Denon is taking a big swing at multi-room audio in 2026 with a major revamp of its HEOS lineup, with three all-new wireless home speakers, and why not? The multi-room category continues to appeal to serious listeners who want convenience without giving up performance. And with Sonos still dealing with the fallout from its 2024 app debacle, there is real opportunity for other audio brands to chip away at its market grip.
Denon’s approach comprises three rather pricey options, including the entry-level Denon 200 ($399), the midrange Denon 400 ($599), and the flagship Denon 600 (a whopping $799). The Home 200 and Home 400 are particularly poised to take on Sonos and its similarly designed Era 100 and Era 300 speakers, so it was only natural that we took a look at those two first, and I’ll be comparing them to those Sonos models early and often.
Each of Denon’s new speakers offers some form of Dolby Atmos Music support (virtualized in the Home 200), along with convenient setup and control via Denon’s HEOS app, and multiple connection options, from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to 3.5mm and USB input. The obvious question is whether the new lineup delivers performance that justifies the premium pricing.
The short answer is yes, you’re getting what you pay for here, at least when it comes to audio quality. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you should throw in your Sonos card and make the swap just yet. Here’s how it all shakes out.
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Swift Setup
Denon Home 200
Getting the Home 200 and Home 400 ready to play is as simple as pulling them from their cardboard packaging, plugging in, and jumping on the HEOS app. The app immediately feels Sonos-like, though the design and layout are a bit clunkier. Most importantly, it makes setup and Wi-Fi connection virtually effortless, something I couldn’t say about HEOS speakers I’ve tested in the past. Adding the Denon 200 took just a few minutes, and the Home 400 was even quicker after creating my profile, accomplished with just a few taps. After a five-minute firmware update, the speakers were online and ready to roll.
As with Sonos, speakers are designated in the HEOS app as “Rooms,” allowing them to operate independently in different spaces or be grouped with other HEOS speakers and devices. You can name them after the actual room, give them something more personal, or, as I did during testing, use the model number to keep each speaker straight.
Design & Features: Elegance Meets Substance
While each Home speaker has its own aesthetic vibe, Denon did well in creating a common design language—call it elegant utilitarianism. The Home 200 is, like so many rivals, basically just a slick column of sound, though at 8.5 inches high and 5.5 inches deep, it’s notably bigger than the Era 100. Its acoustic wrapping is a familiar theme found in everything from Bluesound’s latest Pulse Flex to Google’s Nest smart speakers, Its glittering matte base, available in silver/stone or charcoal, and rather gaudy centralized LED remind me of some of the first Wi-Fi speakers I tested back in the 2010s. Mercifully, the light can be dimmed or turned off in the app settings.
Under the Home 200’s grille are three drivers, including dual 1-inch tweeters and a four-inch woofer, powered by three class D amplifiers. The lack of any upfiring or side-firing drivers means any spatial audio you hear is achieved through virtualization, and each of Denon’s Home speakers is set to provide a deeper and wider soundstage than its drivers suggest by default via digital processing.
Denon Home 400
The larger Home 400 offers a few more style points, somewhat reminiscent of a curvy Vegas hotel wrapped in fabric. It sits 8.6 inches high, 5.9 inches deep, and 11.8 inches wide. On top is a stout grille to protect the dual .75-inch upfiring drivers set at angles to help expand spatial audio. Those are joined by two forward-facing 1-inch tweeters, and dual 4.5-inch woofers, each powered by its own class D amplifier.
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Both speakers offer a full swath of touch controls to supplement the HEOS app, including volume, play/pause, an action key for a voice assistant, and three “Quick Select” keys that can be programmed to a desired station or service. The Home 400 sets them on a side control strip, while the Home 200 hosts them on its rounded top. It’s a busier look than the more minimalist Sonos controls, but they’re pretty convenient in daily use.
Connectivity and Smarts
Each of the speakers offers a host of connectivity options, including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (with both 2.4GHz and 5GHz support), a 3.5mm aux input, and a USB connection, which can connect a NAS storage drive or double as an Ethernet input via an adapter (not included). Streaming support includes AirPlay 2, as well as Spotify and TIDAL Connect, and Qobuz Connect. Unlike Sonos speakers, Google Cast isn’t offered, and while there’s an onboard microphone, there’s no support for Google Assistant or Alexa. Siri is (oddly) only available if you have a HomePod connected, so if smarts or voice control are of concern, you’ll want to look elsewhere.
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Denon Home 400 (rear)
As for built-in streaming services, you won’t find the 100+ options Sonos supports, but you’ll get top options like Pandora, Spotify, TIDAL, Deezer, SiriusXM, and Qobuz, as well as loads of available internet radio stations. Apple Music is the biggest miss, available only via AirPlay. Dolby Atmos Music is available from TIDAL and Amazon Music Unlimited, but not Apple Music. Still, two out of three is not bad, and Sonos speakers do not currently support Dolby Atmos Music via TIDAL.
As with other multi-room systems, the Denon Home speakers can be grouped throughout the home, used as surrounds with the Denon Home 550 soundbar, currently the only supported bar, or paired directly with the Denon Home Subwoofer ($649). As expected, two Home 200s or two Home 400s can also be configured as a stereo pair.
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Listening
When I first fired up the Home 200 to stream over Spotify Connect, I was immediately impressed by its width, breadth, and just how much bass the little speaker was able to muster. Vocals sounded slightly echoed, but since I was playing the speaker in the background, I didn’t pay it much attention at first.
After digging in deeper with some of my go-to test tracks, I noticed the speaker was making some odd choices in balancing frequencies, especially for more complex tracks. In Radiohead’s “Burn the Witch,” the entrance of the frantic strings seemed to push back the vocals the way I push my dog into the back seat on a road trip. I soon realized that each of Denon’s Home speakers defaults to an “Auto” mode, which attempts to virtualize every track for spatial audio, including stereo music, with varying results.
After switching to the alternate “Pure” mode, I found much more to like about the Home 200, which offers clarity, instrumental definition, and sheer potency that goes beyond the vast majority of speakers in its class—a good thing considering its price point. The bass in even basic pop tunes like Hall and Oates’ “Sarah Smiles” is reproduced with character and texture. The acoustic guitar in Joni Mitchel’s “California” is cut with a spritely vibrance that gives an almost live quality, while percussion and cymbals in tracks like White Denim’s “A Place to Start” show off serious sparkle in the upper midrange and treble.
Moving to the Home 400 stepped up the performance considerably. Again, I much preferred the “Pure” sound for everything besides Dolby Atmos Music (more on that below). Oddly, choosing the Pure mode means you can no longer adjust EQ on either speaker, but luckily, I rarely felt the need to. This model offers hefty punch for its size, and not just in the bass. Midrange instruments are rendered with impressive punch and muscle, and the speaker easily filled my room at midrange volume without any noticeable distortion. Occasionally, the splashy upper midrange pushed toward the edge of sharpness, but never crossed over.
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Caroline Polachek’s revelatory dance track, “Welcome to My Island,” absolutely bumps on the Home 400, summoning a clean, expansive soundstage as her ethereal vocals sit out front of the groove with unabashed rawness. The timbre of each synth and percussive element is given a spotlight, with plenty to explore in the space between, and the crescendo into each chorus reveals impressive dynamic expression.
Sound Check
Sonos Era 100 (left) vs. Denon Home 200 (right)
Comparing the Home 200 to the Era 100 directly, Denon’s pricier speaker provided a bigger, cleaner sound, with better bass and finer attention to the small details. For its part, the Era 100 sounds a little smoother and more streamlined across the frequency range, with better consistency across genres.
Even so, the Home 200 outduels its smaller rival with its flashier, more engaging sonic signature, digging deeper into the texture of each instrument. If you care to try it, you’ll get a much wider soundstage in the Auto mode, even for stereo tracks, with instruments seeming to pop out multiple feet from its relatively meager footprint.
It’s a similar story with the Home 400, which is not only louder and more nuanced than the Era 300 in everyday listening, but also provides a more full-bodied sound across registers. That’s most noticeable in the meat of the sound, with midrange instruments like vocals, guitar, and percussion all offering a bigger, weightier punch. The Era 300 competes well in the bass and treble, with its futuristic, rounded sides providing some impressive acoustic efficiency. In most cases, though, the Home 400’s bigger, more precise sound signature is more satisfying.
Sonos Era 300 (left) and Denon Home 400 (right)
The one caveat is when I switched to Dolby Atmos Music, which I mostly tested on the service both brands support, Amazon Music Unlimited. Setting aside the sheer difficulty in both sourcing and actually tracking down good Dolby Atmos mixes, something with which the format in general continues to struggle across sources, the two speakers were on a more even playing field for 3D audio tracks.
That’s not too surprising, given that the Era 300 offers both upfiring and side-firing drivers for a more expansive and immersive soundstage than the Home 400 offers in its Pure mode. The slip-sliding space guitars and pop-up background vocals in Elton John’s “Rocket Man” (still one of the best Atmos mixes out there) were sent cascading around the room with the Era 300, whereas the Home 400 sounded more compact and resigned.
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That changed when I switched back to the previously maligned Auto mode, which used some surprisingly effective digital processing to push the sound well beyond the speaker’s physical footprint, by what sounded like six or seven feet. Unlike with stereo tracks, Auto mode did not introduce obvious frequency emphasis, overly echoed vocals, or strange compression with Dolby Atmos content.
Taken purely on sonic ability, the Home 200 and Home 400 outperform their Sonos rivals.
Usability
Sonos makes up some ground in daily use. Some of that may come down to my familiarity with the Sonos app, but it still offers a cleaner, more intuitive layout, especially for speaker grouping. Sonos’ method of selecting speakers and tapping “Apply” feels smoother and simpler than HEOS’ approach, which requires creating or dissolving different speaker groups in the Rooms tab.
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Sonos also offers a simpler method for controlling features like EQ, which, unlike Denon’s speakers, is available at any time from the device settings. As mentioned, I was also confused by Denon’s decision to virtualize all audio to 3D sound by default, even in the stereo-only Home 200.
I was also surprised to find that the Home speakers convert lossless audio to compressed AAC by default. To get lossless playback, you have to go into each speaker’s settings and change Multi-room Audio Quality from Normal to High. The app even warns you to use Ethernet or “excellent Wi-Fi” first, though I had no major issues on my network.
The Bottom Line
Denon’s Home 200 and Home 400 deliver sound quality that rises above most speakers in their class, including Sonos, though the higher pricing is impossible to ignore. The HEOS app is relatively easy to use, setup is as slick as anything I’ve tested, and I had no issues using the speakers solo or grouped throughout my home over multiple weeks of testing.
They can also be connected to a Denon subwoofer or soundbar, and the potential for broader integration with Denon AV receivers could make the system even more versatile down the line. That makes the latest Denon Home speakers legitimate Sonos competitors, especially with newer formats like Dolby Atmos Music, where the Home 400 proved to be one of the stronger performers in the category.
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Even so, they fall short of being the proverbial “Sonos killers.” You get fewer streaming services, fewer streaming options, no Chromecast support, and Denon’s HomePod-dependent Siri integration pales next to Sonos’ built-in Alexa and Sonos Voice Control.
That’s fine. This is not a zero-sum market, and Denon still makes a serious splash with some of the best multi-room speakers I’ve heard in this class. For listeners who want excellent performance in a multi-room system that gets close to Sonos simplicity, the Denon Home 200 and Home 400 deliver.
One of the latest in Craft Recordings’ excellent Bluesville reissue series is a hard to find (and rather collectible) 1961 release by the great blues legend Lightnin’ Hopkins called Blues In My Bottle. Recorded exactly one week after I was born, the all-analog process (AAA) lacquers for this outstanding reissue were cut by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab at Blue Heaven Studio. The perfectly quiet, well centered 180-gram vinyl was pressed at Quality Record Pressing in conjunction with Acoustic Sounds.
Blues In My Bottle offers an extremely strong production aesthetic as far as early blues records go but the notion of whether it is “demo disc” worthy for showing off your audio system may be a matter of personal preference. I found the recording to be super intimate, just Lightnin’ Hopkins’ voice and acoustic guitar recorded in early stereo.
The kicker for me is the simple rawness of the recording which makes this album feel extra authentic on many levels. Stick with me here. You see, it seems that Mr. Hopkins, no doubt enthusiastic about recording, got a little too close to the microphone on certain tracks such as “Wine Spodee-O-Dee.” This resulting distortion (probably sending the VU meter into the red) is precisely what makes this recording feel so incredibly real, and in your face. Its less like you are listening to a studio session and more like he is performing in a club or bar where the artist moves around a bit periodically.
Don’t get me wrong: the recording is really good overall. Hopkins’ guitar sounds quite rich and natural, almost alarmingly so for recording that is 65 years old. And of course the songs are haunting, from “Death Bells” to “Jailhouse Blues” — this is some real deal acoustic blues.
A used copy of Blues in My Bottle surfaced in the bargain bin at a local record store just in time for this review, giving me a useful point of comparison for the new edition, even if it was not a rare original pressing. Probably from the late 1970s or early 1980s, it feels similar to the old Fantasy Records “Original Jazz Classics” series. However, instead of the ID number using the OJC prefix, it says “OBC” which I’m assuming means Original Blues Classics.
The OBC version sounds pretty good too, and that same distortion is in place leading me to believe it is very much a part of the original recording.
Comparatively, this new Craft Bluesville edition sounds much warmer than the OBC edition. The vinyl and pressing quality are world’s better as are the production elements right down to the labels and cover art. As you can see from this picture, they didn’t put a whole lot of effort into trying to re-create the original cover look and feel. Thus it turned it out almost monochromatic. The new edition is clearly the one to get. Highly recommended.
Mark Smotroff is a deep music enthusiast / collector who has also worked in entertainment oriented marketing communications for decades supporting the likes of DTS, Sega and many others. He reviews vinyl for Analog Planet and has written for Audiophile Review, Sound+Vision, Mix, EQ, etc. You can learn more about him at LinkedIn.
Most soundbars make a reasonable attempt at filling a room with sound, but stop well short of convincing you that the sound is actually moving around you rather than just emanating from a bar under the television.
The key differentiator here is Sound Motion technology, which Sonos describes as one of the most significant breakthroughs in audio engineering in decades, allowing 14 custom-built drivers to produce clear, deep, and balanced sound from within a genuinely slim enclosure.
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That driver array delivers a 9.1.4 spatial audio configuration with Dolby Atmos, which means sound is not just spread left and right but positioned precisely above and around you, making the difference between watching a film and feeling present inside one.
Dialogue clarity is handled separately through an AI-powered Speech Enhancement feature that actively detects the human voice and sharpens it across four adjustable levels, so dense scenes or quieter moments do not require you to reach for the remote.
Trueplay calibration measures the acoustics of your specific room and adjusts the sound output accordingly, so the Sonos Arc Ultra performs at its best regardless of whether it is in a large open-plan space or a smaller dedicated viewing room.
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The setup runs through a single HDMI eARC connection, and control works across your TV remote, the Sonos app, touch controls on the bar itself, and Amazon Alexa, with Apple AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect handling music streaming duties when the television is off.
The Sonos Arc Ultra is a serious piece of kit aimed at people who have already invested in a good screen and want the audio to match it, and $200 off makes the ask considerably more reasonable than it was at full price.
Not sure if the Arc Ultra is the right fit for your setup? Our best Bluetooth speakers, best smart speakers, and best outdoor speakers guides for 2026 run through the strongest alternatives across every use case and budget, so you can find the right option whether you are upgrading a living room, a kitchen, or a garden.
Dirty Frag, Copy Fail, and Fragesia show the new reality
OPINIONDirty Frag, Copy Fail, and Fragnesia are less a random cluster of Linux bugs and more the public unveiling of how AI tools can pry open security holes with just a prompt or two. What they also have in common is their shared abuse of a core kernel abstraction: The page cache. What does this mean for you and me? Is this the rainstorm before a downpour of killer Linux security problems, or is this just a shower? It depends on who you ask.
Whatever else may be true, these problems must be addressed. As Igor Seletskiy, CEO of CloudLinux, said: “The real story here is that we typically see one or two kernel-level LPE (Linux privilege escalations) vulnerabilities that affect multiple distros/versions per year. And now we see two such vulnerabilities one week apart. We should expect this trend to continue for quite a few months, meaning companies might have to reboot servers weekly.”
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Ouch!
But is this the start of a trend? Linus Torvalds, who knows a thing or two about Linux, said at Open Source Summit North America in Minneapolis that until recently, the kernel community would quietly notify distributions about a bug and ask them to upgrade without detailing the vulnerability, and “most of the time, nobody would figure out what happened.” That was then. This is now. With AI‑accelerated analysis, he recalled that “last week, we fixed the bug; within three hours, there was a blog post about the implications of that bug fix, because security people love getting attention.”
As a result of this kind of thing, Torvalds has changed how the Linux security community will deal with AI-discovered security holes. “AI-detected bugs are pretty much by definition not secret, and treating them on some private list is a waste of time for everybody involved – and only makes that duplication worse because the reporters can’t even see each other’s reports.”
In addition, Torvalds added, in the case of AI-discovered bugs, you need to keep in mind that just “because you found it with AI, 100 other people also found it with AI.”
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That means we’re going to hear a lot more about Linux security problems. But are they getting worse? I asked Greg Kroah-Hartman, the Linux stable kernel maintainer, and he told me: “Maybe? It’s hard to tell; the ‘recent’ ones really are very minor, as the number of systems that have ‘untrusted users’ is not common anymore. I don’t see any real uptick in our actual bug fixes that I can tell.”
He continued: “We fix bugs like that on a daily basis, it’s just the rise of people wanting to ‘name a bug’ and release a public exploit seems to be all the rage at the moment.”
An important point that Chris Wright, Red Hat’s CTO, made at Red Hat Summit, the week before, is that in “security, all things aren’t created equal. There will always be a spectrum of vulnerabilities that will surface. Some of those will be really critical and we will need to respond very quickly, so that becomes a clear priority. Others will have a longer tail of lower severity.”
Torvalds also added at Open Source Summit that just because you read stories about Linux and AI-discovered bugs, you shouldn’t think the same thing isn’t happening to proprietary software, such as Windows. “If you think that AI can’t reverse engineer closed source, you’re in for a surprise.” In fact, he warned, “closed source is even worse in this respect, because the AI can’t help you fix those problems, but the AI sure can help find those problems in the first place.”
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He also discouraged security researchers from publishing working exploits: “When it comes to things that really are security issues, you may not want to make the exploit public… Don’t be that guy who then crows about it publicly and says, ‘Look, I could bring down this big company.’”
Following on this theme, Christopher “CRob” Robinson, chief security architect for the Open Source Software Foundation (OpenSSF), told The Register that thanks to AI, “roughly 30 percent of reported Linux security bugs were duplicates. That’s going to be another problem in this AI age, where everybody’s a researcher, right, with a $20 cloud code account.” That, in turn, will burden already overworked maintainers with yet more patches to deal with.
Linux, Torvalds added, is something that its maintainers can handle. Smaller open source projects, however, are all too likely to be overwhelmed.
So what does this mean? Yes, we’re going to see a lot more security vulnerabilities showing up in Linux and other open source projects. Yes, some of them will be serious, and all too many will have exploits out before the patches arrive. It’s not, however, that Linux has suddenly become less secure. It’s that AI eyes are much better at detecting bugs than human eyes have ever been. We will catch up, and AI can help with that, too.
In the meantime, system administrators and developers will have to be more security-conscious than ever before. As Wright told The Reg, it’s high time we switched from using SELinux in permissive to restrictive mode. Enforcing strict security is a pain, but what’s even more of a pain is having to rebuild your containers and servers after a serious attack gets through. ®
Philips monitor lets two users work on opposite screens simultaneously
Dual-sided design combines two Full HD displays in one unit
Monitor rotates 180 degrees, and each side supports independent HDMI and USB-C connections
Philips has introduced a dual-sided business monitor which places two full HD IPS displays back-to-back inside a single rotating monitor structure.
The Philips 24B2D5300 uses two 23.8-inch panels running at 1920 x 1080 resolution with refresh rates reaching 120 Hz.
Each display includes separate HDMI and USB-C connectivity, allowing independent use from either side without requiring additional external display hardware.
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Designed for multi-user and multitasking needs
Unlike earlier dual-sided products largely designed as digital signage, this model focuses on office productivity, collaborative workspaces, and customer-facing environments requiring shared screen access.
Philips describes the design as “two screens, one smarter interaction,” emphasizing shared access rather than conventional multi-monitor arrangements occupying larger desk footprints.
Two different users can share this single physical device without any conflict between their activities, or a single user can extend or mirror content across both screens for seamless collaboration.
The monitor supports a built-in 180-degree swivel mechanism, allowing quick rotation of the entire monitor unit, without repositioning the stand or disconnecting any attached power cables.
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A feature called DualView enables independent operation of each screen from one connected computer source.
This setup works much like a daisy-chained configuration but uses no extra monitor stands or desks. Users can extend their desktop across both panels for more visible screen space.
Cloning the same image onto the opposite side is also an available option for presentations.
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This device also features SmartView, which allows split-screen viewing on each display panel at the same time, meaning up to three different applications can run from a single connected computer unit.
Practical benefits
Philips claims this unusual design occupies only half the space of two separate conventional monitors.
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Shared workstations, front reception desks, and customer-facing environments represent the intended use cases here.
Each of the two screen sides includes both an HDMI port and a USB-C port for flexible connections.
The monitor also incorporates SoftBlue Technology to reduce harmful blue light emissions significantly, and Philips notes this feature is “tested and TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light (Hardware Solution) certified for its effectiveness.”
A pair of built-in stereo speakers handles basic multimedia playback needs without requiring external audio hardware.
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An average home user probably has no genuine need for a screen facing two opposite directions simultaneously.
However, for an office space or a public domain where space is an issue, this device may be relevant.
Compaq once stood as a giant in personal computers. Decades later, the brand lives on through licensing agreements with other companies. One result is the Qtab Pro, an 11-inch Android tablet now available on store shelves. The story behind it mixes history with everyday hardware in ways that keep drawing attention.
People who remember Compaq from the 80s and 90s may get a glimmer of nostalgia when they see the old logo again. Of course Compaq itself is long gone, all that’s left is the memory, because it merged with HP back in the day. Since then, a number of different companies have acquired the rights to use the brand on their products. Trident Corp, based in Mexico, now has the rights to use the Compaq name on a variety of devices. These include phones, smart TVs, Bluetooth speakers, and, yes, tablets such as this one. The Qtab Pro tablet costs $250 and comes pre-installed with Android 15.
Immersive Visual & Audio Entertainment: The TCL TAB 10 Gen 4 tablet features a 10.1-inch IPS FHD display with 1920×1200 resolution and a 16:10 aspect…
Smooth & Intelligent Performance: Driven by a powerful octa-core processor and enhanced with TCL NXTURBO hardware-software optimization, the TCL TAB…
All-Day Battery Life with Fast Charging: Stay productive and entertained all day with the TCL TAB 10 Gen 4 Android tablet, powered by a 6000mAh…
When you first open the box, a few small surprises appear. There’s the tablet itself, as well as a clever little case that folds out to act as a stand, a charging adapter, a USB-C cable, a tool for removing the SIM card, and a manual, but the real kicker is that the tablet already comes with two fairly decent screen protectors installed on the display. That display is a standard 11-inch with full HD quality, and the device itself feels light as a feather, designed for carrying in your bag as a daily companion rather than making a statement.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 685 octa-core processor powers the operation, paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. That’s more than enough power to handle the average user’s needs without breaking a sweat. You can watch videos in 1080p at 60 frames per second without a lag, and apps open quickly enough for browsing, streaming, and doing some work. They also included twin SIM slots, so you can stay connected on the road even when there is no internet available.
The software is as clean as it gets, as it’s almost stock Android. All of the Google apps load quickly, and there is little unnecessary trash on the device. Michael MJD performed a brief examination and discovered that it is running a security patch from mid-2025 and a weird updater program that requests some quite extensive rights, but otherwise it is a regular Android experience. The battery life is also pretty standard, lasting a couple hours of mixed use.
Memorial DaY brings discounts to the mattress models we test all year long, and the sales are going strong. As a seasoned deal hunter, I know that mattresses go on sale pretty often, but whenever someone asks me the best time to buy, I tell them to wait until Memorial Day or Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you’ve been in the market for a new mattress, now’s the time to act.
The WIRED Reviews team thoroughly tests the best mattresses long-term. We don’t conduct “nap tests” or base recommendations on first impressions. Our top picks are tried-and-true, and they’re on sale right now. We’ll also include some deals on bedding, pillows, mattress toppers, and other sleep accessories as we update this story through the weekend. Prices shown are for queen sizes.
Use our exclusive coupon code WIRED27 to get 27 percent off our very favorite mattress for most people. We’ve seen it sell for about $100 less before, and they’ve thrown in more freebies, but this is still a great deal. Just be aware that the price might drop a little later in the month. In any case, the Midnight Luxe Hybrid is springy and medium-firm and should be well suited to any style of sleeping. The individually wrapped springs are zoned so that you have more support where you need it to prevent back pain. It also doesn’t get too warm, though it’s thick enough that you’ll want deep-pocketed sheets. It’s been our favorite mattress for over eight years.
Get caught up on the latest technology and startup news from the past week. Here are the most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of May 17, 2026.
Friends and colleagues remembered S. “Soma” Somasegar, the longtime Microsoft developer leader and Madrona managing director, as a generous mentor to developers and founders, and a fixture of Seattle’s tech community. … Read More
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Yusuf Mehdi, one of Microsoft’s best-known and longest-serving business leaders, whose tenure has spanned 35 years from Windows 3.1 to Copilot, plans to leave the company after one more year — his “final season,” as he called it in an interview. … Read More
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Apple will be adding support for Google Cast and other alternatives to AirPlay as part of iOS 27, in order to appease the EU’s Digital Markets Act.
The Digital Markets Act is viewed by Apple as a problem, due to a lack of clarity about regulatory requirements and their effects. While this has so far meant the blocking of some features from reaching the continent, Apple is meeting halfway by abiding by some elements.
One of those will apparently be a change to iOS 27 for connecting to other devices. While Apple already has AirPlay for that, it will be moving to add more support for other solutions.
Sources told Mark Gurman that third-party streaming support is on the way, according to his “Power On” newsletter for Bloomberg on Sunday. This would chiefly include supporting Google Cast, the Android-centric alternative.
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Users will be able to set AirPlay or another framework as the default way of beaming content between devices.
It isn’t made clear whether the third-party solutions would be available as a global option or just for users in the EU. Apple hasn’t been consistent with how it implements such regulatory-based features, like with alternative app stores in the EU versus emulators being available everywhere.
There will be more changes on the way for iOS 27 to appease more EU demands, too. This apparently involves third-party app storefront support as well as sideloading.
Giving a digital inch
Apple’s compliance with the DMA with iOS 27 changes are inevitable, despite Apple’s defiance on the matter. Apple has been concerned about being pushed to comply, especially when dealing with the inherent security risks of opening up access.
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The dislike of DMA and the EU’s push to comply has already led to various features not being available to European users.
This includes macOS Tahoe‘s Live Activities, mirroring those from the user’s iPhone. There’s also iPhone mirroring, a feature that displays the iPhone display on a Mac‘s screen, which has been absent since 2024.
While the iOS 27 changes won’t necessarily include already-blocked elements, it is a step on the long road for Apple to do so.
AirPods users will see different personal audio controls in iOS 27, with an improved settings menu that should make them easier to manage.
While AirPods don’t really have an operating system that gets featured at WWDC, the audio line can still be affected by changes. For WWDC 2026, that will involve iOS 27 as well as iPadOS 27, and macOS 27.
According to Mark Gurman in Sunday’s “Power On” newsletter for Bloomberg, Apple will be altering how the AirPods are controlled within the operating systems. A revamp for the settings menu will apparently make it more functional and better organized.
The change will make it easier for users to manage AirPods overall. There’s also a claim that major features will be better highlighted to users, however details were not disclosed in the report.
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Apple is updating the controls after hearing feedback from users, who have apparently urged for there to be a separate AirPods control app. Such an app would copy the versions available to the Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro.
However, it is doubtful that such an app would make its way to iOS and iPadOS anytime soon.
The Apple Watch helped define the modern smartwatch industry when it launched in 2015. It transformed wearables from niche gadgets into mainstream consumer products, generated billions in revenue for Apple, and eventually became a gateway into the company’s broader health and wearables ecosystem. But more than a decade later, Apple now appears to be entering a far more uncertain phase in the category it once dominated.
According to Mark Gurman’s PowerOn Bloomberg newsletter, watchOS 27 is expected to focus largely on stability improvements, performance refinements, and smaller upgrades rather than major new features. While Apple is reportedly improving heart-rate tracking behind the scenes, the update may lack the kind of headline innovations that once defined the Apple Watch platform.
Apple’s wearables strategy is facing new pressure
The slowdown comes as the broader wearables market is changing rapidly. Consumers are increasingly moving away from screen-heavy devices and toward simpler products focused on passive health tracking, longer battery life, and AI-driven wellness insights.
Companies like Oura Health and Whoop have built major businesses around screenless rings and fitness bands that prioritize recovery, sleep analysis, and actionable coaching over notifications and apps. Even Google is reportedly pushing toward lighter, minimalist wearable experiences through Fitbit products.
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Apple WatchUnsplash
Apple still holds major advantages through its ecosystem integration, hardware design, and health sensors. But critics increasingly argue that the company risks becoming too cautious while rivals move faster in AI-powered health technology.
The issue may not only be hardware. Apple’s Health app, despite years of development, is often criticized for presenting large amounts of medical data without delivering meaningful insights or personalized coaching. Competitors like Oura and Whoop are increasingly focusing on turning raw health information into practical recommendations and behavioral guidance.
Leadership changes add more questions
Apple’s health division has also seen major leadership turnover. Former COO Jeff Williams, long associated with Apple’s health strategy, retired last year, while multiple senior executives tied to Apple Watch, health, and Fitness+ initiatives have recently departed the company.
Apple WatchUnsplash
Incoming CEO John Ternus is expected to keep health and AI central to Apple’s long-term roadmap, but many of the company’s more ambitious health projects remain years away. One of the most closely watched efforts is Apple’s noninvasive glucose monitoring project, which aims to measure blood sugar levels without finger pricks or blood draws.
For now, though, watchOS 27 may reflect a company choosing refinement over experimentation. That strategy helped Apple avoid many Silicon Valley-style missteps in the past. But in areas like AI and digital health, where competitors are evolving rapidly, playing it safe may no longer be enough.
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