Engadget Feed

Bandai Namco has announced a new Little Nightmares game, this time for virtual reality. Little Nightmares VR: Altered Echoes is developed by Iconik and not by Tarsier Studios, but it’s still connected to the beloved titles Little Nightmares I and II. Remember Dark Six, the protagonist Six’s dark doppelganger from the previous games? Well, in this installment, you will control her as she goes on a journey to reunite with the actual Six in order to reunited with her and become whole.

The adventure horror puzzle game promises an “eerie, atmospheric universe” with an immersive first-person perspective. It features new locations within Nowhere, a nightmarish world only accessible through dreams filled with dangerous creatures, such as the human-like Residents. The Thin Man, the antagonist of the franchise’s second installment, is also back.

Little Nightmares VR: Altered Echoes is optimized for the PSVR2, the Meta Quest 2, 3 and 3s, the Oculus Rift and Rift S, the Pico 4, the Valve Index and the HTC Vive. However, it also works with other PC VR headsets. It will be available on April 24, 2026, and you can add it to your Wishlist right now on the PlayStation, Steam and Meta stores.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/little-nightmares-vr-altered-echoes-arrives-in-april-101626370.html?src=rss

Many of us remember the halcyon days of being a kid in the ‘90s, spending a weekend afternoon with remote control in hand and a seemingly endless well of stuff to watch on TV. Now you can relive the experience thanks to the appropriately named Channel Surfer web app. It's essentially a YouTube discovery tool that surfaces interesting videos, but presented in a retro homage to the cable channel screen. 

Channel Surfer is the work of developer Steven Irby. He has 40 channels on the app right now, mostly grouping content by theme. There are channels for typical cable fare like news and sports, but also music, movies and a number of more tailored tech subjects like AI, gaming, gadgets and space. 

"I built Channel Surfer because I’m tired of the algorithms and indecision fatigue," he told TechCrunch, which is where we discovered the app. "I miss channel surfing and not having to decide what to watch. I want to just sit and tune into what’s on and not think about what to watch next."

It seems Irby isn't alone, because he posted on X that the number of views he's getting for Channel Surfer already broke 10,000 on its first day.

OMG this blew up overnight! I got over 10,000 views on day 1. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/fY20ZVB3Xl

— Steven Irby (@StevenIrby) March 12, 2026

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/youtube/this-web-app-lets-you-channel-surf-youtube-like-a-90s-kid-watching-cable-220651107.html?src=rss

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union that covers warehouse workers, drivers and a diverse collection of other laborers, has come out against Paramount Skydance's merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. In a press release, the Teamsters announced that it has submitted a report to the US Department of Justice's Antitrust Division outlining its concerns about the impact of the deal, and is urging the DOJ to intervene in the merger.

"This merger threatens the livelihoods of the very workers who built these studios into industry giants," Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement. "We've seen what happens when corporations consolidate power: jobs disappear, production leaves American communities and workers pay the price. The DOJ has a responsibility to stop deals that eliminate competition and harm working families. Unless Paramount and Warner Bros. can guarantee enforceable protections for domestic production and labor standards, this merger can’t be allowed to move forward."

The Teamsters are primarily concerned with how merging the two companies will consolidate power, and eliminate jobs in the process. "Previous mergers have a well-documented track record of harming workers — Disney’s 2019 acquisition of 20th Century Fox resulted in eliminated production units, significant job losses and canceled projects," the union says. Motion Picture Teamsters, the division of the union concentrated in Hollywood that transports the equipment, props and crew members that make productions possible, stand to be most impacted. 

The high likelihood the merger impacts competition in the market is why the Teamsters expect the DOJ to step in, or in the case Paramount and Warner Bros. aren't able to provide "enforceable commitments to increasing and maintaining domestic production, strong labor standards and guarantees against layoffs and erosion of union jobs," block the deal entirely.

Engadget has asked the Teamsters union what it plans to do if the Department of Justice doesn't intervene. We'll update this article if we hear back.

If it's allowed to eat Warner Bros., Paramount Skydance has committed to producing 30 theatrical films annually, evenly split across the two studios’ slates. The larger issue is that the company's offer to acquire the studio is predicated on the idea it will quickly pass the muster of government regulators. Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison is the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who's known to have close ties with President Donald Trump, and has already benefited from favorable treatment from the administration. There's a real possibility that Paramount's new merger could similarly sail through, regardless of the Teamsters' concerns.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/teamsters-urge-doj-to-block-paramounts-warner-bros-merger-215115721.html?src=rss

Adobe's long-time CEO has shared that he plans to step down. Shantanu Narayen has been the chief exec at the tech company for 18 years, a tenure where he led Adobe in the major shift to become a software-as-a-service provider. The exact timeline for his exit is still up in the air, as Narayen will depart when the board of directors names his successor. He will remain on the board as its chair after leaving the CEO post. 

While Adobe was not the first to take the SaaS route, it was one of the first major tech operations to do so. Software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere and Lightroom from the brand have been mainstays in creative fields for years, so the launch of the Creative Suite subscription, which is now called Creative Cloud, was a pretty revolutionary change for its customers. 

In an memo to employees, Narayen reflected on his nearly two decades at the helm. Adobe has grown from about 3,000 employees to more than 30,000, while its financial performance has leapt, revenue skyrocketing from less than $1 billion to more than $25 billion. He also looked toward the future and the seemingly-inevitable presence of artificial intelligence. 

"The next era of creativity is being written right now — shaped by AI, by new workflows and by entirely new forms of expression," he wrote. "Adobe has never waited for the future to arrive. We’ve anticipated it. We’ve built it. And we’ve led it. What gives me the greatest confidence isn’t just our technology — it’s our people. Your ingenuity, resilience and commitment to customers are what will define this moment."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/adobe-ceo-shantanu-narayen-plans-to-step-down-after-18-years-212705623.html?src=rss

NASA will soon give it another go on April Fools' Day. On Thursday, NASA said it's targeting April 1 at 6:24 PM ET for the Artemis II mission's next launch attempt.

In case that date doesn't pan out, NASA added April 2 at 7:22 PM as a secondary launch opportunity. If necessary, the agency foresees several more openings between April 1 and 6 to get the Orion rocket into space. "Within those six days between the first and the sixth, we can't always turn around every day for an attempt," NASA acting associate administrator Lori Glaze said at a press conference. "We would anticipate […] about four opportunities within that six-day period."

In preparation, NASA is targeting March 19 (a week from today) to roll Artemis II back out to the launch pad. However, it warned that further setbacks could occur. "While I am comfortable and the agency is comfortable with targeting April 1 as our first opportunity, just keep in mind we still have work to go," Glaze said. "There are still things that need to be done within the [Vehicle Assembly Building] and out at the pad. As always, we'll be guided by what the hardware is telling us, and we will launch when we're ready."

Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator, and John Honeycutt, Artemis II Mission Management Team chair (Photo by Gregg Newton / AFP via Getty Images)GREGG NEWTON via Getty Images

Artemis II is set to be NASA's first crewed lunar mission since the early 1970s. The 10-day mission will carry four astronauts around the Moon and back to the Earth. It's set to be the first crewed mission of the Orion spacecraft, and an important step toward the ultimate goal of a Moon landing.

Initially targeted for early February, the launch was pushed back to March after several issues arose during a wet dress rehearsal. Then, 18 days later, it was delayed again (and moved off the launch pad) when NASA discovered a helium flow blockage in the rocket's upper stage. And it’s all happening against the backdrop of Administrator Jared Isaacman’s overhaul of the Artemis program, which includes postponing a scheduled Moon landing until 2028.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasa-will-try-its-artemis-ii-launch-again-in-early-april-205714288.html?src=rss

We've been seeing all sorts of warnings about how RAMaggedon is nigh. The latest horseman signalling a disaster is the International Data Corporation, which had already cautioned that things were looking bad at the end of 2025. Today, the organization further cut its forecasts for the PC market in 2026, anticipating that global shipments would fall 11.6 percent. The previous report projected that this year would see a falloff of up to 8.9 percent due to ongoing memory shortages. And the new figure was set before the escalation of conflicts in Iran and across the Middle East, which could further deflate computing and other industries. 

"Memory shortages will persist well into 2027," Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers, said in the latest forecast. "While we anticipate some easing of prices beginning in 2028, the market is unlikely to return to the pricing levels seen in 2025."

This market report echoes price changes and official statements from all corners of the tech and computing sector. So far this year, we've already seen surging memory costs impacting HP, Samsung, Valve and Framework. Don't be surprised if many other major players follow suit.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/ramaggedon-not-expected-to-ease-this-year-as-idc-cuts-2026-pc-market-forecast-again-200000498.html?src=rss

KPop Demon Hunters is getting a sequel, Netflix and Sony have announced. Sony Pictures Animation handed the rights to the film to Netflix in 2021 as part of a larger licensing deal, but neither company could have expected how much of a hit it would ultimately become. Besides being Netflix's "most-watched movie of all time," KPop Demon Hunters is also nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song at the 98th Academy Awards, and stands a good chance of winning.

Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, the directors of the first film, are returning to direct the sequel. The project will be the first in the duo's new "exclusive multiyear writing and directing partnership" with Netflix, which is focused on animation. "I feel immense pride as a Korean filmmaker that the audience wants more from this Korean story and our Korean characters," Kang said in a statement. "There's so much more to this world we have built, and I'm excited to show you. This is only the beginning."

IT'S OFFICIAL HUNTERS 💫  KPOP DEMON HUNTERS will return for a sequel written and directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans.

“I feel immense pride as a Korean filmmaker that the audience wants more from this Korean story and our Korean characters. There’s so much more to this… pic.twitter.com/QjxD9CV4Hw

— Netflix (@netflix) March 12, 2026

"These characters are like family to us, their world has become our second home," Appelhans said. "We're excited to write their next chapter, challenge them, and watch them evolve — and continue pushing the boundaries of how music, animation, and story can come together."

To put KPop Demon Hunters popularity into perspective, the film had such a wide reach that Netflix was willing to set aside its aversion to theatrical releases and put it in theaters after it premiered on streaming. KPop Demon Hunters reportedly made over $19 million during its initial two-day theatrical run in August 2025, and Netflix has brought it back to theaters multiple times since then. That's on top of the more than 500 million views the film racked up on Netflix itself. Not making a sequel would essentially be leaving money on the table.

According to Puck, the structure of Netflix's deal with Sony means it will likely be the only company directly profiting off a KPop Demon Hunters follow-up, however. "While Sony has the contractual right to produce any sequels or spinoffs," Puck reports, "it will make no additional money from the runaway success of the first film." Sweetening that deal could be one reason Netflix and Sony Pictures expanded their film licensing partnership in January, a deal that reportedly cost the streaming service over $7 billion to secure.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/kpop-demon-hunters-is-officially-getting-a-sequel-195038954.html?src=rss

Instagram has long limited users' ability to share links, restricting link-sharing to Stories, Reels and user profiles. But that might now be changing. The company has started to test clickable links inside of post captions for subscribers to Meta Verified. 

The new feature, which has been a long-requested update from creators, was spotted by blogger Andrea Valeria, who posted screenshots of a clickable Substack link she was able to add to an Instagram post. According to Valeria, an in-app message indicated she could share up to 10 links a month.

Meta confirmed to Engadget that it's testing links in captions for subscribers to Meta Verified, but didn't provide details on how many people have access to the feature or if it will be widely available. It does seem to be somewhat limited, however, as the link on Valeria's post appears on Instagram's mobile app, but now when viewing the same post on Instagram's website. 

Instagram's restrictions on link-sharing have been a notable part of the platform since its early days. The limitation helped kickstart an entire industry of "link in bio" platforms like Linktree, which help creators direct followers to off-platform websites based on what they share on Instagram. If Meta begins implementing the feature widely, it could drastically change how creators are able to interact with their followers (although a 10-link per month limit would likely still require "link in bio" solutions). 

The test is also the latest way that Meta has experimented with making link-sharing a paid feature. The company has also recently tested restricting creators' ability to share links on Facebook by requiring a Meta Verified subscription. Meta Verified for creators starts at $14.99 a month, with the most expensive plans costing $499.99 a month. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-is-testing-clickable-links-in-instagram-captions-for-verified-subscribers-184555406.html?src=rss

European regulators are continuing to crack down on loot boxes and gaming features it classifies as "interactive risk categories." The Pan-European Game Information, better known as PEGI, is rolling out new rules that will apply age ratings based on the presence of loot boxes and other in-game purchases or systems that could be tied to gambling or addictive behavior. The exact policies are as follows:

• Purchases of in-game content: games with time-limited or quantity-limited offers will be classified with a PEGI 12, games with NFTs or blockchain-related mechanisms will be PEGI 18.

• Paid random items: the default rating will be PEGI 16 if the game contains paid random items (and in some cases they can be a PEGI 18).

• Play-by-appointment: mechanisms that reward returning to the game (e.g. daily quests) will get a PEGI 7. If these mechanisms punish players for not returning (e.g. by losing content or reducing progress) they will become PEGI 12.

• Safe online gameplay: if games contain entirely unrestricted communication features (e.g. no blocking or reporting), they will be PEGI 18.

These changes will apply to newly submitted games beginning in June 2026. The messaging from the ratings body is that these rules are aimed at helping parents direct their children's online safety. "With the updated set of age rating criteria, PEGI aims to make parents aware that certain features in games should be carefully assessed, and that parental tools can be a very helpful assistant when doing that," PEGI Council Chair Beate Våje said.

Many titles may see an impact from the new policy, some more drastic than others. Online shooters might seen a bump from PEGI 12 to PEGI 16, but a franchise like EA Sports FC would leap to at least PEGI 16 from its current installment’s rating of PEGI 3.

Loot boxes have a history of causing strife among regulators. In 2018, Belgium determined that loot boxes were a form of gambling and made them illegal. Other nations have taken similar measures to restrict or prohibit this game mechanic, which has already led some game studios to limit access to their titles. For instance, Blizzard's free-to-play Diablo Immortaldidn't launch in Belgium or the Netherlands due to their laws connecting loot boxes and gambling. Stateside, there has been a renewed push against the concept, with the New York attorney general suing Valve over loot boxes.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pegi-ratings-for-game-releases-in-europe-will-be-age-restricted-if-they-contain-loot-boxes-184325819.html?src=rss

Bumble is testing an AI dating assistant called "Bee" that it hopes will get users on dates without them having to swipe through profiles, Bloomberg writes. The company announced the AI assistant during its fourth quarter earnings, and intends to use the AI in a new experience it calls "Dates."

When a user opts in to Bumble's Dates feature, Bee performs an onboarding chat where it learns about the users' "values, relationship goals, communications style, lifestyle and dating intentions," and then attempts to find other users who share some or all of those traits. Once Bee finds someone compatible, both users are notified in the app that they could be a great match, and receive a summary generated by Bee explaining why. From there, they can chat and see if things lead to a real-life date.

As is often the case with pie-in-the-sky AI features, Bumble has even bigger plans for how Bee could be used in its app, including as a tool for collecting anonymous feedback from user's previous matches or as a way to receive suggestions for dates ideas. AI will also apparently enable Bumble to move away from binary yes or no swipes on profiles and towards a system where users connect over "chapter-based" profiles that are more reflective of their life story.

Bumble is testing Bee internally and plans to launch the AI and its Dates feature in beta soon. The company is far from the only dating app experimenting with integrating AI recommendations and summaries. Tinder uses AI to recommend profile pictures to users, and now offers another feature called "Chemistry" that combines insights gained from personal questions and access to users' Camera Roll to make more informed matches. Meanwhile, Grindr's "Edge" subscription tier offers AI summaries of past chats and connections, and stats on whether a user is actually compatible with a new match. 

It's too early to tell whether AI makes a meaningful difference in the dating experience for users, but if it keeps them using an app or paying for a subscription, it's likely a worthwhile experiment for Bumble, Tinder and Grindr.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/bumble-is-the-latest-dating-app-to-add-an-ai-assistant-181729994.html?src=rss

Anker’s Soundcore projectors have become an attractive option for buyers thanks to models like the P1 and Nebula X1 that combine performance and portability. Now, the company has added "affordability" to that equation with its latest model, the $369 P1i. Instead of being detachable like on the P1, its speakers fold out toward listeners, promising better and louder sound than most cheap projectors.

The P1i also delivers 1080p video, Google TV for streaming and the same easy screen fit setup as other Anker projectors. However, unlike some portable models, it lacks a built-in battery for true portability. Overall brightness is lower as well at 380 lumens compared to 650 on the P1. Despite those issues, the P1i is an outstanding budget projector that’s ideal for impromptu indoor screenings and outdoor party use.

Features and design

With its relatively small size (8.9 x 7.2 x 8.0 inches) and slight five pound weight, the Soundcore Nebula P1i can be perched nearly anywhere and is easily toted around by the soft handle on top. It’s almost too light, as even a slight bump can displace it and ruin the picture. It does have a tripod mount, though, which makes it easy to set up outside or install on your ceiling.

Fortunately, the P1i is perhaps the easiest projector in this price range to align with your wall or screen. It has Anker’s Smart Instant Setup that automatically adjusts the autofocus, keystone correction, screen fit and obstacle avoidance. For my 120-inch roll down screen, I just had to set the P1i about 11 feet from the wall, make sure it was fairly level and then tilt the stand so it pointed at the screen. Then, I just ran the smart setup which instantly gave me a correctly set-up image.

The P1i is not a laser projector but its LED light source lasts even longer, rated for over 30,000 hours. It runs fairly cool compared to a bulb or laser model, but it still has a fan that kicks on from time to time. One annoyance is that the fan seemed to engage even when the projector was turned off, so I found I had to unplug it to stop that.

Steve Dent for Engadget

Connectivity-wise, the P1i has a single HDMI 2.0 port with ARC (Audio Return Channel), along with a USB-A port for external media and a 3.5mm auxiliary audio output. The projector allows for a maximum input of 4K at 60 fps (it outputs 1080p at 60 fps), so it’s only good for light gaming. Plus, you’ll want to keep in mind that if you do any keystone correction, gaming latency quadruples from 20ms to 80ms. It also supports Wi-Fi 5 for streaming and Bluetooth 5.1 to connect extra speakers.

Google TV is built in for streaming and projector control, which is a nice feature for a projector under $400. It provides a large library of apps via Google Play along with a familiar interface. You also get Netflix’s official application with support for 4K Dolby Vision without the need to plug in a streaming device, plus there’s Chromecast support and Google Assistant for voice control. The downside is that the interface can occasionally be sluggish. As for those foldable speakers, you can aim them up, down, forward or backwards, and they support Dolby Audio at 10 watts each.

Image quality

Image quality is decent but not outstanding, about what you’d expect for a projector at this price. While it’s very sharp in the center, the edges are fuzzier, particularly if you’re tilting the projector up or down and using plenty of keystone correction. With just 380 lumens of brightness (I measured it at just over 300 lumens in standard mode), it’s best to use the P1i in a dark room or at night — if there’s any ambient light, you won’t be able to see much detail.

The P1i offers multiple picture profiles, including Standard, Vivid, Sports, Movies and Games, along with a Conference mode for maximum brightness. I found that the “Vivid” setting gave me the best mix of color accuracy and brightness.

Steve Dent for Engadget

Color accuracy is a strong point, with natural looking, nicely saturated hues. Surprisingly, the P1i supports 10-bit HDR to help improve color accuracy and max out what little brightness there is, though it’s a gigantic stretch calling a 380 lumen image (around 50 nits) "HDR." I tested the P1i on my usual roster of content, including Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Andor, Dune 2 and Spider-Man: No Way Home, and found the colors to be pleasing and realistic. If they’re not quite to your liking, you can make fine adjustments manually.

Sound

The primary selling point of the Nebula P1I is those fold out speakers. However, considering Soundcore’s reputation for solid audio performance (take the Nebula X1 Pro for example), sound quality was a bit disappointing. It’s relatively tinny with very little bass, providing a less-than-theatrical experience. Those speakers can go pretty loud, though, and midrange sounds like voices are very clear.

Fortunately, there are a couple of solutions. The P1i has multiple EQ settings, including Movies (with enhanced bass and treble), Music for the most natural sound and Outdoors to ensure clarity in open and noisy spaces. The best of those, I found, was Movies, as it mildly improves the lows and highs. There’s also a “custom” mode that lets you fine-tune the equalization. I was able to get acceptable sound quality when I boosted the bass to nearly the maximum level.

The other option, of course, is to pair the P1i to some Bluetooth speakers. I did just that with Soundcore’s external speakers sold as an option with the Nebula X1 and the sound quality was much improved. Of course, that would remove much of its convenience and increase the price for better sound.

Wrap-up Steve Dent for Engadget

Anker’s $400 Soundcore Nebula P1i is an excellent option for buyers looking for a portable projector to use outdoors or in the place of a second TV, though it suffers from subpar sound and picture quality. Competitors like XGIMI’s MoGo 2 Pro offer similar brightness, built-in speakers and Google TV. And if you have a bit more in your budget, Anker’s $800 Nebula P1 is brighter and easier to set up. Finally, for those looking for battery portability for camping or other activities, take a look at XGIMI’s $500 Halo+ or the $530 Anker Nebula Capsule.

The P1i is great for simple nighttime movie screenings outdoors. If you feel like watching a movie or series in bed, you can bring it into your room, project the picture onto a wall and enjoy your streaming service of choice. You may not be disappointed with the overall picture quality, though you may wish for slightly better sound.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/soundcore-nebula-p1i-projector-review-an-affordable-option-with-accurate-color-and-loud-sound-180034925.html?src=rss

It’s already been a busy year for high-profile Microsoft departures, with longtime Xbox chief Phil Spencer bowing out last month alongside his expected successor Sarah Bond. Today it’s the turn of Microsoft's head of Experiences + Devices, Rajesh Jha, who leaves after more than 35 years at the company.

Jha, who oversaw some of Microsoft’s most important products and services, including Windows, Office and Teams, said in a press release that he’s been planning for his succession alongside CEO Satya Nadella for a while. Rather than bringing in a direct replacement, four members of his team will be promoted to executive vice president and report directly to Nadella.

Taking up these new more senior roles are Office EVP and LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslanksky, Windows and Surface president Pavan Davuluri, president of business and industry Copilot (BIC) Charles Lamanna, and Microsoft 365 Core chief Perry Clarke. The outgoing Jha, who said his long career at Microsoft had been "an incredible privilege," will officially transition out of Microsoft on July 1, after which he’ll remain in an advisory role.

"When I think about the pantheon of leaders who have truly shaped this company, Rajesh stands firmly among them," Nadella said in a statement, adding that Jha had been a "constant" during his own time at the company. "He embodies the commitment that helped build and transform Microsoft into the company it is today, and it is on the strength of that foundation that we will continue to move forward."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/another-longtime-microsoft-executive-is-retiring-174453788.html?src=rss

Amazon just unveiled a new personality type for Alexa+. The "sassy" option is reserved for adults and the company claims it will throw out censored curse words from time to time. Amazon describes this option as a combination of "unfiltered personality" and "razor-sharp wit, playful sarcasm and occasional censored profanity."

We aren't yet sure how the chatbot handles the censoring. Does it use a garden variety bleep or a replacement word like fudge or something? I managed to get it to say "damn" and "hell", but couldn't force anything more profane than that. 

In any event, adult users have to jump through a couple of hoops to activate this mode. It won't work if there's an enabled Amazon Kids profile on the account and it requires additional security checks, like face scans. The company also warns people upon being selected that the new tone could contain "mature subject matter." I'm more afraid of the bot using "clever comebacks" to absolutely shred my buying habits. Yes, I buy bagged popcorn when I have plenty of uncooked kernels in the pantry. I'm working on it.

This is still Alexa+, despite the ability to drop colorful language every now and again. It's not an adult AI companion like the anime-inspired weirdness Grok recently trotted out or whatever erotica-infused nonsense OpenAI has been working on. Also, Amazon says the bot won't get involved with hate speech, illegal activities, personal attacks or anything that could cause harm.

Amazon

This is just the latest personality type that the company has introduced for the chatbot. Users can also choose from sweet, brief or chill, with the last one resembling a surfer archetype. Alexa+ is an updated version of the company's long-standing chatbot that prioritizes natural-sounding conversation. It's fine, more or less, but I still use it primarily for alarms and weather.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/alexa-can-now-swear-thanks-to-a-new-personality-style-172106310.html?src=rss

Fancy yourself as one of those folks who stands in front of an expensive touchscreen display on a news network on election night, zooming in and out of counties while bleating about polling and voting data? If so, you might get a kick out of BallotGuessr. 

This is a riff on GeoGuessr that tasks you with guessing how a county voted in the 2024 presidential election. All you have to go on to figure out the identity of each county are contextual clues from Google Street View images. You can move around the environment a bit, but unless you get lucky, you'll need to have a good sense of politics and geography to do well here.

Once you think you have an idea of where the county is, you move a slider to guess whether residents voted for the Democrat or Republican ticket and by how many points. In the daily challenge mode, you only have 30 seconds to make your guess in each of five rounds. I'm bad at it, but it's a fun take on GeoGuessr all the same.

BallotGuessr features 2,845 curated Google Street View locations from all 50 states, with a maximum of 15 locations for each county. Its creator plans to expand the game with data for the 2022 midterms and 2020 presidential election, as well as recent elections in France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ballotguessr-is-geoguessr-for-budding-political-pundits-170028894.html?src=rss

Ukraine's four-year war with Russia has made it the world leader in battlefield drone technology. One byproduct of that is that the data it collects has become one of the country's most valuable assets. On Thursday, Ukraine played that card, saying it will begin sharing its battlefield data with allies to train drone AI software.

"In modern warfare, we must defeat Russia in every technological cycle," Ukraine Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov wrote on Telegram (translated from Ukrainian). "Artificial intelligence is one of the key areas of this competition."

Fedorov previewed the move when he took his post in January. At the time, the tech-savvy cabinet member pledged to "more actively" bring allies into projects. Foreign allies and companies have sought access to the country's data as, for better or worse, AI increasingly becomes an integral element of warfare.

Fedorov says Ukraine has a platform that will safely train partners' AI models without providing sensitive data. The system is said to provide continually updating datasets, including large volumes of photos and videos.

"For us, this is the next step in the development of win-win cooperation," Fedorov wrote. "Partners get the opportunity to train their AI models on real data from modern warfare. And [for] Ukraine: faster development of autonomous systems and new technological solutions for the front."

Last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned global leaders of a dangerous escalation tied to drone tech and AI. “We are now living through the most destructive arms race in human history,” he said at a meeting of the UN General Assembly in September. However, given the ugly realities in his country, Zelenskyy reiterated his need for armaments. “The only guarantee of security is friends and weapons,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/ukraine-allows-allies-to-train-ai-models-on-its-battlefield-data-165104853.html?src=rss

After spending many years as the public face of Overwatch, Jeff Kaplan stayed well out of the limelight after leaving Blizzard in 2021. Five years later, the former Blizzard vice president and Overwatch lead director is back with his own studio and a new game, which you might be able to play pretty soon.

The Legend of California is billed as an open-world, action-survival shooter. It looks like a mix of Red Dead Redemption and Rust (Rust Dead Redemption, if you will). It's set during the gold rush era, but Kaplan says he and his team at Kintsugiyama were not aiming for historical accuracy. For one thing, this version of California is an island. Still, the developers wanted to make the game feel authentic to the time period.

There are cowboys and prospectors, and you'll be able to go hunting, build mines and stables, craft tools and weapons, build out your homestead and raid hostile camps. There are "challenging" player vs. environment encounters (Kaplan says there are four difficulty tiers available to start with) and optional player vs. player battles. You'll be able to form a company with up to three other players and share progress, resources, buildings and other things with them.

Kaplan says his 34-strong team hand-crafted the world, though there's a degree of randomization at play. A certain biome (say, the game's version of the Mojave Desert) might be the easiest, most beginner-friendly area of the game on one server, and the endgame, tier four section on another. The points of interest might pop up in unexpected spots too — an Alcatraz-inspired structure will appear in a Bay Area-style region in some world seeds, and in snowy mountains in others.

The Legend of California is being published by Blizzard co-founder and former CEO Mike Morhaime's company Dreamhaven. It's slated to enter early access on Steam and the Epic Games Store later this year, with closed alpha playtests expected to start soon.

Kaplan announced The Legend of California in unusual fashion. Not during a splashy showcase, but in a five-hour appearance on Lex Fridman's podcast. Kaplan discussed his life and career, including his work on World of Warcraft, the ill-fated Titan and, of course, Overwatch. 

In his first public appearance since stepping down as Overwatch director, Kaplan revealed his reasons for leaving Blizzard, where he spent 19 years and previously had no intention of leaving. Business pressures related to the Overwatch League and Overwatch 2 played a part in his departure, but the final straw came in 2020 during a meeting with Blizzard's then-chief financial officer. Kaplan says he was told that if Overwatch didn't reach certain revenue targets, the publisher would lay off 1,000 people and that would be on Kaplan's shoulders.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/former-overwatch-director-jeff-kaplan-returns-with-a-western-survival-shooter-161221852.html?src=rss

With Claude enjoying a moment of newfound popularity among regular people, Anthropic is previewing an update designed to make its chatbot better at explaining some concepts. Starting today, Claude can generate charts and diagrams as part of its responses, either when asked directly or when it decides visuals might be helpful to the user. 

For example, try asking Claude what's the best way to fold a paper plane. Where previously it was limited to text, now it can show you step by step how to fold a Nakamura lock plane. Anthropic is quick to point out what it's introducing today isn't image generation. When producing visual aids, Claude will use HTML code and XML vector graphics. Anthropic likens it to giving Claude access to its own whiteboard. 

The new feature is available to all Claude users, regardless of whether you pay for one of Anthropic's subscriptions. However, the company does warn it's releasing beta software, so expect some quirks along the way. The feature also isn’t available on mobile just yet. This release comes just days after OpenAI made ChatGPT capable of generating interactive visuals when explaining science and math concepts. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/claude-can-now-generate-charts-and-diagrams-160000369.html?src=rss

Honda has announced it is canceling three electric vehicles it was months from starting production on at its EV Hub in Ohio. The Honda 0 SUV, the Honda 0 sedan and the Acura RSX are all being wound down. The company showed off all three models, and touted them as in near-production form at CES 2025. Unlike the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX, which run on GM's Ultium platform, the scrapped models were built on Honda's own Zero platform and would have been its first fully in-house EVs.

Honda in part blamed the elimination of federal EV tax credits, eased fossil fuel regulations and US tariffs for the decision. The company said US demand for electric vehicles had slowed because of the policy changes. In China, it admitted it could not match the value offered by newer manufacturers building software-driven vehicles on shorter production cycles. CEO Toshihiro Mibe said at a press conference that the demand shift had made EV profitability "very difficult," according to Reuters.

The company said it will redirect resources toward next-generation hybrids and only bring EVs to market when demand justifies it. It also shared plans to expand in India, where it expects the hybrid market to expand. Honda is not alone in pulling back from EV production, with brands like Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen, Porsche and Ford having all scrapped or delayed major US EV projects since federal policy shifted.

The total restructuring of its EV business could cost Honda up to 2.5 trillion yen ($15.7 billion), with the company set to lose money for the first time since going public in 1957. Mibe and Executive Vice President Noriya Kaihara will forgo 30 percent of their compensation for three months, with other senior executives giving up 20 percent. Honda said it plans to share a detailed long-term strategy at a press conference in May.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/honda-cancels-three-evs-that-were-months-away-from-us-production-155523384.html?src=rss

Flash floods are notoriously difficult to predict, but Google might have a novel solution. The company just revealed Groundsource, a prediction tool for flash floods that uses Gemini to source data from old news reports. This is the first time it has used a language model for this type of work.

Flash flood prediction models need historical data and model training that often doesn't exist. Our solution: Groundsource, a new AI-powered methodology that uses Gemini to transform 5M+ global reports into a precise dataset of 2.6M+ flood events.

This provides a massive,…

— Google Research (@GoogleResearch) March 12, 2026

Google tasked Gemini with sorting through 5 million news articles from around the world and isolating flood reports. It transformed this data into a geo-tagged series of chronological events. Next, researchers trained a model to ingest current weather forecasts and leverage the Groundsource data to determine the likelihood of a flash flood in a given area.

We don't have any concrete information as to how accurate Google's forecast model is, though that should come over time. One trial user did say it helped his organization respond quicker to localized weather events. For now, the company is highlighting risks for urban areas in 150 countries via its Flood Hub platform. Google is also sharing its data with emergency response agencies in these locations.

Google

There are some limitations here. The model can only identify risk across a 20-square-kilometer area. It's also not quite as precise as the US National Weather Service's flood alert system, because Google's model doesn't integrate local radar data. This data typically enables real-time tracking of precipitation. However, the platform's been designed to work in areas that don't typically have access to that kind of weather-sensing infrastructure.

Juliet Rothenberg, a program manager on Google's Resilience team, hopes that this technology can eventually be used to predict other tricky phenomena. This includes stuff like heat waves and mudslides.

"We’re aggregating millions of reports,” she told reporters this week. "It enables us to extrapolate to other regions where there isn’t as much information."

This is Google's first use of a language model for weather forecasts, but not its first time it has relied on AI for this type of thing. The company's DeepMind WeatherNext 2 forecasting model has proven to be extremely accurate.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-built-a-flash-flood-prediction-tool-using-gemini-and-old-news-reports-154542963.html?src=rss

Microsoft has unveiled Copilot Health, an AI-powered tool it claims can help make sense of your medical records, health history and fitness data from wearables, should you grant it access to that information. The company said it will be in a "separate, secure space" in the Copilot app and that the idea is to help provide you with more context and insights so you can ask your doctor the right questions when you see them.

Copilot Health is designed to help you better understand your medical information as a whole, Microsoft says. It is not "intended to diagnose, treat or prevent diseases or other conditions and is not a substitute for professional medical advice," the company pointed out in a blog post.

The tool can pull in activity, fitness and sleep data from more than 50 devices, including Apple Watch, Oura and Fitbit. Through HealthEx, it can access health records that include visit summaries, medication details and test results from more than 50,000 hospitals and provider organizations in the US. It can tap into lab test results from Function, should you allow it to do so.

Copilot Health can take all those details and apply "intelligence to turn them into a coherent story," such as helping you pinpoint the reasons why you don't sleep too well, the company suggested. It can access real-time provider directories in the US to help users find clinicians based on factors like location, specialty, spoken languages and insurance coverage.

Microsoft says that, across AI-powered consumer products like Copilot and Bing, users ask more than 50 million health-related questions every day. "We’ve improved the quality and reliability of answers by elevating information from credible health organizations across 50 countries, as verified by our clinical team using principles independently established by the National Academy of Medicine," the blog post states. "Responses include clear citations with easy links to source material, alongside expert‑written answer cards from Harvard Health." 

As far as privacy is concerned, Microsoft says Copilot Health data and conversations are siloed from the broader Copilot app and there are extra access and safety controls in place, including "encryption at rest and in transit." You can delete your information and cut off the app's access to health records and wearable data at any time. Microsoft also notes that it won't use your Copilot Health information to train its models.

The company explained that Copilot Health was informed by its responsible AI principles. Microsoft built the tool in collaboration with its own clinical team and with the expertise and feedback of more than 230 physicians from dozens of countries. "Copilot Health has achieved ISO/IEC 42001 certification, the world’s first standard for AI management systems, meaning an independent third party has verified how we build, govern and continuously improve the AI behind this service," it noted.

Microsoft has opened up a waitlist for those interested in trying Copilot Health. The tool will initially be available in English in the US for those aged 18 and over. The company is working on adding support for more language and voice options and it will announce availability for those and other territories down the line. 

While users will be able to try Copilot Health for free at first, Microsoft plans to charge for access via a subscription, according to The New York Times. The company has not yet disclosed pricing details.

The Copilot Health announcement comes just a couple of days after Amazon expanded its Health AI tool beyond One Medical. It's now available on the Amazon website and app. Prime members in the US have the option to chat about certain conditions with a One Medical provider via direct message at no extra cost. Earlier this year, OpenAI announced that it was testing ChatGPT Health. Anthropic has healthcare tools as well.

Given how tough it is for many folks to access affordable healthcare and the fact their data and health records are often spread across a number of providers, some might believe there are benefits of using such tools from AI companies.

However, there's a big difference between tracking your sleep or calling your doctor after an Apple Watch detects signs of atrial fibrillation and entrusting all of your medical information to a chatbot. There are also issues like AI hallucinations and chatbots providing users with straight-up bad advice, as well as the possibility that an LLM-based tool might downplay or exaggerate potential risks.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/microsofts-copilot-health-can-use-ai-to-turn-your-fitness-data-and-medical-records-into-a-coherent-story-152000621.html?src=rss