It’s possible the one thing that could universally break smartphone addiction is making social media pay-to-play. Right now, there is zero friction involved in opening Instagram or TikTok, and getting sucked into their algorithms. But add a paywall to those apps, and all of a sudden, I don’t have any interest in logging on.

If that sounds like it’d work on you too, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Meta will soon test a subscription model for Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook. The bad news is that these subscriptions won’t be required to actually access the app, or the core features you already know. That will remain free, so we will remain hopelessly addicted.

What is Meta including in its “premium experience” subscription?

The details are light at the moment, especially concerning WhatsApp and Facebook. Meta told TechCrunch that the subscriptions will offer “exclusive features” on its apps, and will “unlock more productivity and creativity, along with expanded AI capabilities.” That will include more controls over how you share and connect with other users. Again, pretty vague.

Perhaps part of this cloak-and-dagger approach is that Meta isn’t really sure how it wants to roll out these subscriptions. The company explained to TechCrunch that it was testing a “variety of subscription features and bundles,” and that each app’s subscription will feel unique from the others.

While Meta isn’t revealing much at this point, we might have a glimpse at what the company has in store for Instagram. Reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi posted on X that Instagram’s paid subscription will include the option to create as many audience lists as you want, view a list of people you follow who don’t follow you back, and—perhaps more enticing to some—look at another user’s story without them knowing you saw it. Would you pay a monthly subscription to be able to lurk in other people’s Instagram stories? (It’s possible to do this already, by the way.)

There’s another feature set that Meta plans to test subscriptions for that likely includes all three of these apps: AI features. Meta will experiment with subs for Vibes, the company’s short-form AI video app built into Meta AI. The services has been free since it launched last fall, and will likely continue to be free, but Meta may charge for “additional video creation opportunities.”

As much as I’m reluctant to say so, this really is Meta doing subscriptions right. I wouldn’t pay for any of these features, but it’s not like the company is taking away previously free features and locking them behind a subscription. If companies like Meta want to integrate a subscription model, they need to offer new features and abilities to justify the price. I might not think these anticipated features are worth it, but at least the current apps as they exist will remain free—even if charging for them would get me to stop using them for good.

Yahoo has announced a new AI-powered “answer engine”, dubbed Yahoo Scout. The new tool is available now in beta and is powered by Anthropic’s Claude.

The company says Scout “synthesizes” info from the web, as well as Yahoo’s own data and content when constructing responses to user’s natural-language search queries. Yahoo says the interface will include interactive digital media, structured lists and tables and visible source links aimed at making answers easier to verify. (Disclosure: Yahoo is the parent company of Engadget.)

Alongside Scout, Yahoo is announcing an “intelligence platform” across its varied products. This will include features like AI summaries in Yahoo Mail, “key takeaways” in Yahoo News and game breakdowns in Yahoo Sports. Scout will also integrate into Yahoo Shopping to offer insights and shoppable links, and Yahoo Finance, where it can populate company financials, analyst ratings and explain stock moves as they occur. Yahoo says the answer engine behind Scout will become more personalized and focus on “deeper experiences” as time goes on.

Google offered a glimpse of generative AI in search back in 2023, and the company’s AI Mode for search was made widely available in the US last year. The company has been similarly at work integrating its AI model across its product portfolio, including Gmail and shopping.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/yahoo-is-adding-generative-ai-to-its-search-engine-172706249.html?src=rss

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on Tuesday set their symbolic Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds before midnight — the closest the timepiece has ever been to the theoretical point of annihilation since scientists created it during the Cold War in 1947.

The clock now stands four seconds nearer than last year’s setting, and this marks the third time in four years that the Bulletin has moved it closer to midnight. The Chicago-based nonprofit pointed to aggressive behavior by nuclear powers Russia, China and the United States, fraying nuclear arms control frameworks, ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, unregulated AI integration into military systems, and climate change.

“In terms of nuclear risks, nothing in 2025 trended in the right direction,” said Alexandra Bell, the Bulletin’s president and CEO. The last remaining nuclear arms pact between the US and Russia, the New START treaty, expires on February 5.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

It can be hard sometimes to keep up with the deluge of generative AI in Google products. Even if you try to avoid it all, there are some features that still manage to get in your face. Case in point: AI Overviews. This AI-powered search experience has a reputation for getting things wrong, but you may notice some improvements soon. Google says AI Overviews is being upgraded to the latest Gemini 3 models with a more conversational bent.

In just the last year, Google has radically expanded the number of searches on which you get an AI Overview at the top. Today, the chatbot will almost always have an answer for your query, which has relied mostly on models in Google’s Gemini 2.5 family. There was nothing wrong with Gemini 2.5 as generative AI models go, but Gemini 3 is a little better by every metric.

There are, of course, multiple flavors of Gemini 3, and Google doesn’t like to be specific about which ones appear in your searches. What Google does say is that AI Overviews chooses the right model for the job. So if you’re searching for something simple for which there are a lot of valid sources, AI Overviews may manifest something like Gemini 3 Flash without running through a ton of reasoning tokens. For a complex “long tail” query, it could step up the thinking or move to Gemini 3 Pro (for paying subscribers).

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At the start of December, Samsung announced its first triple-folding phone, which opens not just once, but twice, unfurling into a massive 10-inch display. It’s not the first triple-folding phone to hit the market, but since Huawei is technically banned from operating in the U.S., it’s the first planned to officially arrive Stateside. Now the phone, called the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold, finally has an official release date. But it also has an official price, and it’s eye-watering.

Folding phones have historically been pretty expensive, but with a retail price of $2,900, the Galaxy Z TriFold is nearly $1,000 more expensive that the company’s current folding flagship, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. Granted, being able to fold it out to a 10-inch display is kind of like stuffing a laptop in your pocket, but then, you can get an actual laptop (a really good one!) for less than half the cost.

If the idea of laying down more than three grand after tax isn’t deterring you, the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold goes on sale on Jan. 30, and can be bought either online or in-person at one of Samsung’s Experience Stores, with seven locations across California, Minnesota, New York, and Texas. If you happen to have a physical store near you, it might be worth checking in on their stock—Samsung won’t be taking preorders for this phone, and despite the high price, it sold out within minutes during its South Korean launch.

While Samsung does sell a 1TB model overseas, the base model will be all U.S. customers can buy at launch. This version of the TriFold comes in black and offers 512GB of storage. It’s decked out with a high resolution 2,160 x 1,584 inner display, a 2520 x 1,080 outer display, the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, 16GB of RAM, and a powerful 200MP main camera (although the other lenses aren’t as powerful as those found on non-folding phones). And yes, the screens are both AMOLED with a 120Hz refresh rate.

The novelty might be worth it for some, and I suppose if you buy the TriFold instead of a phone and a tablet separately, that could help justify the price. Still, you can get a non-folding Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra for $1,050 right now, add an iPad Pro for $899, and still save $1,000 over the cost of this new gadget.

If you’re on the fence, the aforementioned Samsung Experience stores do offer demos of the TriFold so you can try before you buy, although the sparse selection of locations means that won’t be an option for many.

More affordable folding phones than the Samsung Galaxy Z Trifold

Pretty much every folding phone on the market right now is expensive, but if you must have a folding phone but you can’t justify the cost of a triple-folding model, there are other, cheaper options available.

The most obvious alternative is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, which is still pricey at its $2,000 retail price, though you can pay less if you can score a deal or special promotion. It’ll net you most of the same specs as the TriFold, although the inner screen maxes out at 8-inches instead of 10-inches. It’s still not a bad deal, since those extra two inches would come at $450 a pop. Currently, I’ve managed to track down an Amazon deal selling them for $1,600, although supply is limited.

If you’re stuck paying full price, you might instead prefer the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, which starts at $1,800. That’ll also give you an 8-inch inner screen, although Google’s Tensor chips have a history of not being quite as strong as the Snapdragon chips that come with the Galaxy series, and the main camera is a far cry below the 200MP one found on both the Z Fold 7 and the TriFold.

There are also flip phones, although these aren’t really a replacement for folding phones. Instead of opening horizontally for a larger screen, they open vertically to reveal a standard phone-sized screen. In that way, they’re better for portability than they are for extra features, but they are a lot cheaper—the most recent Motorola Razr is currently on sale for $400 (MSRP $700), while the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 is on sale for $900 (MSRP $1,100).

Finally, you might consider waiting for the rumored iPhone Fold, which is expected to come out later this year. Initial rumors put the price somewhere between $2,100 to $2,500, and while price definitely includes the Apple Tax, it’s still much cheaper than the TriFold.

Google has begun rolling out two upgrades for Search. Starting today, Gemini 3 is the default model powering AI Overviews. When the company debuted its new family of AI systems last November, it first deployed Gemini 3 in AI Overviews through a router that was programmed to direct the most difficult questions to the new system. Now Google is making Gemini 3 the standard for all users globally. In practice, Gemini 3 should prove better at generating more credible and relevant summaries. 

As for that second upgrade, now you can jump into AI Mode conversation directly from an AI Overview. Google first previewed this feature late last year.

“In our testing, we’ve found that people prefer an experience that flows naturally into a conversation — and that asking follow-up questions while keeping the context from AI Overviews makes Search more helpful,” said Robby Stein, vice president of product for Google Search. “It’s one fluid experience with prominent links to continue exploring: a quick snapshot when you need it, and deeper conversation when you want it.”

If you’re using Google Search on a mobile device, you can jump directly into an AI Mode conversation from an AI Overview starting today. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/gemini-3-is-now-googles-default-model-for-ai-overviews-170000302.html?src=rss

Amazon is closing all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores in a shift to focus on its online same-day delivery service and new big-box retail stores. From a report: The e-commerce giant said Tuesday that some of its shuttered Amazon-branded brick-and-mortar stores would be converted into Whole Foods Market locations. Amazon said its branded stores failed to deliver the right economic model and distinctive customer experience necessary for large-scale expansion.

Amazon’s same-day delivery service for groceries is currently available in more than 5,000 U.S. cities and towns. The company said it plans to expand the service to more communities in 2026 but didn’t specify where. Amazon said it planned to open over 100 new Whole Foods Market stores over the next few years.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

After more than two months of contract disputes, NBCUniversal’s lineup of channels are still not being carried by Fubo, which is a bummer for anyone hoping to watch the 2026 Winter Olympics. Once again, NBC will be the primary place to watch the Winter Games, but Fubo subscribers will need to find alternate viewing methods if they want to watch events like figure skating, ice hockey, luge or skiing this year. The Olympics will also be broadcast on the USA Network and CNBC, and those channels are similarly blacked out on Fubo.

While the two media companies continue their negotiations, subscribers have had no choice but to sign up for other services — or at least test drive the ones that offer free trials — so if you’re a Fubo subscriber and you want to watch the 2026 Winter Olympics, here are some answers to your biggest questions, including which NBC channels are missing from the Fubo lineup, where to watch them, and when to tune in for Olympics coverage. 

Which channels are broadcasting the Olympics?

Olympics coverage will be broadcast daily on NBC, USA, and CNBC. NBC will be the main hub for all U.S. coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics, showing daily live coverage of many popular events and a primetime broadcast each night spotlighting the top moments from competition.

How to watch the 2026 Winter Olympics without Fubo

The Olympics officially run from Feb. 6-22 and and you’ll also be able to stream every single event live on Peacock. If you want to tune in to daily coverage on NBC, USA, and CNBC, you can also find those on platforms like DirecTV and Hulu + Live TV.

Which channels are no longer available on Fubo?

The following is a list of channels owned or licensed by NBC that are not currently available on Fubo, including NBC, USA, and CNBC:

Local Channels:

• NBC Local Affiliates

• Telemundo Local/National

Regional Sports Channels:

• NBC Sports 4K

• NBC Sports Bay Area

• NBC Sports Bay Area Plus

• NBC Sports Boston

• NBC Sports California

• NBC Sports California Plus

• NBC Sports California Plus 3

• NBC Sports Philadelphia

• NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus

National Channels:

• American Crimes

• Bravo

• Bravo Vault

• Caso Cerrado

• CNBC

• CNBC World

• Cozi

• Dateline 24/7

• E! Entertainment Television

• E! Keeping Up

• Golf Channel

• GolfPass

• LX Home

• Million Dollar Listing Vault

• MS NOW (formerly MSNBC)

• NBC NOW

• NBC Sports NOW

• NBC Universo

• True CRMZ

• New England Cable News

• Noticias Telemundo Ahora

• Oxygen True Crime

• Oxygen True Crime Archives

• Real Housewives Vault

• SNL Vault

• Syfy

• Telemundo Accion

• Telemundo al Dia

• The Golf Channel

• Today All Day

• Universal Movies

• USA Network

Why are these NBC-owned channels currently unavailable?

Per Fubo, NBC channels were pulled from the platform because of a disagreement over their long-standing content distribution agreement that has yet to be resolved.

When will the missing channels return?

Negotiations between the companies are ongoing, and after more than two months, there is still no projected return date.

What are the best alternatives to watch the Olympics?

Peacock is the most comprehensive place to see every Olympic event, and you can even find discounts and deals on subscriptions now. Every channel necessary to watch the Olympics is available on DirecTV, and Hulu + Live TV, too. Here are some of your choices if you’re looking for another way to watch the 2026 Winter Games.

Watch NBC on Peacock

Get a deal on Peacock with Walmart+

Try DirecTV free for 5 days, and get $30 off your first three months

Try Hulu + Live TV for free

Other services to watch NBC

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/how-to-get-nbc-without-fubo-ahead-of-the-2026-winter-olympics-163805696.html?src=rss

Pinterest is planning on laying off up to 15 percent of its workforce, according to a report by CNBC. The company has been posting stellar earnings reports these past few quarters, so why punish employees? You already know the answer. It’s AI.

The company said it’s “reallocating resources” to AI projects and prioritizing “AI-powered products and capabilities.” It’s also cutting down on office space, presumably because AI algorithms don’t require cubicles and the occasional low-grade snack.

Pinterest noted in a recent security filing that it expects these cuts to the workforce will be complete by the end of the third quarter in September. The company had 4,500 global employees as of April, so the layoffs should impact up to 675 people.

It will also be reshaping its sales and marketing strategies, likely to highlight new AI initiatives. To that end, Pinterest introduced an AI-powered shopping tool a few months back.

“Our investments in AI and product innovation are paying off,” Pinterest CEO Bill Ready said in November. “We’ve become a leader in visual search and have effectively turned our platform into an AI-powered shopping assistant for 600 million customers.”

Unfortunately, becoming a “leader in visual search” has created some headaches for end users. The platform has become overridden with AI-generated slop, leading the company to introduce a dial to reduce the prevalence of artificial content.

Pinterest is just the latest company to downsize in favor of AI. A consulting firm found that AI was the stated blame for around 55,000 layoffs in the US last year. 

This leads some to question the veracity of this reasoning, as some entities could be engaging in something called AI-washing. This is when companies exaggerate the use of AI and blame it for standard cost-cutting layoffs, leading investors to think “ooh, shiny.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/pinterest-is-conducting-a-massive-round-of-layoffs-to-prioritize-ai-powered-products-and-capabilities-163440004.html?src=rss

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Home security setups tend to get expensive fast, especially when you’re trying to cover more than just the front door. That’s what makes this current deal on the Eufy Security SoloCam S220 4-Camera Pack worth considering. It’s currently down to $179.99 on Amazon—a sharp drop from its usual $399.99, and its lowest price ever, according to price-trackers. At roughly $45 per camera, you’re getting full perimeter coverage for less than the cost of a single premium camera from some competitors, making this a solid value for anyone trying to keep an eye on multiple entry points.

Eufy Security S220 SoloCam Solar Security Camera (4-Pack)

$179.99
at Amazon

$399.99
Save $220.00

$179.99
at Amazon

$399.99
Save $220.00

These are wire-free units powered by built-in solar panels, which means you don’t need to mess with wires or outlets. That said, if your mounting spots don’t get much sun, you might still need to charge them manually from time to time. Once they’re running, video is recorded at 2K resolution, which is sharp enough during the day, and holds up well at night with infrared. Motion alerts use onboard AI detection that can tell people from pets. You can also draw up to two activity zones per camera, which helps cut down on useless notifications. There’s two-way audio, so you can speak to someone at your door or driveway, and support for Alexa and Google Assistant, though Apple HomeKit isn’t supported.

These cameras each include 8 GB of onboard storage, which might last a week or two depending on how much activity they pick up. But if you want facial recognition or need longer backups, you’ll need to pick up the HomeBase 3 separately. Also worth noting: This system only works on 2.4GHz wifi, so if your router is overloaded or your signal strength varies, expect some hiccups. Still, for less than half the original price, this bundle checks most of the boxes for basic outdoor security without monthly fees or complicated installation.