light structure. These two things very often don’t go together. Sometimes products that have a super cool design light effect, like gradient scenes and so on, are not necessarily associated with the most beautiful design from an object perspective.

"And as a direction for the brand in the future, I firmly believe that we need to put this world together — that the design of the external object and the light effect, the things that you can do with that, really need to merge. And I think Liane and the new Signe product are a strong step in this direction."

It will definitely be interesting to see how those two aspects join together in the future, and whether AI functionality begins to affect the design of Philips Hue lights, now that LLMs can remove the barrier to complex automations. I'm definitely looking forward to next year's showcase.

• Around three in four UK medical practices use Docsign to share important letters
• Docmail has been down for five days due to a server issue
• Services can be resumed once the investigation completes

Docmail, a cloud-based mail service used by high-profile businesses and public-sector organizations, including some NHS trusts, continues to suffer a major outage after first being hit on September 2 2026.

The platform works by customers uploading their communications digitally, with Docmail handling printing and postage to recipients.

Parent company CFH says more than 75% of UK medical practices use its services for bulk and individual patient mail, spanning GPs, dentists, pharmacies, opticians and other private-sector firms.

Docmail is still down

Now on its fifth day of interruptions, it means healthcare appointment letters, council correspondence and other important mail could be missed or delayed.

Docmail said customers were experiencing "slower than usual processing times" on September 2 before taking the service offline for "essential maintenance."

On September 4, the company told The Register: "We have been made aware of an issue impacting an isolated server, used by only one client." In other words, CFH purposely shut down the wider platform to investigate this incident, however the finer details of what went wrong are under wraps.

"This process does take time, and we are acting on the advice of external consultants to ensure we are taking the right precautions," a company spokesperson added.

According to CFH, Docmail itself is ready to be restored and made available, but external reviewers are still conducting the investigation.

The company's status page has not been updated since September 4 at the time of writing – at that time, it labelled the outage as an "unresolved incident."

"Work remains ongoing as a priority, and we will provide a further update as soon as we have more information to share," the company added.

• Nvidia pays $11.9 billion for Hugging Face, and a further $1 billion in equity-based retention
• The company promises to keep Hugging Face "an open platform for the entire AI ecosystem"
• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has publicly supported open weight models

Nvidia has confirmed plans to acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 billion subject to regulatory approval, marking a major expansion for the chipmaker as it snaps up one of the most important AI model distribution platforms.

In a post, the company asserted it plans to keep Hugging Face as it is: "Hugging Face will remain an open platform for the entire AI ecosystem," CEO Jensen Huang wrote.

Huang explained Nvidia's "infrastructure, engineering and global reach" will help improve Hugging Face's "reliability, safety, model evaluation, inference and deployment capabilities."

Nvidia confirms Hugging Face acquisition

The platform currently counts more than 18 million developers, researchers and creators as users, with more than three million models shared on it.

"Hugging Face will continue to support open source and open weight models from across the ecosystem, from every model builder," Huang stressed again, noting his public backing for open weight models. Ordinarily in an acquisition, questions would be raised over whether, in this instance, Nvidia's own GPUs and software could receive preferential treatment, but the company is doing everything it can to assure us that won't be the case. A pending regulatory investigation will also ascertain this.

Nvidia also claims to be the biggest contributor to Hugging Face, having shared more than 500+ models and around half as many open datasets.

The news comes less than two weeks after reports started to circulate about a potential acquisition, and if it closes, it'll be Nvidia's biggest acquisition to date. The $12.9 billion payout comprises a Hugging Face valuation of $11.9 billion (way above its earlier $4.5 billion valuation in 2023) and an equity-based retention program of around $1 billion.

As for upcoming regulatory interjection, Nvidia warned in a SEC filing that "Government restrictions may negatively impact our business and the Hugging Face platform."

• Creative Assembly developed Total War: Warhammer 40,000's controller support alongside the game's battle system
• Battle product owner Dave Petry says the team "landed something that really does work"
• Petry adds that he doesn't believe the "myth" that controllers can't work with real-time strategy (RTS) games

Creative Assembly developed Total War: Warhammer 40,000's battle system and controller support simultaneously, with battle product owner Dave Petry believing real-time strategy (RTS) games can work with a gamepad.

"So, we have a very clear mindset on, or a distinction between platform and controller, right?" said battle product owner Dave Petry in an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom 2026.

"Because yes, obviously, controllers are your primary method for using consoles, but it's just an input method. It's an accessibility tool, right? It's how you want to play or how you would like to play, and so we've always wanted to be able to bring that experience to people who want to use a gamepad."

He continued, explaining that from the start, Creative Assembly developed the controller support alongside the game's battle system and campaign "to try and get it to the right spot" and believes the team has "landed something that really does work."

Petry referenced the internal experience developing Halo Wars 2, which he said was a "really strong implementation of controller and RTS," and that the industry is creating more and more strategy games that get controller support, and that these studios are doing "a brilliant job of it."

There's also a "myth" surrounding controller support and RTS and strategy games that don't work together, Petry added, but doesn't believe it.

"I think we are learning that we can do this right, and yeah, it's definitely something that we're all keen to keep evolving as we ship and work on it [Total War: Warhammer 40,000]," he said. "I think we've landed in a really solid spot. I think we're quite proud of where we are when it comes to the technical side of things as well."

Petry acknowledged the challenges that come with this technical aspect, but it's something Creative Assembly is "fully committed to doing" to "get us to a point where we are performing in the state we need to for console."

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 arrives in 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.

We saw a lot of incredible technology at IFA Berlin 2026, be that cutting-edge headphones, futuristic robot vacuums, or game-changing AIoT systems. But one area that arguably went under the radar, but impressed me an lot, was new charging technology.

I saw some incredible gadgets that could change the way that I, and many of you, juice up our phones, tablets, and laptops, so I thought I’d round up some of the most amazing technology I saw at IFA this year.

I’ll run through three of my favorite innovations (alongside a bonus entry), and reveal my favorite chargers, why they impressed me, and all the details you need to know about them. Here's some of the most exciting charging tech coming down the (power) line…

1. UGreen’s liquid cooling wireless chargersFutureFutureFutureFuture

It only seems right to kick things off with the most exciting new products of them all: UGreen’s new liquid cooling wireless chargers.

UGreen’s MagFlow lineup — which consists of a magnetic power bank, 3-in-1 wireless charging stand, and a 2-in-1 foldable model — could be a genuine game changer. Why? Well the a key issue for high-speed wireless chargers is heat, and I’ve seen it myself when testing. You can be juicing up your phone at great pace, but past a certain point, the build-up of heat can trigger throttling, which slows speeds in the interest of safety.

But UGreen’s new model combat this with active cooling, as well as passive heat-dissipation and “intelligent temperature regulation,” enabling improved performance.

I had the chance to see all of the new Qi2 25W chargers, but my favorite was the MagFlow Pro Magnetic Power Bank, which UGreen claims is the first power bank to include micro-pump liquid cooling. It has a transparent window, enabling you to view coolant circulation in real time, and according to UGreen, its peak temperature during testing was 18F / 10C lower than the 118F / 48C “industry reference”.

2. Belkin’s slim semi-solid-state power banksTechRadarTechRadarTechRadar

Another titan of the charging world, Belkin, had a few new drops to show me too. And the most interesting were its new semi-solid-state power banks, which impressed me for two key reasons.

The first, and perhaps most obvious, is the fact that they make use of semi-solid-state batteries rather than the more typical lithium-ion alternative. Semi-solid-state batteries are denser than lithium-ion ones, enabling them to offer higher maximum capacity in an even slimmer form, and they also degrade at a slower rate.

The other thing that impressed me was the build quality of the two power banks. They both look and feel excellent, with a sleek Black or Sand finish available, and their phenomenally slim construction makes them highly practical for using your phone while charging.

There are two models available: the Belkin UltraCharge Pro Slim Magnetic Power Bank, a 15W wireless power bank with a 5,000mAh capacity that’s just 8.8mm thick (which is about the same length and width as a standard credit card); and the Belkin 10,000mAh UltraCharge Pro, which offers a 60W maximum power output, dual USB-C ports for juicing up multiple devices at once, and a display for viewing charging and temperature information.

3. ESR’s dual-retractable cable chargersFutureFuture

I personally use a bunch of chargers with retractable cables — the convenience is unmatched. And so, ESR has a new set of products that truly calls to me in its Xtend chargers.

The 100W version of the Xtend wall charger comes with not one, but two built-in cables which can fully retract. This means it's incredibly easy to charge two devices at once, be that a phone and a laptop, or a tablet and some wireless headphones. The built-in cables are also able to extend up to 95cm (3.1ft), which is considerably further than some models I’ve tested.

A second model, the ESR Xtend 45W has just one built-in cable, but it’s more compact, and has an additional USB-C outlet if you want to charge two devices simultaneously.

Bonus: UGreen’s cat chargersFutureFutureFuture

Okay, these might not be the most advanced chargers I saw at IFA, but UGreen’s new cat chargers really caught my eye.

They look a bit like cats wearing a hoodie, and even come with detachable feet if you want to avoid damaging the charger when it's in a bag, or scraping yourself when carrying it in a pocket. They have a pleasant rubbery feel, a compact build, and offer charging speeds up to 45W from their USB-C port. A purr-fect option for feline fans.

• Part of Flock's software interface has been made public
• There are various AI-powered search tools available to police officers
• The system includes warnings about potential mistakes

Flock is battling a growing backlash against its network of license plate readers and cameras — with some 120,000 or so installed across the US — amid questions over how the technology can be misused and the privacy implications for citizens.

Now reporters at Wired have managed to reverse engineer part of the Flock software interface based on the code that's delivered to police officers in a browser, giving the public an unprecedented insight into how this system actually works.

There are search tools for vehicle types, colors, and features for example, and a 'free form' query option that can look for pretty much anything passing through the video frame — although this needs a full video camera, not a license plate reader.

Wired also found an "AI-powered watch list" tool, where part of a city can be marked for continuous surveillance via video camera until a person fitting a specific description is spotted. This could be something as simple as "person wearing scrubs" for example.

'You are responsible'

There are hundreds of thousands of license plate readers across the US (Image credit: Getty Images)

While there are warnings on the Flock software that AI can make mistakes, much as there are at the bottom of Gemini and ChatGPT conversations, there's no real way of spotting inaccurate information or judging how inaccurate it might be.

Officers do have the option rank search results based on how relevant and accurate they are, feedback data which is then used to refine the results page further. Meanwhile, there are blocks on some search terms, including those related to race, ethnicity, and religion.

"You are responsible for your searches and agree not to use the tool in illegal, harmful, or abusive ways," runs the agreement screen that appears before the Flock software is accessed. "All queries and metadata are recorded for security and auditing purposes."

Flock has been responding to concerns over the misuse of its network — by limiting the time data is held on file for, for example. However, it has more to do to convince both state authorities and the public that its systems are only deployed for legitimate uses.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 shortlisted entries were announced last week, and one contender in particular caught the eye — a photo of a swift in flight as an aeroplane looms overhead, shot by 16-year-old photographer Jack Crockford, from the UK.

'Great shot!' chimed a few people in the 500 or so comments on TechRadar's Facebook post, which also received almost 25k reactions. The majority of the comments, however, focused on the camera gear element of the headline (not the photo itself or the age of the photographer), which pinpointed that the photo was captured with a 10-year-old Nikon DSLR.

In case you were wondering, the camera in question is the enthusiast-level Nikon D500 (APS-C), and Crockford paired it with the Nikon AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR telephoto zoom lens to get the shot.

Cue the age old photography debate I've read time and again in my 15+ years writing about camera gear — is it the gear, or the photographer, that gets a great photo?

The correct answer, of course, is that there's no simple, single answer — it depends on the context and subject being photographed — and that the end result is the work of both tool and creator. For Crockford, however, gear certainly empowered him to get his WPOTY award contender.

I recently got into bird photography, and had the chance to use Sony's longest lens, the FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS telephoto zoom, which made the task so much simpler. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Sometimes, gear really does matter

I'm all for celebrating the photographer, and rightly so. The craft and dedication (and, sometimes, a dash of fortune) required to create an image that stands out is undeniable, and deserves appreciation.

I see it in myself — I have a better eye for a photo now than I did at the start of my career, and I'm still improving (emphasis on having an eye for it to begin with).

But to those that simply said in the comments section; "it’s not about the camera", or "photography was never about the equipment", and “it’s the singer, not the song", I say you'll need more than luck to get a photo like the image in question — a distant bird in flight.

Skill alone doesn't reach 600mm, a lens does. Nor is your iPhone bagging you that shot. You need telephoto reach, and decent autofocus helps.

Technically speaking, enthusiast-level and pro-level mirrorless cameras are the most advanced cameras today for wildlife photography, thanks to dedicated subject tracking modes (which, in many models, includes bird detection autofocus), and faster-than-ever burst shooting. You are more likely to get a technically sound image with modern camera gear.

Many of the comments defended DSLRs, but the point of the article was never to attack the format, which in the current market has essentially been replaced by mirrorless, but to highlight how popular (and capable) these systems are still.

DSLRs are still seemingly the camera of choice for wildlife photographers — if the shortlisted entries for WPOTY 2026 are anything to go by. I still rock my Nikon D800 which precedes Crockford's camera, and its age doesn't stop if from taking good photos.

You don't need the latest gear to get the (wildlife) shot, but it does help. But for the incredible shortlisted entries in WPOTY 2026, it took skill and gear to get the shot. There is a gear bottom line required to stand a chance.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 winners will be unveiled in October, and you can see the winning images in the flesh when the exhibition begins in October at London's Natural History Museum, UK — you can grab tickets here.

If you're looking for a new appliance this Labor Day, head to Samsung's Labor Day sale. The retailer is offering up to $1,500 in savings on its best-selling, top-rated appliances, including refrigerators, washers and dryers, dishwashers, ranges, and microwaves.

• Shop Samsung's full Labor Day sale

Samsung is a top appliance manufacturer known for its high-tech products, including the stylish Bespoke refrigerator, which lets you customize the panels to match your home. Another popular Samsung appliance included in its Labor Day sale is the Bespoke AI Laundry combo, which washes and dries clothes in one machine, saving space and eliminating the need to transfer clothes.

You'll find the full list of Samsung's best Labor Day appliance deals below, and keep in mind these are limited-time offers. The tech giant is also offering more savings when you buy more than one qualifying home product.

Samsung's Labor Day appliance sale – quick links

• Dishwashers: save $400 on select dishwashers
• Kitchen appliances: $1,500 off kitchen appliance bundles
• Microwaves: deals starting at $229
• Ranges: up to $800 off select ranges
• Refrigerators: $1,500 off Bespoke refrigerators
• Washers & dryers: save up to $1,100 on washers & dryers

Samsung's 5 best Labor Day appliance deals

Refrigerators: up to $1,700 off at Samsung
The Samsung Labor sale is now live and some of the brand's best savings can be found on its wide selection of refrigerators. Shoppers can enjoy discounts of up to $1,700 on popular models, including French-door styles, Bespoke designs, and fridge-freezer combos. Whether you're upgrading your kitchen or replacing an old appliance, now is a great time to consider something new.View Deal

Dishwashers: up to $400 off at Samsung
The Samsung Labor Day sale also includes dishwashers this week with discounts of up to $400. Multiple styles, colors, and finishes are on sale today, so you'll have plenty of options to match your kitchen. Features include whisper-quiet operation and smart home integration, like auto-door operation. View Deal

Ranges: up to $1,350 off at Samsung
Next up are the brand's ranges, which include gas, electric, and induction models in both freestanding and slide-in designs. Whether you're a casual cook or a kitchen pro, a model suits your style, with premium features like ambient edge lighting, internal cameras to monitor your meals, and seamless smart home integration. View Deal

Washers and dryers: up to $1,100 off at Samsung
Samsung’s Labor Day sale is also delivering big savings on washers and dryers, with discounts available on a wide range of models. Whether you’re looking for front-load, top-load, or space-saving all-in-one units, now is the perfect time to upgrade your laundry setup, since you can save up to $1,100. View Deal

Microwaves: deals from $229 at Samsung.
If you're looking for a high-end microwave that also matches your kitchen decor, Samsung's Bespoke over-the-range microwave range starts at $379, thanks to Samsung's Labor Day sale. You can also save on Samsung's standard microwaves, with prices starting at $229.View Deal

Shop more of today's best Labor Day sales

• Amazon: 45% off TVs, AirPods, air fryers & vacuums
• Apple: iPads, AirPods & MacBooks from $99
• Appliances: up to $1,200 at Samsung
• Best Buy: 60% off appliances, TVs, laptops & more
• Casper: up to 30% off mattresses
• Dell: laptop deals from $249.99
• DreamCloud: up to 60% off mattresses, 66% off bundles
• Home Depot: 40% off appliances, furniture, grills & tools
• Lowe's: $1,000 off appliances, patio & tools
• Nectar: up to 50% off mattresses, deals from $349
• Saatva: up to $625 off luxury mattresses
• Samsung: up to $2,000 off 4K, QLED & OLED TVs
• Target: 45% off clothing, tech & furniture
• Walmart: 58% off back-to-school, furniture, & clothing

If you're looking for a new appliance this Labor Day, head to Samsung's Labor Day sale. The retailer is offering up to $1,500 in savings on its best-selling, top-rated appliances, including refrigerators, washers and dryers, dishwashers, ranges, and microwaves.

• Shop Samsung's full Labor Day sale

Samsung is a top appliance manufacturer known for its high-tech products, including the stylish Bespoke refrigerator, which lets you customize the panels to match your home. Another popular Samsung appliance included in its Labor Day sale is the Bespoke AI Laundry combo, which washes and dries clothes in one machine, saving space and eliminating the need to transfer clothes.

You'll find the full list of Samsung's best Labor Day appliance deals below, and keep in mind these are limited-time offers. The tech giant is also offering more savings when you buy more than one qualifying home product.

Samsung's Labor Day appliance sale – quick links

• Dishwashers: save $400 on select dishwashers
• Kitchen appliances: $1,500 off kitchen appliance bundles
• Microwaves: deals starting at $229
• Ranges: up to $800 off select ranges
• Refrigerators: $1,500 off Bespoke refrigerators
• Washers & dryers: save up to $1,100 on washers & dryers

Samsung's 5 best Labor Day appliance deals

Refrigerators: up to $1,700 off at Samsung
The Samsung Labor sale is now live and some of the brand's best savings can be found on its wide selection of refrigerators. Shoppers can enjoy discounts of up to $1,700 on popular models, including French-door styles, Bespoke designs, and fridge-freezer combos. Whether you're upgrading your kitchen or replacing an old appliance, now is a great time to consider something new.View Deal

Dishwashers: up to $400 off at Samsung
The Samsung Labor Day sale also includes dishwashers this week with discounts of up to $400. Multiple styles, colors, and finishes are on sale today, so you'll have plenty of options to match your kitchen. Features include whisper-quiet operation and smart home integration, like auto-door operation. View Deal

Ranges: up to $1,350 off at Samsung
Next up are the brand's ranges, which include gas, electric, and induction models in both freestanding and slide-in designs. Whether you're a casual cook or a kitchen pro, a model suits your style, with premium features like ambient edge lighting, internal cameras to monitor your meals, and seamless smart home integration. View Deal

Washers and dryers: up to $1,100 off at Samsung
Samsung’s Labor Day sale is also delivering big savings on washers and dryers, with discounts available on a wide range of models. Whether you’re looking for front-load, top-load, or space-saving all-in-one units, now is the perfect time to upgrade your laundry setup, since you can save up to $1,100. View Deal

Microwaves: deals from $229 at Samsung.
If you're looking for a high-end microwave that also matches your kitchen decor, Samsung's Bespoke over-the-range microwave range starts at $379, thanks to Samsung's Labor Day sale. You can also save on Samsung's standard microwaves, with prices starting at $229.View Deal

Shop more of today's best Labor Day sales

• Amazon: 45% off TVs, AirPods, air fryers & vacuums
• Apple: iPads, AirPods & MacBooks from $99
• Appliances: up to $1,200 at Samsung
• Best Buy: 60% off appliances, TVs, laptops & more
• Casper: up to 30% off mattresses
• Dell: laptop deals from $249.99
• DreamCloud: up to 60% off mattresses, 66% off bundles
• Home Depot: 40% off appliances, furniture, grills & tools
• Lowe's: $1,000 off appliances, patio & tools
• Nectar: up to 50% off mattresses, deals from $349
• Saatva: up to $625 off luxury mattresses
• Samsung: up to $2,000 off 4K, QLED & OLED TVs
• Target: 45% off clothing, tech & furniture
• Walmart: 58% off back-to-school, furniture, & clothing

The next generation of iPhones might be imminent, but those who prefer Android don't have to wait if they're on the hunt for a decent upgrade. Right now, the official Samsung Store has some of the best deals of the entire year on the new Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy S26 series.

With what I assume are limited-time-only Labor Day specials, the official Samsung Store is currently offering up to $800 off with a trade-in, or up to $300 off upfront across a range of devices.

We've seen bigger trade-in rebates before, but the upfront discounts here are really, really great. For example, the $300 upfront discount on the brand-new Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is $100 better than the one that was initially offered in the pre-order phase last month. The $300 discount on the Galaxy S26 Ultra is equally compelling, matching the lowest upfront price I've ever seen on the device.

Both of these deals are available on unlocked devices, meaning you can still get your discount without having to sign up for any long-term plans. They're also available across a range of storage sizes, alongside a few other additional bundle options, should you want to get some additional cheap accessories like a smartwatch or a pair of earbuds.

Record-low phone discounts at Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 / Fold 8 / Fold 8 Ultra: up to $800 off with a trade-in or $300 off without
Samsung's offer on its new Flip and Fold range include trade-in rebates of up to $800 for the Fold 8 and up to $400 for the Flip 8. Don't have a phone to hand over? You can get a flat $300 in Samsung credit when buying the Fold 8 Ultra, $200 on the Fold 8, or $150 with the Flip 8. There are also bundle discounts of up to 15% when buying other accessories, if you're looking for a new smartwatch or a pair of decent earbuds. View Deal

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: $300 off upfront, or up to $720 off with a trade-in at Samsung
The outstanding Galaxy S26 Ultra currently has a fantastic promotion at the official Samsung store - with either the option for a trade rebate or upfront discount. Available across all storage variants and colors, this deal can get you a device for as little as $1,049 upfront. Trade-in rebates of up to $720 are also available, but we've seen slightly better offerings in the past for trades.View Deal

• See more: check out all of today's deals at Samsung

The next generation of iPhones might be imminent, but those who prefer Android don't have to wait if they're on the hunt for a decent upgrade. Right now, the official Samsung Store has some of the best deals of the entire year on the new Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy S26 series.

With what I assume are limited-time-only Labor Day specials, the official Samsung Store is currently offering up to $800 off with a trade-in, or up to $300 off upfront across a range of devices.

We've seen bigger trade-in rebates before, but the upfront discounts here are really, really great. For example, the $300 upfront discount on the brand-new Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is $100 better than the one that was initially offered in the pre-order phase last month. The $300 discount on the Galaxy S26 Ultra is equally compelling, matching the lowest upfront price I've ever seen on the device.

Both of these deals are available on unlocked devices, meaning you can still get your discount without having to sign up for any long-term plans. They're also available across a range of storage sizes, alongside a few other additional bundle options, should you want to get some additional cheap accessories like a smartwatch or a pair of earbuds.

Record-low phone discounts at Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 / Fold 8 / Fold 8 Ultra: up to $800 off with a trade-in or $300 off without
Samsung's offer on its new Flip and Fold range include trade-in rebates of up to $800 for the Fold 8 and up to $400 for the Flip 8. Don't have a phone to hand over? You can get a flat $300 in Samsung credit when buying the Fold 8 Ultra, $200 on the Fold 8, or $150 with the Flip 8. There are also bundle discounts of up to 15% when buying other accessories, if you're looking for a new smartwatch or a pair of decent earbuds. View Deal

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: $300 off upfront, or up to $720 off with a trade-in at Samsung
The outstanding Galaxy S26 Ultra currently has a fantastic promotion at the official Samsung store - with either the option for a trade rebate or upfront discount. Available across all storage variants and colors, this deal can get you a device for as little as $1,049 upfront. Trade-in rebates of up to $720 are also available, but we've seen slightly better offerings in the past for trades.View Deal

• See more: check out all of today's deals at Samsung

Gaming on the go has reached fresh heights over the years, with slim laptops and compact handhelds delivering great performance. AMD and Intel have spearheaded the charge with their mobile processors, but a new player is in town.

Nvidia revealed its RTX Spark at Computex in May, an ARM-based superchip designed for Windows on ARM laptops, with AI capabilities and obvious strong suits for creators – but also gamers, too, with a powerful integrated RTX GPU. It's designed for slim laptops and compact PCs, keeping workspaces less cluttered and making creation alongside gaming much easier when travelling.

I was lucky enough to go hands-on with an RTX Spark laptop at Gamescom 2026, specifically the HP OmniBook Ultra 16, which was running Borderlands 4. Gearbox Interactive's latest entry in the franchise was notorious for its rough performance at launch.

It has significantly improved since then, and the OmniBook Ultra 16 was running the game at an incredible frame rate, one I could tell was above 60 frames per second, with the help of Nvidia's Frame Generation x2.

The mention of Frame Generation may throw some off; after all, it's been frowned upon for a long time with the 'fake frames' nickname (a criticism I disagree with). However, the input delay and overall latency weren't an issue for me on this RTX Spark system.

(Image credit: Future)

I didn't get the chance to put the system through its paces other than playing that particular game, but it's worth noting that the other RTX Spark laptops at Nvidia's booth were running games like 007 First Light and Arc Raiders, both of which ran at smooth, solid frame rates.

If it wasn't clear already, I think RTX Spark is great for laptops and compact PCs, and my only concern is the price. I'm hoping for something that isn't too expensive, but that's probably wishful thinking due to the nature of these devices and the ongoing RAM crisis. However, it would be a shame if RTX Spark laptops don't blossom as a result of memory shortages.

Handheld manufacturers could use RTX Spark

(Image credit: Siberian Art / Shutterstock)

Speaking with Nvidia's staff at Gamescom, I asked if the RTX Spark was intended to be used with handheld gaming PCs, and it was made clear that Team Green is completely open to any handheld manufacturer reaching out to use the superchip.

Handheld territory isn't exactly foreign to Nvidia either. The Nintendo Switch 2 uses the Tegra T239 processor, with access to DLSS across multiple games — and the upscaling technology does wonders for image quality and performance.

While AMD and Intel's processors continue to provide fantastic performance on most handheld gaming PCs, especially with Intel's new G3 Extreme CPU, I told Nvidia that DLSS on something like a Legion Go or MSI Claw would be untouchable.

Of course, performance has to be balanced with battery life and power usage, as well as pricing, and I'm very aware that this could be a tricky equation to deal with.

If the RTX Spark (or any similar chip in Nvidia's plans going forward) could be the engine of a handheld gaming PC, using more aggressive upscaling wouldn't be something to avoid in terms of any easy win to boost performance. DLSS Super Resolution is great at maintaining sharp image quality, and it would work even better on the smaller screen of a handheld.

Will this ever happen, though? That's down to the manufacturers of these devices.