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2026-02-18 07:30:00

Anyone who's been paying even a little bit of attention to tech news lately could have made a reasonable guess that AI will be a big topic at Samsung's Unpacked next week. Ahead of the event, Samsung teased some of what's to come for AI in terms of the Galaxy S26 smartphone lineup's photography tools. 

The S26 phones will feature a new camera system using Galaxy AI that combines capturing, editing and sharing of photos and videos. "Users will be able to turn a photo from day to night in seconds, restore missing parts of objects in images, capture detailed photos in low light, and seamlessly merge multiple photos into a single, cohesive result," a company rep said. The video clips Samsung shared demonstrated the before and after results of using its AI tools, which will all be housed in a single app rather than needing to switch between multiple image editing programs.

Updated cameras are just part of what will be on the schedule for Samsung's big mobile showcase. The expected Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+ and Galaxy S26 Ultra will likely have a lot of AI-centric features.

2026-02-18 04:29:03

Texas is suing Wi-Fi router maker TP-Link for deceptively marketing the security of its products and allowing Chinese hacking groups to access Americans' devices, Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced. Paxton originally started looking into TP-Link in October 2025. Texas Governor Greg Abbott later prohibited state employees from using TP-Link products in January of this year.

TP-Link is no longer owned by a Chinese company and its products are assembled in Vietnam, but Paxton's lawsuit claims that because the company's "ownership and supply-chain are tied to China" it's subject to the country's data laws, which require companies to comply with requests from Chinese intelligence agencies. The lawsuit also says that firmware vulnerabilities in TP-Link's hardware have already "exposed millions of consumers to severe cybersecurity risks."

TP-Link provided the following statement to Engadget in response to the lawsuit:

The claims made by the Texas Attorney General’s office are without merit and will be proven false. TP-Link Systems Inc. is an independent American company. Neither the Chinese government nor the CCP exercises any form of ownership or control over TP-Link, its products, or its user data. TP-Link’s founder and CEO, Jeffrey Chao, resides in Irvine, CA, and is not and never has been a member of the CCP. To ensure the highest level of security, our core operations and infrastructure are located entirely within the United States, and all U.S. users' networking data is stored securely on Amazon Web Services servers. We will continue to vigorously defend our reputation as a trusted provider of secure connectivity for American families.

TP-Link was reportedly being investigated at the federal level in 2024 after its devices were connected to the massive "Salt Typhoon" hack that accessed data from multiple US telecom companies. Despite all signs pointing to the federal government getting ready to ban TP-Link in 2025, Reuters reports that the Trump administration paused plans to ban the company’s routers in early February, ahead of a meeting between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping.

Update, February 17, 3:38PM ET: Added statement from TP-Link.

2026-02-18 04:08:05

We’ll soon get a closer look at a bunch of features and updates Google has planned for Android and its other services. The company has confirmed that Google I/O 2026 will take place on May 19 and 20. As always, Google will stream some of the keynotes and sessions for free, including the opening keynote (during which the company makes the bulk of its major I/O announcements).

Although I/O is primarily a conference for developers, it’s typically where we first learn about major upcoming Android changes, which of course affect tens of millions of people. Expect a lot of news about Google’s AI efforts as well, such as what’s next for Gemini.

As has been the case for several years, Google revealed the conference’s dates for 2026 after enough folks completed a puzzle on the I/O website. This year’s puzzle has multiple “builds” to play through, all of which use Gemini.

They start with a mini-golf game in which a virtual caddy that’s powered by Gemini offers some of the most anodyne advice imaginable. The second build is a nonogram. If you’ve ever played a Picross game, you’ll know what to do here. It’s about using logic to place tiles on a grid in order to create an image. Here, Google is using Gemini to generate “endless game boards.”

The other three minigames are Word Wheel (which “leverages Gemini 3 to automate level design”), Super Sonicbot (which “uses Gemini to introduce microphone mechanics where noise controls the Android Bot’s altitude”) and Stretchy Cat. The latter “uses Gemini 3 as a stage designer balancing game mechanics and difficulty to create endless play.”

2026-02-18 02:05:05

Netflix has been in the game adaptation business for a while now, but until recently most of its attention had been on adapting video games. That’s still very much happening, but the streaming giant is also now buying up rights for board game IP too, with the latest being Asmodee’s Ticket to Ride.

Netflix will look to greenlight a number of projects spanning TV, film and "additional formats," it wrote in a press release. The first of these will be a feature film written by Ben Mekler and Chris Amick. Ticket to Ride creator Alan R. Moon will serve as an executive producer on the project, which will be the game’s first on-screen adaptation. Exactly what it will look like is not yet clear, but the internet already has plenty of theories.

Ticket to Ride is a train-themed turn-based strategy and route-building game first released over 20 years ago. Since then it has gone on to ship more than 20 million copies and has been translated into over 30 languages. It’s also been given the video game adaptation treatment before.

This is actually the second of Asmodee’s IP that Netflix has acquired the rights to, after announcing last year that Catan will also be making its way to screens in various forms. And it isn’t just interested in scripted TV and movie opportunities. In early 2025, the company also signed a deal with Hasbro to adapt Monopoly into a TV game show.

2026-02-18 02:00:36

ExpressVPN is back on sale again, and its two-year plans are up to 81 percent off right now. You can get the Advanced tier for $88 for 28 months. This is marked down from the $392 that this time frame normally costs. On a per-month basis, it works out to roughly $3.14 for the promo period.

We’ve consistently liked ExpressVPN because it’s fast, easy to use and widely available across a large global server network. In fact, it's our current pick for best premium VPN. One of the biggest drawbacks has always been its high cost, and this deal temporarily solves that issue.

In our review we were able to get fast download and upload speeds, losing only 7 percent in the former and 2 percent in the latter worldwide. We found that it could unblock Netflix anywhere, and its mobile and desktop apps were simple to operate. We gave ExpressVPN an overall score of 85 out of 100.

The virtual private network service now has three tiers. Basic is cheaper with fewer features, while Pro costs more and adds extra perks like support for 14 simultaneous devices and a password manager. Advanced sits in the middle and includes the password manager but only supports 12 devices.

2026-02-18 01:47:19

Web designers of the world: The Automattic-owned WordPress.com is further embracing AI on its platform. On Tuesday, it expanded its one-off AI site builder into a persistent AI assistant for editing and media creation.

In the site editor, the AI assistant can help with site-wide structure and design choices. For example, you can ask the chatbot to "give me more font options that feel clean and professional or “change my site colors to be brighter and bolder." It also includes image generation and writing assistance, such as "rewrite this to sound more confident." (Who needs learning when you have automation!)

The assistant can also now be integrated into your site's media library. It can generate new images or make prompted edits to your existing ones. Examples include "update this image to be black and white" or "replace this stack of pancakes with waffles." (Just don't fake that if your business sells breakfast food, okay?) WordPress says the assistant understands your website's look and brand and can tailor the media accordingly.

WordPress also added the AI assistant to the platform's team chat, Block Notes. You can summon the chatbot from within your team chat threads.

The tool is available for WordPress.com's Business or Commerce plans. (Or, if you made your site using the AI builder, it's enabled by default, no matter which plan you use.) The feature works best with the platform's block themes; it's much more limited with classic ones. You'll find the toggle to activate the AI assistant in your site settings under the "AI tools" section.