Technology

There’s now an industry-wide union for video game workers in the US and Canada. The United Videogame Workers-CWA (UVW-CWA) has a mission to bring together "artists, writers, designers, QA testers, programmers, freelancers and beyond to build worker power irrespective of studio and current job status."

The union makes its official debut at the "Video Game Labor at a Crossroads: New Pathways to Industry-Wide Organizing" panel at GDC. Workers will be sharing a petition at the event to gain support for the union and to shine a light on the recent glut of industry layoffs. As a matter of fact, the first major issue the union seeks to address is layoffs, given that one in ten developers were shown the door in 2024.

UVW-CWA

Workers will also be passing around a zine that includes the organization’s mission statement, FAQs and an op-ed. This is a direct-join union, meaning that workers can sign up on their own. This allows folks to bypass traditional unionization processes like elections and employer consent.

We aren’t sure if this will catch on throughout the industry or if major publishers will recognize the union. However, it’s just the latest salvo in the ongoing battle between industry workers and corporate bigwigs. Over 600 QA workers at Activision, which is owned by Microsoft, recently joined the Communications Workers of America (CWA.) ZeniMax Online Studios workers formed their own union at the tail-end of last year and Sega of America workers did something similar.

These unions have also been busy. The CWA has been embroiled in a fight with Microsoft and Activision over unfair labor practices on behalf of workers at Raven Software. Members of ZeniMax Workers United-CWA also went on a one-day strike last year to limit Microsoft’s use of outsourcing.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/video-game-workers-in-north-america-now-have-an-industry-wide-union-130024730.html?src=rss

If you’ve been eyeing a pair of Beats Fit Pro earbuds, now’s a great time to snag them at a discount. The fitness-focused wireless earbuds have dropped to $169 ahead of the Amazon Spring Sale, down from their usual $200 price tag, which is the lowest price we’ve seen them since January. This $30 discount makes them an even better buy for those looking for good sound quality with a snug and secure fit.

The Beats Fit Pro earned the top spot as the best wireless earbuds for working out in our best wireless earbuds roundup thanks to their IPX4 water resistance rating, comfortable design and balanced audio. They feature active noise cancellation (ANC), spatial audio with dynamic head tracking and Apple’s H1 chip for seamless pairing with iOS devices. While they’re most convenient for Apple users, they also work well with Android devices thanks to Google Fast Pair support. They’re available at the discounted price in black, white, sage gray and stone purple, so this Big Spring Sale deal isn’t limited to just one color.

Designed with fitness enthusiasts in mind, the Fit Pro earbuds include flexible wingtips that help keep them securely in place, whether you’re out for a run or powering through an intense gym session. Battery life is also solid, offering six hours of listening time per charge with an additional 18 hours from the charging case. If you need a quick boost, a Fast Fuel charge delivers up to one hour of playback in just five minutes.

If you're looking for something more affordable, the Beats Studio Buds+ have also received a major price drop. They’re currently on sale for $130 on Amazon, a decent markdown from their usual $170 price. These earbuds offer solid ANC, an improved transparency mode and a comfortable, lightweight design.

We were impressed with them and gave them a respectable 84 out of 100 in our Beats Studio Buds+ review. Whether you’re after a workout companion like the Fit Pro or an everyday pair like the Studio Buds+, both deals make for great savings on quality wireless earbuds.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazon-spring-sale-deals-include-the-beats-fit-pro-earbuds-for-169-130015298.html?src=rss

While Tesla is a popular car for ride-hailing drivers employed by the likes of Uber and more, the company could soon cut out the middleman. The California Public Utilities Commission has approved the company's bid for a transportation charter-party carrier permit, Bloomberg reports.

The permit opens the way for Tesla to operate a ride-hailing service to compete with Uber, Lyft and other established companies. Tesla employees would drive the cars, initially transporting fellow employees, before becoming available to the public. Last year, Elon Musk told investors that the company was already testing app-based transportation for Bay Area employees using safety drivers.

Notably, Tesla is still not approved to use autonomous vehicles for ride-hailing, though Musk has claimed they will be available in Austin, Texas by June and in California by the end of the year. Meanwhile, Uber and Waymo launched their robotaxi service in Austin earlier this month. Waymo's autonomous ride-hailing service is also available in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix.  

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/tesla-gets-approval-for-ride-hailing-business-in-california-125100455.html?src=rss

Carl Erik Rinsch, the director of 47 Ronin, has been charged for defrauding a streaming service out of $11 million, according to the Southern District of New York's US Attorney's Office. While the court documents didn't name the service, an old report from The New York Times made it obvious that it was none other than Netflix. In 2018, Rinsch pitched a sci-fi series called White Horse, referencing the first horseman of the apocalypse, to several services, namely Amazon, Apple, HBO, Hulu, Netflix and YouTube. The Times' report said that Amazon had already won the bidding war, but Netflix's former VP of Original Content, Cindy Holland, called Rinsch on a weekend and offered millions more, along with the privilege of making a director's cut. 

In its announcement of the indictment, the US Attorney's Office explained that Netflix had paid $44 million for the development of White Horse, which had been renamed to Conquest, between 2018 and 2019. Some of that money went to paying off the project's earliest investors. (Keanu Reeves, the star of 47 Ronin, sank his own money into the project after Rinsch got in trouble with 30West, one of the project's first investors, for not reaching a deadline.) Between late 2019 and early 2020, Rinsch asked Netflix for more funding, and the company gave him $11 million more to complete the series. But Rinsch never finished the show, and Netflix accused him of using those funds to make "personal and speculative purchases of securities."

The director allegedly lost most of the $11 million to trading, but he made it back and earned more from investing the rest on cryptocurrency. Rinsch allegedly went on a shopping spree after that, spending almost $4 million on furniture and antiques, $2.4 million on five Rolls-Royces and one Ferrari, as well as $652,000 on luxury watches and clothing. The indictment also said that Rinsch spent over $1 million to sue Netflix for more money. According to The Times' report, Rinsch claimed in his lawsuit that Netflix broke its contract and owed him several more payments worth $14 million. In the midst of all of these, Rinsch reportedly displayed erratic behavior: He allegedly claimed to have discovered Covid-19’s secret transmission mechanism, treated the show's staff horribly and accused his wife of plotting his assassination.

Conquest was supposed to be about a genius who invented a human-like species called Organic Intelligent. These OIs are deployed to solve problems and provide humanitarian aid around the world, but they are, of course, not what they seem and are hiding a darker nature. Rinsch has been charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, both of which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He was also charged with five counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity, each count carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/47-ronin-director-charged-with-11-million-fraud-over-doomed-netflix-sci-fi-series-123040218.html?src=rss

Playdate, the little yellow gaming machine with a crank, is getting a price increase in a few days. In a newsletter that Panic has sent out, the developer said that Playdates will cost $229 starting on March 25 but that you can still get the device for $199 until then. Apparently, Panic moved to a new factory, and it would "cost quite a bit more" to manufacture the devices there than at the company's old facility. Panic cited manufacturing costs, as well, when it raised the handheld's price from $179 to $199 last year. 

On the day the Playdate is getting a price hike, Panic is also dropping "an (extremely) limited stock" of systems that are either fully refurbished at its factory or have "very minor cosmetic issues." The refurbished units will sell for $179, and Panic says that they "work great," can "play games perfectly" and come with a six-month warranty. "If price has kept you from buying a Playdate, we're hopeful these great systems might help," the company has written in its announcement. 

The handheld gaming console came out in 2022. It has a black-and-white screen with over 150 games that you can download from its Catalog. While the device has the traditional arrow and gaming buttons, it also has a crank that developers incorporate into their games — in Chopter Copter, for instance, you'll have to turn the Playdate on its side to use the crank as a helicopter-style rotor. If you already have a Playdate, the company is having a Catalog Anniversary Sale right now until March 20, where you can stock up on more titles for the handheld. Panic also reconfirmed that it's working with developers to put together a Season 2 bundle, which will deliver a set number of games in a curated collection to buyers' devices over a certain period.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-diminutive-playdate-console-is-getting-a-price-increase-to-229-on-march-25-120004199.html?src=rss

If you’ve upgraded your phone recently, there’s a good chance it supports wireless charging. Battery life can be one of the first things to deteriorate as your phone ages, so you’ll need quick and easy ways to power up wherever you are. You may not always be able to have a cable on your person, but investing in a wireless phone charger (or a few) can make it more convenient to plop your phone down and know it’ll have more juice when you pick it back up again.

While you’re not going to get the same charging speed with a wireless charger that you would with a power cable, the convenience of a power source like this is undeniable. Stick a wireless charger on your bedside, on your desk at work, in your kitchen or wherever you spend a good chunk of your time and you’ll have a reliable way to power up your phone, sans bulky, messy cables. Needless to say, there are a ton of options out there with different charging capabilities and price ranges. Below, we’ve collected the best wireless chargers we’ve tested to make your search a little easier.

Table of contents

• Best wireless chargers for 2025

• What to look for in a wireless charger

• Where and how will you use your charger?

• Wireless charging performance

• Quality and box contents

• Wireless chargers FAQs

Best wireless chargers for 2025

What to look for in a wireless charger

While it’s tempting to buy a wireless charging pad optimized for the specific phone you have now, resist that urge. Instead, think about the types of devices (phones included) that you could see yourself using in the near future. If you’re sure you’ll use iPhones for a long time, an Apple MagSafe-compatible charger will be faster and more convenient. If you use Android phones or think you might switch sides, however, you’ll want a more universal design. If you have other accessories like wireless earbuds or a smartwatch that supports wireless charging, maybe you’d be better off with a multi-device wireless charger.

Where and how will you use your charger?

Odds are that you have a specific use case in mind for your charger. You may want it by your bedside for a quick charge in the morning, or on your desk for at-a-glance notifications. You might even keep it in your bag for convenient travel charging instead of bulky power banks. Think about where you want to use this accessory and what you want to do with the device(s) it charges while it’s powering up. For example, a wireless charging pad might be better for bedside use if you just want to be able to drop your phone down at the end of a long day and know it’ll be powered up in the morning. However, a stand will be better if you have an iPhone and want to make use of the Standby feature during the nighttime hours.

For a desk wireless charger, a stand lets you more easily glance at phone notifications throughout the day. For travelling, undoubtedly, a puck-style charging pad is best since it will take up much less space in your bag than a stand would. Many power banks also include wireless charging pads built in, so one of those might make even more sense for those who are always on the go.

Wireless charging performance

Although wireless charging is usually slower than its wired equivalent, speed and wattage are still important considerations. A fast charger can supply enough power for a long night out in the time it takes to change outfits.

In general, a 15W charger is more than quick enough for most situations, and you’ll need a MagSafe-compatible charger to extract that level of performance from an iPhone. With that said, even the slower 7.5W and 10W chargers are fast enough for an overnight power-up. If anything, you’ll want to worry more about support for cases. While many models can deliver power through a reasonably thick case (typically 3mm to 5mm), you’ll occasionally run into examples that only work with naked phones.

There are some proprietary chargers that smash the 15W barrier if you have the right phone. Apple’s latest MagSafe charging pad can provide up to 25W of wireless power to compatible iPhones when paired with a 30W or 35W adapter — the latter being another component you’ll have to get right to make sure the whole equation works as fast as it possibly can.

Quality and box contents

Pay attention to what’s included in the box. Some wireless chargers don’t include power adapters, and others may even ask you to reuse your phone’s USB-C charging cable. What may seem to be a bargain may prove expensive if you have to buy extras just to use it properly. As mentioned above, you’ll want to make sure all of the components needed to use the wireless charger can provide the level of power you need — you’re only as strong (or in this case, fast) as your weakest link.

Fit and finish is also worth considering. You’re likely going to use your wireless charger every day, so even small differences in quality could make the difference between joy and frustration. If your charger doesn’t use MagSafe-compatible tech, textured surfaces like fabric or rubberized plastic are more likely to keep your phone in place. The base should be grippy or weighty enough that the charger won’t slide around. Also double check that the wireless charger you’re considering can support phones outfitted with cases — the specifications are usually listed in the charger’s description or specs.

You’ll also want to think about the minor conveniences. Status lights are useful for indicating correct phone placement, but an overly bright light can be distracting. Ideally, the light dims or shuts off after a certain period of time. And while we caution against lips and trays that limit compatibility, you may still want some barriers to prevent your device falling off its perch on the charging station.

Wireless chargers FAQs Do wireless chargers work if you have a phone case?

Many wireless chargers do work if you leave the case on your phone. Generally, a case up to 3mm thick should be compatible with most wireless chargers. However, you should check the manufacturer’s guide to ensure a case is supported.

How do I know if my phone supports wireless charging?

Checking the phone’s specification should tell you if your phone is compatible with wireless charging. You might see words like “Qi wireless charging” or “wireless charging compatible.”

Do cords charge your phone faster?

Most often, wired charging will be faster than wireless charging. However, wired charging also depends on what the charging cable’s speed is and how much power it’s designed to carry. A quick-charging cable that can transmit up to 120W of power is going to be faster than a wireless charger.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/best-wireless-charger-140036359.html?src=rss

President Donald Trump's efforts to remake the US government continued today with the firing of the two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission. This agency has historically had five members: three from the same party as the president and two from the opposing party. The New York Times reported that the president terminated the roles for FTC Commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya. 

Both Slaughter and Bedoya said today that firing them is illegal. Commissioners' terms can only be ended early for good cause, such as "inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office." Also, no more than three commissioners can come from the same political party, meaning the pair also cannot be replaced by additional Republicans. It seems likely that Trump will face a legal challenge over the attempt to eliminate these positions.

"The law protects the independence of the Commission because the law serves the American people, not corporate power," Slaughter said in a statement. "The reason that the FTC can be so effective for the American people is because of its independence and because its commissioners serve across political parties and ideologies. Removing opposition voices may not change what the Trump majority can do, but it does change whether they will have accountability when they do it."

Bedoya also posted about the action on X, seconding Slaughter's statement that removing their posts is illegal. "Tomorrow I will testify before the Colorado Joint House and Senate Judiciary Committees, and will have more to say then," he wrote.

Trump signed an executive order in February attempting to exert more control over several agencies that were formed to intentionally remain outside the White House's purview. The order targeted agencies such as the FTC, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The FTC recently deleted all the posts on its business blog from President Biden's administration, leaving a four-year gap with no published compliance advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/president-trump-has-fired-the-ftcs-two-democrat-commissioners-225952614.html?src=rss

The Federal Trade Commission has removed all posts from President Joe Biden's term in office from its business blog. This online publication has historically provided advice about how companies could best comply with consumer-protection regulations, covering topics such as artificial intelligence and how big tech companies have collected and used customer data. Currently, it has no content published between December 21, 2020 and March 7, 2025.

Wired highlighted some of the notable content from the more than 300 blog posts that have been deleted. Several current and former FTC officials spoke to the publication about the change anonymously out of fear of retaliation.

“In terms of the message to industry on what our compliance expectations were, which is in some ways the most important part of enforcement action, they are trying to just erase those from history,” one source said.

The FTC is being led by President Donald Trump's nominee, Andrew Ferguson. At the time of his appointment, Ferguson said he would use the department to "end Big Tech's vendetta against competition and free speech." He and other Republicans have claimed that many platforms are censoring right-wing content, adding a heavy layer of irony to the FTC's latest actions.

"They are talking a big game on censorship," another source told Wired. "But at the end of the day, the thing that really hits these companies' bottom line is what data they can collect, how they can use that data, whether they can train their AI models on that data, and if this administration is planning to take the foot off the gas there while stepping up its work on censorship."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/the-ftc-has-removed-all-business-blog-posts-from-the-biden-administration-214734633.html?src=rss

Starting Tuesday, Disney+ has a 24/7 streaming channel for The Simpsons that broadcasts seasons one through 35 (all but the currently airing one) chronologically.

To be clear, this announcement isn't about any new content, as you can already watch each of those 767 episodes on-demand on Disney+. All that's different here is a single stream that runs through each of them in order around the clock. If episodes average 22 minutes long, that would have the stream taking nearly 12 days to refresh.

The advantage for those who like this format (I can only guess) is you don't have to think about where to pick up; just turn on the stream and imagine you're popping in on The Cartoon Network's longest marathon ever.

"The Simpsons Stream will deliver a Simpsons marathon all day, every day — no matter when you tune in, this ultimate Simpsons binge will be there," current show-runner Matt Selman wrote in a press release.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/disney-adds-a-247-stream-of-the-simpsons-203929882.html?src=rss

NVIDIA is building a desktop supercomputer. At the company's GTC conference today, CEO Jensen Huang announced DGX Spark and DGX Station. We got a first look at the former during CES earlier this year when Huang and company revealed Project Digits. Now known as DGX Spark, NVIDIA is billing the $3,000 device as the world's smallest AI supercomputer. 

It features a GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip NVIDIA has shrunk down to fit inside an enclosure about the size of the previous generation Mac mini. NVIDIA says the GB10 can run up to 1,000 trillion operations per second of AI compute, making it ideal for fine-tuning the latest AI reasoning models, including the GR00T N1 robot system Huang announced at the end of his GTC keynote. The DGX Spark is available to preorder today. 

NVIDIA

For researchers and data scientists who need even more AI processing power, the DGX Station features a GB300 Grace Blackwell Ultra Desktop Superchip. The GB300 offers 20 petaflops of performance and 784GB of unified system memory. NVIDIA has yet to announce a price for the DGX Station, though the company says the computer will arrive later this year, with ASUS, BOXX, Dell, HP, Lambda and Supermicro all making their own versions of the system.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/nvidias-spark-desktop-ai-supercomputer-arrives-this-summer-200351998.html?src=rss

HP is launching a thinner and lighter version of its Omen 16 gaming laptop. The Omen 16 Slim is 16 percent thinner than the standard model, ranging from 0.78 to 0.89 inches (19.9 to 22.7 mm) thick when closed. It weighs 5.35 lbs.

The HP Omen 16 Slim includes up to NVIDIA RTX 5070 graphics (no word yet on the cheaper configurations). It uses Intel Arrow Lake processors, ranging from the entry-level Core Ultra 5 225H to the Core Ultra 9 285H. You can fit it with 16GB, 24GB or 32GB of RAM and choose between 512GB and 1TB storage tiers.

As its name suggests, it has a 16-inch display with up to 2,560 x 1,600 resolution. (Cheaper configs are limited to 1,920 x 1,200.) The machine includes a 10Gbps USB-C port, along with a 10Gbps Type-A, two 5Gbps Type-A ports, an RJ-45 ethernet connector, a 3.5mm headphone / mic combo jack and a single HDMI 2.1 port.

There's no official word yet on pricing or a release date, but The Verge reports that HP is targeting a May launch.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/hp-has-a-thinner-and-lighter-version-of-the-omen-16-gaming-laptop-190717824.html?src=rss

HyperX just introduced a new wireless headset that can keep rocking for up to 200 hours on a single charge. That’s over a week of constant music. The Cloud III S is a followup to 2023’s original wireless headset, but brings Bluetooth audio into the mix. The robust battery allows for the aforementioned 200 hours of listening when using Bluetooth.

That metric drops to around 120 hours when streaming audio via a 2.4GHz wireless connection. Just like the original, the headphones ship with a USB dongle for 2.4GHz. However, it can connect without a dongle when using certain newer HP Omen gaming laptops.

HyperX

A long-lasting battery isn’t the only innovation the Cloud III S brings to the table. It’s also fully customizable, via magnetic ear plates. These are 3D-printed on demand, which is something HyperX has been experimenting with for a while. Users can create and buy these customized 3D-printed ear plates directly from HyperX, but only in select countries.

There’s also a removable boom mic for traveling, but that won’t impede the ability to take calls or trash talk other gamers. The headphones feature a backup omni-directional mic, which is a nice touch.

The HyperX Cloud III S is expected to hit store shelves in May, but pricing hasn’t been solidified yet. For reference, the original Cloud III launched for $170. The new headset will be available in an all-back or black and red.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/hyperxs-new-cloud-iii-s-wireless-headset-streams-bluetooth-audio-for-200-hours-on-a-single-charge-184838572.html?src=rss

Sarah Wynn-Williams joined Facebook in 2011 when it was very much in its “move fast and break things” era. A former United Nations diplomat, she had aspirations of helping Facebook boost its standing on the global stage.

Over nearly seven years at the company, she had a front-row seat to some of Facebook’s most consequential (and controversial) moments. Last week, she published Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism, a memoir about her time at the company and how she slowly became disillusioned about Facebook’s role in the world.

Since it was announced, Meta has thrown the full weight of its PR machine against the book. The company initiated arbitration proceedings, which resulted in a ruling that now prevents Wynn-Williams from promoting her own book. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said the arbitrator’s decision “affirms that Sarah Wynn Williams’ false and defamatory book should never have been published.” He said that “urgent legal action was made necessary by Williams, who more than eight years after being terminated by the company, deliberately concealed the existence of her book project and avoided the industry’s standard fact-checking process in order to rush it to shelves after waiting for eight years.”

Her publisher, Flatiron Books, said in a statement it was “appalled” by Meta’s actions, noting that “the arbitrator's order makes no reference to the claims” in the book, which “went through a thorough editing and vetting process.”

After reading the book, it’s easy to see why Meta PR has made such a fuss. Wynn-Williams worked closely with the company’s top executives, traveling around the world with Mark Zuckerberg and former COO Sheryl Sandberg as they met with foreign leaders and shaped the policies that would define Facebook. She also delivers many firsthand accounts of what Zuckerberg, Sandberg and current Chief of Global Affairs Joel Kaplan did and said behind closed doors. Much of it isn’t pretty.

Here are some of her most shocking claims:

Zuckerberg requested to be “gently mobbed” during a visit to Asia

Wynn-Williams was often tasked with organizing the meetings various Facebook executives took with heads of state and other government officials. One of the more bizarre details is Zuckerberg’s request ahead of a three-week long trip to Asia. According to Wynn-Williams, Zuckerberg requested that she arrange either a “peace rally” or a “riot” during his visit. Facebook’s CEO never explains the request, but Wynn-Williams speculates he wanted "to test out how effective his product is in turning Facebook’s online tools into offline power.”

At first, I think he's joking. Peace rallies are not my area of expertise, and-to be frank-I've never been asked to organize a riot before. Especially one for a tech CEO. I assume something has been lost in his communication-that it's some sort of mix-up. "Riot" and "peace rally" are such completely different things. Then Debbie emails to say that she ran into Mark and he told her that he wants a peace rally or a riot and we need to come up with some ideas that will enable him to be surrounded by people or be "gently mobbed."

Zuckerberg refused to take meetings before noon, even with heads of state

Zuckerberg apparently had a “strict” policy about not taking any meetings before noon. This policy applied not only to internal meetings with others at Facebook, but heads of state. Wynn-Williams recounts how Zuckerberg’s “refusal” to take morning meetings almost derailed a planned meeting with the president of Colombia. That same year, she said she was forced to reschedule Zuckerberg’s address at the UN to a later time slot because, according to Wynn-Williams, “the United Nations isn’t important enough for Mark to do an event before noon.”

Meta built Zuckerberg a special room to protect him from Zika

Facebook took “extreme measures” to protect Zuckerberg from Zika during a visit to Peru for the APEC conference. To protect the CEO, who was apparently hoping to soon conceive his second child, the company opted "to build a ‘controlled structure’ on the site of the APEC conference center where ventilation, exposure to others, and bug mitigation can be overseen by Facebook.” Wynn-Williams dubbed it “operation perfect sperm.”

Zuckerberg’s “desperate” attempts to talk to Xi Jinping

Wynn-Williams spends a lot of time delving into Facebook’s plans to bring the social network to China. She also details Zuckerberg’s attempts to get face time with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In 2015, Zuckerberg flew to Seattle for a “longer than normal” handshake with Xi (who was in the city for a tech summit Zuckerberg was not invited to). He later caused a “diplomatic crisis” when he posted a photo of that handshake, which only shows the back of Xi’s head.

The following year, Zuckerberg and his team hoped to surreptitiously get the CEO in front of Xi at APEC in Peru. Facebook arranged for Zuckerberg to give a speech directly before an appearance by Xi, which meant the two men would be in adjacent dressing rooms. The goal, according to Wynn-Williams, was to engineer a “spontaneous encounter” during which Zuckerberg could make his pitch to get Facebook into China.

But when Xi arrived, he was flanked by “dozens and dozens” of men in military uniforms who created a barrier such that, according to Wynn-Williams, Xi didn't even have to “risk making eye contact with Mark.” She says that Zuckerberg was “hurt” by the demonstration.

Sheryl Sandberg wanted Facebook to promote organ donation

Not long after starting at Facebook, Wynn-Williams says she was told that “Facebook’s first proactive initiative to build relationships with governments around the world will be organ donation.” The idea was apparently Sandberg’s, who ran into a former Harvard friend and transplant surgeon and “offered to help him source donors.”

But when Wynn-Williams brought up the logistical and legal issues that generally make it difficult to transport organs between countries, she says Sandberg was “indignant.”

“Do you mean to tell me that if my four-year-old was dying and the only thing that would save her was a new kidney, that I couldn’t fly to Mexico and get one and put it in my handbag?”

Facebook would later add organ donation to the “life events” users could add to their profiles.

Sheryl Sandberg and the plane crash that wasn't

In 2013, an Asiana flight from Seoul to San Francisco crash-landed on a runway, killing two people and injuring more than 100 passengers. Sandberg, who was promoting her book Lean In at the time, was also traveling from Seoul to San Francisco that day. Following the crash, she posted on Facebook that she and several Facebook colleagues were originally meant to be on that flight but had “switched to United so we could use miles for my family's tickets.”

Sandberg’s supposed near-miss generated multiple headlines, which isn’t surprising, as Wynn-Williams claims Sandberg was personally briefing reporters about the incident. Wynn-Williams was baffled by these reports. She writes that the Facebook COO “always flies United” and “never considered Asiana.” In her recollection, she and another colleague remarked to each other how “weird” it was for Sandberg to do this.

Why Zuckerberg and Sandberg’s Facebook posts get so much engagement

Wynn-Williams heavily implies that there may be some behind-the-scenes manipulation of Zuckerberg and Sandberg’s Facebook posts. She doesn’t offer any proof that this has happened, but says that a meeting attended by “someone from Mark’s personal communications team” raises the possibility.

According to Wynn-Williams, “Sheryl’s assistant describes his job as managing ‘engagement for Mark and Sheryl's social media using all of Facebook's tools.’” When Wynn-Williams asks directly if they are “gaming” the site’s algorithm, she says the assistant replies that “you don’t want to know.”

Joel Kaplan needed a geography lesson

Some of the most telling anecdotes in Careless People involve Kaplan, who joined Facebook’s policy team in 2011 and was promoted to Chief Global Affairs Officer earlier this year. She writes that Kaplan, who was a deputy chief of staff in the George W. Bush White House, was “surprised to learn Taiwan is an island” and that “often when we start to talk about pressing issues in some country in Latin America or Asia, he stops and asks me to explain where the country is.”

Kaplan slow-rolled Facebook’s response to problems in Myanmar

By now, Meta’s failures in Myanmar, where hate speech and misinformation on Facebook helped incite a genocide, are well documented. Wynn-Williams, who early in her tenure flew to Myanmar to try to sell officials there on the company’s connectivity projects, describes her futile attempts to get more resources for content moderation in the country.

She blames Kaplan in particular. She says she “started this long process of trying to hire someone for Myanmar in 2015” and found a human rights expert who fit the bill in May 2016, but Kaplan blocked her from making the hire in February of 2017. He allegedly told her to “move on and get over it.” She later concludes that “when it came to Myanmar, those people just didn’t matter to him.”

(Meta had broadly labeled Wynn-Williams’ claims about Facebook’s actions in Myanmar as “old news,” saying in a statement that “the facts here have been public record since 2018, and we have said publicly we know we were too slow to act on abuse on our services in Myanmar.”)

Kaplan’s alleged harassment

Wynn-Williams also accuses Kaplan of harassment and other inappropriate behavior. After complications while giving birth left her in a literal coma, she writes that Kaplan asked her over one of their “regular” calls during her maternity leave “where are you bleeding from” and got angry when she didn't answer. Later, when she returned to work, he gave her an unofficial performance review on her first day back, saying that she wasn’t “responsive enough.”

Wynn-Williams eventually reports Kaplan’s behavior and an investigation is opened, but that “very quickly it seems to switch from an investigation of Joel, or the facts, to an investigation of me.” She’s fired at her next performance review.

Meta has disputed Wynn-Williams' allegations. “This book is a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives," a spokesperson said in a statement. "Eight years ago, Sarah Wynn-Williams was fired for poor performance and toxic behavior, and an investigation at the time determined she made misleading and unfounded allegations of harassment."

Update, March 18, 2025, 1:57 PM PT: Wynn-Williams describes her tenure at Facebook as lasting seven years, beginning in 2011. But, according to a Meta spokesperson, she was fired in "late 2017." This story has been updated to reflect that she worked at Facebook for "nearly" seven years.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/the-wildest-details-in-the-facebook-memoir-meta-is-trying-to-bury-183310491.html?src=rss

The brackets are set and the teams are en route to their respective arenas. The 2025 NCAA Tournaments, affectionately known to many as March Madness, begin this week. The men’s tournament begins first on March 18 with the women’s version tipping off on March 19. Both will begin with First Four or “play-in” games (depending on who you ask) before providing action on the court through the first weekend in April. Different broadcasters own the rights to each tournament, so streaming them both can be confusing. I’ve broken down the best, most affordable way to access each one so that you'll be ready when the games begin.

When does March Madness start?

The men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament begins on Tuesday, March 18 with two of the so-called First Four matchups. These are the four games that are used to determine the final four teams in the main 64-team bracket. To some, they’re known as the “play-in games” although they’ve officially been part of the men's tournament since 2011. The first game on March 18 begins at 6:40PM ET with another to follow at 9:10PM ET. The same schedule is expected for the second slate of games on Wednesday, March 19.

On the women’s side, March Madness is offset from the men’s tournament by a day. The first two of the First Four games are Wednesday, March 19 at 7PM ET and 9PM ET. The second pair of matchups follows on Thursday, March 20 in the same two time slots.

The 64-team bracket kicks off in earnest for the men at 12:15PM ET on Thursday, March 20. For the women, the main action begins at 11:30AM ET on Friday, March 21st. Here’s the full schedule for each tournament:

2025 Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament

• First Four: March 18-19

• First round: March 20-21

• Second round: March 22-23

• Sweet 16: March 27-28

• Elite Eight: March 29-30

• Final Four: April 5

• Championship game: April 7

2025 Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament

• First Four: March 19-20

• First round: March 21-22

• Second round: March 23-24

• Sweet 16: March 28-29

• Elite Eight: March 30-31

• Final Four: April 4

• Championship game: April 6

How to stream the 2025 Men’s NCAA Tournament ASSOCIATED PRESS

CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery share the broadcast rights to the men’s tournament, and as they have in years past, TV coverage will be spread across four networks. During the course of March Madness, games will air on CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV, with the final rounds and championship game landing on CBS.

If you already have a paid TV plan (such as traditional cable), the best way to watch the men’s tournament is with the March Madness Live app or website. Once you log in with your TV provider credentials, you can watch every game in one spot with features like multiview (up to four games at once) and “excitement alerts” that let you know when there’s a close game. The app also offers ways to follow your bracket, if you filled it out on MarchMadness.com. And when you’re watching on desktop, the crucial Boss Button will throw up a fake work screen when you need it. March Madness Live is also available on Amazon, Fire TV, Apple TV, iOS, macOS, Google Play, LG smart TVs, Roku and Xbox devices.

If you don’t have a compatible TV provider already, your best option is to actually use two services. It’s not ideal, I know, but it will save you a lot of money. Max’s Standard plan is $17/month and gives you access to live games from TNT, TBS and truTV. While you can watch NCAA Tournament games with the Basic with Ads tier, B/R Sports, which powers all of the live coverage on Max, will only be available on Standard and Premium levels starting March 30. Yes, Warner Bros. Discovery set its policy to change in the middle of the tournament to make more money. For the CBS games, you’ll need a Paramount+ with Showtime subscription that costs $13/month. So, in total, your best option to stream all of the men’s tournament is $30 spread across two apps. 

A live TV service like YouTube TV or Hulu plus Live TV is over $50 more per month at full price, but they would offer you “one-stop shopping” for all the games in the men’s tournament. YouTube TV is currently on sale for $70/month for the first six months you use it. 

How to stream the 2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament ASSOCIATED PRESS

While Warner Brothers Discovery owns the rights to the men’s NCAA Tournament, ESPN has the women’s bracket locked down. Every game of the women’s tournament will be spread across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNEWS, including the First Four matchups. The Final Four will be on ESPN, but the championship game will air on ABC. All three of those culminating games will stream on ESPN+.

Since ESPN+ won’t get every game, it’s not an option if you want to watch the entire tournament. You will be able to watch “select matchups” on both ESPN+ and Disney+, but ESPN hasn’t announced what those will be. So, unfortunately, your best bet is a live-TV streaming service like Sling, YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV for a comprehensive experience. Sling is the cheapest avenue here, with the requisite Orange and Sports Extra plans costing $34 (Sling is currently offering a discount on the first month of Orange). YouTube and Hulu live TV options are both the same price at $83/month (YouTube TV currently discounted to $70 for the first six months), so it’s a matter of which set of content and features you like best. YouTube TV offers a handy multiview tool so you can watch up to four games at once, but Hulu + Live TV comes with Disney+ and ESPN+ (both with ads) for that cost. (Opting for Hulu + Live TV only saves you one whole dollar per month if you don’t include the Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu bundling.)

If you’re a more casual fan who can afford to roll the dice on the “select” options on ESPN+, you can save some money. That service only costs $12/month. And if you already have a TV plan that includes the ESPN family of networks, the ESPN app is the best place to watch the tournament. The mix of scores and info, along with multiview streaming for up to four games at a time on Apple TV and Xbox, make the app a well-equipped conduit for the women’s tournament.

The March Madness website only shows scores and news for the women’s tournament. There are no live games available on the website.

What if I want to stream both the men’s and women’s tournaments? ASSOCIATED PRESS

If you’re hoping to stream all of both the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments, I hope you ordered Samsung’s eight-TV bundle. In terms of streaming services, just jump straight to a live-TV option like YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV. I prefer the former because of its multiview feature – a tool that Hulu doesn’t offer. At times when there are multiple games that you want to watch, especially during the first two rounds, you’ll want multiview in order to keep tabs on all of the action.

Are any of the March Madness games available to stream for free?

You can watch all of the games broadcast on CBS on the March Madness website and mobile apps without a TV provider. Sure, it’s a small sample of the tournament, but it’s completely free and a good option for casual fans who don’t have a paid TV plan they can exploit for more of the action. It’s also a good option for watching the first round at work, if your company hasn’t blocked streaming sites, or if you can discreetly watch on your phone.

For the women’s tournament, there aren’t any games available for free. Unless you have an old-school OTA antenna, in which case you can watch men’s games on CBS and women’s games on ABC without any kind of streaming plan. Of course, this is a streaming guide so I’d consider an antenna an extraordinary move in 2025.

If you were hoping to use a free trial period to watch March Madness, I’ve got bad news. None of them will be long enough to watch an entire tournament. Some of them don’t offer them at all, but the longest is YouTube TV at 10 days which wouldn’t get you through the second weekend.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/how-to-stream-every-march-madness-2025-game-181552865.html?src=rss

Microsoft just announced that its Xbox Adaptive Joystick is now available for purchase directly from the company. This news comes during the annual Ability Summit. The Adaptive Joystick is designed for people with limited mobility, so it has four customizable button inputs on the front and two more mappable bumper and trigger-style buttons. It also comes with a standard thumbstick. It costs $30, which is cheaper than the official wireless Xbox controller.

That’s just one accessibility-minded announcement that Microsoft made today. The company is bringing AI tools to the screen-reader Narrator for Windows. This will allow the software to offer “rich image descriptions.” It’ll be available to Windows Insider members sometime this spring.

Microsoft Teams is also getting an update for those who are hard of hearing. The software will soon be able to automatically recognize when someone is using sign language, placing them prominently as a speaker during the meeting. This is what Sign Language View already does, but it’s an opt-in service. The update streamlines the process. It’ll be available later this year.

The company has long been at the forefront of accessibility-related tech. It made a nifty Adaptive Mouse that allows for near-endless customization options. Microsoft also created technology that pairs game controllers without forcing users to touch the console and a kit to make Surface laptops more accessible. The brand first introduced the original Adaptive Controller around six years ago. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/microsofts-xbox-adaptive-joystick-is-now-available-183009651.html?src=rss

BYD has introduced new technology for charging electric vehicles at vastly quicker speeds. Founder Wang Chuanfu said this "super e-platform" tech offers a peak charging speed of 1,000 kilowatts, twice that of the 500 kw charging currently offered by Tesla's superchargers. That would mean a car can travel 249 miles (400 kilometers) from a five-minute charge on a BYD station. This charging architecture will initially be available in two of BYD's vehicle models: the Han L sedan and Tang L SUV.

"In order to completely solve our user's charging anxiety, we have been pursuing a goal to make the charging time of electric vehicles as short as the refuelling time of petrol vehicles," said Wang.

The company is also bringing its quick-charging tech to Chinese drivers for the first time. BYD plans to construct 4,000 ultra-fast charging units across the country, although it did not provide a timeline or budget for the endeavor. To date, owners of BYD vehicles have needed to use charging stations from third-party operators or different EV manufacturers such as Tesla.

BYD has been putting more and more EVs on the road around the world. Last year, its second-quarter shipment figures jumped 21 percent to draw very close to Tesla's numbers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/byd-unveils-new-tech-for-twice-as-fast-ev-charging-175729412.html?src=rss

If you've ever seen Dyson's Hot+Cool Jet Focus in a store and wished the ultra-sleek appliance was more affordable, today's your lucky day. Amazon has the product, which usually costs $470, on sale for $300. That's nearly a record low.

As its name suggests, the Dyson Hot+Cool AM09 Jet Focus can heat your room in the winter and cool it off in the summer. Its fan mode includes Air Multiplier tech, which creates a smooth and uninterrupted airstream thanks to its lack of traditional fan blades. When you need some warmth, its ceramic plates heat up quickly.

The appliance has two modes: focused and diffused. Focused mode warms or cools one person, while diffused mode heats your entire room or provides a gentle breeze during the summer. It oscillates at a 70-degree angle. Dyson's fan has a sleep timer with a shutoff range between 15 minutes and nine hours, and you can store its curved and magnetized remote control inside the appliance to help prevent it from being lost.

The lowest we've ever seen this product's price drop is $280, so being able to snag it for $300 in the middle of March, when we're nowhere near Black Friday or Prime Day, is about as good a deal as you can hope for.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/this-dyson-heater-and-fan-is-36-percent-off-in-the-amazon-spring-sale-173031934.html?src=rss

Roku has begun running video ads that automatically play before loading the home screen, as reported by Ars Technica. This is impacting owners of Roku-branded smart TVs and streaming sticks, so long as the device runs the company’s proprietary OS. It’s worth noting that Roku users already see commercials on the home screen itself, so folks have to suffer through an ad to get to the ads.

Multiple users have reported seeing commercials for the movie Moana 2, though there does seem to be an option to close the video. A Roku spokesperson shared a company statement that confirmed the new ad placement but said it's just a test. The company declined to comment on whether or not this would become a permanent fixture within the OS.

Our business “has and will always require continuous testing and innovation across design, navigation, content, and our first-rate advertising products,” the statement read. “Our recent test is just the latest example, as we explore new ways to showcase brands and programming while still providing a delightful and simple user experience.”

Roku is trying pushing how far to enshittify by introducing ad autoplay before the home screen. "I just turned on my Roku and got an unskippable ad for a movie, before I got to the regular Roku home screen."

Speak up before experiment turns into reality. What do you think? pic.twitter.com/NUkmHoemts

— Techlore (@TechloreInc) March 18, 2025

As expected, Roku users aren’t exactly pumped about this new ad-delivery method. Some have suggested that they would get rid of their devices if the company keeps the test going. Many consumers have expressed that they are fine with the static ads seen on the home screen, but that a loud video is simply a bridge too far.

As a whole, Smart TVs have become a serious growth market for advertisements. These TVs are high-tech and, as such, they track our viewing habits at nearly every turn. Some companies actually lose money on the hardware and make most of their profits via our eyeballs. Roku, as an example, lost $44 million on its physical devices in 2023, but made nearly $1.6 billion with its ads and services products.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/roku-testing-auto-play-video-ads-before-loading-the-home-screen-171517685.html?src=rss

It's unlikely that the fate of a company as large as Ubisoft will hinge on the success of one tentpole single-player game. But the company cannot afford another major error anytime soon after the likes of Star Wars: Outlaws and XDefiant failed to set the world alight. Ubisoft desperately needs a big hit (and for the Rainbow Six Siege X overhaul to go well). The good news for the company is that Assassin's Creed Shadows is poised to deliver on that.

On the surface, it's exactly what you'd expect: a massive Assassin's Creed game that takes dozens of hours to beat. There's so much to do beyond the core story, given all the missions and sidequests that the game constantly points you towards. I was rarely bored during my time with the game — not even during the lengthy flashbacks — which says a lot about the care and consideration Ubisoft's developers have put into this giant world and the story that ties it together.

Ubisoft could not risk having the game run poorly from the jump and then spend months fixing it à la Cyberpunk 2077. Thankfully, for the most part, Assassin's Creed Shadows runs well across my consoles (base PS5 and Xbox Series X) and PC.

It looks sumptuous on my high-end gaming rig, which has an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, 14th-gen i9 Intel CPU and 32GB of RAM. I had zero issues while running everything at very high settings. The action hovered in the 55-59 fps range with no considerable framerate drops — save for the slightly jarring switch to cutscenes, which play out at 30 fps. It's worth noting that Assassin's Creed Shadows is verified for Steam Deck, but I wasn't able to test it out there.

There were no noticeable slowdowns even in the heat of chaotic combat on the three platforms I played on. However, I did spot some small visual aberrations on PS5. Early on, while strolling through puddles in performance mode, water pooling on a dirt track shimmered in an unnatural way. It distracted me from the conversation I was having with an ally.

Ubisoft

Once I was in winter, textures on the grass that poked through the snow faded out and in while I tore through the countryside on horseback. For the record, that happened in balanced mode, which attempts to split the difference between the quality and performance modes in terms of visual fidelity versus framerate. These are minor complaints, in fairness, but they momentarily broke the immersion for me.

The main other weird quirk is that my horse often got stuck when I whistled for it. If, say, I was on a narrow bridge when I called the steed, it might spawn into the river below. A slight annoyance that's more to do with how the horse is programmed to catch up to you by your side, but one that's forgivable considering some of the many narrow paths you'll venture along.

Two heroes with their own stories

The big hook this time around is that you can swap between two characters almost whenever you like. Naoe, a shinobi, is a more traditional Assassin's Creed protagonist, while the warrior Yasuke is a hulking samurai who can bust through doors and carry bodies to hiding spots more easily than his counterpart. There are missions and character interactions that require you to specifically play as one character, but for the most part, you can play as either in the open world.

I stuck to Naoe as much as I could. She's far more nimble and capable at clambering around strongholds — her grappling hook is such a handy tool — and carrying out stealthy assassinations. After all, she’s the only one of the two who has the fabled hidden blade. Her movement is extremely fluid, an aspect of the game that's said to have benefited from the extra time developers had amid its delays.

Unlike Yasuke, Naoe can use the classic eagle vision ability to reveal enemies, hiding spots and goodies through walls. She's plenty capable in hand-to-hand combat as well, more so as you unlock abilities like the very useful double assassination. Her kusarigama, which consists of a sickle-like implement and heavy weight linked by a chain, is a great part of her arsenal.

That's not to say Yasuke isn't a fun character as well. Silently thinning out enemy numbers with his bow or loudly with a teppō firearm before charging in to eliminate the remainder with a long katana, crushing club and special moves like booting a grunt into a wall never got old.

Both protagonists are well-written and performed, at least while playing with English audio. However, the lip syncing didn't always neatly match up with what the characters were saying, a distraction in cutscenes. While I didn't get around to playing the game in immersive mode, with characters speaking in their native tongues of Japanese and Portuguese, I'd be interested to see if the lip sync issue is as prominent there.

Personal stakes with a broader goal

Nevertheless, the story was strong enough to hold my attention during the cutscenes and the rest of the game. It's a tale that starts with very personal stakes for both heroes but expands to involve safeguarding the future of Japan. The writers have crafted a narrative with plenty of intrigue and intricacy, and I enjoyed how they weaved the broader Assassin's Creed lore into Shadows.

I would say the story and structure are rich and intricate enough to justify the 40-60 hours it'll take many people to finish this game. (The new scouting system — which you'll use to narrow down the location of an objective after learning that, for instance, a target is in a specific area — works well.) Still, I preferred the tighter 20-hour approach Ubisoft took with Assassin's Creed Mirage.

Ubisoft

I enjoyed playing in canon mode, which removed dialogue choices and let narrative beats play out as the designers intended. It's too much of a spoiler to reveal how Naoe and Yasuke come to be allies, but the interactions between them and other characters, particularly the flirty relationship Naoe has with one firearm-wielding figure, are for the most part captivating enough.

The performers (and, my goodness, are there a lot of speaking parts here) by and large do a great job with the material. But it's a bit jarring to hear a character speak in a plain North American accent when most of the cast bring Japanese and Portuguese inflections to their delivery.

As solid as the tale being told is overall, the structure is a little odd in places. The main story includes flashback sequences, including one with a combat tutorial that takes place right after the action-packed prologue, that disrupt the flow even if they add some color to the protagonists' backstories.

Skill tree frustrations

I'm not a big fan of the way Ubisoft has structured the progression systems. Naoe and Yasuke each have six skill trees, all of which are broken down into levels. To unlock the next level, the player has to accumulate enough experience points by completing various side activities, including horse archery and finding hidden items dotted around temples. In a vacuum, these can be fun, but it gets a little frustrating when you have a lot of spare mastery points to spend on skills and you have to run around to honor some shrines or find meditation spots before you're able to acquire some of Naoe's and Yasuke's cooler moves.

There are some other antiquated systems in the game. Defeating a rōnin — a samurai who has been hired to take out the heroes — in a fun fight earned me decent loot, including some legendary light armor. But I couldn't equip it, because my character hadn't quite reached a high enough level to simply put on some new rags. This doesn't make any logical sense.

Scaling enemy difficulty from region to region, a trope that Ubisoft eschewed in Mirage, feels very tired here too. It's an artificial way of ramping up the difficulty and progression when other approaches like more creative level design, new enemy types and the player manually making the game harder in their settings can do the trick. Given the historical nature of the series, it does follow to a degree that some of Ubisoft’s gameplay ideas are stuck in the past.

In general, I don't really care to spend my time scouring for gear upgrades just so I can stand a chance in a new area. That said, perks on certain equipment can come in handy. Skulking around castles to take out a few key enemies to unlock a chest with some valuable equipment felt rewarding — even just as a little something extra to do while I tried to make my way to a viewpoint on enemy turf. Castles are valuable strongholds and offer a defensive advantage against attackers, so it's only logical that the bad guys would be stationed around viewpoints, which reveal new points of interest visible to our heroes after they scale up to a specific perch.

Ubisoft

Even without that gameplay aspect, scaling up to a viewpoint is always worth it, as has long been the case in the Assassin's Creed series. The minimum reward is a sweeping shot of the surrounding area, and since Shadows is such a stunner, I made it a point to claim every viewpoint along my path.

The aforementioned puddle and grass anomalies aside, it’s a joy to roam around this gorgeous game, with its abundant foliage, carefully assembled settlements and dynamic weather system combining to form a rich, lived-in world that I won't soon forget. The lighting systems allowing for Naoe and Yaskue to snuff out candles and lanterns to help them hide in the shadows at night were a smart addition here too.

There are plenty of other fun aspects to Assassin's Creed Shadows. In one moment that reminded me of a beat in The Last of Us Part II, I was just starting a peaceful side activity when an assassin tried to take me out. That was an enjoyably unexpected twist. Meanwhile, an optional fight against a high-level enemy at the foot of a blazing tower in the middle of the night felt deeply cinematic.

There's a lot riding on Assassin's Creed Shadows. Ubisoft will absolutely be hoping that it's a success out of the gates and that not too many players wait for the price to drop. There's plenty of competition to be concerned about too, particularly as Sucker Punch Productions' sequel to Ghost of Tsushima, Ghost of Yōtei, is slated to arrive at some point this year.

It does feel like there's enough here to draw in both Assassin's Creed diehards and newcomers who may be entranced by the 16th-century Japan setting but don’t know their Animus from their elbow. Assassin's Creed Shadows has impressive technical work, great performances and an expansive, well-drawn story but it's unfortunately weighed down by some frustrating decisions and antiquated gameplay systems. Still, I'm eager to keep exploring.

Assassin's Creed Shadows will hit PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PC, Mac, Amazon Luna and Ubisoft+ on March 20. It will be available for iPad in the future.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/assassins-creed-shadows-review-an-ambitious-and-captivating-world-thats-stuck-in-the-past-170008367.html?src=rss

Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky just unveiled two new smartwatches that will be instantly familiar for long-time fans of the brand. The Core 2 Duo and the Core Time 2 boast always-on e-paper displays, long-lasting batteries, physical buttons and simple designs that recall the company’s heyday.

This is happening after Google open-sourced PebbleOS, which led Migicovsky to announce his plans to make watches for the platform he helped build. That was just six weeks ago and the units are already ready for pre-orders. He works fast, with a stated reasoning that “no one else has made a perfect smartwatch for people like us, so I’m going to make the exact smartwatch we want.”

Eric Migicovsky

To that end, the Core 2 Duo looks nearly identical to the iconic Pebble 2, though it has been upgraded with “modern chips and new tricks.” It features a 1.26-inch black and white e-paper display, a microphone, a lightweight polycarbonate frame and an impressive 30-day battery life. It tracks both sleep and steps, and includes a barometer and compass.

Pre-orders are open right now, with shipments going out in July. The Core 2 Duo costs $149 and is available in black and white colorways.

Eric Migicovsky

Migicovsky calls the Core Time 2 his “dream watch” and that it’s the natural evolution from the well-reviewed Pebble Time and the unreleased Pebble Time 2. It boasts a 64-color 1.5-inch e-paper display, a metal frame and buttons, a flat glass lens for better visibility and a battery that goes for around 30 days.

The Core Time 2 also includes a touchscreen, heart rate monitor, microphone and speaker. It boasts IPX8 water-resistance and, of course, access to thousands upon thousands of pre-existing PebbleOS apps. Pre-orders are available now, though shipments won’t go out until December. It’s available in black or white, with a potential third color to be announced in the future, and costs $225.

Being as PebbleOS is open-source, both watches are fully hackable. This allows for the potential introduction of custom firmware.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/pebble-founder-eric-migicovsky-just-introduced-two-new-e-paper-smartwatches-160008363.html?src=rss