Month: September 2026

With iOS 27 comes a very interesting feature for those of us who alternate between two iPhones: iPhone Handoff will let us use both phones with the same number and switch between them seamlessly. A system that adds a lot of flexibility for those of us who work with several devices and that relies on eSIM technology to make a setup that’s becoming increasingly common easier.

One main iPhone and another as a companion

We’ll be able to set it up from the Settings app, under Mobile Data. Here we’ll choose which will be our main iPhone and which will act as the companion. According to MacRumors, the main eSIM will stay on the first phone and it will be the second one that gets a linked eSIM.

Once we’ve activated the feature, we’ll manage all phone settings from the main iPhone, while shared location will automatically be tied to whichever device is using the number at that moment. The system does, of course, have a couple of requirements.

The first is, of course, updating our phones to iOS 27, but the second is carrier support for the feature. As far as we know, T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom already appear to be among the first carriers to offer this service, but we’ll have to see how the list shapes up with the launch of iOS 27 and afterward.

With the launch of iOS 27 scheduled for just a few weeks from now, we should soon discover more details about this feature. One that can completely change how we choose which iPhone to carry and use at any given moment.

We receive an email about an order, a reminder about a Prime renewal, or one about a pending delivery and, all too often, we ask ourselves: is this message really from Amazon? The company wants to be able to answer this question for us quickly and reliably and, for that reason, as TechCrunch reports, it has added to Alexa for Shopping a way to check whether a message really came from Amazon. A particularly interesting tool against digital scams that are becoming ever more convincing and that’s as easy to use as asking a simple question.

Amazon Alexa Download

Alexa can check where a message came from

Every year, some 360,000 customers contact Amazon to confirm the authenticity of different messages they’ve received. Now we’ll be able to ask Alexa that same question directly. The system analyzes the sender, the content, the arrival time and, of course, all the metadata to verify whether any message is authentic.

A simple question like “Did you send me an OTP from the number XXXXXX about 10 minutes ago?” is enough to make sure an apparently legitimate message is real. 

While fraud attempts take the form of order confirmations, notices about Prime, account alerts or delivery messages and are becoming increasingly convincing thanks to AI, having an integrated verification system makes it very easy to put any doubts to rest.

Alexa for Shopping, available on the web and in the Amazon app, boils it down to a single question. A big improvement over forwarding suspicious messages to verify@amazon.com and one that will allow us to interact with Amazon with greater confidence.

Anthropic has just taken a very important step in how we use its Claude app on the Mac. We click where we need to, and Claude does the same; and there’s no interference.

Claude can work while we keep using the Mac

Now, if we assign a task to Claude, it can open apps, click, type, and move around the whole system just as we would. Best of all, the result of those clicks, launches, and actions doesn’t interfere with what we’re doing on the computer, which we can keep using to browse, write, or do anything else without even noticing what Claude is doing.

Claude can now use your computer in the background in Claude Cowork and Claude Code.

Give it something to do on your desktop and Claude clicks, types, and opens apps just like you would, while you work on something else. pic.twitter.com/AOiup03pQK

— Claude (@claudeai) September 2, 2026

Background use is coming to Claude Code for now only on macOS and for the Pro and Max plans, and it goes hand in hand with other changes we’ve seen recently, such as sessions being able to communicate with one another.

The Mac, increasingly ready for AI agents

The fact that Claude can handle a task in Cowork or Code while we continue working is, especially in longer processes, really interesting. Something we’d already had in the ChatGPT app for several months and that now comes to the other major AI player.

With this, the Mac is very quickly positioning itself as a key platform for AI use. Being able to connect several Macs to create our own home data center, or that many of the new features arrive first on Apple’s platform rather than Microsoft’s, are just two examples of that. 

While we wait for more features, or wait for Claude to finish what we’ve asked it to do, we can now keep using our Mac as we normally would.

By the end of July 2026, China had installed 1,288 GW of solar power, just ahead of coal-fired capacity at 1,285 GW. Official Chinese energy data shows solar moving past coal on this measure for the first time, a symbolic shift for the world’s largest emitter and a clean-tech powerhouse.

Solar now accounts for 31.5% of installed capacity, according to the same official Chinese energy data. But installed capacity isn’t the same as generation. Solar runs far fewer hours than coal, so coal still produces more electricity. Even so, wind and solar reached 24.6% of generation in the first half of 2026, while coal fell to 49.7%, first time it has dropped below half, according to that same official data.

If you’ve been watching China’s EV boom, these numbers fit the broader picture. New energy vehicles made up 65.1% of July sales. Charging points were up 41.9% from a year earlier, reaching 23.68 million. Solar is also still being built even after feed-in tariffs ended, because it remains cheap and strategically important, according to official Chinese data.

None of this means coal is disappearing. Coal use has still edged higher as demand rises and gas prices stay elevated, and new coal plants along with long-term contracts still hold back renewables in what some describe as addition rather than transition. More storage should help. China had 136 GW of new energy storage at the end of 2025, up 84%, according to official Chinese energy data.

Resident Evil has a new popcorn bucket at AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas, and it’s already available in the US. It’s actually an insulated popcorn bag made to look like a medical organ transport container, which tracks with the new Resident Evil film about a medical courier caught in the middle of a zombie outbreak.

So this isn’t just shock packaging for no reason. It fits the movie, and it also lines up with the current run of weird, oversized concession collectibles that are practically built for social media posts.

A lot of novelty tubs don’t have much of a life once the movie’s over. This one does. You could reuse it as a small cooler, a lunch bag, or a storage case, which gives it a better chance of sticking around past opening weekend.

If you collect movie merch, or you just want something memorable, reusable, and a little gross, this one’s probably worth picking up. Fans online seem to like that exact mix of absurdity and practicality, putting it in the same conversation as viral items like the Dune: Part Two sandworm bucket.

You can get it through AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas in the US. So far, though, there hasn’t been much reporting on any wider international release.

Nexus Mods says it has acquired SteamDB, the site many PC players use to keep tabs on Steam activity. The company says the deal is meant to give SteamDB more backing and more resources, with no immediate changes for users.

Steam Download

According to Nexus Mods, SteamDB will keep its name, branding, separate identity, and current free feature set. Founder Pavel Djundik, better known as xPaw, will also stay involved during the transition, and Nexus Mods says it doesn’t plan to add display ads.

The sale looks more like a sustainability move than a quick push to make money. Djundik said SteamDB started in 2013 as a passion project, then turned into a full-time job, and that burnout was a major reason he decided to sell. Nexus Mods says it can bring in staff, infrastructure, and long-term support.

That matters if you’re someone who uses SteamDB to follow patches, depots, prices, backend changes, upcoming releases, and broader Steam trends across the platform.

Nexus Mods has an obvious benefit here too. SteamDB data could help warn users when a new patch might break mods. Nexus Mods says it had 73.3 million registered users and 22.5 billion downloads across more than 4,500 games as of April 2026.

If you check SteamDB regularly, those promises about continuity are the part to watch. Some users are still cautious after Nexus Mods’ 2025 sale to Chosen. For now, though, Nexus Mods says SteamDB is still free to use on the web.

Italian YouTuber MikeShowSha says Grand Theft Auto 6 might change how sprinting works. According to him, Rockstar Games is replacing the Grand Theft Auto series’ 25-year-old tap-to-sprint setup with a click of the left stick, or L3, to run. He says he heard that during a closed-door hands-on preview. Rockstar hasn’t confirmed any of it, though, so for now it belongs in the rumor pile.

Grand Theft Auto V Download

Still, it’s pretty obvious why people are already split. For some fans, tap-to-sprint is part of Grand Theft Auto’s identity. It adds a certain physical tension to chases, escapes, and fights. Others look at it from the practical side and think an L3 sprint just makes more sense in 2026: less strain on your thumb, better camera control, and a button layout that lines up with most modern action games.

If you grew up with the older Grand Theft Auto games, this is the kind of change you’ll probably want to watch closely. There’s the worry that Rockstar could be sanding off one of the series’ familiar quirks. There’s also the less romantic concern: more L3 wear, more chances for stick drift, and still no word on whether there’ll be a classic control option. Then again, if Grand Theft Auto 6 feels great to play, a lot of this debate may fade fast. MikeShowSha also says the handbrake could move to A or X, which would open space for a Red Dead Redemption 2-style free-fire driving system. Until Rockstar says something through its official channels, and until we get the full current-gen console release details, none of these control changes should be treated as final.

Godzilla Battle Line just got an update that brings Destoroyah back, along with a new evolved form for one of Godzilla’s most dangerous enemies, 31 years after the character first showed up. This isn’t just a cosmetic redesign. The game’s lore says Destoroyah reaches this form after absorbing the remains of Mecha King Ghidorah, and Tamashii Nations is pushing the return further with a 2026 Godzilla Junior & Destoroyah Evolution Set in the MonsterArts line.

GODZILLA BATTLE LINE Download

There’s still no official announcement of a new Godzilla movie, so anyone hoping this meant a big-screen showdown was right around the corner will have to wait. For now, Destoroyah’s comeback is happening in the broader franchise, through the mobile game and new merchandise. If you keep up with Godzilla, this one matters. Destoroyah’s 1995 debut in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, the connection to the Oxygen Destroyer, and the part it played in Godzilla’s death are a big reason the monster still stands out as one of the series’ defining villains.

You can jump into the new Destoroyah content now in Godzilla Battle Line on mobile, and the MonsterArts set is scheduled for 2026.

People talk a lot about how long-running One Piece is, but the truth is that SpongeBob has been with us even longer: it premiered on Nickelodeon three months before Luffy and company’s anime, although (to be fair) it has a quarter as many episodes: 342 compared to 1,176 and counting. It was only a matter of time before these two titans of animation, recognized all around the globe, came together in an impossible crossover.

Crunchyroll Download

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Monkey D. Luffy!

They won’t do it in a special episode or a theatrical release, but in a collaboration for McDonald’s in several countries… which doesn’t include Japan, for some reason. Apparently, they haven’t reached a licensing agreement, and it’s strange, because this is one of the most Japanese things possible. Something kawaii mixed with One Piece? If you take a stroll through Tokyo, you’ll see that it’s nothing unusual.

The collection, available in Happy Meals since September 15, has SpongeBob as Luffy (both normal and in Gear 5), Patrick as Zoro, Plankton as Usopp, Sandy as Nami, Gary as Chopper, Squidward as Sanji, Pearl as Robin, Larry as Franky, Smitty as Brook and Mr. Krabs as Jinbe. As you can see, in the end they were running out of characters, but even so they’ve made it to 15 by pulling in strange mashups like the Flying Dutchman as Blackbeard and Mermaid Man as Garp. It’s going to be a huge hit, right?

we’ve truly entered the great Happy Meal era. SpongeBob x One Piece coming 9.15 pic.twitter.com/W4sT4KhulZ

— McDonald’s (@McDonalds) August 31, 2026

It’s pretty incredible, honestly. And considering that right now on the kids’ menu in half the world they’re handing out a crossover between Hello Kitty and Godzilla, they’ve clearly reached the obvious conclusion: to sell more burgers, they need more impossible crossovers. That way, anyone can sell a product of questionable quality.

The merger between Warner and Paramount is raising hackles in Hollywood among those who want this ordeal over with already, even if that means selling the rights to dozens of properties to a company led by a millionaire with fascist leanings, and those who believe it’s worth fighting. The fact is that on September 30, David Ellison will have to start paying Warner 7 million a day until they can sign the deal, which could reach 7 billion if they ultimately can’t sign it for legal reasons. You’d have to be very naïve not to want to watch something like that.

If you like each other, get together

The clearest example of an actor backing the deal is Tom Cruise, who stands to benefit from it: in fact, he has just announced the filming of Days of Thunder 2 and is convinced the whole thing will be positive for Hollywood’s future: “I think it’s incredible. **They’re going to make 30 movies a year: to me it’s a community, not an industry**. The people in those studios aren’t just people in those studios. They’re my family. I know we’re going to have those 30 movies. I want us to come together as a community to help make them. Paramount won’t be the only one doing it: it’s going to take the help of every artist to be able to make them”. You decide how much you trust good old Tom.

On the other side is George Clooney, who’s spent years living in Europe away from American troubles, and who at the Venice Film Festival not only supported Mark Ruffalo, who was accused of antisemitism for speaking out against the merger, but also warned: “I don’t see how the merger is going to make financial sense for the people trying to make it happen. We’ll see. I always worry when one big company absorbs another. I always worry because it means a lot of people are going to lose their jobs”.

Days of Thunder. Summer 2028. pic.twitter.com/rD3QLXfUyi

— Tom Cruise (@TomCruise) August 29, 2026

Who’s right? In this case, it’s possible both are. They’ll probably spend the first few years making 30 movies, even if it’s just to save their own skin, but thousands of people are going to lose their jobs along the way, because there are positions that are going to be duplicated and are pointless. Even so, the soap opera is far from over, and it looks like we won’t see a resolution until 2027. At this point, I’ll settle for an entertaining ending and for a bucket of water to fall on the millionaire’s head.