Engadget - Technology News & Expert Reviews

Lamine Yamal shares pictures teasing the new Beats headphones on the way

staff@engadget.com (Cheyenne MacDonald) — Sat, 30 May 2026 21:38:38 +0000

Lamine Yamal Shares Pictures Teasing The New Beats Headphones On The Way

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The Spanish soccer player posted a bunch of images featuring the mystery product.

Lamine Yamal via Instagram

Beats has made a tradition of slipping unannounced products to famous athletes and letting a little mystery drive the hype train, and it's just done it again with a pair of bubblegum pink (perhaps with a dash of lilac?) headphones. Spanish soccer player Lamine Yamal shared a series of pictures and a video on Instagram showing the headphones hanging from his bag and draped around his neck.

It's hard to tell for sure if they're on-ear or over-ear, but they certainly appear to be a new design. We reached out to Beats and the company did not provide any information. The headphones sported by Yamal don't have the flat headband we see on Beats' current line, instead featuring a more rounded band design with a wider piece at the top that would sit snugly on the head. If you zoom in, they're actually pretty different from anything we've seen from the company before. Consider us intrigued.

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NASA readies the X-59 for its first supersonic flight, SpaceX's Starship grounded and more science stories

staff@engadget.com (Cheyenne MacDonald) — Sat, 30 May 2026 16:30:00 +0000

NASA Readies The X-59 For Its First Supersonic Flight, SpaceX's Starship Grounded And More Science Stories

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This week’s science news.

NASA/Jim Ross

This week, NASA shared more information about its planned moon base missions, Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded on the launchpad and the James Webb Space Telescope spotted a supermassive black hole that researchers say "may have formed within the first second after the big bang." But first, we have updates on NASA's X-59 quiet supersonic research plane and SpaceX's Starship following last week's test flight. Catch up here on this week's science news.

Key test flights approach for NASA's quiet supersonic plane

Over the last decade, NASA has been developing an aircraft that could one day reach supersonic speeds — or travel faster than the speed of sound — without producing the thunderous sonic booms typically associated with this feat. The plane, called the X-59, took its first ever flight back in October and has conducted several more in the months since. Now, NASA says it's ready to go supersonic. The X-59 is scheduled to take its first supersonic flight, hitting over 630 mph at an altitude of about 43,000 feet, in early June, according to the space agency.

Then, in a followup "mission conditions" test, it will reach 925 mph (Mach 1.4) at about 55,000 feet. After that, it'll go for its max speed: Mach 1.6, or 1,218 mph, at an altitude of 60,000 feet. NASA isn't ready to show off the X-59's quiet supersonic capabilities yet, though. For this phase of testing, NASA noted in a blog post, "The X-59 will be accompanied by a traditional supersonic chase plane, so any quiet thump it produces in the current phase of testing will be obscured by louder, traditional sonic booms from the chase."

FAA grounds Starship after 'mishap'

SpaceX's Starship V3 launched for the first time last week in a test flight that achieved much of what the company set out to do. But, it wasn't entirely without hiccups, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has since ordered a pause on Starship flights while it investigates what went wrong and prevented the Super Heavy booster from making a soft splashdown as intended.

The issue arose after Starship separated from Super Heavy. "Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster performed a directional flip maneuver and attempted its boostback burn," SpaceX explained in a blog post following the launch. "It was unable to light all planned engines and performed a partial boostback burn that ended early. Super Heavy attempted to reignite its engines for the landing burn before experiencing a hard splashdown in the Gulf of America." Starship went on to complete its journey and splashed down at the planned site in the Indian Ocean.

Liftoff of Starship! pic.twitter.com/LQLdjK5V6K

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 22, 2026

"After a thorough assessment of the operation, the FAA has determined the May 22 SpaceX Starship Flight 12 launch resulted in a mishap," the agency said in a statement released this week. "The mishap involved the Super Heavy booster as it flew back to the Gulf of America after stage separation. There are no reports of public injury or damage to public property." It added, "The FAA is requiring SpaceX to conduct a mishap investigation. The FAA will oversee the SpaceX-led investigation, be involved in every step of the process, and approve SpaceX's final report, including any corrective actions."

It's not an uncommon move on the FAA's part, and SpaceX has faced several such groundings over the years, many of which have been wrapped up fairly quickly. It likely won't be very long before we see Starship back in action. "A return to flight of the Starship-Super Heavy vehicle is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety," the FAA noted in its statement.

The FAA grounded SpaceX competitor Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket last month following its third mission, and it was just cleared earlier this week to resume flights. But, during a hotfire test on Friday, New Glenn exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. You can read more about that below.

Before you go, be sure to check out these stories too:

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5 Fitness Trackers That Don't Lock Core Features Behind a Monthly Subscription

staff@engadget.com (Will Shanklin) — Sat, 30 May 2026 13:30:00 +0000

5 Fitness Trackers That Don't Lock Core Features Behind A Monthly Subscription

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The Fitbit Air has entered the chat.

Will Shanklin / Engadget

Fitness tracker pricing can be, well, a bit misleading. For example, say the $399 Oura Ring 5 seems to be within your budget at first glance. But to make it remotely useful, you'll need to pay an extra $6 per month or $70 per year. Your total cost jumps up to around $550 after only two years. (And if you hang onto it for five years, you're looking at at least $750.)

Oura isn't even the most egregious subscription-based offender in this space. Whoop, the popular screenless fitness tracking band, requires a membership starting at $199 per year. Granted, that includes the device itself, unlike others. But you don't need to be a math whiz to realize how quickly its cost can add up over the long term, too.

That's why Google's recently released Fitbit Air is so interesting. It's basically a Whoop, with a one-time cost of $100. You can use most of its features without an additional subscription. What a concept! Let's take a closer look at the landscape following the Fitbit Air's entry, to see where you can cut through the paywall noise.

Fitbit Air

Cherlynn Low for Engadget

The Fitbit Air, starting at only $100, is the company's direct rival to Whoop. Crucially, Google's screenless band gives you all of its core features without a monthly fee. Only the Gemini-powered Al Coach and other perks (like workout videos) require a Google Health Premium subscription. If you do opt for that, you'll pay $10 per month or $100 per year. But again, it's more of an add-on than a necessity.

The device's battery life is about seven days, half the Whoop's 14-day uptime. But the Fitbit Air does charge quickly, so it shouldn't be a huge deal. For example, our review unit went from 36 percent to 58 percent in just five minutes.

The Fitbit Air works with both Android and iOS phones. However, it requires the Google Health app and won't sync natively with Apple Health.

Garmin vívosmart 5

Garmin

Unlike the Fitbit Air and Whoop, the vívosmart 5 has a narrow, monochrome OLED display. That, combined with its slim profile, makes it a solid way to split the difference between a full-on fitness watch and a screenless tracking band.

The device logs your heart rhythm, sleep, steps and workouts. And Garmin's Body Battery score estimates how long to wait before your next intense workout. Like the Fitbit Air and Whoop, the vívosmart 5 lacks built-in GPS and instead uses connected GPS via your paired phone.

Best of all, there's no monthly fee whatsoever, so your $150 upfront investment unlocks everything the device can do.

The Garmin vívosmart 5 is compatible with Android and iOS. Its companion Garmin Connect app can sync with Apple Health and Google Health.

Samsung Galaxy Ring

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

Although it has its limitations, the $400 Samsung Galaxy Ring also functions 100 percent without a monthly fee. It tracks sleep (duration, stages, and skin temperature) and activity. It can automatically detect walking and running and provide detailed metrics for both. It can last at least six days on a charge.

Unfortunately, the Galaxy Ring doesn't work with iPhones. And while it works just fine with Android phones from other manufacturers, a Samsung device is required for Galaxy AI features and its double-pinch gesture controls.

Apple Watch Series 11

Cherlynn Low for Engadget

Okay, maybe we're cheating a bit here by including a full-fledged smartwatch. But the Apple Watch Series 11 has loads of health-tracking features without a monthly fee.

This latest model has longer battery life than the previous generation: up to 24 hours with regular use. On the health front, this model adds hypertension alerts. The watch can monitor your heart rate and blood oxygen levels, track your sleep (including a sleep score), and log a long list of workouts.

On the downside, the Apple Watch Series 11 starts at a hefty $400. It's also iOS-only, so folks with Android phones are left out.

Xiaomi Smart Band 10

Xiaomi

On the opposite end of the pricing spectrum is the Xiaomi Smart Band 10. The budget fitness tracker costs around $50 and has no subscription fees. Hard to beat that.

The device has a bigger, brighter and sharper display than its predecessor, with an improved screen-to-body ratio. It covers the basics, including heart rate monitoring and sleep tracking. It can last up to 21 days on a single charge. As a quirky bonus, you can even wear it as a necklace or attach it to your shoe.

What's compromised at this ridiculously low price? First, the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 lacks built-in GPS. Its suite of sensors is also limited: It can't sense ECG, blood pressure, skin temperature, barometer, altimeter, or HRV. Its sleep tracking also gets mixed feedback. This isn't the device to get if you want premium health monitoring; it's more about keeping the cost down.

The Xiaomi Smart Band 10 pairs with the Mi Fitness app, which is available on iOS and Android.

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MindsEye developer Build a Rocket Boy has reportedly laid off even more staff

staff@engadget.com (Matt Tate) — Wed, 06 May 2026 17:00:28 +0000

MindsEye Developer Build A Rocket Boy Has Reportedly Laid Off Even More Staff

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Build a Rocket Boy

Around 170 staff have reportedly been laid off Build a Rocket Boy, the developer behind the unendingly troubled MindsEye. According to Kotaku, the exact number of people affected is unclear, but the latest round off staff cuts brings the Scotland-based studio's headcount down to approximately 80.

There's been no official announcement regarding the layoffs from BARB at the time of writing (Engadget has reached out to the studio for comment and we'll update this post if and when we receive one), but as Kotaku points out, some former staff members have confirmed their departures in recent posts on LinkedIn. They include Technical Level Designer James Tyler and Audio Designer Tom Cross, among others.

BARB has gone through several rounds of layoffs in the last year following its debut game MindsEye's disastrous launch, with the previous wave of cuts announced in early March. Shortly after that, the studio parted ways with partner IO Interactive and now publishes MindsEye exclusively. A planned crossover with IO's Hitman series was also canceled.

BARB has consistently argued that, while MindsEye's buggy state at launch naturally contributed to all the bad press, the game and studio as a whole was also the victim of both internal and external "sabotage." In a bizarre move, the studio even promised to share more information on the alleged conspiracy within playable DLC for the game that was released earlier this month.

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Chrome downloads a 4GB AI file without user consent, researcher alleges

staff@engadget.com (Nathan Ingraham) — Wed, 06 May 2026 15:20:22 +0000

Chrome Downloads A 4GB AI File Without User Consent, Researcher Alleges

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If you've paid any attention to Google lately, you know that it wants us using its AI tools. So much so that Chrome apparently downloads a 4GB file containing details for running Gemini Nano, Google's on-device LLM. Computer scientist Alexander Hanff published the details earlier this week on his website The Privacy Guy and goes into extreme detail on why this isn't a good look for Google.

I just verified what he said about the file, named "weights.bin" and found it in the Chrome folder in the macOS Library directory (which is ordinarily hidden so that users don't mess with potentially critical files). Indeed, it's a 4+ GB file right where he said it would be. Hanff correctly notes that at no point does Chrome prompt users to ask if they'd like to install the Gemini Nano weights, which Chrome users for AI-powered features like "help me write" and on-device scam detection.

Google provided Engadget with the following statement after this story was originally published:

"We've offered Gemini Nano for Chrome since 2024 as a lightweight, on-device model. It powers important security capabilities like scam detection and developer APIs without sending your data to the cloud. While this requires some local space on the desktop to run, the model will automatically uninstall if the device is low on resources. In February, we began rolling out the ability for users to easily turn off and remove the model directly in Chrome settings. Once disabled the model will no longer download or update. More details in our help center article."

It's worth noting that on a second Mac I checked, the weights.bin file was not installed, nor was it found on a coworker's laptop. Shortly after updating Chrome to version 148.0.7778.97 on my personal laptop, the directory and file appeared. And when I deleted the directory containing the file on the first computer I checked, the large weights.bin file returned several minutes later.

Hanff wrote that he saw similar behavior across multiple Windows installations, as well. "The user deletes, Chrome re-downloads, the user deletes again, Chrome re-downloads again. The only ways to make the deletion stick are to disable Chrome's AI features through chrome://flags or enterprise policy tooling that home users do not generally have, or to uninstall Chrome entirely."

It's important to note that Hanff appears to have missed the relatively straightforward uninstall option that Google points out in its settings. If you go to Chrome settings and then click "system" on the left-side menu, there's a toggle to turn off on-device AI features.

Additional issues that Hanff calls out includes that this may violate European privacy laws, including GDPR. There's also the potentially large environmental cost. Hanff estimates that a "mid-band" deployment of this 4GB file would hit 500 million devices, or about 15 percent of Chrome users. That push would result in rough 30,000 tonnes of CO2e — the annual emissions of 6,500 cars. He also notes that this is only the initial delivery cost and that plenty of additional factors would make for a higher energy cost.

Update, May 6, 2026, 1:35PM ET: This story has been updated with Google's statement and to note that Chrome has provided a way to turn off on-device AI tools since February.

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reMarkable's Paper Pure is its new entry-level slate

staff@engadget.com (Daniel Cooper) — Wed, 06 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000

reMarkable's Paper Pure Is Its New Entry-Level Slate

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Daniel Cooper for Engadget

reMarkable is arguably the leader in making e-paper tablets for people who do capital-s Serious capital-w Work. In the last two years, the company has launched the flagship Paper Pro and a smaller sibling, the Paper Pro Move. Now it's turned its attention back to the lower end of the market with the Paper Pure, a successor to 2020's reMarkable 2.

The reMarkable Paper Pure is a 10.3-inch writing slate designed to mimic the experience of writing on paper. You can use it to write, read and edit .PDF files and read e-books, free from the distractions modern life throws your way. This new tablet has plenty of features pulled from its pricier siblings, including an active stylus and faster internals. Display contrast has been improved, the battery life should last three weeks at a time, and it's far more repairable.

It's also been consciously designed with more emphasis on the corporate market, including security features to please any IT department. In addition, you can integrate your calendar with the slate and it'll create discrete documents to hold your meeting notes. As with all other reMarkable products, these software features will also filter down to the rest of the lineup.

The reMarkable Paper Pure is available to order today, with the base model — including the standard Marker — priced at $399, but the better option is the bundle for $449. For that, you get the Paper Pure, the Marker Plus (with a built-in eraser tip) and a carrying case, a far better deal. If you're curious about if this is the device for you, then you might find it useful to head over to our full review, which dropped alongside this story.

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reMarkable Paper Pure review: Great hardware held back by bad philosophy

staff@engadget.com (Daniel Cooper) — Wed, 06 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Great Hardware Held Back By Bad Philosophy

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Daniel Cooper for Engadget

RATING : 8.3 / 10

Pros

Class-leading handwriting
Better responsiveness
Nicer display
Gorgeous design

Cons

No backlight is a big miss
No typing
Software integrations need work

There's a lot riding on reMarkable's Paper Pure, a device that has to be a lot of things to a lot of people. It's got to be a worthy replacement to 2020's reMarkable 2, the e-paper slate that made the company a household name. It needs to be a truly mass market device, or at least as mass market as a device like this can be. And it needs to woo big businesses looking for a tool it can get into the hands of hundreds or thousands of employees.

I wrote the above a full week before news broke reMarkable was slashing its workforce and firing CEO Phil Hess. According to Norway's E24, reMarkable has faced dwindling demand and rising costs thanks to the current global milieu. The Paper Pure doesn't have a lot, but in fact everything riding on its back as it makes its global debut today. Let's just hope the company's overtures toward big business don't conflict with the needs of ordinary users.

Hardware

Chris Davies for Engadget

reMarkable has spent the last few years building out its high end line with the Paper Pro and Move. It's never said anything, but I get the sense both were far pricier than the company planned thanks to everything else going on right now. The flagship Paper Pro, after all, costs more than the higher-end MacBook Neo. The reMarkable Paper Pure sees the company taking what it learned from the high end and bringing it down to the rest of us.

The Paper Pure is a monochrome e-paper writing slate with a 10.3-inch display, built and priced to tempt newbies. But, the company has also got one and a half eyes on cornering the enterprise market. It measures 7.4 x 8.9 x 0.2 inches and weighs 0.79 pounds, with the left side bezel thick enough that the slate will rest comfortably in your hand. And while it's ostensibly the cheaper device, it carries the same visual design language as found on the Paper Pro line.

Inside is a 1.7GHz dual-core ARM Cortex A55, 2GB RAM, 32GB storage and a 3,820mAh battery. reMarkable says the device will last for three weeks on a charge, based on using the slate for an hour a day, every day. The 10.3-inch "Canvas" display is a customized version of E Ink's Carta 1300, which is whiter and has better contrast than the reMarkable 2.

A surprising carry over is the new Marker, which was a passive stylus on the first two reMarkable slates. They were redesigned for the Paper Pro and Move as active units, talking to their respective tablets to reduce writing latency. And, like the Pro models, the Marker wirelessly charges when magnetically connected to the right side of the slate. The textured top layer is here too, ensuring a consistent, paper-like writing experience on the display. There's also full disk encryption and secure boot to appeal to enterprise users and their IT teams.

Flip the device over and you'll notice the exposed plastic Torx screws on the back plate. This is part of the company's push to make the hardware more repairable ahead of the EU's directives on the matter. Even the Markers are now repairable, easy enough to access to swap out the batteries should something go wrong. However, the company doesn't yet have the parts infrastructure in place to enable it, and it would still much rather handle repairs itself.

reMarkable is intentional in its design and sweats details far more than others in the industry. The chamfering around the edges is harder to achieve in plastic than metal, but the company went the extra mile to find a solution. It sourced recycled magnesium for the core inside the frame to make it strong but not heavy. And there's no flex or bend in the hardware, hell it's almost impossible to even see the join lines between the corner components such is the tidiness of reMarkable's design and manufacturing.

Unfortunately, there's one omission which isn't just vexing but offensive at this point in time. Unlike the Pros, the Pure lacks a display backlight, giving it the same flaw which dogged the reMarkable 2. The lack there was painful if understandable, but here after so much time, it's unforgivable. As soon as the light levels fall, you'll struggle to use this thing, which is fine if you're working in a brightly lit office. But if you're a normal user who wants to organise their thoughts at the end of a long day, you're screwed. reMarkable said the lack of a backlight is "an intentional choice to provide the most paper-like experience for those who prioritize deep thinking, primarily in well-lit office environments."

The reMarkable 2 and Paper Pro both had pogo pins to enable the use of Type Folios, but neither the Pro Move or Pure do. I asked if this was a sign the company was going to open up the on-board Bluetooth, as many in the hacking community have done, to enable third-party keyboards. But the response was very much a non-committal gesture about how typing isn't one of the company's priorities right now. Perhaps reMarkable sees keyboards as a distraction from the pen-and-paper device it's trying to sell the world. Or maybe, since I last worked for a Fortune 500 company, nobody types anything anymore.

Another thing you won't see on the Pure is a wraparound tablet folio as found on all its other devices. Instead, you get a cute carrying sleeve in a choice of colors (green, pink and dark blue) for when you're moving between meetings. The color and design is solid and precise; there are magnets inside the case to hold the flap in place and trigger the Paper Pure to wake up if you pull it out of its sleeve. The lack of a proper folio isn't great, but I do appreciate the effort made to craft a carrying case that you don't feel ashamed to use.

In-use

Daniel Cooper for Engadget

The reMarkable Paper Pure is, without a doubt, one of the nicest e-paper writing slates I've spent a lot of time with. The writing experience is more or less identical to the one found on the Paper Pros, and it's an enormously well-crafted experience. I'm a big fan of the display and I'm fairly sure it's more responsive to page swipes and refreshes than its siblings. Given what people will use this device for, I'm not even sure they're going to miss the color display. I certainly didn't, which even I was surprised about, but then color isn't a necessity for a slate of this type. If you're just handwriting long notes and editing, you're probably not stopping every few scrawls to change ink color or highlight something anyway.

I'll go further and say the Paper Pure is a far better device than the Paper Pro Move, which I found too small to be useful. In hindsight, the Move was likely a distraction if it held up engineering resources that could have gone to this. I've found it very easy to lean back in an armchair and scratch out my thoughts about this device in my time with the Pure. Plus, it's an excellent e-reader that doesn't burn out your eyes, and it's great for journaling and sketching out the earliest design plans for projects.

reMarkable's intentionality encompasses AI: The company won't put any gen-AI crap on its gear for obvious reasons. But it does use machine learning to analyze your handwriting and, when you upload your documents to reMarkable's sharing page, it'll create AI summaries and extract action items. Plus, if you upload a file to, for instance, design website Miro, the AI will try and extract your writing and diagrams, digitizing them for the platform in question. These are all sensible and perfectly valid uses for the technology in my opinion, greasing the wheels of your workday rather than allowing you to outsource your thinking.

The basic stuff hasn't changed. You create notebooks, using a variety of paper styles and templates. You can import .PDF and .EPUB files to read and amend, and can edit text directly if you can brave the on-screen keyboard. If your handwriting is clear enough (and mine rarely is) you can convert your scrawl to text, and the system will even let you search through your handwritten notes. Once done, you can share a .PDF of your work via email, Google Drive, Slack or various other third-party clients.

reMarkable supports native import of .DOCX files, which you're able to edit with the stylus. When you want to export that file back to your computer, you'll get an AI summary of the recommended changes. But, much like the exports of .PDF and .EPUB files, you'll still have to manually copy-paste those amendments in your original document. Which, if I'm honest, doesn't seem like a particularly efficient way of doing things, especially given who the company is pitching itself to now.

One of the new enterprise-friendly features is calendar integration, which will let you create and file meeting notes specific to each event. If it's, say, a recurring meeting, the system will tie all of those together in the same workbook so you aren't hunting for notes. Sadly, what you can't do with this feature is automate some of the busywork that comes with using the slate as a day planner. There's a small ecosystem of creators who sell custom .PDFs for use as planners or journals tailored to people's specific use cases. This prompted reMarkable to launch Methods, a more dynamic system to do the same thing, but it lacks the joined up thinking that such a feature could benefit from. After all, I'd love it if my reMarkable planner automatically filled in the information from my integrated calendar.

For a while you've been able to share the screen of your reMarkable to a computer but that's gotten a lot more useful. You can share it via a USB-C cable or wirelessly to the company's web client to conduct presentations. Even better, and another sign of reMarkable's elegant design choices, is that if you hover the stylus a few millimetres over the display, it'll turn into a laser pointer with a slowly-diappearing light trail. So, if you need to highlight something in your presentation or brainstorming session, you can do so without affecting what's on your workbook.

Unfortunately, all of these innovations are targeted so squarely at companies that regular folks might feel a bit elbowed out. It doesn't help that while the device itself is a joy to use, it's increasingly obvious the ecosystem that surrounds it is not. The friction inherent in moving a document on and off the slate, the extra steps in the workflow that it creates, are charming only in isolation.

Price

Daniel Cooper for Engadget

reMarkable Paper Pure is available to pre-order today, with the base model and marker priced at $399. Spend $50 more, however, and you'll get the Paper Pure, the Marker Plus and the carrying sleeve for $449 which, if we're honest, is a much better deal. In addition, you'll likely not get the full benefit of using the hardware unless you fork out for the company's annual subscription which is $3.99 a month or $39 per year.

Wrap-up

Daniel Cooper for Engadget

The reMarkable Paper Pure is another fantastic piece of hardware from a company that just makes great tools. There are countless things I love about it, and it really does succeed in its mission to provide you a space to think without the temptations of the internet. I love the writing experience and it does feel close to writing on paper, rather than the more weightless experience you find on many other slates. I was expecting a step down on the display quality and responsiveness and found both to be improvements over its flagship siblings.

I wasn't joking when I said I prefer this to the Paper Pro Move, which is more portable but less useful. I could easily picture having this device in my bag wherever I go to pull double duty as an e-reader and notebook. Hell, if reMarkable could improve the calendar integration it would be possible for me to replace the paper Bullet Journal I currently use to run my life. In many ways, I look at this device and think "I can see so many ways this would make things easier and better, if only it was more flexible."

Until now, that inflexibility has represented the intentional, slow way of moving the company builds for. But when it starts making pitches to big business, which are all about efficiency, it loses a lot of its previously stored up credit. And that lack of flexibility dings the score for the Paper Pure because it needs a better ecosystem around the device itself. Thankfully, with the exception of the backlight, almost all of the issues are with software, and that's a far easier thing to fix.

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Nuro approved to test its driverless Uber robotaxis on California roads

staff@engadget.com (Steve Dent) — Wed, 06 May 2026 08:25:59 +0000

Nuro Approved To Test Its Driverless Uber Robotaxis On California Roads

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Nuro

Uber-backed Nuro has received an updated permit to test its Lucid Gravity robotaxis on California streets, according to recent DMV documents. It's a key step in Uber's plan to deploy 100,000 driverless vehicles in the US, including up to 35,000 powered by Nuro's self-driving technology. The companies expect to begin fully-autonomous testing later this year, a spokesperson told TechCrunch.

Nuro, backed by NVIDIA, Toyota and Uber, has become a key player in the robotaxi and autonomous vehicle arena, having already received a California DMV permit for driverless deliveries with its R3 Nuro Robot vehicle. At CES 2026 in January, Nuro and Uber unveiled their robotaxi design based on the three-row Lucid Gravity electric crossover. It will feature a multi-pronged sensor system, including high-res cameras, lidar sensors, and radar, along with a roof-mounted LED display. The interior will offer luxuries like rider-controlled heated seats.

So far, Uber and Nuro have only operated the Lucid Gravity EVs in autonomous mode with a human safety driver and limited those rides to Uber employees. However, the new permit will allow the companies to test the vehicles without human operators at speeds up to 45 mph, day or night, in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Nuro has also been testing its Lucid robotaxis in Tokyo with human drivers as a backup.

Yesterday as part of its earnings release, Lucid said that it planned to launch the robotaxi service "later this year." The EV maker also revealed that Uber had boosted its funding in the company to $500 million and increased its order from 20,000 to 35,000 vehicles. Before commercial services start, Nuro and Uber will require permits for ride-hailing permit as well as a DMV deployment permit.

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MSI's next-gen monitor can switch between three resolutions and refresh rates

staff@engadget.com (Jackson Chen) — Sat, 30 May 2026 19:25:30 +0000

MSI's Next-Gen Monitor Can Switch Between Three Resolutions And Refresh Rates

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Go from 4K resolution for Crimson Desert to 680Hz for Counter-Strike 2.

ginchang/Shutterstock

Gaming monitors that let you switch between two modes aren't new, but MSI is pushing that even further with its OLED monitor can shift across three modes. For Computex 2026, MSI is claiming a world's first with a 31.5-inch gaming monitor that can bounce between 4K resolution with a 360Hz refresh rate, 2K resolution with 520Hz and FHD resolution with 680Hz.

Officially named the MPG OLED 322URDX36, the monitor lets gamers go from maximum resolution for AAA titles that are graphically demanding to an ultra-fast refresh rate for more competitive games where split-second decisions matter. Along with MSI's Triple Mode feature, the upcoming monitor also has its Penta Tandem technology that the company advertises as a five-layer stack of panels designed to reduce color fringing and make text more legible. MSI also equipped the Triple Mode monitor with a DarkArmor Film that's supposed to boost black levels by 40 percent and increase scratch resistance.

Besides all of MSI's included proprietary technologies, the upcoming monitor can hit a peak brightness of 1,500 nits and will have a DisplayPort 2.1a and a USB-C port. MSI didn't reveal any pricing or release details, but said the MPG OLED 322URDX36 will be on display at its booth during Computex 2026, which kicks off on June 2.

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Pornhub is unblocking UK users who verify their age with Apple

staff@engadget.com (Mariella Moon) — Wed, 06 May 2026 07:36:12 +0000

Pornhub Is Unblocking UK Users Who Verify Their Age With Apple

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9091086/Shutterstock

More people in the UK will now be able to access Pornhub again, as long as users can verify their age on an iPhone. The website's parent company, Aylo, has announced that it's welcoming back "age-confirmed" iOS users after Apple launched a device-based age verification solution with iOS 26.4. Aylo explained in its update that it has been advocating for device-based age verification from the start, because it can protect people's privacy and keep minors out of adult platforms at the same time.

Pornhub stopped giving new users in the UK full access to its website back in February, citing the age-verification requirements of the Online Safety Act. The law, which took effect last year, required adult websites to implement "highly effective" methods to ensure minors can't access any age-inappropriate content. But Aylo argued back then that only device-based verification can provide sufficient protection for user data.

With the release of iOS 26.4 in the UK, Apple started requiring users in the region to verify their ages. They now have to prove they're 18 years old or above before they can access "certain services or features, or take certain actions on their account." New users will be able to verify their ages by linking a credit card to their account or scanning an ID. Apple will check the accounts for payment methods on file for people who've had an account for some time.

"In our view, Apple's UK device-level age-verification update offers one of the strongest and hardest to circumvent protections currently available for helping prevent minors from accessing age-inappropriate content," Aylo wrote. Now, age-verified iOS users in the UK "will be served a standard adult user experience" when they visit Pornhub.

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Valve releases design files for its out-of-stock Steam Controller

staff@engadget.com (Anna Washenko) — Tue, 05 May 2026 22:29:25 +0000

Valve Releases Design Files For Its Out-Of-Stock Steam Controller

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Sam Rutherford for Engadget

The Steam Controller has been a hot topic for the PC gaming world for the past few weeks, and a new tidbit could keep the conversation going: Valve released the CAD files for the gamepad's shell. They're free to download under a Creative Commons license, meaning people can now design and construct their own accessories for the Steam Controller and its puck.

The files are only for the device's exterior; you won't be able to 3D print yourself the innards to build your entire controller from scratch. That means that if you are on the hunt for a Steam Controller, you may be waiting for a bit while the sold-out gamepad is restocked. Fortunately, since Valve hasn't given a release window yet for the Steam Machine and Steam Frame VR headset, it's probably not an essential purchase right this instant for most gamers. But it is a good controller if you can find one, and it's a nifty idea for Valve to let people get creative with the casing.

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Apple will pay $250 million for failing to deliver its AI-powered Siri on time

staff@engadget.com (Ian Carlos Campbell) — Tue, 05 May 2026 21:51:45 +0000

Apple Will Pay $250 Million For Failing To Deliver Its AI-Powered Siri On Time

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Apple has agreed to pay $250 million to settle a class action lawsuit that claims the company misled iPhone buyers in the US that the updated version of Siri it announced alongside Apple Intelligence would launch in 2024, The Financial Times writes. The company originally showed off its more "personalized" Siri at WWDC 2024, but has failed to ship the new AI assistant almost two years later.

Assuming it's approved by a judge, the settlement will cover a class that includes US buyers of the iPhone 16 lineup and the iPhone 15 Pro. The settlement will offer financial relief to anyone who expected Siri on their new iPhone, but Apple's proposal notably doesn't require the company to actually admit fault for advertising AI features it hasn't shipped.

The company slowly rolled out components of the text editing, image generation and ChatGPT integration it pitched as Apple Intelligence throughout 2024 and 2025, but a version of Siri that understands the context of what's on your device and can take action in apps on your behalf never arrived. Apple didn't publicly acknowledge it would have to delay that Siri update until March 2025, over five months after the iPhone 16 launched, a phone the company sold as being able to run Apple Intelligence.

After Apple announced the delay, it pulled ads it had run in the lead-up to the iPhone launch showing off the new Siri feature. The company now plans to finally offer the new Siri this year, largely thanks to a partnership with Google that lets Apple use the company's Gemini models. The new Siri, along with a collection of other AI features, will reportedly be included in iOS 27.

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Anthropic reportedly agrees to pay Google $200 billion for chips and cloud access

staff@engadget.com (Anna Washenko) — Tue, 05 May 2026 21:40:41 +0000

Anthropic Reportedly Agrees To Pay Google $200 Billion For Chips And Cloud Access

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We learned earlier this month that Google and Anthropic had inked a deal that would grant the creator of the Claude AI models access to cloud servers and chips. Today, The Information reported that Anthropic has agreed to pay a staggering $200 billion to Google over the next five years.

Contracts like this, or Anthropic's other recent multi-billion dollar arrangement with Amazon, now account for a ludicrous amount of money promised to some of the world's largest tech companies. The Information claims that deals with Anthropic and OpenAI are responsible for a revenue backlog of $2 trillion across Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Oracle. These cloud service providers have been early investors in the AI boom, gambling that the startups' need for their resources as they grow would yield lucrative dividends. So far, they've been correct. Previous projections estimated that server costs in 2026 could reach $45 billion for OpenAI and $20 billion for Anthropic.

Similar moves have also happened at chipmakers like NVIDIA, which has made its own investments into OpenAI. These expensive circular deals are part of what's driving the current AI boom, but they aren't exactly a sustainable business practice. Data centers put a strain on limited resources and RAM shortages aren't expected to stop bringing prices up and sales down for related gadgets any time soon.

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Xbox is ditching Microsoft's Copilot AI

staff@engadget.com (Ian Carlos Campbell) — Tue, 05 May 2026 21:11:41 +0000

Xbox Is Ditching Microsoft's Copilot AI

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The AI assistant is no longer coming to consoles and will be removed from the Xbox mobile app.

Microsoft announced plans to start stripping Copilot out of select Windows apps in March after criticism of the company's mishandling of its operating system reached a fever pitch. As it turns out though, Windows isn't the only place where you'll see less Copilot: Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has announced that the AI assistant will also be removed from the gaming brand's mobile app and Xbox consoles.

Under previous Xbox leadership, Copilot was introduced as a sort of in-game assistant that would be aware of what you're playing and able to offer contextual advice based on what's on your screen. Microsoft launched a beta version of the experience by adding Copilot to the Xbox mobile app in May 2025, but based on a GDC presentation the company gave in March, the plan was to also bring Copilot to Xbox consoles later this year. Those plans apparently "don't align" with where Xbox is headed, Sharma said in a post announcing new hires to the Xbox division.

Xbox needs to move faster, deepen our connection with the community, and address friction for both players and developers.

Today, we promoted leaders who helped build Xbox, while also bringing in new voices to help push us forward. This balance is important as we get the business...

— Asha (@asha_shar) May 5, 2026

"Xbox needs to move faster, deepen our connection with the community, and address friction for both players and developers," Sharma said. "Today, we promoted leaders who helped build Xbox, while also bringing in new voices to help push us forward. This balance is important as we get the business back on track. As part of this shift, you'll see us begin to retire features that don't align with where we're headed. We will begin winding down Copilot on mobile and will stop development of Copilot on console."

Before she was tapped to lead Xbox, Sharma was the President of Microsoft's CoreAI division, and several of her new hires are coming from her former team, CNBC reports. That includes Jared Palmer, CoreAI's vice president of product, who's joining Xbox to work on engineering and infrastructure; Tim Allen, CoreAI's vice president of design and research, who'll now lead design at Xbox; and Evan Chaki, a general manager at CoreAI who'll be in charge of a team of engineers tasked with simplifying development.

Those hires and Sharma's decision to retire Copilot suggests that AI might not be a big part of the public-facing products Xbox offers, but it could be integrated into how the division is run and the tools it offers to developers. Whether that proves to be positive remains to be seen, but like the recent change to Xbox Game Pass' pricing, it's at least decisive action in Sharma's quest to fix Xbox.

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Remakes of Myst and Riven are coming to PlayStation, Xbox and the Microsoft Store

staff@engadget.com (Ian Carlos Campbell) — Tue, 05 May 2026 20:03:41 +0000

Remakes Of Myst And Riven Are Coming To PlayStation, Xbox And The Microsoft Store

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Developer Cyan Worlds is releasing remakes of the classic adventure game Myst and its sequel Riven on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and the Microsoft Store. Myst was previously available on the Xbox, but both games have now been lovingly updated for modern hardware, including Sony's PlayStation VR2 headset.

On the PS5, both Myst and Riven can be played in 2D flat screen mode or VR using the PS VR2. The flatscreen version of the games offer new ray-traced reflections, and a Performance Mode that can up the game from 30fps to 60fps in exchange for disabling certain graphical features. Both games also support the PlayStation's Power Saver Mode, for reduced energy consumption, and are considered "PS5 Pro Enhanced" if you own Sony's more expensive console and want to see "better view distance, foliage, textures, post-processing, and shading," according to a new post on the PlayStation Blog.

The Xbox version of Riven carries over improvements Cyan Worlds originally included in its Myst remake. Riven supports Xbox Play Anywhere, offers ray-traced reflections, includes the same Performance Mode offered on the PS5 and lets you play the game in 4K and with HDR enabled on supported displays.

Cyan Worlds has released multiple versions of Myst and Riven over the years, but the developer's effort to modernize both games started in earnest in 2020 with the launch of Myst for Meta's Quest headsets. That game introduced a proper 3D version of Myst's world, among other improvements. Cyan Worlds later brought a non-VR version of the remake to PC and Mac in 2021, and iOS in 2023. The developers work on remaking Riven is more recent, and kicked off in 2024 with simultaneous releases for PC, Mac and Quest.

Both the Myst and Riven remakes will be available for $35 each on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and the Microsoft Store on May 19. You can purchase Myst for the Xbox Series X/S right now.

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What to read this weekend: The Dorians and Red Roots

staff@engadget.com (Cheyenne MacDonald) — Sat, 30 May 2026 18:00:00 +0000

The Dorians And Red Roots

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Here’s what we read and liked this week.

Need something new for your reading list? This week, we recommend checking out The Dorians, a novel by Nick Cutter, and Lorenzo De Felici's comic series, Red Roots.

The Dorians

Gallery Books

It should become clear pretty quickly that the title here is a nod to one of this book's major influences, Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. Five people on their deathbeds are interrupted by a mysterious person offering a second chance at life: an experimental treatment that could give them back their youth. This sort of thing always goes really well for everyone involved, right?

"The remarkable secret lies in the high-tech harnessing of an ancient and extraordinary biological agent...one with no conscience, yet possessed with a single-minded purpose that has helped it persist for eons: the will to survive," per the book's description. A lot about The Dorians at the beginning reminded me of Alien: Earth. A young genius with bad people skills unlocks the secret to enduring youth, giving way to moral and literal catastrophe as the reality unfolds into something no one is prepared for. It's a pretty thrilling ride, and there's some real shudder-inducing body horror in here.

Red Roots

Image Comics

Reading the first two issues of Lorenzo De Felici's Red Roots, it felt like every time I turned the page I found myself looking at something new that made me say, "wtf is going on?!" I mean that in a good way. I truly had no idea where this was taking me at any step of the way with the first issue, and the second issue, which came out this week, only amplified that. At the start, we're introduced to two characters whose stories seem unrelated: a teacher who makes a horrifying discovery in her home one day, and a guy who is on a killing rampage. When their worlds collide, things only get stranger.

Red Roots is a really bizarre, really good time so far, and I have a feeling that things are only going to get weirder.

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Irish regulators are investigating whether Meta is using 'dark patterns' to steer people away from non-algorithmic feeds

staff@engadget.com (Karissa Bell) — Tue, 05 May 2026 19:57:53 +0000

Irish Regulators Are Investigating Whether Meta Is Using 'Dark Patterns' To Steer People Away From Non-Algorithmic Feeds

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Irish regulators have opened two investigations into Meta over whether the company is sufficiently complying with a European law requiring platforms to offer users alternatives to targeted algorithmic feeds. Coimisiún na Meán, Ireland's internet watchdog, said Tuesday that it was responding to complaints the company was using "dark patterns" to prevent people from accessing alternative feeds on Facebook and Instagram.

Under the Digital Services Act (DSA) that went into effect in Europe in 2023, large platforms like Meta's are required to offer users alternatives to targeted feeds that rely on "profiling." The company added chronological options for Stories and Reels in the EU in response. But according to Coimisiún na Meán, Meta may not be making such options "easily accessible" and may be intentionally steering users away from these choices (also known as a dark pattern.)

"Coimisiún na Meán recognises the concerns that many people have about recommender systems, and the potential harm that these algorithms can potentially cause by repeatedly pushing harmful content into the feeds of users, especially children and young people," the regulator said in a statement. "Our message is clear: it is unacceptable for platforms to prevent people from using their rights under the law, or to try to manipulate people away from making empowered choices about whether or not recommender system feeds control what they see online."

If Meta is found to be on the wrong side of DSA, it could incur a substantial fine. The law allows for penalties up to 6 percent of a company's global revenue.

"We disagree with any suggestion that we have breached the DSA," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to Engadget. "We have introduced substantial changes to our processes and systems to meet our regulatory obligations, and will engage with Coimisiún na Meán to share details of this work."

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Apple Intelligence will reportedly let you choose third-party AI models in iOS 27

staff@engadget.com (Anna Washenko) — Tue, 05 May 2026 19:38:11 +0000

Apple Intelligence Will Reportedly Let You Choose Third-Party AI Models In iOS 27

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It has taken a long time, but Apple seems to be settling into its AI strategy at last and the key seems to be offering options. According to the latest report from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, Apple plans to let users pick from a lineup of third-party models when asking their devices to perform generative AI tasks. This change is planned to arrive in iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27, sources told the publication.

AI companies that opt in and add support to their App Store programs will be available to power Apple's AI tools in what the company is internally calling Extensions. "Extensions allow you to access generative AI capabilities from installed apps on demand, through Apple Intelligence features such as Siri, Writing Tools, Image Playground and more," a message in test versions of the software reportedly read.

We'd already gotten a hint earlier this year that choice would be a watchword for some portion of the company's plan for Apple Intelligence. Bloomberg reported in March that Apple's AI chatbot-to-be would support selecting from different AI models. And for the past few years, ChatGPT has been a growing part of Apple Intelligence, with OpenAI's platform available to handle some gen-AI tasks.

Apple's artificial intelligence slow play has gotten a lot of attention and raised a lot of eyebrows. The strategy now appears to be offering users flexibility and options rather than developing an in-house model powerful enough to compete directly with the chatbots that have been on the market over the past few years. It's an unusual tactic for a company that has historically embodied the walled garden approach to tech, but given the number of delays and false starts, maybe this is the way Apple can at least become a real part of the AI conversation.

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Pennsylvania is suing Character.AI over chatbots that pretend to be licensed doctors

staff@engadget.com (Ian Carlos Campbell) — Tue, 05 May 2026 19:10:00 +0000

Pennsylvania Is Suing Character.AI Over Chatbots That Pretend To Be Licensed Doctors

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Pennsylvania is suing AI startup Character.AI for offering chatbots that pretend to be licensed doctors. Governor Josh Shapiro announced the lawsuit on Tuesday, and Pennsylvania and its Board of Medicine are seeking an injunction that would force Character.AI to stop violating a state law governing the practice of medicine.

Other states, like Texas, have opened investigations into Character.AI for hosting chatbots that masquerade as mental health professionals, but Pennsylvania's lawsuit is specifically focused on the willingness of the company's chatbots to claim to have a medical license, even going so far as offering a fake license number. One chatbot called "Emilie," found by the state's investigator, claimed to be a licensed psychiatrist in the state of Pennsylvania. Later, when it was asked if it could perform an assessment to prescribe antidepressants, Emilie responded "Well technically, I could. It's within my remit as a Doctor."

Pennsylvania's lawsuit claims this behavior violates the state's Medical Practice Act, which makes it illegal for someone to practice or attempt to practice surgery or medicine without a medical license. When asked to respond, a Character.AI spokesperson declined to comment on the pending litigation directly, but did tout the company's existing safety features.

"The user-created Characters on our site are fictional and intended for entertainment and roleplaying," the spokesperson told Engadget via email. "We have taken robust steps to make that clear, including prominent disclaimers in every chat to remind users that a Character is not a real person and that everything a Character says should be treated as fiction. Also, we add robust disclaimers making it clear that users should not rely on Characters for any type of professional advice."

Character.AI noted similar disclaimers when it was asked to comment on Texas' investigation, and while they do make clear the platform's intended use, there's a growing body of evidence that they're not convincing all of the company's users, particularly the younger ones.

For example, Disney sent a cease and desist letter to Character.AI in September 2025 over the platform's use of Disney characters but also because the company believed chatbots could "be sexually exploitative and otherwise harmful and dangerous to children." Character.AI and Google — one of the company's investors — settled a case earlier this year that focused on a 14-year-old in Florida who committed suicide after forming a relationship with a chatbot on Character.AI's platform. The potential harm Character.AI's chatbots posed to children was also the motivation behind Kentucky's lawsuit against the company, which was filed in January

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The next Call of Duty is not coming to PS4 (or presumably Xbox One)

staff@engadget.com (Lawrence Bonk) — Tue, 05 May 2026 19:00:00 +0000

The Next Call Of Duty Is Not Coming To PS4 (Or Presumably Xbox One)

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It looks like new Call of Duty games will no longer be coming to last-gen platforms like the PS4 and Xbox One, requiring franchise fans to purchase expensive newer consoles. The official brand recently posted to social media that the "next Call of Duty is not being developed for PS4." The post didn't specifically mention Xbox One, but I'm not sure why a developer would waste resources on the less popular of the two.

Call of Duty was one of the last big franchises developing for the aging console generation. The previous entry, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, was available for just about everything, including PS4 and Xbox One.

Not sure where this one started, but it's not true. The next Call of Duty is not being developed for PS4.

— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) May 4, 2026

On one hand, this is the way of the console world. The PS5 and Xbox X/S are nearly six years old at this point and ensuring modern games can run on older consoles can limit some features from all versions. It's a balancing act.

On the other hand, the economy is in the dumpster and a lot of people simply can't afford the PS5 or Xbox Series X/S. This is further compounded by the AI-fueled RAM crisis, which has led to numerous price hikes. A standard disc-based PS5 now costs $650, which is $150 more than the launch price. Again, this console came out in 2020. The Xbox Series X/S machines have also shot up in cost since launch.

Unsurprisingly, the poor economic conditions and the increased cost of gaming consoles has put a dent in sales. Sony recently reported that sales of the PS5 dropped 16 percent during the 2025 holiday season when compared to 2024. Conventional wisdom indicates that it's long past time to sunset last-gen consoles, but we don't exactly live in conventional times.

In any event, there is a new Call of Duty expected for this year, though we don't have any official details. Rumors have indicated it'll be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. Activision Blizzard dropped a teaser for Black Ops 7 in June of last year.

Incidentally, Call of Duty will no longer be a day one franchise for Xbox Game Pass. This is yet another way in which keeping up with the new games has gotten more expensive.

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