Chinese AI developer DeepSeek has unveiled an open-source version of its reasoning model, DeepSeek-R1, featuring 671 billion parameters and claiming performance superior to OpenAIs o1 on key benchmarks.DeepSeek-R1 achieves a score of 79.8% Pass@1 on AIME 2024, slightly surpassing OpenAI-o1-1217, the company said in a technical paper. On MATH-500, it attains an impressive score of 97.3%, performing on par with OpenAI-o1-1217 and significantly outperforming other models.On coding-related tasks, DeepSeek-R1 achieved a 2,029 Elo rating on Codeforces and outperformed 96.3% of human participants in the competition, the company added.For engineering-related tasks, DeepSeek-R1 performs slightly better than DeepSeek-V3 [another model from the company], which could help developers in real-world tasks, DeepSeek said.DeepSeek-R1 is available on the AI development platform Hugging Face under an MIT license, allowing unrestricted commercial use.The company also offers distilled versions of R1, ranging from 1.5 billion to 70 billion parameters, with the smallest capable of running on a laptop. The full-scale R1, which requires more powerful hardware, is available via API at costs up to 95% lower than OpenAIs o1.As a reasoning model, R1 would self-check its outputs, potentially reducing errors common in other models. Although slower, reasoning models offer increased reliability in fields such as physics, science, and math.Accelerating the AI arms raceThe race for building language models has intensified especially with changing geopolitical realities.While OpenAI and other US-based firms definitely have the first mover advantage, China has been investing a lot in AI to build its capabilities to become a good second mover, saidSharathSrinivasamurthy, associate vice president atIDC.In real-world enterprise applications, DeepSeek-R1s performance on key metrics translates to improved capabilities in mathematical reasoning, problem-solving, and coding tasks.Although this suggests that DeepSeek-R1 could potentially outperform OpenAIs o1 in practical scenarios requiring these specific competencies, the eventual outcome still depends on various factors within the broader AI ecosystem, such as the AI readiness of data, RAG and agent support, ModelOps and DevOps toolchain integrations, cloud and data infrastructure support, and AI governance, said Charlie Dai, VP and principal analyst at Forrester.Moreover, while R1s claims of superior performance are appealing, its true effectiveness remains uncertain due to a lack of clarity about the data it has been trained on.The models are only as good as the data they are trained on, Srinivasamurthy said. With restrictive policies in China on data consumption and publication, there is a possibility that the data might be biased or incomplete.Srinivasamurthy also noted that the true potential of LLMs lies in handling multiple modalities like text and images. While many models have achieved this, R1 has room to grow to become a comprehensive solution.Potential for enterprise useDeepSeek-R1s MIT license, allowing unrestricted commercial use and customization, along with its lower costs, positions it as an appealing and cost-effective option for enterprise adoption.However, enterprises may need to factor in additional costs associated with the MIT license, such as customization, fine-tuning, and adapting the model to meet specific business needs for a higher ROI, according to Mansi Gupta, senior analyst at Everest Group.Businesses outside China may also be reluctant to use their data to train the model or integrate it into their operations due to regulatory challenges affecting AI adoption. Enterprises must carefully assess the geopolitical risks tied to using R1, particularly for global operations, Gupta said. This includes navigating Chinese regulations and conducting thorough compliance assessments and risk analyses. Ultimately, the adoption of R1 will depend on how well enterprises can optimize the trade-off between its potential ROI and these geopolitical and regulatory challenges.

There are countless ways to communicate electronically, including texting, social media, chat apps, team task managers, and videoconferencing software. Given the myriad ways you can get in touch with others, you may well think email is dead.Think again.Email, the mainstay of workplace communications, is stronger than ever. An estimated 347.3 billion emails were sent every day in 2023, according to Statista a figure that the market research firm expects to grow to 408.2 billion daily emails by 2027.If youre using an email client rather than a cloud-based email service, theres a very good chance that its Microsoft Outlook, themost popular Windows-based email software. Although you may have been using Outlook for some time, you might be missing out on some of its worthwhile features.Microsoft sells its Office productivity suite under two models: Individuals and businesses can pay for the software license up front and own it forever (what the company calls the perpetual version of the suite), or they can purchase a Microsoft 365 subscription, which means they have access to the software for only as long as they keep paying the subscription fee.When you purchase a perpetual version of the suite say, Office 2021 or Office 2024 its applications will never get new features, whereas Office 365 apps are continually updated with new features. (For more details, seeHow to choose between Microsoft 365 and Office 2024.) Confusing matters even more, Microsoft has renamed almost all of its Office 365 subscriptions as Microsoft 365, which generally means the plan includes everything from the old Office 365 plans plus some additional features and apps.This cheat sheet gets you up to speed on the major features that have been introduced in the Windows desktop client for Outlook in Microsoft 365 over the past few years. Well periodically update this story as new features roll out.Classic Outlook, new OutlookNote that Microsoft has two different Windows client versions of Outlook, as well as an online version. One Windows client version, which Microsoft calls classic Outlook, is the one that currently ships with Microsoft 365. The other, which Microsoft calls new Outlook, is a replacement for the Mail and Calendar apps that are built into Windows. Microsoft also plans to have new Outlook replace classic Outlook as part of the Microsoft 365 suite in the future, and new Outlook is available to M365 subscribers for testing now.At the moment, though, new Outlook is missing a number of key business features, so most businesses will want to stick with classic Outlook for the time being. (Microsoft says it will support classic Outlook at least until 2029.) For that reason, well cover classic Outlook in this story.In the classic Outlook client, you may see a toggle that says Try the new Outlook at the top right. In my tests, though, the new Outlook wouldnt work with Microsoft 365, with Outlook .pst files, or with POP servers, making it rather useless. To return to classic Outlook, turn the toggle back to Off. Be careful when doing that, though. On multiple occasions when Ive moved the toggle to On and then tried return to classic Outlook, Outlook refused to work, and I had to close it and restart it.Use the simplified (or classic) RibbonThe Ribbon toolbar interface that you came to know and love (or perhaps hate) in earlier versions of Outlook has been replaced by a simplified Ribbon that only shows the most frequently used features. Its for those who prefer simplicity to the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink look of the old Ribbon, which offers the full panoply of whats available to you in Outlook.Heres the stripped-down, simplified Ribbon, which shows only the most commonly used commands.Preston Gralla / IDGIf a button on the Ribbon has small down arrow (also called a caret) on it, you can click it to see a drop-down menu with related tasks. Theres also a three-dot icon at the right end of the Ribbon; click it and a drop-down menu appears with several tasks you might want to do related to the Ribbon tab youre currently on for example, managing junk mail if youre on the Home tab. Select the task you want to do, and youre set.If you prefer the old Ribbon (or classic Ribbon, as Microsoft calls it), you can easily switch to it. Click the caret in the lower right-hand corner of the Ribbon. From the screen that appears, select Classic Ribbon. To switch back to the simplified Ribbon, click the caret again and select Simplified Ribbon.For those who like the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink look, the classic Ribbon is still available in Outlook.Preston Gralla / IDGAs in previous versions of Outlook, if you want the Ribbon commands to go away completely, pressCtrl-F1. (The tabs above the Ribbon stay visible.) To make them reappear, pressCtrl-F1again. That works for both the simplified Ribbon and the classic one.Youve got other options for displaying the Ribbon as well, and these options also work with both the simplified and classic Ribbons. To get to them, click the caret at the far right of the Ribbon. When you do that, you can customize the Ribbon even more, in the Show Ribbon section. Select Show tabs only if you want to see the tabs on top of the Ribbon, but not the commands underneath them. (In this mode, you click a tab to see its commands.) Click Always show Ribbon to have the Ribbon always appear. And click Full-screen mode to hide both the Ribbon and the tabs.If you select File > Options > Customize Ribbon, you can change the content of the Ribbon to suit your needs. You can add and remove tabs, and change the commands on tabs as well.Use the Search bar for more than searching emailsThe search bar at the top of Outlook is deceptively simple-looking. You likely assume you can use it for searching through your emails and thats it.But the search bar does double duty: in addition to searching through emails, it can also help you find any Outlook capability, no matter how hidden, even if youve never used it. (This hands-on help capability replaces the Tell Me feature found in Outlook 2016 and 2019.)To use it, click in the search box, and then type in what task youd like to do. (Those who prefer keyboard shortcuts can instead press Alt-Q to get to the search box.)For example, if you want to filter your mail to see only messages with attachments, type infilter email. In this instance, the top result is a Filter Email listing with an arrow to its right, indicating that it has many options. Hover your mouse over it, and you see multiple options for filtering your mail, including Unread, Has Attachments, Important, and others. Choose the option you want, and the task will be performed instantly.You can use Outlooks search bar to perform just about any task.Preston Gralla / IDGFor the most common basic tasks, you wont need this capability. But for more complex ones, its worth using, because its much more efficient than hunting through the Ribbon to find a command. It also remembers the features youve previously clicked on in the search results, so when you click in the box, you first see a list of previous tasks youve searched for. That makes sure that the tasks you frequently perform are always within easy reach, while at the same time making tasks you rarely do easily accessible.Do online research from right inside OutlookSometimes emails are just quick notes that dont require much research, and you can toss them off with little or no thought. Other times, though, youll want to include relevant information before sending them off. Those are the times youll appreciate being able to do online research from right within Outlook. You can do this while youre writing an email, so you wont have to fire up your browser, search the web, and then copy the information or pictures to your message.To do it, highlight a word or group of words in an email it can be a new draft, a message youve received, or one youve already sent and select Search from the menu that appears. Outlook then uses Bing to do a web search on the word or words, displaying definitions, related Wikipedia entries, pictures and other results from the web in the Search pane that appears on the right.You can do web research from right within Outlook.Preston Gralla / IDGTo use online research in Outlook or any other Office app, you might first need to enable Microsofts intelligent services feature, which collects your search terms and some content from yourdocuments and other files. (If youre concerned about privacy, youll need decide whether the privacy hit is worth the convenience of doing research from right within the app.) If you havent enabled it, youll see a screen when you click Search asking you to turn it on. Once you do so, it will be turned on across all your Office applications.[ See more Microsoft 365 cheat sheets ]Get a more focused inboxIf youre like the rest of the world, you suffer from email overload. Your most important messages are mixed in with the dross of everyday email life retailing come-ons, groups begging for donations, pointless newsletters and more.Focused Inbox helps solve the problem. Using artificial intelligence, it determines which messages are most important to you and puts them into a Focused tab, while putting everything else into an Other tab. That way you can spend most of your time handling important messages in the Focused tab, only occasionally checking the Other tab. To turn on Focused Inbox, select the View tab from the Ribbon, then click the Show Focused Inbox icon. From now on, youll have two tabs in your Inbox, Focused and Other. The Focused tab should have the most important messages, and the Other tab should have less important messages. If thats not the case, you can manually move messages from one folder to the other and tell Focused Inbox to automatically filter them in that way in the future.Focused Inbox puts more important emails in the Focused tab and less important emails out of the way in the Other tab.Preston Gralla / IDGTo move a message from one tab to another, right-click the message you want to move, then select Move to Other or Move to Focused, depending on where you want the message moved. That will move the message just this once. If you want to permanently route all messages from that sender to the other tab, choose either Always Move to Other or Always Move to Focused.Focused Inbox isnt for everybody. If you find that Focused Inbox hinders more than it helps, you can toggle it back off by selecting View > Show Focused Inbox.Keep email messages out of the way but handy with the Archive folderOutlook has long offered email message archiving that is, the option to move messages out of your Outlook mailbox and into a separate PST file as a space-saving measure. Corporate versions of Office, such as Microsoft 365 Enterprise, offer their own archiving features that automatically archive users older messages, again to save space. These methods remove the messages from the users Outlook mailbox. You can still get them back, but it takes some doing.Theres another option in Outlook for Microsoft 365: You can move specific pieces of mail out of your inbox or other folders and into the Archive folder. That way, when looking for a message, you can browse or search the Archive folder and find the message more quickly.Using the Archive folder doesnt reduce the size of your mailbox; it simply helps tidy up your inbox while keeping older messages instantly accessible. Microsoft recommends that you use the Archive folder to store messages that youve already responded to or acted on.If you already have a system of folders and subfolders in Outlook, you might not need the Archive folder, but it can be a boon for those of us who tend to leave everything in the inbox. And even if you do have a folder system, you might find that not all of your email fits neatly into your folders and subfolders; you can move these messages to the Archive folder to keep your inbox clean.To move messages to the Archive folder, first select one or more that you want to archive. (Select multiple messages by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking each one you want to select.) With the message or messages selected, go to the Ribbons Home tab and click Archive in the Delete group, right-click the message or group of messages and select Archive, or simply drag the selected message(s) to the Archive folder. You can also move an individual email to the Archive folder by pressing the Backspace key when the message is highlighted or when youre reading it.Choose the last item in the pop-up menu to move the selected messages to the Archive folder.Preston Gralla / IDGNow when you need to find a message, you can browse the Archive folder or else go to the Archive folder and launch a search.To move a message out of the Archive folder to a different folder, simply drag it to its destination.Find attachments more easily and share cloud attachmentsWeve all been there: We want to attach a file we were recently working on, but dont remember its precise location or sometimes even its name and spend far too much time navigating and searching for it.Outlook solves the problem neatly. When you attach a file by clicking the Include icon, a list of the 12 most recent files youve been using pops up. The list includes all the files youve been using on any device, as long as youre signed in to your Microsoft account. So if you were working on a file on your desktop, then later in the day took your laptop to work outside your office, Outlook would show you the files you had opened on both devices.When you click Include, you have the choice of sending the file itself or a link to it. Whichever you choose, the list of the most recent files appears. If the file you want isnt in the list, clickBrowse this PCto browse your local hard disk, orBrowse Web Locationsto browse OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, or SharePoint. When you attach a file from OneDrive or SharePoint, youll have the option of sending them as links or attaching the files themselves. Click the file you want to attach.Outlook shows you a list of Office files youve recently used, making it easier to find and attach them to an outgoing email.Preston Gralla / IDGUse Microsoft 365 Copilot with OutlookFor an additional subscription fee, business users of Outlook can use Microsofts genAI add-in, Microsoft 365 Copilot. You can have Copilot draft new emails, draft replies, summarize email threads, offer recommendations on writing emails, and more. If you have a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription, many of those features are now bundled with your core subscription. For details about how to use Copilot in Outlook, see our guide to using Copilot for writing tasks in Word, Outlook, and OneNote. Microsoft 365 Copilot can help you in Outlook in multiple ways, including summarizing email threads.Preston Gralla / IDGWork in Microsoft 365 GroupsIf you work in an office that uses Microsoft 365 Groups, you can now join groups, create new groups, schedule meetings on a group calendar and more, all from within Outlook.Microsoft 365 Groups, available for most Microsoft 365 business and enterprise plans, make it easy to collaborate with others by designating a set of people with whom to share resources, such as a document library, shared calendar, and/or shared email account. Groups can be for departments, project teams, and so on, and when a group is created, all the appropriate permissions are automatically granted for everybody in the group.Creating a new group from inside Outlook is simple. Select theHometab in the Ribbon, and in the New section, select New Items > Group. Then fill in information for the group, including its name, description, whether its private or public within your organization, and so on. srcset="https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/outlook-m365-08-new-group.png?quality=50&strip=all 687w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/outlook-m365-08-new-group.png?resize=206%2C300&quality=50&strip=all 206w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/outlook-m365-08-new-group.png?resize=479%2C697&quality=50&strip=all 479w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/outlook-m365-08-new-group.png?resize=116%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 116w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/outlook-m365-08-new-group.png?resize=58%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 58w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/outlook-m365-08-new-group.png?resize=330%2C480&quality=50&strip=all 330w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/outlook-m365-08-new-group.png?resize=248%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 248w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/outlook-m365-08-new-group.png?resize=172%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 172w" width="687" height="999" sizes="(max-width: 687px) 100vw, 687px">Creating a Microsoft 365 group from inside Outlook.Preston Gralla / IDGNote that your IT department needs to set up provisioning for Microsoft 365 Groups, so check with IT for more details about creating and using groups. Also, in order to use Microsoft 365 Groups in Outlook, you need to use Outlook in Cached Exchange Mode. See this Microsoft support page for details.Other features to check outOutlook for Microsoft 365 has several more useful features. Although theyre not as significant as the other features weve covered here, theyre worth knowing about.Message encryption:In older versions of Outlook, theres a Permissions button that lets you set permission levels for an email for example, Confidential, Internal, and Do Not Forward. In Outlook for Microsoft 365, that button has been replaced with an Encrypt button that lets you encrypt the message with S/MIME or Microsoft 365 Message Encryption.For details, see MicrosoftsEncrypt email messages help page.Quick Actions:If you hover your cursor over any email in your message list, tiny Quick Action icons appear. These let you perform tasks such as deleting, flagging, or archiving the message with a single click. By default, the two icons that appear are Flag/Clear Flag and Delete, but you can customize that by right-clicking on any message in the list and selectingSet Quick Actionsfrom the pop-up menu. You can designate only two Quick Action icons your options are Archive, Delete, Move, Flag/Clear Flag, and Mark as Read/Unread but Delete appears even if you dont select it.Customizing Outlooks Quick Actions icons for message management.Preston Gralla / IDGNote that Quick Actions does not replace Outlooks more complex Quick Steps feature, which lets you apply multiple actions to a message at the same time. Quick Actions simply provides a quick way to do a few frequently performed actions.Built-in translation: You no longer have to use a translation add-in for other languages its now built directly into Outlook for Microsoft 365/Office 365. Right-click words, phrases, or the entire message and select Translate from the menu that pops up.Turn grammar suggestions on and off: Outlook offers grammar suggestions youll know theyre there when you see underlined text, which marks the text as having an error. If youd prefer not to see them, you can turn them off. To do it, create a new email, and with it open, go to File > Options > Mail, and in the Compose messages section, click Editor Options. On the screen that appears, select Proofing, and under When correcting spelling in Outlook, uncheck the Mark grammar errors as you type box. You can still check grammar at any time by pressing F7.Dictate messages:Look, ma, no hands! With Microsoft 365, you can dictate messages. Once youve created an email, selectMessage > Dictatefrom the Ribbon and start talking.Use the same Outlook settings on all your devices: If you use Outlook on more than one machine, you can store your settings for features such as Automatic Replies, Focused Inbox, and Privacy in the cloud, and theyll automatically be applied to all your Windows PCs. To turn it on, go to File > Options > General. Under Cloud storage options, check the box next to Store my Outlook settings in the cloud.Regardless of whether you do that, any signatures you create in Outlook will be automatically stored in the cloud so that theyll be available on all your devices.Use keyboard shortcutsIf youre a fan of keyboard shortcuts, youll be pleased to know that Outlook has them. They provide a great way to get tasks accomplished quickly. See our story Handy Outlook keyboard shortcuts for Windows and Mac for the most useful ones. [ See more Microsoft 365 cheat sheets ]This article was originally published in August 2021 and most recently updated in January 2025.

It might sound like something straight out of the 19th century, but one of the most cutting-edge areas in energy today involves drilling deep underground to hunt for materials that can be burned for energy. The difference is that this time, instead of looking for fossil fuels, the race is on to find natural deposits of hydrogen.Hydrogen is already a key ingredient in the chemical industry and could be used as a greener fuel in industries from aviation and transoceanic shipping to steelmaking. Today, the gas needs to be manufactured, but theres some evidence that there are vast deposits underground.Ive been thinking about underground resources a lot this week, since Ive been reporting a story about a new startup, Addis Energy. The company is looking to use subsurface rocks, and the conditions down there, to produce another useful chemical: ammonia. In an age of lab-produced breakthroughs, it feels like something of a regression to go digging for resources, but looking underground could help meet energy demand while also addressing climate change.Its rare that hydrogen turns up in oil and gas operations, and for decades, the conventional wisdom has been that there arent large deposits of the gas underground. Hydrogen molecules are tiny, after all, so even if the gas was forming there, the assumption was that it would just leak out.However, there have been somewhat accidental discoveries of hydrogen over the decades, in abandoned mines or new well sites. There are reports of wells that spewed colorless gas, or flames that burned gold. And as people have looked more intentionally for hydrogen, theyve started to find it.As it turns out, hydrogen tends to build up in very different rocks from those that host oil and gas deposits. While fossil-fuel prospecting tends to focus on softer rocks, like organic-rich shale, hydrogen seems most plentiful in iron-rich rocks like olivine. The gas forms when chemical reactions at elevated temperature and pressure underground pull water apart. (Theres also likely another mechanism that forms hydrogen underground, called radiolysis, where radioactive elements emit radiation that can split water.)Some research has put the potential amount of hydrogen available at around a trillion tonsplenty to feed our demand for centuries, even if we ramp up use of the gas.The past few years have seen companies spring up around the world to try to locate and tap these resources. Theres an influx in Australia, especially the southern part of the country, which seems to have conditions that are good for making hydrogen. One startup, Koloma, has raised over $350 million to aid its geologic hydrogen exploration.There are so many open questions for this industry, including how much hydrogen is actually going to be accessible and economical to extract. Its not even clear how best to look for the gas today; researchers and companies are borrowing techniques and tools from the oil and gas industry, but there could be better ways.Its also unknown how this could affect climate change. Hydrogen itself may not warm the planet, but it can contribute indirectly to global warming by extending the lifetime of other greenhouse gases. Its also often found with methane, a super-powerful greenhouse gas that could do major harm if it leaks out of operations at a significant level.Theres also the issue of transportation: Hydrogen isnt very dense, and it can be difficult to store and move around. Deposits that are far away from the final customers could face high costs that might make the whole endeavor uneconomical.But this whole area is incredibly exciting, and researchers are working to better understand it. Some are looking to expand the potential pool of resources by pumping water underground to stimulate hydrogen production from rocks that wouldnt naturally produce the gas.Theres something fascinating to me about using the playbook of the oil and gas industry to develop an energy source that could actually help humanity combat climate change. It could be a strategic move to address energy demand, since a lot of expertise has accumulated over the roughly 150 years that weve been digging up fossil fuels.After all, its not digging thats the problemits emissions.Now read the rest of The SparkRelated readingThis story from Science, published in 2023, is a great deep dive into the world of so-called gold hydrogen. Give it a read for more on the history and geology here.For more on commercial efforts, specifically Koloma, give this piece from Canary Media a read.And for all the details on geologic ammonia and Addis Energy, check out my latest story here.Another thingDonald Trump officially took office on Monday and signed a flurry of executive orders. Here are a few of the most significant ones for climate:Trump announced his intention to once again withdraw from the Paris agreement. After a one-year waiting period, the worlds largest economy will officially leave the major international climate treaty. (New York Times)The president also signed an order that pauses lease sales for offshore wind power projects in federal waters. Its not clear how much the office will be able to slow projects that already have their federal permits. (Associated Press)Another executive order, titled Unleashing American Energy, broadly signals a wide range of climate and energy moves. One section ends the EV mandate. The US government doesnt have any mandates around EVs, but this bit is a signal of the administrations intent to roll back policies and funding that support adoption of these vehicles. There will almost certainly be court battles. (Wired) Another section pauses the disbursement of tens of billions of dollars for climate and energy. The spending was designated by Congress in two of the landmark laws from the Biden administration, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Again, experts say we can likely expect legal fights. (Canary Media)Keeping up with climateThe Chinese automaker BYD built more electric vehicles in 2024 than Tesla did. The data signals a global shift to cheaper EVs and the continued dominance of China in the EV market. (Washington Post)A pair of nuclear reactors in South Carolina could get a second chance at life. Construction halted at the VC Summer plant in 2017, $9 billion into the project. Now the sites owner wants to sell. (Wall Street Journal) Existing reactors are more in-demand than ever, as I covered in this story about whats next for nuclear power. (MIT Technology Review)In California, charging depots for electric trucks are increasingly choosing to cobble together their own power rather than waiting years to connect to the grid. These solar- and wind-powered microgrids could help handle broader electricity demand. (Canary Media)Wildfires in Southern California are challenging even wildlife that have adapted to frequent blazes. As fires become more frequent and intense, biologists worry about animals like mountain lions. (Inside Climate News)Experts warn that ash from the California wildfires could be toxic, containing materials like lead and arsenic. (Associated Press)Burning wood for power isnt necessary to help the UK meet its decarbonization goals, according to a new analysis. Biomass is a controversial green power source that critics say contributes to air pollution and harms forests. (The Guardian)

The Indian government wants its own state-backed apps to be pre-installed on every iPhone and Android phone, but Apple and Google are expected to refuse.India says Apple has abused its dominant market share of iOS appsIndia's government has a thing about pre-installed apps, having previously told Apple it should let its experts examine them before any updates are allowed. That was reportedly in a private discussion in 2023, and appears to have gone nowhere which might be what happens with the new demand too.According to Bloomberg, India's latest private discussions with Apple and Google revolve around the government's own apps. It wants its own state-backed suite of apps to be supplied pre-installed on all phones, and also to be downloadable from third-party App Stores without "untrusted source" warnings. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

During this years Taipei Game Show, Gust dropped a new overview trailer for Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories and the Envisioned Land. It covers various aspects of exploration, including Energy. Check it out below.As previously outlined, protagonist Yumia can scale buildings, double jump, and even ride a motorcycle. However, Energy is what allows for cutting fall damage and enabling the synthesis of simple items. Its also key for exploring Manabound Areas where powerful foes and rewards await. Some points of interest will augment Energy in exchange for Prisms, increasing its limit, improving gathering, and reducing consumption from fall damage.Other notable aspects of exploration include ruins with valuable treasures and materials, the return of automatic synthesis, and stunning enemies in combat to inflict more damage. Using enough items in battle lets you activate Mana Surge for extra-flashy attacks.Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories and the Envisioned Land launches on March 21st for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Earthblade, the next game from the team behind the acclaimed Celeste, has been cancelled. Announced in 2021, it was slated for release last year before a delay.Extremely OK Games founder and R&D director Maddy Thorson and programmer Noel Berry decided on the same late last month. It all started when Thorson and Berry disputed with art director and co-founder Pedro Medeiros regarding Celestes IP rights.We eventually reached a resolution, but both parties also agreed in the end that we should go our separate ways, Thorson wrote. Medeiros has since co-founded Coldblood Inc. and is now working on a new title, Neverway.While it wasnt the sole factor for cancellation, Thorson said it prompted the duo to take a serious look at whether fighting through to finish Earthblade was the right path forward. The project had a lot going for it, but, frustratingly, it was also not as far along as one would expect after such a protracted development process.Though she believes Earthblade could have been great if they soldiered through, Thorson and Berry were conflicted, and the pressure from Celestes success didnt help. Noel and I also began to reflect on how the game has felt for us to work on day-to-day and realized that it has been a struggle for a long time. Sure, working on one project for so long is bound to become a slog, but this feels like a deeper problem.Celestes success applied pressure on us to deliver something bigger and better with Earthblade, and that pressure is a large part of why working on it has become so exhausting.Pedro isnt to blame for this in fact, the split with him has given us the clarity to see that we have lost our way, and the opportunity to admit defeat. I feel many ways about it, but one big feeling is undoubtedly relief. Thorson also said that the decision and responsibility for the cancellation rested with her and Berry and that Pedro and his team arent the enemy.As for whats next, the duo wants to take the lessons learned, wipe the slate clean, and refocus ourselves back to smaller-scale projects. Were prototyping again and exploring at our own pace, and trying to rediscover game development in a manner closer to how we approached it at Celestes or TowerFalls inception. Of course, the team still hopes to collaborate with composer Lena Raine, Power-Up Audio, artist Amora Betanny, and others.Scaling the core team up post-Celeste has ultimately been a failure, and thats okay. We gave it all weve got, and life goes on. We are happy to return to our roots, reclaim some joy in our creative process, and see where that takes us. Stay tuned for updates on the teams next projects.

Surgent Studios, the maker of Tales of Kenzera: Zau, is partnering with Pocketpair Publishing, the newly founded publishing wing of Pocketpair (Palworld, Craftopia) to create ahorror game for release in 2025. Surgent continues conversations with potential partners around Project Uso (revealed in October 2024) andother projects set in the Tales ofRead More

Extremely OK Games cancels EarthbladeIndie developer cited issues with IP rights to Celeste and development pressures as main reasonsImage credit: Extremely OK Games News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on Jan. 23, 2025 Extremely OK Games has announced the cancellation of Earthblade.In a blog post, EXOK director of R&D Maddy Thorson explained that a "fracture" formed within the team in early 2024 around the IP rights to Celeste.As a result, art director Pedro Medeiros left the developer in November which encouraged Thorson and EXOK computer programmer Noel Berry to consider the future of Earthblade."Losing Pedro wasn't the only factor in cancelling the game, but it did prompt us to take a serious look at whether fighting through to finish Earthblade was the right path forward," Thorson wrote. "The project had a lot going for it but, frustratingly, it was also not as far along as one would expect after such a protracted development process."Thorson cited the day-to-day development of Earthblade and the pressure of Celeste's success as major issues, leading to work on the project becoming "exhausting" for the team."The split with [Medeiros] has given us the clarity to see that we have lost our way, and the opportunity to admit defeat," she added. "I feel many ways about it, but one big feeling is undoubtedly relief."Thorson also clarified that the cancellation of Earthblade was entirely the decision of herself and Berry."Because this is the internet, I want to be unequivocal here that the decision and responsibility for cancelling Earthblade rests entirely on me and Noel," she said."If you were excited about Earthblade and angry about its cancelling, Pedro and the Neverway team aren't the enemy and anyone who treats them as such isn't welcome in any EXOK games community."Other members of the EXOK team left over the past year, leaving Thorson and Berry as the only employees at the developer.As a result, Thorson said they are taking the lessons they have learned to "wipe the slate clean and refocus on smaller-scale projects.""We're prototyping again and exploring at our own pace, and trying to rediscover game development in a manner closer to how we approached it at Celeste's or TowerFall's inception," Thorson concluded.

Chris Kerr, News EditorJanuary 23, 20252 Min ReadImage via PocketpairPalworld maker Pocketpair has established a new publishing division it says will provide developers with as much support as they need "without overstepping."Pocketpair Publishing will offer funding opportunities, development assistance, and publishing support. The nascent publisher is looking to partner with "indie developers and small studios."It has already agreed to provide development and financial support to Surgent Studios so the Tales of Kenzara developer can "realize its full potential." The news comes months after Surgent announced layoffs before eventually going on hiatus while it searched for potential funding partners.Surgent CEO Abubakar Salim explained the UK studio now intends to make a "short and weird" horror title with backing from Pocketpair.Discussing Pocketpair Publishing's broader ambitions, division head John Buckley said the company wants to help developers "pursue their dreams.""At Pocketpair, there is nothing we love more than games, and Pocketpair Publishing is our latest venture to help the world enjoy gaming even more," he added. "Game development comes with many challenges, but we want to ease that process as much as possible and provide an environment where creators can pursue their dreams."Pocketpair has expanded significantly after its monster-catching survival shooter Palworld became a breakout hit. The title had attracted over 25 million players as of February 2024, putting the Japanese studio on the map.That success enabled the company to form Palworld Entertainment in partnership with Sony Music and Aniplex. The joint venture is attempting to "expand and develop new businesses associated with the hit game."Pocketpair also caught the eye of Nintendo and The Pokemon Company, which last year sued the studio over allegations of patent infringement in relation to Palworld.Palworld has colloquially become known as 'Pokemon with guns,' but it's unclear which specific patents Nintendo and The Pokemon Company feel the title has infringed upon.About the AuthorChris KerrNews Editor, GameDeveloper.comGame Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, andPocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.See more from Chris KerrDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like

Chris Kerr, News EditorJanuary 23, 20252 Min ReadImages via EAEA has warned investors to expect a downturn ahead of its Q3 fiscal report after key franchises EA Sports FC and Dragon Age failed to meet expectations.In a preliminary fiscal report, the publisher explained it had anticipated mid-single-digit growth in live service net bookings but is now projecting a "mid-single-digit decline."The company noted its 'Global Football' business (which includes FIFA replacement EA Sports FC) accounts for the majority of the change."Global Football had experienced two consecutive fiscal years of double-digit net bookings growth. However, the franchise experienced a slowdown as early momentum in the fiscal third quarter did not sustain through to the end," reads an investor note.EA revealed that Dragon Age: The Veilguard also fell short after engaging roughly 1.5 million players during the quarter, which is down almost 50 percent on internal expectations.As a result, EA now expects net bookings of approximately $2.2 billion for the third fiscal quarter and between $7 billion to $7.2 billion for the 2025 fiscal year.EA execs tout 'long-term vision' after key titles fall shortEA CEO Andrew Wilson said he remains confident in the company's long-term strategy but acknowledged that Dragon Age and EA Sports FC "underperformed.""During Q3, we continued to deliver high-quality games and experiences across our portfolio; however, Dragon Age and EA Sports FC 25 underperformed our net bookings expectations, added Wilson."This month, our teams delivered a comprehensive gameplay refresh in addition to our annual Team of the Year update in FC 25; positive player feedback and early results are encouraging. We remain confident in our long-term strategy and expect a return to growth in FY26, as we execute against our pipeline."EA CFO Stuart Canfield said the company continues to balance investment for future growth with operational discipline, and indicated the company intends to launch more of its "iconic franchises" as it heads into the next fiscal year.Last year, EA demonstrated its approach to operational discipline by spending $125 million to make 5 percent of its workforce redundant.About the AuthorChris KerrNews Editor, GameDeveloper.comGame Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, andPocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.See more from Chris KerrDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like