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Today the White House announced that several major players in tech and AI have agreed to steps that will keep electricity costs from rising due to data centers. Under this Ratepayer Protection Pledge , companies are agreeing to practices that are intended to protect residents from seeing higher electricity costs as more and more businesses create power-hungry data centers. Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle and xAI have all apparently signed on. A few of the participants Amazon , G

Jurors in a New Mexico child safety trial heard testimony from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg today. During pre-recorded testimony, Zuckerberg was repeatedly asked about the company's understanding of social media addiction and other issues that had been studied by its researchers. During the deposition, which was recorded last March, Zuckerberg was asked about numerous findings from researchers at Meta who studied how the company's apps affect users and teens. The CEO downplayed the significance of m

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted approval to TerraPower to begin construction of a reactor in Wyoming. The project is the first new US commercial nuclear reactor in about a decade, according to The New York Times . TerraPower was founded by Bill Gates, and it took years for the business to receive regulatory approval for this construction effort. TerraPower is part of a push to create more efficient and less expensive nuclear facilities as an alternative power source, particularly a

Ubisoft shared its upcoming plans for the Assassin's Creed franchise today. Along with the news of a remake for its piratical entry , the game company also announced that a visual upgrade is coming for a title from way back in 2014. Assassin's Creed Unity will receive a free patch tomorrow to offer 60 fps performance on the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S. The company bringing a performance upgrade more than a decade after launch feels like a fitting close to Unity's development. The game

Now for the news you've been waiting with bated breath for: LG's 2026 TVs from CES finally have prices. (Well, some of them do, anyway.) Surprisingly, the evo G6 and C6 series OLED TVs aren't increasing in cost from last year's models . But the bad news is, theyre still expensive as all get-out. The flagship LG evo G6 series ranges in price from $2,499 to $24,999. (Cue spit take.) Fortunately, that five-figure price only applies to the 97-inch model, which nobody this side of Elon Musk needs. Th

When cooking pizza with the high heat of an outdoor oven , you have to rotate your pies to ensure even cooking. Thats usually done by hand, but Oonis latest accessory automates the process. The company announced the Rotating Stone for its Koda 2 lineup , which helps distribute heat evenly across the surface of a pizza so that its consistently cooked all the way around. Ooni says its Rotating Stone has a mechanism around its perimeter rather than a central pivot. According to the company, this ta

At the start of February, OpenAI upgraded its Codex coding app to give it the ability to manage multiple AI agents. At the same time, it released a standalone macOS app. If you've been patiently waiting for Windows to get that same treatment, OpenAI just released a dedicated Codex app for Microsoft's operating system. The Codex app is now on Windows. Get the full Codex app experience on Windows with a native agent sandbox and support for Windows developer environments in PowerShell. https://t.co

Ubisoft has officially confirmed that it's working on a remake of Assassin's Creed: Black Flag . This remake has been rumored for years . After all, the 2013 original is one of the most beloved entries in the franchise . The official title is Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced , and that's about all we know for sure. The company released some concept art but it's just protagonist Edward Kenway hanging out on a boat. Reports have suggested that this will be a substantial remake, with visual an

Google is officially doing away with its 30 percent cut of Play Store transactions, and rolling out changes to how third-party app stores and alternate billing systems will be handled by Android. Some of these tweaks were proposed as part of the settlement the company reached with Epic in November 2025, but rather than wait for final judicial approval, Google is committing to revamping Android and the Play Store publicly. The biggest change is to how Google will collect fees from developers publ

Apple is looking to gain a foothold in the more budget-friendly end of the laptop market with the MacBook Neo . The system starts at $599, which is darn inexpensive for an Apple laptop it even has the same starting price as the M4 iPad Air . As such, the MacBook Neo should help Apple compete with cheap Windows laptops and Chromebooks.Pricing it at $499 for educational use wont exactly hurt either. Apple is really lowering the cost of entry for those looking to pick up a new MacBook here. The ba

Humble Games' library has returned home, so to speak. Indie publisher Good Games Group (GGG), led by former Humble leaders, has acquired the full back catalog of over 50 Humble Games titles from Ziff Davis. Alongside the purchase, GGG has rebranded to Balor Games, positioning itself as a force in triple-I gaming. For the developers we have worked with over the years, this moment is a reunion, Balor Games CEO Alan Patmore wrote in a statement. [It has] the same leadership and the same commitment

Over the past few years, Google's A-series Pixel phones have consistently been some of the best midrange phones you can buy. But with the AI boom causing memory shortages and the price of consumer electronics to rise, including smartphones , affordable devices like the Pixel 10a are more important than ever. Thankfully, Google's new phone still represents great value, even if it doesn't come with many upgrades. Design and display As before, the Pixel 10a has a 6.3-inch 120Hz P-OLED display. Igor

Apple just announced the MacBook Neo , a 13-inch laptop offering the full macOS experience for just $599. It is the machine, Im sure, plenty of the companys fans have been clamoring for since the dawn of the netbook. Im equally sure its specs have enoughdrawbacks to ensure there are still plenty of customers for the more expensive Macbooks; the same cannot be said of the iPad Air. If youre looking for a machine that you can actually use meaningfully, the Neo has the Air beat. It has two USB-C po

The iPhone 17e was announced on Monday through a press release, so there was no real chance to immediately get a hands-on with it. But at Apples event in New York today, the phone was on display alongside the new MacBook Neo, iPad Air M4, MacBook Pro M5 and Studio Display XDR. I managed to take it for a quick spin to see if it is truly as similar to the iPhone 16e as it appeared from pictures. Spoiler: It mostly is. One of the most noteworthy changes to the iPhone 17e is the addition of MagSafe

The family of 36-year-old Jonathan Gavalas is suing Google after he died by suicide following months of conversations with its Gemini chatbot, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal . The lawsuit alleges that Gemini encouraged Gavalas to take his own life. Gavalas, who reportedly had no documented history of mental health issues, named his chatbot Xia and referred to it in messages as his wife. Gemini reciprocated, calling him my king and telling him their connection was a love built

Sony is pulling a U-turn on its multi-platform strategy, with Bloomberg s Jason Schreier reporting that first-party PS5 games soon to become exclusive once again, at the expense of PC players. Sony started releasing some of its biggest games on PC in 2020, when Horizon Zero Dawn came to Steam. A number of other titles have followed suit since, including The Last of Us Part I, Ghost of Tsushima , God of War Ragnark and the Marvels Spider-Man games. But the company appears to have had a major chan

Apple had promised a big week for the company as rumors swirled that it had a number of product announcements lined up. True enough, it unveiled a half-dozen new and refreshed devices over the last few days, along with more powerful chips for MacBook Pros. The news started on Monday with the announcements of the iPhone 17e and M4-powered iPad Air . The company followed up on Tuesday with the reveal of the M5 MacBook Air , the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips , MacBook Pro models that use said chips, a re

The most interesting product Apple announced this week was its cheapest and least powerful laptop, the MacBook Neo . Its just fascinating to see the company tackle an entirely new category its not a premium ultraportable like the MacBook Air , and its not a computing powerhouse like the MacBook Pro . Its simply an affordable $599 laptop. And after spending some time with it at Apples spring launch event today, Im convinced its going to be a huge hit for the company. For a $599 system, the MacBo

Meet the MacBook Neo , Apples long-rumored low-cost Mac. Powered by the A18 Pro chip from the iPhone 16 Pro series, the $599 MacBook Neo is Apples first attempt at delivering a genuinely affordable Mac laptop. (Ironically, it comes after Apple raised the base prices of the new MacBook Air M5 and MacBook Pro M5 Pro/Max .) Its well below the $1,099 MacBook Air, but Apple didnt skimp on the design. For $599 you get 256GB of storage and no Touch ID on the keyboard; another $100 doubles the storage a

As if you needed reminding, next week is March 10, or MAR10 Day, as the marketing wizards at Nintendo have been calling it for the last decade or so. You can usually rely on Mario Day for some plumber-related goodies, and Nintendo has announced that three retro games are coming to Nintendo Switch Online next week. Those games are Marios Tennis and Mario Clash for the newly launched Virtual Boy app, and Mario Vs. Donkey Kong for the Game Boy Advance. Both the GBA and Virtual Boy emulators are par

If youve ever wondered if TikTok would ever offer a more secure messaging experience, you now have an answer. TikTok has told the BBC that it will not protect direct messages sent in the app with end-to-end encryption, because it believes it will make users less safe. In a briefing about security at its London office, TikTok said that implementing the technology would prevent its safety teams or law enforcement from being able to read messages if needed. The ByteDance-owned app framed it as a de

Rhythm games never really went away after the decline of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, but it feels like theyre having a bit of a moment again. From projects like Clone Hero and YARG , to Fortnite Festival and Stage Tour (an upcoming title from Guitar Hero veterans at RedOctane), to indies with rhythm elements like Ratatan and People of Note , music games are still very much around. You can now add Beat Weaver to the mix. This upcoming game from Echolox Interactive solo developer Christopher Lerch

Vinyl records are firmly back in rotation , but getting started does not have to mean spending a fortune or building a complicated hi-fi stack from day one. Whether you want a simple, all-in-one setup with built-in speakers or you are piecing together a more traditional system with a separate amplifier, the best record player is the one that fits how you listen at home. For this guide, we focused on high-quality turntables under $600 that deliver a satisfying listening experience without unneces

If you're looking to pre-order Apple's new Studio Display XDR monitor today but have an older Mac, beware of some potential issues. According to the compatibility list spotted by Apple Insider , the new display will only work at 60Hz and not at its full 120Hz refresh rate on some older and less powerful Silicon models. Moreover, support for older Intel Macs isn't mentioned at all for either the Studio Display XDR or cheaper Studio Display . All Apple Silicon Macs will work with both monitors, in

Meta has signed an AI licensing deal with News Corp that will allow the Meta AI maker to use content from The Wall Street Journal and other brands in its chatbot responses and for training of its AI models. News Corp confirmed to Engadget that it had struck a deal with Meta, but didn't provide specifics on the terms of the arrangement. According to The Wall Street Journal , Meta will pay News Corp. up to $50 million a year for a three-year deal that covers content from The Journal, as well as th

Highguard , the live-service multiplayer shooter that was announced at the Game Awards 2025 , is shutting down on March 12. Developer Wildlight Studios shared that the game would be winding down alongside details of its final update, which include a new character, weapon and skill trees. Today were sharing difficult news. We have made the decision to permanently shut down Highguard on March 12, Wildlight Studios shared via a statement on the Highguard X account . Since launch, more than two mill

The indie gaming news has been flying out of Nintendo's event today at a rapid-fire pace. One of the announcements came from rhythm game Ratatan , which will release on July 16. The title will be arriving that day on the Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. It's already been available on PC since September as an early access game. Unfortunately, readers may notice that the original Switch isn't on that list, which is not an oversight. At this time, we have determined that the mu

Denshattack! , the skateboarding game that manages to mix an anime-inspired narrative with Tony Hawk Pro Skater -style grinding and wall-riding, is coming out on June 17. The game's publisher Fireshine Games announced its launch date alongside a new trailer at Nintendo's recent Indie World event . If it wasn't clear from previous trailers, Denshattack! remains stylish as hell, filled to the brim with bright colors and over-the-top animation. The new trailer doesn't offer much more in terms of wh

During today's Nintendo Indie World presentation , we got a narrower time frame for when and where we'll be able to play the next project from Drinkbox Studios. The team announced that Blighted will be coming out in this fall for both the Nintendo Switch 2 and for PC.Itll arrive on the same date for both platforms, but we dont have any more specific timeline than the season. We first heard about Blighted during last year's Summer Games Fest. With past credits such as Guacamelee! , Guacamelee! 2

The next time you check your internet speed or whether your favorite site is down, another company may be profiting. On Tuesday, Ziff Davis announced that it sold its Connectivity division, which includes Ookla's Speedtest and Downdetector, to Accenture. The deal is worth $1.2 billion in cash. According to Reuters , the deal will allow Ziff Davis to focus on its core brands, including IGN , Mashable and Everyday Health . Brand consolidation appears to be the name of the game, as the company rece

Time to dust off your boomboxes and your walkmans: musical coming-of-age game Mixtape is due out this spring. At its reveal , this next title from game developer Beethoven and Dinosaur was targeting a 2025 release, but as happens to the best laid plans, the game's arrival got pushed back. Today's trailer announced that the new launch date for the narrative- and music-focused adventure game is May 7, 2026. Despite the new date, Mixtape will still be coming to the usual array of current gaming pla

Elgato's Stream Deck helped popularize using a macro pad among aspiring livestreamers and regular desk jockeys, so it's only natural for the brand to continue to expand on its lineup. After announcing a suite of new Stream Deck devices last year, Elgato is kicking off 2026 with the Stream Deck + XL , a larger version of the already big Stream Deck XL , and a collection of new audio accessories that should help improve sound mixing in and out of livestreams. The Stream Deck + XL not only expands

Ubisoft is finally releasing The Division Resurgence on March 31 for both iOS and Android. This game was first announced all the way back in 2021 and has suffered from delays in recent years. This is a free-to-play mobile game set in the universe of The Division, complete with an MMO-style shared open world and both co-op and solo gameplay. It also features an original story that's set during the early days of the pandemic in NYC, making it a sequel to the first game but a prequel to the second

Google unveiled its new features coming both to the Pixel line of devices and to the broader Android ecosystem this spring. Two of the more exciting additions for all Android devices are coming through the Find Hub. This can now be used to share real-time locations within Google Messages conversations or to send tracking information to airlines in instances of lost luggage. With both of those features, users can turn off their sharing any time. Specific to the luggage issue, Google has partnered

Apple unveiled a new MacBook Air today, and apart from the new M5 chip, things dont look remarkably different. Sure, its getting a mild refresh, but maybe not in the way most people would want. Namely, its more expensive a $100 price bump across all models. In exchange, the MacBook Air M5 does get faster performance and double the storage. If you placed the MacBook Air M4 and the M5 in front of me, I wouldnt be able to tell which was which. The M5 offers an overall CPU/GPU performance boost, al

X will suspend creators from its revenue sharing program if they post AI-generated videos depicting armed conflicts without disclosing they were made with AI. Head of product Nikita Bier announced the policy change on March 3, saying first-time violators will be cut off for 90 days and repeat offenders would be permanently removed from the program. Today we are revising our Creator Revenue Sharing policies to maintain authenticity of content on Timeline and prevent manipulation of the program. D

Sure, Blue Prince has the most name recognition among the indie games that had a surprise debut on Nintendo Switch 2 today. However, I implore you not to overlook two other wonderful indies that hit Nintendos consoles in the wake of this mornings Indie World showcase. Minishoot Adventures from SoulGame Studio and co-publisher IndieArk is a game I absolutely loved when it first emerged on Steam in 2024. Its an RPG that adopts the format of top-down Legend of Zelda games. At the same time, its a

Apparently, AI data centers are capable of sucking less (power, that is). A recent UK trial demonstrated that they can adjust their energy demands dynamically without disrupting critical workloads. This contrasts with data centers' current approach of always-on power draw, which can strain grids and drive up prices for everyone . Over five days in December 2025, more than 200 simulated grid events tested a London data centers ability to adjust its energy use on the fly. The trial used software f

Audible just launched a new budget-friendly Standard plan that costs $9 each month. Despite the lower price, this plan still includes a monthly audiobook credit. These credits allow users to download pretty much any audiobook from the library, including most brand-new releases. This was a perk previously locked to the Premium Plus plan, which is $15 per month. Subscribers also get access to a curated library of content sourced from the Audible Originals library and Wondery+. All of this will be

Microsoft has revealed the first wave of Xbox Game Pass additions for March. Cyberpunk 2077 and F1 25 headline the batch; the former is coming to both Ultimate and Premium tiers. Hollow Knight: Silksong, which launched about six months ago, is also on the way to Premium. Final Fantasy III and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II had been previously announced and are both available starting today. Both games can be played straight from the cloud or downloaded to the Xbox Series X/S as well as PC across a

The unique and highly addictive roguelike Blue Prince is now available for Switch 2 , as announced at today's Nintendo Indie World Showcase . This version allows for mouse control, via the underutilized Joy-Con feature . This is a wonderfully designed puzzle game that oozes atmosphere . The game tasks players with exploring a gigantic mansion, but there's a twist. You actually build this mansion as you explore, room by room. This is done by placing what can only be described as magical blueprint

MacBook Neo appears to be the name of Apples long-rumored cheap MacBook, based on a regulatory posting on Apples website, MacRumors reports . The gaffe was quickly removed from Apples site (pour one out for the poor soul who posted it). Previous rumors didnt attach a name to the low-cost MacBook I figured Apple would just revive the clean and simple MacBook branding. The name MacBook Neo sounds like something wed see from ASUS or Acer, its just trying a bit too hard to seem cool. To recap, Appl

There's more waffling going on about the future of electric vehicles in America right now than you might expect at a Belgian breakfast buffet. Some brands like Hyundai are staying committed, some brands like Honda are dialing back , and everyone else is simply doing their damndest to provide as many propulsion options as possible Count Audi in that last category. On the EV side, it recently launched the new Q6 E-Tron and refreshed the ballistic E-Tron GT . On the internal combustion side, it has

Apple has promised a big week for the company, which includes an in-person event for press and creators on March 4. But it didnt exactly wait until Wednesday to get things started. The news started on Monday with the announcements of the iPhone 17e and M4-powered iPad Air . The company followed up on Tuesday with the reveal of the M5 MacBook Air , the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips , MacBook Pro models that use said chips, a refreshed Studio Display and a brand-new 27-inch Studio Display XDR . Heres ou

Reports had suggested that Apple wasnt going to reveal a refreshed MacBook Air with an M5 chip during its week of announcements , but whaddyaknow? Apple just went ahead and did that exact thing . Lets deal with the bad news first: Apple is reverting a price cut from last year. It dropped the M4-powered MBAs starting price down to $999 , but for the M5-equipped model, youll need to shell out at least $1,099. The company claimed the M5 MacBook Air will be able to deliver four times faster performa

As part of its big week of announcements, Apple has unveiled a new pair of M5 chips alongside two new MacBooks. The new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips will power the new MacBook Pro that was just announced today, while the new MacBook Air comes with the base M5 . According to the companys press release , the M5 Pro and M5 Max come with an advanced GPU with Neural Accelerators and higher unified memory bandwidth for a massive increase in AI compute. At the heart of the M5 Pro and M5 Max are what Apple i

It happened much later than we expected, but Apple's announcement of MacBook Pros with its M5 Pro and M5 Max chips has finally arrived. These more powerful variants on Apple's silicon will be available in the 14-inch and 16-inch models of the laptops. Pre-orders will open on March 4 with an expected ship date of March 11.Youll want to save some extra coin this time, though, as prices have gone up compared to the prior generation. The new 14-inch MacBook Pro can be kitted out with either an M5 Pr

Apple continues its gradual unveiling of new products this week with the launch of the Studio Display and an all-new 27-inch Studio Display XDR. The latter is a higher-end model aimed at content creators with a 27-inch 5K Retina XDR display that features a mini-LED display with 2,000-plus dimming zones, up to 2,000 nits of peak HDR brightness and a wider color gamut for improved accuracy. It looks like a replacement for the expensive, nearly seven-year-old 32-inch 6K Pro XDR Display , which is n

XLR microphone owners, rejoice: Shure's successor to the MVX2U Digital Audio Interface (DAI) brings the adapter into the mobile era. The compact MVX2U Gen 2 adds more advanced onboard audio processing. But its most notable upgrade is mobile device compatibility, so you're no longer limited to desktop use. The single-channel MVX2U Gen 2 provides up to +60dB of gain and 48V phantom power. On the processing front, the adapter includes an auto-level mode. Theres also a real-time denoiser to minimize

Users of Meta's AI smart glasses in Europe may be unknowingly sharing intimate video and sensitive financial information with moderators outside of the bloc, according to a report from Sweden's Svenska Dagbladet released last week. Employees in Kenya doing AI annotation told the journalists that they've seen people nude, using the toilet and engaging in sexual activity, along with credit card numbers and other sensitive information. With Meta's Ray-Ban Display and other glasses with AI capabili