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Apple's iPhone lineup has grown more complicated over the years, with multiple models targeting different kinds of buyers. Some prioritize camera performance and display quality while others focus on design or price, and not everyone needs the most powerful option on the shelf. If you're planning an upgrade, the challenge isn't whether Apple makes a good phone; it's figuring out which iPhone actually makes sense for you based on how you use it.

The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics are coming up. (Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images) Mattia Ozbot via Getty Images The 2026 Winter Olympics are taking place in Italy this year, with all the action taking place in Milan and the Alpine city of Cortina. This year marks the fourth time Italy has hosted the Winter Games; most recently, Turin hosted in 2006. Of the 16 sports that will be featured at the Winter Olympics, there will be 15 returning favorites, including figure skating, Alpine skiing, curling, ice hockey, speedskating, snowboarding, freestyle skiing and ski jumping, and one entirely new sport, snow mountaineering. (Will it be as big a hit as the 2024 Summer Games' new addition, breaking? It remains to be seen.) Live coverage of every event at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 will be available to stream on Peacock - though thanks to the time difference between Italy and the U.S., to watch many of the events live, you'll have to wake up (or stay up) until 2AM or 3AM ET. Primetime replays and select live coverage will air on NBC. The games officially kick off with the opening ceremony on Feb. 6, 2026. Here's what else you need to know about watching the 2026 Winter Olympics. How to watch the 2026 Winter Olympics Dates: Feb. 6 - Feb. 22 TV channel: NBC Streaming: Peacock When are the 2026 Winter Olympics? The Winter Olympics officially begin with the opening ceremony on Feb. 6, although some events will start as early as Feb. 4). The Milano Cortina 2026 games will run through Feb. 22. The closing ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics will take place in the Arena di Verona on Feb. 22. Where are the Winter Olympics this year? The 2026 Winter Olympics will be held in Northern Italy, primarily in Milan and also the Alpine mountain resort town of Cortina d'Ampezzo, where events like bobsled, skeleton, alpine skiing, curling, para snowboard, and more will take place. What channel are the Olympics on? The 2026 Winter Olympics will air on NBC and stream live on Peacock. How to watch the 2026 Winter Olympics without cable When is the Winter Olympics opening ceremony? The Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony will be held on Feb. 6, 2026. Due to the time difference, the ceremony will kick off around 2PM ET/11AM PT. Winter Olympics time difference This year's Olympic Games are in Italy, which is 6 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time. Meaning that some events will start bright and early for U.S. viewers, and live coverage will likely wrap up around 4PM ET each day. NBC will have primetime replays of the biggest moments each night. 2026 Winter Olympics TV/streaming schedule: All times Eastern. Wednesday, Feb. 4 (early competition starts)

Super Bowl Sunday has arrived. Today, the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will face off for Super Bowl 60. The Big Game is being played at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA, and kicks off at 6:30PM ET. Pre-game coverage for the 2026 NFL Championship Game starts at 12PM ET. Like all Sunday Night Football games during the regular season, Super Bowl 60 will be broadcast on NBC, and will stream live on Peacock. Here's everything you need to know to tune in to Super Bowl LX today, including the game channel, where to stream, and all about the Halftime Show. How to watch Super Bowl LX Date: Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026 Time: 6:30PM ET TV channel: NBC, Telemundo Streaming: Peacock, DirecTV, NFL+ and more 2026 Super Bowl game time The 2026 Super Bowl is set to begin at 6:30PM ET/3:30PM PT on Feb. 8, 2026. 2026 Super Bowl game channel The 2026 Super Bowl will air on NBC, with a Spanish-language broadcast available on Telemundo. 2026 Super Bowl teams: The New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks will play in the 2026 Super Bowl. Where is the 2026 Super Bowl being played? The 2026 Super Bowl will be held at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA, home of the San Francisco 49ers. What teams are playing in the 2026 Super Bowl? The teams for the 2026 Super Bowl will be determined after the AFC and NFC Championship games are played on Sunday, Jan. 25. You can keep tabs on the post-season playoff bracket here. How to watch the 2026 Super Bowl without cable You can stream NBC and Telemundo on platforms like DirecTV and Hulu + Live TV, both of which are among Engadget's choices for best streaming services for live TV. (Note that Fubo and NBC are currently in the midst of a contract dispute and NBC channels are not available on the platform.) The game will also be streaming on Peacock and on NFL+, though with an NFL+ subscription, you're limited to watching the game on mobile devices. Who is performing at the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show? Bad Bunny, who holds the title as the most-streamed artist in the world, will be headlining the 2026 Super Bowl halftime performance. You can expect that show to begin after the second quarter, likely between 8-8:30PM ET. Singer Charlie Puth will also be at the game to perform the National Anthem, Brandi Carlile is scheduled to sing "America The Beautiful," and Coco Jones will perform "Lift Every Voice and Sing." More ways to watch Super Bowl LX This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/how-to-watch-the-2026-super-bowl-on-nbc-live-updates-on-patriots-vs-seahawks-where-to-stream-super-bowl-lx-channel-start-time-halftime-show-and-more-details-182758815.html?src=rss

The 2026 Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks will air on NBC today, Feb. 8, at 6:30PM ET/3:30PM PT. The Big Game is also streaming live on Peacock. If you no longer subscribe to cable, don't have access to NBC over the air and aren't currently signed up for Peacock, there are still ways to watch Super Bowl LX - and Bad Bunny's history-making Super Bowl halftime show - for free. Here's how to tune in this afternoon. And if you're looking for live Super Bowl updates, we've got you covered. How to watch Super Bowl LX free: Date: Sunday, Feb. 8 Time: 6:30 p.m. ET Location: Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. TV channel: NBC, Telemundo Streaming: Peacock, DirecTV, NFL+ and more 2026 Super Bowl game channel Super Bowl LX will air on NBC. A Spanish-language broadcast is available on Telemundo. How to watch the 2026 Super Bowl for free You can stream NBC and Telemundo on platforms like DirecTV and Hulu + Live TV; both offer free trials and are among Engadget's choices for best streaming services for live TV. (Note that Fubo and NBC are currently in the midst of a contract dispute and NBC channels are not available on the platform.) What time is the 2026 Super Bowl? The 2026 Super Bowl kicks off at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT on Sunday, Feb. 8. Green Day will be performing a pre-game special starting at 6 p.m. ET. Who is playing in the Super Bowl? The AFC champions, the New England Patriots, will play the NFC champions, the Seattle Seahawks. Where is the 2026 Super Bowl being played? The 2026 Super Bowl will be held at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., home of the San Francisco 49ers. Who is performing at the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show? Bad Bunny is headlining the 2026 Super Bowl halftime performance. You can expect that show to begin after the second quarter, likely between 8-8:30 p.m. ET. Green Day will perform a pre-game show starting at 6 p.m. ET. If you're tuning in before the game, singer Charlie Puth will perform the National Anthem, Brandi Carlile is scheduled to sing "America the Beautiful," and Grammy winner Coco Jones will perform "Lift Every Voice and Sing." More ways to watch Super Bowl LX This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/how-to-stream-the-2026-super-bowl-for-free-tonight-patriots-vs-seahawks-time-where-to-watch-super-bowl-lx-start-time-halftime-show-and-more-124512549.html?src=rss

Amazon MGM just released the final trailer for its upcoming film starring Ryan Gosling, Project Hail Mary, and it provides our first good look at his five-legged alien co-star, Rocky. The movie adapts a 2021 Andy Weir (The Martian) novel of the same name, and follows Dr. Ryland Grace, a scientist who wakes up on a spacecraft far from Earth with no recollection of how he got there or why, only to discover he's on a seemingly impossible mission to stop an extinction event.If you've read the book, you already know we're in for an emotional rollercoaster with this one, and the latest trailer aptly tugs at our heartstrings with a glimpse of the friendship that grows between Grace and an alien he meets after waking up - and the incredibly high stakes they're facing. The movie will be released nationwide on March 20, but Amazon announced alongside this trailer that it'll be offering tickets for early screenings in premium formats including IMAX, Dolby Cinema, 4DX and 70MM to Prime members. Those screenings will begin on March 16, and tickets go on sale February 20 through Fandango.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-final-trailer-for-project-hail-mary-is-here-and-its-an-emotional-ride-213444765.html?src=rss

It might be near impossible to be a kid these days without a smartphone, but AT&T wants to offer parents a decent compromise. The wireless carrier launched its AmiGO Jr. Phone, which combines Samsung hardware and AT&T's app, to offer kids a smartphone that has parental controls baked right in.The AmiGO Jr. Phone is just a Samsung Galaxy A16, which still remains a solid budget smartphone pick with a 50-megapixel main camera, a 6.7-inch display and reliable battery life. However, AT&T tweaked the Samsung hardware into its kid-friendly smartphone by including features like live location tracking, safe zones and screentime restrictions that can be controlled via the AmiGO app. It's not the first time we've seen a smartphone with parental controls, since competitors like Bark and Pinwheel have been on the market for a couple of years now, but it's the first time a major mobile carrier is offering its own standalone product.As for the AmiGO Jr. Phone, it's now available on AT&T's website for $3 a month, but you'll have to commit to a 36-month contract that provides bill credits. You still have to pay for your monthly service charges as an AT&T customer, but it'll be cheaper than buying a Galaxy A16 outright for $200. For even more security, AT&T also launched its AmiGO Jr. Watch 2 to expand its ecosystem that already includes a tablet designed for kids.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/atts-budget-friendly-phone-for-kids-was-designed-with-parental-controls-in-mind-202200139.html?src=rss

It's about that time. Apple is gearing up for a slew of hardware announcements that will include upgrades for the entry-level iPad, iPad Air, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, according to Mark Gurman's Power On newsletter. In line with what we've seen in recent years, Gurman reports, "A product launch is currently slated for as early as the week of March 2."Apple unveiled the M5 MacBook Pro in October, bringing the chip first to the 14-inch model. With the coming announcements, we should see the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips finally arrive. Gurman notes that new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros are on the way, along with a new MacBook Air. We're also likely to see new iPads soon. A new entry-level iPad will be able to support Apple Intelligence thanks to the inclusion of the A18 chip, and the iPad Air will be getting the M4, according to Gurman.Updates to the Mac Studio and Studio Display are expected to follow, as well as a Mac mini refresh down the line this year. As Gurman previously reported, Apple is also said to be releasing its first "low-cost MacBook" sometime in the very near future.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/we-may-see-apples-new-ipads-and-macbooks-in-only-a-matter-of-weeks-192953977.html?src=rss

Steam is adding a little more transparency when it comes to Early Access games. Announced in a blog post, Steam introduced a new feature for game developers to add the exact date of when their game would leave Early Access and see a version 1.0 launch. According to Steam, this feature stems from developers who requested a way to display an official launch date.While games still in Early Access give eager players a way to experience the early stages of a title and contribute towards the development, some games have been stalled in this phase for years. With this new feature, players can see a precise launch date displayed on the game's store page just underneath the Early Access Game note. However, game devs can choose a specific date or a more vague timeframe, including displaying only the year of the expected release.SteamIn the blog post, Steam noted that this feature was optional for developers, adding, "just because this feature exists, does not mean you should or must use it." Steam also said that game devs should only offer their player base a concrete date if there's a "very high degree of confidence."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/steam-now-lets-developers-display-the-exact-date-of-when-their-game-leaves-early-access-190413701.html?src=rss

Apple is keeping the entry level for iPhones at $599, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest Power On report, Gurman said that the iPhone 17e is "due imminently" and will keep the same price as its predecessor.Considering we're about a year away from the iPhone 16e's announcement, we're due for a successor to Apple's more affordable smartphone. According to Gurman, Apple upgraded the new budget-friendly iPhone with MagSafe charging and the A19 chip that's seen in the iPhone 17 base model. The iPhone 17e will also get Apple's latest in-house cellular and wireless chips, Gurman reported.In our review of the iPhone 16e, we weren't particularly sold because of its limited camera capabilities, particularly when compared to the iPhone 17's release a few months later. However, for the same $599 price, Apple's iPhone 17e is getting a few notable upgrades and will compete with Google's Pixel 10a. More specifically, Gurman expects Apple to target the emerging economies and enterprise demographics with the iPhone 17e. While Apple faces a lot more competition in overseas markets, iPhone sales have been experiencing a resurgence in China. Apple is even forecasting strong sales for iPhones across Asia, especially in China and India.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-iphone-17e-will-reportedly-bring-some-key-upgrades-without-raising-the-price-174154577.html?src=rss

On Friday, New York State Senators Liz Krueger and Kristen Gonzales introduced a bill that would stop the issuance of permits for new data centers for at least three years and ninety days to give time for impact assessments and to update regulations. The bill would require the Department of Environmental Conservation and Public Service Commissions to issue impact statements and reports during the pause, along with any new orders or regulations that they deem necessary to minimize data centers' impacts on the environment and consumers in New York.The bill would require these departments to study data centers' water, electricity and gas usage, and their impact on the rates of these resources, among other things. The bill, citing a Bloomberg analysis, notes that, "Nationally, household electricity rates increased 13 percent in 2025, largely driven by the development of data centers." New York is the sixth state this year to introduce a bill aiming to put the brakes on data centers, following in the footsteps of Georgia, Maryland, Oklahoma, Vermont and Virginia, according to Wired. It's still very much in the early stages, and is now with the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee for consideration.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/new-york-lawmakers-introduce-bill-that-aims-to-halt-data-center-development-for-three-years-224005266.html?src=rss

Netflix's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery isn't quite a done deal yet. As first reported by The Wall Street Journal, the US Department of Justice has started its probe of Netflix's proposed purchase, but is notably interested in whether the streaming giant was involved in any anticompetitive practices. According to the civil subpoena seen by WSJ, the Justice Department is looking into any "exclusionary conduct on the part of Netflix that would reasonably appear capable of entrenching market or monopoly power."While Netflix announced plans to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in December at a value of $82.7 billion, the deal was expected to close in 12 to 18 months, subject to required regulatory approvals. The DOJ has the power to block the transaction and this investigation could hint at the agency's approach, which may involve proving that Netflix put its competition at an unfair advantage.Netflix's attorney, Steven Sunshine, told WSJ that this probe was standard practice and that, "we have not been given any notice or seen any other sign that the DOJ is conducting a separate monopolization investigation." Netflix also said in a statement that it's "constructively engaging with the Department of Justice as part of the standard review of our proposed acquisition of Warner Bros." According to WSJ, the investigation is still in its early stages and could take up to a year to complete.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/doj-is-investigating-if-netflix-used-anticompetitive-tactics-as-part-of-its-merger-probe-210940856.html?src=rss

The State Department is wiping the post history of its X accounts and making it so you'll have to file a Freedom of Information Act request if you want to access any of the content it removed, according to NPR. The publication reports that the State Department is removing all posts from before President Trump's current term - a move that affects several accounts associated with the department, including those for US embassies, and posts from the Biden and Obama administrations. Posts from Trump's first term will be taken down too.Unlike how past administrations have handled the removal of social media content and the transition of accounts, these posts won't be kept in a public archive. A spokesperson for the State Department confirmed this to NPR, and said the move is meant "to limit confusion on U.S government policy and to speak with one voice to advance the President, Secretary, and Administration's goals and messaging. It will preserve history while promoting the present." The spokesperson also called the X accounts "one of our most powerful tools for advancing the America First goals."The Trump administration has been purging information from government websites since he took office last year. Just this week, the CIA unexpectedly took down its World Factbook, a global reference guide that's been available on the internet since 1997.

Trump Mobile is already failing to deliver on some early promises, according to the latest report from The Verge. The report revealed the near-final design of the T1 smartphone and uncovered some major changes with pricing and manufacturing.The Verge spoke with Don Hendrickson and Eric Thomas, two of the three execs behind Trump Mobile, about the company's first smartphone, which will get a more expensive price tag and no longer boast being made in the USA. Thanks to a screenshot from the report, we can see that the latest T1 design also changed the camera array, which first resembled the iPhone's but now has three cameras in a misaligned vertical stack.As for the price, Hendrickson told The Verge that anyone who paid the $100 deposit will still pay $499 total for the T1 as an "introductory price," but that later customers could fork up to $999. Thomas also revealed that the T1 smartphone will go through "final assembly" in Miami and no longer be "proudly designed and built in the United States," as seen in the introductory press release. Instead, the website now shows a description that says, "with American hands behind every device." We still don't have a release date - and now we don't even have a final price - but the website still claims the T1 smartphone will be released "later this year."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/trump-mobiles-t1-phone-is-apparently-still-coming-but-itll-be-uglier-and-more-expensive-190626835.html?src=rss

Analogue is back with another hit of N64 nostalgia, but with colorways that are deep cuts for even the biggest Nintendo nerds. Analogue announced its latest run of limited edition versions of its 3D console, this time drawing inspiration from a batch of prototype colorways for the original N64 that were manufactured but never hit the market. Now, the Analogue 3D will come in Ghost, Glacier, Extreme Green, Ocean and yes, even Atomic Purple.It may just be a cosmetic upgrade, but it's worth noting that each of the colorways has matching cables, power adapters and 16GB SD cards that come preinstalled. Analogue even partnered with 8BitDo again to create color-matched controllers that complete the colorful retro experience.8BitDoAs usual, Analogue said this latest run will be available in "highly limited quantities," starting on February 9 at 11AM ET. Be sure to set a reminder because the first Analogue 3D drop sold out quickly and the Funtastic colorways went out of stock just as fast. According to Analogue, the consoles will go for $299.99 and start shipping 24 to 48 hours after orders are completed. 8BitDo said the $49.99 controllers will be available for preorder at the same time as the 3D console, but see its first shipments starting in April.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/analogue-unearths-n64-prototype-colors-for-its-limited-edition-3d-console-171923894.html?src=rss

The Crew-12 astronauts will soon make their way to the ISS, joining the three remaining spacefarers on board after the previous mission was cut short due to a medical concern. NASA was originally planning a February 15 launch date for the mission, but it has moved it up to February 11. It's now targeting a liftoff of no earlier than 6:01 AM Eastern that day from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The crew members are already in quarantine, and if everything goes well on launch day, the Dragon capsule they're on will dock with the orbiting lab at approximately 10:30 AM on February 12.If you'll recall, NASA decided to bring Crew-11 members back home on January 15, a month earlier than planned, citing a medical concern with one of the members. While the affected astronaut was stable, the ISS didn't have the equipment necessary to be able to diagnose them properly. All four members of Crew-11 flew home, leaving the whole space station in the hands of three people, namely NASA astronaut Chris Williams and two cosmonauts for the Russian side. They will be joined by Crew-12's NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency's Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.SpaceX recently had to ground its Falcon 9 rocket after an issue with its upper stage for a few days, leaving the Crew-12's flight schedule in question. But on February 6, the Federal Aviation Administration cleared it for its next flight. NASA will livestream the mission's prelaunch, launch and docking activities on NASA+, Amazon Prime and on its YouTube channel, with its launch coverage starting at 4AM Eastern time on February 11. You can also bookmark or pin this page to watch the launch below.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasa-is-sending-crew-12-astronauts-to-the-iss-on-february-11-153000139.html?src=rss

Apple Health brings sleep tracking, scheduling and long-term analysis into one place, with your iPhone acting as the hub and the Apple Watch doing the overnight monitoring. Once everything is set up, Apple Health can show how long you slept each night, how consistent your sleep schedule is and how much time you spend in different sleep stages. Here is how to get started, track your sleep and review your data.Sleep tracking in Apple Health relies on two things: You need to set up Sleep in the Health app on your iPhone, and you need a compatible Apple Watch to wear to bed. While you can set sleep schedules without a watch, detailed sleep data - including sleep stages - requires an Apple Watch.How to set up Sleep in Apple HealthSleep tracking is available on all watchOS 8 (or later) models and setup starts in the Health app on your iPhone. Open Health, tap Browse and then tap Sleep. If this is your first time setting it up, you will see an option to get started. Apple Health will guide you through choosing a sleep goal, setting a bedtime and wake-up time and deciding whether you want one sleep schedule for every day or different schedules for weekdays and weekends.During setup, you can also enable sleep reminders and a wind-down period. Wind Down reduces distractions before bedtime by activating features like Focus mode and dimming notifications at a set time before sleep. These settings are optional but they help keep your schedule consistent, which improves the quality of the data Apple Health collects over time.Once Sleep is configured, Apple Health automatically syncs those settings to your Apple Watch. You can adjust your sleep schedule later by returning to the Sleep section in Health and tapping Full Schedule and Options. Any changes you make here update on both your iPhone and Apple Watch.How to prepare your Apple Watch for sleep trackingTo track sleep, your Apple Watch needs to be worn overnight and have enough battery to last until morning. If the battery drops below 30 percent before bedtime, your watch will prompt you to charge it first. Sleep tracking also relies on Sleep Focus which activates automatically based on your sleep schedule. Once Sleep Focus has been set, open the Settings app on your Apple Watch, tap Sleep and ensure that Track Sleep with Apple Watch is turned on. With both features enabled your watch can monitor sleep automatically without any manual start or stop each night.Comfort matters when wearing a watch to bed, so many people prefer a softer band for sleep. As long as the watch fits securely and stays in contact with your wrist, it can track sleep without issue.The Apple Watch Series 11 on a person's wrist, showing a ring with three segmented arcs encircling a Sleep Score of 53 and the description "OK" in the bottom left.Cherlynn Low for EngadgetHow Apple Watch tracks your sleepWhen Sleep Focus is active, the Apple Watch uses its accelerometer and heart rate sensor to detect when you are asleep and awake. Newer models also track sleep stages, including time spent in REM, core and deep sleep. Apple Health combines this information into a single overnight record that appears in the Sleep section the next morning.You do not need to start or stop sleep tracking manually. As long as you follow your sleep schedule or enable Sleep Focus before bed, the Apple Watch automatically does everything else. If you wake up early or go to bed later than planned, Apple Health adjusts the data based on actual movement and heart rate rather than just your scheduled times. In addition, some Apple Watch models (SE 3 or higher) support on-device Siri, enabling you to ask questions such as how much sleep did I have last night?" for a more immediate response.How to view your sleep data in Apple HealthTo see your sleep data, open the Health app on your iPhone and tap Browse, then Sleep. At the top of the screen, you will see a chart showing how long you slept the previous night. Tapping this chart reveals a detailed breakdown, including time asleep, time in bed and sleep stages (if available).Scrolling down shows trends over longer periods. You can switch between daily, weekly, monthly and six-month views to see patterns in your sleep duration and consistency. Apple Health also highlights whether you are meeting your sleep goal and how regular your schedule has been.Under Highlights, Apple Health may surface insights such as changes in average sleep time, variations in sleep stages or your nightly sleep score. Sleep scores provide a simplified summary of how well you slept, and is based on factors such as duration, consistency and restfulness. These summaries update automatically as more data is collected over time.Understanding sleep stages and trendsIf your Apple Watch supports sleep stages, Apple Health displays how much time you spent in REM, core and deep sleep. These stages give context to your overall sleep quality, though Apple emphasizes trends over individual nights. Occasional short nights or unusual stage distributions are normal.Over time, Apple Health makes it easier to spot patterns. Consistently short sleep durations, irregular bedtimes or frequent awakenings become clearer when viewing weekly or monthly summaries. This makes the Sleep section useful not just for nightly check-ins but for understanding longer-term habits.Editing and managing sleep dataApple Health allows you to add or edit sleep data if needed manually. In the Sleep section, tap Add Data to log sleep that was not recorded automatically. This can be useful if you forget to wear your watch or take a nap without it.You can also manage which devices contribute sleep data by scrolling to the bottom of the Sleep screen and tapping Data Sources and Access. This is helpful if you use third-party sleep apps or multiple devices.Once set up, sleep tracking in Apple Health runs quietly in the background. With a consistent schedule and a charged Apple Watch, your sleep data builds into a clear picture of your nightly rest, all stored securely within Apple's health platform.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/how-to-track-your-sleep-and-view-your-sleep-data-in-apple-health-130000023.html?src=rss

We're starting to hit our stride in 2026. Now that February is here, our reviews team is flush with new devices to test, which means you've got a lot to catch up on if you haven't been following along. Read on for a roundup of the most compelling new gear we've tested recently from gaming, PCs, cameras and more.Nex PlaygroundIf you still have a fondness for the Xbox Kinect, the Nex Playground might be right up your alley. Senior reporter Devindra Hardawar recently put the tiny box through its paces and found an active gaming experience that's fun for the whole family. While I have some concerns about the company's subscription model, Nex has accomplished a rare feat: It developed a simple box that makes it easy for your entire family to jump into genuinely innovative games and experiences," he wrote.MSI's Prestige 14 Flip AI+Devindra also tested MSI's latest laptop, the powerful Prestige 14 Flip AI+. While the machine got high marks for its performance, display and connectivity, he noted that the overall experience is hindered by subpar keyboard and truly awful trackpad. As one of the earliest Panther Lake laptops on the market, the $1,299 Prestige 14 Flip AI+ is a solid machine, if you're willing to overlook its touchpad flaws," he explained. More than anything though, the Prestige 14 makes me excited to see what other PC makers offer with Intel's new chips."Shokz OpenFit ProFresh off of its Best of CES selection, I conducted a full review of the OpenFit Pro earbuds from Shokz. I continue to be impressed by the earbuds' ability to reduce ambient noise while keeping your ears open. And the overall sound quality is excellent for a product that sits outside of your ears.Sony A7 VContributing reporter Steve Dent has been busy testing cameras to start the year. This week he added the Sony A7 V to the list, noting the excellent photo quality and accurate autofocus. The A7 V is an incredible camera for photography, with speeds, autofocus accuracy and image quality ahead of rivals, including the Canon R6 III, Panasonic S1 II and Nikon Z6 III," he said. However, Sony isn't keeping up with those models for video."Apple AirTag (2026)Our first Editors' Choice device of 2026 is Apple's updated AirTag. All of the upgrades lead to a better overall item tracker, according to UK bureau chief Mat Smith. There's no doubt the second-gen AirTags are improved, and thankfully, upgrading to the new capabilities doesn't come at too steep a cost," he concluded.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-review-recap-shokz-openfit-pro-nex-playground-sony-a7-v-and-more-123400089.html?src=rss

Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. As always, we've got a bunch of neat games to tell you about. Perhaps I'll tear myself away from playing as Chappell Roan in Fortnite or Jetpack Cat in Overwatch long enough to check more of them out.Thanks to the folks at Aftermath, I learned about a short, text-based game from Woe Industries from a while back called You Have Billions Invested In Generative AI. Surprisingly enough, you take on the role of a venture capitalist who has plowed gobs of money into genAI technology and might be starting to have doubts about that investment. Other characters warn you about the dangers of the tech and real-life headlines showing the impact of genAI hallucinations pop up. It's tagged as a horror game, for what it's worth.It's both satirical and all too real, and it's pretty funny. Plus, any game that allows me to yell at Noam Chomsky is A-OK in my book. You can play You Have Billions Invested In Generative AI for free on Itch.io.New releasesTackle for Loss had a very timely arrival this week, just ahead of a certain other big, real-life game. This is a football-themed take on action-heavy, top-down games like Hotline Miami. Developer Indifferent Penguin took some inspiration from the Taken film series as well - you take on the role of a CTE-afflicted former football player who sets out to rescue his kidnapped daughter.The combat sounds pretty interesting here. You need to clear out all of the bad guys on each floor of a multistory building before you can progress, but you only have four offensive actions at your disposal each time (this draws from the four-down format of football). You'll need to plan things out before you go on the attack, not least because your character and the enemies all die in a single hit.Tackle for Loss is out now on Steam. It'll usually run you $11, but it's 15 percent off until February 12.Trust Me, I Nailed It is an intriguing turn-based strategy game from Team Afternoon and publisher Jungle Game Lab. A useless warrior hires you as a video editor to make them look like a true hero capable of slaying any beast.Enemy attacks and other actions appear on the edit timeline as pre-recorded footage, and the idea is to plot out the warrior's movements around those. You have post-processing visual effects tricks at your disposal, so you can let the warrior teleport and convert low-power strikes into critical hits.It's a fun idea, and a reminder (as if we should need one in the current climate) not to always take videos at face value. Trust Me, I Nailed It is on Steam now and it's free-to-play.Tomb of the Bloodletter is a spin on the roguelike deckbuilder genre that I haven't really seen before. Your deck consists of magic powers that are applied to letters of the alphabet. Spelling out words using these Magicks can result in powerful combinations, particularly if you use the same letter multiple times. That's right, this is a typing game - a roguelike deckbuilder that the likes of Wordle players might be interested in.It's really about coming up with words that put the right letters in a specific order. For instance, certain letters are more effective if you place them at the end of a word. So, this should get your brain ticking.Tomb of the Bloodletter - from Ethan's Secretions and indie.io - debuted during the Steam Typing Fest. It'll typically cost $8, but there's a 20 percent discount until February 19.UpcomingShadowstone is an upcoming turn-based tactical co-op roguelike for up to four players from developer Secret Door and Dreamhaven (Blizzard co-founder and ex-CEO Mike Morhaime's company). It's set in the same universe as Secret Door's Sunderfolk.The action plays out on a hexagonal board with randomized rooms and enemies. Positioning will be key, and finding synergies between the abilities of the playable characters will put you in good stead.Shadowstone will hit Steam in early access later this year for $15. It's also coming to the Epic Games Store.Meanwhile, a major update for Sunderfolk is set to go live on March 10. It will introduce a new tank-style character and two fresh sets of missions. Secret Door will also add two much-requested features to PC versions: online multiplayer and - so you don't have to use your phone to play the game anymore - mouse and keyboard controls.I really loved Planet of Lana and the sequel is among my most-anticipated games of this year. There's now a release date for the upcoming puzzle platformer. Wishfully and Thunderful Publishing are bringing it to Steam, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch on March 5. It'll also be on Game Pass on day one.A Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf demo will hit Steam, Xbox and PlayStation on February 11. It will arrive on Switch a bit later.Is Sticker/Ball the first Ball x Pit-like? I'm not entirely sure. Still, it is now firmly on my radar. Instead of firing balls at a horde of constantly-advancing enemies, here you'll shoot them at dice to earn points. You'll unlock stickers that can be applied to said dice and they'll interact with each other too. For instance, spiders can create webs and these can catch flies that are attracted to poop stickers.The trailer describes another interaction, "frog jumped and triggered cigarette pack." Frogs can also hijack spaceships, apparently, and there's a bouncing DVD (well, "VID") logo. There are more than 100 types of stickers and dozens of different enemies.I don't really understand what's going on in the trailer, but it's somehow making my brain happy, so this is going on my wishlist. Solo dev Bilge is behind Sticker/Ball, which is coming to Steam soon through the help of publisher Future Friends Games. A demo is available now, so that's my weekend sorted.Skate City has long been one of the best games on Apple Arcade. Its creator, Daniel Zeller, (Zellah Games) has revealed a new project. Skate Style is billed as a "next-gen skateboarding game with high-end graphics." You'll be able to take to the virtual streets of Barcelona and Prague to show off your best moves.What could help Skate Style really stand out from the pack is the animation editor, which enables you to create completely new tricks. The game is slated to have an "advanced" character creation tool as well as mod support, so there'll be a high level of customization available.A Skate Style demo is available on Steam now. The full game should land on PC later this year. Here's hoping the soundtrack can match up to those from the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series.Crimson Capes is billed as a 2D Soulslike action RPG with four playable characters, elemental magic, more than 25 bosses, swordfighting, lots of secrets, co-op, optional hunts with randomized dungeons and invasions from other players. That all sounds neat enough, but most exciting to me here is the pixel-art, rotoscoped animation work. It looks modern and retro at the same time, and I'd love to see this sort of style in more games. I also dig that you get a PDF instruction manual and game guide as well as a printable world map when you buy the game.You (and I) won't have to wait long to play Crimson Capes, which is from Poor Locke. It's coming to Steam on February 12 for $15, though you'll get 10 percent off if you pick it up within the first nine days. Console versions are in the pipeline too.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/hotline-miami-meets-football-the-power-of-video-editing-and-other-new-indie-games-worth-checking-out-120000628.html?src=rss

The Opening Ceremony for the 2026 Winter Games will re-air tonight on NBC. (Gabriel BOUYS / AFP via Getty Images) GABRIEL BOUYS via Getty Images The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony has concluded. The festivities featured performances from Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli, 3,000 athletes walking in the Parade of Nations, and not one but two Olympic cauldrons being lit. (One at Milan's Arco della Pace, since Milan is serving as the main hub for this year's Games, and the other in the Alpine city of Cortina d'Ampezzo, where events like skiing are taking place.) If you missed out on watching live, the Opening Ceremony will re-air in primetime tonight on NBC. Here's what you need to know. How to watch the Opening Ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics Date: Friday, Feb. 6 Time: primetime re-air from 8-11 PM ET Location: San Siro Stadium, Milan TV channels: NBC Streaming: Peacock, DirecTV, NBC.com, and more Where can I stream the Opening Ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics? How to watch the 2026 Opening Ceremony on TV: There will be two broadcasts of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony this Friday. You can tune in live from 2PM - 5PM ET on Friday afternoon, or catch the encore broadcast from 8PM - 11PM ET that night. Both broadcasts will air on NBC, which is available with DirecTV, Hulu + Live TV, and more. With a live TV streaming service subscription or cable package, you can also catch all of NBC and Peacock's Olympics coverage on NBC.com and via NBCOlympics.com or the NBC App, just by logging in with your provider. How to watch the Opening Ceremony in Milan without cable: You can watch the Opening Ceremony live or on-demand on Peacock. If you already subscribe to a live TV streaming service or cable package, you should also be able to catch all of Peacock's Olympics coverage on NBC.com, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC app. Who hosted the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony? Sportscaster Terry Gannon hosted coverage of the 2026 Winter Games Opening Ceremony. Former Olympic snowboarder Shaun White also made an appearance. NBC Olympics primetime host Mike Tirico also participated remotely from San Francisco, where he's pulling double duty covering the Olympics and prepping to call Super Bowl LX. Who performed at the 2026 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony? Mariah Carey, iconic Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, actress Sabrina Impacciatore (The Paper, The White Lotus) and pianist Lang Lang performed at the Opening Ceremony. Where is the 2026 Olympics Opening Ceremony being held? The 2026 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony was held at Milan's San Siro Stadium, home to football clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan. The Opening Ceremony will actually be one of the final events held at San Siro Stadium, which is set to be demolished sometime after the Games end. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/how-to-watch-the-opening-ceremony-at-the-2026-milan-cortina-winter-olympics-rebroadcast-tonight-143529231.html?src=rss

Kris Marszalek, CEO and co-founder of crypto and stock trading platform Crypto.com, has bought an expensive website. In this case it's AI.com, valued at one point at $100 million, which will serve as the online home for his new company of the same name. The website launch is being paired with a Super Bowl ad that will air this Sunday.AI.com's main offering is an AI agent that "operates on the user's behalf - organizing work, sending messages, executing actions across apps, building projects, and more." It's a similar concept to what companies like OpenAI, Anthropic and Google are promising with their own agents and agentic features, and notably lacking in hard details. Users can make multiple agents with AI.com and have them do a variety of tasks - the company's press release mentions trading stocks and updating a dating profile, for example - while remaining permission-based and private. It's not clear if AI.com is offering its own AI models or licensing those offered by other companies, but clearly whatever it offers, both for free and via a planned paid subscription, will be flexible.Like Crypto.com's big push into the mainstream during late 2021 and early 2022, AI.com is arriving at a particularly hype-filled time in the AI industry. Anthropic's Claude Code and Claude Cowork tools have been taken up as evidence that AI might actually make people more productive, so AI.com's decision to push an agent of its own is timely.Of course, after Crypto.com's big Matt Damon ad in 2021, and Super Bowl ad in 2022, Bitcoin prices hit an all-time low in June 2022. Ironically, Marszalek's AI.com is also launching during a particularly nasty "crypto winter" which has lowered the price of Bitcoin to under $66,000, a steep drop from the $127,000 it cost in October 2025. That's not to suggest the AI.com CEO is a groundhog for deflating hype balloons. More likely, it's a sign that the future of AI could be as unpredictable and volatile as cryptocurrency.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/the-cryptocom-guy-bought-aicom-and-a-super-bowl-ad-234325394.html?src=rss

Apple plans to allow third-party voice-controlled AI apps in CarPlay, Bloomberg reports. Siri is the default voice assistant for things like controlling music and looking up directions, but future AI apps in CarPlay could handle the complicated, open-ended requests Siri can't answer.The expanded support would let developers like OpenAI or Google offer versions of their ChatGPT and Gemini apps for CarPlay. Similar functionality is possible just by connecting a smartphone to a car over Bluetooth and using an AI app's voice mode, but CarPlay support would presumably make the process a little more seamless.Not so seamless that it replaces Siri, however. Bloomberg writes that these third-party apps won't be able to replace the Siri button in the CarPlay interface or use their own wake words ("Hey Google," etc.). Instead, anyone who wants to spend a long drive talking to Gemini will have to open the app first. That could cut down on the utility of using one of these apps, but Apple presumably wants to get Siri to a place where CarPlay users prefer it as their in-car assistant anyway.Apple and Google recently announced that Gemini would power future versions of Siri and Apple Foundation Models, the AI models underpinning Apple Intelligence. The delayed, updated version of Siri Apple introduced alongside Apple Intelligence in 2024 is supposed to be able to take actions on user's behalf, work across apps and understand the context of what's on screen, all things Gemini can currently do. Reports suggest Apple wants to eventually use Google's Gemini models to transform Siri into a proper conversational chatbot, too. That future version of the voice assistant could be right at home in CarPlay.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/apple-will-reportedly-allow-third-party-ai-assistants-in-carplay-213432646.html?src=rss

Disney+ subscribers in some European countries have lost access to advanced HDR features like Dolby Vision, TechRadar and FlatpanelsHD report. The issue was first spotted by German Disney+ subscribers on Reddit, but currently also impacts subscribers in Portugal, Poland, France and the Netherlands, according to FlatpanelsHD."Dolby Vision support for content on Disney+ is currently unavailable in several European countries due to technical challenges," Disney said in a statement. "We are actively working to restore access to Dolby Vision and will provide an update as soon as possible. 4K UHD and HDR support remain available on supported devices."If the issue is in fact a technical one, it seems like it could be around for the long-term. Disney has removed any reference to Dolby Vision from its Disney+ video quality support page in Germany. As of now, the company lists HDR10 as its default HDR format, despite Dolby Vision support being a feature of Disney+ for several years now.FlatpanelsHD writes that the real issue might be legal, rather than technological. A company called InterDigital won an injunction in a German court against Disney in November 2025 because it violated at least one of the company's patents on streaming video technology. The injunction specifically requires Disney to stop violating InterDigital's patent on "a method for dynamically overlaying a first video stream with a second video stream comprising, for example, subtitles." It's not entirely clear how that plays into the company offering Dolby Vision in Europe, but it would explain why subscribers in Germany were some of the first people to notice Dolby Vision's absence.Engadget has contacted Disney for more information about Disney+'s missing HDR support and whether InterDigital's injunction played a role. We'll update this article if we hear back.Mentions of Dolby Vision were also stripped out of the US version of Disney+'s video quality support page. InterDigital hasn't won an injunction in the US, but the company is pursuing a patent case against Disney in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. That doesn't necessarily mean Dolby Vision support will be taken from US subscribers next, but it does suggest there's more happening here than just technical challenges.Update, February 6, 3:44PM ET: The original version of this article included mention of Disney+ losing HDR10+ support in Europe, but Disney says it never offered HDR10+ in that region. The article has been updated accordingly.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/disney-loses-access-to-dolby-vision-in-some-european-countries-193930702.html?src=rss

The long wait for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is nearly over, as the film hits theaters on April 1. To keep the hype train rolling, Illumination and Universal Pictures have dropped a short new teaser. It's exactly 30 seconds long, so you'll probably be seeing it again on TV this Sunday during the Super Bowl.It does feature some nifty footage that we haven't seen before, including a hungry Yoshi absolutely devouring a Magikoopa. There are also shots highlighting the star cannons from The Super Mario Galaxy games and one shot that shows Rosalina bodying Bowser Jr.There seems to be a plot point in which Princess Peach and Toad head to some sort of sci-fi mega-city, which should be fun. There's an Octoomba living there, another shout-out to the OG Wii game.As previously stated, the hotly-anticipated sequel arrives on April 1. The Super Mario Bros. Movie was a total smash, grossing nearly $1.4 billion and becoming one of the most successful animated films ever made. We found the original to be a fun, but safe, trip to the Mushroom Kingdom.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-new-trailer-for-the-super-mario-galaxy-movie-shows-yoshi-absolutely-devouring-a-magikoopa-191807037.html?src=rss

Noble Audio has announced the Sceptre, a pocket-sized USB-C Bluetooth transmitter meant to boost wireless audio quality from phones, laptops and tablets. The device is intended to exceed the quality offered by a device's existing hardware. Sceptre is powered by Qualcomm's QCC5181 Bluetooth chipset and supports LDAC, aptX Adaptive, AAC and SBC codecs. Of course, to take advantage of the high quality codecs you'll need a pair of headphones that support them. The dongle has a reported wireless range of roughly 66 feet. Listeners use the Noble app for initial pairing and can then move the dongle between compatible USB-C devices. It also supports pass-through charging with USB-C so users can charge their devices while listening. The company says Sceptre is compatible with iOS, Android and Windows, and the company confirmed with Engadget that iPhones 15 and newer are supported. We've been pleased in the past with Noble Audio products, like the FoKus Apollo headphones, or the FoKus Rex5 earbuds. The Sceptre from Noble Audio is available for $70. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/noble-audio-has-released-a-usb-c-bluetooth-dongle-for-high-fidelity-transmission-191655786.html?src=rss

ExpressVPN is back on sale again, and its two-year plans are up to 81 percent off right now. You can get the Advanced tier for $88 for 28 months. This is marked down from the $392 that this time frame normally costs. On a per-month basis, it works out to roughly $3.14 for the promo period. We've consistently liked ExpressVPN because it's fast, easy to use and widely available across a large global server network. In fact, it's our current pick for best premium VPN. One of the biggest drawbacks has always been its high cost, and this deal temporarily solves that issue. In our review we were able to get fast download and upload speeds, losing only 7 percent in the former and 2 percent in the latter worldwide. We found that it could unblock Netflix anywhere, and its mobile and desktop apps were simple to operate. We gave ExpressVPN an overall score of 85 out of 100. The virtual private network service now has three tiers. Basic is cheaper with fewer features, while Pro costs more and adds extra perks like support for 14 simultaneous devices and a password manager. Advanced sits in the middle and includes the password manager but only supports 12 devices.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/save-up-to-81-percent-on-expressvpn-two-year-plans-right-now-180602273.html?src=rss

Finding a gift for the tech nerd in your life can be tough. They likely have all the tech they need and then some, but you can add to their kit with the right accessories. Apple, Samsung, Sony and other big tech companies all have affordable gear that comes in at $100 or less, you just have to know where to look. Below are some of our favorites, but it's worth remembering: you can often find alternatives that are just as good (and sometimes better) than these. But for the people in your life for which brand names really do matter, these gifts will speak to them. Best tech gifts for $100 or less Check out the rest of our gift ideas here. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/the-best-tech-gifts-for-100-or-less-from-apple-nintendo-google-and-others-130038608.html?src=rss

Spotify is rolling out a feature called About the Song which lets fans learn a bit more about their favorite tunes. This "brings stories and context" into the listening experience, sort of like that old VH1 show Pop Up Video.How does it work? The Now Playing View houses short, swipeable story cards that "explore the meaning" behind the music. This information is sourced from third parties and the company promises "interesting details and behind-the-scenes moments." All you have to do is scroll down until you see the card and then swipe.This is rolling out right now to Premium users on both iOS and Android, but it's not everywhere just yet. The beta tool is currently available in the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia.Spotify has been busy lately, as this is just the latest new feature. The platform recently introduced a group messaging feature and prompt-based playlists.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/spotify-now-lets-you-swipe-on-songs-to-learn-more-about-them-164558366.html?src=rss

Good deals on Apple products aren't as frequent as we'd like them to be, but if there's one of the company's products that does seem to enjoy pretty regular price cuts, it's the AirTag. Right now you can pick up a four-pack of Apple's diminutive first-generation Bluetooth trackers for $64, which translates to 35 percent off and a near record low price. Bear in mind that this deal brings the price per AirTag down to about $16 if you were to buy them individually, and when not on sale they usually cost $29. The single first-gen AirTags are also on sale right now, and you can pick one up for 41 percent off at $17. If you use Apple devices and consider yourself to be a serial thing-misplacer, AirTags are extremely useful. Adding one to your account takes a single tap, and with Apple's Find My network so well established, locating missing items has never been easier. Using your iPhone you can trigger a sound from the AirTag's built-in speaker, or alternatively Precision Finding can be used to pinpoint its location via Find My. You just follow the instructions on your iPhone, paying attention to the vibrations that signal you're getting closer. A reminder again that the above deals apply to the first-generation AirTag only. Apple introduced a refreshed tracker with greater range and a louder speaker last month, which retails at the same price as its predecessor. For deals on the new AirTag, you may have to wait a bit. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/get-a-four-pack-of-first-gen-airtags-for-only-64-163619159.html?src=rss

You can find a lot of good deals for Presidents' Day, but to say it's a tech-deal boon would be an overstatement. The best Presidents' Day deals are usually on mattresses, appliances and furniture, but you can find some decent tech sales thrown in as well. This year, Presidents' Day comes right after Valentine's Day and Super Bowl 2026, which means there are even more chances to save as sales and discounts overlap. If you're looking for a new streaming device, a fresh iPad or an upgraded vacuum so you can enter the spring-cleaning season properly, we have you covered. These are the best President Day sales on tech we could find this year.Presidents' Day deals under $50Roku Streaming Stick Plus 2025 for $24 (40 percent off): This is one of the most affordable ways to get 4K streaming on almost any TV set. The dongle has a sleek design, it comes with handy remote that can also control your TV's power and volume and the device gives you access to Roku's TV operating system, which has tons of ways to watch free content.Anker Nano 45W USB-C charger for $30 ($10 off): Anker's latest 45W charger has a small smart display on it that can show you real-time charging stats. It's compact design is great for travel, as are its foldable prongs.Blink Mini 2K+ - 2 cameras for $45 (50 percent off): Blink's latest plug-in security cameras support 2K video and improved audio quality. Like previous versions, these cameras have two-way talk, motion alerts and support for Alexa voice commands.TurboTax Deluxe for $45 (44 percent off): While it pains us to recommend Intuit's software, it may be the best (and cheapest) option for some this tax season - particularly those who don't qualify for Free File.Anker Nano 5K ultra-slim magnetic power bank for $46 (16 percent off): This Qi2 power bank measures less than a half inch thick and snaps onto the backs of the latest iPhones for wireless charging. Its 5K capacity will be enough to top up your phone when it's close to empty, preventing you from searching for a charger or outlet.Presidents' Day deals on Apple devicesApple iPhone Air MagSafe battery pack for $79 (20 percent off): This magnetic power bank will add up to 65 percent additional battery charge to the iPhone Air, but note that it only works with Apple's new, ultra-slim smartphone. We've tested plenty of others that also work with other iPhone and smartphone models.Apple Watch Series 11 for $299 ($100 off): The latest flagship Apple Watch has excellent performance, a boosted battery life and a lightweight design that you can comfortably wear all day long - and even into the night to track sleep.iPad mini (A17 Pro ) for $399 ($100 off): The updated iPad mini runs on the A17 Pro chip for improved performance, plus it has an 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display, a 12MP ultra wide camera with Center Stage, USB-C charging and compatibility with the Apple Pencil Pro.Beats Studio Pro for $170 (51 percent off): Beats updated these cans to have improved sound quality, and you can really hear the difference from models that came before it. These headphones also have solid Transparency mode, good voice performance and USB-C audio.Beats Solo 4 headphones for $130 (35 percent off): These on-ear headphones support spatial audio and dynamic head tracking, and they have up to 50 hours of battery life. The fast fuel" feature allows them to get up to five hours of playback time with just a quick 10-minute power-up.More Presidents' Day deals on techDisney+ and Hulu bundle (one month) for $10 ($3 off)H&R Block Deluxe + State tax software for $30 (50 percent off)Waterpik cordless rechargeable water flosser for $40 (20 percent off)Levoit Core 300-P air purifier for $85 (15 percent off)Shark Steam & Scrub steam mop for $125 (22 percent off)Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 earbuds for $179 (22 percent off)Roku 55-inch 4K smart TV for $248 (29 percent off)Roborock Q7 M5+ robot vacuum and mop for $250 (31 percent off)Sonos Beam Gen 2 soundbar for $369 ($130 off)Anker Nebula Capsule 3 projector for $540 (28 percent off)Hisense 75-inch QD7 Mini-LED 4K smart TV for $548 (16 percent off)DJI Mini 3 Fly More Combo drone bundle for $575 (20 percent off)Google Pixel 10 Pro for $899 (18 percent off)Sony 55-inch Bravia XR8B 4K smart TV for $998 (9 percent off)This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/presidents-day-sales-2026-the-best-early-tech-deals-from-apple-sony-roku-and-others-163000773.html?src=rss

The big game is one of the few instances now in the US where most people gather around the TV to watch the live event together. While the teams playing in Super Bowl 2026 are the true stars of the show (and Bad Bunny, of course), your TV is a pretty important part of the puzzle of putting together an excellent Super Bowl party. Maybe you've been thinking about replacing an aging set, or you're itching for a full refresh of your home theater setup - either way, you'll want to try to get a good deal on a new TV. Thankfully, the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl can be a great time to shop for a new TV.Generally, TV prices steadily decrease after a new model comes out. Some 2026 TV models were announced at CES and are forthcoming things year, making now a good time to look for discounts on 2025 sets. Aside from the holiday shopping season, now is one of the best times of the year to save on a TV. Here, we've curated the best Super Bowl TV deals we could find this year, from already affordable sets discounted even further to high-end OLEDs that are hundreds of dollars off.Super Bowl 2026 TV deals for less than $500You can easily find solid 1080p and 4K TV sets within this budget-friendly price range. What you'll be more limited in is size - most TV deals under $500 we're seeing right now are on sets up to 55 inches. There are a few 65- and 75-inch models in there, but the pickings are slim.Roku 24-inch 720p smart TV for $100 (18 percent off)TCL 40-inch Class S3 1080p smart TV for $150 (21 percent off)Roku 55-inch 4K smart TV for $248 (29 percent off)Roku 55-inch Mini LED 4K smart TV for $348 (30 percent off)TCL 75-inch Class S5 4K smart TV for $480 (26 percent off)OLED TV dealsThis is where you want to look if you want your new TV to have the richest colors, deepest blacks and excellent contrast performance. Of course, that all comes at steeper prices - it can be difficult to find a good OLED set for less than $1,000, even on sale.Sony 55-inch Bravia XR8B 4K smart TV for $998 (9 percent off)Samsung 65-inch Class OLED S95F 4K smart TV for $2,298 (23 percent off)Sony 77-inch Bravia XR A95L OLED 4K smart TV for $3,498 (30 percent off)Super Bowl 2026 TV deals for $500 and upThis will likely be the sweet spot for many people when it comes to TV features, performance and price. Good 4K sets are common in this price range, and you'll also find some Mini LED sets available here as well.TCL 65-inch Class T7 4K smart TV for $500 (29 percent off)Hisense 75-inch QD7 Mini-LED 4K smart TV for $548 (16 percent off)Amazon 65-inch Fire TV Omni Mini LED 4K smart TV for $920 (16 percent off)TCL 65-inch Class QM8K Mini LED 4K smart TV for $998 (33 percent off)Streaming and home entertainment dealsA good TV is key, but having the right peripherals and accessories to go along with it will complete your home theater setup. Deals we're tracking right now include discounts on streaming devices, soundbars and projectors.Sonos big game sale - up to 20 percent off home theater gear: Get the Sonos Beam soundbar for $130 off, the Era 300 speaker for $100 off and moreRoku Streaming Stick HD 2025 for $16 (47 percent off)Roku Ultra streamer for $78 (22 percent off)Samsung HW B400F soundbar with built-in subwoofer for $100 (29 percent off)Anker Nebula Capsule 3 projector for $540 (28 percent off)Valerion VisionMaster Max 4K projector for $3,999 (20 percent off)This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/super-bowl-2026-tv-deals-the-best-sales-we-found-this-week-on-oleds-and-other-smart-tvs-ahead-of-kickoff-160000654.html?src=rss

Most people wouldn't leave their phones behind when they so much as go for a drive, but NASA astronauts have had to leave their phones on Earth while they went to work 250 miles away at the International Space Station. That is, until now.In a post on X, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman shared that the Crew-12 and Artemis II astronauts will be allowed to bring smartphones along for the journey to the ISS and beyond. "We are giving our crews the tools to capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images and video with the world," Isaacman said.While these won't be the first smartphone images captured in space -that distinction belongs to a trio of miniature phone-based satellites sent into Earth orbit in 2013 which succeeded where the earlier British STRaND-1 project failed. But thanks to the upcoming Artemis II mission, we can look forward to the first smartphone images from the moon's orbit. The March (for now) launch will be the agency's first crewed moon mission since Apollo 17 in 1972.The crews' personal devices will be far less cumbersome to use than the old Nikon DSLRs they were previously limited to for high-quality still images. Ideally, this means more spontaneous pictures that can be shared with friends and family back on Earth.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasa-will-now-allow-astronauts-to-take-their-smartphones-to-space-151310548.html?src=rss

We found the iPhone Air to have a pretty decent battery life for such a thin-and-light phone, somewhere in the region of 27 hours if you're continuously streaming video. But it's still a phone, arguably your most used device on a daily basis, so you may need to top it up during the day if you're using it constantly. That's where Apple's iPhone Air MagSafe battery pack comes in, and it's currently on sale for $79. This accessory only works with the iPhone Air, but much like the phone it attaches to, it's extremely slim at 7.5mmm, so crucially doesn't add so much bulk when attached that it defeats the point of having a thin phone in the first place. The MagSafe Battery isn't enormous at 3,149mAh (enough to add an extra 65 percent of charge to the Air), but it can wirelessly charge the AirPods Pro 3 as well, making it an even more useful travel companion. You can also charge your iPhone while charging the battery pack. At its regular price of $99, the MagSafe battery pack is an admittedly pricey add-on to what is already an expensive phone, but for $20 off it's well worth considering what Engadget's Sam Rutherford called an "essential accessory" for some users in his iPhone Air review. Many Apple loyalists will always insist on having first-party accessories for their iPhone, but there are plenty of third-party MagSafe chargers out there too, a lot of them considerably cheaper than Apple's lineup. Be sure to check out our guide for those. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-iphone-air-magsafe-battery-drops-to-an-all-time-low-price-144516333.html?src=rss

MicroSD Express cards are still a little hard to find, considering they're pretty new and only really started becoming popular last year once the Switch 2 came out. These upgraded versions of microSD cards are the only ones compatible with the Switch 2 for expanding its storage, os if you're already starting to feel the crunch on your console, it's worth picking one up. Samsung's P9 microSD Express card is on sale right now - you can grab the 512GB version of $80, which is 33 percent off and one of the best prices we've seen. The P9 boasts transfer speeds of up to 800MB/s, making moving games to the card that much faster. As for load times, in our testing we found that any microSD Express, the standard the Switch 2 requires, will offer roughly the same performance. This format is pretty new, so there aren't a ton of cards on the market. As such, the P9 makes our list of best microSD cards for the Nintendo Switch 2. The P9 microSD Express is also compatible with the Steam Deck or any other gaming console that accepts the format, as well as cameras and more. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-512gb-samsung-p9-microsd-express-card-is-33-percent-off-right-now-143849000.html?src=rss

Uber must pay a passenger who accused one of its drivers of rape $8.5 million, a federal jury in Phoenix has ordered. The jury found Uber liable for its driver's misconduct, determining that the driver was an agent of the company. Part of Uber's defense was that it's not responsible for what its drivers do, as they are independent contractors. This decision is for but one of the 3,000 similar cases against Uber that have been consolidated in federal court. It was a bellwether trial meant to determine the possible outcomes of the other cases, as well as the possible settlements. As The Guardian explains, the results for this case could be used as a precedent for all the other pending lawsuits if the verdict is upheld by the appeals court.The case chosen for the bellwether trial was filed by Jaylynn Dean, who said she was raped by her Uber driver in 2023. Dean said she was intoxicated when she ordered an Uber to take her back home from her boyfriend's apartment after celebrating passing a test for her flight attendant training. The driver allegedly stopped at a dark parking lot and raped her in the backseat.Uber argued that the driver had no criminal history, had completed training and had excellent passenger feedback. The company's camp also presented its safety measures, including the development of a machine-learning tool that can assess the risk of potential rides. But Dean's lawyers showed evidence during the trial that she was tagged as high risk for a serious safety incident just before her ride arrived and that she wasn't notified about it. They also presented documents suggesting that Uber resisted introducing in-car cameras, because it would slow down growth. Women know it's a dangerous world. We know about the risk of sexual assault," Dean's layer said in her closing arguments. They made us believe that this was a place that was safe from that.Despite the jury holding Uber liable for the incident, it determined that the company wasn't negligent when it comes to safety practices and its app's safety systems were not faulty. This verdict affirms that Uber acted responsibly and has invested meaningfully in rider safety," an Uber spokesperson told The New York Times. He also said that Uber plans to appeal the jury's decision. In addition to the 3,000 lawsuits consolidated in federal court, Uber is also facing 500 similar cases in California state court. Last year, a California jury found that the company was not liable for a sexual assault that the plaintiff alleged her driver had committed back in 2016.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/uber-ordered-to-pay-85-million-to-passenger-who-accused-a-driver-of-rape-141800931.html?src=rss

One of the more surprising tech developments in 2025 was Google bringing two-way support for Apple's AirDrop functionality to its Pixel 10 series of phones. At the time, Google said it intended to expand the feature to other devices at a later date, and that date could be just around the corner.At a press briefing attended by Android Authorityat Google's Taipei office, Eric Kay, Android's Vice President of Engineering, confirmed that AirDrop interoperability will expand in 2026. "We spent a lot of time and energy to make sure that we could build something that was compatible not only with iPhone but iPads and MacBooks," he said. "Now that we've proven it out, we're working with our partners to expand it into the rest of the ecosystem, and you should see some exciting announcements coming very soon."Right now, Pixel 10 users can send and receive files and photos between Apple devices and Android using Quick Share. For an Android device to receive from an iPhone, they have to set their Quick Share visibility settings to "everyone for 10 minutes" and make sure they're in "receive" mode on the Quick Share page.It's a similar story for an Android-to-Apple file share. You have to set your iPhone, iPad or Mac's Airdrop visibility to "anyone for 10 minutes," which enables someone from outside your contacts to use Quick Share on their Pixel 10.When this feature launched, it wasn't clear how much involvement, if any, Apple had had, or if the infamous walled garden would once again banish Android-minded intruders in a subsequent software update. But that hasn't happened, and back in November, Qualcomm confirmed that devices powered by its Snapdragon chips would also soon be able to transfer files to iPhones using Quick Share, suggesting that Pixel exclusivity wouldn't last for much longer.Google's own willingness to play nice with Apple gear is seemingly a move designed to make the lives easier of anyone thinking about making the jump from an iPhone to an Android device. As reported by Android Authority, Kay also said his company was committed to making it as simple as possible to transfer data when switching.It wasn't that long ago that the idea of Apple and Google teaming up to make device-hopping more consumer-friendly was the stuff of fantasy, but in December it emerged that the longstanding rivals were working on a new simplified data transfer system. Each company already offers a method for swapping ecosystems, but a new build of Android Canary hinted at something that would work at the operating system level.Last month, Apple and Google also released a joint statement confirming previous reports that the new version of Siri will utilise Google Gemini's models, effectively resulting in a Google-powered voice assistant on your iPhone.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/google-will-soon-offer-airdrop-support-on-more-android-devices-141523521.html?src=rss

Whether you're one of the few people still keeping up with New Year's resolutions or just want an upgraded smartwatch, now is a good time to get an Apple Watch. Currently, the Apple Watch Series 11 is on sale for $299, down from $399. The 25 percent discount brings the 2025 model back down to its record-low price. We named the Apple Watch Series 11 as our choice for best smartwatch overall. It scored a 90 in our review thanks to its 24 hours-plus of battery life and a thin, light design that's easy to wear. It also offers new health metrics, including Apple's hypertension alerts system and Sleep Score. The Apple Watch Series 11 deal is available on the 42mm case with a small/medium band. It also only includes GPS and four colorways: the Jet Black and Space Gray aluminum cases with a Black sport band, the Rose Gold aluminum case with a Light Blush sport band and the Silver aluminum case with a Purple Fog sport band. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-apple-watch-series-11-is-down-to-a-record-low-price-151616743.html?src=rss

Ford may be discontinuing its F-150 Lightning pickup but it hasn't given up on electric cars. CEO Jim Farley just teased the automaker's electric pickup based on its new Universal Electric Vehicle platform that he called one of the most audacious and important projects in Ford's history."The Universal EV platform will be used on a family of affordable EVs sold around the world, but will start with a mid-sized pickup for the US built in Louisville, Kentucky. It's set to go on sale next year with a target price of $30,000.

Anker rolled out a bunch of new chargers and other gear at CES 2026, including a cute one that's already on sale. The new Nano charger with smart display, which is an upgrade to the existing Nano charger in Anker's lineup, is on sale for $30 right now when you clip an on-page coupon on Amazon. That's $10 off the regular price. The 45W charger includes a smart display that shows real-time data like power flow, temperature and charging status. It also features "fun animations to keep things cheerful." Anker says it can recognize what's being charged and automatically adjust certain metrics to ensure a longer battery lifespan. To that end, it works with just about everything. The company advertises that this charger is a good fit for the iPhone, Apple Watch, AirPods and Samsung devices, among others. The new Nano Charger is on the smaller side, with dual folding prongs that rotate to fit most outlets. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-latest-45w-anker-nano-charger-with-smart-display-is-on-sale-for-only-30-160707158.html?src=rss

Apple is no longer launching an AI service that can replicate" a doctor and act as a personal health coach, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The company has reportedly scaled back the unannounced initiative in recent weeks, following a recent organization reshuffling wherein services chief Eddy Cue took over the health division.While Apple has never officially announced the AI health coach, it was reported last year that the company was working on developing the service that has been unofficially dubbed Health+. It was supposed to be able to help users track food and correct workout forms using their iPhone's camera, as well as to recommend lifestyle changes based on users' health data. Apple even reportedly produced videos for the service, including ones explaining medical conditions and some training guides.Cue reportedly wanted Apple to move faster and be more competitive when it comes to its health-focused products, seeing as the most well-known names in the field like Oura are already offering a lot of compelling features on their iOS apps. He didn't think Apple's plans could compete, Bloomberg said.Instead of rolling out an AI health coach as a whole package, Apple will instead release the individual features it has developed to its Health app over time. The videos it shot and the capability to make recommendations based on user data could be available early this year. Apple is also reportedly working on an AI health chatbot to answer wellness questions. It's just an interim solution, however, and the company's goal is to let its reported upcoming Siri chatbot handle those inquiries in the future.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/apple-reportedly-axed-its-planned-ai-health-coach-133000941.html?src=rss

If you haven't heard, there's now a social network for AI: Moltbook, a site that purportedly features AI agents talking to each other. That includes OpenClaw, a personal AI agent (formerly called Clawdbot and Moltbot) that's open source and free for anyone to run on their systems. In this episode, Devindra and Senior Reporter Karissa Bell discuss the rise of these services, and the potential future that AI agents may have for all of us.Subscribe!

TikTok's signature features that hooked users around the world are its algorithm and endless scroll. Now, though, the European Union has called those aspects of the app illegal and may order the company to alter them.Today, the European Commission preliminarily found TikTok in breach of the Digital Services Act for its addictive design," the EU's regulator said in a press release. This includes features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and its highly personalized recommender system." It said that TikTok failed to put up safeguards to ensure that those addictive" features don't harm the physical and mental wellbeing of users," including minors.For example, by constantly rewarding' users with new content, certain design features of TikTok fuel the urge to keep scrolling and shift the brain of users into autopilot mode'. Scientific research shows that this may lead to compulsive behaviour and reduce users' self-control," the regulators stated.TikTok's current parental controls and features to limit screen time are insufficient, the Commission added, and TikTok may need to modify them. The platform may also be required to limit its infinite scroll and adjust its recommendation algorithms.The EU Commission will give TikTok an opportunity to rebut the findings and the company said would use any means available" to challenge them. The commission's preliminary findings present a categorically false and entirely meritless depiction of our platform," the company told The New York Times in a statement.Europe opened its wide-ranging investigation against TikTok in February 2024 and has already found the company at fault for its data sharing practices and advertising transparency. If found guilty of violating the DSA, TikTok faces a fine up to six percent of its annual worldwide turnover.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/eu-says-tiktok-uses-addictive-design-and-must-change-131738425.html?src=rss

It's big-game season, which means it's a good time to look for home theater gear on sale ahead of Super Bowl 2026. There are plenty of Super Bowl TV deals to consider, but if you have arguably the most important piece of the puzzle down, you may want to upgrade your sound system instead. Sonos' latest sale may have just what you need; a bunch of the company's home theater gear is up to 20 percent off right now. You can save $130 on the Beam (Gen 2) soundbar, bringing its price down to $369, and you'll also find deals on the flagship Arc Ultra soundbar, subwoofers, and more. The Sonos Beam is the company's sub-$500 soundbar. Engadget's pick for the best midrange model, the compact speaker has impressive sound for its size. Part of that is its Dolby Atmos support. Although the soundbar lacks upward-firing speakers, it uses software tricks to compensate. Audio timing and frequency adjustments make sound seem to come from the side or slightly above. One of the biggest drawbacks is that the Beam only has one HDMI port. Regardless, that compromise may be easier to accept at Beam's current $369 than at its usual $499. Several more home theater speakers are included in Sonos's sale. If you have a loftier budget for a soundbar, there's the Arc Ultra. Typically $1,099, it's now $899. The company's pair of subwoofers is included as well. You can get the Sub Mini for $399 (down from $499) or the Sub 4 for $759 (from $899). Although they aren't explicitly sold as home theater products, the Era 100 ($179) and Era 300 ($379) are also included in the sale. The portable Move 2 isn't discounted individually, but you will find it in a couple of bundles. You can check out the sale page for the complete list. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/sonos-soundbars-and-home-theater-gear-is-up-to-20-percent-off-right-now-174053415.html?src=rss

With over 155 million sold, Nintendo's Switch is officially the company's biggest console hit ever. It's been a long road to surpassing the DS, which reached 154 million consoles over its seven-year lifespan. The Switch, meanwhile, is a year shy of its 10-year anniversary.We've seen the original console, the non-hybrid Lite and the OLED versions of the Switch over the decade, but despite being replaced by Switch 2, the original is still selling at a strong pace: 1.36 million units in Q3. Just think how many Joy-Cons it sold/replaced?Next goal: try to be the best-selling console of all time. Currently, that's the PlayStation 2.Nintendo is just shy of five million units to go.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missed

X is experimenting with a new way for AI to write Community Notes. The company is testing a new "collaborative notes" feature that allows human writers to request an AI-written Community Note.It's not the first time the platform has experimented with AI in Community Notes. The company started a pilot program last year to allow developers to create dedicated AI note writers. X's Keith Coleman tells me that AI writers are prolific" and that one has contributed more than 1,000 notes that were rates as helpful by other contributors. But the latest experiment sounds like a more streamlined process.According to the company, when an existing Community Note contributor requests a note on a post, the request "now also kicks off creation of a Collaborative Note." Contributors can then rate the note or suggest improvements. "Collaborative Notes can update over time as suggestions and ratings come in," X says. "When considering an update, the system reviews new input from contributors to make the note as helpful as possible, then decides whether the new version is a meaningful improvement."

The Steam Machine is back from the dead. Not as a Valve-supported program for manufacturers to create living room PCs, but instead 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.What's the Steam Machine's hardware like?ValveLike 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?ValveAny 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.According to an announcement Valve sent to developers, games that were Verified for the Steam Deck will automatically be verified for the Steam Machine. The system is helpful, but far from definitive - some Unplayable games are in fact playable - 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?ValveValve hasn't announced a price or a release date for the Steam Machine or any of its new hardware. 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 Machine's 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?ValveThe 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 control 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.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/everything-we-know-about-valves-new-steam-machine-200458817.html?src=rss

If you haven't yet played Alan Wake 2, here's your chance to immerse yourself in its terrors for free. Prime members can play it this month on Amazon's Luna cloud gaming service at no additional charge.The "fantastic" Alan Wake 2 oozes "psychedelic terror," as Engadget's Jessica Conditt put it in our review. The 2023 horror-survival game uses a dual-protagonist motif, alternating between the lost author Wake and the stoic FBI agent Saga Anderson. It "tells a twisted, serpentine story of paranormal murder, shifting realities and demonic possession, with two brooding investigators at its core." Not a bad way to sublimate the all-too-real horrors of life in 2026.The Order of Giants DLC for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle also arrives on Luna this month. Ditto for Disney Universe, a knockoff of the Lego game franchise starring the Mouse's IP.Setting Luna aside, Amazon also has downloadable PC games that Prime members can claim for free this month. Starting today, you can snag the Borderlands spinoff Tiny Tina's Wonderlands from the Epic Store. Later this month, you can also claim the highly rated strategy title Total War: Attila (Epic Store, Feb. 26).You can check out Amazon's announcement post for the complete list.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/prime-members-can-play-alan-wake-2-for-free-on-luna-193509728.html?src=rss

Meta is developing a standalone app for Vibes, its feed of AI-generated videos, according to reports from TechCrunch and Platformer. Vibes was introduced as a feature in the Meta AI app in September 2025. Similar to OpenAI's Sora app, Vibes lets users prompt Meta AI to create TikTok-style vertical videos."Following the strong early traction of Vibes within Meta AI, we are testing a standalone app to build on that momentum," Meta said in a statement. "We've seen that users are increasingly leaning into the format to create, discover, and share AI-generated video with friends. This standalone app provides a dedicated home for that experience, offering people a more focused and immersive environment. We will look to expand the app further based on what we learn from the community."Meta has yet to share specific numbers for how many people actually use Vibes, but the company does claim that Meta AI usage has continued to grow since Vibes launched. Breaking the feature out into its own app could allow Meta to add more functionality without cluttering the existing Meta AI app. The company believes AI-generated content will be the next big source of engagement on platforms, and said in an October 2025 earnings call that it planned to push more AI images and videos into its recommendation algorithm. A dedicated app for creating videos like Vibes could be one way Meta hopes to do that.As Meta's main competitor in the burgeoning field of AI-first social media, OpenAI has continued to iterate on its Sora app, adding ways for characters and pets to cameo in videos, and signing a deal with Disney to allow users to generate content with Disney characters. Considering the company has licensed celebrity likenesses in the past, it doesn't seem impossible that Meta could pursue similar deals. Whatever happens, AI-generated videos appear like they'll be increasingly inescapable.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/meta-is-giving-its-ai-slop-feed-an-app-of-its-own-192208200.html?src=rss