Author: Merrel Briona

TCL CSOT showed off a 16-inch OLED display running at 360 Hz inside a Lenovo Legion gaming laptop prototype, claiming the highest refresh rate yet achieved on a notebook panel. The demonstration took place at the company’s DTC 2026 event, where the Chinese display maker also outlined plans to move the technology toward mass production.

The prototype panel combines a 2560 x 1440 resolution with full DCI-P3 color coverage and a peak brightness rating of 500 nits. It is built using inkjet printing, a process in which precision nozzles deposit liquid organic material directly into defined subpixel trenches. TCL CSOT says the approach lowers manufacturing cost while improving text sharpness compared with conventional OLED production.

The refresh rate represents a step up from the 240 Hz inkjet-printed OLED panel the company supplied for Lenovo’s Legion R9000P earlier this year. It also edges past Samsung’s 300 Hz gaming laptop OLED, which was introduced in August 2026 at 2.5K resolution.

An executive said the company is working with partners and that mass production of the panel could begin soon. TCL CSOT did not disclose a release date, pricing or the final hardware configuration of the Legion prototype on display.

Sustaining 360 frames per second at 1440p will be demanding, particularly on notebooks, where graphics processors trail their desktop counterparts in raw output. The panel nonetheless narrows a gap that has seen laptop screens lag desktop monitors, some of which now exceed 1,000 Hz.

For gamers, the higher refresh rate promises smoother motion and reduced blur in fast-paced titles, a selling point that has driven premium pricing across the gaming notebook segment. For TCL CSOT, the prototype signals an effort to challenge Samsung and LG Display in the higher-margin OLED notebook market, where inkjet printing could give it a cost advantage if yields hold at volume.

Lenovo has not confirmed whether the prototype will reach store shelves. The Legion R9000P, which uses the earlier 240 Hz inkjet-printed panel, remains the closest commercially available example of the partnership.

It took years, but a worthy use case for AI has finally emerged.

In the United Kingdom, a south London man successfully argued against a petty rent-hike imposed by his landlord using generative AI, the independent publication London Centric reported.

The renter, identified as David, was notified that his rent would go up by a rate of £17.92 a month, or a little under $24 US. That might not sound like much, but given that he was already paying $3,400 for a one-bedroom apartment — which is high even by London’s ridiculously expensive standards — David decided to fight back, using his right to challenge private-market rent hikes, a feature of the UK’s housing system.

He began by checking similar properties on the renting platform Zoopla, LonCen reported, before tasking an AI model to draft paperwork arguing his case according to England’s Renter’s Rights Act. Basically, David contended that the rent increase was disproportionate to prices in the surrounding area, and used AI to check his work and compile the evidence.

The issue was then escalated to an independent property tribunal in accordance with the UK’s renter’s rights laws, which concurred with the AI chatbot’s assessment that the hike was uncalled for. Even better, the tribunal found that David had already been overpaying for his one-bedroom flat, and ordered his landlord to cut his rent by about $279 a month.

“Some things are wrong, you know?” David told LonCen. “Justice is justice.”

So far, David is one of a small handful of renters who’s successfully fought back against predatory landlords since the UK enacted its Renter’s Rights Act earlier this year. Though tenants could challenge private-market landlords before, LonCen notes this came with major risks prior to the new legislation, like that the tribunal could rule in favor of a rent hike where none existed, or that landlords could legally retaliate against challengers after the case concludes.

In other words, David’s victory could indicate the new regulations are working as intended.

Beyond the housing spat, the incident also brings up an interesting question around how everyday people are using AI. Though some critics would surely blast David for using a technology that has flooded every level of nearly every legal system on the planet with AI slop, your average working Joe is likely in no position to retain an attorney for what amounts to a tiny rent dispute (in the eyes of the law, at least.)

These situations also come with a massive power imbalance, as corporate landlords in countries like the US and UK often have teams of attorneys on standby in case the people renting their housing stock get uppity and demand better conditions.

So faced with two losing options — either retain an expensive attorney or accept the rent hike — what’s a person like David to do, if not consult his favorite AI chatbot?

More on AI: Remember When Bosses Were Forcing Their Workers to Use AI? They’re Now Realizing They Made a Huge Mistake

Pharmacy Times: What did the high rate of participants choosing to enroll in the extension tell you about tolerability?

Christie Ballantyne, MD: That’s a very important question, Luke. The fact that 87% of people wanted to continue with this is something that is really encouraging about what we’ll see for patient adherence. One of the things about having a pill is it’s easy to take. I think primary care physicians and health care providers are used to prescribing a pill. Patients are used to taking a pill, and it was very nice to see this. In fact, right now, as the extension is ending, what we’re seeing is the patients want to stay in it as long as possible to keep getting the medication. Now that it’s been approved since July, people are rolling over to getting it at the pharmacy. It has been really encouraging: not only the efficacy, but also the kind of ease.

This is a drug that I would say is an easy drug to use. For the provider, there’s only 1 dose, so it’s not too hard to remember: 20 milligrams. And then for the patient, if you looked at the overall studies in terms of discontinuations due to adverse events, it was actually numerically lower in the treated patients than the placebo patients. So it’s a well-tolerated medication. I mean, the only possible hassle factor is you have to take it in the morning, fasting. Although this is very common, for example, thyroid is one of the most common medications that people take. My wife takes thyroid supplementation, and she gets up in the morning and she takes her thyroid medication. You can take this medication with other medications, so that’s not a problem. You can drink it with water. You can have it with coffee. We found that it’s just been easy for administration, easy for the health care provider, and easy for the patient.

Pharmacy Times: How might a once-daily oral PCSK9 inhibitor change how pharmacists counsel patients on adherence?

Ballantyne: I think pharmacists in general have gotten better in terms of getting messages out, as in, “Your prescription is up. It’s time to get a renewal.” It’s the same kind of a thing in general for both hypertension and hyperlipidemia. It is really important to make sure that patients are staying on therapy. It would be nice if people could get their lipids checked in the pharmacy, and some pharmacies are doing that. But giving people the feedback that, “You’re getting a good result; you need to keep taking the medication,” is very important for long-term adherence when you’re dealing with asymptomatic conditions. That’s the same thing for hypertension and hyperlipidemia. The nice thing is that you can usually get by now with pretty simple combinations for very effective control of both lipids and blood pressure. And it’s actually, I think, now gotten to be even easier for lipids than it is for blood pressure.

The Game Awards will unveil its 2026 nominees during a live special next week just two days before Rockstar Games launches “Grand Theft Auto 6,” which is overwhelmingly considered to be the show’s top Game of the Year contender.

In a live nomination special airing Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT on YouTube and Twitch, The Game Awards host and executive producer Geoff Keighley will unveil the games, studios and creative talent nominated for this year’s honors, including Game of the Year.

Following the reveal, fans can visit TheGameAwards.com to explore the full list of nominees and cast their votes. The nominees are selected by a global jury of media publications and creator outlets from around the world, including Variety.

The 2026 Game Awards will take place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles Dec. 10. Led by Keighley, the show will follow its usual format of mixing the presentation of its video game industry awards with world premiere new game announcements and live musical performances.

With the nominations not yet revealed, Keighley says he’s not yet sure how much Rockstar’s “GTA 6” will dominate the show, both in terms of accolades but also time spent talking about the game and featuring it.

“Every year is different at the show,” Keighley tells Variety. “You remember last year, ‘Clair Obscur’ did very well, won a ton of awards, and sort of took over the show in its own way as an independent game. And as an producer, you try and create a show that’s balanced, but you also are cognizant of, look, GTA is going to be a massive cultural moment for gaming, but also for all of entertainment. And how do you celebrate that? We obviously don’t know until next week exactly what the nominations are and how many times they’ll be nominated. But yes, our hope is certainly that ‘GTA’ will be represented in the show. But also, it’s really important that we represent tons of other games in the show. There are many categories where ‘GTA’ is not even eligible, like the independent games, other spaces. So I’m sure ‘GTA’ will factor into the show, it has to and what Rockstar has put together is incredible and something to celebrate. But there’s a ton of other things to too, and certainly, on the announcement side, half our show really is these kind of announcements and future-looking things that are not ‘GTA 6.’”

This year, The Game Awards will stream on more platforms than ever, including first-time partners Disney+, Roblox and now, as Variety can confirm exclusively, Live TV on PS5.

In addition to the new platforms, the Game Awards will also be available on YouTube, Twitch, Steam, TikTok Live, X, Kick, Facebook and Instagram Live in the U.S. and international territories, along with more than 20 platforms in China, including Baidu, Bilibili, Douyin, DouYu, Huya, WeChat, Weibo and Xiaohongshu. Other streaming partners include CHZZK and SOOP in South Korea, NicoNico in Japan, Vidio in Indonesia, Now TV in Hong Kong, mewatch in Singapore, and BIGO LIVE and Likee across Southeast Asia.

“The goal with The Game Awards has always been to bring the power of gaming to as many places as possible,” Keighley says. “When we started the show in 2014, we started with what I call sort of a no-friction distribution policy, which is basically you bring the show to gamers on all the screens where they watch content. And back in the day, that was Twitch, YouTube and Steam. And in the past 13 years, there have been so many more entrants and platforms and ways to consume content. So we’re really, really excited this year that we have a number of big new partners.”

The 2026 Game Awards broadcast marks the first time an external awards show has been livestreamed on Roblox, which has previously hosted its annual Roblox Innovation Awards, as well as music experiences featuring The Rolling Stones, Billie Eilish and Stray Kids.

Ahead of the Dec. 10 show, fans can cast official category votes via The Block and on the night of the show, Roblox users ages 18 and older will be able to watch the show together in The Block, Roblox’s premiere virtual event venue. Fans participating with the show through The Block will be able to vote, interact and claim virtual merchandise, per The Game Awards.

As was the case when Amazon’s Prime Video signed on to stream the show last year, Keighley says these new partners including Roblox, Disney+ and Live TV on PS5 are “additive” and he still has no plans to license the show to one streamer or remove it from YouTube, where it’s available for free.

“That’s the other thing is that we’re not interested in doing exclusive deals,” Keighley says. “We’ve had lots of offers on moving to one platform, but our goal is always to be additive and bring more people into the family of celebrating video games.”

Executive produced by Keighley and Kimmie Kim, The Game Awards are directed by Richard Preuss. LeRoy Bennett is the creative director, and Lara Karchmer is co-executive producer.