Nearly all new TVs and projectors have the ability to decode HDR, or high dynamic range, video. In most cases, HDR content looks better than non-HDR material, though an individual display’s ability to deal with the extra data can vary greatly. There are multiple HDR formats, including Dolby Vision, Dolby Vision 2, HDR10, HDR10 Plus and HLG. Most displays can only decode one or two of these. Likewise, streaming services and 4K Blu-rays typically offer only one or two.
Fortunately, all HDR displays can play HDR content — just not always in the best format available. Here’s what to keep in mind when shopping for a new TV or deciding which streaming service to use for a movie or show.
The basics
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These images attempt to illustrate, on your standard dynamic range screen, what HDR can do on HDR displays. The top left shows how the image appears on an SDR display, tuned so the shadows are visible. Notice how the highlights in the clouds are “blown out,” meaning they lack detail. The upper right shows the HDR version with detail preserved in the clouds. The lower left shows the same image adjusted to preserve the highlights, which causes the shadows to disappear. HDR displays showing HDR content have a wider dynamic range — the difference between the brightest and darkest parts of an image.
HDR10plus.org
In CNET’s TV and projector reviews, we’ve found that both the capabilities of the TV itself and the way HDR is used in the movie or TV show have a greater impact on image quality than the specific HDR format. In other words, just because a display supports a “better” HDR format doesn’t mean it will look better than one that doesn’t. Here’s a tour of the HDR landscape today.
Everything supports HDR10, but many TVs and sources will also have at least one of the other formats.
Dolby Vision and HDR10 Plus can look better in specific ways compared to HDR10. All will look better than non-HDR, standard dynamic range content.
One format might look “better” than another on paper, but in the real world, image quality depends far more on the TV’s overall performance and how the content was made.
Most new TVs can display HDR content, which preserves more detail in both bright and dark areas of an image, creating a greater “dynamic range” than non-HDR content (i.e., pretty much everything you’ve ever watched). That older format is now called SDR, or standard dynamic range. On an HDR TV, HDR content can look far more punchy and vibrant than traditional video.
The dynamic range of what’s captured by the camera (left) and what’s possible on SDR and HDR displays.
AJA
Just having an HDR TV isn’t enough; you also need HDR content. Without it, the TV doesn’t have much to work with. It may still look good and can artificially expand SDR content for a slight improvement, but to get the most out of HDR you need content designed for it. Thankfully, there’s now plenty available, including movies, TV shows and even video games. Chances are your favorite new programs already support HDR.
HDR10
Supported by everything.
Better image quality potential than SDR, but perhaps not as good as HDR10 Plus or Dolby Vision.
Static metadata.
HDR10 is about as close to a universal standard as we’ve got. Because it’s free for manufacturers to use, it’s supported almost everywhere. Every HDR TV can decode it and every HDR streaming device supports it. Nearly all HDR content includes an HDR10 version, sometimes alongside more advanced formats such as Dolby Vision, which we’ll discuss shortly.
HDR10’s main limitation is its “static” metadata, meaning a single HDR “look” is applied to an entire movie or show. That’s still better than SDR, but it doesn’t allow very bright or very dark scenes to look their absolute best within the same film. This one-size-fits-all approach works, but it prevents both the content and the TV from reaching their full potential. Dynamic metadata, which most other HDR formats use, addresses this limitation.
Static metadata is like forcing an entire football team to wear the same size shirt. It might fit the quarterback and look OK on the big linebacker and tiny kicker, but everyone would look better in shirts sized for them.
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HDR10 isn’t backward-compatible with SDR TVs, so it’s no good for broadcast. You’ll find it available with streaming content and on 4K Blu-ray.
HDR10 Plus
Championed by Samsung.
Dynamic metadata.
Potentially better image than vanilla HDR10.
As you may have guessed from the name, HDR10 Plus is similar to HDR10, but with a little plus. The “plus” in this case is dynamic metadata, which improves on HDR10’s static version. This means that on a per-scene — or even per-image — basis, the content can provide the TV with all the information it needs to look its absolute best.
While there are certain fees for manufacturers to use HDR10 Plus, they’re much less than what Dolby charges for Dolby Vision. Because it’s from Samsung, it’s highly unlikely there will ever be an LG TV with HDR10 Plus. Sony is another holdout, likely for similar reasons. However, Epson, TCL, Hisense, Roku and others offer HDR10 Plus compatibility.
It’s a little hard to see in this graphic, but notice how the frames on the right show different levels of brightness in the sky. This example uses a standard dynamic range image on a standard dynamic range screen. HDR10 Plus’s dynamic metadata allows filmmakers to optimize how each shot or scene is displayed. HDR10, by contrast, uses static metadata — a single setting that must serve as a compromise between the darkest and brightest scenes.
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Samsung
On the content side, there’s Amazon, Apple TV, Disney Plus, Paramount Plus and Netflix, among others. Keep in mind that just because a company or streaming service supports HDR10 Plus doesn’t mean that every product or show/movie is compatible with or has HDR10 Plus data.
Potentially the best image quality of all the formats.
Less content available than with HDR10.
The de facto “step up” HDR format.
Dolby Vision, like HDR10 Plus, can have dynamic metadata. Streaming services including Netflix, Amazon, Vudu and Apple TV support it, and you can find it on some 4K Blu-rays. Some Dolby Vision features — including dynamic metadata and color handling — are optional in HDR formatting for NextGen TV, though over-the-air HDR content remains rare.
This is an approximation, using two SDR images, of what you’d see if you placed an SDR and HDR TV side-by-side.
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Dolby
The downside of Dolby Vision is that manufacturers have to pay Dolby to use it. In return, Dolby helps them optimize their TVs to look their best with DV content. For some companies, that’s an easy way to improve picture quality. Larger manufacturers — like a certain Korean brand that begins with the letter S — prefer to invest in their own HDR formats instead, thank you very much.
After HDR10, this is the most popular HDR format, but that doesn’t mean it’s universal. Samsung is the biggest holdout, for reasons mentioned above. Generally speaking, if a company doesn’t support Dolby Vision, it likely supports HDR10 Plus, though some companies support both. There is less Dolby Vision content than there is vanilla HDR10 content, but big-budget movies and TV shows almost always include it.
Dolby
Announced at CES 2026, Dolby Vision 2 introduces several new features. The most controversial, in my opinion, is optional motion smoothing, which would allow directors or showrunners to smooth scenes they consider too juddery, such as fast pans. The format also includes “content intelligence” features that adjust a TV’s performance based on ambient light and the content being shown. Midpriced and lower-end TVs will support the base version of Dolby Vision 2, while higher-end models will offer Dolby Vision 2 Max, which includes the motion-smoothing feature. We’ll have to see how it’s implemented once TVs and compatible content arrive, possibly later this year.
The good news is DV2 is compatible with all current Dolby Vision TVs. Older DV TVs won’t have access to the new features, of course, but the HDR and dynamic metadata will still work.
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HLG
From BBC and NHK.
Free to use.
Broadcast-friendly.
Hybrid Log Gamma was created by Britain’s BBC and Japan’s NHK. Unlike the formats we’ve discussed so far, it’s actually backward-compatible with SDR TVs. One signal that works on both older TVs and newer ones is a huge deal for broadcasters. As you can imagine, it’s not without drawbacks — mainly when it comes to picture quality. Like HDR10, HLG is likely better than SDR, but it may not match the picture quality of some other HDR formats. It’s the format used for over-the-air HDR broadcasts.
A graphical representation of an SDR and HLG signal. The vertical axis is the signal, from broadcast, cable or satellite, for example. “0” is black, “1” is bright white. The horizontal axis is the physical brightness coming out of your television. An SDR TV would see the HLG signal and think it was “normal,” showing an image with, perhaps, better highlight detail. An HDR TV that’s HLG-compatible would understand what to do with the HLG signal and show that brighter information as a physically brighter part of the image (i.e., how HDR normally works).
Public Domain/Creative Commons
There’s already wide TV support. Content is still in the early stages, however. If you can get the BBC’s iPlayer (whether you’re in the UK or using a VPN), that service has HLG support. DirecTV and YouTube also support HLG, but there’s just not a lot of content so far. It’s free and fills an important niche, but it’s been years since it came out and it hasn’t been widely adopted. Some phones can record HDR via HLG, which you can playback on HLG-compatible displays.
Technicolor’s Advanced HDR comes in multiple flavors: SL-HDR1 is similar to HLG in that it’s fully backward-compatible with SDR TVs, allowing for one signal to rule them all; SL-HDR2 has dynamic metadata like HDR10 Plus and Dolby Vision; SL-HDR3 uses HLG as a base, but adds dynamic metadata.
The path to SDR and HDR in one SL-HDR1 signal. The top is the content creation, the bottom is what your TV will do with it. The SDR content is automatically created from the HDR signal.
Technicolor
Content is limited to some NextGenTV broadcasts. It’s unlikely it will get wide acceptance among streaming companies.
Here’s the tl;dr: HDR10 is the main HDR format. Dolby Vision and HDR10 Plus are the step-up options that offer potentially better image quality. All HDR should look better than older SDR content (or the non-HDR version of modern content). NextGenTV continues its slow rollout. The potential of free over-the-air HDR is still there, but at this point it’s in the hands of the individual channels and channel owners as to how much HDR they want to broadcast.
Generally speaking, it’s worth making sure any new TV you’re considering supports either Dolby Vision or HDR10 Plus since the dynamic metadata can make a noticeable difference, especially on the best TVs. The good news is that the majority of new shows, movies and even many games, all support HDR in one way or another. Most TVs and projectors do as well, though of course, some better than others.
Note: This story was first published in 2018 but is updated regularly to reflect new HDR formats and info.
In an unexpected twist, humans have taken some jobs back from AI. Embark Studios’ CEO Patrick Söderlund recently told GamesIndustry.biz that the studio “re-recorded” some of the AI-generated voice lines in Arc Raiders with human voices, only after its successful launch in October.
“There is a quality difference,” Söderlund told GamesIndustry.biz. “A real professional actor is better than AI; that’s just how it is.”
With Arc Raiders’ player count peaking at nearly half a million users on Steam, the game’s breakout success was still marred by its use of text-to-speech AI. While there was no generative AI used for the visuals of the extraction shooter, Embark Studios paid its actors for approval to license their voices for text-to-speech AI, according to Söderlund. Even though Söderlund said that the text-to-speech AI was reserved for lines “that aren’t as essential to the immersion of the experience,” many players weren’t happy with this creative decision.
Responding to the criticism, Embark Studios is seemingly reversing course and relying more on its voice actors. Söderlund said that the studio pays its voice actors for their time in the recording booth and will “continue to bring many of them back as we carry on updating the game.” However, it’s important to note that Söderlund told GamesIndustry.biz that “some” of the AI-generated lines were replaced by voice actors, which could indicate that the studio isn’t looking to completely ditch its text-to-speech AI anytime soon.
Local AI inference gains attention as cloud costs continue rising
Developers increasingly explore running language models directly on personal hardware
External GPU enclosures have existed for some time – typically associated with gaming laptops and graphics acceleration tasks that exceed the capabilities of mobile processors.
Plugable’s newly released TBT5-AI belongs to this category, but introduces a design focused on connecting desktop graphics hardware to laptops for local AI workloads.
The enclosure provides a full-length PCIe x16 slot that allows users to install a desktop-class graphics card inside the external chassis.
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Desktop-class hardware in an external enclosure
An integrated 850-watt power supply delivers the energy required to run high-performance GPUs that would normally only operate inside desktop workstations.
For connectivity, this device comes with a single Thunderbolt 5 cable, which permits direct connection with a laptop, and supports up to 80Gbps of bidirectional bandwidth, while a boost mode can increase throughput to 120Gbps for certain workloads.
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Inside the enclosure, this bandwidth links the installed GPU through PCIe 4.0 x4 lanes, reducing the transfer bottlenecks that limited earlier external GPU designs.
In addition to housing the graphics card, the system functions as a hub that expands connectivity for the attached laptop.
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It delivers up to 96 watts of charging power while also providing 2.5-gigabit Ethernet networking and several high-speed USB ports.
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According to Plugable, many engineers increasingly want to keep model processing and data handling within their own systems, and the TBT5-AI offers just that, as it is designed for developers experimenting with local AI inference environments.
The device allows developers to run large language models directly on local hardware instead of sending workloads to cloud infrastructure.
It supports common local AI frameworks, including llama.cpp, Hugging Face models, and Nvidia’s NIM inference platform.
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Plugable chief technology officer Bernie Thompson said the hardware targets industries where protecting sensitive information remains a strict operational requirement.
“Data privacy is not a feature but a mandate,” Thompson said, referring to sectors such as healthcare, financial services, and legal organizations.
Plugable is also preparing enterprise versions dubbed TBT5-AI16, TBT5-AI32, and TBT5-AI96 that will include bundled graphics processors.
These configurations will integrate a software environment called Plugable Chat, described as an air-gapped AI orchestration platform for regulated organizations.
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The company claims that these systems will shift AI processing away from subscription-based cloud services toward locally controlled computing infrastructure.
Priced at $599.95 as a standalone unit, the Plugable TBT5-AI enclosure was officially released a few days ago, and it is now available via Amazon and Plugable.com.
From the first foldables to the latest and greatest options in the market, from stalwarts like Samsung and Honor, there’s one consistent issue that manufacturers can’t seem to overcome: the crease.
It makes sense when you think about it; when you fold something, it deforms, and a crease appears. It’s just physics. But for some reason, we’re expecting manufacturers to somehow overcome the most fundamental of things – though, to be fair, they’ve been doing a pretty good job at it.
Compared to the grand canyon of a crease that was present on Samsung’s first Fold back in 2019, the crease on modern phones like the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Honor’s new Magic V6 is negligible. You can barely see them head-on, and compared to flip-style foldables with a horizontal crease, the vertical crease in the middle of the screen means you rarely actually touch it.
But it’s when you inevitably have to tap or swipe around the area of the crease that it becomes more apparent – as well as trying to look at the screen side-on, thanks to the overly reflective plastic screens foldables employ.
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For phones whose entire schtick is focused around the big internal screen, it’s a compromise that many smartphone fans simply can’t get over – and I get it. It is a compromise on a phone that can cost easily double that of a pretty solid bar-style flagship like the Pixel 10.
However, with the upcoming Oppo Find N6, the company has managed the impossible; all but erased the crease.
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Oppo has done the impossible with industry-first techniques
So, how has Oppo seemingly done the impossible? It all starts with the hinge – and an all-new manufacturing process Oppo has cooked up.
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Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Rather than just stamping out parts and calling it a day, Oppo laser-scans every hinge component to build an ultra-precise digital model, then uses a new 3D liquid printing process to smooth out microscopic imperfections. Tiny droplets of photopolymer resin are placed exactly where they’re needed, filling in gaps and irregularities before being instantly hardened with UV light.
The end result is a hinge structure that’s far smoother and more consistent than traditional stamped or machined hardware, which in turn helps the inner display sit flatter when you open it up. In fact, Oppo claims that the dip is just 0.05mm deep – thinner than a human hair – compared to the 0.2mm variation found in foldables from Samsung and Honor.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
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The hardware itself has had an upgrade too. The hinge and its wing plates are now made from Grade-5 titanium alloy, making them lighter and stronger than the stainless steel used by many rivals, and allowing Oppo to use a wider waterdrop-style fold.
That wider folding area reduces the pressure on the panel every time you close the phone, which is one of the main reasons creases form in the first place. There’s also an updated carbon fibre support plate beneath the screen to keep everything rigid without adding weight.
The display itself has also had an upgrade, with a new Auto-Smoothing Flex Glass layer that replaces the ultra-thin glass (UTG) used in most other foldables right now. It’s 50% thicker than typical UTG, which gives it greater elasticity and makes it much more eager to spring back to its original shape after being bent.
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Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
That’s key for combating what Oppo engineers call “creep” – a slow shifting of internal layers that can deepen a crease over thousands of folds.
According to Oppo, this combination of titanium hinge, carbon fibre support and Auto-Smoothing Flex Glass delivers an 82% reduction in long-term crease depth compared to last year’s Find N5, and says the N6’s display remained essentially flat, with no visible crease, even after more than 600,000 folds, with the ability to survive up to 1 million folds.
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More impressively, Oppo claims that after 200k folds, the crease measured just 11μm, compared to 72μm on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and 127μm on the Honor Magic V5, proving just how effective it is compared to some of the best foldables around in 2026.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
It’s still there, but you really need to look for it
That’s a very fancy way of saying the Find N6’s internal foldable screen has practically no crease – and having used the phone for the past few weeks, I can confirm that’s largely the case.
If you really go hunting for it, the signs are still there. Angle the screen just right towards a light source and you’ll spot a subtle distortion along the middle – though only when the screen’s off – and a finger run across the hinge reveals a slight indentation.
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Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
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But when I say slight, I really do mean slight. It’s almost imperceptible, and in day-to-day use I simply don’t notice it – aside from the odd moment when I’m actively marvelling at its absence. It has massively boosted my enjoyment of the internal panel as a result.
It really is as close to a crease-free experience as we’ve seen from any manufacturer so far, and it makes the usual foldable trade-off feel far less like a compromise. I’d be surprised if Apple’s first foldable, due later in 2026, can meaningfully beat what Oppo has managed here.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Much more to come next week
Of course, there’s much more to Oppo’s latest flagship foldable than just its disappearing crease, and you might’ve noticed a distinct lack of specs throughout this article – that’s very much on purpose.
Despite having had it in my pocket for the past couple of weeks, I can’t say much more about the Oppo Find N6 until the phone is officially unveiled at its launch event in China on 17 March, but it’s safe to say it’s shaping up to be one of the most exciting foldable launches of 2026.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
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The big question now is whether the Oppo Find N6 will actually get a global release; the Find N5 was limited to select Asian markets like Singapore, Malaysia and China, after all. If Oppo does go wider this time, it could genuinely threaten the dominance of Samsung and Honor in the foldable space – but for now, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s NYT Connections puzzle isn’t easy, but I got a kick out of the wordplay in the purple group. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Critters in a crowd.
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Green group hint: Not fast.
Blue group hint: Silent letter.
Purple group hint: States, but shorter.
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Animal group names.
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Green group: Things associated with being slow.
Blue group: Silent “w.”
Purple group: Words that sound like state abbreviations.
In this week’s “Sunday Reboot,” Alicia Keys takes over an Apple Store, Apple goes off-piste with its TikTok videos, and someone finds out that flight attendants hold the power while on a plane.
Sunday Reboot: AVP, Alicia Keys, and Ads on TikTok
Sunday Reboot is a weekly column covering some of the lighter stories within the Apple reality distortion field from the past seven days. All to get the next week underway with a good first step. This week, Apple had a new App Tracking Transparency on its hands thanks to publishers in Germany, a new hack can trick victims into running Terminal commands to bypass macOS security, and an Apple server outage prevented developers from verifying apps. Some fun stories happened too, alongside the inevitable onslaught of initial hardware reviews and opinions. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
Adobe has agreed to a $150 million settlement to resolve a U.S. government lawsuit that accused the company of making its subscriptions unnecessarily difficult to cancel. As per their statement, the agreement includes $75 million in civil penalties paid to the U.S. government and another $75 million worth of free services for affected customers.
Adobe
The case stemmed from a 2024 lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission over Adobe’s subscription practices. Regulators alleged that Adobe hid early termination fees and created complicated cancellation processes, violating the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA), which requires companies to clearly disclose subscription terms and provide straightforward cancellation options.
Why did regulators sue Adobe over its subscriptions?
The lawsuit focused primarily on Adobe’s “annual paid monthly” plans, which offer a discounted rate but require a year-long commitment. Authorities said the company failed to clearly disclose the early termination fee, which could amount to hundreds of dollars if users canceled early.
Regulators also claimed Adobe made it excessively difficult to cancel subscriptions by forcing customers through a complex series of steps, warnings, and offers. Thankfully, the settlement also requires Adobe to clearly disclose cancellation fees upfront, remind customers before free trials convert to paid plans, and provide simpler ways to cancel subscriptions going forward.
What does Adobe say about the settlement?
Adobe says the settlement closes the case but insists it didn’t do anything wrong. In a statement, the company said it remains committed to clearer subscription options and better transparency, and plans to contact eligible users about the $75 million worth of free services once the deal receives court approval.
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Nonetheless, this episode also highlights how subscription models are facing increasing scrutiny. As more software companies rely on recurring plans, regulators are pushing for clearer pricing and easier cancellations. Hopefully, that means the days of “easy to subscribe, hard to cancel” may finally be numbered.
The Oscars remain the ultimate prize in Hollywood. It’s the award Leonardo DiCaprio chased for decades before finally winning, the stage where Matthew McConaughey’s heartfelt “three things every day” speech moved audiences around the world, and the moment where stars, both new and established, find true validation. And in 2026, the competition for the golden statuette looks fiercer than ever.
Leading the battle are the Best Actor nominees, including Timothée Chalamet for Marty Supreme, who has perhaps been the most vocal about his chase for greatness. But he faces some formidable competition, including Leonardo DiCaprio for One Battle After Another and Michael B. Jordan for Sinners.
On the actresses’ side, Emma Stone for Bugonia is widely considered the favourite, though Jessie Buckley delivered an equally compelling performance in Hamnet. In fact, it was a surprise that her co-star Paul Mescal did not receive a nomination.
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The Oscars 2026 ceremony will air live in more than 100 countries around the world. But some lucky viewers – in the UK and Australia, as well as in the US through a few sneaky methods – can watch the entire three-and-a-half-hour spectacle completely free. Read on to find out how…
How to watch the 2026 Oscars for free
Audiences in the UK and Australia have the easiest way to watch the 2026 Oscars live for free. The ceremony streams on free platforms in both countries.
Away from home? Use a VPN to access your local streaming services from anywhere in the world.
Use a VPN to access the 2026 Oscars from anywhere
NordVPN is our best VPN (we actually have our own in-house expert, Mike, who tests VPNs 24/7 and he rates NordVPN top for price, streaming, security, etc).
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Nothing works as well as Nord when it comes to unblocking streaming services – so you can access your favorite Oscar 2026 live streams from anywhere!
Quick start: Using a VPN to watch the 2026 Oscars free
2. Connect to a server based in your home country where the ceremony is free to watch, such as the UK, Australia, or even the US.
3. Fire up ITVX, 7plus, or a US free-trial streaming service of your choice, such as Hulu or YouTube TV.
5. Watch the 2026 Oscars on streaming without cable TV, from anywhere, for FREE.
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When will the 2026 Oscars take place?
The 98th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, March 15, at the iconic Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles. The ceremony will begin at 7pm ET / 4pm PT, with the show expected to run for around three and a half hours.
Who will host the 2026 Oscars?
Conan O’Brien has been confirmed as the host of the 98th Academy Awards for what will be his second consecutive year.
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Oscars 2026 nominations
Category 1: Actor in a Leading Role Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle after Another Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon Michael B. Jordan, Sinners Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent
Category 2: Actor in a Supporting Role Benicio Del Toro, One Battle after Another Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein Delroy Lindo, Sinners Sean Penn, One Battle after Another Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value
Category 3: Actress in a Leading Role Jessie Buckley, Hamnet Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You Kate Hudson, Song Sung Blue Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value Emma Stone, Bugonia
Category 4: Actress in a Supporting Role Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value Amy Madigan, Weapons Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners Teyana Taylor, One Battle after Another
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Category 5: Animated Feature Film Arco Elio KPop Demon Hunters Little Amélie or the Character of Rain Zootopia 2
Category 6: Animated Short Film Butterfly Forevergreen The Girl Who Cried Pearls Retirement Plan The Three Sisters
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
Here come the literal fun police. A newly proposed House Resolution, H.R. 3385, would no longer classify three-wheeled autocycles (not to be confused with trikes, like the Harley-Davidson Freewheeler) as motorcycles in the United States — or a car. This would leave autocycle owners in a challenging position when it comes to vehicle registration. It could even make them entirely illegal.
H.R. 3385 was introduced by Representative Derrick Van Orden earlier in 2026 in an attempt at narrowing down the definition of the term “motorcycle.” If the bill passes, it would exclude three-wheel vehicles from this category since it states that motorcycles must be steered with handlebars, not a steering wheel. The bill defines a motorcycle as a vehicle with a seat or saddle, with no more than three wheels, and steered by a handlebar. This definition would go into effect within 120 days of the bill’s approval.
However, these autocycles are already not allowed to be registered as cars since they are short one wheel, according to the federal definition of a “car.” This would leave owners of popular autocycles like the Polaris Slingshot and Vanderhall Venice in a pretty tough predicament, so advocates are fighting back.
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Motorcycle community fights back against H.R. 3385
Sandi Smolker/Getty Images
The Motorcycle Industry Council has formally opposed H.R. 3385, writing a letter addressed to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee. Without a separate category for autocycles, this new bill would remove this special vehicle type from registering as a motorcycle and as a car. At that point, it would be illegal to register them — and maybe sell them.
In the January 2026 letter, the Council explained why placing autocycles in a “classification limbo” would be harmful. First, H.R. 3385 would cause conflict between the federal law regarding motorcycles and some state laws. The Motorcycle Industry Council claimed this would “throw state laws into chaos” since many states rely on the federal definition of a motorcycle to set their own laws.
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Second, the bill would eliminate the entire autocycle market, causing many manufacturers in the United States to go out of business. Plant closures would also lead to layoffs, cut skilled jobs from the market, and damage dealership revenue. Wrote the Council: “We respectfully urge you to protect American innovation and jobs that support the manufacturing sector and oppose H.R. 3385. We believe that regulatory clarity should support market growth, not act as a ‘death knell’ to a thriving sector of the powersports industry.”
Security cameras flood store shelves, but good 4K options are few and far between, especially if you’re on a tight budget. Wyze changed that with the Cam Pan v4, priced at $46 (was $60), the first of their cameras to record in Ultra HD (3840 x 2160 quality). This update makes a significant impact; the footage is significantly crisper than what you get with most inexpensive pans. Zooming in on details such as a face or a license plate creates a completely different image. That is especially true in retrospect.
Full 360-degree pan and 180-degree vertical tilt allow you to capture the entire room or a huge outdoor area in one image, whether inside or out. You can operate it all from the Wyze app, configure it to sweep around automatically, or track any movement that occurs. An enhanced CPU with its own AI technology makes following people, pets, cars, and other objects appear silky smooth and decreases the quantity of information that slips through the net.
4K Ultra HD Clarity with 360° Pan and 180° Tilt Coverage – Experience crystal-clear monitoring day and night with a wide field of view and remote…
AI-Powered Motion Tracking for Pets & People – Next-gen CPU with integrated NPU enables faster processing and enhanced AI capabilities. Automatically…
Robust Indoor/Outdoor Durability – Place your camera in or out, right-side up, up-side down, with an IP65 weather rating, this outdoor security camera…
Color night vision is a big plus in low-light situations, as it converts to IR and goes black and white when necessary, but a built-in spotlight kicks in to provide some color detail if something gets close, with a brightness of up to 60 lumens. The footage stays clear at night, allowing you to see what’s going on without being washed out.
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Both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi networks are supported (including Wi-Fi 6, which provides a more robust connection over longer distances). The app makes setup simple, and it works as well indoors and outdoors, thanks to its robust IP65 weather rating. It has a plug-in power supply and no battery, which is good and straightforward.
Storage is also reasonably priced, since you can simply insert a microSD card for continuous recording or event footage without incurring any monthly fees. If you wish to store it in the cloud, that is also an option. You also receive two-way audio (with a built-in speaker and microphone) and a 100dB siren in case you need to alert unwelcome visitors.
The video quality runs at 20 frames per second during the day and 15 at night, which reduces file size while maintaining smooth action. Digital zoom can reach up to 8x, allowing you to zoom in on distant features without sacrificing too much quality in 4K. At a time when most inexpensive security cameras still use 1080p, the Wyze Cam Pan v4 is quietly raising the bar for everyday security.
Starbucks has disclosed a data breach affecting hundreds of employees after threat actors gained access to their Starbucks Partner Central accounts.
As the world’s largest coffeehouse chain, Starbucks has over 380,000 employees (also known as partners) and operates nearly 41,000 locations across 88 countries.
In data breach notification letters filed with Maine’s Attorney General and sent to affected employees on Tuesday, the company says that it discovered the incident on February 6.
A joint investigation with external cybersecurity experts found that the attackers compromised 889 Starbucks Partner Central accounts used to manage employment details, personal information, benefits, and HR information.
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Starbucks said the threat actors had access to affected individuals’ accounts between January 19 and February 11, but didn’t explain why it took five days to remove them from its systems.
“On or about February 6, 2026, Starbucks Corporation (‘Starbucks’ or ‘we’) became aware of potential unauthorized access to certain Starbucks Partner Central accounts,” the company said. “The investigation has determined that an unauthorized third party accessed certain Starbucks Partner Central accounts after obtaining the login credentials through websites impersonating Partner Central.”
The personal information exposed in the incident includes employees’ names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and financial account and routing numbers.
Starbucks notified law enforcement agencies after discovering the breach and advised employees to monitor their bank accounts for suspicious activity that could indicate fraud or identity theft. The company is also providing impacted partners with two years of free identity theft protection and credit monitoring service through Experian IdentityWorks.
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“Upon learning of the incident, we took prompt steps to investigate the nature and scope of the incident and respond to it,” Starbucks added. “We also notified law enforcement and took measures to further strengthen security controls related to access to Starbucks Partner Central accounts.”
A Starbucks spokesperson also told BleepingComputer, after the article was published, that the data breach doesn’t affect customers.
“We recently identified that a limited number of retail partners had inadvertently interacted with deceptive websites impersonating an employee-facing site. This allowed an unauthorized third-party to access certain partner accounts,” the spokesperson said. “We quickly resolved the issue, notified affected partners, and operations have since returned to normal. There’s no impact on customers’ data.”
Starbucks’ Singapore division also confirmed a data breach affecting over 219,000 customers in September 2022, after a threat actor compromised the systems of a third-party vendor that stored the affected customers’ data.
