Tech Boys

SXSW 2026 kicks off this week in Austin, and Mashable will be reporting live from the event. Check back soon for a deep dive into all the movies premiering at SXSW. For now, we wanted to break down all the tech news and events kicking off this week. If the session lineup is any indication, the tech conversations dominating the festival floor aren't going to be comfortable ones. From the creeping fear that AI is quietly hollowing out our capacity to think, to a generational reckoning over what work even means anymore, this year's tech and digital culture programming is shaping up to be one of the most charged in recent memory. SEE ALSO: 7 of the coolest indie games at SXSW Sydney 2025 Worth flagging for veterans: SXSW has scrapped the Creative Industries Expo this year. In its place, the festival is leaning into the XR Experience and Emerging Tech Expo, so expect the floor to reflect the same themes dominating the panels: AI, immersive tech, and how to create art with e...

Apple still hasn’t confirmed a foldable iPhone, and the company’s latest round of product announcements didn’t change that. Apple launched several new devices last week, but there was still no mention of a folding iPhone. Even so, the steady stream of leaks and analyst reports hasn’t slowed. Over the past few months, supply-chain sources and leakers have continued to sketch out Apple’s possible plans, with most signs still pointing to a launch in the second half of 2026. As with any unannounced Apple hardware, plenty could shift before anything ships. Features can be revised, timelines can move and some ideas may never make it beyond internal testing. Even so, the growing consistency across recent reports offers a clearer picture of how the so-called iPhone Fold might take shape and where it could land in Apple’s lineup. Below, we’ve rounded up the most credible rumors so far, and we’ll keep this guide updated as new details emerge. When could the iPhone Fold launch? Rumors of a f...

The Steam Machine is back from the dead. Not as a Valve-supported program for manufacturers to create living room PCs, but instead as a home console sibling to the Steam Deck . Valve introduced its second attempt at ruling the living room in a surprise hardware announcement in November 2025, and paired the new Steam Machine with a new Steam Controller and a wireless VR headset it calls the Steam Frame . Since the announcement, as is often the case with Valve, some details remain elusive, however. While we wait for the release of the company's new hardware lineup in 2026, and more information straight from the horse's mouth, here's everything we know about the hardware, software and price of the Steam Machine, so far. What's the Steam Machine's hardware like? Valve Like the Steam Deck, the Steam Machine is utilitarian and bespoke. The PC is a black, 5.98 x 6.39 x 6.14 inch (152 x 162.4 x 156mm) box, with ports and a grille for a fan in the back and a removable...

With historic heatwaves, the product of summer 2025 was the personal fan . These pocket-sized devices were everywhere, with people using them to stay cool on their commute home or while in the throes of VidCon . Portable fans are an easy, cheap way to stay cool with dozens of options available on Amazon, yet we're not surprised to see a luxe option appear in 2026. Enter, the Shark ChillPill. Opens in a new window Credit: Shark Shark ChillPill $149.99 at Amazon   Shop Now Shark's ChillPill is a handheld fan with digital controls. It twists to contort into a comfortable handhold or to create a little perch, like it's a miniature tabletop fan. It has 10 speeds, which the brand claims push air up to 25 feet. When kicked up to max speed, it's a noisy device akin more to a hair dryer than a fan. The Shark ChillPill comes with three interchangable attachments: The InstaChill Cooling Plate (installed), fan head, and misting head. Credit: Samantha M...

TL;DR: Live stream PSG vs. Chelsea in the Champions League for free on Virgin Media Player . Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN . The Champions League is back this week with a number of interesting matchups, but PSG vs. Chelsea might be the best of the bunch. It's the defending champions against the two-time winners — it's shaping up to be something special. PSG lead Ligue 1, but they've not been that dominant this season. They are only one point ahead of Lens in the standings and some might argue that they got lucky in the playoff round against Monaco . The defending champions have a lot of quality, but they need to get it together in this contest. Chelsea haven't exactly been great this season, but they'll believe that they can progress into the quarter finals. If you want to watch PSG vs. Chelsea in the Champions League for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need. When is PSG vs. Chelsea?...

Uber is now offering its women-only safety feature, known as Women Preferences, to users nationwide. First launched to pilot markets in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Detroit last July, the feature lets users and drivers select gender preferences for ride matches and schedule rides with women drivers. The setting is also available for Uber Teen Accounts. SEE ALSO: Yet another state makes moves to end dynamic pricing "Women Preferences was created because women asked for it," the company wrote in a March 9 blog post . According to the company, Women Preferences has been used for 230 million rides since its launch. It's available for drivers in 40 countries and for riders in seven countries (the U.S., Germany, France, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, Brazil, and Spain). Uber's competitor Lyft launched a similar feature connecting women and nonbinary riders to non-male drivers nearly two years earlier. Lyft expanded the Women+ Connect tool nationwide in 2024. Both ...

Today's Connections: Sports Edition is easy for people who watch women's sports. As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans. Like the original Connections , the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle , Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle. If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you. SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections: Sports Edition ? The NYT 's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic , the New York Time...

Back for Season 2, Dreaming Whilst Black is a sharp, must-watch satire about the entertainment industry, and the barriers blocking Black artists in TV and film. Co-created by, co-written by and starring Jamaican-British filmmaker Adjani Salmon, the show's timeliness cannot be understated. As Robert Daniels writes in his Season 1 review for Mashable , "While Black directors like Jordan Peele , Ava DuVernay , Ryan Coogler , Barry Jenkins , and Steve McQueen are respected, award-winning auteurs, the film industry hasn’t become that much easier for young Black directors. Black creatives are largely still shut out of filmmaking because of institutional racism, economic hardship, or by simply not knowing the right people." SEE ALSO: The cast of 'American Fiction' on the importance of telling diverse stories in Hollywood Dreaming Whilst Black Season 1 focused on Salmon's protagonist, aspiring filmmaker Kwabena Robinson, as he tried to get a foot in the ind...

When NASA crashed a spacecraft into the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos in 2022, it altered both Dimorphos' orbit around its parent asteroid, Didymos, and the two objects' orbit around the sun, according to new research . NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said in a press release that this "marks the first time a human-made object has measurably altered the path of a celestial body around the Sun." It's a promising result as scientists work to find a feasible method of defending Earth from hazardous space objects. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission was designed to demonstrate one possible way of deflecting such an object, targeting the non-threatening moonlet Dimorphos, which is about 560 feet wide. NASA quickly declared it a success after its initial analysis showed the planned collision shortened Dimorphos' orbit around Didymos, the larger of the two objects in the binary asteroid system. In a follow-up study published in 2024 , a team...

It seems Sony has been experimenting with dynamic pricing across the PlayStation Store, apparently since as early as November of last year, targeting discounts to specific player regions. This is according to the website PSPrices , which has closely tracked trends in Sony’s pricing over time, and it recently  reported an increase  in the number of games undergoing dynamic pricing.  In 68 regions and across 139 games, including first-party AAA titles like  God of War ,  Spider-Man ,  HELLDIVERS 2 , and  Stellar Blade , Sony offered average discounts ranging from just over 5 percent at the low end to nearly 18 percent at the high end. PSPrices even discovered that personalized discounts were being offered, with some lucky accounts receiving a massive 56 percent off the regular price of the popular Helldivers 2 game. SEE ALSO: Sony’s first clip-style buds sound fabulous, but is that enough to justify their price? Currently, both the Uni...