Engadget Feed

Spring has certainly sprung here at Engadget. Well, it has in terms of reviews, at least. We’ve put over a dozen devices through their paces since my last roundup, which gives you a lot to catch up on over the weekend. Read on for the rundown of all the reviews you might’ve missed.

ASUS ZenBook A16

ASUS’ ZenBook A14 didn’t live up to our expectations last year, but now the company is back with a 16-inch machine and a shot at redemption: the A16. “Compatibility issues aside, the ZenBook A16 delivers just about everything I want in an ultraportable,” senior reporter Devindra Hardawar said. “It’s got a gorgeous OLED screen and all of the ports you need. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite chips also give it a much-needed power boost. And best of all, it's one of the lightest and sleekest 16-inch Windows laptops I've come across.”

Apple AirPods Max 2

Until this year, Apple’s only updates to the AirPods Max were new colors and a USB-C port. The company finally gave its pricey over-ear headphones the powerful H2 chip, delivering a host of handy features from the AirPods Pro. “The H2 chip brings Apple’s over-ear headphones on par with the rest of the AirPods lineup, namely the AirPods Pro 3,” I said. “And since I don’t expect Apple to announce new earbuds this year, that parity should remain for a while.”

Sonos Play

Sonos badly needed a win. Thankfully, the company regained some of its mojo with a new portable speaker that offers the best of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in the same device. “The latest Sonos speaker offers impressive sound quality, flexibility and portability, and it’s the kind of product that can help Sonos rebuild its reputation after its recent difficulties,” deputy editor Nathan Ingraham said.

LG Sound Suite

After an impressive CES debut, LG’s Sound Suite was my most anticipated review of the year. Despite impressive sound quality and Dolby Atmos FlexConnect, there are still some kinks to work out in both the setup and general use. “There’s no denying that LG has created a powerful and immersive living room experience with its Sound Suite lineup,” I said. “While I did experience some setup and software issues, those are things LG can iron out over time — Sound Suite is still brand new, after all.”

DJI Avata 360, Fender Audio, Nebula X1 Pro and more

The last few weeks have been pretty audio-heavy here at Engadget, including the first headphones and speakers from Fender Audio, two sets of headphones from JBL and the Roland Go: Mixer Studio. I also reviewed the first of Sony’s 2026 soundbars, the Bravia Theater Bar 5, and contributing reporter Steve Dent reviewed the Anker Soundcore Nebula X1 Pro all-in-one projector.

Senior reporter Sam Rutherford really took one for the team and spent some time with the Robosen Soundwave Transformers robot. Lastly, Steve took flight with the DJI Avata 360 drone, which is a direct answer to Insta360’s Antigravity A1.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-review-recap-asus-zenbook-a16-airpods-max-2-sonos-play-and-lg-sound-suite-133000521.html?src=rss

XChat is now on the App Store, where its listing says that it’s expected to be available for download on April 17. This isn’t the same IRC app from the early aughts, which you may remember if you’re of a certain age. This is a messaging app specifically for X users. X chief Elon Musk first talked about rolling out a new version of his social network’s direct messaging feature in mid-2025. In a series of posts back then, he said the new version would be encrypted and would feature a “whole new architecture.” He also said all X users were getting XChat in June last year, but Musk is pretty infamous for being overly optimistic about timelines.

Now, instead of an upgraded DM feature on X, users are getting a standalone app. It allows them to chat with anybody on X and call each other across devices. The app is end-to-end encrypted and will let users edit and delete their messages for all participants in the conversation. It will also allow users to block screenshots and enable disappearing messages if they want the sensitive details they send in-chat to vanish within five minutes. The app allows users to create massive group chats with up to 481 members, as well. X promises in the App Store listing that XChat will not have ads and will not be tracking users.

Users can now pre-order XChat for iPhones and iPads so that it automatically downloads on their device when it comes out.

Your encrypted chats deserve their own app.

Pre-order now: https://t.co/TM8Lk7AMGV pic.twitter.com/ZJ3yROXK1t

— XChat (@chat) April 10, 2026

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/xs-messaging-app-xchat-may-be-available-soon-114722904.html?src=rss

Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. As always, we're here to tell you about a bunch of new games you can play this weekend, as well as several upcoming titles. 

The latest edition of the Triple-i Initiative showcase was packed with cool stuff, including a first peek at the fascinating next game from 1000xResist developer Sunset Visitor, word of a Don't Starve follow-up, a release date for stealth title Thick as Thieves and an announcement of when pirate survival sim Windrose will hit early access.

We also got a release window for Neverway, a life sim with gorgeously creepy pixel art. The prologue is available to play now on Steam, and it doesn't take long at all before things become delightfully strange. I'll run through a few of the other Triple-i highlights below.

Before we get to the new releases, though, I want to touch on something I spotted a little too late to include in last week's roundup. On Reddit, the developer of mixed reality game CoasterMania shared a video showcasing an update that lets players use their hands to build and interact with rollercoasters. I think this looks just swell. This is the most I've ever been interested in picking up a Meta Quest headset (which I'd inevitably use for a grand total of about 45 minutes). 

New releases

I don't like to overwork my brain when I'm playing games. I’m focused all day at work and afterwards, I just want to switch off for a bit. That's a big reason why I play a ton of Overwatch and don't really gel too well with most puzzle games. Minos, though, hits the sweet spot of brain engagement for me.

In this roguelite from Artificer and publisher Devolver Digital, your aim is to stop glory-seeking adventurers from finding and killing a minotaur. You'll shape a labyrinth as you see fit in order to defend the beast from these warriors. You can set up the maze by building and knocking down walls, and setting traps. The adventurers will follow a set path to the minotaur's lair, then make a beeline for the monster when they discover it's hiding elsewhere. 

There are a lot of ways to dispose of the interlopers and you'll need to be thoughtful about how to set everything up to take out each wave of attackers. Many traps can only be placed on certain spots, so it's important to work around those. You'll need to adjust your setup after every wave — you’ll gain more traps and have to re-arrange them to fend off different types of enemies. 

Minos is more active than a lot of tower defense and strategy games I've played, as the minotaur can reset certain traps after they trigger and, if need be, try to kill the adventurers head-on. I found myself spending quite a bit of time thinking through each enemy's path through my domain and how I was going to eliminate them. Sometimes, I miscalculated and brought my run to an end. Being able to improve the minotaur's stats and unlock new powers between runs helped me keep coming back for more. 

I'm really enjoying Minos, and I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being one of my favorite games of the year. You can snap it up on Steam now for $18. A demo is available too.

Spring has finally bloomed in my neck of the woods. I planned to spend a chunk of my weekend outside after a long winter. But now I might need to bring my Steam Deck with me, because the first DLC for CloverPit, one of my favorite games of last year, suddenly arrived during the Triple-i Initiative showcase. 

CloverPit is a Balatro-style incremental roguelite from Panik Arcade and publisher Future Friends Games. It tasks you with breaking the rules of a slot machine to meet increasingly high coin targets in order to pay off a debt. You can pick up charms that modify the machine, and the Unholy Fusion DLC is all about those totems. You'll be able to use a new device called the Surgery Machine to fuse charms into more powerful items (à la Ball x Pit). It seems like that will free up valuable space for more charms too.

The DLC adds 30 fusion charms, 11 new base charms, a secret ending and other features. I've played CloverPit for dozens of hours (I'm far from the only one, as the game's pulled in more than 5 million players). I suspect I'm about to sink a whole lot more time into this DLC.

The Unholy Fusion DLC usually costs $3, but there's a 10 percent discount on Steam until April 23. The base game is typically $10, though you can get 30 percent off on Steam until the same date. You'll save an extra five percent if you buy a bundle with both. CloverPit is also on Game Pass, and you can buy a bundle of the base game and DLC on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and Xbox on PC for $11.49. On iOS and Android, you can snag CloverPit for $5 and the DLC for $2.

Another title had a surprise, sudden release during the Triple-i Initiative showcase: battle royale typing game Final Sentence. I really enjoyed the demo for this one, even though I'm not the fastest or most accurate typist around — I made four typos in this sentence alone. Make too many mistakes or fail to beat everyone else who's bashing away at a typewriter and it's curtains for you, courtesy of a creepy figure with a revolver that’s standing by your desk.

Final Sentence, from Button Mash and Polden Publishing, is available on Steam. It'll typically cost $10, but if you pick it up before April 23, you'll save 10 percent. (Sidenote: I enjoyed a Steam review that read, “finally… a way for millennials to beat Gen Z at a battle royale game.)

One of the most interesting things about People of Note is that Iridium Studios tried to make this musical adventure as approachable as possible. It's an RPG with turn-based battles, but you can skip the fights if you like. That's appealing to someone like me, who enjoys story-driven games but often struggles to engage with turn-based combat. Puzzles are skippable too. Great! People should be able to play non-competitive games however they want.

I dug the demo when I played it a while back. The approach to battles here is interesting, as the protagonist, pop singer Cadence, recruits other musicians to join her band — in other words, your party. The combat is based around music, and you can create mashups of battle tracks based on the genres that your collaborators specialize in. 

People of Note, from publisher Annapurna Interactive, will normally run you $25, though there's a 10 percent launch discount. It's available on PS5 (the discount on that platform is only for PlayStation Plus subscribers), Xbox Series X/S, Xbox on PC, Nintendo Switch 2, Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Tamashika is a fast-paced first-person shooter with a neat twist. The game only has one level available at any time. There are no checkpoints, and it'll take about 10 minutes to complete a successful run. The level gets a procedurally generated revamp once per day.

A tantō blade, a pistol, your movement and your aim are the only weapons you have to defeat the enemies and reach the goal. I had to watch the trailer a few times to get it, but the quirky hand-drawn aesthetic is growing on me.

Tamashika — from QuickTequila and publisher Edglrd — is available on Steam, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch for $20.

A Hidden Object Fest is running on Steam until April 13, and a few new games have debuted as part of that. One of those is Nippets by Blink Industries. It's a hand-drawn game with lots of secrets and, at least judging by the trailer, charming animations. It seems like a very relaxing counterpoint to some of the more intense games out this week. It's pretty digestible too, as it has around two to three hours of gameplay, depending on how sharp your observation skills are.

Nippets is available on Steam and Itch for PC and Mac. It costs $13, though there's a 10 percent discount on Steam until April 21. A demo is available on both storefronts too.

Upcoming 

Dead As Disco has some momentum after 1.2 million players checked out the demo, and this rhythm-based beat 'em up now has an early access release date. It's coming to Steam and the Epic Games Store on May 5.

At the jump, you'll be able to play the first arc of a larger narrative and be able to take out bad guys to the beat of a soundtrack that has more than 30 songs, including original tracks, covers and licensed tunes. You can load in your own music as well, though I can't imagine being able to adeptly play this to the rhythm of Angine de Poitrine's wild time signature swings. 

Brain Jar Games expects the game to remain in early access for around a year as it adds new bosses, moves and other features, and makes adjustments based on player feedback. A co-op mode is planned too. You can get a taste of Dead As Disco now by checking out the Steam demo, though I would argue that disco is still very much alive.

Those looking for a puzzle game of a Lovecraftian persuasion may be interested in Call of the Elder Gods, a sequel to 2020's Call of the Sea. The follow-up is bound for Steam, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch 2 on May 12. It'll be available on Game Pass and it's priced at $25 on the eShop.

You seemingly won't need to have played Call of the Sea before diving into the sequel, though you'll surely get more out of Call of the Elder Gods if you have. You'll switch between two characters — professor Harry Everhart and student Evangeline Drayton — to solve puzzles from a first-person perspective and try to find out what happened to the pair's missing loved ones.

I'd seen Long Gone at another showcase some time ago, but the name of it slipped from my memory. No such issues after it made an appearance in the Triple-i Initiative stream though, as this project from Hillfort Games and co-publisher Outersloth is now firmly on my Steam wishlist.

It's a narrative-driven game set amid a zombie outbreak in which you'll solve environmental puzzles to learn about the lives of people who are no longer around. It's ostensibly a point-and-click adventure that looks very heavily inspired by a certain post-apocalyptic series from Naughty Dog, right down to the backpack-wearing protagonist. There are platforming sections too.

I'm absolutely going to be interested in any game that smooshes together The Last of Us and the Monkey Island series. I'm really looking forward to playing Long Gone sometime next year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/marauding-minotaurs-more-cloverpit-and-other-new-indie-games-worth-checking-out-110000480.html?src=rss

The Orion capsule carrying the Artemis II astronauts has successfully splashed down off the coast of San Diego at 8:07PM Eastern time on April 10. It signals the conclusion of Artemis II’s 10-day journey around the moon, which is meant to be a test flight for a future mission that would bring humanity back to the lunar surface. The Orion crew module carrying the mission’s astronauts separated from the service module at 7:33 PM. While the service module was designed to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere, the crew capsule was built to bring the astronauts back home safely.

By 7:53 PM, Orion reached our planet’s upper atmosphere, where a six-minute communication blackout occurred due to the capsule heating up as it started its guided descent. The capsule has 11 parachutes, with its drogue parachutes being deployed at 23,400 feet to stabilize and slow it down. When Orion reached 5,400 feet above the ground, the drogue parachutes were cut off so that the three main parachutes could be deployed. That decreased the capsule’s velocity to 200 feet per second, enabling a safe splashdown.

NASA’s engineers conducted several tests while the capsule was in the water before the recovery team headed to the capsule on inflatable boats to extract the crew from Orion. By 9:34 PM, all four crew members were out of the capsule. They were then hoisted into helicopters and flown to the USS John P. Murtha dock ship, where doctors will assess their health.

Artemis II launched on April 1 with four astronauts on board: NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen. They traveled around the moon for almost 10 days, reaching distances no other crewed mission has before it. The astronauts took photos of the far side of the moon, the side we don’t see from our planet, including amazing closeups of the lunar surface using their smartphones. That makes them the first humans to directly and personally view the lunar far side.

During NASA’s post-splashdown news conference, the agency said it will announce the Artemis III crew soon. Artemis III will rendezvous with one or both commercial landers being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin in low Earth orbit, which will take humans to the lunar surface. It will test the lander’s ability to dock with Orion before NASA lands humans on the moon again.

Welcome home Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy! 🫶

The Artemis II astronauts have splashed down at 8:07pm ET (0007 UTC April 11), bringing their historic 10-day mission around the Moon to an end. pic.twitter.com/1yjAgHEOYl

— NASA (@NASA) April 11, 2026

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/the-artemis-ii-astronauts-are-back-after-a-10-day-journey-around-the-moon-033800654.html?src=rss

Besides a wealth of Fortnite skins based on Disney IP, it hasn't really been clear what the entertainment company has gotten in return for its $1.5 billion investment in Epic from 2024. That could change this November, Bloomberg reports, when Epic releases a Disney-themed extraction shooter. The game is one of three Disney projects the publisher is currently working on, and is reportedly expected to be Epic's comeback after the company laid off 1,000 employees in March due to a "downturn in Fortnite engagement."

The game is reportedly similar to Arc Raiders, a multiplayer shooter where players fight for resources before escaping through an extraction point, but with Disney characters fighting enemies instead of post-apocalyptic survivors. Bloomberg writes that internal reviewers have worried that the game's mechanics are "not very original," but the project is the most promising of the three Epic is developing. The second title received middling internal reviews, according to Bloomberg, and Epic moved resources off the third project "after reports that Disney was disappointed by Epic’s release timeline."

“This is not reflective of the ambitions of the Disney collaboration,” Liz Markman, Senior Director of Communications at Epic Games, said in a statement. “We are building a new games and entertainment universe of Disney experiences.”

While details of Epic's work for Disney are coming into focus, it's still unclear whether this new extraction shooter will be a standalone game or incorporated as a mode in Fortnite. In its efforts to sell the title as a "multiverse" and a competitor to Roblox, Epic has introduced multiple games inside Fortnite over the last few years with distinct mechanics. The developer announced that it would shut down three of those titles — Rocket Racing, Ballistic and Fortnite Festival Battle Stage — as part of its recent round of layoffs. According to current and former Epic employees Bloomberg spoke to, several affected employees were also working on these unannounced Disney games.

When it invested in Epic in 2024, Disney wanted to build an entertainment universe, where players could "play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar, and more." Epic's current plans sound less all-encompassing than that, but if they manage to increase engagement with Fortnite and Disney's brand, that might not matter.

Update, April 10, 7:29PM ET: Added a statement from Epic Games.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/epic-is-reportedly-building-an-extraction-shooter-for-disney-220401382.html?src=rss

Sick! The Federal Aviation Administration is targeting gamers in its most recent job advertisement for air traffic controllers. The administration's annual hiring window opens at 12AM ET on April 17, and considering the ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers, it's calling this a period of "supercharged hiring." Rad! The FAA's YouTube video draws parallels between gaming and directing air traffic, and notes that the average salary for the role after three years is $155,000. Hella!

The FAA is clearly seeking players who are at least old enough to remember the Xbox One and Bjergsen in the LCS, which puts would-be candidates around their early 20s at least. It's either that, or the ad editors really just picked videos at random from the pile of stock footage marked gamerz. But I won't lie, it made me smile to see that Xbox One logo appear out of nowhere. Nostalgia is a hell of a thing.

"To reach the next generation of air traffic controllers, we need to adapt," US Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said. "This campaign’s innovative communication style and focus on gaming taps into a growing demographic of young adults who have many of the hard skills it takes to be a successful controller."

The FAA has been losing more air traffic controllers than it can hire and retain since the 2010s, and this trend only worsened during the pandemic in the 2020s, according to a report released in December by the US Government Accountability Office. The administration increased hiring every year since 2021, but at the end of 2025 it employed 13,164 air traffic controllers, 6 percent fewer than in 2015, the report said. At the same time, the number of flights in the air traffic control system increased by about 10 percent, to 30.8 million.

Or, as the FAA put it on the ATC hiring page: "Join the BEST AND BRIGHTEST, the elite squad of 14,000 controllers protecting 2.9 million daily passengers." Applicants must be a US citizen, under 31 (maybe those video editors do know what they're doing), and be able to speak fluent English. An aptitude test, medical screening and academy training follows, among other steps.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-faa-is-encouraging-gamers-to-get-jobs-in-air-traffic-control-230308014.html?src=rss

A 20-year-old man was arrested by the San Francisco Police Department after allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's house, The New York Times reports.

In a statement shared on X, SFPD wrote that it responded to a request for a fire investigation in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco around 7:12 AM ET / 4:12AM PT. "At the scene, officers learned that an unknown male subject threw an incendiary destructive device at a home, causing a fire at an exterior gate." After the man fled on foot, police found and arrested him around an hour later while responding to a business' complaint about an "unknown male subject threatening to burn down the building." That business turned out to be OpenAI's headquarters and the subject happened to be the same man who threw the Molotov at Altman's house.

View our latest statement regarding an incident that occurred early this morning at a North Beach residence. Officers have made an arrest, and no injuries were reported as a result of this incident. pic.twitter.com/t4DsF31uxh

— San Francisco Police (@SFPD) April 10, 2026

"Early this morning, someone threw a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman’s home and also made threats at our San Francisco headquarters. Thankfully, no one was hurt," an OpenAI spokesperson confirmed in a statement to Wired. "We deeply appreciate how quickly SFPD responded and the support from the city in helping keep our employees safe. The individual is in custody, and we’re assisting law enforcement with their investigation."

As it's become more commonplace, artificial intelligence has also become more divisive. While more and more people continue to use AI tools, public reaction to the encroachment of the technology, whether in gaming or customer service, is increasingly negative. Altman's warnings of AI's impact on employment, and a recent New Yorker investigation digging into his allegedly manipulative leadership style at OpenAI, have also raised questions about the CEO's prominent role as a steward of the technology.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/a-man-allegedly-threw-a-molotov-cocktail-at-sam-altmans-house-210444731.html?src=rss

As child social media bans spread across Europe and beyond, Estonia isn't having it. On Friday, the country's education minister said the bans won't "actually solve problems," while warning that the kids will find a way regardless.

Although companies like Meta would love for you to believe it’s a fairy tale, social media addiction is associated with tangible negative repercussions for children. Studies show that its harms range from depression and anxiety to sleep deprivation and obesity. (The latter is from all the targeted junk food advertising.) On the other hand, teens can find community and support from social media.

A growing list of countries looked at the negative data and concluded that the answer was to ban social media altogether for children. Although the age cutoff varies, legislation has been floated or enacted in Australia, Greece, France, Austria, Spain, Indonesia, Malaysia, the UK and Denmark — just to name a few.

Estonia's education minister believes these countries are coming at the very real problem from the wrong angle. "The way to approach this, to me, is not to make kids responsible for that harm and start self-regulating," Kristina Kallas said at a Politico forum in Barcelona. She added that "kids will find very quickly the ways to go around and to still use social media."

Instead, she said the responsibility lies with governments and corporations. "Europe pretends to be weak when it comes to big American and international corporations," she added. But she called that a "pretense," challenging the EU to "actually take this power and start regulating the big American corporations."

To be fair, the EU regulates the tech industry more effectively than anywhere else in the world. But the point on childhood social bans stands.

Another argument against the bans is that it’s a short path from the well-meaning to a more sinister erosion of basic freedoms. In February, France suggested that the next logical step after passing an under-15 social media ban would be to go after VPNs. After all, once you pass the ban, you need to enforce it — and that can mean snuffing out the tools children could use to work around it.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/estonia-is-the-rare-eu-country-opposing-child-social-media-bans-194620916.html?src=rss

Whoop, the makers of a screen-free fitness tracker of the same name, could soon have some competition. Fitbit teased its take on a Whoop-style band with the help of Steph Curry at the end of March, and based on a trademark filing spotted by Gadgets & Wearables, Garmin appears to be working on its own band that tracks similar health metrics.

This new Garmin wearable, called "CIRQA" in the trademark filing submitted in February, is designed to measure "the body's physical parameters and other physiological data, bio-signals, and bodily behavior." That could broadly describe the smartwatches and fitness trackers Garmin already sells. But the CIRQA apparently goes further, by also measuring "recovery from physical and emotional stress, human alertness level, and performance," a set of more granular, wellness-focused features that could bring the unreleased wearable into the same ballpark as a Whoop.

Garmin accidentally leaked that it was working on a new wearable via a hastily removed store page in January, Android Authority reports. While some phantom web pages and a trademark do not guarantee Garmin is working on a new device, or that the band will be screen-free in the same way the Whoop is. If the company is preparing a competitor, though, the timing makes sense. Where other devices try to split the difference between tracking biometrics and offering real-time information or other smartwatch features, Whoop is decidedly data-first. Its wearables monitor as much information as possible through a nondescript band, and then analyze and display what it learned via a smartphone app. The approach is attractive to anyone tired of dealing with screens, and the growing number of people obsessed with optimizing their health. In fact, Whoop just raised $575 million on the back of its current success. It would make sense that Garmin and Google (via its Fitbit brand) would want a piece of the company's audience, too.

Whoop-style bands are also a perfect fit for future uses of AI in health and fitness tracking. Google is interested in having users turn to Fitbit's AI-powered health coach for everything from workout tracking to nutrition advice. If health data processing is going to happen in the cloud, and you're going to have to pull out your smartphone to view that data anyway, it makes sense to sell a tracker without a screen.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/garmin-may-be-working-on-a-whoop-competitor-191802041.html?src=rss

Amazon is ending support for third-party integrations on its Luna cloud gaming service. The most immediate changes mean that it's no longer possible to buy Ubisoft+ and Jackbox Games subscriptions or standalone games through Luna. 

Amazon will automatically any cancel active subscriptions bought through Luna at the end of customers' next billing cycle. If you have a Ubisoft+ subscription that you bought directly from Ubisoft instead, you’ll still be able to access games on that service through Luna until June 10.

The Bring Your Own Library option — which allows users to play games they own on the likes of EA, GOG and Ubisoft on Luna — is going away too. You won't be able to access games from on those storefronts via Amazon's streaming service after June 3.

If you bought any games outright on Luna, you'll still be able to play them there until June 10. Unlike Google did when it shut down Stadia, Amazon isn’t offering refunds for those purchases. However, you'll still have access to them through the respective third-party platform that's linked to your account, be it the EA App, GOG Galaxy or Ubisoft Connect. 

That doesn't exactly help folks who don't have powerful-enough systems to play more demanding games and were relying on Luna. As such, some people might need to turn to the likes of GeForce Now in order to keep playing games they bought through Luna (and they’ll need to hope GFN actually supports their specific games). 

Amazon has been reshaping Luna over the last several months. It rolled out a revamped version of the service back in October, with more of a focus on GameNight party games that you can play with a smartphone.

Prime subscribers will still be able to claim PC games and stream games on the Luna Standard tier at no extra cost. The Luna Premium subscription, which includes a wider range of third-party games, is still available too. 

“We’re doubling down on a broad range of gaming experiences, including strong third-party titles, delivered in ways that make great games more accessible, as well as new and unique gaming experiences like GameNight,” Amazon wrote in an email to Luna users. The company also said it will offer some folks a free Luna Premium subscription.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/amazon-luna-ends-support-for-third-party-subscriptions-and-game-purchases-171329996.html?src=rss

America's Big Tech companies may soon learn that saddling up with Donald Trump doesn't tend to work out in the end. As the president sows chaos and distrust around the globe while taking aim at EU tech regulations, Europe is looking for ways to adopt its own alternatives. The latest example is France, which said it's dropping Microsoft Windows in favor of Linux.

On Wednesday, France said (via TechCrunch) it plans to move its workstations from Windows to the open-source Linux. It's part of a broader movement across Europe toward digital sovereignty, aimed at reducing reliance on foreign tech — especially American and Chinese. Although homegrown alternatives aren't available in many areas, the EU seems prepared to wean itself off where it can.

In January, France announced that it would move its videoconferencing from Zoom and Teams to the French-made Visio. As part of this week’s Linux announcement, France added that it would also migrate its health data to a new platform by the end of 2026.

Since taking office, Trump has used tariffs and other measures to try to bully European nations into dropping their regulations on America's tech industry. In August, he vowed to "stand up to Countries that attack our incredible American Tech Companies." (The strange capitalizations are his, not ours.) His administration has described laws like the EU's Digital Services Act as "censorship" and "a tax."

So far, Europe has stood firm. "I want to be very clear: our digital sovereignty is our digital sovereignty," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the Munich Security Conference in February. "We have a long tradition in freedom of speech. Actually, the Enlightenment started on our continent."

Christian Kroll, CEO of German search engine Ecosia, foresaw Europe's predicament soon after Trump's 2024 reelection. "We, as a European community, just need to make sure that nobody can blackmail us." He added that "if the US turned off access to search results tomorrow, we would have to go back to phone books." Granted, the guy is selling a European-made search engine, so his bias is clear. But the salience of his point stands.

Giorgos Verdi, policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the Trump administration's behavior underscores the need for Europe to break free. "Could the US use its dominance over AI chips, its dominance over cloud in Europe, its dominance over AI systems in order to exert more pressure?" Verdi asked CNN rhetorically in January. "In order to build more resilience for Europe… there is a geopolitical case for European innovations to emerge."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/french-government-says-au-revoir-windows-bienvenue-linux-165407232.html?src=rss

Google has announced that end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for Gmail on Android and iOS is now rolling out for its enterprise users. Emails that require E2EE in Workspace can be composed and read within the Gmail app, so eligible users won’t need additional apps or portals.

The new feature expands Google’s client-side encryption (CSE) offering, a little more than a year after E2EE was introduced to Gmail on the web. According to a Google blog post, any encrypted message sent to a recipient who uses the Gmail app will appear in their inbox as any email thread would. If they don’t have the app, they’re still able to read and reply to the email in their browser securely, regardless of their email address.

Google says the new functionality "combines the highest level of privacy and data encryption with a user-friendly experience for all users, enabling simple encrypted email for all customers from small businesses to enterprises and public sector." Of course, "all users" applies only to Enterprise Plus members here, with the millions of people who use Gmail as their personal email service currently unable to take advantage of the highest level of privacy and data protection.

In order for Gmail users to start using E2EE in the app, an admin must first enable Android and iOS clients in the CSE admin interface, which is available in the Admin Console. When sending an email, you have to click the lock icon and select additional encryption before sending. Attachments can then be added as normal.

E2EE is available straight away in the Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. Enterprise users will need the Assured Controls or Assured Controls Plus add-on, which provides businesses and organizations that handle sensitive data with extra security and compliance-related tools.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/google-adds-e2e-to-gmail-for-ios-and-android-enterprise-users-165345116.html?src=rss

Google News has begun showing Polymarket bets and odds alongside actual stories, according to a report by Futurism. These look to appear as large blocks that include links to numerous ways for people to lose their money.

Bets tend to appear in the "For you" section of Google News, which is supposed to be tailored to a person's particular interests. Futurism notes that the platform actually placed a Polymarket bet as the top news result when inquiring about the price of Bitcoin.

The publication saw links to the prediction market all over Google News, including in searches. It popped up in queries regarding the Strait of Hormuz, which presents a link that lets people bet on the number of ships that would be allowed to pass through the critical passageway. The report even indicates that users were able to set the gambling platform as a source, which directs readers to an aggregate page of other Polymarket links.

Oof The Top Google News Result Is For Polymarket LOL.

We Cooked. pic.twitter.com/IFBbYFdn2A

— Anthony Higman (@AnthonyHigman) March 26, 2026

There's a caveat here. I wasn't personally able to confirm most of these results. This could indicate that Google has quietly made some changes behind the scenes following Futurism's initial report.

Complaints from users on social media indicate that Google started doing this at the tail-end of March. However, one user noted all the way back in January that Polymarket results had started showing up in the news section of a traditional Google search. I was able to replicate that one.

Lawrence Bonk/Google News

Engadget has reached out to Google to see just what's going on here and if it plans to continue displaying Polymarket bets alongside actual news stories. The company did announce a partnership with both Polymarket and Kalshi back in November. This deal indicated the two gambling platforms would feed prediction data into Google's finance platform, but didn't say anything about News.

It's pretty easy to see why Polymarket would be attractive to Google's algorithms. The platform generates huge numbers on pages that are constantly updated. This could make these algorithms think the links are leading to valuable news stories and not, you know, a place to bet on human misery.

Prediction markets like Polymarket give users the ability to place bets on real world outcomes, which includes wars and other gruesome things. This has led to numerous scandals, which include an incident in which an unknown Polymarket user made more than $400,000 after "predicting" the capture of Venezuela's president Nicolás Maduro just hours before US troops invaded the country and abducted him. 

Polymarket has hosted bets on the use of nuclear weapons in current global conflicts, which is pretty dang chilling when you consider the possibility of government employees tipping the scales in their favor. President Trump did, after all, recently threaten to end an entire civilization. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-has-reportedly-started-to-add-polymarket-data-to-news-results-161708462.html?src=rss

After its history-making trip around the Moon, NASA's Artemis II mission is set to return to Earth later today. The Orion spacecraft carrying astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen is scheduled to splash down off the coast of San Diego at approximately 8:07PM ET. NASA will stream the landing on YouTube and its NASA+ website, as will Netflix and HBO Max. The official broadcast will begin at 6:30PM ET.  

After leaving Earth on NASA's super heavy-lift SLS rocket and spending nine days in space, the most dangerous part of the Artemis II mission still lies ahead. It will take approximately 13 minutes for the Orion spacecraft to complete re-entry. During that time, it will be subject to temperatures of up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius). 

Reentry is dangerous for any crewed spacecraft, but is of particular concern here because of a "skip reentry" during the Artemis 1 mission. At that time, the Orion crew vessel briefly used its own lift to "skip" back out of Earth's upper atmosphere before re-entering for the final descent, suffering excess charring in the process. NASA spent months investigating and determined the craft was safe to fly, but Artemis II will take a more gradual approach back to Earth in hopes of reducing its exposure to excess heat. 

Still, this is the first time in 53 years that NASA will need to guide a human crew back from the Moon. Once all is said and done, however, the Artemis II crew will have traveled 695,081 miles (1,118,624 km), captured amazing images along the way and reminded the world what’s possible when nations work together. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/how-to-watch-the-artemis-ii-landing-145344873.html?src=rss

Not everyone needs a $1,000 soundbar. It’s easy to argue the sonic superiority of those flagship models from Samsung, Sonos and Sony, but for some people a simple boost to their TV speakers can provide a world of difference. As part of its 2026 soundbar lineup, Sony debuted the Bravia Theater Bar 5: a $350 entry-level model that covers the basics and comes with a wireless subwoofer in the box. The real question here is how many features are you willing to live without. 

The good: Sound quality, bass performance and setup

The Theater Bar 5 is the most compact soundbar among Sony’s new models, measuring just 35.5 inches wide. For comparison, that’s still about 10 inches wider than the second-gen Sonos Beam, but nearly 16 inches smaller than Sony’s flagship Theater Bar 9. This stature makes the Bar 5 well-suited for smaller spaces with smaller TVs. In fact, Sony says the soundbar will fit between the legs of Bravia TVs with multi-position stands. Plus, the Bar 5 is just over 2.5 inches tall, slightly shorter than the Beam, so it won’t block the bottom edge of most TVs. 

Despite its small size, the Bar 5 cranks out some excellent sound. There’s plenty of crisp, clear audio from the 3.1-channel configuration, and the included subwoofer provides an ample amount of booming bass. The Bar 5 supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, but it doesn’t have up-firing drivers. Instead, the soundbar relies on Sony’s Vertical Surround Engine and S-Force Pro Front Surround tech to virtualize much of the directional and overhead audio. More on that in a bit. 

While watching Netflix’s Drive to Survive, I experienced the excitement of F1 cars zooming around various circuits as the Bar 5 does well with general movement. The soundbar’s wide soundstage, excellent detail and booming bass provide some degree of immersion that doesn’t rely on audio projected overhead. That overall clarity and powerful bass are also great for listening to music, as the Bar 5 can handle a range of genres with ease. 

The Bravia Theater Bar 5 has a basic, compact design Billy Steele for Engadget

From Kieran Behden & William Tyler’s acoustic/electronic 41 Longfield Street Late ‘80s to Thursday’s screamo masterpiece Full Collapse, the soundbar performs admirably. Although with heavier genres, I preferred to dial down the bass slightly. Tucker Rule’s kick drum on Full Collapse, for example, was a bit much for the standard tuning here. 

After struggling with the setup on LG’s Sound Suite, I was thankful that configuring the Bar 5 was super easy. It’s very much a plug-and-play situation, and the Bravia Connect app guides you through the initial steps. It takes about five minutes to get up and running and I’d wager even the least tech-savvy person in your life can probably figure this out. You can also opt for Night mode (less bass), Sound Field (enhanced audio) and Voice mode (louder dialogue) in the Bravia Connect app. 

All of this certainly makes the Bar 5 a solid option for someone who doesn’t need a lot of features, but stands to benefit from augmenting the sound from their TV alone. 

The not so good: Constrained Dolby Atmos and limited features 

While the Bar 5 supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X immersive audio, Sony’s virtualization tech was a disappointment. There’s some side-to-side directional sound, but I noticed almost no simulated overhead noise. The Bar 5’s sonic clarity makes it a solid option for boosting living room audio, just don’t expect the enveloping effects that more robust (and more expensive) soundbars would offer. 

There are several features you won’t find on the Theater Bar 5, starting with the lack of onboard controls. I’m well aware that those buttons on top of soundbars don’t get used much, but if you’re like me, you still reach for them occasionally. There were several times during my testing when I tried to blindly tap the non-existent volume controls on the Bar 5. Other than a power button on the right side, your options for controlling this soundbar are a remote and the Bravia Connect app. 

The power button on the right side Billy Steele for Engadget

You also won’t find a Wi-Fi connection on the Bar 5. This means that AirPlay and Google Cast aren’t available to easily beam audio from your devices to the soundbar. There is Bluetooth 5.3, so you do have an option for music and podcasts from your phone or laptop if you need it. However, pairing your devices to the soundbar via Bluetooth isn’t as quick as selecting the soundbar in your streaming app when AirPlay or Cast are on the spec sheet. 

Lastly, Sony doesn’t offer any type of room calibration on Theater Bar 5. Sure, a smaller soundbar like this is better in smaller spaces, but it would still be nice to have the system dial in the audio for the aspects of the room. After all, not every living room is a perfect rectangle. I can understand why the company left this feature out of a $350 model, since the tool would require extra components like microphones. This is certainly one of the more noticeable trade-offs for saving some money.  

Wrap-up

Sometimes the basics are all you need. Sony’s Bravia Theater Bar 5 provides an entry-level boost to TV audio that will be fine for people looking for just that. While there is support for immersive audio, the soundbar’s 3.1-channel setup isn’t the best for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X performance, and that’s really the biggest knock against the Bar 5. However, this model's excellent audio quality, especially the powerful bass, will suffice for customers just looking to hear their TVs better. 

The Bravia Theater Bar 5's included subwoofer Billy Steele for Engadget

If you want a compact soundbar that provides respectable Atmos performance, the second-gen Sonos Beam is your best bet. Sure, it’s more expensive at $499 and it doesn’t come with a subwoofer, but its additional drivers, tweeter and passive radiators offer more robust audio from the soundbar alone. You also get Trueplay room calibration and Wi-Fi connectivity there. 

The Theater Bar 5 will certainly improve your living room audio compared to your TV speakers alone, but with a few more features and improved Atmos virtualization, Sony could’ve had a real winner.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/sony-bravia-theater-bar-5-review-a-basic-tv-sound-booster-140000192.html?src=rss

Another day, another subscription price hike, this time for YouTube Premium. Every plan for YouTube’s ad-free tier is going up, and depending on which one you have, you could be paying as much as $4 per month more.

As reported by 9to5Google, YouTube has started emailing subscribers about the price changes, rather than announcing them publicly, and some Reddit users have posted screenshots of the emails they’ve received. The emails say that the increases will kick in during the June 2026 billing period. Individual plans are now $16 per month, up from $14, so a $2 hike. If you’re on a YouTube Premium family plan, you’ll now pay $27 per month, a $4 increase from the previous price of $23.

As a reminder, YouTube Premium unlocks ad-free viewing and listening on YouTube (including YouTube Kids) and YouTube Music, as well as offline viewing and the ability to continue listening in the background with other apps open. A family plan allows up to six accounts to enjoy all of the same benefits.

Both the Lite — which allows ad-free viewing and downloads for most, but not all, YouTube videos, and excludes music — and Music Premium plans are getting $1 increases, so the former now costs $9 per month, while the music streaming service is up to $12 per month from $11 before, according to 9to5Google. This makes it more expensive than Apple Music when taken on its own (YouTube Music Premium is also bundled with the YouTube Premium individual and family plans at no extra cost).

YouTube Premium last raised its prices (also rather quietly) in 2023, also by $2 for the regular plan. The latest price hikes follow Spotify putting its prices up by comparable amounts back in February. Netflix also jacked up the cost of all of its plans last month.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/youtube-premiums-us-pricing-is-going-up-132121683.html?src=rss

Microsoft has rolled out a Notepad update for Windows Insiders that removes the Copilot branding and icon from within the app, Windows Central has reported. The old Copilot menu has been replaced with “writing tools,” but it’s worth noting that the tools are still powered by AI and are pretty much identical to the selection found in the old menu. Microsoft has just replaced the Copilot button with a pen icon. In addition, the company has removed mentions of AI in the Settings menu and has placed the option to disable the AI-powered writing tools within the “Advanced features” section.

The company first announced that it was dialing back its Copilot branding last month, most likely in response to all the criticisms against the AI assistant. It’s not very well-liked, with people complaining that Microsoft is forcing them to use the assistant inside all its apps and that Copilot doesn’t provide a consistent experience across different applications. “You will see us be more intentional about how and where Copilot integrates across Windows,” said Windows and Devices EVP Pavan Davuluri. Microsoft also promised to remove “unnecessary Copilot entry points,” starting with Notepad, Snipping Tool, Photos and Widgets. According to The Verge, Microsoft has already stopped showing the Copilot button when selecting areas to capture with the Snipping Tool, as well. Clearly, the company has been making good progress on yanking at least the visual reminders of Copilot from its apps.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/microsoft-starts-removing-unnecessary-copilot-buttons-in-windows-11-120346728.html?src=rss

Amazon’s satellite-based internet service, Leo, will enter service by mid-2026, so says company CEO Andy Jassy. Writing in his annual letter, Jassy claimed Leo would offer download speeds of up to 1Gbps, far more than what Starlink presently offers. Sadly, Amazon declined to offer any more details about what that mid-2026 service would look like. But given select partners have already been kicking Leo’s tyres for a while, we can only hope.

The mega-retailer is making some grand promises, including faster up and download speeds, cheaper cost and direct integration with Amazon’s other products. Of course, the company can also sell itself on the fact it’s a satellite internet provider not owned by Elon Musk. But it will have to buck its ideas up fast, given how far behind in its deployment of satellites it is.

— Daniel Cooper

The other big stories this morning

• Dyson just announced its first-ever handheld fan, with a motor that spins up to 65,000 RPM
  Don’t put your finger in it.

• JBL Live 780NC and 680NC review: Great leaps, greater missteps
  As the youth say, ‘mid.’

• Sony teases its next-gen True RGB Mini LED TV technology
  Yet another brand name to sully the Mini LED waters.

ASUS ZenBook A16 review: A surprisingly light and powerful 16-inch ultraportable It’s a showcase for the Snapdragon X2 Elite. Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

ASUS’ ZenBook A16 is a 16-inch ultraportable designed to go toe-to-toe with LG’s Gram Pro 16. It’s equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite and designed to address the flaws Devindra Hardawar found in last year’s ZenBook A14. Did it succeed? You’ll have to read his review to get the full story, but he’s certainly happy to have spent the last week using this thing.

Continue Reading.

Greece will ban all kids under 15 from using social media It will begin at the start of 2027.

Greece will ban under 15s from accessing social media, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has announced. Like many nations both in Europe and beyond, officials are concerned about the effect social media is having on children’s mental and physical health. The big platforms will be in charge of enforcing the ban, backed up by the hefty punishments enabled by the Digital Services Act.

Continue Reading.

Amazon is cutting off support for older Kindles Know what doesn’t lose support after a few years? Books. Amazon

If you’re still using a Kindle or Fire tablet made in 2012 or before, then it’s going to get a little less useful on May 20. Amazon is discontinuing support for those earlier models on that date, removing the ability to purchase, borrow or download new titles. Thankfully, whatever is on the hardware already will remain, so don’t fret if you’re only a third of the way through Remembrance of Things Past.

Continue Reading.

Fender Elie review: Handsome speaker/amp hybrids with excellent clarity Fancy, but heavy. Billy Steele for Engadget

Billy Steele has been putting Fender Audio’s new speakers through their paces to find what can only be described as a mixed bag. Excellent audio quality and a wide variety of inputs get high praise, but the heavy weight, exposed wood and limited battery life all dent the paintwork.

Continue Reading.

WhatsApp adds a better native interface for CarPlay About time too. WhatsApp

WhatsApp’s CarPlay interface isn’t the most elegant or easy way to keep in touch with your friends while driving. Meta has, however, given the UI a little polish to help make it a little easier to get something useful done without pulling your attention from the road.

Continue Reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-111524236.html?src=rss

Google has removed popular psychological horror game Doki Doki Literature Club! from the Play Store. According to Dan Salvato, who led its development team, and publisher Serenity Forge, Google told them the visual novel was removed because it violated its Terms of Service in its depiction of sensitive themes. The game is “widely celebrated for portraying mental health in a way that meaningfully connects deeply with players around the world,” they said in their announcement. Its free version, which came out first, has been downloaded at least 30 million times, while the paid “Plus” version has had at least one million downloads. The visual novel has repeatedly made Engadget’s lists of favorite games over the years.

Doki Doki Literature Club! has the drawing style and the makings of a typical dating sim, but players find themselves confronted with serious themes, including depression and suicide, soon after starting. Its Play listing was appropriately marked as “Mature 17+,” which means that children won’t be able to download it if their devices have parental controls. In addition, the developers clearly communicate that the game tackles serious issues. "This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed" is the first line of the game. "In-game content warnings for such material can be enabled in the Settings menu at any time,” it also warns players. In settings, there’s a link to a page that lists content warnings that apply to the visual novel.

We’ve asked Google for a statement on why the game was removed, and we’ll update this post when we hear back. Salvato and Serenity Forge said they’re doing everything they can to “find a path forward for getting DDLC reinstated on the Google Play Store.” They’re also looking at other methods of distribution for Android devices. At the moment, the game’s Play listing shows that it’s still not available, but it’s still out on Steam, PlayStation, Switch eShop, iOS and other platforms.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/google-removes-doki-doki-literature-club-from-the-play-store-080615951.html?src=rss

OpenAI has closed a yawning gap in its ChatGPT subscription pricing with a new $100 per month Pro plan that slots between the $20 per month Plus plan and $200 per month Pro plan. Offering five times more Codex than the $20 option, it appears designed to challenge Anthropic's $100 per month Claude option. "Compared with Claude Code, Codex delivers more coding capacity per dollar across paid tiers," an OpenAI spokesperson told TechCrunch. 

So what's the difference between OpenAI's two Pro plans? The $200 version does offer four times the Codex. However, you get the same advanced tools and models with $100 plan, according to OpenAI's product page. To encourage users to jump in, it will offer double the Codex for a limited time, or 10 times what you get with the Plus plan. 

Users have been screaming for such a plan for a while now, according to posts on OpenAI's developer community forums. "The Plus plan will continue to be the best offer at $20 for steady, day-to-day usage of Codex, and the new $100 Pro tier offers a more accessible upgrade path for heavier daily use," OpenAI said in a post on X. 

With the launch of GPT 5.2 late last year and GPT-5.3-Codex in February, OpenAI significantly boosted the speed and reasoning capabilities of Codex, giving developers a tough choice between ChatGPT and Claude Opus. However, the sticking point for many power users was ChatGPT's $200 per month price — so OpenAI no doubt hopes the new plan will convince those on the fence to switch. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-has-a-new-100-chatgpt-pro-plan-to-better-match-up-with-claude-062705626.html?src=rss