European Union regulators said the tech giants likely violated the law by unfairly boxing out smaller competitors, adding to tensions between Europe and the United States

MacworldThe brand-new iPad Air M3 is already on sale even though its only been out for a week. You can get the 11-inch model for $549 right now at Amazon, a savings of $50 off Apples MSRP.Weve said it before and well say it again this is pretty much the same iPad Air as the previous model, with the only upgrade being the new chip. Admittedly, the M3 is faster than the M2, so if youre looking for a speedier tablet that can quickly load your apps and games, and run Apple Intelligence, the new iPad Air is a solid pick for the same price as before.The tablets gorgeous Liquid Retina Display may be the same as the one we saw in the M1 and M2 iPad Air, but its still an amazing screen that will deliver billions of colors, vivid images, deep contrast, and an overall fantastic experience. The 12MB Center Stage camera (which is on the landscape edge) will deliver excellent quality for your video calls.So, if you want the fastest iPad Air around, you can get it for $549 right now over at Amazon. But hurry because this deal wont stick forever.Get the new iPad Air for a lower priceBuy now at Amazon

Where can you find lasers, electric guitars, and racks full of novel batteries, all in the same giant room? This week, the answer was the 2025 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit just outside Washington, DC.Energy innovation can take many forms, and the variety in energy research was on display at the summit. ARPA-E, part of the US Department of Energy, provides funding for high-risk, high-reward research projects. The summit gathers projects the agency has funded, along with investors, policymakers, and journalists.Hundreds of projects were exhibited in a massive hall during the conference, featuring demonstrations and research results. Here are four of the most interesting innovations MIT Technology Review spotted on site.Steel made with lasersStartup Limelight Steel has developed a process to make iron, the main component in steel, by using lasers to heat iron ore to super-high temperatures.Steel production makes up roughly 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions today, in part because most steel is still made with blast furnaces, which rely on coal to hit the high temperatures that kick off the required chemical reactions.Limelight instead shines lasers on iron ore, heating it to temperatures over 1,600 C. Molten iron can then be separated from impurities, and the iron can be put through existing processes to make steel.The company has built a small demonstration system with a laser power of about 1.5 kilowatts, which can process between 10 and 20 grams of ore. The whole system is made up of 16 laser arrays, each just a bit larger than a postage stamp.The components in the demonstration system are commercially available; this particular type of laser is used in projectors. The startup has benefited from years of progress in the telecommunications industry that has helped bring down the cost of lasers, says Andy Zhao, the companys cofounder and CTO.The next step is to build a larger-scale system that will use 150 kilowatts of laser power and could make up to 100 tons of steel over the course of a year.Rocks that can make fuelThe hunks of rock at a booth hosted by MIT might not seem all that high-tech, but someday they could help produce fuels and chemicals.A major topic of conversation at the ARPA-E summit was geologic hydrogentheres a ton of excitement about efforts to find underground deposits of the gas, which can be used as a fuel across a wide range of industries, including transportation and heavy industry.Last year, ARPA-E funded a handful of projects on the topic, including one in Iwnetim Abates lab at MIT. Abate is among the researchers who are aiming not just to hunt for hydrogen, but to actually use underground conditions to help produce it. Earlier this year, his team published research showing that by using catalysts and conditions common in the subsurface, scientists can produce hydrogen as well as other chemicals, like ammonia. Abate cofounded a spinout company, Addis Energy, to commercialize the research, which has since also received ARPA-E funding.All the rocks on the table, from the chunk of dark, hard basalt to the softer talc, could be used to produce these chemicals.An electric guitar powered by iron nitride magnetsThe sound of music drifted from the Niron Magnetics booth across nearby walkways. People wandering by stopped to take turns testing out the companys magnets, in the form of an electric guitar.Most high-powered magnets today contain neodymiumdemand for them is set to skyrocket in the coming years, especially as the world builds more electric vehicles and wind turbines. Supplies could stretch thin, and the geopolitics are complicated because most of the supply comes from China.Niron is making new magnets that dont contain rare earth metals. Instead, Nirons technology is based on more abundant materials: nitrogen and iron.The guitar is a demonstration producttoday, magnets in electric guitars typically contain aluminum, nickel, and cobalt-based magnets that help translate the vibrations from steel strings into an electric signal that is broadcast through an amplifier. Niron made an instrument using its iron nitride magnets instead. (See photos of the guitar from an event last year here.)Niron opened a pilot commercial facility in late 2024 that has the capacity to produce 10 tons of magnets annually. Since we last covered Niron, in early 2024, the company has announced plans for a full-scale plant, which will have an annual capacity of about 1,500 tons of magnets once its fully ramped up.Batteries for powering high-performance data centersThe increasing power demand from AI and data centers was another hot topic at the summit, with server racks dotting the showcase floor to demonstrate technologies aimed at the sector. One stuffed with batteries caught my eye, courtesy of Natron Energy.The company is making sodium-ion batteries to help meet power demand from data centers.Data centers energy demands can be incredibly variableand as their total power needs get bigger, those swings can start to affect the grid. Natrons sodium-ion batteries can be installed at these facilities to help level off the biggest peaks, allowing computing equipment to run full out without overly taxing the grid, says Natron cofounder and CTO Colin Wessells.Sodium-ion batteries are a cheaper alternative to lithium-based chemistries. Theyre also made without lithium, cobalt, and nickel, materials that are constrained in production or processing. Were seeing some varieties of sodium-ion batteries popping up in electric vehicles in China.Natron opened a production line in Michigan last year, and the company plans to open a $1.4 billion factory in North Carolina.

Maybe Apple will never fully walk away from Europe, but the European Commission has just guaranteed that the citizens of its member states will always be the last to get new iPhone features if they get them at all.Apple's headquarters in Ireland, in the European UnionEven before its latest legal requirements, the European Commission (EC) has already put Apple in the position of keeping iPhone mirroring away from Europe, and delaying Apple Intelligence. But it's only going to get worse and this is entirely the European Commission's fault.Under the banner of protecting consumer and business interests, the EC has made it so that any firm would drop Europe to the bottom of its list of priorities. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

A recent survey found Apple's new iPhone 16e isn't impressing existing iPhone users, but it misses the point on the smartphone's intended consumer base.iPhone 16eApple's recently released iPhone 16e has drawn mixed reactions, notably from existing Apple enthusiasts. A recent survey by SellCell found that 72.9% of current iPhone users weren't impressed with the device, primarily criticizing its $599 price tag as being overly ambitious for what it offers.SellCell surveyed over 3,500 current iPhone users in the U.S., including users with iPhone 15 or older models and existing iPhone 16 users. Participants provided their opinions on the new iPhone 16e's price, features, and its impact on Apple's brand. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Februarys AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI) has shown a continued weakening of billings across the country. The new score of 45.5 can be seen as an indicator of an unfavorable economy for architecture, as newly signed design contracts have now decreased for the past twelve consecutive months.Billings were soft in every region, with business conditions remaining weak in every area of specialization. This is also the fourth consecutive ABI to record a decline."Conditions in the broader economy were generally positive in February, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increasing by only a modest amount, long-term interest rates easing from January levels, and healthy job growth," AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker stated. "However, uncertainty surrounding the impact of recently announced tariffs may lead to a rise in building material prices in the coming months while immigration policy may put even more pressure on an already undersupplied construction labor market."Relate...

This week,Harvard Universitys President Alan M. Garber announced that Harvard College would be free to undergraduate students whose families earn less than $100,000 beginning in the 2025-26 academic year (this includes tuition, food, housing, health insurance, and travel costs, according to the university). Additionally, students from families earning less than $200,000 will be tuition-free.This does not affect the Graduate School of Design or any of Harvards other graduate and professional schools. Roughly 60% of Harvards undergraduate learners come from public high schools. The median household income for American families in 2024 was just over $80,000.

Every sport has its share of fever and a dedicated audience that swears by it through the ups and downs. The same rings true for their video games, whether its the continued success, even in a relatively off year, for EA Sports FC, the blockbuster NBA 2K series or the recent PGA Tour 2K25 (which marked a return to form for the series). And while you could think of baseball as a whole other beast, its captured the hearts and minds of its followers for decades, spanning Japan, Mexico, and the United States of America.MLB The Show 25, Sony San Diego Studios premier flagship franchise, understands this. In terms of recreating the magic, the atmosphere, the drama, and the rich history that the sport has to offer, very few titles have been able to match it. This year marks some much-needed improvements and new additions, to say nothing of the incredible animations, but its still very much an evolutionary upgrade rather than a sweeping revolution. Not that theres anything wrong with that since its gameplay and presentation are some of the most polished available despite some quirks."Storylines enters Season 3 and focuses on several more legendary African-American players, including James Cool Papa Bell, Wilber Bullet Joe Rogan, and Norman Turkey Stearnes."If youre making the jump from MLB The Show 24, much of this will look familiar. Road to the Show returns, this time allowing players to start from high school, finishing strong in that playoffs to hopefully get scouted from a worthwhile college. Dynamic Challenges spice things up, introducing new goals to complete for more rewards, including Tokens, which are used to upgrade different Tools representing your players various talents. You can also modify the respective attributes in each if you really want to min-max in a specific field. Its a noteworthy addition, and despite not breaking new ground or overhauling things, Road to the Show suffices as a decent career mode.March to October still allows for taking a team, be it underdogs and diamonds in the rough to fan favorites and rising stars, through an entire season with high stakes and drama. Diamond Dynasty introduces a new rogue-like mode, Diamond Quest, for those keen on even more single-player action. You essentially assemble your squad of players on board with random tiles, take any number of steps, and complete the required challenges, including boss showdowns. Failing means receiving penalties that impact your performance, and you can also earn Peanuts to purchase boons. Though its probably not everyones cup of tea, I find the mode novel, but after spending dozens of hours grinding Simulated Universe, I would expect a much faster flow.Storylines enters Season 3 and focuses on several more legendary African-American players, including James Cool Papa Bell, Wilber Bullet Joe Rogan, and Norman Turkey Stearnes. It doesnt take too long to navigate the various episodes, but its arguably the highlight of MLB The Show 25. Completing challenges as each legend at different stages of their careers with real-life quotes, live-action footage, and even animated illustrations is a magical experience. You truly gain a new appreciation for the sheer talent and excitement that existed outside of the big leagues at the time.From the outset, jumping in and customizing my preferred control schemes for each aspect of the sports from fielding and batting to pitching and running, couldnt have been easier. The Plate Coverage Indicator seemed the best option initially for precisely lining up hits. After extensive failures with that and the timed button presses, I eventually settled on the right analog stick for swings. The feedback is still immediate and extensive with precise data on late and early hits on top of details on preferred pitching spots from the opposition."Its somewhat of a shame that the graphics havent evolved much. Compared side by side to MLB The Show 24, players look pretty much identical, save for some missing facial hair."Finding the right timing can be challenging, even if a simple bunt is enough to create an opportunity. Still, the sheer amount of outfielders who capably caught my Power shots felt a little too high, even on lower difficulties. It wasnt enough to stifle the tension, but the AI is unusually on point more often than Id like. Theyre not typically as capable in batting, but maybe it was because I took more comfortably to the meter-based approach. The fact that well-timed pitches could still be successfully hit and the key lay in keeping my opponents guessing, at times intentionally pitching early or late, made for some fun strategizing.Regardless of your approach and control scheme, theres no denying that MLB The Show 25 nails it in terms of atmosphere. The commentary can repeat some lines on occasion (hello, Swing and a ground ball base hit, right field, my old friend). However, it still flows naturally, especially in Storylines when offering up facts about each player.The excitement of the crowd, coupled with the broadcast-style presentation, the electric organ, the choice songs, and the bated breath between each pitch everything meshes together to create this infectious atmosphere. Theres also no denying the sheer tension when its the bottom of the ninth (or close enough), the bases are full (or nearly), and you need that one solid hit to send the crowd home happy. Conversely, missing everything and giving away runs feels about as awful as it would in real life.However, its somewhat of a shame that the graphics havent evolved much. Compared side by side to MLB The Show 24, players look pretty much identical, save for some missing facial hair. Dont fix what isnt broken, and all that, and the animation quality is still extremely well done, though avoid paying too much attention to the facial animations in Road to the Show. Even the stadiums look incredibly detailed, despite a few inaccuracies here and there, but if youve been waiting years for a true jump in visual fidelity, this isnt it. For what its worth, this is still a good-looking game, but were a long way from the series heralded for its earth-shattering fidelity."Time will tell if San Diego Studio truly overhauls the formula next year or sticks to its guns, offering up more of the same quality content with its own hiccups."Despite both long-running complaints, MLB The Show is still the premier baseball series, even if this years iteration isnt the undisputed king. The unmistakable atmosphere, combined with the sound design, signature movements and details unique to each player, and smooth controls make it worth experiencing, hiccups and all. Maybe not as much for those burned out on last years iteration or expecting massive changes, but it feels like an essential experience for any baseball fan.The sheer love and enthusiasm seen in Storylines, which dives into some of the biggest legends of the sport; the robust Road to the Show and March to October; the new Diamond Quest; and much more all come together into a solid baseball sim with the same solid gameplay that fans know, love, and are probably sick of. Time will tell if San Diego Studio truly overhauls the formula next year or sticks to its guns, offering up more of the same quality content with its own hiccups. But as it stands, MLB The Show 25 does a pretty good job holding down the fort.This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.

After seemingly the longest four-month delay, Assassins Creed Shadows is finally launching on March 20th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Its the first title in the franchise to venture into Feudal Japan, specifically the late Sengoku era with Oda Nobunaga rising into power. It also offers two protagonists Naoe and Yasuke while introducing significant improvements to the Anvil engines lighting and environmental destruction.As enticing as it all is, previous showcases looked more than a bit rough, raising concern over whether it would actually meet the initial November launch. Thankfully, the delays have allowed for some significant polish, with the fidelity of the setting, combined with Shadows art direction, shining through. We compared the visual fidelity and performance of the PS5 and PC versions to highlight all the differences, especially between different modes. Without further ado, lets dive in.Whats New?Assassins Creed Shadows has a lot going on with its world design, especially with how intricately the development team has researched Japan, right down to the rooftops of various architecture. Such is the extensiveness that game director Charles Benoit told IGN it was probably the most complex thing that I ever worked with compared to Assassins Creed Odyssey and Syndicate, with specific code and animations required to ensure something superfluid.Environmental destruction is also something to behold. Initial showings highlighted the destruction of vendor stands with vegetables and fruit scattering naturally on the ground. However, even in the early going, watching Yasuke kick an enemy through wood containers, some shattering as the body careens through and others tipping over from the impact, is so satisfying. Objects are also sliced realistically depending on the orientation of the blade, and while thats cool, there are some weird interactions. Watching an ally slice the top of a wooden barrel and seeing the part fall to the ground is cool, but not so much when another part hops a little before landing on top.Of course, theres also ray-traced global illumination and ray tracing, an improvement over previous GI implementations. With the changing seasons, scenes significantly shift in lighting and shadow quality throughout. The use of Atmos is also notable for its procedural clouds and physics-based weather. It makes for more natural transitions between rainy and clear weather, and though the rain quality is just fine, watching the splashing of drops on the ground, the horse, various characters, etc., is pretty incredible on PC.Walking through the Iga Province and watching the nearby scenery gently swaying with the wind or hanging around in a foggy area as it slowly dissipates, lingering ever so slightly as the sun starts to shine, can be mesmerizing.Test Build Specs and SettingsOn PC, we tested Assassins Creed Shadows on an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti, 64 GB RAM DDR4 RAM, and an NVMe SSD PCI e 4.0. We set almost everything to Very High with Ultra High enabled for a few options like Light Source Quality at 4K resolution. The upscaler was set to Automatic and Quality with dynamic resolution enabled.Ray-traced global illumination on Diffuse + Specular Everywhere while ray-tracing quality and BVH quality (which adjusts the quantity of geometry) was set to Very High. You can change character and hair strand quality, with individual strands standing out, though even details like wrinkles and pores are distinguishable.PC PerformanceOf course, performance is the biggest question, especially on PC, and the answer is: Pretty good. There are a few noticeable frame drops when exiting the map screen occasionally. Fast travelling to Nanbansen, we noticed the frame rate hovered between 55 to 60 frames per second while looking around at various scenery and undiscovered PoIs. Though it dips to about 50 to 52 frames per second while underwater and swimming, it climbs back to 55 to 60 as soon as you get out and start running around or fighting enemies.Even if a day one patch further smooths things out, its pretty good considering the settings and ray tracing quality. The loading times while fast travelling are also pretty snug on PC journeying to Nanbansen took about nine seconds.PS5 ModesWith so much going on in terms of visuals, the PlayStation 5 holds up, though there are some caveats. It offers an upscaled 2160p resolution across all three of its modes. Performance runs at 60 FPS and features Selective Ray Tracing, which means only The Hideout benefits from global illumination for diffuse lighting. Quality Mode runs in 30 frames per second with Standard Ray Tracing, thus ensuring the same lighting for the whole world. Finally, Balanced Mode is similar to Quality Mode but runs at 40 FPS and requires a 120 or 240 Hz display with HDMI 2.1.Quality Mode is clearly the winner when it comes to details. Details like Naoes naturally bouncing hair as she walks to global illumination and shadows look sharp. The reflections in the water are also pretty decent (standing out the most in the duels, like the initial 1v1 fight against an Oda Brute), while the frame rate is relatively stable.Even if its a step down in fidelity, Performance Mode still looks solid enough while delivering what it promises a solid 60 frames per second. Theres occasionally some subtle pop-in, especially for foliage and its shadows, though the overall rendering distance is pretty impressive. While the lighting and shadows are noticeably lower quality, they still look pretty decent.Balanced Mode may seemingly offer the best of both worlds (even if the lighting feels over-exposed in some places), but it highlights one of the bigger issues with the PS5 version the image quality. Maybe its an issue with the upscaler or the resolution dynamically changing to ensure solid performance, especially in busier scenes. Again, things look significantly better in 1v1 duels, but two other baffling issues occur during gameplay.The first is some slight asset culling at the bottom right of the screen (usually for foliage), which looks odd once you notice it. The other is a weird smudging around specific regions of characters, most noticeable during the duels. Its especially egregious in Performance Mode and looks terrible. On the bright side, at least loading times in all modes are pretty solid, taking a little under 10 seconds in Performance Mode, about 11 seconds in Balanced and less than 14 seconds in Quality Mode when fast-travelling to Nanbansen.PC vs PS5 Quality ModeObviously, the PC version wins out. As decent as the PS5 version looks in Quality Mode with its GI, shadows and solid performance, it doesnt measure up to the PC version, which is superior in all three aspects and offers better image quality. You can see a clear distinction in graphical quality during cutscenes versus gameplay on consoles. Its all but negligible on PC, resulting in a gorgeous visual feast.ConclusionWhile the PS5 version is a viable way to play the game, even though it struggles through some unique issues, Assassins Creed Shadows is a tour de force on PC. Offering a wealth of options and making good on its promised new features, it also provided a visually rich experience backed by solid performance and incredible levels of polish. Whether experiencing the late Sengoku era in all its glory or embarking on a new stealth action experience, the graphics are some of the series best yet.

Netflix made its case for creating and publishing games on its massive streaming platform for all the world to engage with.Read More