Longtime Slashdot reader backslashdot writes: Commentary, video, and a publication in this week’s Nature Neuroscience herald a significant advance in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, enabling speech by decoding electrical activity in the brain’s sensorimotor cortex in real-time. Researchers from UC Berkeley and UCSF employed deep learning recurrent neural network transducer models to decode neural signals in 80-millisecond intervals, generating fluent, intelligible speech tailored to each participant’s pre-injury voice. Unlike earlier methods that synthesized speech only after a full sentence was completed, this system can detect and vocalize words within just three seconds. It is accomplished via a 253-electrode array chip implant on the brain. Code and the dataset to replicate the main findings of this study are available in the Chang Lab’s public GitHub repository.

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The James Webb Space Telescope has revealed that a surprising majority of galaxies rotate clockwise, challenging the long-held belief in a directionally uniform universe; this anomaly could suggest either our universe originated inside a rotating black hole or that astronomers have been misinterpreting the universe’s expansion due to observational biases. Smithsonian Magazine reports: The problem is that astronomers have long posited that galaxies should be evenly split between rotating in one direction or the other, astronomer Dan Weisz from the University of California, Berkeley, who was not involved with the study, wrote for Astronomy back in 2017. “This stems from the idea that we live in an ‘isotropic’ universe, which means that the universe looks roughly the same in every direction. By extension, galaxies shouldn’t have a preferred direction of spin from our perspective,” he added. According to Shamir, there are two strong potential explanations for this discrepancy. One explanation is that the universe came into existence while in rotation. This theory would support what’s known as black hole cosmology: the hypothesis that our universe exists within a black hole that exists within another parent universe. In other words, black holes create universes within themselves, meaning that the black holes in our own universe also lead to other baby universes.

“A preferred axis in our universe, inherited by the axis of rotation of its parent black hole, might have influenced the rotation dynamics of galaxies, creating the observed clockwise-counterclockwise asymmetry,” Nikodem Poplawski, a theoretical physicist at the University of New Haven who was not involved in the study, tells Space.com’s Robert Lea. “The discovery by the JWST that galaxies rotate in a preferred direction would support the theory of black holes creating new universes, and I would be extremely excited if these findings are confirmed.”

Another possible explanation involves the Milky Way’s rotation. Due to an effect called the Doppler shift, astronomers expect galaxies rotating opposite to the Milky Way’s motion to appear brighter, which could explain their overrepresentation in telescopic surveys. “If that is indeed the case, we will need to re-calibrate our distance measurements for the deep universe,” Shamir explains in the statement. “The re-calibration of distance measurements can also explain several other unsolved questions in cosmology such as the differences in the expansion rates of the universe and the large galaxies that according to the existing distance measurements are expected to be older than the universe itself.”
The findings have been published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

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Samsung and LG got a headstart on Sony when they announced their new 2025 TVs a few months ago at CES. But now, the latter is catching up with the pending arrival of three new Bravia sets, including a refreshed flagship QD-OLED, a midrange mini LED option and an updated budget alternative.

Before we get into the specific models, it’s important to note that after revamping the naming scheme for all of its home theater gear last year, Sony isn’t doing a full top-to-bottom overhaul of its entire lineup for 2025. Instead, it’s introducing a handful of new TVs that will replace old models or slot into some existing gaps in its current portfolio. That means the Bravia 9 will continue to be the company’s top-tier TV, with everything else falling in line under that.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

This brings us to the Bravia 8 II, which as you may have guessed, is the replacement to the Bravia 8 and will be Sony’s most premium QD-OLED TV. Like the Bravia 9, it features the company’s XR processor which supports AI scene recognition tech to help preserve details in tricky scenes. The way it works is that by analyzing your content, the TV can compare what’s being displayed with a reference library of known backgrounds and patterns to help fill in any gaps the source material may not have fully captured.

I had a chance to see this AI trick in person and while the effect is subtle, it definitely makes a difference during shots with lots of foliage, rocks or other challenging textures. I also noticed that the Bravia 8 II demonstrated improved tone mapping and much more accurate color gradients, which resulted in more detailed and realistic images, especially in very bright or dark shots. And of course, you get those lovely deep blacks and the excellent contrast that modern QD-OLED panels are known for.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

Moving down the line, there’s the Bravia 5, which neatly fills the void between Sony’s existing 7 and 3 series TVs. It features a mini LED panel powered by the company’s Backlight Master Drive tech, which delivers reduced digital noise and improved contrast. The most noticeable example I saw of this was the almost complete lack of halos or light bleed when viewing bright objects on a dark background. Another important spec is that the Bravia 5 is available in sizes of up to 98 inches, which makes it one of Sony’s largest TVs (including the 83-inch flagship Bravia 9).

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

Finally we come to the Bravia 2 II, where the biggest change is the shift to full direct lit LED instead of an edge lit panel like the previous model. This delivers much more vibrant colors in addition to significantly wider viewing angles on sizes ranging from 43 to 75 inches. Like Sony’s other TVs, its OS is powered by Google TV and it includes an upscaler to bring old content up to 4K. The one major limitation on the Bravia 2 II is that it features a refresh rate of just 60Hz.

Unfortunately, official pricing and availability for all of Sony’s new TV’s won’t be available until sometime later this spring. So if you’re currently shopping for a new set, you may want to hold off for another couple of months.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/sonys-2025-bravia-tv-lineup-includes-a-new-flagship-qd-oled-model-160019669.html?src=rss

Last spring, Sony debuted its Bravia Theater line of soundbars and speakers, ditching its confusing product names in the process. The initial group consisted of the flagship Bar 9, Bar 8, Bravia Quad speaker set and a Theater U neck speaker. Now the company is looking to offer a more compact midrange option that’s still capable of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X audio. With the new Bravia Theater Bar 6, Sony gives users a 3.1.2-channel option, and this time, it comes with a wireless subwoofer in the box. 

The Bar 6 will be the entry-level option in Sony’s Bravia Theater soundbar lineup when compared to the more robust Bar 8 and Bar 9. The company says the goal here is to provide both immersive sound and clear dialogue. The soundbar’s two up-firing drivers are paired with three more across the front for Dolby Atmos and DTS/X dimensional audio. Sony provides up-mixing tech to transform stereo content to 3D sound when those immersive formats aren’t available. For dialogue, Sony utilizes both a dedicated center speaker and so-called Voice Zoom 3. That latter item is an AI-powered tool that recognizes human voices and adjusts their volume as needed to keep speech clear. 

Sony is offering two packages for the Bar 6. First, you can opt for all-in-one setup that comes with rear satellite speakers and a subwoofer for a 5.1.2 surround sound setup. The company calls this the Bravia Theater System 6. If you don’t need the rears, you can get the Bar 6 and a sub. Just note that the two subwoofers in those two configurations are different, and the back speakers with the System 6 don’t have up-firing drivers. 

Sony

One item that’s notable about the System 6 is Sony’s new Multi Stereo Mode. With living room setups that have rear speakers, those satellites sometimes provide awkward audio performance for music. This feature on Sony’s new all-inclusive package replicates stereo left/right channels to the center and rear speakers for a more enjoyable audio experience. 

Lastly, Sony has a new set of rear speakers, dubbed the Bravia Theater Rear 8. These are compatible with the company’s soundbars and work with its 360 Spatial Sound Mapping tech to calibrate your system to your living room’s acoustics. The Rear 8 are different from the speakers that come with the System 6, so you’ll want to consider that when making your buying decision. 

When paired with a Bravia TV, Sony’s soundbars can be controlled with the Bravia Connect app on a phone. Here, you can adjust volume and other settings without a remote or on-screen menu. Both the Bravia TV and Bravia Theater lineups can be controlled via on-screen prompts without having to change remotes. More specifically, a Bravia TV controller can be used to adjust volume, sound field and more on the Bravia Theater soundbars and speakers. 

There’s no word on pricing or availability yet for the Bravia Theater Bar 6, Bravia Theater System 6 or the Bravia Theater Rear 8. All Sony has divulged thus far is that the trio of new products is set to arrive sometime this spring. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/sony-adds-the-bravia-theater-bar-6-to-its-dolby-atmos-soundbar-lineup-160012544.html?src=rss

Producing video content is a particular challenge for generative AI models, which have no real concept of space or physics, and are essentially dreaming up clips frame by frame. It can lead to obvious errors and inconsistencies, as we wrote about in December with OpenAI’s Sora, after it served up a video with a disappearing taxi.

It’s these specific problems that AI video company Runway says it’s made some progress in fixing with its new Gen-4 models. The new models offer “a new generation of consistent and controllable media” according to Runway, with characters, objects, and scenes now much more likely to look the same over an entire project.

If you’ve experimented with AI video, you’ll know that many clips are brief and show slow movement, and don’t feature elements that go out of the frame and come back in—usually because the AI will render them in a different way. People merge into buildings, limbs transform into animals, and entire scenes mutate as the seconds pass.

This is because, as you might have gathered by now, these AIs are essentially probability machines. They know, more or less, what a futuristic cityscape should look like, based on scraping lots of futuristic cityscapes—but they don’t understand the building blocks of the real world, and can’t keep a fixed idea of a world in their memories. Instead, they keep reimagining it.

Runway is aiming to fix this with reference images that it can keep going back to while it invents everything else in the frame: People should look the same from frame to frame, and there should be fewer issues with principal characters walking through furniture and transforming into walls.

The new Gen-4 models can also “understand the world” and “simulate real-world physics” better than ever before, Runway says. The benefit of going out into the world with an actual video camera is that you can shoot a bridge from one side, then cross over and shoot the same bridge from the other side. With AI, you tend to get a different approximation of a bridge each time—something Runway wants to tackle.

Have a look at the demo videos put together by Runway and you’ll see they do a pretty good job in terms of consistency (though, of course, these are hand-picked from a wide pool). The characters in this clip look more or less the same from shot to shot, albeit with some variations in facial hair, clothing, and apparent age.

There’s also The Lonely Little Flame (above), which—like all Runway videos—has reportedly been synthesized from the hard work of actual animators and filmmakers. It looks impressively professional, but you’ll see the shape and the markings on the skunk change from scene to scene, as does the shape of the rock character in the second half of the story. Even with these latest models, there’s still some way to go.

While Gen-4 models are now available for image-to-video generations for paying Runway users, the scene-to-scene consistency features haven’t rolled out yet, so I can’t test them personally. I have experimented with creating some short clips on Sora, and consistency and real-world physics remains an issue there, with objects appearing out of (and disappearing into) thin air, and characters moving through walls and furniture. See below for one of my creations:

It is possible to create some polished-looking clips, as you can see from the official Sora showcase page, and the technology is now of a high-enough standard that it is starting to be used in a limited way in professional productions. However, the problems with vanishing and morphing taxis that we wrote about last year haven’t gone away.

Of course, you only have to look at where AI video technology was a year ago to know that these models are going to get better and better, but generating video is not the same as generating text, or a static image: It requires a lot more computing power and a lot more “thought,” as well as a grasp of real-world physics that will be difficult for AI to learn.

In early 2024, the bird influenza that had been spreading across the globe for nearly three decades did something wholly unexpected: It showed up in dairy cows in the Texas Panhandle.

A dangerous bird flu, in other words, was suddenly circulating in mammals—mammals with which people have ongoing, extensive contact. “Holy cow,” says Thomas Friedrich, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “This is how pandemics start.”

This bird flu, which scientists call highly pathogenic avian influenza, or H5N1, is already at panzootic—animal pandemic—status, killing birds in every continent except for Australia. Around the world, it has also affected diverse mammals including cats, goats, mink, tigers, seals, and dolphins. Thus far, the United States is the only nation with H5N1 in cows; it’s shown up in dairies in at least 17 states.

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During today’s Nintendo Direct all about the Switch 2, the company shared how and when fans can finally get the handheld into their hands. After a long, long wait, pre-orders for the Switch 2 will begin on April 9. Its starting price tag is $450, and the console will be widely available on June 5. The console will be available from the usual lineup of retailers, which we expect to include Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart and others.

The $450 price tag is for the Switch 2 console alone, but Nintendo said it will also offer a bundle with the Switch 2 and a copy of the new Mario Kart World game, a Switch 2 exclusive, for $500.

There’s some fine-print attached to pre-ordering directly from Nintendo. According to the pre-order page on Nintendo’s site, you must be 18 years or older, sign in with your Nintendo account and register your interest in pre-ordering. Then, you’ll be sent an invitation email when it’s time to play your pre-order, and the invitation will be valid for 72 hours. And then there’s this bit of info: “Invitation emails will be prioritized on a first-come, first-served basis to registrants who have purchased a Nintendo Switch Online membership with a minimum of 12 months of paid membership and a minimum of 50 total gameplay hours, as of April 2, 2025.”

That seems to mean those who have paid for Switch Online in the recent past and those who have spent a good amount of time playing Switch games as of late will get first pick at buying a Switch 2. There’s no telling if these same restrictions will apply if you want to pre-order from third-party retailers.

We knew from the teaser trailer for the Switch 2 that Nintendo’s new hardware would be bigger and would have a new approach to the detachable Joy-Cons. The new Joy-Con 2 have a new C button, mouse controls and a built in gyroscope for tilt control. The console has a built-in mic to support a new feature called Game Chat that will let you communicate with friends in-game. The device is indeed a bit larger, with a 7.9-inch LCD screen that supports a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR and a 1080p resolution.

When docked, you’ll be able to play at up to 4K on your TV, and Nintendo says it improved the consoles internal speakers as well. The new dock also has a built-in fan to keep the console cool and help maintain performance during long play sessions. The Switch 2 has dual USB-C ports for charging, and the base storage amount has increased to 256GB. The Switch 2’s storage can be expanded like the previous model, but it will only work with newer microSD Express cards.

The Switch 2 has a number of accessories that you’ll be able to purchase separately as well, including the new Switch 2 camera for $50, a new Switch 2 Pro controller for $80, an extra pair of Joy-Con 2 controllers for $90, a Joy-Con 2 charging grip for $35 and more.

Pre-order the Nintendo Switch 2 starting April 9 from:

• Nintendo

• Amazon

• Walmart

• GameStop

• Best Buy

• Target

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/how-to-pre-order-the-nintendo-switch-2-140931639.html?src=rss

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.

If you’ve been eyeing a Nintendo Switch OLED but haven’t wanted to pay full price, you might want to check out this refurbished model (with white Joy-Cons) going for $249.99 on Woot—that’s a solid chunk cheaper than Amazon’s $289 sale-price tag. However, this price is only live for four days or until it sells out, whichever comes first. This is a refurbished unit (tested and certified to work like new), so it may show light cosmetic wear, but performance-wise, you’re getting the same console that PCMag called the “Best Gaming Console of the Year” in 2021.

Nintendo Switch OLED Model

$249.99
at Woot

$339.99
Save $90.00

$249.99
at Woot

$339.99
Save $90.00

Its seven-inch OLED screen is brighter, crisper, and more vibrant than the original’s LCD. Games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom or Super Mario Odyssey just pop in handheld mode—this is especially noticeable when you’re gaming outdoors or in a room with lots of natural light. There’s also a wider kickstand that actually supports the console now (so tabletop play isn’t a balancing act anymore), and a slight bump in storage (64GB instead of 32GB), though you’ll still probably need a microSD card eventually, notes this PCMag review. And while the Joy-Cons are the same in terms of function, the dock has been tweaked with a wired LAN port if you want a more stable internet connection. It’s not a performance boost under the hood—same processor, same RAM—but it feels like an upgrade if you’re using it mostly as a handheld or tabletop device.

That said, this deal has a few fine-print caveats. It only ships to the 48 contiguous U.S. states (so if you’re in Alaska, Hawaii, or elsewhere, no dice), and unless you’re an Amazon Prime member, you’re tacking on $6 for shipping. The 90-day Woot limited warranty is decent enough, too. If you’ve been debating whether the OLED version is worth the extra money over the base Switch, this refurbished deal narrows the price gap enough to make it more appealing.

Nintendo just wrapped up its long-awaited Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, and the experience was almost surreal. The company has avoided talking about the console for so many years, and even after it shared an early preview a few months ago, it’s still odd to see Nintendo walk us through the console in such depth.

Mind games aside, it’s finally official-official, and we now know a lot about Nintendo’s upcoming console. The Direct didn’t answer every question about its capabilities, but if you’re interested in the hardware specs, here’s everything there is to know right now.

How powerful is the Switch 2?

From games to accessories, there’s a lot to get excited about with any new console launch, but the biggest unknown for the Switch 2 has always been the hardware capabilities, or lack thereof: The Switch 1 was arguably already underpowered when it launched in 2017, though that didn’t stop Nintendo from running with it for eight years to great success.

If you were hoping the Switch 2 would take a different tack and offer a more powerful, modern gaming experience, you’re probably going to be disappointed, though we don’t actually know anything about the hardware itself just yet. Rumors suggest the Switch 2 is running a chip based on Nvidia’ GeForce RTX 30 series, which dates from 2020, but we likely won’t know for sure until someone tears the console down.

The new design

Credit: Nintendo of America/YouTube

We now know the Switch 2 has a 7.9-inch display—0.9 inches larger than the Switch OLED, and 1.7 inches larger than the standard Switch screen. That display is 1080p, as opposed to 720p on the OG Switch, but like the latter, the Switch 2 sports an LCD screen. Though that’s what the rumors suggested, I’m personally a bit bummed about it, since I’ve been enjoying the OLED display on my current Switch. That said, I might get over it once I actually see the display in action with my own eyes—the Switch 2 supports HDR, something the first Switch did not, as well as refresh rates of up to 120Hz.

The console has a redesigned kickstand, which we knew about already; It supports a greater variety of angles, which should offer more flexibility when playing in tabletop mode. Speaking of which, you can finally charge the Switch in tabletop mode, as that second USB-C port on the top of the console is indeed a charging port as well. You can also use it to connect to the new Switch 2 Camera. (Oh yes, Nintendo will now sell you a camera for your Switch 2.)

There’s also a microphone, which you can use for GameChat, built into the console itself (more on that later). It’s noise cancelling, which should help when using it in loud environments. Switch 2 supports “3D Audio,” which promises to make it seem like sounds are coming from where they would be in the game world. (If a monster roars behind you, you’ll hear it “behind” you.)

Switch 2 comes with 256GB of internal storage, with options for expansion via microSD Express cards. These are different than the microSD cards supported on Switch 1, so you won’t be able to use your existing Switch cards on the new console. Bummer.

Dock mode mow supports 4K

The OG Switch runs at 720p in handheld mode, but when docked, can boost up to 1080p. The Switch 2 also will look better on a bigger screen: The console runs at 1080p up to 120fps in handheld mode, but can run at 4K and 60fps when docked. The dock also has a built-in fan to keep the console cool when outputting at the higher resolution.

Credit: Nintendo of America/YouTube

The Joy-Cons can do more

Credit: Nintendo of America/YouTube

The Switch 2’s Joy-Cons are pretty different from the OG controllers. These things are larger and more rounded, which I imagine will make gameplay more comfortable. They also look different: The updated Joy-Cons are almost entirely black, save for some colorful accents.

We finally know what that new C button is for: a new feature called GameChat, which lets you chat with friends directly through the Switch 2. When you press the button, you pull up the GameChat menu, which lets you control the chat experience, including turning on or muting your mic, and turning your camera on or off.

Unlike the original Switch, you don’t connect these Joy-Cons to Switch 2 by sliding them into the rails. Instead, their pair magnetically. Nintendo says the magnets are strong enough to not break off with force. To release them, you need to press in a button on the Joy-Cons first, similar to how you need to push the button on the existing Joy-Cons before you can slide them out of the rails.

Perhaps the biggest change to the Switch 2’s controllers is that they support mouse mode. That was a rumored feature that some might have dismissed at first glance, but it’s true: Both the left and right Joy-Cons can be used on a table top to enable mouse controls in compatible games. There are mini games in the new Switch 2 expansion of Super Mario Party Jamboree, for example, that utilize these movement controls.

New Pro Controller and GameCube controllers are on the way

Credit: Nintendo of America/YouTube

While not a component of the Switch 2 itself, a new Pro Controller is coming, optimized for the Switch 2. It looks similar to the Switch 1 Pro Controller, but you’ll notice the new C button at the bottom, white buttons at the top, an audio jack, and new GR and GL buttons on the rear handles, for remapping controls.

Similarly, Nintendo is releasing a GameCube controller for Switch 2, as the new console supports GameCube games as part of its retro online library. This controller looks nearly identical to the original GameCube controller, save for some small features, including the new C button at the top, a tiny ZL button on the left, a screenshot button, a pairing button, a Home button, and a USB port on top. You’ll also notice a player number indicator along the top of the controller.

Credit: Nintendo of America/YouTube

The Switch 2 still uses game cards

Credit: Nintendo of America/YouTube

The Switch 2 game cards are similar to the OG Switch’s, with some small differences. While they’re the same size and shape, the new carts are red, not black. They also read faster. Exciting!

When does Nintendo Switch 2 launch?

The new console launches June 5 of this year. You can buy it as-is, or in a bundle with a digital copy of Mario Kart World—the newest game in the Mario Kart lineup.

We don’t know what this thing costs yet, but we will update this piece once Nintendo officially reveals that information.

Newcomer: Keith O’Brien, the man who allegedly spied for Deel while working at Rippling, is apparently clearing his conscience, according to a sworn Irish affidavit. O’Brien says in the affidavit that Deel paid him to spy on Rippling and that he coordinated directly with Deel’s CEO, Alex Bouaziz.

For some background, Alex Bouaziz is Deel’s CEO and Philippe Bouaziz is his father, Deel’s CFO. Rippling, which competes directly with Deel, has sued Deel over the alleged spying. O’Brien says in the affidavit: I decided to cooperate after I got a text from a friend on March 25, 2025 saying, “the truth will set you free.” I was also driving with a family member to meet my solicitors and she told me that if I had done something wrong that I should “just tell the truth.” I was having bad thoughts at the time; it was a horrible time for me. I was getting sick concealing this lie. I realised that I was harming myself and my family to protect Deel. I was concerned, and I am still concerned, about how wealthy and powerful Alex and Philippe are, but I know that what I was doing was wrong. After I spoke with my solicitors at Fenecas Law, I started to feel a sense of relief. I want to do what I can to start making amends and righting these wrongs. Deel CEO allegedly agreed to pay O’Brien 5000 euros a month.

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The Switch 2 Nintendo Direct has officially come and gone, leaving in its wake some big news about the system and its upcoming games. One of arguably the cutest announcements came courtesy of Kirby Air Riders, a new game from Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai. So, while there’s sadly no new Smash game on the horizon, you can glide around with Kirby and friends. 

Kirby Air Riders comes over two decades after Sakurai designed Kirby Air Ride for the GameCube. Yes, you can now take a moment if reading this has made you feel old. After nearly a minute of build-up, the trailer shows Kirby riding along on the Warp Star machine, through a pleasant looking valley. It ends with the “rs” being dramatically attached to the original Kirby Air Ride title. 

We don’t have an exact release date for Kirby Air Riders yet, but Nintendo says it will be sometime this year. As for the Switch 2, you can pick one up for $450 on June 5, along with new games like Mario Kart World.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/super-smash-bros-directors-kirby-air-riders-will-come-to-the-switch-2-150234970.html?src=rss

At last, we have the critical details millions of gamers have awaited for years: the Nintendo Switch 2 release date, price and other details about the new system. The console will arrive on June 5 and it costs $450. Pre-orders will open on April 9, so you have a week to break open your piggy bank.

The June release date confirms the long-standing rumors that had percolated since Nintendo first revealed the details of the new console in January. As suspected, it dovetails with the series of roadshow events Nintendo is holding around the globe to let folks try the Switch 2 for the first time. Those wrap up in early June.

It’s been reported that Nintendo wanted to have as many units of the console ready to sell out of the gate as possible to mitigate shortages. The Switch 2 is likely to be in high demand, even though Nintendo plans to keep releasing new games for the original Switch (which has sold more than 150 million units) into at least 2026. Still, if the demand is robust enough and reports that Nintendo has between 6 million and 8 million units ready to go hold true, the company is poised to smash sales records with the Switch 2.

Nintendo Switch 2 hardware

Nintendo says it redesigned the system from the ground up. As expected, the Nintendo Switch 2 is larger than its predecessor. It measures 7.9 inches, compared with 6.2 inches for the original system, though no thicker than the previous console. The Switch 2 has around double the pixel density of the original Switch, Nintendo says, as it has a 1080p display. In docked mode, you’ll be able to play at up to 4K on your TV.

There’s some great news for frame rate appreciators, as the system will support up to 120 Hz gameplay on its own screen. There’s HDR support too. Sadly, it’s an LCD display rather than an OLED.

Nintendo says it improved the speakers to deliver clearer audio, while you’ll be able to enjoy 3D audio in select games through compatible surround sound systems or headphones. There’s a built-in mic with voice cancelling tech too (more on that in a moment). Some other hardware features had already been revealed, including the multi-angled kickstand and dual USB-C ports, either of which can be used for charging. 

Gratefully, Nintendo has given the Switch 2’s internal storage a serious upgrade. At 256GB, it has eight times the built-in storage of the Switch. That’s was a necessary change, as many games already weighed in at over 32GB and required a microSD card to install locally. 

To add more storage, you’ll need a microSD Express card, which supports higher-speed data transfers. Regular microSD cards won’t be supported. As for the physical game cards, they’re the same size and shape as the ones for the Nintendo Switch. 

As is usually the case, Nintendo isn’t saying much about the processor or graphics processing hardware. The company simply notes that the “Nintendo Switch 2 has significantly improved CPU and GPU performance over Nintendo Switch, resulting in faster processing speed and enabling new visually advanced gameplay. It also makes it possible to achieve more detailed graphics and faster loading times.”

The new dock has a built-in fan to keep the console cool and maintain stable performance. That’s something that might come in handy if you’re playing, say, Elden Ring on the Switch 2 — which is something you’ll actually be able to do.

Nintendo is promising a swatch of new accessibility features on the Switch 2. These include the option to change the font size, a speech-to-text function in GameChat (which we’ll get to momentarily) and a screen reader.

To help you get to grips with all of the new features of this console, you’ll be able to check out tech demos, minigames and more in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. This will be a day-one paid launch title for the system.

Joy-Con 2

The rumors were true, the Joy-Con 2 includes a mouse control feature. Each controller can be used as a mouse, so you can maybe expect more strategy games (oh hi, Civilization VII) and even first-person shooters — Nintendo is adding this feature just in time for Microsoft to start bringing Call of Duty games to its systems. A new 3 vs. 3 sports game called Drag x Drive, which will arrive this summer, uses the mouse controls of both Joy-Cons.

The controllers attach to the main unit magnetically. To detach them, you need to press release button on the rear. The control sticks are larger, as are the SL and SR buttons. The latter are made of steel, and these are what the magnets built into the system attach to, seemingly electromagnetically.

It is not yet clear if the Joy-Cons from the Switch will be compatible with the Switch 2 or, if so, how they’d attach. So if you have a large collection of Joy-Cons, they may soon be gathering dust.

Elsewhere, a new Pro controller with rear, assignable buttons will also be available. It has an audio jack and, like the Joy-Con 2, it has a C button. About that…

C button and GameChat

The much-discussed new C button on the right Joy-Con 2 (and the new Pro controller) can control a new feature called GameChat. For one thing, it can activate voice chat with up to 12 people. 

The microphone that’s built into the main Switch 2 unit can pick up your voice from across a room when the console is in docked mode, Nintendo says. Through GameChat, the option to share your gameplay with up to four friends, so you can all see what each other is doing (though these friend streams seemed to be running at a low frame rate in Nintendo’s Switch 2 Direct).

A camera accessory will allow you to jump into video chat with up to four buds. You can choose to superimpose your camera feed over your gameplay. The camera will be available on the Switch 2 launch day.

GameChat will require a Nintendo Switch Online subscription in the long run, but access will be free until March 31, 2026. Parents and guardians can set GameChat restrictions through the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app. The company says it has safety features in place for GameChat.

Nintendo Switch 2 games

Of course, Nintendo unveiled several Switch 2 games, including Mario Kart World, the new title it teased in the console’s announcement video. That will be a Switch 2 launch title. Expect more details about that during a dedicated Direct on April 17.

I’m very excited about Donkey Kong Bonanza, a 3D platformer that will hit Switch 2 on July 17. A Donkey Kong game with destructible environments just feels right. On top of that, Kirby Air Riders, a racing game from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai, is coming later this year.

A wave of major third-party games are coming to Switch 2 on launch day, including Cyberpunk 2077, Split Fiction, Hitman World of Assassination and Street Fighter 6. Also coming to Switch 2 at some point are Hades II, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, Borderlands 4, Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition (an ironically very funny name for a game that’s being ported to a lass-powerful console), EA Sports FC, Project 007 and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4.

We got an update on a little game called Hollow Knight: Silksong, which now has a 2025 release window. Grand Theft Auto 6 better watch its back. 

In a major surprise, Nintendo revealed a brand new FromSoftware game that’s coming exclusively to the Switch 2 in 2026. It’s called The Duskbloods and it looks very much like a spiritual successor to Bloodborne.

Meanwhile, the Switch 2 version of Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack will include a library of GameCube games, such as F-Zero GX, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and SoulCalibur II. A version of the GameCube controller will soon be available. And yes, it has a C button for GameChat.

In addition, several first-party Switch games will be enhanced on the Switch 2 — but only if you shell out for a paid upgrade. These include The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Party Jamboree and Kirby and the Forgotten Land, as well as the upcoming Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

Transitioning from the Switch

Players will be able to carry over most of their purchased Switch games, Nintendo Switch Online memberships and so on to the new console thanks to the Switch 2’s backward compatibility. A new system that will also be available on the upcoming hybrid aims to make it easier for people to lend digital Switch games to friends and family but, as is so often the case with Nintendo, the company made things more complicated than they ought to be.

Thankfully, Nintendo is looking to make it easy to transition from a Switch to a Switch 2. You’ll be able to transfer your games, save data and so on directly to the new console.

A GameShare feature will allow people to play the same Switch 2 game locally on multiple systems without having to purchase it more than once. That’s a really nice quality of life upgrade for families and friends who like to play games together. Switch 2 owners can even share their game with Switch systems. On the downside, GameShare will only be available for select games, including Super Mario Odyssey for those who really want to play as Kappy on their own device. Naturally, it’ll also work on some Switch 2-exclusive games.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/the-nintendo-switch-2-arrives-on-june-5-at-450-140642208.html?src=rss

Silksong, the long-awaited to sequel to 2017’s Hollow Knight, will arrive later this year, according to a brief sizzle reel Nintendo shared during today’s Switch 2 Direct. In fact, the snippet was so short you might have missed it if you blinked, and featured the same section of gameplay we first saw during the game’s announcement trailer back in 2019. 

Of course this being Silksong we’re talking about, I wouldn’t count on the game’s developer, Team Cherry, sticking to that date until we have the game in our hands. If you recall, back in 2022 there was speculation the game would arrive by June 12, 2023 after Microsoft included it in a Xbox Game Pass trailer and said all the titles featured in said clip would be available within 12 months. Well, June 12, 2023 came and went with no release of Silksong.       

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/hollow-knight-silksong-purportedly-arrives-this-year-144515332.html?src=rss

After months of anticipation and years of speculation, Nintendo is finally spilling all the beans about the Switch 2. In a Nintendo Direct presentation, the company is filling in questions we’ve had about the console since it was first officially revealed in a short teaser this past January.

Switch 2 launch date and pricing

We finally know when the console will be available: June 5, 2025. It’ll cost $450 at launch, and pre-orders start on April 9.

Switch 2 hardware

The Switch 2 console has the same thickness but has a much larger display — 7.9 inches at a 1080p resolution, versus the 6.2-inch 720p screen on the old console. And it runs at up to 120fps. It is an LCD display, rather than OLED, but it supports HDR at least. 

As expected, the new Joy-Con controllers attach magnetically and have much bigger SL and SR buttons for when you’re playing on a single Joy-Con controller. The sticks are also bigger, and each Joy-Con can be used as a mouse on compatible games. 

The built-in stand looks much better than the ones on older Switch systems, and there are two USB-C ports on the console as well. Nintendo also highlighted 3D audio when using compatible headphones, and the speakers on the console itself should be a lot better as well. The console has 256GB of storage, far surpassing the 32GB on the original model. The Switch 2 dock outputs at up to 4K with compatible games and the dock has a built-in fan to keep things cool when running at higher resolutions.

Switch 2 is using similar game cards to the original Switch, but Nintendo notes that they’re faster; you’ll have to use microSD Express cards for extra storage this time though. Standard microSD ones won’t be compatible with the new hardware.

A new Nintendo Switch 2 Pro controller will also be available with the C button to activate GameChat, and it also has GL and GR buttons on the back that you can assign to any specific actions. There’s also a headphone jack, too.

Voice and video chat

The first new feature Nintendo highlighted on its updated Joy-Con controllers was the C button. The C button lets you enter the new GameChat features. You can voice chat while playing using a built-in microphone, even when the console is docked. It’s the first time that a Nintendo system has had voice chat, and you can also share your game screen with friends as you play as well. For example, in Mario Kart this gives you more of a feel like you’re all playing connected to a TV even though you’re remote, because you can see everything that your friends are doing as well. 

And the chat and screen-share features work even if you’re all playing different games, so you can just get a group together to hang out while playing different titles. There’s also a Switch 2 camera that enables video chat that’ll show you on screen while you’re playing. These features will require a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, but Nintendo will offer it for free to everyone until March 31, 2026.

Mario Kart World

As expected, we’re finally getting a new entry in the venerable Mario Kart series, Mario Kart World. It looks looks familiar while also showing off some wild new tricks, like skateboard-style grinds on rails and wall jumps. The courses also look much larger and wider than any we’ve ever seen before. For the first time, it looks like there’s an open world connecting all the various courses, and weather and time of day will change.

Nintendo also says that you can go off-course and drive “virtually everywhere.” And fitting those huge tracks, the Grand Prix will have 24 competitors in one race. Overall, it’s a massive update which feels appropriate — the last Mario Kart game arrived way back in 2014 for the Wii U and was updated for the original Switch. It’ll be out the same day as the Switch 2, June 5.

Other games coming to Switch 2

Nintendo ran down a handful of other games coming to the Switch 2, including Eldin Ring: Tarnished Edition, a new title called Drag x Drive that uses the Switch 2 mouse controls in what looks like an extreme wheelchair sporting event, Hades II, Street Fighter 6, Split Fiction, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 +4, Hitman: World of Assassination and Daemon x Machina.

Nintendo is also working on Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, which will be out this winter; it’s being developed in with Koei Techmo games and will have the same combat-focused vibes as other Dynasty Warrior-style titles.

From Software is also releasing a new game exclusively for the Switch 2 called The Duskbloods in 2026. It feels a lot like Bloodbourne at first glance.

Perhaps the biggest first-party game to be revealed today besides Mario Kart World is a new 3D platformer starring Donkey Kong: Donkey Kong Bananza. It definitely has similar vibes to 3D Mario adventures, but in a totally new context.

There’s a laundry list of games that were mentioned today; Nintendo has helpfully pulled them together in this press release.

Finally, Nintendo has announced that the Switch Online service will host another classic console, the GameCube. The initial game library includes The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, F-Zero GX and SOULCALIBUR II. For the first time on Nintendo’s classic consoles through the Switch Online service, GameCube games will run at higher resolutions than the original titles.

Nintendo Switch 2 edition games

In addition to games expressly designed for the Switch 2, Nintendo will also be releasing a “Switch 2 edition” for selected titles, like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Those titles will have improved resolutions and frame rates as well as new features that’ll show up in a companion smartphone app. Nintendo didn’t say how much these upgrades would cost yet.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is also getting a Switch 2 edition that adds an additional world to explore, while Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will have both a Switch and Switch 2 edition; the Switch 2 edition can run in 4K at 60fps or up to 120fps at a lower resolution.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-switch-2-everything-announced-including-a-new-mario-kart-game-new-switch-features-and-more-133105264.html?src=rss

Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Anna Paulina Luna introduced bipartisan legislation in March to cap credit card interest rates at 10% annually as Americans’ debt hits record levels. “Credit cards with high interest rates regularly trap working people in endless cycles of debt,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement.

Credit card debt has reached $1.2 trillion in Q4 2024, up from $720 billion in the same quarter of 2004, according to Federal Reserve Bank of New York data. Average annual percentage rates nearly doubled to 21% in 2024 from 12% in 2003. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported a record number of cardholders making only minimum payments in Q3 2024, “showing signs of consumer stress.”

Further reading: Study Reveals Why Credit Card Interest Rates Remain Stubbornly High.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Tesla posted its production and sales numbers for the first quarter of 2025 this morning, and they continue the bad news streak for the electric automaker. Tesla produced 362,615 vehicles in total between January and the end of March, a 16.3 percent decrease from the same period in 2024.

The drop in sales was a little less bad; unlike this time last year, Tesla was able to more closely match production with demand. As a result, the company delivered 336,681 EVs in Q1, a drop of 12.9 percent compared to Q1 2024.

The Models 3 and Y make up the vast majority of Tesla’s business—it built 345,454 of them in Q1 2025, a 16.2 percent reduction compared to the same period last year. Despite a recent refresh for the Model Y, which comprised the majority of these two EVs, sales declined by 12.4 percent year-over-year, with just 323,800 being sold, compared to 386,810 for Q1 2024.

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Nintendo just held a livestream to drop more details on the forthcoming Switch 2 console. At the very end, it revealed a brand-new 3D platformer starring Donkey Kong. This is the first game of its type since Donkey Kong 64 hit the Nintendo 64 all the way back in 1999. It’s called Donkey Kong Bananza and launches exclusively for the Switch 2 on July 17, which is just over a month after the console hits store shelves.

It looks cool! Much of the environment is destructible, so DK can get in there and break stuff. It also features sidescrolling segments, sort of like how modern Mario 3D platformers dip into their 2D roots every once in a while. 

The whole thing has a funky and cartoonish vibe one would expect from our favorite gorilla. However, I didn’t hear one lick of the famous Donkey Kong rap during the trailer but the equally iconic “ooh banana” sound effect from DK64 does make a brief cameo.

The trailer does show DK climbing up the sides of mountains (getting his BOTW-era Link on) and rollicking through several locations. These include a forest and an ice region, among others. The footage also shows the meanest looking Kong I’ve ever seen.

Nintendo

We don’t know too much about this game beyond what the trailer shows, but we don’t have that long to wait. Once again, Donkey Kong Bananza comes out on July 17.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/donkey-kong-bananza-is-a-brand-new-3d-platformer-for-switch-2-143108835.html?src=rss

Google search has steadily been getting worse, but most of its free alternatives just aren’t as good at surfacing the things I’m looking for. Since Google makes money through advertising, its primary incentive is to boost revenue by showing you better ads. Of late, this has resulted in a noticeable decline in the quality of my search results. That brought me to the idea of using a paid search engine instead of Google. Enter Kagi.

What is Kagi?

Kagi is a paid search engine developed by the people behind the Orion browser. It lets you make 100 searches for free, but after that, you can pay between $5/month and $25/month for different tiers of its service. Thanks to search giants and AI companies, the idea of paying for web searches might seem absurd at first glance, but Kagi promises an ad-and tracker-free experience, which is tempting.

Is it worth it to pay for a search engine?

Kagi has lots of useful features (and no ads) that make it worth the price to me. After all, when the business model is to charge people for a service, the company is incentivized to create good products. I hope that Kagi is able to continue to do so in the long run. I’ve been using Kagi as my default search engine for the past few months and I’ve begun to really like it. Up until now, all my attempts to get away from Google search have failed, but with Kagi, I’ve finally found a good alternative to the search giant. Here are some of my favorite ways to use Kagi, all of which have convinced me that, sometimes, it’s worth it to pay for a search engine. 

See AI results only when you need to

I am so tired of AI being forced into everything, but Kagi’s approach to AI is refreshing. The search engine has kept it opt-in, which is great to see. If you use Kagi, you won’t encounter AI unless you manually trigger it. To do this, just add a question mark to your search query. This will show an AI answer above the search results.

Remove AI generated images from search results

Kagi allows you to block AI generated images from your search results. This is a hard feature to implement effectively because the internet is absolutely filled with low-effort AI slop nowadays, but Kagi does an acceptable job. Just go to Kagi settings by clicking the hamburger menu icon in the top-right corner of the homepage and selecting Settings. Now, go to Search > AI and enable Exclude AI generated images. Kagi says it blocks AI images on a “best-effort” basis, which means that there’s a chance that some may slip through the cracks. Kagi automatically labels AI generated images in its search results and, in addition to the settings option, provides search filters that let you show only AI images or remove them altogether. In my tests, it was able to identify about 50-60% of AI-generated images in the search results, and you can always block domains that serve up too many of these kinds of results to supplement the rest.

You can read more about how Kagi implements AI image filters in its documentation.

Try search filters to fine tune results

When you search for something on Kagi, you’ll see a list of suggested filters to help you fine tune your query right above the first result. While these buttons are displayed prominently, there’s also a drop down menu right next to them with more options. These filters allow you to look for results from a different region, sort results by relevance, or by the number of trackers on the website, or recency, plus filter results by time period. Plus, there’s an advanced search tab that lets you further refine results, if that’s not enough. 

Hide clickbait from videos

Kagi also lets you search for videos, and it has two interesting features to reduce clickbait. First, you can replace clickbait thumbnails with screenshots from the actual video. Second, you can change titles to lower case or sentence case. This removes awful thumbnails and those annoying all caps titles from your results, making it easier to find useful videos. To enable these features, go to Kagi Settings > Search > General. Scroll to the bottom of the page and you’ll see Video Search Settings. Click the drop-down menus next to the two options here and select what you need.

Create lenses to refine results

Credit: Pranay Parab

If you want to limit your search results to a handful of trusted sites, try using Kagi’s “search lenses.” Each of these lenses lets you filter out unwanted results by focusing only on some sites. By default, Kagi has a few interesting lenses such as Small Web, which limits results to smaller websites, and Forums, which searches only forums. This allows you to surface some hidden gems that you may not otherwise find. You can also create your own lens by going to Kagi Settings > General > Lenses > Create New. I’ve created one to search for posts on websites that I write for and assigned a bang to it (!lh). Now I just need to append !lh to any search to look for results on these websites, which helps me find my own articles much faster.

Tweak results to your liking

You can raise or lower the rankings of various domains in Kagi’s search results (although only for your account). This feature also lets you see specific domains less, or block them entirely. To tweak this, simply go to Kagi Settings > Search > Personalized Results > Add Domains. You’re also free to view Kagi’s Domain Leaderboard to see which sites its users are raising, lowering, or blocking.

Learn all the keyboard shortcuts

Opening Kagi’s website and pressing the ? key will reveal a full list of all supported keyboard shortcuts. Learning a few of these can speed up your workflow significantly, and I highly recommend doing so. I really like using !bang operators, which allow you to perform searches faster. For instance, you can append !v to any search term to look for videos. Similarly, !i does an image search, !n does a news search, and so on. I use two other keyboard shortcuts regularly: Shift-~ (tilde) to open the Kagi Control Center, and / to quickly return to the search bar and type another query.

Open links in the same tab

It annoys me when websites open links in a new tab without asking me if I want to do the same. By default, Kagi is no different in that regard, because its default setting is to open links in a new tab. However, you can go to Kagi’s General Settings page (Settings > Search > General) and disable Open Links in a New Tab to change this preference.

Use redirects to reduce annoyances

Kagi has a useful Redirects feature that lets you replace certain URLs with preferred alternatives. You can use this to bypass Google AMP links and go directly to the source website, or to open old Reddit every time you click a Reddit link in Kagi. This feature is under Kagi Settings > Search > Advanced > Redirects. It’s worth going through Kagi’s Redirects support page to learn how to make the most of them.

Use the Privacy Pass for anonymity

If you want a more private Kagi search experience, you can use its Privacy Pass feature. Since Kagi requires you to be logged in to use the product, you can’t actually do anonymous searches on the service. To get around that limitation, you can try the Kagi Privacy Pass, which authenticates your account using a token system and keeps your searches anonymous. The install process varies by browser, and this feature isn’t supported in some browsers (such as Safari).

There are many more advanced features that you can try in Kagi, but these are the ones that I find the most helpful. But as a bonus before I go, I’ll also mention Kagi Translate, which is a good alternative to Google Translate. It displays alternative translations below each result, and if you hover over the translation, it explains what is different about it. This lets you pick the best variant of a sentence to share with others, or makes it easier to understand the context of a quote in another language.

If you were hoping for Bloodborne 2, I have good and bad news. This isn’t that, because that’ Sony thing. However, FromSoftware’s new game, coming to the Switch 2, looks to borrow a lot of the gothic cues and style of Bloodborne.  

The Duskbloods leans into a slightly more Steampunk style too, with what appears to be steam-powered automatons. There are also vampire shenanigans, a man with an axe in a pyjama onesie, a dinosaur and a rune-covered rodent. In short, there’s lots of mystery, lots of violence and some magic, too. 

In today’s brief trailer, we saw one of the characters leap into a busy Victorian cityscape, toured some shady churches and got a glimpse of a huge beast that we’ll probably need to slay. We also got teases of several characters wielding different weapons and attack patterns.

For now, The Duskbloods doesn’t have a specific release date; it will land on Nintendo’s new console sometime in 2026.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/fromsoftware-the-duskbloods-switch-2-2026-release-142025792.html?src=rss