Samsung will unveil its next flagship smartphone lineup on February 25 at its Galaxy Unpacked event in San Francisco. The company sent out invites earlier this week. The event will begin at 10 am Pacific (1 pm Eastern), and it’ll be livestreamed here.

Rumors abound that suggest the Galaxy S26 series—which will include the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+, and Galaxy S26 Ultra—won’t have any major changes from their predecessors. They’ll likely be powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, with some minor charging speed improvements and minor upgrades to the camera hardware.

Courtesy of Samsung

Artificial intelligence features will likely sit at the forefront, likely with a few new Gemini tricks. However, one big new feature is a privacy screen built into the smartphone itself. It’ll let you selectively block parts of the display from people around you. Unfortunately, even with only minor upgrades, there may be a price increase for these phones stemming from the RAM shortage. As usual, Samsung is letting you reserve a Galaxy S26 device right now. You’ll get a $30 credit to use when preorders open up, and a chance to win a $5,000 gift card at Samsung.com.

Don’t expect to see a Galaxy S26 Edge. Samsung’s super-slim Edge phone from 2025 wasn’t a hit, and leaks suggest a successor has been canceled. Still, the Edge debuted in May 2025, so we could still see a follow-up around then. All we know is that it likely won’t make a showing at this Unpacked event. Samsung usually announces other products outside of smartphones, and this year, that may be a new pair of Galaxy Buds wireless earbuds.

We’ll be on the ground bringing the news to you live.

Fitbit’s Personal Health Coach Arrives on iOS

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Months after Fitbit’s Personal Health Coach launched in public preview for Android users, the Gemini-powered health service is now finally available to iOS users. To try it out, you must have an active paid or trial Fitbit Premium subscription and a phone that runs iOS 16.4 or higher. (You can check out the full list of requirements here.) Personal Health Coach is also expanding to English speakers in other countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.

As I mentioned in my preview of the service, I would be wary of divulging too much personal health information to a large corporation, even one that promises not to use it for advertising. I also found that it’s easy to start consulting with the Coach for advice on every part of your day, which your IRL family and friends will find weird and annoying. However, it is the easiest, most helpful, and most accommodating of the AI coach services that I’ve tried so far, and $10/month for Fitbit Premium is cheaper than a real running coach. As always, your mileage (literally) may vary. —Adrienne So

iOS 26.3 Makes It Easy to Switch to Android

Photograph: Simon Hill

Apple released iOS 26.3 this week for the iPhone, and the hot new feature might surprise you. The company is making it easier to switch to Android phones, thanks to a collaboration with Google, which also recently added a similar feature for switching from Android to iPhone.

Elon Musk is “actively” working to make xAI’s Grok chatbot “more unhinged,” according to a former employee who spoke to The Verge about recent departures from Musk’s AI company.

This week, following the announcement that Musk’s SpaceX is acquiring xAI (which previously acquired his social media company X), at least 11 engineers and two co-founders said they’re leaving the company. Some said they’re departing to start something new, and Musk himself suggested this is part of an effort to organize xAI more effectively.

But two sources who left the company (at least one of them before the current wave) reportedly told The Verge that employees have become increasingly disillusioned by the company’s disregard for safety, resulting in global scrutiny after Grok was used to create more than 1 million sexualized images, including deepfakes of real women and minors.

One source said, “Safety is a dead org at xAI,” while the other said that Musk is “actively is trying to make the model more unhinged because safety means censorship, in a sense, to him.”

They also reportedly complained about a lack of direction, with one saying they felt xAI was “stuck in the catch-up phase” compared to competitors.

• OpenAI has officially disabled GPT-4o in ChatGPT
• A lot of users are feeling emotional and upset about the switch
• There’s an official #keep4o campaign underway

We knew the moment was coming, and now it’s happened: OpenAI has officially disabled the GPT-4o model inside ChatGPT, pushing all users towards the GPT-5 alternatives, and it’s hitting a lot of users hard.

A substantial chunk of ChatGPT users prefer the more emotional and warmer ChatGPT-4o experience, as it’s more suited to AI companionship and bonding. Now it’s no longer available, there’s been a widespread outpouring of sadness and anger.

The smart doorbell provider faced blowback for its Super Bowl TV ad last Sunday.

The Amazon-owned home security camera provider Ring has cancelled an upcoming partnership with Flock Safety, a surveillance tech provider to US police forces.

The pair agreed last October to collaborate on Ring’s ‘Community Requests’ feature, which allows Ring users to share footage with local police when requested, if they choose to do so.

In a statement yesterday (12 February), Ring said that after “a comprehensive review”, it found that “the planned Flock Safety integration would require significantly more time and resources than anticipated”, and therefore was cancelling the partnership.

The smart doorbell platform attracted controversy this week around an ad broadcast during TV coverage of the Super Bowl on 8 February publicising another Ring feature, ‘Search Party’, which was unrelated to Flock.

The ad showed multiple Ring cameras throughout a neighbourhood being activated in unison to search for a missing pet. Online criticism of the feature notes that this network of surveillance could also be used to track people.

Flock’s best-known offering to US police forces is a network of cameras nationwide that can record and identify car registration plates and upload them to a centralised database which can be accessed by police to track vehicles.

The company recently denied that it works with the US federal agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after reports emerged alleging that the agency was using the company’s technology as part of its operations. “ICE does not have direct access to Flock cameras, systems, or data,” read a Flock statement.

Both Ring and Flock said that because their planned integration never launched, no video belonging to Ring customers was ever sent to Flock.

Ring added: “We remain focused on building tools that empower neighbours to help one another while maintaining strong privacy protections and transparency about how our features work.

“We’ll continue to carefully evaluate future partnerships to ensure they align with our standards for customer trust, safety and privacy.”

Flock said it “remains dedicated to supporting law enforcement agencies with tools that are fully configurable to local laws and policies”, and that it would continue to engage directly with “public officials and community leaders”.

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• Holographic tape operated inside a production LTO library without infrastructure changes
• Live application software accessed holographic media using standard tape library workflows
• Cartridge dimensions matched LTO, allowing robotic handling without modification

A UK startup has tested a holographic tape storage system inside a working LTO tape library, showing that it can run within existing data center setups.

The test by HoloMem involved real software writing data to the system and reading it back through normal tape library operations.

The Department of Homeland Security has been increasing pressure on tech companies to identify the owners of social media accounts that criticize Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to The New York Times.

This echoes other recent reporting, with Bloomberg pointing to five cases in which Homeland Security sought to identify the owners of anonymous Instagram accounts, with the department withdrawing its subpoenas after the owners sued. And a Washington Post story described Homeland Security’s growing use of administrative subpoenas — which do not require the approval of a judge — to target Americans.

Now the NYT says a practice that was previously used sparingly has become increasingly common in recent months, with the department sending hundreds of these subpoenas to Google, Reddit, Discord, and Meta. The subpoenas reportedly focused on accounts that did not have a real name attached and either criticized ICE or described the location of ICE agents.

Google, Meta, and Reddit have reportedly complied in at least some cases. Echoing past comments, Google said that it informs users of these subpoenas when it can, and that it pushes back when the subpoenas are “overbroad.”

The start of a new year of streaming brims with anticipation for all the great things you’ll watch. You could get hooked on an underrated show, binge the return of a favorite or stream a new Oscar Best Picture winner from your couch. Envisioning upcoming entertainment is better when you don’t factor in how the price to watch it could change — and already is.

2026 has already brought increases to services you might use to stream shows, movies, music and live TV, such as Paramount Plus, Spotify and Sling. Streamflation or not, you probably aren’t going to take a total break from streaming this year, so we’re tracking every price rise from 2025 onward. If you hit your spending limit, you can cancel, rotate services or scout for discounts. 

2026 Streaming Price Hikes

Crunchyroll (February 2026) 

The anime streaming service Crunchyroll announced a price hike on Feb. 2, including an increase to its entry-level Fan subscription for the first time since 2019. Crunchyroll shut down its free, ad-supported tier about a month earlier.

With the increase, which is in effect for new customers and starts March 4 for existing customers, Crunchyroll’s ad-free plans now cost $10 per month for Fan, $14 for Mega Fan and $18 for Ultimate Fan — a $2 increase across plans.

Amazon Music (February 2026)

Amazon Music Unlimited Individual plans recently rose to $13 per month (or $12 per month for Prime members — both $1 bumps). Family plans increased by $2 to $22 per month. Prices went into effect Feb. 3 for new customers, and current subscribers will pay more on or after March 5. Amazon Music Unlimited also adjusted prices in 2025.

Paramount Plus (January 2026)

If you missed Paramount Plus’ mid-January price increase, it might be because the details emerged two months earlier, in November 2025. When the hike did arrive, it brought ad-supported Essential from $8 per month or $60 per year to $9 per month or $90 per year. Paramount Plus‘ ad-free version, Premium, rose from $13 per month to $14 and $120 per year to $140. 

Spotify (January 2026)

Spotify added to the price hike pile with its announcement on Jan. 15. The updates included a $1 bump to the Premium Individual plan, effective right away for newbies, and in February for existing subscribers. The prices increased for Individual to $13 per month, Premium Duo to $19, Premium Family to $22 and Premium Student to $7.

Sling TV (January 2026)

Live TV streaming service Sling changed rates on its Blue packages in some regions. It’s increased in markets where at least one local ABC, Fox or NBC station is available. Blue now costs $9 extra (up from $5) if you have all three locals, and $4 extra (up from no charge) if you have one or two. While newcomers saw the change in January, existing customers won’t be affected until their billing date on or after Feb. 20.

2025 Streaming Price Hikes

HBO Max (October 2025) 

HBO Max raised prices on Oct. 21, right around the launches of new series It: Welcome to Derry and I Love LA. The ad-supported basic tier rose by $1 to $11 per month, and the ad-free Standard tier increased by $1.50 to $18.50 per month. The ad-free Premium tier jumped $2 to $23 per month. 

The hike affected new customers immediately and existing customers on their first billing cycle on or after Nov. 20. Disney streaming increases took effect the same day, hiking the price of HBO Max, Hulu and Disney Plus bundles.

Disney Plus, Hulu, ESPN Select, Hulu Plus Live TV (October 2025) 

The most monster hike of 2025 probably belonged to Disney. Its increases extended to standalone Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Select plans, as well as bundle plans and Hulu Plus Live TV plans. Notably, ad-free Hulu and the ad-free Disney Plus and Hulu bundle didn’t see a hike. The changes went into effect on the same day as HBO Max’s increase — Oct. 21 — applying to existing customers on or after that date.

DirecTV (October 2025)

Price increases may have affected DirecTV customers’ bills on or after Oct. 5, according to a support page that instructs customers to sign in to learn more. A DirecTV representative told CNET that the company was communicating the update directly to customers and did not have a breakdown to share.

Philo (September 2025)

On Sept. 30, the budget live TV streamer Philo increased the price of its Core plan and added access to ad-supported HBO Max and Discovery Plus. Its subscription price rose by $5 to $33, with existing Core customers paying more on or after Oct. 30.

Apple TV (August 2025) 

Before its rebrand to Apple TV, the streamer formerly known as Apple TV Plus got a $3 hike on Aug. 21. The ad-free service now costs $13 per month. 

Peacock (July 2025)

The ad-supported and ad-free versions of Peacock rose $3 in July, bringing Premium to $11 per month and Premium Plus to $17 per month. Peacock also began testing a new $8-per-month Select tier with current seasons of NBC and Bravo shows. Annual plans increased by $30, and changes took hold for current customers on or after Aug. 22. 

Netflix (January 2025)

It’s been more than a year since Netflix last raised prices. The popular streaming service updated the price of its ad-based plan in 2025 for the first time since its 2022 launch — increasing it by $1 to $8 per month. The streamer also increased its ad-free Standard plan by $2.50 to $18 per month, and upped its ad-free Premium plan by $2 to $25 per month.

Streaming Price Decreases

Fubo (January 2026)

A much less common occurrence in the streaming world, Fubo initiated some price cuts amid its carriage dispute with NBCUniversal. Fubo reduced its Pro and Elite monthly subscriptions by $11 to $74 and $84, respectively, with existing customers paying less on or after Jan. 1. Here’s more on the dispute and loss of NBCUniversal channels from Fubo.

• SSHStalker uses IRC channels and multiple bots to control infected Linux hosts
• Automated SSH brute-forcing rapidly spreads the botnet through cloud server infrastructures
• Compilers are downloaded locally to build payloads for reliable cross-distribution execution

SSHStalker, a recently discovered Linux botnet, is apparently relying on the classic IRC (Internet Relay Chat) protocol to manage its operations.

Created in 1988, IRCwas once the dominant instant messaging system for technical communities due to its simplicity, low bandwidth needs, and cross-platform compatibility.

Digital transformation has become an imperative. Companies throughout the US economy are in an all-out race to automate their workplaces, for all sorts of reasons: Labor is getting more expensive while robots are getting better and cheaper; real wages have been flat for years so companies are hiring less and machines more; and workers across multiple industries want machines alongside them, as a way of making their jobs (and joints) less painful. But in the quest for building the optimal automation stack, leaders are often left with a single important question:

Should we invest in RPA, BPM, or iPaaS — or all three?

It is important to know these differences before choosing an appropriate solution. Today, we unpack RPA, BPM and iPaaS in plain language — with facts and trends — so you can call your own shots.

First, Let’s Understand the Core Technologies

The global market for RPA software has grown into the double digits year over year, and this remained true even as organisations continued to automate back-office operations, according to Gartner. Many firms are teaming up with RPA services to fast-track the implementation process with enterprise-grade control.

RPA works best when:

● Tasks are repetitive and rule-driven

● Data is structured

● Systems lack APIs (legacy applications)

● Quick ROI is required

“RPA is, however, task-level automation — not full process optimisation.

2. What is BPM?

Business Process Management (BPM) is from a design, monitoring and reconfiguration perspective the whole workflow. Rather than automating discrete tasks, BPM enhances the entire process life cycle.

For example:

● Employee onboarding

● Insurance claims processing

● Loan approval workflows

BPM solutions offer visibility, governance, compliance and control tracking, as well as workflow orchestration. If RPA is the “worker,” then BPM is the “manager” overseeing the entire operation.

BPM practitioners see improved efficiency, shorter cycle times, and better compliance in the context of regulated industries.

3. What is iPaaS?

iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service) is a cloud-based integration model that links applications, data and devices with connectors and APIs. It guarantees instant data synchronisation between those solutions and other systems (CRM, ERP, HRMS, cloud applications).

If you are a company that’s working with multi-cloud or hybrid solutions, iPaaS is an absolute must.

Being a backend data layer integration tool, and not operating at the user interface level like RPA, iPaaS is far more stable and scalable for long-term integration needs.

Key Differences at a Glance

Why Businesses Are Moving Toward Hyperautomation

The future of automation isn’t a question of picking one tool. It’s about combining them strategically.

This combination is known as hyperautomation – combining RPA, BPM, iPaaS and AI with analytics in a cohesive system.

The hyperautomation market is anticipated to expand substantially until 2030, as businesses increasingly require intelligent and scalable automation solutions, industry estimates say.

A good hyperautomation company generally assists companies to model multi-layered architectures where:

● BPM manages workflows

● iPaaS handles system integration

● RPA automates individual tasks

● AI enhances decision-making

This is orchestration that provides measurable ROI and long-term scalability.

When Should You Choose RPA?

RPA is ideal when:

● You want to make quick wins with minimal changes in infrastructure

● You do similar finance or HR jobs repeatedly

● For legacy systems, you will require the automation

● You want to do cheaper operations fast

Many companies kick off their automation journey with RPA services to eliminate manual roadblocks in for example finance and operations.

But RPA just might not scale well enough on its own, without tying in and orchestrating workflow.

When Should You Choose BPM?

Choose BPM if:

● You really want to see everything that’s happening in workflows

● Compliance and auditable trails are very essential.

● Processes involve multiple departments

● Continuous optimisation is required

BPM solutions empower you to redesign and automate inefficient workflows. This protects against the common pitfall of “automating broken processes”. 

When Should You Choose iPaaS?

Choose iPaaS if:

● You use multiple SaaS applications

● Real-time data flow is essential

● API-driven architecture is available

● You want scalable cloud integration

iPaaS lets you rely less on UI-based bots and provides more durable backend integrations.

The role of Low-Code and Test Automation

Modern automation stacks are helped alongside low-code and no-code application development platforms. Therefore with these types of tools, business teams can genuinely create workflows and apps without deep coding skills, further fueling digital initiatives.

Plus, collaborating with such providers who deliver the top test automation services ensures that your automation scripts, along with integrations and workflows are consistent even as systems change over time. Testing is key because poorly controlled automation systems can be broken by UI changes, API updates or workflow adjustments.

How to Build Your Automation Stack (Step-By-Step Framework)

Here’s a basic expert framework to guide you in the decision:

Step 1: Identify Your Bottleneck

Are we actually faced with task repetition, that is lack of efficiency or division within the system?

● Task problem → RPA

● Workflow problem → BPM

● Integration problem → iPaaS

Step 2: Assess Technical Environment

● Legacy systems → RPA shines here

● systems with an API → iPaaS is awesome

● Complex cross-functional processes → BPM is necessary

Step 3: Plan for Scalability

Avoid building isolated automation silos. Integrate technologies in an organised automation infrastructure.

This is one of the reasons that companies frequently partner with providers who bring additional RPA Services to the table with an IR group that speaks BPM and integration frameworks design.

Real-World Example

Picture a health care provider sifting through thousands of insurance claims.

● BPM designs the claims workflow

● RPA pulls data from the old systems

● iPaaS consolidates CRM, billing and compliance systems

● Automated tests guarantee that workflows work without interruption

The result:

● Faster processing time

● Reduced manual errors

● Improved regulatory compliance

● Better patient experience

What are the Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Automating without process redesign

2. RPA only without integration

3. Ignoring governance and testing

4. Not planning for long-term scalability

An organisation with RPA Services ensures that these pitfalls are avoided.

Final Thoughts: What’s the Best Option?

RPA vs BPM vs iPaaS: No clear winner.

The correct answer will vary based on your business goal, technical ecosystem and long-term strategy.

If you can’t afford to wait for efficiency gains, open with RPA.

If you need additional governance and optimisation, do BPBM.

If you want to make data communications seamless, put some money into iPaaS.

If you want to transform at an enterprise level, that’s when you choose hyperautomation.

The most successful organisations view automation as a strategic capability, and not just another investment in technology.

Together with RPA, BPM, iPaaS, low-code platforms and powerful test frameworks in place this will allow your business to create a strong automation ecosystem which brings measurable ROI and power for sustainable growth.