Engadget

02.02.2026 21:11 ASUS ROG just announced the Kithara gaming headset, which is a device intended to bring "audiophile-grade sound" to gaming. It was developed in conjunction with manufacturer HiFiMan, a company that specializes in high-end audio devices. The Kithara is the company's first open-back planar magnetic gaming headset. ROG says it was designed to please gamers who "demand absolute clarity, precision and realism." The headphones feature 100mm planar magnetic drivers that have been "tuned specifically for gaming." The company says this results in a wide frequency response, low distortion and a "level of detail that reveals subtle positional cues such as footsteps, reloads and distance movement." ROG boasts that these audio cues remain distinct even during moments of chaotic gameplay, potentially making the headphones a great choice for competitive gamers. The open-back design allows for clear separation across bass, mids and treble, which should also make the headphones great for listening to music. It features a full-band boom microphone with a high signal-to-noise ratio. There are separate signal paths for audio and microphone inputs, which significantly reduces crosstalk. ASUS ROG The headphones have been built for maximum versatility, so there's a balanced headphone cable with swappable plugs. They support various connection types, including 3.5mm, 4.4mm and 6.3mm. They also ship with a USB-C to dual 3.5mm adapter. These are gaming headphones, so comfort is also a priority. The metal frame features an adjustable fit and there's a multi-layer padded headband and two sets of interchangeable ear cushions. The ROG Kithara headphones are available now and cost $300.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/asus-rog-made-a-gaming-headset-for-audiophile-nerds-184737555.html?src=rss

02.02.2026 21:11 Since last spring, OpenAI has offered Codex. What started life as the company's response to Claude Code is becoming something more sophisticated with the release of a new dedicated macOS app. At its most basic form, Codex is a programming agent capable of writing code for users, but now it can also manage multiple AI assistants that can work together to complete more complex tasks.OpenAI gives an example of how this could work in practice. The company used Codex to create a Mario Kart-like racing game, complete with a selection of different playable cars, eight tracks and a collection of powerups players can use against the competition. For a single AI agent, generating a game from scratch, with all the needed visual assets, would be a tough ask, but Codex was able to complete the task because it could delegate the work of making the game to different models with complementary capabilities. For example, it turned to GPT Image for the visual assets, while a separate model simultaneously coded the web game. "It took on the roles of designer, game developer and QA tester to validate its work by actually playing the game," OpenAI says of the process. If that sounds complicated, OpenAI has tried to make it more approachable with a section of the app titled Skills. The feature bundles “instructions, resources, and scripts so Codex can reliably connect to tools, run workflows, and complete tasks according to your team’s preferences," the company explains. "The Codex app includes a dedicated interface to create and manage skills. You can explicitly ask Codex to use specific skills, or let it automatically use them based on the task at hand."As you might imagine, Codex can also automate repetitive tasks. A dedicated Automations section of the app allows you to schedule tasks, which the software will complete in the background. "At OpenAI, we’ve been using Automations to handle the repetitive but important tasks, like daily issue triage, finding and summarizing CI failures, generating daily release briefs, checking for bugs, and more," the company said. The release of the Codex macOS app comes as AI startups explore what a group of AI agents working in parallel can accomplish. At the start of the year, Anysphere, the company behind Cursor, found it was possible to build a working web browser from scratch using such an approach, though it did encounter problems along the way. For a limited time, OpenAI is making Codex available to ChatGPT Free and Go users so they can see what's possible with this new software. At the same time, the company is doubling rates for Plus and Pro subscribers. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-brings-its-codex-coding-app-to-mac-with-new-multi-agent-abilities-included-183103262.html?src=rss

02.02.2026 21:11 While it's important to stay informed about what's going on in the world, endlessly scrolling through your social media feeds and absorbing what's likely to be a largely negative influx of information can't be great for your mental wellbeing. Perhaps with an eye on stopping you from doomscrolling, developer Lyra Rebane created Xikipedia, a social media-style feed of Wikipedia entries.The web app algorithmically displays info from Simple Wikipedia. "It is made as a demonstration of how even a basic non- algorithm with no data from other users can quickly learn what you engage with to suggest you more similar content," the Xikipedia landing page reads. "No data is collected or shared here, the algorithm runs locally and the data disappears once you refresh or close the tab."You can opt to see entries from certain categories and you can like “posts,” each of which is a summary of the relevant Simple Wikipedia entry. Liking a post makes it more likely for posts from the same category, parent categories and linked articles to appear in your feed, Rebane explained.You can click or tap on a post to visit the full article. It's important to note that, since Xikipedia pulls text and images from random articles, you'll probably see some NSFW material if you scroll for long enough, so be warned. You'll also likely need to wait a beat for Xikipedia to load its 40MB of data.As someone who has a bookmark that takes me to a random Wikipedia article whenever I click it, I love the idea of Xikipedia. The Simple English Wikipedia has more than 278,000 articles, so there are hundreds of thousands of posts available to scroll through. However, it doesn’t seem to be updated as often as the main version of Wikipedia. The discography section of one musician's page I ended up on was missing their two most recent albums. Still, it's worth treating this like Wikipedia proper: as a starting point for discovering new things .This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/a-developer-turned-wikipedia-into-a-social-media-style-feed-174924280.html?src=rss

02.02.2026 21:11 It looks like Grok is still being gross. Elon Musk says his chatbot stopped making sexualized images without a person's consent, but The Verge recently discovered this is not entirely true. It maybe stopped undressing women without their consent, but this doesn't seem to apply to men. A reporter with the organization ran some tests with Grok and found that the bot "readily undresses men and is still churning out intimate images on demand." He confirmed this with images of himself, asking Grok to remove clothing from uploaded photos. It performed this task for free on the Grok app, via the chatbot interface on X and via the standalone website. The website didn't even require an account to digitally alter images. The company recently said it has taken steps to "prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis." However, the reporter had no problem getting the chatbot to put him in "a variety of bikinis." It also generated images of the subject in fetish gear and in a "parade of provocative sexual positions." It even generated a "naked companion" for the reporter to, uh, interact with. He suggested that Grok took the initiative to generate genitalia, which was not asked for and was visible through mesh underwear. The reporter said that "Grok rarely resisted" any prompts, though requests were sometimes censored with a blurred-out image. This controversy started several weeks ago when it was discovered that Grok had generated millions of sexualized images over a period of 11 days. This includes many nonconsensual deepfakes of actual people and over 23,000 sexualized images of children. This led to investigations in both California and Europe. X was actually banned in both Indonesia and Malaysia, though the former has since lifted that ban. X claimed it has "implemented technological measures" to stop this sort of thing, but these safeguards have proven to be flimsy. In other words, the adjustments do stop some of the more obvious ways to get Grok to create deepfakes, but there are still methods to get around this via creative prompting. It's also worth noting that journalists asking for a comment on the matter get slapped with an autoreply that reads "legacy media lies." Going with the fake news thing in 2026? Yikes.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/grok-which-maybe-stopped-undressing-women-without-their-consent-still-undresses-men-170750752.html?src=rss

02.02.2026 21:11 It's become cliche to say that we live in a golden age of board games, but to paraphrase the great stoic philosopher Andy Bernard, it's great to know you're in the good old days before you've left them. Great titles are still coming out by the thousands every year, from crowd-pleasing party games to genre-bending, theme-heavy Euros. Whether the gamer in your life is looking for a mind-warping challenge, a fun evening with friends or something in-between, we've got new releases or old favorites they'll love. Best board games to gift and play Check out the rest of our gift ideas here. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-board-games-to-gift-and-play-this-year-125529271.html?src=rss

02.02.2026 21:11 Almost three years after starting the bargaining process with Microsoft, quality assurance workers at two Blizzard locations have ratified a union contract. The agreement covers 60 workers at Blizzard Albany and Blizzard Austin.The agreement includes guaranteed pay increases across the three years of the contract, assurances that workers will be given fair credits and recognition on games that ship, discrimination-free disability accommodations, restrictions on crunch and "protection to immigrant workers from unfair discipline and loss of seniority while streamlining legal verification." Stronger rules around the use of AI are included in the contract as well. “At a time when layoffs are hitting our industry hard, today is another big step in building a better future for video game workers at every level,” Blizzard Albany quality analyst Brock Davis said in a statement. “For quality assurance testers, this contract provides us wages to live on, increased job security benefits and guardrails around artificial intelligence in the workplace.”As with other unions in Microsoft's game divisions, the Blizzard QA workers organized with the Communications Workers of America. This marks the third union agreement at Microsoft after ZeniMax and Raven Software workers ratified contracts last summer. Several other Blizzard divisions have unionized within the last year, including the cinematics team, Overwatch developers and a unit that works on Diablo.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/blizzards-quality-assurance-workers-finally-have-a-union-contract-162614979.html?src=rss

02.02.2026 21:11 ExpressVPN is back on sale again, and its two-year plans are up to 81 percent off right now. You can get the Advanced tier for $88 for 28 months. This is marked down from the $392 that this time frame normally costs. On a per-month basis, it works out to roughly $3.14 for the promo period. 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/expressvpn-two-year-plans-are-up-to-81-percent-off-right-now-180602205.html?src=rss

02.02.2026 21:11 The big game is one of the few instances now in the US where most people gather around the TV to watch the live event together. While the teams playing in Super Bowl 2026 are the true stars of the show , your TV is a pretty important part of the puzzle of putting together an excellent Super Bowl party. Maybe you’ve been thinking about replacing an aging set, or you’re itching for a full refresh of your home theater setup — either way, you’ll want to try to get a good deal on a new TV. Thankfully, the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl can be a great time to shop for a new TV. 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 1080p FHD smart TV for $98 Roku 24-inch 720p smart TV for $100 TCL 40-inch Class S3 1080p smart TV for $150 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. 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 75-inch QD7 Mini-LED 4K smart TV for $548 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 Streaming Stick HD 2025 for $16 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-this-week-on-oleds-and-other-smart-tvs-ahead-of-kickoff-160000485.html?src=rss

02.02.2026 21:11 Whether you're one of the few people still keeping up with New Year's resolutions or just want an upgraded smartwatch, now is a good time to get an Apple Watch. Currently, the Apple Watch Series 11 is on sale for $299, down from $399. The 25 percent discount brings the 2025 model back down to its record-low price. We named the Apple Watch Series 11 as our choice for best smartwatch overall. It scored a 90 in our review thanks to its 24 hours-plus of battery life and a thin, light design that's easy to wear. It also offers new health metrics, including Apple's hypertension alerts system and Sleep Score. The Apple Watch Series 11 deal is available on the 42mm case with a small/medium band. It also only includes GPS and four colorways: the Jet Black and Space Gray aluminum cases with a Black sport band, the Rose Gold aluminum case with a Light Blush sport band and the Silver aluminum case with a Purple Fog sport band. Check out our coverage of the best Apple deals for more discounts, and follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-apple-watch-series-11-is-back-on-sale-for-299-151616498.html?src=rss

02.02.2026 21:11 While the main series might be over, Netflix is far from done with Stranger Things. The first spin-off to hit the streaming service will be Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85. The company had said that the animated show would arrive sometime this year and now, alongside a new trailer, it confirmed a release date of April 23. The trailer is a bit of an odd watch given that Stranger Things wrapped up only a month ago. Going from that to this animated style with a whole new voice cast is jarring, but a fun gag at the end of the clip taps into certain misconceptions the audience might have.Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 is set during the winter between seasons 2 and 3 of the original show. After Eleven closes the gate to the Upside Down, some nasties from the other dimension still persist in our heroes' world. The trailer doesn't give too much away on the story front otherwise, but there's a suitably hairy moment involving a circular saw.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/stranger-things-tales-from-85-hits-netflix-on-april-23-150436136.html?src=rss

02.02.2026 16:01 We've finally made it to February, but, with the ongoing long nights, you might want a pick-me-up to get you through the rest of winter. Take the Apple iPad mini with the A17 Pro chip, which is on sale for $400, down from $500. Its small size is perfect for cozying up on the couch or to use on your daily commute. Apple released this iPad mini in late 2024 and it was a solid update. We gave it an 83 in our review thanks to the power of its A17 Pro chip and that it comes with a minimum of 128GB of storage. The model currently on sale comes with 128GB, Wi-Fi and all four color options: Blue, Purple, Space Gray and Starlight. We named the Apple iPad mini our favorite compact iPad — though, to be fair, its only competitor is itself. Still, it's a good iPad with an 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display, Apple Intelligence and 12MP Wide back and 12MP Ultra Wide cameras. For 20 percent off, it's a great option for a light, useful way to entertain yourself through the rest of winter and beyond. Check out our coverage of the best Apple deals for more discounts, and follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-latest-ipad-mini-is-100-off-right-now-140900983.html?src=rss

02.02.2026 16:01 It's big-game season, which means it's a good time to look for home theater gear on sale ahead of Super Bowl 2026. There are plenty of Super Bowl TV deals to consider, but if you have arguably the most important piece of the puzzle down, you may want to upgrade your sound system instead. Sonos' latest sale may have just what you need; a bunch of the company's home theater gear is up to 20 percent off right now. You can save $130 on the Beam soundbar, bringing its price down to $369, and you'll also find deals on the flagship Arc Ultra soundbar, 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. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/get-up-to-20-percent-off-sonos-home-theater-gear-before-super-bowl-2026-174053382.html?src=rss

02.02.2026 16:01 Anker rolled out a bunch of new chargers and other gear at CES 2026, including a cute one that's already on sale. The new Nano charger with smart display, which is an upgrade to the existing Nano charger in Anker's lineup, is on sale for $30 right now when you clip an on-page coupon on Amazon. That's $10 off the regular price. The 45W charger includes a smart display that shows real-time data like power flow, temperature and charging status. It also features "fun animations to keep things cheerful." Anker says it can recognize what's being charged and automatically adjust certain metrics to ensure a longer battery lifespan. To that end, it works with just about everything. The company advertises that this charger is a good fit for the iPhone, Apple Watch, AirPods and Samsung devices, among others. The new Nano Charger is on the smaller side, with dual folding prongs that rotate to fit most outlets. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/ankers-45w-nano-charger-with-smart-display-is-10-off-160707508.html?src=rss

02.02.2026 16:01 TikTok is finally "back to normal" in the US after days of technical issues and outages tied to winter storms. Less than a week after companies like Oracle took ownership of TikTok's domestic operations, the platform faced a major power outage when one of its primary US data center sites — run by Oracle — got taken down by the storm. The problems started last Monday, January 26, when TikTok announced it was working on a "major infrastructure issue" and warned of bugs, time-out requests, missing earnings, and more. The next day TikTok shared that progress has been made but there were still some issues. It added, "Creators may temporarily see '0' views or likes on videos, and your earnings may look like they're missing. This is a display error caused by server timeouts; your actual data and engagement are safe." Then, yesterday, February 1, TikTok claimed the problem was straightened out and that users shouldn't experience any more related issues. "We're sorry about the issues experienced by our U.S. community. We appreciate how much you count on TikTok to create, discover, and connect with what matters to you," the platform stated in its update. "Thank you for your patience and understanding." A number of US users have uninstalled TikTok in response to its new ownership and technical issues. Some users also claimed that TikTok was censoring what they could post or what others saw. For instance, The Guardian reports that many people faced issues sharing videos about ICE agents killing Alex Pretti and general anti-ICE content. On January 26, analytics firm Sensor Tower told CNBC that uninstalls of the app had increased by over 150 percent during the five days since its change in ownership, when compared to the three months before. At the same time, independent app and competitor UpScrolled saw a surge in downloads. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/tiktok-says-its-back-to-normal-after-winter-storm-related-outages-114848212.html?src=rss

02.02.2026 01:11 Apex Legends developer Respawn said it's ending Nintendo Switch support for the game this summer, with the release of Season 30. After that point, it'll work with the Switch 2 and all other currently supported platforms, but not the original Switch. "Season 29 will be the final update for Apex Legends on Nintendo Switch," the team wrote in a post on X.Hey legends, we want to share an important update about Apex Legends on the Nintendo Switch. Season 29 will be the final update for Apex Legends on Nintendo Switch. Future seasons of Apex Legends will continue to be available on Nintendo Switch 2.- Starting August 4, 2026…— Apex Legends January 30, 2026 The change will take place on August 4, 2026, so Switch players still have several months left to enjoy Apex Legends on the console and make preparations for their shift to a different platform, if they plan to do so. "All players progress, purchases, and earnings are tied to their individual EA accounts," Respawn said. "Everything that has been earned or purchased, including Apex Coins and cosmetics, will carry over to Nintendo Switch 2, even if you purchase Nintendo Switch 2 after August 4, 2026." The Switch 2 undoubtedly offers a better playing experience for Apex Legends than the earlier model, but the news is still a blow for current Switch 1 players who didn't have plans of upgrading any time soon. Apex Legends first came to Switch in 2021, two years after the game's launch on other platforms.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/apex-legends-wont-be-playable-on-nintendo-switch-after-its-next-season-214153353.html?src=rss