If you’ve spent more than five minutes driving an electric vehicle, chances are good you’re a convert. But most people haven’t driven an EV, and surveys show that many are scared to consider ditching internal combustion engines for something that plugs in because of concerns about battery reliability. It’s easy to see why—if you don’t follow the field that closely, you’ll have missed some serious technology advances over the last few years.

Early EVs indeed suffered from lithium-ion battery degradation over time, similar to the energy storage loss common in lithium-ion-powered consumer electronics. But modern EV batteries aren’t the same as the ones in your toothbrush or that old tablet that lasts just a few hours. With modern EV battery management systems and active thermal control—liquid cooling, in other words—range loss shouldn’t be more than about 2 percent per year.

A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan provides a clear illustration of this progress. We all know the planet is undergoing human-caused warming, and a warm world is worse for EVs in a couple of ways.

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While TikTok operates in the United States under new ownership, Apple has deployed technical restrictions to block iOS users in the United States from downloading other apps made by the video platform’s Chinese parent organization ByteDance.

ByteDance owns a vast array of different apps spanning social media, entertainment, artificial intelligence, and other sectors. The leading one is Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, which has over 1 billion monthly active users. While most of those users reside in China, iPhone owners around the world have traditionally been able to download these apps from anywhere without using a VPN, as long as they have a valid App Store account registered in China.

That’s not true anymore. Starting in late January, iPhone users in the US with Chinese App Store accounts began reporting that they were encountering new obstacles when they tried to download apps developed by ByteDance. WIRED has confirmed that even with a valid Chinese App Store account, downloading or updating a ByteDance-owned Chinese app is blocked on Apple devices located in the United States.

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Capcom revealed during its March 5 Spotlight showcase that Pragmata, its repeatedly delayed dystopian sci-fi adventure game, will release on April 17 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC via Steam. The game had been set for April 24 since its appearance at The Game Awards in December.

The game’s new trailer shows previously unseen locations and gameplay moments, and new elements within the Shelter, the in-game lunar base. Pragmata was first revealed in 2020 with a 2022 release window. Capcom then delayed it to 2023, then went radio silent on the project before resurfacing with a new 2026 date last year.

A free Sketchbook demo is available now on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop and Steam. Pre-orders for the game are available now.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/capcoms-long-delayed-pragmata-is-now-arriving-a-week-earlier-160257053.html?src=rss

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Hayden AI, a San Francisco startup that makes spatial analytics tools for cities worldwide, has sued its co-founder and former CEO, alleging that he stole a large quantity of proprietary information in the days leading up to his ouster from the company in September 2024. In a lawsuit filed late last month in San Francisco Superior Court but only made public this week, Hayden AI claims that former CEO Chris Carson undertook what it called “numerous fraudulent actions,” which include “forged board signatures, unauthorized stock sales, and improper allocation of personal expenses.” […] Hayden AI, which is worth $464 million according to an estimated valuation on PitchBook, has asked the court to impose preliminary injunctive relief, requiring Carson to either return or destroy the data he allegedly stole. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that Carson secretly sold over $1.2 million in company stock, forged board signatures, and copied 41GB of proprietary company emails before being fired in September 2024. The complaint also claims Carson fabricated key parts of his resume, including a PhD and military service. It’s a “carefully constructed fraud,” says Hayden AI.

“That is a lie,” the complaint states. “Carson does not hold a PhD from Waseda or any other university. In 2007, he was not obtaining a PhD but was operating ‘Splat Action Sports,’ a paintball equipment business in a Florida strip mall.”

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If the only thing you had to go off was Apple’s string of product announcements this week, you’d have little reason to believe that there is a historic AI-driven memory and storage supply crunch going on. Some products saw RAM and storage increases at the same prices as the products they replaced; others had their prices increased a bit but came with more storage than before as compensation. And there’s the MacBook Neo, which at $599 was priced toward the low end of what Apple-watchers expected.

But even a company with Apple’s scale and buying power can’t totally defy gravity. At some point between March 4 and now, Apple quietly removed the 512GB RAM option from its top-tier M3 Ultra Mac Studio desktop. Pricing for the 256GB configuration has also increased, from $1,600 to $2,000. The Tech Specs page on Apple’s support site still acknowledges the existence of the 512GB configuration, but both the Apple Store page and the list of available configurations have removed any mention of it.

We’ve asked Apple to comment on the disappearance of the 512GB Mac Studio and will update this article if we receive a response.

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Last week, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman unveiled a major shakeup in the Artemis Program, intended to put the nation on a better path back to the Moon. The changes focused largely on increasing the launch cadence of NASA’s large SLS rocket and putting a greater emphasis on lunar surface activities. Days later, the US Senate indicated that it broadly supported these plans.

This is all well and good, but it neglects a critical element of the Artemis program: a lander capable of taking astronauts down to the lunar surface from an orbit around the Moon and back up to rendezvous with Orion. NASA has contracted with SpaceX and Blue Origin to develop these landers, Starship and Blue Moon MK2, respectively.

As part of his announcement, Isaacman said a revamped Artemis III mission will now be used to test one or both of these landers near Earth before they are called upon to land humans on the Moon later this decade.

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The National Videogame Museum has acquired an extremely rare MSF-1 development kit, believed to be the oldest surviving prototype of the canceled Nintendo PlayStation. Engadget reports: Nicknamed the Nintendo PlayStation, the idea was that a new CD-ROM format backed by Sony would be added to the cartridge-based Super NES, resulting in a hybrid console that could play both. The partnership didn’t last long, though, with Nintendo backing out before it ever really got off the ground, announcing that it would instead be working with Philips. Sony decided to make the PlayStation on its own instead, in an act of revenge that you have to say paid off in the long run, and we never did get to see Crash Bandicoot running around the Mushroom Kingdom. Still, the short-lived Nintendo PlayStation remains a fascinating what-if scenario in video game history, and the USA’s National Video Museum has acquired the original development kit.

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Life EV has completed a court-approved acquisition of Rad Power Bikes, granting a second life to the troubled e-bike brand.

The Florida-based Life EV now owns Rad’s brand, intellectual property, inventory and certain unspecified operating assets, and will continue to operate as Rad Power Bikes in the US, with plans to expand to “select key markets.”

Rad’s new owner has committed to honoring certain warranties and gift cards purchased prior to the acquisition, and says new bikes will be built in the US going forward. Life EV will adopt a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) structure for its manufacturing operations, allowing it to take advantage of special domestic customs procedures when sourcing parts from global suppliers.

“Rad Power Bikes has helped define the e-bike category in North America with its innovative products and passionate rider community,” said Life EV CEO, Rob Provost. “Respecting and preserving that legacy – its brand, vision, and leadership – is foundational to this acquisition. Together, we will build on that trust and create new opportunities for riders nationwide.”

The completed acquisition marks the end of a turbulent period for Rad. Back in December, the company was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warned Rad’s customers to “immediately stop using” some of its e-bike batteries due to a serious fire hazard. At the time, Rad said it couldn’t afford to recall the at-risk batteries.

Less than two months later, in what can only be described as a strange twist of fate, a fire broke out at a Rad Power Bikes retail store warehouse in Huntington Beach, California. “We’re working with local authorities to review a thermal incident that occurred at our Huntington Beach store Sunday evening,” a Rad Power Bikes spokesperson told Engadget at the time. “The incident was contained and happened while the store was closed. The cause of the fire has not been confirmed.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/rad-power-bikes-gets-a-new-owner-pledge-to-build-bikes-in-the-us-144641940.html?src=rss

After losing its original eyes, one of our distant ancestors may have done what evolution does best: tinkered with what was available, reshaping a single central visual organ into two new eyes.

That’s the idea behind a new theoretical synthesis published in Current Biology. According to the data considered by its authors—a team from the University of Sussex (UK) and Lund University (Sweden)—vertebrate eyes, ours included, may not descend directly from the paired eyes of early bilaterian animals. Instead, they may have been “reinvented” from what was once a single light-sensitive organ that survived an evolutionary detour.

Strange eyes

“Vertebrate eyes are so fundamentally different from the lateral eyes of other animal groups,” explains Dan-Eric Nilsson, senior author of the study from Lund University and a leading expert in eye evolution. “The key difference is the identity of the main photoreceptor, which is of ciliary nature in the vertebrate eye but rhabdomeric in other animal groups, such as arthropods and cephalopods,” he adds.

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A Florida woman was sentenced to 22 months in federal prison and fined $50,000 for illegally trafficking thousands of Microsoft certificate-of-authenticity labels used to activate Windows and Office. Prosecutors said she bought genuine labels cheaply from suppliers and resold them without the accompanying licensed software, wiring over $5 million during the scheme. TechRadar reports: The indictment details how [52-year-old Heidi Richards] purchased tens of thousands of genuine COA labels from a Texas-based supplier between 2018 and 2023 for well below the retail value, before reselling them in bulk to customers globally without the licensed software. “COA labels are not to be sold separately from the license and hardware that they are intended to accompany, and they hold no independent commercial value,” the US Attorney’s Office wrote.

Richards was found to have wired $5,148,181.50 to the unnamed Texas company during the scheme’s operation. Some examples include the purchase of 800 Windows 10 COA labels in July 2018 for $22,100 (under $28 each) and a further 10,000 Windows 10 Pro COA labels in December 2022 for $200,000 ($20 each). Ultimately fined $50,000 and given a near-two-year sentence, prosecutors had sought to get Richards to pay $242,000, “which represents the proceeds obtained from the offenses.”

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These factory-reconditioned Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 ANC headphones are currently $99 on Woot, compared with $239.99 for a new pair and around $149.99 for used listings on Amazon. Woot says the deal will run for about 26 days or until it sells out. Prime members get free standard shipping, while everyone else pays $6. “Factory reconditioned” in this case means the headphones were professionally inspected, passed a full diagnostic test, and come in the original retail box with accessories included.

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 ANC headphones

$99.00
at Woot

$239.99
Save $140.99

$99.00
at Woot

$239.99
Save $140.99

The Px7 S2 use custom 40mm dynamic drivers, producing a sound with strong bass, clear highs, and a fairly natural balance. Comfort and design are another big part of the experience. The over-ear design uses memory-foam earpads lined with faux leather, while the headband and earcups combine fabric and aluminum accents. The result looks understated but expensive, and the fit tends to stay comfortable during long listening sessions, notes this PCMag review. Physical controls sit on the earcups, including buttons for playback, calls, and volume, plus a Quick Action button that cycles through active noise cancellation, pass-through mode, or off.

The headphones connect through Bluetooth 5.0 and support several audio codecs, including AAC, AptX, and SBC. On compatible Android devices, those codecs allow higher-quality wireless audio and even 24-bit playback with the right streaming service. Apple users won’t see the same high-resolution benefits, since iPhones don’t support AptX codecs and mostly rely on AAC.

You can plug in using the included USB-C cable or the USB-C-to-3.5mm audio cable if you want a wired connection. Battery life is rated at about 30 hours per charge, depending on listening volume and ANC use. On the downside, the noise cancellation isn’t as strong as the best models from Sony or Bose, and its companion app offers only a simple EQ. Still, at just $99, the highly rated Px7 S2 feels like a surprisingly strong value.

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High-refresh-rate gaming monitors are getting faster every year, but a 480Hz OLED panel still feels like a technical flex—and the ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDP is one such example. This 27-inch OLED gaming monitor is currently $662.36 on Amazon, down from its usual $799 price, and price trackers show that’s the lowest it has dropped so far. It sits in a very small group of monitors built around a 1440p panel with a 480Hz refresh rate, competing with models like the Sony Inzone M10S. It is designed first and foremost for high-end PC gaming, where extremely fast frame rates can actually make use of a panel this quick.

ASUS ROG Swift OLED Gaming Monitor

$662.36
at Amazon

$799.00
Save $136.64

$662.36
at Amazon

$799.00
Save $136.64

A big part of the appeal here is the OLED panel paired with Micro Lens Array+ (MLA+) technology, which helps the screen get brighter than most OLED monitors. The difference shows up in games with strong lighting contrast. Dark scenes show the deep blacks OLED is known for, while bright elements like explosions or neon lights stand out more clearly than they do on many IPS displays. Motion also looks exceptionally clean. The 480Hz refresh rate and near-instant OLED response times make fast movement easier to track in shooters and competitive games. ASUS also includes features such as Extreme Low Motion Blur, OLED Anti-Flicker, and support for all major variable refresh rate formats, including AMD FreeSync and NVIDIA G-SYNC compatibility. Connectivity is up to date as well, with HDMI 2.1 ports that support modern consoles and GPUs.

The performance is impressive, but the experience is not perfect. The hardware delivers exactly what competitive players want, yet the software side still feels rough around the edges. Some users report bugs where settings reset or behave unpredictably. There is also noticeable VRR flicker when frame rates change, and input lag increases when the monitor receives a 60Hz signal, which is something to keep in mind if you plan to use it for slower console games or everyday media. Still, for players chasing extremely high refresh rates and OLED contrast, this is among the most capable options available.

It’s been a wild week for Apple. After announcing a slew of new hardware, the company capped things off with its cheapest laptop ever: the $599 MacBook Neo. It’s low on specs, but high on character and value. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham dive into the MacBook Neo, as well as the refreshed MacBook Air M5, MacBook Pro M5 Pro/Max, iPad Air M4 and iPhone 17e. 

Also, Devindra chats with Spencer Ackerman, author of Forever Wars and recent Iron Man comics, about the ongoing battle between Anthropic and the Department of Defense. It turns out the DOD still used Claude for attacks on Iran, after banning Anthropic’/s AI last week. And really, what do these AI companies expect to happen when they jump at military contracts?

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Topic

• Apple announces a the MacBook Neo priced at $599 and it’s shockingly great – 0:53

• MacBook Air got the M5, MacBook Pro got the M5 Pro and M5 Max, and who needs the new iPad Air now? – 22:31

• Anthropic vs. DoD with Spencer Ackerman, author of The Forever Wars – 30:34

• Gemini encouraged a man to end his own life to be with his ‘AI wife’ – 58:53

• Polymarket nixes bets on nuclear detonation after public outcry – 1:01:55

• No Yōtei on PC: Sony closes down first party titles outside of PS5 – 1:03:56

• Wildlight Studios’ Highguard shuts down after 46 days live – 1:08:23

• Working on: Dell’s XPS 14 will be great when the keyboard fix comes through – 1:15:09

• Pop culture picks – 1:15:58

Credits

Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Nathan Ingraham
Guest: Spencer Ackerman
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/engadget-podcast-is-the-macbook-neo-the-one-132801575.html?src=rss

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: Wikipedia editors have implemented new policies and restricted a number of contributors who were paid to use AI to translate existing Wikipedia articles into other languages after they discovered these AI translations added AI “hallucinations,” or errors, to the resulting article. The new restrictions show how Wikipedia editors continue to fight the flood of generative AI across the internet from diminishing the reliability of the world’s largest repository of knowledge. The incident also reveals how even well-intentioned efforts to expand Wikipedia are prone to errors when they rely on generative AI, and how they’re remedied by Wikipedia’s open governance model. The issue centers around a program run by the Open Knowledge Association (OKA), a nonprofit that was found to be “mostly relying on cheap labor from contractors in the Global South” to translate English Wikipedia articles into other languages. Some translators began using tools like Google Gemini and ChatGPT to speed up the process, but editors reviewing the work found numerous hallucinations, including factual errors, missing citations, and references to unrelated sources.

“Ultimately the editors decided to implement restrictions against OKA translators who make multiple errors, but not block OKA translation as a rule,” reports 404 Media.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.