In its notice outlining the large cut in university funding, the US National Institutes of Health seems to draw on a report from a conservative think tank that denounces the political left.

Access to Siri can be lifesaving, especially when the user is otherwise incapacitated, like a Florida stroke victim that used the assistant to call for help after crawling for days.Siri can help when you're unable to reach the phoneDaniel Vallaire, a resident of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said that he suffered a stroke in July 2024 that left him drifting in and out of consciousness, unable to call an ambulance. Help ended up arriving only thanks to the iPhone's "Hey Siri" feature.As noted by 9to5mac, it was Siri, Apple's digital assistant, that helped save his life, proving to be an unexpected lifeline for the Florida resident. "It's the closest I've ever been to dying," Vallaire said. The 70-year-old collapsed in his bathroom and spent two days crawling to the living room to reach his phone, all the while fighting for his life. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Two former executives from Autodesk have announced the launch of a new AI-driven startup called Motif that is being promoted as a "next-generation design platform for buildings." Leading the effort, which has raised $46 million in funding so far, are Amar Hanspal and Brian Mathews. They explained to TechCrunch that their product helps address the current stasis of BIM software not being backed by cloud computing technology. The market for BIM software is expected to surpass $26 billion globally by the mid-2030s.A look at 'How Computing Transformed Architectural Visualization' from December can be read in full here.

Its ridiculous that in the year 2025, we somehow still find ourselves having to defend the viability and justify the demand for single-player games, yet here we are. Its especially frustrating, of course, because the vast majority of the actual gaming audience will tell you that yes, single-player games absolutely are commercially viable products with more than their fair share of demands. In fact, time and again, spectacular sales and widespread acclaim for single-player games do just that. And yet, frustratingly, there are some in key positions in the games industry itself from publishers to specific figures at companies who cant seem to rid themselves of the notion that anything developed as an exclusively single-player experience is going to fail to sell to the level that modern AAA game development budgets necessitate.Recently, of course, we saw Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson suggesting thatDragon Age: The Veilguardhad failed to sell to expectations because it lacked live service elements. Even if you were to look at just the case ofDragon Ageitself, youd find no shortage of things to blame for its underperformance- its deficiencies in areas liking writing, progression, or choice and consequence mechanics; how many responded to its tonal and aesthetic shift; the tortured development that it endured, full of reboots, delays, and behind-the-scenes turbulence of all sorts, much of which was brought about, ironically enough, by the games initial pitch being that of a live service experience. According to EA, however, it wasDragon Age: The Veilguardscomplete lack of multiplayerness that led to its commercial failure.Its a baffling stance, because theres a hilariously long list of exclusively single-player games that saw widespread success on all fronts that you can point to to disprove Wilsons argument- some of which, by the way, have been published by EA itself (i.e., theStar Wars Jediseries). And yet another name has been added to that already lengthy list just in the last few days.Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2launched on the back of years of anticipation and widespread hype to kick off February, and really, 2025 in earnest. And sure enough, not only has the massive open world action RPG enjoyed widespread critical acclaim, its also got off to an impressive start on a commercial front, having sold over a million units worldwide on its first day alone.To anyone whos been paying attention,Kingdom Come 2ssuccess doesnt come as a surprise. The first game was a huge hit, having sold over eight million units worldwide- and that was in spite of its decidedly unpolished nature, and the fact that its critical reception was sort of all over the place. With its promise of a similarly compelling, authentic, and expansive role playing experience, but this time with more to do, a greater range of options, and countless improvements and layers of polish,Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2had turned many heads in the lead up to its release. To see it succeeding the way it is, then, doesnt come as a shock.And wouldnt you know it, its managing all of that despite being a purely single-player experience. No live service elements, no asynchronous multiplayer, no co-op options, no PvP component. Just a single-player game, full of content, complex systems, engaging storytelling, and detailed worldbuilding. And all of that is enough to not only attract a sizeable audience right out the gate, but to hold that audiences attention in a way that so many supposedly lucrative live service games have failed to do over the years. Who wouldve thunk, right?Admittedly, in some ways, the scale of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2ssuccess might seem at least slightly incongruous to those familiar with the games design sensibilities. Like its predecessors,Kingdom Come 2has a unique and singular vision, and it commits to bringing that vision to life with unrelenting and uncompromising zeal. Above all else, it wants to immerse players in its historical, open world setting, and just as important as that realism and authenticity is the games insistence on being beholden to its vast and complex web of open world RPG sandbox systems. The end result, in many ways, can easily come across as off-putting to those who might just be looking for a casual, breezy open world experience. That is definitely not what Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2is.What itiscan be complicated to pull off, but then again, we have seen quite a few examples of games with similar ambitions and ideas that have managed to pull off their visions so comprehensively that they manage to overcome their seemingly niche and inaccessible premises and go on to attract sizeable audiences. Elden Ringis the big one, of course, while the firstKingdom Come: Deliverancealso did the same. Last year, meanwhile, also brought us the likes ofDragons Dogma 2andS.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chornobyl both games that were almost proudly hostile to the player, but were beloved by many in their audience for precisely those tendencies.Kingdom Come 2 is cut from a similar cloth, and it backs up its eccentricities and uniqueness with plenty of quality as well, of course. For instance, its world is absolutely massive, but rather than being huge for the sake of it, it is highly detailed and immaculately crafted. Its also brimming with content that deserves high praise not only for being highly diverse in its design and style, but also for how consistently well-written it is. It tells a compelling story that only gets better as you dive deeper into the rabbit hole, and the more you engage with its optional offerings, the greater your appreciation grows for its story and the world that it is set in- not least because a lot of the side quests find an interesting way to weave themselves into the main tale. And all of this is, of course, built on top of a dense and complex lattice of systems that bringKingdom Come 2sopen world to life in ways that most other open world games can only hope to emulate.All of which is to say that when you get true quality in a game quality likeKingdom Come: Deliverance 2delivers in spades whether or not it has any multiplayer elements or live service style features ends up being entirely irrelevant. From its top-notch writing and its compelling worldbuilding to its dense and engaging RPG mechanics and so, so much more, the game delivers in ways that many might argueDragon Age: The Veilguardsimply didnt. Both are obviously entirely different kinds of games, but whereDragon Agefailed to satisfy the demands and wants of many in its target audience,Kingdom Come 2hits all the right notes with resounding success for the many.Thatis the key to finding critical and commercial success- not trying to chase trends by forcing live service elements into games where they dont belong. Theres a long list of games that have tried to do that and failed spectacularly, only to serve as little more than cautionary tales for future wannabe trend-chasers. Meanwhile, theres an even longer list of games that have found widespread success because they were able to bring their visions to life with genuine quality, everything else be damned. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2,as it turns out, has done that.Dragon Age: The Veilguarddidnt. Maybe itshouldbe as simple as that.Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Stop me if youve heard this one before: hot on the heels of a riotously successful console selling over 150 million units, a company comes out with a successor that, owing to a higher-than-expected price, ends up sparking backlash and the ire of the masses, to its own fiscal detriment. This happened with the PS3 following the PS2s success, and this happened with the 3DS after the success of the Nintendo DS. Now, Nintendo finds itself in that position once again, with the Switch 2 looking to follow up on the Switchs spectacular success. And once again, questions emerge about what the consoles price is going to be- because thats the one big factor that could make or break any new hardware release, regardless of how well its predecessor may or may not have sold.Several factors are at play here, and Nintendo is going to keep its cards close to its chest until the day it chooses to announce the Switch 2s price (which is likely going to be the upcoming April Direct). Until then, however, we can, at the very least, look at the companys track record and make some educated guesses on that front. And the first factor that comes to mind is, of course, the fact that Nintendo is going to want to sell the console at a profit right off the bat. Selling at cost or even taking losses with hardware sales isnt exactly uncommon practice especially in the first couple of years after a new consoles launch, which is when component prices tend to be highest but Nintendo in particular has generally avoided doing that.Speaking of component prices and manufacturing costs, that is the next big factor to take into consideration, and it, unfortunately, is not one that is in the general consumers favour. The last few years have not only not seen prices for, say, semiconductor chips or memory lowering, they have outright seen those prices goingup. One look at current-gen hardware in general is enough to drive that home. The PS5 and Xbox Series X/S have both seen numerous price increases since the four-plus years they came out, and it doesnt look like market conditions are going to improve on that front anytime soon. If anything, manufacturing costs have every chance of going further higher, especially if, say, tariffs end up being placed on sectors and markets that will directly impact the games industry (something thats looking increasingly likely by the day).All of which is to say that we can almost take it as a given that the Nintendo Switch 2s price is going to be notably higher than that of its predecessor. How much higher though? Well that, of course, is very much the question. The Nintendo Switchs base model is priced at $300, and its OLED model at $350, which means a $400 price point for the Nintendo Switch 2 doesnt seem outside the realm of possibility. In fact, it seems quite likely, because in the current market, a new console costing $400 seems entirely reasonable.But Nintendo, being a profit-driven business, might be asking itself- is it perhapstooreasonable? How much can we get away with? is often the question that companies ask themselves when theyre trying to decide on a new products pricing. And the answer to will people be fine with a $450 Nintendo Switch 2? is largely going to be yes. There might be some who might take issue with it, but from Nintendo having a mountain of goodwill to fall back on to the Switch 2 following up on one of the greatest gaming hardware success stories of all time, there are more than enough factors at play that ensure that a $450 price point is likely not going to be deemed too high for the next Nintendo machine.So yes, a price point somewhere between $400 and $450 is likely going to be the sweet spot- acceptable to both Nintendo and audiences. Going higher than that, however, could have self-destructive results. For instance, Nintendo may well bank on the fact that the Switch 2s early sales, at the very least, are likely not going to be affected much by a higher launch price. It could also argue that a $500 price point is par for the course for the current market, given other platforms prices. But moving beyond early sales, a higher price point obviouslywillimpact sales in the long-term. And PS5-equivalent pricing for a new handheld device that is nowhere near as powerful will be widely opposed, current market conditions be damned.Nintendo, of course, is going to be well aware of that fact. Lets not forget that the company has been in this position before. It followed up on the DS with the 3DS, which was notoriously overpriced upon release, something that ended up dragging the devices sales down significantly (until price cuts were implemented). As successful as the DS had been, the goodwill it generated wasnt ever going to outweigh an overpriced successor. And Nintendo, of course, is a company that tends to learn from its mistakes- as evidenced by the Switch 2s iterative nature and even its name, with the company clearly desperate to avoid another Wii U situation. One would hope, then, that the Big N will have similarly kept the lessons it learned with the 3DS in mind as it decides what price to launch the Switch 2 at.And something else thats worth keeping in mind- Nintendo is likely going to want to go the entire Switch 2 lifecycle without doing any actual price cuts. The Switch has managed to go the entire last eight years without ever having dropped from its $300 launch price, and youd assume that Nintendo will want to stick with such a model going into its next generation of hardware as well. Of course, we might still get lower priced options in other ways, such as with a Switch 2 Lite in fact, we almost definitely will sooner rather than later but theres a good chance that several years from now, approaching the end of its own lifecycle, the Switch 2 is going to be available on shelves at the same price that it will be when it goes on sale later this year.Nintendo has always been a company that has been very clear in its drive to appeal to the largest possible audience, including families and the younger demographic, and in turn, it has also always been aware that many in those groups are going to be turned off by a steep price point for a gaming console. One would assume that it will have that same awareness with the Switch 2. Industry analysts all seem to believe that that will indeed be the case, and that a $400 or $450 price point is what the Switch successor is going to launch with. If that is indeed the price Nintendo picks, itll be a decision worth celebrating, especially with the games industry have been locked in a spiral of constantly increasing prices and costs for several years running.Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

A game being developed by Ready at Dawn for Ubisoft was met with odd demands about the protagonist, according to the studio's co-founder.Read More

Square Enix's financials for the first three quarters of the 2024-2025 fiscal year show the developer continues to face year-over-year declines.As of December 31, 2024, overall net sales were 248.5 billion (or $1.6 billion), down 3.5 percent year-over-year. Profit amounted to 24.7 billion ($162.7 million), a 7.5 percent yearly decline.The Digital Entertainment business was 160.3 during these nine months, down 10.7 percent from 2023-2024, and a 13 percent drop from the nine-month period in 2022-2023. According to Square Enix, net profits fell this year due to "weakness in existing titles in Games for Smart Devices/PC Browser."Net sales and operating income for that category were 56.3 billion and 5.6 billion respectively, respective drops of about about 28 percent (for a total of 21.7 billion), and about 58 percent (for a total of 7.9 billion) from the year before. Square said operating income's "sharp" decline was owed to "weakness in existing titles, royalty revenue recognized the previous fiscal year, and a content production account valuation write-down."Square Enix's digital entertainment sales have declined the last three fiscal years.However, it acknowledged profits and operating income rose for its HD (or premium) and MMO game divisions. Despite lower year-over-year net sales, HD games' operating profits were 4.6 billion, up 1.7 billion from last year (a 45 percent increase). Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake was a noted highlight, and the company reported "stronger than expected" sales. As of early December, the RPG sold 2 million copies worldwide.Square Enix did not provide sales numbers for third-quarter HD game releases like Life is Strange: Double Exposure and Fantasian: Neo Dimensionboth released during the same nine-month period.Meanwhile, MMOs saw increases in net sales (44 billion, up 26 percent year-over-year for a total of 9.2 billion) and operating income (17.3 billion, a 20 percent year-over-year increase of 2.9 billion). Final Fantasy XIV and Dragon Quest X are the studio's "main titles in operation": the former's Dawntrail expansion released in July (and came to Xbox Series X|S that spring), and the latter had a major 7.3 update in January 2025.In its consolidated results, Square Enix said its forecast for the full fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2025, has not changed.

Google Maps now shows the Gulf of America in place of the Gulf of Mexico for users on both web and mobile in the United States. It made the change after the Trump administration formally changed the name today of the body of water spanning between the eastern coast of Mexico and the Florida panhandle. Google says it follows the GNIS, or Geographic Names Information System, a US database of location information.Users in Mexico will continue to see Gulf of Mexico, while the rest of the world will see the original name with Gulf of America in parentheses. Google says it determines a users location and thus which version of the body of water they seeusing data from their mobile OS, SIM, and network. Desktop users will see changes based on search settings or device location if not provided.Meanwhile, Apple hasnt made any changes in Apple Maps yet, although it does redirect Gulf of America searches to the Gulf of Mexico. Other mapping companies like MapQuest have not made changes either. However, we found that Google-owned Waze shows both names if you search for Gulf of Mexico, but finds nothing when searching for Gulf of America.

Today, 27 minutes agoSean HollisterDamn, Polygon beat me to the Ayaneo 3.Chris Plante! How dare you suggest the device I called the most exciting PC handheld is better than the Steam Deck because its on steroids in every way?Plante, direct-messaging me on Slack:For me being on steroids is not inherently a good thing. peoples hearts explode and their privates shrinkOh! Well then. That DOES sound like the pre-production model they sent me. For a better Steam Deck Plus experience in the meanwhile, try this!Ayaneo 3 is a Steam Deck on steroids in every way[Polygon]Feb 4Sean HollisterI plugged an Nvidia RTX 5090 into a gaming handheldThe RTX 5090, in a Minisforum DEG1, plugged into a GPD Win Max 2. Photo by Sean Hollister / The VergeTwo weeks ago, I showed you how the worlds fastest graphics card works in a small form factor PC. To my surprise, Nvidias RTX 5090 Founders Edition delivered the vast majority of its performance even in a 12.7-liter desktop with a five-year-old CPU.It made me wonder: what if I plugged this card into a handheld gaming PC instead? So I did, and let me tell you: its a wonder to behold. Its enough to make me believe in a rich future where handhelds get more powerful when you dock them at home.Read Article >Jan 27Andrew LiszewskiFrom Steam Deck to Steam Brick.To make the Steam Deck even more portable, modder Crastinator-pro stripped the handheld down to the bare essentials needed to play games while connected to a TV or pair of AR glasses.The smaller and lighter Steam Brick says goodbye to the Steam Decks screen, controls, and battery and stuffs the remaining electronics into a custom 3D-printed housing featuring just a USB port and a power button.The Steam Brick makes the Steam Deck an even more portable console by stripping away its built-in controls and screen. Image: Crastinator-pro / GitHubJan 26Sean HollisterWhat handheld PCs should do to fight the Nintendo Switch 2The Lenovo Legion Go S with SteamOS. Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The VergeI stopped buying most games for my Nintendo Switch the day I bought a Steam Deck. My Switch has been a Mario and Zelda machine ever since. Its simple: the Steam Deck took the Switchs best trick pick-up-and-play portability while offering more games that run better. I can easily resume the ones I started on my desktop PC, or continue to play portable titles on my desktop and marvel at improved graphics. But the Nintendo Switch 2, coming later this year, may change that value proposition. Not only will it continue to be the console that attracts families and kids with inventive, surprising, must-try exclusive Nintendo games that use its detachable Joy-Cons many tricks, but it also has a real chance at convincing the enthusiasts who might otherwise buy a handheld gaming PC or who were waiting for handheld PCs to become less of a wild west.Read Article >Jan 24Sean HollisterThe $900 Ayaneo 3 is the most exciting PC handheld the companys yet madeAyaneo builds the best-looking handheld PCs in the business, but theyve always been boutique. The 2023 Ayaneo 2, for example, cost $1,300 for an arguably worse experience than the $400 Steam Deck. But that experience isnt dampening my excitement for the new 7-inch Ayaneo 3.Not only does this one start at $900, within striking distance of the highest-end handhelds youll find at retail, its the most feature-packed portable Ive seen with two USB4 ports and OcuLink and RGB-ringed Hall effect joysticks and your choice of two seemingly killer screens. Perhaps most exciting: a way to finally fix a handhelds joystick and button layout to match your ergonomic preferences!Read Article >Jan 17Antonio G. Di BenedettoMaybe giant gaming handhelds are where its atIf you thought the Steam Deck was big, let alone Acers Nitro Blaze 11, get a load of this Frankensteins monster of a PC gaming handheld Ive cobbled together. This is a pre-production version of Asuss upcoming ROG Flow Z13 tablet combined with a GameSir G8 Plus clamp-on mobile controller; the Z13s AMD Strix Halo processor makes it probably the most powerful handheld gaming device you can play. That is, of course, until your hands cramp under its weight.Its utterly ridiculous, I love it, and Im beginning to think big screens are the future.Read Article >Jan 14Sean HollisterHey thats me, chatting about the Intel / Quanta prototype modular handheld concept that surprised me at CES.Ever wanted to have dinner with The Verges staff, shooting the shit about gadgets? Heres the next best thing: we filmed a roundtable chat over our actual team dinner at CES in Las Vegas; this clip is just a taste.If youd rather have more photos and not-quite-details about this prototype, find em here.Jan 13Sean HollisterI played with the new Legion Go 2, too.The SteamOS and/or Windows-toting Lenovo Legion Go S was the best handheld of CES 2025, but it wasnt the only Lenovo portable I took for a spin! The third time was the charm for this detachable-controller and kickstand Legion Go 2 prototype, which I found working at the third venue I encountered it.Jan 8Microsoft is combining the best ofXboxand Windows together for handheldsImage: The VergeXbox chief Phil Spencer has been dropping hints about an Xbox handheld for months, but what about Windows handheld gaming PCs? Jason Ronald, Microsofts VP of Next Generation, tells The Verge that we should expect to see the Windows handheld gaming experience change within this calendar year.Ronald was a roundtable panelist this evening at an AMD and Lenovo event titled The Future of Gaming Handhelds, which was mostly a coming-out party for Lenovos new Legion Go S. But he did hint onstage that Microsoft plans to bring the Xbox experience to Windows PCs, rather than the other way around and expanded on that considerably after we caught up with him later.Read Article >Jan 7Sean HollisterI finally touched the MSI Claw 8 AI Plus.The Intel Lunar Lake handheld, on sale now, looks and feels SO much better than the original, and I hear it performs far better, too.Wonder why MSI didnt let me borrow one or even answer my emails.1/6Jan 7Sean HollisterA look inside the Lenovo Legion Go S.Lenovo sent Dave2D an entire pre-production unit of the soon-to-be Steam-ified Legion Go S, complete with its Lenovo-exclusive AMD Z2 Go chip, so hes got the best look yet. You can see its full-length SSD slot here (with spacer for smaller drives) for easy upgrades.He also ran early benchmarks that suggest itll surely have more performance than the Steam Deck. We both agree it wont be a battery life champ.Image: Dave2DJan 7Sean HollisterValve will officially let you install SteamOS on other handhelds as soon as this AprilPhoto by Sean Hollister / The VergeSteamOS was always supposed to be bigger than Valves own Steam Deck, and 2025 is the year it finally expands. Not only will Lenovo ship the first third-party SteamOS handheld this May, Valve has now revealed it will let you install a working copy of SteamOS on other handhelds even sooner than that.Pierre-Loup Griffais, one of the lead designers on the Steam Deck and SteamOS, tells me a beta for other handhelds is slated to ship after March sometime, and that you might discover the OS just starts working properly after that happens!Read Article >Jan 7Sean HollisterUp close with the SteamOS-powered Lenovo Legion Go S.Physically, and on paper, I would pick this one over the original Legion Go in a heartbeat. It feels so much better and its the first third-party handheld with SteamOS, which vastly improves that feel.Sorry I couldnt provide any performance or battery impressions, though: this unit has an old Z1 Extreme chip inside, no intensive games on display, not even a Portal 2 savegame.Jan 7Sean HollisterLenovos officially making a Legion Go 2, too.The Legion Go S is the immediate successor to the Legion Go handheld, minus the detachable gamepads / mouse / kickstand and plus a SteamOS option. But a Legion Go 2 is coming sometime in 2025, Lenovo has announced.Specs include Ryzen Z2 Extreme, an 8.8-inch 144Hz OLED screen with VRR (!), and a big 74Wh battery. This one didnt turn on, but the grips are definitely comfier!1/5Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The VergeJan 7Sean HollisterLenovo Legion Go S official: $499 buys the first authorized third-party SteamOS handheldThe Lenovo Legion Go S, with SteamOS. Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The VergeLenovo is trying an experiment. In May, it will officially become the very first company outside of Valve to ship a handheld gaming PC with the Steam Decks wonderfully pick-up-and-play SteamOS instead of Microsoft Windows. And at $499, itll be a true Steam Deck rival, joining it as one of the lower-priced PC handhelds you can buy.That handheld will be the 1.6-pound Lenovo Legion Go S, a new and improved version of the companys eight-inch handheld that ditches the Nintendo Switch-like detachable gamepads and kickstand for a lighter and more traditional design, with a sculpted grip that felt supremely comfortable in my hands.Read Article >Jan 7Sean HollisterAsus just announced the worlds first Thunderbolt 5 eGPUThe 2025 Asus XG Mobile, now with standard Thunderbolt 5 instead of a proprietary connector. Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The VergeThis smoky black translucent box isnt a gaming PC instead, it might be the most powerful single-cable portable docking station ever conceived. When you plug your laptop or handheld into the just-announced 2025 Asus XG Mobile, it promises to add the power of Nvidias top-flight GeForce RTX 5090 mobile chip, and up to 140 watts of electricity, and two monitors, and a USB and SD-card-reading hub, and 5Gbps ethernet simultaneously.Thats because its the worlds first* Thunderbolt 5 external graphics card and one of the first Thunderbolt 5 docks, using the new 80 gigabit per second bidirectional link to do more things with a single cable than weve ever seen before.Read Article >Jan 7Sean HollisterNo, Valve isnt working with GPD to bring SteamOS to its handheld.Valve just squashed its second Steam Deck-adjacent rumor in one day. Were not currently working with GPD on official SteamOS support, Valve designer Lawrence Yang tells The Verge. GPD said it planned to offer SteamOS on its Win 4 handheld, with system adaptation provided by Valve. Ayaneo once claimed to have SteamOS too. Were expecting Lenovo to announce the first third-party SteamOS handheld this week.GPD WIN 4 handheld plans to support Valve's SteamOS in 2025[GamingOnLinux]Jan 7Sean HollisterIntel brought a big honking stereo 3D handheld gaming PC to CES 2025.Its co-developed with Tencent, its called the Sunday Dragon, and its absolutely huge with an 11-inch autostereoscopic screen (like the Nintendo 3DS but massive). I nearly dropped it trying to remove its detachable controllers.The 3D popped to life just fine for me, and while the heft gave me pause, the grips are sculpted nicely. Lunar Lake inside.1/7Jan 6Sean HollisterAMDs Z2 handheld gaming chips are official and not coming to a Steam Deck near youAMD has just officially announced its full lineup of Ryzen Z2 chips for handheld gaming PCs like the Steam Deck, after a brief tease this fall but as of today, its pretty muddy who theyre for or what theyre going to do for handheld PC gaming.First off, although AMD told journalists in a pre-recorded briefing that Valves Steam Deck, Lenovo Legion Go, and Asus ROG Ally lineups would all feature the new chips, its not clear thats actually true.Read Article >Jan 6Jay PetersAcer made an enormous 11-inch gaming handheldImage: AcerAcer is announcing two new Nitro Blaze gaming handhelds at CES 2025, and one of them, the Nitro Blaze 11, is truly giant with a massive 10.95-inch screen.Seriously, its huge just look at this photo of a person holding it! Its absurd!Read Article >Jan 2Sean HollisterAyaneo 3: could the worlds first modular handheld solve the great joystick debate?Its probably going to cost a buttload of money, but Im seriously intrigued: could this modular design let some of us get symmetrical sticks, others offset Xbox-style sticks, and still others enjoy touchpads or extra buttons instead?Still, looks like youll have to pick two at a time while the Steam Deck offers dual touchpads, dual sticks and D-pad simultaneously.More in Ayaneos video. Image: AyaneoDec 30, 2024Sean HollisterThe Steam Deck has finally been surpassed by a fork of Valves own experienceAn Asus ROG Ally X, running Bazzite. It looks just like SteamOS, because they share an interface.The first time I installed Bazzite on a Windows gaming handheld, I laughed. It looked like such a blatant clone of Valves Steam Deck interface. Its many bugs kept me at bay.Now, an Asus ROG Ally X running Bazzite has all but replaced the Steam Deck in my life. For the moment, it may be the best handheld your time and money can buy because it brings 90 percent of the Decks ease of use to the Allys more powerful hardware, larger 80 watt-hour battery, and variable refresh rate screen. Depending on the game, it can even offer better performance and battery life than the very same handheld with Windows. Ive been testing it for five months, and Ive rarely looked back.Read Article >Dec 19, 2024Sean HollisterValve will be Lenovos special guest at just-announced gaming handheld eventImage: Evan Blass (X)The future of gaming handhelds is coming to CES 25 and you have a front row seat! the email in my inbox exclaims.Let me translate: it looks like Lenovo just tacitly confirmed it will announce its first SteamOS handheld in Las Vegas on or before January 7th, 2025. Were expecting it to be the Steam button equipped Legion Go S that leaker Evan Blass revealed last week.Read Article >Dec 13, 2024Sean HollisterLeak: Lenovos larger Legion handheld adds OLED and keeps the detachable mouseA leaked image of the new Lenovo Legion Go. Image via Evan BlassEarlier today, Evan Blass revealed an unannounced Lenovo Legion Go S handheld gaming PC with an extremely intriguing twist: a Steam button that suggests it could be the first third-party SteamOS handheld, and thus the first true competitor to the Steam Deck.But that handheld gaming PC apparently wont be alone: Blass just provided The Verge with these images of a new, larger Lenovo Legion Go as well.Read Article >Dec 13, 2024Sean HollisterThe first batch of refurbished Steam Deck OLED is already sold out.Those Decks didnt last long! Valve told us itll make more of the nicely discounted refurb units available, though, and that theyll generally go in and out of stock.I may have hinted to my family that I wanted an OLED upgrade as my one Christmas present this year... wonder if they saw it in time?

Author(s): MSVPJ Sathvik Originally published on Towards AI. We have all been seeing the transformation of data science from being used extensively in technical domains for analysis to being used as an excellent tool for solving social and global issues. It has helped open different perspectives on significant global crises in various fields, such as poverty and overpopulation.Lately, one of the most concerning crises- humanitarian crises has had its integration with data science applications to address the urgent needs of thousands of vulnerable populations today.The news headlines speak for themselves, bleeding the truths about the disastrous Russia-Ukraine conflict that has affected millions of Ukrainian citizens seeking help. This has moved us as researchers and motivated us to build something that would help society, helping it contribute to the Ukrainian Resilience.We have crafted the first-ever dataset that detects help-seeking signals within Ukrainian social media posts amidst the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. We have used machine learning models and natural language processing (NLP) to train and identify distress signals. This advanced application of data science for humanitarian aid would bring us closer to society and change the world.The backstory: What motivated us to work on this dataset?War forces many people to leave their lovely, comfortable, and well-established lives and enter extreme situations, displacing them from their homes and burdening them psychologically. Although very effective, traditional aid methods have responded slowly in these scenarios, and the resources are often stretched. We have realized that less effective research has been conducted in applying data science and machine learning to better the adverse consequences of war, pushing us to design this dataset.Our dataset aims to address these particular challenges by giving technological solutions that identify genuine calls for help from different social media platforms that have been taken as data streams.We have categorized the posts into two main categories those seeking help and those that do not. The Ukrainian Resilience dataset has been designed based on machine learning models trained to filter, analyze, and assist in delivering support to those in dire need as soon as possible.This binary classification filter is a powerful tool for guiding resources to the affected communities, creating a real-world impact where they are most needed.Data collection: How did we collect the data and perform annotation?We have partially collected the data for the Ukrainian Resilience dataset from social media platforms like Twitter and Reddit, which are popular and widely used in Ukraine for sharing updates and seeking help.With the help of Ukrainian language experts, we have collected many keywords directly related to the conflict, likeRussia-Ukraine war, help, and other similar Ukrainian terms from the posts. The dataset had around 11,677 posts, with over 5,782 labeled as non-help-seeking and 5,895 labeled as help-seeking. The distribution has been made to ensure a balanced dataset for training the model and enhance the models ability to detect subtleties and differentiate ordinary posts from those that express urgent needs.The Ukrainian language experts have performed annotation and were trained to identify linguistic cues that indicate stress or any requests for aid.We validated these annotations using the inter-annotator agreement, which yielded a perfect consistency score(Krippendorffs alpha of 0.827), representing the reliability of the dataset.Our teams careful selection and annotation of data points has given the dataset a strong foundation for NLP applications to detect distress signals, making further processes more straightforward and accurate.Performance: How did we train the dataset, and what were the results?Once we had the dataset in our hands, we were all set to put it to the test by using various language models. We have used models like XLM RoBERTa, mBERT, LLAMA 2, and GPT-3.5 to evaluate the performance and obtain the results. We have tested the models on subsets of the data using standard metrics like precision, recall, and overall accuracy. Among them, GPT-3.5 achieved the highest accuracy at 81.15%, representing the potential of advanced language models to detect help-seeking posts effectively. The models high accuracy indicates its proficiency in capturing nuanced language cues, which help detect the subtle differences between a general update and a genuine cry for help.We have organized the training and the testing split with a ratio of 80:20, maintaining representativeness from both subsets.We used five epochs across the models, and this continuous approach ensured a fair comparison among the models while each was meticulously tested.Test results: Detection of help-seeking postsSpeedbumps: Challenges we faced and the importance of error analysisDespite the incredible accuracy of these advanced models, we still experienced challenges, and many limitations persisted. Several false positives occurred with the posts that contained emotional language but did not indicate any signs of immediate distress. These misclassifications and errors explain that the models can sometimes misinterpret strong language when used along with the updates as urgent help-seeking posts.Similarly, we observed that the urgent posts were sometimes classified as non-help-seeking, and false negatives tended to arise in some posts with local dialects or indirect language.We felt a clear need for improved cultural and linguistic sensitivity within the model, especially the local dialects and expressions with idioms that vary widely across Ukraine.Moreover, we have also noted that sarcastic or ambiguous language can confuse the model. Error analysis remains essential in refining the models capability since it reveals areas where additional training data or model adjustments and updates may be necessary.These findings were quite noteworthy as they create a pathway for improvement, enhancing the accuracy of models, minimizing errors in detecting distress signals, and creating a better impact.Dive into the real world: Applications and benefits of this datasetThis Ukrainian Resilience dataset establishes the further steps in applying data science to humanitarian crises. We feel that this would help facilitate the identification of help-seeking posts, allowing NGOs, governments, and other agencies to respond quickly by providing support to those in need, whether for shelter, food, or medical aid.We can also further extend the applications to localized use cases, such as enabling volunteers to assist targeted regions or identify specific groups that are in need.Future adaptations could also allow multilingual translations, expanding their applications to other conflicts and regions and making them a universal tool for detecting distress signals in different crises, broadening the impact of data science on global efforts.Ethical considerations: Protection and prevention of misuseEthical aspects of this work are quite delicate due to its urgency and sensitivity. We have been very responsible since the beginning of this datasets usage, ensuring that it is only shared with the NLP researchers and the human welfare-focused organizations we have interacted with.We have handled the dataset with integrity and ensured that restrictions are brought into the picture to prevent misuse.Another primary ethical concern was that the dataset was text-based, though some distress signals were conveyed through images and videos. We believe that incorporating these elements would expand the scope of the dataset.Future directions: The scope of our datasetThough the Ukrainian Resilience dataset has made significant milestones, it does have limitations like we just went through before. The major one is that the focus on Ukrainian language text limits its capacity and applicability and cannot be applied to posts in other languages or regions.Moreover, as this dataset is only text-based, it lacks visual-image and video data, which may also convey distress signals that could be essential to help detect more accurately in this context.ConclusionThe Ukrainian Resilience dataset, which integrates machine learning models, illustrates the power of data science in detecting help-seeking signals.This dataset has laid the base for timely, data-guided support that provides help to vulnerable populations in war and conflict zones. As data science grows, its markable impact in solving real-world crises will become significant and offer potent means to deliver aid and transform lives.The Ukrainian Resilience dataset is a fantastic example of how technology can drive immediate change even in the most complicated and sensitive environments.Citations: MSVPJ Sathvik, A. Dowpati, and S. Sethi, Ukrainian Resilience: A Dataset for Detection of Help-Seeking Signals Amidst the Chaos of War, IIIT Dharwad, Cognicore AI, University of Delhi, Zero True, Raickers AI,2024.Image source: Images generated by OpenAIs DALL-E model; also adapted from MSVPJ Sathvik, A. Dowpati, and S. Sethi. Ukrainian Resilience: A Dataset for Detection of Help-Seeking Signals Amidst the Chaos of War. IIIT Dharwad, Cognicore AI, University of Delhi, Zero True, Raickers AI, 2024.We welcome you to explore our work through the link provided below: https://aclanthology.org/2024.findings-emnlp.16.pdfJoin thousands of data leaders on the AI newsletter. Join over 80,000 subscribers and keep up to date with the latest developments in AI. From research to projects and ideas. If you are building an AI startup, an AI-related product, or a service, we invite you to consider becoming asponsor. Published via Towards AI