Announcing

September, which starts *checks calendar* next week, is going to be a jam-packed month for new gadget announcements. In case you thought Apple’s “Awe Dropping” event on Sept. 9 where it’ll announce the iPhone 17 family of phones, new Apple Watches, and possibly AirPods Pro 3, was the only big tech extravaganza, let me remind you that IFA is happening right after Labor Day next week. IFA is like CES, but smaller and in Berlin instead of Las Vegas. Coinciding with IFA, Samsung is doing yet another virtual Unpacked event to announce a new tablet.

Live streaming on Sept. 4 at 5:30 a.m. ET (a dead giveaway that it’s IFA-related, since it’ll be 1:30 a.m. Berlin time) on Samsung.com, Samsung’s YouTube channel, and Samsung’s Newsroom, the virtual Unpacked will take the wraps off the “next evolution of Galaxy Tab.” In typical Samsung fashion, the company has already put up a reservation page with a limited time offer to receive $50 “Samsung Credit” for use toward other Samsung products, as well as up to $800 toward the next Android tablet with an eligible device trade-in. The reservation needs to be made by Sept. 3 and the Galaxy Tab has to be purchased between Sept. 4 and Oct. 5 in order to get the $50 credit.

Samsung sent Gizmodo the above event “invite.” Do you guys see anything in there? If I were a betting man, I’d say those stars inside the box hint at Galaxy AI stuffed into the new Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Galaxy Tab S11?

As for the Galaxy Tab itself, we’ll likely see successors to the Galaxy S10+ and S10 Ultra that were released last year. Do tablets—including iPad Pros—need to be on an annual refresh? No, but that’s not how capitalism works. Like any consumer tech maker, Samsung’s looking at its portfolio and wondering how to sell new versions of existing things to boost its quarterly earnings. The new tablets would presumably follow the same naming convention, so it wouldn’t surprise us if Samsung calls them the Galaxy Tab S11+ and Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra.

What I’ll be watching out for next week is whether any tablet(s) will feature the Tab S10 Ultra’s gargantuan 14.6-inch screen or potentially an even larger one. How big a display is too big for a tablet? These things are friggin’ dinner trays at this point, stupidly thin dinner trays—sorry, tablets—that you could comfortably eat off.

Samsung’s next Unpacked is a virtual one, so we won’t be live-blogging it like we did at the event for the Galaxy Z Fold 7, Z Flip 7, and Galaxy Watch 8/8 Classic in July. But stay tuned; Gizmodo will be covering all the news that’s worth checking out from IFA 2025, which officially starts on Sept. 5 and runs through Sept. 9. Press days fall on Sept. 3 and 4, so expect a torrent of product announcements to drop then.

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Activision has made a major announcement regarding a particular feature in this year’s Call of Duty, Black Ops 7. The game, which had its full reveal at gamescom just one week ago, will no longer support Carry Forward.

Carry Forward is a feature that allows players to bring Black Ops 6 weapons, operators, skins and other cosmetics with them to the new game. Unfortunately, that’s made it more difficult for players to be excited about the upcoming game.

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While Carry Forward is something that would typically be celebrated for respecting the players’ legacy and time spent, it has gained an especially negative connotation. Over the course of Black Ops 6’s lifespan, Activision continued to deviate from the original art style and look of the game by introducing more cross-over and cartoony skins, which have practically turned it into Fortnite.

Since it was confirmed for Black Ops 7, fan reaction online has been overwhelmingly negative. The decision to drop the feature just a week after it was announced was made in a blog post that specifically points to that fan response. It also acknowledges that the series may have deviated from that cohesive look.

“We know there’s been a lot of conversation recently about the identity of Call of Duty,” the post reads.

“Some of you have said we’ve drifted from what made Call of Duty unique in the first place: immersive, intense, visceral and in many ways grounded. That feedback hits home, and we take it seriously. We hear you.”

I wouldn’t call this the most ‘authentic’ either… | Image credit: Treyarch, Raven, Activision.

What that means in practice is that Black Ops 6 weapons, operators – and crucially, operator skins, will not be available for use in Black Ops 7. This won’t affect Warzone, however, as the battle royale mode will continue to have continuity with previous games. Double XP tokens and GobbleGums are exempt from this, and will be the only items to carry forward to the new game.

The blog post also confirms that Black Ops 7 store bundles will be “crafted to fit the Black Ops identity.”

“We need to deliver a better balance toward the immersive, core Call of Duty experience,” it adds.

Before Black Ops 7’s launch on November 14, we’re getting a new edition of Call of Duty: Next on September 30, where multiplayer will be shown off for the first time. A few days afterwards, the Black Ops 7 beta will kick off.

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Samsung Is Announcing a New iPad Pro Killer at IFA Next Week

Galaxy Tab S11?

Black Ops 7 u-turns on Black Ops 6 Carry Forward just days after announcing it because of the massive backlash