Last week, a Jeep driver turned to Reddit to do what people do best on the site—complain. Every time they hit the brakes on their Jeep, they wrote, a promotion for an extended warranty plan popped up in the center console. “Press the ‘call’ button to speak to a specialist,” they say the ad encouraged, welcoming the user to use their Bluetooth connection to complete the upsell then and there.
Ads are annoying and occasionally insidious; an ad that repeatedly appears inside one’s own car more so. According to other online posts on Reddit and Jeep forums, the issue goes back several years, affecting several models of Jeeps.
Stellantis, which owns Jeep, says the repetitive nature of the promotion was a glitch. “This is an isolated incident affecting fewer than ten vehicles at this time limited to the US,” Dan Reid, a spokesperson for the automaker, wrote in a statement. He acknowledged, though, that Stellantis shows other drivers in-vehicle promotions, too. Dodge owners, for example, get an infotainment push after 60 days of purchase offering the Dodge Complete Performance Package, a comprehensive warranty offering. Stellantis says that, on average, customers receive about two in-vehicle messages annually, containing safety, maintenance, or marketing information.
The
Faster CPython project has been working to speed up the Python interpreter
for the past several years. Now, Ken Jin, a member of the project, has merged a
new set of changes that
have been
benchmarked as improving performance by 10% for some architectures.
The only change is switching from using computed goto statements to using
tail calls as part of the implementation of Python’s bytecode interpreter — but that change allows
modern compilers to generate significantly better code.
Venture capitalist Ben Horowitz has previously given Vegas police some high-tech gifts.
The Asus TUF A16 gaming laptop with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 is at its lowest price for a limited time.
Plus, Jennifer Love Hewitt shares a tiny tease from behind the scenes on I Know What You Did Last Summer.
With VIVERSE Worlds, HTC aims to make immersive 3D content accessible to everyone, regardless of the VR platform.
The post HTC launches 3D content platform VIVERSE Worlds appeared first on MIXED Reality News.
If you’ve been waiting in earnest for interest rates to drop, I have some bad news: The Federal Reserve has effectively put rate cuts on hold until President Donald Trump and Congress establish a clear policy direction that won’t make inflation even worse. According to the Federal Reserve’s January meeting minutes, released this week, this cautious stance is a result of the Fed simply not knowing how the “economic effects of potential government policies” might play out.
While the federal funds rate is designed to set what banks charge each other, it trickles down to everything from mortgages to student loans. If you’re planning on applying for a credit card, a home, or a car loan any time soon, here’s how the Fed’s waiting game will impact you.
Assuming there isn’t a sudden spike in the unemployment rate, Fed officials said they would “want to see further progress on inflation before making additional adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate.” In the meantime, inflation has proved to be more resilient than hoped, with the numbers from January coming in hotter than expected.
While no rate movement in either direction is the most likely outcome for the time being, there’s a chance that if inflation worsens again, the Fed’s next move would be not a rate cute, but a rate hike.
Market expectations for interest rate cuts have already declined significantly. The latest CNBC Fed Survey showed 65% of respondents predict two rate cuts in 2025, down from 78% in the prior survey. And if the Fed does cut rates this year, the first cut may not come until June or July, according to the CME FedWatch tool. In other words, the Fed has adopted a “wait and see” approach—it is unwilling to lower rates amid uncertainty about the new administration’s economic policies.
The biggest contributor to said economic uncertainty is President Trump’s stated plans for tariffs on imports. While earlier announced tariffs on Canada and Mexico are on hold (at least for now), China is facing new 10% tariffs, and additional tariffs on those and other countries aren’t out of the realm of possibility.
The Peterson Institute estimates that tariffs on just China, Mexico, and Canada could cost the average American family approximately $1,200 annually—and this estimate doesn’t account for Trump’s broader reciprocal tariff plans. This is because when tariffs drive up the cost of a product being imported, those costs get passed on to the customer.
Large purchases like automobiles, appliances, and electronics are likely to see some of the most noticeable price increases, according to Johnston. These items often rely heavily on global supply chains and imported components. Even products assembled in the United States frequently depend on imported parts, meaning tariffs could affect prices even for “American-made” goods.
If you were hopeful interest rates might drop in the next few months, don’t hold your breath. We’ve been battling persistent inflation for years now, and with inflationary pressures from tariffs on the horizon, the Fed appears committed to maintaining higher rates until there’s compelling evidence that inflation is firmly under control.
But hey, while higher interest rates raise costs for borrowers, they can also mean higher yields for savers—so here’s how you can take advantage of that.
Two Point Museum—out March 4 on PC and consoles—is the latest game in the Two Point series of wacky British business simulators. This time around, instead of running a hospital or building a profitable college, you are tasked with building and maintaining a successful museum. Doing so is tricky, but in a perfectly…
The near absence of public outcry from British consumers points to what researchers call the “privacy paradox,” where stated concerns about data security rarely translate to action. According to cited research, while 92% of American consumers believe they should control their online information, only 16% have stopped using services over data misuse. The quiet reception suggests Apple’s principled stand against backdoors may have limited impact if customers don’t understand or value encrypted protection, potentially undermining privacy’s effectiveness as a marketing differentiator for the tech giant.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
HTC today launched VIVERSE Worlds, a 3D content platform that can be embedded on “any website for any device,” positioning it as a lighter, more flexible way of hosting and browsing 3D content across the web.
Unlike HTC’s existing Viverse metaverse platform—or Meta’s Horizon Worlds, for that matter—the key differentiator is Viverse Worlds focuses on 3D content distribution. Instead of requiring any sort of app download, the platform offers up a web-based interface for quick and easy 3D content browsing, supporting XR headsets and flatscreen devices alike.
The company isn’t aiming low either, likening Viverse Worlds to what “YouTube did for video,” but for 3D content, further noting it’s an “open, accessible, and immersive online home for creators to build, share, and explore the next generation of 3D experiences.”
And Viverse Worlds hopes to differentiate by offering fairly high quality content too, thanks to the inclusion of HTC’s Polygon Streaming tech, which allows the streaming of “complex, high-poly models across various platforms and devices with unparalleled efficiency,” the company said back at the tech’s 2024 unveiling. While web-based content excels at quick deployment, rendering constraints typically make for simplistic, low-poly visuals.
Initially targeted exclusively at Viverse for Business, but now at the core of Viverse Worlds, Polygon Streaming only streams and renders the 3D elements currently visible to users at the currently needed density, HTC says, making it possible to deliver higher quality 3D content without the need of bespoke executables.
And like HTC as a whole, which has firmly embedded itself in the enterprise and prosumer XR space over the past few years, Viverse Worlds appears to be appealing to both companies who want things like immersive shopping experiences, 3D manuals, and virtual product showrooms—and consumers looking to browse and share the platform’s array of XR environments.
“Users can subscribe to creators for updates and see all their 3D content in one place. Embedding 3D is effortless—simply copy and paste it into any website as an IFrame, all for free,” HTC says.
To boot, Viverse Worlds also closely integrates with Sketchfab, the marketplace and hosting platform for millions of 3D models. That, and Viverse Worlds supports content created using Viverse Create’s no-code web builder and its browser-based PlayCanvas extension.
While HTC’s Polygon Streaming and easy embedding could give Viverse Worlds an edge, it’s not an easy space to compete in. Similar platforms, like FrameVR, Matterport, and Spatial.io, focus on niches instead of broadly shooting for “YouTube” levels of adoption, simply based on how difficult it is to monetize. Notably, one of the biggest analogues, Mozilla’s now-defunct WebXR-based Hubs platform, summarily shut down in 2024 following financial issues.
That said, HTC ultimately hasn’t tipped its hand on its overarching monetization strategy. The company will be hosting public demos of Viverse Worlds at Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, Spain on March 3rd – 6th, so we’re hoping to learn more then.
What is clear though is HTC isn’t the company it once was. Last month, Google announced it had acquired a number of HTC’s XR engineers for $250 million, something Google said would “accelerate the development of the Android XR platform across the headsets and glasses ecosystem.” Where that leaves HTC is still a mystery.
The post HTC Launches Browser-based 3D & VR Platform ‘VIVERSE Worlds’, Aims to Be ‘YouTube of 3D Content’ appeared first on Road to VR.
Apple has claimed that the bug is the result of “phonetic overlap.”
Valve’s rumored standalone XR headset, codenamed ‘Deckard’, is practically the stuff of legend at this point, with speculation brewing since data miners first discovered mention of the alleged device in January 2021. Now, leaker and data miner ‘Gabe Follower’ maintains Deckard is coming by the end of 2025, priced at $1,200.
Gabe Follower, who also runs a YouTube channel, reports in an X post that “[s]everal people have confirmed that Valve is aiming to release new standalone, wireless VR headset (codename Deckard) by the end of 2025. The current price for the full bundle is set to be $1200,” they say in the X post.
Gabe Follower also maintains Valve is also set to ship games or demos “that are already done” specifically for Deckard.
Notably, that $1,200 price point “will be sold at a loss,” Gabe Follower maintains, who posits Deckard will use the same SteamOS as seen in Steam Deck, Valve’s handheld, albeit adapted for VR.
“One of the core features is the ability to play flat-screen game[s] that are already playable on Steam Deck, but in VR on a big screen without a PC,” Gabe Follower claims, further noting behind-closed-door presentations could start soon.
While all leaks should be taken with a grain of salt, Gabe Follower has accurately leaked a number of Valve-specific projects in the past, including leaks on Counter-Strike, Half-Life, and Valve’s upcoming PC shooter MOBA, Deadlock.
Even if the leak was more of a shot in the dark than insider info as such, it’s clear Valve is preparing something related to XR. In November 2024, leaked 3D models hidden in a SteamVR update appeared to show off a new VR motion controller, codenamed ‘Roy’.
Departing from standard VR motion controller layouts, Roy appears to offer more of traditional gamepad-style button layout, which would make flatscreen gameplay (in a virtual environment) a 1:1 input experience with Steam Deck.
Successive rumors maintain Deckard may include PC VR wireless streaming capabilities, eye-tracking, as well as passthrough AR features, potentially putting it in competition with Meta Quest and/or Apple Vision Pro.
The post Valve’s Standalone XR Headset ‘Deckard’ Reportedly Launching This Year at $1,200, Leaker Claims appeared first on Road to VR.
Those looking to turn their iPad into a note-taking or doodling machine need look no further than the Apple Pencil Pro. The iPhone maker’s flagship stylus works with the newest iPads and is on sale for close to a record-low price at the moment. Amazon has it for just $99, or $30 off its regular price.
The Apple Pencil Pro is the company’s latest and greatest stylus. It allows for a number of squeeze-based gestures that can be adjusted via a drop-down menu during use. It also includes a gyroscope to detect when the stylus is rolled, which makes it easier to change the orientation of shaped pen and brush tools. Of course, it supports pressure sensitivity.
There’s even a haptic engine to deliver vibration-based feedback when the pen is being used. And, maybe most conveniently, it works with Apple’s Find My network. After all, stylus pens are small and easy to lose. All of this new tech has been squeezed into a package that’s actually lighter than the second-gen Apple Pencil.
The primary downside here is the price, which has been mostly alleviated by this sale. Before making a purchase, double-check to ensure that your iPad supports the Pencil Pro. It’s only compatible with some of the company’s latest tablets, including the 11- and 13-inch iPad Air (M2), and the 11- and 13-inch iPad Pro (M4). It also works with the newest iPad Mini.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-apple-pencil-pro-drops-to-99-at-amazon-162456343.html?src=rss
Alibaba is giving people free access to its generative artificial intelligence models that can produce highly realistic videos and images from both text and image input. The company has announced that four variants of its Wan 2.1 series, the latest version of its generative AI technology, are now open source and can be downloaded and modified by users. Researchers, academics and commercial entities can all get them from Alibaba Cloud’s ModelScope and Hugging Face platforms, both of which give people access to open-source AI models. As Reuters said, the models Alibaba has open sourced are called T2V-1.3B, T2V-14B, I2V-14B-720P and I2V-14B-480P, with the 14B indicating that the model can accept 14 billion parameters.
Last month, Chinese company DeepSeek made its R1 reasoning model free to download and use, creating a clamor for more open-source AI technologies. DeepSeek even expanded its commitment to the open-source community and is in the process of releasing five code repositories behind its service.
Alibaba was one of the companies that joined the fray to develop generative AI tech following the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT two years ago. Just recently, Alibaba Group’s Chairman, Joe Tsai, said that the company’s generative AI technology will power artificial intelligence features for iPhones meant for sale in the Chinese market. Apple couldn’t use the same AI tech for phones released in China due to strict regulations surrounding AI products, so it has to look for local partners, Alibaba being one of them.
🌟 Big News from @alibaba_cloud! 🌟
Meet WanX – our next-gen AI model redefining video generation !🚀 Presenting mind-blowing demos from WanX 2.1！
🔥 Even more exciting:
WanX 2.1 will be OPEN-SOURCE !
Coming soon …#AIart #OpenSource pic.twitter.com/R1laOyJYAL— Wan (@Alibaba_Wan) February 20, 2025
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/alibaba-offers-free-access-to-its-ai-model-that-can-generate-realistic-video-and-images-133045633.html?src=rss
The Anker 737 is a 24,000 mAh beast that’s the size of a soda can and ready to charge your laptop, smartphone, and earbuds at the same time.