Missed the week’s big tech news? Here’s your firmware update
With the tech world spinning like an out-of-control fairground carousel, it can be tricky to keep up with the latest news. But fear not – whether you’ve been away on holiday or too busy hosting a Barbie party, we’ve rounded up all of the week’s biggest tech stories here.
In our weekly ICYMI (or ‘in case you missed it’) roundup, we’ll be boiling down all of most notable, exciting or controversial tech stories of the past seven days, so you can plug yourself in for a quick firmware update.
And because we’re tech teases, we’ll be running through them all in reverse order of importance. So grab your coffee, cocktail or meal replacement shake, and settle somewhere comfortable as we take you through the biggest tech stories from the past week…8. Disney might be killing 4K Blu-ray
Australian fans of physical media received a shock this week when Disney announced that the soon-to-be-released Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the last disc the company will sell in Australia. The shock also extends beyond that continent as it’s the first serious indication that movies on DVD and Blu-ray are going the way of the VHS tape.
In some ways Disney’s move comes as no surprise: the company is no longer able to depend on fat profits from its ESPN sports cable channel and has been in cost-cutting mode.
But the bigger picture here is that Disney wants viewers to subscribe to its Disney Plus streaming service, which offers tech enhancements that the company has withheld from its 4K Blu-ray releases such as Dolby Vision high dynamic range. First Australia, then the world? For the sake of our Blu-ray disc collections, let’s hope not.
Read more: Disney might be killing 4K Blu-ray, and it’ll be a crime to movie fans if it does7. TCL jumps on the 98-inch TV bandwagon
TV makers have been unveiling increasingly larger screens with surprisingly small price tags – and TCL has started a race to the bottom with the launch of its new 98-inch 4K LCD TV.
TCL was already known for making relatively cheap TVs but its latest made us double take when we saw the figure. The new big-screen set will cost just €2,800, which works out as roughly $3,100 / £2,400 / AU$4,600.
That may sound like a lot, but we’re talking about a 98-inch TV screen here. Samsung’s 98-inch QLED 4K TV, for example, costs an eye-watering $7,999.99 in comparison. Okay, you’re not getting the LED local dimming with TCL, but it still supports an immersive home cinema experience.
