Honor’s unusual Robot Phone, already spotted filming celebrations at the 2026 FIFA World Cup final and demoed at trade shows, now has a leaked unboxing video circulating online. The clip shows the packaging and the mechanical arm in motion just days ahead of the August 12 China launch. Full hardware details have also surfaced, filling in what the company has only hinted at until now.
When you open the box, you will find the phone nestled in a snug little spot on the left side, with the simple message “Your First Robot Phone” on the right. Inside, you’ll find a protective case, a USB-C cord, and a 120-watt charger to keep you charged on the go. Then there’s the back, which houses a huge rectangular camera module. Give the cover on the left a nudge, and a titanium arm comes into action, unfolding in around 0.8 seconds to lift the main camera clear of the phone body. As the phone moves into place, the screen flickers to life with a quick animation. When the arm snaps back into place, the phone feels exactly like any other slab in your hand.
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The whirly droid in the camera is the major attraction. Honor calls it a 4DoF gimbal and claims it has the industry’s tiniest micro motor, which is 70% smaller than what you’d ordinarily see. The arm can swivel, tilt, and rotate about 360 degrees and will cheerfully track whatever or anybody you’re pointing it at, maintaining level no matter how much you jiggle the phone. If you’re feeling fancy, you can even do one-handed spin shots in 90- and 180-degree modes, and the mechanism allows the phone to nod in agreement, shake its head in displeasure, or simply flail around in rhythm with the music. During video calls, the camera remains focused on the person on the other end, even if the phone is moving around. Honor collaborated with cinema camera gurus ARRI to offer Log-C3 recording, on-device LUT grading, and a Cinema mode that borrows some of the color science from their professional film gear.
Recent leaks from Digital Chat Station appear to have revealed all of the other gadgetry. The screen is a wonderful, huge 6.3-inch flat LTPO OLED measuring 2640 by 1216 pixels, with a peak brightness of 6,800 nits and a sophisticated anti-reflective coating for outdoor use. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor keeps things running, with three special Honor-designed processors assisting with specific tasks: the C1 handles radio communications, the E2 handles electricity, and the H1 manages the camera system. A 7,060 mAh battery powers everything, and the packaging includes a quick 120-watt charger. Memory and storage come in two sizes: 12GB of RAM with 512GB of storage, or 16GB with 1TB.
The camera lineup is consistent with what Honor stated earlier. The main sensor is a 200-megapixel unit on a 1/1.28-inch sensor with an f/1.6 aperture and a 23mm focal length, mounted on a wiggly arm. Next to it is a 200-megapixel telephoto with a 1/1.4-inch sensor, f/2.6 aperture, and a snappy 2.7x optical zoom, and the rear trio is completed by a 50-megapixel ultra-wide. The H1 chip conducts all of the imaging heavy lifting on the device, such as adjusting exposure, white balance, and glare reduction. Honor claims that over 100 patents protect the entire mechanical and software apparatus, and you’ll be able to choose between Star Trail Silver and Moon Shadow Gray on launch day. Pre-orders ($70 USD) are now open in China, but availability is expected to be limited initially, with pricing likely starting at $2,200 for the base (16GB + 512GB) model.
Aikido researchers uncovers ChainDrop, a Shai‑Hulud variant infecting 1,300+ npm packages with an infostealer
Attackers compromised GitHub accounts tied to popular libraries (Keyv, Cacheable, flat‑cache, file‑entry‑cache) and pushed tainted releases with 2B monthly downloads
Malware exfiltrates developer/cloud credentials and secrets to a public GitHub repo; admins should treat affected systems as compromised even after removal
Another Shai-Hulud variant has been discovered in the wild, infecting more than 1,300 npm packages with an infostealer.
Security researchers Aikido reported finding “at least 868 packages (across 1381 versions) that have been compromised by the worm.”
Shai-Hulud is a self-propagating supply chain malware that targets software developers by compromising open-source packages and CI/CD pipelines. It steals credentials, API keys, and access tokens and then uses those stolen secrets to publish additional malicious packages.
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What to do in case of an infection
In May 2026, actors claiming to be associated with the TeamPCP group publicly released the Shai-Hulud worm’s source code, saying they were “open sourcing the carnage” and inviting other threat actors to adopt and modify the code. Since then, there were multiple copycat campaigns and variants, including this one which Aikido dubbed ‘ChainDrop’.
Aikido said the attackers compromised the GitHub account of the person maintaining Keyv and Cacheable, widely used open source JavaScript libraries for caching data in Node.js applications. From there, they were able to move into other popular utilities such as flat-cache and file-entry-cache, as well as packages associated with organizations such as Deliveroo, Ornikar, OneReach, Picsart, Qlik, and ServiceTitan.
The malware was pushed directly into the projects’ main branches, and then generated additional package releases. The compromised packages have a combined 2 billion monthly downloads.
Aikido says the infostealer grabs developer and cloud credentials, encrypts them, and then sends them to a public GitHub repository called “Shai-Hulud: Here We Go Again.”
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It also steals local configuration files, GitHub PATs, workflow tokens, and other ghp_, gho_, and ghs_ tokens, certain npm tokens, GitHub Actions secrets, AWS credentials, Kubernetes secrets, and more.
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The researchers are saying system admins who installed a tainted package should treat their developer workstation or CI/CD runner as compromised, even if they removed the package.
You can slide the projector up or down on the base for a vertical shift up a wall or ceiling. For a horizontal tilt, you can fold out the base’s two feet and point the projector at a slight angle on the ceiling. No matter the direction, it’s easy to slide around but also stays put.
The projector only has one HDMI port, which you can use for ARC 5.1 pass- through audio or connecting to another source, like a gaming console. There’s a USB-A port and a USB-C port, both for connecting a thumb drive or a hard drive (or charging a gadget), plus a 3.5-mm port. The GV50 does not have an Ethernet port and uses Wi-Fi 5, which is older and not as widely compatible or as speedy as modern standards like Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7. I had some connection issues with my Google Nest mesh network where the projector couldn’t connect.
Photograph: John Brandon
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Aside from needing to complete a system update that took about 45 minutes, setup was ultra-smooth and mostly involved using the Google Home app to scan a QR code and install the apps. The GV50 used auto-keystoning to map to my projector screen, and it worked well. When I used the projector on a wall and on the ceiling, the keystoning also worked—I only made a few minor adjustments to the size. The GV50 remote uses the typical, intuitive BenQ layout with a Home button in the center, a setup button that’s easy to find, and shortcut buttons for Netflix, YouTube, and Prime.
Not only can the GV50 run on battery power, but it also has plenty of settings to manage its efficiency, including powering down automatically after a set period. I found Battery mode to be marginally helpful, since I use the device in my house, connected to a wall outlet, but the capability does add portability should you want to use the projector while camping or living anywhere else that outlets are sparse. You can use the projector on battery charge alone for a few hours, but the device will dim a little bit to save power.
Picture Quality and More
The GV50 is not trying to be a cinematic marvel by any means, but the projector failed my typical Spears & Muncil benchmark tests. I noticed the skin tone tests were about average for a midrange model like this, not showing much tonal variation. In the demo reel tests, the 1080p quality and lack of good contrast and brightness were much more obvious. A red cactus and yellow flower lacked vividness, and trees in the foreground of a mountain scene looked too dark and mixed into the inky black background. Butterflies that should have looked bright and colorful looked dull, flat, and a bit lifeless.
When I switched to streaming from my iPhone 17 Pro and an iPad 12.9-inch, the GV50’s slow processing speed became an issue. While both Google Cast and Apple AirPlay were functional, the playback was choppy and jittery. If I tried to fast-forward, the stream would pause or fail altogether due to the paltry 2 GB of RAM and 1.5-GHz processor.
HBO takes a lot of the credit for the rise of prestige TV. Shows such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Sex and the City and Game of Thrones were appointment viewing and that tradition lives on with newer series such as Industry, Euphoria and more. Its streaming service, HBO Max, is also the home of tons of great movies, live sports and excellent documentaries.
One of the things HBO Max does best is documentaries, and this August, there are two series we can’t wait for. First up is a new season of the great football series Hard Knocks, which focuses on the Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks during its training camp this season. We’re also excited for Monsters of God, another series about a group of people obsessed with exotic animals from the same filmmaker who gave us Tiger King and Chimp Crazy.
Also arriving this month is the hotly anticipated new DC series Lanterns, which stars Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler as two members of the Green Lanterns, along with the third season of Conan O’Brien Must Go.
These titles and many others are out this August on HBO Max. Here’s what you need to know to tune in.
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Aug. 4HBO Max
Hard Knocks: Training Camp With the Seattle Seahawks (season 22)
Hard Knocks, the HBO sports documentary that gives an inside look at an NFL team during its annual training camp, will return on Aug. 4 for a new season. This year, the cameras follow the Seattle Seahawks’ preseason, as the team comes off its second Super Bowl win. The season will consist of five episodes, which will air weekly.
Aug. 6HBO Max
Monsters of God (limited series)
Monsters of God is a docuseries from filmmaker Eric Goode, as he explores the world of exotic animal smuggling. The five-episode series, produced by A24, will introduce us to a motley crew of characters, many of whom are obsessed with rare animals and are willing to break whatever laws they need to in order to get their hands on them. (For a similarly shocking tale of animal obsession, check out Chimp Crazy, the 2024 docuseries also produced by Goode, which is one of those “truth is stranger than fiction” tales that takes viewers on a truly wild ride.)
Aug. 7Lionsgate
The Strangers: Chapter 2
Renny Harlin directs The Strangers: Chapter 2, the second film in the new Strangers trilogy starring Madelaine Petsch as Maya Lucas, a young woman who is tormented and tracked down by three masked perpetrators known as the Strangers. The film picks up after the death of her boyfriend, Ryan, but the Strangers still have it out for Maya when they realize she’s alive.
Aug. 14
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Normal
Bob Odenkirk has proven he can work in any genre. Comedy, drama, action — there’s nothing he hasn’t excelled at. After the success of his gruesome action thriller Nobody (and its sequel), he’s back for Normal, a neo-Western where he stars as Ulysses, the sheriff of a small Minnesota town called Normal. But after a bank robbery in town goes horribly awry, Ulysses learns that the town is mixed up with a whole lot of bad guys, including the Yakuza. The film costars Henry Winkler as the town’s crooked mayor, plus Lena Headey and Peter Shinkoda.
Aug. 16
Lanterns (season 1)
In the new eight-episode DC Studios drama series Lanterns, Aaron Pierre plays John Stewart, a newly recruited Lantern, the intergalactic peacekeepers of the DC Universe. Stewart works alongside Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) as they investigate a murder in Nebraska that’s just a small piece of a wider mystery. Kelly Macdonald, Nicole Ari Parker and Nathan Fillion costar. The first episode of Lanterns arrives on Aug. 16, and new episodes drop weekly.
Aug. 21HBO Max
Conan O’Brien Must Go (season 3)
For the past several years, Conan O’Brien has hosted his podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, which features conversations with celebrities and fans of the comedian. In his travel series Conan O’Brien Must Go, O’Brien drops in on some of these fans (often to their surprise), imposing on them and insisting they show him around their home countries and introduce him to their cultures. It’s classic Conan, absurd and offbeat, blending travelogue with comedy, as he traipses all over the globe. This season consists of four episodes, which will arrive weekly.
A24
Mother Mary
In the A24 psychodrama Mother Mary, Anne Hathaway stars as a global pop icon who is about to return to the stage after enduring a tragic accident. With just three days before her major comeback performance, she has a meltdown and reaches out to Sam (Michaela Coel), her former collaborator and designer. The two women haven’t spoken in years, falling out after an intimate but contentious relationship. As Sam and Mary let each other back into their lives, they experience something altogether supernatural. The film arrives on HBO Max on Aug. 21.
Liz Kocan has spent the last 20 years covering TV, entertainment and working behind the scenes in digital production. While at VH1.com, she won a Webby Award and was nominated for a Shorty Award as a producer. She has also contributed her writing to USA Today, Decider, Vulture, and many other publications, and has seen every episode of 30 Rock more times than her mind grapes can remember.
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Huawei’s laptop that opens into an 18-inch OLED screen already looked pretty futuristic when it first debuted. But the 2026 update makes the laptop even better. The company has improved performance and display durability, which brings another layer of interaction.
The refreshed Huawei MateBook Fold Ultimate Design unfolds into an 18-inch, 3296 x 2472 dual-layer OLED display with a 4:3 aspect ratio, 1,600 nits of peak brightness, and a 92% screen-to-body ratio. Fold it into a laptop shape, and each half becomes a more portable 13-inch, 3:2 screen. Despite that enormous panel, the device weighs 1.16kg without its detachable keyboard. It measures 7.3mm at its thinnest point when open and 14.9mm when closed.
Huawei toughened up the enormous folding screen
The headline display specifications remain largely familiar, but Huawei has redesigned the protective structure covering the OLED. Its new composite ultra-thin glass layer now supports the Huawei M-Pen 3 and offers a claimed 90% improvement in impact resistance over the previous MateBook Fold.
Huawei’s new folding notebook has also received an SGS five-star certification for whole-device screen drop and impact resistance. Those figures come from Huawei’s internal testing, so independent durability testing will still matter.
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Huawei
Stylus support substantially expands what you can do with the unfolded screen. Huawei shows the M-Pen 3 being used for handwritten notes, document annotations, drawing, presentations, and design work. The pen can also operate as a remote pointer and page-turning controller in supported apps.
This genuinely opens up the true potential of this large 18-inch canvas. Huawei adding stylus support makes the laptop more versatile and improves its overall functionality. So aside from the various refinements, this seems like the most obvious upgrade.
A new Kirin chip powers the folding spectacle
Inside sits Huawei’s new Kirin X90 Plus, operating at up to a 28W TDP. Huawei claims the combination of its new processor and HarmonyOS 6.1 improves overall system performance by 25% compared with the previous-generation MateBook Fold. Although oo independent benchmarks are available yet.
Huawei
HarmonyOS 6.1 also brings foldable-specific multitasking, cross-device clipboard sharing, phone and tablet integration, offline meeting transcription, and an AI system capable of detecting face-swapping during supported video calls. The refreshed MateBook Fold starts at an eye-watering 24,999 yuan in China (roughly $3,700), 1,000 yuan more than the original model’s launch price. It comes in Streaming Gold, Sky White, and Phantom Black. Huawei has not announced international pricing or availability.
A 2-in-1 machine, the Ninja Slushi Twist Frozen Drink Maker FS702UKBR can make two flavours are once all at the touch of a button. Brilliantly simple to use, this machine makes fantastic slushies fast. Its party trick is that you can spin the dial to mix drinks together, although it’s a bit fiddly to get brilliant-looking results.
Two flavours on the go
One-touch operation
Good capacity
Fiddly to get a neat spiral mix
Key Features
Introduction
Have you been tempted by a Ninja Slushi machine, but the thought of only being able to make one flavour is putting you off? Well, the Ninja Slushi Twist Frozen Drink Maker FS702UKBR is here for you.
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Like two Slushi machines in one, the Twist can make two drinks at once, letting you choose one flavour or use the novelty spinning drip tray to mix them as you pour.
So, is this a gimmick gone too far or an essential for the hot weather (and beyond)?
Of course, the main difference is that the Twist has two tanks for making two flavours of drink at once, either independently or, via the new mode, together with the idea that you mix the flavours together.
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If you’ve ever felt that the previous machines were a little too limited, then two drinks on tap should be of interest.
As with the previous machines, the Slushi Twist is quite a beast, taking up virtually the full depth of a kitchen counter. It’s also quite a bit wider than the other machines, with room required for the two tanks. This isn’t an easy machine to store.
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In total, the Slushi Twist can make 2.84L of drink, split evenly between each side, which has a maximum fill of 1.42L and a minimum of 475ml. That’s the same minimum as on the original, although that could take a maximum of 1.9L of fluid.
With the larger Slushi Max, you can make 3.31L in total, so it remains the better choice if you want maximum capacity and just one flavour.
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With the Slushi Twist, each side is a full individual machine. Each side’s parts are labelled and only fit one way.
To fill with drink, the containers have a large flap that opens at the top, and you can then fill past the minimum level, up to the maximum, with the liquid of your choice. You need to have enough sugar content, so some low-calorie drinks will need some sugar added; if you’re using alcohol, you can add anything up to 20% alcohol.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Controls are simplified compared to the previous models. First, you need to turn the machine on using the flip switch at the back. It’s at the top, just in case you can’t find it.
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For single drinks, you don’t have the selector to choose the type of drink you want, such as frozen cocktail or milkshake. Instead, there’s just a single Slush Assist button.
Hit this, and the impeller starts up, and the machine begins to mix and freeze your drink. Once the consistency has been evaluated, an automatic freezing level is set, and Slushi Twist keeps going until the drink is ready.
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If there’s not enough sugar, the Add sugar button lights up. If there’s too much alcohol, the add water button lights up.
There are buttons to adjust the target level, making a drink more or less frozen, which changes the consistency of the drink.
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Controlled like this, the Slushi Twist aims to make the best standard drinks, ready to be gulped down.
If you want to use the Slushi Twist like this, you’ll want to attach the straight spouts on the front of the machine, so you can dispense the drink of your choice into a glass. You’ll also want the standard drip tray.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
As the real point of the Slushi Twist is to mix two drinks together in a nice pattern, there’s also a middle button, labelled Dual Slush Assist. Hit this and both sides start to slush at the same time.
Again, the machine automatically sets the slush level, but in this mode, the Slushi Twist aims to make drinks with a thicker consistency that blend better. You can adjust the consistency of each side individually, in case you’re not getting the right pour.
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In this mode, the angled spouts should be attached, which aim both sides at one glass. They’re a little fiddly to clip on, and need a bit of a shove to lock them into place.
You’ll then want the Twist drip tray, which has a thumb-operated turntable that lets you spin your glass to get a spiral mixture of drinks. I found that it took a bit of work to line up a glass so that it would spin centrally, but the actual turntable works well, only requiring a bit of a push to get it going.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Whichever drip tray you’re not using can be attached to the clip on the side of the Slushi.
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When you’re finished, the Slushi Twist needs to be cleaned. There’s a dedicated Rinse mode that just turns the impeller without adding any cooling. Just fill each side to the maximum line with hot water, hit Rinse and then leave the machine long enough to remove any trace of mess.
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Once done, you can drain, and then the plastic covers slide off when their handles are released.
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Each impeller can be removed and washed in the sink, and the main cylinders can be wiped down.
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You should also remove the condensate tray on each side and handwash these. Overall, tidying up isn’t difficult, but there’s quite a bit of handwashing to do.
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Performance
Works fast
Excellent flavours
Hard to get a nice spiral mix
I started by using two flavours of Fanta, both for looks and because this drink has the required sugar levels. Getting the Slushi Twist to work was easy: just a tap of a button did the job, and it didn’t take too long before my drink was ready: under 20 minutes.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
The consistency of the Slushi was quite thick, but that’s to be expected: if there’s any liquid in there, the drinks will blend, rather than layering on top of each other. So, you need a certain amount of thickness to get everything to work.
Trying to pour drinks in a perfect spiral is exceptionally difficult. Getting the glass to spin is easy, but getting both drinks to pour at the same rate is not. With my fairly thick drink, the Slushi tends to plop out in blobs, rather than pouring nicely at a consistent rate. My first attempt wasn’t pretty.
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With the default consistency, I found it easier to layer the drinks, creating a spoon-ready finish with, admittedly, delish flavoured ice drink. I think it looks quite good.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Back to the spiral test. As mentioned, it’s possible to adjust the drink consistency, but each time you do it’s recommended that you wait 10 minutes, check consistency and then adjust again as necessary. It’s quite a lot of effort, and each adjustment takes quite a lot of time.
Go too cold with some drinks, such as my Fanta, and you get something much more frozen and pale in colour, with gaps between the ice crystals.
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Go the other way, and you get something more drinkable, but you don’t get layers. With the right consistency, I could get a nice mix, even if I couldn’t achieve a perfect spiral.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
I tried again with fruit juice. With the Dual mode, the result is closer to a sorbet than a slushy drink; again, you need that for layers. Consistency was excellent, and the taste spot-on. Again, getting perfect spirals was beyond me, but I think I ended up with a nice blend.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Using the single mode, you get a more traditional slushy from juices: frozen enough to be an ice-drink, but liquid enough that I could drink it through a straw.
Similarly, you get very similar results from the Slushi Twist for single drinks as you do with the single versions, such as the Slushi Max, whether that’s a milkshake or a frozen cocktail.
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Should you buy it?
You want two drinks on the go
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Whether you’re mixing or not, having the option for two flavours (or even two different drinks) is a compelling one.
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You want the highest capacity
If you’re happy with one flavour and want more of the same, the Max is cheaper and has a higher overall capacity.
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Final Thoughts
Much simpler to use than the single-drink versions, the Slushi Twist lets you make two individual shippable slushies or more spoonable drinks that you can mix.
I’m not convinced that the turntable is much more than a gimmick, but if you want two types of slushi on the go (to mix or not), then the Twist isn’t much bigger than the standalone ones. It is quite a bit more expensive, so if you’re happy with a single drink and want more volume, the Ninja Slushi Max might be a better choice.
How We Test
We test every slushie maker we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
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Used as our main slushie maker Tested with a variety of drinks
FAQs
What’s the difference between the Ninja Slushi Twist Frozen Drink Maker FS702UKBR’s two modes?
The single mode makes a more sippable drink; the dual mode makes a thicker drink that’s better for mixing.
Both OpenAI and Anthropic recently admitted that their models escaped from their testing environments and hacked into outside organizations on their own. Now, the UK’s AI Security Institute (AISI) has released a report, detailing how the companies’ models also acted independently and “engaged in sustained, potentially harmful activity directed at real people and organizations” during its own tests.
The institute, which operates under the UK’s Department for Science, evaluates frontier AI models. Part of those evaluations is to see whether they can be misused for cyberattacks. As such, the institute deliberately tests them under permissive conditions, with access to the internet and even with some safeguards disabled. The models didn’t exploit vulnerabilities to access the internet this time, but they did act beyond the scope of their testing parameters.
To be particular, the incidents took place during a single test that challenged AI agents to solve a cyber security problem. AISI ran the test 122 times across several models, and it found irregularities in 10 of those runs. Of the 19 instances the institute found wherein an agent went rogue, Anthropic’s Mythos 5 was responsible for 17, while OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Sol was involved in two.
The institute found out that the models were acting on their own and engaging in harmful activities on the morning of July 28, when its security monitoring system flagged data leaving its testing environments through Tor. Its testers quickly reviewed the models’ activities and discovered the incidents, which occurred between July 25 and July 28.
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In the most notable case, an AI agent tried to inject malicious code into an open-source GitHub project as part of a supply-chain attack. It resorted to social engineering techniques, researching the project’s human maintainers and then creating multiple sock puppet accounts to get one of them to approve the code. After a human reviewer denied its request, the agent edited its earlier activity and adopted a new identity to continue. It was because the agency used Tor to bypass GitHub’s restrictions that the institute was notified about its activities.
The agent also tried to contact real people directly by sending them messages or files, persuading them to run malicious code. Some of those messages and files carried malware, while others were attempts at social engineering. One agent even left public messages on GitHub, inviting other agents stumbling upon them to work on the same challenge. It left instructions on how to reuse the accounts and other output it had left behind to continue its activities. Other agents did discover those messages later and followed the instructions in them.
AISI explains in its post that the AI agents were never given instructions to act in a deceptive behavior. But in searching for ways to solve difficult problems, some of the solutions they found involved deceiving real people. The institute admits that agents could be forced to be more “creative” when tasked to solve near-impossible issues. However, it argues that it doesn’t fully explain the behaviors of the agents it was testing. In some of the instances it discovered, the agent went straight to choosing the harmful way to accomplish the task, even when it had the instructions on how to solve it as intended.
The institute clarifies that there are no clear indications that the same activity would occur outside of testing scenarios at the moment. It also can’t say whether the AI agents were aware that they were acting in the real world, so to speak, and not in a testing environment anymore. All the same, it’s advising organizations to adopt more robust cybersecurity measures and to be more cautious when verifying outside contributions. “As AI models become more capable and accessible, what we have seen during this incident could become more common,” it says.
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In its response on X, Anthropic says it’s working with AISI to get a clearer picture of Claude Mythos’ “understanding of its situation,” which will help the company identify why it acted the way it did during evaluation.
The UK’s @AISecurityInst (AISI) has published a report on their recent cybersecurity evaluation of Anthropic’s Claude Mythos 5 and OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Sol. The models attempted to complete an assignment in a setup where their normal safeguards were removed and they were deliberately…
The new tech looks impressive, but most of it will be gobbled up by AI data centers.
Samsung
It used to be nice when Samsung announced its latest 3D memory or V-NAND storage, as we could all look forward to our PCs booting faster and files loading quicker. Now, the company has just announced its new next-gen memory and storage, and while the new tech looks impressive, it’s depressing knowing that most of it will be gobbled up by AI data centers.
At the Future of Memory and Storage (FMS) show in Santa Clara, Samsung unveiled the first concept models for zHBM, based on HBM memory used primarily in data centers, AI accelerators and a small number of high-end GPUs. zHBM is a new memory architecture that vertically stacks HBM directly above AI accelerators (rather than alongside them as before), helping boost performance up to eight times. It also uses next-generation wafer bonding tech, allowing over 10 times the memory density of current HBM5 tech while increasing energy efficiency threefold.
Samsung also unveiled a new type of V-NAND memory used in SSDs, memory cards and other types of storage. Called V10 BV-NAND, it uses the company’s new bonding V-NAND architecture to stack more than 400 layers of memory cells. This increases memory density by around 58 percent over the previous V9 generation, while boosting read, write and I/O performance.
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The company also introduced zNAND-O, a next-gen V-NAND solution combining “high space efficiency, improved I/O performance and low latency, aimed at edge AI environments. Finally, Samsung showcased LPDDR5X-PIM, the industry’s first LPDDR memory with processing-in-memory technology, built to perform data processing within the memory itself to improve efficiency.
Alongside SK Hynix, Samsung is one of two companies who control the majority of memory production. As Engadget’s readers well know, both companies are failing to keep up with demand for memory created by the current AI bubble. That in turn is leading to insane prices for electronics of all kinds, ranging from gaming consoles to smartphones to laptops.
Netflix subscribers with compatible Windows 11 PCs can finally stream in 4K through Google Chrome, although the hardware requirements remain demanding and the complete Premium experience still requires another app or device.
Related Reading:
Netflix has finally allowed Google Chrome to do something most Windows users probably assumed it could already do: stream Netflix in 4K.
Chrome version 117 or later can now deliver Netflix at up to 2160p on compatible Windows 11 computers. Until now, Windows users who wanted browser-based 4K playback generally had to use Microsoft Edge or open the Netflix app. Chrome was limited to 1080p, regardless of how much subscribers paid or how capable their computers and displays were.
This is progress. It is also 2026, so perhaps Netflix should not expect a parade.
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Why Netflix 4K in Chrome Matters
For users who spend most of their day inside Chrome, the benefit is primarily convenience. They no longer need to switch to Edge or launch a separate Windows app simply because Netflix imposed a lower resolution ceiling on their preferred browser.
The move also makes Chrome more practical for Windows laptops and desktop computers connected to 4K monitors, projectors, or televisions. A compatible 4K stream can reveal finer textures, cleaner edges, and more detail than a 1080p presentation, particularly on larger screens or when the viewer sits relatively close.
Netflix does not deliver every movie and series in 4K, and playback quality can still fall below 2160p when bandwidth fluctuates. The service may also begin playback at a lower resolution before increasing quality once the connection stabilizes.
Chrome support therefore removes one obstacle. It does not remove the other 17 hoops that PC owners may need to jump through.
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What Do You Need to Watch Netflix in 4K Through Chrome?
Netflix lists the following requirements for Ultra HD playback on a Windows computer:
A Netflix plan that includes 4K Ultra HD
Video playback quality set to Auto or High
Windows 11 with the latest updates
Google Chrome version 117 or later
A steady internet connection of at least 15Mbps
A 4K display operating at 60Hz
HDCP 2.2 support when using an external monitor, projector, or television
Current graphics drivers
The HEVC video extension, which may need to be purchased from the Microsoft Store on some Windows 11 systems
The computer must also include compatible graphics hardware. Netflix currently lists the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 or newer, AMD Radeon RX 400 series or newer, Intel seventh-generation Core processors or newer, and AMD Ryzen processors.
There is one more potential headache: if multiple displays are active, every connected display must meet Netflix’s requirements. An older secondary monitor can therefore prevent 4K playback even when the primary screen is fully compatible.
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That is the kind of charming PC quirk that makes a $40 streaming stick feel like advanced civilization.
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Which Computers Support Netflix 4K in Chrome?
The new support applies primarily to qualifying Windows 11 desktops, laptops, and tablets running Chrome 117 or later.
Netflix also lists 4K support through Chrome on compatible Chromebooks, although those systems must meet separate Ultra HD hardware requirements.
Support remains considerably more limited on other operating systems:
Windows 10: Netflix will run, but Netflix’s current Ultra HD requirements specify Windows 11.
macOS: Chrome remains limited to 1080p. Safari 14 or later can deliver up to 4K on Macs running macOS 11 or newer.
Linux: Chrome, Firefox, and Edge are limited to 720p. Opera can reach 1080p.
Firefox and Opera on Windows: Both remain limited to 1080p.
The result is an improvement for Windows 11 users, not universal 4K Chrome support.
What Is Still Missing?
Netflix’s Windows support chart lists Chrome as capable of 4K, but it does not include HDR support.
Microsoft Edge and the Netflix Windows app are still listed as supporting 4K with HDR on compatible systems. Netflix also limits Dolby Atmos playback on Windows to supported content played through Edge or the Windows app.
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That means Chrome users are still missing:
The difference matters. Resolution determines how much spatial detail an image can contain, while HDR expands brightness, contrast, and color reproduction. A 4K SDR stream can look sharper than 1080p, but it does not offer the complete visual impact available from properly mastered HDR content.
Dolby Atmos is similarly important for viewers using compatible headphones, soundbars, AV receivers, or surround systems. Chrome may now provide the pixels, but it is still leaving the more immersive audio experience at the door.
Should You Use Chrome or a Streaming Device?
Chrome is now a more credible option for watching Netflix on a Windows 11 PC, especially for viewers using a 4K computer monitor and conventional stereo audio.
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A dedicated streaming device or smart TV app remains the better option for most home theater systems. Apple TV 4K, Roku, Fire TV, Google TV, compatible game consoles, and television apps generally make it easier to access 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and Dolby Atmos without navigating Windows codecs, graphics drivers, HDCP requirements, and browser restrictions.
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They are also controlled from the sofa rather than with a wireless mouse balanced on someone’s stomach, which feels like an important design advantage.
The Bottom Line
Netflix deserves credit for finally bringing 4K playback to Chrome on Windows 11. Users can remain inside their preferred browser, take greater advantage of 4K monitors and televisions, and avoid opening Edge solely because Netflix told them to.
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The restrictions, however, make this a partial upgrade rather than full feature parity. Chrome still lacks HDR and Dolby Atmos, while the hardware, display, codec, and copy-protection requirements remain more complicated than they need to be.
Netflix has finally unlocked 4K in the browser many Windows users actually open. It only took long enough for the streaming era to require its own reboot.
Viet Nguyen in his Seattle home office, with two of the civic sites he built using AI: Culliton2026.org on the monitor and a dashboard on the King County homelessness authority on the laptop. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop)
The tradition of using new technology to shape political discourse goes back centuries in America, to the printing presses that enabled the spread of early publications like Common Sense and the Federalist Papers. Just imagine what Thomas Paine and Alexander Hamilton could have done with access to LLMs and a modest budget of AI tokens.
No, a website that uses artificial intelligence to assess Washington state’s Supreme Court races won’t go down in history alongside the publications that helped launch a revolution and ratify a constitution. But at a basic level, its creator is attempting the same thing: reaching people at a key moment of decision, using the most powerful tools of the day.
The modern-day pamphleteer is Viet Nguyen, a veteran Seattle-based technology communications executive and former political campaign manager.
He built the interactive website using AI to give voters a sense of how each candidate for the state’s high court — starting with those in the Tuesday, Aug. 4, primary — might rule on the state’s new “millionaires’ tax.” Its core feature lets visitors swap in different judicial candidates to see how the outcome could tip the court in either direction, depending on who’s elected.
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The site is named after Culliton v. Chase, the 1933 ruling that struck down a graduated income tax in Washington state. The new tax, which some tech and business leaders have warned could drive high earners and businesses out of state, may test that precedent.
Nguyen opposes the new tax — which would apply a 9.9% statewide levy on income above $1 million — and wrote a Seattle Times op-ed calling it unconstitutional. (He noted that he has run political campaigns on both sides of the aisle, and wouldn’t owe the tax himself.)
The home page of Culliton2026.org, Viet Nguyen’s AI-built voter guide to the 2026 Washington Supreme Court races.
For each of the 16 candidates across the five races, the site gives a one-line read: likely to keep the landmark ruling, likely to scrap it, or too close to call. The analysis uses four criteria: who appointed the candidate, what they did before reaching the bench, how they describe their own judicial approach, and anything they’ve said or written about Culliton or the new tax.
“People don’t understand who their Supreme Court justices are,” Nguyen said, describing his motivation. “There’s just zero knowledge about where judges stand on a particular issue.”
A faulty premise? But that very proposition — that anyone or anything can forecast how a judge will rule — is exactly what critics dispute. In a fact-check published last week, Andrew Villeneuve of the Northwest Progressive Institute (NPI), which supports the tax, described Nguyen’s Culliton2026.org as “speculation dressed up as a voter’s guide.”
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Judicial-ethics rules bar candidates from saying how they would rule on a case that could come before them. Hugh Spitzer, a retired University of Washington law professor and a leading authority on Culliton, told Villeneuve it isn’t possible to predict how the justices would rule.
“Rather than examining and scoring the candidates on a rubric of qualifications or issues, Nguyen has organized his whole project around attempting to guess how each candidate would rule in a single legal challenge that is not yet before the justices,” wrote Villeneuve, the organization’s founder and executive director, in the article.
NPI runs its own guide to the 2026 Supreme Court elections — the Washington State Supreme Court Elections Visualizer — which sorts candidates by their endorsements and voter-pamphlet statements, but does not make any guess at how they’d rule.
Culliton2026.org is described on its About Page as independent and nonpartisan. It says it doesn’t endorse candidates, isn’t affiliated with any campaign, and isn’t telling people how to vote.
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Despite the site’s flagship feature — the “Balance of power” tool that lets visitors swap in candidates and watch the projected ruling shift — the About Page asserts that the site is “not a vote predictor” when it comes to how future Supreme Court justices might rule.
That disclaimer “seems like a tacit acknowledgment that his whole premise is faulty,” Villeneuve wrote in the NPI piece.
The response: Asked about the article, Nguyen called the feedback helpful and said he made a series of updates to address some of the issues raised by Villeneuve in the piece.
For example, he added a “note on the foundations” to the site’s case explainer, granting that Culliton rests on federal precedents the U.S. Supreme Court has since abandoned, and citing Spitzer’s own argument that a future court should weigh the question fresh.
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“Reasonable people will disagree on the project’s premise, and that’s fine,” he wrote to Villeneuve in an amicable exchange that he shared with GeekWire.
The article describes Nguyen as right-wing, but he said he tries to stay “in the moderate lane.”
He said he wanted the site “to be less political and more educational, applicable to any voter wishing to know more about the judicial candidates.” In fact, it could be used just as easily by people wanting to align their ballots with the likelihood of upholding the new tax.
How he built it: Nguyen, who is not a software developer, used agentic AI to research the public records and build the entire site from scratch, directing it to rely on sources he considered legitimate (including court opinions, official filings, and news coverage) rather than random blog or Reddit posts.
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He also set up a vetting process to fact-check entries before publication.
Nguyen uses Perplexity Computer, an agentic tool that operates a computer on its own (browsing the web, using software and building files) and divides a job among multiple AI agents working in parallel. He’s on the $200 a month Perplexity Max plan.
A sophisticated website or app like this might have required a small team and thousands of dollars in the past. Nguyen built it over the course of a few hours, for about $100 in AI tokens. He says it has attracted “a few hundred thousand page views” since its launch this spring.
“This is where agentic AI steps in and offers a whole roster of skills that I don’t have,” he said. “I would never be able to imagine that I could put something like this together.”
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Legal landscape: The Legislature passed the 9.9% tax and Gov. Bob Ferguson signed it in March 2026. It applies to income earned starting in 2028, with the first payments due in 2029.
Culliton2026.org’s assessment is that six of the nine current justices on the court lean toward upholding the tax, two toward striking it down, and one is too uncertain to call.
Five of the court’s nine seats are on the ballot this year, four of them contested in Tuesday’s primary, with the top two in each race advancing to November. Three of the seats on the ballot are held by sitting justices seeking to stay on the court; the other two are open.
A case filed in Klickitat County Superior Court in April, led by former state Attorney General Rob McKenna and former state Supreme Court Justice Phil Talmadge, argues the tax is an unconstitutional income tax and is expected to reach the state Supreme Court. The number of contested seats means the election could reshape the court before the case arrives.
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Voters will also weigh in directly in November. Initiative 645, backed by Let’s Go Washington — the group founded by hedge-fund manager Brian Heywood — would repeal the tax before it takes effect in 2028. It qualified for the ballot in July with more than 500,000 signatures.
Nguyen’s background: He arrived in Washington as a 17-month-old refugee from Vietnam in 1975, studied political science at the UW, and got his start in 1996 volunteering on Gary Locke’s campaign for governor, as he noted in the Seattle Times piece.
He ran local races before spending nearly two decades at Microsoft, T-Mobile and 5G Americas, the wireless industry trade group that he led until it wound down this year.
Culliton2026.org is just one of the civic sites Nguyen has built the same way. His Washington Accountability Registry catalogs 87 state and local government cases it labels fraud, conflicts of interest or oversight failures, and, like the Culliton site, calls itself independent and nonpartisan.
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Others are more explicit in taking a side: a dashboard about the King County homelessness authority is headlined “One verdict: wind KCRHA down,” and an emergency-clause tracker titled “Locked Out” flags 19 bills the Legislature made “referendum-proof.”
He has also dabbled in AI-generated music videos, including one about Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson with the hook, “Hey Katie, get it together, the city’s falling apart.”
“All AI generated,” Nguyen said of his projects. “We live in a new world.”
Or, as Paine put it in Common Sense, “The birthday of a new world is at hand.”
Tribunal to explore how £270 million reseller case intersects with multibillion-pound class action
ValueLicensing (VL) has been invited to attend a case management conference in a related multibillion-pound collective action against Microsoft, according to the reseller’s boss, Jonathan Horley.
VL sued Microsoft for £270 million in 2021, alleging that the software giant restricted the supply of surplus Office licenses available for resale. Barrister Alexander Wolfson is the proposed class representative in a separate claim filed in 2025 on behalf of more than two million UK customers. That action seeks between £1.3 billion and £3.5 billion in compensation.
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Both cases are before the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) and concern Microsoft’s alleged efforts to restrict the market for pre-owned software licenses.
Case management conferences (CMCs) are used to set timetables and decide procedural questions as a case progresses.
According to Horley, ValueLicensing has a CMC concerning disclosure listed for September 14, followed the next day by an invitation to another in the Wolfson proceedings.
The September 15 CMC could address how the two proceedings interact, including whether the Wolfson action should be stayed pending judgment in the more advanced ValueLicensing case. There is also the possibility that the claims could eventually be heard together, although the tribunal has yet to indicate what course it will take.
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ValueLicensing’s case is considerably further ahead of Wolfson’s. The Court of Appeal dismissed Microsoft’s appeals on issues including copyright in July, although Microsoft can seek permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Kate Pollock, head of competition litigation at law firm Stewarts, said of the Wolfson case earlier this year: “Microsoft’s conduct has had a profound and costly impact on millions of individuals and private and public sector organizations that rely on its software for daily business operations.
“We believe that Microsoft abused its market dominance by imposing restrictive licensing practices that effectively shut down competition and inflated prices.”
Closer procedural links between the cases could complicate Microsoft’s defence against two claims arising from similar allegations. The Register asked the Windows behemoth to comment, but it declined.
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VL’s Horley told The Register: “Following on from the judgment at the Court of Appeal we are pleased to have a hearing listed for September 14 to progress further disclosure. ValueLicensing has also been invited to the first hearing of the Alexander Wolfson class action on September 15. That will deal with the next steps for certification and the interactions between the two claims.”
Horley said the move was “very significant” and showed the progress ValueLicensing had made in terms of the competition and copyright law aspects.
“ValueLicensing are experts in the pre-owned Microsoft market with significant evidence and experience of the operation of the market during the relevant period in which the abuse is alleged to have occurred,” he said.
“Given that both claims relate to the pre-owned Microsoft market, that the ValueLicensing claim is so advanced and Mr Justice Turner is Chair for both, it is logical for ValueLicensing to be invited. ValueLicensing is happy to assist the Tribunal in determining the next procedural steps for both actions.”
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Microsoft declined to comment. A spokesperson for the Alexander Wolfson class action has yet to comment. ®
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