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by Sam Rutherford on (#74NWZ)
With gas prices rising across the country, consumers are turning to electric vehicles as a way to save money on their commute. And while there weren't a ton of all-new EVs on display at the 2026 New York International Auto Show, we did see some notable debuts from automakers including Subaru, Kia, Hyundai and more. So here's a look at some of the most interesting upcoming EV models on display today, including a handful of previously announced vehicles that we haven't had a chance to see in person before.Subaru GetawaySadly, Toyota didn't bring the Highlander EV to the NY Auto Show, so I couldn't make a direct comparison to Subaru's new three-row EV SUV. Sam Rutherford for EngadgetBuilt on the same platform as Toyota's Highlander EV, the Getaway isn't just Subaru's first three-row EV SUV, it's also its most powerful with up to 420 horsepower. Naturally, the car comes standard with the company's signature Symmetrical all-wheel drive tech while the 95.8kWh battery on the long-range model delivers more than 300 miles. Sadly, with a lackluster expected charging speed of 150kW, the Getaway will need about 30 minutes to bring its battery from 20 to 80 percent. The Getaway is expected to arrive sometime in late 2026, and while Subaru has yet to reveal official pricing, it's also planning on releasing a more affordable standard range model with a 77kWh power pack in the first half of 2027.Hyundai Boulder ConceptHyundai's SangYup Lee on stage to show off the new Boulder SUV concept. Sam Rutherford for Engadget2026 marks the 40th anniversary of Hyundai's entrance into the US auto market. To help celebrate the occasion, the company showed off a new concept car called the Boulder. While concrete details are sparse, the prominent grille and body on frame construction strongly suggest that it won't be a full BEV (battery EV). We're looking at a hybrid or range-extended EV at best. That said, the Boulder showcases what Hyundai is calling its Art of Steel" design philosophy which looks to emphasize the strength, flexibility and beauty of its metal exterior while looking a lot more approachable than a Tesla Cybertruck. Notably, while there's no guarantee that the Boulder will look this big and brawny if it ever reaches production, Hyundai says this platform will underpin a future midsize pickup slated to arrive sometime in 2030.Kia EV3After going on sale in Europe in late 2024, the Kia EV3 is finally coming to the US.Sam Rutherford for EngadgetThe EV3 has been on sale in Europe for about a year and a half, but today at the New York International Auto Show, Kia debuted the new 2027 model of EV3 that will go on sale here in the US sometime before the end of the year. As the smaller sibling to the EV9, the EV3 features a similar design that combines the chunky body of an SUV with clean, futuristic lines, but in a more compact vehicle similar in size to the Sportage. While Kia hasn't released official pricing, the EV3 is expected to arrive in two main configurations: a standard-range model with a 58.3kWh battery and up to 220 miles of range that could start as low as $35,000, or a more premium long-range variant that promises 320 miles of range. Sadly, its 400-volt architecture means it won't charge quite as quickly as some of Kia's more premium EVs. But as a nice bonus, the company says the EV3 will come with vehicle-to-load technology, so you can use the car's battery to power other devices like tools, lights or your home.Genesis GV60 MagmaThe GV60 Magma is drop dead gorgeous and a more luxurious take on the Ioniq 5. Sam Rutherford for EngadgetWhile it shares the same chassis and platform as Hyundai's Ioniq 5N, the Genesis GV60 Magma looks to deliver a more luxurious take on what an electric hot hatch can be. And it looks damn good, especially with its molten orange paint job. Compared to the regular GV60, the Magma features exclusive 21-inch wheels along with streamlined canards, a much larger rear wing and a redesigned bumper that delivers better airflow. But the best part is that while it might seem like a custom creation designed solely to get attention at car shows, Genesis is actually going to put this thing into production with an expected release some time in mid to late 2026.Polestar 4 Arctic Circle EditionEven away from the frozen north, the Polestar 4 Arctic Circle Edition looks fantastic. Sam Rutherford for EngadgetYellow isn't my favorite color, but between its striking paint job and new cold-weather augments, the Arctic Circle version of the Polestar 4 looks absolutely fantastic. It also features 20-inch wheels from OZ Racing, a bunch of extra exterior lights and a rack for skis. And because the Polestar 4 relies on rear-facing cameras and a display built into its rearview mirror, you can still see out the back without anything getting in the way. Unfortunately, because this is a one-off model built for the F.A.T. International Ice Race, you won't be able to buy one for yourself.Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRTThe Ioniq 5 XRT is basically a do-everything EV hot hatch. Sam Rutherford for EngadgetA year and a half ago when I was in the market for a car, the Ioniq 5 was high on my short list. While I eventually went with a Mach-E, if this XRT edition had been available back then, it might have tipped the scales in Hyundai's favor. This model combines the Ioniq 5's signature pixelated good looks with some nice off-road touches to create a well-equipped midsize EV that can handle practically any situation. I especially like the addition of bright orange tow hooks that serve as a nice contrast to the subtle digital camo print on the XRT's front bumper. And while its chunkier tires result in range that's a touch lower than what you get from an equivalent Limited model (259 vs 269 miles), the XRT makes up for that by including Hyundai's HTRAC All Wheel Drive system by default without a huge jump in price.Corvette CX ConceptThe CX Concept is meant to be a peek at what future Corvettes could be.Sam Rutherford for EngadgetWith the 2026 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X already boasting more than 1,200 horsepower, it's kind of scary to think what the Corvette CX Concept could bring if it ever reaches production. Described as the vision of the future, the CX is Chevy's take on an electrified hypercar while also serving as a template for future Corvettes as a whole. And while its proportions and styling are so extreme that it's hard to believe they will make it onto a consumer vehicle, this thing sure is nice to look at.Rolls Royce SpectreIf I had infinite money, the Spectre would definitely be in my dream three-car garage. Sam Rutherford for EngadgetFor a brand as old and steeped in tradition as Rolls Royce, it's easy to forget that the luxury automaker began its transition to the EV era back in 2022. And while the company wasn't officially in attendance at the New York Auto Show, Manhattan Motorcars was nice enough to bring a Spectre to the show floor for plebs like us to gawk at. In many ways, this car is an ideal showcase of the advantages of electrification, as the Spectre offers ample power (up to 650hp for the Black Badge variant) and massive torque, but without all the commotion you get from an internal combustion engine. Despite weighing around 6,500 pounds (making it one of the heaviest passenger cars on the market), it still delivers more than respectable range, with up to 277 miles depending on the specific config. Although, it's not like any Spectre owners are actually going to take this thing on a cross-country road trip.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/the-hottest-evs-from-the-2026-new-york-auto-show-plus-one-brawny-concept-120000557.html?src=rss
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| Updated | 2026-04-07 06:02 |
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by Lawrence Bonk on (#74NZM)
Two fantastic indie titles just dropped for Apple Arcade. The platform has received versions of Dredge and Unpacking, both of which have been optimized for mobile devices.Dredge+ is the complete edition of the game, with all released DLC content. This is pretty much a perfect video game that combines fishing with bone-chilling horror. During the day, you sail around and fish, which involves a fishing minigame and a "pack the fish in the bag" minigame. At night, you are hunted by Lovecraftian monsters that may or may not be real. The developers threw in some tricks to make players doubt their own sanity, just like the Gamecube classic Eternal Darkness.Unpacking+ is the original game, but optimized for touchscreen controls. It's basically a block-fitting puzzle game, in which players arrange items in a home as they, well, unpack. Despite this extremely simple premise, the story is quite moving. There's a reason why it has racked up numerous accolades, including one for Cultural Impact at the 2023 App Store Awards. It's also a fantastic title for short bursts of gameplay.The pet sim My Very Hungry Caterpillar+ also arrives for the platform today. Otherwise, pre-existing titles are getting updates throughout the month. The word-based puzzle game Disney SpellStruck just got more Star Wars content and Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop gets a new game mode on April 9.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/apple-arcade-just-got-two-indie-gems-133056009.html?src=rss
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by Steve Dent on (#74NWY)
Every now and then, I test a gadget so wild that I can't believe a company actually made it. Soundcore's $5,000 Nebula X1 Pro projector is the embodiment of that: an ultra bright projector and a 400-watt Dolby Atmos 7.1 speaker system combined in a massive enclosure. With a fast and flexible setup, it lets you screen movies or watch sports nearly anywhere. It's not just a projector crammed into a big speaker system, though. Everything is elegantly integrated and setup is nearly automatic, thanks to the clever design and motorization. The weight and price are the biggest strikes against it, but if you can afford it, and love hosting movie nights, the Nebula X1 Pro is one of the coolest devices you can buy. Design Made by Anker sub-brand Soundcore, the Nebula X1 Pro has a professional-looking enclosure housing a Nebula X1 laser projector and five speakers - a subwoofer, two front satellites and two rear satellites. With all that crammed in, the projector is big and heavy at 30 inches high and 72 pounds. Fortunately, it has a pair of wheels on the back and a telescoping handle so it's easy to roll from room to room or dolly outside. Good luck carrying it up a set of stairs or unloading it from a vehicle by yourself, though. Steve Dent for Engadget Soundcore made the Nebula X1 Pro as outdoor-friendly as possible, with IP43 and IP54 ratings on the body and speakers, respectively, to withstand short periods of rain. If you want to use it away from home, the company sells optional kits with a 200-inch inflatable screen or an Anker Solix C1000 battery that can power it for several hours. The four wireless satellite speakers have seven horizontal and four overhead channels, and the two-speaker subwoofer is inside the main enclosure. The rear speakers pop out of a spring-loaded storage dock with a light press, same for the telescoping speaker legs. The front satellite speaker docking system is even more slick. To release them, you press a button on top and they fold out of the side via a motorized system. You can either leave them there or detach them at the touch of a button. All speakers can be charged externally over USB-C or inside their docks. They have eight hours of battery life, though I found the bigger front ones held a charge for slightly longer than that. The X1 Pro also includes a pair of high-quality Soundcore wireless microphones for DJ-ing or karaoke, tucked under the top panel. Those feature AI vocal removal from songs, one-touch reverb and 40 hours of battery life - everything you need for a karaoke party. There's only a single HDMI 2.1 port at the back (which is odd considering that the Nebula X1 has two) with eARC support for Dolby Atmos sound. It also comes with two USB-C ports for external file playback, charging and a PC connection. Lastly, the power cable is retractable, which is another nice design touch. Features Steve Dent for Engadget I also reviewed the Nebula X1 projector that's inside the X1 Pro, but here's a summary in case you missed it. The projector uses Soundcore's proprietary LaserForge 2.0" liquid-cooled, triple-laser engine that beams a bright, color-accurate image with very little fan noise (26 db). It promises high native contrast thanks to the 6-blade dynamic iris and NebulaMaster 2.0 image engine. The 0.9:1 to 1.5:1 optical zoom lens allows for flexible installation and employs 14 high-quality, long-lasting glass elements. The X1 Pro uses the same 0.47-inch DLP chip found in many other projectors (and not the bigger, better 0.67-inch chip coming soon in XGIMI's Titan Noir). The lasers are beamed through a color phosphor wheel twice to achieve excellent 90 percent color and brightness uniformity across the screen. The projector's motorized gimbal tilts 25 degrees upward so you can position it well below the screen. The spatial adaptation" feature scans the projection area then beams the final image to precisely fit the screen or wall. It worked nicely for me, though overhead lights or other obstacles can throw it off. The projector can adapt to ambient light and the wall color, and another function called Spatial Recall lets you save all your settings for later. Once I detached them, the speakers paired automatically to the X1 Pro over 5.8Ghz Wi-Fi with no difficulty. I placed them around the room to maximize soundstage, then the Nebula X1 Pro's Flexwave" tech used a built-in four-mic array to detect their positions and calibrate the audio. I was seated off to the side, so I used the smart sweet spot" feature to drag the center point toward my position for optimal sound balance. Google TV is included, offering a large library of streaming apps and an easy-to-use projector control interface via the included remote (tucked into the top so you hopefully won't lose it). You get Netflix's official app with support for 4K Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, plus the X1 Pro has Chromecast support and Google Assistant for voice control. The interface can occasionally be sluggish, though Soundcore has improved its latency since I tested the Nebula X1. Image quality Steve Dent for Engadget Even after testing other high-end projectors including Valerion's VisionMaster Max, the Soundcore Nebula X1 Pro is still the brightest and sharpest I've seen. The company's luminosity claim is accurate; I measured 3,514 ANSI lumens in Standard" mode from the center of the screen and 3,310 in the cinematic NebulaMaster" mode. It can output a whopping 4,175 lumens in Conference mode, albeit with a heavy blue color cast. That brightness allowed me to comfortably watch content on a sunny day with the shades up. The X1 Pro also offers high dynamic contrast up to 56,000:1, aided by the automatic iris and NebulaMaster image engine, which also keeps the image from washing out in daytime conditions. When used in more ideal dark conditions, the image was bright, sharp and incredibly color accurate. Soundcore claims 110 percent coverage of the challenging BT.2020 HDR color space (with a Delta E less than 0.8), putting the X1 Pro in elite company with a few select models from Samsung, Hisense and a few others. I measured around 94 percent BT.2020 coverage in ISF mode, which falls short of the company's claim but is still impressive. The high color accuracy meant that the TV series and movies I watched like Iron Man 2, Dune 2, Andor and F1 looked beautifully cinematic. If the colors aren't quite to your liking, you can make fine adjustments manually. Like other 4K projectors with a 0.47-inch DLP chip, the X1 has a slight amount of light spill around the edge of the screen, but it's only noticeable when the projected image is particularly dark. With HDMI 2.1 the Nebula X1 Pro supports 4K 120 fps sources, but can only display 4K at 60 fps. Because of that, and the relatively high input lag, it's not ideal for gaming. Audio Steve Dent for Engadget The 400-watt audio setup is what elevates the Nebula X1 Pro above its rivals. Thanks to their Wi-Fi connectivity, the satellites have a latency of just 25 milliseconds, compared to 150 milliseconds or more for typical Bluetooth speakers. That keeps sound and picture perfectly synced, something that can be a problem with other wireless speaker setups. The X1's two internal subwoofers can pump out sound as low as 38Hz at up to 87 decibels. That allowed for the loud and punchy (but not boomy) bass I love for action movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. At the same time, that bass is clear and subtle for less bombastic films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. To avoid vibrating the projector, the subwoofer is mounted on a suspension system, and I found it didn't affect the picture even during loud scenes. With the four wireless speakers spread around a big room, I got an outstanding soundstage with Dolby Atmos-supported content including Star Wars: A New Hope and The White Lotus: Season 3. The speakers delivered crisp and accurate highs, while the dedicated front voice drivers let me hear even soft dialogue, though midrange sound could occasionally be a bit tinny. It faithfully reproduced tricky film soundtracks like Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and did justice to the industrial metal and symphonic music in The Matrix. Yes, you'd get better sound from a dedicated high-end 7.1 Dolby system, but with far more setup hassle and zero portability. Wrap-up Steve Dent for Engadget Soundcore's Nebula X1 Pro is a home theater marvel that's so well-designed almost anyone can set it up. By integrating one of the best triple-laser projectors with a 400-watt Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 surround system, and then putting all of that on wheels, you can enjoy an immersive cinema experience nearly anywhere. This Nebula X1 Pro has no true rivals, but competitors with similar projectors (but no sound systems) include the Valerion VisionMaster Max and XGIMI Horizon 20 Max, both triple-laser systems with comparable brightness and color accuracy. Once you add an audio surround system, though, you'll be spending the same amount and won't get the X1 Pro's convenience and portability. The catch, of course, is the $5,000 price. However, if you have the money and want the ultimate home theater experience that's portable and easy to use, Soundcore's beastly Nebula X1 Pro is actually a good deal.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/soundcore-nebula-x1-pro-review-the-king-of-party-projectors-010018484.html?src=rss
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by Mariella Moon on (#74NX0)
Jay Blahnik, who served as Apple's Fitness chief for almost 13 years, has announced that he's retiring this July. According to The New York Times, Blahnik told employees in an email that he was leaving to spend time with his family and make an exciting move to New York City." Blahnik is retiring less than a year after The Times reported on allegations that he was "verbally abusive, manipulative and inappropriate" towards his employees, creating a toxic workplace environment.Approximately 10 out of the 100 employees under his leadership had reportedly sought extended leaves of absence for mental health concerns since 2022. One employee had sued him and Apple, accusing him of bullying her, and the case will go to trial in 2027. Apple had also allegedly settled a complaint by another employee, accusing him of sexual harassment. The company had conducted an internal investigation after employees reported him, The Times said, and found no evidence of wrongdoing from his side. Employees told the publication that they felt Apple was more concerned with protecting the image of a notable executive than addressing their issues.Blahnik oversaw the company's Fitness+ subscription service during his time with the company. Prior to that, he helped create Apple Watch's fitness features and was also known for creating Apple's famous activity rings.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/apples-controversial-fitness-vp-jay-blahnik-is-retiring-115232410.html?src=rss
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by Steve Dent on (#74NNS)
Google's $20 per month AI Pro plan, which includes Gemini, Veo and Nano Banana, got a big storage boost and some other new perks. Users of the plan (also available for $200 per year) will see their cloud space jump from 2TB to 5TB at no extra cost. That extra storage can be used not only for AI but also Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos backups.Gemini can now pull context from Gmail and the web for Drive, Docs, Slides and Sheets, provide summaries for your Gmail inbox and proofread emails before you send them. It's also introducing additional agentic help with Chrome auto browse "that handles those tedious, multi-step chores - like planning a trip or filling out forms," Google VP Shimrit Ben-Yair wrote on X.Finally, Google announced that it's bundling its Home Premium subscription into AI Pro, a perk that usually costs $10 per month by itself. The storage and extra features are now available for new and existing subscribers. You may not see the benefits appear in your plan yet but it's definitely not an April Fool's joke, Ben-Yair assured X commenters.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/googles-20-per-month-ai-pro-plan-just-got-a-big-storage-boost-044502621.html?src=rss
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by Mariella Moon on (#74NMJ)
The Artemis II mission successfully launched into space on April 1, at 6:35pm Eastern time, from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will take NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a 10-day trip around the moon. This mission is the first crewed Artemis flight and will lay the groundwork for future trips to the moon itself, the first flight with a crew onboard the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft system and our first foray into deep space since the Apollo program.A few hours into their journey, and the astronauts could already see majestic views of our planet. However, the astronauts also reported a problem with their wastemanagement system, which is the first real toilet installed on a deep-space mission. The astronauts thankfully have a backup option: Waste collection bags that Apollo crews had used and had previously discarded on the lunar surface.
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by Jessica Conditt on (#74NA1)
Resident Evil legend Shinji Mikami's new studio, Unbound Inc., has been acquired by Shift Up, the company behind Stellar Blade and Goddess of Victory: Nikke. Unbound's unannounced games will be fully supported and distributed by South Korean publisher Shift Up, which is led by CEO Hyung-Tae Kim.Mikami is an icon of Japanese horror as the director of Resident Evil, its 2002 remake and Resident Evil 4, as well as a founder of PlatinumGames and Tango Gameworks. Tango was responsible for The Evil Within series, Ghostwire Tokyo and Hi-Fi Rush. Shift Up recently developed the hit action game Stellar Blade, with Kim as director.Even with an adorably grotesque introduction video, it's unclear exactly what Unbound is working on at the moment, but the studio is targeting the global PC and console market. Its concepts involve plenty of monsters, as is tradition.Consider even the surface-level possibilities here: The campy horror of Resident Evil blended with the melodramatic beauty of Stellar Blade. The frenzy of Hi-Fi Rush amped up by the anime stylings of Goddess of Victory: Nikke. The Evil Within III, but make it sexy. These are jokes, but the sentiment remains - this partnership makes a lot of sense and it'll be exciting to see what shakes out.We believe we can respect each other as creators and make games together," Mikami said in a Shift Up blog post about the deal. And I think with Hyung-Tae, we can even enjoy the hard parts.... Seeing my own vision and ideals come into focus like this, and finding someone whose direction aligns so closely is something I've rarely experienced before in my career. I hope we keep building together for a long time."It's also heartening to see stability for Mikami's new studio. His previous team, Tango Gameworks, was acquired by Microsoft in 2021, and Mikami left in 2023 after the release of Hi-Fi Rush. Microsoft shuttered Tango in 2024 during a period of mass game industry layoffs, and its remaining team was eventually sold to Krafton. Mikami has been quietly building up his own studio since 2022.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/mr-resident-evil-signs-a-deal-with-mr-stellar-blade-180158872.html?src=rss
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by Daniel Cooper on (#74NA2)
In January, a Finnish-Estonian startup proclaimed it had developed a truly solid state battery, a holy grail for the technology industry. Donut Labs' cell wasn't just solid state, however. It claimed it was made from cheap and easily available materials, would charge to full in a few minutes and last for hundreds of years. If real, such a device would change the face of the world, which is why plenty of people don't think it is. And, as the company makes more effort to demonstrate it is telling the truth, the more holes people are finding to poke their fingers into. So, what the hell is going on with Donut Labs' battery? After many weeks of research, I'm throwing my hands in the air, tired of the endless dog and pony show the company is putting on.Solid state batteriesConventional batteries have improved a lot in the last few decades but remain imperfect in many ways. Cells found in electronics and EVs commonly use liquid or gel polymer as an electrolyte. These electrolytes are the cause of thermal runaway, where the heat of a battery increases exponentially, and can become a primary cause of battery failure and fire. Plus, they're pretty fussy, requiring a consistent temperature for peak performance and to be treated pretty delicately. It's why the industry has raced to develop a solid state battery that eliminates the liquid or gel polymer.Because of their higher energy density, solid state batteries should be lighter and smaller per watt than conventional batteries. These benefits would be enjoyed widely but are vital for an EV where weight and size dictate so much of how it operates. Solid state batteries are at far less risk of thermal runaway, and should work in a much wider temperature window. Now, we are already seeing plenty of semi-solid batteries coming into the market, with fully-solid cells expected in the near future. Chinese battery giant CATL told BatteriesNews at the end of 2025 that its first small-scale production of solid state batteries is anticipated to begin in 2027. However, those first production runs are likely to be limited rather than global rollouts.Donut LabEnter Donut Lab. The startup is a subsidiary of Finnish motorcycle maker Verge Motorcycles, famous for its Tron-style hubless (in-wheel) rear-wheel motor. Verge says it has built the world's most powerful electric motor family," and that it made all the components needed to build an electric vehicle." Verge's motors have since been incorporated into Longbow Motors' recently announced Speedster EV.At CES 2026, Donut Lab announced it had built the world's first full all-solid-state battery." It said this wasn't just a prototype, but was ready to power up production vehicles now." In a glossy promotional video, the company said it had solved the issues the whole industry had been working to solve for decades. There was nothing but upside, with none of the trade-offs its competitors had been forced to make while developing their own solid state batteries. And, it was ready to be incorporated into EVs starting today. Verge Motorcycles announced it would add the battery into its TS Pro, with shipments expected to begin Q1 2026.Donut Labs' batteryThe company's extensive list of claims begins by saying the cell has an energy density of 400Wh per kilogram, roughly twice the energy density of the best lithium ion battery on the market. Right now, you should expect to get around 1,000 charge and discharge cycles out of any half-decent battery. Donut Labs is promising its cell will last for a whopping 100,000 cycles, even if you're fast-charging the cell. The company promises users will be able to reach an 80 percent charge from zero in around five minutes, and get to full in under six. Donut said the cell offers a clay-like" freedom of design, adapting to the specific needs of a specific product, rather than the other way around.Naturally, pumping all of that power into such a small cell will mean it'll need a lot of babying, right? Not according to Donut Lab, which says its battery will operate in temperatures as low as -30 degrees Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit) or as hot as 100 degrees Celsius (212 Fahrenheit). And, to top it off, it's made from common, easily-available and cheap materials which are geopolitically safe," rather than from rare-earth minerals sometimes held by rival nations. All of that means the cell will be cheaper to produce than the equivalent lithium ion cell and, best of all, Donut said the battery is ready for scaled production.A battery that promised some of these features would be world-changing; one offering all of them would be world-shattering. It would upend supply chains, shift the global balance of power, potentially eliminate reliance on so-called rare earth minerals and supercharge EV adoption. But Donut Lab offered no proof for its claims, no hint as to what its process was based upon, and no sign it had the manufacturing capacity to deliver on its promises. Naturally, a lot of people just didn't believe what they were seeing and hearing, and called BS.People are suspiciousYang Hongqin, CEO of Chinese battery maker Svolt, was quoted by CarNewsChina as saying any person with even a basic understanding of the technology would think it's a scam." Finnish newspaper Iltalehti reported that CATL's venture capital head Ulderico Ulissi described the matter as clearly fake." That comment prompted Donut CEO Marko Lehtimaki to respond on LinkedIn, saying that Ulissi would regret the arrogance." Tom Botticher, CEO of battery startup Litona, posted on LinkedIn his belief Donut's technology is actually tied to a company Donut invested in, Nordic Nano. Botticher found a pitch deck, which is no longer available (but is here at the Internet Archive) which described Nordic's energy storage technology as a supercapacitor.Some have pointed out that Lehtimaki has a track record of making strong claims about his products. On May 15, 2025, he announced an AI startup, ASILAB, and said in a similarly glossy launch video that his team had created a synthetic counterpart" to the human brain. Its first product, ASINOID, Lehtimaki said, is a dynamic self-developing organism designed to grow in capability and in consciousness." The company said it would open up access to ASINOID, but I've been unable to find any evidence that any such access has been granted. ASILAB has not responded to our request for comment.Similarly salty write-ups can be found in ElectronicDesign, MIT Tech Review, Interesting Engineering, InsideEVs and just about every Reddit, YCombinator and Hacker News thread discussing the technology.I Donut Believe.comIn response to the minor social media backlash, Donut Labs went on the offensive. It launched the website IDonutBelieve.com promising a weekly drop of so-called evidence to support its claims. In a polished video introduction, Lehtimaki said the criticism comes from parties with vested interests, such as competitors. He addressed the above attack lines directly, saying people have been assembling theories from scraps of online data to create an untrue picture. He also denied claims the battery was a supercapacitor.In the same video, Lehtimaki said the media has amplified so-called experts" from the battery industry, taking their opinions at face value." Naturally, rival researchers who would stand to gain by taking down a potential challenger have a natural desire to rubbish Donut's claims. But because many of them are credentialled experts in the field, their authority was elevated above his own.Crucially, Lehtimaki said Donut didn't publish validation tests at the time of announcement as it would have been similarly dismissed by those same biased voices. By holding the proof back, he said it forced Donut's competitors to essentially show their hand, making it easier to refute them. To do so, Donut engaged VTT Finland, a government-owned research organization which offers testing services to third parties. VTT has conducted specific tests on cells supplied by Donut, the results of which the company has released piecemeal over several weeks.It's important to note that VTT's reports don't make any statements which could be seen to support Donut's claims. For instance, it says it was asked to conduct independent charging performance tests on the energy storage devices supplied by the customer, which the customer identified as solid-state battery cells."The testsDonut Lab published a test for five weeks, each one each one designed to show off one key feature of the battery. Test One saw VTT fast charge a cell beyond the limit of a regular battery, after which it still had close to 100% of its charge available for use. In Test Two, VTT charged the cell to full, and then discharged it in high-temperature environments. Once that was done, the cell was charged again at a normal temperature, but researchers noted that the pouch lost vacuum. Donut Lab later said the vacuum loss was caused by the packaging materials not being able to withstand the temperature, rather than an issue with the battery itself.A VTT spokesperson told me during the final stage of manufacturing, all gases are removed from the cell, and the cell is sealed tightly under vacuum conditions. The cell feels firm. If the cell loses its vacuum, it usually becomes slightly soft and swollen." Essentially, if a battery loses its vacuum, it means it's started swelling, which is visible in the photos from the report. Swelling is fatal to a traditional lithium ion battery and, potentially, the device it's connected to.Test Three purported to disprove the idea that Donut was secretly selling a supercapacitor, so VTT charged the cell to full and let it sit idle for 10 days. At the end of that time, the charge level of the battery appeared to hold steady, with a small drop commonly seen in all batteries. Which appeared to confirm the cell was a battery, rather than a capacitor which may struggle to hold its charge over longer periods of time. Test Four was conducted by Donut Lab itself, taking a prototype of its battery in a Verge motorcycle to a fast charger. The cell had a rated capacity of 18kWh and it was charged from 9 percent to 80 percent - around 14.5kWh - in 12 minutes.Test Five focused on the cell from Test Two which lost its vacuum, to prove it was not broken. VTT's report says it cycled the broken cell 50 times (up to 90 percent of its full charge) to see what happened. VTT's researchers said it was possible to cycle the cell, but that its capacity began to degrade after the first few, and by the end of the process, it had fallen to nearly half of its original figure. The cell itself had swelled, however, with VTT saying the cell thickness had increased by 17 percent, and the cell pouch was firm." Donut Lab boasted that while a lithium ion battery in this condition would likely explode, its own cell still worked.When contacted, VTT said it did complete an assignment for Donut Lab but declined to make any specific comment on confidential client assignments.On March 31, Verge Motorcycles posted a video claiming the TS Pro Gen 2, the first to carry Donut's solid state battery, was ready to ship. Given March 31 is the last day of Q1, it's the latest possible day the company could announce this and say it has honored its promise. The accompanying write-up said the bike will ship with either a standard-range 20kWh battery with a range of 350km (217 miles) or a long-range 33kWh battery that should run for 600km (372 miles).April 1Then, on April 1, the company posted a video beginning with a fakeout scene of Lehtimaki admitting the whole thing had been a scam. One hard cut later, and the clip pivots into a Q&A, with an off-screen interviewer asking why anyone would believe Lehtimaki on April Fools Day. He dryly responded that people don't believe him the rest of the time, but that the ambiguity provided by the occasion was a benefit. He would be able to speak more freely with less fear of censure, or so he claimed.Lehtimaki said the series of I Donut Believe tests already published were another part of his 3D chess" strategy to get battery rivals to show their hand. And that the tests undertaken by VTT were on a first-generation battery while the company was already working on the second. He did concede that the claims around cycle life were based on estimates, and that if they wanted to prove it, they would have needed to start testing a decade or more ago. But he batted away questions about energy density, weight and size, saying you wouldn't ask a woman her age, and you never ask a battery its weight." He added those questions would be answered in future, in more episodes of the I Donut Believe complete multimedia experience."Donut Lab (YouTube)Consequently, the weekly video series will continue until the full details of the first generation battery have been revealed. Lehtimaki then teased that this cell would be shipping, and the videos will shift focus to the second-generation cell with far better specs. But producing the I Donut Believe series - which, it's worth mentioning is a marketing function of the company trying to sell us a new product - was costly, and had run over budget, which has led the company to open its own merch store, including $70 t-shirts and $141 hoodies.If you're already facing credible accusations of perpetuating a scam, and your big reveal is to double down on misdirection, it's not a good look. Lehtimaki ended the video by talking about how much better Donut Labs' second-generation battery was, with a staged outtake showing a notepad listing the specs for a third-generation battery with 1,000 Wh/kg energy density, 100C charge speed and durability for a million cycles - due to be announced at a future CES.AnalysisThe release of these tests has seen interested parts of the internet engage in a near-Zapruder level of interrogation. People have pored over every facet of the reports and videos trying to work out what exactly is inside Donut Lab's battery. A number of prominent YouTubers have produced deep dives on the matter, each one claiming the cell is real, or not. There are countless Reddit threads where people are picking apart the voltage graphs and claims in the reports. And it seems every week there is a new revelation about what Donut's technology is and where it came from. Plenty of people online are chasing down threads tied to energy technology companies like Holyvolt and CT-Coating, or examining the charge graphs against a nickel manganese cobalt cell. I'll spare you the details (for now). Finnish newspaper Kauppalehti decried the results of the fifth test, saying the cell didn't lose its vacuum. It quoted Finnish battery expert Juho Heiska, who said the company has just used a traditional cell that is sufficiently hardy to withstand this abuse in the short term.Donut Labs (YouTube)Even to a non-expert, there's clearly a gap between what Donut promised and what its tests are showing. For instance, the company said it would be able to fast charge a Verge TS to full in less than 10 minutes. But, in Test Four, it took 12 minutes to get from 9 percent to 80 percent - not a bad charging time, but certainly not as swift as the company pledged. That said, if we take the company's claims at face value, then being able to fast charge a battery at that sort of speed with just air cooling is noteworthy. At least, it will be if you can do that regularly, and one or two trips to the charger don't leave you with what Reddit likes to call a Spicy Pillow afterward.Unfortunately, it's been difficult to find battery researchers willing to go on the record about Donut Labs. I sought out experts in academia who were not tied to industry backing, and so wouldn't be accused of having a vested interest in the matter. But all of them refused to go on the record. More than one I contacted said they were well aware of the saga, and had plenty of feelings about the matter. But they were unwilling to expose themselves to the potentially intensive social media scrutiny that comes from weighing in.I'm Donut skepticalPersonally, I've been suspicious of how Donut Labs has gone about demonstrating its technology. After all, if you were actually confident about your product and its technology, you would surely be able to share basic information about it. Table stakes stuff, like the weight and size of the battery cell you handed over for testing. As ElectronicDesign notes, data like that would help us all see if its energy density claims hold water. Instead, the company has engaged in an ornate kabuki which only serves to further undermine its case. You can go a long way on the back of very little trust, but the grander the promises get and the less eager you are to share evidence, the faster that trust evaporates.And, you know how someone spends a lot of time talking around something, so as to not be caught in a deliberate lie? Donut Labs' videos can feel a lot like that, since there are so many things it's intentionally not making clear. Rather than taking the chance to offer even a small amount of substantive evidence to support its initial claims, it has instead moved the goalposts. So, rather than talking about the efficacy of its first-generation product, it's dangling the second and third in front of us to hopefully distract us.Look, I want to be even-handed, and give the company the fairest shake that I can, and obviously if the cell can deliver on its promises, I'll be overjoyed. But we've all seen scams before, and until Donut Lab starts offering up a lot more data, it hasn't earned anything close to the benefit of the doubt.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/whats-going-on-with-donut-lab-173007121.html?src=rss
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April's PS Plus Monthly Games include Lords of the Fallen and a trio of remastered Tomb Raider ports
by Lawrence Bonk on (#74NA3)
Sony just revealed a trio of PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for April and it's a pretty stacked lineup. These will all be playable on April 7 for subscribers on any tier. After downloading, the games will stay in a player's library as long as the subscription remains active.First up, there's Lords of the Fallen for PS5. This is a sequel to 2014's Lords of the Fallen, despite having the same exact name. The 2023 release boasts a much larger world than the original, but similar fast-paced gameplay. It's an action RPG with nine character classes and hundreds of weapons to choose from. There's also a dual-world mechanic that's (sort of) like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. It was generally well-reviewed and a success with players. There's another sequel scheduled for release later this year.Tomb Raider I-III Remastered is a collection of ports first released back in 2024. These updated versions of old-school PlayStation classics boast updated graphics, with the ability to instantly switch back to the retro polygonal look. There's a new challenge mode that offers players the ability to replay levels with customized modifiers to complete achievements. This is a great entry point for Lara Croft fans who never got to play the originals. The collection is available on PS4 and PS5.Sword Art Online Fractured Daydream is a live-service action RPG for PS5 owners with a heavy emphasis on co-op gameplay. Around 20 players can adventure simultaneously in teams of five parties scattered throughout the world. The story is a bit of a mess, pulling in characters from across the franchise's many entries. This approach sort of reminds me of something like Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, which uses narrative trickery to allow characters from multiple games to team up.As always, the introduction of new titles means that some old games have gotta go. PS Plus members have until April 6 to download March's lineup, which include PGA Tour 2K25, Monster Hunter Rise, Slime Rancher 2 and The Elder Scrolls Online Collection: Gold Road.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/aprils-ps-plus-monthly-games-include-lords-of-the-fallen-and-a-trio-of-remastered-tomb-raider-ports-172105756.html?src=rss
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by Will Shanklin on (#74NA4)
Here's a feature that would've been a lot more useful before this week. Amid recent hours-long airport lines, United is adding security wait times to its app. However, the feature arrives a few days after security lines began returning to normal. Hey, at least it'll be there for the next shutdown.At launch, the feature is only available for United's hub airports. That includes Chicago O'Hare, Denver, Houston, LAX, Newark, San Francisco and Washington Dulles. Passengers traveling through any of those locations will find the feature in the Travel section of the United app. It will display separate wait times for standard security and TSA PreCheck lines.However, timing is everything, and that's where United comes up short. This week, airport security lines finally returned to normal as TSA workers began receiving their first paychecks in over a month. Go figure: That led to better attendance and, therefore, short wait times.Over 60,000 TSA employees had been working without pay since the partial government shutdown began in February. The DHS shutdown continues, but President Trump belatedly ordered the agency on Friday to begin processing back pay for TSA employees. When asked why he hadn't signed the order much earlier, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt cited an "existential crisis" at airports. (Translation: It contributed to an existential polling crisis for the president.)This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/the-united-app-adds-airport-security-wait-times-after-lines-return-to-normal-164315823.html?src=rss
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by Kris Holt on (#74N77)
SpaceX has reportedly taken the step many onlookers have long expected: filing paperwork to hold an initial public offering (IPO) on the stock market and become a publicly traded company. Rumors had long pointed toward the IPO taking place by July.The company filed draft IPO registration paperwork with the US Securities and Exchange Commission confidentially, according to Bloomberg. As such, the public won't get a chance to closely scrutinize SpaceX's finances just yet. Taking the confidential approach means SpaceX can obtain feedback from the SEC before making the details public and announcing key factors like the price range and number of shares it's planning to sell at the outset.SpaceX is said to have designs on holding the largest IPO in history. It's reportedly looking to raise $75 billion in the offering, which would far exceed the current record held by Saudi Aramco, which pulled in $24 billion in its 2019 IPO.It's expected that SpaceX will seek an IPO valuation of $1.75 trillion. When the Elon Musk-led business swallowed up the Elon Musk-led xAI earlier this year (which means SpaceX is now the parent of X and Grok), the entire company was valued at $1.25 trillion.SpaceX is reportedly planning to use the funds it brings in from its IPO to turbocharge its various ambitions, including its struggling Starship program. The company also has designs on building a base on the moon, going to Mars and putting AI data centers in orbit.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/spacex-has-reportedly-filed-for-the-biggest-ipo-in-history-154547537.html?src=rss
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by Lawrence Bonk on (#74N78)
Lucid Motors has recalled over 4,000 Gravity SUVs after discovering a problem with seat belts. The company told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that some of the anchors for the second-row seat belts weren't welded properly. This means that there's a chance they won't actually hold passengers during a collision.The company blames the issue on a seat supplier changing its manufacturing process "without notice to or approval by Lucid." It says it has reverted to the original design and that newer models aren't impacted by the recall. Vehicles manufactured after February 14, 2026 are good to go.Lucid will have to inspect each and every Gravity SUV affected by the recall and potentially install a new bracket or a whole new seat. Owners will receive instructions to bring their vehicles to service centers. The company hasn't reported any injuries related to the defect, which is good news.4,000 may not sound like a particularly high number, but this isn't Toyota or Ford. The number accounts for nearly every Gravity SUV manufactured since it launched last year, according to The Tech Buzz. It's been reported that the company sold around 15,800 vehicles in 2025, but that accounts for every model in the lineup.
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by Matt Tate on (#74N79)
MindsEye developer Build a Rocket Boy remains so convinced that corporate foul play contributed to the disastrous launch of its debut game that it's now planning to prove it to its audience via in-game content.In a wide-ranging interview with GamesBeat, BARB CEO and CTO Mark Gerhard said MindsEye will soon receive a multiplayer update, as well as a new mission called Blacklist in which the studio will "share some of the evidence of the sabotage with the community." Gerhard didn't elaborate further, beyond revealing that the new mission will also introduce a playable female character, but promised further updates to the game in the coming months.BARB hopes its DLC will inspire the MindsEye communityto create their own user-generated content with its Arcadia platform, which was always the long-term plan for the troubled action game. "The end state we want to be at is where the community can make their own [content] and can dream up their own creations, and again, without being a studio or needing to program or anything," Gerhard told GamesBeat. "They can actually make really fun and compelling experiences for themselves and their friends. That's our mission. And I think that's going to be more and more evident over the next few months."MindsEye was riddled with bugs and performance issues when it launched last June, resulting in players demanding refunds and the studio hurriedly attempting to patch things up. Layoffs soon followed, with BARB co-CEO Lezlie Benzies reportedly addressing the remaining staff to reassure them of the game's future. According to an IGNreport, the former president of Rockstar North and GTA producer told employees at the time that saboteurs both external and within the company were to blame for the game's nightmarish rollout.In his new interview with GamesBeat, Gerhard took responsibility for the bugs and crashes that led to what he admitted was "without doubt, the worst launch in history," but echoed Benzies' previous comments about the reputational damage the game suffered. "Obviously, we were kind of caught flat-footed on that," he said. "We didn't counter the negative narrative. We weren't sophisticated enough to have done that. But, we're aware. We've called that out. Some of the negativity has been orchestrated around this, and thankfully, as a result, it stopped."Gerhard said that the studio has collected "very strong evidence" of the alleged leaks following months of "thorough investigations," adding that the case is now in the hands of authorities in the UK and US.BARB recently parted ways with co-publisher IOI Partners (a subsidiary of Hitman developer IO Interactive), and will be solely responsible for publishing responsibilities on MindsEye going forward. As a result, the planned MindsEye and Hitman crossover event is no longer going ahead.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/mindseye-will-litigate-its-own-launch-sabotage-controversy-in-dlc-form-152344593.html?src=rss
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by Igor Bonifacic on (#74N7A)
What should have been a routine release has revealed some of the features Anthropic has been working on for Claude Code. As reported by Ars Technica, The Verge and others, after the company released Claude Code's 2.1.88 update on Tuesday, users found it contained a file that exposed the app's source code. Before Anthropic took action to plug the leak, the codebase was uploaded to a public GitHub repository, where it was subsequently copied more than 50,000 times. All told, the entire internet (and Anthropic's competitors) got a chance to examine more than 512,000 lines of code and 2,000 TypeScript files.In the aftermath, some people claim to have found evidence of upcoming features Anthropic is working to develop. Over on X, Alex Finn, the founder of AI startup Creator Buddy, says he found a flag for a feature called Proactive mode that will see Claude Code work even when the user hasn't prompted it to do something. Finn claims he also found evidence of a crypto-based payment system that could potentially allow AI agents to make autonomous payments. In a Reddit post spotted by The Verge, another person found evidence that Anthropic might have been working on a Tamagotchi-like virtual companion that "reacts to your coding" as a kind of April Fools joke."A Claude Code release included some internal source code. No sensitive customer data or credentials were involved or exposed," an Anthropic spokesperson told Bleepingcomputer. "This was a release packaging issue caused by human error, not a security breach. We're rolling out measures to prevent this from happening again."As with any other leak, it's worth remembering plans can and often do change. Just because a company has written the code to support a feature doesn't mean it will eventually ship said feature.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/claude-code-leak-suggests-anthropic-is-working-on-a-proactive-mode-for-its-coding-tool-150107049.html?src=rss
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by Devindra Hardawar on (#74N7B)
If you're feeling anxious about AI and what it means for the future of humanity, you should watch The AI Doc: Or, How I Became an Apocaloptimist. As I noted in my review, the film aims to deliver some clarity amid all the hype. Now that it's in theaters, we sat down with director Daniel Roher, who won an Oscar for his film Navalny, to dive deeper into his complicated feelings around AI.The entire topic made him nervous, Roher said, so he decided to team up with similarly anxious colleagues to demystify AI using film. He describes the goal of the project to be a sort of "first date" with AI, a way to hear about its potential benefits from AI boosters, while also taking in the many negatives brought up by critics. It's probably too late to stop AI entirely, but he thinks we can at least try to find ways to limit the worst impulses of the tech industry."I wanted to make this movie because I was scared shitless, that's the crux of it," he said in an interview on the Engadget Podcast. "I didn't understand what AI was. I didn't understand why everyone was talking about it and why it seemed to be this thing that came outta the woodwork and all of a sudden, people were talking about it like it was the apocalypse or like it was gonna be the most optimistic, greatest thing ever."Ultimately, Roher arrived at the term apocaloptimist," which balances the contradictory ideas that AI can both seriously harm society, and that we can still shape the future by criticizing or outright rejecting it. "It's a worldview. It's choosing not to buy into a binary that's asking us to see this as either apocalypse and the end of the world, or through the rose-colored glasses of unvarnished optimism, which is also sort of a fallacy," he said.On the one hand, he's well aware the major players pushing AI are, at best, flawed. When I mentioned Marc Andreessen's recent comments about proudly having no inner thoughts, Roher added,"They're just fucking weird. They're just nerds who became billionaires because they were born at the right time and they had the right interests. They're brilliant in their own way and they have abilities, but they don't understand what it is to exist. They don't know what real human beings navigate and go through.They have a very narrow worldview that's callous and cold and calculated."For many, the overnight ubiquity of this largely untested technology and the collective wealth and power of those supporting it means rampant negative externalities are all but guaranteed. But Roher's apocaloptimism (we'll see if the term quite catches on) chafes against cynicism and doomsaying. He points to OpenAI's Sora video generation app, which was heavily criticized as a tool that could lead to more realistic deepfakes, but was unceremoniously killed last week."I think people were [made] uncomfortable by it, and good," Roher said. And, shame on OpenAI for releasing this thing without any thoughtfulness. I guess the low bar of like, at least they had the decency to pull back and retract it, but only after public condemnation." He added, "to the cynical people saying we're all fucked, I'm like, no fuck you, we're not. Collective action matters."And notably, the entire goal is to think more deeply about the uses of technology than the people actually creating it. "These guys, when you actually sit down with them, they don't have clarity, they can't make you feel better. They don't know themselves. They're just motivated by the unbridled optimism of the greatest profit-making technology in the history of humanity. "This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-ai-docs-director-was-scared-shitless-by-ai-so-he-made-a-movie-about-it-145747961.html?src=rss
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by Sam Rutherford on (#74N3X)
Today at the New York International Auto Show, Subaru announced its first three-row electric SUV: the Getaway.Like Subaru's other EVs, the Getaway is based on Toyota's e-TNGA platform and it shares many features and specs with the 2027 Highlander EV. Initially, all models will come with the company's Symmetrical all-wheel drive system, 420 horsepower and a native NACS-compatible charging port. That said, charging speeds don't look especially impressive as the Getaway's estimated 150kW system is expected to refill its battery from 10 to 80 percent in around 30 minutes.The first batch of Getaways will arrive late this year as 2027 models featuring a 95.8kWh battery that Subaru says will provide more than 300 miles of range on a single charge and a zero to 60 time of under five seconds. It will also come with preconditioning tech to help maintain charging speeds in cold weather (down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit). Then later in the first half of 2027, Subaru will release a standard-range model with a 77kWh power pack and AWD. The EV SUV offers 8.3 inches of ground clearance while its X-Mode system provides settings for Snow/Dirt, Deep Snow/Mud, Grip control and Downhill Assist along with a tow rating of up to 3,500 pounds.The Getaway's infotainment system is based around a 14-inch touchscreen with support for both Android Auto and CarPlay.SubaruOn the inside, the Getaway will offer seating for up to seven people by way of a second-row bench, though if you don't mind dropping the passenger count to six, you can also opt for two captain's chairs. Its infotainment system is based around a 14-inch touchscreen with support for both wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, while the driver gets a secondary 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster.As you'd expect from a Subaru, the Getaway also comes with a lot of outdoorsy features like ladder-type roof rails on "most" trims, plus the option of 19 or 20-inch wheels and up to 45.6 cubic feet of cargo space with the third row seats folded down. Heated front seats will also come standard, with the ability to upgrade to ventilated seats in the first two rows and a heated steering wheel on more premium trims.Subaru claims the Getaway has more cargo space than a Kia EV 9 with the third row folded. SubaruIn the end, while the Getaway might not be the most original EV SUV due to its similarities to Toyota's upcoming Highlander EV, for any Subaru fans with larger families, this vehicle could be just what they need to make the jump from gas to electric.Specific details on pricing and trim levels are expected closer to the Getaway's official release date in late 2026.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/the-getaway-is-subarus-first-three-row-electric-suv-142500177.html?src=rss
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by Nathan Ingraham on (#74N3Y)
The horrible winter of 2026 is behind us in New England; now we've moved on to the season where there's a threat of rain basically every day. Given that, the updated Storm Radar app from The Weather Company (owners of the Weather Channel app) caught my eye. There are tons of good weather apps out there, and I'm the kind of nerd that likes to try them all, and Storm Radar feels pretty unique to me.The main interface is, as you'd expect, your local radar. Tapping on any point of the map calls up a detailed forecast for that exact point, with data coming via The Weather Company's gridded forecast on demand" (FOD) system. The default view is precipitation, but there are multiple other layers you can add including temperature, cloud cover, nearby lighting strikes, wind and so forth. There are also overlays for storm cells being tracked; you can tap on those and see things like the direction, speed and range of the storm.In addition to that standard radar view, Storm Radar has just added something called high-res single site radar. As the name suggests, it pulls data specifically from a single weather station in much greater detail than the typical radar map; The Weather Company says the standard view is based on its FOD system which uses a variety of sources, including the company's own APIs.The single-site radar, on the other hand, includes reflectivity data, which measures the amount of energy returned to a radar receiver from precipitation. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says reflectivity is he most frequently used product by forecasters to indicate where precipitation and severe weather is occurring." That's a level of specificity I find delightful.Naturally, there's some AI baked into the updated app as well. In my testing, it responds pretty clearly to natural language questions like what's the best time to go for a run."There's a more conversational element to the AI experience that should be rolling out in the coming weeks, as well.Like the standard Weather Channel app, you can use Storm Radar for free, but its most advanced featuers require a premium subscription. $4 a month or $20 per year unlocks all of Storm Radar's features; you can also get a Weather Channel Premium Pro subscription for $5 a month or $30 a year which includes Storm Radar as well as removing ads and providing more detailed data (like hourly forecasts for eight days rather than two). That pricing is about in line with what other weather apps are charging for premium features these days. So if the basic iPhone weather app isn't cutting it, Storm Radar may be worth a look. It's only on iOS for now, but it'll eventually come to Android too.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/the-new-storm-radar-app-is-a-treasure-trove-of-data-for-weather-nerds-133646812.html?src=rss
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by Will Shanklin on (#74N3Z)
A couple of years after its overseas debut, Kia's EV3 will finally come to the US. The automaker said at the New York International Auto Show that the 2027 edition of the subcompact electric SUV will arrive stateside later this year. Kia won't announce pricing until closer to its sale date, but it has previously said it would target a starting price of $35,000.The EV3 could be a welcome addition for Americans shopping for a smaller electric SUV. Compact ones that won't break the bank are a relative scarcity in the US, especially after Volvo killed the EX30. The EV3 is close to a 1:1 match with the Kia Sportage, the automaker's best-selling model, in terms of size and target price.Kia's SUV will be available in standard-range (58.3 kWh) and long-range (81.4 kWh) options. The former has an advertised range of 220 miles, while the larger one ups that to 320 miles.The EV3 has a native NACS charging port on the front passenger side.KiaThe EV3 uses Kia's 400-volt architecture, so it won't charge as quickly as the EV9 and other 800-volt models. Still, Kia says DC fast charging can power the EV9 from 10 to 80 percent in 29 minutes for the standard model or 31 minutes for the long-range tier. The vehicle includes a native NACS charging port on the front passenger side. Meanwhile, Kia's Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) feature, which can provide power to your home during peak usage hours, will be available as a premium option.As for how much the EV3 will cost, Kia said in 2023 it would target a price range of $35,000 to $50,000. However, the world has changed slightly since then, so we'll have to wait until later this year to confirm. You can learn more on Kia's website.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/kia-shows-off-the-2027-ev3-at-the-ny-auto-show-132500658.html?src=rss
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by James Trew on (#74N1C)
Way back in 2017, Roland carved out a little niche for itself with the introduction of the Go:Mixer line. The small, portable audio interfaces are a convenient way to connect a mic and multiple musical instruments (or audio sources) to your phone for more professional public performances or on-the-go recording. At this year's NAMM show, the company unveiled the latest in the family - the Go:Mixer Studio - and it's the most premium version to date.The Studio adds a display, multitrack output and onboard effects along with a far more luxurious design. At $300, there's also a far more luxurious price tag. The Go:Mixer Pro-X was already a capable option, and competing products from Mackie and Zoom are also vying for your hard-earned musical dollars. The big question, then, is can the Studio make a case for itself at this elevated price point?Right off the bat, in terms of usefulness, the Studio is a solid step up from the Pro-X thanks to the addition of a second XLR port. So if your band is a duo, or you simply need two microphones, each performer can now have their own. This also opens the Studio up for basic podcast situations, too. Technically, you could always connect more microphones through other inputs, but now you can do so without adapters or additional hardware like preamps. The rest of the connectivity remains similar with 1/4-inch line-in and guitar ports, headset mic support, a 3.5mm aux input and USB-C for audio from your phone and connecting to the app.Other headline upgrades include a much higher maximum sample rate of 24bit/192kHz (the Pro-X capped out at 16bit/48kHz) and there's MIDI connectivity for the first time in the Go:Mixer series. The new effects consist of a compressor, EQ and reverb. EQ and compression are available at the channel level, allowing for a good amount of creative control over your mix, while reverb is global. There's a decent selection of different types of reverb, too, with enough controls to configure them to your taste. I found some of them to be a bit robotic, or not very musical, but others sounded more traditional and appropriate for my vocals and synthesizers.The Go:Mixer series was doing just fine without a display up until this point, but the benefits of having one are instantly clear. On the Pro-X, the only visual feedback for your levels was a solitary LED that indicated your audio was in the red. If you had multiple inputs, you might not even know which one was too loud. The first benefit of the Studio's display, then, is visible VU meters. They're not huge, and the display only shows information for three tracks at a time. This means you might have to page through a few screens to see the one you want, but it's infinitely more useful than before. The next obvious advantage of the screen is being able to control settings on the device via a menu. Navigation is intuitive, with the screen divided into three sections, corresponding to the three knobs just below it. The default screen, for example, shows the channels Mic 1, Mic 2 and Guitar/Bass. Turn the first knob clockwise to change the gain of Mic 1. The second knob for Mic 2 and so on. Click a knob and, where applicable, you'll enter a sub-menu where those three dials control whatever is shown above them. This dynamic system works pretty well and took seconds before it felt natural.The main limitation is that you can only see three of the mixer channels on screen at a time and there's no way to manually reorder them. If you have a microphone connected and USB audio playing at the same time, you can't see the levels or control both of those things from the same screen. You have to keep paging screens back and forth.The good news is that Roland's Go:Mixer Cam mobile app does offer a visual mixer that lets you see more or less every channel on screen at once and adjust levels quickly that way. It's primarily designed for creating videos of your performance, but it doubles as a remote mixer if needed. There is one caveat with the app, though, which is that you won't be able to use your phone as a USB audio source - say, for backing tracks - if you want to record video with the Go:Mixer Cam app. That's something to be mindful of. Roland 's Go:Mixer Studio has a display for the first time in the series James Trew for Engadget The app does have a cool feature, which could also be a lifesaver: You can change the mix" after recording. If you record a performance, but find that your vocals are a bit low, or your synth is too high in the mix, you can adjust the levels and re-export it with better balance. You have options to export as video or audio only, so you can share one to YouTube and then a version for Soundcloud all from the same app. Small detail, but if you want to use the app and have the mixer sample rate set to something other than 48kHz, it'll warn you that it needs to revert to 48kHz and restart the device before you can carry on.If you prefer recording on the desktop, there's also a GoMixer Editor app for Windows and Mac. It's actually a much easier way to change settings and see what's going on thanks to the extra visual real estate. The EQ section for each channel looks like a regular software EQ where you raise or lower points on a frequency chart. The compressor also has visual feedback to show when it's active, which is lacking on the device itself. Obviously, the Studio has a mobile focus, but the desktop app has two big selling points.First, if you prefer to set your mix levels, compression amount and so on at home, you can do that more easily with the desktop app and then save it in a memory slot. You can then quickly recall this Scene" on the device while out at a gig. The second is that, for the first time in the series (according to me at least), the Studio is a viable mixer and audio interface for the desktop. The build quality is solid and weighty, not like the light plastic of previous models. It feels premium and this could just as well be used at home for streaming and podcasting as much as on the go. The desktop app makes it even more useful in this scenario.In terms of what's missing, this might be very use-case specific. I enjoy using this for electronic music production or pseudo DJ type performances. As such, I'd love to see at least one fader rather than just knobs, but this is true of every model to date. I'd also love for there to be a way to see all the channels at once on the device's screen. I know it'd be a bit cramped and there'd be no easy way to adjust the mix at the same time, but as an overview you could drop into, it might be handy. And if we're out here making wishes for any Studio Pro model, an SD card slot for native recording would really elevate the portability element so you wouldn't need to connect a phone, just a power bank. The Go:Mixer Studio has two XLR inputs James Trew for Engadget Roland has a few competitors in this space, most notably IK Multemida which makes a few portable interfaces. Perhaps the most similar is the iRig Pro Duo and Quattro. The Duo comes in a little cheaper than the Studio at around $235 but lacks a display and build quality. I also personally find IK Multimedia's apps, while functional, less user friendly. Mackie has the M Caster Studio ($200) which adds Bluetooth connectivity but has fewer physical ports - that one too is a little older. Zoom's interfaces often center on their ability to record directly onto the device, but have more of a vocal/spoken word focus. The H5 Studio ($299) has a display, built-in mic and onboard recording, but its mixer functionality and outputs for live performance are secondary features.For musical performers, Roland continues to dominate this niche, and the Go:Mixer Studio is clearly the company's most refined interface to date. The connectivity covers most use cases, even podcasting, and the layout of the dials makes it easy to use in live environments. The display is a welcome addition that goes a long way to making this feel both more useful and more premium. Perhaps the biggest selling point this time around is that the Studio no longer feels like an extra interface you bring with you for live gigs. It can easily be your main desktop audio interface too, making that $300 price tag suddenly feel a lot more palatable.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/roland-gomixer-studio-review-portable-professional-and-plenty-of-polish-130000723.html?src=rss
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by Sam Rutherford on (#74N1D)
There's just something magical about a robot that can convert into a car, tank or plane. It seems that Hollywood agrees as there are several major franchises based around that concept. As someone who grew up in the 80s and 90s, Transformers hold a special place in my heart, despite Michael Bay's best efforts at tarnishing its legacy. I spent countless hours as a kid playing with Hasbro and Takara's plastic figures, but there was one type of toy I always wanted but never got: a robot that could transform on its own just like the ones I watched on TV. That changed a few years ago when Robosen launched its line of officially licensed auto-converting models, and from what I've seen, its latest release featuring Soundwave might be its best yet.Design: More than meets the eyeAs a follow-up to previous bots featuring Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, Grimlock and others, Soundwave was a superior choice, and Robosen has done a more than respectable job of bringing him to life. Not only can he spit out classic lines performed by original voice actor Frank Welker, both his robot and alt modes are a vision straight out of the first-generation (G1) cartoon. Everywhere you look, there are a ton of lovingly crafted details like the working eject button for the cassette slot and all sorts of lights. Robosen's head sculpt is spot on, and it even includes additional LEDs for his eyes and shoulder cannon. Granted, there is a bit of kibble (aka what fans call out of place parts leftover from transformation), like hands that don't properly fold away when Soundwave turns into a boombox, but that's really nitpicking. Between his incredibly accurate design, vocoder-powered vocals and an imposing stature that stands at around 14 inches tall, there's no way you can call this rendition of Soundwave uncharismatic. A simply superior head sculpt. Sam Rutherford for Engadget However, the real magic happens when you turn him on (there's a little button on his back) and say "Hey, Soundwave." From here, you can use more than 50 different voice commands to boss him around like you're the leader of the Decepticons. This includes asking him to say iconic lines, respond to an Autobot attack or just wishing someone a happy birthday. Naturally, the most impressive request is asking him to transform, at which point 28 high-precision servo motors and multiple motion sensors coordinate. This allows Soundwave to convert from boombox mode to robot and back again, complete with the required sound effects. Even as a jaded adult, there's still something incredibly enchanting about watching a Transformer actually transform on its own. But that pales in comparison to the one-of-a-kind reaction my four-year-old son gave me when I repeated the process for him. There was a joy in his face I'm not sure a grown-up can truly express, as he gets to experience this without knowing this bot costs a cool $1,400. Robosen's free mobile app features a D-pad so you can easily tell the robot where to walk. Sam Rutherford for Engadget While testing Soundwave's various commands, I did notice that his voice recognition can be somewhat hit or miss. I found that even a little background noise can cause issues. To be consistently heard, you have to speak louder than you think you should. The real key is being very deliberate with a sharp "Hi" or "Hey" to activate Soundwave's wake phrase properly. Alternatively, if you prefer not to yell at your robots, there's also a free companion app that allows you to send commands by simply pressing a button, which was super easy to set up and quickly became my preferred control scheme. Here is Robosen's version of Soundwave (right) compared to the Studio Series 86 figure (left). Sam Rutherford for Engadget In addition to making it easier to get Soundwave to walk around (it's much more fun to use a virtual D-pad than yell "Walk forward" all the time), the app also provides a more straightforward way of discovering what he can do while reducing the ambiguity of voice commands. There are handy buttons for all his voice lines and poses, plus there's a toolkit for creating some of your own. You can also download more from the app, though there weren't any for me to test out because Soundwave wasn't officially out yet at the time of writing. There's even a Mini Theatre mode that allows the bot to perform short skits, and if you're lucky enough to own some of Robosen's other Transformers toys, like Megatron, some of these scenes can even be performed in tandem. I don't think any Autobots have a chance against a Soundwave this big. Sam Rutherford for Engadget One awkward thing about Roboen's more sophisticated approach to toy robots is that Soundwave loses some of his structural integrity when his motors are off. For example, when you power him down in robot mode, he bends over backwards and gets stuck halfway between his humanoid and boombox forms. I assume this is to prevent him from falling over, which is a good thing; it just looks kind of weird. On the flip side, if you pick him up while in stereo mode, his limbs tend to droop. However, perhaps the biggest downside to Soundwave is one inherent to his design. Because his alt mode is a boombox instead of a vehicle like Optimus, Bumblebee and others, he can't pull double duty as a remote control car. But what Soundwave lacks in mobility, he makes up for with his signature acoustic skills.Audio: Not just a bot, he's a real boombox too From the front, Soundwave's boombox alt mode looks damn near perfect. Sam Rutherford for Engadget Soundwave turning into a boombox that can't play music just wouldn't make sense. Thankfully, that's not an issue as this bot's buttons aren't just for show. Hitting Play lets you listen to original tracks from the G1 cartoon, complete with the ability to pause or skip to the next track. You can also hold the record button to save a personal message for later, though I found this feature has a bit of a learning curve as Soundwave tends to cut out one or two seconds from the beginning and end of a clip. Inside the app, there's also a big list for all of Soundwave's voice lines and poses. Sam Rutherford for Engadget Most importantly, if you want Soundwave to play other tunes, you can pair it with your phone or pretty much any other mobile device and use him just like a typical Bluetooth speaker. Now it probably won't be a surprise when I say that Soundwave's audio quality is mediocre at best. With all the various sensors, motors and moving parts, there probably isn't a ton of room for fancy drivers, so things sound tinny and flat. But in a way, that's kind of endearing because the vast majority of portable speakers back in the 80s didn't sound great either. The one thing I wish Robosen had included was a proper cassette player to really capitalize on Soundwave's classic audio capabilities. That said, even though I still have stacks of CDs and DVDs in my house, I don't have any tapes (despite their resurgence), so I get why that feature didn't make it.Battery life It may not be period accurate, but the addition of a USB-C port around back for power is a really nice touch. Sam Rutherford for Engadget Soundwave comes with a built-in 1,650mAh battery which takes about 120 minutes to charge from dead to full while offering a standby time of around 60 minutes. During my testing, I found you can get a solid 20 to 30 minutes of playtime out of him, which felt like plenty. Of course,that depends a ton on how much moving around you tell him to do. And while it certainly isn't period authentic, I really appreciate the inclusion of a USB-C port for charging.Wrap-upThe funny thing about Robosen's Soundwave is that a toy like this would have been priceless to me as a child. But now that I'm older and I have to attach a value that goes beyond its basic price, things are a lot trickier.I love Robosen's attention to detail. The figure looks incredible and getting voice lines from the original actor shows there's more than meets the eye to the robot's design. But most importantly, seeing Soundwave transform on his own and stomp around like he does in the show will never get old. As you'd expect from a toy this expensive, Robosen's packaging is excellent. Sam Rutherford for Engadget On the other hand, $1,400 can buy the whole family a nice three-day vacation or more than two dozen regular Transformers toys. That kind of math makes it difficult to add this Cybertronian to the household register. But for anyone who has a budget similar to a Michael Bay movie, this take on Soundwave really does feel like a dream come true. Aside from some of Robosen's other products, this robot is certainly made of sterner stuff.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/robosen-soundwave-review-a-childhood-dream-made-real-120000804.html?src=rss
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by Mariella Moon on (#74N1E)
Banijay is launching the Black Mirror Experience, starting with Montreal in May with additional locations to be announced in the future. Specifically, it will be produced by Banijay Live Studio, the new subsidiary of the production company that owns Black Mirror, in partnership with VR firm Univrse. The studio describes it as an interactive virtual reality experience that blends physical space and VR... designed to blur the lines of fiction and reality in which you become the main character." While it is based on the hit TV show, you apparently don't need any prior knowledge of the series to be able to enjoy it.The experience, which will span 60 minutes, can accommodate one person and groups of up to six people. Players 12-years-old and above are welcome to participate. It puts the players in the showroom of a fictional tech giant called Phaethon that's unveiling the LifeAgent, a robotic AI companion that's supposed to make their owners' life easier. LifeAgent does a full-body scan of its owner so it would know their needs before they do. But in true Black Mirror fashion, once it sees through [their] eyes, it knows exactly how to help... whether [they] asked it to or not."You can take part in the event at Infinity Experiences in Montreal, where you'll be able to play it in French, English and Spanish.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/an-immersive-black-mirror-experience-is-launching-in-montreal-115915992.html?src=rss
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by Ian Carlos Campbell on (#74MZ1)
WWDC 2026, the latest version of Apple's yearly developer conference, runs from June 8-12, and by all appearances the company has some important updates to outline. In comparison to Liquid Glass, the design material Apple introduced last year and now uses across all its operating systems, the new features the company is rumored to announce might not be aesthetic, but they could make just as big of a splash. Namely because Apple might finally be ready to show off its second stab at an overhauled version of Siri.If you're curious to see the company's new plans for yourself, you can watch Apple's WWDC 2026 keynote live on its website, YouTube channel or the Apple Developer Bilibili channel in China. Apple will also host its Platforms State of the Union stream and individual developer workshops on its developer website if you want to learn even more details about the software updates the company will release later this year. Luckily, we do have some sense of what Apple has in store, and it looks like stability improvements and AI are the company's big focuses for the updates coming to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS and tvOS this fall.A Snow Leopard-esque approach to stability and performanceApple released Mac OS X Snow Leopard in 2009, primarily as a way to clean up the performance and refine the new features the company released with Mac OS X Leopard two years prior. The decision to essentially "take a year off" to focus on making everything about the company's desktop operating system feel better was well-received, and Apple is apparently planning to have iOS 27 serve a similar role.Bloomberg reports that Apple's upcoming update will be "focused on improving the software's quality and underlying performance" and that the company's "engineering teams are now combing through Apple's operating systems, hunting for bloat to cut, bugs to eliminate and any opportunity to meaningfully boost performance and overall quality." Those fixes will presumably extend to the company's other operating systems, too.Some of this effort may also be focused on cleaning up the visual changes introduced in Apple's big switch to Liquid Glass. The design overhaul has been controversial among the company's diehard fans, and Apple has already introduced tweaks in updates that arrived after the release of iOS 26 to make Liquid Glass interfaces more legible. Bloomberg reports the company could go a step further in its next updates and add a system-wide slider that will allow users to adjust the intensity of Liquid Glass (visual effects like translucency and reflectivity) they want in the interface.The chatbot-ification of SiriWhile stability and performance improvements will be a major focus of this year's updates, Apple is also rumored to be making some major changes to Siri. When the company first introduced Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2024, it promised to launch an updated version of the voice assistant that could use your personal context (like the information securely stored on your iPhone) to act across apps. Apple delayed those features in March 2025 and then announced a partnership with Google in January 2026 to use Gemini models to presumably make them possible.Those features might finally arrive in this year's updates, but Apple is reportedly also changing how users interact with Siri by making the assistant more like a chatbot, according to Bloomberg. This would make the assistant more interactive and natural to speak to, and could open up other possibilities, like letting users direct Siri to perform two actions at the same time. Developers will reportedly also be able to integrate their own AI assistants with Siri, much like OpenAI has with ChatGPT.New places to talk to AIThe chatbot version of Siri will be accessible in the usual ways, but also reportedly through a standalone Siri app. The new app will let users prompt the assistant to take care of tasks on their device, search the web and even access news, not unlike current Gemini and ChatGPT apps. Bloomberg writes that the app will also be a way to review past conversations with Siri and receive suggestions of prompts to try with the new chatbot version of the assistant.Users will also be able to interact with Siri inside Apple's other apps via a new feature called "Ask Siri." This may appear as an option in app menus, and allow you to ask the AI assistant questions about content in the app. It's not clear if this will be as in-depth or capable as Google's Ask Maps or Ask Photos features, but it at least seems like Apple's thinking along the same lines as its partner.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/what-to-expect-from-wwdc-2026-110000086.html?src=rss
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by Daniel Cooper on (#74MZ2)
Salesforce has unveiled the newest version of Slack, which comes with a whole host of new AI features to add to its ever-growing catalog. Naturally, many of these tools are embedded into Slackbot, which the company had already pledged to turn into a personalized AI companion." The new features include the stuff you'd expect, such as transcription, note taking and deep research, as well as integrations with the rest of the Salesforce family. But it'll also get reusable skills," which sound a lot like automations, where a team can define a task from start to finish, and then the bot will run it whenever it's called for.In fact, there's a big focus on sharing and co-developing tools within organizations, so if you find a prompt that actually gets useful data out of Slackbot, you can share that with your team. And Slackbot will now analyze how you work as it attempts to discern your preferences, workflows and shortcuts. Which, if you read it in one way, sounds as if it's actively looking to work out how to do your job so it can just replace you. Of course, that probably won't happen, right? Right?Salesforce is also using these new Slack tools as a way to gently upsell small businesses toward its bigger products. New Slackbot is equipped with native customer management," reading your channels, learning what goes on, and keeping your deals, contacts and call notes up to date automatically." In its release, it even says that growing firms can start simple inside Slack, scale up to Salesforce when ready." Similarly, every Salesforce customer will now be getting Slack bundled in, to help ensure all of your relationships and work remain in the same place under Slackbot's helpful eye.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/slacks-upgraded-ai-can-analyze-how-you-work-103007261.html?src=rss
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by Mariella Moon on (#74MX0)
Artemis II, the first crewed mission under the Artemis program, is scheduled to launch today, April 1. NASA is opening a two-hour window for its lift off, starting at 6:24 PM Eastern time, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The agency said the forecast for launch day shows an 80 percent chance of favorable weather conditions" and that, on March 31, its engineers had finished critical health checks on the Space Launch System rocket that the mission will use.On the evening of March 31, the engineers shifted the launch system into its final configuration. In the early hours of April 1, they will activate the ground launch sequencer. You can start watching Artemis II's launch event at 7:45AM ET when the Artemis team will load propellant into the SLS rocket. Full launch coverage begins at 12:50 PM ET on NASA+, Amazon Prime or the YouTube video embedded below.The Artemis II mission will take NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day trip around the moon. It will be NASA's first flight with a crew onboard the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft system, and it will be humanity's first foray into deep space since the Apollo program. During their 10-day mission, the astronauts will observe how journeys beyond Earth's orbit affect human health. Artemis II was supposed to launch in February, but the attempt had failed due to a hydrogen leak. Another attempt in March was delayed yet again due a helium issue. If the launch doesn't take place today as planned, NASA's next launch opportunity is on April 6.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/watch-the-first-crewed-artemis-mission-take-flight-092800981.html?src=rss
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by Anna Washenko on (#74MKX)
Two pieces of good gaming news today. First: Dinosaur Polo Club has shadow dropped a brand new game today. Second, it's available for free on both PC and Mac from Itch.io. The project is called Read the F*cking Manual, or RTFM, and it is a co-op game based on working in tech support.Dinosaur Polo Club is known for previous games Mini Metro and Mini Motorways. Both are stellar examples of simple, elegant game design, and a small group within the company took this game jam concept from passion project to a fully fledged release.Per the description, "Players must work together - or not - in this atmospheric game of trust and communication." The premise is that one player, the Troubleshooter, has the manual for the console, while the other player, the Terminal Operator, has to describe what's on their screen, which stays out of the Troubleshooter's sight. The workplace setting seems particularly apropos, because this is the sort of team-building activity you might do on the job that could be really fun or downright torturous depending on how much you like your colleagues. And the whole experience seems to dance around the horror genre, because there seem to be different endings depending on how much each person stretches the truth about what's really happening.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/dinosaur-polo-club-has-released-a-new-co-op-game-and-its-free-214638400.html?src=rss
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by Devindra Hardawar on (#74MKY)
Against all odds, A24's adaptation of The Backrooms actually looks like a proper elevated horror movie. Hell, it's even got Oscar winner Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave, Serenity) and Cannes favorite Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value) onboard. Judging from the film's fist trailer, which combines The Backrooms creepypasta-born dread around liminal spaces, and A24's slick horror aesthetic, you couldn't tell that its director can't even legally drink in the US yet. Yes folks, Kane Parsons is just 20.Parsons, AKA Kane Pixels, made a splash four years ago with his original Backrooms shorts, the first of which has amassed over 73 million views on YouTube. Those were relatively simple episodes created in Blender, but they did an admirable job of feeling genuinely creepy. Parsons has also dabbled in live action horror shorts with his series The Oldest Room.While Parsons certainly has a ton of internet clout behind him, he also has a strong eye for slow-burn horror. This trailer alone is making me feel uneasy about heading into my dimly lit basement office. He also won't be the first internet creator to reach cinemas this year. Markiplier's adaptation of the indie game Iron Lung was particularly notable, since he funded both the production and theatrical distribution on his own.The Backrooms joins Genki Kawamura's adaptation of the game Exit 8 as another new horror film about spooky liminal spaces. It'll be interesting to see how the two compare. The former started as 4chan stories and images around eerily empty buildings, while the latter was a game where you slowly walked through a repetitive Tokyo subway. There's more room for Parsons to turn The Backrooms into a narrative of his own, whereas Exit 8 is somewhat restricted by the original game.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-backrooms-trailer-combines-creepypasta-dread-and-a24-prestige-horror-213602238.html?src=rss
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by Anna Washenko on (#74MHK)
Toyota is teaming up with Daimler and Volvo to work on fuel cell technology. The Japanese company is signing on to the joint venture cellcentric that Volvo and Daimler launched back in 2020. Once it officially joins, Toyota and cellcentric will collaborate on managing the development and production of fuel cell unit cells."We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to soon be joining Daimler Truck and Volvo Group as partners in building a hydrogen society," Toyota President and CEO Koji Sato said. "cellcentric which possess deep expertise in commercial fields together with Toyota s over 30 years of fuel-cell development in the passenger car sector, can combine their strengths to deliver one of the world-leading fuel cell systems for heavy commercial vehicles."It's a move that runs counter to where the auto industry has been trending. Last year, Stellantis announced that it would end its hydrogen fuel cell development program. That's the company that owns brands including Chrysler, Citroen, Fiat, Jeep and Peugeot. GM also gave up on hydrogen in 2025. Even Toyota had rethought some of its commitment to hydrogen last year, pivoting to emphasize industrial applications rather than commercial ones.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/toyotas-still-trying-to-make-hydrogen-fuel-cells-happen-202237728.html?src=rss
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by Ian Carlos Campbell on (#74MHM)
In a letter shared with Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tesla admitted that its robotaxis are sometimes driven remotely by human operators, Wired reports. Competing self-driving car companies sometimes rely on human operators to tell robotaxi software how to get itself unstuck, but letting operators actually drive those cars remotely is more unusual."As a redundancy measure in rare cases ... [remote assistance operators] are authorized to temporarily assume direct vehicle control as the final escalation maneuver after all other available intervention actions have been exhausted," Karen Steakley, Tesla's director of public policy and business development, shared in a letter to Markey. In those situations, operators are reportedly able to take over Tesla's robotaxis when they're moving at speeds around 2mph or less, and then drive the car at up to 10mph if software permits it.Engadget has contacted Tesla to confirm the details shared in Steakley's letter. We'll update the article if we hear back.As Wired notes, that's a bit different than how other self-driving car companies handle human intervention. For example, Waymo's Driver software can call on human help - Waymo calls them "fleet response" - to offer context and answer questions to help it navigate complicated driving situations. The company claims these workers never drive the robotaxi themselves, but they are able to see the car's environment through its sensors to help it get unstuck. Self-driving car companies typically avoid remote operation, Wired writes, because technical limitations like latency and the limited perspective of a robotaxi's sensors can make it hard to drive them easily and safely.Tesla's approach to self-driving has always cut against the grain, though. Whereas competitors continue to rely on a mix of radar and other sensors to navigate, Tesla has exclusively focused on using cameras for its Full Self Driving (FSD) system. The company has also had to deal with a number of high-profile crashes related to FSD, which prompted a probe by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in October 2025.The company launched its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas in June 2025, in a limited capacity and with human safety drivers sitting in the driver's seat in case of emergency. Tesla is also reportedly testing rides without safety drivers in the same area, which might be why it has contingencies for remote operators to step in.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/teslas-robotaxis-are-reportedly-remotely-driven-by-humans-sometimes-200639550.html?src=rss
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by Karissa Bell on (#74MHN)
TikTok and Cameo are teaming up to make it easier for TikTok users to request personalized videos. The two companies announced a new integration that makes Cameo accessible directly from TikTok for creators and fans.With the update, TikTok creators can add Cameo links directly to their videos and viewers can request a personalized clip without leaving the TikTok app. Creators who aren't currently on Cameo can also sign up for the service without having to onboard through Cameo.Up to now, Cameo has been known for its personalized videos from celebrities, but TikTok stars are "among the fastest-growing talent segments" on the app, according to the company. The new integration should make it easier for those creators to reach fans and promote their presence on Cameo.It's not surprising that Cameo would see TikTok creators as a potentially large untapped audience for its service. It's not as clear what TikTok is getting out of the arrangement. The company could have created its own Cameo-style feature for personalized shoutouts. The app already has several features that allow fans to interact with creators, including by sending virtual gifts in livestreams. Cameo didn't immediately respond to questions about whether TikTok gets a cut of the transactions made via its app or if there are differences in pricing structure between the two apps.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/tiktok-adds-in-app-cameo-integration-for-creators-195411895.html?src=rss
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by Lawrence Bonk on (#74MF3)
Palworld developer Pocketpair just announced a bizarre spinoff called Palworld: More Than Just Pals. This looks to be a dating sim with horror elements in which you can romance the various Pals from the original game.The gameplay description suggests it's set at a mysterious school, and players can not only fall in love with these creatures, but also "dismantle and eat them." The original game already let you eat Pals, but the ability to romance the gun-toting animals is new.
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by Kris Holt on (#74MF4)
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a branch of Iran's armed forces, has threatened to target US tech companies' operations in the Middle East. It told employees of 18 companies - including Apple, Google, Meta and NVIDIA - to leave their workplaces immediately to save their lives," as CBS News reported. Those living close to the companies' facilities in the region were instructed to evacuate immediately as well.Microsoft, Oracle, Tesla, HP, Intel, Palantir, Boeing, Dell, Cisco and IBM are also among the companies that the IRGC named."Since the main element in designing and tracking terror targets are American [information and communications technology] and AI companies, in response to this terrorist operation, from now on the main institutions effective in terrorist operations will be our legitimate targets," the IRGC said in a statement. The military force warned it will start targeting the companies on Wednesday evening if more Iranian leaders are killed.Iran previously pledged to attack companies and banks tied to the US and Israel, though the warning it issued on Tuesday had a specific deadline. Earlier this month, Iranian drones struck Amazon data centers in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, disrupting Amazon Web Services operations in the region.The US reportedly used Anthropic's AI in its initial airstrikes against Iran at the onset of the war in late February. Israel has been using a new AI platform of its own to help it track the movements of Iranian officials.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/iran-threatens-imminent-attacks-on-us-tech-companies-in-the-middle-east-184841155.html?src=rss
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by Cherlynn Low on (#74MF5)
Basketball player Stephen Curry has long collaborated with Google, and last year took on the role of Performance Advisor" at the company as part of a multi-year partnership. It appears the first product of this union is coming soon," based on a video posted to Curry's Instagram account. The 15-second clip shows shots of Curry playing with a basketball, and a gray-and-orange band sits conspicuously on his left wrist. Interspersed are the words A new relationship with your health coming soon," and the video ends on the Google logo.We reached out to Google for comment and details, and the company said Our Performance Advisor has been working with the team to cook up something special . More to share soon."
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by Anna Washenko on (#74MF6)
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority is once more turning its lens on Microsoft. The tech company will be the focus of an investigation by the regulator to see if it can be assigned strategic market status (SMS). The CMA already has "a major concern" with Microsoft's alleged limiting of competition in the cloud space via productivity software like Word and Excel, chat app Teams, AI companion Copilot and even Windows itself. The SMS designation "would allow the CMA to act" against the company. The investigation will begin in May.In addition, the UK regulator is also following up on an inquiry into Microsoft and Amazon from 2025, where it sought to exert more control over the domestic cloud services market. As a result of that action, the CMA said Amazon and Microsoft have agreed to a plan involving egress fees and interoperability around cloud services. "These changes will reduce expense and effort for UK customers when using more than one cloud provider," the CMA bulletin states.The CMA has frequently had Microsoft in its sights. The company sparked an investigation in 2023 for its relationship with OpenAI and in 2024 for its actions hiring staff from Inflection AI.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/the-uks-antitrust-regulator-is-looking-into-microsofts-possible-monopoly-power-182221704.html?src=rss
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by Matt Tate on (#74MF7)
Meta has agreed to "substantially reduce" its use of the PG-13 ratings system in relation to its Teen Accounts on Instagram starting April 15.Last year, the Motion Picture Association objected to Meta directly referencing its movie content rating, which cautions parents against letting their pre-teens engage with certain media. In a cease-and-desist letter seen by The Wall Street Journalat the time, the MPA said that Meta claiming its teen accounts were comparable to PG-13 ratings was "literally false and highly misleading."The MPA argued that its guidelines for the established movie-ratings system and Meta's own explanation of the revamped accounts for minors did not align, and that drawing a link could have a detrimental effect on the MPA's public image by association. It also said that Meta's system seemingly relies heavily on AI to determine what younger users see on the social media platform.When introducing the changes in 2025, Meta said that the risk of seeing "suggestive content" or hearing certain language in a movie rated 13+ was a good way of framing something similar happening on an Instagram teen account. It added that it was doing all it could to keep such instances to a minimum.Meta has now updated that initial blog post about the changes after coming to an agreement with the MPA, adding a lengthy disclaimer that reads, in part, "there are lots of differences between social media and movies. We didn't work with the MPA when updating our content settings, they're not rating any content on Instagram, and they're not endorsing or approving our content settings in any way."Meta goes on to explain that it drew "inspiration" from the MPA guidance given its familiarity with parents, as well as feedback it had received from parents, and will continue to do so. The difference is that it won't make the connection so explicitly in its communications going forward."Today's agreement clearly distinguishes the MPA's film ratings from Instagram's Teen Account content moderation tools," said Charles Rivkin, Chairman and CEO of the MPA. "While we welcome efforts to protect kids from content that may not be appropriate for them, this agreement helps ensure that parents do not conflate the two systems - which operate in very different contexts. The MPA is proud of the trust we have built with parents for nearly sixty years with our film rating system, and we will continue to do everything we can to protect that trust."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-will-substantially-reduce-describing-instagram-teen-accounts-as-pg-13-175912683.html?src=rss
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by Lawrence Bonk on (#74MCF)
Adults of a certain age will no doubt remember The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, a cartoon from 1989 that starred our favorite sibling plumbers decades before they would take over multiplexes with an animated film franchise. The broadcast channel MeTV Toons has begun airing old episodes of the show, likely to trade on the buzz emanating from the pending theatrical release of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. There's just one problem. The episodes seem to have been sloppified by an AI upscaling algorithm, according to a report by Kotaku.
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by Will Shanklin on (#74MCG)
DoorDash's autonomous delivery plans will get an assist from the Rivian spinoff Also. On Tuesday, the companies announced a strategic partnership in which the delivery company will invest in Also. They intend to "develop and accelerate deployment of autonomous delivery at scale."The companies didn't specify which micromobility vehicles will be used. Also, which Rivian spun off as a separate company in 2025, is currently focused on models that combine pedals and motorized assist.Also's first commercial product is the $3,500 TM-B e-bike with a virtual drivetrain. Seemingly more tailored to DoorDash's needs is the TM-Q. This four-wheeled EV is designed to haul cargo while still fitting in bike lanes. (Have fun with that, cyclists!) The larger (commercial) version, pictured below, looks like it could haul quite a few food orders at once.The TM-Q with its most robust modular storage cabin (left) and without any attachments (right)AlsoIn a statement, Also co-founder and president Chris Yu said the partnership will deploy autonomous vehicles in "areas not yet fully solved for." These include "the intersection of roadways, bike lanes, and road adjacent spaces." In October, Amazon agreed to buy thousands of TM-Q vehicles for last-mile deliveries.As part of the deal, DoorDash co-founder Stanley Tang will join Also as a board observer. TechCrunch reports that the partnership boosts Also's valuation to above $1 billion.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/doordash-partners-with-rivian-spinoff-also-for-autonomous-delivery-vehicles-163240124.html?src=rss
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by Lawrence Bonk on (#74M9K)
The Roblox-like VR title Rec Room is shutting down after operating for a decade. The free-to-play social game is closing its doors because the developers "never quite figured out" how to make it profitable, despite attracting 150 million players."We spent a long time trying to find a way to make the numbers work," the team wrote in a blog post. "But with the recent shift in the VR market, along with broader headwinds in gaming, the path to profitability has gotten tough enough that we've made the difficult decision to shut things down."The shut down officially happens on June 1, but the platform is already making serious changes. Starting today, users will no longer be able to make friends, create new accounts or subscribe to the premium service. However, many features locked behind that subscription paywall will be free from now until June.The devs are also allowing users to download some of the assets connected to rooms they created. This could, in theory, let them port their creations to other platforms in the future. Snapchat owner Snap has already bought up a bunch of Rec Room's assets and some employees will join the social media company, according to a report by GeekWire.Rec Room first appeared all the way back in 2016, years before the standalone Meta Quest entered the VR scene. It was a massive hit on the PSVR platform before being ported to other hardware. There's even a traditional version of the game available for non-VR platforms. Just like Roblox, it lets folks design their own spaces to hang out in.VR is in a tough spot right now. Meta was an industry leader, but the company has been laying off hundreds of people from its Reality Labs division. This is the team that makes VR/AR hardware and software. It's been reported that, instead, the company has been funneling more money into ongoing AI efforts. Sony's PSVR2 was also not a gigantic hit.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/rec-room-a-roblox-style-vr-game-is-shutting-down-154350384.html?src=rss
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by Matt Tate on (#74M9M)
In-flight Wi-Fi on Delta flights will be provided by Amazon Leo beginning in 2028, the two companies have announced. In a blow to Elon Musk's Starlink, Amazon's deal with Delta will see its satellite internet service installed on 500 Delta aircraft initially, each equipped with its own Leo antenna.Amazon promises low-latency Wi-Fi with download speeds up to 1Gbps and upload speeds up to 400Mbps, allowing passengers to stream movies and TV shows, play games and work as if they were on the ground. If you're a Delta SkyMiles member you'll be able to use Leo-powered Wi-Fi for free when traveling to any of the more than 300 locations Delta flies to.Amazon currently has around 200 satellites in low Earth orbit, and plans to aggressively accelerate production this year. Delta already uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) for its reservation systems and applications, 600 of which have been migrated to the cloud since 2020.Amazon rebranded its satellite network to Amazon Leo (an acronym for low Earth orbit) last year, as it looks to take the battle for in-flight Wi-Fi supremacy to the more established Starlink. SpaceX has struck deals with Alaska Air, United and British Airways among others in the last few years, so Amazon is playing catch-up with its not yet operational network.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/delta-picks-amazon-leo-for-in-flight-wi-fi-starting-in-2028-153024212.html?src=rss
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by Kris Holt on (#74M9N)
As of April 1, Gmail will have been around for 22 years. Many of us have a poorly chosen email address that's laced with regret, but we're now stuck with it. We've perhaps had it for longer than most college students have been alive and that's how others get in touch with us. Google is now giving us a chance to move on and change our Gmail address to something more appropriate.All users in the US can now change their Google Account username - the bit before the @ in your Gmail address. Google said in December that it was gradually rolling out this option to all users.To change your Google Account username, go to the email settings page. From there, click or tap on Personal info > Email > Google Account email. If the ability to alter your username has been enabled on your account, you'll see a Change Google Account email option. Click on this to start modifying your username.You'll only be able to change your username once every 12 months. If you do change the address, Gmail will retain all of your previous emails. Handily, your former Gmail name will remain as an alternate email address. As such, people will be able to get in touch with you via either address. You can also sign into Google services using both email addresses.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/all-google-users-in-the-us-can-now-change-their-gmail-address-141818676.html?src=rss
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by Steve Dent on (#74M6R)
After releasing DLSS 4.5's Super Resolution feature earlier this year, NVIDIA has released an update with DLSS 4.5 features designed to boost frame rates on RTX 50 series cards. Those include DLSS 4.5 Dynamic Multi Frame Generation and DLSS 4.5 Multi Frame Generation 6X. With those, NVIDIA is promising the "smoothest path-traced gaming yet" to unlock the potential for high-refresh 4K 240Hz OLED gaming displays, or 1080p and 1440p monitors at 360Hz and beyond.The first feature, DLSS 4.5 Dynamic Multi Frame Generation, is like an "automatic transmission" for your RTX 50 series card, NVIDIA said. Rather than multiplying the frame rate by a fixed amount, the AI-powered feature changes it dynamically to strike a balance between refresh rate, image quality and responsiveness. To optimize computing power, it ensures that a game's frame rate doesn't exceed your monitor's native refresh rate, so you won't play at 240 fps on a 120Hz monitor.The other key feature, Multi Frame Generation 6X, is designed to deliver even higher levels of performance. Based on NVIDIA's second-gen transformer model, along with frame pacing and image quality improvements, the feature boosts the maximum multiplier to 6X, generating up to five extra frames for every natively rendered frame on GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs. That will boost 4K frame rates up to 35 percent "with minimal impact to responsiveness," NVIDIA wrote.As with Super Resolution, the native frame rate of a game is not accelerated by these features. Rather, the DLSS 4.5 feature uses AI to create interpolated intermediate frames the machine "thinks" should be there. Normally this works fine, but the scheme can create odd artifacts in certain types of scenes, particularly with fine details like rain, hair and phone wires.Still, the tech allows for smoother gaming with a minimal increase on your GPU's burden. It's now available for NVIDIA RTX 50 series cards, and as NVIDIA announced earlier, there are a number of games supporting the MFG features. Those include 007 First Light (May 27th), CONTROL Resonant, Directive 8020 (May 12th) and Tides of Annihilation.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/nvidias-dlss-45-multi-frame-generation-tech-is-now-available-to-boost-your-hz-130035249.html?src=rss
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by Karissa Bell on (#74M6W)
The latest iteration of Meta's smart glasses has arrived and, as rumored, they are more customizable, particularly for people who need prescription lenses. Meta and Ray-Ban parent company EssilorLuxottica revealed two new styles of frames: the Ray-Ban Meta Blayzer Optics and Scriber Optics, which will start at $499 a pair.The latest glasses are still considered to be part of the "Gen 2" Ray-Ban Meta glasses, but they do come with a few upgrades that make it easier to get a personalized fit. According to EssilorLuxottica, both styles have somewhat slimmer frames, swappable nosepads and adjustable temple tips so wearers can get a better fit. And, as the "optics" branding implies, the new frame styles are also compatible with a wider variety of prescription lenses, including progressive lenses and transition lenses.The Blayzer style frames are more square, similar to the existing Wayfarer glasses, while the Scriber version is a little more rounded, like the "Headliner" style frames. Both come in a variety of colors including some translucent styles and are available now for pre-order on Meta's website and will be on sale April 14. The "optics" lineup will also be sold at more physical retail stores, including LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut, Salmoiraghi & Vigano, Apollo, Grand Vision Optical, Vision Express and other locations that are part of EssilorLuxottica's distribution network.The round, "Scriber" frames.EssilorLuxotticaThe new lineup of glasses is also more expensive, with a starting price of $499, compared with Meta's standard Wayfarer Gen 2 model, which starts at $379. That price doesn't include prescription lenses either, which can easily run $200-$300 or more, depending on your setup.One benefit of that investment, though, is that Meta has consistently added new features to its smart glasses. And with the latest frames, the company is bringing some additional capabilities to all users. These include new translation support for Japanese, Mandarin and Arabic; as well as Meta AI-enabled food and nutrition tracking. Meta AI can also summarize longer message threads rather than simply reciting a long string of messages in a given chat.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/the-latest-ray-ban-meta-smart-glasses-are-more-customizable-and-expensive-130000553.html?src=rss
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by Igor Bonifacic on (#74M6V)
In the current RAM crisis, no company is better positioned to not only weather the storm but turn it to its advantage like Apple. It proved that when it released the MacBook Neo in early March. Despite only including 8GB of RAM, the Neo doesn't feel compromised, a testament to the company's silicon and software engineering. For Apple, it may be tempting to treat its latest MacBook as a one-off. That would be a mistake, because at this moment, the business decisions that made the Neo possible represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity to become a bigger player in the PC market.If you read Engadget, there's a good chance you know the contours of the global memory shortage, but it's worth repeating just how bad things have become in recent months. Just three companies - SK Hynix, Samsung and Micron - produce more than 90 percent of the world's memory chips. At the end of last year, Micron announced it would end its consumer-facing business to focus on providing RAM and other components to AI customers.Citing data from TrendForce, The Wall Street Journal reported in January that data centers would consume 70 percent of the high-end memory produced in 2026. As the Big Three shift more of their production to meet enterprise demand, they're allocating fewer wafers for consumer products, leading to dramatic price increases in that market segment. According to data from Counterpoint Research, the price of memory - including consumer RAM kits and SSDs, as well as LPDDR5X memory for smartphones - increased by 50 percent during the final quarter of 2025. Before the end of the current quarter, the firm predicts prices will increase by another 40 to 50 percent, and the CEO of SK Hynix recently warned shortages could last until 2030.Since nearly all consumer electronics need some amount of RAM and storage, the trickle-down effects have come fast and hard. In December, before the situation got as bad as it is now, TrendForce warned that most of the major PC manufacturers were either considering, if not already planning, price hikes. This month, the firm warned laptop prices could increase by as much as 40 percent if manufacturers and retailers moved to protect their margins. Such a scenario would send the cost of a $900 model to about $1,260.Amid all that, Apple added another point of pressure: the $600 MacBook Neo. During a recent investor call, Nick Wu, the chief financial officer of ASUS, described the Neo as "a shock to the entire market," adding "all PC vendors, including upstream vendors like Microsoft, Intel and AMD" are taking the cute device "very seriously." Wu warned ASUS would "need more time" before it could ready a response.For ASUS and other Windows manufacturers, any response realistically may take ayear or more to formulate. That's because the Neo represents both a technical and logistical hurdle.To start, it's a fundamentally different machine from the one most Windows OEMs are making right now. It has the advantage of using "unified memory" instead of a set of traditional RAM modules. The 8GB of RAM the Neo has is shared between the A18 Pro's CPU and GPU, meaning it can more efficiently use the RAM that it does have. That's part of the reason the Neo doesn't feel like a Windows PC with 8GB of RAM. Apple didn't get to the A18 Pro and the MacBook Neo by accident. It has spent more than a decade designing its own chips.Since 2024, Microsoft has mandated 16GB of RAM - and 256GB of solid-state storage - for PCs that are part of its Copilot+ AI program. That branding effort may not have amounted to much, with Copilot+ AI PCs accounting for just 1.9 percent of all computers sold in the first quarter of 2025, but it did push OEMs, including ASUS, Dell and others to make more capable machines. It also saw Microsoft rework Windows to better support ARM-based processors from Qualcomm. Still, it's hard to see how Windows manufacturers can challenge Apple by going back to existing or older x86 chips with with less RAM.Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 processors could offer a potential response, but there are question marks there too. At CES 2026, the company announced the Snapdragon X2 Plus, a pared down version of its X2 Elite chipset with a six-core CPU. On paper, it should offer similar performance to the A18 Pro, but it doesn't seem Qualcomm has produced the chip at scale or that Windows OEMs have shown much interest in it. As of the writing of this story, the company's website lists just four X2 Plus-equipped models. I was only able to find one of those in stock, the $1,050 HP Omnibook 5. It has an OLED screen and more RAM than the Neo. Could HP repurpose something like the Omnibook 5 to take on the Neo? Maybe, but I'm not sure there's getting around the need for 16GB to get Windows 11 running decently.Even if the Snapdragon X2 Plus offers a stopgap measure, no company operates a supply chain quite like Apple. It has spent billions of dollars to make itself independent of companies like Qualcomm by designing its own Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips, for example. It also doesn't need to pay Microsoft a licensing fee to use a bloated Windows 11. Those are all factors that lead to OEMs like ASUS and Lenovo operating on razor thin margins.Per Statista, Apple earned a nearly 36.8 percent gross profit margin on its products in 2025. That's almost exactly half as much as the gross margin it made on services, which grew to a record 75.4 percent last year. For comparison, ASUS has seen its profit margins erode to about 15.3 percent in recent quarters, or less than a third of Apple's 2025 average of 46.9 percent. For ASUS and other Windows OEMs, the short-term outlook isn't good. HP recently told investors RAM now accounts for more than a third of the cost of its PCs. And if memory shortages continue, many of them will be forced to raise their prices to protect their margins.Apple is in no such position. The iPhone recently had its best quarter ever, contributing $85.27 billion to the company's Q1 revenue. The fact that Mac revenue declined from $8.9 billion to $8.3 billion year-over-year didn't make a dent to Apple's bottom line. For the companies that must now compete against the Neo, it's not a fair playing field. To Lenovo, Dell, HP and ASUS, PC sales are almost everything to their business. For Apple, it's a side hustle.As the company prepares to kick off its 51st year, it should consider it may never be in a better position to claw ahead in the market where it all started for the company. In both the PC and smartphone segments, Apple's market share has always been a distant second (and sometimes third and forth) to Windows and Android, in part because commoditization has consistently worked against the company. But when a single part now accounts for a third of the cost of a new PC, the regular rules don't apply.It's not just that the company is better insulated than nearly every other player against runaway RAM costs, it's that it also has a technological edge and the profit margins to compete on price at the same time. In recent quarters, the company's share of the PC market has hovered around the 9 to 10 percent mark, meaning it's consistently been about the fourth largest manufacturer.For as long as the RAM shortage continues, Apple shouldseriously consider sacrificing some of its PC profits to become a bigger player. So far, the company has moved to protect the margins on its more expensive devices. For example, it increased the price of the latest MacBook Air and MacBook Pro by $100. The company doubled the amount of base storage to make up for the hike.Moving forward, it should do everything it can to maintain, and maybe even lower the price of its computers to a point where its competitors can't meet it. If the Lenovos and HPs of the world can't compete on either price or performance, consumers will move to Mac computers. As Apple looks to the next 50 years, it may not get another opportunity like the one it has right now.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/the-ram-crisis-is-apples-best-chance-in-decades-to-capture-the-pc-market-130000672.html?src=rss
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by Billy Steele on (#74M6T)
I'm honestly shocked the AirPods Max 2 even exists. After Apple only added a USB-C port and a few new colors to its over-ear headphones in 2024, I thought it had given up on delivering a proper upgrade to its priciest AirPods model. I'm happy to report that wasn't the case.The AirPods Max 2 is certainly an updated version of Apple's headphones, but the company is also catching it up to the AirPods Pro 3. The headphones now carry the company's powerful H2 audio chip, the component that enables features like Adaptive Audio and Live Translation. The USB-C AirPods Max may have barely been an update, but the AirPods Max 2 is worthy of the new numeral in its name. The price is still $549, due in part to the fact that Apple's products are exempt from Trump's tariffs, yet these remain some of the most expensive headphones I've reviewed. Are the AirPods Max still worth it?What's new on the AirPods Max 2?All of the AirPods Max 2's major new features are here thanks to the upgrade to the H2 chip. It was baffling that Apple didn't swap out the H1 when it made the switch to USB-C, choosing instead to saddle its pricey headphones with very outdated silicon for another 16 months. So, in a lot of ways, the AirPods Max 2 is a lot more about getting up to date with the rest of the lineup, which means a host of new tools await.Thanks to the H2 chip, the AirPods Max 2 has Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, Voice Isolation, Personalized Volume, Siri Interactions (head gestures) and Live Translation. Adaptive Audio blends active noise cancellation (ANC) with transparency mode and automatically adjusts the mix based on your surroundings. Conversation Awareness can tell when you're talking and automatically lowers the volume and enables transparency mode for quick chats.Voice Isolation helps improve your voice quality for calls when the AirPods Max 2 is used with compatible apps on an iPhone, iPad or Mac, and I think we're all well-aware of what Live Translation is. Lastly, Personalized Volume takes notes on your listening preferences over time and applies automatic adjustments based on those and your surroundings.Unsurprisingly, these features all work as well as they do on the AirPods Pro 3. Of course, there will be some that you use often and others that you might not touch at all. For me, I don't like contending with unwanted volume changes due to Conversation Awareness, so I turn that one off. It's not as easily triggered as Sony's version, but I did trick it with an unexpectedly loud burp. I also don't use the Siri head gestures, although they work very well. I frequently use Adaptive Audio around the house, which allows me to enable transparency mode to hear what I need to while letting the headphones apply ANC if I encounter unwanted noise. Voice Isolation is also a big improvement to normal voice performance and Live Translation is certainly nice to have.Two additional H2 features that I do use often on the AirPods Pro, and will do so on the AirPods Max 2 because they work well here, are studio-quality audio recording and Camera Remote. The first is self-explanatory, but it does offer a boost to clips recorded in Voice Memos and the Camera app (my main two uses). Meanwhile, Camera Remote allows you to use the Digital Crown to take a photo or start/stop a video recording without reaching for your iPhone.Et tu, hearing health? The fabric ear pads on the AirPods Max 2 Billy Steele for Engadget Apple's hearing health features are some of the most important tools on the AirPods Pro. However, you won't find them on the AirPods Max 2, despite the new H2 chip. While the headphones do offer loud sound reduction, the hearing test, hearing aid and automatic conversation boost tools are absent. There are several reasons for this, the primary one being that the cushions on the over-ear headphones don't seal off your ears the way the AirPods Pro ear tips do.Still, loud sound reduction isn't nothing. This prevents exposure to loud ambient noise while making adjustments to keep the audio sounding good. It's particularly useful when you encounter blaring construction sounds during a commute or similar inconveniences.Design: More of the same The Digital Crown and the listening mode control on the AirPods Max 2 Billy Steele for Engadget One thing that hasn't changed on the AirPods Max 2 is the design. For better or worse, Apple has kept the same look that it debuted in 2020. Aside from new colors and the switch from Lightning to USB-C in 2024, there are no other visible differences between this version and the original. I would argue it's time for the company to change things up, but I can also understand why it hasn't.First, let's discuss what's great about the AirPods Max's design. It's unique, especially the mesh headband, solid aluminum ear cups and fabric ear pads. The punches of color are nice too, and if you prefer something more subtle, the black and gold, er... Midnight and Starlight options fit that bill. From the start, I've loved the simple controls that are comprised of the Apple Watch's Digital Crown and the lone additional button for listening modes (a press and hold will activate Live Translation). The controls are in a great location, and it's so satisfying to spin the Digital Crown for volume adjustments.So, why hasn't Apple redesigned the outside of the AirPods Max? I'd argue it doesn't think it needs to yet. The AirPods Pro is still largely the same as it has been from the first version, and the regular AirPods only got its first big design overhaul in 2024. The original AirPods debuted in 2016, so if Apple keeps a similar timeline for aesthetic changes to both the Pro and Max lines, we might not see those until 2027 and 2028 respectively.Sound quality, ANC and calls Like before, the ear pads are replaceable on the AirPods Max 2 Billy Steele for Engadget Besides the H2 chip, the other big upgrade to the AirPods Max's internal components is a new high dynamic range amplifier. This improves overall sound quality by allowing you to listen at higher volumes with low distortion and excellent clarity. Apple also overhauled the digital signal processing (DSP) for better bass response and to enhance the locations of instruments in the mix.Those tweaks don't equate to a huge leap in audio performance on the AirPods Max 2, but the gains are noticeable. Sound quality wasn't an issue before, but you can definitely hear the improved instrument localization and enhanced bass performance across nearly all genres. On Ruston Kelly's Waiting to Love You (Piano Version/Live From Salt Lick Sessions)," the singer's unique voice and the keys completely fill your head. It's like a barrage of balladry in the best way. You get the texture of the vocals, the reverb of the piano and all the dynamics of the stripped-down live performance.Jump to something a bit more energetic, like aya's navel gazer," and the AirPods Max 2 deftly manages the vocals, synths and whatever else is happening in the mix (seriously, it's a lot). And there's still the sonic deluge that hexed! hits you with. Even with the multi-genre mash-up metal of Bilmuri, these headphones keep the vocals, guitars, drums and subtle sounds separate. There are a lot of delicate details in the artist's latest tracks - like More Than Hate," for example - and the AirPods Max 2 ensures you'll catch them all. A screeching eagle? Hell yeah, brother.While wireless listening remains excellent, the AirPods Max 2 still offers lossless audio over USB-C. If you opt for wired use, you can get up to 24-bit/48kHz quality from compatible streaming services or locally stored files. This is the same functionality that Apple delivered in 2025. As expected, it still works well and provides enhanced listening when needed. Personally, I like to use it when I'm sitting at my desk. What's more, the wired USB-C connection can be used for low-latency audio - which is great when you're playing a game or mixing/editing audio projects. I should note the rest of the AirPods Max features (Siri, Adaptive Audio, etc.) still work over Bluetooth in wired mode, and there's also a low-latency Game Mode for wireless use with a Mac, iPhone or iPad.In terms of ANC, Apple says the H2 unlocks up to 1.5x stronger performance than the previous generation. The company combined the audio chip with new computational audio algorithms to reduce more external sounds - like airplane engines, trains and the roar of a coffee shop. That difference is certainly noticeable, as I found constant sources of noise around my house (fans, white noise machines, HVAC system, etc.) were much less apparent when I had the AirPods Max 2 on. Plus, Adaptive Audio uses the ANC system to pick up any changes and make the necessary adjustments to keep your music, podcast or movie coming through clearly.Every AirPods model that has ANC is also equipped with transparency mode. Since the debut of the first AirPods Pro, I've been continually amazed by the natural sound of this feature. No other audio company comes close to matching the clarity of the ambient sound here, nearly making you forget you're wearing earbuds or headphones. This has a tremendous impact on calls, as you can hear yourself very well, so you never feel the need to speak loudly. Plus, Voice Isolation combines the AirPods Max 2's H2 chip with an iPhone, iPad or Mac to further improve your voice and reduce background noise. Most headphones offer average voice performance at best, but like it has in the past, Apple actually delivers.Battery life The Smart Case puts the AirPods Max 2 in an "ultra-low-power state" Billy Steele for Engadget One of the areas I was hoping for an additional boost on the AirPods Max 2 is battery life. Sadly, I was headed for disappointment. This model offers the same 20-hour longevity as its predecessors, a figure that includes ANC and/or Spatial Audio. While it's certainly enough to get you through a couple of work days or a trans-Atlantic flight, that number falls well short of the 30-50 hours much of the over-ear competition can muster these days.I haven't had the AirPods Max 2 long enough to do a full battery test; I chose to focus on the new features instead. However, based on the performance that I've seen so far, I have no reason to doubt Apple's claims here. The company has a solid track record on battery life, and all indications are that it continues on the AirPods Max 2. I'll update this review when this test is complete.The competition The AirPods Max 2's mesh headband Billy Steele for Engadget If you're thoroughly invested in Apple's ecosystem, the AirPods Max 2 is worth considering. Most of the features are reserved for the iOS, iPadOS and masOS faithful, so it doesn't really make sense for Android users or Windows devotees to splurge on the $549 headphones. If you're still balking at that price tag, Sony's WH-1000XM6 is my current top pick on our best headphones list. While those headphones are $460 at full price, you can currently find them for $400. Sony continues to mix great sound with capable ANC and a list of features few rivals can compete with. Plus, those handy tools are available to both iOS and Android users.Bose's second-gen QuietComfort Ultra headphones are another solid option. They offer powerful ANC, great sound quality and excellent comfort for $449, but you can currently snag them for around $400. If noise cancellation performance is your primary concern, this is your pick. Lastly, if money is no object, a personal favorite is the Px8 S2 from Bowers & Wilkins. They're pure luxury right down to the $799 price tag, and they exude grandeur. The company's combo of leather and aluminum screams high end and it made some design tweaks for this model to refresh the overall look. Battery life and sound quality are the big attractions here, but just know you'll have to forgo the advanced features much of the (more affordable) competition provides - like all of those H2-powered tools on the AirPods Max 2.Wrap-up Apple AirPods Max 2 and the Smart Case Billy Steele for Engadget The AirPods Max 2 is an obvious upgrade over the previous version. And no, I don't count the USB-C swap-in as a separate model. Simply put, the H2 chip brings Apple's over-ear headphones on par with the rest of the AirPods lineup, namely the AirPods Pro 3. And since I don't expect Apple to announce new earbuds this year, that parity should remain for a while.These headphones are still expensive though, and the more affordable AirPods Pro offer handy hearing health features that are nice to have in your pocket. I could also understand why prospective buyers would want some design changes before making such a big investment. Sure, the AirPods Max 2 looks the same as its predecessor, possibly leaving those who own the previous version with a difficult decision to make. But Apple kept the price the same and brought better sound and more features, so there's no denying these headphones outperform the original.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/apple-airpods-max-2-review-better-late-than-never-130000982.html?src=rss
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by Anna Washenko on (#74M6S)
Amazon announced that it is adding new capabilities for ordering food delivery with its Alexa+ artificial intelligence assistant. Users will be able to place orders using natural language on Alexa+ through the GrubHub or Uber Eats platforms, provided they have an Amazon device with a large screen. First, you'll need to connect an account for those delivery services to use the feature. You can ask to see restaurants with a specific cuisine or tell the assistant to go right to a favorite spot. Once you start an order, Alexa+ will also support natural language requests and, if you ask for something generic, the assistant will match it to the most similar item on the menu. It should also support more detailed queries like "what are kid-friendly options?" and be able to submit special requests like "no onions."To start, this ordering capability will be available for Alexa+ customers using the Echo Show 8 or larger devices. The screen should reflect your order, with any changes shown in real time. Amazon made the Alexa+ subscription available to all US customers earlier this year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/amazon-adds-dynamic-food-delivery-ordering-to-alexa-130000065.html?src=rss
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by Lawrence Bonk on (#74M3V)
Shark just introduced a new product called the BlastBoss that's basically a leaf blower rated for both indoor and outdoor use. This means it can actually be used to blow leaves around in the yard, but is also handy for tidying up debris in the house.It offers adjustable airflow up to 190 mph, making it a "versatile solution for the garage, patio, car, inside the home and beyond." I imagine this would also make it the bane of every dog and cat in the neighborhood.It's pretty light, at under 1.5 pounds, and cordless. The BlastBoss ships with several attachments, including an extension wand and precision nozzle for getting into tight spots like under appliances or between couch seams. The adjustable airflow means that the power can be dialed down for dusting and other less-intensive cleaning tasks.Shark It also comes with an attachment called the BlastBroom, which is exactly what it sounds like. This is a broom attachment that blows out air, which can be used to "loosen, lift and clear debris in one pass." The company says this is "ideal for patios, garages and walkways."The BlastBoss is available to purchase right now and costs $150. It's available in a bunch of different colors, which is a bit odd for a leaf blower but cool for those who like to accessorize.SharkShark has been pumping out some pretty wild products lately. There's a personal cooling device called the ChillPill and a skin-care gadget that performs aqua peels.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/the-shark-blastboss-is-a-leaf-blower-that-can-be-used-indoors-123011878.html?src=rss
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by Nathan Ingraham on (#74M3W)
We've written about the Swiss company Proton's moves to take on Google and Microsoft with an expanding variety of privacy-focused internet services, and the company is announcing yet another new tool today. Proton Meet, as the name suggests, is a video-calling service that sounds comparable to Zoom, Microsoft Teams and, naturally, Google Meet.As with everything Proton does, Meet is end-to-end encrypted, but the company is taking extra steps towards security and anonymity here. You don't need a Proton account to join a Meet call, which should help service gain traction - you can use Proton and not totally throw off everyone else who's still using other systems. Proton says that Meet can be used anonymously and no logs are kept. The company even says that a Proton account isn't needed to host a meeting. If you visit the Proton Meet site, you can start an anonymous call with up to four participants for free.Proton says that anyone with an account (even a free one) can start Meet call with up to 50 participants for up to one hour, but it is also offering a dedicated Meet Professional plan for $8 a month with fewer restrictions (though we don't have the specifics yet).Meet joins the other core Proton tools including Mail, Calendar, VPN, Drive and a password manager. Drive in particular has gotten some notable upgrades recently - it offers collaborative documents and spreadsheets, just like Google. With the addition of Meet, Proton has most of the core services that Google offers covered. There's even a little AI bot if that's your thing.Proton is using this launch as an opportunity to rebrand its services, gathering them all under the new Proton Workspace (another name pulled directly from Google's offerings). In addition to the dedicated Meet Professional plan, Proton is offering Workplace Standard for $13 per month (billed annually) or $15 a month (billed monthly). That includes the aforementioned tools and 500GB of space by default. There's also a Premium plan ($20/month annually or $25/month billed monthly) that adds more storage, access to the Lumo chatbot, expanded Meet participant limits and a few other tidbits.The company says it'll continue offering its other plans, including a Mail-only option that costs $36 a year as well as other bundles for an individual, two users or a whole family. But Proton is obviously looking to expand its business client base with Meet in addition to growing its user base (currently more than 100 million). Proton says it has about 100,000 enterprise customers, and adding a tool like Meet to its portfolio should make it easier to court companies as well as individuals.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/proton-adds-a-secure-video-conferencing-service-called-meet-to-its-toolbox-121729143.html?src=rss
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by Mariella Moon on (#74M3X)
SpaceX has lost contact with Starlink satellite 34343 after it suffered an unspecified anomaly on March 29 while it was in orbit, the company has announced on X. The event happened while the satellite was approximately 348 miles above our planet. Since that is a relatively low altitude, SpaceX's analysis showed that the remains of the satellite pose no risk to the International Space Station or the upcoming launch of the Artemis II mission. It also won't affect the company's Transporter-16 mission, which launched with small satellites from its clients on March 30.In its statement, SpaceX also said that it will monitor any trackable debris, indicating that the satellite is no longer in one piece. LeoLabs, an American company tracking satellites in Low Earth Orbit, said it detected a fragment creation event" involving Starlink 34343 on March 29. It also mentioned that this event is similar to another incident that happened on December 17, 2025. SpaceX had lost Starlink satellites to events like geomagnetic storms in the past, but it doesn't seem like these two recent incidents were caused by external factors. The company has yet to announce what led to the anomalies, but LeoLabs believes that both of them were likely caused by an internal energetic source rather than a collision with space debris or another object."At the moment, the Starlink team is still working on determining the root cause of the incidents. SpaceX said that once it has come to a conclusion, the company will rapidly implement any necessary corrective actions."
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by Mat Smith on (#74M3Y)
Screenshots promoting "Instagram Plus" have been spotted by users in the Philippines and Mexico in recent days. According to social media consultant Matt Navarra, a subscription to Instagram Plus includes several Story-focused features not otherwise available to Instagram users. This includes the ability to create multiple audiences for Stories posts, search the list of people who have viewed your Story, extend Stories longer than 24 hours and create "spotlight" Stories. It also mentions something called super hearts" for reacting to Stories.A spokesperson for Meta confirmed the test to Engadget, saying that Instagram Plus is currently available in a few countries." The spokesperson added that preview" would allow people to see some of another user's Story without showing up as a viewer". There's nothing quite like paying to be sneakier on social media.The idea, as we've seen so far, seems closely modeled after Snapchat+, which also offers bonus features to the app's power users. Launched in 2022, the service has now become a significant driver of non-advertising revenue for the company.- Mat SmithThe other big stories (and deals) this morning
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by Lawrence Bonk on (#74M1N)
AT&T just announced OneConnect, a new service that lets customers sign up for both wireless service and fiber home internet under a single subscription. Pricing starts at $90. This could end up saving some serious bucks, especially for those who are paying around $100 per month for each from separate providers.These plans offer unlimited mobile data, which is great. The home internet speed caps at 1Gbps, which is a decent enough metric.Pricing starts at $90 per month, which includes a single phone line, unlimited data. This plan also covers mobile data for three devices of the user's choosing, like smartwatches and tablets.AT&TFamily plans shoot all the way up to $225 per month, but the pricier subscriptions increase the number of covered mobile devices to ten and allow up to ten concurrent phone lines. This could be a huge money-saving opportunity for large families.The company hasn't said anything about throttling users once they reach a certain cap on mobile data, which should please customers. This is similar to how T-Mobile handles its Magenta Max plan. Taxes and fees are included in the quoted prices, which means there shouldn't be any surprises when the bill comes around.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/att-now-offers-a-single-subscription-for-both-wireless-service-and-home-internet-091501503.html?src=rss
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by Anna Washenko on (#74KQH)
Your game collection says a lot about you. With a cute new game, you can also give your collection a space that's just as personalized. BOXROOM is a building sim where the whole purpose is creating a space to show off your game library. You can select furniture, paint and lighting, then you choose games from your Steam library to display on your virtual shelves. Titles appear in game boxes, giving it a throwback feel to the days where a game collection had to be physical. Once complete, the room serves as a launcher, allowing you to boot up a title from the game box. The demo is available now, and the team said that BOXROOM will launch in early access soon.This is a fun idea, although it's unlikely that you'd fit your entire collection into even this virtual space if your Steam library starts to number in the hundreds, or even thousands, of games. As with an IRL space, you'd need a warehouse rather than a cute, cozy room. But if you wanted to have a curated selection of your go-to titles in a customized virtual space, this might be a fun addition to your already sizable collection. Or, if you want a virtual reality take on a similar idea, EmuVR might be worth a look.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/boxroom-lets-you-build-a-cozy-game-room-for-your-steam-library-215349560.html?src=rss
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