Discarded laptops gather dust in homes everywhere yet many still carry excellent displays worth saving. One maker pulled panels from three different machines to test a straightforward conversion into standalone monitors anyone can tackle at home. Results prove the idea works best with newer screens and delivers a custom display for a fraction of store prices.

When you open the laptop lid, the model number on the rear allows you to quickly go to panelook.com and find out everything you need to know about the backlight type, resolution, and connection standard. LED lights combined with LVDS or eDP will be your go-tos because they require only one cable and produce a nice image. Older panels with cold cathode tubes, on the other hand, will be dark and lose viewing angles quickly, since they require a separate inverter, which is inconvenient, so you can simply leave those on the shelf.

MNN Portable Monitor 15.6inch FHD 1080P USB C HDMI Gaming Ultra-Slim IPS Display w/Smart Cover…

• Full HD Portable Monitor – MNN 15.6inch portable laptop monitor with 1920*1080 resolution, advanced IPS matte screen support 178° full viewing angle…
• Double Type-C Port -For Plug & Play, the MNN monitor provides 2 Full Feature Type-C ports. Only One USB Type-C Cable is required to connect to the…
• Lightweight Ultra Slim for Travel – As a portable external monitor,MNN portable laptop monitor easily accommodate to every suitcase and backpack and…

Driver boards that are matched to the specific model of your panel can be purchased online for around $20. The ones with an HDMI input and a barrel connector are suitable for desktop use, whilst the USB-C variants can handle power and video simultaneously and are ideal for travel. Inserting the board into the screen edge connector takes no time at all. Then power on, then connect your video source, and presto, your display will come to life right immediately, with sharp colors and consistent performance if you have a nice panel.

The most difficult part is housing the item because the bare displays are delicate and thin. Using a 3D printed casing is the answer since it generates slotted channels that allow the panel to simply fit in. One design includes a back enclosure for the driver board, as well as cutouts for input selection buttons. A few short screws keep the board in place, while the outer shell covers the edges without adding too much weight. Minor glue repairs were required on the older prints since the support material kept coming away, but the current copies print perfectly and close up neatly around the screens.

When testing is completed, the results are almost immediate. Simply plug in an HDMI connection from your laptop or camera, and your monitor will display all of the content without lag. It also remains bright even in brighter settings, and the small form allows you to place it beneath a larger screen or in a bag for work on the road. One person placed one of these units next to his camera for live feed monitoring, while another utilized the USB-C variant as a quick second screen for chat and music apps.
[Source]

The Pwn2Own Berlin 2026 hacking contest has concluded, with security researchers collecting $1,298,250 in rewards after exploiting 47 zero-day flaws.

The competition took place at the OffensiveCon conference from May 14 to May 16 and focused on enterprise technologies and artificial intelligence.

Throughout the contest, the hackers targeted fully patched products across web browsers, enterprise applications, local privilege escalation, servers, local inference, cloud-native/container environments, virtualization, and LLM categories.

Competitors collected $523,000 in cash awards on the first day for 24 unique zero-days, and another $385,750 on the second day for exploiting 15 zero-days. On the third day of Pwn2Own, they earned another $389,500 for eight more zero-days.

DEVCORE won this year’s edition of Pwn2Own Berlin with 50.5 Master of Pwn points and $505,000 in rewards throughout the three-day contest after hacking Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Edge, and Windows 11, followed by STARLabs SG with $242,500 (25 points) and Out Of Bounds with $95,750 (12.75 points).

​The competition’s highest reward was $200,000, awarded to Cheng-Da Tsai (also known as Orange Tsai) of the DEVCORE Research Team after chaining three bugs to gain remote code execution with SYSTEM privileges on Microsoft Exchange.

On the first day, Orange Tsai earned another $175,000 for a Microsoft Edge sandbox escape chaining 4 logic bugs, Windows 11 was hacked 3 times, and Valentina Palmiotti (chompie) of IBM X-Force Offensive Research collected $70,000 for rooting Red Hat Linux for Workstations and an NVIDIA Container Toolkit zero-day.

On the second day, the hackers demonstrated another Windows 11 local privilege escalation vulnerability, a root-privilege escalation vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Workstations, and zero-days in multiple AI coding agents.

On the third and final day of the contest, the competitors hacked Windows 11 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Workstations again, and used a memory corruption bug to exploit VMware ESXi.

After Pwn2Own ends, vendors have 90 days to release security patches before TrendMicro’s Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) publicly discloses them.

During last year’s Pwn2Own Berlin contest, won by the STAR Labs SG team, ZDI awarded 1,078,750 for 29 zero-day flaws and some bug collisions.

Automated pentesting tools deliver real value, but they were built to answer one question: can an attacker move through the network? They were not built to test whether your controls block threats, your detection rules fire, or your cloud configs hold.

This guide covers the 6 surfaces you actually need to validate.

Download Now

The Sony Xperia 1 VIII is designed to “support the joy of everyday photography”, and promises healthy upgrades over its predecessor.

While we’ve noted everything that’s new with Sony’s flagship in our Sony Xperia 1 VIII vs Xperia 1 VII guide, we’re also interested to see how it measures up to the five-star Oppo Find X9 Ultra. Considering we hailed Oppo’s camera flagship as a “massive achievement and an absolute powerhouse”, the Sony Xperia 1 VIII has a lot to live up to.

We’ve compared the Xperia 1 VIII to the Oppo Find X9 Ultra and noted the main differences – plus any noteworthy similarities – between the two Android phones below.

Read on to see how the Xperia 1 VIII looks set to compare to the Find X9 Ultra. Once you’re done here, make sure you visit our round-ups of the best Android phones and best camera phones too.

Specs Comparison Table

Price and Availability

The Sony Xperia 1 VIII is currently available for pre-order and will officially launch in mid-June. It comes in two size options, 256GB or 1TB, and has a starting RRP of £1399/€1499.

In comparison, the Oppo Find X9 Ultra is ready to buy now and has a slightly higher starting price of £1449.

Oppo Find X9 Ultra has a much larger battery

With a capacity of 7050mAh, the Oppo Find X9 Ultra boasts one of the largest batteries around, but what does that really mean in real-world terms? We found that on less demanding days without too much scrolling, the Find X9 Ultra ended days with around 60-70% battery remaining. Even on busy days with plenty of photography, playing demanding games and other general use, the phone rarely dipped beneath the 40% mark.

This means the handset can easily see you through a second day without needing a top-up, although this will depend on your personal usage.

In comparison, the Sony Xperia 1 VIII is fitted with a smaller 5000mAh battery – the same size as the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. Despite the average size, Sony promises the phone should see two days of battery. We’ll have to wait until we review the handset to verify those claims, however it’s worth noting that Sony promised the same for the Xperia 1 VII and we found that, although it was possible, it wasn’t easy to reach day two.

Oppo Find X9 Ultra has five rear cameras

Both the Xperia 1 VIII and Find X9 Ultra’s headline feature is undoubtedly their camera set-up. As mentioned earlier, Sony promises that the Xperia 1 VIII is designed to help users capture “better photos” and “support the joy of everyday photography”. 

The Xperia 1 VIII is fitted with three rear 48MP lenses, including a main, ultrawide and a new telephoto that’s four times larger than its predecessor’s own. All three lenses, according to Sony, should deliver low-light performance that’s comparable to a full-frame sensor, allowing for clear imaging even in dark environments.

Otherwise, the Find X9 Ultra is fitted with four brilliant rear lenses, alongside a fifth “true colour” camera that keeps the white balance and tones aligned across the line-up. The four lenses include a 200MP main which boasts a massive f/1.5 aperture that takes in plenty of light, a 200MP 3x telephoto, a 50MP 10x periscope and a 50MP ultrawide.

We really didn’t have a bad word to say about the Find X9 Ultra’s cameras, with all lenses performing brilliantly. In fact, the 200MP 3x telephoto was an especially great performer, and one we expect you will use more than you might expect.

Overall, the Find X9 Ultra takes brilliantly detailed images across most lighting conditions, and easily challenges Apple and Google’s own flagships. 

Both run on Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5

Unsurprisingly for flagship Androids, both the Xperia 1 VIII and Find X9 Ultra are fitted with Qualcomm’s top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor. While we’re yet to review the Xperia 1 VIII, we’ve reviewed plenty of phones sporting Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and have rarely been left disappointed. With this in mind, we expect the Xperia 1 VIII to perform well.

Specifically within the Find X9 Ultra, we had very little complaints about the handset’s performance. Everything from scrolling to intensive gaming ran as smoothly as we’d like, with everything feeling slick and responsive. 

Sony Xperia 1 VIII has a headphone jack and a newly designed speaker unit

Unlike the Find X9 Ultra, the Sony Xperia 1 VIII is fitted with a 3.5mm headphone jack which Sony explains enables high-quality audio support using wired headphones, thanks to sound quality inherited from Walkman. 

In addition, the Xperia 1 VIII boasts newly developed left and right speaker units which are promised to deliver “further advances in stereo performance”. Sony promises that the speakers reproduce voices and instruments with greater clarity and richness than before.

Oppo Find X9 Ultra has a larger display and is heavier

With a 6.8-inch display, the Find X9 Ultra isn’t quite as small as the 6.5-inch Xperia 1 VIII but it falls slightly shy of Galaxy S26 Ultra. Size aside, we hailed the Find X9 Ultra’s panel as a “treat”, thanks to its QHD+ resolution, LTPO-enabled 120Hz refresh rate and impressively thin surrounding bezel too.

Sony has more or less kept things the same with this year’s Xperia 1 VIII, with the phone sporting the same FHD+ panel as its predecessor. This certainly is no bad thing, as we concluded the Xperia 1 VII’s screen to be “difficult to fault.”

Early Verdict

It’s difficult to provide a conclusive verdict as we haven’t reviewed the Sony Xperia 1 VIII just yet. However, with Sony promising a larger telephoto lens, better sound quality and two-days of battery, the Xperia 1 VIII is undoubtedly an appealing option.

Even so, the Oppo Find X9 Ultra really impressed us. Not only does it boast one of the most complete camera set-ups around, but its mighty battery easily offers two days of battery while its 6.8-inch panel is a delight to use. Easily one of the best camera phones around, keen photographers and power users will struggle to find a better option than the Find X9 Ultra.

We’ll be sure to update this versus once we review the Xperia 1 VIII.

Apple is reportedly preparing one of the biggest Siri redesigns in years with iOS 27, but even after multiple delays, the company may still label the upgraded assistant as a beta product. According to reports from Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, internal test versions of iOS 27 already refer to the revamped Siri as a beta experience and include an option allowing users to leave the Siri beta entirely.

The move would be unusually familiar for longtime Apple users. When Apple originally introduced Siri in 2011, the assistant itself launched under a beta label before Apple quietly removed the branding in 2013. Despite that, Siri has continued to face criticism for lagging behind competitors in reliability, conversational abilities, and overall intelligence.

Apple’s AI catch-up strategy is taking longer than expected

The revamped Siri was originally expected to arrive in 2024 as part of Apple’s broader AI push. However, multiple reports now suggest the project has faced delays of nearly two years.

According to Gurman’s reporting, Apple is rebuilding Siri into a more advanced chatbot-style assistant capable of handling ongoing conversations, contextual memory, and deeper app integration. The redesign could also introduce a standalone Siri app, chat-style interactions similar to messaging apps, and integration with the Dynamic Island interface on supported iPhones.

The issue for Apple is timing. While Apple continues refining Siri, rivals like Google Gemini, ChatGPT, and other Android-based AI systems have already rolled out advanced conversational assistants with broader real-world capabilities.

That gap has increasingly made Siri feel outdated compared to competing AI products, especially as Apple continues marketing Apple Intelligence as a major part of the iPhone experience.

Why the beta label matters

If Apple officially launches the new Siri as a beta feature in iOS 27, it could serve two purposes. First, it gives Apple flexibility to continue refining the assistant publicly after launch while lowering expectations around bugs, hallucinations, or missing features. Second, it allows the company to release AI features sooner rather than waiting for a more polished final version.

The beta branding would also reflect the broader challenge Apple currently faces in AI. Unlike competitors that prioritize rapid deployment, Apple has historically focused more heavily on stability, privacy, and controlled rollouts.

Reports also suggest Apple is introducing stronger privacy controls into Siri’s AI experience, including optional auto-delete settings for conversation history.

What happens next

Apple is expected to reveal more about Siri’s redesign and its AI roadmap during WWDC next month. Developer beta versions of iOS 27 will likely be the first public look at the new Siri experience.

However, the larger question remains whether Apple’s slower, more cautious AI rollout can still compete in a market where rivals have spent the last two years aggressively pushing generative AI into mainstream consumer products.

For now, Siri’s overhaul appears less like a finished comeback and more like Apple finally arriving at the AI race – still mid-development.

Altra Running’s distinctive wide toe box and zero drop heel-toe design don’t facilitate marathon PRs or punchy 5Ks. But there’s a reason why Leonardo DiCaprio chose to wear all-weather Lone Peaks when playing Bob Ferguson in One Battle After Another. They’re comfortable, rugged, and the zero-drop design keeps you from getting tendonitis. Altras are the perfect shoe for surviving in an off-grid dystopian war, even if they’re not at the top of the list when it comes to the best running shoes.

Get Up to 50% Off at the Altra Running Sale

The Lone Peaks are iconic and instantly recognizable. But don’t worry, if you don’t want the exact model that Bob Ferguson has, the hiking version of the Lone Peaks is also on sale for $36 off. In fact, there are tons of different styles of men’s shoes right now, including up to 50% off select styles.

Save 20% on Select Altra Running Shoes

Maybe you’re investigating Altra running shoes because a more widely-known brand, like Brooks or Nike, has a toe box that’s just too small. In that case, Altra doesn’t exclusively make trail running shoes. The Fwd Via is Altra’s version of the Brooks Glycerin—the ultra-cushioned road running shoe. It’s also on sale, along with various running shoes at 20% off.

Unlock 15% Off: SMS Welcome Offer

One of the easiest ways to save at Altra running is to sign up for text messages from them. Once you sign up, you’ll receive an Altra SMS welcome offer that’s good for 15% off your next purchase. Once you receive it and you’re ready to buy, you’ll just need to input the Altra promo code at checkout, and click “Apply A Promo Code.” just know that the Altra promo code is valid for only 30 days after you receive and is valid for a one-time use only. (Plus, it’s not valid at any third party retail store or website.)

Get a 10% Altra Promo Code When You Sign Up

I have run in a model of the Altra Lone Peaks for a decade. Where I live is the unofficial trail running capital of the United States, and everyone sports a pair of these shoes while hiking or at the bar. It’s totally worth it to sign up for the loyalty program and get the Altra Running promo code. (I also do this with my children, who exclusively wear Salomons.) When you sign up for the Altra loyalty program, you’ll get 10% off as a thank you.

10% Off Altra Olympus 275

The Altra Olympus 275 for both men and women just may be the hottest trail running shoe of the season. The Altra Olympus 275 is best for technical trail and all-day trail running, with increased durability, protection, and lightweight construction to face the toughest trails. Plus, it has a custom-designed MATRYX one-piece woven upper that’s both lightweight and protective. A grippyVibram Megagrip outsole helps with traction on wet and dry surfaces to ensure that no matter what type of terrain or weather conditions you encounter on the trail, you’ll be set. Plus, when you sign up to be an Altra member, you’ll get 10% off your Altra Olympus 275 pair.

Score Free Standard Shipping on All Altra Orders

You can get free standard delivery in 5-7 business days (however, there’s no weekend delivery) for free when you order through Altra! If you need your shoes in a rush, there’s 2-day shipping (with no weekend delivery) for $16.95, and next-day delivery (Saturday and Sunday orders ship on Mondays) for $22.

B&H Photo is one of our favorite places to shop for camera gear. If you’re ever in New York, head to the store to check out the giant overhead conveyor belt system that brings your purchase from the upper floors to the registers downstairs (yes, seriously, here’s a video). Fortunately B&H Photo’s website is here for the rest of us with some good deals on photo gear we love.

Save on the Latest Gear at B&H Photo

B&H Photo has plenty of great deals, including Nikon’s brand-new Z6III full-frame mirrorless camera for $2,196.95 ($300 off). The Z6III (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is huge update for the Z6 line, and a great all-around camera for Nikon fans. There are also great deals like the Nikon Zf (8/10, WIRED Recommends) full frame mirrorless camera for $200 off, or the Nikon Z8 for $600 off.

Not in the market for the latest Nikon cameras? There are plenty of other deals, like our favorite action camera, the GoPro Hero 13 for $70 off (7/10, WIRED Recommends), and Sony’s a7R V full frame mirrorless camera for $400 off.

Why a B&H Gift Card Makes the Ultimate Tech Gift

Not sure what to get the tech or photography lover in your life this holiday season? A B&H gift card is a gift people on your list will actually want. B&H has tech for every person in your life, with hundreds of models of cameras, computers, projectors, and more.

How Do I Get Free Shipping at B&H?

One of the many perks of B&H Photo is their generous free shipping policy. Most orders at B&H over $49 qualify for free expedited shipping to the lower 48 states. The savings just keep coming, as most items totaling under $49 also qualify for free standard shipping in the contiguous US. If for some reason your order doesn’t qualify for free shipping, you can review alternative shipping options during checkout—full shipping policy details can be found here.

Best Times to Find B&H Promo Codes and Discounts

Like most retailers, B&H Photo offers some of their best deals of the year during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways to save outside of this sale period. There’s still time to jump on extended holiday sales, with up to $300 24-hour camera discounts, and featured price drops across all accessories. While there may not be any B&H promo codes available at the moment, there are plenty of other ways to save at B&H.

Exclusive B&H Student Discounts

If you’re a student with an EDU email, sign up for B&H Photo’s student discount program, which offers free shipping on most orders and exclusive discounts.

Score Deals on Used and Refurbished Gear

B&H Photo also deals in used and refurbished gear. Deals (and conditions) vary, and I have never purchased a used item this way, but if you’re looking to save some money, that’s another way to go.

Trade-in Your Old Gear at B&H

The flip side of B&H Photos used deals is that you can sell your old gear. I put in my old Sony a7 II and was offered $210, which is more than I would have thought. Your offer is contingent on it matching the condition you claim, but if you’ve got gear you aren’t using anymore, this is a way to turn it into some extra cash.

In this week’s “Sunday Reboot,” Liquid Glass gets an award, Tim Cook heads to China once again, and a wish for HomeKit to be more cat-friendly.

Sunday Reboot is a weekly column covering some of the lighter stories within the Apple reality distortion field from the past seven days. All to get the next week underway with a good first step.

This week, Apple’s ambitions to expand its F1 coverage got knocked back, hackers attacked supply chain partner Foxconn, and AI has managed to break Apple’s security in new ways.

Appreciation for Liquid Glass

Since its introduction, Liquid Glass has been widely criticized for not being good enough for the perfection-seeking average user. It was an aesthetic that led to complaints that it was too transparent, or when it wasn’t transparent, that it wasn’t transparent enough.

It was a change that you either liked or hated, and that Apple worked to try and make people like.

Liquid Glass in iOS 26 – Image Credit: Apple

This is in part due to Apple having invested so much time in the design. So much so that you can expect it to hang around in the iOS 27 and macOS 27 generation, and be enhanced further.

While its user base has seemingly underappreciated Liquid Glass, it still got its dues from the experts. It received a Gold Cube honor at the 2026 Art Directors Club of New York Awards.

At a minimum, it means judges who know about the hard work and thinking that goes into design acknowledge what Apple has done. Even if there is a vocal contingent who dislike it.

No, it wasn’t the only thing Apple got a Gold Cube for, as it was honored for its Apple TV rebrand and a couple of ads too. But Liquid Glass getting a gong is a big thing for something that everyone complained about since the outset.

After a year of living with it, Apple’s reached a good place with the UI. As a modern interface, it’s an aesthetic that I can certainly live with, without much complaining.

When WWDC hits in June, Apple will certainly be making more changes, but it’s got a decent base to work from. Just hope it doesn’t go too nuts with it.

Tim Cook in China, once again

Current Apple CEO Tim Cook is enjoying his last few months in the hot seat, in preparation for the John Ternus era. While he can take his victory lap with ease, Cook is still the top man at the company for the moment, and so is still being called upon to do his CEO thing.

The latest is a headline that we have heard quite a few times before: Tim Cook has gone to China.

President Donald Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook at a previous meeting

We’re all familiar with Apple executives visiting Asia for various reasons, and Cook has done so quite a few times already. He’s visited stores, talked to developers, and even took part in the recent anniversary celebrations there.

This time, it’s somewhat different. He’s gone there with a bunch of executives from other companies, as part of a group following U.S. President Donald Trump to the country.

Trump’s trip is one about trade, a hot topic that he wants to talk to Chinese President Xi Jinping about. Naturally, Trump needed to bring over a bunch of CEOS to emphasize the point of America being serious about business.

Cook’s travel on a US-sanctioned package holiday is still of benefit to Apple, despite really being more to support Trump’s high-level discussion. He has spent years building a working relationship with Trump to Apple’s considerable advantage.

At the very least, it will be a way to pacify Trump as Cook shifts from CEO to Executive Chairman in the fall. Cook will still be around, dealing with the political side of Apple on behalf of Ternus, who simply doesn’t have a history with Trump at all.

The Trump trip wouldn’t have been that productive for Cook at the time, but it’s one to help maintain a relationship for Apple’s future. At least while Trump is in charge.

Cat business and the need for HomeKit to adapt

As an Apple-focused site, it won’t surprise anyone that our team uses HomeKit and the Apple Home in various ways. We also know that cats rule the Internet, so if there’s an excuse to talk at length and to put photos of them up, we’ll take it.

On Friday, the two topics combined in a piece discussing the various ways one AppleInsider writer uses HomeKit with his collection of fluffy mischief missiles.

However, as usual, HomeKit is not playing that big a part here compared to what it could be doing. There’s some elements that can be HomeKit-powered, like cameras for monitoring and sensors for gates, but not the specialized stuff.

In Wesley’s case, that consisted of two product categories. One is an automatic pet feeder and the other is an automatic litter box.

Wesley’s cat Harvie handling business in the Litter-Robot 5.

While I can’t talk much about the feeder, I can certainly enthuse about the benefits of an automatically-cleaning cat toilet. With four cats of my own, it’s something that makes the air clearer and the process of ejecting used litter considerably easier, as I have mentioned before.

That said, these sorts of products are not directly supported by HomeKit at all. There’s no specific product category for a cat toilet, so we are stuck relying on a companion app.

My wish is for Apple to open up HomeKit in WWDC to allow manufacturers to specify the controls and sensors that HomeKit can access on their hardware. To me, this does obviously mean enabling some functions for automatic litter boxes and other devices in HomeKit.

The hope is that hardware could be added to HomeKit regardless of whether there is existing support for particular product categories. Sure, Apple could more firmly define what is permissible to do with a litterbox in HomeKit in the future, but I just want to be able to have a “Clean it now” button in HomeKit.

Sure, I wouldn’t mind having the hall light flashing red if the litter box is “full” and needs cleaning. But really, just having the ability to put the basic controls into HomeKit at all would be great.

Last week’s Sunday Reboot discussed Apple’s chip troubles, trademarking oranges, and “Schmigadoon!” going fantastically in its life after Apple TV.