A federal judge in California has agreed with WhatsApp that the NSO Group, the Israeli cybersurveillance firm behind the Pegasus spyware, had hacked into its systems by sending malware through its servers to thousands of its users' phones. WhatsApp and its parent company, Meta, sued the NSO Group back in 2019 and accused it of spreading malware to 1,400 mobile devices across 20 countries with surveillance as its purpose. They revealed back then some of the targeted phones were owned by journalists, human rights activists, prominent female leaders and political dissidents. The Washington Post reports that District Judge Phyllis Hamilton has granted WhatsApp's motion for summary judgement against NSO and has ruled that it had violated the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).The NSO Group disputed the allegations in the "strongest possible terms" when the lawsuit was filed. It denied that it had a hand in the attacks and told Engadget back then that its sole purpose was to "provide technology to licensed government intelligence and law enforcement agencies to help them fight terrorism and serious crime." The company argued that it should not be held liable, because it merely sells its services to government agencies, which are the ones that determine their targets. In 2020, Meta escalated its lawsuit and accused the firm of using US-based servers to stage its Pegasus spyware attacks.Judge Hamilton has ruled that the NSO Group violated the CFAA, because the firm appears to fully acknowledge that the modified WhatsApp program its clients use to target users send messages through legitimate WhatsApp servers. Those messages then allow the Pegasus spyware to be installed on users' devices the targets don't even have to do anything, such as pick up the phone to take a call or click a link, to be infected. The court has also found that the plaintiff's motion for sanctions must be granted on account of the NSO Group "repeatedly [failing] to produce relevant discovery," most significant of which is the Pegasus source code.WhatsApp spokesperson Carl Woog told The Post that the company believes this is the first court decision agreeing that a major spyware vendor had broken US hacking laws. "Were grateful for todays decision," Woog told the publication. "NSO can no longer avoid accountability for their unlawful attacks on WhatsApp, journalists, human rights activists and civil society. With this ruling, spyware companies should be on notice that their illegal actions will not be tolerated." In her decision, Judge Hamilton wrote that her order resolves all issues regarding the NSO Group's liability and that a trial will only proceed to determine how much the company should pay in damages.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/judge-finds-spyware-maker-nso-group-liable-for-attacks-on-whatsapp-users-140054522.html?src=rss

One of the benefits of rewatching your favorite holiday films year after year is getting the opportunity to take a deeper look into the stories. Were all familiar with overt themes about how Christmas is a time for giving, togetherness, and Red Ryder carbine-action, 200-shot range model air riflesbut the hidden messages in these movies can also provide some surprisingly cogent financial advice. In particular, the Grinch and other Christmas movie villains teach some of the most useful lessons about money. Heres how the worst characters in your beloved Christmas movies can change how you look at money.The Grinch reminds us to ask ourselves whyHes a mean one, that Mr. Grinch. He steals Christmas just so the Whos down in Whoville cant have it. While the noise the Whos make during their holiday celebrations could be an understandable complaint, there is no real reason for him to take out his frustration by snatching the roast beast (and stockings, ornaments, and other non-noisemaking holiday accouterments).The Grinch should have questioned his own motives when little Cindy Lou Who finds him stealing her familys Christmas tree and asks him, Sandy Claus, why? But our small-hearted anti-hero comes up with a lie instead of actually engaging with Cindy Lous question. However, the innocent query gets to the heart of whats wrong with the Grinchs plan.The Grinch is looking to hoard Christmas because he doesnt like that other people enjoy it. His why is both inherently selfish and short-sighted, since Christmas joy arrives in Whoville anyway, even without presents, decorations, or food. He didnt actually want what he stole, and his theft didnt do anything to stop the singing. Had he asked himself why, he might have realized what really wanted was to not be quite so alone.While none of us wants to think were Grinch-like, its easy for us to treat money like he treats Christmas. Those of us who have enough may still want more without questioning why we want it. Getting more money can seem like an end in itself, but that may mean we dont think through what it costs us to keep acquiring more, and we dont figure out what it is we really want.Mr. Potter teaches us that the power of money has limitsA key figure in the long line of Chirstmas baddies that includes Scrooge and the Grinch, the villain of the 1946 classic Its a Wonderful Life is the heartless Mr. Potter, who owns the bank and most of the town of Bedford Falls. George Baileys Building & Loan is the only thing keeping Mr. Potter from completely dominating and destroying the small town.In one of his more subtle attempts to dissolve the Building & Loan, Potter offers George a job for $20,000 per year (over $320,000 in 2024 dollars). While George is momentarily dazzled by the huge dollar amount, he quickly recognizes that taking the job offer will mean the downfall of the Building & Loan.Later in the film, Georges Uncle Billy loses the Building & Loans $8,000 cash deposit (nearly $130,000 in 2024 dollars) by accidentally handing it over to Mr. Potter. When George approaches Mr. Potter to ask for a loan to replace the money, offering his small life insurance policy as collateral, Potter is delighted to point out that George is worth more money dead than alive.Mr. Potter believes throughout the film that he should be able to get what he wants because he has money. He tries to entice George Bailey with a huge salary early on, and later assumes that he has George and his Building & Loan over a barrel because of the missing deposit. But in both cases, the power he wields with his money is no match for Georges idealism and morals and the respect the rest of the town has for him. The money Potter wields cant deliver him the Building & Loan because there is a limit to the power of his wealth.(That said, Mr. Potter does successfully get away with stealing the $8,000. Unfortunately, justice does tend to work differently for those with money.)Hans Gruber shows us corporate greed is a type of terrorismAlan Rickmans portrayal of the faux-terrorist Hans Gruber in Die Hard is part of what makes this film as delightfully rewatchable as How the Grinch Stole Christmas or Its a Wonderful Life. Grubers team claims to take the party guests at Nakatomi Plaza hostage for ideological reasons, but they are actually after the $640 million in bearer bonds (over $17 billion in 2024 dollars) hidden in the buildings vault.Throughout the film, the Nakatomi Corporation executives hosting the office party are compared to Gruber. The sleazy Harry Ellis tries to befriend the terrorists by telling them, Hey, business is business. You use a gun, I use a fountain pen, whats the difference? Similarly, Gruber remarks on Joseph Takagis John Phillips suit, saying that he has two himself. The audience is invited to see the parallels between the terrorists and the businessmen.The characterization of protagonist John McClane as a regular Joe compared with Gruber and the businessmen helps reinforce the similarities between the terrorists and the corporate executives. McClane is a New York cop who is uncomfortable in a limousine and resentful of the gold Rolex watch his estranged wife Holly received as a gift. He spends the film fighting the terrorists while also trying to win Holly back from her new life and corporate career.When Gruber grabs onto Hollys Rolex in the finale, the connection between terrorism and corporate greed goes from metaphor to reality. The watch represents the Nakatomi Corporation, since it was a gift to Holly from her workplace, and the greedy Gruber grabs onto it in a last-ditch effort to kill Holly and McClane. Only by unclasping the watchreleasing his wife from the thrall of corporate greedcan McClane kill the terrorist.Learning from villainsCurling up with a classic Christmas movie is a delightful way to spend a snowy evening. But while you watch, remember that even the characters you most love to hate can teach you something unexpected.In addition to letting your heart grow three sizes, remind yourself to ask why you sometimes act Grinchly. While you feel the warm truth that no one is poor who has friends, take the time to be thankful that moneys power is limited. And as you enjoy the seasonal cries of Yippee-Ki-Yay, remember theres a thin line between greed that destroys via business practices and greed that destroys via terror plots.

Figuring out whos creditworthy is getting more complicated, and millions of Americans are stuck with thin files or are considered credit invisible. That means theyre struggling to borrow or access credit, while lenders miss out on potential customers.To tackle this, credit-scoring companies are stepping up and evolving.Recently, for example, last year, FICO launched a new program to help expand the use of alternative data for credit scoring. But years before that, Experian fired an opening salvo when it introduced Experian Boost, which helps consumers improve their credit scores by tapping into their payment histories for rent, insurance, and even streaming platforms.And now, the man behind Experian Boost, Jeff Softley, is helping transform Experians consumer business further, turning the company once known almost exclusively for credit reporting into what he describes as every consumers financial copilot.Part of that strategy is the recent launch of Experian Smart Money, which, like Experian Boost, is a service devised to help consumers build their credit. But Smart Money allows them to do so without taking on debt. Instead, it works by having users pay their bills with a debit card that works in tandem with Boost, using eligible transactions to potentially increase a customers credit score.Thats really just the beginning, says Softley, who is on a mission to broaden Experians role in consumers financial lives. For some who have rightly grown skeptical of credit reporting bureaus, that may sound questionable, as those bureaus (Experian and its key cohorts, Equifax and TransUnion) have had their share of issues in the past. Experian, however, believes it has worked out a model for creating new services that have put it on another level relative to its competitors.Its a data businessWe were a very narrow business, delivering credit reports and scores to consumers, Softley says of Experians former iteration. We were the front end of a credit bureau. And today, its a totally different business. Its a data business.Reams of data are allowing Experian to step into its new skin. Softley notes that a decade-and-a-half ago, when fintech companies were popping up left and right, making it obvious that one-dimensional financial firms were going to need to innovate or get left behind, Experian found itself in no-mans-land. The company had experienced 16 straight quarters of decline, and leadership was antsy to find new ways to expand or evolve.So Softley says they took a small team, put them in a different office, and had them build a different platform. Thats the platform we use today. That new platform involved moving away from a focus on supplying credit reports through FreeCreditReport.comyou may remember the catchy FreeCreditReport.com commercials, which were countered by the FTCs own commercialsand double-down on Experian as a brand.Softley says that meant building new products and services that were unique and relevant, and above all, actually served a purpose. Thats how Experian Boost came about. It was in its conceptual stage in the early 2000s, he says, on a sticky note.Spirit of 08The financial crisis and Great Recession gave Experian an opportunity to put its plans for evolution into action. During that time, new needs emerged, and new opportunities emerge if youre listening to the consumer, says Softley.And Experian was listening. In focus groups and interviews, consumers were saying that they didnt want to be punished for their past financial behavior via a bad credit score, but instead wanted to be rewarded for what they were doing now and in the future.It was an ideal time to get the ball rolling on Boost, which gave consumers a sense of agency and control over their credit scores and rewarded them for sharing their information related to their finances and expenses. Still, the backend tech and infrastructure also needed to be in place to be able to aggregate the data, crunch it, and spit out an updated credit score. Experian had the ability and manpower to do it, so it was off to the races.It was a watershed moment, Softley recalls. It was one of the first products that all of Experian built because it drew from so many capabilities across the organization. Experian tested it out, and it actually became a business case, and the business case became the platform rebuild.From there, the company started to zero in on developing and launching products that allow you to leverage your data to open up financial opportunitiesBoost helped create the blueprint to intertwine data and technology.Industry experts agree that Boost did push the envelope for consumer-facing credit products. Experian was the first to come out with plain-English credit reports back in the day, says Gerri Detweiler, a credit expert and the former director of Bankcard Holders of America, a nonprofit consumer credit and advocacy organization. So while Boost is an innovation, theyve been at the forefront of the consumer market for some time.Detweiler says that Boost is also notable because it raised the visibility of alternative data for consumers, or their ability to leverage it to their advantage. Its helped open up the ecosystem, she says. There are some criticisms and limitations, she adds. Thats truea WalletHub ranking of credit-builder products released in August 2024 ranked Boost 15 out of 20, and noted that it didnt report negative information to creditors, which may be problematic.Detweiler says that consumers (and creditors) should take that into account, and realize that Boost or similar services are not going to be a cure-all for people with thin or bad credit. But it will open the door to other products that can further help people rebuild their credit.A new trajectoryThat process has landed Experian with its current development model: Finding a consumer need, determining the best way to help them, and then creating a product or service that acts as a solution. Some trouble spots that the company could be looking at wading into include finding ways to help people buy homes or cars, or even developing tools for small business owners.But there are also areas that the company likely wont explore, or at least not right now. That could be because the technology simply hasnt caught up to the moment yet, which was the case with Boost, which ultimately incubated for a decade or so before the technology existed to create a fast, effective product.In the meantime, Experian is working on new AI features, such as a new virtual assistant. That will play a bigger role in 2025, with the aim of becoming a full-blown financial copilot for customers. Softley says that everything the company is doing now, though, can be traced back to the shift of thinking of itself as a data company first and foremost.Viewing ourselves as a data company put us on a different trajectory, he says. And this next chapter is all about providing financial power to all consumers.

Kendra Adachi is the host ofThe Lazy Genius Podcastand theNew York Timesbestselling author of two books,The Lazy Genius WayandThe Lazy Genius Kitchen.The goal of excellent time management shouldnt be to achieve maximum productivity and perfection. That approach is a recipe for fleeting satisfaction amid anxiety and shame. To manage time without being at its mercy, learn to plan in a way that fills you with contentedness and confidence every single day. Learn to plan not for a good life someday but for good living today.Below, Adachi shares five key insights from her new book,The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius.Listen to the audio versionread by Adachi herselfin the Next Big Idea App.1. A good life doesnt have to be great to matter.In America, greatness, hustle, opportunity, and potential are in the fabric of our national identity. The American dream tells us to chase after and fight for what we want as we constantly seek to grow in greatness and prosperity. We should all be masters of our craft and our lives. Theres nothing wrong with that. In fact, some personalities are suited for the pursuit of greatness, some jobs require it, and some people genuinely love it. Trying to master something is a beautiful thing, and we all benefit from the mastery of others. But there is an expectation that if youre not always trying to be great, youre wasting your life. I disagree.The reality is that most of us live fairly average lives, but rather than celebrating and cultivating contentment and valuing beauty in the ordinary, were told to keep hustling. Make every minute of every day count toward an invisible future that you have reverse-engineered and are constantly striving to bring to fruition. If you cant do it, youre considered not disciplined or motivated enough.Thats a dangerous paradigm to live under. The future is beautiful. Mastery is, too, but I dont think that is where we can begin.2. Youre allowed to start with who and where you are today.I have read many time management books over the years. I have bought many planners. I have gone into so many Januarys fiercely optimistic about what I would make better and accomplish because the future felt bright. But just like we can have an unbalanced obsession with mastery, we can have an unbalanced obsession with the future.It is good and honorable to care about your future, plan for it, and take steps now to ensure it looks a certain way later. But youre allowed to start with who and where you are today. Youre allowed to focus only on today without any consideration of the future. You can make decisions today that only serve today, and not later. Not every choice, task, or habit has to be in service to future dreams. They can, but they dont have to.I remember feeling the difficulty of this in my early 30s when I had two tiny kids. I was in my peak time management era, trying to get every bit of information I could on how to be the architect of my future. That message communicates a false sense of security that I am in full control of my life. I dont know if youve ever spent an entire day with tiny children and then another day after that and then many, many more. You have very little control over what is going to happen. If the purpose of each day is to build on itself to serve an ideal, invisible future, those ordinary days that many people (especially women) have for months or years at a time feel like they are not enough. If thats you, you might experience a deep sense of loss, resentment, and insufficiency when you look at your life.In this pursuit of greatness and an invisible future, we often leave behind our humanity. We ignore the needs of our bodies, families, mental health, and peace. We dont prioritize rest and play. We call ourselves lazy when we arent optimizing every moment. There is this undercurrent that the best version of us is in the future, and we should focus on that person rather than who we are right now.In the current productivity paradigm, a contented life full of kindness, patience, and reasonable choices that honor who and where you are today is looked upon as an exceptionas settling, as giving up. Its a stopgap until you have enough energy, resources, discipline, and motivation to pursue greatness once again.I believe you are allowed to start with who and where you are today, not as a second measure, excuse, or necessity before real work begins, but as the foundation for everything. When you start with who and where you are today, it invites a new goal.3. The goal is not greatness. Its integration.Instead of greatness being the ultimate goal, what if its integration? What if its personal wholeness, groundedness, a steady stance in the face of any circumstance? Instead of reflecting on what happened during the day, what if you reflected on how you experienced it?One of the most pivotal moments for me in this paradigm shift was about ten years ago when I was home with two small children. I was reading a time management book geared towards mothers, and the author described two separate days. The first was a day of chaos. Her girls didnt nap; they threw their food; the errands were a bust; and the mom didnt get a chance to sit down, let alone shower. It was the quintessential image of being a hot mess mom. Then she described the next day when her children napped simultaneously. She completed all the errands, looked put together while doing it, and made dinner ahead of time. When her husband came home, surprisingly, with some clients from out of town to join their family for dinner, she was ready. I remember reading the account of these two days and anticipating that her next line would be something like, And both of those days matter. But thats not what she said. She said, And that day [the second one] was the proudest I ever felt as a mother and wife. I remember reading that like it happened yesterday. My heart sank. My confidence plummeted. I wanted permission to be myself, content with and proud of just getting through a hard day. That is when I realized I had a different goal. That authors goal was greatness. Mine is integration.When your entire life is oriented around being the truest version of yourself, no matter what happens, you are a lighthouse in the storm. You are an oak in the wind. You are the stubborn will of a toddler refusing to eat their peas. The strength that comes from the goal of personal integration is markedly different than the strength that comes from the goal of greatness. One is lifelong. The other is fickle. As my friend and poet David Gate wrote, Hustle makes for a terrible compass.4. Your season of life matters.We often see life as one long line from A to B. Ideally, there should be no speedbumps, detours, or changed minds during the journey. There always will be, but our intent is to avoid them at all costs. Stay the course.My life is not at all like that.Your season of life matters. If you are caring for an aging parent, adding a new baby to your family, changing jobs or homes, dealing with a chronic health condition, or struggling through a particularly tough season of mental illness, the way you manage your time and live your life must change. Its not laziness or plugging a leak. Honoring your seasons of life matters. Its critical to living a life of kindness and contentment.You no longer have to put your head down and fight through a difficult time to maintain the priorities other people have placed on you, particularly the priority of greatness. When integration is the goal, you see your season of life not with resentment but with compassion. You can be who and where you are today because you recognize that it is a seasonit is not forever, and you will honor it now.5. Its more valuable to learn how to pivot than how to plan.The name of my book isThe PLAN, so yes, Im aware of the irony of this last insight. I love planning, and plans are valuable. However, we are far more likely to require skills of pivoting than those of planning.Daily life is full of obstacles. We create a plan to get through the day, but when circumstances thwart those plans, we stand our ground, force rigidity (sometimes calling it discipline), and dont respond kindly to whatever is happening. That posture is harmful and unnecessary.Pivoting is a required skill, and we need to learn how to do it better. Rather than seeking out new and better ways to plan, prepare for the day, and create systems that succeed and routines that never break down, try putting some of that energy into learning to pivot. Be resilient and flexible when plans fall apart. Be nimble and compassionate. When you no longer pursue greatness first but instead honor integration and who you are today, your access to a skillset of pivoting is a beautifully wide door.This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.

Digital tools are not always superior. Here are some WIRED-tested agendas and notebooks to keep you on track.

Plagued by delays, tied to a rivals electric platform, yet somehow still being clever and innovative, Fords European EV experiment embodies the automakers failure to commit to electric cars.

Google dominated the last era of search. Now the company and the US Justice Department are battling over how to set a fair playing field for generative AI.

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Details.Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles. Fergie-Whistler Cabin in Whistler, Canada by Studio AR&D Architects Time Valley in Shenzhen, China by Ballistic Architecture Machine (BAM) Cabin by a Lake in Muskoka, Canada by Still Architects Ju+ Coffee in Nanjing, China by modum atelier; Photo: Howie AB+D House in Los Angeles, CA by Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects [LOHA]; Photo: Paul Vu West Village Townhouse in New York, NY by Haute Architecture DPC; Interiors: Haute Interior Youthhostel Gerlos in Krimml, Austria by Lechner & Lechner Architects; Interiors: Stephan Keil; Photo: Julian Hck Plykea Workshop in London, United Kingdom by Erbar Mattes MRIIA HOUS...

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If Lockheed Martin made a Game Boy, would you buy one?In the 1990s, I was among the kids who thought military aircraft were devastatingly cool. By then, Tom Cruise and Top Gun had long established the F-14 Tomcat and a pair of aviator shades as a fantasy for young men; I personally preferred the Lockheed F-117A, the high-tech angular Stealth Fighter that could invisibly sneak past enemy radar, and was partial to the legendary Lockheed SR-71 that flew so fast it could outrun missiles.At the time, I probably would have snapped up a jet-black Lockheed Game Boy without a second thought. But Im old enough now to realize that cool aerodynamics are just the tip of a deadlier geopolitical iceberg. Lockheed makes weapons, and I dont have a say in who gets to buy them or who theyre used against. I dont have a say in whether that tech should exist at all.Link (cable) to the past.Ive been thinking about Lockheed Martin as I review a much simpler gadget: the ModRetro Chromatic. The Chromatic is a high-end remake of Nintendos Game Boy, and it might be the best version of a Game Boy ever made. But its connected to a company much like Lockheed:Anduril, the defense contractor that makes weaponized drones, networked surveillance systems, and other military tech.Both Anduril and ModRetro are founded by Palmer Luckey,the creator of the Oculus Rift VR headset.almost unbelievable character, a devout anime and video game lover who reportedly stores his vast collection of games in a decommissioned US nuclear missile silo one of several silos he says he owns.Luckey, playing a Chromatic and surrounded by anime figurines, from his marketing video. Image: ModRetroHe plays with a lavish collection of military hardware including helicopters and a Mark V Special Operations Craft used by Navy SEALs. He once made the cover of Time Magazine as a floating barefoot visionary with an Oculus headset atop his head, though these days hes more likely to make headlines propagandizing for his version of the defense industry. He was the face of VR before Facebook kicked him out. (Luckey was an early Trump boostersince apologized for his ouster.)Many tech companies are involved with military projects in some shape or form. Google and Amazon have a contract with Israel for a Project Nimbus that Google knew could have enabled human rights violations against Palestinians, and Google has fired many workers for protesting that deal. Microsoft is currently working towards outfitting over 100,000 soldiers with a militarized version of its HoloLens headset. Meta is now letting defense contractors use its Llama AI model. I think its fair to say few of us boycott these companies or even think about these things when we use their products.But where each of these companies can plausibly say Its just business as they defend their cloud serverwhen their CEOs kiss the ring, and its very hard to escape Big Techs orbit, this is a fun but unnecessary product from a man with a specific point of view on weapons, war, and politics. Luckey has twice hosted fundraisers for Donald Trump (in 2020 and 2024) at his own house. He publicly expresses the fervent (and self-serving) belief that tech companies should get in bed with the military.For Luckey, its not just business, its personal. And weve heard loud and clear that its personal for many of our readers, too. Ive been testing the ModRetro Chromatic for over a month, and its very good. I believe its the best, most luxurious way to play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. But if the goal is to restore and preserve our childhood nostalgia, the Luckey connection throws a wrench in the works. What youre about to read is a real review of an excellent product, one I genuinely enjoyed using but one that left me feeling somewhat tortured in the process.ModRetro Chromatic$199The GoodIncredible build qualityAuthentic Game Boy feel, right down to the screenGood battery lifeGood speakerUSB-C power tricksThe BadPalmer Luckey baggageA little cramped for big handsNo save states makes classic games less accessibleHeadphone jack needs more volumeDoesnt play GBA games$199 at ModRetro$199 at GameStopHow we rate and review productsFor Luckey, the Game Boy itself is personal. Its how he got his start. Before Anduril, before Facebook, before Oculus, Palmer Luckey was a teen who modded Nintendo Game Boys. ModRetro was the name of the very first thing he founded: an online forum for gaming hardware modders like himself.So as youd expect, his company has some strong ideas about what a modern Game Boy should look like.Where the $220 Analogue Pocket seeks to update the Game Boy experience for the present day with support for other handheld cartridges, ROMs, save states, a TV dock, and so on the Chromatic stays squarely rooted in the handhelds past. There are few modern amenities here. Its designed to feel like a vintage Game Boy, only now with the rough edges sanded off.Nintendos easy-to-scratch casings, screen lenses, and buttons? Theyre made of metal, sapphire, and PBT plastic now. Those hard-to-see screens? You now get a custom IPS display at the same size, resolution, and pixel structure as the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color, one so bright you can play in direct sunlight like we did back in the day. It does come, however, with a brand-new copy of Tetris that optionally adds T-Spins, instant drops, and the ability to hold pieces for later, modernizing the classic game that famously came bundled with the original.Direct sunlight on the Chromatics screen.At its heart, the Chromatic is an attempt to faithfully cross the original 1989 Game Boy with the 1998 Game Boy Color. Theres no SD card reader, no user-accessible operating system, no ability to add or play ROMs: when you slide the top-mounted power switch, it instantly boots your Game Boy or Game Boy Color cartridge using a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chip that emulates an actual Game Boys processors. Like with the Analogue Pocket, the upshot is more responsive, quirk-free gameplay than software emulators allow.Im a parent, and I dont have time for this shit comes with the territory, so I immediately assumed I would miss save states, the feature that lets practically every video game emulator and retro handheld pause and resume your game at literally any moment.1/10Hardware comparison gallery: Chromatic next to the originals. (3D-printed stand designs by Joshnoodles.)1/10Hardware comparison gallery: Chromatic next to the originals. (3D-printed stand designs by Joshnoodles.)Then I fired up Pokmon Pinball on an Analogue Pocket, and found I was wrong. I was on a pokmon-catching roll like never before. I caught Charmander, my daughters favorite pokmon, and for the first time in Pinball, I evolved it into a Charmeleon, then a Charizard, all without losing my ball. The stakes were high, so I reflexively tapped the Save State shortcut so I could retry if I failed.Immediately, the pressure was off but I felt a chunk of my excitement vanish along with it. I caught those Pokemon fair and square without loading the save, but Id cheated myself of a pure victory, even if I didnt wind up cheating the game. When I stuck that same game back into the Chromatic, a handheld without save states, the excitement came back. This is the way the game is meant to be played, and those stakes are there by design. Thats the experience ModRetro wants you to have,and the only one youll get. Ditching that modern amenity is a choice, and it isnt for everyone.Chromatic vs. Analogue.Its just one of many ways the Chromatic feels more authentic. Even though its a mash-up of two different Game Boy models, it instantly feels familiar in ways the Analogue doesnt, from the sliding power switch and volume dial (the Analogue has you hold down closely spaced digital buttons and takes longer to start a game) to the button layout and feel.The Chromatic is basically the size of a Game Boy Color, with the same bulging battery compartment curve providing a rounded perch for your fingers to rest. But its clearly been designed for those who appreciate the original 1989 model too. Its got the originals iconic slanted, cake-sprinkle Start and Select buttons, its glossy domed A and B buttons, its larger D-pad, its more protected cartridge slot, and the rounded lower-right corners of its flat-faced chassis and cover glass. All of them bring me back to the handheld that made me a gamer.The D-pad and start/select have a very different texture, but they feel great.I wonder if they bring Luckey back to his early days, too. Because while ModRetro appears to have made a remarkably repairable handheld and is currently open-sourcing its CAD files and firmware, this bespoke device is not exactly what ModRetro was originally created to make.Luckey cut his teeth turning existing Game Boys and GameCubes into arguably better, more portable versions of themselves by reusing bits of old and new electronics. Its a lot of fun because its about taking old technology and then cutting out the old parts, replacing them with new parts and making it into something that was never possible before, he told Voices of VR in 2014. The ModRetro Chromatic is all custom, though, right down to its in-house screen.Palmer Luckey, age 16, with modded GB Pocket.Still, ModRetros original approach to development has been on display throughout Luckeys professional history. Luckeys key insight with the Oculus Rift was that low-cost smartphone components could finally make VR accessible, a belief he shared with researchers at the lab where he worked, too. Repurposed commercial supply chains are also Andurils pitch to become the worlds most efficient weapons manufacturer, so that the same processes used to build fiberglass bathtubs can just as easily be reconfigured to build missile airframes, as Tablet Magazine described it in August.With that approach, Anduril has rapidly built out an arsenal in just seven years, including multiple drones that can kill one is a loitering munition that remotely dive-bombs a target, another effectively a recoverable ground-to-air missile.When I look at the Chromatic and its prominent MODRETRO logo right above the screen, often I just see an excellent Game Boy. But sometimes I see the latest high-tech product from a man who makes high-tech missiles.At this point, you might be wondering: just how excellent is this hardware to justify all this soul-searching? Lets start with build quality:Its made of metal, not plastic, which can seem a little cold at first touch, but I cant overstate how solid and premium this gadget feels. The build is incredible.I even intentionally dropped a Chromatic twice onto concrete, from 4.5 feet, without destroying it. More on that in a sec.The battery latch is a physical spring-loaded lever, which takes a little getting used to, but has such a satisfying snap.Unlike every official Game Boy, theres no front speaker grille. But unlike all my official Game Boys, the bottom-facing speaker is loud, crisp, and clear.The Start/Select buttons are no longer pliable mushy rubber, but rather PBT plastic with the same firm clicky presses as A and B.The volume dial is big and easy to find and use by feel alone.The battery compartment is nearly the same thickness as the original Game Boys, giving it a beefier grip than any Game Boy since (though not quite enough for my friends with big hands).The D-pad, a bit of a sore spot for some Analogue Pocket enthusiasts because it can sometimes allow accidental inputs, feels tight and responsive almost too firm, mine wore in after many hours of play.When I tested it against an Analogue Pocket at the same brightness, using rechargeable AAs, the Chromatic lasted three entire hours longer. (You can watch a sped-up timelapse in my Today Im Toying With video.)I simply plug the Chromatic into USB if Im ever running low on charge at under three watts of power draw, any old port will do! I powered it from my phone.I could even hotswap AA batteries that way. Plug it in, swap AAs, unplug, all without losing my game.The Chromatics pixel-perfect screen isnt strictly necessary: I generally had just as good a time on the Analogue Pockets bigger, higher resolution display if I enabled the right filters and color palettes, though I did appreciate that the Chromatic got the Game Boy Color feel just right out of the box. The Chromatic even lets you summon green-tinted original Game Boy palettes by holding down buttons at boot.1/10Screen comparison gallery time! The Chromatics subpixels are visible in this macro image (though the yellows are a little yellower in real life). Tap this link for a larger image.1/10Screen comparison gallery time! The Chromatics subpixels are visible in this macro image (though the yellows are a little yellower in real life). Tap this link for a larger image.There are also some ways its not completely faithful to the original Game Boys, just FYI:Theres no longer a visible gap between the screen crystal and the LCD, and the screen is no longer a blank green or grey when powered off. Its a laminated black mirror like modern phones.While its largely the size of a Game Boy Color, its nearly as heavy as a fully loaded original Game Boy at 10 ounces (285g). Compare to 7.5oz / 212g for the Game Boy Color.Theres an extra button beneath the volume dial that lets you change brightness, turn on frame blending and USB color correction and thats about it for now.You get a Game Boy Color-sized Link Cable connector, but with the extra notch of the Game Boy Advances connector for potentially more compatibility with other Game Boy gadgets.You get two lanyard/charm holes, one on each side of the system, unlike the Colors one on the left.The battery compartment takes three AAs, not four or two.Theres no longer a red power LED staring you in the face, but rather a multicolor LED on the bottom that only turns on for boot, low battery, and charging.The Game Boy Color infrared ports been slightly moved to accommodate the power switch.The handheld comes with three AAs and a battery door that uses flexible fins to keep them from getting dislodged.And there were a few minor disappointments too. Mostly, I wish it worked a little better in quiet bedrooms and loud airplanes. The buttons and even the D-pad click louder than any of my old Game Boys, yet the 3.5mm headphone jack volume is the quietest of the pack. I could barely hear its chiptunes over the din of the plane, and I couldnt compensate with my noise-canceling Bose QC25 since the Chromatic doesnt have a four-pole headset jack.ModRetro also advertises the Chromatic as indestructible, and if that sounds like marketing bluster, youre at least half right. I dropped the Chromatic twice onto concrete, from 4.5 feet, and it came away with only minor dents, and I was impressed. But ModRetro also has a picture of the thing getting run over by a car. When I ran it over with my car, the screen shattered. The frame is now badly bent.I was also a tad disappointed to find the Chromatics USB-C port isnt as potent as promised. While the company advertised USB-C video output and even told me you could charge rechargeable AAs using the do-it-all port, it turns out the Chromatic can only present itself as a webcam for desktop-style video recording, and NiMH AA charging didnt make the cut. ModRetro CEO Torin Herndon, who was an engineer at Anduril from 2017 to 2021, tells me the company is beginning production on an optional rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack, but wont talk price, capacity, or runtime just yet.That said, I actually find I prefer AAs. At 50 percent brightness far higher than I needed on the plane I saw over eight hours from a set of Ikea-branded Panasonic Eneloop rechargeables, or closer to seven hours from Amazon Basics alkalines. That same brand of alkalines gave me over 12 hours at the second-lowest brightness setting, the dimmest Id want to use in the daytime, and just under five hours at max brightness and max volume. And again, you can simply plug the Chromatic into a USB port if youre ever running low on charge, then drop in new AAs without losing your game.Yes, Im really powering the entire handheld from my flip phone.Theres really no question in my mind that this handheld is the best retro Game Boy yet made, the one that best captures the physical feeling I had playing Game Boy as a kid. I love remasters because they can let you recapture that childhood joy, playing with the Lego starship orFinal Fantasy game you think you remember instead of the one that actually existed.But I dont remember my childhood nostalgia coming with a side of possible guilt and fear about putting money into the pocket of a weapons contractor. Feels weird!Even practically, I wonder who, outside of a handful of 1989 handheld lovers like me, would want a handheld that just plays Game Boy and Game Boy Color carts. Many of the best games are expensive and hard to find in physical form Metal Gear Solid and the best Pokmon titles can easily command $100 each and itd be a more compelling gadget if it could play the arguably better library of Game Boy Advance titles as well. The Analogue Pocket does.The only way GBA carts fit in the Chromatic: sideways. ModRetro has said it wants to tackle the GBA separately.Luckey has said he wants to expand that original Game Boy library. Game developers never quite stopped making homebrew games for the Game Boy, and ModRetro is one of the few now publishing them on actual carts. Every Chromatic comes with a new copy of Tetris,already order 10 more titles, including a new version of Toki Tori and Tales of Monsterland, sequels to Traumatarium and In the Dark, and my personal favorite, the grindy JRPG DragonyhmThis chiptune in particular, Dragonhyms Gonrad Forest, captivated me at once:If you feel weird about ModRetro, you should know these games arent exclusive to the Chromatic, either they played perfectly well plugged into an Analogue Pocket or a Game Boy Color, and some even worked on my 1989 original. Some may be available to purchase as ROMs. If you just want to try them, many have playable demos you can try in an emulator, or even a web browser, like this:On a desktop, tap to focus; press Enter to start; use Z, B, and arrow keys to play.Its not clear to me how serious Luckey is about funding a new era of Game Boy. For one thing, the Chromatic is already sold out at his website, and he says he isnt making any more, but will focus on releasing new games while it builds something more sustainable in terms of hardware instead. (A grey Chromatic is still available at GameStop, for now.)Second, as far as I can tell, all of ModRetros games beyond Tetris were already in development; some, like Dragonyhm, were already headed to cartridge elsewhere. Developing new games isnt currently a company goal: We are typically looking for games deep in development at this time, and try to push them across the finish line into being a full-on physical good, Herndon tells me. He says ModRetro largely pays to create cartridges, boxes, and manuals, and gives developers a pretty awesome percentage of sales. The cartridges I tested including 11 from ModRetro itself.The pre-release carts that ModRetro sent me also had a couple issues that are hopefully getting ironed out: I mysteriously lost my entire save in In The Dark 2, and Traumatarium Penitent was missing a key bugfix the developer made almost a year ago. Toki Tori also booted into a full screen glitch the first few times I started it up, but it seems to be working now. Even when people love the idea of revisiting the Game Boy and supporting retro game development, I suspect most will see a $200 handheld that makes you individually swap pricy cartridges as a luxury they cant afford not when every iPhone and a mountain of Chinese emulator handhelds can play the same games, ones they can (illicitly) download for free.And if you find the Analogue Pocket isnt vintage enough for your tastes, you could always do what I just did and add a modern backlit screen to your genuine Nintendo Game Boy. It wont be pixel-perfect, but it might be good enough for me:This is one of the more difficult reviews Ive ever had to write, because I have no qualms recommending the ModRetro Chromatic on the strength of its hardware, which justifies its $200 price. It feels more like the Game Boy I remember than many of Nintendos actual handhelds when I pick them up today.But like the Tesla Cybertruck, its also very much the product of one person in particular, a person who stands for other things that might clash with your ideals, and it could wind up being a symbol that you dont terribly mind any of that, even if you actually do.Luckey recently told a Pepperdine University audience that its not a bad thing to celebrate the power of weapons, saying that societies have always needed a warrior class that is enthused and excited about enacting violence on others in pursuit of good aims, and that you need people like me who are sick in that way and who dont lose any sleep making tools of violence. He explained that his company is named Anduril after Aragorns sword in The Lord of the Rings partly because that sword was inherentlyReal life contains no inherently good drones or inherently good missiles. And two major throughlines of Tolkiens work are that war is hideous and that power inevitably corrupts. The joy I find playing with fake swords in the ModRetro Chromatic is now weirdly intertwined with a general fear: that Andurils real weapons might be misused. I wont suggest that niche $200 Game Boys are actually funding those weapons in any meaningful way, but these still arent emotions I associate with my childhood Nintendo experience.That means the Chromatic isnt the ultimate Game Boy, even if it has the best build quality and the best screen. Theres still room for a better pair of rose-tinted glasses than the ones Luckey has paid to create.Photography by Sean Hollister / The Verge