Back in 2018, Xiami launched Poco as a sub-brand that specializes in mid-range smartphones. Now, Poco has launched its first premium flagship phone series, the F8 Ultra and the F8 Pro, at an event in Bali. Both devices will use Sound by Bose technology, thanks to a partnership with the brand, and runs Xiaomi HyperOS 3. Kang Lou, Poco Global’s Senior Product Marketing Manager and Spokesperson, said the F8 Ultra sets “a new benchmark for true flagships.” Meanwhile, the F8 Pro will make “all-round flagship experiences accessible to more users.”

The 6.9-inch Poco F8 Ultra has a dual-chipset architecture, consisting of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, Qualcomm’s latest flagship mobile platform, and the VisionBoost D8 chipset that enables “AI Super Resolution for crisper, more detailed images.” It uses Poco’s new HyperRGB display, which the company says uses a full RGB subpixel structure wherein red, green and blue subpixels are fully used. Another notable feature is its 6500mAh battery, which is the largest yet on a Poco F series phone. The Ultra version comes in a “Denim” variant, though it doesn’t actually use denim: Its back was merely designed to look like it’s covered in the fabric, but it actually uses a special Xiaomi nanotech material.

Meanwhile, the 6.59-inch Poco F8 Pro has a subtle micro-curved design, wherein its edges transition into its back panel. It’s powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Mobile Platform and comes with a 6210mAh battery that can last for 16 hours of continued use. Both models are now out in the UK. The Poco F8 Ultra will set you back at least £749, while the F8 Pro will cost you at least £549. In the US, the F8 Ultra with 12GB of memory and 256GB of storage will cost you $729, while the one with 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage will cost you $799. It will be $579 for the F8 Pro with the lower specs and $629 for the one with the higher specs. Poco is giving discounts that shave at least $50 off their price for early buyers, but it has yet to announce a release date for the US.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/pocos-new-flagship-phone-has-a-bose-subwoofer-and-a-denim-option-130811181.html?src=rss

Subscription boxes are the rare gift that keeps its charm long after the wrapping paper is gone. You make the choice once, but the surprises keep landing on their doorstep for months after that. For anyone who loves the buzz of a delivery, these are gifts that extend the season well past December. Each box on this list combines a bit of discovery with something tangible, such as gadgets, books, collectibles, snacks or clever projects. Some appeal to hardcore hobbyists, others to the curious or the comfort seekers, but all offer that same spark of delight that comes from unboxing something unexpected. If you want a present that’s part experience, part surprise and fully enjoyable, this is a solid place to start.

Best subscription box gifts

Check out the rest of our gift ideas here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-subscription-box-gifts-for-2025-130037236.html?src=rss

Texas has purchased $5 million worth of BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF as an initial step toward creating the first state-level bitcoin reserve in the U.S.
“[O]ther states having previously invested in such funds with public-employee retirement money,” notes CoinDesk. “Michigan has been building such an investment, and Wisconsin sold its $350 million pension-fund stake in the BlackRock ETF in May. From the report: A few weeks ago, Texas moved past its deadline to “capture the industry’s best practices so it can utilize these practices in the implementation and management” of its bitcoin BTC reserve, according to its formal request for information issued in September. Entities across the industry provided input on how it could set up and manage the stockpile conceived of in the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Investment Act.

Last week, the state comptroller’s office moved to secure $5 million in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) as a placeholder, a spokesman for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts told CoinDesk on Tuesday. It’s an opening move as the state continues to work toward a contract with a custodian, he said, which will take place after it develops its formal request for proposal.

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Black Friday sales officially start Friday, November 28, and run through Cyber Monday, December 1, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before it’s over. 

• Follow our live blog to stay up-to-date on the best sales we find.

• Browse our editors’ picks for a curated list of our favorite sales on laptops, fitness tech, appliances, and more.

• Subscribe to our shopping newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox.

• Sales are accurate at the time of publication, but prices and inventory are always subject to change.

The PlayStation VR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain Bundle is currently down to $299 for Black Friday, the lowest price it’s hit so far, according to price trackers. This $100 discount makes Sony’s next-gen VR headset feel a lot more accessible, especially for PS5 owners who’ve been on the fence.

PlayStation VR2

$299.00
at Amazon

$399.99
Save $100.99

$299.00
at Amazon

$399.99
Save $100.99

The bundle includes the full VR2 setup and a copy of Horizon Call of the Mountain, a title built specifically to show off what the hardware can do. PCMag gave the PS VR2 an “outstanding” rating for good reason—this is a big leap from Sony’s first attempt at VR, with sharper visuals, better motion tracking, and more immersive gameplay.

The PS VR2 runs at a resolution of 2,000 x 2,040 per eye, with a 120Hz refresh rate and full 6DOF (six degrees of freedom) tracking. Translation: It feels smooth and looks sharp, even during fast-paced movement. The eye-tracking tech is surprisingly useful, helping menus feel more intuitive and making foveated rendering possible (basically, games focus the highest resolution where you’re actually looking). Setup is easy, and the build is lightweight, so it doesn’t take long to get going, and it doesn’t weigh your head down during longer sessions. The included Sense controllers are responsive and add physical feedback that makes everything from climbing to archery in Horizon feel a bit more tactile.

That said, there are a few caveats. The PS VR2 only works with a PlayStation 5, and it isn’t backward-compatible with original PS VR games. So, if you already have a VR library from the first generation, you won’t be able to carry it over. The game library is growing, but it’s still catching up to PC-based systems. Even so, for anyone new to VR or upgrading from older hardware, this bundle is one of the best values we’ve seen. At $299, you’re getting one of the most polished VR experiences available right now, without diving into PC setups or spending double the price.

How long do Black Friday deals really last?

Black Friday sales officially begin Friday, November 28, 2025, and run throughout “Cyber Week,” the five-day period that runs from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, December 1, 2025. But Black Friday and Cyber Monday dates have expanded as retailers compete for customers. You can get the same Black Friday sales early, and we expect sales to wind down by December 3, 2025. 

Does Apple do Black Friday?

Yes, Apple participates in Black Friday, though you may want to compare their sales with other retailers like Best Buy and Walmart. Apple is offering an exclusive $250 gift card for eligible purchases, but so far, the best Black Friday sale on an Apple product is the M4 MacBook on sale for cheaper than ever.

Does Amazon have Black Friday deals?

Yes, Amazon has Black Friday sales, but prices aren’t always what they seem. Use a price tracker to make sure you’re getting the best deal, or refer to guides like our live blog that use price trackers for you. And if you have an Amazon Prime membership, make the most of it.

NBC via Getty Images

Every holiday has corresponding must-watch TV associated with it, from It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown at Halloween, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer at Christmas, and the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade airing on the last Thursday in November. 

This year marks the 99th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and the festivities begin at 8:30 a.m. ET this Thursday, Nov. 27. The parade will be broadcast on NBC and streams live – with a three-angle multi-view option – on Peacock. Performers will include Wicked‘s Cynthia Erivo, Lainey Wilson, Ciara, and more. Oh, and if you’ve got KPop Demon Hunters fans in your life, not only will there be balloons featuring Derpy and Sussie, the parade will feature a performance by EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and REI AMI, the singing voices of HUNTR/X. 

Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch the 99th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade live this week, and how to catch the encore if you miss it.

When is the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?

The 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is held this year – and every year – on Thanksgiving Day. This year, the parade is on Thursday, November 27, starting at 8:30 a.m. ET/5:30 a.m. PT. There will be an encore broadcast at 2 p.m. ET/PT. 

How long is the Macy’s Parade? 

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will last roughly 3.5 hours, ending at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT. An encore broadcast will air on NBC at 2 p.m. ET/PT. 

What channel is the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on?

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade will air on NBC and stream on Peacock on Thanksgiving Day from 8:30 a.m. to noon in all time zones. An encore airing of the parade will also begin at 2 p.m. on NBC. If you have access to live TV, you may be able to watch NBC for free over the air. If not, here’s what we recommend for how to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

How to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade without cable:

Who is performing at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?

Wicked star Cynthia Erivo will open the parade, which will also feature performances from Country artist Lainey Wilson, EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and REI AMI (the singing voices of HUNTR/X from Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters), Drew Baldridge, Matteo Bocelli, Colbie Caillat, Ciara, Gavin DeGraw, Meg Donnelly, Mr. Fantasy, Foreigner, Debbie Gibson, Mickey Guyton, Christopher Jackson, Jewel, Lil Jon, Kool & the Gang, Darlene Love, Roman Mejia, Taylor Momsen, Tiler Peck, the Radio City Rockettes, Busta Rhymes, Calum Scott, Shaggy, Lauren Spencer Smith, Luísa Sonza and Teyana Taylor.

There will also be performances from the Broadway casts of Buena Vista Social Club, Just in Time and Ragtime.

What floats are in the Macy’s parade this Thanksgiving?

There will be 32 balloons, three “balloonicles,” 27 floats, 33 clown groups, 11 marching bands and plenty of performances at the 2025 Macy’s parade.

2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade new floats 

Six new floats are debuting at this year’s parade: 

• The Land of Ice & Wonder by Holland America Line

• Brick-tastic Winter Mountain by The LEGO Group

• Master Chocolatier Ballroom by Lindt

• Upside Down Invasion: Stranger Things by Netflix 

• Friends-giving in POPCITY by Pop Mart

• The Counting Sheep’s Dream Generator by Serta.

2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade balloons

In 2025, there will be four new featured character balloons making their debut in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade:

• Buzz Lightyear by Pixar Animation Studios

• PAC-MAN by Bandai Namco Entertainment America, Inc.

• Shrek’s Onion Carriage from Universal Pictures’ DreamWorks Animation; 

• Mario by Nintendo. 

Derpy Tiger and Sussie from Netflix’s K-Pop Demon Hunters will also join the line-up as a mid-sized balloon and balloonicle.

Who is hosting this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?

Today’s Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker of The Today Show will host NBC’s broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade again this year. 

Ways to watch the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade free: 

Want to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Thanksgiving football and more on live TV this holiday season for free? Here are a few platforms offering free trials around this time of year. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/2025-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-how-to-watch-start-time-where-to-stream-and-more-124520584.html?src=rss

Many dog breeds are noted for their personalities and behavioral traits, from the distinctive vocalizations of huskies to the herding of border collies. People have worked to identify the genes associated with many of these behaviors, taking advantage of the fact that dogs can interbreed. But that creates its own experimental challenges, as it can be difficult to separate some behaviors from physical traits distinctive to the breed—small dog breeds may seem more aggressive simply because they feel threatened more often.

To get around that, a team of researchers recently did the largest gene/behavior association study within a single dog breed. Taking advantage of a population of over 1,000 golden retrievers, they found a number of genes associated with behaviors within that breed. A high percentage of these genes turned out to correspond to regions of the human genome that have been associated with behavioral differences as well. But, in many cases, these associations have been with very different behaviors.

Gone to the dogs

The work, done by a team based largely at Cambridge University, utilized the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study, which involved over 3,000 owners of these dogs filling out annual surveys that included information on their dogs’ behavior. Over 1,000 of those owners also had blood samples obtained from their dogs and shipped in; the researchers used these samples to scan the dogs’ genomes for variants. Those were then compared to ratings of the dogs’ behavior on a range of issues, like fear or aggression directed toward strangers or other dogs.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Guardian: Nearly a century ago, scientists proposed that a mysterious invisible substance they named dark matter clumped around galaxies and formed a cosmic web across the universe. What dark matter is made from, and whether it is even real, are still open questions, but according to a study, the first direct evidence of the substance may finally have been glimpsed. More work is needed to rule out less exotic explanations, but if true, the discovery would go down as a turning point in the decades-long search for the elusive substance that is said to make up 27% of the cosmos.

“This could be a crucial breakthrough in unraveling the nature of dark matter,” said Prof Tomonori Totani, an astrophysicist at the University of Tokyo, who said gamma rays emanating from the centre of the Milky Way appeared to bear the signature of the substance. […] To search for potential dark matter signals, Totani analysed data from Nasa’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which detects the most energetic photons in the electromagnetic spectrum. He spotted a pattern of gamma rays that appeared to match the shape of the dark matter halo that spreads out in a sphere from the heart of the galaxy. The signal “closely matches the properties of gamma-ray radiation predicted to be emitted by dark matter,” Totani told the Guardian. Details are published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics.

If Totani has seen dark matter at work, the observations suggest it is made from elementary particles 500 times more massive than the proton. But far more work is needed to rule out other astrophysical processes and background emissions that could explain the signals. Totani said the “decisive factor” would be detecting gamma rays with the same spectrum from other regions of space, such as dwarf galaxies. According to Prof Justin Read, an astrophysicist at the University of Surrey, the lack of significant signals from such galaxies strongly argues against Totani having seen gamma rays emitted from dark matter particle annihilation. Prof Kinwah Wu, a theoretical astrophysicist at UCL, urged caution, saying: “I appreciate the author’s hard work and dedication, but we need extraordinary evidence for an extraordinary claim,” he said. “This analysis has not reached this status yet. It is a piece of work which serves as an encouragement for the workers in the field to keep on pressing.”

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Qualcomm just revealed the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, the appropriately-named second member of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 line. This follows the Gen 5 Elite, which was first revealed back in September.

The standard Gen 5 is still a powerful mobile system-on-a-chip (SoC) with a top clock speed of 3.8GHz. That’s slightly lower than the Elite’s top speed of 4.6GHz, but still nothing to sneeze at. It includes a custom-built Oryon CPU and boasts speed-enhancing features like matrix acceleration. The company says the platform offers a 36 percent performance improvement when compared to Snapdragon 7, along with a 76 percent increase in web browsing responsiveness.

Qualcomm

The SoC also features the Qualcomm Adreno GPU, just like the Elite, which “unlocks higher clock speeds and boosts gaming and graphics performance by 11 percent.” This is a chip intended for modern smartphones, so it also has been designed for AI. It boasts the company’s proprietary Sensing Hub technology that combines microphone and sensor inputs to detect a user’s intent to speak.

It’s capable of on-device AI processing due to the Qualcomm Hexagon NPU. The company says this will enable “agentic AI assistants to deliver context-aware interactions and personalized suggestions.” That’s corporate speak for “it does stuff and says stuff.”

Qualcomm

Qualcomm says these chips will begin showing up in mobile devices in “the coming weeks.” The company named OnePlus as a partner and that organization did just announce a brand-new smartphone that was suspiciously devoid of any real specs.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/the-snapdragon-8-gen-5-is-a-cut-down-version-of-qualcomms-flagship-elite-chipset-063050786.html?src=rss

The UK is seeking to fast-track new atomic development to meet soaring energy demands driven by AI and electrification. According to a new report published by the government’s Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce, excessive regulation has made Britain the most expensive place in the world to build nuclear projects. The report is calling for a sweeping overhaul to accelerate reactor construction — everything from “streamlining regulation” to relaxing environmental and safety constraints. The Register reports: The document outlines 47 recommendations for the government, which come under five general areas: providing clearer leadership and direction for the nuclear sector; simplifying the regulatory approval process for atomic projects; reducing risk aversion; addressing incentives to delay progress; and working with the nuclear sector to speed delivery and boost innovation. Among the recommendations is that a Commission for Nuclear Regulation should be established, becoming a “unified decision maker” across all other regulators, planners, and approval bodies. The report also talks of reforming environmental and planning regimes to speed approvals, echoing the government’s earlier decisions to streamline the planning process to make it easier for datacenter projects to get built.

It recommends amending the cost cap for judicial reviews and limiting legal challenges to Nationally Strategic Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs), while indemnifying nuclear developers against any damages they might incur as a result of proceeding with their project while a judicial review is still being decided. Another recommendation that may be cause for concern is that the government should modify the Habitats Regulations to reduce costs. These are rules created to protect the most important and vulnerable natural sites and wildlife species across the UK. The report also states that radiation limits for workers are overly conservative and well below what could be appropriately considered “broadly acceptable,” claiming that they are many times less than what the average person in the UK normally receives in a year.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.