New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Google have successfully tested technology that uses smartphone sensors to detect subway track defects, the MTA said Thursday. The four-month experiment, dubbed TrackInspect, mounted six Google Pixel phones on four A train subway cars traversing Manhattan and Queens. The phones’ accelerometers, magnetometers, gyroscopes and external microphones collected 335 million sensor readings and 1,200 hours of audio data, which were processed through 200 prediction models.
The system identified 92% of defects later confirmed by human inspectors, including broken rails and loose bolts. “The goal with this [project] is to find issues before they become a major issue in terms of service,” said Demetrius Crichlow, the agencyâ(TM)s president. Following the successful trial, the MTA plans to expand to a full pilot where Google will build a production version for track inspectors.
Microsoft is pushing the Trump administration to change last-minute export controls implemented by Joe Biden on his way out of office that were largely designed to limit access to advanced AI chips so that less surplus could find its way into the hands of China or other foreign adversaries.
Considered critical for US national security, the AI Diffusion rule divides the world into three tiers. At the top are countries that can access US-made AI chips without restrictions, including key chip ally Taiwan and 17 other countries. Access is completely restricted for about 20 countries in the bottom tier, including China, Russia, and North Korea. But stuck in the middle tier are 150 countries that must endure artificial limits on computing supply chains that are kept at least a generation behind US technology accessible by the top tier.
In a Thursday blog, Microsoft President Brad Smith warned that the rule will hurt US businesses by placing heavy restrictions on some of America’s “friends”—including countries like Switzerland, Poland, Greece, Singapore, India, Indonesia, Israel, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. He cautioned that the rule makes “uncertain” their “ability to buy more American AI chips in the future,” and this will inevitably force US allies to seek supply chains outside the US. And “it’s obvious where they will be forced to turn” if Trump doesn’t intervene, Smith suggested.
The annual spring meeting is a critical part of updating the yearly flu shot to match the strains most likely to be circulating in the U.S. come wintertime.
People who subscribe to Max at the ad-supported tier will no longer be able to access CNN or Bleacher Report (B/R) Sports content through the service starting on March 30, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced this week.
At that time, only people subscribed to one of Max’s more expensive, ad-free subscription tiers will be able to access Max’s live news and sports hubs.
In a statement accompanying the announcement, JB Perrette, CEO and president of global streaming and games at WBD, said the decision to change access to CNN Max and B/R Sports, which includes MLB, NBA, NHL and other live sporting events, followed over a year of assessing how people watch news and sports on Max.
What Chris Horsley expected to be a 10-minute washing machine installation stretched to four hours and required five trips to the hardware store. The CTO of security consultancy firm documented how unexpected obstacles — drilling through shelves, replacing incompatible hoses, and removing hidden caps — derailed his timeline.
Horsley draws a direct parallel to software development, where estimation regularly fails despite experience. “While 90% of the project will be the same, there’s going to be one critical difference between the last 5 projects and this project that seemed trivial at the time of estimation but will throw off our whole schedule,” he writes in a blog.
These disruptions often appear as unmaintained frameworks, obsolete development tools, or incompatible infrastructure components that weren’t visible during planning. The software development environment changes rapidly, creating what Horsley describes as “unknown unknowns.” Despite thorough requirements gathering, developers inevitably encounter unanticipated blockers, transforming familiar-looking tasks into complex challenges.
Just like the MySports subscription, many of these new bundles come with live TV channels and subscriptions to streaming platforms. For instance, the MyEntertainment bundle allows access to around 40 channels, including Bravo and FX, but also includes a subscription to Disney+ with Hulu. That one costs $35 per month, making for a pretty good deal.
DirecTV
The MyNews bundle doesn’t come with any premium streaming subscriptions, but does allow access to the 24-hour news cycle in all of its brain-melting glory. Purchasers get access to all of the big ones here, including MSNBC, Fox News, CNN and, for some reason, Newsmax. It costs $40 per month, which seems like a lot just to watch a bunch of rich people yell at you, but what do I know.
MiEspañol offers access to more than 50 channels, including many Spanish-language stalwarts like Univision and Telemundo. It costs $35 per month. The MySports bundle, introduced in January, is still around, for $70 per month. It provides access to more than 25 sports-related channels and includes a subscription to ESPN+.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/directv-launches-genre-packs-a-more-affordable-way-to-get-channels-you-actually-want-163012043.html?src=rss
Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous driving subsidiary, has been rapidly expanding its self-driving robotaxi across various US cities, introducing both testing phases and public ride-hailing operations. Despite these expansion plans, many people remain hesitant to embrace autonomous technology. A Pew Research Center study from 2022 found that 45 percent of Americans would not feel comfortable sharing the road with driverless vehicles.
Much of this skepticism comes from the coverage of autonomous driving incidents in the media. Crashes are rare, so when they do happen, they make headlines and fuel the idea that these cars are untrustworthy. The hype around a few high-profile crashes can easily drown out the bigger picture.
The data tells a different story, though. In collaboration with Swiss insurance company Swiss Re, Waymo conducted a study analyzing 25.3 million miles driven by its autonomous vehicles. The findings revealed an 88 percent reduction in property damage claims and a 92 percent reduction in bodily injury claims compared to human-driven vehicles for the same distance traveled.
On March 3, Mobile World Congress will kick off in Barcelona, Spain. While it’s not the premier show it once was, many noteworthy smartphone makers around the world still attend the conference and frequently launch new devices there. Typically, we hear from companies like Lenovo, Arm, Xiaomi, Dell and more at the conference, as well as standards organizations like the GSMA on developments in areas like 5G or SIM technology. Occasionally, bigger players like Samsung and LG join the fray, too, and who can forget the year the Nokia 3310 brought nostalgic joy to MWC.
Judging by the event agenda on the MWC website, we will be seeing at least some kind of presence from Meta about WhatsApp, though it’s unlikely the company announces anything major at that event. Below, you’ll find a list of the more notable devices we expect to be launched at MWC 2025.
Nothing Phone 3a series
At MWC 2022, Nothing’s Carl Pei showed off a prototype of what would become the company’s first handset, the Nothing Phone 1, behind closed doors, and at last year’s event, Nothing announced the Phone 2(a). This year, we’re definitely getting at least one new device from the company at MWC, with Nothing teasing the reveal of the 3a series for March 4, the second day of the show.
Since Engadget first published this article, Nothing has gone on to reveal the design of one of the phones it plans to announce next week, the 3a Pro. On Monday, the company posted a nearly 11-minute long video showcasing the design of the upcoming device. Notably, the phone features a prominent camera bump to accommodate a periscope telephoto lens. That’s not something we see on many phones in the 3a price range, so it will be interesting to see how it performs.
In 2024, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra made its global debut ahead of MWC, and it’s looking like history will repeat. Before the start of this month, there was some evidence to suggest Xiaomi would launch its new flagship at MWC 2025, but more recent rumors suggest the company plans to announce the 15 Ultra on February 26. In any case, Xiaomi is listed as an exhibitor at MWC 2025, so if the phone does debut before the end of this month, there’s a good chance it will be on the show floor for people to try out. Like the 14 Ultra before it, it looks like the 15 Ultra will be a photography powerhouse, with the phone rumored to feature a 1-inch main sensor and 200-megapixel periscope telephoto lens.
HMD Global
Since 2017, HMD Global has been a mainstay at MWC. First, with its Nokia-branded phones, including retro throwbacks like the 8110 Reloaded, and now more recently with devices carrying its own name. Given that history, it seems a safe bet the company will have something to announce at the show. What that could be is more of a mystery, though it’s possible the sub-$100 HMD Key could get a global release.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge
Samsung
After Samsung teased the Galaxy S25 Edge at Unpacked last month, you might think it would be fitting for the company to launch the phone in Barcelona next month. After all, MWC was the venue where, up until the Galaxy S10 in 2019, Samsung announced every S series phone beginning with the S2 back in 2011, and the company’s presence at MWC was the highlight of the event. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem Samsung is feeling nostalgic for and the sunny boulevards of Barcelona, with little in the way of rumors suggesting we could see the S25 Edge at MWC 2025. Still, never discount the chance Samsung may have a surprise up its sleeve.
Redmagic
Chinese manufacturer Redmagic is not only attending MWC 2025 but the company has already provided a preview of what it plans to show off at the event. Expect two new versions of its 10 Pro phone, including a limited edition “Golden Saga” variant.
Everything else
As Engadget’s resident AI reporter, I’m obligated to mention a lot of companies will probably have AI-related announcements to share at MWC 2025. Don’t expect anything from the big players like OpenAI — the company isn’t registered as an exhibitor — but with artificial intelligence being the trendy thing in the industry right now, everyone will be trying to cash in on the hype; in fact, “AI+” is one of the main themes of MWC 2025.
There may also be other technologies that get shown off at MWC 2025. For example, Nokia announced on February 25 that it’s teaming up with Vodafone and RingCentral to “showcase [the] future of voice calls” at the event. It’s called “immersive voice and audio services (IVAS)” and the company is saying it’s “the most significant advancement in voice-call audio technology in decades.” The press release said that IVAS would “allows people to hear sound spatially in real-time, making conversations and interaction natural, and lifelike.” We’ll have to wait till the demos to know for sure what that means.
Update, February 21 2025, 1:45PM ET: This story has been updated to add more context in the intro, calling out a few more companies that typically present at MWC, as well as some additional info pulled from the MWC agenda page.
Update,February 25 2025, 12:45PM ET: This story has been updated to add more context about Nothing’s MWC plans and to add mention of Redmagic.
Update,February 27 2025, 11:05AM ET: This story has been updated to add more context in the intro about companies that have appeared at MWC in years past, as well as mention Nokia’s announcement of IVAS.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/mobile-world-congress-2025-what-to-expect-from-nothing-samsung-xiaomi-and-more-140057415.html?src=rss
For several years now, we’ve been following a tantalizing story indicating that the high heat of the ash cloud generated when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD was sufficiently hot to turn one of the victim’s brains into glass. It remains a matter of debate in the archeological community, but a fresh analysis of the physical properties of the glass-like material found in the remains lends more evidence to the hypothesis, as detailed in a new paper published in the journal Scientific Reports.
As previously reported, the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius released thermal energy roughly equivalent to 100,000 times the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II, spewing molten rock, pumice, and hot ash over the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in particular. The vast majority of the victims died of asphyxiation, choking to death on the thick clouds of noxious gas and ash.
But a 2001 study in Nature, co-authored by Petrone, estimated a temperature of 500° Celsius (932° Fahrenheit) for the pyroclastic surge that destroyed Pompeii, sufficient to kill inhabitants in fractions of a second. Back in 2018, we reported on Petrone’s conclusion that inhabitants of Herculaneum may have suffered a similar fate. There was fracturing in the bones and “cracking and explosion” of the skullcaps, consistent with forensic cases where skulls burst from extreme heat.
The number of babies born in Japan last year fell to the lowest level since records began 125 years ago as the country’s demographic crisis deepens and government efforts to reverse the decline continue to fail. Financial Times [non-paywalled source]: Japan recorded 720,988 births in 2024, according to preliminary government figures published on Thursday. The number has declined for nine straight years and appears to be largely unaffected by financial and other government incentives for married couples to produce more children.
Ram’s 1500 Ramcharger goes on sale later this year, and the company is taking a slightly different approach to its electrified truck than rivals Ford and General Motors, which both now offer battery electric pickups. The Ramcharger will be a range-extended EV, albeit one with more lithium-ion on board than most BEVs have.
Honestly, pickup trucks are a poor candidate for electrification, at least while we’re still firmly in early adopter territory. The instant and impressive torque from an electric motor is great, but the shape of a cab and bed is inherently draggy in a way that few other vehicles are, a problem exacerbated by whopping great frontal areas.
But the pickup truck is also the most popular kind of vehicle in the US, and the industry has tried very hard to convince itself and everyone else that pickup buyers could seamlessly adopt electric powertrains en masse. That way, everyone in America could drive an EV, climate change would go away, and no one would have to consider changing their lifestyle or taking a bus to work.
Sony is permanently reducing the price of the PlayStation VR2. Starting in March, the headset will cost $400, €450 and £400 — down from $550, €600 and £530, respectively. Included in the price cut is the Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle, which, like the standard package, will cost $400, €450 or £400 depending on your region. While it’s been possible to buy the PS VR2 for less than $400 during recent sales, the new pricing should give retailers the flexibility to discount the device even more aggressively down the road.
It’s hard to say what this means for the future of the PS VR2. Arguably, it was too expensive at launch, and at $400, it still costs more than the Meta Quest 3S, a standalone headset that doesn’t require a PlayStation 5 or PC to power it. Sony recently added support for low-latency hand tracking, but overall the company doesn’t appear keen on investing more time and money into the platform. Major first-party studios haven’t made many games for the PS VR2, and those that have, including the creators of Call of the Mountain, have seen layoffs in recent months.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/sony-cuts-the-price-of-ps-vr2-to-400-154138227.html?src=rss
The JavaScript package world is heating up as startups attempt to challenge npm’s long-standing dominance. While npm remains the backbone of JavaScript dependency management, Deno’s JSR and vlt’s vsr have entered the scene with impressive backing and even more impressive leadership — JSR comes from Node.js creator Ryan Dahl, while npm’s own creator Isaac Schlueter is behind vsr. Neither aims to completely replace npm, instead building compatible layers that promise better developer experiences.
Many developers feel GitHub has left npm to stagnate since its 2020 acquisition, doing just enough to keep it running while neglecting innovations. Security problems and package spam have only intensified these frustrations. Yet these newcomers face the same harsh reality that pushed npm into GitHub’s arms: running a package registry costs serious money — not just for servers, but for lawyers handling trademark fights and content moderation.
