Technology

Lexar this week announced what it says is the world’s first 1TB microSD Express card in time for the arrival of the Nintendo Switch 2. Nintendo has said that the Switch 2 will only support microSD Express cards, not the regular microSD you may already have been using in your old Switch. There are three storage capacity options to choose from with Lexar’s new Play Pro microSDXC Express Card: 1TB ($199.99), 512GB ($99.99) and 256GB ($49.99). Buyers have already snatched them up fast, though, so you’ll have to wait until they’re back in stock if you want to grab one.

According to Lexar, the Play Pro microSDXC Express Card offers read speeds of up to 900MB/s and write speeds up to 600MB/s. GameStop also introduced a 1TB microSD Express card alongside a 512GB and a 256GB option, all of which are compatible with Nintendo Switch 2, but those won’t ship until June when the new console arrives.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/lexar-made-a-1tb-microsd-express-card-that-works-with-nintendo-switch-2-175335976.html?src=rss

Meta has released the first two models from its multimodal Llama 4 suite: Llama 4 Scout and Llama 4 Maverick. Maverick is “the workhorse” of the two and excels at image and text understanding for “general assistant and chat use cases,” the company said in a blog post, while the smaller model Scout could tackle things like “multi-document summarization, parsing extensive user activity for personalized tasks, and reasoning over vast codebases.” The company also introduced Llama 4 Behemoth, an upcoming model it says is “among the world’s smartest LLMs” — and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said we’ll be hearing about a fourth model, Llama 4 Reasoning, “in the next month.” 

Both Maverick and Scout are available to download now from the Llama website and Hugging Face, and they’ve been added to Meta AI, including for WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram DMs. 

Meta

Scout has 17 billion active parameters with 16 experts, Meta says. According to Zuckerberg, “It’s extremely fast, natively multimodal, and has an industry leading, nearly infinite 10 million token context length, and it is designed to run on a single GPU.” Maverick on the other hand has 17 billion active parameters with 128 experts. The company says it beats competitors like GPT-4o and Gemini 2.0 on coding, reasoning, multilingual, long-context and image benchmarks, and stacks up against DeepSeek v3.1 on reasoning and coding.

Zuckerberg is already calling the upcoming Behemoth model, which is still training, “the highest performing base model in the world,” with 288 billion active parameters, according to the company. It may not be here yet, but it’s likely we’ll be hearing a lot more about that and the Reasoning model soon; Meta’s big AI developer conference, LlamaCon, is just a few weeks away.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/meta-introduces-llama-4-with-two-new-models-available-now-and-two-more-on-the-way-214524295.html?src=rss

Amazon's new feature could make it easier to get into the latest release in a series, especially if it's been some time since you've read the previous books. The new Recaps feature is part of the latest software update for the Kindle, and the company compares it to "Previously on..." segments you can watch for TV shows. Amazon announced Recaps in a blog post, where it said that you can get access to it once you receive the software update over the air or after you download and install it from Amazon's website. Amazon didn't talk about the technology behind the feature in its post, but a spokesperson has confirmed to TechCrunch that the recaps will be AI generated. 

Shortly after the feature rolled out, users talked about it on social media, wondering if Amazon is using generative AI to write series summaries. They expressed concerns about the use of generative AI, especially about the possibility of the technology hallucinating plot elements that aren't actually in the books. "We use technology, including GenAI and Amazon moderators, to create short recaps of books that accurately reflect book content," Amazon spokesperson Ale Iraheta told the publication. Iraheta assured TechCrunch that Amazon's recaps are accurate, but of course, use it at your own risk. 

At the moment, the Recaps feature is available for best-selling English-language book series on all Kindle devices in the US. To know if your favorite series has one, look for the "View Recaps" button within the series page in your Kindle library. It will soon be available for the Kindle app on iOS, as well. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/amazon-will-use-ai-to-generate-recaps-for-book-series-on-the-kindle-170018503.html?src=rss

UK-based Jaguar Land Rover says it’s pausing shipments to the US after President Donald Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on passenger vehicles and other auto imports. The pause will be in effect this month, the Associated Press reports. While the full impact of the tariffs remains to be seen, analysts have said the move could ultimately drive up the cost of new and even used cars.

“The USA is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands,” Jaguar Land Rover said in a statement to AP. “As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans.”

Trump’s tariffs go well beyond the auto industry, and we’re only seeing the beginning of how the US’ trading partners will respond. The president announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on “all countries” this week, and some will face even higher “reciprocal” tariffs. Among the immediate effects, Nintendo has delayed pre-orders of the new Switch 2 in the US.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/jaguar-land-rover-pauses-us-shipments-while-it-figures-out-a-plan-for-trumps-tariffs-172512506.html?src=rss

Amazon has started testing another AI-powered feature called "Buy for Me," which allows the e-commerce company to make purchases for you from other websites. Specifically, from the actual website of a brand you're looking looking up. The experience is built into the Amazon app. When you search for an item from a particular brand, you may see a section of results labeled "Shop brand sites directly" separate from the results you'll get from Amazon and its third-party sellers. 

If you click on the "Buy for Me" button underneath an item in the separate results section, you'll be taken to a product detail page right inside the Amazon app. The company says the page will provide relevant product information similar to the product details in Amazon's own listings. Amazon will purchase the item for you from the brand's website if you decide to go through with the transaction. It uses agentic AI, a type of AI that doesn't need human intervention, to provide your name, address and payment details for the checkout process. Your details are encrypted, Amazon says, and it will not be able to see your previous and future orders from brands' websites. You'll receive a confirmation email from the brand store itself for your purchase, but you can track your order within the Amazon app through the new Buy for Me Orders tab in the Your Orders page. 

The company told us that it's not getting a commission from your purchases made through the experimental feature, but it didn't say if it was going to get a cut from sales in the future. For now, the feature is still in beta and will only be available to a subset of customers on the US on its iOS and Amazon apps. The test will also only feature a limited number of brand stores and products for now. Just a few days ago, Amazon also released an AI-powered feature called "Interests," which can process prompts in every day language related to your, well, interests. You can, for instance, type in "Brewing tools and gadgets for coffee lovers" to get relevant notifications for Amazon's deals and offerings. 

Amazon

Update, April 05, 2025, 09:25 AM ET: Amazon told us it's not getting a commission from this experimental feature. This story has been updated to reflect that.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/amazons-buy-for-me-ai-will-purchase-stuff-from-third-party-websites-123036361.html?src=rss

Jamie Siminoff, who founded Ring and started the company in his garage, is back at Amazon after leaving the company as its CEO in 2023. Siminoff joined Amazon when the e-commerce website acquired Ring in 2018, but he left in 2023 and founded another startup that he sold to lock maker Latch Inc. When he left Amazon two years ago, he said that invention was his true passion. Now, he's taking on the role as the vice president in charge of not just Ring, but also Amazon's smart home camera unit Blink, the company's in-garage delivery operations called Key and the Amazon Sidewalk low-bandwith, long-range shared network. 

Siminoff is replacing Elizabeth Hamren, who took over his role two years ago. Hamren used to be the COO of Discord and was also an executive at Microsoft and at Meta. According to Bloomberg, she's still looking for new opportunities from inside and outside the company. 

In a post welcoming him back posted on the Amazon website, Siminoff briefly and broadly talked about his plans for the divisions he's heading. He plans to focus on security, on making people feel their "homes are safe, even when they’re thousands of miles away." Siminoff also wants to make sure Amazon's experiences related to home security "work seamlessly across different types of devices." In addition, he talked about how he's going to explore the use of artificial intelligence in Amazon's products and services in the future. "The AI transformation happening right now is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and I think we’re super well positioned with helpful and practical AI features like Smart Video Search," he said. "It's just the start here — we're just scratching the surface of what we can do with AI — and I look forward to digging into this with the team even more."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/ring-founder-jamie-siminoff-is-back-at-amazon-to-run-its-video-doorbell-unit-130009731.html?src=rss

The official launch of Apple’s iOS 18 brought with it some fresh ways to customize your iPhone’s home screen. Rather than leaving unwanted apps hanging around like a bad smell in places you don’t want them, users can now take full control of app placement and make their home screen their own. Whether you're looking to add useful widgets, reorganize your apps or get rid of the ones you never use, customizing your iPhone home screen can help your device feel a little more unique. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide to everything you can do to make your iOS 18 home screen look better and work the way you want.

How to add, edit and remove widgets

Widgets provide a convenient at-a-glance view of an app’s data or functionality, giving you quick access to information and reducing the need to open the app itself. A well-placed widget allows you to check the weather, view your calendar or access music controls, all without opening an app, giving your thumb a well-earned rest. Everybody loves a good shortcut, and with iOS 18, you can add, edit, or remove widgets easily, letting you jump straight to the information that matters.

To add a widget:

1. Touch and hold an empty area on your home screen until the app icons start to jiggle.

2. Tap the Edit button in the top-left corner and select Add Widget.

3. Scroll or search for the widget you want, then tap it.

4. Swipe left or right to choose a size (some offer different layouts).

5. Tap Add Widget to place it on your screen.

6. Drag it to your preferred spot, then tap Done (top right).

To edit a widget:

1. Press and hold the widget you want to change.

2. Tap Edit Widget (if available). If Edit Widget isn’t available, you can cycle through the icons for different placement and layout options.

3. Adjust settings like what calendar it shows, which location for the weather, etc. These options will be unique to each app’s widget.

To remove a widget:

1. Press and hold the widget.

2. Tap Remove Widget, then confirm.

Rob Webb for Engadget How to move apps and widgets on the home screen

Shuffling your home screen apps and widgets is also a cinch thanks to iOS 18’s customization overhaul. It’s a simple but useful way to personalize your iPhone’s home screen and declutter your wallpaper, so your loved ones' faces don’t become buried underneath a wall of app icons.

1. Tap and hold on any app to reveal a menu.

2. Select Edit Home Screen, where you can move the apps across pages by dragging them to the edge of the screen.

3. Tap Done when you're finished.

You can also stack one app on top of another to automatically create a folder (more on that below).

How to customize apps and widgets on the home screen

Moving your most-used apps into prime position is all well and good, but if you’re going for a particular aesthetic with your home screen, the default appearance of an app icon can sometimes spoil the overall look. Luckily, in iOS 18, you can exert more control over how your apps look, including the option to change app icon colors and how widgets are displayed.

To customize your app icon colors:

1. Press and hold on the home screen and tap Edit at the top.

2. Choose Customize to change background colors (like dark, light or a custom color) or apply a different layout.

However, bear in mind that not all app icons can change color. If these steps don’t work for you, you may be left with the odd rogue app icon, sticking out like a sore thumb. In which case, you can hide the app icon from view, while still being able to access it easily from the app library.

How to lock or hide an app

Security is a top priority, particularly when it comes to your smartphone. You might have certain apps you want to keep private and for your eyes only. If so, you’ll be happy to know that there are two ways in which you can prevent unwanted eyes on your apps. You can hide or lock an app behind a passcode or Face ID; this prevents unauthorized access and keeps your apps in a Hidden folder. Similarly, you can remove apps entirely from the home screen, still allowing you (and others if they have access) to view them in your App Library.

To lock an app:

1. Long-press the icon of the app you want to lock on the home screen.

2. Select Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode).

3. Confirm your selection by pressing Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode).

To hide an app:

1. Long-press the icon of the app you want to lock on the home screen.

2. Select Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode).

3. Confirm your selection by pressing Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode)

4. Tap Hide and Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode), then tap Hide App.

How to organize your apps in folders

Folders are a great way to declutter your home screen and keep similar apps grouped together. If you’re the type of person who likes to keep things tidy and organized, storing your apps in folders is a good way to do it.

To create a folder:

1. Drag one app icon over another, and iOS 18 will automatically create a folder with both.

2. Tap the name to rename the folder (e.g., “Social” or “Work”).

3. Drag in additional apps if you want.

To remove a folder:

1. Move all the apps out of the folder, and it will disappear once it’s empty.

How to remove or delete apps

The struggle is real when it comes to app bloat, and sometimes a bit of a spring clean is needed. If your home screen needs a bit of freshening up, you can kick a seldom-used app to the curb, or at least kick it off your home screen.

To remove an app from the home screen (without deleting it):

1. Tap and hold the app icon.

2. Tap Remove App.

3. Select Remove from Home Screen.

4. When you want to use that app, navigate to the App Library (swipe left past your last home page) or swipe down from the top of your home screen to search for it.

To delete an app completely:

1. Tap and hold the app icon.

2. Tap Remove App.

3. Select Delete App, then confirm.

To re-download a deleted app:

1. Open the App Store, search for the app and tap the download icon.

Rob Webb for Engadget A few more tips to personalize your home screen space

Widgets Smart Stacks: Using this feature, you can combine multiple widgets into a stack you can swipe through. To do this, just drag one widget on top of another of the same size.

App Library shortcuts: If you want a cleaner home screen, you can remove most apps and rely on the App Library (swipe all the way left) or the search tool to launch what you need.

Focus mode customization: Each Focus mode can have its own custom home screen. This is a useful tool for separating your work life from your personal life.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/how-to-customize-your-iphones-home-screen-in-ios-18-120100872.html?src=rss

Mewgenics, the cat-breeding RPG that was originally announced as a follow-up to Super Meat Boy, is coming out in 2025, based on a new trailer shared by IGN and the game's updated Steam page.

A blend of a turned-based RPG and twisted cat simulator, Mewgenics started as the next project from Team Meat, the development duo made up of Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes. Team Meat teased Mewgenics throughout 2013, but ultimately put the game on hold in 2014 to focus on finishing Super Meat Boy Forever, a mobile sequel to Super Meat Boy.

When McMillen ultimately left Team Meat in 2018 to focus on supporting The Binding of Isaac, Mewgenics came with him, and the game has been slowly making its way to release since then. If the trailer is any indication, repeatable, turn-based battles have become a big part of Mewgenics, but McMillen's trademark gross-out animation style remains intact (as does all of the cat furniture).

If you're looking for more information about how the game has changed since it was announced over a decade ago, McMillen and co-developer Tyler Glaiel have kept up a relatively regular cadence of blog posts on Steam covering different aspects of the development process. We should also see a lot more of the game soon: In their latest update, Mewgenics' developers shared that IGN is publishing hands-on coverage of the game in May.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/the-creator-of-binding-of-isaac-will-release-a-new-game-mewgenics-this-year-211049653.html?src=rss

Early this year, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta would be ditching its long-running fact checking program, claiming that it has enabled too much “censorship” on the company’s apps. Now, Meta has set an end date for fact-checking on Facebook, Instagram and Threads (at least for its US users). 

“By Monday afternoon, our fact-checking program in the US will be officially over,” Meta’s recently elevated policy chief Joel Kaplan announced in a post on X. “That means no new fact checks and no fact checkers.”

Instead, Meta has been slowly ramping up Community Notes. Meta began allowing potential contributors to sign up in February. It began testing the system, which will initially be powered by the same algorithm as Community Notes on X, earlier this month. But the crowdsourced fact checks have yet to appear publicly on posts. It sounds like that’s also about to change with the official end of Meta’s existing fact checking partners. “The first Community Notes will start appearing gradually across Facebook, Threads & Instagram, with no penalties attached,” Kaplan said.

Though Meta has said it wants to eventually end fact checking entirely, the company has said relatively little about its plans for Community Notes outside of the US. That may be because officials in other countries, like Brazil and the European Union, have already expressed concern about how the change could affect the flow of disinformation around the world.

Meta’s push to end fact checking in the US came early this year alongside several other policy changes that marked a notable rightward shift for the social network just as President Donals Trump took office. The company also ended corporate DEI programs, rolled back hate speech protections on its services and added a close Trump ally to its board.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-is-entering-its-post-truth-era-on-monday-202858791.html?src=rss

Microsoft just announced several updates to its Copilot AI assistant, and some sound downright useful. It’s bringing Copilot Vision to mobile, but with some new features. For the uninitiated, this software originally launched for the Edge web browser and gave Copilot the ability to “see” and comment on the contents of websites.

The company is upping its game for the mobile version, adding some multimodal functionality. It’ll be able to integrate with your phone’s camera to “enable an interactive experience with the real world.” Microsoft says it can analyze both real-time video from the camera and photos stored on the device

Microsoft gives an example of Copilot Vision analyzing a video of plants to determine if they are healthy or not and suggesting actions to take. We’ll see if it can actually perform that kind of nuanced reasoning. Modern AI companies love to promise the world and then, well, you know the rest. In any event, the mobile version of Vision is available today in the Copilot app for iOS and Android. The web version is also coming to Windows. 

Microsoft is bringing Copilot Search to Bing to “seamlessly blend the best of traditional and generative search together to help you find what you need.” The company is now calling Bing “your AI-powered search and answer engine.” Like most AI web search tools, this provides summaries to answer queries.

Microsoft says this can take the form of a simple paragraph, like Gemini AI for Google searches, but that it also can provide “images and data from your favorite publishers and content owners.” Copilot Search is rolling out today.

The company also introduced something called Copilot Memory. This is Microsoft’s attempt to bring more personalization to Copilot. After all, it’s tough to have a true AI companion when it doesn’t remember anything about you. With this addition, Copilot will be able to remember specific details about your life, like “your favorite food, the types of films you enjoy and your nephew’s birthday and his interests.”

The company touts that the software will recommend actions based on what it remembers. To that end, Microsoft says Copilot will be able to do stuff like buy tickets to events, order flowers and make dinner reservations. It says the service will “work with most websites across the web.” We’ll see how that works out.

The update brings some other tools to the table, like the ability to auto-generate podcasts based on specific topics and offer shopping advice based on sales history across the web. These updates begin rolling out today, but it may not hit every user for a bit. Microsoft says availability will expand in the coming weeks and months.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/microsofts-latest-copilot-updates-include-a-mobile-version-of-the-multimodal-vision-tool-182752162.html?src=rss

TikTok is going to get more time to figure out a plan to stay in the US. President Donald Trump is signing another executive order effectively extending the deadline for the company to find US buyers by another 75 days. The president signaled he intended to give the deal more time via a Truth Social post.

"My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress," Trump wrote. "The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days." 

Trump's post suggests that the recently introduced suite of tariffs against US trade partners like China will somehow help close the deal. As part of the TikTok ban signed in to law by former President Biden in April 2024, TikTok's parent company ByteDance is forced to sell TikTok to a US buyer or get kicked out of US app stores and web hosting platforms. 

After a good bit of back and forth over the legality of the ban, the Supreme Court ultimately upheld it, and left the enforcement of the law to the incoming Trump administration. TikTok was briefly unavailable, but Trump ultimately signed an executive order that delayed the enforcement of the ban by 75 days to give TikTok more time to find a buyer and get the app back up and running.

Multiple companies and groups have expressed interest in outright buying or investing in TikTok — reportedly, even Amazon — but no one has come to a deal that satisfies ByteDance or the Chinese government. It's not clear tariffs will change anyone's motivations, but if everyone continues to accept Trump's Justice Department just not enforcing the ban, than the whole ordeal seems like it could last as long as necessary.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/trump-is-extending-the-deadline-for-a-tiktok-deal-by-another-75-days-180526714.html?src=rss

Vimeo is launching a new service that lets content creators run their own subscription service without needing coding experience. Vimeo Streaming removes the technical hurdles of building a monetized video service while avoiding the whack-a-mole game of chasing YouTube's algorithms or the often-meager payouts on TikTok and Instagram.

The company says the product is ideal for media and entertainment creators, performing arts organizations, educators and e-learning companies, sports and event broadcasters and fitness studios. And since Vimeo is pitching less to individuals trying to build an audience from scratch, you'll need to contact the company's sales team for pricing details.

The service provides tools and templates for "a professional 'Netflix-style' streaming experience without any coding needed." Creators can tailor Vimeo Streaming's look and feel with custom branding, colors and logos. The service offers white-label web, mobile and TV apps for all major platforms, so you don't have to convince your audience to download the Vimeo app. Creators can organize and categorize videos, create playlists, include artwork and use custom layouts.

Vimeo

Monetization options include subscriptions (with free trials and payment processing), selling or renting videos on-demand, optional sponsorship ads and video bumpers and audience loyalty perks. It also supports live-streaming (including concurrent, backup and 24/7 streams), piracy protections and AI-powered subtitle translations in 36 languages.

"Vimeo is proud to serve the professional creator," CEO Philip Moyer told The Hollywood Reporter. "We believe creators should be in control of their work and how they are paid, so we're taking the technologies that are usually only afforded by the biggest platforms and putting it in the hands of our customers at a fraction of the cost."

You can learn more on Vimeo's product page.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/vimeo-streaming-lets-creators-roll-their-own-netflix-171220483.html?src=rss

It was Tuesday June 25, 2019. San Francisco became the first US city to (temporarily) ban the sale of vapes, SpaceX successfully launched and deployed 24 satellites and I sat in Nintendo’s UK office on the outskirts of London, playing a demo of a game that still isn’t out. 

However, according to yesterday's Switch 2 presentation, Hollow Knight: Silksong will arrive at some point this year. Nintendo even showed off a couple of seconds of new footage. There are slopes!

Oh Silksong, oh Hollow Knight: Silksong, oh Hollow Knight’s repurposed DLC. The second Hollow Knight game from Team Cherry was initially meant to be a DLC addition to the original, but plans changed, with the developers saying that it had become “too large and too unique." (This many years later, exactly how large and unique will Silksong be?)

Later, as part of the 2022 Xbox and Bethesda Games showcase, a Silksong trailer teased a release date in the next 12 months as part of Xbox’s attempt to deliver a wave of exciting games after a lackluster start to the Series X/S launch.

When the early 2023 release date passed us by, Team Cherry delayed the game into 2024 and now, well, it’s 2025. I played that demo so long ago that it might have just been a dream.

Without rewriting my six-year-old hands-on impressions entirely, the new game features a new playable character named Hornet, who featured as a repeatable boss fight in the original Hollow Knight, with silk-based attacks and faster, more agile gameplay. It also offers a more aggressive play style, with Hornet able to heal herself using silk charges and even repair damage with silk bundles left behind from prior unsuccessful attempts. It's a different gameplay twist from having to beat the Hollow Knight shadow in the original.

I subtitled my hands-on impressions, saying it would be “worth the wait.” Back then, I'd recently finished Hollow Knight on the Switch, putting in a few too many hours and was hungry for more bug-shaped Metroidvania adventures. Silksong felt fresh, more responsive, faster and flashier — and I just wanted to play more Hollow Knight.

Barely six seconds of footage during Nintendo's Switch 2 presentation was enough to re-ignite the Silksong fandom, when it revealed nothing new more than some downhill traversal. It's proof that a lot of people are still excited — and still waiting.

I'm excited, and six years on, it feels like it must be pretty close. 

Right?

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/that-one-time-i-played-hollow-knight-silksong-160022483.html?src=rss

A four-pack of Samsung’s SmartTag 2 trackers is on sale for $58 via Woot. That’s a massive discount of 42 percent, as the regular price is $100. This combo pack ships with two black trackers and two white trackers.

They easily made our list of the best Bluetooth trackers. We appreciated the vast finding network, as there are a lot of Samsung phones out there contributing to it. We said the network is “larger than anything out there for Android.” The trackers offer a decent battery life of 16 months, and the batteries are replaceable.

There’s also a large hole for keychains, which is something Apple AirTags lack. The ring volume is also louder than both AirTags and Tile Pro trackers. These trackers are fairly hearty, with IP67 water and dust-resistance. Setup is simple, as the companion app walks users through just about everything.

There’s only one downside, but it’s a doozy. SmartTag trackers only work with Samsung tablets and phones. This doesn’t really impact the finding network, as there are millions of Samsung devices out there, but does limit who should make this purchase.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/a-four-pack-of-samsung-smarttag-2-trackers-is-on-sale-for-58-right-now-152356230.html?src=rss

Nintendo has delayed US Switch 2 pre-orders in response to the new set of tariffs announced by President Donald Trump earlier this week, as first reported by Polygon. Following Nintendo's announcement of the console on Wednesday, pre-orders in the United States were slated to open on April 9. They're now delayed indefinitely.   

"Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the US will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions," the company told Engadget. "Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged."

As mentioned earlier, Nintendo officially announced the Switch 2 on April 2. Hours later, the Trump administration said it would impose a sweeping set of new tariffs targeted against a broad swath of countries, including Japan, China and Vietnam. Products from the latter two countries, where Nintendo manufactures much of its hardware, will be subject to import duties of 54 percent and 46 percent, respectively.  

In the US, Nintendo said the Switch 2 would cost $450. As Polygon notes, sticker shock was already dominating the conversation around Nintendo's new handheld, with many fans begging the company to "drop the price!" of console during its recent livestreams. It's unclear what could happen following Nintendo's assessment of the situation, but one possibility is that the company could allocate less stock for the US market.              

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-delays-switch-2-us-pre-orders-following-trump-tariffs-150747208.html?src=rss

Midjourney has released the alpha version of V7, which it says is an "entirely new" AI image generation model and is much smarter at processing your text prompts. The image quality of its output is noticeably higher, the Midjourney team says, and can create better textures, bodies and hands. AI image generators typically struggle with creating accurate depictions of hands, but based on photos posted by some users on their socials, V7 is capable of spitting out some photorealistic images of human hands. 

The new model comes with a feature called "Draft Mode," which can render images at half the speed the program usually takes. Its results are rougher and less detailed, but it will cost half of what a standard generation costs. Midjourney says Draft Mode is the best way to iterate on ideas. You can use it, say, if you're collaborating with someone and just spitballing ideas with them — it works with voice, so you don't even have to type out each other's suggestions — or if you're unsure what kind of vibe you're going for. If you like an image Midjourney creates in Draft Mode, you can click "enhance" or "vary" on it to re-render it at full quality. 

At launch, V7 will have Turbo and Relax modes for standard rendering, with the former costing twice as much as a normal speed job on the V6 model. Midjourney needs more time to optimize its standard speed mode for V7, but it will make the option available in the future. The new mode is missing more capabilities, as well, including upscaling, editing and retexturing, which will fall back to the program's V6 model for now. Midjourney promises to roll out new updates for the model every week or two over the next two months.

To be able to test the alpha version of V7, you'll have to unlock your personalization profile first. Midjourney describes personalization as "a style assistant for your image creations," since it teaches the AI your visual preferences. You'll have to rank at least 200 pairs of images to create a V7 Global Personalization Profile and test the model. Personalization is switched on by default for the V7, but you'll be able to switch it off if you want. 

One of the most exciting new features for our new V7 model is something we call "Draft Mode". Draft mode is half the cost and 10 times the speed and it might be the best way to iterate on ideas ever. Try it with voice, think out loud and let our ideas flow like liquid dreams. pic.twitter.com/ANfTMC6Ej1

— Midjourney (@midjourney) April 4, 2025

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/midjourney-launches-its-new-v7-ai-image-model-that-can-process-text-prompts-better-134546883.html?src=rss

You have to go all the way back to the Nintendo 64 to play the most recent 3D Donkey Kong game. But without a new mainline Zelda or Mario title (Mario Kart World doesn't quite count) queued up for the Switch 2's launch in June, Nintendo's favorite ape is getting some time to shine in Donkey Kong Bananza. And after getting a chance to play a demo of the game prior to its release on July 17, I have to say I'm loving this glowed-up gorilla.

Now, I'm not entirely sure how DK went from the jungle to being stuck in the banana mines because the demo just kind of dropped me in without a ton of context. Regardless, there's no doubt that this is the best the gorilla has ever looked. He's got a fresh, almost cell-shaded look not entirely dissimilar to the art style seen in recent Zelda games, along with a more youthful and expressive appearance. And it seems his time spent digging has garnered him some new skills as well, which include the ability to punch, dig and butt stomp his way below, into and through all sorts of terrain, with dirt flying everywhere as you do it.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

This opens up a world (cave?) of exploration because now DK can tunnel through to new locations or shape his surroundings with a ground pound, though there's also the usual assortment of actions like running and jumping. This type of freedom immediately changes the way you tackle obstacles compared to a standard platformer. Nearly everything is destructible in some way, and between digging, rolling or simply chucking giant rocks at foes, it feels like there are multiple ways to get where you need to go.

Granted, you still have familiar tropes like collecting jeweled bananas and of course, a companion in the form of a friendly purple rock monster that rides on DK's shoulder. But make no mistake, this ain't the same country DK has swung through before. Thanks to all of its new traversal mechanics, in a lot of ways, Bananza reminds me more of Mario Galaxy than Odyssey. It's just swapped out the gravity-bending physics for bombastic spelunking.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

That said, while the game looks great and handles well, I do have some initial concerns. After a while, the constant digging and rock smashing felt a bit button-mashy. Plus, all the ricks and detritus that gets kicked up becomes a distraction, as I would kind of like to actually see where I'm going. There really is a ton of earth that needs moving. This makes me wonder if the game is aimed at a slightly younger audience similar to a lot of Kirby games rather than something meant to appeal to older players.

But even though I only had a brief time with the game, I saw more than enough to make me want to come back. And alongside Mario Kart World, it's exceedingly clear that Donkey Kong Bananza is part of Nintendo's giant punch that will carry the Switch 2 through its launch window.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/donkey-kong-bananza-hands-on-a-funky-fresh-take-on-nintendos-favorite-ape-130057272.html?src=rss

The trailer for M3GAN 2.0 is here and if you were expecting a copy-paste of the original's horror vibe, you may be surprised. Instead, the sequel is embracing a turn towards action in vein of Terminator 2 complete with upgrades to the original doll, a robot showdown and... a wing suit? 

Set to arrive in theaters only on June 27, the film is once again directed by Gerard Johnstone and features returning cast members Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Brian Jordan Alvarez and Jen Van Epps, along with newcomer Ivanna Sakhno (Pacific Rim: Uprising) as Amelia. 

It's two years after the original M3GAN doll went on a murderous rampage (including that wild dance sequence) and was eventually destroyed. Since then, its designer Gemma has become an author and voice for more robust AI oversight, while Gemma's niece Cady (who M3GAN 1.0 swore to protect) is now a teenager.

Meanwhile, M3GAN's AI tech was stolen by a defense contractor to build super robot solidier Amelia. However, the experiment went awry and Amelia seeks murderous revenge against the AI's creators, particularly Gemma and Cady. Despite misgivings (mostly over the fact that M3GAN tried to murder her), Gemma decides to resurrect the OG doll to combat Amelia, and even adds updates to make her faster, stronger and, well, taller. 

That sets up a showdown between M3GAN and Amelia, complete with guns, a Teletubby version of M3GAN, catchphrases ("hold on to your vagina") and the aforementioned wingsuit sequence. It has strong shades of Terminator 2 with the original robot doll protecting a key character from a new upgraded model. That's married with a camp aesthetic, lots of blood and even a creepy usage of Britney Spears' Oops I did it Again. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/watch-m3gan-switch-from-horror-to-action-in-the-new-sequel-trailer-125749110.html?src=rss

Following the release of rival Anthropic's Claude for Education, OpenAI has announced that its $20 ChatGPT Plus tier will be free for college students until the end of May. The offer comes just in time for final exams and will provide features like OpenAI's most advanced LLM, GPT-4o and an all-new image generation tool. 

"We are offering a Plus discount for students on a limited-time basis in the US and Canada," the company wrote in a FAQ. "This is an experimental consumer program and we may or may not expand this to more schools and countries over time."

On top of the aforementioned features, ChatGPT Plus will offer students benefits like priority access during peak usage times and higher message limits. It'll also grant them access to OpenAI's Deep Research, a tool that can create reports from hundreds of online sources. 

AI tools have been widely adopted by students for research and other uses, with open AI recently saying that a third of young adults aged 18-24 already use ChatGPT, with much of that directed toward studies. Anthropic is going even farther than OpenAI to tap into that market with Claude for Education, by introducing a Learning mode specifically designed to guide students to a solution, rather than providing answers outright. 

Where Anthropic is positioning itself more as a tutor to students, OpenAI is simply giving them access to its most powerful research tools. That brings up the subject of academic integrity and whether AI tools are doing work that students should be doing themselves. Anthropic's approach may be more palatable to institutions — along with its Claude for Education launch, the company announced that it partnered with several universities and colleges to make the new product free for students. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openais-20-chatgpt-plus-is-now-free-for-college-students-until-the-end-of-may-120037778.html?src=rss

After Nintendo revealed the full details around the Switch 2 this week, Engadget's Sam Rutherford got some hands-on time with the new console. In this episode, he talks about the major improvements in the new hardware (especially that 1080p, 120 fps screen) and why he doesn't really miss the older Switch OLED. Also, Sam discusses his time with Mario Kart World, the new semi-open world version of Nintendo's classic racer.

In other news, we dive into the latest updates around the TIkTok ban, and we discuss how the Trump administration's tariff push will affect everything in the technology world and beyond. Stay tuned to the end of the show for our chat with Shinichiro Watanabe, the creator of Cowboy Bebop, about his new anime series Lazarus.

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Topics

• Switch 2 details are finally here, Sam Rutherford got hands-on time with it – 1:47

• U.S.’s broad new tariffs on China and beyond could make everything from keyboards to cars more expensive – 49:32

• TikTok’s divest-or-ban deadline is April 5, here are the possible buyers – 54:57

• xAI buys X, but how much does that matter? – 58:24

• Working on – 1:00:59

• Pop culture picks – 1:02:31

Credits 

Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Sam Rutherford
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/engadget-podcast-nintendo-switch-2-hands-on-and-the-cowboy-bebop-creator-chats-about-lazarus-113005280.html?src=rss