From automating in industry and manufacturing to space-tech, Irish robotics start-ups making a name for themselves.

Robotics can automate, make warehouses cheaper to run and safer to work in. Whether it’s a long arm helping in the production line, a tiny machine designed to work up in space, or a more “robot-looking” machine helping people in their day-to-day life, Ireland has a growing number of start-ups innovating in this space.

And in honour of automation, AI and robotics – our focus for this month – SiliconRepublic.com has put together a list of Irish robotics start-up making a name for themselves.

Akara

This 2020-founded Trinity College Dublin spin-out made it to Time Magazine’s best inventions list not once – but twice.

In 2019, the health-tech’s robot Stevie shot to fame as a Time Magazine cover star (while also making it to the best inventions list that year). While last year, the company’s AI sensor graced that list under the medical and healthcare category.

Based out of Dublin 8’s Digital Hub, Akara uses AI and robots to assist in monitoring and disinfecting critical areas such as hospital operating theatres. The start-up won the Irish leg of the 2025 KPMG Global Tech Innovator competition.

Eiratech

This Dublin-based start-up develops a “complete goods-to-person robotics automation platform” across e-fulfilment, materials handling, kitting and retail. The company offers automated guided vehicle robots, picking stations and shuttle racks in a “user-friendly” system.

Eiratech was founded in 2014 by CEO Alexey Tabolkin. The company opened its first UK office in 2021.

Eiratech says it delivers a range of services, from concept design to project installation and management. It also claims to not outsource any core services, including electrical and mechanical engineering, safety certification, software development, operational, maintenance and post-sales customer support.

Fabtech Robotics

Co Monaghan-based Fabtech Robotics provides robotic solutions to the manufacturing industry across applications including welding, coating, blasting and material preparation.

Incorporating robots into manufacturing provides faster and consistent results, an increase in production, a safer work environment and better product quality, Fabtech argues.

Founded in 2018, Fabtech was previously known as DesignPro Robotics.

Forge Robotics

Galway-based AI robotics start-up Forge Robotics was picked up by Y Combinator in last September, joining a long list of Irish start-ups that have been backed by the accelerator, such as Luminate Medical, Protex AI and Solidroad.

Forge Robotics, founded by CEO Eoin Cobbe and chief technology officer Robert Cormican, is building an AI-powered intelligence layer to improve the welding capabilities of industrial robots. Its system allows robots to scan a part, interpret its geometry and execute welds even when the set-up is imperfect.

Despite just being inducted into the accelerator, the start-up had already incorporated a US entity and is on track to launch their first product in July this year. They received $500,000 in pre-seed funding as part of acceptance into the San Francisco-based programme.

HomeBot Ireland

HomeBot Ireland is a 2024-founded start-up from Cork that makes robotic vacuums, mops and lawnmowers.

The businesses was founded by Clara Mulligan and her husband Alan. HomeBot Ireland’s main mission, Mulligan says, is to make machines that are “really simple to use, with excellent customer service”.

The flagship product in the company’s growing range is the AI-enabled robot mower, Buddy, which is a wireless robot equipped with cameras and sensors. Buddy is programmed to recognise anything that isn’t grass, such as flower beds, paths and water.

Icarus

Space-tech start-up Icarus was co-founded by Co Tyrone-born Jamie Palmer. The New York-headquartered start-up raised $6.1m in a seed round last September led by Soma Capital and Xtal, with participation from Nebular and Massive Tech Ventures.

The start-up wants to create an intelligent robot force that take over the time-consuming and menial tasks. Icarus isn’t aiming for a humanoid model, rather, a fan-propelled robot with arms fitted with grippers.

The less than two-years-old start-up’s first robot will unpack and stow cargo, the founders told TechCrunch last year.

Nitrexo

Cork-based space-tech Nitrexo specialises in delivering cost-effective solutions for thermal and analytical problems.

Founded in 2019, Nitrexo has already completed seven projects with customers engaged in manufacturing satellites and launchers, spacecraft and other instruments.

In 2021, Nitrexo launched a Europe-wide product called ‘Digital Engineer’, backed by the European Space Agency (ESA). Digital Engineer is an AI robot designed for distributed learning and working environments. The project won €500,000 in support from the ESA in space-based funding to bridge the gap between engineering education and industry.

Volta Robotics

Also a Cork start-up, the 2023-founded Volta Robotics provides technology that helps reuse battery packs to prolong their life cycle. This start-up is working on technology to extract battery cells from EV batteries, in order to repackage them into residential or utility energy storage.

Founder Elvis Seporaitis participated in the 2023 New Frontiers programme hosted by Munster Technological University, where he was awarded for his business idea.

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OPPO has officially announced that the Find X9s is coming to India. This is an addition to the Find X9 and the X9 Pro. Although the Chinese smartphone maker has not announced a launch timeline yet, industry reports suggest that the device could debut in China in the second quarter of 2026. The device is expected to reach India and other regions after its China debut.

Design and Processor

Rumors and leaks are whispering about a 6.3-inch OLED LTPS display with an approximate 1.5 K resolution. The smartphone is also rumored to feature an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner and IP68 and IP69 certifications for dust and water resistance.

OPPO has officially revealed that the Find X9s will use the MediaTek Dimensity 9500 SoC. The chipset arrived recently with performance-focused upgrades. It is expected to boost overall performance while reducing power consumption. This makes the phone suitable for demanding apps and gaming.

Battery and Camera

According to leaks, the OPPO Find X9s is expected to feature a massive 7,000 mAh battery. It is also expected to support wireless charging, which is quite an exciting feature.

On the camera front, the Find X9s is rumoured to feature a triple-rear-camera setup. The phone may include a 200MP primary camera, a 200MP periscope telephoto lens, and a 50MP ultra-wide sensor. Some leaks also mention a multispectral lens.

Availability

OPPO has so far only confirmed the launch of the Find X9s in India. Alongside, the device is expected to launch in multiple regions, including Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia. OPPO is yet to confirm the global timeline.

For decades, VPI Industries owned the record-cleaning conversation. The HW-16.5 was the default answer: brutally effective, industrial-strength, and loud enough to wake the neighbors. Then the vinyl revival (and the pandemic) hit and VPI raised the price from roughly $650 to $1,200. That single move cracked the door wide open. Opportunity rushed in. Brands like Pro-Ject, Record Doctor, Humminguru, and Okki Nokki didn’t just notice—they pounced. VPI still brings unmatched suction power and a tank-like motor, but it also brings noise and a price tag that now invites competition. Enter the Okki Nokki ONE: quieter, re-engineered from the ground up, and priced at $749; clear evidence that VPI’s long-standing dominance created the very opening now being exploited. The market shifted. This is what happens when you leave money on the table.

Okki Nokki ONE Record Cleaning Machine

Okki Nokki is back in full production and for the first time in many years, its record cleaning machines are once again being manufactured in the Netherlands. After a difficult stretch defined by supply-chain disruptions and uneven overseas production, manufacturing has returned to Europe with a renewed emphasis on build quality, long-term reliability, and hands-on craftsmanship.

Following the passing of founder Johan Bezem, his daughter Sanne Bezem stepped in to carry forward the company he built more than 30 years ago. With clear respect for her father’s vision and a pragmatic eye on what the brand needs to survive and grow, Sanne has taken Okki Nokki back to its roots: tighter control over engineering and manufacturing, direct involvement in product development, and a renewed commitment to doing things the right way rather than the fast way.

Okki Nokki isn’t simply back on its feet. It’s operational again, evolving by design, and now firmly in dedicated hands for the long road ahead.

Vana Ltd, a specialty distributor supplying the North American market with carefully selected audio components from international manufacturers, is now delivering the Okki Nokki ONE record cleaning machine, the successor to the long-standing MK II.

“The ONE is an example of Okki Nokki’s commitment to overseeing every step of the design and manufacturing process,” said Roy Feldstein, Chief Technology Officer of Vana Ltd and exclusive North American importer of Okki Nokki. “Instead of simply offering a next-generation update to a consumer favorite, Okki Nokki’s engineers started with a clean slate, ultimately creating a solid, consistently dependable cleaning machine that will perform to spec, year after year.”

The Okki Nokki ONE is engineered around simplicity, durability, and genuinely low-noise operation, positioning it among the quietest record cleaning machines in its class. Day-to-day use is intentionally straightforward, with all functions controlled by a single knob for fast, intuitive operation. At the core of the design is a molded high-grade ABS unibody chassis, the first of its kind in a record cleaning machine—which reduces the number of internal components and integrates the fluid reservoir directly into the structure.

This approach is intended to improve long-term reliability while eliminating common failure points found in older designs. A newly engineered air and fluid suction path, inspired by high-end vacuum technology, further contributes to quieter operation and helps prevent leaks.

The ONE also removes much of the friction from the cleaning process itself. A configurable universal vacuum arm supports 7-inch, 10-inch, and 12-inch records without requiring arm changes, while a stainless steel record clamp fully protects the label during cleaning.

Okki Nokki includes both full-size and label-only platters to minimize the risk of transferring debris when cleaning both sides of a record. A dust cover is included as standard, along with a bottle of Okki Nokki cleaning fluid concentrate and a goat-hair brush, making the ONE a complete, ready-to-use solution right out of the box.

Adds Feldstein: “Record cleaning is a necessary part of enjoying a vinyl collection, but it doesn’t have to be a chore. The Okki Nokki ONE makes it a quick and easy process—and at a much lower volume than competitive products.”

The Bottom Line

The real news here is not just that Okki Nokki has a new machine, but that the brand has taken full control of its future again. Manufacturing is back in the Netherlands, the design has been rethought from the ground up, and the ONE is positioned squarely against long-established heavyweights in the category. Okki Nokki claims meaningfully quieter operation than traditional vacuum-based machines, and in practice the redesigned suction path and enclosed unibody construction suggest that noise reduction was a genuine engineering priority rather than a marketing bullet.

Reservoir capacity and absolute suction power have not been disclosed in hard numbers, which leaves open the question of whether it can fully match the raw vacuum force of the long-dominant New Jersey powerhouse. That said, brute force has never been the only path to effective cleaning.

At $749, the Okki Nokki ONE lands in a highly competitive sweet spot. If its quieter operation and simplified workflow deliver the deeper, more consistent cleaning promised, it becomes a compelling alternative to louder, more industrial designs that now cost considerably more. This is not aimed at casual vinyl dabblers or those content with manual cleaning. The ONE is for serious record listeners and collectors who want a deeper clean, less noise, fewer compromises, and a machine designed to live in a listening room rather than a garage.

Where to buy: $749 at Okki Nokki USA

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Welcome to 2026. It’s the year we all hoped PC hardware would finally get cheaper, so we could build new PCs without breaking the bank. Unfortunately, none of this has come true. Our beloved AI companions, like ChatGPT, have bought up most of the RAM that will be produced over the next few years, increasing prices and limiting accessibility. This means that if you were thinking about building a PC, your budget will need to increase, or you’ll need to cut corners on accessories. That’s exactly where HyperX’s Cloud Jet Dual Wireless headphones come into play. These gaming headphones cost ₹4,999 (or $50) and offer wireless connectivity via both a dongle and Bluetooth, a claimed 25 hours of battery life, and 40mm drivers.

Those are quite decent specs for not a lot of money, and that made me wonder: where has HP cut corners? To find out, I called my friends, got the Cloud Jet Wireless in for a review, and used it as my primary gaming headset, with both my phone and the Asus ROG XBOX Ally.

Design & Comfort

HyperX hasn’t tried to revolutionize headphones with the Cloud Jet Wireless. In fact, they look exactly how you’d expect them to. And I quite like it. The blue headphones add a touch of uniqueness to a somewhat black-ish, stale world, all while remaining conventional. Inside the box, you get the headphones, along with the 2.4 GHz dongle, and that’s it. These don’t fold like others, so travelling with them could be a challenge.

The left side of the headphones houses all the controls. This includes a power/pairing button, a USB-C charging port, a toggle to switch between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modes, and a physical volume adjuster. I can’t stress enough how much I love physical volume controls, as they work 100% of the time without needing to fiddle with annoying touch controls.

What HP has nailed out of the park is the comfort. The headphones are light, weighing under 300 grams. This allows them to feel natural while sitting on the head. Speaking of that, there’s a very niche elastic headband that distributes the weight perfectly, adding comfort. The mesh ear cushions are large and do a fantastic job of enveloping you in sound without clamping your ears too hard. I wore the Cloud Jet headphones for a three-hour BGMI marathon at night and never once felt uncomfortable. My ears also tend to heat up during intense battles, which can make over-the-ear headphones uncomfortable, but it wasn’t an issue here.

Sound Quality

Gamers are perhaps the most picky buyers on the market. They need the best specs at the lowest price and don’t want to compromise on anything. Well, that can’t be true for everything. Brands have to cut certain corners to achieve a lower price. However, with the Cloud Jet Wireless, sound isn’t where corners have been cut. In fact, the audio on these headphones punches way above their weight. In games like F1 2025, Forza Motorsport, and COD Modern Warfare, I noticed the sound was punchy with bass, which was necessary to feel the explosions. I could hear faint footsteps in games like Counter-Strike, which wasn’t enough to improve my trash skills, but did help me not get killed by a knife every time. Beyond that, the dialogues were clear, and the treble is decent as well.

Music listening sessions were better than many budget TWS earbuds I’ve tested, but not amazing. Songs with plenty of instruments will lack separation, but if you haven’t been testing headphones for a living like me, the difference isn’t that much.

If I had to pick one reason to buy the Cloud Jet Wireless, it would be the mic. The swivel-to-activate feature is what every single gaming headphone should adopt, simply because it’s convenient. Want to talk to your gaming buddies? Just swivel the mic down, and it’s activated. Swivel it back, and it’s disabled without needing to fiddle with the PC or game settings. Even the quality is really good. My teammates reported hearing me loud and clear, with little background noise.

Battery Life

HP claims the Cloud Wireless headphones can last 25 hours on Bluetooth 5.2 or 20 hours on 2.4 GHz mode. I found these claims to be plenty accurate. During my review period, when usage was split between a few hours of music listening at about 75% volume and gaming, I hit 23 hours. That translates to more than a week of use — more than enough for most people. Charging is handled via the USB-C port, which is a very nice feature if you don’t like carrying multiple cables, like me. The only gripe was the charging time, which, at 4 hours from empty to full, is a bit slow.

Verdict

At ₹4,999 ($50), the HyperX Cloud Jet Dual Wireless headphones are hard to beat. They serve as a great entry point for someone looking to get a dedicated pair of gaming headphones without breaking the bank. They connect with all the consoles, including PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Steam Deck, sound pretty decent, and fit snugly on your head without causing any discomfort. Combine all that with a battery life that lasts for weeks, and I’d be using them as my primary gaming headphones. If you’re in the market for such a thing, these HyperX headphones are hard to ignore.

At the end of last month, Ubisoft workers in the publisher’s native France threatened to strike in the wake of sweeping layoffs and cost-cutting measures. This week, they made good on those threats. According to GamesIndustry.biz, union members confirmed that at least 1,200 staff participated in the three-day strike, which was due to run from February 10 to February 12.

While the strike action primarily took place in France, GamesIndustry.biz was told that Ubisoft’s Milan office also took part. The union Solidaires Informatique, which represents French workers from a number of companies in the video game sector, including Blizzard and Ubisoft, had previously called for strikes to take place on January 27. Their demands included a 10 percent increase on all salaries and the implementation of a 4-day work week.

Some striking employees held up signs outside Ubisoft’s Paris headquarters, with one (pictured) wearing a Rabbids mask to hide their face. Their grievances are wide-ranging. As well as reportedly laying off hundreds of employees already in 2026, Ubisoft also introduced a mandate for its staff to return to work on site for five days a week. One employee who publicly voiced their disapproval of the new policy was reportedly fired for doing so.

Ubisoft has had a rocky start to 2026 on the software side too. The long-awaited Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake was among six games canceled by the struggling publisher last month, when it also confirmed several studio closures as part of the company’s organizational restructuring.

Update, Feb. 12 2026, 12:39PM ET: “We understand these changes, particularly those affecting work organization, are generating strong feelings,” Ubisoft wrote in a statement shared with Engadget. “Since the announcement, we have held a series of discussions and information sessions at multiple levels to help teams better understand the new organization and to give them the opportunity to share their questions and concerns.” The company added that it “remains committed to maintaining an open and constructive dialogue with employees and employee representatives.”

When an AI agent visits a website, it’s essentially a tourist who doesn’t speak the local language. Whether built on LangChain, Claude Code, or the increasingly popular OpenClaw framework, the agent is reduced to guessing which buttons to press: scraping raw HTML, firing off screenshots to multimodal models, and burning through thousands of tokens just to figure out where a search bar is.

That era may be ending. Earlier this week, the Google Chrome team launched WebMCP — Web Model Context Protocol — as an early preview in Chrome 146 Canary. WebMCP, which was developed jointly by engineers at Google and Microsoft and incubated through the W3C’s Web Machine Learning community group, is a proposed web standard that lets any website expose structured, callable tools directly to AI agents through a new browser API: navigator.modelContext.

The implications for enterprise IT are significant. Instead of building and maintaining separate back-end MCP servers in Python or Node.js to connect their web applications to AI platforms, development teams can now wrap their existing client-side JavaScript logic into agent-readable tools — without re-architecting a single page.

AI agents are expensive, fragile tourists on the web

The cost and reliability issues with current approaches to web-agent (browser agents)  interaction are well understood by anyone who has deployed them at scale. The two dominant methods — visual screen-scraping and DOM parsing — both suffer from fundamental inefficiencies that directly affect enterprise budgets.

With screenshot-based approaches, agents pass images into multimodal models (like Claude and Gemini) and hope the model can identify not only what is on the screen, but where buttons, form fields, and interactive elements are located. Each image consumes thousands of tokens and can have a long latency. With DOM-based approaches, agents ingest raw HTML and JavaScript — a foreign language full of various tags, CSS rules, and structural markup that is irrelevant to the task at hand but still consumes context window space and inference cost.

In both cases, the agent is translating between what the website was designed for (human eyes) and what the model needs (structured data about available actions). A single product search that a human completes in seconds can require dozens of sequential agent interactions — clicking filters, scrolling pages, parsing results — each one an inference call that adds latency and cost.

How WebMCP works: Two APIs, one standard

WebMCP proposes two complementary APIs that serve as a bridge between websites and AI agents.

The Declarative API handles standard actions that can be defined directly in existing HTML forms. For organizations with well-structured forms already in production, this pathway requires minimal additional work; by adding tool names and descriptions to existing form markup, developers can make those forms callable by agents. If your HTML forms are already clean and well-structured, you are probably already 80% of the way there.

The Imperative API handles more complex, dynamic interactions that require JavaScript execution. This is where developers define richer tool schemas — conceptually similar to the tool definitions sent to the OpenAI or Anthropic API endpoints, but running entirely client-side in the browser. Through the registerTool(), a website can expose functions like searchProducts(query, filters) or orderPrints(copies, page_size) with full parameter schemas and natural language descriptions.

The key insight is that a single tool call through WebMCP can replace what might have been dozens of browser-use interactions. An e-commerce site that registers a searchProducts tool lets the agent make one structured function call and receive structured JSON results, rather than having the agent click through filter dropdowns, scroll through paginated results, and screenshot each page.

The enterprise case: Cost, reliability, and the end of fragile scraping

For IT decision makers evaluating agentic AI deployments, WebMCP addresses three persistent pain points simultaneously.

Cost reduction is the most immediately quantifiable benefit. By replacing sequences of screenshot captures, multimodal inference calls, and iterative DOM parsing with single structured tool calls, organizations can expect significant reductions in token consumption. 

Reliability improves because agents are no longer guessing about page structure. When a website explicitly publishes a tool contract — “here are the functions I support, here are their parameters, here is what they return” — the agent operates with certainty rather than inference. Failed interactions due to UI changes, dynamic content loading, or ambiguous element identification are largely eliminated for any interaction covered by a registered tool.

Development velocity accelerates because web teams can leverage their existing front-end JavaScript rather than standing up separate backend infrastructure. The specification emphasizes that any task a user can accomplish through a page’s UI can be made into a tool by reusing much of the page’s existing JavaScript code. Teams do not need to learn new server frameworks or maintain separate API surfaces for agent consumers.

Human-in-the-loop by design, not an afterthought

A critical architectural decision separates WebMCP from the fully autonomous agent paradigm that has dominated recent headlines. The standard is explicitly designed around cooperative, human-in-the-loop workflows — not unsupervised automation.

According to Khushal Sagar, a staff software engineer for Chrome, the WebMCP specification identifies three pillars that underpin this philosophy. 

1. Context: All the data agents need to understand what the user is doing, including content that is often not currently visible on screen. 

2. Capabilities: Actions the agent can take on the user’s behalf, from answering questions to filling out forms. 

3. Coordination: Controlling the handoff between user and agent when the agent encounters situations it cannot resolve autonomously.

The specification’s authors at Google and Microsoft illustrate this with a shopping scenario: a user named Maya asks her AI assistant to help find an eco-friendly dress for a wedding. The agent suggests vendors, opens a browser to a dress site, and discovers the page exposes WebMCP tools like getDresses() and showDresses().  When Maya’s criteria go beyond the site’s basic filters, the agent calls those tools to fetch product data, uses its own reasoning to filter for “cocktail-attire appropriate,” and then calls showDresses()to update the page with only the relevant results. It’s a fluid loop of human taste and agent capability, exactly the kind of collaborative browsing that WebMCP is designed to enable.

This is not a headless browsing standard. The specification explicitly states that headless and fully autonomous scenarios are non-goals. For those use cases, the authors point to existing protocols like Google’s Agent-to-Agent (A2A) protocol. WebMCP is about the browser — where the user is present, watching, and collaborating.

Not a replacement for MCP, but a complement

WebMCP is not a replacement for Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol, despite sharing a conceptual lineage and a portion of its name. It does not follow the JSON-RPC specification that MCP uses for client-server communication. Where MCP operates as a back-end protocol connecting AI platforms to service providers through hosted servers, WebMCP operates entirely client-side within the browser.

The relationship is complementary. A travel company might maintain a back-end MCP server for direct API integrations with AI platforms like ChatGPT or Claude, while simultaneously implementing WebMCP tools on its consumer-facing website so that browser-based agents can interact with its booking flow in the context of a user’s active session. The two standards serve different interaction patterns without conflict.

The distinction matters for enterprise architects. Back-end MCP integrations are appropriate for service-to-service automation where no browser UI is needed. WebMCP is appropriate when the user is present and the interaction benefits from shared visual context — which describes the majority of consumer-facing web interactions that enterprises care about.

What comes next: From flag to standard

WebMCP is currently available in Chrome 146 Canary behind the “WebMCP for testing” flag at chrome://flags. Developers can join the Chrome Early Preview Program for access to documentation and demos. Other browsers have not yet announced implementation timelines, though Microsoft’s active co-authorship of the specification suggests Edge support is likely.

Industry observers expect formal browser announcements by mid-to-late 2026, with Google Cloud Next and Google I/O as probable venues for broader rollout announcements. The specification is transitioning from community incubation within the W3C to a formal draft — a process that historically takes months but signals serious institutional commitment.

The comparison that Sagar has drawn is instructive: WebMCP aims to become the USB-C of AI agent interactions with the web. A single, standardized interface that any agent can plug into, replacing the current tangle of bespoke scraping strategies and fragile automation scripts.

Whether that vision is realized depends on adoption — by both browser vendors and web developers. But with Google and Microsoft jointly shipping code, the W3C providing institutional scaffolding, and Chrome 146 already running the implementation behind a flag, WebMCP has cleared the most difficult hurdle any web standard faces: getting from proposal to working software.

A critical vulnerability in the WPvivid Backup & Migration plugin for WordPress, installed on more than 900,000 websites, can be exploited to achieve remote code execution by uploading arbitrary files without authentication.

The security issue is tracked as CVE-2026-1357 and received a severity score of 9.8. It impacts all versions of the plugin up to 0.9.123 and could lead to a complete website takeover.

Despite the severity of the issue, researchers at WordPress security company Defiant say that only sites with the non-default “receive backup from another site” option  enabled are critically impacted.

Furthermore, attackers have a 24-hour exploitation window, which is the validity of the generated key required by other sites to send backup files.

This requirement limits realistic exposure; however, the plugin is commonly used for site migrations and backup transfers between hosts, so website administrators are very likely to enable this feature at some point, at least temporarily.

Researcher Lucas Montes (NiRoX) reported the vulnerability to Defiant on January 12. The root cause is the improper error handling in RSA decryption, combined with a lack of path sanitization.

Specifically, when the ‘openssl_private_decrypt()’ function fails, the plugin does not halt execution and instead passes the failed result (false) to the AES (Rijndael) routine.

The cryptographic library treats this as a string of null bytes, creating a predictable encryption key that an attacker can use to craft malicious payloads that the plugin would accept.

Additionally, the plugin failed to properly sanitize uploaded file names, allowing directory traversal. This allows writing files outside the intended backup directory and uploading malicious PHP files for remote code execution.

Defiant notified the vendor, WPVividPlugins, on January 22, following validation of the provided proof-of-concept exploit. A security update addressing CVE-2026-1357 was released in version 0.9.124 on January 28.

The fix includes adding a check to stop execution if RSA decryption fails, adding filename sanitization, and restricting uploads to allowed backup file types only, such as ZIP, GZ, TAR, and SQL.

Users of the WPvivid Backup & Migration WordPress plugin should be aware of the risks associated with the vulnerability and upgrade to version 0.9.124 as soon as possible.

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Pros

• Completely redesigned with upgraded components and slightly better fit than XM5
• Top-notch sound that’s accurate, well-balanced and natural
• Excellent noise-canceling and voice-calling performance with 8 microphones (4 in each bud)
• Decent battery life

Cons

• Pretty pricey
• Included eartips may not be a good match for all ears
• Android-only spatial audio features

When I first heard that Sony was coming out with new sixth-generation 1000X earbuds, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Companies like Bose and Apple have basically stuck with the same design — or a similar one anyway — for their flagship noise-canceling buds for the last few years. But Sony’s new WF-1000XM6 buds are completely overhauled inside and out and look nothing like the models that preceded them.

The end result is impressive: While expensive at $330, the WF-1000XM6 not only features great sound and excellent noise canceling, but their voice-calling performance is also top-notch. Are they the best noise-canceling earbuds out there right now? Aside from a caveat or two, I’d say so, though the AirPods Pro 3 remain a safer bet for Apple users from a fit and features standpoint (not to mention a lower price tag). 

The WF-1000XM6’s design shift  

Both the buds and their case are a little plain-looking. I’m OK with that, and from a practical standpoint, I liked that the case is flat on both its top and bottom, making it easy to place down on a flat surface, such as a wireless charging pad. 

The XM5s have a partially glossy finish, but these have a full matte finish, which I prefer. That said, they don’t have anything to distinguish them as the XM4s did with their eye-catching copper ring that served as a microphone housing.

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More intricately molded than your typical stemless buds, Sony says the new shape (11% slimmer overall than the XM5s and more aerodynamic to reduce wind noise) conforms better to the natural curves of your ears, and I agree with that. I also appreciated the little ridge along the top side of each bud that allows you to grip it better, so the bud is less likely to slip from your fingers when putting them in or taking them out. 

The buds have touch controls that are nicely responsive and are equipped with ear-detection sensors that pause audio when you take a bud out of your ear and resume playback when you put it back in. They’re IPX4 splashproof and seem fine for gym use, though I probably wouldn’t recommend them for running because I wasn’t certain they’d stay in my ears with a lot of jostling. 

Like a lot of high-end buds, they’re a little beefy and will stick out of your ears a bit. That didn’t really bother me. But once again, I can’t say I was thrilled with Sony’s included eartips, which are the same firm foam tips that were included with the XM5s. I was able to get a fairly secure fit with them, but I didn’t get a truly tight seal, according to the seal test in Sony’s SoundConnect app for iOS and Android. I didn’t find the tips super comfortable, either, so I went with a pair of large-size silicone tips from another set of buds I’d tested (I favor tips from Sennheiser and Bowers & Wilkins, which are wider and more rounded). With the tip change, sound quality and noise-canceling performance improved noticeably, which makes me wonder why Sony doesn’t include more tip options. 

To be clear, many people should get a good fit from one of the included tips. But my ears fall into the 10% to 20% of ears that just aren’t a great match for Sony’s tips. And, as you may have read or heard me say too many times, it’s crucial to get a tight seal to get optimal sound quality and noise-canceling performance. That’s especially true of these buds because they deliver some real wow factor if you get a tight seal.

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Aside from the external makeover, the XM6s are upgraded on the inside with new drivers, a 3X more powerful QN3e chip with improved analog conversion technology, eight microphones — up from six — and an improved bone-conduction sensor that helps with voice-calling performance. The “HD Noise Canceling” QN3e processor is paired with Sony’s Integrated Processor V2, which now supports 32-bit processing compared with 24-bit processing. The same V2 chip is also found in Sony’s XM5 earbuds and its flagship WH-1000XM6 over-ear headphones. 

Sony says the new XM6 buds feature 25% “further reduction in noise” than the XM5s, with gains made in the mid-to-high frequency range. I spent a lot of time comparing the XM6s to other leading premium noise-canceling earbuds, including Apple’s excellent AirPods Pro 3, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) and Bowers and Wilkins’ Pi8. Both the AirPods Pro 3 and QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds have superb noise canceling. Sony says the XM6s have the best noise canceling for earbuds right now, based on international testing standards.

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Alas, I don’t have access to expensive technical equipment to test noise-canceling performance, so I have to rely on a few less scientific tests, including comparing how well each set of buds muffles the noisy HVAC unit in my kitchen and wearing the buds in the noisy streets of New York and on the subway. In the HVAC test, they were all really close, though I thought the Sony had a very slight edge.

In the streets of New York, it’s really hard to sense that the noise canceling is any better than what you get with those competing models. All three are very close, and your experience could vary with the quality of the seal you get. It’s quite possible that these Sonys are able to muffle a wider range of frequencies with slightly more vigor, but they still can’t muffle higher frequencies as well as lower frequencies. That means you can still hear people’s voices and higher-pitched noises, albeit at significantly reduced volume levels. 

I do think Sony has also made some improvements to its transparency mode. Apple’s is still the gold standard, but Sony’s now sounds quite natural at its highest setting. Previously, you had to play around with the level to find the most natural setting (the sound from the outside world was actually augmented at the highest setting).

Sony also now has an auto ambient mode that’s similar to Apple’s Adaptive Audio mode, which automatically adjusts the level of ambient sound filtered in, depending on the level of noise around you. Plus, you can toggle on a voice pass-through mode that filters in voices while suppressing ambient noise.

Superior sound

When it comes to sound, both the AirPods Pro 3 and Bose QC Ultras sound excellent, with the Ultras sounding smooth and clean across a variety of music genres. Some people complained that the AirPods Pro 3’s sound was a little too aggressive (not enough warmth) compared with the AirPods Pro 2’s, with more dynamic bass and treble and slightly recessed mids. I preferred the AirPods Pro 3’s sound — to my ears, it has a little more clarity and definition, and I was OK with the more energetic bass. But everybody has their own sound preferences, and you can experience some listening fatigue if you feel the treble has too much sizzle or the bass kicks too hard in the wrong way.

I think the XM6’s sound is better and more special than both the AirPods Pro 3’s and QC Ultra’s sound. Music sounds more accurate and natural with better bass extension, overall clarity and refinement, along with a wide soundstage where all the instruments seem well-placed. Additionally, I found the XM6s came across slightly more dynamic and bold-sounding than the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 buds, which also feature accurate, natural sound for Bluetooth earbuds.

As I said, all the models mentioned here sound impressive, but the tonal quality varies a bit. While companies often talk about how their buds and headphones deliver audio the way artists intended you to hear it, some do it better than others and are able to live up to audiophile standards — or close to them anyway. Such is the case for the WF-1000X6 buds.

I tested them with an iPhone 16 Pro and a Google Pixel 9, listening to a variety of music genres on Spotify using the lossless audio setting. They handled everything with aplomb (virtually no distortion) and didn’t cause any listening fatigue. My connection was also rock solid with no Bluetooth hiccups. While I didn’t experience, any major connectivity issues with the XM5s, some people apparently did, and Sony says it equipped the XM6s with a new wireless antenna that’s 1.5x larger than XM5’s antenna to improve the wireless connection, particularly in crowded signal areas (there are certain intersections in new York City that have a lot of wireless interference and can cause Bluetooth hiccups).  

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Top-notch voice-calling performance

They’re also hard to beat for voice-calling performance, which I also grade an A. Callers said my voice sounded mostly natural and clear, and they didn’t really hear any background noise when I wasn’t speaking (and only a little when I did speak). If you want to hear a test, check out the one I did with fellow CNET editor Josh Goldman in my video review of the XM6 buds. 

It’s worth noting that the buds have a side-tone feature, so you can hear your voice in the buds when you’re talking. And like previous 1000X models, these have Sony’s speak-to-chat feature, which lowers the volume of your audio and goes into ambient mode when you start to have a conversation with someone.

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Watch this: Sony WF-1000XM6 Earbuds Review: Supreme Performance, Subdued Design

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Also, Sony has redesigned the venting of the earbuds to increase airflow and reduce internal noises such as “footsteps and chewing sound.” I did notice some improvements there (yes, a lot of people don’t like having their ears feel occluded and hearing their footsteps).   

As far as audio codecs go, the buds support AAC, SBC and LDAC as well as multipoint Bluetooth pairing, which allows pairing to two devices to the buds simultaneously. Sony says the buds are “ready for LE Audio,” which means that at some point they should support the LC3 audio codec and Auracast broadcast audio with a firmware update.

Sony has continued to streamline its SoundConnect app for iOS and Android, so it’s a little more user-friendly, though there are still a lot of settings to play around with, including scene-based listening settings and various equalizer settings.

Battery life is rated at up to 8 hours at moderate volume levels, with an extra two charges in the case. That’s a little better than what competing models offer and, again, the case supports wireless charging. 

Sony WF-1000XM6 final thoughts

The XM6s are noticeably improved across the board from the XM5s, which I still like. And while these buds are certainly expensive, they’re pretty hard to beat from a performance standpoint across all the key areas, including sound quality, noise canceling and voice-calling, which is why I’ve awarded them an Editors’ Choice.

The one thing I can’t tell you is just how well they’ll fit your ears. While the AirPods Pro 3 don’t offer quite as good sound quality, they’re less expensive and are in some ways a safer pick for Apple users, as their lightweight stem design tends to fit a wide range of ears comfortably. They also have more features overall, including a Hearing Aid mode, Apple’s new Live Translation feature and personalized spatial audio (Sony’s spatial audio features are Android-only).    

That said, if you’re able to get a good fit with a comfortable seal, the XM6s are truly impressive earbuds. They may just be the best out there at the moment. 

Building on its flagship 1528 series, Arendal Sound is back with the new 1610 loudspeaker series; a deliberately scaled-down range that targets serious performance without dragging flagship pricing along for the ride. Made in Norway and clearly engineered with restraint rather than corner-cutting, the four-model 1610 lineup slots into one of the most competitive segments in high-performance audio, where brands like Focal, DALI, Paradigm, Wharfedale, and KEF already fight tooth and nail for attention.

With prices ranging from $2,300 to $7,600 per pair and no subwoofers in sight for now, the 1610 series looks designed to lure buyers who want real three-way muscle, controlled dispersion, and home theater credibility without jumping straight to Arendal’s no-prisoners flagship tier. In other words, this isn’t about going cheaper, it’s about going smarter.

New 1610 Series Models & Pricing

Arendal Sound’s 1610 series launches with four distinct three-way designs aimed at delivering rich, controlled sound across music and home theater. Here’s the lineup with U.S. MSRP (per pair):

• 1610 Tower 8 – Floorstanding 3-way loudspeaker — $7,600
• 1610 Bookshelf 8 – Compact 3-way stand-mount loudspeaker — $3,600
• 1610 Slim 8 – Slimline 3-way for on-wall/close-to-wall installations — $2,800
• 1610 Center – Dedicated 3-way center-channel speaker — $2,300

Cabinet Design

The 1610 Series uses high-density HDF cabinets engineered to prioritize structural rigidity and acoustic control. A 46 mm (1.8-inch) thick curved front baffle is designed to optimize driver placement, improving phase coherency, transient response, and time alignment. Internally, extensive bracing and damping are employed to suppress cabinet resonance and unwanted vibration. Bass reflex ports are carefully tuned for smooth airflow, helping the speakers deliver controlled, articulate low-frequency performance without excess noise or bloom.

Tweeter

High frequencies are handled by a 28 mm aluminum-magnesium tweeter designed to balance detail, extension, and dynamic capability. The tweeter is mounted in a controlled-directivity waveguide, which helps manage dispersion and improve integration with the midrange. This approach is intended to maintain clarity and precision while ensuring high-frequency energy is evenly and accurately directed toward the listening position.

Midrange

The tweeter is paired with a 5-inch carbon-fiber midrange driver that uses a light, stiff cone to maintain accuracy and dynamic range while keeping distortion in check. Tuned to handle the critical vocal and instrumental range, the midrange driver is designed to sound natural and unforced, integrating smoothly with the tweeter through the crossover to deliver a coherent and well-balanced presentation.

Røst Essence Acoustic Core

The tweeter and midrange are housed within Arendal’s Røst Essence Acoustic Core, a design focused on controlling dispersion, phase coherence, and overall driver integration. Built around an elliptically shaped waveguide, the assembly positions the tweeter and midrange as close together as physically possible. This layout minimizes vertical lobing and promotes smooth, consistent vertical dispersion, contributing to a larger, more stable soundstage and more uniform listening experience across seating positions.

Low Frequency Drivers

For the 1610 Series, Arendal employs 8-inch aluminum low-frequency drivers featuring a surround structure with internal ribbing for improved control and durability. This design works in concert with the acoustically optimized HDF cabinet, helping the speakers deliver high output capability, strong dynamic performance, and deep, well-controlled bass without sacrificing clarity.

Jan Ove Lassesen, Founder of Arendal Sound, said: “Since we launched 1528, many of our customers have asked us for the same confidence, build quality, and sound philosophy in a more approachable system. With 1610, we’re deliberately moving the reference point. This is high-end sound built for customers who expect real value for their money—not inflated pricing justified by marketing narratives or tradition.”

Arendal 1610 Speaker Line Comparison

The Bottom Line 

Arendal Sound may still fly under the radar in the U.S., but the 1610 Series makes its intent clear: deliver much of the company’s flagship engineering mindset at prices that don’t require a leap of faith or a second mortgage. What’s unique here is the balance. These are fully realized three-way designs with serious cabinet work, controlled directivity, and a coherent family voicing that works just as well for two-channel listening as it does in a dedicated home theater.

The obvious omission is a matching 1610 subwoofer, which feels like a missed opportunity, even if Arendal’s 1961 ($1,050) and 1723 ($1,800) subs fill the gap. The 1610 Series is for listeners who want high-end fundamentals; build quality, dispersion control, and dynamic capability without paying for prestige pricing or marketing mythology. If a dedicated 1610 sub eventually joins the lineup, this series could become a very hard one to ignore.

Pricing & Availability

The Arendal Sound 1610 Series is available to order directly from Arendal Sound 

Note: Deliveries are expected to begin in early March, with regional timing varying slightly between Europe and the United States.

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