Any developer can take exploring an abandoned space station or mysterious small town and make it scary. Its interesting to see a concept for a horror game thats equally ominous, but with a much more unexpected start. Forbidden Solitaire is an upcoming game from Night Signal Entertainment that asks a simple question: what would you do if you purchased a game of Solitaire, only to find out it was haunted?The games Steam page sells this premise with a simple, three-line summary: Its 2019. You brought home a strange yet familiar 1995 CD-ROM game from the thrift store. You vaguely remember seeing ads for this game, and some kind of controversy, but you never got the chance to play it. Until now.Its hard to imagine how solitaire gameplay can be scary, but I also wouldnt have expected basic poker mechanics to make a banger of a roguelike in Balatro. The developer previously worked on Home Safety Hotline, a tech support simulator with some delightfully devilish writing and scary segments, so I have high hopes. Players will have to survive bloodletting solitaire gameplay, purchasing upgrades between rounds from the friendly eye that watches you from the walls, and discovering a variety of game-changing Jokers, some helpful, some malignant.According to the Steam page, an average run of Forbidden Solitaire will take between two and three hours. Night Signal Entertainment has yet to share a release date, but Im interested to see the developers take on a double period piece, depicting a gamer in 2019 playing a game from the 90s.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.GoPro has such a hold over the action camera world, casual users might assume its brand name is synonymous with action cameras as a whole. But simply assuming GoPro is the be-all and end-all of small, dedicated cameras would do a disservice to popular competitors like DJI. It wont take long when watching any tech YouTubers behind the scenes videos to start seeing DJI's products pop upone creator has even famously gotten in trouble for stress testing a DJI camera by speedingand thats for good reason. DJIs gear tends to punch in the same weight class as GoPros while costing a little less, and arguably having slightly better specs. The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro is no different. Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt What is the DJI Osmo Action Series?If your parents saw you with a DJI Osmo Action camera, they might ask is that a GoPro? But if your nerdy tech friend saw the same thing, theyd probably say nice. Since 2019, Chinese company DJI has been trying its best to make a foothold in the United States action camera scene, using what its learned from making drones and professional level gear (DJI equipment has been used in shows including Better Call Saul and Game of Thrones) to appeal to a more casual market while still maintaining an edge among power users. Thats resulted in a moderately affordable camera line that can really sing if you know what youre doing, but can take a little time for everyone else to get accustomed with.Whats new with the Osmo Action 5 Pro?To that end, the improvements to the Osmo Action 5 Pro (which is a sequel to the Osmo Action 4, with "Pro" tacked onto the end as a new marketing term) tend to be a bit nerdier than the flashy modular lenses GoPro announced alongside its new Hero 13 Black, but theyre no less meaningful, especially if raw numbers are what you care about most.In other words, open the box and youll get the same small rectangular form factor that youre probably used to by now (the camera measures in at a rough 1.7 x 2.8 x 1.3 inches), plus a larger rear screen, but you wont see any major surprises. Take one look at the spec sheet, though, and you might start to understand the appeal. Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt Yes, the raw resolution and frame rate limits are the same as on the Osmo Action 4, ranging from 1080p at 240 fps to 4K at 120 fps, and the field of view still tops out at a respectable 155 degrees. But inside the camera, you have a new image sensor with a larger pixel size (meaning better lighting and motion clarity), a more efficient processor for larger battery life, a bigger battery at 1,950 mAh, 48GB of internal storage, and touch-sensitive OLED panels for both displays.Some of those specs immediately put the DJI ahead of the competition, since GoPro cameras have a slightly smaller pixel size, do not have internal storage, have no OLED, and only come with one touch-sensitive screen. GoPro cameras also have a smaller aperture, which could make shooting in low-light conditions more difficult than with a DJI camera, although the aperture in the Osmo Action 5 Pro remains unchanged from the past few models.Do the Osmo Action 5 Pro's improvements make a difference?The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro is my first time actually going hands-on with a DJI camera, so for my own testing, Ill be placing it up against the competition more than prior models. My biggest takeaway? Wow, this thing is long-lasting. Usually, when I take an action camera out for testing, I expect to lose about 30 or even 40% of my battery life in one to two hours of on-and-off recordingthese devices arent really intended to run continuously for long periods of time. With the Osmo Action 5 Pro, I only lost about 20% after going on a 90-minute excursion. Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt Thats a little better than I got on the Hero 13 Black, which was down to 20% after only an hour, and matches the testing done by Lifehacker sister site PCMag. While both numbers are admirable, the Osmo Action 5 Pro is class-leading.PCMag also mentioned that its review unit of the GoPro Hero 13 Black suffered from overheating, and while I only experience mild heat spikes, I had similar issues with the Hero 12 Black. Meanwhile, the DJI camera was always cool to the touch. As for the footage itself, Im sated. Nothing is exceptionally good or bad, and all results are about as expected, although maybe a little brighter than what I was used to with my GoPro. Image stabilization is smooth and moving objects have little blur to them, at least during the daytime, but I dont want to oversell it. With the exception of slightly brighter footage, most of the video improvements here are a bit too slight for my casual eyes. Ive been sitting on this footage for a little bit now, so youll see some Halloween decorations in my example shots, and the camera performed well in capturing all the details of artificial spider webs and skeletons. It also did well in capturing more natural environments, like the fall leaves in the trees overhead. But while this does the job of producing footage worthy for use in professional projects, it doesnt necessarily stand out. Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt Where the Osmo Action 5 Pro does make a bit more of a name for itself, though, is with photos. I was impressed with the out-of-the-box detail here, especially in low light, while I pretty much refuse to take photos on the Hero 13 Black without the $129 Macro Lens Mod attached. With that add-on, its a bit more of an even experience, but its clear that the DJI camera offers more bang for your buck. Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt A split accessory ecosystemIt might sound odd to say, but the quality of your footage might not be the deciding factor in which action camera you get. There are only so many ways to make 4K at high frame rates look better, so its supplemental features that can be the kingmaker here.Aside from improving battery life or built-in screen quality, the big way to make a name for yourself in this space is with accessories. Here, GoPro and DJI take two separate approaches, with neither being objectively better.Both companies offer the basics, including mounts (which are generous enough to work with either brand), cases, extra batteries, and as of the GoPro Hero 13 Black, magnetic adapters, but their approaches differ a little bit when it comes to video and audio. Credit: Michelle Ehrardt Essentially, if you want more lens options, GoPro is your go-to. If you want more microphone options, then youll want to opt for DJI. There are third-party options for both, but there are perks to buying straight from the manufacturer.For instance, the GoPro Hero 13 Black introduced a series of modular lenses that I was pretty impressed by, since they open up new aspect ratios, better close-up detail, various ND filters for different lighting conditions, and a wider field-of-view. DJI, meanwhile, only makes ND filters and one lens for upping the field of view, although that lens does give you 182 degrees vs. the GoPro Ultra Wide Lens 177 degrees.By contrast, GoPro doesnt make any microphones, whereas DJI is arguably known just as much for its microphones as for its drones and cameras. And while you can use DJI microphones with GoPro devices, the benefit of using them with the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro is that certain newer mics will support a direct connection with the camera, resulting in higher quality audio than youd get over Bluetooth without the need for an adapter.Ultimately, Id say that the accessory field for either brand is strong, and ultimately depends on what you need. However, given that every video needs audio, but not all of them need, say, an anamorphic lens, DJI might have a slight advantage for most people.The confusing app ecosystemOne place where DJI does not have an advantage is the app experience. On the surface, both DJI and GoPro offer similar features, including a player for your cameras video clips and a basic editor, but with an optional subscription, GoPros app also offers unlimited automatic cloud backups, cross-device sync, an expanded editor, and automatic highlight generation.None of these features are strictly necessary, although its nice that theyre an option. But what really makes the GoPro app stand out over DJIs, even on the free tier, is that its optional and easier to navigate. Credit: DJI Frustratingly, setting up the Osmo Action 5 Pro requires activating it via the app, or else youre not going to get its needed firmware. That means sitting through an entire front page of ads, and if youre like me, plenty of pairing issues. I actually had to settle for installing the needed firmware through an SD card, but even then, I still needed to use the app to initialize the install.Meanwhile, the GoPro app is much more what-you-see-is-what-you-get, with easy to understand menus and no ads for other GoPro products cluttering up the interface. And if youd rather ignore it, you can.Should you buy the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro?With a lower price point and specs matching or sometimes exceeding GoPros recent flagship, the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro seems like the best action camera for most people on paper, but its not quite that simple. Its still an excellent camera, but Im hesitant to say its the best one for everybody.If all you need is a simple, point-and-shoot device and you dont rely on a lot of different lenses or mobile editing too much, then yes, the DJI is probably for you. If you need professional-level audio, its also a good choice. But theres no denying that GoPro offers an easier-to-understand user experience, and its modular lenses are still a cool add-on option.With that said, Id say the Osmo Action 5 Pro is probably better for power users, who likely have other gear to help supplement it, while the GoPro Hero 13 Black might be better for beginners who want one device that can do it all, supported by an intuitive mobile experience.But with the Osmo Action 5 Pro starting at $350 (you can pay extra to get bundles with various mounts or backup batteries) and the GoPro Hero 13 Black costing $400 without any of its extra lenses or its mobile app subscription, thats a fine line to walk. Youd certainly be happy with either, assuming youre willing to sit through DJIs subpar mobile app long enough to set up the Osmo Action 5 Pro.Its also worth pointing out that these are both flagships. If you need a rugged dedicated camera, but dont need modularity or extra high frame rates, cheaper options like the $180 GoPro Hero should do the job just as well.

Not to be out-done by Deepseek, OpenAI is launching a new Deep Research feature in ChatGPT. This is OpenAI's newest Agentic AI feature (after Operator), which builds on the recent trend of making AI more autonomous. According to OpenAI, Deep Research is capable of producing detailed reports matching the level of a research analyst. In a layperson's terms, it browses and interprets the internet for you.Deep Research uses OpenAI's upcoming o3 reasoning model to perform complex tasks, taking its own sweet time to do so. The feature is available now for ChatGPT Pro customers (the pricey sub that costs $200/month), but will soon be available for ChatGPT Plus and Enterprise users as well.How OpenAI's Deep Research AI Agent worksOpenAI's Deep Research tool is designed to work independently from you. You give it a detailed prompt, after which it'll ask some clarifying questions. Then, it will go and do its own thing in the background. According to OpenAI, a Deep Research stint can last anywhere between 5 minutes and 30 minutes, but the company claims it's able to do multiple hours worth of human-level work in the span within just a dozen or so minutes.While it's working, there's a panel on the right side of the page that shows everything it's doing, live. Think of this as the bot's citations, but it also explains its "thought process." It can connect to the internet, search online, read web pages, and analyze or synthesize massive amounts of information in the form of text, images, and PDFs. All of this is a bit compute-intensive, so OpenAI is limiting Pro users to just 100 queries a month. A smaller, more efficient model will be rolled out in the coming months, as well.The Deep Research feature is purpose-built for knowledge workers in the field of science, finance, engineering, and policy. But OpenAI says that it can be equally useful for consumers too. OpenAI gave an example of how Deep Research can help perform hyper-personalized research for big shopping decisions. Things like helping you decide between cars, furniture, appliances, or electronics. Since the tool can synthesize information from thousands of articles and reviews, it can supposedly build a report customized to your needs. Credit: OpenAI According to OpenAI, "deep research was rated by domain experts to have automated multiple hours of difficult, manual investigation"OpenAI offers multiple examples where Deep Research's insights can be valuable to users, saving hours of research time. The company says it can be used to understand extremely niche and specific problems via scientific studies and journals. Credit: OpenAI For example, a Chemistry prompt asks ChatGPT to "discuss the differences between pure- and mixed-gas sorption for glassy polymers, how the dual-mode sorption model can be used to predict mixed-gas sorption behavior in glassy polymers," the model then goes on to understand sorption models, accesses open-source information, clarifies key problems, pulls up PDFs, and even refines the model before piecing together all the content. According to OpenAI, this task helped save 4 hours of time. OpenAI's post also highlights similar use cases for Deep Research in the healthcare industry and linguistics, saving five hours and two hours, respectively.Deep Research also supposedly performed well on Humanity's Last Exam, an AI benchmark, testing expert-level knowledge across more than 100 fields. Deep Research scored 26.6% accuracy, the highest score yet on the text. By comparison, DeepSeek-R-1 scored 9.4%, and GPT-4o managed just 3.3%.While Deep Research is based on a reasoning model, and not an LLM, it still uses a language model to work with the input, and generate the output text. OpenAI warns that the Deep Research model can still hallucinate and make up facts, so it's still better to keep an eye on the research output, and not to trust it blindly.

EA is ready to take the wraps off the next Battlefield early. The publisher shared a brief glimpse of footage from an alpha version of the game as part of an announcement video for Battlefield Labs, a new early access program that will give fans a taste of in-development Battlefield before it launches.Battlefield Labs is designed to let Battlefield's developers "test concepts and experiences" before the next Battlefield game is released, according to a press release announcing the program. Developers hope to collect feedback on what the release describes as a critical part of the game's development. Anyone participating in Battlefield Labs will be under NDA and will "test (almost) everything" in the game. That includes "core combat and destruction," things like "weapons, vehicles and gadgets" and "maps, modes, and squad play."EA is running a similar playtesting program for the next Skate game appropriately dubbed "Skate Insiders" ahead of that game's early access release in 2025.Battlefield is currently being developed by a collection of EA studios under the umbrella of "Battlefield Studios," including DICE, the creators of the franchise, Criterion, a former Need for Speed developer that was shifted to Battlefield in 2023, Ripple Effect and Motive, the developer of Star Wars Squadrons and the recent Dead Space remake.There's not a ton to go off of in the footage EA shared, but the game's developers did confirm that the next Battlefield will include a single player campaign, a notable omission from multiplayer-only Battlefield 2042. You can sign-up to participate in Battlefield Labs right now on EA's website if you're in Europe or North America. The test will be limited to "a few thousand participants" to start, but the company plans on expanding the program to other regions and players in the future. Even if you're not playing the early access version of the game, EA says you'll also be able to track Battlefield's development through "work-in-progress public updates" and the game's Discord.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ea-is-giving-fans-a-chance-to-test-the-next-battlefield-early-192527209.html?src=rss

Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario and a former staunch supporter of President Trump, has announced that the Canadian territory will be ripping up a $100 million contract with Elon Musks Starlink. The contract was signed in November of last year and tasked Starlink with providing internet service to remote parts of the province.This comes after Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on nearly all Canadian imported goods. This spurred Canada to announce its own 25 percent tariff on American imported goods. It looks like we are heading into a trade war for, uh, reasons? Trump says its about fentanyl, even though less than one percent of the drug arrives in this country via Canadian routes. This is data that has been confirmed by both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the US Drug Enforcement Administration.Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts. Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025 So where do Musk and Starlink come in? The richest man in the world is a close confidant of Trump and now has control over the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a group within the administration tasked with cost-cutting and deregulation. Musk, who was not elected and is essentially just some guy, has access to the federal payment system and some of the levers of the US Treasury.In the eyes of Ford, this is enough to link Musk to Trumps tariffs. He said that Ontario wont do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy" and that Musk wants to take food off the table of hard-working Canadians. The premier indicated that the contract will remain null and void until US tariffs are removed. Additionally, Ontario is banning all American companies from provincial contracts, which will cause domestic businesses to lose out on tens of billions of dollars in new revenues.Ford also commanded the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) to remove American-made spirits from store shelves. He joins several other premiers across the country in this effort.Every year, LCBO sells nearly $1 billion worth of American wine, beer, spirits and seltzers. Not anymore," he said in a statement. Ontario has a population of over 16 million people and includes cities like Toronto and Niagara Falls. Musk responded to Fords decision by posting oh well on X.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/ontario-cancels-100-million-starlink-contract-as-a-response-to-those-tariffs-192310546.html?src=rss

DeepSeek-R1 expands across Nvidia, AWS, GitHub, and Azure, boosting accessibility for developers and enterprises.

Email spam is spiralling out of control, with over 90% of emails classified as such in 2024, report claims.

Tesla's stock fell more than its megacap tech peers on Monday following President Trump's announced tariffs.

Among the tech megacaps, Apple may be the most vulnerable to President Trump's announced tariffs on China.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg hinted at a return to OG Facebook during last weeks Q4 earnings call, listing it as a key goal for 2025. But what exactly does that mean?So far, Meta hasnt offered any clear details. Could Zuckerberg mean the millennial meme-filled Facebook of the 2010s or the masculine energy of its controversial origins as Facemash (a site that ranked Harvard classmates by attractiveness without consent)?Asked about his plans for the OG Facebook, Zuckerberg replied, I think some of this will kind of get back to how Facebook was originally used back in the day,, while tight-lipped on any other details. I think there are a lot of opportunities to make [Facebook] way more culturally influential than it is today, he said.Zuckerberg cautioned investors that these changes may require some tradeoffs in terms of maximizing business results in the near term, hinting at potential revenue impacts. The first wave of product updates is expected to roll out within the next six months.Now, OG Facebook could mean different things to different people. For many, its a throwback to the days before Boomer and Gen X relatives took over. These days, Facebook is often used begrudgingly by those under the age of 30 and is more synonymous with offensive memes and AI slop than cutting-edge youth culture.Studies show Gen Z overwhelmingly prefers TikTok and Snapchat, platforms that exist outside of Metas reach. A 2024 Pew Research survey showed that only 33% of U.S. teens (13-17) use Facebook, a steep drop from 71% a decade ago. One thing is clear, the platform is in desperate need of younger users to stay relevant.Meta has tried, and failed, to course-correct before. In 2020, it launched Facebook Campus, a college-only space meant to recapture its early exclusivity. It flopped within 18 months. More recently, in October 2024, the company rolled out a Gen Z-focused redesign putting greater emphasis on local communities, video, and Facebook Groups. Last year, it even quietly resurrected the Poke button.Can Facebook pull off the rebrand of 2025? Thats for Gen Z to decide.