Surfshark is one of the youngest major VPNs, but it's grown rapidly over the last seven years. Since 2018, it's expanded its network to 100 countries, added a suite of apps to its Surfshark One package and experimented with advanced touches like servers that constantly rotate your IP address. Formerly a budget VPN, Surfshark is still pretty affordable but the cost of a one-month subscription is way too high. These days, it's more interested in innovation than affordability. Its features may not always be cutting-edge - Nexus is basically Tor and Everlink is a slightly better kill switch - but it's rare to find either implemented so well in a commercial VPN. Plus, download and upload speeds are fantastic. It all adds up to one of the best VPNs for casual users, even when compared to others in its weight class. But those already deeply familiar with VPNs might trip over some aspects. For this review, I studied 11 different angles on Surfshark's service, some through hands-on tests and others with old-fashioned journalism. Check out the sections most important to you, then head to the end for my final verdict. Editors' note: We're in the process of rebooting all of our VPN reviews from scratch. Once we do a fresh pass on the top services, we'll be updating each review with a rating and additional comparative information. Table of contents
s.p.l.i.t is the most badass typing game I've ever played. It's actually more of a hacking simulator, cyberpunk thriller and puzzle experience than a typing game, but its core loop is bookended by sequences of high-intensity letter pecking with gruesome consequences - think Mavis Beacon as designed by Ted Kaczynski - and the final scenes have a way of searing themselves into your psyche. Not to mention, the whole thing takes place on a keyboard, no mouse or gamepad. So I guess it's technically only a typing game, but it's also not a traditional typing game at all. Trust me, it makes perfect sense in practice.s.p.l.i.t comes from Unsorted Horror and Buckshot Roulette developer Mike Klubnika, and it features his signature layers of grit, retro hardware and purely concentrated nightmares. In s.p.l.i.t, you're seated at a '90s-style computer terminal in a cramped, gray-washed shack. The world appears in PS2-era 3D graphics, and you're surrounded by distended black screens crawling with orange monospaced text. To your left, a window looks onto a dense forest. To your right, there's an electronic device in a lockbox. By pressing Alt and A or D, you're able to twist your torso to interact with two separate screens: One displays an active IRC channel with your co-conspirators, and the other is where the hacking takes place.The narrative unfurls in strings of data logs, file directories, command prompts and instant messages, while a bed of ambient industrial music pulses in hypnotic waves. You're attempting to gain root access to a facility where mysterious but clearly unethical things are taking place, and you're working with two colleagues, Sarah and Viktor, to infiltrate the systems. Sarah and Vikor's messages automatically appear in the chat box, each one accompanied by a satisfying bloop sound, and when it's your time to respond the SEND button flashes once, prompting you to type. It doesn't matter which keys you press while chatting, as lines of pre-written dialogue will appear to push the narrative along smoothly. Sarah, Viktor and the player character, Axel, have distinct personalities and they clash in believable ways. The game does a fantastic job of building robust characters in such a short time, through dialogue alone.On the hacking side, it very much matters which keys you press. You are in full control of the typing while digging through the facility's files, so spacing, capitalization, punctuation and spelling are all taken into account, alongside use of the proper commands. This portion of the game is a maze of directories and data, operating as one big logic puzzle. Your colleagues outline the goals but once you're in the system, you're on your own, relying on context clues to figure out what information you need and how to gain access. The hacking riddles in s.p.l.i.t are perfectly complex, requiring failure and tenacity to work out, and this balance makes each victory feel like a real accomplishment.Mike KlubnikaTyping help" at any time pulls up a list of all possible commands, and I found this screen useful whenever I hit a dead end in my investigations - it's a natural way to mentally reset and visualize any unexplored paths. The print" command functions as a notepad, allowing you to save relevant numbers and other information on a strip of paper attached to the PC screen, and it's a useful tool especially in the game's later stages.I'm no coder, but I got used to the keyboard style of navigation really quickly. There's a strong sense of internal logic in s.p.l.i.t and it's satisfying to play in this sandbox, learning the game's language and steadily building skills as the narrative tension grows. The first-person interface, rhythmic electronic soundtrack and consistent characters combine to make s.p.l.i.t an incredibly immersive experience. It all pays off in a massive way by the end, when the typing game returns and things really get gruesome.s.p.l.i.t tests critical-thinking skills and keyboard proficiency in a dystopian near-future setting, and it's a uniquely unnerving, heart-pounding slice of interactive psychological horror. It's no more than a few hours long, but it's something you'll think about for days after the credits roll, guaranteed. s.p.l.i.t is available now on Steam for just $2.50 through July 31, and $3 after that.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/if-you-have-90-minutes-to-spare-play-the-cyberpunk-horror-game-split-120033911.html?src=rss
Welcome to our weekly roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. There have been quite a few high-profile arrivals this week, as well as others that have left early access and or arrived on more platforms.I have a long flight this weekend and I'm a little torn over what to play while I'm in the air. I have my Switch 2, Steam Deck and Playdate with me (excessive, I know). As such, there are many ways I can go here. I haven't yet burrowed my way into Donkey Kong Bananza, so that's a strong option. But then there are all the Playdate Season Two games I've yet to check out - Taria & Como is one I definitely want to play - while my Steam Deck is bursting with games and is running out of storage space.Decision paralysis is an all-too-common affliction these days, particularly when it comes to games or picking something to watch. I feel like the smartest choice here is to play whatever is taking up the most space on my Steam Deck that I've yet to play, so I can just scrub it if I'm not interested. I'll probably do that unless I do my usual thing while flying: try to catch up on sleep.New releasesIf there were a hall of fame just for mobile games, the first two Monument Valley games would surely be first-ballot inductees. While the third entry in the series perhaps didn't quite hit those heady heights, it still has its fans and was well-received when it debuted on iOS and Android via Netflix late last year. Just over seven months later, Monument Valley 3 has sailed onto more platforms. Ustwo Games' thoughtful and stylish M.C. Escher-inspired puzzler is now available on PC, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.RageSquid and publisher No More Robots had a surprise in store this week when they suddenly released Descenders Next during a showcase of that game and its downhill biking-focused predecessor. This is a multiplayer action sports game that, at the outset, features snowboarding and mountainboarding. The developers plan to add more extreme sports over time (the game is currently in early access and there's a two-year roadmap to the 1.0 release). Descenders Next is available on Steam, Xbox and Game Pass for Xbox and PC.Wheel World seems much more relaxing than Descenders Next, even though your mission is to save the world from complete collapse. The launch trailer for this open-world cycling game from Messhof (Nidhogg) has impeccable vibes. Between races, you'll be able to search for parts to upgrade your bike. Given its stellar track record, any game that Annapurna Interactive publishes is worth checking out, and I'll certainly be giving Wheel World a spin. It's out now on Steam, Epic Games Store, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, as well as Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.Wildgate is a multiplayer shooter from publisher Dreamhaven's Moonshot Games division. Dreamhaven CEO Mike Morhaime is a co-founder and former president of Blizzard. Almost all of the company's first wave of employees used to work at Blizzard too. So it's maybe not too much of a surprise that Wildgate has a polished, colorful look. The team extraction shooter - which is now available on Steam, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S - has spaceship-based combat and a procedurally-generated map to help switch things up from game-to-game.Dreamhaven has had quite a busy 2025 so far. It has released the full version of the enjoyable action RPG Lynked: Banner of the Spark (by FuzzyBot Games), forged a publishing partnership with Game River for its tactical wargame Mechabellum and unleashed two games of its own in the shape of tabletop RPG party game Sunderfolkand now Wildgate.Supervive (previously known as Project Loki) is a game we've had an eye on for a while and it's now out of early access on Steam. Theorycraft has overhauled this free-to-play MOBA/battle royale hybrid with the 1.0 update by introducing a larger map that has more traversal options, a two-seater aerial vehicle, more playable characters, faster revives, an upgraded user interface and much more.UpcomingAgefield High: Rock the School is a narrative adventure game that follows a high school senior after his parents move with him to a new town. Sam Tatum wants to make his last few months of school unforgettable, and if he feels the need to skip class or mow lawns for a few bucks to make that happen, so be it.This project from Refugium Games, which is in development for PC and consoles and slated to debut in early 2026, already feels like it's dripping with nostalgia, and that's just based on the trailer and press release. It's set in 2002 and is said to have a soundtrack filled with pop-punk tunes. Agefield High: Rock the School has a branching narrative too, with several endings to experience. The developers took some inspiration from Rockstar's Bully and since we might not ever get a proper sequel to that game, Agefield High: Rock the School may just fill a certain void in my millennial heart.I quite like the aesthetic of Oceaneers, a survival-crafting sim from Barrel Smash Studios. It seems to draw from the same well as Don't Starve, but that's hardly a bad thing. You'll hop between islands in search of resources and ways to expand your colony. You'll also battle sharks and crabs, and maybe even discover hidden bunkers - perhaps there's someone inside who has to punch a sequence into a terminal every 108 minutes? Oceaneers is expected to hit Steam early access in 2026 with a demo dropping soon. Maybe I'll start a long-overdue Lost rewatch in the meantime.Getting lost in a fictional world for dozens upon dozens of hours can be quite appealing, and I do enjoy larger games in that vein. But so many games are too bloated these days and I do love shorter, more focused experiences. Catto's Post Office is said to take around an hour to complete.In this open-world title from In Shambles Studio and publisher Cult Games, you'll play as a Postcat who delivers packages to the residents of a small town. You can do cat things like hide in boxes, knock stuff over and meow whenever you like with a dedicated button. It looks too dang adorable. Catto's Post Office will cost $5 when it hits Steam on August 4, and there will be a 20 percent launch discount.You know how, in Final Fantasy VII, Cloud has a massive sword? Well, what if you could have a weapon like that in a puzzle-focused action platformer? Enter the wonderfully titled Gigasword from solo developer Studio Hybrid and publisher Akupara Games. Along with using your weapon to take out unfortunate baddies and beastly bosses, you'll employ it to solve puzzles and help with platforming. Gigasword is coming to Steam on October 2, and there's a demo available now.Speaking of games with fantastic names, The Player Who Can't Level Up sure has one of those. This is an action roguelite that is based on a webtoon that debuted last year. It has a slick, gorgeous trailer and - as the title suggests - you won't be able to level up your character. You can, however, select perks to help you hunt monsters. Tripearl Games is the studio behind the project, for which it's targeting a 2026 debut on PC and consoles.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/extreme-sports-an-fps-from-former-blizzard-devs-and-other-new-indie-games-worth-checking-out-110007013.html?src=rss
It seems like LeBron James' legal team has been trying to stop the spread of viral AI videos featuring the basketball star. As 404 Media reported, a law firm representing James has sent a cease and desist letter to a person behind an AI platform that allowed Discord users to make AI videos of James and other NBA stars.As 404 noted, these videos have been circulating for awhile but it's one particularly strange clip that seems to have gotten James' lawyers involved. The video, which reportedly racked up millions of views on Instagram, shows a pregnant James being loaded into an ambulance after telling an AI Steph Curry to "come quick our baby is being born."404 reports that at least three Instagram accounts that had shared the clip have since been removed, though the video is available on X. The founder of the AI platform used to make the videos also posted about the cease and desist letter he received. It's unclear what is in the letter, or if James' lawyers were also in touch with Meta about the videos. We've reached out to the company for more info on its rules.Of course, LeBron James is far from the only public figure to grapple with unwanted AI versions of themselves. Social media scammers routinely impersonate celebrities to promote sketchy products and other schemes. We've previously reported on such scams involving deepfakes of Elon Musk and Fox News personalities that have proliferated on Facebook. Jamie Lee Curtis also recently had to publicly plead with Mark Zuckerberg to take down deepfaked ads of herself.A still from a clip created with Google's Veo (left) and images generated by Meta AI (right)Screenshots via Veo and Meta AIBut the videos of James are a little different. They don't feature fake endorsements and seem to be more of a prank meant to go viral in the way that lots of "AI slop" does. And James and other celebrities will likely continue to have a difficult time preventing these kinds of deepfakes from spreading. Some quick testing by Engadget showed that it's relatively easy to get AI chatbots to create images and video of "pregnant LeBron James."We first asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot to make such a photo. All chatbots initially refused, saying that such an image could go against their guidelines. But when given an image of James and asked to "make this person eight months pregnant," Google's Gemini delivered a 7-second clip of the basketball star cradling a pregnant belly. (We've reached out to Google to clarify its rules around such content.)Likewise, Meta AI seemingly had no reservations about producing images of "pregnant LeBron James" and promptly delivered many such variations. While these creations aren't as detailed as the initial video that went viral, they do highlight how difficult it can be for AI companies to prevent people from circumventing whatever guardrails may exist.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/lebron-james-is-reportedly-trying-to-stop-the-spread-of-viral-ai-pregnancy-videos-211947871.html?src=rss
Apple has announced that Pluribus, a new science fiction drama from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, will premiere on Apple TV+ on November 7. Gilligan was confirmed to be working on the project back in 2022, when Better Call Saul's Rhea Seehorn was also announced as its primary star.Alongside the premiere date, Apple also released a short (somewhat ominous) teaser for the series that shows a hospital employee mindlessly licking donuts. Pluribus is supposed to follow "the most miserable person on Earth" (presumably Seehorn) as they "save the world from happiness," but your guess is as good as mine as to how the two tie together.Apple's penchant for backing science fiction shows has been well-documented at this point. The company is currently producing a television adaptation of William Gibson's Neuromancer, and has made three seasons and counting of Foundation, based on the novel series by Isaac Asimov. Toss in things like Severance, Murderbot, Siloand For All Mankindand you've got a pretty varied catalog of sci-fi media to choose from.Just how "science fiction" Pluribus will actually be remains up in the air. When reports went out in 2022 that Apple was ordering two seasons of the show, it was described as "a blended, grounded genre drama." Apple's premiere date announcement pitches the show as "a genre-bending original."Pluribus' nine-episode first season will premiere on November 7 with two episodes. New episodes will stream weekly after that, all the way through December 26.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/breaking-bad-creators-new-show-streams-on-apple-tv-november-7-204150489.html?src=rss
Tea, an app that claims to help women "make sure your date is safe, not a catfish and not in a relationship," is experiencing a security breach. 404 Media reports that a database posted on 4chan allowed anyone to access users' data. (It's since been removed.) The dataset included thousands of images, including driver's licenses.4chan users claimed the data came from an exposed database hosted on Firebase, Google's app development platform. 404 Media verified that the exposed storage bucket URL matches one found in Tea's Android app.The company confirmed the breach. In a statement to 404 Media, Tea said it "identified unauthorized access to one of our systems and immediately launched a full investigation to assess the scope and impact." The company stated that the exposed information included data from over two years ago. It included 72,000 images, including selfies, photo IDs and pictures from app posts and DMs."This data was originally stored in compliance with law enforcement requirements related to cyber-bullying prevention," Tea said. "We have engaged third-party cybersecurity experts and are working around the clock to secure our systems. At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that current or additional user data was affected. Protecting our users' privacy and data is our highest priority. We are taking every necessary step to ensure the security of our platform and prevent further exposure."Google Play StoreThe app allows users to post photos of "red-flag" men. "Already swiping for dates on Tinder, Bumble, Match or Hinge?" the app's Play Store pitch reads. "Tea is a must-have app, helping women avoid red flags before the first date with dating advice and showing them who's really behind the profile of the person they're dating."Its Play Store listing highlights a reverse phone number lookup. It has sections for men's real names, ages, addresses, social profiles and relationship statuses. Other features include a reverse image search and background checks to help women "get the tea on your date." Users can poll others about whether they should date new matches.The app requires new users to submit a verification selfie and a photo of their government-issued ID. Tea told 404 Media that it uses this to verify that new signups are indeed women.The timing of the breach coincided with the app's surge in popularity. According to Business Insider, Tea hit the top of Apple's App Store this week. The app first launched in 2023.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/tea-app-suffers-breach-exposing-thousands-of-user-images-190731414.html?src=rss
Following the success of Fallout, Amazon is turning its attention to another video game adaptation. The company is reportedly developing a series based on the Wolfenstein franchise with the help of some of the creative team behind Fallout,according to Variety.The details of how the Wolfenstein show will adapt the alternate history action of the games are still under wraps, but the subject matter remains unfortunately timely. The show's logline is "The story of killing Nazis is evergreen," according to Variety, which seems like a direct acknowledgement of that fact.Patrick Somerville, the writer and showrunner of Station Eleven, will reportedly serve as the writer of the Wolfenstein adaptation, with Lisa Joy, Athena Wickham and Jonathan Nolan producing the show through their company Kilter Films. The production company also made the adaptation of the William Gibson's The Peripheral for Amazon, and currently produces Fallout.While it might make sense to pair a new show with a brand new Wolfenstein game, the series has effectively been on hold since 2019. MachineGames, the Microsoft-owned developer of the last five Wolfenstein games, hasn't produced a new entry since 2019's Wolfenstein: Youngbloodand Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot. The studio released Indiana Jones and the Great Circlein December 2024.Given the tumultuous state of Microsoft's Xbox division, the series could be your best bet for getting more Wolfenstein, assuming Amazon decides to move forward.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/amazon-is-developing-a-wolfenstein-tv-show-190028817.html?src=rss
VSCO, the photo filter and editing app that spawned an entire culture, has released a dedicated camera app called VSCO Capture. The free iOSonly app is a camera with live previews where users can choose from over 50 different presets with realtime film effects and manual settings like shutter speed and exposure for finetuning. The app takes the guesswork out of how your photo will look after you apply VSCO's iconic filters.VSCO Capture is a direct response to our community's desire to get closer to the lens, to reduce editing fatigue and find more joy in the process of making authentic, stylized photography using their phone," said Eric Wittman, CEO of VSCO.The app's nondestructive presets retain the original captured image so users can modify them later and change filters after the fact. VSCO Capture supports RAW and ProRAW formats for maximum flexibility when editing. Capture syncs instantly with the main VSCO app for additional edits and sharing.VSCO Capture is available for download now on iOS.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/vsco-launches-dedicated-capture-app-with-live-previews-184005036.html?src=rss
Elden Ring Nightreign is finally adding a two-player co-op mode on July 30. Prior to this, FromSoftware's spinoff could only be played solo or with three players. The so-called Duo Expeditions come as part of patch 1.02.This is something fans have been asking for, as not everybody has two friends available at once to tackle a tough-as-nails 3D adventure. FromSoftware has released a trailer to accompany this news, so you can see the two-player co-op in action.Beyond Duo Expeditions, the forthcoming patch will include "quality-of-life UI improvements" and options for filtering Relics. We don't know what the UI upgrades will look like, but July 30 is right around the corner.This news comes just two months after the company tweaked the game to make the single-player experience a bit easier. It had been notoriously difficult, even for fans of FromSoftware. That update introduced an automatic revival mechanic and increased rune rewards for solo expeditions.
Meta will stop allowing political advertising on its platforms in the European Union as of October 2025, blaming the EU's new "unworkable" transparency rules for what it called a "difficult decision." In a statement released by the company on Friday, Meta said the EU's incoming Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulations presented it with "significant operational challenges and legal uncertainties."As of early October, users on any of Meta's platforms in the EU will no longer see political, electoral or social issue ads, which Meta says can currently be placed by advertisers who complete an authorization process proving their identity. Ads of this nature are also required to include a "paid for by" disclaimer, and information about how much was spent on them must be publicly available.Meta argues that the TTPA rules put extensive restrictions on ad targeting and delivery that create an "untenable level of complexity" for advertisers. The EU introduced the new regulations in order to address widespread concerns over foreign interference in elections, as well as the potential manipulation of important information that might influence how someone votes.As well as labelling political advertising as such and providing information on its source and intention (which Meta says it already does), the soon-to-be-instated EU rules also list a number of conditions about how personal data is processed. The TTPA regulations will also forbid political ads from sponsors outside the EU sooner than three months before an election or referendum.Meta said that users of its platforms will see less relevant ads as a result of the restrictions, and that it made its decision after "extensive engagement with policymakers" in which it made its concerns about the threat to the "principles of personalized advertising" clear. The company's decision only applies to the EU, and Meta users, including politicians, living in member states will still be allowed to discuss and share political content provided it isn't via paid advertising.Meta isn't the only company objecting to the incoming EU rule changes, which are also set to come into effect in October. Last year, Google stopped serving paid-for political ads in the EU, including on YouTube, and the company ultimately avoided fines for its allegedly "abusive" online advertising practices in 2019.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/meta-will-stop-running-political-ads-in-the-eu-162232948.html?src=rss
The Brave web browser and the ad-blocker AdGuard have both announced that they are blocking Microsoft Recall by default. For the uninitiated, Recall is an AI-powered tool that accompanies Windows 11 and it records everything on a PC's screen. It's pretty obvious why a privacy-minded web browser like Brave and an ad-blocker would make this move.AdGuard said the decision was made due to a "privacy concern," going on to say that "the very idea of background screen captures is unsettling." A blog post on the matter suggested that the tool could "snap a screenshot of a private chat window, an online form where you're entering your credit card or simply something personal you didn't want saved."
We've been playing around with the developer betas of Apple's latest software, and now that we've spent time with iOS 26, Liquid Glass and more on actual devices, we have thoughts. From representation in Genmoji and Live Translation adventures to Apple Intelligence musings, our hosts Cherlynn Low and Mat Smith share what you can expect on your iPhones later this year. We also go over our reviews of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 and Galaxy Z Flip 7, as well as Microsoft's SharePoint server vulnerabilities.Check out the episode below or find the Engadget Podcast on your favorite podcast platform. We're pretty much everywhere. If you'd like to interact with our hosts live, make sure to join us on Thursday mornings on the Engadget YouTube channel for the livestream of this podcast. We're taking a break for the rest of July but will resume that broadcast in August. Come through, we can't wait to talk to you! Subscribe!
New Jersey citizens will now be able to flash their driver's license from their smartphones after Governor Phil Murphy signed a digital ID measure into law, joining the ranks of over a dozen other states to do so. The law also allows for digital nondriver identification cards for those without driver's licenses.The bill also enshrines privacy and security protocols for those using the digital IDs, including safeguards to prevent unauthorized access to the underlying data. It outlines protections when using them, prohibiting any entities from requiring users to hand over their devices when presenting the digital ID. The bill clarifies that presenting a digital ID does not imply consent to a search or access to any other data on the device.Digital driver's licenses will make life easier for drivers across New Jersey," said Governor Murphy. Innovation has always been at the core of who we are as a state, and my administration has embraced that spirit to deliver practical solutions that improve everyday life for our people. By bringing government services into the digital age, we're setting a new standard for how the public interacts with state agencies."Participation in the program is voluntary, so those who wish to keep using their physical IDs may do so. The state has set aside $1.5 million toward launching the program. It remains unclear whether these digital IDs will be compatible with Google Wallet and Apple Wallet, or if New Jersey intends to create its own digital ID app like Louisiana, New York and others.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/new-jersey-is-the-latest-state-to-embrace-digital-ids-140408431.html?src=rss
Google has announced that it has signed a global commercial partnership with Milan-based startup Energy Dome and has also invested in its long duration energy storage (LDES) tech for renewable energy. The deal, its first investment in LDES tech, entails using Energy Dome's carbon dioxide battery for the grids that power Google's operations around the world. Batteries are used to keep excess energy generated by renewable sources, such as solar and wind, during peak production and when demand is low. But lithium-ion batteries can only store and dispatch energy for fours hours or less.Energy Dome explained that its CO2 battery can store and continuously dispatch energy for 8 to 24 hours, so Google can rely on renewable power more even when there's no wind or sun. Its technology uses carbon dioxide held inside dome-shaped batteries, which you can see in the image above. When there's excess renewable energy being generated, the batteries use that power to compress the carbon dioxide gas inside them into liquid. And when that energy is needed, the liquid carbon dioxide expands back into a hot gas under pressure. That gas spins a turbine and generates energy that's fed back into the grid for a period lasting up to a whole day.Google said that Energy Dome's technology has the potential to "commercialize much faster" than some of its other clean tech investments, and it aims to "bring this technology to scale faster and at lower costs." It also said that it believes the partnership and its investment in Energy Dome can help it achieve its goal of operating on renewable energy 24/7 by 2030.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-invests-in-carbon-dioxide-battery-for-renewable-energy-storage-140045660.html?src=rss
Samsung's annual foldable refresh includes a trio of devices this year. While the Z Fold 7 comes with a top-tier processor and cameras, the Z Flip 7 carries over many technical details from its predecessor. In fact, the most significant upgrade this year is a more expansive front display, or Flex Window, as the company prefers to call it. Samsung has also, somehow, added an even bigger battery to a slimmer foldable, which is technically impressive. However, the company made minimal software additions and modest improvements in places. The upgrades are good, but are there enough of them? Hardware Mat Smith for Engadget Samsung has caught up to one of its few foldable rivals by substantially increasing the front display from 3.4 inches to 4.1 inches. The two camera cutouts are the only things interrupting this bright, vivid display. Despite bigger screens (and battery), the Flip 7 is also thinner than last year's model. It measures 6.4mm (0.25 inches) thick, down from 6.9mm (0.27 inches). That's equal to the Galaxy S25 edge, where the major selling point is its thinness. I shouldn't have to say this, but that thickness doubles when you fold it away: Samsung says it's 13.7mm (0.54 inches) when closed. However you measure it, this is the thinnest Flip yet. The Flex Window now has a 120Hz refresh rate, can reach peak brightness levels of 2,600 nits (matching the S25 Ultra) and features the thinnest bezel yet (1.25mm) of any Samsung smartphone display. The brightness increase is a crucial upgrade on a screen that's used mainly to glance at your device from across a desk or outside in sunlight. Samsung said it was able to further extend the display to the edges by applying a waterproof coating on components beneath the AMOLED display. This meant less bezel is needed around the screen's perimeter. Samsung also expanded the foldable's main screen to 6.9 inches - a notable step up from the previous model's 6.4 inches. The company also wisely shifted closer to a more typical smartphone display ratio of 21:9. While it's not quite the same as, say, the Galaxy S25 or iPhone 16, video content now fits better. Previous Z Flips had more elongated screens, making it hard to reach the upper corners when using one hand. While the Z Flip 7 has a better aspect ratio, it's also bigger, which unfortunately means it has the same issue. If Samsung had changed the aspect ratio while keeping the screen size, it might have struck the ergonomic sweet spot. Not for the first time, Samsung says it's further strengthened the Flip's hinge mechanism. While I can't attest to its longevity, the Flip 7 does close with a beefier 'thunk' than its predecessors. I like that it takes a little bit more strength to open because it makes the whole device feel more solid. If you're hoping this is the year where the display crease disappears, I'm afraid that isn't happening. For those who have never owned a foldable though, the Flip 7's crease is largely unnoticeable. The cameras Mat Smith for Engadget The story of this year's Flip's cameras? More of the same. The Flip 7 has the same 50-megapixel f/1.8 primary setup with optical image stabilization (OIS) and a 12MP ultra-wide lens with a 123-degree field of view. There's a 10MP camera on the inside, too, but with the Flip's improved front screen, you really should be using the primary camera duo. The best images come from well-lit scenes. Samsung's Night Mode is a little aggressive, but it's still great for nighttime shots, even if it leaves an over-processed look on skin tones and faces. The Flip 7 defaults to 12.5-megapixel images, but you can switch to 50MP stills if you want all the detail - and you have a steady hand. There's no dedicated telephoto camera, which means the zoom is limited to a 2x crop, hindering the Z Flip 7's versatility. Once again: if you want a foldable with the best cameras, you'll have to go with the Fold series. Mat Smith for Engadget In regard to video capture, the Flip 7 can record video in 10-bit HDR, up from 8-bit, for more color accuracy and detail. And you can still hold the Z Flip 7 like a retro camcorder, which remains far more enjoyable than it should be. Software Mat Smith for Engadget Despite the bigger screen, Samsung hasn't really evolved its Flex Window's software this year. There are a few improvements, though. When using the front display to take selfies and videos, interface icons and mode buttons will float around the display to get out of the way of what it detects you're trying to take photos of. If you're looking to use a special filter on your shots, the Z Flip 7 can show a live preview of each filter before you apply them. Two other software additions to the Flip series are the Now Bar and Now Brief, introduced in this year's S25 series. The Now Bar is Samsung's spin on the iPhone's Dynamic Island, displaying pertinent ongoing or time-sensitive information that isn't quite a notification, but something you might want to know about. This includes fitness metrics, weather or live updates from ride-share apps like Uber. You can tap into the Now Bar without opening the phone, and you won't have to unfold it if you're looking to interact with Google's Gemini Live either. It's another Android feature that seems well-suited to foldables, as you can talk to Gemini with minimal physical interaction on the Z Flip 7. To use most other apps, you'll still need to install the Multistar launcher (which is made by Samsung) in order to view and use basic software like Gmail and Chrome. This is the workaround for now, as Samsung hasn't expanded the approved list of six apps that are allowed to run on the Z Flip 7's Flex Window - a short list which bafflingly includes Netflix. Battery life and performance Mat Smith for Engadget Despite being even slimmer than last year's model, the Flip 7 has a 4,300mAh battery that's 300mAh larger than its predecessor's. That, along with a new processor (its homemade 3nm Exynos 2500), has led to a leap in longevity. In our standard battery rundown tests, the Flip 7 played continuous video for 18 and a half hours. That's a big jump from the 13-hour rundown I got from the Flip 6. I was so surprised I ran the test two more times to confirm and got similar results. The new chip never felt particularly sluggish, either, whether I was gaming, using Galaxy AI features or completing other taxing activities. That said, the phone would get warm, both in my hand and in my pocket, during camera testing and location-based tasks, like using Google Maps and CityMapper. In my day-to-day use, with heavy testing, I'd get through a solid day and a half before I had to think about recharging. Unfortunately, the Galaxy Z Flip 7's wired charging speeds still top out at 25W, which Samsung has the gall to call Super Fast Charging. It's the same speed as the Z Flip 6 (and the base S25), but when other phones are using 45W charge speeds (or higher), it's a little underwhelming, especially on a premium device like this. Wrap-up Mat Smith for Engadget By refreshing the design and further slimming down the Z Flip, Samsung has made its smaller foldable easier to handle. At the same time, it's accomplished an engineering marvel by squeezing in larger screens and a more substantial battery. However, certain aspects of the Flip 7 are lacking, most notably the cameras, which haven't been changed since last year. Samsung also needs to put more work into its Flex Window. While the ability to use most apps on the smaller front display is here, it's still a fussy implementation and most of them aren't tailored for the tinier screen. There's untapped potential here and the Z Flip 7 doesn't push its category of foldables forward by much.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-z-flip-7-review-140022250.html?src=rss
The annoying thing about coffee is that its ideal temperature is fleeting. Get caught up in a particularly lively debate in your morning meeting and by the time you return to your cup of joe, it's cooled right down. That's where Ember's smart heated mugs come in, and right now one of its best models is $30 off. The Ember Travel Mug 2 - this one is the 12-ounce variant - usually costs $130, but right now can be snagged for $100 when purchased online from Walmart. It can keep your beverage of choice at your preferred temperature between 120-145 degrees Fahrenheit for up to three hours on a full charge, thanks to the extended battery life. If that isn't long enough, the included charging coaster can maintain optimum heat all day. You can pair your mug with the Ember app to tweak the temperature (there's also a touch display on the cup itself if you don't want to open your phone), and this model also supports Apple's Find My service, so you can locate it on your Apple device using the Find My app's map if you misplace it. The Ember Travel Mug 2+ is IP67-rated but bear in mind that it's washable by hand only. This model is available in black. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/embers-travel-mug-2-with-find-my-is-30-off-right-now-135059507.html?src=rss
CRISPR gene-editing therapy has shown great potential to treat and even cure diseases, but scientists are now discovering how it can be used to prevent them as well. A team of researchers found a way to edit a single gene in a mosquito that prevented it from transmitting malaria, according to a paper published in Nature. These genetically modified mosquitos could eventually be released into the wild, helping prevent some of the 600,000 malaria deaths that occur each year.Mosquitos infect up to 263 million people yearly with malaria and efforts to reduce their populations have stalled as late. That's because both the mosquitos and their parasites that spread malaria have developed resistance to insecticides and other drugs.Now, biologists from UC San Diego, Johns Hopkins and UC Berkeley universities have figured out a way to stop malarial transmission by changing a single amino acid in mosquitos. The altered mosquitos can still bite people with malaria and pick up parasites from their blood, but those can no longer be spread to others.The system uses CRISPR-Cas9 "scissors" to cut out an unwanted amino acid (allele) that transmits malaria and replace it with a benign version. The undesirable allele, called L224, helps parasites swim to a mosquito's salivary glands where they can then infect a person. The new amino acid, Q224, blocks two separate parasites from making it to the salivary glands, preventing infection in people or animals."With a single, precise tweak, we've turned [a mosquito gene component] into a powerful shield that blocks multiple malaria parasite species and likely across diverse mosquito species and populations, paving the way for adaptable, real-world strategies to control this disease," said researcher George Dimopoulos from Johns Hopkins University.Unlike previous methods of malarial control, changing that key gene doesn't affect the health or reproduction capabilities of mosquitos. That allowed the researchers to create a technique for mosquito offspring to inherit the Q224 allele and spread it through their populations to stop malarial parasite transmission in its tracks. "We've harnessed nature's own genetic tools to turn mosquitoes into allies against malaria," Dimopoulos said.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/crispr-can-stop-malaria-spread-by-editing-a-single-gene-in-mosquitos-133010031.html?src=rss
The third Samsung Galaxy Unpacked of 2025 fell right after the July 4 holiday in the US and smack in the middle of Amazon's Prime Day week. With all that was going on, you might have missed not only the new around the hardware launch, but also the opportunity to consider buying them.
After several generations of iterative updates, it feels like Samsung tossed the Galaxy Z Fold 7 into a Hyperbolic Time Chamber to create a stunning device that's leaner, stronger and more powerful than before. The best part though is the phone looks and functions just like a regular handset now that there's less bulk to lug around. But at a moment's notice, it can go Super Saiyan by opening up to reveal an even larger 8-inch display to become a true multimedia raidboss. Unfortunately, it's still extremely expensive at $2,000. Though if you can handle the price, in a lot of ways, Samsung has finally achieved foldable phone nirvana with the Galaxy Z Fold 7. (Ed. note on July 25 at 9:00AM ET: The Galaxy Z Fold 7 has been available to pre-order since Unpacked on July 9, and has now gone on sale. Since our review was published, additional reports on the Fold 7's durability has come out, including how its display has been rated to withstand 500,000 folds - twice the number of its predecessor.) Design: Chef's kiss When Samsung debuted its updated super sleek design language on the Galaxy S25 Edge, it felt like a novel way to reimagine the S25+ as a more engaging device. But when the company gave the same treatment to the Z Fold 7, that engineering became something truly transformative. Compared to its predecessor, Samsung's big foldable for 2025 is 10 percent lighter at just 215 grams. The bigger drop comes in thickness with Galaxy Z Fold 7 measuring a whopping 26 percent thinner (just 8.9mm when folded). This represents the biggest generation-over-generation decrease for the entire Z Fold line, which is kind of shocking considering it's happening seven years in. The result is a foldable that is basically the same size and weight as the Galaxy S25 Ultra (it's actually a little narrower), which is no mean feat for a class of gadgets that has been plagued by extra heft since they first came out. What might be just as impressive is that Samsung hasn't really cut corners to deliver the Z Fold 7's streamlined dimensions. You still get an IP48 rating for dust and water resistance (which can handle submersions of up to 5 feet for 30 minutes) along with Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 in front and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 in back. Samsung also completely re-engineered its Armor FlexHinge, which glides open and closed like a dream. Samsung even says that Z Fold 7's ultra-thin glass is 50 percent thicker than before while also sporting a new titanium lattice that adds additional support and durability to the phone's flexible display. Inside, Samsung has switched away from the under-display sensor used on previous models in favor of a more traditional hole-punch camera. This is a bit of a shame as it adds a small blemish to that otherwise gorgeous screen. However, with the panel now measuring 8 inches across (up from 7.6 on the Z Fold 6), there's more of it to enjoy even after you account for the small cutout. Plus, the move to a higher-res 10-megapixel sensor for this camera results in significantly better image quality than any of Samsung's under-display modules. Sam Rutherford for Engadget The one small design quirk is that sometimes the phone doesn't unfold all the way, often stopping just short at 179 degrees - much like the original Pixel Fold. That said, you can always make it go fully flat with a bit of extra pressure, though most of the time I don't even bother because this is the kind of thing that you don't really notice unless you're specifically looking for it. Displays: Now even bigger, both inside and out As for brightness and image quality, Samsung's panels are still unmatched. In addition to a larger main display, the Z Fold 7's exterior Cover Screen is slightly bigger at 6.5 inches. More importantly, it's noticeably wider too while sporting even thinner bezels, which makes the whole phone feel more usable. The feeling of holding a skinny baton I got on previous models is completely gone. Both screens also support a 120Hz refresh rate and can hit a peak brightness of 2,600 nits. And when compared to rivals like the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, the Fold 7's displays just pop a touch more thanks to slightly richer colors and saturation. Sam Rutherford for Engadget After introducing S Pen integration on the Z Fold 3, Samsung has removed stylus support for this model - a big downgrade that may anger longtime Z Fold fans. The company claims it made this decision after seeing "very low" S Pen usage on previous generations, which frankly isn't all that surprising. But, as one of the highlight features that separated Samsung's big foldables from practically all of its rivals, it's still sad to see it go. Performance and software: The fastest big foldable phone The Galaxy Z Fold 7 unquestionably packs top-tier performance. It's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip along with 12GB or 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. Everything feels fast and snappy while OneUI 8 and Android 16 bring app optimizations that help make the most of the phone's big display. Sam Rutherford for Engadget The biggest eye-opener for me was when I compared how long it took the Z Fold 7 to launch my current favorite mobile game, Sword of Convallaria, against the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Even with the increased performance of Google's recent Tensor chips, Samsung's foldable loaded the game in 13 seconds compared to 18 seconds for the Pixel. That might not sound like a ton, but it's around 25 percent faster and when it's something you do multiple times a day, shaving off even a few seconds adds up fast.. Cameras: A major resolution bump While the Z Fold 7's ultrawide and 3x telephoto cameras are largely unchanged, the phone features a big photo upgrade thanks to a new 200MP sensor for its main camera. This is essentially the same component Samsung used in the S25 Ultra and S25 Edge, and it delivers a much-needed bump in image quality. Sam Rutherford for Engadget In bright light, the Z Fold 7 easily keeps pace with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. In certain situations like when snapping pics of food, some may prefer its shots thanks to Samsung's warmer color profile. The phone still tends to oversharpen things, but colors are vibrant. For those who want to maximize resolution, you can select the phone's full 200MP mode (images are captured at 12MP by default). At night, the Fold 7's shots remained surprisingly sharp. I still prefer the Pixel 9 Pro Fold due to its more accurate white balance and often sharper focus, though Samsung's phone isn't far behind. Potentially the biggest shortcoming on the Fold 7 is that its 3x optical zoom can't quite match the 5x telephoto cam on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. But for fans of group shots, Samsung added a new selfie camera with a wider 100-degree field of view. Battery life and charging: Solid longevity, but still only Qi 2 ready While the Z Fold 7's 4,400mAh battery is the same size as its predecessor, you will get slightly increased longevity due to improved power efficiency from its processor. In our local video rundown test, the Z Fold 7 lasted 20 hours and 50 minutes when using its main 8-inch display and 26 hours and 22 minutes with its exterior screen. Depending on which display you use, that's between 45 minutes and an hour longer than what we got from the previous model, which is nice to see considering battery life was already pretty solid. Sam Rutherford for Engadget Sadly, Samsung hasn't changed much when it comes to recharging. The Z Fold 7 supports wired charging at up to 25 watts - which is rather average for a modern flagship - alongside 15 watt wireless charging. And like the rest of the 2025 premium Galaxy line, this phone is merely Qi 2 ready, which means there's no built-in attachment system for magnetic accessories like charging pucks, card holders and battery packs. So if you want to use peripherals like those, you'll need to get a case with full support for Qi 2. Wrap-up I've always said that Samsung is at its best when it focuses on hardware design, and the Galaxy Z Fold 7 may be one of the best examples of that. With its latest flagship foldable, Samsung has removed one of the remaining barriers preventing people from trying out the new breed of phones: excessive size and weight. By widening its cover display, the Z Fold 7 looks and acts just like a regular smartphone, which is great for checking messages, looking up directions or snapping a photo. When you want to get really immersed in a show, movie or game, you can open up that beautiful flexible display, which is now even larger for your viewing pleasure. The phone's higher-res main camera also brings upgraded image quality while its Snapdragon 8 Elite chip gives it a performance edge over rivals like the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Sam Rutherford for Engadget I don't love how Samsung is backtracking on features by removing S Pen support and reverting to an old-school camera cutout instead of an under-display sensor for its main display. But at least in the case of the latter, that change comes with much improved image quality, which is a big upgrade for video calls. With the Galaxy Z Fold 7, you really do get the best of both worlds. Its new design is just as sleek as comparable traditional flagships while hiding a larger display that makes the need for small tablets obsolete. Unfortunately, with a starting price of $2,000, Samsung hasn't addressed the last roadblock stopping people from trying out a device that might completely change the way they use their phone.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-7-review-foldable-phone-nirvana-for-a-price-123004636.html?src=rss
I'm too tired to write this review. Last week, I penned a work-in-progress version because I hadn't yet spent enough time to fully explore the new features Samsung packed into the Galaxy Watch 8. One of those features is the new AI-powered running guidance, which I followed. I have run more in the past week than I ever have before. In my life. Ever. But I'm pretty sure my editors would still appreciate the full assessment I've proposed, so I've plied myself with caffeine and will do my best here. Luckily, most of what I experienced in my first few days with the watch still stands: I was impressed then and remain so now. Not only are there a few valuable health and fitness additions, but the redesigned hardware looks great as well. Plus, the on-watch integration with Google's Gemini has proven surprisingly seamless. (When AI interactions actually yield positive results, I'm always taken aback.) Samsung also fixed not one but two of the complaints I had with the Galaxy Watch 7. Since the company probably didn't base its updates on my personal opinions, I imagine others had concerns over the comfort of the Watch 7 - and I know from other reviews that many people were disappointed in its battery life. Before I get to Gemini, the redesign and exactly how my watch exhausted me, I want to discuss antioxidants. It's a compelling new health metric the Galaxy Watch can now measure - and despite my hard work, I scored miserably. Antioxidant tests and my persimmon intake The Galaxy Watch 8 has the same processor and sensors as the previous generation, but it's using those to detect a new metric: antioxidant levels. You have to take the watch off and hold your thumb on the sensor node for five seconds to get a reading and you'll need to refer to the Health app in your phone for detailed results. The first time I tested, I got a score of 60, which falls right in the middle of the low" segment of the scale. The only other results are very low" and adequate," which will surely be a disappointment to the over-achievers out there. The Health app suggested I try eating one (100g) persimmon today." When my grandmother was alive, she made persimmon cookies every Christmas and the last time she did so was also the last time I thought about that fruit. Considering South Korea is one of the world's largest persimmon producers, it might make sense that a Samsung device suggested them. The produce guy at my local grocery store said they only carry them around the holidays (no doubt because grandmas insist, plus that's when they're in season). Turns out persimmons are high in antioxidants such as Vitamin C and beta-carotene (Vitamin A). Cantaloupe also has those nutrients - plus it's orange like persimmons - so I bought one. In fact, I went hard on the antioxidants and did everything I could to see if I could get a better score. I ate a bunch of cherries and a little dark chocolate. For breakfast, I had half a cantaloupe instead of the very tasty-smelling breakfast hash my husband made, and I drank plain green tea instead of my usual oat matcha latte. I did yoga and went to my monthly medical massage appointment (stress is said to increase oxidant levels). I got eight hours of sleep and drank my weight in water. I felt ready. So I took the test again and my antioxidant levels were... two points lower. Sigh. I wasn't expecting overnight transformation, but I'd hoped for a little improvement. Next time, I'm eating the hash. Taking the test on subsequent days - days that I did nothing special to improve my score - I never scored higher than 60 and dropped as low as 56. So it seems this is a metric that may take some time and effort to budge. Finally, a new design! Since its fourth generation, the Galaxy Watch has looked pretty much the same: a round glass screen set in a round metal case with large prongs popping out of the top and bottom to hold the band. While there was nothing wrong with sticking with a good design, giving a device a refreshed look lends the yearly update cycle some meaning - instead of feeling like an obligatory move to appease stockholders. With 3,000 nits of peak brightness, the watch is easy to read even in the bright Albuquerque sun. Amy Skorheim for Engadget This time around, the Galaxy Watch 8 looks markedly different thanks to a shape borrowed from last year's Ultra model (and some high-end timepiece profiles). Samsung calls it a cushion design" - a circular glass display set atop an aluminum case that looks like a roundish square (or squircle as our own Cherlynn Low calls it). The Sport band on my review model curves to meet the width of the case, creating a smooth arch that I think is more refined than the clunkier pronged configuration. In fact, the entire look is classy - much more so than the Apple Watch, which looks like a miniaturized iPhone 11 glued to a silicone strap. The cushion design is great in one way, but also worrisome. Because the glass display stands proud of the case by at least two millimeters, my first thought was: I'm going to trash this screen." Immediately after taking the watch out of the box, I ordered screen shields and, during the course of this review, managed to crack one. That's possibly because I was cheap and ordered off-brand screen protectors, or perhaps the protruding glass cushion is simply begging for misfortune. However, the raised glass solves one issue with the Galaxy Watch 7. One way to scroll is by running your finger along the outer edge of the screen. In fact, on-screen cues suggest that gesture when there's more content to view. On the Watch 7, my finger was always getting in the way of the text I wanted to read. Now that the display is elevated, there's room for my finger to travel further out along the outer edge and stay out of the way. Appearance aside, my favorite hardware update is the much more comfortable design. The Watch 7's underside had a sizable sensor node, and it took me a week to get used to the feel - I wrenched it off the first night I tried to wear it to sleep. The Watch 8, however, felt good the first time I put it on. And now that I've spent more time with it, I can say it's the most comfortable watch I've tested. I often forget I have it on and don't mind wearing it to bed, which is saying a lot. In fact, when I slept with it on one wrist and an Apple Watch Series 9 on the other to compare sleep data, I woke up in the middle of the night and took off the Apple Watch, but felt no compulsion to do the same with Samsung's model. Gemini on your wrist and Wear OS 6 The Galaxy Watch 8 is the first smartwatch to ship with Google's Wear OS 6, though Samsung overlays it with its own One UI interface. The first time we'll get a look at the unfiltered wearable software will be on Google's upcoming Pixel Watch 4. The headline feature is Gemini integration. Now, most things you can do with the Gemini app on your phone can be done through your watch. Just note that you'll need to have your Gemini-compatible phone nearby to use it. Amy Skorheim for Engadget Google's AI was pretty snappy at basic tasks like setting reminders and timers. Requests that required more thought" took only marginally longer (and completed more quickly when I was using my home Wi-Fi versus relying on cell signals out in the world). I asked for the best record stores in my city and a good place to eat lunch. I was pleasantly surprised to hear of a new-to-me answer for each category. The record store turned out to be two bins of LPs inside a book shop, but still, I hadn't heard of it before. I asked why my eight-year-old talked about lava chicken all the time and was correctly informed about Jack Black and A Minecraft Movie. The assistant displays answers in text form on the watch screen and also reads out every word. That can turn into a lot of talking, but tapping the screen stops the chatter if you prefer to read. Gemini can handle follow-up questions and tasks, but since it doesn't usually keep listening after it speaks, you have to tap the mic icon to make your next request. I reached out to Samsung to ask if I could change a setting to make Gemini keep listening, but there isn't one at this time. For now, you'll need to tap or say "OK Google" again for followups like, Add that to my Google Keep" or Remind me about that." If Gemini asks you a question, however, such as verifying a text it's about to send, it does keep listening for the answer. You can also combine commands at the outset, such as asking to look up an address and text it to someone. I requested some fairly specific tasks and didn't hit any snags. I asked it to text the address of a local restaurant to my husband and it verified which location I wanted then sent the message. I asked when the Albuquerque Isotopes were playing the Sacramento River Cats and it gave me the upcoming dates. I tapped the mic and said, Add that to my calendar," which it did. It only let me down twice. When I asked whether it was going to rain, it just read me the general weather forecast instead of answering the question. All the other assistants in my life (Alexa and Siri) can answer those questions - though technically that's a Gemini problem, not the watch's fault. The other disappointment is a matter of integration. I was out on a walk and I asked for directions to a nearby grocery store. Gemini gave me the address and the distance, but told me to look at my phone for the actual directions. When I asked Siri the same thing on the same walk, directions simply showed up on my Apple Watch. (Yes, I've been wearing two watches and carrying around two activated phones like a double agent, just much less cool.) Tiles on the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic Amy Skorheim for Engadget In addition to Gemini, Wear OS 6 introduces updated and larger tiles which organize and display information on your watch. By default, the tiles are separated into categories: Health, Fitness and Basic (weather, media playback, calendar) with each box displaying a bit of pertinent info - activity metrics, current temp, your next event and so on. If the limited info isn't enough, tapping a tile opens the respective app. You can categorize, rearrange, swap out and add as many pages of these cards as you want in the Wear app on your phone. I spent some time tweaking the layout to my liking, but really didn't alter the defaults too much. Already this feels like a much smarter way of interacting with a watch. Now you can glean key information from the apps that are important to you just by browsing your tiles. The running coach made me mad, but it earned my respect The Galaxy Watch 8's built-in, AI-fueled running guidance sounds a bit like the upcoming Workout Buddy that Apple announced for watchOS 26. I plan to test that out next and it will be interesting to compare the two. Google Pixel watches and Fitbits currently have the option of an AI-powered running coach, but it's limited to Premium subscribers. Garmin offers an adaptive training program called Run Coach as well, so this isn't an entirely novel idea. Samsung's running coach begins with an assessment: Run as fast as you can maintain for twelve minutes. You'll then be awarded a performance level ranging from one to ten. Each level comes with a tailored, four-week plan with four workouts per week intended to get you ready to complete a 5K, 10K, half or full marathon. My 12-minute, 22-second per-mile pace put me at a level three. My plan was geared towards getting me to run a sub-35-minute 5K at the end of four weeks. Samsung/Engadget The first workout was low-intensity interval running with four segments of running hard, interspersed with cool-down walks - which felt easy and attainable. Two days later I did the second routine, which had me run for thirty minutes at my assessment pace (which it referred to as a slow jog"). For the next session, I was told to run for 30 minutes on a hilly course. There was some walking on the inclines, but I completed it. After that, I was startled to see it wanted me to run for 3.1 miles with a target pace below 12 minutes. Yes, on workout four (of 15 total), I was supposed to run a 5K faster than my assessment pace. This felt unfair. Unhinged. Not nice. But in the name of proper gadget testing, I tried. During every run, the AI coach chimes in each minute with a pace update, letting you know whether you're going slower, faster or right around your target. You also get updates on your completion level, with a shout out at 30 percent, half way and 80 percent. Three or four times per session, the coach gives you some canned advice like telling you to focus on maintaining a consistent pace and not speed, reminding you that runs build cardiovascular health or suggesting that you cool down after a workout to avoid injury. You also get interjections like You're doing great" or You're almost done, finish strong." At first, I hated the constant pace checkins. Once I hit the halfway point of the 5K, I started to lag. My watch told me over and over: You're running slower than your target pace. Try to speed up if you can." I wheezed obscenities in response. But then, when I really just wanted to quit, I started to look forward to the next update, knowing it meant I'd stayed on my feet for one more minute. Ultimately, I ran faster and farther than I would have without a coach. I wouldn't have attempted a 5K, because that's just insane. Of course, I'm a pretty easy win for Samsung's running coach. I'm an optimistic person and I've never been coached before, so anything that says it "believes in me" and pushes me to try something I don't think I can do is pretty likely to get some results. Samsung calls this an AI-powered regimen - and sure, it knew my pace, distance and heart rate and adjusted its encouragement accordingly - but I didn't hear anything uniquely personalized to me and my journey. But I still have three weeks to go. Vascular load and bedtime reminders Two new features require overnight data gathering. Vascular load takes readings while you sleep to evaluate the health of your circulatory system, then tells you when your load is higher or lower than normal and offers recommendations. It requires three nights of data to set a baseline. After that, you'll be able to check whether your load is higher, lower or steady. My range has been lower or steady over the past few days. The internet tells me that a high vascular load can lead to bad things like hypertension and heart attacks. And the Health app offers suggestions to improve your vascular load, too - things like getting better sleep, being active, limiting stress and maintaining a healthy weight. Personally, this isn't an area I'm concerned about, but considering the prevalence of heart disease, it's a good metric to keep an eye on.. Three nights of sleep also triggers the Bedtime Guidance feature, but I didn't see any notifications. I asked Samsung why, and was told to turn it on in the Health app (Health > Sleep > tap three dots icon > Bedtime guidance). I still didn't get any guidance, which I realized was due to the fact that I have my bedtime set for 10PM, but I turn on the watch's sleep mode by 9PM most nights. What can I say, I like sleeping. A bigger battery makes the AOD A-OK One of the prior model's shortcomings was battery life. The always-on display (AOD) tanked the charge, so I kept it off. The Galaxy Watch 8 has a bigger 325mAh battery, compared to the 300mAh one on the Watch 7. Twenty-five milliamp hours isn't a huge jump, but in batteries, bigger is always better. And that's true here. I charged the watch to full at 12:30PM, turned the AOD on and after two auto-detected bike rides, one walk, some Gemini requests, checking notifications and using a few timers, it was still at 75 percent at 8:45PM. I enabled sleep mode shortly after and slept until 6:15AM. Then I did an AI-coached three-mile run and it still had 27 percent at 9AM. At 2:30PM it hit seven percent and I put it on the charger. Samsung promises up to 30 hours of use on a charge with the AOD on. This was slightly less than that, but it was an activity-filled day and I was fine with the lifespan. The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic is super swank The spinning-bezel version of the latest watch is obviously aimed at the luxury watch-hound crowd. The knurled spinning bezel, inset diving bezel replica and the default chronograph watch face gives off serious Rolex Daytona/Omega Speedmaster wannabe vibes. It ships with a stitched leather-look band and the steel case has the heft and stature of an automatic mechanical timepiece. The always-on display and chunky buttons only add to the effect. Amy Skorheim for Engadget For me, the main advantage it has over the standard Galaxy Watch 8 is the protection the spinning bezel offers the raised display. The glass is shielded at the edges and it's even inset slightly, which should ward off scratches. At first I thought it would be too chunky, but it's surprisingly comfortable for its size and I really like how it looks. It's an extremely attractive watch. I mostly tested out the standard version of the Watch 8, because I think most people will opt for that model, but if I got one for myself, I think I'd go with this beaut Pricing and the competition Samsung added $50 to the price tag on the 40mm Galaxy Watch 8, bringing it to $350. The larger 44mm model is now $380 (versus $330 last year) and the Classic variant is $500 for the single 46mm size. For reference, there was no Galaxy Watch 7 Classic and the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic sold for $400 for the 43mm size and $430 for the 47mm. At $350, the base model Galaxy Watch 8 costs the same as Google's Pixel Watch 3 (though the Pixel Watch 4 is almost certainly on the way and could be more expensive.) The Apple Watch Series 10 starts at $399, but it went as low as $279 during Prime Day. And, of course, a new Apple wearable is likely coming this September with a potential price bump as well. So Samsung's Galaxy Watch 8 could end up being the most affordable of the major smartwatch releases once the dust settles from 2025's launches. And if you're a Samsung smartphone user, it's easily your best bet. All the small things The core functions of the Galaxy Watch 8 haven't changed all that much. We went in-depth on the fitness and health features for our review of the Galaxy Watch 6 and covered the notable perks of Samsung's wearable in our Galaxy Watch 7 review and our Galaxy Watch 5 review. So I'll just point out that the workout tracking is still accurate - and it's faster to suss out when I'm on a walk than my Apple Watch. The companion Health app, where you view all the data your watch gathers, is helpful and a delight to use with its common-sense suggestions and friendly animations. And the daily Energy Score is a useful indicator of how I'm doing with my sleep and movement goals. Amy Skorheim for Engadget The Watch 8 is an industrious accessory for a Galaxy phone. My only lingering gripe is that the notifications aren't as intrusive as my distracted brain needs them to be. They're easy for me to miss. The double tap feature is great - a pinch gesture that dismisses or triggers actions without you having to touch the screen. I use it often and the watch almost always registers the motion. The screen has only become more responsive and navigation is plenty zippy. And finally, I love how customizable the watch faces are. Wrap-up: The best smartwatch Samsung has made in years The substantially refreshed look was the first indicator that Samsung was (finally) doing something different with the Galaxy Watch. I was pleasantly surprised by how well and how quickly Gemini was able handle functions on the wearable itself, as well as answer my questions. The tiles make hunting down info on the watch much easier and the new health metrics like antioxidant levels and vascular load could come in handy for many folks. Also the Classic variant this year is a truly stunning timepiece, finally bringing a true grown-up style to smartwatches. The AI running coach got more out of me than I thought possible (and ensured that I will be fast asleep before any Bedtime Guidance suggestions kick in). But the changes that pleased me the most were the improved battery and markedly increased comfort. Those were two factors that prevented the just-good Galaxy Watch 7 from being a great smartwatch. Of course, if you don't have a Samsung phone, there's no point in considering any Galaxy Watch (and if that's you, you probably haven't read this far down anyway). But if you're a Galaxy fan, this watch may very well delight you and help you get the most out of your phone.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/galaxy-watch-8-review-samsungs-best-smartwatch-in-years-155857108.html?src=rss
When Porsche first unveiled the new 911 GTS, it's safe to say that there weren't many people on planet Earth pining for a hybrid 911. The idea of one of the world's most iconic sports cars taking a cue from the humble Toyota Prius is a concept that's a little hard for the average auto enthusiast to get their head around.But they should try, because the technology that Porsche has deployed in the new 911 GTS, Porsche's first hybrid sports car, is properly impressive. This is a hybrid system that exists not to improve fuel consumption, but to genuinely make a sports car better thanks to the injection of a little high voltage and a lot of boost.Tech meets traditionThe 911 has maintained its stubborn rear-engined layout since the beginning. Its motor is slung between and behind the back wheels, not because it's necessarily the best place for handling, but just because that's how it's always been done. That doesn't change with the 911 GTS. What is new, though, is the addition of an electric motor into the mix, augmenting that gasoline engine in the way-back. That new motor sits neatly inside the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, adding 54 horsepower and 29 pound-feet of torque.Those numbers are hardly remarkable, but the real magic is what else the car does with its new high-voltage system. There's actually a second electric motor here, a tiny one capable of surviving ridiculously hot temperatures. That's needed because it lives within the turbocharger.A turbocharger is a simple wheel that is spun by exhaust gas. This in turn spins another wheel that forces air into the engine's intake. It's a simple technology developed well over 100 years ago, but since those early days of forced induction, there's always been an issue when it comes to automotive applications: lag. The reliance of exhaust gases to spin the turbocharger creates an intrinsic delay between the driver requesting acceleration and the car actually delivering it. Internal combustion needs to build pressure to spin the wheel to suck in more air to provide more power.Porsche short-circuited that with this novel electric motor that spins the turbocharger up to 120,000 RPM in less than a second. Lag isn't completely eliminated, but it's so radically reduced that you hardly know it. Pair that with the extra, instant kick of torque provided by the electric motor in the transmission, and you have something magical: a car powered by gasoline that accelerates with all the instant ferocity of an EV.Design sensibilityTim Stevens for EngadgetPorsche calls that whole system, plus the 1.9-kWh battery that powers it, T-Hybrid. The net result in the 2025 911 GTS is 532 hp and 449 lb-ft of torque. That's a substantial, 59-hp boost over the old GTS.Yet the only obvious sign that there's anything different about this car is the subtle T-Hybrid badges mounted down low on the doors. And that's a good thing, because I'm of the opinion that the current-generation 911, internally called the 992.2, is one of the prettiest cars on the road. Even in this decidedly understated Chalk color, it is absolutely striking. The color pairs perfectly with the 20-inch front and 21-inch rear black wheels and other ebony highlights around the car.The interior is similarly minimalist, monotone to an extreme. But there are just enough subtle highlights of materials like carbon fiber and Alcantara to make it feel racy and purposeful, not basic. And, if you like, you can go with many more wild interior combinations. Porsche is happy to let you customize to your heart's content, but beware that it's going to cost you.The car's interface is simpler than 911s of yore, too. Most of the controls have been consumed by the car's petite 10.9-inch touchscreen, serving both wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, while a curved, 12.6-inch virtual gauge cluster lives behind the steering wheel. What physical controls remain are well positioned, delivering strong tactility for your frequent tasks. Perhaps the most important is the drive mode dial that's mounted at the four o'clock position on the steering wheel. It's how you dial up the intensity of the 911 GTS. Or, push the shiny little red button to go fully manic.Tim Stevens for EngadgetDrivingThe GTS isn't Porsche's most powerful 911 of the moment. That honor lies in the 640-horsepower 911 Turbo S. But no other 911 delivers power like this one, offering a taste of the instant shove of the electric Taycan mixed with the internal combustion fury and high-speed acceleration you'd expect from a 911.It is, suffice to say, quite intoxicating. And to get the best taste of it, push that aforementioned crimson button. That gives you 20 seconds of Sport Response mode, with the car's electronic turbocharger assist doing its damndest to maintain maximum power. The exhaust opens fully, the transmission drops a gear or two and suddenly that machine you were idling through traffic absolutely comes alive.Put your foot down in this mode and the 911 GTS surges forward, without a moment's hesitation. You can hear the turbocharger behind your head whistling as it works to build intake pressure, hauling in air from the environment and jamming it right into the combustion chamber for the next squeeze and bang.It's addictive, but if you've become used to the silent surging power of an EV, it's perhaps a bit much. In Sport Mode, the standard sport exhaust on the GTS is loud enough to terrify anyone you go soaring past on a two-lane road.Thankfully, the GTS is easy to silence. One tap of the exhaust button mounted below that touchscreen and the GTS becomes quiet. It's not-quite EV quiet, but very hushed. Despite having electric motors and a battery, this is not a plug-in hybrid. You'll struggle to even get out of your driveway without that engine firing up. But that's okay. Remember: This isn't an efficiency play.In Normal mode, the suspension softens and the ultra-fast transmission transitions into something that smoothly slips from one gear to the next, keeping revs as low as possible to maximize fuel consumption. That nets the 911 GTS a 19 mpg combined rating per the EPA. Despite some bits of driving exuberance, I substantially bettered that, managing 25.1 mpg.Tim Stevens for EngadgetBut even at its most tame, the GTS is not a luxury grand tourer of the likes of an Aston Martin DB12 or Mercedes-AMG GT. At its softest, the suspension is still firm, the road noise from those prodigious tires is grating and even the wind noise at high speed is a bother - so much so that the middling Bose sound system struggles to overcome it.So, despite the GTS moniker, it's more of a sports car than a grand tourer. Instant power is this car's party trick, paired with amazing feel, effortless handling and the kind of prodigious grip that will make your favorite driving roads feel tame.Those are all the more reasons to find your new favorite roads. Despite punishing you on the highway and over broken asphalt, the 911 GTS never feels flustered and always leaves you wanting more. It's a car you won't want to get out of, which perhaps explains why I'm writing this very sentence from the driver's seat.Cost of entryAt over $170,000 to start, or $196,185 as configured, it's not an affordable machine. Were I buying, my GTS would be a little cheaper. I'd stick with the rear-drive GTS model, rather than the all-wheel drive Carrera 4 you see here, simply for the fun-factor. I'd also skip the sunroof, which adds both $2,980 to the bill and weight to a car that already gained over 100 pounds compared to the prior GTS.Those two deletions alone would cut about $10,000 from that still-soaring price. Expensive, yes, but the technology here feels worth it. This is a novel approach to electrification, making a sports car sportier with hardly any compromise. It is a truly desirable machine, the kind of hybrid that Porsche fans may not have known they needed, but one they definitely need to try.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/porsche-911-gts-review-the-first-hybrid-911-is-better-with-a-battery-120038613.html?src=rss
A few months since WWDC 2025, and Apple is shifting its OS update from developers to brave members of the public. Yesterday, the company launched the public beta version of all its operating systems, now all under the umbrella of "26", making my job a little bit easier.I've been testing the iOS 26 beta, which (like the rest) centers on a major design shift to Liquid Glass, with transparent overlapping elements and fluid animations. While it looks different, Apple's focus seems to be familiarity and guiding the user in how to use its hardware, across mobile, PC and the rest.EngadgetIn iOS 26 specifically, key updates include a relocated search bar, improved Visual Intelligence for screenshots and boosted performance across many Apple Intelligence features, like voice note transcription, Genmoji and Image Playground (even if it thinks I'm entirely bald).The Camera app has been redesigned, Apple Music gains AutoMix and Messages offers more engaging options, with custom backgrounds and live translation. However, while the update focuses heavily on design and system consistency, new Siri enhancements aren't here yet.Check out the full previews on the beta builds of iOS 26 here, macOS 26 here and iPadOS here.- Mat SmithGet Engadget's newsletter delivered direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The news you might have missed
Regulators won't stand in the way of Skydance's Paramount acquisition. The Federal Communications Commission has approved the $8 billion purchase of Paramount Global and its subsidiaries, including the parent company of CBS Network. In a statement, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said he welcomes "Skydance's commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network." Skydance, he said, has made written commitments to ensure that its "news and entertainment programming will embody a diversity of viewpoints across the political and ideological spectrum." He also said that Skydance has "committed that it will not establish" DEI programs."Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly. It is time for a change...These commitments, if implemented, would enable CBS to operate in the public interest and focus on fair, unbiased, and fact-based coverage. Doing so would begin the process of earning back Americans' trust. Today's decision also marks another step forward in the FCC's efforts to eliminate invidious forms of DEI discrimination," part of Carr's statement reads.FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez, however, issued a statement saying she cannot support the deal "in light of the payout and other troubling concessions Paramount made to settle a baseless lawsuit." In early July, Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to settle the lawsuit Donald Trump filed over a CBS interview with Kamala Harris during the 2020 presidential campaign. His lawyers accused the network of editing her answers to "confuse, deceive and mislead the public."Legal experts said at the time that Paramount may have settled to ensure that there are no obstacles for the merger's approval. When news about the acquisition first came out, the company said that it plans to rebuild its streaming technology while reducing costs under its new CEO David Ellison. Paramount, after all, invested billions into its streaming service Paramount+, and it had yet to turn a profit. The company said that it was allocating the $16 million to Trump's future presidential library and not paying him "directly or indirectly.""In an unprecedented move, this once-independent FCC used its vast power to pressure Paramount to broker a private legal settlement and further erode press freedom," Gomez said in her statement. "Once again, the agency is undermining legitimate efforts to combat discrimination and expand opportunity by overstepping its authority and intervening in employment matters reserved for other government entities with proper jurisdiction on these issues. Even more alarming, it is now imposing never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions and editorial judgment, in direct violation of the First Amendment and the law."She added: "The Paramount payout and this reckless approval have emboldened those who believe the government can - and should - abuse its power to extract financial and ideological concessions, demand favored treatment, and secure positive media coverage. It is a dark chapter in a long and growing record of abuse that threatens press freedom in this country. But such violations endure only when institutions choose capitulation over courage. It is time for companies, journalists, and citizens alike to stand up and speak out, because unchecked and unquestioned power has no rightful place in America."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/fcc-approves-skydances-8-billion-paramount-acquisition-032028104.html?src=rss
SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service experienced a global outage on Thursday that lasted for over two hours. Reports of connectivity issues started around 3:20PM ET, based on DownDetector. SpaceX didn't acknowledged the outage until 4:05PM ET, via a post on the Starlink X account. Service began to come back for some at around 5:30PM ET, and Michael Nicolls, Starlink's VP of engineering, said the provider had "mostly recovered" at 6:23PM ET.Users across the US, Europe, the UK and Asia reported issues on r/starlink, the service's Reddit page, and SpaceX even acknowledged the outage on Starlink's website. The company hasn't shared the number of people who were actually impacted, but it could be in the millions - as of the last Starlink network update, the service has over six million active customers globally.The initial announcement that SpaceX was working on a fix didn't explain what cause the outage or what was being done to restore service. "Starlink is currently in a network outage and we are actively implementing a solution," the company's X post said. "We appreciate your patience, we'll share an update once this issue is resolved."
Current and former members of the FDA told CNN about issues with the Elsa generative AI tool unveiled by the federal agency last month. Three employees said that in practice, Elsa has hallucinated nonexistent studies or misrepresented real research. "Anything that you don't have time to double-check is unreliable," one source told the publication. "It hallucinates confidently." Which isn't exactly ideal for a tool that's supposed to be speeding up the clinical review process and aiding with making efficient, informed decisions to benefit patients.Leadership at the FDA appeared unfazed by the potential problems posed by Elsa. "I have not heard those specific concerns," FDA Commissioner Marty Makary told CNN. He also emphasized that using Elsa and participating in the training to use it are currently voluntary at the agency.A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services told Engadget that "the information provided by FDA to CNN was mischaracterized and taken out of context." The spokesperson also claimed that CNN led its story with "disgruntled former employees and sources who have never even used the current version of Elsa." The agency claims to have guardrails and guidance for how its employees can use the tool, but its statement doesn't address that Elsa, like any AI platform, can and will deliver incorrect or incomplete information at times. We have not yet received a response to our request for additional details.The CNN investigation highlighting these flaws with the FDA's artificial intelligence arrived on the same day as the White House introduced an "AI Action Plan." The program presented AI development as a technological arms race that the US should win at all costs, and it laid out plans to remove "red tape and onerous regulation" in the sector. It also demanded that AI be free of "ideological bias," or in other words, only following the biases of the current administration by removing mentions of climate change, misinformation, and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Considering each of those three topics has a documented impact on public health, the ability of tools like Elsa to provide genuine benefits to both the FDA and to US patients looks increasingly doubtful.Update, July 24, 2025, 6:35PM ET: Added a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/fda-employees-say-the-agencys-elsa-generative-ai-hallucinates-entire-studies-203547157.html?src=rss
Intel provided more detail about the scope of its planned job cuts and other business changes while sharing its second-quarter earnings results. Reports in April suggested that Intel could eliminate around 20 percent of its staff in a restructuring plan. Today, the chipmaker said it anticipates having a core workforce of 75,000 employees by the end of 2025. It's a dramatic reduction considering that, at the close of the previous fiscal year, the company employed around 108,900 people.These cuts are part of the company's current goal to bring its non-GAAP operating expenses down to $17 billion this year, then to $16 billion at the end of 2026. The effort to rein in spending is also leading Intel to abandon some previously announced expansions. The business will no longer embark on new projects in Germany and Poland, and it said it will consolidate its Costa Rican testing and assembly operations into existing efforts in Vietnam and Malaysia. Finally, it will also "slow the pace" of its stateside growth at a construction site in Ohio."Our operating performance demonstrates the initial progress we are making to improve our execution and drive greater efficiency," said Lip-Bu Tan, who has been forthright about his plans to downsize since assuming the CEO title in March. Tan was brought in to replace Pat Gelsinger in an effort to turn around Intel's business following a long, slow slide into financial trouble.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/intel-confirms-it-will-cut-a-third-of-its-workforce-by-the-end-of-2025-215014365.html?src=rss
The Pixel Watch 4 could use an entirely different charging system when its officially announced in a few weeks, according to leaked renders from Android Headlines. Rather than charging through fiddly pogo pins like past Pixel Watches, the renders suggest Google might finally adopt a simpler form of wireless charging.The renders show the new Pixel Watch charging in a stand on its side, while displaying the current charge, the time and an upcoming alarm, not unlike an Apple Watch. The stand reportedly powers up the smartwatch through conductive metal contacts on the left side, opposite the Pixel Watch 4's crown. The new charging contacts were visible in an earlier leak of the Pixel Watch 4, which also suggested the new smartwatch could be thicker than the Pixel Watch 3.Android HeadlinesAndroid Headlines reports that Google's decision to change how the watch charges could unlock several new benefits. The Pixel Watch 4 will reportedly have a "25 percent faster charging speed," room for new sensors and a design that's easier to repair than past Pixel Watches, thanks to a removable back plate.The new watch is also rumored to feature a brighter display and come in new colors. You can buy the Pixel Watch 3 in Polished Silver, Champagne Gold or Matte Black, in both 41mm and 45mm sizes. The Pixel Watch 4 will reportedly come in black, silver, gold and a blueish-gray "Moonstone."Google is expected to debut the Pixel Watch 4 alongside several new Pixel 10 phones on August 20. You can read Engadget's preview of what Google might announce for an overview of what to expect at the event.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/the-pixel-watch-4-might-charge-via-a-wireless-charging-stand-193621297.html?src=rss
Google's latest AI adventure is a new option for search. Web Guide is a new way that Google will organize search results based on analysis by a dedicated version of its Gemini artificial intelligence tool. The claim in the announcement is that AI can help surface the most relevant content, but it could also be a new way for Google to control what websites get prime billing in results.In the graphic shared alongside the blog post announcing this Search Labs experiment, the company showed clusters of results to the query "how to solo travel in Japan." Web Guide displayed a few hits each under different headers, such as "Comprehensive Guides for Solo Travel in Japan," "Personal Experiences and Tips from Solo Travelers" and "Safety and Destination Recommendations," with an option to reveal more for each grouping. It does seem to provide some AI-generated summaries at the top of each heading, but at least with this example, there are fewer instances of copy/pasting another publication's words wholesale.Web Guide has some similarities to Google's AI Mode, which looped artificial intelligence more tightly into the search experience. The presence of AI Mode for all US users has already prompted outcry from publishers; News/Media Alliance called it "theft." Pew Research Center recently issued a report confirming that the presence of an AI summary at the top of a search led to fewer people clicking through to read published content from a source. The group's survey of 900 adults who shared their browsing history revealed that for users who did not see an AI summary, 15 percent of them clicked on a link from search results and 16 percent ended their browsing session. In contract, only 8 percent of users who saw an AI summary clicked a link in the search results, and 26 percent ended their browsing session. And while Google has been working to improve their accuracy, let us never forget that those AI-penned summaries once gave us glue pizza.It's too early to know if Web Guide will encourage more people to actually visit and support sites other than Google. For now, it's only available for opted-in users in the Web tab for search, but it will appear elsewhere down the line. Given that Google is already in the legal dog house for anticompetitive behavior with its search business, it should be interesting to see how this latest AI rollout goes.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-will-use-ai-to-organize-search-results-with-web-guide-191135024.html?src=rss
I'm not going to beat around the bush: iPadOS 26 and its new multitasking features are a game-changer for Apple's tablets. Pretty much ever since Steve Jobs introduced the iPad 15 years ago (!), Apple has tried to straddle two worlds. In one, the iPad is a super-simple, easy-to-use tablet with a gorgeous display and tons of good apps from the App Store for gaming, entertainment and light work. The other world is one where the iPad replaces your traditional computer, letting people do the serious work that's been typically reserved for a Mac or Windows PC. iPadOS has too often served as a hindrance to the latter goal over the years, particularly as the iPad Pro has gotten more powerful.The Stage Manager multitasking experience Apple introduced with iPadOS 16 in 2022 was a major step towards making the iPad's software suitable for power users - but it was rather buggy at launch and not as flexible as iPad power users were hoping for. The calls to just put macOS on the iPad grew louder. But this year, Apple took a different approach: it brought crucial macOS features like the familiar stoplight" window controls, the menu bar at the top of the screen and vastly improved window management tools to iPadOS 26. The result is an iPad experience where you can easily jump between multiple windowed apps set up just how you like and one where you go full screen to focus on your content. It's a massive refinement over the old Stage Manager experience and one that I think will finally satisfy iPad die-hards who want to push their tablets to the limit.Before diving into the details, a quick word on betas and stability. As usual, Apple's public betas feel pretty stable and capable, but that doesn't mean you won't run into weirdness here and there. App crashes, particularly with third-party apps, happened far more on this beta than with iPadOS 18. I'm confident those things will be ironed out as more developers update their apps for the new OS, but you'll also run into things like UI inconsistencies and occasional stutters and jerkiness when jumping between apps. As we always say, think hard about what you're willing to put up with to try a beta, even the relatively stable public beta. After all, the final version of iPadOS 26 will be out in just a few months.(Ed. note: Apple just released the public betas for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26 and watchOS 26. This means, as Nate stated above, you can run the preview for yourself, if you are willing to risk potentially buggy software. As usual, we highly recommend backing up all your date before running any beta, and you can follow our guide on how to install Apple's public betas to do so.)MultitaskingTime for the nitty-gritty. When you update to iPadOS 26, you'll be asked if you want to enable multitasking or have apps run in full screen mode only. When Apple says full screen only, they mean it. Past versions of iPadOS offered either Stage Manager or a basic, two-app split screen view with a third app available in a Slide Over window. The latter option is gone now, though you can still easily set up two or three apps side by side with iPadOS 26's window tiling features. You can use multitasking mode or full screen only, with no in between. I think that's a smart move, as plenty of people who use an iPad probably never use these multi-app features, and having a multitasking on or off" toggle keeps things simple.When you turn on multitasking mode, apps still open in full screen first - but you can grab any corner of the window to resize it or touch the top of the app and drag it around the screen. You could already do this with Stage Manager, so what really sets this new mode apart is how it interacts with other windows. Swiping up from the bottom of the display reveals the usual Home Screen view, but with your apps tucked to the side as a visual cue that you can add another app to that group. And, as before, you can move, resize and stack that app window wherever you want.As I'm writing this, I have nine separate app windows open on my iPad, and getting around them feels more Mac-like than ever before. I can swipe up and hold from the bottom of the Home Screen and see every open app in a smaller window, which makes finding the specific thing I want a lot easier; I can also just command-tab through them. Apps can be minimized down to the dock and when I want the app back, it'll pop open in the same size window and same placement as before. Swiping up from the bottom of the screen twice minimizes everything I have open to start fresh - but again, if I reopen those apps, they'll go back to exactly where I had them set up before.I realize it sounds kind of silly to make a big deal of this, but it's hard to overstate how much this improves the iPad multitasking experience. With Stage Manager, I was never quite sure where an app would open or if it would be full screen or windowed. It can be useful for setting up multiple groups of apps, but adding and removing apps from that view was not terribly intuitive. Just opening everything in one space is a lot more intuitive. And if you want to have various different spaces with specific apps, you can still turn on Stage Manager. It's a lot easier to add and remove apps from various different groups than it used to be; minimizing a window puts it into its own space that you can add more apps to (or just use it on its own).There are a few other new components that make multitasking work as well as it does. These should be quite familiar to Mac users: The three-button stoplight" controls and the menu bar. The stoplight buttons replace a similar three-dot window management system from older versions of iPadOS but are far more intuitive. The red one closes an app window entirely, the green one makes a window full screen and then yellow one minimizes it to the dock. These controls are crucial to making iPadOS 26 feel more flexible and fluid than ever before, particularly if you want to have more than one window of a single app open. I've also found them to be crucial when working with multiple apps on a smaller display, like on the 11-inch iPad Pro. Stage Manager usually felt like more trouble than it was worth on anything but a 13-inch iPad, but these new multitasking features make it easy to flip through a bunch of apps and pop into full screen if I need more space.The expanded window tiling controls here also make that easier. If you press and hold the stoplight buttons, you'll get more options to resize apps to take up a quarter, third or half the screen; you can also grab drag bars to further adjust how much space each app takes up. I really liked a mode where three iPhone-sized apps fill the screen, and when there was something I wanted to devote more focus to, I just hit its green button and went full screen.The menu bar, meanwhile, is pretty easy to explain. If you swipe down from the top of the screen (or move your trackpad cursor up to the top) you'll see familiar menus like File, Edit, Window and so on. It's a handy way to find more advanced controls for an app, and it also keeps the various toolbars in apps from getting too overloaded with options.Long story short, this all adds up to a wildly improved iPad experience. It doesn't compromise the single-screen, focused mode that the iPad has always been known for, and it greatly improves working across multiple windows and apps. And unlike Stage Manager, which was limited to M-series iPads, these new multitasking features will work on any iPad that can run iPadOS 26, including the base A16 iPad and the iPad mini.Everything elseIf this was the only change to iPadOS Apple made this year, it would already be a worthwhile upgrade, but there are a bunch of other improvements coming this fall. These include an improved Files app, the Preview app that has long been a core part of macOS, the new Liquid Glass design, some potentially useful Apple Intelligence features, a nice set of updates to the Messaging app and a new Phone app.Much has been said about Liquid Glass, with tons of prognostication about how Apple was ruining usability and throwing its UI back to 2006 in a blatant Windows Aero ripoff. As usual, the truth is much more nuanced. No one familiar with Apple's software will be thrown off by this update - everything works as it did before, and while you'll definitely notice some refractive visual elements, it's not the wholesale change that aggrieved social media posters would have you believe. You can make things look very different if you, say, opt for the new clear glass icon look, but you can also leave the standard colorful iOS icons in place.The Music app's Now Playing bar is a perfect place to see iPadOS 26's Liquid Glass transparency in action.Over the course of the developer betas Apple has released since WWDC, the company has responded to feedback and reduced some of the transparency effects that were present in the first version of Liquid Glass - as it turns out, submitting feedback during a beta works! (Interestingly, they bumped some of the transparency back up in the fourth developer beta, right after turning it down in beta 3. This is still a work in progress.) Probably the biggest functional change is that app controls, toolbars and sidebars float over apps in a new, distinct layer rather than being wholly separate from an app's content - but again, it's not the kind of thing that'll faze anyone who has been using an iPad or any other Apple device.Preview isn't exactly a thriller, but it's a much better way to work with PDFs and images than the old interface that launched them in a separate Files window. You can still find PDFs in Files easily enough, but actually dealing with the document in a separate app is better than making Files pull double duty.AppleSpeaking of Files, it has even more in common with the Mac Finder than before. You can now put specific folders in the dock for faster access to whatever you're working on, and the app list view has resizable columns and collapsible folders, just like on the Mac. You can also add emoji and colors to folders for more visual differentiation (and, let's be honest, a little more fun). And for the first time, you can pick specific apps to open different file types by default - so if you'd rather have PNG images open in Photomator than Preview, go nuts.There are also major updates to the communication experience across the board in iPadOS 26. The FaceTime app got a nice redesign with large contact posters of your recent calls. But what's most handy here is that the FaceTime app no longer tries to do double-duty with voice calls. A dedicated Phone app handles that now. Assuming you also have an iPhone, you'll see all your recent voice calls and voicemails here and you can quickly place a new call through your contact list or using a traditional dialer. I've always liked the idea of being able to place calls on devices I'm using during the work day like my Mac or iPad, and this makes it far easier.AppleMessages is getting some fun visual enhancements like backgrounds for your conversations, but the thing I'm most interested in is message filtering. The app now identifies unknown senders and puts those messages in a separate folder, and there's also a new spam folder where it drops messages that Apple strongly believes are spam.If a message gets filtered into unknown senders or spam, you can mark it as known even if the contact isn't in your address book and those messages will end up in your main view by default. The system also attempts to recognize when a message from an unknown sender is timely and needs to be delivered to your main inbox - something like a delivery person saying they're nearby or other urgent content like a two-factor authentication code. This feels primarily like a phone-first feature; I get messages on my iPad, but haven't seen much get filtered directly to spam or unknown callers yet. Once all my devices are running Apple's latest software, we'll see how that goes, but I'm still very excited about any feature that'll help combat the deluge of spam messages that plague my inbox.For more details on the updated communications experience and other new features like the Apple Intelligence-powered Live Translation, I'll point you to my colleague Mat Smith's iOS 26 overview. As is usually the case, nearly every feature coming to the iPhone this year is also coming to the iPad, meaning Live Translation will arrive on the tablet too.There's a lot more here that I haven't been able to get to, like improved background tasks that let you export a video without keeping the app in focus, updates to Genmoji and Image Playground, the Journal app finally coming to iPad, Apple Intelligence-powered Shortcuts updates and much more. I'll be continuing to check out how things change between now and the final release this fall, but even based on my experience with the recent beta, I'm quite pleased with where iPadOS 26 is at. The updates to multitasking are so significant that I can't imagine going back to an iPad without them.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/ipados-26-preview-a-long-awaited-multi-tasking-update-pays-off-so-far-172522054.html?src=rss
I've learned not to expect much from macOS updates - not through sheer cynicism, but from the obvious reality that Apple pays far more attention to iOS and iPadOS than its desktop platform. I get it. macOS is a thing of the past, while smartphones and tablets are Apple's profitable present and future. But still, I think Mac users deserve more than just widgets, or the ability to merely mirror their iPhones (a feature that's not only genuinely useful, but also cements how crucial iPhones are to Apple and its users today). Now with macOS 26, Apple is finally showing a bit more love to its laptops and desktops.After testing the macOS Tahoe 26 developer beta for a few weeks, it definitely feels like a more substantial update than the last few versions. The revamped Spotlight alone will likely delight Mac diehards, since it makes it easier to find apps and perform all manner of tasks without requiring your fingers leave the keyboard. Add in a lovely visual refresh thanks to Apple's Liquid Glass design, as well as enhanced iPhone continuity features, and you have an operating system that feels like a genuine step forward for the Mac faithful.(Ed. note: Apple just released the public betas for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26 and watchOS 26. This means you can run the preview for yourself, if you are willing to risk potentially buggy or unstable software that could cause some of your apps to not work. As usual, we highly recommend backing up all your date before running any beta, and you can follow our guide on how to install Apple's public betas to do so.)Spotlight becomes more than a search engineI've never been a heavy Spotlight user, aside from the few times I've needed to quickly look for an app or file. But in macOS Tahoe 26, it's suddenly a lot more useful. Now Spotlight can also help you find specific files; search cloud file services and websites; run Apple shortcuts and automations; and even run basic commands, like looking up your recent screenshots when you type "/screenshot." Spotlight has become more than just a search engine for your Mac, it's practically a super-powered command line. (And notably, it has no real equivalent on Windows. So once again, Mac power users will be able to gloat about the supremacy of macOS.)AppleOver the course of my testing, tapping the command key and space bar to trigger Spotlight practically became second nature. I'd bring it up to find files, as usual, but I noticed that it was better at unearthing what I was looking for than before. Spotlight also replaced my usual practice of typing in search strings in Safari or Chrome's address bar. It takes just a few seconds to bring up Spotlight, type "YouTube," hit tab to trigger the search box and type in the video I'm looking for. This intelligent site searching also works for Amazon and IMDB - hopefully, Apple will add more commonly used sites over time (or perhaps just the ability to map a site's internal search engine to Spotlight).If you're often buried by tons of tabs in your web browser, Spotlight can also quickly search through them. That helped me avoid getting distracted by social media and Slack conversations. I could just stay in my productivity flow, since I didn't have to sift through multiple app windows and tabs. The ability to trigger actions from Spotlight was similarly useful - it's a cinch to pop it up, start typing "Send Message" and jot out a quick text to my wife. Spotlight also learns your most common commands over time, so now I just have to type "se" for the Send Message action to pop up.I'm sure for a certain type of Mac power user, Spotlight will give them far fewer reasons to ever touch their mouse or trackpad.AppleA more refined user interface with Liquid GlassWhile Spotlight is the most powerful upgrade in macOS Tahoe 26, you'll notice the spiffier Liquid Glass interface first. As with iOS 26, it basically amounts to more transparencies and visual flourishes spread throughout the OS. The menu bar at the top of the screen is now fully transparent, instead of looking foggy like before. It's not much, but it does make your Mac's screen seem a little bigger (or perhaps that may have just been extra noticeable on the cramped 13-inch MacBook Air I've been testing on).Similarly, widgets and the Control Center dropdown have more glass-like visual elements that make them look a bit more modern. There's no real practical advantage, but to paraphrase a classic Marge Simpson quote, I just think it's neat. Apple Silicon-equipped hardware has more than enough graphics power to spare, so these visual upgrades also don't hinder performance at all. I didn't notice any slowdown during my testing, and according to Activity Monitor, there didn't seem to be a big hit to CPU or GPU usage.AppleBetter iPhone integrationEven though you've been able to make phone calls on Macs for a while now through FaceTime, it's taken until macOS Tahoe 26 for Apple to debut a dedicated Phone app. The app itself is nothing special - it gives you a quick glance at your contacts and recent calls, all in a compact Liquid Glass window - but at least it's a more logical place for phone calls.Even better than the standalone app, though, is the addition of iPhone Live Activities appearing in the macOS Tahoe 26 menu bar. That makes it easier to keep track of an inbound Uber or Doordash order, without whipping out your phone. And if you need to tap into a specific activity, macOS will also automatically launch the app from your phone via iPhone mirroring. It's the sort of usability feature you'd expect from Apple, and notably it's also not easily replicable on Windows. (And sure, you can also view it as a way to keep iPhone users from straying to the dark side too.)Other useful upgradesThe more I dug into macOS Tahoe 26, the more intriguing it became. Here are a few other updates worth highlighting:
At WWDC 2025, Apple revealed a major visual shake-up for iOS (not to mention the rest of the company's operating systems). This is the biggest change, aesthetically, since the shift away from the stitching, textures and skeuomorphic design of the iOS 4. It also comes with significantly fewer AI and Siri updates this time around. However, it's the smaller touches that make iOS 26 seem like a notable improvement over its predecessor.I've been running the iOS 26 developer beta for the last two weeks and here's how Apple's new Liquid Glass design - and iOS 26 broadly - stacks up.(Ed. note: Apple just released the public betas for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26 and watchOS 26. This means you can run the preview for yourself, if you are willing to risk potentially buggy or unstable software that could cause some of your apps to not work. As usual, we highly recommend backing up all your date before running any beta, and you can follow our guide on how to install Apple's public betas to do so.)Liquid Glass changes everythingiOS 26 looks new and modern. And for once, how Apple describes it - liquid glass - makes sense: it's a lot of layers of transparent elements overlapping and, in places, the animations are quite... liquidy. Menus and buttons will respond to your touch, with some of them coalescing around your finger and sometimes separating out into new menus.Liquid Glass encompasses the entire design of iOS. The home and lock screens have been redesigned once again, featuring a new skyscraping clock font that stretches out from the background of your photos, with ever-so-slight transparency. There's also a new 3D effect that infuses your photos with a bit of spatial magic, offering a touch of Vision Pro for iPhone users.The experience in the first few builds of the iOS 26 beta was jarring and messy, especially with transparent icons and notifications, due to those overlapping elements making things almost illegible. Updates across subsequent releases have addressed this issue by making floating elements more opaque. There is also a toggle within the Accessibility tab in Settings to reduce transparency further, but I hope Apple offers a slider so that users can choose exactly how liquid" they want their glass" to be. If you own other Apple products, then you'll come to appreciate the design parity across your Mac, iPad and Apple Watch.One noticeable change I'd been waiting for was the iOS search bar's relocation to the bottom of the screen. I first noticed it within Settings, but it reappears in Music, Podcasts, Photos and pretty much everywhere you might need to find specific files or menu items now. If, like me, you're an iPhone Pro or Plus user, you may have struggled to reach those search bars when they were at the top of the screen. It's a welcome improvement.Visual IntelligenceScreenshot (Apple)With iOS 26 on iPhones powerful enough to run Apple Intelligence, the company is bringing Visual Intelligence over to your screenshots. (Previously it was limited to Camera.) Once you've grabbed a shot by pressing the power and volume up buttons, you'll get a preview of your image, surrounded by suggested actions that Apple Intelligence deduced would be relevant based on the contents of your screenshot.Managing Editor Cherlynn Low did a deep dive on what Visual Intelligence is capable of. From a screenshot, you can transfer information to other apps without having to switch or select them manually. This means I can easily screenshot tickets and emails, for example, to add to my calendar. Apple Intelligence can also identify types of plants, food and cars, even. If there are multiple people or objects in your screenshot, you can highlight what you want to focus on by circling it. There aren't many third-party app options at this point, but that's often the case with a beta build. These are features that Android users have had courtesy of Gemini for a year or two, but at least now we get something similar on iPhones.One quick tip: Make sure to tap the markup button (the little pencil tip icon) to see Visual Intelligence in your screenshots. I initially thought my beta build was missing the feature, but it was just hidden behind the markup menu.More broadly, Apple Intelligence continues to work well, but doesn't stand out in any particular way. We're still waiting for Siri to receive its promised upgrades. Still, iOS 26 appears to have improved the performance of many features that use the iPhone's onboard machine learning models. Since the first developer build, voice memos and voice notes are not only much faster, but also more accurate, especially with accents that the system previously struggled with.Apple Intelligence's Writing tools - which I mainly use for summarizing meetings, conference calls and even lengthy PDFs - doesn't choke with more substantial reading. On iOS 18, it would struggle with voice notes longer than 10 minutes, trying to detangle or structure the contents of a meeting. I haven't had that issue with iOS 26 so far.Van life vlogger, bald or running for Congress?Image by Mat Smith for EngadgetGenmoji and Image Playground both offer up different results through the update. Image Playground can now generate pictures using ChatGPT. I'll be honest, I hadn't used the app since I tested it on iOS 18, but the upgrades mean it has more utility when I might want to generate AI artwork, which can occasionally reach photorealistic levels.One useful addition is ChatGPT's any style" option, meaning you can try to specify the style you have in mind, which can skirt a little closer to contentious mimicry - especially if you want, say, a frivolous image of you splashing in a puddle, Studio Ghibli style.Apple also tweaked Genmoji to add deeper customization options, but these AI-generated avatars don't look like me? I liked the original Genmoji that launched last year, which had the almost-nostalgic style of 2010 emoji, but still somehow channeled the auras of me, my friends and family. This new batch are more detailed and elaborate, sure, but they don't look right. Also, they make me look bald. And contrary to my detractors, I am not bald. Yet. This feels like a direct attack, Apple.You might feel differently, however. For example, Cherlynn said that the first version of Genmoji did not resemble her, frequently presenting her as someone with much darker skin or of a different ethnicity, regardless of the source picture she submitted.Still, the ability to change a Genmoji's expression, as well as add and remove glasses and facial hair through the new appearance customization options, is an improvement.A Camera app redesign for everyoneApple has revisited the camera app, returning to basics by stripping away most of the previously offered modes and settings - at least initially - to display only video and photo modes.You can swipe up from the bottom to see additional options, like flash, the timer, exposure, styles and more. You can also tap on the new six-dot icon in the upper right of the interface for the same options, though that requires a bit more of a reach. These behave in line with the new Liquid Glass design and you'll see the Photo pill expand into the settings menu when you press either area. Long-pressing on icons lets you go deeper into shooting modes, adjusting frame rates and even recording resolutions.What I like here is that it benefits casual smartphone photographers while keeping all the settings that more advanced users demand. None of the updates here are earth-shattering, though. I hope Apple takes a good look at what Adobe's Project Indigo camera app is doing - there are a lot of good ideas there.One extra improvement if you use AirPods: Pressing and holding the stem of your AirPod (if it has an H2 chip) can now start video recording.Apple Music tries to DJAlongside the Liquid Glass design touches, the big addition to Apple Music this year is AutoMix. Like a (much) more advanced version of the crossfade feature found on most music streaming apps, in iOS 26, Music tries to mix between tracks, slowing or speeding up tempos, gently fading in drums or bass loops before the next song kicks in. Twenty percent of the time, it doesn't work well - or Apple Music doesn't even try. But the new ability to pin playlists and albums is useful, especially for recommendations from other folks that you never got around to listening to.Messages get a little more funImage by Mat Smith for EngadgetApple is making Messages more fun. One of the ways it's doing so is by enabling custom backgrounds in chats, much like in WhatsApp. I immediately set out to find the most embarrassing photo of my colleague (and frenemy) Cherlynn Low and make it our chat background. I know she's also running iOS 26 in beta, so she will see it. [Ed. note: Way to give me a reason to ignore your messages, Mat!]Apple's Live translation now works across Messages, voice calls and FaceTime. Setting things up can be a little complicated - you'll first need to download various language files to use the feature. There's also some inconsistency in the languages supported across the board. For instance, Mandarin and Japanese are supported in Messages, but not on FaceTime yet. In chats, if your system language is set to English or Spanish, then you'll only be able to translate into English or Spanish. For those polyglots out there, if you want to translate incoming Japanese texts into German, you'll need to set your device's language to German.While I didn't get to flex my Japanese abilities on voice calls and FaceTime, iOS 26 was more than capable of keeping up with some rudimentary German and Spanish. I'm not sure if I'd rely on it for serious business translation or holiday bookings, but I think it could be a very useful tool for basics.There's also the ability to filter spam messages to their own little folder (purgatory). Spam texts remain a nightmare, so I appreciate any potential weapons in the fight. Sadly, it hasn't quite manage to deal with the TikTok marketing agencies and phone network customer services that continue to barrage my Messages. Still, hopefully Apple will continue to improve its detection algorithms.One more tool in the battle against spam: You can mute notifications for Messages from unknown numbers, although time-sensitive alerts from delivery services and rideshare apps will still reach you.New apps are hit-or-missNot everything in the beta lands, however. I've already touched on how Liquid Glass was initially a semi-transparent mess. The Games App, too, seems like an unnecessary addition. Because it's a blend of the Games tab of the App Store and a silo of your preinstalled games, I'm not sure what it's adding. It's not any easier to navigate, nor does it introduce me to games I want to buy.Cherlynn did want to highlight that for a casual gamer like herself, it's intriguing to see if the Games app might start to recommend more mind-numbing puzzles or farming simulations. She was also intrigued by the idea of a more social gaming experience on iOS, issuing challenges to her friends. Still, because the phone she has been testing the beta on doesn't have access to all her contacts or her gaming history, the recommendations and features are fairly limited at the moment.Games is one of two new apps that will automatically join your home screen. (Fortunately, they can be uninstalled). The other is Preview, which should be a familiar addition to any Mac user. It offers an easy way to view sent or downloaded files, like menus, ticket QR codes and more. During the developer beta, the app pulled in a handful of my documents that previously lived in the Files app. Navigation across both those apps is identical, although Preview is limited to files you can actually open, of course.AirPods, upgradedThis is more iPhone-adjacent, but iOS 26 includes several quality-of-life improvements for some of Apple's headphones. First up: notifications when your AirPods are fully charged, finally! The Apple Watch got this kind of notification back in iOS 14, so it's great to see Apple's headphones catch up.Apple is also promising studio-quality sound recording" from the AirPods, augmenting recordings with computational audio improvements. There's a noticable bump in audio quality. It appears that AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 will record files at a sample rate of 48 kHz, which is double the rate used in the past. The sample rate bump happened last year, but it is dependent on what the app you're using. Is it studio quality"? I don't think so, but it's an improvement. While recordings sound slightly better in quiet locations, the bigger change is in loud environments. The algorithm doesn't appear to be degrading audio quality as much while trying to reduce background noise.iOS 26 also adds sleep detection to the buds. If the AirPods detect minimal movement, they'll switch off automatically, which could be helpful for the next time I'm flying long-haul.Wrap-upIn iOS 26, Apple has prioritized design changes and systemwide consistency over AI-centric software and features. While Liquid Glass is a big change to how your iPhone looks, Apple has drawn from user feedback to finesse the design into feeling less jarring and gelling better when the home screen, Control Center and Notification drop-downs overlap with each other.There are numerous quality of life improvements, including Messages and Visual Intelligence, in particular. If anything, the AI elephant in the room is the lack of any substantial updates on Siri. After the company talked up advanced Siri interactions over a year ago, I'm still waiting for its assistant to catch up with the likes of Google.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/ios-26-beta-preview-liquid-glass-is-better-than-you-think-172155402.html?src=rss
You can now take Apple's 2026 software for a spin. The first public betas for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26 and tvOS 26 are now available, and we have directions on updating your devices if you're feeling brave.The two most obvious changes serve to unify Apple's platforms. First, we have Apple's biggest cosmetic overhaul to date. Liquid Glass is the company's name for the shiny, translucent redesign that will be heading to its software this fall. The other significant change is in the numbering. Apple traded its old chronological system for a year-based one. Since 2026 is when the software will spend the bulk of its time in the spotlight, "26" it is.AppleiOS 26 brings new personalized backgrounds and polls to Messages. Live Translation is another new arrival, making it easier to communicate in Messages, FaceTime and Phone. In addition, Visual Intelligence inches forward: It now lets you interact with content on your iPhone's screen. There are also new screening tools to decide whether a conversation is worth your time. The Phone app even includes Hold Assist, which listens to the Muzak so you don't have to. Check out our preview of iOS 26 for more.Arguably, Apple's most significant update this year is iPadOS 26. The new software makes Apple's tablet more of a workhorse. The iPad finally has desktop-like window management and Menu Bar dropdown entries. It even includes the Preview app and Expose, both familiar to Mac users. The update should do a lot to calm the fury over the iPad Pro's wasted productivity potential. We got into the details of the iPadOS 26 public beta and found the new multitasking features to be a big deal.AppleMeanwhile, Apple's Mac software adopts the "26" branding without ditching California landmarks. macOS Tahoe 26 adds the Phone app and Live Activities from the iPhone. The update also introduces a more advanced Spotlight that allows you to take actions directly from the launcher. Here's our first look at macOS Tahoe 26.Finally, watchOS 26 adds Workout Buddy, a virtual fitness coach. The AI-powered feature learns from your fitness history to "identify meaningful insights in real time." A text-to-speech model then communicates those to you verbally. "You're crushing it - closing that move ring for six straight days!"Although the public betas are less risky than installing a developer beta on day one, remember that this is still pre-release software. Only go this route if you're comfortable with the inherent risks, which could include buggy apps and unpredictable battery life. It also can't hurt to make a local backup of your device before taking the plunge.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/apples-ios-26-ipados-26-macos-tahoe-26-and-watchos-26-public-betas-are-ready-to-download-170800133.html?src=rss
The latest version of iOS will arrive officially this fall, but you don't need to wait to start testing the software on your iPhone, thanks to Apple's public beta rollout. Here's everything you need to know about setting up the iOS 26 beta, along with the respective betas for iPadOS 26 and watchOS 26, which Apple also revealed in its WWDC 2025 keynote.Before we get started:, no, you haven't accidentally slept through eight versions of major Apple OS updates. In case you missed the news, from now on all of the company's various operating systems will be named after years to keep everything aligned and easy to follow. So rather than iOS 19, we're getting iOS 26 this year, which refers to the year after each update rolls out. Presumably that's because we'll be using it for longer in 2026 than what will remain of this year once the full version is in the wild.It's also important to keep in mind that any beta is software in a pre-release state, meaning it's far more likely you'll encounter bugs, crashes and other issues with apps and in general use, which Apple and third-party developers will attempt to fix before the final version rolls out to users worldwide.Install any beta at your own risk and think carefully before doing so with the device you use every day. It's also very important that you back up any device you want to test software on before you download it.iOS 26 supported devicesiOS 26 is supported on a wide range of iPhones - but not all of them. You'll need one of the following models:
We knew it was coming and now it's here. EA has officially dropped a trailer for the long-rumored Battlefield 6. The footage is heavy on story, but light on gameplay.As for that story, there's a global war raging with a private military contractor, prompting an explosion-laden presidential address. The trailer certainly suggests that the newest entry in the franchise will have plenty of cinematic set-pieces.EA has confirmed that Battlefield 6 will have both multiplayer and a single player campaign. We'll have to wait a bit to see actual footage of the multiplayer component in action. The company has a livestream planned for July 31 at 2:30PM ET. Today's trailer doesn't seem to feature any gameplay at all, but it does feature a Bob Dylan tune.Battlefield 6 is being developed by several different dev teams, operating under the banner Battlefield Studios. Original developer DICE is involved, as are the folks behind Burnout and Need for Speed. EA Motive, the team behind the Dead Space remake, is on hand, as is a new group known as Ripple Effect. Reports have persisted that the game has faced issues during development that caused it to go over budget.This follows Battlefield 2042, which was released back in 2021. The game struggled a bit in the sales department, with the company saying it "did not meet expectations."We don't know when Battlefield 6 will come out, though there have been rumors about an October launch. EA has also remained tight-lipped about what platforms it'll be available for. Maybe we'll get that information on July 31.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/theres-finally-a-trailer-for-battlefield-6-but-no-multiplayer-details-just-yet-170144110.html?src=rss
It's always a good time to invest in an air purifier, but in the summer, when seasonal allergies can force sufferers to keep the windows closed, they're especially useful. And right now our favorite overall air purifier can be picked up for 17 percent off when purchased from Amazon. Down to $183 from its usual price of $220 (the same deal that was running during Prime Day), the Levoit Core 400S Smart Air Purifier reigns supreme in our guide thanks to its easy on-board controls, relatively quiet fan and, crucially, solid performance. This smart air purifier can clean the atmosphere in spaces of up to 1,733 square feet in no more than an hour. It's also fairly cheap and easy to replace the filter if needed. There's an auto mode that ensures the air quality is maintained, but it plays nice with Alexa and Google Assistant too. All that said, don't buy Levoit's air purifier if, for whatever reason, you're fashion-conscious about your household appliances. This barebones white cylinder is as un-fancy as it gets. Amazon is also running a deal on Levoit's Core 300S, which is our top choice for small rooms. It's basically a smaller version of the aforementioned 400S, and has a lot of the same things in its favour. This model is 10 percent off right now, down to $135 from its usual list price of $150. This is the best price we've seen for this model all year. If you only need an air purifier for even smaller rooms (like a bedroom), the Levoit Core 200S is $10 off with Amazon right now. We haven't tested this model, but given the strength of the rest of the range, you can be confident it'll likely be up to the job. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/our-favorite-smart-air-purifier-is-currently-17-percent-off-154251338.html?src=rss
At I/O 2025 in May, Google previewed a new AI-powered feature the company said would simplify online shopping. The tool allows you to upload a single, full-body photo of yourself to "try on" different pieces of clothing you find online. Following a limited preview, Google has begun rolling out the feature to users in the US. You can start trying on clothing for yourself by tapping the "try on" icon on any product listing on Google or apparel product result you find on Google Images.Powering the experience is an image generation model Google trained to take into account how different materials fold, stretch and drape across different human bodies. According to Google, the model supports billions of clothing items found across the company's Shopping Graph, meaning their may be some outfits the AI will have a hard time parsing. However, most clothing items from popular retailers should be supported out of the gate.With today's release, Google has also enhanced the price-tracking functionality built into the feature. Naturally, you can specify the color and size you want, but Google also allows you to set the price you want to pay for the item. It's possible to configure the watch so you're only alerted after the product you want dips below a specific price. "The Shopping Graph has products and prices from all across the web - so we'll let you know when there's an offer that meets your criteria," says Google. "No more constantly checking to see if that bag you're eyeing is finally at the right price for you or forgetting to come back to a product you loved."Later this year, Google plans to bring additional shopping features to AI Mode, the dedicated AI tab the company began rolling out to everyone in the US this past May. Come this fall, you'll be able to explore outfit and decor ideas - and buy what suits your fancy - directly from the chat bot.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/googles-tool-for-virtually-trying-on-clothes-is-now-available-in-the-us-144342056.html?src=rss
Financial Times is reporting that $1 billion worth of NVIDIA AI chips were smuggled into China in the three months after the Trump administration tightened semiconductor export controls. Citing sales contracts, company documents and people with direct knowledge, the publication says that a thriving black market arose for American semiconductors. Products sold included NVIDIA's toptier B200 chips, which have become the silicon of choice for American big tech when training AI models. Sale of these chips to China is banned by the United States.With journalists on the ground in China, Financial Times reports on a veritable web of thirdparty data center operators, middlemen and purportedly smuggled readybuilt racks that have all materialized to meet the demand for NVIDIA's most powerful chips. Along with the B200, the H100 and H200 are also restricted yet highly sought after. All of these are far more capable than the weaker H20 chip, which was designed to comply with export restrictions for sale to China, though even that model has faced on and off export bans.NVIDIA, for its part, told Financial Times it has no evidence of any AI chip diversion" and that trying to cobble together data centers from smuggled products is a losing proposition, both technically and economically." NVIDIA explained, Data centers require service and support, which we provide only to authorized NVIDIA products."Images produced by Financial Times show boxes of server racks emblazoned with company logos such as Supermicro and ASUS being advertised on social media in China. Those companies deny any knowledge of how their products ended up on the Chinese black market, and Financial Times is not alleging any such involvement.Reporting suggests that some Southeast Asian countries have become hubs for Chinese groups to obtain restricted chips. Having these server racks shipped to Thailand or Malaysia may circumvent US export controls. The US Department of Commerce is reportedly considering increasing export controls on advanced AI chips to these countries.The demand for these products is without question, and as one Chinese distributor told Financial Times, History has proven many times before that given the huge profit, arbitrators will always find a way."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/1-billion-of-nvidia-ai-chips-were-reportedly-sold-in-china-despite-us-bans-143119762.html?src=rss
The best Nintendo games do two things. The first is introducing a delightful gaming mechanic - take Ultrahand in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom or Cappy in Super Mario Odysseyfor some recent examples. The second is building a world around that mechanic for players to explore. Obviously games are more than one specific tool, and building a compelling game around a good mechanic is no small task. But when it all comes together, look out. You've got a game that people will remember for years, if not decades.It's a little early in the Switch 2's lifecycle to say definitively that Donkey Kong Bananza is a game of that caliber, but after playing it for the better part of a week I can say that the smash everything" mechanic that defines its gameplay is an absolute delight. And, just as importantly, Nintendo built a wonderful world around it, completely with varied levels and obstacles, charming characters, bizarre and delightful enemies, some catchy tunes and just enough challenge to keep it interesting. 3D platformers aren't even my favorite game style - I prefer Super Mario Wonder over Odyssey, and I love the various Donkey Kong platformers going back to the SNES days. But Bananza makes consistently good use of every dimension you can play in, and it's the kind of game that I'm going to keep exploring long after I roll credits.To back up quickly: Bonanza introduces us to Donkey Kong and his smashing skills in a somewhat lengthy tutorial where you bust through a mine looking for gold. This sequence involves mashing the Y button to bust up the rocks around you and collect all the treasures that are revealed. DK can jump, climb many surfaces, rip up pieces of the terrain to throw and pound the ground to quickly collect treasure, but the main thing you're doing here is smashing. Smashing as much as possible. You can smash above you, below you and in front of you, and you can smash almost any surface you encounter (the game helpfully makes it obvious when a surface is impervious to DK fists.)At first, I thought I was going to get tired of all the smashing - the tutorial made it feel like mindlessly mashing Y was going to be all I was going to do in the game. But then the expected villain appears, stealing the Banandium gems (just go with it) and DK is compelled to dive deeper and deeper into the crust of the planet to get his bananas back. Once that happens, the game truly reveals itself: each world" you need to clear is a layer of the planet, but this being a Nintendo game none of the rules apply. Lagoon Layer is up first, and there's clear blue skies, water everywhere and varied terrain to explore (and smash). Residents of each layer will direct you to help clean up the trouble wrought by the three Kong creatures who make up VoidCo, the dastardly antagonists who stole the bananas.NintendoBananza is good about guiding you from goal to goal while also giving you tons of freedom to explore and navigate the layers in any way you see fit. My guess is that the first thing you'll do is smash everything in sight. The smash mechanic on its own in the tutorial level didn't feel all that exciting, but putting it into the context of beautifully crafted 3D worlds to explore makes it an absolute delight. You can basically go anywhere you can see, and you can smash nearly anything the game puts in front of you.It's hard to pinpoint exactly what makes smashing so satisfying, besides the obvious and undeniable fact that destruction is fun. But the combination of visual, haptic and audio cues combine to make it something that absolutely does not get old despite my initial reservations. The crunch of smashing through rocks and mountains just feels different than when you're pounding your way through dirt or splintering giant trees. And smashing also equals exploration - if you see a mountain you can just pound your way into it to find gold, fossils (that you can exchange for upgraded costumes), power-ups and, most crucially, Banandium gems.NintendoThe Banandium gems are similar to the stars or moons or whatever else other 3D platformers have you collect as you explore. Some you'll get naturally as you progress through the game and defeat various bosses, but there are dozens hidden around each layer that you'll want to seek out, as getting five gives you an upgrade point. Those you can use to add more health, and upgrade DK's various skills (like being able to smash through tougher terrain). There are also little hidden challenge levels that throw some tough platforming or timed battles at you with multiple bananas as a reward. There are a ton of ways to find bananas, and tons of them scattered around the various levels. I'm not exactly rushing through the game (there's so much to smash, you see), and I don't think I've found more than half of the bananas in any of Bananza's layers.NintendoDonkey Kong Bananza is more than just smashing, though! I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the game's secondary protagonist, Pauline. It's reasonable if you don't know her by name; she's the damsel in distress in the old 80s Donkey Kong games but more recently showed up in Super Mario Odyssey as the mayor of New Donk City who loves to belt out a tune. In Bananza, Pauline is a 13-year-old who was captured by the VoidCo crew but is rescued by DK early in the game. From there, she sits on your shoulder as you work together to achieve your ends: Pauline needs to get to the planet's core to eventually get back to the surface and DK needs to get the VoidCo Kongs to get his Banandium gems back.Pauline's love of singing becomes a crucial part of the game, as her voice guides to checkpoints, unlocks hidden areas and, most importantly, activates various special powers that DK gains throughout the game. Multiple layers have delightfully ridiculous Elder animals presiding over them, including a giant ape, ostrich and zebra. Most of them have peacefully retired in their layers and have taken up DJing as a hobby; if you repair whatever damage VoidCo has caused, they'll grant you a new Bananza power. The Kong power supercharges DK's punches, while the Ostrich power lets you temporarily fly and float. Naturally, these powers end up being crucial to advancing in the game.NintendoThey're all activated by different songs that Pauline learns, and those cut scenes are some of my favorite parts of the game. As a 13-year-old, she's not exactly comfortable singing in front of the big crowds gathered by the Elders, but she gets over it, performs with gusto and starts a wild dance party. As with most Nintendo games in this style, Pauline doesn't get a ton of character development - but watching her bond with DK and become more confident throughout her side chatter during the game is extremely sweet. One of my favorite moments in the game happens when DK takes a nap at the various hideouts you find to recover your energy. As the screen darkens for your nap, Pauline starts chattering about the world you're in or the adventures you've had, and it all feels like a kid trying to talk to their parents to avoid falling asleep. She gets drowsy, starts making a little less sense and eventually nods off. It's an unexpected and totally unnecessary (and optional) part of the game, but it really gives Pauline a personality.I'm in the last stages of the game, and at this point I'm playing as much to see what happens with Pauline and DK as I am to keep smashing more things. That somewhat unexpected combo of heart and destruction has kept me engrossed in Donkey Kong Bananza for the last week, and there's a ton of replayability that'll likely have me starting a new run once I finish this one. There's so much to explore, so many Banandium gems to find, so much to smash. It might not be the system-seller that something like Mario Kart World is, but it's the first truly great game for the Switch 2.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/donkey-kong-bananza-review-nintendos-latest-3d-platformer-is-an-instant-classic-143048108.html?src=rss
Amazon finally launched its first-ever color Kindle last year, and while the Kindle Colorsoft was an impressive first effort, the high price of entry likely put it out of range of a lot of people. Well, we have good(ish) news. Amazon has now added a slightly cheaper Colorsoft to its lineup. At $250, it's still very expensive, but $30 cheaper than the original model, albeit with some sacrifices made. At 16GB, the cheaper Kindle Colorsoft has half the storage of the more expensive variant, but given that most ebooks rarely ask for more than around 2MB of space in your library, this might be good enough. If you own a lot of digital graphic novels and comics (ie the kind of media that really makes good use of color display), you can expect those to hog more storage, but you'd still need a very large library to start pushing towards that 16GB limit. The cheaper model also loses the auto-adjusting front light and wireless charging from the Signature Edition, but beyond that, it's the same ereader. Like its pricier counterpart, the new Kindle Colorsoft has a 7-inch color E Ink display with up to eight weeks of battery life, a handy pinch-to-zoom feature and an adjustable warm light. Amazon has also fixed the yellow-band issue that plagued some early units, including our first review unit. Amazon is also offering theKindle Colorsoft Kids, which comes with an illustrated cover, one year of Amazon Kids+ and a two-year guarantee. It also has child-specific features such as Vocabulary Builder and Word Wise to help kids learn new words as they read, as well as support for the OpenDyslexic font and Bluetooth for audiobooks. There are two covers available - Fantasy River and Starlight Reading - and parents can use the Amazon Parent Dashboard to manage and monitor what their child is reading. The Kindle Colorsoft with 16GB of storage costs $250 and comes with three months of Kindle Unlimited included, and the Kindle Colorsoft Kids costs $270. Both are available today, while the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition remains $280.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/amazon-announces-a-slightly-cheaper-kindle-colorsoft-with-half-the-storage-140137967.html?src=rss
Itch.io has deindexed and hidden all adult games from its browse and search pages to make sure it doesn't lose the ability to sell with the payment processors it uses. The gaming marketplace, which mainly hosts titles from indie developers, has admitted in an announcement that it wasn't able to give creators advance notice. It "had to act urgently to protect the platform's core payment infrastructure," it said, because the "situation developed rapidly."The website explained that it recently came under the scrutiny of its payment processors after an organization called Collective Shout launched a campaign against Steam and itch.io. Collective Shout, which describes itself as an Australian grassroots campaigning movement, directed its concerns to the gaming marketplaces' payment processors. It originally focused its campaign around the game No Mercy that revolves around a character engaging in rape and sexual violence. Both itch.io and Steam removed the game back in April. In its open letter to payment processors published earlier this month, however, the group said it "discovered hundreds of other games featuring rape, incest and child sexual abuse" on Steam and itch.io since then.Steam already banned "content that may violate the rules and standards set forth" by its payment processors, which mostly affected adult games. Now, itch.io is also clearly heading that way. At the moment, the website is doing a comprehensive audit of its content and will keep adult games delisted until it's done. After it's finished, it will introduce new compliance measures and will require creators of adult games to confirm that their titles are allowed under the rules of the payment processors linked to their account.Itch.io admitted that some games will be permanently removed from its marketplace as part of its review and the new policy it will put in place, but it said its "ability to process payments is critical for every creator" on its platform. "To ensure that we can continue to operate and provide a marketplace for all developers, we must prioritize our relationship with our payment partners and take immediate steps towards compliance," the website said in its announcement.Although No Mercy's removal from gaming websites is understandably celebrated by a lot of people, users are concerned about the potential effects of marketplaces adopting anti-porn rules. Queer content, for instance, is disproportionately affected by censorship measures and could be tagged as "adult" or "NSFW" even when it doesn't contain anything sexual.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/itchio-is-removing-nsfw-games-to-comply-with-payment-processors-rules-133045491.html?src=rss
Snapchat can now let your friends know if you're back home from an outing safe and sound without you having to send a message. The app has launched a new feature called Home Safe, which sends one-time alerts to contacts of your choice. You can only send these alerts to people you already share your location with, and since that off by default, you'd have to activate it on Snap Maps for all your friends or for specific ones. Your friends will only get the notification once, and it will shut off afterward.Home Safe sounds especially useful if you and your friends typically check in on each other after meeting up, if you want to let your parents know you'd gotten back home after going out or if you're a woman who's asked a friend to make sure you got back safe after a first date. To switch the feature on, tap your Bitmoji on the Snap Map and then "My Home" to set your home location. After that, whenever you want to send someone a notification, just open your conversation with then, tap on the Map icon and then tap the "Home Safe" button.The app has had location sharing for a while now, but it has built up the safety feature over the years. It added live location sharing that allows you to share your exact whereabouts to friends in 2022. And last year, it introduced new location tracking abilities to its Family Center, allowing parents to get notifications if their child leaves school or home.Jim Lanzone, the CEO of Engadget's parent company Yahoo, joined the board of directors at Snap on September 12, 2024. No one outside of Engadget's editorial team has any say in our coverage of the company.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/snapchat-can-automatically-let-a-trusted-friend-know-you-got-home-safe-130010806.html?src=rss
After teasing it earlier this year, Lego has unveiled its Game Boy set. The 421-piece model is a "brick-built replica of the original Game Boy" and has buttons you can press, including the +Control Pad, A and B buttons and Select and Start - though you can't play games on it, obviously. It even comes with brick replicas of Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and Super Mario Land game paks, along with corresponding lenticular screens or a Nintendo start screen. Once built, you can set the Lego Game Boy and paks on a buildable display stand "for the ultimate piece of retro-inspired home or office gaming decor," Lego says. Other details you can admire include a contrast adjustment and volume dial, along with the Game Pak slot. The Game Boy set is not Lego's first crack at a Nintendo-based product. Back in 2020, the company released a set based on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The new Lego Game Boy set is now available for pre-order on Amazon for $59 with shipping starting October 1, 2025. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/legos-game-boy-set-is-here-sadly-not-playable-122138597.html?src=rss
Sony has entered into a "strategic business alliance" with Bandai Namco holdings, acquiring about 2.5 percent of the Japanese media conglomorate and gaming publisher with a 68 billion yen ($465 million) investment, the companies announced. The aim, Sony said, is to expand the fan community "for IP such as anime and manga around the world and strengthen... engagement, particularly in the anime field where rapid market growth is anticipated."The companies noted that they have historically collaborated on fields like games, anime and music, but plan to extend this into a "broader range of areas." Bandai Namco specifically called out the "production and distribution of anime and other video content, as well as merchandising." In other words, the two companies may want to join the current (and successful) trend of creating series and movies from video game and other content. At the same time, they plan to develop and promote new IP in the anime and manga areas, according to the press release.The deal lines up with Sony's recently stated aim to maximize the value of its content across gaming and entertainment ecosystems. And clearly, converting video game IP to films and series has proven to be highly lucrative, from franchises ranging from Minecraft to Mario Bros. to The Last of Us.Bandai Namco added that the companies plan to provide "the optimal products and services at the optimal timing in the optimal regions." In other words, it will focus some content more in some regions than others, depending on demand. Hopefully, we can expect some announcements around new content based on Bandai Namco IP in the near future.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/sony-bought-a-chunk-of-bandai-namco-to-boost-anime-fan-community-engagement-120047367.html?src=rss
If you're hunting for the best projector, there's never been a better time to dive in. Projectors aren't just for movie buffs anymore - they've become a great way to upgrade your living room setup, build a cozy home theater or even host an epic outdoor movie night under the stars. Whether you want something ultra-portable or a full-on 4K home cinema experience, there's a projector out there to fit just about every space and budget.
Sony is bringing a welcome quality-of-life feature to the PlayStation 5. In the next PS5 system update beta, players will be able to have their DualSense controllers synced with multiple hardware platforms at the same time. That means you could swap a controller from a PS5 to your gaming PC to your smartphone without needing to re-pair the DualSense each time.Up to four devices can be simultaneously paired with a single controller, and each of them will be mapped to one of the action buttons. To switch between them, first make sure the hardware you want to start using is on, then press the controller's PS button and the corresponding action button at the same time. Hold for three seconds, and when you see blinking on the controller's light bar, release both buttons.It's the sort of change that may not carry weight for all players. But for those of us who do like to hop between platforms, this is very exciting news. The current beta access is limited to an invite-only guest list, but Sony said it plans to roll out the feature globally "in the coming months."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/sony-is-finally-making-it-possible-to-pair-a-dualsense-with-more-than-one-device-211715133.html?src=rss
At its best, AI is a tool, not an end result. It allows people to do their jobs better, rather than sending them or their colleagues to the breadline. In an example of "the good kind," Google DeepMind has created an AI model that restores and contextualizes ancient inscriptions. Aeneas (no, it's not pronounced like that) is named after the hero in Roman mythology. Best of all, the tool is open-source and free to use.Ancient Romans left behind a plethora of inscriptions. But these texts are often fragmented, weathered or defaced. Rebuilding the missing pieces is a grueling task that requires contextual cues. An algorithm that can pore over a dataset of those cues can come in handy.Aeneas speeds up one of historians' most difficult tasks: identifying "parallels." In this setting, that means finding similar texts arranged by wording, syntax or region. DeepMind says the model reasons across thousands of Latin inscriptions. It can fetch parallels in seconds before passing the baton back to historians.DeepMind says it turns each text into a historical fingerprint of sorts. "Aeneas identifies deep connections that can help historians situate inscriptions within their broader historical context," the Google subsidiary wrote.Google DeepMindOne of Aeneas' most impressive tricks is restoring textual gaps of unknown length. (Think of it as filling out a crossword puzzle where you don't know how many letters are in each clue.) The tool is also multimodal, meaning it can analyze both textual and visual input. DeepMind says it's the first model that can use that multi-pronged method to figure out where a text came from.DeepMind says Aeneas is designed to be a collaborative ally within historians' existing workflows. It's best used to offer "interpretable suggestions" that serve as a starting point for researchers. "Aeneas' parallels completely changed my perception of the inscription," an unnamed historian who tested the model wrote. "It noticed details that made all the difference for restoring and chronologically attributing the text."Alongside the release of Aeneas for Latin text, DeepMind also upgraded Ithaca. (That's its model for Ancient Greek text.) Ithaca is now powered by Aeneas, receiving its contextual and restorative superpowers.Researchers can take Aeneas for a spin at DeepMind's "Predicting the Past" website. It also open-sourced the model's code and dataset.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-deepminds-aeneas-model-can-restore-fragmented-latin-text-202004714.html?src=rss
The newest version of the Qi2 wireless standard is coming to iPhones and some Android handsets. It has also received a snappy, new branding of Qi2 25W, denoting the wireless charging speed, which is miles better than the previous name of Qi2.2.The big hook here is right in the name. Qi2 25W provides up to 25 watts of power delivery to compatible products, which is a 66 percent increase over the pre-existing Qi2 platform. Paul Struhsaker, Executive Director of the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) says that "Qi2 25W's remarkably fast and efficient wireless charging will encourage increased penetration of wireless charging usage and accelerate the adoption of the new standard."Newer iPhones already use the Qi2 standard, so the company's forthcoming adoption of Qi2 25W isn't that big of surprise, though it is a welcome bit of news. Most Android phones, however, have never been Qi2-certified, so this is a potentially game-changing event for the platform. Some Android phones could technically integrate Qi2 charging, but it typically required a dedicated magnetic case of some kind.Smartphones are just the latest category to adopt Qi2 25W. Several products, including power banks and chargers, were certified earlier this month. Qi2 25W, back when it was called Qi2.2, was first announced in April. The WPC says there are "several hundred" devices in the queue waiting to be tested and receive official certification. We still don't know which Android phones are in that queue.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/qi2-25w-wireless-charging-is-coming-to-iphones-and-major-android-smartphones-183013979.html?src=rss
There's hope that the gaming industry won't follow Nintendo's lead with $80 pricing. (Well, at least not yet.) On Wednesday, Microsoft backtracked on the price increase for The Outer Worlds 2. The game now costs $70, which itself was considered outrageous only a few years ago.Microsoft told Windows Central that those who already pre-ordered Obsidian's shooter at $80 can get refunds at the point of purchase. Unfortunately, you can't simply get a $10 price adjustment. You'll have to refund the full $80 and then pre-order again for $70. I'm beginning to think consumer-friendliness isn't the priority here.The $80 pricing push began with Mario Kart World. Comments by Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford initially suggested Borderlands 4 might have followed. Fortunately, 2K Games saw something in the backlash that made it balk; it's launching at $70. A Bluesky user summed it up in a reply to Obsidian's U-turn. "Consumer advocacy in this awful state of the industry WORKS," @johnbrebbia posted.NintendoThe gaming industry is caught in a godawful whirlwind of layoffs, studio closures and price increases. That's happening against a backdrop of rising costs for consumers. Meanwhile, the gaming industry is projected to reach $189 billion this year, a 3.4 percent increase. That's a combustible mixture if ever there was one.Ironically, Obsidian's sci-fi RPG deals with themes of late-stage capitalism. The developer even deployed in-world satire to announce the pricing change: "Dear Galactic Citizens! We have received your SOS via skip drone about the pricing..." Winking at one's audience is usually a good thing, but this strikes me as more of a "dude, read the room" moment.Regardless, The Outer Worlds 2 is set to arrive on October 29. It will be available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/microsoft-backtracks-on-80-the-outer-worlds-2-pricing-173027532.html?src=rss
ExpressVPN has released a new patch for its Windows app to close a vulnerability that can leave remote desktop traffic unprotected. If you use ExpressVPN on Windows, download version 12.101.0.45 as soon as possible, especially if you use Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) or any other traffic through TCP port 3389.ExpressVPN announced both the vulnerability and the fix in a blog post earlier this week. According to that post, an independent researcher going by Adam-X sent in a tip on April 25 to claim a reward from ExpressVPN's bug bounty program. Adam-X noticed that some internal debug code which left traffic on TCP port 3389 unprotected had mistakenly shipped to customers. ExpressVPN released the patch about five days later in version 12.101.0.45 for Windows.As ExpressVPN points out in its announcement of the patch, it's unlikely that the vulnerability was actually exploited. Any hypothetical hacker would not only have to be aware of the flaw, but would then have to trick their target into sending a web request over RDP or other traffic that uses port 3389. Even if all the dominos fell, the hacker could only see their target's real IP address, not any of the actual data they transmitted.Even if the danger was small, it's nice to see ExpressVPN responding proactively to flaws in its product - bug bounties are great, but a security product should protect its users with as many safeguards as possible. In addition to closing this vulnerability, they're also adding automated tests that check for debug code accidentally left in production builds. This, plus a successful independent privacy audit earlier in 2025, gives the strong impression of a provider that's on top of things.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/vpn/expressvpn-patches-windows-bug-that-exposed-remote-desktop-traffic-171507501.html?src=rss
Tonal, the wallmounted smart gym, has introduced a new feature that the company says uses "cuttingedge AI" to improve your workouts. The feature is called Daily Lift, and it analyzes your recent lifts and recovery, then builds a personalized workout plan that adapts to you daily. Every day, a user can pull up a customized strength-training session that is based on their most recent data with just a tap.Tonal says these workouts are built using the same training methodology that Tonal's coaches rely on. The workouts are intended to provide new movements and new challenges to expose the user to a variety of different exercises.Like many homeworkout companies, Tonal grew substantially in the postpandemic world of workfromhome before laying off 35 percent of its workforce in 2022. This year the homegym company launched the AIenabled Tonal 2 hardware, featuring a sleeker design and expanded features. Like a lot of "smart" home exercise equipment, the wallmounted unit remains a niche and expensive gadget, retailing for almost $4,300.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/tonals-ai-created-workouts-will-adapt-to-your-daily-progress-170037100.html?src=rss
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