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Samsung Unpacked: the Z Fold8, Z Fold8 Ultra and Z Flip8 land on July 22
Samsung confirms its July Galaxy Unpacked in London: three foldables (Z Fold8, Z Fold8 Ultra and Z Flip8), new Galaxy Watches and, per rumors, a first pair of "Galaxy Glasses".
Source: SamMobileThe event streams on July 22 at 2 p.m. BST from London. Samsung will unveil three foldable phones: the Z Fold8 (4,800mAh battery, dual rear camera), the Z Fold8 Ultra (triple camera, telephoto lens and 5,000mAh battery), and the Z Flip8, thinner and lighter than its predecessor with faster charging.
Also expected: the Galaxy Watch 9, the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 with a brighter display and an 800mAh battery, and — the event's biggest rumor — a first pair of "Galaxy Glasses" that would put Samsung in the smart-glasses race. Foldable sales are expected to start August 5.
Why it matters: it's the biggest mobile event of the summer and sets the pace for flagship foldables ahead of future Google and Huawei models — with a direct nod toward smart glasses, hardware's next big battleground.
Read SamMobile's coverage →▸ Click any story for the full breakdown and the source · use the filters above to see just your category
Google opens the Play Store to rival app stores starting July 22
Google and Epic Games withdraw their settlement proposal, clearing the way for competing app stores to operate "inside" the Play Store in the US, with access to Google's entire catalog.
Source: Android AuthorityThe change comes after years of litigation: starting July 22, 2026, Android rolls out a "store-within-a-store" model in the United States. Third-party stores will be able to display the Play Store's full catalog, and app listings will automatically transfer to rival stores unless developers opt out. In exchange, those stores will pay Google $5,000 a year for "security and policy reviews".
Why they withdrew the settlement: Google says it would rather focus on executing its recently announced "global business model evolution" than keep litigating the exact terms indefinitely.
Why it matters: it's the biggest shift in Android app distribution since the Play Store launched — and a sign that antitrust pressure is rewriting the rules for major mobile platforms worldwide.
Read Android Authority's coverage →TSMC profit jumps 77%, pledges another $100 billion in the US
The world's largest chipmaker posts a record $22 billion quarterly profit on surging AI-chip demand, and announces an additional $100B investment in Arizona.
Source: Yahoo FinanceTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) reported quarterly revenue of $40.2 billion and net profit of $22 billion, a 77% year-over-year jump driven by insatiable demand for advanced chips used to train and run AI models.
The big number: TSMC is adding $100 billion to its Arizona bet, bringing its total committed US investment to $265 billion — one of the largest foreign industrial investments in the country's history.
Why it matters: nearly every chip powering today's frontier AI models — from Nvidia's to Anthropic's or Google's — comes out of a TSMC fab. Its financial health is, in practice, the real thermometer for whether the AI boom rests on genuine demand.
Read Yahoo Finance's coverage →China performs the world's first commercial brain-computer interface implant
Surgeons at Huashan Hospital implant the NEO chip, made by Neuracle Medical Technology, in a patient with impaired hand mobility — the first commercial surgery using an invasive brain-computer interface.
Source: South China Morning PostOn July 14, 2026, surgeons at Huashan Hospital implanted the NEO chip in a patient who had lost hand mobility after a car accident years earlier. The NEO is a coin-sized chip placed on the brain's outer surface (without penetrating brain tissue) that translates neural signals into hand movements.
Why it's a milestone: the NEO received approval from China's National Medical Products Administration in March 2026, becoming the first invasive brain-computer interface commercially available — not just limited to research settings. It went from regulatory clearance to an actual patient implant in just four months, a notably faster pace than competitors like Neuralink.
Why it matters: it marks neurotechnology's leap from experimental to commercial, opening the door to real treatments for spinal cord injuries and other conditions affecting movement.
Read SCMP's coverage →Nothing Phone (4b): 5,400mAh battery, Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 and Glyph Bar
Nothing unveils its new mid-ranger: a 6.77" AMOLED display, Snapdragon 6 Gen 4, dual 50MP camera and 45W fast charging, with the brand's signature lighting in a new "Glyph Bar" form.
Source: GSMArenaThe Phone (4b) keeps Nothing's visual identity with a simplified version of its iconic rear lighting, now in "Glyph Bar" form. Under the hood it packs a Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 with 8GB of RAM, a 6.77" AMOLED display and a 5,400mAh battery with 45W charging — among the largest in its class.
Cameras: a dual 50MP rear setup on a phone aimed squarely at the upper-mid range, going head-to-head with the Pixel A series and Galaxy A line.
Why it matters: Nothing keeps building its differentiated-design pitch in a segment — the mid-range — dominated by generic designs, without giving up battery life or power.
Read the spec sheet on GSMArena →OPPO Reno 16 and Reno 16c: Dimensity 8550 and a triple 50MP camera
OPPO refreshes its upper-mid-range with a 120Hz AMOLED display, the new Dimensity 8550 chip, and a triple 50MP rear camera system, in three color finishes.
Source: GizbotThe Reno 16 debuts a 6.32" FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display and the MediaTek Dimensity 8550 chipset, paired with a triple 50MP rear camera and a 50MP selfie camera. The Reno 16c shares the same specs in a slightly larger 6.57" screen format.
Design: available in Starry White, Twilight Violet and Stellar Purple finishes, once again leaning on eye-catching colorways as the Reno series' signature.
Why it matters: Asia's mid-range segment remains where cameras and displays evolve fastest, pressuring global brands like Samsung or Xiaomi to cut prices in the same tier.
Read Gizbot's coverage →The largest leveraged buyout in history: EA's $55B deal still awaits the EU
Saudi Arabia's PIF, alongside Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, is racing to close the largest LBO ever attempted — the $55 billion buyout of Electronic Arts — before the EU's review deadline on July 30.
Source: Reuters via SimsCommunityThe buying consortium, led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund alongside Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, announced the acquisition of Electronic Arts back in September 2025 for $55 billion ($210 a share) — the largest leveraged buyout in history, surpassing even the legendary RJR Nabisco deal of the 1980s.
What's left: with board and shareholder approval already secured, the last hurdle is the European Commission's review under its Foreign Subsidies Regulation, which must decide by July 30, 2026 whether to open a full investigation or clear the deal. In the US, the deal also awaits sign-off from CFIUS over the Saudi capital involved.
Why it matters: if it closes, EA — publisher of EA Sports FC, Battlefield and The Sims — will go private after more than three decades on the stock market, marking the biggest check private equity has ever written for a video game company.
Read the full tracker →Palworld launches its full 1.0 version after two years of early access
Pocketpair's creature-collecting survival phenomenon officially exits Early Access on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, with finished content and balance changes after two years of building the game with its community.
Source: GameSpotPalworld became one of Steam's biggest phenomenons when it launched into early access, and on July 10, 2026 Pocketpair finally ships its 1.0 version on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, closing out two years of open development with its community.
Why it matters: few games have sustained this much attention — and this much controversy over its similarities to Pokémon — through an entire early access run. Its exit from Early Access is a real test of whether the initial phenomenon translates into a lasting player base.
See GameSpot's release calendar →Halo: Campaign Evolved reimagines the original Halo on July 28
An enhanced take on the original Halo: Combat Evolved lands on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S with new missions, updated weapons and rebuilt visuals, twenty-five years after the original release.
Source: GameSpotHalo: Campaign Evolved isn't a simple remaster: it adds new missions and updated weaponry on top of the original Halo: Combat Evolved, the game that defined console first-person shooters in 2001 and launched one of the industry's biggest franchises.
Why it matters: it lands as Xbox leans hard into multiplatform flagship franchises — the game will also be available on PS5, something unthinkable a few years ago — and serves as a gauge for how much pull the Master Chief still has with new generations of players.
See GameSpot's release calendar →The context: hardware, platforms and gaming in 2026
While the race between AI models grabs the headlines, the rest of the tech industry keeps moving just as fast: chipmakers post record numbers to keep up with compute demand, foldables become the new flagship default, mobile platforms are forced open by regulatory pressure, and the video game industry lives through its biggest private-equity deal ever.
These are pieces of the same board: without TSMC's chips there are no AI models to train, without open mobile platforms there's no real price competition, and without properly funded studios there are no games to play on those same phones and computers.
Prefer the AI angle? Our AI News section covers Claude, Anthropic and the rest of the sector in the same depth. And if you want to estimate what any model's API would actually cost you, try our AI cost calculator.
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