Galaxy Note 7 owners who refuse to give up their explosive device will soon have no choice but to use a different phone.

Samsung revealed today that it plans to release a software update later this month that will brick all Galaxy Note 7 units not returned during its recall.

The geeky excitement shared by mobile photographers over the dual-camera of the iPhone 7 Plus has not waned.

And as they’ve played with the small optical zoom and blurring backgrounds in portrait mode, two small accessories companies have been quietly but furiously developing a two-lens attachment dedicated to enhancing the reach of the 7 Plus camera.

Want to take better smartphone photos without lugging around gear like a professional? Tripods are an essential tool for taking solid photos — or just engaging in a steady FaceTime conversation — and now you can get one that’ll fit right in your wallet.

The Pocket Tripod PRO is winning praise from the likes of Steve Wozniak for its clever design and convenience. (“Blew me away,” Woz told Gizmodo.) And right now you can get this miniaturized tripod for just $19.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

As much as I like the kind of long, winding, RPG-style games you can get lost in for months at a time, I’ll always be a sucker for a great mobile puzzle game.

That’s exactly what developer Midnight Tea Studio offers with its new game Dropa! Pitched somewhere between Tetris and that fingerprint pattern you have to fill in when you set up a new Touch ID profile, it’s a game that’s sure to keep you busy during the holiday season.

Check out the trailer below.

Super Mario Run will sprint into the App Store on December 15, but while there’s plenty to be excited about with Nintendo’s first Mario game to hit iOS, there is one big potential downside for users: the game requires constant internet connectivity.

According to Mario creator and Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto, the decision to include no offline mode was made for anti-piracy reasons.

Apple touts the new iPhone 7 as being water-resistant enough to take into the shower. There’s really no good reason to bathe with your smartphone, but the point is that iPhone 7 owners don’t need to worry about a little rain or spilled tea.

Naturally, some people waltzed into their shower stalls with their expensive new phones in hand — just cuz — and some found a weakness in the iPhone 7’s water-resistance. Luckily for foolhardy iPhone owners everywhere, a Redditor discovered a simple hack for getting the water out.

Steve Jobs gave one of the most memorable commencement speeches in living memory, and it seems that Tim Cook is set to take on the same challenge when he delivers the address at MIT’s 2017 graduation event next June.

“Mr. Cook’s brilliance as a business leader, his genuineness as a human being, and his passion for issues that matter to our community make his voice one that I know will resonate deeply with our graduates,” MIT President L. Rafael Reif said. “I am delighted that he will join us for commencement and eagerly await his charge to the class of 2017.”

The iPod turns 15 this year. Hard to believe, right? It’s also hard to believe you still have that old iPod at all, what with the amazing music-carrying capacity of iPhones, iPads — heck, even your Apple Watch.

If you’re not using your old iPod (and it’s not one of those incredibly valuable special edition iPods that collectors are snapping up), you should sell your old iPod to us. Cult of Mac’s Apple gear buyback program will make sure you get as much cash as possible.

If you like watching a kid opening a gift at Christmastime, you might delight in watching a video posted by iPhone photographer Cielo de la Paz that shows her opening an unexpected gift from Apple.

For the second straight year, the self-taught photographer had one of her pictures selected for Apple’s “Shot on iPhone” marketing campaign. In addition to compensation for use of the photos for the campaign, Apple surprises the photographers with a coffee table book displaying photos selected for the Apple World Gallery.

If there was doubt Apple is moving forward with development of a self-driving car program, events over the last week show Cupertino is indeed mapping out a course.

An Apple patent application for an autonomous vehicle collision-avoidance system published Thursday is the second public acknowledgment that Cupertino is very much in the game.

If you’re reading this, you probably like using computers and mobile devices, and have a lot of friends who do the same. Shopping for tech-savvy friends and family can be a challenge, but with this roundup of stocking stuffers you’ll be able to give anyone something they can use, and without having to take out a bank loan. We’ve got a seamless SD expansion of any MacBook’s drive space, keychain-sized Lightning cables, a hub for expanding a MacBook’s USB-C port into five others, and a rough-and-ready portable Bluetooth speaker. Read on for more details:

The National Hockey League may soon introduce a new set of pads for the hands.

iPads.

Apple and the NHL are reportedly close to a deal that could put iPads into the hands of coaches on team benches and for fan engagement around arenas.

Score bargains on iPads and MacBooks, both high-end and low, in this week’s roundup of best Apple deals. Plus, a third-party accessory that costs $139 less than Apple’s version.

We’ve heard for years that the internet of things™ would imbue everything in our lives with the power of the web, all accessible by voice. If you’ve been waiting for something that isn’t a computer or smartphone or smart home hub to ask for driving directions or movie times, here’s your dream device at last: It’s a lamp that gets its smarts from Alexa.

Apple and Hollywood are reportedly in talks to provide home-video rentals of movies as little as two weeks after theatrical release.

Studio heads from Warner Bros., Universal Pictures and 21st Century Fox have indicated recently they are looking for deals. Two unidentified sources close to the talks told Bloomberg News the studios are considering partnering with Apple and iTunes.

The 2016 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar has met a lot of criticism. But all anyone really wants to know is, is it time to upgrade?

Cult of Mac put the entry-level 2015 and 2016 MacBook Pros head to head to see if it’s worth snapping up a shiny new Touch Bar machine.

When you think of massive online media libraries, the likes of Netflix and Amazon come to mind. But even their mighty archives don’t challenge what’s available through SelectTV. They offer the perks of cable and streaming, making for tens of thousands of TV episodes, movies, radio stations, and live channels all from a single browsing interface. It’s an unmatched media resource, and right now you can get a year of SelectTV for just $24 at Cult of Mac Deals.

When mophie created a battery case for the iPhone, the company picked a name that confidently signaled an expectation — juice pack.

And behind that name is plenty of juice, especially for the latest cases that debuted this week for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, bringing extended battery life and easy wireless charging.

That Apple’s next iPhone may contain few surprises does not surprise fans growing impatient for game-changing innovation.

The next iPhone may have them seeing red.

Red is reportedly set to join the color lineup of Apple’s 2017 iPhones, according to the Japanese Apple news blog Macotakara.

Apple has denied that it is responsible for eight iPhone 6-series handsets bursting into flames in China, blaming the fiery phones on “external factors.”

The company came under fire (pun semi-intended) from Shanghai’s consumer watchdog for the alleged fault, but Apple said its own investigations have shown there is “no cause for concern.”

Apple is reportedly set to launch new iPad Pros in the first half of 2017, but that may not be enough to stop iPad demand slipping to its lowest level to a new record low, claims a new report.

Citing sources in the supply chain, the report claims that chip demand for the iPad has continued to slow, meaning that shipments of iPad devices for 2016 may struggle to hit 40 million units in total. And things are likely to get even worse.

Once again, the world’s most popular camera is a phone.

Smartphones, led by Apple’s iPhone, was the type of camera used most by photographers in 2016 on the photo-sharing site Flickr, according its annual analysis of EXIF data on pictures uploaded to the site.

The iPhone was in the hands of shooters for 47 percent of the pictures uploaded to Flickr. Canon and Nikon were second and third with 24 and 18 percent.

Apple Pay is accepted at 35 percent of retailers — or around 4 million locations — in the U.S., claims Jennifer Bailey, the VP in charge of Apple Pay.

Speaking at San Francisco’s Code Commerce conference (try saying that five times quickly!), Bailey cited it as a victory for Apple, and evidence that the service is finding its mark.

Apple Music has passed the 20 million subscriber mark, according to new figures released by Apple.

Last time the company released adoption figures, back in September, those numbers hovered around 17 million — meaning the number of paying Apple Music users jumped 15 percent in the past three months.

Looking for recommendations for possible Christmas gifts or end of year purchases? Don’t worry, Apple’s got you covered — and, crazily enough, all of it’s stuff you can buy through Apple.

Kidding aside, Apple just dropped its 2016 picks for the years best apps, movies, music, TV shows, podcasts and books. It’s a comprehensive list, and you can check out all the details below.