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Apple unveiled its new macOS Tahoe 26 with new gaming featuresMetalFX Frame Interpolation and denoising will be available via macOS TahoeIt generates an extra frame between two input frames for better performanceApple's WWDC 2025 keynote unveiled various improvements coming to Macs in in macOS Tahoe 26 – and the boosts to the Cupertino giant's gaming efforts are certainly noteworthy.As highlighted in the keynote (streamed on YouTube), Apple's new Metal 4 graphics rendering API will introduce MetalFX Frame Interpolation and MetalFX denoising for macOS Tahoe 26, providing an Nvidia Frame Generation-like gaming experience. The new dedicated gaming app will also introduce a gaming overlay that's very reminiscent of Discord's updated overlay.This comes at an ideal time with games like Assassin's Creed Shadows already available on the platform, and Pearl Abyss' Crimson Desert on the horizon; if implemented well, frame interpolation should bring a significant enhancement to graphically-demanding games, especially if base frame rates are at a decent standard.With MetalFX denoising and upscaling, ray-tracing will become a stronger possibility for powerful M-based Macs, with better performance and visual quality than before. The game overlay looks set to provide a more gaming-friendly user interface, especially with the mini social hub for quick communication with friends.All of the new features may bring Apple's macOS closer to becoming a stronger gaming platform. It's still early days, so there's likely plenty more for Apple to reveal closer to macOS Tahoe 26's launch this fall, but it's a promising start.Analysis: So Apple, how about that gaming handheld?(Image credit: Apple)M3 and M4 MacBooks are all set for improved gaming once macOS Tahoe 26 becomes available. While gaming performance with those M-based chips is great as it stands, the addition of frame generation and denoising technology is a significant upgrade.Apple's M-based chips are power-efficient thanks to their Arm-based architecture, and as I've mentioned previously, this would be perfect for an Apple gaming handheld. So Apple, I guess it still isn't time for one? I beg to differ, because despite the gaming library, which still needs more growth, I can easily see an M-based handheld being a powerhouse and outshining others.Usually, there are tons of leaks and rumors before Apple officially unveils surprises, so I didn't expect to see a handheld at WWDC 2025 – but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that we'll see one at next year's keynote.Wishful thinking? Probably, but I think Apple is missing out on easy win, as the handheld gaming market is arguably blooming more than ever before right now.You may also like...Intel’s Nova Lake processors rumored to have unique hybrid architecture – are we moving away from discrete GPUs?Nvidia has a new GeForce hotfix GPU driver to address several issues – but I'm terrified of installing any updatesApple reveals major visual redesign for iOS 26, macOS 26, and more at WWDC 2025

Microsoft is bringing big changes to its Windows 11 Start menuUsers can now separate applications into categories or use the traditional grid viewIt's available to try for testers, almost in time for the ROG Xbox Ally handheldsMicrosoft is bringing a handful of changes to its Windows 11 operating system in preparation for the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds. Beta testers are already starting to see improvements to the user interface – and one feature may be a significant aid to navigation.As reported by The Verge, Microsoft is improving its Windows 11 Start menu, now available for testers, with more customization options to make scrolling and finding applications easier. These can be sorted into separate categories (as evident in the image below) or used in the classic grid view.While all applications have always been accessible via the Start menu, this improved version makes finding your application much easier. Instead of finding a specific app through its first letter or symbol, you'll simply be able to jump into a 'Games' folder or 'Browsers' folder, eliminating the need to enable desktop icons.The 'recommended' section can also be disabled, as this would often display recently-opened files or folders to make room for more apps, and now new categories. It's also worth noting that Microsoft states that the Start menu will be bigger, which will vary depending on the screen size or device being used.These line up perfectly for the new login screen that allows users to enter their PIN using a game controller – and this is likely a preparation for the "full-screen experience" update coming for the new Windows 11 handhelds. However, there's one big benefit that OLED monitor users like me will appreciate, too.Analysis: Some of my OLED burn-in worries can rest...(Image credit: Microsoft)I'll be honest, in all the years I've used Dell's Alienware AW3423DWF OLED monitor, I haven't come across a single issue with burn-in – and that's including moments of complacency, leaving static images on screen. Even so, I'm still paranoid it will happen eventually, and Microsoft's efforts for a better Start menu give me a slight sigh of relief.Burn-in is one of the biggest dealbreakers for gamers contemplating an OLED purchase, and it's why I would go as far as to recommend a mini-LED monitor in some cases. However, OLED care on monitors is continuously advancing, and while Microsoft may have had other intentions with this tester update, it's worked as a bonus.While Microsoft is doing this with its OS, I'd love to see the same concept applied to games. Early access or multiplayer games often have a build number in the corner of the screen, and fellow OLED users will be aware of how much of a nightmare this is, as it's essentially an open invitation for burn-in.Regardless, it's a positive move from Microsoft in the same week that it announced an improved Xbox app. We'll just have to see if it's enough to create strong competition for SteamOS in terms of usability.You may also like...Xbox handheld reportedly delayed so Microsoft can focus on making Windows handhelds compete with SteamOSMicrosoft's Windows 11 is a detriment to handheld gaming PCs – and a recent SteamOS comparison highlights thatGoodbye Windows 11 – Valve's SteamOS is now available on the Legion Go S, with some support for other AMD-powered handhelds

There's no denying that Apple's Siri digital chatbot didn't exactly hold a place of honor at this year's WWDC 2025 keynote. Apple mentioned it, and reiterated that it was taking longer than it had anticipated to bring everyone the Siri it promised a year ago, saying the full Apple Integration would arrive "in the coming year."Apple has since confirmed this means 2026. That means we won't be seeing the kind of deep integration that would have let Siri use what it knew about you and your iOS-running iPhone to become a better digital companion in 2025. It won't, as part of the just-announced iOS 26, use app intents to understand what's happening on the screen and take action on your behalf based on that.I have my theories about the reason for the delay, most of which revolve around the tension between delivering a rich AI experience and Apple's core principles regarding privacy. They often seem at cross purposes. This, though, is guesswork. Only Apple can tell us exactly what's going on – and now they have.I, along with Tom's Guide Global Editor-in-Chief Mark Spoonauer, sat down shortly after the keynote with Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi and Apple Global VP of Marketing Greg Joswiak for a wide-ranging podcast discussion about virtually everything Apple unveiled during its 90-minute keynote.We started by asking Federighi about what Apple delivered regarding Apple Intelligence, as well as the status of Siri, and what iPhone users might expect this year or next. Federighi was surprisingly transparent, offering a window into Apple's strategic thinking when it comes to Apple Intelligence, Siri, and AI.Far from nothingLeft to right: Lance Ulanoff and Mark Spoonauer chat with Craig Federighi and Greg Josiwak (Image credit: Apple)(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)Federighi started by walking us through all that Apple has delivered with Apple Intelligence thus far, and, to be fair, it's a considerable amount"We were very focused on creating a broad platform for really integrated personal experiences into the OS." recalled Federighi, referring to the original Apple Intelligence announcement at WWDC 2024.At the time, Apple demonstrated Writing Tools, summarizations, notifications, movie memories, semantic search of the Photos library, and Clean Up for photos. It delivered on all those features, but even as Apple was building those tools, it recognized, Federighi told us, that "we could, on that foundation of large language models on device, private cloud compute as a foundation for even more intelligence, [and] semantic indexing on device to retrieve keep knowledge, build a better Siri."Over-confidence?A year ago, Apple's confidence in its ability to build such a Siri led it to demonstrate a platform that could handle more conversational context, mispeaking, Type to Siri, and a significantly redesigned UI. Again, all things Apple delivered."We also talked about [...] things like being able to invoke a broader range of actions across your device by app intents being orchestrated by Siri to let it do more things," added Federighi. "We also talked about the ability to use personal knowledge from that semantic index so if you ask for things like, "What's that podcast, that 'Joz' sent me?' that we could find it, whether it was in your messages or in your email, and call it out, and then maybe even act on it using those app intents. That piece is the piece that we have not delivered, yet."This is known history. Apple overpromised and underdelivered, failing to deliver a vaguely promised end-of-year Apple Intelligence Siri update in 2024 and admitting by spring 2025 that it would not be ready any time soon. As to why it happened, it's been, up to now, a bit of a mystery. Apple is not in the habit of demonstrating technology or products that it does not know for certain that it will be able to deliver on schedule.Federighi, however, explained in some detail where things went awry, and how Apple progresses from here."We found that when we were developing this feature that we had, really, two phases, two versions of the ultimate architecture that we were going to create," he explained. "Version one we had working here at the time that we were getting close to the conference, and had, at the time, high confidence that we could deliver it. We thought by December, and if not, we figured by spring, until we announced it as part of WWDC. Because we knew the world wanted a really complete picture of, 'What's Apple thinking about the implications of Apple intelligence and where is it going?'"A tale of two architectures(Image credit: Apple)As Apple was working on a V1 of the Siri architecture, it was also working on what Federighi called V2, "a deeper end-to-end architecture that we knew was ultimately what we wanted to create, to get to a full set of capabilities that we wanted for Siri."What everyone saw during WWDC 2024 were videos of that V1 architecture, and that was the foundation for work that began in earnest after the WWDC 2024 reveal, in preparation for the full Apple Intelligence Siri launch."We set about for months, making it work better and better across more app intents, better and better for doing search," Federighi added. "But fundamentally, we found that the limitations of the V1 architecture weren't getting us to the quality level that we knew our customers needed and expected. We realized that V1 architecture, you know, we could push and push and push and put in more time, but if we tried to push that out in the state it was going to be in, it would not meet our customer expectations or Apple standards, and that we had to move to the V2 architecture."As soon as we realized that, and that was during the spring, we let the world know that we weren't going to be able to put that out, and we were going to keep working on really shifting to the new architecture and releasing something."We realized that […] If we tried to push that out in the state it was going to be in, it would not meet our customer expectations or Apple standards, and that we had to move to the V2 architecture.Craig Federighi, AppleThat switch, though, and what Apple learned along the way, meant that Apple would not make the same mistake again, and promise a new Siri for a date that it could not guarantee to hit. Instead. Apple won't "precommunicate a date," explained Federighi, "until we have in-house, the V2 architecture delivering not just in a form that we can demonstrate for you all…"He then joked that, while, actually, he "could" demonstrate a working V2 model, he was not going to do it. Then he added, more seriously, "We have, you know, the V2 architecture, of course, working in-house, but we're not yet to the point where it's delivering at the quality level that I think makes it a great Apple feature, and so we're not announcing the date for when that's happening. We will announce the date when we're ready to seed it, and you're all ready to be able to experience it."I asked Federighi if, by V2 architecture, he was talking about a wholesale rebuilding of Siri, but Federighi disabused me of that notion."I should say the V2 architecture is not, it wasn't a star-over. The V1 architecture was sort of half of the V2 architecture, and now we extend it across, sort of make it a pure architecture that extends across the entire Siri experience. So we've been very much building up upon what we have been building for V1, but now extending it more completely, and that more homogeneous end-to-end architecture gives us much higher quality and much better capability. And so that's what we're building now."A different AI strategy(Image credit: Apple)Some might view Apple's failure to deliver the full Siri on its original schedule as a strategic stumble. But Apple's approach to AI and product is also utterly different than that of OpenAI or Google Gemini. It does not revolve around a singular product or a powerful chatbot. Siri is not necessarily the centerpiece we all imagined.Federighi doesn't dispute that "AI is this transformational technology […] All that's growing out of this architecture is going to have decades-long impact across the industry and the economy, and much like the internet, much like mobility, and it's going to touch Apple's products and it's going to touch experiences that are well outside of Apple products."Apple clearly wants to be part of this revolution, but on its terms and in ways that most benefit its users while, of course, protecting their privacy. Siri, though, was never the end game, as Federighi explained.AI is this transformational technology [...] and it's going to touch Apple's products and it's going to touch experiences that are well outside of Apple products."Craig Federighi, Apple"When we started with Apple Intelligence, we were very clear: this wasn't about just building a chatbot. So, seemingly, when some of these Siri capabilities I mentioned didn't show up, people were like, 'What happened, Apple? I thought you were going to give us your chatbot. That was never the goal, and it remains not our primary goal."So what is the goal? I think it may be fairly obvious from the WWDC 2025 keynote. Apple is intent on integrating Apple Intelligence across all its platforms. Instead of heading over to a singular app like ChatGPT for your AI needs, Apple's putting it, in a way, everywhere. It's done, Federighi explains, "in a way that meets you where you are, not that you're going off to some chat experience in order to get things done."Apple understands the allure of conversational bots. "I know a lot of people find it to be a really powerful way to gather their thoughts, brainstorm [...] So, sure, these are great things," Federighi says. "Are they the most important thing for Apple to develop? Well, time will tell where we go there, but that's not the main thing we set out to do at this time."Check back soon for a link to the TechRadar and Tom's Guide podcast featuring the full interview with Federighi and Joswiak.You might also like15 things we learned at the Apple WWDC 2025 keynoteWWDC 2025 as it happened: all the iOS 26, MacOS Tahoe ...iPad just won WWDC 2025 – here's why the iPadOS ...

It’s easy to feel the pressure in the run-up to Father’s Day. Finding a gift that encapsulates all of the gratitude, love and appreciation you feel toward them is a high-pressure task. Thankfully, this is why we’re here to point you in the direction of the best gifts you can get. And don’t forget, dad isn’t a name, it’s a job title, so show your appreciation to whatever person filled that role in your life.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-fathers-day-gifts-and-gadgets-for-every-dad-in-2025-131504075.html?src=rss

There's a new (ish) retro console on the block. The ModRetro Chromatic had a soft launch last year but is now "permanently in stock" for consumers. This is another machine that runs Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges, like the beloved Analogue Pocket and others.

The Chromatic features a magnesium alloy build, so it should take a licking. It also features a backlit screen — something the original Game Boy lacked. As a matter of fact, Nintendo didn't fully embrace backlighting technology until midway through the life of the Game Boy Advance.

The ModRetro Chromatic is the best way to play Game Boy® and Game Boy Color® games, my ultimate tribute to the most important handheld console of all time. @ModRetroHub @GameStop @Tetris_Official @KossHeadphones pic.twitter.com/E6BWx5I490— Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) June 3, 2024

The console was designed by Palmer Luckey and was originally sold in a limited run last year. Today's release includes a new colorway and the choice of a sapphire glass display for increased durability. There are also a bunch of new accessories, like a rechargeable power bank, and some nifty software features. It can now natively stream to Discord, Mac or PC, without any additional hardware and there's a new firmware tool to update games.

The Chromatic runs proprietary cartridges, in addition to Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles. There are a handful of new games arriving with this release, including a metroidvania called Dark Plague. Each console ships with Tetris, just like the original Game Boy.

The standard release costs $200, but the model with the sapphire glass display costs $300. New games price out at $40 and old-school Game Boy carts are available on eBay, at garage sales and maybe buried in ancient couch cushions.

There are a couple of caveats here. First of all, this doesn't emulate games, as cartridges are required. It only handles Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles. The Analogue Pocket, for instance, can also play Game Boy Advance titles and a separate adapter brings other consoles into the mix.

"Displayed next to me is their 125lb Roadrunner drone.Woah, that's a nasty looking thing." https://t.co/RTVpSUgNui pic.twitter.com/qHO5h6WRqW— Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) May 1, 2025

There's also the creator himself. Palmer Luckey is a controversial figure. He founded Oculus and helped bring VR to the masses, sure, but recent years has found him running a military defense contracting firm called Anduril Industries. This company has been involved with designing a "virtual" border wall complete with hundreds of surveillance towers, building AI tools for military use and, most recently, making wearables that allow soldiers to interact with AI-powered weapon systems.

He's become a big player in the defense space, securing $6 billion in global government contracts. You'll have to decide if you want to indirectly contribute to that cause by giving him $200 or $300 to pick up a portable console.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/palmer-luckeys-modretro-chromatic-portable-console-is-now-a-thing-you-can-actually-buy-160014434.html?src=rss

Nearly two years after launching Threads, Meta is finally giving in to users on one of the most requested features for the service: direct messaging. The company is beginning to test a dedicated inbox for Threads, beginning with Hong Kong, Argentina and Thailand, Mark Zuckerberg revealed in a post on Threads.

Threads has had some messaging capabilities since last year, but the feature only allows users to send Threads posts to friends via their Instagram DMs. This is more than a little clunky as it requires switching back and forth between apps. It's also been the source of some confusion — at least among my friends — because it allows you to send Threads posts to contacts on Instagram even when they don't have a corresponding Threads account. For me, this means I sometimes send a post to a friend on Instagram only for them to tell me they can't view it properly because they don't use the app.

Needless to say, all this has been far from ideal. And, unsurprisingly, DMs have been a highly requested feature from Threads users. But Meta executives — and Instagram head Adam Mosseri in particular — have been inexplicably skeptical of the feature. Mosseri said last year that he wanted to "make the Instagram inbox work" for Threads rather than build out a separate messaging feature for the app.

That's finally changing, though. Meta is beginning its initial tests of a Threads-specific inbox this week. The feature will only support 1:1 chats — at least for now — so it will still be much more limited than what's available on Instagram or even X. It will also only be available in a couple of countries to start, though Meta says it plans to expand to more regions "soon."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/threads-is-finally-getting-its-own-dm-inbox-160001216.html?src=rss

A security researcher found a way to bypass Google's anti-bot mechanismThis allowed them to automate guessing the numberGoogle fixed the flaw and thanked the researcherGoogle has fixed a flaw which was able to expose the phone number associated with any Google account, putting people at different privacy and security risks.A security researcher with the alias ‘brutecat’ uncovered a way to bypass the anti-bot protection which prevented people from spamming password reset requests on Google accounts.This allowed them to cycle through every possible combination until they were able to get the correct phone number. Later, they were able to automate the process, resulting in the phone number being guessed in roughly 20 minutes (depending on how many digits the number has).Risks of exposed numbersThere are multiple privacy and security challenges that stem from an exposed phone number. For one, people who rely on anonymity (such as journalists, political opposition, dissidents, and similar) could be more vulnerable to targeted attacks. Also, exposing a person’s phone number opens them up to SIM-swap attacks, as well as phishing and social engineering. Finally, if an attacker successfully hijacks a phone number, they could reset passwords and gain unauthorized access to linked accounts.Luckily enough, the issue has been fixed, and so far there have been no reports of the flaw being abused in the wild.TechCrunch was one of the publications confirming the authenticity of the flaw, after setting up a dummy account with a brand new phone number, and having it “cracked” soon after.“This issue has been fixed. We’ve always stressed the importance of working with the security research community through our vulnerability rewards program and we want to thank the researcher for flagging this issue,” Google spokesperson Kimberly Samra told TechCrunch.“Researcher submissions like this are one of the many ways we’re able to quickly find and fix issues for the safety of our users.”Samra said that the company has seen “no confirmed, direct links to exploits at this time.”You might also likeForget about eSIM, this multi-operator SIM could make swapping mobile networks as easy as ABC — but it is not available for smartphones right nowTake a look at our guide to the best authenticator appWe've rounded up the best password managers

OpenAI has inked a deal with Google to begin using the latter's cloud service to meet its growing needs for increased computing capacity, according to a report by Reuters. This is something of a surprise, given that Google and OpenAI are rivals in the AI space.

The terms of the deal remain unknown, but reporting indicates it has been in the negotiation phase for the past several months. This marks OpenAI's latest move to diversify its compute sources away from Microsoft Azure.

Microsoft had been OpenAI's exclusive data center provider until January, after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman blamed the lack of compute capacity for the delay of several products. The company made a deal in March with CoreWeave to provide increased cloud compute capacity. That deal was worth nearly $12 billion.

Microsoft Azure may no longer be the exclusive cloud provider for OpenAI, but it's not as if the two companies have parted ways. OpenAI still relies heavily on Azure and the corporations are currently in negotiations to revise the terms of their partnership, which will likely revise the equity stake Microsoft holds in OpenAI.

However, this is certainly a win for Google Cloud. ChatGPT poses the biggest threat to Google's search business in years, and this deal could indicate a softening between the two companies. In any event, it'll certainly bring a whole lot of money into Google Cloud's coffers. The platform made $43 billion last year and accounted for 12 percent of parent company Alphabet's overall revenue. The addition of OpenAI to its customer portfolio will likely extend those numbers dramatically.

$GOOG CEO ADMITS GOOGLE CLOUD IS RUNNING INTO REAL CONSTRAINTSNot just from permitting delays, but from infrastructure bottlenecks. And when AI buildouts stall, there’s usually one common denominator: not enough $NVDA-powered systems 👀pic.twitter.com/0COPjZY5Mx— Shay Boloor (@StockSavvyShay) May 20, 2025

There is an elephant in the room. Google has famously struggled to meet customer demand for its cloud services, and this was before bringing on OpenAI. Simply put, it needs more data centers. Will OpenAI get priority access over pre-existing customers? Engadget has reached out to Google and will update this story if we hear back.

To that end, OpenAI is certainly thriving. The company recently announced that the current adoption rate of its software will lead to $10 billion in annual revenue as of June. It told investors that it has a target revenue goal of around $12 billion for the year, which it should easily meet with new subscribers.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-will-reportedly-start-using-googles-cloud-servers-162311068.html?src=rss