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31.01.2026 20:02 Elon Musk and his aerospace company have requested to build a network that's 100 times the number of satellites that are currently in orbit. On Friday, SpaceX filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission to launch a million satellites meant to create an "orbital data center." This isn't the first time we're hearing of Musk's plans to build an orbital data center, as it was mentioned by company insiders following the news that the CEO was reportedly preparing to take SpaceX public. According to the filing spotted by PCMag, this data center would run off solar power and deliver computing capacity for artificial intelligence needs. SpaceX is requesting to "deploy a system of up to one million satellites to operate within narrow orbital shells spanning up to 50 km each," as detailed in the filing. According to SpaceX's filing, "orbital data centers are the most efficient way to meet the accelerating demand for AI computing power" since they use "solar power with little operating and maintenance costs." To give some scale of the astronomical number of satellites SpaceX is asking for, the company recently hit a milestone of the 11,000th Starlink satellite launched. There aren't as many in orbit since the satellites can run into issues, but an unofficial website that tracks Starlink stats claims there are more than 9,600 satellites in orbit as of January 30, 2026. The FCC is likely to whittle down the amount that SpaceX is asking for in its filing, as the federal agency has done in the past. Earlier this month, the FCC approved SpaceX's request to deploy 7,500 more Starlink satellites, following another 7,500 launched in 2022. However, it's much less than the nearly 30,000 amount that SpaceX first asked for in 2020.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/spacex-wants-to-launch-a-constellation-of-a-million-satellites-to-power-ai-needs-175607771.html?src=rss

31.01.2026 20:02 Blue Origin plans to put a focus on the development of its human lunar capabilities, so it won’t be sending tourists to space for at least the next two years. That means we won’t be seeing any New Shepard launches for quite some time. Blue Origin is one of the companies NASA chose to develop human landing systems for its Artemis program, along with SpaceX. Specifically, it will work on landers for the Artemis III and Artemis V missions. The company was originally contracted to build the human landing system that would transfer astronauts from NASA’s Gateway station to the moon’s South Pole region for the Artemis V mission. But last year, NASA asked Blue Origin to design an alternative lander for Artemis III after SpaceX experienced delays due to Starship’s failed tests. Artemis III is expected to be the first crewed moon landing mission of the program, and the Trump administration wants it to happen before the end of the president’s term. New Shepard takes tourists to suborbital space, where they experience a few minutes of weightlessness before the spacecraft makes its way back to Earth. Jeff Bezos was one of the passengers on New Shepard’s first tourist flight back in 2021. Since then, it has flown and landed 37 more times and carried 98 passengers to the Karman line, including Katy Perry and William Shatner. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/blue-origin-is-pausing-its-space-tourist-flights-to-work-on-lunar-landers-for-nasa-143000058.html?src=rss

31.01.2026 15:22 Apple has steadily expanded the Apple Watch’s health monitoring features over the years, moving beyond fitness tracking into areas that can offer early insight into potential medical concerns. One of the most recent additions is hypertension alerts, which are designed to notify users when their blood pressure trends are elevated over time. While Apple Watches cannot directly measure blood pressure, this feature can still play a useful role in highlighting patterns that may be worth discussing with your doctor. Here, we’ll explain what hypertension alerts do, how they work and how to enable and manage them on the Apple Watch.What hypertension alerts doHypertension alerts are designed to identify long-term trends that may indicate elevated blood pressure. Instead of relying on a traditional cuff measurement, the Apple Watch analyzes a combination of health data collected over a 30-day period, including heart rate, movement patterns and other contextual information stored in the Health app. Using this data, the system looks for sustained changes that align with patterns commonly associated with hypertension.If your Apple Watch detects a trend suggesting elevated blood pressure over an extended period, it’ll send you a notification. These alerts are not intended to diagnose hypertension or replace medical testing. Instead, they serve as an early signal that something may have changed and that you may want to seek further monitoring or professional advice.Apple emphasizes that hypertension alerts are designed for users who have not already been diagnosed with high blood pressure. Instead, they are meant to raise awareness rather than confirm a condition.Who can use hypertension alertsHypertension alerts require a compatible Apple Watch model paired with a supported iPhone . The feature also depends on recent versions of watchOS and iOS, as it relies on updated health algorithms and background data analysis. To use hypertension alerts you must be 22 years of age or older, not be pregnant and not have been diagnosed with hypertension. You also need to ensure that your Apple Watch’s Wrist Detection feature is turned on. To receive meaningful alerts, your Apple Watch needs sufficient data. This means wearing the watch regularly, including during sleep if sleep tracking is enabled, and keeping health details such as age, sex, height and weight up-to-date in the Health app. The system uses long-term trends, so alerts will not appear immediately after enabling the feature.How to turn on hypertension alertsHypertension alerts are managed through the Health app on the paired iPhone. The feature cannot be enabled directly from the watch itself. During setup, the Health app will ask for confirmation that the user has not been diagnosed with hypertension. It may also prompt a review of health details such as date of birth and biological sex, as this information helps improve the accuracy of trend analysis.To get started, open the Health app on the iPhone paired with the Apple Watch. From the main Health screen, tap your profile in the top corner. Select Health Checklist from the available Features. Next, you’ll need to tap Hypertension Notifications, confirm your age and whether or not you’ve ever been diagnosed with hypertension. Tap Continue and follow the on-screen prompts for information on how the notifications work. Once you have done this, tap Done and you’ll be all set. Once enabled, the feature runs automatically in the background. There is no need to manually start monitoring or interact with the feature daily.The new apple watch series 11 can help identify hypertensionAppleManaging notifications and alertsWhen hypertension alerts are turned on, notifications appear on both the Apple Watch and the paired iPhone. These alerts typically explain that a long-term trend suggesting elevated blood pressure has been detected, along with guidance on next steps.Users can manage how and when these notifications appear by adjusting notification settings for the Health app. This includes choosing whether alerts appear on the lock screen, in Notification Center or as time-sensitive notifications on Apple Watch.Health data related to hypertension alerts can be reviewed at any time in the Health app. While Apple Watch does not display a specific blood pressure number, users can view contextual information and educational material explaining what the alert means and what actions may be appropriate.How hypertension alerts can helpHypertension often develops gradually and may not cause noticeable symptoms in its early stages. Because of this, many people are unaware of elevated blood pressure until it is identified during a routine medical check.Hypertension alerts can let you know of subtle changes that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. For some users, an alert may prompt earlier conversations with a doctor, additional blood pressure monitoring at home or lifestyle changes such as adjustments to diet, activity or sleep habits.It is important to treat these notifications as informational rather than diagnostic. Apple Watch does not provide specific blood pressure readings and cannot confirm hypertension on its own.What to do if you receive an alertReceiving a hypertension alert does not mean that there is an immediate medical emergency. Apple recommends using the alert as a prompt to pay closer attention to your cardiovascular health.Many users choose to follow up by measuring blood pressure using a traditional cuff at home or by scheduling a check with a healthcare professional. A doctor can provide proper testing, diagnosis and guidance based on clinical measurements and individual risk factors.It is also worth reviewing lifestyle factors that can influence blood pressure, such as physical activity levels, sleep quality, stress and diet. Apple Watch can already help track many of these areas, which may provide useful context when discussing health concerns with a professional.Limitations to keep in mindHypertension alerts are not available in all regions and may be subject to regulatory approval. The feature also requires consistent Apple Watch use over time to generate reliable trend data.Most importantly, the Apple Watch does not measure blood pressure directly. The alerts are based on correlations and trends rather than direct readings, which means they should not be used as a substitute for medical equipment or professional care.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/how-to-turn-on-hypertension-alerts-on-apple-watch-130000090.html?src=rss

31.01.2026 15:22 Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. There are tons of interesting games out this week. But first, there's been some discourse around the Nintendo Switch version of Dispatch, which arrived this week as well.On other platforms, there's an option to censor genitalia and other explicit content, but that's not present in the Switch version. Instead, such content is censored by default, with black rectangles covering up characters' bits and someone flipping the bird. Noises that suggest sexual pleasure are said to be toned down too."We worked with Nintendo to ensure the content within the title met the criteria to release on their platforms, but the core narrative and gameplay experience remains identical to the original release," developer AdHoc told EuroGamer. Nintendo later said in a statement to GoNintendo that it "requires all games on its platforms to receive ratings from independent organizations and to meet our established content and platform guidelines. While we inform partners when their titles don’t meet our guidelines, Nintendo does not make changes to partner content. We also do not discuss specific content or the criteria used in making these determinations." There are other games available for the Switch and Switch 2 that feature nudity and explicit content. There have long been hentai games on the eShop, while mainstream games like The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 still include explicit content on Nintendo platforms. So it's a bit of a strange one, and AdHoc and Nintendo didn't exactly clear things up with their statements. There's been speculation that AdHoc censored the game to comply with rules in Japan and that it opted to have just one version of the game available globally on Nintendo platforms. All the same, it's a curious situation that's resulted in a lot of discourse. But there's been another indie game that's been a source of even more chatter this week...New releasesHighguard is a 3v3 raid shooter from Wildlight Entertainment, a team that includes a bunch of former Apex Legends and Titanfall developers. It broke cover at The Game Awards in December when it was the final reveal of the night but that first trailer wasn't great. As it turned out, TGA creator and host Geoff Keighley was a friend of the devs and after trying Highguard, he wanted to include it in the show. Wildlight cobbled together a trailer, but that disrupted the studio's long-standing plans to reveal and release the game simultaneously — a strategy that worked wonders for Apex Legends .After revealing Highguard, Wildlight effectively went radio silent until a release day showcase on Monday to detail just what the game is and how it works. That seems to have been a mistake given the review bombing and strange vendetta some developed against it. Highguard went live on Monday and Wildlight published a whole bunch of YouTube videos revealing the game's features. Spreading those out between TGA and this week could have tempered expectations.In any case, I've played a few rounds of Highguard and mostly enjoyed my time with it so far. It's a blend of hero shooter and MOBA. As you might expect for a game from Apex and Titanfall veterans, the weapons feel well-tuned and the gunplay is snappy. There’s a lot going on and the maps are far too big for just six players. It's fun enough, but I don't think it's a game that's going to break my Overwatch obsession. Riding into battle on the back of a bear feels pretty great, though. You can play Highguard for free on Steam, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.I really wanted to like Don’t Stop, Girlypop! more than I did. I'd been looking forward to it for a while, as the promise of a Doom Eternal-style arena shooter with chaotic hyperpop-inspired visuals seemed like a great blend. Don't get me wrong, I adore the aesthetic and the soundtrack is spot on thanks to some cracking songs from Sarah Wolfe, Xavier Dunn and Candice Susnjar. I just wish it was as fun to play as it is to look at and listen to.The visual clutter and fast pace sometimes makes it hard to spot enemies and the narrative doesn't really hang together, as much as the developers have salient points to make about the exploitation of finite resources. The core gameplay idea here is that the faster you move, the more damage you deal and more you heal. The game has its own take on a bunny hop called a wave hop that boosts your speed, but felt like it slowed me down because of the complex combination of inputs . That also caused my hand to cramp up very quickly. I do love the customization here. Slapping rhinestones and baby sharks onto my weapons was delightful. The game's take on a gravity gun is fun too. So while Don't Stop, Girlypop! — from Funny Fintan Softworks and publisher Kwalee — didn't fully land for me, there are some aspects I like a whole lot. It's out now on Steam for $20 .We're been looking forward to Cairn for a while around these parts, so it's heartening to see that it debuted to broadly positive reviews. This one from The Game Bakers is the latest in a string of climbing adventures, such as the lovely Jusant. So if Alex Honnold's recent free solo climb up a skyscraper has inspired you to ascend something very large without really posing a risk to your wellbeing, Cairn might be what you're looking for. Cairn is out now on PS5 and Steam for $30. There's a 10 percent launch discount on Steam until February 12, and until February 13 on PS5 if you're a PS Plus member.Every trailer I've seen for Steel Century Groove has made me smile, so you can bet I'll be jumping into this when I have a chance. It's a rhythm game with Pokémon-style RPG elements in which you take control of a robot in dance battles. There's some original and licensed music to boogie along to and you can load in your own MP3s . Steel Century Groove will create procedurally-generated choreography and charts for your custom songs. You can manually adjust the BPM too.This debut title from solo developer Sloth Gloss Games is out now on Steam for $20. There's a 10 percent launch discount until February 11. There's a demo available, and progress from there carries over into the full game.Rosday's Wanderling is a roguelike platformer with no combat. You have eight attempts to acquire the gear and learn the knowledge you need to pass each dungeon. Scour for loot and buy upgrades from the shop before night falls to help you on your way. You can place markers to help you remember where you've been. Runs are said to be short at between 20 and 30 minutes. The visuals remind me a bit of Celeste too. You can check out Wanderling on Steam now for $8 .I can't help but admire Strange Scaffold and the rate at which it releases games. The latest one is Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator. It's a stock market sim in which you speculate on the future success or failures of the "simulated lives of babies." You can "short that baby" if you choose as you try to make gains. In a timeline where prediction markets allow you to speculate on just about anything , gambling on the future of babies doesn't seem that farfetched.Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator — which is set in the same world as Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator — is out now on Steam. It'll normally cost $20, but there's a 15 percent discount until February 12. Strange Scaffold is also bringing the game to Xbox Series X/S in the near future.I Hate This Place is an isometric survival game based on the eponymous comic book series by Kyle Starks and Artyom Topilin. The game retains a comic book aesthetic and it has '80s horror movie-style inflections. The way that noise is visualized is pretty interesting here. Onomatopoeic words will pop up and you'll see color-coded footsteps — useful when you're trying to be stealthy. Crafting is a key aspect of the game as well.I Hate This Place — from Rock Square Thunder, Broken Mirror Games and Skybound Entertainment — is out now on Steam, PS5, Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X/S. The regular price is $30 and there's a 20 percent launch discount on some platforms. I can't find a trailer for this on YouTube, unfortunately, but Rebadge caught my eye this week as well. It's a puzzle platformer from Yuumayay, who appears to be a 17-year-old solo developer. Your character carries badges that allow them to carry out actions like moving and jumping. Other badges include "affected by gravity" and "destroys on contact." Here's the trick: you can throw a badge and lose the associated ability, but then you can apply the trait to something else in the world.It's a neat idea that draws from the playbooks of games like Baba Is You. Rebadge typically costs $8, but there's a 15 percent launch discount.Upcoming Moon Beast Productions is a studio formed by several of the creators of Diablo and Diablo II. This week, it revealed gameplay for its first title, Darkhaven, which is a fantasy isometric action RPG in the vein of Diablo. You'll be able to play this one solo or with friends, and there are PvP elements. Darkhaven has procedurally generated, destructible worlds along with "massive events that threaten your entire world."The gameplay shown in the trailer looks a bit rough, but it's still early days. In fact, Moon Beast is planning a Kickstarter campaign for Darkhaven. There's no release window as yet, but you can wishlist it on Steam.Box or Void is a puzzle game that clearly takes some inspiration from Sokuban and Snake. Here, though, gameplay takes place across two planes. You'll switch between positive and negative space — obstacles on one side turn into pathways on the other. You'll alter the level layouts by pushing boxes. This one from Dumen Games has an intriguing premise. There's no release date as yet for Box or Void, but a demo with 32 levels dropped this week on Steam.If there's a game that's billed as Dredge meets Wall-E, that's going to be enough to sell me. Describe it as a "petroidvania" and call it Good Boy, and I'm definitely in. This is a creature-collecting Metroidvania from Observer Interactive and publisher Team17 in which pups are reincarnated as space rovers. I could not dig that premise more. Good Boy is expected to hit Steam later this year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/highguard-a-hyperpop-arena-shooter-and-other-new-indie-games-worth-checking-out-120000874.html?src=rss

31.01.2026 00:30 Since 2021, NASA's Perseverance rover has achieved a number of historic milestones, including sending back the first audio recordings from Mars. Now, nearly five years after landing on the Red Planet, it just achieved another feat. This past December, Perseverance successfully completed a route through a section of the Jezero crater plotted by Anthropic's Claude chatbot, marking the first time NASA has used a large language model to pilot the car-sized robot. Between December 8 and 10, Perseverance drove approximately 400 meters through a field of rocks on the Martian surface mapped out by Claude. As you might imagine, using an AI model to plot a course for Perseverance wasn't as simple as inputting a single prompt. As NASA explains, routing Perseverance is no easy task, even for a human. "Every rover drive needs to be carefully planned, lest the machine slide, tip, spin its wheels, or get beached," NASA said. "So ever since the rover landed, its human operators have painstakingly laid out waypoints — they call it a 'breadcrumb trail' — for it to follow, using a combination of images taken from space and the rover’s onboard cameras." To get Claude to complete the task, NASA had to first provide Claude Code, Anthropic's programming agent, with the "years" of contextual data from the rover before the model could begin writing a route for Perseverance. Claude then went about the mapping process methodically, stringing together waypoints from ten-meter segments it would later critique and iterate on. This being NASA we're talking about, engineers from the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory made sure to double check the model's work before sending it to Perseverance. The JPL team ran Claude's waypoints through a simulation they use every day to confirm the accuracy of commands sent to the rover. In the end, NASA says it only had to make "minor changes" to Claude's route, with one tweak coming as a result of the fact the team had access to ground-level images Claude hadn't seen in its planning process. "The engineers estimate that using Claude in this way will cut the route-planning time in half, and make the journeys more consistent," NASA said. "Less time spent doing tedious manual planning — and less time spent training — allows the rover’s operators to fit in even more drives, collect even more scientific data, and do even more analysis. It means, in short, that we’ll learn much more about Mars."While the productivity gains offered by AI are often overstated, in the case of NASA, any tool that could allow its scientists to be more efficient is sure to be welcome. Over the summer, the agency lost about 4,000 employees – accounting for about 20 percent of its workforce – due to Trump administration cuts. Going into 2026, the president had proposed gutting the agency's science budget by nearly half before Congress ultimately rejected that plan in early January. Still, even with its funding preserved just below 2025 levels, the agency has a tough road ahead. It's being asked to return to the Moon with less than half the workforce it had during the height of the Apollo program. For Anthropic, meanwhile, this is a major feat. You may recall last spring Claude couldn't even beat Pokémon Red. In less than a year, the company's models have gone from struggling to navigate a simple 8-bit Game Boy game to successfully plotting a course for a rover on a distant planet. NASA is excited about the possibility of future collaborations, saying "autonomous AI systems could help probes explore ever more distant parts of the solar system."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/nasa-used-claude-to-plot-a-route-for-its-perseverance-rover-on-mars-203150701.html?src=rss

31.01.2026 00:30 America’s once-promising EV transition may have taken a U-turn, but at least some in Hollywood are trying to do their part. Rivian partnered with Grey’s Anatomy to make a custom electric ambulance for the long-running series.The ambulance is a modified version of Rivian’s Commercial Van. The custom “vanbulance” serves a dual purpose: preventing on-set exhaust fumes and integrating a green storyline. “As an added benefit, the elimination of engine noise brought a welcome quiet while cameras were rolling,” Rivan wrote in a blog post.Among other modifications, it has rear double doors instead of a roll-up one.RivianThe vehicle includes some production-specific touches. Its walls and roof panels are removable, allowing cameras to reach angles required for interior shots. In addition, Rivian replaced the standard van’s rear roll-up door with double doors while adding a side entry to the cargo area. The company also added custom lighting and an exterior wrap reading “Seattle Emergency Response Services.”The team consulted with the Huntington Beach Fire Department and the Los Angeles Fire Department to inform the interior layout. “Their feedback was invaluable to understand how first responders actually use their vehicles,” Rivian wrote.At least Hollywood's fictional worlds are transitioning to electric.RivianThe Hollywood Reporter notes that the electric ambulance debuted in the November 13, 2025, episode of Grey’s Anatomy. However, it was featured more prominently in Thursday’s episode — hence Rivian choosing this week to highlight it.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/rivian-made-an-electric-ambulance-for-greys-anatomy-194358967.html?src=rss

30.01.2026 20:00 The Sundance documentary Ghost in the Machine boldly declares that the pursuit of artificial intelligence, and Silicon Valley itself, is rooted in eugenics. Director Valerie Veatch makes the case that the rise of techno-fascism from the likes of Elon Musk and Peter Thiel is a feature, not a bug. That may sound hyperbolic, but Ghost in the Machine, which is built around interviews with philosophers, AI researchers, historians and computer scientists, leaves little room for doubt.If you've been following the meteoric rise of AI, or Silicon Valley in general, Veatch's methodical deconstruction of the technology doesn't really unearth anything new. The film begins with the utter failure of Microsoft's Tay chatbot, which wasted no time in becoming a Hitler-loving white supremacist. It retreads the environmental impacts of AI datacenters, as well as the ways tech companies have relied on low-wage workers from Africa and elsewhere to improve their algorithms. But even I was surprised to learn that we can trace the impact of eugenics in tech all the way back to Karl Pearson, the mathematician who pioneered the field of statistics, and who also spent his life trying to quantify the differences between races. His legacy was continued by William Shockley, a co-creator of the transistor, an avowed white supremacist who spent his later years espousing theories around IQ and racial differences. An early robot toy.Valerie Veatch for "Ghost in the Machine"As a Stanford engineering professor, Shockley fostered a culture of prioritizing white men over women and minorities, which ultimately shaped the way Silicon Valley looks today. His line of thinking could have had an influence on John McCarthy, the Stanford researcher who coined the term “artificial intelligence” in 1955, With roots like that, Elon Musk — known to spout bigotry online, foster a reportedly racist work environment at Tesla and throw the occasionaly few Nazi salute — looks less like an anomaly than part of a pattern. Ghost in the Machine asks a simple question: How can we trust men like this with our future?Through its many interviews, which include the likes of AI researcher Dr. Emily Bender, historian Becca Lewis and media theorist Douglass Rushkoff, Ghost in the Machine paints the rise of AI as a fascistic project that aims to demean humans and establish the techno-elite as our de facto rulers. Given how much our lives are already dominated by gadgets and social networks from companies that have pioneered addictive engagement over user safety, it's easy to imagine history repeating itself with AI. Ghost in the Machine doesn't leave any room for considering potential benefits around AI, which could lead proponents of the technology to dismiss it as a hit-job. But we're currently at the apex of the AI hype cycle, after Big Tech has invested hundreds of billions of dollars on this technology, and after it has spent years shoving it down our throats without proving why it’s actually useful to many people. AI should be able to withstand a bit of criticism.Ghost in the Machine is available to view at the Sundance Film Festival’s website and streaming apps from today through the end of Sunday, February 1st. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/sundance-doc-ghost-in-the-machine-draws-a-damning-line-between-ai-and-eugenics-180613367.html?src=rss

30.01.2026 20:00 Samsung’s 2025 was filled with new foldables, an ultra-thin new form factor and the launch of Google's XR platform. After making some announcements at CES 2026, the company is expected to host its first Galaxy Unpacked of the year in February to introduce the Galaxy S26 lineup.Engadget will be covering Galaxy Unpacked live, and we'll most likely have hands-on coverage of Samsung's new smartphones soon after they're announced. While we wait for an official invite, here's everything we expect Samsung will introduce at the first Galaxy Unpacked event of 2026.What is Unpacked 2026 taking place?But first, when is Unpacked going to happen? A recent image shared by leakster Evan Blass indicated Unpacked should be taking place on “February 25 2026.” Blass has a long history of credible leaks, which means this date is all but confirmed, and the main questions remaining would be — what time and in what timezone? We’re still waiting on Samsung for the official details, which should include answers to those questions.Galaxy S26, S26+ and S26 UltraSamsung Galaxy S25 Ultra hands-on photoPhoto by Sam Rutherford/EngadgetSamsung's restrained approach to updating its phones will likely continue with the Galaxy S26. Based on leaked images of the new lineup, the company is not expected to radically reinvent the look of the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+ or Galaxy S26 Ultra, and instead will stick with a similar design to what it used on the Galaxy S25. The phones will have a flat front screen and frame, with rounded corners and cameras housed in a vertical pill-shaped plateau on the back. Unlike Apple's move from the iPhone 16 Pro to the iPhone 17 Pro, the biggest difference here will likely be internal components like the screens, chips and camera sensors Samsung uses.Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip is expected to be in all Samsung Galaxy S26 phones, though Korean news site Yonhap News reports Samsung's relatively new Exynos 2600 chip could be used in some phones in the lineup depending on the region, a strategy Samsung has deployed in the past. Either way the new phones should be more performant than the previous generation, and in the case of the models with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, particularly good at on-device AI processing.I have compiled the most accurate comprehensive parameter comparison of Galaxy S25, S25+ and Galaxy S26、 S26+. Which one do you want to buy? pic.twitter.com/aQpoSvYjOz— Ice Universe November 29, 2025One notable difference between the Galaxy S26 and the Galaxy S25 could be the phone's screen. The new phone will reportedly feature a 6.3-inch FHD+ display according to specs shared by leaker Ice Universe, which makes it ever so slightly larger than the 6.2-inch display used on the Galaxy S25. The S26 will also allegedly come with 12GB of RAM, either 256GB or 512GB of storage and a slightly larger 4,300mAh battery. Samsung isn't changing the cameras on the entry-level phone, though: leaks suggest it'll feature the same 50-megapixel main camera, 12-megapixel ultrawide, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto and 12-megapixel selfie camera as the previous generation. Changes appear to be even more minor on the Galaxy S26+. Other than the new Snapdragon chip, the phone will reportedly feature the same 6.7-inch FHD+ screen, 4,900mAh battery, 12GB of RAM and the same camera array used on the base Galaxy S26.The difference between the Galaxy S26 Ultra and Galaxy S25 Ultra is reportedly a bit clearer. According to Android Headlines, the new phone's cameras will be slightly more raised, and stand out thanks to a new metallic finish. Samsung may also switch back to using an aluminum frame on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, after using titanium frames on both the Galaxy S24 and S25 Ultras. Most importantly, to make the phone actually support Qi2 rather than only technically work with the standard when a case is attached, rumors suggest Samsung will remove the S Pen digitizer layer in the phone and adopt a new method for accepting stylus input. It's not clear what that new method will actually be, but it could let the Galaxy S26 Ultra more easily work with Qi2 accessories without losing its stylus.Galaxy Buds 4Galaxy Buds 3 Pro in case.EngadgetSamsung released the Galaxy Buds 3 and 3 Pro in 2024, with a major redesign that brought them much more in line with Apple's AirPods. The Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro Samsung is rumored to be announcing soon won't necessarily change that, though they will feature a more compact case and less angular stems, according to leaked images from the Samsung Tips app.Support for head gestures to accept and decline calls, a feature Apple includes on the AirPods Pro 3 and AirPods 4, is also rumored to work on both versions of the new Galaxy Buds. SamMobile reports the Galaxy Buds 4 and 4 Pro may also ship with a new Ultra Wideband chip that will make them easier to find with Google's Find Hub network.Galaxy Z TrifoldYes, the TriFold has a crease, two in fact. But they still don't ruin the experience. Sam Rutherford for EngadgetSamsung announced the Galaxy Z TriFold in late 2025 without firm details of when the new smartphone-that-folds-into-a-tablet would be available in North America. That info came on January 27, when the company announced the TriFold would be available in the US on January 30, for a whopping $2,900. Considering we’ve already seen the device in person at CES 2026 and people are most likely to have had a chance to look at, if not buy the foldable for themselves by the time Unpacked rolls around, we don’t expect Samsung to spend too much time dwelling on it, if at all.Galaxy S26 EdgeAt just 5.8mm thick, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is one of the thinnest smartphones ever made. Sam Rutherford for EngadgetWhen the Galaxy S25 Edge was announced in 2025, it seemed possible that Samsung could replace its "Plus" smartphone with a unique form factor, just like Apple has opted to do with the iPhone Air. There have been conflicting reports on the matter, but it seems like Samsung will not be doing that with the Galaxy S26 Edge.Instead, the smartphone will reportedly remain another option, much like foldables are for customers not swayed by Samsung's traditional smartphones. The Galaxy S26 Edge is rumored to feature a slightly different design than last year's model, according to Android Headlines, with a large rectangular camera plateau that's reminiscent of Google's Pixel phones, and the raised oval Apple used on the iPhone Air. Beyond that, the phone is also expected to be ever so slightly thinner at 5.5mm than the 5.8mm Galaxy S25 Edge.Bixby and other AI featuresSamsung already acts as a first place Google can show off new AI features for Android, but the company is reportedly exploring other AI partnerships, too. In June 2025, Bloomberg reported that Samsung was nearing a deal with Perplexity to integrate its AI-powered search engine across OneUI and its homegrown mobile browser. Perplexity already has a deal with Motorola on its Razr phones, so the only thing that would make a deal with Samsung unusual is the close relationship the company already has with Google.The company also accidentally announced a new version of its Bixby AI assistant, which will likely also be integrated with Perplexity and could serve as an alternative to Google Gemini. Both a new Bixby and a deeper integration with Perplexity seem like natural new software features to show off at Galaxy Unpacked.Update, January 27 2026, 11:55AM ET: This story has been updated to reflect the latest news around the Galaxy Z TriFold’s price and availability in the US.Update, January 30 2026, 12:45PM ET: This story has been updated to include the latest leaks on the possible dates for Unpacked 2026.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-unpacked-2026-the-galaxy-s26-lineup-and-everything-else-we-expect-130000999.html?src=rss

30.01.2026 20:00 This past summer, Google DeepMind debuted Genie 3. It’s what’s known as a world world, an AI system capable of generating images and reacting as the user moves through the environment the software is simulating. At the time, DeepMind positioned Genie 3 as a tool for training AI agents. Now, it’s making the model available to people outside of Google to try with Project Genie. To start, you’ll need Google’s $250 per month AI Ultra plan to check out Project Genie. You’ll also need to live in the US and be 18 years or older. At launch, Project Genie offers three different modes of interaction: World Sketching, exploration and remixing. The first sees Google’s Nano Banana Pro model generating the source image Genie 3 will use to create the world you will later explore. At this stage, you can describe your character, define the camera perspective — be it first-person, third-person or isometric — and how you want to explore the world Genie 3 is about to generate. Before you can jump into the model’s creation, Nano Banana Pro will “sketch” what you’re about to see so you can make tweaks. It’s also possible to write your own prompts for worlds others have used Genie to generate. One thing to keep in mind is that Genie 3 is not a game engine. While its outputs can look game-like, and it can simulate physical interactions, there aren’t traditional game mechanics here. Generations are also limited to 60 seconds, as is the presentation, which is capped at 24 frames per second and 720p. Still, if you’re an AI Ultra subscriber, this is a cool opportunity to see the bleeding edge of what DeepMind has been working over the past couple of years. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/googles-project-genie-lets-you-create-your-own-3d-interactive-worlds-183646428.html?src=rss

30.01.2026 20:00 Like many other companies during Super Bowl season, Sonos is discounting its home theater gear. Today, you can save $130 on the Beam soundbar, bringing its price down to $369. You'll also find deals on the flagship Arc Ultra Soundbar, Sonos subwoofers, and more. The Sonos Beam is the company's sub-$500 soundbar. Engadget's pick for the best midrange model, the compact speaker has impressive sound for its size. Part of that is its Dolby Atmos support. Although the soundbar lacks upward-firing speakers, it uses software tricks to compensate. Audio timing and frequency adjustments make sound seem to come from the side or slightly above. One of the biggest drawbacks is that the Beam only has one HDMI port. Regardless, that compromise may be easier to accept at Beam's current $369 than at its usual $499. Several more home theater speakers are included in Sonos's sale. If you have a loftier budget for a soundbar, there's the Arc Ultra. Typically $1,099, it's now $899. The company's pair of subwoofers is included as well. You can get the Sub Mini for $399 or the Sub 4 for $759 . Although they aren't explicitly sold as home theater products, the Era 100 and Era 300 are also included in the sale. The portable Move 2 isn't discounted individually, but you will find it in a couple of bundles. You can check out the sale page for the complete list.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/sonos-home-theater-gear-is-up-to-20-percent-off-ahead-of-super-bowl-lx-174053619.html?src=rss

30.01.2026 20:00 If you're looking to up your privacy game on the internet in the new year, you can do so for a little less than usual thanks to ExpressVPN's latest deal. Its two-year plans are up to 81 percent off right now: the Advanced tier is on sale for $88 for two years, plus four additional free months. The Basic plan is where you'll see the biggest discount: it's $68 for two years, plus the same four additional free months. We’ve consistently liked ExpressVPN because it’s fast, easy to use and widely available across a large global server network. In fact, it's our current pick for best premium VPN. One of the biggest drawbacks has always been its high cost, and this deal temporarily solves that issue. In our review we were able to get fast download and upload speeds, losing only 7 percent in the former and 2 percent in the latter worldwide. We found that it could unblock Netflix anywhere, and its mobile and desktop apps were simple to operate. We gave ExpressVPN an overall score of 85 out of 100. The virtual private network service now has three tiers. Basic is cheaper with fewer features, while Pro costs more and adds extra perks like support for 14 simultaneous devices and a password manager. Advanced sits in the middle and includes the password manager but only supports 12 devices.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/save-up-to-81-percent-on-expressvpn-two-year-plans-right-now-180602273.html?src=rss

30.01.2026 20:00 When talking about the best VPNs, I frequently warn about the dangers of trusting free VPNs without verifying them. Although there are a few free VPNs worth recommending, many other free providers are ineffective, malicious or looking to profit off their users . Even the best free VPNs work a lot better once you subscribe and access their full service.This can be frustrating if you want to enjoy the benefits of a VPN but don't have the budget for yet another subscription. To help you out, I put together a list of the best paid VPN services you can get cheaply. Every name on the list comes with my full recommendation — I'll never recommend a VPN that doesn't protect you, no matter how affordable.Before I get started, I want to define "cheap," since VPNs often bamboozle the customer with muddled pricing schemes. Most providers have long-term subscription plans with big discounts, and many of them compensate by making their monthly plans more expensive. On this list, I'll recommend services with cheap subscriptions for both the short and long term, plus one favorite that balances both. Best cheap VPNs for 2026 Other VPNs we tested with good deals A couple of VPNs have decent pricing options attached to worthy services but weren't quite strong enough to make the list. Both these services get my hearty recommendation; they're just hard to justify as "cheap." ExpressVPN ExpressVPN recently switched to a multi-tier pricing model. The Basic pricing tier gets you complete VPN service but doesn't include the full set of features. The best price on that is $78.18 for 28 months, which works out to $2.79 per month. Although that sounds great, it's more expensive than both Surfshark and CyberGhost at the same duration and renews at the even higher price of $99.95 per year . Still, as I wrote in my full ExpressVPN review, it's an outstanding service overall. Thanks to its sensible app layouts and focus on doing simple tasks well, I find it especially good for introducing beginners to what a VPN can do. NordVPN NordVPN is another provider that I gave a relatively positive review. I really like its boundary-pushing features, especially the various types of highly specialized servers. Its pricing isn't bad, exactly, but even the Basic level is more expensive than just about everyone else at every duration. NordVPN's fast download speeds and wide server network make it worthwhile for lots of users, but it's hard to recommend to people on a budget. What to look for in a good cheap VPN Looking for an affordable VPN is the same as looking for any kind of VPN; it just requires more care. The worst VPNs usually present themselves as free, but there's also a fair number of mediocre options that think low prices have to mean a mediocre service. If you want to use a VPN but don't have much extra cash, take some additional care in a few areas of your search. First, don't subscribe to a VPN — or even download any of its apps — if you haven't verified its security. To do that, start by checking what experts have to say about it. If a VPN is truly unsafe, chances are high that somebody has already sounded the alarm. You can also check the list of protocols the VPN offers. If it's anything other than OpenVPN, WireGuard or IKEv2, do a deep dive to make sure it's using worthwhile encryption. If you've verified that the VPN isn't a virus, check to see if it has a free trial or a guaranteed money-back period. This will give you some risk-free time to do hands-on tests. Our article on how we test VPNs includes several tests you can run on your own computer, phone or tablet. Check the VPN's speed, make sure it has the server locations you need and look for anything that might be leaking your real IP address. Read the VPN's privacy policy and make sure you're comfortable with how much information it saves. Some VPNs emphasize privacy more than others. Finally, before your free trial or refund period expires, make sure to double-check on the pricing structure of the VPN you're choosing — it's possible that it will only be cheap for the first subscription period.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/vpn/best-cheap-vpn-170000957.html?src=rss

30.01.2026 20:00 Fallout’s second season is coming to a close, and it’s been well worth the wait. But if a reluctance to add yet another subscription to your streaming rotation means you haven’t watched Amazon’s surprisingly excellent adaptation yet, you might be interested to know that the company is currently releasing season one for free on the Prime Video YouTube channel. Whether driven by Amazon wanting even more people to watch what has become one of its biggest TV success stories, or a move that speaks to how few people are actually signed up for Prime Video, it’s good news for anyone who hasn’t seen the show yet. Fallout’s first season did a great job of taking everything that’s great about the long-running post-apocalyptic RPG series and weaving it into a wildly entertaining live-action show, elevated by excellent performances from Ella Purnell as a hopelessly naive but endearingly optimistic vault-dweller, and Walton Goggins as the Ghoul. Amazon is currently adding a new episode each day ahead of next week’s season two finale, presumably hoping a whole new set of fans hop straight into that once they’re done. But here’s the catch: you only have until February 11 to watch the whole lot. After that, the show will be for Prime Video subscribers only once again. And that isn't the the only Fallout freebie up for grabs right now. Between now and February 5, Bethesda’s MMORPG, Fallout 76, is free-to-play on Xbox and PC, while PlayStation players have until February 4. Fallout 76 first launched in 2018, and as a fully multiplayer-focused game it represented a new direction for the series. It was, to put it bluntly, a bit of a mess for quite a while, but Bethesda has never abandoned the title or its player-base, and if you have Fallout on the brain, this is the perfect opportunity to see how it’s looking in 2026.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/the-first-season-of-amazons-fallout-show-is-now-free-on-youtube-162920615.html?src=rss

30.01.2026 20:00 The start of the new year is a great time to get your finances in order, and a good budgeting app can help with that. Instead of laboring over a spreadsheet, you can try one of our favorite budgeting apps for less than usual. Monarch Money is running a sale that gives new users 50 percent off one year of the service, bringing the final cost down to just $50. Just use the code NEWYEAR2026 at checkout to get the discount. Monarch Money makes for a capable and detailed budgeting companion. You can use the service via apps for iOS, Android, iPadOS or the web, and Monarch also offers a Chrome extension that can sync your Amazon and Target transactions and automatically categorize them. Like other budgeting apps, Monarch Money lets you connect multiple financial accounts and track your money based on where you spend it over time. Monarch offers two different approaches to tracking budgeting depending on what fits your life best, and the ability to add a budget widget on your phone so you can know how you're tracking that month. How budgeting apps turn your raw transactions into visuals you can understand at a glance is one of the big things that differentiates one app from another, and Monarch Money offers multiple graphs and charts to look at for things like spending, investments or categories of your choice based on how you've labelled your expenses. The app can also monitor the spending of you and your partner all in one place, to make it easier to plan together. The main drawbacks Engadget found in testing Monarch Money were the app's learning curve, and the differences in features between Monarch's web and mobile versions. Still, for 50 percent off, the Monarch Money is well worth experimenting with if you're trying to save money in 2026, especially if you want to do it collaboratively with a partner. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/monarch-money-deal-new-users-get-one-year-of-access-for-only-50-204507285.html?src=rss

30.01.2026 20:00 Whether you’re having people over to watch the Patriots and the Seahawks battle it out in Super Bowl 2026, or you’re more interested in the Bad Bunny halftime show, your TV will be an important part of the puzzle of putting together an excellent big-game party. If you’ve been thinking about upgrading your current TV, now’s a decent time to do it. The weeks leading up to the Super Bowl are typically awash with TV deals to consider.Generally, TV prices steadily decrease after a new model comes out. Some 2026 TV models were announced at CES and are forthcoming things year, making now a good time to look for discounts on 2025 sets. Aside from the holiday shopping season, now is one of the best times of the year to save on a TV. Here, we’ve curated the best Super Bowl TV deals we could find this year, from already affordable sets discounted even further to high-end OLEDs that are hundreds of dollars off. Super Bowl 2026 TV deals for less than $500 You can easily find solid 1080p and 4K TV sets within this budget-friendly price range. What you’ll be more limited in is size — most TV deals under $500 we’re seeing right now are on sets up to 55 inches. There are a few 65- and 75-inch models in there, but the pickings are slim. Hisense 32-inch Class A4 1080 FHD smart TV for $98 Roku 24-inch 720p smart TV for $100 Roku 55-inch 4K smart TV for $248 Roku 55-inch Mini LED 4K smart TV for $348 TCL 75-inch Class S5 4K smart TV for $480 OLED TV deals This is where you want to look if you want your new TV to have the richest colors, deepest blacks and excellent contrast performance. Of course, that all comes at steeper prices — it can be difficult to find a good OLED set for less than $1,000, even on sale. LG 55-inch B5 OLED 4K smart TV for $847 Sony 55-inch Bravia XR8B 4K smart TV for $998 Samsung 65-inch Class OLED S95F 4K smart TV for $2,298 Sony 77-inch Bravia XR A95L OLED 4K smart TV for $3,498 Super Bowl 2026 TV deals for $500 and up This will likely be the sweet spot for many people when it comes to TV features, performance and price. Good 4K sets are common in this price range, and you’ll also find some Mini LED sets available here as well. TCL 65-inch Class T7 4K smart TV for $500 Hisense 65-inch Class U6 Mini LED 4K smart TV for $550 Amazon 65-inch Fire TV Omni Mini LED 4K smart TV for $920 TCL 65-inch Class QM8K Mini LED 4K smart TV for $998 Streaming and home entertainment deals A good TV is key, but having the right peripherals and accessories to go along with it will complete your home theater setup. Deals we’re tracking right now include discounts on streaming devices, soundbars and projectors. Sonos big game sale — up to 20 percent off home theater gear: Get the Sonos Beam soundbar for $130 off, the Era 300 speaker for $100 off and more Roku Ultra streamer for $78 Samsung HW B400F soundbar with built-in subwoofer for $100 Anker Nebula Capsule 3 projector for $540 Valerion VisionMaster Max 4K projector for $3,999 This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/super-bowl-2026-tv-deals-the-best-sales-on-oleds-and-other-smart-tvs-ahead-of-kickoff-160000929.html?src=rss