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The Trump administration's labor board has ordered Amazon to recognize and bargain with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, which represents workers at a warehouse in Staten Island. This is just the latest chapter in a multiyear standoff between Staten Island warehouse workers and Amazon, according to a report by The Washington Post.

The union has been trying to bring Amazon to the bargaining table for years to negotiate pay, benefits and workplace safety. The labor board's proclamation doesn't mean that the battle is over. It's highly likely this will be settled in court.

An Amazon spokesperson maintains that the vote to create the union was "wrong on the facts of the law" and that representatives from the National Labor Relations Board "improperly influenced the election." The company recently stated it is "confident an unbiased court will overturn the original certification."

Despite the eventual outcome, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien is lauding the Staten Island workers for becoming "the first group ever to force the company to recognize their union." Workers at the facility voted to unionize in 2022 and this was the first union victory for Amazon employees in the US.

It was considered a milestone victory for US workers across the board, given that Amazon is the country's second-largest employer. That was four years ago and led to a contracted legal battle, as Amazon has refused to recognize the union. Since that original vote, the labor board has repeatedly found that Amazon violated workers’ union rights at the Staten Island warehouse. For instance, the company didn't pay employees when they were forced to stop working due to a warehouse fire at the tail-end of 2022 and suspended 50 employees for staging a walkout due to unsafe work conditions.

A labor union for an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island said 50 workers at the facility were suspended for staging a walkout after a fire earlier in the day led to unsafe work conditions. https://t.co/iVY62wv0rX

— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 5, 2022

There were also several harrowing incidents leading up to the union vote. It's been reported that the company illegally fired multiple Staten Island warehouse workers during the Covid pandemic. The NY Attorney General also found safety conditions at the warehouse to be "inadequate." A recent study echoes that sentiment, calling out the Staten Island warehouse for dangerous working conditions. The report says that there are 7.2 serious injuries for every 100 workers.

Other US-based Amazon warehouses have yet to follow suit and unionize like Staten Island, but the same isn't true in Canada. Workers at a warehouse in Quebec voted to form a union back in 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/trump-labor-board-tells-amazon-to-negotiate-with-staten-island-warehouse-union-161149065.html?src=rss

I realized something was genuinely wrong with The Super Mario Galaxy Movie about 30 minutes in: I hadn't laughed even once. My audience of around 15 people, including a few families, was dead silent as well. The guy sitting behind me, a Nintendo fan decked out in Mario gear, was so bored he fell asleep. Sure, this is made for kids, but as a Nintendo devotee myself, and someone who has to watch a ton of children's films on repeat, even the Despicable Me films are more entertaining. 

To be fair, there's the pretense of a plot: Koopa Jr. and Peach are on parallel tracks to reconnect with a sense of family, in their own ways. But the movie leaps from scene to scene joylessly, with no sense of storytelling or characterization, glued together by the "oh I remember that guy"-ness of empty corporate nostalgia. It's even less of a movie than the previous Pratt-led popcorn flick. 

Luigi, Yoshi, Mario and Toad in The Super Mario Galaxy MovieNintendo and Illumination

Take the discovery of Yoshi, which takes place early in the film. Mario and Luigi just find him in a cave and he immediately becomes part of the crew, no questions asked. There's a brief creative sequence where Yoshi wreaks havoc in the real world, but it's far too short. Yoshi's got plot duties to fulfill, after all! He’s the perfect sidekick, with no desires of his own and the bare minimum of characterization (thanks to Donald Glover’s voice, oddly enough. Dude's got range!)

I argued that the first Mario film felt a bit too safe, but at least it had a few moments to shine: Like an early side-scrolling sequence, and Jack Black's endearingly musical take on Koopa. The only truly inventive sequence in this movie involves Star Fox's Fox McCloud, voiced with just the right dose of attitude by current Hollywood "it guy" Glen Powell. He briefly recounts his story in anime form, and yes, he does a barrel roll or two. 

Bowser Jr. and Bowser in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.Nintendo and Illumination

Now it doesn't make much sense why Fox is actually in the film, but a few half-hearted fight sequences throughout makes it seem like Nintendo is setting up an eventual Avengers-style Smash Bros. movie. What better way to cram in even more characters and references! Isn't that what franchise filmmaking is all about? 

I'd like to think Nintendo and its collaborators can do better. This is a company known for the thoughtfulness of its game designs, for delivering quirky and inventive player experiences and for not always following the competition. None of that applies to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. There’s little in the way of creativity. It barely respects the audience’s time. And it is, in every sense, just following the More, Louder, Busier playbook for unfocused franchise sequels. 

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is so soulless, it makes me worried about the upcoming Legend of Zelda film (which at least has a far more respectable creative team). Sure, it’s  hard to expect genuine cinema from a Mario film. But we live in an era of great kids movies – Pixar’s Hoppers was an absolute hoot wrapped in an environmentalist message; The Lego Movie (and its sequel and side stories) manage to deliver both laughs and heart. Kids deserve better than an empty sequel moneygrab.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-super-mario-galaxy-movie-is-a-black-hole-of-entertainment-154406362.html?src=rss

For a 50-year-old company, Apple remains pretty hip and nimble. This week, Devindra and Senior Reporter Igor Bonifacic dive into Apple's big birthday, the state of the company today and what the next 50 years could bring. It remains one of the few PC companies that’s still firmly committed to the idea of personal computing. Also, we celebrate the successful launch of NASA's Artemis II mission, which will bring us back to the Moon (but just for a close look).

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Topic

• Apple at 50: Why it’s still all about personal computing – 1:16

• Artemis II is safely on its way to the moon, but they’re having problems with Outlook – 37:48

• SpaceX files for the largest IPO ever, what’s driving their hopes for a 1.75 Trillion valuation? – 40:52

• Another Starlink satellite broke up in orbit, the second in 6 months – 47:21

• Anthropic accidentally leaked source code for Claude Code – 52:17

• FCC issues ban on all foreign-made WiFi routers – 57:18

• Around Engadget – 1:02:09

• Working On – 1:07:18

• Pop culture picks – 1:08:20 

Credits

Hosts : Devindra Hardawar and Igor Bonifacic
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/engadget-podcast-how-apple-keeps-redefining-personal-computing-at-50-122121591.html?src=rss

The famous fan fiction website Archive of Our Own or AO3 has finally exited open beta, 17 years after it launched way back in 2009. AO3 is a nonprofit created by the by the Organization for Transformative Works. In an announcement, the team reminisced about its early days and how volunteers had to manually send out invitations to prospective writers. Upon launching the website on open beta, it only had 347 accounts and hosted 6,598 works. Now, it has 10 million registered users and is hosting 17 million fan-created works.

The team has highlighted some of the most useful features it has added over the past 17 years, including its tagging system. It also mentioned a feature it calls “Orphaning,” which allows authors to leave their works online even after deleting their account. In addition, it released the ability to download fanworks in AZW3, EPUB, MOBI, PDF or HTML format for offline access.

Even though the website has only just exited open beta, it has been stable for a long time. Users will not see huge changes, but the team also promised that it will not stop improving the fan fiction portal. It says its contributors and volunteers will continue tweaking the website, and it also continues to welcome anybody who has coding knowledge to contribute their time.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/fan-fiction-website-ao3-is-finally-coming-out-of-beta-115952633.html?src=rss

NASA’s Artemis II successfully launched on April 1, with its crew on a 10-day mission to circle the Moon. It’s the first crewed Artemis flight and a major step toward humanity returning to our little neighbor in the future. Since launch, the vehicle has separated from its launch system and been manually piloted, testing how the Orion capsule will dock with future lunar landers. There have been some snags, however: The onboard toilet went awry, and Microsoft Outlook has been acting screwy.

Jokes aside, there is something magnificent about seeing humanity taking to the stars once again. That, for all of our worst instincts, we can still come together to solve problems and explore beyond our own horizons.

— Dan Cooper

The other big stories (and deals) this morning

• SpaceX has reportedly filed for the biggest IPO in history
  Could be as much as $75 billion.

• The hottest EVs from the 2026 New York Auto Show (plus one brawny concept)
  Corvette CX? Take my money now, please.

• Apple’s controversial Fitness VP Jay Blahnik is retiring
  Controversial is one way of saying it.

What’s going on with Donut Lab's so-called super battery? The company is long on promises, short on evidence. Donut Lab

At CES 2026, a Finnish–Estonian startup claimed to have invented a world-changing solid state battery. Rather than explain how it did so, it engaged in a lengthy campaign teasing out data that didn’t quite support its explosive claims. We’ve dived deep to separate truth from hype and found there’s little of the former and far, far too much of the latter.

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Roland Go:Mixer Studio review: Portable, professional and plenty of polish It’s pricier than other portable mixers, but for good reason. James Trew for Engadget

As James Trew says, $300 is a lot for a portable mixer in this class, but Roland’s brand new Go:Mixer Studio justifies its price. Unlike its predecessor, the Pro-X, it gets a second XLR port, MIDI connectivity and a display offering visible VU meters. That you can also use it as a desktop interface adds another layer of icing on an already sweet cake.

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What to expect from WWDC 2026 I’m actually rather excited about this one. Sam Rutherford for Engadget

WWDC 2026 isn’t until the summer, but we’re already collating enough rumors from the mill to bring you the inside skinny. Early reports suggest Apple is making this a Snow Leopard year, tidying up after itself inside its software rather than going hard on new features. Hopefully, that will see the gaudier excesses of Liquid Glass dialed down, a lot of trimmed cruft and stability improvements. Oh, and some guff about AI.

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Robosen Soundwave review: A childhood dream made real Who cares about sound quality when your speaker transforms!? Sam Rutherford for Engadget

There are some things in life that would normally be a hard sell, a $1,400 boombox that could just about move around with poor sound quality being one of them. Dress it up as Soundwave from the original Transformers toy line / cartoon, however, and suddenly Sam Rutherford is racing for their wallet.

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Soundcore Nebula X1 Pro review: The king of party projectors On the subject of expensive things… Steve Dent for Engadget

Nebula’s built quite the track record for making projectors you’re actually proud to show off. Its latest is the X1 Pro, which combines a beefy 4K projector with a 400-watt Dolby Atmos 7.1 speaker system. That’s a hell of a lot of tech in a single package and is clearly at home at the center of a backyard movie night under the stars. But is it worth the $5,000 asking price? For that, you’ll need to read Steve Dent’s review.

Continue Reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-111544222.html?src=rss

The Integrity, the name of the Orion capsule carrying Artemis II astronauts on a trip around the moon, has left Earth’s orbit. NASA has announced that it has successfully completed a key burn of Orion’s main engine. That six-minute firing of the engine provided approximately 6,000 pounds of thrust, which gave the spacecraft the acceleration it needed to set it on its path to the moon. “Today, for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972, humans have departed Earth orbit,” said Dr. Lori Glaze from NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Orion is operating with crew for the first time in space, and we are gathering critical data, and learning from each step.” Commander Reid Wiseman called seeing “the entire globe from pole to pole” after leaving Earth’s orbit a “spectacular moment.”

Artemis II launched on April 1 at 6:35PM Eastern time after a couple of delays caused by a hydrogen leak and then a helium issue. It’s the first crewed flight of the Artemis program and the first time humanity has ventured beyond Low Earth Orbit after the Apollo program shut down. Within a few hours after its launch, the astronauts reported an issue with their onboard toilet, which crew member Christina Koch eventually fixed. Commander Wiseman then reported to mission control that they were having problems with Microsoft Outlook on the Surface Pro device they were using. But they were ultimately manageable setbacks that wouldn’t prevent the crew from achieving the mission’s goal.

The mission is taking NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a 10-day trip around the moon. On April 6, the spacecraft will pass by the far side of the moon that humans have never directly seen before, and the crew will take photographs, as well as provide their own observations of the lunar surface.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasas-artemis-ii-mission-has-left-earths-orbit-104219933.html?src=rss

Ahead of its premiere, Dave Filoni has revealed that the Star Wars animated series Maul: Shadow Lord will return for a second season. The Lucasfilm co-president revealed that season 2 is already in the works, telling Esquire that "at the end of the day, people like that character." 

Filoni didn't reveal any other details about the plot or release date for season 2. However, the news isn't a great surprise given Lucasfilm's past history with its animated series — The Clone Wars ran seven seasons, Star Wars Rebels four seasons, Star Wars Resistance two seasons and Star Wars: The Bad Batch three seasons. 

Maul: Shadow Lord explores the Zebrak Sith Lord's story about a year after the time of the Clone Wars. Season 1's 10 seasons will stream twice a week on Disney+ starting on April 6 and run through May 6. It covers Maul's plot to rebuild his criminal syndicate "on a planet untouched by the Empire," according to Lucasfilm. "There, he crosses paths with a disillusioned young Jedi Padawan who may just be the apprentice he is seeking to aid him in his relentless pursuit for revenge."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/star-wars-animated-series-maul-shadow-lord-season-2-confirmed-054036065.html?src=rss

For April Fools' Day, the developer of Look Outside released an update that added a new option to your interactions with NPCs: kissing. Instead of just fighting or talking to enemies and surviving neighbors in the cursed apartment building, you could give 'em a smooch. Their dialogue and sprites were updated accordingly, too. Cue stammering eldritch horrors with bright red blushing cheeks. April Fools' Day is (thankfully) over now, but there's good news for anyone who has been enjoying the lovefest or didn't get a chance to try it. Developer Francis Coulombe has built in a way for players to access "smooch mode" going forward.  

"If you started a game on April 1st and kissed the wounded neighbor, that save file is now permanently in smooch mode!" Coulombe posted on social media. "You can also activate smooch mode on a new save file by naming Sam 'Casanova'." I immediately started a new save to confirm and, yes, doing this does indeed allow you to go on a kissing spree. While you can't smooch every single person/abomination you'll run into, you sure can kiss a lot of them.

Want to kiss the Rat King? Go wild. Pierre? Yup. That weird bug guy in the basement who eats bandages? Unfortunately yes, he's kissable too. This truly is the game that keeps on giving. We're apparently getting a real, non-silly update in the near-future as well, so Look Outside fans are eatin' good. Now, please excuse me while I get back to my Kiss Everyone (except Lyle) run. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/look-outsides-april-1-update-that-let-you-kiss-enemies-is-now-a-permanent-smooch-mode-223746232.html?src=rss

Sony Interactive Entertainment, owner of the PlayStation brand, has acquired Cinemersive Labs, a UK startup developing tools to convert 2D photos and videos into 3D volumes. The startup team will join Sony's Visual Computing Group, a research engineering team focused on graphical technology, including game rendering, video coding and generative AI models.

Cinemersive's most recent product is a virtual reality app called Parallax that works as a viewer for parallax photos — three-dimensional images that you can peer around with natural head movements — captured using traditional smartphones and professional cameras with stereo lenses. The startup developed custom AI tools to convert 2D images into 3D volumes to make Parallax possible, and Sony apparently wants to apply that expertise to its own projects.

"Following the acquisition, the Cinemersive Labs team will join SIE’s Visual Computing Group (VCG) and contribute to our broader efforts in advancing state of the art visual computing within games," Sony says. "This includes applying machine learning to enhance gameplay visuals, improve rendering techniques, and unlock new levels of visual fidelity for players."

Machine learning has been a major focus of Sony's efforts to improve graphical performance on the PlayStation 5 and future hardware. The PlayStation 5 Pro was designed around a new GPU, faster storage and PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), custom AI upscaling tech that let the console run games at a lower resolution and then upscale them to 4K. The company recently squeezed even more performance out of the Pro with an updated version of PSSR it released in March. And with AMD, Sony is working on Project Amethyst, a multi-pronged collaboration to improve ray tracing and upscaling on the future consoles.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/sonys-gaming-division-just-bought-an-ai-startup-that-turns-photos-into-3d-volumes-220648699.html?src=rss

Everyone's four favorite anthropomorphic turtles are returning to the world of video games. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City will be released on April 30 for the Meta Quest, Steam VR and Pico. It is made by VR game company Cortopia Studios and will retail for $25. Empire City is a first-person action game that you’ll be able to play solo or co-op with up to four people. And yes, that means all four of the turtles are playable.

We've seen a lot of the quartet flexing their fighting form in games over the years, but this is their first time appearing in a standalone VR title. In addition to the shelled heroes, the first part of the new game's trailer highlights other familiar figures from the series, such as Karai of the Foot Clan and ripped rhino Rocksteady. And of course April is there providing pizza and intel.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/vr-game-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-empire-city-launches-on-april-30-210451025.html?src=rss

In a surprise release, OpenAI has made ChatGPT's Voice mode available through Apple CarPlay. If you're running the latest version of both iOS and the ChatGPT app, and own a CarPlay-compatible vehicle, you can check out the experience. To get started, download all the necessary software, connect your iPhone to CarPlay and select "New voice chat" from ChatGPT. When the in-app text indicates ChatGPT is "listening," you can start a conversation.         

There are some notable limitations to using ChatGPT Voice with CarPlay. For one, OpenAI's chatbot can't control car functions. If you want to adjust the cabin temperature or skip tracks, you'll still need Siri for those tasks. Due to Apple's restrictions, you also can't start using ChatGPT through a wake word like you can Siri. For example, to resume a previous conversation, you need to open the ChatGPT app from CarPlay and tap a recent or pinned chat.  

With those limitations in mind, OpenAI suggests you can use Voice mode to get how-to advice, brainstorm ideas and practice languages. Personally, I like to listen to podcasts and music when I'm driving, but if talking with ChatGPT is your thing, you do you.    

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-brings-chatgpts-voice-mode-to-carplay-191422297.html?src=rss

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is suing Illinois, Arizona and Connecticut for attempting to outlaw or regulate prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket. The CFTC believes it has sole jurisdiction to regulate these platforms, and that states attempting to classify them as illegal gambling are overstepping their authority.

CFTC defines prediction markets as “designated contract markets” where futures contracts are traded, essentially letting people bet on the outcome of events (for example, who will be the Democratic nominee for president in 2028). And because futures contracts are financial instruments distinct from traditional bets, they arguably fall under the supervision of the CFTC rather than the sports gambling authorities of individual states.

Multiple states, including the three the CFTC is suing, have challenged that interpretation of what prediction markets are and how they operate. Nevada sued Kalshi in February for operating a sports gambling market without proper licenses, a lawsuit made possible because a federal appeals court declined to prevent Nevada from pursuing its case. Arizona's attorney general filed a lawsuit against Kalshi in March along similar illegal sports gambling lines, and because the platform let people bet on Arizona elections, which violates state law. Both Illinois and Connecticut have also sent Kalshi and other prediction markets cease-and-desist letters, ordering them to stop advertising and offering their services in their respective states.

"The CFTC will continue to safeguard its exclusive regulatory authority over these markets and defend market participants against overzealous state regulators," CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig said in a statement. "This is not the first time states have tried to impose inconsistent and contrary obligations on market participants, but Congress specifically rejected such a fragmented patchwork of state regulations because it resulted in poorer consumer protection and increased risk of fraud and manipulation."

Attempts to regulate, or in this case, stave off regulation of predication markets are complicated by the fact that President Donald Trump's family has ties to the industry. Donald Trump Jr. is a paid advisor for Kalshi and investor in Polymarket. Major transactions made before recent US military actions in Iran have also suggested that people close to the government might be trading on prediction markets with insider knowledge. Some prediction markets have implemented new rules to prevent insider trading, but given the circumstances, it makes sense that states wouldn't be satisfied with companies policing themselves.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/cftc-sues-three-states-for-trying-to-regulate-prediction-markets-190152226.html?src=rss

Coachella officially kicks off next Friday, April 10. But for anyone who doesn’t want to fly out to the desert or fork over upwards of $650 for a ticket, YouTube is going to livestream the concert for free so you can enjoy it on your own terms. Here’s a quick overview of all the programming that will be available in just over a week. 

With YouTube planning on providing feeds of seven different stages, there will be no shortage of content. This includes the Quasar stage in both horizontal and vertical formats, so no matter what device you're using, there should be an aspect ratio that works. Furthermore, for the first time, YouTube will also provide 4K streams of the main Coachella stage along with the Outdoor Theatre and Sahara. That's a lot of music and artists to watch at once, so you'll probably want to check out the official lineup or download the app (available on Android and iOS) to better plan out your schedule. 

Alternatively, if you're just in it for the vibes, there will also be a 24/7 Coachella TV stream featuring sets from both this year's event and past performances. And if you can't decide on a single artist to follow, you'll also have a multi-view option allowing you to watch up to four stages at the same time. 

Finally, in case you feel like you're missing out on the social aspect of the concert, YouTube is bringing back its "Watch With" feature that pairs content creators including Valkyrae and Daniel Wall with artists such as Katseye and Fujii Kaze to provide a more interactive experience with feedback and reactions in real time. And if you need a souvenir for the event you attended virtually, there will even be an online merch store with exclusive drops from artists including BINI, Ethel Cain, Foster the People, Laufey, The xx and more. All you have to do is point your camera at the screen when you see a QR code pop up (you may want to have an extra device around for this). 

Regardless of who you're hoping to see or hear, all the festivities begin next Friday at 4PM PT on Coachella's YouTube channel.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/psa-youtube-will-be-streaming-coachella-for-free-next-week-183033874.html?src=rss

Publisher and game management platform indie.io just announced the pending launch of something called Indie Pass. This is a subscription service, so it's sort of like Game Pass but for indie titles.

It launches on April 13 and will offer over 70 games on that date, with more coming down the line. Not a single person on this planet wants another monthly subscription to manage, but this one costs just $8. That's a pretty good deal, considering Game Pass Ultimate costs a whopping $30 per month.

However, these subscription platforms are only as good as their libraries. The company has already confirmed a bunch of nifty titles like the cozy game Echoes of the Plum Grove, the farm-based shooter Air Hares and the tactical RPG Dark Deity. It also promises a "constantly evolving catalog." Indie.io publishes a lot of stuff, so that should make it easier to keep the catalog stacked.

The company is also currently courting indie developers and publishers, with a promise to reveal some of these partnerships in the coming weeks. This could be a nice way to drum up interest in new or smaller games, but everything really depends on if people are willing to pony up for another subscription.

Indie Pass is just for PC. However, there doesn't seem to be anything that would prevent the platform from working on a Steam Deck via the console's Proton layer. This lets players run Windows-specific titles on the console's Linux-based OS. This has long been considered a good way to run indie.io-published games that don't make their way to Steam. Engadget has reached out to the company for specifics and will update this post when we hear back.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/indie-pass-is-a-forthcoming-subscription-service-exclusively-for-indie-games-171304359.html?src=rss

Russia has closed a loophole that allowed its citizens to pay for Apple digital services. "As of April 1, 2026, payment processing is no longer available for purchases made on the App Store or other Apple Media Services in Russia," the company wrote in a support document (via 9to5Mac).

The change affects all Apple services. However, the company says iCloud+ subscribers' data will remain available after their subscriptions end, even after losing premium cloud storage. Customers' previous purchases will still be accessible, as will existing Apple Account funds until they run out.

Why is Russia doing this? Well, the (state-aligned) Russian news outlet RBC reported that government officials said it was to prevent users from paying for VPN apps. Earlier this week, Reuters reported that the country has stepped up its attack on the services as part of its "great crackdown" on online information and speech. By mid-January, it had reportedly blocked 70 percent more VPN apps than late last year.

With Russia's war with Ukraine now in its fifth year, Putin's regime apparently wants to shore up domestic support the way autocrats do: by limiting access to information. (VPNs allow Russians to circumvent the country's strict online censorship.) The country’s crackdown has also included blocking WhatsApp, slowing down Telegram and repeatedly jamming mobile internet in Moscow.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/russia-closes-loophole-to-fully-block-payments-for-apple-services-163228262.html?src=rss

When Google released Gemini 3 Pro at the end of last year, it was a significant step forward for the company's proprietary large language models. Now, the company is bringing some of the same technology and research that made those models possible to the open source community with the release of its new family of Gemma 4 open-weight models.

Google is offering four different versions of Gemma 4, differentiated by the number of parameters on offer. For edge devices, including smartphones, the company has the 2-billion and 4-billion "Effective" models. For more powerful machines, there’s the 26-billion "Mixture of Experts" and 31-billion "Dense" systems. For the unfamiliar, parameters are the settings a large language model can tweak to generate an output. Typically, models with more parameters will deliver better answers than ones with less, but running them also requires more powerful hardware. 

With Gemma 4, Google claims it's managed to engineer systems with "an unprecedented level of intelligence-per-parameter." To back up this claim, the company points to the performance of Gemma 4's 31-billion and 26-billion variants, which claimed the third and sixth spots respectively on Arena AI's text leaderboard, beating out models 20 times their size.     

All of the models can process video and images, making them ideal for tasks like optical character recognition. The two smaller models are also capable of processing audio inputs and understanding speech. Separately, Google says the Gemma 4 family is capable of generating offline code, meaning you could use them to do vibe coding without an internet connection. Google has also trained the models in more than 140 languages.    

Google is releasing the Gemma 4 family under an Apache 2.0 license. The company made previous Gemma models available through its own Gemma license. The move will give people a greater deal of freedom to modify the new systems to their needs.  

"This open-source license provides a foundation for complete developer flexibility and digital sovereignty; granting you complete control over your data, infrastructure and models." Google said. "It allows you to build freely and deploy securely across any environment, whether on-premises or in the cloud." 

If you want to give one of the systems a try for yourself, the model weights are available through Hugging Face, Kaggle and Ollama. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-releases-gemma-4-a-family-of-open-models-built-off-of-gemini-3-160000332.html?src=rss

Uber is expanding its EV incentive program across the US. The company began testing the service in select cities last year. This is a program in which Uber offers drivers a $4,000 grant to switch from their current vehicle to an EV.

These grants are available for both new and used electric vehicles, which is nice because new cars are expensive and could be out of financial reach for many Uber drivers. This program is available to Platinum and Diamond drivers who complete 100 eligible rides by December 31. These drivers can apply for the grant on the platform's website, with applications processed from April 16.

The $4,000 grant isn't the only incentive on offer here. Drivers who purchase a new or used EV through the platform TrueCar can get an additional discount of $1,000. Also, Kia is partnering up with Uber to offer $1,000 off the purchase of a Niro or EV6 and $1,500 off the EV9 SUV. All of that adds up.

No matter how you slice it, however, it doesn't add up to $7,500. This program exists because President Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" wiped out the federal tax credit on EVs. Data indicates that full-time Uber drivers make an average of $42,000 per year. 

A Kia EV9 starts at $55,000, which goes down to $49,500 with Uber's grant and Kia's discount. The math is still wonky, as I can't think of many other jobs that require workers to spend more than a full year of salary to purchase the necessary tools to get going. The federal tax credit did provide $4,000 with the purchase of a used EV, which Uber's policy does match. 

The rideshare platform has been attracting EVs. Uber says there are more than 286,000 EVs on the app globally. The company also says that Uber drivers adopt EVs at a much faster rate than typical car owners in the US, Canada and Europe.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/uber-expands-its-ev-incentive-program-across-the-us-152923864.html?src=rss

Flipboard has been one of the biggest boosters of decentralized social media. Now, the company, which is known for its social news reading app, is rolling out its latest experiment, "social websites." 

The project offers publishers and creators an easier path into what's often called the "open social web," which includes the fediverse, as well as other protocol-based platforms like Blueksy. The company says it could also help creators of all stripes wrest back control of their audiences from mainstream social media platforms and other "walled gardens."

In practice, social websites are essentially microsites that allow creators and publishers to bring together posts from decentralized platforms and RSS feeds into a single place where people can browse blogposts, newsletters, podcast episodes alongside relevant commentary from Bluesky, Mastodon and other federated services. It's also the first web-based offshoot of Surf, Flipboard's reader app designed for the open social web. 

The company has already teamed up with a handful of publishers and creators who have made their own "social websites" on top of Surf. For example, Rolling Stone created a dedicated site for its political coverage, which features posts from its writers alongside news stories. Creator David Rushing created a site called "All Net" inspired by the NBA fan community on Threads. All Net features Bluesky, Threads and Mastodon posts, alongside clips from NBA podcasters and creators on YouTube. Fans can not just follow along the feeds of these social websites, but can join in the conversation around the posts from disparate platforms in a single space.

"The social web is really promising and really awesome, but it is kind of complex and it's hard to use," Flipboard CEO Mike McCue tells Engadget. "What we're trying to do is actually make it [so] like in 15 minutes you can make one of these communities." 

Eliminating complexity is definitely something the wider protocol-based social web could benefit from. And the Surf website is refreshingly free of words like "protocol" and "federation." You can see content from Mastodon, Pixelfed (the fediverse version of Instagram), PeerTube (fediverse YouTube) without ever having to log in and figure out how to use those platforms. 

But there's also a lot of upside for individual publishers and creators, according to McCue. He's had a front-row seat to the years of volatile dynamics between publishers and social media platforms thanks to Flipboard. "They are really done with investing in yet another audience on yet another billionaire's platform where the discovery is totally black-boxed," he said. "Creators and publishers are looking for some way to basically take social media back, to own their own communities and their own relationships with their audience." 

Whether this experiment will result in meaningful traffic to publishers is less clear. The rise of Twitter alternatives hasn't always resulted in traffic gains to websites, which are also grappling with increasing pressure from AI search. For now, Flipboard has just ten social websites from publishers, though anyone can now start to tinker with the site and make their own.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/flipboards-social-websites-are-a-new-spin-on-decentralized-social-media-150000323.html?src=rss

After sharing pricing and availability for its new Mini LED TVs in March, Samsung is ready to detail some of the other TVs it introduced at CES earlier this year. The 2026 versions of Samsung's The Frame Pro and OLED TVs are both available to order today – save for some notable exceptions – and they start for as little as $1,200.

The Frame Pro was originally introduced in 2025 as the more premium version of Samsung's popular The Frame art TVs. The big advantage of stepping up to a Pro model over a normal Frame is you get a Neo QLED panel with better backlighting, and support for Samsung's Wireless One Connect box, which lets you avoid cluttering your TV with extra cables. The 2026 version doesn't really change that formula. You still get a glare-free QLED panel, a refresh rate of up 144Hz or up to 240Hz when the TV is connected to a PC and access to the Wireless One Connect box. The key differences are The Frame Pro now comes in a smaller 55-inch size (joining Samsung's 65-inch, 75-inch and 85-inch models) and one of the TV's Micro HDMI ports supports eARC for improved audio quality with connected sound bars.

Samsung's new S95H OLED for features a new design that lets it mount flush against a wall.Samsung

Samsung's improvements to its OLED TVs line is a bit more substantial. The company's flagship S95H features what Samsung calls a "FloatLayer Design" with a metal bezel that lets the TV mount flush against a wall, and the option to use a Wireless One Connect Box to hide cable clutter. Both the S95H and the cheaper S90H feature brighter OLED HDR Pro or OLED HDR+ displays, and Samsung's glare-free treatment to hide reflections. The TVs are also NVIDIA G-Sync compatible and support AMD FreeSync Premium Pro to prevent stuttering and screen tearing when you're playing games, and use Samsung's NQ4 AI Gen 3 Processor to handle 4K upscaling and other AI features. The cheapest OLED option, the S85H, now also comes in a smaller 48-inch size.

Most, but not all, of Samsung's 2026 The Frame Pro models are available to purchase from Samsung and other retailers starting today. The 65-inch The Frame Pro is available for $2,000, the 75inch model is $2,800 and the 85-inch model is $4,000. Samsung has yet to share pricing or availability for the 55-inch The Frame Pro, or the 2026 versions of the entry-level The Frame.

All the company's 2026 OLED TVs are also available to purchase. A 55-inch S95H is $2,500, the 65-inch model is $3,400, the 77-inch model is $4,500 and the 83-inch model is $6,500. The mid-tier S90H lineup starts at $1,400 for a 42-inch model and goes all the way up to $5,300 for an 83-inch model. Samsung's S85H, meanwhile, starts at $1,200 for a 48-inch model and goes up to $4,500 for an 83-inch model.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/samsungs-new-frame-pro-and-oled-tvs-are-now-available-to-order-150000440.html?src=rss

The four history-making Artemis II crew members are cooped up with each other in a tiny space for 10 days. And yet the most uncomfortable aspect of the mission might be having to deal with not one, but two instances of Microsoft Outlook.

Commander Reid Wiseman sent a literal "Houston, we have a problem" message to mission control in the early hours of Thursday. He sought tech support for internet connectivity issues on a PCD (personal computing device), which is a Microsoft Surface Pro. Before you ask, yes, Wiseman did try turning the device off and on again before requesting help, but that didn't resolve the problem.

NASA detected that the PCD was actually on a network. It asked the commander for permission to connect to the tablet remotely so it could look into a problem with the Optimus software. "I also see that I have two Microsoft Outlooks and neither one of those are working," Wiseman responded, per a clip shared by Niki Grayson on Bluesky. "If you wanna remote in and check Optimus and those two Outlooks, that would be awesome."

I scrubbed through some of NASA’s livestreamed feed of its communications with Orion, but didn’t hear any resolution to the problem. Perhaps tech support was looking into the matter while the astronauts were asleep. Engadget has contacted NASA for comment.

Tablet trouble isn't exactly the biggest problem the crew had to deal with thus far. The astronauts reported an issue with a fan in the toilet, which handles urine collection. Although there are contingency urinal bags on board Orion, the issue was thankfully resolved within a few hours. 

Still, dealing with Outlook means that the astronauts will have the sympathy of many office workers. Here's hoping they don't have to use Teams as well.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/artemis-ii-crew-is-just-like-us-needs-help-with-microsoft-outlook-issues-145230968.html?src=rss