ICYMI: the week's 7 biggest tech stories from LG's massive OLED TV news to glorious Whoop clones
Date:
Sat, 24 Jan 2026 13:23:29 +0000
Description:
Here's the top news stories from Sony, LG, Spotify and more for January 24, 2026.
FULL STORY ======================================================================
It's been another busy week for tech news but then again, when is it ever not? The good news is that you don't have to spend hours catching up, because we've covered everything in one place.
The big stories took in everything from Spotify to ChatGPT to Netflix, but it was developments in the OLED TV world that really caught our eye, as Sony, TCL, and LG all made major announcements.
Best of all, the trio might not just revolutionize the already best-of-the-best displays, but also their cheaper models.
How? Well, you'll have to scroll down to find out, so may we suggest you do that now and get up to speed. Enjoy. 7. Whoop clones have thrown us for a
loop (Image credit: Future / Andrew Williams)
It's been a while coming, but we've finally published our reviews of two screenless, fabric-covered fitness trackers subscription-less rivals to the Whoop 5.0 and Whoop MG bands, which we rated as technically excellent but far too expensive.
The Polar Loop was solid in heart-rate tracking, but a letdown with its confusing software choices. The Amazfit Helio Strap was a different matter, though: cheaper than Whoop and Polar, and very good, both in terms of the hardware's capabilities and the app's quality. We duly added it to our best fitness trackers list.
The reviews come at an interesting time, as CES 2026 showcased the next wave of Whoop clones from Luna and Speediance . It looks set to be a crowded category. Read more: Amazfit Helio Strap review Read more: Polar Loop review 6. Spotify dropped a flawed playlist tool (Image credit: Spotify)
Following a successful trial run in New Zealand, Spotify is bringing Prompted Playlists a new playlist-creating tool that puts you in control of the algorithm to the US and Canada.
Building on Spotify's AI playlist tool, which launched in April 2024,
Prompted Playlists takes a similar approach but gives you full control over where you steer the algorithm. In its news blog, Spotify puts it quite
simply: Youre not just asking for music, youre shaping how Spotify goes about discovering it for you.
The biggest difference with Prompted Playlists is that you can amend them to update daily or weekly, just like Discover Weekly, but you can tailor them to a far greater degree. After spending some time with it, we can see it
becoming one of Spotifys most intelligent features, and it will be even more powerful once its infancy issues are resolved. Read more: Ive been trying out Spotifys new Prompted Playlist tool 5. OLED TVs fought back (Image credit:
LG)
OLEDs have long been revered as the go-to premium TV tech, but the new brighter and cheaper kid on the block mini-LED is threatening to eat its lunch.
At least, that was until LG clapped back with its OLED SE, which promises a 120Hz refresh rate, as well as 1,000 nits of brightness, which is far more than the 668 nits we measured on the affordable LG B5 so the LG B6 could be
a real affordability winner if it boasts this tech.
LG Display told FlatPanelsHD that it will make OLED SE panels in five sizes
to begin with: 48 inches, 55 inches, 65 inches, 77 inches, and 83 inches, and were excited to see how itll use these panels in the coming year. Read more: The OLED TV vs mini-LED battle is about to really heat up 4. Netflix got a universal boost (Image credit: XanderSt / Shutterstock)
Despite Netflix initially teasing that it would get Universals live-action flicks exclusively on its platform starting in 2027, it seems the deal has started a lot earlier than we expected.
According to Netflix, We can confirm that the live-action film pay-1b licensing deal is starting earlier than announced, with the first film being Megan 2.0 .
Its not clear when exactly other films will follow, but this is certainly another trophy for Netflix to add to its cabinet. Read more: Netflix is
adding live-action Universal movies to its back catalog 3. We tried Sonys clip-style buds (Image credit: Future)
The audio titan that is Sony debuted new clip-style open earbuds with its new LinkBuds Clip; weve tried them, and unfortunately, this might be a rare miss for the headphones experts.
The fit felt at times looser than wed want; the lack of deep bass meant music lacked its full resonance or a thumping, punchy beat, and even the treble struggled.
Based on our initial tests, wed expect these earbuds to cost about half their $229 / 180 / AU$329.95 price, which is definitely disappointing given Sony's track record. Read more: I tried Sonys first clip-on open earbuds 2. Sony and TCL teamed up (Image credit: Shutterstock)
Sticking with Sony, the brand just announced that its TVs will now be made in a joint venture with TCL, suggesting a major shift for how its displays are developed, designed, and manufactured.
Interestingly, TCL will own 51% of this new joint project, giving it a majority share. Its worth noting that this might simply be due to Chinese rules that limit foreign ownership in joint ventures to 49% TCL is a Chinese electronics company, while Sony is headquartered in Japan.
Exactly what this means for us is yet to be seen, but it might mean Sony pivots away from OLED as TCL avoids the tech completely, and perhaps instead focuses on improved mid-range and budget options using TCLs impressively cost-effective manufacturing. Read more: Sonys future TVs could be made by a new joint venture 1. ChatGPT got ads (Image credit: Getty Images/VCG)
Despite its CEO once calling ads a last resort for its business, OpenAI has announced that advertisements are coming to ChatGPT for free and ChatGPT Go-tier users.
The news dropped very late last week, so we couldnt include it in ICYMI then, so weve rolled it into this week's, as the announcement represents a massive pivot for OpenAI.
As part of the reveal, OpenAI shared some examples of how ads might work,
such as a sponsored grocery list appearing below the answer to a dinner-related question.
This obviously raises big questions about how trustworthy responses are for example, with the dinner plan, did the AI recommend those meals because it knew it would fit better with a sponsorship? Theres a lot we frankly dont know, and we expect this wont be the last advertisements we see in AI
chatbots even if Google promises Gemini ads arent in the works . Read more: ChatGPT now has ads
======================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/tech/icymi-the-weeks-7-biggest-tech-stories-from-lgs -masive-oled-tv-news-to-glorious-whoop-clones-2
--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)