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New Webb Telescope photos show off the Exposed Cranium Nebula
It's always a fun day for the space nerds when a NASA team has new images to share from the James Webb Space Telescope. Today's pair has brains on the brain, with a look at the fittingly named Exposed Cranium Nebula. More officially, this cloud of space dust and debris is known as Nebula PMR 1. The images shared today may capture a moment in the final stages of a star, as well as giving hints as to how the nebula got its brain-like shape.
"The nebula appears to have distinct regions that capture different phases of its evolution — an outer shell of gas that was blown off first and consists mostly of hydrogen, and an inner cloud with more structure that contains a mix of different gases," NASA's blog post reads. The dark line that runs vertically through the nebula, giving it the cranial appearance, could be the result of "an outburst or outflow from the central star, which typically occurs as twin jets burst out in opposite directions." Both Webb's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) were used to document the nebula.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/new-webb-telescope-photos-show-off-the-exposed-cranium-nebula-235609619.html?src=rssSnap is hosting its own creator awards show
It seems like any and every industry can have its own awards show these days. And why not? Most of us appreciate a chance to bust out the sequins and satin from time to time. If you can celebrate excellent work or make some extra biz dev bucks at the same time, all the better. Snap is the latest social media company to launch its own take on the glitz and glam. The Snappy Awards Show will be held at the company's headquarters on March 31. Comedian and content creator Matt Friend will host the event.
Snapchat has been adding more tools for influencers to build audiences, most recently launching individual creator subscriptions. An awards show seems to be part of that same agenda, spotlighting popular personalities from many different fields. There will be Snappys handed out for categories such as Spotlight MVP, Best Storyteller and Breakout Creator of the Year, plus awards for collaboration, cultural impact and success in single subjects.
Snapchat isn't the first social media platform to honor the personalities using it. TikTok hosted its inaugural awards show in the US last year.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/snap-is-hosting-its-own-creator-awards-show-221859681.html?src=rssSkate's developer is laying off staff before the game leaves early access
Full Circle, the developer behind the new Skate game, has announced that it is restructuring and laying off staff. It's not yet clear how many roles will be impacted by the changes, but the restructuring is happening less than six months after skate. launched in early access on September 15, 2025.
"We’re reshaping Full Circle to better support skate.’s long-term future," Full Circle says. "These shifts mean making changes to our team structure, and some roles will be impacted. The teammates affected are talented colleagues and friends who helped build the foundation of skate. Their creativity and dedication are deeply ingrained in what players experience today. This decision is not a reflection of their impact and we’re committed to supporting them through this transition."
Engadget has contacted Full Circle's owner EA for more information about the layoffs. We'll update this article if we hear back.
EA originally formed Full Circle in 2021 with a staff of development talent from the original Skate team. Skate was often positioned as a more realistic competitor to the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, but the new studio has ultimately taken the franchise in a slightly different direction than fans may have expected. Previous Skate games were paid experiences with single-player and multiplayer modes, while skate. is a free-to-play live-service game supported with microtransactions.
Recent history, both the failure of Concord and the ongoing struggles of Highguard, serves as a testament to how hard it is to launch a live service game in the 2020s. Full Circle's announcement notes the "tens of millions" of players that have tried the new game, but it's possible a struggle to keep players interested and spending on microtransactions could be why it's restructuring.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/skates-developer-is-laying-off-staff-before-the-game-leaves-early-access-220916797.html?src=rssEverything announced at Samsung Unpacked: The Galaxy S26 Ultra, Galaxy Buds 4 and more
Mobile World Congress is right around the corner, but Samsung got out ahead of many rivals that will be showing off new handsets at that event by running the latest edition of Unpacked on Wednesday. At its event in San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts, the company revealed the Galaxy S26 lineup, which includes the base S26, the S26+ and the S26 Ultra. We've got some hands-on time with all three handsets as well, and you can read about our in-person experience with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, as well as our S26 and S26+ impressions in those articles.
In addition to those, Samsung announced the Galaxy Buds 4 along with (you guessed it) some AI updates. All the devices unveiled today are already available for pre-order, should you already be dying to get your hands on them. Here's a look at everything Samsung announced at the latest Unpacked:
Galaxy S26 and S26+
New-ish year, new Samsung phones. Let's deal with the out-and-out bad news first. The S26 and S26+ are each $100 more expensive than their predecessors (the RAM shortage isn't exactly helping to keep prices down). They start at $900 and $1,100, respectively, for variants with 256GB of storage.
Samsung has tweaked the design a bit this time by rounding the corners to align them more with the S26 Ultra's look. The base model has a slightly larger display than the S25 at 6.3 inches, though the S26+ still has a 6.7-inch screen (albeit with a higher resolution than the S26 can handle). The S26 has a larger battery capacity than the S25 too at 4,300mAh.
In North America, China and Japan, Samsung is sticking with Qualcomm chips rather than using its own Exynos 2600. If you pick up an S26 or S26+ in those markets, it will run on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset.
The camera modules are the same as last year, but Samsung is aiming to supercharge them with upgrades elsewhere, such as ProScaler image upscaling and an MDNIe chip that's said to greatly improve color precision. There's also a video stabilization feature that tries to keep the horizon level while you're following a moving person or pet, which sounds useful for action shots. The new Object Aware Engine is said to better render skin tones and hair textures to make your selfies look better. Samsung has reworked some AI features too, such as making Now Brief and Auto Eraser compatible with more apps.
Pre-orders for the S26 and S26+ are open today, and they'll be available on March 11. The phones will be available in purple, blue, black, white, silver and rose gold, though the latter two are online exclusives.
Galaxy S26 Ultra
The Galaxy S26 Ultra will be available in the same colorways and on the same date as its smaller siblings. It starts at $1,300, so there’s no price increase from the S25 Ultra. Preorders open today.
The S26 Ultra has a 6.9-inch AMOLED display with a QHD+ resolution of 3120 x 1440 and a 120Hz refresh rate. That's all well and good, but the display is hiding (that being the key word) what's perhaps the Galaxy S26 Ultra's most interesting feature.
The device has a Privacy Display that’s said to be the first of its kind on a smartphone. The idea here is to prevent people around from seeing what’s on the screen from acute angles. There's a small decrease in brightness when Privacy Display is active, and there are lots of customization options.
You can set up Privacy Display to activate when you're asked for a password or PIN, or when you get a notification or open certain apps. So if (for instance) you tend to look at your banking apps when you’re on public transit and don’t want other passengers to see how much moolah you have, Privacy Display seems like a very handy feature.
Elsewhere, the S26 Ultra runs on the same chipset as its smaller siblings. It comes with 12 or 16GB of RAM and 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of storage. The battery is larger than the ones in the other S26 models, as the Ultra has a 5,000 mAh capacity. There's support for Super Fast Charging 3.0 as well. Alas, Samsung still hasn't seen fit to offer built-in Qi2 charging magnets in the S26 lineup, which seems like a wild oversight in the year 2026.
The selfie camera is the same as on the S26 and S26+. The S26 Ultra has 50MP ultrawide and 200MP wide lenses, along with dual 10MP 3x and 50MP 5x telephoto sensors. The resolutions of those cameras are the same as on the S25 Ultra, but the main 200M and 5x telephoto sensors now have wider apertures to let in more light. The S26 Ultra of course has the camera software features (and other AI features) found in the S26 and S26+.
We'll have a review of the devices soon. In the meantime, head on through to our hands-on story for our initial impressions of the S26 Ultra.
Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro
While the S26 phones are more iterative updates this year, Samsung has given its Galaxy Buds a proper refresh. It revamped the design and shape of the Galaxy Buds 4 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro to do away with the angular look of the stems and remove the lights from them.
The earbuds have a "more refined, computationally designed fit" too, according to Samsung. The company claims the latest earbuds have smaller earbud heads that allow for a better, more secure fit and a more "comfortable experience during all-day wear." The Galaxy Buds 4 remain in an open-fit format while the Buds Pro 4 have a canal-fit design.
The latest earbuds are said to offer improved audio quality and active noise cancellation (ANC), with an ambient sound mode, adaptive EQ and adaptive ANC. On Buds 4 Pro, there's a siren detection feature that enables ambient sound to let you hear things like alarms or emergency vehicle warnings.
The Buds 4 Pro have a wide woofer that increases the effective speaker area by nearly 20 percent compared with the previous gen earbuds, Samsung said. They support 24-bit/96kHz audio.
If you're using Galaxy Buds 4 or Buds 4 Pro with a Galaxy device, you'll be able to use Bixby, Google Gemini and Perplexity with hands-free voice controls (though the "hey, Plex" command for the latter might be a tad confusing for folks who use a certain media server app). The Buds 4 Pro support head gesture controls for managing calls and Bixby interactions as well.
As with the S26 phones, pre-orders for the earbuds open today and they'll hit shelves on March 11. The Galaxy Buds 4 cost $180 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro will run you $250. Both models are available in white and black with a matte finish. There's an online-exclusive pink option for Buds 4 Pro as well.
Android AI features
Ahead of Unpacked, Samsung confirmed that it would offer Perplexity as an AI agent option in Galaxy AI on the S26 lineup. As part of that update, it shared that the S26 series would respond to the “Hey Plex” wake phrase, and that Perplexity’s features would also be embedded in the Samsung Browser app. The company also recently updated Bixby to make its own virtual assistant more conversational.
On top of that news, Google had announcements of its own to make at Unpacked regarding new Android AI features, which will of course be available on S26 devices. On those handsets and the Pixel 10 lineup, the Gemini app will soon have a feature (in beta) that enables you to offload multi-step tasks, such as booking a ride or putting a grocery order together, to AI. It sure sounds like an attempt to build out agentic AI features on mobile devices.
Launching soon as a beta feature in the Gemini app for #Pixel10, Pixel 10 Pro, and Samsung Galaxy S26 series, you can offload multi-step tasks directly to Gemini.
— Google Gemini (@GeminiApp) February 25, 2026
Simply long-press the power button and ask Gemini to help book you a ride home or reorder your last meal. Gemini… https://t.co/GjfXTnGg0k pic.twitter.com/YGIvqBkbu3
Starting this week on Pixel 10 devices (and soon on S26 phones), Circle to Search will offer the ability to find details about multiple objects at once, such as entire outfits instead of single pieces. Moreover, Gemini-powered, on-device Scam Detection for phone calls will be available for S26 devices in English in the US.
Update, February 25 2026, 4:35PM ET: This story has been updated to include more details on the Perplexity AI integration, as well as include mentions in the intro of our hands-on and pre-order articles.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/everything-announced-at-samsung-unpacked-the-galaxy-s26-ultra-galaxy-buds-4-and-more-180000530.html?src=rssThe next Assassin's Creed game loses its creative director
Ubisoft's shakeups continue unabated. The creative director of the next Assassin's Creed game, codenamed Hexe, has left the company. The departure of Clint Hocking, a 20-year veteran of the company over two stints, was reportedly announced in a staff meeting this week.
Hocking's resume at Ubisoft included serving as creative director on Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Far Cry 2 and Watch Dogs: Legion. The details of why he's leaving the company haven't been reported.
Ubisoft told VGC, which first reported on Hocking's exit, that development on Hexe will continue. Jean Guedson, one of three new leaders of the Assassin's Creed franchise, will take over as the upcoming title's new creative director. Guedson had the same role for Assassin's Creed Origins and Black Flag, two of the franchise's most well-received entries.
To say sailing hasn't been smooth of late at Ubisoft would be an understatement. Last year, the company reorganized its corporate structure under a system of "creative houses." The first, Vantage Studios, is partly owned by Tencent and now oversees Assassin's Creed. Then in October, franchise head Marc-Alexis Côté left the company. He later claimed he was "asked to step aside" and is suing his former employer.
All of these changes came in the wake of layoffs, big-name flops, more layoffs, studio closures, even more layoffs, strikes and (yep) layoffs again. Earlier this month, Ubisoft even fired an employee who criticized the company’s return-to-office mandate.
But have no fear; some aspects of the company are doing quite well. Take, for example, nepotism. The future is looking bright indeed for a rising company star who is now co-CEO of Vantage Studios. That title belongs to Charlie Guillemot, the son of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-next-assassins-creed-game-loses-its-creative-director-210119005.html?src=rssCanadian government demands safety changes from OpenAI
Canadian officials summoned leaders from OpenAI to Ottawa this week to address safety concerns about ChatGPT. The crux of the government concerns was that OpenAI did not notify authorities when it banned the account of a user who allegedly committed a mass shooting in British Columbia earlier this month.
"The message that we delivered, in no uncertain terms, was that we have an expectation that there are going to be changes implemented, and if they're not forthcoming very quickly, the government is going to be making changes," Justice Minister Sean Fraser said of the company and its AI chatbot. It's unclear what those government-led changes or rules might be. There have been two previous, unsuccessful attempts to pass an online harms act in Canada.
A recent report by The Wall Street Journal claimed that in 2025, some OpenAI employees flagged the account of the alleged shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, as containing potential warnings of committing real-world violence and called for leadership to notify law enforcement. Although Van Rootselaar's account was banned for policy violations, a company rep said that the account activity did not meet OpenAI's criteria for engaging the local police.
“Those reports were deeply disturbing, reports saying that OpenAI did not contact law enforcement in a timely manner," said Canadian Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon ahead of the discussion with company leaders. "We will have a sit-down meeting to have an explanation of their safety protocols and when they escalate and their thresholds of escalation to police, so we have a better understanding of what’s happening and what they do."
OpenAI has been implicated in mulitple wrongful death suits. The company's ChatGPT was accused of encouraging "paranoid beliefs" before a man killed his mother and himself in a December 2025 lawsuit. It is also at the center of one of several wrongful death lawsuits against the makers of AI chatbots for helping teenagers plan and commit suicides.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/canadian-government-demands-safety-changes-from-openai-204924604.html?src=rssXbox consoles now support 1440p streaming
Microsoft has announced that its rolling out support for streaming games at 1440p on Xbox consoles. Game streaming is a key benefit of paying for a Game Pass subscription, and as of 2025, now also includes games players own that aren't part of the larger Game Pass library.
The higher bitrate streaming option will let subscribers with an Xbox Series X or S, Xbox One X or Xbox One play their games at a higher resolution, provided the game and their display supports it. Microsoft previously only offered 1440p streams on select Fire TVs, LG TVs, Samsung TVs, web browsers and the Xbox PC app. At least for now, 1440p is only available to Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.
Beyond the new streaming option, Microsoft is also making improvements to the Xbox PC app and the Xbox experience on ROG Xbox Ally handhelds. On PC, the Xbox PC app now includes "navigation sounds" that play when you use the app's interface with a controller. These new sounds are supposed to make controller input feel more responsive and intuitive. On the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, meanwhile, Microsoft is making it even easier to format removable storage like microSD cards, and updating drivers to improve compatibility on select games.
The last week has been particularly tumultuous for Microsoft's gaming division. Former Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer announced his retirement on Friday, alongside the appointment of Asha Sharma, the President of Microsoft's CoreAI division, as his replacement. Opinions differ as to whether Sharma's new position will be good or bad for Xbox, but more changes are likely on the way.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/xbox-consoles-now-support-1440p-streaming-204115304.html?src=rssTecno just unveiled a ridiculously thin modular smartphone concept design
Tecno just unveiled a rather intriguing modular smartphone concept design at MWC 2026. The standout feature here is likely the size. Most modular smartphone concepts start bulky and only get bulkier once attaching accessories. Tecno's base smartphone is just 4.9mm thin, which is significantly thinner than a pencil and the iPhone Air.
Of course, the size increases with each attached module. However, snapping on the power bank module makes the thickness comparable to a standard modern smartphone. Another key feature here is how these various modular components stick together. Tecno has developed new interconnection technology that uses both magnets and pin connectors. This should make it easy to both attach and remove components.
The company says this phone has been designed to grow with the user through hardware expansion. To that end, Tecno has developed 10 modules. There are various camera lenses and something that looks like a dedicated gaming controller.
While the magnets are for attaching, the pin connectors assist with power delivery. Data transmission between the phone and the modules is handled wirelessly, with the ability to switch between Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and mmWave depending on where the user is located.
There are two colorways for both the phone and the ecosystem of accessories. There's a silver-aluminum edition and a nifty-looking grey version. This doesn't matter to actual consumers because, well, it's just a concept design. It does look like the company's magnetic attachment technology could make it to some actual products down the line.
Tecno has always been a company that marched to the beat of its own drummer. It has developed a surprisingly affordable foldable phone, a model with a pop-out portrait lens and a foldable with a novel circular display on the exterior.
The industry hasn't quite embraced modular smartphones just yet, even though there have been some nifty concept designs. Google's Project Ara prototype goes back more than a decade, and the same can be said of other concept designs that never saw the light of day.
There have been some modular phones released to the real world, but they weren't nearly as ambitious as Tecno's concept. LG launched a semi-modular phone called the G5 back in 2016, but it didn't move too many units. Moto has also released a couple of semi-modular smartphones, but they didn't set the world on fire.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/tecno-just-unveiled-a-ridiculously-thin-modular-smartphone-concept-design-194741776.html?src=rssHP says RAM now accounts for more than a third of its PC costs
The cost of PC components has been skyrocketing as AI infrastructure buildout creates extraordinary demand amid limited supply. HP says that squeeze is now hitting PC memory especially hard, with RAM now accounting for 35 percent of a system’s overall cost.
"We did share last quarter that memory and storage costs made up roughly 15 percent to 18 percent of our PC bill of materials, and we now currently estimate this to be roughly 35 percent for the year," said CFO Karen Parkhill on the company's latest earnings call. She also confirmed that part of the company's response will be price increases. Samsung similarly warned of potential price increases due to AI-induced memory shortages.
Higher prices have unfortunately become the norm for PC shoppers, especially in 2026, and the RAM crisis is playing a major role. HP interim CEO Bruce Broussard said that while he "believe the market will rationalize over time" the company is doing its best to add new suppliers as well as expand lower cost-sourcing for memory.
HP executives also said they are seeing stronger AI PC demand, saying 35 percent of HP’s PC sales are coming from AI PCs. This comes as the industry is seeing mixed signals, like Dell saying that consumers don't really care about AI PCs.
AI has been eating up the world's supply of memory and companies like Micron have even abandoned their consumer brands to focus entirely on B2B supply. Other components like GPUs have also been feeling the pressure.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/hp-says-ram-now-accounts-for-more-than-a-third-of-its-pc-costs-192914150.html?src=rssKalshi fined a MrBeast editor for insider trading
Kalshi, one of several online prediction markets that have exploded in popularity in the last few years, has suspended one of YouTube MrBeast's video editors for insider trading, NPR reports. Besides being suspended from the platform for two years, Kalshi says the editor will also be required to pay a financial penalty that's five times his initial trade size.
The editor, Artem Kaptur, traded in markets related to YouTube and specifically, MrBeast. Kalshi says his transactions were initially flagged because of his "near-perfect trading success on markets with low odds, which were statistically anomalous." Because trades are public on Kalshi, multiple users also flagged the trades as suspicious. Kalshi learned Kaptur was an employee of MrBeast during its investigation and determined he "likely had access to material non-public information connected to his trading." Perhaps unsurprisingly, trading with insider information violates Kalshi's rules.
Kalshi says that it reported the insider trading to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and plans to donate the over $20,000 Kaptur has been fined to "a non-profit that provides consumer education on derivatives markets." In a statement provided to NPR, Beast Industries, MrBeast's production company, said it has a zero-tolerance policy for insider trading. "We have a longstanding policy in place against employees using proprietary company information in order to safeguard the highest standards and ethics throughout our organization," Beast Industries said.
Separately, Kalshi has also suspended and fined a politician who was running to be Governor of California. "In May, our Surveillance Department saw an online video by a candidate for Governor of California that appeared to show him trading on his own candidacy," Kalshi says. "We immediately froze his account and opened an investigation. The candidate was initially cooperative and acknowledged that this violated the exchange rules. As a candidate in a race, you can (and probably should) follow and use Kalshi’s market forecast, but you should not trade on it."
Like other prediction markets, Kalshi lets users make trades based on a variety of different subjects and events. For example, you could participate in a market focused on the results of a basketball game, or something more unusual, like who'll win the current season of Survivor. Despite resembling gambling, online predictive markets aren't currently regulated by state gambling laws, and instead classify bets as a type of futures contract, placing them under the purview of the CFTC. That hasn't stopped states from trying to regulate prediction markets anyway. For example, Nevada sued Kalshi for operating a sports gambling market without a permit earlier in February.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/kalshi-fined-a-mrbeast-editor-for-insider-trading-191027814.html?src=rssAnthropic weakens its safety pledge in the wake of the Pentagon's pressure campaign
Two stories about the Claude maker Anthropic broke on Tuesday that, when combined, arguably paint a chilling picture. First, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is reportedly pressuring Anthropic to yield its AI safeguards and give the military unrestrained access to its Claude AI chatbot. The company then chose the same day that the Hegseth news broke to drop its centerpiece safety pledge.
On Tuesday, Anthropic said it was modifying its Responsible Scaling Policy (RSP) to lower safety guardrails. Up until now, the company's core pledge has been to stop training new AI models unless specific safety guidelines can be guaranteed in advance. This policy, which set hard tripwires to halt development, was a big part of Anthropic's pitch to businesses and consumers.
“Two and a half years later, our honest assessment is that some parts of this theory of change have played out as we hoped, but others have not,” Anthropic wrote. Now, its updated policy approaches safety relatively, rather than with strict red lines.
Anthropic's quotes in an interview with Time sound reasonable enough in a vacuum. "We felt that it wouldn't actually help anyone for us to stop training AI models," Jared Kaplan, Anthropic's chief science officer, told Time. "We didn't really feel, with the rapid advance of AI, that it made sense for us to make unilateral commitments… if competitors are blazing ahead."
But you could also read those quotes as the latest example of a hot startup’s ethics becoming grayer as its valuation rises. (Remember Google’s old “Don’t be evil” mantra that it later removed from its code of conduct?) The latest versions of Claude have drawn widespread praise, especially in coding. In February, Anthropic raised $30 billion in new investments. It now has a valuation of $380 billion. (Speaking of the competition Kaplan referred to, rival OpenAI is currently valued at over $850 billion.)
In place of Anthropic's previous tripwires, it will implement new "Risk Reports" and "Frontier Safety Roadmaps." These disclosure models are designed to provide transparency to the public in place of those hard lines in the sand.
Anthropic says the change was motivated by a "collective action problem" stemming from the competitive AI landscape and the US's anti-regulatory approach. "If one AI developer paused development to implement safety measures while others moved forward training and deploying AI systems without strong mitigations, that could result in a world that is less safe," the new RSP reads. "The developers with the weakest protections would set the pace, and responsible developers would lose their ability to do safety research and advance the public benefit."
Neither Anthropic's announcement nor the Time exclusive mentions the elephant in the room: the Pentagon's pressure campaign. On Tuesday, Axios reported that Hegseth told Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei that the company has until Friday to give the military unfettered access to its AI model or face penalties. The company has reportedly offered to adopt its usage policies for the Pentagon. However, it wouldn't allow its model to be used for the mass surveillance of Americans or weapons that fire without human involvement.
If Anthropic doesn't relent, experts say its best bet would be legal action. But will the Pentagon's proposed penalties be enough to scare a profit-driven startup into compliance? Hegseths' threats reportedly include invoking the Defense Production Act, which gives the president authority to direct private companies prioritize certain contracts in the name of national defense. The military could also sever its contract with Anthropic and designate it as a supply chain risk. That would force other companies working with the Pentagon to certify that Claude isn't included in their workflows.
Claude is the only AI model currently used for the military's most sensitive work. "The only reason we're still talking to these people is we need them and we need them now,” a defense official told Axios. “The problem for these guys is they are that good." Claude was reportedly used in the Maduro raid in Venezuela, a topic Amodei is said to have raised with its partner Palantir.
Time's story about the new RSP included reactions from a nonprofit director focused on AI risks. Chris Painter, director of METR, described the changes as both understandable and perhaps an ill omen. "I like the emphasis on transparent risk reporting and publicly verifiable safety roadmaps," he said. However, he also raised concerns that the more flexible RSP could lead to a "frog-boiling" effect. In other words, when safety becomes a gray area, a seemingly never-ending series of rationalizations could take the company down the very dark path it once condemned.
Painter said the new RSP shows that Anthropic "believes it needs to shift into triage mode with its safety plans, because methods to assess and mitigate risk are not keeping up with the pace of capabilities. This is more evidence that society is not prepared for the potential catastrophic risks posed by AI."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/anthropic-weakens-its-safety-pledge-in-the-wake-of-the-pentagons-pressure-campaign-183436413.html?src=rssMarch's PS Plus Monthly Games include Monster Hunter Rise and Slime Rancher 2
Sony just divulged the list of PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for March, and there's a little something for everybody. These will all be playable on March 3 for subscribers on any tier. After downloading, the games will stay in a player's library as long as the subscription remains active.
First up, there's Monster Hunter Rise. This was initially a Nintendo Switch exclusive before making the jump to other platforms. This is a decent Monster Hunter game with a focus on verticality. There are tools to quickly scale large cliffs and engage in aerial combat. It can be played solo or via a four-person squad. The gameplay loop is as addictive here as ever. Fight monsters. Gather materials. Upgrade weapons and armor. Rinse and repeat.
Slime Rancher 2 just hit consoles last year, after some time in early access. This sequel improves upon everything that made the first game great, which included capturing and farming various slimes. There's a fresh location to explore and an absolute boatload of new slimes to capture. Sucking up dozens of slimes at once is a simple pleasure akin to completing a level in PowerWash Simulator.
The Elder Scrolls Online Collection: Gold Road is the definitive version of the game, offering access to all zones, biomes and quest arcs. This online game can be played cooperatively, but there's also a lot of PvP content. It's set 1,000 years before Skyrim, but there are many iconic locations from that game to explore.
Finally, PGA Tour 2K25 is the latest entry in 2K's long-running golf sim. This one has an expanded solo mode, in addition to a course designer tool. It's also cross-platform.
As new games enter the catalog, old titles vanish. Subscribers have until March 2 to download Undisputed, Subnautica: Below Zero, Ultros and Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/marchs-ps-plus-monthly-games-include-monster-hunter-rise-and-slime-rancher-2-182644562.html?src=rssSamsung Galaxy S26 vs. Galaxy S25: What’s changed and which one should you buy?
Following Samsung’s Unpacked event, the Samsung Galaxy S26 is available for pre-order, and it looks very familiar. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Like recent updates in the Galaxy S line, Samsung is refining its flagship rather than dramatically reinventing it.
Both phones share a lot of core DNA, including compact designs, high-refresh AMOLED displays and similar camera hardware. The S26 does introduce a handful of meaningful updates, however, including a slightly larger battery and newer software out of the box. Those changes also come with a higher starting price: the Galaxy S26 begins at $899.99 compared to the S25’s $799.99 launch price. The entry model now includes 256GB of storage instead of the S25’s base 128GB. Here's how the Galaxy S26 compares with last year’s Galaxy S25 on paper and whether the newer model is worth your attention.
Galaxy S26 vs. Galaxy S25: Design, display and performance
Physically, the Galaxy S26 stays very close to the design Samsung established with the S25. You still get a compact handset with flat edges, an aluminum frame and IP68 water and dust resistance. The overall look and feel should be immediately familiar to anyone who used last year’s phone.
The display story is similarly steady. Both phones use Samsung’s Dynamic AMOLED 2X panels with adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz, and the S25 is rated for peak brightness of up to 2,600 nits. In everyday use, whether you are scrolling, gaming or watching video, the viewing experience should feel broadly similar between the two devices.
Under the hood, the Galaxy S25 is powered globally by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset paired with 12GB of RAM. The Galaxy S26 continues to target flagship-class performance. While Samsung has made internal refinements, overall speed should remain firmly in high-end territory for routine tasks, multitasking and mobile gaming.
On the software front, the S25 launched with Android 15 and One UI 7, while the Galaxy S26 ships with a newer version of Samsung’s software out of the box. As usual, the older model is expected to receive updates over time, which may narrow the long-term software gap.
Galaxy S26 vs. Galaxy S25: Cameras
Samsung has not dramatically reshuffled the base Galaxy camera hardware. The Galaxy S25 features a triple-camera setup built around a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 12MP ultrawide and a 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom, along with a 12MP front camera.
The Galaxy S26 largely sticks with the same proven approach, which suggests image quality should remain broadly consistent in good lighting. As is often the case with Samsung’s year-to-year updates, any meaningful gains are likely to come from image processing improvements rather than brand-new sensors.
For most people, that means the S26 should deliver the punchy, reliable photos Samsung flagships are known for, but Galaxy S25 owners should not expect a dramatic leap in camera hardware.
Galaxy S26 vs. Galaxy S25: Battery life and charging
Battery capacity is one area where the Galaxy S26 makes a measurable change. The Galaxy S25 uses a 4,000mAh battery, while the Galaxy S26 increases that to 4,300mAh. That modest bump should translate into slightly longer endurance in day-to-day use, though real-world gains will depend on efficiency improvements and individual usage patterns.
Charging speeds remain largely unchanged. The Galaxy S25 supports up to 25W wired charging, up to 15W wireless charging and 4.5W reverse wireless charging, and the Galaxy S26 stays in the same general range.
Galaxy S26 vs. Galaxy S25: Software and AI
This year, Samsung is putting more emphasis on Galaxy AI, even on the base Galaxy S26. While many of the headline features are aimed at the Ultra and Plus models, the standard S26 still picks up several practical upgrades.
One of the more useful additions is Document Scan, which uses AI to clean up scans by automatically removing distortions, fingers and creases. It can also bundle multiple images into a single PDF, making it easier to digitize receipts, notes or forms without extra editing.
Samsung is also expanding its proactive assistant features. Now Brief becomes more personalized on the S26, surfacing reminders and updates based on your activity throughout the day, while the new Now Nudge system can suggest relevant content at the right moment. For example, if someone asks for photos from a recent trip, the phone can proactively surface matching images from your gallery instead of making you search manually.
Search is getting smarter as well. Circle to Search with Google now supports enhanced multi-object recognition, allowing you to identify several items in an image at once. Samsung is also upgrading Bixby into a more conversational assistant, and the S26 supports third-party agents such as Gemini and Perplexity for handling more complex, multi-step tasks through voice commands.
Security and privacy features are expanding in the background too. The Galaxy S26 introduces AI-powered Call Screening to summarize unknown callers, along with new Privacy Alerts that warn when apps request sensitive permissions. Samsung is also extending its post-quantum cryptography protections deeper into the system, backed by the company’s Knox security platform and seven years of promised security updates.
Galaxy S26 vs. Galaxy S25: How to choose
If you already own a Galaxy S25, the Galaxy S26 looks like a fairly iterative update. The core experience, including performance, display quality and camera hardware, remains very similar.
The main tangible upgrade is the slightly larger battery, along with newer software out of the box. For most S25 owners, that alone probably is not a compelling reason to upgrade. However, if you are coming from an older Galaxy phone or buying fresh, the Galaxy S26 is the more future-proof pick simply because it starts one generation ahead in Samsung’s update cycle and packs the larger battery.
As usual with Samsung’s yearly refreshes, the real decision may come down to pricing and discounts. If the Galaxy S25 sees significant price cuts, it could remain the better value. But at similar prices, the Galaxy S26 is the safer long-term buy.
Galaxy S26 vs. Galaxy S25: Specs at a glance
Specs | Samsung Galaxy S26 | Samsung Galaxy S25 |
Price (MSRP) | $899.99 | $799.99 (128GB), $859.99 (256GB) |
Dimensions | 5.88 x 2.82 x 0.28 inches | 5.78 x 2.78 x 0.28 inches |
Weight | 5.9 ounces | 5.7 ounces |
Screen size | 6.3 inches (FHD+) | 6.2 inches (FHD+) |
Screen resolution | 2,340 x 1,080 | 2,340 x 1,080 |
Screen type | Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz adaptive refresh (1–120Hz), Up to 2,600 nits peak brightness, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 3 | Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz adaptive refresh (1–120Hz), Up to 2,600 nits peak brightness, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 |
SoC | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy | Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy |
RAM | 12GB | 12GB |
Battery | 4,300mAh | 4,000mAh |
Charging | Up to 25W (wired), 15W (wireless) | Up to 25W (wired), 15W (wireless) |
Storage | 256GB, 512GB | 128GB, 256GB |
Rear camera | 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x telephoto | 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x telephoto |
Front camera | 12MP | 12MP |
Video capture | Up to 4K 60fps, 8K 30fps | Up to 4K 60fps, 8K 30fps |
Water and dust resistance rating | IP68 | IP68 |
Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 7 | Wi-Fi 7 |
Bluetooth | Bluetooth 6.0 | Bluetooth 5.4 |
OS | Android 16 with One UI 8.5 | Android 15 with One UI 7 |
Colors and finish | Cobalt Violet, White, Black, Sky Blue, Pink Gold*, Silver Shadow* (*Samsung.com exclusive) | Navy, Icyblue, Mint, Silver Shadow, Blueblack*, Coralred*, Pinkgold* (*Samsung.com exclusive) |
Samsung Galaxy S26 vs. S26+ vs. S26 Ultra: Comparing the three new phones
Samsung has officially unveiled the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+ and Galaxy S26 Ultra, and the company is once again leaning heavily on AI, camera upgrades and refined hardware to move the lineup forward. While the overall design remains familiar, there are some meaningful differences between the three models, particularly when it comes to display tech, charging speeds and camera hardware.
Across the board, the S26 family is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chip and runs Android 16 with One UI 8.5. Samsung is also doubling down on Galaxy AI features like Now Brief, Now Nudge and upgraded Circle to Search, positioning the new phones as more proactive assistants than before.
As usual, though, the Ultra model is where Samsung is pushing the envelope the furthest. It gains the most advanced camera system, faster wired and wireless charging and the company’s new built-in Privacy Display tech. Pre-orders are available now, with official sales starting on March 11. If you’re trying to decide which model makes the most sense for your needs (and budget), here’s how the three devices stack up on paper.
Samsung Galaxy S26 vs. S26+ vs. S26 Ultra: Specs compared
Specs | Samsung Galaxy S26 | Samsung Galaxy S26+ | Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra |
Price (MSRP) | $899.99 | $1,099.99 | $1,299.99 |
Dimensions | 71.7 x 149.6 x 7.2 mm | 71.7 x 149.6 x 7.2 mm | 78.1 x 163.6 x 7.9 mm |
Weight | 167g | 190g | 214g |
Screen size | 6.3 inches (FHD+) | 6.7 inches (QHD+) | 6.9 inches (QHD+) |
Screen resolution | 2340 x 1080 | 3120 x 1440 | 3120 x 1440 |
Screen type | Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz adaptive refresh (1–120Hz), Up to 2,600 nits peak brightness | Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz adaptive refresh (1–120Hz), Up to 2,600 nits peak brightness | Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz adaptive refresh (1–120Hz), Up to 2,600 nits peak brightness |
SoC | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy |
RAM | 12GB | 12GB | 12GB or 16GB |
Battery | 4,300 mAh | 4,300 mAh | 5,000 mAh |
Charging | 25W (wired), 15W (wireless) | 45W (wired), 20W (wireless) | 60W (wired), 25W (wireless) |
Storage | 256/512GB | 256/512GB | 256/512GB, 1TB |
Rear camera | 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x telephoto | 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x telephoto | 200MP main, 50MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x telephoto, 50MP 5x periscope telephoto |
Front camera | 12MP | 12MP | 12MP |
Video capture | Up to 4K 60fps, 8K 30fps | Up to 4K 60fps, 8K 30fps | Up to 4K 120fps, 8K 30fps |
Water and dust resistance rating | IP68 | IP68 | IP68 |
Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 7 | Wi-Fi 7 | Wi-Fi 7 |
Bluetooth | Bluetooth 6.0 | Bluetooth 6.0 | Bluetooth 6.0 |
OS | Android 16 with One UI 8.5 | Android 16 with One UI 8.5 | Android 16 with One UI 8.5 |
Colors and finish | Cobalt Violet, White, Black, and Sky Blue / Pink Gold and Silver Shadow (Samsung exclusive) | Cobalt Violet, White, Black, and Sky Blue / Pink Gold and Silver Shadow (Samsung exclusive) | Cobalt Violet, White, Black, and Sky Blue / Pink Gold and Silver Shadow (Samsung exclusive) |
How to pre-order the Samsung Galaxy S26 phones and Galaxy Buds 4
During its Unpacked event today, Samsung announced three new Galaxy S-series phones as well as the latest generation of its earbuds, the Galaxy Buds 4 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro. Pre-orders are now open and the new devices are set to ship March 11. As expected, this year’s models aren’t drastically different from last year’s, but all the phones are equipped to better handle the Galaxy AI experiences such as Now Nudge that offers suggestions based on your activities and a more conversational assitant in Bixby (or Gemini or Perplexity depending on your preferance).
Engadget’s own Sam Rutherford is on-site in San Francisco for the new hardware launch and will have hands-on impressions. We’ll follow that up with official reviews in the next week. But if you can’t wait for our final verdict, here’s how to pre-order Samsung’s Galaxy S26 phones and the Galaxy Buds 4 today.
Google announces new Android AI features coming to the Galaxy S26 and Pixel 10 series
Google unveiled a new batch of Android updates, including more Gemini-powered tools and improved scam detection features at Samsung’s Galaxy S26 launch on Wednesday.
A new feature in the Gemini app will let users hand off multi-step tasks, like ordering a rideshare or building a grocery cart. The feature, which will first arrive in beta, runs in the background while users perform other tasks. Gemini's progress can be monitored live via notifications, so users can see what it's doing and jump in at any time.
Google says this feature will initially be limited to certain food, grocery or rideshare apps. It will be available first on select devices, including the Galaxy S26 and Pixel 10, in the US and Korea.
Android is also getting an upgrade for Circle to Search, enabling it to search for multiple objects seen on screen at once. One implementation of this is full-outfit searches using "find the look." Once the app has found all the individual pieces of the circled outfit, users can try them on virtually. This will be available on Galaxy S26 and Pixel 10 devices. The beefed-up feature can also be used to gain insights into multiple objects in an image.
The company is also using Gemini to bring on-device Scam Detection for calls to Samsung’s Phone app. The tool alerts users if someone on their call is using speech patterns commonly heard from scammers. Google says the feature is never used while on a call with someone in your contacts and is off by default.
The same technology and approach will also be used to detect scams in Google Messages. For now, scam detection on phone calls is only available on the Galaxy S26 in English in the US, while detection in messages is supported across various markets.
All of these new features are available now on the Pixel 10 and Galaxy S26 lineups, with availability in select markets varying by feature.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-announces-new-android-ai-features-coming-to-the-galaxy-s26-and-pixel-10-series-180039674.html?src=rssSamsung Galaxy S26 hands-on: A lot more of the same for a little more money
As we prepare to leave the winter months, Samsung announced another family of Galaxy S flagships for those looking to upgrade. As usual, the company put its best components and features into the Galaxy S26 Ultra, but it also added more to the base S26 and S26+. The company has hit its groove with its smaller (and cheaper) flagships, delivering solid devices with increasingly better cameras, occasionally even offering feature parity with its most expensive smartphone.
In 2026, that’s what we’re getting, with the 6.3-inch S26 ($899) and 6.7-inch S26+ ($1,099). Both phones are more expensive than last year, and it’s often a game of spot-the-difference when it comes to showing what’s new.
Fortunately, the best parts have been retained, too. Samsung has unified the design style across the entire S26 series, with the same corner ratios, curved edges and other design touches. While I tested both phones, I’ll focus on the S26. Barring screen differences and battery size, they’re identically specced.
This year’s S26 color selection has a premium Samsung ‘mood’ to it that I can’t quite explain. Does purple mean Samsung to my brain? Maybe. Cobalt Violet is the particular shade I’m talking about, but there are also blue, black and white colors. Additional silver and pink-gold options will be available as online exclusives. There’s not much else to say about the design: it’s another Galaxy S flagship, and if it ain’t broke…
Samsung has increased the battery capacity to 4,300 mAh on the S26, while somehow maintaining the same thickness as last year’s S25. However, the S26+ has the same 4,900mAH battery as its predecessor. All S26 devices will launch with 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM, with bigger storage options available. With the S26, Samsung has slightly increased the screen size to 6.3 inches, up from last year's 6.2-inch S25.
The S26 comes with a familiar camera trio: a 50-megapixel main sensor, 12MP ultrawide, and 10MP telephoto with up to 3x optical zoom. On paper, that’s identical to last year’s base S25. However, Samsung has improved performance with its ProScaler technology for upscaling images and an MDNIe chip, which the company says provides four times the color precision compared to previous devices.
There are software improvements too, with video features being the most tangible upgrade, among more AI-assisted photo editing tools. Super Steady video has been upgraded to a 360-degree horizontal lock. This camera mode uses the S26’s gyroscopes to maintain a consistent horizon even as you rush to chase a pet or family member while recording, or to capture snowboarding buddies. (There’s always a snowboarding example when a company mentions horizontal lock.) It’s nice to see a feature we’re used to finding on gimbals and action cams built into an unashamedly mainstream phone like the S26.
Auto Framing is another new feature coming to both 4K and 8K video capture. It uses AI to lock onto subjects and automatically tighten framing to what you want to capture. Even during brief testing, I was intrigued and liked the dramatic punch-in effect as I recorded nearby people. It creates a faux-panning effect as it tracks moving subjects, something you might have experienced with Center Stage on Apple devices.
Samsung has also upgraded image processing on its front-facing cameras with a new Object Aware Engine for improved portrait mode shots, hair textures and more accurate skin tones. Based on my early testing, images seemed sharper than on my older Samsung devices, even though this is (again) largely the same 12MP camera as last year.
With processors, it's getting a little more complicated. In the US, Samsung's entire S26 series will use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, but in Europe, both the S26 and S26+ will be powered by the company’s own Exynos 2600, apparently the world’s first 2nm chipset. Comparing it to Snapdragon’s top mobile processor, however, will have to wait until review time.
With more power for AI functions, Samsung has continued to evolve and expand its AI software, although it seems less of a priority this year. Only one AI feature stood out during my briefing: Audio Eraser. While this launched on the S25, it only worked on audio and video you captured yourself. Now, Samsung expanded it to most major video platforms, including Netflix, Instagram and YouTube, adding the ability to strip out noise and distractions and amplify the volume of voices. It was especially effective with a rowdy replay of an Arsenal football soccer match, and sounded like I was listening to a dedicated commentary channel. Interestingly, unlike many sound editing apps and features, it will work on downloaded videos on those platforms without an internet connection.
Elsewhere, Now Nudge will attempt to suggest actions based on what’s happening onscreen, such as sharing contact numbers with someone or suggesting calendar times while dealing with work emails. Samsung’s Now Brief can pull information and notifications from a wider array of apps and sources to deliver in its daily briefings. However, again, that’s hard to assess at this early stage.
There are several more quality–of-life software updates, too, like the ability to sift through all those screenshots after they’ve been automatically categorized into sections like barcodes, events and more. If you can’t get enough AI image generation, you can now use Photo Assist to edit your photos using descriptive prompts. Elsewhere, Circle-to-Search now supports multiple, well, circles, if you’re looking to tag and search for multiple objects at once.
It’s not the most exciting year for Samsung’s smaller flagship phones. While the S26 Ultra can boast a new Privacy Display that’s the first of its kind, the rest of the S26 family have a little too much in common with their predecessors. The new video features seem useful and intuitive, so there’s more to explore there. We’ll have more to say in our full reviews soon.
Both the Galaxy S26 and S26+ launch on March 11th and are available to preorder now.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-s26-hands-on-launch-date-price-180005654.html?src=rssSamsung's redesigned Galaxy Buds 4 lineup has retooled sound, improved ANC and new features
Samsung isn’t waiting a full year to reveal its latest Galaxy Buds. The company debuted the Galaxy Buds 4 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro at its Galaxy S26 Unpacked event where the hot topic was three new phones. When it comes to Samsung’s earbuds, the company has overhauled the shape and design while improving sound quality, active noise cancellation (ANC) and adding new features. As always, the best of what the Galaxy Buds 4 lineup has to offer will be reserved for people with a recent Samsung phone.
While the company is keeping its AirPods-esque “blade” design, it retooled that element to ditch the angular shape and the gimmicky lights. It’s now a flat, metal panel and the area that allows for pinch controls has been engraved so that your fingers find it easily. In terms of shape, Samsung says it analyzed data from hundreds of millions of ear data points and ran over 10,000 simulations to improve overall fit with smaller earbuds. The Galaxy Buds 4 remain an open-fit design while the Pro version has a tip that seals off your ears. Like before, the company kept the transparent lids for the charging cases, although this time the earbuds lay flat in those rather than standing up.
Inside of the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, Samsung is using a wider woofer as part of its two-way driver setup for cleaner bass. That configuration’s dedicated tweeter should also deliver natural, rich treble, according to the company. Both Galaxy Buds 4 models support high quality audio up to 24bit/96kHz (from a recent Samsung device) and direct multi-channel 360 audio is available as well.
Although the Galaxy Buds Pro 4 got the bulk of the ANC upgrades, Samsung says it improved noise-canceling performance for both models. The company promises effective noise blocking for transit sounds — engine noise from buses, trains or planes — in addition to “everyday background noise.” What’s more, both of the Galaxy Buds 4 devices feature ambient sound mode, adaptive EQ and adaptive ANC, with the latter two applying adjustments automatically as needed.
The Pro model can also detect the user’s voice and increase ambient sound for conversations — a feature that’s held over from the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. When you stop talking, the earbuds will automatically resume ANC. The Galaxy Buds 4 Pro also has a Siren Detect feature that activates ambient sound so that you can hear safety alerts like alarms or emergency vehicles.
The new item that pushes the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro closer to the AirPods Pro 3 is head gestures. Samsung will now let users manage calls and interact with Bixby by nodding or shaking their head side to side. As before, the Galaxy Buds remain a conduit to Bixby, but they’re also a gateway to Gemini and Perplexity — all of which can be accessed hands-free via voice controls.
The Galaxy Buds 4 ($180) and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro ($250) are available for pre-order today before hitting shelves on March 11. Both models will be available in black and white, and there’s a pink gold option on the Pro, although that third color is a Samsung online exclusive.
Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra offers a subtle set of hardware improvements
Samsung has announced the latest version of its flagship smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, and just like last year, the high-end phone is where the company is making some of its biggest changes. The S26 Ultra includes a new processor, a new privacy-focused display technology, an improved camera system and like Samsung's other phones, a crop of new AI-powered software features.
On first blush, the Galaxy S26 Ultra isn't all that different from the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Samsung is still using a 6.9-inch QHD+ AMOLED screen, with an 120Hz refresh rate and support for an S Pen stylus. The S26 Ultra also features the same flat sides, utter lack of Qi2-compatible magnets and pronounced camera bump. Despite those similarities, the new flagship does have some differences: for one, it's ever so slightly thinner at 0.31-inches than the S25 Ultra was at 0.32-inches. It also comes with an aluminum frame rather than the titanium frame of the previous generation. For stylus fans, the new S Pen has a curved top that lets it better match the curves of the S26 Ultra. Biggest of all, Samsung's new phone includes "Privacy Display," a new technology that lets the phone limit how much of its screen is visible when you're not looking directly at it.
Inside, the Galaxy S26 Ultra uses Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chip, a modified version of the flagship mobile chip it debuted last year, and either 12 or 16GB of RAM. In terms of storage, the Galaxy S26 Ultra can come with either 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of memory. Regardless of which version you pick, you'll get a 5,000mAh battery with support for Samsung's wired and wireless fast charging, and Wireless PowerShare for topping up accessories like wireless earbuds.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra, just like the S25 Ultra before it, includes an array of four cameras on the back and one selfie camera on the front. The phone features a 200MP f/1.4 wide, 50MP f/1.9 ultra-wide, 10MP f/2.4 3x telephoto, 50MP f/2.9 periscope telephoto and 12MP f/2.2 selfie camera. If you were to just look at just the megapixel counts of the phone, they're identical to last year's model. Samsung's major tweaks are to the aperture of both the wide and periscope cameras, which should let them capture more light.
Of course, plenty of the flashiest parts of Samsung's new smartphone are software features. The improved photo and video performances of the Galaxy S26 Ultra's cameras is partially driven by software tweaks. Samsung is also adopting Perplexity as a second, system-level AI assistant. The AI can be called with a button press or "Hey Plex," powers improvements to Bixby and can act inside Samsung apps. That doesn't mean Gemini isn't still available, though. Google's AI will gain the ability to handle things like booking a rideshare or filling an online grocery cart in the background on the Galaxy S26 Ultra.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra starts at $1,300 and is available to pre-order today in a purple-ish "Cobalt Violet," light blue "Sky Blue," black, white and exclusively through Samsung's online store, "Silver Shadow" and "Pink Gold." The phone will become generally available on March 11.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/samsungs-galaxy-s26-ultra-offers-a-subtle-set-of-hardware-improvements-180000725.html?src=rssGoogle's Circle to Search can now identify multiple objects in an image
To coincide with the release of Samsung's new Galaxy S26 family of phones, Google is pushing out a small but meaningful update to Circle to Search. As a reminder, Circle to Search allows you to carry out a Google Search from almost anywhere on your phone. Just tap and hold your device's home button, and then circle the passage or image you want to know more about.
With previous iterations of Circle to Search, the tool's underlying AI system was limited to searching against a single object in an image. Now, thanks to Gemini 3, it can scan and identify multiple objects at the same time. Naturally, Google is quick to point out the boon this represents for shopaholics. If you see a fit you like on Instagram, you can circle an entire person and the tool will attempt to find a match for each item they're wearing, including any shoes and accessories. At the same time, Google has made it easier to see how those clothes might look on you by bringing its virtual try on feature directly inside of Circle to Search.
The benefits of the new model aren't only limited to shopping queries. Building on a search technique Google debuted with AI Mode, Circle to Search can now also reason through the relationship between different objects in an image. So say you see a photo of a coral reef and want to know how all the different pictured fish live together, Circle to Search will not only be able to identify the different species shown but also explain how they coexist with one another.
Google is bringing the new and improved Circle to Search to Galaxy S26 and Pixel 10 phones first before rolling it out to more Android devices soon.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra hands-on: Meaningful tweaks plus a slick new Privacy Display
Last year, it felt like Samsung relied a bit too much on AI when trying to convince people to upgrade to its flagship phone. And while there’s no shortage of features that utilize machine learning on the new Galaxy S26 Ultra, it feels like Samsung has done a much better job of filling out the rest of the phone’s kit with fresh hardware, faster charging and a more cohesive design. It’s still rather expensive, but its price has stayed flat year-over-year at $1,300, which when combined with everything else makes it a much more attractive package than its predecessor.
Design and display
Samsung’s Ultra phones are always going to be somewhat boxy and that’s OK. However, for the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the company’s top-of-the-line handset is getting a slightly curvier appearance thanks to rounder corners. There’s also a very (and I do mean very) small reduction in size that technically makes this version the thinnest and lightest Ultra to date (214 grams and 7.9mm thick). That said, considering the previous model weighed 218 grams and measured 8.2mm, it’s incredibly hard to feel a difference even when you know what you’re looking for.
In reality, the biggest exterior change is that Samsung has ditched the titanium frame from last year’s phone in favor of an Armor Aluminum chassis with Corning Gorilla Armor 2 panels in front and back. Samsung says this new design is meant to make the Ultra fit in better with its less expensive siblings while also making it easier to do things like color match the phone’s body to the rest of the device. Also, for anyone who keeps track of Samsung’s palette, the hero color for the S26 Ultra is a rather fetching shade of purple called cobalt violet, with sky blue, white and black available as well (plus silver shadow and pink gold being Samsung’s online exclusive hues).
However, my favorite new thing on the S26 Ultra is its Privacy Display. When activated, it functions a lot like HP’s Sure View tech, which prevents people from peeking at your screen from acute angles. It works both when viewed from the side or up and down and has a surprising amount of customization. Not only can you set it to turn on automatically when the phone asks you for a password or PIN, it can also be triggered by specific apps or whenever you receive a notification. But perhaps the most impressive thing is that there’s almost no impact on image quality. When Privacy Display is active, there is a minor reduction in overall brightness, but aside from that, it’s really hard to tell when it’s on (at least from the front). Furthermore, the S26 Ultra’s 6.9-inch AMOLED screen has the same underlying specs as last year, including its 120Hz variable refresh rate and 2,600 nit peak brightness, so there are pretty much no trade-offs for the added functionality.
Performance and charging
Inside, the S26 Ultra features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chip along with either 12GB or 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. Compared to its predecessor, Samsung claims the NPU’s performance has made the biggest leap with it being 39 percent more powerful year-over-year with respectable increases for its CPU (19 percent faster) and GPU (24 percent faster) as well.
As for charging, both wired and wireless speeds have gotten a big boost with the former now rated at up to 60 watts (up from 45 watts) or 25 watts (up from 15) for the latter when using compatible Qi2 pads. Samsung says buyers will even get a three amp cable in the box, so all you need to do to get those peak wired speeds is to hook it up to the right adapter.
Unfortunately, we’re still not getting a magnetic ring inside the phone, which means if you want to use the S26 Ultra with magnetic accessories, you’ll need to pair the phone with a case that supports that functionality. This is super frustrating because Samsung says this decision was made in part to keep the handset as thin as possible, but when you consider the difference between the S26 Ultra and the S25 Ultra is 0.3mm, that choice feels rather misguided.
Cameras
One of my biggest complaints about last year’s S25 Ultra is that the only new hardware was an updated 50MP sensor for its ultra-wide lens, which is the camera I (and probably most people) use the least. Thankfully, it seems Samsung took note of that because while the resolution of its 200MP main cam, 10MP 3x telephoto and 50MP 5X telephoto are the same as before, the S26 Ultra’s main and 5x zoom lenses now have significantly wider apertures (from f/1.7 to f/1.4 and f/3.4 to f/2.9, respectively). This results in as much as 47 percent more light reaching the phone’s primary sensor (or 37 percent for the 5x telephoto), which should result in some major gains in photo quality and low light sensitivity. That said, I wasn’t able to properly test this during my hands-on session, so I’m going to reserve final judgement for a proper review.
Meanwhile, for video capture, Samsung is adding support for the APV codec at up to 8K/30 fps to the S26 Ultra along with a new horizon lock feature that will keep your footage level no matter how much you rotate the phone. Now I will admit that the latter didn’t impress me much when I first heard about it, but after testing it out and spinning the phone a full 360-degrees while recording a clip, I was shocked when the resulting video showed no hint of being whirled around. Samsung also says the handset’s improved Nightography processing uses AI to recognize noise patterns in low light to improve image quality. But similar to the wider apertures bringing in more light, I’ll believe it when I see it.
Finally, there’s a new AI-powered Photo Assist tool that lets you edit or adjust images using natural language prompts. From what I experienced, it’s effective and works as you’d expect. However, with the proliferation of services and devices offering similar functionality over the past year, this feature feels more like Samsung’s attempt to keep up with the Joneses.
AI features
When it comes to AI, the S26 Ultra is getting the same batch of new and improved features as the rest of the S26 family. So if you’re big into machine learning, there’s no need to pay extra for this model. Furthermore, many of the updates for 2026 are tweaks or refinements of existing things like the Gallery app, which now uses AI to automatically sort screenshots into eight different categories so they’re easier to find later. There’s also what Samsung is calling Now Nudge, which functions a lot like Google’s Magic Cue. It’s built into the Samsung keyboard and it can do things like suggest relevant photos based on your conversations.
To me, the most impressive of the bunch is the S26’s Automated App Actions, which allow you to ask the phone to do slightly more complicated tasks like ordering an Uber to a specific location. After your initial prompt, Gemini can even complete the task in the background while you go back to doomscrolling or watching videos. When it’s done, you’ll get a notification so you can manually review and confirm the command. Unfortunately, Uber will be the only supported app at launch, though Samsung says it’s working on expanding the feature to others like Instacart.
Early thoughts
Look, there’s no getting around it: $1,300 is a lot to spend on a phone. That said, considering the RAM shortage that’s going on right now, keeping the S26 Ultra’s price the same as last year’s phone feels like a small blessing. And when you get that on a handset with a more refined design, a beefier chip, a fancy Privacy Display, faster charging and an updated generation of AI-powered tools, Samsung’s latest flagship feels like a much better deal than its predecessor. Really, the only thing that hasn’t been improved is the Ultra’s S-Pen, which as time goes on, is starting to feel more and more like a consolation prize for people who are still nostalgic about the Note line than a true tentpole feature.
Now this doesn’t mean that people with an S25 Ultra or even an S24 Ultra should run out and upgrade. But for anyone with something older than that who’s in the market for a true do-everything phone, the S26 Ultra has quite a bit to offer.
Pre-orders for the Galaxy S26 Ultra are live now, with official sales slated for March 11.
Samsung's S26 and S26+ offer familiar designs, Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chips and new software features
The wait is over. At its Unpacked event today, Samsung took the wraps off its new S26 family of phones. Unlike the S26 Ultra, the S26 and S26+ represent mostly iterative updates. Samsung has tweaked the design of the two devices, making it so they share the same rounded corners of their more expensive sibling. Additionally, the S26 has a slightly larger 6.3-inch AMOLED display and a higher capacity 4,300mAh battery inside. As for the S26+, it still has a 6.7-inch screen and 4,900mAh battery.
Like in years past, Samsung is depending on new and expanded software capabilities rather than updated hardware to give the S26 and S26+'s cameras an edge over the competition. As before, both phones feature a 50-megapixel main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide and a 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom. For selfies, they’re equipped a 12MP front-facing camera.
The company says its new Object Aware Engine will allow the front-facing cameras to deliver more pleasing portrait mode shots, with better rendering of skin tones and hair textures. For videos, Samsung has updated its Super Steady tech, making it capable of maintaining a 360-degree horizontal lock. The upgraded feature should make it easier to maintain a consistent level horizon while trying to record a video of a moving child or pet. A new feature named Auto Framing uses a machine learning algorithm to automatically tighten the frame while filming 4K and 8K clips.
And if you're a Snapdragon fan, you can rest easy. While some pre-release reports suggested Samsung was planning to use its new flagship Exynos chipset across the entire S26 line, North American and Japanese variants of the S26 and S26+ will once again ship with Qualcomm silicon instead. Specifically, the two phones come specced with the speedy Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which debuted alongside the OnePlus 15 in November 2025. It will be interesting to see how the new Exynos 2600 compares with its Snapdragon counterpart; the former is the world's first 2nm chipset.
Over on the software front, Samsung has upgraded its suite of AI features. For instance, the company has made Now Brief capable of pulling from a wider variety of apps to generate more comprehensive daily summaries. Similarly, the company's handy Auto Eraser feature now works across streaming services like Netflix, allowing you to make it easier to hear dialogue in a greater variety of videos.
The two phones will retail for $899 and $1,099, making them both $100 more expensive than their predecessors. They come standard with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Samsung will also offer 512GB variants, alongside six different colorways of each phone. In-store, you'll find the S26 and S26+ in purple, blue, black and white, with silver and rose gold being online exclusives. Pre-orders open today, with general availability to follow on March 11.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/samsungs-s26-and-s26-offer-familiar-designs-snapdragon-8-gen-5-chips-and-new-software-features-180000224.html?src=rssHacker used Anthropic's Claude chatbot to attack multiple government agencies in Mexico
Here's yet another troubling story about this "golden" era of AI. A hacker has exploited Anthropic's Claude chatbot to carry out attacks against Mexican government agencies, according to a report by Bloomberg. This resulted in the theft of 150GB of official government data, including taxpayer records, employee credentials and more.
The hacker used Claude to find vulnerabilities in government networks and to write scripts to exploit them. It also tasked the chatbot with finding ways to automate data theft, as indicated by cybersecurity company Gambit Security. This started in December and continued for around a month.
It looks like the hacker was able to essentially jailbreak Claude with prompts, finally bypassing the chatbot's guardrails. Claude originally refused the nefarious demands until eventually relenting.
Hackers Used Anthropic’s Claude to Steal 150 GB of Mexican Government Data
— Nawaz Haider (@nawaz0x1) February 25, 2026
> Tell Claude you’re doing a bug bounty
> Claude initially refused:
> “That violates AI safety guidelines”
> Hacker just kept asking
> Claude: “OK, I’ll help”
> Hacked the entire Mexican… pic.twitter.com/Qaux239K8t
"In total, it produced thousands of detailed reports that included ready-to-execute plans, telling the human operator exactly which internal targets to attack next and what credentials to use," said Curtis Simpson, Gambit Security’s chief strategy officer.
Anthropic has investigated the claims, disrupted the activity and banned all of the accounts involved, according to a company representative. The spokesperson also said that its latest model, Claude Opus 4.6, includes tools to disrupt this kind of misuse.
It's also been reported that this hacker used ChatGPT to supplement the attacks, using OpenAI's chatbot to gather information on how to move through computer networks, determine which credentials were needed to access systems and how to avoid detection. OpenAI says it has identified attempts by the hacker to violate its usage policies and that the tools refused to comply.
The hacker remains unidentified. The attacks haven't been attributed to a specific group, but Gambit Security did suggest they could be tied to a foreign government. It's also unclear what the hacker wants to do with all of that data.
Mexico's national digital agency hasn't commented on the breach, but did note that cybersecurity is a priority. The state government of Jalisco denies that it was breached, saying only federal networks were impacted. However, Mexico's national electoral institute also denied any breaches or unauthorized access in recent months. It's worth noting that Gambit found at least 20 security vulnerabilities during its research that the country is likely not keen on highlighting.
Anthropic just dropped the core commitment of its safety policy: the promise to not train models it couldn't prove were safe first.
— Raphael Pfeiffer (@raphpfei) February 25, 2026
The new version commits to matching competitors on safety and publishing more transparency reports. But the actual constraint, "we stop if we can't… pic.twitter.com/k5Zi6dHUMN
This isn't the first time Claude has been used for a major cyberattack. Last year, hackers in China manipulated the tool into attempting to infiltrate dozens of global targets, several of which were successful. Anthropic just nixed its long-standing safety pledge, which committed to never train an AI system unless it could guarantee in advance that safety measures were adequate. So who knows what fresh hell the future will bring as the company's tools become more advanced.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/hacker-used-anthropics-claude-chatbot-to-attack-multiple-government-agencies-in-mexico-171237255.html?src=rssAmazon abandons open-world racing game by former Forza Horizon devs
An open-world racing game from a studio formed by ex-Forza Horizon developers was due to be published by Amazon, but that is no longer the case. As reported first by The Game Business, UK-based Maverick Games is now in "active dialogue" with prospective new publishing partners for its currently untitled debut game, which remains in development.
Maverick was founded in 2022 by Mike Brown, who served as the Horizon series’ creative director during his stint at Playground Games, and was able to tempt a number of other ex-Playground veterans to join the new studio. Little was publicly known about the game Amazon picked up, but shortly after Maverick was established Brown told GamesIndustry.Biz that his ambition was to make a game that was AAA, premium and eventually released with the intention of "winning all the awards."
"As part of our strategic evolution to focus on projects that leverage Amazon’s unique strengths and scale, including the recent re-launch of Luna and our Tomb Raider franchise partnership with Crystal Dynamics, we have decided to release Maverick Games from their publishing agreement with Amazon Game Studios," an Amazon Game Studios representative said in a statement to The Game Business.
"We have tremendous respect for the Maverick Games team and the compelling narrative-led driving experience they’re creating," the companty said. "This decision allows Maverick Games the flexibility to find a publishing partner whose strategic priorities are better aligned with bringing their game to market. We’re proud of what we accomplished together during our partnership and wish them every success in the future."
Amazon’s push into gaming has yielded mixed results. It seemingly remains committed to developing its Luna streaming service, but as a publisher and developer things haven't been smooth. 2020’s free-to-play multiplayer shooter Crucible vanished so quickly that most people have probably forgotten that it ever existed. The MMO New World has proved more of a hit, but Amazon is still winding down support for the game next year. The future of the company’s Lord of the Rings MMO is unclear, but The Game Business reports that last year’s cuts to its MMO division also affected the team working on that game.
Earlier this week, it was announced that the Amazon Games-published co-op dungeon crawler King of Meat will shut down on April 9, less than a year after its October 2025 launch. The company does still have a pair of Tomb Raider games on its release slate, one of which is a reimagining of the original series entry from 1996.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/amazon-abandons-open-world-racing-game-by-former-forza-horizon-devs-170234100.html?src=rssASUS ProArt GoPro Edition PX13 review: An incredible if pricy Windows creator laptop
With its ProArt lineup, ASUS has commendably addressed a glaring hole in the PC market by targeting video editors and other creative pros. Its latest model even uses a popular camera marque in its name: the ProArt GoPro Edition PX13. It’s a true co-branding exercise, with GoPro-like styling, a dedicated GoPro hotkey, mil-spec durability for extreme outdoor users and 12 months of GoPro’s Cloud Plus Premium.
It has a lot going for it on the inside, too. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor offers 16 Zen 5 cores with integrated Radeon 8060S Graphics (40 cores) and AMD Ryzen AI with up to 50 NPU TOPS. It packs a relatively small but pixel-dense 13-inch 2,880 x 1,800 OLED convertible 360 touch display, 1TB of storage and an impressive 128GB of unified memory.
The rub, as you might expect with all that RAM, is the price. The ProArt GoPro Edition PX13 costs $3,000, while a version with the same processor but half the memory is $2,800. That’s high-end MacBook Pro money, and while the ProArt is a good PC creator machine, it falls short of its Apple counterpart in terms of performance and usability.
Design
In place of the ProArt P13’s smooth lines, the ProArt GoPro Edition comes with a ribbed metal back that’s designed to look like the front of a GoPro Hero 13. It also has GoPro-like ridges on the hinge and plastic above the keyboard, along with GoPro and ProArt branding. The rugged design may appeal to the extreme sports crowd, but I’d prefer something a bit sleeker.
The laptop is relatively light at 3.06 pounds, but the dedicated 200W power brick adds an extra pound of weight. Despite the small size, it offers MIL-STD 810H military-grade durability, so it can handle hot and humid conditions while surviving 500Hz vibrations and multiple four-inch drops while running. To help keep the laptop safe outside, ASUS includes a protective padded sleeve with a braided pouch to tuck a selfie stick or another accessory.
The 2,880 x 1,800 OLED touchscreen is nice but not super bright, with up to 400 nits of brightness or 500 nits in HDR mode. That’s the usual tradeoff for OLED compared to super bright MiniLED displays. However, it has deep blacks and very high color accuracy of Delta < 1 with 100 percent DCI-P3 coverage, along with Dolby Vision support, so it’s great for photo and video work or entertainment.
The ProArt is a 360-degree convertible model and ships with an ASUS Pen and Pen charger. That makes it a good option for graphic artists who want to tent the screen or fold it around to use in tablet mode for sketching or painting. The ASUS Pen works well, and though it’s not as accurate as Wacom or other dedicated pen devices, it has nice haptic feedback when you perform actions in the app.
The ProArt GoPro Edition’s keyboard is excellent, with a nice amount of travel for typing or gaming. The touchpad is also one of the better ones I’ve used on a PC thanks to the quality tactile feel. The top left of the touchpad contains ASUS’s control dial designed for jogging video footage or adjusting colors, but it’s a bit fussy and gimmicky.
For ports, you get HDMI, 3.5mm audio, USB-A 3.2 and two USB-C 4.0 with power delivery that allow up to 130 watts of charging. The laptop weirdly comes with a microSD slot to load GoPro footage straight from the camera, but it would be better to have a regular SD port and microSD adapter. As for wireless and audio, it offers Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 and Dolby Atmos support.
Performance
Built on TSMC’s 4nm line, the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is AMD’s most powerful APU designed to blend performance and low power consumption. It’s married to a Radeon 8060S GPU with 40 compute units (equivalent to an NVIDIA RTX 4060, AMD says) that makes it ideal for creative chores, AI processing and gaming. This unit also comes with 128GB of unified LPDDR5X RAM that’s soldered directly to the motherboard, shared between the CPU and GPU. Given today’s RAM prices, that amount of memory no doubt contributes to the ProArt GoPro Edition’s high price.
AMD finally got its act together for video encoding and decoding. The Ryzen AI Max+’s GPU supports most 8- and 10-bit MP4 codecs, including H.264, H.265, VP9 and AV1. That means you can play back nearly all MP4 or Quicktime camera video files in real time, including the 8K H.265 files recorded by a GoPro Hero 13. At the same time, the large number of cores and threads (16 and 32) helps the ProArt GoPro Edition render certain VFX and do color adjustments quickly. The 1TB of NVMe SSD storage is limited to PCIe 4.0, but it’s relatively speedy with 6.55 GB/s read and 5.86 GB/s write speeds — easily fast enough for 8K video playback.
All of that made video work a breeze in DaVinci Resolve 20, Adobe Premiere Pro or GoPro’s Player that can be activated by a special hotkey on the ASUS laptop. Actions like color correction work in real time as well, and 4K H.264 exports can also be performed quickly.
That said, some functions like OpenFX and stabilization would work better with a more powerful discrete GPU. Also, unlike my MacBook Pro, the ProArt GoPro Edition’s fans need to engage frequently under intense workloads, creating a lot of noise and killing the battery quickly if the unit isn’t plugged in.
For other apps, including Photoshop, Illustrator and Lightroom Classic, the ASUS ProArt is ideal. It’s very responsive and the touch display and pen support fine masking or drawing work, something you can’t do on a MacBook Pro.
The ProArt also handles synthetic benchmarks well for a PC with an integrated GPU. The single/multi Geekbench 6 CPU score of 2,219/19,088 shows the benefit of 16 processor cores. The 93,108 Geekbench 6 GPU mark isn’t that far behind Acer’s NVIDIA RTX 5070-equipped Predator Titan 14 AI. Geekbench AI scores were also up there with the best laptops. However, Handbrake video encoding was slower than several MacBook M4 laptops I’ve tested.
For gaming, it had some of the higher laptop scores I’ve seen on several 3DMark tests (Wildlife Extreme and Port Royal Ray Tracing). It also did pretty darn well on Cyberpunk 2077, hitting 82 fps at 1080p and 60 fps at 1440p in Ultra mode. Considering the machine’s small size, those framerates are really good. However, the laptop is held back gaming-wise by the OLED display that tops out at 500 nits and just 60Hz.
A big benefit of the 128GB of fast unified memory is that you can run AI models locally for improved privacy. While the ProArt GoPro Edition normally allocates 64GB of memory to the CPU and splits the rest between the CPU and iGPU, you can dedicate up to 96GB of memory to the GPU for extra large AI applications via the MyASUS app.
Another plus of this APU is the battery life. The ProArt GoPro Edition lasted a solid 11:31 hours on the PCMark 10 Modern Office battery rundown test, besting all rivals with similar performance. That tells me that AMD is narrowing the performance-per-watt gap with Apple’s silicon to improve gaming and content creation for PCs on battery power alone.
Wrap-up
ASUS is one of the few PC manufacturers trying to compete with Apple in the creator market, and with the ProArt GoPro Edition laptop, it has largely succeeded. This model offers excellent performance and battery life, a huge amount of memory, a very nice OLED HDR display, a nice range of ports and an excellent keyboard and trackpad.
It easily handled my typical video and photo editing chores, even on battery power alone, and the included GoPro features like the Storyblocks cloud storage are a nice option for action cam users. The convertible configuration and touchscreen with pen option are also useful to artists and photo editors.
However, this laptop is not cheap at $3,000, which is the same price as a high-end 16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Pro. The latter offers superior battery life, better overall performance on apps like DaVinci Resolve and a far better macOS user experience than the hot mess that is currently Windows 11. However, if you want a Windows PC with a touchscreen, I think the ASUS ProArt GoPro Edition laptop is the best creator model you can get right now.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/asus-proart-gopro-edition-px13-review-an-incredible-if-pricy-windows-creator-laptop-170016800.html?src=rssAmazon introduces three personality styles for Alexa+
Amazon is offering a new way for Alexa+ users to customize the AI assistant's communication style. The company has introduced three personalities for Alexa+, so the assistant can adopt an attitude that is Brief, Chill or Sweet.
The Brief style will be exactly that: no small talk and no extra conversation. Chill is easygoing and seems to be inspired by caricatures of the surfer/stoner type, while the Sweet mode is almost aggressively perky and chipper. In the audio sample provided, when a user asks "Alexa, how's it going?" the Chill voice responds, "Life’s treating me well – all systems are Zen and the digital universe is spinning in harmony." In contrast, the Sweet one replies, "Absolutely fantastic! I’m radiating pure joy and ready to make your day incredibly amazing!"
Amazon explained that the three personality styles are based on five metrics: expressiveness, emotional openness, formality, directness and humor. The company may release additional options with different combinations of those sliding scale traits in the future.
For now, users can swap the assistant's vibe from the Alexa app or with the spoken command, "Alexa, change your personality style." Both approaches can also be used to swap back to the classic Alexa voice. All three personalities are available now for all Alexa+ customers.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/amazon-introduces-three-personality-styles-for-alexa-140000602.html?src=rssSpotify can reorder your playlists by BPM and key
Spotify is rolling out a new feature that’s meant to make transitions in between tracks even smoother. If you’ll recall, the streaming service released the ability to create customized transitions within playlists in August last year. It gave people a way to create uninterrupted progressions and eliminate awkward silences between songs. Now, Premium users will be able to make sure the songs in their playlists flow seamlessly even further by reordering tracks based on their keys and BPM or beats per minute.
The new feature can rearrange playlists with one tap. All paying users have to do is tap Mix on one of their playlists and then tap the Edit button. From there, they can scroll down to find the Smart Reorder option. Tapping Smart Reorder will automatically rearrange songs according to their keys and BPM without users having to do anything else. They just have to click Save so that the change to their playlist takes effect.
Spotify says users have streamed over 220 hours of their mixed playlists since it introduced custom transitions last year. It also listed some of the most popular ones on the platform, including The Weeknd’s Wake Me Up transitioning into After Hours and Flo Rida’s Low into Rihann’s S&M.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/spotify-can-reorder-your-playlists-by-bpm-and-key-140000101.html?src=rssUber previews its Dubai air taxi service
Uber is one step closer to going airborne. On Wednesday, the company previewed its air taxi booking service ahead of an expected launch in Dubai later this year. The inaugural Uber Air program will let travelers book Joby Aviation's electric air taxis through a familiar process in the Uber app.
The experience of booking an air taxi will be much like reserving a four-wheeled Uber. In the app, after entering your destination, Uber Air will appear as an option for eligible routes. The Uber app will book a flight and an Uber Black to pick you up and drop you off at a Joby "vertiport."
Joby's air taxis, built exclusively for city travel, can accommodate up to four passengers and luggage. (Uber says size and weight guidelines will be announced closer to launch.) The interior is about the size of an SUV and has "comfortable seating" with panoramic windows. They can travel up to 200 mph and have a range of up to 100 miles. Four battery packs and a triple-redundant flight computer are onboard for safety purposes.
The air taxis aren't (yet) autonomous and will each have a human pilot onboard. That would at least suggest high prices. After all, pilots aren't nearly as cheap as Uber's legion of independent-contractor drivers. But the company insists its air taxi rides will somehow be around as expensive as an Uber Black trip.
Dubai is only the beginning of the companies’ plans. The US-based Joby says it's in the final stage of FAA type certification and hopes to launch service in New York and Los Angeles. Globally, it's targeting the UK and Japan as well.
As for how realistic a US launch is anytime soon, well, that's up for debate. On one hand, President Trump signed executive orders last year that would create a pilot program to test such aircraft. But safety and cost considerations may require a grounding of expectations.
In November, Robert Ditchey, a Los Angeles-based aviation expert and test pilot, told NBC News that he didn't think air taxi service "was ever going to happen" in American cities. "They're dangerous," he warned. "We have had helicopters fail and crash on top of buildings in Los Angeles. We've had helicopters fail at takeoff and landing in airports. They're dangerous not from a fire point of view but in terms of landing on top of people and buildings." In addition, he warned that air taxis can't be developed in sufficient numbers to make them economically viable "unless they are subsidized by a government."
Uber and Joby have partnered since 2019. In 2021, Joby bought the Uber Elevate ride-hailing division, which essentially integrated the companies’ services. Last year, Joby acquired Blade Air Mobility's passenger business, which could open the door to eventually electrifying Blade's routes.
The video below shows one of Joby’s air taxis taking a test flight in Dubai.
Honor says its 4.8mm thick MagicPad 4 is the world's slimmest Android tablet
Ahead of a full release at Mobile World Conference (MWC), Honor has teased the MagicPad 4 that it calls the world's thinnest Android tablet. The new model is just 4.8mm thick (not counting that camera bump), a full millimeter thinner than the MagicPad 3 and slightly less than the 5.1mm iPad Pro and Samsung Galaxy Tab S11, the company revealed.
On top of being thinner, the MagicPad 4 has a new 12.3-inch 165Hz OLED display. While slightly smaller than before, it should be considerably better than the LCD display on the previous model. The new model weighs 145 grams less than before at 450g thanks to that screen and the slightly smaller 10,100 mAh battery (with a 66W fast charger in the box).
The new tablet is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset and comes with up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. It's equipped with 13MP rear and 9MP front cameras, along with eight speakers for spatial audio. The MagicPad 4 will run MagicOS 10, Honor's flavor of Android 16. There's no word on pricing or availability yet, but we'll likely learn more at the company's press conference on Sunday — along with the company's weird robot revealed yesterday.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/honor-says-its-48mm-thick-magicpad-4-is-the-worlds-slimmest-android-tablet-114346615.html?src=rssxAI's trade secret lawsuit against OpenAI has been dismissed
OpenAI has successfully convinced the court to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Elon Musk’s xAI, accusing the company of stealing its trade secrets. In her decision, US District Judge Rita F. Lin wrote that xAI’s complaint “does not point to any misconduct by OpenAI” and instead attributes all listed misconducts to its eight former employees who “ left for OpenAI at around the same time.”
Lin said that xAI accused two of its former employees of stealing its source code before leaving at a time when they were already speaking to an OpenAI recruiter. However, the company didn’t say if the recruiter told those former employees to do so. xAI’s lawsuit also accuses two other former employees of keeping their work chats on their devices even after leaving, another of refusing to provide certifications related to confidential information after his departure, and another of unsuccessfully trying to access xAI hiring and datacenter optimization information when he was already working for OpenAI.
“Notably absent are allegations about the conduct of OpenAI itself,” the judge noted. xAI didn’t include any information that directly accuses OpenAI of making those employees steal its trade secrets. It also didn’t include allegations that those former employees used any stolen trade secrets after they were already working for OpenAI. To be precise, OpenAI’s motion for dismissal was granted with leave to amend, so the lawsuit may not be completely over just yet. That means xAI can still file an amended complaint addressing what the judge wrote in her decision until March 17, 2026.
OpenAI and xAI have a longstanding feud, and this is just one of the several lawsuits between the two companies. In fact, Musk has an ongoing complaint against OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing the former of violating its nonprofit status. Musk, who was an early funder of OpenAI, is now asking the company for $79 billion to $134 billion in damages from “wrongful gains.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/xais-trade-secret-lawsuit-against-openai-has-been-dismissed-101912599.html?src=rssThe best cheap kitchen gadgets in 2026
Outfitting a kitchen can get expensive fast, but you don’t need high-end appliances or flashy tools to cook more efficiently. Some of the best kitchen gadgets are simple, affordable gadgets that quietly make everyday tasks easier — whether that’s prepping ingredients, measuring accurately or keeping your workspace organized. These are the kinds of tools you reach for again and again, not one-off purchases that end up buried in a drawer.
This guide focuses on inexpensive kitchen gadgets that punch above their price, including practical prep tools, durable measuring essentials and compact helpers that save time without taking up much space. None of them are strictly necessary, but all can streamline your routine and make cooking at home feel a little less like work.
Best cheap kitchen gadgets for 2026
Apple introduces age verification for apps in Utah, Louisiana and Australia
Now that Apple has started blocking users under 18 in certain regions from downloading apps, the company has introduced new age verification tools. Those will help developers "meet their age assurance obligations under upcoming US and regional laws, including in Brazil, Australia, Singapore, Utah and Louisiana," the company said in a news release on its Developer site.
As of February 24, 2026, users in Australia, Brazil and Singapore won't be able to download apps rated 18+ unless their age is confirmed through "reasonable methods." Apple noted that any apps distributed in Brazil that are declared to contain loot boxes will be updated to 18+. While the App Store can perform those checks automatically, "developers may have separate obligations to independently confirm that their users are adults," Apple wrote. For that, developers can employ the company's Declared Age Range API (on iOS, iPadOS and macOS) to get "helpful signals" about a user's age.
In Utah as of May 6, 2026 and Louisiana on July 1, 2026, "age categories will be shared with the developer's app when requested through the Declared Age Range API." That API will also provide "new signals," like whether age-related regulatory requirements apply to the user and if the user must share their age range. "The API will also let you know if you need to get a parent or guardian's permission for significant app updates for a child," Apple says.
Under Utah's new law, users must be over 18 to make a new account with an app store, while underage uses will need to link their account to a parent's in order to get permission to use certain apps. Louisiana and Texas also passed similar laws and California plans to enact age-based rules for app stores in 2027.
Those rules are designed to protect children from predators, financial harm and other problems. However, critics have described the laws as blunt tools that harm privacy and internet anonymity. "A poorly designed system might store this personal data, and even correlate it to the online content that we look at," the Electronic Frontier Foundation notes. "In the hands of an adversary, and cross-referenced to other readily available information, this information can expose intimate details about us."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/apple-introduces-age-verification-for-apps-in-utah-louisiana-and-australia-080855449.html?src=rssLG's massive 52-inch ultra-wide gaming monitor costs $2,000
LG kicked off the year by unveiling a new lineup of gaming monitors, and today the company has priced out the biggest of the bunch. The UltraGear evo G9 (52G930B) is now available for pre-order, and the massive screen will cost just $2,000.
Yes, you can buy a perfectly excellent gaming monitor for much less, but $2,000 is a surprisingly low price tag for this 52-inch ultrawide monitor with a 1000R curve, which LG is billing as "the world's largest 5K2K gaming monitor." In addition to its huge size, the G9 can run at a 240Hz refresh rate and offers a 1 millisecond gray-to-gray response rate. Visuals are supported by VESA DisplayHDR 600 and up to 95% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage.
LG has long done solid work on gaming monitors, and the G9 seems like a good choice for anyone who wants to be seriously immersed in their gameplay. Whether that's for a high-fidelity experience like Microsoft Flight Simulator or for having the maximum coziness in Stardew Valley is up to you.
Apple's touchscreen MacBook will reportedly have a dynamic interface
Apple's plan to add touchscreens to its premium MacBook Pros is coming into focus. Bloomberg reports that when the new laptops launch this fall, they'll feature a Dynamic Island, not unlike Apple's iPhones, and an interface that changes depending on where you touch your Macbook's screen.
This "dynamic interface" is reportedly designed to make the transition between mouse input and touch input smoother on Apple's new laptops. Bloomberg says that if users touch an onscreen button, the version of macOS running on these new MacBook Pros will be able to pull up a contextual menu "that provides more relevant options for touch commands." Parts of the interface, like macOS' menu bar, will also be able to enlarge to make menu items easier to select with a finger. Those tweaks are on top of the expected features from touchscreen Apple products, like smooth scrolling and the ability to pinch and zoom into and out of images, files and web pages. The only thing missing from these increasingly iPad-like laptops, per Bloomberg, will be a touchscreen keyboard, because they'll already have a more comfortable physical keyboard attached.
To make these new laptops extra enticing, both the 14-inch and 16-inch touchscreen MacBook Pros will feature OLED screens for the first time, likely the reason Apple will be able to include a Dynamic Island-style webcam in the first place. Up until now, the company has offered OLED screens on its iPhones, Apple Watches and more recently the iPad Pro, but it hasn't brought the display technology to laptops. That could reportedly change with these new MacBook Pros.
Plenty of Windows laptops include touchscreens, and Microsoft and its partners have incorporated dynamic interface elements in the past to make these touchscreens more natural to use with Windows. Apple is late to the party in this respect, but it's also potentially set up to succeed. Much of modern macOS already looks touch-friendly, and Apple's has expended significant effort making it possible to port touch-based iPad apps to macOS and develop applications across platforms. That, paired with the right interface, could make the experience of using a touchscreen MacBook nicer out of the box, even if it doesn't get rid of the awkwardness of reaching over your keyboard to touch a screen.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/apples-touchscreen-macbook-will-reportedly-have-a-dynamic-interface-231929456.html?src=rss1Password plans are getting more expensive soon
1Password is increasing prices for its individual and family plans. The individual rate is increasing from nearly $36 a year to $48, while the family option will cost $72 instead of $60. In emails sent to users, the business announced that the new rates will take effect for users at their next subscription renewal after March 27.
It's a sizable price hike, but 1Password hasn't been incrementally inching its fees higher every couple years like we see so often for streaming subscriptions. This is the biggest bump we've seen to its rates in several years, even though the company has been adding ever-more tools for cybersecurity, such as new phishing protections that rolled out last month. Even at the higher cost, it's still one of the best options out there for password management.
Fortunately for those on a budget, we have seen 1Password offer pretty substantial discounts on its plans at times, often cutting the rates by as much as half. The company usually participates in the big deal sprees like Black Friday, but keep an eye out for standalone sales that might pop up year-round.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/1password-plans-are-getting-more-expensive-soon-213236400.html?src=rssDiscord delays age verification to address user concerns
Earlier this month, Discord said it would be enacting an age verification policy. The platform faced some initial concerns from users about turning over their IDs and personal information, particularly given how poorly similar policies have been going elsewhere. Discord announced today it will delay and make some changes to its plans in response to the ongoing backlash.
The first change is that Discord is postponing the global rollout of its age verification plans until the second half of 2026. The company noted that it would meet its legal obligations in places where they exist, likely in those countries that have national laws requiring protections for younger users. But it will not begin the global rollout until it makes some amendments to the offerings.
Discord will offer more alternatives to how users can confirm their ages, including verification by credit card. That should allow people to access age-gated content without sharing an ID or performing a face scan. "If you're among the less than 10 percent of users who do need to verify, we'll give you options, designed to tell us only your age and never your identity," according to a blog post credited to co-founder and CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy.
The company is also promising more transparency about its vendors for these verification services and their practices. Discord said that it will not work with any partners for face scans unless the tests are performed completely on-device. The blog post noted that Persona, one of the common vendors for facial age estimation services, does not meet that standard and Discord has opted not to work with the brand.
Finally, Discord is also building a new spoiler channel option so that servers with select age-restricted channels won't have to require all members to verify their ages. It will also publish a technical explainer on its own automatic age determination systems.
We at Engadget have own worries about the wave of age verification laws happening both within the US and globally, but it's somewhat encouraging to see a digital platform at least trying to continue to deliver anonymity while still creating effective protections for teens.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/discord-delays-age-verification-to-address-user-concerns-205500482.html?src=rssThe Pentagon has reportedly given Anthropic until Friday to let it use Claude as it sees fit
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will reportedly give Anthropic until Friday to drop certain guardrails for military use, as reported by Axios. The outlet also reported that CEO Dario Amodei met with Hegseth yesterday as the Pentagon ratcheted up pressure on the AI company to give in to its demands.
The makers of Claude have reportedly been offered an ultimatum: Either yield to the government's demands to remove limits for certain military applications, or potentially be forced to tailor its AI model to the government's needs under the Defense Production Act.
Anthropic, for its part, has said that while it was willing to adopt certain policies for the Pentagon, it would not allow its model to be used for mass surveillance of Americans or for the development of autonomous weapons.
Claude is currently the only AI model employed in some of the government's most sensitive work. "The only reason we're still talking to these people is we need them and we need them now. The problem for these guys is they are that good," a defense official told Axios.
The Pentagon is reportedly ramping up conversations with OpenAI and Google about using their models for classified work. ChatGPT and Gemini are already approved for unclassified government use. Elon Musk's xAI also recently signed with the DoD to use Grok in classified systems.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/the-pentagon-has-reportedly-given-anthropic-until-friday-to-let-it-use-claude-as-it-sees-fit-203549467.html?src=rssGoogle sent an AI-generated push alert that included a racial slur
Google sent out an AI-generated news alert that included the N-word, according to reporting by Deadline. The push notification featured a link to a story by The Hollywood Reporter regarding an incident at the recent BAFTA Film Awards. The word appeared in the notification under the link.
This was first spotted by Instagram user Danny Price, who accompanied a screengrab with a caption reading "what an interesting Black History Month this has turned out to be." Google has since apologized and said that it has "removed the offensive notification" and is "working to prevent this from happening again."
This story follows the aforementioned BAFTA incident, in which an audience member with Tourette syndrome shouted the N-word when Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo took to the stage to present an award. Tourette syndrome activist John Davidson, who made the comment, said he was "deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intention or to carry any meaning." The incident has sparked outrage and a renewed discussion on the realities of living with vocal tics.
Asking for more grace for the person who shouted a racist slur instead of for Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, who had to push through being embarrassed in front of their peers.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) February 23, 2026
But that’s often the expectation — that Black people are just supposed to be ok with being… https://t.co/MqHbC8XwsA
AI makes lots of high-profile errors and this isn't the first time it has ruined a news alert. Apple actually scrapped its own AI push notifications last year when the tool made a series of embarrassing mistakes, including wrongly telling readers that the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Luigi Mangione, had shot himself.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-sent-an-ai-generated-push-alert-that-included-a-racial-slur-195951493.html?src=rssHere's the first teaser for A24's adaptation of The Backrooms
Three years after announcing plans to produce a film based on the viral YouTube short, The Backrooms (Found Footage) in 2023, A24 has released the first teaser for its adaptation. Backrooms, as the film is now called, is directed by the short's original creator, Kane Parsons, and will be released on May 29, 2026.
The teaser offers little to go on for anyone who hasn't watched the original short or the series of videos Parsons made after it, but it is replete with The Backrooms' hallmark: ominous liminal spaces. Layered over footage of stranger and stranger rooms (or perhaps one room becoming the platonic empty retail spaces popularized by short), the voice of Chiwetel Ejiofor tells the film's other star, Renate Reinsve, about a "place" he discovered that's full of rooms.
Parsons' original video is inspired by a creepypasta called "The Backrooms" that originated on the forum 4chan in 2019. The YouTube series expanded on the basic concept of a liminal space that exists outside reality with monsters and a mysterious company researching The Backrooms. It's unclear how much of that larger lore will be incorporated into the feature film adaptation, but since the teaser is missing the digital video filter that gave the YouTube short its distinct look, it seems possible Parsons could be going for something a bit different. Well that, and the fact the film stars two Oscar-nominated actors.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/heres-the-first-teaser-for-a24s-adaptation-of-the-backrooms-194300513.html?src=rssWaymo will start offering robotaxi rides in four more cities
Waymo had set out some big plans for expanding its autonomous vehicle taxi program across the US in 2025 and it appears to be continuing that pace into 2026. Today, the company announced that the first public riders can begin using its fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando.
To start, these robotaxi rides will only be available for a small number of people with the Waymo app in those cities. "We will be inviting new riders on a rolling basis to ensure a seamless experience across our initial service areas, as we meaningfully scale our operations ahead of opening our service to everyone later this year," the company said in the blog post announcing the expansion.
Google-owned Waymo is now operating in ten commercial metro areas. It announced its plans to start testing its vehicles in these four US cities in November. The company also began a test phase in Miami at that time, and Waymo's robotaxi service began accepting riders in that locale in January.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/waymo-will-start-offering-robotaxi-rides-in-four-more-cities-192841871.html?src=rssSony reveals the Death Stranding 2 required PC specs
We're less than a month from the availability of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach on PC, and today Sony released the required specs. Despite designer Hideo Kojima being known for spectacle in his projects, the minimum specs are quite reasonable.
The low graphics preset runs on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 or AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB, and that will give players average performance of 1080p at 30 frames per second, which is rough but at least makes the game available for players who haven’t upgraded in awhile. Intel Core i3-10100 or AMD Ryzen 3 3100 are the recommended GPUs for that graphics tier. As is typical for PC gaming, though, the higher end performance options will require beefier internals.
This port of Death Stranding 2 will also boast a few firsts. The title will mark the debut of Pico as an upscaling option on PC. This upscaler was made by Guerilla Games and was also used for the Death Stranding sequel on the PlayStation 5. The game will also be adding support for ultrawide views. The cutscenes can be viewed in a 21:9 aspect ration and gameplay can be displayed at 32:9. This option will be available for both PC and the PS5 versions of the game, and an ultrawide monitor won't be required to enable this view option.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/sony-reveals-the-death-stranding-2-required-pc-specs-184411856.html?src=rssSomeone made an app to warn you if smart glasses are nearby
A new app will notify users if smart glasses are likely nearby. The aptly named Nearby Glasses was developed in response to media coverage outlining how glasses like Meta's Ray-Bans have been used to film people without their consent.
As first reported by 404 Media, the app detects the unique Bluetooth signature emitted by smart glasses and sends a push alert that someone wearing the device may potentially be nearby. “I consider it to be a tiny part of resistance against surveillance tech,” the app's developer Yves Jeanrenaud told 404 Media.
Smart glasses have sparked increased privacy concerns, especially as Meta is reportedly working to add facial recognition technology to its Meta Ray-Bans. OpenAI is also reported to have a pair of smart glasses in the works. It bears mentioning that false positives may occur, including from VR headsets.
Nearby Glasses is currently available on the Google Play Store and GitHub.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/someone-made-an-app-to-warn-you-if-smart-glasses-are-nearby-183359723.html?src=rssiPhone Fold rumors: Everything we know right now, including the leaked design, upgrades, price and more
Apple still hasn’t revealed a foldable iPhone, but the steady drip of leaks suggests the project is moving closer to reality. Over the past few months, analysts and supply-chain watchers have continued to fill in key details, with most reports still pointing to a launch sometime in the second half of 2026. While Apple hasn’t confirmed anything publicly, the overall picture is starting to look more consistent.
As always, plans for unreleased Apple hardware can change at any time. Features may shift, timelines can slip and some prototypes may never ship. Even so, recent reporting gives us the clearest sense yet of how Apple’s first foldable could take shape and where it might fit in the broader iPhone lineup.
Below, we’ve rounded up the most credible rumors so far, and we’ll keep this guide updated as new details emerge.
When could the iPhone Fold launch?
Rumors of a foldable iPhone date back as far as 2017, but more recent reporting suggests Apple has finally locked onto a realistic window. Most sources now point to fall 2026, likely alongside the iPhone 18 lineup, with some supply-chain hints suggesting mass production could begin in mid-2026 if development stays on track.
Mark Gurman has gone back and forth on timing, initially suggesting Apple could launch “as early as 2026,” before later writing that the device would ship at the end of 2026 and sell primarily in 2027. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also repeatedly cited the second half of 2026 as Apple’s target.
Some reports still claim the project could slip into 2027 if Apple runs into manufacturing or durability issues, particularly around the hinge or display. Given Apple’s history of delaying products that it feels aren’t ready, that remains a real possibility.
What will the iPhone Fold look like?
Current consensus suggests Apple has settled on a book-style foldable design, similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold series, rather than a clamshell flip phone.
When unfolded, the iPhone Fold is expected to resemble a small tablet like the iPad mini (8.3 inches). Based on the rumor mill, though, the iPhone Fold may be a touch smaller, with an internal display measuring around 7.7 to 7.8 inches. When closed, it should function like a conventional smartphone, with an outer display in the 5.5-inch range.
CAD leaks and alleged case-maker molds suggest the device may be shorter and wider than a standard iPhone when folded, creating a squarer footprint that better matches the aspect ratio of the inner display. Several reports have also pointed to the iPhone Air as a potential preview of Apple’s foldable design work, with its unusually thin chassis widely interpreted as a look at what one half of a future foldable iPhone could resemble.
If that theory holds, it could help explain the Fold’s rumored dimensions. Thickness is expected to land around 4.5 to 4.8mm when unfolded, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, putting it in a similar range to the iPhone Air, and roughly 9 to 9.5mm when folded, depending on the final hinge design and internal layering.
Display and the crease question
The display is arguably the biggest challenge for any foldable phone, and it’s an area where Apple appears to have invested years of development.
Multiple reports say Apple will rely on Samsung Display as its primary supplier. At CES 2026, Samsung showcased a new crease-less foldable OLED panel, which several sources — including Bloomberg — suggested could be the same technology Apple plans to use.
According to these reports, the panel combines a flexible OLED with a laser-drilled metal support plate that disperses stress when folding. The goal is a display with a nearly invisible crease, something Apple reportedly considers essential before entering the foldable market.
If Apple does use this panel, it would mark a notable improvement over current foldables, which still show visible creasing under certain lighting conditions.
Cameras and biometrics
Camera rumors suggest Apple is planning a four-camera setup. That may include:
Two rear cameras (main and ultra-wide, both rumored at 48MP)
One punch-hole camera on the outer display
One under-display camera on the inner screen
Several sources claim Apple will avoid Face ID entirely on the iPhone Fold. Instead, it’s expected to rely on Touch ID built into the power button, similar to recent iPad models. This would allow Apple to keep both displays free of notches or Dynamic Island cutouts.
Under-display camera technology has historically produced lower image quality, but a rumored 24MP sensor would be a significant step up compared to existing foldables, which typically use much lower-resolution sensors.
iPhone Fold’s hinge and materials
The hinge is another area where Apple may diverge from competitors. Multiple reports claim Apple will use Liquidmetal, which is a long-standing trade name for a metallic glass alloy the company has previously used in smaller components. While often referred to as “liquid metal” or “Liquid Metal” in reports, Liquidmetal is the branding Apple has historically associated with the material.
Liquidmetal is said to be stronger and more resistant to deformation than titanium, while remaining relatively lightweight. If accurate, this could help improve long-term durability and reduce wear on the foldable display.
Leaks from Jon Prosser also reference a metal plate beneath the display that works in tandem with the hinge to minimize creasing — a claim that aligns with reporting from Korean and Chinese supply-chain sources.
Battery and other components
Battery life is another potential differentiator. According to Ming-Chi Kuo and multiple Asian supply-chain reports, Apple is testing high-density battery cells in the 5,000 to 5,800mAh range.
That would make it the largest battery ever used in an iPhone, and competitive with (or larger than) batteries in current Android foldables. The device is also expected to use a future A-series chip and Apple’s in-house modem, with some reports pointing specifically to a next-generation C2 modem as part of Apple’s broader push to reduce reliance on Qualcomm.
Price
None of this will come cheap, that’s for certain. Nearly every report agrees that the iPhone Fold will be Apple’s most expensive iPhone ever.
Estimates currently place the price between $2,000 and $2,500 in the US. Bloomberg has said the price will be “at least $2,000,” while other analysts have narrowed the likely range to around $2,100 and $2,300. That positions the iPhone Fold well above the iPhone Pro Max and closer to Apple’s high-end Macs and iPads.
Despite years of rumors, there’s still plenty that remains unclear. Apple hasn’t confirmed the name “iPhone Fold,” final dimensions, software features or how iOS would adapt to a folding form factor. Durability, repairability and long-term reliability are also open questions. For now, the safest assumption is that Apple is taking its time and that many of these details could still change before launch.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/iphone-fold-rumors-everything-we-know-right-now-including-the-leaked-design-upgrades-price-and-more-130000733.html?src=rssMarvel's Wolverine will hit PS5 on September 15
As spicy as the PlayStation State of Play that took place a couple of weeks ago was overall, there was one major first-party game that was notably absent from the showcase: Marvel’s Wolverine. Insomniac Games’ latest superhero blockbuster was already slated for a fall release and now the studio has revealed exactly when you’ll be able to get your claws on it. Marvel’s Wolverine is coming to PS5 on September 15.
That’s it. That’s the announcement. There’s no new trailer to accompany the news, other than a six-second release date reveal video that popped up on YouTube. Insomniac previously said it would reveal more details about Marvel’s Wolverine this spring.
Technically, this release date means that Marvel’s Wolverine will debut in the last week of summer rather than in the fall. Still, it’s one of the relatively few blockbuster games you can expect in the tail end of this year because many major developers and publishers will be staying well clear of GTA VI.
Insomniac’s game will have a couple of months of breathing room before GTA VI soaks up all of the air in the gaming world when it arrives on November 19 — assuming Rockstar doesn’t announce another delay. However, parent company Take-Two plans to rev up its marketing machine for the game this summer, so it’s looking like GTA VI’s release date will hold this time.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/marvels-wolverine-will-hit-ps5-on-september-15-175500927.html?src=rssFor All Mankind's latest trailer teases a war on Mars
Apple just dropped a full trailer for the fifth season of its hit sci-fi show For All Mankind. This is the first real look at the upcoming batch of episodes, which premiere on March 27. We got an extremely short teaser trailer last month but that only showed a guy on a motorcycle riding across Mars.
This is the first real-deal trailer and it's absolutely stuffed with footage indicating where the next season will take viewers. I'm going to get into some spoilers here, so read at your own risk.
For the uninitiated, For All Mankind is an alternate history show that started with a simple premise. What if Russia landed on the moon before America? That has since ballooned into all kinds of stuff which include, as mentioned above, a potential war on Mars.
For All Mankind is a show famous for its time jumps, and season five takes us all the way to an alternate version of 2012. Many of the show's original surviving characters are still kicking around, but they are old as paste and not exactly fit for high-octane space travel. Remember, the first episode started in the 1960s. Franchise lead Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnamen) looks particularly dusty.
Much of the footage features newer characters, including the grandson of Baldwin. Season four ended with a Mars colony asserting its independence via asteroid theft. Now it looks like Earth is striking back, which could lead to a full-scale war. This is giving me The Expanse vibes, which is never a bad thing.
The show must be clocking good numbers for Apple TV+, as the streamer recently announced a spinoff called Star City. Details are scant, but it looks to cover similar events of the mainline show from Russia's perspective.
New episodes of For All Mankind air each Friday. This season will feature ten episodes and concludes on May 29.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/for-all-mankinds-latest-trailer-teases-a-war-on-mars-174822481.html?src=rssReddit fined $19.6 million over age verification checks in the UK
A common theme in online age verification laws is the tension between user privacy and preventing children from accessing harmful or inappropriate content. Now the UK is sending a not-so-subtle message to Reddit on the subject, to the tune of £14.5m ($19.6 million). The nation's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) accused the company of using children’s data and potentially exposing them to inappropriate content.
“Children under 13 had their personal information collected and used in ways they could not understand, consent to or control,” UK Information Commissioner John Edwards wrote in a statement. “That left them potentially exposed to content they should not have seen. This is unacceptable and has resulted in today’s fine.”
In July 2025, Reddit began requiring age verification to access adult content in the UK, in compliance with the Online Safety Act. However, that's only used to block under-18 users from sexually explicit, violent or other mature posts. The platform also prohibits users under 13 from accessing it altogether — and enforcement of that policy is lax. It merely requires users to declare, when signing up, that they're over 13. The ICO (accurately) described the method as "easy to bypass."
In its defense, Reddit told the BBC that it "didn't require users to share information about their identities, regardless of age, because we are deeply committed to their privacy and safety." The company said it would appeal the decision. "The ICO's insistence that we collect more private information on every UK user is counterintuitive and at odds with our strong belief in our users' online privacy and safety," the spokesperson added.
"It's concerning that a company the size of Reddit failed in its legal duty to protect the personal information of UK children," Edwards said. "Companies operating online services likely to be accessed by children have a responsibility to protect those children by ensuring they’re not exposed to risks through the way their data is used. To do this, they need to be confident they know the age of their users and have appropriate, effective age assurance measures in place.”
“Reddit failed to meet these expectations,” he added. “They must do better, and we are continuing to consider the age assurance controls now implemented by the platform.” The ICO also accused Reddit of failing to conduct a data protection impact assessment by January 2025.
The Guardian notes that the £14.5m fine is the third-largest handed down by the ICO. It trails only a £20m fine for British Airways involving a data breach disclosure and an £18.4m penalty for Marriott Hotels for exposing over 300 million customer records in a hack.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/reddit-fined-196-million-over-age-verification-checks-in-the-uk-173705048.html?src=rssGoogle claims it's building data centers that barely use any water
Google is building another data center in Texas and says this one will use "advanced air-cooling technology" to limit water consumption. Google is claiming that water use will be limited to "critical campus operations" like kitchens.
These specifics follow the previously announced two-year $40 billion investment the company has pledged in the Lone Star State. The company is also touting some 7,800 megawatts of net energy generation and capacity it has contracted with utility providers to add to the Texas grid.
The company's resource-conscious commitments come as communities nationwide are pushing back on data center construction, amid concerns that they are raising electric bills, worsening global greenhouse gas emissions and often using gargantuan amounts of fresh water. But don't worry, because OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says the water concerns are "fake" and that "it also takes a lot of energy to train a human."
A growing number of voices in tech, most notably Tesla CEO Elon Musk, have said that building data centers in space would address many of these concerns. But some experts believe the potential environmental downside could be devastating.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-claims-its-building-data-centers-that-barely-use-any-water-171411965.html?src=rssYouTube's Premium Lite tier gets background play and downloads
YouTube is adding new features to its Premium Lite plan. The tier will offer background play and downloads for the mostly ad-free plan. The update comes a year after YouTube first launched the lower-cost plan.
The Premium Lite tier is notable because for $8 per month you get most videos ad-free, emphasis on most. Currently, it still uses ads for YouTube music (along with random other videos), but the new update is bringing more Premium tier features without the $14 per month price tag.
As a Lite user, you will be able to use background play on most videos. Notably, this announcement comes less than a month after Google cracked down on free workarounds to access background play on YouTube. "Background playback is a feature intended to be exclusive for YouTube Premium members. While some non-Premium users may have previously been able to access this through mobile web browsers in certain scenarios, we have updated the experience to ensure consistency across all our platforms," Google told Android Authority. Now, it's for Premium Lite users as well.
YouTube Premium Lite users are also getting access to downloads. They can watch — here it comes again — most videos offline. These new features will roll out starting today and in the coming weeks to Premium Lite subscribers.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/youtubes-premium-lite-tier-gets-background-play-and-downloads-170051755.html?src=rssBlizzard finally revealed its long-rumored Overwatch mobile game
Blizzard is finally bringing Overwatch to mobile devices, but not exactly in the way you think. The company isn't making a port of the mainline game. Rather, it just announced a spinoff called Overwatch Rush, which is being described as a "top-down hero shooter designed specifically for mobile set in the Overwatch universe."
There have been rumors about an Overwatch mobile game for what seems like a lifetime. Most people assumed this would appear as a straight port, but a brand-new game is also great. It's not being developed by Team 4, the group that works on the mainline game, but is being made internally.
Overwatch Rush features many of the heroes of Overwatch battling on familiar-looking maps, according to a gameplay video. The game offers 4v4 matches, though the characters are more cartoonish and stylized than the mainline game. This is likely to accommodate smaller screens and the top-down view.
This is a mobile game, so the battles are described as "bite-sized" and the controls are touchscreen-based. Blizzard says it's still in the early stages of development but that it's going to offer "fast-paced, on-the-go play, with hero-centric combat and playstyle customization that suits both team and solo players."
Overwatch Rush will be playable soon, as part of a beta testing process. It'll be free to play and available for both Android and iOS whenever the full game is ready to go.
Blizzard says that a "new, separate, dedicated team" will be "focused exclusively" on Overwatch Rush. That's industry code for "we aren't draining resources from the main game to make the mobile spinoff." Oddly, the company recently held a series of panels to discuss the future of its franchises and didn't mention this mobile game.
This isn't the company's first foray into mobile game development. It's had a hand in stuff like Diablo Immortal and Warcraft Rumble.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/blizzard-finally-revealed-its-long-rumored-overwatch-mobile-game-162938590.html?src=rssNetflix, Disney+ and other major streaming services face stricter UK oversight
Netflix, Disney+, Amazon's Prime Video and other major video on-demand (VOD) streaming services are set to face stricter regulation in the UK. Platforms with a monthly average of more than 500,000 UK viewers will be deemed “Tier 1" services that are subject to similar oversight as broadcasters like the BBC and ITV under the eye of media watchdog Ofcom.
Streaming services run by public broadcasters like ITVX and Channel 4 will have to abide by the new rules as well. BBC services such as iPlayer are exempt for now as they’re regulated under the Broadcasting Code, which broadcasters have to adhere to. That said, the UK government plans to update the BBC Framework Agreement so that iPlayer is regulated in the same way as Netflix et al.
The government said the new rules will reflect changes in how people are watching TV. It claimed that 85 percent of people use an on-demand service every month while 67 percent watch live TV. It added that two-thirds of UK households subscribe to at least one of Netflix, Prime Video and Disney.
According to Variety, the rules will not apply to video-sharing platforms such as YouTube, since those are regulated under the Online Safety Act. However, individual channels on such platforms could be subject to the VOD standards code.
Tier 1 platforms will have to adhere to regulations regarding accuracy and impartiality, while ensuring they shield audiences from “harmful or offensive" material. Ofcom will be able to accept viewer complaints over apparent breaches of such rules and carry out investigations. The watchdog will then be able to take action if it determines that there's been a breach of the VOD standards code. That includes fines of up to £250,000 ($337,000) or five percent of "qualifying revenue" per breach.
A public consultation will help shape the VOD standards code. The public and streaming services will have the chance to weigh in on what the rules should be. The standards code will then come into force a year after Ofcom publishes it. The government says "more than 20" platforms will be subject to the code as things stand.
Separately, a VOD accessibility code will be established to bring streaming services further into line with broadcasters. Tier 1 streaming platforms will have to ensure that at least 80 percent of their total catalogues are subtitled, 10 percent have audio descriptions and five percent is signed. They'll have four years to meet the requirements of the accessibility code.
"With UK audiences increasingly favoring on-demand platforms over live TV, we want to ensure that no one is left behind, and that everyone can enjoy the huge range of content available on video-on-demand services," Media Minister Ian Murray said in a statement. "Implementing a new Ofcom-regulated accessibility code for our largest video-on-demand services will give people with disabilities impacting their sight or hearing peace of mind that they’ll be able to stream all their favorite films and TV shows long into the future."
The UK government is implementing these rules for streaming services under the Media Act 2024. Currently, platforms including Prime Video, Disney+, Paramount+, Discovery+, Hayu and ITVX are subject to statutory rules that Ofcom enforces. However, the watchdog has no oversight of Netflix as things stand. That platform's European base is in the Netherlands. As such, the Dutch media regulator oversees Netflix instead.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/netflix-disney-and-other-major-streaming-services-face-stricter-uk-oversight-160121268.html?src=rss