Feed aggregator

These are the new releases that belong on your reading list. This week, we've got a haunting novel from Charlotte McConaghy that blends mystery with environmental thriller, and a comic mini-series about the legendary Jersey Devil.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/what-to-read-fiction-wild-dark-shore-mystery-dark-horse-comics-let-this-one-be-a-devil-171026492.html?src=rss

Google will have to break up its business, the Justice Department said in a filing, upholding the previous administration's proposal after a federal judge ruled last year that the company illegally abused a monopoly over the search industry. As The Washington Post and The New York Times have reported, the Justice Department reiterated in a new filing that Google will have to sell the Chrome browser. When the DOJ argued for its sale last year, it said that selling Chrome "will permanently stop Google’s control of this critical search access point and allow rival search engines the ability to access the browser that for many users is a gateway to the internet."

The Justice Department also kept a Biden-era proposal that seeks to ban Google from paying companies like Apple, other smartphone manufacturers and Mozilla to make its search engine the default on their phones and browsers. It did remove a previous proposal that would compel Google to sell its stakes in AI startups, however, after Anthropic told the government that it needs the company's money to continue operating. Instead of banning AI investments altogether, the government wants to require the company to notify federal and state officials before making investments in artificial intelligence. Earlier this year, the Financial Times reported that Google was investing another billion dollars in Anthropic.

Google is expected to file its own proposal for its final set of alternative remedies. In the earlier one it filed in December, the company said that the Justice Department's original remedies went "overboard" and that they reflected an "interventionist agenda" that "goes far beyond what the Court's decision is actually about — [its] agreements with partners to distribute search." Google suggested allowing it continue paying partners like Apple and Mozilla to offer Google Search, but also to allow them to form agreements with other partners across different platforms. Apple could, for instance, offer different default search engines for iPhones and iPads. Meanwhile, browser companies could change default search engines every 12 months. 

As The Post notes, the Justice Department's filing could be an indicator of how the Trump administration will handle antitrust cases involving tech companies. It could be strict on big tech like the Biden administration was despite tech leaders supporting the new President and his policies. Google donated to the Trump campaign when he ran last year and just recently halted efforts to hire employees from diverse backgrounds. It said that it was "no longer set hiring targets to improve representation in its workforce." The House also recently subpoenaed Alphabet and its CEO Sundar Pichai for communications between the company and the Biden administration regarding COVID-19. 

Judge Amit Mehta, the original judge who ruled that Google was a monopolist and had "acted as one to maintain its monopoly," will hear both the government's and the company's remedies and will decide on the final solutions for the case in April. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-will-still-have-to-break-up-its-business-the-justice-department-said-150000739.html?src=rss

This is just one of the stories from our “I’ve Always Wondered” series, where we tackle all of your questions about the world of business, no matter how big or small. Ever wondered if recycling is worth it? Or how store brands stack up against name brands? Check out more from the series here.

Listener Tom Scholten from Madison, Wisconsin, asks: 

Income inequality is a term often mentioned in recent years, but by what measure or criteria is it measured? 

While the U.S. economy outperforms other rich countries, it doesn’t feel that way for many Americans. Forty-two percent of Americans don’t have an emergency savings fund, while 40% can’t afford a $1,000 emergency expense, according to a January survey from U.S. News. 

When people discuss concepts like economic performance or economic growth, they’re discussing whether the size of the economic pie is expanding and how fast it’s expanding, said Sonal Pandya, an associate professor of politics at the University of Virginia. 

“But those concepts are distinct from equality, because they’re not telling you how that pie is getting distributed,” Pandya said. 

Measuring inequality and wealth in the U.S. can tell us who’s getting a slice and how much. 

“What defines a good society is that everybody, to the extent possible, can fulfill their potential,” said Steven Durlauf, director of the University of Chicago’s Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility. 

Inequality inhibits that potential, Durlauf said. 

There are many ways to measure income inequality, including comparing people from different income percentiles and assessing how far away a country’s income distribution is from perfect equality. 

One common measurement is the 90/10 ratio. This looks at the income held by the top 10% divided by the income held by the bottom 10%, Pandya said.  “The larger that number is, the less equal the distribution of income,” she explained.  

Basically, you use this ratio if you want to ask “How much richer is the very, very top of the distribution, as opposed to the very bottom?” Pandya said.

The 90/10 ratio for households reached almost 12.4 in 2023, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. This means households in the top 10%, or 90th percentile, had incomes that were more than 12 times the incomes of households in the bottom 10%, or 10th percentile. In 1980, the ratio was about 9.1. 

Researchers can also use the 90/10 ratio to look at income inequality among different racial and ethnic groups. 

The college-wage premium is another statistic that can provide researchers with insight into inequality. That’s the percentage difference between the average wages of those with four-year degrees and those who have a high school diploma. “That would give you a sense of the way that the economy is pricing certain education skills,” Durlauf said. “The bigger that number is, by implication, the greater the inequality between folks that are educated with college degrees and those that are not.”

In 2000, the wages of those with at least a college degree were about 68% higher than the wages of high school graduates. This percentage peaked at almost 80% in the mid 2010s, then declined to 75% in 2022, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. 

Researchers also use a metric known as intergenerational income elasticity, which looks at the connection between parents’ income and their childrens’ income. One analysis on intergenerational mobility from 1980 to 2010 found that parental income in the U.S. has a greater influence on families at the highest and lowest levels of income. 

Then there’s the Gini index, which determines how unequally incomes are distributed within an economy by assigning it a value from 0 to 1 (or 0% to 100%). Zero represents perfect equality, while 1 or 100% represents perfect inequality. 

In 2019, the U.S. had a Gini coefficient over 40%. Inequality is higher in the U.S. compared to other rich nations, like Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden. 

When people bring up income inequality, sometimes what they’re actually referring to is wealth inequality and the rise of billionaires, said Chuck Collins, director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies.

Wealth, or net worth, takes into account home ownership, savings and debt. 

There are now more than 800 billionaires in the U.S. who hold a combined wealth of $6.22 trillion. In 1982, there were only 13. 

Top executives are also becoming increasingly richer. CEO compensation rose 1,085% between 1978 and 2023 compared to a 24% increase in compensation for the typical worker, according to the Economic Policy Institute. In 2023, CEOs received 290 times as much compensation as a typical worker. In 1965, CEOs received only 21 times as much. 

Both income and wealth can tell us how we’re doing as a country and as a society, Collins said. 

To gain a better understanding of wealth inequality, you can look to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, which is released every three years, Collins said. This survey shows net worth across different characteristics, like income percentile, age and race/ethnicity.  

Over the past several decades, wealth has become extremely concentrated among a small group. In 1963, the wealthiest families had 36 times the wealth of families at the 50th percentile of the wealth distribution, according to an Urban Institute analysis using Fed data. In 2022, the wealthiest had 71 times the wealth of those in the middle. 

While the U.S. has the data, it’s not fixing the underlying drivers of inequality, Collins said. 

Collins said inequality has increased because the U.S. has failed to increase the minimum wage, cut taxes, and made the tax system less progressive, meaning it’s lowered the top income tax rates. The top income tax rate is currently 37%, a huge decline from 1980, when it stood at 70%.

Collins said global trade policies have also hurt U.S. workers. Critics of free trade deals say they allow corporations to outsource American jobs, which leads to lower wages. 

One of the reasons researchers look at the concentration of wealth among the very rich is because “economic inequality spills over into political inequality,” Durlauf said. 

Those who have the most wealth have the capability to exercise power over elections. During the 2024 election, billionaire families contributed 18% of all the money that was raised. 

The super wealthy are able to influence public policy to enrich themselves even further, Collins said. This creates what he calls an “inequality death loop.”  

“The more unequal we become, the harder it is to reverse,” Collins said.

Submit a form.

Some of the numbers in Friday’s report on the February employment situation suggest that the labor market may be softening a bit. To wit: The number of people who basically said they’re stuck in part-time jobs when they’d prefer full-time work went up about 10%.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics actually has six different ways of measuring unemployment, named — memorably — U1 through U6. The official unemployment rate, U3, came in at 4.1%.

“But they also have a broader measure, which includes discouraged workers, marginally attached workers and people who are involuntarily working part time,” said Jeremy Reynolds, a Purdue University sociologist who studies work and organizations.

This measure, U6, rose to 8% in February.

“That’s the highest level that that measure has been at since 2021,” he said.

And there was a big increase in the number of people working part time who wish they could work full time, up by 460,000 people last month, bringing the total to just under 5 million.

“The jump in part time for economic reasons was surprising. It had been creeping up in the last few months, but it really jumped up,” said Lonnie Golden, a professor of economics at Penn State University, Abington.

Some of that, he said, may have to do with a decrease in the number of so-called “discouraged workers,” people who have given up looking for a job. That was down almost 130,000 last month.

“And when they come back into the workforce, indeed, they’re looking either for part-time, which would be voluntary, or maybe full-time opportunities that are not there, so they’re taking part time instead,” he said.

One reason for all the part-time work is the instability in the broader economy.

“People are taking a more cautious approach to looking for a job, and employers are taking a more cautious approach when it comes to hiring and which positions they’re hiring for,” said Thomas Vick with staffing and consulting firm Robert Half.

Because with everything going on, it’s almost impossible to predict what’s ahead for the job market.

The latest jobs report was, well, kind of uneventful, close to economists’ expectations, no huge surprises. But it did also have some confusing, or seemingly contradictory, details down there in the data.

The unemployment rate rose slightly in February, to 4.1%, because the number of unemployed people went up while the number of people in the labor force went down. Meanwhile, the number of people employed in February fell by 588,000, while U.S. employers added 151,000 jobs to their payrolls.

Confused by that last one — employment went down while the number of jobs went up? Let’s break it down.

We call it the monthly jobs report, but it’s actually two reports mashed together by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, based on two surveys the agency does each month. And they can disagree, because they go to different sources for different information.

The household survey asks people whether they’re working or looking for work, while the payroll survey asks employers how many jobs they have.

That second survey’s a lot bigger, said Dori Allard with the Office of Industry Employment Statistics at the BLS: “121,000 businesses or government agencies, 631,000 individual worksites. And there is a lot more stability in those estimates than there is in the household survey, which is relying on interviews from approximately 60,000 households,” she said.

In the household survey, a change in employment is only considered “statistically significant” if it’s above 600,000.

Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at consulting firm RSM, said February’s employment decline was big, but not that big. 

“Given the large standard error inside that report, we really want to be cautious about overreacting,” he said.

Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, agreed. For a single month, she said, the household survey is less reliable.

“When the surveys tell a different story, we got to take the payroll survey — give that more weight because of the sample size,” she said.

But, she said, over time, “the household survey can’t be ignored. Sometimes the household survey is better at predicting changes in the business cycle. It might find softening sooner,” she said.

The survey has been sending warning signals about long-term unemployment, said Brusuelas at RSM.

“There’s a large number of people who’ve been unemployed for six months or more,” he said.

But the survey is telling a different story about America’s least-educated workers, said Jane Oates, senior policy adviser at WorkingNation: “An increase in the labor market participation of people with less than high school, and a drop in their unemployment.”

As for the current divergence between the payroll and household surveys, Dori Allard at BLS said give it a few months.

“Over the long-term, the two series do tend to track well together,” she said. “Typically the trends are in the same direction.”

Investors are falling into the Gap again.

The San Francisco-based retailer and parent company of Old Navy, Banana Republic, Athleta — and its namesake Gap brand — got a boost after reporting strong fourth quarter earnings on Thursday. 

Gap has been selling clothes for more than half a century but had fallen into decline for the better part of the last two decades. In 2023, it brought on a new CEO, Richard Dickson, who oversaw the revitalization of Barbie at Mattel. Sales at Gap’s brands began to turn around last year despite a not-so-friendly environment for discretionary spending. 

Gap might not have its own blockbuster movie like Barbie, but according to Richard Dickson, “Gap is back in the cultural conversation.”

From collaborations with up and coming designers to a new ad campaign featuring emerging young musicians, “There’s some really great momentum around the brand which seemed to be catching the attention of the consumer,” said retail consultant Sonia Lapinsky at AlixPartners. 

Lapinsky said Gap has also leaned into its heritage with callbacks to its iconic dancing commercials, the latest featuring film and TV star Parker Posey.

“They’re really kind of riding this trend that hasn’t quite gone away yet, but this whole ’90s trends and ’90s nostalgia,” said Lapinsky. 

It helps that wide-leg jeans from the retailer’s heyday have been back in style.

But Gap brands like Old Navy also have a durable advantage, said analyst David Swartz at Morningstar.

“People are concerned about inflation and high prices and everything, and Old Navy is known for having relatively low price stuff that’s generally good quality,” said Swartz. 

And those prices aren’t likely to be impacted much by tariffs. Gap imports less than 1% of its components from Canada and Mexico, and less than 10% from China.

“They’ve been preparing for this for some time because this has been discussed now for quite a long time,” said Swartz. 

Mark Cohen, the former director of retail studies at Columbia Business School, worked for Gap in the ’70s, “back in its go, go, days when it really was skyrocketing,” he said. 

Cohen said if it wants to maintain this momentum after decades of struggle, the company will have to do more than splashy marketing. 

“It has to have an extraordinarily powerful five-pocket proposition,” said Cohen. 

Whether those five pockets are in denim or khaki pants, he said Gap needs to deliver on the affordable everyday basics consumers are looking for. 

Games Done Quick's next weeklong charity speedrunning shindig kicks off this weekend. Frost Fatales, one of GDQ's two events celebrating women and femmes, runs from March 9 to 16, raising money for the nonprofit National Women's Law Center.

Frost Fatales is the winter installment of the pair of events organized by GDQ's Frame Fatales speedrunning community. (Its summer counterpart is Flame Fatales.) Last year's Frost Fatales raised $155,000 for the same nonprofit, which fights for gender justice in issues central to the lives of women and girls. Since the first Frame Fatales event in 2019, the biannual speedruns have raised over $1 million for charity.

Studio MDHR

This year's festivities dive right into the deep end with a run of the charmingly punishing Cuphead at 1PM ET on Sunday, followed by Super Mario Odyssey a mere hour later. Anyone who can beat Cuphead in that time deserves a Medal of Honor.

Other notable runs from the week include the OG Legend of Zelda on Sunday, the Wii reboot of Punch-Out!! on Monday, a "girl squad" three-way race in Final Fantasy X-2 on Wednesday and a race to defeat Ganon (again) in Breath of the Wild on Saturday. The week wraps up with a one-handed (say what?) speedrun of the indie platforming classic Celeste later that night.

You can check out GDQ's schedule for the full lineup of games. The weeklong event streams exclusively on the GDQ Twitch channel (also embedded below), starting with that must-see Cuphead run at 1PM ET on Sunday.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/how-to-watch-games-done-quicks-frost-fatales-speedrunning-event-from-march-9-220017343.html?src=rss

When Luka Dončić was traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Lakers, it was a pretty big shock. Dončić, widely considered one of the best young players in the NBA, was expected to stay in Dallas, but the looming cost of an impending $345 million contract extension — plus a web of restrictions on how much teams can pay to keep players — led to his departure.

“Being at that level of salary and investing in him comes with all these penalties in terms of what you can do with your roster,” said Jordan Sargent, who wrote about the financialization of the NBA for The Atlantic.

“Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal spoke to Sargent about his story. The following is a transcript of their conversation, picking up with how the concept of “moneyball” has affected the NBA.

Jordan Sargent: The NBA is a capped sport. It has a salary cap and a luxury tax and some other aspects that prevent, limit or severely incentivize teams to not spend as much money as they can. And so things can get very complicated, and you don’t need to just know statistical basketball sports terms anymore. You have to understand aspects of the salary cap and aspects of economics in ways that you just didn’t as a casual fan in previous eras of the sport.

Kai Ryssdal: You talk about the collective bargaining agreement, the CBA — the 676-page document — and what that has done to, as you mentioned, salary cap and all that. And it has made draft picks sort of the commodity in the NBA of today. Talk about that a little bit.

Sargent: Yeah. You know, the NBA, like all the major sports, artificially deflates the salaries of rookies as teams pay their best players a lot of money. You know, you’re playing a LeBron James, $50 million or $60 million a year. It becomes very valuable if you can have good players on artificially cheap contracts. You know, you see in a lot of trades these days, five, six draft picks in one trade for one player.

Ryssdal: How did a music and art guy come up with this story?

Sargent: I’ll tell you. I’m a fan of basketball. I listen to a lot of podcasts, read a lot about basketball, and I just noted a shift over the years about how often you were hearing about the CBA and about which team could do what because of this salary cap thing, or they can’t trade this pick. You know, I’m a fan of the Miami Heat. What can the Miami Heat trade? That’s not something I could just tell you off the top of my head.

Ryssdal: You know, it’s so interesting. You said, “what” can they trade instead of “who” can they trade.

Sargent: Exactly, exactly. And it’s because teams don’t really look at it necessarily as “who.” These days, it’s more “what,” meaning what picks do you have, what assets? One of the things that they’ve instituted into their, you know, structure that other sports don’t is this idea of salary-matching — meaning, you know, if you trade a player that makes $10 million and need to get back a player or a group of players that equal that amount of money.

Ryssdal: Is that the rule, really? What a dumb rule.

Sargent: And they actually made it even tighter this year. You know, you start to have these very narrow passage ways for two teams to make a deal, because you have to match all these things up.

Ryssdal: I was going to ask you, just as the ender, whether there’s a way for the league to get out of this place where draft picks have become the commodity. But really, is this a bad thing for the league, and do they need to get out of it?

Sargent: I don’t think that it’s necessarily a bad thing, although there’s a lot of concern right now about something that was instituted recently in the newest CBA that puts even harsher penalties —

Ryssdal: So wait, they’re tying themselves in more knots?

Sargent: 100%, yeah. And, you know, the most shocking trade really, probably in NBA history — which just recently took place when Luka Dončić got traded to the to the Lakers — the reasoning the Mavericks gave was that they didn’t want to give Luka the most expensive contract in the history of the NBA, which he was going to get and was going to be entitled to, because they they were worried about his body breaking down. And being at that level of salary and investing in him comes with all these penalties in terms of what you can do with your roster. Otherwise, your picks get artificially sent down to the bottom of the draft. There’s all these penalties for spending the amount of money that they felt they were gonna have to spend to retain him. I think there’s a lot of uncertainty from the fan, media and team perspective about what it’s gonna mean for building a basketball team and retaining the best players in the sport when you know they’re bringing the hammer down in various ways on teams that spend a lot of money.

You can stream the first episode of Win or Lose, Pixar's first original TV series, for free on YouTube. It follows a co-ed middle school softball team (the Pickles), with each episode focusing on a different character's perspective — including animated personifications of their insecurities and defense mechanisms.

The first episode hones in on the "coach's kid," Laurie, the Pickles' right fielder. She's rubbish at softball, thanks in no small part to her insecurities, illustrated as a sentient perspiration blob (the aptly named Sweaty).

If Win or Lose floats your boat, you'll need to hop over to Disney+ — subscription in tow — to watch the remaining seven episodes (the last two of which premiere on March 12). Should you go that route, you can currently save some money on the ad-supported tier of a Disney+ and Hulu bundle.

Pre-release controversy Disney+

Win or Lose stood at the center of a controversy months before its February 19 debut. The show was initially slated to include an openly transgender character, Kai. While the part, played by trans actress Chanel Stewart, is still included in the series, Disney cut several lines of dialog referencing her gender identity.

A pair of overshadowing circumstances compounded the online backlash over the decision: The news came on the heels of Donald Trump's election victory, and the show has an openly Christian character (Laurie) who prays aloud to "Heavenly Father" before heading to the plate. The combination led many to assume the moves were an appeasement to the president-elect, right as business leaders were routinely seen visiting Mar-a-Lago and currying favor by cutting DEI programs and trans-inclusive features.

However, Disney framed its decision as being about parental freedom regarding LGBTQ+ storylines. "When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognize that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline," a company spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter in December. An off-record source "close to" the project told the publication that the studio chose to cut the lines several months before, which (if true) would have placed it at a point when political forecasters saw the election's outcome as either a coin flip or slightly favoring former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Regardless, you can check out the first episode below if it sounds like your cup of tea.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/you-can-stream-the-first-episode-of-pixars-win-or-lose-on-youtube-211938945.html?src=rss

Mobile World Congress is taking place in Barcelona this week, offering manufacturers an opportunity to show off new gear without needing to hold their own splashy event. So far, we've learned about some new laptops and phones, as well as upcoming AI updates to Android and an internet connectivity announcement from Meta. There's also been some interesting ideas in the world of headphones and a whole lot of concepts that might never make it to market, but are fun to look at any way.

Here's a look at everything announced at Mobile World Congress that caught our eye. We'll update this story throughout the week.

Lenovo Sam Rutherford for Engadget

Among the bigger-name manufacturers, Lenovo has arguably had the busiest MWC so far. The company has revealed a whole bunch of laptops, including upgraded ThinkPads and several intriguing concept models.

The ThinkPad T14s 2-in-1 has a design that’s more aligned with the convertible format of the Yoga lineup than a typical ThinkPad. The 14-inch machine can be equipped with a 400-nit WUXGA touch display. Other ThinkPads are getting spec upgrades, while Lenovo claims the new ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 has “one of the lightest ThinkPad designs ever.” The company has a fresh slate of laptops with generative AI capabilities as well.

Some of Lenovo’s concepts have certainly caught our attention. It’s a bummer that the company doesn’t currently plan to turn the Yoga Solar PC Concept into a commercial device. Thanks to the solar cells on the casing, the laptop can soak up enough energy from the sun in 20 minutes to play an hour of videos. As little as 0.3 watts of light is enough to juice up the battery. While solar-powered laptops aren't exactly new, the Yoga Solar PC feels polished. Here's hoping Lenovo does more with the notion in the future.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

In addition, Lenovo showed off some conceptual display accessories for a ThinkBook laptop. There's an eight-inch screen that attaches to the side magnetically to help you, for instance, keep up with notifications and widgets. The Magic Bay Dual Display Concept adds a 13.3-inch panel to either side of the main display. There's also a slim second display that's designed to sit above your laptop screen and provide quick access to things like the time, weather, notifications, a focus mode timer, an AI assistant and notifications.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

On top of all of that, Lenovo offered a look at a new prototype laptop with a flexible display. Building on the tech the company used in the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable, the ThinkBook codename Flip AI PC Proof of concept (to give its full name) has a fold-out screen. This allows Lenovo to double the panel's size from 13 inches to 18.1 inches. The ThinkBook Rollable's display, on the other hand, can extend to 16.7 inches. Again, Lenovo doesn't currently plan to release a commercial version of this fold-out laptop, but it's an interesting idea.

Samsung Photo by Mat Smith for Engadget.

The main MWC news from Samsung this year is the company's latest midrange and budget phones. The Galaxy A56 has a larger screen than its predecessor at 6.7 inches, but it's thinner too at 7.44mm vs. 8.2mm. There's now a small bump where the volume and power buttons are — a tweak that we feel makes the A56 easier to handle.

Samsung has switched up the camera array in the A56. On the front, there's a lower-res 12MP lens. On the other side, you'll find an upgraded 12MP ultrawide, 50MP main sensor and a 5MP macro lens. The A56 has a bunch of AI-powered camera and image editing features, such as enhanced subject detection in portrait mode and an object eraser.

Pre-orders are open in the UK for the Galaxy A56, which costs $499/£499. It will hit the UK on March 19, but folks in the US will have to wait until "later this year" for it.

Samsung also revealed the Galaxy A36 5G and Galaxy A26 5G. Both devices have a 120Hz, 6.7-inch display with brightness of up to 1,200 nits. They also share an IP67 rating and 5,000mAh battery with the A56. 

However, the base models of each only have 6GB of RAM (compared with the A56's 12GB). In addition, the A36 has the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 processor instead of the Exynos 1580 that the A56 boasts, while the A26 has a Exynos 1380 chipset.

Samsung's concept folding phones and gaming handhelds

In addition to properly launching the trio of A-series phones, Samsung also brought a bunch of concept devices to Barcelona, further showing off its flexible display prowess. We've seen reporting of these, like Android Police's coverage of a "Flex Gaming" handheld. That prototype consists of a 7.2-inch OLED screen that bends in half. Flanking the display are what appear to be controllers and holes where they'd fit when the handheld is folded up. Elsewhere on the internet we also saw Samsung showcase a Galaxy Z Flip-esque device that had two hinges that let it fold in on itself from the top and bottom. Allison Johnson at The Verge has nicknamed it "The Claw," which to our editor Cherlynn Low is just reminiscent of an MSI device.

Xiaomi Sam Rutherford for Engadget

Unfortunately, Xiaomi doesn't have plans to bring a handset it showed off at MWC to the US. That's a real pity, because no other companies are selling phones quite like the Xiaomi 15 Ultra in the country these days.

Xiaomi teamed up with Leica to make a smartphone that leans heavily into photography. The camera array includes a 1-inch 50-megapixel Sony main sensor, an f/2.2 50MP ultrawide cam, a 50MP midrange lens with a 70mm focal length and a 200MP periscope array with a 100mm focal length — that equates to a 4.7x optical zoom. Some preset Leica filters help to tie the two brands' knowhow together.

That's not all that might be interesting to mobile snappers. Xiaomi's separate Photography kit includes an add-on camera grip with a physical shutter button, an adjustable dial and dedicated video button. You'll have the option to attach a standard 67mm filter adapter to a case as well — in other words, some of the equipment you might use on a dedicated camera is compatible with the Ultra 15 as part of this setup.

Moreover, the Ultra 15 has a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and up to 3,200 nits of brightness to help you get a good look at your captures. Plus, unlike some other Chinese phones (like Huawei's), Xiaomi supports Google services in HyperOS 2, which is an Android skin. The Ultra 15 starts at about €1,499 (around $1,572).

Android

Speaking of Android, Google announced two new AI-powered features for the operating system at MWC. The Live Video function, which Google first previewed at I/O 2024, allows you to share what your phone's camera sees with Gemini so you can ask the chatbot questions about the footage. 

The new screensharing function works in a similar way. You can ask Gemini questions about whatever's on your phone or tablet's display. 

If they work as well as advertised, these features could be a boon for accessibility. Google will first offer them to Gemini Advanced subscribers starting later this month. Those with a $20 per month Google One AI Premium membership, which is included with some Verizon plans, have access to Gemini Advanced.

Nothing Image by Mat Smith for Engadget

Samsung wasn't the only smartphone maker of note to show off two new mid-range devices at MWC. Nothing debuted its Phone 3a Pro and Phone 3a at the event — even though it has yet to unleash the Phone 3.

The 3a Pro has a beefier camera module (quite literally as the device is about 10 grams heavier than the 3a). It contains a 50MP telephoto sensor with a 3x optical zoom; a 50MP primary sensor with f/1.88 lens and dual-pixel phase detection auto-focus (PDAF); and an ultrawide 8MP sensor with a 120-degree field of view. The handset has a telemacro mode too. As for the 3a, that boasts a main 50MP camera with single-pixel PDAF, but the other two sensors are the same as on the 3a Pro.

The cameras are the main difference between the two phones, which both have a 6.77-inch AMOLED LTPS display with a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 1,300 nits of brightness. The phones have a 5,000mAh battery with support for 50W fast charging, and they run on a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset.

The devices have Nothing's multipurpose Essential Key, a physical button that can take screenshots and help you record voice notes. The phones also have some generative AI features, such as the ability to transcribe said voice notes and describe what's in screenshots and photos.

As usual, Nothing is initially offering these devices in the US through a beta program. Phone 3a pre-orders are open now and the $379 handset ships on March 11. That's the date when pre-orders for the Phone 3a Pro go live. The $459 phone can be in your hands on March 25.

Meta

There was more news out of MWC beyond new gear and OS updates. Meta and the Internet Society announced a partnership to bolster affordable internet connectivity around the globe. They're jointly putting $30 million into the initiative over the next five years.

A major aim of the project is to help build out infrastructure in areas where commercial providers have yet to do so. The Connectivity Co-Funding Initiative will also back training programs, community-centered solutions for underserved areas and locally owned networks. The Internet Society is hoping to find more partners to help with the project. 

HMD

Finnish company HMD, which also makes devices under the Nokia brand, brought a bunch of phones to Barcelona this year, but maybe the most interesting thing was some earbuds. The Amped Earbuds are a pair of fairly standard Bluetooth buds, with a twist in the case: It's got a 1,600mAh battery built in that supports reverse wireless charging. It's a pretty solid idea — given you're likely already carrying a phone and some headphones. Perhaps the one issue is that capacity: 1,600mAh is enough to charge a lot of headphones, but it's dramatically smaller than the battery in your phone. Still, an extra 20 percent of battery life could be an lifesaver.

Update, March 7 2025, 4:05PM ET: This story has been updated twice since publish. Once to include a section on Samsung's concept folding devices, and once to add a section on HMD's Amped Earbuds. The introduction of the article was also changed.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/everything-announced-at-mwc-2025-samsung-nothing-lenovo-xiaomi-and-more-tech-news-200029465.html?src=rss

AMD has announced that it's releasing its newest Ryzen X3D processors on March 12. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D were both introduced back at CES 2025, and are currently the most powerful gaming-focused processors the company sells.

The 9950X3D has 16 Zen 5 CPU cores, a max boost speed of 5.7GHz and second-generation 3D V-Cache tech for more efficient performance. In contrast, the 9900X3D comes with a more modest 12 CPU cores and a max boost speed of 5.5GHz. AMD's 3D V-Cache tech is still the standout feature on these chips. The company introduced 3D V-Cache as a method of packaging cache modules on top of each other to provided less RAM-intensive performance. The tech was added to desktop processors first, before coming to laptop processors in 2023.

The 9950X3D's 3D V-Cache packaging allows it to be 20 percent faster than Intel's Core i9 285K across 40 different games, according to stats AMD shared when it announced the chip. It's also supposed to be at least 10 percent faster across certain content creation apps, too. When you take into account AMD's recently released Radeon 9070 GPUs, the company has the pieces you need to make a pretty compelling gaming PC.

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 900X3D will be available to order on March 12. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D will start at $699 and the Ryzen 9 9900X3D starts at $599.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/amd-is-releasing-its-latest-ryzen-x3d-processors-on-march-12-195656335.html?src=rss

The Nintendo Switch 2 is officially on the way, and more details are starting to trickle out. FCC filings have revealed that the console will support WiFi 6 and NFC, according to reporting by The Verge.

This means that the WiFi in the Switch 2 should be much speedier when compared to the OG model, as that console only supported WiFi 5. The filings do indicate that the Switch 2 won’t offer support for WiFi 6E. Additionally, the FCC only mentioned tests for 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks, and not the faster 6GHz band.

WiFi 6 isn’t the latest wireless standard. That’d be WiFi 7. Nintendo very rarely adopts the newest technologies in its products. However, this matches the standard PS5, though the PS5 Pro supports WiFi 7. The Xbox Series X/S consoles only support WiFi 5.

More FCC data for the Nintendo Switch 2. Given that BEE-014 is the Right Joy-Con, it looks like it has NFC (Amiibo) support. pic.twitter.com/nnkoSIoPFF

— BrainwaBrain (@brainwabrain) March 6, 2025

NFC support likely means one thing and one thing only. Nintendo’s upcoming console will probably continue integration with those cute lil Amiibo figurines. The filings even specify that the RFID feature will be located in the right Joy-Con, just like the first Switch. That’s great news for people with plenty of shelf space. For the uninitiated, these figures wirelessly unlock content in games.

The FCC filings indicate one final juicy nugget. It looks like players will be able to charge the Switch 2 via either the bottom USB-C port or the brand-new top USB-C port. This is the first real confirmation that charging would be available on both ports.

We don’t know when the Switch 2 will be released, other than sometime this year, or what the launch lineup will look like. The reveal trailer showed off something that could be a new Mario Kart game, but we’ll have to wait until April's Nintendo Direct to learn more. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/the-nintendo-switch-2-will-feature-wifi-6-and-offer-nfc-support-per-the-fcc-192242046.html?src=rss

It's your lucky day if you're looking for good deals on Apple devices. We've highlighted discounts on MacBook Air models, the base iPad and AirPods Pro 2. In addition to those, the Apple Watch Series 10 is on sale for its lowest price to date. The smartwatch has dropped back down to its record-low price of $299. That's a $100 discount.

The Apple Watch SE got a discount too. The device typically retails for $249, but you can snap it up for $169.

The Apple Watch Series 10 is our pick for the best smartwatch overall. That may not necessarily apply if you're an Android user, since you need an iPhone to actually use an Apple Watch.

In any case, we gave the Apple Watch Series 10 a score of 90 in our review. Apple's current flagship smartwatch has a bigger screen, making it easier to see your notifications and health data (it's a pretty dang great device for wellness and fitness tracking). The thinner frame makes it more aesthetically pleasing too. On the downside, losing the blood oxygen feature from previous models is a bummer, but that issue was out of Apple's hands to a certain extent.

It's perhaps not quite worth an upgrade if you have a Series 8 or 9 already. Apple isn't exactly reinventing the wheel here. Plus the sleep apnea detection feature that debuted alongside the Series 10 is also available on the Series 9 and Ultra 2. Still, if you're an Apple Watch newcomer or upgrading from an even older model, the Series 10 is likely your best option, especially for the sake of future proofing.

Check out our coverage of the best Apple deals for more discounts, and follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-apple-watch-series-10-falls-to-a-record-low-price-184918237.html?src=rss

With US stocks unstable, consumer confidence in the economy plunging and whispers of a potential recession growing less muted, the economy under President Donald Trump's second term has been about as stable as a recovering addict's first week back on blow. With that turbulence as a backdrop, the cryptocurrency industry hoped Thursday's executive order establishing a federal Bitcoin reserve would at least spur a surge in the blockchain ecosystem. Instead, Bitcoin's value has dropped sharply, and one crypto-focused hedge fund founder called Trump's order "the most underwhelming and disappointing outcome we could have expected for this week."

After Trump posted in January that he would sign an executive order to establish a crypto stockpile, the market responded enthusiastically and prices rose accordingly. Bitcoin spiked to an all-time high of over $109,000 in January (after surpassing the $100,000 mark for the first time in early December).

On Friday, at its lowest point following Trump's executive order, Bitcoin fell by around five percent to $85,000. It had recovered a bit at the time of publication but was still only hovering at around $88,000, a nearly 20 percent nosedive from its January high (and down over 2.2 percent on the day).

'Just a fancy title for Bitcoin holdings that already existed'

Much of the underwhelming reaction stems from the reserve's use of shares already owned by the government through seizures or civil asset forfeitures. Although the order leaves the door open to possible government Bitcoin purchases in the future, White House crypto czar David Sacks clarified that the executive branch was only "authorized to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin, provided that those strategies impose no incremental costs on American taxpayers."

That wasn't what the crypto bros were hoping for. "This is the most underwhelming and disappointing outcome we could have expected for this week," Charles Edwards, founder of the crypto-focused hedge fund Capriole Investments, posted on X (via Reuters). "No active buying means this is just a fancy title for Bitcoin holdings that already existed with the Govt. This is a pig in lipstick."

In addition, the executive order also calls for a "US Digital Asset Stockpile" for other crypto tokens, which Trump has said will include Ether, XRP, Solana and Cardano.

Potential conflicts of interest

Crypto industry executives are holding a summit at the White House on Friday to, among other topics, get a better lay of the land regarding future regulatory enforcement. Among the attendees is Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, whose company was one of several that recently had enforcement cases dropped by Trump's SEC. (Convenient!) Reuters reports that analysts believe the market needs a reason to become bullish again, like a clearer pro-crypto regulatory policy or signs that the US Federal Reserve plans to cut interest rates.

Trump successfully courted the industry in his 2024 campaign. In addition to pledging to create a federal crypto reserve, he promised to make America "the crypto capital of the planet" and fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler on day one. (In November, he announced he would resign the moment Trump took office on January 20.)

The 47th US President also has a stake in crypto, which has set off alarms (if not blaring sirens) of potential conflicts of interest. First, he and First Lady Melania Trump have memecoins, currently down 80 and 90 percent, respectively, from their all-time highs right before his inauguration. Trump also has a stake in the crypto platform World Liberty Financial, which reportedly bought over $20 million worth of cryptocurrencies — including over $10 million in Ether, $9.9 million in Bitcoin derivative WBTC and $1.68 million in MOVE — ahead of Friday's White House summit.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/trumps-federal-bitcoin-reserve-order-leaves-the-crypto-market-unenthused-184135436.html?src=rss

Apple is delaying its updated version of Siri that understands personal context and can take action inside of apps, according to a statement the company shared with Daring Fireball.

The company didn't offer a date as to when the upgrades to Siri will actually launch beyond that they're "rolling them out in the coming year." Here's the full statement reproduced below:

Siri helps our users find what they need and get things done quickly, and in just the past six months, we’ve made Siri more conversational, introduced new features like type to Siri and product knowledge, and added an integration with ChatGPT. We’ve also been working on a more personalized Siri, giving it more awareness of your personal context, as well as the ability to take action for you within and across your apps. It’s going to take us longer than we thought to deliver on these features and we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year.

A revamped, more powerful Siri was a core part of Apple's original pitch for Apple Intelligence. Way back when the company first detailed its plans, it claimed that Siri would not only understand what's happening on your phone, but also be able to take action in apps for you. So far, the main pieces of that new Siri Apple has shipped are the ability to type requests rather than speak them out loud, the ability to understand and explain Apple product features, a new animation for when Siri is activated and integration with ChatGPT.

Bloomberg was the first to report that the updated Siri was facing problems and potential delays. Apple's plans to connect Siri to a large language model that would give the assistant even more capabilities is also reportedly years away.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/apple-is-delaying-its-smarter-more-personal-siri-183513424.html?src=rss

Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 earbuds are on sale for just $170 via Amazon. This essentially ties a previous record-low price for 2025, which was $169. This purchase comes with the earbuds, four pairs of silicone tips in different sizes, a charging case, a lanyard loop and a USB-C cable.

We heaped a fair amount of praise on these earbuds in our official review, calling them "a worthwhile update." The sound is better-than-ever, thanks to new drivers, amplifiers, transducers and audio algorithms. The transparency mode is absolutely stellar, largely helped by the company’s proprietary H2 chip.

The ANC is solid, particularly for earbuds. This is also thanks to that H2 chip, which allows the AirPods Pro to cancel twice as much noise as the first-gen model. These earbuds are made for Apple devices, so there’s seamless switching between, say, iPhones, iPads and Macs.

The touch gesture controls are neat, but there's a learning curve. Give it a few days before throwing in the towel. The battery life is just average, but the charging case helps keep the music going. The primary downside here is age. The AirPods 2 Pro earbuds came out in 2022, so a refresh is likely on the horizon.

Check out our coverage of the best Apple deals for more discounts, and follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/airpods-pro-2-are-back-on-sale-for-170-180055678.html?src=rss

It's been a busy week of Apple announced news, with the company refreshing its Mac and iPad lineups. As a result, there are deals aplenty on older models as part of an apparent clear out. Take, for instance, the 10th-gen iPad. It's $89 off at $260, bringing the tablet back down to its record-low price.

The biggest discount is on the blue and silver colorways. The pink one will run you an extra $9, while the yellow one is $279.

The 10th-gen iPad arrived in late 2022. At least until we put the new model through its paces, this is our current pick for the best budget iPad — a recommendation that automatically becomes a little stronger whenever it gets this kind of discount.

We gave this model a score of 85 in our review. We felt that the screen was somewhat lacking compared with those found in the likes of the iPad Air. However, we appreciated several updates such as the switch to a USB-C charging port and improved performance compared with the previous base iPad. Apple also moved the front-facing camera to the landscape edge, making video calls much more palatable when you're using the tablet in that orientation.

If you just want an iPad to help you catch up on reading and email, control your smart home devices, watch videos and stream music, this is probably the one to go for. More resource-intensive tasks will require a more powerful tablet, but this one will handle the basics.

Meanwhile, if you're interested in picking up the latest base iPad, you can pre-order one now. Our explainer details just how to do that. Apple has upgraded the chipset to an A16 and doubled the base storage to 128GB, but there's no support for Apple Intelligence in the 11th-gen iPad.

Check out our coverage of the best Apple deals for more discounts, and follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-10th-gen-ipad-is-back-on-sale-for-an-all-time-low-price-of-260-171121705.html?src=rss

While the excitement around 2-in-1 systems has cooled a bit over the years, they’re still useful solutions for anyone who wants a device that can act as both a tablet and a traditional laptop. In tablet mode, they’re handy for jotting down notes and drawing pictures, and in their full laptop configurations, they can let you manage e-mail and write as you would with a traditional notebook. Whether you’re a student, creative or just want a more flexible setup, a 2-in-1 solution gives you the best of both worlds without having to carry multiple devices.

We've tested and reviewed some of the top 2-in-1 options out there from brands like HP, Microsoft, Samsung and Apple. Whether you’re looking for a Windows PC that can occasionally act like a tablet, or traditional slates that can be empowered with keyboard accessories, we’ve rounded up the best models to consider.

Factors to consider before buying a 2-in-1 laptop

When you’re shopping for a 2-in-1 system, there are some basic criteria to keep in mind. First off, consider the type of machine you’re looking for. Do you want something that can look like a traditional Windows laptop, but also has a screen that can twist into different orientations? (We often call these convertibles.) Or do you want a standalone tablet that works with a separate keyboard attachment? Tablet setups are typically lighter, but they’re often harder to use on your lap since they rely on kickstands or awkward cases.

Also, while some 2-in-1s offer built-in LTE or 5G connectivity, not everyone will want to pay the premium for it. An integrated cellular radio makes checking emails or replying to messages on the go far more convenient. But it also often costs more — and that’s on top of what you’ll pay for data. And as for 5G, you can hold off on it unless you live within range of a mmWave beacon. Coverage is still spotty and existing nationwide networks use the slower sub-6 technology that’s barely faster than LTE. For now, tethering a PC to your phone is still the best way to get online.

When it comes to tablet keyboards, you’ll also have to make peace with the fact that they’ll never feel as responsive as full-fledged laptop options. Their keys are shallower, and their layouts are often a bit different than typical PCs. Again, there’s a cost for portability.

See Also:

• Best Laptops for 2025

• Best Gaming Laptops

• Best Cheap Windows Laptops for 2025

• Best Chromebooks

• Best Laptops for College Students

Sometimes, getting a third-party tablet keyboard might be just as good, and they’re often cheaper than first-party offerings. If you’re looking to save some money, Logitech’s Slim Folio is an affordable option for iPads, and if you don’t need your keyboard to attach to your tablet, Logitech’s K780 Multi-Device wireless keyboard is also a good pick.

While we’ve typically made sure to include a budget 2-in-1 in previous years, this time there isn’t a great choice. We would usually pick a Surface Go, but the latest model is still too expensive. Other alternatives, like cheaper Android tablets, are underpowered and don’t offer a great multitasking interface. If you want something around $500 that’s thin, lightweight and long-lasting, you’re better off this year looking at a traditional laptop (like those on our best budget PCs list). Alternatively, you might consider one of our top picks for the best Chromebooks, either as a back-to-school option or for basic tasks.

Best 2-in-1 laptops

Recent updates

February 2025: We’ve retitled this guide to “Best 2-in-1 laptops and tablets” to be more accurate, and we’ve also updated the introduction and “Factors to consider” section to refer to convertible laptops and detachable tablet options.

June 2024: We updated our top picks to include the Microsoft Surface Pro Copilot+ edition.

Nathan Ingraham contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/best-2-in-1-laptops-173038508.html?src=rss

The second lunar lander by Intuitive Machines has made its way to the Moon, but not without incident. The Athena vehicle may not be upright, which is what happened to the company’s Odysseus lander upon touchdown back in February. CEO Steve Altemus said during the post-landing news conference that he doesn’t believe that Athena is “in the correct attitude on the surface of the Moon yet again.”

Altemus said that the company will know for sure in the coming days once the team gets “a picture from the lunar reconnaissance orbital camera from above.” Data from the lander’s inertial measurement unit does seem to indicate a sideways orientation. We do know that Athena has touched down approximately 100 miles from the lunar south pole, which is where it's supposed to be.

Athena is part of the company’s IM-2 mission, which is a partnership with NASA to (finally) bring crewed missions back to the Moon. The lander also carries a bevy of payloads and scientific instruments designed to look for evidence of water on the lunar surface.

The company’s previous lander Odysseus was the first privately owned spacecraft to reach the Moon’s surface, though it toppled over. Rival company Firefly Aerospace successfully landed its own Blue Ghost spacecraft onto the lunar surface earlier this week, and this one landed upright.

As for Athena, it’s currently charging on the surface and is communicating with the mission team here on Earth. However, performance seems to be sub-optimal. “We’re not getting everything that we had asked for in terms of power generation and communications,” Altemus said. This could impact the lifespan of the lander’s ten-day mission, though the company has “done some power conservation steps as prudent measures to see how long and what objectives we can accomplish in the mission going forward.”

The New York Times has now confirmed that the battery is dead and won't recharge, which means the many payloads and instruments are rendered unusable. These included a drill that searches for ice and a hopping drone vehicle that the company has scheduled to explore a permanently shadowed crater.

Update, March 6, 2025, 2:25PM ET: This story has been updated to include new reporting regarding the operational status of Athena. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/intuitive-machines-second-moon-mission-seems-to-have-gone-as-well-as-the-first-162637189.html?src=rss

Apple announced upgrades to its devices this week, and one of the best things about that is you can find better deals on older, still very capable models. Just days after the company announced the M4-powered MacBook Air, a version of the laptop with the M2 chipset has dropped to a new record low of $699. That’s $300 off the regular price.

This is a variant with 16GB of RAM rather than the base model’s 8GB. That's really the bare minimum of RAM you should be looking for these days (and we were pleased to see Apple start giving the MBA 16GB of RAM as standard). You'll also get 256GB of SSD storage in this system.

This discount is quite transparently an effort to clear out M2 MBA stock ahead of the M4-powered model’s impending arrival. And while we currently rank the M3 MBA as the best MacBook and best laptop overall, the M2 version isn’t anything to sniff at — especially at this price.

In our 2022 review, we called the M2 MBA “a near-perfect Mac” and awarded it a score of 96. We liked the performance (which of course has been surpassed by the M3 system), thin form factor and terrific display and audio.

The M2 MBA should still be more than capable of handling most everyday tasks. It also supports Apple Intelligence features, for those who are interested in that sort of thing. So this is a great deal on a killer, if a little older, laptop.

Check out our coverage of the best Apple deals for more discounts, and follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-m2-macbook-air-with-16gb-of-ram-drops-to-a-new-low-of-699-154743334.html?src=rss