People often use multiple apps for notes, schedule management, and to-dos. But why not combine them all in one app? That’s the ethos behind Hero, an all-in-one productivity app with an AI assistant (of course!). The iOS app was developed by former Meta employees Brad Kowalk and Seung W. Lee. Both met while working on […]

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Apple Music has today officially announced a special promotional offer for new subscribers. For a limited time, new subscribers can get six months of Apple Music for just $2.99. That’s a big saving compared to the regular price of $10.99 per month.

Apple says the offer is available to new and eligible subscribers only. It’s unclear if it is exclusive to the United States, or also available in other regions.

With the help of modern machine learning technology, The Beatles were able to release their song “Now and Then” in late 2023. The song contains vocals recorded from around 50 years ago and a guitar track from 1995, but technological limitations at the time prevented it from seeing the light of day without serious audio issues. Today, after being nominated in November 2024 for two Grammys, “Now and Then” won one for Best Rock Performance.

When the demo was first recorded, John Lennon’s singing and piano were on the same audio track, and separating them was impossible. Fortunately, AI can now do that without much bleed or loss. The surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, were able to complete the song by recording new bass and drum parts and releasing it almost 30 years later.

Sean Ono Lennon, the son of the late Beatle, accepted the trophy in his father’s stead. “Now and Then” was also nominated for Record of the Year but lost to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”

The problem with good quality earbuds is that, of course, they don't come cheap. So, when a sale comes along that makes them more affordable, we're all over it. Right now, you can get the Apple AirPods Pro 2 for $169, down from $249 — a 32 percent discount. They fell to a record low of $154 over the holidays, but this price is the best we've seen yet in 2025. 

Apple's AirPods Pro 2 came out in 2022 and yet we still rate them the best wireless earbuds for iPhone. At the time, we gave them a score of 88 thanks to big improvements from their predecessor, including fantastic sound and an amazing transparency mode. They'll last you six hours at a time with ANC on or seven hours without it. 

Notably, Apple's newest generation of earbuds are also on sale. The AirPods 4 are down to a new all-time low price of $100, from $129, thanks to a 22 percent discount. We also gave the AirPods 4 an 88 in our review, noting their improved fit, comfort and sound quality. Their biggest drawback is the lack of ANC but, if you don't need that, then this is a great deal. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Sid Meier developed the first Civilization game in 1991 and has contributed to every iteration since. When I visited Firaxis Games last year, I saw that the company maintains the very computer Meier used to develop the game, which can still be booted up and played. Walking through the halls of the studio, I saw not only the legacy of its games but its employees, too, some of whom have children who work or worked at Firaxis, including Meier’s own son. It’s no wonder, then, that Civilization VII is a game about legacy and all the ways it leaves a mark on history and contributes to the future.

Civilization VII is a strategy game in which you shepherd a country or people plucked from throughout world history through the ages of time. As their leader, often a famous ruler or notable historical figure, your job is to grow your empire to become the preeminent society of the world either through conquest, commerce, culture, or scientific advancement. As time progresses, you must make choices and take actions for your civilization that determine how it develops into a world power. You must acquire resources, choose systems of government and social policy, research technologies to impr …

Read the full story at The Verge.

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), whose tagline is “Win the Fight”, has paid more than a hundred thousand dollars to a company that is providing generative AI services to other parts of the Department of Defense. But the AFRL refused to say what exactly the point of the research was, and provided page after page of entirely blacked out, redacted documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from 404 Media related to the contract.

The news shows that while AI continues to proliferate across essentially every industry and increasingly government departments, some parts of the military can be tight-lipped about its intentions around generative AI, even when the models used are sometimes the same as what everyone else has access to or are open source, and when the work is unclassified. 404 Media previously reported that the Air Force tested a surveillance-focused AI chatbot.

“Ask Sage: Generative AI Acquisition Accelerator,” a December 2023 procurement record reads, with no additional information on the intended use case. The Air Force paid $109,490 to Ask Sage, the record says. 

Ask Sage is a company focused on providing generative AI to the government. In September the company announced that the Army was implementing Ask Sage’s tools. In October it achieved “IL5” authorization, a DoD term for the necessary steps to protect unclassified information to a certain standard. 

404 Media made an account on the Ask Sage website. After logging in, the site presents a list of the models available through Ask Sage. Essentially, they include every major model made by well-known AI companies and open source ones. Open AI’s GPT-4o and DALL-E-3; Anthropic’s Claude 3.5; and Google’s Gemini are all included. 

The company also recently added the Chinese-developed DeepSeek R1, but includes a disclaimer. “WARNING. DO NOT USE THIS MODEL WITH SENSITIVE DATA. THIS MODEL IS BIASED, WITH TIES TO THE CCP [Chinese Communist Party],” it reads. Ask Sage is a way for government employees to access and use AI models in a more secure way. But only some of the models in the tool are listed by Ask Sage as being “compliant" with or “capable” of handling sensitive data.

In an associated Ask Sage Discord, apparent customers ask the company for support or make other comments. “Thanks for all the hard work and great enhancements that make our work lives so much easier,” one message posted this month reads. The username matches that of someone who lists their job as “AI Implementation, Information Warfare—Air Combat Command,” on LinkedIn.

But the Air Force declined to provide any real specifics on what it paid Ask Sage for. 404 Media requested all procurement records related to the Ask Sage contract. Instead, the Air Force provided a 19 page presentation which seemingly would have explained the purpose of the test, while redacting 18 of the pages. The only available page said “Ask Sage, Inc. will explore the utilization of Ask Sage by acquisition Airmen with the DAF for Innovative Defense-Related Dual Purpose Technologies relating to the mission of exploring LLMs for DAF use while exploring anticipated benefits, clearly define needed solution adaptations, and define clear milestones and acceptance criteria for Phase II efforts.” 

Nicolas Chaillan, founder of Ask Sage and former chief software officer for the Air Force and Space Force told 404 Media in an email that “This was a research contract for feasibility.

This did not include any license of the product or any use of the product.” He added the only deliverable was a report and the work was not classified.

The AFRL did not respond to a request for comment.

Apple is benefiting from a new tax break in India, which will make it cheaper to assemble iPhones in the country. The change was announced by the government on Saturday.

We first learned about the plans last month, which are expected to be worth at least $2.7B in benefits to companies like Apple and Samsung …

A zero-click WhatsApp spyware attack was made against 90 journalists and other “civil society members,” said Meta, which managed to detect the incident.

A zero-click attack means that victims don’t need to tap on a link or take any action in order for their devices to be compromised – simply receiving the message is enough …

There’s a lot of talk of cozy games these days, and Civilization is definitely my personal cozy game. It’s relaxing to get lost in a flow state, making “a series of interesting decisions” for “one more turn,” then another, late into the evening.

Change is almost definitionally not cozy, though, and Civilization VII changes quite a lot —especially about the game’s overall structure.

Frankly, I’ve long felt the series peaked with Civilization IV, at least for me. But after playing VII for a couple of dozen hours, there’s a chance it’s at least as good as Civilization V, and it has the potential to even match IV with just a little more refinement.

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