At least five employees at Halo Studios have been fired as part of company-wide layoffs at Microsoft on Wednesday, according to a developer with knowledge of the situation. An estimated 200 to 300 people remain at the studio. Employees across Microsoft's Xbox division received an email from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer Wednesday morning addressing organizational shifts hitting the team over the coming days. Halo Studios employees who were laid off received an additional invite to a meeting

It's nearly the end of the road for Warcraft Rumble . Blizzard has announced that it will no longer be developing new content for the free-to-play mobile strategy game, and instead focus on egular, systemic in-game events and bug fixes. The change comes as the rest of Microsoft's business is in upheaval: The company is laying off as many as 9,000 employees across its global workforce. Blizzard's statement doesn't get into the details of what motivated the decision, but is clear that Warcraft Ru

President Trump's Big Beautiful Bill has squeaked through the Senate in time for this weekend's pyrotechnic celebrations. The bill festively shoots down a long list of environmental protection measures of all shapes and sizes, with the red glare of those rockets looking set to burn all current federal EV rebates in particular. While the exact timing is still in flux, as things stand the $7,500 federal rebate for electric vehicles would expire not in 2032 as originally specified, but as soon as

You can add Perplexity to the growing list of AI companies offering $200+ per month subscription plans to users who want unlimited access to their most advanced products and tools. As of today, Perplexity Max is available on iOS and the web . The subscription comes with unlimited monthly usage of Labs , the agentic creation tool Perplexity released this past May. People can use Labs to generate spreadsheets, presentations, web applications and more. Perplexity is also promising early access to n

To find the best power bank out there, I tested around 50 portable chargers and batteries from big brands Anker, Belkin, UGreen, Mophie as well as some smaller players like Lion Energy, Nimble and Satechi. I used them to recharge a number of devices including iPhones, Galaxy phones, an iPad, a MacBook and even my ereaders and PlayStation controller. If you just want a brick that can charge anything, go for Ankers 25kmAh Laptop Power bank . It has two built-in USB-C cables, a massive capacity a

French video game giant Ubisoft has been embroiled in a multiyear saga regarding a toxic company culture , multiple sexual harassment investigations and harassment suits filed by former employees. In 2023, five former Ubisoft executives were arrested on various charges related to these investigations. On Wednesday, a French court sentenced three of them to suspended sentences for enabling a culture rife with sexual and psychological harassment. Former editorial vice president Thomas Francois was

In a mad, mad world, speedruns for charity can be a calm oasis. Summer Games Done Quick (SGDQ) has your fix with the 2025 edition of the marathon. You can tune in starting on Sunday, July 6. As usual, the lineup includes loads of fun games and bonkers challenges. It's fitting that this year's lineup includes a Switch 2 game. On the event's last day, the speedrunner Peas will take on Mario Kart World on the new console. Nintendo Perhaps to commemorate the new console's launch, Nintendo is everywh

The Initiative, the Xbox studio developing a modern reimagining of Perfect Dark , is being shut down, and development of the game is ending. As first reported by Windows Central, the studio's closure is part of major cuts Microsoft is making across its business, affecting around four percent of the company's global workforce. Based on a memo from Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty obtained by Windows Central , which Microsoft has confirmed is genuine, the decision to close The Initiative was born

Neil Druckmann, head of the PlayStation studio Naughty Dog and co-creator of The Last of Us, is stepping away from the HBO show based on the 2013 game and its 2020 sequel to focus his work on Naughty Dog's next game. On Instagram, the studio published the following statement from Druckmann: I've made the difficult decision to step away from my involvement in The Last of Us on HBO. With work completed on season 2 and before any meaningful work starts on season 3, now is the right time for me to t

Awesome Games Done Quick and Summer Games Done Quick aren't the only speedrunning marathons in town. There are others dotted throughout the year, such as Frost Fatales and Flame Fatales. Those all-women and femmes events are also operated by the Games Done Quick organization. The schedule for this year's Flame Fatales has just dropped, and there are lots of fascinating runs on deck. For one thing, you'll be able to watch an Any% run (i.e. beating the game with any percentage) of Hollow Knight .

In today's gaming world, a decade of development can sometimes amount to nothing. Parent company Microsoft has reportedly cancelled Rare's long-in-development project Everwild . The news comes amid broader layoffs across Microsoft's Xbox division . Rare employees will likely be part of the Xbox layoffs, according to Video Games Chronicle . VGC and Bloomberg 's Jason Schreier were the first to report the game's cancellation. (Schreier added that an MMORPG project from Zenimax, codenamed Blackbird

The software used by EU border security forces to prevent undocumented immigrants and suspected criminals from travelling in the region is allegedly riddled with holes and vulnerable to cyber attacks. The Second Generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) is an IT system and database shared between most EU states for law enforcement and public security purposes. And according to a new collaborative report between Bloomberg and investigative non-profit Lighthouse Report s, SIS II which has b

A US judge has ruled that Huawei must stand trial following a 16-count indictment from 2019 accusing the Chinese telecommunications company of trying to steal trade secrets from its US rivals and selling surveillance equipment to Iran despite trade sanctions, according to a report by Reuters . A trial is currently set for May 4, 2026. US District Judge Ann Donnelly found sufficient evidence in the indictment to refute the company's bid for dismissal. In a 52-page decision, the Brooklyn judge rul

One of the trickiest parts of any new computer build or upgrade is finding the right video card. In a gaming PC, the GPU is easily the most important component, and you can hamstring your experience by buying the wrong model. The buying process can be frustrating, with many manufacturers selling their models above their suggested retail price. In this guide, we'll help you navigate the market and find the right GPU for your needs. It's all about the games The first question to ask yourself is wh

The so-called Big, Beautiful Bill will, if passed, make sweeping changes to the US clean energy market. While some of the worst provisions affecting the industry were stripped out during Senate proceedings earlier this week, its still pretty bad. In fact, the current language of the bill might as well be a middle figure to the domestic solar manufacturing industry. As it stands, the bill guts many of the clean energy programs of Joe Biden's signature 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. That includes k

At the start of last year, Crunchyroll President Rahul Purini told The Verge the company was very focused on testing generative AI tools for subtitling and captioning speech to text. The comment came just months after the streamer temporarily took down the debut episode of one of its newest shows, The Yuzuki Family's Four Sons, after people complained about poor subtitles. Much of the translation was nonsensical, with missing punctuation in many sentences. At the time, some fans speculated the

Last week, it was rumored that Microsoft was getting ready for a major round of layoffs within the Xbox team. Bloomberg is now reporting that employees in the companys gaming division were informed of job cuts Wednesday morning. The PC giant has been on a cost-cutting mission lately, announcing it would let go of 3 percent of its global workforce earlier this summer, and announcing a further 9,000 job cuts on Wednesday. According to Bloomberg , Microsofts Stockholm-based King division, famous fo

Tesla says it delivered 384,122 electric vehicles in the April-June timeframe, which is a 14 percent drop compared with the same period in 2024 . It's also the second quarter in a row that sales have fallen year-over-year (YoY). The company produced 410,244 vehicles in Q2, which is very close to the 410,831 it made during the equivalent period last year. However, the company delivered more vehicles (443,956) than it produced in Q2 2024. That's not the case this time. The number of vehicle delive

MethaneSAT, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) methane-tracking satellite backed by the Bezos Earth Fund, is lost in space . Its ground team lost contact with the spacecraft on June 20 but tried to reestablish a connection until it learned in the morning of July 1 that MethaneSAT had lost power altogether. The team believes that the satellite is likely not recoverable. MethaneSAT collected data on methane emissions that have previously been untrackable in an effort to combat climate change. Me

It's that time of year again when Amazon is hosting deals on everything from wireless earbuds to air fryers. Starting July 8, Prime Day will run for four days with deep price cuts on smart home gadgets, including the Roomba Robot Vacuum and Mop Combo from iRobot that drops down to an all-time low of $140 from its original $275 price tag. While this Roomba was marked down to $149 earlier this year, the Prime Day deal is the first time we're seeing a 49 percent discount. Just note that this deal i

Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to settle its lawsuit with Donald Trump filed during the 2020 presidential campaign, according to The Washington Post . The deal is controversial as legal experts said Paramount had a strong chance of prevailing in court and may have settled to smooth the path for its $2.4 billion Skydance merger . Paramount said the $16 million would be allocated to Trump's future presidential library and not paid to him directly or indirectly. In addition, it does not in

We now know that the 2025 edition of Amazon's blockbuster Prime Day sales event will start on July 8, and it's set to be bigger than ever as it will run for four days. But you don't need to wait until then for tasty deals. There will be plenty in the lead up to the event, including this one for the Levoit Core 400S air purifier . At $183, the device is $37 off. It's not quite the lowest price we've seen for this model. However, it's not too far off that mark of $176. The Levoit Core 400S is our

SoftBank's $6.5 billion acquisition of AI-chip designer Ampere is facing an in-depth US government probe that may delay the deal, according to Bloomberg . The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has opened a so-called second request for information, a relatively rare investigation that can go on for more than a year or even lead to a lawsuit blocking it, according to people familiar with the matter. Neither SoftBank nor Ampere have commented on the matter. Japan's SoftBank, headed by Masayoshi Son, a

Choosing the best laptop can be a bit of a challenge there are so many models, sizes and specs out there that its easy to feel lost in the shuffle. But the good news is that modern laptops are better than ever. Whether you're looking for a powerful AI PC, a travel-ready ultrabook or an affordable machine that can handle everyday tasks, there's something out there for everyone. Todays systems combine improved performance, longer battery life and smarter features in sleek, lightweight designs tha

Whether you're jamming out at the beach, setting up a backyard movie night or just want some tunes while you work, a great portable Bluetooth speaker is a must-have. The best options today go beyond just playing music they deliver punchy bass, crisp vocals and even customizable sound modes to match whatever you're listening to. Some models even pack extras like a built-in LED light for a cool light show, making them perfect for parties or late-night hangs. The best portable Bluetooth speaker is

If youve been shocked by how much you spend on streaming services lately, youre not alone. Companies like Netflix, Disney, Max and others have been consistently raising prices to the point where you may question if streaming is even worth it anymore . We at Engadget still think it is, but we also think you should be smart with your money and thats where streaming deals come in. Yes, it is possible to get discounts on services like Peacock and Paramount+, even if those deals arent as common as a

US government officials have condemned ICEBlock and CNN's recent coverage of it, leading to more people hearing about its existence and downloading it from the App Store. Now the application, which allows users to add a pin on a map to show where ICE agents have recently been spotted, has climbed to the to the top of Apple's App Store charts. It's currently the number one free social networking app in the US and the third most downloaded free app overall. Engadget CNN's piece talked about how t

In what was probably an inevitable conclusion, X has announced that it will allow AI to author Community Notes. With a pilot program beginning today, the social network is releasing developer tools to create AI Note Writers. These tools will be limited to penning replies in a test mode and will need approval before their notes can be released into the wild. The first AI Note Writers will be accepted later this month, which is when the AI-composed notes will start appearing to users. Not only doe

Shopping for the best cordless vacuum cleaners means finding that sweet spot between power, portability and convenience. Whether you're cleaning up after pets, tackling hardwood floors or reaching those tricky spots under the couch, cordless vacuums offer freedom and versatility that traditional canister vacuums just cant match. Todays top models come packed with smart features to make cleaning less of a hassle from built-in LED lights that illuminate hidden dust bunnies to HEPA filters that tr

With the third generation of its smartphone series, Nothing made the unusual move to launch the cheaper a line first, unveiling the Phone 3a and 3a Pro in March . Now, its time for its latest flagship. The Nothing Phone 3, starting at $799 (with a $899 option with 16GB of RAM) goes up against giants like the Google Pixel 9 and Samsung Galaxy S25 a competitive slice of the smartphone world. Once again, though, theres nothing in the market that quite resembles a Nothing, as the company attempts t

After numerous waves of similar (and not-so-similar) wireless buds , Nothing is debuting its first pair of over-ear headphones. The Headphone 1 combines the company's recognizable see-through aesthetic with an intriguing array of controls and up to 35 hours of listening with active noise cancellation (ANC). Handily, for its most premium audio launch yet, the $299 headphones accompany the launch of Nothings new flagship smartphone: the Phone 3. First impressions are everything, and these look lik

The wait is over. Nothing has officially announced the Phone 3, its first flagship smartphone since entering the market in 2022 . Nothing CEO Carl Pei said the company would go all-in on the Phone 3 with premium materials, major performance upgrades and software that really levels things up, and the device Nothing showed off at its launch event in London certainly seems like it will be competitive with the best from Samsung and other Android OEMs. In a departure from the company's previous hands

Amazon announced a fresh batch of games that it's giving away for free or nearly free in July. The company's cloud gaming platform, Amazon Luna, has a few notable standouts on its lineup of free titles this month for Prime members in regions where the service is available. However, you'll want to play quick. Resident Evil 2 is available on Amazon Luna now through 11:59PM PT on July 12. Need for Speed Unbound is only free for July 5-6, while EA Sports FC 25 is getting two free weekends on July 19

Chalk one up for prison telecoms and against inmates' family members courtesy of Trump's FCC. On Monday, the agency said ( via The Verge ) it would delay enforcement of a 2024 action aimed at capping prison phone call fees. The rules are now scheduled to take effect in April 2027. FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez criticized the agency's move in a statement . Today, the FCC made the indefensible decision to ignore both the law and the will of Congress, she wrote. Prison phone call fees vary drama

Marshall has launched its latest compact Bluetooth speaker, the Middleton II. A direct replacement for the first-generation Middleton from 2023, the new speaker promises room-filling 360-degree sound from a device that sits comfortably in the palm of your hand and wont demand too much space in your backpack for trips. The original Middleton offered bright clear sound that belied its diminutive proportions, and with its successor Marshall says it has engineered deeper bass and more refined perfor

Meta announced just a couple weeks ago that it would finally start testing a dedicated inbox for direct messages on Threads. Now, it's making the feature official and rolling out DMs to everyone. As with the earlier test, the update will add a messaging tab to the Threads app where users can access the inbox and exchange DMs with mutuals. Meta says that initially people will only be able to send messages to users who already follow them or mutual followers from Instagram, though it plans to roll

Big ticket items like TVs and iPads might get the lions share of the attention during Amazons sale , but there are plenty of Prime Day deals under $50 to check out, too. Weve combed through the pages (and pages) of discounts to find sales on the brands and gadgets weve tested and recommend. Our picks include power banks from Anker, smart plugs from TP-Link and smart speakers from Amazon Echo. Weve also linked back to our reviews and buying guides to help with your shopping decisions. Here are th

Nintendo has confirmed that the top-notch development team behind Super Mario Odyssey , one of the best games for the Switch , has also developed Donkey Kong Bananza for the Switch 2 , according to reporting by Eurogamer . The highly anticipated platformer starring Nintendo's iconic ape will be the first 3D Donkey Kong game since 1999's Donkey Kong 64 . We got a chance to go hands-on with Donkey Kong Bananza earlier this year, and we loved the fresh look on the timeless character. DK and his sup

You may be spending more time outside during the summer, especially if you have a grill, but the gadgets in your kitchen will come in handy this season, too. Prime Day deals have already discounted one of our favorite air fryers, so you can grab it on sale and make things like crispy fried chicken with ease. The Ninja Foodi Dual-Zone 10-quart air fryer is $50 off and down to $180 right now. While not an all-time-low price, it's a good sale for this time of year so far from the Black Friday shopp

Now that we know Amazon Prime Day will be coming up soon on July 8-11, its time to start thinking about what you may want to snag at a discount during the sale. If you pay the $139 annual fee for Prime, sale events like these are a great time to stock up on essentials and cross things off your wishlist while you can save some money. Most discounts will be exclusively available to Prime subscribers, but there are always a few that anyone shopping on Amazon can grab. Similarly, there are always ea

Edgar Wright is remaking The Running Man , and there's a trailer to prove it . Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1987 classic imagined a dystopian 2025 in which an authoritarian government forced cruelty on incarcerated people for entertainment. Now it's actually 2025 and, well, that doesn't sound that far off . Wright's version injects a bit of humor into the proceedings, while widening the stakes. The 1980s film, which was based on a novel by Stephen King, chronicled a game show in which prisoners had t

Amazons Prime Day doesnt officially begin until Tuesday, July 8, but were already seeing deals on some of our recommended Apple gear . Right now, Amazon has discounts on the AirPods Max, the latest iPad, the Apple Watch Series 10, and the M4 MacBook Air. So if your old AirPods are due for an upgrade or youre ready to pass down your current iPad to your nephew and get yourself a new one, this is a good time to shop. While we dont know whether these deals will get better once the sale officially s

Apple is suing one of its former design engineers for allegedly stealing a trove of trade secrets that he then provided to his new employer, Snap. As reported by SiliconValley.com , Di Liu left his role as senior product-design engineer after a seven-year stint with Apple, citing personal and family reasons in his resignation to the company. Before leaving Apple, Liu had worked on the Vision Pro headset, where according to the lawsuit seen by SiliconValley.com he was given access to various Appl

If you've put off buying an MLS Season Pass this year then you're in luck. Today, Apple TV is cutting the price in half, dropping to $49 from $99, for the rest of the 2025 season. If you have an Apple TV+ subscription then you can get a seasonal subscription to the pass for just $39. To be fair, the season runs from February to October so the savings more than makes sense though it wouldn't be suprising for a streamer to charge full price no matter the number of matches left. Apple announced th

Xbox has confirmed the first batch of Game Pass additions for July. The headliner this time around is Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 + 4 , which is coming to Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass on July 11, which is the games release day. It was already known that this remake bundle was going to arrive on Game Pass on day one, but hey, theres nothing wrong with a little reminder. The rest of the first wave of July additions include some titles that are returning to Game Pass. Several are coming to the e

Prime Day 2025 will be here in a few days, but you can already shop great tech deals on Amazon before the July 8-11 event. Case in point: the Apple Watch Series 10 , which is $100 off at the moment and down to $299. That's the lowest price it's been so far since it came out last September. Its hard to believe that the Apple Watch is already ten years old. It seems like only yesterday that we got our hands on the first generation, and now the Apple Watch Series 10 is counting the days until the n

Robot vacuums can be a big help around the house by automating a regular chore, but they can be pretty expensive. Thats why its a wise decision to wait for a shopping event like Amazon Prime Day to buy one, when you can usually save hundreds off the sticker price. Amazon Prime Day 2025 is nearly here, and its already brought excellent deals to many of our top picks for the best robot vacuums available today. The devices range from entry-level to midrange to high-end dirt suckers, and iRobot, Sha

It's still one week until Prime Day 2025 officially kicks off, but the sales are already here. There's deals on some of our favorite products, like the TP-Link Deco AXE5400 WI-Fi mesh router system and the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max . Now, another Amazon device is on sale: the Echo Spot . Currently, you can get the Amazon Echo Spot for $45, down from $80. The 44 percent discount brings the smart alarm clock to a new all-time low. The deal is available on each of the color options, Black, Glacie

If your laptop simply isnt cutting it anymore, Amazon Prime Day 2025 might have arrived just in time. As has been the case for the past few years, laptop deals are abundant this Prime Day (even now in the lead-up to the official dates), bringing discounts to MacBooks, Windows laptops, Chromebooks and more. But we wouldnt blame you if you didnt know how to figure out if that laptop youre eyeing actually has a good discount for Prime Day, or if the deal is stale. Thats where Engadget can help. Wev

Google has rolled out the latest version of Keep and, as 9to5Google has noticed, it no longer supports the Apple Watch. Its iTunes listing now only shows what the note-taking app would look like for iPhones and iPads. Google made its Keep app compatible with Apple Watches back in 2019 when its apps made a return on the wearable after over a year of absence. It hasn't had a meaningful update for the device since then, but it worked just fine. Users who rely on Keep across iOS and Android for, say