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On Friday, the National Association of Realtors will give an update on existing home sales. But we also got some news about the market for new homes: A survey from the National Association of Home Builders found that contractors’ expectations for future sales volume fell to their lowest level in more than a year.

That’s largely thanks to uncertainty about tariffs and their potential impact on materials costs.

Homebuilders rely on imported goods to make homes, including lumber, metals and appliances.

“And if their costs go up, that will translate into prices probably being higher than they would otherwise,” said Nancy Vanden Houten, lead economist at Oxford Economics.

Higher input costs could discourage new construction, which has been adding much-needed supply to a tight housing market.

“Would-be homeowners have faced a lot of hurdles for several years,” Vanden Houten said. “And a lack of new supply would only make those hurdles higher.”

Another factor that could affect supply is the availability of workers. If the Trump administration continues to crack down on immigration, “that could be another obstacle for homebuilders, who may wish to expand supply, but not be able to have the workers to do so,” said Charlie Dougherty, senior economist at Wells Fargo.

As a result, Dougherty said that home affordability probably won’t improve much over the coming year.

The rapid and widespread reductions in the federal workforce are ongoing, and some have experts worried about what the layoffs and firings will mean for the nation’s food safety.

This week, the head of the Food and Drug Administration’s food safety division resigned saying, according to multiple reports, that the cuts will damage the FDA’s ability to safeguard our food supply.  

We still don’t know the full extent of layoffs at the FDA, which oversees the safety of most of our food supply, but they are widespread, noted Darin Detwiler, a food safety expert and consultant teaching at Northeastern University.

“These are technical experts, nutrition experts,” he said. “Their jobs are extremely important in terms of outbreak response and disease investigation.”

Frontline food inspectors and investigators have been laid off or fired; some because they were newer employees on probation.

“This is going to result in slower recalls, weaker enforcement and — quite honestly — a rollback of public health protections,” said Detwiler.

The FDA did not respond to a request for comment by deadline. The USDA, which handles some aspect of food safety nationally, said in a statement that the agency is “committed to preserving essential safety positions and will ensure that critical services remain uninterrupted.”

But many experts and former food safety officials are unconvinced.

“I worry about if there is reduced oversight over the food supply, that there will be an increase in foodborne outbreaks,” said Howard Sklamberg, a partner at the law firm Arnold and Porter who spent years in a variety of positions at the FDA.  

“Will it occur tomorrow? No, but over time, if you reduce the oversight, you reduce the ability to create and implement standards,” he said. “Does that affect the safety of the food supply? Yes.”

In the meantime, the federal government’s ability to respond to any crises in our food supply is reduced, per Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest and former associate commissioner at the FDA.

“This will put a lot of pressure on state food inspectors, and quite a lot of food inspection does take place at the state level, but it’s coordinated, and standards are established by groups that have FDA at the very core,” he said.

That’s not to say that there isn’t anyone minding the food supply; there are still thousands of people working at the FDA and other food safety agencies.

Plus, “food safety people that work in the food industry — and there are thousands of us, right — are going to keep doing their jobs, right?” said Donald Schaffner, a food microbiology professor at Rutgers. “So that is not going to change.”

There are already independent groups that keep an eye on food safety along with the government, Schaffner said. Plus, food companies have every incentive to protect their reputations and avoid any health scares.

Twitch is putting a cap on how much storage a streamer can take up for their uploads and highlight videos. The streaming service has announced that starting on April 19, all uploads and highlights will count towards a new 100-hour storage limit for each streamer, whether the videos are published or not. To note, the cap doesn't apply to past broadcasts, which are previous livestreams saved to a streamer's account for on-demand viewing, or clips, which are minute-long segments that can be shared to social networks. Highlights can be longer than clips and can be made of several key moments from a video, which means they could take up more storage space. 

The service explained that it originally launched highlights to drive discovery and engagement for streamers, but the feature apparently hasn't been as effective clips and the mobile discovery feed. Storage is costly, and limiting highlights and uploads will allow the service to support the videos users want to keep on their accounts while also investing in improvements for features like Clips and mobile feed. 

Twitch said less than 0.5 percent of active streamers has gone over the 100-hour limit, and those who have will be notified directly. To make it easier for streamers to choose which videos they want to keep, Twitch has rolled out filters for Video Producer that will allow them to sort their content based on length, view count and date created. The service will be deleting videos for users that go beyond the 100-hour cap on April 19 and will be limiting uploads and highlights going forward. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/twitch-streamers-uploads-and-highlights-can-no-longer-exceed-100-hours-143018464.html?src=rss

The Trump administration said it has pulled federal approval of congestion pricing in New York City. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy sent a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hocul informing her on Wednesday. In response, Governor Hochul has said that she will not end the tolling program until a court tells her to.

New York became the first city in the country to implement congestion pricing in January.

Anyone who drives into Midtown or lower Manhattan now has to pay a toll — $9 for most cars during peak times, more for trucks. That money is set to fund much-needed repairs to the MTA, the city’s public transit system.

Since congestion pricing went into effect, the MTA says there’s already less traffic, and recent polling shows about 60% of New Yorkers think the program should remain in place.

But Trump said he’s concerned it’s posing “significant burdens” to city businesses, commuters and residents. The MTA says it’s already filed papers in federal court to try to keep congestion pricing in place.

If there’s one downside to the sheer number of security cameras Ring makes, it’s the sheer darn volume of them. Joining the mob today is the Outdoor Cam Plus, packing a new high-quality lens and 2K imaging sensor promising “a clear, colorful view even in near dark conditions.” It’s clad in a weather-resistant body and can run from mains power, via a rechargeable battery or with one of Ring’s custom solar panels. The company adds the Plus is just as comfortable working indoors as out in the open, and ships with a new mount that will even hold the camera in place on ceilings.

Unfortunately you might have to spend some time poring through the specs to work out where this one will sit in Ring’s camera firmament. After all, there’s already the Stick Up Cam, Stick Up Cam Pro and Stick Up Cam Elite available to buy in the US, and that's before you get to the models with built-in floodlights. Not to mention the Stick Up Cam Pro, with 3D motion detection and Bird’s Eye Zones, is arguably a better product than the Elite which costs almost a hundred dollars more. Perhaps it’s time for Ring to trim down the excesses in its line up to make everything a lot cleaner for consumers.

Ring’s new Outdoor Cam Plus is available for pre-order today from Ring and Amazon for $100 and is shipping on March 26.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/ring-beefs-up-the-image-quality-on-its-new-outdoor-cam-plus-140049128.html?src=rss

Lenovo has already teased the second-gen version of its flagship gaming handheld. But that won’t be out until much later this year, so in the meantime, it’s come out with the Legion Go S, a slightly sturdier and more portable way to frag while you’re out and about. Now the tricky thing about this device is that it will be available in a bunch of different configurations including one that comes pre-installed with SteamOS — a first for any portable PC not made by Valve. Frankly, that’s the version we’re most interested in. However, the one running Windows 11 is out now, so it’s a good time to get familiar with it and see if it’s worth the money or if you should just wait for the variant that comes with Valve’s OS instead.

Design and display: A mid-cycle streamlining

Regardless of what platform they’re based on, both models feature the same design with the only difference being that the Windows 11 version comes in white while the SteamOS variant features a dark purple shell. However, unlike the original Legion Go, the Go S doesn’t have detachable controllers. But aside from that, many of the highlight features from its predecessor are still there. It sports a 1,920 x 1,200 display with a 120Hz refresh rate. At 8 inches, that’s larger than most handhelds, though it is a slight downgrade from the 8.8-inch panel on its predecessor. You also get joysticks with precise Hall effect sensors, an assortment of face and shoulder buttons, dual USB 4 ports (which both support power and data), 3.5mm audio and a microSD card reader.

Another small tweak is that instead of four paddles in back, you only get two, with Lenovo trading out the second pair for a set of toggle switches that let you adjust how deep you want the handheld’s triggers to go. It’s a nice touch for people who enjoy things like racing games where a bit of extra analog sensitivity can go a long way, but still want the freedom to have a shorter pull when playing stuff like fighting games, where longer triggers hurt more than they help. And while the touchpad on the Legion Go S is much smaller than the one on the original, I’m really glad Lenovo didn’t axe it altogether as it makes navigating through settings and menus in Windows so much easier than relying strictly on the joysticks or touch support.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

The one feature I wish Lenovo had included is an onboard fingerprint sensor. Without it, you need to use a PIN or password to get into Windows 11. On a system without a keyboard, that means every time you pick up the system, you have to shift your hands away from the joysticks and tap the middle of the touchscreen, because the tiny touchpad doesn’t even work for this. Frankly, it’s just kind of awkward and could have been avoided entirely if Lenovo had opted for a power button with a built-in finger scanner like many of the Legion Go’s rivals including the ROG Ally X and the MSI Claw 8 AI+. Finally, while the Go S does have a built-in rumble motor, the vibrations it puts out are hilariously one-note, especially when it’s set to buzz anytime you use the touchpad. So I ended up turning it off entirely.

Performance: Not as fast as you might expect

The Legion Go S will eventually support a handful of processors and configurations, but right now it comes with an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go chip along with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. And if you’re comparing it to its predecessor, you might think this thing would offer better performance. After all, the original Legion Go has less RAM and an older Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU, and two is higher than one, right? Well not so fast, because the Z1 Extreme features a base clock of 3.3GHz with eight cores and 16 threads compared to the Z2 Go’s base clock of 3GHz with just four cores and eight threads. Furthermore, the older Z1 Extreme also has a GPU based on AMD’s newer RDNA 3 architecture compared to RDNA 2 for the Z2 Go. So in actuality, the Legion Go S with this chip is about 10 to 15 percent less powerful than the model that came before it.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

This becomes a lot more obvious when looking at benchmarks where the Legion Go S delivered 45 fps in Cyberpunk 2077 at 800p and medium settings with FSR upscaling set to performance, while the original Legion Go hit 51 fps with both systems set to the same 15-watt performance mode. Meanwhile in Returnal, we saw a similar pattern with the Go S reaching 23 fps on medium graphics at 800p compared to 34 fps for the older Legion Go, once again with both devices set to 15 watts.

Seeing poorer performance on the new model might set off alarms for some people, but before anyone panics, consider this: The Legion Go S is supposed to be a more streamlined and affordable take on the original, so in some respects not being able to achieve the same or higher framerates is to be expected. To me, the real issue is that 32GB of RAM is sort of overkill for this chip, which means you’re paying more for memory that can’t be fully utilized. And remember, while the Go S’ launch config comes with a Z2 Go, there are other versions that are expected to get a Z1 Extreme and possibly a vanilla Z2 at some point in the future.

Of course, if you want higher framerates, you can always adjust how much power you’re sending to its processor. Lenovo’s default balanced setting uses 15 watts, while performance mode pumps things up to 30. But if you want more precise control, the custom mode can go from as little as 5 watts all the way up to 40, though you’ll want or need to be plugged into the wall to utilize its full TDP (thermal design power).

Battery life: Good enough

Naturally, whatever performance mode you choose will ultimately impact your battery life. I found that when playing Metal Slug Tactics using the 15-watt balanced setting, the Legion Go S lasted for around two and a half hours, which is pretty solid. When playing more demanding titles, longevity wasn’t quite as good, with runtimes closer to an hour and a half. Though, with the Go S featuring a 55.5WHr battery compared to something like the 80WHr pack in the ROG Ally X, that kind of discrepancy isn’t entirely unexpected.

Software: Better, but still clunky Sam Rutherford for Engadget

Lenovo has done a lot to improve the Legion Space app since it came out a couple years ago. Not only is it much better as a general place to launch games from, it’s a lot easier to adjust settings or download new drivers or software updates. Even the UI is more spacious and intuitive. However, at the end of the day, the handoff between Legion Space and the rest of Windows 11 still feels awkward. Depending on what you’re trying to tweak, you have to jump between menus from Lenovo and Microsoft while switching between joystick and touchpad to navigate. I also noticed some bugs like when trying to install Steam from the Legion Space app. It failed every time, which meant I had to download the app directly from Valve and do things manually. In a lot of respects, this is where Windows-based handhelds lag behind the most, so it’s a shame it’ll be another few months before the SteamOS model goes on sale sometime in May.

Wrap-up

The Legion Go S has all the makings of a solid portable gaming PC. It’s got a straightforward design with good ergonomics, Hall effect joysticks and a sensible button layout. Lenovo also includes some nice perks like dual USB-C ports, a decent-sized battery and a handy little touchpad for navigating Windows. I just wish there was a built-in fingerprint scanner too. And while its 8-inch OLED display is a touch smaller than the one on its predecessor, there’s not much to dislike about it. You even get more storage (1TB) than a base Legion Go (512GB).

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

The hard thing to come to terms with is that right now a Legion Go S costs $730 for worse performance, no detachable controllers and the lack of bonuses like an included carrying case or vertical mouse functionality like on the original Legion Go, which can be had for $30 less ($700). Normally, that would be a death sentence for a new system because that value proposition simply doesn’t make sense.

But in this case, the issue is that Lenovo hasn’t fully rolled out all of its variations. I still think 32GB of RAM on this device is excessive; not even the ROG Ally X has that much. But more importantly, the Legion Go S’ other configs aren’t available yet. So even if you aren’t holding out for the SteamOS variant, you’d be silly not to wait for less expensive versions to come out with starting prices closer to $600 (or even $500 for the one with Valve’s platform), which will instantly make this handheld a lot more attractive.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/lenovo-legion-go-s-review-windows-version-not-so-fast-140002828.html?src=rss

Shortly after introducing subject tracking with its latest smartphone gimbal, DJI has done the same with its new lightweight camera gimbal. The RS4 Mini is now available with DJI's RS Intelligent Tracking Module to keep a human subject in frame and also offers the latest features from its flagship RS4 gimbals like auto-axis locks and 4th-gen stabilization. 

The RS4 Mini is a major redesign from the previous RS3 Mini and is slightly heavier (2 pounds compared to 1.8 pounds) to accommodate some of the new features. It boasts the same 4.4 pound payload as before, meaning it can carry nearly every mirrorless camera on the market and many lightweight cinema cameras to boot. 

DJI

An important new feature for ease of use is the addition of automatic axis locks absent on the previous model. And in fact, the RS4 Mini is the first of DJI's gimbals to use 2nd-Gen axis lock tech that can unlock the gimbal in just one second. It also has DJI's 3rd-Gen Native Vertical Switch that that offers the fastest switch experience to date in the RS series. Another new addition is Teflon interlayers and a fine tuning knob that allows "more precise millimeter balancing" when installing a camera. DJI also introduced a new Responsive mode (alongside the regular Smooth mode) that allows the gimbal to react better to fast hand movements. 

DJI

For solo vloggers, the coolest new feature is the DJI RS Intelligent Tracking Module (included in the RS 4 Mini Combo), that's much like the "Multifunctional Module" on the Osmo Mobile 7P gimbal, minus the fill light. When attached to the gimbal, the tiny device enables ActiveTrack on any phone or camera, keeping a human subject in frame within 33 feet. Tracking can be enabled with a pull of the trigger or an open palm visual command. 

The RS 4 Mini also has DJI's latest 4th-Gen Stabilization that strikes a better balance between stabilization strength and tactile feel, promising an "enhanced user experience" and improved stability for vertical shooting. Other improvements include 30 percent better battery life (now up to 13 hours) and charging speeds, a next-gen RS Briefcase Handle and a quick-release magnetic mount. The RS4 Mini is now available for $369 by itself or $459 in the Combo package, which includes the RS Intelligent Tracking Module and RS Briefcase Handle. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/djis-rs4-mini-stabilizer-can-now-track-subjects-automatically-134045771.html?src=rss

You can now access xAI's most advanced large language model, Grok 3, even if you don't pay for a subscription on X. Grok 3 is available for free "for a short time," according to xAI founder Elon Musk, though the company didn't say until what "short time" means exactly. When you go to Grok on X or the web, and when you launch the standalone app, you'll now see new "Think" and "DeepSearch" options that are only available with xAI's latest LLM family. Just make sure you're using Grok 3 instead of Grok 2 in the chatbot interface's drop-drown menu. If you're paying for X Premium+, which now costs $40 a month, or the chatbot's standalone $30-per-month SuperGrok plan, you'll get "increased access" to Grok 3's features, as well as early access to advanced features like Voice Mode. 

For a short time, Grok 3 is available for free to all! https://t.co/r5iLXi2pBm

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 20, 2025

The company launched its Grok 3 model family a couple of days ago during a livestream, wherein Musk described it as "an order of magnitude more capable than Grok 2." Some of the models in the family are capable of "human-like reasoning," which you can trigger when you choose the "Think" option. They're best used for more complex queries, like those with mathematics, science and programming questions. Meanwhile, xAI described DeepSearch as the "next generation search engine" that can generate summaries for research inquiries. 

I asked the free version of Grok 3 how it differs from the paid option. The chatbot replied that "free interactions might hit server limits if too many people pile in at once" and that paid users get priority. Paid users get access to "Big Brain" mode, which can answer tough math, science or coding problems that need extra processing power, and there's no limit to the number of images SuperGrok subscribers can generate.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/xais-grok-3-is-available-for-free-to-everyone-for-a-short-time-130031943.html?src=rss

The best gaming keyboards can make you feel in total control while sweating through an online shooter and more comfortable while taking in a 100-hour RPG. They may not always feel as luxurious for typing as a custom mechanical keyboard, but they’ve become increasingly sophisticated with new features to improve your play, and the best of them are still huge upgrades over your everyday membrane board. If you’re looking to buy one, I’ve spent way too much time researching gaming keyboards over the past couple of years, testing dozens of well-reviewed and boutique models along the way. Whether you want something small, wireless or just plain cheap, here are the ones that have stood out the most.

What to look for in a gaming keyboard

To be clear, any keyboard can be a “gaming keyboard.” If you play lots of video games today and have never sighed to yourself, “man, this keyboard is holding me back,” congratulations, you probably don’t need to pay extra for a new one. Self-proclaimed gaming keyboards often come at a premium, and while the best offer high-quality designs, snazzy RGB lighting and a few genuinely worthwhile features, none of them will give you god-like skill, nor will they suddenly turn bad games into good ones.

Mechanical vs non-mechanical

Now that we’ve touched grass, I did prioritize some features while researching this guide. First, I mostly stuck to mechanical keyboards, not laptop-style membrane models. They can be loud, but they’re more durable, customizable and broadly satisfying to press — all positive traits for a product you may use for hours-long gaming sessions.

Size

Next, I preferred tenkeyless (TKL) or smaller layouts. It’s totally fine to use a full-size board if you really want a number pad, but a compact model gives you more space to flick your mouse around. It also lets you keep your mouse closer to your body, which can reduce the tension placed on your arms and shoulders.

From top to bottom: A 96 percent keyboard, an 80 percent (or tenkeyless) keyboard and a 60 percent keyboard. Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget Switches, keycaps and build quality

Linear switches, which are often branded as “red,” are generally favored by gamers. These give keystrokes a smooth feel from top to bottom, with no tactile “bump” that could make fast, repeated presses less consistent. They usually require little force to actuate, and they tend to be quiet. However, if you prefer the feel and/or sound of a more tactile or clicky switch, get one of those instead. You might lose some speed in esports-style games, but nothing is more important than your comfort.

Some gaming keyboards are based on different mechanisms entirely. Optical switches, for instance, use a beam of light to register keystrokes, while Hall effect switches use magnets. These often feel linear, but they allow for a more versatile set of gaming-friendly features, such as the ability to set custom actuation points, assign multiple commands to one key and repeat key presses faster. In general, they’re faster and more durable too.

The Wooting 60HE+ is one gaming keyboard that has helped popularize the use of magnetic Hall effect switches. Jeff Dunn for Engadget

This analog-style functionality has become the big trend in the gaming keyboard market over the last few years. Most of the major keyboard brands now sell at least one model with Hall effect switches and, based on my testing, it’s easy to see why: Many of their customizations really can give you a more granular (yet still fair) sense of control, especially in more competitive games. Consequently, many of our picks below are built around the tech.

Keyboards with these kind of features usually aren’t cheap, however, and they’re far from essential for those who mainly play single-player games. Some of their tricks have also stirred up controversy: One known as SOCD (Simultaneous Opposing Cardinal Directions) cleaning allows you to activate two different directional keys at the same time, making it possible to, among other things, achieve impossibly perfect strafing in shooting games. A few games such as Counter-Strike 2 have banned the feature as a result, though it can still be a fun thing to play around with in games that don’t involve other people. SOCD isn’t limited to magnetic switches either; some mechanical keyboards support it too.

A few recent keyboards have introduced inductive switches, which promise the adjustable actuation features of Hall effect keyboards but with better battery efficiency. I haven’t been able to test one of these just yet, but we’ll look to do so in a future update.

A handful of dye-sub PBT keycaps. Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget Keycaps and build quality

Regardless of switch type, you want a frame that doesn’t flex under pressure, keys that don’t wobble and stabilizers that don’t rattle when you hit larger keys like the spacebar. I prefer double-shot PBT (polybutylene terephthalate) keycaps over those that use cheaper ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) plastic, as they won’t develop a greasy shine over time and their icons won’t fade. A hot-swappable PCB (printed circuit board) that makes it easy to change switches if the mood arises is ideal, as are dedicated media keys.

For the sake of simplicity, I only considered prebuilt gaming keyboards for this guide, though many of the picks below allow for customization down the line. If you (and your bank account) really want to go wild, check out our guide to building a custom keyboard.

Software, connectivity and RGB

If a keyboard has companion software, it should let you program macros and custom key bindings for games without frustration. For convenience, a wired keyboard should connect through a detachable USB-C cable. A good wireless keyboard won’t add serious lag, but only if it uses a USB receiver, not Bluetooth. (It’ll probably cost more as well.) Some gaming keyboards advertise super-high polling rates — i.e., the speed at which a keyboard reports to a computer — to reduce latency, but unless your monitor has an especially fast refresh rate, the usual standard of 1,000Hz should be fine. And while nobody needs RGB lighting, it’s fun. Consumer tech could use more of that, so the cleaner and more customizable the RGB is, the better.

Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget How we tested

The best way to evaluate a keyboard is to just… use it, so that’s what I did. To cover a variety of use cases and design styles, I’ve researched dozens of keyboards over the past several months that’ve broadly received high marks from professional reviewers and users alike. I’ve then used each model I’ve brought in as my daily driver for numerous days. Since I write for a living, this gave me enough time to get a strong sense of each keyboard’s typing experience.

For gaming, I give special focus to each keyboard’s responsiveness in fast, reaction-based online shooters such as Halo Infinite, Counter-Strike 2, Apex Legends, Valorant, Overwatch 2 and XDefiant, as many would-be gaming keyboard buyers get one in the hopes that it’ll help with that genre in particular. I made sure each keyboard felt comfortable with other types of games, though, such as Baldur’s Gate 3 (a turn-based RPG), Hi-Fi Rush (an action game with an emphasis on timing and rhythm) and Forza Horizon 5 (an arcade racing game). I used the latter to better evaluate the pressure-sensitive features of the analog keyboards I tested.

If a keyboard could be configured with multiple switch types, I got the linear model. Upon receiving each keyboard, I removed several keycaps to ensure none were chipped or broken. I noted whether any keys felt wobbly, whether the case flexes under pressure, whether the texture and finish of the keycaps changes after use and whether larger keys like the spacebar felt particularly rattly or hollow. I typed on each keyboard in quick succession in a quiet room to get a sense of where they ranked in terms of noise. For wireless models, I checked whether the battery drain at 50 percent RGB brightness aligned with a manufacturer’s estimate. I looked to results from sites like Rtings to ensure nothing was out of order with latency. I did my own testing on a 144Hz monitor with my personal rig, which includes a 10th-gen Core i9 CPU and an RTX 3080 GPU.

This helped me ensure each keyboard met a baseline of overall quality, but to reiterate, so much of this process is subjective. I can tell you if a keyboard is loud based on how I slam my keys, for instance, but you may have a lighter touch. What my tastes find “comfortable,” “pleasing,” or even “useful,” you may dislike. As I’ve written before, keyboards are like food or art in that way. So, keep an open mind.

Other gaming keyboards we tested The Wooting 60HE. Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget

Note: The following is a selection of noteworthy gaming keyboards we’ve put through their paces, not a comprehensive list of everything we’ve ever tried.

Wooting 60HE+

You can consider the Wooting 60HE+ our “1A” pick, as it’s essentially a more compact version of the 80HE with a 60 percent layout. It supports the same analog gaming features, has the same four-year warranty and still uses the great Wootility software. It’s also $25 cheaper. If you prefer a smaller design and don’t need arrow keys, you can buy it with confidence. However, more people will find the 80HE’s larger layout easier to use on a day-to-day basis. Its gasket mount, updated switches and extra sound-dampening material make it more pleasant-sounding and comfier for typing out of the box. Plus, while the 60HE+ can only rest at one fixed angle, the 80HE comes with a few sets of removable feet.

Logitech G Pro X TKL Rapid

The Logitech G Pro X TKL Rapid is a good magnetic-switch alternative to the Wooting 80HE if you must buy from one of the major keyboard brands. It’s wired-only, but it looks good, with clear RGB lighting, a built-in volume roller, dedicated media keys and a sturdy metal top plate. The expected rapid trigger and adjustable actuation tricks all work fine, and Logitech’s G Hub software is easier to get around than most apps from the big-name manufacturers. It can recognize when you’ve launched certain games, for instance, then apply any custom profiles you’ve made for them automatically. All of it costs $30 less than the 80HE as well. Where it falls short is the typing experience: The default switches are pretty noisy, and bottoming out the keys feels stiffer here compared to our top picks. If you want those Wooting-style features and prefer a clackier sound, however, it’s a decent buy.

Logitech G Pro X TKL and G Pro X 60

The wireless Logitech G Pro X TKL and G Pro X 60, which use more traditional mechanical switches, aren’t as hot. They’re built well, but they’re too pricey to not be hot-swappable or lack the analog features of the 80HE. There isn’t much sound-dampening foam in either models, too, so neither sounds great. We like that both come with a carrying case, though.

The Logitech G Pro X TKL Rapid. Jeff Dunn for Engadget Keychron C3 Pro

The tenkeyless Keychron C3 Pro is the top budget pick in our mechanical keyboard guide, and it remains a great stand-in for the G.Skill KM250 RGB if you want to stay under $50. With its gasket mount design, internal foam and pre-lubed switches, it feels and sounds fuller to press. The base version we tested lacks hot-swappable switches and only has a red backlight, but Keychron recently released revised models that address that and add full RGB. That said, their ABS keycaps feel cheaper and can develop a shine over time, plus there’s no volume knob. Some may find KM250’s smaller size more convenient for gaming, too.

Keychron Q1 HE

The Keychron Q1 HE is sort of an older version of the Lemokey P1 HE with the same magnetic switches and a similarly excellent aluminum chassis. Its double-gasket design, pre-lubed switches and layers of foam make it a joy for typing. Its gaming features rely on the same iffy software, though, while the stock keycaps are sculpted in a way that makes them trickier to access quickly. Those keycaps aren’t shine-through either, and the whole thing costs $50 more, so there isn’t much reason to buy it over the P1 HE.

The Keychron Q1 HE. Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget Razer Huntsman V2 TKL

We previously recommended the Razer Huntsman V2 TKL as a mid-priced pick thanks to its light optical switches, crisp PBT keycaps and impressively muffled tone (with the linear-switch model, at least). Its lack of analog features make it a harder sell these days, though, and its keys wobble more than those on the Keychron V3 Max. It’s not hot-swappable, either. Beyond that, Razer is only selling the version with clicky switches as of our most recent update, but we found those to sound uncomfortably sharp.

Razer Huntsman V3 Pro

The Razer Huntsman V3 Pro is a line of wired analog keyboards that comes in 60 percent, TKL and full-size options. They have just about all the features we like on the Wooting 80HE, but their optical switches are noisier and more hollow-feeling.

The Razer Huntsman V2 TKL. Jeff Dunn for Engadget Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75%

The BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% is Razer’s top-end wireless keyboard. It’s fully hot-swappable, with heavily textured PBT keycaps, a robust aluminum top case and a nifty OLED display. The tactile Razer Orange switches in our test unit consistently feel tight, the larger keys don’t really rattle and the RGB backlight shines through beautifully. It’s a good keyboard — it’s just not luxurious enough to warrant its $300 price tag, especially since it lacks any sort of analog-style functionality. The stock switches are a little too sharp-sounding for our liking as well.

Razer Huntsman Mini

The Razer Huntsman Mini is a fine choice if you want a 60 percent keyboard and don’t need Wooting-style software tricks, with textured PBT keycaps, a sturdy aluminum top plate and the same fast optical switches we praised with the Huntsman V2 TKL. The 60HE+ is much more versatile, though, while the KM250 RGB is a more appealing value.

The Razer BlackWidow V4 75%. Jeff Dunn for Engadget ASUS ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless

The ASUS ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless (phew) is a strong alternative to the Apex Pro TKL if you want to go wireless. It’s a joy to type on, with superb sound dampening, pre-lubed ROG NX switches, an impressively sturdy case and stable, PBT-coated keys. It’s hot-swappable, its battery life rating is much higher than the Apex Pro TKL Wireless (90 hours with RGB on) and it has a multi-function key that puts volume, media and RGB controls in one place. At $180, it’s also $90 cheaper than our SteelSeries pick. 

However, it doesn’t have the rapid trigger or custom actuation tricks of Hall effect keyboards like the Apex Pro TKL Wireless or Lemokey P1 HE, and ASUS’s Armoury Crate software is a bit of a mess. The Lemokey P1 HE's all-metal design feels higher-end, too. But if you care about typing experience more than extra gaming-friendly features, this one is still worth looking into.

ASUS ROG Azoth

The ASUS ROG Azoth is like a smaller version of the ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless with a few more enthusiast touches, such as a gasket-mounted design — which gives keystrokes a softer feel — a programmable OLED display and a toolkit for lubing switches in the box. It’s exceptionally well-made by any standard, not just “for a gaming keyboard.” But its feature set still isn’t as flexible as the Wooting 80HE or SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless, which makes its $250 list price a tough ask.

The ASUS ROG Azoth. Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Keyboard

The 75 percent Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Keyboard is much better than its bland name suggests, with high-quality PBT keycaps, smooth linear switches (which are hot-swappable), wonderfully clean RGB lighting, a steady wireless connection and a rigid yet lightweight design. But it's fairly loud, and at $200 there isn’t much reason to take it over the Lemokey P1 HE, which has a higher-quality design and more capable magnetic switches, or the ASUS Strix Scope II 96 Wireless, which offers a similarly pleasing typing experience at a slightly lower price. It’s worth considering if you see it on sale, though.

NZXT Function 2 and Function 2 MiniTKL

The full-size NZXT Function 2 and tenkeyless Function 2 MiniTKL are totally solid midrange options with fast optical switches and the ability to swap between two universal actuation points, but they’re let down by mediocre stabilizers on the larger keys.

NuPhy Air75 V2

The NuPhy Air75 V2 is a stylish wireless keyboard with a low-profile design. We recommend in our mechanical keyboard buying guide, and it remains an excellent choice if if you want something that blends the flatter, compact shape of a laptop keyboard with the more tactile feel of mechanical switches. The design isn’t entirely ideal for gaming, though, as the wide keys can make it a little too easy to fat-finger inputs by accident and the stock keycaps aren’t shine-through. NuPhy recently released a new model with Hall effect switches, which we’ll aim to test for a future update.

The NuPhy Air75 V2. Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget Corsair K70 Max

The Corsair K70 Max is another one with magnetic switches, but trying to program its more advanced features through Corsair’s iCue software was a pain.

Corsair K70 RGB TKL

The Corsair K70 RGB TKL is a decent if basic midrange model, but it’s also on the noisy side compared to our top picks and it’s saddled with middling software.

Logitech G515 Lightspeed TKL

The Logitech G515 Lightspeed TKL is another low-profile model that generally feels comfortable and well-built, even if it's entirely made of plastic. It’s a decent alternative to the NuPhy Air75 V2, as it’s much quieter with its GL Tactile switches and comes with shine-through keycaps by default. However, those switches aren’t hot-swappable, and the board can’t connect to multiple devices simultaneously over Bluetooth. The low-profile shape still isn’t the best for gaming either, plus the stock keycaps aren’t quite as grippy as other PBT options we’ve used.

Logitech G915 TKL

The Logitech G915 TKL is an older wireless low-profile keyboard with a metal frame, but its thin ABS keycaps feel too cheap for something that’s usually priced around $180. The NuPhy Air75 V2 is a superior value. Logitech released an upgraded model with PBT keycaps and a USB-C port last year; we plan to test that one for our next update, but it’s still pretty expensive at $200.

The Logitech G515 Lightspeed TKL. Jeff Dunn for Engadget Recent updates

February 2025: We've overhauled this guide with new picks: The Wooting 80HE is now our top recommendation overall, the SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless (Gen 3) is our new "best wireless" option and the Lemokey P1 HE slots in as an honorable mention. We've also added notes on several more gaming keyboards we've tested since our last update, including Logitech's G Pro X TKL Rapid and G515 Lightspeed TKL, Razer's BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% and Alienware's Pro Wireless Gaming Keyboard. Finally, we've made a few minor updates to our "What to look for in a gaming keyboard" section.

June 2024: We updated this guide with a new “traditional mechanical keyboard” pick, the Keychron V3 Max, plus a couple new honorable mentions and more notes on other gaming keyboards we’ve tried. Note that we’ve tested — and will continue to test — several other keyboards that aren’t explicitly marketed toward gaming, but we’ll direct you to our general mechanical keyboard buying guide for more info on those.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/best-gaming-keyboard-140019954.html?src=rss

After much anticipation, Apple finally announced the iPhone 16e yesterday. Looking at its position in the company's lineup, the 16e is a headscratcher. My colleague Ian Carlos Campbell already wrote about how strange it is that the phone is missing MagSafe, a feature universally loved by Apple users. However, the omission that stands out the most to me is that the iPhone 16e doesn't come with more than a single rear camera, and no, 2x telephoto cropping doesn't count.

Sure, if you put the 16e against its predecessor, the 2022 iPhone SE, it’s not a surprising omission — but when you consider today's broader smartphone market, it's a glaring weakness. At $599, the 16e is $100 more than the Pixel 8a, a device with two amazing rear cameras and an AI-capable processor (more on that in a moment). The 8a is also frequently on sale for as little as $399. Some people hate the Pixel comparison, so I'll give you another one. Last spring, Nothing released the $349 Phone 2a. Like the 8a, it has two rear cameras. Oh, and a fresh design that's not borrowed from 2020. At almost $200 more than the phone it replaces, the 16e is very much not a midrange device.

I know what you're thinking: what's wrong with one camera, as long as that camera is great? In the case of the 16e, I think the problem is that Apple is misreading the market and what people want from their next phone. All consumer devices are a compromise in some way. Those become more pronounced as you move down the market.

For most people, their phone is their primary camera and how they document their lives and memories. Think about what was the first thing you tested when you upgraded to your current phone. I bet it was the cameras. In that context, more are better, because they make it easier to capture moments that are important to you.

For a device some outlets are describing as "low-end," the iPhone 16e features a state-of-the-art chip. It might be cut down with one less GPU core, but the 16e's A18 is still a 3nm chip with 8GB of RAM to support the processor. Apple clearly felt the A18 was necessary to get its AI suite running on the 16e. But that means the rest of the phone had to suffer as a result, starting with the camera package.

I don't know about you, but if I were in the market for a new phone, I would want the most bang for my buck. The SE line had its share of drawbacks, including a dated design and a lackluster screen, but at $429, they made sense. For all its faults, the SE still felt like a bargain in 2022 because you were getting a modern chip, access to iOS and all the great apps that come with it and Apple's excellent track record of software support. With the iPhone 16e, you're not saving nearly as much off the price of a regular iPhone. Yes, everything I said about the SE's strengths is still true of the 16e and it even builds on that phone with additions like a better battery and an OLED screen, but the smartphone market has evolved so much in the last three years.

Again, I know people hate the Pixel comparison, but the 8a makes far fewer compromises. Not only does it feature a more versatile camera system, but it also comes with a high refresh rate OLED. The 8a's Tensor G3 chip is also fully capable of running Google's latest AI features.

I know offering the best hardware features for the price has never been Apple's approach, but that approach only made sense when the company had the best software experience. We can all agree Apple Intelligence has not met its usual quality standards. Just look at notification summaries, one of the main selling points of Apple Intelligence. Apple recently paused all news and entertainment alerts generated by the system to address their poor quality.

Right now, Apple Intelligence is not a compelling reason to buy a new iPhone, and its inclusion on the 16e at the expense of other features feels, at best, a cynical attempt to boost adoption numbers. If the 16e was $100 cheaper, maybe I would be less critical, but right now it feels like Apple missed the mark.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/great-cameras-not-apple-intelligence-is-what-people-want-from-an-iphone-16e-130041307.html?src=rss

Oppo is back with a new foldable, and the Find N5 is a technically impressive balance of thinness and power. Skipping over the whole unlucky number four thing (this is technically the fourth iteration of the Find foldable), the company claims its latest book-style foldable is the world’s thinnest at 8.92mm. That's not a lot thicker than a typical flagship phone. Despite that, the Find N5 has a 6.62-inch outer display and an 8.12-inch inner screen which, Oppo says, features multiple durability improvements, flanked by a new titanium hinge.

For the sake of clarity: While you may not have bought, used or even seen an Oppo phone, this company is under the same corporate owner as OnePlus. Last year’s Find N3 foldable ended up in the US as the OnePlus Open, so you may see the Find N5 similarly rebadged. If that’s the case, and this is eventually the Open 2, you won’t see it this year. OnePlus announced that its follow-up foldable will not land until 2025.

At an early briefing, my first impression of the Find N5 was that it was a very thin, premium foldable. Unfolded, one side is just 4.21mm — thinner than a headphone jack. (That’s a great excuse for the lack of one.) It’s so slender that Oppo had to reinforce and beef up the edges of the Find N5’s USB-C port, which has only a razor-thin border around it. The ring camera array — which still looks a bit much — has also been shaved down 20 percent.

Mat Smith for Engadget

In addition to that thinner profile, which seems to be the 2025 trend for phones, the Find N5 weighs just 229 grams (8.07 ounces). That’s only two more grams than the single-screen iPhone 16 Pro Max and 10 grams less than the N5's main rival — the Galaxy Z Fold 6. It’s even more impressive when you consider that the Find N5 has a bigger internal screen than all the other foldables.

In fact, using its external screen when closed it feels like any other non-foldable phone, due to its sharp profile and light weight. A 6.62-inch screen is larger than most phones I use regularly, so browsing and watching things before I’ve even unfolded the N5 feels like a treat.

Despite its thickness (or lack thereof), Oppo has ensured it is suitably powerful, with a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and a 5,600mAh battery. (For comparison, Samsung’s latest Galaxy Fold has a 4,400mAh cell.) Unlike the OnePlus Open, the Find N5 is compatible with wireless chargers and if you have Oppo’s own wireless fast charger, it tops out at 50W AIRVOOC. 

Using the included fast charger, you get an impressive and swift 80W wired charging speed. I could completely recharge the Find N5 in less than an hour. However, like many other recent Android phones, this device is not Qi2-ready. Oppo argued that its proprietary wireless charging tech is faster, and added that a magnetic case will be on sale when the device launches. (Oppo does include a non-magnetic case to cover the device's rear with the phone.)

With its Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, the Find N5 is the first foldable to pack Qualcomm’s most powerful mobile chip, with substantial power efficiency gains alongside performance boosts compared to older Snapdragon 8 silicon. We’ve been amazed by battery life improvements on Samsung and OnePlus devices with the Snapdragon 8 Elite, and Oppo continues that trend. Combined with that massive battery, this foldable typically lasted almost two days in my testing before needing to charge.

One of the biggest challenges to foldables is durability, and to address this, Oppo has upgraded the Find N5’s hinge and screen toughness. The hinge is now made from titanium alloy, 3D-printed to maintain the material strength while shrinking the hinge’s size by 26 percent. At a press briefing in London, the company decided to showcase the hinge strength by suspending a 44-pound kettlebell from its new foldable, which spanned two tables. I’m not sure this translates to real-world toughness, but it was an impressive spectacle. Next time, put your newest thousand-dollar-plus device somewhere near a three-year-old — let’s see how tough it really is.

Mat Smith for Engadget

Oppo says the smaller external screen is made of nanocrystal glass, which includes an outer layer of ceramic to improve scratch and drop resistance. The company also says the inner screen has been strengthened with a new anti-shock film that can absorb impact, improving shock resistance by 70 percent.

The Find N5 also comes with a literal list of water resistances: IPX6 (resistant to powerful water jets), IPX8 (resistant to being submersed in water deeper than 1 meter) and IPX9 (resistant to powerful, high-temperature water jets). If you think at least one of those must be redundant, I agree.

The Find N5 is the first foldable to claim all that protection. However, there’s no dust-resistance rating, which might concern existing foldable users who have been grappling with that lil’ bit of dust lodged in their years-old smartphone screen.

Camera improvements are focused on the periscope telephoto shooter, which is upgraded to 50MP sensor from the 32MP one found on the Find N3. The Find N5 can now punch into 3X optical zoom, up from 2X on its predecessor. There’s a lossless 6X zoom that taps into AI to sharpen detail, but as usual, your mileage may vary here. I find the lossless options on most phones often a little too smooth (and turn most zoomed-in faces into nightmares), but at least it’s an option.

The periscope telephoto camera can also utilize a macro mode, meaning you can zoom in closer and still maintain crisp focus and detail. Macro photography with a typical smartphone doesn’t always work. Your phone will cast a shadow on your subject, or perhaps you can’t get your camera close enough. On the Find N5, a four-inch focal distance makes this less of an issue, and early images are promising. It’s not the first time we’ve seen the feature (both the Huawei P60 Pro and vivo X100 Ultra have telephoto macros) but it’s rare in most devices that make it to the west. We usually have to make do with a macro mode on the ultrawide camera, and hope for the best.

Mat Smith for Engadget

The camera has many familiar features, too: portrait mode (with some Hasselblad assistance) and Lightning Snap burst shooting. The latter is augmented by Oppo’s take on AI unblurring and sharpening. Fold in an AI eraser and reflection remover and it goes toe-to-toe with recent Samsung and Google flagships.

Multitasking is similar to the OnePlus Open, with some improvements. Oppo’s version is called Boundless View, with several features now accessible from a triple-dot icon, where you can shift second and even third apps into shrinkable windows. By tapping the top bar above one app, you can automatically widen it, but leave a sliver of the other app in view, making it easier to switch between them.

One smart touch is that the Find N5 will gauge your multitasking, offering a prompt when switching between two apps to use them in split screen mode. As someone who doesn’t use book-style foldables, I find it a nice reminder of the utility of this form factor.

Another software addition is the O+ app, where you can manage files on your phone and even sling them across to your Mac. At the briefing, an Oppo exec showed how easy it was to transfer a photo across devices, which was pretty unremarkable. (Think of all the cloud options we have in 2025)

Mat Smith for Engadget

But it was the Remote Mac Control that surprised me. With the Find N5 propped up and half-folded, the Oppo spokesperson used the onscreen trackpad and keyboard to interact with their Mac. This feature works with both Intel and Apple Silicon-based Macs, so I was able to test it out with my aging Intel MacBook Pro. Does anyone remember and pine for that VAIO laptop that could slip into your jeans pocket? No? Just me? Just me. Anyway, it felt like using that. You’re not going to work daily from it, but if there are files, or certain simple tasks you need to accomplish in Photoshop or other PC programs, it’s functional and impressive.

It’s not quite as effortless or seamless as Apple’s own Continuity feature, since you have to install apps on the Find N6 and your Mac. Oppo promises a future update allowing you to transfer files to your Mac from Find N5’s native Files app without dabbling in Remote Mac Control.

Wrap-up Mat Smith for Engadget

With the Find N5, Oppo went to town on hardware. It feels and looks more premium than the company’s previous foldables but with substantial spec bumps at a time when many smartphones seem a little iterative. (Yes, Samsung, you.) The intriguing part is, if the OnePlus Open 2 isn’t happening in 2025, will this device make it to the US at all? And if it does appear next year, will all these upgrades be as impressive?

The Find N5 launches globally today, with Oppo so far only announcing official pricing in Singapore: 2,499 Singapore Dollars. That equates to just below £1,500 in the UK, where it will go on sale, or shy of $1,900. That would put it at the same price point as the leading foldable, the Galaxy Z Fold 6. However, it's much more interesting (and impressive) than Samsung's latest foldable.

However, without US availability, this is just an exercise in currency conversion for now.We'll update this story when we get more precise availability. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-oppo-find-n5-hands-on-release-date-price-120058154.html?src=rss

Fair or not, Apple has turned its AirPods into the default choice for most iPhone owners in the market for new wireless earbuds. If you’re one of the millions who have an Android phone, though, figuring out what set to grab isn’t as obvious. If you need a hand, allow us to point you in the right direction. We’ve tested and reviewed dozens of wireless earbuds over the years and broken down our favorite options for Android users below. Whether you use a Galaxy or a Pixel phone, and whether you want something for the gym or your morning commute, here are the best Android earbuds you can get.

Best Android earbuds for 2025

Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget What to look for in wireless earbuds for Android devices

For the most part, the features you want from a set of “Android earbuds” are the same as what you want from any headphones. Pleasing sound quality, a comfortable fit and sufficient battery life are still the foundations. Adequate water resistance is good for workouts, and nobody wants a crummy mic for making calls. Once you approach the $100 range, features like active noise cancellation (ANC), wireless charging, an ambient sound mode (which lets you better hear outside noise without turning off your music) and multipoint connectivity (the ability to pair with multiple devices simultaneously) should be expected.

For Android devices specifically, there are a few extras to consider. A dedicated app that makes it easy to switch sound modes, customize the audio profile, locate your earbuds if they ever get misplaced or adjust other settings is strongly preferred. Features like Google Fast Pair or NFC-based pairing, which can help you avoid having to dig through your Bluetooth menu to connect your earbuds for the first time, are also nice perks. Some Android devices can also utilize higher-quality Bluetooth codecs such as aptX Adaptive or Sony’s LDAC — these aren’t nearly as important to audio quality as the actual architecture of your earbuds, but they can help wring out a little more detail if the buds are capable enough and you’re streaming lossless files. AptX Adaptive can also help reduce latency, which is good for streaming video or gaming.

Diversity is Android’s greatest strength, but it also means that some wireless earbuds play nicer with certain devices, typically those made by the same company. Recent Samsung earbuds, for instance, come with a few perks that are only available if you use a Galaxy phone. We have a couple of recommendations related to this idea above.

Recent updates

February 2025: The Noble FoKus Rex5 is our new "best for sound quality" pick, replacing the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4. Our other recommendations remain unchanged.

December 2024: We’ve lightly edited this guide for clarity and ensured that our current picks are still accurate.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/best-earbuds-for-android-devices-120015765.html?src=rss

While graphics cards have been getting almost ludicrously more powerful over the years, it's also been increasingly difficult to actually buy one. In an effort to address this problem, NVIDIA has introduced a plan it's calling Verified Priority Access for its recently released GeForce RTX 50 series of GPUs. Verified Priority Access offers an unspecified number of people the chance to buy either a GeForce RTX 5090 or RTX 5080 Founders Edition graphics card direct from the company.

This "opportunity" will only be available to US customers with an NVIDIA account that was created on or before January 30 at 9AM ET/6AM PT. Interested parties can sign up on a form and invites will be sent starting next week.

NVIDIA took a similar approach to dealing with shortages of its 4090 card, although that was an invite-only pilot. This system could help keep more of the products away from scalpers or crypto operations in favor of legitimate customers. But considering how long GPU access has been an issue, it would be nice to see more robust responses coming from the manufacturers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/you-can-now-apply-for-the-opportunity-to-purchase-an-rtx-5090-or-5080-from-nvidia-235549765.html?src=rss

A new executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Tuesday seeks to give the White House more control over government agencies that operate independently. The list of agencies the order is expected to impact includes the Federal Election Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, among others. There is, however, An exemption, however, has been made for the Federal Reserve’s handling of interest-rate policy.

Sarah Binder is a professor of politics at George Washington University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. She joined “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal to talk about what the executive order could mean for the independent agencies and the Federal Reserve.

An edited transcript of their conversation follows.

Kai Ryssdal: With the understanding that Congress did set up these agencies as independent agencies, I guess the first question is, can the president do what he is purporting to do here?

Sarah Binder: Well, the president can do it if nobody stops him, right? It’s a power grab this time at the expense of what we call these independent agencies. The question is, will anyone in Congress stand up to him? And, at some point, this will certainly end up before the federal courts, and so will the courts be able to constrain the president? That we just don’t know.

Ryssdal: Help us understand, would you, why Congress decided decades and decades ago that this economy needs independent regulatory agencies to help this economy run.

Binder: Well, keep in mind that the very first of these independent agencies were really the end of the 19th century, and it was a period like today of pretty high partisanship, intense electoral competition, frequent shifts in party control. So [the Progressive movement was] looking for ways to insulate these sort of implementers of law from politics and especially from presidential whims. And so the solution is Congress says, let’s find a way to insulate the decision-makers — who the leaders are and how they wield their power— but also the decision-making, like how much review is done by Congress and the president and the courts over these agencies.

Ryssdal: It will not surprise you, even though this order purports to cover the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and the SEC and a bunch of them, my eyes went to the Federal Reserve, and that section that is in this order saying, “This covers the Federal Reserve, except for its monetary policy operations.” The catch, of course, with the Fed is they do lots of other stuff that stabilizes this economy, right? They are famously the lender of last resort in a crisis. And I guess I wonder how concerned you are about the gray areas that have to do with the guts of this economy.

Binder: Well, that is quite problematic because it’s really hard to say. Even on something like emergency lending, like, where does monetary policy start and where does supervision and regulation, where does that begin? So emergency lending, stabilizing a financial crisis, well, that’s also part of the Fed’s ability to try to control inflation. So it’s hard to say where are the boundaries of where the president is going to be sticking his nose into those decisions. And of course, we expect that Congress tells the Fed you are in charge of financial stability — at least one of the agencies in charge of financial stability — and the Fed uses monetary policy to meet that regulatory goal. So I think there’s a lot of question marks from that executive order about how much autonomy the Fed really can keep with letting the president and [the Office of Management and Budget] anywhere into its decision-making.

Ryssdal: Step back for a minute here then and talk about the other and the many institutions of this economy that are now going to be subject to much more direct presidential control. What is at stake for this economy?

Binder: Well, the first thing at stake is that it will make it harder for the Fed to keep its eyes on and try to control inflation, which still isn’t down to its 2% target, but also some general sense of financial stability that banks are being regulated across the board, big banks, small banks, community banks, but evenhandedly. And I think whenever you have some stronger tinge of presidential control, people are going to wonder, like, “Is that a legitimate exercise of power? Am I better off? Do I know what’s going to happen in the future?” And certainly, in an economic realm, that’s put at risk by injecting presidential and partisan interests into the decision-making of these agencies.

Ryssdal: Do you think this is a legitimate exercise of presidential power?

Binder: Well, I think it grabs power from Congress, who set up the rules of these agencies in the first place. I think, in my view, it is patently unconstitutional, right? Because the executive order would allow the executive branch to decide, how are you going to spend that money? Those are decisions that Congress either gives to the agency or certainly sets the budget for many of them, and expects those monies to be spent in the ways Congress directs. So grabbing that power seems to be you’ve taken an equal branch’s key authority, you’ve just taken it away.

Ryssdal: Let me take you sideways for a second since you went there. Are you surprised that the Article 1 branch, that is to say that Congress is letting its power be taken so easily by the Article 2 branch, the executive?

Binder: Well, when I teach undergrad Congress, we always start, “It’s Article 1. Why is it there? It’s the most important institution.” But it has to stand up for itself. The Constitution, it doesn’t protect itself. It’s not self-enforcing. And so this is not the first time that Congress has sort of stepped back and watched as presidents have encroached on their powers. Sometimes Congress does it on purpose. “Hey, president, here’s some power to give sanctions. Here’s some power to negotiate trade deals” and so forth.

Ryssdal: Tariffs also, by the way, right?

Binder: For sure, and Congress does that explicitly. Much of this is Congress’ doing, but certainly this is Trump really, really going much farther than we’ve ever seen other presidents do.

Etsy, the affordable, artisanal merchandise company saw shares fall 8% this morning. That’s because it had a worse-than-estimated fourth quarter, even as consumer spending grew at the end of last year. Etsy expects this quarter to be in the doldrums too — though it’s not all Etsy’s fault.

Etsy made its reputation from offering stuff like handcrafted candles and custom wedding guest books. But it also started offering cheap, mass produced stuff. And that market is crowded with competition.

“The trick is that on Temu, the price is lower. Same thing with Amazon,” said supply chain consultant Brittain Ladd. He said he thinks Etsy has likely peaked, “and so it’s going to be very challenging for Etsy to do something that’s so special that it pulls all those other customers away.”

Etsy’s strategy so far is to double down on the artisanal stuff, said Sky Canaves, a retail analyst at EMARKETER.

“That focus is likely to appeal to a smaller audience, and so we would expect to see their sales continue to contract in line with that,” she said, because this trend of consumers seeking cheaper prices isn’t going anywhere.

Economics professor Brett House at Columbia Business School said years of high prices have put more strain on consumers.

“Credit card defaults are up, credit balances are up, and people are likely cutting back on some of their discretionary spending,” he said.

The weird part is the fourth quarter is typically a strong one for consumer spending because of all the holiday shoppers. But this season was different.

“They also saw the election results in November and the increased policy uncertainty that came along with that,” House said.

There is another way out, though. Consultant Brittain Ladd said the best next move for Etsy might be getting acquired by Michael’s or eBay.

Attention audiophiles: the archive of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop is being made available to the public for the first name. This department was founded in the 1950s as a laboratory that could invent original music and sound effects for BBC radio, and later television, programming. Over the years, its roster of innovative musicians and composers created audio for iconic BBC productions of the 1950s and 1960s such as Doctor Who, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Goon Show and Blake's 7. In addition to developing those signature sounds, members' work also laid early foundations for creating electronic music and sampling. In the words of Radiophonic Workshop archivist Mark Ayres, the department "was purely for making bonkers noises."

Now, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop library is being offered to today's creators to sample through a collaboration between Spitfire Audio and BBC Studios. This library includes sounds from the studio's original tapes as well as new recordings and content from the Workshop's members and associates. The collection has subheadings for topics such as found sounds, junk percussion and synths, so there's a lot of fascinating stuff to explore. It is available at an introductory price of $159 (£119/€143) until March 6; afterwards, the standard price will by $199 (£149/€179).

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/the-bbc-radiophonic-workshops-archive-is-now-available-to-sample-223100146.html?src=rss

Housing starts – the number of new homes that began construction – dropped 9.8% between December and January.

Now, there is a caveat: cold temperatures across much of the country might have slowed down some construction. 

But it’s not the only sign that homebuilders are feeling not so great at the moment. Their confidence in January dropped to its lowest level in five months, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

The trade group found its members are especially worried about tariffs and mortgage rates that remain close to 7%.

The NAHB did its survey right around the time that President Donald Trump proposed – and then paused – 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. 

That really weighed on homebuilder sentiment. But builders are hoping for some good news too, said Odeta Kushi, deputy chief economist at First American.

“They’re also thinking that there might be a better regulatory climate for building,” said Kushi. 

That’s the case for Bart Frisbie, president of Sterling Homes in Vermont, a state where lawmakers have loosened some permitting laws in the last few years to encourage more housing construction. 

Frisbie has a couple projects in the pipeline, including a brand new 32-home neighborhood. 

“We’re optimistic that the market is going to keep on rolling forward,” said Frisbie. 

But, a lot of his lumber comes from Canada. So if President Trump puts an import tax on that, “it will increase the price of houses dramatically, and that’s the last thing we need, is to raise prices,” said Frisbie. 

Because a lot of prospective homebuyers are staying on the sidelines with mortgage rates around 7%, said Susan Wachter, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Builders are meeting price resistance in the market, and there’s not much that builders can do, because their costs are going up,” said Wachter. 

Still, there’s a strong need for new housing. We’re about 1.5 million units short, said Danushka Nanayakkara at the National Association of Home Builders.

So, the demand is there, “the question is, the affordable, the entry level housing, the lack of that is pushing people out of the housing market, and that’s the issue right now,” said Nanayakkara.

If rates stay elevated and tariffs make building materials more expensive, she said, that issue won’t go away.

The second major update to Hades II adds a mysterious "final confrontation," an updated Altar of Ashes and the return of the god of war... Ares. (Were you expecting someone else?) And there's more to come: In addition to Wednesday's Warsong Update, developer Supergiant Games says its third big one is in the pipeline for "some months from now."

Although Supergiant is staying mum about who is involved, it teased a "Final Confrontation on the surface" as the headlining feature of today's update. "Discover what lies beyond the Guardian of Olympus... if you dare!" The sinister and demonic voice in the video below suggests it might not have the best of intentions.

Also new (in the sequel, anyway) is Ares, the god of war. He has "varied and vicious" Boons on offer, as one would expect from a bloodthirsty God of Olympus. Supergiant also updated the Altar of Ashes with new art and reworked Arcana effects, a new Animal Familiar and other changes.

The Warsong Update is free and an automatic download. Of course, Hades II is still in early access. Given that the first game stayed there for nearly two years, you probably shouldn't hold your breath for an imminent public release. Regardless, you can check out the sequel's new content on Windows and macOS via Steam or Epic.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/hades-iis-second-major-update-adds-a-final-confrontation-and-more-220401973.html?src=rss

In the last few months since the election, more than 40% of consumers said they’ve changed their spending habits to align with their morals, according to a new Harris Poll.

A quarter of shoppers have stopped buying from their favorite brands. And about a third said they have no interest in supporting the economy this year and are looking for ways to opt out. 

More Democrats said they’ve changed their spending habits recently than Republicans, according to the Harris Poll.

Timothy Werner, a professor at the University of Texas, Austin’s McCombs School of Business, said that makes sense given who’s in power in Washington.

“During the first Trump administration there was a campaign called #GrabYourWallet” — to try to get people to not spend money at any companies associated with Trump — “and you saw no kind of dynamic that was on the other side being supportive of him,” said Warner.

When people are angry with a company over its politics, he said it’s typical for them to stop shopping there, at least for a while. Whereas, when people support a company’s politics, they aren’t as likely to shop there more.

The NAACP issued a “Black Consumer Advisory” over the weekend urging Black consumers to prioritize businesses that have doubled down on DEI initiatives instead of canceling them. Economic boycotts are increasingly common, said Bruce Freed, president of the Center for Political Accountability.

“As our politics have become much more polarized and much sharper, you have consumers now who are taking a look very closely at what companies are involved with,” said Freed.

The idea of opting out of the economy entirely, though? That feels new, at least to Harris Poll CEO John Gerzema.

“Just stepping back for a second and thinking about how important consumerism is to America’s [gross domestic product], you know, it’s 70 cents on the dollar,” said Gerzema.

So if a third of consumers were to stop spending, even just for a little while, he said — that could have a big impact. 

But Timothy Werner at UT Austin said it probably won’t.

“Especially as attention spans shorten and news cycles shorten, the effects of these things are really very short lived,” said Werner.

And, for businesses, getting involved in politics through donations and lobbying is often worth it. 

“Companies who spend more on lobbying secure more government contracts, they pay lower effective tax rates, they generally benefit from lighter touch regulation,” said Werner.

That can affect their bottom line in a way consumer boycotts rarely do. 

Amazon is reportedly set to showcase its new and improved Alexa at a product event February 26. But the more capable voice assistant — which has been teased as “coming soon” for about a year now — likely won’t be available for at least another month. Meanwhile, Apple has been making Siri incrementally smarter as it slowly rolls out Apple Intelligence. A major upgrade was expected to come later this spring with iOS 18.4, but might also be delayed.

Amazon and Apple, once the innovators in virtual assistants, are now seen as playing catch-up to artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT.

When Apple unveiled Siri at an event back in 2011, the tech seemed revolutionary. Scott Forstall, Apple’s senior vice president of iOS software, gave a demonstration that included using voice to check the weather and set alarms.

Thirteen years later, Sean Saulsbury, a software entrepreneur in Oceanside, California, said that’s about all he uses Siri for: “Simple reminders on my phone. Just, ‘Remind me to do this or remind me to do that.'”

Siri has gotten updates over the years: You can now set two timers at once as of a 2023 update. But Saulsbury says the tool still struggles with basic requests.

“Like, I’ll get an email and I’ll tell it, like, ‘Hey, read me this email, the one that I have open, you know, read me this email,'” he said. “And it just reads me the the titles of the last five emails I’ve gotten.”

Alexa from Amazon, a Marketplace underwriter, can set timers well. But Grant Berry uses his eight Echo devices to control home electronics like his lights or alarm system.

“I’m able to say what to do exactly using very precise language,” he said.

Berry is a professor of language science at Villanova University who also worked on Alexa technology for Amazon. He said improvements in natural language processing, the way computers understand human language, have helped voice assistants like Alexa become more conversational over time. But they’re still more rigid than modern AI chatbots.

“Alexa can tell you jokes,” said Berry, “but they’re all really bad dad jokes. Ask her what her favorite color is.”

She’ll say, “I like Ultraviolet. It glows with everything,” every single time.

“And, you know someone hard coded that in, yeah, had to have,” said Berry.

Most people don’t need standup comedy from their voice assistants, but Berry notes using more sophisticated AI language models, like those powering ChatGPT, will make it easier to communicate with devices the way we do with people.

“It is natural for us to omit information or reference back to things that have been previously stated,” he said.

You might ask, “Hey Siri who is the president of France?” Then just use a pronoun instead of a proper name to follow up: “How long has he been president?”

Asking Siri that series of questions yields mixed results and often refers users to use ChatGPT, which tells me Emanuel Macron has been president of France for 7 years and 9 months. 

OpenAI’s chatbot can carry on spoken conversations, as can Google Gemini, but today’s top AI systems are typically thought of as typing-based said Larry Heck, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and interactive computing at Georgia Tech who has worked on voice assistants for Microsoft, Google and Samsung.

“I really don’t think that we’ve used voice in the way that many of us have dreamed about,” said Heck.

He wants an AI conversation partner he could ask for help, say, brainstorming his trip to Italy.

“(Where) the AI says, ‘Oh you know you’re interested in staying in a medieval castle in Tuscany. Oh, you know I found a few places. These are kind of cool. What do you think about these?'” he said.

Heck noted that currently, even the most advanced AI systems can only engage in so much back and forth. They typically find an answer, or confidently make one up, instead of asking follow up questions.

That’s not great if you want a voice assistant you can trust to make purchases or appointments — potentially at a monthly fee as Amazon is reportedly planning.

But even if voice assistants do improve, users like Saulsbury might not bother.

“Right now it’s hard for me to think of what I would do, because I’ve been frustrated with it,” he said.

Maybe set yourself a reminder: “Hey Siri, remind me to try you out again once you get updated.”