It’s been nearly three years now since Destiny maker (and Sony subsidiary) Bungie formally announced a revival of the storied Marathon FPS franchise. And it has been about seven months since the game’s original announced release date of September 23, 2025 was pushed back indefinitely after a reportedly poor response to the game’s first Alpha test.

But today, in a post on the PlayStation Blog, Bungie revealed that the new Marathon would finally be hitting PS5, Windows, and Xbox Series X|S on March 5, narrowing down the month-long March release window announced back in December.

Unlike Destiny 2, which transitioned to a free-to-play model in 2019, the new Marathon sells for $40 in a Standard Edition or a $60 Deluxe Edition that includes some digital rewards and cosmetics. That mirrors the pricing of the somewhat similar Arc Raiders, which recently hit 12 million sales in less than 12 weeks.

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With the spring approaching, it’s time to start thinking about how you’ll file your taxes. Unfortunately, with the recent demise of Direct File, there isn’t a free, government-provided alternative to TurboTax in 2026, and you’ll need to look to other federal programs, including IRS Free File, to file your paperwork. If you don’t qualify for Free File, chances are you’ll need to dish out cash for Intuit’s software. And while we hate to suggest you give money to a company that has spent decades lobbying to ensure America’s tax system remains a nightmare, we can at least save you some money if TurboTax is your only option.

Right now, Amazon has discounted the deluxe desktop edition of TurboTax by 44 percent. That gets you $35 off software that normally costs $80, which you can use to file both your individual state and federal taxes. For most Americans, that should cover their needs, though if you’re self-employed, you’ll need to pony up for the more expensive Business version of TurboTax, which is currently 42 percent off, or $54 off. One last thing to note: you’ll need a PC with either Windows 11 or macOS Sonoma to run the software, so an older machine won’t do, unfortunately.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/turbotax-deluxe-is-on-sale-for-45-ahead-of-tax-season-204848571.html?src=rss

The American monoculture — the era when three television networks, seven movie studios, and a handful of record labels determined virtually everything the country watched and heard — is collapsing under the weight of algorithmic recommendation engines and infinite streaming options. An estimated 200 million tickets were sold for “Gone With the Wind” in 1939 when the U.S. population was 130 million; more than 100 million people watched the MAS*H finale in 1983.

Only three American productions grossed more than $1 billion in 2025, down from nine in 2019. “That broad experience has become a more difficult thing for us studio people to manufacture,” said Donna Langley, chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment. “The audience wants a much better value for their money.”

YouTube became the most popular video platform on televisions not by having the hottest shows but by having something for everyone. The internet broke Hollywood’s hold on distribution; anyone can now stream to the same devices Disney and Netflix use.

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Asus won’t release any new smartphones this year, and that may signal the brand’s exit from the Android space altogether. From a report: Asus Chairman Jonney Shih confirmed the news at an event in Taiwan on Jan. 16. According to a machine-translated version of quotes reported by Inside, Shih said, “Asus will no longer add new mobile phone models in the future.”

Shih said Asus will continue to support existing smartphone users with software updates and warranty assistance. This matches a previous report from DigiTimes earlier this month that said Asus wouldn’t introduce new models in 2026. The big question is whether that means stepping back altogether or a temporary pause. In his speech, Shih alluded to the possibility that Asus may return to smartphones, but did not confirm it.

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Mac power users waiting on new high-end MacBook Pro models may have been disappointed last fall, when Apple released an M5 upgrade for the low-end 14-inch MacBook Pro without touching the M4 Pro or Max versions of the laptop. But the wait for M5 Pro and M5 Max models may be nearing its end.

The tea-leaf readers at MacRumors noticed that shipping times for a handful of high-end MacBook Pro configurations have slipped into mid-to-late February, rather than being available immediately as most Mac models are. This is often, though not always, a sign that Apple has slowed down or stopped production of an existing product in anticipation of an update.

Currently, the shipping delays affect the M4 Max versions of both the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros. If you order them today, these models will arrive sometime between February 3 and February 24, depending on the configuration you choose; many M4 Pro versions are still available for same-day shipping, though adding a nano-texture display or upgrading RAM can still add a week or so to the shipping time.

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Marathon, Bungie’s long-awaited extraction shooter, will arrive on March 5, the studio announced today. Alongside a definitive release date, Bungie shared a new gameplay trailer, in addition to details about the game’s forthcoming deluxe edition, which fans can pre-order today on Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. All versions of the game will support crossplay, meaning you’ll be able to play with your friends, no matter where they decide to buy Marathon.  

Sony, Bungie’s parent company, had previously committed to a March release for Marathon, but stopped short of sharing an exact date. News of that date leaked early Monday after Microsoft published the pre-order trailer you see above early.  Sony had originally planned to release Marathon in September 2025, but delayed the game indefinitely in June of last year after a mixed reception to its alpha and an admission Bungie had partially plagiarized some visual assets. It’s safe to say Marathon could decide the future of the studio. In November, Sony said Destiny 2 had not lived up to its expectations and wrote down the value of the studio’s assets by $204 million. This came after the company said it would take more direct control of Bungie.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/bungies-marathon-arrives-on-march-5-193808588.html?src=rss

A British painter who argued that her ex-husband had signed over their $2 million north London home through WhatsApp messages has lost her High Court appeal after the judge ruled that the sender’s name appearing in a chat header does not constitute a legal signature.

Hsiao-mei Lin, 54, presented messages from her former husband Audun Mar Gudmundsson, a financier, in which he stated he would transfer his share of their Tufnell Park property to her. Lin’s lawyers argued that because Gudmundsson’s name appeared in the message header on her phone, the messages should be considered signed.

Mr Justice Cawson disagreed, finding that the header identifying a sender is analogous to an email address added by a service provider — a mechanism for identification rather than part of the message itself. The judge also found the content of the messages did not actually amount to Gudmundsson relinquishing his share.

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Elon Musk is going for some substantial damages in his lawsuit accusing OpenAI of abandoning its nonprofit mission and “making a fool out of him” as an early investor.

On Friday, Musk filed a notice on remedies sought in the lawsuit, confirming that he’s seeking damages between $79 billion and $134 billion from OpenAI and its largest backer, co-defendant Microsoft.

Musk hired an expert he has never used before, C. Paul Wazzan, who reached this estimate by concluding that Musk’s early contributions to OpenAI generated 50 to 75 percent of the nonprofit’s current value. He got there by analyzing four factors: Musk’s total financial contributions before he left OpenAI in 2018, Musk’s proposed equity stake in OpenAI in 2017, Musk’s current equity stake in xAI, and Musk’s nonmonetary contributions to OpenAI (like investing time or lending his reputation).

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Microsoft appears to be preparing an ad-supported tier for Xbox Cloud Gaming that would let players stream games they’ve purchased digitally without needing a Game Pass subscription, according to a Windows Central report citing sources familiar with the plans. Users last week began noticing a new message pop up while launching cloud games that referenced “1 hour of ad supported play time per session,” though no such tier currently exists.

The ad-supported option, expected to launch sometime this year, would specifically target the hundreds of games available for digital purchase through Xbox Cloud Gaming — titles that currently require at least one tier of Game Pass to stream despite being owned outright by the player.

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An unconfirmed report early this month suggested Asus was pulling back on its smartphone plans, but the company declined to comment at the time. Asus chairman Jonney Shih has now confirmed the wind-down of its smartphone business during an event in Taiwan. Instead, Asus will focus on AI products like robots and smart glasses.

Shih addressed the company’s future plans during a 2026 kick-off event in Taiwan, as reported by Inside. “Asus will no longer add new mobile phone models in the future,” said Shih (machine translated).

So don’t expect a new Zenfone or ROG Phone from Asus in 2026. That said, very few phone buyers were keeping tabs on the latest Asus phones anyway, which is probably why Asus is throwing in the towel. Shih isn’t saying Asus won’t ever release a new phone, but the company will take an “indefinite wait-and-see” approach. Again, this is a translation and could be interpreted in multiple ways.

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