Fortnitejust announced the availability of Chapter 6: Season 2, which has been dubbed Lawless. As the name suggests, this update is all about being a criminal and performing robberies. Fortnite hasn’t dabbled in this kind of GTA-esque tomfoolery since Chapter 4: Season 4, which also included heists.
Starting today, players will be able to perform all kinds of nefarious activities, like robbing banks, stealing armored cars and breaking into luxury locations. The popular battle royale will even let players rob the train that services the island. Oh yeah. There’s also a giant pickle that raps named Big Dill. It has a song on Soundcloud.
There are a handful of new locations to accompany this update, including an urban area called Crime City. Other updated game mechanics include gold water that provides stat boosts, black markets for high-end weapons, and a scanner that detects where enemies are. There’s also a new in-game “crypto currency” called Dill Bits coins, which can be used to buy gear. This automatically makes it more useful than the vast majority of actual crypto coins out there.
Players that pick up this season’s battle pass will have access to several new playable characters, including the aforementioned vinegar-soaked rapper Big Dill. Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat is also included in this roster for some reason.
Epic Games
A series of Cowboy Bebop quests will also appear in the game beginning on March 1. To accompany these quests, players will be able to dress like the characters Spike Spiegel and Faye Valentine. Lawless runs from today until May 2.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/fortnites-new-season-leans-heavily-on-heist-mechanics-201542184.html?src=rss
High-revving naturally aspirated engines and their associated screaming soundtracks might be on their way back to Formula 1. Not with next year’s rule changes—that will see even bigger lithium-ion batteries and an even more powerful electric motor, paired with a turbocharged V6. But the sport is starting to think more seriously about the technical rules that will go into effect in 2030, and in an Instagram post yesterday, the man in charge of those rules signaled that he’s open to cars that might be louder, lighter, and less complicated.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s tenure as president of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile has been packed with controversy. The former rally driver has alienated many F1 drivers with clampdowns on jewelry and, most recently, swearing, as well as a refusal to explain what happens to the money the FIA collects as fines.
He also ruffled feathers when the FIA opened up the entry process for new teams into the sport and then approved an entry by Andretti Global. While the FIA said yes, the commercial side (which is owned by Liberty Media) and the teams wanted nothing to do with an 11th team—at least until the $200 million anti-dilution fee was more than doubled and Michael Andretti stepped aside.
Apple is set to give News+ subscribers more than a soupçon of fresh material. When iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 arrive in April, the company will add a Food section to News+.
This will include tens of thousands of recipes, along with stories curated by Apple News editors about healthy eating, restaurants, kitchen essentials and so on. Apple says “the world’s top food publishers” — including Allrecipes, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Good Food and Serious Eats — will supply the recipes and stories.
One notable omission from that list is The New York Times, which has a separate subscription for its famed Cooking app. As such, it seems Apple is trying to go toe-to-toe with one of the country’s papers of record on another front after it added games for News+ subscribers. Of course, there are plenty of other places you can go on the web for recipes and cooking tips.
Non-News+ subscribers will have access to a limited number of stories and recipes. An appetizer, if you will, to encourage folks to sign up for the full buffet.
New recipes will be added to the Recipe Catalog every day. You’ll be able to browse, search and filter the library. Apple says the format makes it easy to review the lists of ingredients and directions. There’s an option to view step-by-step instructions in full screen mode (which looks a bit like a lyrics screen in Apple Music). You can also save recipes for offline access, which could be useful for meal planning if you like to go off-grid once in a while.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/apple-is-adding-tens-of-thousands-of-recipes-to-news-194518874.html?src=rss
The General Services Administration plans on shutting down federal EV charging infrastructure in the coming weeks and “offloading” EVs purchased by the previous administration, The Verge reports.
Since the GSA oversees government buildings, shutting down chargers will impact personal electric vehicles owned by government employees and government-owned EVs. “As GSA has worked to align with the current administration, we have received direction that all GSA owned charging stations are not mission critical,” an email viewed by The Verge reads.
There were a a steadily increasing number of federally-owned EVs after President Biden ordered the government agencies to electrify their fleets in 2021. Part of the Inflation Reduction Act signed in 2024 also included funding to build EV chargers for the growing number of vehicles used by the government.
The shutdown will take place over the coming weeks and will coincide with the removal of GSA EVs purchased by the Biden Administration, either by selling them or placing them in storage, according to the report. Engadget has reached out to the GSA for confirmation of this plan and will update this article if we hear back.
Shutting down federal charging infrastructure fits with both the Trump administration’s stance on EVs and the transportation goals of Project 2025, the plan written by The Heritage Foundation that’s been guiding recent policy decisions. Since taking office, Trump has reversed Biden’s order to electrify government vehicles and cancelled a project to install high-speed EV chargers along highways. It wouldn’t be surprising if he signed a bill eliminating the federal EV tax credit entirely, if presented with the chance.
While not a magic bullet for global warming, EV adoption has been pushed because of its potential to reduce carbon emissions. Moving from manufacturing gas vehicles to EVs has not been cheap for car companies, though. Imposing tariffs and removing the incentives to buy EVs is one reason automakers are reportedly trying to lobby the Trump administration to reconsider its current stance.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/federal-government-reportedly-plans-to-shut-down-its-ev-charging-infrastructure-191314767.html?src=rss
Just days after anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became the country’s top health official, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already pulled back some of its efforts to protect Americans with safe, lifesaving vaccines. The agency has indefinitely postponed a public meeting of its vaccine advisory committee and killed a campaign promoting seasonal flu shots.
Last weekend, a Washington Post columnist noted on Bluesky that the CDC’s effective “Wild to Mild” seasonal flu shot campaign had vanished. The campaign highlighted how the seasonal vaccines can prevent influenza infections from becoming severe or life-threatening. It used animals as an analogy for the diminished threat of the flu virus after vaccination, juxtaposing a lion and a domestic kitten in one ad while showing an elephant and a mouse in another. The CDC page no longer leads to a “not found” landing page, but it wasn’t restored either. It now redirects to a 2023 article announcing the campaign, which does not contain the shareable resources found on the original page. The removal is startling given that the US is currently battling one of the worst flu seasons in 15 years.
NPR first reported that CDC staff were told in a meeting Wednesday, February 19, the campaign was halted. In a story Thursday, Stat News added more context to the decision. According to the outlet’s sources, the Department of Health and Human Services’ assistant secretary for public affairs informed the CDC that Kennedy wanted vaccine advertisements to emphasize “informed consent” instead.
By late 2024, however, Rust enthusiasts were frustrated with stalls and blocks on their efforts, with the Rust for Linux lead quitting over “nontechnical nonsense.” Torvalds said at the time that he understood it was slow, but that “old-time kernel developers are used to C” and “not exactly excited about having to learn a new language.” Still, this could be considered a normal amount of open source debate.
On March 3, Mobile World Congress will kick off in Barcelona, Spain. While it’s not the premier show it once was, many of the smartphone industry’s leading players 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. And 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 anything major gets announced 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 something for March 4, the second day of the show.
I say at least one device because Nothing’s invite says “Phone 3a Series.” To add to that, recent reports suggest the company is preparing to announce a Phone (3a) Pro alongside a regular offering. Why would Nothing release a “Pro” version of a midrange device, you ask? I’m not sure, but this is Nothing we’re talking about and the company has frequently done things a bit differently from the rest of the pack.
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.
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.
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.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/what-to-expect-at-mobile-world-congress-2025-nothing-samsung-xiaomi-and-more-140057306.html?src=rss
Chinese startup DeepSeek will make its models’ code publicly available, it said on Friday, doubling down on its commitment to open-source artificial intelligence. From a report: The company said in a post on social media platform X that it will open source 5 code repositories next week, describing the move as “small but sincere progress” that it will share “with full transparency.”
“These humble building blocks in our online service have been documented, deployed and battle-tested in production.” the post said. DeepSeek rattled the global AI industry last month when it released its open-source R1 reasoning model, which rivaled Western systems in performance while being developed at a lower cost.
A committee for Meta’s board of directors approved the change on February 13, on the grounds that the “target total cash compensation” for its executives “was at or below the 15th percentile of the target total cash compensation of executives holding similar positions” at rival companies. It’s worth noting that the new bonus plan doesn’t apply to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Don’t worry about his bottom line, however, as he’s worth nearly $250 billion.
Meta has also decided to slash its annual distribution of stock options by around ten percent for thousands of its regular employees, according to a report by The Financial Times. The exact reduction could differ depending on where the employees live and what they do, but Meta hasn’t commented further on the decision.
As previously noted, Meta is in the process of laying off five percent of its global workforce. This is despite the fact that company shares are up nearly 50 percent over the past year, with a current stock price of around $687 per share. Also, it recently announced that its fourth-quarter revenue grew 21 percent year-over-year to more than $48 billion. The company has cut more than 20,000 jobs in the past couple of years.
“A leaner org will execute its highest priorities faster. People will be more productive, and their work will be more fun and fulfilling,” Zuckerberg said at the tail-end of last year. Nothing says “fun and fulfilling” more than watching your co-workers get laid off while the executives get massive bonuses.
If you’re a current or former Meta employee with thoughts on this new executive bonus structure, hit me up on Signal at LawrenceBonk.96. I’ll ensure that things are kept anonymous.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/meta-approves-massive-bonuses-for-executives-after-broad-layoffs-183222951.html?src=rss
In December, roughly a dozen employees inside a manufacturing company received a tsunami of phishing messages that was so big they were unable to perform their day-to-day functions. A little over an hour later, the people behind the email flood had burrowed into the nether reaches of the company’s network. This is a story about how such intrusions are occurring faster than ever before and the tactics that make this speed possible.
The speed and precision of the attack—laid out in posts published Thursday and last month—are crucial elements for success. As awareness of ransomware attacks increases, security companies and their customers have grown ever savvier at detecting breach attempts and stopping them before they gain entry to sensitive data. To succeed, attackers have to move ever faster.
Breakneck breakout
ReliaQuest, the security firm that responded to this intrusion, said it tracked a 22-percent reduction in the “breakout time” threat actors took in 2024 compared with a year earlier. In the attack at hand, the breakout time—meaning the time span from the moment of initial access to lateral movement inside the network—was just 48 minutes.
After creating a stir with the $200 Neo, DJI is back at it with another innovative drone, the Flip. It has a first-of-a-kind folding design and shrouded propellers to keep people safe. It also integrates 3D infrared obstacle detection to track subjects and has a long list of impressive features.
With a camera borrowed from the Mini 4 Pro, the Flip can take high-quality 4K 60p video indoors or out with little risk. It comes with vlogger-friendly features like Direction Track and Quickshots for social media. And it can be flown with either DJI’s controllers, a smartphone, voice control or the push of a button.
There’s no need for a permit to fly it, and best of all, it’s priced at $439 with an RC-N3 controller included — making it one of the more affordable drones available. To see how well it serves creators, I flew it inside a castle, a 500-year-old house and out in nature. It’s not perfect (hello, stiff winds and obstacles), and it has some stiff competition with the HoverAir X1 Pro, but it’s one of the most useful creator drones yet.
Design
The Flip has a clever, user-friendly design. All four propellers fold down and stack below the body like some kind of Star Wars spacecraft. DJI chose this construction so that it could incorporate permanent (rather than detachable) shrouds that protect the props to limit damage or injury in case of a collision. The design also employs large propellers that aid performance and reduce noise. By comparison, DJI’s Neo has tiny, fast-spinning propellers that make a high-pitched shrieking noise.
DJI kept the takeoff weight including battery and microSD card under 250 grams by using carbon fiber and other lightweight materials. This means the Flip can be flown without special permits. It’s still rather bulky though, especially compared to the sleek HoverAir X1 Pro.
The Flip has far better battery life than its rival, however. DJI promises up to 34 minutes max flight time (about 27 minutes in real-world conditions), compared to just 16 minutes for the X1 Pro. The batteries can be charged up quickly as well, taking about 35 minutes each with the optional four-battery charger. You’ll need a memory card, though, as the Flip only has 2GB of internal storage.
The Flip is DJI’s first lightweight drone with a 3D infrared sensor for forward obstacle avoidance and it also has a downward vision sensor for landing spot detection and stability. However, unlike the Mini 4 Pro and other DJI drones, it has no side or rear obstacle sensors.
One small issue is that the Flip’s propellers don’t have much clearance, so they can snag even in short grass on takeoffs. Like the Neo, though, it’s designed more for takeoffs and landings from your hand. To that end, it has a button on the opposite side of the power switch to select a flight mode and takeoff automatically, just like the Neo. It can also be flown with the app, voice control or manually with a controller — either the DJI RC-N3 controller (which requires a smartphone) or the RC 2 controller with a built-in 5.5-inch display.
Features and performance
Steve Dent for Engadget
The Flip can hum along at up to 26 mph in sport mode, which isn’t bad for a light drone, but a good bit slower than the Mini 4 Pro (37 mph). However, the reduced weight and large surface area means it’s not the best in high winds. When it flew over the roof of a castle, for example, it got hit by a gust that pushed it nearly backwards.
However, the Flip can do things that you’d never attempt with a Mini 4 Pro. The full propeller protection, stability and relatively low noise make it well-suited for flying inside large rooms full of fragile objects and people. That, along with the excellent picture quality, means it’s a great choice for event professionals and content creators working in public spaces.
It’s also perfect for beginners, because like the Neo, you can launch the Flip off your hand at the push of a button. It will then fly a pre-programmed mode and land back where it started. One of those modes, Direction Track, allows the drone to fly backwards and follow you for vlogging. There’s also a follow mode for activities like running and hiking, along with social media-friendly flight modes like Dronie, Rocket, Circle, Helix and Boomerang. Note that video in these automatic modes is limited to 4K 30 fps.
At the same time, the Flip is easy to fly manually either with a smartphone or the supported controllers. Though not as maneuverable as the Mini 4 Pro, it’s easier for novices to fly and makes a stable camera platform. You do need to be careful in areas with untextured floors (painted concrete, for instance), as it can throw off the Flip’s sensors and make it unstable. When that happens, your best bet is to switch it into sport mode to disable the vision-based flight stability sensors (and then fly carefully because obstacle detection will also be disabled).
Steve Dent for Engadget
Oddly, the Flip doesn’t work with DJI’s Goggles N3 and Motion 3 controller, unlike the much cheaper Neo. That’s because DJI sees it predominantly as a camera drone rather than an acrobatic device.
If you’re hoping to use the Flip to track yourself or others, there’s a big issue: It lacks obstacle detection in any direction except forward or down. If you’re flying the drone backwards, for instance, you have to make sure there’s nothing behind it can crash into. And automatic obstacle avoidance doesn’t work at all when you use the Flip’s smart features like Direction Track or ActiveTrack, though the drone will stop 10 feet before hitting anything it detects. The lack of that feature is odd, since obstacle avoidance is an important part of subject tracking, and DJI didn’t say if it had plans to rectify that issue via a future update. None of this is an issue with the HoverAir X1 Pro, which can track forwards, backwards and even sideways with full obstacle detection enabled.
The Flip has excellent range for such a tiny drone at up to eight miles, thanks to DJI’s O4 transmission system. At the same time, it can send a high quality 1080p 60 fps video signal that can be recorded to the controller as a backup. However, if you’re flying using your smartphone with a Wi-Fi connection, range is limited to just 165 feet.
Camera
Samuel Dejours for Engadget
The cameras are the biggest difference between the Flip and the Neo. The Flip comes with a much larger 1/1.3-inch 48-megapixel sensor and a 24mm-equivalent wide angle F/1.7 lens. It’s the same as the one on the Mini 4 Pro and provides sharp, noise-free video in good light.
You can shoot 4K video at up to 60 fps (100 fps in slow-mo mode), rather than just 30 fps like the Neo. In addition, the Flip supports 10-bit D-LogM video that allows for improved dynamic range in bright lighting, like on ski slopes. You can also capture 12MP or 48MP RAW (DNG) photos.
Video quality is noticeably sharper than on the Neo and the Flip is a far better drone for night shoots or dimly lit indoor settings thanks to the lower noise levels. Though the DJI Air 3S and Mavic 4 offer higher quality due to the larger sensors, there isn’t a large difference in good light. Since the Flip has just a single camera, video is noticeably more noisy when using the 2x zoom. Note that when shooting in the automated modes (Direction Track, Dronie, etc.) there is no manual control of the camera to adjust exposure, shutter speed and ISO.
The HoverAir X1 Pro has the same-sized 1/1.3-inch sensor and offers very similar video quality (with a log mode as well), though I find DJI’s colors to be a touch more accurate. The HoverAir has slightly inferior 4K 60p video unless you spend an extra $200 for the Pro Max version to get 8K 30fps and 4K 120fps.
With a three-axis gimbal, the Flip shoots silky smooth video even if it’s being buffeted by winds. You can choose Follow mode to keep the camera level even when the drone banks, or FPV mode that allows the camera to tilt for a more exciting first-person perspective. Generally, video remains smooth even with sudden maneuvers, while footage from the HoverAir X1 Pro exhibits occasional jolts and janky movements.
The Flip’s camera doesn’t rotate 90 degrees like the one on the Mini 4 Pro, so maximum resolution for vertical video is 2.7K — a step backwards from the 4K 60 fps 9:16 vertical video on the Mini 4 Pro.
Wrap-up
Steve Dent for Engadget
The Flip represents a bold change in direction (and design) for DJI. Unlike open prop drones, it gives creators the ability to shoot indoors and around people with relatively high video quality. And it does this for just $439 — much less than the $759 Mini 4 Pro. However, the Flip isn’t perfect, with its main flaws being the reduced maneuverability, problems in wind and lack of obstacle avoidance when using smart modes like ActiveTrack.
As I mentioned, DJI also has some serious competition in this category, namely the $500 HoverAir X1 Pro. Both offer features like palm takeoff, intelligent flight modes and subject tracking and have similar quality, but the HoverAir X1 Pro offers rear-side active collision detection, a wider lens and more internal storage. It’s also about half the size of the Flip. For its part, the Flip has double the flight time and a much longer transmission range.
The choice then depends on what you want. If portability, subject tracking and obstacle avoidance are key, the HoverAir X1 Pro is a better option. Others who prioritize battery life, smoother video and a more established company should choose the Flip. In any case, DJI usually dominates all drone categories, so it’s nice to see multiple products facing off in this creator-centric space.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/dji-flip-review-a-unique-and-useful-creator-drone-with-a-few-flaws-181507462.html?src=rss
The rumors are true: Apple confirmed today that the Vision Pro will get Apple Intelligence features in April with the arrival of visionOS 2.4. A developer beta is also rolling out today for the less patient. As we’ve seen on other devices, Apple is starting out the Vision Pro’s AI rollout with basic features. Those include Writing Tools, which can help you summarize, rewrite and proofread text, as well as generate text with ChatGPT; Image Playground for creating AI imagery; and Genmoji for building custom AI generated emojis and stickers.
It really was only a matter of when Apple would bring Apple Intelligence to the Vision Pro. It’s available on current Macs running the M1 chip, so the spatial headset’s M2 hardware is clearly more than capable. Apple Intelligence on VP only supports English for now, but the company says more languages and AI features will be coming throughout the year. As for other minor Apple Intelligence capabilities, the Vision Pro will also be getting Priority Notifications and summaries, Smart Reply in Mail and Messages, and the ability to create Memory Movies in Photos.
Arguably more useful to Vision Pro users, Apple is also introducing several apps and tweaks to make the headset a bit more useful. There’s a new Spatial Gallery app exclusive to Vision Pro that will highlight spatial videos, photos and panoramas from Apple. Think of it as another way to enjoy the VP’s immersive capabilities without waiting for another big budget Immersive Video to drop. The company says the Spatial Galllery app will include “stories and experiences” from brands like Red Bull (which is well known for making 360-degree videos for VR), as well as behind the scenes material from Apple shows like Severance and Shrinking. (Let’s hope we can actually sit inside the creepy Lumon offices.)
Apple
Additionally, a new Apple Vision Pro app for iPhone will let users better manage their headset experience. They can remotely add apps and games to the Vision Pro, as well as explore content to check out later. The app will also serve as a way to owners you know when new content drops for the Vision Pro (like a new “Arctic Surfing” episode of the Boundless Immersive series, which arrives today), as well as explore other videos for the headset, including a library of nearly 300 3D movies.
A standalone mobile Vision Pro app also makes sense, especially since Meta has offered something similar for its headsets for years. It’s a sign that Apple is slowly making the Vision Pro platform a bit more consumer friendly, instead of just being a testbed for developers working in spatial computing. I don’t think Apple will be lowering the Vision Pro’s price anytime soon, but whenever we get a cheaper headset from the company, it’ll be helpful to have content discovery features like the Spatial Gallery and the Vision Pro iPhone app.
And speaking of user-friendly tweaks, Apple is also improving Guest User mode with visionOS 2.4 Now headset owners will be able to start guest sessions with their iPhone and iPad, remotely choose which apps are available to guests wearing your Vision Pro, and also kick off AirPlay mirroring remotely. Previously, that process involved putting on the Vision Pro first, enabling Guest User mode, and then passing it to someone else to test out.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/apple-intelligence-is-headed-to-the-vision-pro-in-april-dev-beta-available-today-181014106.html?src=rss
The Vision Pro’s visionOS 2.4 update will let you blast friends with “Genmojis,” but the more useful feature is the ability to stream what your friends see inside Apple’s headset.
