It’s the weekend again, and while we’re already halfway through February there’s been a lot going on as far as consumer tech is concerned. While Apple and OnePlus are expected to steal audiences with their upcoming launches in the coming days, we’ve seen some pretty big headlines from leading names in the industry over the past week. With that in mind, here are some tech news highlights that you might have missed!
Garmin’s new Tactix 8 is its Most Rugged Smartwatch Yet
Garmin recently expanded its rugged smartwatch lineup with the new – and aptly named – Tactix 8, which takes its spot as top dog within Garmin’s premium watch lineup. Priced starting at at a whopping $1,300, the Tactix 8 takes outdoor wearable durability to a new level, and includes features such as a titanium bezel that surrounds a scratch-resistant sapphire display, 40-meter dive rating and support for both scuba and apnea diving, preloaded Applied Ballistics Ultralight solver as well as compatibility with the AB Quantum app and AB Elite solver integration, as well as advanced mapping and navigation tools with TopoActive maps.
The Powerbeats Pro 2 Packs a Pretty Unique Fitness Feature
While it’s been under Apple’s lead for quite some time now, the Beats brand has continued to pump out some impressive-sounding gear, at least as far as consumer-grade audio hardware is concerned. With that in mind, Beats recently unveiled the Powerbeats Pro 2 – it features all the usual wireless audio staples such as on-the-go charging, active noise cancellation, transparency modes, adaptive EQ, and of all things, heart rate monitoring. This works via ED optical sensors that pulse over 100 times per second in order to measure blood flow and subsequently relaying data to compatible fitness apps in real time.
Qualcomm Unveils the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4
Chip giant Qualcomm recently introduced the the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4, its latest addition to its 6 Series chips (previously branded with 6XX naming schemes), and positioned well below the the 8 and 7 series processors within the brand’s lineup. Fabricated using TSMC’s 4nm node, the 6 Gen 4 comes with features such as real-time 4K upscaling for supported games and improved low-light photography, and is expected to appear in upcoming devices from honor, Oppo, and Realme to name a few.
Apple TV Finally Lands on Android
We’ll probably never live to see the day when hardcore Android and iOS fanboys finally see eye to eye, but we can live in the hope that each day takes us one step closer to that reality. jokes aside, Apple finally opened its Apple TV floodgates for Android users, who can now download the Apple TV app via the Google Play Store. While other Apple services such as Apple Music have been available for Android for a while now, it definitely took some time for the Cupertino giant to bring its own TV streaming platform for folks on a rival operating system.
Android 16 Gets its Second Beta Update
We’re still a few months away from Android 16’s official release, but Google has nevertheless pushed on with its regular beta builds for the upcoming OS upgrade. Android 16’s latest beta build includes a number of changes, such as improvements to camera and media features, new changes to edge-to-edge app implementations for developers, and new permissions for health data access, to name a few.
