This week in the world of tech, Samsung dropped the date for Unpacked 2026, Apple found its new AirTag, and Claude showed ChatGPT how it’s done in the world of AI.
To catch up on all this and more, scroll down for our ICYMI round-up of the week’s seven biggest tech news stories.
7. Samsung set a date for Galaxy Unpacked
Samsung has finally announced its first Galaxy Unpacked of 2026, taking place on February 25 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM BST (5 AM AEDT on the 26th). The event itself will be live-streamed from San Francisco, California, and while the invite doesn’t give much away, it does hint that Galaxy AI will be a huge part of the event.
We’re fully expecting Samsung to reveal the Galaxy S26 lineup, led by the Galaxy S26 Ultra, at the first Unpacked of the year, which is generally used to unveil the classic candy-bar Galaxy S lineup. We only have a bit longer to wait, but it should be a solid lineup with some nice new features, especially for the flagship model, judging by the recent rumors and leaks.
Just as ChatGPT adds advertisements in what could be a make-or-break moment for OpenAI, Anthropic has made several premium Claude tools free for all users, including file creation, Connectors, and customizable Skills.
The company has also enhanced the free tier version of Claude to hold longer conversations and offer better interactive displays, voice features, and image search, which should feel like a major upgrade for folks who could previously only experiment with these options.
Best of all, as you’d expect from the company that used its Super Bowl ad spot to poke fun at ChatGPT’s ads, Claude is staying ad-free.
5. Discord ignited a new age verification controversy
It hasn’t been a great week for Discord or its fans. On Monday, it announced that age checks would roll out globally to all users from March. That announcement lit the fuse, and the controversy is still burning strong several days on.
The issue for many is that Discord’s age checks – which involve taking a video selfie, or submitting an ID to Discord’s partners – feel at best intrusive and, at worst, a privacy risk. Discord later tried to calm fears, stating that face scans never leave your device.
Unfortunately, it faces an uphill task to retain unhappy users – particularly those who remember the October 2025 incident in which one of Discord’s third-party services leaked 70,000 ID photos.
Sometimes you don’t have to reinvent to raise the bar. That’s the lesson of the new AirTag or AirTag (Second Generation). Apple’s update to its Bluetooth tracking tag kept the look, shape, and feel while significantly increasing range and sound quality.
These two updates mean the new AirTag is that much better at its core task: helping you find your lost stuff. Oh, and did we mention it now works with your Apple Watch 9? The cherry on top is that the AirTag is still the same price.
3. The world’s first sodium-ion EV landed
One of the biggest tech stories of 2026 is new battery tech – we’ve seen solid-state batteries edge their way into production, and this week, sodium-ion batteries hit the headlines thanks to a new EV in China.
It may not be a household name, but the Changan Nevo A06 will become the first EV to be sold with a sodium-ion battery later this year. What are the benefits? These Na-ion packs are supposedly safer, cheaper to produce, and able to deliver more power in extremely cold weather compared to their lithium-ion rivals.
Still, with lithium-ion packs improving rapidly as well, we will hopefully all benefit from this emerging battery tech tussle.
2. Sony’s WF-1000XM6 earbuds dropped
Sony has finally unveiled its latest flagship earbuds, and they’ve been upgraded inside and out. There’s a new design that’s 11% slimmer, a little deeper, and much easier to grab out of their case now, which is a nice touch. There’s an upgraded processor and more mics than ever to power what Sony says is a 25% improvement to the active noise cancellation.
There’s a new speaker driver design and different tuning to provide a more audiophile sound profile. And there’s a bunch of new smart features, as you expect from any Sony launch. So these must be the best elite earbuds around now, right? Ah, well, not so fast… we’ve tested them for two weeks, and we have some opinions.
1. Samsung’s Galaxy Book6 swung at Apple’s MacBooks
The Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra is almost a MacBook killer. If you’ve been using Windows laptops and Android smartphones, you might have been jealous of how Apple’s ecosystem of products, including MacBooks, iPads, and iPhones, can all interact with each other. Samsung has been diligently working on replicating this, and the new Galaxy Book6 Ultra comes incredibly close, as you can pair it with your Samsung phone or tablet to quickly share files, swap control,s and much more.
Even if you don’t own other Samsung devices, we found the Book6 Ultra is a brilliant (if pricey) laptop that’s packed with some of the very latest and most powerful mobile tech, including Intel’s latest Panther Lake processors.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
