All the News that Matters

• Debian DSA-6222-1 ngtcp2 Important Buffer Overflow CVE-2026-40170
  Zou Dikai discovered a buffer overflow in ngtcp2, a QUIC protocol library. For the oldstable distribution (bookworm), this problem has been fixed in version 0.12.1+dfsg-1+deb12u1. For the stable distribution (trixie), this problem has been fixed in version 1.11.0-1+deb13u1.

• openSUSE Tumbleweed python311-PyPDF2 Moderate Security Issue CVE-2026-40260
  An update that solves one vulnerability can now be installed.

• openSUSE Tumbleweed haproxy Moderate CVE-2026-33555 Advisory 2026-10581-1
  An update that solves one vulnerability can now be installed.

• openSUSE Leap 16.0 Chromium Critical 2026-20588-1 Buffer Overflow Issues
  An update that solves 31 vulnerabilities and has one bug fix can now be installed.

• openSUSE Leap 16.0 roundcubemail Important Remote Image Fix 2026-20586-1
  An update that solves one vulnerability and has 2 bug fixes can now be installed.

• openSUSE Leap 16.0 nebula Important Update DoS CVE-2025-22869 20581-1
  An update that solves one vulnerability can now be installed.

• VirtualBox 7.2.8 Released With Linux Kernel 7.0 Support and Wayland Fixes
  VirtualBox 7.2.8 is out with Linux 6.19 and 7.0 host support, Wayland fixes, Windows 11 improvements, and updated Guest Additions.

• How to Hide "PackageKit" Message in openSUSE
  Discover how to get rid of the persistent PackageKit message on your openSUSE system and enjoy hassle-free package management without interruptions.

• Linux 7.1 KVM Adds "Very Experimental" Support For pKVM Protected Guests
  The Kernel-based Virtual Machine changes were recently merged for the Linux 7.1 merge window for further enhancing KVM as this important piece of the open-source virtualization stack...

• Arch Linux Now Ships a Reproducible Docker Image
  Arch Linux has released a reproducible Docker image, providing users with a bit-for-bit identical container build, though some limitations remain.

• AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Benchmarks: The Best Desktop Performance For Linux Developers, Creators
  Today we can finally share performance benchmarks of the long-rumored AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition processor. This new halo product for the Ryzen 9000 series desktop line-up offers captivating performance for developers frequently compiling code, creators, technical computing workloads for students or hobbyists or those not able to afford a Threadripper / EPYC type workstation, or similar heavy computing use. With the 16 cores / 32 threads and both CCDs having 3D V-Cache, the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 offers leading performance among current generation desktop processors.

• Colorado Age Attestation Bill May Exclude Open Source OSes and Apps
  Carl Richell, the CEO and founder of Linux hardware vendor System76, shared today on fediverse that the upcoming Colorado Age Attestation bill has been amended to exclude Linux distros and Open Source apps.

• Mozilla Firefox 150 Now Available for Download, Here’s What’s New
  Mozilla Firefox 150 brings stronger local network privacy protections, Linux GTK emoji picker support, and new tools for reorganizing PDF pages.

• While New NTFS Driver Merged, NTFS3 Driver Sees Fixes & Minor Changes For Linux 7.1
  Last week saw the "NTFS resurrection" as Linux Torvalds put it with the new/overhauled NTFS driver having been merged for Linux 7.1. Even still, the NTFS3 driver that was contributed a few years ago by Paragon Software remains in the mainline kernel and today were some fixes/improvements merged for that existing driver...

• Archinstall 4.3 Released with Security Fixes and Installer Improvements
  Archinstall 4.3 introduces security and partitioning bug fixes, as well as installer enhancements such as optional additional font selection.

• JFS Sees Data Integrity Hardening With Linux 7.1
  It's pretty rare nowadays seeing any real changes to the JFS file-system on Linux when there are multiple far superior solutions available. But in any event, the JFS file-system driver has seen a few fixes in Linux 7.1...

• Ubuntu 26.10 Stonking Stingray Officially Announced for October 15 Release
  Canonical has confirmed Ubuntu 26.10 will carry the Stonking Stingray codename and is scheduled to launch on October 15, 2026.

• Git 2.54 Released With New Experimental "git history" Command
  Git developers continue working toward Git 3.0 while out today is Git 2.54 with a few interesting additions...

• Archinstall 4.3 Arch Linux Installer Adds Support for Installing Additional Fonts
  Archinstall 4.3 has been released today as the latest stable version of the official installer for the Arch Linux distribution, with various additions and bug fixes.

• HarfBuzz Continues Improving Its New GPU-Accelerated Text Shaping Library
  Released at the beginning of the month was a new version of HarfBuzz, a widely-used, open-source text shaping engine. With this HarfBuzz 14.0 release it introduced a GPU-based text rasterization library that supported GLSL shaders as well as HLSL, WGSL, and APple's Metal MSL. Since then this GPU-accelerated library has been seeing more improvements...

• Ubuntu 26.10 “Stonking Stingray” Is Slated for Release on October 15th, 2026
  Canonical’s next major Ubuntu release, Ubuntu 26.10, has been dubbed the “Stonking Stingray,” and it now has a release schedule with a release date set in stone for October 15th, 2026.

• When Your Xorg Fork Is More About DEI Than Display Servers
  A fork created amid claims of censorship and anti?DEI posturing is now in the news for the same reason: not how it renders pixels, but how it treats people.

• New Android development tool designed for robots, not humans
  Google previews Android CLI as agentic development continues to snowballGoogle has introduced a new Android command-line interface built specifically for AI agents, claiming a 70 percent cut in token usage and three times reduction in task completion time.…

• Git 2.54 Released With New git history Command
  Git 2.54 introduces the experimental git history command, config-based hooks, and more efficient repository maintenance by default.

• LXQt 2.4 Desktop Environment Released with Better Wayland Support
  LXQt 2.4 releases with improved multi-monitor Wayland behavior, refined power management, and several fixes across desktop components.

• Firefox 150 Is Now Available for Download, This Is What’s New
  Today, Mozilla has published the final builds of the Firefox 150 web browser ahead of its official unveiling on April 21st, 2026, so it’s time to take a look at the new features and improvements.

• Florida Launches Criminal Investigation Into ChatGPT Over School Shooting
  Florida's attorney general has launched a criminal investigation into OpenAI over allegations that the accused gunman in a shooting at Florida State University last year used ChatGPT to help plan the attack. OpenAI says the chatbot is "not responsible for this terrible crime" and only provided factual information available from public sources. NPR reports: The Republican attorney general, James Uthmeier, said at a press conference in Tampa on Tuesday that accused gunman Phoenix Ikner consulted ChatGPT for advice before the shooting, including what type of gun to use, what ammunition went with it, and what time to go to campus to encounter more people, according to an initial review of Ikner's chat logs. "My prosecutors have looked at this and they've told me, if it was a person on the other end of that screen, we would be charging them with murder," Uthmeier said. "We cannot have AI bots that are advising people on how to kill others." Uthmeier's office is issuing subpoenas to OpenAI seeking information about its policies and internal training materials related to user threats of harm and how it cooperates with and reports crimes to law enforcement, dating back to March 2024. At the press conference, Uthmeier acknowledged the investigation is entering into uncharted territory and is uncertain about whether OpenAI has criminal liability. "We are going to look at who knew what, designed what, or should have done what," he said. "And if it is clear that individuals knew that this type of dangerous behavior might take place, that these types of unfortunate, tragic events might take place, and nevertheless still turned to profit, still allowed this business to operate, then people need to be held accountable." [...] Ikner, 21, is facing multiple charges of murder and attempted murder for the April 2025 shooting near the student union on FSU's Tallahassee campus, where he was a student at the time. His trial is set to begin on Oct. 19. According to court filings, more than 200 AI messages have been entered into evidence in the case.
  
  
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• Mozilla Uses Anthropic's Mythos To Fix 271 Bugs In Firefox
  BrianFagioli writes: Mozilla says it used an early version of Anthropic's Claude Mythos Preview to comb through Firefox's code, and the results were hard to ignore. In Firefox 150, the team fixed 271 vulnerabilities identified during this effort, a number that would have been unthinkable not long ago. Instead of relying only on fuzzing tools or human review, the AI was able to reason through code and surface issues that typically require highly specialized expertise. The bigger implication is less about one release and more about where this is heading. Security has long favored attackers, since they only need to find a single flaw while defenders have to protect everything. If AI can scale vulnerability discovery for defenders, that dynamic could start to shift. It does not mean zero days disappear overnight, but it suggests a future where bugs are found and fixed faster than attackers can weaponize them. "Computers were completely incapable of doing this a few months ago, and now they excel at it," says Mozilla in a blog post. "We have many years of experience picking apart the work of the world's best security researchers, and Mythos Preview is every bit as capable. So far we've found no category or complexity of vulnerability that humans can find that this model can't." The company concluded: "The defects are finite, and we are entering a world where we can finally find them all."
  
  
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• Framework Laptop 13 Pro Is a Major Overhaul For the Modular, Upgradeable Laptop
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Framework has been selling and shipping its modular, repairable, upgradable Laptop 13 for five years now, and in that time, it has released six distinct versions of its system board, each using fresh versions of Intel and AMD processors (seven versions, if you count this RISC-V one). The laptop around those components has gradually gotten better, too. Over the years, Framework has added higher-resolution screens in both matte and glossy finishes, a slightly larger battery, and other tweaked components that refine the original design. But so far, all of those parts have been totally interchangeable, and the fundamentals of the Laptop 13 design haven't changed much. That changes today with the Framework Laptop 13 Pro, which, despite its name, is less an offshoot of the original Laptop 13 and closer to a ground-up redesign. It includes new Core Ultra Series 3 chips (codenamed Panther Lake), Framework's first touchscreen, a new black aluminum color option, a larger battery, and other significant changes. And while it sacrifices some component compatibility with the original Laptop 13, displays and motherboards remain interchangeable, so Framework Laptop owners can buy the new Core Ultra board and owners of older Framework Laptop boards can pop one into a Pro to benefit from the new battery and screen. At 1.4kg (about 3 pounds), the Laptop 13 Pro is slightly heavier than the Laptop 13's 1.3kg, but it still stacks up well against the 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro (1.55kg, or 3.4 pounds). The Framework Laptop Pro will start at $1,199 for a DIY edition with a Core Ultra 5 325 processor, and no RAM, SSD, or operating system. A prebuilt version with Ubuntu Linux installed will start at $1,499, and Windows 11 will cost another $100 on top of that. A Core Ultra X7 358H version starts at $1,599 for a DIY edition, and a "limited batch" Core Ultra X9 388H version starts at $1,799. A bare motherboard with the Core Ultra 5 325 starts at $449, while a Core Ultra X7 358H board will cost $799. Pre-orders are available now, and begin shipping in June.
  
  
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• Job Cuts Driven By AI Are Rising On Wall Street
  Firms like Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo, and others are reporting strong profits while reducing head count and automating more work. "All of them credited A.I. to some degree ... in areas ranging from the so-called back office, where tens of thousands of employees fill out paperwork to comply with various laws and regulations, to the front office, where seven-figure salaried professionals put together complicated financial transactions for corporate clients," reports the New York Times. From the report: Less than four months ago, Bank of America's chief executive, Brian T. Moynihan, volunteered in a TV interview what he would say to his 210,000 employees about the chance of artificial intelligence replacing human work. "You don't have to worry," he said. "It's not a threat to their jobs." Last week, after Bank of America reported $8.6 billion in profit for the first quarter -- $1.6 billion more than the same period a year earlier -- Mr. Moynihan struck a different tone. The bank's bottom line, he said, was helped by shedding 1,000 jobs through attrition by "eliminating work and applying technology," which he repeatedly specified was artificial intelligence. He predicted more of that in the months and years to come. "A.I. gives us places to go we haven't gone," Mr. Moynihan said. The veneer of Wall Street's longstanding assertion -- that A.I. will enhance human work, not replace it -- is rapidly peeling away, as evidenced by the current quarterly earnings season. JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo racked up $47 billion in collective profits, up 18 percent, while shedding 15,000 employees. All of them credited A.I. to some degree with helping cut jobs and automate work in areas ranging from the so-called back office, where tens of thousands of employees fill out paperwork to comply with various laws and regulations, to the front office, where seven-figure salaried professionals put together complicated financial transactions for corporate clients. Unlike executives in Silicon Valley, few major financial figures are stating outright that A.I. is eliminating jobs. Citi, for example, has pledged to shrink its work force by 20,000 people through what one executive described to financial analysts last week as the company's "productivity and efficiency journey." The bank is paying for A.I. software from Anthropic, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI, to automatically read legal documents, approve account openings, send invoices for trades and organize sensitive customer data, among other tasks, according to public statements by bank executives and two people familiar with Citi's systems. Among the recent job cuts at Citi were scores of employees who were part of the bank's "A.I. Champions and Accelerators" program, according to the two people, who were not permitted by the bank to speak publicly. The program involves Citi employees who perform their day jobs while also working to persuade their colleagues to adopt A.I. technologies.
  
  
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• Meta To Start Capturing Employee Mouse Movements, Keystrokes For AI Training Data
  Reuters reports that Meta plans to start collecting U.S.-based employees' mouse movements, clicks, keystrokes, and occasional screen snapshots to train AI agents that can better learn how humans use computers. The tool, called Model Capability Initiative (MCI), will reportedly "not be used for performance assessments or any other purpose besides model training and that safeguards were in place to protect 'sensitive content.'" From the report: Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth told employees in a separate memo shared on Monday that the company would step up internal data collection as part of those "AI for Work" efforts, now re-branded as Agent Transformation Accelerator (ATA). "The vision we are building towards is one where our agents primarily do the work and our role is to direct, review and help them improve," Bosworth said. The aim, he added, was for agents to "automatically see where we felt the need to intervene so they can be better next time." Bosworth did not explicitly spell out how those agents would be trained, but said Meta would be "rigorous" about "building up data and evals for all the types of interactions we have as we go about our work." Meta spokesperson Andy Stone acknowledged that the MCI data would be among the inputs. [...] "If we're building agents to help people complete everyday tasks using computers, our models need real examples of how people "actually use them -- things like mouse movements, clicking buttons, and navigating dropdown menus," said Stone.
  
  
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• Google's Internal Politics Leave It Playing Catch-Up On AI Coding
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: At Google, leaders are anxious about falling behind in the race to offer AI coding tools, especially as rivals like Anthropic PBC offer more effective and popular tools to businesses, according to people familiar with the matter. The search giant is now working to unite some of its coding initiatives under one banner to speed progress and take advantage of a surge in customer interest. In some corners of Alphabet's Google, particularly AI lab DeepMind, concerns about the company's position are mounting, according to current and former employees and executives, who declined to be named because they weren't authorized to speak publicly. Businesses are just starting to realize that AI coding tools can enable anyone to build products by prompting a chatbot. But Google doesn't have a clear solution for them. Its Gemini model's capabilities are sprinkled across half a dozen different coding products with different branding, indicating how the company's lack of focus and competing internal efforts have hampered success, the people said. Even internally, some Google engineers prefer to use Anthropic's Claude Code, they said. More concerning, the people said, are the engineers who are struggling to adopt AI coding at all. [...] Google's emphasis on its own technology has also complicated the push to catch up. Most employees are banned from using competing tools such as Claude Code or Codex due to security concerns, but Googlers can request exceptions if they can demonstrate they have a business case, one former employee said. Some teams at DeepMind, including those working on the Gemini model, internal applications, and open source models, use Claude Code, according to three former employees. "You want the best people to use the best tool, even inside Google," one of the former employees said. [...] In recent years, DeepMind has tried to tighten control over how its AI breakthroughs are woven into Google products. Last year, Google appointed Kavukcuoglu to a new position as chief AI architect, a role in which he is charged with folding generative AI into Google products. Yet confusion about who is leading the charge on AI coding persists. Along with DeepMind, Google Cloud, Google Core, Google Labs and Android are all pushing AI coding in different ways, one of the people said. [...] Within the Googleplex, there is a philosophical clash between AI researchers who want to move as quickly as possible and more traditional senior engineers who have exacting standards for code quality, former employees say. AI usage is factored into performance reviews, according to a former employee. But engineers who try to use internal AI coding tools often hit capacity constraints due to competition for computing power, the former employee said.
  
  
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• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Gets a Price Cut
  Microsoft is cutting the monthly price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, but the tradeoff is that new Call of Duty releases will no longer arrive on the service at launch. Instead, they'll show up about a year later. The Verge reports: After Xbox CEO Asha Sharma admitted last week that "Game Pass has become too expensive for players," Microsoft is dropping the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Starting today, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate drops from $29.99 to $22.99 a month, and PC Game Pass moves to $13.99, down from $16.49 a month. The price drops are being fueled in part by future of Call of Duty titles no longer joining Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass at launch. "New Call of Duty games will be added to Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass during the following holiday season (about a year later), while existing Call of Duty titles already in the library will continue to be available," says Microsoft.
  
  
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• Global Growth In Solar 'the Largest Ever Observed For Any Source'
  The IEA says 2025 marked a turning point for global energy, with solar posting the largest growth ever seen for any energy source and helping carbon-free power outpace rising demand. The trend led the agency to declare that the world has entered the "Age of Electricity." Ars Technica reports: The IEA report covers energy use, including the electrical grid, transportation, home heating, and other forms of consumption. As such, it can track how some of those uses are shifting, as electric vehicles displace some gasoline use and heat pumps replace gas and oil heating. It also saw a more global trend: The demand for electricity grew at twice the rate of overall energy demand. All of these went into the conclusion that we're starting the Age of Electricity. In terms of specifics, the IEA saw electric vehicle demand rise by nearly 40 percent, with electric car sales being a quarter of the total of cars sold last year. While that's having a measurable effect on electricity demand, it remains relatively small at the moment. It's almost certain to be contributing to the size of the rise in oil use last year: 0.7 percent. In absolute terms, that's less than half the average rise of the previous decade. [...] When it comes to supplying electrons for those alternatives, the central story is solar power. "The absolute increase of solar PV generation in 2025 is the largest ever observed for any source," the IEA says, "excluding years marked by rebounds from global economic shocks such as COVID-19." In other words, with nothing in particular driving the energy markets in 2025, Solar's growth was unprecedented. On its own, its growth covered a quarter of the rising demand for all forms of energy. If you limit it to electricity, increased solar production covered over two-thirds of the increased demand. Overall, solar generated over 2,700 terawatt-hours last year, more than double its output from three years earlier. It now accounts for over 8 percent of the world's total electricity production. Thirty individual countries installed at least a gigawatt of solar last year, and it is now the single largest grid source by capacity (though other sources still outproduce it at the moment).
  
  
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• Maryland Becomes First State To Pass Bill Banning 'Surveillance Pricing'
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Denver7: Maryland is poised to become the first state in the country to ban "surveillance pricing." The practice refers to companies using a shopper's personal data, such as browsing history, location, or purchasing behavior, to tailor prices to individual customers. The Protection From Predatory Pricing Act, passed this month and sent to the governor for a signature, would prohibit food retailers and third-party delivery services from using the practice. Violations would be treated as deceptive trade practices under state law, with potential fines and lawsuits. While Consumer Reports called the move "encouraging," it warned that the final version contains "loopholes" that don't fully protect consumers. Some of the exemptions noted in the report include "applying the ban only to the use of personal data to set higher prices without establishing a baseline or standard price; exempting pricing tied to loyalty or membership programs, even if prices are higher; and exempting pricing linked to subscriptions or subscription-based services."
  
  
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• Amazon To Invest Up To Another $25 Billion In Anthropic
  Amazon is expanding its Anthropic partnership with a deal to invest up to another $25 billion, while Anthropic commits to spending more than $100 billion on AWS infrastructure over the next decade to power Claude. "Anthropic's commitment to run its large language models on AWS Trainium for the next decade reflects the progress we've made together on custom silicon, as we continue delivering the technology and infrastructure our customers need to build with generative AI," Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement. CNBC reports: Amazon's investment includes $5 billion into Anthropic now, with up to $20 billion in the future tied to "certain commercial milestones," according to a release. The initial investment is at Anthropic's latest valuation of $380 billion. Anthropic said in the release that it will bring nearly 1 gigawatt total of Trainium2 and Trainium3 capacity online by the end of the year. With all of the major hyperscalers competing to build out AI capacity as quickly as possible, Amazon said in February that it expects to shell out roughly $200 billion this year on capital expenditures, mostly on AI infrastructure.
  
  
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• iPhone Video Shows 'Earthset' From Space
  NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman posted an out-of-this-world iPhone video on Sunday, showing Earth disappear behind the Moon at 8x zoom. "I could barely see the Moon through the docking hatch window but the iPhone was the perfect size to catch the view," said Wiseman, noting that this video is "uncropped, uncut with 8x zoom" and "quite comparable to the view of the human eye." The New York Times says the video marks the first time an "Earthset" has been captured on video. "We've seen our fair share of remarkable images and videos from NASA's Artemis II mission around the Moon. Some of those were even captured on iPhone," notes 9to5Mac. "But Reid Wiseman, astronaut and commander for the Artemis II mission, just posted a new video that might take the crown for the most impressive yet."
  
  
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• PlayStation To Require Age Verification For Messages and Voice Chat
  A new email from Sony says that PlayStation will require players to verify their age later this year to keep using communication features like messages and voice chat. Insider-Gaming reports: The initiative comes from the goal of providing "safe, age-appropriate experiences for players and families while respecting their privacy" and providing "meaningful control over their gaming experiences." The age-verification process will be implemented globally, and players will need to verify their age to continue using PlayStation communication services, such as messages and voice chat. If the player opts not to verify their age, they can still use other services, such as games, trophies, and the store. Only the communication experience will be affected if you choose not to verify your age. PlayStation didn't provide a date for when players will need to begin the verification process.
  
  
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• Mobile Phones To Be Banned In Schools In England Under New Plans
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Guardian: A ban on mobile phones in schools in England is to be introduced by the government to ensure that "critical safeguarding legislation" is passed. The government will table an amendment to the children's wellbeing and schools bill in the House of Lords after the bill was held up by peers on opposition benches. It will make existing guidance on mobile phone bans in schools statutory, a move that ministers have resisted until now. The government had consistently argued that the vast majority of schools had already banned mobile phones, and that there was no need to add a legal requirement. They finally capitulated, however, describing it as "a pragmatic measure" to get the bill through. [...] The bill is regarded by many as the biggest piece of child protection legislation in decades and includes proposals for a compulsory register for children who are not in school, a crackdown on profiteering in children's social care, and a "single unique identifier" to help agencies track a child's welfare.
  
  
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• Apple CEO Tim Cook Is Stepping Down
  Apple announced that Tim Cook will step down as CEO in September after 15 years in the role, handing the job to hardware chief John Ternus. Longtime Slashdot reader sinij shares the news from MarketWatch: Cook leaves an impressive legacy after growing the company to a $4 trillion market capitalization from just $300 billion 15 years ago. Over Cook's 15-year tenure as CEO, Apple's stock has risen 1,932%, beating the S&P 500's 504% increase, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That places Apple's stock as the 38th best-performing member of the index over that period of time. Cook had big shoes to fill, replacing Apple's iconic founder, Steve Jobs, as CEO. Cook's successor, John Ternus, Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, will need to guide Apple's through uncharted waters as the company navigates its artificial-intelligence transition and supply-chain constraints. Cook will remain at Apple as executive chairman. "It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company. I love Apple with all of my being, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a team of such ingenious, innovative, creative, and deeply caring people who have been unwavering in their dedication to enriching the lives of our customers and creating the best products and services in the world," said Cook. "John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor. He is a visionary whose contributions to Apple over 25 years are already too numerous to count, and he is without question the right person to lead Apple into the future. I could not be more confident in his abilities and his character, and I look forward to working closely with him on this transition and in my new role as executive chairman." As for Ternus' replacement, the role of Chief Hardware Officer will be awarded to Apple executive Johny Srouji. "Srouji, who most recently served as senior vice president of Hardware Technologies, will assume an expanded role leading Hardware Engineering, which John Ternus most recently oversaw, as well as the hardware technologies organization," said Apple in a press release.
  
  
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• Former Palantir Employee Running For Congress Unveils 'AI Dividend' Plan
  Alex Bores, a former Palantir employee and current Democratic House candidate in New York, is proposing an "AI dividend" that would send direct payments to Americans if AI drives major job losses. "At its core, the AI Dividend is simple: if AI dramatically increases productivity and concentrates wealth, the American people have a stake in those gains," a memo on the policy reads. Axios reports: The dividend would fund direct payments to Americans. It would also be invested into workforce training and education, as well as government capacity to "govern AI safely and fund independent oversight," per the plan memo. "You don't take out fire insurance because you expect your house to burn down -- you have insurance in case something goes awry," Bores told Axios in an interview. "Here we have, for the first time, a technology where the makers of the technology are explicitly saying that their goal is to replace all human labor." "The fact that they've put it out there means government needs to take it seriously." [...] The proposal would be funded through:- A token tax, described in the memo as a "modest tax on AI consumption"- Equity participation in frontier AI firms- Changes to the tax code that would reduce incentives to invest in AI "when it leads to less work" "If [AI companies] they can support this plan, that would show that they actually believe in what they're putting out there," Bores said. "If they're not doing it, then I think it shows that they're really putting window dressing out there." Further reading: Palantir Posts Bond Villain Manifesto On X
  
  
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• Open Source Powers the Planet — Get 35% Off Sitewide
  For a limited time, get 35% off sitewide with code EARTH26. Build in-demand skills, earn certifications, and grow your impact with training designed for real-world success. SAVE NOW
  
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• Implementing Secure Zero-Touch Provisioning in AI and Edge Infrastructure
  By Juha Holkkola, FusionLayer Group How DHCP Changed Connectivity In the late 1990s, the DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) quietly catalyzed a revolution in digital connectivity. Before DHCP was introduced, connecting devices to a network involved manual entry of IP addresses, DNS servers, subnet masks, and gateways. Networks were fragile, prone to errors, and severely [0]
  
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• From DHCP to SZTP – The Trust Revolution
  By Juha Holkkola, FusionLayer Group The Dawn of Effortless Connectivity In the transformative years of the late 1990s, a quiet revolution took place, fundamentally altering how we connect to networks. The introduction of DHCP answered a crucial question, Where are you on the network?!, by automating IP address assignment. This innovation eradicated the manual configuration [0]
  
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• Celebrating the Second Year of Linux Man-Pages Maintenance Sponsorship
  Sustaining a Core Part of the Linux Ecosystem The Linux Foundation has announced a second year of sponsorship for the ongoing maintenance of the Linux manual pages (man-pages) project, led by Alejandro (Alex) Colomar. This critical initiative is made possible through the continued support of Google, Hudson River Trading, and Meta, who have renewed their [0]
  
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• Disaggregated Routing with SONiC and VPP: Lab Demo and Performance Insights  Part Two
  In Part One of this series, we examined how the SONiC control plane and the VPP data plane form a cohesive, software-defined routing stack through the Switch Abstraction Interface.` We outlined how SONiC’s Redis-based orchestration and VPP’s user-space packet engine come together to create a high-performance, open router architecture. In this second part, we’ll turn [0]
  
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• Disaggregated Routing with SONiC and VPP: Architecture and Integration  Part One
  The networking industry is undergoing a fundamental architectural transformation, driven by the relentless demands of cloud-scale data centers and the rise of software-defined infrastructure. At the heart of this evolution is the principle of disaggregation: the systematic unbundling of components that were once tightly integrated within proprietary, monolithic systems.` This movement began with the separation [0]
  
  The post Disaggregated Routing with SONiC and VPP: Architecture and Integration  Part One appeared first on Linux.com.
  

• Kubernetes on Bare Metal for Maximum Performance
  When teams consider deploying Kubernetes, one of the first questions that arises is: where should it run? The default answer is often the public cloud, thanks to its flexibility and ease of use. However, a growing number of organizations are revisiting the advantages of running Kubernetes directly on bare metal servers. For workloads that demand [0]
  
  The post Kubernetes on Bare Metal for Maximum Performance appeared first on Linux.com.
  

• How to Deploy Lightweight Language Models on Embedded Linux with LiteLLM
  This article was contributed by Vedrana Vidulin, Head of Responsible AI Unit at Intellias (LinkedIn). As AI becomes central to smart devices, embedded systems, and edge computing, the ability to run language models locally — without relying on the cloud — is essential. Whether its for reducing latency, improving data privacy, or enabling offline functionality, local AI [0]
  
  The post How to Deploy Lightweight Language Models on Embedded Linux with LiteLLM appeared first on Linux.com.
  

• Automating Compliance Management with UTMStacks Open Source SIEM 8 XDR
  Achieving and maintaining compliance with regulatory frameworks can be challenging for many organizations. Managing security controls manually often leads to excessive use of time and resources, leaving less available for strategic initiatives and business growth. Standards such as CMMC, HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOC2 and GDPR demand ongoing monitoring, detailed documentation, and rigorous evidence collection. Solutions [0]
  
  The post Automating Compliance Management with UTMStacks Open Source SIEM & XDR appeared first on Linux.com.
  

• A Simple Way to Install Talos Linux on Any Machine, with Any Provider
  Talos Linux is a specialized operating system designed for running Kubernetes. First and foremost it handles full lifecycle management for Kubernetes control-plane components. On the other hand, Talos Linux focuses on security, minimizing the user’s ability to influence the system. A distinctive feature of this OS is the near-complete absence of executables, including the absence [0]
  
  The post A Simple Way to Install Talos Linux on Any Machine, with Any Provider appeared first on Linux.com.
  

Engadget"Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics"

• SpaceX and Cursor strike partnership that might end in a $60 billion acquisition
  SpaceX and AI company Cursor have struck a new partnership that could see the owner of X buy the AI company for $60 billion later this year. "SpaceXAI and  @cursor_ai  are now working closely together to create the world’s best coding and knowledge work AI," SpaceX wrote in a post on X. 
  SpaceXAI and @cursor_ai are now working closely together to create the world’s best coding and knowledge work AI.
  
  The combination of Cursor’s leading product and distribution to expert software engineers with SpaceX’s million H100 equivalent Colossus training supercomputer will…
  — SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 21, 2026
  According to SpaceX, the deal allows for it to either invest $10 billion into the company known for its AI coding tool, or acquire it entirely "later this year" for $60 billion. If an acquisition were to happen, it's not clear at what point Cursor could officially join the fold of Elon Musk's rapidly expanding and increasingly enmeshed web of companies. SpaceX bought xAI, the billionaire's AI company that also controls X, earlier this year. SpaceX is currently getting ready to go public this summer in what will likely be the biggest initial public offering (IPO) in history. 
  
  Cursor, which has reportedly been in talks to raise its own $2 billion round of funding, is known for its AI coding tool of the same name that's become the vibe coding platform of choice for many developers. It allows people to use either its own models or those from other leading AI companies, including OpenAI, Google, Anthropic and xAI.
  
  In a statement, Cursor said its partnership with SpaceX will "accelerate our model training efforts" while addressing infrastructure-related issues that have slowed it down in the past. "We've wanted to push our training efforts much further, but we've been bottlenecked by compute," the company said. "With this partnership, our team will leverage xAI's Colossus infrastructure to dramatically scale up the intelligence of our models for coding and beyond."
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/spacex-and-cursor-strike-partnership-that-might-end-in-a-60-billion-acquisition-232131487.html?src=rss

• Mozilla says it patched 271 Firefox vulnerabilities thanks to Anthropic's Claude Mythos
  Anthropic9s buzzy announcement about using AI to improve cybersecurity earlier this month was met with plenty of skepticism. However, Mozilla shared some details that support use of the company9s special Claude Mythos Preview model as a way to protect critical services. Using Mythos helped Mozilla9s team find and patch 271 vulnerabilities in the latest release of the Firefox browser. "So far we’ve found no category or complexity of vulnerability that humans can find that this model can’t," the foundation said.
  
  The blog post from Mozilla feels like a positive sign for Anthropic9s Project Glasswing. Obviously the AI company would want to put itself in the best possible light while presenting its own initiative, but there9s something encouraging about hearing the benefits from a third party. Mozilla also noted that in its time with Claude Mythos, the AI wasn9t able to turn up any bugs that a human wouldn9t have been able to find, given enough time and resources, which indicates that AI isn9t presently able to do more to crack cybersecurity protections than a person can.
  
  An organizaion successfully using AI for good is certainly a refreshing change of pace in tech news. And for those Firefox users who aren9t personally interested in applying any generative AI in their browsing, Mozilla has given the option to turn it all off for the past several months.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/mozilla-says-it-patched-271-firefox-vulnerabilities-thanks-to-anthropics-claude-mythos-224330023.html?src=rss

• Cash App now supports accounts for kids 6-12
  Cash App, the banking and payments app run by Block, has added support for parent-managed kids accounts. The new accounts include key benefits from the service's normal account, with an eye towards teaching financial literacy to younger users ages 6 to 12. Cash App first allowed teenage users on its platform in 2021.
  
  As part of the "expanded Cash App Families experience," eligible legal guardians and parents can create managed accounts that offer "a dedicated place on the platform to send allowances, set aside savings, and track spending for their child, kickstarting their path to financial independence," Cash App says. Adults managing these accounts will be able to set up recurring transfers, see how their child is spending and do things like lock their child's account to prevent transactions. Kids will get a custom debit card and the ability to receive payments from up to five trusted accounts, though notably they won't be able to access Cash App itself.
  Today, we're launching Cash App accounts for kids age 6-12. Parents manage the accounts. Kids get to learn about safety, start saving for goals, and design and use their own debit card.
  
  Next generation banking never looked so good.
  
  Proud of the team for this one. pic.twitter.com/jIAcbvsfB9
  — Kristen Anderson (@FintechKristen) April 21, 2026
  Cash App says managed accounts are designed for kids 6 through 12. Once those kids turn 13, Cash App says parents will be able to choose to convert their account to a "sponsored account" to unlock more features, like the ability to send and receive payments, invest in stocks or trade crypto. Those sponsored accounts are technically still monitored and controlled by a parent or legal guardian, but they do give 13-year-olds more control over how they use their money.
  
  A parent-managed account for kids is not a new idea in the fintech space, though Cash App is trying to reach a younger audience than some of its competitors. Venmo rolled out access to its payment platform to teens between the ages of 13 to 17 in 2023. Separately, both Apple and Google also offer their own kids accounts in Google Wallet and Apple Cash Family.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/cash-app-now-supports-accounts-for-kids-6-12-210651025.html?src=rss

• YouTube is muting push notifications from channels you don't watch
  YouTube notifications can get messy fast, particularly if you’re subscribed to a lot of different channels. To address that, today the company will begin muting push notifications from creators that you haven’t engaged with in the last month.
  
  The change to YouTube notifications began as a small trial the company tested out earlier this year. The idea behind it is that if a viewer continually receives notifications about content they don9t engage with, this may eventually cause the user to disable YouTube notifications altogether. Now obviously, this is bad for YouTube. Turning off notifications means people will use the platform less, thereby resulting in lower revenue. However, it9s also bad for content creators, especially the ones you do like, who will have one fewer avenue to keep you updated about new and upcoming videos. 
  
  So starting today, for channels that you have subscribed to and have notifications set to "all," YouTube will no longer send out push notifications to mobile devices from creators that you haven9t interacted with for one month. That said, these notifications will continue to be available inside the YouTube app in your inbox (the little bell icon in the top right). 
  
  Notably, for those who are clicking on notifications and watching related videos, nothing will change. Additionally, based on info from the test earlier this year, YouTube said "channels that upload infrequently will not have their notifications affected." This is a good thing, especially for creators who post long-form content that takes extra time to make, as people probably don9t want notifications to go away in case they happen to miss a once-a-month upload. 
  
  The one thing that9s unclear is if you start watching a channel again that you have not interacted with in a while, is if YouTube will automatically restart related push notifications. However, as a way to prevent too many alerts from clogging up your phone, YouTube9s new protocol seems like a good way to cut down on the clutter.
  
  
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/youtube/youtube-is-muting-push-notifications-from-channels-you-dont-watch-205119228.html?src=rss

• AI company deletes the 3 million OKCupid photos it used for facial recognition training
  When online platforms violate their own privacy policies to sell your photos, have no fear: They just might have to pay an undisclosed settlement fee 12 years later. (Who says justice is dead?) According to Reuters, AI company Clarifai says it has deleted 3 million profile photos taken from dating site OkCupid in 2014. It follows a settlement reached last month between the FTC and Match Group, OkCupid's owner.
  
  The Delaware-based Clarifai reportedly certified the data deletion to the FTC on April 7. The company also confirmed to US Representative Lori Trahan (D-MA) that it deleted any models that trained on the data. Clarifai told the representative's office that it hadn't shared the data with third parties.
  
  The FTC opened the investigation in 2019, after The New York Times reported that Clarifai had built a training database using OkCupid dating profile photos. The behavior was a direct violation of OkCupid’s privacy policy. Court documents reviewed by Reuters reveal that Clarifai asked OkCupid executives for the data in 2014. Apparently, they obliged.
  
  Clarifai uses this creepy facial profiling example to sell its services.
  Clarifai
  "We're ⁠collecting data now and just realized that OkCupid must have a HUGE amount of awesome data for this," Clarifai founder Matthew Zeiler wrote in an email to OkCupid co-founder Maxwell Krohn. The AI startup used the dating site's images to build a facial recognition service that can identify a person's age, gender and race. (Another brilliant and totally ethical idea from Clarifai, tapping into unsecured city surveillance cameras without authorization, was reportedly shuttered.)
  
  Zeiller suggested to The New York Times in 2019 that people needed to, well, get over it. "There has to be some level of trust with tech companies like Clarifai to put powerful technology to good use, and get comfortable with that," the AI founder declared. Some of OkCupid's founders were reportedly investors in Clarifai.
  
  As part of the settlement, the FTC "permanently prohibited" OkCupid from misrepresenting its data collection and privacy controls. TechCrunch notes how strange it is to use that as a penalty, given that FTC rules already bar that behavior.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/ai-company-deletes-the-3-million-okcupid-photos-it-used-for-facial-recognition-training-195223996.html?src=rss

• Meta has misled users about scam ads on Facebook and Instagram, lawsuit says
  Meta is facing a new lawsuit over its advertising practices. The nonprofit group Consumer Federation of America (CFA) has filed a proposed class-action suit against Meta for "failing to protect users" from scam ads on Facebook and Instagram. 
  
  The lawsuit, which was first reported by Wired, alleges that Meta has run afoul of consumer protection laws in Washington D.C. for misleading Facebook and Instagram users about scams on its apps and that the company has "chased profits rather than protecting its users." The filing includes numerous examples of alleged scam ads that CFA says it found in Meta's ad library. These include ads promoting a "free government iPhone," as well as those claiming to offer $1,400 checks to people born in certain years. Many of the ads use AI videos, according to CFA.  
  Some of examples of alleged scam ads CFA includes in its lawsuit.CFA
  Meta's advertising practices have been in the spotlight since last year when Reuters reported on internal documents that indicated the company was making billions of dollars from ads promoting scams and banned goods. The report also highlighted how Meta's own processes have at times made it harder for its own employees to fight malicious advertisers.
  
  "Meta claims it is doing all it can to crack down on scam advertising on its platforms," CFA's lawsuit states. "But in reality, Meta has knowingly taken steps and adopted policies that pad its bottom line at the expense of its users’ safety and well-being. In fact, rather than prohibiting advertisers who the company itself has determined pose a higher risk to its users (as other tech companies like Google have), Meta just charges these advertisers more. The perverse result is that the riskier the advertiser, the more money Meta makes."
  
  CFA's allegations "misrepresent the reality of our work and we will fight them," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. "We aggressively combat scams across our platforms to protect people and businesses — last year alone, we removed over 159 million scam ads, 92% of which we took down before anyone reported them, and took down 10.9 million accounts on Facebook and Instagram associated with criminal scam centers. We fight scams because they are bad for business — people don't want them, advertisers don't want them, and we don't want them either.”
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-has-misled-users-about-scam-ads-on-facebook-and-instagram-lawsuit-says-193220235.html?src=rss

• New York Attorney General sues two prediction markets on illegal gambling allegations
  New York is the latest state to take a stand against prediction markets. Attorney General Letitia James has sued Coinbase Financial Markets and Gemini Titan on charges that both are illegally running unlicensed gambling operations. The suit also claims that these prediction markets violate state laws that prevent betting on games involving New York college sports teams. 
  
  "Gambling by another name is still gambling, and it is not exempt from regulation under our state laws and Constitution," James said. "Gemini and Coinbase’s so-called prediction markets are just illegal gambling operations, exposing young people to addictive platforms that lack the necessary guardrails."
  
  Multiple states have taken similar actions over the proliferation of prediction markets, but they may face a new roadblock at the federal level. Earlier this month, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued three of the states that have charged prediction markets with running unlicensed gambling. The CFTC claimed that it should be the sole regulator for prediction markets and called the efforts by Arizona, Connecticut and Illinois an overreach of authority.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/new-york-attorney-general-sues-two-prediction-markets-on-illegal-gambling-allegations-192012225.html?src=rss

• Florida AG opens criminal investigation into OpenAI and ChatGPT
  Florida Attorney General James Ulthmeier has announced that the state's Office of Statewide Prosecution has opened a criminal investigation into OpenAI and ChatGPT. The investigation was opened because the suspect in a mass shooting at Florida State University in 2025 reportedly used ChatGPT in the lead up to the shooting.
  
  Per Uthmeier, "Florida law states that anyone who aids, abets, or counsels someone in the commission of a crime, and that crime is committed or attempted, may be considered a principal to the crime." That means that the responses provided by ChatGPT to the shooter could be interpreted as the AI assistant aiding and abetting his actions. Or at least that's what Florida seems interested in arguing.
  
  OpenAI provided the following statement when asked to comment on the Florida investigation:
  
  Last year's mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime. After learning of the incident, we identified a ChatGPT account believed to be associated with the suspect and proactively shared this information with law enforcement. We continue to cooperate with authorities. In this case, ChatGPT provided factual responses to questions with information that could be found broadly across public sources on the internet, and it did not encourage or promote illegal or harmful activity. ChatGPT is a general-purpose tool used by hundreds of millions of people every day for legitimate purposes. We work continuously to strengthen our safeguards to detect harmful intent, limit misuse, and respond appropriately when safety risks arise.
  
  As part of the investigation, Florida has subpoenaed OpenAI for information on "all policies and internal training materials" related to how the company handles things like users threatening to harm others, threatening to harm themselves and how OpenAI responds to law enforcement. The state is also asking OpenAI to share its organizational chart and any publicly released statements on the shooting.
  
  "Florida is leading the way in cracking down on AI's use in criminal behavior, and if ChatGPT were a person, it would be facing charges for murder," Attorney General James Uthmeier said. "This criminal investigation will determine whether OpenAI bears criminal responsibility for ChatGPT's actions in the shooting at Florida State University last year."
  
  Florida’s investigation isn’t the first time OpenAI has been connected to a mass shooting. Canadian regulators called for OpenAI to change how it approaches threats of harm following a agreed to new policies around how it works with Canadian law enforcement in March. Separately, OpenAI is still in the midst of a wrongful death lawsuit from 2025 for the role it may have played in the suicide of a teenage user.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/florida-ag-opens-criminal-investigation-into-openai-and-chatgpt-190200227.html?src=rss

• ChatGPT Images 2.0 is better at rendering non-Latin text
  A little more than a year after OpenAI gave ChatGPT users the option to create images and designs directly from its chatbot, it9s now releasing ChatGPT Images 2.0. OpenAI describes the new system as a “step change” for image generation models, particularly when it comes to the tool’s ability to follow instructions in detail, render dense text and place and relate objects in a scene. For the first time, OpenAI has also built an image model with reasoning capabilities, giving the system the ability to do things like search the web and verify its outputs. According to the company, those capabilities should translate to a tool that9s more reliable when accuracy, consistency and visual cohesion are essential. 
  An example of ChatGPT9s new non-Latin rendering abilities. OpenAI
  OpenAI says it has also put in a lot of work to make Images 2.0 better at understanding and rendering non-Latin text, with "significant gains" when it comes to the model9s ability to handle Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Hindi and Bengali. At the same time, the company claims the new model is better at faithfully recreating the specific characteristics of different visual languages. On this point, OpenAI says that makes Images 2.0 more useful for tasks like game prototyping and storyboarding. Outside of those features, the new model is more flexible when it comes to aspect ratios, allowing it to generate images that are as wide as 3:1 and as tall as 1:3. It can also produce designs at resolutions of up to 2K, and even generate up to eight outputs in one go. 
  A tortoiseshell cat in the style of Pokemon9s third generation of games. ChatGPT
  I got a chance to preview Images 2.0 ahead of its public release. For my first prompt, I asked ChatGPT to generate an image of a tortoiseshell cat in the pixel art style of Pokémon9s third generation. I thought this would be a good test because AI models typically struggle with pixel art, and the Game Boy Advance Pokémon games are iconic for their art style, so much so that if ChatGPT merely approximated that style, it wouldn9t do. The result is the image you see above, and I think ChatGPT did a commendable job there. I then tasked the new model with converting that image into a transparent PNG. For one last test, I asked ChatGPT to create a four-page manga about my cat enjoying a sunny day by an idyllic city stream. 
  Notice how the cat isn9t render exactly like the one above it. ChatGPT
  Of those three tests, ChatGPT spent the most time on the second one and the output there was slightly different from the first image it generated, which I felt deviated from my prompt. Still, it managed to generate a proper transparent image, which is something other image models can struggle to do properly. Once more people have a chance to put the model through its paces, we’ll have a better idea of how it compares to Google’s Nano Banana 2, and where OpenAI can make additional improvements.
  A manga generated by ChatGPT about a cat enjoying a sunny day. ChatGPT
  Images 2.0 is available starting today for all ChatGPT users, including those on the company9s Free and Go tiers. Plus and Pro subscribers get access to more advanced outputs. OpenAI is also making the model available through its API service and Codex coding app, which just last week it updated to offer built-in image generation. Notably, Images 2.0 arrives just days after Anthropic waded into the visual design market with its own design assistant.  
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/chatgpt-images-20-is-better-at-rendering-non-latin-text-190000153.html?src=rss

• Netflix's Devil May Cry animated adaptation returns for a second season on May 12
  Netflix9s hit animated adaptation of the video game series Devil May Cry is returning for a second season on May 12. The streamer has released a full trailer alongside this announcement, after dropping a short teaser several months back.
  
  The new footage promises plenty of action and franchise fans will note that protagonist Dante now looks extremely similar to his counterpart from the games. This tracks with what series creator Adi Shankar said last year, when he promised that season two would show the character "embrace more of the iconic badassery fans of the game expect."
  
  The show, and the games, follow a half-demon demon hunter as he fights to prevent the gates of Hell from opening. The first season was a gigantic hit for the platform, racking up more than 5 million views in its first four days of release.
  
  Showrunner Shankar was heavily involved with the animated Castlevania adaptation, also for Netflix. Studio Mir is once again handling the animation, which is always great to see. This is the studio behind The Legend of Korra, X-Men 997, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts and My Adventures with Superman, among others. The first season of Devil May Cry looked gorgeous, so season two should follow suit.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/netflixs-devil-may-cry-animated-adaptation-returns-for-a-second-season-on-may-12-184003226.html?src=rss

• Framework is building an eGPU kit for its Laptop 16
  Framework’s Laptop 13 Pro may be the star of today’s launch, but it is by no means the only product the company is unveiling. We’re also seeing some quality-of-life upgrades for the Laptop 16, a new wireless keyboard and a carrying case. Plus, it’s addressing something a vast number of its own users have demanded for a while: A 10GB Ethernet expansion card.
  Laptop 16Framework
  The top deck of the Laptop 16 is sufficiently customizable that you can cram in any number of modules alongside the keyboard and trackpad. If you want an area blank, then you can just put in the requisite spacer, but that creates an unintended problem for some users. CEO Nirav Patel admitted the areas where the modules sit side-by-side can trap some people’s arm hairs, leading to some unplanned depilations when they move away from the deck. To solve this, the company is releasing a new all-in-one trackpad and all-in-one keyboard cover. The trackpad has also been updated to the same haptic model found in the 13 Pro. Plus, it’s now available with a lower-end Ryzen 5 340 mainboard as a more affordable entry level model.
  OCuLink Dev kit
  At the back of the Laptop 16 is an expansion module slot that either holds a blank unit or the discrete graphics hardware. Last year, the company launched a module with an RTX 5070 inside and, now, it’s started thinking about using it for eGPUs as well. The OCuLink Dev Kit (pictured, above) is a prototype board using OCuLink 8i which can connect directly to your mainboard over its native PCIe lanes.
  
  If you already own a blank module, you won’t need to buy a replacement either. Framework has ensured you can simply drop the OCuLink board into the slots of your existing one. As well as the board, the kit includes an OCuLink Dock that’ll let you slot in any off-the-shelf PCIe card — including GPUs, 100Gb Ethernet and video capture — and run it as if you had your very own desktop.
  
  Sadly, it’s not yet ready for prime time and so far all the company has said is we’ll see more about the hardware “later this year.”
  Wireless Touchpad KeyboardFramework
  “There’s one living room keyboard that everyone owns, that Logitech keyboard they haven’t updated in 15 years,” said Patel. “I’ve got two of them, polled the team, and a bunch of them all have the same keyboard,” he added. But Patel’s frustration drove him and his team to build their own, better model, which has been an idea since development work started on the Framework Desktop. It was only when the team learned that the Desktop was being used as a living room PC, however, that they actually brought it to market. It is, in fact, using the same excellent keyboard hardware as found on the Framework Laptop 12, repackaged for its all-in-one form.
  Laptop SleeveFramework
  Framework’s built a laptop sleeve containing extra pockets for your spare expansion cards and screwdriver. Patel said that the real focus was on ensuring the materials used had as small a carbon footprint as possible.
  10Gb Ethernet Expansion CardFramework / WisdPi
  Rounding out the announcements is a 10Gb Ethernet expansion card for users who want a faster wired internet experience than the current 2.5Gb model. But this isn’t a Framework product per-se, but was designed and developed by hardware makers Wisdpi. Patel said the community is so passionate that they’re constantly looking at new chip and hardware announcements. They then head to the company’s forums to ask “Hey, like, can we get a Framework version of this?” he explained. The advent of a slender 10Gb Ethernet chip was enough to inspire one third-party developer to build an Expansion Card module to harness it. “Basically, we got in contact with them,” said Patel and offered some guidance to help build the module. And once it was finished, Framework is now acting as a reseller to enable the whole community to easily buy it. Patel admitted that a 10Gb Ethernet Card would inevitably cater to a fairly niche customer, but “love to see a third party come in and fill that gap.”
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/framework-is-building-an-egpu-kit-for-its-laptop-16-181516238.html?src=rss

• Framework launches the Laptop 13 Pro with Intel's new Panther Lake chips
  Framework’s lineup of modular, repairable laptops has seen the company grow from a niche to the mainstream. Now, the company is launching a pro version of its 13-inch laptop, but it’s still held close to all of its principles. Because while this all-new version has plenty of bells and whistles, almost all of its components are still instantly compatible with the rest of the range. You can take a part from this new 13 Pro, and install it into the first-generation 13 launched back in 2021 without much fuss.
  
  Framework Laptop 13 Pro is touted as a “ground up redesign” of the existing 13, taking into account feedback from its dedicated and passionate users. That includes a far bigger battery, new chassis, new memory, haptic trackpad and a custom touch display. It also comes in black and, even in the press images, it’s immediately clear it’s a better color for the company’s austere industrial design. CEO Nirav Patel smiled knowingly when I said it’s immediately evocative of a ThinkPad, and I mean that in the most complimentary way.
  Framework
  The biggest change has been to boost the battery to 74Wh to address gripes about longevity. It’s the second time Framework has boosted the cell size, which started at 55Wh and presently runs to 61Wh. To make the battery fit, the bottom of the chassis has been redesigned, filling out the chamfers present on the existing 13. Framework says the Pro’s lifespan will hit 20 hours of uptime while streaming Netflix in 4K, and says it’ll post the videos to YouTube to prove it.
  
  Given the redesigned lower chassis, the new battery is the one part you can’t simply drop into an older machine. “You’ll need the new bottom cover to fit,” explained Patel, “but because we’ve also increased the thickness of the battery, you have to switch over to the new input cover that has the haptic trackpad.” Patel added while you may need to pair up some parts from upgrades, there’s no component that you can’t retrofit. The new chassis means the speakers are now side-firing, and are now Dolby Atmos-certified.
  
  The bigger battery is working in tandem with Intel’s new Core Ultra Series 3 chips which promise to be incredibly efficient. Both Intel and Framework are sure the Panther Lake silicon is going to sip at that beefy battery, but with enough grunt to play AAA games. Users will get the pick of a Core Ultra 5, X7 or X9, with the promise all of them will be able to eat a game like Cyberpunk 2077 for breakfast, lunch and dinner. At the same time, the Pro will also launch with an AMD Ryzen AI 300 series mainboard option, which are the same mainboards found on the 2025 Laptop 13.��
  Framework
  The last major shift has been in the RAM, going from regular SO-DIMMs to LPCAMM2. The newer hardware design enables the use of LPDDR5X RAM with its better power efficiency and faster memory bandwidth. And it’s not soldered to the board, so you can add in more at some unspecified future date. Which is important if, I dunno, for some reason the global RAM market suddenly crunches and you need to mortgage a kidney for a single stick.
  
  Naturally, I wanted to know how this would impact the laptop’s thermals, Framework’s weak spot. Patel said the mainboard’s cooling has been tweaked (once again), this time with some extra help from Intel. He added the Pro he was using to run our call hadn’t spun up its fans in half an hour which, for a Framework, is a big deal. As always, I’ll reserve judgment until I’ve seen the thing in person.
  
  The Pro is also a way for Patel to fix some of the compromises the company had to make at its genesis. “As a startup six years ago, we just didn’t have access,” said Patel, “when we go to a display vendor [now] and say ‘we want a custom panel’ they say ‘okay, let’s talk specs’ rather than ‘who are you?”’ The 13 Pro ships with a 13.5-inch, 3:2, 2,880 x 1,920 touch display with a variable refresh rate between 30 and 120Hz. Its backlight pushes all the way to 700nits, it has a 1800:1 contrast ratio and per-unit color calibration.
  
  I was surprised the 13 Pro has touch given it’s still a 13-inch productivity notebook without a wraparound hinge. “All the way back in 2021, when we first launched, we were getting asked for touch support,” said Patel. But the company was naturally resistant, assuming touch was an unnecessary addition for a machine of this class. It was only when building the Laptop 12 did the team find it to be quite useful. “It was a slam dunk. We know people want it, we used it on the 12, we like it and it doesn’t actually cost that much. Let’s just add it in,” said Patel.
  Framework
  Framework knows touchpads are a weak spot for Windows laptops when compared to those made by Apple. Consequently, the Pro 13 has a haptic touchpad with four piezo elements that, it’s hoped, will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a MacBook Pro. The new input cover keeps the came keyboard and fingerprint sensor, wisely not touching a feature that isn’t broken and doesn’t need fixing. What is cool, however, is the more punky gray and black aesthetic on the keyboard that splits the difference between a ThinkPad and a cyberdeck. “A big part of this goes back to the idea to build the ultimate developer laptop,” said Patel.
  
  Existing Framework owners may be concerned about how this will affect their machine’s longevity. The company might not like me saying, but to me, the Pro name is only meaningful if you’re buying a new machine off the shelf with the new features in one package. There’s nothing stopping you from upgrading your existing machine to match the pro in one go, or as your needs evolve. That’s fundamentally the company’s greatest strength, since it has committed to bringing every single one of its existing users along. But doesn’t make for the splashiest headlines when it comes to debut a new product.
  
  Framework Laptop 13 Pro is available to pre-order today, with the first shipments due to start in June. The base-model pre-built Windows system will start at $1,699, while the DIY model will set you back $1,199.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/framework-launches-the-laptop-13-pro-with-intels-new-panther-lake-chips-181503934.html?src=rss

• Monterey Park, California has banned any data centers within its city limits
  Monterey Park9s city council has moved to ban construction of any data centers within its borders. The California city9s leaders placed a permanent ban on these buildings, labelling them a public nuisance. A proposed plan to construct a 250,000 square foot data center was stopped after residents and advocates pushed back against the project. 
  
  Tech journalist Brian Merchant reported on the public comment phase of the city council meeting where residents spoke decisively about data centers. "I can tell you that this issue has brought left, right and center together. It’s a quality of life issue," one commenter said. "Don’t let the rich steal our future."
  
  Monterey Park may be the first US city to lay down the law blocking data center projects, but others are primed to follow suit. New York9s state leadership is working on legislation that would prevent data center construction for three years. Maine has a similar bill that has already made it to the governor9s desk. At the federal level, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) have proposed a ban on building new data centers until there are more guardrails in place for AI development and environmental security. 
  
  Existing facilities have also faced some pushback. For instance, the NAACP is suing xAI for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at its data center in South Memphis.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/monterey-park-california-has-banned-any-data-centers-within-its-city-limits-180426656.html?src=rss

• NASA's Curiosity Rover found promising organic chemicals on Mars
  The search for signs of life on Mars continues to yield promising data. A first-of-its-kind wet chemistry experiment, published Tuesday in Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) mobile instrument suite analyzed the data.
  
  The experiment was unique as the first off-Earth study to use the chemical tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH). The reagent allows Curiosity to break down larger organic molecules on the Martian surface, reducing them to something the rover's instruments can read.
  
  It revealed the presence of over 20 different organic molecules. Among the data was confirmation of naphthalene and benzothiophene, some of the largest and most complex organic compounds discovered on the Red Planet. The experiment also yielded the first detection of a possible N-heterocycles, which DNA and RNA are built upon.
  
  
  NASA
  “That detection is pretty profound because these structures can be chemical precursors to more complex nitrogen-bearing molecules,” the paper’s lead author, Amy Williams, wrote in NASA’s announcement. “Nitrogen heterocycles have never been found before on the Martian surface or confirmed in Martian meteorites.”
  
  As with previous discoveries of organic material on Mars, this one is not yet the smoking gun we've been waiting for. But it adds to a growing body of evidence that, at a minimum, the foundations of life as we know it were present on an ancient version of the planet. The study also confirms that organic material can survive on Mars for billions of years, which will encourage future experiments.
  
  The paper's authors say the data will help NASA to optimize its second (and final) TMAH experiment on Curiosity. It also opens the door to future TMAH tests on the Rosalind Franklin Mars rover and the Dragonfly mission to Saturn's moon, Titan. Both missions are scheduled for 2028 at the earliest.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasas-curiosity-rover-found-promising-organic-chemicals-on-mars-174514375.html?src=rss

• Silo's season 3 trailer takes us back to how it all began
  The relatively long wait for the third season of Silo is nearly over. Apple TV just announced the dystopian sci-fi hit returns on July 3, with episodes airing each Friday until September 4. We have long championed this show, calling it "another gem" for the platform.
  
  The streamer has dropped a short teaser for the upcoming season and it confirms rumors of an increased focus on the "before times" via a storyline that was introduced in the finale of season two. The trailer depicts scenes from both time periods, as protagonist Juliette, played by Rebecca Ferguson, speaks in voiceover.
  
  "Before we can know why we’re here. Before we can know everything is as it is. Before we know how it all will end, we need to understand how it all began,” she says, alluding to the creation of the various bunkers littered throughout the post-apocalyptic wasteland.
  
  For the uninitiated, Silo is an adaptation of Hugh Howey's Wool series of books. It's primarily set in the titular silo, a society of around 10,000 people living deep underground. The show is sort of like Fallout, but without the radioactive monsters and nihilistic sense of humor.
  
  Silo stars Ferguson, along with Tim Robbins, Common and Steve Zahn. Cast members joining the show for season three include Colin Hanks, Jessica Henwick and Ashley Zukerman. The show has already been renewed for a fourth and final season.
  
  This is a busy summer for sci-fi on Apple TV. The second season of Dark Matter premieres on August 28, which is uncharted territory as the first season was based on a book that doesn't have a sequel. Star City, a spinoff of For All Mankind, premieres on May 29. This is the same day that For All Mankind concludes its fifth and penultimate season.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/silos-season-3-trailer-takes-us-back-to-how-it-all-began-171033410.html?src=rss

• Oppo announces the Find X9 Ultra with a 50MP 10x optical zoom telephoto camera
  Elbowing for attention alongside Vivo and Xiaomi, Oppo has finally launched its long-teased “ultra” version of its flagship smartphone. The Find X9 Ultra is another camera-first smartphone from Oppo, with an even more impressive spec sheet and a new array of accessories. We’re not even halfway through 2026 and we’ve been spoiled with choices, whether it’s the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra (with or without Leica livery) or Vivo’s X300 Ultra.
  
  The Find X9 Pro was already a powerful, capable camera phone. So, what’s changed with the Ultra? We’ve had the base device for over a week, but we’re waiting on the upgraded telephoto converter kit to land before we tackle a more in-depth review.
  
  There are several design changes, starting with the two color options. Canyon Orange looks similar to Oppo’s recent flagship phones, with a subtle etched finish meant to replicate the Grand Canyon. Meanwhile, Hasselblad fans might prefer the other option: a woodland-themed Tundra Umber, inspired by the camera maker’s X2D. Oppo says this colorway channels “Scandinavian minimalism and the raw elegance of glaciers.” Together at last.
  Image by Mat Smith for Engadget
  Perhaps due to all the camera hardware, it’s a big, thick phone with the camera unit protruding noticeably from the back. The camera array on the Ultra now has a subtle hexagonal design, apparently a nod to camera history — and that Hasselblad partnership. That area has a circular, metal frame, like many of Oppo’s rivals. The edges of the camera unit are knurled, which helps you to grip the device when taking photos. Unlike Xiaomi’s recent Ultra phone, the ring doesn’t act as a zoom control, but Oppo and Hasselblad’s “Earth Explorer Kit” for the Find X9 Ultra adds a very understated camera grip with a zoom lever.
  
  Putting last year’s Find X9 Pro next to the X9 Ultra, the Ultra model looks more modern, more advanced and more powerful. And it is. The Ultra has Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, a notable step up from the MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chip found on last year’s Find 9 Pro.
  
  There’s also a 7,050mAh silicon-carbon battery that supports 100W SUPERVOOC charging. Oppo says it has included the “industry’s first” encapsulated thermal unit to keep temperatures under control when pushing the device hard, such as recording high-resolution video for extended periods. The display screams expensive Android flagship, too. The 6.82-inch 144Hz display can reach up to 3,600 nits of peak HDR brightness and drop to 1 nit in low-lit situations.
  Image by Mat Smith for Engadget
  It’s all about the cameras, however. The Find X9 Ultra’s main camera is a 200-megapixel sensor. At 1/1.12 inches, Oppo says it’s the largest 200MP sensor in a phone yet. It has a low f/1.5 aperture, too. This was my ‘main’ camera when I first started taking the X9 Ultra out to shoot sample photos. After all, bigger sensors mean more detail, and more ability to crop for tighter zoomed shots. With a mixture of streetlights, neon signs and more, I was impressed by the color accuracy. Oppo has embedded a new True Color Camera into the Find X9 Ultra’s camera module, which works across stills and video. Still, if you’re demanding punchy, high-contrast images, there’s an array of Hasselblad filters and effects for playing with, too.
  Image by Mat Smith for Engadget
  There’s also a 3x Telephoto camera, with another (different!) 200MP sensor and f/2.2 aperture. This is the camera that the new teleconverter lens attaches to. There’s something appealing about having an instant 3x zoom camera, even though it gets a little lost among the cropped focal-length equivalents in the camera app. In fact, Oppo claims that the Find X9 Ultra offers the equivalent of eight focal lengths. Sadly, I noticed some differences in color temperature and light sensitivity as the Find X9 Ultra hopped between all those camera sensors while I tested different zoom levels.
  Images by Mat Smith for Engadget
  The next camera is another telephoto, with an impressive 10x zoom with a 50 megapixel sensor. We’ve seen 10x zoom on phones before, like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, but never at such high resolution. Oppo added support for its Portrait mode here, even at full zoom. You can also crop in for a 20x zoom, but the results didn’t blow me away in early testing. At 10x zoom, though, I was impressed. That’s a lot of zoom before even thinking about attaching a teleconverter.
  
  Oppo isn’t going quite as hard on video as its rival (and distant corporate relative) Vivo, but the Find X9 Ultra can capture 4K 60 fps video with Dolby Vision. It’s also the first Oppo smartphone capable of recording 8K video at 30 fps. For those looking to dig into video detail, Oppo has launched a new log profile, O-Log2. The company says this will help reveal greater shadow detail and reduce image smearing — it’s something else I’m itching to try once the teleconverter lands.
  Images by Mat Smith for Engadget
  Like Vivo9s X300 Ultra, Oppo’s newest phone is certified for the Academy Color Encoding System (ACES), so videographers can integrate its footage into professional workflows. You can also load third-party LUTs (look-up tables) directly onto the device to monitor custom color grades in real time and see how they look in the on-device preview.
  
  As is often the case with Chinese phone makers, there’s a lavish accessory kit to build on the smartphone’s shooting talents. Oppo’s Hasselblad Explorer case adds a two-stage focus button and the aforementioned zoom controls. The case has the same muted black and clay colors as the Tundra Umber edition of the Find X9 Ultra. Then there’s the new Hasselblad 300mm Explorer Teleconverter. The magnification ratio of the teleconverter has been increased from 3.28x on Find X9 Pro to around 4.3x on the Find X9 Ultra. The lens mounts directly onto the 200-megapixel 3x telephoto lens, upgrading it to a heady 13x optical zoom.
  Image by Mat Smith for Engadget
  This is also the biggest smartphone telephoto lens yet, dwarfing both the Find X9 Pro’s add-on and Vivo’s not-petite 400mm teleconverter. The companies chose different combinations of camera sensors and lenses, making spec sheet comparisons a little trickier, but Oppo’s latest accessory is certainly the largest thus far. I can’t wait to see how the Find X9 Ultra’s photos fare against images from the Vivo X300 Ultra, though. In the Find X9 Ultra’s favor, it has an iPhone 17 Pro-like touch-sensitive button for quickly launching the camera, something I missed on Vivo’s new flagship.
  
  Unfortunately, there is no cross-compatibility among previous Oppo teleconverters and phones. The company says this is to ensure optimal image quality, but it’ll disappoint faithful Oppo fans hoping to carry over the expensive camera accessories from previous years. The company has learned some lessons from the Find X9 Pro, with a new telephoto adapter that can be left mounted on the phone without obscuring the other camera lenses.
  
  On first impression, the Find X9 Ultra is shaping up to be another powerful camera phone, with another hard-to-actually-buy caveat. The Find X9 Ultra will arrive in parts of Asia and Europe. In the UK, it’s set to launch on May 8th, priced at £1,449 (roughly $1,959). While there’s no US release planned, we’ll update this story when we hear more details on the global launch. Once the telephoto add-on arrives, I’m excited to put it through its paces. I’ve got its rival from Vivo too, so it’s time for the battle of the teleconverters.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/oppo-find-x9-ultra--50mp-10x-optical-zoom-telephoto-release-date-price-170052539.html?src=rss

• Xbox cuts Game Pass prices but new Call of Duty games will no longer hit the service on day one
  Xbox is cutting the prices of both Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, effective immediately, but there’s one big caveat. First, the good news: Game Pass Ultimate now costs $23 per month, down from $30. PC Game Pass will now run you $14 a month instead of $16.50. The Xbox team noted in a blog post that prices may vary by region.
  
  That’s a smart, much-needed decision. In a memo that leaked last week, new Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma expressed concern over the high price of Game Pass, stating that it “has become too expensive for players, so we need a better value equation. Long term, we will evolve Game Pass into a more flexible system which will take time to test and learn around." Sharma reiterated that publicly in a post on X.
  Game Pass Ultimate has become too expensive for too many players. Starting today, we’re dropping the price from $29.99 to $22.99/month.
  Future Call of Duty titles will no longer join Game Pass Ultimate on day one. They will join this tier the following holiday after launch (about…
  — Asha (@asha_shar) April 21, 2026
  In October, Microsoft increased Game Pass Ultimate to $30 per month, which was a 50 percent price hike. It was the second time in 15 months that the company had jacked up the monthly fee, making it an unjustifiable expense for many. The price of a PC Game Pass subscription also rose by $4.50 per month, and now Microsoft is bringing that back down a bit too.
  
  “Our players cover a wide breadth of geographies, preferences, and tastes, so while there isn’t a single model that’s best for everyone, this change responds to a lot of feedback we’ve gotten so far,” the Xbox team wrote. “ We’ll continue to listen and learn.”
  
  There is one giant tradeoff here: new Call of Duty games will no longer be available on Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass on day one. They’ll eventually hit those tiers about a year later, during the following holiday season. That means Call of Duty titles will be the only first-party Xbox games that don’t hit Game Pass on their release date.
  
  This, of course, is an attempt to generate more revenue from one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world. Call of Duty is a major reason why Microsoft shelled out $68.7 billion to buy Activision Blizzard a few years back. While Call of Duty fans on PlayStation still had to pay full price for the last few annual releases to play them as soon as possible, Xbox and PC players have been able to hop in to them via Game Pass. (There’s still no sign of Call of Duty on Switch or Switch 2 as yet!)
  
  There had been rumors that Microsoft would carve out Call of Duty from the current versions of Game Pass and give those tiers a price cut. Chatter suggests that the company may introduce yet another, higher-level Game Pass tier (or an add-on) that will include day-one Call of Duty games, but there’s no official word of that as yet.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/xbox-cuts-game-pass-prices-but-new-call-of-duty-games-will-no-longer-hit-the-service-on-day-one-163636536.html?src=rss

• LG's super-thin Wallpaper OLED TV starts at $5,500
  The single most impressive piece of technology I saw at CES this year was LG’s revamped Wallpaper TV, AKA the OLED evo w6. It’s about as thin as a typical pencil, it’s completely wireless and it packs in all of LG’s latest OLED technology, giving it incredibly rich colors and anti-reflective capabilities. We ended up giving the Wallpaper set our best TV of CES 2026 award, simply because it looked so damn good. Now, we finally know how much it costs: LG announced the 77-inch evo w6 will go for $5,500, while the 83-inch model will sell for $7,500.
  
  Both sets are a $1,000 premium over the OLED evo G6 models, which are LG’s highest-end TVs without the company’s super-thin Wallpaper tech. While the thicker sets are obviously a better deal, there’s still something inherently impressive about the Wallpaper models. For many people, the simple “wow factor” of the evo W6’s design will be worth the extra $1,000.
  
  If that all sounds too rich for your blood, LG’s mainstream OLED sets are far cheaper, starting at $1,399 for the 43-inch C6 set. And if you don’t need the latest OLED panels around, it’s worth keeping an eye out for deals around older models. I’ve seen 65-inch C5 sets for near $1,000, and 77-inch TVs for around $1,500. Those older sets will be a bit less bright, and probably show more reflections, but in a dim room they’ll still have all the benefits of OLED: Incredibly high contrast, and ridiculously dark black levels.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/lgs-super-thin-wallpaper-oled-tv-starts-at-5500-163415130.html?src=rss

• Google now lets you have full conversations with Gemini for Home
  Google announced today that it is upgrading the Gemini for Home service with a "continued conversations" feature. Continued conversation allows a user to have a natural discussion with the Gemini platform without prefacing every follow-up request with the "Hey Google" prompt. The microphone will remain active on a smart device for a few seconds after the Gemini AI assistant provides its reply. During that window, the lights on the hardware will pulse or glow, indicating that you can keep chatting normally with the chatbot without needing a wake word. Gemini should retain the context as the conversation progresses, which should allow it to provide the desired information faster without the need for a user to repeat key details.
  
  The feature is rolling out today for all Gemini for Home voice assistant languages and in all supported regions. Continued conversations have to be manually enabled in the Google Home app through the settings menu under "Gemini for Home voice assistant." Google said that Gemini should be able to distinguish between follow-up questions addressed to the chatbot and other conversations happening in a room, but it should be interesting to track how successful that is given the past history of voice assistants unintentionally eavesdropping. 
  
  Continued conversation was an option under the Google Assistant platform, but it had more limited availability. Google has been preparing Gemini for Home as a replacement for Google Assistant platform since the fall.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/google-now-lets-you-have-full-conversations-with-gemini-for-home-160000511.html?src=rss

• Samsung brings SmartThings integration to IKEA's Matter devices
  Samsung is expanding the SmartThings connectivity platform to include many IKEA products. The company promises "seamless integration" with the furniture giant's Matter-over-Thread devices, which include stuff like smart lights, air quality sensors, remote controls and smart plugs.
  
  This is great news for IKEA fans who want to bark orders at a smart assistant to turn the lights off and on, as Samsung says users will be able to "effortlessly incorporate" these gadgets into daily life. The SmartThings platform allows for advanced home automation routines.
  Samsung
  Samsung says it "built enhanced integrations" for IKEA's devices and that the two companies "conducted multiple rounds of validation to enhance connectivity stability and implemented a dedicated user experience within the SmartThings app for full compatibility." This should translate into a plug-and-play experience with minimal frustration.
  
  The caveat here is that Matter is already supposed to offer a plug-and-play experience, without the need for this kind of intensive platform-specific work to get things going. IKEA customers have had serious problems connecting the company's Matter devices to networks. Matter is supposed to offer a comprehensive smart home integration solution to manufacturers, but that doesn't look to be working out.
  
  Samsung has steadily been improving the SmartThings platform. It recently integrated Siri voice commands.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/samsung-brings-smartthings-integration-to-ikeas-matter-devices-151819629.html?src=rss

• Splatoon Raiders lands on Nintendo Switch 2 on July 23
  
  Nintendo has padded out the Switch 2 release slate for this summer by revealing that Splatoon Raiders is coming to the console on July 23. This is the first spinoff in the series and while it9s a "single-player-focused Splatoon game," there is a multiplayer element. Nintendo announced release an Amiibo pack featuring the three members of Deep Cut.
  
  The company also confirmed there9s a multiplayer mode in Splatoon Raiders. You9ll be able to team up with as many as three friends locally or online to take on raids together. 
  Don’t abandon the squad just yet – #SplatoonRaiders also lets you invite up to three friends to join you on raids via local wireless or online multiplayer! pic.twitter.com/lpmGMHtHv0
  — Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) April 21, 2026
  
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/splatoon-raiders-lands-on-nintendo-switch-2-on-july-23-140447901.html?src=rss

• Chipolo and Secrid team up for a new trackable wallet
  Chipolo has built a name for itself as the independent tracking company which happily integrates its products with both Apple and Google’s item-finding networks. Today, it’s announcing a partnership with wallet maker Secrid that, if you haven’t guessed already, sees the pair launch a compatible miniwallet. The Chipolo x Secrid Miniwallet Trackable is tailor-made to suit Chipolo’s Card tracker and accentuate all of its positives.
  
  For instance, the tracker sits on the back of the wallet, with the Find button accessible from the outside to make it easier to find your phone. If you misplace your device, you can simply press the button and follow the noise back to whichever couch cushions it slid between. Even better, the wallet is designed to amplify the Card’s speaker, ensuring you’ll never not hear it when it goes off. The pair claim that the unit will boost the sound by up to 3dB, for the far more likely these days event you misplace your wallet.
  
  The pair are also buffing the hardware’s sustainability credentials, made in the EU from responsibly sourced materials. And the tracker itself is made from 50 percent recycled plastic and has a wirelessly rechargeable battery that’ll regain all of its mojo after just two hours sat on a Qi pad. If any, or all of that, appeals, then you can order it from today for $140, €120 or £120, depending on your local currency.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/chipolo-and-secrid-team-up-for-a-new-trackable-wallet-130035324.html?src=rss

• John Ternus will be CEO of Apple when Tim Cook steps down this fall
  Apple CEO Tim Cook is officially stepping down from his role on September 1, the company announced today, while current SVP of hardware engineering John Ternus will take over as the new CEO. Cook will transition to a new role as executive chairman of Apple’s Board of Directors. The company says the move was “approved unanimously” by Apple’s Board, and that Cook will work on transitioning his duties over the summer.
  
  “It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company,” Cook said in a statement. “I love Apple with all of my being, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a team of such ingenious, innovative, creative, and deeply caring people who have been unwavering in their dedication to enriching the lives of our customers and creating the best products and services in the world.”
  
  Cook became CEO of Apple in 2011 following the death of co-founder Steve Jobs, and he led the charge for Apple’s post-iPhone and iPad era by launching the AirPods, Apple Watch and Vision Pro. He also pushed the company into being more of a service provider with the launch of Apple TV and Apple Music. While he’s had a strong reputation as a logistics-oriented executive, Cook has been criticized for lacking the product vision that Jobs was known for.
  
  Ternus, on the other hand, has been focused on product design since joining Apple in 2001. He became VP of hardware engineering in 2013, and later transitioned to a senior executive role in 2021. Ternus was also prominently featured at the MacBook Neo launch a few months ago, where Apple announced a low-cost yet high-quality notebook that encapsulates its unique place in the PC industry.
  
  “I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to carry Apple’s mission forward,” Ternus said in a statement. “Having spent almost my entire career at Apple, I have been lucky to have worked under Steve Jobs and to have had Tim Cook as my mentor. It has been a privilege to help shape the products and experiences that have changed so much of how we interact with the world and with one another.”
  
  Cook published a community letter timed for the announcement, which we’ve included below:
  
  
  
  To the Apple community:
  
  For the past 15 years I’ve started just about every morning the same way. I open my email and I read notes I received the day before from Apple’s users all over the world.
  
  You share little pieces of your lives with me and tell me things you want me to know about how Apple has touched you. About the moment your mom was saved by her Apple Watch. About the perfect selfie you captured at the summit of a mountain that seemed impossible to climb. You thank me for the ways Mac has changed what you can do at work and sometimes give me a hard time because something you care about isn’t working like it should.
  
  In every one of those emails I feel the beating heart of our shared humanity. I feel a sense of deepening obligation to work harder and push further. But most of all, I feel a gratitude that I cannot put into words, that I somehow got to be the person on the other end of those emails, the leader of a company that ignites imaginations and enriches lives in such profound ways it defies description. What an honor and a privilege it has been.
  
  Today we announced that I’m taking the next step in my journey at Apple. Over the coming months I will be transitioning into a new role, leaving the CEO job behind in September and becoming Apple’s executive chairman. A new person will be stepping into what I know in my heart is the best job in the world. That leader is John Ternus, a brilliant engineer and thinker who has spent the past 25 years building the Apple products our users love so much, obsessed with every detail, focused on every possible way we can make something better, bolder, more beautiful, and more meaningful. He is the perfect person for the job.
  
  John cares so much about who we are at Apple, what we do at Apple, who we reach at Apple, and he has the heart and character to lead with extraordinary integrity. I am so proud to call him Apple’s next CEO. This company will reach such incredible heights under his leadership, and you will feel his impact in every bit of delight and discovery that grows out of the products and services to come. I can’t wait for you to get to know him like I do.
  
  This is not goodbye. But at this moment of transition, I wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you. Not on behalf of the company, this time, though there is a wellspring of gratitude for you that overflows inside our walls. But simply on behalf of me. Tim. A person who grew up in a rural place in a different time and, for these magical moments, got to be the CEO of the greatest company in the world. Thank you for the confidence and kindness you’ve shown me. Thank you for saying hi to me on the street and in our stores. Thank you for cheering alongside me when we unveiled a new product or service. Thank you, most of all, for believing in me to lead the company that has always put you at the center of our work. Every day we get up and think about what we can do to make your life a little bit better. And every day, you’ve made mine the best I could have asked for.
  
  Thank you.
  
  Meanwhile, the newly named chief hardware officer, Johny Srouji, reportedly told employees that his division’s staff members will be divided to work on five key areas. According to Bloomberg, staffers working on hardware will be organized into hardware engineering, silicon, advanced technologies, platform architecture and project management teams. Apple reportedly plans to add thousands of employees to work on its iPhones, iPads, Macs, Watches and other products, as well.
  
  Update, April 21, 2026, 8:05AM ET: This story has been updated to add information about the hardware team’s new structure.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/tim-cook-will-step-down-as-204959434.html?src=rss

• Amazon allegedly pressured companies to raise product prices with other retailers
  Rob Bonta, the Attorney General of California, has released an unredacted copy of a legal document that the state filed in relation to its lawsuit against Amazon, containing details of the company’s alleged price fixing scheme. In it, the state of California accuses the e-commerce company of reaching out to brands and asking them to “fix” the retail prices of their products on competitors’ websites. Due to Amazon’s “overwhelming bargaining leverage” and out of fear of punishment, the brands agree to raise their products’ prices on other retailers like Walmart and Target or to remove them altogether, the filing reads.
  
  California filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing Amazon of price fixing back in 2022. It said the company prevented sellers from offering lower prices on other sites and that vendors risked losing buy buttons and prominent listings if they defied Amazon. In February this year, Bonta filed for a preliminary injunction, asking the court to put a stop to Amazon’s “illegal conduct” while the state’s lawsuit is ongoing and waiting to go to trial next year.
  
  In the unredacted filing, California said that Amazon instructs vendors and brands to increase their prices on other retailers and threatens them with “significant penalties for failure to comply.” State officials gave several examples in the filing, including one incident wherein Amazon allegedly emailed security systems provider Arlo.
  
  The company talked to Arlo about “external price matching,” along with a screenshot of one of its cameras on Walmart, noting that its price of $549.93 “did not go back up.” Arlo reportedly responded that it would get it addressed, and Amazon told the company to “get [it] corrected by EOD.” Afterward, Arlo sent Amazon a screenshot, showing the same Walmart page now listing the camera’s price at $649.99. Amazon ended the conversation by thanking Arlo for its “quick action.” Other samples include Amazon asking Levi’s to “resolve” the lower prices of its khaki pants on Walmart and Hanes to increase the prices of its clothing items on Walmart and Target.
  
  Amazon shrugged off the filing’s release and called California’s case against the company weak. “The Attorney General’s motion is a transparent attempt to distract from the weakness of its case, coming more than three years after filing its complaint and based on supposedly ‘new’ evidence it has had for years,” an Amazon spokesperson told Engadget. “Amazon is consistently identified as America’s lowest-priced online retailer, and we’re proud of the low prices customers find when shopping in our store. Amazon looks forward to responding in court at the appropriate time.”
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/amazon-allegedly-pressured-companies-to-raise-product-prices-with-other-retailers-115302642.html?src=rss

• The Morning After: The next CEO of Apple will be hardware exec John Ternus
  Apple’s current SVP of hardware engineering John Ternus will take over as the new CEO when Tim Cook steps down this September. Cook said in a statement: “It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company.”
  
  Following the death of co-founder Steve Jobs, Cook led the charge for Apple’s post-iPhone and iPad era, launching the AirPods, Apple Watch and Vision Pro. He also turned the company into a service provider with the launch of Apple TV, Apple Music and several other subscription services. Cook will transition to a new role as executive chairman of Apple’s Board of Directors.
  
  Ternus joined Apple in 2001 and became VP of hardware engineering in 2013, later transitioning to a senior executive role in 2021. You might have spotted Ternus being prominently featured at the MacBook Neo launch a few months ago. Expect to see a lot more of him.
  
  — Mat Smith
  The other big stories this morning
  DaVinci Resolve 21 hands-on: A viable Lightroom alternative for casual users
  
  The Mandalorian and Grogu director used Apple Vision Pro to preview the film in IMAX
  
  Palantir posted a manifesto that reads like the ramblings of a comic book villain
  
  Meta is testing a WhatsApp Plus subscription
  
  Artemis II commander shares a view of Earth vanishing behind the MoonWho else has seen an Earthset? Apollo 17.Beijing9s robot half-marathon is back for its second yearAnd far less embarrassing results.
  This year9s edition of the robot half-marathon hosted more than 100 competitors, with first place going to Honor and its red-clad robot named Lightning. Last year9s event featured many bipedal robots receiving assistance from human operators who ran alongside them, along with some comical mishaps. According to the BBC, around 40 percent of the robots competed autonomously this year, while the rest were remote-controlled.
  
  Dyson PencilVac Fluffycones reviewAlmost the perfect floor cleaner for tiny apartments.Engadget
  The PencilVac is light, mobile and easy to use, making it great for smaller living spaces and quick clean-ups. However, it struggles with thicker carpet and rugs. It could be perfect for a future-forward witch costume next Halloween, though.
  
  Continue reading.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-111546149.html?src=rss

• Yelp's AI chatbot can now make your dinner reservation
  Every business seems to think that its customers want more AI. Yelp is the latest to add more artificial intelligence tools. The review site has upgraded its Yelp Assistant, an agentic AI chatbot, to work across all of Yelp9s categories. Yelp Assistant was initially launched in 2024 with a limited scope and then expanded in 2025.
  
  With the latest update to its chatbot, Yelp Assistant can handle natural language queries for finding a specific local business. It can also be used to take some additional actions, such as making a restaurant reservation or ordering takeout. Yelp9s spring product updates introduced new third-party integrations with Vagaro, ZocDoc and Calendly. Yelp Assistant can also use these integrated services for booking appointments in related fields. The chatbot now has a dedicated Assistant tab in the iOS and Android apps, and it can also be accessed directly from business pages for certain fields, such as restaurants and retail shops. A desktop version is planned for later in 2026.
  
  Other AI features coming to Yelp include a personalized home page on mobile and extra photo discovery tools.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/yelps-ai-chatbot-can-now-make-your-dinner-reservation-110000661.html?src=rss

• Homeland Security reportedly wants to develop smart glasses for ICE
  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reportedly developing smart glasses that could be used to collect intelligence on immigrants and US citizens, journalist Ken Klippenstein reported. The devices would help ICE agents identify "illegal aliens" from a distance by capturing video and comparing it to biometric data like facial recognition and walking gait, according to budget documents seen by Klippenstein. The DHS wants to deploy the "ICE Glasses" by September 2027. 
  
  "The project will deliver innovative hardware, such as operational prototypes of smart glasses, to equip agents with real-time access to information and biometric identification capabilities in the field," the document states. The glasses could allow agents to compare observed subjects against existing biometric databases and identify them in real time during interactions. 
  
  Such devices could help make surveillance of US residents "ubiquitous," according to the report. "It might be portrayed as seeking to identify illegal aliens on the streets, but the reality is that a push in this direction affects all Americans, particularly protestors," a DHS lawyer speaking on the condition of anonymity told Klippenstein. 
  
  The deployment of such devices is worrying to civil liberty groups, particularly in light of recent law enforcement activities under the Trump administration. The FBI was reportedly directed by the Department of Justice to "compile a list of groups or entities" who demonstrate "anti-Americanism," according to a previous Klippenstein investigation. 
  
  It's not the first time smart glasses have come up in reports about the DHS. An investigation by The Independent last month found that ICE and Border Patrol agents in six states were using Meta's AI smart glasses of their own accord, in possible violation of DHS rules. Congress has reportedly been notified of the DHS's Ice Glasses project but has yet to comment publicly. 
  
   
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/homeland-security-reportedly-wants-to-develop-smart-glasses-for-ice-093449347.html?src=rss

• Sennheiser launches HD 480 Pro, the closed-back headphones fans have been waiting for
  Sennheiser has introduced a new high-end headphone set for audio professionals. The HD 480 Pro is essentially a closed-back reimagining of the company9s popular HD 490 Pro headset. Both headphones are designed for audio professionals, aiming to fit both a studio or a live performance setting. The company is positioning this product as a versatile option that can handle recording, monitoring, producing or mixing.
  
  The HD 480 Pro aims to address two complaints for closed-back headsets: comfort for long wearing sessions and accurate bass reproduction. Sennheiser uses what it dubs a "Vibration Attenuation System" to prevent distortions or reflections in the audio signal. The cable can be detached and used on the left or right side in order to accommodate different setups. 
  
  To address comfort, the HD 480 Pro uses some of the same proprietary fit features as the HD 490 Pro, including cushioned pads at the temples for people also wearing glasses and a design that maintains equal contact pressure for any head shape. 
  
  The headphones will retail for $479 and the set comes with recording earpads, a 9-foot coiled cable and a carrying bag. A travel case is available for $15.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/sennheiser-launches-hd-480-pro-the-closed-back-headphones-fans-have-been-waiting-for-080000727.html?src=rss

• Instagram says a bug turned your photos black and white
  If Instagram has been turning your color photo posts into black and white recently, don’t worry, there’s no problem with your camera or your account. The Meta-owned app has confirmed to Engadget that the issue is caused by a bug that’s affecting HDR photos in particular. "Earlier today, a technical issue caused some HDR photos to appear incorrectly as black-and-white for a subset of accounts,” Instagram has told us. However, we see complaints dated April 18 and 19, so the issue has been going on a bit longer for some people.
  
  Regardless of when the bug started causing problems, the Instagram team said it has since corrected the issue. If your posts are still showing up in black and white, Instagram said the fix will automatically turn your affected photo posts back to their original state over the next few hours. “We apologize for any inconvenience,” they added.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/instagram-says-a-bug-turned-your-photos-black-and-white-061802389.html?src=rss

• Amazon will invest up to $25 billion in Anthropic in a broad deal
  Amazon and Anthropic are strengthening their ties once again, with steep financial commitments made on both sides. Today, Amazon announced that it will invest $5 billion in the AI company, along with as much as $20 billion in additional payments if certain milestones are met. This news follows the initial $4 billion investment Amazon made in Anthropic in 2023 and a second $4 billion round from 2024.
  
  On Anthropic9s side, it has committed to continued use of Amazon9s custom Trainium silicon for its AI models. The latest agreement will see Anthropic promising to spend more than $100 billion on AWS technologies over the coming decade. It will secure up to 5 gigawatts of current and future chip capacity for training and powering its models. Their partnership is also bringing Anthropic9s Claude platform to Amazon Web Services customers within the AWS portal, removing the need for additional credentials.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/amazon-will-invest-up-to-25-billion-in-anthropic-in-a-broad-deal-225239302.html?src=rss

• Google brings Gemini in Chrome to users in Asia and the Pacific
  After debuting in the US, Gemini in Chrome is making its way to more markets. Starting today, Google is rolling out Chrome9s built-in chatbot to users in Asia and the Pacific, including Australia, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam. The expansion comes after Google earlier this year made Gemini in Chrome available to people in Canada, India and New Zealand. 
  
  With the exception of Japan, where Google isn9t making the new suite available on iOS just yet, everyone else in the countries mentioned above can access Gemini in Chrome through Chrome9s desktop browser, and the app on their iPhone or iPad. To get started, just tap the "Ask Gemini" icon at the top right of the screen. It will open a new sidebar Google introduced at the start of the year where you can chat with Gemini across every open tab. From there, you can also access Google9s in-house image generator, Nano Banana 2. As you would expect, the suite offers integrations with Google9s other apps, allowing you, for instance, to add events to Calendar without leaving the interface. 
  
  If you don9t want to use Gemini, you can right click on the shortcut to unpin it from the top of the interface.    
  
  Update 7:43PM ET: This article has been updated to reflect the expansion includes the entire Asia-Pacific region.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-brings-gemini-in-chrome-to-users-in-asia-and-the-pacific-220000698.html?src=rss

• Mastodon was hit by a 'major' DDoS attack that briefly took down parts of the service
  Mastodon seems to be recovering after a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that took down its primary mastodon.social instance. As TechCrunch notes, the platform began reporting issues early Monday morning as much of the Mastodon-operated server became inaccessible. 
  
  It9s not clear who might be behind the attack, but Mastodon9s head of communications Andy Piper described it as a "major" incident. A couple hours later, Mastodon shared on a status page that it had implemented countermeasures and that users should be able to access mastodon.social once again. Piper said that "some ongoing instability is a possibility" as the site recovered. It9s unclear if any other instances of the service were also targeted; mastodon.social is run directly by the nonprofit and is the largest server on the federated platform. 
  
  Mastodon is the second decentralized platform to be targeted with a DDoS in recent days. Last week, Bluesky also dealt with a significant DDoS incident that took parts of the service offline for several hours. The company posted what it said was its final update Monday morning, saying that its service had "remained stable" and that there was "no evidence of unauthorized access to private user data." A few hours later, however, it seemed Bluesky was once again experiencing some issues, though the cause was unclear. Its official status pagewas down, and a post from its server status account indicated that there were "elevated errors and timeouts on some Bluesky-hosted services." Bluesky said it was investigating.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/mastodon-was-hit-by-a-major-ddos-attack-that-briefly-took-down-parts-of-the-service-204823221.html?src=rss

• Sony will require age checks in the UK and Ireland to access PlayStation communication features
  Sony is adopting new age verification policies for PlayStation users in the UK and Ireland. The company isn9t making this a blanket requirement, but steps to confirm age will be needed to access "communication, broadcasting, and certain in-game features" beginning in June 2026. That includes essentials for online and social gamers, such as joining a party, voice chatting, text messaging or using third-party chat programs such as Discord. Some in-game communication tools, like chats or sharing user-generated content, will also only be available after an age check is completed. Although the new requirements will not be enforced until summer, users are already being prompted to get the verification process squared away.
  
  Several states and countries began adopting this type of legislation in 2025, pushing restrictions as a way to protect children and teens from inappropriate content. It seems the trend will be continuing into this year, despite the concerns about privacy risks and new questions about whether these restrictive laws are even effective at their stated goals, but companies have still been moving to comply. Discord was one of the more notable gaming-centric services to begin age verification policies last year, although the company did walk back some of its initial plans at the start of 2026 in order to better protect users9 personal data and their anonymity. Roblox also began requiring age checks and those results were not great.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/sony-will-require-age-checks-in-the-uk-and-ireland-to-access-playstation-communication-features-194916442.html?src=rss

• Ubisoft will officially reveal the Assassin's Creed Black Flag remake on April 23
  It9s happening. Ubisoft has scheduled a livestream for April 23 at 12PM ET to discuss the long-awaited Assassin9s Creed Black Flag remake. The showcase will be available to watch on the company9s YouTube and Twitch pages.
  
  It9s officially called Assassin9s Creed Black Flag Resynced and has been rumored to be in development for years. Ubisoft ended speculation by announcing the game last month.
  
  We don9t know anything about how the game will play or look, as Ubisoft has only dropped some promotional art featuring protagonist Edward Kenway lounging on a boat. The livestream should feature a trailer that will answer many burning questions.
  
  For instance, rumors have been swirling that this is a total top-to-bottom remake and not a simple port. That makes sense given the continued popularity of Black Flag. It9s also been rumored that this new version will cut out all of the modern day gameplay sections, with a total focus on pirate-themed action.
  
  We don9t have that long to find out. Maybe the livestream will also give us some information about that upcoming mainline franchise entry, which is currently being developed under the moniker Codename Hexe. Ubisoft has promised it will be a "unique, darker, narrative-driven Assassin9s Creed experience."
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ubisoft-will-officially-reveal-the-assassins-creed-black-flag-remake-on-april-23-184729772.html?src=rss

• LinkedIn's new Crosscheck feature lets premium subscribers test competing AI models for free
  You can now use LinkedIn to test out some of the latest AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft and other companies without having to worry about token limits or paying for an extra subscription. The professional network is experimenting with a new feature that allows people to test AI platforms9 latest offerings within LinkedIn. 
  
  It’s called Crosscheck, and it9s rolling out now to anyone with a LinkedIn Premium subscription in the United States. The feature is meant to be a kind of "blind taste test" for AI models, according to the company9s Chief Product Officer Hari Srinivasan. Users start with a prompt and get two answers, each of which is provided by a different model. It9s only after choosing which model you like better that you can see the underlying models behind each. 
  
  Srinivasan says that Crosscheck is still an "early product" from LinkedIn Labs and that "there’s work to do to make it faster and add more models and question types." But it already seems to support a fairly wide range of models. In my initial tests of the feature I saw multiple answers generated by Anthropic models, as well as those from Google, MoonshotAI, Mistral and Amazon. Crosscheck will also have its own leaderboard that tracks how people in different industries are rating the various models.
  After you choose an answer you like better, LinkedIn will show which model provided each answer.LinkedIn Screenshot
  Crosscheck only supports text-based prompts, so you can9t generate images, upload files or use some of the more advanced tools that would be available natively on the AI platforms themselves. But there are no limits on the number of text-based chats you can have, so you don9t have to worry about token limits or signing up for a pricey subscription if you find a model that9s helpful.
  
  LinkedIn is, however, sharing data back to the respective AI companies who will presumably use information gleaned from LinkedIn usage to improve their products. "Anonymized data is shared with model builders to help them understand how their models are performing amongst different occupations," the company explains. "No personally identifiable information is shared with model builders."
  
  While Crosscheck is initially only available to LinkedIn Premium subscribers in the United States, the company plans to expand the the feature to more countries and free users “soon.”
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/linkedins-crosscheck-feature-lets-premium-subscribers-test-ai-models-for-free-183949210.html?src=rss

• Meta is testing a WhatsApp Plus subscription that mostly focuses on cosmetic upgrades
  Meta is testing out a premium version of its messaging app, called WhatsApp Plus, that will include several paywalled features. As first spotted by Help Center page, WhatsApp Plus subscribers will get access to premium stickers that can have special effects and the ability to personalize the app's themes and icons.
  
  Beyond the decorative elements, WhatsApp Plus users can pin up to 20 chats, set a premium ringtone for certain contacts and further customize chat lists with alerts, ringtones and themes. According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is exploring more features for its premium plan, but there's no exact pricing announced yet. Subscription costs currently range from 229 Pakistani Rupees, or less than $1, to €2.49, or around $3, according to WABetaInfo.
  
  Meta isn't paywalling any of WhatsApp's basic functions, so the ability to send messages, make voice calls and take advantage of end-to-end encryption remains free. However, the introduction of WhatsApp Plus follows Meta also trialing Instagram Plus, which previewed premium features like Stories that last longer than 24 hours and sending "super hearts." The prices haven't been announced for Instagram Plus either, but WABetaInfo reported that Meta may offer one-month trials for any interested users of WhatsApp Plus.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/meta-is-testing-a-whatsapp-plus-subscription-that-mostly-focuses-on-cosmetic-upgrades-175452371.html?src=rss

• The FAA grounds Blue Origin New Glenn rocket after failure to put payload in orbit
  The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded Blue Origin9s New Glenn rocket following an incident during Sunday9s launch from Cape Canaveral, according to reporting by Orlando Sentinel and others. The rocket looked good on the way up but was ultimately unable to put its payload into the correct orbit.
  
  The FAA is calling the incident a "mishap" and is beginning an investigation to "enhance public safety, determine the root cause of the event and identify corrective actions to avoid it from happening again." The organization said in a statement that a "return to flight is based on the FAA determining that any system, process or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety."
  
  The company hasn9t provided any information as to what happened with New Glenn that made it mess up the positioning. It was supposed to position a satellite into a 285 mile orbit after completing two burns, but telemetry data shows that the satellite only reached a 95 mile orbit, which is not sustainable.
  
  This was New Glenn9s third mission, and not the first time the rocket has been grounded by the FAA. Blue Origin was unable to land it after the debut launch and it wasn9t allowed to fly again for nearly three months. The agency hasn9t announced when the rocket will be cleared to fly this time, so we don9t know if it will put a crimp in Blue Origin9s plans to launch a bunch of Amazon Leo broadband satellites. That mission is currently scheduled for later this year and will use the New Glenn rocket.
  
  The FAA has grounded several rockets due to mishaps in recent years, including the smaller Blue Origin New Shepard. It has also grounded SpaceX9s Falcon 9 and Starship.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/the-faa-grounds-blue-origin-new-glenn-rocket-after-failure-to-put-payload-in-orbit-173016117.html?src=rss

• Ball x Pit's next update adds 11 more balls to the fray on April 27
  
  It9s been a whole month since I9ve played some Ball x Pit after the mobile versions went live in March, but I9ll surely be jumping back in again next week. The latest update will arrive on April 27, bringing a host of goodies to the wonderful brick-busting roguelite, which was one of Engadget9s favorite games of 2025.
  
  Designer Kenny Sun spilled most of the beans about the update on the PlayStation Blog, revealing that it will add two new characters, 11 more balls with special powers, four passive upgrades and a new building. If you opt to play as The Tiptoer, you9ll be able to get close to enemies without fear of them attacking you, but you9ll have lower health and damage. She could be a good partner for The Shieldbearer, so you can right in front of bosses to rapidly bounce back balls and ramp up the damage in no time at all. As for The Tunneller, that character fires balls that wrap around the edge of the screen and return from the other side.
  
  The latest balls and evolutions include Venom, which slows down targets and can paralyze them in place after hitting them enough times. Other new time-based balls can freeze enemies too. Erosion saps away a percentage of a target9s health, which could weaken bosses very quickly, and the Warp ball jumps to a random place and increases in speed every time it hits an enemy. I can9t wait to see how effective these are after merging them with area-of-effect abilities or ones that spawn more balls with the same powers. 
  
  The Sniper ball sounds interesting too. That will reward precision as it cuts through every enemy in a straight line until it hits a boundary. I prefer a more chaotic approach, though.
  
  As such, the Full Metal Rapier passive ability seems like one I9ll want. It scales up the damage of each ball depending on how many enemies and baby balls (i.e. ones that don9t inherently have special abilities) are on screen. The Arrow of Fate passive is intriguing as well, as it turns every enemy projectile that hits you into a smattering of baby balls. I smell some synergy between those two.
  
  On top of that, the new Guildhall building that you can place in the citybuilder side of the game allows you to change upgrades that you9ve already chosen for your character. Looking forward to seeing how that plays out in practice.
  
  This is the second of three free updates that Sun and publisher Devolver Digital have announced for Ball x Pit. The first one, which introduced more upgrades and an endless mode, dropped in January. The third one is expected in July.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ball-x-pits-next-update-adds-11-more-balls-to-the-fray-on-april-27-170929983.html?src=rss

• Deezer says AI-made songs make up 44 percent of daily uploads
  AI-generated music is spreading like wildfire, according to Deezer, who reported receiving nearly 75,000 uploads of AI-made tracks a day on its platform. The alternative music streaming service based in Paris published a report revealing that 44 percent of its daily uploads are AI-generated songs, accumulating to around 2 million flagged songs a month. If that figure doesn't alarm you, Deezer said that more than 13.4 million songs were detected and flagged as AI-generated across 2025.
  
  Those statistics are made possible with Deezer's patent-pending AI music detection tool, which was launched in January 2025. A few months following the release, Deezer announced that it saw around 20,000 AI-generated tracks uploaded a day, which made up roughly 18 percent of its overall uploads. Despite the swell of AI music on its platform, Deezer said that only about 1 to 3 percent of total streams on the platform involve AI-generated music and that a majority of these streams are marked as fraudulent and demonetized.
  
  Deezer said its proprietary tool can detect AI-generated music, particularly from two of the most popular offerings right now: Suno and Udio. Despite these two AI music tools getting hit with lawsuits in their early days, some major record labels have had a change of heart and later struck deals with the startups. On the other hand, other music streaming platforms are employing their own verification tools to fortify the floodgates holding back music made by AI. Similar to Deezer, Coda Music uses "AI Artist" labels and even let users flag suspicious artists.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/deezer-says-ai-made-songs-make-up-44-percent-of-daily-uploads-163642921.html?src=rss

• DaVinci Resolve 21 hands-on: A viable Lightroom alternative for casual users
  Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve is a highly capable free color grading tool with a history dating way back to the ‘80s, but it has never been thought of as a rival to Adobe’s Lightroom due to its video origins. Now, Blackmagic Design has released a new version in beta that may change people’s minds about that. The new Photo page lets you import RAW images then adjust them using Resolve’s powerful color grading tools. You even get access to advanced VFX and AI features not found in Lightroom.
  
  When I saw the new feature, I immediately wondered if I could cancel my $20 per month Adobe Photography subscription (with Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC). Apparently, I9m not alone. After trying it out, I believe that I could do so because photos are secondary to video for me. However, photographers who’ve used Lightroom for a long time would likely find it too painful to switch — at least, for now.
  The Photo page and Albums
  I tested the new Photo page functions and many of Resolve’s new filter effects, but beware that the first beta is still buggy. I used it inside the $295 DaVinci Resolve Studio app (which includes free updates for life), because it has a few extra features not found in the free version.
  
  With that said, DaVinci Resolve 21 now supports RAW photos from Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon and Sony, with other brands to follow. Blackmagic has pledged to support RAW files for new cameras shortly after they’re released like Adobe does with Lightroom. It also supports TIFFs, JPEGs, HEIFs and other photo file formats.
  Steve Dent for Engadget
  To organize files, you can think of Resolve’s Projects as equivalent to Lightroom Catalogs. You import photos into a Project just as you do video, by dragging and dropping photos or folders into the media pool or using the “import” function. Resolve’s dedicated Media file management page also supports RAW photos. I find Resolve’s import system to be easier and more logical than Lightroom’s, with less steps required. You can import a full or partial Lightroom catalog into Resolve as well.
  
  Once your photos are in the media pool, you can select and organize them by file name, rating, colors, favorites and other tags. DaVinci Resolve Studio also offers a new feature called AI IntelliSearch that lets you visually identify photos based on their content using terms like “cats” or “dancing.”
  
  Photos can then be moved from the media pool into Albums, a new feature that’s similar to Lightroom’s Collections. Albums activate several photo-specific features in the Color and Edit pages. In Edit, Albums appear as simplified, single-track timelines, with each photo shown as a two second clip. That way, you can work with photos in the Color and Fusion pages just as you do with video.
  
  You can reframe and crop images inside Photo (either by typing in the size or dragging) and make basic RAW-style adjustments for settings like exposure, highlights and shadows. For more advanced grading (like you may do in Lightroom’s Develop), you need to jump into the Color page.
  Color and Fusion
  On the Color page, you get the same functions for photos as video: primary and log color correction, curves, qualifiers, power windows, noise reduction and sharpening. You can also employ Resolve’s class-leading scopes, including parades, waveforms, vectorscopes and histograms.
  
  Once you’ve created an Album, you can select it at the top of the Color page viewer, just as you would a video timeline. You can also label and sort photos as you do in the Photo page.
  Steve Dent for Engadget
  Resolve9s node-based workflow really shines for photo editing. You can add nodes in series or parallel to build complex grades, then save and apply those grades to multiple images or an entire photo album. Resolve’s system for doing this via “stills” that show your grade is more visual and powerful than the one in Lightroom. You also get support for Resolve’s functions used for video like Look-Up Tables (LUTs) and the new Film Look Creator effect.
  
  All of Resolve’s filter-style effects — like Vignette, Lens Blur and Film Damage — are available directly from the Photo page. Those include some of DaVinci Resolve Studio’s new AI effects (not available in the free version) like AI CineFocus, AI Face Age Transformer and AI Ultrafocus. This gives the app a leg up over Lightroom, which only offers comparable features via third-party plugins.
  
  If you want even more advanced effects, the Fusion page is Resolve’s equivalent to After Effects. There, you’ll find tools like warping, lights and Paint, which lets you do Photoshop-like cloning. Resolve 21 now includes the Krokodove filters with features like warping and text animation.
  
  This raises the question of whether you can do multi-image compositing in the Photo page like you can in Photoshop or After Effects. In short, it’s not possible as Photo only supports one image at a time. However, once you’ve adjusted a RAW image, you can drop it into a video timeline where your color adjustments and other tweaks will carry over. Then, you can stack multiple images and use any of Resolve’s compositing tools from the Edit or Fusion pages. This is pretty clunky compared to using Photoshop, but it’s the only way to combine multiple images for now.
  DaVinci9s Resolve 219s updated export page for photosSteve Dent for Engadget
  Once you’ve finished grading and adjusting images, there are two ways to export them. One is by the Quick Export function that provides minimal settings like file type, name and resolution. The better method is via Resolve’s Deliver page, which now has dedicated photo functions when you’re working with an Album. There, you can control size parameters like short and long side, width and height or percentage. You can also change the file type, resolution and quality. This function is severely lacking compared to Lightroom though, which offers advanced settings missing from Resolve, like content credentials, watermarking and post-processing.
  
  Finally, another new dedicated feature within the Resolve Photo page is Capture Live View for camera tethering, which only supports Canon and Sony cameras for now. It allows you to connect a camera to your PC via USB-C and control aperture, shutter speed, ISO and exposure compensation directly from the app. You can also view your images using Resolve’s scopes and tweak RAW settings like white balance, temperature, shadows, highlights and more.
  Wrap-up
  DaVinci Resolve’s new Photo page can do most of what Lightroom does in terms of image adjustments, while adding powerful effects tools that its Adobe counterpart lacks. It’s not yet a substitute for Photoshop, though, as it lacks the organizing, exporting, compositing and pixel-level editing tools found in that app.
  
  For now, the Photo page is ideal for filmmakers who dabble in photo editing, along with hobbyists and power users familiar with Resolve’s formidable grading tools. However, professional photographers may want to stick with Lightroom, because Resolve still lacks certain advanced features, particularly around organization and exporting.
  
  The new DaVinci Resolve Photo page only just launched and is bound to improve greatly over time. If you’re on the fence, download the free version and see if it works for you. A lot of video editors made the same switch from Premiere and have never looked back. Given the current grumbling about Adobe’s subscriptions, I could see many people making the same move from Lightroom to Resolve.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/davinci-resolve-21-hands-on-a-viable-lightroom-alternative-for-casual-users-160520123.html?src=rss

• Dyson PencilVac Fluffycones review: Almost the perfect floor cleaner for tiny apartments
  The big deal with Dyson’s new vacuumis how small it is. While “pencil” is certainly an ambitious noun to compare a floor vacuum to, the slender body of the PencilVac Fluffycones ($600) brings to mind mops and brooms rather than hulking cyclone-suction tech and connected cleaning. As we described it last year, it’s the company's most stick-like stick vacuum yet. Dyson has been repurposing its engine tech into smaller form factors for years, such as its hair dryers. However, this is the first time it’s been utilized for floor cleaning.
  
  Dyson recently launched the PencilVac Fluffy, with a more traditional dual-roller system, but I’m focusing on the Fluffycones iteration and will call it simply the PencilVac for brevity. It combines several delightful design features, and while surprisingly potent, it’s — predictably — not quite able to match the power of its bigger brothers. The entire vacuum weighs under four pounds, which adds to its ease of use. That said, it’s heavier than it looks, as the rod shape holds everything inside.
  
  
  
  With a 40mm-diameter (almost 1.6-inch) handle, it’s usable even with a single hand, if you want to be extra casual in your cleaning habits. It’s also a delight to use. As with several previous Dysons, like the OmniGlide, the dual-roller system seems to help the PencilVac glide across hard floors. It can be pulled and coaxed around furniture, table legs, under low-profile credenzas and more.
  
  When at rest, the PencilVac sits on four central wheels, but once you start cleaning, the suction creates a sort of floating effect. Those four Fluffycone heads are designed to resist hair tangles, with any captured hair bundled like yarn at the tips of each cone for easier cleaning at the center of the PencilVac. The tips of each cone mean the vacuum can reach the edges of my flooring, too. The Fluffycones aren’t really able to dig into the pile, meaning that while they can certainly pull and lift a layer of dirt and dust, anything deeper will stay there.
  Image by Mat Smith for Engadget
  That said, the PencilVac is a dedicated hard floor cleaner. If your home is entirely hardwood or has lots of tile, then it’s not an issue. But if you have carpeted rooms (or large rugs), you might want to consider other models. Also, at higher suction levels, the PencilVac’s rollers would occasionally cut out while vacuuming carpets and rugs.
  
  The PencilVac is also equipped with front and back Dyson Detect lasers, making it easier to see where you’ve missed (and how terrible your floor cleaning habits are). Compared to bigger, more powerful models like the V15 Detect, the PencilVac had a greater tendency to spit out dirt when overwhelmed by larger amounts of debris. This only happened for me when I pushed the limits of what the PencilVac could handle: a handful of garden soil on my hardwood floor.
  
  Because it’s 2026, of course, it’s a connected vacuum, too. When I put together and charged the PencilVac, the first thing it does is project a QR code for pairing. A quick firmware update later and it was ready for use. The only feature in the MyDyson app that you might find useful is maintenance reminders (i.e., when to clean the filter). Everything else, including a battery readout, is built into the handle.
  Image by Mat Smith for Engadget
  Everything else is built into the handle. Compared to Dyson’s other stick vacs, there is no removable dust canister or battery block. The collection bin is cleverly integrated, drawing in dirt and using the same suction to compact it with force. When you need to empty the compartment — which holds a surprising amount (0.8 liters, according to Dyson) — you remove the cleaning head, point the body at your garbage can and ‘slide’ the dust (compacting it further in the process) into your trash can. The collection area is also see-through, so you can see everything you’re pulling into the PencilVac build up like a sort of gauge. When emptying the stick vac, I also noticed it doesn’t produce the dust cloud you often get with vacuums, which is another nice improvement.
  
  Unlike its other stick vacuums, Dyson’s PencilVac comes with a free-standing charging dock, instead of a wall mount. This makes storage a little more versatile. If you’re a renter, there’s no need for any drilling. I think this also speaks to how it’s meant to be used: briefly, in bursts.
  
  To that point, battery life seemed to be around 20 minutes, depending on the power level used and how dirty the surfaces were. Running entirely on boost, I got under 10 minutes of use. This weakness is exacerbated by a sluggish charging time of over three hours. For smaller spaces and not-too-messy lives, that’s more than enough clean time, though.
  Image by Mat Smith for Engadget
  The PencilVac also comes with that Dyson premium, too, priced at $600. That’s still less than the company’s other recent stick vacuums. For example, that’s $50 less than the aforementioned V15 Detect. If your home has a lot of carpeting or rugs to clean, the bigger, more powerful models might be a better choice. The newer PencilVac Fluffy has a more traditional dual-roller system and it's also $150 cheaper.
  
  With its minimalist form factor, the PencilVac is still an engineering marvel. Its high degree of mobility makes it easy to clean in tight corners and between furniture. I just wish it were slightly more powerful.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/dyson-pencilvac-fluffycones-review-almost-the-perfect-floor-cleaner-for-tiny-apartments-154550089.html?src=rss

• The Elden Ring movie hits theaters on March 3, 2028
  Bandai Namco and A24 have announced that the Elden Ring movie will hit theaters on March 3, 2028. Filming is set to begin in the next several weeks. The movie was first revealed over a year ago, so this is a welcome update. 
  
  We also got a full cast announcement, though the companies haven9t said who or what everyone is portraying. The cast includes Kit Connor from Heartstopper, Ben Whishaw from the beloved Paddington movies and Cailee Spaeny from Alien: Romulus. Peter Serafinowicz, Jonathan Pryce, Nick Offerman and Sonoya Mizuno will also appear in the film.
  
  Elden Ring will be written and directed by Alex Garland, fresh off the harrowing Civil War. Garland has directed plenty of sci-fi, with credits like Ex Machina, Annihilation and the woefully underrated TV show Devs. He hasn9t, however, made any legit fantasy, so we9ll have to see how he handles the magic-filled continent known as The Lands Between.
  
  In any event, we have nearly two years before finding out. By that time, theaters will have already experienced two new Avengers and Star Wars films. Elden Ring, the game, is getting some new DLC content this year with armor sets, weapons and skins.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-elden-ring-movie-hits-theaters-on-march-3-2028-154411670.html?src=rss

• Artemis II commander shares a remarkable video of Earth vanishing behind the Moon
  We’ve seen some astonishing photos of an Earthset — the Earth setting behind the Moon — from the Artemis II crew’s history-making trip around our planet’s closest neighbor. Now, Reid Wiseman, the mission’s commander, has shared a remarkable video of that same phenomenon.
  
  While mission specialist Christina Koch was using a Nikon camera to snap stunning still images of the Earthset, Wiseman used an iPhone 17 Pro Max to film the moment. “I could barely see the Moon through the docking hatch window but the iPhone was the perfect size to catch the view… This is uncropped, uncut with 8x zoom which is quite comparable to the view of the human eye,” he wrote on X.
  Only one chance in this lifetime…
  
  Like watching sunset at the beach from the most foreign seat in the cosmos, I couldn’t resist a cell phone video of Earthset. You can hear the shutter on the Nikon as @Astro_Christina is hammering away on 3-shot brackets and capturing those… pic.twitter.com/8aWnaFJ69c
  — Reid Wiseman (@astro_reid) April 19, 2026
  This was the first time that human eyes had witnessed an Earthset in 54 years since the Apollo 17 mission. The Artemis II crew flew more than 5,000 miles beyond the Moon as they travelled more than a quarter of a million miles away from Earth — the furthest any humans have ever been from terra firma.
  
  I, like many people, overuse the word “awesome.” It should only really be used when something actually inspires awe. This video absolutely meets that mark. It’s genuinely awesome.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/artemis-ii-commander-shares-a-remarkable-video-of-earth-vanishing-behind-the-moon-152036403.html?src=rss

• Apple could be fined up to $38 billion by Indian antitrust regulator
  Apple's refusal to provide financial data to an Indian regulatory agency as part of an antitrust case will culminate in a final hearing on May 21, as first reported by App Store, arguing that developers are forced to use Apple's proprietary system for in-app purchases. Apple countered that Android was the more dominant smartphone operating system in India and that iPhones held a smaller market share in India. However, Apple has slowly been gaining momentum with its share of the Indian smartphone market, hitting nine percent in 2025, according to data from Counterpoint Research.
  
  Reuters reported that the latest CCI order said that Apple had plenty of opportunities to file objections or suggestions, but added that the company still hadn't submitted the "requisite financial information," which is used to determine the amount of a potential penalty. Apple argued that the penalties could be up to $38 billion and responded to the order by citing a separate case where the tech giant challenged the country's antitrust penalty law.
  
  It's not the first time Apple has butted heads with the Indian government, as it previously refused to pre-install a state-owned app called Sanchar Saathi onto its smartphones. The Indian government later decided to withdraw its mandate requiring smartphone makers to install the app, but it's much less willing to budge on this antitrust case. According to Reuters, the CCI offered Apple two more weeks to file any responses before the final hearing date next month.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/apple-could-be-fined-up-to-38-billion-by-indian-antitrust-regulator-150821172.html?src=rss

• The Mandalorian and Grogu director used Apple Vision Pro to preview the film in IMAX
  Director Jon Favreau (Iron Man, The Jungle Book) hasn9t been shy about embracing new technology for filmmaking. While producing The Mandalorian for Disney+, he was one of the first filmmakers to use ILM9s massive LED screens, AKA "The Volume," to produce more realistic lighting and backgrounds on studio sets. For the feature film The Mandalorian and Grogu, which hits theaters May 22, Favreau recently revealed that he had Disney build an Apple Vision Pro app to preview its full IMAX scope during filming.
  
  "So I9m making an IMAX movie, and I9m looking at a TV screen, and no matter how big your TV screen is it9s not an IMAX screen," Favreau said in a recent episode of The Town podcast. "We built software so that I can pop on my Apple Vision Pro and be sitting in an IMAX movie theater and see the full aspect ratio when we9re lining a shot up. And I can watch that take and see what people will see."
  
  Favreau isn9t the first director to use the Apple Vision Pro — Wicked filmmaker Jon Chu also used it to handle post-production work — but he9s the first to specifically mention using the headset for IMAX production. That9s still a relatively limited use case for the Apple Vision Pro, but it9s one that could be useful to future filmmakers. With its large field of view and sharp micro-OLED screens, the Apple Vision Pro is one of the only ways to replicate the experience of watching a large IMAX screen at home. (The Meta Quest 3 comes in as a close second.)
  
  In general, Favreau says he9s more excited about using existing consumer technology in the filmmaking process than AI. He mentions using the Unreal Engine to previsualize special effects on The Mandalorian and his previous films, and he believes the quality from game engines could be good enough to make it into final productions down the line.
  
  "This is what the animation industry has understood from the beginning," he said. "Get it right before you ever paint a cel."
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-mandalorian-and-grogu-director-used-apple-vision-pro-to-preview-the-film-in-imax-140331311.html?src=rss

• GoPro’s Mission 1 camera series will start at $600
  We heard all about GoPro9s new action camera series last week, but the company is now unveiling the pricing across its Mission 1, Mission 1 Pro and Mission 1 Pro ILS cameras. The entry-level Mission 1 ($600) features GoPro9s new 50-megapixel 1-inch sensor, which the company says will offer a major leap in image quality and low-light performance over the Hero 13 line. While largely looking the same as the Hero series (and still waterproof), the Mission 1 can record 8K video at 30fps and 4K at 120fps. It lacks the higher frame rates of the other Mission 1 cameras, but supports 10-bit GP-Log2 color and 32-bit float audio.
  
  The Mission 1 Pro ($700) is the flagship fixed-lens model this year, aimed at the professional (or semi-pro) videographer. It has upgraded frame-rate capture to 8K at 60 fps and 4K at 240 fps, along with an extreme "burst" slow-motion mode that hits 960 fps at 1080p. It also captures 4:3 "Open Gate" recordings at 8K/30fps and 4K/120fps, covering the entire sensor area, enabling more versatile editing and cropping across different screen sizes, including vertical video.
  Steve Dent for Engadget
  Then there9s the beastly Mission 1 Pro ILS (Interchangeable Lens System). It swaps the standard GoPro lens for a Micro Four Thirds (MFT) mount lens. It otherwise shares the same 1-inch sensor and high-speed 8K/60fps video specs as the Pro model. It also matches the Pro model9s $700 price, with an additional $100 discount for GoPro subscribers. However, it won9t be launching until Q3 2026.
  
  All of the Mission 1 Series accessories will be available on a rolling basis beginning May 28, with GoPro9s own wireless mic system (take note, Rode and DJI) priced at $160. If you preorder a Mission 1 or Mission 1 Pro directly from GoPro now, you9ll get the point-and-shoot grip bundled for free. The company still doesn9t have an official release date for the cameras.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/gopros-mission-1-camera-series-will-start-at-600-130044898.html?src=rss

• Blue Origin landed its recycled New Glenn booster but failed to put payload in orbit
  Blue Origin has successfully reused its first-stage New Glenn booster for the first time after it landed in a cloud of smoke and fire on a recovery ship. It marks the second flight and reuse of Never Tell me the Odds, after the booster was recovered from New Glenn9s previous launch in November last year. However, the rocket company9s first commercial mission was marred by a failure to place the communications satellite payload into orbit. 
  
  The launch went smoothly to start with, with the first-stage GS1 booster separating from New Glenn after three minutes and landing smoothly 10 minutes after launch following two braking burns, as shown in a post on X from Blue Origin9s owner, Jeff Bezos. 
  pic.twitter.com/0WzaWjjjL9
  — Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) April 19, 2026
  However, several hours later the Blue Origin team and satellite manufacturer, AST SpaceMobile, announced that the payload had failed to reach orbit. "We have confirmed payload separation," Blue Origin announced on X. "AST SpaceMobile has confirmed the satellite has powered on. The payload was placed into an off-nominal orbit. We are currently assessing and will update when we have more detailed information." 
  
  Later on in a press release, AST SpaceMobile revealed that "the satellite separated from the launch vehicle and powered on, [but] the altitude [was] too low to sustain operations with its on-board thruster technology and will de-orbited. The cost of the satellite is expected to be recovered under the company’s insurance policy."
  
  The upper stage was supposed to position the satellite into a 285 mile orbit after completing two burns. It would have then unfolded a 2,400 square-foot antenna and linked with six other satellites in a test for AST9s high-speed direct-to-cell network. However, early telemetry data showed that the satellite only reached 95 miles, well below a sustainable orbit. It9s not yet clear how the failure occurred. 
  
  Despite that, Blue Origin can take some solace in its successful first-stage reuse, particularly since it happened on just the third New Glenn mission (NG-3). It took SpaceX, by comparison, 32 flights before its first successful reflight of a previously flown orbital-class booster. 
  
  Blue Origin will definitely want to solve the upper stage issue soon. Its next flight is the first New Glenn launch of Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper) broadband satellites. It plans to put 48 of those into orbit to significantly expand the Starlink rival9s constellation, which currently sits at 241 satellites. 
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/blue-origin-landed-its-recycled-new-glenn-booster-but-failed-to-put-payload-in-orbit-055846419.html?src=rss

• The NSA is reportedly using Anthropic's new model Mythos
  Despite the months-long feud between Anthropic and the Pentagon, the National Security Agency is using the AI company's new Mythos Preview, according to announced Mythos Preview at the beginning of April, describing it as a general-purpose language model that is "strikingly capable at computer security tasks." But back in February, Trump ordered all government agencies to stop using Anthropic's services after the company refused to budge on certain safeguards for military uses during contract talks. 
  
  The news comes days after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei met with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and other officials, reportedly to discuss Mythos. The White House later said the meeting on Friday was "productive and constructive," though President Trump said he had "no idea" about it when asked by reporters, filed lawsuits against the Department of Defense in two courts in March after the Trump administration labeled it a "supply chain risk," and the Pentagon filed a response shortly after. While Anthropic was granted a preliminary injunction by one court to temporarily block this designation, federal judges in the other denied its motion to lift the label. 
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/the-nsa-is-reportedly-using-anthropics-new-model-mythos-211502787.html?src=rss

• Beijing's robot half-marathon is back for its second year with far less embarassing results
  To make up for an incredibly laughable inaugural event, Beijing is running back its humanoid robot half-marathon. Fortunately, the event that pits humanoid robots made by Chinese companies against each other across 13 miles went a lot smoother this year.
  
  This year's half-marathon hosted more than 100 competitors, with first place going to Honor, better known for its smartphones, and its red-clad robot named Lightning. Living up to the name, the gold medalist finished the race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds. That's several minutes faster than the human record that was recently set by Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo last month.
  
  Honor swept the other podium spots, with the important caveat that they all navigated the course autonomously, according to the state-sponsored television news agency CCTV. That's a massive improvement over last year, where the fastest time among 21 robots was achieved by Tiangong Ultra with a record of two hours and 40 minutes. Last year's event saw many of the bipedal robots receiving assistance from human operators who ran alongside them, as well as some comical mishaps, like falling at the starting line.
  
  However, the BBC reported that around 40 percent of the robots competed autonomously this year, while the rest were remote-controlled. Despite the rapid improvements, this year's event still had its fair share of crashes, even from Honor's robots.
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/beijings-robot-half-marathon-is-back-for-its-second-year-with-far-less-embarassing-results-191308396.html?src=rss

• Palantir posted a manifesto that reads like the ramblings of a comic book villain
  In case you haven9t gotten around to reading Palantir CEO Alex Karp and Nicholas W. Zamiska9s 2025 book, The Technological Republic, (because why would you do that to yourself?), the company best known for supplying AI-driven defense and surveillance software to the likes of the US Army, ICE and NYPD shared a 1,000-word X post this weekend covering its main points. The entire thing is both bizarre and deeply concerning. "The ability of free and democratic societies to prevail requires something more than moral appeal,” one of the 22 points states. "It requires hard power, and hard power in this century will be built on software."
  
  The book is billed as "a passionate call for the West to wake up to our new reality," and other excerpts in the social media post include assertions such as: "Free email is not enough. The decadence of a culture or civilization, and indeed its ruling class, will be forgiven only if that culture is capable of delivering economic growth and security for the public"; "National service should be a universal duty"; "The postwar neutering of Germany and Japan must be undone"; and "Some cultures have produced vital advances; others remain dysfunctional and regressive."
  
  The statement criticizes the West’s resistance to "defining national cultures in the name of inclusivity," as well as the treatment of billionaires and the "ruthless exposure of the private lives of public figures." It9s a lot to take in, and it should make crystal clear what Palantir stands for to anyone who somehow didn9t already know. Here9s the post, in full:
  
  Because we get asked a lot.
  
  The Technological Republic, in brief.
  
  1. Silicon Valley owes a moral debt to the country that made its rise possible. The engineering elite of Silicon Valley has an affirmative obligation to participate in the defense of the nation.
  
  2. We must rebel against the tyranny of the apps. Is the iPhone our greatest creative if not crowning achievement as a civilization? The object has changed our lives, but it may also now be limiting and constraining our sense of the possible.
  
  3. Free email is not enough. The decadence of a culture or civilization, and indeed its ruling class, will be forgiven only if that culture is capable of delivering economic growth and security for the public.
  
  4. The limits of soft power, of soaring rhetoric alone, have been exposed. The ability of free and democratic societies to prevail requires something more than moral appeal. It requires hard power, and hard power in this century will be built on software.
  
  5. The question is not whether A.I. weapons will be built; it is who will build them and for what purpose. Our adversaries will not pause to indulge in theatrical debates about the merits of developing technologies with critical military and national security applications. They will proceed.
  
  6. National service should be a universal duty. We should, as a society, seriously consider moving away from an all-volunteer force and only fight the next war if everyone shares in the risk and the cost.
  
  7. If a U.S. Marine asks for a better rifle, we should build it; and the same goes for software. We should as a country be capable of continuing a debate about the appropriateness of military action abroad while remaining unflinching in our commitment to those we have asked to step into harm’s way.
  
  8. Public servants need not be our priests. Any business that compensated its employees in the way that the federal government compensates public servants would struggle to survive.
  
  9. We should show far more grace towards those who have subjected themselves to public life. The eradication of any space for forgiveness—a jettisoning of any tolerance for the complexities and contradictions of the human psyche—may leave us with a cast of characters at the helm we will grow to regret.
  
  10. The psychologization of modern politics is leading us astray. Those who look to the political arena to nourish their soul and sense of self, who rely too heavily on their internal life finding expression in people they may never meet, will be left disappointed.
  
  11. Our society has grown too eager to hasten, and is often gleeful at, the demise of its enemies. The vanquishing of an opponent is a moment to pause, not rejoice.
  
  12. The atomic age is ending. One age of deterrence, the atomic age, is ending, and a new era of deterrence built on A.I. is set to begin.
  
  13. No other country in the history of the world has advanced progressive values more than this one. The United States is far from perfect. But it is easy to forget how much more opportunity exists in this country for those who are not hereditary elites than in any other nation on the planet.
  
  14. American power has made possible an extraordinarily long peace. Too many have forgotten or perhaps take for granted that nearly a century of some version of peace has prevailed in the world without a great power military conflict. At least three generations — billions of people and their children and now grandchildren — have never known a world war.
  
  15. The postwar neutering of Germany and Japan must be undone. The defanging of Germany was an overcorrection for which Europe is now paying a heavy price. A similar and highly theatrical commitment to Japanese pacifism will, if maintained, also threaten to shift the balance of power in Asia.
  
  16. We should applaud those who attempt to build where the market has failed to act. The culture almost snickers at Musk’s interest in grand narrative, as if billionaires ought to simply stay in their lane of enriching themselves . . . . Any curiosity or genuine interest in the value of what he has created is essentially dismissed, or perhaps lurks from beneath a thinly veiled scorn.
  
  17. Silicon Valley must play a role in addressing violent crime. Many politicians across the United States have essentially shrugged when it comes to violent crime, abandoning any serious efforts to address the problem or take on any risk with their constituencies or donors in coming up with solutions and experiments in what should be a desperate bid to save lives.
  
  18. The ruthless exposure of the private lives of public figures drives far too much talent away from government service. The public arena—and the shallow and petty assaults against those who dare to do something other than enrich themselves—has become so unforgiving that the republic is left with a significant roster of ineffectual, empty vessels whose ambition one would forgive if there were any genuine belief structure lurking within.
  
  19. The caution in public life that we unwittingly encourage is corrosive. Those who say nothing wrong often say nothing much at all.
  
  20. The pervasive intolerance of religious belief in certain circles must be resisted. The elite’s intolerance of religious belief is perhaps one of the most telling signs that its political project constitutes a less open intellectual movement than many within it would claim.
  
  21. Some cultures have produced vital advances; others remain dysfunctional and regressive. All cultures are now equal. Criticism and value judgments are forbidden. Yet this new dogma glosses over the fact that certain cultures and indeed subcultures . . . have produced wonders. Others have proven middling, and worse, regressive and harmful.
  
  22. We must resist the shallow temptation of a vacant and hollow pluralism. We, in America and more broadly the West, have for the past half century resisted defining national cultures in the name of inclusivity. But inclusion into what?
  
  Excerpts from the #1 New York Times Bestseller The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West, by Alexander C. Karp & Nicholas W. Zamiska
  
  
  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/palantir-posted-a-manifesto-that-reads-like-the-ramblings-of-a-comic-book-villain-181947361.html?src=rss

• EU OS: A Bold Step Toward Digital Sovereignty for Europe
  Image
  A new initiative, called "EU OS," has been launched to develop a Linux-based operating system tailored specifically for the public sector organizations of the European Union (EU). This community-driven project aims to address the EU's unique needs and challenges, focusing on fostering digital sovereignty, reducing dependency on external vendors, and building a secure, self-sufficient digital ecosystem.
  What Is EU OS?
  EU OS is not an entirely novel operating system. Instead, it builds upon a Linux foundation derived from Fedora, with the KDE Plasma desktop environment. It draws inspiration from previous efforts such as France's GendBuntu and Munich's LiMux, which aimed to provide Linux-based systems for public sector use. The goal remains the same: to create a standardized Linux distribution that can be adapted to different regional, national, and sector-specific needs within the EU.
  
  Rather than reinventing the wheel, EU OS focuses on standardization, offering a solid Linux foundation that can be customized according to the unique requirements of various organizations. This approach makes EU OS a practical choice for the public sector, ensuring broad compatibility and ease of implementation across diverse environments.
  The Vision Behind EU OS
  The guiding principle of EU OS is the concept of "public money – public code," ensuring that taxpayer money is used transparently and effectively. By adopting an open-source model, EU OS eliminates licensing fees, which not only lowers costs but also reduces the dependency on a select group of software vendors. This provides the EU’s public sector organizations with greater flexibility and control over their IT infrastructure, free from the constraints of vendor lock-in.
  
  Additionally, EU OS offers flexibility in terms of software migration and hardware upgrades. Organizations can adapt to new technologies and manage their IT evolution at a manageable cost, both in terms of finances and time.
  
  However, there are some concerns about the choice of Fedora as the base for EU OS. While Fedora is a solid and reliable distribution, it is backed by the United States-based Red Hat. Some argue that using European-backed projects such as openSUSE or KDE's upcoming distribution might have aligned better with the EU's goal of strengthening digital sovereignty.
  Conclusion
  EU OS marks a significant step towards Europe's digital independence by providing a robust, standardized Linux distribution for the public sector. By reducing reliance on proprietary software and vendors, it paves the way for a more flexible, cost-effective, and secure digital ecosystem. While the choice of Fedora as the base for the project has raised some questions, the overall vision of EU OS offers a promising future for Europe's public sector in the digital age.
  
  Source: It's FOSS
  European Union

• Linus Torvalds Acknowledges Missed Release of Linux 6.14 Due to Oversight
  
  Linus Torvalds Acknowledges Missed Release of Linux 6.14 Due to Oversight
  
  Linux kernel lead developer Linus Torvalds has admitted to forgetting to release version 6.14, attributing the oversight to his own lapse in memory. Torvalds is known for releasing new Linux kernel candidates and final versions on Sunday afternoons, typically accompanied by a post detailing the release. If he is unavailable due to travel or other commitments, he usually informs the community ahead of time, so users don’t worry if there’s a delay.
  
  In his post on March 16, Torvalds gave no indication that the release might be delayed, instead stating, “I expect to release the final 6.14 next weekend unless something very surprising happens.” However, Sunday, March 23rd passed without any announcement.
  
  On March 24th, Torvalds wrote in a follow-up message, “I’d love to have some good excuse for why I didn’t do the 6.14 release yesterday on my regular Sunday afternoon schedule,” adding, “But no. It’s just pure incompetence.” He further explained that while he had been clearing up unrelated tasks, he simply forgot to finalize the release. “D'oh,” he joked.
  
  Despite this minor delay, Torvalds’ track record of successfully managing the Linux kernel’s development process over the years remains strong. A single day’s delay is not critical, especially since most Linux users don't urgently need the very latest version.
  
  The new 6.14 release introduces several important features, including enhanced support for writing drivers in Rust—an ongoing topic of discussion among developers—support for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile chip, a fix for the GhostWrite vulnerability in certain RISC-V processors from Alibaba’s T-Head Semiconductor, and a completed NTSYNC driver update that improves the WINE emulator’s ability to run Windows applications, particularly games, on Linux.
  
  Although the 6.14 release went smoothly aside from the delay, Torvalds expressed that version 6.15 may present more challenges due to the volume of pending pull requests. “Judging by my pending pile of pull requests, 6.15 will be much busier,” he noted.
  
  You can download the latest kernel here.
  Linus Torvalds kernel

• AerynOS 2025.03 Alpha Released with GNOME 48, Mesa 25, and Linux Kernel 6.13.8
  Image
  AerynOS 2025.03 has officially been released, introducing a variety of exciting features for Linux users. The release includes the highly anticipated GNOME 48 desktop environment, which comes with significant improvements like HDR support, dynamic triple buffering, and a Wayland color management protocol. Other updates include a battery charge limiting feature and a Wellbeing option aimed at improving user experience.
  
  This release, while still in alpha, incorporates Linux kernel 6.13.8 and the updated Mesa 25.0.2 graphics stack, alongside tools like LLVM 19.1.7 and Vulkan SDK 1.4.309.0. Additionally, the Moss package manager now integrates os-info to generate more detailed OS metadata via a JSON file.
  
  Future plans for AerynOS include automated package updates, easier rollback management, improved disk handling with Rust, and fractional scaling enabled by default. The installer has also been revamped to support full disk wipes and dynamic partitioning.
  
  Although still considered an alpha release, AerynOS 2025.03 can be downloaded and tested right now from its official website.
  
  Source: 9to5Linux
  AerynOS

• Xojo 2025r1: Big Updates for Developers with Linux ARM Support, Web Drag and Drop, and Direct App Store Publishing
  Image
  Xojo has just rolled out its latest release, Xojo 2025 Release 1, and it’s packed with features that developers have been eagerly waiting for. This major update introduces support for running Xojo on Linux ARM, including Raspberry Pi, brings drag-and-drop functionality to the Web framework, and simplifies app deployment with the ability to directly submit apps to the macOS and iOS App Stores.
  
  Here’s a quick overview of what’s new in Xojo 2025r1:
  1. Linux ARM IDE Support
  Xojo 2025r1 now allows developers to run the Xojo IDE on Linux ARM devices, including popular platforms like Raspberry Pi. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities for developers who want to create apps for ARM-based devices without the usual complexity. Whether you’re building for a Raspberry Pi or other ARM devices, this update makes it easier than ever to get started.
  2. Web Drag and Drop
  One of the standout features in this release is the addition of drag-and-drop support for web applications. Now, developers can easily drag and drop visual controls in their web projects, making it simpler to create interactive, user-friendly web applications. Plus, the WebListBox has been enhanced with support for editable cells, checkboxes, and row reordering via dragging. No JavaScript required!
  3. Direct App Store Publishing
  Xojo has also streamlined the process of publishing apps. With this update, developers can now directly submit macOS and iOS apps to App Store Connect right from the Xojo IDE. This eliminates the need for multiple steps and makes it much easier to get apps into the App Store, saving valuable time during the development process.
  4. New Desktop and Mobile Features
  This release isn’t just about web and Linux updates. Xojo 2025r1 brings some great improvements for desktop and mobile apps as well. On the desktop side, all projects now include a default window menu for macOS apps. On the mobile side, Xojo has introduced new features for Android and iOS, including support for ColorGroup and Dark Mode on Android, and a new MobileColorPicker for iOS to simplify color selection.
  5. Performance and IDE Enhancements
  Xojo’s IDE has also been improved in several key areas. There’s now an option to hide toolbar captions, and the toolbar has been made smaller on Windows. The IDE on Windows and Linux now features modern Bootstrap icons, and the Documentation window toolbar is more compact. In the code editor, developers can now quickly navigate to variable declarations with a simple Cmd/Ctrl + Double-click. Plus, performance for complex container layouts in the Layout Editor has been enhanced.
  What Does This Mean for Developers?
  Xojo 2025r1 brings significant improvements across all the platforms that Xojo supports, from desktop and mobile to web and Linux. The added Linux ARM support opens up new opportunities for Raspberry Pi and ARM-based device development, while the drag-and-drop functionality for web projects will make it easier to create modern, interactive web apps. The ability to publish directly to the App Store is a game-changer for macOS and iOS developers, reducing the friction of app distribution.
  How to Get Started
  Xojo is free for learning and development, as well as for building apps for Linux and Raspberry Pi. If you’re ready to dive into cross-platform development, paid licenses start at $99 for a single-platform desktop license, and $399 for cross-platform desktop, mobile, or web development. For professional developers who need additional resources and support, Xojo Pro and Pro Plus licenses start at $799. You can also find special pricing for educators and students.
  
  Download Xojo 2025r1 today at xojo.com.
  Final Thoughts
  With each new release, Xojo continues to make cross-platform development more accessible and efficient. The 2025r1 release is no exception, delivering key updates that simplify the development process and open up new possibilities for developers working on a variety of platforms. Whether you’re a Raspberry Pi enthusiast or a mobile app developer, Xojo 2025r1 has something for you.
  Xojo ARM

• New 'Mirrored' Network Mode Introduced in Windows Subsystem for Linux
  
  Microsoft's Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) continues to evolve with the release of WSL 2 version 0.0.2. This update introduces a set of opt-in preview features designed to enhance performance and compatibility.
  
  Key additions include "Automatic memory reclaim" which dynamically optimizes WSL's memory footprint, and "Sparse VHD" to shrink the size of the virtual hard disk file. These improvements aim to streamline resource usage.
  
  Additionally, a new "mirrored networking mode" brings expanded networking capabilities like IPv6 and multicast support. Microsoft claims this will improve VPN and LAN connectivity from both the Windows host and Linux guest. 
  
  Complementing this is a new "DNS Tunneling" feature that changes how DNS queries are resolved to avoid compatibility issues with certain network setups. According to Microsoft, this should reduce problems connecting to the internet or local network resources within WSL.
  
  Advanced firewall configuration options are also now available through Hyper-V integration. The new "autoProxy" feature ensures WSL seamlessly utilizes the Windows system proxy configuration.
  
  Microsoft states these features are currently rolling out to Windows Insiders running Windows 11 22H2 Build 22621.2359 or later. They remain opt-in previews to allow testing before final integration into WSL.
  
  By expanding WSL 2 with compelling new capabilities in areas like resource efficiency, networking, and security, Microsoft aims to make Linux on Windows more performant and compatible. This evolutionary approach based on user feedback highlights Microsoft's commitment to WSL as a key part of the Windows ecosystem.
  Windows

• Linux Threat Report: Earth Lusca Deploys Novel SprySOCKS Backdoor in Attacks on Government Entities
  
  The threat actor Earth Lusca, linked to Chinese state-sponsored hacking groups, has been observed utilizing a new Linux backdoor dubbed SprySOCKS to target government organizations globally. 
  
  As initially reported in January 2022 by Trend Micro, Earth Lusca has been active since at least 2021 conducting cyber espionage campaigns against public and private sector targets in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. Their tactics include spear-phishing and watering hole attacks to gain initial access. Some of Earth Lusca's activities overlap with another Chinese threat cluster known as RedHotel.
  
  In new research, Trend Micro reveals Earth Lusca remains highly active, even expanding operations in the first half of 2023. Primary victims are government departments focused on foreign affairs, technology, and telecommunications. Attacks concentrate in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and the Balkans regions. 
  
  After breaching internet-facing systems by exploiting flaws in Fortinet, GitLab, Microsoft Exchange, Telerik UI, and Zimbra software, Earth Lusca uses web shells and Cobalt Strike to move laterally. Their goal is exfiltrating documents and credentials, while also installing additional backdoors like ShadowPad and Winnti for long-term spying.
  
  The Command and Control server delivering Cobalt Strike was also found hosting SprySOCKS - an advanced backdoor not previously publicly reported. With roots in the Windows malware Trochilus, SprySOCKS contains reconnaissance, remote shell, proxy, and file operation capabilities. It communicates over TCP mimicking patterns used by a Windows trojan called RedLeaves, itself built on Trochilus.
  
  At least two SprySOCKS versions have been identified, indicating ongoing development. This novel Linux backdoor deployed by Earth Lusca highlights the increasing sophistication of Chinese state-sponsored threats. Robust patching, access controls, monitoring for unusual activities, and other proactive defenses remain essential to counter this advanced malware.
  
  The Trend Micro researchers emphasize that organizations must minimize attack surfaces, regularly update systems, and ensure robust security hygiene to interrupt the tactics, techniques, and procedures of relentless threat groups like Earth Lusca.
  Security

• Linux Kernel Faces Reduction in Long-Term Support Due to Maintenance Challenges
  
  The Linux kernel is undergoing major changes that will shape its future development and adoption, according to Jonathan Corbet, Linux kernel developer and executive editor of Linux Weekly News. Speaking at the Open Source Summit Europe, Corbet provided an update on the latest Linux kernel developments and a glimpse of what's to come.
  
  A major change on the horizon is a reduction in long-term support (LTS) for kernel versions from six years to just two years. Corbet explained that maintaining old kernel branches indefinitely is unsustainable and most users have migrated to newer versions, so there's little point in continuing six years of support. While some may grumble about shortened support lifecycles, the reality is that constantly backporting fixes to ancient kernels strains maintainers.
  
  This maintainer burnout poses a serious threat, as Corbet highlighted. Maintaining Linux is largely a volunteer effort, with only about 200 of the 2,000+ developers paid for their contributions. The endless demands on maintainers' time from fuzz testing, fixing minor bugs, and reviewing contributions takes a toll. Prominent maintainers have warned they need help to avoid collapse. Companies relying on Linux must realize giving back financially is in their interest to sustain this vital ecosystem. 
  
  The Linux kernel is also wading into waters new with the introduction of Rust code. While Rust solves many problems, it also introduces new complexities around language integration, evolving standards, and maintainer expertise. Corbet believes Rust will pass the point of no return when core features depend on it, which may occur soon with additions like Apple M1 GPU drivers. Despite skepticism in some corners, Rust's benefits likely outweigh any transition costs.
  
  On the distro front, Red Hat's decision to restrict RHEL cloning sparked community backlash. While business considerations were at play, Corbet noted technical factors too. Using older kernels with backported fixes, as RHEL does, risks creating divergent, vendor-specific branches. The Android model of tracking mainline kernel dev more closely has shown security benefits. Ultimately, Linux works best when aligned with the broader community.
  
  In closing, Corbet recalled the saying "Linux is free like a puppy is free." Using open source seems easy at first, but sustaining it long-term requires significant care and feeding. As Linux is incorporated into more critical systems, that maintenance becomes ever more crucial. The kernel changes ahead are aimed at keeping Linux healthy and vibrant for the next generation of users, businesses, and developers.
  kernel

• Linux Celebrates 32 Years with the Release of 6.6-rc2 Version
  
  Today marks the 32nd anniversary of Linus Torvalds introducing the inaugural Linux 0.01 kernel version, and celebrating this milestone, Torvalds has launched the Linux 6.6-rc2. Among the noteworthy updates are the inclusion of a feature catering to the ASUS ROG Flow X16 tablet's mode handling and the renaming of the new GenPD subsystem to pmdomain.
  
  The Linux 6.6 edition is progressing well, brimming with exciting new features that promise to enhance user experience. Early benchmarks are indicating promising results, especially on high-core-count servers, pointing to a potentially robust and efficient update in the Linux series.
  
  Here is what Linus Torvalds had to say in today's announcement:
  Another week, another -rc.I think the most notable thing about 6.6-rc2 is simply that it'sexactly 32 years to the day since the 0.01 release. And that's a roundnumber if you are a computer person.Because other than the random date, I don't see anything that reallystands out here. We've got random fixes all over, and none of it looksparticularly strange. The genpd -> pmdomain rename shows up in thediffstat, but there's no actual code changes involved (make sure touse "git diff -M" to see them as zero-line renames).And other than that, things look very normal. Sure, the architecturefixes happen to be mostly parisc this week, which isn't exactly theusual pattern, but it's also not exactly a huge amount of changes.Most of the (small) changes here are in drivers, with some tracingfixes and just random things. The shortlog below is short enough toscroll through and get a taste of what's been going on. Linus Torvalds

• Introducing Bavarder: A User-Friendly Linux Desktop App for Quick ChatGPT Interaction
  
  Want to interact with ChatGPT from your Linux desktop without using a web browser?
  
  Bavarder, a new app, allows you to do just that.
  
  Developed with Python and GTK4/libadwaita, Bavarder offers a simple concept: pose a question to ChatGPT, receive a response, and promptly copy the answer (or your inquiry) to the clipboard for pasting elsewhere.
  
  With an incredibly user-friendly interface, you won't require AI expertise (or a novice blogger) to comprehend it. Type your question in the top box, click the blue send button, and wait for a generated response to appear at the bottom. You can edit or modify your message and repeat the process as needed.
  
  During our evaluation, Bavarder employed BAI Chat, a GPT-3.5/ChatGPT API-based chatbot that's free and doesn't require signups or API keys. Future app versions will incorporate support for alternative backends, such as ChatGPT 4 and Hugging Chat, and allow users to input an API key to utilize ChatGPT3.
  
  At present, there's no option to regenerate a response (though you can resend the same question for a potentially different answer). Due to the lack of a "conversation" view, tracking a dialogue or following up on answers can be challenging — but Bavarder excels for rapid-fire questions.
  
  As with any AI, standard disclaimers apply. Responses might seem plausible but could contain inaccurate or false information. Additionally, it's relatively easy to lead these models into irrational loops, like convincing them that 2 + 2 equals 106 — so stay alert!
  
  Overall, Bavarder is an attractive app with a well-defined purpose. If you enjoy ChatGPT and similar technologies, it's worth exploring.
  ChatGPT AI

• LibreOffice 7.5.3 Released: Third Maintenance Update Brings 119 Bug Fixes to Popular Open-Source Office Suite
  
  Today, The Document Foundation unveiled the release and widespread availability of LibreOffice 7.5.3, which serves as the third maintenance update to the current LibreOffice 7.5 open-source and complimentary office suite series.
  
  Approximately five weeks after the launch of LibreOffice 7.5.2, LibreOffice 7.5.3 arrives with a new set of bug fixes for those who have successfully updated their GNU/Linux system to the LibreOffice 7.5 series.
  
  LibreOffice 7.5.3 addresses a total of 119 bugs identified by users or uncovered by LibreOffice developers. For a more comprehensive understanding of these bug fixes, consult the RC1 and RC2 changelogs.
  
  You can download LibreOffice 7.5.3 directly from the LibreOffice website��or from SourceForge as binary installers for DEB or RPM-based GNU/Linux distributions. A source tarball is also accessible for individuals who prefer to compile the software from sources or for system integrators.
  
  All users operating the LibreOffice 7.5 office suite series should promptly update their installations to the new point release, which will soon appear in the stable software repositories of your GNU/Linux distributions.
  
  In early February 2023, LibreOffice 7.5 debuted as a substantial upgrade to the widely-used open-source office suite, introducing numerous features and improvements. These enhancements encompass major upgrades to dark mode support, new application and MIME-type icons, a refined Single Toolbar UI, enhanced PDF Export, and more.
  
  Seven maintenance updates will support LibreOffice 7.5 until November 30th, 2023. The next point release, LibreOffice 7.5.4, is scheduled for early June and will include additional bug fixes.
  
  The Document Foundation once again emphasizes that the LibreOffice office suite's "Community" edition is maintained by volunteers and members of the Open Source community. For enterprise implementations, they suggest using the LibreOffice Enterprise family of applications from ecosystem partners.
  LibreOffice