A French university says it’s providing safe harbor to American scientists from Yale, Stanford, NASA, and the NIH.

A steady stream (sorry) of expansions has helped keep the terrific PowerWash Simulator in the zeitgeist over the last couple of years, but developer FuturLab has been beavering away on a sequel as well. You won’t have to wait too long for it either, as PowerWash Simulator 2 is slated to debut later this year.

The follow-up has a fresh campaign mode that picks up from where the first game left off, new locations to make scum-free, enhanced soap(!) and the option to customize your home base, which your friends can visit. Also new is the ability to share campaign progress when you play online with your buds. Best of all, there will be a two-player split-screen mode this time around. It’s always great to have more couch co-op games to play.

The supremely relaxing and satisfying PowerWash Simulator was a surprise hit. FuturLab says more than 17 million players have adjusted their nozzles to spray away virtual grime in a wide variety of locations.

PowerWash Simulator 2 is set to hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC in late 2025 (sidenote: have you cleaned your system lately?). More details will be revealed next month. 

Eurogamer reports that the game is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 as well, but no Nintendo platforms were mentioned in FuturLab’s press release. The studio told Engadget that “Whilst we would like to release on Switch 2, there are no current firm plans. We have no timeframe or news there.” That said, Nintendo plans to reveal much more about its new console on April 2, so perhaps we’ll hear about a Switch 2 edition of PowerWash Simulator 2 then.

Meanwhile, there are no plans for a VR version this time, FuturLab told Eurogamer. The studio ended support for PowerWash Simulator VR in January, with CEO Kirsty Rigden saying that version was running at a loss. FuturLab reassigned members of its VR team to other roles.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/powerwash-simulator-2-will-arrive-later-this-year-164534571.html?src=rss

Dear Apple,

As you know, your Apple Watch SE is not new. The second generation came out in September 2022 alongside the Series 8 and the first iteration of the Ultra. You’ve given the iPhone, all models of the iPad, AirPods, MacBooks and both the flagship and premium smartwatches updates since then — but not the budget smartwatch. Last month, my editors asked me to see how the Watch SE stacks up in 2025 and I was happy to oblige. I love getting my hands on novel tech, analyzing, evaluating and experiencing a device (then giving it back when I’m done so I don’t have to accumulate more stuff). But this review left me cold. The Apple Watch SE feels bland and decidedly lesser-than in 2025.

It’s a fairly safe bet we’ll see a new model of the SE soon. There are, of course, rumors. Plus, the launch of the iPhone 16e suggests you are still interested in churning out more affordable versions of your devices. There’s about a $150 price difference between the SE and the base Apple Watch Series 10. The latter goes for $399 at full price and as low as $329 on sale. The SE costs $249 and has gone for as little as $149. While I don’t expect a budget watch to have everything the flagship does, there are a few features that feel non-negotiable in 2025 as well as some reasonable compromises that most budget-conscious buyers will probably be willing to accept. As a daily smartwatch wearer and consumer gadget reviewer, I’m offering you my completely free advice on what I’d like to see on the next Apple Watch SE.

Give us a bigger (not better) display

I usually wear an Apple Watch Series 9 but before that, I sported a hand-me-down Apple Watch Series 4 with a scratched screen. Apart from the scuff, the screen on the 40mm Apple Watch SE I reviewed feels identical to the one on that wearable from 2018. In fact, both have the same size display areas, which is cramped and dinky compared to the generous real estate on the 42mm Series 10. Of course, the newest Apple Watch received a 2mm size bump, so a more direct comparison would be to the 40mm 9th-generation watch, which has 150 sq mm more room, thanks to thinner bezels. Considering the growing amount of information our watches handle, I’d like a bigger panel to view it on.

The brightness and overall clarity of the SE’s OLED Retina display is perfectly adequate. There’s no need for the higher-end LTPO 3 technology the latest watches have. And the SE’s 1000 nits of brightness is plenty, too. Even in bright sunlight, the screen is legible. True, it can’t get down to a single nit of brightness like the newer watches can and, while that’s distracting in a dark room, using sleep focus at bedtime turns the screen off completely.

When I upgraded to the Series 9, the feature I most looked forward to was the always-on display (AOD). That’s because my Series 4 required me to lift my wrist repeatedly before finally lighting up. It was irritating to simply check the time. But when I reviewed the Galaxy Watch 7, I turned off the AOD for much of the testing and didn’t miss it a bit. Turns out, if the watch reliably and quickly snaps to attention when I flick my wrist, AOD isn’t as crucial. So if losing that feature can keep the cost down, that’d be an acceptable tradeoff. Currently, checking the time on the SE is slightly, but not significantly better than my experience with my older watch. Which could be solved by a more advanced processor.

Amy Skorheim for Engadget

Let’s have a faster (not the fastest) chip

I realize when I say the processing power of the Apple Watch SE feels sluggish, I’m dishonoring my 14-year-old self whose pipe dream was owning a Casio calculator watch. But still, compared to my experience with current models, the SE lags. Opening apps, controlling music playback, starting workouts and talking with Siri is just slower than it should be. A budget watch doesn’t need to pack the zenith of Apple’s system-in-package (SiP), but stepping up to 2023’s S9 chip would make the watch feel satisfyingly zippy.

A processor bump could also enable double tap, which debuted with the Series 9. But that’s not critical — I could take or leave the gesture control feature. It doesn’t feel as accurate or as integrated with the OS as, say, Samsung’s version on the Galaxy Watch. Though I have to admit, with my Series 9, it does feel a little magical when I can double pinch to start a suggested walking workout — especially when I’m grappling with the leash of a crazy puppy.

The S9 chip also enables on-board processing of Siri requests, which means those don’t have to borrow a connected phone’s internet. If I’m on a bike ride and want to log it as such, I can just ask Siri, even if I left my phone at home. (True, the cellular-enabled SE can complete those requests without a phone, but the price bump and monthly service fee for that configuration starts to muddy the idea of a budget watch.) Siri requests are also completed much faster when they’re handled on the watch itself. When I want Siri to quickly set a two minute timer for steeping green tea, the process with the SE just takes too long.

For Pete’s sake, make it charge faster

My dad’s name is Pete. And if he had an Apple Watch SE (instead of his Series 7), I know he’d want it to recharge in a reasonable amount of time. Overall, the battery performance on the SE is surprisingly good. I can get through a full day that includes tracking a run, a Fitness+ workout, setting timers, obsessively checking the weather, logging meds and taking a couple of dog walks — all with enough juice left to track my sleep. By the time I wake up, it’s usually time to stick the watch on the charger. That’s a similar experience to my Apple Watch Series 9. But instead of getting the battery refilled while I shower and get ready for the day, the SE takes over two hours to go from around ten percent to a hundred. That’s too long to wait.

Keep your titanium and sapphire crystal

Budget models always get handed the less-expensive materials and that’s OK. The aluminum alloy Apple uses in its non-premium watches strikes a good balance between durability and lightness. The Ion-X glass on the front isn’t as robust as sapphire glass, but it’s less expensive. I’m not trying to speak for all budget-conscious folk, but I and every other frugal person I know tends to swaddle all expensive tech in screen protectors, cases and all manner of other protective measures the moment it leaves the box. So if slightly less robust materials can shave dollars off the asking price, by all means, Apple, do so.

We’ve seen rumors that your next SE might be housed in a plastic case with brighter colors on the watch bands, possibly in an effort to appeal to kids. I’d need to see what type of plastic you feel is strong enough to stand up to the chaos of children, but if it can last a few years without failing while also keeping the price down, I’m open to the idea.

It’s OK if my watch isn’t a doctor’s office

Fitness tracking is high on my list of non-negotiable features. And accuracy for that requires a suite of sensors — a gyroscope, accelerometer, GPS, altimeter and an optical heart rate readeran optical heart sensor, gyroscope and accelerometer, GPS connection and an altimeter. The SE has all of those and the data collected from my tracked workouts and runs were on par with what my newer watch would gather.

The SE lacks an electrical heart rate sensor so it can’t take an ECG reading. There’s also no temperature sensor, which the Series 10 uses to help predict ovulation and menstrual cycles. If and when your company ever works out the patent dispute over its blood oxygen sensor, I imagine a new Apple Watch SE won’t get that capability either.

That’s fine. I’ve used the ECG reading exactly once — to test it out for comparison on another smartwatch review. I was hyper-obsessed with my ovulation cycle for a total of six months, approximately eight years before my now seven-year-old kid was born. While it’s neat that our watches can compile so much data, I think it’s more important to cover the basics: tell me when I’m really hauling on a run and when my heart rate gets up to 170 on a HIIT workout. We can get those more specialized, seldom-used health assessments elsewhere.

The SE doesn’t have a depth gauge or a water temperature sensor either. That’s also fine. I don’t think anyone in the market for a budget wearable will mind terribly that it isn’t designed to go scuba diving with them.

Newer flagship Apple Watches have an ultra wideband (UWB) chip inside to help with more precise finding of a misplaced iPhone and supports additional interactions with a nearby HomePod. I use my watch to find my phone up to three times per day. The UWB enables a more precise way to locate devices, and that interface pops up on my Series 9 each time I ping my phone, offering a cute little game of hot and cold, pointing an arrow in the direction of my missing handset. But I mostly ignore the directions and just listen for the da-ta-da-ta-ding-da-ding of the phone’s ringer. Which is to say, I didn’t miss the lack of UWB in the least on the SE.

Amy Skorheim for Engadget

Wrap-up

When the Apple Watch SE came out in 2022, Engadget’s Cherlynn Low called it the best smartwatch $250 can buy. That was certainly the case at the time. But two and a half years later, it’s reasonable to expect more from your budget timepiece. I remember the decade or so post-college when $250 represented more than my monthly food allotment. For many, even an “affordable” Apple purchase is still a significant one.

For the same money, people can get a lot more if they step outside of your walled ecosystem. Samsung’s Galaxy Watch FE is just $200. Not only does it have the same sensors as the company’s flagship wearable, it can also perform an ECG. For $200, we could also get a Fitbit Versa 4 instead. True, it doesn’t pack nearly as many features as the Pixel Watch 3, but it covers the basics well, tracking activity, delivering notifications and going for up to six days on a charge. It’ll even pair with an iPhone. And then there’s the Garmin Forerunner 165. Right now it’s our editors’ favorite running watch and it can be had for $250. Making a quality $250 smartwatch isn’t outside the realm of possibility.

Apple, you can save your premium materials, super specialized sensors and nice-to-have extras like UWB connections for your flagship and premium models. That way, people who are willing to pay more will still feel like they’re getting their money’s worth. Just focus on the features that make a difference to everyday users, and forget those inessential perks. There’s still room for you to make a reasonably priced watch that doesn’t feel like a second-class accessory.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/revisiting-the-apple-watch-se-in-2025-left-me-with-a-long-list-of-update-requests-163046835.html?src=rss

The long awaited film, co-starring Kevin Bacon and Elijah Wood, opens August 29.

If you read enough tech news on the internet, you’re probably used to seeing the same advice over and over again: Update your software to the latest version as soon as possible. This advice is repeated often, because, for the most part, it’s sound—updates not only give you access to the latest features, but also the most up to date stability and security patches. If you want to protect your software, hardware, and the data contained therein, update!

Web browsers are no exception. It’s particularly important to keep the tool you use to access the internet fully updated if you want to keep yourself safe as you surf the web. While you should update all web browsers whenever possible, it’s especially pertinent for Firefox users to update right now. If you don’t, your browser might stop working.

A Firefox root certificate is expiring

Mozilla, the company that makes Firefox, issued a warning last year imploring users to update their browsers as soon as possible. Unlike most articles I write about browser updates, this particular update doesn’t include a security patch designed to protect against a vulnerability or active exploit. Instead, this version of Firefox updates a “root certificate,” which is necessary for the browser to continue operating as expected.

A root certificate is essentially the confirmation that Mozilla approved and certified an add-on. (That’s what Firefox calls browser extensions.) Whenever you install something like, say, uBlock Origin, Mozilla first has to ensure that add-on is authentic, as not doing so invites instability and security risks.

This root certificate is set to expire on Friday, March 14. Without this root certificate, Mozilla cannot confirm that your add-ons are actually legit, and, as such, will disable them. But it won’t just be your add-ons. The lack of a root certificate could also stop DRM-protected content from playing. That includes streaming service like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+, since their content is, of course, digital locked up via DRM. In addition, Mozilla says systems that use content verification could stop working as well.

Firefox itself won’t completely cease to function after this root certificate expires. You can keep using the outdated version of the browser, if you insist. However, your add-ons and streaming services will likely stop working, among other functions. Perhaps even more critically, you’re setting yourself up for security issues: Without this certificate, malicious add-ons and websites could bypass Mozilla’s security features and wreak havoc on your machine, while Mozilla’s feature that gives you a heads up when your passwords are breached may not work.

There’s really no reason not to update Firefox to update the root certificate.

How to update Firefox

Luckily, this isn’t a case where you need to make any significant lifestyle changes to adapt. In fact, this really is as simple as updating your browser. As long as you’re running Firefox version 128 or newer, you’re set. (For context, the Firefox app on my Mac, which I rarely use, was running version 125, when the latest as of this piece is 136.) If you’re on a desktop, like Mac, Windows, or Linux, click Menu > Help > About Firefox. Firefox will look for the latest version, and, if found, will invite you to restart your browser to install it.

While this issue doesn’t affect iOS, it does affect Android, so make sure to update your mobile browser as well. To do so, open the app’s Play Store page and choose Update if one is available.

Google is continuing its quest to get more people to use Gemini, and it’s doing that by giving away even more AI computing. Today, Google is releasing a raft of improvements for the Gemini 2.0 models, and as part of that upgrade, some of the AI’s most advanced features are now available to free users. You’ll be able to use the improved Deep Research to get in-depth information on a topic, and Google’s newest reasoning model can peruse your search history to improve its understanding of you as a person. What could go wrong?

Like most big AI players, Google has a number of different models available. Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking Experimental is the company’s most capable multistep reasoning model, which can consider complex topics and gives you a window into its “thought” process. Google is adding a lot to this model in its latest round of updates, enabling a much larger 1-million-token context window, file uploads, and faster output. It also supports more Google apps with connections to Calendar, Notes, Tasks, and Photos.

With the aim of making Gemini more personal to you, Google is also plugging Flash Thinking Experimental into a new source of data: your search history. Google stresses that you have to opt in to this feature, and it can be disabled at any time. Gemini will even display a banner to remind you it’s connected to your search history so you don’t forget. If you grant access, the AI can allegedly understand you better and offer more relevant recommendations. It feels a bit strange to turn Gemini loose on such personal data, but Google already knows what you look up on the Internet. You’re not giving up much more if you let the robot have a peek. This is apparently just the start of Google’s efforts to personalize the AI.

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Meta got an emergency arbitration ruling to stop the memoir’s author from talking about her time at the company.

The ESA probe spotted the moon while en route to witness the aftermath of NASA’s asteroid deflection test.

The best AirPods yet come with state of the art hearing protection and spatial audio, and they’re nearly $80 off their usual $249 price.

OpenAI is hoping that Donald Trump’s AI Action Plan, due out this July, will settle copyright debates by declaring AI training fair use—paving the way for AI companies’ unfettered access to training data that OpenAI claims is critical to defeat China in the AI race.

Currently, courts are mulling whether AI training is fair use, as rights holders say that AI models trained on creative works threaten to replace them in markets and water down humanity’s creative output overall.

OpenAI is just one AI company fighting with rights holders in several dozen lawsuits, arguing that AI transforms copyrighted works it trains on and alleging that AI outputs aren’t substitutes for original works.

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Researchers in Spain have unearthed several important factors that likely helped Maria Branyas Morera live for over a century, one of which is particularly unusual.

Microsoft is preparing to launch an AI-powered Copilot for Gaming soon that will guide Xbox players through games and act as an assistant to download and launch games. From a report: Copilot for Gaming, as Microsoft is branding it, will be available through the Xbox mobile app initially and is designed to work on a second screen as a companion or assistant.

Microsoft is positioning Copilot for Gaming as a sidekick of sorts, one that will accompany you through games, offering up tips and guides and useful information about a game world. During a press briefing, Sonali Yadav, product manager for gaming AI, demonstrated several scenarios for what Copilot for Gaming could be used for. One involved a concept demo of Copilot assisting an Overwatch 2 player by coaching them on the mistakes they made when trying to push without teammates.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Before Edward Snowden, Mark Klein blew the whistle on NSA internet spying.

After being one of the first companies to roll out a Deep Research feature at the end of last year, Google is now making that same tool available to everyone. Starting today, Gemini users can try Deep Research for free in more than 45 languages — no Gemini Advanced subscription necessary. For the uninitiated, Deep Research allows you to ask Gemini to create comprehensive but easy-to-read reports on complex topics. 

Compared to say Google’s new AI Mode, Deep Research works slower than your typical chatbot, and that’s by design. Gemini will first create a research plan before it begins searching the web for information that may be relevant to your prompt. When Google first announced Deep Research, it was powered by the company’s powerful but expensive Gemini 1.5 Pro model. With today’s expansion, Google has upgraded Deep Research to run on its new Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking Experimental model — that’s mouthful of a name that just means it’s a chain-of-thought system that can break down problems into a series of intermediate steps.

“This enhances Gemini’s capabilities across all research stages — from planning and searching to reasoning, analyzing and reporting — creating higher-quality, multi-page reports that are more detailed and insightful,” Google says of the upgrade. 

If Deep Research sounds familiar, it’s because of a variety of chatbots now offer the feature, including ChatGPT. Google, however, has been ahead of the curve. Not only was it one of the first to offer the tool, but it’s now also making it widely available to all of its users ahead of competitors like OpenAI.     

Separately, Google announced today the rollout of a new experimental feature it calls Gemini with personalization. The same Flash Thinking model that is allowing the company to bring Deep Research to more people will also allow Gemini to inform its responses based on information from Google apps and services you use. 

“With your permission, Gemini can now tailor its responses based on your past searches, saving you time and delivering more precise answers,” says Google. In the coming months, Gemini will be able to pull context from additional Google services, including Photos and YouTube. “This will enable Gemini to provide more personalized insights, drawing from a broader understanding of your activities and preferences to deliver responses that truly resonate with you.”

To enable the feature, select “Personalization (experimental)” from the model drop-down menu in the Gemini Apps interface. Google explains Gemini will only leverage your Search history when it determines that information may be useful. A banner with a link will allow you to easily turn off the feature if you find it’s invasive. Gemini and Gemini Advanced users can begin using this feature on the web starting today, with mobile availability to follow.   

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/googles-gemini-deep-research-is-now-available-to-everyone-160043485.html?src=rss

DC and Clover Press are teaming up for The DC Art of Jorge Jiménez, collecting some of the artist’s most famous work from the last decade and a half of comics.

Your digital life can get just as cluttered and chaotic as your “IRL” life if you’re not too careful. And if you work remote even some of the time, that can add to the massive amount of online information you’re juggling on a regular basis. That’s why many of us on the Engadget team have done a lot of trial and error with a bunch of digital tools to see if any of them can help us keep things organized personally and professionally. Thankfully, there are tons of good productivity tools out there — these are some of our favorites, many of which are free or have free tiers that you can dive into if you’re keen on trying them out.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/the-engadget-teams-favorite-productivity-tools-to-get-things-done-160025276.html?src=rss

Google is announcing a slew of new Gemini features today, this time aimed squarely at its free users. Features that were previously only available with the $20 per month Advanced plan will now be accessible to the public.

Gems

Gems are Gemini’s little AI helpers that you can create for any task. You can start with pre-made ones like Google’s Career guide. But you can create a Gem for any purpose. You can create one for repeated tasks, or to help you research a topic with very specific prompts. Previously, the Gems feature was exclusive to Gemini Advanced users, but now Google is making them to available to all users.

You’ll find Gems in the sidebar, where you can easily get started with premade Gems.

Deep Research

Google, too, has a Deep Research feature. But unlike with Perplexity, it was previously behind a paywall. Now, Google is making its Deep Research feature available for free to all users.

Deep Research is an AI feature where the AI model takes some time to think through your question using a reasoning model, and then goes out in the open web, collating sources, figuring issues out in depth, and then presenting you with a detailed report instead of the simple bullet-point answers that regular AI chatbots provide.

In addition to making Deep Research free, Google is also adding its Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking Experimental model to Deep Research. The new thinking model will help with the every step of research, including planning, reasoning, analyzing, and reporting. Deep Research will be available in more than 45 languages, and can be accessed using the drop-down menu in the Prompt box.

In material shared with press, Google wasn’t clear how many Deep Research queries free users get per day, though the company did promise expanded access for Gemini Advanced users.

Updates to the Gemini 2.0 Flash model

The Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking (Experimental) model is also getting an upgrade. You can now upload files for it to use while answering prompts, and Google says it has improved the model’s performance and introduced advanced reasoning capabilities.

Gemini Advanced users will also now have access to a 1 million token context window, enabling users to solve more complex problems.

Your Google Search history comes to Gemini

Google is adding a new experimental feature called Gemini with personalization, powered by the Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking model. This allows Gemini to connect with your Google apps and services. The company is starting with Google Search, but will expand to Photos and YouTube in coming months.

This means that Gemini will have more context about you, based on your Google Searches, but only if you choose to enable the Personalization (experimental) model from the model picker drop-down menu. Google also says that the new feature will only use your search history when Gemini’s advanced models deem that it’s needed.

More powerful connections with Google apps

With the 2.0 Flash Thinking model, Gemini is now better able to tackle complex requests that involve multiple Google services, including Calendar, Notes, Tasks, and now Photos.

According to Google, you can use a single prompt like “check my Calendar to find that gelato place Ezra and I went to back in May, save its address to my notes, and text it to Lauren and suggest we go there” instead of jumping between multiple apps, or asking three different questions to Gemini.