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You have to go all the way back to the Nintendo 64 to play the most recent 3D Donkey Kong game. But without a new mainline Zelda or Mario title (Mario Kart Worlddoesn't quite count) queued up for the Switch 2's launch in June, Nintendo's favorite ape is getting some time to shine in Donkey Kong Bananza. And after getting a chance to play a demo of the game prior to its release on July 17, I have to say I'm loving this glowed-up gorilla.Now, I'm not entirely sure how DK went from the jungle to being stuck in the banana mines because the demo just kind of dropped me in without a ton of context. Regardless, there's no doubt that this is the best the gorilla has ever looked. He's got a fresh, almost cell-shaded look not entirely dissimilar to the art style seen in recent Zelda games, along with a more youthful and expressive appearance. And it seems his time spent digging has garnered him some new skills as well, which include the ability to punch, dig and butt stomp his way below, into and through all sorts of terrain, with dirt flying everywhere as you do it.Sam Rutherford for EngadgetThis opens up a world (cave?) of exploration because now DK can tunnel through to new locations or shape his surroundings with a ground pound, though there's also the usual assortment of actions like running and jumping. This type of freedom immediately changes the way you tackle obstacles compared to a standard platformer. Nearly everything is destructible in some way, and between digging, rolling or simply chucking giant rocks at foes, it feels like there are multiple ways to get where you need to go.Granted, you still have familiar tropes like collecting jeweled bananas and of course, a companion in the form of a friendly purple rock monster that rides on DK's shoulder. But make no mistake, this ain't the same country DK has swung through before. Thanks to all of its new traversal mechanics, in a lot of ways, Bananza reminds me more of Mario Galaxy than Odyssey. It's just swapped out the gravity-bending physics for bombastic spelunking.Sam Rutherford for EngadgetThat said, while the game looks great and handles well, I do have some initial concerns. After a while, the constant digging and rock smashing felt a bit button-mashy. Plus, all the ricks and detritus that gets kicked up becomes a distraction, as I would kind of like to actually see where I'm going. There really is a ton of earth that needs moving. This makes me wonder if the game is aimed at a slightly younger audience similar to a lot of Kirby games rather than something meant to appeal to older players.But even though I only had a brief time with the game, I saw more than enough to make me want to come back. And alongside Mario Kart World, it's exceedingly clear that Donkey Kong Bananza is part of Nintendo's giant punch that will carry the Switch 2 through its launch window.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/donkey-kong-bananza-hands-on-a-funky-fresh-take-on-nintendos-favorite-ape-130057272.html?src=rss

The trailer for M3GAN 2.0 is here and if you were expecting a copy-paste of the original's horror vibe, you may be surprised. Instead, the sequel is embracing a turn towards action in vein of Terminator 2 complete with upgrades to the original doll, a robot showdown and... a wing suit?Set to arrive in theaters only on June 27, the film is once again directed by Gerard Johnstone and features returning cast members Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Brian Jordan Alvarez and Jen Van Epps, along with newcomer Ivanna Sakhno (Pacific Rim: Uprising) as Amelia.It's two years after the original M3GAN doll went on a murderous rampage (including that wild dance sequence) and was eventually destroyed. Since then, its designer Gemma has become an author and voice for more robust AI oversight, while Gemma's niece Cady (who M3GAN 1.0 swore to protect) is now a teenager.Meanwhile, M3GAN's AI tech was stolen by a defense contractor to build super robot solidier Amelia. However, the experiment went awry and Amelia seeks murderous revenge against the AI's creators, particularly Gemma and Cady. Despite misgivings (mostly over the fact that M3GAN tried to murder her), Gemma decides to resurrect the OG doll to combat Amelia, and even adds updates to make her faster, stronger and, well, taller.That sets up a showdown between M3GAN and Amelia, complete with guns, a Teletubby version of M3GAN, catchphrases ("hold on to your vagina") and the aforementioned wingsuit sequence. It has strong shades of Terminator 2 with the original robot doll protecting a key character from a new upgraded model. That's married with a camp aesthetic, lots of blood and even a creepy usage of Britney Spears' Oops I did it Again.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/watch-m3gan-switch-from-horror-to-action-in-the-new-sequel-trailer-125749110.html?src=rss

Following the release of rival Anthropic's Claude for Education, OpenAI has announced that its $20 ChatGPT Plus tier will be free for college students until the end of May. The offer comes just in time for final exams and will provide features like OpenAI's most advanced LLM, GPT-4o and an all-new image generation tool."We are offering a Plus discount for students on a limited-time basis in the US and Canada," the company wrote in a FAQ. "This is an experimental consumer program and we may or may not expand this to more schools and countries over time."On top of the aforementioned features, ChatGPT Plus will offer students benefits like priority access during peak usage times and higher message limits. It'll also grant them access to OpenAI's Deep Research, a tool that can create reports from hundreds of online sources.AI tools have been widely adopted by students for research and other uses, with open AI recently saying that a third of young adults aged 18-24 already use ChatGPT, with much of that directed toward studies. Anthropic is going even farther than OpenAI to tap into that market with Claude for Education, by introducing a Learning mode specifically designed to guide students to a solution, rather than providing answers outright.Where Anthropic is positioning itself more as a tutor to students, OpenAI is simply giving them access to its most powerful research tools. That brings up the subject of academic integrity and whether AI tools are doing work that students should be doing themselves. Anthropic's approach may be more palatable to institutions - along with its Claude for Education launch, the company announced that it partnered with several universities and colleges to make the new product free for students.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openais-20-chatgpt-plus-is-now-free-for-college-students-until-the-end-of-may-120037778.html?src=rss

After Nintendo revealed the full details around the Switch 2 this week, Engadget's Sam Rutherford got some hands-on time with the new console. In this episode, he talks about the major improvements in the new hardware (especially that 1080p, 120 fps screen) and why he doesn't really miss the older Switch OLED. Also, Sam discusses his time with Mario Kart World, the new semi-open world version of Nintendo's classic racer.In other news, we dive into the latest updates around the TIkTok ban, and we discuss how the Trump administration's tariff push will affect everything in the technology world and beyond. Stay tuned to the end of the show for our chat with Shinichiro Watanabe, the creator of Cowboy Bebop, about his new anime series Lazarus.Subscribe!

Nintendo's new console has finally been revealed in full, with magnetically attaching Joy-Cons, a new chat function and a bigger higher-res 7.9-inch screen that supports 120Hz and HDR.Then there are the new Joy-Cons. Alongside larger SL and SR buttons made of metal, the controllers can be disconnected by pressing a more pronounced release button on the back. The big upgrade, though, is using either Joy-Con like a mouse. (And even use them on your pants, if you want to.)The Switch 2 also uses DLSS, so it's easier for developers to port games across to the hybrid console. In a very Nintendo way, it didn't actually talk up the hardware specifics, so NVIDIA had to fill in the gaps.EngadgetAccording to NVIDIA, responsible for the chip inside, the Switch 2 has ten times" the graphical performance of the original. DLSS tech means games can be rendered at a lower resolution, and trained AI models and dedicated Tensor Cores can be used to fill in extra details.With that extra power, the Switch 2 supports up to 60 fps at 4K resolution and 120 fps at 1440p or 1080p resolutions, docked. The 1080p screen can handle variable refresh rates up to 120Hz in handheld mode, too.Yes, catching up with the last two decades, the Switch 2 can also do video chat (and voice chat, but yawn). However, it demands a sold-separately camera, costing $50. Boo.I think that strikes at the issue of price. The original Switch was $300 at launch, the PS5 starts at $399 now. The Switch 2 is $450. Sure, that includes the screen and (technically) two controllers, but it's a bit of a jump.Is Nintendo factoring in tariffs? Possibly. While some of us think $450 is an appropriate price for the console itself, the costs are creeping up in every direction. Want the new must-have Mario Kart World? That's $80 now. Meanwhile, older games re-released on the Switch 2 also won't be cheap. Cyberpunk 2077 rings in at $70. Oof.If you want to expand storage, well, you'd need a microSD express card, the faster, pricier version of the tiny storage card. Need another pair of Joy-Cons? That will be $90, please.Want to pre-order a Switch 2 ahead of the June 5 launch? We've got all the details, but it's worth noting Nintendo is trying to get ahead of scalpers by offering a dedicated pre-order system for existing heavy Switch users with a Switch Online subscription.In Nintendo's words: Invitation emails will be prioritized on a first-come, first-served basis to registrants who have purchased a Nintendo Switch Online membership with a minimum of 12 months of paid membership and a minimum of 50 total gameplay hours, as of April 2, 2025."Read on for our hands-on impressions of the Switch 2.- Mat SmithGet Engadget's newsletter delivered direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Even more Switch 2 stuff

After a January announcement that it would spend $80 billion on data center construction, Microsoft may already be adjusting its future plans. Sources told Bloomberg that Microsoft has delayed or slowed data center efforts in Indonesia, the UK, Australia, Illinois, North Dakota and Wisconsin. Some of the cases meant withdrawing from negotiations, while others have involved delays on planned construction projects, according to these insiders. These data centers would be central to Microsoft's efforts to develop more capabilities around artificial intelligence.Despite the apparent shift in its approach, a Microsoft rep told Bloomberg that the company still plans to hold to its $80 billion spending budget on data centers during its 2025 fiscal year. Engadget has reached out for confirmation and will update if we receive comment from Microsoft. That was the figure laid out in a blog post attributed to Vice-Chair and President Brad Smith. The post, published days before President Trump's inauguration, included some ingratiating language for the new administration. "The country has a unique opportunity to pursue this vision and build on the foundational ideas set for AI policy during President Trump's first term," it reads. "At Microsoft, we are excited to take part in this journey."Microsoft's plans could have been influenced by looming tariffs, which had been threatened and were finally introduced this week by President Trump. The trade policy is likely to make large infrastructure plans more expensive and has already caused uncertainties on Wall Street. It could be that the company will still spend in the ballpark of $80 billion but will not be able to complete as many locations as it had previously calculated. Or it could be that in the months since presenting its forecast, Microsoft has already seen a reduction in expected demand.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/microsoft-is-reportedly-walking-back-some-data-center-plans-210406748.html?src=rss

Traeger's only gas-powered grill is its Flatrock flat-top griddle. Besides this one model, everything else in the company's lineup runs on wood pellets. Since griddles continue to be insanely popular backyard cooking tools, Traeger is expanding its Flatrock line with a smaller, two-burner option. The Flatrock 2 Zone has all of the features from the larger version, which is now called the Flatrock 3 Zone, in a griddle that takes up less space on your deck, patio or porch.As the name suggests, the Flatrock 2 Zone has two separate cooking areas with precise heat control for each one. U-shaped burners consistently heat the entire cooking surface and an edge-to-edge, wind-blocking design helps keep the flame running smoothly without burnouts or flare-ups. Like the Flatrock 3 Zone, there are folding side shelves for resting tools and trays, plus the Pop-And-Lock (PAL) rail system allows you to add the snap-on accessories you need to complete your griddle setup. The EZ-Clean grease keg from other recent Traeger grills is here as well, making it easy to get rid of liquids and debris after cooking.TraegerThe main appeal of the Flatrock 2 Zone is that it's smaller than the original model. You'll still have the ability to make breakfasts, smash burgers, fajitas and more with the griddle's 468 square inches of cooking surface, but this new version will fit better in smaller outdoor spaces. It's also $200 cheaper at $700. Unfortunately, there's no word on availability just yet: Traeger says the Flatrock 2 Zone is coming "soon" to its website and retailers in the US and Canada.If you're looking for an alternative, Weber's Slate griddles are well-built and offer various options depending on the size and features you're after. Starting at $549, you can get the three-burner, 28-inch base model that comes on a basic cart similar to the company's gas grills. Even this smallest Weber option offers more cooking area than the Flatrock 2 Zone at 504 square inches. At the top end, there's a four-burner, 36-inch version that comes with an easy-to-read digital temperature gauge and enclosed storage for $999. What's more, Weber offers a 30-inch size in between those two, with various storage configurations and an the option to include that battery-powered temperature gauge. This one isThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/traeger-built-a-smaller-flatrock-griddle-for-smaller-outdoor-spaces-210057199.html?src=rss

Yesterday, we learned a lot about the Switch 2 we didn't know before, including the fact Nintendo that will offer a webcam alongside the new console. As far as accessories go, the $50 Switch 2 Camera looks boring, and judging from the footage the company shared on Wednesday, not particularly great at its intended purpose of, you know, capturing moving pictures.The good news? Nintendo is allowing third-party manufacturers to make their own webcams for the new console. Enter the Hori Piranha Plant Camera.HoriHori's Switch 2 camera has a couple of features you won't find on Nintendo's first-party offering. First, the pot the Piranha Plant sits in functions as both as a stand and USB extension for the device. The part of the Piranha that houses the webcam can detach from the pot, allowing you to, ahem, plant it directly on the top of the Switch 2. In that way, you can take your new buddy on the road. Want to trash talk your friends over video in GameChat while on a domestic flight? With the Piranha Plant and in-flight Wi-Fi, you can.Second, the Piranha Plant camera has a built-in privacy shutter. You can simply close its mouth to obscure the lens. If that's not clever, functional design, I don't know what is.HoriHori has yet to list the Piranha Plant camera on its US website, but over in Germany, retailer Media Markt has the accessory priced at 40 or 20 less than the official Switch 2 Camera from Nintendo. Practical, stylish and affordable, what's not to love?This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/horis-piranha-plant-switch-2-camera-is-a-work-of-art-194430377.html?src=rss

YouTube is updating the video editor for Shorts to better compete with the likes of TikTok and Instagram Reels, and teasing some AI-powered features that are coming later this year that might make it stand out.The new and improve editor will let users "make precise adjustments and edits to the timing of each clip with zooming and snapping," along with the usual option to rearrange and delete your footage. YouTube says you'll also be able to add music and timed text, and preview your video at any point while you're editing.At some point in the future, the editor will gain the ability to automatically sync clips to a song. And "later this spring," YouTube says the editor will be able to create stickers from photos in your image gallery or with a built-in AI image generator. As part of this update, the process of using templates is also getting simplified. Creators of templates will now be automatically credited when anyone uses their work, and templates themselves can now include things like image overlays and filter effects.YouTube is clearly trying to reach some kind of parity with the creative tools offered by TikTok and Instagram. TikTok's editing tools and the standalone CapCut video editor have long been the gold standard for creating videos on your phone. Given the uncertain future of TikTok in the US, making YouTube Shorts a more appealing alternative makes sense. It's also not the first time YouTube has drawn inspiration from TikTok. YouTube added a robotic, text-to-speech narration feature to Shorts, clearly inspired by TikTok's popular version, in 2024.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/youtube-is-updating-the-shorts-video-editor-to-make-it-a-better-alternative-to-tiktok-182932945.html?src=rss

Verizon just revealed a new price lock policy that guarantees certain plans won't go up in cost for three years. This is for both new and existing customers. It was announced the day after President Trump decided to tariff the entire world, which put markets into a tailspin. Verizon didn't specifically mention this policy, but did say that the move was intended to give predictability" to its customer base.However, there are some caveats. Customers have to be enrolled in one of the company's newer myPlan subscriptions to be eligible. Also, the guarantee only covers the base charge for the rate plan. It doesn't do anything regarding those mysterious little fees that carriers use to raise prices on the down low.

This week's Nintendo Direct provided much more info about the Switch 2 but didn't go too deep into the nitty-gritty details of what powers the console. That left NVIDIA, the Mario maker's hardware partner on the console's processor and GPU, to fill in some blanks with a blog post published on Thursday - including the first confirmation that it uses Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) tech.NVIDIA said the Switch 2's DLSS support helps to give the console "ten times" the graphical performance of the original Switch. The tech lets games render games in a lower resolution, then uses trained AI models and dedicated Tensor Cores to fill in detail.Saying a system has ten times the graphics performance is likely a simplified marketing claim, and its graphical prowess could vary greatly depending on the title. The console has also yet to be scrutinized with extended real-world use. However, in Engadget's Sam Rutherford hands-on, he found that the system handled the new Switch 2 versions of Street Fighter 6, Cyberpunk 2077 and Civilization 7 well, with all running "really smooth."Sam Rutherford for EngadgetIn docked mode, the Switch 2 supports up to 60fps at 4K resolution or 120fps at 1440p or 1080p resolutions. In handheld mode, the 7.9-inch, 1080p screen supports a variable refresh rate (via G-Sync) of up to 120Hz."The new RT Cores bring real-time ray tracing, delivering lifelike lighting, reflections and shadows for more immersive worlds," NVIDIA explained. "Tensor Cores power AI-driven features like Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), boosting resolution for sharper details without sacrificing image quality. Tensor Cores also enable AI-powered face tracking and background removal in video chat use cases, enhancing social gaming and streaming."For more on the new system, check out Engadget's Switch 2 hands-on and deep dive into everything we know about it.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nvidia-confirms-the-switch-2-has-dlss-175033677.html?src=rss

Sarah Wynn-Williams, the former Facebook policy director behind a best-selling memoir about her time at the company, will testify at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing next week. The testimony will be Wynn-Williams' first public remarks since Meta initiated emergency arbitration proceedings in an attempt to prevent her from promoting the book.Wynn-Williams' upcoming appearance at Congress was confirmed by Senator Josh Hawley, who said in a statement that she would testify about allegations that Facebook cooperated with the Communist regime in China to build censorship tools, punish dissidents, and make American users' data available for Chinese use."

The original Switch started a revolution when it combined the portability of handhelds with the ability to play games on your TV at home like a traditional console. But with the Nintendo Switch 2, even though it's physically bigger, it feels like a sleeker, faster and more refined take on its predecessor - to the point that Nintendo should have called it the Super Switch (which apparently almost happened). And after getting a chance to try it out, I'm sold on its abilities, even with its significantly higher starting price of $450. Editor's note: This hands-on focuses on our writer's experience with the new Nintendo Switch 2, covering the hardware, playing experience and changes from the original model. If you're looking for more info on Sam's impressions of individual games, start with his hands-on with Mario Kart World, which he calls a "perfect launch game for the Switch 2." Design and display: No OLED, no problem The Switch 2 has the same basic shape and layout as the original, including its signature detachable Joy-Con. But it looks more polished all around, thanks to tapered edges and slimmer bezels. Nintendo also increased the size of its joystick caps and the face buttons on the left controller, though the latter still doesn't feel quite like a traditional D-pad. Sam Rutherford for Engadget That said, the biggest upgrade is its larger 7.9-inch 1080p LCD display, which now supports a 120Hz refresh rate with VRR and high dynamic range. Frankly, it's super bright and very colorful to the point where I don't really miss having an OLED screen. Now there's a fair bit of grumbling that Nintendo, despite the existence of the OLED Switch, didn't opt for a similar panel type on the Switch 2. But if you remember, that model didn't support HDR, so it's not like we're looking at a downgrade in display quality, though the super deep blacks you get from OLED screens would have been nice. Also, the Switch 2 feels like it defies its dimensions because even though its display is larger than the 6.2-inch version on the base Switch, it doesn't feel that much bigger. It's only half an inch taller (4.5 inches) and a little over an inch wider (9.4 vs 10.7 inches). And while its weight has also increased to 1.18 pounds with its Joy-Con attached (up from 0.88 pounds), it never felt too heavy. Sam Rutherford for Engadget Elsewhere, there are a ton of quality-of-life upgrades, including a second USB-C port (though the one on the bottom is the only one that can do video out), a built-in mic and support for microSD Express cards. That last one is a big deal, because even though the cards are more expensive, they're also significantly faster than your standard fare and they should be a major boon to download speeds and load times. I admit the lack of analog shoulder buttons is a small downer, though Nintendo says it made that choice because analog buttons would introduce a tiny bit of input lag and it wanted to go with the more responsive solution. Joy-Con features: Expanded detachables During its livestream, Nintendo spent a lot of time talking about the C button on the right Joy-Con, which feels like a first-party solution that looks to recreate everything people like about Discord. But at Nintendo's hands-on experience, there weren't any chances to test out the console's new social features, so I wasn't able to dive deeper into that. Sam Rutherford for Engadget That's ok, though, because I think the Joy-Con's new magnetic mounting system is the hidden star. Not only is there a larger button around back for popping them off, they now detach simply when you pull them left or right. There's no need to slide anything up or down first. Granted, this sounds like a small change, but it makes the whole process so much simpler and the Joy-con seem to be more securely attached as well. Then there's the Joy-Con's ability to function as a mouse (for both the left and right controllers). I thought it was pretty gimmicky, until I played Metroid Prime 4: Beyondwhere I suddenly found myself favoring the mouse mode over standard gamepad controls. Everything feels a bit more precise and if you're a fan of shooters on PC, it's definitely worth trying out. The obvious limitation is that while you can use the Joy-Con on your leg, you really ought to have some sort of flat surface like a table, which may not be an option if your favorite place to game is on the couch. Performance: Nintendo's move to next-gen tech Sam Rutherford for Engadget Nintendo has kept relatively quiet regarding the Switch 2's processor and memory. But the company has said the system does support DLSS and hardware-based ray tracing. Now those features might not get used in every game, but it does seem to make it way easier for third-party developers to port their titles over to the company's upcoming console. When I played the new Switch 2 versions of Street Fighter 6, Cyberpunk 2077 and Civilization 7, they all ran really smooth. And without doing a straight-up side-by-side comparison next to a proper gaming PC, it was really hard to tell if the Switch 2 was cutting corners graphically, if it was even doing it at all. The only hiccup I noticed was rather long loading times in Civ, which isn't exactly uncommon for a Sid Meier game. The flipside to this is if you told me that some of Nintendo's new first-party games like Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World were actually being run on an original Switch, I wouldn't have blinked. In some ways, Nintendo's ability to wring every last bit of performance out of its hardware and its habit of eschewing hyperrealism in favor of more stylized graphics has almost put a ceiling on the company's ability to really show off its chops. But when you pay attention, you'll really appreciate how delightfully satiny Mario Kart looks when it's running at 120 fps. I still have questions about what's going on inside the Switch 2's new dock and how it's leveraging its increased performance to deliver 4K resolutions when connected to a TV. I also think it's a travesty that Nintendo is charging money for the Switch 2 Welcome Tour. It's barely a game, but it is a genuinely useful way to introduce the console's features to new owners and it really should be pre-installed on every system for free. It also remains to be seen how the Switch 2's battery life holds up. Nintendo says it has a larger power pack than the original Switch, but it also has increased performance and a larger screen, while the company claims runtimes may vary between two and six and half hours depending on the title. But all told, the Switch 2 is exactly what you want from a successor to Nintendo's legendary hybrid console. Aside from the price, that is, because in addition to the console starting at $450, almost all of its standard accessories cost more than before, too. From the Pro Controller, which now goes for $80 ($10 more than for the original Switch) or additional pairs of Joy-Con that cost $90 (another $10 hike). And that's before you factor in the cost of games like Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza that start at $80 and $70 as digital downloads (or $90 and $80 if you want physical carts). Update, April 3 2025, 12:35PM ET: This story has been updated to include an Editor's Note pointing out where readers can find our hands-on impressions of Mario Kart World. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/switch-2-hands-on-i-think-nintendos-new-console-is-worth-the-450-130819785.html?src=rss

TikTok will reportedly face a fine of over 500 million ($553 million) for transferring Europeans' private data to China. Bloomberg said on Thursday that Ireland's data protection commission, which regulates TikTok owner ByteDance's EU operations, could dish out the penalty before the end of April.The fine results from a four-year investigation of TikTok's data handling practices. The probe reportedly concluded that ByteDance broke Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws by transferring private user data to China to be accessed by engineers. The country is known for its widespread, high-tech surveillance."TikTok tells us that EU data is transferred to the U.S. and not to China, however we have understood that there is possibility that maintenance and AI engineers in China may be accessing data," former Irish Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon said in March 2021 when the probe began.Ireland is taking the lead because, under the GDPR, the country where a company's European operations are located oversees compliance and enforcement. ByteDance's European headquarters are in Dublin. Bloomberg says the decision date and amount of the fine aren't yet finalized and could still change.Of course, this isn't even ByteDance's biggest drama unfolding this week. The fate of TikTok's US operations hangs in the balance as it approaches an April 5 deadline to find a buyer or face a ban in America. The list of likely outcomes ranges from finding a buyer (Amazon has even thrown its hat in the ring) to its US investors rolling over their stakes into a new independent global company or the deadline passing with another deadline extension.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/tiktok-reportedly-faces-a-%E2%82%AC500-million-fine-for-sending-private-user-data-to-china-162214079.html?src=rss

Engineers at Northwestern University have developed the world's smallest pacemaker. It's so small, as a matter of fact, that it fits inside the tip of a syringe. This means that it's injectable, so patients could potentially avoid a painful surgery.It safely dissolves into the bloodstream after a time, so it's a temporary solution. It's designed for folks who need heart help on a short-term basis, like newborn babies with congenital defects. However, it can work with hearts of all sizes.It's also powered by light, which is pretty darned cool. The pacemaker is paired with a wireless wearable device that mounts to a patient's chest. When that small device detects an irregular heartbeat, it shines a light that activates the pacemaker. These light pulses can penetrate a patient's skin, bones and muscles.Even though the pacemaker is tiny, measuring one millimeter in thickness, it still delivers as much stimulation as a full-sized unit. The engineers published their findings in Nature and noted that the device works with both animal and human hearts. The team also reiterated that pediatric care is the primary use case here.About one percent of children are born with congenital heart defects," said Northwestern experimental cardiologist Igor Efimov, who co-led the study. The good news is that these children only need temporary pacing after a surgery. In about seven days or so, most patients' hearts will self-repair. But those seven days are absolutely critical. Now, we can place this tiny pacemaker on a child's heart and stimulate it with a soft, gentle, wearable device. And no additional surgery is necessary to remove it."The development of this medical device was co-led by John Rogers, which is a familiar name in biomedical circles. Rogers has been behind a number of astounding innovations throughout the years. He's advanced technology that could eventually give us invisibility cloaks and health-tracking tattoos. He also built a thumbnail-sized UV sensor and a circuit that dissolves in the body. That last one eventually led to this innovative pacemaker.Rogers imagines a world in which physicians inject a number of these pacemakers simultaneously, to enable sophisticated synchronization. This could help terminate arrhythmias, as different parts of the heart could be paced at unique rhythms.Because it's so small, this pacemaker can be integrated with almost any kind of implantable device," Rogers said. Here, the tiny pacemakers can be activated as necessary to address complications that can occur during a patient's recovery process."This versatility could eventually open up a diverse array of medical possibilities. The tech could be used to help nerves heal, treat wounds and block pain.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/the-worlds-smallest-pacemaker-is-injectable-and-powered-by-light-153302491.html?src=rss

Nintendo just held a livestream to drop more details on the forthcoming Switch 2 console. At the very end, it revealed a brand-new 3D platformer starring Donkey Kong. This is the first game of its type since Donkey Kong 64 hit the Nintendo 64 all the way back in 1999. It's called Donkey Kong Bananza and launches exclusively for the Switch 2 on July 17, which is just over a month after the console hits store shelves.It looks cool! Much of the environment is destructible, so DK can get in there and break stuff. It also features sidescrolling segments, sort of like how modern Mario 3D platformers dip into their 2D roots every once in a while. We got to try it out in our hands-on with the Switch 2, and while it looks fabulous, it also feels like the kind of game that would have looked great on the original Switch. With Nintendo's stylized graphics for titles like this, the impact of the Switch 2's upgrades doesn't quite hit the same way it might in other games. That's not a big knock, but just something to be aware of.The whole thing has a funky and cartoonish vibe one would expect from our favorite gorilla. However, I didn't hear one lick of the famous Donkey Kong rap during the trailer but the equally iconic "ooh banana" sound effect from DK64 does make a brief cameo.The trailer does show DK climbing up the sides of mountains (getting his BOTW-era Link on) and rollicking through several locations. These include a forest and an ice region, among others. The footage also shows the meanest looking Kong I've ever seen.NintendoWe don't know too much about this game beyond what the trailer shows, but we don't have that long to wait. Once again, Donkey Kong Bananza comes out on July 17.Update: April 3 2025, 10:10AM ET: Updated with a few impressions from our Switch 2 hands-on demo.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/donkey-kong-bananza-is-a-brand-new-3d-platformer-for-switch-2-143108835.html?src=rss

What do modern speakers need? Good sound quality? As little distortion as possible? Longevity? Well, yes. Plus, according to Bang & Olufsen, marble plinths. Bang & Olufsen is debuting a partnership with Italian marble and granite company Antolini at Milan Design Week. The Beosound Balance Natura speaker features a sculptural base from Antolini that the audio company says elevates the device to its optimal height. Apparently, the plinth isn't just there for aesthetic - it's a functional audio element.Let's face it, though: You wouldn't buy a speaker with a marble stand unless you wanted that marble pedestal. And that is why they're making the model available with various Antolini stones. You can get it with natural quartz, as well as with petrified wood and fossilized wood, if you're looking for something with earthy colors. The options have different translucency and color depth, but one common feature is the anodized aluminum ring that serves as the transition between the plinth and the bottom of the speaker.In addition to the Natura version of the Beosound Balance speaker, Bang & Olufsen is also presenting a Beovision Theatre 55-inch TV and a pair of Beolab 28 speakers customized with Antolini's Amazon quartite at Milan Design Week. All the products it's showcasing during the event are made to order with prices available upon request, which says all you need to know about its price range, especially since the basic Beosound Balance isn't cheap to begin with and will set you back $3,300.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/bang--olufsens-new-beosound-balance-speaker-model-comes-with-a-marble-plinth-131555070.html?src=rss

Following recent tests, Amazon is finally ready to launch its Project Kuiper space internet project in a bid to rival Elon Musk's Starlink, the company announced. The first batch of 27 satellites on the KA-01 (Kuiper Atlas 1) mission are set to launch into low earth orbit (LEO) aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on April 9th next week from Cape Canaveral if conditions allow. Amazon hopes to start offering the high-speed internet service "later this year," it said.Amazon's network will eventually comprise 3,200 satellites launched from partners including ULA, Arianespace, Blue Origin and even SpaceX. Much like that company's Starlink, Project Kuiper's service will cover the entire planet when completed. It will work with a dish as small as seven inches that will deliver speeds up to 100Mbps, smaller than Starlink's Mini, or up to 1Gbps with larger dishes. The company said the cost of terminals will be under $400.The satellites will cruise at 17,000 mph at 392 miles above earth, circling the planet in about 90 minutes. They'll use a dialectic mirror film coating that's supposed to scatter light and make them less visible to ground-based astronomers, Amazon said. SpaceX's constellation currently uses over 7,000 satellites, so the Project Kuiper and Starlink fleet will use over 10,000 LEO satellites once Amazon's network is complete.AmazonAmazon launched two test satellites in October 2023 and proclaimed its early tests a success, with the pair sending and retrieving data at speeds of up to 100 gigabits per second. Later in December, it bolstered the network with a network of high-speed laser cross-links that promise further speed boosts. The company claims its mesh network can move data about 30 percent faster than terrestrial fiber optic cables.Project Kuiper's first launch will be the heaviest payload yet for the Atlas V, which will fly in its most powerful configuration. The rocket will include five solid rocket boosters in addition to the main booster, and a payload fairing 77 feet high and 16.4 feet wide.Despite past successful tests, the mission isn't without risk. "We've done extensive testing on the ground to prepare for this first mission, but there are some things you can only learn in flight, and this will be the first time we've flown our final satellite design and the first time we've deployed so many satellites at once," Project Kuiper vice president Rajeev Badyal wrote. "No matter how the mission unfolds, this is just the start of our journey, and we have all the pieces in place to learn and adapt as we prepare to launch again and again over the coming years."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/amazon-will-start-launching-its-project-kuiper-starlink-rival-next-week-123011012.html?src=rss

After years of lagging behind rivals when it comes to video capture (and then suddenly buying cinema camera manufacturer RED), Nikon is pushing new boundaries in that area. Its latest salvo is the $1,699 24-megapixel full-frame Z5 II, perhaps the cheapest mirrorless camera so far to support internal RAW video. It also offers improved autofocus with new AI powers, cleaner images and enhanced image stabilization. The Z5 II is a wholesale remake of the original Z5 and that starts with video. While still limited to 4K 30 fps and cropped 4K 60 fps, it can now capture those formats internally using the company's 12-bit N-RAW format with N-log, along with 10-bit H.265 and 8-bit H.264. Interestingly, it will record in N-RAW to SDXC UHS-II cards, since the camera lacks high-speed CFexpress slots. That likely means you'll need to buy very fast (and expensive) cards and that the N-RAW video will be highly compressed. Still, it's a feature available on no other camera in this price range. Nikon Nikon is also promising much-improved autofocus bolstered by a new image-processing engine and tech borrowed from its high-end Z9 and Z8 models. The Z5 II can now lock onto subjects more quickly, particularly human eyes, faces and bodies, and works in lower light down to -10 EV, compared to -3 EV before. Meanwhile, the AI system can detect up to nine subject types ranging from animals (including a Bird Detection mode) to bicycles. When working in Auto-Area AF, these subjects can be detected, focused on, and tracked automatically. Native ISOs have been boosted to 100-64000 (50-204,800 in expanded modes), up from a maximum 51,200 before. That should improve noise levels across the ISO ranges, the company said. However, resolution is still limited to 24 megapixels. Nikon In-body stabilization has been boosted to 7.5 stops with supported lenses, way up from five stops on the Z5. That's paired with electronic stabilization designed to keep handheld video steady. The Z5 II's viewfinder still offers a decent 3.69-million dots of resolution, but brightness has been boosted to 3,000 nits with 13 levels of brightness control. And it now comes with a 1.7-million-dot vari-angle display that's a big improvement from the previous model's tilt-only screen. The body now has a deeper grip to improve handling and comes with a one-touch Picture Control button for previewing and switching between color profiles in real time, matching a recent trend started by Fujifilm's X100 VI. Other features including dual SD UHS-II card slots, 3.5mm headphone and mic jacks, camera to cloud connectivity via Nikon's Imaging Cloud and a new weather-proof build "on par with the Z6 III," according to Nikon. The Z5 II looks to be an impressive hybrid full-frame camera for the money and rivals Sony and Canon don't really have anything in the same price range that can match it. However, it also comes at a price $300 higher than the Z5 was at launch. Still, it could tempt filmmakers and others away from similarly priced crop sensor cameras from the likes of Fujifilm and Sony. The Z5 II is now on pre-order for $1,699 (body only) or $1,999 with a 24-50mm f/4-6.3 kit lens. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/nikons-z5-ii-is-the-cheapest-full-frame-camera-yet-with-internal-raw-video-113041486.html?src=rss

TikTok may be back online and in app stores, but its future in the United States is still far from certain. President Donald Trump's executive order delaying enforcement of the ban was only a temporary reprieve for the company and the clock is once again running out on a potential ban.While ByteDance was once resistant to the idea of selling TikTok's US business, that seems to have changed since Trump took office. A ByteDance investor said early this year that striking a deal to keep TikTok in the US is in everybody's interest." Officials in China also suggested they were open" to a deal, according to The Wall Street Journal.A number of people and companies have signaled some interest in TikTok. Trump himself has said he would like to see a bidding war" for the app and that the US government should own a stake in the company. What an eventual deal may look like, though, is unclear. These are the offers we currently know about. On March 9, Trump said the administration was "dealing with four different groups" on a potential deal, though he didn't name names.Trump's executive order gave the company 75 days to come to an agreement, though he has recently said he would "probably" extend the deadline if a deal isn't reached by April 5.Oracle + new US investorsNPR reported in January that Oracle was working with Trump Administration officials on a plan to save TikTok that involves tapping software company Oracle and a group of outside investors to effectively take control of the app's global operations." Under this arrangement, ByteDance would retain a minority stake in the company" but Oracle would oversee the app's algorithm, data collection and software updates."Recent reports suggest that a new investors, including Silicon Valley heavyweight Andreesen Horowitz, would join TikTok's existing US investors to form a new entity. It could be called "TikTok America," according to a report in The Information. This option is likely appealing because it wouldn't require a new owner to attempt to re-architect the app's algorithm and because TikTok has an existing partnership with Oracle. The cloud company already hosts TikTok's US user data and the company was a key part of TikTok's original negotiations to remain operational in the US under a plan called Project Texas. (Those negotiations abruptly fell apart in 2022.)Trump also previously signed off on a deal for Oracle and Walmart to acquire a 20 percent stake in TikTok in 2020, when the president tried to ban the app during his first term. That deal never materialized.MicrosoftMicrosoft is reportedly also interested in playing a role in TikTok's future, according to the same NPR story, which said Microsoft was among the other potential investors" involved in the talks with Oracle. Trump seemingly confirmed this. When asked directly if Microsoft was interested in buying TikTok, Trump responded I would say yes."As with Oracle, this isn't the first time Microsoft has attempted to acquire the social media company. Microsoft was in talks to buy TikTok in 2020 and take over its US business, but the deal abruptly fell apart. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella later described it as the strangest thing I've ever sort of worked on."Perplexity AIJust before TikTok briefly went offline, Perplexity AI threw its hat into the ring, offering a deal to ByteDance that would create a new entity combining Perplexity, TikTok US and New Capital Partners."Since then, Perplexity has tweaked its proposal. The company put out a detailed plan outlining how it would rebuild the app's core recommendation algorithm, integrate shortform videos into its search engine and bring a Community Notes-like fact checking feature to the service.Project LibertyAnother set of investors that's proposed a bid to buy TikTok is a group known as Project Liberty. Led by investor Frank McCourt, it includes Kevin O'Leary of Shark Tank fame. The group initially came forward before the ban took effect.In March, Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian announced that he was joining the Project Liberty bid to acquire TikTok's assets. "I'd love to see an app where users actually own their data and where creators have real control," he wrote in a short post on X that hinted at a potential tie-in with... the blockchain. "Imagine bringing all those users seamlessly onchain..." An accompanying video referenced the possibility of "decentralized distribution," but didn't offer details.O'Leary previously told CNBC that deals involving a government stake may not comply with the law. That 50/50 deal, I would love to work with Trump on, so would every other potential buyer ... But the problem with some of these ideas is they are inconsistent with the ruling of the Supreme Court," he said. I would love to do a deal, if the law provided for it, but I don't have the luxury of breaching the order of Congress." Later, he said that the deal "changes by the hour," writing on X that "it's clear to me now that we're going to have to do a dance between the original owners, the founders of ByteDance itself, and interpreting the law of what Congress and Supreme Court has upheld."MrBeastYouTuber MrBeast, also known as Jimmy Donaldson, joked on X about buying TikTok ahead of the initial ban. He later said that so many billionaires" had reached out to him about making an offer that he was going to try to actually pull it off.

The Switch 2 is bigger, more powerful and more expensive than the original Switch, but the tech specs for the new console reveal at least one key way it's worse: The Switch 2's battery life is shorter.Nintendo says that battery life on the Switch 2 varies depending on the game you play, but that it estimates the console should last approximately "2 - 6.5 hours." That's notably shorter than the battery life you'll get out of a current Switch or Switch OLED, based on the company's support page. Nintendo estimates that a Switch OLED "with a serial number that starts with 'XT'" should last around "4.5 to 9 hours." Non-OLED Switch consoles "with a serial number that starts with 'XK'" are expected to last the same amount of time. Even the original Switch, which has "a serial number that starts with 'XA'," gets a minimum of 2.5 hours of battery life. Apparently, the extra power of the Switch 2 comes with a price.Nintendo's tech specs confirm a few other notable details. The Switch 2 supports Wi-Fi 6, which should mean you'll get faster internet speeds when the console isn't docked and connected over ethernet. Based on Nintendo's guarantee that the console "supports 120 fps when 1920x1080/2560x1440 resolutions are selected," it seems like the Switch 2 won't support HDMI 2.1.As far as controllers are concerned, Amiibo support remains, but if you have special place in your heart for the Wii-esque motion controls you could use on the original Switch, it looks like you're out of luck on the Switch 2. Neither the left or right Joy-Con 2 controllers have an IR sensor, one of the ways Nintendo tracked motion on the Wii and Switch. That doesn't mean you can't use motion controls on the Switch 2, just that Nintendo isn't using IR to make them work. (At least in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, it seems like "mouse control" fills the role motion controls used to on older games.)Do any of these changes dramatically alter the calculus on whether the Switch 2 is worth buying? Maybe not, but it is interesting to see some of the compromises and decisions Nintendo made to offer what is effectively "the Switch, but better."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/the-switch-2s-battery-life-is-shorter-than-the-current-switch-211753028.html?src=rss

At last, we have the critical info millions of gamers have awaited for years: the Nintendo Switch 2 release date, price and other details about the new system. The console will arrive on June 5 and it costs $450. Pre-orders will open on April 9, so you have a week to break open your piggy bank.The June release date confirms the long-standing rumors that had percolated since Nintendo first revealed the details of the new console in January. As suspected, it dovetails with the series of roadshow events Nintendo is holding around the globe to let folks try the Switch 2 for the first time. Those wrap up in early June.It's been reported that Nintendo wanted to have as many units of the console ready to sell out of the gate as possible to mitigate shortages. The Switch 2 is likely to be in high demand, even though Nintendo plans to keep releasing new games for the original Switch (which has sold more than 150 million units) into at least 2026. Still, if the demand is robust enough and reports that Nintendo has between 6 million and 8 million units ready to go hold true, the company is poised to smash sales records with the Switch 2.Nintendo Switch 2 hardwareNintendo says it redesigned the system from the ground up. As expected, the Nintendo Switch 2 is larger than its predecessor. It measures 7.9 inches, compared with 6.2 inches for the original system, though no thicker than the previous console. The Switch 2 has around double the pixel density of the original Switch, Nintendo says, as it has a 1080p display. In docked mode, you'll be able to play at up to 4K on your TV.There's some great news for frame rate appreciators, as the system will support up to 120Hz gameplay on its own screen. There's HDR support too. Sadly, it's an LCD display rather than an OLED.Nintendo says it improved the speakers to deliver clearer audio, while you'll be able to enjoy 3D audio in select games through compatible surround sound systems or headphones. There's a built-in mic with voice cancelling tech too (more on that in a moment). Some other hardware features had already been revealed, including the multi-angled kickstand and dual USB-C ports, either of which can be used for charging.Gratefully, Nintendo has given the Switch 2's internal storage a serious upgrade. At 256GB, it has eight times the built-in storage of the Switch. That was a necessary change, as many games already weighed in at over 32GB and required a microSD card to install locally.To add more storage, you'll need a microSD Express card, which supports higher-speed data transfers. Regular microSD cards won't be supported. As for the physical game cards, they're the same size and shape as the ones for the Nintendo Switch.As is usually the case, Nintendo isn't saying much about the processor or graphics processing hardware. The company simply notes that the "Nintendo Switch 2 has significantly improved CPU and GPU performance over Nintendo Switch, resulting in faster processing speed and enabling new visually advanced gameplay. It also makes it possible to achieve more detailed graphics and faster loading times."Unfortunately, battery performance isn't anything to write home about. Nintendo says the Switch 2 will get between 2 and 6.5 hours of playtime, depending of course on what games you're using and if you're using online features. Speaking of online, the Switch 2 has been upgraded to Wi-Fi 6.The new dock has a built-in fan to keep the console cool and maintain stable performance. That's something that might come in handy if you're playing, say, Elden Ring on the Switch 2 - which is something you'll actually be able to do.Nintendo is promising a swatch of new accessibility features on the Switch 2. These include the option to change the font size, a speech-to-text function in GameChat (which we'll get to momentarily) and a screen reader.To help you get to grips with all of the new features of this console, you'll be able to check out tech demos, minigames and more in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. This will be a day-one paid launch title for the system.

In 2002, Microsoft launched Xbox Live with built-in voice chat as one of the main selling points of the then new service. Now, nearly 25 years later, Nintendo is finally giving its fans an easy way to talk to their friends online over a friendly match of Mario Kart World.Considering some of the solutions Nintendo has offered in the past, GameChat is surprisingly elegant. A tap of the Switch 2's new C button, conveniently located below the Home button on the right Joy-Con, brings up a dedicated interface that allows you to quickly start screensharing, mute and unmute your mic and, if you decide to buy the optional Switch 2 Camera, enable video.What's more, the Switch 2 has a built-in mic. We'll need to test the handheld to see how well the microphone performs in a noisy environment; Nintendo touted its noise-reduction features in today's introduction. But if nothing else, kudos to Nintendo for realizing it couldn't release a new console in 2025 without voice chat built-in and making that feature standard on all models.However, if the demo Nintendo showed off today is any indication of the final product, the company has some work to do. Voice chat looks like it works well enough, with users allowed to invite up to 11 other people to join their conversation. That said, screen sharing and video chat look very rough.When everyone in the video started streaming their gameplay, it looked like the games were running at less than 30 frames per second, making it difficult to see how it would be possible to use the feature to guide a friend through a tricky section, like Nintendo suggested in the demo. Video chat was equally janky, with the footage from the Switch 2 Camera looking like something captured by a webcam from the mid-aughts. Moreover, if you want to see your friend's screen, there's an additional tradeoff.Nintendo showed off three different interface options, with two of them devoting a fair amount of screen space to tiles for your friends. I imagine this won't be a problem if you're playing on a TV, but even on the Switch 2's large 7.9-inch screen, the interface looks like it could get cramped fast.To Nintendo's credit, the company has thought a lot about parental controls, with features that allow parents and guardians to decide who their kids can chat with online and if they can join a session with video. But the thing is none of GameChat's capabilities are new. They've existed in apps like Discord for years, which begs the question why some of them look so rough this close to launch.Nintendo has time between now and June 5 to polish GameChat, but in 2025, making a technically competent chat app shouldn't be so hard. Of course, I imagine most of the Switch 2's audience won't care if some of GameChat's features are half-baked. For the rest of us, the company plans to offer the feature for free until the end of March 2026. One would hope that's enough time for the company to catch up on two decades worth of progress in online gaming.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/gamechat-is-decades-late-and-looks-pretty-janky-202309823.html?src=rss

Sonos has given two of its audio products price cuts. The Era 100 smart speaker and Ray soundbar now retail for $199. The change offers new customers a $50 savings for the Era 100 and $80 on the Ray. Both speakers would frequently show up on sale, but Sonos has confirmed that this is a permanent pricing change for the products. These items have been available for a few years, so the price drop might signal that a refresh is in store for both. When it debuted in 2023, the Era 100 was an upgrade on the Sonos One, bringing overhauled touch controls and even better audio quality to the same cylindrical form factor. At $200, it's now selling for what the Sonos One cost, making it a solid choice for a home speaker. The Ray came out in 2022, offering a solid home theater performance without the most high-end audio or accompanying high-end price tag. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/sonos-cut-retail-prices-for-its-era-100-speaker-and-ray-soundbar-201049055.html?src=rss

The Nintendo Switch 2 had its big debut on Wednesday, and the new console looks to be a sizable, if mostly straightforward, upgrade over its mega-popular predecessor. Tucked between the new Donkey Kong and (pricier) Mario Kart games, mouse mode and overhauled party chat features, though, was another significant update: The device supports faster microSD Express cards. This may not be the sexiest feature, but it should bring quicker load times and generally improved storage performance to the upcoming handheld. The company briefly showed new 256GB cards from Samsung and SanDisk during its presentation, complete with Mario logos printed on. However, the news came with a major caveat: The console is only compatible with microSD Express. The cards most people use today - which are based on the older UHS-I bus interface - will only work for loading videos and screenshots from an original Switch, not playing games, according to Nintendo's support site. Nintendo says this restriction is necessary to preserve the Switch 2's performance upgrades, and it's worth noting that the console itself comes with a much more generous 256GB of space by default. But if you ever need to expand the device's storage, this change will likely make doing so cost extra, while drastically shrinking the options you have to choose from. Unlike traditional UHS-I cards, a microSD Express card like the SanDisk model on the right comes with a second row of pins on the back. Jeff Dunn for Engadget What are microSD Express cards? SD Express is a relatively recent but seldom-used standard that lets SD cards take advantage of the NVMe protocol and PCIe interface, which is the underlying tech used by SSDs. A microSD Express card has a second row of pins" on its back and can utilize a single lane's worth of PCIe bandwidth. As a result, it can produce dramatically faster read and write speeds than its UHS-I counterparts. Whereas the latter advertise sequential transfer rates up to 104 megabytes per second (MB/s), microSD Express cards have a theoretical maximum of 985 MB/s. That's far behind the NVMe SSDs used by the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, but in theory, it makes Express cards faster than some older SATA-based SSDs when it comes to loading game levels, retrieving saves or copying games to the external storage. It's worth noting that many UHS-I microSD cards can exceed the 104 MB/s limit with proprietary card readers, but they still fall well short of microSD Express levels even with those. The same goes for speedier UHS-II cards, which are mostly used by professional types with select cameras and PCs and max out at 312 MB/s. (There's also a UHS-III interface, but nobody uses it. Getting all of this?) Prior to Wednesday, the only reliably available microSD Express card we could find was this model from SanDisk. We recently tested it for our microSD card buying guide, and the upgrade was pretty dramatic. In the synthetic benchmark CrystalDiskMark, the SanDisk card achieved sequential reads up to 899.12 MB/s and sequential writes up to 650.41 MB/s. For comparison, the absolute fastest UHS-I card we've tested (Lexar's Professional Silver Plus) topped out at 209.25 MB/s for reads and 193.93 MB/s for writes - so, three to four times slower. In one of our real-world" tests, the SanDisk Express card took an average of 20 seconds to move a 12GB folder containing various file types and subfolders to a PC and 52 seconds to write the folder back to the card. The Lexar card averaged 67 and 76 seconds, respectively. The gulf in random speeds - which measure how quickly a card can read and write small bits of data scattered throughout a device and tend to be particularly important for gaming - was similarly large, and in some benchmarks even greater. SanDisk's microSD Express card is one of the (very) few options you can actually buy today. Jeff Dunn for Engadget Nintendo has not provided any official transfer speed ratings for the new console just yet, but all of this suggests that the Switch 2's storage should be much faster than before, even if it's not on par with the speeds of a PS5 or Xbox Series X. It's also possible that, like those other consoles, the Switch 2 has hardware dedicated to decompressing files, which could make the real-world improvements over the original Switch's storage performance even greater. (We've reached out to Nintendo and will update this post if we receive any further details.) The original SD Express standard was released in 2018, but the tech has mostly gone nowhere in the years since. There's been the SanDisk card noted above, a full-size SD card from ADATA and not much else. Previously, Samsung and Lexar announced microSD Express cards that wound up missing their original release windows - though Samsung's card may just be the same one unveiled today, and Lexar did release a new Play Pro" microSD Express card on Wednesday. Host devices that support the standard, which are required to even see any improved speeds, have been highly uncommon over the same time frame. (If you put a microSD Express card in a device that doesn't support the underlying tech, such as the original Switch, it'll be limited to standard UHS-I speeds.) And while compatible card readers can deliver the faster transfer rates on certain PCs, they aren't cheap, so at that point most people have been better off buying a faster external SSD. The SD Association pointed us to a LinkedIn page (!) with other compatible devices when reached for comment, but the pickings are still slim, and very few of those support microSD Express cards specifically. The Switch 2 is by far the highest-profile device to embrace the standard, so it could be the thing that finally takes these cards from cool idea" to useful niche." The Samsung and SanDisk microSD Express cards Nintendo quickly teased during its Switch 2 unveiling on Wednesday. Nintendo Questions of price and heat That said, there are multiple reasons why SD Express has failed to take off before this week, and it remains to be seen whether the Switch 2 will truly fix them. First and foremost is price. We've reached out to SanDisk and Samsung for confirmation, but for now we don't know how much the microSD Express cards that Nintendo has teased will cost. If the couple other Express models available today are any indication, though, they're likely to be much more expensive than the conventional cards you may have bought for the previous Switch. SanDisk's Express card, for instance, costs $45 for a 128GB model and $60 for the 256GB version. The 256GB Lexar Play Pro is $10 cheaper, but its 512GB and 1TB versions cost a whopping $100 and $200, respectively. For reference, Samsung's Pro Plus - another UHS-I card we recommend in our buying guide - costs $17 for 128GB, $23 for 256GB, $38 for 512GB and $80 for 1TB as of this writing. That's a huge difference. What's more, the Play Pro is the only purchasable microSD Express card we've seen thus far that even supports capacities greater than 256GB. Nintendo says the console can support up to 2TB of external storage, but no Express card with that capacity appears to exist yet. The Switch 2 will be one of the first mainstream devices to truly push SD Express in earnest, so we'd expect it'll drive prices down and increase competition over time. But how quickly, and by how much, remains up in the air. Nintendo The other concern relates to thermal management. MicroSD Express cards can pump out significantly faster transfer speeds, but they're still working with tiny little frames that don't leave much room to dissipate heat. When we tested SanDisk's microSD Express model for our guide, we noticed that it slowed down under longer, more sustained loads - not enough to fall behind than UHS-I cards, but still below its peak by a few hundred MB/s. The SD Express spec does have mechanisms for keeping heat in check, and manufacturers like SanDisk advertise similar protections. Nintendo presumably has come up with ways to further avoid severe throttling with the Switch 2. (We already know that the new dock comes with a cooling fan built in, for instance.) But it'll be something to keep an eye on once we can move large game files around the device. In a developer Q&A posted to Nintendo's website on Wednesday, Switch 2 producer Kouichi Kawamoto notes that the move to microSD Express will help the console's performance hold up better in the long-term. With the new Mario Kart World, for instance, he says the faster transfer speeds will help make far-off destinations in the game's open world visible faster. He also notes that Switch 2 games will have larger file sizes, but that he doubt[s] most people will need a microSD Express card immediately after buying the system" thanks to the Switch 2's larger built-in capacity. Hopefully that's the case. It'd be unfair to call this a PlayStation Vita situation, as that portable console relied solely on proprietary memory cards, and the Switch 2 will support options from several third-party manufacturers. But as it stands now, storage upgrades for the new console look like they'll be much pricier and more limited to start. And just how much of an advantage the new tech provides is something we won't know until the console arrives in June. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/the-nintendo-switch-2-promises-major-storage-upgrades-but-itll-cost-you-193758964.html?src=rss

Hear me out. I too rolled my eyes when A Minecraft Movie was announced. We're all tired of seeing Jack Black in video game movies - he was fine in Super Mario Bros., but good god Borderlands was a disaster. And the Minecraft film's trailers did it no favors, another soulless movie produced on a virtual set about a game that's completely open-ended and plotless. But it turns out A Minecraft Movie is actually good.Honestly, I'm as surprised as you are.A Minecraft Movie isn't exactly groundbreaking, to be clear. It certainly never reaches the heights of The Lego Movie. But it's surprisingly funny for a children's movie, and it delivers a decent message about championing creativity in a world that wants to beat down free-thinking non-conformists. And if you were around for the inexplicable Napoleon Dynamite craze of the mid-2000's, you'll notice plenty of that film's quirky sensibility from director Jared Hess.From the beginning, A Minecraft Movie seems well aware of the ridiculousness of its own existence. The story starts off with Jack Black's Steve (dressed just like the game's default skin) retelling his obsession with "the mines," and his inability to go digging while he was a kid. He later grows up, gets a boring office job and remembers his erstwhile calling to make holes in the earth. Once he makes his way into a cave, he stumbles into a portal that brings him to the blocky "Overworld" of the Minecraft universe. It's classic isekai stuff - the genre of anime where the main character is transported to another (often digital) world.And yes, I know all of this sounds incredibly contrived as I write this, but Black's zaniness really sells the absurdity of the film. It's as if he's saying out loud, "Yes, I know the idea of a Minecraft movie is beyond dumb, but at least you get to spend time with me in classic Jack Black mode!" Now if you're tired of his schtick, that may be a major knock against the film. But for me, it was a nice reminder of his Tenacious D days.Warner Bros.The film eventually focuses on two siblings, Henry (Sebastian Hansen) and Natalie (Emma Myers), who are moving to a small Midwestern town after the death of their mother. Natalie is gearing up for a social media producer role at a local business, while Henry is forced to adapt to a new school. Coincidentally, a former gaming superstar lives in their town, Jason Mamoa's Garret "The Garbageman" Garrison, who befriends Henry as another outcast. Danielle Brooks' Dawn, a struggling local realtor/mobile zookeeper, ends up taking Natalie under her wing after seeing how much she's sacrificing for her brother.Inevitably, thanks to a glowing MacGuffin, those four characters also stumble into the same portal that sent Steve to the Overworld. They quickly run into Steve, break their glowing MacGuffin and then head off to find a way to fix it and return home. If any of this sounds boring, don't worry, it's not really important. What works best in A Minecraft Movie is the humor and personality Hess stuffs in between the trappings of a big budget Hollywood game adaptation.Warner Bros.The majority of the film hinges on Jack Black's persona, but I also enjoyed seeing Jason Mamoa play an egotistical manchild who's in love with video games. He's decked out in an absurd wig and hot pink jacket, and Mamoa hams it up just as well as he did Fast X. He's a jerk at times, but he's also kind to Henry and clearly doesn't care what anyone thinks of his personal style. The rest of the cast mostly plays it straight against the force of Black and Mamoa's personalities, but they each get a few moments to shine.Whenever the core story starts to fall flat, A Minecraft Movie veers into more interesting territory, like a hapless Minecraft villager who stumbles into the real world. For those who don't play the game, villagers are simple NPC who can't speak, and often find themselves in danger. I got a kick out of seeing him navigate traffic and have a meet-cute with Jennifer Coolidge's Vice Principal Marlene, a relationship that gets weirder than you'd think. (Again, it's like something straight out of Napoleon Dynamite.)Warner Bros.I'm no Minecraft devotee, but I wish the film's interpretation of the game's blocky graphics were a bit more pixelated. While the characters and animals we see resemble their game counterparts, their over-designed look clashes with the beautiful simplicity of Minecraft's aesthetics. I'm sure it's tough to unite the low-poly look with live action, while also delivering polished CG that audiences expect, but the path A Minecraft Movie took just feels over-cooked. That being said, the film's game world seems more alive than the empty virtual sets in Quantumania. There are tons of characters milling about, and the environments all feel distinctly Minecraft.The kids in my press screening didn't seem to mind the shift in visual language. They loved seeing the game's creatures in any form - a family of pandas got a theater-wide awww." And they also loved seeing in-game Minecraft tricks represented on the big screen, like using a water block to cushion a fall.My daughter Sophia's verdict? I liked it, but I don't think I'd want to see it again," she said. But I know she's lying. We'll likely end up seeing this thing hundreds of times at home, and even more so once her brother jumps aboard the Minecraft bandwagon. I won't mind, though. As far as kid's movies go, it's a world I wouldn't mind revisiting.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a-minecraft-movie-review-its-good-actually-190035499.html?src=rss

Following its big Switch 2 presentation, Nintendo revealed in an interview with the team behind the console that one of the (arguably better) names the company was considering before it landed on Switch 2 was "Super Nintendo Switch.""There were a lot of ideas for the name, and we really struggled to find the right one," Kouichi Kawamato, the producer on the Switch 2, says. "We even considered ideas like 'Super Nintendo Switch.'" The issue with the name was that even though drawing a parallel to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) was fun, it was also potentially confusing. The SNES was the successor to the NES, but it couldn't play NES games. "Since Switch 2 can play Switch games, it didn't feel right to use the same naming convention as Super NES."Adding a number to the end of the original console's name (the general strategy Nintendo's competitor Sony has taken with the PlayStation) just made things a lot simpler and easier to understand. Nintendo's caution isn't totally unfounded. The Wii U was more powerful than the Wii and featured a unique controller in the Wii U GamePad. Because it's name was so similar to Nintendo's older console, it was backwards compatible with the Wii and it supported pre-existing accessories like Wii Remotes, though, it was viewed as an add-on rather than a new device worth upgrading to.There were other problems that helped do the Wii U in, like a steep decline in support from third-party game developers and a failure on Nintendo's part to explain what made the console distinct, but the name certainly didn't help. The Switch 2 is much better set up for success than the Wii U, but "sticking to what works" seems like the defining idea of the new console, so the name is following suit.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/the-switch-2-was-almost-called-the-super-nintendo-switch-184243089.html?src=rss

The entry-level laptop from modular computing company Framework, which we first saw in February, is almost ready to roll. Founder and CEO Nirav Patel said on Wednesday that you can reserve the Framework Laptop 12 on April 9 at 11AM ET.The Framework Laptop 12 is a colorful 12.2-inch notebook with a 360-degree hinge that lets you fold it back into a (chunky) tablet. This zillionth iteration of that form factor stands out because of Framework's ethos of modular repairability. If you decide it's time for an upgrade in a couple of years, there's no need to fork out $1,500 for a new device; you can simply upgrade its modular parts.The Framework Laptop 12 has a 12.2-inch, 1,920 x 1,200 touchscreen display that, at 400 nits, gets "much brighter than you typically see from an entry-level or lower-cost laptop." It will be available with a 13th-gen i3 or i5 Core processor and up to 48GB of DDR5 RAM. You can also get up to a 2TB 2 TB M.2 2230 SSD, Wi-Fi 6E and the company's standard choice of Windows 11 or Linux.FrameworkAlthough it's helpful to have those general spec guidelines, Framework says it won't share the modular machine's full spec breakdown, ship date or pricing until it's available for pre-order. So, you won't know how "entry-level" it is until the clock is ticking to reserve one. Although seeing Big Tech marketers weaponizing FOMO to increase sales numbers isn't exactly a rarity these days, it stands out all the more coming from a startup that, in other ways, is among the most consumer-friendly.Patel even cautioned in today's announcement, "We have a hunch that the early batches are going to go very quickly." In other words, you'd better not take too long scanning that spec sheet and weighing it against pricing before the train pulls out of the station.Regardless, you can learn more about the Framework Laptop 12 in the video below before checking out its full specs on April 9 at 11AM ET. Patel advises pre-order customers to create an account on the company website in advance.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/you-can-pre-order-frameworks-entry-level-2-in-1-touchscreen-laptop-on-april-9-182310021.html?src=rss

Amazon has reportedly joined the growing list of suitors angling to acquire TikTok as a new ban deadline approaches. According to The New York Times, the retailer has made a last-minute bid" to buy the app, and has approached Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about the offer.It's not clear why Amazon is making an offer this late in the process. TikTok is currently facing an April 5 deadline to strike a deal, though President Donald Trump has said he would likely extend it if necessary. The Times reports that White House officials don't seem to be seriously" considering the longshot bid. Amazon declined to comment.Amazon joins several other companies and investors that have proposed bids. The group includes YouTuber MrBeast (with backing from a group that includes Roblox CEO David Baszucki), Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian (who joined a group of investors known as Project Liberty") and Perplexity AI, which has proposed integrating the shortform video into its search engine.Even with the deadline just days away, we still don't know exactly when a decision will be made about TikTok's future. Trump has said he wants to announce a deal before the Saturday deadline.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/amazon-reportedly-wants-to-buy-tiktok-now-too-173957102.html?src=rss

Nintendo just dropped a boatload of Switch 2 news, including the release date, price and a launch title or two. It also announced a bevy of accessories that'll be available for the console on June 5. Let's go over the most notable of these doodads.For my money, the Nintendo Switch 2 Camera is the highlight here. This was featured heavily in the company's livestream, as the Switch 2 will allow for in-game video chat. This is thanks to the magical C" button on the right Joy-Con controller. The camera will also shrink down your head to use as a live avatar in certain games. It costs $50.It wouldn't be a Nintendo console without a pro controller. The Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller will cost $80, but it includes the aforementioned C" button, a screen capture button, an audio jack and HD rumble 2. It also allows for motion controls and Amiibo functionality. The GL/GR buttons can be mapped to suit different playstyles.The company also announced a dedicated GameCube controller for use with Nintendo Online. It comes in iconic purple and also includes a C" button. It charges via USB-C so you won't burn through AA batteries like Wall-E or something. We don't have a price on this yet, but Nintendo did say it's launching with the console. We do know, however, that it's only available to Nintendo Online subscribers.The Switch 2 is launching with a new Mario Kart game, so you know what that means. The Joy-Con wheel controllers are back. The Joy-Con 2 Wheel ships in a two-pack, which costs $20. The set includes one blue wheel and one red wheel.There are two official carrying cases. There's one just for the console, for handheld mode, that costs $35. There's also a much larger one that holds everything, including the console, dock, cables and game cards. That one costs $80.Those are the most interesting items, but Nintendo also announced the usual replacement components. An AC adapter costs $30, while a dock set costs $110. A pair of Joy-Cons will set you back $90 and replacement straps cost $13.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/the-official-switch-2-accessories-include-a-camera-a-gamecube-controller-and-more-173912613.html?src=rss

According to a recent Digital Education Council survey, as many as 86 percent of university students globally use artificial intelligence to assist with their coursework. It's a staggering statistic that's likely to have far-reaching consequences for years to come. So it's not surprising to see a company like Anthropic announce Claude for Education, an initiative it says will equip universities to "play a key role in actively shaping AI's role in society."At the heart of Claude for Education is a new Learning mode that changes how Anthropic's chatbot interacts with users. With the feature engaged, Claude will attempt to guide students to a solution, rather than providing an answer outright, when asked a question. It will also employ the Socratic method in conversations, asking questions like What evidence supports your conclusion?" as a way to guide users to understanding. All of this is powered by 3.7 Sonnet, Anthropic's new hybrid reasoning model, and tied to Claude's Projects feature, which gives you a way to organize your chats around specific topics.Claude for Education is available to all Pro users with an .edu email address. Additionally, Anthropic is partnering with Northeastern University, the London School of Economics and Political Science as well as Champlain College to make Claude available to all students at those institutions.At the same time, the company is launching two new programs. The first, Claude Campus Ambassadors, gives students the chance to work directly with Anthropic to launch educational initiatives at their school. The second, meanwhile, will see Anthropic award API credits to students working on projects involving Claude. Separately, the company says it will work with Instructure, the company behind the Canvas learning software, to increase access to tools universities are using to integrate AI into their teaching.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/claudes-new-learning-mode-will-prompt-students-to-answer-questions-on-their-own-172057828.html?src=rss

It's almost time to pre-order the Nintendo Switch 2, now that we finally know how much it'll cost, when it comes out, some of the games it's getting, and the fact that you can use the new Joy-Con as a mouse, even on top of your pants. The Nintendo Switch 2 costs $450, it comes out on June 5, and pre-orders are set to go live on Wednesday, April 9. If you're pre-ordering from a third-party retailer, your best bet is to make an extra cup of coffee that morning and get your clicking fingers ready - an exact time for pre-orders to activate hasn't been announced yet, but it'll likely be around 9AM ET, as these things often are. If you're ordering directly from Nintendo, things will work a little differently. Nintendo's US and Canada purchasing site asks interested customers to register to receive an emailed invitation to order the Switch 2. These invites will start going out on May 8, giving each recipient 72 hours to complete their purchase. The fine print clarifies that invites will be sent first to people who meet the following criteria as of April 2, 2025:

Last spring, Ooni debuted the dual-zone Koda 2 Max outdoor oven that can cook lots of things, including pizzas up to 20 inches. Now the company is expanding the gas-powered Koda line with the new Koda 2 and Koda 2 Pro. Like the Max, these two models feature Ooni's latest burners, improved heat efficiency, a more resilient stone and compatibility with the Ooni Connect Digital Temperature Hub. The Koda 2 Pro will be the midrange option in Ooni's revamped gas-burning lineup. The oven can accommodate pizzas up to 18 inches thanks to 30 percent larger capacity than the Koda 16. The Koda 2 Pro offers a temperature range of 320-950 degrees Fahrenheit, which gives you the ability to sear, roast and bake in addition to the intense heat needed for pizzas. Twin gas burners are equipped with Ooni's G2 tech for improved heat distribution thanks to a powerful tapered flame. While you're cooking, the Koda 2 Pro has a glass visor that helps keep heat inside while also giving you a clear view of your progress. The Ooni Connect Digital Temperature Hub puts a clearly visible display on the front of the oven, and its food probes can keep tabs on things like meat and fish. What's more, this device has Bluetooth connectivity, which can send temperature updates to your phone. Session logs are stored in the Ooni app, where you'll find recipes, tips and other useful info. Ooni's Koda 2 Ooni The Koda 2 is the smallest option in Ooni's overhauled gas-only line. It's only 33 pounds, which the company says makes it portable enough for camping, tailgates and cookouts. And since the Koda 2 can also hit 950 degrees Fahrenheit, you can cook pro-level pizza in about a minute. This model is also equipped with the newest G2 burners for maximum efficiency and the 14-inch cooking area is larger than that of the previous comparable model, the Koda 12. What's more, the Koda 2 is compatible with the Ooni Connect smart hub, but it doesn't come in the box like the Koda 2 Pro and Koda 2 Max. The extra purchase will cost you $99. The Koda 2 is available now for $449 while the Koda 2 Pro will be available May 1 for $749. Those prices are $150 more than the existing Koda 12 and Koda 16 models. And for the first time, Ooni ovens will be available in something other than the company's trademark Foundry Black. You'll also be able to choose a Slate Blue option with these new models. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/ooni-debuts-koda-2-and-koda-2-pro-pizza-ovens-with-new-burners-and-bluetooth-smarts-170056892.html?src=rss

There's a trailer for the upcoming third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and it's absolutely filled with goodies. It looks like there will be an episode soaked in the 1960s retro vibes of the original show, complete with period-accurate costumes and sets.This is an episodic show, meaning that each episode is (more or less) standalone. The trailer shows off a few of the sci-fi concepts that will populate this third season. There's a clip of the crew trying to connect dial-up phones to the ship (?!) and one that involves a murder mystery.There are also two puzzling TNG-era additions. The famous Holodeck will be incorporated this season, or something that looks a whole lot like it. For the uninitiated, this is like VR but way, way better. Also, the trailer strongly indicates that Rhys Darby (Our Flag Means Death) will be playing a version of the prankster alien Q. It's the finger snap that gives it away. We knew he was going to be in the show, but didn't know who he'd be playing.Now for some bad news. There's no release date, other than summer. That could mean June. It could mean August. We'll keep you updated when Paramount+ drops some new info.Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a prequel series that follows Christopher Pike, the captain of the Enterprise prior to Kirk. However, the show has begun working in elements of the original iteration. Spock and Uhura have always been in it, but now Kirk, Bones and Scotty are starting to show up.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-star-trek-strange-new-worlds-season-3-trailer-has-some-serious-retro-vibes-164425733.html?src=rss

England's top-tier soccer league will soon use optical tracking to automate portions of offside calls. The Premier League said on Tuesday it will adopt semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) in live matches beginning on April 12. The league said the new tech won't change the accuracy of offside calls, but it will make them 30 seconds faster on average.SAOT uses sensors from up to 30 cameras mounted high above the field in each Premier League stadium. They track the ball's precise location and up to 10,000 surface data points for each player. The sports tech company Genius Sports explains that the tech "provides more efficient placement of the virtual offside line, using optical player tracking, and generates virtual graphics to ensure an enhanced in-stadium and broadcast experience for fans."Premier LeagueFor the uninitiated, offsides is called in soccer when the attacking team's lead player is closer to the opponent's goal line than both the ball and the second-last defender. (The last defender is usually the goalie.) In recent years, the Premier League defaulted to the offsite Video Assistant Referee (VAR) team, which would determine the kick-point (the moment the lead attacker's teammate passes it) and add calibrated lines with a crosshair for the attacker and defender's locations at that time.SAOT cuts a big chunk out of this (often lengthy) process by suggesting the kick-point and automatically creating offside lines based on the relevant defender and attacker's positions. The VAR team still has a chance to review the algorithm's suggestion before approving it.At that point, a "decision visual" like the one below will roll for the fans in the stadium and those watching the broadcast at home to help clarify the call. The animation shows a white vertical wall representing the offside line, with a red (offside) or green (onside) line indicating whether the player crossed it.This SAOT decision visual shows the attacker's right arm crossing the offside line.Premier LeagueVAR will still be available as a backup for offside calls. "Most offside decisions will be quicker, but VAR will still have the option to draw crosshairs as a backup to the SAOT system if required," the Premier League explained. "This process may be necessary in 'edge cases' where several players block the view of the ball or other players for the system's cameras."This isn't the first use of the tech. The Premier League has tested it in non-live matches and in live FA Cup games. The BBC notes that SAOT was also used in the 2022 World Cup, Serie A, La Liga and the Champions League. The Premier League's version is a custom offshoot that Genius Sports developed with PGMOL (the referees' organization) and the league itself. Unlike previous adaptations, the Premier League's version doesn't put a chip inside the ball.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/the-premier-league-will-speed-up-offside-calls-with-optical-tracking-tech-starting-next-week-163327195.html?src=rss

Mario Kart World is arriving exclusively alongside the Nintendo Switch 2 when it hits store shelves on June 5. The day-and-date release of the latest iteration in the series was confirmed in the company's Switch 2 Nintendo Direct, along with a totally new feature: off-road driving.That's right, Mario Kart World will allow you to "drive virtually everywhere." That means you can grind down railings, jump off walls and even drive off the race track. You can also enter a mode called Free Roam which let's you simply drive around and enjoy the scenery with friends. Cue me as my forever choice Yoshi excitedly driving across the globe.Unsurprisingly, with a name like Mario Kart World, the courses will take place in regions around a contiguous game world. You'll also get a bit more of an immersive experience as Nintendo is going to change things up based on the time of day and the weather.When it comes to a four-race Grand Prix, Nintendo is even having you do the legwork and drive between the courses. How you do along the way will impact your standing in the competition. There's also a new mode called Knockout Tour, which takes you from one end of the globe to another - but with elimination checkpoints along the way. You must be above the place listed on the screen, say eighth for example, or you'll get kicked out of the race. Oh and did we mention there's now 24 drivers, upping the competition?A new Mario Kart game for the Switch 2 isn't exactly a surprise. We got a first look at a potential Mario Kart game back in January, when Nintendo released a first-look at the Switch 2. But now we have a bona fide preview on Nintendo's site, as well as YouTube (below).Unfortunately, this same info dump confirmed a less exciting development: The game will retail for a whopping $80 when it arrives on June 5. However, you can save $30 by opting for a bundle that packs the title in with the Switch 2 hardware for $500.Nintendo will announce more information about Mario Kart World during another Nintendo Direct on April 17.Updated 12:21PM ET to add details on pricing and bundle.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/mario-kart-world-headed-to-switch-2-with-24-player-races-and-an-80-price-tag-134117599.html?src=rss

Samsung and LG got a headstart on Sony when they announced their new 2025 TVs a few months ago at CES. But now, the latter is catching up with the pending arrival of three new Bravia sets, including a refreshed flagship QD-OLED, a midrange mini LED option and an updated budget alternative.Before we get into the specific models, it's important to note that after revamping the naming scheme for all of its home theater gear last year, Sony isn't doing a full top-to-bottom overhaul of its entire lineup for 2025. Instead, it's introducing a handful of new TVs that will replace old models or slot into some existing gaps in its current portfolio. That means the Bravia 9 will continue to be the company's top-tier TV, with everything else falling in line under that.Sam Rutherford for EngadgetThis brings us to the Bravia 8 II, which as you may have guessed, is the replacement to the Bravia 8 and will be Sony's most premium QD-OLED TV. Like the Bravia 9, it features the company's XR processor which supports AI scene recognition tech to help preserve details in tricky scenes. The way it works is that by analyzing your content, the TV can compare what's being displayed with a reference library of known backgrounds and patterns to help fill in any gaps the source material may not have fully captured.I had a chance to see this AI trick in person and while the effect is subtle, it definitely makes a difference during shots with lots of foliage, rocks or other challenging textures. I also noticed that the Bravia 8 II demonstrated improved tone mapping and much more accurate color gradients, which resulted in more detailed and realistic images, especially in very bright or dark shots. And of course, you get those lovely deep blacks and the excellent contrast that modern QD-OLED panels are known for.Sam Rutherford for EngadgetMoving down the line, there's the Bravia 5, which neatly fills the void between Sony's existing 7 and 3 series TVs. It features a mini LED panel powered by the company's Backlight Master Drive tech, which delivers reduced digital noise and improved contrast. The most noticeable example I saw of this was the almost complete lack of halos or light bleed when viewing bright objects on a dark background. Another important spec is that the Bravia 5 is available in sizes of up to 98 inches, which makes it one of Sony's largest TVs (including the 83-inch flagship Bravia 9).Sam Rutherford for EngadgetFinally we come to the Bravia 2 II, where the biggest change is the shift to full direct lit LED instead of an edge lit panel like the previous model. This delivers much more vibrant colors in addition to significantly wider viewing angles on sizes ranging from 43 to 75 inches. Like Sony's other TVs, its OS is powered by Google TV and it includes an upscaler to bring old content up to 4K. The one major limitation on the Bravia 2 II is that it features a refresh rate of just 60Hz.Unfortunately, official pricing and availability for all of Sony's new TV's won't be available until sometime later this spring. So if you're currently shopping for a new set, you may want to hold off for another couple of months.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/sonys-2025-bravia-tv-lineup-includes-a-new-flagship-qd-oled-model-160019669.html?src=rss

Last spring, Sony debuted its Bravia Theater line of soundbars and speakers, ditching its confusing product names in the process. The initial group consisted of the flagship Bar 9, Bar 8, Bravia Quad speaker set and a Theater U neck speaker. Now the company is looking to offer a more compact midrange option that's still capable of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X audio. With the new Bravia Theater Bar 6, Sony gives users a 3.1.2-channel option, and this time, it comes with a wireless subwoofer in the box.The Bar 6 will be the entry-level option in Sony's Bravia Theater soundbar lineup when compared to the more robust Bar 8 and Bar 9. The company says the goal here is to provide both immersive sound and clear dialogue. The soundbar's two up-firing drivers are paired with three more across the front for Dolby Atmos and DTS/X dimensional audio. Sony provides up-mixing tech to transform stereo content to 3D sound when those immersive formats aren't available. For dialogue, Sony utilizes both a dedicated center speaker and so-called Voice Zoom 3. That latter item is an AI-powered tool that recognizes human voices and adjusts their volume as needed to keep speech clear.Sony is offering two packages for the Bar 6. First, you can opt for all-in-one setup that comes with rear satellite speakers and a subwoofer for a 5.1.2 surround sound setup. The company calls this the Bravia Theater System 6. If you don't need the rears, you can get the Bar 6 and a sub. Just note that the two subwoofers in those two configurations are different, and the back speakers with the System 6 don't have up-firing drivers.Sony's Bravia Theater System 6SonyOne item that's notable about the System 6 is Sony's new Multi Stereo Mode. With living room setups that have rear speakers, those satellites sometimes provide awkward audio performance for music. This feature on Sony's new all-inclusive package replicates stereo left/right channels to the center and rear speakers for a more enjoyable audio experience.Lastly, Sony has a new set of rear speakers, dubbed the Bravia Theater Rear 8. These are compatible with the company's soundbars and work with its 360 Spatial Sound Mapping tech to calibrate your system to your living room's acoustics. The Rear 8 are different from the speakers that come with the System 6, so you'll want to consider that when making your buying decision.When paired with a Bravia TV, Sony's soundbars can be controlled with the Bravia Connect app on a phone. Here, you can adjust volume and other settings without a remote or on-screen menu. Both the Bravia TV and Bravia Theater lineups can be controlled via on-screen prompts without having to change remotes. More specifically, a Bravia TV controller can be used to adjust volume, sound field and more on the Bravia Theater soundbars and speakers.There's no word on pricing or availability yet for the Bravia Theater Bar 6, Bravia Theater System 6 or the Bravia Theater Rear 8. All Sony has divulged thus far is that the trio of new products is set to arrive sometime this spring.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/sony-adds-the-bravia-theater-bar-6-to-its-dolby-atmos-soundbar-lineup-160012544.html?src=rss

The Switch 2 Nintendo Direct has officially come and gone, leaving in its wake some big news about the system and its upcoming games. One of arguably the cutest announcements came courtesy of Kirby Air Riders, a new game from Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai. So, while there's sadly no new Smash game on the horizon, you can glide around with Kirby and friends. Kirby Air Riders comes over two decades after Sakurai designed Kirby Air Ride for the GameCube. Yes, you can now take a moment if reading this has made you feel old. After nearly a minute of build-up, the trailer shows Kirby riding along on the Warp Star machine, through a pleasant looking valley. It ends with the "rs" being dramatically attached to the original Kirby Air Ride title. We don't have an exact release date for Kirby Air Riders yet, but Nintendo says it will be sometime this year. As for the Switch 2, you can pick one up for $450 on June 5, along with new games like Mario Kart World. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/super-smash-bros-directors-kirby-air-riders-will-come-to-the-switch-2-150234970.html?src=rss

Silksong, the long-awaited to sequel to 2017's Hollow Knight, will arrive later this year, according to a brief sizzle reel Nintendo shared during today's Switch 2 Direct. In fact, the snippet was so short you might have missed it if you blinked, and featured the same section of gameplay we first saw during the game's announcement trailer back in 2019.Of course this being Silksong we're talking about, I wouldn't count on the game's developer, Team Cherry, sticking to that date until we have the game in our hands. If you recall, back in 2022 there was speculation the game would arrive by June 12, 2023 after Microsoft included it in a Xbox Game Pass trailer and said all the titles featured in said clip would be available within 12 months. Well, June 12, 2023 came and went with no release of Silksong.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/hollow-knight-silksong-purportedly-arrives-this-year-144515332.html?src=rss

If you were hoping for Bloodborne 2, I have good and bad news. This isn't that, because that' Sony thing. However, FromSoftware's new game, coming to the Switch 2, looks to borrow a lot of the gothic cues and style of Bloodborne.The Duskbloods leans into a slightly more Steampunk style too, with what appears to be steam-powered automatons. There are also vampire shenanigans, a man with an axe in a pyjama onesie, a dinosaur and a rune-covered rodent. In short, there's lots of mystery, lots of violence and some magic, too.In today's brief trailer, we saw one of the characters leap into a busy Victorian cityscape, toured some shady churches and got a glimpse of a huge beast that we'll probably need to slay. We also got teases of several characters wielding different weapons and attack patterns.For now, The Duskbloods doesn't have a specific release date; it will land on Nintendo's new console sometime in 2026.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/fromsoftware-the-duskbloods-switch-2-2026-release-142025792.html?src=rss

Nintendo Switch Online is getting a Switch 2-exclusive upgrade. On June 5, the same day the new console goes on sale, the service's Expansion Pack service will begin including GameCube games. At launch, Nintendo will offer The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Soulcaliber II and F-Zero GX, with more games to come following the Switch 2's release.Games that support multiplayer, including F-Zero GX, will offer online play, with support for up to four players. Additionally, the Switch 2 will render every GameCube game at a higher resolution for improved image quality. Nintendo will also release a new version of the GameCube's classic controller that features a USB-C connection, wireless connectivity and a dedicated C button for GameChat functionality.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/the-nintendo-switch-2-will-play-gamecube-games-141025334.html?src=rss

If there's one thing Nintendo has always understood, it's that everyone may want to play together, but might not all own the same game. With the Switch 2, the company is launching GameShare, enabling local multiplayer on multiple consoles with just one copy of a title. Yes friends, this is the wireless multiplayer feature from the Nintendo DS or, depending on your era, the modern day GameBoy Link Cable. With the first Switch, multiplayer was limited to sharing JoyCons on the same console hardware. But for the successor, if two people each have a Switch 2 but one copy of a compatible game, then they'll be able to play wirelessly on their own hardware. But that's not all, as you'll also be able to do this with four consoles at a time, including original Switch and Switch Lite models. Unfortunately for now, the list of games compatible with GameShare is pretty thin, but Nintendo says more will be coming in the future. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-lets-switch-2-players-share-their-games-132431186.html?src=rss

The 2025 Audi e-tron GT RS Performance has a special way of welcoming you. As you approach, it does the usual show of blinking headlights and tail lights, plus puddle lamps projecting red RS logos on the ground. That's nothing special these days. But when you get to the door and reach for the handle the car literally rises to meet you, springing up two full inches to ease your entry into this ultra-low, extremely long sport tourer.At least, it will do that if you spend the extra $11,000 for the new active suspension, a very worthy add-on to this $167,000 sports car and just one of the dozens of upgrades Audi made to the big performance machine for 2025. And it's good that those upgrades are so substantial, because from the outside, the car looks barely different than what came before.Audi slightly massaged the front grille, while the diffuser projecting from beneath the rear bumper looks far cleaner than before. Still, you'd be hard-pressed to tell new from old from a distance - or up close, for that matter. The biggest exterior change is probably the roof of the e-tron GT, which is now available in your choice of shiny or matte carbon fiber. Or, if you're more interested in sunshine than weight savings, you can opt for a new glass roof with nine separate integrated liquid crystal panels that turn opaque at the touch of a button.That makes for a fun talking point if you feel the need to impress your friends, but the 912 horsepower on tap will surely take care of that. Fire up launch control, and even the most jaded motorheads will be left utterly breathless. The e-tron GT RS Performance rockets from zero to 60 mph in just 2.4 seconds, which is a world-class figure, but what's more impressive is how it just keeps on going. I had a chance to run the car up past 130 mph (on a closed track) and the feeling was right on the border between thrilling and terrifying. The forces squeezing me into the (thankfully quite supportive) sport seat made my animal brain scream for sweet release.AudiThat wasn't the only mindjob happening here, though. That new active suspension can be set to actually make the car lean into corners while also dipping the nose under acceleration and lowering the tail when you hit the brakes. It's all in an effort to create a more stable, predictable platform, enabling you to drive the car hard without your passengers losing their patience - or their lunches.The capabilities of the RS e-tron GT Performance are definitely remarkable in any condition. A quick twitch of your right toe is enough to send it leaping forward, and for those special moments, you can get about an extra 94 horsepower by pressing the big red BOOST button on the steering wheel.Unfortunately, that's about the only thing good about the wheel. For this new e-tron GT, Audi shifted to the type of capacitive touch buttons that everybody hates on the Volkswagen ID.4, which are both challenging to use by touch and yet easy to accidentally trigger. I kept raising the volume on the stereo every time I made a left turn. That's no good.The rest of the interface is much the same as before, with the 10.1-inch touchscreen angled in the middle of the dashboard. It's running Audi's MMI software though, which is a bit sluggish at times. Still, between the touchscreen, the Virtual Cockpit digital gauge cluster behind the wheel and the HUD projected on the windscreen, you have no shortage of displays to admire.The rest of the cabin is largely unchanged as well, which isn't a bad thing. Seats up front are supportive yet comfortable, power-adjustable in all the right ways, heated and ventilated, and sit low enough in the car to offer plenty of headroom. Seating in the back isn't bad either, with a bit of extra legroom provided by a division in the battery pack, creating space for rear passenger feet.That rear-seat layout is the same as before, but while the battery pack shape is the same, crack it open and you'll find all sorts of newness. Audi changed the chemistry of the cells and that, plus some design revisions, has boosted energy density, which means more capacity in the same space.The battery now offers 105 kWh of total capacity (95 net), which is up from 93.4 before, while other changes have boosted charging speed. The maximum charging current is up to 320 kW from 270 kW before, and the battery can now maintain that speed at a wider range of temperatures. The result is an 80 percent charge in just 18 minutes. That's about 240 miles worth of range in the time it'll take to make a pit stop yourself.All those battery upgrades provide up to 300 miles of range on the 670 horsepower S e-tron GT or 278 miles of range on the faster RS e-tron GT Performance. Those figures represent a gain of between 29 and 51 miles over the old car, depending on which spec you choose. That's a major boost in longevity, and since that new suspension is equally good at being soft and cosseting as it is sharp and exciting, the GT makes for a remarkably good touring car. I spent most of a day idling my way in and out of Las Vegas in one, and I would've gladly done many more miles without complaint.But with all that power and handling, the GT is happiest when it's pushed to its limits. The only challenge is your budget will be pushed, too. The 2025 S e-tron GT costs $125,500, while the faster RS e-tron GT Performance starts at $167,000. That means all the new battery tech and brain-scrambling power have added about $20,000 to the sticker prices of the previous year's car. And you'll spend even more if you want all the toys.So, the RS e-tron GT Performance is expensive, but impressive too. We're still barely a decade into seeing what high-performance EVs can do, an engineering journey that will surely take us to new heights in the years to come. But what this car can do today is remarkable, with acceleration so strong that it's uncomfortable, suspension so advanced it can dance, and yet all the comfort and poise befitting an Audi.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/audis-refreshed-rs-e-tron-gt-performance-brings-shocking-speed-for-a-premium-price-130154710.html?src=rss

The wait is finally over: The appropriately titled "Nintendo Direct: Switch 2" presentation will start today (April 2) at 9AM ET / 6AM PT, and will stream on Nintendo's YouTube channel. Today's presentation follows a shorter Direct video last week, in which the company teased a Tomodachi Life sequel and the last few Switch 1 games (all of which will also run on the new console, thanks to backward compatibility).Because of the short teaser video Nintendo released in January, we already know the basic details of the Switch 2's look and feel - a larger screen, some sort of mouse functionality for the Joy-Con controllers - and we even got a glimpse at what looks like a new Mario Kart game. But the company's April 2 presentation should answer a litany of remaining questions about the Switch successor, including the price and release date.You can read our article collecting Switch 2 rumors and reports for a preview of what Nintendo might cover. Particularly pertinent for anyone thinking about buying the new console, recent leaks indicate that Nintendo could open up pre-orders for the Switch 2 as early as April 9, and ship out the device in June.We'll have to wait for the Nintendo Direct to finalize those details, of course. Nintendo has indicated that the presentation will last about an hour, so that should be enough time to present a longer list of Switch 2 games beyond those initial fleeting seconds of a new Mario Kart. You can watch along on Nintendo's YouTube channel or right in this article once the stream goes live. We've also go a Switch 2 liveblog going for real-time commentary. Stay tuned to Engadget in the hours and days that follow for complete coverage.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/how-to-watch-todays-switch-2-nintendo-direct-210632768.html?src=rss

Whether you attach it to a dog's collar, put in on a set of keys or throw it in your purse, there's no denying that AirTags save you a lot of hassle. They get rid of the mental stress that is, "Where on Earth did I put that?" Thankfully, Apple's AirTags are not only convenient, but they're currently on sale. Right now, you can get a four-pack of AirTags for just $68, down from $99. For context, a single AirTag normally retails for $29 (currently $24 each), so you're getting four for just over the price of two. This 31 percent discount brings the set to just $3 more than its all-time low. There's not much to say about AirTags that hasn't already been said. They use the Find My network to locate your missing belongings and can do so with incredible accuracy. Their main fault is the lack of a key hole, but we've rounded up the best Apple AirTag accessories for 2025 to fix that problem. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/a-four-pack-of-apple-airtags-is-back-on-sale-for-68-125334495.html?src=rss

Wikimedia has seen a 50 percent increase in bandwidth used for downloading multimedia content since January 2024, the foundation said in an update. But it's not because human readers have suddenly developed a voracious appetite for consuming Wikipedia articles and for watching videos or downloading files from Wikimedia Commons. No, the spike in usage came from AI crawlers, or automated programs scraping Wikimedia's openly licensed images, videos, articles and other files to train generative artificial intelligence models.This sudden increase in traffic from bots could slow down access to Wikimedia's pages and assets, especially during high-interest events. When Jimmy Carter died in December, for instance, people's heightened interest in the video of his presidential debate with Ronald Reagan caused slow page load times for some users. Wikimedia is equipped to sustain traffic spikes from human readers during such events, and users watching Carter's video shouldn't have caused any issues. But "the amount of traffic generated by scraper bots is unprecedented and presents growing risks and costs," Wikimedia said.The foundation explained that human readers tend to look up specific and often similar topics. For instance, a number of people look up the same thing when it's trending. Wikimedia creates a cache of a piece of content requested multiple times in the data center closest to the user, enabling it to serve up content faster. But articles and content that haven't been accessed in a while have to be served from the core data center, which consumes more resources and, hence, costs more money for Wikimedia. Since AI crawlers tend to bulk read pages, they access obscure pages that have to be served from the core data center.Wikimedia said that upon a closer look, 65 percent of the resource-consuming traffic it gets is from bots. It's already causing constant disruption for its Site Reliability team, which has to block the crawlers all the time before they they significantly slow down page access to actual readers. Now, the real problem, as Wikimedia states, is that the "expansion happened largely without sufficient attribution, which is key to drive new users to participate in the movement." A foundation that relies on people's donations to continue running needs to attract new users and get them to care for its cause. "Our content is free, our infrastructure is not," the foundation said. Wikimedia is now looking to establish sustainable ways for developers and reusers to access its content in the upcoming fiscal year. It has to, because it sees no sign of AI-related traffic slowing down anytime soon.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/wikipedia-is-struggling-with-voracious-ai-bot-crawlers-121546854.html?src=rss

Samsung is releasing two Fan Edition models of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10, and they're both more affordable than their standard counterparts. The Galaxy Tab S10 FE and the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ are powered by the Samsung Exynos 1580 chipset instead of MediaTek processors like the standard versions. Samsung's Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ model has a 13.1-inch display, which is bigger than the Tab S10+'s 12.4-inch screen but smaller than the 14.6-inch one on the Tab S10 Ultra. Take note that both models have a refresh rate of up to 90Hz, which is lower than the standard versions' 120 Hz refresh rate.That means the standard Tab S10 models are still the better options if gaming is your primary use for a tablet. But again, the new Fan Editions cost substantially less than they do. The Galaxy Tab S10 FE's prices start at $500, and it comes with 128GB and 256GB storage options. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ will cost you at least $650 and come with the same storage options. The standard Galaxy Tab S10's prices start $999, while the Tab S10 Ultra will cost you at least $1,200.Like the the standard models, the Fan Edition versions come with AI capabilities, including Circle to Search with Google that makes it easy to look for information simply by encircling elements on your device. Their Samsung Note app also features Math Solver, which can do calculations based on handwriting and text, as well as Handwriting Assist, which can help you tidy up handwritten notes. Both Fan Edition devices will be available in the US starting on April 10. You'll get a $50 credit if you reserve a unit now, and you can buy a Book Cover Keyboard Slim for 50 percent off if you purchase one by May 11.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/samsungs-galaxy-tab-s10-fe-and-galaxy-tab-s10-fe-will-be-available-on-april-10-120019555.html?src=rss

The Washington Post reports that members of the White House's National Security Council have used personal Gmail accounts to conduct government business. National security advisor Michael Waltz and a senior aide of his both used their own accounts to discuss sensitive information with colleagues, according to the Post's review and interviews with government officials who spoke to the newspaper anonymously.Email is not the best approach for sharing information meant to be kept private. That covers sensitive data for individuals such as social security numbers or passwords, much less confidential or classified government documents. It simply has too many potential paths for a bad actor to access information they shouldn't. Government departments typically use business-grade email services, rather than relying on consumer email services. The federal government also has its own internal communications systems with additional layers of security, making it all the more baffling that current officials are being so cavalier with how they handle important information.Unless you are using GPG, email is not end-to-end encrypted, and the contents of a message can be intercepted and read at many points, including on Google's email servers," Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation told the Post.Additionally, there are regulations requiring that certain official government communications be preserved and archived. Using a personal account could allow some messages to slip through the cracks, accidentally or intentionally.This latest instance of dubious software use from the executive branch follows the discovery that several high-ranking national security leaders used Signal to discuss planned military actions in Yemen, then added a journalist from The Atlantic to the group chat. And while Signal is a more secure option than a public email client, even the encrypted messaging platform can be exploited, as the Pentagon warned its own team last week.As with last week's Signal debacle, there have been no repercussions thus far for any federal employees taking risky data privacy actions. NSC spokesman Brian Hughes told the Post he hasn't seen evidence of Waltz using a personal account for government correspondence.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/national-security-council-adds-gmail-to-its-list-of-bad-decisions-222648613.html?src=rss

An Arkansas law requiring social media companies to verify the ages of their users has been struck down by a federal judge who ruled that it was unconstitutional. The decision is a significant victory for the social media companies and digital rights groups that have opposed the law and others like it.Arkansas became the second state (after Utah) to pass an age verification law for social media in 2023. The Social Media Safety Act required companies to verify the games of users under 18 and get permission from their parents. The law was challenged by NetChoice, a lobbying group representing the tech industry whose membership includes Meta, Snap, X, Reddit and YouTube. NetChoice has also challenged laws restricting social media access in Utah, Texas and California.In a ruling, Judge Timothy Brooks said that the law, known as Act 689, was overly broad. Act 689 is a content-based restriction on speech, and it is not targeted to address the harms the State has identified," Brooks wrote in his decision. Arkansas takes a hatchet to adults' and minors' protected speech alike though the Constitution demands it use a scalpel." Brooks also highlighted the unconstitutionally vague" applicability of the law, which seemingly created obligations for some online services, but may have exempted services which had the "predominant or exclusive function [of]... direct messaging" like Snapchat.The court confirms what we have been arguing from the start: laws restricting access to protected speech violate the First Amendment," NetChoice's Chris Marchese said in a statement. This ruling protects Americans from having to hand over their IDs or biometric data just to access constitutionally protected speech online."It's not clear if state officials in Arkansas will appeal the ruling. I respect the court's decision, and we are evaluating our options," Arkansas Attorney general Tim Griffin said in a statement.Even with NetChoice's latest victory, it seems that age verification laws are unlikely to go away anytime soon. Utah recently passed an age verification requirement for app stores. And a Texas law requiring porn sites to conduct age verification is currently before the Supreme Court.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/arkansas-social-media-age-verification-law-blocked-by-federal-judge-194614568.html?src=rss