What you need to know

• Google's September Pixel Drop is live, hitting Pixel phones, tablets, and watches with home screen upgrades, fraud protections, and new watch gestures.
• Pixel VIPs gets a proper home-screen upgrade: one-tap calls and texts, notification badges for unread or urgent messages, and a floating nav bar to swipe between contacts.
• Scam Detection now covers more languages and regions for chat notifications, and Gboard flags suspicious messages as you type.

Google today rolled out its September Pixel Drop, which includes a new batch of updates for Pixel phones, tablets, and smartwatches. The latest release brings updated home screen tools, improved fraud protections, new smartwatch gestures, and a spellbinding audio partnership to tie it all together.

Google has been working on its VIP contact concept for some time, but this update makes it really useful. The tech giant is giving the feature a new home-screen experience, letting you call or text your favorite contacts with a single tap. New notification badges indicate unread messages or urgent messages, and a floating navigation bar lets you swipe between VIP profiles without having to dig through menus.

The update works on Pixel 6 and newer phones worldwide, provided the required Contacts and Pixel VIPs app versions are installed.

Scam Detection is also expanding to more languages and regions for chat notifications, and Gboard can now flag suspicious messages from supported chat apps directly as you type. Availability varies by country and language, so this isn’t a universal rollout just yet.

Pixel Watch gets a smaller but useful upgrade. Raise to Talk gets enhancements on Pixel Watch 4 and newer. On Pixel Watch 3 and newer, you can launch and scroll through the notification tray with a one-handed pinch gesture.

There’s also a much less serious addition: Harry Potter Audiobook Packs can change a Pixel’s wallpaper, icons, and sounds, and eligible users will receive a two-month Audible trial. The packs are good through December 31.

What you need to know

• Steam Frame starts at $1,059 for 256GB, while the 1TB model jumps to $1,299.
• Android games are supported, giving the headset access to existing Android APKs without requiring completely separate ports.
• Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 + 16GB RAM powers the headset, with SteamOS handling native games and compatibility layers.

Valve has finally put a price tag on the Steam Frame, its new wireless VR headset that aims to blur the line between a standalone gaming device and a PC accessory. The catch? It won’t be as simple as clicking “buy” to get one.

The Steam Frame starts at $1,059 for 256GB, with the 1TB model costing $1,299. Each headset has tracked controllers, and Valve is bundling Half-Life: Alyx with the device, the company announced. It can play supported games locally or stream more demanding titles from a PC.

It’ll also support Android games, with developers using the same Android APKs they already use to bring mobile titles to the Meta Quest. This could give the Frame access to a much larger game library without developers needing to build entirely separate versions for Valve’s headset.

The Frame also supports wireless PC streaming with the 6GHz dongle that Valve bundles in.

Under the hood, the Frame is packed with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and 16GB of RAM, with native software and compatibility layers handled by SteamOS.

The storage options are also worth a closer look. You can upgrade from 256GB to 1TB for $240, but the Frame also has a microSD slot. So if your main game stream is from a PC, there may be little reason to pay extra for the bigger model.

Valve had originally said it wanted the Steam Frame to cost less than the $999 Index, but the final starting price puts it $60 above that benchmark. Rising memory and component costs have complicated the pricing strategy of Valve’s hardware, as seen with the Steam Machine.

Availability will also be controlled by a reservation system, with sign-ups running until September 17 and purchase invitations starting September 18.

The Steam Frame is clearly not aimed at the budget VR crowd at $1,059. Valve is betting its Steam library, Android support, wireless PC streaming, and standalone abilities will justify the premium.

What you need to know

• Meta’s Project Phoenix is finally coming into focus after more than a year of rumors about a lightweight, high-end mixed-reality headset.
• Phoenix looks more like smart glasses than a traditional VR headset, using nose pads and temple-mounted sensors.
• An external compute puck appears to be part of the design.

Whispers about Meta working on a lightweight, high-end mixed reality headset codenamed Project Phoenix have floated around the tech sphere for over a year. Now, we finally get our first real look at what Mark Zuckerberg's hardware team has been cooking up, and it seems Meta accidentally left the key under the mat.

The images were revealed through Meta’s HorizonOS Prescription Lens package, which first appeared in August as a mostly blank system package, as noticed by UploadVR. An update in September showed detailed pictures of how prescription lens inserts attach to the Phoenix and how users scan a QR code to set them up.

Interestingly, the hardware looks less like a traditional VR headset and more like chunky glasses. Phoenix uses nose pads instead of the bulky face interface of the Quest 3 and other XR headsets, with sensors along the temples. There’s also a cable coming from the left temple, seemingly confirming previous reports that Phoenix will use an external compute puck.

It's a design that could change the way people think about wearing a mixed reality headset. If you’ve been using more traditional XR headsets, you’ll probably find it comforting to realize potential benefits here, like less weight on your face, but the compromise moves elsewhere: you’ll need to deal with a separate computing unit and a cable.

For Meta, the greater challenge might be getting that extra hardware to feel invisible enough that Phoenix still feels like something you can casually wear, rather than another device you have to gear up for.

There's another interesting clue here. The leaked setup stuff seems to be based on prescription inserts and controller-free interaction.

Meta hasn’t officially announced Phoenix yet, but Meta Connect 2026 starts September 23 and has a session dedicated to controller-free interaction on its agenda. If Phoenix shows up there, we might finally learn whether Meta’s push toward lighter mixed reality headsets is a real shift in headset design, or just a clever way to move the weight somewhere else.

What you need to know

• LG denies its smart TVs secretly record or transmit your conversations, calling recent coverage misleading.
• The firestorm started with a lengthy Gamers Nexus video alleging LG TVs capture audio while idle or offline, plus device, IP, location, and nearby Wi-Fi data.
• LG's defense rests on one distinction: listening for a wake word isn't the same as recording you. Audio without the wake word gets discarded locally, never sent to LG servers.

Recent reports that LG smart TVs can secretly record people in their homes have put the company's privacy practices under a microscope. LG is now pushing back hard, stating its TVs do not continuously record or transmit users’ conversations and that some of the recent coverage has misrepresented how its privacy features really work.

The dispute follows a lengthy Gamers Nexus video on YouTube that raised concerns about LG TVs capturing audio while idle or disconnected from the internet, as well as collecting information about networked devices, IP addresses, locations, and nearby Wi-Fi networks.

LG’s explanation hinges on the distinction between listening for a wake word and recording conversations. On supported TVs with hands-free voice control enabled, the microphone can supposedly listen locally for a wake word even when the TV is in standby. LG says audio that does not include the recognized wake word is discarded immediately and not sent to its servers. Real speech-to-text processing only starts when voice recognition is enabled.

There is also Automatic Content Recognition, or ACR, that identifies what is playing so that LG can offer services related to viewing and audience analysis. ACR uses audio fingerprinting rather than screenshots or video recordings, is optional, and requires user consent, LG says. It can also be turned off in the settings of the TV.

Does LG's wording leave wiggle room? Perhaps. Saying TVs don't "continuously" record isn't the same as saying they never do. The company’s documentation is unusually explicit, however, about things like session limits, local processing, and what happens when you decline optional agreements. You can still use streaming apps, live TV, and HDMI devices without turning on any data-driven services.

This controversy comes after a separate dispute over LG monitors, where some models were found to be installing the LG Monitor App Installer on Windows PCs and displaying pop-ups for promotional content, including McAfee ads. Microsoft intervened, and LG agreed to disable the McAfee promotion.

The latest controversy highlights the fine line between helpful smart features and invasive data harvesting. LG claims its hardware isn’t part of some hidden surveillance network, but it’s unlikely privacy advocates and hardware reviewers won’t be monitoring future webOS updates.

What you need to know

• The iQOO 16 is set to debut as the first smartphone with a 2K resolution OLED display running at a 165Hz refresh rate.
• Co-developed with Samsung Display on a dedicated production line, the panel marks the Android debut of Samsung's latest M16 luminescent material and LEAD 2.0 architecture.
• The screen reaches 2,800 nits global peak brightness (10,000 nits local peak), features 508 PPI, and delivers sub-pixel-level calibration for color accuracy.

Rumor has it that the iQOO 16 will be released soon, and iQOO has now confirmed one of the upgrades that could make this gaming-focused flagship stand out from the crowd. The next phone from the company is said to be the first to sport a 2K OLED panel with a 165Hz refresh rate from Samsung, which iQOO is calling a smartphone first.

The announcement also confirms earlier reports that the iQOO 16 would sport Samsung’s newer M16 OLED technology. The company says the phone will be the first Android smartphone to use the material, along with its new 2K LEAD 2.0 technology.

For context, we saw the original LEAD OLED panel debut with the iQOO 15. LEAD 2.0 has been developed in partnership with Samsung, built on a dedicated production line just for iQOO’s flagship.

The two companies also designed a custom high-refresh-rate display IC and a dedicated production line for the phone.

The panel is rated at 2,800 nits for global brightness and 10,000 nits for local brightness. It also offers 508 ppi, wide P3 color coverage, DC dimming, and better brightness and color uniformity than the iQOO 15. iQOO also claims sub-pixel-level calibration leads to extremely tight color accuracy.

There is also a less obvious upgrade here: Samsung recently said the new display uses roughly 31 percent less power at 150 nits than a similarly sized 1.5K panel. That’s particularly useful, as improving both resolution and refresh rate often comes with a battery cost.

The target is clearly gaming. The display features 500Hz multi-touch sampling and 5,000Hz instantaneous sampling rate, while iQOO’s Q-Flex technology focuses on reducing input lag. There’s also 3,300Hz PWM dimming and many eye-comfort features.

The iQOO 16 is expected to launch in China sometime near the end of September. If the rest of the hardware is up to the mark as this display, the top gaming flagships out there will have a serious new competitor on their hands.

What you need to know

• A reliable tipster says the rumored 50MP 4x telephoto with a large 1/1.9-inch sensor may not make it to the Galaxy S27 Ultra.
• The upcoming phone is said to retain a 5x periscope with a smaller 1/2.52-inch sensor.
• Samsung may ditch the dedicated 3x telephoto camera entirely, leaving the 5x periscope as its sole zoom hardware.

Samsung’s Galaxy S27 Ultra is reportedly getting a major zoom rethink after recent rumors suggested a 50MP 4x telephoto with a much larger 1/1.9-inch sensor. The supposed plan was to swap out the familiar 3x and 5x cameras for a single, larger sensor that could handle more of the zoom range.

Now that upgrade seems a lot less certain. Ice Universe claims on X that the Galaxy S27 Ultra will instead feature a 5x periscope camera with a 1/2.52-inch sensor, which would be pretty much the same sensor size as the one used by recent Ultra models. The competing 4x rumor was described as false, suggesting Samsung could remove the 3x camera while leaving the 5x unit as its only dedicated telephoto.

Samsung has a practical reason for going the safer route. The 5x module is already compatible with the company’s existing camera strategy, but a switch to a new 4x system would mean spending more on sensor development, optics, tuning, and production. If the difference isn’t dramatic enough, it may make more financial sense to stick with proven hardware.

Plus, native 5x optical reach means you'll still get sharp long-range detail at 10x and above with high-resolution sensor cropping, something a 4x lens can have a hard time with when pushed to high magnification.

But that doesn’t mean the 4x idea was for nothing. A 1/1.9-inch sensor would be much larger than the 1/2.52-inch 5x component, possibly allowing for cleaner zoom shots, enhanced low-light performance, improved dynamic range, and stronger portraits.

For now, the safer bet is one 5x telephoto with the 200MP main camera for lower zoom levels. Samsung has time to change course before launch, and with multiple S27 Ultra prototypes reportedly under evaluation, the final camera setup may not be set in stone yet.

The real test for Samsung will be whether its image processing can compensate for not having a bigger sensor if it sticks with the old 5x hardware. Otherwise, axing the 3x camera could be viewed as Samsung simply cutting the spec sheet.