Macworld At a glanceExpert's Rating Pros Top-notch sound Flawless ANC Convenient controls Practical charging box with touch display App is easy to operate AUX and USB connection Cons Sound with weakness in the mids Hi-Res certified audio with LDAC is Android-only Our Verdict The JBL Tour Pro 3 is more than just a competitor to the Apple AirPods Pro. They are a counter design that scores with a comparably great sound, but with other features such as the touch display on the charging box and the USB audio connection. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Price When Reviewed264 Euro Best Prices Today: JBL Tour Pro 3 Retailer Price €248.36 View Deal 253,90 € View Deal 254,99 € View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket The JBL Tour Pro 3 earphones are equipped with two drivers per earphone. The balanced armature driver ensures clear reproduction of high frequencies, while the 10.2 millimeter speaker driver is responsible for dynamics and bass. The Tour Pro 3 supports the wireless Hi-Res certified audio with LDAC, but that’s an Android-only feature that’s unavailable to Apple device users. The Tour Pro 3 has a total of six microphones, which are controlled by the JBL Crystal AI algorithm. Two external microphones on each earbud capture and transmit the voice, while an internal microphone isolates noise. The windproof design prevents distortion in windy conditions. The call equalizer allows you to adjust your sound precisely, and the sound level optimizer reduces loud sounds and amplifies quiet ones. The JBL Tour Pro 3 is also Zoom-certified. The result is good intelligibility, but the naturalness suffers from the circuitry. The True Adaptive Noise Cancelling 2.0 of the JBL Tour Pro 3 earphones analyzes the environment and adjusts the sound in real time. The JBL Headphones app can be used to regulate how much or how little ambient noise should be let in. An additional set of foam ear pads improves passive isolation. In practice, the ANC impresses with effective noise cancellation that has a minimal impact on the sound. JBL’s extensive experience is evident here. The algorithms can do more than just ANC and ensure a clean sound. If desired, the Tour Pro 3 can recognize that the wearer is speaking and switch the music to pause and activate transparency mode. This allows you to hold a conversation without removing the earphones. This is unusual at first, but the more you use it, the better you get at using this function. The app also allows you to customize the sound and offers various settings. For example, the adaptive noise cancelling can be adjusted to the shape of your ears. Or the settings for ambient noise control can be optimised. You can also perform a best fit and find the earphones using a loud tone. The gesture control settings for the touch surface are of course also included. All in all, the setting options are among the most extensive on the market. The JBL Spatial 360 Sound feature transforms stereo sound into a 360-degree experience with head tracking, whereby the sound changes depending on the movement of the head. This is also impressive, although I prefer to switch it off because I find it unusual. Up to 44 hours of music playback are possible. With ANC deactivated, 11 hours of playback plus three additional full charges with the charging case are realized, while with ANC activated, 8 hours plus three additional full charges with the charging case are available. A 10-minute quick charge also enables three additional hours of music playback. The charging case can also be charged wirelessly, which will please users of 3-in-1 charging stations in particular. Smart charging case The Smart Charging Case has a large touch display that displays the status and controls for Tour Pro 3. The case has an audio adapter, and sound from any AUX or USB-C source can be transmitted wirelessly to the earphones via the supplied jack and USB cables. We have successfully tested this on a Mac. The only impractical thing is that you have to leave the lid of the charging box open. Alternatively, the Auracast button on the display of the charging box can be activated to share content with other Auracast devices in the vicinity. This is done by connecting the device to the Tour Pro 3 Smart Charging Case. Why a display on the charging box? The screen makes sense in several ways. On the one hand, it is practical to be able to check the charge status of the Tour Pro 3 and the charging box, control the music or set ANC. And all this without having to pick up the iPhone. A lot of these controls could be accessed directly via the large touch surfaces on the earbuds, but visual confirmation makes it easier to use. Smart sound Listening to the Live Spirits album by Depeche Mode, the live atmosphere comes across very well. Dave’s voice is powerful and clear to hear, the bass literally cheers the audience on. This fits perfectly with the rocking album, even if the tuning is not neutral, but very powerful despite the equaliser being deactivated. I switch to the album Songs for a Nervous Planet by Tears for Fears. If you’re used to the sound of cheaper earphones, you’re in for a revelation. The music is so much more open and fresh with the JBL Tour Pro 3, which suits pop, rock and electronic music where a clean and powerful bass is required. Acoustic jazz by Norah Jones brings the Tour Pro 3 back down to earth for small true wireless in-ear headphones. Instruments are nicely separated, but a weakness in detail resolution cannot be ignored when using Bluetooth with AAC. For jazz and classical music, the diaphragm area for a full sound is missing, and Apple lacks a high-res codec such as LDAC. In the end, the Tour Pro 3 impress in their class with a very good sound and the potential to tune the sound to your own preferences using a good equaliser. That’s not enough to knock the Apple AirPods Pro off their throne, but they are a real alternative. Should you buy the JBL Tour Pro 3? The JBL Tour Pro 3 is more than just a competitor to the Apple AirPods Pro. The audio dongle feature is quite useful, as is the accompanying app. Best of all, the sound is powerful and a lot of fun, depending on the music genre.

During Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025, Respawn Entertainment and Bit Reactor revealed the first trailer of Star Wars Zero Company. Occurring at the “twilight” of the Clone Wars, the single-player turn-based tactics title focuses on former Republic officer Hawks and the titular Zero Company. The unit comprises an “unconventional outfit of professionals for hire” participating in an operation against an “emerging threat.” Despite their rampant professionalism, the group has some friction, which Hawks must manage. It’s an original story but some tie-ins to other properties wouldn’t be surprising. Brief snatches of pre-alpha gameplay are showcased at the trailer’s tail-end, and, perhaps to the surprise of no one due to leaks, it’s an XCOM-like title with characters taking cover. Abilities include scanning for targets, Force pushing a droid away, sniping them from afar, and throwing grenades from elevated positions. There’s even a funny bit, intentional or not, of the Clone Trooper having a less-than-accurate aim. Star Wars Zero Company launches in 2026 for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Further details have yet to be revealed, so stay tuned for more updates from the Developer Panel.

The domain of LLMs has rapidly evolved to include tools that empower these models to integrate external knowledge into their reasoning processes. A significant advancement in this direction is Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), which allows models to query databases and search engines for up-to-date or niche information not embedded during training. RAG enhances performance in knowledge-intensive scenarios by integrating LLM generation with real-time information retrieval. Yet, as tasks become more complex, especially those needing multi-step reasoning or highly specific knowledge, ensuring that LLMs interact intelligently with these retrieval systems becomes critical. Improving this interaction process is crucial for enabling LLMs to address ambiguous, evolving, or complex information needs effectively. A challenge in LLM-based systems that rely on retrieval mechanisms is the sensitivity to query quality. When an LLM generates an initial search query that fails to retrieve useful information, the system often lacks a robust strategy to recover from this failure. This leads to situations where the model either hallucinates an answer or terminates prematurely, yielding incorrect results. Current methods largely assume that a single good query will suffice, neglecting the scenario where persistence and retries are essential for uncovering the correct information. This limitation reduces the robustness of LLMs in complex tasks where understanding improves incrementally through trial, error, and refinement. Various tools have been developed to enhance the interaction between LLMs and external retrieval systems. Techniques such as Process Reward Models (PRMs) and Process Explanation Models (PEMs) reward intermediate reasoning improvements, whereas DeepRetrieval employs reinforcement learning (RL) to optimize query formulation. These methods reward either the quality of reasoning or the final retrieval result. Iterative techniques, such as Self-Ask and IRCoT, enable multi-step reasoning by decomposing questions and retrieving information in an iterative manner. However, they lack mechanisms to reward models for persistence after a failed attempt. These systems generally do not encourage retrying or reformulating a failed query, which can be crucial for navigating ambiguous information landscapes. Researchers at Menlo Research introduced a new framework called ReZero (Retry-Zero). This method is designed specifically to teach large language models to persist in their information search by explicitly rewarding the act of retrying a query. Rather than only valuing the final answer, ReZero builds a learning environment where the model receives positive feedback when it recognizes a failed search and attempts again with a revised query. The reinforcement signal is applied during interactions with a search system, meaning that the model is rewarded not only for reaching the correct conclusion but also for demonstrating persistence along the way. The idea mirrors human behavior: when an initial search or strategy fails, a rational approach is to reformulate the plan and try again. ReZero operationalizes this idea by using a reward mechanism that reflects the value of retrying after encountering difficulty in information retrieval. The team released two versions of their ReZero-trained model, Menlo/ReZero-v0.1-llama-3.2-3b-it-grpo-250404 and its GGUF variant, on Hugging Face. Both are fine-tuned on the Llama-3.2-3B-Instruct base using GRPO and optimized to reinforce retry behavior in search tasks. Trained on over 1,000 steps using Apollo Mission data on an H200 GPU, the model achieved a peak accuracy of 46.88% at step 250, validating the impact of the retry reward. The GGUF version is quantized for efficient deployment, showcasing ReZero’s potential for both research and real-world search applications. ReZero utilizes a reinforcement learning method known as Group Relative Policy Optimization (GRPO) to train the model. This setup doesn’t rely on a separate critic model, streamlining the training process. The model is taught using a suite of reward functions: correctness of the final answer, adherence to format, retrieval of relevant content, and crucially, the presence of a retry when needed. These rewards work in combination. For instance, the retry reward only applies if a valid final answer is eventually produced, ensuring that models do not engage in endless retries without resolution. Also, a search diversity reward encourages the generation of semantically varied queries, while a search strategy reward assesses how effectively the model conducts sequential searches. Training is further enhanced by injecting noise into the search results, forcing the model to adapt to less-than-ideal conditions. This noise strengthens its generalization ability and simulates real-world imperfections. The research team implemented ReZero using the Llama3-23B-Instruct model and evaluated it on the Apollo 3 mission dataset. This dataset was split into 341 data chunks, with 32 reserved for testing. Training lasted approximately 1,000 steps (equivalent to three epochs) and was performed on a single NVIDIA H200 GPU. Two model configurations were compared: a baseline with three reward functions (correctness, format, em chunk) and ReZero, which included an additional reward for retrying. The performance gap between the two was substantial. ReZero achieved a peak accuracy of 46.88% at 250 training steps, whereas the baseline reached its peak at only 25.00% at 350 steps. Also, ReZero demonstrated faster learning in early training stages. However, both models experienced a sharp decline in performance afterward, reaching 0% accuracy by step 450 (ReZero) and step 700 (Baseline). This performance drop suggests potential overfitting or instability in extended RL runs, indicating the need for refined training schedules or improved reward balancing. Several Key Takeaways from the ReZero Framework: Designed to enhance LLM search capabilities by rewarding retry behavior after a failed information retrieval attempt.   Based on reinforcement learning using Group Relative Policy Optimization (GRPO).   Includes rewards for correctness, format, retry actions, relevant information match, search strategy, and query diversity.   Rewards are only granted if retries result in a valid final answer, preventing excessive unproductive queries.   ReZero utilized the Apollo 3 dataset, which consisted of 341 chunks; 32 were reserved for evaluation.   It achieved a peak accuracy of 46.88% with a retry reward, compared to 25.00% without it.   Conducted over 1000 steps on NVIDIA H200 GPU with the Llama3-23B-Instruct model.   Both models experienced an accuracy collapse after reaching their respective peaks, indicating concerns about the stability of RL.   Introduced the idea of persistence as a trainable behavior in RAG systems, distinct from simply refining single queries. Here is the Paper and Model. Also, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and join our Telegram Channel and LinkedIn Group. Don’t Forget to join our 90k+ ML SubReddit. Sana HassanSana Hassan, a consulting intern at Marktechpost and dual-degree student at IIT Madras, is passionate about applying technology and AI to address real-world challenges. With a keen interest in solving practical problems, he brings a fresh perspective to the intersection of AI and real-life solutions.Sana Hassanhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/Model Context Protocol (MCP) vs Function Calling: A Deep Dive into AI Integration ArchitecturesSana Hassanhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/Google Unveils Gemini 2.5 Flash in Preview through the Gemini API via Google AI Studio and Vertex AI.Sana Hassanhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/Do Reasoning Models Really Need Transformers?: Researchers from TogetherAI, Cornell, Geneva, and Princeton Introduce M1—A Hybrid Mamba-Based AI that Matches SOTA Performance at 3x Inference SpeedSana Hassanhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/Do We Still Need Complex Vision-Language Pipelines? Researchers from ByteDance and WHU Introduce Pixel-SAIL—A Single Transformer Model for Pixel-Level Understanding That Outperforms 7B MLLMs

The Ahsoka panel at Star Wars Celebration 2025 was filled with teases for Season 2, a first look at Rory McCann as Baylan Skoll, stories from the making of the series, and much more. To ensure you don't miss a thing, we're here to break it all down in one place for you. While we have yet to see footage of Season 2 of Ahsoka or get a release date, we did learn a bit about what we can expect in these new episodes and it's about time we jumped right in.First Look at Rory McCann as Baylan Skoll in Ahsoka Revealed at Star Wars CelebrationThe Ahsoka panel at Star Wars Celebration gave us our first look at Rory McCann as Baylan Skoll in Season 2. For those unfamaliar, McCann is taking on the role after the passing of Ray Stevenson. Stevenson died just three months before the premiere of Ahsoka, but his portrayal of Baylan was the high point of the series for many fans.Ahsoka series creator Dave Filoni talked more about the challenge of moving on after Ray, especially because he was "the most beautiful person on screen and off." However, while it took some time, he is "confident Ray would be happy with the direction we've chosen."For Filoni, Baylan is meant to be the parallel to Ahsoka in every way, and he's so grateful that "there's a blueprint for what this character should be because Ray had played him so iconically." Lastly, Filoni noted that he felt very fortunate to meet and cast McCann, as he knew his "whole focus was not letting Ray down." Hayden Christensen Is Officially Returning as Anakin Skywalker in Ahsoka Season 2After playing an important role in the first season of Ahsoka, it was confirmed at Star Wars Celebration that Hayden Christensen will officially be returning as Anakin Skywalker in Season 2. We didn't learn much about what Anakin's role will be in these new episodes, but Christensen did stop by the Ahsoka panel to discuss returning as the beloved character. "It was a dream to get to do," Christensen said. "The way they conceived how to do it was brilliant in getting to explore the World Between Worlds. I thought it was all really exciting." This was also obviously a big deal for Ahsoka series creator Dave Filoni as he joked he knew he needed to work with Christensen/Anakin again and had to "invent entire dimensions to make it happen." For Christensen, one of the joys of returning as Anakin was being able to bring to life a version of the character from the Clone Wars that he really didn't get to play."All of this had been presented well in the animated world, but I was really excited to do that in live action," Christensen said. "As much as I love the traditional Jedi robes I wore during the prequels, it was exciting to get to see Anakin with a new look."Ahsoka Will See the Return of Many More Familiar FacesThe Ahsoka panel didn't feature a traditional trailer, but it did give us a glimpse into what we can expect from Season 2 and who we can expect to see return. The trailer had no moving footage and was just filled with images, but it did confirm Sabine, Ezra, Zeb, and Chopper will all be back.Elsewhere in the panel, it was revealed that Admiral Ackbar will have a big part to play in the upcoming story and will face-off against Grand Admiral Thrawn. There will also be incredibly adorable Loth-Kittens and, according to Filoni, "X-Wings, A-Wings, and Wings I can't tell you about."We don't yet know when Ahsoka will be returning to Disney+, but it was shared that the team is still re-writing episodes leading into production starting next week. PlayBehind-the-Scenes Stories Reveal More About AhsokaAlongside the big reveals for Season 2, we learned a lot more about Ahsoka, its inspirations, and more from the actors and creatives who brought it to life. It all began with Filoni sharing that he has been very inspired by Studio Ghibli's Hayao Miyazki in his life and that his favorite movie is Princess Mononoke. In fact, that film is the reason Ahsoka has two wolf fangs on her cheeks.Filoni was joined by Jon Favreau and Rosario Dawson on stage and they talked a bit about how the Ahsoka series was brought to life. It all began after Season 1 of The Mandalorian and happened when Filoni and Favreau were taking about what they should bring to life next.Filoni's love for Ahsoka Tano is no secret as he helped create her with George Lucas, and the pair agreed they should play with the idea of bringing her to live-action. This led to them doing an episode for Season 2 of The Mandalorian featuring her after finding the right person and aesthetic for the character.We all know now that Rosario Dawson was the one chosen to play Ahsoka in live-action after Ashley Eckstein played her so wonderfully in the animated world, and Dawson talked about what it was like to find out she'd be playing the character.This all happened after the big online push for Dawson to play Ahsoka, and Filoni and Favreau both agreed she'd be great for the character. When it was time for Dawson to get the role, she said they showed her art and drawings they had done of her as the character and she needed to mute herself on the video call because she was jumping up and down and freaking out.Even still, they were treating this Ahsoka apperance as a one-off as they still weren't sure they could make Ahsoka work long term. Every Upcoming Star Wars Movie and TV Show"Even if this never happens again, I’m so grateful," Dawson said. "It was just so magnificent on so many levels. To see the fan reaction that allowed this story to continue was a dream come true.”As we all know, Ahsoka's journey would continue far beyond that one episode. While there was still doubt they could get Ahsoka on screen on a day-to-day basis as it was a complicated thing, it all proved to be worth it in the end."When we started to move into the Ahsoka episodes with revisted characters like Bo-Katan, everything shifted toward a continuation of what Dave and George had done with animation while culminating storylines that already been established," Favreau said.For the team, Ahsoka is not so different from watching A New Hope as it it starts in the middle of Ahsoka's journey and there is so much that came before and after. It just made perfect sense.There is also so much yet to learn about Ahsoka, and Dawson is just as excited about us as getting to explore and fill out her story."I did not know where this character was going in live action," Dawson said. "I could understand her fear, anxiety, and stress and desire to help from afar. She wasn't willing to take over the mentor role herself, so it became a wonderful thing that I got to explore." Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.

Warning: contains spoilers for Doctor Who episode “Lux”. Picking up mere moments after “The Robot Revolution“, the Doctor and Belinda find themselves in 1950s America, where they face off against another member of the Pantheon in an energetic, inventive follow-up to last year’s “The Devil’s Chord“. Along the way, they encounter malevolent cartoons, banal human evil and, perhaps most terrifying of all, hardcore Doctor Who fans. Spoilers? Don’t make me laugh! For an episode packed with madcap, reality-warping thrills, “Lux” feels oddly familiar, as if this new era of the show has found its preferred mode. It’s very much a sequel to “The Devil’s Chord”, and not just because of the big theatrical villain – there’s the period setting, the aesthetics rooted in old-fashioned entertainment, the Doctor scrambling to keep up with the rules laid down by a capricious god-like entity. Even the picture house feels of a piece with the music studios in which most of “The Devil’s Chord” was set. These similarities are obviously deliberate, and they make sense. Lux Imperator, aka Mr Ring-a-Ding, is a member of the loosely-defined Pantheon of chaos gods, which also included the Toymaker, Maestro and (somewhat confusingly) Sutekh among its number. Sutekh is the outlier there, but Lux, the Toymaker and Maestro all operate along broadly similar lines. And while each brings their own set of ideas to the table, allowing for plenty of loopy visuals and reality-based rug-pulling, there is a risk at this point of diminishing returns setting in. There’s also a risk that the episode, being so of a piece with “The Devil’s Chord”, practically demands comparison. Mr Ring-A-Ding is certainly a visual delight, a spot-on evocation of classic Fleischer Studios cartoons, and it’s fun that when he starts becoming more ‘real’, his appearance accordingly becomes more grotesque and unsettling. But even voiced by the mighty Alan Cumming, an actor who never met a piece of scenery he wasn’t willing to heroically chow down upon, Lux just doesn’t quite have the juice of Jinkx Monsoon’s powerhouse Maestro. That said, it’s not entirely fair to ding the episode because the villain doesn’t rise to the heights of (in this writer’s opinion) one of the all-time great guest turns in Doctor Who. And Lux is certainly a distinct creation – it’s interesting that, unlike the other members of the Pantheon we’ve met so far, he doesn’t seem to be completely evil. The cutaway from Mr Pye dancing with his black and white celluloid wife (a quietly haunting image) is intriguing in that respect, as Lux seems to be earnestly moved by the sight. And his desire to find and harness the power of nuclear energy seems to be less about mass destruction, and more about reaching some sort of apotheosis – he is a creature of light, so he is naturally seeking out the brightest light he can. It’s fitting, then, that his death is less a death, and more the achievement of that apotheosis. Unlike Maestro, Lux isn’t dragged kicking and screaming into the Doctor’s terrible trap. The Doctor just gives him what he wants – “two billion times more energy than the biggest nuclear bomb on planet Earth” – and he floats off into the cosmos, his cartoon tears dissipating in space as he ascends to become “everything and nothing”. It’s strange, poetic and slightly unsettling, and feels consistent with the fantastical nature of the Pantheon. The episode is also clearly having a ball playing with the possibilities of its premise. The Doctor and Belinda becoming cartoons is delightful, as is watching them figure out how to escape Lux’s traps – acquiring physical dimensions by demonstrating emotional dimensions, speeding up the celluloid, pointing out continuity errors, and eventually climbing out of the screen itself for some meta-commentary on fandom, spoiler culture and the history of Doctor Who. The scene with the fans could have been too cute by half, but it manages to be enjoyably rather than obnoxiously knowing, partly because it’s funny, but also because the affection for the three Who fans is clearly genuine. There’s also something potent in the idea that even within Lux’s nesting reality traps, the Doctor still has power; that fake fans created to ensnare and destroy him instead harness their love of the show to achieve a measure of ‘realness’ and use their knowledge to help him escape. There’s undoubtedly an essay here about what this means for the ‘Doctor as Lord of the Land of Fiction’ theory, especially considering the fans’ return in the mid-credits scene  – I’m absolutely not the critic to write it, but I look forward to reading it when someone does. Not everything here works, admittedly. Composer Murray Gold manages to overdo it not once but twice – first during the diner scene with Tommy Lee’s mum, ladling on the syrup just in case we weren’t appropriately moved by a mother sitting alone in a diner at 5am desperate to talk to someone about her missing son, then again for Mr Pye’s dead wife story. The creepy echoing song is a much stronger, more specific choice, and it makes you wish they’d stuck to that. It could even be argued that Gold overdoes it a third time in the scene with the three fans. Bringing back an iconic past theme is a nice gift for loyal Whovians, both in-universe and IRL, but it also has the effect of taking a weird, existentially haunting idea – fake people sacrificing their brief chance at consciousness for the greater good – and turning it into something more conventionally, generically heart-warming. But then again, ‘The Sad Man With A Box’ does get me. So, jury’s out. Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! I’m also (prepare yourselves for a crunchingly awkward segue) in two minds about the episode’s treatment of racism, though admittedly it’s hard to know what the right tack is here. It obviously wouldn’t fly to have a Doctor and companion both played by non-white actors travel to 1950s Miami and not encounter any racism. And the episode treating segregation as a horrible but banal fact of life feels appropriate. But as is often the case when Doctor Who tries to tackle real-world prejudice, there’s a point at which the nature of the show as fantasy adventure television bumps up against the horrific reality. Of course the Doctor isn’t going to drop into 1950s America and end racism the way he can topple a tyrannical government on Blargon 6. But while his declaration that, until our world sorts itself out, he will “live in it – and shine” feels consistent with his character, it can’t help but scrape awkwardly against our real-world knowledge. The moment with the policeman pointing a gun at the Doctor and Belinda might be the problem here. It’s an incredibly charged moment for viewers in 2025, as endless horrifying news reports have given us a visceral, unshakable awareness of how this dynamic often plays out in reality – even now, 70 years later after the scene is set. And it just doesn’t feel like the sort of thing the Doctor can imperiously swagger his way out of. It’s the curious tension of Doctor Who, in that it’s far easier to imagine a black Doctor thwarting an army of murderous Daleks than one white cop. Of course the episode manages to have its cake and eat it by revealing the cop to be another layer of Lux’s illusions, though I still struggled to shake the feeling that this imagery is more complex and upsetting than the story is equipped to deal with. But again, there may just not be a perfect way to go about it. And trying is preferable to ignoring. Elsewhere, while it is a bit of a shame that the juicy conflict between the Doctor and Belinda feels largely resolved by episode’s end, Gatwa and Sethu have lovely chemistry and already feel like a fun pairing, distinct from the Doctor and Ruby. Varada Sethu also has a real flair for dry, sarcastic line readings, particularly her “Well that sounds like an absolute epic” after the fans’ underwhelming description of “Blink”. It does seem inevitable that the tension between them will rear its head again,  though, and next week looks like a pretty stressful instalment. Oh, and needless to say – the Doctor and Belinda’s 50s’ fits? Sublime. One has to imagine that staying on the TARDIS is worth it for the wardrobe alone. Doctor Who series 15 continues with “The Well” on Saturday April 26 on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK and on Disney+ around the world.

Category: GamesApril 18, 2025 Activate the Power of Play this Earth Day Team Xbox Next week is Earth Day, a day to celebrate our planet and consider ways to protect and preserve it for future generations. Gaming brings joy to players, but we also recognize it has an impact on our environment. At Xbox, we are committed to the ongoing work of implementing innovation solutions, like our energy efficiency features and the Xbox Sustainability Toolkit, to help improve our environmental impact while still preserving the gameplay experiences you love. In addition to our commitments at Microsoft, and by extension Xbox, to be carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste by 2030, , gaming can be used as a medium to inspire positive impact and build appreciation for the natural world. Playing games provides a unique opportunity to explore complex environmental challenges while having fun. Through immersive gameplay, you can engage with scenarios that highlight more environmentally conscious practices, conservation opportunities, and the beauty of nature. This Earth Day, we’re showcasing a collection of games that not only entertain but also educate and inspire you to think about your impact on the environment. From farming simulations that promote sustainable living to adventures that emphasize the importance of preserving wildlife, these games offer enriching experiences that connect you with the natural world. Read on below for a collection of games we’re celebrating this Earth Day and for some anecdotes from the developers themselves! Play Another Crab’s Treasure – Available Now As Kril the hermit crab, you’ll need to wear the trash around you as shells to withstand attacks from enemies many times your size. Embark on an epic treasure hunt to buy back your repossessed shell, and discover the dark secrets behind the polluted ocean. The Year of the Crab update will be available on Xbox on April 21. “As a kid I would go tidepooling with my mom on the rocky shores of Puget Sound, finding whatever little creatures would show up at low tide, which included hermit crabs! Hermit crabs are interesting little guys, I can’t think of another animal that has to find someone else’s discarded home to live in, in this case a snail’s shell. And we’ve all seen the videos online where a hermit crab is living in a bottle cap instead. There’s a sobering theme already there that gave us the perfect canvas to explore these ideas of overconsumption, wastefulness, and human impact on our environment. Plus it turns out finding shells to swap in-and-out of makes for a pretty fun game mechanic.”- Nick Kaman, Studio Head, Aggro Crab. Coral Island – Available Now Coral Island is a vibrant, laid-back reimagining of farm sims. Be who you want and experience enchanting island living at your own pace. Live off the land, tend animals, build relationships with a diverse cast of townsfolk, and make the world a more harmonious place. “We wanted to make the farming game we always dreamed of playing as kids. A cozy farm sim with merfolk, seasonal outfits, kids that grow up, all that fun stuff we thought would be super cool. And with the upcoming 1.3 update, it’s finally starting to feel like that dream’s really coming to life. From the start, we wanted Coral Island to make players more aware of pollution and sustainability, but in a light, feel good way. Like, you dive in, clear out some trash, and suddenly the ocean starts thriving again. And you might even spot a merfolk while you’re at it! We hope that kind of positive reinforcement sticks with players, and maybe even gets them thinking twice before littering in real life.” – Soma Putera, COO of Stairway Games & Producer of Coral Island. Merge Games Cleaning Bundle – Available Now Fresh Start – Welcome to the world that needs your help! Fresh Start is a relaxing single player game, in which you embark on a mission to clean up the world and restore nature to its fresh and colorful shape. Watch as the world changes in front of your eyes as you help animals, solve puzzles and grow plants around you. Travel all over the world and give it a Fresh Start it deserves! No Place Like Home – Welcome to No Place Like Home, a cute and relaxing sim. You play as Ellen Newland, a girl who decides to visit her grandfather, on Earth, for the very last time before she moves to Mars. However, she soon discovers that her grandpa is missing and that his farm was recently destroyed. “We wanted to combine the relaxing vibe of cleanup games with a message that matters — giving players the satisfaction of restoring something broken while subtly highlighting the impact of care and effort. The idea came from a love of cozy, meditative gameplay and the urge to explore how our actions can make a difference — both in a game and in real life. We hope to teach players that even small actions — like picking up trash or nurturing a plant — can create real, visible change. It’s about making sustainability feel achievable. If Fresh Start and No Place Like Home spark even a little more curiosity or compassion for the planet, we’ve done our job.” – Adrian Komarski, Developer, Chicken Launcher game development. Paradise Marsh – Available Now Stars have vanished from the sky and scattered around in a perfect wetland crawling with wildlife… Catch bugs and chat with delightful characters while wandering through peaceful scenery. But don’t lose sight of the night sky, the constellations need help! “Paradise marsh was heavily inspired by my childhood in the countryside when I was spending my days catching frogs and bugs by myself. It’s a game about nature, peacefulness, silliness, solitude and the wonders of curiosity.” – Etienne Trudeau aka @LazyEti, Creator, Paradise Marsh. Under The Waves – Available Now Stan, a professional diver in the North Sea, is struggling to overcome a life-changing loss during an extended mission underwater. Stuck in his self-imposed solitude, he starts to experience strange events and will have to make the most significant choice of his life… “When I was a teenager, I witnessed the wreck of an oil tanker off the coast of my home region, Brittany, which left a deep impression on me. Oil washed up all over the beaches.Back then, I was just beginning to learn programming, and that experience sparked a desire in me to use video games to address marine pollution and environmental issues—though it wasn’t until later that I was able to truly move forward with the project. Twenty years later, thanks to Quantic Dream, we had the opportunity to revive this project and create a unique and impactful underwater adventure, where we could talk about the oceans, their fragility, and our environmental impact. We quickly partnered with an NGO, Surfrider Foundation Europe, to enrich our message and deliver a more substantial and relevant story to players.” – Ronan Coiffec, Game Director, Under the Waves. We Are The Caretakers – Available Now We Are The Caretakers is an afrofuturist sci-fi squad management RPG. Assemble an arcane team of protectors to defend the endangered wildlife you rely on. Unite the world against an extraterrestrial threat. Fight for our future. “Beyond being generally more conscious about the environmental impacts of our day-to-day choices, one small thing I did during the development of We Are The Caretakers was switching to a vegetarian diet. I’ve stayed with it for almost 7 years now, and eating mostly plant-based food is something I can do that has environmental and health benefits, while also doing my small part to walk-the-walk of one of the messages behind WATC, which is to minimize suffering for the animals we share the planet with.” – Scott Brodie, Game Director, Heart Shaped Games. Learn To ensure you’re taking advantage of the latest energy efficiency features on console, go to to  Settings > General > Power options. This will help conserve power and enable carbon aware updates on your Xbox. Shutdown (energy saving) cuts power use by up to 20X when it’s off compared to Sleep. Learn more about the Xbox Sustainability Toolkit, which helps developers create more energy-efficient games, implement energy savings via their own games, and continue their own work of identifying new ways of reducing impact on the environment. Stay up to date with sustainability at Xbox: Visit xbox.com/sustainability The post Activate the Power of Play this Earth Day appeared first on Xbox Wire.

While we are still tracking one of the best prices ever on Apple Certified Refurb Apple Watch Ultra 2 units as well as Apple Pencil Pro, today’s lineup of Apple deals are (mostly) all about Apple Watch Series 10. Despite the fear of looming price hikes around very corner on the internet, Amazon is now offering 42mm and 46mm Apple Watch Series 10 back down at the lowest price we have tracked to date with $100 off the list prices across several configurations. The deals start from $299 in brand-new condition and as low as $270 on open-box units, ranging up through the titanium models. Those offers join the best deals we have tracked on the 15-inch 16GB M4 MacBook Air and whole lot more you’ll find down below.  Jet Black Apple Watch Series 10 now starts from $299 ($100 off), or open-box w/ full warranty from $270 ($130 off) After Best Buy’s ongoing Spring Sale knocked $70 off the Apple Watch Series 10 lineup, Amazon has now undercut those deal prices to bring just about all models back down to all-time low pricing at $100 off. We saw the $70 discounts more than a few times for Black Friday and the holidays last year, but it took until early 2025 before pricing started to drop any deeper than that. At this point we generally recommend holding off on scoring a new Series 10 until the configuration you’re after gets into that $100 off range, and that’s exactly what we have here today with deals starting from $299 shipped on the 42mm and $329 on the 46mm. Details below. Just to reiterate, we didn’t see $100 price drops online during any of the Prime Day, Black Friday, or holiday offers in 2024. But now, after seeing a few drops at $100 off like we are here today in 2025, this is the new price to beat and a wonderful chance to score a sweet deal on the latest Apple Watch that first debuted last September. While not every band configuration is marked down this deep right now, you will find the base model 42mm and 46mm with the JetBlack case and Sport band at $100 off alongside the 42mm GPS + Cell variant – we will update this post if additional configurations start to drop. 42mm Apple Watch Series 10 $299 (Reg. $399) 46mm Apple Watch Series 10 $329 (Reg. $429) 42mm Apple Watch Series 10 GPS+Cell $399 (Reg. $499) For the record Best Buy’s open-box listing in “excellent” condition on the 46mm is now down at $298.99 shipped and the 42mm model is going for $269.99 shipped. Both of which ship with a full 1-year Apple warranty and deliver as much as $130 in savings off the list prices. Geek Squad Verified Works and looks like new. Restored to factory settings. Includes all original parts, packaging and accessories (or suitable replacement). Head over to 9to5Mac for our complete Apple Watch Series 10 hands-on review and a more detailed look at the specs and user experience. Apple Watch Series 10 Titanium Cell models also now seeing $100 price drops – Gold, Milanese Loop, and more Apple’s most affordable 15-inch 16GB M4 MacBook Air hits new online low at $108 off, more from $900 While there are still some great trade-in opportunities top flip your older MacBook for the new M4 MacBook Air – you can get one at $550 off with an M3 trade, our continued efforts to uncover the best straight up cash deals for folks without gear to trade rolls on. We are still tracking a chance to score $99 off the base 13-inch model, but we also just spotted a sweet “excellent” condition open-box unit that has the most affordable 15-inch M4 MacBook Air starting at the best price we have tracked online. Details below. As of right now, Amazon’s brand-new listings on the base model 15-inch M4 MacBook Air with 16GB of RAM and the 256GB SSD are starting at $1,149 (that’s within $10 of the best we have tracked to date) and a great price considering how new this model is. That said, Best Buy’s open-box listings in “excellent” condition with a full 1-year Apple warranty are now starting down at $1,090.99 for the Midnight model. That’s a $108 off the list price and the lowest price we have tracked online for a new 15-inch M4 MacBook Air. The only deals we have seen for less than this were short-lived brick and mortar in-store affairs. The other colors aren’t dropping down this low at the time of writing. Here are the details from Best Buy on these open boxes: Apple One (1) Year Limited Warranty Geek Squad Verified Works and looks like new. Restored to factory settings. Includes all original parts, packaging and accessories (or suitable replacement). For some folks, the $108 isn’t going to be quite enough to warranty going open-box, and we completely get it. But if you are looking for the best price on one of these machines in the early days, it should at least be on your radar. Here’s how the best brand-new pricing we can find online shakes out across the lineup right now: 13-inch M4 MacBook Air 16GB/256GB $949 (Reg. $999) 13-inch M4 MacBook Air 16GB/512GB from $1,144 (Reg. $1,199) 13-inch M4 MacBook Air 24GB/512GB $1,329 (Reg. $1,399) 15-inch M4 MacBook Air 16GB/256GB $1,149 (Reg. $1,399) 15-inch M4 MacBook Air 16GB/512GB $1,334 (Reg. $1,399) 15-inch M4 MacBook Air 24GB/512GB $1,524 (Reg. $1,599) ‘Pristine condition’ Apple Certified Refurb Apple Watch Ultra 2 units hit one of the best prices ever today at $580 (Orig. $799) Nintendo just officially announced the new pre-order date for Switch 2 in the U.S. – Let’s-a-go! Today’s accessories and charging deals: It’s back: Apple Pencil Pro returns to one of its best prices to date at $80 (‘New-open box’) The Amazon deal price for Apple Pencil Pro has now jumped up to $114, it is still fetching the full $129 at Best Buy, and Woot just brought back its particularly notable open-box offer. Alongside Apple Pencil 2 for previous-gen iPads down at $69.99, you’ll now find the latest Apple Pencil Pro on sale for $79.99 Prime shipped (a $6 delivery fee will apply otherwise). Regularly $129, getting a chance to scoop up the flagship Apple Pencil Pro with built-in Find My at under $99 has become increasingly rare – we haven’t seen it go for less than that in more than a few months in brand-new condition. We did catch Best Buy’s open-box listingwith a full Apple warranty drop to $88 for a brief time recently, but that deal has since come and gone. It is now sitting $101.99 – not the sort of open-box number we would recommend jumping on. However, Woot has now brought back its notable open-box offer to save the day. Landing on par with our previous mention from last week – it sold out quite quickly by the way – it says these units are in “new-open box condition” and “with at least 120 days remaining of the original Apple warranty, and will be packaged in their original Apple packaging.” Most affordable 13-inch M4 iPad Pro now $200 off at $1,099, or open-box at $290 off w/ full warranty Best Buy launches massive Spring Sale: iPads $600 off, AirPods, MacBooks, LEGO, Switch/PS5 games, more up 70% off Belkin’s MagSafe Duo-style 15W Travel Pad charger now 49% off at $61 (Reg. $120) New steel Journey Apple Find My water bottle hits its best price ever today at 20% off Twelve South’s 15W 3-in-1 HiRise 3 Deluxe MagSafe stand is one of the best, now back at $100 Amazon low (33% off) Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed.  FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.You’re 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. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel