Tech – Page 4

The first Android 17 beta is now available on Pixel devices

android, android 17, Google, smartphones, Tech / Kris Guyer / February 13, 2026

In short, the first Android 17 beta is chock full of things that may interest developers and modders, but there’s little in the way of user-facing changes right now.

Android 17 release schedule

Google has made some notable changes to how it releases Android updates, and Android 17 continues the trend. Like last year, there will be two Android 17 releases in 2026. The first one, coming in Q2, will be the more significant of the two. It will include a raft of new APIs, behavioral changes, and feature updates. This split release setup was implemented to better align with when major OEMs release new devices, but Android 17 availability still focuses mainly on Pixels. Google’s phones receive immediate updates, but everyone else has to wait for OEMs to roll out updates over the following weeks or months.

At the end of the year, another version (you can think of it as Android 17.1 even though Google doesn’t give it a name) will become available on supported devices. This “minor SDK release” will include some API and feature changes, but Google doesn’t have any details at this time.

Android release schedule — Credit: Google

Before we get to that, Google plans to launch a second beta release in March. The company says Beta 2 will include final APIs, allowing developers to complete testing and roll out updates. Developers will have “several months” to get that work done before the final version hits Pixels.

In 2025, Google also changed the way it updates the open source parts of Android. Rather than regular code dumps, Google now only updates the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) twice yearly, in the second and fourth quarters, when new versions are released. That makes it harder to know what to expect from upcoming versions of Android, but Google insists this is more efficient.

If you want to check out Android 17 today, you’ll need a Pixel device. It supports the Pixel 6, Pixel 7, Pixel 8, Pixel 9, and Pixel 10 generations. The Pixel tablet and original Pixel Fold are also included. Other phone makers may release beta builds in the weeks ahead, but it’s a Google-only event for now. You can opt in to get an OTA to Android 17 on the beta program website.

The first Android 17 beta is now available on Pixel devices Read More »

DIY PC maker Framework has needed monthly price hikes to navigate the RAM shortage

framework, framework desktop, framework laptop, Tech / Mike M. / February 12, 2026

AI-driven memory and storage price hikes have been the defining feature of the PC industry in 2026, and hobbyists have been hit the hardest—companies like Apple with lots of buying power have been able to limit the price increases for their PCs, phones, and other gadgets so far, but smaller outfits like Valve and Raspberry Pi haven’t been so lucky.

Framework, the company behind repairable and upgradeable computer designs like the Laptop 13, Laptop 16, and Laptop 12, is also taking a hard hit by price increases. The company stopped selling standalone RAM sticks in November 2025 and has increased prices on one or more of its systems every month since then; this week’s increases are hitting the Framework Desktop and the DIY Editions of its various laptops particularly hard.

The price increases are affecting both standalone SODIMM memory modules and the soldered-down LPDDR5X memory used in the Framework Desktop. Patel says that standalone RAM sticks are being priced “as close as we can to the weighted average cost of our purchases from suppliers.” In September, buying an 8GB stick of RAM with a Framework Laptop 13 cost $40; it currently costs $130. A 96GB DDR5 kit of two 48GB sticks costs $1,340, up from $480 in September.

Framework Desktop systems and boards with built-in RAM are seeing price increases between 6 and 16 percent—in general, the more RAM you’re buying, the higher the increase. The base Framework Desktop system with 32GB of LPDDR5X now starts at $1,209, a $110 increase since launch. The maxed-out 128GB desktop starts at $2,599, a whopping $600 more than the system cost at launch.

DIY PC maker Framework has needed monthly price hikes to navigate the RAM shortage Read More »

It took two years, but Google released a YouTube app on Vision Pro

Apple, apple vision pro, Google, Mixed Reality, Tech, vision pro, visionOS, XR, youtube / Mike M. / February 12, 2026

When Apple’s Vision Pro mixed reality headset launched in February 2024, users were frustrated at the lack of a proper YouTube app—a significant disappointment given the device’s focus on video content consumption, and YouTube’s strong library of immersive VR and 360 videos. That complaint continued through the release of the second-generation Vision Pro last year, including in our review.

Now, two years later, an official YouTube app from Google has launched on the Vision Pro’s app store. It’s not just a port of the iPad app, either—it has panels arranged spatially in front of the user as you’d expect, and it supports 3D videos, as well as 360- and 180-degree ones.

YouTube’s App Store listing says users can watch “every video on YouTube” (there’s a screenshot of a special interface for Shorts vertical videos, for example) and that they get “the full signed-in experience” with watch history and so on.

Shortly after the Vision Pro launched, many users complained to YouTube about the lack of an app. They were referred to the web interface—which worked OK for most 2D videos, but it obviously wasn’t an ideal experience—and were told that a Vision Pro app was on the roadmap.

Two years of silence followed. Third-party apps popped up, like the relatively popular Juno app, but it was pulled from the App Store on Google’s claim that it violated API policies. (Some others remained or became available later.)

Google is building out its own XR ambitions, so it’s possible the Vision Pro app benefited from some of that work, but it’s unclear how this all came to be. But it’s here now. Next up: Netflix, right? Sadly, that’s unlikely; unlike Google, Netflix has not announced any intention here.

It took two years, but Google released a YouTube app on Vision Pro Read More »

Byte magazine artist Robert Tinney, who illustrated the birth of PCs, dies at 78

art, BYTE magazine, computer history, Illustration, magazines, Media, Obituaries, obituary, personal computing, retrocomputing, retrotech, Robert Tinney, Tech, Vintage computing / Kris Guyer / February 11, 2026

On February 1, Robert Tinney, the illustrator whose airbrushed cover paintings defined the look and feel of pioneering computer magazine Byte for over a decade, died at age 78 in Baker, Louisiana, according to a memorial posted on his official website.

As the primary cover artist for Byte from 1975 to the late 1980s, Tinney became one of the first illustrators to give the abstract world of personal computing a coherent visual language, translating topics like artificial intelligence, networking, and programming into vivid, surrealist-influenced paintings that a generation of computer enthusiasts grew up with.

Tinney went on to paint more than 80 covers for Byte, working almost entirely in airbrushed Designers Gouache, a medium he chose for its opaque, intense colors and smooth finish. He said the process of creating each cover typically took about a week of painting once a design was approved, following phone conversations with editors about each issue’s theme. He cited René Magritte and M.C. Escher as two of his favorite artists, and fans often noticed their influence in his work.

A phone call that changed his life

A recent photo portrait of Robert Tinney provided by the family. Credit: Family of Robert Tinney

Born on November 22, 1947, in Penn Yan, New York, Tinney moved with his family to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as a child. He studied illustration and graphic design at Louisiana Tech University, and after a tour of service during the Vietnam War, he began his career as a commercial artist in Houston.

His connection to Byte came through a chance meeting with Carl Helmers, who would later found the magazine. In a 2006 interview I conducted with Tinney for my blog, Vintage Computing and Gaming, he recalled how the relationship began: “One day the phone rang in my Houston apartment and it was Carl wanting to know if I would be interested in painting covers for Byte.” His first cover appeared on the December 1975 issue, just three months after the magazine launched.

Over time, his covers became so popular that he created limited-edition signed prints that he sold on his website for decades. “A friend suggested once that I should select the best covers and reproduce them as signed prints,” he said in 2006. “Byte was gracious enough to let me advertise the prints when they could fit in an ad (it did get bumped occasionally), and the prints were very popular in the Byte booth at the big computer shows, two or three of which my wife, Susan, and I attended per year. When an edition sold out, I then put the design on a T-shirt.”

Byte magazine artist Robert Tinney, who illustrated the birth of PCs, dies at 78 Read More »

“Windows 11 26H1” is a special version of Windows exclusively for new Arm PCs

Tech, Windows 11, windows 11 24h2, windows 11 25h2, windows 11 26h1 / Paul Patrick / February 11, 2026

But for app developers, IT shops, and anyone else who needs to test things against multiple Windows versions at once, it does create an odd period of overlap where they’ll need to account for one version of Windows that runs just on these brand-new PCs, and one version of Windows that covers everybody else.

Special treatment for Arm PCs

Releasing a new version of Windows that just covers new Arm PCs is another signal of Microsoft’s commitment to Arm processors and the Arm version of Windows, after decades of near-exclusive focus on the x86 version of the OS that ran on Intel and AMD’s chips.

Microsoft offered multiple versions of both Windows 10 and Windows 11 in both x86 and Arm editions, but the 24H2 update was a major milestone for Arm PCs. It came with big under-the-hood changes to Windows’ compiler, kernel, and scheduler, and an optimized x86-to-Arm translation layer called Prism that enhanced the compatibility and performance of apps that hadn’t been built to run on Arm processors.

The 24H2 update also coincided with the release of the first-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon X-series processors, high-performance Arm chips developed by some of the same people behind Apple’s M-series chips for Macs. Many third-party developers have also finally released Arm-native versions of their Windows apps, which are faster and more responsive than translated x86 apps.

Microsoft’s confidence in the Arm version of Windows was so great that the new Surface PCs released in mid-2024 used Qualcomm’s processors exclusively, relegating Intel chips to offshoot versions for businesses with strict compatibility requirements. For years previously, Microsoft had treated the Intel- and AMD-based Surfaces as the “main” ones and the Arm-based Surface Pro X as the offshoot.

Since the 24H2 update, development on the Arm and the traditional x86 versions of Windows has happened at slightly different rates. Some features, particularly things like Recall and Click To Do that were only rolling out to Copilot+ PCs with fast built-in neural processing units (NPUs), have been available for the Arm versions of Windows for a few weeks or months before they hit the x86 versions. Windows 11 24H2 itself was also shipping on Arm PCs in stores several months before Microsoft began rolling the update out to the wider PC ecosystem.

We’ve asked Microsoft to elaborate on what the Windows 11 26H1 update includes and whether it contains any changes that will benefit the wider PC ecosystem somewhere down the line. We’ll update the article if we receive a response.

“Windows 11 26H1” is a special version of Windows exclusively for new Arm PCs Read More »

Google recovers “deleted” Nest video in high-profile abduction case

Google, Nest, privacy, Tech / Tim Belzer / February 11, 2026

Suspect attempts to cover the camera with a plant.

In statements made by investigators, the video was apparently “recovered from residual data located in backend systems.” It’s unclear how long such data is retained or how easy it is for Google to access it. Some reports claim that it took several days for Google to recover the data.

In large-scale enterprise storage solutions, “deleted” for the user doesn’t always mean that the data is gone. Data that is no longer needed is often compressed and overwritten only as needed. In the meantime, it may be possible to recover the data. That’s something a company like Google could decide to do on its own, or it could be compelled to perform the recovery by a court order. In the Guthrie case, it sounds like Google was voluntarily cooperating with the investigation, which makes sense. Publishing video of the alleged perpetrator could be a major breakthrough as investigators seek help from the public.

It’s not your cloud

There is a temptation to ascribe some malicious intent to Google’s video storage setup. After all, this video expired after three hours, but here it is nine days later. That feels a bit suspicious on the surface, particularly for a company that is so focused on training AI models that feed on video.

We have previously asked Google to explain how it uses Nest to train AI models, and the company claims it does not incorporate user videos into training data, but the way you interact with the service and with your videos is fair game. “We may use your inputs, including prompts and feedback, usage, and outputs from interactions with AI features to further research, tune, and train Google’s generative models, machine learning technologies, and related products and services,” Google said.

Google recovers “deleted” Nest video in high-profile abduction case Read More »

Windows’ original Secure Boot certificates expire in June—here’s what you need to do

BitLocker, microsoft, secure boot, Security, Tech, Windows 10, windows 10 22h2, Windows 11, windows 11 24h2, windows 11 25h2 / Paul Patrick / February 10, 2026

The second thing to check is the “default db,” which shows whether the new Secure Boot certificates are baked into your PC’s firmware. If they are, even resetting Secure Boot settings to the defaults in your PC’s BIOS will still allow you to boot operating systems that use the new certificates.

To check this, open PowerShell or Terminal again and type ([System.Text.Encoding]::ASCII.GetString((Get-SecureBootUEFI dbdefault).bytes) -match 'Windows UEFI CA 2023'). If this command returns “true,” your system is running an updated BIOS with the new Secure Boot certificates built in. Older PCs and systems without a BIOS update installed will return “false” here.

Microsoft’s Costa says that “many newer PCs built since 2024, and almost all the devices shipped in 2025, already include the certificates” and won’t need to be updated at all. And PCs several years older than that may be able to get the certificates via a BIOS update.

In the US, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Microsoft all have lists of specific systems and firmware versions, while Asus provides more general information about how to get the new certificates via Windows Update, the MyAsus app, or the Asus website. The oldest of the PCs listed generally date back to 2019 or 2020. If your PC shipped with Windows 11 out of the box, there should be a BIOS update with the new certificates available, though that may not be true of every system that meets the requirements for upgrading to Windows 11.

Microsoft encourages home users who can’t install the new certificates to use its customer support services for help. Detailed documentation is also available for IT shops and other large organizations that manage their own updates.

“The Secure Boot certificate update marks a generational refresh of the trust foundation that modern PCs rely on at startup,” writes Costa. “By renewing these certificates, the Windows ecosystem is ensuring that future innovations in hardware, firmware, and operating systems can continue to build on a secure, industry‐aligned boot process.”

Windows’ original Secure Boot certificates expire in June—here’s what you need to do Read More »

Upgraded Google safety tools can now find and remove more of your personal info

Google, privacy, search, Tech / Kris Guyer / February 10, 2026

Do you feel popular? There are people on the Internet who want to know all about you! Unfortunately, they don’t have the best of intentions, but Google has some handy tools to address that, and they’ve gotten an upgrade today. The “Results About You” tool can now detect and remove more of your personal information. Plus, the tool for removing non-consensual explicit imagery (NCEI) is faster to use. All you have to do is tell Google your personal details first—that seems safe, right?

With today’s upgrade, Results About You gains the ability to find and remove pages that include ID numbers like your passport, driver’s license, and Social Security. You can access the option to add these to Google’s ongoing scans from the settings in Results About You. Just click in the ID numbers section to enable detection.

Naturally, Google has to know what it’s looking for to remove it. So you need to provide at least part of those numbers. Google asks for the full driver’s license number, which is fine, as it’s not as sensitive. For your passport and SSN, you only need the last four digits, which is enough for Google to find the full numbers on webpages.

ID number results detected.

The NCEI tool is geared toward hiding real, explicit images as well as deepfakes and other types of artificial sexualized content. This kind of content is rampant on the Internet right now due to the rapid rise of AI. What used to require Photoshop skills is now just a prompt away, and some AI platforms hardly do anything to prevent it.

Upgraded Google safety tools can now find and remove more of your personal info Read More »

Alphabet selling very rare 100-year bonds to help fund AI investment

AI, alphabet, debt, Google, syndication, Tech / Mike M. / February 10, 2026

Tony Trzcinka, a US-based senior portfolio manager at Impax Asset Management, which purchased Alphabet’s bonds last year, said he skipped Monday’s offering because of insufficient yields and concerns about overexposure to companies with complex financial obligations tied to AI investments.

“It wasn’t worth it to swap into new ones,” Trzcinka said. “We’ve been very conscious of our exposure to these hyperscalers and their capex budgets.”

Big Tech companies and their suppliers are expected to invest almost $700 billion in AI infrastructure this year and are increasingly turning to the debt markets to finance the giant data center build-out.

Alphabet in November sold $17.5 billion of bonds in the US including a 50-year bond—the longest-dated dollar bond sold by a tech group last year—and raised €6.5 billion on European markets.

Oracle last week raised $25 billion from a bond sale that attracted more than $125 billion of orders.

Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta all increased their capital expenditure plans during their most recent earnings reports, prompting questions about whether they will be able to fund the unprecedented spending spree from their cash flows alone.

Last week, Google’s parent company reported annual sales that topped $400 billion for the first time, beating investors’ expectations for revenues and profits in the most recent quarter. It said it planned to spend as much as $185 billion on capex this year, roughly double last year’s total, to capitalize on booming demand for its Gemini AI assistant.

Alphabet’s long-term debt jumped to $46.5 billion in 2025, up more than four times the previous year, though it held cash and equivalents of $126.8 billion at the year-end.

Investor demand was the strongest on the shortest portion of Monday’s deal, with a three-year offering pricing at only 0.27 percentage points above US Treasuries, versus 0.6 percentage points during initial price discussions, said people familiar with the deal.

The longest portion of the offering, a 40-year bond, is expected to yield 0.95 percentage points over US Treasuries, down from 1.2 percentage points during initial talks, the people said.

Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan are the bookrunners on the bond sales across three currencies. All three declined to comment or did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Alphabet did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Alphabet selling very rare 100-year bonds to help fund AI investment Read More »

Report: Imminent Apple hardware updates include MacBook Pro, iPads, and iPhone 17e

Apple, ipad, iPad Air, IPhone, iPhone 16e, iphone 17e, Mac, MacBook Pro, Tech / Kris Guyer / February 9, 2026

Apple’s 2026 has already brought us the AirTag 2 and a new Creator Studio app subscription aimed at independent content creators, but nothing so far for the company’s main product families.

That could change soon, according to reporting from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. New versions of Apple’s low-end iPhone, the basic iPad and iPad Air, and the higher-end MacBook Pros are said to be coming “imminently,” “soon,” and “shortly,” respectively, ahead of planned updates later in the year for the iPad mini, Studio Display, and other Mac models.

Here’s what we think we know about the hardware that’s coming.

iPhone 17e

Apple is apparently planning to launch an updated iPhone 17e, a new version of its basic iPhone. The phone is said to include an A19 chip similar to the one in the regular iPhone 17, and it will also add MagSafe charging. Though the iPhone 17e will likely stick to the basic one-lens camera system and the notched, Dynamic Island-less screen, it will also launch at the same $599 price as the current 16e, which counts as good news given current AI-driven RAM and storage shortages.

This would be a change in how Apple approaches its lower-end iPhone. The old iPhone SE was updated pretty sporadically, with at least a couple of years between each of its updates. The iPhone 16e was introduced just last year.

The biggest question is whether the 17e will continue to exist alongside the older but arguably superior iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, which start at just $100 more than the current iPhone 16e and include a dual-lens camera system and the Dynamic Island. Having four different iPhone models available in the same $600-to-$800 price range is confusing at best.

Report: Imminent Apple hardware updates include MacBook Pro, iPads, and iPhone 17e Read More »

Google hints at big AirDrop expansion for Android “very soon”

AirDrop, android, file sharing, Google, IPhone, Tech / Paul Patrick / February 5, 2026

Android has its own AirDrop-like feature called Quick Share (formerly Google Nearby Share), but until recently, it couldn’t communicate with Apple’s AirDrop. As we reported in November, the European Union required Apple to implement the Wi-Fi Aware standard in AirDrop, which enabled Google to add support for the Pixel 10 lineup. Google confirmed it didn’t need to work with Apple at all to make that happen.

As part of the Quick Share updates, Google has added an extension to the Play Store that allows Quick Share to operate as a full, updatable APK rather than an element of Play Services. That should make it easier to roll out new features to the entire Android ecosystem. Currently, the extension only supports a smattering of Android phones, but we can expect that list to expand as AirDrop comes to more devices this year.

With AirDrop support, Android devices can send files to iOS and macOS devices without downloading third-party apps. However, the functionality requires Apple users to enable the “Everyone for 10 minutes” connectivity option. While Google can shoehorn Android into the Wi-Fi Aware system, it cannot use Apple’s contact-based sharing options. That probably won’t change with the pending update.

Of course, “very soon” in Google-speak can mean many things. The company does like to pair Android ecosystem updates with Pixel Drops, and the next one of those is expected in March, with changes to location privacy, At a Glance, and more.

Google hints at big AirDrop expansion for Android “very soon” Read More »

User blowback convinces Adobe to keep supporting 30-year-old 2D animation app

adobe, Software, Tech / Kris Guyer / February 4, 2026

30 years of animation

Animate debuted in 1996 as FutureWave Software’s FutureSplash Animator. After a 1997 acquisition by Macromedia, FutureSplash Animator became Macromedia Flash. In 2005, Adobe bought Macromedia and renamed Macromedia Flash to Adobe Flash Professional. In 2015, the software became Adobe Animate CC. In its nearly 30 years of use, Animate has been used in numerous popular animated films and shows, including Star Trek: Lower Decks. Still, Adobe said on Monday that “new platforms and paradigms have emerged that better serve the needs of the user.”

Based on the response to Monday’s announcement, not everyone agrees that Animate is obsolete. Adobe’s announcement has also drawn increased scrutiny because of the company’s growing focus on AI-based tools, which have led to higher subscription fees.

“Shutting down Animate and cutting off users from decades worth of work, while simultaneously focusing on anti-artist AI technology, is incredibly disrespectful to your users. Make the software open-source if you’re not going to do the work yourself,” a user on Adobe’s forum going by “FFFlay” wrote in response to Monday’s announcement.

Although Adobe has shown an ability to respond to customer frustration and will allow people to use Animate for the foreseeable future, people who depend on the software, including for animation and education, are concerned about relying on a program that Adobe almost discontinued.

In a post today, an Adobe community member going by the username rayek.elfin wrote, “The damage is done in my opinion. The news of Adobe discontinuing Animate went viral and probably created so much anxiety and uncertainty that studios and indie animators are already looking to replace Animate in their pipelines.”

When asked how Adobe will try to rebuild trust among users, Chambers said, “Trust doesn’t come beforehand, it comes after (and has to be earned). We say what we will do, and if we consistently do it, we gain trust. We are at the ‘we say what we will do’ part for a lot of people.”

User blowback convinces Adobe to keep supporting 30-year-old 2D animation app Read More »