As you must know by now, the new Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+, and Galaxy S26 Ultra pre-orders are live alongside the Galaxy Buds 4/Pro, and some giant discounts are too. You can land a regularly $1,300 Galaxy S26 Ultra as low as $400 right now and there some serious accessory bonuses live. But we also spotted some new chances to save: Here’s how you can score the new Galaxy Buds 4 Pro for FREE with your order and you’ll also find a way to score a FREE 2x storage upgrade alongside up to $200 in gift cards as well. All that and then some awaits below. 

Best Samsung Galaxy S26 pre-order deals

Rare deals hit Samsung’s official Galaxy Magnet Wireless Charger from $35 (30% off)

The Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+, and Galaxy S26 Ultra are now up for pre-order with all sorts of wild deals up for grabs – here’s how to score Galaxy Buds 4 Pro for FREE, and we just spotted a new all-time low on the official Samsung Galaxy Magnet Wireless Charger starting from$35 Prime shipped (30% off). While you will need a magnetic case to make (proper) use of it, this is a solid and, thus far, rare discount.

You will find these deals over on the Samsung site at the moment as well, but it for some reason isn’t allowing us to checkout. It is also worth mentioning that if you pre-order the new Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+, or Galaxy S26 Ultra you should be able to score this charger for FREE – if you can get it to add to your cart at the same time as the phone anyway. 

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That said, Amazon’s listings are readily available and discounted at the same prices:

As you can see from the regular prices above, both options are 30% off the lists and at the lowest we can find. Just remember that, while it might still work without one, to actually make proper use of these chargers you’ll need to be using a magnetic case on your Galaxy phone (Samsung still has not built magnets into the phones themselves). Having said that, plenty of folks use a case anyway and these deals might be a good chance to get some MagSafe-like action going on your Android device. 

Over at 9to5Google you’ll find a detailed breakdown of how Samsung has upgraded the wireless power input potential on the new Galaxy S26 series (up to 25W on S26 Ultra), and down below you’ll find all of the details on the wild deals live right now for pre-orders of the new phones:

Google’s latest Nest Cam Outdoor with magnetic base is up to 36% off today

While Amazon is still offering the best prices around on Google’s latest Nest Cam Indoor at up to 25% off the list (matching the Black Friday deal), today we are highlighting some offers on the latest Google Nest Cam Outdoor (Wired, 2nd Gen). Amazon has the latter back at $119.99 all-time low pricing, but Best Buy’s “excellent” condition open-box units are now over 35% off.

You can go with the Amazon low at $120, but you will now find the Google Nest Cam Outdoor (Wired, 2nd Gen) starting at $95.99 shipped courtesy of the Best Buy open-box program. Regularly $150, this is closer to 36% off the list price and the best we can find from a reputable source.

These are “excellent” condition units that include a 1-year warranty:

• Geek Squad Verified
• Works and looks like new. Restored to factory settings.
• Includes all parts and accessories. Packaging may vary or be absent.
• 1-year warranty

The new Google Nest Cam Outdoor lands with a relatively similar approach to the current wireless, battery-powered variant, but this time with the ability to connect to a continuous power supply by way of its magnetic base. It too delivers 2K video and a 152-degree field-of-view, but differs from its indoor counterpart with the IP65 dust/water resistance for outdoor use so it can withstand the elements.

Today’s accessories and charging deals:

It’s always a fun day for the space nerds when a NASA team has new images to share from the James Webb Space Telescope. Today’s pair has brains on the brain, with a look at the fittingly named Exposed Cranium Nebula. More officially, this cloud of space dust and debris is known as Nebula PMR 1. The images shared today may capture a moment in the final stages of a star, as well as giving hints as to how the nebula got its brain-like shape.

“The nebula appears to have distinct regions that capture different phases of its evolution — an outer shell of gas that was blown off first and consists mostly of hydrogen, and an inner cloud with more structure that contains a mix of different gases,” NASA’s blog post reads. The dark line that runs vertically through the nebula, giving it the cranial appearance, could be the result of “an outburst or outflow from the central star, which typically occurs as twin jets burst out in opposite directions.” Both Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) were used to document the nebula.

Nvidia revealed recently that the company has no plans to end support for the Shield TV and, as if to put a cherry on top, a new update is now rolling out.

Announced earlier this week via Nvidia’s forums, the Shield TV is getting a new update for all users. The update, Shield Experience 9.2.4, addresses “quality of life” issues as well as including the January 2026 security update.

The changelog follows:

Enhancements:

• Security patches are updated to Jan 2026.

Resolved Bugs:

• Resolved Disney+ playback issue.
• Resolved 3rd party remote connection issue with Xbox after sleep mode.
• Resolved a crash issue which turns on SHIELD and CEC devices during sleep mode.
• Resolved 3rd party Bluetooth remote frequent disconnect issue.
• Resolved Settings page closes when triggering NVIDIA share on top of settings page.

The last widely-available Nvidia Shield TV update landed in May 2025.

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Ubisoft’s shakeups continue unabated. The creative director of the next Assassin’s Creed game, codenamed Hexe, has left the company. The departure of Clint Hocking, a 20-year veteran of the company over two stints, was reportedly announced in a staff meeting this week.

Hocking’s resume at Ubisoft included serving as creative director on Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Far Cry 2 and Watch Dogs: Legion. The details of why he’s leaving the company haven’t been reported.

Ubisoft told VGC, which first reported on Hocking’s exit, that development on Hexe will continue. Jean Guedson, one of three new leaders of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, will take over as the upcoming title’s new creative director. Guedson had the same role for Assassin’s Creed Origins and Black Flag, two of the franchise’s most well-received entries.

To say sailing hasn’t been smooth of late at Ubisoft would be an understatement. Last year, the company reorganized its corporate structure under a system of “creative houses.” The first, Vantage Studios, is partly owned by Tencent and now oversees Assassin’s Creed. Then in October, franchise head Marc-Alexis Côté left the company. He later claimed he was “asked to step aside” and is suing his former employer.

All of these changes came in the wake of layoffs, big-name flops, more layoffs, studio closures, even more layoffs, strikes and (yep) layoffs again. Earlier this month, Ubisoft even fired an employee who criticized the company’s return-to-office mandate.

But have no fear; some aspects of the company are doing quite well. Take, for example, nepotism. The future is looking bright indeed for a rising company star who is now co-CEO of Vantage Studios. That title belongs to Charlie Guillemot, the son of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot.

The overall design of the Galaxy S26 Ultra is mostly familiar, but some subtle tweaks such as rounding the corners really make for a nice hardware upgrade.

At first glance, the Galaxy S26 Ultra looks like a Galaxy S25 Ultra wearing a Galaxy Z Fold 7 mask. And, going into my demo of the device, I really didn’t think I’d get much out of the experience. But, dang it, Samsung just continues to show that refining the same design over and over again somehow gets me every time.

There’s plenty to talk about with these phones, much of which you’ll find in our hands-on from Damien Wilde. But, here, I just want to focus in on the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s hardware alone.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra feels much better in the hand compared to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which itself felt better than its predecessors. There are two main reasons for this.

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Firstly, the rounded design.

When Samsung decided that its Ultra device would take on the legacy of the Galaxy Note, it also inherited that squared-off design. I get why that design has its fans, but I’ve been wanting Samsung to lean back into the Galaxy S look for a while now, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra is the most meet-in-the-middle release we’ve had. The rounded corners this year have a much wider radius that’s not quite the same as Galaxy S26 and S26+, but pretty darn close. Next to a Galaxy S25 Ultra, the difference is considerable.

Samsung also pointed out that the corner of the hardware and the display match.

The other notable change here is that the Galaxy S26 Ultra is noticeably thinner. This is Samsung’s first Ultra under 8mm, and while it’s only marginally thinner when compared side-by-side with S25 Ultra, it feels much nicer.

While the sheer size of the screen still makes the Galaxy S26 Ultra a little bit cumbersome at times, this no longer feels like a 6.9-inch behemoth, or at least it didn’t during first impressions. Putting it side-by-side with its predecessor, Samsung’s latest just feels nowhere near as big. It’s a really nice change of pace!

We’ll be reviewing the Galaxy S26 series, starting with the Ultra, as the full launch approaches, but needless to say, the hardware left a surprisingly nice first impression. I just wish I could say the same about the base Galaxy S26 and S26+, both of which feel like the most boring possible rehash – and that’s saying something in a post-Pixel 10a world.

The Galaxy S26 series is available for pre-order now, with Samsung’s usual pre-order perks in full swing. You’ll find boosted trade-in values and more available now through March 11, when these phones are available on store shelves.

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OpenAI has successfully convinced the court to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Elon Musk’s xAI, accusing the company of stealing its trade secrets. In her decision, US District Judge Rita F. Lin wrote that xAI’s complaint “does not point to any misconduct by OpenAI” and instead attributes all listed misconducts to its eight former employees who “ left for OpenAI at around the same time.”

Lin said that xAI accused two of its former employees of stealing its source code before leaving at a time when they were already speaking to an OpenAI recruiter. However, the company didn’t say if the recruiter told those former employees to do so. xAI’s lawsuit also accuses two other former employees of keeping their work chats on their devices even after leaving, another of refusing to provide certifications related to confidential information after his departure, and another of unsuccessfully trying to access xAI hiring and datacenter optimization information when he was already working for OpenAI.

“Notably absent are allegations about the conduct of OpenAI itself,” the judge noted. xAI didn’t include any information that directly accuses OpenAI of making those employees steal its trade secrets. It also didn’t include allegations that those former employees used any stolen trade secrets after they were already working for OpenAI. To be precise, OpenAI’s motion for dismissal was granted with leave to amend, so the lawsuit may not be completely over just yet. That means xAI can still file an amended complaint addressing what the judge wrote in her decision until March 17, 2026.

OpenAI and xAI have a longstanding feud, and this is just one of the several lawsuits between the two companies. In fact, Musk has an ongoing complaint against OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing the former of violating its nonprofit status. Musk, who was an early funder of OpenAI, is now asking the company for $79 billion to $134 billion in damages from “wrongful gains.”

Chinese smartphone maker Tecno is channeling Project Ara with its latest Modular Phone concept, previewed ahead of MWC 2026.

It feels like a lifetime ago that the dream of a truly modular smartphone died, and while Google eventually pulled the plug on the ambitious Project Ara nearly a decade ago, the idea of a “build-it-yourself” handset has been revived. Ahead of MWC 2026, Tecno is the latest to try its hand at this vision with what the company is calling the “Modular Magnetic Interconnection Technology concept.”

The core idea from Tecno is a “Modular Smartphone Ecosystem” that relies on ultra-thin magnetic architecture. Unlike the admittedly chunky early prototypes of the past, Tecno is aiming for something much sleeker. While we have yet to see the smartphone in operation, the base device measures just 4.9mm thick. Even when you snap on the 4.5mm power bank module, the total footprint is roughly the same as a standard flagship phone you might carry today.

Although the magnetic attachment isn’t the same, the method of snapping on modules is eerily similar to the Project Ara days. Whereas Google had a frame with slide-in and pogo-pin connectors to allow you to swap out practically everything from the processor onboard to the camera module and everything else in between.

Tecno’s concept phone offers a different level of modular capability. Using magnetic attachments that effectively “pair” with the core phone using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and mmWave to connect with the added modules. In that regard, it’s more accessory rather than core functionality that you’re adding with these modules.

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Tecno is showing off two different design languages for this modular phone concept. There is the ATOM edition, which features a silver-aluminum body with red accents, and the MODA edition, which leans into a more “geek-inspired” aesthetic – which is an odd way to describe a colorway. The back of the device is divided into eight modular zones to help guide where you place your accessories.

The small ecosystem currently includes about ten different modules. There is an Action Camera for creators, a Telephoto Lens that uses the phone screen as a viewfinder, and even off-grid communication tools. Much like the promise of Ara, the goal is to allow users to carry only the hardware they need for a specific day rather than being stuck with a fixed set of factory specs.

As with most MWC concepts, there is no word on a specific release date or pricing for a commercial version of this device. Tecno is framing this as a “long-term design thinking” project. Whether or not it ever comes to a future device remains to be seen, but it’s an interesting reimagining of “modular” than we’ve seen before.

We’re hoping that we can get to grips with it in Barcelona with MWC right on the horizon. Rest assured, we’ll be sharing our thoughts should we have that opportunity, as we’ll be scouring the halls for cool tech in the coming days. Stay tuned.

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