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Monthly Archives: September 2025
EU tells Apple it has “no intention” of repealing the Digital Markets Act
The European Union has summarily rejected calls from Apple to repeal and replace its Digital Markets Act (DMA), the law that governs much about how giant tech companies must operate within the 27-nation bloc. As first reported by France 24, EU digital affairs spokesperson Thomas Regnier responded to Apple’s open letter regarding the DMA’s effect on users in the EU.
“Apple has simply contested every little bit of the DMA since its entry into application,” said Regnier. He added that the Commission had “absolutely no intention” of dismantling the DMA. The landmark legislation was passed in 2022 in an effort to rein in the ever-growing reach and power of big tech and to level the playing field for smaller would-be competitors.
Since then, Apple has found itself in hot water in the EU over its App Store rules, cross-device interoperability and its browser options. Earlier this year, the Commission fined Apple approximately $570 million for anti-competitive activities, which the company is appealing.
This summer, the Commission opened a period of public consultation for the DMA with a deadline for submission of September 24. Apple submitted an official response, while also taking the time to publicly decry the DMA through a blog post.
In the post, Apple says “it’s become clear that the DMA is leading to a worse experience for Apple users in the EU.” The company says it is “urging regulators to take a closer look at how the law is affecting the EU citizens who use Apple products every day,” alleging that the implementation of these laws is opening users to higher risks of scams, exposure to harmful apps and weakened security surrounding user data.
The back-and-forth over the DMA and the hefty fines being levied against big tech companies has become part of the political discourse amid trade negotiations between the US and the EU. President Donald Trump expressed his ire at American companies facing such heavy fines, and The Wall Street Journal alleged that the EU was using these fines in part as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/eu-tells-apple-it-has-no-intention-of-repealing-the-digital-markets-act-175950691.html?src=rss
Amazon blamed AI for layoffs, then hired cheap H1-B workers, senators allege
Senators are demanding answers from Big Tech companies accused of “filing thousands of H-1B skilled labor visa petitions after conducting mass layoffs of American employees.”
In letters sent to Amazon, Meta, Apple, Google, and Microsoft—among some of the largest sponsors of H-1B visas—Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) requested “information and data from each company regarding their recruitment and hiring practices, as well as any variation in salary and benefits between H-1B visa holders and American employees.”
The letters came shortly after Grassley sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem requesting that DHS stop “issuing work authorizations to student visa holders.” According to Grassley, “foreign student work authorizations put America at risk of technological and corporate espionage,” in addition to allegedly “contributing to rising unemployment rates among college-educated Americans.”
Viral Anime GTA Clone Is Ditching Gacha But Not Being Shy About Ripping Off Spider-Man
Ananta is an open-world RPG vortex of every cool game in the past 10 years
The post Viral Anime <i>GTA</i> Clone Is Ditching Gacha But Not Being Shy About Ripping Off Spider-Man appeared first on Kotaku.
PostgreSQL 18.0 Released With Async I/O, Performance Improvements
PostgreSQL 18.0 is out today as the annual major feature release for this widely-used SQL database server. PostgreSQL 18 is a big one with many exciting performance optimizations and other new features…
Voyager Linux 13.1 Debian – A French Take on Classic Debian
Voyager 13.1 Debian wraps robust stability in unexpected elegance — here we explore how a little French savoir-faire takes Linux somewhere new.
The post Voyager Linux 13.1 Debian – A French Take on Classic Debian appeared first on FOSS Force.
Dell’s First Earbuds Mean Business With AI-Powered ANC & Teams Open Office Certification
Dell has a small (but growing) line of audio devices tailored for professionals, which has previously been relegated to speakerphones, headsets, and soundbars. Today, however, Dell added its first ever earbuds to its portfolio, the Dell Pro Plus Earbuds, which sport adaptive ANC, mics with AI-powered noise filtering, and Microsoft Teams Open
Silent Hill F, As Told By Steam Reviews
Not everyone loves the changes this new survival horror sequel makes, but plenty of fans still found it scary and great
The post <i>Silent Hill F</i>, As Told By Steam Reviews appeared first on Kotaku.
LEGO Is Handing Out Early Presents for Star Wars Fans, This 2025 Advent Calendar Goes for Peanuts
The 2025 LEGO Star Wars advent calendar is seeing its first sale since its release over at Amazon.
The post LEGO Is Handing Out Early Presents for Star Wars Fans, This 2025 Advent Calendar Goes for Peanuts appeared first on Kotaku.
AI Isn’t Replacing Radiologists
Despite AI models outperforming radiologists on benchmark tests since 2017, demand for human radiologists has reached record highs. American diagnostic radiology residency programs offered 1,208 positions this year, up 4% from 2024, while average salaries hit $520,000 — 48% higher than 2015. Over 700 FDA-cleared radiology AI models exist, yet only 48% of radiologists use AI at all. Models trained on standardized datasets lose up to 20% points accuracy when deployed in different hospitals. Radiologists spend just 36% of their time interpreting images, with the majority devoted to patient communication, teaching, and administrative tasks that current AI cannot perform.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Prime Day deals include this Shark AI Ultra robot vacuum for 58 percent off
Ahead of the Amazon Big Deal Days event (aka Prime Day in October), a tasty deal on a Shark robot vacuum has popped up. You’ll need to be a Prime member to take advantage of the offer on the Shark AV2501S AI Ultra robot vacuum, but if you are, you can get the device for over half off. The discount drops the price from $550 to $230.
That means you can snap up the robot vacuum for $320 below list price. The discount marks a record low for this model.
Shark offers several variations of its AI Ultra robot vacuums. There are small variations between them, and a different model is our pick for the best robot vacuum for most people. In general, you can expect solid cleaning performance from these devices, along with accurate home mapping and an easy-to-use app.
The model that’s on sale here is said to run for up to 120 minutes on a single charge, which should be enough to clean an entire floor in a typical home. The self-emptying, bagless vacuum can store up to 30 days worth of dirt and debris in its base. Shark says it can capture 99.97 percent of dust and allergens with the help of HEPA filtration.
If you’d rather plump for a model that’s able to mop your floors too, you’re in luck: a Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 vacuum is on sale as well. At $300 for Prime members, this vacuum is available for $400 (or 57 percent) off the list price. Its mopping function can scrub hard floors 100 times per minute. You can also trigger the Matrix Mop function in the app for a deeper clean. This delivers 50 percent better stain cleaning in targeted zones, according to Shark.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/prime-day-deals-include-this-shark-ai-ultra-robot-vacuum-for-58-percent-off-171836638.html?src=rss
Microsoft Will No Longer Allow Israel To Use Its Tech For Mass Surveillance In Palestine
The Xbox company has disabled the Israeli government’s use of its cloud storage and AI services
The post Microsoft Will No Longer Allow Israel To Use Its Tech For Mass Surveillance In Palestine appeared first on Kotaku.
Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its data centers for mass surveillance of Palestinians
Microsoft has ended access to its data centers for a unit of the Israeli military that helped power a massive surveillance operation against Palestinian civilians, according to a report by The Guardian. The company says that the country’s spy agency has violated its terms of service.
This surveillance system collected millions of phone calls made by Palestinian civilians every day in Gaza and the West Bank. The massive trove of data has been stored via Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, but the company just informed Israel’s spy agency that this practice will no longer be acceptable.
Microsoft’s vice-chair and president, Brad Smith, alerted staff of the move in an email, writing that the company had “ceased and disabled a set of services to a unit within the Israel ministry of defense.” He went to suggest that this included cutting off access to cloud storage and some AI services.
“We do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians,” he continued. “We have applied this principle in every country around the world, and we have insisted on it repeatedly for more than two decades.”
Microsoft came to this decision after conducting an external inquiry to review the spy agency’s use of its Azure cloud platform. It also comes amid pressure from both employees and investors for the company to examine its relationship with Israel as it relates to the military offensive in Gaza.
This reportedly started back in 2021, when Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella allegedly okayed the storage effort personally after meeting with a commander from Israel’s elite military surveillance corps, Unit 8200. Nadella reportedly gave the country a customized and segregated area within the Azure platform to store these phone calls, all without knowledge or consent from Palestinians.
While conflict has existed between Israel and Palestinian groups for decades, these platforms were built out a full two years before the the most recent escalation in violence, beginning October 7, 2023. The mantra when building out the project was to record “a million calls an hour.”
Leaked Microsoft files suggested that the lion’s share of this data was being stored in Azure facilities in the Netherlands, but Israel allegedly moved it after Microsoft started its initial investigation. The Guardian has reported that Unit 8200 planned on transferring the data to the Amazon Web Services cloud platform. We have contacted Amazon to ask if it has accepted this gigantic trove of personal data.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/microsoft-blocks-israels-use-of-its-data-centers-for-mass-surveillance-of-palestinians-170107061.html?src=rss
Titan Isles Review: Colossal Fun In Co-Op
Titan Isles is an absolute blast in both co-op and solo play, offering a strong VR action adventure worth exploring. Here’s our full review.
You can quickly see the shared DNA between Titan Isles and its immediate predecessor, Windlands 2. Nearly seven years since Psytec Games launched its older hit, this action adventure takes us to the ruined world of Toska where you fend off colossal robots. Some intense motion means it’s not especially newcomer-friendly, but I’m greatly enjoying clearing through these ancient robots with friends.
The Facts
What is it?: An action adventure where you take down massive robots in solo play or through four-player co-op with cross-platform multiplayer.
Platforms: Quest, PC VR, PS VR2 (Reviewed on Quest 3)
Release Date: Out Now (Quest, Steam), 2026 (PS VR2)
Developer/Publisher: Psytec Games
Price: $29.99
Underpinning your efforts is a narrative-driven campaign, joining a small group of survivors as you uncover why these mysterious giant Titans have suddenly awakened. If you’re after a more cinematic adventure with a strong story, what’s here is functional yet bare. A helpful opening tutorial gives you the key details, but you can mostly ignore the ongoing story afterward and jump straight to the action.
Still, Titan Isles balances what is here well by offering just enough worldbuilding depth to hold my interest across this lighthearted tale, complemented further by decent voice acting. Some repeat voice lines when walking past characters in your hub, Cloud’s Edge, can get a little annoying. Normally though, you won’t be hanging around there for too long.
Instead of relying on one specific character type, Titan Isles splits your options between four well-designed Exo Suits selected in Cloud’s Edge before a mission. Each comes with a great range of unique weapons and a secondary traversal method – everyone still moves around primarily by artificial stick-based locomotion – that makes it worth swapping between them regularly.
My personal favorite is Storm, which benefits considerably from more agile gameplay and ranged attacks. This Exo Suit gives you wrist thrusters for quick evasive maneuvers, plenty of fuel for your jetpack, and a rifle that conveniently comes together when holding your motion controllers like you’re handling such a weapon. Offering long-range support for teammates while picking off distant robots, something that’s surprisingly easy to do even when moving at high speed, feels highly satisfying.
Other Exo Suits offer strong variety for different playstyles. Any Windlands fans will feel at home with Hunter’s grappling hooks alongside a bow and arrow. Goliath is less mobile but provides heavy-duty support with its cannon and a summonable shield, the latter proving particularly useful against the second boss. Otherwise, Blink gives you a useful triple jump, a viper bolt weapon picked up from your chest, and phase dashing that lets you defensively jump through enemy fire or lasers.
You can’t mix and match abilities between Exo Suits, though I’m pleased Psytec hasn’t limited this to one Exo Suit type per person in co-op parties. Should you wish, everyone can play as a single Exo Suit. Completing missions earns skill points for unlocking upgrades like enhanced weapons, creating a good incentive to try higher difficulties as clearing those awards more points. Though it’s a minor issue, I’d like an option to refund skills and reallocate those points.
Titan Isles offers several procedurally generated mission paths to pick from before starting, which also offer a good example of its VR-focused design. There are no laser pointers for selecting routes; every button pleasingly requires a physical press, while the screen displaying your choices can be grabbed by a handle and moved to better fit your height and angle. I also love the subtle touches, like Storm’s rifle having tiny lights to indicate available ammo instead of using a HUD.
Once you’re on the way, each mission is split into numerous subsections where you must kill every enemy before you can advance. Exploration isn’t your main goal, but thorough exploration is rewarded through collectible items, hidden targets you can shoot, and secret rooms. Which is nice because these levels are utterly huge and accommodate four players well, providing plenty of angles for your attack.
Exploration soon turns into light platforming as you cross these floating platforms, all while avoiding liquid hazards or bottomless pits. This can be tricky since your Exo Suit also builds up acceleration momentum, which feels particularly smooth on Quest 3. This experience remained comfortable for me even at its fastest with minimal comfort settings applied. Just don’t try going too far out, though. Invisible barriers will suddenly make themselves known and damage you.
While you’ve got a few enemy types across these missions, some more variety would be welcome, and that’s particularly true with boss fights. Every boss has some twist on “hit the orange panel, then strike the core,” but there’s enough stage variation to keep these fights engaging. One battle requires attacking a Titan’s giant robotic tentacle – two at once on harder difficulties – on a ship while avoiding incoming storm waves. Another involves zip-lining at speed to different vantage points, and so on.
These fights make you feel powerful for beating them on harder settings. When ‘Normal’ became too easy, I upped this to ‘Heroic’ and got a return ticket to Cloud’s Edge after exhausting my revivals, only to take pride in defeating them once I returned. Crucially for a co-op game, Titan Isles is great to play alone and doesn’t fall into the “it’s good with friends” crutch some multiplayer games fall into, though it’s certainly better with friends. Speaking of which, only the host’s campaign progress is saved in co-op but you’ll keep any earned skill chips.
Comfort
Titan Isles warns you at the start that this is an intense locomotion game, asking you to select comfort options before jumping in for the first time. Artificial stick-based locomotion is your primary movement option beyond smaller, secondary options in each Exo Suit, like wrist boosters for quick dodging.
Smooth and snap turning camera settings are both supported with adjustable speed and degrees respectively. Movement can be based on your head or hand direction. Comfort vignettes are also available with different strengths, you can choose your dominant hand, while weapon and tool crosshairs can be turned off. Sitting and standing modes are supported too.
While your co-op teammates will always display a full-body avatar to others, you can select four body options for your own viewing. You can choose hands only, hands and arms, upper body, or full body. Subtitles are optional and you can change the text size, background, and offset color. Player and NPC labels can also be switched off.
Visually, Titan Isles looks great with its vibrant environments. Level design becomes a little too familiar at points even across different areas, though the art style works well. Performance runs smoothly even with the large environments, additional players, and often frantic encounters. That’s all underscored by a great soundtrack ranging from serene to suitably energetic when the action kicks off. Though I’m reviewing the Quest 3 edition, the Steam version holds up well too.
There isn’t a ton of extra content across Cloud’s Edge, though there’s plenty to do after clearing the campaign. Endgame missions can be selected with a “regenerate” option available if you don’t like the choices provided, or you can choose one of six racing mini-games with online leaderboards specific to each suit. Adding a podium players can jump onto after crossing the finish line is a lovely touch.
Races are a completely optional extra that opens up in Cloud’s Edge after clearing the initial missions. However, this area’s immersion is significantly hampered because Titan Isles displays ads for other VR games. Older Psytec titles like Windlands and Crystal Rift are present alongside games from other studios like Laser Dance, Unseen Diplomacy 2, and Roboquest VR. You can’t interact with them, so you’re not about to get sent to a store page. Tonally though, it’s just very out of place in this world.
As for the actual races, these are split into three different categories. Standard races are my favorite as I try finding new shortcuts across these environments at record pace; they are also playable alone or in co-op. Others involve collecting orbs or shooting targets across the environment before heading to the finish line. I appreciate the additional variety, though I don’t feel compelled to try them again.
Titan Isles – Final Verdict
Titan Isles delivers a compelling action adventure that’s equally enjoyable in co-op and single-player. While the bosses and stage design could use more variety and the racing area’s adverts detract from the immersion, it’s the most fun I’ve personally had with a VR co-op experience since Dungeons of Eternity. With its strong combat, versatile Exo Suit system, and great presentation, it’s a strong return for Psytec Games that gets my recommendation.
UploadVR uses a 5-Star rating system for our game reviews – you can read a breakdown of each star rating in our review guidelines.
My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: The Soundcore Boom 3i Speaker
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A lot of outdoor speakers will float on water or be rated IP68 waterproof, but the only one that will also float facing up and be resistant against salt water is the Soundcore Boom 3i, making it the best portable speaker for water activities. It also has plenty of useful features that make it a great outdoor speaker. Right now, you can get it for $99.99 (originally $139.99).
I’ve been using Soundcore speakers and headphones for a while, and I’ve been impressed by their material, sound quality, and well-designed companion app, especially when taking into account their price. The Soundcore Boom 3i is no different, considering you need to spend around $180 these days to break into portable speakers with similar features.
Being corrosion-proof means you can get it to the beach without worrying that the salt will mess up the speaker. In case it does, there’s a “Buzz Clean” feature that plays low-frequency sounds to shake and clear debris out of the drivers. Floating facing up was a great addition, so the speakers won’t be underwater. It’s small enough to carry around and comes with a shoulder strap. The 50W power outage is great for its size, and can be loud enough to host a gathering of around eight people with no issues.
The app has a 9-band custom EQ so you can tweak the sound to your liking. There’s also a bass boost button along with volume, play, pause, and other useful media controls on top of the speaker. The battery will last about 16 hours, and you can listen to music while charging it.
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‘Titan Isles’ Review – A Good Bullet Hell Shooter Missing The Magic of ‘Windlands’
You’d be forgiven for thinking Titan Isles was some sort of prequel to the Windlands series. While it does have a lot in common with Psytec’s combat-flavored adventure platformer Windlands 2 (2018), Titan Isles is an entirely new game that marks a clear departure from the series’ focus on exploration by amping up combat and stripping down levels to a mostly straight ‘A to B’ pathway, making for a pretty good (if not basic) bullet hell-style shooter that dispels more of the the Windlands magic than I was hoping to part with.
Titan Isles Details:
Developer: Psytec Games
Available On: Quest, SteamVR, coming to PSVR 2 in 2026
Reviewed On: Quest 3
Release Date: September 25th, 2025
Price: $30
Gameplay
There’s a lot to like about Titan Isles: sweeping landscapes with impressive vertical drops, massive bosses that can really force you to rethink your plan of attack, and a variety of new locomotion schemes that just feel right. For some, this is the game.
There’s also a lot to dislike too: shooter mechanics seemingly lifted from flatscreen games, straight-shot level design with no real opportunity for exploration, and predictable enemy types that never seem to evolve beyond basic attack patterns. It all feels a little too predictable, and a little less intriguing than it ought to be. But, I’ve been tainted by the large-scale allure of Windlands.
Don’t get me wrong. Titan Isles does what many bullet hell-style games often do, i.e. striping down the “need” for immersive shooting mechanics while putting the lasers on full blast, as three of the four ‘Exo Suits’ focus on some type of infinite ammo weapon. Still, on the flipside, each suit type comes with its own unique traversal style, which feels as mature and (mostly) well balanced as its Windlands forerunner.
Here’s a quick look at the Exo Suits and abilities available, each of which is upgradeable back at base:
- Storm – Hand-mounted jet packs, pistols and a more powerful rifle
- Hunter – Grappling Hooks, bow and arrow
- Goliath – A lesser version of Storm’s jet pack, shield and hand canon
- Blink – Phase-dash ability, wall running, triple jumping, ‘Viper Bolt’ projectile
All of the weapons above come with floating reticles by default, making it feel like you’re essentially pointing and clicking at baddies ad infinitum. But hey, this is essentially an arcade bullet hell, which seems to be par for the course. Anyway, more on that in the Immersion section below.
Titan Isles isn’t solely a single-player game, although you can play start to finish on your own. Supporting up to four co-op players, the game automatically scales to add in more baddies to each arena, which also means more lasers and homing missiles to dodge. The clip below is slightly slowed down for full effect.
Still, having a good set of buds by your side doesn’t entirely distract from the fact that Titan Isles is basically just about clearing enemies across its long, successive arenas, which are periodically gated until you kill everything inside before meeting the end-level boss and eventually completing the mission.
Of course, if you are looking for more of a challenge, you can always turn up the difficulty level before you strap in, which makes enemies both better shots and more powerful. Still, there’s a notable lack of organic exploration, save the random collectibles you may (or may not) ever really care about.
That said, a definite highlight for me was the game’s level bosses, which even on normal mode can be challenging if you haven’t upgraded your kit wisely, or haven’t figured out which Exo Suit is the best for you.
Bosses are massive, and well varied, putting together all of your locomotion and shooting skills at once. They just so happen to require virtually the same tactics as the arena-based boss battles in Windlands 2, i.e. break frangible armor points and avoid successively intense attacks as a single remaining armor point becomes with most challenging to shoot. It’s a simple formula, but one that interplays with the arena design to good effect.
And please, don’t ask me about the story behind Titan Isles—something, something, something, evil robots—which the game’s end boss really takes to an extreme by tossing every minion and shooting style at you in quick succession. He took me around five hours of solo play to get to.
There are found notes throughout that follow a marooned scientist who witnessed the world tragedy to bring the Titans to power, massive robots who are (I repeat) evil, although sitting there listening to long-winded audio logs between arenas feels a bit antithetical to the entire “go go go” experience.
Once the credits role, replay value is actually fairly high. It doesn’t just throw you at the same levels you beat before, but offers up a randomly mixed level that you can choose on any difficult mode. You can also do extra bits (more fun in co-op, no doubt) including ‘Racing’, a collectible ‘Collection Sprint’ mode, and a shooting-focused ‘Target Rush’ mode.
Immersion
Okay, I’ll admit I’ve been pining for Windlands 3 here a little too hard in this review, but with something clearly imbued with Windlands’ DNA as Titan Isles, there’s really no other apt comparison. It leaves me thinking about how much more I loved Windlands 2, and its ability to weave that core bullet hell combat into a richer narrative and larger world that really felt lived in—something worth taking the time to explore with friends.
That said, my favorite part of Titan Isles is its various locomotion schemes, which actually depart from the grappling hook-swinging parkour seen in the series.
While the Hunter Exo Suit does have grappling hooks that work almost like they do in Windlands, the exception is you can actually hook onto anything in Titan Isles and not just greenery. The focus here is less on how you get around, and more on how fast you can get the hell out of Dodge: exactly why I never played as Hunter.
Hunter’s powerful arrows never seemed to outweigh the movement penalty that comes with having to accurately aim your next grappling hook hold, making me gravitate to the jetpack-equipped Storm most of the time. Effortlessly blasting around the map, expertly threading baddies and zipping around homing missiles and oncoming laser barrages is one of those “I can’t believe I’m actually good at this” sort of skills that I know comes from years of research in VR locomotion design. I invested all of my points, gained by beating levels into Storm’s jetpack and weapons.
That’s me though. You may gravitate towards Goliath for its heavy cannon and shield that efficiently blocks sustained laser fire, which also has a more limited version of Storm’s jetpack. Or Blink, which can triple jump and wall-surf around bosses with ease—a close second for me to Storm. Still, there’s nothing better than a fully upgraded jet pack to take you to the highest (and often safest) point of any given arena.
Which leads me to the shooting experience. On the spectrum of ‘built-for-VR shooting mechanics’, Titan Isles is closer to a flatscreen arcade game than many. Basic floating reticles follow you around, which felt alright when it came to grappling hooks, but less so when it comes to continuously blasting away at anything that moves. You can turn off reticles in settings, as well as change colors of both left and right reticles, although it doesn’t make shooting any more immersive.
I know. This is a conventional feature of most bullet hells, VR or otherwise, although I can’t help but feel like Titan Isles gave up VR-centric design in service of putting more enemies and lasers in the arena when it probably didn’t have to.
That said, many of the game’s finer immersive touches are genuine highlights. Voice acting is top notch, although the game’s soundtrack offers up a sweeping musical score that I would probably listen to out of VR. Spatial audio is also on point when it comes to enemies and friends too. In co-op, you’ll also be able to hear your companions naturally when they’re close to you.
Once out of range, they become voices on a radio, indicating you’ve strayed too far from you team mate. Any way you take on Titan Isles, you’ll need to keep an ear out for beeping homing missiles and turrets of all types, which often times start their barrage before you can see them.
Visually, the game looked and worked pretty great on Quest 3, as arenas can easily fill with tons of enemies, each of which blasts away with its own lasers and missiles. It’s a cartoony art style that (sigh, I’m saying the thing again) Windlands fans will easily recognize as both suitably cartoony and super performant.
Comfort
For a fast-paced game with enough parkour and jetpacking to shake a stick at, Titan Isles isn’t as intense as the opening warning label suggests. Flying, swinging and triple jumping around is done in sweeping, predictable arcs, letting you control the trajectory in basically every instance.
There’s also smooth and variable snap-turning available, as well as both head and controller relative forward movement. A variable vignette can also help you tune down some of the motion-related wear. I’m particularly sensitive to uncontrolled, forced locomotion, and only found a few brief moments in the transport ship on my way to missions as a little iffy. Otherwise, I played multiple hours at a time without issue.
‘Titan Isles’ Comfort Settings – September 25th, 2025 |
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Turning |
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| Artificial turning | |
| Snap-turn |  |
| Quick-turn |  |
| Smooth-turn | |
Movement |
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| Artificial movement | |
| Teleport-move | |
| Dash-move | |
| Smooth-move | |
| Blinders | |
| Head-based | |
| Controller-based | |
| Swappable movement hand | |
Posture |
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| Standing mode | |
| Seated mode | |
| Artificial crouch | |
| Real crouch | |
Accessibility |
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| Subtitles | |
| Languages |
English
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| Dialogue audio | |
| Languages | English |
| Adjustable difficulty | |
| Two hands required | |
| Real crouch required | |
| Hearing required |
(via accessibility option) |
| Adjustable player height | |
The post ‘Titan Isles’ Review – A Good Bullet Hell Shooter Missing The Magic of ‘Windlands’ appeared first on Road to VR.
PC VR Link Games Now Show Up In Quest’s Library On v81 PTC
Your Quest Link PC VR games now show up in the Horizon OS library on v81 PTC, and launching them bypasses the old Rift Dash interface entirely.
If you’re unfamiliar, Quest Link is the built-in feature of Meta’s headsets that lets them act as PC VR headsets, either over a USB cable or your home Wi-Fi network.
Normally, you launch Link from the Quick Controls menu of your headset, and it brings you into the legacy Rift Dash interface that hasn’t been meaningfully updated in over five years. From here, you’d use the Rift Dash Library to launch PC VR titles and change settings.
What Is the Public Test Channel (PTC)?
The Public Test Channel (PTC) is the beta release channel of Quest’s Horizon OS. If you opt in, your headset receives a pre-release build of each upcoming version.
Note that there are often features in the eventual stable version not present in the PTC, and occasionally (but very rarely) features or changes in the PTC don’t make it to the stable version.
Now, in Horizon OS v81 PTC, if your headset has already been set up with the Quest Link app on a PC on the same Wi-Fi network, you’ll see your installed Link PC VR Store apps in your Horizon OS library, marked ‘PCVR’, alongside your standalone Quest apps.
Clicking a PC VR game will launch directly into it, bypassing the old Rift Dash interface entirely. Pressing the Meta button on your right Touch controller will open the Horizon OS interface, not the Rift Dash anymore, and exiting the game will bring you back to your standalone home.
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Footage captured by UploadVR.
It’s a significantly lower-friction experience than the previous Quest Link behavior, making launching into a PC VR game faster than even Valve’s Steam Link or Guy Godin’s Virtual Desktop, and it makes PC VR feel like a far more integrated part of the Quest experience.
Given Meta’s withdrawal from PC VR content and rare updates to Quest Link, this is a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.
[$] The phaseout of the mmap() file operation
The file_operations
structure in the kernel is a set of function pointers implementing, as the
name would suggest, operations on files. A subsystem that manages objects
which can be represented by a file descriptor will provide a
file_operations structure providing implementations of the various
operations that a user of the file descriptor may want to carry out. The
mmap() method, in particular, is invoked when user space calls the
mmap()
system call to map the object behind a file descriptor into its address
space. That method, though, is currently on its way out in a multi-release
process that started in 6.17.
Nintendo is opening a pop-up store in London this fall
Nintendo will open an official pop-up store in London this fall, its first-ever in the UK. The store will be open from October 22 to November 16 on the ground floor of the Westfield London shopping mall in Shepherd’s Bush.
The Japanese gaming giant operates official stores in Tokyo and Kyoto, as well as permanent locations in New York and (20 years later) San Francisco. The pop-up store in London will feature an extensive collection of Nintendo merchandise across the brand’s most iconic titles including Super Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing and more. Fans can pick up all sorts of apparel and collectible accessories like keyrings, pins and bags.
Entry to the pop-up during its first week will be by reservation only, with tickets going live on October 7. Guests will be able to reserve a date and time slot to enter between October 22 and 26. From October 27, store entry will operate via a first-come, first-served system, though don’t be surprised to see a line out the door.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-is-opening-a-pop-up-store-in-london-this-fall-164549021.html?src=rss
Microsoft pressured to extend free Windows 10 security updates in most of Europe
Score another win for EU consumers. On Wednesday, Microsoft backtracked on the strings it had attached to Windows 10’s Extended Security Updates (ESU) program. However, it only did so in the European Economic Area (EEA) following complaints from an advocacy group. The elephant in the room? The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) safeguards against unlawful bundling and restricting consumer choice. Had the company not relented, those regulations could have spawned investigations and hefty fines.
“In the European Economic Area, we’re making updates to the enrollment process to ensure it meets local expectations and delivers a secure, streamlined experience,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Windows Central. “Our goal is to support customers and provide them with options as they transition to Windows 11, with uninterrupted access to critical security updates.”
The move stems from Microsoft’s decisions regarding the future of Windows 10. In early 2023, the company said it would only support crucial security updates for the operating system until October 2025.
Microsoft
Since then, the company launched the ESU program. It allows consumers to pay $30 to add a one-year extension on security updates. The Windows maker also added a couple of “free” options. The first one is to enable Windows cloud backup using a Microsoft account. However, that uses OneDrive. And once you surpass 5GB of free storage, you’ll need to pay for more. (If you have a lot of big files to back up, that would likely apply.) The other option is to spend 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points, which not everyone has lying around.
The advocacy org Euroconsumers called out Microsoft in June. “Limiting security means limiting product life,” the nonprofit wrote. It described Microsoft’s Windows 10 requirements as “planned obsolescence.” That’s the practice of deliberately designing products with limited lifespans. Conveniently for Big Tech, that tends to boost sales. Inconveniently for consumers, it’s an added cost.
Planned obsolescence is also a term that could have drawn the ire of EU regulators. Tech titans like Microsoft found to violate the DMA can be forced to pay up to 10 percent of their global annual turnover.
Euroconsumers said Microsoft was steering consumers toward two options. “Buy a new device before you’re ready or stick with your current one and face increased security risks,” it wrote. The group noted that 22 percent of EU PC owners still run a Windows device from 2017 or earlier. 2018 is often considered a rough baseline for Windows 11 eligibility, given the software’s technical requirements.
While PC users in the EEA now have an extra year, the rest of the world isn’t so lucky. If you’re still running Windows 10, you only have until October 14 to do one of three things: upgrade to Windows 11 (Microsoft’s preferred choice), pay $30, turn on Windows backup, or fork over reward points. Choose wisely.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/microsoft-pressured-to-extend-free-windows-10-security-updates-in-most-of-europe-164533056.html?src=rss