This week Apple launched new AirPods, Alexa+ landed in the UK and we got our first Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer – and much more you need to know about.
To catch up on the biggest stories we’ve covered this week, we’ve got this handy ICYMI roundup. Scroll down to see excerpts about each story, plus links so you can find the full piece and a deeper dive.
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7. Amazon Alexa+ has hit the UK
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Just over a year after its US debut, Alexa+ has arrived in the UK – and it’s got more than just a British accent. The AI-powered virtual assistant connects to services and news sources used by people in the UK (including TechRadar), and its chatty new personality uses notably British idioms (including calling users ‘mate’ when commiserating over the previous night’s football score).
Beneath the surface, Alexa+ is designed to act as an ‘ambient’ assistant that’s there when you need it and fades into the background when you don’t. You can give it instructions using natural language instead of phrasing commands in a specific way, and it can follow multiple commands at once. It’s rolling out in Early Access now for owners of the latest Amazon Echo speakers and displays, and will come to older Alexa-enabled devices later.
6. Spider-Man went into action
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The day finally came: we got the first trailer Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and it’s full of details about what’s in store for Peter Parker in the next movie.
We see him still living with the fallout no way home which ended with the whole world forgetting who he is – including his best friend and his girlfriend. Peter’s clearly been dealing with some stuff mentally, and he’s thrown himself into being the best Spider-Man he can be – taking on a whole lot of bad guys, including facing off, it seems – but something’s also messing with his powers and causing him to somehow mutate.
We’ve yet to get a glimpse of who Sadie Sink is playing in this movie, but with the emphasis on mutants, could this be some sort of X-Men setup?
This week, Meta announced that on June 15, its Horizon Worlds metaverse will become mobile-exclusive, meaning VR players will no longer be able to enjoy (or be exposed to, as was the case for many) the platform’s many VR worlds. But then it reversed course… a little.
In an Instagram AMA, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth revealed that instead of shutting down Horizon Worlds entirely in VR, Meta will instead keep existing spaces alive — VR players just won’t get anything new.
While not the biggest story for many, this is a serious shift for Meta, who even changed their name to go all-in on the metaverse — a dream that now feels like it’s not far from sunset.
4. We reviewed Nothing Phone (4a)
A beautiful design, a bright 6.8-inch screen and an impressive mid-range chipset with a streamlined OS, the latest Nothing Phone is nothing short of a delight in so many ways.
Admittedly, the camera isn’t quite up to the standard of some more premium handsets, with the 50MP main snapper not capturing the image performance you’d expect from the competition.
Other than that, this phone is just plain fun to use in a way few phones are these days, and at $499 / £499 / AU$949 for the cheapest model, this phone won’t break the bank either – proving affordable doesn’t have to mean bland.
3. Samsung’s Trifold may have been discontinued
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Samsung might be pulling the plug on its Galaxy Z TriFold phone that was launched just three months ago. Initial reports said sales would stop first in South Korea after a final rebuild and then in the United States.
There are several reasons for this, but apparently it’s down to industry costs to manufacture the device, which is why the Galaxy Z TriFold went for a staggering $2,899. Additionally, Samsung never intended the device to be for the average consumer and was merely to show the innovative lengths the company was capable of going.
However, this does not tell us that the Galaxy Z TriFold series is being phased out completely, as recent reports suggest that the company is developing a successor device.
2. Apple finally launched AirPods Max 2
AirPods Max 2 is finally – finally! – here. It’s been a little over five years since the original launched, and while Apple upgraded them with USB-C instead of Lightning, there have been several new AirPods Pro models in that time.
The AirPods Max 2 are pretty much exactly what we might have guessed: they have Apple’s H2 chip powering them, which means a ton of new smart features; they have a claimed 1.5x improvement in active noise cancellation; and they have a new “high dynamic range amplifier” for “cleaner” sound.
Two things that haven’t changed? The below average 20-hour battery life and design. The latter has become a modern icon, so it’s understandable, but it’s a shame that Apple hasn’t made them easier either. Still, the AirPods Max are loved for the detailed and natural sound, so if it’s improved even more, they might be worth the still hefty price tag of $549.
1. Nvidia DLSS 5 drove gamers crazy
It’s been a rough week for Nvidia since it unveiled DLSS 5 at GDC 2026, leading to massive backlash from gamers and game developers online. This is because DLSS 5 doesn’t continue the trend with the tool’s upscaling task, as it has always done with previous iterations; instead, it effectively changes the look of environments, and most importantly, character models, to look literally true to life using generative AI.
Basically, DLSS 5 uses “content-controlled generative AI,” according to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, after hitting back at gamers, saying “they’re dead wrong” about DLSS 5’s use in games going forward. Popular game publishers and studios such as Capcom have already signed up and supported the use of DLSS 5 in both current and future games when the feature is released this fall, and did so without informing their game developers.
It may be too late for Nvidia to hit the reset button on DLSS 5, but its hand may be forced if gamers and developers continue to push back against the use of generative AI in games.
