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A fan of South Korea wearing a sombrero at the 2026 World Cup in Mexico.

If the FIFA World Cup were a romantic comedy, Mexico and South Korea would be in the strangers-to-lovers arc.

Before their teams even met on the pitch, fans from both countries had already hit it off. In the streets of Guadalajara, supporters have broken into impromptu performances of "Gangnam Style," greeted one another with chants of "BTS," posed for photos together, and shared not only bottles of tequila but also videos of their celebrations across social media.

Which makes Thursday night's Group A matchup a little awkward. After all, every good romance needs conflict.

Mexico and South Korea enter the June 18 match with plenty at stake, but unlike most World Cup rivalries, this one comes with an unusual amount of affection. Eight years after South Korea's famous upset over Germany helped send Mexico to the knockout stage, fans from both countries have rekindled a friendship that has become one of the tournament's most unexpected storylines.

The relationship even has a slogan: "Coreano, hermano, ya eres Mexicano," which translates to "Korean brother, you're Mexican now."

And if the videos flooding TikTok, Instagram Reels, and X are any indication, plenty of fans seem to mean it.

Part of that affection can be traced back to the 2018 World Cup, when South Korea stunned Germany in the group stage. The result helped Mexico advance to the knockout rounds, turning Korean players into unlikely heroes among Mexican supporters. Mexican fans famously gathered outside the South Korean embassy in Mexico City to celebrate and even crowdfunded beer for Korean fans. Eight years later, the amity hasn't disappeared. If anything, social media has only strengthened it.

The relationship now extends well beyond football. Mexico has become one of the largest markets for Korean pop culture outside Asia, with K-pop acts regularly selling out arenas across the country. According to Spotify data, Mexico ranked fifth globally for K-pop listening in 2025. So when South Korean supporters arrived for the World Cup, many found themselves welcomed by fans who were already familiar with their music, food, and culture.

That welcome wasn't just online. Earlier this month, hundreds of Mexican supporters greeted South Korea's national team when it arrived at its hotel in Guadalajara, a scene that quickly went viral on social media.

The affection has become so pronounced that some supporters have half-jokingly suggested the ideal result would be a draw, a way for both teams and both fanbases to walk away happy.

Of course, goodwill only goes so far once the whistle blows. For 90 minutes, at least, Mexico and South Korea will have to set aside their status as the World Cup's friendliest rivalry and do what every tournament demands: Try to beat each other.

As one fan told NPR ahead of the match, "Whoever wins, that's my team."

Most World Cup rivalries don't work that way.



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Psychonauts 2 screenshot

Xbox's studio portfolio may look very different, very soon.

Earlier this week, reports suggested Microsoft's games division was in the process of closing or spinning off several of its subsidiary studios. Though no studio closures have been officially confirmed yet, some employees have posted on social media that they are looking for work.

Here is everything we know right now.

SEE ALSO: Xbox executives depart while Compulsion Games shuts down

Every Xbox studio rumored to be closed or spun off

Per Bloomberg, the focus is on three studios: Compulsion Games, Double Fine, and Ninja Theory.

Compulsion is best known for South of Midnight, an action-adventure game based on southern U.S. folklore that won many accolades in 2025. PCMag called it "beautiful, unique, and tear-jerking," and it won a Peabody Award last year.

Compulsion was said to be closing and then to be negotiating with Microsoft for its future, according to Kotaku. Some Compulsion employees have said they are looking for work, but the studio hasn't officially shuttered or been spun off yet.

Double Fine is the most venerable of the three, having been around for more than 25 years. The San Francisco-based studio is best known for creative games with a focus on sharp comedy writing, like Brutal Legend, Psychonauts, and Costume Quest.

Double Fine's fate is murky at the moment; the only thing we've heard from the company is a single sweating face emoji posted to its social accounts earlier this week.

The third studio rumored to be closed or spun off is Ninja Theory, which has been around in some capacity for more than 25 years. Prior to becoming an Xbox subsidiary, Ninja Theory was best known for highly cinematic action games that made early use of performance capture technology — such as Heavenly Sword and Enslaved Odyssey to the West, both of which featured performances by Andy Serkis.

More recently, Ninja Theory has been focused on the Hellblade series. The third game in that series, Senua, was announced earlier in June.

Other unnamed studios are also said to be at risk. Insider Gaming's Mike Straw reported that Arkane, developers of the Dishonored series and the upcoming Marvel Blade game, is fearing for its future right now; we don't know anything beyond that.

Xbox's problems go back many years, but the current round of anxiety started when former executive Phil Spencer left, leading Microsoft to hire AI executive Asha Sharma to take over the Xbox business.

Sharma has tried to win the hearts and minds of fans by teasing the next Xbox console, codenamed Project Helix, but Xbox's reputation is not in the best place right now.

Between possible studio closures, game cancelations, and a movement to boycott Xbox due to Microsoft's relationship with the Israeli military, many gamers have already decided they are done with the brand entirely.



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Rhaenyra Targaryen' (Emma D’Arcy) in House of the Dragon

The Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon is finally flying back for a third season and you need to get caught up on all things Targaryen. Mashable's Belen Edwards is here to catch us all up to speed, and in just under 2 minutes!

We'll re-introduce you to Rhaenyra Targaryen's Team Black and Alicent Hightower's Team Green and take you all the way up to the moments before Season 3's much anticipated return. Give this a quick viewing before the show aires on June 21st as there is much to catch up on.

House of the Dragon Season 3 premieres June 21 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max, with a new episode every Sunday.



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a mario decal outside a nintendo store

Nintendo of North America says it's aware of what's been described as a small third-party data breach affecting some of its employees.

"Nintendo’s systems have not been compromised," the company told Mashable in a statement, acknowledging that a third-party service was affected by an "issue."

Earlier this week, a hacking group calling itself ShadowByte$ posted a threat on a "well-known cybercrime forum," according to CyberNews. The group alleged it stole 859MB of internal corporate data from a third-party service called TinyPulse, which collects employee feedback for companies.

The stolen data reportedly includes the results of employee satisfaction surveys, private messages, and the names of Nintendo employees. According to a LinkedIn profile, TinyPulse is part of WebMD Health Services.

The hacking group reportedly issued a $2 million ransomware demand to prevent the release of the data. Per Kotaku, after failing to get results with Nintendo, the extortion group reportedly tried its luck with TinyPulse as well. However, Nintendo downplayed the sensitivity of the data, telling Mashable the alleged TinyPulse breach is "limited to internal survey content comprising a small subset of our employees."

We are aware of an issue involving TinyPulse, a third-party service used for internal employee surveys at Nintendo of America. Nintendo’s systems have not been compromised, and no personal customer or financial data has been accessed. The data involved is limited to internal survey content comprising a small subset of our employees, and most of the information dates back several years.   

We appreciate our employees’ willingness to share their perspectives, take all feedback seriously, and take action when needed. We are working with the service provider to address the issue.

In recent years, ransomware-as-a-service tools have made it easier for bad actors — even those without sophisticated coding or hacking skills — to obtain sensitive data from companies and individuals.

Mashable reached out to WebMD Health Services about the alleged TinyPulse data breach, and we'll update this story if we receive more information.



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Android 17, Android update

Android 17 is out, and if you have a Google Pixel phone, you can try it right away. Android 17 comes with a bunch of new features, including a new green-screen selfie tool, a Pause Point tool and loads of video and photo improvements for Instagram.



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Snap CEO Evan Spiegel unveils SPECS AR glasses at AWE 2026 on June 16, 2026

Snap co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel — who, at 36, is still young for a tech leader even by Silicon Valley wunderkind standards — unveiled Snap's new Specs AR Glasses at the Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, California on Tuesday.

That's where Mashable spoke to Spiegel about the new AR glasses, ways to protect users' privacy, and their intimidating $2,195 price tag.

Snap has released five generations of its Spectacles since 2016, but Specs push smart glasses into new territory. Unlike most augmented reality products, Specs don't have a computing puck or USB-C tether, and feature a proprietary liquid-crystal-on-silicon display.

The new smart glasses are scheduled to ship this fall. Spiegel also introduced a kit for developers who want to create products, apps, and experiences for Specs.

Mashable Enterprise Editor Neal Broverman spoke to Spiegel at AWE 2026; the interview has been edited for clarity.

Who do you see as Specs’ target customers — creators, gamers, early adopters, all of the above? 

We're really gonna start with the developer community. There are already 450,000 people who use Snap’s augmented reality tools, who are so passionate about this new era for computing.

And then we'll extend beyond that, with the early adopters and folks who see a lot of value in specific use cases — whether they're trying to improve their golf swing or whether they just want to work on the road and still bring the benefits of that large display or monitor. 

It's such a new way of computing — such a different way to think about what a computer even is. And so the big project for us over the next couple of years is just showing people how Specs work, what they do, and really just helping people try them. 

How do you see these glasses fitting into people's daily lives?

I think there are a lot of ways — with three major buckets or categories.

The first would be utility use cases. Things like heads-up directions or translation, when you're exploring a new place. I actually really love the measurement feature [a built-in virtual tape measure]. It's super fun if you're working. We're building some interesting new projects for retail. It's just incredible to have that utility right there, and especially in three-dimensional space.

The second category would be this large private display. That's really meaningful if you're trying to get work done out in the world or on the go. You're sitting on an airplane, or you just want to lie back and stream something on the big screen. I think that's really valuable.

The last category, I'm probably the most passionate about, but I think it will take time for people to discover — which is the ability to have these shared computing experiences — whether that's a game or you're getting work done together because you're looking at a 3D model and sharing that.

There's just so much opportunity to take computing from something that's been historically single player and make it something that's shared. That, to me, is one of the real strengths of Specs.

Google, Samsung, Apple and Meta are all working on smart glasses. What are the advantages of being first? 

specs ar glasses seen from side
The new $2,195 Specs AR Glasses. Credit: Snap

Well, I think there are enormous advantages to being the early mover in this new category. Smart glasses are sort of phone accessories, right? Almost like AirPods or something. And then you have these headsets, which are very, very capable, but so heavy and uncomfortable to wear.

Where I think it's really exciting to be an early mover is in augmented reality glasses that are wearable, but also have these really powerful and immersive capabilities to be able to bring a computer into the glasses. 

So that, to me, is the opportunity. And because we've been investing over the past 12 years in the full stack, from the developer tools to the operating system to the optics themselves, I think we have a real competitive [product]. 

Tell us about the privacy aspect.

The outward-facing LEDs are a really helpful indicator that recording's happening. I mean, it's not something that your phone has today, right? So, I think there are real benefits to that.

In addition, one of the things that'll be really important is when people start learning how Specs are actually used. The same way you might be working on a laptop, [that’s] not just a device for recording videos. That sort of understanding, when someone says, ‘Hey, are you recording?’ And that person says, ‘No, I'm watching Netflix?’

That's a real paradigm shift in how people think about Specs and glasses, and I think that will go a long way in helping people understand that folks are wearing Specs to get things done, or to play a game. They're not, you know, using them to record surreptitiously. 

As far as the price, do you see it coming down anytime in the near future? When could we maybe see prices come down in this category, if at all? 

We care a lot about making Specs more accessible, so that's something that we're really prioritizing and pushing towards. But I think, you know, as I look at other sorts of new computers that are out there, Specs really stands out as something that's more and more accessible than the Macintosh was at the time, or where other new spatial computers are today, like the Vision Pro.

So I feel good about being able to offer Specs and have a ton of value, you know, at a price that may be unattainable today for some folks, but hopefully in the near future, we'll be able to make progress. 

Specs are available for preorder at Specs.com for $2,195 with a refundable $200 depost.



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Hisense Déco TV sitting on dresser while playing an episode of

As a society, we're down to spend money on a nice new living room TV every so often. But smaller spaces like the kitchen or a bedroom seem to have been dubbed undeserving of a TV upgrade — even if the current TV is crappy, or even if we spend a lot of time in that room. To be fair, there weren't many exciting options to choose from. I don't know how the stylish budget-friendly small TV market went so untapped for so long, but Hisense was genius for throwing the S5 Déco QLED TV into the mix.

What's special about the Hisense Déco TV

Available in 32 or 43 inches, the Hisense Déco TV is a purposefully small QLED TV with a chic white "art-inspired design." That's not to be confused with matte art TVs that lie flat against the wall like framed art. So while the Hisense Déco isn't a direct dupe for The Frame or the Hisense CanvasTV, it still speaks to the style-conscious part of your brain that cares about the cohesiveness of a space. Why settle for a blatantly techy TV if your bedroom's decor calls for something more whimsical?

The case for an aesthetically pleasing bedroom TV

I've been carefully curating my bedroom's ambiance for years, as most of us do. There are few places more comforting than the personal cave we've designed for ourselves, few activities that sound better than watching something cozy in bed. It simply makes sense for the TV to mesh with the rest of your decor.

Cat watching "Sex and the City" on Hisense Déco TV
The Hisense Déco TV matches my room's color scheme and level of whimsy. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Outside of expensive art TVs with swappable frames, I don't think I had ever seen a TV that strays from the standard black design. Apparently, neither had all of the people who flooded my DMs when I posted the above photo on my Instagram Story.

"What is this?!", "I've literally never seen a white TV before omg", "I'm scared to know how much this costs but I need it", and "This pic is literally so chic omg" were just a few of the replies. You get the point: There was clearly a need for a classy little decor-centric TV that doesn't cost $600, like the smallest Frame TV.

Hisense Déco TV's curved edges and Fire TV streaming apps on screen
The display flows right into the central stand, so you don't need to screw on legs. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable
Hisense Déco TV remote laying on dresser near TV
The remote is your average Fire TV remote. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

My current dresser was my mom's when she was a teenager in the '70s. It's an eggshell color with swirly gold handles, topped with various trinkets like antique jewelry boxes, perfume, a skeleton hand from Michaels' Halloween section that I use as a ring holder... the classics. I always thought that the arrangement was way too elegant for the old black plasticky TV that also lived there. (The mismatch would probably be less obvious if I mounted the TV on the wall instead, but I ain't doing all that.) The 32-inch Hisense Déco is the seamless addition that I had unknowingly been waiting for.

Instead of standing on two stubby legs, the Déco's curved white bezels flow directly into the base of the TV. The sculptural one-piece build feels avant-garde for TV standards, but also means that no assembly is required.

Picture quality is actually quite sharp for non-4K

The Hisense Déco's screen has some serious pop, especially compared to a dull LED screen. The Déco's full HD resolution isn't as granular as the 4K you'll see on 90 percent of TVs, but I don't think the average $200 32-inch TV buyer will be that picky about upscaling. Shadows aren't pixelated like they were on my old TV, and there's no overall fuzziness. I was thoroughly impressed by the sharpness of subtitles, despite the letters being so small.

Hisense Déco TV sitting on dresser while playing a scene from "Our Planet"
A coral reef wouldn't be nearly this colorful on my old TV. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

The layer of quantum dots picks up a lot of the slack from the lack of 4K. While LED vs. QLED and FHD vs. 4K are talking about two different TV specs (light and resolution, respectively), the range of a QLED TV's color palette does create a crispier image than an LED TV. These tiny nanocrystals can emit over a billion different colors, deepening black levels and brightening light tones to create a more contrasted picture. The colors on the Hisense Déco are legitimately stunning. They were even rich enough to hold their own against the color-changing bulbs in my nightstand, which are the only lights on in my room at night.

SEE ALSO: I've sucked at sleeping for a decade. The Hatch Restore 3 makes bedtime feel less chaotic, but it's not a cure-all.

I struggle to wind down at night as it is, so I typically don't watch anything that I actually need to pay attention to before bed. If I absolutely need some background noise, Planet Earth or Our Planet for the 40th time it is. The Déco really did the habitats on these shows justice. Between spot-on color accuracy and vibrant hues across the board, it's quite the immersive experience for such a little TV.

Bright objects in dark scenes do sometimes have a glow around them. The Déco's screen uses a direct backlight rather than full-array local dimming, so it doesn't benefit from little clusters of bulbs that turn off to reduce the halo effect. But the casual watcher probably won't even notice — a TV this small isn't meant to have the picture quality of an advanced home theater TV.

Hisense Déco TV sitting on dresser while playing a scene from "Rosario"
I hate when movies show the demon. Anyway, the dark scenes in "Rosario" looked awesome. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable
Hisense Déco TV sitting on dresser while playing a scene from "Paranormal Activity 3"
The Déco didn't muddy the overnight recordings from "Paranormal Activity 3" at all. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

The occasional blooming didn't affect my weekend horror movie watching, at least. In my time with the Déco TV so far, I crossed Hallow Road and Rosario off my list and threw in a comfort rewatch of Paranormal Activity 3. Dark scene details in all three films were less gray and significantly more legible from a few feet away in my bed than on my old TV.

If you haven't switched to a smart TV yet, do it

Many small space TVs are such an afterthought that they haven't made it out of the dumb TV phase yet. That was me using my bedroom TV from high school at age 30. The ol' Fire Stick rig can make it possible to access streaming apps on a regular TV for several years. But as I learned, a TV can simply get so old that it can't handle an external streaming device anymore.

A single arrow click on the Fire TV remote was enough to send my old TV into shock. It was so frustrating that I stopped bothering trying to watch anything at all. So not only was that TV an ugly plastic box that didn't match my room at all, but it was doing nothing but collecting dust.

SEE ALSO: If your apartment's trash always stinks, consider Dreame's food waste disposer — it's been great for my small space

After a month or so with the Hisense Déco, I can't believe I put up with a non-smart TV setup for so long. The Déco's Fire TV interface is highly responsive and as easy to navigate as Fire TV always is. You mean I can just click on a streaming app and it plays the content? Without the possibility of spontaneous combustion?

Is it a reach to classify a reliable bedroom TV as a productivity hack? That's one surefire way to pair some universally-hated chores — like folding laundry or cursing out the fitted sheet while you make your bed — with an activity you enjoy, like catching up on a show. It's also nice to not be relegated to the living room couch if I want to watch something live. Now, I can throw the new episode of Abbott Elementary or an NBA game on in my room without propping my phone up to watch YouTube TV. (That app would have sent my old TV into orbit.)

Factors to keep in mind

The Hisense Déco TV is the rare QLED TV that isn't 4K. The difference between the Déco's FHD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels) and 4K (3840 x 2160 pixels) would be most noticeable when intently watching a dark film in a dark room or playing video games. But no one would realistically be shopping for the decor-focused Déco TV with expectations for an elevated streaming or gaming experience.

Hisense Déco TV sitting on dresser while playing a scene from "The Office"
The reflection of my makeup desk in the top left corner was getting distracting. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

QLED TVs are naturally brighter and easier to see in sunlit rooms than LED TVs. That doesn't automatically make them immune to glare in a bright room. The Déco TV definitely struggles to neutralize reflections when watching TV during the day. Because it's designed for such casual use, I'm not that pressed about the lack of glare reduction — plus, there are significantly more expensive QLED TVs that struggle just as much in lit rooms.

The competition

For those in the market for a small budget TV, it makes the most sense to compare the Déco TV to other TVs in its price range. Barring any extra wild discounts that could pop up during an event like Prime Day, a hard $200 cutoff will typically have you looking at 32- through 50-inch 4K LED TVs.

Best Buy often has the TCL 40-inch Q35F QLED FHD Fire TV on sale for $149.99 or the 50-inch Q5 QLED 4K Fire TV on sale for $179.99. Both are obviously larger screens for a little bit less money, but both are the exact plasticky black box design that we were trying to get away from. Hisense can't just make the prettiest small TV you've ever seen and then make it the same price as a boring small TV, you know?

SEE ALSO: If dark scenes are too dark on your TV, play around with these settings

Is the Hisense Déco TV worth it?

I'd recommend the Hisense Déco TV to anyone looking for a small space TV. You really couldn't ask for a more seamless TV setup: It's bright and responsive when you are watching it, stylishly camouflaged when it's off, and either size costs several hundred dollars less than The Frame of the same size.

I've been firmly on the living room side of the "bedroom person vs. living room person" conversation forever. Now, I'm convinced that some of my living room tendencies stemmed from the fact that my old bedroom TV sucked. The switch to the Hisense Déco has genuinely been such a delight, and I find myself carving out time to hang out in there instead. It's bright and bold enough for the full range of my TV watching needs, but more importantly, the satisfaction of its cohesiveness with the rest of the room never gets old.

With the world as overwhelming as it is, the safe space that is your bedroom deserves a little extra adornment. In this case, that adornment is a TV that serves c*nt.

Hisense S5 DecoTV QLED 32" 1080p Hi-QLED Smart Fire TV
Hisense Déco 32-inch TV
$249.99 at Amazon
 
Hisense 43-Inch S5 DécoTV Series Hi-QLED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV (43S5QF, 2026 Model) – Versatile Fit, Hi‑QLED Color, Dolby Vision & Atmos, VRR Gaming, Stream Live TV Without Cable
Hisense Déco 43-inch TV
$349.99 at Amazon
 


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