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Watch the Day of the Devs: Game Awards 2025 edition right here at 1PM ET
The Game Awards 2025 edition of the Day of the Devs digital showcase goes live on Wednesday, December 10 at 1PM ET on Twitch and YouTube. That’s more than 30 hours before The Game Awards itself kicks off, which makes perfect sense. It is called Day of the Devs, after all, and if we’re judging by past appearances, the event absolutely deserves its own full 24 hours in the spotlight.
This year, the Day of the Devs: The Game Awards Digital Showcase will feature 22 indie titles, including three release date announcements and six world premieres. That’s a packed show, even by Day of the Devs standards. Expect to see projects from developers including 17-BIT, BONE Assembly, Capybara Games, Deconstructeam and Panic Stations, and publishers Annapurna Interactive, Devolver and Blumhouse Games, among others.
Each Day of the Devs showcase lasts about an hour and highlights a batch of extremely rad-looking independent games across a wide range of genres, complete with commentary from creators. The featured games are curated by industry veterans at Day of the Devs, and past shows have offered early looks at future hits like Animal Well, Blue Prince, Cocoon, Despelote, Crow Country, Phoenix Springs, Skate Story, UFO 50, Eternights, Sorry We’re Closed and many others.
Day of the Devs is a non-profit operation that provides a platform for select independent creators to showcase their games to large audiences for free, founded by folks at Double Fine Productions and iam8bit. On top of accepting donations, it receives support from various industry players, including Xbox, PlayStation and Summer Game Fest.
The Game Awards 2025 begins on Thursday, December 11 at 7:30PM ET, with a half-hour pre-show up first. The whole thing will certainly last longer than one hour, but we’ll find out together whether it’ll have more game reveals than Day of the Devs.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/watch-the-day-of-the-devs-game-awards-2025-edition-right-here-at-1pm-et-060000319.html?src=rssRepair iconic 2000s-era gadgets in upcoming indie game ReStory
We love a little nostalgia mixed in with our cozy gaming, and ReStory looks like a perfect blend of those two. In this upcoming indie game, you play the owner of a Tokyo electronics repair shop in the mid 2000s. The trailer that dropped today shows you tinkering with some very familiar gadgets from the era, such as renamed riffs on a Tamagotchi, a Nokia brick phone, a PSP and a Walkman. You clean and repair these devices for customers, and it looks like your conversations with them might have as much impact on their lives as your official work does.
The whole thing looks exceedingly charming and chill. It's nice to see a game like ReStory as a counterpart to something with a similar premise but wildly different tone like Kaizen, which was a highlight during the Steam Automation Fest over the summer. ReStory is being developed by Mandragora, and it is currently playtesting ahead of a planned 2026 release.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/repair-iconic-2000s-era-gadgets-in-upcoming-indie-game-restory-233445848.html?src=rssUber is installing kiosks for booking rides without the mobile app
Uber is rolling out kiosks for travelers to book rideshares without using the mobile app. The company is pitching the service as a convenience for international travelers who may not have a data plan, but it could also be a lifesaver if your phone runs out of juice and you don't have a way to recharge it. A passenger can use the kiosk to enter their destination and desired ride type, then will receive a printed receipt with the details about their booked ride. The first kiosk will debut in Terminal C at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, but Uber said it would have additional locations in airports, hotels and ports over the coming months.
In airport situations, these kiosks make Uber even more of a direct competitor to traditional taxis. With the removal of the app, the kiosk can essentially stand in as the dispatcher and a passenger can decide how to travel based on their preferences (or on wait times) for a rideshare versus a yellow cab.
Uber also used LaGuardia as the starting point for its shuttle bus service in New York, with $18 rides between the airport and Manhattan transit hubs in October 2024; it later rolled out the shuttles to John F. Kennedy Airport in March 2025. Today, Uber said it is bringing the shuttle bus option to Newark Liberty International Airport, so all major NYC airports now have access to the service.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/uber-is-installing-kiosks-for-booking-rides-without-the-mobile-app-220904106.html?src=rssInstagram is generating SEO-bait headlines for its users' posts
It looks like Meta has decided to turn Instagram users into unwitting SEO spam pawns. On Tuesday, 404 Media reported that the platform is generating sensational, likely AI-generated headlines and descriptions for user posts without their knowledge or explicit consent. An Engadget editor has also noticed this on their posts. The headlines are found in the pages’ code and are only visible in search results.
The scheme appears to be an effort to boost the Google search ranking of Instagram content. An Instagram post by Engadget’s Sam Chapman, about a board game he created, received an unwanted generated description. “Floramino is a cozy puzzle game where you arrange gardens as a traveling florist,” the generated text reads. “The demo looks fun, with charming visuals and strategic elements.”
In this case, there’s a significant factual error. The board game is called Bloomhunter. Floramino, which the generated text referenced, is a puzzle game on Steam.
In an example cited by 404 Media, author Jeff VanderMeer's untitled video about a bunny eating a banana received a generic, SEO-style title. "Meet the Bunny Who Loves Eating Bananas, A Nutritious Snack For Your Pet," it reads. That indeed reads like the work of an LLM. A Massachusetts library's post promoting a reading of a VanderMeer book got the same treatment. "Join Jeff VanderMeer on a Thrilling Beachside Adventure with Mesta …", the headline reads.
Multiple cosplayers also found their posts gaining strange titles. "I would not write mediocre text like that, and it sounds as if it was auto-generated at scale with an LLM," cosplayer Brian Dang told 404 Media. "This becomes problematic when the headline or description advertises someone in a way that is not how they would personally describe themselves."
The headlines appear in the posts’ code, as confirmed by Google's Rich Result Test tool. (They're found in the <title> tags for the post. The descriptions appear in the "text": section) The spammy headlines differ from the page's alt text, which Instagram generates for people with low vision.
You might want to search for your recent content to see if you’re affected. Engadget reached out to Meta for confirmation and a statement. We'll update this story if we hear back.
Update, December 9, 2026 at 5:07 PM ET: The story was updated to include more detail about a post from Engadget’s Sam Chapman receiving a generated description.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/instagram-is-generating-seo-bait-headlines-for-its-users-posts-213702800.html?src=rssSlack's CEO is joining OpenAI to find the money to pay for all those data centers
OpenAI has announced that Denise Dresser, the current CEO of Slack, will be the company's new Chief Revenue Officer. Dresser will oversee the company's revenue strategy "across enterprise and customer success," according to OpenAI's announcement, and will presumably play a key role in leading the company towards profitability now that it's reorganized as a public benefit corporation.
"We're on a path to put AI tools into the hands of millions of workers, across every industry," Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of Products said in the announcement. "Denise has led that kind of shift before, and her experience will help us make AI useful, reliable, and accessible for businesses everywhere."
Simo joined OpenAI in May of this year, after serving as CEO of Instacart, and before that, the head of Facebook at Meta. Hiring Simo and Dresser could be a good indication of how OpenAI plans to approach ChatGPT going forward. Which is to say, the company is taking a very Silicon Valley approach to growing its chatbot business and focusing on scale and monetizing as many AI interactions as possible. It's not a mistake that Simo helped establish Meta's ads business and OpenAI is reportedly planning to introduce ads into chats with its AI models.
Even with the possibility of ad revenue, Dresser will still have to overcome what OpenAI continues to spend to offer its various AI products. OpenAI pays for multiple partnerships for data center access and has commitments to both buy and build server components for those data centers. Add in the cost of just processing a ChatGPT query itself, and growing the company’s revenue seems like a tall order.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/slacks-ceo-is-joining-openai-to-find-the-money-to-pay-for-all-those-data-centers-220411962.html?src=rssHow to watch The Game Awards 2025 on December 11
The Game Awards are this week, with the grand showcase for 2025 coming up on Thursday, December 11 at 8PM ET. There's also a pre-show (in case the multi-hour affair just isn't enough TGA for you) and that kicks off at 7:30PM ET. The ceremony will be a mix of honoring games from the past year and debuting trailers for future releases, so expect a couple interesting announcements to emerge from Thursday night. Engadget will be reporting on any big stories as they happen at The Game Awards, but if you want to watch along with us, the whole shebang is available to watch for free on just about every streaming platform you could want.
The primo spot to watch is probably YouTube, since it will be broadcasting the show in 4K and you'll want to see all those trailers in their full glory. The video is embedded above. The other official co-streaming partners are Twitch and TikTok Live, but you can also watch everything on Steam and Amazon Prime Video. The Game Awards will also be on social media via Facebook Live, Instagram and X.
It's been a good year for gaming and lots of top-notch projects are up for nominations at the show this year. The Game Awards will also shine a light on important subjects such as Innovation in Accessibility and Games For Impact as well as recognizing recent releases for excellence in artistry and design. And don't sleep on the Day of the Devs showcase happening tomorrow, Wednesday, December 10; that will almost certainly have some hype stuff emerging from the indie scene.
In terms of reveals, host Geoff Keighley has shared a few looks at what's to come. There will definitely be an appearance by Lara Croft and whatever is happening at Wildflower Interactive, the new studio helmed by The Last of Us co-director Bruce Straley, is due to be announced. PlayStation will also have more to say about Saros, which is Housemarque's follow-up to Returnal. And of course, hope springs eternal (as do the memes) for Half-Life 3.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/how-to-watch-the-game-awards-2025-on-december-11-205500124.html?src=rssTraeger debuts Woodridge Pro Plus grill with Wi-Fi features and built-in storage cabinet
Traeger debuted its Woodridge line of Wi-Fi-enabled pellet grills back in January. The overall theme across the Woodridge, Woodridge Pro and Woodridge Elite is the company’s reliable performance and features are available for less than the cost of its most premium models. Just before Christmas, the company is adding to the the Woodridge lineup with the Woodridge Pro Plus.
For $400 more than the Woodridge Pro, this Plus model adds the enclosed storage cabinet from the Woodridge Elite. Instead of an open shelf, the cabinet offers a better option for keep pellet bins and other accessories close to the grill. This Plus version also has four casters on the bottom of the cart, so it’s easier to maneuver on solid surfaces than the Woodridge Pro. The main difference between the Pro Plus and Elite models is that the latter includes an induction burner on the side shelf.
This new Woodridge Pro Plus still carries all of the handy features from the Woodridge Pro, including Wi-Fi-powered WiFIRE connectivity with the Traeger app, Super Smoke mode, 970 square inches of cooking space and an integrated pellet level sensor. You can also use wireless food probes from the Traeger-owned Meater lineup and the P.A.L. Rail system allows you to customize the grill to your needs with extra organization.
The best subscription box gifts for 2025
The best gifts inspire joy long after the initial unwrapping. Subscription boxes are designed to show up again and again, each time offering something new to try, build or taste. They’re perfect for friends who already have too much gear or relatives who like to discover things without searching for them. From electronics kits and mystery puzzles to Japanese treats and fresh coffee, these boxes make each month feel like a small celebration. You pick the vibe, the plan and the recipient gets a steady stream of good surprises. Below are 13 subscription boxes that hit the sweet spot between fun and thoughtful, whether your giftee is a builder, reader, snacker or collector.
Best subscription box gifts
Check out the rest of our gift ideas here.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-subscription-box-gifts-for-2025-130037236.html?src=rssNearly one-third of teens use AI chatbots daily
AI chatbots haven't come close to replacing teens' social media habits, but they are playing a significant role in their online habits. Nearly one-third of US teens report using AI chatbots daily or more, according to a new report from Pew Research.
The report is the first from Pew to specifically examine how often teens are using AI overall, and was published alongside its latest research on teens' social media use. It's based on an online survey of 1,458 US teens who were polled between September 25 to October 9, 2025. According to Pew, the survey was "weighted to be representative of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 who live with their parents by age, gender, race and ethnicity, household income, and other categories."
According to Pew, 48 percent of teens use AI chatbots "several times a week" or more often, with 12 percent reporting their use at "several times a day" and 4 percent saying they use the tools "almost constantly." That's far fewer than the 21 percent of teens who report almost constant use of TikTok and the 17 percent who say the same about YouTube. But those numbers are still significant considering how much newer these services are compared with mainstream social media apps.
The report also offers some insight into which AI companies' chatbots are most used among teens. OpenAI's ChatGPT came out ahead by far, with 59 percent of teens saying they had used the service, followed by Google's Gemini at 23 percent and Meta AI at 20 percent. Just 14 percent of teens said they had ever used Microsoft Copilot, and 9 percent and 3 percent reported using Character AI and Anthropic's Claude, respectively.
Pew's research comes as there's been growing scrutiny over AI companies' handling of younger users. Both OpenAI and Character AI are currently facing wrongful deaths lawsuits from the parents of teens who died by suicide. In both cases, the parents allege that their child's interactions with a chatbot played a role in their death. (Character AI briefly banned teens from its service before introducing a more limited format for younger users.) Other companies, including Alphabet and Meta, are being probed by the FTC over their safety policies for younger users.
Interestingly, the report also indicates there has been little change in US teens' social media use. Pew, which has regularly polled teens about how they use social media, notes that teens' daily use of these platforms "remains relatively stable" compared with recent years. YouTube is still the most widely-used platform, reaching 92 percent of teens, followed by TikTok at 69 percent, Instagram at 63 percent and Snapchat at 55 percent. Of the major apps the report surveyed, WhatsApp is the only service to see significant change in recent years, with 24 percent of teens now reporting they use the messaging app, compared with 17 percent in 2022.
The Webb telescope spots a supernova from 13 billion years ago
The James Webb Space Telescope and other international observatories have spotted a 13-billion-year-old supernova. On Tuesday, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced the sighting of a gamma-ray burst from a star that exploded when the Universe was only 730 million years old. The Webb telescope even detected the supernova's host galaxy.
Before this observation, the oldest recorded supernova was from when the Universe was 1.8 billion years old. That's a difference of more than a billion years.
You can see the gamma-ray burst in the image below. It's the tiny red smudge at the center of the zoomed-in box on the right.
"This observation also demonstrates that we can use Webb to find individual stars when the Universe was only 5 percent of its current age," co-author Andrew Levan wrote in the ESA's press release. "There are only a handful of gamma-ray bursts in the last 50 years that have been detected in the first billion years of the Universe. This particular event is very rare and very exciting."
Researchers learned that the 13-billion-year-old explosion shared many traits with modern, nearby supernovae. While that may not sound shocking, scientists expected a more profound difference. That's because early stars likely had fewer heavy elements, were more massive and didn't live as long. "We went in with open minds," co-author Nial Tanvir said. "And lo and behold, Webb showed that this supernova looks exactly like modern supernovae."
Detection was an international relay race. First, NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory noted the X-ray source's location. (That helped Webb to make subsequent observations that determined its distance). Then, the Nordic Optical Telescope on the Canary Islands in Spain made observations indicating that the gamma ray might be very distant. Hours later, the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile estimated its age: 730 million years after the Big Bang. All of this happened in under 17 hours, according to the ESA.
The team behind the observation has been approved to spend more time with Webb studying gamma-ray bursts from the early Universe — and the galaxies behind them. "That glow will help Webb see more and give us a 'fingerprint' of the galaxy," Levan predicted.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/the-webb-telescope-spots-a-supernova-from-13-billion-years-ago-194327489.html?src=rssSamsung Wallet to gain support for digital Porsche keys
Owners of the Porsche Macan and upcoming Porsche Cayenne Electric will be able to unlock and start their cars with their Galaxy phones, Samsung has announced. The cars, alongside other Porsche models, are gaining support for Samsung Wallet's Digital Key feature, which lets users wirelessly control their car over a secure UWB or NFC connection.
Digital Key support will be available in Europe in December, before rolling out globally, "aligned with the launch timeline of Porsche vehicles," Samsung says. Samsung Wallet is available on Samsung devices as old as the Galaxy S20, Note 20, Galaxy Z Fold 2 and Galaxy Flip 5G, and is included on the majority of the company's new phones. Like similar features on Google's Pixels and Apple's iPhones, Digital Key allows Porsche owners with a supported Galaxy phone to unlock, lock and start their car directly from their phone. If your phone is ever taken, you can also remotely lock or delete a Digital Key to keep your car safe.
Samsung added Digital Key support to select Volvo and Polestar EVs in February 2025. The feature first became available in 2021, and is one of several ways the phone maker imagines people will use Samsung Wallet. Beyond digital car keys, the app can also store credit and debit cards and be used to transfer money with a tap.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/samsung-wallet-to-gain-support-for-digital-porsche-keys-193000085.html?src=rssPlayStation's 2025 Wrap-Up is here, so you can see how many hours you've sunk into Death Stranding 2
Sony's 2025 PlayStation Wrap-Up is now available. The recap, which is similar to those from music streaming services, sums up gaming habits from throughout the year. It shows players how many hours they used their PS4 or PS5, what games they played the most, preferred genres, trophy counts and more.
These digital cards are shareable on social media, which is kind of the whole point. Nothing says "bragging rights" more than offering definitive proof of how long you spent on a couch grinding in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 or wandering the wasteland in Death Stranding 2.
This year, the recap provides insight into how much players interacted with accessories like the PlayStation Portal and PS VR2. It also details the "most used DualSense wireless controller design."
The 2025 Wrap-Up will be available until January 8. Once completed, players also get a "unique glass-themed avatar." It's only available for adults.
My PlayStation wrap up 2025 pic.twitter.com/9Em96T4Xce
— priceless (@Real__Priceless) December 9, 2025
The PlayStation Wrap-Up has been around since 2017, though it ran into some issues with accessibility in 2024. Spotify introduced the basic idea with Wrapped back in 2015. Since then, the concept of a shareable year-end streaming list has spread like a virus. Just about everyone does it now, from Apple Music to Nintendo and even YouTube. We love to reflect on things we recently experienced, don't we folks?
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/playstations-2025-wrap-up-is-here-so-you-can-see-how-many-hours-youve-sunk-into-death-stranding-2-191508693.html?src=rssSkyrim arrives on the Switch 2
You can add the Switch 2 to the (long) list of platforms where you can play The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The bad news: It costs $60 to play the 2011 game optimized for Nintendo's 2025 hardware. The good news: It costs less (or nothing) if you own one of the versions for the original Switch.
The (digital-only) Switch 2 port is the Anniversary Edition of Skyrim, released in 2021. That includes the base game and three expansions (Dawnguard, Dragonborn and Hearthfire). You'll also find hundreds of Creation Club items, like quests, weapons, armor, spells and dungeons. The Anniversary Edition's Zelda crossover content (Master Sword, Hylian Shield and Champion's Tunic) is also there. So, at least there's plenty of content.
The game also offers technical upgrades for the Switch 2 hardware. It has enhanced resolution, DLSS anti-aliasing, faster load times and general performance optimizations. There's also mouse support, motion controls and Amiibo support. The trailer below gives you an idea of what to expect.
In an interview with Nintendo Life, Bethesda Creative Director Matt Carofano said the Switch 2 port was "an easy development process and actually pretty quick" to make. He described the team's motivation for porting it as bringing back "one of our most beloved games to the Switch 2 and see how we can improve it and make it the best experience for that console."
Okay, cool, but I'm gonna go on a limb and say money was also a factor. That’s because, if you don't already own Skyrim for the OG Switch, you'll have to fork over a whopping $60 in the Nintendo Store for the 14-year-old game. Meanwhile, if you own the standard version of Skyrim for the original Switch, you’ll pay $20 to upgrade. Finally, if you have the Skyrim Anniversary Edition on the OG Switch, you can install the new version for free.
If you own the Switch 1 version, first install that on Switch 2 and start the game. When you see the eShop banner advertising the new version, press Y to access the store and upgrade. You can do that with both digital and physical versions of Skyrim for Switch 1.
Microsoft Flight Sim 2024 now has a Stranger Things expansion
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 just got a fairly bizarre expansion inspired by the Netflix show Stranger Things. If you've ever wanted to fly over a fictional Indiana town in the 1980s, this is the update for you.
That's right. The game now lets folks fly over Hawkins, Indiana and check out more than 40 iconic locations from the series, including Starcourt Mall, the junkyard, the government lab and, of course, the upside down.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 introduces Netflix’s Stranger Things expansion, out Dec 9
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) December 9, 2025
📡 Recreation of Hawkins with more than 40 iconic locations
🚁 Five exhilarating missions
Full details: https://t.co/JyB4LkMSzO pic.twitter.com/XsmGzt52Mb
Inexplicably, this isn't just a joyride. There's an actual game here, with five helicopter-based missions that have players arranging supply drops, rescuing characters and chasing bad guys. Murray Bauman, portrayed by Brett Gelman, is on hand to assign missions and engage in banter.
This is a free update and it's available right now, so get out there and blast that one Kate Bush song over and over (and over.) As for Stranger Things, the second part of season five drops on December 25, followed by the series finale on January 1. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, which first came out last year, recently launched for PS5.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/microsoft-flight-sim-2024-now-has-a-stranger-things-expansion-173944325.html?src=rssMeta is trying to make Facebook suck less by simplifying things a bit
Somewhere along its never-ending quest to increase engagement, Meta realized that giving Facebook users more of what they want would make it more likely that they'll stick around. The company has announced a bunch of updates designed to help improve the feed and the broader Facebook experience by making it easier to find, create and share interesting things. (Because primarily showing updates from your friends with the occasional ad or meme post is maybe just too complicated.)
Simplification is a big focus of this overhaul. First, the Facebook feed will be a bit more streamlined. Whenever you post multiple photos, Facebook will arrange them into a standardized grid. When you click into anything on the feed, you'll be able to see it in a full screen view. And there's a very welcome change in that you'll be able to like a photo by double-tapping it. Just be careful with that when you're swiping through an ex's or a crush's photos.
Search results are now said to "show more content in a more immersive grid layout that supports all content types," according to Meta. The company is trying out a new full-screen viewer for Facebook that "lets you explore different photo and video results without losing your place in search," which it plans to expand to "more content and post types in the coming months."
In addition, the company says you’ll be able to provide feedback on a Facebook post or Reel to help make future recommendations more relevant. More ways for you to "shape your feed" and offer feedback on what the algorithm serves up are coming soon.
The Facebook feed sucks, and it's good that Meta knows it sucks. There have been numerous occasions over the last couple of years where I've had to scroll through a couple dozen uninteresting posts from pages and creators I've never heard of before seeing something from a friend. The glut of spam and AI slop isn't helping (things are pretty grim for creators who have been dealing with content thieves too).
There was a spell of several months last year when, every single time I opened Facebook, I would see an utterly garbage AI-generated image of a "tiny house," a supposedly cozy domicile where not much actually made sense (three TVs in a living room, stairs and railings that had the telltale signs of AI warping). I'd always provide feedback that I didn't want to see any posts from that page again. But the next day there'd be another rotten "tiny house" image from a different page in my feed.
Here's hoping Meta will actually take feedback related to recommendations on board and act on it. If the company does, it might actually make the feed more interesting to scroll through again.
Elsewhere, Facebook will place the most-used tab bar features — such as Reels, Friends, Marketplace and Profile — front and center on the tab bar for easier and faster access. Meta is also promising a refreshed look for the menu and "cleaner" tab notifications.
Facebook is making it easier to access more popular Story and Feed post creation tools like music and friend tagging by giving them more prominent placement. Advanced options like text background colors will be an extra tap or two away. The post and Story composer feature audience and cross-post settings prominently, so that you have ease of control over who can see what you're sharing. Meta has updated how comments work across the feed, Groups and Reels as well to make things more streamlined and easier to follow.
On top of all of that, when you make changes to your profile, you might start seeing suggestions for friends with shared interests. Meta suggested that, "if you update your profile to show you're into sourdough bread baking or planning a trip to Nashville, Facebook will show you friends who can give you sourdough starter tips or offer suggestions on the best local spots." As always, though, you can decide who sees what on your profile or simply opt to share none of this personal info with Facebook at all, especially if you feel that Meta already knows too much about you.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-is-trying-to-make-facebook-suck-less-by-simplifying-things-a-bit-171910771.html?src=rssGoogle Pixel Watch 4 gets double pinch and wrist turn features
It has been two months since Google released the Pixel Watch 4 and now the company is introducing new updates to the wearable. In our review, Engadget managing editor Cherlynn Low was impressed enough with the watch to give it an 86, but called out the lack of gesture-based interactions. The new one-handed gesture features, like double pinch and wrist turn, should make up for that.
In an industry that involves constant borrowing of ideas, it should come as no surprise that these features are very similar to those available on the Apple Watch. Double pinch works much the same to the Apple Watch's double tap. Pixel Watch 4 users should be able to pinch their fingers together twice on the same hand to do things like answer or end a call and pause timers. The Pixel Watch will also offer "context hints" on its screen about when a person should consider using double pinch.
Then there's wrist turn, Google's answer to Apple's wrist flick. It should allow Pixel Watch 4 users to take actions like dismissing incoming calls by turning their wrist.
Currently, users can rotate their wrist to scroll through notifications. They can also summon Gemini by bringing their wrist to their mouth, but it's a bit finicky, requiring them to start at the homepage and be extremely accurate in their movements. Google is rolling out a new step-by-step tutorial for this raise to talk feature, so hopefully it becomes a bit easier to use moving forward.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/google-pixel-watch-4-gets-double-pinch-and-wrist-turn-features-170024210.html?src=rssStudy shows that Instacart was charging different amounts for the same items
A collaborative report from Consumer Reports, Groundwork Collaborative and More Perfect Union has uncovered pricing experiments within the Instacart app that yielded higher or lower prices for different users on the exact same items from the same store location.
The organizations partnered to enroll 437 shoppers in an experiment across four cities, where each shopper added the same items to their carts within Instacart from the exact same store. Almost 75 percent of grocery items were shown to shoppers at multiple price points, with as many as five different prices shown for the same item. The average difference between the highest and lowest price shown was 13 percent, while the highest delta on an individual item was a whopping 23 percent.
Engadget reached out to Instacart and received the following response. It reads in part: "Just as retailers have long tested prices in their physical stores to better understand consumer preferences, a subset of only 10 retail partners — ones that already apply markups — do the same online via Instacart. These limited, short-term, and randomized tests help retail partners learn what matters most to consumers and how to keep essential items affordable." An Instacart spokesperson added that this is not dynamic pricing (insofar as it is not based on supply and demand), that no personal demographic data is used in the process and that these experiments are random.
The bulk of the tests were conducted at Safeway and Target stores, which both yielded similar results. A Target spokesperson told the New York Times that the company "is not affiliated with Instacart and is not responsible for prices on the Instacart platform." Instacart told the Times that they were "evaluating different approaches" to cover the platform's costs at the time of the study, but have since discontinued pricing tests on Target orders.
Instacart published a blog post today attempting to explain how these tests that showed higher prices are actually meant to help retailers invest in lower prices. It also waxes poetic about Instacart's commitments to affordable groceries for consumers.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/study-shows-that-instacart-was-charging-different-amounts-for-the-same-items-165108224.html?src=rssPebble is making a weird little smart ring for recording thoughts
Pebble just announced the Index 01, a smart ring for recording thoughts. It's a little ring with a built-in microphone and that's about it. The Index 01 is almost anti-tech in its simplicity. There's no needless AI component shoehorned in, aside from speech-to-text. It's a ring with a microphone that you whisper ideas into and I want one.
Here's how it works. You get an idea while walking down the street, so you quietly whisper it into the ring. The ring sends the idea to a notes app or saves it for later review. Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky calls this an "external memory" for the brain, but I call it a nice way to avoid having to dig the phone out of a pocket or bag just to utter something like "pizza, but for cats."
The ring doesn't record unless a button is pushed, so it won't be listening in on private conversations, and it doesn't require a paid subscription of any kind. It's on the smaller side, about the size of a wedding band, and is water-resistant.
The battery also lasts for "years" and never needs to be charged. The ring is designed to be worn at all times, so users develop the muscle memory of holding down the little button when they have something to share. See what I mean? I want one, and I've quite literally never worn a ring in my life.
Migicovsky says this is an open source product and that Pebble is "leaving the side door open for folks to customize." He envisions people will integrate AI voice agents and that the ring will eventually work with stuff like ChatGPT, Beeper, Google and other services.
The Pebble Index 01 works with iPhone and Android and is available for preorder right now. It costs $75 during this preorder period, but the price jacks up to $99 when shipments start going out in March.
This is just the latest product by Migicovsky and Pebble. The company unveiled the Core 2 Duo and the Core Time 2 smartwatches earlier this year.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/pebble-is-making-a-weird-little-smart-ring-for-recording-thoughts-161723645.html?src=rssThe 11 best gifts under $25 for 2025
The most hyped tech is often also the most expensive: flagship smartphones, ultra-powerful gaming laptops, immersive VR headsets and the like. But it would be wrong to assume that those are the only pieces of technology worth gifting. You don’t have to drain your wallet to get someone a cool gadget that will both be useful and make their lives easier. There are more solid, affordable gadgets out there now more than ever, but that also means you’ll discover some junk along the way. We’ve collected our favorite pieces of tech under $25 that make great gifts and help you to stick to a budget.
Best gifts under $25
Check out the rest of our gift ideas here.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/the-11-best-gifts-under-25-for-2025-140042203.html?src=rssThe AI boom could soon send GPU prices soaring, so now's a good time to buy one
When someone asks me for gadget buying advice, I normally tell them to stick with their current device. In 2025, most new tech products aren't a worthwhile upgrade over even something that was released a few years ago — and with the price of everything going up, that new iPhone can wait. But things aren't normal right now.
On December 3, The Wall Street Journal reported memory manufacturer Micron would wind down Crucial, its consumer business, to focus on components for the AI industry. The PC I'm writing this article on has an SSD and RAM from Crucial. Overnight, Micron decided to end a business it spent decades building, and from a certain perspective, I guess it makes sense. In recent months, OpenAI has signed more than $1.4 trillion worth of infrastructure deals, creating unprecedented demand for server-grade solid-state storage and RAM.
To meet the moment, manufacturers have been allocating more of their production capacity and wafers to high-margin commercial customers. For consumers, the result has been skyrocketing RAM prices, with some DDR5 kits now costing as much as two or three times as much as they did a couple of months ago. Recent analysis from TrendForce shows the price of some consumer-grade SSDs increased between 20 and 60 percent in November for the same reason. Then there's LPDDR5X memory, which is used in both smartphones and NVIDIA's Grace Blackwell and Vera Rubin platforms. In 2026, it's expected to increase in price as well. The demand for AI infrastructure is such that all consumer electronics may cost more in the coming months.
Price Changes Coming December 7th 2025, Due To Market Conditions 🔔‼️ pic.twitter.com/et0HADhc08
— CyberPowerPC (@CYBERPOWERPC) November 25, 2025
That gets me to the purpose of this article. If you've been thinking about upgrading to a new graphics card, I would recommend you buy one sooner rather than later. The AI boom came for RAM first, and there are already signs it will come for GPU pricing next. A recent report suggests AMD is considering raising the MSRP of its 8GB models by $20 and 16GB models by $40 due to the price of GDDR6 memory. NVIDIA, meanwhile, is rumored to have recently told its board partners it would no longer supply them with VRAM for their cards.
Neither NVIDIA nor AMD responded to comment requests from Engadget requesting they share how they plan to work with their board partners to ensure GPU prices remain stable. NVIDIA also did not comment on reports the company will stop providing VRAM to its board partners.
Separate from the memory shortage, neither NVIDIA nor AMD are expected to release new GPUs soon. According to recent rumors, the earliest a Super refresh of the Blackwell line could arrive is sometime in the middle of 2026 — not at CES in January as the 40-series Super cards did in 2024. The memory crunch could complicate things there too, since the company has typically relied on more and faster VRAM to offer better performance on its Super cards. With 50-series Super GPUs, it might not be the case that NVIDIA announces them at the same MSRP as their non-Super predecessors, which was the case with the 40-series.
As for AMD, the company debuted its RDNA 4 cards at the start of the year. We know it's already working on RDNA 5, and if a recent chat with Sony's Mark Cerny is any indication, the new architecture will be a major step change for AMD. However, right now rumors indicate the earliest RDNA 5 could arrive is sometime in 2027.
In other words, with nothing new on the horizon and pricing of existing stock likely to increase, there might be only a short window where you can get a new GPU at a reasonable price. It's impossible to predict the future, but if you're in need of an upgrade and have the means to purchase, there might not be a better opportunity before the end of 2026.
Recommendations
The recommendations in Engadget's recent GPU guide are still as relevant today as they were a few months ago. Once again, the best advice I can give is to buy a card with at least 12GB of VRAM, and preferably 16GB if your budget allows for it. Unless you mostly plan to play older games on a 1080p monitor, it's not worth considering a model with 8GB of VRAM — it won't last you long enough to warrant the purchase price.
Our recommendations are grouped from most affordable to most expensive. Where possible, I've tried to find options from both Newegg and Amazon. You won't find any high-end picks like the RTX 5080 since if you can afford that card, this guide isn't for you.
Intel Arc B580
For those on a tight budget, I would start and end my search with the Intel Arc B580. Newegg has models from ASRock and Onix at or under the card's $250 MSRP. I can't speak to the quality of ONIX cards, but ASRock is well-regarded. Over on Amazon, you can find the B580 for $300. With Intel cards you sometimes need to put up with odd driver issues, but as far as budget options go, the B580 offers value that's hard to beat. The one thing about budget cards like the B580 is they’re likely to face the most pricing pressure from the memory crunch due to the smaller margins manufacturers are making on them.
NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti 16GB
If you have more than $250 to spend on a GPU, the RTX 5060 Ti is the GPU to buy. Avoid the 8GB model and go straight for the 16GB variant. NVIDIA announced the 5060 Ti at an MSRP of $429, and luckily as of the writing of this article, you can still find one close to that price.
Newegg, for instance, is selling the MSI Ventus Black Plus version of the card for $440. Amazon has the silver colorway of that same GPU listed for $460 currently. The retailer also has models from Gigabyte and Zotac in and around that same price.
If I had to pick between the 5060 Ti and 5070, which NVIDIA only offers with 12GB of VRAM, I would pick the former. The 5060 Ti is a safer bet, and offers nearly as much performance, particularly in games that include ray tracing as an option.
AMD Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT
For a mid-range option, the Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT offer excellent value. Of the two cards, the 9070 is the better purchase for most people due to its less demanding power requirements, but if you got a PSU that can handle the 9070 XT, go for it.
Right now, Newegg has a few 9070 models from ASRock and Sapphire just under the card's $549 MSRP. My friend recently bought the Sapphire card linked above, and has had nothing but good things to say about it. You'll pay more going through Amazon, but the company has a couple of options around $600 from XFX and Gigabyte.
When it comes to the 9070 XT, Newegg has an ASRock model priced right at the card's $599 MSRP. Many of the other options from Sapphire and XFX are unfortunately priced between $650 and $700. The same is true on Amazon, where the cheapest model I could find was $630.
NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti
For our final recommendation, consider the RTX 5070 Ti. It's a great option if you want to play games at 4K for less than what the 5080 and 5090 cost. Newegg has MSI and Zotac models on sale for $750, the card's recommended price. There are also a handful of other options from ASUS and Gigabyte that are just over $800. Amazon, meanwhile, is selling one Gigabyte variant for $749.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/the-ai-boom-could-soon-send-gpu-prices-soaring-so-nows-a-good-time-to-buy-one-153000063.html?src=rssOur favorite Anker MagSafe power bank is 34 percent off right now
Holiday travel is almost upon us and, while it likely won't be something out of a Richard Curtis film, there are ways to make it easier. You can raid our list of best travel gifts for 2025 and pick up our favorite MagSafe power bank: Anker's MagGo 10,000mAh Power Bank.
Even better, the Anker MagGo power bank is currently on sale for $60, down from $90. This 34 percent discount brings the power bank to only $5 more than its all-time low price. We're big fans of Anker's MagGo power bank — one of the first and best Qi2-certified products available. You can get about 1.7 iPhone 15 charges out of it and bring your phone from five percent to 60 percent in a little more than 45 minutes. Plus, the stand makes it easy to keep using your phone while it charges.
Two of our other picks for best MagSafe power bank are also on sale — and down to record-low prices. The Baseus Picogo 25W Power Bank is 24 percent off and down to $53 from $70. Meanwhile, the Ugreen MagFlow 10,000mAh 25W Power Bank has dropped to $60 from $90 — a 33 percent discount.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/our-favorite-anker-magsafe-power-bank-is-34-percent-off-right-now-151039224.html?src=rssSpotify finally brings music videos to the US
Spotify is finally letting the United States join its music video party. Music Videos have started rolling out in beta today to Premium users across the US and Canada, offering not only official artist videos but also new formats like live performances and covers.
Music Videos first arrived last year in 11 countries, but the United States wasn't one of them. The reason for that was simple — Spotify simply didn't have the rights. However, last month the streaming service struck a deal with the National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) that included new provisions for video content, paving the way for the new feature.
Here's how to access Music Videos. If you're a Premium subscriber in one of Spotify's beta markets, you can simply open a track (on TV, desktop, IOS and Android devices) and tap "Switch to video." The music video will then start playing where the song left off. To return to background listening, hit "Switch to audio." You can get a full-screen experience by turning your device to landscape mode.
When the service first launched, it was limited to "thousands" of music videos, but Spotify promised that the list would expand rapidly. In discussing the benefits to artists, the company said early this year that "users who discover a song and then watch the music video on Spotify are 34 percent more likely to stream the song again the following week." In a job listing spotted by The Verge, Spotify said it planned to build a "best-in-class video experience to rival the biggest players, like YouTube or TikTok."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/spotify-finally-brings-music-videos-to-the-us-150037974.html?src=rssAmazon is rolling out new shopping features for Alexa+, because of course it is
Congrats to any budding Nostradamus out there who peered into the future to boldly predict that Amazon would bring more shopping features to Alexa+ sooner rather than later. A gold star for you. Yes, it hasn't taken too long for Amazon to weave more features into the generative AI-powered version of Alexa that are designed to get you to buy more stuff.
Shopping features were part of the original Alexa from the jump, of course, but Amazon is doing some interesting things with the latest iteration. For instance, the company is rolling out a new price tracking feature. Tell it the product you want and how much you’re willing to pay for it. As soon as the item goes on sale for below that price, Alexa+ will automatically order it for you using your default payment method and delivery address. This deal tracking feature also keeps an eye on items in your cart and wishlists. Maybe remember to turn this off when you’re going out of town for a while, though.
Another feature that Alexa+ users can start trying today is a Shopping Essentials tool on Echo Show 15 and 21. You'll be able to see real-time tracking for your orders, your recent orders, household essentials that it may be time to reorder, saved items and your shopping list. Tap the screen and you can find out more info about products, add them to your cart and complete your purchase. You'll soon be able to add a shopping widget to your Echo Show home screen, but for now you can check this out by saying "Open Shopping Essentials" or "Alexa, where's my stuff?"
Elsewhere, Alexa+ can offer personalized product recommendations after you share details about a special occasion or a person you're buying for. That could be handy if you haven't completed your gift shopping yet. There's also an option to add extra items onto a current order until just before it leaves an Amazon warehouse. Alexa+ might make some suggestions here, such as asking if you need batteries for a new gadget or toy.
Amazon was always going to be interested in tapping into Alexa+ to prompt you to buy more goods from the company, but some of these features are pretty interesting, especially for deal hawks and those who order items frequently. It makes even more sense now as to why Amazon is trying to prevent third-party AI agents (such as the one in Perplexity's Comet browser) from carrying out purchases on the platform.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/amazon-is-rolling-out-new-shopping-features-for-alexa-because-of-course-it-is-150000355.html?src=rssTexas authorities have made multiple arrests in an NVIDIA GPU smuggling operation
The Southern District of Texas announced the seizure of more than $50 million in NVIDIA GPUs bound for China in violation of US export laws. Authorities arrested two businessmen, one of them the owner of a Houston company, accused of smuggling the chips used to train and run AI models.
“Operation Gatekeeper has exposed a sophisticated smuggling network that threatens our Nation’s security by funneling cutting-edge AI technology to those who would use it against American interests,” said US Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. The investigation had been ongoing since at least last year and centers on the illicit export or attempted export of at least $160 million worth of NVIDIA H100 and H200 GPUs. The H200 chips are the very same that the Trump administration announced a revenue-sharing agreement for today, allowing NVIDIA to sell them to “approved customers” in China.
The smuggling operation used a combination of falsified paperwork, purposefully misclassified goods, straw purchasers and even removing the NVIDIA labels on GPUs to ship them to both mainland China and Hong Kong. The conspirators face between 10 and 20 years in prison if convicted.
The H200 chips in question are more powerful than the H20 chip specifically designed to comply with US export restrictions. Production of the H20, however, was reportedly halted shortly after the Trump administration struck a revenue-sharing deal with NVIDIA, after which China began heavily discouraging local companies from buying them.
Illicit sales to China are nothing new and occur against the backdrop of an AI technology race and tight export controls. NVIDIA is still prevented from selling its highest-end Blackwell chips to China, with the US hoping to keep an edge over foreign competition.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/texas-authorities-have-made-multiple-arrests-in-an-nvidia-gpu-smuggling-operation-144749526.html?src=rssTech's biggest losers of 2025
It’s the end of another year, so it’s time for the Engadget staff to compile a list of the year’s biggest losers. We scour over articles from the previous 12 months to determine the people, companies, products and trends that made our lives worse over the course of the year. Some selections may be so pervasive they actually make our list of biggest winners. But, for the most part, we’re confident you’ll share in our collective rage over the biggest losers of 2025.
OpenAI
In 2025, OpenAI shed any pretense it was committed to anything more than making money. There are a few different things you could point to, including the company's successful reorganization into a more traditional profit-seeking business, but I think the most damning sign was OpenAI's response to the tragic death of Adam Raine.
In August, Raine’s parents sued OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT was aware of four suicide attempts by their son before it helped him successfully plan his death. At first, OpenAI's response appeared commensurate with the gravity of the situation. A week after news of the lawsuit broke, the company announced in early September it was working on parental controls. That same month, the company said it was working on a system that would automatically identify teen users and restrict their ChatGPT usage.
Then came the announcement of a new "wellness" advisory council. Setting aside the question of whether OpenAI would even follow the advice of the council, it was peculiar that the company chose not recruit a single expert on suicide prevention. At that point, it was still possible to give OpenAI the benefit of the doubt, but then information about the company's legal defense against the Raines started to trickle out, including the fact it had reportedly asked to see the memorial guest list for Adam Raine's funeral, a request the family's lawyers described as "intentional harassment." In late November, court documents revealed the company planned to argue Raine's "misuse" of ChatGPT was to blame for his death, not its own insufficient safety systems.
We live in a world where tech giants are rarely held accountable for the great harm they've shown themselves capable of inflicting on people. As things stand, OpenAI's handling of Adam Raine's death is further proof something must change. — Igor Bonifacic, Senior reporter
Xbox
Did anything go right for Xbox this year? While price increases have also affected Sony and Nintendo, Microsoft cranked up the prices of both the Xbox Series S and X twice in the last year. It’s bad: The Series S is now $100 more than at launch, five years on.
Previously “the best deal in gaming”, the Xbox Series X/S combined with a Game Pass subscription gave you a ton of games to play, including any of Microsoft’s own titles on their launch date. However, the subscription is now $30 a month, up 50 percent. (It was previously $17 per month the year before.)
I agree with Nathan Ingraham’s take: $30 for literally hundreds of games, plus launch-day availability for major games that typically cost $70, is reasonable. But it’s still a harder sell when the price has jumped. Are you getting 50 percent more games? Not yet.
According to Bloomberg, Microsoft demanded higher profits from Xbox back in 2023. When the gaming division reached around 12 percent growth in the first nine months of 2022, that was an ambitious goal. Day One launches on Game Pass apparently dented Xbox’s ability to pull profits from its biggest titles.
Microsoft no longer shares console unit sales, but in its most recent earnings report, the company announced that hardware revenue dropped 29 percent. That’s including those price increases, meaning console sales fell even further.
Estimates over the last few years put the PS5 tens of millions of units ahead. An annual subscription to Game Pass is more than double the Sony console’s most premium plan, although it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison.
This year, Microsoft collaborated with ASUS to create Xbox-branded handheld gaming PCs. In that form-factor, I was on the precipice of grabbing Game Pass and barreling through Xbox titles I never had the chance to play. Then, I reassessed exactly what I was missing out on.
It wasn’t the inclusion of a Fortnite Crew subscription.
Despite its developer shopping spree, Xbox exclusives remain few, with many appearing on rival platforms. This year, Indiana Jones and even the Forza series is available to play on PlayStation. And next year? Halo.
Where are the exciting new games going to come from? In the middle of 2025, Microsoft announced major layoffs affecting over 9,000 employees across the company. with the gaming division being hit exceptionally hard. Cuts and closures across many of Microsoft’s game studios led to cancellations like a Perfect Dark reboot and Rare’s Everwild.
Xbox’s 2025 was bad on both the business and creative fronts. The decision to hike console and Game Pass prices didn’t immediately turn around revenue. At the same time, layoffs and high-profile game cancellations make Xbox a challenging pitch for anyone deciding which console or platform to invest in.
Right now, looking at Engadget’s pick of the top Xbox games, the only game I feel like I’m missing out on is Avowed. Many of our favorite games are already available on PS5 and several can be played on the Switch. The reverse, however, isn’t true. — Mat Smith, UK bureau chief
Grok
It's hard to even know where to begin. X users have long noticed that Grok, the site's built-in chatbot, is less filtered than other AI tools. But this year, Grok went off the rails in some truly unhinged and disturbing ways.
There was the time Grok randomly began talking about a nonexistent "white genocide" in South Africa in response to completely unrelated questions. There was the time it declared itself "MechaHitler," much to the delight of neo-nazi fanboys on X. There was the time it was caught posting Holocaust denial tropes, and the time researchers noted its Wikipedia knockoff that contains dozens of citations of neo-Nazi website Stormfront. There was the time it became so embarrassingly obsessed with Elon Musk it claimed he was a better basketball player than LeBron James and a better actor than Tom Cruise. It later brought both its anti-semitism and Musk sycophancy together when it stated that it would choose saving Musk's brain over saving 16 million Jews. "His potential long-term impact on billions outweighs the loss in utilitarian terms," it stated in a post that's since been deleted.
Besides the horrifying racism, what all of these incidents have in common is that xAI, Musk's AI company that acquired X earlier this year, has failed to fully explain how its chatbot went so far off the rails. The company has blamed an unnamed rogue employee, its own Nazi-loving users and "adversarial prompting" for Grok's missteps. — Karissa Bell, Senior reporter
EVs in the US
EVs sales across the globe are up around 25 percent this year. Germany broke records in the first half of 2025, with electric cars accounting for nearly one in five new registrations. Meanwhile, back in September, sales of BEVs in the UK grew by almost a third, setting a new high for our neighbors across the pond. And in China, EV sales are growing so fast (over 50 percent market share) that the country is beginning to flood the global market with gas-powered cars that it can't sell at home. So naturally, what did our esteemed leaders in the US do in order to help companies here stay competitive? They ended the EV tax credit.
And wouldn't you know it, after a spike earlier this fall just before the credit went away, sales of EVs in the US began to slump, with some automakers like Ford seeing a drop of 60 percent year-over-year. No matter how you slice it, this is bad for any company that sells EVs in the US and particularly bad for anyone considering purchasing a new one in the foreseeable future. As an EV owner, that just bums me out. Not only does this policy change put more roadblocks in the way of making battery-powered cars more affordable, it also puts a damper on EV investment and threatens to cause US automakers to fall even further behind their rivals in China and elsewhere. Manufacturers across the Pacific are going so wild, they are making EVs that can jump like the Mach 5 from Speed Racer.
That isn't to say there aren't any promising developments on the horizon. Ford's Universal EV Platform and the arrival of the Rivian R2 sometime next year are a couple of examples. But it's clear that our politicians wanted to target EVs in the US this year and they sure made it happen. So the next time someone asks why we can't have nice things here, you know who to blame. — Sam Rutherford, Senior reporter
DJI drone customers
Barring a miracle, DJI will be banned from selling any new drones in the US starting December 23rd — and buyers will feel the pain. As I wrote last month, the company has been targeted by regulators since 2017 over concerns that its products could be used to spy on sensitive US infrastructure on behalf of China.
“What’s the big deal?” you may ask. “Surely people can buy from other drone companies.” Indeed, but the problem is that DJI has such a monumental technological lead and high market share (over 75 percent) that its absence will effectively upend the industry.
Commercial buyers have checked other (approved) options from the likes of Skydio, but found them wanting. “In one year and a half, we had five failures of the manufacturers on the list. DJI, none,” Orlando police Sgt. David Cruz told the Miami Herald. “I work for a popular UAV photogrammetry company,” said a user on Reddit. “[A] ban will set back the drone industry in the US by several years. There’s no competitor to DJI right now.”
The same applies on the consumer side. DJI’s drones outperform rivals in nearly every area including range, battery life, subject tracking, obstacle detection and video quality. It’s so one-sided that when testing DJI drones, I struggle to find other options for buyers with anywhere close to the same capabilities.
The US government does have reason to be concerned about DJI’s drones. They present an obvious national security risk due to their ability to fly over sensitive areas, take photos or video and transmit them, live, to any location in the world. And being a Chinese company, they’re compelled by law to cooperate with state intelligence services.
However, the US government hasn’t attempted to work with DJI to determine whether its products pose a risk so far. DJI made a final plea for a security review recently by sending letters to five US agencies that could assess its products. If that fails, chaos among drone users is likely to ensue.
“We just want the best technology that keeps our citizens safe for the most reasonable price,” Sgt. Drew Fennelly of the Lawrence, Kansas police department told The Wall Street Journal last year. “The technology in the US-made drones has not caught up with the Chinese-manufactured drones.” — Steve Dent, Contributing reporter
TV streaming
In 2015, Sling TV arrived with ESPN, CNN, TBS, HGTV, Disney Channel and others for just $20 a month. A couple years later, YouTube TV debuted for just $35 monthly and showed local CBS, Fox, NBC and ABC stations plus dozens of other channels including ESPN, Fox Sports 1 and Bravo. Streaming TV had arrived. It was here to unfetter TV watchers from cable’s onerous contracts, high prices and carrier monopolies. Take that, Comcast! In your face, Charter! (But they’d still like to pay you for internet access, please.)
Fast forward to 2025: Streaming TV and its low-price, monopoly-free, contractless freedom is all but dead. Every major live TV service provider raised prices this year. Currently, YouTubeTV, Hulu+ Live TV, Fubo and DirecTV all go for a minimum of $83 per month. That’s before you opt for cable-inspired package upgrades and channel add-ons. Throw in perks like 4K, additional sports channels and a couple of one-off networks and you’re easily shelling out $150 every month. You’ll pay less for chopped-up live TV plans from Sling TV, but be prepared to create a spreadsheet to make sure a plan has the channels you want.
This year, consolidation came for TV streaming, giving strong Cox/Charter/Comcast monopoly vibes. Disney, which completed its buyout of Hulu in 2023, acquired Fubo this year and plans to combine the two. The combo makes Disney the second-largest live TV streaming provider behind Google. DirecTV already owns Sling TV, so that leaves just three big players in the live TV streaming arena. With Netflix's move to buy Warner Bros, the traditional streaming market is getting narrower, too. We can safely assume good ol’ market competition won’t be bringing prices down anytime soon.
But it’s not just consolidation — fragmentation also contributes to an overall crappier streaming experience. In 2025, Disney launched a standalone ESPN service (no, not that one, nor that one) for $30 per month. So far, that doesn’t mean you can’t find ESPN content through other providers. But we did see Disney flex its increasingly large TV muscles in drawn-out contract negotiations with Google. The dispute darkened ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels on YouTube TV for two weeks this fall — which, I’ll point out for the cynical crowd, was less than two months after the standalone service launched. YouTube TV subscribers got a $20 credit, but that probably didn’t placate NFL and NCAA football fans who missed out on ESPN-carried games.
Then in November, Fubo quarreled with NBCUniversal, saying the Peacock parent was “shifting content to their own streaming services” and forcing up rates. The spat turned off NBC, Bravo, USA and other channels for Fubo subscribers, no doubt infuriating both NBA and Real Housewives fans, despite a $15 credit. Of course, Fubo is Disney’s newest affiliate, so there are no non-bad guys here.
The only advantage TV streaming has in its favor is the lack of cable-style contracts and I haven’t heard any murmurs of such a thing forthcoming. We are still all free to hop around between the big three TV streamers until we give up and just go back to DVDs. — Amy Skorheim, Senior reporter
The work of DOGE
An Elon Musk-led attempt to rein in federal spending with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been a failure by almost every metric. As of November, it was reported that DOGE is no more, even though the initiative ostensibly had eight months left to run. An official told Reuters that DOGE "doesn't exist," and it never should have in the first place.
Though Musk was only at the helm of DOGE for a few months, he and his team caused chaos. Adopting the slash-and-burn tactic Musk employed when he took over Twitter, he swung a chainsaw through myriad government departments, with DOGE firing workers who were actually essential and quickly had to be hired back. By August, the government was said to have fired some 300,000 federal workers, with DOGE taking responsibility for most of those. Among other things, cuts at the National Institutes of Health resulted in the end of funding for hundreds of medical studies, which is said to have affected tens of thousands of patients. It's also estimated that the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development had resulted in more than 650,000 deaths around the world by early December, with children accounting for two-thirds of those.
DOGE workers seemed to be busy, though. They reportedly monitored government communications for criticisms of both Musk and President Donald Trump, while implementing generative AI chatbots in an attempt to automate some government tasks. But for all the blustering about making the government much more efficient, DOGE did not meet its stated goal.
Musk initially promised to reduce government spending by $2 trillion, but it didn't take long for him to reduce that pledge to $150 billion. And yet government spending has actually gone up. In October, the first month of the government's fiscal year, its total outlay was $689 billion, an increase of $105 billion (18 percent) from October 2024. Still, maybe DOGE wasn't a total disaster for its architects. It was able to gain access to sensitive and valuable government data, after all. — Kris Holt, Contributing reporter
AI video
In our post-truth world, video was one of the few remaining ways to prove something had actually happened. It had its problems of course, but the fact it was harder to fake than words and images, and anyone could record a clip with their phone, made it vital to our sense of shared reality. Think about the murder of George Floyd: The grave injustice of his death would have probably never come to light if Darnella Frazier had not filmed what happened.
With the advent of AI video, I'm not sure where we go. Both Google and OpenAI pushed the technology into the realm of uncomfortable realism this year, but it's Sora's cameo feature that has me worried. Within the first week of the app's public availability, people were using the feature, which allows users to add the likeness of other people to their videos, to generate clips of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stealing GPUs from Target. Cameo has limitations, and users can restrict and delete videos that include their likeness, but it's just another assault on the truth. It's hard to see how making it trivial to create deepfake videos benefits anyone other than the companies offering building the tech. — I.B.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/techs-biggest-losers-of-2025-140000419.html?src=rssEU opens antitrust investigation into Google's AI practices
Google is no stranger to scrutiny from government bodies such as the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and the European Commission. Now it can add another probe to its list: The European Commission has opened an antitrust investigation into the company surrounding the content used for its AI tools. Namely, the Commission is looking into two things, starting with whether Google used web publisher's content for its AI Overview and AI Mode services — without "appropriate compensation" or the option to "refuse" the use of their materials.
"The Commission will investigate to what extent the generation of AI Overviews and AI Mode by Google is based on web publishers' content without appropriate compensation for that, and without the possibility for publishers to refuse without losing access to Google Search," the EU executive body stated in its announcement. "Indeed, many publishers depend on Google Search for user traffic, and they do not want to risk losing access to it."
The second prong of the Commission's investigation similarly looks into Google's potential misuse surrounding AI. It's digging into whether Google has used content uploaded to YouTube for training its generative AI models. As in the first case, the Commission "is concerned" that YouTube creators are not receiving proper compensation or the option to opt out of Google using their content.
In it's overview of the investigation, the Commission noted that creators have to allow Google to use their data in return for uploading media on YouTube. It added that Google's rival AI developers are unable to use any YouTube content for training their models.
"AI is bringing remarkable innovation and many benefits for people and businesses across Europe, but this progress cannot come at the expense of the principles at the heart of our societies," Teresa Ribera, EVP for clean, just and competitive transition at the European Commission, said in a statement. "This is why we are investigating whether Google may have imposed unfair terms and conditions on publishers and content creators, while placing rival AI models developers at a disadvantage, in breach of EU competition rules."
A Google spokesperson told Engadget that the investigation "risks stifling innovation in a market that is more competitive than ever. Europeans deserve to benefit from the latest technologies and we will continue to work closely with the news and creative industries as they transition to the AI era."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/eu-opens-antitrust-investigation-into-googles-ai-practices-133015762.html?src=rssApple's AirPods Pro 3 are back to an all-time low price
No need to fret if you missed out on some of the best Black Friday deals this year — some of them have returned already. Case in point: Apple's AirPods Pro 3, which came out in September this year, are back down to $220. That's an all-time-low price and the same discount we saw during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. With the new AirPods Pro, Apple made some big improvements, including better battery life and sound quality, and introduced useful new features, such as Live Translation.
The AirPods Pro 3 are the best AirPods available today, with Apple's H2 chip, and earned a score of 90 out of 100 in Engadget's review this fall. Active noise cancellation (ANC) is one of the biggest selling points of the AirPods Pro, and Apple has made the experience even better with the AirPods Pro 3. They sport new foam-infused ear tips that create a better seal to improve passive noise isolation, and as Engadget's Billy Steele wrote in his review, "Ultra-low-noise microphones combine with advanced computational audio to silence even more background noise." In testing, they had no problem blocking out the chatter of people nearby or otherwise noisy environments.
With the AirPods Pro 3, Apple introduced heart-rate sensing, so you'll be able to see your heart rate data from the earbuds in the Fitness app and other workout apps. The AirPods Pro 3 also boast Live Translation, which you can activate via controls on the earbuds themselves. As long as you have an Apple Intelligence-capable device, you'll be able to translate in-person conversations in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Chinese (Mandarin).
Also on sale in the world of AirPods are the AirPods 4 with ANC, which are down to $100 again — the same price we saw during Black Friday. You can even pick them up with AppleCare+ for $119.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-airpods-pro-3-are-back-to-an-all-time-low-price-222806220.html?src=rssNVIDIA can now sell its high-end AI chips to 'approved customers in China,' Trump says
NVIDIA is now allowed to sell its second-best H200 processors to China, rather than just the sanction-approved H20 model that China had previously declined to buy, President Trump wrote on Truth Social. The United States will collect a 25 percent tariff on those sales, the Commerce Department confirmed yesterday.
Trump said that he informed China's President Xi Jinping of the decision and that he "responded positively." The Commerce Department is finalizing details and the administration will take the same approach with AMD, Intel and other US companies. He added that the administration would "protect National Security," so the latest Blackwell and upcoming Rubin chips are not part of the deal. The 25 percent tariff would be higher than the 15 percent the White House suggested in August.
Though the administration won't allow NVIDIA to send its latest high-end chips, it was reportedly concerned that the company would lose business to Huawei if it was completely shut out of China's market, according to Reuters. No details about the number of H200 chips or which companies would be eligible to buy them were released. "Offering H200 to approved commercial customers, vetted by the Department of Commerce, strikes a thoughtful balance that is great for America," NVIDIA said in a statement.
The decision is not without controversy, though. Several Democratic US senators called it a "colossal economic and national security failure" that will aid China's industry and military. Republican representative John Mollenaar put it in even starker terms. "NVIDIA should be under no illusions — China will rip off its technology, mass-produce it themselves and seek to end NVIDIA as a competitor," he said.
Despite the current restriction on Blackwell B200 processors, $1 billion worth of those and other high-end NVIDIA chips have made their way to China via black market sales, according to previous reports. That model, along with the H100 and H200, is far more capable than the H20 chip, which was designed to comply with export restrictions for sale to China. NVIDIA has said that the B200 chip is almost ten times faster than the H200 for some jobs, and the H200 is six times faster than the H20.
Washington's approval doesn't mean that China will purchase NVIDIA's chips, as Beijing has previously told companies not to use US technology. Huawei is currently the most advanced company in that regard and recently unveiled a three-year plan to catch up with NVIDIA and AMD. However, AI chip experts like Richard Windsor have said NVIDIA's tech is still far ahead of anything that Huawei or other Chinese companies can currently produce.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/nvidia-can-now-sell-its-high-end-ai-chips-to-approved-customers-in-china-trump-says-130007458.html?src=rssiFixit’s new app uses AI to help you repair your stuff
We’ve all been there: You can’t (or won’t) get help when something breaks, but the YouTube clip doesn’t cover your specific issue. It’s what repair gurus at iFixit want to solve with FixBot, an AI-enabled app that talks you through whatever repair you’re doing. The chatbot will help you diagnose the problem and then walk you step-by-step through the fix. Plus, it’s voice-enabled so you won’t have to get your phone all smeary when you’re elbows-deep in a job. After all, iFixit’s guides don’t just cover fixing your electronics, but everything you might fancy doing yourself, from appliances through to cars and trucks.
Unlike traditional AIs, FixBot has been trained on iFixit’s library of 125,000 guides, its forum and database of repair manuals. The company says there’s less risk of hallucination as it pulls from and shows you the schematics it’s referencing to ensure you don’t order the wrong gear. Users can even upload images from their phone, so the app can point out which bit is which. The company is open about its limitations: It’s an AI, so it’s not bulletproof, and its knowledge only runs as far as its library. It can hunt elsewhere for manufacturer data and on other repair forums but you’ll be warned about the information it pulls from it.
In addition, FixBot will keep an eye on your phone’s battery health in real time to tell you when it’s time to get a replacement. The tool is, for now, in beta, thanks to the fuzzy way some companies track their battery health, but iFixit is promising greater detail than what you currently get. Plus, when it is time to swap out your battery, you can order the parts and kit all within the app.
FixBot is launching for free on both the App Store and Google Play but it won’t remain that way forever. At some point, free users will switch to a version with access limits, and will be prompted to upgrade to the paid tier for $4.99 a month or $50 a year.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/ifixits-new-app-uses-ai-to-help-you-repair-your-stuff-130000091.html?src=rssThe year age verification laws came for the open internet
When the nonprofit Freedom House recently published its annual report, it noted that 2025 marked the 15th straight year of decline for global internet freedom. The biggest decline, after Georgia and Germany, came within the United States.
Among the culprits cited in the report: age verification laws, dozens of which have come into effect over the last year. "Online anonymity, an essential enabler for freedom of expression, is entering a period of crisis as policymakers in free and autocratic countries alike mandate the use of identity verification technology for certain websites or platforms, motivated in some cases by the legitimate aim of protecting children," the report warns.
Age verification laws are, in some ways, part of a years-long reckoning over child safety online, as tech companies have shown themselves unable to prevent serious harms to their most vulnerable users. Lawmakers, who have failed to pass data privacy regulations, Section 230 reform or any other meaningful legislation that would thoughtfully reimagine what responsibilities tech companies owe their users, have instead turned to the blunt tool of age-based restrictions — and with much greater success.
Over the last two years, 25 states have passed laws requiring some kind of age verification to access adult content online. This year, the Supreme Court delivered a major victory to backers of age verification standards when it upheld a Texas law requiring sites hosting adult content to check the ages of their users.
Age checks have also expanded to social media and online platforms more broadly. Sixteen states now have laws requiring parental controls or other age-based restrictions for social media services. (Six of these measures are currently in limbo due to court challenges.) A federal bill to ban kids younger than 13 from social media has gained bipartisan support in Congress. Utah, Texas and Louisiana passed laws requiring app stores to check the ages of their users, all of which are set to go into effect next year. California plans to enact age-based rules for app stores in 2027.
These laws have started to fragment the internet. Smaller platforms and websites that don't have the resources to pay for third-party verification services may have no choice but to exit markets where age checks are required. Blogging service Dreamwidth pulled out of Mississippi after its age verification laws went into effect, saying that the $10,000 per user fines it could face were an "existential threat" to the company. Bluesky also opted to go dark in Mississippi rather than comply. (The service has complied with age verification laws in South Dakota and Wyoming, as well as the UK.) Pornhub, which has called existing age verification laws "haphazard and dangerous," has blocked access in 23 states.
Pornhub is not an outlier in its assessment. Privacy advocates have long warned that age verification laws put everyone's privacy at risk. Practically, there's no way to limit age verification standards only to minors. Confirming the ages of everyone under 18 means you have to confirm the ages of everyone. In practice, this often means submitting a government-issued ID or allowing an app to scan your face. Both are problematic and we don't need to look far to see how these methods can go wrong.
Discord recently revealed that around 70,000 users "may" have had their government IDs leaked due to an "incident" involving a third-party vendor the company contracts with to provide customer service related to age verification. Last year, another third-party identity provider that had worked with TikTok, Uber and other services exposed drivers' licenses. As a growing number of platforms require us to hand over an ID, these kinds of incidents will likely become even more common.
Similar risks exist for face scans. Because most minors don't have official IDs, platforms often rely on AI-based tools that can guess users' ages. A face scan may seem more private than handing over a social security number, but we could be turning over far more information than we realize, according to experts at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
"When we submit to a face scan to estimate our age, a less scrupulous company could flip a switch and use the same face scan, plus a slightly different algorithm, to guess our name or other demographics," the organization notes. "A poorly designed system might store this personal data, and even correlate it to the online content that we look at. In the hands of an adversary, and cross-referenced to other readily available information, this information can expose intimate details about us."
These issues aren't limited to the United States. Australia, Denmark and Malaysia have taken steps to ban younger teens from social media entirely. Officials in France are pushing for a similar ban, as well as a "curfew" for older teens. These measures would also necessitate some form of age verification in order to block the intended users. In the UK, where the Online Safety Act went into effect earlier this year, we've already seen how well-intentioned efforts to protect teens from supposedly harmful content can end up making large swaths of the internet more difficult to access.
The law is ostensibly meant to "prevent young people from encountering harmful content relating to suicide, self-harm, eating disorders and pornography," according to the BBC. But the law has also resulted in age checks that reach far beyond porn sites. Age verification is required, in some cases, to access music videos and other content on Spotify. It will soon be required for Xbox accounts. On X, videos of protests have been blocked. Redditors have reported being blocked from a lengthy number of subreddits that are marked NSFW but don't actually host porn, including those related to menstruation, news and addiction recovery. Wikipedia, which recently lost a challenge to be excluded from the law's strictest requirements, is facing the prospect of being forced to verify the ages of its UK contributors, which the organization has said could have disastrous consequences.
The UK law has also shown how ineffective existing age verification methods are. Users have been able to circumvent the checks by using selfies of video game characters, AI-generated images of ID documents and, of course, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).
As the EFF notes, VPNs are incredibly widely used. The software allows people to browse the internet while masking their actual location. They're used by activists and students and people who want to get around geoblocks built into streaming services. Many universities and businesses (including Engadget parent company Yahoo) require their students and workers to use VPNs in order to access certain information. Blocking VPNs would have serious repercussions for all of these groups.
The makers of several popular VPN services reported major spikes in the UK following the Online Safety Act going into effect this summer, with ProtonVPN reporting a 1,400 percent surge in sign-ups. That's also led to fears of a renewed crackdown on VPNs. Ofcom, the regulator tasked with enforcing the law, told TechRadar it was "monitoring" VPN usage, which has further fueled speculation it could try to ban or restrict their use. And here in the States, lawmakers in Wisconsin have proposed an age verification law that would require sites that host "harmful" content to also block VPNs.
While restrictions on VPNs are, for now, mostly theoretical, the fact that such measures are even being considered is alarming. Up to now, VPN bans are more closely associated with authoritarian countries without an open internet, like Russia and China. If we continue down a path of trying to put age gates up around every piece of potentially objectionable content, the internet could get a lot worse for everyone.
Correction, December 9, 2025, 11:23AM PT: A previous version of this story stated that Spotify requires age checks to access music in the UK. The service requires some users to complete age verification in order to access music videos tagged 18+ and messaging. We apologize for the error.
The Morning After: Tech’s biggest winners of 2025
As we wrap up 2025, we’re looking at the year’s biggest winners: the people, companies, products and trends that made the most impact over the year. Almost at the top of the pile, of course, are the tech billionaires.
According to a recent report by Oxfam, the 10 richest US billionaires (who are all tech leaders, save for Warren Buffet) increased their wealth by $698 billion in 2025. Some of that has been spent treating and lavishing donations on President Trump. Elon Musk reportedly donated nearly $300 million to Trump and Republican allies, and several tech companies have pitched in to build the president’s White House ballroom.
Thanks to updates from Meta, Google, OpenAI and others, AI video is more realistic and easier to make than ever. AI video is everywhere. It’s not only overtaken your Facebook and Instagram recommendations, but Meta created an entirely separate feed just for users’ AI-generated fever dreams. The numbers are huge: OpenAI’s Sora, which lets you make AI videos of real people, was downloaded a million times in just a few days. And Google’s Veo generated more than 40 million videos in a few weeks of launching. AI slop is here to stay, and it’s everywhere.
We didn’t say the winners would all be positive. But hey, the Switch 2 is great.
— Mat Smith
The other big stories this morning
Team Cherry is working on more Silksong content but won’t say when it’ll be released
How Google is laying the foundation for our mixed reality future
Paramount and Netflix both want to spend billions on Warner Bros. Discovery
Good news for WBD?
Paramount wasn’t going to let Netflix pick up Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) without a fight. Following the streaming service’s $82.7 billion deal to buy much of WBD, Paramount is making a hostile takeover bid of $108 billion, pitching directly to WBD shareholders with an all-cash offer of $30 per share, which expires on January 8.
Last week, the WBD board unanimously accepted Netflix’s offer of $27.75 per share. That breaks down to $23.25 per share in cash and another $4.50 per share in Netflix stock. Paramount, however, wants to pick up the entirety of WBD, while Netflix only wants the studios and streaming businesses.
Whoever bought (or buys?) WBD would face government opposition from all sides. Paramount had already sent WBD a letter questioning the “fairness and adequacy” of the acquisition bidding process before its hostile takeover bid.
President Trump warned the Netflix deal could be a “problem.” According to data from JustWatch, a combined Netflix and HBO would account for 33 percent of the US streaming video market.
Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada is leaving Bandai Namco
Tekken’s leading face and voice for decades.
Katsuhiro Harada is departing Bandai Namco at the end of 2025. He announced the news both with a farewell note shared on X and, of course, an hour-long DJ mix. Harada’s 30-year career has been most closely involved with Tekken, and he’s a familiar face in the fighting game community.
Harada wrote on X: “To everyone who has supported me, to communities around the world, and to all the colleagues who have walked alongside me for so many years, I offer my deepest gratitude.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-122328464.html?src=rssThe best budgeting apps for 2025
Over a year ago, I was prompted to look for another budgeting app. Intuit, parent company of Mint, the budgeting app I had been using for a long time, shut down the service in March 2024. The company encouraged Mint users to migrate to its other financial app, Credit Karma, but I found it to be a poor Mint replacement after trying it out. That sent me searching elsewhere to find an app to track all of my financial accounts, monitor my credit score, track spending and set goals like building a rainy-day fund and paying down my mortgage faster.
If you’re looking for a new budgeting app to get your finances straight, allow Engadget to help. I tried out Mint's top competitors in the hopes that I'd be able to find a new budgeting app that could handle all of my financial needs, and to see which are actually worth the money.
Best budget apps of 2025
Other budgeting apps we tested
PocketGuard
PocketGuard used to be a solid free budget tracker, but the company has since limited its “free” version to just a free seven-day trial. Now, you’ll have to choose between two plans once the trial is over: a $13 monthly plan or a $75 annual plan. When I first tested it, I found it to be more restricted than NerdWallet, but still a decent option. The main overview screen shows you your net worth, total assets and debts; net income and total spending for the month; upcoming bills; a handy reminder of when your next paycheck lands; any debt payoff plan you have; and any goals. Like some other apps, including Quicken Simplifi, PocketGuard promotes an “after bills” approach, where you enter all of your recurring bills, and then PocketGuard shows you what’s left, and that’s what you’re supposed to be budgeting: your disposable income.
Although PocketGuard’s UI is easy enough to understand, it lacks polish. The “accounts” tab is a little busy, and doesn’t show totals for categories like cash or investments. Seemingly small details like weirdly phrased or punctuated copy occasionally make the app feel janky. More than once, it prompted me to update the app when no updates were available. The web version, meanwhile, feels like the mobile app blown up to a larger format and doesn’t take advantage of the extra screen real estate. Ultimately, now that the free tier is gone, it just doesn’t present the same value proposition as it once did.
How we test budgeting apps
Before I dove in and started testing out budgeting apps, I had to do some research. To find a list of apps to try out, I consulted trusty ol’ Google (and even trustier Reddit); read reviews of popular apps on the App Store; and also asked friends and colleagues what budget tracking apps (or other budgeting methods) they might be using for money management. Some of the apps I found were free and these, of course, show loads of ads (excuse me, “offers”) to stay in business. But most of the available apps require paid subscriptions, with prices typically topping out around $100 a year, or $15 a month. (Spoiler: My top pick is cheaper than that.)
All of the services I chose to test needed to do several things: import all of your account data into one place; offer budgeting tools; and track your spending, net worth and credit score. Except where noted, all of these apps are available for iOS, Android and on the web.
Once I had my shortlist of six apps, I got to work setting them up. For the sake of thoroughly testing these apps, I made a point of adding every account to every budgeting app, no matter how small or immaterial the balance. What ensued was a veritable Groundhog Day of two-factor authentication. Just hours of entering passwords and one-time passcodes, for the same banks half a dozen times over. Hopefully, you only have to do this once.
Budgeting app FAQs
What is Plaid and how does it work?
Each of the apps I tested uses the same underlying network, called Plaid, to pull in financial data, so it’s worth explaining what it is and how it works. Plaid was founded as a fintech startup in 2013 and is today the industry standard in connecting banks with third-party apps. Plaid works with over 12,000 financial institutions across the US, Canada and Europe. Additionally, more than 8,000 third-party apps and services rely on Plaid, the company claims.
To be clear, you don’t need a dedicated Plaid app to use it; the technology is baked into a wide array of apps, including all of the budgeting apps listed in this guide. Once you find the “add an account” option in whichever one you’re using, you’ll see a menu of commonly used banks. There’s also a search field you can use to look yours up directly. Once you find yours, you’ll be prompted to enter your login credentials. If you have two-factor authentication set up, you’ll need to enter a one-time passcode as well.
As the middleman, Plaid is a passthrough for information that may include your account balances, transaction history, account type and routing or account number. Plaid uses encryption, and says it has a policy of not selling or renting customer data to other companies. However, I would not be doing my job if I didn’t note that in 2022 Plaid was forced to pay $58 million to consumers in a class action suit for collecting “more financial data than was needed.” As part of the settlement, Plaid was compelled to change some of its business practices.
In a statement provided to Engadget, a Plaid spokesperson said the company continues to deny the allegations underpinning the lawsuit and that “the crux of the non-financial terms in the settlement are focused on us accelerating workstreams already underway related to giving people more transparency into Plaid’s role in connecting their accounts, and ensuring that our workstreams around data minimization remain on track.”
Why did Mint shut down?
When parent company Intuit announced in December 2023 that it would shut down Mint, it did not provide a reason why it made the decision to do so. It did say that Mint's millions of users would be funneled over to its other finance app, Credit Karma. "Credit Karma is thrilled to invite all Minters to continue their financial journey on Credit Karma, where they will have access to Credit Karma’s suite of features, products, tools and services, including some of Mint’s most popular features," Mint wrote on its product blog. In our testing, we found that Credit Karma isn't an exact replacement for Mint — so if you're still looking for a Mint alternative, you have some decent options.
What about Rocket Money?
Rocket Money is another free financial app that tracks spending and supports things like balance alerts and account linking. If you pay for the premium tier, the service can also help you cancel unwanted subscriptions. We did not test it for this guide, but we'll consider it in future updates.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/best-budgeting-apps-120036303.html?src=rssFairphone updates its over ear headphones with better sound
Two years ago, Fairphone launched a pair of modular, fully-repairable headphones called the Fairbuds XL. Now, the Dutch social enterprise is releasing an updated version where the focus isn’t just on the quality of its hardware, but on the merits of its raw materials.
The 2025 Fairbuds XL ship with new “premium” 40mm dynamic drivers and stronger N52 rated magnets for “more power and enhanced bass response.” Listeners should expect to hear “improved accuracy in mid and high frequencies” thanks to improved audio tuning. And there’s a new paper-based speaker membrane that’s more refined than what went before.
Sound-quality is certainly improved over the predecessor, with cleaner bass and sharper mid and high tones. You can really hear how clean the sound is, especially when you’re listening to something lush and orchestral. Going by my memory from two years ago, the ANC seems to be unchanged, able to deal with unwanted sounds like the tapping of my own keyboard with ease.
Obviously, you shouldn’t go in expecting the same sort of brilliant sound you’d get from top tier manufacturers. Although I think Fairphone has likely closed the gap so while you’re still a generation or two behind the bleeding edge, it’s not by a shameful degree. And, if we’re honest, if you’re looking for a pair of cans that’ll last you years and years, you’re likely able to forgive the absence of the shiniest bells and whistles.
It’s easy to notice the design changes, too, with the more austere Fairphone logo and the use of solid plastic in place of the original speckled pattern. Sadly, that extends to the little pop of copper found on the four way joystick, which is now a different shade of the same colorway. I get it: A lot of people want their consumer electronics to blend in, but the loss of whimsy pains me a little.
There’s some fairly minor but welcome quality of life improvements, including adding automatic power off after 30 minutes. Plus, buyers get the benefit of a three year warranty, and can rest assured the XL are Longtime certified. Longtime is a new European labeling standard for gear built to be long-lived, repairable and supported by a robust repair infrastructure. And, if you already own a pair of XLs, you can buy the new drivers and slot them into your existing cans.
But, in line with Fairphone’s founding principles, the update is equally focused on the raw materials that have gone into making the 2025 XLs. The PU “leather” found in the ear cushions — hardly a climate friendly material — has been ditched in favor of Bird’s Eye Fabric. That’s a cotton fabric produced with a series of air holes for breathability more commonly found in athleisure products. Similarly the PU found in the headband gets replaced with fabric that reminds me of plenty of other high end sport headphones.
Beneath the surface, the new model contains 100 percent fair mined cobalt, copper and silver — via mining credits, at least. The rare earth metals used in the speaker magnets are now 100 percent recycled, and they were assembled in a facility using 100 percent renewable energy. You’ll also find more than 90 percent recycled aluminum, and 80 percent recycled plastics, with the company pledging to recycle an equal amount of e-waste to every pair sold. Plus, as usual, Fairphone will pay the people who assemble the hardware a living wage bonus to ensure “workers can cover their family’s needs.”
Fairbuds XL are available to order today in Europe both from the Fairphone website and select third party retailers. If you’re in the US, you’ll need to wait until “later” this month, but you’ll be able to pick them up via Amazon for $229.
Letterboxd Video Store's first film rentals will be available this week
Letterboxd has introduced its first wave of exclusive digital film rentals for the company’s previously announced Letterboxd Video Store. The inaugural collection is themed Unreleased Gems and includes four movies that received awards or acclaim during a film festival. The titles will be available to watch from Letterboxd from December 10 through January 9. Each film is limited to certain geographic markets and the prices will also vary both by title and country.
The Unreleased Gems rental titles include It Ends, a mystery-horror that played at SXSW 2025; Sore: A Wife From the Future, which received eight nominations at the 2025 Indonesian Film Festival; Kennedy, a Hindi-language crime-thriller that premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 2023; and The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, a drama which received the Un Certain Regard prize from this year's Cannes event.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/letterboxd-video-stores-first-film-rentals-will-be-available-this-week-235426596.html?src=rssCongress removes right to repair language from 2026 defense bill
According to a statement from the Public Interest Research Group, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 has removed language that would have granted the US military the right to repair its own equipment rather than requiring it to use official defense contractors for maintenance. This bill is still being considered by Congress, but it is uncertain whether the right to repair language is likely to be re-introduced once it has been removed.
"Despite support from Republicans, Democrats, the White House and key military leaders, troops will keep waiting for repairs they could perform themselves," US PIRG Legislative Associate Charlie Schuyler said in a statement from the organization. "Taxpayers will keep paying inflated costs. And in some cases, soldiers might not get the equipment they need when they need it most."
A bipartisan bill from Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tom Sheedy was introduced earlier this year to allow the military right to repair access. The topic has been a more piecemeal affair for laypeople in the US, with some states enacting their own laws and federal regulators sometimes intervening to offer consumers more choice in how they seek repairs.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/congress-removes-right-to-repair-language-from-2026-defense-bill-231708835.html?src=rssKatsuhiro Harada is leaving Bandai Namco after 30 years
Katsuhiro Harada is departing Bandai Namco at the end of 2025. He announced the news both with a farewell note shared on X and, in possibly the coolest exit ever, with an hour-long DJ mix. Harada's 30-year career has most closely been involved with Tekken and he's a familiar face in the fighting game community.
He began as a voice actor in the original Tekken game and continued to do so even as he became a director for the series. He has worked on other Bandai Namco titles as a producer, both in and out of the fighting genre. "Each project was full of new discoveries and learning, and every one of them became an irreplaceable experience for me," Harada wrote on X. "To everyone who has supported me, to communities around the world, and to all the colleagues who have walked alongside me for so many years, I offer my deepest gratitude."
He closed by saying that over his career, he never DJed at a tournament event. So to mark his departure, Harada posted a full set titled ‘TEKKEN: A 30-Year Journey – Harada’s Final Mix’ to SoundCloud. Which is just the most swag move I can think of and a fun way to close out this chapter for fans of the franchise.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/katsuhiro-harada-is-leaving-bandai-namco-after-30-years-223156258.html?src=rssAn AI copycat of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard went unnoticed on Spotify for weeks
Despite making some moves to address the proliferation of AI-generated audio on its platform, Spotify failed to catch a copycat making imitations of music by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. The long-running experimental rock band from Australia, has been a vocal critic of Spotify and was one of several artists that took their music off the platform in the summer. The move was in response to the discovery that outgoing CEO Daniel Ek was a leading investor in an AI-focused weapons and military company. Today, a poster on Reddit was recommended what appeared to be an AI-generated copy of one of the band's songs in Spotify’s Release Radar playlist.
The phony artist was called King Lizard Wizard and it had an album of tracks all sharing titles with songs by the original band and using their original lyrics. Futurism grabbed screenshots of the imposter, although it appears to have since been taken down; only the band's original page appears in searches for both their name and the AI name. A rep from the company provided the following statement about the issue: “Spotify strictly prohibits any form of artist impersonation. The content in question was removed for violating our policies, and no royalties were paid out for any streams generated.”
However, the phony King Gizzard band's album went unnoticed by the company for weeks before today's social post surfaced it. The Reddit thread points to several other anecdotal cases where someone attempted to trick listeners with AI-generated versions of popular bands. In September, Spotify unveiled a spam filter for catching AI slop, as well as policies for disclosing AI use in the content it hosts and how it would tackle AI impersonations. An instance like this, particularly when it features an artist that had left the platform in protest, creates a pretty big question mark about how well those policies are working.
Update, December 9, 2025, 5:15PM ET: Added statement from Spotify.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/an-ai-copycat-of-king-gizzard--the-lizard-wizard-went-unnoticed-on-spotify-for-weeks-220018144.html?src=rssGoogle and Apple partner on better Android-iPhone switching
Google and Apple have long existed as polar opposites, each ruling over their tech kingdoms with little interest in cooperation. But the latest build of Android's Canary operating system hints at an unusual instance of collaboration between the brands, with a new feature that seems aimed at making data transfer simpler between Android and iOS mobile device during the setup phase. It is expected to also be available in a future developer beta of iOS 26.
A representative for Google confirmed that the report from 9to5Google on this development is accurate, but didn't provide any additional details on how the transfer will work. Each brand already has their own dedicated Switch to Android and Switch to iOS apps for making the swap between ecosystems, but making the transition easier at the operating system level and adding support for moving more types of data certainly sounds promising. That said, features can go through a fair bit of iteration between the dev betas and the final launch, and Android Canary is a very early stage of development, so we'll be curious to see what actually arrives on our smartphones.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/google-and-apple-partner-on-better-android-iphone-switching-204738960.html?src=rssHere's how Google is laying the foundation for our mixed reality future
Today, during the XR edition of The Android Show, Google showed off a bunch of updates and new features headed to its mixed reality OS. And while most of the news was aimed at developers, I got a chance to demo some of the platform's expanded capabilities on a range of hardware including Samsung's Galaxy XR headset, two different reference designs and an early version of Xreal's Project Aura smart glasses and I came away rather impressed. So here's a rundown of what I saw and how it will impact the rapidly growing ecosystem of head-mounted displays.
First up was one of Google's reference design smart glasses with a single waveguide RGB display built into its right lens. I've included a picture of it here, but try not to read too deeply into its design or aesthetics, as this device is meant to be a testbed for Android XR features and not an early look at upcoming models.
After putting them on, I was able to ask Gemini to play some tunes on YouTube Music before answering a call simply by tapping on the touchpad built into the right side of the frames. And because the reference model also had onboard world-facing cameras, I could easily share my view with the person on the other end of the line.
Naturally, I was curious about how glasses had the bandwidth to do all this, because in normal use, they rely on a Bluetooth or Bluetooth LE connection. When asked, Max Spear, Group Product Manager for XR, shared that depending on the situation, the device can seamlessly switch between both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, which was rather impressive because I couldn't even detect when that transition happened. Spear also noted that one of Google's focuses for Android XR is making it easier for developers to port over the apps people already know and love.
This means for devices like the reference design I wore that feature a built-in display (or displays), the OS actually uses the same code meant for standard Android notifications (like quick replies) to create a minimalist UI instead of forcing app makers to update each piece of software to be compliant with an ever-increasing number of devices. Alternatively, for models that are super lightweight and rely strictly on speakers (like Bose Frames), Google has also designed Android XR so that you only need mics and voice controls to access a wide variety of apps without the need for visual menus.
Meanwhile, if you're hoping to take photos with your smart glasses, there's a surprising amount of capability there, too. Not only was I able to ask Gemini to take a photo, the glasses were also able to send a higher-res version to a connected smartwatch, which is super handy in case you want to review the image before moving on to the next shot. And when you want to inject some creativity, you can ask Gemini to transform pictures into practically anything you can imagine via Nano Banana. In my case, I asked the AI to change a shot of a pantry into a sci-fi kitchen and Gemini delivered with aplomb, including converting the room into a metal-clad setting complete with lots of light strips and a few bursts of steam.
However, one of the most impressive demos was when I asked Google's reference glasses to look at some of that same pantry environment and then use the ingredients to create a recipe based on my specifications (no tomatoes please, my wife isn't a fan). Gemini went down an Italian route by picking pasta, jarred banana peppers, bell peppers (which I thought was a somewhat unusual combination) and more, before launching into the first steps of the recipe. Sadly, I didn't have time to actually cook it, but as part of the demo, I learned that Gemini has been trained to understand human-centric gestures like pointing and picking things up. This allows it to better understand context without the need to be super specific, which is one of those little but very impactful tricks that allows AI to feel way less robotic.
Then I had a chance to see how Uber and Google Maps ran on the reference glasses, this time using models with both single and dual RGB displays. Surprisingly, even on the monocular version, Maps was able to generate a detailed map with the ability to zoom in and out. But when I switched over to the binocular model, I noticed a significant jump in sharpness and clarity along with a higher-fidelity map with stereoscopic 3D images of buildings. Now, it may be a bit early to call this, and the perception of sharpness varies greatly between people based on their head shape and other factors, but after seeing that, I'm even more convinced that the smart glasses with dual RGB displays are what the industry will settle on in the long term.
The second type of device I used was the Samsung Galaxy XR, which I originally tried out when it was announced back in October. However, in the short time since, Google has cooked up a few new features that really help expand the headset's capabilities. By using the goggle's exterior-facing cameras, I was able to play a game of I Spy with Gemini. Admittedly, this might sound like a small addition, but I think it's going to play a big part in how we use devices running Android XR, because it allows the headset (or glasses) to understand better what you're looking at in order to provide more helpful contextual responses.
However, the biggest surprise was when I joined a virtual call with someone using one of Google's new avatars, called Likeness. Instead of the low-polygon cartoony characters we've seen before in places like Meta Horizon, Google's virtual representations of people's faces are almost scary good. So good I had to double-check that they weren't real and from what I've seen they're even a step up from Apple's Personas. Google says that headsets like the Galaxy XR rely on interior sensors to track and respond to facial movements, while users will be able to create and edit their avatars using a standalone app due out sometime next year.
Next, I got a chance to test out the Android XR's PC connectivity by playing Stray on the Galaxy XR while it was tethered wirelessly to a nearby laptop. Not only did it run almost flawlessly with low latency, I was also able to use a paired controller instead of relying on hand-tracking or the laptop's mouse and keyboard. This is something I've been eagerly waiting to try because it feels like Google has put a lot of work into making Android XR devices play nicely with other devices and OSes. Initially, you'll only be able to connect Windows PCs to the Galaxy XR, but Google says it's looking to support macOS systems as well.
Finally, I got to try out Xreal's Project Aura glasses to see how Android XR works on a device primarily designed to give you big virtual displays in a portable form factor. Unfortunately, because this was a pre-production unit, I wasn't able to take photos. That said, as far as the glasses go, I was really impressed with their resolution and sharpness and the inclusion of electrochromic glass is a really nice touch, as it allows users to change how heavily the lenses are tinted with a single touch. Alternatively, the glasses can also adjust the tint automatically based on whatever app you are using to give you a more or less isolated atmosphere, depending on the situation. I also appreciate the Aura's increased 70-degree FOV, but if I'm nitpicking, I wish it were a bit higher, as I occasionally found myself wanting a bit more vertical display area.
As a device that's sort of between lightweight smart glasses and a full VR headset, the Aura relies on a wired battery pack that also doubles as a touchpad and a hub for plugging in external devices like your phone, laptop or even game consoles.
While using the Aura, I was able to connect to a different PC and multitask in style, as the glasses were able to support multiple virtual displays while running several different apps at the same time. This allowed me to be on a virtual call with someone using a Likeness while I had two other virtual windows open on either side. I also played an AR game (Demeo) while I moved around in virtual space and used my hands to reposition the battlefield or pick up objects with my hands.
Now I will fully admit this is a lot and it took me a bit to process everything. But upon reflection, I have a few takeaways from my time with the various Android XR devices and prototypes. More than any other headset or smart glasses platform out now, it feels like Google is doing a ton to embrace a growing ecosystem of devices. That's really important because we're still so early in the lifecycle for wearable gadgets with displays that no one has really figured out a truly polished design like we have for smartphones and laptops. And until we get there, this means that a highly adaptable OS will go a long way towards supporting OEMs like Samsung, Xreal and others.
But that's not all. It's clear Google is focused on making Android XR devices easy to build for. That's because the company knows that without useful software that can highlight the components and features coming on next-gen spectacles, there's a chance that interest will remain rather niche — similar to what we've seen when looking at the adoption of VR headsets. So in a way, Google is waging a battle on two fronts, which makes navigating uncharted waters that much more difficult.
Google is putting a major emphasis on Android XR's ability to serve as a framework for future gadgets and support and address developer needs. This mirrors the approach the company takes with regular Android and the opposite of Apple's typical MO, because unlike the Vision Pro and visionOS, it appears Google is going to rely heavily on its partners like Xreal, Warby Parker, Gentle Monster and others to create engaging hardware. Furthermore, Google says it plans to support smart glasses that can be tethered to Android and iOS phones, as well as smartwatches from both ecosystems, though there will be some limitations for people using Apple devices due to inherent OS restrictions.
That's not to say that there won't be Pixel glasses sometime down the road, but at least for now, I think that's a smart approach and possibly a lesson Google learned after releasing Google Glass over a decade ago. Meanwhile, hi-res and incredibly realistic avatars like Likenesses could be a turning point for virtual collaboration, because, in a first for me, talking to a digital representation of someone else felt kind of natural. After my demos, I had a chance to talk to Senior Director of Product Management for XR Juston Payne, who highlighted the difference between smart glasses and typical gadgets by saying "Smart glasses have to be great glasses first. They need to have a good form factor, good lenses with prescription support, they need to look good and they have to be easy to buy."
That's no simple task and there's no guarantee that next-gen smart glasses and headsets will be a grand slam. But from what I've seen, Google is building a very compelling foundation with Android XR.
TikTok announces shared feed and collections features
TikTok just announced a couple of updates that that should make the app a bit more social. There's something called Shared Feed, which is exactly what it sounds like. It's a feed that friends and family can watch together, though at different times.
This feed is shared via direct messaging and pulls up relevant content to everyone involved in the chat. TikTok says this is a "new way to discover content together." It consists of a daily curated selection of 15 videos that are generated by TikTok activity.
These feeds are shared via invitation and the participants can leave the chat at any time. There's also a new dashboard that lets viewers check out their Shared Like history and other metrics. The Shared Feed tool rolls out globally in the coming months. It sounds similar to something Instagram began offering earlier this year. Instagram is typically the one copying TikTok, so this is a nice change of pace.
TikTok has also announced something called Shared Collections. This is like the aforementioned Shared Feed, but for saved content. The tool lets users collect, organize and share groups of videos, with TikTok citing that people could use it to share reading lists, local restaurants to try and, of course, products to buy.
All you have to do is save a video, create a Shared Collection and send that list to someone else via direct message. Users must follow one another to access one of these lists. The tool is available globally right now to folks over the age of 16.
Finally, TikTok is rolling out themed holiday cards that can be sent in direct messages. They will be available globally later this month.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/tiktok-announces-shared-feed-and-collections-features-193857725.html?src=rssParamount makes a $108 billion hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery
Paramount has been none too pleased about Netflix striking an $82.7 billion deal to buy much of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Now, Paramount is making a hostile takeover bid for WBD. It's making its pitch directly to WBD shareholders with an all-cash offer of $30 per share that expires on January 8.
Late last week, the WBD board unanimously accepted Netflix's offer of $27.75 per share. That breaks down to $23.25 per share in cash and another $4.50 per share in Netflix stock. Netflix's overall bid is valued at $82.7 billion, while Paramount's totals $108.4 billion.
There's a key difference when it comes to the Paramount offer, as it’s for all of WBD. The latter is scheduled to split into two companies next year. Netflix only wants the Streaming and Studios side of WBD's business, which includes HBO Max and the Warner Bros. film, TV and game studios.
Paramount is after the whole shebang, including WBD's cable channels (Global Networks). "WBD's Board of Directors recommendation of the Netflix transaction over Paramount's offer is based on an illusory prospective valuation of Global Networks that is unsupported by the business fundamentals and encumbered by high levels of financial leverage assigned to the entity," Paramount said in a press release on Monday.
As of the end of September, WBD was carrying $34.5 billion of gross debt. It planned to saddle the Global Networks company (aka Discovery Global) with most of that. The Paramount offer includes $40.7 billion in financing from the family of Paramount CEO David Ellison — his father is Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison — and RedBird Capital, but it would be taking on more debt to secure a deal for WBD. The bid includes "$54 billion of debt commitments from Bank of America, Citi and Apollo." (Apollo owns a majority stake in Yahoo, Engadget's parent company).
According to an SEC filing [PDF], other entities are backing the Paramount bid, including Jared Kushner’s investment firm Affinity Partners and the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia (the Public Investment Fund), Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Tencent was a financing partner in a previous Paramount offer, but it’s not involved with the hostile takeover attempt.
In a letter sent to WBD CEO David Zazlav before the company accepted Netflix's offer, Paramount questioned the "fairness and adequacy" of the sale process. It asked whether WBD was acting in the best interest of shareholders after the management team allegedly appeared to favor the Netflix offer.
"Despite Paramount submitting six proposals over the course of 12 weeks, WBD never engaged meaningfully with these proposals which we believe deliver the best outcome for WBD shareholders," Paramount said. "Paramount has now taken its offer directly to WBD shareholders and its Board of Directors to ensure they have the opportunity to pursue this clearly superior alternative."
Paramount — which Skydance bought for $8 billion this year — also claims that its offer is likely to face less regulatory scrutiny than the Netflix offer, which wouldn't close until sometime after WBD splits in two later in 2026. According to CNBC, Paramount executives believe that the company's smaller size and cozy relationship with the Trump administration will help streamline the regulatory process. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump said that Netflix's bid for WBD has "got to go through a process, and we’ll see what happens. But it is a big market share. It could be a problem."
In a statement to Variety, WBD said it will consider Paramount’s latest bid and provide a recommendation to its stockholders within 10 business days — in other words, by December 19. The company said it “is not modifying its recommendation with respect to the agreement with Netflix” for the time being and it is asking shareholders “not to take any action at this time with respect to Paramount Skydance’s proposal.”
Meanwhile, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said at an event on Monday that Paramount’s new offer was “entirely expected. We have a deal done, and we are incredibly happy with the deal. We think it’s great for our shareholders. It’s great for consumers. We think it’s a great way to create and protect jobs in the entertainment industry. We’re super confident we’re going to get it across the line and finish.”
Update December 8, 2025, 11:14AM ET: Added details about the involvement of sovereign wealth funds and Affinity Partners.
Update December 8, 2025, 2:38PM ET: Added the responses from WBD and Netflix.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/paramount-makes-a-108-billion-hostile-takeover-bid-for-warner-bros-discovery-152248473.html?src=rssHow to watch Rivian's Autonomy and AI day and what to expect
Rivian is about to give the public and its investors another taste of its future with an event focused on autonomy and AI on December 11. The company's Autonomy and AI day starts at 12PM ET. You can watch the event via the Rivian website. We'll be liveblogging the Autonomy and AI day right here on Engadget, so we'll be recapping the major news as it happens and sharing our reactions.
As for what to expect, the name of the event clearly indicates that Rivian will be talking about autonomous operation of its vehicles. RivianTrackr speculates, quite reasonably, that the company will share more about what CEO RJ Scaringe has referred to as a Universal Hands Free feature. Scaringe recently said he'd spent two hours traveling around Palo Alto, California, in a second-gen Rivian R1 with the vehicle taking care of everything by itself. It stands to reason that Rivian will at least offer up a demo of Universal Hands Free ahead of the company’s more affordable R2 model making its debut in 2026.
Earlier this year, Rivian said that, for 2026, "a hands-off/eyes-off feature is planned for controlled conditions with our current Gen 2 vehicles." So, this Autonomy and AI day seems as good an opportunity as any for the company to share more details about that. When Rivian unveiled the first-generation R1T and R1S in 2018, it said those would support Level 3 autonomy, allowing for the driver to take their hands and eyes off the road for short spells while they're on the freeway.
RivianTrackr also suggests that we may hear more about Rivian's sensor strategy as well as its AI and fleet-learning initiatives. The company may offer up a more detailed autonomy roadmap as well. However, the publication suggests Rivian isn't quite ready to announce rollout retails or firm pricing for full hands-off driving features.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/how-to-watch-rivians-autonomy-and-ai-day-and-what-to-expect-192838410.html?src=rssMeta will let Facebook and Instagram users in the EU share less data
Meta will soon allow Facebook and Instagram users in the European Union to choose to share less data and see less personalized ads on the platform, the European Commission announced. The change will begin to roll out in January, according to the regulator.
"This is the first time that such a choice is offered on Meta's social networks," the commission said in a statement. "Meta will give users the effective choice between: consenting to share all their data and seeing fully personalised advertising, and opting to share less personal data for an experience with more limited personalised advertising."
The move from Meta comes after the European Commission had fined the company €200 million over its ad-free subscription plans in the EU, which the regulator deemed "consent or pay." Meta began offering ad-free subscriptions to EU users in 2023, and later lowered the price of the plans in response to criticism from the commission. Those plans haven't been very popular, however, with one Meta executive admitting earlier this year that there's been "very little interest" from users.
In a statement, a Meta spokesperson said that "we acknowledge" the European Commission's statement. "Personalized ads are vital for Europe’s economy — last year, Meta’s ads were linked to €213 billion in economic activity and supported 1.44 million jobs across the EU."
Analogue is weaponizing your nostalgia with these translucent versions of its 3D console
Analogue just announced new colorways for its recently-launched Analogue 3D console. The appropriately-named Funtastic limited-edition consoles are heavily inspired by Nintendo's translucent N64 models from the late 1990s. Analogue even borrowed the Funtastic branding.
In other words, these are going for the nostalgic jugular for gamers of a certain age. There's even a see-through green colorway that calls to mind the Nintendo 64 variant that shipped as a bundle with Donkey Kong 64. Just imagine booting up that bad boy as you roam around the house spouting the lyrics of the DK rap song.
Analogue 3D - Funtastic - Limited Editions.
— Analogue (@analogue) December 8, 2025
Available in highly limited quantities.
Perfectly color matched to the originals N64 models.
$299.99
On Sale: Dec 10, 8am PST.
Shipping: Dec 10 with Guaranteed delivery before Christmas. pic.twitter.com/PPYgIw0vxU
There are eight translucent colors to choose from and accompanying 8BitDo controllers available as a separate purchase. The consoles cost $300 and the controllers are priced out at $45.
The Analogue 3D Funtastic consoles go on sale on December 10 at 11AM ET, with the company promising they'll ship within 48 hours to ensure delivery by Christmas. The company is also restocking the traditional colors, which will be available for purchase at the same time but won't ship until January.
We praised the Analogue 3D in our official review. It's a fantastic way to play N64 cartridges, even if the original games don't always hold up. The 4K CRT emulation is top-notch and the overall hardware design is solid.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/analogue-is-weaponizing-your-nostalgia-with-these-translucent-versions-of-its-3d-console-181105740.html?src=rssTech's biggest winners of 2025
Every December, the Engadget staff compiles a list of the year’s biggest winners. We scour over articles from the previous 12 months to determine the people, companies, products and trends that made the most impact over the course of the year. Not all of that influence is positive, however, and some selections may also appear on our list of biggest losers. Still, sit back and enjoy our picks for the biggest winners of 2025.
Nintendo Switch 2
Aside from a big bump in battery life that many were hoping for, Nintendo took just about everything that made its last console such a phenomenon and upgraded it on the Switch 2. A sleeker design with magnetic Joy-Cons that are less likely to break, a larger (albeit LCD) 1080p display with HDR, much stronger performance, mouse controls and a boost to the base storage were all very welcome.
Of course, the vast majority of Switch games run on the Switch 2 (often with visual improvements or other upgrades), so the new console had a vast library right from the jump. Nintendo is building out its slate of first-party games with treats like Donkey Kong Bananza and Metroid Prime 4, and the third-party support is seriously impressive too. Cyberpunk 2077, Street Fighter 6 and Hitman: World of Assassination are already available, and the likes of Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade and FromSoftware's Switch 2 exclusive The Duskbloods are on the way.
The Switch 2 is an iteration, not a revolution, but Nintendo didn't need to reinvent the wheel to make another great system. It's little surprise, then, that we gave the Switch 2 a score of 93 in our review. The console is surpassing Nintendo's sales expectations as well. The company said in November that it believes it will sell 19 million units (up from 15 million) by the time its current fiscal year ends in March. — Kris Holt, Contributing reporter
NVIDIA
Could things be any rosier for NVIDIA? Once just a video card company for gamers, NVIDIA's GPU hardware is now directly tied to the rise of the AI industry. Its stock has jumped a whopping 1,235 percent over the past five years, going from $13.56 per share in 2020 to a peak of $202.49 this past October. NVIDIA's server-grade cards are being used en masse to train AI models, as well as to power AI inferencing. At home, its GeForce GPUs are enabling local AI development and they're still the gaming cards to beat, despite AMD's steadily improving competition.
Clearly, the company's bet on parallel processing has paid off enormously. Its GPUs can handle tons of computations simultaneously, making them ideally suited for the demands of the AI industry. They're not exactly efficient — that's why neural processing units, or NPUs have sprung up to power consumer AI features — but it's hard to deny NVIDIA's raw computational power.
NVIDIA's AI success may not last forever, though. Companies like Google and Microsoft are already working on their own AI chips, and it's still unclear if consumers actually want widespread AI features as much as tech companies think. If the AI industry crashes, NVIDIA will be one of the first victims. — Devindra Hardawar, Senior reporter
Tech billionaires
There's no doubt that tech billionaires, especially those that lean conservatively, have benefitted tremendously from the Trump administration over the past year. Elon Musk's DOGE team of tech loyalists chainsawed their way through the budgets and staff of several federal agencies, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which regulates Tesla. (That hasn't stopped the NHTSA from launching a new investigation into Tesla's full self-driving tech, though.)
According to a recent report by Oxfam, the 10 richest US billionaires (who are all tech leaders, save for Warren Buffet) increased their wealth by $698 billion of the past year. Of course, it took plenty of wining and dining to get there. Elon Musk reportedly donated nearly $300 million to Trump and Republican allies, and several tech companies have pitched in to build the president's lavish White House ballroom.
But the result for the tech elite is increased access to the president, less scrutiny when it comes to acquisitions and other deals, and the potential for massive corporate and elite tax cuts. — D.H.
AI video
AI slop didn't start in 2025, but it reached new heights thanks to updates from Meta, Google, OpenAI and others that made it easier than ever to create a real-ish (emphasis on the ish) looking clips from nothing but your most unhinged mad libs. Now, AI-generated videos are just about impossible to avoid. Some platforms, like Pinterest and TikTok, have even begun offering people the ability to ask their algorithms to show less AI content in their feeds. Unfortunately, there's no way to stuff Shrimp Jesus back into the bottle.
AI video is everywhere and it's here to stay. It's not only overtaken Facebook and Instagram's recommendations, Meta created an entirely separate feed just for users' AI-generated fever dreams. OpenAI's Sora, which lets you make AI videos of real people, was downloaded a million times in just a few days. Google's Veo, which generated more than 40 million videos in a matter of weeks, is now built-in to YouTube Shorts.
It's now trivially easy for creators to churn out fake movie trailers, cute animal videos that never happened or viral clips of made up ICE raids. Hell, the president of the United States regularly shares bizarre, sometimes poop-themed, AI videos on his official social media channels. During the government shutdown, the official X account for Senate Republicans shared a deepfake of Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer.
AI video is winning not just because it's everywhere, but because so many are unable, or unwilling, to understand what's real and what isn't. More than half of Americans say they are not confident in their ability to distinguish between human and AI-generated content, according to Pew Research. Similar numbers of people report being "more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI in daily life." But those concerns have done little to stop AI slop from dominating all of our feeds, and there's no sign it will ever slow down. — Karissa Bell, Senior reporter
Galaxy Z Fold 7
After seven generations, Samsung reached an important milestone this year with its Galaxy Z Fold line: It made a foldable phone that’s the same size as a regular handset. In fact, weighing 7.58 ounces and measuring 72.8mm wide, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is actually lighter and narrower than an S25 Ultra, while being practically just as thin at 8.9mm (folded). It’s a real marvel of engineering, especially when you consider the phone also features a 200MP main camera, an IPX8 rating for water resistance and a 5,000 mAh battery with 45-watt wired charging. And of course, there's that huge 8-inch main screen hiding inside, which makes the Z Fold 7 both a phone and a tablet in one device. The only thing it's really missing is the improved dust resistance Google gave to the Pixel 10 Pro Fold.
But perhaps more importantly, the Z Fold 7's reduced size and weight have created a device with wider appeal. This has propelled sales of Samsung's latest flagship foldable up 50 percent compared to the previous generation while pushing shipments of foldables as a whole to record highs. Who knew that when Samsung focuses on creating world-class hardware instead of overindexing on AI, good things happen? Okay, maybe that’s a bit harsh. Regardless, for a phone category that has struggled with excess weight and bulk since its inception, the Z Fold 7 feels like a revelation and the beginning of a new era for handsets with flexible displays. Now, can we just bring their prices down, please? — Sam Rutherford, Senior reporter
Smart glasses
Like it or not, smart glasses are having a moment. Propelled by new devices like the Meta Ray-Ban Display and upcoming models like Xreal’s Project Aura, the idea of wearing specs with built-in screens suddenly became an attractive proposition. And that means a lot for a category of gadgets that’s often best remembered by the fashion tragedy that was Google Glass in 2013.
However, this development isn’t purely by chance. The latest generation of smart glasses has only just now become a reality due to the convergence of several branches of tech — including improved optics, lightweight batteries and, of course, AI. Now that last one might sound silly considering how many big companies seem to be betting the farm on machine learning being the next big thing, but AI will be a critical feature for enabling the hands-free experience that you need to make smartglasses work when you can’t rely on touch input. While this category is still in its early stages of development, the increased momentum we've seen from smart glasses this year seems poised to carry them towards being a future pillar of people's core tech kits. — S.R.
Fast charging
Devices like tablets and smartwatches have matured to the point where each generation mostly sees iterative upgrades, making covering them seem boring. But this year, as the hardware review season came to a close, I noticed an interesting trend. One feature, across various product categories, genuinely excited myself and other reviewers at Engadget and around the internet: impressively fast charging.
By itself, high-speed charging isn’t new. But when I reviewed the Pixel Watch 4 in October, I was shocked that one seemingly little update changed how I went about my day. The new power system on Google’s smartwatch was so efficient that after about ten minutes on a cradle, the wearable went from below 20 percent to past 50 percent. With that boost, I stopped having to remind myself to plug the watch in — any time I ran low or was about to run out the door, I just plopped it on the charger and would have enough juice for hours.
Google wasn’t the only company to make fast-charging a meaningful addition to one of its 2025 products. Apple’s iPad Pro M5 is the first iPad to support the feature, and while in our testing it fell a little short of the 50 percent charge in 30 minutes that the company promised, our reviewer Nate Ingraham still found it a meaningful improvement.
Observers of the smartphone industry will likely point out two things. First, battery technology can be volatile, and larger, faster-charging cells might lead to exploding phones. So my optimism about this development is not without caution. Secondly, we’ve already seen all this come to handsets, especially in phones that launched outside the US first. OnePlus is known for its SUPERVOOC fast charging system, for example, and we’re seeing even more novel battery tech show up abroad. Calling fast charging a winner of 2025 may feel untimely to some.
But when you consider the spread of speedier charging to other types of products, especially in electric vehicles that till now take forever to top up, the benefits are clear. This year, we saw Formula E (finally) debut its fast-charging pit stops, Honda announce its first full-size electric motorcycle with fast charging and Chinese EV maker BYD unveiling new tech that delivers peak EV charging speeds of 1,000 kilowatts. That should about halve the time it currently takes to top up your electric car.
Sure, it’s not the most eye-catching or novel technological development. But when counted in terms of precious time saved, fast charging coming to more types of devices certainly amounts to a greater good in gadgets in 2025. — Cherlynn Low, Managing editor
Magnets
Two years after the announcement of the Qi 2 wireless charging standard and its support of magnetic attachment accessories (a la Apple’s MagSafe), we’re finally seeing one of the more mainstream Android devices adopt it. In 2025, Google became the first Android phone maker that’s not HMD to do so, bringing such magnetic capabilities to the Pixel 10 series. It also introduced Pixelsnap — its own version of a MagSafe accessory ecosystem, including a slim puck with a fold-out kickstand that you can snap onto a phone.
I love the Pixel Ring Stand and make sure to bring it with me whenever I can. It works perfectly with my iPhone 17 Pro, and has a compact footprint that makes it easy to take anywhere. Of course, it’s not the first of its kind — Case-Mate and PopSocket, among others, already make similar products but they’re either pricier or rated poorly.
But it’s not just Google that made a magnetic accessory I unexpectedly adored. When reports of Apple’s Crossbody Strap first trickled out, I was underwhelmed. Who cares about a crossbody strap for an iPhone? But when I was presented with one to try at the iPhone 17 launch event, my cynicism quickly melted into desire.
Setting aside the convenience of having your phone on your person when you don’t have pockets or a purse, the way magnets play a part here also won me over. To adjust the length of the straps, you just separate the two overlapping pieces that stick together magnetically, move them along each other till you’re satisfied with the length and let them snap back in place.
I’m sure Apple isn’t the first to make a crossbody strap accessory for iPhones, nor is it the first to use magnets to adjust such straps. But like many Redditors, I’ve slowly come to realize the differences between those products and the Crossbody Strap for iPhone 17. It’s far from perfect, but in 2025 it was another implementation of magnets in tech that caught my attention and brought convenience to my life. — C.L.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/techs-biggest-winners-of-2025-180000177.html?src=rssUber will let marketers target ads based on users' trip and takeout data
Uber will begin offering customer data to marketers through a new insights platform called Uber Intelligence. The data will technically be anonymous, via the use of a platform called LiveRamp. This will "let advertisers securely combine their customer data with Uber's to help surface insights about their audiences, based on what they eat and where they travel."
Basically, it'll provide a broad view of local consumer trends based on collected data. Uber gives an example of a hotel brand using the technology to identify which restaurants or venues to partner with according to rideshare information.
Companies will also be able to use the Intelligence platform's insights to directly advertise to consumers. Business Insider reports it could be used to identify customers who are "heavy business travelers" and then plague them with ads in the app or in vehicles during their next trip to the airport. Fun times.
"That seamlessness is why we're so excited," Edwin Wong, global head of measurement at Uber Advertising, told Business Insider. Uber has stated that its ad business is already on track to generate $1.5 billion in revenue this year, and that's before implementing these changes.
As for Uber in totality, the company made $44 billion in 2024, which was a jump from $37 billion in 2023. It's also notorious for raising fares. Uber has raised prices for consumers by around 18 percent each year since 2018, which has outpaced inflation by up to four times in some markets.
Update, December 8, 7:25PM ET: This article previously stated that Uber was "selling customer data," but that was not accurate. Companies do not pay to access the Intellience platform. We regret the error. The article and its headline have been changed since publish to more accurately reflect the news.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/uber-will-let-marketers-target-ads-based-on-users-trip-and-takeout-data-171011841.html?src=rssBest Guess Live is Netflix's take on HQ Trivia
Netflix has already committed to reviving Star Search for its streaming service, and now the company is turning its attention to a different type of live show: HQ Trivia. Netflix's Best Guess Live is an attempt to revive the late 2010s app-based show with what the company is calling its first "weekday mobile game show."
Best Guess Live will be hosted by Howie Mandel (Deal or No Deal, America's Got Talent) and Hunter March (Sugar Rush) and will broadcast Monday through Friday at 8PM ET / 5PM PT. The game seems like it will lean on multiple choice questions much like HQ Trivia did, and will reward players who answer the fastest and play multiple times per week. Netflix's announcement doesn't have any specifics as to how much money will be up for grabs, but the company does promise to give away "thousands of dollars in prize money."
HQ Trivia, started by Vine co-founders Rus Yusupov and Colin Kroll, was a surprise hit when it debuted in 2017, thanks in part to its host Scott Rogowsky and the appointment-viewing nature of a daily game show you could watch on your phone. The later slow collapse of HQ was rocky enough to warrant a CNN documentary, but clearly the concept of the app fits nicely with Netflix's growing interest in live shows and casual games.
Netflix has experimented with a growing number of live shows, including talk shows and sports programming. The company has also recently abandoned its aspirations to develop AAA games and ambitious indie titles to focus on casual experiences and games based on Netflix IP. Best Guess Live seems like a nice fusion of casual interactive experience and lightweight live content. Many people already open the Netflix app daily to find something to watch. It makes sense they'd be willing to do it for money, too.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/best-guess-live-is-netflixs-take-on-hq-trivia-170000030.html?src=rssThe developer behind ICEBlock is suing the federal government
The makers of ICEBlock, the community-based reporting app for ICE sightings and activity, are suing the federal government, alleging "unlawful threats" made by Trump administration officials led to the app's removal from app stores. The suit centers on free speech violations and accuses the administration of coercing Apple into taking down the app in October. Google began taking down similar apps around the same time.
Josh Aaron developed ICEBlock in response to the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration. The app allowed users to pin ICE agent locations on a map as well as add notes such as what agents were wearing or the kind of vehicle they were driving. The app would then alert users within a five-mile radius of the sighting. The White House called the app "an incitement of further violence against… ICE officers" and sought its removal.
“A lesson we should all take from this is when we see our government is doing something wrong, it is our duty to stand up,” Aaron told the New York Times.
This isn't the first time Apple has faced controversy for an app takedown. In 2019, the company removed an app that protesters in Hong Kong were using to track police after facing pressure from the Chinese government.
Apple, for its part, said it took the app down in response to "information we've received from law enforcement about the safety risks associated with ICEBlock." Federal officials said the gunman who attacked an ICE facility in Dallas had used tracking apps, including ICEBlock.
"Fundamentally, ICEBlock neither enables nor encourages confrontation — it simply delivers time-limited location information to help users stay aware of their surroundings in a responsible and nonviolent way," Aaron's suit reads.
Engadget has reached out to Apple for comment and will update if we hear back.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-developer-behind-iceblock-is-suing-the-federal-government-165111674.html?src=rssThe 22 best gift ideas for the remote worker in your life
It’s 2025, so chances are you have at least one person who works remotely on your gift list. While the work-from-home life has its perks — nobody likes a long commute — it certainly comes with its own set of challenges, from missing out on pro-level equipment to dealing with annoyances around the house. If you’re looking to buy a gift for someone who spends much of their time in their home office, we’ve rounded up a few techy ideas that should make their days a little more delightful — or at least easier to manage.
Best gifts for remote workers
Check out the rest of our gift ideas here.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/the-22-best-gift-ideas-for-the-remote-worker-in-your-life-140037336.html?src=rssBlink budget security cameras will support AI-powered video descriptions
Amazon's budget Blink smart home brand is adding AI-generated video descriptions as a new benefit for subscribers. Blink Video Descriptions are text descriptions of the motion doorbells and cameras capture, and they’ll be available in beta starting December 8.
Not unlike Ring Video Descriptions, a feature offered on Amazon's other smart home brand, Blink's AI-generated descriptions are supposed to be a concise way to check out what's happening in and around your home. Any kind of motion can produce a video clip and a notification in the Blink app, but video descriptions should help weed out which ones are worth watching and worrying about.
Blink says Video Descriptions will be supported on all existing Blink doorbells and cameras, provided you're paying to be a Blink subscriber for at least $4 a month or $40 a year. That means if you've scooped up one of the new Blink 2K+, Blink Outdoor 2K+ or Blink Arc cameras, you'll be able to take advantage of the feature.
Blink Video Descriptions start rolling out to subscribers today in beta, though not in Illinois, possibly due to the state's Biometric Information Privacy Act.
Correction, Dec 8, 2025, 12:03pm ET: This story originally misstated the availability date for the beta as mid November.