Apple appears to be preparing a much broader push into smart-home hardware, with several new products in development as the company looks to expand beyond the HomePod mini and Apple TV, according to a 9To5Mac report.

The roadmap includes refreshed versions of both existing products, a new smart-home hub with a display, a larger HomePod update, and eventually Apple’s first dedicated smart-home security devices. The information comes from recent reporting summarized by 9to5Mac, which notes that Siri’s long-awaited AI upgrades could remove one of the obstacles that has held back new Home products.

Apple is finally giving the smart home some attention

The first products expected to arrive are updated versions of the HomePod mini and Apple TV 4K, reportedly later this fall. The HomePod mini could move from Apple’s S5 chip to the newer S9, along with a potential wireless chip upgrade and new colors. The bigger change may be software, with Siri AI expected to make the speaker more capable.

Apple TV 4K is also expected to receive a processor upgrade, potentially moving from the A15 Bionic to the A17 Pro. The new chip could support Siri AI and allow some Apple Intelligence features to run locally. A redesigned remote has also reportedly been considered.

Current pricing is $129 for the HomePod mini and $199 for Apple TV 4K, with the report suggesting Apple could retain those prices for the refreshed models. The more interesting product is Apple’s first dedicated smart-home hub. Reportedly in development under the internal name “HomePad,” the device could arrive between October and early 2027. Two versions are apparently being considered: a wall-mounted display and a speaker-based design similar to Google’s Nest Hub.

The device is expected to feature a 7-inch square display and a new operating system internally referred to as homeOS. It could handle FaceTime calls, control smart-home devices and interact with Siri AI, with an A18 chip reportedly powering the experience.

Cameras, doorbells and a smarter HomePod are also coming

Apple’s smart-home ambitions reportedly extend beyond speakers and displays. A full-size HomePod update is in development, although there is no firm release timeline. The refreshed speaker is expected to receive a newer chip to support Siri AI.

Further down the roadmap, Apple is reportedly preparing its first smart-home security products, including a security camera and smart doorbell. The company is also said to be developing a more advanced version of its smart-home display with a larger 9-inch screen and a robotic arm, effectively turning the device into a tabletop robot.

For consumers already invested in Apple’s hardware, the significance is clear: Apple appears to be building a smart-home platform rather than simply refreshing a couple of aging products. The next question is whether Siri AI can finally make the hardware useful enough to justify a place in the home.

Modern airliners are rather complicated feats of engineering. Innumerable safety-critical components are connected with tens of miles of wiring, complex digital buses, and dozens (perhaps hundreds) of computers. But, as hackers, we know that any computer can be hacked and, of course, aircraft avionics are no different. 

Modern aircraft typically use the ARINC 429 protocol. This differs from many protocols we see where multiple transmitters are allowed. ARINC 429 has a single transmission source. This makes a transmission-override attack hypothetically difficult, as an attacker was thought to need to physically replace a legitimate transmitter (like a flight management computer), a rather daunting task. However, the ARINC 429 transmitters sit behind a pair of 37.5 ohm resistors, so by transmitting on the same line, an attack device can simply override the legitimate transmitter’s power.

With this methodology, the researchers created a proof of concept demonstration using a GE 2907A4 flight management computer (FMC), a GE 577F1 multipurpose control and display unit (MCDU), and an Integrated Flight Systems Accessory Unit (IFSAU). These are all components commonly used on the ever-popular Boeing 737, wired together as would be standard on that aircraft. The FMC communicates over ARINC 429 with the pilot’s MCDU, which is used to program the autopilot and perform takeoff calculations (among other things). After analyzing the protocol between the FMC and MCDU, they were able to freeze the pilot’s display, overwrite it, or even change values received and displayed.

With this methodology, three attacks were proposed. Most dramatically, the autopilot could be reprogrammed, bringing the aircraft to a new waypoint. However, it was also possible to modify the weight and balance information in the FMC. These values are critical for flight safety, and even subtle miscalculations could spell disaster. However, it’s worth noting the pilots do retain full control of the aircraft, especially on the fly-by-cable 737. Still, any number of these attacks could lead to unsafe conditions aboard an aircraft.

However, this is all theoretical. Can it actually be pulled off in the real world? Unfortunately, yes. Though the obvious attack vector would be tapping into wires, this proves challenging by nature of individual wires being difficult to find in such large bundles, and ARINC 492’s operation probes to look for misbehaving devices. Rather, the researcher found an open maintenance port in the 737’s electronics bay with access to ARINC 429. They designed a tiny device capable of tapping into the port, which they believe can be inserted in 30 to 60 seconds by someone on the ground without even needing a ladder. Access to an aircraft is unfortunately poorly restricted, and determining exactly where the device came from would be extremely difficult. The device itself is a tiny ESP32 board that plugs into the data port. Operation is over WiFi.

Though the paper assumes the ever-troubled 737 is the target, nothing stops this from working on other aircraft. Moreover, by retaining physical controls, the 737 may have ended up being safer than some other aircraft.

Thanks [anfractuosity] for the tip!

Look, I really don’t think we should be naming our AI chatbots. It feels like one of the easiest ways to start anthropomorphizing them, encouraging us to see them as people or “beings” rather than tools. Which is then a slippery slope to users becoming too dependent on them.

But unfortunately, for many people that ship has already sailed. Whether they’re using AI as a friend, companion, work coach or something else, plenty of people have been given their chatbots names. And many others have gone a step further and asked the AI what it wants to be called.

A maximum-severity SAP Commerce Cloud remote code execution vulnerability patched three days ago is already being targeted in attacks, according to threat intelligence company Defused.

Commerce Cloud (formerly known as SAP Hybris) is a cloud-based e-commerce platform used by online stores owned by high-profile global brands and large retailers.

Tracked as CVE-2026-58231, this critical flaw stems from an improper authorization weakness in the core Data Hub Adapter extension for Commerce Cloud that threat actors without privileges can exploit in low-complexity attacks to execute arbitrary code.

“SAP Commerce Cloud allows an unauthenticated attacker to abuse a default authentication client and submit specially crafted input to certain functions lacking sufficient validation,” SAP explains.

“Successful exploitation could enable arbitrary code execution and compromise internal components, resulting in high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the application.”

While SAP has yet to flag this security flaw as actively exploited in a security advisory issued this Tuesday, Defused security researchers confirmed earlier today that CVE-2026-58231 is now being targeted in the wild.

​”First exploitation attempts against CVE-2026-58231 (unauth RCE in SAP Commerce Cloud, CVSS 10.0) is now hitting our honeypots – 3 days after patch day,” Defused warned in a Friday tweet. “This vulnerability has no public PoC and is not known to be exploited.”

A SAP spokesperson told BleepingComputer that the company is aware of and investigating this issue when asked to confirm Defused’s report.

“A security note https://me.sap.com/notes/3771065 is published and available for SAP customers and partners and was released on SAP’s August Patch Day. We recommend customers and partners patch their systems with immediate effect,” the spokesperson added.

Internet security watchdog group Shadowserver tracks over 4,200 IP addresses with a SAP Commerce Cloud fingerprint, most of them from Europe and North America.

However, there is no information on how many of them are honeypots or have already been secured against CVE-2026-58231 attacks.

​Most recently, SAP fixed 16 vulnerabilities in its July 2026 Security Patch package and 30 more vulnerabilities in June and May, including three more critical security flaws (CVE-2026-44761, CVE-2026-22732, and CVE-2026-34263) affecting the Commerce Cloud enterprise-grade e-commerce platform.

In April, cybersecurity companies Aikido and Socket also reported that attackers aiming to steal credentials from developers’ systems compromised multiple official SAP npm packages in a supply chain attack.

Since November 2021, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added 14 SAP vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, including three that were abused in ransomware attacks.

SAP is a German multinational software corporation that serves 99 of the 100 largest companies worldwide and has reported total revenues exceeding €36 billion in fiscal year 2025.

Update August 14, 11:51 EDT: Added SAP statement.

Overall prevention scores can hide what happens after initial access. Once attackers are using valid credentials, prevention drops sharply.

The Blue Report 2026 measures defenses technique by technique across 338 million simulations run in customer production environments.

Get the report

Amazon’s MacBook Pro sale delivers price drops on every 2026 model, with this best-selling configuration $300 off heading into the weekend.

The $300 discount applies to Apple’s latest M5 Pro MacBook Pro 16-inch that sports an 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU.

Save $300 on 16″ MacBook Pro 48GB RAM

This configuration also has an upgrade to 48GB of memory for smoother performance when running multiple apps simultaneously. The laptop has a 1TB SSD, and the 2026 line supports Wi-Fi 7.

You can also save on Amazon’s entire selection of retail configurations below. And if you visit our 16-inch MacBook Pro Price Guide, you can shop deals from other retailers across both retail and CTO models.

Weekend 14-inch MacBook Pro sale

• 14″ MacBook Pro M5 (10C CPU, 10C GPU, 16GB, 1TB, Standard Display): $1,849 ($150 off)
• 14″ MacBook Pro M5 Pro (15C CPU, 16C GPU, 24GB, 1TB, Standard Display): $2,259.99 ($240 off)
• 14″ MacBook Pro M5 Pro (15C CPU, 16C GPU, 24GB, 2TB, Standard Display): $2,699 ($300 off)
• 14″ MacBook Pro M5 Pro (18C CPU, 20C GPU, 24GB, 2TB, Standard Display): $2,899 ($300 off)
• 14″ MacBook Pro M5 Max (18C CPU, 32C GPU, 36GB, 2TB, Standard Display): $3,799 ($300 off)

Latest 16-inch MacBook Pro deals

• 16″ MacBook Pro M5 Pro (18C CPU, 20C GPU, 24GB, 1TB, Standard Display): $2,759.99 ($240 off)
• 16″ MacBook Pro M5 Pro (18C CPU, 20C GPU, 48GB, 1TB, Standard Display): $3,299 ($300 off)
• 16″ MacBook Pro M5 Max (18C CPU, 32C GPU, 36GB, 2TB, Standard Display): $3,999 ($400 off)
• 16″ MacBook Pro M5 Max (18C CPU, 40C GPU, 48GB, 2TB, Standard Display): $4,499 ($500 off)

It’s also worth bookmarking our MacBook Pro deals roundup for offers on both current and closeout configurations.

Samsung appears to be preparing a major visual overhaul for One UI, with early leaks suggesting One UI 9.5 could adopt a more glass-like design with shinier edges, transparency, and greater visual depth.

The reported changes surfaced shortly after Samsung began rolling out One UI 9 Beta 5 for the Galaxy S26 series. According to Android Central, tipster Fahad Ali shared leaked screenshots of the upcoming interface on X, offering an early look at Samsung’s apparent design direction.

Samsung could be giving One UI a glassier makeover

The leaked screenshots suggest Samsung is experimenting with a glass-inspired interface across parts of One UI 9.5. Elements such as Samsung’s widgets, including Now Brief and Floating UI components, reportedly feature shinier edges, while some Samsung-made apps appear to have a more glass-like appearance around their borders.

Some interface elements could also blur when placed over other objects, creating more separation between foreground controls and the background. Another reported change involves a subtler backdrop shading effect, which Samsung could use to create more visual depth between interface elements and whatever sits behind them.

The Phone app appears largely unchanged in the leaked material, although the search icon has reportedly moved into the floating navigation bar at the bottom of the screen. The icon sits between the contact button and the three-dot menu. Samsung may also be preparing an App Lock feature for One UI 9.5. According to the report, the feature could allow users to protect selected applications using a password, biometric authentication, or another verification method.

The design direction is notable because it suggests Samsung is continuing to experiment with more pronounced visual effects instead of simply refining the existing One UI interface.

Don’t expect One UI 9.5 on phones anytime soon

One UI 9.5 is still a rumor, and Samsung has not officially announced the update or confirmed the leaked design. The timing also suggests Galaxy owners will have to wait. Samsung recently rolled out One UI 9 Beta 5 to Galaxy S26 devices, while reports suggest One UI 9.5 may not arrive until April or May 2027. There is also a possibility that Samsung will not launch a public beta program for One UI 9.5 this year.

For now, the leaked screenshots offer an early glimpse rather than a finished product. Samsung could change or remove individual elements before release, particularly since the software remains deep in development.

If the reported direction survives testing, One UI 9.5 could give Samsung phones a noticeably different look, with glass effects and added depth becoming more prominent across the interface.

Dolby Vision 2 may not require you to replace your current 4K Blu-ray player, which is welcome news for anyone who has already spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a good disc spinner. The complication is that technical compatibility and actual manufacturer support are two very different things, and the companies still making dedicated 4K Blu-ray players will ultimately decide whether existing hardware gets the firmware needed to take advantage of the new format.

Dolby has confirmed that existing Ultra HD Blu-ray players can potentially work with Dolby Vision 2 without requiring an entirely new optical drive or player architecture. Most of the new image processing takes place inside a compatible television, while the player is responsible for correctly recognizing, formatting and transmitting the necessary video information over HDMI.

That sounds straightforward until firmware support enters the conversation.

Sony has already told TechRadar that it does not currently plan to provide a Dolby Vision 2 update for its existing Blu-ray player lineup, which means consumers could own hardware that is technically capable of participating in the new format but never receives the software required to do so.

Related Reading:

Existing Hardware May Be Capable, But That Is Only Half the Story

When Dolby introduced Dolby Vision 2 in 2025, most of the attention naturally focused on televisions because that is where the new processing engine resides. Dolby Vision 2 expands on the current format with what Dolby calls Content Intelligence, using additional processing and metadata to optimize the picture based on the content, capabilities of the display and viewing environment.

A Blu-ray player has a somewhat different job. It does not necessarily need to perform all of that processing itself, but it does need to correctly identify and transmit the appropriate signal and metadata to the television.

Dolby has acknowledged that adding that capability still requires engineering work, HDMI validation and firmware development, which means manufacturers have to decide whether supporting older hardware is worth the time and expense. That is the part of this story that matters most to consumers, because a player being physically capable of supporting Dolby Vision 2 does not guarantee that its manufacturer will ever enable it.

Sony has already demonstrated that distinction. The company has said that its current lineup is not scheduled to receive Dolby Vision 2 support.

Would Manufacturers Really Refuse to Update Existing Players?

Absolutely, and Sony’s position shows why consumers should not assume otherwise.

The economics of the dedicated 4K Blu-ray player market are very different from those of televisions, streaming devices or smartphones. Oppo stopped making disc players in 2018, Samsung exited the category in 2019, LG stopped producing Blu-ray players in 2024, and brands including Pioneer and Reavon are no longer significant players in the current U.S. market.

With fewer manufacturers and a much smaller installed base, every firmware project has to compete for engineering resources. Supporting Dolby Vision 2 may be technically possible, but manufacturers still have to test HDMI behavior, validate compatibility across televisions and receivers, maintain software and provide customer support afterward.

For a mass-market product selling in huge numbers, that work can be easy to justify. For a mature disc-player category with relatively modest sales, the calculation becomes considerably less attractive.

That is why consumers should start thinking about long-term firmware support as part of the buying decision rather than assuming that every feature a player could theoretically support will eventually arrive.

Who Still Makes 4K Blu-ray Players?

For U.S. buyers, the dedicated market has essentially consolidated around Panasonic, Sony and Magnetar, with each serving a different part of the category.

Panasonic remains the most important mainstream option and continues to offer several Ultra HD Blu-ray players, including the popular DP-UB820 ($549) and flagship DP-UB9000. Dolby Vision is supported on select Panasonic models, although the company has not yet committed to providing Dolby Vision 2 support for its existing lineup.

Sony has discontinued its 4K UHD player line, except for the UBP-X700U ($328), which does support the current Dolby Vision format. However, Sony’s decision not to update players for Dolby Vision 2 therefore carries more weight than it might appear, because there are not many mainstream alternatives left.

Magnetar serves the premium end of the market with the UDP800 MKII and UDP900 MKII universal players, both of which support 4K UHD Blu-ray, Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and numerous audio-disc formats. Magnetar has also continued releasing firmware for its current products, which at least demonstrates active software development, but that should not be interpreted as a promise of Dolby Vision 2 support. No such commitment has been made.

Game consoles do not provide an obvious workaround either. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X can play Ultra HD Blu-ray discs when equipped with optical drives, but neither currently supports Dolby Vision from UHD Blu-ray discs, so buyers specifically interested in Dolby Vision remain dependent on dedicated hardware.

Will Your Existing 4K Blu-rays Become Obsolete?

No, and this distinction is important because Dolby Vision 2 does not suddenly make the discs already sitting on your shelves outdated.

A Dolby Vision disc you own today will not somehow acquire Dolby Vision 2 specific metadata because you purchased a newer television. The disc contains the mastering information it was authored with, and a firmware update cannot rewrite that information.

A Dolby Vision 2 television can, however, use its newer image processing with existing Dolby Vision content. That means owners should still benefit from improvements inside a compatible television while playing today’s Dolby Vision discs, even if the player itself never receives a Dolby Vision 2 update.

Future Ultra HD Blu-ray releases could potentially include Dolby Vision 2 specific information, which is where player compatibility may eventually become more significant, but there is currently no reason to replace a quality 4K Blu-ray player solely because Dolby Vision 2 exists.

There is no meaningful catalog of Dolby Vision 2 discs waiting to make your current player obsolete, and manufacturers have not yet established a clear support roadmap for existing hardware. Buying another player today because of a feature someone might enable later would be premature.

Why This Matters to Consumers

The larger issue here is not really Dolby Vision 2. It is the growing importance of software support in a product category that many consumers still think of as traditional hardware.

Physical media remains attractive because the consumer retains control of the disc. A streaming service cannot remove your copy because a licensing agreement expires, a studio changes distribution partners or somebody decides that the title no longer belongs in your digital library.

Owning the disc, however, does not guarantee indefinite support for the hardware used to play it.

Dolby Vision 2 illustrates that problem particularly well because an existing player might remain mechanically sound, continue producing excellent 4K HDR pictures and still have the underlying hardware required to work with the newer format, yet never receive access to it because the manufacturer decides that supporting the installed customer base is no longer commercially worthwhile.

That does not make your current player obsolete, nor does it diminish the value of the discs you already own. What it does change is the way consumers should evaluate future purchases, especially when premium players can cost anywhere from several hundred dollars to several thousand.

Firmware support, manufacturer longevity and willingness to maintain existing products are becoming part of the value proposition whether buyers like it or not.

The Bottom Line

Dolby’s confirmation is ultimately encouraging for physical media enthusiasts because Dolby Vision 2 does not automatically require an entirely new generation of 4K Blu-ray players, and existing Dolby Vision discs are not suddenly headed for the technological landfill.

The uncertainty lies with the manufacturers.

Sony has already shown that hardware capability does not necessarily lead to software support, while Panasonic and Magnetar have not yet made firm commitments regarding their existing players. That means consumers should resist the temptation to replace perfectly good equipment until there is a compelling reason to do so.

If you already own a Panasonic DP-UB820, Sony UBP-X800M2, Magnetar UDP800 or another quality Dolby Vision player, keep using it. There is currently no convincing reason to replace it because of Dolby Vision 2 alone.

Because in 2026, “the hardware can probably do it” and “the manufacturer will actually let you use it” are clearly no longer the same thing.

Related Reading:

As you’ve no doubt noticed, there’s a lot to read on the internet. Vast numbers of new articles are published every day. There’s still quite a lot of it not being written by AI, too.

Trying to keep up with everything can feel exhausting, and that’s where read-it-later apps come in. These apps will queue up content that catches your eye as you go to and fro across the web, and keep these articles, videos, blog posts, and social media updates bookmarked until you get a chance to catch up with them. When it’s time to dig in, the apps present the articles in a clean, uncluttered layout.

It’s a neat idea, but it needs to be well implemented for it to work—otherwise you can spend more time compiling and organizing your reading than actually catching up on your queue.

Instapaper is one of the oldest read-it-later apps, having launched back in 2008. It’s also still one of the best options, even more so now that it’s been given a major revamp. Here’s what’s new, and why it might be worth your while diving back into your Instapaper account (or signing up for the first time).

Instapaper Basics

Instapaper offers a clean, distraction-free reading environment.Photograph: David Nield

Instapaper is available for the web, Android, and iOS, and reflows web articles into a tidily arranged, distraction-free format that doesn’t feature any ads, menus, or other onscreen furniture. You just get the text and the images, so reading the articles you’ve saved is a more pleasurable experience than it is on the web.

You can customize the Instapaper interface in a variety of ways. The apps let you change the font style, size, and spacing, and adjust the background color of the “paper” that the text and images are placed on.

Everything is neatly arranged on the screen, too. You get estimates for how long each article will take to read (as well as the option to see summaries of the text). You can use folders and tags to categorize saved posts in a variety of ways. Also, everything syncs seamlessly across all the devices you’re using Instapaper on.

Getting articles into Instapaper—a crucial part of the process—is straightforward. On mobile you can pass web links into the app through the standard share tools, while on desktop you can either paste the URLs straight into Instapaper, or use the extensions that are available for the most popular browsers.

Why it matters: A vest tested during NASA’s Artemis I mission could reduce astronauts’ radiation exposure during major solar storms, according to a new study. The findings show how targeted shielding could support crew safety as NASA prepares for longer missions around and eventually on the moon.

The AstroRad vest flew around the moon in 2022 on Zohar, one of two female manikins aboard NASA’s Orion capsule. Researchers compared Zohar’s readings with those from Helga, a second manikin that wore no vest. Both contained thousands of radiation sensors.

The flight did not encounter a major solar storm. Instead, researchers used the data collected as Orion passed through the inner Van Allen radiation belt to model the vest’s performance during storms similar to those seen in 1972 and 1989.

The study found that the vest could lower an astronaut’s radiation dose by about 60% during a solar event like the 1972 storm, while it could reduce exposure by nearly 40% during a storm comparable to the 1989 event. Researchers said those reductions are equivalent to 193 days and 131 days, respectively, of deep-space radiation exposure.

The findings are relevant as NASA prepares for longer lunar missions. Artemis I was an uncrewed test flight, but NASA plans to send four astronauts on a lunar flyby mission in April. Future missions are expected to support longer stays on and around the moon as the agency works toward a lunar base.

Radiation is a major safety concern beyond low-Earth orbit. Astronauts closer to Earth benefit from the planet’s atmosphere and magnetic field, which limit exposure. That protection falls away during missions to the moon and, eventually, Mars.

Zohar wore the 57-pound vest, developed by Israeli startup StemRad and US aerospace company Lockheed Martin. The garment is not intended for daily use. It is designed for periods of elevated solar radiation, when crews may need additional protection inside a spacecraft or shelter.

Rather than covering the entire body, the vest focuses on areas considered especially sensitive to radiation. It protects the lungs, stomach, bone marrow, breasts, and ovaries. Women are believed to face a higher risk of radiation-related cancer than men.

StemRad and Lockheed Martin previously tested a version of the vest on the International Space Station. The design was modeled after gear used by nuclear-disaster response teams. It was not included on Artemis II because that mission is expected to last 10 days and Orion has limited space, but it could be considered for later flights.

The researchers based their simulations on two past solar events. The 1972 storm occurred between the Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 moon landings. If astronauts had been traveling to or working on the moon at the time, they could have faced potentially lethal exposure. The 1989 event was linked to a power-grid collapse and the detonation of magnetic sea mines.

The team is now trying to make the vest lighter without weakening its protective properties. It is also studying whether spacecraft supplies and materials could be repurposed as radiation shielding during emergencies.

Jordan Houri, the study’s lead author and a researcher at StemRad, said additional deep-space testing is not expected soon because Zohar and Helga “provided us with an exceptionally large, high-fidelity dataset.”

Zohar and the vest are now on display at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Image credit: The AP