Technologies

Universal’s UK Theme Park Will Teach Brits Like Me How to Have High-Octane Fun

Commentary: Finally, something thrilling worth getting excited about is coming to our dank, gray shores.

Baking shows, sarcasm, passive aggression, pubs — there are some things the British people do really well. But are we any good at having fun? It’s a question I’ve asked myself over the years as I’ve traveled around the world visiting many vibrant and exciting places. And honestly, while we know how to throw a jolly nice picnic on a mild summer’s day, I’m not sure we really understand the underlying mechanics of having a high-octane good time.

Perhaps that was why, when Disney decided in the early ’90s to set up a theme park in Europe, it chose France rather than the UK as the better location. It was a blow to my country, which boasts only a handful of theme parks, few of which are worth mentioning, and none of which I’d recommend making a special trip from abroad to visit. Just look, for example, at this account of a pre-opening day visit to the new Epic Universe theme park in Florida by my colleagues Scott Stein and Bridget Carey. No Brit would ever dare to dream up anything so extravagant and thrilling.

But all that is set to change with Wednesday’s announcement that Universal has chosen the UK as the location for a planned theme park. The park, due to open in 2031, will be based in Bedford, England — a part of the country with little else to recommend it other than its proximity to London — on a 476-acre complex, which Universal is already looking to expand. It will be the first time Universal has opened a theme park outside of the US or Asia, and will likely attract significant tourism and jobs to the area.

Perhaps most important, it will give people like me, who grew up envying friends who vacationed in Orlando, a real taste of what we’ve been missing in terms of thrills and the kind of intensely detailed theming that only Disney and Universal parks are able to offer. Bear in mind that the current best roller coaster on this wet and windy island, Nemesis at Alton Towers, is now more than 30 years old — we are more than overdue a fresh opportunity to be hurled around at speed.

The Universal Park is such a big deal to the UK that even our Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, put out a statement about it. «Today we closed the deal on a multibillion-pound investment that will see Bedford home to one of the biggest entertainment parks in Europe, firmly putting the county on the global stage,» he said.

His announcement focused on the economic benefits of the park, but Universal’s decision has sparked a real buzz across the country from people who are mainly very excited about the possibility to ride genuinely good coasters.

Universal has yet to say what attractions the park will feature, but it seems inevitable that like Universal Studios in Orlando, there will be some version of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, given that the entire story is set in the UK. For the sake of my husband, who is the world’s biggest fan of Men in Black and will never go to Florida, I hope Universal also decides to transport the Alien Attack ride across the sea.

It would be fun, too, if there was something unique at the park — just as Disneyland Paris, for a few years at least, was the only Disney park to boast the excellent Ratatouille ride. Some might appreciate specific nods to British culture beyond Harry Potter, but I say keep it American.

Our own attempts to build «British» theme parks have been based on less-than-thrilling concepts such as Camelot (RIP) and Gulliver’s Travels. No, bring us the Simpsons and the Minions and any other yellow-hued cartoon characters you have over there. There’s not much we can do about the weather but we need to learn to have fun the American way, with snacks bigger than our meals and boundless opportunities to buy merch that we don’t need simply because we were swayed by the good vibes of our big day out. I can’t wait.

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Technologies

Google’s Pixel 10A Is Coming to Japan With an Exclusive Blue Edition and Special Wallpaper

This model comes with creatively designed stickers and a special look for Pixel’s 10th anniversary.

Don’t be blue: Google is releasing an Isai blue edition of the Pixel 10A to celebrate the Android phone line’s 10th anniversary, setting it apart with its own sticker set, specialized wallpaper and custom icons. But it’ll only be available in Japan.

Announced Tuesday on the Google Japan blog, the Isai blue Pixel 10A has a dark blue look and includes bonus decorations designed in collaboration with Japan’s Heralbony art company. These include an exclusive bumper case and stickers for customization.

This edition of the Pixel 10A will arrive in Japan on May 20, following the April 14 release of the Pixel 10A in its original colors of lavender, berry, fog and obsidian. The Isai blue model costs 94,900 yen, which roughly translates to $595, and includes 256GB of storage.

This makes it slightly less expensive than the US model’s 256GB edition, but it comes with a number of fun extras at no additional cost.

Google’s creation of a country-specific model for Japan may also reflect strong sales in that market. In 2023, the IDC analytics firm (via 9to5Google) reported that the Pixel 7 series accounted for 10.7% of the country’s market share, a 527% increase from 2022.

Technologies

Can’t Wait for New Emoji? Here’s How to Create Your Own on iPhone

Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones can create custom emoji in a few easy steps.

Apple brought new emoji to all iPhones when the company released iOS 26.4 on March 24. The new emoji include «🫍» orca, «🫪» distorted face and «🫈» hairy creature — or as we might normally call it, Sasquatch. According to Emojipedia, there are 3,953 emoji with more on the way, including a pickle. But there’s no emoji for a dog wearing pajamas, a plate with burgers and fries and many other things. But if you have Genmoji on your iPhone you can create these emoji and many more.

Apple released iOS 18.2 in 2024 and the company introduced its own emoji generator, called Genmoji, to Apple Intelligence-capable iPhones at that time. The Unicode Standard, a universal character encoding standard, is responsible for creating new emoji, and approved emoji are added to all devices once a year. With Genmoji, you don’t have to wait for new emoji to appear on your iPhone each year. You can just create them as you need them.

Read on to learn how to use Genmoji on iPhone to create your own custom emoji. Just note that only iPhones with Apple Intelligence, like the iPhone 17 lineup, can use Genmoji at this time.

Note: The new emoji may not display correctly for Apple users whose devices aren’t on a 26.4 software version.

How to make custom emoji

1. Open Messages and go into a chat.
2. Tap the plus (+) button next to your text box.
3. Tap Genmoji.

You can then type a description of an emoji into the text box near the bottom of your screen and tap the check mark on your keyboard to enter that description into Genmoji. You can also tap different suggestions and themes that are right above the text box. And with iOS 26 or later, you can also combine and use emoji to create others rather than describing a new emoji or using suggestions.

Your iPhone will generate a series of new emoji for you to pick from according to your description, and you can swipe through these new emoji. When you find the one you want, tap Add in the top right corner of your screen and the new emoji will be available to use as an emoji, tapback or a sticker. Now you don’t have to wait for the Unicode Standard to propose, create and bring new emoji to devices.

For more iOS news, here’s what to know about iOS 26.4 and iOS 26.3. You can also check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet for other tips and tricks.

Technologies

Save Over 20% on This Handy 10,000-mAh Anker Nano Power Bank

Keep your devices charged on the go with this Anker Nano power bank, now down to just $46.

We’ve just spotted the Anker Nano 45-watt portable power bank for just $46 at Amazon right now. This saves you $14 — a 23% discount on its list price. Though it’s $6 more than the lowest-ever price we saw during Black Friday, it’s still a solid discount when you take the rising cost of tech accessories into account. It also matches the lowest price we’ve seen in 2026. It comes in four colors: black, green, pink and white. They’re all on sale for the same price.

This Anker Nano portable charger weighs approximately 8.2 ounces and measures a compact 3.21×1.99×1.42 inches. Despite its small size, it has a retractable cable and supports fast charging in compatible Apple, Samsung, Google Pixel and other smartphones. It also has a large 10,000-mAh capacity and a smart display so you always know how much juice is left in your power bank.

The Nano can charge an iPhone 17 to up to 50% battery in an estimated 20 minutes, and is powerful enough to charge tablets and laptops. Need to charge your devices while charging your power bank? You can do so safely thanks to pass-through charging so you’ll never have to go without battery life.

We’ve also compiled a list of the best power banks for iPhones and for Android, in case this deal isn’t quite a fit for you.

Why this deal matters

If you travel, have a long commute time or are otherwise always on the go, a portable charger can help you keep your devices fully powered. This 45-watt Anker Nano power bank is compact, includes a loop that lets you keep track of it easily and has a built-in cable so you don’t have to keep up with extra cords. Amazon’s $14 discount makes this a solid deal for anyone looking for a compact power bank.