Old-school Doom fans have something new to chew on until The Dark Ages arrives. Doom + Doom II, the latest in a long line of rereleases of the two id Software classics, was updated on Tuesday with multiplayer mod support. And balance was restored in Hades.
At launch in August, the bundle — available for PC, PS5/PS4, Xbox Series X/S and Switch — supported mods and multiplayer, but not the two together. The game’s second update, which Bethesda pushed on Tuesday, only adds multiplayer mod support if everyone in your match does a little planning.
First, hosts need to activate each mod before entering the multiplayer menu. In addition, all players in the match have to subscribe to the same mod before joining. Only mods authored with Vanilla DOOM, DeHackEd, MBF21 or BOOM are compatible.
Doom: The Dark Ages is set to launch on May 15. It takes place in the medieval wastelands of Hell and adds new goodies like mech battles and a ridable cyber dragon. If that isn’t an elevator pitch for a Doom game, I don’t know what is.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/doom--doom-ii-now-supports-multiplayers-mods-214215269.html?src=rss
Jack Dorsey’s Block has created its own open-source AI agent. Called “codename goose,” the tool allows users to complete tasks using popular large language models.
“You can think of Goose as an assistant that is ready to take your instructions, and do the work for you,” Block explains in a blog post. According to the company, the agent can autonomously complete engineering tasks like looking for bugs or making code changes.
Users can configure goose to run on their preferred LLM. Iit supports Anthropic, Gemini, OpenAI and others, though the company says it “works best” with Anthropic's Claude 3.5 Sonnet and OpenAI's o1 model. It’s also compatible with extensions, which allows it to plug into popular developer tools, like GitHub and Google Drive,
Block is, of course, known for its financial apps, Square and Cash App, as well as the music streaming service Tidal, which it acquired in 2021. Those may not be industries you immediately associate with AI development, but Block founder Jack Dorsey is a longtime advocate for open-source software. The company also notes that goose could eventually extend to “non-engineering use cases” as well. Block engineer Brad Axen toldZDNET that the company envisions more “creative’ uses for goose, like music generation.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/jack-dorseys-block-has-an-ai-agent-too-212706083.html?src=rss
Here's one for the fashion-conscious retro gamers out there. Atari has teamed up with watchmaker Nubeo to release an Asteroids-themed watch to celebrate the game's 45th anniversary (even though it came out in 1979).
The watch has a multi-layered disc system that's designed to reflect the gameplay of Asteroids. Atari says it's powered by "a Japanese automatic movement." The watch has a stainless steel 50mm case and a sapphire lens. It also has a 20 ATM rating for water resistance at depths of up to 200 meters, so it should be sturdy enough if you want to wear it while scuba diving.
The timepiece even comes in a case that looks like an Atari VCS. Atari and Nubeo created five colorways for it: nebula blue, supernova red, nova nightfall, plasma pumpkin and celestial citrine. Best of all, the watch glows in the dark.
Atari/Nubeo
Actually telling what time it is on this thing might take you a moment or two, though. A pair of UFOs indicate the time in hours and minutes. As for the A-shaped spaceship in the center and the shots it fires, that's your second hand. But the display looks quite chaotic, as a number of asteroids spin around on the discs as well.
Look, I really like my Apple Watch for lots of reasons, not least because I can actually play some video games on it, like the absorbing Galaxy Mix (there's an Asteroids clone that's apparently playable on the device too). Maybe I'll just need to become one of those people who wear two watches, since I want the Asteroids timepiece as well.
You'll likely need to act quickly if you want one, though. Nubeo only made 125 of each variant. The colorways are listed for $499 each on the Atari and Nubeo websites. Good luck!
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/good-luck-figuring-out-what-time-it-is-on-this-cool-asteroids-watch-205505602.html?src=rss
CVS is launching a new app today and it could address one of the more obnoxious elements of in-person drugstore shopping: locked cabinets. One way the CVS Health app can expedite the store experience is by letting select users access products behind those clear plastic panels through their phones, without asking for assistance from an employee.
This tool is being tested in just three stores for now and is only available to loyalty program members. And within those limits, shoppers will need to log into the app, join the store's Wi-Fi and enable Bluetooth on their phones to unlock cabinets on their own.
For any irritated customer who has been delayed by the clear plastic cage, or for any busy store employee called away just for their keys, the addition of a mobile tool for accessing locked cabinets sounds like a welcome idea. Tilak Mandadi, executive vice president at CVS Health, toldThe Wall Street Journal that the pilot program has gone well so far, and the company's next step will be expanding the feature to 10-15 stores.
The app, which is a successor to the company's CVS Pharmacy app, also includes resources for managing prescriptions and immunizations. And because it's a software product in the year 2025, CVS Health uses some artificial intelligence. The app is launching with AI-powered search options and is expected to add an AI chat tool for checking medication refills and order status later in the year.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/cvs-tries-to-juice-app-signups-with-cabinet-unlocking-feature-203954391.html?src=rss
Man pressing button for employee assistance at locked merchandise, CVS store, Queens, New York. (Photo by: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Looking to upgrade your gaming rig? Dell is selling one of its most popular Alienware gaming monitors at a deep discount. The 32-inch model is more than $400 off, now costing $765 instead of $1,200. The display is on sale for $900 outright, but enter "MONITORS15" at checkout for an additional 15 percent off. The 34-inch model is $250 off, but there's no available coupon code.
This is one of our favorite gaming monitors and we called it “an incredible ultrawide OLED.” It boasts a curved QD-OLED panel. It also features 4K resolution and a max refresh rate of 240Hz, which is a fantastic metric for gaming. These monitors allow access to Dolby Vision, NVIDIA G-Sync and AMD Free-Sync.
The ports are also on point. These displays include a pair of HDMI 2.1 ports, a single USB-B upstream port, four USB-A downstream ports and a single USB-C port. One of the USB-A ports also supports BC1.2 power-charging.
Dell
The 34-inch model is actually cheaper, at $650, but there are some trade offs. This one doesn’t support G-Sync and offers a max refresh rate of 165Hz. The 25-inch and 27-inch variants aren’t on sale, and aren’t even curved, but the coupon code does work. Respectively, this brings the price down to $300 and $510.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/get-more-than-400-off-one-of-our-favorite-alienware-gaming-monitors-195620194.html?src=rss
If you own a Garmin GPS watch, you may want to power it down for a while. Users on Reddit and Garmin’s forums (viaThe Verge) report that a botched software update is leaving the wearables in a “blue triangle” boot loop, putting them out of commission until further notice.
In a statement to Engadget, Garmin acknowledged the issue. “We are aware of an issue causing some devices to be stuck on the start-up screen or a blue triangle.” The company points readers to its support webpage for updates.
A pinned message from the company on its forums details a possible fix that some users claim is only temporary. “We are aware of an issue causing some devices to be stuck on the start up screen or a blue triangle,” the message reads. “To resolve this, press and hold the power button until the device turns off, then power it back on, and sync with the Garmin Connect app or Garmin Express.”
Garmin
Some crafty Redditors claim to have traced the issue to a file related to GPS functionality. Although some reported that following Garmin’s reset instructions worked, others said it was only temporary, with the issue returning later. The problem appears to affect various models, including the Forerunner, Venu, Fenix, Vivoactive and Epix lines.
If your Garmin smartwatch has no problems (... so far), you may save yourself a headache by powering it down and waiting for an official solution from Garmin. If you’ve encountered the issue and want to roll the dice, this Reddit thread includes some unofficial — and untested by Engadget — fixes and workarounds.
Update, January 28, 2025, 3:40PM ET: This story has been updated to add a statement from Garmin.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/some-garmin-gps-watches-are-stuck-in-a-blue-triangle-boot-loop-193920555.html?src=rss
Waymo posted on X today that it has opened fully autonomous rides on LA freeways to its employees. The company noted that this is a preliminary step toward bringing its vehicle fleet onto highways for all passengers in the city.
Freeways are an intrinsic part of the LA experience. To better serve our expansive 79-square-mile service area, we're beginning to provide our employees with access to fully autonomous rides on LA freeways—a key step toward expanding this capability to all riders. pic.twitter.com/oWqVQ1hlJz
After getting approval to begin local robotaxi operation in March 2024, Waymo offered autonomous rides in LA at a small scale, with a waitlist for interested customers. In November, the waitlist ended so any Angelenos could call for a ride. But for a sprawling city like LA, having access to a highway is all but essential for getting around, so adding freeways to the cars' capability would mark a big improvement in how useful Waymo robotaxis will be there.
Waymo, which is owned by Google parent company Alphabet, has set its sights on its first international expansion. The business said it anticipates starting vehicle tests and mapping in Japan early this year. On the home front, Waymo is also slated to launch in Austin and Atlanta in early 2025.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/waymos-autonomous-robotaxis-are-starting-to-merge-onto-la-freeways-191035547.html?src=rss
Heads up, Animal Crossing fans: if you haven’t yet bought the paid version of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and plan to do so, it might be a good idea to snap it up in the next day or so. The mobile game for iOS and Android is currently $10, but the price will double to $20 after 1AM ET on January 31. That’s when the introductory offer comes to an end.
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete arrived in December, a few days after Nintendo shut down the free-to-play edition. Folks who played the original version can still transfer their save data via their Nintendo account and continue from where they left off. The deadline transferring the data is 2AM ET on June 2.
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp debuted in 2017. It employed a freemium model with microtransactions, but Nintendo has since decided to ditch that approach. While you'll now need to pay for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete upfront, the current iteration of the game doesn't have any in-app purchases.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/heads-up-animal-crossing-pocket-camp-complete-will-only-be-10-for-a-couple-more-days-183525135.html?src=rss
It seems that X is getting ready to finally roll out the payments app the company’s leaders have long been promising The company will introduce X Money later this year with Visa as partner, CEO Linda Yaccarino announced.
According to Yaccarino, X Money will support person-to-person payments via users’ debit cards with the ability to transfer funds to a bank account, much like Venmo. The service will also allow you to deposit money into an “X Wallet.”
Another milestone for the Everything App: @Visa is our first partner for the @XMoney Account, which will debut later this year.
💰Allows for secure + instant funding to your X Wallet via Visa Direct
🪪 Connects to your debit card allowing P2P payments
Bothe Yaccarino and X owner Elon Musk have long promised to bring financial services to X as they attempt to turn the platform into an “everything app.” In a memo last year, Yaccarino said the company planned to support banking and payments features for users. Musk has also said he wants people to be able to run their “entire financial world” via X.
So far, X Money sounds like it’s a long way off from that vision, though Yaccarino said the Visa partnership is the “first of many big announcements about X Money this year.” X hasn’t disclosed specifics about how X Money will work for users or how it might make money off the service. X’s business is reportedly struggling. Musk recently told employees that “our user growth is stagnant, revenue is unimpressive, and we’re barely breaking even,” in a memo reported byThe Wall Street Journal.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/xs-payments-app-will-be-available-later-this-year-181046773.html?src=rss
X logo displayed on a phone screen is seen in this illustration photo taken in Poland on December 15, 2024. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A majority of workers at a Whole Foods location in Philadelphia have voted to unionize, as reported by Reuters. This makes the Pennsylvania store the first to unionize under Amazon’s ownership, and the second time overall.
Workers voted 130 to 100 for representation, according to the National Labor Relations Board, which translates to nearly 60 percent of workers choosing to unionize. Workers at this particular location filed to hold a union election back in November. A successful vote is just the beginning of this process, however, as a contract has yet to be ratified and accepted by both parties.
"We are ready to bring Whole Foods to the bargaining table to negotiate a fair first contract that reflects the workers' needs and priorities," Wendell Young IV, President of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776, said in an email.
Workers at Amazon’s Whole Foods in Philadelphia made history today as they voted to unionize and WON! pic.twitter.com/jKpkuhwRIi
Coming as no surprise, Whole Foods expressed disappointment over the outcome of the vote. A company representative told Reuters that it already offers “competitive compensation, great benefits and career advancement opportunities.” Ahead of the vote, workers cited the need for better wages and benefits.
As previously noted, this is the first successful unionization bid for Whole Foods workers since Amazon bought the company in 2017 for nearly $14 billion. It’s not, however, the first time a Whole Foods location has voted to unionize. Workers in a Wisconsin location voted to unionize back in 2002, but the union was dissolved the following year.
In the interest of full disclosure, I worked at a Whole Foods location in 2005 and, one day, someone snuck in the store to hand out pro-unionization pamphlets. Management sent an armed guard around to collect the pamphlets from us. It was weird.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/whole-foods-workers-form-first-union-since-amazon-acquisition-180026628.html?src=rss
Ooni, the Scottish company known for its innovative outdoor pizza ovens, is expanding into a new product category — without sacrificing the brand’s pizza theme. The Halo Pro is a $799 mixer that tries to do the same for pizza dough as the company did for pizza ovens: bring restaurant-quality baking to the home kitchen.
The Ooni Halo Pro uses spiral mixing technology, which is better for dough (including thicker ones, like for pizza). Their gentle, more efficient approach minimizes temperature increases and optimizes hydration, combining to create stronger gluten strands.
Although you can buy commercial-grade spiral mixers for the home, they tend to have industrial-chic designs (so, not chic at all). And those from trusted brands like Häussler and Famag cost thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, Ooni’s model has a sleek design — more eye-catching than an eyesore — that would look right at home in the modern kitchen. It will be available in two colors: polar white and charcoal gray.
Ooni
The Halo Pro has a removable 7.3-quart bowl and a digital interface. Twisting a dial lets you cycle through its 58 mixing speeds. Ooni says its bowl can mix 11 pounds of dough at once — enough for 20 pizzas or six loaves of bread.
The mixer specializes in dough but is hardly limited to it. It ships with a spiral hook, removable breaker bar, geared whisk and flexible beater. That toolset opens the door to things like whipped cream, egg whites or batters.
The Ooni Halo Pro will cost a lot of dough compared to traditional planetary mixers. (But not compared to many industrial spiral mixers.) It launches for $799 on April 8. You can sign up on Ooni’s website to be alerted when it’s available.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/oonis-first-departure-from-pizza-ovens-is-a-799-spiral-mixer-174510926.html?src=rss
Boom, the startup developing a new generation of supersonic aircraft, has achieved a major milestone after its test plane broke the sound barrier for the first time. The XB-1 “Baby Boom” piloted by Tristan “Gepetto” Brandenburg, flew through the Bell X-1 Supersonic Corridor over the Mojave Desert. XB-1 reached a speed of Mach 1.1 at an altitude of 35,000 feet for a few minutes before running out of airspace authorized for supersonic travel. The plane would go on to break the sound barrier a total of three times before it returned to base. It’s the first time a civilian aircraft has broken the sound barrier while flying over the United States.
Engadget covered Boom in an extensive profile back in 2020, where the company was gearing up to unveil XB-1 and make preparations for test flights. Since then, it has been undergoing a barrage of tests, with a series of subsonic test flights starting from March 2024 through the end of the year. In the background, the company has been signing deals with major airlines including United and American, to supply passenger jets for civilian service. This craft, dubbed Overture, has a planned top speed of Mach 1.7 — equivalent of 1,305 miles per hour — which would cut existing travel times in half. At least, for the folks who could afford a ticket.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/booms-xb-1-jet-breaks-the-sound-barrier-for-the-first-time-164930546.html?src=rss
The Google Nest WiFi Pro 6E mesh router is on sale for $120 via Amazon. That’s a discount of 40 percent, which is one heck of a deal. This discount only applies to the light green model.
This unit easily made our list of the best mesh routers, and for good reason. It’s a reliable and easy-to-use device. The installation process is simple, which can’t always be said of mesh systems. We called it the perfect router “for folks who want to set their network up and then forget about it.” That’s me. I’m that folk.
The Nest WiFi Pro provides reliable tri-band Wi-Fi, so it’s great for streaming movies, gaming, web browsing and just about everything else. It also offers various useful integrations. It supports Matter, Thread and Google Assistant, as a start. We recommended this router at the full price, so we definitely like it at half the cost.
There are a couple of minor caveats here. This sale provides just a single unit, which offers 2,200 square feet of coverage. However, those with larger homes and multiple dead zones will likely need to pick up a second router to add to the system. Also, it’s not quite as fast or powerful as some rival Wi-Fi 6E routers.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/googles-nest-wifi-pro-6e-is-cheaper-than-ever-with-a-40-percent-discount-163456635.html?src=rss
OpenAI has begun offering a version of ChatGPT designed for US government agencies. ChatGPT Gov includes many of the same features found in the Enterprise offering of the chatbot, including access to the company’s GPT-4o model. “By making our products available to the US government, we aim to ensure AI serves the national interest and the public good, aligned with democratic values, while empowering policymakers to responsibly integrate these capabilities to deliver better services to the American people,” OpenAI said in a blog post published Tuesday.
Before today, US government employees were already using ChatGPT in their day-to-day work. According to the company, federal, state and local government workers at 3,500 agencies across the country have sent more than 18 million messages since 2024. With today’s announcement, those same agencies can now self-host ChatGPT within their own Microsoft Azure commercial or government cloud environment. In practice, that should make it easier for government IT heads to ensure the tool is used safely.
OpenAI’s move to offer ChatGPT Gov comes after the company announced it was partnering with SoftBank to build $500 billion worth of AI infrastructure within the United States over the next four years. Many immediately questioned whether OpenAI had the money to fund Stargate to the level it said it would. After the announcement, The Information reported that SoftBank and OpenAI would each commit about $19 billion to the project to start, far less than the $100 billion the two had said they would deploy “immediately.”
More broadly, the arrival of ChatGPT Gov comes amid uncertainty about the strength of the American AI industry. On Monday, US tech stocks dropped dramatically after DeepSeek, an AI assistant from a Chinese startup, unseated ChatGPT as the top free app in the App Store over the weekend. DeepSeek purportedly spent less than $6 million to develop its R1 model.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-debuts-a-version-of-chatgpt-for-us-government-agencies-162809443.html?src=rss
You'll only need to remember the name Incention for the brief moment you're reading this post, because you'll likely never have to think about it again. As Variety reports, it's a new platform for building new Hollywood IP using the combined power of AI tools, fan contributions and the blockchain. Incention describes itself as "a new blueprint for building modern franchises, where IP holders, communities, and agents collaborate seamlessly in an endless playground rooted in real IP." Because, of course, the real problem plaguing Hollywood today is the inability to build franchises with user-generated content, unproven AI tools and blockchain hype.
Incention's first franchise — the modern Hollywood term for "story" — is Emergence, a sci-fi premise from Blade and The Dark Knight writer David S. Goyer. It centers on a universe where a white hole appears (my god, the opposite of a black hole!) and spews out mysterious high tech objects. Goyer describes it as a "creative sandbox" for artists and fans to build "limitless narratives" across multiple genres and mediums. (The name is also confounding. It sounds far too similar to Christopher Nolan's Inception, a movie that Goyer had no hand in. And what does it even mean? Incentive prevention?)
Atlas, an AI agent that's meant to be a "creative partner," serves as Incention's main AI tool for developing content. It'll be able to come up with ideas, help story direction and even generate full videos, according to the company. Incention also claims that Atlas can post autonomously to social media platforms to improve itself, perhaps because social media engagement for real franchises is too dangerous for humans these days.
Incention is powered by the Story blockchain, which will help to track the content produced by fans and creators across all of its franchises. Again, a major problem that needed to be solved. The NFT grift is over, and we've yet to see any product outside of Bitcoin and other digital currencies tapping into the blockchain effectively.
“A couple of years ago, I realized that it’s [AI] not going away, it’s going to completely embed itself within society," Goyer told Variety. "So I tried to learn as much about it as I could, whether it be ChatGPT or Midjourney or the various other tools, and I think those have useful applications that don’t necessarily put people out of a job — although there are a lot of potential AI applications that could. But in this instance, we’re not putting anyone out of a job. If anything, this is a tool to allow people that normally wouldn’t have an entry point into Hollywood or publishing houses or things like that."
The big problem Incention faces, though, is that it's not actually fixing anything in Hollywood. Similar to the short-lived Quibi, the entire impetus behind Incention is driven by technology, instead of genuine demands from creators or a franchise-hungry public. And unlike Quibi, Incention isn't launching with nearly $2 billion in funding (though it has raised an undisclosed amount from the a16z crypto fund) or the Hollywood bonafides of someone like DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Incention also seems to fundamentally misunderstand how fan-produced content works. People aren't spending hours on their fanfic, fanart and cosplay simply because they want to get paid. They're doing it because someone created a story and characters that genuinely moved them. Good luck getting the same sort of support from a generic-sounding franchise like Emergence.
"The entertainment industry stands at a crossroads," Incention wrote in a "manifesto" of its vision. "As AI generates an endless stream of content, traditional entertainment grapples with an existential crisis: How do we preserve human creativity while harnessing the power of modern technology? The answer is not in resistance, but in collaboration and shared upside."
I give it a month.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/incention-is-a-desperate-attempt-to-make-new-hollywood-ip-with-ai-fans-and-the-blockchain-162024019.html?src=rss
Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) are re-introducing a bill that aims to ban social media platforms from knowingly letting kids aged under 13 from using them. The bipartisan Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA) was introduced last year, but it didn't progress beyond the committee stage. However, KOSMA may pick up more momentum this time around given the current political landscape.
“I'm going to do everything I can to get it passed out of committee and advanced on the floor [...] and signed into law,” Cruz told The Washington Post. “Ted and I are in the middle of about two dozen different disagreements and disputes, but the one thing that seems to unite the political parties is that we need to protect small children from the negative outcomes of being on social media,” Schatz said.
Cruz is now the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee (which has become a prominent battleground for social media-related issues in recent years). Not only that, Republicans are in control of both houses of Congress while Lina Khan is no longer head of the Federal Trade Commission.
Under KOSMA, that agency would have extra regulatory power over social media platforms. Some Republicans were reluctant to hand Khan those reins. “I think that [Khan's stint as FTC chair] understandably caused significant reluctance on the part of Congress to entrust any additional authority on the FTC,” Cruz said.
If KOSMA becomes law as it stands, social media platforms would have to delete any accounts held by users aged under 13 as well as any data collected from those children. It would also block them from using data collected from users aged under 17 to algorithmically suggest or promote content. Furthermore, it stipulates that schools would have to block students from accessing social media services on school devices and networks in order to keep receiving certain subsidies.
Schatz was among a bipartisan group of senators that introduced the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act in 2023. That bill aimed to set 13 as the minimum age for using social media, and require parental consent for under 18s to access such platforms. However, the bill did not pass through the Commerce Committee.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/senators-again-attempt-to-ban-pre-teens-from-social-media-160535890.html?src=rss
CANADA - 2025/01/18: In this photo illustration, the social media apps TikTok, X (Twitter), BlueSky, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, REDnote and Instagram seen displayed on a smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced its preliminary findings that the cloud services market "is not working as well as it could be." That relatively vague statement follows a 16-month investigation into the UK's cloud services market, especially its two largest providers, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft. Both companies hold between a 30 and 40 percent market share, followed by Google at five to 10 percent.
Despite the vague thesis statement, the CMA's investigation has so far raised a few critical points and recommendations. It found that there are alternative cloud suppliers face significant barriers to enter and expand in the market. Also, that "technical and commercial barriers" limit customers' ability to switch providers, such as data transfer charges. Specific to Microsoft, the CMA stated that the company uses its large software presence to limit how effectively AWS and Google can compete when it comes to customers who want to use that software while on the cloud.
The CMA reports that UK businesses and organizations have increased their spending on cloud services by 30 percent each year — hitting £9 billion ($11 million) in 2023. Given this £9 billion spend, the CMA stated that paying just five percent more than prices in a "well-functioning market," would cumulatively cost another £430 million ($535 million) annually — more if the growth continues.
"Given the size of capital investment and economies of scale required to provide cloud infrastructure services, there may be a natural limit to the number of providers who can compete effectively in these markets," the CMA's states in its release. "For this reason, it is vital that competition between even a small number of providers works well for customers."
The inquiry group points to a new solution: Strategic Market Status (SMS) designation for AWS and Microsoft's cloud services. The label comes courtesy of the UK's new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act and would allow the CMA to enforce greater regulation and pro-competition directives on the two services. "Should AWS and Microsoft be designated as having SMS, the CMA would be able to consider the interventions we have considered in this inquiry relating to egress fees, technical barriers and Microsoft’s licensing practices," the release further states.
Earlier this month, the CMA opened investigations into whether Google's search practices and mobile ecosystems should receive SMS designation. The regulator is also probing Apple in the second instance.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/uk-seeks-greater-regulatory-power-over-microsoft-and-amazon-web-services-cloud-computing-services-155757650.html?src=rss
A logo of US company Microsoft is displayed during the Vivatech technology startups and innovation fair, at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, on May 22, 2024. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP) (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP via Getty Images)
Home security cameras provide a massive peace of mind. I want to know if anyone is coming to my door while I'm away or, for that matter, when I'm home alone. This sanity doesn't exactly come cheap, but, right now, you can get a two-pack of the Blink Mini 2 for just $40, down from $80. The essentially buy one, get one free sale is available on Woot.
The Blink Mini 2 is a plug-in camera that shines a built-in LED spotlight on any after dark visitors. Overall, the device offers better image quality at all times of the day than its predecessor. The Mini 2 will give you realtime motion alerts and you can get features like person detection if you pay for the Blink Subscription Plan.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/pick-up-a-blink-mini-two-pack-while-its-on-sale-for-40-143108752.html?src=rss
Building a working nuclear fusion reactor has proven to be a daunting challenge even for multiple wealthy nations, as we've seen with the much-delayed ITER project. However, a private start-up called Helion thinks it can build one and start supplying energy by 2028 by taking a different approach than other reactors.
Founded in 2013, Helion is in the news thanks to a $425 million funding round, backed by billionaires like Sam Altman and Peter Thiel. With more than $1 billion raised, the company is now valued at $5.4 billion.
Nuclear fusion, which combines hydrogen atoms to form helium, is the holy grail for green energy. It's carbon free, and unlike current nuclear plants, produces no long-term radioactive waste. At the same time, reactors could produce enough electricity to power small cities.
Sustained fusion reaction that produces more energy that it consumes has never happened, though. The largest project, ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), is projected to cost up to $22 billion and won't go online until at least 2034 — and still hasn't produced a sustained reaction. The longest fusion reaction is 1,066 seconds (17 minutes and 43 seconds), set just recently by the EAST reactor in China.
So how does Helion think it can succeed? Most experimental reactors compress plasma using magnetic or inertial confinement, which heats it enough to spark a fusion reaction. Once that happens, the fusion-generated heat powers a steam turbine to generate electricity.
Helion is using a different approach by dispensing with the steam turbine. Fuel (deuterium and helium-3) is injected into both ends of the hourglass shaped reactor, then heated to form a plasma. Magnets form the plasma into a donut shape and fire them at each other at speeds up to 1 million MPH. They collide in the narrow middle section of the reactor and are further compressed by magnets there. That heats them up to the magic 100 million degrees Celcius, creating fusion.
"As the plasma expands, it pushes back on the magnetic field from the machine's magnets," Helion explains on its website. "By Faraday's Law, the change in field induces current, which is directly recaptured as electricity, allowing Helion's fusion generator to skip the steam cycle."
This system is simpler and potentially more efficient than a steam turbine. However, while the company has achieved fast enough pulse rates to achieve fusion, it has only done so on a small scale to date. "There [are] some big engineering challenges to get to those high repetition rates at the kind of big pulse powers where we talk about millions of amps," CEO David Kirtley told TechCrunch.
And that's the rub with every other reactor. Fusion produces a huge surge of energy all at once and so far no one has been able to control and harness that. Helion thinks its simpler system will help, but has yet to prove it can do it experimentally, let alone commercially. Still, the company says its seventh-generation reactor, Polaris, is now "in operation" but has declined to share any results to date.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/a-private-start-up-called-helion-aims-to-have-a-working-fusion-reactor-by-2028-142020697.html?src=rss
Lucid's newly launched Gravity SUV will be able to access Tesla's Supercharger network across the US and Canada starting on January 31. And since the electric vehicle comes with a built-in port that supports the North American Charging Standard (NACS), it doesn't need an adapter to be able to plug into Tesla's Superchargers. The automaker says Gravity became the first non-Tesla model to be sold with a NACS charging port when its first production models were delivered to an initial batch of customers in December 2024. At the moment, only the more expensive $94,900 Grand Touring model is available for purchase, but the company plans to release the $79,900 Touring model sometime in late 2025.
Emad Dlala, VP of Powertrain at Lucid, said the automaker developed a "new, unique technology" to ensure the Gravity's full compatibility with chargers rated at 500V and 1,000V. To be exact, the Lucid Gravity has a 926V charging architecture, so charging times will differ based on the charging station it's plugged into. Dlala said that the technology the company developed allows the Gravity to "charge seamlessly at up to 400 kW on 1000V charging equipment and at sustained speeds of up to 225 kW on 500V architecture fast chargers, including Tesla V3 Superchargers."
Lucid pledged to support the North American Charging Standard back in 2023 and vowed to give its customers access to an adapter for its vehicles. The company said that the Lucid Air, its electric sedan that doesn't currently come with built-in NACS ports, will also gain access to Tesla's Supercharger network sometime this second quarter.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/lucids-gravity-suv-gets-native-tesla-supercharger-access-on-january-31-140048997.html?src=rss
