Category: Technologies

Open-ear earbuds have always made sense on paper. They let music in while leaving room for traffic, office chatter, and the rest of the world. The harder sell has been whether that awareness is worth giving up bass, isolation, or a fit that feels locked in.

Shokz OpenDots 2 is built around that problem. The company’s new clip-on earbuds bring bigger audio claims, lighter hardware, stronger battery numbers, and controls designed for the sweaty, awkward moments where touch panels often fail.

Why the sound holds up

OpenDots 2 uses Shokz Bassphere 2.0 with dual 11.8mm drivers, which Shokz says can deliver output closer to a larger 16mm speaker. The redesigned diaphragm is rated for 70% less distortion, and upgraded Dolby Audio is there to add depth while keeping vocals and the open soundstage intact.

The real test is volume discipline. On a train, sidewalk, or shared office floor, open-ear earbuds need enough punch that you’re not cranking them and leaking sound to everyone nearby. Shokz’s DirectPitch technology aims audio toward the ear, while Private Mode in the app gives listeners a quieter option in close quarters.

Can the fit disappear

Comfort is the daily hurdle. Each OpenDots 2 earbud weighs 6.4 grams, and Shokz uses a flexible nickel-titanium JointArc wrapped in soft silicone so the clip can adapt to different ear shapes without pressing into the ear canal.

That design gives the earbuds a wider lane than fitness gear. They’re positioned for commutes, calls, workouts, and longer sessions, with an IP57 dust and water rating on the earbuds and an IP54 rating on the case. Compared with OpenDots One, the case protection is a clear upgrade, since that earlier case wasn’t rated as waterproof.

Which annoyances get fixed first

The smaller changes may do the most daily work. OpenDots 2 has interchangeable left and right earbuds, so you won’t need to check labels before putting them on. The earbuds detect placement and adjust stereo channels automatically.

Shokz has also moved from traditional touch controls to a force sensor, which should cut down on accidental inputs from hair, sweat, or fit adjustments. Battery life is rated at up to 40 hours with the charging case, and a five-minute charge adds up to two hours of playback.

Calls get dual air-conduction microphones plus a bone-conduction microphone per earbud to help separate speech from background noise. Bluetooth 6.1, multipoint pairing, Google Fast Pair, Microsoft Swift Pair, Qi wireless charging, and Find My Earbuds round out the practical upgrades.

The missing piece is value. Shokz hasn’t provided price, launch regions, or retail timing in the supplied details, so OpenDots 2 can’t be judged fully yet. For now, it’s a strong sign that open-ear earbuds are becoming more credible for daily use.

It seems that every other fitness product wants to be your next health coach. It started with fitness products like Whoop, Oura ring, and UltraHuman. Recently, Google joined the bandwagon with its latest Fitbit Air, and now it seems Samsung is also joining the party. 

The South Korean tech giant is rolling out a major Samsung Health update on June 8 that will debut alongside its next Galaxy Watch. The update is designed to turn the watch into a proactive health companion, one that actively interprets your biometric data and tells you what to do with it.

What’s actually new in this update?

The biggest addition is the Vitals feature. Every morning, it analyses five overnight bio-signals, including heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, skin temperature, and blood oxygen levels, and compares them to your personal baseline. You get a notification when something is meaningfully off, so it won’t buzz you every time your heart rate blinks the wrong way.

Samsung is also replacing its existing Vascular Load feature with a new Heart Health Score, which combines sleep, stress, activity, and body composition data into a single daily metric. The idea is to give you one clear number that reflects your long-term heart health, instead of making you piece it together yourself.

For those who exercise, Daily Cardio Load will track your accumulated cardiovascular strain and recommend how hard to push and when to rest. The Fitness Index builds on this by measuring your VO2 max and daily steps against your peers, identifying your strengths and weaknesses, and tailoring your fitness goals accordingly.

What else is new?

Samsung Health’s home screen is also getting a cleaner layout built around five categories: Sleep, Activity, Nutrition, Mindfulness, and Vitals. Your daily wellness tips and Energy Score now sit front and center.

The update also adds Hearing Health monitoring, which tracks ambient noise levels throughout your day and gives you personalized analytics to help protect your hearing.

Samsung says all of these features will be fully realized with its next generation of Galaxy Watches, which will be announced soon.

Think twice before you type a long, detailed request to ChatGPT or Gemini. Every character you enter consumes energy—much more than you might expect.

A recent study from the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health highlights a startling picture of AI’s carbon footprint. The figures are eye‑opening and should make you reconsider the next time you fire off a request to your favorite chatbot.

The report notes that ChatGPT alone handles roughly 2.5 billion prompts each day. At a modest 0.42 Wh per prompt, that translates to about 383 GWh of electricity annually—enough to power almost 3 million people in Sub‑Saharan Africa.

Does prompt length matter?

Yes. The study finds that longer prompts directly increase the energy usage of AI chatbots. It points to a “concise mode” concept, where shorter inputs consume less power because inference energy scales with the number of tokens processed.

If concise mode trimmed tokens by just 30 % in everyday chats, cutting per‑query energy by roughly 25 %, we could save between 87 and 98 GWh each year. That is comparable to the yearly residential electricity consumption of up to 756 000 households.

Task type matters even more

The same principle applies to the kind of AI work you request. A typical text query to ChatGPT uses about 200 times more energy than a basic spam‑filtering operation. Generating a single AI image consumes 2.9 Wh—about 60 times the energy of a short text answer. Video generation is even more demanding, with complex clips requiring over 415 Wh each.

It’s hard to swallow that AI‑generated videos, which already flood our streaming platforms, also drain such huge amounts of electricity.

What can you do?

You don’t have to abandon AI if it helps with daily tasks or work. However, avoid using it for frivolous memes or low‑value content.

Next time you ask ChatGPT a simple question, keep it brief—skip the pleasantries, get straight to the point, and opt for a lighter model when the job doesn’t need heavy computation. Small, collective habits can lead to a surprisingly large impact.

Forbes Türkiye has published an article examining the launch of Verum Finance and its approach to integrating financial services directly into a messaging ecosystem.

In the article, Forbes Türkiye notes that the fintech industry is undergoing a transformation as financial services increasingly move beyond traditional banking applications and become part of broader digital ecosystems. Verum Finance is presented as an example of this trend, combining payments, digital cards, money transfers, and balance management within a single environment connected to Verum Messenger. 

According to the publication, Verum Finance follows a model similar to the “super app” concept that has gained significant traction in Asian markets, where communication and financial services operate together on one platform. Unlike many Western platforms that continue to separate messaging and banking services, Verum Finance is integrated directly into the Verum ecosystem, allowing users to manage financial activities without relying on multiple third-party applications.

The article highlights several core features of the platform, including virtual debit cards, user-to-user transfers, online payments, digital asset operations, Apple Pay integration, and in-app balance management.

Forbes Türkiye also points to the growing importance of embedded finance and changing user expectations. The publication suggests that lengthy account-opening procedures, physical card delivery times, and constant switching between applications are becoming increasingly outdated in a mobile-first world.

Another major focus of the article is privacy and security. Forbes Türkiye describes Verum Finance as part of a broader trend toward “privacy-driven fintech,” where financial services are built on privacy-oriented infrastructure. The publication notes that the platform incorporates features such as phone-number-free registration, end-to-end encryption, user-controlled access management, and privacy-focused tools designed to enhance data protection.

The article concludes that one of the key challenges for companies operating at the intersection of secure communications, digital payments, and embedded finance will be maintaining both usability and security within a single integrated ecosystem.

The coverage by Forbes Türkiye reflects growing media interest in platforms that combine communication and financial services, as the industry continues moving toward more unified digital experiences.

Website: https://finance.verum.im 
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/verum-finance/id6774245148  
Verum Messenger: https://verum.im 

MSI unveiled its newest handheld gaming device at Computex 2026, marking a significant leap for portable PC gaming. Named the Claw 8 EX AI+, the unit is equipped with Intel’s Arc G3 Extreme processor, making it the inaugural handheld to run Intel’s platform built specifically for handheld use.

According to MSI, the chip offers a substantial graphics performance boost while preserving the power efficiency required for extended play sessions. If these claims hold up, the device could become the standout handheld console, especially in light of the Steam Deck’s recent near‑50% price increase.

**What sets the Claw 8 EX AI+ apart?**

The centerpiece is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme processor, Intel’s first gaming platform tailored for handhelds, designed to provide higher performance without compromising battery life. The Claw 8 EX AI+ also supports Intel’s latest gaming tech, such as XeSS 3 with multi‑frame generation, which leverages AI to raise frame rates and smooth out gameplay in demanding titles.

MSI has added an Xbox Mode that offers a console‑style experience through a controller‑optimized UI and streamlined game launching and switching. The Quick Settings menu has been revamped, letting users adjust performance and frame‑generation options on the fly without exiting a game.

**Other new features**

Beyond software and chipset upgrades, the handheld itself sees several enhancements. It sports an 8‑inch display with a 120 Hz refresh rate and variable refresh rate support. The grips have been redesigned for greater comfort during long sessions, featuring Hall‑effect triggers and sticks that are more precise and durable, while the D‑pad has been refined for better responsiveness.

A new high‑end linear motor delivers richer haptic feedback, with MSI claiming faster response, more realistic feel, and improved power efficiency compared to previous solutions.

Pricing has not yet been disclosed, which may raise some concerns, but the Claw 8 EX AI+ appears poised to become one of the year’s most intriguing handheld launches.

Google Photos backups are becoming a bit less wasteful for users who rely on Takeout to keep a personal copy of their library. This change targets Photos users who don’t want their images stored only on Google, especially those maintaining a secondary archive on an external drive, NAS, or another cloud service. Google says the new Incremental Takeout for Photos will speed up recurring downloads and make them more efficient after the initial archive is completed.

The first export still contains all selected photos and albums, but subsequent runs will only include items that have been uploaded, backed up, created, or edited since the last successful backup. This is a handy fix for anyone fed up with repeatedly downloading the same massive archive, though the feature only appears if Photos is the sole product chosen in Takeout.

Why does the first backup include everything?

The initial run serves as the baseline and is not a shortcut around the largest download. Google confirms it includes all selected photos and albums, so long‑time Photos users should expect the first export to be the heavy lift.

The benefit arrives after that baseline is completed. Once Takeout has a successful backup to compare against, the next recurring export can skip unchanged files instead of repackaging the entire library. This should result in fewer duplicate downloads, less wasted drive space, and a backup process that feels less punishing over time.

Why is there a catch in the setup?

Incremental Takeout works only when Photos is the only product selected for export. Users who usually bundle photos with other Google data will need to create a separate recurring export just for the library. This limitation keeps the feature focused, but it also narrows who can reap the full advantage. While Takeout can make Photos backups less annoying, broader Google account archives still require their own setup, schedule, and storage planning.

What should local backup users do next?

The practical step is to set up a recurring Takeout export for Photos alone, treating the first download as the baseline archive. After that, each successful run should be smaller, leaving unchanged items behind.

Google has not announced a wider rollout date beyond the initial statement, and regional availability details are not provided. During setup, the key check is simple: the incremental option appears only when Photos is the sole selected product.

Sony is finally setting release dates for two PlayStation accessories that have been in the “coming soon” category since their debut last year. The company has confirmed that preorders for its FlexStrike wireless fight stick and its unusual 27‑inch gaming monitor with a built‑in DualSense charging hook will begin this June, with both products arriving later this summer.

For fighting game fans and desk‑bound PlayStation players, these are arguably two of Sony’s most interesting hardware experiments outside the PS5 itself.

**FlexStrike arrives just in time for fighting game season**

Sony’s first wireless fight stick, the FlexStrike, will officially launch on August 6. The accessory is set to arrive alongside the growing excitement around Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, giving competitive players a new premium controller option for PS5 and PC.

Unlike traditional arcade sticks that can be cumbersome to carry around, Sony is pitching FlexStrike as a tournament‑friendly device. It comes with a built‑in rechargeable battery and even includes a dedicated sling carry case, making it easier to haul between local meetups, esports events, or simply a friend’s house. Preorders open on June 12, with a $200 price tag that places it squarely in enthusiast territory. That’s not cheap, but fight stick players have historically shown a willingness to invest in specialized gear if it offers reliability and convenience.

**Sony thinks your gaming setup has moved beyond the living room**

The second accessory may be even more intriguing. Sony’s new 27‑inch gaming monitor is clearly aimed at players who have shifted from couch gaming to dedicated desk setups. The display features a 1440p IPS panel with variable refresh rate support and can hit 120Hz when paired with a PS5 or PS5 Pro. Connect it to a capable PC or Mac, however, and the refresh rate jumps to 240Hz.

What makes the monitor stand out isn’t necessarily its specs, though. It’s the small built‑in charging hook designed specifically for a DualSense controller. Sony will open preorders for the monitor on June 5 through PlayStation Direct and Best Buy in the U.S., with a retail price of $350. The display is scheduled to launch on August 27 in the U.S. and Japan.

Both products signal Sony’s growing interest in gaming beyond the traditional console‑and‑TV setup. Whether you’re grinding ranked matches in a fighting game or building out a dedicated PlayStation desk station, Sony clearly wants a piece of that ecosystem too.

Apple’s MacBook Pro has had a comfortable run as the default laptop for creative professionals. Video editors, photographers, 3D artists, and developers all converged on the device, both because of the performance and the exceptional connectivity and continuity with iPhones. 

Dell thinks it has finally built something that changes that calculus. Announced at Computex 2026, the XPS 16 Creator Edition is Dell’s first laptop built around Nvidia’s new RTX Spark superchip.

This is the NVIDIA RTX Spark Superchip. A new beginning for personal computers.

Designed for creators, AI developers, and gamers, RTX Spark brings over 30 years of NVIDIA innovation to slim Windows laptops and small, ultra-efficient desktop PCs. pic.twitter.com/RmcamHTS4z

— NVIDIA RTX Spark (@NVIDIARTXSpark) June 1, 2026

What does the XPS 16 Creator Edition actually offer?

The RTX Spark architecture at its core combines a high-performance Nvidia GPU with an efficient CPU. It also supports up to 128GB of unified memory, the same approach that made Apple silicon so effective for creative workflows. 

For video editors specifically, Dell says this translates to smoother playback on 4:2:2 4K timelines, along with faster export times. For 3D artists, they should experience improved responsiveness when working across complex, multi-layered scenes. Developers working with AI-assisted tools get reduced reliance on cloud processing.

The XPS 16 Creator Edition comes with a tandem OLED panel with True Black HDR 600 certification, the same underlying technology that has made recent OLED laptops genuinely useful for outdoor usage and color-accurate professional work.

Excited for @NVIDIARTXSpark, reinventing Windows PCs for the era of personal agents.

Designed for creating and gaming, RTX Spark brings together 30 years of NVIDIA innovation to slim Windows laptops and compact desktops.

Learn more: https://t.co/p55dTpFqeX pic.twitter.com/RK6UIP5Pdv

— Windows (@Windows) June 1, 2026

Does it finally fix the port problem?

Yes, and this deserves more credit than you’d think. The XPS 16 Creator Edition ships with a built-in SD card reader and an HDMI port, two ports that photographers and videographers have long had to add via dongles on competing premium laptops. Clearly, Dell isn’t being subtle about who it’s targeting. 

Pricing and a launch date have not been confirmed, but even so, most RTX Spark laptops are expected to arrive in fall 2026.

Dell’s previous attempts at the creative professional market were hamstrung by the same problem every Windows laptop maker faced: Apple’s unified memory architecture. RTX Spark’s unified memory approach removes that structural disadvantage for good.

Samsung Galaxy devices have featured a lockdown mode for years – a manual option hidden in the power menu that turns off fingerprint and face unlock and forces a PIN entry. It served as a handy last‑resort when someone might try to coerce you into unlocking the phone with your face or finger. The issue was that many users were unaware of it or never used it. One UI 9 addresses this by eliminating the manual toggle altogether.

**What changed in the power menu?**

According to SammyFans and confirmed by members of the r/oneui subreddit, the One UI 9 Beta 2 (built on Android 17) modifies the behavior of lockdown mode. The dedicated lockdown button has vanished from the power menu. In its place, you now see medical information, which is a more context‑relevant option for first responders during emergencies.

Lockdown itself is still present, but it now activates automatically. As soon as you open the power menu and then dismiss it, One UI 9 triggers lockdown, locking the device and disabling fingerprint and face recognition. The only way to regain access is by entering your PIN, pattern, or password.

**Is this an improvement or just a nuisance?**

In my view, it’s a clear upgrade. The previous setup required you to stay calm under pressure, locate the correct button, and tap it before handing over your phone—or worse, having it snatched. The new approach removes that mental load entirely. Opening the power menu is already an instinctive reaction when something feels off, and reaching for the side button is second nature. Samsung has turned that reflex into a security measure without any extra steps.

For now, this behavior is live in One UI 9 Beta 2 and has not been confirmed for the stable release. Since Samsung has not officially announced the change, it could still be tweaked before the final One UI 9 version ships to consumers.

The fight for premium‑TV shoppers has lately been a showdown between OLED and Mini LED. OLED is praised for its deep blacks, strong contrast and wide viewing angles, while Mini LED pushes peak brightness to new levels. Buyers have often had to choose which compromise best fits their room and watching habits.

Sony thinks that balance may soon shift. At a private media briefing in New York, the company introduced a new display concept called True RGB, which re‑imagines the TV backlight and seeks to blend the strongest attributes of both OLED and Mini LED.

**Sony says most TVs are built for the wrong setting**

One of the more striking remarks from the briefing wasn’t about specs at all. Sony noted that only about 13 % of viewers watch TV in a pitch‑black environment like product demos, cinema rooms, or professional colour‑grading suites. The remaining 87 % are in living rooms, family rooms, or other spaces where ambient light is constantly changing.

Sony argues that many high‑end panels still struggle to keep brightness, colour accuracy and contrast in sync once they leave ideal lighting conditions. That, according to the company, is the problem True RGB is meant to solve.

**What sets True RGB apart?**

To see why Sony believes the technology matters, it helps to understand how most premium TVs currently generate colour. In a typical Mini LED or QLED panel, a blue or white backlight works with quantum dots, phosphor layers and LCD structures to produce the final image. In other words, most of the colour creation happens after the light leaves the backlight.

True RGB flips that approach. Instead of a single‑colour light source that is later filtered, Sony places individually controllable red, green and blue diodes directly inside the backlight. The desired colour is therefore produced at the source, before it even reaches the LCD layer.

To achieve this, Sony’s professional‑monitor engineers teamed up with the BRAVIA consumer group to create a new RGB Backlight Master Drive. Sony says the updated driver architecture can control millions of microscopic red, green and blue diodes in real time.

**Colour volume could be the biggest gain**

Sony staged side‑by‑side demos pitting True RGB against competing flagship panels, using both 100 % and 90 % raster windows. While several differences were highlighted, colour volume emerged as the most striking.

Because True RGB generates pure red, green and blue light at the source, Sony claims the system can express far more colour while still delivering high brightness. The company states that True RGB offers twice the colour volume of the BRAVIA 9 Mini LED and up to four times that of the BRAVIA 8 OLED.

The result is a screen that can get extremely bright without washing out colour saturation.

**Viewing angles get a boost**

Wide viewing angles have historically been OLED’s strong suit. Mini LED panels can lose colour fidelity when viewed from the side because much of the colour is formed through the LCD layer.

Sony says True RGB mitigates this issue by creating colour both in the LED layer and the LCD layer, rather than relying on a single stage. Demonstrations showed side‑by‑side comparisons where colours stayed more consistent even at extreme angles.

**Smoother gradation reduces banding**

The third major advantage Sony highlighted was gradation performance. Colour banding often appears in skies, sunsets and other scenes with subtle transitions, especially on bright screens.

By pairing its image‑processing tech with independent control of the red, green and blue backlight, Sony claims True RGB dramatically cuts visible banding and delivers smoother shade transitions.

**First flagship TVs to feature True RGB**

The inaugural True RGB model will sit at the top of Sony’s lineup as the BRAVIA 9 II, available in 65‑, 75‑, 85‑ and 115‑inch sizes and equipped with RGB Backlight Master Drive Pro and Luminance Booster Pro. Sony says the TV is engineered to match the creative intent and brightness of its professional BVM studio monitors.

The technology won’t be limited to the flagship tier. Sony also announced the BRAVIA 7 II, which brings True RGB to a broader size range from 50 inches to 98 inches. Below those will be the company’s OLED range, led by the BRAVIA 8 II and the standard BRAVIA 8.

**Tackling reflections**

Alongside True RGB, Sony unveiled an optional premium anti‑glare feature called Immersive Black Screen Pro for the BRAVIA 9 II. The patent‑pending nanostructure layer is designed to absorb reflections while preserving deep blacks, even in brightly lit rooms.

This focus on real‑world viewing conditions ties back to Sony’s broader message during the briefing: instead of optimizing displays solely for ideal, dark environments, True RGB is built around how most people actually watch TV at home.

After seeing the demos, it’s easy to understand why Sony believes True RGB could be the next major leap in premium display tech. Whether it lives up to the hype will only be clear once the retail units reach consumers, but Sony is clearly betting that the future of TV performance lies somewhere between what OLED and Mini LED currently deliver.