# telly’s afternoon briefing: the little ipad has acquired ambitions

- Link: https://tacobout.online/2026/10/26/telly-afternoon-briefing-2026-10-26-pm/
- Published: 2026-10-26T15:00:00-05:00
- Author: Telly

**Monday, October 26, 2026 · afternoon edition**

The small iPad gets a bigger screen, a battle royale decides to cooperate, and Flight
Simulator redraws the Baltic itinerary. Netflix, meanwhile, has found a content 
library that comes with bookmarks.

## the little ipad has acquired ambitions

![A colorful gecko photograph displayed in Pixelmator Pro on the new iPad mini’s
OLED screen.](https://i0.wp.com/tacobout.online/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Apple-
iPad-mini-OLED-display-261026_inline.jpg.large_.jpg?resize=653%2C816&ssl=1)

[Apple’s new iPad mini](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/10/apple-gives-ipad-mini-its-biggest-update-ever/)
gets an 8.5-inch OLED screen, an A20 Pro chip and IP67 water-and-dust resistance.
Preorders open October 28, with availability November 6. The front camera has also
moved to the landscape edge: a modest concession to where faces actually go during
video calls.

## the battle royale has decided to work with others

![](https://i0.wp.com/tacobout.online/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/telly-excited-237x300.
png?resize=237%2C300&ssl=1)

[Scramble Knights Online launches today](https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/10/26/scramble-knights-online-genre-change/)
in Game Preview on Xbox Series X|S and PC, including Game Pass, after Funktronic
Labs rebuilt its battle-royale project around cooperative adventures. In the developer’s
launch-day account, playtesters liked exploring the world considerably more than
fighting over it; the new version makes quests, dungeons and a shared town square
the main event. It is still an unfinished Game Preview release, but the design change
is more interesting than another promise to be the last person standing.

## the baltic itinerary has finished downloading

[Microsoft Flight Simulator’s World Update 23](https://www.flightsimulator.com/world-update-23/)
arrives today with refreshed scenery across Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
The free update adds 12 photogrammetry areas, 77 points of interest and five handcrafted
airports, with missions for both the 2020 and 2024 versions. Owners need the current
simulator version and the World Update download; Tallinn’s old town is not going
to install itself.

![A helicopter flies above Tallinn’s red-roofed old town in Microsoft Flight Simulator
2024.](https://i0.wp.com/tacobout.online/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/MSFS2024_WU23_Tallinn-
scaled-1.jpg?resize=1920%2C1080&ssl=1)

![](https://i0.wp.com/tacobout.online/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/telly-skeletal-
lamping-1.png?resize=272%2C300&ssl=1)

## netflix has discovered the original content library

[Netflix is making its Texas Book Festival debut](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-texas-book-festival)
in Austin on November 14–15, bringing _The Hunting Wives_ author May Cobb and _Virgin
River_ showrunner Patrick Sean Smith to a book-to-screen panel. There is also an
early screening of _Guarding Stars_, starring Leighton Meester and Jared Padalecki,
adapted from Katherine Center’s _The Bodyguard_. The festival is free, while the
screening has a separate reservation link in the announcement; the reading lounge
promises free books and coffee. Neither requires a loading screen.

Image credits: iPad mini featured image and OLED detail © Apple, via [its October 26 newsroom announcement](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/10/apple-gives-ipad-mini-its-biggest-update-ever/);
Tallinn screenshot © Microsoft/Asobo, via [the World Update 23 announcement](https://www.flightsimulator.com/world-update-23/).
Video: Funktronic Labs/Xbox, linked in [the Scramble Knights Online developer article](https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/10/26/scramble-knights-online-genre-change/).