Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.
Univershuffle is a new music discovery app that shuffles all of the songs on Apple Music, completely at random – no AI or algorithms involved. It offers the ultimate experience for finding new music, so long as you’re willing to sort through a ton of songs.
The app is available for free in a limited capacity, though you’ll need to link an Apple Music account to listen to songs in their entirety. It launched on the App Store this week.
Why does it cost some companies hundreds of millions of dollars to develop a popular video game? A couple weeks ago, The New York Times blamed the never-ending quest to deliver more photo-realistic graphics— and it suggested the industry is beginning to see diminishing returns, leading to layoffs and studio closures. However, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier […]
I’ve been seeing people give their Mac Minis a serious style upgrade by housing them in enclosures that make them look like mini Mac Pros—and I had to try it out for myself. Enter the Zeera MacForge Gen2, a CNC aluminum case that turns your Mac Mini M4 into a desktop workstation that looks like a shrunken version of Apple’s iconic Mac Pro. And let me tell you, I love the look.
Fortnite Festival will support local multiplayer starting Tuesday January 14, meaning you’ll be able to sit down in a room with your friends and jam out on plastic guitar controllers together just like the good ol’ days. Of course, most of us probably don’t have those plastic guitars anymore, but regular controllers will work just fine too. The feature is coming to Xbox and PlayStation, and up to four local players will be supported at a time for the Festival Main Stage mode. Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking, but this kind of rules?
GET THE BAND BACK TOGETHER ‼️
Local multiplayer is coming to Fortnite Festival on Xbox and PlayStation January 14! Stay *tuned* for more details 🎸 pic.twitter.com/m5hzBmbCtw
For those who aren’t aware, Fortnite Festival is a rhythm game developed for Epic by Harmonix (best known for Rock Band and the early Guitar Hero titles). It was first released at the end of 2023. In addition to normal controllers, the game also supports Rock Band 4 guitar controllers on Xbox, PlayStation and PC, as well as the recently released PDP Riffmaster.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/fortnite-festival-adds-local-co-op-so-you-can-relive-the-glory-days-of-rock-band-and-guitar-hero-190528448.html?src=rss
Samsung’s big Galaxy S25 launch is right around the corner. The first Galaxy Unpacked event of 2025 is confirmed for January 22 at 1PM ET in San Jose, CA, where Samsung’s “Next Big Thing” (to borrow a 14-year-old marketing slogan) will be revealed. What exactly will be on tap? Well, apart from a few sure bets and some likely leaks, only those sworn to a blood oath under an NDA know for certain. But here are the most likely products and features we’ll see.
Galaxy S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra
Galaxy S24 Ultra
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Much like Apple reveals its latest iPhones at its first fall event, Samsung typically launches its mainline Galaxy S flagships at its first Unpacked shindig of the year. You can bet the farm that there will be Galaxy S25 phones at this event. And given Samsung’s recent trend of launching three tiers of flagships — standard, Plus and Ultra — you can bet we’ll see that again. (Samsung could technically change the brand names, but the three-layered lineup is practically guaranteed.) There’s even an FCC certification (first spotted by 91Mobiles) to dispel any doubts.
The degree of certainty falls sharply once we dig into the phones’ features. A subtle redesign with rounded corners, flatter edges and thinner bezels appears likely based on a leaked video posted to Reddit and images from reputable tipster Ice Universe. But this isn’t expected to be the generation where Samsung’s hiring of a former Mercedes-Benz designer will lead to drastic aesthetic changes.
Qualcomm
At least in the US, the phone is practically guaranteed to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which the chip-maker revealed in October. (Qualcomm even listed Samsung among the companies launching devices with that processor “in the coming weeks.”) Like just about every flagship processor these days, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is built for on-device generative AI, which aligns with Samsung’s Galaxy AI blitz in recent models.
We don’t know whether the company will split its S25 processors between Snapdragon (US and other markets) and Exynos (everywhere else), but Ice Universe has claimed it will be all Snapdragon this generation. That would be a good thing, given what’s often a glaring performance and battery life disparity favoring Qualcomm.
Samsung is rumored to stick with last-generation OLED displays (made with M13 organic materials) instead of the brighter and more efficient M14 OLED panels used in the iPhone 16 Pro and Google Pixel 9. Logic suggests Samsung would want its best homemade screen in its best phones — especially when its competitors are already using it. But it could stick with the cheaper panels to keep the bill of materials down. Perhaps it calculated that better displays don’t make for better generative AI (the obsession of nearly every tech company right now), while the latest Qualcomm chip does.
Speaking of AI, expect Samsung to devote a perhaps agonizingly long portion of the event to generative AI features. The hit-or-miss DigiTimesreported last month that the Galaxy S25 series will include “an AI Agent that provides personalized clothing suggestions and transport information.” What that would look like in practice is anyone’s guess, but I’m not sure I want to know.
Galaxy S24 Ultra
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
On the camera front, Ice Universe claims (via Android Headlines) it’s “confirmed” that only the ultra-wide sensor will see an upgrade in the Galaxy S25 Ultra — to 50MP from 12MP in last year’s model. The leaker says the S25 Ultra will stick with a 200MP main sensor, 10MP 3x zoom and 50MP 5x zoom.
Samsung will add the Qi2 wireless charging standard to its new flagships — and that comes straight from the horse’s (aka, the Wireless Power Consortium’s) mouth. However, leaker chunvn8888 (aka “yawn”) says Samsung’s phones won’t have built-in magnets for Qi2’s native MagSafe in everything but name charging. Instead, the leaker says Samsung will sell a first-party case with a Qi2 magnetic ring to enable that. (Gotta move those accessories, baby!)
Rumors have buzzed about an alleged Galaxy S25 Slim with a — you guessed it — slimmer design joining the trio at some point this year. That’s something Apple is also rumored to be working on. However, given the FCC certifications only appear to cover the familiar trio of flagships, that phone (if it’s in the pipeline at all) may not arrive until later in the year.
Galaxy Ring 2, Samsung XR and AR glasses
Galaxy Ring
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
DigiTimesreported in December that Samsung would show off (or maybe just tease) the Galaxy Ring 2 and augmented reality (AR) glasses during its January Unpacked event.
The Taiwanese publication says the Galaxy Ring 2 will add two more sizes to the nine from the original model, which only launched in July. The second-gen wearable health tracker is said to add new AI features (surprise!) and updated sensors for more accurate measurements. The Galaxy Ring 2 is also rumored to last longer than the current model’s maximum of seven days.
Google
DigiTimes also claims Samsung’s AR glasses — which the company has confirmed it’s working on — will look like regular prescription glasses and weigh around 50g. It says the futuristic glasses would use Google’s Gemini AI, which aligns with what we already know about Samsung’s partnership with Google and Qualcomm on Android XR. But given the lack of supply chain rumors surrounding the glasses, it’s likely that any mention at the event would amount to little more than a teaser, a la its grand reveal of... a stinkin’ render for the first Galaxy Ring at Unpacked 2024.
We also know Samsung is co-developing an Android XR (extended reality) headset — codenamed Project Moohan — alongside Google and Qualcomm. The “lightweight” and “ergonomically designed” headset will have a “state-of-the-art display,” passthrough video and natural multi-modal input. Google’s renderings show a wearable reminiscent of Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro.
Project Moohan
Google / Samsung
Since Google only recently began offering a developer kit and API for the platform, any glimpse of it at Unpacked wouldn’t likely include an imminent release or deep dive into its hardware.
Engadget will have full coverage of Samsung’s first Unpacked event of 2025. More to come on January 22!
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/what-to-expect-at-samsungs-galaxy-s25-unpacked-event-182028420.html?src=rss
Welcome back to Week in Review. I missed you! This week, we’re diving into all the gadgets and announcements out of this year’s CES, Meta’s decision to roll back its fact-checking program, TikTok’s response to employees affected by the California wildfires, and more! Let’s do this. CES 2025 came and went this week. The event […]
I did not go to CES 2025 with the goal of getting drenched by Lake Mead’s chilly January waters. But when I discovered Los Angeles-based boat startup Arc had brought its new sport boat to Las Vegas, I figured it was worth the risk. It was. The Arc Sport was a joy to drive, even […]
We’ve all had that moment where our phones are dying, but we need to leave. Charging is usually too slow, and carrying around a battery bank can be annoying. That’s the problem Swippitt wants to solve with a clever phone charger that’s “instant,” but it’s probably not for you.
Amazon will be winding down its Prime Try Before You Buy program, which let Prime members try on clothes before paying for them, reports The Information. It will shutter on January 31st, according to a banner at the top of the service’s landing page.
Amazon spokesperson Maxine Tagay said in a statement emailed to The Verge that the company is discontinuing the service because it only worked for a “limited number of items” and customers have been “increasingly using our new AI-powered features” to decide what to buy.
Tagay gave examples like Virtual Try-On AR feature that puts 3D renders of shoes from certain brands on your feet using your smartphone’s camera. She also mentioned the company’s LLM-powered “personalized size recommendations” that tweak size recommendations based on customer reviews.
Prime Try Before You Buy launched in 2018 for all Prime subscribers as Amazon Wardrobe before the company later changed its name. Through it, Prime members can order up to six items, try them for seven days, then pay for what works and send back the rest — like a very basic version of Stitch Fix’s curated clothing service. But a big part of that is returns, which is something the company has been trying to cut back on.
The discontinuation of Prime Try Before You Buy comes after years of cost-cutting at the company, as CNBC points out. That’s included massive layoffs and shuttering physical stores, as well as scaling back some of its efforts in the grocery industry.
Here is the full statement Tagay provided to The Verge:
Given the combination of Try Before You Buy only scaling to a limited number of items and customers increasingly using our new AI-powered features like virtual try-on, personalized size recommendations, review highlights, and improved size charts to make sure they find the right fit, we’re phasing out the Try Before You Buy option, effective January 31, 2025. Of course, customers will continue to enjoy fast, free shipping, with easy, free returns on our full apparel selection.
COCOA BEACH, Fla.—As it so often does in the final days before the debut of a new rocket, it all comes down to weather. Accordingly, Blue Origin is only awaiting clear skies and fair seas for its massive New Glenn vehicle to lift off from Florida.
After the company completed integration of the rocket this week, and rolled the super heavy lift rocket to its launch site at Cape Canaveral, the focus turned toward the weather. Conditions at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base have been favorable during the early morning launch windows available to the rocket, but there have been complications offshore.
That's because Blue Origin aims to recover the first stage of the New Glenn rocket, and sea states in the Atlantic Ocean have been unsuitable for an initial attempt to catch the first stage booster on a drone ship. The company has already waived one launch attempt set for 1 am ET (06:00 UTC) on Friday, January 10.
Anker’s latest GaN offering sports four USB ports on the bottom, which isn’t where they’re typically relocated. | Image: Anker
The inventive gadgets and gizmos at CES can often define the year, but most everything that appears on the showroom floor isn’t going to be available until later in the year, if at all. Fortunately, that’s not the case with Anker’s 140W GaN charger, which is already available in black or silver for $79.99 ($10 off) when you clip the on-page coupon at Amazon or use promo code WSCPV2LBR7KR at Anker’s online storefront.
Out of all the chargers to come out of CES this year, the Anker Charger (140W) easily offers one of the more refreshing designs. The wall charger is unique in that it positions all four USB ports on the underside of the device, thus reorienting its center of gravity and helping prevent it from falling out when loaded with weighty cables. Two of those ports are USB-C ports that supply up to 140W of power — letting you top off everything from a Nintendo Switch to the latest MacBook Pro — while a third USB-C port maxes out at 40W. It also features a single USB-A port limited to 33W, as well as a built-in info display for viewing temperature data and the power output for each port.
More ways to save this weekend
Amazon is selling its Smart Air Quality Monitor for $49.99 ($20 off), which is only $5 more than its best price to date. The compact device uses phone and voice alerts (via Echo speakers) to let you know when it detects abnormal changes in particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, humidity, and temperature. It can even automatically trigger Alexa-enabled air purifiers, along with humidifiers and other connected devices.
Samsung’s budget-friendly Galaxy Buds FE are down to $59.99 ($40 off) at Amazon, nearly matching their lowest price to date. They’re a good bet if you could care less about multipoint support and wireless charging, as they offer reliable performance, enjoyable sound, and surprisingly good noise cancellation for the price. They also sport a wing tip design, which can provide a more secure fit if you struggle with traditional in-ears. Read our review.
Note: Quentyn Kennemer also contributed to this post.
Automattic CEO and WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg has deactivated the accounts of several WordPress.org community members, some of whom have been spearheading a push to create a new fork of the open source WordPress project. While community criticism of WordPress’s governance isn’t new, the latest brouhaha kicked off back in September when Mullenweg publicly chastised WP […]
Lenovo’s small yet powerful Legion Tab looks to be an Android tablet many have been waiting for, as it sold out in barely two days. One question about the device has been whether or not it supports stylus input, and we can confirm that the Lenovo Legion Tab does support at least one stylus option.
