When Nintendo launched the Switch in 2017, it had no competition in dedicated handheld gaming, a sector it had established with the Game Boy in 1989 and ruled ever since. Sega had come and gone; Sony, after two determined attempts with the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita, had just about given up.As Switch 2 nears launch in 2025, things look a little different but only a little. The colossal success of the Switch has awoken the slumbering giants. Sony and Microsoft are now reportedly preparing dedicated PlayStation and Xbox handhelds. Improbably, though, it was the PC gaming sphere that made the first move. Valve led the way with the Steam Deck in 2022, which swiftly seeded a growing ecosystem of similar, PC-based handheld devices from manufacturers like Lenovo and Asus. After a quiet decade, non-Nintendo handheld gaming is a thing again. And that means the Switch 2 will not run unopposed for handheld gaming supremacy.In a sense, Nintendo is the victim of its own strategic foresight. With the Switch, it was the first to spot that the narrowing gap in processing power between mobile and at-home devices had enabled a unification of handheld and home gaming experiences. Finally, the same games could work in both contexts. The Switch proved this point emphatically, and now everyone wants a piece.But with dedicated devices from Sony and Microsoft still years away, for now that competition must come from Steam Deck and the other PC handhelds. My colleague Chris Plante persuasively argued that these devices represent Nintendos biggest threat in the present. They trounce the Switch on specs and have closed the gap to contemporary AAA gaming in the home until its almost imperceptible. Software-wise, they offer the compelling value and staggering range of just about everything on Steam and much of PC gaming beyond it, if youre prepared to fiddle about a bit.Its true that the Switch 2s price and specs put it into direct competition with the lower-end PC handhelds. At $449, its $50 more expensive than the base model Steam Deck. The Switch 2 is roughly comparable in power and storage, has a much better screen, and with detachable controllers and a TV dock included in the price, its much more flexible to use. The base model of Asus ROG Ally handheld ($499 or thereabouts) and the new Lenovo Legion Go S ($549) are also pretty close competitors in terms of specs.In raw hardware terms, these are all very similar devices. Its worth noting that the Switch 2s exclusive access to Nvidias market-leading DLSS upscaling technology should allow it to punch a bit above its weight class. But realistically, theres not much between them.But and its a very, very big but comparing the Switch 2 to the PC handhelds by running your finger down a spec sheet, or by noting that they can all play Civilization 7 and Elden Ring, does not tell the whole story. Within an enthusiast bubble, PC handhelds are a big deal, but they do not exist in the same universe as Nintendo consoles. To put it bluntly, PC handhelds are still niche.The Steam Deck has been a big success for Valve, but lets put it in perspective. Valve has not discussed sales numbers, but market research estimates that it has sold around 4 million Steam Decks. And Steam Deck dwarfs its competition; the same research suggests that, in total, around 6 million PC handhelds have been sold in the three years since the Steam Deck went on the market. Worryingly, there arent yet signs of strong growth in sales.Stack that up against the Switchs 150 million units sold and the wild difference in scale becomes evident. Of course, it isnt a directly analogous comparison. PC handhelds have only existed for three years; the Switch has been around for eight years, and Nintendo has been in the handhelds business for more than 35 years. All the same, Nintendo predicts it will sell 11 million units of the aging Switch in its current fiscal year more than five times the predicted sales of PC handhelds in that time. Meanwhile, analysts reckon that the Switch 2 will, on its own, outstrip the size of the PC handheld market almost immediately, with 6 to 8 million units available at launch, and up to 20 million sales in its first year.Valve is a big player in the game industry, and a very rich company. But it is a newcomer to the world of consumer electronics retail, and it has a lot of catching up to do if its even interested in doing it. Steam Deck isnt available to purchase in stores; you cant walk into Walmart and pick one up. Valve is not buying ads for it on TV or at bus stops. Companies like Lenovo and Asus have more traditional distribution channels, but theyre tiny minnows compared to the marketing, retail, and distribution might of Nintendo.There are other factors that make the PC handhelds niche products. The user experience of Windows-based handhelds like the ROG Ally and Legion Go is notoriously bad. Valves SteamOS is much better, but it is still quite far removed from the reliability and simplicity offered by Nintendo and the other console platforms.You cannot unbox a new Steam Deck, turn it on, and play a game straight away. It requires tinkering to get the best out of. Although Valves verification system for games is a helpful guide, its not guaranteed youll get a good, playable experience on every game. The Deck is also bulky and heavy. You would never buy one for a child, or share one within a family its clearly not designed to be shared. Realistically, it remains a tough sell for anyone who isnt a gaming hobbyist.There is, reportedly, one upcoming device that may be able to change this narrative a little. Microsoft is said to be working with a PC handheld manufacturer on a system that will have Xbox branding and a user interface based on a new version of the Xbox PC app. This has the potential to be a more user-friendly device that offers easy access to PC Game Pass on the go, which would be quite compelling. But, although Microsoft has now been making Xbox consoles for over 20 years, it has consistently struggled to use that experience to make PC gaming more seamless, despite repeated attempts and the device doesnt sound like much more than a stopgap until Microsofts own dedicated handheld console is ready.Nintendo will not have true competition in handhelds until its peers in the console space get involved. Microsoft is reportedly eyeing 2027 for the release of its handheld Xbox. Sonys portable PS5 is also said to be years away, if its ever released. Things are definitely heating up for Nintendo, and by the end (or even the middle) of the Switch 2s life, the handheld gaming market is sure to be much busier than it is now. But for the next few years, competition for the new console will remain distant at best.

Lexar this week announced what it says is the worlds first 1TB microSD Express card in time for the arrival of the Nintendo Switch 2. Nintendo has said that the Switch 2 will only support microSD Express cards, not the regular microSD you may already have been using in your old Switch. There are three storage capacity options to choose from with Lexars new Play Pro microSDXC Express Card: 1TB ($199.99), 512GB ($99.99) and 256GB ($49.99). Buyers have already snatched them up fast, though, so youll have to wait until theyre back in stock if you want to grab one. According to Lexar, the Play Pro microSDXC Express Card offers read speeds of up to 900MB/s and write speeds up to 600MB/s. GameStop also introduced a 1TB microSD Express card alongside a 512GB and a 256GB option, all of which are compatible with Nintendo Switch 2, but those wont ship until June when the new console arrives. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/lexar-made-a-1tb-microsd-express-card-that-works-with-nintendo-switch-2-175335976.html?src=rss

China built hundreds of AI data centers, but supply now far exceeds demand, and DeepSeek is one of the reasons why.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is known for responding to extreme weather like hurricanes and wildfiresthe kinds of disasters that are becoming more intense and more common as climate change gets worse. The agency also has a program that sends billions of dollars proactively to communities, municipalities, and states so that they can prepare for these events before they hit.In an internal FEMA memorandum obtained and first reported by Grist, the Trump administration announced its plans to dismantle that programthe biggest climate adaptation initiative the federal government has ever fundedeven as disasters incur hundreds of billions of dollars worth of damages across the United States. The decision comes as at least seven people were killed this week as tornadoes and catastrophic flooding descended on the Central United States in what meteorologists called a once-in-a-generation event.The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, or BRIC, was established in 2018 during President Donald Trumps first term, replacing a similar FEMA initiative. BRICs first round of funding was launched in 2020, when Trump was still in office, and in 2023, the program awarded close to a billion dollars to scores of communities, states, and tribal nations across the country. In January, before Trump began his second term, the agency opened its fiscal year 2024 notice of funding, with $750 million in matching grants made available to applicants from areas that received a major disaster declaration within the past seven years.But FEMA now aims to cancel those grants and any other BRIC grants that have not been paid out yet by the federal government, according to the pre-decisional memo dated April 2 from Cameron Hamilton, a Trump administration official who is serving as FEMA administrator until the president appoints a permanent head of the agency.BRIC was yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program, a FEMA spokesperson told Grist. It was more concerned with climate change than helping Americans affected by natural disasters.BRIC generally shoulders 75% of the cost of a given resilience project, and up to 90% of the cost of projects in disadvantaged communities. The programs emphasis on equity is what may have marked it for demolitionthe Trump administration has been systematically dismantling Biden-era efforts to infuse equity into governmental programs and direct more climate spending toward underrepresented groups.FEMA employees disputed Hamiltons argument in the memo that BRIC grants have not enhanced the level of hazard mitigation as much as desired.I dont know where that came from, said one agency employee who preferred to stay anonymous.According to a source within the agency, the Trump administration asked BRIC staffers to offer justification for the program and its Direct Technical Assistance sister initiative, which offers nonfinancial support to help communities navigate the BRIC funding process and identify the hazards they face. The request was made on Tuesday this week with a Wednesday deadline.With a tight turnaround, staffers offered success stories from across the country. BRIC awards have helped communities bury power lines, build culverts, protect wastewater facilities from being inundated by flooding, and upgrade power stations. If BRIC is frozen, communities will no longer be able to apply for the grants for fiscal year 2024 made available in January. Projects that have been selected in past years but not yet disbursed funds will no longer receive payment. Partially completed projects will be scrutinized and reviewed, the memo said.The administration now has one of FEMAs most effective grant programs on the chopping block, said Shana Udvardy, a senior climate resilience policy analyst with the Climate and Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Its oversubscribed almost every single year. In fiscal year 2023, FEMA received more than 1,200 subapplications across all 50 states, 35 tribes, five territories, and Washington, D.C., totaling more than $5.6 billion in requests. It was able to provide less than a fifth of the money requested.A looming question is whether FEMA can yank grants that are being funded with money appropriated by Congress. The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the bipartisan infrastructure law, allocated approximately $6.8 billion to FEMA for community-wide mitigation efforts, with a portion of this funding directed to the BRIC program. If this administration does away with the program, it goes against a law that Congress passed, Udvardy said, so theres a concern there to be raised.This article originally appeared in Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Sign up for its newsletter here.

Feces never looked so cute.

A man who worked for UPS for five years has been arrested by Texas authorities for $200,000 in theft, Florida is considering harsher laws for people who use AirTags to stalk, and more, all on this week's Apple crime blotter.All-electric UPS truckA 37-year-old Texas man who worked for UPS for five years has been charged in a "high-end theft" case. He is accused of stealing parcels, including "Apple iPhones, Apple iPads, and various smartwatches."According to a Facebook post by the Cameron County District Attorney's Office Facebook page, the man is also accused of stealing jewelry, power tools, and "luxury designer items such as Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Ferragamo, and Dior handbags, wallets, and accessories." Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Though the real-time strategy genre is nowhere close to being in the sort of shape that it once used to be, fans thankfully still have some solid offerings to choose between, and every so often, something new and interesting usually tends to come along. Of course, in the absence of AAA studios, indies and smaller teams have had to fill the void, and with the upcomingTempest Rising,developers Slipgate Ironworks and 2B Games, and publishers 3D Realms and Knights Peak, are looking to do. With the games launch now around the corner, here, were going to cover some pivotal details that you should know about it and what itll bring to the table.STORY AND SETTINGTempest Risingis set in an alternate history Earth where the Cuban Missile Crisis went in a drastically different direction, sparking World War 3 and leaving chaos in its wake. Thirty-four years later, huge portions of the war-torn planet are heavily irradiated, though as luck would have it, these areas are also where the newly emerged, mysterious, plant-like energy source known as Tempest is found. As you would expect, Tempest is highly coveted by warring factions, who are locked in conflict as a result.INSPIRED BY COMMAND AND CONQUERIn case it wasnt abundantly clear by now, yes,Tempest Risingis heavily inspired byCommand and Conquer,to the extent that its developers have outright described it as a spiritual successor. From its war-torn setting and the narrative premise at its core to other gameplay and narrative details (that well get into in a bit), the game is wearing itsCommand and Conquerinfluences pretty proudly on its sleeve. Whats more,Tempest Risingsmusic is also being composed by Frank Klepacki, who is best known forCommand and Conquer.CAMPAIGNSAs youd expect from a real-time strategy game claiming to be inspired byCommand and Conquer,Temptest Risingwill feature two campaigns. Two factions, as we touched on, will be at the heart of the games story, and each of the games two campaigns will see you playing as a different one.CAMPAIGN LENGTHBy the look of it,Tempest Risingwill boast pretty substantial single-player offerings, with each campaign set to be eleven missions long, and cutscenes interspersed throughout. What the runtime for each campaign will be remains to be seen, but speaking in an interview with Gameshedge, lead game designer Brandon Casteel promised beefy missions with plenty of gameplay time per mission. Missions will also be varied, and not all following the same structure, according to Casteel.MULTIPLAYERNo RTS (especially one inspired byCommand and Conquer) is complete without a full suite of multiplayer offerings, and sure enough,Tempest Risingwill have plenty of modes on offer. Its been confirmed that in addition to multiplayer skirmishes, custom matches and ranked multiplayer matches will also be available.FACTIONSTwo factions will be at the heart ofTempest Risingsstory with the Tempest Dynasty and the Global Defense Force, each starring in their own campaign. In multiplayer, meanwhile, players will also have a third faction to play as in the form of the Veti, an ancient and technologically advanced alien race. Each faction will bring their own unique roster of units, systems, and play styles. The Veti, however, will not be available at launch. Exactly when the third faction will become available is currently not known.GLOBAL DEFENSE FORCEIn whats left of the world inTempest Risingsuniverse, the Global Defense Force (or the GDF) is the largest military on the planet. A coalition of the militaries of the United States, Canada, and Western European nations, the GDF specializes in technological advancements, scientific research, space exploration, surveillance, and intelligence warfare. In gameplay, the GDF will priorizite precision offense and high mobility- though heavy weaponry will also be an option should it become necessary.TEMPEST DYNASTYWhere much of the western half of Earth formed the GDF following World War 3, several Eastern European and Asian nations came together to become the Tempest Dynasty. With man of the dynastys former nations having suffered heavy irradiation, it also finds itself with large quantities of Tempest within its borders, which is now very much to their advantage. Armed with Tempest, in gameplay, the faction is able to use high-energy systems, units, and buildings to its advantage.SPECIALISTSAs youd expect, each faction inTempest Risingwill also feature its own roster of exclusive, higher-powered units touting unique abilities. The GDF, for instance, will have the drone assassin Comandante Vasco Delgado, the riot medic Captain Dylan Tremblay, the comms officer Captain Ed Hayes, and the sniper Captain Bronagh Cregan. The Tempest Dynasty, on the other hand, will have, among others, the physicist Dr. Aigul Yusupova, the machinist Sergeant Srdjan Radojevi, the anti-vehicle sniper Bataar Nergi, and combat support specialistMykyta Moroz.SUPPORT POWERSEach faction inTempest Risingwill also have its own set of support powers, which will supposedly work not too differently from how super weapons did inCommand and Conquergames. The GDFs support powers will let you unleash air strikes, deploy troop carriers loaded with peacekeeping forces, use communication jammers, and more. On the other hand, the Tempest Dynastys support powers will let you fire extremely volatile Tempest missiles, seed battlefields with dangerous mines, deliver automated infirmary pods on the battlefield, and more.SPECIALIST MISSIONSSimilar to Commando missions inCommand and Conquergames,Tempest Risingscampaigns will also feature missions where players will be playing only as a Specialist unit. How many of these we can expect is unknown, but speaking in the aforementioned Gameshedge interview, lead game designer Brandon Casteel confirmed that Specialist-only missions will indeed be featured.NO NAVAL BATTLESNaval battles were often a big part of the gameplay loop inCommand and Conquertitles, but this is one area whereTempest Risingis deviating from its biggest inspiration. Speaking with Gameshedge, Casteel explained that the complexity that naval gameplay would have added to the experience led to the developers decision to not have it be in the game at all. Whether or not it will be added in at some point in the future remains to be seen.Naval as a gestalt concept introduces a tremendous amount of complexity to a game, Casteel said. You have to worry about what happens on the coastline, about how air units and ground units engage with naval units; you will have to figure out much more complex map design challenges, and it will decrease the number of units you will be able to produce for air and ground as well. I feel like its tricky enough to worry about getting the basics of an RTS right, and we would have done ourselves no favors trying to figure out the very complex challenges inherent in adding a naval layer to the game. Never say never, but I think a lot of people drastically underestimate how hard it is to make naval work. Very, very few games have done it right.SYSTEM REQUIREMENTSRecommended system requirements forTempest Risinghavent yet been revealed, however, its minimum requirements are available, and thankfully, theyre not terribly demanding. To be able to run the game, youll need at least either an i5-7400 or a Ryzen 5 1600, along with either a GeForce GTX 1060 3 or a Radeon RX 580, and about 30 GB of free storage space.

Hundreds of thousands of people signed up to attend over 1,300 Hands Off! protests against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk yesterday. Today, estimates from groups involved in planning the protests suggest the protesters in the US and abroad may have actually numbered in the millions.Activist group MoveOn is estimating millions of attendees went to the 1,300-plus scheduled events, with more than 100,000 turning out for the Washington, DC protest, Britt Jacovich, the groups communications director, told The Verge via email. A press release published on the official Hands Off! website yesterday tells the same story:Millions of people flooded the streets today at over 1,300 Hands Off! peaceful protests across all 50 states, U.S. territories, and a dozen locations globally, demanding an end to the authoritarian overreach by Trump and Musk.The protests were laser-focused on Musk and Trump, but the concerns that drove yesterdays demonstrations are wide-ranging, covering everything from Trumps trade war and DOGEs relentless federal agency cuts and layoffs, to LGBTQ+ and other civil rights issues, to the war in Ukraine. More than 150 groups participated in their organization, including those mentioned in this story, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union, the League of Women Voters, and labor unions like the AFL-CIO and those representing federal workers, such as the National Treasury Employees Union.Indivisible, another of the more than 150 organizations involved in planning the protests, gives a similar estimate to MoveOns in a statement reported by Common Dreams, in which it says that at virtually every single event the crowds eclipsed our estimates. From Common Dreams:This is the largest day of protest since Trump retook office, the group added. And in many small towns and cities, activists are reporting the biggest protests their communities have ever seen as everyday people send a clear, unmistakable message to Trump and Musk: Hands off our healthcare, hands off our civil rights, hands off our schools, our freedoms, and our democracy.Other reported estimates from yesterday are smaller. The Guardian, The Hill, and Al Jazeera each put the number in the hundreds of thousands. Even so, millions doesnt seem implausible. According to Axios, over 45,000 people gathered in Raleigh, North Carolina, and the outlet reports more than 100,000 people demonstrated both in Washington, DC and New York City. Organizers say more than 30,000 showed up in Chicago, writes WBEZ Chicago.One of the most specific numbers reported so far comes from the social media accounts of 50501, one of the most prominent protest movements that have sprung up in the wake of Musks actions as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The group posted late yesterday that over 3 million people across the country stood up to say HANDS OFF our democracy.See More:

According to Bloombergs Mark Gurman, Apple is preparing a major shake-up for the 20th anniversary of the iPhone next year. One of the changes includes introducing a foldable iPhone for the first time, but the company is reportedly planning a bold new Pro model. This device, if things stick to plan, would finally achieve what Jony Ive initially visioned for the iPhone. He had long championed for an iPhone that would appear like a single sheet of glass, according to reports. This concept became very clear with the iPhone X.While Apple in more recent years has only made thicker and less sleek iPhones, it seems theyre now headed in the direction of what Jony Ive wouldve wanted. This shift starts with the launch of the ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air model later this year, and will continue to play out next year in the 20th anniversary pro iPhone.From the Power On newsletter:But the company is preparing a majorshake-up for the iPhones 20-year anniversary, including a foldable version and a bold new Pro model that makes more extensive use of glass.An iPhone with more glass probably sounds like more of a durability and repairability headache to most people, but it sounds completely in line with what Apple would do. It also makes complete sense to implement this sort of shake up for the 20th anniversary.In the past, Gurman has reported that the iPhone 17 Air was just the first step towards all iPhones eventually becoming ultra-thin. I could see Apple implementing both an ultra-thin and more glassy design for iPhone 19 Pro. This would satisfy the vision of making an iPhone that appears like a single sheet of glass.Unfortunately, Gurman doesnt provide any key design details other than the fact that itll use more glass. Youll have to leave the rest to your imagination.My favorite Apple accessories on Amazon:Follow Michael:X/Twitter,Bluesky,InstagramAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

It's tough being a startup founder. For many, just posting on LinkedIn is a full time gig, and that's before you get into venture capitalist parties, Slack inquisitions, and hustle-culture burnout.In today's increasingly polarized world, they also have to contend with the threat of assassination at least in their fertile imaginations.Meet Deep Prasad, the Canadian engineer and entrepreneur whose "quantum computing" AI startup, GenMat, claims to be developing an AI that can "predict the behavior of atoms combined together," among other pie-in-the-sky wonders.Most recently, Prasad went viral on X-formerly-Twitter recently after claiming he was shot at twice outside of his San Francisco hotel."They chased me to my hotel and shot the second time when I ran inside and got one of the staff to come out," the founder wrote, tagging tech bigwig Garry Tan, the CEO of Y Combinator. "We both heard a glock and he saw the gun while I saw the bullet impacts. Im still shaking."The alleged shooting came after a verbal exchange with a BMW full of guys who apparently told Prasad to "stay within the crosswalk" if he doesn't want to get hit, according to theSan Francisco Standard, which spoke with the founder. "I said, 'shut the fuck up, dumbass," Prasad recalled. "Those were my exact words."Some time later, Prasad said he saw the same car pull around to the front of the hotel, when he heard a "loud bang," which a hotel worker said was gunfire.This is where things get fuzzy:security footage reviewed by the Standard tells another story, namely that the "gunfire" he heard actually came from firecrackers.If there was actually gunfire, it would also follows that police would have found bullet holes in the side of the hotel, necessitating an investigation. Instead, police offered thoughts and prayers: "this sounds like a frightening incident, and Im sorry this happened in our city," an SFPD spokesperson told the Standard.Netizens were quick to turn Prasad's excitable posts into a meme, blasting him for tagging Tan, as if there was anything he could do. "My girlfriend is not eating her vegetables @garrytan," one user quipped.It doesn't appear to be the first time Prasad's posts have been of this world.A now-dormant reddit account sharing his handle on X-formerly-Twitter has posted prolifically on a UFO subreddit while claiming to be Deep Prasad. The account previously posted about extraterrestrial metals, UFO debris, and Project Serpo, a conspiracy theory claiming that the US military runs a "human exchange" with aliens from the planet Serpo.One post links to a file owned by "deeptanshu.prasad" containing a catalogue of "samples of materials said to have been ejected by/dropped from UAP [unidentified aerial phenomenon], or have been found after a UAP sighting." The 54-page catalogue is credited to Keith Basterfield, an Australian ufologist, and lists analyses of samples taken from events like the 1947 "Roswell Incident" in New Mexico, and the "Puebla UFO crash" of 1977.Like his crosswalk candor, Prasad's online persona is a little touchy, to put it mildly. The reddit account frequently came to blows with other users on r/UFO, usually arguing over academic credentials and various ufology personalities. Most arguments descend into hollering about honor and personal pride."I have a big ego which keeps me afloat from being slowed down by naysayers like yourselves," the account raged in a thread about the state of the UFO community. "I've never called myself the next Einstein, only others have."Other scrums crumble into credentialism."Im [sic] waiting on your correction of my integration tough guy..come on," the account posted after a long argument with "mr_knowsitall" about whose physics career was more impressive. "Prove to all of r/UFO you dont know jack shit about basic math and physics lolol. I am waiting."If Prasad's e-manners are any indication, it's really not hard to believe he rubbed a couple of pranksters the wrong way a hypothesis even he's embracing."Realistically theres no recovering from this," he posted in a lighthearted followup, again tagging Garry Tan. "Im taking the L and the kids who followed me around at 4am in a BMW and threw fireworks successfully pranked tf out of me its high key embarrassing but at least we got a good meme out of it."More on tech founders: Alarm App Demands You Watch Advertisement to Hit "Snooze" ButtonShare This Article