Skip to main content

Weekly Rewind: Adobe kills Flash for mobile, B&N fights Fire with Nook, Apple finally fixes iOS 5 battery life

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Didn’t have time to keep up with every ripple in the technology pond this week? We’ve got you covered. Here are some of the most noteworthy stories from the last week.

Recommended Videos

Broken Adobe FlashAdobe kills Flash for mobile

We first reported on this bombshell announcement on Wednesday, when we heard that Adobe would no longer be developing Flash for mobile devices, instead focusing its efforts on HTML5. Our own Geoff Duncan took a hard look at the decision, how the company came to it, and what it means for Apple, other mobile companies, and the future of Adobe. The announcement could also mean potential problems for connected TVs like Google TVs, which rely heavily on Flash to deliver video content.

Apple releases iOS 5 update with fix for battery life issues

In a response to “batterygate” — the stream of iPhone owners complaining about rapidly draining battery life with the new iOS 5 update, Apple started testing out a iOS 5.0.1 update among a small group of users earlier this week. The update worked, so as of yesterday, iOS 5.0.1. was made available for all iPhone users and included the battery fix, bug repairs for some iCloud issues, and improved Siri voice recognition for Australian users. 

Twitter unleashes new “Activity Stream” 

This week, Twitter started rolling out a new “Activity Stream” feature that looks a whole lot like the Facebook news ticker. The new element aims to connect users with other people they might want to follow, and give them a peek at what their friends are doing and who they are following. We examined the new Twitter addition to see whether it fits into where we think the company should be going or if it’s just a useless copycat of nemesis Facebook.

Barnes & Noble releases new Nook tablet

On Monday, the big box store came out swinging against Amazon and the Kindle Fire with a new 7-inch Nook tablet. The brand new tablet offering has a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 7-inch, laminated IPS “Vivid View” LG display for $249. We were on-hand at the event to give our first impressions of the new tablet and give you the inside scoop with a hands-on video. We’ve also got a spec showdown to give you the details on the new Nook and its competitor, the Kindle Fire.

Facebook reveals winners and losers of new Open Graph

It’s been over a month now since Facebook introduced its new Open Graph feature, which allows outside applications to be much more integrated into the Facebook interface and profile pages. This week we got to see some of the effects of the new feature, including which companies have benefitted the most from the increased app integration.

Kelly Montgomery
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kelly Montgomery is a magazine journalism graduate from the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communications…
Apple’s new iPadOS 26 shows Google what Android tablets need
4 windows open multitasking on the iPad Pro M4 11 running iPadOS 26 developer beta 1

Since the launch of the first iPad, Android tablets have struggled to compete. A lack of optimized apps means that Android tablets still don’t offer as seamless a transition to larger displays, which also impacts the best folding phones, where many apps don’t take advantage of the larger displays.

However, one area where Android tablets have outperformed the iPad is in productivity and multitasking. Samsung’s DeX desktop mode has been key to ensuring that some Android tablets offer a desktop-like experience, albeit one that needs more optimized applications. Last week, OnePlus also joined the party with the innovative Open Canvas system on the OnePlus Pad 3.

Read more
T-Mobile home internet plans have changed, here’s what you should know
how to unlock your iphone use with another carrier t mobile hq sign feat 720x720

*Updated 6/12/2025 to include new plans, promotions and fiber internet service details

While Verizon was the first to deploy 5G home internet, users complained about their network being small at the time with intermittent connections. T-Mobile, while trailing Verizon with their 5G home internet service, at least launched with "nationwide" service that reached a lot more homes on the initial launch.

Read more
These three iOS 26 beta features are my favorite so far
The Liquid Design lock screen on the iOS 26 developer beta 1 running on the iPhone 16 Pro

For fans of the Apple ecosystem, it’s been an incredible week. Apple’s annual WWDC 2025 keynote revealed a whole new Liquid Glass design that’s unified across all its platforms. Also unified across all platforms is the numbering scheme, with iOS 26 designed to represent the year of release… plus one. 

The new platform doesn’t deliver one of the key things I asked for — multitasking, which is available on iPadOS 26 — but it does bring several new features that make the iPhone far more usable. 

Read more