Three years after announcing plans to produce a film based on the viral YouTube short, The Backrooms (Found Footage) in 2023, A24 has released the first teaser for its adaptation. Backrooms, as the film is now called, is directed by the short’s original creator, Kane Parsons, and will be released on May 29, 2026.

The teaser offers little to go on for anyone who hasn’t watched the original short or the series of videos Parsons made after it, but it is replete with The Backrooms‘ hallmark: ominous liminal spaces. Layered over footage of stranger and stranger rooms (or perhaps one room becoming the platonic empty retail spaces popularized by short), the voice of Chiwetel Ejiofor tells the film’s other star, Renate Reinsve, about a “place” he discovered that’s full of rooms.

Parsons’ original video is inspired by a creepypasta called “The Backrooms” that originated on the forum 4chan in 2019. The YouTube series expanded on the basic concept of a liminal space that exists outside reality with monsters and a mysterious company researching The Backrooms. It’s unclear how much of that larger lore will be incorporated into the feature film adaptation, but since the teaser is missing the digital video filter that gave the YouTube short its distinct look, it seems possible Parsons could be going for something a bit different. Well that, and the fact the film stars two Oscar-nominated actors.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/heres-the-first-teaser-for-a24s-adaptation-of-the-backrooms-194300513.html?src=rss

This is going to be a big week for Samsung. The company is making some major announcements at Galaxy Unpacked 2026 on Wednesday, revealing the next generation Galaxy S Series devices (which almost assuredly means the Galaxy S26), as well as some new AI updates. In the lead up to this event, Samsung is also now rolling out its latest security updates for its Galaxy devices—at least, some of its devices.

What’s new with Samsung’s February security update

Samsung’s February security update contains 37 patches for issues the company discovered since the January update. This time, there are no critical patches, but there are plenty of fixes for “High” severity issues. According to SamMobile, 25 of these patches were provided by Google, which fix issues with Android in general, while the other 12 were specific to Samsung to patch issues within its own ecosystem. That includes issues for Emergency Sharing, Knox Guard Manager, Samsung Dialer, Samsung’s Settings app, face and fingerprint authentication systems, and the PACM module—things that only apply to Samsung’s own OS.

Not all Galaxy phones are getting this update right away. Samsung is kicking things off with its Galaxy S25 series, meaning the Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra. It also appears to be rolling out to its latest foldable devices as well, including the Galaxy Z Fold 7, Z Flip 7, and Z TriFold. If you bought Samsung’s latest and greatest—at least until the S26 series launches—you’ll likely see the update in your Settings app imminently. If your Galaxy device is on the older side (or even one year older than the S25 series), you may need to wait a bit before the patches appear.

Speaking of waiting, Samsung started rolling this update out to Korean users first, so if you’re in another region, you might not see it right away. But it does seem evident the patch is on its way, especially with Unpacked airing Wednesday.

How to install Samsung’s February security update

Once the security update hits your device, open the Settings app, then choose either Software update or System updates. (This may differ depending on your device.) From here, depending on your carrier, tap either Download and install, Check for system updates, or Check for software updates. The latest update may begin downloading automatically, but if it doesn’t, tap Download now. Finally, follow the on-screen instructions to install the update.

Waymo had set out some big plans for expanding its autonomous vehicle taxi program across the US in 2025 and it appears to be continuing that pace into 2026. Today, the company announced that the first public riders can begin using its fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando. 

To start, these robotaxi rides will only be available for a small number of people with the Waymo app in those cities. “We will be inviting new riders on a rolling basis to ensure a seamless experience across our initial service areas, as we meaningfully scale our operations ahead of opening our service to everyone later this year,” the company said in the blog post announcing the expansion.

Google-owned Waymo is now operating in ten commercial metro areas. It announced its plans to start testing its vehicles in these four US cities in November. The company also began a test phase in Miami at that time, and Waymo’s robotaxi service began accepting riders in that locale in January.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/waymo-will-start-offering-robotaxi-rides-in-four-more-cities-192841871.html?src=rss

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The only thing better than one pair of Bose earbuds is getting two for the same price. Right now, the company is running a BOGO sale of sorts: When you buy a pair of either the latest Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds ($299) you’ll get a free pair of refurbished Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (a $249 value). Or, you can get the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds for $299 and get a free refurbished pair of first-gen QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (a $249 value).

I’ve reviewed the Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen), and they have the best ANC I’ve ever tried. As the name implies, they’re comfortable and offer a friendly, minimalistic user experience that I’ve come to appreciate after testing so many earbuds. The audio is nothing less than what I expect from Bose, and the immersive mode is incredible, making the music truly come to life. I also love their practical features, like the transparency mode coming on when you take one earbud out. Simple, yet so appreciated.

The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds have the sort of open-ear design that has been growing in popularity, likely because active noise-canceling tech has gotten so good that people have forgotten what nature sounds like. The Ultra Open Earbuds are Bose’s stab at the trending tech, and they’re pretty decent. But when you get a free refurnished pair of QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (1st Gen) along with them, they become a great option for those looking for an open-ear feel.

This BOGO deal is perfect for people who want to experience both ANC and an open-ear design. Both have very different uses: ANC is great when trying to focus or really get into your media. The open ear design is great for outdoor activities when you need to be aware of your surroundings, or when you want to interact with your environment, like in an office, or working with people. This is an affordable way to get earbuds for either situation.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei until Friday evening to give the military unfettered access to its AI model or face harsh penalties, Axios has learned. Hegseth told Amodei in a tense meeting on Tuesday that the Pentagon will either cut ties and declare Anthropic a “supply chain risk,” or invoke the Defense Production Act to force the company to tailor its model to the military’s needs.

The Pentagon wants to punish Anthropic as the feud over AI safeguards grows increasingly nasty, but officials are also worried about the consequences of losing access to its industry-leading model, Claude. “The only reason we’re still talking to these people is we need them and we need them now. The problem for these guys is they are that good,” a Defense official told Axios ahead of the meeting. Anthropic has said it is willing to adapt its usage policies for the Pentagon, but not to allow its model to be used for the mass surveillance of Americans or the development of weapons that fire without human involvement.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apple plans to start manufacturing the Mac mini in the United States later this year, the company announced today, as part of its $600 billion commitment to expand its domestic manufacturing operation.

The Macs will be made in a facility in Houston, the same facility Apple uses for “advanced AI server manufacturing.” CEO Tim Cook says these AI servers are shipping “ahead of schedule.” The facility will also eventually provide “hands-on training in advanced manufacturing techniques” for students, Apple employees, “and American businesses of all sizes.”

Apple and many other US tech companies have announced plans to expand their domestic manufacturing operations, just one element of a multi-prong strategy to secure favorable treatment from a Trump administration that has been happy to threaten Apple and others with steep tariffs to get what it wants. Today’s Mac mini announcement is more subtle than the time Tim Cook delivered Trump a signed gold statue, but the goal is likely the same.

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We’re less than a month from the availability of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach on PC, and today Sony released the required specs. Despite designer Hideo Kojima being known for spectacle in his projects, the minimum specs are quite reasonable.

The low graphics preset runs on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 or AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB, and that will give players average performance of 1080p at 30 frames per second, which is rough but at least makes the game available for players who haven’t upgraded in awhile. Intel Core i3-10100 or AMD Ryzen 3 3100 are the recommended GPUs for that graphics tier. As is typical for PC gaming, though, the higher end performance options will require beefier internals.

This port of Death Stranding 2 will also boast a few firsts. The title will mark the debut of Pico as an upscaling option on PC. This upscaler was made by Guerilla Games and was also used for the Death Stranding sequel on the PlayStation 5. The game will also be adding support for ultrawide views. The cutscenes can be viewed in a 21:9 aspect ration and gameplay can be displayed at 32:9. This option will be available for both PC and the PS5 versions of the game, and an ultrawide monitor won’t be required to enable this view option.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/sony-reveals-the-death-stranding-2-required-pc-specs-184411856.html?src=rss

A new app will notify users if smart glasses are likely nearby. The aptly named Nearby Glasses was developed in response to media coverage outlining how glasses like Meta’s Ray-Bans have been used to film people without their consent.

As first reported by 404 Media, the app detects the unique Bluetooth signature emitted by smart glasses and sends a push alert that someone wearing the device may potentially be nearby. “I consider it to be a tiny part of resistance against surveillance tech,” the app’s developer Yves Jeanrenaud told 404 Media.

Smart glasses have sparked increased privacy concerns, especially as Meta is reportedly working to add facial recognition technology to its Meta Ray-Bans. OpenAI is also reported to have a pair of smart glasses in the works. It bears mentioning that false positives may occur, including from VR headsets.

Nearby Glasses is currently available on the Google Play Store and GitHub.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/someone-made-an-app-to-warn-you-if-smart-glasses-are-nearby-183359723.html?src=rss

More than two decades after Maine became the first state to hand laptops to middle schoolers — distributing 17,000 Apple machines across 243 schools in 2002 â” neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath told a U.S. Senate committee earlier this year that Gen Z is the first generation in modern history to score lower on standardized tests than the one before it.

The U.S. spent more than $30 billion in 2024 alone putting laptops and tablets in classrooms, and Horvath cited PISA data from 15-year-olds worldwide showing a stark correlation between time on school computers and worse scores. A 2014 study of 3,000 university students found they were off-task on their machines nearly two-thirds of the time. Fortune reported back in 2017 that Maine’s own test scores hadn’t budged in the 15 years since the program launched, and then-governor Paul LePage called it a “massive failure.” Horvath framed the generation’s eroding capabilities not as a personal failure but a policy one, calling them victims of a failed pedagogical experiment.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Augmented reality (AR) glasses let you turn any space into a giant private TV screen, and the REAL One Pro AR glasses have one of the widest fields of view in their category, plus a bevy of features that helped earn them a 2025 PCMag Editors’ Choice Award. And right now, the XReal One Pro AR glasses are at their lowest price ever: $598.99 (down from $769).

The Xreal One Pro AR Glasses

$769.99
at Amazon

$769.99
at Amazon

On the surface, these look like a regular pair of black sunglasses, housed within a thin, glossy frame with lenses that you can lighten or dim. The bridge features removable silicone nose pads as well as mounting points for perspective lens inserts. Compared to most AR glasses, which typically have a 30 to 50-degree field of view, the XReal One Pros come in at 57 degrees—even compared to its predecessor, the XReal One Pros, the picture is significantly more expansive.

The XReal One Pros are compatible with any devices that output a DisplayPort signal over USB-C, meaning they’ll work with the majority of phones, tablets, and PCs (though not a Nintendo Switch or Switch 2). They offer the same AR tweaks as the previous model, including head-tracking capabilities, options to adjust the size and distance of the virutal screen, and different viewing modes, including ultra-wide and side-view. Built-in 3DOF motion tracking and Bose-designed speakers help make the experience more immersive. The glasses have 2GB of built-in storage that can be offloaded to the connected device via the glasses’ menu.

The wide field of view is where these glasses really shine; PCMag describes it as “noticeably bigger than the XReal One’s and Rokid Max 2’s displays, and much larger than the Viture Pro’s,” and likens the experience to upgrading from a 55-inch TV to a 75-inch one. While spreading the pixels across a wider space means the image isn’t as sharp as pairs with a narrower field of view, these specs still deliver crisp visuals with easy-to-read text when being used as a wearable monitor.