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Leak Details iPhone Features for Apple's LG Home Accessories
Smart home accessories that Apple reportedly helped LG develop could offer iPhone proximity controls and a way to begin setup before the devices have power, according to findings shared by the leaker known as "pdfu". The findings concern the upcoming LG-branded accessory range that Bloomberg revealed earlier this week. The lineup reportedly includes a thermostat, temperature sensor, deadbolt lock, wired video doorbell, and several security cameras.
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro: Is the Upgrade Worth It?
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro: Check the camera, display, design, battery, charging, price and other one-on-one specs comparison here.
T-Mobile plans to limit customer discounts with new phone plans
T-Mobile is reportedly planning a new approach to phone plans that changes how customers access some of its most valuable offers.
2026 October Pixel Update Available for Your Pixel Phone
Google released the October Pixel update today to all of their still-supported Pixel phones. We have new builds for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro up through the new Pixel 11 series. The update arrives under a global build, as well as a Softbank specific build. For most of you, the global build is...
Apple Reportedly Waiting on Samsung for Ultimate Bezel-Free iPhone Display
Apple is waiting on Samsung to perfect a next-generation OLED display technology that wraps almost vertically around a phone and essentially makes the sides themselves part of the screen, claims a Chinese leaker. Xiaomi's 2021 concept phone – bearing a striking resemblance to Samsung's rumored technology According to the Weibo-based leaker Instant Digital, the technology is internally described by Samsung as a "full-surround, full-screen display".
Someone ported Pixel 11’s Rambler voice-to-text to other Android phones
One of the best new features of Google’s Pixel 11 (and Googlebook) is support for Rambler voice-to-text, and it’s now...
49ers News: John Lynch better be working those phones
Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Wednesday, October 7th, 2026
Yale School of Medicine On the Science of Childhood Anxiety, Say, Anxiety Disorders Are the Most Common Mental Health Challenges In Youth
Credit: Matt Bradbury October 5, 2026 - By Isabella Backman - Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health challenges in youth. Left untreated, they can disrupt the lives of both children and their families. The good news is that with intervention, most children will overcome these conditions. Across Yale School of Medicine, scientists are working to understand anxiety at every level, from common anxious behaviors to molecular biomarkers in the brain. They are using their findings to develop and disseminate new evidence-based treatments for childhood anxiety. Today, the go-to treatment for childhood anxiety disorders is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This is a form of psychotherapy that teaches children skills for confronting anxious thoughts and helps them practice managing situations that cause anxiety. While it is the gold-standard treatment backed by considerable scientific evidence, up to 50% of children will not see sufficient benefit from CBT alone. Wendy Silverman, PhD, Alfred A. Messer Professor in the Child Study Center, co-directs the Anxiety and Mood Disorders Program alongside Eli Lebowitz, PhD, associate professor in the Child Study Center. One of their main interests is learning how to improve outcomes beyond CBT. “We’re developing cutting-edge, research-based knowledge that can reduce the suffering that anxiety causes children and their families,” says Silverman. Changing parent behavior YSM experts are investigating how to improve CBT outcomes for children by involving the parents. Silverman’s research has uncovered two main components of parent intervention that improve childhood anxiety: not enabling children to completely avoid the things that make them anxious and taking steps to enhance their autonomy. Parents may unintentionally reinforce their child’s anxiety by allowing them to avoid what makes them anxious. They also may unintentionally limit the children’s sense of autonomy by being overly intrusive. “One of the things that we take pride in is that we’ve focused on trying to understand what parents need to do, and to test our ideas and see if changing the parents’ behaviors is enhancing the effects of CBT,” Silverman says. “Our findings thus far suggest that they do." As much as CBT can be helpful, it can also be challenging to get one’s child to do the necessary steps for CBT to work. This is one important reason why Lebowitz created a novel intervention program for parents named Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE). Existing intervention programs often teach parents to act as therapists for their child, such as training them on how to practice breathing exercises. “It makes sense, but this doesn’t work very well in practice,” says Lebowitz. “And part of the reason, I think, is that it’s not easy to get your kid to do things, especially if they’re not excited about doing it.” SPACE is unique because it focuses entirely on parent involvement and changing parental behavior—children are not involved in the sessions. For example, parents learn how to use supportive messages that convey confidence that their child can tolerate and manage distress. “It might sound like a parent saying to a child, ‘I get that this is really hard for you, but I know that you can handle it,’” Lebowitz says. The program also works with parents to identify the ways in which they are accommodating anxious behaviors. “We’ll pick one thing that parents are doing that is an accommodation and help them make a detailed plan for how they’re going to change that,” Lebowitz explains. Treating Anxiety in Children and Adolescents Much of the existing research on SPACE has focused on parents of children under age 14. Ongoing studies are now exploring its use with parents of older teens. “Both anxiety and accommodation can interfere with normative developmental shifts during the teen years, including increased autonomy and individuation from parents,” says Rebecca Etkin, PhD, associate research scientist in the Child Study Center. “In this sense, SPACE may be particularly well-suited for anxious teens and their parents. We want to see whether it is effective during this distinct developmental window.” Unfortunately, many families in need of CBT face barriers, including limited availability of services and geographic constraints. One way to improve access is digital interventions. Silverman and her team are developing an evidence-based digitized intervention program for parents that they can access directly from their computer or smart phone. “The work we’re doing will be one of the very few parent interventions that is digitized and importantly tested for effectiveness,” she says. Creating interventions for anxiety-related challenges Silverman and Lebowitz recently received a generous gift to develop and test other interventions that help parents reduce other child anxiety-related behavioral and emotional difficulties, such as restrictive eating and unexplained somatic symptoms. One of these projects in particular focuses on understanding the risks of social media and its potential benefits, including offering a sense of connection. “A lot of research has focused on the idea that social media is harmful and the less of it the better,” says Lebowitz. “But we actually see is that this is not quite right—there are negatives, but there are also positives. So, we’re trying to get a little bit more nuanced of a picture.” The team is working with teens with social anxiety and their parents over an extended period to better understand their social media habits and how their anxiety levels affect engagement with different platforms. The teens will answer questions sent to an app on their phones about mood and social media usage in an effort to capture emotional responses as they unfold. “We hope to develop interventions that can help make the best of social media while protecting against the more problematic effects,” Lebowitz says. The brain’s role in anxiety Researchers are also testing therapies to address anxiety at the neurological and molecular levels. In collaboration with Dylan Gee, PhD, professor of psychology in Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Hilary Blumberg, MD, John and Hope Furth Professor of Psychiatric Neuroscience at Yale School of Medicine, Lebowitz and Silverman are using brain imaging to identify changes in a child’s brain before and after parents enroll in SPACE. In one study, children viewed anxiety-inducing images while undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); the researchers conducted scans with and without the children’s parents nearby. Before SPACE, children’s brains were better able to activate the regulatory circuitry needed to turn off an anxious response when their parents were nearby. But after SPACE, children could activate this circuitry even without the parent around. “As parents work on gradually reducing some of their accommodations, you can see a child get better at regulating their own fear system in the brain,” Lebowitz says. “It’s remarkable.” Research into the molecular underpinnings of anxiety can also inform new childhood anxiety treatments. In a recent study, Lebowitz, Silverman, and Flora Vaccarino, MD, Harris Professor in the Child Study Center, discovered that a protein known as fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) could be protective from the toxic effects of stress. FGF2 levels in children and their parents were linked to the children’s risk of developing anxiety and depression, the study showed. The findings could help explain why some children who are exposed to early life trauma such as poverty or abuse are more prone to developing mental health disorders. And FGF2 could be a target for treatment. “This is very novel because it starts to give a clue to what is the molecular chain that connects those lived experiences to the actual psychological outcomes,” Lebowitz says. New ways to study and treat childhood anxiety Michael Crowley, PhD, associate professor in the Child Study Center, collaborates with Silverman and Lebowitz to study the role that attention plays in development and maintenance of childhood anxiety. There is a large body of research that shows that anxious children, like anxious adults, are prone to focus on threatening stimuli such as angry faces compared with neutral faces. This has led to innovative interventions that involve attention retraining. The idea is that if experts train children to look away from threatening stimuli, it may reduce their anxiety—especially children with social anxiety who are most prone to attend to threats. The researchers have just completed a clinical trial for attention retraining with 10- to 14-year-olds with social anxiety disorders and are currently analyzing the findings. Besides this innovative attention retraining research, as Crowly notes, “I like to design tasks that are engaging to kids,” Crowley says. “My goal is to assess something without the kids knowing what we are assessing.” With this goal in mind, Crowley has created a virtual game, named Boom, to study threat processing in children with anxiety disorders. The game is similar to that of hot potato—the child and three digital players take turns virtually passing a ball to each other’s gloves. At some point, the ball turns into a bomb, and as the bomb lands in each player’s glove, the outline of the glove turns yellow. The goal is to avoid having the bomb go off in your glove. What isn’t obvious is that the game is designed to measure different types of threatening stimuli, both ambiguous and direct. In the game, the direct threat occurs as the bomb is traveling towards your glove. The ambiguous threat is the yellow outlined glove as it is unknown where the bomb will travel next. While children play the game, Crowley’s team measures their brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG). The researchers have discovered that in kids with anxiety, the brain reacts more strongly to ambiguous threats than it does in their peers, but less strongly to direct threats. They believe that the initial abnormally large brain response to not knowing where the bomb is going impairs the brain's ability to properly respond when the threat is actually traveling the child’s way. “The brains of children with anxiety are unable to differentiate between threats you need to do something about and those that are not your problem.” Michael Crowley, PhD, develops innovative games for studying anxiety in children and adolescents.Credit: Matt Bradbury Based on these insights, Crowley hopes to study whether interventions like attention training could restore appropriate threat processing. Crowley’s team is also working on a test called the Balloon Risk Avoidance Task, which evaluates risk-taking and avoidance behaviors. It features a digital balloon that is full of air and about to burst. Kids have six seconds to let air out of the balloon. The more air they let out, the less risk they face that the balloon will pop. But at the same time, the balloon becomes less valuable as it deflates. “The more air you keep in the balloon, the more points you get,” Crowley explains. So far, the researchers have found that when the balloons pop unexpectedly, teens with social anxiety show distinct brain responses. Studying these responses can help psychologists understand the underlying pathways driving the various manifestations of anxiety. The genetics of anxiety When Thomas Fernandez, MD, associate professor in the Child Study Center and of psychiatry, was still in training, there was a lot of excitement about understanding the genetics associated with autism spectrum disorder. Since then, scientists have identified around 250 genes associated with autism. The genetic contribution to anxiety disorders, on the other hand, has historically received less attention. Anxiety is less heritable than autism, but the genetic contribution for anxiety disorders that emerge in childhood may be higher than for anxiety disorders overall. While scientists estimate the heritability of anxiety disorders in general to be around 30% to 50%, some studies suggest higher heritability for certain childhood-onset anxiety presentations. “I saw firsthand how researchers in the field went about finding vulnerability genes for autism,” Fernandez says. “So, we’re using a very similar playbook for childhood anxiety.” “I saw firsthand how researchers in the field went about finding vulnerability genes for autism. So, we’re using a very similar playbook for childhood anxiety.” Thomas Fernandez, MD Associate Professor In the Child Study Center and in Psychiatry Now, Fernandez and Emily Olfson, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Child Study Center, are studying children and their parents to identify genetic changes that are present in the child but not the parents, known as “de novo mutations.” “All of us have some de novo mutations—maybe about 50 to 100 sprinkled throughout the genome,” Olfson says. “But when they occur within the coding regions of genes, they can be really disruptive.” Previous research shows that people with autism have higher rates of damaging de novo mutations than the general population. In 2022, Olfson, Lebowitz, Silverman, and Fernandez published a study on 68 children and their families that found that children with anxiety had similarly high levels of these mutations. Studying de novo mutations can help point the researchers to where they should be looking for genes associated with anxiety. “The end game is using the genes to steer us toward the right part of biology that we can then target to come up with better treatments,” Fernandez says. Building on those findings, the team is now studying more families to better understand how these de novo mutations, along with other genetic and environmental factors, shape pediatric anxiety disorders. They recently received a National Institutes of Health grant to enroll 750 new families over the next five years. Olfson is the principal investigator, with co-investigators Lebowitz, Fernandez, Silverman, and Shuangge Steven Ma, PhD, department chair and professor of biostatistics at Yale School of Public Health. Neurodevelopment, Risk Genes, and Mental Health Conditions - The Olfson Lab Joel Gelernter, MD, Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry, is interested in how different anxiety disorders differ genomically. “We are studying social phobia, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder, working to understand why people differ in their risk to these specific anxiety disorders and evaluating various risk factors,” he says. Gelernter was recently involved in one of the largest studies to date of the genomics underlying anxiety disorder. The study included around 122,000 people with anxiety disorders and around 730,000 without. It found that some genetic differences associated with anxiety were linked to signaling that helps reduce overactivity in the nervous system. Many anxiety medications available today work by targeting this process. “It’s nice when the biology that you get out of a large genome-wide study ratifies things that we already know because that can help increase confidence in further findings from the study,” Gelernter says. Uncovering the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders John Krystal, MD, Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Professor of Translational Research and chair of the Department of Psychiatry, is interested in the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), of which anxiety is a major symptom. In the late 1980s, Krystal’s team discovered that the drug yohimbine activated symptoms in patients with PTSD. “This was the first time we could link a specific biological mechanism to the symptoms of PTSD,” Krystal says. At the time, he adds, this finding was highly controversial. “A lot of people felt that PTSD was a purely psychological syndrome that didn’t have an underlying biology.” Since then, Krystal has dived deep into understanding the neurobiology of PTSD to learn how to better treat it. His team is evaluating the use of ketamine and psychedelics. These would be among the first treatments to be developed specifically for PTSD. They may also be applicable for other disorders including anxiety disorders, Krystal adds. An important gap in PTSD treatment is the absence of biological tests that inform how to best help patients manage their PTSD symptoms. A doctor doesn’t diagnose cancer based on how they feel. Rather, they use tests of the biology of the cancer to determine the best course of treatment. “And we can’t do that in any psychiatric disorder other than Alzheimer’s disease,” Krystal says. “But now we are building a foundation for this approach to the treatment of anxiety disorders for the first time.” Source: Yale School of Medicine
What Comes Next For Tencent Music After A 62% Slide
If you backed Tencent Music Entertainment Group for its fan economy story and smartphone tailwinds, the recent outcome would have been jarring. Holding Tencent Music Entertainment Group over the past year would have meant a 61.7% loss, including dividends. If you were weighing that decision on 9 October 2025, with analysts split between bullish digital growth and stricter rules plus margin pressure, which specific assumptions about user monetization, regulation, or offline events did the...
Deals: Prime Big Deal Days brings big discounts on flagships, foldables and other phones
We also picked out the best offers for premium, mid-range and entry-level phones. Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days start today and end tomorrow. As usual, we...
Ayotte highlights housing, cellphone ban in comic campaign s...
Gov. Kelly Ayotte and first gentleman Joe Daley reprise their campaign-ad banter as her reelection race enters its final three weeks.
Asurion completes Domestic & General takeover
From washing machines to smartphones, Asurion now owns the cover. Its D&G deal has officially closed.
YouTube overtakes TV as top source of political news, study finds
The Center for the Creator Economy at Syracuse University—the nation's first academic center dedicated to the advancement of interdisciplinary academics, independent research, policy engagement and support ...
Next-gen Google TV Streamer in the works with microphones, presence sensing, & new remote
9to5Google can report that development on a next-generation Google TV Streamer is underway. According to a source familiar with the matter...
iPhone Duo will greet some owners by name on its first boot
New owners of the iPhone Duo will get an extra treat if they buy it from an Apple Store, with the option to personalize the smartphone's boot-up screen to greet them by name.
5 Samsung Galaxy features you should be using after updating to One UI 9
Android 17 and One UI 9 have brought new features to Samsung phones. Users can get security alerts and custom Now Briefs, and the Quick Panel has new tricks.
No Man’s Sky is coming to the iPhone and iPad
A decade later, and the No Man’s Sky updates just keep coming.
I can’t use Apple’s new Screen Time on my daughter’s iPhone because my son won’t update his MacBook
Kids: 1 Screen Time: 0
TCL’s paperlike OLED phone made me more excited for the iPhone Duo
Can every manufacturer copy this next please?
Samsung’s over-ear headphones might be called ‘Galaxy Studio’
According to a fresh leak, Samsung’s upcoming over-ear headphones might be called “Galaxy Studio.” A leak earlier this year revealed...
Sunny Hostin says Cynthia Erivo phoned her with concerns over ‘The View’ host’s remarks about Cornell case
Cynthia Erivo called Sunny Hostin with concerns over ‘The View’ cohost’s controversial remarks about the alleged Cornell sexual assault case: ‘Sis, I know you.’
Apple Releases Third iOS 27.2 Beta
Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming iOS 27.2 update to developers for testing purposes, with the update coming two weeks after Apple released the second iOS 27.2 beta. Apple also seeded a new iPadOS 27.2 beta. Registered developers can download the beta updates by opting in under Settings > General > Software Update and selecting the iOS 27 developer beta. iOS 27.2 includes Apple's redesigned Health app with new Insight and Longevity tabs.
The iPhone Duo’s Unfolding Animation Is Giving Z Fold 8 Owners FOMO, but Not Me
Commentary: While there are ways to recreate some of the iPhone Duo’s style on an Android device, it feels a little desperate to me.
Leaked images reveal Apple’s new Home smart lock, thermostat, more for LG
Apple has reportedly co-developed new Home accessories to launch under LG branding, and leaked images reveal our first look at the products.
iOS 27.2 gives Apple Books new design updates as iPhone Duo nears
Apple Books is my favorite app for reading, and it’s getting several welcome design updates in iOS 27.2 with the iPhone Duo drawing near.
Former Plaud exec raises $26M for AI app that listens to you in the background
Ambi is releasing apps for iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch that enables ambient capture
Apple stock falls on report that company is cutting component orders on soft iPhone 18 Pro demand
Apple is reportedly cutting component orders on slowing iPhone 18 Pro demand.
Apple Stores Will Add Your Name to iPhone Duo's Startup Screen
Apple has something special planned for customers who purchase an iPhone Duo in an Apple Store. Employees will be able to customize the Duo so it displays the name of the buyer at the "Hello" screen when it turns on for the first time. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says Apple retail stores in the United States will have a personalization system for adding the buyer's name to an iPhone Duo, with English and Spanish language options.
Apple Reportedly Cuts iPhone 18 Pro Orders After Price Hike Dampens Demand
Apple has asked some of its suppliers to cut production of iPhone 18 Pro components due to lower-than-expected demand, according to Nikkei Asia ($). Citing its own sources, the report claims that Apple has been more cautious about shipments since early September because of the rising cost of memory chips, leading to higher prices. Component orders for October were said to have been cut by at least 15 percent compared with what was originally requested.
Fall's first Pixel update just landed, and it's another end-of-the-road milestone
Discover what's getting fixed in the October 2026 Pixel update, and which phones are about to get left behind.
Googlebook "Better Together" phone features don't work with Samsung at launch
Googlebooks require Android 17, but Samsung's Android 17 phones won't work yet.
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max vs. iPhone 17 Pro Max
We pit the new and the old iPhone Pro Max. The new iPhone hit the shelves and the first order of business is to pit it against its predecessor. The Apple...
Samsung's Galaxy SmartTag 3 works with way more Android phones than anyone realized
No longer exclusive to Galaxy and iOS devices.
Our first five impressions of Googlebooks
Google’s new laptop OS shows lots of promise for Android phone owners, but there’s a long road ahead.
Googlebook improving ‘Better Together’ Android sync features, Samsung support rolling out
The big selling point for Googlebook is that it’s a desktop platform that deeply integrates with your Android phone but,...
Google's next TV Streamer sounds like a massive upgrade
Google's next TV Streamer could feature built-in microphones, presence detection, faster performance, and a redesigned remote.
Samsung’s first AirPods Max 2 rival could be called Galaxy Studio
Samsung recently launched its first clip-on wireless earbuds, the Galaxy Buds On, and the company is reportedly working on two more audio products. One is a pai
FCC Considers Allowing More Political Robocalls Before Midterms, Including Those Created With AI
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Communications Commission is considering a request by a conservative group to loosen rules on political robocalls, including those with artificial intelligence-generated voices, before November’s midterm elections. Federal law currently bans most robocalls to cellphones ...
Android Auto could soon stop working on millions of phones
Android Auto appears to be preparing another compatibility cutoff, with Android 10 users now being warned that support will end soon.
Here's the difference the wider aperture of the iPhone 18 Pro makes
Alongside a variable aperture lens, the main camera of the iPhone 18 Pro also opens up to a wider aperture...
Apple invites developers to submit iPhone Duo-ready apps to the App Store
With the iPhone Duo launch fast approaching, Apple is now accepting submissions of iPhone Duo-optimized apps and games built with Xcode 27.1.
Huawei Mate 90 series wallpapers are now up for download
Huawei Mate 90 series has launched with five models and a bunch of new wallpapers, which are now available for download. These images come in QHD+ (Quad High Definition Plus) resolution, offering a stunning vibe to the home screen. Mate 90 series debuted last week as a new performance flagship line. Like every Huawei phone, […]
Who Won August and September: Original Films or Franchises?
(Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industry and business strategy. I write a weekly Streaming Ratings Report and a bi-weekly strategy column, along with occasional deep dives into other topics, like today’s article. Please subscribe.) I just heard someone say that if you’re reading a pundit or data analyst, and they don’t tell you that they got anything wrong, they’re not a pundit but an “influencer”. I agree with that. You have to tell your audience when you get things wrong, or they won’t (or shouldn’t) trust you as much. Today, we’ve got another edition of “What I Got Right, What I Got Wrong”. In general, I’m patting myself on the back (and patting very hard) about a few things like IP at the box office, LIV golf, horror films, crowdfunding movies, superheroes, and old people going to the theaters. That said, I also made a couple of data mistakes on the streaming bubble popping and HBO’s datecdotes, so I’m not perfect. But first, I need your feedback... Subscribe Follow-Ups: What Should We Call Mid-Budget Movies Which Aren’t Cinematic Enough for Theaters But Are Too Expensive to Make Money on Streaming? After I asked for feedback on what we should call straight-to-streaming films that are too big to pencil out on streaming but not really big enough to resonate in theaters, I got some great suggestions from you all, including... “Moldilocks” from John Aboud “Little Big Indie” from Travis Frick1 “Midflicks” from Jonathan Funke. “Extra-Medium” from Jona Nwuke. (Read the explanation in the footnote.) Between these and Brandon Katz—who suggested “Bermuda Budget Triangle”, “The Platform Gap” and “The Distribution Deadzone”—we’ve got some excellent suggestions. And they’re better than my suggestion, the “Streaming Budget Dead Zone”, so let’s take a poll! The winning entry becomes the new term. Loading... RIGHT: LIV Golf is Fully Bankrupt…Is Anyone Else Next? A few years ago, I was always a bit perplexed at all the articles I’d read praising LIV Golf and their strategy to disrupt the PGA. LIV Golf, a brand new professional golf league, offered PGA stars ten times what they made on the PGA Tour to join their new league. And folks praised this strategy for its initial “success” in that a lot of big names did indeed leave the PGA. Yeah, of course the players came over. LIV Golf paid them so, so, so much more! But LIV Golf hadn’t discovered a way to increase potential revenue. So think about this in basic business terms… They paid much more in costs… …but had no real way to increase revenue. That’s not a strategy! That’s deficit financing. It won’t work unless you bankrupt the competition (and then turn around and pay those same golfers much, much less). It’s not a sustainable strategy and only lasts as long as the company/person/nation backing it decides they’re cool with losing money. For LIV Golf, that meant Middle East oil wealth, in particular Saudi Arabian money. Clearly, the current Iran War has hurt Middle East finances, so they need to trim their more exorbitant spending. And LIV Golf was part of that trimming. This should be a major warning for others. TGL’s parent company, TMRW Sports, just got a $1 billion valuation, despite TGL’s (the indoor golf league) horrible TV viewership of less than half a million viewers per match. Unrivaled, the women’s basketball league, just secured a $650 valuation, despite its horrible TV viewership and a new rival (Project B) entering the scene next year. To relate this to streaming, Hollywood should ask which streamers may have wealthy patrons funding their losses. (Let’s be clear: Google, Amazon and Apple.) Could those patrons lose their appetite? For Amazon, probably not. But Apple has a new boss, so maybe! WRONG: My Analysis of the Streaming Bubble Was Missing a Week I’m going to be congratulating myself a lot today, but I make mistakes too, like this data goof. When I last compiled the data on the decline in TV shows, I was missing one week at the end of June. If you look at the first image, you can see that one week was mislabelled as “July”. Mainly, this image got updated to show a 27% decline, not 29%: This change doesn’t really impact the overall analysis, but it is two percent better. By the way, through the third quarter, the decline increased and it’s now a 30% decrease since 2022. (I’ll write/visualize this in an upcoming article.) But I want you to trust me and my data. Especially these days, when many people are using LLMs that I know are inserting faulty data into their charts, I want to keep earning my audience’s faith. So that’s the accurate data. RIGHT: IP Remains Very, Very Popular In July, I wrote a giant (and I mean giant) article on Backrooms, Obsession, and the box office, going over what we know, what we don’t know about what works in theaters, looking at YouTubers, IP, the horror genre, comic book movies, and a whole lot more. The month of August really tested a lot of my theses and, being honest, mostly supported my arguments. Let’s start with IP. Looking at 8-Aug (the weekend after Spider-Man: Brand New Day came out) to 18-Sep (the weekend that Resident Evil came out, which I think provides a nice bookend to this time period), there were seven films based on pre-existing IP: Resident Evil (2026) ($126 million) Practical Magic 2 ($65 million) _Insidious: Out of the Furthe_r ($65 million) Coyote Vs. Acme ($59 million) Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie ($53 million) Tony ($15 million) Super Troopers 3 ($7 million) Compare those to the notable original films from the past month—I actually could have included more movies, but here are just thirteen, bringing us to an even twenty films—including.... The End of Oak Street ($54 million) Buddy ($26 million) Mutiny ($15 million) By Any Means ($15 million) The Dog Stars ($14 million) Runner ($14 million) One Night Only ($11 million) Hope ($8 million) Spa Weekend ($7 million) The Uprising ($6 million) Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma ($6 million) Onslaught ($3 million) Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man ($2.8 million) Here’s that in chart form: Five of the top six films in this time period were all based on IP. I made a big chart of films that grossed over $200 million at the box office before Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey hit theaters. Let’s update that chart! By the way, if you want to see how I categorized each film—so another bar chart—here it is: I know that many of my fellow critics/pundits/analysts dislike films based on IP and how Hollywood is making so many of them. And I’m sympathetic to this point of view. As I’ve written many, many times before, you need a balance between existing franchises, new IP, and original films. And Hollywood clearly needs to make more films like Resident Evil (a well-made film from a visionary director) and fewer Practical Magic 2’s (which didn’t get critical or customer buzz). But at some point, critics and pundits need to contend with what audiences are telling them: Movie-goers aren’t showing up to original films. Audiences are speaking with their dollars, telling you they want more IP and franchises. You can try to convince studio heads to make fewer IP-based films and franchises, but the data and numbers aren’t there. Instead, critics need to work harder to convince audiences to show up for original films. Aim your ire/concern at the average person, not studio heads.2 Because they’re just making the films that audiences are telling them to make. WRONG: Original Horror Films Didn’t Break Out I’ll be honest, even though I wrote an article casting some skepticism on the horror genre in July, if you asked me to make a prediction, I would have predicted that, in August, a new, original horror film would have blown up. No, seriously, I just assumed that Obsession and Backrooms presaged a change in audience behavior. But none of the buzzy new original horror films from August—Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Onslaught (not an action film in spite of the ads), The End of Oak Street, Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man, or _Buddy—_broke out. To be clear, exactly one of those films (Buddy) had good “ROI”, but again—I try to be specific in my language—none were “popular” in any broad sense of the word. None of them will be “saving” movies theaters like Backrooms or _Obsession_helped save the summer. The new Insidious film and Resident Evil, both based on IP, were far and away the biggest horror films since July. (We’ll see if this changes in October/Halloween season.) RIGHT: Stay Skeptical about Crowdfunding... I’ve long been skeptical about crowd-investing platforms as one of Hollywood’s saviors, mainly because there’s so much hype/buzz. People need to stay more skeptical about more things, explaining both the potential upside but also the downsides. In particular, the media often hypes crowdfunding at the start and never checks in on the actual results after they’ve come in later. And August gave us our first update! _Ice Cream Man—_directed by Eli Roth—grossed $6 million off of a $5.5 million budget. This is a production of The Horror Section, which was one of the first “crowd investing” studios with 2,400 investors, which means that 2,400 investors probably lost money. They certainly aren’t getting as great of returns as if they had just invested their dollars in the stock market. Hopefully Stiletto (Tagline: “Someone’s Going to Make it Rain Blood!”) does better next month. WRONG: Another Data Goof Here’s another data error. When the first episode of House of the Dragon came out, HBO put out that it had 21.5 million viewers in the first three days, and I read that to mean in the US…but no, it was global. So my US-only datecdotes charts shouldn’t have included it. We never got US-only numbers for the first episode, but for the final episode, HBO put out that it had 11 million US viewers. (And that global dropped to 21 million viewers.) Here’s the updated chart (which I’ve since used in the Streaming Ratings Report): Still, this show is absolutely huge. RIGHT: Superhero Films Remain Very, Very Popular After Supergirl flopped, I read a few takes that “comic book movies are going the way of the Western”. Post-Spider-Man: Brand New Day, that take didn’t age well. To be fair, I have a very nuanced take on the superhero genre right now; it’s down right now, for a lot of reasons. But it’s not “dead”. Maybe _Spider-_Man is just a really popular character? I saw that take, and it’s a fair counter-argument. (But pundits arguing that superhero movies were dead should have mentioned this $1.5 billion counter-argument…) But is it just Spider-Man? The next Avengers film already has $50 million in pre-sales (and I was skeptical that that film would do well) and the Avengers: End Game re-release topped the box office two weekends ago (over three original films). And I wouldn’t bet against Batman or Superman. So maybe it’s just Spider-Man, Batman, Superman and the Avengers. Oh, and Deadpool, of course. And Black Panther. And Wolverine. And probably the X-Men. Plus a well-made Wonder Woman or the Hulk film could break out. But that’s it! It’s just those ten characters/teams. Oh, what’s that? Lanterns is also doing well on HBO? (See previous section…) To be fair, I’m actually pretty sympathetic to the argument that more popular characters—like Spider-Man and Batman—anchor more popular films. In fact, I made that exact argument three years ago when I first wrote about the “Marvel-cession”. In many ways, you can blame The Guardians of the Galaxy for fooling Marvel Studios (and the rest of us) into believing that any character could pop. It turns out, the list of iconic characters is probably smaller than most people think. But it’s probably too early to say that superhero films and comic book movies are dead unless “death” means a slight decline over a longtime. RIGHT: Who Killed Theaters? Old People I get frustrated whenever I see headlines or analysis about how young people are “returning” to theaters. As I’ve detailed(for years), young people have always powered the US box office, despite narratives about “kids these days” and their “phones”. Really, what’s changed post-2020/pandemic is that old people aren’t going to the movies nearly as much. This summer, I saw a movie (from an older director) in a theater near a retirement community, and multiple older people at the theater were talking about how this was their first time seeing a movie in years. I dislike personal anecdotes, so YouGov can fill in the data, best summarized by this headline: “Who killed movie theaters? Not the youths”. According to them, 64% of people aged 18-29 have seen a movie in the last year, but only 30% of 65-and-older. 20% of 18-29 have seen a movie in theaters in the last week and 42% in the last month. Here’s the polling data: Most concerning? Many Americans (17%) think theaters are a worse or much worse experience than watching films at home. Slight WRONG: Hadestown Opens Big A live theater capture of the Broadway musical, Hadestown, made $20 million at the US box office, which begs the question: was I wrong to be skeptical about musicals a few years ago? Yes and no. On the one hand, $20 million is a far cry from being “popular”, so yeah, the genre isn’t that popular overall and Hadestown is one of the more popular musicals from recent years (i.e. the “Taylor Swift Data Fallacy” in action). On the other, I doubt filming this cost all that much, and I don’t think that they spent much on marketing, so this is a good source of ancillary revenue. Smaller Updates WRONG: As I mentioned in a Streaming Ratings Report, I underestimated the budget for Enola Holmes 3. It probably cost more like $50 million, if not more. But... I’m not sure that it really matters? At sub-10 million hours, prices have to come down to make this work. WRONG: Netflix is giving Ink a 27-day in theaters! To quote the kids/YouTubers these days, let’s go! Now I might actually have a chance to see Danny Boyle’s latest in theaters. I’d complained about this in a “Coming Soon” section, but I was heartened to read that Netflix is giving multiple films longer theatrical windows this year. RIGHT: Netflix is sending 4-5 films per year to theaters. Netflix is slowly but surely sending more and more films to theaters, as I cautiously predicted earlier this year. For now, it’s just three big films and a number of awards contenders, but still, this is great news. And they’ll be releasing box office grosses! Just this week, Ted Sarandos confirmed that KPop Demon Hunters 2 will come to theaters (and my guess is it performs in the box office top ten at a minimum). WRONG: Angel has 3 million subscribers! How do I know this? Well, they told Deadline, who reported it. I marked this as “wrong”, since they’ve doubled their subscribers in one year but, you know, they don’t really have a hit film to speak of and they’re still losing money. WRONG: Furious was only renewed for one more season. I accidentally wrote “two more seasons” in my latest “Renewals, Cancellations, Un-Orders and Removals Update”. RIGHT: House of David is ending with its third season. In July, Prime Video renewed House of David for a third season, as I just wrote in my latest “Renewals and Cancellations” report. Well, now it’s ending after that third season. Why? As I’ve been writing, its viewership wasn’t great. I got feedback that this show didn’t cost very much, but it cost enough that its limited viewership didn’t save it. WRONG: Adults was a Hulu original! So I missed Adults when it first came out last year; I saw that it aired on FX and just assumed that it was a linear-first program. Turns out, it aired three episodes on FX, but binge-released the rest of its episodes the next day on Hulu. Huh. So I should have covered it last year! But I just wrote about it. 1 “When I was a kid in the 90s, if you wore a t-shirt to school that wasn’t too big and also wasn’t too small, but somehow didn’t quite fit, we’d say you were wearing an “extra-medium” shirt.” 2 As always, a huge exception is Disney, which barely makes anything original anymore.
Gemini Call for Me might tell your mom you’re running late
Would you call your parents with Google’s AI?
I dumped Microsoft Phone Link for this free open source app that does everything better
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Apple Shares Fall After News of iPhone 18 Pro Order Cuts
Apple shares fell more than 2.5% in early trading today in response to Nikkei Asia's report that the company is cutting iPhone 18 Pro component orders due to weaker-than-expected demand. Apple shares fell more than 2.5% in early trading today in response to Nikkei Asia's report that the company is cutting iPhone 18 Pro component orders due to weaker-than-expected demand.
Samsung backtracks on SmartTag 3 Android support — still locked to Galaxy phones
After earlier this week claiming that its new SmartTag 3 would support non-Galaxy Android phones, Samsung says that won't happen, after all.
Low-cost Android phones ship with residential proxy malware
A malware campaign dubbed 'Midnight Mimosa' has been discovered on low-cost Android smartphones that ship with malicious software embedded in their firmware, allowing attackers to silently install apps, perform ad fraud, and turn devices into residential proxies.
County business halts as staff experience tech issues
Due to technical issues with phone systems and servers, Jefferson County is temporarily unable to process transactions.
Apple rolls out AT&T carrier update for iPhone 18 Pro Max on iOS 27.2 beta
Apple is rolling out a different carrier bundle update for devices running the iOS 27.2 beta. Here are the details.
Apple releases third iOS 27.2 developer beta for iPhone
Apple has released the third iOS 27.2 developer beta for iPhone. The update follows the release of iOS 27 to...
Apple Announces iPhone Duo Apps Can Now Be Submitted to App Store
Apple today announced that apps optimized for the iPhone Duo can now be submitted for App Store approval, ahead of the foldable device launching on Friday, October 23. While existing App Store apps will automatically run on the iPhone Duo, only apps built with the iOS 27.1 SDK or later can dynamically resize to fill the entire space of the inner display, whereas unoptimized apps will have black borders.
Honor Magic 9 series global launch scheduled for January 2027
Honor Magic 9 series is set to hit the global launch stage in January 2027. As per the company’s official announcement, the flagship smartphone is coming to overseas markets, starting in Europe early next year after a successful Chinese launch. Magic 9 series made its debut in China last week, and Honor has begun preparing […]
12 USB-C Gadgets That Make Great Gifts
Whether you're shopping for a gamer, DIY enthusiast, or music lover, these USB-C gadgets make great gifts, including power banks, portable fans, and headphones.
Tim Cook Explains Why He Stepped Down as Apple CEO Before iPhone Duo Launch
The Independent's David Phelan on Wednesday interviewed Apple's executive chairman Tim Cook at Apple's U.K. headquarters in the Battersea Power Station, and one of the topics they discussed was John Ternus taking over as Apple's CEO. Ternus, who was previously Apple's hardware engineering chief, succeeded Cook as Apple's CEO on September 1. Cook said the transition "started years ago". "It's been an interesting transition," said Cook.
Sanibel Island Writers Conference returns this November
During the past decade, as cell phones and tablets made their way into every jacket pocket and onto most bedside tables, you may – fairly – have subscribed to the
Las Vegas business owner pleaded guilty to orchestrating fake robbery at repair shop
A Las Vegas cell phone repair shop owner pleaded guilty to mail fraud after staging a fake armed robbery to collect over $88,000 from insurance.
Apple’s new ‘second-party’ HomeKit products will have this exclusive iPhone feature
Apple could showcase its new co-developed smart home accessories as soon as next week. Ahead of that, a new leak...
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17: a choice between value and cutting-edge cameras
The Pro is better, yes — but is it right for you?
The OnePlus 16 is the company’s most interesting phone in years
But it’s not launching in the US or Europe.
Googlebooks could soon get one of Apple's best ecosystem tricks, but do it better
Google appears to be testing Phone Unlock for Googlebooks, with Android 17 QPR3 showing setup flow, security warnings, and unlock behavior.
Researchers uncover new DarkSword spyware variant affecting unpatched iPhones
iVerify released a report today detailing P7 DarkSword, a new variant of the malware associated with the DarkSword iPhone exploit chain uncovered earlier this year.
Our favorite headphones and earbuds are cheaper during October Prime Day
Spend a lot or a little.
Apple marks first Apple TV 4K ‘vintage’ with new model imminent
The original Apple TV 4K from 2017 has just been added to Apple’s “vintage” products list. Here’s what that means.
You can now start the iPhone Duo pre-order process
iPhone Duo pre-orders officially kick off on Friday, but Apple is letting you prepare now. Starting today, you can head...
The Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL phones are $250 off
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Inside Trump and Mamdani’s 2-hour phone call after the New York City ICE shooting
The friendly relationship between President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani hit one of its toughest tests yet Thursday after a series of calls over a shooting involving immigration agents in the Bronx.
iPhone Duo buyers to get a special surprise at U.S. Apple Stores, Gurman says
iPhone Duo buyers who purchase their device at an Apple Store in the US will be treated to a nice little surprise when they turn it on for the first time.
Preteens, phones and a hidden health risk
A study found 70% of kids they followed owned a smartphone by age 12. The kids reported at least one symptom of an eating disorder by 14.
Google’s Pixel Buds update will put them to sleep along with you
Plus new voice controls, and one-tap microphone muting and live translation, for the Buds 2A and Pro 2.
Googlebook’s Android-integrated features won’t work with Samsung phones at launch
Googlebook is here with Android integration as its main pitch, but Samsung users are left out at launch as Galaxy devices aren't supported yet
No Man's Sky Is Coming To iPhone And iPad As The App Store Celebrates Indie Games Week
Sifu, Vampire Crawlers, Dome Keeper and Little Kitty, Big City are also hitting iOS.
Far-right influencer shows Israel's coarse political turn
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Apple has reportedly increased its iPhone Duo orders by 30%
A new report indicates Apple is anticipating much higher demand for iPhone Duo than initially expected, despite pre-orders not starting yet.
iPhone 13 Pro vs. iPhone 18 Pro Buyer's Guide: Is It Worth Upgrading?
Apple released the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max in September 2026, five years after the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. The 2021 models introduced ProMotion displays, macro photography, a 3x Telephoto camera, and substantially longer battery life than their predecessors. They remain capable phones and support iOS 27, but owners now have five generations of upgrades to consider.
Silicon Valley startup prospects for ‘Diamond Valley’ business cluster in new high-tech Petaluma facility
Can Petaluma become the next high-tech manufacturing hub? Silicon Valley startup Diamond Quanta bets on lab-grown diamonds for cell phone screens and computer chips for a “Telecom Valley” revival.
Exclusive: Apple cuts iPhone 18 Pro orders due to soft demand
Suppliers blame premium handsets' price hike for weaker consumer uptake
FCC considers allowing more political robocalls before midterms, including those created with AI
The Federal Communications Commission is considering a request to loosen rules on political robocalls, including those with AI-generated voices. Current federal law bans most robocalls to cellphones without prior consent.
Slammed: La Plata business phone illegally switched
After about a month of waiting, Patty Rupprecht, owner of an office supply store in La Plata, got her landline number back after she experienced a “telephone slamming” incident.
What is the oldest Samsung device that still gets software updates in 2026?
Knowing how long your phone will get updates is important for deciding when to upgrade.
5 Cool MagSafe Gadgets That Are Not Mounts, Wallets, Or Power Banks
Magnetic accessories can support iPhone or Android, adding camera grips, lights, game controllers, extra storage, and high-end audio.
Can keeping your phone in your pocket harm sperm health? Doctor explains what the science says
The idea that carrying a phone in your pocket might affect fertility sounds like the kind of health scare that spreads faster than the science behind it. According to Dr.
Apple planning huge iPhone Duo demo experiences at select retail stores: report
iPhone Duo is just about two weeks away from releasing, and according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple has big retail...
Silicon Valley startup bets on North Bay to pioneer lab-grown diamond tech
Can Petaluma become the next high-tech manufacturing hub? Mountain View startup Diamond Quanta bets on lab-grown diamonds for cell phone screens and computer chips for a “Telecom Valley” revival.
How to help stop spam calls on iPhone and Android
Keep spam calls at bay with built-in tools in Android and iOS; you can silence them without having to subscribe to third-party apps.
Apple A20 outclasses Android rivals in our review: iPhone's lead is impressive
New iPhone 18 Pro reviewed! Our review shows what the flagship can do: a 2nm A20 Pro processor, 12 GB of RAM and a 6.3" ProMotion OLED display. Find out all about the camera upgrade (48 MP with a variable aperture), the long-lasting 4,056 mAh battery and faster 45-watt charging
COME ON DOWN! Greg Abbott Offering Access to Texas Governor’s Mansion in Exchange for Political Support
DALLAS, TX – Come on down!Career politician Greg Abbott would love to have you over to the Texas Governor’s Mansion, but only if you help him get reelected first.Through his Abbott Impact app, users earn points for completing various political activities for the Abbott campaign, like getting people out to vote for him, knocking on doors, and making phone calls. And just in time for the holidays, the app also lets you find out which political party your contacts belong to and how they’ve voted in
More Than a Microphone: Kraken Host Marika Davis
The Kraken’s new in-arena host brings a passion for sports, entertainment and connecting with fans to her Climate Pledge Arena game duties
Here’s what iPhone Duo’s new two-page PDF experience looks like
We continue to learn more about iPhone Duo’s feature set, with the latest reveal a preview of the two-page PDF viewing experience on the Duo.
Samsung One UI 9 Rollout: These Galaxy Phones Are Getting Android 17
Samsung’s One UI 9 rollout is expanding. See which Galaxy phones are getting Android 17, which devices are next, and how to check for the update.
PhoneBot gives old smartphones a new job on two legs
Smartphones combine cameras, motion sensors and powerful processors in devices that fit inside a pocket. These features could also make them useful components for robots, reducing the need to buy and ...
Caesars casino visitor center opens in Danville with goal to increase local business customers
Guests can create custom digital itineraries there and send them to their phones, said Lisa Meriwether, Danville’s tourism director.
You Might Need to Replace Your iPhone 18 Pro Max
Some iPhone 18 Pro Max users cannot connect to AT&T's networks. If that's your experience, you'll likely need to swap out the entire device.
Three Years of 80% Charge Limits on iPhone: The Results
Since 2023, Apple's newer iPhones have had an 80 percent charge limit for those who want to extend battery lifespan. Charging to 80 percent instead of 100 percent is supposed to put less stress on the battery, improving longevity. For the last three years, I've used that setting on my iPhone. I started with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, then did the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and most recently, the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
What's The Oldest Samsung Phone That Still Gets Software Support?
Buying a new phone is an investment, so you'll want one that lasts a while, but does your old Samsung still have some life or is it out of support?
iOS 27.2 release date: New iPhone features are coming soon
iOS 27.2 is coming surprisingly soon, with iOS 27.1 focusing solely on iPhone Duo changes, Here’s when to expect the update’s release.
34+ Amazon Prime Day tech deals: Save over 50% on top products from Apple, Sony, Bose and more
Shop top-rated televisions, headphones, security cameras and more.
Google sounds really excited about 'massive' feature update hitting Pixel Buds right now
From dynamic ANC, to tap-to-mute for your microphone, to even new Live Translate capabilities, this sounds like one major update!
Best Prime Big Deal Days Tech & Apple Deals 2026
Shop the best tech and Apple deals during Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days. Save big on AirPods, Apple Watch, MacBooks, headphones and more top gadgets.
Deals: here are the best tablet and smartwatch deals from Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days
We already looked at phones in a separate post. Here we're also including a number of Amazon devices that don't quite fall in the "tablet" category.
