IT General

Lexus has always been the safe bet for people who want a luxury car without the German-car headaches. Their hybrids live up to that reputation, staying reliable while keeping maintenance costs surprisingly low.

Updated on Jan. 22 at 5:31 p.m. ET: Microsoft said it was working toward fixing a 365 outage on Thursday, though noted users may still be experiencing issues.

"We're carefully rebalancing traffic across all affected infrastructure in the region," read a statement on its 365 status page. "We’re proceeding as quickly as possible and this incremental approach will also help us identify whether any additional actions may be required to ensure longstanding recovery."

Microsoft 365 suffered an outage on Thursday, affecting U.S. users going about their workday.

"Users may be seeing degraded service functionality or be unable to access multiple Microsoft 365 services," the company wrote on its 365 status page.

Microsoft users reported being unable to send or receive email through Outlook, and services such as Teams and Defender may also be affected. Ironically, even the Microsoft 365 status page is having trouble loading for some users.

"Users may be receiving a '451 4.3.2 temporary server issue' error message when attempting to send or receive email through Outlook," read the Microsoft status page.

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User-reported issues for Microsoft 365 spiked on Downdetector on Thursday afternoon. The reports appeared to be going down as evening, Eastern time, approached. (Disclosure: Downdetector is owned by Ziff Davis, the same parent company as Mashable.)

Microsoft noted it was working toward restoring services.

"While we've restored the affected infrastructure to a heathy state, further load balancing is required to mitigate persistent impact," read its 365 status page. "We've identified and are implementing additional actions to direct requests and traffic to additional healthy sections of infrastructure to achieve withstanding recovery."

Not being able to send or receive emails is, obviously, a major pain for workers. Lots of folks took to social media to voice their frustrations and, of course, make jokes.

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Microsoft has been no stranger to outages lately. It saw two major outages in October alone, with both 365 and Azure crashing that month. There was also the infamous, massive outage in 2024, ultimately caused by an issue with the cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike.

This story is developing and will be updated as necessary...

This month, we’re tackling something new and broaching the topic of—wait for it—date night. Woohoo! I don’t know about you, but my perfect date night is at home with my favorite person, in front of the TV, with our favorite snacks and a good movie or two.

For Lego fans, winter is a great time to focus on building new sets. While you wait for spring weather and returning outside, Lego is a nice way to keep busy from the comfort of your home. And Lego has recently revealed a whole new batch of builds for January, so there's plenty of options to check out right now. Among them are a variety of new floral sets, which are perfect for adding a bit of color to your home ahead of spring.

There's a nice assortment of new arrangements available right now, including a delightfully colorful Tulip Bouquet and a lovely Peace Lily, but there's also some sweet smaller builds. If you're not looking to piece together a big bouquet, there are options with lower piece counts to look through, including Sunflowers, Cherry Blossoms, Roses, and more.

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No matter which Lego flower set catches your eye, it's sure to be a bright addition to your home as you wait for spring to roll around. Check out Lego's latest floral sets below.

Tulip Bouquet (11501) Credit: Lego

Lego's Tulip Bouquet is bursting with bright colors. It's a set that's recommended for adult builders and comes with 576 pieces that create five varieties of tulips in different colors and stages of bloom. There's vibrant red, yellow, and pink opened tulips in the arrangement, alongside purple closed tulips and green buds with green leaves. Put it in a vase once completed and it'll be an instant reminder that spring isn't too far away.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Tulip Bouquet #11501 $59.99 at Lego
  Shop Now Peace Lily (11504) Credit: Lego

The Lego Peace Lily is a wonderful set for a shelf or cabinet. Again, it's one that's recommended for adults, with a piece count of 474. These bricks combine to produce a variety of lilies in three stages — there's two furled buds in the arrangement, plus two partially open flowers, and two in full bloom — alongside green leaves and a little plant pot. Whether it's on a desk, shelf, or table, it's sure to be a standout display in any room.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Peace Lily #11504 $49.99 at Lego
  Shop Now Flowering Cactus (11509) Credit: Lego

Lego's Flowering Cactus is a set recommended for younger builders than the two above (those who are aged nine and up can jump into it), though it still comes with a fairly high piece count of 482. Situated in a blue plant pot, this set builds two cacti: one is larger and in full bloom with a pink flower at the top, while the other is smaller and has little pink buds. If you're looking for something a little different to the flower sets above, this is a fun option to have on display.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Flowering Cactus #11509 $34.99 at Lego
  Shop Now Daisies (11508) Credit: Lego

If you're not interested in one of those bigger sets with a lot of pieces, Lego's Daisies set comes with just 133 pieces and sets you up with a sweet little flower arrangement to put in a small vase. It's another build that's recommended for those aged nine and above, and comes with a nice variety of flowers, including three large daisies, two stems of smaller daisies, and three lavenders, all of which are on green stems. There's even a little ladybug piece.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Daisies #11508 $14.99 at Lego
  Shop Now Sunflowers (40524) Credit: Lego

Sunflowers are always a nice reminder of sunshine and warmer weather, which is what makes the Lego Sunflowers set such a great build to work on during the winter. Recommended for builders aged eight and up, it comes with 191 pieces that create two sunflowers with adjustable stems and leaves. While they're nice to have on their own, these sunflowers are worth combining with some of the other floral sets for a big vibrant bouquet of colorful flowers.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Sunflowers #40524 $14.99 at Lego
  Shop Now Cherry Blossoms (40725) Credit: Lego

The Lego Cherry Blossoms set is another that's recommended for builders aged eight and up, but it comes with many more pieces in comparison to the Sunflowers, with a total count of 430. These create two cherry blossom twigs that are filled with a variety of white and pink buds. This set is another that could be displayed either on its own or combined with other floral sets, if you're curious to create your own arrangement.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Cherry Blossoms #40725 $14.99 at Lego
  Shop Now Roses (40460) Credit: Lego

Similar to the Sunflowers and Cherry Blossoms sets, the Lego Roses set is one that can be displayed either on its own or combined with other floral arrangements. Plus, with Valentine's Day right around the corner, there's no better time to grab this classic romantic offering. Again, it's recommended for those aged eight and up, and comes with just 120 pieces to create two red roses with adjustable leaves and stems.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Roses #40460 $14.99 at Lego
  Shop Now

TL;DR: This lifetime subscription to Pok Pok is a great introduction to screen time for kids, offering a non-addictive, educational app, and it’s on sale now for just $59.99 (reg. $250).

Opens in a new window Credit: Pok Pok Pok Pok: Lifetime Subscription $59.99
$250 Save $190.01   Get Deal

Screen time is a stressful topic for today’s parents. If you’re looking for an app that you won’t have to worry about, look no further than Pok Pok. This Montessori-based app is not only educational, but it’s also gentle and non-addictive, and right now you can get a lifetime subscription for only $59.99 (reg. $250).

Pok Pok is the low-stimulation app parents dream of. Geared towards children ages 2 to 8, this award-winning app provides screen time that is both educational and entertaining. Hand-drawn animations and in-house-made gentle sound effects create a calm app experience, all while kids learn topics like STEM, numbers, and language.

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This app uses Montessori-based teaching, a child-centered educational approach that emphasizes hands-on learning, independence, and natural development. It’s built for kids to navigate on their own, with no winning or losing, and no rules, levels, or objectives.

Pok Pok is COPPA-certified, so kids won’t be tricked into making purchases, and there are no ads to distract them. This lifetime subscription gives you permanent access to unlimited games and regular updates, which include new seasonal and cultural content. You’ll also receive an exclusive gift mailed to your home with purchase.

Unlock safe screen time forever with this lifetime subscription to Pok Pok, on sale for just $59.99 (reg. $250).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

You have probably been greeted by the frustrating sight of your lights showing an error status in the Google Home app. Fortunately, the company is finally working on a fix for the annoying and widespread bug that causes smart lights and switches to incorrectly display as offline in its app.

Here’s a fun and somewhat terrifying fact: you’re on a planet right now. We all know this, but it’s hard to really visualize. The good news is there’s a website for that, and it can tell you exactly how far Earth has traveled through space since you arrived on it.

The fallout over Kumma the bear, a stuffed toy initially powered by ChatGPT and designed to interact with children, began in November.

A researcher for U.S. PIRG Education Fund tested the product, alongside other AI toys, and published the alarming findings. Sweet, soft Kumma would happily tell its conversation partner how to light a match as well as discuss sexual kink. 

The bear's maker, FoloToy, had licensed OpenAI's technology to program Kumma's responses. FoloToy temporarily stopped Kumma sales to conduct a safety audit. The revelations prompted OpenAI to indefinitely suspend FoloToy's developer access — even though the toy may still be relying on ChatGPT to produce the stuffed bear’s responses.

SEE ALSO: What to know before you buy an AI toy

Meanwhile, ahead of the holiday shopping season, child advocacy groups expressed urgent concern over AI toys. In December, two U.S. senators sent letters to companies inquiring about their designing and manufacturing of AI toys. In January, a California state senator introduced legislation that would put a four-year moratorium on the sale of AI chatbot toys for anyone under 18. On Thursday, Common Sense Media declared AI toys unsafe for children 5 and younger.

As for Kumma, the bear's fate is a complicated tale about what can happen when an AI toy hits the market before families, companies, and regulators have fully considered the ramifications. Legal experts interviewed by Mashable say AI toys exist in unclear and unfamiliar legal territory.

There is no obvious answer — yet — to the question: Who exactly is responsible if a child is harmed when engaging with an AI toy? 

Of course, that assumes toymakers can and will be transparent about the technology their product relies on. OpenAI no longer permits its licensees to publicly disclose that their product uses the company's technology, including ChatGPT, unless they've received "express prior written permission in each instance." 

This concerns R.J. Cross, director of the Our Online Life program for U.S. PIRG Education Fund. Cross was the researcher who discovered Kumma's "failure points." 

"When you have OpenAI specifically saying you can't publicly disclose this without our permission, that's just going to make it harder for everyone — parents, caretakers, regulators – to know what's really happening, and that's not a good thing," said Cross.

How did ChatGPT get into Kumma? 

Consumers who saw the headlines about Kumma might have wondered how ChatGPT, an AI chatbot with more than 800 million weekly users, ended up in a stuffed bear sold online by a company without household-name recognition. 

The explanation might surprise consumers unfamiliar with the licensing agreements that OpenAI makes with developers to access and integrate its large language models into their own products. Such agreements are standard and strategic in the technology industry, particularly for companies looking to scale their business quickly. 

In 2025, OpenAI inked a deal with Mattel, but the toymaker didn't launch an AI product by year's end. The AI companies Perplexity and Anthropic have been previously linked to children's toys designed and manufactured by a third party, according to Cross' research. 

Yet OpenAI's commitment to youth safety is under tremendous scrutiny. The company faces multiple wrongful death lawsuits related to ChatGPT use. Some of the plaintiffs are parents of teens who allege that ChatGPT coached their children to conceal mental health problems and take their own lives in moments of extreme distress. 

"We now know — and we think the lawsuit puts a pretty fine point on the fact — that ChatGPT is not a safe product," said Eli Wade-Scott, a partner at Edelson PC and a lawyer representing parents suing OpenAI for the suicide death of their son, Adam Raine. The company had denied the allegations in that case.   

Cross has struggled to understand why OpenAI licenses ChatGPT to developers who use it in children's products, given that the company's own terms of service prohibit chatbot use by minors under 13. 

OpenAI told Mashable that any developer that deploys one of the company's large language models in products for younger users must obtain parental consent and comply with child safety and privacy law. (Cross said FoloToy now asks for parental consent to collect a child's data via its web portal settings.)

Developers are also required to follow OpenAI's universal usage policies, which include the prohibition of exposing minors to sexual and violent content. OpenAI does run algorithms to help ensure its services are not used by licensees to harm minors, and gives developers free access to its proprietary moderation tools. 

OpenAI told Mashable that its "managed customers" work with the company's sales team on deployment strategies and safety. When OpenAI becomes aware of a user who's developed a toy or product designed for a minor that violates its usage policies, the company either warns or suspends them.

"You can put into a contract how serious you are about them using it in an ethical and safe way." - Colleen Chien, professor of law at U.C. Berkeley School of Law

Colleen Chien, a professor of law at U.C. Berkeley School of Law, told Mashable that companies can be more careful when licensing their technology by creating a "vetted partner" program that places key restrictions on the licensee. This process could include requiring licensees to complete certification or training to ensure they're using the technology safely and appropriately.

"You can put into a contract how serious you are about them using it in an ethical and safe way," said Chien, who is also co-director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology. "Or you can be much more loose about it." 

With the latter approach, the company might suspend a licensee if it discovers violations of the contract or receives allegations of improper use. 

"At that point, the damage has already been done, and you're not really taking responsibility ex ante for what might happen downstream," Chien said. 

What happens when AI toys harm? 

If a child has a harmful or dangerous experience with an AI toy powered by ChatGPT, OpenAI is very clear about who's to blame. The company told Mashable that its licensees are solely responsible for their product's outputs.

In addition, OpenAI's services agreement appears to absolve the company and its licensees against liabilities, damages, and costs related to a third-party claim. The agreement also prohibits class action lawsuits to resolve disputes, which could include claims related to an AI toy. 

Chien notes that consumer safety law doesn't require companies to sell a "perfectly safe" product. Instead, a company must take reasonable precautions and not subject its customers to outsized risk. Laws requiring a perfect safety record, she said, could stifle innovation, particularly in technology. 

Still, Chien said some liability should probably remain with OpenAI, because its size and resources give the company a clear advantage in detecting and avoiding risks to downstream users, like families who purchase AI toys powered by their technology. 

Either way, she acknowledges that the rapid adoption of large language models in consumer products raise novel issues about who's liable when things go wrong. Product safety laws, for example, currently emphasize physical harm, but what if a child's stuffed AI toy tells her how to lie to her parents or subjects her to conversational sexual abuse? 

Aaron P. Davis, co-managing partner of the commercial complex business and personal injury firm Davis Goldman, said he doesn't believe OpenAI should be responsible for every incident that might have involved consultation with ChatGPT. Yet he does think extra caution regarding AI toys is warranted, given their unique ability to earn the trust of vulnerable users, like a therapist, doctor, or teacher might. 

"This is going to be taken on a case by case basis, and I think that it's sort of a dangerous avenue that we're going down," he said of the product's potential risks. 

Davis, who reviewed OpenAI's services agreement for Mashable, said he wasn't sure whether key clauses related to publicity and liability would be enforceable. 

Prohibiting licensees from sharing that their product incorporates ChatGPT could impinge on fair use law, he noted. Davis was also skeptical of OpenAI's motivation for including this clause. 

"The reason [OpenAI] is doing this is because they don't want people to be able to figure out who made the AI so they get sued," Davis said. 

Confusingly, OpenAI does permit licensees to reference a specific model if their product leverages the company's developer platform.

"I think the conflicting policies underlie the platform's intention to insulate itself from liability while maintaining the utility of the product," he said.

The agreement's clause related to class actions also gave Davis pause. He argued that it effectively prevents a customer who's discovered a product defect from publicizing it widely. 

In general, Davis found the language favorable to OpenAI in ways that could significantly shield it from consumer transparency and accountability. 

What happened to Kumma?

Kumma is available for sale online again, but its return to the market comes with yet more questions.

Larry Wang, FoloToy's founder and CEO, told Mashable that the company's internal safety review led to strengthened age-appropriate content rules and tightened topic constraints, among other safety measures.

Indeed, when R.J. Cross tested Kumma again in December, it deflected the same questions she originally asked about kink and how to light a match. 

"We're glad to see that," Cross said. "It's kind of the bare minimum."

Yet Cross also noticed something inexplicable: Despite FoloToy's indefinite suspension from OpenAI's developer API, users could still select ChatGPT-5.1 and 5.1 Chat from a dropdown menu of large language models to program Kumma's responses.

Wang did not respond to Mashable's questions about whether the company continued to use ChatGPT for Kumma. OpenAI told Mashable it had not reversed FoloToy's suspension, but didn't provide further details about why or how ChatGPT could appear functional for Kumma.

As a researcher, Cross is dependent on transparency from manufacturers. Without it, she can't as easily connect problems with AI toys that rely on the same large language model. But consumers need it too, she argues. 

If a toy uses the model xAI's Grok to respond, for example, a consumer might make a different choice upon learning that the product created sexual abuse imagery using pictures of real women and children. 

"[T]hey deserve to have information available if they do want to look into things more carefully," she said. 

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

The 2026 Subaru WRX lineup offers a lot of choices if you’re ready to treat yourself to a sports car without going overboard. Similar to other beloved and affordable sports cars, the 2026 WRX doubles as a daily driver and something fun for the weekend. Like a true driver’s car, a six-speed manual transmission is standard on five of the six trim levels.

It seems like forever ago that we first read about melting GPU power connectors and small fires starting inside PCs as the wattage was cranked up to unbelievable levels. You'd think that, by now, this issue would be definitively solved, but it's still happening, and the "fixes" all seem like stopgaps. So what's happening?

I spend a ton of time scrolling through the endless documentary titles on Prime Video. And if you look hard enough, sometimes it has a way of serving up some perfect weekend (or weekday) doc gems.

Are you ready for a couple of challenging (and one more simple) Raspberry Pi projects? This weekend’s Raspberry Pi projects will put your hardware skills to the test with tasks like handling stepper motors and drivers, programming LEDs, and spinning up Docker containers.

On Wednesday, Ubisoft canceled several games and shut down multiple studios in a major company restructure. At the same time, the studio pledged to double down on generative AI in game development moving forward. On Thursday, the stock market treated the company accordingly.

Specifically, Ubisoft shares tumbled by 34 percent on Thursday morning, per CNBC. As of this writing, Ubisoft shares are now down 39.83 percent.

The company has been struggling financially for some time now, with flagship franchises like Assassin's Creed demanding huge budgets and prolonged development cycles, and other titles not necessarily making the kind of sales impact Ubisoft hoped for. Given that Ubisoft recently had to shutter studios in places like Halifax (a Canadian union argued this move was a case of union-busting) and Stockholm, on top of the litany of game cancelations announced on Wednesday, it's no surprise that the market is losing faith in the longtime games publisher.

SEE ALSO: Ubisoft axes 'Prince of Persia: Sands of Time' remake, announces major company restructure

Most of the canned projects were unannounced titles with no real information to speak of yet. However, the cancelation of the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake dominated headlines, and justifiably so.

The project was announced in 2020 with a 2021 release date, then went radio silent for several years before being unceremoniously killed six years later. It's not clear from the outside looking in how a remake of a PlayStation 2-era game could miss its due date by five years, but it feels emblematic of everything going wrong with Ubisoft and big-budget game development writ large right now.

In any case, hopefully those affected by these cancelations and studio closures can land on their feet.

The true scale of Grok's deepfake problem is becoming clearer as the social media platform and its AI startup xAI face ongoing investigations into the chatbot's safety guardrails.

According to a report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and a joint investigation by the New York Times, Grok was able to produce an estimated 3 million sexualized images, including 23,000 that appear to depict children over a 11-day period between Dec. 29 to Jan. 8, amid xAI's supposed crackdown on deepfake "undressing." The CCDH tested a sample of responses from Grok's one-click editing tool, still available to X users, and calculated that more than half of the chatbot's responses included sexualized content.

SEE ALSO: Grok ban: The nations considering blocking AI chatbot over nonconsensual sexual content

The New York Times report found that an estimated 1.8 million of 4.4 million Grok images were sexual in nature, with some depicting well-known influencers and celebrities. The publication also linked a sharp increase in Grok usage following public posts by CEO Elon Musk depicting himself in a bikini, generated by Grok.

"This is industrial-scale abuse of women and girls," chief executive of the CCDH Imran Ahmed told the publication. "There have been nudifying tools, but they have never had the distribution, ease of use or the integration into a large platform that Elon Musk did with Grok."

Grok has come under fire for generating child sexual abuse material (CSAM), following reports that the X chatbot produced images of minors in scantily clad outfits. The platform acknowledged the issue and said it was urgently fixing "lapses in safeguards."

Grok parent company xAI is being investigated by multiple foreign governments and the state of California for its role in generating sexualized or "undressed" deepfakes of people and minors. A handful of countries have even temporarily banned the platform as investigations continue.

On Jan. 14, xAI said it was blocking Grok from editing user uploaded photos of real people to feature revealing clothing, the original issues flagged by users earlier this month. However, recent reporting from the Guardian found that Grok app users were still able to produce AI-edited images of real women edited into bikinis and then upload them onto the site.

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In reporting from August, Mashable editor Timothy Beck Werth noted problems with Grok's reported safety guardrails, including the fact that Grok Imagine readily produced sexually suggestive images and videos of real people. Grok Imagine includes moderation settings and safeguards intended to block certain prompts and responses, but Musk also advertised Grok as one of the only mainstream chatbots that included a "Spicy" setting for sexual content. OpenAI also teased an NSFW setting, amid lawsuits claiming its ChatGPT product is unsafe for users.

Online safety watchdogs have long warned the public about generative AI's role in increased numbers of synthetically generated CSAM, as well as non consensual intimate imagery (NCII), addressed in 2025's Take It Down Act. Under the new U.S. law, online publishers are required to comply with takedown requests of nonconsensual deepfakes or face penalties.

A 2024 report from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) found that generative AI tools were directly linked to increased numbers of CSAM on the dark web, predominately depicting young girls in sexual scenarios or digitally altering real pornography to include the likenesses of children. AI tools and "nudify" apps have been linked to rises in cyberbullying and AI-enabled sexual abuse.

UPDATE: Jan. 22, 2026, 3:33 p.m. This story was updated to include more details on the report's timeline and testing dates.

If you can't get Microsoft Teams, Outlook, or other Microsoft apps to work right now, you're not alone. There's an outage that has taken out several Microsoft 365 services, and a fix is in the works.

Sling TV remains one of the most popular and affordable streaming services in the U.S., but we have some bad news. In a move that should surprise no one, Sling TV is raising prices on some of its plans. If there's a silver lining, not everyone will get hit with the price hike, at least not yet.

With hockey TV shows taking over pop culture, Hulu is bringing back one of its staples for another season.

In a market where long-term dependability matters just as much as comfort and refinement, one three-year-old sedan quietly proves that Lexus still sets the standard for reliability. While many competitors chase flashy tech or aggressive styling, this model continues to deliver the kind of trouble-free ownership that has made the brand a favorite among drivers who want peace of mind as much as prestige.

Sony is jumping back into the vinyl game for the first time since 2019 with the introduction of two new Bluetooth-enabled turntables. The PS-LX3BT and the PS-LX5BT make the analog experience much more accessible by baking in modern wireless audio technology.

Samsung usually launches its next wave of flagship devices over the winter, and all signs point to an early-ish 2026 launch for the Samsung Galaxy S26 — and hopefully the Galaxy Z TriFold. The Galaxy S25 was released in early February, and the Galaxy S24 before it came in late January. Thus, it stands to reason that the Galaxy S26 will come around the same time in 2026.

While Samsung hasn't announced any upcoming Galaxy Unpacked events, we fully expect the new generation of Samsung phones to make their debut soon (leakers say you should mark Feb. 25 on your calendar). As per usual, ahead of the official launch, we're getting a steady drip of leaks on the new Samsung phones.

So, what do we know so far? A lot, actually. Catch up on the Samsung Galaxy S26's possible specifications, colors, pricing, and release date.

SEE ALSO: CES is over, but I'm still lusting for the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold What will the Galaxy S26 phones look like?

Recently, leaker @onleaks posted a gallery and video on X that claims to show dummy units of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. We can't verify the authenticity of the video, but it looks plausible, at least.

Overall, it looks very similar to the S25 Ultra, as expected, with one notable change — it has a camera bump similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 7. As 9to5Google points out, because this bump is on the left side of the phone, it will make the phone wobble when placed down on a table or desk. (The TriFold has the same problem.) In comparison, the latest iPhone 17 Pro Max has a more symmetrical shape and thus no wobble.

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However, we would be a little skeptical of this leak. Android Police recently posted its own alleged S26 Ultra leaks, only without the camera bump.

As for colors, leaker Evan Blass posted what could be the full list of color options on X. The colors are:

• Black

• White

• Silver Shadow

• Sky Blue

• Cobalt Violet

• Pink Gold

Those all sound pretty standard for a Samsung phone, so it doesn't seem like the company is doing anything wildly bold this year in terms of colors. That's either a relief or a disappointment to you, depending on how you felt about the controversial cosmic orange iPhone last year.

What models will be included in the S26 lineup?

We're expecting three phones at the next Galaxy Unpacked event:

• Samsung Galaxy S26

• Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus

• Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Just a few months ago, rumors and leaks pointed to a significant shakeup in the Galaxy S26 line. It was said that Samsung would rename the base model to S26 Pro, drop the Plus model that sat in the middle of the annual lineup for years, and replace that with a new Edge phone modeled after last year's S25 Edge (which was something of a flop). However, that's apparently no longer happening, and you can thank Apple for that, per Korean outlet NewsPim (via 9to5google).

This is the S25 Ultra. Credit: James Martin / Mashable

Due to Apple's success in offering significant year-over-year upgrades to the base iPhone 17 (such as a 120Hz display) without raising the price, Samsung has reportedly dropped the Pro branding for the base model and reverted it back to just the Galaxy S26, which was corroborated by a separate report from SamMobile. According to that report, you can expect a retread of the usual S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra lineup in 2026. That may be disappointing to anyone who was expecting a big shakeup based on previous reporting, but if nothing else, it makes it easier to keep track of what's going on.

As for the previously rumored S26 Edge, it's unclear what's going to happen with that. It might be dead, or it might come out later in the year as a separate release like the S25 Edge did. Given that phone's relative lack of success, it might be smart to assume there won't be an S26 Edge at this point.

Galaxy S26 rumored specs

For specs, the rumors aren't particularly surprising. The Galaxy S26 series is currently rumored to have the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chip, which Qualcomm rebranded to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. There is also a rumor that Samsung will equip some S26 models with an Exynos chip, which Samsung fans hope is the Exynos 2600, which has also been making some noise in the rumor mill lately.

In terms of the small stuff, like storage and RAM, there have been some small rumblings. One rumor says that the Galaxy S26 (all models) will feature 16GB of RAM, a 4GB increase from the last few years, and the most a Galaxy phone has had since the Galaxy S21 Ultra. In terms of storage capacity, there are no rumors that anything will change, so the 128GB base (256GB on the Ultra) is likely to remain in place for now, with upgraded storage available as an option. 

Galaxy S26: Is a price hike coming?

We're in the midst of a major global memory shortage, and this has been very bad news for smartphone and laptop shoppers (you can blame the AI industry for hogging all the RAM). And according to leaker @kro_roe, this could not only lead to an S26 price hike, but also the end of a popular launch offer.

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Typically, when Samsung launches a new phone, customers who pre-order or purchase at launch can claim double the storage at no extra cost. But with RAM in short supply, that may no longer be the case. The most recent rumors suggest that Samsung hasn't landed on a final price for the S26 phones, however.

That last part is important because it's very possible that the prices won't change after all. At least one new report suggests Samsung is trying to make sure the prices don't increase from last year, even if that means the company has to eat some of the cost of each unit sold.

Battery and charging

Based on early rumors, this may be one of the most interesting changes coming to the S26 lineup. Samsung has been working on a stacked battery design that would allow for more dense batteries in the same physical space. This could bring a long-awaited bump to battery size. According to early rumors, the S26 Ultra is slated to come with a 5,500 mAh stacked battery, a 10 percent increase from the S25 Ultra.

Samsung reportedly experimented with removing a camera to add even more battery capacity, but that doesn't mean it's certain to happen in the mass-produced model. While the S26 Pro was rumored to have a bigger 4,900mAh battery compared to previous base model Galaxy phones, NewsPim's report claimed that the base S26 (now that it's no longer a Pro device) has been adjusted down to a more modest 4,300mAh cell.

For charging, it’s unlikely that the Galaxy S26 series will get a serious upgrade. Samsung is definitely working on 60W wired charging, but so far, it seems that Samsung will wait for the Galaxy S27 series (or later) to implement it. This could change as we get closer to launch for the S26 series, but for now, it seems that 45W will be around for at least one more year. There are also rumors that wireless charging may see a bump to the Qi2 standard

Galaxy S26: What about the cameras?

The camera system in the Galaxy S26 series may change quite a bit, and there are a few different rumors that say different things. Jumping right in, one older rumor says that the S26 series will have the same megapixel count but will feature a new, as-of-yet unannounced sensor from the same ISOCELL GN series as prior Samsung models. On the Galaxy S26 Ultra, a 200MP camera is rumored, as is a 324MP lens with a 50MP, 3x telephoto lens. It’s more likely that Samsung will do the 200MP with a new sensor, but all leaks are being considered right now. 

S25 Ultra with its five cameras. Credit: James Martin / Mashable

In addition, there are rumors that Samsung will bring back its variable aperture on the main shooter, which Samsung hasn’t included on its camera system since the Galaxy S10 series back in 2019. As previously mentioned, Samsung may be considering dropping the number of cameras to three instead of four, like on prior models, to make space for a larger battery. Other rumors about the camera include a dual periscope design that’ll magnify to 8x, but that is just speculation at this time.

However, many of these rumors come from the time when we thought Samsung was significantly altering the S26 lineup. Newer reports indicate that, at least for the base S26 and S26 Plus, things won't change that much from previous years. According to Korean outlet The Elec, those two phones will have the exact same megapixel count on the triple-lens rear array as previous Galaxy models: a 50MP wide lens, a 12MP ultrawide lens, and a 10MP 3x telephoto lens. Those have been the specs going all the way back to the Galaxy S22. If you were hoping for big changes in the cheaper S26 models this year, you have our condolences.

Other features and hardware

Android Police recently alerted us to a very interesting feature that could make its debut with the S26: A new mode called Privacy Display. This rumored feature would make the display resemble a frosted screen protector, except it would be built into the UI. This leak comes from Samsung itself, so it's all but confirmed.

Other details on the Galaxy S26 lineup are pretty predictable. It’ll come with the latest One UI out of the gate with the latest version of Android. That is no surprise, and we don’t need rumors to predict that one. The S26 series will likely get One UI 8.5, which is slated for a rather large redesign along with a host of new features, including the aforementioned privacy screen feature. According to rumor, the redesign emulates Apple’s Liquid Glass in some ways with transparent UI elements. 

The only other piece of hardware we haven’t talked about is the S-Pen. Samsung appears to be set to do something big with the S-Pen. The rumors speculate that the S-Pen is sticking around and will come with some upgrades. The new functionality may have something to do with how magnetic accessories work, and this seems to be linked to the aforementioned Qi2 wireless charging upgrade. 

We'll find out how much (if any) of this is true in just a matter of weeks, going by previous Samsung announcement timelines.