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Gmail Gets a Delivery Tab and Smarter Promotions

2025-09-12

Gmail Gets a Delivery Tab and Smarter Promotions

Gmail is rolling out a major update, adding a dedicated "Purchases" tab to organize all your delivery emails in one place, accessible via the side menu on mobile and web. While the new tab centralizes deliveries, same-day packages will still appear as cards in your primary inbox with quick "See item" or "Track Package" buttons. Simultaneously, the Promotions tab is getting a 'Most Relevant' sorting option based on user interaction, plus timely nudges for expiring deals. These features will gradually roll out to personal Gmail accounts.

(www.engadget.com)

Tech Email Management

Google's September Pixel Drop: Material 3, Auracast, and AI Enhancements Arrive

2025-09-04

Google's September Pixel Drop: Material 3, Auracast, and AI Enhancements Arrive

Google's September update brings a wave of new features to Pixel devices. Pixel 6 and later models get Material 3 Expressive, offering lock screen customization, improved contact cards, and a revamped Quick Settings pane. Pixel Buds Pro 2 gains Adaptive Audio, loud noise protection, and head gesture controls. Android now supports Auracast, enabling simultaneous audio playback on two devices or creating public broadcasts. Gboard adds AI writing tools, and the Androidify app lets users create AI-powered Android bot avatars. This update spans interface, audio, and AI improvements for a richer user experience.

(www.engadget.com)

Tech Pixel update

FCC to Overhaul Aging US Emergency Alert Systems

2025-08-09

FCC to Overhaul Aging US Emergency Alert Systems

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is launching a comprehensive review of the US's aging emergency alert systems, including the 31-year-old Emergency Alert System (EAS) and the 13-year-old Wireless Emergency Alerts (WAS). The review will examine infrastructure, alert-sending entities, geographic targeting, and security. This follows deadly Texas floods that raised questions about the effectiveness of alerts and resource allocation, highlighting the critical intersection of technology and public safety.

(www.engadget.com)

Tech Emergency Alert System Public Safety

Microsoft Azure Implicated in Massive Surveillance of Palestinians

2025-08-07

Microsoft Azure Implicated in Massive Surveillance of Palestinians

Reports from The Guardian and other outlets reveal that Israel has been using Microsoft Azure cloud servers to store millions of recorded phone calls from Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank since 2022. This data, allegedly accessed by Israel's Unit 8200, has been used to inform military operations, including targeting for airstrikes. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reportedly approved a customized system for this purpose. The revelation has sparked outrage, with critics accusing Microsoft of complicity in potential war crimes. While Microsoft denies knowledge, evidence suggests otherwise, raising serious ethical questions about the company's role.

(www.engadget.com)

Tech

Lunar Trailblazer Mission Ends Prematurely After Communication Loss

2025-08-05

Lunar Trailblazer Mission Ends Prematurely After Communication Loss

NASA's Lunar Trailblazer mission, aimed at mapping lunar water resources, has ended prematurely after losing contact with the satellite. Launched in February, the satellite successfully separated from its rocket but failed to correctly orient its solar arrays, leading to battery depletion and communication loss. While unsuccessful, NASA views the mission as a valuable learning experience for future low-cost, small satellite missions, contributing to a sustained human presence on the Moon. The mission sought to create high-resolution maps of water on the moon's surface, assessing its abundance, form, and temporal changes.

(www.engadget.com)

Tech Satellite Communication Failure

Nintendo Switch 2 Sales Explode: 5.82 Million Units in Under Four Weeks

2025-08-03

Nintendo Switch 2 Sales Explode: 5.82 Million Units in Under Four Weeks

Nintendo's latest earnings report reveals explosive sales for the Switch 2. In less than four weeks, the company sold 5.82 million units, putting it on track to surpass its target of 15 million units by April 2026—a significantly faster pace than the original Switch. Despite these impressive numbers, Nintendo acknowledges that demand exceeds supply and promises increased production. Switch 2 software sales also soared, reaching 8.67 million units, driven by bundled titles like Mario Kart and strong third-party support. Backwards compatibility boosted sales of original Switch games to 24.4 million. This success propelled Nintendo to a remarkable quarter, more than doubling revenue to $3.8 billion.

(www.engadget.com)

Game

Steam Cracks Down on Adult Games: Payment Processors' New Rules Spark Controversy

2025-07-17

Steam Cracks Down on Adult Games: Payment Processors' New Rules Spark Controversy

Steam recently updated its platform rules, banning games that violate the regulations of payment processors and banks, leading to the removal of numerous games with sexual themes, particularly those with "incest" in their titles. This move stems from payment companies' long-standing opposition to adult content, fearing a lack of sufficient safeguards against illegal content on the platform. While many players support the removal of explicit games, concerns have been raised that this sets a precedent for financial censorship, potentially affecting more games in the future, including those with LGBTQ+ themes.

(www.engadget.com)

Game payment processors

Adobe's Project Indigo: A New AI-Powered Camera App Challenges Smartphone Photography Norms

2025-06-23

Adobe's Project Indigo: A New AI-Powered Camera App Challenges Smartphone Photography Norms

Adobe launched Project Indigo, an iPhone camera app developed by former members of Google's Pixel camera team. Combining computational photography with AI features, it offers pro controls and a more natural image look, avoiding over-processing. It achieves high-quality results by combining up to 32 frames with mild tone mapping and sharpening, and includes AI-powered features like "Remove Reflections." Currently available for iPhone 12 Pro and later, an Android version is coming soon.

(www.engadget.com)

Tech computational photography smartphone photography

Tesla's FSD Fails Again: Are Self-Driving Cars Ready?

2025-06-16

Tesla's FSD Fails Again: Are Self-Driving Cars Ready?

Concerns are mounting about the readiness of fully autonomous vehicles after a recent demonstration highlighted flaws in Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system. Tests conducted by The Dawn Project showed a Tesla Model Y repeatedly ignoring flashing school bus lights and stop signs, striking child-sized mannequins. While Tesla emphasizes that FSD requires attentive drivers and includes warnings about potential harm, the incidents, including a previous fatal accident involving FSD, raise serious safety questions. The upcoming Cybercab launch has been delayed, with Elon Musk citing a focus on safety, yet the repeated failures fuel the debate over whether fully autonomous driving technology is truly ready for public roads.

(www.engadget.com)

Tech Safety Concerns

Hong Kong Bans Taiwan-Made Game for Alleged Promotion of 'Secessionist Agendas'

2025-06-11

Hong Kong Bans Taiwan-Made Game for Alleged Promotion of 'Secessionist Agendas'

Hong Kong authorities have banned the Taiwan-made game Reversed Front: Bonfire, citing national security concerns. This marks the first time the region has used national security laws to ban a video game. The game, which lets players fight against the Chinese Communist Party, has been accused of promoting secessionist agendas and inciting armed revolution. The game was removed from the Hong Kong App Store, with the developers stating it highlights censorship in mainland China.

(www.engadget.com)

Game game censorship national security law

Apple's New Gaming App: A Resurrected Game Center, But Much More

2025-06-09

Apple's New Gaming App: A Resurrected Game Center, But Much More

Apple is launching a dedicated gaming app, "Games," pre-installed on Macs, iPhones, and iPads this fall with macOS Tahoe 26 and iOS 26. This revamped Game Center will act as a modern gaming hub, similar to Xbox or GOG Galaxy, featuring leaderboards, matchmaking, recommendations, news, and direct access to Apple Arcade. Users can see what friends are playing, challenge them, and access their entire App Store game library. The Mac version includes an overlay for quick access to communication tools, audio, Bluetooth, and battery life. This release underscores Apple's growing push into gaming, following recent additions of AAA titles to Mac and mobile and the acquisition of the small game studio RAC7. While the Epic Games legal battle continues, Fortnite's return to the App Store with third-party payment support marks a significant development.

(www.engadget.com)

Game Apple Gaming Game Center

Microsoft and ASUS ROG Team Up for Xbox Ally Handheld: Expanding the Gaming Ecosystem

2025-06-08

Microsoft and ASUS ROG Team Up for Xbox Ally Handheld: Expanding the Gaming Ecosystem

Microsoft officially unveiled two new handheld gaming consoles in partnership with ASUS ROG during the Xbox Games Showcase at Summer Game Fest: the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X. Launching this holiday season, these devices will play Xbox games natively, via cloud gaming, or by remotely accessing an Xbox console. They also support games from Battle.net and other leading PC storefronts, along with Game Pass and Xbox Play Anywhere. The Xbox Ally features an AMD Ryzen Z2 A processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD; the Ally X boasts a more powerful AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor, 24GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. Both handhelds sport a 7-inch 1080p 120Hz display with FreeSync Premium. Microsoft has designed a full-screen Xbox UI and Game Bar overlay, and optimized Windows 11 for the devices.

(www.engadget.com)

Hardware Xbox Handheld Gaming Hardware

Discord's Balancing Act: Monetization vs. User Experience

2025-06-05

Discord's Balancing Act: Monetization vs. User Experience

Discord co-founder and CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy acknowledges the ever-present threat of platform 'enshittification.' With an upcoming IPO and the recent departure of co-founder Jason Citron, many users fear Discord's evolution will compromise its unique community feel. Vishnevskiy admits these concerns, stating that avoiding 'enshittification' – balancing profitability and user experience – is a constant internal discussion. Past ventures like a game store and Web3 integrations failed to meet user expectations. Discord now focuses on its Nitro subscription, exploring new revenue models with the Orbs currency system that rewards users. Simultaneously, the company prioritizes app performance and usability, approaching AI cautiously. Future plans involve supporting game developers and maintaining a long-term commitment to user experience and company values. The challenge lies in navigating these competing pressures while staying true to its identity.

(www.engadget.com)

Game

Google Maps Glitch Causes Massive Traffic Jams in Germany

2025-06-01

Google Maps Glitch Causes Massive Traffic Jams in Germany

During Germany's Ascension Day holiday, a widespread Google Maps malfunction wrongly marked numerous highways as closed, leading to major traffic jams across the country. Areas affected included major cities like Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Dortmund. Drivers were forced onto alternative routes, causing widespread gridlock. A Google spokesperson stated that map information comes from various sources and that they are internally reviewing the issue. This is not the first technical glitch for Google Maps; a previous incident saw users' location history wiped.

(www.engadget.com)

Tech traffic jam technical glitch

OnePlus Unveils AI-Powered Plus Key and Mind Space

2025-05-27

OnePlus Unveils AI-Powered Plus Key and Mind Space

OnePlus has announced its AI strategy, centered around the new Plus Key and AI Plus Mind. The Plus Key, replacing the Alert Slider, is a customizable physical button launching the camera, translator, or recorder, and importantly, activating AI Plus Mind. This feature captures and extracts information from on-screen text and images (schedules, event details, etc.), saving it to a searchable Mind Space. The Plus Key and AI Plus Mind debut on the OnePlus 13s in Asia, rolling out to other OnePlus 13 series devices via software update. Future OnePlus phones will include the Plus Key. Additionally, OnePlus is developing AI VoiceScribe, AI Translation, AI Search, and AI Best Face 2.0.

(www.engadget.com)

Tech OnePlus

Google Search's AI Mode Gets a Massive Upgrade: Gemini 2.5, Shopping, and More

2025-05-20

Google Search's AI Mode Gets a Massive Upgrade: Gemini 2.5, Shopping, and More

Google has fully rolled out its AI Mode to all Search users in the US, powered by Gemini 2.5. This enhanced mode includes new features like shopping capabilities, ticket price comparison, and custom chart generation. Designed to handle complex queries beyond traditional search, AI Mode allows users to compare fitness trackers, for example. Future plans include integrating many of AI Mode's features into the core search experience and adding 'Deep Search' for comprehensive reports. AI Mode will also gain the ability to complete web tasks like booking tickets and reservations, and personalized recommendations via Gmail integration.

(www.engadget.com)

AI

Discord CEO Steps Down, Activision Blizzard Exec Takes Over Amidst IPO Rumors

2025-04-23

Discord CEO Steps Down, Activision Blizzard Exec Takes Over Amidst IPO Rumors

Discord co-founder and CEO Jason Citron is stepping down, to be replaced by Humam Sakhnini, a former Activision Blizzard executive. Citron will remain on the board. The move comes amid reports that Discord is planning an IPO, and Sakhnini's experience leading a public company (as President of King Digital) makes him a strong candidate. Discord, initially a gaming communication platform, has grown into a general social platform with over 200 million monthly active users. A previous $10 billion acquisition attempt by Microsoft fell through, but Discord now integrates with both Xbox and PlayStation.

(www.engadget.com)

Game

Doom and Doom II Get Physical Releases, Including a Playable Game Box!

2025-04-16

Doom and Doom II Get Physical Releases, Including a Playable Game Box!

Limited Run Games is releasing physical editions of Doom and Doom II, with the highlight being the "Will it Run Edition." This $666 limited edition (666 copies!) features a game box that actually runs the original Doom, along with cassette soundtrack, certificate of authenticity, and trading cards. Cheaper options include a Big Box Edition ($100) and a standard edition ($30). The games themselves have been enhanced with 60fps, 16:9 support, improved weapon switching, gyroscopic aiming, local 4-player co-op, online play, new maps, community mods, and a brand-new episode, "Legacy of Rust." The playable game box is a nod to the game's meme-worthy ability to run on nearly anything.

(www.engadget.com)

Game Physical Release

Samsung's Ballie Robot Launches This Summer with Gemini AI

2025-04-09

Samsung's Ballie Robot Launches This Summer with Gemini AI

Samsung announced today that its Ballie robot will go on sale in the US and South Korea this summer. This diminutive robot will ship with a Gemini AI model thanks to a partnership with Google Cloud. Ballie boasts multimodal capabilities, processing voice, audio, and visual data to manage smart home devices and even offer health and styling advice. While pricing remains unannounced, this iteration of the robot, first shown at CES 2024 (after a 2020 debut), finally arrives after delays.

(www.engadget.com)

Hardware Robot

Nintendo Switch 2: June 5th Release, $450 Price Tag

2025-04-02

Nintendo Switch 2: June 5th Release, $450 Price Tag

Nintendo has finally revealed the Switch 2's release date: June 5th, priced at $450. Pre-orders start April 9th. This upgraded console boasts a 7.9-inch 1080p screen (up to 4K in docked mode), 120Hz refresh rate, HDR support, and a massive 256GB of internal storage, expandable via microSD Express cards. New Joy-Cons feature mouse functionality, and GameChat allows voice chat with up to 12 players. The Switch 2 offers backward compatibility with most Switch games and introduces GameShare for easy family and friend game sharing. Launch titles include Mario Kart World.

(www.engadget.com)

Game

Wikimedia Bandwidth Explodes: AI Training Bots to Blame

2025-04-02

Wikimedia Bandwidth Explodes: AI Training Bots to Blame

Wikimedia Foundation reports a 50% bandwidth increase since January 2024, primarily due to AI training bots scraping its openly licensed content. This surge in bot traffic, exceeding even spikes from high-profile events like Jimmy Carter's death, threatens to slow down access for human users. The bots disproportionately access less frequently used pages, straining Wikimedia's infrastructure. The foundation, reliant on donations, faces increasing costs and is exploring sustainable solutions for AI developers to access its content while ensuring the continued accessibility of its resources for everyone.

(www.engadget.com)

Tech Wikimedia

Arkansas Social Media Age Verification Law Struck Down

2025-04-01

Arkansas Social Media Age Verification Law Struck Down

A federal judge has struck down an Arkansas law requiring social media companies to verify the ages of their users, ruling it unconstitutional. This is a win for social media companies and digital rights groups who opposed the law, which mandated age verification for users under 18 and parental consent. The judge deemed the law overly broad, a content-based restriction on speech violating the First Amendment. While this is a victory for NetChoice, which challenged the law, age verification legislation is unlikely to disappear soon, with similar laws in other states still pending.

(www.engadget.com)

Tech age verification constitutional law

Samsung's 2025 Bespoke Lineup: AI-Powered Appliances for the Smart Home

2025-03-30

Samsung's 2025 Bespoke Lineup: AI-Powered Appliances for the Smart Home

Samsung finally unveiled its full 2025 Bespoke appliance lineup, initially teased at CES. The highlight is the Bespoke 4-door French-door refrigerator, available with 9-inch and a massive 32-inch Family Hub+ screen (capable of playing TikTok!). AI Vision Inside recognizes 37 fresh and 50 processed food items, generating shopping lists. A hybrid cooling system combines compressor and Peltier technology for energy efficiency and quiet operation; a space-saving Kitchen Fit model is also available. The smart oven recognizes 80 recipes, records cooking processes; a quiet dishwasher auto-detects food residue; the AI washer/dryer completes cycles in 68 minutes; and a cordless stick vacuum boasts 400AW suction and 100-minute runtime. Pre-orders offer up to $1000 off and an extra year of warranty.

(www.engadget.com)

Hardware Smart Appliances Samsung Bespoke

Ubisoft Spins Off Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six into New Subsidiary Backed by Tencent

2025-03-27

Ubisoft Spins Off Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six into New Subsidiary Backed by Tencent

Ubisoft is restructuring after several challenging years, creating a new subsidiary focused on its flagship franchises: Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six. This subsidiary, backed by a $1.25 billion investment from Tencent (granting Tencent a minority stake), will consolidate development teams from various studios. This move allows Ubisoft to streamline operations and refocus on other IPs like The Division and Ghost Recon. The investment comes after cost-cutting measures and amidst recent struggles. While the company will continue developing multiplayer and free-to-play titles, the announcement emphasizes a renewed commitment to high-quality single-player experiences.

(www.engadget.com)

Game Ubisoft

AI-Powered Lip-Sync Tech Brings Swedish Sci-Fi Film to American Theaters

2025-03-25

AI-Powered Lip-Sync Tech Brings Swedish Sci-Fi Film to American Theaters

The Swedish sci-fi film "Watch the Skies" (originally titled "UFO Sweden") will hit American AMC theaters on May 9th. Using Flawless AI's TrueSync technology, the film underwent "visual dubbing," seamlessly matching actors' lip movements to English audio without reshoots. This lowers the barrier to entry for foreign films, potentially attracting a wider audience. The technology is SAG-AFTRA compliant and promises to revolutionize global film distribution. The film, about a teenager searching for her father, believed abducted by aliens, will screen in 100 AMC locations across the US.

(www.engadget.com)

Tech

Samsung Co-CEO Jong-hee Han Dies Suddenly

2025-03-25

Samsung Co-CEO Jong-hee Han Dies Suddenly

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and Co-CEO Jong-hee Han died suddenly of a heart attack at age 63, according to Reuters and CNBC. Han joined Samsung in 1988, leading the visual display R&D in 2011 before heading the TV business. In 2021, he took the helm of Samsung DX, encompassing mobile and consumer electronics, and became Co-CEO in 2022. Despite lacking mobile experience, he oversaw 15 years of global TV sales leadership. Just a week before his death, he apologized at the shareholder meeting for poor stock performance and the company's inadequate response to the AI semiconductor market, acknowledging regulatory hurdles in semiconductor M&A but promising tangible results this year. Following his passing, his co-CEO, Young-Hyun Jun, is now Samsung's sole CEO.

(www.engadget.com)

Tech

US and Canada Video Game Workers Form Industry-Wide Union

2025-03-19

US and Canada Video Game Workers Form Industry-Wide Union

A landmark industry-wide union for video game workers in the US and Canada, the United Videogame Workers-CWA (UVW-CWA), has officially launched. Aiming to unite artists, writers, designers, QA testers, programmers, freelancers, and more, the union seeks to empower workers regardless of studio or employment status. Debuting at GDC's "Video Game Labor at a Crossroads" panel, the UVW-CWA will circulate a petition to garner support and highlight the recent wave of industry layoffs—a significant issue, given that 10% of developers lost their jobs in 2024. The union operates on a direct-join model, allowing workers to bypass traditional unionization processes. While its industry-wide adoption and recognition by major publishers remain uncertain, it represents a significant step in the ongoing struggle between game industry workers and corporate entities.

(www.engadget.com)

Game union

RCS Messaging Gets End-to-End Encryption: A Major Security Upgrade

2025-03-14

RCS Messaging Gets End-to-End Encryption: A Major Security Upgrade

After months of anticipation, RCS messaging has received a major update: end-to-end encryption (E2EE). Based on the MLS protocol, this upgrade ensures the security and confidentiality of RCS messages between iOS and Android devices. Google's RCS already supported E2EE, but only if all participants used Google Messages with RCS chats enabled. Apple also contributed to this industry effort and has pledged to add E2EE support to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS in future software updates, further enhancing message security and preventing third parties from intercepting sensitive information.

(www.engadget.com)

Tech End-to-End Encryption Message Security

Meta Wins Arbitration Case, Halts Publication of Tell-All Memoir

2025-03-13

Meta Wins Arbitration Case, Halts Publication of Tell-All Memoir

Meta has won an arbitration case against Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former policy executive, preventing the sale and promotion of her tell-all memoir, "Careless People." The book details Zuckerberg's attempt to bring Facebook to China and alleges misconduct by Meta's current policy chief. The arbitrator ruled Wynn-Williams violated a non-disparagement agreement. Meta calls the book "old news" and has received support from multiple former employees.

(www.engadget.com)

Tech Non-disparagement agreement

DOJ Doubles Down: Google Must Sell Chrome, Limit Default Search Deals

2025-03-08

DOJ Doubles Down: Google Must Sell Chrome, Limit Default Search Deals

The Justice Department is sticking to its guns in the antitrust case against Google, upholding a previous administration's proposal to force the sale of the Chrome browser and ban payments to companies like Apple for default search engine status. The DOJ argues this will break Google's search monopoly and foster competition. While Google offered alternative remedies, the DOJ deemed them insufficient. A judge will decide on the final solution in April, with significant implications for the tech industry.

(www.engadget.com)

Tech

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