Sales of foldable mobile phones are expected to fall by 4% this year compared to 2024, according to a new forecast by research firm Counterpoint.If the forecast comes true, it would be the biggest decline to date for the category. But those numbers could rise again as soon as 2026; Apple is rumored to be planning to release a foldable version of the iPhone then. That would likely give the entire segment a big boost.Samsung remains the leader in foldable mobile phones, but Huawei, Honor, Motorola and Xiaomi have closed the gap with Samsung significantly over the past year.

A new firmware update for the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 has been released, though there are currently no details about its contents.Apple has released a firmware update for AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2.On Monday, following the public release of iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, Apple issued a firmware update for select AirPods models. The firmware update increases the build number to 7E93, up from the previous 7B20 and 7B21, released in October 2024.The 7E93 firmware update is available only for AirPods Pro 2, and all models of the AirPods 4, including the variant with Active Noise Cancellation. It will not be released for AirPods Max or other non-H2 devices. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Apple's iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 updates contain multiple fixes designed to keep your data secure. Here's what you need to know, and why you should consider updating right away.iOS 18.4 features major security fixes that keep your data safe.On Monday, after a series of developer betas and two separate release candidate builds, Apple finally launched iOS 18.4 to the general public. Though the update contains various Apple Intelligence improvements and an all-new Apple Vision Pro app, the software also patches multiple vulnerabilities.As with every major iOS update, iOS 18.4 addresses core security issues related to different features and aspects of the iPhone operating system. Many of the changes introduced on Monday were implemented to prevent bad actors from accessing users' private information. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Modular housing has already proven itself to be a viable solution to Ukrainians in their wartime effort to rebuild and could now serve a critical role following the Los Angeles Fires, the LA Timesis reporting.Many in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena are expected to be without homes for at least the remainder of this decade thanks to a mess of permitting regulations and the lagging debris removal process, according to aneye-opening Urban Land Institute (ULI) estimate. This could therefore become a watershed opportunity for designers in L.A. to leverage the impressive production and delivery leaps that have propelled the fast, low-carbon option despite its lack of a wider building industry embrace for much of the past decade.

Inside Climate News has more on the "significant blow" dealt to sustainable building advocates by the Trump Administrations forced cancelation of more than $116 million inEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA) grants aimed at ramping up domestic production of clean construction materials.The funding, which is derived from the Inflation Reduction Act and helps manufacturers secure new Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), was announced last year as a $160 million Federal Buy Clean Initiative package to 38 different universities and other research institutions. It falls in line with the White Houses reported pursuit of criminal charges against "environmental" groups that have received such funding through a "conspiracy to defraud the United States."

Developer MercurySteam has released a new trailer for its upcoming 3D action-adventure game Blades of Fire. The trailer, that you can check out below, offers up 5 minutes of gameplay, letting us see what the general minute-to-minute gameplay of the title will look like.Right from the start, the trailer reveals that players will have the ability to switch between three weapons at any given time. All three weapons were crafted by the player themselves, and will feature different properties as well as unique move sets. This ability to switch weapons on the fly also comes in handy quite early in the trailer, when the players sword ends up breaking.The trailer also puts quite a bit of emphasis on the player picking the right kind of weapon depending on the combat situation. Since each weapon will have different properties, ranging from the more refined slashes and thrusts of a sword to the wide-arcing swings of a Warhammer.Aside from the core combat, the trailer also lets us get a glimpse of its lush world. The trailer takes part in what appears to be a forested area, with several paths available for players to take thanks to cliffs and ravines. Ultimately, the trailer ends when the protagonist finds a Forgers Anvil, which seems to act as a checkpoint and fast-travel point for players to use down the line.Blades of Fire was unveiled back in February. Developed by the studio behind Metroid Dread, the game is currently in development for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The PC version of the game will be available exclusively through Epic Games Store when it comes out on May 22.Lead game designer Joan Amat revealed details about how the main progression systems of Blades of Fire will work earlier this month. Writing about how the studio doesnt want players to turn into magical gods by the end of the game, Amat revealed that progression in Blades of Fire will revolve around players forging and using their own weapons.You definitely cant turn Aran into a magic god at the end of Blades of Fire, right? There are lots of spectacular things that you could do, have your weapon shoot fireballs or other things that are really spectacular, said Amat. This is not our aim! Our aim is to make everything really important.When it comes to the Forge system itself, Blades of Fire will allow players to craft almost infinite combinations of weapons, depending on the parts they choose.[Historical YouTubers] are talking about edges; theyre talking about balance, the center of mass, grips and handling, and edge alignment. Theyre not talking about agility, strength, stamina, intelligence, and dexterity, right? Those are not the stats, explained Amat.When we moved from the stats combo into a challenge mentality, balance became so much easier. We only really need to make sure that the enemy is strong against some things and weak against some other things. There are all these other great RPGs that are about power complexity. Thats not what this game is about.For more details on Blades of Fire, check out how the game is going to be strongly narrative-driven, and how the curiosity of players will drive them to uncovering more of the story by themselves.

While the recently-released Assassins Creed Shadows had seen several delays, its developers apparently used the extra time to add more polish to the game. Speaking to GamesRadar, creative director Jonathan Dumont spoke about how the studio didnt actually make any fundamental changes to Assassins Creed Shadows in the wake of feedback from Star Wars Outlaws.Not really, said Dumont when asked if the delays were because of the feedback from Star Wars Outlaws. We were basically trying to make the most polished game that we [can]. He went on to say that the delays were because, our game was there, so just making sure that we dont have bugs and that the experience is clean for people.While Ubisoft didnt make any sweeping changes to Assassins Creed Shadows after the game got delayed, Dumont did say that a few things were added to the games narrative here and there. These additions typically came in the form of the developers realising that, in a particular scene, this is a place where we could reinforce the relationship.We had a few already, and people love those things, he continued. So alright, lets try to get a little bit more in there.Dumont saw the games release date being delayed a couple of times as opportunities for the studio to further polish the game before it hit store shelves. Its kind of cool also that we were close to launch, and then we get this extra time to do the things that typically youre doing at the end, he said.Since it finally came out on March 20, Assassins Creed Shadows has been doing quite well for Ubisoft. The company revealed last week that more than 3 million players had played Assassins Creed Shadows. The company also revealed that the title ranked second in highest day one sales revenue in the franchise, and that it was the biggest day one performer for Ubisoft on PlayStations digital store. In total, more than 40 million hours had been spent by people playing Assassins Creed Shadows.This milestone followed similar ones from day one of the games release. In less than a day, Assassins Creed Shadows had already crossed more than a million players. It 2 million players just a couple of days later. The game even went on to overtake the Steam concurrent player count for the incredibly popular Assassins Creed Odyssey.While the studio behind Assassins Creed Shadows has been enjoying the successful launch, it has still continued working on updates for the title. Just last week, Assassins Creed Shadows got an update that brought with it some stabilisation fixes across all platforms, as well as fixes for crashes caused by the games Photo mode on the PC and PS5 versions.Assassins Creed Shadows is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. For more details, check out our review. And if youre curious about the best open-world game set in Japan right now, heres how it stacks up against Ghost of Tsushima and Rise of the Ronin.

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn MoreMake no mistake about it, there is a lot of money being spent on generative AI in 2025.Analyst firm Gartner released a new report today forecasting that global gen AI spending will hit $644 billion in 2025. That figure represents a 76.4% year-over-year increase over gen AI spending in 2024.Gartners report joins a chorus of other industry analyses in recent months that all point to increasing adoption and spending for gen AI. Spending has been growing by 130%, according to research conducted by AI at Wharton, a research center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Deloitte reported that 74% of enterprises have already met or exceeded gen AI initiatives.While its no surprise that spending on gen AI is growing, the Gartner report provides new clarity on where the money is going and where enterprises might get the most value.According to Gartners analysis, hardware will claim a staggering 80% of all gen AI spending in 2025. The forecast shows:Devices will account for $398.3 billion (99.5% growth)Servers will reach $180.6 billion (33.1% growth)Software spending follows at just $37.2 billion (93.9% growth)Services will total $27.8 billion (162.6% growth)The device market was the biggest surprise, it is the market most driven by the supply side rather than the demand side, John Lovelock, distinguished VP analyst at Gartner, told VentureBeat. Consumers and enterprises are not seeking AI enabled devices, but manufacturers are producing them and selling them. By 2027, it will be almost impossible to buy a PC that is not AI enabled.Hardwares dominance will intensify, not diminish for enterprise AIWith hardware claiming approximately 80% of gen AI spending in 2025, many might assume this ratio would gradually shift toward software and services as the market matures. Lovelocks insights suggest the opposite.The ratios shift more in hardwares favor over time, Lovelock said. While more and more software will have gen AI enabled features, there will be less attributable money spent on gen AI softwaregen AI will be embedded functionality delivered as part of the price of the software.This projection has profound implications for technology budgeting and infrastructure planning. Organizations expecting to shift spending from hardware to software over time may need to recalibrate their financial models to account for ongoing hardware requirements.Moreover, the embedded nature of future-gen AI functionality means that discrete AI projects may become less common. Instead, AI capabilities will increasingly arrive as features within existing software platforms, making intentional adoption strategies and governance frameworks even more critical.The PoC graveyard: Why internal enterprise AI projects failGartners report highlights a sobering reality: many internal gen AI proof-of-concept (PoC) projects have failed to deliver expected results. This has created what Lovelock calls a paradox where expectations are declining despite massive investment.When asked to elaborate on these challenges, Lovelock identified three specific barriers that consistently derail gen AI initiatives.Corporations with more experience with AI had higher success rates with gen AI, while enterprises with less experience suffered higher failure rates, Lovelock explained. However, most enterprises failed for one or more of the top three reasons: Their data was of insufficient size or quality, their people were unable to use the new technology or change to use the new process or the new gen AI would not have a sufficient ROI.These insights reveal that gen AIs primary challenges arent technical limitations but organizational readiness factors:Data inadequacy: Many organizations lack sufficient high-quality data to train or implement gen AI systems effectively.Change resistance: Users struggle to adopt new tools or adapt workflows to incorporate AI capabilities.ROI shortfalls: Projects fail to deliver measurable business value that justifies their implementation costs.The strategic pivot: From internal development to commercial solutionsThe Gartner forecast notes an expected shift from ambitious internal projects in 2025 and beyond. Instead, the expectation is that enterprises will opt for commercial off-the-shelf solutions that deliver more predictable implementation and business value.This transition reflects the growing recognition that building custom-gen AI solutions often presents more challenges than anticipated. Lovelocks comments about failure rates underscore why many organizations are pivoting to commercial options offering predictable implementation paths and clearer ROI.For technical leaders, this suggests prioritizing vendor solutions that embed gen AI capabilities into existing systems rather than building custom applications from scratch. As Lovelock noted, these capabilities will increasingly be delivered as part of standard software functionality rather than as separate gen AI products.What this means for enterprise AI strategyFor enterprises looking to lead in AI adoption, Gartners forecast challenges several common assumptions about the gen AI marketplace. The emphasis on hardware spending, supply-side drivers and embedded functionality suggests a more evolutionary approach may yield better results than revolutionary initiatives.Technical decision-makers should focus on integrating commercial gen AI capabilities into existing workflows rather than building custom solutions. This approach aligns with Lovelocks observation that CIOs are reducing self-development efforts in favor of features from existing software providers.For organizations planning more conservative adoption, the inevitability of AI-enabled devices presents challenges and opportunities. While these capabilities may arrive through regular refresh cycles regardless of strategic intent, organizations that prepare to leverage them effectively will gain competitive advantages.As gen AI spending accelerates toward $644 billion in 2025, success wont be determined by spending volume alone. Organizations that align their investments with organizational readiness, focus on overcoming the three key failure factors and develop strategies to leverage increasingly embedded gen AI capabilities will extract the most value from this rapidly evolving technology landscape.Daily insights on business use cases with VB DailyIf you want to impress your boss, VB Daily has you covered. We give you the inside scoop on what companies are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to practical deployments, so you can share insights for maximum ROI.Read our Privacy PolicyThanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here.An error occured.

Eidos-Montreal announced its laying off 75 people, saying a mandate has ended and it can't reallocate these employees to other projects.Read More

IGN Entertainment opens ticket sales for IGN LiveThe consumer focused show returns to LA in June News by Rachel Weber Contributor Published on March 31, 2025 IGN Entertainment has confirmed the official dates for its fan-facing event IGN Live, June 7-8, and ticket sales are now open. Last year the event played host to more than 100 studio partners from the world of games and entertainment, and shows from its stages were shared worldwide through streaming."We're thrilled for the return of IGN Live this coming June," said Michael Peyton, IGN's Senior Editorial Director, Events and Entertainment."Last year, we saw fans of all ages gather for a huge party celebrating games, movies, TV, comics, collectibles, and more and we anticipate that this year the event will be bigger and better than ever. We're looking forward to seeing fans in LA June 7-8 and across IGN platforms for anyone who can't be there in person."In its debut year, IGN Live played host to developers, publishers and stars from the world of entertainment. Xbox's Phil Spencer took to the stage for a live interview, the cast of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power appeared to talk about the show, and game studios like Blumhouse held sessions talking about upcoming games. Beyond the stage show there were over 100 gaming stations on the show floor, 10,000 giveaways, and millions around the world who could not make it to the event in person watched streams from the show.The line up for this year is still under wraps, but with summer still marking a huge press and marketing opportunity for the games industry, expect to see a mix of familiar IP and rising stars. Humble Bundle is part of IGN Entertainment, the division of Ziff Davis that includes GamesIndustry.biz, IGN, and MapGenie.