10 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Gadgets Archive

Archives for January 2026

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Nothing will “inevitably” hike smartphone prices because of rising memory costs.

That’s according to Nothing CEO Carl Pei, who, in a big post on X, also said that:

Memory is fast becoming one of the most expensive smartphone components and potentially the single largest cost driver in the bill of materials by year-end, with estimates suggesting that memory modules which cost less than $20 a year ago could exceed $100 by year-end for top-tier models.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
The glass cloth bottleneck.

Here’s yet another manufacturing pressure we have the AI chip boom to thank for: glass cloth. It’s a key component in the chip substrates for printed circuit boards, and the industry is mostly reliant on a single manufacturer in Japan, which can no longer keep up with demand.

The best phone to buy right nowThe best phone to buy right now
Allison Johnson
Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
The Lego Smart Brick debate has been brewing for decades, David and I agree.

That’s me on The Vergecast, debating the finer points of our CES 2026 Best in Show: the Lego Smart Brick. Why is it smart, and is it an affront to the imagination? Spoiler: my wife isn’t convinced! And did David make the pew-pew sounds when he was a kid? Tune in.

Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
The definition of overkill: liquid-cooled gaming portable.

What’s more powerful than an AMD Strix Halo handheld? One with liquid cooling! OneXPlayer brought the Apex handheld and the Super X tablet to CES, both of which attach to this external liquid cooler. (They’re still technically portable once you disconnect.) Nelly has the best look and some benchmarks; I only had time to snap these photos.

<em>OneXPlayer says the “Frost Bay” external cooler lets it deliver 120W of cooling to Strix Halo chips, rather than the 80W it can do on air.</em>
<em>Here’s the magnetic locking hose adapter plugged into the Super X tablet. </em>
<em>The Apex handheld hides its cooling port underneath the magnetic cover with the company’s logo. And yes, this handheld has a detachable external battery.</em>
<em>The front of the Apex handheld</em>
<em>The specs on the screen of the Super X tablet.</em>
<em>OneXPlayer also has a new OneXGPU 3 external GPU, with a 16GB 9070 XT built in, and up to 180W TDP. USB-4 and OCuLink connectivity.</em>
<em>The OneXGPU 3’s specs. </em>
<em>Lastly, OneXPlayer has a tiny laptop/handheld hybrid with hidden gaming controls, like the GPD Win Max.</em>
<em>Here it is with the magnetic keyboard deck attached. It’s powered by an HX 370 chip.</em>
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OneXPlayer says the “Frost Bay” external cooler lets it deliver 120W of cooling to Strix Halo chips, rather than the 80W it can do on air.
Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge