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Panasonic Surprises U.S. Home Theater Fans With New 77-Inch OLED TV

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Panasonic has dropped a pleasant surprise on U.S. AV fans today in the substantial shape of the 77Z8BA: A new 77-inch OLED TV boasting a host of premium picture, sound and smart technologies that can be yours for the very reasonable sounding price of $2,499.

The Z8BA is designed to provide U.S. TV buyers who can’t afford Panasonic’s stellar Z95B flagship OLED TVs (the 77-inch version of which costs well over $4,000) with a cheaper way of getting their hands on the brand’s acclaimed OLED technology. Just because it’s relatively affordable, though, doesn’t mean that the 77Z8BA is short of promising features and specifications.

It’s built on one of Panasonic’s Master OLED Pro Cinema Size panels, for starters. This is a premium ‘OLED EX’ panel class capable of more brightness and a wider color gamut than basic OLED panels – though it is not one of the latest ultra-bright Primary RGB Tandem panels that Panasonic’s dazzling Z95B series get. This is the main reason why the Z8BA is so much cheaper than the Z95Bs.

The panel is driven by Panasonic’s HCX Pro AI Processor MkII, as well. This is the same flagship processor the Z95Bs get, and benefits from all of Panasonic’s long experience with self-emissive panels, as well as the latest results of the brand’s long and deep relationships with the professional film and TV worlds.

Pictures for every taste and situation

I’ve seen this processor in action on the Z95Bs, and can confirm that features it supports such as a dynamic 3D LUT colour system, outstanding HDR tone mapping and an AI-backed resolution enhancer manage to deliver exceptionally natural, cinematic and accurate pictures if that’s what you want, or strikingly punchy, vibrant, dynamic pictures if you prefer those – as well as pretty much any picture ‘look’ in between. All while almost always retaining an exceptional sense of balance and immersion.

The Z8BA retains Panasonic’s excellent habit of supporting all four of the main high dynamic range formats found in the home entertainment world: HDR10, HLG, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. This means it will always play the best version available of any HDR content it receives. In fact, it even supports the Adaptive version of HDR10+ and IQ version of Dolby Vision, where the TV can adjust the way images appear based on the amount of ambient light in the room.

The light sensor that informs the HDR10+ and Dolby Vision IQ workings can also work with the TV’s Filmmaker Mode – a preset that’s been designed in line with the recommendations of the independent UHD Alliance to show content looking as close as possible to the way its creators intended it to look.

The Z8BA’s picture talents aren’t just focused on home cinema. It’s also designed to be a serious gaming display, thanks to such features as support on two of the four HDMI ports for frame rates up to 144Hz; variable refresh rates in the AMD FreeSync Premium and NVIDIA G-Sync formats (as well as the ‘basic’ HDMI VRR system); a dedicated Game Control Board menu providing access to both detailed information on the incoming graphics configuration and a selection of gaming assists; a True Game Mode preset designed to optimise color accuracy, white balance and grayscale settings for game graphics; and an ‘Extreme’ Game Mode setting that minimises the screen’s response time.

The 77Z8BA’s premium pictures are backed up – surprisingly considering how relatively affordable the TV is – by one of Panasonic’s multi-channel 360-degree Soundscape Pro systems. Tuned by Technics, this audio set up delivers 170W of total sound output comprising 90W across a front line speaker array, two 15W side-firing speakers, two 15W up-firing speakers (to deliver Dolby Atmos’s height/overhead effects), and a 20W bass woofer. You can even, as with the Z95Bs, adjust the direction the sound from the front speakers is beamed out, so that it can focus perfectly on your seating position.

The 77Z8A’s smart features are provided by the Fire TV platform, and include built-in Alexa voice control, Apple Airplay support, and Apple Home support. Plus, finally, there’s support for the free over-the-air NEXTGEN TV channels now available to more than three-quarters of U.S. TV viewers.

The 77Z8BA will become available for pre-sale purchase from October 27, before enjoying a wider roll out from mid-November.

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15 New Apple iPhone 17 And iPhone 17 Pro Cases To Protect Your Phone

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Now that the latest iPhones are out, you may want a case to go with it. After all, although the price increases predicted didn’t properly materialize, the iPhone is a valuable piece of kit.

Before you ask, last year’s cases don’t fit, and anyway, do you really want a year-old case on your brand-new phone?

Here are a dozen of the newest releases, and they come in varying styles, from wraparound wallets to high-protection sleeves. Choose from leather, Apple’s new TechWoven or a transparent case to show off the colorful phone within. Unless otherwise stated, all cases here are available for iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Look out for whether the case has an open section where the Camera Control sits, or a cover that still allows the pressure-sensitive and capacitive control to work.

The deals highlighted in this post were independently selected by the Contributor and do not contain affiliate links.


Smooth Leather Case

Nomad Modern Leather Case with Horween Leather

$75 from nomadgoods.com

Camera Control: Cover

California-based Nomad makes a wide range of products, including iPhone cases and a just-released Apple Watch Band. Horween leather is one of the options for the back cover of the Modern Leather case, though other leather options are also available, and are $20 cheaper.

Horween leather, especially, gains a unique patina the more it is used. The case is strong enough to survive an eight-foot drop, the company says. The bumpers are 2.2mm thick and they rise above the display at the corners for further protection. The edges have a concave finish, designed for extra grip.


Slim Protection

Pitaka Aramid ProGuard Case

$59.99 from ipitaka.com

Camera Control: Cover

Protection on the Pitaka cases partly comes from cushioning on the rear corners and partly from what’s described as aerospace-grade aramid fiber. The back is textured, to add extra grip.

Unlike some cases which have dealt with the complex needs of the Camera Control capacitive button, Pitaka has developed a cover that’s slim but responsive when you press or slide your finger on it.


Fashion-Forward Protection

Beats Rugged MagSafe Case

$79 from beatsbydre.com

Camera Control: Cover

Beats, the other brand that Apple owns, has a case that doesn’t look rugged. Rugged usually means bulky but the choice of colors, such as Sierra orange makes this case more style-focused. If orange is too much for you, Everest black and rocky blue will suit quieter tastes.

There’s a big lip over the edge of the display designed to keep it safe. The bottom half of the case, including the back and edges, is rougher to make it stay in your hand, while the top half is completely smooth.


Transparent Protection

Mous Clarity MagSafe

$69.99 from mous.co



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Is The Mystery iPhone Update Nearly Here?

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More than a week ago, the news was clear: the next iPhone update (the content of which remains a mystery) would be iOS 26.0.2 and would land in the week beginning Oct. 20. But it’s nowhere to be seen. What’s happening, you might ask.

It’s not that there were no Apple software updates last week. Anyone who bought the new iPad Pro, which went on sale on Wednesday, Oct. 22 alongside the latest MacBook Pro and Apple Vision Pro, had to update to a new version of iPadOS. But that was iPadOS 26.0.1 and was a new build for the latest model only.

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The iOS 26.0.2 update (and presumably iPadOS 26.0.2 if needed) could have arrived on Thursday, Oct. 23 or Friday, Oct. 24 — several reports thought that was likely.

Since it didn’t, we’re now in different territory. The next big update, until the rumor of iOS 26.0.2 had reared its head, was thought to be iOS 26.1. That’s so far into beta that it’s thought the release candidate will be available on Monday, Oct. 27 or Tuesday, Oct 28, with the general release expected the week after.

There are two options, it seems. Either Apple will kill off iOS 26.0.2 before it sees the light of day and instead go straight to iOS 26.1 on or around Monday, Nov. 3, or iOS 26.0.2 will appear first.

Which really only leaves Monday, Oct. 27 or Tuesday, Oct. 28 as likely days for release.

It’s not known exactly what will be in iOS 26.0.2, though it’s thought to address bugs and flaws, not launch new features which will be part of iOS 26.1.

So the fate of iOS 26.0.2 may rest on how urgent those fixes are and which handsets they affect.

My guess is that we will almost certainly see iOS 26.0.2 on Tuesday, Oct. 28, a day after the release candidate for iOS 26.1. I’d further guess that the fixes will mostly affect the iPhone 17 series or iPhone Air rather than all models.

If there’s no sign of it then, it looks like iOS 26.1 will be the next update, likely on Monday, Nov. 3. Look at it this way, there will probably be a new iPhone update in the next eight days at most.

I’ll update this post as soon as there’s more news, so please check back.

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X Issues November 10 ‘Account Will Be Locked’ Twitter Security Warning

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Given the continuing popularity of Elon Musk’s X social network, and the swathing staffing cuts made when the world’s richest man bought what used to be (and still is in my mind) Twitter, it doesn’t make the cybersecurity headlines as much as you might have thought. With PayPal users currently warned of ongoing attacks, ditto WordPress website owners, and even LastPass password manager customers, all being in the threat actor crosshairs, this is a good thing. However, X users have now been warned that unless they make a change to a legacy Twitter security setting, they will be locked out of their accounts from November 10. Here’s what you need to know.

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The X Safety Team Issues Clarification After Warning Of Twitter Account Lockouts

Whatever you call it, X or Twitter, the social network isn’t immune to security threats. This year alone, I have reported on outages caused by a claimed DDoS attack and a warning for 650 million X users not to change their passwords. Sometimes, though, the perceived security threat comes from inside the building. Such was the case after the X safety team tweeted on October 24: “After November 10, if you haven’t re-enrolled a security key, your account will be locked until you: re-enroll; choose a different 2FA method; or elect not to use 2FA.”

This, rather unsurprisingly if you ask me, created a wave of concern amongst both ordinary users and security experts on the social media platform. One asked whether not using 2FA meant their account would remain active; another asked whether there had been a security breach; and another asked whether this only impacted passkey users?

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The confusion sat with X warning that “all accounts that use a security key as their two-factor authentication method to re-enroll their key to continue accessing X,” and adding that users could “re-enroll your existing security key, or enroll a new one.” A typical example of someone who knows what they are talking about but not how to communicate that in such a way to people who do not. Translating tech-speak into ordinary language is an essential skill and one that the X safety team appears to have misplaced on this occasion.

What X should have said, and ended up being forced into actually saying a day later, was: “To clarify: this change is not related to any security concern, and only impacts Yubikeys and passkeys – not other 2FA methods (such as authenticator apps). Security keys enrolled as a 2FA method are currently tied to the twitter.com domain. Re-enrolling your security key will associate them with x.com, allowing us to retire the Twitter domain. If this relates to you, you’ll be prompted automatically to re-enroll.”

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