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Stellantis, the automotive giant behind Chrysler, Citroen, Fiat, Jeep and Peugeot, is pulling out of hydrogen. The company said it's killing its fuel cell development program in the face of limited availability of hydrogen refueling infrastructure, high capital requirements and the need for stronger consumer purchasing incentives." To put that another way, it's realized hydrogen EVs are facing the same set of challenges it's not been able to overcome in the last two or three decades.It's a stark shift in tone from January 2024, when the company promised to roll out a fleet of commercial fuel cell vehicles. Stellantis sells many of Europe's most popular panel vans including the Citroen Jumper, Fiat Ducato, Opel Movano and Peugeot Boxer. Back then, it said we'd see hydrogen versions of all those vehicles (as well as its smaller siblings) with maximum ranges of 500km (310 miles).The decision to pull the plug came relatively late, with the company saying it was due to begin production at its plants in France and Poland this summer." It added the decision to kill the range will not impact staffing in production or R&D, with employees transferred to other projects. It will, however, have to delicately negotiate its exit with Symbio, the fuel cell maker it bought a one-third share of back in 2023.Stellantis isn't the first company that pledged to put its weight behind fuel cells only to pull back. Toyota has thrown a lot of time, effort and money behind hydrogen, believing fuel cells would be preferable to battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Sadly, as time progressed, the company has had to cede more and more of the market to batteries, and only advertises its third-generation fuel cell as a power unit for heavy industrial vehicles.Hydrogen was, and has been for some time, an article of faith for fossil fuel companies, the car industry and even some countries that lack their own energy reserves. After all, the promise of being able to pull (theoretically limitless), emission-free energy out of water is the stuff of dreams. Not to mention, it requires much of the same knowledge and infrastructure used by the traditional oil and gas industry, and refueling can only take place at a commercial site.Had hydrogen made more of an impact, it would have likely preserved the status quo or something much like it, for those industries long into the future. But while the hope was that hydrogen could be a cleaner, greener substitute for oil and gas, its inherent flaws always made that a non-starter.For instance, hydrogen is far less energy dense than oil and gas, and far less physically dense - it's so prone to leaking that you have to go above and beyond to seal it in. It's difficult to mass produce cleanly, especially if you want to power every car in the world, unless you use a dirty process like the steam reformation of methane. So, rather than moving away from fossil fuels and emissions, you'd be further entrenching them into the system and adding to the problem.And if you did want to just use renewable energy to pull hydrogen from water, then you'd require an unprecedented amount of investment. Back in 2021, I asked Tim Lord, who had previously been in charge of the UK's decarbonization strategy, about that sort of industrial-scale hydrogen generation. He said that you'd essentially need to double your whole electricity generation output to get close.That's before you get to the other factors, like hydrogen's efficiency as a store of energy or the investment necessary to equip every gas station on the planet with a hydrogen tank. Which is not likely going to pay off given that Toyota's Mirai, arguably the flagship hydrogen fuel cell EV, has only sold 28,000 models since its launch in 2014. In the US market, there's only the Mirai, the Hyundai Nexo and the Honda CR-V e-FCEV knocking around, nothing compared to how many BEVs are on sale. I think it's time for everyone to admit that we're done with hydrogen fuel cell EVs and focus their attention elsewhere.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/another-big-car-company-gives-up-on-hydrogen-133011978.html?src=rss

TikTok has proven to be a powerful platform to help tunes go viral and now the company is making it easier for songwriters to benefit from that reach. The social media site has rolled out a pair of new features in beta: a Songwriter label that identifies users as such under their profile, and a Songwriter Music Tab that lets them spotlight tracks they've written or co-written.So far, only a limited number of publishers and songwriters can apply to get the new label and tab. TikTok noted that several established songwriters including Lauren Christy (Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears), Toby Gad (Fergie, John Legend) and Justin Tranter (Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande) are among the first to gain access. Others who want to join can put their names on a waitlist.TikTok and its parent ByteDance developed the Songwriter Features after surveying 871 songwriters and doing 18 in-depth interviews. Those findings informed the design of the feature with the aim of improving discovery and monetization opportunities while raising songwriters' profiles on TikTok. The platform noted that 53 percent of full-time songwriters who post content on social media do so on TikTok.When it comes to royalties and copyright, TikTok has taken a similar tack to YouTube and other social media sites. All the music available on TikTok can be used in videos and the platform has deals in place with distributors and labels to license music. Artists then receive royalties whenever creators use their music on TikTok, the amount of which depends on the individual distributor.TikTok is following belatedly in the heels of Spotify, which has offered a similar songwriter spotlight feature since 2020. Last month, ByteDance introduced the TikTok for Artists music insight platform designed to help musicians gain access to "data and insights about their music, posts and followers."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/tiktoks-latest-feature-will-help-songwriters-show-off-their-work-131512204.html?src=rss

Since rolling out the redesign of its Firefly app in April, Adobe has been releasing major updates for the generative AI hub at a near monthly clip. Today, the company is introducing a handful of new features to assist those who use Firefly's video capabilities.To start, Adobe is making it easier to add sound effects to AI-generated clips. Right now, the majority of video models create footage without any accompanying audio. Adobe is addressing this with a nifty little feature that allows users to first describe the sound effect they want to generate and then record themselves making it. The second part isn't so Adobe's model can mimic the sound. Rather, it's so the system can get a better idea of the intensity and timing the user wants from the effect.In the demo Adobe showed me, one of the company's employees used the feature to add the sound of a zipper being unzipped. They made a "zzzztttt" sound, which Adobe's model faithfully used to reproduce the effect at the intended volume. The translation was less convincing when the employee used the tool to add the sound of footsteps on concrete, though if you're using the feature for ideation as Adobe intended, that may not matter. When adding sound effects, there's a timeline editor along the bottom of the interface to make it easy to time the audio properly.AdobeThe other new features Adobe is adding today are called Composition Reference, Keyframe Cropping and Video Presets. The first of those allows you to upload a video or image you captured to guide the generation process. In combination with Video Presets, you can define the style of the final output. Some of the options Adobe is offering at launch allow you to create clips with anime, black and white or vector art styles. Lastly, with Keyframe Cropping you can upload the first and final frame of a video and select an aspect ratio. Firefly will then generate a video that stays within your desired format.In June, Adobe added support for additional third-party models, and this month it's doing the same. Most notable is the inclusion of Veo 3, which Google premiered at its I/O 2025 conference in May. At the moment, Veo 3 is one of the only AI models that can generate video with sound. Like with all the other partner models Adobe offers in Firefly, Google has agreed not to use data from Adobe users for training future models. Every image and video people create through Firefly is digitally signed with the model that was used to create it. That is one of the safeguards Adobe includes so that Firefly customers don't accidentally ship an asset that infringes on copyrighted material.According to Zeke Koch, vice president of product management for Adobe Firefly, users can expect the fast pace of updates to continue. "We're relentlessly shipping stuff almost as quickly as we can," he said. Koch adds Adobe will continue to integrate more third-party models, as long as their providers agree to the company's data privacy terms.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/adobe-firefly-can-now-generate-sound-effects-from-your-audio-cues-130008172.html?src=rss

Whether you shopped during Prime Day last week or not, a few of the best deals are still around right now in case you missed anything. One of those is on our pick for best dual-zone air fryer: this Ninja Foodi air fryer is on sale for $160, which is 36 percent off its usual price. That's the same price it was on Prime Day proper and one of the best we've seen. It's a 10-quart model that includes a smart cook thermometer and six prep modes, including air fry, reheat and dehydrate. Plus, it warms up so quickly that you barely notice the preheat time. The Ninja DZ401 Foodi Air Fryer's biggest achievement: allowing you to cook two different foods in two different settings at the same time. It's not meant for small kitchens, but if you have a lot of counter space and a big family, then it's a great option. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/this-ninja-dual-zone-air-fryer-is-36-percent-off-right-now-142051313.html?src=rss

Apple has rolled out the Emoji Game exclusively for its News+ subscribers in the US and Canada, just in time for World Emoji Day. While the company originally announced the game for iOS 26 at WWDC earlier this year, the Emoji Game is now available to subscribers on iPhone, iPad and Mac running iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4 and macOS 15.4 or later, respectively. The game is similar to other word games out there like Wordle in that players would have to fill in the blanks to guess words and phrases. But like its name implies, players will have to fill the blanked-out letters with emoji instead.If the letters for "apple" are missing in the word "pineapple," for instance, users would have to use the "apple" emoji to complete the word. For the phrase "the night is young," players can choose the baby emoji if it's the word "young" that's missing. In addition to standard emoji, the game also uses Genmoji, which are custom emoji created using Apple Intelligence. For each round of the game, players will have to complete three phrases. They can reveal the clues baked into the phrases if they want, but it will use up one of their moves, which are limited in number.News+ subscribers will be able to play the game in the Puzzles section of the Apple News app. Later this year, they'll be able to play it in the upcoming dedicated Apple Games app, as well. An Apple's News+ subscription costs $13 a month. It gives subscribers access to magazines and newspapers, audio stories and regional publications, along with daily puzzles like crosswords and sudoku.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/apples-emoji-game-is-now-out-for-news-subscribers-in-the-us-and-canada-121505775.html?src=rss

Slack, the cloudbased team messaging juggernaut, is charging ahead with further integration of AI into users' daytoday experience. The company is introducing a series of tools aimed at improving productivity and improving team communication.AI writing assistance has been built directly into Slack Canvas, allowing users to create assets like project briefs as well as refine the content they create using naturallanguage prompts. Writing assistance can also be used to generate and assign action items, refine raw meeting notes, create FAQs and more. AI writing assistance seems to be in vogue, as Google has also been developing AI writing assistance tools integrated into Google Workspace, and Apple offers similar tools via Apple Intelligence.SlackAI message context will help users understand the lingo of their organization and help ensure they don't get lost in long threads by pulling surrounding context to explain a message when a user hovers over it. This tool will provide explanations for project names, internal tools or teamspecific shorthand. This will presumably help new team members get up to speed more quickly while they learn whatever random acronyms their company uses. AIgenerated channel recaps and thread summaries will similarly help users catch up when joining an ongoing project or conversation.If you're heads down working on a highpriority task, Slack will use AI action items to understand what you're working on and only interrupt your workflow if something provides a meaningful update or is more important than what you're working on at the time.SlackThe company also said it will be widening the availability of AI translation, which allows teammates to read and contribute in their preferred language, as well as Enterprise Search, which surfaces information across connected apps, data and conversations from the likes of Salesforce, Microsoft Teams, Google Drive and more.SlackSlack has been rapidly incorporating AI tools into the platform recently. This should come as no surprise since Slack has been owned by Salesforce since 2021. The software company is among the most bullish on the future of AI and its applications in the workplace. We know that Slack has been using data from your chats to train its machinelearning models, and recently Salesforce moved to ensure that rival software firms were not using or accessing the same data.These tools and more are available to users with a paid Slack plan, though not every new AI tool is included at the lower price tiers. The higher the subscription tier, the more of these tools are included. Slack says that Enterprise Search, channel recaps, AI meeting notes and translations are available now. In contrast, AIassisted message explanations, action items, writing assistance in Canvas and profile summaries are coming soon and may be released throughout the year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/slack-is-getting-a-host-of-new-ai-tools-120023607.html?src=rss

South Korea's top court has upheld an appeals court ruling to dismiss all charges in a long-running fraud case against Samsung chairman Jay Y. Lee. The accounting fraud and stock manipulation charges stemmed from a merger of two Samsung subsidiaries in 2015. Prosecutors had accused Lee of manipulating share prices to help clear the way for the merger in an attempt to consolidate his power.In 2024, a court ruled that the prosecutors failed to prove their claims. The case has worked through the appeals process since then. In a statement to Reuters, Samsung's lawyers said the latest ruling confirmed that the merger had been completed legally and added they were "sincerely grateful" to the Supreme Court.Back in 2017, Lee was sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of bribing public officials with regards to the merger. However, the Supreme Court overturned the decision and ordered a re-trial. As a result of that, Lee was handed a 30-month prison sentence and served 18 months before being paroled. Then-South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol (who was removed from office this year and recently rearrested over a failed martial law attempt in 2024) later pardoned Lee.While the Supreme Court's ruling had been widely expected, it clears "a layer of legal uncertainty" related to Samsung, one analyst said. It will allow Lee to focus more of his attention on Samsung, which earlier this month projected a 56 percent drop in operating profit for the April-June quarter compared with the same period in 2024. That is due, in large part, to sluggish sales of its AI chips.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/samsung-chairman-cleared-of-fraud-by-south-koreas-top-court-113043402.html?src=rss

Roblox is joining the growing ranks of online platforms that are trying to better understand the ages of their teen users. The company is rolling out a new "age estimation" feature for teens 13 and older.With the update, teens will be prompted for an age check that requires a video selfie in order to access its new less restrictive chat feature called "trusted connections." Roblox is relying on third-party identity company Persona for the actual "estimation," and users who fail the check will also have the option of providing an ID. Once teens have "unlocked" trusted connections via video selfie or sharing an ID, they'll be able to participate in chats with friends "without filters," including "party" group text and voice chats.Roblox has previously faced scrutiny for not policing its chat features enough and making it too easy for adults to seek out children on the platform. The company notes in its announcement that parents will be able to monitor their kids' "trusted connections" via parental control features, and that the feature is intended only for people who teens already "know and trust." Teens are only able to add trusted connections via their existing contacts list or a QR code."We believe chat without filters should only be accessible to users who have verified their age." the company writes in a blog post. "This isn't just about compliance; it's about building engaging and appropriate digital spaces for everyone."While Roblox is notably not using the term "age verification," the new feature comes at a time when there are increasing calls for social media companies and other platforms to check the ages of their youngest users. Reddit and Bluesky recently announced age verification features for users in the UK - a change required of major platforms ahead of a new online safety law going into effect. Age verification mandates have also been gaining steam in the United States.A number of states have introduced age verification measures for social media, though laws in Arkansas and Utah have so far been blocked. Utah also recently passed a law requiring app stores to verify users' ages - an approach that has been endorsed by companies like Meta and Snap. And the Supreme Court recently upheld a Texas law that requires websites hosting adult to conduct age verification checks.Roblox, which unlike most online platforms allows children under 13 to have accounts, is in a slightly different position. And for now, it's billing its age checks as "optional." But already having an age estimation feature in place could certainly be useful should it be required to take an even stricter approach in the future.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/roblox-is-adding-an-age-estimation-feature-for-teens-110047092.html?src=rss

The Federal Communication Commission plans to vote on new rules that will ban the use of Chinese technology in undersea cables, according to a press release from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. The proposed rules will apply to any company on the FCC's existing list of entities that pose "an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States."Besides "prohibiting the use of 'covered' equipment," the FCC's new rules will also limit the ability for Chinese companies to receive a license to build or operate cables that connect to the US. Undersea or submarine cables are a key piece of internet infrastructure, and a potential site of foreign espionage in the eyes of the FCC. Banning, or at least severely limiting the influence of Chinese companies is an attempt to benefit American cable providers while hurting the country's perceived enemies.During President Donald Trump's first term, the FCC made similar moves to prevent mobile carriers from using Chinese equipment in the US. Trump signed a law that required carriers to "rip and replace" old Huawei and ZTE mobile infrastructure, and the FCC provisioned funding to make it happen. The new rules around undersea cables are being proposed by a very different commission, though.Currently, there are only three commissioners on the FCC, down from the typical five. Under Carr, the commission has taken a much more aggressive approach to regulating the telecommunications industry, bordering on violating the First Amendment. Carr has threatened to investigate companies for their diversity, equity and inclusion policies and committed to not approving any mergers of companies that insist on keeping them.The FCC is expected to vote on the new rules on August 7. Besides being consistent with past FCC actions, they could be justified as a way of securing American infrastructure following the widespread "Salt Typhoon" hack the affected US carriers and other companies last year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/the-fcc-plans-to-ban-chinese-technology-in-undersea-cables-215207536.html?src=rss

On Tuesday, Nintendo published an interview with the creators of Donkey Kong Bananza. The second big Switch 2 tentpole title comes from the team that made Super Mario Odyssey. The developers explained how they laid the foundation for DK's first 3D adventure since the Nintendo 64 era.Destruction is at the heart of Donkey Kong Bananza. Everything in his environment can be smashed to bits. Not only is that a fun mechanic, but it also adds an element of verticality and freedom of exploration. That's an ideal fit for showcasing the Switch 2's processing power.NintendoAs with so many other Nintendo creations, the first step in getting there was a no-brainer. Consult with Shigeru Miyamoto."We'd built up a lot of expertise in gameplay development for 3D action games through our work on 3D Mario games, including Super Mario Odyssey," producer Kenta Motokura said. "But we needed to dive deeper into the fundamental question of 'What is Donkey Kong?' So, our first step was to seek out Miyamoto-san and Nintendo Executive Officer Yoshiaki Koizumi."In their talk, Miyamoto emphasized DK's moves like hand slaps and blowing. Along similar lines, Koizumi pointed to the ape's massive arms, which he uses to punch and hoist heavy objects. That got the team thinking. After all, who doesn't want to control a giant ape who runs around, breaking shit?DK slapping a platform in the 2010 game Donkey Kong Country Returns. Shigeru Miyamoto emphasized the move as a starting point for the new version.Nintendo / RetroThe Super Mario Odyssey team was uniquely suited to handle that challenge. First, the 2017 title included some light environmental destruction. (Think the cheese rocks in the Luncheon Kingdom and Bowser's smashing in the final level.)The team experimented with fully destructible environments soon after Odyssey's release. (That was long before they knew they'd make a Donkey Kong game.) That included the adorably strange idea of putting smashing fists on a Goomba and setting it loose. Part two of the interview includes a short video of one of these tests.On a technical level, the key to that mechanic is using voxels (3D pixels). "In Super Mario Odyssey, we started using voxels midway through development, so the areas where we could apply them were limited," Motukura said. "But the trial and error we went through back then directly led to what we were able to do in Donkey Kong Bananza."Another interesting tidbit from the interview is that they started working on the game as a Switch 1 title. "We originally began developing Donkey Kong Bananza on Nintendo Switch, but we ran into some challenges," Motokura said. "I think it was around 2021 when we started to think about moving development to Switch 2." In the comparison image below, you can see a much richer environment in the Switch 2 version.NintendoArt director Daisuke Watanabe explained that the new console's hardware opened new doors. "We first looked into how we could upgrade what we'd originally built for Switch to take advantage of Switch 2," Watanabe said. "One of the most obvious improvements was that we could place far more objects in the environment than before. Being able to place more objects in the terrain didn't just enhance the game's visual richness. More importantly, it increased the amount of things players could destroy, which amplified the exhilaration of being able to demolish anything and everything."There are many more nuggets in Nintendo's interview. This includes animal transformations and Pauline's role in the game. (She must be the forgiving type, given how they started.) The chat also explores how DK's modern art style evolved.You can visit Nintendo's website for the full lowdown. Donkey Kong Bananza will be available tomorrow, July 17.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/donkey-kong-bananzas-creators-reflect-on-the-games-path-to-delightful-destruction-201600462.html?src=rss

Threads is testing letting you sign up with a Facebook account rather than an Instagram account. The new option, spotted by Social Media Today, doesn't appear to be widely available yet, but is already mentioned in a Meta support article.Besides making it easier for people who don't have an Instagram account to quickly create an account on Meta's X and Bluesky competitor, this new Facebook sign up option should influence the kind of posts and ads that get recommended to you."Signing up to Threads with your Facebook account helps unlock features that work across Threads and Facebook, like using the same login info to access both apps," Meta writes in a support article. "If you create a Threads profile with your Facebook account, we'll combine your info across Threads and Facebook."Encouraging users to build their Threads profile using the information and followers they had on Instagram was one of the ways Meta quickly grew its Threads user base. It hasn't always led to the best experience on Threads, though. As it turns out, growth-obsessed Instagram users produce fairly shallow text posts. And because most people's Instagram accounts are associated with their Threads profile, they get served a lot of that subpar engagement bait by default. If you came to Threads looking for the relative wit of X, you'd come away pretty disappointed.Letting you sign up with Facebook will likely have its own shortcomings (namely, modern Facebook is pretty spammy, too), but it at least acknowledges that what people want from Instagram is different from what they want from Threads.Meta has made a concerted effort as of late to establish Threads as more of an independent entity. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram at Meta, shared that the company planned to remove "the Instagram graph import from the onboarding flow" back in November 2024. Threads also started testing using its own separate direct messaging inbox in June, after relying on Instagram DMs since launch.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/threads-is-testing-facebook-account-sign-ups-191214734.html?src=rss

There's another big update for Cyberpunk 2077 coming our way. Update 2.3 brings some notable new features to PC and consoles. CD Projekt Red (CDPR) is adding official in-game support for VRR on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. This should help with screen tearing when the frame rate drops and is of particular use when running the game in performance mode.There's also an official AutoDrive feature, which is something that has long-existed in the modding community. This is available in all cars and motorcycles and lets players drive from place to place automatically. Just set the destination marker and let the game do the rest. This isn't teleportation. The vehicle still drives, it does just so automatically.With AutoDrive enabled, players can turn on a "cinematic camera" to make the journey a bit more visually stimulating. There's even a new "wandering" mode for aimless joyrides, for those who just want to experience the splendor of Night City and its environs.Speaking of driving, the update also brings four additional vehicles to the game, and they all look to be attached to new side jobs. More content is always appreciated.PC players are getting support for AMD FSR 3.1, Intel XeSS 2.0 and HDR 10 Plus. AMD's FSR 4 is also being added, but it requires a specialized driver that isn't available yet. CDPR says it's coming at a "later date."The update drops on July 17, which is the same day the Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition comes to Mac computers. It looks like the Mac version will include these new features. Update 2.3 is coming to the Switch 2, but not just yet. Cyberpunk 2077 was a launch title for the recently-released console.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/cyberpunk-2077s-latest-update-brings-vrr-to-consoles-and-introduces-an-autodrive-mode-181933646.html?src=rss

Google will host its next Made by Google event on August 20, the company announced today. In a media invite, it promised the event would feature new Pixel phones, watches, buds "and more." It's hard to imagine what other product types might be covered by those last two words, but for those who watch the industry closely, this event is likely to see the launch of the Pixel 10 flagship phones, along with a Pixel Watch 4 and new Pixel Buds.It's easy to make that deduction, especially going by previous Made By Google events. At last year's hardware launch, Google announced the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Buds Pro 2.Between that and the company's invite, we can expect a refresh of nearly the entire Pixel line. As for what the "and more" bit could entail, recent rumors suggesting Google is working on a proper response to Apple's MagSafe tech dubbed Pixelsnap. Android manufactures have been slow to adopt the Qi2 wireless charging standard, but with the upcoming Pixel 10 it appears the company is working on a host of magnetic Qi2 accessories, including a new charging stand. As always, be sure to visit Engadget on the day of the event as we'll have a liveblog of the entire proceedings.Update, July 16 2025, 1:50PM ET: This story has been updated to include a list of devices we expect Google to unveil on August 20.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-next-made-by-google-event-better-known-as-the-pixel-launch-is-set-for-august-20-162832319.html?src=rss

If you were having trouble viewing Reddit today, you weren't alone. Downdetector showed a spike in outages and problems at the site. Reddit acknowledged the problem on Wednesday. At 12:38PM ET, it said the situation had been resolved.Reddit told Engadget that an update was the culprit. "An update we made caused some instability," a company spokesperson said. "We reverted and are seeing Reddit ramp back up." As to what that update was, we don't yet know, but it was probably a standard tweak to the site that just had some bugs on board.If you tried to visit Reddit this morning, you likely saw a message reading, "Server error: We have encountered an error. Please try again later." The company's system status page showed a "partial outage" for the desktop web, mobile web and mobile apps.DowndetectorMeanwhile, Downdetector's status page (above) showed a sharp upward trend in problems starting at around 11:20 AM ET. The graph dropped again after Reddit implemented its fix.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/reddit-is-back-online-after-a-brief-outage-161522867.html?src=rss

Steam has added a new rule to its guidelines that has resulted in certain games getting banned, according to a report by Automaton. The new clause states that "content that may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam's payment processors and related card networks and banks, or internet network providers" is not allowed and could result in removal from the platform.In other words, if credit card companies get mad about something, they could actually have the power to ban a game. The clause goes on to say that this will affect "certain kinds of adult-only content."This has likely already resulted in many games being pulled off the platform. The vast majority of these titles have obvious sexual themes and many have the word "incest" in the title. SteamDB doesn't give a reason for these removals, but the timing does match up.

If you're all caught up on The Last of Us (the TV version that is) then you'll know that season two made clear that when the show returns it will focus a lot more on Kaitlyn's Dever's Abby. But it sounds like we're going to have to wait a while to see that side of the story unfold.Speaking to Varietyoff the back of The Last of Us netting HBO 16 Emmy nominations this week, the company's CEO, Casey Bloys, said season three is "definitely planned for 2027." Bloys didn't offer any more specific information about the release window, but the next batch of episodes arriving in the first half of 2027 would be consistent with the roughly two-year gap between seasons one and two.The HBO Max chief also told Variety that a decision has yet to be made on whether the remaining chunk of narrative from The Last of Us Part II will be adapted into more than one additional season. Bloys said that the decision is being left to showrunner Craig Mazin. Mazin's decision likely won't involve input from Neil Druckmann, though. The Naughty Dog studio head and co-creator of the eponymous video game series stepped away from his role on the show after season two. But Bloys unsurprisingly doesn't think (publicly at least) that Druckmann's departure will affect the development of season three."It was fantastic to have Neil involved. A lot of people don't realize that Neil has a full time job creating video games and running Naughty Dog. It's a really big job that he's got. So I understand why he needs to focus on that," he told Variety. "But I believe he's given us a good blueprint with the show. And obviously Craig is a pro, so I think we'll be in excellent shape. I'm not worried at all."If you are looking for a way to bridge the gap between now and what could be the final season of The Last of Us, a replay of the game it's based on might be the way to go. Last week, Naughty Dog introduced a new Chronological Mode to the remastered version of the sequel that ditches the game's frequent flashback sequences to focus on Ellie and Abby's respective Seattle plotlines as they unfold.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/hbo-confirms-the-last-of-us-season-3-will-arrive-in-2027-161150871.html?src=rss

Mac owners will soon be able to play one of the biggest games of the last five years or so. Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition will be available in the Mac App Store as well as Steam, GOG.com and the Epic Games Store on Thursday, July 17. As the name implies, it includes both the base game as well as the Phantom Liberty expansion from 2023. The port was announced last fall and was originally planned to arrive "early" this year, but it took a little longer to get everything squared away.Unsurprisingly, you'll need an M-series Mac to play this game, but Apple and CD Projekt Red confirm that it'll work on computers all the way back to the M1 - but you'll need 16GB of RAM. For years, 8GB was the standard on entry-level Macs, so those computers will be out of luck. And of course, graphics fidelity will vary widely across the various supported chipsets, but CD Projekt Red is including a "for this Mac" graphics preset that is optimized for each Apple Silicon-based Mac. So at the very least, you shouldn't have to fuss around with settings too much to get a decent experience.Shortly after the initial announcement, CD Projekt Red provided more details on the "for this Mac" setting as well as recommended specs. While the game does work with an M1 Mac, you're capped at 30fps and a low resolution - things escalate rapidly from there. The recommended configuration calls for an M3 Pro chip with 18GB of RAM to hit 60fps at 1080p. That configuration supports Ray Tracing, but regardless of what you're using you'll need to turn it on manually.CD Projekt RedThings go up from there, with 36GB of RAM and either an M2 Ultra or M3 Max chip to run high fidelity; very high fidelity requires an M3 Ultra or M4 Max. That essentially means you have a $2,000 or up Mac Studio or a $3,200 and up MacBook Pro with the M4 Max if you want to run this game at the highest of settings. Of course, if you care about such things, you probably already have a good gaming PC.As for other technical goodies, the game utilizes AMD FSR for upscaling and frame generation, and Apple's MetalFX also provides upscaling as well. Upcoming Metal 4 features announced at WWDC 2025, including Metal FX Frame Interpolation and Metal FX Denoising, are coming to the game via a future update. Metal FX Frame Interpolation generates an intermediate frame for every two input frames and can be combined with existing Metal upscaling to allow the game to hit 120fps on Ultra settings - but again, we're not sure what specific models will support that.If you use AirPods with your Mac, Cyberpunk 2077 features spatial audio with head-tracking features. And the game supports cross-progression regardless of what platform you play on, which should be useful for anyone who started a game elsewhere and wants to pick it back up on a Mac. If you've already purchased Cyberpunk 2077 from another storefront like Steam, it'll automatically be available for Mac.While Cyberpunk 2077 isn't exactly a new game, it remains one of the more popular and lauded titles of the decade (at least after CD Projekt Red fixed numerous launch bugs). And it joins a still small but growing number of major games optimized for Apple Silicon and the Mac, including the recently-released Assassin's Creed Shadows. A quick look on the Mac App Store also shows AAA releases including Death Stranding, Control, Lies of P, numerous Resident Evil titles as well as smaller but no less awesome games like Neva and Stray. Most big-name games don't come to the Mac at the same time as other platforms still, but the Mac is an option for more than just Apple Arcade games.Update, July 16, 2025, 11:44AM ET: This story has been updated with more details from the developer on the different specs required to hit the varying performance tiers in Cyberpunk 2077.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/cyberpunk-2077-ultimate-edition-comes-to-the-mac-on-july-17-130047453.html?src=rss

It's time to break out that 1980s playlist. The last season of the Netflix hit Stranger Things finally has a trailer. It's been nearly a decade since the show premiered and it looks like it's going out with a bang. This trailer is absolutely packed with action, showing many fan favorite characters in mortal peril of one kind or another.Season four ended with one heck of a cliffhanger so, of course, things pick up from there. The footage depicts all kinds of supernatural chaos impacting the small Indiana town. It's been three whole years since the last season, so here's a refresher from Netflix about the upcoming batch of episodes. It's filled with spoilers from previous seasons, so read at your own risk.

Google is bringing AIgenerated summaries to Discover, the personalized stream of articles and videos found in the Google app curated based on a user's interests. The search giant remains undeterred by the imperfect nature of AI Overviews, or what it might mean for publishers whose content largely makes up Google's search results.TechCrunch has reported that some Android and iOS users in the US are seeing cards containing AIgenerated summaries on their Discover page. These cards appear with news sites' logos in the top left of the card, with an accompanying snippet that is presumably generated from the body or headlines of those publishers' content. When users tap "see more," the card expands to show all the contributing articles for the summary. Each summary card carries a warning that it was generated by AI, which it notes "can make mistakes."A Google spokesperson told TechCrunch that this is a US launch of a new feature, not a test. The feature will first focus on trending lifestyle topics like sports and entertainment. In speaking with TechCrunch, Google claimed the summaries would make it easier for people to decide which pages they want to visit, though publishers are already vocal that Google's AI tools are tanking clickthrough traffic. Some estimates say as many as 64 percent of search results that include AI Overviews end without a click.Google has been aggressively rolling out AIpowered features. Tools like AI Overviews, AI mode in Search and AIgenerated video summary represent, in part, Google's determination to maintain its user base in the face of wouldbe searchengine replacements like ChatGPT.The pace of this new rollout was not made clear.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-adds-ai-generated-summaries-to-discover-144341141.html?src=rss

Budgeting can be a challenge, especially when you're trying to pay for the daily cost of life and save for things you want like a new gaming console or laptop. But there are plenty of tools out there that can make budgeting more manageable, and one of our favorite budgeting apps is on sale right now. You can subscribe to Quicken Simplifi for only $3 per month, which is half off its usual $6-per-month price. Notably, the sum is paid in one go for the year, instead of month to month. Yes, spending money to save money does sound a bit silly in principle, but Quicken Simplifi is our choice for best budget app overall. It offers a sleek, easy-to-use interface that doesn't have much of a learning curve. It's also excellent at tracking regular income and bills, along with refunds. Plus, you can share access to the app with your partner or financial advisor. There are a few cons, though nothing massive. You can't do a free trial - though Quicken does seem to have a 30 day cancelation policy to get a refund. You also can't create an account using your Apple or Google ID. Plus, there's no Zillow integration. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/our-favorite-budgeting-app-is-50-percent-off-right-now-141516676.html?src=rss

Whether you're shopping for a budget-friendly laptop for school or a sleek machine for everyday productivity, the best Chromebooks can offer surprising functionality for the price. Chromebooks have come a long way from their early days as web-only devices. Now, many Chromebook models feature powerful processors, premium displays and even touchscreen support, making them a compelling alternative to a regular laptop for plenty of users.

Nintendo has revealed the two lead actors for its live-action The Legend of Zelda movie. Bo Bragason is playing the title character, Princess Zelda, while Benjamin Evan Ainsworth is taking on the role of Link, series creator Shigeru Miyamoto announced on X.The performers are around the right ages for their parts - Bragason was born in 2004 while Ainsworth is 16. These are by far the biggest roles to date for both actors, but they each have plenty of experience in front of cameras.Bragason has appeared in Disney+ fantasy series Renegade Nell and BBC crime drama The Jetty, as well as the very enjoyable horror movie Censor and Final Fantasy XV. As for Ainsworth, he voiced Pinocchio in Disney's 2022 live-action remake and appeared in Mike Flanagan's Netflix series The Haunting of Bly Manor. Miyamoto said he is "very much looking forward to seeing both of them on the big screen."Sony Pictures is co-producing the film with Nintendo, while Wes Ball (the Maze Runner series) is directing it. The Legend of Zelda is on track to hit theaters on May 7, 2027.

Apple's Irish tax break problems are officially over. Ireland's Department of Finance has reported that the entirety of the 14.25 billion fund in Apple's escrow account for the case has been fully transferred to the Exchequer or Ireland's central fund. The escrow account has, therefore, been closed. This marks the end of one of the world's largest antitrust cases that started way back in 2013 when the European Commission launched an investigation to determine whether Apple was enjoying better tax rates than warranted under the bloc's laws.The commission found that the tax breaks Ireland gave Apple back then was illegal shortly after its investigation started. Then in 2016, after years of investigation, the commission ruled that the company had to pay back the "illegal state aid" it received over a 10-year-period before the probe into its tax practices was launched, since it was given "significant advantage" over its rivals.Apparently, Apple created Irish subsidiaries that owned most of its intellectual properties. Every time the company sells a product, the Irish subsidiaries get paid for the use of Apple's IPs. And thanks to the company's agreement with Ireland, Apple was only paying a 1 percent tax rate on European profits that became as low as .005 percent in 2014.The Commission ordered Apple to pay back the 13.1 billion in taxes it owed from between 2003 and 2014, with an interest of 1.2 billion on top.In 2018, the company transferred 14.3 billion to an escrow account as it appealed the Commission's ruling. The EU's General Court ruled in Apple's favor in 2020, explaining that there wasn't enough evidence to show that the company had broken the bloc's rules. But in 2024, the European Court of Justice overturned that decision and confirmed the Commission's original ruling in 2016.As The Irish Times has reported, the funds continued depreciating in value since it was deposited into escrow until 2023. It only managed to regain 470 million within 16 months before the account's closure in May, thanks to higher interest rates and investments with higher yields.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/apples-%E2%82%AC143-billion-irish-tax-break-case-is-officially-over-113755771.html?src=rss

With so many options available today, choosing the best streaming services can feel overwhelming. Whether you're into blockbuster movies, reality TV, documentaries or just want access to news channels, there's a platform tailored to your tastes and budget. From premium subscriptions like Disney Plus, Netflix and Max to free streaming options like Tubi or Pluto TV, there's something for everyone.

Welcome to Video Games Weekly on Engadget. Expect a new story every Monday or Tuesday, broken into two parts. The first is a space for short essays and ramblings about video game trends and related topics from me, Jess Conditt, a reporter who's covered the industry for more than 13 years. The second contains the video game stories from the past week that you need to know about, including some headlines from outside of Engadget.Please enjoy - and I'll see you next week.If I end up reading one more story about how fantastic Death Stranding 2 is so long as you skip the cutscenes, I'm gonna hurl. At what point during 10 hours of cinematic interstitials do we collectively put the controller down and say, actually, this isn't a great game? Not because the game parts aren't any good - they're pretty fabulous, in fact - but because a significant portion of the experience isn't actually interactive at all. When does it become more accurate to describe a Hideo Kojima project as a CGI movie with moments of interactivity, rather than as a video game first?I'm not actually attempting to solve the video game of Theseus" riddle right now, but it's a conversation that's been on my mind, given recent headlines. Death Stranding 2 reviews are in, Neil Druckmann is out at HBO and returning to Naughty Dog full-time, and Emmy nominations arrived with 18 nods for video game adaptations. Meanwhile, layoffs are rocking the gaming industry yet again, with thousands fired at Xbox this month, alongside multiple studio closures and game cancellations. One of the most surprising titles to get the ax was Project Blackbird, a promising-sounding MMO from Elder Scrolls studio ZeniMax Online. Blackbird was reportedly canceled in favor of allocating resources to the development of Fallout 5, a series with mainstream clout following the success of Amazon's Fallout TV show in 2024.The convergence of video games and Hollywood is not a new talking point - even for me - but it's only grown more relevant with time. Sony in particular is leaning hard into a cross-media strategy with notable investments in television, anime and film adaptations of its video game franchises, and it just published Kojima Productions' Death Stranding 2, which serves as a lightning rod for this entire conversation.Kojima is easy to pick on because he's been so vocal about his desire to make movies, and fittingly, his games have only grown more cinematic over the years. Death Stranding and its sequel are stacked with mainstream Hollywood actors (and Kojima's favorite directors) across hours of drawn-out, non-interactive cutscenes. His next two projects, OD and Physint, are both described as having A-list casts and blurring the boundaries between film and games."I'm a big fan of experimental horror games, and I deeply appreciate Kojima's eye for building tension and sneaky action sequences, but I'm hesitant to get excited about OD and Physint. The deeper Kojima dives into the world of Hollywood, the more he loses me. I don't download, install and boot up a video game to watch a movie instead, and I don't find it impressive when an interactive product is defined by cinematic terms. The constraints of filmmaking are vastly different than those of video game development, and it sucks to watch a talented creator try to force video games to conform to the boundaries of movies or TV, rather than exploring the mechanics that make interactive art so uniquely powerful. I feel like Kojima sees cinema as the goal, not video games specifically, and this perspective breaks my little pixelated heart.It's particularly painful in an era of raging instability for the video game industry. It's difficult to see so much money and creative talent being thrown at projects that end up feeling more like movies than games, at a time when it's increasingly difficult for fresh and original AAA projects to make it to market. Video games have not been maxed out as an art form - there's far more to discover in terms of mechanics, visuals, haptics and immersive interaction systems, and there are more stories that can only be told with these specific tools. Viewing game development through the lens of filmmaking diminishes everything that makes this medium so powerful. The only Hollywood trait the games industry should imitate is its powerful and functional unions.I enjoy things that exist in the gray space between definitions; in fact, I often prefer them. What I don't enjoy is misguided emulation that's sold to an audience as innovation. In the end, I guess what I'm really saying is... I'm still not over PT.The newsKing developers were the architects of their own demiseOne of the most eyebrow-raising details of Microsoft's sweeping layoffs earlier this month was the fact that King, the studio behind Candy Crush, was included in the firings. King is historically a money-printing machine with high per-employee returns, which tends to insulate it from layoffs, but this time around at least 200 people were let go from the studio. As it turns out, a number of fired developers spent the past few years training AI systems to do their jobs, which just adds a layer of shittiness to an already crappy situation.Best Buy will have more Switch 2 units on ThursdayHas the FOMO gotten to you yet? After denying that you wanted a Switch 2 for a few noble and self-righteous weeks, have you cracked and admitted that you actually, really want one? Great - then get yourself to Best Buy on Thursday, July 17, when the company will restock its supply of Switch 2 consoles in all stores. This coincides with the release of Donkey Kong Banaza, too.A small update on Ken Levine's Judas (sung like Lady Gaga)I've had my eye on Judas, the BioShocky FPS from Ken Levine's Ghost Story Games, since it was revealed in 2022, and I lowkey love how little we still know about it today. That said, I'm happily devouring every bit of information about Judas, and the latest nugget comes from Levine himself in an interview with classic game publisher Nightdive Studios. With Judas, Ghost Story is focused on "telling the story and transporting the player somewhere," rather than building live-service or microtransaction features, Levine said. As he put it, You buy the game and you get the whole thing. There's no online component. There's no live service."There's also no release date for Judas yet.Summer Games Done Quick can't stop raising millions for charityThe crazy kids at Summer Games Done Quick have done it once again and raised literal millions of dollars for Doctors Without Borders in a single weekend, simply by playing video games in silly ways without stopping. SGDQ 2025 wrapped up on Sunday with a total donation pool of $2,436,614. The organization's next event is another edition of Flame Fatales, a speedrunning showcase featuring women and femmes that runs from September 7 to 14. We'll see you there.Ousted Subnautica 2 studio bosses are suing KraftonThe well of Subnautica 2 drama runs deep. Earlier in July the heads of Subnatica 2 studio Unknown Worlds Entertainment - Charlie Cleveland, Ted Gill and Max McGuire - were ousted by the team's parent company, Krafton, and the game's early access release was delayed to 2026. What's more, Bloomberg reported that the studio had been in line for a $250 million bonus if it had met certain financial goals by the end of the year, but those largely hinged on an early access release. Cleveland said on social media that Subnautica 2 was ready for early access, and Krafton responded to the whole shebang by accusing the fired developers of abandoning their responsibilities as studio heads. Cleveland and others are now apparently filing a lawsuit against Krafton. GamesIndustry.biz has a comprehensive timeline of the Subnautica 2 controversy right here.Additional reading

Razer is back with a new addition to its Core line of external graphics enclosures. The Razer Core X V2 external graphics enclosure can house recent GPUs from brands including NVIDIA GeForce and AMD Radeon. It uses a single Thunderbolt 5 cable to the host device; in its press materials, Razer claims this tech delivers up to twice the bandwidth of Thunderbolt 4. This is true, but Thunderbolt 5 still isn't on the level of a modern desktop GPU connection, being roughly equivalent to 8 lanes of PCIe Gen 3. The Core X V2 s not available yet, but will retail for $350 when it does go on sale some time "soon."An eGPU can beef up the visual power of a gaming laptop or handheld. Razer has had several available over the years, starting with the Core alongside its Blade Stealth model in 2016. It followed up with the Core X in 2018 and the colorful Core X Chroma in 2019. The availability of Thunderbolt 5 ports has renewed interest in this product category since it increases the maximum bandwidth for an eGPU. ASUS also introduced an eGPU of its own at CES 2025.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/razer-revives-its-egpu-line-with-a-thunderbolt-5-dock-221526901.html?src=rss

Xbox's "Stream your own game" feature continues to expand. You can now use your PC to play supported games you own on Xbox. (The games stream from the cloud, not your console.) You'll need to be an Xbox Insider and Game Pass Ultimate subscriber to use it.The PC launch follows the feature's arrival earlier this year on other devices. Already supported were Xbox consoles, TVs, browser-based devices (including mobile) and Meta Quest headsets.The idea is the latest chapter in Microsoft's mission to make Xbox software more device-agnostic. Hop on whatever device is available, and start playing without waiting for installations. That makes sense from a business perspective, given Sony's commanding lead in their two-way console race. It's increasingly more about selling Game Pass subscriptions than fighting a losing hardware battle.CD Projekt RedMicrosoft lists over 250 supported games. Standouts include Baldur's Gate 3, Star Wars Outlaws, Cyberpunk 2077, Hogwarts Legacy, Balatro and a whole mess of Assassin's Creed entries. Microsoft says it will add more over time.The company says the collection includes some console-only titles. But you'll be hard-pressed to find many that aren't already available (natively) on PC. On the other hand, this method could free up storage and save you the hassle of downloading them.There are some caveats. You'll need to own digital copies of those you want to stream to your PC. (Physical copies won't cut it.) The feature is only available in the 28 countries where Xbox Cloud Gaming is supported. You'll also need a Game Pass Ultimate subscription, which costs $20 per month. If you're interested, you'll first need to sign up for the Xbox Insider program, which is free.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/xboxs-stream-your-own-game-feature-now-extends-to-pc-204049103.html?src=rss

US tariffs continue to cause problems and supply issues in the gaming space. The latest to feel the effects is Analogue. The company announced today that its Analogue 3D, a modern remake of the Nintendo 64 console, will not start shipping until late August.Analogue noted that "last week's sudden tariffs" were the reason for this change. "We're absorbing the costs-your preorder price stays the same. No additional charges," the company said in a post on X.This isn't the first time the highly anticipated Analogue 3D has been delayed. It opened for pre-orders in October 2024 and was initially due to ship in the first quarter of 2025. In March, the company pushed the ship date back to July, although its blog post didn't provide a reason for that move.Many gaming brands have been forced to adapt to the fluctuating tariff rules. Nintendo, Sony, Razer and Anbernic are just some of the companies that have changed their product pricing, availability or launches in the US as a result of the ever-changing situation.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/analogue-says-its-delayed-n64-remake-console-will-start-shipping-next-month-191520648.html?src=rss

Uber and China-based Baidu are teaming up to deploy more autonomous vehicles throughout the world. The companies plan on bringing thousands of Baidu's Apollo Go vehicles to various regions that will be accessible via the Uber platform, including mainland China and other "global markets outside of the US."The first joint deployments are expected in Asia and the Middle East later this year. Once launched, Uber riders could be presented with the option to have the trip fulfilled by an Apollo Go vehicle.The companies say this collaboration should increase the supply of affordable rideshare options in new areas by "bringing Baidu's advanced autonomous vehicles onto Uber's extensive network." This follows reporting from May in which Baidu announced it was bringing its autonomous vehicles to Europe.Baidu already operates a fleet of over 1,000 fully driverless vehicles in 15 cities, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The company first launched the platform in several Chinese cities back in 2022, including Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai.Don't hold your breath waiting for a US rollout. A recent report by The Wall Street Journal suggests America isn't currently in the cards, as Chinese companies tend to face increased scrutiny over on this side of the pond.However, there are plenty of budding autonomous vehicle companies chasing the US market. The Alphabet-owned Waymo has been steadily launching in new cities and most of these efforts include a partnership with Uber. The company Avride, which used to be the self-driving unit for the Russian conglomerate Yandex, has been increasing its presence in cities like Dallas and Jersey City. Amazon's Zoox is also still out there, despite a serious software issue that impacted the braking system.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/uber-and-baidu-are-teaming-up-to-deploy-thousands-of-autonomous-vehicles-globally-190109553.html?src=rss

Discoveries keep pouring out of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Researchers observed an unusual cluster, which they dubbed the Infinity Galaxy. It appears to support a leading theory on how some supermassive black holes form.Although "Infinity Galaxy" sounds like a place Thanos would hang out, it merely describes its appearance. Two compact, red nuclei, each surrounded by a ring, give the cluster the shape of an infinity symbol.What's inside is more interesting. (After all, this is a much lower-res image than some of the eye candy the Webb telescope has yielded.) Researchers believe the Infinity Galaxy formed when two spiral galaxies (the nuclei in the image) collided. Between them lies a young supermassive black hole within an enormous cloud of gas.Supermassive black holes can range from hundreds of thousands of times the size of our sun to millions or billions of times its size. This one is about a million times as big.The Infinity Galaxy, overlaid with a contour map indicating the supermassive black holeNASA / JWSTThe Infinity Galaxy lends weight to the direct collapse theory of black hole formation. As you probably know, most black holes form when massive stars collapse. The presence of supermassive ones is harder to explain.One theory proposes that smaller black holes merge over time to form a supermassive one. The problem there is that some supermassive black holes formed soon after the Big Bang. So, scientists think some supermassive ones form instead from the collapse of gas clouds, much like the one we see here. The Infinity Galaxy may be the best evidence yet for that direct collapse hypothesis.One of the paper's lead authors summarized the findings. "By looking at the data from the Infinity Galaxy, we think we've pieced together a story of how a direct collapse could have happened here," Pieter van Dokkum wrote in a press release. "Two disk galaxies collide, forming the ring structures of stars that we see. During the collision, the gas within these two galaxies shocks and compresses. This compression might just be enough to form a dense knot, which then collapsed into a black hole."The team can't definitively confirm the theory from their current data. "But we can say that these new data strengthen the case that we're seeing a newborn black hole, while eliminating some of the competing explanations," van Dokkum added. "We will continue to pore through the data and investigate these possibilities."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/webb-spots-infinity-galaxy-that-sheds-light-on-black-hole-formation-183900161.html?src=rss

With so many different handheld gaming devices entering the market, having a flexible gamepad that works with many different hardware platforms can be a valuable addition to your gear collection. A promising new option arrived today with the pre-order announcement of the 8BitDo Pro 3. This controller retails for $70 and is due to start shipping on August 12. The Pro 3 gamepad will be compatible with the recently released Nintendo Switch 2 as well as the original Switch. It will also work with Windows PC, SteamOS, Apple and Android devices and has both Bluetooth and wired USB connection options. The controller's feature set includes TMR joysticks and triggers that can operate with Hall effect or in non-linear micro-switch mode. It also sports extra bumpers, two Pro paddle buttons for the back of the device and swappable magnetic ABXY buttons. The gamepad comes with a charging dock and a pair of ball-top joystick caps for that more arcade feel. On the aesthetic front, this retro-style controller is available in purple, gray, or white models. We're big fans of the peripheral brand's previous generation 8BitDo Pro 2, so having a refreshed version with some improvements on the joysticks and triggers is a worth a look. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-new-8bitdo-pro-3-gamepad-is-open-for-pre-order-now-181006305.html?src=rss

The nominations for the 77th Emmy Awards just dropped and, unsurprisingly, Apple TV+'s Severance led the pack with a whopping 27, including Best Drama. The streamer has another bona-fide hit with the Seth Rogen-led The Studio, which captured 23 nominations.However, HBO Max received the most kudos by platform, with 142 nominations in total. This is thanks to the second season of The Last of Us, with 16 nominations, and the Batman-adjacent The Penguin. The White Lotus, The Pitt and Hacks also grabbed multiple nominations. This is the highest number of noms the outlet has ever received. Netflix still holds the record, though, with 160 nominations in 2020.Andor scored 14 nominations, including one for Best Drama. Star Wars shows aren't typically singled out for the high-profile awards, though the first season of Andor was also up for Best Drama, before losing to Succession. No actors from the series were nominated, which is a bummer given the performances by Diego Luna, Denise Gough, Elizabeth Dulau and Stellan Skarsgard, among others.There was a day when sci-fi programs only received nominations for stuff involving costumes or sets. That sure has changed, with Andor, The Last of Us, Severance, Paradise and Black Mirror receiving so much love this year. Fallout also made an impressive showing last year.The 77th Emmy Awards will be hosted by comedian Nate Bargatze and is airing live on CBS on September 14 at 8PM ET. Cord cutters will be able to stream it live and on-demand via Paramount+.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/severance-the-last-of-us-and-andor-just-nabbed-dozens-of-emmy-nominations-174607421.html?src=rss

Microsoft's extensive gaming portfolio was hit hard by sweeping layoffs earlier this month. The situation appears to have been particularly galling for staff at Candy Crush developer King who are reportedly set to be replaced by AI tools they worked on.Multiple anonymous sources have told MobileGamer.bizthat a number of narrative, UX, level design and user research staffers at King have spent several years helping to build and train AI models that can do their jobs more quickly. Those same employees are now being told their jobs are at risk. They added that the copywriting team is facing the same fate, with the London-based group working on Farm Heroes Saga expected to effectively be cut in half."The fact AI tools are replacing people is absolutely disgusting but it's all about efficiency and profits even though the company is doing great overall," a source told the mobile gaming-focused outlet. "If we're introducing more feedback loops then it's crazy to remove the developers themselves, we need more hands and less leadership."The same source estimated that the company-wide staff cuts could end up being more than 200, which was the number reported by Bloomberg when it broke the news of the broader layoffs.The impact of the recent staffing upheaval is being felt across Microsoft's gaming division. Engadget's Jessica Conditt recently spoke to employees at Halo Studios, with one developer telling us they were "super pissed" about the layoffs. At least five people within Halo Studios were told they no longer had jobs shortly after receiving an all-staff email from Microsoft Gaming SEO Phil Spencer allegedly celebrating Xbox's current profitability. The same developer said Microsoft was trying its "damnest to replace as many jobs as [it] can with AI agents" as it increasingly pushes Copilot on its staff.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/laid-off-candy-crush-studio-staff-reportedly-replaced-by-the-ai-tools-they-helped-build-174141524.html?src=rss

Xbox has confirmed the second batch of Game Pass additions for July. There's no obvious headliner here, but there are a bunch of great additions to the catalog. These include indie hits like Wheel World and blockbusters like Robocop: Rogue City. Let's get into it.Robocop: Rogue City came as a huge surprise back in 2023. A game based on a decades-old sci-fi franchise by a relatively unknown developer? It should have been a train wreck. Instead, it's a solid 3D action title that perfectly captures the vibe of the original film. This is a must-play for children of the 1980s. It'll be available on July 17 for subscribers on all tiers.Grounded 2 looks to be a fantastic take on the "shrunken teens navigating a yard" genre, as first pioneered in the film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. The first game was great and Obsidian looks to be upping the ante here in nearly every way, with a larger focus on story, a more immersive world and insects to ride around on. This is a day one Game Pass release, which happens on July 29. It'll only be playable for PC and Ultimate subscribers.The Annapurna-published Wheel World is finally heading our way on July 23, and it's a day one Game Pass release. This is an open-world bicycle sim with gorgeous cel-shaded graphics. The title promises "impressive vistas, hidden secrets and races that will test your skills." It'll be available for Ultimate and PC subscribers.Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is another day one release, with availability on July 24. This is a Souls-like action RPG set in the final days of the Ming Dynasty. The combat looks absolutely brutal. Again, only Ultimate and PC subscribers will have access to the game.Those are just the titles that caught my interest. The shooter High On Life returns to the platform today and the survival horror adventure My Friendly Neighborhood drops on July 17. The prison-based RPG Back to the Dawn will be playable on July 18 and the survival crafting title Abiotic Factor releases on July 22. As always, Game Pass remains one heck of a deal.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xboxs-second-batch-of-game-pass-additions-for-july-includes-grounded-2-and-wheel-world-164450594.html?src=rss

Lucid is about to roll out its first hands-free features. On July 30, Lucid Air sedan owners with the DreamDrive Pro add-on will get automated drive assist and lane-change features. If you have a Gravity SUV you'll have to wait until later this year.The features will arrive via an OTA update for vehicles with DreamDrive Pro hardware. The optional add-on has 32 sensors, including LiDAR, radar, ultrasonic sensors and cameras. DreamDrive Pro already supports semi-autonomous features like lane change assist and curve control.The new drive assist and lane-change features take the automation further, letting you go hands-free. (Your eyes will still need to be on the road, of course). The features will only work on compatible divided highways.Lucid MotorsLucid joins a growing pack of EV makers with hands-free options. It's a list that now stretches far beyond Tesla's Autopilot and Full-Self-Driving. Rivian, GM, Ford and Nissan each have automated options.As for Lucid, it's been a rocky ride lately, reflecting the industry's broader turbulence. It had two rounds of layoffs, cutting 400 people last year after reducing its workforce by 1,300 in 2023. On the bright side, its Gravity SUV has had a positive reception. (It's rolling out now, joining the Air sedan in the lineup.) Lucid is also expanding its real estate. Earlier this year, the automaker acquired an Arizona plant previously owned by the bankrupt Nikola.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/lucid-will-add-hands-free-driving-options-later-this-month-162816263.html?src=rss

Apple just announced a commitment of $500 million over several years to buy rare earth magnets from the US-based company MP Materials. These rare earth magnets are used in a number of products, including iPhones, MacBooks and the Apple Pencil stylus. The American-made magnets will be shipped throughout the world, to help "meet increasing global demand for the material."MP Materials is the only fully integrated rare earth producer in the country. The two companies have also pledged to work together to improve upon a processing facility in Texas, building a series of manufacturing lines specifically designed for Apple products. Once finished, the factory will "support dozens of new jobs in advanced manufacturing and R&D."American innovation drives everything we do at Apple, and we're proud to deepen our investment in the U.S. economy," said Apple CEO Tim Cook. Rare earth materials are essential for making advanced technology, and this partnership will help strengthen the supply of these vital materials here in the United States."Apple and MP will also team up to create a recycling facility in California and have promised to develop "novel magnet materials and innovative processing technologies" to enhance magnet performance.This is all part of Apple's pre-existing pledge to invest $500 billion in the US over the next four years, which is a slight increase over the $430 billion pledged in 2021. Adjusted for inflation, these amounts are essentially the same.Apple basically pioneered the use of recycled rare earth elements in consumer electronics. It began using these materials back in 2019, in the Taptic Engine of the iPhone 11. The Pentagon recently became the largest shareholder of MP Materials, as rare earth materials are also key components in a range of military weapons systems.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/apple-commits-500-million-over-several-years-to-buy-us-made-rare-earth-magnets-152930080.html?src=rss

Sony just surprised the photography world by unveiling the RX1R III, a fixed-lens 35mm full-frame compact camera. Coming nearly ten years after the RX1R II, it has a 61MP Exmor R sensor along with Sony's latest image processing technology that promises low noise and high dynamic range. Apart from all the new tech, the RX1R III is smaller and more streamlined than before and considerably lighter at 17 ounces than its main competition, Leica's Q3 and the Fujifilm GFX100RF. With that, it's designed to be a "carrying around" camera for street photographers, serious amateurs and others. That small size is due in part to the Zeiss Sonnar T 35mm f2 lens that sits partly inside the body. While more compact than before, it has the same optics as the last model and offers high levels of sharpness and color rendering, according to Sony. It comes with a macro ring that enables users to get as close as 20cm to subjects and feature's Sony's new "Step Crop Shooting" function that allows 35mm, 50mm and 70mm focal lengths by cropping into the sensor, just like the GFX100RF can do with a similar button. Sony The RX1R II has up to 15 stops of dynamic range thanks to the high-res sensor and image processing engine. It also features an anti-reflection coating and no optical low-pass filter to boost image quality, though that can cause some moire and other artifacts. Shooting speeds aren't quick at just 5 fps, though it's obviously not designed for sports. The electronic viewfinder is middling with 2.36 million dots and 0.7x magnification, though the rear display offers a decent 2.4 million dots of resolution. However, unlike the one on the previous model that tilted out and up, it's fixed in order to save weight and size. It also lacks any in-body or optical stabilization, relying solely on electronic shake reduction. With Sony's latest Bionz XR and AI processors, it promises accurate tracking of "subjects, human bodies, heads and the position of eyes," Sony said, even if their faces aren't visible. It uses 693 phase-detection AF points covering around 78 percent of the image, just like Sony's A7R V. It's not nearly as powerful as the A7R V for video, but can still handle 4K 30 fps video with 10-bit 4:2:2 color sampling, along with 1080p video at up to 120 fps. No log mode is available, but you do get the log-like S-Cinetone that boosts dynamic range a bit. Other features include a single SDXC UHS II slot, a mic input (but not headphone jack), a microHDMI port and a USB-C input. The R1XR III is much more expensive than the RX1R II was at launch. It'll go on pre-order soon for $5,100, with shipping set to start on July 31st. Sony is also offering a handful of accessories (also expensive), including a $300 (!) thumb grip, $250 body case and $200 lens hood (!!). This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/sonys-61mp-rx1r-iii-fixed-lens-compact-camera-is-finally-here-after-a-ten-year-wait-152707087.html?src=rss

Insta360 has launched a firmware upgrade and new accessories for its X5 360-degree camera as part of what it calls the Insta360 Summer Update. Key new features include "AdaptiveTone" to improve dual camera exposure, a new "Ultra Battery" for longer recording times, an ND filter set and custom-designed lenses. "It can be a struggle for dual-lens cameras like X5 to balance the exposure across both lenses," the company explained. To fix this issue it came up with AdaptiveTone, which independently records light data for both lenses in order to preserve highlight and shadow detail across the entire spherical image. Then, in automatically adjusts the exposure based on the perspective you choose, supposedly resulting in more natural-looking footage. It works with both 360 video at 8K 30 fps and 5.7K 30fps along with flat PureVideo. Another key update is for PureVideo, allowing it work single lens mode rather than just in 360 mode as before. That will allow creators to capture low-light footage with reduced noise and improved color fidelity in both flat and spherical modes. Battery life was another key target. The X5 now supports Endurance Mode in 8K, allowing nearly two hours of continuous recording while improving endurance mode at 5.7K 24 fps with a boost from 185 to 208 minutes. Should you need even more performance in that regard, Insta360 is selling a new $50 Ultra Battery that boosts runtime by up to 17 percent to just under four hours max. Mat Smith for Engadget Another new accessory is X5 ND filters that give creators more options in bright lighting conditions. The kit includes ND16, ND32 and ND64 filters, letting you reduce shutter speeds to create natural motion blur for activities like mountain biking and motorcycle footage. Plus, Insta360 is offering an X5 custom replacement lens kit with pre-made patterns, AI artwork or your own images, to swap out with the standard lenses. Motorcycle creators are getting some extra love, too. Enhancements include immersive stabilization that preserves some natural shake to enhance the feeling of speed, along with Sena headset integration that allows start/stop recording and voice commands for hands-free operation. It also introduced a GPS preview remote with a built-in mic that combines camera control, live preview, GPS data recording and a noise canceling mic. Finally, the Plate Blur feature automatically obscures your license plate in footage, saving you the trouble of doing that manually. Other updates include new diving accessories and software updates with a new Invisible Dive Case Pro and buoyancy control accessory, along with an updated AquaVision 3.0 algorithm that analyzes underwater footage and provides a selection of color adjustments to best match the shot. You can also connect the X5 to a Suunto dive computer so you can bake your diving data right into the footage. Finally, Insta360 introduced updates to its Studio editing software like improved export speeds, background exports and improvements to the AI Stitching algorithm. And now, you can preview video files in their folder on your computer without the need to open them in Studio, saving time. The software updates, along with all the new accessories, are now available on Insta360's website. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/insta360s-x5-cam-update-brings-nd-filters-a-giant-battery-and-improved-exposure-150007247.html?src=rss

Google has closed a $3 billion deal to secure 3,000 megawatts of hydroelectric power, as it looks to meet the data demands of its growing AI and cloud computing platforms by harnessing low-cost clean energy. Brookfield Asset Management's renewables division says that its deal with Google is the largest deal of its kind for hydroelectricity. The first phase of this deal will provide Google with 670MW of carbon-free electricity from Brookfield's Holtwood and Safe Harbor plants in Pennsylvania.The Hydro Framework Agreement (HFA) allows Google to upgrade or develop the existing facilities as it sees fit in an ongoing commitment to adding more power to the grid. At the outset, Google's efforts will largely be focused on the PJM, the largest grid in the US with 65 million customers, which is currently struggling to keep up with the data demands of big tech's seemingly insatiably power-hungry AI projects. In time, the new partners will have the option of expanding into other regions in the country. Google said in a statement that it was dedicated to "responsibly growing the digital infrastructure that powers daily life for people, communities and businesses."Google's latest energy deal comes in the same week that AI rival Meta said it will spend hundreds of billions of dollars on a number of gigwatt-sized data centers, as part of its quest to create better-than-human-level "superintelligence" in all of its AI domains. The new campuses will be among the largest on earth, with the first to arrive being the Ohio-based Prometheus at some point next year.A typical data center consumes around 500,000 gallons of water each day, but the emerging AI-focused complexes being built by tech giants could reportedly push this figure into the millions, as recently reported by The New York Times. When the volume of water needed to power these facilities eclipses what is readily available, local communities often bear the brunt through rising prices and potential water shortages in the future.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-spends-%C2%A33-billion-on-securing-energy-for-its-data-centers-and-ai-expansion-145145966.html?src=rss

Rivian, the American EV manufacturer, is integrating Google Maps into its navigation app. The update should provide Rivian owners with more detailed information about their route, disruptions and places they're passing.These new features include updated traffic data and reroutes if another option turns out to be quicker along your journey. Drivers will also have access to real-time road disruption reports from the Google Maps community. Plus, places of interest should now be available right on the map. Rivian already used Google Maps' information for searching places, but now everything from hours to ratings should show up on the display. The newly available technology also extends to Google Maps' satellite images.Rivian's navigation app already included features such as range on arrival, charging information and charging stops along your route. The update comes with a new design that Rivian claims has better "glanceability" and "access to information."The company has faced some setbacks and concerns. In February 2024, Rivian laid off 10 percent of its salaried workforce due to a $1.5 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2023. Then, in October, reports emerged that the EV maker's only factory received 16 initially serious violations in 21 months from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). According to Bloomberg, injuries included an amputated finger, a broken skull, and having symptoms like vomiting and dizziness after having to paint without protections. Rivian has disputed these claims.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/rivian-adds-google-maps-features-to-its-navigation-app-140033783.html?src=rss

Redditors in the UK will now have to verify their ages before they can view mature content. Just like Bluesky, which announced a few days ago that it was rolling out age verification features, Reddit had to enforce the new rule to comply with the UK Online Safety Act. The UK's new requirements are meant to prevent children from accessing age-inappropriate posts. Reddit will use a third-party company called Persona to verify a user's age. Users will either have to upload a photo of their government ID or take a selfie, with the latter option presumably enough for people who absolutely don't look like a minor anymore.In its announcement, Reddit said that that it will not have access to those photos and will only be saving their verification status, along with their birthdates. That way, users won't have to re-enter their birthdays every time they try to access restricted content. The announcement also said that Persona will only be keeping users' photos for seven days and will not be able to see their Reddit information, such as their posts and the subreddits they visit.If a user is under 18, Reddit will hide restricted content from them and will limit ads in sensitive categories, like gambling. They will no longer be able to view sexually explicit content, anything that encourages suicide and disordered eating, as well as anything that incites hatred against other people based on their race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability and gender. Reddit will also restrict anything that encourages violence and any post that depicts "real or realistic serious violence against a person, an animal, or a fictional creature" for minors. They won't be able to see posts encouraging challenges that are highly likely to result in serious injury, along with posts encouraging people to ingest harmful substances. Content that shames people's body types and other physical features will be restricted, as well.Users outside the UK will not be affected by the new rule, but Reddit said that it may need to verify the ages of people in other regions if they adopt similar laws. Reddit also said that it "would like to be able to confirm whether [users] are a human being or not" in the age of AI and will have more to announce about that later.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/reddit-begins-age-verification-checks-for-uk-users-134516723.html?src=rss

Grok, xAi's chatbot most famous for going on an antisemitic spree last week, has now added the ability to perform as a synthetic companion for your enjoyment. Elon Musk announced the new feature, available to paid subscribers, which will take the form of animated characters Ani and Rudy.Both are distinctly not safe for work, with the former operating as a digital waifu for you to, uh, romance. Rudy, on the other hand, is a red panda with a smart mouth who likes to get rude with the people he's speaking to.

The Department of Commerce has opened national security investigations into imports of drones and polysilicon, a raw material used in chips and solar panels. Among other things, officials are looking into "predatory trade practices" and the capacity of other countries to "weaponize their control over supplies" of drones, drone parts and polysilicon, as well as derivatives of each.The DoC commenced the investigations on July 1, but has only just disclosed them publicly. The probes could lead to the US imposing yet more tariffs on imports, which would drive up prices of drones and products that use polysilicon. Per notices that are being published in the Federal Register, officials will consider "whether additional measures, including tariffs or quotas, are necessary to protect national security."President Donald Trump has used the same legal process as these investigations to apply tariffs to imports of steel and aluminium (50 percent), cars and car parts (25 percent) and copper (50 percent as of August 1). There are other investigations underway into the likes of semiconductors, consumer electronics, aerospace components and pharmaceuticals. They're being conducted under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act.According to The Financial Times, China is the leading market for polysilicon manufacturing. Around three quarters of all commercial drones are said to be manufactured in the country too. Under the Biden administration, the US increased tariffs on solar wafers and polysilicon imports from China to 50 percent at the start of 2025. DJI also faces a potential ban in the US.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/us-probes-imports-on-drones-and-a-raw-material-used-in-chips-and-solar-panels-131546876.html?src=rss

John Wick Hex, a stylish and well-received game based on the John Wick movies, will soon no longer be available to purchase. In a statement on the title's Steam page, publisher Big Fan Games says it will be delisted from all platforms on July 17.After that date, the publisher said, those who have already acquired the tactical action game from a digital storefront will still be able to download it. Physical console copies will still work too.Big Fan didn't provide an explanation as to why John Wick Hex is being removed from storefronts, though licensing issues may be at play. Mike Bithell, creative director at developer Bithell Games, said on BlueSky he was "unable to shed any light" on the reason for the delisting."This one was a weird journey. [It] initially polarized folks, but now it's one of the consistent favourites people wanna chat with me about when I'm doing public stuff," wrote Bithell, who came to prominence with Thomas Was Alone and whose most recently released game was Tron Catalyst. "My first disappeared game, a weird feeling."It's always a shame to see a game vanish from storefronts. It's terrible for game preservation, and it means those who made the game will never be able to find a larger audience for it. You still have a couple of days to pick up John Wick Hex, however. It's on sale at Humble, where Steam keys are available for $4, or 80 percent off.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/john-wick-hex-will-be-delisted-from-all-platforms-on-july-17-123028996.html?src=rss

Your college years are typically thought of as some of the best of your life, but they can be hard to enjoy to the fullest if you're worried about paying for the essentials like food, textbooks, supplies and, if you're lucky, the occasional evening out with friends. With everything going up in price, it may seem like good discounts are few and far between, but that's not the case. Students still have excellent discounts to take advantage of across the board, be it on streaming services, shopping subscriptions, digital tools and more. We've collected the best student discounts we could find on useful services, along with some things you'll enjoy in your down time. Just keep in mind that most of these offers require you to prove your status as a student either by signing up with your .edu email address or providing a valid student ID. Shopping Streaming Tools News Engadget You shouldn't rely on social media to be your sole source of news. With foreign wars, new viruses, Supreme Court decisions and upcoming elections making headlines daily, it's important to get your news from reliable sources. Yes, it's daunting to get into the news on a regular basis, but it's crucial to know what's going on in the country and the world as a whole. Here are some reputable news organizations that offer student discounts on their monthly or annual subscription plans. The Atlantic: Starts at $50 per year for digital-only access. The New York Times: $1 per week for one year for the base subscription. The Washington Post: $1 every four weeks for digital-only access. The Wall Street Journal: Starting at $2 per week for one year for digital access.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-student-discounts-140038070.html?src=rss

NVIDIA will be able to start selling its H20 AI GPU to China again soon after gaining approval to do so from the US government, the company announced in a blog post. Earlier this year, the company was blocked from selling the H20 to China over concerns it could aid the nation's military."NVIDIA is filing applications to sell the H20 GPU again. The US government has assured NVIDIA that licenses will be granted and NVIDIA hopes to start deliveries soon," the article states. The company also announced the NVIDIA RTX Pro GPU that's "fully compliant" for the Chinese market, designed for smart factories and logistics.The US government starting blocking sales of NVIDIA's most powerful AI graphics processors, like the A100 and H200, to China back in 2022. The company subsequently developed the A800 and H800 chips for the Chinese market, but those were subsequently banned as well by the Biden administration back in 2023. NVIDIA then came up with the HGX H20 and two other chips that conformed to export rules.Sales of that chip were blocked too in April, but the US department of commerce has apparently reversed course again. That could be a tremendous help for NVIDIA financially as it's currently holding $8 billion in unshipped orders and expects up to $5 billion in additional revenue for 2025, Bloomberg reported.Yesterday, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang dismissed concerns that China's military would use the company's chips to develop AI. "They don't need NVIDIA's chips, certainly, or American tech stacks in order to build their military," he said, adding that it would be foolish of them to do so because "they simply can't rely on it." Huang has previously said that NVIDIA export bans didn't stop China from developing AI and allowed its competitors, especially Huawei, to gain ground on US technology.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/nvidia-says-it-can-resume-selling-key-ai-chips-to-china-120015817.html?src=rss

Be extra careful where you buy your used Nintendo Switch game cards. A Switch 2 owner posted on Reddit about how their account was banned after downloading patches for a few Switch game cards they'd bought from Facebook Marketplace. The Switch 2 user contacted Nintendo support and discovered they were banned, but they provided proof of purchase and were unbanned shortly after. The Redditor said the whole process was painless and fluid."NintendoNintendo attaches unique codes to its Switch game cartridges to prevent piracy. However, bad actors can copy games to a third-party device, like the MIG Flash, and resell the physical game card, meaning the code can exist twice. Once Nintendo detects two instances of the same code online at the same time, down comes the ban hammer.Nintendo continues to push back against piracy aggressively. It amended the Switch user agreement to allow it to brick a console it detects running pirated games or mods.- Mat SmithGet Engadget's newsletter delivered direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The news you might have missed

If you're looking to get fit, sleep better or just keep a closer eye on your health, a fitness wearable is a great place to start. Whether you're into intense workouts or just want to hit your step goal each day, the best fitness trackers available today can offer loads of helpful features, from sleep tracking and resting heart rate monitoring to built-in GPS and stress tracking. Some are even subtle enough to wear 24/7, like smart rings, while others double as stylish smartwatches.

It's been a little over a year since Form released its second-generation smart swim goggles into the world. Since then, the company has been working on a way to ensure its headgear is even more attractive to swimmers who like to get out in the rough. Today, it's announcing the Smart Swim 2 Pro, a modest upgrade on its predecessor with a focus on durability.The 2 Pro's lenses are now made of Gorilla Glass 3, which adds a gram or two more weight but should keep them scratch-free for far longer. Given the amount of open-water swimmers that use Form's goggles, having faith that your lenses can take nature's elbows is probably worth it.If you've ever used a pair of regular goggles for a long time, you might notice how the anti-fog coating starts to wear off. Especially if you, like me, absentmindedly commit the sin of wiping the inside of their goggles with a finger when your view is obscured. Form may be proud of its current anti-fog coating, but realized there was a better way to keep the lenses clear for longer.Consequently, the 2 Pro comes with a bottle of anti-fog spray that users need to apply before a swim. This isn't a way of squeezing more cash out of the user base, however, as the company is proud to admit it's just baby shampoo diluted with water. But Form has tested the correct ratio for optimal application and there are markings on the bottle showing you what you need to refill.At the same time, Form is rolling out new features for its premium subscribers, including more data-driven program planning and more tips on where you need to improve. The company also revealed that its premium features are paying off, with swimmers seeing 1.4 times the gains in speed compared to the users who use the hardware alone.The Form Smart Swim 2 Pro is available to buy July 15 for $329 in the US, $449 in Canada and 329 in Europe.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/form-makes-its-smart-swimming-goggles-tougher-with-gorilla-glass-lenses-060019264.html?src=rss

YouTube has clarified its rules about repetitious content and your favorite reaction video channel won't be impacted. Earlier this month, the platform said it would be changing its rules for monetization in an effort to address AI-generated materials, but didn't include many specifics, which led many to sound the alarm that reaction videos might get swept up in the new rules. The company has now provided a few tweaks and more clear delineations in its guidelines about channel monetization policies.For starters, the rule is being renamed to the inauthentic content policy. "This type of content has always been ineligible for monetization under our existing policies, where creators are rewarded for original and authentic content," a note appended to the support page states. "There is no change to our reused content policy which reviews content like commentary, clips, compilations and reaction videos."YouTube provided a few examples of material that it would deem to be mass-produced or overly repetitive, and thus ineligible to be monetized. Inauthentic content includes video "that exclusively features readings of other materials you did not originally create, like text from websites or news feeds" or "image slideshows or scrolling text with minimal or no narrative, commentary, or educational value." The company also shared examples of reused content. YouTube said those beloved reaction channels, as well as videos that contain clips for analysis, review or commentary, are unaffected by the new rules. The no-nos for reused content rules might include "Content uploaded many times by other creators" or "Content downloaded or copied from another online source without any substantive modifications."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/youtube/never-fear-reaction-videos-are-still-allowed-under-youtubes-new-inauthentic-content-policy-222401009.html?src=rss