Nintendo hired Samsung to build the main chips for the Switch 2, including an 8-nanometer processor custom designed by NVIDIA, Bloomberg reported. That would mark a move by Nintendo away from TSMC, which manufactured the chipset for the original 2017 Switch. Nintendo had no comment, saying it doesn’t disclose its suppliers. Samsung and NVIDIA also declined to discuss the matter.
Samsung has previously supplied Nintendo with flash memory and displays, but building the Switch 2’s processor would be a rare win for the company’s contract chip division. Samsung can reportedly build enough chips to allow Nintendo to ship 20 million or more Switch 2s by March of 2026.
NVIDIA’s new chipset was reportedly optimized for Samsung’s, rather than TSMC’s manufacturing process. Using Samsung also means that Nintendo won’t be competing with Apple and others for TSMC’s resources. During Nintendo’s latest earnings call, President Shuntaro Furukawa’s said that the company didn’t expect any component shortages with its new console — an issue that plagued the original Switch.
Nintendo said in the same earnings report that it was caught by surprise with 2.2 million applications for Switch 2 pre-orders in Japan alone. Despite that, the company projected sales of 15 million Switch 2 units in its first year on sale to March 2026, fewer than analyst predictions of 16.8 million — likely due to the impact of Trump‘s tariffs.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-is-reportedly-using-samsung-to-build-the-main-switch-2-chips-120006403.html?src=rss
The US tech sector shed 214,000 jobs in April amid continuing economic uncertainty, according to CompTIA analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Companies are extending hiring timelines to two or three times longer than last year while significantly raising skill requirements, particularly for AI competencies.
“It’s the great hesitation,” said George Denlinger of Robert Half, noting employers now demand 10-12 skills instead of 6-7 previously. Entry-level programming positions are disappearing as AI assumes those functions, with Janco Associates CEO Victor Janulaitis observing that “a job that has been eliminated from almost all IT departments is an entry-level IT programmer.”
If you’ve been holding out for the latest 2025 PC models and graphics card loadouts, Computex is usually when you have to check your bank balance. The PC-centric tech show in Taiwan has kicked off with a barrage of new laptops from the likes of Razer, ASUS and Acer.
ASUS has revealed the new ROG Zephyrus G14, with a 14-inch (of course) screen at 3K resolution, a refresh rate of 120Hz, 500 nits of peak brightness and Dolby Vision support. The G14 can be outfitted with up to an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor with 12 cores and 24 threads and an AMD XDNA NPU with up to 50 TOPS. The graphics card maxes out with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, while RAM options go up to 64GB and on-board storage up to 2TB.
Razer
Meanwhile, Razer’s new Blade 14 laptops will arrive with RTX 5000 series cards, while still remaining thin, thin, thin. Those NVIDIA cards can tap into the company’s DLSS 4 tech to provide “the highest quality gaming experience possible in a 14-inch” laptop, according to Razer. The laptops have AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 processors that can achieve up to 50 TOPS. And if you’re feeling even more lavish, there’s also the bigger Blade 18, which you can load out with the RTX 5090. And then there’s Acer, which is doing something special with thermal interface materials.
And these enhanced versions won’t cost you a dime.
Nintendo
More original Switch games are getting a Switch 2 makeover. Although their enhancements are subtler than the Switch 2 editions of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, at least these will be free. Nintendo’s list includes some of the console’s best games: Super Mario Odyssey, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. It also has the platform’s top-down Zelda titles: Echoes of Wisdom and Link’s Awakening. A pair of Pokémon games makes the cut: Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet.
LG’s 27-inch 1440p UltraGear OLED monitor is as close to gaming nirvana as fps-hungry players can get. Topping out at a 480Hz refresh rate means it can actually display up to 480 fps. Devindra is already obsessed with it — 240Hz can go to bed.
Google is constantly making changes to its search rankings, but not all updates are equal. Every few months, the company bundles up changes into a larger “core update.” These updates make rapid and profound changes to search, so website operators watch them closely.
The March 2024 update was unique. It was one of Google’s largest core updates ever, and it took over a month to fully roll out. Nothing has felt quite the same since. Whether the update was good or bad depends on who you ask—and maybe who you are.
It’s common for websites to see traffic changes after a core update, but the impact of the March 2024 update marked a seismic shift. Google says the update aimed to address spam and AI-generated content in a meaningful way. Still, many publishers say they saw clicks on legitimate sites evaporate, while others have had to cope with unprecedented volatility in their traffic. Because Google owns almost the entire search market, changes in its algorithm can move the Internet itself.
One of the longest-standing mysteries about Mars has been the presence of dark and light streaks on the rolling hills surrounding Olympus Mons. This week’s image, from the European Space Agency, shows some of these streaks captured last October.
This massive mountain rises about 22 km above the surface of Mars, more than twice as high as Mount Everest on Earth. It is bordered by hummocky deposits, called aureoles, that were formed by landslides from the mountain. A striking feature of these aureoles is the periodic appearance of bright and dark streaks—sometimes for days and sometimes for years.
For decades, scientists have wondered what they might be.
Klarna’s net loss more than doubled in the first quarter [non-paywalled link] as more consumers failed to repay loans from the Swedish “buy now, pay later” lender as concerns rose about the financial health of US consumers. Financial Times: The fintech, which offers interest-free consumer loans to allow customers to make retail purchases, on Monday reported a net loss of $99 million for the three months to March, up from $47 million a year earlier.
The company, which makes money by charging fees to merchants and to consumers who fail to repay on time, said its customer credit losses had risen to $136 million, a 17% year-on-year increase. The increased failure to repay comes on the back of gloomy economic sentiment in the US, where a closely watched measure of consumers’ confidence last week fell to its second-lowest level on record. US President Donald Trump’s trade war has driven expectations of higher inflation. Further reading: The Klarna Hype Machine.
SAG-AFTRA has filed a labor complaint against Fortnite developer Epic Games, alleging the game improperly used AI to replicate James Earl Jones’ Darth Vader voice without bargaining with the union, despite the estate’s approval. Gizmodo reports: The union has now filed an unfair labor practice charge (link to the PDF is on the SAG-AFTRA website) that calls out “Fortnite’s signatory company, Llama Productions” for “[replacing] the work of human performers with AI technology” without “providing any notice of their intent to do this and without bargaining with us over appropriate terms.”
The union notes that it’s not against the general idea here: “We celebrate the right of our members and their estates to control the use of their digital replicas and welcome the use of new technologies to allow new generations to share in the enjoyment of those legacies and renowned roles.” The problem is that the AI being used here makes human voice actors obsolete, and “we must protect our right to bargain terms and conditions around uses of voice that replace the work of our members, including those who previously did the work of matching Darth Vader’s iconic rhythm and tone in video games.”
So far there’s been no response from Epic Games on the filing. The Hollywood Reporter notes that despite the SAG-AFTRA’s still-ongoing Interactive Media Agreement strike, which has been stuck for months on negotiating “AI protections for voice actors in video games,” actors can actually work on Fortnite without violating the strike, since the game falls under an exception for titles that were in production before August 2023.
ASUS is updating both its ProArt laptop and its Chromebooks with the latest internals for Computex 2025, and giving both families of laptops a more premium look, with new colors and tasteful finishes.
The ASUS ProArt A16 stands out as the most premium pick, with a black aluminum body, “stealth” hinge that bring the top half of the laptop nearly flush with the bottom and a smudge-resistant finish that should hopefully avoid fingerprints. Inside, ASUS is offering an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX processor and a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Laptop GPU, both of which qualify the new ProArt as a Copilot+ PC. That means you’ll get access to Windows’ growing list of AI features, and ASUS is also including to apps — StoryCube and MuseTree — that can run generative AI models entirely locally. All packed into a laptop that’s around half-an-inch thick and has a 16-inch 4K OLED.
Asus
In terms of Chromebooks, ASUS is offering both normal models and Chromebook Plus versions that support Google’s AI tools. The ASUS Chromebook Plus CX34 has a 14-inch display that can fold flat and a 1080p webcam, alongside up to an Intel Core i5 and 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM. That’s enough to offer Gemini features locally, and you’ll get priority access to Gemini Advanced. The only real disadvantage is the giant ASUS logo that still looks awkward next to the similarly prominent Chromebook logo, and the limited color options: You can only pick between white or grey.
Asus
The ASUS Chromebook CX14 and CX15 come with up to an Intel Core N355 processor, put to 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB of storage. If you’re curious about Google’s AI features, you can also purchase a Plus version of the CX14. Whether you get the 14-inch or 15-inch model, both come with a respectable selection of ports, including HDMI for connecting to external displays. Either size also gets a variety of color options: blue, and a sliver-y grey or a greenish-grey in a either a matte or textured finish.
Asus
The ASUS Chromebook CX34 is available now starting at $400 from both Walmart and Best Buy. Meanwhile, the rest of the above laptops won’t be available until Q2 2025. The ProArt A16 starts at $2,500 from ASUS’ online store and Best Buy. The Chromebook CX14 starts at $279 from Best Buy or Costco. The Chromebook Plus CX14 will be available for $429 from Best Buy. And finally the Chromebook CX15 starts at $220 and will be able to be purchased from Best Buy and Amazon.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/the-asus-proart-a16-laptop-gets-you-the-latest-from-amd-and-a-giant-screen-013037587.html?src=rss
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (paywalled), Apple has big plans to turn Siri into a true ChatGPT competitor. “A next-generation, chatbot version of Siri has reportedly made significant progress during testing over the past six months; some executives allegedly now see it as ‘on par’ with recent versions of ChatGPT,” reports MacRumors. “Apple is also apparently discussing giving Siri the ability to access the internet to gather and synthesize data from multiple sources, just like ChatGPT.” From the report: The report added that Apple now has artificial intelligence offices in Zurich, where employees are working on an all-new software architecture for Siri. This “monolithic model” is entirely built on an LLM engine that will eventually replace Siri’s current “hybrid” architecture that has been incoherently layered up with different functionality over many years. The new model will make Siri more conversational and better at synthesizing information.
Google’s Gemini is expected to be added to iOS 19 as an alternative to ChatGPT in Siri, but Apple is also apparently in talks with Perplexity to add their AI service as another option in the future, for both Siri and Safari search.
Sony has begun mass suspensions of PlayStation accounts linked to Russian users, including those registered in other countries like Turkiye and Kazakhstan, in an effort to crack down on circumvention of regional restrictions like PS Plus access. This move follows Sony’s 2022 exit from the Russian market due to the war in Ukraine. Ukrainska Pravda reports: Russians are trying to bypass the blocks and are contacting PlayStation support, but these attempts are to no avail. Users with purchased accounts encounter the most problems — Sony checks IP addresses for verification. There are already many similar reports. In some cases, accounts with thousands of roubles worth of games purchased have been blocked. Russian media outlets like RT are reporting the news.
Qualcomm announced plans to re-enter the data center market with custom CPUs designed to integrate with Nvidia GPUs and software. As CNBC reports, the move supports Qualcomm’s broader strategy to diversify beyond smartphones and into high-growth areas like data centers, PCs, and automotive chips. From the report: “I think we see a lot of growth happening in this space for decades to come, and we have some technology that can add real value added,” Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm, told CNBC in an interview on Monday. “So I think we have a very disruptive CPU.” Amon said the company will make an announcement about the CPU roadmap and the timing of its release “very soon,” without offering specifics. The data center CPU market remains highly competitive. Big cloud computing players like Amazon and Microsoft already design and deploy their own custom CPUs. AMD and Intel also have a strong presence.
Addressing the competition, Amon said that there will be a place for Qualcomm in the data center CPU space. “As long as … we can build a great product, we can bring innovation, and we can add value with some disruptive technology, there’s going to be room for Qualcomm, especially in the data center,” Amon said. “[It] is a very large addressable market that will that will see a lot of investment for decades to come.” Last week, Qualcomm signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi-based AI frim Humain to develop data centers, joining a slew of U.S. tech companies making deals in the region. Humain will operate under Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Spotify is continuing to add more ways for listeners to directly make purchases within its iOS app. Following on the streaming service‘s changes to make purchasing subscriptions easier earlier this month, there’s now an an option for users to buy audiobooks in Spotify.
“Spotify submitted a new app update that Apple has approved: Spotify users in the United States can now see pricing, buy individual audiobooks and purchase additional ‘Top Up’ hours for audiobook listening beyond the 15 hours included in Premium each month,” the company said in its updated blog post.
The wave of changes stem from the ongoing court case between Apple and Epic Games surrounding fees for purchases made outside the App Store. While things appear to be swinging in favor of app and service providers, Apple is likely to continue challenging the rulings even as it makes changes to allow for external payment options.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/spotify-ios-users-can-now-buy-audiobooks-directly-from-the-app-230304105.html?src=rss
The Elgato Stream Deck is expanding into a hardware-agnostic platform. On Monday, the company unveiled a software version of the programmable shortcut device. Also on tap are a module for integration in third-party products and DIY projects, an Ethernet dock and an updated Stream Deck MK.2 with scissor-switch keys.
Stream Deck MK.2 Scissor Keys
There’s a new version of the popular Stream Deck MK.2. The only difference is that this version ditches membrane keys in favor of scissor-switch ones. Scissor keys (found on many laptops, like modern MacBooks) have a shorter travel distance and sharper actuation than the mushy-feeling ones on the (still available) legacy MK.2.
The Stream Deck MK.2 Scissor Keys costs $150. Shipments begin around the beginning of June.
Virtual Stream Deck
Virtual Stream Deck (VSD) is a software-only counterpart of the classic devices. Like the hardware versions, the VSD includes a familiar grid of programmable shortcut buttons. Anything you’d configure for a device like the Stream Deck MK.2 or XL, you can also do for the VSD. Place the interface anywhere on your desktop, pin it for quick access or trigger it with a mouse click or hotkey.
Elgato
Presumably to avoid cannibalizing its hardware business, Elgato is limiting the VSD to owners of its devices. Initially, it will only be available to people who have Stream Deck hardware or select Corsair peripherals (the Xeneon Edge and Scimitar Elite WE SE Mouse). The company says the VSD will soon be rolled out to owners of additional devices.
The VSD has one frustrating requirement. It only works when one of those compatible accessories is connected to your computer. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use it as a virtual Stream Deck replacement, mirroring your shortcuts while you and your laptop are on the go. That seems like a missed opportunity.
Instead, it’s more like a complement to Stream Deck hardware while it’s connected — a way to get more shortcuts than the accessory supports. It’s also a method for Corsair accessory owners to get Stream Deck functionality without buying one.
Regardless, Virtual Stream Deck launches with the Stream Deck 7.0 beta software.
Stream Deck Modules
Elgato
Stream Deck Modules can be built into hardware not made by Elgato. So, hobbyists, startups and manufacturers can incorporate the OLED shortcut buttons into their DIY projects or products. The only difference is their more flexible nature. Otherwise, they function the same as legacy Stream Deck products.
Stream Deck Modules have an aluminum chassis that’s “ready to drop straight into a custom mount, machine or product.” They’re available in six-, 15- and 32-key variants.
The modules begin shipping today. You’ll pay $50 for the six-key version, $130 for the 15-key one and $200 for the 32-key variant. (If you’re providing them for an organization, Elgato offers volume discounts.)
Elgato Network Dock
Elgato
The Elgato Network Dock gives Stream Deck devices their own Ethernet connections. This untethers the shortcuts from the desktop, allowing for “custom installations, remote stations and more.”
The Network Dock supports both Power over Ethernet (PoE) and non-PoE networks. You can set up its IP configuration on-device.
The dock costs $80 and ships in August.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/elgatos-stream-deck-breaks-free-from-the-companys-hardware-230052921.html?src=rss
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: While using website data to build a Google Search topped with artificial intelligence-generated answers, an Alphabet executive acknowledged in an internal document that there was an alternative way to do things: They could ask web publishers for permission, or let them directly opt out of being included. But giving publishers a choice would make training AI models in search too complicated, the company concludes in the document, which was unearthed in the company’s search antitrust trial.
It said Google had a “hard red line” and would require all publishers who wanted their content to show up in the search page to also be used to feed AI features. Instead of giving options, Google decided to “silently update,” with “no public announcement” about how they were using publishers’ data, according to the document, written by Chetna Bindra, a product management executive at Google Search. “Do what we say, say what we do, but carefully.” “It’s a little bit damning,” said Paul Bannister, the chief strategy officer at Raptive, which represents online creators. “It pretty clearly shows that they knew there was a range of options and they pretty much chose the most conservative, most protective of them — the option that didn’t give publishers any controls at all.”
For its part, Google said in a statement to Bloomberg: “Publishers have always controlled how their content is made available to Google as AI models have been built into Search for many years, helping surface relevant sites and driving traffic to them. This document is an early-stage list of options in an evolving space and doesn’t reflect feasibility or actual decisions.” They added that Google continually updates its product documentation for search online.
New Orleans’ police force secretly used constant facial recognition to seek out suspects for two years. An investigation by The Washington Post discovered that the city’s police department was using facial recognition technology on a privately owned camera network to continually look for suspects. This application seems to violate a city ordinance passed in 2022 that required facial recognition only be used by the NOLA police to search for specific suspects of violent crimes and then to provide details about the scans’ use to the city council. However, WaPo found that officers did not reveal their reliance on the technology in the paperwork for several arrests where facial recognition was used, and none of those cases were included in mandatory city council reports.
“This is the facial recognition technology nightmare scenario that we have been worried about,” said Nathan Freed Wessler, an ACLU deputy director. “This is the government giving itself the power to track anyone — for that matter, everyone — as we go about our lives walking around in public.” Wessler added that the is the first known case in a major US city where police used AI-powered automated facial recognition to identify people in live camera feeds for the purpose of making immediate arrests.
Police use and misuse of surveillance technology has been thoroughly documented over the years. Although several US citiesandstates have placed restrictions on how law enforcement can use facial recognition, those limits won’t do anything to protect privacy if they’re routinely ignored by officers.
Read the full story on the New Orleans PD’s surveillance program at The Washington Post.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/new-orleans-police-secretly-used-facial-recognition-on-over-200-live-camera-feeds-223723331.html?src=rss
Google has launched the NotebookLM app for Android and iOS, offering a native mobile experience with offline support, audio overviews, and integration into the system share sheet for adding sources like PDFs and YouTube videos. 9to5Google reports: This native experience starts on a homepage of your notebooks with filters at the top for Recent, Shared, Title, and Downloaded. The app features a light and dark mode based on your device’s system theme with no manual toggle. Each colorful card features the notebook name, emoji, number of sources, and date, as well as a play button for Audio Overviews. There’s background playback and offline support for the podcast-style experience (the fullscreen player has a nice glow), while you can “Join” the AI hosts (in beta) to ask follow-up questions.
You get a “Create new” button at the bottom of the list to add PDFs, websites, YouTube videos, and text. Notably, the NotebookLM app will appear in the Android and iOS share sheet to quickly add sources. When you open a notebook, there’s a bottom bar for the list of Sources, Chat Q&A, and Studio. It’s similar to the current mobile website, with the native client letting users ditch the Progressive Web App. Out of the gate, there are phone and (straightforward) tablet interfaces. You can download the app for iOS and Android using their respective links.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is acquiring most of 23andMe’s assets for $256 million. The sale includes 23andMe’s Personal Genome Service, Total Health and Research Services business lines. What’s not included is 23andMe’s telehealth unit, Lemonaid Health, which the company acquired for around $400 million in 2021. It’ll be shut down, but all staffers will remain employed. CNBC reports: The deal is still subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Pending approval, it’s expected to close in the third quarter of this year, according to the release. In its bankruptcy proceedings, 23andMe required all bidders to comply with its privacy policies, and a court-appointed, independent “Consumer Privacy Ombudsman” will assess the deal, the companies said.
Several lawmakers and officials, including the Federal Trade Commission, had expressed concerns about the safety of consumers’ genetic data through 23andMe’s sale process. The privacy ombudsman will present a report on the acquisition to the court by June 10. “We are pleased to have reached a transaction that maximizes the value of the business and enables the mission of 23andMe to live on, while maintaining critical protections around customer privacy, choice and consent with respect to their genetic data,” Mark Jensen, 23andMe’s board chair, said in a statement. “At its peak, 23andMe was valued at around $6 billion,” notes the report.
Biotechnology company Regeneron will acquire 23andMe out of bankruptcy for $256 million, with a plan to keep the DNA-testing company running without interruption and uphold its privacy protection promises.
In its announcement of the acquisition, Regeneron assured 23andMe’s 15 million customers that their data—including genetic and health information, genealogy, and other sensitive personal information—would be safe and in good hands. Regeneron aims to use the large trove of genetic data to further its own work using genetics to develop medical advances—something 23andMe tried and failed to do.
“As a world leader in human genetics, Regeneron Genetics Center is committed to and has a proven track record of safeguarding the genetic data of people across the globe, and, with their consent, using this data to pursue discoveries that benefit science and society,” Aris Baras, senior vice president and head of the Regeneron Genetics Center, said in a statement. “We assure 23andMe customers that we are committed to protecting the 23andMe dataset with our high standards of data privacy, security, and ethical oversight and will advance its full potential to improve human health.”
The latest generation of Motorola Razr smartphones was slated to go on sale last week beginning May 15, but availability has been delayed for purchases through select carriers. 9to5Google reported that the launch was delayed to May 22 for Verizon, Straight Talk, Total Wireless and Visible. We’ve reached out to Motorola for additional comment on the situation.
When a potential customer asked on X about availability after the phones were not seen at the expected May 15 date, a Verizon rep replied that the launch was “placed on hold.” The Verizon blog post announcing the plans and pricing for the Razr models has been updated to show a May 22 release date.
Razr phones are still listed as available to buy at other mobile carriers. However some customers have taken to Reddit, sharing that their orders have been delayed and speculating as to why. Most of them did not specify which channels or carriers they used for the purchases, so it’s possible that all of the issues are centered on the four carriers mentioned in Motorola’s statement, although there are posts claiming their phones’ new ship date will be May 28.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/motorola-has-mysteriously-delayed-its-new-razr-phones-but-only-for-some-carriers-211654192.html?src=rss
A generation ago, when former NASA administrator Dan Goldin promoted the mantra of a “faster, better, cheaper” approach to the agency’s science missions, critics often joked that NASA could only pick two.
That’s no longer the case. NASA is finding success in its partnerships with commercial space companies, especially SpaceX, with lower costs, quicker results, and improved performance.
The Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office, the US government’s spy satellite agency, are also capitalizing on new products and services from commercial industry. In many cases, these new capabilities come from venture-backed startups already developing and operating satellites for commercial use.
