To borrow from David Mamet’s sleeper 80s film, Things Change, sometimes it’s the “guy behind the guy” who gets a little attention, even if the guy doesn’t necessarily want it. So it is with Siberia.io, an independent design studio/agency based in New York that does the behind-the-scenes legwork to help clients refresh their brands and digital presences. The firm works with a variety of clients, including Ford, Comcast and Bloomberg, but shared work it’s done for a newer client.

The James Beard Foundation (JBF) — a venerable name for anyone interested in food, be they chefs, restaurateurs, philanthropies or gourmand consumers, issued an RFP for a website and a rebrand. The organization ultimately turned to Siberia.io to grow its audience and bring food lovers into the equation in a bigger way. Starting in November and just finishing this week, the James Beard Foundation (JBF) altered more than just its color palette and web architecture. The financial terms of the agreement were not made available.

Chris Mele, Siberia’s managing partner and founder, operates on a simple principle: don’t lead with tech — it should underpin what an agency does for a client, but not be the core or rallying point. And with JBF, that thinking came very much in handy. 

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A pair of Chromebook updates today highlight their broad usage across personal and enterprise, starting with Roblox enhancements.

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Two of the most potent phones on the market are the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the new Galaxy S25 Ultra. As the likely two best-selling premium flagship phones throughout most of 2025, how do they compare?

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Today’s headliner Androidverse deals and beyond are now ready to go down below, as per usual. Today we are kicking things off with some laptop/tablet deals including Acer’s latest Chromebook Plus Spin 714 with the Intel Core Ultra and Gemini Advanced access back down at its best price to date with $100 savings alongside an even lower price on the originally $1,600 Snapdragon X Elite Surface Laptop 7 at $700 off. From there, we move over to Samsung’s new super budget-friendly Galaxy A16 that has now dropped back to the $175 Amazon low alongside ongoing price drops on Galaxy Watch Ultra and Google’s Pixel Tablet. All of that and more awaits below in today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

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If you play Roblox on a Chromebook, things could feel faster soon. Roblox is rolling out an x86 version of the game “built specifically for Chromebooks,” where players can expect “up to 2x faster performance on x86 devices across all your favorite games and experiences,” according to a ChromeOS blog post.

This will translate to “smoother gameplay, quicker load times, and an overall better Roblox experience,” the blog post says, and it includes a few vague charts to help support that. Frame rates in two popular experiences, Adopt Me! and Brookhaven RP, will increase by 99 percent and 67 percent, respectively, but the post doesn’t include the specific frame rate counts. Load times in those games will apparently be reduced by 54 percent and 55 percent, too, but there aren’t specifics on exactly how many seconds those improvements will shave off.

The blog post also says that Chromebook players will be able to get a “special Chrome jetpack for your avatar” and an item in Bloxburg, another popular Roblox game. And YouTube Shorts creators can try out a new Shorts effect that gives you a Roblox-themed head.

Bad news for folks hoping the Powerbeats Pro 2 can replace their chest strap at the gym: while the workout buds are great at playing music and can connect to various gym equipment to track heart rate, they can’t do both at the same time.

The issue was pointed out in YouTuber DC Rainmaker’s review of the buds. Rainmaker, who’s trusted by fitness enthusiasts for his rigorous heart rate and GPS testing, says that Apple confirmed the issue. The Verge also reached out for further clarification, but did not immediately receive a response.

In my testing, I unfortunately couldn’t get the Powerbeats Pro 2 to connect with the treadmills or bikes at my local gym (because it’s hard to get any peripherals to connect to the ancient machines there). Regardless, it’s counterintuitive to make users choose between heart rate and music on gym equipment. The whole draw of adding heart rate to headphones is that you can theoretically consolidate workout peripherals.

Rainmaker, and other fitness influencers like Shervin Shares, also maintain that the Powerbeats Pro 2 don’t track heart rate on iOS apps as reliably as they do on Android apps. On that front, Apple and Beats told The Verge in a press briefing that heart rate features on iOS were limited to seven partner apps at launch: Runna, Nike Run Club, Open, YaoYao, Slopes, Peloton, and Ladder. We were told that apps like Strava, Zwift, and even Apple’s own Fitness Plus are incompatible with heart rate tracking, but that Apple hopes to expand the partner list in the future.

In the iOS partner apps, the heart rate function is supposed to start up automatically without the user having to do anything. I tested the Powerbeats Pro 2 with Peloton and Ladder on iOS and had zero issues with connectivity and accuracy, though I stuck to low-to-mid intensity workouts like yoga and strength training.

These app limitations, however, don’t apply to Android — the buds work with any Android app that supports a Bluetooth heart rate tracker. One could argue this all traces back to Apple wanting things to “just work” within its ecosystem — and the complications arising from that. For example, the buds are programmed so that if you use them with an Apple Watch, the Apple Watch’s heart rate data will always take precedence even if you’d prefer to use the Powerbeats instead. Users aren’t given a choice. The buds don’t, however, impose that limitation on other third-party headphones with heart rate tracking, like the Sennheiser Momentum Sport or chest straps.

For these reasons, plus the fact that it’s unwieldy to view the Powerbeats Pro 2’s heart rate data in the Health app, we noted in our review that the heart rate feature isn’t particularly useful — especially for athletes who use Apple Watches or want the greatest freedom over their heart rate peripherals.

Disney Plus will begin exclusively airing a bite-sized version of ESPN’s SportsCenter, the company announced on Thursday. The show, called SC Plus, will feature a “fast-paced” update with the day’s most important moments in sports. It debuts on March 3rd.

SC Plus will be based on SportsCenter’s top 10 format, offering a quick rundown of notable plays and other highlights. SportsCenter’s Gary Striewski and Randy Scott will host the show weekdays at 9AM ET, while Hannah Storm and Jay Harris will take over on weekends. Each episode will run for around 15 minutes, according to Variety, and will be aimed at more casual sports fans.

Get ready for SC+@garystriewski & @RandyScottESPN are bringing you the Top-10, Insider access & more – all with the signature @SportsCenter energy

Streaming exclusively on @DisneyPlus starting Monday, March 3 at 9a ET

Details: https://t.co/SDY4IXB9kH pic.twitter.com/e168tDGwJE

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) February 27, 2025

The move continues to blur the line between Disney Plus and ESPN Plus, as Disney already added an ESPN tile to Disney Plus in December 2024. The new SC Plus show could also give viewers a taste of what to expect from the more expansive ESPN streaming service coming later this year, which will include live content from the network’s linear channels, along with additional features like betting.

Today’s Apple deal highlights start off with prices dropping even lower on select MacBook configs. Firstly, the 15-inch M3 MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM is now $420 off the original price before the RAM upgrade alongside models from $899. Then it’s the M4 Pro MacBook Pro – the 16-inch model with 48GB of RAM is now $308 off – alongside M4 iPad Pro Magic Keyboards at up to $114 off. Apple Pencil Pro, AirTags, and official Apple Watch bands also join the fray today alongside everything else you’ll find below. 

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Apple has a big goal of making all its products carbon neutral by 2030. But the company is now being sued over claims that its first such product to hit that goal—Apple Watch—isn’t actually as carbon neutral as Apple says. Here’s what you should know about the new Apple Watch carbon neutral lawsuit.

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The 2024 model of the Microsoft Surface laptop has been discounted by $600 over at Amazon.

DirecTV just announced the availability of Genre Packs, which are channel groupings tied to specific interests. The satellite TV provider teased this in January with the introduction of a sports-related bundle, but now there are more to choose from. These new packs include options for news, entertainment and Spanish language content.

Just like the MySports subscription, many of these new bundles come with live TV channels and subscriptions to streaming platforms. For instance, the MyEntertainment bundle allows access to around 40 channels, including Bravo and FX, but also includes a subscription to Disney+ with Hulu. That one costs $35 per month, making for a pretty good deal.

DirecTV

The MyNews bundle doesn’t come with any premium streaming subscriptions, but does allow access to the 24-hour news cycle in all of its brain-melting glory. Purchasers get access to all of the big ones here, including MSNBC, Fox News, CNN and, for some reason, Newsmax. It costs $40 per month, which seems like a lot just to watch a bunch of rich people yell at you, but what do I know.

MiEspañol offers access to more than 50 channels, including many Spanish-language stalwarts like Univision and Telemundo. It costs $35 per month. The MySports bundle, introduced in January, is still around, for $70 per month. It provides access to more than 25 sports-related channels and includes a subscription to ESPN+.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/directv-launches-genre-packs-a-more-affordable-way-to-get-channels-you-actually-want-163012043.html?src=rss

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© DirecTV

People who subscribe to Max at the ad-supported tier will no longer be able to access CNN or Bleacher Report (B/R) Sports content through the service starting on March 30, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced this week.

At that time, only people subscribed to one of Max’s more expensive, ad-free subscription tiers will be able to access Max's live news and sports hubs.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, JB Perrette, CEO and president of global streaming and games at WBD, said the decision to change access to CNN Max and B/R Sports, which includes MLB, NBA, NHL and other live sporting events, followed over a year of assessing how people watch news and sports on Max.

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DoorDash is paying restitution after keeping tips from as many as 63,000 of its New York delivery workers thanks to a settlement with the New York Attorney General’s office, The New York Times reports. Attorney General Letitia James announced on Monday that DoorDash will pay $16.8 million, which will be spread across workers who were subjected to the company’s “guaranteed pay” model that subsidized payments against customer tips.

DoorDash will additionally pay up to $1 million in administrator costs to help make the payments happen. Some workers are expected to get several thousand dollars, others as much as $14,000, a spokesperson for the New York Attorney General’s office told The New York Times. The Office of the Attorney General will determine which workers are eligible and how much they’re repaid. DoorDash also made similar settlements with Illinois for $11.3 million in November and with Washington DC for $2.5 million in 2020.

From May 2017 through September 2019, DoorDash’s payment model would “guarantee” a certain payout to workers whether customers tipped or not. However, what the company didn’t make clear was that it was really giving a base pay of $1 and would use tips from customers before doling out money towards the guaranteed amount. For instance, if a delivery job had guaranteed payment of $10 to the worker and the customer tipped $6, DoorDash would pay the worker $1 plus the $6 tip, then fill in the remaining $3 to add up to the guarantee. If they tipped $7 or $8, the worker wouldn’t be paid anything extra — DoorDash would pocket the difference instead.

DoorDash’s model of using tips for workers’ base pay came into light in July 2019 and was met with scrutiny by the workers and customers which pushed the company to promise change in the policy. In an August 2019 response to the situation, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu tweeted that they thought they were “​​doing the right thing for Dashers by making them whole if a customer left no tip, but the feedback we’ve received recently made clear that some of our customers who were leaving tips felt like their tips didn’t matter.”

Not only was the guaranteed pay system deceitful to workers, the state complaint alleged, but it was also misleading to customers since the app promised “Dashers will always receive 100 percent of the tip,” which is only technically accurate. The New York Attorney General’s office also noted that disclosures of how tips work were buried to the point of inaccessibility during the ordering process.

During the 2021 pandemic, DoorDash and Grubhub were also sued by the city of Chicago for unfair fees and tipping policies. The case is ongoing.

Hackman, who's career spanned generations of classics from The French Connection to The Royal Tenenbaums, was 95.

Trump’s comments about turning Gaza into a resort have inspired hellish AI videos and memecoins.

Save 26% on the officially-licensed SanDisk 1TB microSDXC card branded with the Pokémon Snorelax's happy face.

Waymo, Alphabet's autonomous driving subsidiary, has been rapidly expanding its self-driving robotaxi across various US cities, introducing both testing phases and public ride-hailing operations. Despite these expansion plans, many people remain hesitant to embrace autonomous technology. A Pew Research Center study from 2022 found that 45 percent of Americans would not feel comfortable sharing the road with driverless vehicles.

Much of this skepticism comes from the coverage in the media of autonomous driving incidents. Crashes are rare, so when they do happen, they make headlines and fuel the idea that these cars are untrustworthy. The hype around a few high-profile crashes can easily drown out the bigger picture.

The data tells a different story, though. In collaboration with Swiss insurance company Swiss Re, Waymo conducted a study analyzing 25.3 million miles driven by its autonomous vehicles. The findings revealed an 88 percent reduction in property damage claims and a 92 percent reduction in bodily injury claims compared to human-driven vehicles for the same distance traveled.

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Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is set to fly Katy Perry, Lauren Sanchez and Gayle King as part of a six-person, all-female spaceflight.

Meta has fixed an error that caused some users to see a flood of graphic and violent videos in their Instagram Reels feed. The fix comes after some users saw horrific and violent content despite having Instagram’s “Sensitive Content Control” enabled. “We have fixed an error that caused some users to see content in their […]

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ResilienceVC, a new seed-stage fintech venture capital firm based out of Washington, D.C., is announcing its $56 million debut fund, the firm shared exclusively with TechCrunch. Founded by Tahira Dosani and Vikas Raj in 2023, ResilienceVC’s mission is a straightforward one: to back fintech companies dedicated to helping Americans find financial stability. It’s writing checks […]

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