Amazon is reportedly planning to re-enter the smartphone market more than 10 years after its last attempt. According to a Reuters report, the mysterious phone is internally codenamed “Transformer” and is being developed by the company’s devices and services unit.

There isn’t a whole lot to go on right now, but it probably won’t surprise many to learn that the phone will likely lean heavily on AI. According to Reuters’ sources, Alexa functionality would be a core part of the experience, but Amazon wouldn’t necessarily build a custom OS around its voice assistant. The phone would make buying products on Amazon and using services like Prime Music and Prime Video “easier than ever,” and may bypass traditional app stores.

Reuters reports that the Transformer project is being led by the recently established ZeroOne, an Amazon devices unit headed up by ex-Microsoft executive and Xbox co-founder J Allard, who was also one of the creators of Zune. Allard joined Amazon last year to lead a “a special projects team dedicated to inventing breakthrough consumer product categories.”

The development team has reportedly considered launching both a traditional smartphone and a so-called “dumbphone,” which would presumably strip away anything that needlessly distracted you from the Amazon empire. Reuters’ anonymous sources suggest the latter could help combat screen addiction by offering fewer features.

ZeroOne is apparently inspired by the ultra-minimalist Light Phone, suggesting that Amazon might be reluctant to take on the flagship devices of Apple and Samsung. The report adds that the Transformer phone could even be positioned as a secondary handset.

This, of course, would not be Amazon’s first crack at the smartphone business. The company launched the Fire Phone in 2014, an ambitious and interesting device that ultimately failed to tempt people away from the more established smartphone ecosystems. It’s widely remembered as perhaps the company’s biggest hardware misstep.

With analysts forecasting an unprecedented decline in the smartphone market in 2026, now seems like a risky time for Amazon to try again, and Reuters was unable to determine exactly how much the company has committed to the Transformer project. Sources also wouldn’t rule out it being scrapped altogether if the company’s priorities suddenly shifted.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/amazon-is-reportedly-working-on-a-new-phone-built-around-alexa-142244500.html?src=rss

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The Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 launched in February 2025 at $249.99, putting them in direct competition with the AirPods Pro 2. They’re currently down to $99.99 on Woot—a $150 drop, or about 60% off—and the lowest price recorded so far, according to price trackers. The deal is expected to last three days or until the stock runs out. Shipping is free for Prime members (or $6 otherwise), but Woot does not deliver to Alaska, Hawaii, or P.O. box addresses.

Beats Powerbeats Pro 2

$99.99

$249.99
Save $150.00

$99.99

$249.99
Save $150.00

These are built for workouts first, and you can feel that in the design. The nickel-titanium alloy ear hooks curve around your ears and stay put, whether you’re running, lifting, or just moving around a lot, without that rigid, over-tight feeling some sports earbuds have. Plus, you get four ear tip sizes, which help create a proper seal for active noise cancellation and better sound. There’s also a transparency mode, which is useful if you run outdoors and need to hear traffic. As for the controls, the Powerbeats 2 Pro have physical buttons on each earbud, which makes them easier to use mid-workout when your hands are sweaty. They’re rated IPX4, so sweat or a bit of rain isn’t going to be an issue.

Getting them up and running is straightforward, and if you want a step-by-step walkthrough, Lifehacker has a detailed guide that covers how to set up and fine-tune every feature on the Powerbeats Pro 2. Sound-wise, they lean toward a punchier, bass-forward profile, which works well if your playlists are heavy on hip-hop or electronic music, but might feel a little too thumpy if you prefer something flatter. And since there’s no equalizer, you’re stuck with the default tuning.

The heart rate tracking sounds like a nice bonus, but it doesn’t always stay consistent, especially if your phone is juggling music and workout apps at the same time, according to our senior health editor, Beth Skwarecki. On the plus side, you get around eight to 10 hours on a single charge, and the case stretches that to roughly 45 hours, so you’re not constantly thinking about battery life.

Following discussions first reported on earlier this year, ByteDance has agreed to sell its games unit Moonton to Savvy Games Group for $6 billion. Moonton is known for mobile titles popular in Asia like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, which has been downloaded 1.5 billion times. The transaction is set to be finalized in the “near future,” according to an internal memo from Moonton’s CEO seen by Bloomberg. 

ByteDance has been winding down its gaming arm and shopping Moonton since 2023, just two years after it first acquired the developer. Around that same period, the TikTok parent was shuttering its Nuverse gaming arm, which published notable titles like Marvel Snap and Ragnarok X: Next Generation. The company has since shifted its focus to AI, competing with Chinese rivals to develop chatbots and foundational models. 

Savvy Games, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), has been going in the opposite direction. Last year the company (via its subsidiary Scopely) acquired Pokémon Go developer Niantic for $3.5 billion. PIF was also among the key investors that purchased Electronic Arts in a blockbuster $55 billion deal last year. The Saudi fund holds a 7.5 percent stake in Nintendo as well.  

The sale is the latest chapter in the recent gaming industry consolidation that saw around 45,000 jobs lost in a brutal three-year period between 2022 and 2025. According to a recent GDC study, one-third of US video game industry workers were laid off over the last two years. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/bytedance-is-selling-its-moonton-game-unit-to-savvy-games-for-a-cool-6-billion-124131595.html?src=rss

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Apple’s MagSafe Duo Charger has always been a bit of a specific-use accessory, but this drop to $79 makes it easier to justify if you live inside Apple’s ecosystem. That price is the lowest tracked so far (according to online price trackers), down from its usual $129 on Amazon and below its previous low of $89. The deal is live on Woot for the next three days or until it sells out. Shipping is free for Prime members; otherwise, it’s a $6 fee, and Woot won’t ship to Alaska, Hawaii, or P.O. boxes.

Apple MagSafe Duo Charger

Wireless Charger Compatible with iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch.

$79.00
at Woot

$129.00
Save $50.00

$79.00
at Woot

$129.00
Save $50.00

The charger is split into two pads joined by a hinge. One side snaps your iPhone into place with MagSafe, saving you from fiddling to find the right position, especially on a bedside table where you might reach for your phone half-asleep and want it to line up again without fuss. The other side handles your Apple Watch and can double as a flat pad for AirPods or any Qi-compatible device. It’s the kind of setup that works best at the end of a long day. You drop your phone and watch on it, and you’re done. The whole thing folds into a small square, so it’s easy to carry if you travel or just don’t want cables everywhere, notes this PCMag review.

That said, this is not a full charging kit—Apple includes a USB-C to Lightning cable in the box, but you’ll need to buy a 20W USB-C power adapter separately to get the intended charging speeds. Charging is also slower than plugging your phone in, so this is more of an overnight solution than something you rely on during the day. You also have space for only two devices, which feels limiting if you’re trying to charge multiple items at once. And unlike newer charging stands, this doesn’t prop your phone up for notifications or standby mode.

NVIDIA started an online firestorm this week when it announced DLSS 5 at its GTC conference. The company claims it’s meant to deliver “photorealistic” lighting and materials in games by using neural processing. But it differs considerably from previous versions of DLSS, which were focused on using machine learning to upscale lower resolutions and generate additional frames, and gamers online aren’t too happy. To help us break this down, Anshel Sag, VP and principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy joins us to discuss his experience with NVIDIA’s DLSS 5 demos. Also, we dive into what’s next for Xbox with Project Helix.

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• NVIDIA announced DLSS 5, the disgust was immediate (with Anshel Sag from Moor Insights & Strategy) – 0:51

• Arizona attorney general sues Kalshi for operating an illegal gambling business – 36:22

• Polymarket users threaten the life of a reporter at The Times of Israel over accurate reporting – 36:59

• Apple announces AirPods Max 2 with improved noise cancellation – 44:33

• Elon Musk’s xAI faces class action suit over facilitating CSAM dsitribution – 47:38

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/engadget-podcast-why-does-everyone-hate-nvidias-dlss-5-ai-upscaling-121335918.html?src=rss

Blue Origin has revealed its plans for an orbital AI data center system in a new filing with the Federal Communications Commission. The company has asked the agency for permission to deploy 51,600 satellites, as reported by the Wall Street Journal and SpaceNews. Called Project Sunrise, the initiative aims to launch and operate a constellation of satellites that can deliver computing capacity for artificial intelligence uses.

Project Sunrise’s satellites will be placed in sun-synchronous orbits at altitudes between 311 and 1,118 miles. Each layer in the constellation will have between 300 to 1,000 satellites and will be approximately 3 to 6 miles apart. In its filing, Blue Origin said the constellation would complement terrestrial data centers.

The satellites will, of course, will be fitted with solar panels to be able to gather energy from the sun. Blue Origin explained that the orbital AI data center will lower the “marginal cost of compute capacity compared to terrestrial alternatives,” because the satellites will be powered by the sun, won’t need land and won’t need grid infrastructure. Project Sunrise will “enable US companies developing and using AI to flourish, accelerating breakthroughs in machine learning, autonomous systems and predictive analytics,” Blue Origin added.

By filing its request with the FCC, Blue Origin has officially joined SpaceX in the list of companies looking to build an AI data center in space. In January, SpaceX asked the FCC for permission to deploy 1 million satellites for its constellation. The company justified at the time that “orbital data centers are the most efficient way to meet the accelerating demand for AI computing power.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/blue-origin-also-wants-to-put-ai-data-centers-in-space-115614142.html?src=rss

Welcome to Edition 8.34 of the Rocket Report! The most important significant news this week, I believe, is the decision by Canada to make a serious investment in launch infrastructure at a spaceport in Nova Scotia. Tensions have risen between the United States and Canada of late (for reasons which are baffling to this author, who has always had an affinity for the nation to our north), and as a result Canada is seeking launch independence. This is an important start, but it will require a sustained, long-term commitment to really develop a flourishing launch industry.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don’t want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Canada makes major commitment to space launch. The country’s leading minister of national defense, David J. McGuinty, announced on Monday a $200 million investment in “core infrastructure” for a spaceport in Nova Scotia. The investment is a 10‑year, $200 million agreement to lease a dedicated space‑launch pad that will serve as the central foundation for a multi-user spaceport near Canso, Nova Scotia. The facility is operated by Maritime Launch Services.

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The film adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel Project Hail Mary hits general release today, March 20, and it’s great—go see it! Though a little light on the science, the movie goes hard on the relationship between schoolteacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) and an extraterrestrial named Rocky, and it’s a ride well worth taking.

But as good as it is, the movie shares a small flaw with the book: Despite having very few things in common, Grace and Rocky learn to communicate with each other extremely quickly. In fact, Grace and Rocky begin conversing in abstracts (concepts like “I like this” and “friendship”) in even less time than it takes in the book. Obviously, there are practical narrative reasons for this choice—you can’t have a good buddy movie if your buddies can’t talk to each other. It’s therefore critical to the flow of the story to get that talking happening as soon as possible, but it can still be a little jarring for the technically minded viewer who was hoping for the acquisition of language to be treated with a little more complexity.

And because this is Ars Technica, we’re doing the same thing we did when the book came out: talking with Dr. Betty Birner, a former professor of linguistics at NIU (now retired), to pick her brain about cognition, pragmatics, cooperation, and what it would actually ake for two divergently evolved sapient beings not just to gesture and pantomime but to truly communicate. And this time, we’ll hear from Andy Weir, too. So buckle up, dear readers—things are gonna get nerdy.

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BrianFagioli writes: Opera GX has officially landed on Linux, bringing its gamer-focused browser experience to Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, and openSUSE-based systems. The browser includes GX Control for limiting RAM and network usage, a Hot Tabs Killer to shut down resource-heavy tabs, and built-in sidebar integrations for Discord and Twitch. Opera says this is not just a one-off port, but a long-term effort with ongoing updates and community engagement. “PC gaming has long been associated with a single dominant platform, but that’s changing,” says Maciej Kocemba, Product Director at Opera GX. “Bringing GX to Linux users — who are renowned for the control they like to exert over their tools — means gamers and developers can manage browser resources, customize their setup, and keep their system performing exactly the way they want.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.