Engadget Feed

Xbox's new chief exec, Asha Sharma, has only been in charge for a few months but things already seem like they might be changing for the better. Or at the very least, they might be getting cheaper. The Verge reported that the new Xbox CEO wrote a memo to employees addressing the current pricing of the Game Pass subscription service. 

"Game Pass is central to gaming value on Xbox. It’s also clear that the current model isn’t the final one," Sharma allegedly said. "Short term, Game Pass has become too expensive for players, so we need a better value equation. Long term, we will evolve Game Pass into a more flexible system which will take time to test and learn around."

After Microsoft upped the price for Game Pass twice within 15 months, many of us certainly felt that the service had gotten too costly to keep. Xbox is still offering a wide range of titles on Game Pass; the April update is adding indies like Hades 2 and new Double Fine project Kiln alongside AAA hits like the remake of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. The Verge's sources suggested that the addition of the CoD franchise might have been a factor in some of the Game Pass price increases, since Microsoft would lose out on revenue by making the latest entries in the series available under the subscription. 

It's too early to say whether this memo from Sharma means Xbox is on the brink of a resurgence. And there are changes the company could make, like adding ever more complicated tiers, that would further hamper interest and uptake of Game Pass. But acknowledging the problem, even internally, is refreshing to see after so many baffling moves from Xbox in recent years.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/xbox-ceo-called-game-pass-too-expensive-for-players-in-a-leaked-memo-194749597.html?src=rss

Fans of miniature plastic soldiers, rejoice. Games Workshop has brought a host of older Warhammer and Warhammer 40K video games to Steam for the first time, alongside a dozen games that haven't been available on Valve's storefront for a few years. The new to Steam releases consist of three games from the Warhammer fantasy range — Shadow of the Horned Rat, Mark of Chaos – Gold Edition and Dark Omen — and four from its sci-fi 40K universe — Chaos Gate, Fire Warrior, Final Liberation and Rites of War.  

If you're a Warhammer fan of a certain age, some of these may be formative experiences for you. I know they are for me. I can't count how many hours I spent playing Chaos Gate when I first discovered 40K at the age of 10. Yes, it was an XCOM clone, but by that point I didn't know about the MicroProse original, and Space Marines were cool. 

Years later and as a Tau collector at the time, I also loved Fire Warrior, even if it wasn't the most polished or deep first-person shooter. I haven't played the other five games included in today's announcement, but I've heard Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat and Warhammer 40K: Rites of War are pretty good if you're into the setting or, in the latter case, a fan of the Eldar.  

To celebrate the re-release of these old gems, Games Workshop is running a Classics sale on Steam, with discounts on all 19 re-releases. Plus, you can get discounts on some more recent releases, including the excellent Dawn of War – Definitive Edition and Dawn of War 2 – Anniversary Edition. If you're new to the Warhammer 40K universe, and would rather avoid a plastic addiction, one of those would be my first port of call, along with the excellent Space Marine 2.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/games-workshop-brings-seven-classic-warhammer-games-to-steam-for-the-first-time-185432304.html?src=rss

Dozens of civil rights organizations have written a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to warn of the dangers in bringing facial recognition technology to the company's smart glasses. More than 70 groups have banded together to form a coalition to urge Zuckerberg to abandon plans to incorporate the tech, on the grounds that it would empower stalkers, sexual predators and other bad actors.

This coalition includes organizations like the ACLU, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Fight for the Future, Access Now and many others. The letter isn't asking for safeguards. These groups want the feature to be completely eliminated, stating the idea behind facial recognition of this type is so dangerous that it “cannot be resolved through product design changes, opt-out mechanisms or incremental safeguards." This tracks, as there would be no real way for bystanders to know or consent to being identified.

"People should be able to move through their daily lives without fear that stalkers, scammers, abusers, federal agents and activists across the political spectrum are silently and invisibly verifying their identities and potentially matching their names to a wealth of readily available data about their habits, hobbies, relationships, health and behaviors," the letter states.

The organizations have urged Meta to disclose any known instances of its wearables being used for stalking, harassment or domestic violence. They also want the company to disclose past or ongoing discussions with federal law enforcement agencies, including ICE, about the use of Meta smart glasses and other wearables, according to a report by Wired.

There is certainly some cause for worry here. According to the New York Times, Meta issued an internal memo last year that suggested it could roll out this technology "during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns." That's corporate speak for "we'll do it when nobody is watching." The coalition called this "vile behavior" that looks to take advantage of "rising authoritarianism."

NEW: Meta plans to add facial recognition to its smart glasses as soon as this year, according to a new report from The New York Times. The feature, internally known as “Name Tag,” would allow smart glasses wearers to identify people and get information about them through Meta’s… pic.twitter.com/et7PO9JGW5

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) February 13, 2026

The technology in question is apparently called Name Tag, for obvious reasons. It uses AI to pull up information about people in a field of view to smart glasses displays. That's about as dystopian as it gets.

The company has reportedly been working on two versions of the toolset. There's one that would only identify people that are currently connected to a Meta platform and another that would identify anyone with a public account on a service like Instagram. It doesn't look like there's any way, as of yet, to use this tech to identify strangers on the street who don't have a Meta account of any kind. In other words, the company should expect a wave of cancellations if this rolls out.

In an emailed statement, a Meta spokesperson told Engadget: "Our competitors offer this type of facial recognition product, we do not. If we were to release such a feature, we would take a very thoughtful approach before rolling anything out."

Public outcry has gotten Meta to back off from facial recognition in the past. The company ended Facebook's photo-tagging system in 2021 after pushback from civil liberties groups and years of costly litigation. Meta paid out billions of dollars to settle biometric privacy lawsuits in Illinois and Texas and another $5 billion to the FTC for a separate privacy case partially tied to facial recognition software.

Update, April 13 2026, 4:45PM ET: This story was updated after publish with comment from Meta.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/meta-warned-by-dozens-of-organizations-that-facial-recognition-on-its-smart-glasses-would-empower-predators-185000998.html?src=rss

There are plenty of retro gaming handhelds on the market, but Anbernic is introducing one that offers a unique spin on the square shape. The retro gaming handheld maker revealed the RG Rotate on its YouTube channel, showing off a 1:1 display that swivels out much like the T-Mobile Sidekick of yore.

Anbernic often drip feeds details of its upcoming products over time, but so far, we know that the RG Rotate will run on Android, feature an aluminum alloy frame and come in Polar Black and Aurora Silver. Anbernic's video detailed that the handheld will have a "proprietary ultra-thin alloy hinge" that went through "high-durability testing." While the handheld maker has experience with other hinges as seen with its RG DS and RG 34XXSP, the RG Rotate's hinge mechanism could prove to be a new engineering challenge. 

As for the rest of the build, Anbernic is adding swappable L2 and R2 buttons that allow users to adjust the height of the shoulder buttons. From the video, the RG Rotate might only be built with a single USB-C port, which has irked a few fans hoping for an audio jack. Anbernic hasn't announced pricing for the RG Rotate yet, but it'll likely be much cheaper than more premium options from Ayn or Retroid.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/retro-handheld-maker-anbernics-latest-device-has-a-swiveling-display-174705958.html?src=rss

Over the past couple of years, Google has found ways to stuff Gemini in nearly every app and service it offers. Whether it's Gmail with its AI inbox or Chrome with its chat sidebar, Gemini is now inescapable inside of Workspace. I don't know about you, but I don't need an AI to tell me how to write a =SUM equation in Sheets or an outline for a first draft. Most of the time, I find Gemini is a distraction. If you feel the same way, this how-to is for you.    

How to remove Gemini from your personal Workspace account From the "General" tab of Gmail's settings menu, look for the Smart features checkbox. Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

To turn Gemini off, you will need to disable two separate sets of options. The first set covers a set of features, including smart compose, that are shared across Gmail, Chat and Meet — so if you turn them off in one app, they won't be available in any of the three. All of this is most easily done through Gmail's web client.  

1. In Gmail, tap the cog icon.

2. Select See all settings.

3. Under the General tab, scroll down to find Smart features.

4. Disable Turn on smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet.  

In Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom or European Economic Area, smart features are turned off by default.  

Next, turn your attention to Workspace. 

1. In Gmail, tap the cog icon.

2. Select See all settings.

3. Under the General tab, scroll down and click Manage Workspace smart feature settings.

4. Toggle off smart features in Google Workspace and Smart features in other Google products.

A word of warning: completely disabling smart features in Google Workspace turns off not only Gemini integration but also access to basic capabilities like spelling and grammar corrections. You'll also lose features that have been Google staples for years. In Gmail, for example, the app will stop sorting incoming emails by priority, a notification at the top of the screen informing you that smart features are required for inbox categorization. Whatever Google's motivation for this state of affairs, it's a design decision that actively discourages users from disabling Gemini integration. 

Disabling Gemini in Google Workspace will also turn off other features. Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

If you want to rid yourself of Gemini but would still like to use some of the other features the company offers through Gmail and its other apps, I recommend leaving the first set of smart features on while disabling the Workspace-specific ones. You can also opt to turn off some of the features included in the first group, while leaving others on. Below is a list of those features, with a brief overview of the less self-explanatory ones.    

• Grammar

• Spelling

• Autocorrect

• Smart Compose — as you write an email, Gmail will generate predictive writing suggestions  

• Smart Compose personalization — as you write, Gmail will tailor Smart Compose suggestions to your writing style 

• Nudges — Gmail will generate notifications prompting you to respond or follow up on unanswered emails   

• Smart Reply — Gmail will generate suggestions on how to respond to an email

• Package tracking — Google will display shipping updates inside of Gmail

• Desktop notifications — Yes, for some reason you need the power of AI to get notifications on your PC 

Unfortunately, Google doesn't offer this same level of granular control when it comes to smart features inside of Workspace. For instance, if you turn off Gemini in Docs, Calendar won't automatically display events from Gmail. Again, Google really wants to dissuade you from disabling Gemini. 

How to remove Gemini from your professional Workspace account

If your workplace uses Google Workspace, all of the above options should be present in Gmail's settings menu, and you can follow the same steps to turn off most of the smart features Google offers. Unfortunately, the second part of the process does nothing. You will still see Gemini in Docs, Sheets and elsewhere, even with smart features in Workspace turned off. Only your admin can completely turn off Gemini for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/how-to-de-gemini-your-google-apps-170000462.html?src=rss

Many countries are pursuing social media bans for anyone under 16, but a recent poll is putting the effectiveness of such laws into question. The Molly Rose Foundation, a charity organization that focuses on preventing online harm, recently published a study that polled 1,050 Australian children between ages 12 and 15 in March. The study's results showed that 61 percent of those between 12 and 15 who previously had access to affected social media platforms still have one or more active accounts.

Australia made a first-in-the-world decision to ban social media for those under 16 years old, beginning on December 10. While it's only been a few months since the ban went into effect, the foundation's poll concluded that the ban doesn't have a "clear positive or negative impact on children’s wellbeing." The study also noted that 70 percent of children trying to get on restricted platforms said that it was easy to get around the ban.

"These results raise major questions about the effectiveness of Australia’s social media ban and show it would be a high stakes gamble for the UK to follow suit now," Andy Burrows, the CEO of the Molly Rose Foundation, said in a statement.

The Australian government has also published its own findings in March that examined how social media platforms are complying with the ban. According to the government's report, Snap, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are currently being investigated for potential non-compliance. The report added that Australia's eSafety agency is finalizing these investigations and will make a decision about enforcement by the middle of 2026. According to the eSafety report, the agency's enforcement powers include issuing infringement notices, seeking court-ordered injunctions and "civil penalties up to A$49.5 million," or around $35 million USD.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/majority-of-australian-kids-are-still-on-banned-social-media-platforms-study-finds-162922768.html?src=rss

Picture this: You're a senior Meta employee looking for feedback from the CEO. But, instead of hearing from the real Mark Zuckerberg, you get a response from a Zuckerberg AI character. As absurd as that sounds, it could eventually be a reality. 

Meta is reportedly working on such an AI character, training it on Zuckerberg's mannerisms, tone and publicly available statements, according to the Financial Times. The character is also learning about the CEO's thoughts on recent company strategy, with the idea that it could offer advice to Meta employees. 

The company has reportedly, for some time, been working on creating photorealistic, 3D animated AI characters that can manage interactions. However, it now appears to be focusing on this Zuckerberg AI character, which would interact with employees when the CEO can't or doesn't want to.

This additional AI tool follows last month's news that Zuckerberg is creating an AI agent to help him do his job, first reported by the Wall Street Journal. It would reportedly do things like finding answers for him, but there aren't many details of the still developing AI agent. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/meta-is-reportedly-building-an-ai-clone-of-mark-zuckerberg-130242840.html?src=rss

Roblox is preparing to roll out its biggest change since starting age verification late last year. While that program was initially focused on chat access, today’s news is about age-segregating the games on the massive platform.

Starting in mid-May, users will be pushed into one of three worlds: Roblox Kids, Roblox Select or Roblox. The exact age ranges of these groups will vary by territory, but in the US they are 5-8 for Kids, 9-15 for Select and 16+ for the regular account. These three account types then align with the platform’s current content maturity labels, which divide games into Minimal, Mild, Moderate and Restricted.

Kids accounts will be the most restricted, with chat off by default and only Minimal and Mild experiences available.

Ages 9-15 get to chat with kids in their age group and “trusted friends” that have passed the parent test, and will be able to access Moderate content as well as games for babies.

At 16, teens will automatically be moved to a full-fat Roblox account with all of its features, but not all of the games. Content marked as Restricted will only unlock once they turn 18.

Roblox

Roblox says over half of its users are now age checked, whether through ID verification or face scans. With the new account types rolled out globally — which the company says should be done by June — it’ll start forcing users who haven’t completed an age check into a Kids-like experience, with no access to chat or games rated higher than Mild. 

Once age verification is completed, Roblox still faces the task of ensuring that its vast collection of user-created content is actually age-appropriate. Its solution to this is, of course, ID verification, AI and upcharges.

Developers will have to verify their identity and pony up $5 a month for Roblox Plus to show “a long-term commitment to the platform.” The wisdom is that, with these hurdles cleared, a developer will surely apply the correct maturity label to their games. On the off-chance that an experience is mislabeled, Roblox’s AI moderation will keep tabs on game instances to make sure what's happening on-screen and in-chat matches the maturity label. On the surface, this does leave a gap where a toddler could end up playing an incorrectly labeled mature game before the AI catches it. Don’t fret, though, as Roblox says users over 16 “play new games first,” which surely isn’t an overgeneralization and will ensure that no child ever plays a mature game.

Roblox also previewed a pair of new parental control features coming in June. First, parents will be able to block any game and manage direct chat access until a child turns 16. Previously, kids over 13 could unblock experiences by themselves. Second, parents will be able to approve games outside of their child’s age bracket on a case-by-case basis. Roblox gave an example of a younger child wanting to play a game with their older sibling for this feature’s utility.

Of course, the big blocky elephant in the room is the efficacy of automated age verification. Reporting from Wired in January suggested even enterprising toddlers might be able to get past the platform’s age checks, which somewhat undermines everything Roblox is trying to achieve. Speaking to press ahead of today’s announcement, Roblox Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said, “If we get it wrong … we offer users multiple ways to correct that.” He added that the platform is “constantly measuring users’ behavior and comparing that against what their age-check data says. If we see those things divert, then we will just ask people to run through the age process again.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/roblox-introduces-mandatory-age-gated-account-tiers-121535702.html?src=rss

Apple may be late to the smart glasses market, but it could be covering all its bases with up to four potential styles for its upcoming product. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple could launch some or all of the four styles it's currently testing for its smart glasses.

Gurman reported Apple is testing out a large rectangular frame that's comparable to Ray-Ban Wayfarers, a slimmer rectangular design like the glasses that Apple CEO Tim Cook wears, a larger oval or circular frame and a smaller oval or circle option. Apple is also working on a range of colors, including black, ocean blue and light brown, according to Bloomberg.

Internally code-named N50 for now, Apple's upcoming smart glasses will compete directly with the second-gen Ray-Ban Meta model. While similar, Apple might be differentiating its design with "vertically oriented oval lenses with surrounding lights," according to the report. Like Meta's smart glasses, Apple's upcoming product will capture photos and videos, but is meant to better sync with an iPhone, allowing users to take advantage of Apple's ecosystem for editing, sharing, phone calls, notifications, music and even its voice assistant, according to Gurman. The release of Apple's smart glasses could even coincide with the upcoming improved Siri that should arrive with iOS 27.

Gurman reported that Apple could reveal its smart glasses as soon as the end of 2026 or early 2027, followed by an official release sometime in 2027. As for the competition, Meta released its latest model that's better suited for prescription lenses and offers a more customizable fit.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/apple-reportedly-testing-out-four-different-styles-for-its-smart-glasses-that-will-rival-meta-ray-bans-200550013.html?src=rss

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has a certain Redditor in its crosshairs and it's now strong-arming the social media platform to reveal who they are with a grand jury subpoena, according to a report from The Intercept. The nonprofit news outlet was able to obtain the subpoena that ordered Reddit to provide info on one of its users who's been accused of criticizing ICE by April 14.

According to the report, ICE has been trying to identify this Redditor for a month without success. More specifically, Reddit is being asked to give up the user's name, address, phone number and other personal data. The Intercept reported that the subpoena was issued by federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C. after a failed attempt from ICE to do the same through a federal court in Northern California, which has jurisdiction in San Francisco where Reddit is headquartered.

Reddit attorneys said their client's posts and anonymity are protected under the First Amendment and described ICE's use of a grand jury as "a disturbing escalation," according to the report. Reddit didn't state if it would challenge the government's order or not, according to The Intercept, but it did provide a statement saying, "privacy is central to how Reddit operates and we take our commitment to protecting that seriously." Reddit also said in the statement that it does "not voluntarily share information with any government, especially not on users exercising their rights to criticize the government or plan a protest.”

While this grand jury subpoena could set an alarming precedent, it's not the first time a government agency has requested social media platforms reveal accounts that have spoke negatively about ICE. According to a New York Times report, the Department of Homeland Security has filed hundreds of subpoenas to Google, Discord, Meta and even Reddit again, for identifying details about its users.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/the-us-government-wants-reddit-to-snitch-on-one-of-its-users-through-a-grand-jury-190532844.html?src=rss

The feud between Elon Musk and OpenAI is getting even more contentious as the two sides get ready for trial later this month. The latest development in the legal back-and-forth saw OpenAI accuse Elon Musk and his latest proposals as a "legal ambush," as first reported by Bloomberg. OpenAI filed its response on Friday, which detailed that Musk was "sandbagging the defendants and injecting chaos into the proceedings, while trying to recast his public narrative about his lawsuit."

The lawsuit dates back to 2024 when Elon Musk sued both OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing the AI giant of ditching its original mission of being a non-profit and instead converting into a for-profit business after receiving financial backing and forming a partnership with Microsoft. Prior to OpenAI's latest filing, Musk amended his original complaint to instead award any damages received to OpenAI's nonprofit arm instead. Musk's amendment, which was filed earlier this month, also sought to oust Altman from his role as OpenAI's CEO and board member. In OpenAI's Friday filing, the AI company claimed that Musk's last-minute changes were "legally improper and factually unsupported."

There's a lot at stake with this lawsuit since Musk is reportedly seeking anywhere between $79 billion and $134 billion in "wrongful gains." With both OpenAI and Microsoft denying any wrongdoing, according to Bloomberg, the trial is still set to kick off on April 27.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-says-elon-musk-is-orchestrating-a-last-minute-legal-ambush-before-trial-163248345.html?src=rss

An experienced hacking group has claimed to have infiltrated Rockstar Games' cloud servers, while the game publisher has confirmed that there was a "third-party data breach." ShinyHunters, a hacker group that's been linked to data breaches targeting Microsoft, Google, Ticketmaster and others, posted a message on its website with a final warning to Rockstar to "pay or leak." The hack was first spotted by Hackread and the Cybersec Guru.

ShinyHunters didn't detail what Rockstar data it gained access to, only adding that the company had until April 14 to reach out or that the group would leak the compromised info that would lead to "several annoying (digital) problems." Rockstar Games confirmed the breach to Kotaku, explaining that "a limited amount of non-material company information was accessed in connection with a third-party data breach," and that the incident had "no impact on our organization or our players.”

Previously, Rockstar had to deal with a major hack that led to a leak including plenty of gameplay footage and assets for Grand Theft Auto VI in 2022. Following the hack, one of the 18-year-old members of the Lapsus$ group responsible for the leak, was sentenced to an "indefinite hospitalization." 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/rockstar-games-has-confirmed-it-was-hit-by-third-party-data-breach-175112621.html?src=rss

Tesla's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) is ready to make its European debut, and it's starting with the Netherlands. According to Tesla Europe, the automaker's driver assistance system was approved in the Netherlands and will start rolling out shortly. RDW, the country's regulatory authority on vehicles, confirmed the news with a post on its website about Tesla receiving a type approval for its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system.

According to the RDW, Tesla's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) "has been extensively examined and tested for more than one and a half years on our test track and on public roads," and concluded that it was a "positive contribution" to road safety. However, RDW pointed out that a Tesla with FSD Supervised was not "self-driving," adding that the "driver remains responsible and must always remain in control."

With Dutch approvals, Tesla notched its first regulatory green light for FSD use in Europe. The RDW also added that Tesla's FSD Supervised could get "possible later admittance in all member states of the European Union" thanks to its approvals. Tesla has been working on bringing its automated driving features to other regions, including Europe and China, as detailed in a roadmap posted in 2024. In the meantime, the automaker's software has been mired in several safety investigations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The latest development comes from a probe that targets collisions when using FSD, including the supervised version, in reduced road visibility conditions.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/the-first-european-country-to-get-teslas-full-self-driving-supervised-will-be-the-netherlands-170157644.html?src=rss

IBM has agreed to settle the US Department of Justice's accusations that the company violated civil rights laws with its DEI practices. According to a press release from the DOJ, IBM will pay more than $17 million to resolve allegations of taking "race, color, national origin, or sex" into account when making employment decisions. This settlement is the latest development in a longstanding effort from the Trump administration to end DEI programs, which was kick-started from an executive order in early 2025.

IBM denied any wrongdoing and said the settlement wasn't an admission of liability, while the US government said this conclusion wasn't a concession that its claims weren't well founded, according to the settlement agreement. According to the DOJ, IBM had violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with practices that included altering "interview criteria based on race or sex," developing "race and sex demographic goals for business units," using "a diversity modifier that tied bonus compensation to achieving demographic targets" and more.

An IBM spokesperson told Engadget in an email that the company "is pleased to have resolved this matter," adding that "our workforce strategy is driven by a single principle: having the right people with the right skills that our clients depend on.”

According to Todd Blanche, the agency's acting attorney general, this action is one of the first resolutions to come out of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, which was launched in May 2025. IBM isn't the only company to alter its policies, with both T-Mobile and Meta agreeing to put an end to its DEI initiatives last year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/ibm-settles-its-dei-lawsuit-with-the-doj-for-17-million-153749285.html?src=rss

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