It's almost the end of 2025, but the tech news shows no sign of stopping. We've got seven more important stories you should hear from iRobot. SamsungOnePlus and others.
The biggest of our seven include Meta killing off its third-party VR headsets and iRobot going bankrupt, and for both of those stories and five more, you'll just have to scroll down.
7. iRobot is bankrupt, but not dead yet
iRobot Roomba was a pioneer in the field of robot vacuum cleaners, with the first model released in 2002. Unfortunately, intense competition in the robot vacuum cleaner industry forced iRobot to file for bankruptcy this week—but that's not the end of the beloved brand.
It was acquired by Picea Robotics, the company that previously created Roombas for iRobot. For now, iRobot says Roomba owners won't have to worry about any immediate changes and the vacuums will continue to operate as normal. However, the future is a little more uncertain, and iRobot co-founder Colin Engle told us that bankruptcy is a “tragedy for consumers.”
6. ChatGPT finally has an app store
ChatGPT is constantly putting together several handy plugins for companies like photoshop and Kayak over the past few months, and this week OpenAI compiled them all into the app store for us to review.
“Application Catalog”, which is available in the application or onlinealready has a number of useful options, including Spotify and AllTrails. Once you add them, you can bring up apps in your ChatGPT conversations to create playlists or discover new walking routes. We've rounded up our early favorites below.
5. Warner Bros. rejected by Paramount
The latest episode of the hit entertainment drama We Hate to Love aired this week: Warner Bros. Discovery announced that Paramount's successes haven't gone to its head – instead, it's staying true to its true love, Netflix.
But just like the rom-com franchise that's been milked dry, this won't be the last time we see the dynamics of this love triangle. It was simply that WBD executives rejected the offer and highlighted its problems in a letter to their shareholders—WBD stockholders could still decide to sell the company in a hostile takeover by Paramount.
Additionally, Paramount could come back with a better offer—something its CEO David Ellison sneakily teased in leaked messages to WBD CEO David Zaslav, in which he emphasized that the offer did not include the words “best and final.” If this happens, a bidding war will almost certainly break out.
4. Your TV has been called a “mass surveillance system”
What if we told you that your TV watches what you watch and uses that information to create a profile and then provide marketing and other details and offers based on it? This is, among other things, the assertion of the Texas Attorney General, who is currently suing major TV manufacturers, including Samsung. TKL, Hisense, LGAnd Sony.
And spoiler alert: we discovered an Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) setting on one of our LG TVs (no one knows if it's enabled by default or not), and we can show you how to disable it.
3. Micro-RGB is coming to smaller TVs
Earlier this year, Samsung wowed us with its 115-inch Micro RGB TV, which left us seriously impressed after some hands-on use. However, with its size and high price, it was not suitable for most consumers. However, next year the situation will change.
Ahead of CES 2026, Samsung has confirmed that it will expand its Micro RGB lineup to include more sizes, including smaller models such as the 55-inch and 65-inch, all of which continue to feature micro RGB technology for brighter, more immersive colors and a more immersive viewing experience. Samsung hasn't revealed pricing yet, but the hope is that bringing Micro RGB TV technology to more sizes will expand price points beyond just one variant. Time will show.
2. OnePlus 15R has landed
The OnePlus 15 may have only debuted in October, but OnePlus is back with the 15R, a device that costs less but boasts impressive specs, including a 7,400mAh battery that's larger than the 15's.
Other features of the OnePlus 15R include a 6.83-inch AMOLED display, 32MP front camera, 50MP rear camera, and 12GB RAM.
Although it is equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset and an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera. So the 15R isn't quite competitive with the OnePlus 15, but at just $699.99/£649 it doesn't need to be. OnePlus is not officially available in Australia.
In a move that seems both expected and disappointing, Meta announced this week that it has “paused” its third-party VR headset development program, i.e. the announced Asus and Lenovo HorizonOS headsets will not see the light of day. At least don't run Meta operating system.
About this announcement over a year and a half ago, the writing may have been on the wall when none of the devices showed up in Meta Connect 2025.
Meta promised to “focus on creating the first-class hardware and software necessary to develop the virtual reality market.” Although our resident XR expert can't help but wonder if this meta might have cemented Android XR as Android XR instead of Horizon OS.
:quality(85):upscale()/2025/12/18/893/n/1922153/0b18d42b694463a2cadfa3.63431602_.png?w=150&resize=150,150&ssl=1 "I Tried a Fiberglass Facial: Editor Experiment")
