Google will use machine learning to estimate a user’s age Google will soon use machine learning to estimate the age of its users. In an update on Wednesday, Google said it’s testing a machine learning model in the US to help determine whether someone is under 18, allowing it to “provide more age-appropriate experiences” across its platforms. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan first revealed the change

How to watch PlayStation’s State of Play for February 2025 It’s still relatively early in the year, but 2025 has already been a pretty busy one for gaming announcements. Nintendo officially unveiled the next Switch (with more details on the way), Xbox had an impressive game-filled event, and now it’s Sony’s turn. The company is holding its semi-regular State of Play stream this afternoon, which

A 3D-printed VHS cleaner is saving memories from mold A common problem I’ve come across with decades-old analog media — particularly VHS — is mold that develops inside the cassette cartridge. The white fuzzy glaze on black magnetic tape often develops after being stored in damp basements and attics for years on end. Tapes like this, if run through a VCR, could do a

Samsung Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus review: incredibly iterative Samsung’s Galaxy S-series is in its software era. Maybe the whole smartphone industry is, too, save for a few phones with hinges (Samsung’s included). But overall, we have exited the hardware-driven innovation cycle and are firmly in the midst of a software-based one. If you want proof, the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus are a

Apple launches wide-ranging health study to help develop future features Apple announced today it’s launching a brand-new research study — the Apple Health Study. But this one is different from its previous efforts in the space. Case in point: there’s no specific area of focus. Instead, the study will gather data from iPhones, Apple Watches, and AirPods to try and discover new relationships between different

Elden Ring Nightreign takes a big swing at a bigger audience It’s inaccurate and reductive to call Elden Ring Nightreign a Dark Souls take on Fortnite. And yet, if pressed for an extremely brief elevator pitch — say, the kind you’d give to your friends who are curious about soulsborne games but are put off by all the discussions of their difficulty — it’s about as

Adobe’s Sora rivaling AI video generator is now available for everyone Adobe’s text- and image-to-video AI generator has been released for anyone to try online. Generate Video is available starting today in public beta following a limited early access testing period last year. The beta tool can be accessed via the re-designed Firefly web app, alongside new image generation and translation capabilities, and AI credi…

Crysis 4 is on hold as developer Crytek announces layoffs Crytek is laying off around 15 percent of its 400 employees, affecting development teams and shared services. The announcement comes months after Crytek put the development of its next Crysis game “on hold” in Q3, 2024. “Like so many of our peers, we aren’t immune to the complex, unfavorable market dynamics that have hit our

Overwatch 2: all the news about the sequel to Blizzard’s hit hero shooter Overwatch 2, the sequel to Activision Blizzard’s hit hero shooter Overwatch, is finally launching in October after first being announced in 2019. One major change is the shift to five-on-five matches in PVP, and Blizzard is also adding new characters, including Overwatch’s first Black female hero. The PVP multiplayer will be available in early a…

Wacom’s new Intuos Pro drawing tablet reinvents the wheel Wacom has completely overhauled its Intuos Pro drawing tablets to make them more compact, convenient, and customizable for creative professionals. This is the biggest redesign for the Intuos Pro lineup since its introduction in 2013, featuring a new layout that relocates user controls from the side to the top of the tablet and replaces the

Samsung’s Galaxy A56 leaked from every angle Leaker Evan Blass has shared a set of spinning GIFs of Samsung’s midrange Galaxy A56 that show the phone in four colors and a host of different angles. The Galaxy A56 is rumored to launch in March, right around the same time as rival devices from Apple and Google. The new animations from evleaks show

The Trump administration restores federal webpages after court order The Trump administration brought webpages back online, meeting a court-ordered deadline at 11:59PM on February 11th.  Doctors for America (DFA), which represents physicians and medical students, filed suit last week against the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administr…

Thomson Reuters wins an early court battle over AI, copyright, and fair use On Tuesday, US District Court of Delaware judge Stephanos Bibas issued a partial summary judgment in favor of Thomson Reuters in its copyright infringement lawsuit against Ross Intelligence, a legal AI startup.  Filed in 2020, it’s one of the first cases that will deal with the legality of AI tools and how they are trained,

FCC to investigate Comcast for having DEI programs Federal Communications Chair Brendan Carr has asked his agency to investigate Comcast’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices, reports Newsmax. “We have received an inquiry from the Federal Communications Commission and will be cooperating with the FCC to answer their questions,” Comcast spokesperson Joelle Terry confirms to The Verge…

The best President’s Day sales you can already shop Valentine’s Day and President’s Day are happening on the same weekend this year, meaning there are plenty of sales to take advantage of between the two of them. Thankfully, if you’re looking to get ahead, Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers are already discounting plenty of tech, including some of the items we fawn over

Trump administration illegally allowed DOGE to access workers’ data, lawsuit alleges The Trump administration breached a federal privacy law by letting workers from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access information on millions of government workers, privacy advocates including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) allege in a new lawsuit filed on behalf of two labor unions and a group of current and fo…

Framework will reveal new gadgets on February 25th — can you decipher its glyphs? Nearly two years ago, Framework announced one of the most ambitious laptops ever live on a San Francisco stage, plus an AMD upgrade for its modular Intel machines. On February 25th, it’s promising “an even bigger set of announcements,” and that it’ll show “everything that we’ve been working on for the last two years.” What

Perplexity tried to sponsor an F1 team — but got blocked by a bigger tech company The high-stakes world of Formula 1 racing just became the latest battleground for AI companies. AI-powered search startup Perplexity has been in negotiations to sign a sponsorship deal with Red Bull Racing, worth $5 million a year. But after both parties had agreed to the terms, the deal was blocked by Oracle, the team’s biggest sponsor, accor…

Google announces the dates for I/O 2025 Google’s next I/O developer conference will take place on May 20th and May 21st, the company announced today. The event will be “open to everyone online” and will include “livestreamed keynotes and sessions,” according to an FAQ. Like past years, there will also be an in-person component at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California…

Shopify pulls Kanye’s website offline over swastika merch On Tuesday, Shopify shut down the Yeezy store run by Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) after it listed shirts with swastikas for sale as reported earlier by Bloomberg and NBC News. Ye advertised the site in a commercial shown during the Super Bowl on Sunday. It previously sold things like sneakers and t-shirts, but