Weekly Tech Wrap: Expedition 33 Loses GOTY, Gaming Outage, Xiaomi 17 Ultra Launch, iPhone 18 Rumours

This week began with a step-back for artificial intelligence, wherein Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was stripped of its Game of the Year award at the Indie Game Awards due to generative AI use. While reports surfaced about the delay of Samsung’s Galaxy S26 launch, there were rumours abound regarding Apple preponing its iPhone 18 launch. Gamers were left blank on Christmas day due to an outage, even as Xiaomi 17 Ultra was released in China.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 initially won Game of the Year and Best Debut Game at The Indie Game Awards. However, the awards were later revoked after the discovery of generative AI assets in the game, violating the event’s strict policy against AI use during nominations and the ceremony.

Samsung may delay the Galaxy S26 lineup from its usual January slot. Reliable leaker Ice Universe indicated that the full series will be announced at a February Galaxy Unpacked event, with sales starting in March.

Apple could depart from its long-standing fall iPhone release tradition. According to reports, the base iPhone 18 might debut in spring 2026 alongside a new budget model (possibly iPhone 17e), while the Pro and Pro Max variants stick to a September release.

The Realme 16 Pro series is confirmed to launch in India on Jan. 6. Both models feature a 200MP main rear camera, with the Pro+ adding a 50MP periscope telephoto lens. The front camera supports 4K video recording at 60fps, though full selfie details are pending.

A widespread disruption affected multiple online gaming services on Dec. 25, blocking logins and gameplay for thousands. ARC Raiders saw the most reports (around 35,000 server and connection issues), alongside Fortnite, Rocket League, and other Epic Games titles. Initially linked to AWS (which denied involvement), the problem was later attributed to an authentication issue in Epic Online Services.

Cybersecurity firm Cyble uncovered a sophisticated browser-based phishing operation exploiting over 36 fraudulent domains mimicking official traffic portals. Scammers send urgent SMS about unpaid fines, threatening license suspension or legal action, to trick victims into entering banking details on fake payment pages.

Xiaomi launched the Xiaomi 17 Ultra in China as the latest premium addition to its lineup, succeeding the earlier Xiaomi 15 Ultra. It features a Leica-co-tuned quad-camera system with a 50MP main sensor and 200MP periscope telephoto and comes powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset and a 6,800mAh battery.