The innovative director David Lynch, who left indelible marks on film and television, passed away in January of this year. Now, Julien’s Auctions is hosting the sale of The David Lynch Collection. More than 450 of the late director’s possessions will be auctioned off online and at the company’s auction house in Gardena, CA. For devotees of Lynch’s work and worldview, just the experience of browsing the collection is pretty fascinating.
The auction showcases plenty of items closely related to his career in film, such as a personalized director’s chair, multiple cameras, lighting kits and memorabilia from his many iconic works. Other pieces more broadly reflect his passion for creativity, like audio equipment, musical instruments, painting supplies and a whole lot of literature and vinyl records. The collection also has furniture, like the couch from his 1997 classic Lost Highway, kitchen wares and many personal items from his life. You can even bid on his LaserDisc player and disc collection.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/david-lynch-auction-offers-a-glimpse-of-his-personal-and-creative-life-223501136.html?src=rss
CD Projekt Red’s (CDPR) sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, which the studio is now calling Cyberpunk 2, has moved from a “conceptual phase” into preproduction, according to an earnings report released on Wednesday. The Verge: Cyberpunk 2 isn’t the official title, CDPR senior PR manager Ola Sondej tells The Verge. “‘Cyberpunk 2’ just means it’s another game in the Cyberpunk universe.” The game has had the codename of “Project Orion” since it was announced in 2022.
CDPR hasn’t shared many details about the game, but did describe it on Wednesday as “the next big game set in the Cyberpunk universe.” There are 96 developers working on the title as of April 30th, according to a slide deck. There’s no official release date, either, though on an investor call, joint chief executive officer Michal Nowakowski said that the company would deliver the game “in due time.”
Thousands of home and small office routers manufactured by Asus are being infected with a stealthy backdoor that can survive reboots and firmware updates in an attack by a nation-state or another well-resourced threat actor, researchers said.
The unknown attackers gain access to the devices by exploiting now-patched vulnerabilities, some of which have never been tracked through the internationally recognized CVE system. After gaining unauthorized administrative control of the devices, the threat actor installs a public encryption key for access to the device through SSH. From then on, anyone with the private key can automatically log in to the device with administrative system rights.
Durable control
“The attacker’s access survives both reboots and firmware updates, giving them durable control over affected devices,” researchers from security firm GreyNoise reported Wednesday. “The attacker maintains long-term access without dropping malware or leaving obvious traces by chaining authentication bypasses, exploiting a known vulnerability, and abusing legitimate configuration features.”
X users can no longer send encrypted messages on the platform. The company said in an update that it’s “pausing” the feature “while we work on making some improvements.” Users will still be able to view previously-sent encrypted chats, but won’t be able to send any new ones.
Up to now, encrypted DMs have been available only on messages between verified users who are mutual or who have previously accepted DMs from each other. Screenshots of the feature from X’s help center labeled it as “early access.” (Notably, there were a number of other important caveats to X’s encryption, even when it was working, including the fact that encryption was never available for group chats, multimedia messages or metadata .)
It’s unclear when the feature will be available again or if the “pause” has anything to do with “XChat,” the company’s yet-to-be-launched chat platform. X employees have been dropping hints about XChat, which will reportedly feature encrypted direct messages, for some time. Screenshots from leakers suggest XChat could have additional security features like PIN-protected chats.
Officially, though, X hasn’t revealed much about XChat or what’s going on with the current version of encrypted DMs. X’s in-app inbox was one of the features that experienced numerous issues last week after a site-wide outage — possibly due to a fire at an Oregon facility used by the company — caused days of technical problems for the service. Updates on the company’s developer platform page indicate some of those issues have yet to be resolved.
X didn’t respond to a request for comment.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-is-pausing-encrypted-dms-215750222.html?src=rss
An otherwise-healthy 52-year-old office worker showed up to a hospital emergency department in Buenos Aires with an unshakable fever he developed the week before. Besides the high temperature, he seemed fine. So, after testing negative for COVID-19, doctors sent him home with supportive care. But the fever didn’t go away.
In the week that followed, things got worse. He developed nausea, stomach pain, and diarrhea. He also started having trouble breathing. He then went back to the hospital.
This time, doctors found he needed supplemental oxygen. And an X-ray of his chest was worrisome—there were diffuse ground-glass opacities in his lungs. Doctors wondered if he had an unusual case of pneumonia. The man kept getting worse; in fact, he seemed to deteriorate before their eyes. Initially, he received supplemental oxygen through a simple face mask; subsequently, doctors switched to a mask that delivers continuous oxygen. However, his blood oxygen saturation continued to fall.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that the U.S. would restrict visas for “foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States.” He called it “unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on U.S. citizens or U.S. residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on U.S. soil” and “for foreign officials to demand that American tech platforms adopt global content moderation policies or engage in censorship activity that reaches beyond their authority and into the United States.”
It’s not yet clear how or against whom the policy will be enforced, but seems to implicate Europe’s Digital Services Act, a law that came into effect in 2023 with the goal of making online platforms safer by imposing requirements on the largest platforms around removing illegal content and providing transparency about their content moderation. Though it’s not mentioned directly in the press release about the visa restrictions, the Trump administration has slammed the law on multiple occasions, including in remarks earlier this year by Vice President JD Vance.
The State Department’s homepage currently links to an article on its official Substack, where senior advisor for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Samuel Samson critiques the DSA as a tool to “silence dissident voices through Orwellian content moderation.” He adds, “Independent regulators now police social media companies, including prominent American platforms like X, and threaten immense fines for non-compliance with their strict speech regulations.” “We will not tolerate encroachments upon American sovereignty,” Rubio says in the announcement, “especially when such encroachments undermine the exercise of our fundamental right to free speech.”
EA is cancelling its Black Panther game and closing the studio creating it, Cliffhanger Games, as part of a larger round of layoffs at the company, IGN reports. The third-person action-adventure game was originally announced in July 2023 as one of several Marvel projects being developed at EA studios.
IGN writes that a smaller number of people are being laid off than the previous round of cuts that impacted Titanfall developer Respawn, but EA is still eliminating roles outside of Cliffhanger, including people on the publisher’s “mobile and central teams.” EA is reportedly telling staff that the layoffs are a way to “sharpen our focus and put our creative energy behind the most significant growth opportunities.”
As of right now, those “opportunities” include an Iron Man game in development at EA Motive, the next Star Wars Jedi game from Respawn, and new entries in a few key franchises, like The Sims, Battlefield, Skate and Apex Legends. Beyond that, the company has EA Sports and the next Mass Effect game, though Bioware has gone through multiple roundsof layoffs since 2023, so there’s uncertainty there, too. In a similar way to how it approached Bioware’s restructuring, IGN reports that EA is trying to find roles for at least some Cliffhanger Games staff in other parts of the company.
Engadget has contacted EA for comment and will update this article if we hear back.
EA growing disinterest in licensed games as been public since at least February 2024, when CEO Andrew Wilson announced that the company was “moving away from development of future licensed IP that we do not believe will be successful in our changing industry.” The company recently announced a new strategy game using the Star Wars license — Star Wars Zero Company — but that seems more like an outlier than the norm.
EA’s Black Panther game wasn’t the only project featuring the character — Amy Hennig’s Marvel 19943: Rise of Hydra hasn’t been cancelled yet — but it does seems strange the company gave up so easily. Black Panther made over $1.3 billion during its original run in theaters. It seems entirely possible the same audience that enjoyed the movie would show up for a new game featuring their favorite Marvel character.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ea-cancels-black-panther-game-and-closes-studio-developing-it-213258110.html?src=rss
Even as children, we in the U.S. learn that June brings good things—warmer weather, ice cream trucks, and most significantly, summer break from school. As an adult, all of those things still matter to me (substitute summer break for outdoorsy weekends), but the arrival of summer produce has crept up to the top of my June list of good things. In this monthly article, I take a look at the fruits and veggies coming into season and some incredible ways you can use them. Let’s dive into June’s offerings.
Why seasonal and local produce is great
Long distance shipping for out-of-season produce is convenient, but there is usually a price to pay with literal higher prices or lesser quality (or both). Using seasonal produce is a step toward supporting smaller farms situated somewhere closer to where you live rather than a monoculture farm somewhere far away. A big, healthy harvest with shorter shipping distances likely means a cheaper price tag for you. And hopefully the produce exhibits the best possible flavor profile since it doesn’t have to travel great distances to arrive at your market.
Buying local and in season means you’ll possibly see a greater variety of tender greens and delicate fruits that don’t travel out of state well. Those little strawberries that pop up at the farmers market are so juicy and delicate you’d never see them packed up and shipped out across the country—they’d be turned into jam before they got a chance to leave. Go to those summer farmers markets downtown and reap the benefits of the juiciest summer fruit.
What’s in season right now
You’re probably seeing it already, but everywhere from tiny produce markets to big box grocery stores are growing fuller with the very beginnings of summer produce glut, and the prices are dropping. Personally, I’m celebrating the low berry prices with morning smoothies. (If you’re a fruit smoothie-enthusiast like I am, here are a couple greatblenders that might interest you.) For those who are growing their own food, keep up with our Home and Garden section for tips.
The new produce coming in for June:
Apricots
Sweet Cherries (not quite yet for tart cherries)
Strawberries
Blueberries
Raspberries
Blackberries
Beets
Broccoli
Cabbage
Garlic scapes
Green peas
Mustard greens
Zucchini & summer squash
Say, “au revoir” to:
Asparagus
Arugula
Ramps
Parsnips
Produce in peak season:
Beet greens
Lettuce
Radishes and their greens
Rhubarb
Spinach
Turnips
Chard
Snap peas
Snow peas
Note that your specific region may be warmer or cooler, or farther away—so don’t worry if floods of strawberries haven’t arrived yet, or if you still have loads of wild ramps growing in the yard. Nature will do its thing, and we’ll continue trying to keep up.
What to cook with your spring bounty
Fruits
June is the beginning of having all the fun you want to have when it comes to recipes. Let’s start with fruit. We’re looking at loads of berries for the next few months and the beginnings of stone fruits, so I recommend warming up those ovens. I know that sounds too hot, but think of the pies! Cherry pies, Strawberry-rhubarb, apricot and blackberry, blueberry-goat-cheese tarts—you simply must make some. To help you along, here’s my fail-proof way to lattice pie crust, and my best advice on preventing soggy fruit pies. They’re well worth a read if you’ve had trouble in the past.
If you’d rather be stuck in a room with a pack of wild 7-year-olds than make a pie, OK fine. Make a fruit trifle with leftover cake, stuff delicious biscuits with summer fruit and whipped cream, and why not take a crack at your own homemade berry ice cream. I made vanilla bean ice cream with a swirl of fresh raspberry compote and I felt pretty damn pleased with myself. If you’re shopping for affordable ice cream machines, I just tested and reviewed this Cuisinart.
As I mentioned, fruit smoothies always welcome a handful of frozen berries. I should mention (and I’ll say this again at the end of the season): Freezing your berries is the best way to reduce waste. (Here’s the best way to freeze fruit.) If you’re using berries to top yogurt or granola, there’s no need to freeze it, but if you’re baking with fruit, making jams, or blending smoothies, freezing is extremely helpful. Pop the fruit in the freezer in the container it came in (hull strawberries first, and halve the big ones). After a few hours, they’ll be solid and you can dump them into a zip-top freezer bag for easier freezer storage.
Vegetables
All the cruciferous veggies are going strong right now, so go ahead and get that fiber. Use shaved broccoli and cabbage in a salad. Wilt spinach, chard, or mustard greens down in a hearty soup. My absolute favorite thing to do with summer zucchini is to make Thai kai jiao. You can use different vegetables in this dish, but zucchini is my all-time favorite. You also can’t go wrong with grilling big, fat planks of summer squash and drizzling them with a light vinaigrette.
Got lots of crisp lettuce? Well, you can always bulk up your warm salads or do what I do and add it to every sandwich. Bacon, egg, cheese, and lettuce. Meatball parm sub and lettuce. Peanut butter and—OK, maybe not that one.
Pay special attention to the fleeting produce like rhubarb, ramps, and scapes. They’re around for just a blink so grab them up. Try roasting your rhubarb with strawberries for a sweet, tart, and caramelized treat. Enjoy the best of June produce, and hopefully we’ll get a peek at tomatoes at the end of the month.
If it seems like every tech company is trying shove AI into all of their products and services, that’s because they are. And as someone who rarely (if ever) uses AI, it’s a lot: I don’t need AI to write my emails, nor do I want it to generate realistic videos that might trick viewers into thinking they’re human-made. I certainly don’t need it to serve up incorrect information when I try to search the internet.
But Firefox’s latest AI feature seems genuinely useful, likely because it isn’t “making” anything for me. Instead its new AI-powered link previews simply show a small summary of the content on a webpage hidden behind a URL, so you’ll have a better idea whether or not it’s worth clicking on.
Mozilla first announced these AI-generated link previews last month, before rolling them out as part of Firefox 139. The feature is currently in the “experimental” phase, and Mozilla is open to user feedback on how to adjust it. Here’s how it works in its current iteration: When you hover your cursor over a URL and hit the corresponding keyboard shortcut, Firefox retrieves and analyzes the webpage’s HTML without actually loading the page. It then looks for metadata that can help inform the page’s title, description, and cover image. Once it has the data it needs, it displays whatever it has pulled up in a pop-out window.
Like what you see? Go ahead and click through to see the full page. Not what you’re looking for? Move on to the next link. Assuming the summaries are accurate, I can actually see this being something I rely on to give me an idea of whether or not a particular link is relevant to my current query—especially once Mozilla irons out some of the bugs.
How to test out Firefox’s AI-generated link previews
In order to try AI link previews for yourself, you need to be running Firefox 139 (or newer). (If you’re not sure which version you’re on, open Firefox, head to Settings > General, then scroll to Firefox Updates. If there’s a new update, install it, then relaunch the browser.)
That accomplished, head back to Settings, then select Firefox Labs. Under “Customize your browsing,” click the checkmark next to “Link previews.”
Credit: Lifehacker
Now, open any website, hover over any link on your screen, and hit Shift + Alt (Windows) or Shift + Option (Mac). A small pop-up window should open immediately, along with the webpage’s title and a brief description. Soon, you should also see the cover image for the page, then, after a few moments, Firefox will generate the page’s “Key points.”
Credit: Lifehacker
Are Firefox’s AI link previews worth using?
So far, the feature has been a bit hit-or-miss for me. Sometimes the key points it offers up are three well-summarized takeaways from the article. Other times, they are quotes lifted straight out of the article. Plagiarism aside, it’s tough to get a sense of the scope of an article if the “key points” are just listing the first few ideas in the text.
I suspect part of the problem is that what the AI sees as most important will vary based on how each site is configured: I found the previews frequently copied the text on Lifehacker articles verbatim, for example, while summarizing articles found on other sites. Again, this feature is in development, so Mozilla may need to figure out how to accommodate the variations in in websites design to make it uniformly useful. But as AI features go, I don’t hate it, and in 2025, that’s saying something.
After weeks of arguments in the Federal Trade Commission’s monopoly trial, Meta is done defending its decade-plus-old acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp—at least for now.
The seven-week trial ended Tuesday, with the FTC urging Judge James Boasberg to rule that a breakup is necessary to end Meta’s alleged monopoly in the “personal social networking services” market, where Meta currently faces sparse competition among other apps connecting friends and family. As alleged by the FTC, Meta’s internal emails laid bare that Meta’s motive in acquiring both Instagram and WhatsApp was to pay whatever it took to snuff out dominant rivals threatening to lure users away from Facebook—Mark Zuckerberg’s jewel.
Talking to Bloomberg, Meta has maintained that the FTC’s case is weak, seeking to undo deals that the FTC approved long ago while ignoring the competition Meta faces from rivals in the broader social media market, like TikTok. But Meta’s attempt to shut down the case mid-trial was rebuffed by Boasberg, who has signaled he will take months to weigh his decision.
After levying a €500 million fine against Apple in April, the European Commission (EC) says that Apple is still out of compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and has less than 30 days remaining to comply. The DMA requires that Apple allow developers to inform their customers about sales or other offers outside the App Store.
In the 68-page document released today from the EC’s April decision, the commission found that Apple’s policies were plainly anti-competitive and said the company added unnecessary hurdles — referred to as “anti-steering” rules — to completing external transactions.
One such anti-steering strategy the EC took umbrage with was Apple’s “scare sheets.” When users clicked to navigate to an external payment link, a message would appear, reading “you’re about to go to an external website. Apple is not responsible for the privacy or security of purchases made on the web.” Apple could face hefty periodic penalty payments as high as five percent of daily global revenue if the company doesn’t bring its policies into compliance within the EU.
In a statement to 9to5Mac, Apple expressed its disappointment with the newly released details, saying “there is nothing in the 70-page decision released today that justifies the European Commission’s targeted actions against Apple, which threaten the privacy and security of our users in Europe and force us to give away our technology for free.” Later in the statement, the company called the decision “bad for innovation, bad for competition, bad for our products, and bad for users.”
Apple will appeal the decision before the June 22 deadline laid out in the EC’s decision.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/apples-app-store-rules-are-still-in-violation-of-eu-policy-161117662.html?src=rss
The recent surge in cyberattacks is pushing cyber insurers toward a fundamental reassessment of premium pricing, Bloomberg reports, with industry analysts warning of an impending “inflection point” that could reshape the market. Marks & Spencer’s impending $404 million hit to its operating profit from a recent hack underscores claims that will “attract intense scrutiny from insurers,” according to cybersecurity expert Adam Casey.
While incidents like this might not trigger immediate premium hikes across the board, they might likely contribute to an upward pricing trend. Panmure Liberum analyst Abid Hussain said that premiums have recently been falling as policy coverage has tightened, but the industry now faces a critical decision point. “There’s going to be another step change, either in the policy wording or in the premiums, or both,” Hussain said.
Simple devices can be a blessing or a curse. Sometimes companies streamline entry-level products to offer the best core features at a lower price. Other times they pair down the experience so much that it becomes a hindrance. With the Smoque (pronounced “smoke”), Weber wants to give prospective pellet grillers access to reliable performance and basic smart features for less money than its more versatile Searwood series. In the end, the company offers enough capabilities to appeal to beginners and expert backyard pitmasters alike, although the Smoque isn’t as much of a value as it was a few months ago.
Basic, functional design
The Smoque may look like a smaller Searwood on the outside, but there are a few noteworthy differences. First, this model has a simplified controller that, like its predecessor, is only operated with a single knob. The smaller LCD panel is easily read from a distance, and it can show grill temperature, food probe temperature and timer info. The catch is the limited real estate can only display one of those stats at a time.
This isn’t a problem if you’ve got the Weber Connect app handy, but you’ll want to be mindful of which item you leave on the screen if you’re planning to glance at the progress from across the deck. The company is actually hoping the limited onboard controls will encourage grillers to use the app on their phone more during the process. This isn’t a far-fetched scenario since the Smoque is more for smoking and roasting than high-heat cooking, but I’ll get to that in a bit.
The other main difference between the Smoque and the Searwood is underneath the cooking grates inside. Weber replaced its trademark Flavorizer bars with a grease sheet that’s typical in most pellet grills. The Searwood has one large bar stretching from side to side, while Weber’s gas grills and the SmokeFire have several of them going front to back. The company opted for vents instead of a solid sheet of metal, and their covers are basically mini Flavorizer bars. This means you still get the effect of infusing flavor back into foods when grease and juices hit the hot metal and sizzle, albeit on a smaller scale. And those vents facilitate better airflow around the cook chamber, which means efficient smoke circulation.
Smart grilling features
Billy Steele for Engadget
Weber Connect, a trademark feature of Weber’s smart pellet grills, is available on the Smoque via Wi-Fi. Once your grill syncs with your home network, the mobile software can be used to monitor ambient and food temperatures from anywhere. This is handy if you run out of pellets before your brisket is done or when it’s time to hit the school carpool line. You can set timers, activate SmokeBoost mode, add a temperature alert and initiate the shutdown process from the app, too.
For beginners, or for cooks just looking for inspiration, the Weber Connect app also provides a wealth of recipes. Those come with step-by-step instructions, and the software offers readiness alerts so you don’t overcook those pricey cuts of meat. All of these software features have been a staple of Weber’s smart grilling lineup since the debut of the platform in 2020. The company has greatly refined them in the years since, and Weber Connect is now just as handy and reliable as Traeger’s WiFire tech, which I previously considered the gold standard.
Cooking with Smoque
Speaking of reliability, the Smoque is a barbeque workhorse in the backyard. Weber promises preheat times of under 15 minutes on the grill, and that holds true. In fact, most of the time the Smoque will arrive at the desired temperature well before that. Every time I use it, I’m shocked by how quickly it preheats, recovers from the lid being open and adjusts to a higher temperature. This is all thanks to the Rapid React tech in the controller, an upgrade that first appeared on the Searwood.
During cooking sessions, the Smoque held its temperature reliability, too. The Weber Connect app has graphs for the various temperatures, and the ambient grill temperature trajectory is almost always a straight line. Sure, you’ll see the dips any time you open the lid, but you’ll also see the sharp incline that indicates how quickly the grill returned to the set temperature.
Like the Searwood, the SmokeBoost feature that’s designed to add more smoky flavor to your food only works at 180 degrees Fahrenheit. This is lower than you’d want to cook things like brisket or pork shoulders, so you have to plan additional cook time for the 1-2 hours at the lower setting. However, you don’t really need to use it all. The Smoque imparts plenty of wood-fired flavor from the pellets at the appropriate cooking temperatures. Ribs, pork butts, wings and chicken kabobs all had ample smokiness during my tests — even though the latter two items cooked at higher temperatures without using SmokeBoost first.
A useful feature you’ll need to decide if you can live without on the Smoque is manual mode. Weber introduced this on the Searwood and the tool allows you to cook with the lid open for things like direct-flame searing and flat-top griddling. It makes that pellet grill more versatile, undoubtedly, but we’re talking about a more affordable, more streamlined model with the Smoque. As a result, that’s not available here.
The competition
Both Weber and Trager have taken an interesting approach to their new smart grills in 2025. The companies have built options that are more affordable than previous devices, and the cheapest models from both of them start at $800. The Smoque was initially announced at $699, and Traeger now lists the Woodridge for $900 when it’s not on sale (it currently is). Given the current global economic predicament, it’s no surprise both companies have raised their prices since their January announcements.
Traeger’s Woodridge also excels at the basics and will help you churn out some deliciously smoked meats. However, the temperature fluctuates during cooking on that grill, so I give a slight edge to Weber in a head-to-head matchup for its rock-solid consistency. And given the fact that the Smoque is now $100 cheaper at full price, those savings could go towards additional accessories.
Wrap-up
With the Smoque, Weber proves that a basic grill doesn’t have to offer a subpar experience. This model offers reliable smoking and roasting performance with smart features in the company’s app for less than its more robust Searwood model. The Smoque is even available in two sizes, so there’s an option if you need more than the 594 square inches of cooking space on the unit I tested. Weber really hit its stride with pellet grills last year with the Searwood, and Smoque is proof the company has more compelling ideas in the hopper. Thankfully, this one saves you some money without sacrificing any of the culinary results.
Weber says the 22-inch Smoque is headed to retailers now and will be available on its website in early June for $799. The larger, 36-inch model is coming mid-summer for $999.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/weber-smoque-review-a-simplified-smart-grill-thats-still-a-workhorse-160023349.html?src=rss
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The 2nd-generation Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is currently 25% off, bringing its price down to $199.99 (originally $264.98)—that’s its lowest price yet, according to price trackers. If you’re an Android user who happens to be in the market for a new tablet that won’t break the bank, this device might be a good fit for you.
With 64GB of storage, this 10.4-inch Android tablet comes with an S Pen stylus and is a lightweight option that won’t take up too much space in your bag.
Despite being suitable for everyday use, the screen lacks the sharpness, brightness, and color depth of higher-end tablets, which might be noticeable if you’re editing photos or using it in direct sunlight. Additionally, while the under $200 price tag is appealing, 64GB of storage may not be sufficient if you need to store a large number of files.
When fully charged, battery life lasts 14 hours, but it can take nearly three hours to charge, compared to newer iPad models, which charge significantly faster. If you’re using the tablet as part of your work-from-home or office setup, you can sync multiple Galaxy devices into a larger workstation and control them all through this tablet. Additionally, the Quick Share feature allows you to send files from the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite to any other Android device.
Whether you’re using it as a cheap drawing tablet or to replace a laptop for basic tasks, the Android-friendly, entry-level Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite has an attractive price tag, a free stylus, and a compact size. However, if you’re looking for advanced capabilities, ultra-sharp visuals, or more extensive storage, it may not be ideal.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (paywalled), this year’s iOS update won’t be called iOS 19. “Instead, Apple is planning to call it ‘iOS 26’ as part of a new year-based naming strategy,” reports 9to5Mac. The new naming scheme will apply to all of Apple’s software platforms. From the report: Bloomberg explains that Apple is making this change to “bring consistency to its branding and move away from an approach that can be confusing to customers and developers.” The branding alignment comes as Apple is also reportedly planning dramatic redesigns for all of its platforms. The goal seems to be to unify everything both in terms of naming and design.
Life360, a family locator app, said today that it has fully integrated the object-tracking features of Tile into its own platform. The Life360 app can now set up and manage Tile trackers, deliver notifications when an item gets left behind and provide real-time location updates for the trackers in addition to its usual features for managing family members’ safety.
Life360 announced its acquisition of Tile for $205 million way back in 2021. At the time of the purchase, Life360 said Tile would continue to operate independently, but it has still been a long time coming for the two businesses to fully integrate with each other’s offerings. In that time, Tile has faced challenges from competitors that have more resources at their back, such as Apple and AirTags. It was also subject to a cyberattack last year where hackers obtained customers’ names, addresses, email addresses and other personal information.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/years-after-acquiring-tile-life360-has-integrated-the-trackers-into-its-app-205111206.html?src=rss
Automaker Stellantis and retail and web services behemoth Amazon have decided to put an end to a collaboration on new in-car software. The partnership dates back to 2022, part of a wide-ranging agreement that also saw Stellantis pick Amazon Web Services as its cloud platform for new vehicles and Amazon sign on as the first customer for Ram’s fully electric ProMaster EV van.
A key aspect of the Amazon-Stellantis partnership was to be a software platform for new Stellantis vehicles called STLA SmartCockpit. Meant to debut last year, SmartCockpit was supposed to “seamlessly integrate with customers’ digital lives to create personalized, intuitive in-vehicle experiences,” using Alexa and other AI agents to provide better in-car entertainment but also navigation, vehicle maintenance, and in-car payments as well.
But 2024 came and went without the launch of SmartCockpit, and now the joint work has wound down, according to Reuters, although not for any particular reason the news organization could discern. Rather, the companies said in a statement that they “will allow each team to focus on solutions that provide value to our shared customers and better align with our evolving strategies.”
Strava drama has become the name of the game in the fitness tracking world. I suppose when your favorite fitness app also includes a social media element, a little tension is inevitable. Add competitive leaderboards into the mix, and you’ve got a recipe for intrigue that would make reality TV producers salivate.
If you’re tuned into leaderboard controversies, you’ll know that runners and cyclists are deeply divided on whether the platform is doing too much—or not nearly enough—to combat fake entries. If you ask me, when some users are deploying electric unicycles to dominate local climbing segments, that’s evidence enough something needs to be done.
And now Strava is doing something: The company has announced the launch of AI-enabled Leaderboard Integrity, a new tool intended to separate legitimate athletes from creative cheaters.
How Strava is using AI to root out cheaters
For the uninitiated, the reason people cheat is usually to claim King of the Mountain (KOM) and Queen of the Mountain (QOM) titles—coveted crowns that represent the fastest times on specific segments. Peruse the Strava subreddit for a few minutes, and you’ll be sure to see grievances about leaderboard cheaters.
Strava’s latest update is designed to identify and flag “irregular, improbable, or impossible” performance recorded on the platform. The system acts as a digital referee, capable of detecting when an impossibly fast e-bike ride has been mislabeled as a regular cycling effort, then politely prompting users to correct their entries.
The technology goes beyond simple speed checks. Strava revealed in February that its machine learning system analyzes activities using 57 different factors, including speed patterns, elevation gains, and acceleration data, to determine when something doesn’t add up. The result of this crackdown? Strava has already removed 4.45 million activities from its platform.
The deleted activities generally fall into two main categories: entries uploaded with the wrong sport type (like labeling an e-bike ride as regular cycling) and activities recorded while in a vehicle. To be fair, the latter category likely includes everything from users forgetting to stop their tracking while driving home, to more deliberate attempts to game the system by recording car or train journeys as part of legitimate running segments.
How Strava users are reacting
The fitness community’s reaction to Strava’s cheater detection has been characteristically split. Serious athletes and segment hunters generally applaud the stricter measures—after all, leaderboard integrity is what makes the app’s competitive element at all meaningful. If the numbers are fraud, what’s the point?
However, some users worry about false positives—that is, legitimate exceptional performances getting flagged by overzealous algorithms. And the AI is overzealous: Some users have commented that their personal records are being deleted without any sort of prompt or ability to dispute the AI’s findings. If you’re a serious athlete, seeing your genuinely impressive times being questioned by an automated system that might not account for peak human performance is naturally going to rankle.
Outside of leaderboard integrity, Strava’s AI initiatives are generally overzealous and inaccurate. I’m not alone in noticing how absurd its new route generation can get. I’m talking routes with concentric loops, cutting through buildings, major roads instead of residential paths, and other issues that will make no sense to a real human moving through the world. Given the immense heat map data that we’ve all effectively donated to Strava, to be given such shoddy AI-generated routes is fairly bonkers, and it’s hardly surprising that its cheat-detecting tools would also be less than precise.
The bottom line
Controversy aside, Strava’s competitive features should be more about personal motivation than serious competition. If cheater detection is ruining your experience, I recommend some perspective. Try not to let it spoil what should be a fun, social fitness experience—especially given the AI tools don’t (yet) seem accurate enough to reflect reality.
But with 4.45 million activities already in the digital trash bin, Strava’s message is clear: The days of easily gaming the leaderboards are over. Of course, as fitness tracking technology continues to evolve, so too will the methods people use to fool the system. Hopefully Strava stays one step ahead of creative rule-benders.
Telegram has partnered with xAI to integrate the Grok chatbot into its platform for one year, with xAI paying $300 million in cash and equity. Telegram will also receive 50% of subscription revenue from Grok. TechCrunch reports: Earlier this year, xAI made the Grok chatbot available to Telegram’s premium users. It seems Grok might now be made available to all users. A video posted by [Telegram CEO Pavel Durov] on X suggested that Grok can be pinned on top of chats within the app, and users can also ask questions to Grok from the search bar. Notably, Meta has also integrated Meta AI into the search bar on Instagram and WhatsApp. The video also shows that you will be able to use Grok for writing suggestions, summarizing chats, links, and documents, and creating stickers. Grok will supposedly also help answer questions for businesses and assist with moderation.
Many of us want the right to repair our own devices, and at least with Apple products, things have been moving in the right direction on that front. Three years ago, Apple launched its self-service repair program, which finally gave people access to the tools and repair manuals needed to fix their broken Apple products for themselves. The program launched with support for iPhone repairs, and it later added some Macs, the Beats Pill speaker, and the Apple Studio Display to its roster as well. Now, Apple is expanding its self-service repair program to include some iPad models.
Which iPads can I repair?
Unfortunately, not all iPads are in the self-repair program at the moment. From May 29, 2025, Apple will add the following iPads to the program: iPad Air (M2 and later), iPad Pro (M4), iPad mini (A17 Pro), and iPad (A16). This matches the list of iPads Apple will currently accept for official mail-in or in-shop repairs. If you have a different iPad, then you’ll instead have to try your luck with third-party repair shops such as iFixit.
How to repair your broken iPad
Start your self-repair journey by downloading the appropriate repair manual from Apple’s website. Go through your manual to learn more about your device and how to repair it, and once you’re ready, place an order for the necessary tools and parts.
The good news here is that you can buy or rent Apple-approved iPad repair tools and replacement parts directly from the company. All available products are listed on Apple’s Self Service Repair Store. Plus, authorized third-party repair shops also now have access to these tools, too, if you’d prefer to get some in-person help with your repair but can’t make it to an Apple location. At time of writing, iPads still weren’t listed on the site, so the exact pricing of different types of repair isn’t available yet. In the meantime, let’s take a look at repair costs for an iPhone 16 Pro Max to get an estimate of what the prices could be.
As an example, repairing an iPhone 16 Pro Max’s display costs a hefty $379, and repairing the battery costs $119. In some cases, you can return the replaced part to Apple and receive a credit, which should ease the burden on your wallet. For the aforementioned display repair, the credit offered is just $19, but it’s $57 for the battery, which is quite good.
iPads are bigger than any iPhone, so you can expect repair prices to be higher for them, too. Note, also, that you may sometimes have to enter the serial number of your iPad before placing your parts order, so don’t expect to be able to keep a stockpile of parts on hand.
Repairing iPads (and other Apple products) is a great idea for those who are comfortable tinkering with hardware, but even if you’re not one of those people, this announcement is still good news, since programs like these allow your friendly neighborhood repair shop to stock genuine parts, too.
