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Streaming services keep raising prices . At this point, if you subscribe to all the major services out there, you're basically paying the same price as cable those antiquated local monopolies that streaming was supposed to save us from. But streaming still has one big advantage over the old ways: no contracts. That means you can grab a good streaming deal and then cancel without penalty. Our advice is to sign up for a service when you see a good streaming deal (or the latest season of, say, Doc

Indie game developer Edmund McMillen hosted a Reddit AMA today offering some more details about his upcoming game Mewgenics . For starters, the Steam release date for this turn-based cat-breeding RPG has been slightly delayed to February 10. The game was first announced all the way back in 2012 and had most recently been slated for a launch some time this year. Part of the long development cycle was so that McMillen could pause to launch Super Meat Boy Forever , the sequel to his Super Meat Boy

The year is 1987. Beverly Hills Cop II is the highest-grossing movie. Walk Like an Egyptian is the hottest song. The Iran-Contra scandal dominates American political headlines, while Konamis Contra sucks up coins in arcades. But towering above them all is the watershed moment of Jaws arriving on the NES. (This time there's no escape!, warned the box art.) Now, 38 years later, the 8-bit game is returning as a Limited Run Games physical re-release. The retro release coincides with the Spielberg mo

Apple Music and Apple TV were briefly down during outage, according to Apples System Status page . The outage was logged on Apples own system at around 2:53PM ET and affected both of the companys streaming services, along with Apple TVs Channels feature, until the company resolved the issue around 4:31PM ET. On DownDetector, reports of issues with Apple TV and Apple Music first appeared right around 2:33PM ET, a little before Apple officially confirmed the outage on its own site. Only some users

Mark Zuckerberg has for months publicly hinted that he is backing away from open-source AI models. Now, Meta's latest AI pivot is starting to come into focus. The company is reportedly working on a new model, known inside of Meta as Avocado, which could mark a major shift away from its previous open-source approach to AI development. Both CNBC and Bloomberg have reported on Meta's plans surrounding Avocado, with both outlets saying the model could be proprietary rather than open-source. Avocado,

Spotify is attempting to give users more control over the music the streaming service recommends with a new playlist feature called Prompted Playlist. The beta feature is rolling out in New Zealand starting on December 11, and will let users write a custom prompt that Spotify can use alongside their listening history to create a playlist of new music. By tapping on Prompted Playlist, Spotify subscribers participating in the beta will be presented with a prompt field where they can type exactly

Intel will have to pay up in an antitrust case dating back to 2009 , Reuters reported on Wednesday. The company has lost its challenge against a 376 million ($438.7 million) regulatory fine levied by the European Commission. However, Intel managed to get the amount reduced to 237 million euros ($276.6 million). The case began in 2009, when mobile computing was in its infancy and netbooks ( remember those? ) were all the rage in the PC space. At the time, the EU ruled that Intel violated antitrus

There are a lot of competing ideas as to what a white elephant gift exchange really is. The origins of the term white elephant point to one definition: According to legend, the King of Siam would give a white elephant to courtiers who had upset them. It was a far more devious punishment than simply having them executed. The recipient had no choice but to simply thank the king for such an opulent gift, knowing that they likely could not afford the upkeep for such an animal. It would inevitably le

You gotta love that post-Day of the Devs showcase feeling. The organization, founded by Double Fine Productions and iam8bit, consistently highlights top-tier games from independent developers across the globe, providing space for creators to share their stories in both online and in-person events. This years Day of the Devs: The Game Awards Digital Showcase was an hour-long celebration of 22 upcoming indie games, including six world premieres and three release date announcements. Settle in and b

Sony just announced December's Game Catalog additions for PS Plus subscribers and it's a pretty decent lineup. All of these titles will be ready to play on December 16, except Skate Story which is already available . Speaking of Skate Story , it's a really weird skateboarding sim that's set in a glass-covered world. The reviews have been positive , with many people praising the outlandish story, surreal locations and the satisfying trick mechanics. It's made by Sam Eng, who was behind the indie

There's a fundamental question you can ask of both the internet and real life: How do I enjoy my time here without taking unnecessary risks? In grass-touching meatspace, you can cut out processed foods, carry pepper spray and avoid skydiving without a partner. But the best methods for staying safe online aren't as intuitive. The internet is a massive town square where people are constantly bellowing deeply personal facts about themselves. It's no surprise that it's become a breeding ground for s

The US Department of State is unwinding a 2023 decision to use san-serif Calibri font on all official communications and switching to Times New Roman instead, The New York Times reports . In a memo obtained by NYT titled Return to Tradition: Times New Roman 14-Point Font Required for All Department Paper, Secretary of State Marco Rubio frames the change as a way to return professionalism to the State Department. Switching to Calibri achieved nothing except the degradation of the departments offi

Ever since reporting earlier this year on how easy it is to trick an agentic browser , I've been following the intersections between modern AI and old-school scams. Now, there's a new convergence on the horizon: hackers are apparently using AI prompts to seed Google search results with dangerous commands. When executed by unknowing users, these commands prompt computers to give the hackers the access they need to install malware. The warning comes by way of a recent report from detection-and-res

YouTube TV, which launched in 2017 as a $35-per-month all-in-one service, will soon introduce YouTube TV Plans. Although the announcement is light on details, we know the initiative will let you sign up for genre-specific packages, such as sports and news. In other words, it's the final step in the legacy-cable-ification of the service . YouTube hasn't said anything about pricing. But it's probably safe to assume that narrowing your available content will reduce your bill. A year ago, the compan

Amazon is introducing same-day delivery of perishable food items to 1,300 new cities and towns throughout the country, upping the total service area to more than 2,300 locations. This expansion covers cities like Boise, Salt Lake City, Fort Collins, Omaha, Des Moines and many more. Check the link to see if it has expanded to where you live . The commerce giant says it will be bringing the service to even more cities in 2026, making the platform a real rival to stuff like Instacart and Walmart+.

Rockstar Games may have to answer for what appears to be union-busting behavior. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, under pressure from parliament, said the government will look into the firing of 31 employees in October. The sacked workers were all part of a private trade union chat group on Discord. The company claimed the firings were for gross misconduct and accused the workers of sharing confidential information outside of the company. But based on what we know, it's hard to see that character

Nintendo has announced its Nintendo Switch Online additions for December, which are for all the N64-era 3D platformer fans out there. On December 17, Rayman 2: The Great Escape and Tonic Trouble are joining the Switchs Nintendo Classics library. As a reminder, N64 games are exclusive to Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers, along with the emulators for the Game Boy Advance, Sega Genesis and GameCube. For retro gaming completionsists, Tonic Trouble might actually be the more interesting get

OpenAI is in a far less commanding position than it was following the public release of ChatGPT a few short years ago. Back in 2022, the sudden popularity of ChatGPT sent Google into a panic . The company was so worried about the possibility of the upstart chatbot disrupting its Search business, executives sounded a code red alert inside of the company and called Sergey Brin and Larry Page out of retirement to help it formulate a response to OpenAI. It then rushed out Bard, announcing its first

Like it or not, the checkmark has become an almost universal symbol on most social platforms, even though its exact meaning can vary significantly between services. Now, Reddit, which historically hasn't cared that much about its users' identity, is joining the club and starting to test verification for public figures on its platform. The company is beginning a limited alpha test of the feature with a small curated group of accounts that includes journalists from major media outlets like NBC New

Petco has accidentally exposed a whole lot of customer data and personal information, according to a report by TechCrunch . This is thanks to a security lapse involving its Vetco clinics website, forcing the company to take a portion of that site offline. Petco has confirmed the leak and TechCrunch noted that the security lapse allowed anyone to download customer records without login information. The exposed data includes customer names, driver's license numbers, dates of birth, Social Security

It's become cliche to say that we live in a golden age of board games, but to paraphrase the great stoic philosopher Andy Bernard, it's great to know you're in the good old days before you've left them. Great titles are still coming out by the thousands every year, from crowd-pleasing party games to genre-bending, theme-heavy Euros. Whether the gamer in your life is looking for a mind-warping challenge, a fun evening with friends or something in-between, we've got new releases or old favorites t

CloverPit is one of my favorite games of the year so far. Developer Panik Arcade took the formula that helped make Balatro so successful using various tools to bend the rules of the game to help you rack up obscenely high scores and based it around a slot machine rather than poker. Its been a hit so far on PC, where it has sold more than a million copies since September, and on Xbox. CloverPit has been among the top 20 most-played titles on Game Pass since its surprise debut there last month .

Apples Studio Display hasnt been updated since it launched in 2022, but it remains one of the best monitors for the Mac-oriented, and right now you can pick one up for $230 off. This deal applies specifically to the tilt-adjustable model, which means you cant adjust the height of the built-in stand. That might be a deal-breaker for some users, but if not, $1,368 is a near-record low. The Studio Display was a product that Apple devotees had been asking the company to make for years. As well as be

If learning a new skill is one of your New Year's resolutions, then you might want to know that MasterClass subscriptions are currently 40 percent off. This brings the top-tier subscription with offline mode and use on up to six devices down from $240 annually to $144. The entry-level plan, which supports just one device and doesn't offer offline viewing, is marked down to $72 from $120. Over the past few years, MasterClass has grown to over 200 classes, sessions and original series. You can lea

Not long ago, you may have thought of projectors as complicated, unreliable or just too expensive. In 2025, though, consumer sentiment started to flip. Companies like Anker and Valerion made the projector experience more practical and immersive, helping drive consumer interest and, ultimately, sales. This shift has been quite a few years in the making. LG helped kickstart the projector renaissance back at CES 2018 when it introduced its unusual-looking CineBeam HU80K projector that could provide

In a world where notifications persistently compete for our attention, distraction-free ereaders and writing tablets have found an audience. Putting your phone, laptop or iPad aside and curling up with a Kindle or a reMarkable tablet have become an almost ironic way for the tech-savvy to disconnect from online noise and focus on reading and writing. Its debatable how broad the appeal of these devices is, but even in what appears to be a relatively small slice of the industry, the competition is

The European Union has provisionally agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent (based on 1990 levels) by 2040, the EU parliament announced in a press release . That goes beyond the goals of most other major economies, including China, but falls short of the original one recommended by the EU's climate science advisors. The target delivers on the need for climate action while safeguarding our competitiveness and security, said Denmark's minister Lars Aagaard, who helped negotiate th

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,

The holidays are nearly here and if youre a bit behind on your gift shopping, youre not alone. The holidays can truly sneak up on you, and this year thats been more true than ever. Between wrapping things up at work before some well-deserved time off and making sure you have everything you need to host family and friends, it can be hard to find the time to go to a store to pick out presents. And when you do finally get there, you may be met with half-empty shelves. But this is where the internet

Back in October, OpenAI announced apps like Spotify and Canva would be accessible in ChatGPT. At the time, the company said more software was on the way, and now one of the most popular professional applications is available through the chatbot. Starting today, you can access Photoshop, Acrobat and Adobe Express inside of ChatGPT. All the apps are free to use through OpenAIs website, though before you can begin generating PDFs and illustrations using Acrobat and Adobe Express, you'll need to sig

For many of us at Engadget, a big part of our jobs is testing out new tech on a regular basis. Our desks are cluttered with new smartphones, power banks, gaming accessories and more pretty much all the time, and there are plenty of winners and losers amongst them. Similarly, there are winners and losers in the things we buy for ourselves throughout the year, and we like to sing their praises just as much as we do for the best new tech that (professionally) comes across our desks. These are the b

Spotty Wi-Fi can make even simple tasks feel harder than they should. If youve ever had a video call freeze in one room or watched a stream buffer in another, a mesh Wi-Fi system can fix those frustrations. Instead of relying on a single router tucked in a corner, a mesh setup uses multiple units that work together to spread a strong, consistent signal throughout your home. Modern mesh systems are built for busy households. They keep dozens of devices connected at once, manage traffic intelligen

The Game Awards 2025 edition of the Day of the Devs digital showcase goes live on Wednesday, December 10 at 1PM ET on Twitch and YouTube . Thats more than 30 hours before The Game Awards itself kicks off, which makes perfect sense. It is called Day of the Devs, after all, and if were judging by past appearances , the event absolutely deserves its own full 24 hours in the spotlight. This year, the Day of the Devs: The Game Awards Digital Showcase will feature 22 indie titles, including three rele

We love a little nostalgia mixed in with our cozy gaming, and ReStory looks like a perfect blend of those two. In this upcoming indie game, you play the owner of a Tokyo electronics repair shop in the mid 2000s. The trailer that dropped today shows you tinkering with some very familiar gadgets from the era, such as renamed riffs on a Tamagotchi, a Nokia brick phone, a PSP and a Walkman. You clean and repair these devices for customers, and it looks like your conversations with them might have as

Uber is rolling out kiosks for travelers to book rideshares without using the mobile app. The company is pitching the service as a convenience for international travelers who may not have a data plan, but it could also be a lifesaver if your phone runs out of juice and you don't have a way to recharge it. A passenger can use the kiosk to enter their destination and desired ride type, then will receive a printed receipt with the details about their booked ride. The first kiosk will debut in Termi

It looks like Meta has decided to turn Instagram users into unwitting SEO spam pawns. On Tuesday, 404 Media reported that the platform is generating sensational, likely AI-generated headlines and descriptions for user posts without their knowledge or explicit consent. An Engadget editor has also noticed this on their posts. The headlines are found in the pages code and are only visible in search results. The scheme appears to be an effort to boost the Google search ranking of Instagram content.

OpenAI has announced that Denise Dresser, the current CEO of Slack, will be the company's new Chief Revenue Officer. Dresser will oversee the company's revenue strategy across enterprise and customer success, according to OpenAI's announcement, and will presumably play a key role in leading the company towards profitability now that it's reorganized as a public benefit corporation . We're on a path to put AI tools into the hands of millions of workers, across every industry, Fidji Simo, OpenAI's

The Game Awards are this week, with the grand showcase for 2025 coming up on Thursday, December 11 at 8PM ET. There's also a pre-show (in case the multi-hour affair just isn't enough TGA for you) and that kicks off at 7:30PM ET. The ceremony will be a mix of honoring games from the past year and debuting trailers for future releases, so expect a couple interesting announcements to emerge from Thursday night. Engadget will be reporting on any big stories as they happen at The Game Awards, but if

Traeger debuted its Woodridge line of Wi-Fi-enabled pellet grills back in January. The overall theme across the Woodridge, Woodridge Pro and Woodridge Elite is the companys reliable performance and features are available for less than the cost of its most premium models. Just before Christmas, the company is adding to the the Woodridge lineup with the Woodridge Pro Plus . For $400 more than the Woodridge Pro, this Plus model adds the enclosed storage cabinet from the Woodridge Elite. Instead of

The best gifts inspire joy long after the initial unwrapping. Subscription boxes are designed to show up again and again, each time offering something new to try, build or taste. Theyre perfect for friends who already have too much gear or relatives who like to discover things without searching for them. From electronics kits and mystery puzzles to Japanese treats and fresh coffee, these boxes make each month feel like a small celebration. You pick the vibe, the plan and the recipient gets a ste

AI chatbots haven't come close to replacing teens' social media habits, but they are playing a significant role in their online habits. Nearly one-third of US teens report using AI chatbots daily or more, according to a new report from Pew Research. The report is the first from Pew to specifically examine how often teens are using AI overall, and was published alongside its latest research on teens' social media use. It's based on an online survey of 1,458 US teens who were polled between Septem

The James Webb Space Telescope and other international observatories have spotted a 13-billion-year-old supernova. On Tuesday, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced the sighting of a gamma-ray burst from a star that exploded when the Universe was only 730 million years old. The Webb telescope even detected the supernova's host galaxy. Before this observation, the oldest recorded supernova was from when the Universe was 1.8 billion years old. That's a difference of more than a billion years.

Sony's 2025 PlayStation Wrap-Up is now available . The recap, which is similar to those from music streaming services, sums up gaming habits from throughout the year. It shows players how many hours they used their PS4 or PS5, what games they played the most, preferred genres, trophy counts and more. These digital cards are shareable on social media, which is kind of the whole point. Nothing says bragging rights more than offering definitive proof of how long you spent on a couch grinding in Cla

You can add the Switch 2 to the (long) list of platforms where you can play The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim . The bad news: It costs $60 to play the 2011 game optimized for Nintendo's 2025 hardware . The good news: It costs less (or nothing) if you own one of the versions for the original Switch. The (digital-only) Switch 2 port is the Anniversary Edition of Skyrim , released in 2021. That includes the base game and three expansions ( Dawnguard , Dragonborn and Hearthfire ). You'll also find hundred

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 just got a fairly bizarre expansion inspired by the Netflix show Stranger Things . If you've ever wanted to fly over a fictional Indiana town in the 1980s, this is the update for you. That's right. The game now lets folks fly over Hawkins, Indiana and check out more than 40 iconic locations from the series, including Starcourt Mall, the junkyard, the government lab and, of course, the upside down. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 introduces Netflixs Stranger Things

Somewhere along its never-ending quest to increase engagement, Meta realized that giving Facebook users more of what they want would make it more likely that they'll stick around. The company has announced a bunch of updates designed to help improve the feed and the broader Facebook experience by making it easier to find, create and share interesting things. (Because primarily showing updates from your friends with the occasional ad or meme post is maybe just too complicated.) Simplification is

It has been two months since Google released the Pixel Watch 4 and now the company is introducing new updates to the wearable. In our review , Engadget managing editor Cherlynn Low was impressed enough with the watch to give it an 86, but called out the lack of gesture-based interactions. The new one-handed gesture features, like double pinch and wrist turn, should make up for that. In an industry that involves constant borrowing of ideas, it should come as no surprise that these features are ve

A collaborative report from Consumer Reports, Groundwork Collaborative and More Perfect Union has uncovered pricing experiments within the Instacart app that yielded higher or lower prices for different users on the exact same items from the same store location. The organizations partnered to enroll 437 shoppers in an experiment across four cities, where each shopper added the same items to their carts within Instacart from the exact same store. Almost 75 percent of grocery items were shown to s

Pebble just announced the Index 01 , a smart ring for recording thoughts. It's a little ring with a built-in microphone and that's about it. The Index 01 is almost anti-tech in its simplicity. There's no needless AI component shoehorned in, aside from speech-to-text. It's a ring with a microphone that you whisper ideas into and I want one. Here's how it works. You get an idea while walking down the street, so you quietly whisper it into the ring. The ring sends the idea to a notes app or saves i

The most hyped tech is often also the most expensive: flagship smartphones, ultra-powerful gaming laptops, immersive VR headsets and the like. But it would be wrong to assume that those are the only pieces of technology worth gifting. You dont have to drain your wallet to get someone a cool gadget that will both be useful and make their lives easier. There are more solid, affordable gadgets out there now more than ever, but that also means youll discover some junk along the way. Weve collected o