Chipmaker Nvidia is preparing to launch its own open source AI agent platform to compete with the likes of OpenClaw, according to a recent Wired report.

The magazine cites “people familiar with the company’s plans” in reporting that Nvidia has been pitching the platform, which it is calling NemoClaw, to various corporate partners ahead of its annual developer conference next week. Salesforce, Cisco, Google, Adobe, and CrowdStrike are among the companies said to be in talks for those partnerships, though it’s unclear what specific benefits those companies would receive for their association with the open source tool.

NemoClaw, as the somewhat awkward name suggests, would be a direct competitor of OpenClaw (previously known as Moltbot and Clawdbot), the system that attracted widespread attention in January for letting users direct “always-on” AI agents from their personal machines, using any number of underlying models. Last month, OpenAI hired OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger “to drive the next generation of personal agents,” as founder Sam Altman put it, though the OpenClaw project will be run by an independent foundation with OpenAI’s support.

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Sony has announced its latest additions to the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog. While they might not top last month’s introduction of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Extra and Premium subscribers are still getting access to some notable games.

In March, the new additions include Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (PS5), one of Engadget’s picks for the Best Games of 2024, and Persona 5 Royal (PS5 and PS4). The PS4 version of Persona 5 Royal – Ultimate Edition, the complete version of one of Atlus’ most popular RPGs, will also be available alongside a collection of other fun additions.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a third-person action game reminiscent of Gears of War, but set in Games Workshop’s elaborate Warhammer 40,000 universe. If you’re a fan of the larger franchise, Space Marine 2 is well worth a look, especially with a third entry on the way, but the game is also a solid option if you’re just looking for a new co-op game to try with friends.

Persona 5 Royal is a known-quantity among fans of Atlus’ social simulation/RPG series, and the way it both expands on and streamlines the original Persona 5 also makes it a suitable entry point to the series as a whole. If seeing Japanese teenagers deal with their personal problems while embarking on Inception-style missions into the hearts of the corrupt adults of Tokyo sounds interesting, you’ll love Persona 5 Royal.

Alongside those standouts, PS Plus Game Catalog is also getting:

• EA Sports Madden NFL 26 (PS5)

• Blasphemous 2 (PS5 and PS4)

• Metal Eden (PS5)

• Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria (PS5)

• Astroneer (PS5 and PS4)

And as promised last month, the PS Plus Classics Catalog is expanding to include Tekken: Dark Resurrection, a revamped and rebalanced version of Tekken 5 that includes expanded character customization options and new stages that weren’t in the original 2004 fighting game. This one’s only for PS Plus Premium subscribers on PS4 and PS5.

All of these will be available on the PS Plus Game Catalog on March 17.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/the-ps-plus-games-catalog-is-getting-space-marine-2-and-persona-5-royal-in-march-162716284.html?src=rss

Fortnite’s original Save the World game mode will be free to play beginning on April 16. This is not the battle royale mode that went on to take over the world, but rather a PvE co-op campaign that focuses on crafting and survival. It currently costs $9 but that ends soon.

As a matter of fact, Epic Games will stop selling the paid version of the content tonight, March 11, at 8PM ET. If you have $9 burning a hole in your pocket to spend on something that’ll be free next month, go for it. Current players will still be able to access the content, so there are no worries there.

Once the free version goes live, pre-existing players will get a bunch of perks as a thank you of sorts. This includes vouchers for V-bucks, gold bars and end-game resources that are used to boost player and item levels.

Save the World will still be a great way to gather V-bucks, for those worried the freemium shift will change things. Epic says players will earn this currency “through Daily Quests, Mission Alerts, Storm Shield Defense Missions and existing Challenges.”

Pre-registration for the free mode is already live and there’s a welcome bit of news here. For the first time, Save the World will be available on Switch 2. It’ll remain unavailable on the original Switch and smartphones. The mode is also playable on PC, PlayStation and Xbox.

Epic promises those who pre-register will get perks when the free version launches, but says the specifics will vary depending on how many people sigh up by April 16. Save the World originally came out in 2017 and was a modest success that was immediately dwarfed by the PUBG-inspired battle royale mode.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/fortnites-original-save-the-world-mode-will-be-free-to-play-starting-on-april-16-160757693.html?src=rss

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Chinese authorities moved to restrict state-run enterprises and government agencies from running OpenClaw AI apps on office computers, acting swiftly to defuse potential security risks after companies and consumers across China began experimenting with the agentic AI phenomenon. Government agencies and state-owned enterprises, including the largest banks, have received notices in recent days warning them against installing OpenClaw software on office devices for security reasons […]. Several of them were instructed to notify superiors if they had already installed related apps for security checks and possible removal, some of the people said.

Certain employees, including those at state-run banks and some government agencies, were banned from installing OpenClaw on office computers and also personal phones using the company’s network, some of the people said. One person said the ban was also extended to the families of military personnel. Other notices stopped short of calling for an outright ban on OpenClaw software, saying only that prior approval is needed before use, the people said. The warning underscores Beijing’s growing concern about OpenClaw, an agentic AI platform that requires unusually broad access to private data and can communicate externally, potentially exposing computers to external attack. […]

Despite the potential security risks, companies from Tencent to JD.com Inc. have been rolling out OpenClaw apps to try and capitalize on the groundswell of enthusiasm, while several local government agencies have declared millions of yuan in subsidies for companies that develop atop the platform. […] Tech giants like Tencent and Alibaba, along with AI upstarts ranging from Moonshot to MiniMax, have rolled out their own tweaks of the software touting simple, one-click adoption. A slew of government agencies, in cities from Shenzhen to Wuxi, have issued notices offering multimillion-yuan subsidies to startups leveraging OpenClaw to make advances. The frenzy has helped drive up shares of AI model developer MiniMax nearly 640% since its listing just two months ago. It’s now worth about $49 billion, surpassing Baidu — once viewed as the frontrunner in Chinese AI development — in market value. The company launched MaxClaw, an agent built on OpenClaw, in late February.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The boundaries between the Mac and iPad have blurred in recent years—especially with the release of iPadOS 26. Apple’s tablet now has a capable windowed multitasking system, a better file management app, and powerful apps. But the software can still sometimes be a limitation. It is, after all, a sandboxed environment, and the touch-first interface can hide a lot of pro-level features. But those pro-level features are still there, if you know where to look. Whether you’re a casual or a pro iPad user, you can make the most out of your tablet with these 10 hacks.

Use this hidden gesture to drag and drop multiple items at once

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

You might be familiar with all the ways you can swipe and slide around iPadOS to get things done. But if you’re still dragging and dropping files and photos one-by-one, you should know you can move multiple items at once.

When you tap and hold to select one item, drag your fingers out from the file to “pick” it up, but don’t let go just yet. With another finger, tap to pick up as many more files, photos, or links as you wish. They’ll all get collected under the finger you’re holding on to. Then, use your free hand to go to the Home Screen and open the app you want to drop everything off (like Notes or Mail). Once you let go, all the files will follow suit. This works within the Files app as well, which makes it a great way to move multiple files together. If you’re using the latest iPadOS version, you’ll also see a progress bar for transferring files at the top of the screen.

Use “Windowed Apps” to turn your iPad into a computer

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

With iPadOS 26, Apple finally introduced true windowed multitasking. You can now have up to 12 apps open at the same time, all with their own free-floating windows. But it’s not the default state, so if you’re still using your iPad as-is, you’ll have to shift gears into Windowed Apps mode. You can do this from Settings > Multitasking & Gestures, but there’s a faster way from wherever you are in iPadOS. Open Control Center, tap the new Multitasking toggle and switch to Windowed Apps mode.

Now, every app on the screen, even a full-screen one, will have a little handle in the bottom-right corner, which you can pull to make the window larger or smaller. You can grab the top toolbar from any app to move it around. Apple also included the “Stop Light” controls from Mac here: Tap on them to close, minimize, or maximize the app. If you tap and hold the Stop Light buttons, you’ll also get an option to move or arrange the window into a grid layout, like the Mac.

Use this gesture for quick side-by-side app views

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Coming from the iPhone, you might be familiar with some multitasking gestures. You swipe up to go Home, and you can swipe on the Home bar to switch between apps. These exist on the iPad too, but iPadOS adds more gestures to the mix.

One of the best new gestures added in iPadOS 26 is the flick gesture. Pick up a window when you’re in Windowed Apps mode, and just flick it to the right or the left of the screen. The window will then automatically resize itself to fit to half of the screen. When two apps are docked like this, you’ll see a new handlebar appear. You can drag it to resize the window split (going to a 70/30 split is a great ratio for multitasking, as one app essentially goes down to iPhone size).

There are more gestures to know about, too. Using four or five fingers, swipe left or right on the screen to switch between apps, or app pairs. Swipe up and hold to enter app switcher mode (and to see a preview of all open apps). And of course you can swipe up with four fingers to go home. You can also swipe down from the top of the screen to reveal the Menu bar at any time.

Change this setting to make the Files app more like Finder on Mac

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

The iPad’s Files app is not exactly like the Finder on the Mac, but with iPadOS 26, it’s more similar than ever. You finally have background processing, so you can monitor large file transfers from the top toolbar in the Files app, or from Live Activities.

But to get the most out of the Files app, you should turn to a different view. From the top toolbar you can now switch from the default Icons view to either a List view or a Column view. Column view is like Finder, where you can drill down into a folder structure while still maintaining easy access to top folders in columns to the left. On the other hand, if you manage a lot of files, and you like to see all file information, along with sort options, you should try List view. You can sort based on name, date created, date modified, size, or tags. And you can add or remove columns to customize exactly what shows up.

Use “Sidecar” to turn your iPad into a second screen

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

If you work on your Mac most of the time, you can still use the iPad as a copilot. Apple has a built-in feature called Sidecar that turns the iPad into a second screen—no wires or setup needed. Just make sure that Handoff on your iPad is enabled (and that you’re using wifi and not tethering). To enable Handoff, go to Settings > General > Airplay & Handoff > Handoff.

Make sure the iPad is unlocked and nearby. Then, go to Control Center > Screen Mirroring and pick the iPad from your list. To use it as an external monitor, choose the Use As Separate Display option. If you want to use the iPad as a drawing surface for a Mac app, with Apple Pencil support, choose the Mirror Display option instead.

You can now move freely between the iPad screen and the Mac. To arrange the layout for the screens, go to System Settings > Displays. For more tips, take a look at our detailed guide on using Sidecar.

Use your iPad’s hidden “iPhone” keyboard to type with one hand

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

The software keyboard takes up half of the screen when you’re trying to take notes in the Notes app. But it doesn’t have to be that way. If you need to see more of the screen, you can turn the full-size keyboard into an iPhone keyboard using a simple gesture. Just pinch in with two fingers in the middle of the keyboard to switch to a floating mini-keyboard. You can drag it anywhere you please. (Alternatively, long-press the keyboard icon in the bottom right, then choose “Floating.”)

Use Slide Over to pin a window to the top of the screen

Credit: Lifehacker

You can pin an app to the top of the screen using Slide Over if you want to refer to something else for a task (without shifting gears into the multitasking mode). First, you need to be in either Stage Manager or Windowed Mode. Then, open an app, long-press on the Stop Lights control in the top left, then tap “Enter Slide Over.” The app will shift to the side, and will always remain there, even when switching between apps. You can even resize the Slide Over window to make it as big or small as you want. You can hide the current Slide Over window by swiping the window to the edge of the screen. A small arrow button will appear in its place, which you can use to bring the window back. If you have a keyboard attached, use the keyboard shortcut Globe + Option + Right Arrow to send an app to Slide Over mode.

Edit your handwritten text with Apple Pencil gestures

Credit: Apple

If you’re writing a note with your Apple Pencil, and you make a mistake, you might think you need to switch to the eraser mode, erase the error, then switch back to the pen mode to keep writing. There are other ways, however.

To remove an error, just scratch or scribble over a word or sentence to delete it. To rearrange handwritten text, you can draw a circle around a word to pick it up. Then, you can move the word around and place it where you’d like it to go. If two words are too close to each other, you can draw a vertical slice between them to insert some space. Similarly, just press and hold the Pencil in between two words to insert text in the middle.

Change default apps for your frequently used file types

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

For years, when you’d open a file on your iPad, it would open in the app of Apple’s choice. If you wanted to open the file in a different app, you’d have to open that app first, then select the file to open. Luckily, that’s a thing of the past. The Files app now has an option to choose default apps for particular file types, just like your Mac.

Open the Files app, then find a file type that you want to change (for example, always opening PNG files in Pixelmator instead of the Preview app). Tap and hold on the file, then tap “Get Info.” Here, choose “Always Open With,” and switch to a different app from the list. Apple will bring up a confirmation box. Here, select “Always Open.” The next time you tap on the file with the particular file extension, it will open in the app of your choice.

Add folders to the Dock to access your files anywhere

Credit: Apple

With iPadOS 26, Apple added a Mac-inspired folder system directly to the Dock, where a folder expands to show recently added files right on top of your screen. When multitasking on your iPad, you might routinely need to drag and drop files from Downloads or your work folder. You can add that folder directly to the Dock to quickly access the files within, without even opening the Files app.

From the Files app, press and hold any folder that you want to add to the Dock, and tap “Add to Dock.” Or, you can simply drag and drop a folder to the Dock itself. Now, when you tap the folder icon in the Dock, you’ll see recently added files, or folders within it. You can then drag and drop any file you see here onto any app, or you can open the folder using the Open Folder option at the top of the file’s preview.

On Tuesday, word spread that the National Institutes of Health was launching a series of what it’s calling “Scientific Freedom Lectures,” with the first scheduled for March 20. The “freedom” theme echoes one of the major concerns of the director of the NIH, Jay Bhattacharya, who feels he suffered outrageous censorship of his ideas during the pandemic and is using his anger about it to fuel his efforts to bring change to the NIH. Given that scientific freedom is a major interest of the director, you might think that the first lecture would be delivered by a distinguished scientist. Guess again.

The speaker at the first lecture will be a former journalist best known for his fringe ideas on COVID and the climate. The topic will be the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 was accidentally released from a lab, an idea for which there is no scientific evidence.

Freedom for me

Bhattacharya was one of the signatories of the Great Barrington Declaration, which argued that we should try to protect the elderly and vulnerable but otherwise enable COVID to spread through the rest of the population. By and large, public health officials were aghast at the likely consequences—overwhelmed hospital systems, a still-substantial rate of mortality among healthy adults, the consequences of more cases of long COVID, etc.—and argued strongly against it.

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When you think of an AI-forward PC, you might think of something like NVIDIA’s $3,999 DGX Spark — a computer with enough computing power to run complex large language models locally. That’s not what Rabbit is trying to build with Project Cyberdeck. Instead, the company’s goal is to produce a device tailored for vibe coding, and Engadget was given an exclusive first look at the upcoming PC. 

Rabbit began working on Project Cyberdeck after the company’s CEO, Jesse Lyu, saw how much his software engineers were using Claude Code. Lyu thought a small form factor PC, like the netbooks that were popular in the late aughts, with a command line interface would be ideal for on-the-go vibe coding, but when he went online to look for something that fit the bill, he was disappointed.

“They all come with shitty rubber dome keyboards,” Lyu says of low-cost PCs like the latest Chromebooks, which use flexible silicone sheets under their keys to save on space and cost. “They’re not something you would enjoy typing on for an extended period of time.” So Rabbit decided to build its own device. For inspiration, Lyu and company looked to an unlikely source: the Sony Vaio P. 

Sony

Sony’s netbook was only briefly available from the start of 2009 to about the end of 2010. At the time, the 8-inch Vaio P was the world’s lightest netbook, weighing just 1.4 pounds, but it had a host of issues. It was also expensive, costing considerably more than other Intel Atom notebooks of the time. In 2009, the most affordable Vaio P would set you back $900 (about $1,365 adjusted for inflation). With Project Cyberdeck, Rabbit is aiming for a device that costs about $500, and hopefully avoids a similar fate.

I saw a few early renders of Project Cyberdeck, which Rabbit isn’t ready to share publicly yet. Imagine a cross between the Rabbit R1, Vaio P and the original Nintendo DS. It looks cute. All the renders had four USB-C ports to allow users to connect the device to external monitors and peripherals, though the actual IO specs are as-yet undecided. 

The company is in the process of sourcing components and working towards a final design, so details can — and will — change. I saw some of the parts Lyu has been testing in his office, but no final prototype as such. 

For one, Rabbit still needs to decide on a chipset. The company is aiming for a performance benchmark relative to the Raspberry Pi 5, which has a Broadcom BCM2712 quad-core Arm Cortex A76 processor clocked at 2.4GHz. With 16GB of RAM, the Raspberry Pi 5 can run two external monitors, a capability Rabbit hopes to match with the Cyberdeck. The idea here is to make a device that’s powerful enough it won’t feel slow when it’s communicating with Anthropic and OpenAI’s servers, but affordable enough to make it a no-brainer purchase for developers. 

The company confirmed Project Cyberdeck will run Linux. Rabbit will allow users to modify the operating system and install any third-party tools they want. Additionally, all the software features the company has developed for RabbitOS will be available through command-line prompts. 

Two parts of the device Lyu hopes are major differentiating factors are the keyboard and screen. Lyu appears set on shipping a computer with a 40 percent keyboard that has low-profile mechanical switches and a fully hot swappable PCB, so users can tweak the typing feel to their liking. Lyu also had a sample 7-inch OLED screen on his desk when I spoke to him. That specific panel offers touch input, a 165Hz refresh rate and 815 nits of brightness. While it might not be the one Rabbit settles on, OLED is the goal, because of what it would mean for battery life. 

For the uninitiated, OLED panels produce black values by turning off individual diodes, and since each diode is self-emitting, there’s no need for a power-hungry backlight. Like every smartphone manufacturer, Rabbit is taking advantage of this by planning to offer a dark mode interface from day one. 

One aspect of the Cyberdeck’s design Lyu can’t definitively speak to is how much RAM it will feature. The entire industry is dealing with datacenter demand for high-bandwidth memory that has sent the price of computers, smartphones and other electronics soaring. Lyu believes Rabbit won’t be forced to delay the Cyberdeck out of 2026, but he also didn’t rule out the possibility either. If things change for the better, he’s confident Rabbit would be able to take advantage, since it took the company about 93 days to ship the first R1 device after it began working on the design.      

Separately, I wonder if people will want to carry around a second device solely for their coding needs? You don’t need a dedicated machine to access Claude Code or OpenAI Cursor. Even companies like Apple have begun integrating vibe coding services into their development environments. Rabbit could be on track for a repeat of the R1, but with so many details of the Cyberdeck left undecided, for now, it’s too early to know for sure. The company will get to make its case when it shares more details in the coming weeks and months.  

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/rabbits-cyberdeck-is-a-modern-take-on-a-netbook-151907273.html?src=rss

Between a certain car company’s antics and the industrial chaos set off by COVID (and then compounded by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), it’s easy to be cynical about production timelines. But when Rivian showed off a midsize electric vehicle in 2024 and said it would be available in the first half of this year, it meant it. Deliveries of the first R2 SUVs will begin this spring.

As a new automaker, Rivian often does things its own way, but with the R2 launch, it’s following industry practice and starting with the superlative version first. That’s the R2 Performance, which starts at $57,990 with the launch package (excluding a $1,495 delivery charge). You get quite a lot of electric SUV for that, however: up to 330 miles (531 km) from a single charge of the 87.9 kWh battery pack, with 656 hp (489 kW) and 609 lb-ft (825 Nm) from the dual motor powertrain. Fast charging takes 29 minutes from 10 to 80 percent.

AWD first

The Performance features semi-active suspension, a rear window that drops into the tailgate, an interior with birch accents, heating for the front and rear seats and ventilation for the former, a nine-speaker sound system, matrix LED headlights, and some other neat touches like the flashlight that lives in the side of the door, similar to how some cars hide an umbrella there.

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Whether you’ve just unboxed your first running watch or you’ve been logging miles with one for years, there’s a good chance you’re only scratching the surface of what it can do. Beyond simply tracking your run, today’s smartwatches are packed with features that, with a little know-how, can genuinely transform your training. Here are ten hacks to help you get more out of your smartwatch running companion.

Garmin Forerunner 165

$189.99
at Amazon

$249.99
Save $60.00

$189.99
at Amazon

$249.99
Save $60.00

Try wearing your fitness watch somewhere other than your wrist

In terms of placement, your wrist isn’t the only option. Upper arm placement can actually improve optical heart rate accuracy by giving the sensor better contact with a meatier part of the body, with less wrist-movement noise. It’s an underused trick that can be especially useful during rowing, strength training, or any activity where wrist movement interferes with readings.

Display lap pace instead of current pace

Current pace—the real-time speed your watch calculates from GPS—sounds like exactly what you’d want to see mid-run. In practice, your “current pace” number can jump around constantly, spiking and dropping in response to GPS signal fluctuations or brief changes in effort.

The general consensus among runners (at least in running subreddits) is that lap pace is the smarter alternative. It shows your average pace for the current lap or interval, smoothing out the noise for a more stable readout. During any kind of workout where consistency is the whole point, glancing down and seeing a steady lap pace tells you far more about how you’re actually performing than a current pace figure that’s bouncing every few seconds. Swap it in through your data field settings (most watches support it across all run profiles) and you’ll wonder why you ever ran without it.

Use your fitness watch’s hot keys and customizable buttons

Most running watches allow you to assign shortcuts to physical buttons or gestures, but not enough runners ever bother to set them up. You can assign shortcuts to bring up the weather or the stopwatch, to save your current location, to turn on a “night shift” mode, and more. If you find yourself repeatedly diving into the same sub-menus before or after a run, assigning them to a button shortcut can save time and frustration.

Let’s use Garmin’s features as an example. By going to the settings menu and selecting System and then Shortcuts (previously “Hot Keys”), you can assign features to long presses or combination button presses. Beth shares that on her watch, she holds the DOWN button to bring up music controls, and the BACK button to turn the touchscreen on or off.

Disable the fitness watch’s touchscreen during activities

Touchscreen running watches are the norm these days, but an accidental mid-run swipe can pause your activity, skip to the next screen or—worst of all—end your session entirely. If your watch allows it, disable the touchscreen during activities. This is especially important in wet weather or when you’re wearing a long sleeve top that brushes the display. This setting might be buried in the activity settings or accessibility options. Find it, switch it on, and never accidentally stop your watch at mile three of a rainy long run again.

Do a factory reset of your fitness watch if it’s feeling stale

This one sounds drastic, but it’s a legitimate trick that many serious runners swear by. Your watch builds its fitness models (VO2 max, training load, recovery time) from accumulated data over time. But if you’ve recently lost significant weight, recovered from a long injury, gone through a period of illness, or simply noticed that your HRV and sleep stats have been stubbornly poor for weeks with no explanation, that historical data can actually anchor your watch to an outdated version of you.

The fix: Log into your watch platform from a computer, export or note any data you want to keep, then factory reset the device. In Garmin, you select “Delete Data and Reset Settings” option to clear all performance metrics. You’ll also need to delete the data within your companion app, since it’s usually saved there as a back-up. The point of this is a running watch equivalent of rebooting a computer that’s been running too long. You can wipe the slate clean and let your watch rebuild a fresh, accurate baseline from where you actually are right now, rather than where you were months or years ago.

ASUS says the MacBook Neo is a “shock” to the Windows PC ecosystem. “In the past, Apple’s pricing situation has always been high, so for them to release a very budget-friendly product, this is obviously a shock to the entire industry,” said ASUS co-CEO S.Y. Hsu in a Tuesday earnings call. While he expects PC makers to respond, rising AI-driven memory shortages could push hardware prices higher across the industry. PCMag reports: Hsu said he believes all the PC players — including Microsoft, Intel, and AMD — take the MacBook Neo threat seriously. “In fact, in the entire PC ecosystem, there have been a lot of discussions about how to compete with this product,” he added, given that rumors about the MacBook Neo have been making the rounds for at least a year. Despite the competitive threat, Hsu argued that the MacBook Neo could have limited appeal. He pointed to the laptop’s 8GB of “unified memory,” or what amounts to its RAM, and how customers can’t upgrade it.

He also described the MacBook Neo as a “content consumption” device, similar to an iPad. “This is different from the use case of a mainstream notebook,” which can handle more compute-intensive tasks, Hsu said. “How big of an impact [the MacBook Neo] will have on the PC industry will still require some time for us to observe,” Hsu said while suggesting it might not gain traction among Windows PC users due to software differences. “Of course, the entire Windows PC ecosystem will push out products to compete against Apple,” he added.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Phil Spencer leaving his long-held role at Xbox might have made all the headlines last month, but a few years ago the big story was company veteran Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb’s departure from Microsoft. Hryb recently seemingly hinted at a return to the company at which he spent more than two decades, but he’s now landed at Commodore instead.

The ex-Xbox icon joins the recently revived 80s computer brand as a Community Development Advisor, where his job will be to “help support and expand the global community,” Commodore said in a press release. Hryb, who was the public face of Xbox during the brand’s heyday, is now tasked with helping to modernize Commodore by introducing it to “a new generation of creators, developers, and enthusiasts.”

“I’ve always believed the best thing a company can do is partner with its community – and with a passionate fan base carrying the torch for 31 years, Commodore’s situation is truly unique when it comes to community engagement,” said Hryb. “The community didn’t wait around – instead they built something remarkable. Players, hardware hobbyists, developers, content creators, and publishers are all a part of the Commodore community, and now we get to build what’s next together.”

Hryb’s most recent role was at game engine maker Unity, where he served as Director of Community and Advocacy for less than two years before being laid off in January. As for Commodore, the company might be entering a new era, but its comeback product launch is a firmly nostalgic play, with the recently released Commodore 64 Ultimate being an authentic recreation of its most famous 8-bit computer.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/larry-major-nelson-hryb-joins-commodore-to-help-build-its-community-145908119.html?src=rss

First, in the plainest language, before we get to anything else, Project Hail Mary is a fantastic film. It does right by its source material, and it also easily stands on its own for folks who haven’t read the book. It comes out on March 20, and if you’re a regular Ars Technica reader, you will almost certainly enjoy the crap out of it. Go see it as soon as you can, and see it in a theater where the big visuals will have the most impact.

Next, a word about what “spoiler-free” means here: In this short review, I’ll talk about stuff that happens in the movie’s many, many trailers. If you’re an ultra-purist who is both interested in this film and who has also somehow avoided reading the book and also seeing any of the trailers, bail out now.

Otherwise, read on!

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OLED TVs have become the standard for people who want deep contrast and cinematic picture quality at home, but they often come with prices that stretch well beyond most budgets. That’s why discounts on models from major brands tend to draw attention, and the 65-inch Sony Bravia 8 OLED (2025) is currently $1,198 on Amazon, down from $1,398. Price trackers show this is the lowest price it has reached so far. The other sizes are discounted as well, with the 55-inch model at $998 and the 77-inch version at $1,798. The Bravia 8 gives you the deep blacks and strong contrast people usually buy OLED for, but it is not Sony’s brightest or most color-accurate model. Higher-end options like the company’s A95L OLED push those aspects further, but they cost significantly more.

65-inch Sony Bravia 8 4K OLED TV (K-65XR8B)

$1,198.00
at Amazon

$1,398.00
Save $200.00

$1,198.00
at Amazon

$1,398.00
Save $200.00

The Bravia 8 has a nearly bezel-free display, and around its back, you’ll find four HDMI ports, including two that support 4K at 120Hz and one with eARC for audio systems, plus USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports, Ethernet, optical audio, and an antenna connection. Sony uses Google TV as the operating system, so apps like Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV, and YouTube come preinstalled, and you can cast from phones or laptops using Google Cast or Apple AirPlay. It also has built-in Google Assistant support, meaning you can search for shows or control compatible smart home devices using voice commands.

Picture performance reflects both the strengths and limitations of this model. Like most OLED TVs, it produces perfect black levels with no light bloom, and the infinite contrast ratio makes movies and darker scenes look rich and detailed. Plus, the panel has 4K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate, along with support for Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG. That said, brightness tops out around 587 nits, which is decent for OLED but not as high as many premium LED TVs, and PCMag notes that colors lean a little cool by default and that very dark scenes can lose some detail in deep shadows. Gaming performance is solid, though. In Game mode, the TV shows about 4.6 milliseconds of input lag, well below the threshold most players look for, and it supports variable refresh rate for smoother gameplay.

Meta will begin charging advertisers a 2-5% “location fee” to offset digital services taxes imposed by several European countries, including the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Turkey. Reuters reports: The fee, for image or video ads delivered on Meta platforms including WhatsApp click-to-message campaigns and marketing messages together with ads, will apply from July 1 and will also cover other government-imposed levies. “Until now, Meta has covered these additional costs. These changes are part of Meta’s ongoing effort to respond to the evolving regulatory landscape and align with industry standards,” the company said in the blog.

The location fees are determined by where the audience is located and not the advertisers’ business location. Meta listed six countries where the fees will apply, ranging from 2% in the United Kingdom to 3% in France, Italy and Spain and 5% in Austria and Turkey.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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The new Blink Outdoor 2K+ (5-Camera System) is currently $226.99 on Amazon, down from $349.99, and price trackers show this is the lowest price it has reached so far. Spread across five cameras, that works out to about $45 per camera, which is cheaper than buying them individually. A five-camera kit like this generally makes the most sense for a typical single-family home or townhouse, where you might want coverage at the front door, backyard, garage, and a couple of side entrances. In a small apartment, it may be more cameras than you need, but for a house with multiple outdoor entry points, the bundle saves you from piecing together a system one device at a time.

Blink Outdoor 2K+ (Five-Camera)

$226.99
at Amazon

$349.99
Save $123.00

$226.99
at Amazon

$349.99
Save $123.00

The cameras themselves are small and easy to place almost anywhere. Each measures approximately 2.8 x 2.8 x 1.6 inches and features an IP65 weather-resistant design that is dust- and water-resistant. Setup is straightforward because the cameras run on two AA lithium batteries that Blink says can last up to two years, depending on how often motion is detected. The bundle comes with the required batteries, mounting hardware, and a Sync Module Core that connects everything to your home wifi. Once installed, the cameras record 2K video (2,560 × 1,440) with a 135-degree field of view, which is wide enough to capture most entryways or driveways without much repositioning. In real use, footage tends to look sharp, with enough detail to pick out faces or license plates at reasonable distances.

The cameras also offer two-way audio, motion alerts, night vision, and a temperature sensor that can send notifications if conditions cross a set threshold, according to this PCMag review. Plus, the Outdoor 2K+ adds new software features, including AI-generated descriptions of recorded events that summarize what the camera sees. Those tools are helpful, but they highlight the system’s main trade-off: many advanced features require a Blink subscription plan, starting at $3.99 per month for one camera or $11.99 per month for unlimited cameras (to include AI features, the basic plan starts at $6.99 for a single camera). Without a subscription, you lose access to cloud-stored video clips. Another limitation is ecosystem support. The cameras work with Amazon Alexa and IFTTT, but they do not support Apple HomeKit or Google Home, which may matter if your smart home runs on those platforms.

For over a decade, Hino Motors Ltd. imported and sold more than 105,000 vehicles and engines with misleading or fabricated emissions data, until testing by the Environmental Protection Agency revealed the emissions-fraud scheme.

The case would lead the Toyota subsidiary to plead guilty and agree to pay over $1.6 billion in fines over five years and forfeit an additional $1 billion in profits made from the illicit sales.

On Monday, the EPA touted the case in its enforcement and compliance assurance results for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2025, contending in a press release that the agency closed more cases in President Donald Trump’s first year of his second term than in any year of the Biden administration.

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