A bug with Ambient Mode on Cast-powered Chromecasts drastically shrinks the time and weather that’s displayed in the bottom-right corner.
more…Since Chinese AI company DeepSeek released an open version of its reasoning model R1 at the beginning of this week, many in the tech industry have been making grand pronouncements about what the company achieved, and what it means for the state of AI. Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, for example, posted that DeepSeek is “one […]
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At the start of 2025, Google announced a Pixel 4a Battery Performance Program with a new Android 13 OTA update, free battery replacement, and/or appeasement option. As part of this, Google has removed all previous Pixel 4a updates.
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According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is planning on releasing iOS 18.4 in April. Apple hasn’t started the beta cycle for iOS 18.4 quite yet, but there are a handful of things we can likely expect with iOS 18.4 so far.
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The Hubble Space Telescope is still trucking along more than 30 years after its launch, observing the universe and sending home images for us to marvel at. This week, NASA and ESA highlighted an image captured by Hubble of the highly productive Tarantula Nebula (officially named 30 Doradus) in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and it’s a sight to behold.
The Large Magellanic Cloud may be only 10-20% as massive as our Milky Way galaxy, but it boasts some of the most impressive star-forming regions in the nearby Universe! 1/3 pic.twitter.com/juulDT44mD
— HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) January 23, 2025
The Tarantula Nebula is “the largest and most productive star-forming region in the local universe,” with stars roughly 200 times as massive as the sun at its center, according to NASA. This Hubble view gives us a look at the outskirts of the nebula, revealing layers of colorful gas and stars. The Tarantula Nebula sits within the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy.
While the final result we see is filled with brilliant colors, Hubble’s images initially come back in grayscale. As NASA has explained, “scientists can create a composite color image by taking exposures using different color filters on the telescope, assigning a color to each filter that corresponds to the wavelength of that filter, and combining the images.” The new image of the Tarantula Nebula doesn’t just represent visible light, but ultraviolet and infrared too. In such a case, colors are assigned to those wavelengths we can’t normally see.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasa-and-esa-share-a-breathtaking-hubble-image-of-the-tarantula-nebulas-outer-edge-202349788.html?src=rss
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© ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray
Despite offering some magnetic accessories, Samsung hasn’t spent any time talking about the Galaxy S25 series being ready for Qi2. Yet, the Galaxy S25 series is the first set of smartphones with Qi 2.1 support, but without any upgrades to charging speed.
more…In Reid Hoffman’s new book Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right With Our AI Future, the LinkedIn co-founder makes the case that AI can extend human agency — giving us more knowledge, better jobs, and improved lives — rather than reducing it. That doesn’t mean he’s ignoring the technology’s potential downsides. In fact, Hoffman (who […]
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An obscure horror game from the late ‘80s that gained a cult following by way of shareware is coming back from the grave. Last Half of Darkness, a point and click horror adventure created by developer Bill Fisher, has been completely remade with modern graphics, along with a new soundtrack and updates to the story and puzzles, according to Eurogamer. Fisher’s WRF Studios shared a teaser for the remake on Friday, and the game is due to be released on Steam on February 7.
In the game, you’re tasked with exploring the creepy property of the player character’s dead aunt, solving puzzles and making choices that hopefully won’t get you killed. The description explains:
Your aunt sure was a strange one. She was some sort of witch or something. A good witch though, practicing only good spells and magic. In fact, she was working on a potion just before she was killed. Now the secret will go to the grave with her... unless you can find the missing ingredients.
The original Last Half of Darkness is available to play for free from the official website, too. In a playthrough a few years ago, one streamer (and some commenters) remembered it as “the first game to ever scare me.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-1989-point-and-click-horror-game-last-half-of-darkness-has-been-remade-for-2025-184458750.html?src=rss
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© WRF Studios
This week, Samsung launched its new Galaxy S25 series and, in so many ways, it’s just a slightly newer version of the same thing. From the perspective of someone who’s job is to talk about these devices, it’s getting really boring, yet these devices still continue to sell. So, are you actually happy with these devices?
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I absolutely love the new Camera Control button on iPhone 16, but the default settings aren’t for me. By default, I find it too slow to activate and too accident prone when taking photos. Fortunately, Apple gives you fairly granular control over Camera Control — even if the toggles are scattered around in the Settings app.
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Following a report by NPR that said the Trump administration is working on a deal with Oracle and other investors to take over TikTok in the US, Trump has denied any talks with Oracle but says he has “spoken to many people about TikTok” and may make a decision in the next month, according to Reuters. Trump signed an executive order shortly after taking office on Monday that delays the enforcement of the TikTok ban by 75 days, giving the app’s parent company ByteDance more time to figure out a deal that would allow it to continue US operations.
NPR, citing sources “with direct knowledge of the talks,” originally reported that Oracle met with White House officials on Friday to discuss a deal in which Oracle and other American investors would end up with a majority stake in TikTok and oversee things like data collection. Microsoft has also been involved with the talks, according to NPR. “The goal is for Oracle to effectively monitor and provide oversight with what is going on with TikTok,” an unnamed source told NPR. “ByteDance wouldn't completely go away, but it would minimize Chinese ownership.”
When asked about a potential deal with Oracle by reporters during an Air Force One flight Saturday night, though, Trump said, per Reuters, “No, not with Oracle. Numerous people are talking to me, very substantial people, about buying it and I will make that decision probably over the next 30 days.”
Prior to the ban going into effect on January 19, ByteDance pushed back against the idea of selling TikTok to appease US lawmakers. But it changed its tune on Sunday after Trump stepped in to temporarily bring the app back online, issuing a statement on TikTok’s X account saying that the company “will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”
It came a few hours after Trump wrote in a Truth Social post during the short-lived TikTok blackout that he “would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture.” Still, his exact plan remains unclear. According to one of the sources that spoke with NPR, “Nobody seems to know what he means with the 50 percent equity comments.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/trump-denies-talks-with-oracle-about-a-tiktok-deal-but-says-a-decision-will-likely-be-made-within-30-days-163755199.html?src=rss
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© TikTok
After selling out in barely 48 hours when it launched earlier this month, Lenovo has re-stocked the Legion Tab, its small yet powerful Android tablet.
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Retro Remake’s Taki Udon announced last night that preorders had opened for the SuperStation One, a clone of the PS One variant of the original PlayStation. The $149.99 Founders Edition preorders are sold out already, but you can still preorder the standard $225 SuperStation One for $179.99 right now, with shipping expected in “Q4 or Earlier.”
While the SuperStation One looks like a PS One — complete with ports compatible with the original PlayStation controller and memory cards — it plays more than just PlayStation 1 games. It’s a custom MiSTER field-programmable gate array (FPGA) machine, as Polygon points out. That means rather than emulating game consoles, its hardware can actually function just like those consoles, with cores ranging from the Atari 5200 and NES to the PlayStation and Sega Saturn.
Introducing the SuperStation one. An open-source PS1 FPGA gaming console that supports original games, memory cards, and controllers. Load games from a disk or a backup. Region free. Supports all MiSTer FPGA cores, including N64 & Sega Saturn. Learn more: retroremake.co
— Taki Udon (@takiudon.bsky.social) 2025-01-26T01:02:28.357Z
Retro Remake currently offers the system in black, gray, and translucent blue. It comes with a 64GB Micro SD card and has three USB-A ports, an ethernet port, and an NFC reader that you can use to trigger specific games to load. It uses USB-C for power.
On the video side of things, the SuperStation One will have an HDMI port, along with VGA, DIN10, composite, and component ports geared for retro gaming setups. You’ll also find a 3.5mm audio jack and a digital audio port. Finally, there’s an expansion slot to support Retro Remake’s planned SuperDock accessory that adds a slot-loading disc drive, a 2280 m.2 SSD bay, and four more USB-A ports. That’s not up for preorder yet, but you can put down a $5 preorder deposit for it with an order of the SuperStation One.
This is Retro Remake’s first console, though the company plans to make more later, as Udon told Time Extension last week. The company has released other products, including a DIY kit for upgrading the Nintendo Switch Lite to an OLED display.
More startups shut down in 2024 than the year prior and a high volume of startup failures will continue, data from multiple sources.
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