Amid RAM price hikes, Microsoft reportedly raises Windows license cost, forcing OEMs to hike prices even further on hardware

According to a new report from Taiwanese publication United Daily News (UDC) Microsoft is raising the cost of Windows license fees for hardware makers by a much higher amount than normal. According to the report, certain OEMs are seeing licensing price hikes of between 7% and 10%.

Usually, Microsoft raises Windows license fees for OEMs by a low digit percentage, making this 7% to 10% increase much more significant than normal. "A PC brand executive stated that Microsoft increases licensing fees for Windows OEMs (device manufacturers) every year. In the past, licensing fees mostly increased by single digits each year, but starting in July this year, the average increase has reached 7% to 10%, which is a significant increase compared to previous years," UDC says.

Of course, the cost of the Windows license fee is usually (at least partially) passed onto the consumer buying a computer, and UDC claims that their source says laptop pricing is already being impacted by these recent license fee increases. Microsoft charges different OEMs their own fees for Windows, so the exact increase in cost will differ for each hardware maker.

So dear old Microsoft drops support for Windows 10 - "forcing" you to get rid of your perfectly good working system. Then they put up the price for Windows licenses that PC manufacturers (OEMs) have to pay. Which in turn puts up the price that YOU have to pay for the PC that Microsoft has forced you to buy! Outrageous! Just in case you weren't aware: As of August 2026 Microsoft has a market cap of £2.648 Trillion. This makes Microsoft the world's 4th most valuable company by market capitalization.

www.windowscentral.com

Moby’s beats meet baroque grandeur in Greenwich

Ian Winwood from The Telegraph writes: On Saturday night, as south-east London bounced to danceable bangers such as We Are All Made of Stars and Lift Me Up, it was hard to imagine Moby looking out at the ornate stonemasonry and grand semicircular domes of Greenwich’s Old Naval College and thinking, “I can’t believe that, after more than three decades in the music biz, I’m still playing toilets such as this.”

If the 60-year-old’s house-full appearance in front of scores of thousands of people in the city’s most breath-stoppingly beautiful outdoor venue represented the tasteful gentrification of live music, onstage the New Yorker was keen to explain that he has history with this part of town. In the wake of Bodyrock, the night’s propulsive opener, his capable band uncorked Go, a song first played in 1990 at a rave just a mile from the splendour of the Greenwich Meridian.

Since then, Moby has veered through a career that includes techno, ambient music, pop and even hardcore punk. While Saturday night’s set had no space for even a single track from 1996’s fanbase-alienating Animal Rights album, elsewhere signs of an unbending punk militantism were on proud display all the same. The big screens flanking the stage magnified a neck tattoo that read ‘Vegan For Life’. In a gear-change that was just a little too jarring, six songs in, a video featuring the late primatologist Jane Goodall made the case against intensive animal farming.

Kim & I were at this gig - one of our favourite recording artists playing at a stunning venue. We had to get up to Greenwich early as our tickets were void if we didn't enter the venue before 3pm - crazy! Just had time to stop for a quick pint at The Ship - what a lovely pub. There were several support acts - our favourite was KING BOOO! Moby's set started at 9pm - playing many of his greatest hits accompanied by some wonderful musicians. 1st time we've seen him live & it was brilliant. Made for a really long day - bed at 2am, but worth it! Photos HERE.

www.telegraph.co.uk

Google targets Apple's AirTag with it's Pixel Tag bluetooth tracker

 

As part of its Made By Google event on Wednesday, the tech giant unveiled its very own smart tracker, the Pixel Tag, alongside the Pixel 11 smartphone lineup and the Pixel Watch 5. The new tracker is oblong-shaped to match the rest of the Pixel accessory ecosystem. It also packs advanced tracking features like Ultra Wideband (UWB) and Bluetooth Channel Sounding, a rare feature among the more popular Android-compatible smart trackers.

Unlike other Bluetooth trackers on the market right now, the Pixel Tag only comes in one color: white, or Fog, as it's officially called. The tracker is made of plastic and metal. It weighs less than half an ounce, is IP67-rated for water- and dust-resistance, and Google says the replaceable CR2032 coin cell battery inside will last you over a year.

uk.pcmag.com

E-scooter riders face triple the brain injury risk of motorcyclists

E-scooter riders are far more likely to suffer serious head and internal injuries than motorcyclists, according to a major new study – despite riding a machine that needs no test, no training and, for almost all of them, no helmet (or protective gear).

Researchers behind the study, published in Scientific Reports, dug through NHS trauma records for England and Wales alongside rental operator data covering more than 33 million rides.

Compared with motorcyclists, e-scooter riders were more than three times as likely to suffer a traumatic brain injury, more than three times as likely to suffer vascular trauma, and around 1.5 times as likely to injure an internal organ. The only category where they came off better was broken bones, where they had a slightly lower risk.

www.motorcyclenews.com

Laptops without power adapters from 2026

From 28 April 2026, new EU regulations will noticeably change the notebook market: laptops must be chargeable via USB-C. The goal is to allow users to reuse existing power adapters instead of buying a new one with every device. This is the core of the EU Common Charger regulation, which will apply to laptops from this date onward.

At the same time, the scope of delivery will change. Manufacturers must offer devices without power adapters and will increasingly ship notebooks without one by default. The background is the same sustainability and interoperability approach: less electronic waste, fewer duplicate chargers, and more standardization.

“USB-C” initially refers only to the connector shape. For charging, the relevant standard is USB Power Delivery (USB-PD). A notebook may have a USB-C port, but charging capability, charging speed, and compatibility depend on which USB-PD profiles are supported.

Confused? Contact Donline.

www.dev.to

Honda CB1000GT tops the charts on its debut month

The UK’s new bike market kept up its 2026 recovery in July, with fresh figures from the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) showing registrations climbing across almost every category.

A total of 10,644 machines were registered in July 2026, up 17.5% on the 9057 recorded in the same month last year. That leaves the market up 15.6% year-to-date compared with last year.

The standout story is the Honda CB1000GT, which topped the adventure category in July – its first month on sale. The £11,999 tall-rounder only reached UK dealers from July, after Honda delayed its launch to prioritise a permanent fix for the excessive oil consumption affecting the related CB1000 Hornet.

And the CB1000GT was far from Honda’s only success. The big H was the runaway best-selling manufacturer with 2292 registrations, more than double second-placed Yamaha, with BMW, Triumph and Lexmoto rounding out the top five.

www.motorcyclenews.com

Today's Reading, by C.S.Lewis. On goodness...

Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. 

The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. 

An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.

From Mere Christianity