The 2024 model of the Microsoft Surface laptop has been discounted by $600 over at Amazon.
Microsoft’s Copilot+ Surface Laptop (2024) Just Hit an All-Time Low Price, $600 Off on Amazon
Monthly Archives: February 2025
‘My Washing Machine Refreshed My Thinking on Software Effort Estimation’
What Chris Horsley expected to be a 10-minute washing machine installation stretched to four hours and required five trips to the hardware store. The CTO of security consultancy firm documented how unexpected obstacles — drilling through shelves, replacing incompatible hoses, and removing hidden caps — derailed his timeline.
Horsley draws a direct parallel to software development, where estimation regularly fails despite experience. “While 90% of the project will be the same, there’s going to be one critical difference between the last 5 projects and this project that seemed trivial at the time of estimation but will throw off our whole schedule,” he writes in a blog.
These disruptions often appear as unmaintained frameworks, obsolete development tools, or incompatible infrastructure components that weren’t visible during planning. The software development environment changes rapidly, creating what Horsley describes as “unknown unknowns.” Despite thorough requirements gathering, developers inevitably encounter unanticipated blockers, transforming familiar-looking tasks into complex challenges.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Machine Learning in Linux: Fooocus – image generating software
Fooocus is image generating software that allows users to focus on text prompts to generate images. It’s built entirely on the Stable Diffusion XL architecture.
The Makers Of Pokémon Are About To Break A 15-Year Cycle
Today’s Pokémon Presents was more notable for what it didn’t include than for what it did. While news of Legends: Z-A was very welcome, what was not mentioned—nor ever rumored to be mentioned—was Pokémon’s next mainline entry. And yet, based on the pattern of the last decade-and-a-half, this should have been the day…
These Are the Best Free Email Providers for 2025
Setting up a free email account has never been easier. You now have many great options that promise lots of storage or convenient features, although there are a few things to keep in mind when picking one. The rule of thumb is that if you’re getting a free email service, you’re probably paying with your privacy, because the company has to make money at the end of the day. Depending on the company, it could use your emails to serve ads, track you across the web, or even use the text in your emails to train AI. However, there are exceptions to that rule, specifically when it comes to end-to-end encryption.
It’s a tough balance. In general, you’ll have to pay real money to avoid compromises—services that focus on privacy might suffer elsewhere. But if you’re not ready to pay or set up your own private email server yet, here are your best free alternatives. You’re not even limited to one option—it’s a good idea to create multiple email accounts and use them for different purposes, so you should mix and match based on your needs.
Gmail is the best email provider for most people
Credit: Pranay Parab
Gmail is the best email service for most people, hands down. It’s reliable, filters spam well, and gives you 15GB of cloud file storage for free. Plus, it’s practically unavoidable. It’s hard to be on the internet and avoid Google entirely, and at some point, you’re probably going to need a Google account. From setting up most Android phones to accessing a shared Google Doc, Gmail serves a wide range of audiences pretty well.
Your Gmail account also comes with unlimited addresses, which is a great way to check if a service sold your email ID to spammers. The biggest argument against Gmail is that it’s owned by Google, which makes money by tracking you online to help personalize the ads you see elsewhere. If you are privacy conscious, then this isn’t the right email service for you.
Pros: Ubiquitous, easy to use, feature-rich, integrates with other Google products
Cons: Lots of advertising based on mining your data
Outlook is the best Gmail alternative for most people
Credit: Pranay Parab
For those who don’t want to use Gmail, but are looking for a similar service, Microsoft’s Outlook is the best option. Just like Gmail, Outlook is backed by a tech giant and will almost certainly be around for years to come. Plus, you get up to 15GB of email storage and 5GB of additional OneDrive storage for free. It’s a reliable alternative to Gmail, but once again, it’s not the email service you want to use if privacy is your top priority.
Pros: Backed by a major tech company; a feature-rich Gmail alternative
Cons: Like Google, Microsoft doesn’t care that much about your privacy
Proton Mail is the best email service for privacy
Credit: Pranay Parab
Proton Mail is the best free email service for privacy-conscious people. It offers 1GB of storage, a limit of 150 emails per day, and up to 10 aliases for free, which is good enough to get started. My Gmail account is over a decade old and it still uses less than 1GB of storage, so it’s possible to manage with that storage limit for quite a while. Proton Mail also gives you a fair bit more than mail, too, even if you aren’t spending a dime. You’ll get a free VPN for one device and a free password manager as well.
Proton Mail’s biggest advantage is end-to-end encryption, which means your messages cannot be intercepted or read by Proton Mail or third parties. This is a great privacy feature as long as you’re communicating with Proton Mail users or people using other end-to-end encrypted email providers, but it’s not as effective if you’re communicating with people on ad-supported email accounts. Everything could be totally private on your end, but your friend’s email service could read the contents of your email pretty easily. If you’re ready to pay, Proton Unlimited offers great value with more email addresses, more storage space, and advanced privacy features like dark web monitoring.
Pros: Great for privacy; end-to-end encryption
Cons: Only 1GB of storage and a daily sending limit
Tuta is also a great privacy-focused email provider
Credit: Pranay Parab
If you need an encrypted email service that offers open-source desktop clients, Tuta could be one to consider. It has a free tier with 1GB storage and no ads, which is also a plus. While Tuta is end-to-end encrypted, your privacy depends on the encryption status of the people you’re emailing. Just as with Proton Mail, email encryption needs all parties onboard and if even one person is on an unencrypted service, your privacy is compromised. Tuta comes with one calendar in the free tier, but you’ll have to pay if you want to set up multiple calendars.
One good thing is that Tuta doesn’t restrict how many emails you can send or receive per day. The only limitation is storage. You also get apps for mobile use.
Pros: Encryption, privacy, and no sending limits
Cons: Just 1GB storage
Yahoo Mail is the best free email for free storage
Credit: Joel Cunningham
If you want the maximum possible storage on your free email account, believe it or not, Yahoo Mail is your best bet. The provider lets you use up to 1TB storage (yes, that’s 1,000GB) for free. The catch is that it still limits you to a maximum of 25MB of attachments per email, so you can’t start attaching 4K movies to your emails. It also comes with other useful features, such as an easy way to unsubscribe from newsletters. However, Yahoo Mail also shows you ads in your inbox and isn’t really the service you want to use if you’re concerned about privacy.
Pros: Tons of free storage
Cons: As ad-heavy and invasive as other services, plus you have to have an “@yahoo” or, worse, “@aol” email address. (Certain people will judge you, if only subconsciously.)
iCloud Mail is easiest to set up for Apple users
Credit: Pranay Parab
For anyone who already has an Apple Account, setting up an iCloud Mail account is really easy. Go to your device’s settings and tap your name. Then, click or tap through to iCloud > Mail, and follow the on-screen instructions to set it up. Since you already have an Apple Account, you don’t need to create a new password and you can start using the service for free. iCloud Mail’s free tier offers 5GB space and it has no ads. Note that this 5GB is shared with your photos, device backups, and everything else on iCloud, so effectively, it is smaller than you might expect. However, if you’re on an Apple device, you have the added advantage of not having to install any apps to use the service, because your iPhone, iPad, and Mac ship with the Mail app pre-installed.
iCloud Mail can be accessed on Windows, Android, and the web, too. The easiest way to use iCloud Mail on non-Apple devices is via the iCloud website, although there is an iCloud for Windows app for PC. Note that you’ll still need an Apple Account for this, which you can create for free at https://account.apple.com/.
For Android, you can also easily add your iCloud Mail to your phone’s mail app. Log in to your Apple Account here and select App-specific passwords. Create a new password and save it for later. Add a new account to your favorite email app, select the IMAP option, and type your iCloud email ID and the app-specific password. This will add the email ID to your Android phone.
Apple’s Mail app gets regular updates, and you can access privacy features such as protection against email tracking even on iCloud Mail’s free tier. But while this service is great for many people, it is slightly wonky at times. I’ve failed to receive some emails on iCloud Mail at times because they got flagged as spam and never landed in my inbox. On the plus side, you can add up to three aliases to iCloud Mail, which is good if you want to protect your actual email address from being compromised.
Pros: Easy set up, three aliases for free
Cons: Occasionally buggy, just 5GB of free space (shared with iCloud Photos and your device backups)
AOL is the best free email for unlimited storage
Credit: Daniel Oropeza
Another throwback, AOL Mail, offers a lot of the same benefits as Yahoo Mail, with a similar feature set and size limits (they’re owned by the same company). AOL is user-friendly, lets you organize and personalize your inbox, and offers a spell-checker, calendar, and a to-do list feature on top of the features most email clients have. It’s compatible with Android and iOS apps and you can transfer your contact list from CSV, TXT, or LDIF files.
Pros: Unlimited free storage
Cons: You’re limited to 25 MB for your email attachments
Zoho Mail lets you use custom email address domains for free
Credit: Pranay Parab
The biggest problem with almost every free email provider is you have no control over the domain name associated with your email address. You’ll be stuck with email addresses that end in @gmail.com, @yahoo.com, @outlook.com, etc.
If you want to use your own domain name with your free email, check out Zoho Mail. Its free plan lets you add up to five users to your account and offers 5GB of free storage per user. There are no ads, but you won’t get IMAP or POP3 sync features for the mobile app, which means there may be delays in receiving mobile notifications for new emails. The service will still work pretty well on your desktop browser.
Pros: You can use a custom @
Cons: Only 5GB storage and no IMAP or POP3 syncing
Neo is the best free email for small business owners
Credit: Daniel Oropeza
Small business owners, freelancers, or anyone who wants to see how their emails are performing and how many people are actually reading them can see basic email analytic tools like CTR (click-through rate) and open rates with Neo. It’s also a great alternative to Zoho, since it lets you choose a domain for free and has up to 100GB of storage. You can use an AI feature for writing emails, but you don’t get five user accounts like on Zoho. However, if you run into trouble, be warned that Neo’s support isn’t known to be the best.
Pros: See CTR and Open rates
Cons: The support isn’t very responsive
DirecTV launches Genre Packs, a more affordable way to get channels you actually want
DirecTV just announced the availability of Genre Packs, which are channel groupings tied to specific interests. The satellite TV provider teased this in January with the introduction of a sports-related bundle, but now there are more to choose from. These new packs include options for news, entertainment and Spanish language content.
Just like the MySports subscription, many of these new bundles come with live TV channels and subscriptions to streaming platforms. For instance, the MyEntertainment bundle allows access to around 40 channels, including Bravo and FX, but also includes a subscription to Disney+ with Hulu. That one costs $35 per month, making for a pretty good deal.
DirecTV
The MyNews bundle doesn’t come with any premium streaming subscriptions, but does allow access to the 24-hour news cycle in all of its brain-melting glory. Purchasers get access to all of the big ones here, including MSNBC, Fox News, CNN and, for some reason, Newsmax. It costs $40 per month, which seems like a lot just to watch a bunch of rich people yell at you, but what do I know.
MiEspañol offers access to more than 50 channels, including many Spanish-language stalwarts like Univision and Telemundo. It costs $35 per month. The MySports bundle, introduced in January, is still around, for $70 per month. It provides access to more than 25 sports-related channels and includes a subscription to ESPN+.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/directv-launches-genre-packs-a-more-affordable-way-to-get-channels-you-actually-want-163012043.html?src=rss
Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us Is Now A Drake-Slicing Beat Saber Map
Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us is now an official track in Beat Saber.
Launched today as the latest shock drop following Houdini by Eminem, Beat Saber’s latest track is Kendrick Lamar’s famous diss track released last May during his much publicized feud with Canadian rapper Drake. Following its recent appearance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show that Lamar headlined and winning five Grammys, it’s now officially available as DLC.
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Today’s shock drop follows Beat Saber dropping its largest paid DLC music pack for the popular rhythm game back in December. Featuring 17 songs from Metallica, including One and Master of Puppets, this also featured a dedicated environment with fire and lighting effects.
It’s not the only time we’ve seen Kendrick Lamar’s music in VR rhythm games recently, either. Synth Riders also celebrated the Super Bowl LIX with a Kendrick Lamar Experience, exploring the lens of Lamar’s music video for 2017 track ‘Humble.’ Though it launched as a timed Apple Vision Pro exclusive, that’s coming to other platforms “at a later date.”
Beat Saber – Not Like Us track is now available for $1.99 on Quest, Steam, and PlayStation VR2.
Study Details Why Mars Is Red And Suggests It Was Once Habitable
A recent study has claimed that Mars is red in color due to ferrihydrite, an iron oxide mineral that’s left over from liquid water. This finding suggests that the Red Planet could’ve had a cold and wet, but habitable past. The ferrihydrite study was done in controlled lab environments recreated using Mars orbital and ground-level data from
What we know about Waymo’s 2025 expansion plans
Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous driving subsidiary, has been rapidly expanding its self-driving robotaxi across various US cities, introducing both testing phases and public ride-hailing operations. Despite these expansion plans, many people remain hesitant to embrace autonomous technology. A Pew Research Center study from 2022 found that 45 percent of Americans would not feel comfortable sharing the road with driverless vehicles.
Much of this skepticism comes from the coverage of autonomous driving incidents in the media. Crashes are rare, so when they do happen, they make headlines and fuel the idea that these cars are untrustworthy. The hype around a few high-profile crashes can easily drown out the bigger picture.
The data tells a different story, though. In collaboration with Swiss insurance company Swiss Re, Waymo conducted a study analyzing 25.3 million miles driven by its autonomous vehicles. The findings revealed an 88 percent reduction in property damage claims and a 92 percent reduction in bodily injury claims compared to human-driven vehicles for the same distance traveled.
Acting Legend Gene Hackman, Superman‘s Gleeful Foil, Has Died
Hackman, who’s career spanned generations of classics from The French Connection to The Royal Tenenbaums, was 95.
Sony’s PlayStation VR2 Is Getting A Much-Need Price Cut And It’s A Big One
Psst, you. Yeah, you, the one with a PlayStation VR2 in your shopping cart. You don’t want to complete your order. Trust us on this one, because if you do proceed, you’ll just regret it in a couple of days. Not because the PS VR2 is a bad product by any stretch—it’s not—but because it’s about to become significantly cheaper in the coming days.
How
Mobile World Congress 2025: What to expect from Nothing, Samsung, Xiaomi and more
On March 3, Mobile World Congress will kick off in Barcelona, Spain. While it’s not the premier show it once was, many noteworthy smartphone makers around the world still attend the conference and frequently launch new devices there. Typically, we hear from companies like Lenovo, Arm, Xiaomi, Dell and more at the conference, as well as standards organizations like the GSMA on developments in areas like 5G or SIM technology. Occasionally, bigger players like Samsung and LG join the fray, too, and who can forget the year the Nokia 3310 brought nostalgic joy to MWC.
Judging by the event agenda on the MWC website, we will be seeing at least some kind of presence from Meta about WhatsApp, though it’s unlikely the company announces anything major at that event. Below, you’ll find a list of the more notable devices we expect to be launched at MWC 2025.
Nothing Phone 3a series
At MWC 2022, Nothing’s Carl Pei showed off a prototype of what would become the company’s first handset, the Nothing Phone 1, behind closed doors, and at last year’s event, Nothing announced the Phone 2(a). This year, we’re definitely getting at least one new device from the company at MWC, with Nothing teasing the reveal of the 3a series for March 4, the second day of the show.
Since Engadget first published this article, Nothing has gone on to reveal the design of one of the phones it plans to announce next week, the 3a Pro. On Monday, the company posted a nearly 11-minute long video showcasing the design of the upcoming device. Notably, the phone features a prominent camera bump to accommodate a periscope telephoto lens. That’s not something we see on many phones in the 3a price range, so it will be interesting to see how it performs.
Phone (3a) Series. Power in perspective.
4 March 10 AM GMT. pic.twitter.com/auesJycJQy
— Nothing (@nothing) January 30, 2025
Xiaomi 15 Ultra
Xiaomi
In 2024, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra made its global debut ahead of MWC, and it’s looking like history will repeat. Before the start of this month, there was some evidence to suggest Xiaomi would launch its new flagship at MWC 2025, but more recent rumors suggest the company plans to announce the 15 Ultra on February 26. In any case, Xiaomi is listed as an exhibitor at MWC 2025, so if the phone does debut before the end of this month, there’s a good chance it will be on the show floor for people to try out. Like the 14 Ultra before it, it looks like the 15 Ultra will be a photography powerhouse, with the phone rumored to feature a 1-inch main sensor and 200-megapixel periscope telephoto lens.
HMD Global
Since 2017, HMD Global has been a mainstay at MWC. First, with its Nokia-branded phones, including retro throwbacks like the 8110 Reloaded, and now more recently with devices carrying its own name. Given that history, it seems a safe bet the company will have something to announce at the show. What that could be is more of a mystery, though it’s possible the sub-$100 HMD Key could get a global release.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge
Samsung
After Samsung teased the Galaxy S25 Edge at Unpacked last month, you might think it would be fitting for the company to launch the phone in Barcelona next month. After all, MWC was the venue where, up until the Galaxy S10 in 2019, Samsung announced every S series phone beginning with the S2 back in 2011, and the company’s presence at MWC was the highlight of the event. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem Samsung is feeling nostalgic for and the sunny boulevards of Barcelona, with little in the way of rumors suggesting we could see the S25 Edge at MWC 2025. Still, never discount the chance Samsung may have a surprise up its sleeve.
Redmagic
Chinese manufacturer Redmagic is not only attending MWC 2025 but the company has already provided a preview of what it plans to show off at the event. Expect two new versions of its 10 Pro phone, including a limited edition “Golden Saga” variant.
Everything else
As Engadget’s resident AI reporter, I’m obligated to mention a lot of companies will probably have AI-related announcements to share at MWC 2025. Don’t expect anything from the big players like OpenAI — the company isn’t registered as an exhibitor — but with artificial intelligence being the trendy thing in the industry right now, everyone will be trying to cash in on the hype; in fact, “AI+” is one of the main themes of MWC 2025.
There may also be other technologies that get shown off at MWC 2025. For example, Nokia announced on February 25 that it’s teaming up with Vodafone and RingCentral to “showcase [the] future of voice calls” at the event. It’s called “immersive voice and audio services (IVAS)” and the company is saying it’s “the most significant advancement in voice-call audio technology in decades.” The press release said that IVAS would “allows people to hear sound spatially in real-time, making conversations and interaction natural, and lifelike.” We’ll have to wait till the demos to know for sure what that means.
Update, February 21 2025, 1:45PM ET: This story has been updated to add more context in the intro, calling out a few more companies that typically present at MWC, as well as some additional info pulled from the MWC agenda page.
Update, February 25 2025, 12:45PM ET: This story has been updated to add more context about Nothing’s MWC plans and to add mention of Redmagic.
Update, February 27 2025, 11:05AM ET: This story has been updated to add more context in the intro about companies that have appeared at MWC in years past, as well as mention Nokia’s announcement of IVAS.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/mobile-world-congress-2025-what-to-expect-from-nothing-samsung-xiaomi-and-more-140057415.html?src=rss
Trump’s AI Gaza Video Is the Tip of a Horrifying ‘Gaz-A-Lago’ Iceberg
Trump’s comments about turning Gaza into a resort have inspired hellish AI videos and memecoins.
For Under $100, Expand Your Nintendo Switch Storage by 30X With This 1TB SanDisk Card
Save 26% on the officially-licensed SanDisk 1TB microSDXC card branded with the Pokémon Snorelax’s happy face.
Violinist Performs Duet With Clothes Dryer’s Finished Chime
This is a short clip of talented violinist Allie Miller performing a lovely duet with her dryer’s finished chime. Hey, my dryer makes the same chime! Must be a Samsung. Would I buy the same washer and dryer again? Probably not, but if they were to say, fall off the back of a truck… still no, they’re not my favorite and I can’t get the stink out of the washer no matter how many times I clean it. Now, Samsung — hit me up and we can make this post about LG.
Study: Hot Vesuvian ash cloud really did turn a brain to glass
For several years now, we’ve been following a tantalizing story indicating that the high heat of the ash cloud generated when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD was sufficiently hot to turn one of the victim’s brains into glass. It remains a matter of debate in the archeological community, but a fresh analysis of the physical properties of the glass-like material found in the remains lends more evidence to the hypothesis, as detailed in a new paper published in the journal Scientific Reports.
As previously reported, the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius released thermal energy roughly equivalent to 100,000 times the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II, spewing molten rock, pumice, and hot ash over the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in particular. The vast majority of the victims died of asphyxiation, choking to death on the thick clouds of noxious gas and ash.
But a 2001 study in Nature, co-authored by Petrone, estimated a temperature of 500° Celsius (932° Fahrenheit) for the pyroclastic surge that destroyed Pompeii, sufficient to kill inhabitants in fractions of a second. Back in 2018, we reported on Petrone’s conclusion that inhabitants of Herculaneum may have suffered a similar fate. There was fracturing in the bones and “cracking and explosion” of the skullcaps, consistent with forensic cases where skulls burst from extreme heat.
GORN 2 Brings The Slapstick Brawler Back To VR This Year
GORN 2 is an official sequel to Devolver Digital’s hit, promising a new physics-driven slapstick brawler this year on most major VR platforms.
Created by Cortopia Studios (Escaping Wonderland) in collaboration with the original developer, Free Lives, GORN 2 sees you taking the fight to five heavenly realms filled with familiar fallen fighters. Featuring 35 “devastating” but unique weapons, you’re tasked with battling the five sons of the God of the Afterlife across these blood splattered arenas. Here’s the announcement trailer.
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“In GORN 2 you will ascend to a heavenly realm where the souls of all the gladiators you slaughtered in the first game now dwell—and kill them again,” states Devolver Digital in a press release. The sequel aims to deliver “everything GORN was but more” and alongside the new weapons, this includes additional enemies, traps, power-ups and more.
After conquering all five heavenly arenas, you can then take on a survival-themed non-stop ‘Endless Mode.’ The publisher also confirmed that GORN 2 will let you create your own battlefields in ‘Custom Mode,’ though whether you can share these creations online with other players is currently unknown.
Screenshots provided by Devolver Digital
The original GORN has a long history that goes back to modern VR’s early days. Initially launched in early access back in 2016 on PC VR, it eventually entered full release three years later before gradually making its way to PSVR, Quest, and more recently PlayStation VR2.
We praised the original game in our 2019 GORN review. Though we found it slightly lacking in content, we considered the brutally over-the-top gladiator simulator to be “obscenely entertaining.”
Gorn is the product of two years of tireless Early Access development. What started out as a laughable bit of nonsense has gradually evolved into, well, a much more polished and expansive bit of nonsense. It’s a toybox filled with razor-sharp playthings and endless action figures to use them on, upheld by a combat system that bends reality to eschew awkwardness.
GORN 2 will arrive “later this year” on the Meta Quest platform, Steam, and PlayStation VR2.
Gorn Review: A Sublimely Silly Bit Of VR Violence
Check out our full and final Gorn review right here! You can judge Gorn on the endless trail of destruction it’s already caused. This impossibly bloody gladiator simulator has claimed scores of lights, screens, controllers and probably a finger or two. I’ve suffered a few days of painfully
Jamie Feltham
This Subscription-Free Security Camera Is $20 Right Now
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
The TP-Link Tapo C402 is $19.99 on Woot for the next two days or until it sells out. If you’re a Prime member, you get free shipping; otherwise, it’ll cost you an extra $6.
This camera is IP65-rated, meaning it can handle rain and dust, and has a bullet-style design that makes it easy to mount. You get a 90-day Woot Limited Warranty, which isn’t long, but at this price, it’s hard to complain. It records in 1080p with a 125-degree field of view, offering sharp, color-rich daytime footage. At night, it switches between full-color video (though the colors reportedly appear a bit washed out) using built-in spotlights and black-and-white infrared video, depending on lighting conditions.
For storage, the C402 supports microSD cards up to 512GB, but you’ll need to buy one separately if you want local storage. If you’d rather store footage online, TP-Link offers a Premium Tapo Care ($3.49 monthly or $34.99 annually) plan, which includes 30 days of video history, smart sorting for recorded clips, and rich notifications. Even if you skip the subscription, you still get free intelligent alerts for people, pets, and vehicles, privacy zone controls, two-way audio, and live view through the app, notes this PCMag review. Additional controls in the app include adjusting the spotlight brightness, formatting a microSD card, manually recording a video, and enabling or disabling the built-in 94dB siren, among others.
The C402 connects via 2.4GHz wifi and works with Alexa, Google Assistant, and IFTTT applets to integrate with other compatible smart home devices. It does not support Apple HomeKit. A 6,400mAh rechargeable battery powers the unit, which TP-Link claims can last up to 180 days per charge—though, in reality, that depends on usage. For those wanting a more hands-off power solution, the TP-Link Tapo SolarCam C402 Kit is available for $44.99 (down from $50.98), allowing the camera to run indefinitely on solar energy for a more set-it-and-forget-it experience.
Japan Births Fall To Lowest in 125 Years
The number of babies born in Japan last year fell to the lowest level since records began 125 years ago as the country’s demographic crisis deepens and government efforts to reverse the decline continue to fail. Financial Times [non-paywalled source]: Japan recorded 720,988 births in 2024, according to preliminary government figures published on Thursday. The number has declined for nine straight years and appears to be largely unaffected by financial and other government incentives for married couples to produce more children.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Razer’s New Minecraft Gaming Gear Is Creepin’ It Real For Hardcore Fans
Minecraft has been a legendary franchise that has won the hearts of gamers of all ages. Together with this popularity, comes a new collaboration for fans who crave anything related to Minecraft. As such, Razer has launched its Minecraft Collection, which is a robust set of peripherals that are themed with Minecraft and its iconic Creeper character.
The