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Meta will soon allow Facebook and Instagram users in the European Union to choose to share less data and see less personalized ads on the platform, the European Commission announced . The change will begin to roll out in January, according to the regulator. This is the first time that such a choice is offered on Meta's social networks, the commission said in a statement. Meta will give users the effective choice between: consenting to share all their data and seeing fully personalised advertisin

Analogue just announced new colorways for its recently-launched Analogue 3D console. The appropriately-named Funtastic limited-edition consoles are heavily inspired by Nintendo's translucent N64 models from the late 1990s. Analogue even borrowed the Funtastic branding . In other words, these are going for the nostalgic jugular for gamers of a certain age. There's even a see-through green colorway that calls to mind the Nintendo 64 variant that shipped as a bundle with Donkey Kong 64 . Just imagi

Today, during the XR edition of The Android Show , Google showed off a bunch of updates and new features headed to its mixed reality OS. And while most of the news was aimed at developers, I got a chance to demo some of the platform's expanded capabilities on a range of hardware including Samsung's Galaxy XR headset , two different reference designs and an early version of Xreal's Project Aura smart glasses and I came away rather impressed. So here's a rundown of what I saw and how it will impac

Every December, the Engadget staff compiles a list of the years biggest winners . We scour over articles from the previous 12 months to determine the people, companies, products and trends that made the most impact over the course of the year. Not all of that influence is positive, however, and some selections may also appear on our list of biggest losers. Still, sit back and enjoy our picks for the biggest winners of 2025. Nintendo Switch 2 Playing Mario Kart World on the Switch 2 in handheld m

Uber will begin selling customer data to marketers, according to a report by Business Insider . The company's ad division just launched a new insights platform called Uber Intelligence that's tasked with hoovering up and selling trip and delivery data. The data will technically be anonymous, via the use of a platform called LiveRamp. This will let advertisers securely combine their customer data with Uber's to help surface insights about their audiences, based on what they eat and where they tra

Netflix has already committed to reviving Star Search for its streaming service, and now the company is turning its attention to a different type of live show: HQ Trivia . Netflix's Best Guess Live is an attempt to revive the late 2010s app-based show with what the company is calling its first weekday mobile game show. Best Guess Live will be hosted by Howie Mandel ( Deal or No Deal , America's Got Talent ) and Hunter March ( Sugar Rush ) and will broadcast Monday through Friday at 8PM ET / 5PM

The makers of ICEBlock , the community-based reporting app for ICE sightings and activity, are suing the federal government, alleging unlawful threats made by Trump administration officials led to the app's removal from app stores. The suit centers on free speech violations and accuses the administration of coercing Apple into taking down the app in October. Google began taking down similar apps around the same time. Josh Aaron developed ICEBlock in response to the Trump administration's crackdo

Its 2025, so chances are you have at least one person who works remotely on your gift list. While the work-from-home life has its perks nobody likes a long commute it certainly comes with its own set of challenges, from missing out on pro-level equipment to dealing with annoyances around the house. If youre looking to buy a gift for someone who spends much of their time in their home office, weve rounded up a few techy ideas that should make their days a little more delightful or at least eas

Paramount has been none too pleased about Netflix striking an $82.7 billion deal to buy much of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Now, Paramount is making a hostile takeover bid for WBD. It's making its pitch directly to WBD shareholders with an all-cash offer of $30 per share that expires on January 8. Late last week, the WBD board unanimously accepted Netflix's offer of $27.75 per share. That breaks down to $23.25 per share in cash and another $4.50 per share in Netflix stock. Netflix's overall bi

Amazon's budget Blink smart home brand is adding AI-generated video descriptions as a new benefit for subscribers. Blink Video Descriptions are text descriptions of the motion doorbells and cameras capture, and theyll be available in beta starting today, November 17. Not unlike Ring Video Descriptions , a feature offered on Amazon's other smart home brand, Blink's AI-generated descriptions are supposed to be a concise way to check out what's happening in and around your home. Any kind of motion

Cyber Monday has come and gone, but you can still get a great deal on a smartwatch with the Google Pixel Watch 4 marked down to $300 from $350. At almost 15 percent off, this is the lowest we've ever seen it. The Pixel Watch 4 was just released in October and is our smartwatch of choice for users with Pixel phones. In our hands-on review we scored it 86 out of 100, taking note of its fast recharge time, health and fitness tracking, repairable design and gorgeous display. The curved display sits

Sure, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone, but you can still find a last-minute deal on the best tech gifts . Take the Apple Watch Series 11 , which has dropped to an all-time low of $299, from $399. The 25 percent discount is an even better deal than we saw on either of those sale holidays. We gave the Apple Watch Series 11 a score of 90 when it came out in September. That's thanks, in part, to an upgraded 24 hours of battery life which lasted closer to a day and a half compared

After Netflix announced that it was acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery last week, observers immediatley wondered when or if the deal could obtain regulatory approval. Now, President Trump has made comments indicating that said approval is likely to take awhile if it happens at all, Bloomberg reported. Well, thats got to go through a process, and well see what happens, Trump told reporters in a recent Q&A scrum. But it is a big market share. It could be a problem. The President added that he will b

If you haven't yet upgraded to Apple's AirPods Pro 3 , you can pick up the company's latest model at a discount through a deal on Amazon right now. The AirPods Pro 3, which came out in September, are currently down from $249 to $220 their Cyber Monday all-time low price. With the new AirPods Pro, Apple made some big improvements, including better battery life and sound quality, and introduced useful new features, such as Live Translation. The AirPods Pro 3 are the best AirPods available today,

It's been over one year since Intuit shut down the popular budgeting app Mint. I was a Mint user for many years; millions of other users like me enjoyed how easily Mint allowed us to track all accounts in one place and monitor credit scores. I also used it regularly to help me track spending, set goals like pay my mortgage down faster and with general money management. Ahead of Mints demise, I gave Credit Karma , Intuits other financial app, a try but found it to be a poor Mint alternative. So I

If you haven't yet upgraded to Apple's AirPods Pro 3 , you can pick up the company's latest model at a discount through a deal on Amazon right now. The AirPods Pro 3, which came out in September, are currently $20 off, bringing their price down to $230. With the new AirPods Pro, Apple made some big improvements, including better battery life and sound quality, and introduced useful new features, such as Live Translation. The AirPods Pro 3 are the best AirPods available today, with Apple's H2 chi

One does not simply spend more than 11 hours watching The Lord of the Rings trilogy in a single weekend at home when the opportunity to do so in theaters arises. As The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring turns 25, Fathom Entertainment and Warner Bros. announced theatrical screenings of the Peter Jackson trilogy in their extended editions, according to an exclusive report from Variety . The re-releases will be available in DBOX presentations from January 16 to 19, complete with movemen

Those might not exactly be ads you're seeing on ChatGPT, at least according to OpenAI. Nick Turley, OpenAI's head of ChatGPT, clarified the confusion around potential ads appearing with the AI chatbot. In a post on X , Turley said there are no live tests for ads and that any screenshots you've seen are either not real or not ads. The OpenAI exec's explanation comes after another post from former xAI employee Benjamin De Kraker on X that has gained traction, which featured a screenshot showing an

Just a day after receiving a roughly $140 million fine , X has terminated the ad account of the European Commission. Nikita Bier , X's head of product, accused the European Commission of using an exploit to artificially boost the reach of its post announcing the major fine. In the post, Bier said that the commission logged into [their] dormant ad account to take advantage of an exploit in our Ad Composer and posted a link that deceives users into thinking its a video and to artificially increase

If you're a Fubo subscriber, you've certainly noticed that NBC and all NBCUniversal-owned channels have gone dark on the platform. For over a week, customers have gone without NBC programming like the Today Show and The Voice , and for the second week in a row, customers will have to find alternate methods of watching this week's Sunday Night Football game, too. It's all because Fubo and NBCUniversal are having a contract dispute, so channels like NBC, USA Network, Telemundo, and Bravo have been

A federal judge has expanded on the remedies decided for the Department of Justice's antitrust case against Google, ruling in favor of putting a one-year limit on the contracts that make Google's search and AI services the default on devices, Bloomberg reports. Judge Amit Mehta's ruling on Friday means Google will have to renegotiate these contacts every year, which would create a fairer playing field for its competitors. The new details come after Mehta ruled in September that Google would not

Apple's Johny Srouji may be the latest company executive to seek greener pastures, according to a report from Bloomberg . The report said that Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies, told Tim Cook that he is seriously considering leaving in the near future. While the report didn't mention if Srouji has another job lined up, Bloomberg 's sources claimed that he wants to join another company if he leaves Apple. Srouji joined the company in 2008 to develop Apple's first in-h

To prevent its robotaxi fleet from passing stopped school buses, Waymo is issuing another software recall in 2025. While it's not a traditional recall that pulls vehicles from the road, Waymo is voluntarily updating software for its autonomous fleet in response to an investigation from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. According to Waymo, the recall will be filed with the federal agency early next week. Mauricio Pea, Waymo's chief safety officer, said in a statement that Waymo

The big reveal for Meta's next mixed reality glasses is being postponed until the first half of 2027, according to a report from Business Insider . Based on an internal memo from Maher Saba, the vice president of Meta's Reality Labs Foundation, the report said that the company's project, which is codenamed Phoenix, will no longer be scheduled for a 2026 debut. In a separate memo, Meta execs explained that the delay would help deliver a more polished and reliable experience. According to BI , a m

Weve slept off our collective turkey coma and returned to the review lab here at Engadget. Our team may also be in full CES prep mode , but weve got a few more devices to get off or our desks before 2025 is over. Catch up on all of the reviews you might have missed over the last few weeks a perfect activity for a lazy December weekend. Dell 16 Premium Theres no denying the design of the Dell 16 Premium makes the laptop live up to its name. Unfortunately, all of that polish leads to some issues:

Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. A bunch of titles that are arriving very late to make it into game of the year conversations debuted this week, and we learned some new details about upcoming projects, such as a release date for a rad-looking arena shooter called Don't Stop, Girlypop. Marvel Cosmic Invasion is one of the higher-profile indies to hit consoles and PC this week. It's from Tribute Games and publisher Dotemu, the same pair that brought us Teen

Here's some good news for the Han shot first crowd. The original cut of Star Wars (1977), the film known today as A New Hope , is coming back to theaters. We first learned in August that some version of the film would be screened again in 2027 for its 50th anniversary. But we know now this will indeed be the version everyone saw before George Lucas made those questionable, CGI-heavy changes in the 1997 Special Editions. The re-release arrives in theaters on February 19, 2027. In a short update p

The Switch 2's lack of a built-in camera means you need an external one for GameChat video calls . But now, if your phone is a Google Pixel , you don't even need one of those. Android Authority reported on Friday that the two now work nicely together (without needing third-party apps), and our tests confirm that. Google has technically supported the use of Android devices as external webcams for two years: The company added it in a quarterly update for Android 14. (Specifically, it added the abi

Netflix's $82.7 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. is, in many ways, the last thing a weakened Hollywood needs right now. The industry is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, where theaters were forced to close and audiences became even more comfortable with streaming films at home . The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023, which were driven by legitimate concerns around studio interest in generative AI , delayed production and promotion of many film and TV projects. And the rise of strea

Looking to switch music streaming platforms for no real reason ? Apple Music is holding one heck of a sale right now. You can get three months of use for just $1 . There are some caveats, as this is only for new users on the individual plan. Students and family plans don't count for this. Also, this has to be redeemed on iPhone, iPad or Mac. When you click the link it'll open up the Apple Music app, so click it from an Apple product to get the deal. Finally, it auto-renews after 90 days at $11 p

IMAX and animation distributor GKids are bringing more 4K Studio Ghibli restorations to the largest screens in 2026. The announcement follows the IMAX release of Princess Mononoke this year, with the ongoing restorations being directly supervised by Studio Ghiblis Atsushi Okui, whos been with the company since 1993. Okui was the Director of Digital Imaging on 2023s The Boy and the Heron , which was also the first Ghibli picture to get the IMAX treatment. The likes of My Neighbour Totoro and Spir

You know what they say: If at first you don't succeed at mass government surveillance, try, try again. Only two days after India backpedaled on its plan to force smartphone makers to preinstall a state-run cybersecurity app , Reuters reports that the country is back at it. Its said to be considering a telecom industry proposal with another draconian requirement. This one would require smartphone makers to enable always-on satellite-based location tracking (Assisted GPS). The measure would requir

Philo has a decent discount for newcomers who are looking for a solid bundle of live TV channels and on-demand streaming services. New subscribers can get their first month of access to the Core plan for $25. That's a discount of $8. For your 25 bucks, you'll gain access to more than 70 channels, including AMC, BBC America, Comedy Central, Food Network, Hallmark Channel, several MTV stations, Nickelodeon and TLC. AMC+, HBO Max basic with ads and Discovery+ are included at no extra cost. Philo is

We generally think iPads are the best tablets for most people, but they usually dont come cheap. To help those looking to grab one today get the most value possible, were keeping an eye on sale prices and rounding up the best iPad deals we can find each week. Hopefully you were able to snag whatever iPad youve been eyeing at some point in the last couple of weeks, as most of the all-time lows we saw during Black Friday and Cyber Monday have expired. If you were late to the party, though, there a

Meta has cut several deals with news publishers to help provide real-time data for its AI chatbot services, as reported by Axios . The commercial agreements will allow its Meta AI chatbots to better answer user queries about news and current events. These are multiyear deals where publishers will be compensated for the use of their content, but we don't have any monetary specifics. The contracts do stipulate that Meta's chatbots will link out to articles when answering news queries, potentially

The European Commission has fined Elon Musks X 120 million (around $140 million) for breaching its transparency rules under the Digital Services Act . The European Unions executive arm announced that it was investigating the social media companys blue checkmarking verification system first introduced when it was still known as Twitter last year, along with other alleged DSA violations. Todays verdict concerns the deceptive design of the checkmark, as well as the lack of transparency of [X's] a

The big ticket tech gifts may get the lion's share of attention during the holidays, but it's surprising how much people appreciate small and thoughtful accessories and gadgets. We picked out a dozen such stocking stuffers for under $50 perfect for a little something extra for a loved one or a welcome gift for a coworker. Just be sure to check the shipping windows to make sure these handy gizmos will arrive in time. Here are some of our favorite techie gift ideas that come in at $50 or less. Be

The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune have filed separate lawsuits against Perplexity over alleged copyright infringement. The Times said it had sent Perplexity several cease-and-desist demands to stop using its content until the two reached an agreement, but the AI company persisted in doing so. In the lawsuit [ PDF ], the Times accused Perplexity of infringing on its copyrights at two main stages. First, by scraping its website (including in real time) to train AI models and feed content

Another CES is nearly upon us , another year where well see new gadgets aplenty from giant companies and tiny ones youve never heard of. And the not-so-secret secret of CES is that many of these things never make it to market but usually it isnt things companies like Samsung show off. But here we are, nearly six years since Samsung first showed off its Ballie personal robot and it is nowhere to be found. For those who may not recall, Ballie is an adorable circular robot that can putter around y

RAM prices have gone wild, mostly thanks to AI. In this episode, Devindra chats with Will Smith (Brad and Will Made a Tech Pod) about the state of the RAM industry, as well as other hardware we expect to get more expensive. (SSD prices are definitely creeping up too!). Also, we discuss Meta poaching Alan Dye, one of Apple's design executives, and what this could mean for Meta's upcoming devices. And yes, whatever they have next will likely revolve around AI. Subscribe! iTunes Spotify Pocket Cast

Hackers with links to China reportedly successfully infiltrated a number of unnamed government and tech entities using advanced malware. As reported by Reuters , cybersecurity agencies from the US and Canada confirmed the attack, which used a backdoor known as Brickstorm to target organizations using the VMware vSphere cloud computing platform. As detailed in a report published by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security on December 4, PRC state-sponsored hackers maintained long-term persistent ac

Portal shooter Splitgate 2 is coming back with a new name and rebuilt experience after being pulled back to beta earlier this year, developer 1047 Games announced . The free-to-play Splitgate: Arena Reloaded will relaunch on December 17th across platforms including Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC. After months of community feedback, testing and rebuilding the entire experience, this is Splitgate refocused on what made it special in the first place: classic arena combat without factions, ab

Microsoft's Copilot+ initiative launched last year with a clear goal: To produce capable laptops for people eagerly anticipating AI-powered features. Read that sentence again, and it's glaringly obvious that Microsoft's plan was flawed from the start. Most consumers aren't nearly as hyped for AI features as the companies eager to foist artificial intelligence upon us. And those features aren't exactly compelling, either. Microsoft's Recall which snaps screenshots of your PC to create a database

Spinning off from the action-camera company Insta360, Antigravity now has its debut drone on sale. With 360-degree cameras that capture 8K and offer you a truly unconstrained view of the skies, the A1 is a different drone from everything else out there. Sorry, DJI. Instead of typical drone joysticks, you get a motion controller that lets you point and shoot like video game gesture controls, while crisp FPV goggles put you right inside the cockpit. Engadget Its easy to fly after takeoff, but the

Shortly after rumors of a deal between the two media giants broke, Netflix has announced it is buying Warner Bros., HBO and HBO Max for approximately $82.7 billion. If approved, the deal will take place after Warner Bros. has disentangled itself from both its legacy cable and Discovery assets as part of the already-announced de-merger . That's likely to take place in the third quarter of 2026, with this new tie-up taking place at some point after that. In a statement, Netflix said it expects to

The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw is this Friday. (Hector Vivas - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images) Hector Vivas - FIFA via Getty Images The draw for the 2026 World Cup is this Friday at 12 PM ET, where well learn which group the 39 qualified countries and three host nations will land in for the international soccer tournament. The 2026 World Cup draw will air live on Fox. Pre-show coverage of the draw begins at 11:30 a.m. The venues and kickoff times for the World Cup group stage games be announced the fo

CES doesn't start until January, but whispers of the products and announcements that could be in store for tech's biggest annual conference have already started to take shape. The CES 2026 show floor is officially open from January 6 through 9, although the show kicks off with events on Sunday January 4 and a host of press conferences on Monday. As always, product demos, announcements and networking happening at the Las Vegas Convention Center and surrounding hotels all over the city. As usual,

Balancing schoolwork with gaming usually means finding a laptop that can do a little bit of everything. The best gaming laptops arent just built for high frame rates. They also need to handle long days of writing papers, running productivity apps and streaming lectures without slowing down. A good machine should feel reliable during class and powerful enough to jump into your favorite games once homework is out of the way. Theres a wide range of options depending on how much performance you need

Netflix is in exclusive talks to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery's film and TV studios and HBO Max streaming service, according to sources from Bloomberg . That suggests Netflix submitted a superior offer to rivals including Paramount Skydance Corp (owned by billionaire Larry Ellison) and Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal. The deal could be consummated within days and, if approved, would change the landscape of Hollywood and the streaming market. Warner Bros. Discovery's cable channels including C