Google’s NotebookLM mobile app is out now for Android on Google Play and iOS and iPadOS via the App Store, Google Labs product manager Biao Wang says in a blog post. A mobile app has been “one of the most frequent requests” for the team.

The app appears to offer similar functionality to the desktop version of NotebookLM, including the ability to upload sources of information that the app can summarize. It can also make AI-generated, podcast-like Audio Overviews. With the app, you can listen to those Audio Overviews in the background while you’re doing other things on your phone or while offline, Google says. Might be a handy way to get caught up on your performance review.

The company teased the launch of the mobile app for the AI-powered tool last month. Its official arrival is happening just ahead of Google I/O, which kicks off with the opening keynote at 1PM ET on Tuesday. It’s probably going to be an AI show.

Update, May 19th: The iOS app is now available, too.

There have been a lot of big games this year that have felt all-consuming, like Monster Hunter Wilds or Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Maze Mice offers something different: a small, pick-up-and-play experience that takes a bunch of ideas from some classics and adds a clever twist.

The game, from Luck Be a Landlord developer TrampolineTales, mixes elements of Pac-Man, Vampire Survivors, and even the classic Snake. As an adorable, pixelated mouse, you zip around a maze to get blue experience gems that are guarded by cats. When you pass by the cats, they'll wake up and start chasing you, sometimes creating a hilariously long line of felines. (Cute ghost cats will also appear and inconveniently float right into your path.) All the action takes place on one screen, so it's easy to see where everything is at any given time.

When you get enough gems, you can pick from a selection of three power-ups. The upgrades are often a little silly, like knitting needles that fly through the air to attack the cats pursuing you, but as with Vampire Survivors, it's fun to experiment with different abilities to create interesting builds.

Maze Mice's most interesting feature is that time only moves whe …

Read the full story at The Verge.

If you like games with parrying, there are two great new ways to get your fix: Doom: The Dark Ages and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. These very different games - one is a fast-paced first-person shooter, the other a turn-based fantasy RPG - approach the mechanic in very different ways.

Let's start with Doom. One of the big new additions to the game is a giant shield for the Doom Slayer, and you can use it to block projectiles or enemy attacks. The game helpfully signals anything that you can parry in a bright neon green that's easy to see as you're rushing around and destroying hordes of demons.

When a green projectile gets within range or an enemy does a green attack, you can press the parry button at the right time to deflect the danger with a huge reverberation of your shield and an action-movie-like moment of slow motion. Like most of modern Doom's action, it all looks, feels, and sounds very satisfying. But parries are also critical for fights, as they can open up an opportunity to hit the enemy with a punch or a few shots from whatever monstrous gun you're wielding.

In intense battles, I'm always hunting for green glints to find things to par …

Read the full story at The Verge.

GameStop will have additional Switch 2 stock available in-store and online when the console launches next month, according to a post on X.

In-store launch events will begin at 3PM local time on June 4th, according to the company. Pickups start on June 5th at 12AM EST / June 4th at 9PM PST.

Online orders will also begin on June 5th at 12AM EST/ June 4th at 9PM PST, spokesperson Nicolle Robles tells The Verge.

GameStop opened up its preorders on April 24th, and like with other retailers, the online preorders started poorly. Within a couple hours, the company confirmed that online preorders sold out, but many people, including The Verge’s Ash Parrish, had luck preordering in-store.

Best Buy said this week that “most” stores will have extra Switch 2 consoles available in-store at launch, too. The Verge has contacted Walmart and Target to see if they can share their plans for launch day availability.

And if you requested the chance to buy a console through Nintendo’s direct sales, check your email; invitations started going out on May 8th, and I got my own invite on Wednesday.

Update, May 16th: GameStop confirmed when online orders will begin.

Activision is starting to wind down Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile just over a year after its global launch. The game “has not met our expectations with mobile-first players like it has with PC and console audiences,” according to a post on X. The company will be pulling the game from the App Store and Google Play after Sunday, May 18th.

Players who have installed the game before Monday, May 19th will “still have access to the game with continued cross-progression of shared inventories using existing content, and servers with matchmaking for online play,” Activision says.

However, there will be no new seasonal content or gameplay updates, social features across platforms will not be available, and you won’t be able to buy content with real-world currency, Activision says on a support page. Activision will not be offering refunds for previously purchased content or for unspent COD Points.

Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile launched worldwide on March 21st, 2024, and it shared progression with Call of Duty: Warzone on console and PC. But it apparently wasn’t as successful as Activision and Microsoft, which became a huge force in mobile gaming as a result of the acquisition, would have liked.

Nintendo announced last month that it would be updating a handful of Switch games to run better on the Switch 2, and now some details about the planned improvements are available on its website. The improvements vary per game, but they include things like optimizing visuals for the Switch 2’s larger screen, better frame rates, HDR support, and GameShare support.

The full list of games getting free updates is below, and you can see the specific updates on Nintendo’s website. The updates will all be available on June 5th, the same day the Switch 2 launches:

• ARMS
• Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain
• Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
• Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics
• Game Builder Garage
• New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
• Pokémon Scarlet
• Pokémon Violet
• Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
• Super Mario Odyssey
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
• The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

These updates aren’t quite as big as the paid Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrades for games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Party Jamboree. But if you’re looking to revisit some older Switch games on the Switch 2, even the smaller improvements could feel welcome — especially for games like Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and the Link’s Awakening remake that sometimes struggled on the original Switch hardware.

Epic Games has been waiting for Apple to approve Fortnite for the US iOS App Store for nearly a week, and now Epic CEO Tim Sweeney is using X to try and put pressure on Apple. On Thursday, he highlighted examples of Fortnite lookalikes that are currently on the App Store and made a direct appeal to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

In one post, Sweeney included screenshots of the App Store listing for a game called Fort Battle Royale Epic Shoot. A screenshot in the app listing shows a game with Fortnite-inspired graphics, but it’s clear if you look closely that it isn’t the real Fortnite. “Hey @AppStore can we get the real Fortnite up pls?” Sweeney asked. 

Soon after, Sweeney said that Fort Battle Royale Epic Shoot had been taken down from the App Store but also highlighted another Fortnite clone, Epic Survival Battle Royale 3D. That app, as of this writing, is still available on the App Store. (Apple has something of a history of letting unofficial fakes of popular games slip onto the store.)

Sweeney also replied to a post Cook made earlier in the day. “Hi Tim. How about if you let our mutual customers access Fortnite? Just a thought,” Sweeney wrote.

Shortly after the April 30th ruling in Epic Games v. Apple that blocked Apple from charging a fee on purchases made outside the App Store, Sweeney announced that Epic would bring Fortnite back to the US iOS App Store “next week.”

Epic said it submitted Fortnite to Apple on Friday, May 9th, but the app hasn’t yet been approved. (Apple’s website says that “on average, 90 percent of submissions are reviewed in less than 24 hours.”)

Sweeney said yesterday that the company submitted a new version because “we need to release a weekly Fortnite update with new content this Friday, and all platforms must update simultaneously.” But that updated submission still hasn’t been approved, either.

“We don’t have an update on our Fortnite submission to the App Store,” Sweeney said earlier on Thursday. “Apple has neither accepted nor rejected it. So the Friday update to Fortnite is now in jeopardy.”

It’s unclear if that last sentence means that Epic plans to delay the planned Friday Fortnite update for all platforms where Fortnite is available as a result of Apple not yet approving the update.

Apple and Epic Games didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

You might want to prepare for things to pay more at Walmart. The company’s CFO, John David Rainey, told CNBC that the Trump administration’s tariffs are “still too high” and that consumers could see higher prices “likely towards the tail end of this month, and then certainly much more in June.”

“We’re wired for everyday low prices, but the magnitude of these increases is more than any retailer can absorb,” Rainey said. The company will “absorb some of the price increases and suppliers will too,” but consumers will probably still see price increases, “which concerns us.”

Walmart imports “about a third of our overall merchandise and food” that it sells in the US from “a number” of countries, according to Rainey. “China is the largest. It’s China and Mexico, Canada, India, Vietnam.”

Walmart reported its Q1 fiscal year 2026 earnings on Thursday. “We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible but given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins,” CEO Doug McMillon said on a call with analysts on Thursday, according to The New York Times. McMillon also noted that “the higher tariffs will result in higher prices.”

Update, May 15th: Clarified that Walmart’s earnings today were for its fiscal year Q1 2026.

Roblox is going to let creators sell physical items from their games. The company has been testing its tools to do so since last year, but today, it’s announcing that it’s opening up its Commerce APIs to eligible Roblox creators. Shopify is the first “integrated partner” for the APIs, and if a creator or brand is a Shopify merchant, they can start selling physical goods inside their experiences.

You can see how it works in a video from Roblox. In one experience’s “premium shop,” there’s a merch section where you can browse things like hoodies or T-shirts. Click on the one you’re interested in and a page will pop up with additional details about the item and begin the checkout process.

Fenty Beauty is one brand that is already offering stuff to buy through an in-Roblox experience, including a shade of lip gloss that’s exclusively only in that experience. Hopefully experiences that incorporate shopping are more interesting than my dreary time at Metaverse Fashion Week.

Roblox is also launching an initiative that works the other way around. Through the company’s new Approved Merchandiser Program, you’ll be able to buy physical goods in the real world that give you digital items in experiences.

EA is asking employees to return to the office for three days per week under a hybrid model – and it sounds like the company will be significantly reducing remote hiring. CEO Andrew Wilson and president of EA Entertainment and technology Laura Miele sent emails to staff about the change, IGN reports. Kotaku’s Ethan Gach also reported on Wilson’s email.

Corporate communications VP Justin Higgs confirmed the new hybrid model to The Verge. “We’ve adopted a globally consistent hybrid work model to bring teams together with greater clarity and intent – enabling faster decisions, sharper execution, and stronger connection to one another,” Higgs says. Hybrid roles will spend “at least three days a week in the office,” though there will be “flexibility” on other roles.

Miele’s email details how EA locations will have a 30-mile radius around them to help determine if an employee falls under the on site, hybrid, or remote model for work, IGN reports. Here’s what Miele says, per IGN:

• Employees who live within 30-miles/48-km of an EA location will transition to a Hybrid work model.
• Employees who live outside the 30-mile/48-km radius will be considered remote unless their role is designated as On Site or Hybrid.

The “offsite local” work model is going to be sunset within 3 to 24 months. In addition, “any work model exception and future Remote hires will require a CEO Direct’s /my approval,” Miele’s email says, according to IGN.

The changes to EA’s policies follow recent layoffs of between 300 and 400 people, layoffs at BioWare announced in January, and a layoff of about 5 percent of its staff early last year.

Update, May 14th: Noted that Ethan Gach also reported on Wilson’s email.

A leak of old text messages sent to Steam customers with one-time codes for logins was “not a breach of Steam systems,” Valve says in a post published Wednesday.

Valve’s response follows news that a hacker is allegedly in possession of 89 million user records and put them up for sale for $5,000, as BleepingComputer reports. BleepingComputer looked at 3,000 leaked files and found “historic SMS text messages with one-time passcodes for Steam, including the recipient’s phone number.”

While one X user claimed that there is evidence tying the breach to Twilio, a Twilio spokesperson told BleepingComputer that “there is no evidence to suggest that Twilio was breached” and that “we have reviewed a sampling of the data found online, and see no indication that this data was obtained from Twilio.” Valve also told the X user that it does not use Twilio.

“The leak consisted of older text messages that included one-time codes that were only valid for 15-minute time frames and the phone numbers they were sent to,” Valve says in its post. “The leaked data did not associate the phone numbers with a Steam account, password information, payment information or other personal data. Old text messages cannot be used to breach the security of your Steam account, and whenever a code is used to change your Steam email or password using SMS, you will receive a confirmation via email and/or Steam secure messages.”

Valve adds that you don’t need to change your password or phone number following this leak, though it does recommend setting up the Steam Mobile Authenticator.

The company says it’s “still digging into the source of the leak.”

Apple is updating Maps to show recommendations and information from outside sources like Michelin, The Infatuation, and Golf Digest, according to a press release. Michelin recommendations will be available first, with “rankings and insights” from The Infatuation and Golf Digest added “soon” and “more expert sources to follow,” Apple says.

“With this update, place cards will now reflect distinctions, descriptions, and images from expert sources,” Apple says. “Additionally, for select hotels, users can now book directly from Maps, with the option to schedule restaurant reservations through Michelin and tee times through Supreme Golf coming soon.”

I was able to get the “Michelin Distinctions” search filter to show up after searching for “Hotels” inside the Maps app on my iPhone 16 Pro. When I tapped on one of the hotels that popped up, The Hoxton in Portland, Maps showed that it had one Michelin Key (like a Michelin Star, but for hotels) and a summary of the hotel pulled from Michelin Guide.

Apple and Formula 1 also announced updates to Monaco in Maps ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix and the release of Apple’s F1 movie.

Grok, the AI model from Elon Musk’s xAI, was sending strange responses to people on X earlier on Wednesday. In responses to a number of people, Grok focused on debunking claims of white genocide in South Africa – even when tagged into a post about totally unrelated topics.

Check out this thread to get an idea of what was going on. One person posted a video of a cat in a sink reacting to droplets from a faucet. New York Times tech reporter Mike Isaac tagged Grok and asked “is this true.” Here is Grok’s reply:

The claim of white genocide in South Africa is highly contentious and lacks credible evidence. Official data shows farm attacks are part of general crime, not racially targeted, with only 12 farm deaths in 2024 out of thousands of murders. A 2025 court ruling dismissed the claim as “not real.” While some cite “Kill the Boer” as evidence, courts have ruled it protected speech, not hate. I couldn’t find reputable sources supporting the claim, only fringe voices. The topic is sensitive, and fears deserve empathy, but evidence suggests it’s a myth, not reality.

There are multiple examples of similar replies. 

However, whatever was going on seems to have been fixed – Grok’s responses now appear to be focused on what people are actually asking about. X didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. 

The unexpected responses from Grok follow the arrival of the first Afrikaners granted refugee status following an executive order from President Donald Trump. Earlier this week, Trump said that he created their path for refugee status because there is a “genocide” taking place. As Grok said, that claim is highly contentious.

Nintendo’s Switch 2 specs page is light on details. However, Digital Foundry has shared what it says are “rock solid” specifications for the upcoming console in an article and a video, offering new information about its processor and a testing tool for developers for GameChat.

On its specs page, Nintendo only describes the Switch 2’s chip as a “custom processor made by Nvidia.” Nvidia shared a bit more last month, including that its chip enables DLSS and real-time ray tracing on the Switch 2. Digital Foundry gets more specific: it says the Switch 2’s custom Nvidia T239 system-on-a-chip uses an ARM Cortex A78C CPU with eight cores. Six cores will be available to developers, while two will be used for the system.

The GPU uses Nvidia’s Ampere architecture. The console also has 12GB of LPDDR5X memory, though the system will hold 3GB in reserve.

As for the Switch 2’s display capabilities, while VRR is supported on the console’s screen, the device doesn’t support VRR while in docked mode and connected to HDMI, Digital Foundry reports. Nintendo originally advertised that VRR would be available while docked as well, but it’s since scrubbed mentions of that on its website. 

Digital Foundry also notes an interesting tidbit about GameChat, the new Discord-like chat system for the Switch 2. Nintendo is offering developers a GameChat testing tool that “simulates API latency and L3 cache misses that the real world GameChat system incurs on the system, meaning developers can test this without needing active GameChat sessions running,” Digital Foundry says. Hopefully, this testing tool will help developers make sure that GameChat doesn’t bog down their games.

Digital Foundry has a lot more detail than I covered here, so check out its coverage of the specs to learn more. The Switch 2 is scheduled to launch on June 5th, and if you missed getting a preorder, you might want to consider lining up at Best Buy.

TikTok has a new AI-powered tool called “AI Alive” that will let you turn photos into video with a prompt to describe what you want the video to look like. It’s a little different from other 

You can access the tool from TikTok’s Story Camera, and it uses “intelligent editing tools that give anyone, regardless of editing experience, the ability to transform static images into captivating, short-form videos enhanced with movement, atmospheric and creative effects,” according to a blog post.

I tested the tool with a few pictures from my camera roll. After picking the photo, I could enter a prompt; TikTok initially filled the prompt box with “make this photo come alive.” Uploading usually took a few minutes, though the videos themselves were just a few seconds long. It also failed to make a picture where I asked it to make a cat jump and have an anime style into an anime.

TikTok says it has some safety measures in place for the videos. “To help prevent people from creating content that violates our policies, moderation technology reviews the uploaded photo and written AI generation prompt as well as the AI Alive video before it’s shown to the creator,” TikTok says in the blog post. “A final safety check happens once a creator decides to post to their Story.” The video will also be labeled as AI-generated and will have C2PA metadata embedded.

Let’s hope this tool doesn’t add in brand new people, like what has happened with TikTok’s AI “sway dance” filter.

Google is bringing its Gemini AI assistant to devices with Google TV, cars with Android Auto and Google built-in, Wear OS smartwatches, and Android XR. But Google isn’t saying exactly when the AI assistant will come to those devices — right now, the company is giving more general timelines about when it might arrive.

On Google TV products, “you can ask for action movies that are age-appropriate for your kids, and get the best recommendations,” according to a blog post from Guemmy Kim, a senior director of product and user experience on Android. In an example, the company shows how you can ask something like “can you explain the solar system to my first grader,” and Google TV pulls up a short explanation, offers a button to press to learn more, and recommends YouTube videos about the solar system designed for kids. Gemini is coming to Google TV “later this year.”

In cars, Gemini will improve upon talking hands-free with Google Assistant by “understanding what you want while you’re driving, through natural conversations,” Kim says. “For example, Gemini can find you a charging station on the way to the post office that’s also near a park, so that you can go for a walk before your errands while your car is charging.” Gemini can also connect to a messaging app to summarize your messages. Gemini is coming to Android Auto “in the coming months,” and to cars with Google built-in sometime later.

With Gemini on Wear OS, Kim highlights how the AI assistant lets you talk naturally, with “no need to get the words just right, or awkwardly type into a tiny screen,” which could be useful if you’re asking a quick question while dashing out the door to work. Gemini will launch on Wear OS in the coming months.

Finally, Gemini is coming to the first Android XR headset, built by Samsung. Kim says people will be able to try it later this year. 

If you don’t have a Nintendo Switch 2 preorder, Best Buy might still be able to help you get a console on launch day. For the retailer’s midnight openings for the Switch 2 launch, “most stores will have limited inventory of systems, games, and accessories for in-store purchase,” according to its website. 

Most Best Buy stores across the country will be opening up at 12:01AM ET on June 5th for the launch, per the website. (If you’re on the West Coast like me, that means your store will open at 9:01PM PT on June 4th.) People who snagged preorders for in-store pickup can also get their consoles when the stores open. As part of the midnight launch, Best Buy also says that customers will “have the chance to receive a Nintendo collectible.”

Online preorders last month were a total mess to start, but many people had success the old-fashioned way: lining up at GameStop. With Best Buy offering its limited in-store stock, lining up ahead of June 5th might be the way to go if you don’t have a preorder in and want to play Mario Kart World on day one.

Apple is getting into Lofi Girl’s turf. The company has teamed up with Universal Music Group (UMG) to make the Sound Therapy collection of tracks for Apple Music that are “designed to help listeners attain clearer focus, deeper relaxation, and better sleep,” according to a press release. 

There are three categories of Sound Therapy tracks available: Focus, Relax, and Sleep. They feature “extended, instrumental, and reimagined” versions of songs from artists like Imagine Dragons, Katy Perry, Kacey Musgraves, and more. 

Here’s how Apple and UMG say the Sound Therapy songs might help you out:

Songs have been enhanced with auditory beats or colored noise to help encourage specific brain responses. Gamma waves and white noise — a whoosh-like combination of every sound frequency — may help with focusing; theta waves could aid in relaxation; and delta waves and pink noise — a deeper, gentler variation akin to rain or wind — might assist in achieving better sleep. A dreamy version of Katy Perry’s “Double Rainbow,” for example, could help listeners drift off to sleep, while an Imagine Dragons track might help them tackle a to-do list. 

I’m a little skeptical about all of that, but that might just be a me thing; I’m not great at working with music (despite how much I like lofi beats) and I can’t fall asleep to music, either. But if you do like music for working or to help you sleep, these new playlists could be useful.

Apple also has a dedicated radio station for chill music and an Ambient Music tool with playlists for sleep, chill, productivity, and wellbeing.

Get ready for more Fallout. The second season of the hit Prime Video show will premiere in December, and the show has already been renewed for a third, Variety reports.

The second season will “pick up in the aftermath of Season One’s epic finale and take audiences along for a journey through the wasteland of the Mojave to the post-apocalyptic city of New Vegas,” according to a description included in Variety. Production wrapped on the season last week.

There’s no word on when the third season might premiere. Hopefully the early renewal means we’ll see it sooner rather than later.

The first season was excellent, and as my colleague Ash Parrish wrote, it got the postapocalyptic vibes exactly right. Fingers crossed that the second season keeps up the quality of the first – I’ll be clearing some time during the holiday season to watch the new episodes.

The show has already gotten more than 100 million viewers worldwide, which makes the show rank “among Prime Video’s top three most-watched titles ever,” Amazon says.

Duolingo is making a big change: it’s moving on from hearts in favor of a new “energy” mechanic. The idea is to switch from a system that punishes mistakes to one that’s intended to feel more motivating — and a bit more gamified.

Under the old system, you’d lose a heart if you made a mistake while doing a lesson. To earn hearts back, you could do things like watch an ad, pay for a full refill using Duolingo’s Gems currency, or just wait for the hearts to refresh.

Under the new system, you’ll spend one unit of energy to complete an exercise, and a mistake will cost one energy. But you’ll also get extra energy back at a randomized rate for completing multiple lessons right in a row. As a result, users should be able to do more lessons, and that’s what’s showing up in the data, Moses Wayne, a senior staff engineer at Duolingo, tells The Verge. 

“We feel like this is a way that we can motivate you to focus on things you’re getting right rather than penalizing for the things that you’re making mistakes on,” Wayne says. He also says that “we wanted to find a way to gamify the experience a little more.”

A full energy bar is 25 units of energy (versus five hearts). Energy regenerates over time, like hearts do, Wayne says. You can also buy more energy with Gems, and subscribers to Super Duolingo and Duolingo Max will have unlimited energy, similar to how subscribers of those tiers have unlimited hearts, according to Duolingo spokesperson Monica Earle.

Wayne points out that, under the hearts system, you could fail out of your first lesson of the day. “In an energy world, that’s really not going to happen because we’re not penalizing you for mistakes anymore,” Wayne says. Duolingo’s aggregate metrics show that, in general, people are able to engage “a lot more” with Duolingo now than before.

The change is rolling out first on iOS over the next weeks and months, and the aim is to bring it to Android later this year. If you happen to play Duolingo across iOS and Android right now, your Android app will stick with hearts, while the iOS app will stick with energy; they won’t sync, Wayne says.

Duolingo’s CEO recently announced that the company is going to be “AI-first,” and it just doubled its language courses thanks to AI.