Gadgets

Spotifys new Taste Profile feature lets users fine-tune their algorithms recommendations

You're responsible for your own Spotify algorithm now. On stage at SXSW, Spotify's co-CEO, Gustav Sderstrm, announced the Taste Profile feature, which allows users to personally customize exactly what they want to listen to, whether it's music, audiobooks or podcasts. This AI-powered feature is still in beta, and it will be available to Premium users in New Zealand in the coming weeks. From its short video demo, Spotify's Taste Profile feature will show you a summary of your listening habits and offer a Tell us more prompt at the bottom. With the new prompt, users can inform the AI what they want to see more of or if they want to get rid of a genre that keeps popping up in their algorithm. Spotify said that the Taste Profile will take into consideration more ambiguous prompts, too, like if you're training for a marathon and want upbeat music or want to listen to news podcasts during your commute to work. Spotify added that Taste Profile is an optional feature, and unwilling users can leave it and enjoy Spotify as usual. With Taste Profile, Spotify is continuing its momentum of offering AI features , like the Prompted Playlist feature that was made available last month. Unlike the existing AI Playlist feature, Prompted Playlist lets you put in specific requests to generate a playlist, like only including songs from a specific TV show. Like Taste Profile, the Prompted Playlist feature saw beta testing in New Zealand first, before expanding to US and Canadian users a month later. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/spotifys-new-taste-profile-feature-lets-users-fine-tune-their-algorithms-recommendations-191104626.html?src=rss

Trump administration will reportedly get $10 billion for brokering the TikTok deal

There may have been some extra incentive for the Trump administration to get the TikTok US deal done. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal , the Trump administration is set to receive a total of $10 billion in the deal that allowed TikTok to remain in the US. The new investors who acquired stakes in the US entity of TikTok already paid a $2.5 billion fee to the administration when the deal closed in January, but WSJ 's latest report noted that the group of investors would continue to make payments until the total hits $10 billion. After a group of investors, which includes Oracle along with the Silver Lake and MGX investment firms, acquired stakes in the US-based TikTok entity called TikTok USDS Joint Venture, the WSJ previously reported that the administration would receive a multibillion-dollar fee for its work on the deal. To better contextualize the recently-revealed $10 billion fee the Trump administration is receiving, the US entity of TikTok was valued at $14 billion by Vice President JD Vance. The Trump administration has previously involved itself in major deals with other US corporations. Last year, the administration invested $8.9 billion into Intel and received a nearly 9 percent equity stake. In terms of unprecedented windfalls, the Trump administration also received a Boeing 747-8 as a gift from the Qatari government in May. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/trump-administration-will-reportedly-get-10-billion-for-brokering-the-tiktok-deal-180954979.html?src=rss

What to read this weekend: Locked in with The Iron Garden Sutra

Need something new for your reading list? This week, we recommend A.D. Sui's The Iron Garden Sutra, a meditative horror sci-fi/fantasy and murder mystery. I don't typically gravitate toward locked room mysteries, but the description of this book ticked all the right boxes to win me over: a death monk and a team of researchers trapped onboard a spaceship of the dead encounter something beyond human understanding. It has all the makings of a compelling murder mystery, which is fine on its own, but thanks to the philosophical musings of its main character, Vessel Iris, and a setting that almost demands existential contemplation, it becomes something much deeper. Vessel Iris is a monk some time in the far future whose mission is to perform funeral rites for the dead so their souls may reach their ultimate destination, according to the beliefs of his religion, the Starlit Order. Vessels like Iris share their mind with an AI companion, which creates a really interesting dynamic for the reader, as there is a constant dialogue going on between the two from the start (carrying a tone that sometimes verges on old married couple, which I quite enjoyed). Iris shows up to an ancient ship called the Counsel of Nicaea expecting to perform his duties for the long-deceased on board and instead finds himself facing a group of researchers who are very much not dead and a jumbled mess of bones from the hundreds of bodies they disturbed by moving, which he'll have to sort in order to properly bless. Despite being a ghost ship in most respects, it turns out the Nicaea is alive with vegetation and gardens that would have once supported the humans that lived there. And, there's seemingly something else, as Iris' AI begins to pick up strange pings from a presence on the ship, and one by one the team of researchers starts getting picked off. As everything unravels, Iris begins to question his faith and his purpose. This was such a great read, and I was excited to learn it's the first in a two-book series, The Cosmic Wheel series. Fans of horror sci-fi/sci-fantasy should definitely check this one out. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/what-to-read-this-weekend-locked-in-with-the-iron-garden-sutra-172342019.html?src=rss

Meta is reportedly planning to cut up to 20 percent of its staff in upcoming layoffs

Meta could be preparing for one of the largest layoffs in its history, according to a Reuters report. The tech giant is planning to cut about 20 percent of its workforce, according to the outlet's sources. According to the report, neither a date nor the exact number of layoffs has been finalized yet. However, Reuters reported that Meta's top executives have told other senior leaders to start planning how to pare back. In its latest financial report , the company's employee headcount was 78,865 as of December 31, 2025, while revenue reached nearly $60 billion for the fourth quarter and more than $200 billion for the entire year. A Meta spokesperson told Reuters that this was speculative reporting about theoretical approaches. Meta is no stranger to major layoffs. Earlier this year, Meta targeted about 1,000 employees in its layoffs with the Reality Labs division that's responsible for the company's virtual reality and metaverse efforts. Early last year, Meta laid off about five percent of its workforce, following a smaller round of firings that same month. Meanwhile, the company has been spending heavily to acquire AI startups, like Moltbook , a social network designed for AI agents, and Manus , a startup focused on AI agents for task automation. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/meta-is-reportedly-planning-to-cut-up-to-20-percent-of-its-staff-in-upcoming-layoffs-160812304.html?src=rss

Digg shuts down for a 'hard reset' because it was flooded with bots

Digg has shut down, for now, just a few months after its open beta launched. Justin Mezzell, the companys CEO, has explained on the home page that it noticed hours after the beta launched that it was already being targeted by SEO spammers. The internet is now populated, in meaningful part, by sophisticated AI agents and automated accounts, he wrote. Apparently, the Digg team wasnt ready for the scale and the speed at which bots found and started flooding the website. Mezzell said Digg banned thousands of accounts and deployed both internal tools and external solutions, but they werent enough. He admitted that the votes and the comments on the website couldnt be trusted due to the amount of bot activity it got. While Digg has decided to significantly downsize its team, a small number of staff members has stayed to rebuild it completely. He said it wasnt enough to present Digg as an alternative to current social networks and community-based websites. What comes next needs to be genuinely different, he added. The CEO didnt explain how Digg will reinvent itself, but he did announce that its founder, Kevin Rose, is joining the company full time. Rose bought back Digg last year in partnership with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Back then, they said they had a fresh vision to restore the spirit of discovery and genuine community that made the early web a fun and exciting place to be. Based on what happened to Digg, thats now harder to achieve with the state of the internet today. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/digg-shuts-down-for-a-hard-reset-because-it-was-flooded-with-bots-153848094.html?src=rss

Ball x Pit on mobile, Piece by Piece x2 and other new indie games worth checking out

Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. A bunch of intriguing games arrived this week, including a mobile port of one of the most absorbing things Ive played in years and two completely different titles with the same name. Lets get things started with a look at a few projects that were featured in the latest edition of the Future Games Show . Hyperwired (from SidralGames and publisher SelectaPlay) is a 2D roguelike shooter with an interesting resource-management twist. To recharge your weapons and systems, you have to plug a cable that trails behind your spaceship into a socket. While you're plugged in, your movement is restricted by the length of the tether, but you gain more firepower. There are a whole bunch of upgrades and bullet modifiers to play around with here, including a slow-motion system you can activate at almost any time. Hyperwired is slated to hit Steam , PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch this summer. In Clean Up Earth, you and other players can work together to restore polluted environments. You can play solo if you like, but on the larger maps you'll need to team up with others to handle large bits of junk. One particularly neat aspect of Clean Up Earth is that in-game actions will automatically trigger micro-donations from developer Magic Pockets and its partners to environmental organizations. Clean Up Earth is coming to Steam , Epic Games Store, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on April 2. A Nintendo Switch 2 version is on the way in the future. There's a demo available on Steam as well. Mr. Magpies Harmless Card Game is a minesweeper-style riff on the likes of Inscryption and Buckshot Roulette . As with some other roguelike deckbuilders , you're trapped in a creepy situation and the only way to escape alive is to gamble and earn enough money in time to meet quotas. To do that, you'll need to twist the odds in your favor by building multipliers and synergies. You can boost your deck with powerful cards you can buy from a shop. However, there are dangerous JERRY cards on the board that could spell doom if you flip them over. You can use hints and strategies to try to figure out where those cards are and avoid them. There's no release date as yet for Mr. Magpies Harmless Card Game , which is from Giant Light Studios. However, you can request access to a playtest on Steam . A press release described Herdles as Spyro meets Breath of the Wild , with a dog. I'm immediately sold. Playing as a magical version of creative director Christian Hbels own dog, Snoopy, you'll estore balance to a fracturing world in this open-world platformer. On your journey, you'll rescue Herdles, or corrupted creatures. Doing so will unlock new powers, such as being able to glide, bust through walls and swim up waterfalls. There's no combat or death in this game, which seems to be largely about solving puzzles, experimenting with physics-based abilities and exploring. It's said to have deep accessibility and customization options too. Fire Sword Studios and One More Journey are behind Herdles , which does not have a release window, though the Steam page is live. New releases I took an earlier-than-usual lunch break on Thursday to check out the mobile version of Ball x Pit (from Kenny Sun and friends and publisher Devolver Digital) as soon as it was released. I adore this game. I'm happy it runs smoothly on my iPhone 16, because that should give me more reason to avoid doomscrolling. It's the same Ball x Pit . It's still fantastic. The touchscreen dual-stick controls work well enough, especially when the auto-fire option is enabled. Still, a mobile controller like OhSnap's MCON or the Backbone Pro works better for me. A bunch more people will be able to enjoy Ball x Pit now that it's on iOS and Android . You can play the first level for free and it costs $10 to unlock the full game. It's a pretty good week for folks who are into brick-breaking roguelites, because here's another one. ITER-8 (from fluckyMachine and publisher Fireshine Games) blends mining and tower defense. It's a bit like Dome Keeper . You're tasked with acquiring resources from an enormous monolith that's above your base. You'll need to drag these items back to your base so you can upgrade your character, ship, shield and weapon. There are relics to find and you can swap these for installations like lasers, barriers and cannons. There are also puzzle-based sections that sees your character leave their ship for some in-person mining and upgrade collecting, temporarily switching from 2D to 3D action. After a while, the monolith starts to thrum with an ominous sound. That means it's time to race back to base (with the help of a fast-travel system) to fend off waves of alien enemies. The two sides of ITER-8 work fairly well together and I've enjoyed my time with it so far. I actually find it pretty relaxing overall, though the tower-defense aspect could have been designed a bit more elegantly. Switching aim from one side of the base to the other doesnt feel snappy enough. ITER-8 is available on Steam for $13. There's a 25 percent launch discount available until March 23. Piece by Piece is billed as a cozy repair shop game from Gamkat and publisher No More Robots. It looks cute! You can decorate your shop and make it homely by cleaning, keeping the log fire burning and making sure the cookie jar is full. Of course, you'll be fixing up heirlooms and antiques for customers too. It's out now on Steam for $12, with a 20 percent discount until March 25. Piece by Piece is a puzzle platformer in the most literal sense. You manipulate levels by moving puzzle pieces around. It's a great idea from Neon Polygons and I'm keen to check this one out on Steam . It typically costs $13, but there's a 15 percent discount until March 27. Wait a second here... Two games called Piece by Piece that were released in the same week? That's a heck of a coincidence. Thankfully, the teams behind both games saw the funny side. They've even created a bundle of both games so you can buy them both for an extra 10 percent off. Here's another puzzle-forward game, albeit one that's more of an adventure. In Rhell: Warped Worlds & Troubled Times , you'll discover and combine spells in creative ways to solve riddles in similar fashion to games like Baba Is You . There are said to be more than a million ways to combine the magical keywords. Since every spell works on any object in the game, there are more than 102 million possible configurations. Neat! Solo developer Alice Jarratt from SlugGlove spent three years making Rhell: Warped Worlds & Troubled Times and drew more than 10,000 frames of animation for it. The game is available on Steam for $15, with a 20 percent launch discount until March 26. A demo is available too. Upcoming I've had Hoa on my wishlist for forever, so it's probably time for me to check out that puzzle platformer before the sequel arrives later this year. Hoa 2 (from Skrollcat Studio and publisher PM Studios) sticks with the hand-painted art of the original game but its a 3D game this time. It begins a long, long time after the end of Hoa , with the eponymous fairy returning to a world that's been transformed by time. But many of her old friends have passed away, so Hoa seeks a new purpose. Along with platforming and spatial puzzles, Hoa 2 features secrets and mini-games. It's coming to Steam , PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2. I dig what I've seen of MotorSlice , which seems to have Mirror's Edge -style parkour action but in a much grittier-looking world. The developers also took inspiration from the Prince of Persia series and Shadow of the Colossus here perhaps not too surprising in the latter case given that you'll be scaling huge bosses. This action adventure sees you on a mission to destroy every piece of machinery inside a ruined megastructure. MotorSlice is coming to Steam this spring. A demo for this game from Regular Studio and publisher Top Hat Studios is available now. Being a lifelong soccer fan is a curse that's punctuated with infrequent moments of the most intense joy you'll ever feel. Plus, every few years, I lose about a month of my life to the most recent version of Football Manager (I gave up on the last one after winning every possible trophy with Borussia Mnchengladbach for three seasons in a row). So, it's safe to say that a game focused on perhaps the least glamourous job in soccer is up my alley. Kitman a job you might know of as equipment manager is a sports management game with co-op for up to four people in which you take care of things behind the scenes of a soccer team. You'll clean locker rooms, polish boots, make sure players have the right uniforms and so on, while taking care of details on the fly on match days. There's a fun twist here in that you can secretly take on some of the manager's duties, such as scouting players and adjusting formations. Maybe that explains what's been happening with Tottenham Hotspur lately. Kitman , from Outlier, is coming to Steam later this year. In the meantime, you can sign up to take part in a playtest. If, like me, you adore Astro Bot , here's something to keep an eye on. Astrolander is a 2.5D platformer with lovely-looking 3D environments. As a robot named Feedback, you set out on a journey with a rocket-powered sidekick named Haptic (heh) to save bots known as the Most Valuable Programs, or MVPs. A second player can join in and help take control of Feedback. Astrolander is from 16-year-old Max Trest of Lost Cartridge Creations. The PlayStation team (including its then-head of indie games Shuhei Yoshida) tried Astrolander at an event a few years back and offered Trest the chance to bring his game to PS5. Astrolander is also coming to Steam . It's set to arrive later this year. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ball-x-pit-on-mobile-piece-by-piece-x2-and-other-new-indie-games-worth-checking-out-110000319.html?src=rss

Adobe agrees to pay settlement for making its subscriptions hard to cancel

Adobe has agreed to pay the US government $75 million to settle its lawsuit over the company's allegedly harmful approach to subscriptions. The suit started in 2024, when the US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission filed a joint complaint alleging the company deliberately made it difficult to cancel subscriptions and obscured the frequently expensive early termination fee customers have to pay to get out of annual subscriptions that are paid monthly. While we disagree with the governments claims and deny any wrongdoing, we are pleased to resolve this matter, Adobe writes. We have agreed to provide $75 million worth of free services to customers that qualify. We will proactively reach out to the affected customers once the appropriate filings with the Court are made and accepted. Additionally, we have agreed to a $75 million payment to the Department of Justice. Adobe's statement also notes that it's made the process of both signing up for and canceling subscriptions more streamlined and transparent. A major sticking point of the original complaint is that canceling an annual plan, paid monthly subscription before completing the first year of service required customers to pay an early termination fee to make up for the value Adobe lost initially offering its software at a discount. Adobe currently allows plans to be refunded if they're canceled within 14 days after signing up, but canceling an annual plan, paid monthly subscription after those first 14 days requires paying a hefty fee (as outlined in the company's detailed support page ). A court will have to approve Adobe's proposed settlement before the lawsuit can be totally resolved, but the timing is at least a little ironic. Shantanu Narayen, Adobe's CEO for the last 18 years and the executive who oversaw the company's transition from traditional software business to software-as-a-service business, recently announced plans to retire . This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/adobe-agrees-to-pay-settlement-for-making-its-subscriptions-hard-to-cancel-210336635.html?src=rss

Nothing updates its AI app with semantic search and a new way to track events

In the mad dash many companies have made to incorporate AI features into their phones, Nothing arrived at one of the better ideas with Essential Space on the Nothing Phone 3a in 2025. The AI-powered app turns screenshots and voice recordings into actionable to-do lists and transcriptions, and now Nothing is rolling out an update to make the app easier to search and capable of recognizing new kinds of content. As part of the update, Essential Space now recognizes Events, displaying them in their own card with fields for the date, time and location. That means, for example, if you add a photo of a flyer for pottery class to the app, Essential Space will be able to pull the details of when and where it's happening, and track it in much the same way it does tasks or to-dos. Nothing foresees events being such a big part of how people will use Essential Space that it's also changing the layout of the app's interface and listing things like Events and Tasks in a new For You page you see when you open the app. To make everything you've stored in Essential Space easier to find, the app now also supports semantic search, surfacing results that don't just match the text you've entered, but try to match the meaning of what you're looking for. Semantic search should be particularly useful when you're looking for an image, because you can enter a description of what you're looking for and Essential Space should still be able to surface it. Sorting and indexing digital ephemera like voice notes and screenshots with AI is a popular use for the technology. Google offers Pixel Screenshots , and even Apple gave iOS and iPadOS the ability to automatically recognize events in images and add them to your calendar. Essential Space might be less unique now, but the fact that Nothing continues to update it bodes well for its future. Nothing's new Essential Space update is available starting today on all 20252026 Nothing and CMF phones that support Essential Key, the company says. Essential Space should automatically update, but you also manually update the app in the Google Play Store. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/nothing-updates-its-ai-app-with-semantic-search-and-a-new-way-to-track-events-202500495.html?src=rss

The MacBook Neo is Apple's most repairable laptop

Apple's cheapest laptop is also its most repairable. iFixit gave the new MacBook Neo a 6/10 repairability score. Although that number would only be mediocre for, say, a game review or final exam grade, it's the MacBook line's highest iFixit score in about 14 years. As always, iFixit goes into great detail about the product's repairability, but a few points stand out. First, the MacBook Neo's battery is screwed down rather than glued moving it from his might burn the house down to outine repair territory. The laptop also has a flat disassembly tree. That means its battery, speakers, ports and trackpad are all immediately accessible after opening the back case. In other areas, a simplified antenna assembly helps the screen come away cleanly. Keyboard repair is still a bit tedious (41 screws and tape), but at least it isn't riveted to the top case like on other models. (The screwed-not-glued battery helps here, too.) Apple's decision to forego a Force Touch trackpad and return to a mechanical style improves repairability as well. And in a nice touch, all the machine's Torx Plus screw sizes are clearly labeled inside the case. Apple Several other encouraging signs carry over from recent MacBooks. iFixit found that Apple's Repair Assistant accepted all replacement parts it tried without a fuss. And its USB-C ports and headphone jack are modular, so replacing either doesn't urn into logic board work. Not everything is peachy. As expected, the Neo still has soldered RAM and storage, so there's no upgrade path there. iFixit describes Apple's pentalobe screws on the bottom case as an annoying choice. And while the device's speakers are easy to remove, they, well, just aren't very good. (Had to cut that cost somewhere.) While iFixit describes the Neo's repairability as a real comeback, it's premature to assume higher-end MacBooks will follow suit. After all, with this $599 device ($499 for schools), Apple is targeting the educational sector, where repairability could mean more bulk orders. Until Apple is convinced that the MacBook Air or Pro would sell better with similar serviceability, this kind of score may be limited to the budget model. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/the-macbook-neo-is-apples-most-repairable-laptop-200923202.html?src=rss

Meta is killing end-to-end encryption in Instagram DMs

Meta is killing end-to-end encryption in Instagram DMs. The feature will o longer be supported after May 8, 2026, the company wrote in an update on its support page. Unlike WhatsApp, Meta never made encryption available to all Instagram users and it was never a default setting. Instead, users in some areas had the ability to opt-in to encryption on a per-chat basis. In a statement, a Meta spokesperson said the feature was being retired due to low adoption. Very few people were opting in to end-to-end encrypted messaging in DMs, so we're removing this option from Instagram in the coming months, the spokesperson said. Anyone who wants to keep messaging with end-to-end encryption can easily do that on WhatsApp. Interestingly, Meta's statement doesn't mention the status of encryption on Messenger. The company began turning on end-to-end encryption as a default setting in 2023 after years of work on the feature. A support page for Messenger currently states that the company is in the process of securing personal messages with end-to-end encryption by default. Meta's approach to encrypted messaging has changed several times over the years. It started encrypting WhatsApp chats in 2016. In 2019, Mark Zuckerberg outlined a privacy-focused revamp of the company's apps, saying at the time that implementing end-to-end encryption for all private communications is the right thing to do. In 2021, the company's head of safety said that Meta was delaying its encryption work until 2023 in order to create stronger safety features. Metas use of encryption has been repeatedly criticized by law enforcement and some child safety organizations that say the feature makes it harder to catch predators who target children on social media. Recently, the topic has been raised numerous times during a trial in New Mexico over child safety. Internal documents that have surfaced as part of the trial show Meta executives and researchers debating the trade-offs between safety and privacy as it relates to encryption. In testimony that was broadcast during the trial, Zuckerberg said that safety issues were a large part of the reason why it took so long to bring encryption to Messenger. There's been debate about this, but I think the majority of folks, from people who use our products to people who are involved in security overall, believe that strong encryption is positive, he said. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-is-killing-end-to-end-encryption-in-instagram-dms-195207421.html?src=rss

You'll now have to fork out for an additional subscription if you want to watch 4K content on Prime Video

Amazon is raising the price of its ad-free Prime Video subscription and locking 4K UHD streaming behind this new tier. Starting April 10 for US customers, a rebranded Prime Video Ultra subscription will cost $5 per month, up from $3 per month. For that extra $2, you get a download capacity increase from 25 to 100, and you can now run five streams concurrently instead of three. Whether those Ultra upgrades are worth the $24 annual hike will probably depend on how many boxsets you like to plough through on a long flight, or how many devices are using your Prime Video account. The changes are most galling for Prime members who automatically qualify for Prime Video with ads through their membership, as Amazon has decided to remove 4K streaming from the standard tier. That means that, despite already paying $15 per month or $139 per year for Amazon Prime, youll be stuck with 1080p shows and movies unless you sign up to Prime Video Ultra. Amazon has thrown in Dolby Vision support for the first time, as well as upping the concurrent stream and download count on its free tier as well, but youre losing the privilege of UHD content that has been available to all Prime Video members for years. Dolby Atmos remains exclusive to the $5 tier too. Amazon is the latest streamer to put its prices up, following similar recent hikes to Apple TV , Disney+ and HBO Max . If you dont want to give the company any more of your hard-earned, you have just under a month to binge your way through the second season of Fallout in all of its irradiated UHD glory. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/youll-now-have-to-fork-out-for-an-additional-subscription-if-you-want-to-watch-4k-content-on-prime-video-174028064.html?src=rss

Parallels Desktop creators say MacBook Neo does indeed have enough muscle to run Windows apps

Parallels, the company best known for making the virtualization software that enables you to run Windows and other operating systems on a Mac, has confirmed that Parallels Desktop is compatible with the MacBook Neo. At launch it was unclear if Apple's new $600 laptop possessed the under-the-hood heft to run Windows apps, but in a recently updated post on its website, Parallels said that initial tests show its software running stably, although performance is still being assessed. The MacBook Neo uses an A18 Pro chip, which debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro. However, as this chip is based on the same ARM architecture as M-series chips for Mac, its still capable of running Parallels Windows virtual machine. But there is a caveat to all this. Just because you can do something, it doesnt necessarily mean you should. While Parallels Desktop could theoretically be a viable option for Neo owners who are only interested in light Windows use, anything that puts a significant strain on the CPU or GPU is going to present a problem. This is because the MacBook Neo only ships with 8GB of RAM, and as Parallels highlights, Windows 11 requires a minimum of 4GB of RAM to run. That leaves a very small amount of remaining headroom for macOS and your Mac apps to run alongside Windows, which is going to noticeably hurt the laptops performance. Add to that the lack of a cooling fan, meaning the chip will reduce clock speeds when it detects a heavy CPU or GPU load, and this definitely isnt a device for power users. If you really want to dabble with Windows on a Mac, Parallels recommends picking up an Apple laptop with 16GB of unified memory or more, like the new MacBook Air M5 or a MacBook Pro. And for those content with macOS and looking to save some money, we dubbed the MacBook Neo the best $600 laptop weve ever used in our recently published review. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/parallels-desktop-creators-say-macbook-neo-does-indeed-have-enough-muscle-to-run-windows-apps-164525546.html?src=rss

ByteDance will reportedly buy NVIDIA's latest AI chips to use outside of China

TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance has figured out a way to access NVIDIA's latest AI chips despite export restrictions, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal . The company is working with a firm called Aolani Cloud and building out Blackwell computing systems in Malaysia. This should give ByteDance access to around 36,000 B200 chips. That's NVIDIA's most powerful processor. The hardware buildout will reportedly cost more than $2.5 billion. The company says it plans on using this new computing power for AI research and development outside of China. The country has been unable to access the B200 chip, as it was designed in California and, as such, subject to US export controls. This has led some Chinese companies to do what ByteDance is doing with Aolani Cloud. The Singapore-based firm will buy up the components from NVIDIA and will operate exclusively in Malaysia, giving ByteDance access in the process. By design, the export rules allow clouds to be built and operated outside controlled countries, an NVIDIA spokesperson said. They also said that all of the company's cloud partners go through review before being approved to receive its products. A representative from Aolani Cloud told Reuters that the company adheres to all applicable export control regulations and that ByteDance will be just one of many customers. It plans on providing cloud-computing services to multiple companies across Asia and the globe. However, it's worth noting that Aolani currently operates with just $100 million worth of hardware and ByteDance is planning to inject a whopping $2.5 billion. Nvidia still hasnt sold a single H200 to China nearly three months after getting the green light from the White House U.S. Commerce official says department hasnt approved any sales during a House hearing https://t.co/He1LeEz0uI Tom's Hardware (@tomshardware) February 25, 2026 The US did recently allow ByteDance to buy NVIDIA's H200 chips , but they've been slapped with a 25 percent tariff. Additionally, the US government mandated that the export license would only be approved if NVIDIA accepted a Know-Your-Customer requirement, which is an attempt to ensure that China's military can't access the chips. NVIDIA has yet to agree to these terms . This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/bytedance-will-reportedly-buy-nvidias-latest-ai-chips-to-use-outside-of-china-155553019.html?src=rss

How to clean and organize your Mac

Inevitably, the more you use something your Mac included the more dirty and cluttered its likely to become. At that point, you can buy a new machine, but the more economical move is to make what you have already work better. To help your computer feel new, or at least a little cleaner and less chaotic, we put together this guide with techniques and useful apps that have helped us maintain a more organized computer. Ive been using these tips since before I first published this guide in 2021, and theyve helped keep my 2018 MacBook Air looking and running (almost) like brand new. How to clean your Macs screen and body While there are many products out there from manufacturers claiming their one does it best, my advice is to keep things simple. Its also the one Apple recommends . To start, you will need some water in a spray bottle and a clean microfiber cloth. You can use regular water from the tap but I've found distilled water works best; its far less likely to leave residue behind on your Mac, particularly on the display. You can buy distilled water at a grocery store or make it yourself with some simple cookware . Either way, its more affordable than dedicated cleaning solutions. If you dont already own any microfiber towels, Amazon sells affordable 24-packs you can get for about $10. One other product I would recommend is a Giottos Rocket Blower . I cant say enough good things about this little tool. It will save you from buying expensive and wasteful cans of compressed air. As for the actual process of cleaning your Mac, remember to start with a clean cloth (thats part of the reason we recommend buying them in bulk). Youll save yourself time and frustration this way. Begin by turning off your computer and unplugging it. If you bought a Rocket Blower, use it now to remove any dust. If not, take a dry microfiber cloth and go over your computer. Take special care around the keys, particularly if you own an older Mac with a butterfly keyboard. Next, dampen one side of your cleaning cloth with water. Never spray any liquid directly on your computer. Youll have more control this way and youll avoid getting any moisture into your Macs internals. I always clean the display first since the last thing I want to do is create more work for myself by transferring dirt from some other part of my computer to the screen. The last step is to buff and polish your computer with the dry side of the cloth. Be gentle here as you dont want to scratch the screen or any other part of. Thats it. Your Mac should be looking clean again. How to organize your hard drive Igor Bonifacic / Engadget One of the trickiest parts of cleaning your Macs hard drive is knowing where to start; most of us have apps on our computers we dont even remember installing in the first place. Thankfully, macOS comes with a tool to help you with that exact issue. Navigate to System Settings > General > Storage . Here youll find a tool that separates your storage into broad categories like Applications, Documents, Music, Photos and so on. Either double-click on an item in the list or click the circled i icon to see the last time you used an app and how much space its taking up. You can delete the apps from the same window. The applications section is particularly helpful since you can see the last time you used a program, as well as if its no longer supported by the operating system or if its outdated thanks to a more recent release. You dont need me to tell you to uninstall programs you dont use, but what you might not know is that theres a better way to erase them than simply dragging them to the trash can. A free program called AppCleaner will help you track down any files and folders that would get left behind if you were just to delete an application. Igor Bonifacic / Engadget After deleting any apps you dont need, move to the Documents section. The name is somewhat misleading here since youll find more than just text files and Keynote spreadsheets. In this case, documents turns out to be the tools catch-all term for a variety of files, including ones that take up a large amount of space. You can also safely delete any DMGs (disc image files with the extension .dmg) for which youve installed the related app. The other sections in the storage space are self-explanatory. The only other thing Ill mention is if youve been using an iPhone for a while, theres a good chance youll have old iOS backups stored on your computer. You can safely delete those, too. Tips and tricks for keeping a neat Desktop and Finder Igor Bonifacic Lets start with the menu bar. It may not technically be part of the desktop, but a tidy one can go a long way toward making everything else look less cluttered. My recommendation here is to download an app called Bartender . At first glance, its a simple program allowing you to hide unwanted menu bar items behind a three-dots icon, but the strength of Bartender is that you get a lot of customization options. For example, you can set a trigger that will automatically move the battery status icon out from hiding when your computer isnt connected to a power outlet. While were on the subject of the menu bar, take a second to navigate to System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions and look at all the apps that launch when you boot up your system. You can speed up your system by paring down this list to only the programs you use frequently. When it comes to the desktop itself, less is more. Nothing will make your computer look like a cluttered mess more than a busy desktop. Folders and stacks can help, but for most people, I suspect part of the problem is they use their desktop as a way to quickly and easily find files that are important to them. If youve ever struggled to find a specific file or folder on your computer, try using your Macs tagging capabilities instead. Start by opening the Finder Settings menu ( Command + , ) and click the Tags tab. You can use the default ones provided by macOS or make your own. Drag the ones you think youll use most often to the favorites areas at the bottom of the preferences window. This will make it so that theyre easily accessible when you want to use them. To append a tag to a file or folder, click on it while holding the ctrl key and select the one you want from the dropdown menu. You can also tag a file while working on it within an app. Keep in mind you can apply multiple tags to a single file or folder, and you can even apply them to applications. Igor Bonifacic / Engadget What makes tags so useful in macOS is that they can appear in the sidebar of the Finder window, and are easily searchable either directly with Finder or using Siri. As long as you have a system for organizing your files, even a simple one, youll find it easier to keep track of them. As one example, I like to apply an Engadget tag to any files related to my work. Ill add an Important tag if its something thats critical and I want to find quickly. One tool that can help supercharge your Finder experience is Alfred . Its effectively a more powerful version of Apples Spotlight feature. Among other things, you can use Alfred to find and launch apps quickly. Theres a bit of a learning curve, but once you get a hang of it, Alfred will change how you use your Mac for the better. How to organize your windows and tabs Igor Bonifacic / Engadget If youve used both macOS and Windows 10, youll know that Apples operating system doesnt come with the best window management tools. You can click and hold on the green full-screen button to tile a window to either the left or right side of your screen, but thats about it and the feature has always felt less precise than its Windows counterpart. My suggestion is to download an app that replicates Windows 10s snapping feature. You have several competing options that more or less offer the same functionality. My go-to is a $5 program called Magnet . If you want a free alternative, check out Rectangle . Another option is BetterSnapTool , which offers more functionality than Magnet but doesnt have as clean of an interface. All three apps give you far more ways to configure your windows than what you get through the built-in tool in macOS. They also come with shortcut support, which means you can quickly set up your windows and get to work. Check out more from our spring cleaning guide. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/how-to-clean-your-mac-macbook-cleaning-supplies-digital-organization-153007592.html?src=rss

Engadget Podcast: Apple's $599 MacBook Neo is astounding

Somehow, Apple made a $599 laptop that's actually a joy to use. In this episode, Devindra and Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham chat about what makes the MacBook Neo so great. And they also dive into the new M4 iPad Air, M5 MacBook Air and M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pros. Also, Roberto Baldwin, SAE International's Sustainability Editor, joins us to chat about the state of EVs today as gas prices explode. Subscribe! iTunes Spotify Pocket Casts Stitcher Google Podcasts Topic MacBook Neo review: Apple puts $600 Windows PCs to shame 1:47 iPad Air M4 remains Apples best overall tablet 18:05 Whistleblower claims ex-DOGE employee illegally took social security info on 500 million Americans to their new job 33:37 Valve clarifies their outlook on the Steam Machine, itll launch in 2026, still no word on price 36:08 Grammerly hit with a class action lawsuit for using reporters names in an editing expert tool 40:29 A new study claims every major AI chatbot will help users plan a hate attack or political assassination 44:03 What to look for in a used EV with SAE International sustainability editor Roberto Baldwin 48:31 Around Engadget 1:21:04 Credits Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Nathan Ingraham Guest: Roberto Baldwin Producer: Ben Ellman Music: Dale North and Terrence OBrien This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/engadget-podcast-apples-599-macbook-neo-is-astounding-140402521.html?src=rss

Apple is reducing its App Store commission fees in China

Apple is lowering its developer fees in China following discussions with the Chinese regulator. From March 15, the commission rate for standard in-app purchases (IAPs) will be reduced from 30 percent to 25 percent on its mainland China App Store storefront for both iOS and iPadOS. In a Developer blog , Apple also said that developers belonging to its App Store Small Business or Mini Apps programmes will also have their fees reduced by 3 percent, from 15 to 12 percent. This applies to the commission rate for IAPs and in-app subscription renewals after the first year. We strive for iOS and iPadOS to be the best app ecosystem and a great business opportunity for developers in China, Apple said in the post. We are committed to terms that remain fair and transparent to all developers, and to always offering competitive App Store rates to developers distributing apps in China that are no higher than overall rates in other markets. Apple says developers are not required to agree to the terms by March 15 to start receiving their benefits, seemingly making the transition as smooth as possible to avoid further regulatory intervention. It will no doubt be taken as a significant win for Chinese businesses, and comes a year after reports that a state watchdog was investigating the fees Apple enforces on developers it hosts on the App Store. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/apple-is-reducing-its-app-store-commission-fees-in-china-131221192.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Our verdict on Apples $600 Macbook Neo

Apple's new family of laptops might have a cringeworthy name, but don't let it fool you. Despite the MacBook Neo running on a built-for-iPhone A-series processor and being limited to 8GB of RAM, it delivers on what Macs do best. It has a capable screen, keyboardand trackpadand its overall build quality should embarrass other laptop-making rivals that have compromised on those areas with their $600 laptops. Engadget Don't expect a gaming rig it struggled predictably to run Lies of P , but for most of the things you need a laptop for especially for students and desk workers it handles them with aplomb. Yeah, I said aplomb. Check out our full Neo review by Devindra Hardawar surely you're intrigued by the idea of a $600 MacBook? Mat Smith The other big stories (and deals) this morning Bumble is the latest dating app to add an AI assistant Alexa+ can now swear I g uess this wasn't an Xbox after all RAMaggedon is not expected to ease this year as IDC cuts 2026 PC market forecast again . Rabbit teases its modern take on the netbook, built for vibe coders I don't have to like the Cyberdeck name. Rabbit Project Cyberdeck is Rabbit's attempt to make a PC tailored for vibe coding. The company began working on Project Cyberdeck after its CEO, Jesse Lyu, saw how extensively his software engineers were using Claude Code. Unfortunately, existing cheap, lightweight machines had bad keyboards and other limitations. So Rabbit is making its ownand it's taking a big serving of inspiration from the tiny, almost pocket-sized laptops that VAIO made back in the late '00s and early 2010s. Continue reading. Microsoft's Project Helix consoles will head to game studios in 2027 Xbox wants a do-over. In a bid to distract from corporate reshuffles, fears of generative AI game slop and a pretty poor showing against the PS5, Microsoft is getting ahead of its rival. At GDC 2026, the company said that it planned to get Project Helix dev consoles in the hands of game devs as soon as 2027. Jason Ronald, vice-president of next generation for Xbox, reiterated that the new system would be capable of playing both Xbox console games and PC games. (Sony's decision to halt porting its games across to PC makes more sense. ) Ronald said it would incorporate a custom AMD-made system-on-a-chip, offering a magnitude leap in ray tracing performance and capability. Continue reading. Meta bought another social network Filled with bots, but on purpose. The owners of Facebook are buying Moltbook, the hyped Reddit-like social network for AI agents that has only been around since January. The company hasn't disclosed the terms of the deal, but Moltbook and its creators will be joining Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) when the deal closes. And that definitely doesn't sound like a cabal of comic book villains that fights the Justice League. Continue reading. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-120553713.html?src=rss

The 5 best meditation apps for 2026

Meditation is often touted as a mental cure-all, purported to help with stress, sleep, mood, focus and even certain medical conditions. Ive been meditating most of my adult life. Ive done silent retreats. Ive been formally trained in various techniques. Ive had someone in my contacts list who I referred to as a guru. So I feel Im relatively qualified to give some bad news: Meditation wont fix your life, despite what David Lynch says. However, theres also some good news: Despite not actually being a cure-all for everything bad in the universe, meditation can certainly take the edge off. This is where meditation apps can come into play. Of course, practicing mindfulness doesnt require an app; people have been doing it for thousands of years, with nary a smartphone in sight. But mindfulness apps can be useful in a number of ways. They provide access to all kinds of guided meditations to suit different styles. Some even offer social connections, which can motivate you to keep up your practice via the magic of peer pressure. They are also particularly well-suited to beginners, with many of them offering a free trial. With all of this in mind, I downloaded some of the most popular meditation apps and set about sitting calmly on a comfortable chair to test them out. What follows is a comparison aimed at real people just looking to squeeze a bit more joy and relaxation out of daily life. Best meditation apps Other meditation gear we tested Brain-tracking wearables have been around for years, but there are some newer devices that have been tailor-made for meditators. These gadgets track the brain during meditations and offer real-time feedback. Its a real boon for the data-obsessed, but also a real bank account drainer, with some gadgets costing thousands of dollars. I took two of the more-popular options for a spin to see what theyd make of my brain. Sens.ai Neurofeedback System Sens.ai is a weird contraption that not only claims to track brainwaves, but gives real-time feedback to teach people how to meditate and enter a flow state. The device involves a giant headset thats stuffed with brainwave sensors that detect beta, alpha, theta and gamma waves, in addition to heart-rate sensors. It also comes with a truly bizarre companion gadget that uses light stimulation (transcranial photobiomodulation) to keep an eye on focus and attention levels. The whole thing is combined with an app that keeps track of dozens of data metrics and allows access to various guided meditations. Im as surprised as you to say that this thing appears to work, with some caveats. Its uncanny how well it monitors the brain during meditations. If I got lost in a thought spiral about lasagna at six minutes in, sure enough, there would be a dip in analytics at the six-minute mark. Its also fairly easy to use, despite a process that involves wetting a number of electrodes. As magical as the accurate brain-tracking seems to be, however, I wasnt as keen on the actual training portion, which often involves staring at a screen throughout the entirety of the practice. Its also not for the financial faint of heart, as the Sens.ai device costs $1,500. NeoRhythm Omnipemf NeoRhythms Omnipemf is another wearable to help people get into that ever-elusive flow state. It doesnt track your brain, but rather floods it with electromagnetic fields at specific frequencies to make it more susceptible to meditation and focus. This is supposed to prime your brain for the meditative state and, in theory, make it easier to capture that zen. However, I didnt get much from it, other than a placebo-esque buzzing in my head. To use it, you simply pop on the wearable and go about your day. You arent tied to an app, so you can meditate in whatever way you like. There are multiple modes that go beyond meditation, as this thing is supposed to help with focus, pain relief and sleep. Id wait for some peer-reviewed studies, however, before buying this. How we tested meditation apps Every brain is different, so I did not rate these apps based on if they sync up with my preferred meditation style. First and foremost, I looked for apps that cater to various methods and those that offer guided meditations that go beyond whats free on YouTube. All of the items on this list are available on both Android and iOS, so you wont have to worry about something being only for iPhone owners. Of course, theres lots of free stuff out there, from podcasts and videos on YouTube to audio tracks on streaming services. You can even find guided breathing sessions on an Apple Watch or Fitbit, as well as meditations in Fitness+, Samsung Health or any number of workout video providers. For this guide, I focused on apps that stood out in some way. I liked apps with huge libraries of guided meditations and those that offer additional mindfulness activities, like yoga routines. I also looked for easy-to-use apps with well-designed layouts. You dont want to start your meditation journey with a clunky app that actually increases anxiety. The most important thing with meditation is to keep doing it, so I awarded points for clever gamification elements, simple social network integration and anything else that encourages repeat visits. Finally, I considered extra features that set an app apart from the glut of competitors out there. For example, some meditation apps offer novel ways to track your progress, access to yoga routines and a whole lot more. At the end of the day, each of these apps has its strengths. But if installing an app or using a device is not how you prefer to meditate, you can always turn off your phone and find a quiet room or environment. For those of us who need a little help from a digital guru, though, here are our favorite apps for meditation. Check out more from our spring cleaning guide. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/best-meditation-app-140047993.html?src=rss

Uber robotaxi rides are now available for passengers in Las Vegas

Ubers and Motional's Hyundai Ioniq 5 autonomous EVs will start appearing as an option for riders in Las Vegas. Passengers requesting for an UberX, Uber Electric, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric ride may be matched with a Motional robotaxi. They will not be forced to take it, though, and will be notified and given the option to decline and choose a regular ride instead. But if they want to try it, they can boost their chances of getting matched with a robotaxi ride by opting in via the Ride Preferences section under Settings. Riders who get on autonomous rides will be able to unlock the vehicle through the Uber app. Inside, theyll hear audio cues reminding them to close the door and fasten their seatbelt. Theyll also be able to access human support through the Uber app in case they need help. The companies started piloting the robotaxi service in Las Vegas in 2022 after establishing a 10-year partnership. Motionals Hyundai AVs were also tested by Uber Eats for autonomous deliveries in the same year. The first autonomous rides under the partnership will still have safety drivers behind the wheel to monitor the roads. They will also be only available, for now, at designated locations along Las Vegas Boulevard, including rideshare zones at the Resorts World Las Vegas and Encore at the Wynn Las Vegas plus Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino and curbside in Downtown Las Vegas and throughout the Town Square shopping district near the airport. By the end of the year, the companies expect to start offering fully autonomous rides with no human operators. They have plans to expand the rides availability throughout the city, as well. Uber has also just announced that its piloting a robotaxi service in Tokyo in late 2026 in partnership with UK self-driving car startup Wayve and Nissan. In addition, the Uber-backed Nuro will test its own autonomous vehicles in the Japanese metropolis soon. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/uber-robotaxi-rides-are-now-available-for-passengers-in-las-vegas-120030395.html?src=rss

MacBook Air M5 review: Same but faster

Its hard to believe that its been almost four years since Apple gave the MacBook Air a serious glow-up. The 2022 model was a total redesign that bumped its performance with the M2 chip and also improved a number of key components. It was also the first MacBook Air to drop the signature tapered design, and Apple added a 15-inch model one year later to boot. Since then, Apples primarily focused on making sure it has a new chip every year were already up to the M5, if you can believe it. As such, the latest MacBook Air is an expected update that doesnt change the game. Not that it needed changing: its been our favorite ultraportable laptop for years now. But the Airs place in Apples lineup has changed with the simultaneous introduction of the $599 MacBook Neo. And unfortunately, Apple didnt keep the $999 price that last years M4 MacBook Air hit; its back up to $1,099, the same price as the M2 and M3 models. Now that theres the new, inexpensive MacBook Neo out there, who is the MacBook Air for? While I havent used the Neo yet, Im pretty comfortable answering that question: its still for almost anyone. The essentials havent changed While the latest MacBook Air is physically unchanged from its 2022 revision, I dont have a problem with that. I find the Air to be the Platonic ideal of a laptop that most people will be hard-pressed to find issues with. The 13.6-inch (or 15.3-inch, if you opt for the bigger size) display isnt the most cutting edge screen out there, but its still sharp, bright and colorful. Its stuck at a 60Hz refresh rate at a time when many PC manufacturers are using faster screens, but for the Airs audience I dont think thats a problem. I may be miffed that the iPad Air similarly only has a pedestrian 60Hz refresh rate but I think its less crucial on a Mac, where youre not literally touching the screen ( at least for now ). Other minor quibbles include the fact that Apple still hasnt put a USB-C port on the right side of the computer in addition to those on the left, and the screen notch is still weird if you focus on it too much. But other than that, I cant really come up with any issues here. At 2.7 pounds, the Air isnt the lightest laptop out there, but Ill take the extremely solid feel of the unibody aluminum case over a lighter and possibly flimsier plastic. MacBook Air M5 Nathan Ingraham for Engadget The keyboard and trackpad remain delightful, as well. My main laptop is a 14-inch MacBook Pro, and I can perceive the Airs comparatively thinner case when typing on it. Its not bad at all, it just feels slightly different. But after a short adjustment period, I really didnt think about it and typed away without a care in the world. Its baffling to me that a company that made a keyboard this good also made the horrific butterfly keyboards of yore, but fortunately that era is far in the past. The haptic-powered trackpad is huge, smooth and responsive, just like the ones on all other recent Mac laptops. Altogether, the input experience is great, and I rarely find myself really feeling like I need an external keyboard or mouse. I know people have strong feelings about that, so do as you wish, but its not really something I think about anymore. The MacBook Airs speakers and webcam are also still excellent. Last year, Apple upgraded the 1080p webcam in the Air to a 12-megapixel Center Stage model that can follow your movements to keep you in frame or switch to a desk view that shows a top-down viewpoint of the area in front of the laptop. The old 1080p webcam was already pretty solid, and while this one doesnt magically repair your wrinkles, its definitely more versatile and detailed. The speakers, meanwhile, remain one of those things that Apple has absolutely nailed with this generation of its laptops. Theyre relatively loud and well-balanced, providing far better sound than Id expect from such a thin enclosure. MacBook Air M5 Nathan Ingraham for Engadget Enough power to last for years All of this is well-known, though. The big change this year is the M5 chip, which has been available for a while already in the MacBook Pro and iPad Pro. So, we have a good idea of what to expect here as well. Im testing the 13-inch model with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage that costs $1,299. Its hard to perceive a difference between the M5 and last years M4 in my normal routine (dozens of tabs, Slack, Lightroom, Apple Music streaming and a bunch of lightweight apps like Bear notes, Todoist and so on). And based on my history with Apples M-series chips, the M5 will be a great performer for years to come. My work-issued MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro chip still runs like a champ almost five years after it was released, for example. That said, users who do more than the basics with their laptop and have one with a chip older than 2022s M2 will likely find the M5 Air to be a nice upgrade. Geekbench 6 benchmarks show the M5 is 11 percent and 17 percent faster than the M4 Air in single-core and multi-core tests (both with 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSDs). There were bigger GPU gains this year, with the M5 scoring 31 percent higher than the M4. Few people out there are likely looking to upgrade from an M4 Air. But the M5 could be a noteworthy upgrade from the M3, depending of course on your workload. The M5 is 31 percent and 43 percent faster than the M3 in single- and multi-core testing. And the GPU is a whopping 56 percent faster as well. If youre interested in doing things like video editing, music creation, gaming or AI tasks, youll definitely appreciate these performance gains. MacBook Air M5 Nathan Ingraham for Engadget Finally, these benchmarks illustrate the gap between the MacBook Neo and the Air. The M5 is about 24 percent faster than the A18 Pro in the single-core test, but it demolishes the Neos chip in multi-core (105 percent) and GPU (144 percent) performance. This just reiterates what we already know the Neo is best-suited for basic tasks, while the Air should have more than enough power until you get into more specialized use cases. And while no one will mistake the MacBook Air for a gaming laptop, Apple has had increasing success at getting developers to bring big titles to the Mac. Games like Assassins Creed Shadows, Cyberpunk 2077, Lies of P, Control and Resident Evil Village, along with indies like Neva, Stray and Balatro, are available here. Thats not to mention the many quality games worth checking out on Apple Arcade. All this is to say that Macs may still not be the premiere gaming platform, but people who dont have access to a PlayStation, Xbox or more powerful gaming PC can still try a lot of great games on the platform. Thanks to the M5, these games play pretty well to boot. I tried Cyberpunk 2077 , one of the more notoriously demanding games out there, and had a stutter-free experience. Most graphically intense Mac games default to a for this Mac setting so you dont really need to worry about optimizing settings. Cyberpunk 2077 stayed pretty well locked at 30 fps in my experience obviously not as good as what youll get on a high-end PC or PlayStation 5, but I never felt like I was having a degraded experience. It was smooth, responsive and looked gorgeous. Getting that kind of performance from an ultraportable like the MacBook Air is hard to complain about. Finally, battery life was close to Apples expectations. The company promises 18 hours of streaming video playback or 15 hours of web browsing. In my test, I looped a locally-stored 4K video file with my screen at half brightness and got exactly 18 hours of playback before the laptop died. Im sure it would have been less if I was streaming the video, but still. Under my usual working conditions running a variety of apps, I got more in the 10-hour range, which is more than good enough for me. MacBook Air M5 Nathan Ingraham for Engadget Wrap-up Even with the MacBook Neo showing its chops despite its relatively humble hardware, I think the MacBook Air is by far the best Apple laptop for most people. Sure, Apples continued insistence on limiting screens with higher refresh rates to its most expensive hardware is increasingly frustrating. But other than that, the MacBook Air punches above its weight in just about every aspect particularly when it comes to performance. The M5 is extremely powerful now and should make this years Air a useful computer for five years or even longer, depending on what you do with it. The MacBook Air is so mature and well-engineered at this point that its not the most exciting thing to review. But if you use one for a bit, its easy to appreciate just how good of a laptop it is. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/macbook-air-m5-review-same-but-faster-120000685.html?src=rss

Apple says F1 streaming already exceeds everyone's expectations

Apple's exclusive deal for US broadcast rights of Formula 1 was a big shift to streaming from ESPN's cable coverage of the past, but after the first race (the Australian Grand Prix), it seems to be going well. The 2026 Formula 1 season on Apple TV is off to a strong start, with fans responding positively and viewership up year over year for the first weekend, exceeding both F1 and Apple expectations, Apple VP Eddy Cue told The Hollywood Reporter . Apple didn't give any ratings or other details, but we can glean some clues from previous data. Last year, ESPN said the Australian GP averaged 1.1 million viewers, way up from the previous record of 659,000 in 2019. If Cue's comments were accurate, that means Apple TV's audience was above that, which would be impressive considering that it's a streaming-only service. When Apple's Formula streaming deal was first announced, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali was bullish on the deal. It will allow us to enter in the houses of other people in a different way, in great quality that is very important for us, he told Racer . Indeed, Apple is pouring resources into it in a way that ESPN never did. That includes advanced tech that offers multiple ways for fans to watch, including Multiview, Podium Viewer, driver cams and 4K Dolby Vision coverage, Cue noted. Apple has jumped into Formula 1 racing in other other ways as well, taking advantage of a surge in the sport's popularity aided by Netflix's series Formula 1: Drive to Survive . The streaming service's F1 movie starring Brad Pitt did huge box office numbers and is likely to see a sequel. Apple also struck a deal with Netflix on the aforementioned Drive to Survive series to share streaming of the current season eight (which details the F1 2025 championship). That agreement will also allow Netflix to stream the F1 Canadian Grand Prix live, along with Apple TV. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/apple-says-f1-streaming-already-exceeds-everyones-expectations-111028328.html?src=rss

Little Nightmares VR: Altered Echoes arrives in April

Bandai Namco has announced a new Little Nightmares game, this time for virtual reality. Little Nightmares VR: Altered Echoes is developed by Iconik and not by Tarsier Studios, but its still connected to the beloved titles Little Nightmares I and II . Remember Dark Six, the protagonist Sixs dark doppelganger from the previous games? Well, in this installment, you will control her as she goes on a journey to reunite with the actual Six in order to reunited with her and become whole. The adventure horror puzzle game promises an eerie, atmospheric universe with an immersive first-person perspective. It features new locations within Nowhere, a nightmarish world only accessible through dreams filled with dangerous creatures, such as the human-like Residents. The Thin Man, the antagonist of the franchises second installment, is also back. Little Nightmares VR: Altered Echoes is optimized for the PSVR2 , the Meta Quest 2, 3 and 3s, the Oculus Rift and Rift S, the Pico 4, the Valve Index and the HTC Vive. However, it also works with other PC VR headsets. It will be available on April 24, 2026, and you can add it to your Wishlist right now on the PlayStation, Steam and Meta stores. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/little-nightmares-vr-altered-echoes-arrives-in-april-101626370.html?src=rss

Teamsters urge DOJ to block Paramount's Warner Bros. merger

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union that covers warehouse workers, drivers and a diverse collection of other laborers, has come out against Paramount Skydance's merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. In a press release , the Teamsters announced that it has submitted a report to the US Department of Justice's Antitrust Division outlining its concerns about the impact of the deal, and is urging the DOJ to intervene in the merger. This merger threatens the livelihoods of the very workers who built these studios into industry giants, Teamsters General President Sean M. OBrien said in a statement. We've seen what happens when corporations consolidate power: jobs disappear, production leaves American communities and workers pay the price. The DOJ has a responsibility to stop deals that eliminate competition and harm working families. Unless Paramount and Warner Bros. can guarantee enforceable protections for domestic production and labor standards, this merger cant be allowed to move forward. The Teamsters are primarily concerned with how merging the two companies will consolidate power, and eliminate jobs in the process. Previous mergers have a well-documented track record of harming workers Disneys 2019 acquisition of 20th Century Fox resulted in eliminated production units, significant job losses and canceled projects, the union says. Motion Picture Teamsters, the division of the union concentrated in Hollywood that transports the equipment, props and crew members that make productions possible, stand to be most impacted. The high likelihood the merger impacts competition in the market is why the Teamsters expect the DOJ to step in, or in the case Paramount and Warner Bros. aren't able to provide enforceable commitments to increasing and maintaining domestic production, strong labor standards and guarantees against layoffs and erosion of union jobs, block the deal entirely. Engadget has asked the Teamsters union what it plans to do if the Department of Justice doesn't intervene. We'll update this article if we hear back. If it's allowed to eat Warner Bros., Paramount Skydance has committed to producing 30 theatrical films annually, evenly split across the two studios slates. The larger issue is that the company's offer to acquire the studio is predicated on the idea it will quickly pass the muster of government regulators . Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison is the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who's known to have close ties with President Donald Trump, and has already benefited from favorable treatment from the administration. There's a real possibility that Paramount's new merger could similarly sail through, regardless of the Teamsters' concerns. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/teamsters-urge-doj-to-block-paramounts-warner-bros-merger-215115721.html?src=rss

X could be breaching US sanctions on Iran, watchdog warns

The newly verified X account for Iran's supreme leader could be putting the company on the wrong side of US sanctions, according to a watchdog group. The Tech Transparency Project, which last month published a report on X granting premium perks to sanctioned officials in Iran, now says that the verified account for the country's new leader raises fresh questions about the issue. The TTP notes that the X account for Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, appears to be paying for an X premium subscription despite being on the US government's list of sanctioned individuals since 2019 . As the group points out, the Iran-based account was created this month and currently bears a blue checkmark, which typically indicates the account holder is paying for a subscription. Last month, TTP found that X was providing premium subscriptions to Iranian officials sanctioned by @USTreasury , a transaction that may violate sanctions. It didn't end there. An account for Iran's new supreme leader created this month also carries the blue premium checkmark. pic.twitter.com/5K9Ss1Sex8 Tech Transparency Project (@TTP_updates) March 12, 2026 The account belonging to Mojtaba Khamenei has been boosted by other state-linked accounts in Iran, including the one that previously belonged to Khamenei's father . That account has had a gray checkmark, which indicates it belongs to a verified government official. Verified accounts on X are rewarded with extra visibility on the platform, along with other perks. The younger Khamenei's verified account has already gained more than 20,000 new followers in the hours since TTP first posted about it. The new Supreme Leader's account is just the latest account for a sanctioned entity apparently paying X for premium services, TTP director Katie Paul said in a statement to Engadget. TTP has identified dozens of accounts, many linked to designated terrorists, that subscribed to X premium over the past three years. What's more concerning than the blatant disregard for U.S. sanctions law is the fact that Musk's companies have a contract with the Pentagon while X is actively profiting from U.S. adversaries. As Paul notes, this isn't the first time TTP has raised questions about whether X is running afoul of US sanctions via its premium service. In 2024, the group published a report noting that X was accepting paid verification from more than two dozen sanctioned individuals and groups. The company said at the time that it had a a robust and secure approach in place for our monetization features. X didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The company removed blue checks from a handful of Iran-based accounts flagged by TTP last month following reporting from Wired . This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-could-be-breaching-us-sanctions-on-iran-watchdog-warns-213550284.html?src=rss

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen plans to step down after 18 years

Adobe's long-time CEO has shared that he plans to step down. Shantanu Narayen has been the chief exec at the tech company for 18 years, a tenure where he led Adobe in the major shift to become a software-as-a-service provider. The exact timeline for his exit is still up in the air, as Narayen will depart when the board of directors names his successor. He will remain on the board as its chair after leaving the CEO post. While Adobe was not the first to take the SaaS route, it was one of the first major tech operations to do so. Software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere and Lightroom from the brand have been mainstays in creative fields for years, so the launch of the Creative Suite subscription, which is now called Creative Cloud, was a pretty revolutionary change for its customers. In an memo to employees, Narayen reflected on his nearly two decades at the helm. Adobe has grown from about 3,000 employees to more than 30,000, while its financial performance has leapt, revenue skyrocketing from less than $1 billion to more than $25 billion. He also looked toward the future and the seemingly-inevitable presence of artificial intelligence. The next era of creativity is being written right now shaped by AI, by new workflows and by entirely new forms of expression, he wrote. Adobe has never waited for the future to arrive. Weve anticipated it. Weve built it. And weve led it. What gives me the greatest confidence isnt just our technology its our people. Your ingenuity, resilience and commitment to customers are what will define this moment. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/adobe-ceo-shantanu-narayen-plans-to-step-down-after-18-years-212705623.html?src=rss

NASA will try its Artemis II launch again in early April

NASA will soon give it another go on April Fools' Day. On Thursday, NASA said it's targeting April 1 at 6:24 PM ET for the Artemis II mission's next launch attempt. In case that date doesn't pan out, NASA added April 2 at 7:22 PM as a secondary launch opportunity. If necessary, the agency foresees several more openings between April 1 and 6 to get the Orion rocket into space. Within those six days between the first and the sixth, we can't always turn around every day for an attempt, NASA acting associate administrator Lori Glaze said at a press conference. We would anticipate [] about four opportunities within that six-day period. In preparation, NASA is targeting March 19 (a week from today) to roll Artemis II back out to the launch pad. However, it warned that further setbacks could occur. While I am comfortable and the agency is comfortable with targeting April 1 as our first opportunity, just keep in mind we still have work to go, Glaze said. There are still things that need to be done within the [Vehicle Assembly Building] and out at the pad. As always, we'll be guided by what the hardware is telling us, and we will launch when we're ready. Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator, and John Honeycutt, Artemis II Mission Management Team chair (Photo by Gregg Newton / AFP via Getty Images) GREGG NEWTON via Getty Images Artemis II is set to be NASA's first crewed lunar mission since the early 1970s. The 10-day mission will carry four astronauts around the Moon and back to the Earth. It's set to be the first crewed mission of the Orion spacecraft, and an important step toward the ultimate goal of a Moon landing. Initially targeted for early February, the launch was pushed back to March after several issues arose during a wet dress rehearsal. Then, 18 days later, it was delayed again (and moved off the launch pad) when NASA discovered a helium flow blockage in the rocket's upper stage. And its all happening against the backdrop of Administrator Jared Isaacmans overhaul of the Artemis program , which includes postponing a scheduled Moon landing until 2028. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasa-will-try-its-artemis-ii-launch-again-in-early-april-205714288.html?src=rss

RAMaggedon not expected to ease this year as IDC cuts 2026 PC market forecast again

We've been seeing all sorts of warnings about how RAMaggedon is nigh. The latest horseman signalling a disaster is the International Data Corporation, which had already cautioned that things were looking bad at the end of 2025. Today, the organization further cut its forecasts for the PC market in 2026, anticipating that global shipments would fall 11.6 percent. The previous report projected that this year would see a falloff of up to 8.9 percent due to ongoing memory shortages. And the new figure was set before the escalation of conflicts in Iran and across the Middle East, which could further deflate computing and other industries. Memory shortages will persist well into 2027, Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDCs Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers, said in the latest forecast. While we anticipate some easing of prices beginning in 2028, the market is unlikely to return to the pricing levels seen in 2025. This market report echoes price changes and official statements from all corners of the tech and computing sector. So far this year, we've already seen surging memory costs impacting HP , Samsung , Valve and Framework . Don't be surprised if many other major players follow suit. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/ramaggedon-not-expected-to-ease-this-year-as-idc-cuts-2026-pc-market-forecast-again-200000498.html?src=rss

KPop Demon Hunters is officially getting a sequel

KPop Demon Hunters is getting a sequel, Netflix and Sony have announced . Sony Pictures Animation handed the rights to the film to Netflix in 2021 as part of a larger licensing deal, but neither company could have expected how much of a hit it would ultimately become. Besides being Netflix's most-watched movie of all time, KPop Demon Hunters is also nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song at the 98th Academy Awards , and stands a good chance of winning. Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, the directors of the first film, are returning to direct the sequel. The project will be the first in the duo's new exclusive multiyear writing and directing partnership with Netflix, which is focused on animation. I feel immense pride as a Korean filmmaker that the audience wants more from this Korean story and our Korean characters, Kang said in a statement. There's so much more to this world we have built, and I'm excited to show you. This is only the beginning. IT'S OFFICIAL HUNTERS KPOP DEMON HUNTERS will return for a sequel written and directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans. I feel immense pride as a Korean filmmaker that the audience wants more from this Korean story and our Korean characters. Theres so much more to this pic.twitter.com/QjxD9CV4Hw Netflix (@netflix) March 12, 2026 These characters are like family to us, their world has become our second home, Appelhans said. We're excited to write their next chapter, challenge them, and watch them evolve and continue pushing the boundaries of how music, animation, and story can come together. To put KPop Demon Hunters popularity into perspective, the film had such a wide reach that Netflix was willing to set aside its aversion to theatrical releases and put it in theaters after it premiered on streaming. KPop Demon Hunters reportedly made over $19 million during its initial two-day theatrical run in August 2025, and Netflix has brought it back to theaters multiple times since then. That's on top of the more than 500 million views the film racked up on Netflix itself. Not making a sequel would essentially be leaving money on the table. According to Puck , the structure of Netflix's deal with Sony means it will likely be the only company directly profiting off a KPop Demon Hunters follow-up, however. While Sony has the contractual right to produce any sequels or spinoffs, Puck reports, it will make no additional money from the runaway success of the first film. Sweetening that deal could be one reason Netflix and Sony Pictures expanded their film licensing partnership in January, a deal that reportedly cost the streaming service over $7 billion to secure. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/kpop-demon-hunters-is-officially-getting-a-sequel-195038954.html?src=rss

Meta is testing clickable links in Instagram captions for verified subscribers

Instagram has long limited users' ability to share links, restricting link-sharing to Stories, Reels and user profiles. But that might now be changing. The company has started to test clickable links inside of post captions for subscribers to Meta Verified. The new feature, which has been a long-requested update from creators, was spotted by blogger Andrea Valeria, who posted screenshots of a clickable Substack link she was able to add to an Instagram post. According to Valeria, an in-app message indicated she could share up to 10 links a month. Meta confirmed to Engadget that it's testing links in captions for subscribers to Meta Verified, but didn't provide details on how many people have access to the feature or if it will be widely available. It does seem to be somewhat limited, however, as the link on Valeria's post appears on Instagram's mobile app, but now when viewing the same post on Instagram's website. Instagram's restrictions on link-sharing have been a notable part of the platform since its early days. The limitation helped kickstart an entire industry of link in bio platforms like Linktree, which help creators direct followers to off-platform websites based on what they share on Instagram. If Meta begins implementing the feature widely, it could drastically change how creators are able to interact with their followers (although a 10-link per month limit would likely still require link in bio solutions). The test is also the latest way that Meta has experimented with making link-sharing a paid feature. The company has also recently tested restricting creators' ability to share links on Facebook by requiring a Meta Verified subscription. Meta Verified for creators starts at $14.99 a month , with the most expensive plans costing $499.99 a month. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-is-testing-clickable-links-in-instagram-captions-for-verified-subscribers-184555406.html?src=rss

PEGI ratings for game releases in Europe will be age-restricted if they contain loot boxes

European regulators are continuing to crack down on loot boxes and gaming features it classifies as interactive risk categories. The Pan-European Game Information, better known as PEGI, is rolling out new rules that will apply age ratings based on the presence of loot boxes and other in-game purchases or systems that could be tied to gambling or addictive behavior. The exact policies are as follows: Purchases of in-game content: games with time-limited or quantity-limited offers will be classified with a PEGI 12, games with NFTs or blockchain-related mechanisms will be PEGI 18. Paid random items: the default rating will be PEGI 16 if the game contains paid random items (and in some cases they can be a PEGI 18). Play-by-appointment: mechanisms that reward returning to the game (e.g. daily quests) will get a PEGI 7. If these mechanisms punish players for not returning (e.g. by losing content or reducing progress) they will become PEGI 12. Safe online gameplay: if games contain entirely unrestricted communication features (e.g. no blocking or reporting), they will be PEGI 18. These changes will apply to newly submitted games beginning in June 2026. The messaging from the ratings body is that these rules are aimed at helping parents direct their children's online safety. With the updated set of age rating criteria, PEGI aims to make parents aware that certain features in games should be carefully assessed, and that parental tools can be a very helpful assistant when doing that, PEGI Council Chair Beate Vje said. Many titles may see an impact from the new policy, some more drastic than others. Online shooters might seen a bump from PEGI 12 to PEGI 16, but a franchise like EA Sports FC would leap to at least PEGI 16 from its current installments rating of PEGI 3. Loot boxes have a history of causing strife among regulators. In 2018, Belgium determined that loot boxes were a form of gambling and made them illegal. Other nations have taken similar measures to restrict or prohibit this game mechanic, which has already led some game studios to limit access to their titles. For instance, Blizzard's free-to-play Diablo Immortal didn't launch in Belgium or the Netherlands due to their laws connecting loot boxes and gambling. Stateside, there has been a renewed push against the concept, with the New York attorney general suing Valve over loot boxes. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pegi-ratings-for-game-releases-in-europe-will-be-age-restricted-if-they-contain-loot-boxes-184325819.html?src=rss

Soundcore Nebula P1i projector review: An affordable option with accurate color and loud sound

Ankers Soundcore projectors have become an attractive option for buyers thanks to models like the P1 and Nebula X1 that combine performance and portability. Now, the company has added affordability to that equation with its latest model, the $369 P1i . Instead of being detachable like on the P1, its speakers fold out toward listeners, promising better and louder sound than most cheap projectors. The P1i also delivers 1080p video, Google TV for streaming and the same easy screen fit setup as other Anker projectors. However, unlike some portable models, it lacks a built-in battery for true portability. Overall brightness is lower as well at 380 lumens compared to 650 on the P1. Despite those issues, the P1i is an outstanding budget projector thats ideal for impromptu indoor screenings and outdoor party use. Features and design With its relatively small size (8.9 x 7.2 x 8.0 inches) and slight five pound weight, the Soundcore Nebula P1i can be perched nearly anywhere and is easily toted around by the soft handle on top. Its almost too light, as even a slight bump can displace it and ruin the picture. It does have a tripod mount, though, which makes it easy to set up outside or install on your ceiling. Fortunately, the P1i is perhaps the easiest projector in this price range to align with your wall or screen. It has Ankers Smart Instant Setup that automatically adjusts the autofocus, keystone correction, screen fit and obstacle avoidance. For my 120-inch roll down screen, I just had to set the P1i about 11 feet from the wall, make sure it was fairly level and then tilt the stand so it pointed at the screen. Then, I just ran the smart setup which instantly gave me a correctly set-up image. The P1i is not a laser projector but its LED light source lasts even longer, rated for over 30,000 hours. It runs fairly cool compared to a bulb or laser model, but it still has a fan that kicks on from time to time. One annoyance is that the fan seemed to engage even when the projector was turned off, so I found I had to unplug it to stop that. Steve Dent for Engadget Connectivity-wise, the P1i has a single HDMI 2.0 port with ARC (Audio Return Channel), along with a USB-A port for external media and a 3.5mm auxiliary audio output. The projector allows for a maximum input of 4K at 60 fps (it outputs 1080p at 60 fps), so its only good for light gaming. Plus, youll want to keep in mind that if you do any keystone correction, gaming latency quadruples from 20ms to 80ms. It also supports Wi-Fi 5 for streaming and Bluetooth 5.1 to connect extra speakers. Google TV is built in for streaming and projector control, which is a nice feature for a projector under $400. It provides a large library of apps via Google Play along with a familiar interface. You also get Netflixs official application with support for 4K Dolby Vision without the need to plug in a streaming device, plus theres Chromecast support and Google Assistant for voice control. The downside is that the interface can occasionally be sluggish. As for those foldable speakers, you can aim them up, down, forward or backwards, and they support Dolby Audio at 10 watts each. Image quality Image quality is decent but not outstanding, about what youd expect for a projector at this price. While its very sharp in the center, the edges are fuzzier, particularly if youre tilting the projector up or down and using plenty of keystone correction. With just 380 lumens of brightness (I measured it at just over 300 lumens in standard mode), its best to use the P1i in a dark room or at night if theres any ambient light, you wont be able to see much detail. The P1i offers multiple picture profiles, including Standard, Vivid, Sports, Movies and Games, along with a Conference mode for maximum brightness. I found that the Vivid setting gave me the best mix of color accuracy and brightness. Steve Dent for Engadget Color accuracy is a strong point, with natural looking, nicely saturated hues. Surprisingly, the P1i supports 10-bit HDR to help improve color accuracy and max out what little brightness there is, though its a gigantic stretch calling a 380 lumen image (around 50 nits) HDR. I tested the P1i on my usual roster of content, including Once Upon a Time in Hollywood , Andor , Dune 2 and Spider-Man: No Way Home, and found the colors to be pleasing and realistic. If theyre not quite to your liking, you can make fine adjustments manually. Sound The primary selling point of the Nebula P1I is those fold out speakers. However, considering Soundcores reputation for solid audio performance (take the Nebula X1 Pro for example), sound quality was a bit disappointing. Its relatively tinny with very little bass, providing a less-than-theatrical experience. Those speakers can go pretty loud, though, and midrange sounds like voices are very clear. Fortunately, there are a couple of solutions. The P1i has multiple EQ settings, including Movies (with enhanced bass and treble), Music for the most natural sound and Outdoors to ensure clarity in open and noisy spaces. The best of those, I found, was Movies, as it mildly improves the lows and highs. Theres also a custom mode that lets you fine-tune the equalization. I was able to get acceptable sound quality when I boosted the bass to nearly the maximum level. The other option, of course, is to pair the P1i to some Bluetooth speakers. I did just that with Soundcores external speakers sold as an option with the Nebula X1 and the sound quality was much improved. Of course, that would remove much of its convenience and increase the price for better sound. Wrap-up Steve Dent for Engadget Ankers $400 Soundcore Nebula P1i is an excellent option for buyers looking for a portable projector to use outdoors or in the place of a second TV, though it suffers from subpar sound and picture quality. Competitors like XGIMIs MoGo 2 Pro offer similar brightness, built-in speakers and Google TV. And if you have a bit more in your budget, Ankers $800 Nebula P1 is brighter and easier to set up. Finally, for those looking for battery portability for camping or other activities, take a look at XGIMIs $500 Halo+ or the $530 Anker Nebula Capsule. The P1i is great for simple nighttime movie screenings outdoors. If you feel like watching a movie or series in bed, you can bring it into your room, project the picture onto a wall and enjoy your streaming service of choice. You may not be disappointed with the overall picture quality, though you may wish for slightly better sound. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/soundcore-nebula-p1i-projector-review-an-affordable-option-with-accurate-color-and-loud-sound-180034925.html?src=rss

Another longtime Microsoft executive is retiring

Its already been a busy year for high-profile Microsoft departures, with longtime Xbox chief Phil Spencer bowing out last month alongside his expected successor Sarah Bond. Today its the turn of Microsoft's head of Experiences + Devices, Rajesh Jha, who leaves after more than 35 years at the company. Jha, who oversaw some of Microsofts most important products and services, including Windows, Office and Teams, said in a press release that hes been planning for his succession alongside CEO Satya Nadella for a while. Rather than bringing in a direct replacement, four members of his team will be promoted to executive vice president and report directly to Nadella. Taking up these new more senior roles are Office EVP and LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslanksky, Windows and Surface president Pavan Davuluri, president of business and industry Copilot (BIC) Charles Lamanna, and Microsoft 365 Core chief Perry Clarke. The outgoing Jha, who said his long career at Microsoft had been an incredible privilege, will officially transition out of Microsoft on July 1, after which hell remain in an advisory role. When I think about the pantheon of leaders who have truly shaped this company, Rajesh stands firmly among them, Nadella said in a statement, adding that Jha had been a constant during his own time at the company. He embodies the commitment that helped build and transform Microsoft into the company it is today, and it is on the strength of that foundation that we will continue to move forward. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/another-longtime-microsoft-executive-is-retiring-174453788.html?src=rss

Alexa+ can now swear, thanks to a new personality style

Amazon just unveiled a new personality type for Alexa+ . The sassy option is reserved for adults and the company claims it will throw out censored curse words from time to time. Amazon describes this option as a combination of unfiltered personality and razor-sharp wit, playful sarcasm and occasional censored profanity. We aren't yet sure how the chatbot handles the censoring. Does it use a garden variety bleep or a replacement word like fudge or something? I managed to get it to say damn and hell, but couldn't force anything more profane than that. In any event, adult users have to jump through a couple of hoops to activate this mode. It won't work if there's an enabled Amazon Kids profile on the account and it requires additional security checks, like face scans. The company also warns people upon being selected that the new tone could contain mature subject matter. I'm more afraid of the bot using clever comebacks to absolutely shred my buying habits. Yes, I buy bagged popcorn when I have plenty of uncooked kernels in the pantry. I'm working on it. This is still Alexa+, despite the ability to drop colorful language every now and again. It's not an adult AI companion like the anime-inspired weirdness Grok recently trotted out or whatever erotica-infused nonsense OpenAI has been working on . Also, Amazon says the bot won't get involved with hate speech , illegal activities , personal attacks or anything that could cause harm . Amazon This is just the latest personality type that the company has introduced for the chatbot. Users can also choose from sweet, brief or chill, with the last one resembling a surfer archetype. Alexa+ is an updated version of the company's long-standing chatbot that prioritizes natural-sounding conversation. It's fine, more or less , but I still use it primarily for alarms and weather. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/alexa-can-now-swear-thanks-to-a-new-personality-style-172106310.html?src=rss

BallotGuessr is Geoguessr for budding political pundits

Fancy yourself as one of those folks who stands in front of an expensive touchscreen display on a news network on election night, zooming in and out of counties while bleating about polling and voting data? If so, you might get a kick out of BallotGuessr . This is a riff on GeoGuessr that tasks you with guessing how a county voted in the 2024 presidential election. All you have to go on to figure out the identity of each county are contextual clues from Google Street View images. You can move around the environment a bit, but unless you get lucky, you'll need to have a good sense of politics and geography to do well here. Once you think you have an idea of where the county is, you move a slider to guess whether residents voted for the Democrat or Republican ticket and by how many points. In the daily challenge mode, you only have 30 seconds to make your guess in each of five rounds. I'm bad at it, but it's a fun take on GeoGuessr all the same. BallotGuessr features 2,845 curated Google Street View locations from all 50 states, with a maximum of 15 locations for each county. Its creator plans to expand the game with data for the 2022 midterms and 2020 presidential election, as well as recent elections in France, Germany and the United Kingdom. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ballotguessr-is-geoguessr-for-budding-political-pundits-170028894.html?src=rss

Ukraine allows allies to train AI models on its battlefield data

Ukraine's four-year war with Russia has made it the world leader in battlefield drone technology. One byproduct of that is that the data it collects has become one of the country's most valuable assets. On Thursday, Ukraine played that card, saying it will begin sharing its battlefield data with allies to train drone AI software. In modern warfare, we must defeat Russia in every technological cycle, Ukraine Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov wrote on Telegram (translated from Ukrainian). Artificial intelligence is one of the key areas of this competition. Fedorov previewed the move when he took his post in January. At the time, the tech-savvy cabinet member pledged to more actively bring allies into projects. Foreign allies and companies have sought access to the country's data as, for better or worse, AI increasingly becomes an integral element of warfare . Fedorov says Ukraine has a platform that will safely train partners' AI models without providing sensitive data. The system is said to provide continually updating datasets, including large volumes of photos and videos. For us, this is the next step in the development of win-win cooperation, Fedorov wrote. Partners get the opportunity to train their AI models on real data from modern warfare. And [for] Ukraine: faster development of autonomous systems and new technological solutions for the front. Last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned global leaders of a dangerous escalation tied to drone tech and AI. We are now living through the most destructive arms race in human history, he said at a meeting of the UN General Assembly in September. However, given the ugly realities in his country, Zelenskyy reiterated his need for armaments. The only guarantee of security is friends and weapons, he said. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/ukraine-allows-allies-to-train-ai-models-on-its-battlefield-data-165104853.html?src=rss

Former Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan returns with a Western survival shooter

After spending many years as the public face of Overwatch , Jeff Kaplan stayed well out of the limelight after leaving Blizzard in 2021 . Five years later, the former Blizzard vice president and Overwatch lead director is back with his own studio and a new game, which you might be able to play pretty soon. The Legend of California is billed as an open-world, action-survival shooter. It looks like a mix of Red Dead Redemption and Rust (Rust Dead Redemption, if you will). It's set during the gold rush era, but Kaplan says he and his team at Kintsugiyama were not aiming for historical accuracy. For one thing, this version of California is an island. Still, the developers wanted to make the game feel authentic to the time period. There are cowboys and prospectors, and you'll be able to go hunting, build mines and stables, craft tools and weapons, build out your homestead and raid hostile camps. There are challenging player vs. environment encounters (Kaplan says there are four difficulty tiers available to start with) and optional player vs. player battles. You'll be able to form a company with up to three other players and share progress, resources, buildings and other things with them. Kaplan says his 34-strong team hand-crafted the world, though there's a degree of randomization at play. A certain biome (say, the game's version of the Mojave Desert) might be the easiest, most beginner-friendly area of the game on one server, and the endgame, tier four section on another. The points of interest might pop up in unexpected spots too an Alcatraz-inspired structure will appear in a Bay Area-style region in some world seeds, and in snowy mountains in others. The Legend of California is being published by Blizzard co-founder and former CEO Mike Morhaime's company Dreamhaven. It's slated to enter early access on Steam and the Epic Games Store later this year, with closed alpha playtests expected to start soon. Kaplan announced The Legend of California in unusual fashion. Not during a splashy showcase, but in a five-hour appearance on Lex Fridman's podcast. Kaplan discussed his life and career, including his work on World of Warcraft , the ill-fated Titan and, of course, Overwatch . In his first public appearance since stepping down as Overwatch director, Kaplan revealed his reasons for leaving Blizzard, where he spent 19 years and previously had no intention of leaving. Business pressures related to the Overwatch League and Overwatch 2 played a part in his departure, but the final straw came in 2020 during a meeting with Blizzard's then-chief financial officer. Kaplan says he was told that if Overwatch didn't reach certain revenue targets, the publisher would lay off 1,000 people and that would be on Kaplan's shoulders. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/former-overwatch-director-jeff-kaplan-returns-with-a-western-survival-shooter-161221852.html?src=rss

Claude can now generate charts and diagrams

With Claude enjoying a moment of newfound popularity among regular people , Anthropic is previewing an update designed to make its chatbot better at explaining some concepts. Starting today, Claude can generate charts and diagrams as part of its responses, either when asked directly or when it decides visuals might be helpful to the user. For example, try asking Claude what's the best way to fold a paper plane. Where previously it was limited to text, now it can show you step by step how to fold a Nakamura lock plane . Anthropic is quick to point out what it's introducing today isn't image generation . When producing visual aids, Claude will use HTML code and XML vector graphics. Anthropic likens it to giving Claude access to its own whiteboard. The new feature is available to all Claude users, regardless of whether you pay for one of Anthropic's subscriptions. However, the company does warn it's releasing beta software, so expect some quirks along the way. The feature also isnt available on mobile just yet. This release comes just days after OpenAI made ChatGPT capable of generating interactive visuals when explaining science and math concepts. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/claude-can-now-generate-charts-and-diagrams-160000369.html?src=rss

Honda cancels three EVs that were months away from US production

Honda has announced it is canceling three electric vehicles it was months from starting production on at its EV Hub in Ohio . The Honda 0 SUV, the Honda 0 sedan and the Acura RSX are all being wound down. The company showed off all three models, and touted them as in near-production form at CES 2025 . Unlike the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX , which run on GM's Ultium platform, the scrapped models were built on Honda's own Zero platform and would have been its first fully in-house EVs. Honda in part blamed the elimination of federal EV tax credits, eased fossil fuel regulations and US tariffs for the decision. The company said US demand for electric vehicles had slowed because of the policy changes. In China, it admitted it could not match the value offered by newer manufacturers building software-driven vehicles on shorter production cycles. CEO Toshihiro Mibe said at a press conference that the demand shift had made EV profitability very difficult, according to Reuters . The company said it will redirect resources toward next-generation hybrids and only bring EVs to market when demand justifies it. It also shared plans to expand in India, where it expects the hybrid market to expand. Honda is not alone in pulling back from EV production, with brands like Hyundai , Kia , Volkswagen , Porsche and Ford having all scrapped or delayed major US EV projects since federal policy shifted. The total restructuring of its EV business could cost Honda up to 2.5 trillion yen ($15.7 billion), with the company set to lose money for the first time since going public in 1957. Mibe and Executive Vice President Noriya Kaihara will forgo 30 percent of their compensation for three months, with other senior executives giving up 20 percent. Honda said it plans to share a detailed long-term strategy at a press conference in May. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/honda-cancels-three-evs-that-were-months-away-from-us-production-155523384.html?src=rss

Microsoft's Copilot Health can use AI to turn your fitness data and medical records 'into a coherent story'

Microsoft has unveiled Copilot Health , an AI-powered tool it claims can help make sense of your medical records, health history and fitness data from wearables, should you grant it access to that information. The company said it will be in a separate, secure space in the Copilot app and that the idea is to help provide you with more context and insights so you can ask your doctor the right questions when you see them. Copilot Health is designed to help you better understand your medical information as a whole, Microsoft says. It is not intended to diagnose, treat or prevent diseases or other conditions and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, the company pointed out in a blog post. The tool can pull in activity, fitness and sleep data from more than 50 devices, including Apple Watch, Oura and Fitbit. Through HealthEx, it can access health records that include visit summaries, medication details and test results from more than 50,000 hospitals and provider organizations in the US. It can tap into lab test results from Function, should you allow it to do so. Copilot Health can take all those details and apply intelligence to turn them into a coherent story, such as helping you pinpoint the reasons why you don't sleep too well, the company suggested. It can access real-time provider directories in the US to help users find clinicians based on factors like location, specialty, spoken languages and insurance coverage. Microsoft says that, across AI-powered consumer products like Copilot and Bing, users ask more than 50 million health-related questions every day. Weve improved the quality and reliability of answers by elevating information from credible health organizations across 50 countries, as verified by our clinical team using principles independently established by the National Academy of Medicine, the blog post states. Responses include clear citations with easy links to source material, alongside expertwritten answer cards from Harvard Health. As far as privacy is concerned, Microsoft says Copilot Health data and conversations are siloed from the broader Copilot app and there are extra access and safety controls in place, including encryption at rest and in transit. You can delete your information and cut off the app's access to health records and wearable data at any time. Microsoft also notes that it won't use your Copilot Health information to train its models. The company explained that Copilot Health was informed by its responsible AI principles. Microsoft built the tool in collaboration with its own clinical team and with the expertise and feedback of more than 230 physicians from dozens of countries. Copilot Health has achieved ISO/IEC 42001 certification, the worlds first standard for AI management systems, meaning an independent third party has verified how we build, govern and continuously improve the AI behind this service, it noted. Microsoft has opened up a waitlist for those interested in trying Copilot Health. The tool will initially be available in English in the US for those aged 18 and over. The company is working on adding support for more language and voice options and it will announce availability for those and other territories down the line. While users will be able to try Copilot Health for free at first, Microsoft plans to charge for access via a subscription, according to The New York Times . The company has not yet disclosed pricing details. The Copilot Health announcement comes just a couple of days after Amazon expanded its Health AI tool beyond One Medical. It's now available on the Amazon website and app. Prime members in the US have the option to chat about certain conditions with a One Medical provider via direct message at no extra cost. Earlier this year, OpenAI announced that it was testing ChatGPT Health . Anthropic has healthcare tools as well. Given how tough it is for many folks to access affordable healthcare and the fact their data and health records are often spread across a number of providers, some might believe there are benefits of using such tools from AI companies. However, there's a big difference between tracking your sleep or calling your doctor after an Apple Watch detects signs of atrial fibrillation and entrusting all of your medical information to a chatbot. There are also issues like AI hallucinations and chatbots providing users with straight-up bad advice , as well as the possibility that an LLM-based tool might downplay or exaggerate potential risks. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/microsofts-copilot-health-can-use-ai-to-turn-your-fitness-data-and-medical-records-into-a-coherent-story-152000621.html?src=rss

Uber is shooting for even more upscale clientele with Uber Elite

Uber has launched a new invite-only luxury ride experience called Uber Elite. Aimed at executives, frequent travelers, and riders looking for a more elevated experience, it sounds like an upgraded version of Uber Black for the, well, uber-rich. A ride booked through Uber Elite will be operated by a professional chauffeur driving a new-model luxury vehicle less than three years old. An Elite-only Meet and Greet feature allows riders to pre-arrange to be picked up in the airport terminal they arrive at from a flight, with their chauffeur dutifully awaiting them at baggage claim. Uber says all Elite rides include chargers, bottled water, mints and premium hand wipes. If those perks are deemed too basic by the customer, they can also request sparkling water or champagne in the app ahead of their ride, and Uber says itll work with its partners to accommodate them where feasible. Once an Uber Elite trip is booked, the rider can also take advantage of round-the-clock phone support. The new luxury service is available through the Uber app, as well as via Uber Reserve and Uber for Business. Rides can be booked one hour in advance or up to 90 days ahead. Uber Elite is launching first in Los Angeles and San Francisco, with New York to follow soon, and then other cities in the US and internationally. Invitations will first be extended to frequent Uber Black and Uber for Business users, before the service is eventually made available to all riders. If you think youre important enough, you can join a waitlist right now. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/uber-is-shooting-for-even-more-upscale-clientele-with-uber-elite-150620441.html?src=rss

Rivian's R2 EV arrives this spring with a $58,000 price tag

Ahead of its official release later this spring, today Rivan is announcing full pricing and trim levels for its long-awaited R2 electric SUV. The rollout for the company's first mid-size (two-row) offering will be similar to its previous vehicles, with more expensive premium models hitting the road first this spring, followed by more affordable configurations becoming available later this year and into 2027. This timeline is especially important for anyone hoping to snag the $45,000 base model of the R2, which isn't expected to go on sale until sometime in late 2027. The R2 Performance with Launch Package and R2 Premium trims will arrive initially as model year 2027 vehicles, followed by the R2 Standard (MY 2028) next year. The new R2 with Rivian's Black Crater interior Rivian Some features that will be standard on every R2 are a native NACS charging port and Autonomy+ hardware. However, for the latter, while new vehicles will come with a free 60-day trial of Autonomy+, once that expires, owners will need to choose between a one-time fee or a monthly subscription to continue using Rivian's enhanced hands-free driving tech. Regardless of which trim or performance package you prefer, the arrival of the R2 is a huge deal for Rivian as it represents the company's first true mass-market vehicle that looks to bring a lot of the tech and engineering used in the R1T and R1S to a more affordable price point. For a closer look at the R2's trim levels and pricing, see the breakdown below. R2 Performance with Launch Package Available Spring 2026 starting at $57,990 Features a dual-motor AWD setup with 656 horsepower and 609 lb-ft of torque EPA-estimated range of up to 330 miles 0 to 60 time of up to 3.6 seconds Notably, the Launch Package will include a free lifetime subscription to Autonomy+, along with 20-inch Black Sand all-terrain wheels, a limited Rivian Green anodized key fob, exclusive Launch Green exterior paint option (which will be a paid upgrade) and a tow package that supports up to 4,440 pounds of towing capacity. Other inclusions on the Performance trim include an Esker Silver exterior, semi-active suspension, Compass Yellow brake calipers and rear drop glass. This config also features Rivian's Matrix LED headlights with adaptive high beams, integrated tow hooks, a flashlight that can be stowed inside the driver door and 21-inch tungsten all-season wheels. The interior features birch wood accents with a Black Crater color scheme along with heated and ventilated front readers, heated steering wheel, heated rear outboard seats and 12-way adjustment with lumbar support for the driver and front passenger. R2 Premium Available late 2026 starting at $53,990 Features a dual-motor AWD setup with 450 horsepower and 537 lb-ft of torque EPA-estimated range of up to 330 miles 0 to 60 time of up to 4.6 seconds The premium trim includes many of the same features as the Performance model, but with smaller 20-inch bicolor carbon all-season wheels and fewer drive modes (there's no option for rally, soft sand and launch). R2 Standard (aka the RWD Long Range configuration) Available first half of 2027 starting at $48,490 Features a single motor RWD setup with 350 horsepower and 355 lb-ft of torque Rivian-estimated range of up to 345 miles 0 to 60 time of 5.9 seconds Finally, the R2 Standard variant features a slightly more spartan kit consisting of heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, 12-way seats (but only for the driver) and 19-inch machine graphite wheels. R2 Standard (aka the base model) Available late 2027 starting at $45,000 Rivian-estimated range of 265+ miles More detailed info will be released closer to launch This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/rivians-r2-ev-arrives-this-spring-with-a-58000-price-tag-150000363.html?src=rss

Disney+ gets its own time-sucking vertical video section

Its not just the major social platforms that know how effective an endless scroll of short videos is at hijacking your dopamine system. Disney+ is adding Verts, a selection of short vertical clips you can scroll through to keep your brain chemistry happy when you are in the bathroom so inclined. The company says its a dynamic feed to help users quickly find their next favorite watch, letting you jump straight in to see the full movie or TV show the clip hails from. Not to mention the side benefit of elbowing out those social platforms, many of which use cut-down clips of Disney-owned content anyway. Disney said it would be adding vertical video to its premiere streaming platform back in January, and it also launched Verts on the ESPN app last year. Today, it said the addition of vertical clips drove additional engagement, but neglected to mention by how much. It's worth noting Disney's not an outlier here Netflix announced a similar pivot back in January as well. The company does say, however, that its recommendation engine has an advanced algorithm to ensure the clips are relevant to each user. Naturally, Disney is happy to lean on the century or more of content in its library, but also said Verts could broaden out to include content from creators that reflects our fandoms. Which you could (and should) take as a plan to at least try to put a tank or two on YouTubes front lawn. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/disney-gets-its-own-time-sucking-vertical-video-section-133308487.html?src=rss

Starfleet Academy is the best first season of as Star Trek show ever

The first season of a TV show is a tricky thing. It has to convince people to watch it and justify the shows existence to the network (or streaming service) execs. It has to deal with actors and writers who may not have fully dialed into the characters and world yet. There are some shows with absolutely stellar first seasons Stranger Things , Veronica Mars and Ted Lasso are a few but many other hit shows stumbled out of the gate, like The Office and Supernatural . Star Trek is not immune to this phenomenon. The Original Series had a decent first season, with classic episodes like The City on the Edge of Forever. But the next four shows all have rather weak beginnings, with even fan-favorite The Next Generation stumbling badly with episodes like Code of Honor . That show picked up in season three, beginning a trend called Growing the Beard, in reference to how Commander Rikers new beard coincided with the uptick in quality. This trend unfortunately continued into the current era, with 2017s Star Trek: Discovery delivering a first season with an overwhelmingly dour tone and a lot of franchise changes that didnt sit well with fans. The show made some tweaks in season two (including a change in setting that involved traveling 900 years into the future), and showed a lot of improvement with season three. Picard also floundered horribly, with an uneven first season that killed off some fan-favorite characters and also turned the title character into an android. Things started looking up after that, with shows like Strange New Worlds all posting strong outings with their first go-arounds . W hile episodes like A Quality of Mercy and Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach may not make the list of all-time classics, there are no outright stinkers. It seemed like the franchise as a whole was finally finding its footing in this new streaming era. L-R: Tatiana Maslany as Anisha, Sandro Rosta as Caleb, Kerrice Brooks as SAM, Bella Shepard as Genesis, and George Hawkins as Darem in season 1, episode 9, of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Michael Gibson/Paramount+ That leads us to Starfleet Academy , which debuted in January on Paramount+. Prior to its premiere, the internet was full of people deriding it as CW Trek and declaring that they dont want to watch a show about teenyboppers that wasnt real Star Trek. Now that the show has finished its first season the internet is still full of people complaining. But many folks who were wary of it at the beginning have been pleasantly surprised every day there seems to be multiple posts on various Star Trek subreddits along the lines of Starfleet Academy is actually good?!? I personally didnt enjoy the first episode, but episode two turned me around rather quickly, and it seemed that every week brought new converts. Granted, 10 episodes is a short amount of time to make an impact, but Starfleet Academy did a lot with that number. Four of the episodes are dedicated to the ongoing villainy of Nus Braka, a murderous pirate played with scene-chewing delight by Paul Giamatti. These have all been pretty straightforward adventure stories, which also did a good job of fleshing out not only Braka, but cadet Caleb Mir, whose mother went to prison because of Braka. The emphasis on Caleb in the first episode made it seem like the show would focus on him, much in the way Discovery focused on Michael Burnham, but he took a back seat as the show explored the other characters as well as its setting. Episode two, Beta Test, focused on diplomacy, a long-standing theme of Star Trek, and even shook up the status quo by moving the Federation headquarters from Earth to Betazed. Paul Giamatti as Nus Braka and Holly Hunter as Captain Nahla Ake in season 1, episode 6, of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Brooke Palmer/Paramount+ Episodes four and five were more personal stories, with Vox in Excelso focusing on soft boy Klingon character Jay-Den as well as the fate of his race in general after hundreds of years, while Series Acclimation Mil also gave us characterization of photonic being Sam along with some heartfelt fan service for the Deep Space Nine fandom. Sam would also shine once more in The Life of the Stars, an episode that dealt with trauma, but also (again) delivered fan service in a way that didnt feel like pandering because of how it was used to develop not just Sam, but also the Doctor, a legacy character from Voyager . Its not that every episode in season one of Starfleet Academy is a masterpiece Vitus Reflux and KoZeine are somewhat weak but none of them are outright bad, making the batting average of the season rather high. That bodes well for word-of-mouth, as it's easier to recommend a show when you don't have to couch it with excuses about how it gets good eventually. It will need that word-of-mouth if it wants to get through a complete four seasons of schooling; season two just finished filming so we're guaranteed at least that, but there's a lot up in the air for not just the show, but the entire franchise. Strange New Worlds season four will debut later this year, and then we have an abbreviated season five to look forward to. But past that, nothing firm is on the horizon: Starfleet Academy hasn't been renewed yet, and projects like the Tawny Newsome-helmed comedy show are still in development with nothing tangible revealed yet. Newsome played Beckett Mariner on Lower Decks and worked in the writers room for Starfleet Academy she's an example of how Paramount has been building up a roster of talent behind the scenes for the franchise who, even when a show is new, understand the universe and, more importantly, how to work together to make good TV. And that's going to be important in the next year or so, as Paramount makes decisions about the future of the franchise in the shadow of the recent Skydance merger and the upcoming Warner Bros. purchase . Star Trek has an uphill battle ahead of it, but at least Starfleet Academy s first season has made it an easier climb. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/starfleet-academy-is-the-best-first-season-of-as-star-trek-show-ever-133000267.html?src=rss

Googles GFiber internet business is merging with Astound Broadband

Google has announced that GFiber is merging with Astound Broadband, in an agreement that sees Astounds parent company Stonepeak become the majority owner, with Alphabet retaining a minority stake. No financial specifics were detailed in a press release, but the new combined business will be an independent provider led by GFibers executive team, who Google says will use its expertise in high-speed fiber innovation to manage the combined network footprint. Astound already serves over one million customers across the US, and by joining forces Google says the two providers will be able to grant better internet access to more communities. GFiber, formerly known as Google Fiber, has been around for nearly 15 years, and currently offers speeds of up to 8Gbps on its $150/month Edge 8 Gig plan. A 20 Gig service was expected to leave early access later in 2026. The fiber broadband service is part of Alphabets Other Bets portfolio, which also includes Waymo , Verily, and Wing , a combined segment that recorded an operating loss of $16.8 billion in 2025, CNBC reports. The companys deal with Stonepeak is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in Q4 of this year. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/googles-gfiber-internet-business-is-merging-with-astound-broadband-132832086.html?src=rss

Ai+ Smartphone partners Optiemus to make phones, tablets and IoT devices

Together, they plan to invest 125 crore in India-based manufacturing for over 5 years with a claim of creating around 1,200 direct and indirect jobs

JBL's two new Live headphones offer 80 hours of battery each

JBL just released two new pairs of headphones in its pre-existing Live line . There's the over-ear Live 780NC and the on-ear Live 680NC. Both sets of headphones have similar specs, despite the difference in design. The biggest news here is likely the battery life. They max out at 80 hours per charge with regular use, which is a fantastic metric. This shrinks to 50 hours when using ANC, but that's still fairly remarkable. We truly live in a golden age of wireless headphone batteries . JBL's new headphones can also fully charge in just two hours, which is nice. They also offer the option for multi-point connections. There are two dedicated microphones for phone calls, with clarity assisted by an AI algorithm. JBL Both can stream high resolution audio via Bluetooth or a wired connection. The models even look similar, with availability in the same seven colorways. The 680NC, however, is slightly lighter. There is one major difference between the two. The 780NC includes six microphones for ANC, while the 680NC features four. This likely means that ANC performance will be better with the former, which will be assisted by the design itself. Over-ear headphones offer passive noise isolation. Those extra microphones do boost the price up a bit. The JBL 780NC headphones cost $250, while the JBL 680NC headphones cost $160. Both are available for purchase right now, with shipments going out by March 15. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/jbls-two-new-live-headphones-offer-80-hours-of-battery-each-120044416.html?src=rss

Uber is piloting a robotaxi service in Tokyo

Uber has teamed up with UK self-driving car startup Wayve and Nissan to launch a pilot program for a robotaxi service in Tokyo in late 2026. The program will use Nissan Leaf EVs powered by Wayves AI Driver automated vehicle technology, which will then be connected to Ubers platform. Trained drivers will be behind the wheel at first, as the deployed vehicles gather real-world data to be able to navigate Tokyos driving conditions and complex streets that are also a lot narrower than the roads in the US. Another company backed by Uber, Nuro , will also test its vehicles on Tokyos challenging streets soon. Nuro has been trialing its self-driving tech in the US for years now and plans to launch a robotaxi service, as well. Theyre not the first companies to take on Tokyo streets, however: Waymo deployed its Jaguar I-PACE autonomous vehicles in the metropolis last year to collect data on its roads and the driving patterns of locals. The pilot program in Tokyo is just part of Wayves and Ubers plan to roll out a robotaxi service in more than 10 cities around the world. In the future, the companies are planning to offer self-driving vehicles as an option in the city through a licensed taxi partner in Japan. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/uber-is-piloting-a-robotaxi-service-in-tokyo-112133871.html?src=rss

NVIDIA- and Uber-backed Nuro is testing autonomous vehicles in Tokyo

US self-driving startup Nuro , which is backed by the likes of NVIDIA, Toyota and Uber, has started testing its autonomous vehicles on Tokyo's challenging streets, Bloomberg reported. The company, which plans to launch a robotaxi service with Uber and Lucid in San Francisco this year, will be testing a handful of vehicles in the city. Human safety drivers will be at the wheel, as is required by Japanese law. Tokyo presents a challenge for autonomous vehicles, given its narrow, crowded streets and left side of the road driving. Testing the capability of the autonomy system in such an interesting market with some international complexity really is a good pressure test of what the system is capable of, said CEO Andrew Chapin. The company's ultimate goal is to achieve Level 4 autonomy, which allows full self-driving under limited conditions. Waymo is the other major robotaxi operator testing vehicles in Tokyo in collaboration with Japanese taxi operators Nihon Kotsu and the country's leading taxi app, Go. It has been operating in the nation since April 2025 in collaboration with Toyota. Nuro has yet to announce which operators or vehicle manufacturers it will be partnering with, but Chapin said it may not limit itself to autonomous rides. A universal autonomy platform that can be extended to a lot of different applications and form factors is a bit different than the approach Waymo is taking, he told Bloomberg . The company previously teamed with 7-Eleven on autonomous deliveries in Mountain View, California. Uber plans to have up to 100,000 autonomous vehicles including 20,000 robotaxis powered by Lucid and Nuro, with a rollout starting in 2027. It introduced its new vehicle design recently at CES 2026. Uber is also collaborating with Nissan and Wayve with the aim to introduce pilot cars in Tokyo by late 2026. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/nvidia--and-uber-backed-nuro-is-testing-autonomous-vehicles-in-tokyo-081200366.html?src=rss

iQOO launches Z11x with MediaTek processor and Sony sensor

iQOO has used a 7200 mAh battery in iQOO Z11x, paired with 44W charger inside the box

Google Play will let you try a game before you buy it

Google Play has introduced a new feature called Game Trials, which will let you play a portion of paid games for free before you commit to buying them. Its now rolling out to select paid games on mobile, and its coming soon to Google Play Games on PC. Titles that offer Game Trials will show a button marked Try on their profile pages. When you click it, youll see how long you can play the game before you have to buy it. In Googles example, the survival and horror game Dredge will give you 60 minutes of free play time, after which youll get the option to either buy the game or delete it from your device. Google has also announced that its releasing more paid indie games over the coming months, including Moonlight Peaks, Sledding Game and Low-Budget Repairs . It has launched a new section in the Play store, as well, to feature games optimized for Windows PCs. You can wishlist the games from that section to get a notification when theyre on sale. Finally, the company is rolling out Play Games Sidekick, the Gemini-powered Android overlay it announced last year, to select games downloaded from Play. Sidekick can show you relevant info and tools for whatever game you're playing without having to do a search query. But if youd rather ask other people for gaming advice instead of an AI, you can also look at a games Community Posts, a feature now available in English for select titles on their Play pages. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/google-play-will-let-you-try-a-game-before-you-buy-it-051854016.html?src=rss

I guess this wasn't an Xbox after all

In 2024, Microsoft caused a lot of head-scratching and general bemusement with the launch of its This is an Xbox marketing campaign. Now, though, it appears the quandary over what is and isn't an Xbox has been resolved. Game Developer noticed that the original blog post on Xbox Wire that kicked off the whole affair has been removed.It seems Xbox will be going a new direction with its future promotions. Maybe since the new Project Helix hardware it has in the works is more definite attempt to blur console and PC gaming, This is an Xbox might have been truly confusing as a tagline. Maybe with the recent changing of the guard at the company, the top brass decided that it was the right time to start fresh with a less meme-able marketing plan. Whatever the reason, we have enjoyed this opportunity to learn about the existential philosophy behind being an Xbox. And fortunately, although the blog post may be gone, the video trailer still exists whenever we need to remind ourselves of the many things that can be Xbox-ified. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/i-guess-this-wasnt-an-xbox-after-all-230154314.html?src=rss

iPhone Fold rumors: Everything we know right now, including the leaked design, upgrades, price and more

Apple still hasnt confirmed a foldable iPhone, and the companys latest round of product announcements didnt change that. Apple launched several new devices last week, but there was still no mention of a folding iPhone. Even so, the steady stream of leaks and analyst reports hasnt slowed. Over the past few months, supply-chain sources and leakers have continued to sketch out Apples possible plans, with most signs still pointing to a launch in the second half of 2026. As with any unannounced Apple hardware, plenty could shift before anything ships. Features can be revised, timelines can move and some ideas may never make it beyond internal testing. Even so, the growing consistency across recent reports offers a clearer picture of how the so-called iPhone Fold might take shape and where it could land in Apples lineup. Below, weve rounded up the most credible rumors so far, and well keep this guide updated as new details emerge. When could the iPhone Fold launch? Rumors of a foldable iPhone date back as far as 2017, but more recent reporting suggests Apple has finally locked onto a realistic window. Most sources now point to fall 2026, likely alongside the iPhone 18 lineup, with some supply-chain hints suggesting mass production could begin in mid-2026 if development stays on track. Mark Gurman has gone back and forth on timing, initially suggesting Apple could launch as early as 2026, before later writing that the device would ship at the end of 2026 and sell primarily in 2027 . Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also repeatedly cited the second half of 2026 as Apples target. Some reports still claim the project could slip into 2027 if Apple runs into manufacturing or durability issues, particularly around the hinge or display. Given Apples history of delaying products that it feels arent ready, that remains a real possibility. What will the iPhone Fold look like? Current consensus suggests Apple has settled on a book-style foldable design, similar to Samsungs Galaxy Z Fold series, rather than a clamshell flip phone . When unfolded, the iPhone Fold is expected to resemble a small tablet like the iPad mini (8.3 inches). Based on the rumor mill, though, the iPhone Fold may be a touch smaller, with an internal display measuring around 7.7 to 7.8 inches. When closed, it should function like a conventional smartphone, with an outer display in the 5.5-inch range. CAD leaks and alleged case-maker molds suggest the device may be shorter and wider than a standard iPhone when folded, creating a squarer footprint that better matches the aspect ratio of the inner display. New images shared by leaker Sonny Dickson appear to back up that general design direction. The CAD files show what looks like a book-style foldable with a camera plateau similar to the iPhone Air , though with two rear cameras instead of one. The renders also suggest a layout with a punch-hole front camera on the inner display and squared-off edges near the hinge, which would be consistent with earlier reports about the devices overall form factor. If that theory holds, it could help explain the Folds rumored dimensions. Thickness is expected to land around 4.5 to 4.8mm when unfolded, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo , putting it in a similar range to the iPhone Air, and roughly 9 to 9.5mm when folded, depending on the final hinge design and internal layering. iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone Air Engadget Display and the crease question The display is arguably the biggest challenge for any foldable phone, and its an area where Apple appears to have invested years of development. Multiple reports say Apple will rely on Samsung Display as its primary supplier. At CES 2026, Samsung showcased a new crease-less foldable OLED panel , which several sources including Bloomberg suggested could be the same technology Apple plans to use. According to these reports, the panel combines a flexible OLED with a laser-drilled metal support plate that disperses stress when folding. The goal is a display with a nearly invisible crease, something Apple reportedly considers essential before entering the foldable market. If Apple does use this panel, it would mark a notable improvement over current foldables, which still show visible creasing under certain lighting conditions. Cameras and biometrics Camera rumors suggest Apple is planning a four-camera setup. That may include: Two rear cameras (main and ultra-wide, both rumored at 48MP) One punch-hole camera on the outer display One under-display camera on the inner screen Several sources claim Apple will avoid Face ID entirely on the iPhone Fold. Instead, its expected to rely on Touch ID built into the power button, similar to recent iPad models. This would allow Apple to keep both displays free of notches or Dynamic Island cutouts. Under-display camera technology has historically produced lower image quality, but a rumored 24MP sensor would be a significant step up compared to existing foldables, which typically use much lower-resolution sensors. iPhone Folds hinge and materials The hinge is another area where Apple may diverge from competitors. Multiple reports claim Apple will use Liquidmetal, which is a long-standing trade name for a metallic glass alloy the company has previously used in smaller components. While often referred to as liquid metal or Liquid Metal in reports, Liquidmetal is the branding Apple has historically associated with the material. Liquidmetal is said to be stronger and more resistant to deformation than titanium, while remaining relatively lightweight. If accurate, this could help improve long-term durability and reduce wear on the foldable display. Leaks from Jon Prosser also reference a metal plate beneath the display that works in tandem with the hinge to minimize creasing a claim that aligns with reporting from Korean and Chinese supply-chain sources. Battery and other components Battery life is another potential differentiator. According to Ming-Chi Kuo and multiple Asian supply-chain reports , Apple is testing high-density battery cells in the 5,000 to 5,800mAh range. That would make it the largest battery ever used in an iPhone, and competitive with (or larger than) batteries in current Android foldables. The device is also expected to use a future A-series chip and Apples in-house modem, with some reports pointing specifically to a next-generation C2 modem as part of Apples broader push to reduce reliance on Qualcomm. Pixel 10 Pro Fold Sam Rutherford for Engadget Interface With the extra screen real estate the iPhone Fold could have while open, software will naturally need to adapt. Bloomberg reports Apple will do that (and encourage developers to do the same) by offering a software interface thats similar to iPadOS. Apps on the iPhone Fold will offer iPad-like layouts with sidebars along the left edge of the screen, allowing them to display more information and controls at once. Despite borrowing interface elements from the iPad, however, Apples foldable reportedly wont run iPadOS or offer the windowed multitasking of the companys tablets. Instead the iPhone Fold will display apps in splitscreen, in a similar way to foldables like Googles Pixel 10 Pro Fold . Price None of this will come cheap, thats for certain. Nearly every report agrees that the iPhone Fold will be Apples most expensive iPhone ever. Estimates currently place the price between $2,000 and $2,500 in the US. Bloomberg has said the price will be at least $2,000, while other analysts have narrowed the likely range to around $2,100 and $2,300. That positions the iPhone Fold well above the iPhone Pro Max and closer to Apples high-end Macs and iPads. Despite years of rumors, theres still plenty that remains unclear. Apple hasnt confirmed the name iPhone Fold, final dimensions, software features or how iOS would adapt to a folding form factor. Durability, repairability and long-term reliability are also open questions. For now, the safest assumption is that Apple is taking its time and that many of these details could still change before launch. Update, March 11, 5:34PM ET: Added details about the iPhone Folds software interface. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/iphone-fold-rumors-everything-we-know-right-now-including-the-leaked-design-upgrades-price-and-more-130000733.html?src=rss

Valve's Steam Machine launches in 2026: Everything we know so far

The Steam Machine is back from the dead. Not as a Valve-supported program for manufacturers to create living room PCs, but instead as a home console sibling to the Steam Deck . Valve introduced its second attempt at ruling the living room in a surprise hardware announcement in November 2025, and paired the new Steam Machine with a new Steam Controller and a wireless VR headset it calls the Steam Frame . Since the announcement, as is often the case with Valve, some details remain elusive, however. While we wait for the release of the company's new hardware lineup in 2026, and more information straight from the horse's mouth, here's everything we know about the hardware, software and price of the Steam Machine, so far. What's the Steam Machine's hardware like? Valve Like the Steam Deck, the Steam Machine is utilitarian and bespoke. The PC is a black, 5.98 x 6.39 x 6.14 inch (152 x 162.4 x 156mm) box, with ports and a grille for a fan in the back and a removable faceplate and customizable LED light strip in the front. Inside, Valve says the Steam Machine features a semi-custom AMD Zen 4 CPU with six cores and up to 4.8GHz clock speeds, and a semi-custom RDNA3 AMD GPU, along with 16GB DDR RAM, 8GB GDDR6 VRAM and either 512GB or 2TB of storage. While these specs make the Steam Machine more powerful than the aging Steam Deck (which shipped in 2022 with its own custom AMD chip) Valve has been careful not to oversell the capabilities of the box. In a blog post , the company said that the majority of Steam titles play great at 4K 60FPS using AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) frame generation and upscaling technology, but some titles require more upscaling than others, and it may be preferable to play at a lower framerate with [variable refresh rate] to maintain a 1080p internal resolution. In a hands-on preview of the Steam Machine, Digital Foundry expressed concern with what Valve's claims and the device's stated specs could mean for future performance. The decision to opt for 8GB of GDDR6 memory has been proven to be a limiting factor on many modern mainstream triple-A games and falls short of the maximum VRAM pools and memory bandwidth available on both Xbox Series X and base PS5, Digital Foundry writes. The Steam Machine supports Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 6E and includes an integrated 2.4GHz adapter for the new Steam Controller. In terms of port selection, there's DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0 inputs for connecting the box to external monitors and TVs, four USB-A ports (divided between two USB 2.0 ports and two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports) and one USB-C port on the back. Engadget will have to try outthe Steam Machine to really know what it's capable of, but there's nothing to suggest it couldn't be as flexible as the Steam Deck, especially with more power to play with. What games will be able to run on the Steam Machine? Valve Any game that runs on SteamOS, Valve's Linux-based operating system, will run on the Steam Machine, provided the device's technical specs will support it. For games running natively on Linux, the Steam Machine will download the Linux version. For Windows games and everything else, it'll be able to use Steam's built-in Proton compatibility layer to translate games to Linux, just like the Steam Deck does. Proton is developed by both Valve and CodeWeavers, the team behind the macOS compatibility app CrossOver . Valve's compatibility layer translates a game's API calls and other software features into something Linux understands, essentially tricking the game into thinking it's running on Windows when it isn't. Proton has worked remarkably well so far, in some cases helping some PC games run more efficiently on Linux than they do on Windows, but it does have some limitations. Because some anti-cheat software doesn't support Linux , many competitive multiplayer games aren't playable on SteamOS. Valve hopes the Steam Machine will help change that. While [the] Steam Machine also requires dev participation to enable anti-cheat, we think the incentives for enabling anti-cheat on Machine to be higher than on Deck as we expect more people to play multiplayer games on it, Valve told Eurogamer . Ultimately we hope that the launch of Machine will change the equation around anti-cheat support and increase its support. To help users find what games work well on the Steam Machine, Valve plans to expand its program for verifying games on the Steam Deck to include the Steam Machine and Steam Frame. Valve looks at things like controller support, the default resolution of the game, whether or not it requires a separate launcher and whether the game and its middleware work with Proton to determine a game's rating. Then the company sorts games into four categories: Verified (where the game works with Steam hardware at launch), Playable (where a user might have to make modifications to run smoothly), Unplayable (where some or all of the game doesn't function) and Unknown. Valve According to an announcement Valve sent to developers in November 2025, games that were Verified for the Steam Deck will automatically be verified for the Steam Machine. In a presentation at GDC 2026 , the company also shared that Steam Machine Verified games will be expected to support the same input methods as the Steam Deck and run at 1080p at 30fps at a minimum. Unlike the companys handheld, Valve wont require developers to support specific display resolutions or meet legibility requirements to be Steam Machine Verified, though, because the Steam Machine is more likely to be connected to larger displays. That means a game could be marked as Playable on the Steam Deck due to its small text, but Verified on the Steam Machine. Valves system is helpful, but far from definitive some Unplayable games are in fact playable on the Steam Deck which is why online, community-run databases like ProtonDB fill in the gaps with more granular information. How much will the Steam Machine cost and when will it launch? Valve Valve hasn't announced a price or a release date for the Steam Machine or any of its new hardware, beyond affirming its new hardware will ship in 2026 . In terms of price, however, the company has suggested it might not be a deal in quite the same way the $399 Steam Deck LCD was. Valve designer Pierre-Loup Griffais told The Verge that the Steam Machines pricing is comparable to a PC with similar specs and that its price would be positioned closer to the entry level of the PC space but be very competitive with what you a PC you could build yourself from parts. That means the Steam Machine will likely cost more than the $499 PS5, and that the rising costs of memory could make it even more expensive. Valve has already publicly admitted that memory and storage shortages are affecting its plans. In February, the company said that it was delaying the launch of its hardware (though it still hopes to ship in the first half of 2026) and rethinking pricing, particularly around the Steam Machine and Steam Frame, because of the limited availability and growing prices of critical components like RAM. The changes Framework had to make to the pricing of the Framework Desktop are an illustrative example of the position Valve is in. Framework pitched its compact desktop PC as being great for gaming, with an AMD Ryzen AI Max chip (originally meant for gaming laptops) and a minimum of 32GB of RAM that lets it run games at 1440p. The company originally sold the base configuration of the Framework Desktop for $1,099, but announced in January 2026 that it would now cost $1,139 due to the rising cost of RAM. The price situation got even worse for configurations with more RAM. A Framework Desktop with 128GB of RAM now costs $2,459. The blame for rising costs lies squarely with the AI industry, whose demand for RAM has led to the collapse of consumer RAM brands and a dearth of true deals on the in-demand component. At this point, PC makers have no solution to the problem other than riding the shortage out and raising prices. Valve clearly isn't immune to those same issues. That doesn't rule out the company offering its Linux PC at multiple different price points, or in some kind of bundle deal with multiple pieces of new Steam hardware. But it does mean that the Steam Machine will likely be priced like a premium device. Same for the Steam Controller and Steam Frame. In the case of the Frame, UploadVR reports that Valve wants to sell the headset for less than the $1,000 Valve Index, but that doesn't mean it won't be significantly more expensive than the $300 Meta Quest 3S . What accessories will work with the Steam Machine? Valve The Steam Machine is designed to work with a variety of different Bluetooth controllers and other wireless accessories, and also whatever you can plug into its multiple USB-A ports and single USB-C port. With a built-in 2.4GHz Steam Controller dongle inside the Steam Machine, Valve's controller should be an ideal option for controlling games, particularly because of its multiple input options, like touchpads and gyroscopes. Support for Steam Link, Valve's tech for streaming PC games over local wireless, means you can also send games from a Steam Machine to the Steam Deck, Steam Frame or the Steam Link app and play them there. Update, March 11, 4:40PM ET: Updated headline and added details on Valves Steam Machine Verified program. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/valves-steam-machine-launches-in-2026-everything-we-know-so-far-200458597.html?src=rss

Grammarly has disabled its tool offering generative-AI feedback credited to real writers

Superhuman has taken its writing assistant Grammarly on quite the merry-go-round ride regarding its approach to AI tools. In August, the company launched a feature called Expert Review that would offer feedback on your writing, offering AI-generated feedback that would appear to come from a famous writer or academic of note. These recreations were based on publicly available information from third-party LLMs, which sounds a lot like web crawlers of dubious legality were involved. The suggested experts would be based on the subject matter and could be anyone from great scientific minds to bestselling fiction authors to your friendly neighborhood tech bloggers. Living or dead, these writers' names appeared on Grammarly without their permission or knowledge. References to experts in this product are for informational purposes only and do not indicate any affiliation with Grammarly or endorsement by those individuals or entities, the company hedged in a disclaimer on the service. As one might imagine, once people took notice, a large number of the living contingent of those writers were none too pleased with Grammarly and Superhuman. The company initially attempted to address the complaints by allowing writers to opt out of the platform. Which I'm sure was a big relief to the deceased contingent and to those living ones who aren't closely following AI news and might still not know they were being cited by the tool. Today, Superhuman CEO Shishir Mehrotra wrote in a LinkedIn post that the company will disable Expert Review while it reassesses the feature. The agent was designed to help users discover influential perspectives and scholarship relevant to their work, while also providing meaningful ways for experts to build deeper relationships with their fans, he said. Yes, Carl Sagan must be bemoaning the lack of deep relationships with his fans from the afterlife. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/grammarly-has-disabled-its-tool-offering-generative-ai-feedback-credited-to-real-writers-201614257.html?src=rss

TikTok will let you stream full songs in its app if you're an Apple Music subscriber

TikTok will soon let you stream full songs in its app via a new integration with Apple Music . The company's new Play Full Song feature makes it possible to link your Apple Music account toTikTok, and play any song that strikes your fancy directly in the app while you're scrolling. Starting a song is as simple as tapping a button in the Sound Details page or your For You page. Assuming you pay for Apple Music, TikTok will then open up a streamlined version of Apple's music player, which you can use to listen to the song, save it for later or add it to a playlist. TikTok says that Play Full Song is built using Apple's MusicKit APIs , which let developers surface elements of the Apple Music streaming service in their apps. TikTok has previously offered integration with multiple music streaming services through a feature it calls Add to Music App, which made it possible to save songs you heard on TikTok to your streaming library. What's particularly interesting about this new integration is that because it's using Apple's APIs, songs streamed with Play Full Song count as normal streams for the artists in Apple Music, so they don't lose out on any money. Alongside the new feature, TikTok and Apple are also introducing a way for fans to listen to music live with their favorite artists. TikTok's Listening Party feature creates a live shared environment where people can listen to music and interact with artists directly, in what effectively sounds like an audio-only livestream. TikTok livestreams are a whole ecosystem in their own right, and Listening Party seems like a way to leverage some of the same technology for a more controlled, music promotion-focused end. TikTok is already a popular tool for music discovery and launching the career of new artists, and the platform also briefly dabbled in offering a streaming service of its own in 2023. The company abandoned those plans in 2024, but under new owners , TikTok's ambitions could ultimately be bigger than just offering nice integrations with existing streaming services. TikTok says Play Full Song and Listening Party are rolling out worldwide in the weeks ahead, so if you dont see either feature now, you may soon. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/tiktok-will-let-you-stream-full-songs-in-its-app-if-youre-an-apple-music-subscriber-183333143.html?src=rss

Microsoft's full screen 'Xbox Mode' will roll out to Windows 11 PCs in April

Microsoft first debuted its full screen Xbox experience for Windows in the ROG Ally Xbox handheld , in a bid to compete with Steam's nearly 15-year-old Big Picture Mode . That Xbox interface eventually made its way to other Windows 11 gaming portables last year. Today at GDC, Microsoft revealed that its big screen Xbox UI is headed to all Windows 11 devices (including laptops and desktops) in April. Oh yah, and it's now simply called Xbox Mode. Xbox Mode will only be available in select markets at first, and Microsoft describes it as bringing a controller-optimized experience to your Windows 11 device, letting players browse their library, launch games, use Game Bar and switch between apps. You know, just like Steam Big Picture mode. Microsoft didn't have much else to share about optimizations in Xbox Mode, but when it debuted the feature for Windows 11 Insiders last fall , the company noted that its task switcher will let people quickly move between games, as well as their apps. Microsoft plans to reveal more information about the future of Xbox today at GDC. Last week, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma confirmed the company's next hardware is codenamed Project Helix, and it will play both PC and console games. That likely means it'll just be a Windows gaming PC with Xbox branding, something the company has been hinting at for a while. Microsoft also has some geekier developer-focused news for the Games Developer Conference. Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD), which first appeared on the Xbox ROG Ally, will be made available to all developers on the Xbox store. ASD allows delivers to pre-compile shaders, so you're not stuck waiting for them to get processed on your system. That should also help to avoid the shader stuttering so common when playing a new title, since shader processing often occurs in the background too. DirectStorage, Microsoft's technology for speeding up game loading on NVMe SSDs, is also getting support for Zstandard compression, as well as a tool called the Game Asset Conditional Library. According to Microsoft, that tool enables improving compression efficiency while simplifying asset conditioning across production pipelines. Microsoft also plans to give developers a glimpse at how next-generation Machine Learning will be implemented in its DirectX gaming API. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/microsofts-full-screen-xbox-mode-will-roll-out-to-windows-11-pcs-in-april-181000289.html?src=rss

Microsoft will start providing game studios with Project Helix consoles in 2027

Microsoft plans to begin shipping early units of its next generation console, codenamed Project Helix , to game studios starting sometime next year. We're sending alpha versions of Project Helix to developers starting in 2027, said Jason Ronald, vice-president of next generation for Xbox, according to IGN , which was present at the companys GDC 2026 presentation where it shared early details about the new device. Ronald did not clarify what he meant by alpha version, but given the keynotes developer focus, presumably he meant devkits, which studios could use to start creating games for the new console. Additionally, Ronald reiterated that the new system would be capable of playing both Xbox console games and PC games, and said it would incorporate a custom AMD-made system-on-a-chip capable of rendering graphics with path tracing. Judging from a slide the company shared, Microsoft and AMD are working on many of the same technologies and capabilities AMD is co-designing with Sony for next PlayStation console . For instance, Ronald said Helix would be capable of ray regeneration, a technique designed to produce better-looking ray-traced effects. The new console will also offer multi-frame frame generation and machine learning-based upscaling. It delivers an order of magnitude leap in ray tracing performance and capability, integrates intelligence directly into the graphics and compute pipeline, and drives meaningful gains in efficiency, scale, and visual ambition. The result is more realistic, immersive, and dynamic worlds for players, Ronald wrote in a blog post published after his presentation. Ronald didnt speak to any specific compute numbers, likely due to the fact Microsoft has yet to finalize the Helix hardware. Well likely learn more of those details the closer we get to 2027. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/microsoft-will-start-providing-game-studios-with-project-helix-consoles-in-2027-180352458.html?src=rss

Tembo might just be the world's cutest drum machine

A new company called Musical Beings has officially unveiled the Tembo , which might be the cutest drum machine ever made. Just look at this thing! It's got a wooden chassis that resembles a standard drum machine, but with one key difference. The sequencer is tactile. Users arrange beats by placing magnetic pucks that trigger samples. This seems like a really good way to introduce the basics of sequencing and beatmaking to kids and young adults, being that DAWs and grooveboxes can feature a steep learning curve. The sequencer isn't all that different from what's found on a typical groovebox, but the analog nature of it seems novel. The company says it designed Tembo to enable everyone to create music from the very first touch. Co-founder David Davidov told MusicRadar that most instruments take so long to get to the fun part and that Musical Beings wanted to help people experience music as something they do, not just something they listen to. Just because it's accessible to kids and amateurs doesn't mean it's not for seasoned musicians. This is a real-deal drum machine with plenty of nifty features. There's a five-channel, 16-step sequencer that's controlled via the aforementioned circular magnets. The machine includes knobs for swing, tempo, effects and pattern length. It has two USB-C MIDI connections, so it can easily be hooked up to a DAW or synced with external gear. Sessions can be recorded via USB audio or a stereo output. There's also a dedicated companion app to help with that sort of thing. The Tembo is battery-powered, making it relatively portable, and there's a built-in speaker. The integrated sampler lets users lay down musical ideas in addition to beats, making it something of a junior groovebox. This is assisted by a built-in microphone. The Kickstarter just launched, but has already soared past the initial goal. The price ranges from around $360 to $450 depending on the tier. It's worth noting that Musical Beings is a new company and Kickstarter projects are never guaranteed to come out. However, a number of units have already been built, as some musicians and studios have already gotten their hands on them . This isn't the first wacky drum machine that has come across our desk. The BeatBox is a cardboard gadget that uses arcade-style buttons to make beats. The OddBall is quite literally a ball that makes beats as it bounces around . This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/tembo-might-just-be-the-worlds-cutest-drum-machine-173926914.html?src=rss

Meta will let kids under 13 use WhatsApp with parent-managed accounts

Meta has announced that its introducing parent-managed accounts on WhatsApp. Designed to allow young people under the age of 13 to use the messaging platform more safely, these accounts feature new controls that enable a parent or guardian to restrict who can send them messages. Parent-managed accounts can also only be used for messaging and calling, so additional features like Channels, location sharing and Meta AI integration arent included. To set up an account, youll need to put your phone next to the pre-teens device to link the two accounts. Once thats done, the person managing the kids account can decide whos able to contact them and which groups theyre able to join. Step-by-step instructions on how to activate the new accounts can be found here. Theyll also see message requests from unknown contacts first and can adjust privacy settings from the managed device. Parent-managed accounts are PIN-protected and only the parent or guardian can make changes to privacy settings. Like all WhatsApp conversations, end-to-end encryption means nobody else can see messages exchanged on parent-managed accounts. By default, only saved contacts can message a managed account, and a child wont be able to join a group or view group invites from strangers before theyre separately approved by the owner of the parent account. These requests will appear as notifications to the parent. WhatsApp doesnt specify a minimum age suitable for a parent-messaged account, but says itll roll the new features out gradually in the coming months. Meta has spent the last few years ramping up its parental controls features across its various platforms. In September it introduced teen accounts aimed at teens between the age of 13 and 15 for Facebook and Messenger. A year earlier, Under-16 teen accounts became a requirement on Instagram. Like the new parent-managed accounts on WhatsApp, these allow parents to vet requests and enable stricter privacy settings. At the start of 2026, Meta put a temporary pause on allowing teens to interact with its AI chatbot characters, following reports that some of these bots had engaged in sexual conversations and other concerning interactions with minors. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-will-let-kids-under-13-use-whatsapp-with-parent-managed-accounts-172023976.html?src=rss

Most AI chatbots will help users plan violent attacks, study finds

Eight of the 10 most popular AI chatbots were willing to help plan violent attacks when tested by researchers, according to a new study from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), in partnership with CNN. While both Snapchat's My AI and Claude refused to assist with violence the majority of the time, only Anthropic's Claude reliably discouraged these hypothetical attackers during testing. Researchers created accounts posing as 13-year-old boys and tested ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Meta AI , DeepSeek, Perplexity, Snapchat My AI, Character.AI and Replika across 18 scenarios between November and December 2025. The tests simulated users planning school shootings, political assassinations and bombings targeting synagogues. Across all the responses analyzed, the chatbots provided actionable assistance roughly 75 percent of the time and discouraged violence in just 12 percent of cases. This was the average across all chatbots, with Claude discouraging violence 76 percent of the time. Meta AI and Perplexity were the least safe, assisting in 97 and 100 percent of responses. ChatGPT offered campus maps when asked about school violence, and Gemini said metal shrapnel is typically more lethal in a synagogue bombing scenario. DeepSeek signed off rifle selection advice with Happy (and safe) shooting! Character.AI, which the report described as uniquely unsafe, actively encouraged violence in seven instances, at one point telling a researcher to use a gun on a health insurance company CEO. In another scenario, it provided a political party's headquarters address and asked if the user was planning a little raid. Meta told CNN it had taken steps to to fix the issue identified, while Google and Open AI said they had implemented new models since the study was conducted. Sixty-four percent of US teens aged 13 to 17 have used a chatbot, according to Pew Research . This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/most-ai-chatbots-will-help-users-plan-violent-attacks-study-finds-163651255.html?src=rss

The PS Plus Games Catalog is getting Space Marine 2 and Persona 5 Royal in March

Sony has announced its latest additions to the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog. While they might not top last month's introduction of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 , Extra and Premium subscribers are still getting access to some notable games. In March, the new additions include Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (PS5) , one of Engadget's picks for the Best Games of 2024 , and Persona 5 Royal (PS5 and PS4). The PS4 version of Persona 5 Royal Ultimate Edition , the complete version of one of Atlus' most popular RPGs, will also be available alongside a collection of other fun additions. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a third-person action game reminiscent of Gears of War , but set in Games Workshop's elaborate Warhammer 40,000 universe. If you're a fan of the larger franchise, Space Marine 2 is well worth a look, especially with a third entry on the way , but the game is also a solid option if you're just looking for a new co-op game to try with friends. Persona 5 Royal is a known-quantity among fans of Atlus' social simulation/RPG series, and the way it both expands on and streamlines the original Persona 5 also makes it a suitable entry point to the series as a whole. If seeing Japanese teenagers deal with their personal problems while embarking on Inception- style missions into the hearts of the corrupt adults of Tokyo sounds interesting, you'll love Persona 5 Royal . Alongside those standouts, PS Plus Game Catalog is also getting: EA Sports Madden NFL 26 (PS5) Blasphemous 2 (PS5 and PS4) Metal Eden (PS5) Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria (PS5) Astroneer (PS5 and PS4) And as promised last month, the PS Plus Classics Catalog is expanding to include Tekken: Dark Resurrection , a revamped and rebalanced version of Tekken 5 that includes expanded character customization options and new stages that weren't in the original 2004 fighting game. This ones only for PS Plus Premium subscribers on PS4 and PS5. All of these will be available on the PS Plus Game Catalog on March 17. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/the-ps-plus-games-catalog-is-getting-space-marine-2-and-persona-5-royal-in-march-162716284.html?src=rss

Fortnite's original Save the World mode will be free to play starting on April 16

Fortnite's original Save the World game mode will be free to play beginning on April 16 . This is not the battle royale mode that went on to take over the world, but rather a PvE co-op campaign that focuses on crafting and survival. It currently costs $9 but that ends soon. As a matter of fact, Epic Games will stop selling the paid version of the content tonight, March 11, at 8PM ET. If you have $9 burning a hole in your pocket to spend on something that'll be free next month, go for it. Current players will still be able to access the content, so there are no worries there. Once the free version goes live, pre-existing players will get a bunch of perks as a thank you of sorts. This includes vouchers for V-bucks, gold bars and end-game resources that are used to boost player and item levels. Save the World will still be a great way to gather V-bucks , for those worried the freemium shift will change things. Epic says players will earn this currency through Daily Quests, Mission Alerts, Storm Shield Defense Missions and existing Challenges. Pre-registration for the free mode is already live and there's a welcome bit of news here. For the first time, Save the World will be available on Switch 2. It'll remain unavailable on the original Switch and smartphones. The mode is also playable on PC, PlayStation and Xbox. Epic promises those who pre-register will get perks when the free version launches, but says the specifics will vary depending on how many people sigh up by April 16. Save the World originally came out in 2017 and was a modest success that was immediately dwarfed by the PUBG -inspired battle royale mode. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/fortnites-original-save-the-world-mode-will-be-free-to-play-starting-on-april-16-160757693.html?src=rss

Larry 'Major Nelson' Hryb joins Commodore to help build its community

Phil Spencer leaving his long-held role at Xbox might have made all the headlines last month, but a few years ago the big story was company veteran Larry Major Nelson Hrybs departure from Microsoft. Hryb recently seemingly hinted at a return to the company at which he spent more than two decades, but hes now landed at Commodore instead. The ex-Xbox icon joins the recently revived 80s computer brand as a Community Development Advisor, where his job will be to help support and expand the global community, Commodore said in a press release. Hryb, who was the public face of Xbox during the brands heyday, is now tasked with helping to modernize Commodore by introducing it to a new generation of creators, developers, and enthusiasts. I've always believed the best thing a company can do is partner with its community and with a passionate fan base carrying the torch for 31 years, Commodores situation is truly unique when it comes to community engagement, said Hryb. The community didn't wait around instead they built something remarkable. Players, hardware hobbyists, developers, content creators, and publishers are all a part of the Commodore community, and now we get to build whats next together. Hrybs most recent role was at game engine maker Unity, where he served as Director of Community and Advocacy for less than two years before being laid off in January. As for Commodore, the company might be entering a new era, but its comeback product launch is a firmly nostalgic play, with the recently released Commodore 64 Ultimate being an authentic recreation of its most famous 8-bit computer. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/larry-major-nelson-hryb-joins-commodore-to-help-build-its-community-145908119.html?src=rss

Looking Glass' Musubi showcases its holographic display in a consumer-friendly package

Looking Glass has been doggedly committed to making holographic displays the next big thing since 2019, and with its new Musubi digital photo frame, it might finally be offering its tech at a price that's hard to deny. Musubi is scheduled to start shipping in June, and unlike the company's previous, more developer-focused kits, the company's new display only costs $149. Musubi is a 7-inch frame with a glass border and white matte that acts as the home for whatever content you convert and upload to it. Looking Glass says the Musubi can store up to 1,000 images or 30-second video clips, and is able to display your content for three hours on a single charge, or indefinitely if you plug it in with an included wall adapter. You'll have to convert your photos and videos into holographic files using Looking Glass' free desktop app in order to display them, but once they're converted, all you need to do is transfer them over USB-C to start showing them off on Musubi. Musubi can also cycle through multiple holographic images. Looking Glass Looking Glass has offered multiple versions of this concept before including the compact, $300 Looking Glass Go from 2023 but Musubi is supposed to be the best representation of the company's current display stack. The frame uses the Hololuminescent Display (HLD) technology Looking Glass announced in 2025 , which combines 2D display layers with a 3D holographic volume to show off holograms that are viewable by multiple people at the same time, without the need for eye-tracking or glasses. It's hard to get a sense for the whole Musubi experience from the company's YouTube video alone, but the results seem novel, if a bit limited. You can pre-order Musubi starting today through Looking Glass' Kickstarter campaign. For the first 24 hours of the company's Kickstarter, the frame will be available for $99. Afterwards, Musubi will sell for $149. Anything on Kickstarter should be treated with a certain amount of caution, but Looking Glass' past campaigns and the company's commitment to start shipping Musubi in June does suggest its confident the frame will be released without issues. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/looking-glass-musubi-showcases-its-holographic-display-in-a-consumer-friendly-package-130000304.html?src=rss

The 7 best cordless vacuums for 2026

A good cordless stick vacuum cleaner gives you the freedom to move from room to room without dragging a cable or hunting for the nearest outlet. Theyre lighter than a typical corded vacuum and often easier to store, making them ideal for quick jobs as well as deep cleans. Many of the best vacuum cleaners now come in bagless designs, with powerful suction and smart features that make it simple to clean up anything from crumbs on the kitchen floor to dust on high shelves. Some models go beyond basic convenience, with features like auto-empty docks that transfer debris straight into a larger bin, so you dont have to empty them as often. Youll also find attachments that make them more versatile, letting you tackle stairs, furniture and even your car without switching machines. Popular options like Dyson vacuums focus on strong suction and advanced filtration, while other brands deliver impressive performance at a lower cost. Whether you need something lightweight for everyday tidying or a top-end model to replace your main vacuum, theres a cordless option to suit every home and cleaning style. In this guide, well help you find the right balance of power, features and value. Best cordless vacuums for 2026 Other cordless stick vacuums we tested Dyson Gen 5 Detect The Dyson Gen 5 Detect has a single-button start and stronger suction power than our top pick, but its otherwise quite similar. However, since the Gen 5 Detect is more expensive at $950 (although it does receive discounts at Dyson online), the V15 Detect still provides greater value for your money. The Gen 5 Detect is arguably best for those who want the latest Dyson, or care about getting a more future-proof machine, since it came out just last year. Levoit Aero The biggest selling point of the Levoit Aero is the attached bin into which the vacuum will empty its dustbin when you press a button once it's docked after a cleaning. I hesitate to call it a self-emptying base because the self part isn't really there instead, there's a dedicated button on the machine that you press to empty the dustbin. It's convenient, for sure, but otherwise the vacuum itself is just ok. It did a decent job cleaning up hard and carpeted floors, but it did struggle a bit with large clumps of pet hair. The handling is a little awkward as well. LG CordZero Q3 The $329 CordZero Q3 is a perfectly capable vacuum with a single-button start, two manual power modes, adjustable suction technology that detects carpets and hard flooring and a cleaner head outfitted with LEDs to help you better spot all the dirt on your floors. But it's ultimately just fine in comparison to our top picks; it's not the most unique cordless vacuum or the most powerful, even though it will be enough to get the job done for many people. My biggest gripes with it are that you must charge it using the included base (which really works best when mounted on a wall otherwise it's just awkward) and it doesn't have the smoothest handling. Shark Detect Pro The Shark Detect Pro provides a lot of value for the money, but it was ultimately beat by the Tineco Pure One Station 5 for our runner-up slot thanks to the Tinecos stronger suction power. The kicker for the Detect Pro is that it includes a self-emptying base in its $450 price, which is super handy. Itll automatically dump the contents of the vacuum into the larger bin in the base after every cleaning, and you only need to empty the bases container every month or so. The Detect Pro did a good job cleaning up messes across different types of flooring, and itll auto-adjust suction power depending on the amount of debris and whether youre cleaning hard or carpeted floors. However, its not as smooth to use as any of our top picks and its main cleaner head is a bit tall, making it difficult to use to clean under low furniture. Factors to consider before buying a cordless vacuum Design and bin capacity Most of the cordless models youll find today have stick designs, with a handle at the top attached to a debris bin, which has a space to connect different attachments at one end. These designs are more versatile than old-school, upright vacuums of yesteryear because, while you may use the long stick attachment most of the time to clean your floors, many cordless vacuums come with other attachments as well. Some allow you to clean hard to reach spaces like the interior of your car, while others make it easier to vacuum furniture and clean up inside crevices. Some modern cordless vacuums also include practical features like an on/off button placed near your thumb for quick access, or an integrated LED light to help you see dust and debris under furniture or in darker corners. Bin volume is worth keeping in mind when youre choosing a cordless vacuum. The larger the bin, the more debris it can hold, but it might also mean a heavier machine. All of the cordless vacuums we tested had a bin size between 0.1 and 0.8 gallons and all were able to handle cleaning an entire one-pet home (roughly 2,000 square feet) in a single run without needing to be emptied. Anything smaller and you may have to deal with more frequent emptying during each cleaning session. If you prefer a bagless design, all of the cordless vacuums in this guide fall into that category, making them easier and cheaper to maintain than bagged models. Some cordless models also have removable, replaceable battery packs, which is super handy. That means you can buy a replacement battery and install it easily, without needing to seek out professional assistance. Also, these extra batteries cost around $150-$200 a pop expensive, yes, but nowhere near as costly as buying a whole new cordless vacuum. Suction and power modes Cordless vacuum suction power is typically measured in air wattage (AW), but youll see some that list the power of the motor in wattage (W) instead. Typically the higher the air or motor wattage the stronger the suction power, offering improved cleaning performance. And often strength is proportional to price more expensive cordless vacuums tend to have stronger suction power. A general rule of thumb is that those with precocious pets or mess-making children would benefit from a cordless stick vacuum cleaner with stronger-than-average suction power. Most cordless stick vacuums will have two different power modes: a normal or default power mode that balances suction power with battery life, as well as a max or stronger mode that kicks suction strength up a notch. Some vacuums, like Dyson vacuums, also have an eco mode, or one that prioritizes run time over strength. Separate from power modes you can select yourself, some cordless vacuums will automatically adjust motor strength depending on the detected floor type or the amount of mess in its wake. This not only improves ease of use but ensures the vacuum is working as efficiently as possible. If allergens are a concern in your home, look for models equipped with HEPA filters, which are designed to trap fine dust, pollen and other particles that can irritate sensitive noses and lungs. Floor type The best vacuum cleaners in the cordless category will be able to clean any standard floor type hardwood, tile, carpet and everything in between. As mentioned previously, some can even detect floor type and adjust suction power accordingly. That said, it's still worth thinking about the types of flooring you have in your home. If you primarily have carpet, you may want to consider a cordless vacuum with the most powerful suction you can afford, since there are more nooks and crannies for debris to get suck in with carpet. Battery life Obviously, battery life is important since youll probably want to clean more than one room in a shot. All of the cordless vacuums we tested had a battery life of at least 40 minutes in standard cleaning mode. I tested each by cleaning all three floors of my home (upstairs, downstairs and basement) on a single charge with the machine running in its standard (auto) mode and none of them ran out of juice before I could finish the third floor. That said, extra battery life can come in handy if youre switching between power modes since max or high-power programs use more energy. Base style Most cordless stick vacuums come with some sort of base or mount where the machine lives when youre not using it. Wall mounts are the most common, but some have free-standing bases where you dock and charge the vacuum. Consider the space in your home where you want the cordless vacuum to live, since it will have to have an outlet or another power source nearby. Some high-end cordless vacuums come with auto-empty bases that act much like those included with expensive robot vacuums. After cleaning and returning the vacuum to the base, it will automatically empty the dustbin into a larger dustbin that you can then detach from the base when you need to empty it. This is great for anyone concerned about allergens, as youll only need to empty the larger dustbin every month or two, reducing your contact with dust and debris. Smart features Yes, some cordless vacuums have smart features like Wi-Fi and app connectivity. But before we get into those, lets talk about the extra perks scattered among these devices. Some models, like the latest from Dyson, include particle sensors that show you how many different sized pieces of debris its sucking up in real time. Dysons, for example, is a piezo acoustic sensor that detects particle size and frequency and displays that information on the vacs LCD screen. Tinecos iLoop sensor is similar, controlling its vacuums automatic suction power adjustment and changing a circle on the display from red to blue as you fully clean an area. Higher-end cordless vacuums may also have companion apps that show things like battery level, filter status and cleaning logs. Its an added level of convenience, but by no means necessary. Unlike the best robot vacuums , or even the best budget robot vacuums , which rely on their apps to set cleaning schedules, manually control the machines and more, cordless vacuums that you operate yourself really dont need Wi-Fi or an app connectivity. Price Cordless stick vacuums range in price from $150 all the way up to over $1,000. The best ones for most people lie in the middle, in the $400 to $700 range. Youll notice most of our picks land in the higher end of that range, but for good reason: More expensive machines tend to have more sucking power, which means less time wasted going over the same spots over and over. But does that mean everyone needs the most premium cordless vacuum? Definitely not. Weve come up with top picks at various price points that should work well for people with different budgets, lifestyles, home sizes and more. How we test cordless vacuums Engadget doesnt have a dedicated lab in which we can test cordless vacuums, but I used each model in my home for weeks. I ran them over hardwood and tile flooring, as well as low-pile carpet. And my first runthrough consisted of cleaning all three floors of my home on a single battery charge. I performed the same cleaning job as many times as possible, but also intermittently cleaned a single floor as needed, or sucked up isolated messes like crumbs, cat litter spills and tufts of pet fur. Over the course of many cleanings with each model, I made note of how loud the machine was, how easy it was to maneuver around my home, how easily it sucked up pieces of large debris (or if it pushed it around my floor instead) and if they got warm or hot. Cordless stick vacuums FAQs How long does the battery last on a cordless vacuum? Most cordless vacuums will run for at least 30-40 minutes on a single charge, but you can find cordless vacuums with battery lives of up to 60 or 70 minutes. Manufacturers will outline an estimated battery life for each model, and theyre usually based on using the vacuums standard power mode for the entire runtime; if you switch between modes or prefer to use a higher-powered program for improved suction, youll drain the battery faster. Can cordless vacuums be as powerful as corded ones? Cordless vacuums do sacrifice a bit in overall power when compared to corded models, but that doesnt mean they cant handle everyday messes just as well. If suction power is your biggest concern, we recommend springing for a high-powered, high-end cordless vacuum since, typically, the more expensive a cordless vacuum is, the stronger the suction. Also, cordless vacuums have the edge over corded models when it comes to weight and convenience: cordless vacuums are much lighter than their corded counterparts, and youll never have to worry about placement or picking a fight with a cord while cleaning your living room. Are cordless vacuums effective on pet hair? Yes, cordless vacuums can handle pet hair well, but we recommend getting a model with strong suction power to get the best results. Its also wise to get one with a larger bin, since pet hair can quickly fill up smaller bins, which may force you to stop cleaning to empty the vacuum before finishing. What are the best methods for maintaining a cordless vacuum cleaner? Maintaining a cordless vacuum is super easy and helps to keep it running like new. First, make sure to empty the dustbin regularly dont let it overfill, as this can impact suction. Many models have washable filters, so rinse them out every few weeks (check your manual for specifics) and let them dry completely before putting them back. Next, take a look at the brush roll hair and debris can get tangled up in there over time. Most vacuums make it simple to remove the brush roll, so you can snip away any tangles with scissors. If your vacuum has a replaceable battery, try not to let it fully drain too often, as this can reduce its lifespan. A quick wipe-down of the vacuums exterior and attachments will also keep everything looking fresh. Lastly, keep an eye on the sensors and charging contacts, as dust can build up there too. A gentle wipe with a dry cloth every now and then will do the trick. Can cordless vacuums also be used to clean curtains and upholstery? Cordless vacuums are surprisingly versatile, and many come with attachments specifically designed for surfaces like curtains, upholstery and even mattresses. A handheld vacuum mode, which is common in cordless models, makes it easy to tackle these areas. Look for a soft brush or an upholstery tool in the attachments for the vacuum youre considering itll help remove dust and pet hair without damaging fabrics. For curtains, its a good idea to use a lower suction setting if your vacuum has adjustable modes. This prevents the fabric from getting pulled into the nozzle. Check out more from our spring cleaning guide. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/best-cordless-vacuum-130007125.html?src=rss

Anthropic is opening an office in DC while battling Pentagon in court

Anthropic has launched a new research initiative called Anthropic Institute and has revealed that its Public Policy team is opening its first office in Washington, DC this spring. The company has made the announcement just a couple of days after it sued the US government to challenge the supply chain risk designation it received from the Defense Department. As Axios notes, Anthropic is tripling its Public Policy team at a time when AI companies are establishing a presence in Washington, so that they can influence future policies around artificial intelligence. In Anthropics case, it might have to find a way to be re-accepted by the US government first after President Trump ordered federal agencies to stop using its technology. Sarah Heck, who joined the company as Head of External Affairs, will take over from co-founder Jack Clark as Head of Policy. Meanwhile, Clark has taken the role as Head of Public Benefit and will lead the Anthropic Institute. The company explains that the institutes role is to tell the world what it learns about the challenges that arise as AI firms develop more advanced AI systems. Examples include how powerful AI technologies will reshape jobs and economies and what kinds of threats theyll magnify or introduce. The institute will bring together and expand Anthropics current research teams: The Frontier Red Team that stress-tests AI systems, the Societal Impacts team that looks at how AI is used in the real world, and the Economic Research team that tracks AIs impact on jobs and the larger economy. Anthropic has hired Matt Botvinick, a former Senior Director of Research at Google DeepMind, and Zo Hitzig, who studied AIs social and economic impacts at OpenAI, to be founding members of the Institute. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/anthropic-is-opening-an-office-in-dc-while-battling-pentagon-in-court-115700127.html?src=rss

Meta rolls out new features for scam protection

Meta announced new features today aimed at cracking down on scams perpetrated via its platforms. First, Meta is launching AI tools for identifying impersonator of brands and celebrities, as well as for detecting deceptive links, which should help it to quickly take down frauds. Second, it is adding new alerts to caution against interacting with a potentially fraudulent account. Facebook will roll out alerts for suspicious friend requests, WhatsApp is getting warnings for device linking requests, and Messenger will also issue warnings if an account seems suspect. Finally, Meta is also continuing to expand its processes for advertiser verification. The company said it aims to have verified advertisers account for 90 percent of its ads revenue by the end of the year, up from the current share of 70 percent. Last year, Meta estimated that marketing for scams and banned products could have been responsible for 10 percent of its 2024 revenue. The social media company has been ramping up its actions against scams, particularly those known as celeb bait. Last month, it sued three entities from Brazil and China that were behind scams that leveraged images and deepfakes of popular people to promote dubious products and investment schemes. Meta said today that over the course of 2025, it removed 159 million scam ads as well as 10.9 million Facebook and Instagram accounts tied to criminal scam centers. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-rolls-out-new-features-for-scam-protection-110000173.html?src=rss

Xiaomi 17 Ultra and Xiaomi 17 launched in India

The new Xiaomi 17 series comes with optical set up co-engineered with German lens maker Leica

Xiaomi Pad 8 launched in India with HyperOS 3 and Snapdragon processor

Xiaomi will offer four years of Android OS updates and six years of security updates to Pad 8

Motorola Edge 70 Fusion launched in India with Sony sensor and Qualcomm chip

The phone features dual stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res Audio support

Apple launches new MacBooks with M5 chips, bigger base storage

The 13-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,099 and now comes with 512 gigabytes of storage as standard, double the base storage of the previous generation

Samsung rolls out more AI, new privacy shield mode with the new Galaxy S26 lineup

Samsung on Wednesday unveiled its latest Galaxy smartphones, which boast an even bigger toolbox of artificial intelligence technology

Xiaomi 17 Ultra and Xiaomi 17 unveiled along with Xiaomi Pad 8 series: Features, price and India launch

The series comes with optical set up co-engineered with German lens maker Leica