​Microsoft has removed the Samsung Galaxy Connect app from the Microsoft Store because it was causing issues on specific Samsung Galaxy Book 4 and desktop models running Windows 11.

This comes after the company said on Friday that it was investigating reports of app failures and users losing access to their C:\ drive on some Windows 11 systems.

“Users might encounter the error, ‘C:\ is not accessible – Access denied,’ which prevents access to files and blocks the launch of some applications including Outlook, Office apps, web browsers, system utilities and Quick Assist,” Microsoft explained.

The known issue impacts a wide range of Samsung Galaxy Book 4 and Samsung Desktop models running Windows 11, including NP750XGJ, NP750XGL, NP754XGJ, NP754XFG, NP754XGK, DM500SGA, DM500TDA, DM500TGA, and DM501SGA.

On affected devices, users have been experiencing problems launching apps, accessing files, or performing administrative tasks, and, in some cases, issues elevating privileges, uninstalling updates, or collecting logs due to permission failures.

​Following a joint investigation with Samsung, Microsoft has attributed these issues to the Samsung Galaxy Connect app (used for screen mirroring, file sharing, and data transfer between Galaxy devices and Windows PCs) and temporarily removed it from the Microsoft Store.

“The affected Samsung Galaxy Connect application was temporarily removed from the Microsoft Store to prevent further installations,” Microsoft said.

“Samsung has republished a stable previous version of the application to stop recurrence on additional devices. Recovery options for devices already impacted remain limited, and Samsung continues to evaluate remediation approaches with Microsoft’s support.”

Microsoft and Samsung have not yet provided a workaround and are still working on a fix for affected Windows 11 devices. Impacted users are advised to contact Samsung for device-specific assistance.

On Friday, Microsoft also released an out-of-band (OOB) update to fix a security issue in the Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) management tool affecting Windows 11 Enterprise devices that receive hotpatch updates instead of regular Patch Tuesday cumulative updates.

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

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

Download The Report

Presented by AudioEye

While most organizations recognize the importance of accessibility from a theoretical angle, a stark gap exists between that awareness and actual execution. Companies can’t just give a nod to accessibility — and it can’t just be a nice-to-have. The chasm between knowing and doing is not only exposing businesses to significant legal risk, it’s also costing them actual business and growth opportunities.

According to AudioEye’s newly released 2026 Accessibility Advantage Report, 59% of business leaders say their organization would face legal risk due to accessibility failure if audited today, and more than half have already encountered accessibility-related lawsuits or threats. That’s unsurprising, because today the average web page still contains 297 accessibility issues, based on an analysis of over 15,000 websites in AudioEye’s 2025 Digital Accessibility Index.

The report, which surveyed more than 400 business leaders across the C-suite, VPs, and directors, reveals that organizations understand accessibility matters, but most lack the systems, expertise, and operational infrastructure to deliver it consistently, says Chad Sollis, CMO at AudioEye.

“What the data makes clear is that accessibility hasn’t stalled because people don’t care,” Sollis says. “It’s stalled because fragmented ownership and reactive workflows make it hard to sustain as digital experiences evolve. Leaders know accessibility matters, but their organizations aren’t set up to deliver it consistently.”

Why digital accessibility delivers a measurable business advantage

With regulations like the European Accessibility Act now in effect and enforcement intensifying globally, the benefits extend far beyond avoiding lawsuits. Over half of leaders now cite accessibility as a business growth opportunity, recognizing that accessible digital experiences drive better user outcomes across the board.

“Organizations that treat accessibility purely as a compliance exercise miss the opportunity to improve performance, reach new audiences, and build stronger digital experiences for everyone,” Sollis says. “Accessibility is a growth lever hiding in plain sight.”

In fact, accessible design doesn’t just serve users with disabilities; it creates faster, more intuitive experiences for everyone. Organizations leading in accessibility are seeing it as a performance multiplier that:

• improves site discoverability through better structure and cleaner code

• reduces friction in the customer journey

• strengthens brand loyalty by demonstrating inclusion in action

“The leaders making the smartest decisions aren’t asking, ‘What’s the fastest fix?’” Sollis adds. “They’re asking, ‘What gives us durable protection while improving experience?’”

Where digital accessibility breaks down in execution

Despite widespread recognition of accessibility’s importance, implementation remains inconsistent. The report identifies what AudioEye calls “The Yet Problem,” or the gap between good intentions and actual execution.

While many business leaders say they actively champion accessibility, the same percentage cite low budgets and limited expertise as barriers. Developers, designers, and content creators want to build accessible experiences. But when accessibility isn’t integrated into their everyday tools and processes, it creates additional complexity — with extra steps, extra time, and extra cost added to already heavy workloads and tight deadlines.

The result is what the report calls “patchwork accessibility,” or programs that appear compliant on paper but fail users in practice. Many organizations treat accessibility as a project to complete rather than a practice to maintain, pursuing compliance milestones or quick fixes without building sustainable systems.

“Accessibility doesn’t fail because companies aren’t trying; it fails because it’s treated as a single-layer problem,” Sollis says. “Real accessibility spans code, content, design, and ongoing change.”

This pattern reveals a fundamental truth: accessibility is failing because the systems supporting it weren’t built for the people doing the work. Until accessibility is easier to design, build, and track alongside other priorities, it will continue to be deprioritized.

The limits of fully in-house digital accessibility programs

Even when leaders secure better tools and a larger budget, progress often stalls because of the misconception that accessibility must be tackled entirely in-house. AudioEye calls this “the in-house illusion,” or the assumption that internal responsibility automatically translates to organizational ability.

“There’s a growing gap between ownership and capability,” Sollis explains. “Managing accessibility within the company can create the illusion of control, but without the right expertise and support, progress often stalls.”

In fact, while nearly half of organizations manage accessibility with their own teams, 50% admit those teams lack internal accessibility expertise, and 43% cite competing priorities as major barriers. Only 47% describe their programs as proactive, while the rest operate reactively or meet only bare minimums.

The illusion persists because many organizations equate ownership with control, and control with efficiency. In reality, accessibility is a specialized, evolving discipline.

Without cross-functional expertise and external guidance, well-intentioned teams end up doing more work for less impact and more cost. True ownership doesn’t mean doing everything yourself, but knowing where to partner, automate, and delegate.

The organizations advancing fastest are rethinking ownership altogether, treating accessibility as a system to orchestrate rather than a silo to control.

Building a sustainable digital accessibility program

The report’s findings point toward a clear path forward: organizations must move accessibility from aspiration to operational habit. This requires giving teams what they need to implement, maintain, and measure accessibility efficiently.

Leading companies are building scalable systems that make accessibility part of everyday work. Plus, they’re elevating it from a compliance cost to a growth opportunity, in order to secure adequate budget and internal resources. And they’re quantifying the impact of the work, to demonstrate that accessibility improvements drive traffic, reduce abandonment, and expand total addressable market.

Most importantly, they’re recognizing that sustainability often requires partnership.

“The organizations making the most progress are the ones treating accessibility as an always-on system rather than a one-time project,” Sollis says. “That means using automation to handle scale, pairing it with expert review for complex, high-risk issues, and backing it all with protection that actually holds up when legal claims arise.”

Sponsored articles are content produced by a company that is either paying for the post or has a business relationship with VentureBeat, and they’re always clearly marked. For more information, contact sales@venturebeat.com.

AI tools are everywhere now and used by virtually everyone in your org. For IT and security teams, that means the job has shifted from “should we allow AI?” to “how do we secure and govern it?” And that’s no small task.

New AI tools and integrations are added constantly, usually without any knowledge or oversight from IT.

To manage this new hidden source of risk, you need a system that gives you continuous discovery, real-time monitoring, and proactive governance without requiring a full-time team dedicated to tracking down every new AI tool. That’s exactly what Nudge Security delivers.

Here’s how it works:

Day One: Get a full inventory of AI apps and users

First things first—you can’t secure what you can’t see. Nudge Security gives you Day One discovery of every AI app and account ever introduced to your org, even those added before you started using Nudge. No surveys, no guesswork, no relying on people to self-report (because let’s be honest, that never works).

You’ll get a complete picture of your AI landscape from the moment you start.

How it Works

Nudge Security’s shadow AI discovery works through a lightweight integration with your IdP (Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace). It takes less than 5 minutes to enable this integration ,and once that’s in place,

Nudge Security analyzes the machine-generated emails sent by SaaS and AI app providers (think noreply@dropbox.com) to document activities like creation of new accounts, password changes, changes to security settings, and more.

Nudge taps into this signal (without ever storing email content) to automatically detect new accounts and tool adoption across your workforce. This means you get comprehensive visibility into AI tool sprawl as it happens, and a Day One inventory of everything that has been introduced up to that point.

You can get expanded visibility by deploying the browser extension which delivers real-time insights and alerts when risky behaviors are detected.

Additionally, you can “nudge” users via the browser extension (and via Slack, Teams, and email) to warn users of risky behaviors, remind them of secure practices, redirect them to approved tools, ask for additional context on new or unfamiliar tools, and more.

Let’s dive into how this works in practice.

Monitor AI Conversations for Sensitive Data Sharing

AI tools are incredibly useful, but they’re also incredibly chatty. Employees paste all sorts of things into ChatGPT, Gemini, and the dozens of other AI assistants out there.

The Nudge Security browser extension monitors AI conversations and detects when sensitive data like PII, secrets, or financial info is shared.

And it’s not just text. Nudge also detects file uploads to AI tools, including context on who, what, when, and how. You’ll also see a visual summary of data flows between your systems and AI tools to quickly understand where the biggest data risks are likely to be.

Track Usage of AI Tools

Want to know which departments are AI power users? Curious whether that unapproved tool is popping up again? Nudge tracks AI use by approved/unapproved app status, specific apps, and department.

You’ll finally have data showing what AI use actually looks like in practice so you can focus your security efforts on the most-used tools and guide users towards the approved toolset.

See Which AI Apps Have Access to Sensitive Data

AI tools love to integrate with your SaaS apps. MCP server connections, AI agents, Google Workspace add-ons, Microsoft Copilot plugins—they’re all requesting access to data.

Nudge maintains an inventory of SaaS-to-AI integrations and scopes, including MCP server connections, so you can see exactly where AI tools have been granted access to data and evaluate the risk.

Get Alerted of Risky Activities

You can’t watch everything all the time. That’s why Nudge offers configurable alerts that notify you when new AI tools show up or when policy violations occur—like sensitive data sharing or use of unapproved tools. Think of it as your early warning system.

Enforce Your AI Policy

You have an AI acceptable use policy, right? (If not, let’s talk.) Nudge automates the process of sharing your policy with employees as well as collecting and tracking acknowledgements.

But acknowledgment is just the beginning. Nudge delivers guardrails when and where employees are working in the form of friendly nudges (hence the name) that reinforce your policy and guide them toward safer AI use in real time.

It’s proactive governance that doesn’t require you to be the bad guy.

The Bottom Line

Your job isn’t to stop progress—it’s to make sure progress doesn’t come with a side of data breach. Nudge Security gives you the visibility, control, and automation you need to govern AI use effectively, so you can sleep a little better at night.

Interested in seeing it for yourself? Start a free 14-day trial of Nudge Security today.

Sponsored and written by Nudge Security.

“I never started out wanting to win 23 Grand Slams. I wanted to win the US Open, and then I made that scalable,” joked Serena Williams, managing partner of investment firm Serena Ventures, at SXSW.

Typically, panels made up of venture capitalists focus on profits and returns on investment. But with tennis legend Serena Williams as Reckitt Catalyst’s entrepreneur-in-residence, the conversation centered on how funding tech startups could drive tangible community impact. 

Another panelist included Mika Eddy, the co-founder of Malama Health, a community-based telehealth company that connects pregnant people with local doulas and remote-monitoring tech to support them during their pregnancy and postpartum. Malama, which means “care” in Hawaiian, aims to improve maternal health outcomes. 

Eddy said she was inspired to build the company after watching her OB-GYN grandmother care for patients in rural Japan while growing up.

“The US was truly not built for healthy outcomes for women, and particularly if you do not have privilege or a platform, oftentimes these outcomes are left to chance,” said Eddy. “We built Malama in order to help fill the gaps.”

Also on the panel was Kwamane Liddell, an emergency department nurse who founded Thrivelink to help patients across the country find the housing, medication and other vital social service resources. The company is focused on accessibility — you don’t need the internet, smartphones or reading skills to use it. For example, Thrivelink uses AI voice tech rather than relying on text, which may be harder for some patients to use. Liddell’s uncle, who had a stroke and was part of the inspiration for Thrivelink.

“People might not be able to text or type within the app, but they can say their address,” said Liddell. “So we built a telephonic AI agent that allows people to talk. Since then, we’ve helped thousands of families access healthy food.”

Health tech, venture capitalism and policy have a long, complicated history in the US. Health technology is often designed to fill gaps or address major issues left by the health care and insurance industries. Big companies in the AI revolution, such as OpenAI, Amazon and Microsoft, are also building health AI tools along with startups like Malama and Thrivelink.  

Tomasz Patan took off from his own driveway in a Jetson ONE eVTOL, heading straight out to sea. Soon, he was flying low over the cliffs of Pismo Beach, following the coastline and headed directly over the pier, and the view most certainly stole his breath away as he made his way down the shoreline, passing a beach restaurant he’d flown over many times before.

Surfers were in the sea below, and the entire coastline was laid out in all its grandeur before him. Patan later described the view as one he would never forget, as the marathon brought him from Pismo Beach to Grover Beach, where hundreds had gathered to watch him pass by. Local groups had secured for all of the essential permissions from a variety of different organizations, which required some effort but ultimately paid off.

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Without a runway or airport to worry about, he could plot the most direct route possible and just go. The flight itself was straightforward, a short hop from his house to a familiar stretch of coastline where the Pacific was doing its usual thing, waves rolling in against the rocks and sand with the hills and houses of the shoreline sitting quietly in the background. The Jetson ONE just did its thing without a hitch, unbothered by the wind or weather throughout.

The Jetson ONE runs on eight electric motors driving eight individual blades, all wrapped in an aluminum and carbon fiber frame that keeps the total weight down to around 254 pounds with the batteries fitted. The open cockpit can accommodate a pilot of up to 209 pounds, and from there you get roughly 20 minutes of flight time before needing to touch down again. Top speed is around 63 mph, though most flights never push anywhere near that. Control comes down to a single four axis joystick, which keeps things refreshingly simple, and the high discharge lithium ion batteries deliver plenty of power throughout. Recharging from a standard wall socket takes just a few hours, and when you’re done the whole thing folds down neatly for storage.

Patan began working on the Jetson ONE in 2017, and now oversees production from a separate factory. So far, they’ve received more than 650 orders totaling nearly $100 million. They are planning their first 100 deliveries for next year and are already accepting bookings for 2028. A full airframe parachute system is included as standard, which is a true lifesaver in the event of an emergency, and it also complies with all ultralight vehicle regulations, which is a good thing.

At Mahjong Together, generations meet over tiles, conversation, and friendly rivalry

On Sunday afternoons at Toa Payoh West Community Club, mahjong tiles clack steadily across the room as players shuffle stacks into walls and call out their moves.

At each table, four players lean forward in concentration—scanning their tiles, calculating their next move, and occasionally pausing to trade friendly jabs across the table.

But the tables here bring together a unique mix of players.

Across from a retired uncle might sit a junior college student. An auntie in her seventies might be teaching a teenager the finer points of reading discarded tiles.

They have gathered here for Mahjong Together, a youth-led initiative that brings seniors and young volunteers together over one of Singapore’s most recognisable games—and it’s grown so popular that seniors have to ballot every week just to get a seat.

Mahjong Together was started by a group of four students

Mahjong Together first began in 2021, started by four students from Dunman High School who wanted to do more for their community. Inspired by stories of senior isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, they set out to create meaningful, intergenerational interaction.

Today, the programme is run by a committee of 15 youths, mostly students, who rotate annually and manage its operations, outreach, and volunteer recruitment.

Each session pairs 24 youth volunteers with 24 elderly participants for three hours of mahjong, with no money involved.

Youth volunteers (Mahjong Together currently accepts those aged 15 to 30) are recruited monthly via online sign-ups, with about 70 to 90 participants joining each month. Sessions are held most regularly on Sunday afternoons at Toa Payoh West Community Club, though they occasionally take place at other community clubs, active ageing centres, and care homes across Singapore.

What makes Mahjong Together distinctive is its simplicity.

There are no structured lessons, formal service activities, or strict agendas. Instead, the game itself becomes the bridge between generations. Four players at a table, a wall of tiles to build, and three hours of conversation and strategy create a natural space for intergenerational bonding.

Its popularity highlights the programme’s success: by 2025, sessions were frequently oversubscribed, prompting the introduction of a ballot system to give more people a fair chance to attend.

More than just a game

Seniors who have attended the sessions speak highly of the experience.

“I’m very happy when I get the chance to play,” said 73-year-old retiree Kong Yoke Kew in an interview with the Straits Times. He had been attending Mahjong Together at Toa Payoh West Community Club for two years. “I look forward to it every week.”

The sessions are as beneficial as they are enjoyable.

For seniors, they provide a reason to leave the house and engage with the community, helping to combat social isolation. Mahjong also doubles as a mental workout, exercising memory, pattern recognition, and strategic thinking.

Meanwhile, youth volunteers gain insight into older generations, hearing stories from decades past and perspectives rarely encountered in school. For many, that sense of connection and community keeps them coming back week after week, long after their first session.

Unlike structured intergenerational programmes, Mahjong Together fosters interaction naturally. Seniors and youth sit as equals at the same table, playing, exchanging tips, and sharing stories over the course of the game.

As Singapore’s population ages, the country doesn’t just need more hospitals—it needs more spaces like this, where people of different generations can meet, connect, and spend time together.

• Find out more about Mahjong Together here.
• Read other articles we’ve written about Singapore’s current affairs here.

Featured Image Credit: Mahjong Together

The average marketing agency juggles between six and 12 different software tools to manage clients: one for email, another for CRM, a third for funnels, something else for scheduling, a separate platform for reputation management, and probably a spreadsheet holding the whole thing together. Every new client means another round of logins, another integration to maintain, and another monthly bill that chips away at margins. It is a problem that gets worse the more successful you become.

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GoHighLevel, also known as HighLevel, has spent the past few years building something that the marketing agency world has quietly been asking for: a single platform that replaces the patchwork. CRM, email marketing, SMS, funnel builder, appointment scheduling, reputation management, invoicing, and now AI-powered automation, all under one roof. The pitch is straightforward. Instead of paying for seven tools and spending half your week switching between them, you pay for one and get your evenings back.

What makes the platform interesting is not just the feature list (plenty of tools promise everything). It is the architecture. GoHighLevel was designed from the ground up for agencies managing multiple clients simultaneously. Every client gets their own sub-account with completely isolated data, branding, and workflows. On the Unlimited plan, there is no cap on how many of these sub-accounts you can create. That means your software cost stays flat whether you are managing five clients or fifty.

The white-label angle agencies actually care about

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The feature that tends to convert sceptical agency owners is the white-label capability. GoHighLevel lets you rebrand the entire platform: your logo, your colours, your custom domain. Clients interact with what looks and feels like your proprietary software. They never see GoHighLevel’s name.

This matters for two reasons. First, it strengthens your agency’s brand perception considerably. Clients who log into “your” platform daily develop a stickier relationship with your agency than clients who know you are just configuring someone else’s tool. Second, and more tangibly, the SaaS Pro plan ($497/month) lets you resell the platform as your own branded software product, complete with custom pricing tiers and automated client billing. Some agencies have turned this into a standalone revenue stream, effectively running a software company on top of their services business.

If you want to explore whether this model works for your agency, GoHighLevel offers a free trial of the SaaS Pro plan so you can test the white-label setup, client billing tools, and branded mobile app before committing.

What is actually inside the box

Rather than listing every feature (there are hundreds), here is what agencies tend to use most heavily once they are past the initial setup:

• Unified inbox: SMS, email, phone calls, Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs, Google Business messages, and WhatsApp conversations all land in one feed per client. No more switching tabs to check where a lead last responded.
• Workflow automation: Visual, drag-and-drop workflows that trigger based on form fills, appointment bookings, pipeline stage changes, or custom events. These can be templated and cloned across client accounts in minutes.
• Funnel and website builder: Drag-and-drop page builder for landing pages, full websites, and multi-step funnels. Not the most sophisticated builder on the market, but competent enough that most agencies no longer need a separate tool.
• Reputation management: Automated review request sequences via SMS and email, centralised review monitoring across Google and Facebook, and AI-powered review responses.
• AI Employees: A relatively new addition. Voice AI handles inbound and outbound phone calls with natural-sounding agents. Conversation AI manages chat and SMS responses in real time. Reviews AI automates reputation responses. Content AI assists with copy generation. These are billed either per usage or through an unlimited add-on at $97/month per sub-account.
• Appointment scheduling: Built-in calendar with automated reminders via SMS and email. Supports round-robin booking across team members and integrates directly with the CRM pipeline.

The honest trade-off is depth vs. breadth. GoHighLevel’s email editor is not as polished as Mailchimp’s. Its CRM reporting does not match HubSpot’s. The landing page builder will not impress anyone coming from Webflow. But the compound value of having everything in one system, with shared data and unified automation, tends to outweigh the individual feature gaps for agencies running at scale.

The pricing that actually matters

GoHighLevel runs three tiers. The Starter plan at $97/month includes three sub-accounts, making it suitable for solo operators or agencies with a small client roster. The Unlimited plan at $297/month removes the sub-account cap entirely (unlimited clients, unlimited contacts). The SaaS Pro plan at $497/month adds white-label mobile apps, SaaS resale tools, and automated client billing infrastructure.

Annual billing brings those numbers down by roughly 20 per cent: $970/year for Starter, $2,970/year for Unlimited, and $4,970/year for SaaS Pro. For agencies that have already decided GoHighLevel fits their workflow, the annual billing option is the most cost-effective route.

One thing worth noting: the base subscription covers the platform, but usage-based charges sit on top. LC Phone (the built-in telephony), LC Email, and AI tool credits are all billed separately based on consumption. For most agencies, these add $50 to $200/month depending on volume, but it is worth factoring in when comparing the total cost against your current stack.

Who this is (and is not) for

GoHighLevel works best for marketing agencies that manage five or more clients, rely heavily on lead generation and nurture workflows, and want to consolidate their tech stack. It is particularly strong for agencies serving local businesses (dentists, plumbers, realtors, restaurants) where reputation management, appointment scheduling, and automated follow-ups drive client results.

It is less suited for agencies that specialise in enterprise accounts requiring deep CRM customisation, ecommerce agencies that need native Shopify or WooCommerce integrations at the Klaviyo level, or solo consultants who only need a basic email tool. If you fall into any of those categories, a more specialised platform will likely serve you better.

For everyone else, the consolidation play is compelling. Replacing a $50/month email tool, a $30/month scheduler, a $100/month CRM, a $80/month funnel builder, and a $40/month reputation tool with a single $297/month subscription is not just simpler. It is often cheaper, and the unified data layer makes your automation significantly more effective.

The learning curve is real (plan for two to four weeks of proper setup time), but agencies that push through the initial configuration tend to stay. GoHighLevel’s reported churn rate is notably low for a SaaS platform in this price range, which suggests that the value becomes clear once you are actually running client campaigns inside it.

Prices and features are subject to change. Please verify current details on GoHighLevel’s website before purchasing.

If you spend your days at a desk and your evenings on the couch, chances are you have two completely separate sets of gear to show for it. Pixelpaw Labs thinks that’s one too many, and the Phase is their answer to the problem, a single wireless device that handles both without asking you to compromise on either

At first glance the Phase looks like a perfectly ordinary mouse sitting on your desk, symmetrical and unremarkable in all the right ways. Give it a firm tug though and the whole thing splits cleanly down the middle along a set of nearly invisible seams held together by strong magnets. What you’re left with are two independent controllers, each packing a thumbstick, a directional pad, face buttons, and a pair of triggers on the back, ready to go the moment you sink into the couch.

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The gaming controls tuck away completely when the Phase is assembled, leaving you with something that looks and behaves like a standard desktop mouse with no hint of what’s hiding inside. The base provides plenty of stability and keeps the whole thing planted firmly on the mat. Tracking comes courtesy of a 16,000 DPI optical sensor on the right half, which should satisfy even the more demanding users. In place of a traditional scroll wheel there is a slim capacitive strip running along the left click button, letting you slide or tap through documents and web pages in a way that feels surprisingly intuitive. Two additional buttons sit at the outer corners of the primary clicks for extra functionality without making things feel busy, and the Omron switches behind the main clicks are crisp and satisfying with every press.

Split it apart and the full controller layout reveals itself, a directional pad and face buttons on one side with mirrored controls on the other. The thumbsticks feel smooth and precise thanks to Alps Alpine components, and the triggers use Hall Effect sensors which should keep them feeling just as good years down the line. Each half also has a dedicated Layer button that effectively doubles your available inputs by assigning a second function to every other control, and once you start mapping things out you might be surprised by just how much the Phase can handle.

Connectivity is equally well thought out whether you’re using it as a mouse or a controller. Bluetooth lets you pair the Phase with up to three devices at once, covering computers, phones, and tablets, and if you need the lowest possible lag there is a 2.4 gigahertz dongle option for PC. It plays nicely with just about every platform going, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, with no extra adapters required. A USB-C port on the left half takes care of charging when the battery starts to run low, and with a claimed 72 hours of life on a single charge, that shouldn’t need to happen very often.

The free companion app PixelPlay is where things get really interesting. All eighteen buttons are fully remappable, the sensor speed is adjustable, multiple profiles can be saved, and firmware updates are handled right there in the app. Profiles switch over automatically when you connect to a new device or flip between mouse and controller mode, which means there is nothing to manually configure every time you move between setups. No extra hardware, no fuss, just slip it into your pocket or bag and you’re ready to go.

For travelers there is an optional add-on called Phasegrip that takes things a step further. The small clip attaches each half of the Phase to the edges of your smartphone, turning the whole setup into a self contained mobile gaming rig in one neat package. It extends out just like a familiar handheld controller, letting you jump straight into Steam titles or mobile games without juggling separate pieces. The bundle costs a little more, but everything stays compact enough to disappear into a backpack without a second thought.

Pixelpaw Labs has set the full retail price at $159, but getting in early makes a meaningful difference. Early backers can reserve a unit for $115 with a $20 deposit, locking in a 15% discount ahead of the Kickstarter launch. Production is set to kick off once the necessary hardware inspections, molds, and certifications are all squared away, with delivery expected sometime in late 2026 or early 2027.
[Source]

Robot vacuum cleaners have evolved rapidly over the past decade. Early models focused mainly on basic automation – moving around a home and cleaning floors with minimal input. But as homes become more complex, simply offering stronger suction or longer battery life is no longer enough. What homeowners increasingly want is a system that can understand its environment and make intelligent decisions about cleaning.

That shift toward smarter automation is exactly what Roborock is aiming to achieve with its latest flagship robot vacuum, the Roborock Saros 20. Designed for modern homes with mixed flooring, carpets, thresholds, and dense furniture layouts, the Saros 20 focuses less on raw hardware performance and more on real-world intelligence and navigation accuracy. The system allows the robot to adapt its cleaning behavior dynamically based on different environments and floor types.

From Powerful Robots to Intelligent Home Systems

Traditional robot vacuums often struggle in real homes. Carpets can confuse navigation systems, thresholds interrupt cleaning cycles, and cluttered rooms make mapping difficult. The Saros 20 approaches these challenges differently by combining advanced sensing technologies with adaptive hardware designed to interpret its surroundings before taking action.

Rather than simply executing a cleaning route, the robot continuously evaluates its environment and determines the most effective way to clean. That could mean adjusting its height for different surfaces, avoiding obstacles more precisely, or returning to areas that need additional attention.

This approach represents a shift in how robotic cleaning systems are evolving – from simple automation tools to intelligent home systems capable of strategic decision-making.

StarSight Autonomous System 2.0: Faster Mapping and Smarter Navigation

At the core of the Saros 20 is StarSight Autonomous System 2.0, Roborock’s latest navigation platform. Unlike many traditional robot vacuums that rely on laser-based LDS navigation, the Saros 20 uses a 3D Time-of-Flight (ToF) vision system with dual transmitters and solid-state sensing.

This system samples the environment at a much higher frequency than earlier laser-based technologies, allowing the robot to build home maps faster while maintaining high accuracy around thin furniture legs, suspended cabinets, and cluttered spaces.

The improved system also enhances positioning accuracy. According to Roborock, the Saros 20 AI obstacle recognition system can detect more than 300 types of objects and identify obstacles only a few centimetres in size. This enables the robot to avoid collisions more effectively while maintaining consistent coverage across the home.

The robot can also localize itself more precisely inside a room, allowing it to recover quickly if moved and maintain orientation even in low-light environments where traditional vision systems often struggle.

AdaptiLift Chassis 3.0: Built for Complex Homes

Modern homes often feature a mix of flooring surfaces, rugs, and raised thresholds that can challenge standard robot vacuums. To address this, Roborock has equipped the Saros 20 with AdaptiLift Chassis 3.0, an adaptive mobility system designed to handle difficult transitions.

The chassis can automatically raise itself to cross single-layer thresholds up to 4.5cm and double-layer thresholds up to 4.3cm, allowing the robot to move between rooms more smoothly.

Despite this capability, the Saros 20 maintains an ultra-slim 7.95cm body, enabling it to reach under beds, sofas, and low cabinets where dust often accumulates.

Smarter Edge Cleaning with VertiBeam

Another challenge for robot vacuums is cleaning close to walls and furniture edges. The Saros 20 introduces VertiBeam lateral obstacle avoidance, which uses vertical structured light to eliminate side blind spots.

This technology allows the robot to navigate closer to walls and irregular furniture edges while maintaining safe clearance from obstacles, improving edge cleaning performance without increasing collision risks.

While intelligence and navigation are the focus of the Saros 20, cleaning performance remains a priority. The robot is powered by Roborock’s 36,000Pa HyperForce digital motor, the strongest suction rating in the company’s lineup to date.

The system is paired with dual spinning mops with adjustable downward pressure, allowing the robot to scrub floors more effectively. A dual anti-tangle brush system also helps prevent hair buildup, making the Saros 20 particularly suitable for homes with pets.

Together, these features enable the robot to tackle both hard floors and carpets while maintaining consistent performance across different surfaces.

Built for the Complexity of Modern Homes

Roborock presents the Saros 20 as more than just another robot vacuum. By combining faster mapping, improved positioning accuracy, adaptive mobility, and intelligent obstacle recognition, the company is positioning the device as a next-generation autonomous cleaning system.

Instead of simply following preset routes, the Saros 20 is designed to interpret its surroundings and make smarter cleaning decisions in real time. For households with mixed flooring, complex layouts, and constantly changing environments, that level of intelligence could make robotic cleaning feel far more reliable and effortless.

With the Saros 20, Roborock appears to be pushing the idea that the future of home cleaning isn’t just about stronger motors or bigger batteries – it’s about robots that truly understand the homes they clean.