IO Interactive just revealed minimum and recommended specs for the PC build of 007 First Light. The company recommends 32GB of RAM and 12GB of VRAM. In a normal world, this wouldn’t be news, as modern NVIDIA GPUs certainly have more than enough VRAM. However, we live in a world where AI companies gobble up lots of memory.

This has caused newer cards to tick up in price, with more hikes to come. Older cards like the RTX 3070 just won’t cut it, as that one ships with 8GB of VRAM. Standard RAM is also getting much more expensive, putting that 32GB out of reach for many gamers. In other words, playing the James Bond sim at max settings will likely cost a pretty Moneypenny.

IO Interactive

IO also recommends an Intel Core i5 13500 or an AMD Ryzen 5 7600 CPU, along with 80GB of storage space. Rumors have been swirling that NVIDIA is set to relaunch the RTX 3060 from 2021 to help offset increased demand caused by the hungry hippo that is AI. That one does ship with enough VRAM to run the game at recommended settings.

However, mostly everyone will be able to play the game at minimum settings. It requires just an NVIDIA GTX 1660 or AMD RX 5700 and an Intel Core i5 9500K or AMD Ryzen 5 3500. Players must have 16GB of traditional RAM and 8GB of VRAM.

It’s worth noting that both the recommended and minimum specs are for running the game in 1080p. The company hasn’t announced anything for 4K settings, so it must be pretty bad on the VRAM front.

IO has also revealed a partnership with NVIDIA on the game. 007 First Light will include DLSS 3 with Multi Frame Generation for “an even deeper sense of immersion and improved performance.”

007 First Light is a nifty-looking action title that chronicles the early years of everyone’s favorite lothario spy. Patrick Gibson from The OA and Dexter: Original Sin plays Bond and Lenny Kravitz, the guy who sings stuff, voices the villain. The game will be available on May 27 on multiple platforms.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/the-pc-version-of-007-first-light-requires-lots-of-expensive-ram-and-vram-to-run-at-recommended-settings-184339040.html?src=rss

Book publisher HarperCollins said it will start translating romance novels under its famous Harlequin label in France using AI, reducing or eliminating the pay for the team of human contract translators who previously did this work. 404Media: Publisher’s Weekly broke the news in English after French outlets reported on the story in December. According to a joint statement from French Association of Literary Translators (ATFL) and En Chair et en Os (In Flesh and Bone) — an anti-AI activist group of French translators — HarperCollins France has been contacting its translators to tell them they’re being replaced with machines in 2026.

The ATFL/ En Chair et en Os statement explained that HarperCollins France would use a third party company called Fluent Planet to run Harlequin romance novels through a machine translation system. The books would then be checked for errors and finalized by a team of freelancers. The ATFL and En Chair et en Os called on writers, book workers, and readers to refuse this machine translated future. They begged people to “reaffirm our unconditional commitment to human texts, created by human beings, in dignified working conditions.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

If I were building a new PC today, I’d go for a small form factor mATX or ITX build. With companies like Fractal Design and Lian Li making cases that can fit modern GPUs without sacrificing on thermals, you don’t need to settle for the old mid-tower monstrosities of yesteryear. And that’s why PNY’s new “Slim” model RTX 50-series designs caught my eye. All three variants, covering the 5070, 5070 Ti and 5080, are two slot cards with just a pair of 120mm fans for cooling. As a result, even the largest of the three new models, the 5080, is relatively svelte, coming in at 11.8-inches or 300mm long. That means it can comfortably fit with room to spare in a media PC enclosure like the Fractal Ridge.   

Technically, NVIDIA’s reference designs for the 5070 and 5080 are also dual-slot solutions, but most of the company’s manufacturing partners produce two-and-half or three slot variants of those cards. And with no Founders Edition version of the 5070 Ti available from NVIDIA, PNY’s new take on that GPU will likely find a dedicated fanbase among PC enthusiasts.    

PNY says the new cards will arrive in February, with the company planning to offer both standard and overclocked versions of all three models. However, PNY isn’t sharing pricing details just yet. That probably has to do with the state of the entire PC industry right now. With the price of most RAM kits doubling and tripling in recent months due to the AI boom, building a new computer has become prohibitively expensive, and all signs point to GPUs getting more costly in 2026. In fact, the memory crunch is so bad that NVIDIA is reportedly planning to bring back the RTX 3060, a GPU from 2021, as a stopgap. Yikes.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/pny-is-releasing-slim-sized-nvidia-rtx-gpus-just-as-pc-building-becomes-prohibitively-expensive-183127305.html?src=rss

On Tuesday, Microsoft announced the first batch of incoming Game Pass titles for 2026. Star Wars Outlaws and Resident Evil Village headline the first wave of the January lineup.

If you (perhaps wisely) held off on spending $70 on Ubisoft’s first stab at a Star Wars game, here’s your chance to try it for less. Star Wars Outlaws sets you loose in an open world as the young thief Kay Vess. The third-person action title includes melee, shooting and stealth. There’s even some speeder chases and space dogfights to scratch your (boilerplate) Star Wars itch. Does it do anything novel or innovative to justify its full price? Not really. But it can still be a good time for fans of the saga.

Star Wars Outlaws arrives on Game Pass on January 13 (cloud, PC, and current-gen Xbox consoles). It will only be available for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers.

If you’re less into Wookies and more about 10-foot-tall vampire ladies, there’s Resident Evil Village. Capcom’s 2021 title is “a gothic fairy tale masquerading as a survival-horror game,” as Engadget’s Jessica Conditt put it. In addition to the iconic Countess Alcina Dimitrescu, you’ll encounter werewolves, sea creatures and the requisite creepy dolls. The franchise’s eighth mainline game is something of a departure for the series, but you’ll still find plenty of familiar horror, puzzles and action.

Resident Evil Village lands on Game Pass on January 20 (cloud, console, PC). It will be available for the Ultimate, Premium and PC tiers.

There’s plenty of other fare arriving this month. Little Nightmares Enhanced Edition and the twin-stick shooter Brews & Bastards arrive today. The first-person survival action game Atomfall and the online soccer game Rematch land on January 7. Finally, the Final Fantasy 2D pixel remake arrives on January 8.

You can check out Microsoft’s blog post for more.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/resident-evil-village-and-star-wars-outlaws-join-januarys-game-pass-additions-182500938.html?src=rss

On Monday, we went hands-on at CES with LG’s new Sound Suite speakers featuring Dolby Atmos FlexConnect and now we have pricing for the entire lineup. The modular home audio system consists of four speakers that include a soundbar, surround speakers and a subwoofer.

The centerpiece of the group is the H7 soundbar, which will retail for $1,000. The soundbar uses FlexConnect to optimize sound based on the layout of a room and its location therein. This is intended to solve for when a speaker can’t be perfectly placed to deliver optimal sound, especially spatial audio.

The H7 also has a feature LG is calling Sound Follow that tracks the location of a user’s phone throughout a room and adapts the audio to their location. The idea is that if you move from one side of the couch to the other, or to a chair in a totally different part of the room, you’ll still receive the best possible sound.

The M7 and M5 surround speakers will sell for $400 and $250 respectively. These serve as satellite speakers to the H7 and can be placed around a room in pairs or used on their own. The W7 subwoofer carries a price tag of $600.

The entire suite is available for pre-order on LG’s US site now. The site lists several packages like the “Immersive Quad Suite 7” that include the H7 soundbar and four M7 speakers. Sadly, there do not seem to be discounts for purchasing these speakers as a bundle.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/lg-has-released-pricing-for-its-new-sound-suite-speaker-lineup-181053832.html?src=rss

One of the first signs of what would become an ongoing attack on scientific research came when the Trump administration ordered the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to radically reduce research funding for universities. These funds, termed indirect costs, are awarded when researchers at an institution receive a grant. They cover costs that aren’t directly associated with the research project, such as utilities, facilities for research animals, and building maintenance.

Previously, these costs had been the subject of negotiations and audits, with indirect cost rates for universities in more expensive locations exceeding half the value of the grants awarded. The Trump administration wanted to cut this to a flat rate of 15 percent for everyone, which would be crippling for many universities.

A number of states, later joined by organizations representing a broad array of universities and medical schools, immediately sued to block the policy change. A district court temporarily blocked the new policy from being implemented and later issued a permanent injunction. The government appealed that decision, but on Monday, an appeals court rejected the effort because the first Trump administration had attempted the same move before—and Congress passed a rule to block it. Indirect research funding will remain intact unless the Supreme Court intervenes.

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A survey of 2,000 teachers, students and parents conducted by the New York Times found that many high schools have stopped assigning full novels to students, opting instead for excerpts that are often read on school-issued laptops rather than in print. The shift stems from multiple factors: a belief that students have shorter attention spans, pressure to prepare students for standardized tests, and the influence of Common Core standards adopted by many U.S. states more than a decade ago.

Schools increasingly rely on curriculum products like StudySync, which takes an anthology approach to literature rather than requiring complete books. Teachers acknowledge that teens now read far fewer full novels than previous generations, though some educators push back against the trend. “Many teachers are secret revolutionaries and still assign whole books,” said Heather McGuire, a New Mexico English teacher who responded to the survey.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Anker launched a pair of “2-in-1” earbuds under its Soundcore brand at CES 2026, and it has a unique feature: They can be worn in two ways by adjusting the ear hooks. When you want active noise cancellation, you can wear it in-ear, and when you don’t, you can adjust the hooks for an open-ear design. This quirky product is called the Soundcore Aerofit 2 Pro—and you can already buy it for $150, which includes a launch discount of $30.

When it comes to CES announcements, I’m always wary of vaporware, aka products that are announced but never shipped. That’s why I keep an eye out for products with a shorter launch window so you can actually get your hands on the things you’re excited about. The Soundcore Aerofit 2 Pro is one of those products. As Anker itself admits on the product page, the Aerofit 2 Pro isn’t for everyone. The biggest quirk of this product is its size. It’s a lot bigger than most ANC earbuds, and the ear hooks go all the way around your ears, which isn’t a fit that works for everyone. The charging case is also quite large, when compared with other ANC earbuds: It’s 4.23 inches (11cm) wide, and it supports wireless charging.

Credit: Soundcore

Most noise-cancelling headphones let you switch to a listening mode that allows ambient sounds via software, but the Aerofit 2 Pro lets you do this by physically twisting the earbuds. This adjustment seems quite seamless based on the demo video on the product page, but I haven’t tested it in-person, so I’ll reserve my judgment until I do. There are five levels of adjustment for the ear hooks, with levels 1 and 2 reserved for open-ear listening, and 4 and 5 for noise cancellation. Level 3 maintains your previous listening mode to prevent accidentally switching to a different mode.

The Chinese micromobility company Navee has some wild new stuff at CES 2026. The lineup is headlined by the UT5 Ultra X, a dual-motor e-scooter with an advertised top speed of 43 mph. And who among us isn’t in the market for an auto-following golf cart and a seaplane?

The flagship UT5 Ultra X is a sleek-looking e-scooter with a pair of 2,400W motors. Navee says it can reach a top speed of 43 mph and has a max range of 87 miles. (However, in the world of e-scooters, it’s safe to expect the real-world range to be around half of what manufacturers promise.) It has a front and rear hydraulic suspension and front and rear hydraulic disc brakes. Navee claims it can accelerate from 0 to 12 mph in 1.98 seconds.

Navee

If you want something that can hold its own on rougher terrain, there’s the NT5 Ultra X. A pair of 1,200W motors helps this e-scooter reach a top speed of 40 mph and an advertised range of 56 miles. It has dual-disc brakes and an electronic anti-lock braking system. To help manage the bumps, it has two suspension types: a front telescopic suspension and a rear spring one. Navee claims its steel frame supports up to 330 lbs.

Then there’s the Eagle F1X, which could put golf caddies out of work. This electronic cart can carry your clubs (up to 44 lbs). It has a “smart auto-follow” feature that uses a combination of AI and ultra-wideband. It also responds to voice and gesture controls. The 33-lb. cart uses a pair of 250W motors, and Navee claims it can handle 36-hole games. Strangely, the bottom portion looks like an F1 racer because, hey, why not?

Navee

To further prove that Navee isn’t afraid to jump the shark, the company has a product that could, well, jump over sharks. The WaveFly 5X is an electric seaplane that can “glide on the water and ride into the sky.” The company claims a max speed of 53 mph, a cruising speed of 40 mph, and a maximum flight time of 70 minutes. I’m not ready to put my life in its hands, but surely some deep-pocketed adventurer will.

In addition to real-world ranges almost always being much lower than advertised, there are other caveats. First, post-purchase customer support in the world of micromobility is almost always a sketchy prospect. I once had to file a Better Business Bureau claim to get support from even the most well-established brand, Segway. Don’t be shocked to experience the same or worse from lesser-known companies.

Second, Navee hasn’t yet listed pricing or release dates for its new models. Based on their specs and the company’s older gear, you’ll likely see prices of well above $1,000 for each one. (And that’s not even counting the seaplane.) Regardless, you can learn more at the company’s website.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/navees-ces-lineup-includes-a-speedy-e-scooter-a-golf-cart-and-a-seaplane-180000473.html?src=rss

Welcome to your first CES edition of TMA, attempting (almost futilely) to distill the biggest product reveals and announcements. Despite two days of briefings and conferences, today is merely day one. However, we’ve already seen Sony Honda reveal its next car — and the Afeela 1 isn’t yet on sale. We’ve got a deep dive on what we’ve seen so far, right here.

AMD announced new Ryzen AI 400 laptop processors and updated desktop chips, including the Ryzen 7 9850X3D, with a new focus broadly on AI processing improvements. NVIDIA had a lengthy, dense press conference showing off its dominance in AI tech, but it lacked major consumer announcements — until overnight, when it revealed next-gen G-Sync tech and an upgraded version of DLSS. The new tech can handle up to 4K 240Hz path traced performance. It also adds an improved version of Super Resolution Transformer, with more stability.

This year’s wildcard CES press conference was… Lego? It revealed Smart Bricks, which adds sensors, audio and wireless communication to traditional Lego pieces. The system is launching with Star Wars sets later this year — and perhaps crucially, no smartphone or screen is needed to play.

There’s also LG and Samsung to get into — more on those below!

— Mat Smith

The other big stories (and deals) this morning

• CES 2026 Day 0: Everything else

• Intel hopes its Core Ultra Series 3 chips are the start of a comeback

• Razer’s Project Madison concept chair has reactive lighting, immersive audio and multi-zone haptics

• It took guts for Dell to admit its mistake. Here’s how XPS will make its big comeback

• The Handy 2 Pro is an ‘overclockable’ sex toy

• Garmin had the nerve to launch a food-tracking feature in Las Vegas

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Trifold gets me excited about foldables again

Phone and tablet, together.

Engadget

After launching its double-folding smartphone in Korea, Samsung is giving its newest foldable the press tour at CES 2026 and, despite reservations, it’s slick. The key difference between the Z Trifold and the Z Fold series is a second fold-out wing, turning it from a traditional smartphone into a more tablet-like form factor, closer to what we’re used to. Farewell square-ish screens.

This is what we were promised when foldables first appeared: a larger screen that offers greater utility than traditional smartphones, without compromise. Sam Rutherford tested one out. Read on for his impressions.

Continue reading.

Samsung’s giant 130-inch TV is here to make you want Micro RGB TVs

In more wall-friendly sizes.

Engadget

The big reveal at Samsung’s First Look CES press conference was literally big: a flagship 130-inch Micro RGB TV framed by a giant metal easel with embedded speakers. It’s much more in the realm of concept than reality — no price, no release date. It works as a halo product for more realistic TV sets using Samsung’s new preferred display technology. This year it’ll be offering TVs in 55-, 65- and 75-inch sizes. And if you’re curious, we explain what Micro RGB TVs are.

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LG’s approach to TVs at CES 2026? Variety.

Oh, and scale.

Engadget

CES 2026 marks the return of LG’s ultra-thin Wallpaper TV. The latest version sports a gorgeous OLED screen and wireless connectivity, and it’s about as thin as a pencil. We checked out the new Wallpaper TV during a CES preview event, along with LG’s Gallery and Micro RGB sets. If money were no object, I’d want a 100-inch LG Wallpaper TV. According to Devindra Hardawar, it looks “shockingly thin” in person.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-ces-2026-press-day-174444560.html?src=rss

It’s been almost exactly two years since Nvidia announced G-Sync Pulsar, its new backlight strobing technology designed to limit display motion blur caused by old images persisting on the viewer’s retina. At the time, Nvidia said that technology would debut on Asus’ ROG Swift PG27 Series monitors by the end of 2024. Nvidia now says the first four G-Sync Pulsar-powered monitors will be available at select retailers starting Wednesday.

Those first Pulsar-equipped monitors will be:

• Acer’s Predator XB273U F5
• AOC’s AGON PRO AG276QSG2
• Asus’ ROG Strix Pulsar XG27AQNGV
• MSI’s MPG 272QRF X36

Making 360 Hz seem like more

All four of the fresh Pulsar-enabled IPS monitors come in at 27 inches with 1440p resolution and up to 360 Hz refresh rates. But Nvidia says the integrated G-Sync Pulsar technology means each display has the “effective motion clarity of a theoretical 1,000 Hz monitor.”

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The ASUS Zenbook Duo was easily one of my favorite laptops of 2024 as it was the first dual-screen notebook actually worth buying. But now at CES 2026, ASUS has given the second-gen model a complete revamp with practically all the upgrades and tweaks I’ve been hoping for. 

Like the rest of the Zenbook line, the 2026 Duo is getting ASUS’ Ceraluminum treatment on its lid, bottom and kickstand, which not only looks great but it adds an extra bit of durability and scratch resistance. There’s also an improved magnetic latch system and Bluetooth connection for its detachable keyboard to help keep it charged up and paired more reliably. However, the biggest upgrade is ASUS’ all-new “hideaway” hinge. Not only does it allow the system to unfold flat against a table, it also massively shrinks the gap between the laptop’s two 3K 144Hz Lumina Pro OLED displays to just 8.28 mm. That’s a reduction of 70 percent compared to the previous model and it makes the idea of using a dual screen laptop just that much more seamless and appealing than before. 

Another important upgrade is that despite having a significantly larger 99Whr battery (up from 75Whr on its predecessor), the overall footprint of the second-gen Zenbook Duo is actually five percent smaller than before. That makes it noticeably more compact without sacrificing on weight or thinness, which is staying pretty much the same at 3.6 pounds and 0.77 to 0.9 inches thick (depending on where you measure). Connectivity remains excellent as well, with ASUS including Wi-Fi 7, two USB-C with Thunderbolt 4, a USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 connector and even a full-size HDMI 2.1 jack. And for all the artists out there, the Zenbook Duo also supports stylus input via the ASUS Pen 3.0, so you can easily detach the wireless keyboard and use either screen as a built-in drawing tablet. That said, it’s currently unclear if the stylus comes included or not. 

Meanwhile on the inside, the Zenbook Duo features either an Intel Core Ultra 7 355 or Ultra 9 386H chip with up to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. On top of that, ASUS increased the Duo’s TDP to 45 watts, which is another notable bump up over the original. So not only does it have a larger battery, its performance is getting a big boost as well, especially when combined with the much improved onboard graphics from Intel’s latest integrated Arc GPU. 

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

I know a lot of people out there still aren’t convinced that dual screen laptops need to be a thing, and that’s totally OK. But as the kind of person who feels like they are missing a limb when I’m traveling and away from my two monitors at home, the second-gen Zenbook Duo feels like a major refinement of an already great idea. It’s got a bigger battery, faster performance and a hugely streamlined design without gaining any bulkiness or weight. Out of all of the laptops I’ve seen at CES 2026, this is the one I most wish I could grab and start using right away. 

The one potential concern is that ASUS has yet to release pricing for the new Zenbook Duo or say when it will go on sale. So here’s hoping it won’t break the bank when it arrives sometime later this year. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/the-asus-zenbook-duo-got-a-fantastic-redesign-for-ces-2026-173000392.html?src=rss