In terms of fit and feel, Apple’s earbuds have always been a source of contention. Some swear by the sealed tips on the Pro models for keeping everything out, while others prefer the normal versions to prevent the uncomfortable plugged-up feeling. Then Apple debuted the AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation, and for $119 (was $179), they manage to make a huge difference in terms of quietness without requiring you to insert a seal into your ear canal.

Apple’s designers spent some time adjusting the contour of these earphones to ensure they fit more firmly in your ear than their predecessors. Simply screw them in gently and they will stick firmly, even during a bumpy subway journey or a fast stroll. They’re also far more comfortable, because to the curved shape, which prevents pressure points from forming over time. To top it off, they’re dust and water resistant to a considerable degree.

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The case design has also been improved, as it is now somewhat smaller and allows wireless charging and USB-C for rapid top-ups, while the sound on these earbuds is excellent. The bass comes through clearly and does not overpower the mids, allowing you to easily identify different instruments in a song. The treble is also sparkling and detailed, so it doesn’t get too jumbled like it used to.

Adaptive EQ works by fine-tuning the sound to your ear shape on the fly, resulting in a pleasant, consistent sound over a wide range of music. It also works the same for calls, as Voice Isolation removes background noise, allowing you to be heard clearly on the other end. Active noise cancellation in an open ear setup may seem improbable at first, but it is really quite effective in real-world conditions. So you won’t be able to hear low rumbles from airplanes, buses, or office air conditioning systems, which helps to quiet things down. When you have music playing at an appropriate volume, it makes everything more enjoyable. You can enable Transparency mode if you need to have a quick chat or whatever.

The battery life is also fairly decent, with 4 hours of listening with noise cancellation and 20 hours with the case. Without ANC, it is 5 and 30 hours, respectively. Fast charging allows you to just place them in the case for a short period of time and have enough juice to last for an extended period. Oh, and the case has a little built-in speaker that you can use with Find My if you misplace it.

X is rolling out a built-in “Paid Partnership” label that creators can apply to sponsored posts, replacing the hashtag workarounds they’ve had to rely on until now. The feature, by the platform’s head of product Nikita Bier, adds a toggle that places a disclosure label directly below a post’s content. It can also be applied retroactively.

The label is meant to help creators comply with years-old requiring clear disclosure of sponsored content. The agency reminding influencers about this requirement in 2017, and a disclosure feature that same year. Without a native tool, X creators had been left to use hashtags like #ad and #paidpartnership.

X has been trying to court creators for some time with tools like and creator , but the platform still struggles with major image issues following a string of scandals like . The Elon Musk-owned platform is under investigation both and for the AI agent’s behavior.

Donut Lab, a Finnish company, recently released some impressive test data demonstrating how their solid-state battery handles extreme temperatures that conventional lithium-ion cells would struggle to deal with. The test results come from a series of measurements conducted by the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, a respected, government-backed research organization. They needed to figure out precisely how high the heat could reach before this Donut Lab cell, rated at 3.6 volts and 26 amp-hours, blew up in smoke (or some other way), so they decided to put it through its paces.

The engineers first established a baseline at a comfortable 20°C, at which point the cell delivered 24.9 amp-hours of capacity during a standard 1C discharge (or, to put it another way, the cell was chucking out a whopping 24 amps in one hour), but then they ramped up the temperature to 80°C, or ‘high heat’ to you and me, and discharged the cell again at the same rate. To their surprise, the cell managed to muster 27.5 amp-hours, which is around 110.5% of what it could manage at ambient temperature, and then outperformed that at 100°C (though at a lower 0.5C rate of 12 amps to keep things stable). There, the cell produced 27.6 amp-hours, or 107.1% of the beginning amount.

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The clear upshot of all of this is that when the temperature increased, the internal resistance in the solid electrolyte decreased, allowing the ions to move about more freely, which increased the battery’s useful energy output significantly. After both high discharges, they returned the cell to ambient temperature and recharged it normally; fortunately, no permanent damage was discovered from the electrical angle. Not so good news: at 100°C, the pouch cell lost its vacuum seal, most likely owing to gas buildup or material weakening, although it still functioned properly.

Conventional lithium-ion batteries use liquid electrolytes that become wobbly when temperatures rise above 60-70°C, causing a variety of problems such as vaporisation, swelling, rapid degradation, and, in the worst-case scenario, the dreaded thermal runaway, in which the cell becomes so hot that it is essentially a fire waiting to happen. Solid-state designs replace the liquid with a non-flammable solid, which, for obvious reasons, eliminates the source of all the problems. Donut Lab’s version appears to be capitalising on this advantage, transforming what would be a major issue for other batteries into a little but significant benefit.

This test adds to the evidence Donut Lab is using to support the claim that their battery technology is suitable for use in the real world. Donut Lab unveiled their Donut Battery as the first all-solid-state battery pack ready for cars at CES 2026, and it wasn’t just a pipe dream, as they claimed some pretty impressive numbers, including 400 watt-hours per kilogram energy density, full charges in 5 minutes, and a mind-boggling 100,000 cycles with almost no fade. The cells are really powering various Verge Motorcycles models that will hit the road this quarter, with the boast that they can hold more than 99% of capacity from -30°C to 100°C.

For the last couple of years, the mid-range smartphone pitch has been simple: offer a rounded package without making the obvious compromises. A good screen, solid battery life, and decent performance go a long way. That’s why the iPhone 17e vs Pixel 10a matchup is a bit spicy.

Google’s Pixel 10a still seems like a sensible pick; familiar, practical, and easy to recommend. But Apple’s iPhone 17e is doing something disruptive, which is making the “budget iPhone” feel like the real deal.

And that’s what makes the Pixel 10a look worse.

The 128GB era isn’t dead, but Apple just made it embarrassing

Apple has effectively killed the 128GB baseline. The iPhone 17e starts at $599 for 256GB, with no 128GB version at all. Google’s Pixel 10a, on the other hand, starts at $499 for 128GB and costs $599 for 256GB. If you come down to a direct, same-price comparison, storage isn’t the dunk it looks like at first. But Apple’s move still matters because it upgrades the default. On the 17e, 256GB is the baseline reality. On the Pixel 10a, it’s the version you have to consciously choose.

It also makes the iPhone 17e feel like a more meaningful upgrade over last year’s iPhone 16e, which launched at the same $599, but with 128GB. That’s a real bump in everyday value.

PixelSnap snubbed the 10a, while Apple brought in the whole ecosystem

The Pixel 10a feels oddly incomplete because Google seemingly decided to skip the Qi2 magnetic charging support on the budget phone. PixelSnap was a big update to the Pixel experience, and this makes the 10a feel like the one phone in the Pixel 10 lineup that can’t really tap into that new accessory push.

Apple did the opposite. The iPhone 17e gains MagSafe support (and Qi2) that was originally missing on its predecessor. This brings Apple’s magnetic charging-and-accessory ecosystem to the “e” tier. This is one of those features that doesn’t look like a headline spec until you live with it. Magnetic chargers, stands, wallets, and car mounts — it’s convenience you stop thinking about because it just works.

Apple making MagSafe standard here gives the 17e something the Pixel 10a doesn’t have: a budget phone that still feels like it belongs to a larger ecosystem.

The real $100 trade-off isn’t specs, it’s how complete the phone feels

Yes, the Pixel 10a is $100 cheaper at the entry point. But Apple is betting that $100 buys you more than storage. It buys you fewer compromises:

• The base configuration that doesn’t feel like a trap
• MagSafe as a real daily-life bonus
• A more polished “it just fits” story. It’s not just accessories, but how the 17e slots into Apple’s broader ecosystem (Macs, iPads, Watch) in ways that feel less optional and more baked in

This is where the iPhone 17e starts pulling ahead. It’s not just good for the money; it feels like Apple has decided that the ‘e’ model shouldn’t come with an asterisk.

The Pixel 10a does have two big wins, though

To be fair, the Pixel 10a isn’t showing up completely empty-handed.

First, the display. All of the performance gains of the iPhone 17e’s A19 feel a bit wasted on a phone still locked to a 60Hz display. It’s like a lion caged in a tiny box. Google’s aging Tensor G4 might not win benchmark wars, but the 120Hz screen will make the phone feel instantly snappier in scrolling, animations, and everyday use.

Second, software. Where the Pixel 10a really separates itself is software, especially with Google’s AI-driven features that actually feel practical. Real-time scam detection is working quietly in the background. Call Assist can screen unknown numbers and filter spam without you having to deal with the annoyance first.

Features like Call Notes can transcribe and summarize calls, while on-call translation is arguably the most nifty feature of them all. And yet, these are just the tip of the iceberg. The Pixel-only software perks are the kind of thing that becomes sticky once you’re used to them.

The “more compelling upgrade” bottom line

The Pixel 10a’s problem isn’t that it’s bad. It’s that it’s safe.

A safe Pixel a-series release is still a good phone. But the iPhone 17e feels like a more meaningful statement: Apple kept the same $599 starting price while upgrading the things budget iPhones typically cheap out on. That makes the 17e feel like a better upgrade this year, even before you get into the typical talking points of cameras, processors, or benchmarks.

If you’re purely maximizing dollars, the Pixel 10a at $499 will still tempt a lot of people.

But the better choice is the one that feels like fewer compromises. Apple didn’t just tweak the ‘e’ series; it made it more complete. And in the mid-range market, where good enough is everywhere, complete is a pretty nice flex.

Researchers warn that a newly identified open-source AI security testing platform called CyberStrikeAI was used by the same threat actor behind a recent campaign that breached hundreds of Fortinet FortiGate firewalls.

Last month, BleepingComputer reported on an AI-assisted hacking operation that compromised more than 500 FortiGate devices in five weeks. The threat actor behind this campaign used multiple servers, including a web server at 212.11.64[.]250.

In a new report, Senior Threat Intel Advisor for Team Cymru, Will Thomas (aka BushidoToken), says that the same IP address was observed running the relatively new CyberStrikeAI AI-powered security testing platform.

Analyzing NetFlow data, Team Cymru identified a “CyberStrikeAI” service banner running on port 8080 on 212.11.64[.]250 and saw network communications between that IP and Fortinet FortiGate devices the threat actor targeted. The FortiGate campaign infrastructure was last seen running CyberStrikeAI on January 30, 2026.

CyberStrikeAI’s GitHub repository describes itself as an “AI-native security testing platform built in Go” that integrates over 100 security tools, an intelligent orchestration engine, predefined security roles, and a skills system.

“Through native MCP protocol and AI agents, it enables end-to-end automation from conversational commands to vulnerability discovery, attack-chain analysis, knowledge retrieval, and result visualization—delivering an auditable, traceable, and collaborative testing environment for security teams,” reads the project description. The tool includes an AI decision engine compatible with models such as GPT, Claude, and DeepSeek, a password-protected web UI with audit logging and SQLite persistence, and a dashboard for vulnerability management, task orchestration, and attack-chain visualization.

Its tooling allows it to conduct a full attack chain, including network scanning (nmap, masscan), web and application testing (sqlmap, nikto, gobuster), exploitation frameworks (metasploit, pwntools), password cracking tools (hashcat, john), and post-exploitation frameworks (mimikatz, bloodhound, impacket).

By combining these tools with AI agents and an orchestrator, CyberStrikeAI enables operators, even low-skilled ones, to automate attacks against targets. Team Cymru warns that AI-native orchestration engines like this could accelerate automated targeting of exposed edge devices, including firewalls and VPN appliances.

The researchers say they observed 21 unique IP addresses running CyberStrikeAI between January 20 and February 26, 2026, with servers primarily hosted in China, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Additional infrastructure was spotted in the United States, Japan, and Europe. 

“As adversaries increasingly embrace AI-native orchestration engines, we expect to see a rise in automated, AI-driven targeting of vulnerable edge devices, similar to the observed reconnaissance and targeting of Fortinet FortiGate appliances,” explains Thomas.

“In the near future, defenders must be prepared for an environment where tools like CyberStrikeAI, alongside the developer’s other AI-assisted privilege escalation projects like PrivHunterAI and InfiltrateX, significantly lower the barrier to entry for complex network exploitation.”

The researchers also examined the profile of the CyberStrikeAI developer, who goes by the alias “Ed1s0nZ.”

Based on public repositories linked to the account, the developer has worked on additional AI-assisted security tools, including PrivHunterAI, which uses AI models to detect privilege escalation vulnerabilities, and InfiltrateX, a privilege escalation scanning tool.

According to Team Cymru, the developer’s GitHub activity shows interactions with organizations previously linked to Chinese government–affiliated cyber operations.

In December 2025, the developer shared CyberStrikeAI with Knownsec 404’s “Starlink Project.” Knownsec is a Chinese cybersecurity firm with alleged links to the Chinese government.

On January 5, 2026, the developer mentioned receiving a “CNNVD 2024 Vulnerability Reward Program – Level 2 Contribution Award” on their GitHub profile.

The China National Vulnerability Database (CNNVD) is believed to be operated by China’s intelligence community, which allegedly uses it to identify vulnerabilities for its operations. Team Cymru says the reference to CNNVD was later removed from the developer’s profile.

The developer’s GitHub repositories are primarily written in Chinese, suggesting they are a Chinese-speaking developer, and interaction with domestic cybersecurity organizations would not necessarily be unusual.

These new AI-powered cybersecurity tools continue to demonstrate how commercial AI services are increasingly used by threat actors to automate their attacks while, at the same time, lowering the barrier to entry.

Last month, Google also reported that threat actors are abusing Gemini AI across all stages of cyberattacks, empowering the abilities of threat actors of all skill levels.

Malware is getting smarter. The Red Report 2026 reveals how new threats use math to detect sandboxes and hide in plain sight.

Download our analysis of 1.1 million malicious samples to uncover the top 10 techniques and see if your security stack is blinded.

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Call of Duty is getting a new battle royale mode later this month. The popular first-person shooter will introduce Black Ops Royale as a free game mode on March 13.

Black Ops Royale pays homage to Blackout, the series’ first foray into a battle royale game mode back in CoD: Black Ops 4. Matches will have 100 players dropping in as four-person teams. The mode takes place on the massive Avalon map, but there will be no familiar Warzone features like loadouts, the gulag, or buy stations. Instead, it’s all about the scavenging the weapons from the recent Black Ops 7 game and upgrading them.

According to the team’s announcement, there will be other familiar features from the Blackout days such as the weapon handling and bullet drop that have been reimagined for modern-day Warzone players. You’ll also be able to further customize your play style with an open-ended perks system, another nod to the original Call of Duty BR perk mechanic.