Author: News Room

Meta is bringing its “pay or consent” ad model to the UK after months of wrangling with regulators over the controversial policy. The update will force Instagram and Facebook users to pick between being served up personalized ads or shelling out for monthly subscriptions to ad-free versions.Subscriptions start at £2.99 a month, around $4, for users logging in over the web, Meta said. Android and iOS users face steeper charges of £3.99 a month, around $5.33. Meta blames this on “the fees that Apple and Google charge.”It’s an all or nothing approach, with users forced to either subscribe on all…

I’ve always rather liked the look of the Ford Puma. It’s not quite as appealing as the cracking original (many of which have rotted away by now), but the appeal is obvious, as reflected in sales figures. Weirdly, I’d never driven one until getting the electric Ford Puma Gen-E. Built on the existing Puma platform, this is a car that retains the engaging vibe of the petrol version but, trades combustion for a battery and electric motor.My example arrived in a hard-to-miss Electric Yellow, which certainly pops but is a bit of an acquired taste. And that, perhaps, could be…

Nine months after Google infused Gemini AI into Google Sheets, the AI system graduated from text and charts to taking on formulas. (Even those plopped into messy wedding planning spreadsheets, I found.)Gemini’s chatbot appears on the right-hand side of Sheets. Now, when you ask how to manipulate data, Gemini will respond with suggested formulas and step-by-step instructions about how to make the formulas work — and why the formulas fail when they do. Errors will be followed up with a guide for how to correct the issue, Google says. If multiple formulas can do the same thing, Gemini will explain…

Japanese keyboard brand Realforce is teaming up with the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise and releasing four limited edition mechanical keyboards inspired by popular Gundam designs. The four keyboards are based on the Z Gundam and Hyaku Shiki from Zeta Gundam and the Nu Gundam and Sazabi of Char’s Counterattack fame. Realforce’s Japanese site indicates reservations will begin in late December, but there is no pricing.All four models are based on the Realforce GX1, a wired tenkeyless keyboard that normally runs $250-ish. Realforce keyboards are made by the Topre Corporation; they use capacitive Topre switches, like the cult classic Happy Hacking…

Today, Microsoft and Asus are officially opening preorders for the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X at $599 and $999 respectively in the US. They’re $799 CAD and $1299 CAD in Canada, €599 and €899 in Europe, £499 and £799 in the UK, and $799 AUD and $1599 AUD in Australia. They both ship October 16th.There’s a few different ways to look at those prices. If you’re used to console pricing, Microsoft’s first Xbox handhelds are not cheap! Even the vanilla white Xbox Ally costs $150 more than a Switch 2, which was itself criticized for price, and…

Microsoft and Asus have officially kicked off pre-orders for the eagerly-awaited ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X gaming handhelds, ahead of their October 16 release – and finally revealed how much gamers can expect to pay to take one home. It’s largely good news for the UK and Europe, with the new hardware undercutting Lenovo’s upcoming Legion Go 2 by quite a margin. Things aren’t so clear-cut in the US, though. The more mainstream ROG Xbox Ally will retail for $600/£500, which will make it one seriously competitive handheld. It goes directly up against Valve’s Steam Deck OLED,…

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order recognizing the framework of a deal between ByteDance and the US that would satisfy the TikTok divest-or-ban law. The deal values TikTok’s US operations at $14 billion and puts it under the control of companies based in the US.“I spoke with President Xi [Jinping], we had a good talk,” Trump said during a briefing. “I told him what we were doing, and he said, ‘Go ahead with it.’”Under the deal, TikTok “will be majority-owned and controlled” by companies based in the US. The order states that TikTok’s US-based operations will have a…

Nvidia is open-sourcing Audio2Face, its AI-powered tool that generates realistic facial animations for 3D avatars — all based on audio input. The change means developers can now use the tool and its underlying framework to create realistic 3D characters for their games and apps.Nvidia’s Audio2Face works by analyzing the “acoustic features” of a voice, allowing it to generate animation data that it maps to the 3D avatar’s facial expressions and lip movement. The company notes that developers can use the tool to create 3D characters for pre-scripted content, as well as for livestreams.Some developers have already used Audio2Face in their…

Microsoft is making advances with a new way to cool microchips that it says could lead to more energy-efficient data centers in the future. It’s a method called microfluidics that involves liquid coolant flowing directly into the silicon.After lab tests, Microsoft found that this strategy can remove heat up to three times better than cold plates currently used in data centers today. The company announced this week that it was able to develop a microfluidic cooling system for a server running core services for a simulated Microsoft Teams meeting.If they can find the same success outside of a lab, microfluidics…

Twitch is launching a feature this week I’ve wanted for a very long time: the ability to scrub back on a livestream right from a streamer’s main channel page. You can already look back at previous parts of livestreams as they’re going on by clicking through to the Videos section of a streamer’s profile, but it seems like this change will be a much easier way to rewind and see what you missed.Rewinding will be available first on the web, and initially only for Twitch Turbo subscribers or for channels that you subscribe to individually. Twitch is doing this more…

Now that Qualcomm has pulled back the curtain on its second-gen laptop chips, you can bet all the major names are gearing up to announce laptops powered by Snapdragon X2 Elite. It sounded like Samsung, Asus and the rest were about to be scooped by a Saudi start-up – but Humain (a part of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, and not to be confused with Humane, the firm behind the failed AI pin) revealed its Horizon Pro laptop at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit running last-gen Snapdragon X Elite hardware. So why head all the way to Hawaii? The promise of…

Amazon’s October Prime Day event (also known as Prime Big Deal Days) doesn’t officially start until October 7th, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait to find a good deal on charging accessories. Many speedy wall adapters, power banks, and large battery backup solutions are already on sale now from brands like Anker and Jackery. Most of these products are great for keeping your smartphone, laptop, or tablet charged at a cafe, while others are made to power your small appliances while you’re out camping.For starters, Anker’s 633 Magnetic Battery is available in multiple colors from Amazon and Anker…