An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNN: A federal judge in California has indefinitely blocked the Pentagon’s effort to “punish” Anthropic by labeling it a supply chain risk and attempting to sever government ties with the AI company, ruling that those measures ran roughshod over its constitutional rights. “Nothing in the governing statute supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the U.S. for expressing disagreement with the government,” US District Judge Rita Lin wrote in a stinging 43-page ruling.

Lin, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, said she would delay implementation of her ruling for one week to allow the government to appeal. But in her ruling, she made it clear she disapproved of the government’s actions, which she said violated the company’s First Amendment and due process rights. […] “These broad measures do not appear to be directed at the government’s stated national security interests,” she wrote. “The Department of War’s records show that it designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk because of its ‘hostile manner through the press.'” “Punishing Anthropic for bringing public scrutiny to the government’s contracting position is classic illegal First Amendment retaliation,” she added. “We’re grateful to the court for moving swiftly, and pleased they agree Anthropic is likely to succeed on the merits,” an Anthropic spokesperson said after the ruling. “While this case was necessary to protect Anthropic, our customers, and our partners, our focus remains on working productively with the government to ensure all Americans benefit from safe, reliable AI.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

After more than a decade of flirting with the idea, Apple has finally discontinued the Mac Pro tower. The company confirmed to 9to5Mac that the latest Mac Pro iteration—an M2 Ultra model first released in mid-2023—would be its last, at least for the time being. There are no plans to make another Mac Pro.

The discontinuation of the Mac Pro should come as no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention. Reporting from late last year suggested that the Mac Pro had been put “on the back burner,” but the desktop has clearly been in danger of falling off the stove since at least the mid-2010s, during the six-year period where the controversial cylindrical “trash can” Mac Pro design languished without updates.

Apple briefly rededicated itself to its pro desktop in 2019 with a new design that hearkened back to more versatile, upgradeable, be-handled versions of the Power Mac and Mac Pro. But by the time it was updated again with M2 Ultra four years later, it was already clear that the idea of a huge and expandable Mac desktop was out of step with the Apple Silicon era. The desktop’s demise confirms that, at least in Apple’s estimation, the Mac Pro was trying to fill a niche that no longer exists.

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If you have some spring chores to tackle in your yard, a good set of cordless outdoor tools can save you time—but cordless outdoor tools can also be expensive. Cordless lawn and gardening tools use high-capacity batteries, which can cause a steep increase in price. Amazon has some Big Spring Deals on landscaping tools that can save you up to 62% off on the equipment you need to tackle your spring to-do list.

This 24-volt chainsaw is 35% off

If you need to trim a tree or clean up fallen branches, a chainsaw can speed up the process. Although most battery-operated chainsaws aren’t quite as powerful as traditional gas-powered ones, a good quality battery can give you enough power for most things you would use a chainsaw for in your yard. The Greenworks 24-volt, 10-inch chainsaw is on sale for $97.99, down from 149.99. The saw comes with a 24-volt, two-amp-hour battery and a charger as well.

Greenworks 24V 10″ Cordless Compact Chainsaw (Great For Storm Clean-Up, Pruning, and Firewood), 2.0Ah Battery and Charger Included

$97.99
at Amazon

$149.99
Save $52.00

$97.99
at Amazon

$149.99
Save $52.00

These 40-volt tool deals are perfect for most yards

Whacking weeds is a big part of keeping your yard look manicured, especially in springtime. Getting a trimmer that lasts long enough to get some work done can be expensive, so a 40-volt, two-amp-hour battery is a good investment to avoid running back to the charger every few minutes.

The Greenworks 40-volt, 12-inch string trimmer and 390 CFM leaf blower combo is on sale for $124.99, down from 189.99. This combo comes with a 40-volt, two-amp-hour battery and a charger. It’s rated to work at maximum capacity for at least an hour and can be used on about a third of an acre per charge.

Greenworks 40-volt, 12-inch string trimmer and leaf blower combo

$124.99
at Amazon

$189.99
Save $65.00

$124.99
at Amazon

$189.99
Save $65.00

The Greenworks 40-volt, eight-inch cordless edger is on sale for $190.95, 36% off its regular price. The edger tool comes with a 40-volt, four-amp-hour battery that you’ll be able to use right out of the box. The edger is rated to tackle about one mile of edging and can run for at least an hour before needing a charge.

A spare Greenworks 40-volt, two-amp-hour battery is on sale for $49, 62% off its regular price. If you already have a Greenworks set of 40-volt tools, this battery is compatible with those sets. Having at least two batteries allows you to charge one battery while you’re using the other so you don’t need to wait for a fresh battery. This is a battery-only deal, so you’ll need a Greenworks 40-volt charger to use it.

If you have a larger yard, check out this 60-volt tool set

If you have a larger yard, it might take more than an hour to trim. A 60-volt battery will give you a little more power and run-time so you can get more done between battery swaps. The Greenworks 60-volt yard tool combo set is on sale for $209, 34% off its regular price. It comes with a 13-inch string trimmer, a 540 CFM leaf blower, a 60-volt, four-amp-hour battery, and a charger. The set can run for 90 minutes and the string trimmer can trim about two miles worth of weeds on a single charge.

RV Tech, a joint venture between Volkswagen Group and Rivian, has completed a successful winter test program, it said this morning. The partnership was created in 2024 when VW Group announced it would invest $5.8 billion in the American electric vehicle maker to gain access to Rivian’s expertise in vehicle software and electronic architecture. VW Group initially paid Rivian $1 billion in cash, with further payments over time: the completion of the winter testing milestone should unlock a further $1 billion payment.

VW’s decision to turn to Rivian followed a tortuous history of its own internal software development. It created a new division in 2019 just to develop software for cars, then immediately bit off more than it could chew by trying to simultaneously develop three different vehicle operating systems. Things went the opposite of smoothly, with software-related delays to the two new platforms used by cars like the VW ID.4 and Porsche Macan that led to chairman Herbert Diess’ firing and the third platform delayed until late in this decade.

Rivian, meanwhile, had no such problems developing its own vehicle electronic architecture and software, starting from a clean sheet unencumbered by generations of legacy cruft. As a startup automaker, Rivian needs money, and since Volkswagen needs better tech, the joint venture makes a lot of sense.

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If you want a high-quality OLED TV for gaming and movies but the options you’ve been seeing online are out of your price range (they often easily surpass the $1,000 mark), the 55-inch Samsung S85F OLED TV checks most of the necessary boxes and is currently down to $897.99 (originally $1,397.99) thanks to a 36% discount during the Amazon Big Spring Sale.  

Samsung S85F OLED TV

$897.99
at Amazon

$1,397.99
Save $500.00

$897.99
at Amazon

$1,397.99
Save $500.00

Despite being labeled an entry-level OLED TV, the picture quality is still impressive, with not just strong HDR performance, color accuracy, and near-infinite contrast, but also perfect blacks and refined shadow detail. That means you’ll get better bang for your buck during dark scenes than you will with LED/QLED displays. The S85F has a very wide viewing angle, allowing for a consistent image from all sides. It uses an AI Gen2 processor and has AI-based enhancements, including 4K AI Upscaling and Real Depth Enhancer, and runs on the Tizen 9.0 smart TV platform.

It’s also an underrated choice for gamers that rivals the best gaming TVs, with a highly responsive 9.4ms input lag. It has four HDMI 2.1 ports that support 4K 120Hz, AMD FreeSync Premium, Nvidia G-Sync, ALLM, and HDR10+ gaming, as well as Motion Xcelerator tech to reduce blur in fast scenes and an AI Auto Game Mode to optimize settings. Plus, the Samsung Gaming Hub offers extra perks, including access to a wide range of cloud gaming apps. The two 2-channel, 20W speakers give users decent bass and clear dialogue, but they’re not home theater-level.

While it may not be the absolute brightest OLED on the market or have top-of-the-line built-in audio, the 55-inch Samsung S85F OLED TV still offers great value and makes a strong choice for gaming and movies, especially at a sub-$900 price point, which is more than fair for an OLED from a top brand. If you want the best of the best, you can upgrade to a model like the S95, but it’ll come with a hefty price bump. For most people, a middle-ground OLED like the S85F is a solid choice.

It was only last August that Sony raised PS5 console prices in the US, blaming a “challenging economic environment” at the time. Today it has slightly tweaked the phrasing to “continued pressures in the global economic landscape,” but the outcome is the same: price rises across the board, this time even affecting the PS Portal handheld.

Starting April 2, the price of the standard PS5 (that’s the one with the disc drive) is going up to $650. That’s a whopping $100 hike, or $150 if you go back to before the August price increases. The Digital Edition is getting the same increase, up to $600 from $500 since August.

But the most eye-wateringly huge bump goes to the PS5 Pro, which will now cost you $900, $150 more than its (already very high) previous $750 MSRP. If you managed to pick up a Pro during last year’s Black Friday sale, when its price was slashed to $650, then you’re probably feeling pretty smug right now.

Even the PlayStation Portal is getting a $50 increase, up from $199 to $250. The Portal has gotten a lot more capable in the last 12 months, but $250 for a device that can’t run any games natively might make a purchase harder to justify for a lot of people.

In a blog post, Sony acknowledged the impact of prices increases on its audience, but said after “careful evaluation” that it was “a necessary step to ensure we can continue delivering innovative, high-quality gaming experiences to players worldwide.”

Global economic turbulence is affecting the entire games industry right now. Valve has already pushed back the launch date for the Steam Machine, while the ongoing RAM crisis could also be to blame for Steam Deck stock shortages. 

Microsoft also raised Xbox prices twice last year, and earlier this week Nintendo announced that some of its physical first-party Switch 2 games will soon be more expensive than purchasing the game digitally. While Nintendo has experimented with this kind of pricing structure before, it might point to the increasingly prohibitive costs of making and shipping products right now.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/the-ps5-is-getting-more-expensive-again-133141514.html?src=rss

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.

Amazon’s Big Spring Sale is underway, and one of the more practical big-ticket deals right now is on the Anker Solix F2000 Portable Power Station. It’s down to $799.99 (from $1,999), which is about 60% off and the lowest price tracked so far, according to price tracking tools like Keepa. That kind of drop makes this a very different conversation. At full price, it’s a niche buy. At this price, it starts to feel like a realistic backup option for homes, road trips, or anyone who deals with frequent power cuts and wants something more reliable than a basic inverter setup.

Anker Solix F2000 Portable Power Station

Backup power for home use, outdoor camping or RVs

$799.99
at Amazon

$1,999.00
Save $1,199.01

$799.99
at Amazon

$1,999.00
Save $1,199.01

The F2000 is built around a 2,048Wh battery and a 2,300W AC output. In real terms, that’s enough to run a dishwasher through a full cycle or keep essentials like a fridge, lights, and a few devices going during a blackout. It can also handle heavier appliances like a washing machine or oven, just not all at once, since that 2,300W is shared across its three AC outlets. You also get a mix of ports that cover most setups: three AC sockets, three USB-C ports with up to 100W output for laptops, two USB-A ports, and car-style outlets. Plus, there’s a screen that gives you a clear read on battery levels, power usage, and time estimates, and the companion app adds extra control like switching ports on or off and monitoring battery temperature.

Charging is flexible, too. You can plug it into a wall for a full recharge in a little over an hour, use a car adapter, or connect up to 1,000W of solar panels (sold separately) for off-grid use. If you want more runtime, there’s also an optional expansion battery that doubles the capacity to 4,048Wh, though the output stays the same at 2,300W. It’s currently bundled with the F2000 for $1,498.99, down from $2999. The main downside here is size and weight. Even with wheels and a telescopic handle, this is not something you casually move around.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and Republican Senator Josh Hawley are urging the US’s central energy information agency to provide better information on how much electricity data centers actually use.

In a joint letter sent to the Energy Information Administration Thursday morning, seen by WIRED, Hawley and Warren press the agency to publicly collect “comprehensive, annual energy-use disclosures” on data centers. This information, they write, is “essential for accurate grid planning and will support policymaking to prevent large companies from increasing electricity costs for American families.”

As the data center boom spreads across the country, there have been widespread worries from voters about how their massive energy needs may increase consumers’ electric bills; this concern helped shape some midterm elections in data-center-heavy states, including Virginia and Georgia. Last month, Hawley cosponsored a bill with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal that would require data centers to supply their own power sources in order to protect consumers. Earlier this month, Donald Trump convened a group of executives from Big Tech companies at the White House to sign a nonbinding (and toothless) agreement pledging to pay for their own power for data centers.

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Hisense’s mid-range TVs tend to land in that sweet spot of good features at a not-astronomical price. That certainly describes the 2025 U7 Series right now, as the 65-inch model is discounted by $800 at Best Buy, dropping to just $699. It’s one of Lifehacker’s picks for the best 65-inch TVs in 2026, especially at this price.

The sale price is good through April 19, and Best Buy is sweetening the deal with a discount on mounting and free haul-away for members, which will make upgrading your older TV a bit less of a chore.

65-inch Hisense 65U75QG TV

MiniLED Smart 4K TV (2025)

$699.00
at Best Buy

$1,499.00
Save $800.00

$699.00
at Best Buy

$1,499.00
Save $800.00

The Mini-LED backlighting and QLED panel of the 65U75QG deliver deep blacks with minimal blooming, and displays punchy HDR content with support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+, so watching movies or sports feels lively. It gets bright enough to handle sunlit rooms without looking washed out, though if your room has a lot of light, reflections can show up during darker scenes. There’s a built-in speaker setup with a subwoofer and upward-firing speakers, which adds some height to the soundstage, though it won’t replace a dedicated soundbar. As Google TV runs the interface, apps, casting, and voice control are all baked in.

On the downside, this TV doesn’t track brightness levels as precisely as higher-end models, so scenes can look slightly off without careful calibration. Also, the viewing angle is narrow enough that colors and contrast shift if you’re sitting too far to the side. While gaming works well overall, with smooth performance and plenty of support for high refresh rates, fast-moving scenes may blur more than expected. None of these factors will be a dealbreaker for casual use, but they matter if you’re picky about image accuracy or plan to use this in a wide seating setup. For most people, though, this is a bright, capable TV that covers a lot of ground, especially for this price.