MacworldThe most important thing about the new iPhone 16e is the Apple-designed cellular modem inside, the C1. The C1 is the first visible sign of Apples decade-long goal to no longer be reliant on Qualcomm for one of the most important parts of any smartphone, namely its connection to cellular networks. The C1 is also an endorsement of the entire approach Apple has taken with Apple silicon, which will lead to future Apple products that are more efficient and better integrated than ever before.Bad bloodWe all know that Apple doesnt particularly like Qualcomm, with the two companies having been engaged in numerous lawsuits before finally calling it quits in 2019. A few months after settling with Qualcomm, Apple spent $1 billion to buy Intels modem business. The goal was clear: Apple settled with Qualcomm and agreed to pay patent fees and buy Qualcomms modems until it could make its own. Nearly six years later, that time has come.The rest of the smartphone world doesnt seem to mind buying Qualcomms modems, which hold a dominant market share, especially when you only consider high-end phones like the ones Apple makes. As current iPhone users know, Qualcomms 5G modems are solid, fast, and good. So why is Apple kicking against them so hard?Yes, part of it is (as illustrated in some of those lawsuits) that Apple feels Qualcomm is making money on patents that either shouldnt exist or should be licensed for far less than what the company charges. But thats water under the bridgethe lawsuits were settled, and Apple will probably have to keep paying Qualcomm for patents until they expire.We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products we make.Tim Cook, January 2009But the bigger issue is whats commonly called the Cook Doctrine, though its a philosophy that dates back to Steve Jobs. As Cook said back in 2009, We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products we make.Whats more relevant to a maker of mobile devices than wireless connections? (And oh, by the way, Apple is also rumored to be building its own Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, too.)But this isnt just about independence from a supplier you dislike. Its about the power of controlling your own destiny, Apple silicon style.The Apple silicon playbookThink back to the days when Macs were powered by Intel processors. While Apple was a good customer of Intels for a long time, in the end, they were just thata customer, buying products. While a good manufacturer talks to their customers and tries to give them what they want, its Intels job to make chips for the entire PC market, not just Apple. Intels chips are built to sell well in the PC market, not just to integrate with the designs of any single manufacturer. Qualcomm is much the same.Apple iPhone 16eBest Prices Today:699 at Computeruniverse | 699 at OTTO | 699,00 at amazon.deApple silicon doesnt work that way. Every Apple-designed chip is built with specific products in mind. The M4 was designed with the 2024 iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac in mindand the forthcoming 2025 MacBook Air, too. The hardware and chip designnot to mention the operating systemall go hand in hand. Its a huge advantage because it allows for optimizations that no third-party chip vendor could match. Apple only builds the features it needs, and nothing it doesnt.All of this goes for the C1 chip, too. For example, Apple can prioritize energy efficiency more than a Qualcomm chip destined for an array of different use cases ever could. It goes beyond optimization because Apple can also build the features it wants into its chipsfeatures that Qualcomm might not see value in building for the whole market.While Apple has boasted that the C1 chip is differentiated by its ability to reprioritize data transfers based on information from the Apple-designed processor, Im sure that Qualcomm has similar quality-of-service functionality in its chips. But again, its implemented the way that Qualcomm wants, not Appleand its not implemented with the specific characteristics of Apples operating systems in mind.Learning curveTheres a reason the C1 is debuting in Apples low-cost, low-volume iPhone 16e. Apple is starting small. The C1 probably cant keep up with Qualcomms best chips in all circumstances, and Apple knows this. (Youll know when Apple is confident that its caught or bested Qualcommthatll be the moment when it ships its own cellular modem in top-of-the-line iPhone models.)The iPhone 16e is the first iPhone with Apples own cellular modem, the C1.Apple In fact, I think its almost guaranteed that once the iPhone 16e ships, someone will discover specific ways in which the C1 lags behind the performance of other iPhones, and will breathlessly report this as some sort of scandal. But its almost inevitable: this is the first step, to get Apple in the game. There will be more.We build a platform for generations, Srouji told Reuters. C1 is the start, and were going to keep improving that technology each generation so that it becomes a platform for us that will be used to truly differentiate this technology for our products.So yes, Apple doesnt love Qualcomm. But this strategy isnt about sticking it to a supplier-turned-competitor. Its about making Apples devices fundamentally better in the long run. Apples ability to design its chips with a singular focus on its own ecosystem ensures that its hardware and software will work together in ways that no third-party supplier could matchnot even the best one in the world.Given how well Apple has executed every other aspect of Apple silicon over the last decade, who wants to bet against them nailing this one too?

Microsoft and Apple were once the yin and yang of the tech world. Microsoft was dull and plodding, milking buggy, barely-good-enough-for-prime-time Windows for tremendous profits, thanks to a worldwide operating system monopoly. The company was incapable of creating new, innovative products, and relied on sharp-elbowed (and potentially illegal) business practices to stay atop the tech world.Apple was its polar opposite. Under Steve Jobs out-of-the-box thinking and obsessive attention to the smallest details, it released what seemed an unending stream of beautifully designed products that changed the way the world uses technology: the Mac, iPhone, iPod and iPad.That was then.These days, the two companies have reversed roles. If youre looking for innovation, look to Microsoft. Meanwhile, Apple stagnates, milking old products for new money.For evidence, you need only look at a single day Feb. 19, 2025. On that day, Microsoft announced a breakthrough in quantum computing, based on a branch of physics known as quantum physics. (Its beyond the scope of this article to detail exactly how quantum computing works, but you canget some details in Microsofts announcement.)The technology will eventually be able to solve technological, mathematical and scientific problems that cant be cracked right now. When its ready for prime time, it will likely be able to supercharge AI development and usage. Microsoft has been working on quantum computing since the early 2000s and will continue spend money on it. And while it will take years to come to fruition, its one of the few technologies that has the potential to change the world.On the same day Apple announceddrumroll, please!a cheaper version of the iPhone, the iPhone 16e, a successor to the iPhone SE. Theres no new technology in it, aside from the first modem built by Apple. On second thought, hold the drumroll.How did we get here? Why is the tech world looking to Microsoft for the newest technologies like AI and quantum computing, and looking to Apple for a cheaper iPhone? To understand the present and predict the future, you need to know the past. So, well start out by looking at both companies earlier days.A look at technologys pastIts said that to a man with a hammer, everything in the world looks like a nail. In the old days of Microsoft, Windows was its hammer. Its competitors were the nails. One by one Microsoft used Windows to pound them into submission. Lotus, the maker of Lotus 1-2-3 the worlds most popular spreadsheet gone. Harvard Graphics, maker of the Harvard Graphics the worlds most popular presentation software gone. WordPerfect, maker of the worlds most popular word processor WordPerfect, barely even a shell of its former self. Many other competitors were crushed by Microsoft as well.The strategy worked for years, until it didnt. The world changed, and Microsoft didnt change along with it. Its attempt to build a mobile operating system bearing the Windows name cost the company billions of dollars before CEO Satya Nadella killed it. Its other attempts at getting into new markets, like the laughably bad Zune music player to compete with the iPod, went off the rails. The Internet came along, and Microsoft didnt pivot quickly enough to it because it was still focused on Windows, allowing the rise of Google, Meta and myriad other companies.As for Apple, under Steve Jobs it seemingly did everything right. It focused on new technologies, each new product beautifully designed and built and released before people even knew they wanted them, creating entirely new markets. Jobs was an impatient innovator, and he refused to rest on his laurels or repeat the past. Something new was always in the works.So, what happened?At Microsoft, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, architects of Microsofts rise to power, left the company in Nadellas hands. He wasnt wed to the companys past and didnt believe Windows was the solution to every tech problem.Hes been a quiet innovator. Under his leadership, cloud computing, not Windows, became the focus. Then Nadella turned to AI. And all along, he continued to spend money on quantum computing. The company now lives on the cutting edge.After Jobs died in 2011, Apple was never the same. Tim Cook took over as CEO. Hes been a brilliant manager, growing the company to the point itsnow valued at $3.7 trillion, the largest in the world. But is he an innovator? No. The Apple Watch and AirPods launched under his watch might bring in nice amounts of revenue. But theyre far from being breakthroughs.A look to the futureWhats next for both companies when it comes to innovation?At Microsoft its clear. The company has become an AI company and its not looking back. Its going to continue to pour money into quantum computing. I dont know what else its cooking up in its labs, but Im sure its something.As for Apple, its having a hard time catching up with Microsoft and the rest of the industry when it comes to innovation. And its doing a particularly bad job in AI. Apple Intelligence, the companys answer to Microsofts and other companies generative AI (genAI) efforts,has floundered badly.OpenAIs ChatGPT was released more than two years ago, and Microsoft Copilot, based on ChatGPT, was released more than a year ago. Apple Intelligence still isnt here, and its falling behind schedule. It may not be released until the WWDC (Apples annual developer conference), and possibly not even then, a full year after it was first announced.When its released, it will still lag badly behind its genAI competitors.Bloomberg reportsthat an upgrade to make Siri more conversational and a closer match for ChatGPT has been postponed to 2026. Thats about a century in AI time. By then, the competitors will be several generations ahead of Apple.The upshot? Apple is doing a great job of milking existing products, but a terrible job of innovation, while Microsoft continues to innovate. And theres no sign of that changing anytime soon.

Ahem: I have two separate confessions to make, both equally embarrassing.Confession #1 is that I love email. Im totally not kidding, either. Its about as uncool of a thing as possible to adore, I realize I mean, everyone hates their inbox, right?For me, though, email is a brilliant communication system. Its a refreshingly versatile and direct way to reach both anyone and everyone, whether were talkin individual messages for personal and professional purposes or full-fledged publications like the titillating tech newsletters I send through my ever-evolving knowledge-sharing collective, The Intelligence.So, yeah: I frickin love email. Sue me.Confession #2 may seem counterintuitive on the surface, given that gut-spilling humiliation I just put myself through. But I promise, it actually makes sense: I, the guy who endlessly writes about email and built an entire livelihood around the idea of email as a communication channel, also.hate email.Surely youve both adored and abhorred something at the same time, right? Email can be wonderful, and I rely on it daily in so many ways. But man, it can also be an endless migraine-maker because of the way other people insist on invading my inbox with eternal demands on my time. (If youre someone who has ever emailed me, I swear, this isnt about you. I still love you. I just hate email. Sometimes.)The biggest challenge with email whether you love it, hate it, or a mix of the two, like me is finding a way to focus on the stuff that matters while tuning out the noise. And while weve got no shortage of tweaks and tools for taming the jungle of your inbox, the real problem, especially on the phone front, is figuring out how to turn email notifications into something that isnt a uselessly distracting all-day drone.Its the exact type of nerdy problem I love to tackle, and today, Ive got an inspired new solution for you to put to use.[Why stop with emails? Take your entire Android notification game to soaring new heights with my free Android Notification Power-Pack six powerful enhancements for any Android device.]]A new approach to Android email notificationsAll right, so, first things first: By default, most Android email apps tend to take one of three approaches with email notifications:They bombard you with alerts for every stupid email you receive, thereby causing you to be constantly distracted and/or to tune the alerts out entirely.They hit you over the head with alerts for every email they deem to be important or high-priority, which similarly bleeps and bloops and interrupts you for all sorts of messages that dont actually require your immediate attention.They dont notify you at all, thereby allowing important and at times timely stuff to slip through the cracks and remain unnoticed until you happen to open up your inbox.None of these paths, suffice it to say, is optimal. So what if there were a better way a way you, the non-artificially intelligent human who actually understands which emails need to notify you and which do not, could intelligently control your Android email notifications and proactively decide which exact emails alert you?My friend, prepare to have your mind blown.This tip is actually a two-parter: First, Ill show you a simple way to categorically create alerts for emails that meet specific conditions while turning off all the other ruckus. And second, Ill show you how to apply that same formula on the fly to specific limited email threads so you can flag individual conversations for ongoing alerting, even if they dont meet your general notification-generating conditions.Whew! That sounds like a lot, I know. And theres a fair amount to this. But I promise: Its actually quite easy. And once you get this set up this once, itll then Just Work from that point forward with barely any ongoing effort required.Ready?Step 1: Disable the default Android email alertsBefore we can improve your Android email notifications, we need to get rid of the underwhelming ones that exist by default.Were gonna use Gmail as the example for all of this, since thats the default email app on Android and the one most Android-appreciating animals rely on. But if youre using Outlook or any other Android email app, you should be able to set up something similar by finding the equivalent steps and actions within that environment.For Gmail, our first step is gonna be to disable all the standard existing email notifications cause unless you actually want to be notified for every single email that arrives in your inbox all day long (or even every email that Gmail determines might be important to you), those notifications probably arent serving you well.So do this:Open up the Gmail app on your phone.Tap the three-line menu icon in the apps upper-left corner and then select Settings. (You might have to scroll down a bit within the menu before you see it.)Tap the name of the Gmail address you want to adjust for these purposes.Tap Notifications and make sure All is selected in the pop-up that appears.Cool? Cool.Now, back in the main settings menu for your Gmail account:Tap Manage labels.For any label you see with Last 30 days beneath it, tap its line and uncheck the box next to Label notifications so that it looks like this:Turning off your default Android Gmail notifications is the first step to a more enlightened approach.JR Raphael, IDGAgain, be sure to repeat that for every label in the list with Last 30 days beneath it so that none of those labels will create notifications for you from this moment forward.And now were ready to tell Gmail which emails you actually do want to be notified about.Step 2: Set up your new Android email triggerFor this next step, youre gonna need to access Gmail on a computer. For reasons I cannot fathom, Google still doesnt make it possible to create and edit labels or filters on Android here in the year 2025 when so many people are using mobile devices so much of the time! and this means youve gotta get to the desktop Gmail website to make it happen.Once youre there, click the gear-shaped icon in the sites upper-right corner, then click See all settings in the panel that pops up.Then:Click the Labels tab at the top of the screen.Click the Create new label button, in the Labels area of the page.Type Notify in the field for the labels name and click the Create button to save it.This new Gmail label is the key to smarter Android email notifications. (Just wait!)JR Raphael, IDGEasy, right? Now weve got the Gmail label thatll cause an email to notify you, and were ready to go back to the Gmail app on your Android device to set it up accordingly.In Gmail on Android, head into that same settings section we were looking at a minute ago by tapping the three-line menu icon in the apps upper-left corner, selecting Settings, then selecting your Gmail address and once more, tap Manage labels in the menu that pops up.Find and tap the new Notify label we created. (If you arent seeing it yet, you may need to back all the way out of the apps settings then go back in anew to force it to refresh.)Then:Tap Sync messages and choose Last 30 days.Tap the checkbox next to Label notifications to activate it.Tap the checkbox next to Notify for every message to activate it.We want emails associated with our Notify label to create a notification, each and every time.JR Raphael, IDGAnd with that, mdearie, your foundation is set. And now were ready to create your auto-notifying formula and also learn the steps for flagging a specific email conversation for ongoing notifications as you go.Step 3: Create your always-notify playbookWell start with the auto-notifying formula the parameters you want to create for which types of emails should always notify you, no matter what.They might be emails from a specific sender like your boss, an especially important client, or your illicit pet koala who periodically emails you hilarious marsupial jokes. They might be emails that come to a specific address, like a high-priority company account youre tasked with monitoring. Or they might be emails that contain a specific phrase, like site down or hilarious marsupial joke.Whatever the case may be, weve gotta go back to the Gmail desktop website on a computer once more to do the one-time initial setup around this as, again, Google for reasons unknown wont let you create Gmail filters from a phone.So from the Gmail desktop website:Click the search box at the top of the screen, then click the three-line control panel icon that pops up at the right of the box.In the pop-up that appears beneath it, type in whatever conditions you want for the emails thatll notify you focusing on the From, To, Subject, and Has the words fields.The From, To, and Subject fields are the most important pieces of this puzzle.JR Raphael, IDGYou can use quotation marks and the word OR to separate multiple terms, if you want to include more than one possibility within a single rule, but youll want to stick to just one field per rule so only the From field or only the Subject field, for instance. You can then go back and repeat this process to create separate rules for other fields, if you want.You can use quotation marks and the word OR to separate multiple terms within a single field.JR Raphael, IDGOnce youve got things set, click Create filter at the bottom, then check the box next to Apply the label and select that Notify label we made a moment ago.Adding on our special Notify label is the secret sauce that makes this all work.JR Raphael, IDGClick the blue Create filter button, and thats it: Your rule is set. And any incoming emails that meet the conditions you specified will always notify you on Android, while all other emails will stay quiet.Now, for the final piece of this puzzleStep 4: Prepare for on-the-fly alert enablingThe automated Android email notifying rules are great for making sure your phone alerts you to emails that you know in advance are gonna be important based on whos sending em or what theyre about.But what about when you randomly run into a conversation you want to monitor that doesnt meet those conditions say, a specific email thread with a potential business partner or realtor (or even a koala realtor who happens to be a potential business partner) that you really want to watch for replies around right now?With the system weve created, adding any such email on the fly into your alert system is easy.The way youll do it varies slightly depending on whether youre sending the email from a desktop computer or from Android.From a computer:Start a new email like you always do in Gmail.Click the three-dot menu icon in the lower-right area of the compose box. (You can do this before or after youve written the email. It doesnt matter!)Hover over Label in the menu that comes up, then find and click the Notify label we made a little while ago.The Gmail website makes it especially easy to add a label as youre writing a new email.JR Raphael, IDGThats all: You can now just send your email normally, and itll have the Notify label applied from the get-go meaning any new replies coming into it will trigger your Gmail Android alert and create a notification on your phone.If you want to add an existing email thread into your notification mechanism, meanwhile, youll just click the label-shaped icon above it (or click the three-dot menu icon above it, if you dont see a label icon, and select Label as from the menu that pops up) or use the L keyboard shortcut, provided youve got Gmails keyboard shortcuts activated and select our spiffy new Notify label.From Android:The Gmail Android app doesnt make it quite as simple to add a label onto a new email on the fly, while youre actually writing it. So in that scenario, when you want to have any replies to a specific email thread notify you, youll need to first send the email and then head into your Gmail Sent folder (located within the apps three-line main menu) to add the label onto it right after.Just open the email from there, then tap the three-dot menu icon above it and select Change labels. Find and select Notify, and boom: Youre good to go.With any email youve received or youre replying to, its even easier: Tap that same three-dot icon in the upper-right corner while viewing the email, then select Change labels and tap Notify.And with that, give yourself a well-earned pat on the back. You, my koala-obsessed companion, just gave your Android email a magnificent upgrade. You wont be bothered by needless notifications ever again, and youll always know when something important hits your inbox.Thats an enlightened way to handle email notifications on Android. That, you might even say, is what one could call Android intelligence.Treat yourself to even more advanced Android notification wizardry with my Android notification power-pack a free gift when you sign up for my weekly Android Intelligence newsletter!

Studies have indicated that psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin and MDMA, have swift-acting and enduring antidepressant effects. Though the US Food and Drug Administration denied the first application for medical treatments involving psychedelics (an MDMA-based therapy) last August, these drugs appear to be on the road to mainstream medicine. Research into psilocybin led by the biotech company Compass Pathways has been slowed in part by the complexity of the trials, but the data already shows promise for the psychedelic compound within so-called magic mushrooms. Eventually, the FDA will decide whether to approve it to treat depression. If and when it doesa move that would open up a vast legal medical marketwho will grow the mushrooms?Scott Marshall already is. The head of mycology at the drug manufacturer Optimi Health in British Columbia, Canada, he is one of a very small number of licensed psilocybin mushroom cultivators in North America. Growers and manufacturers would need to do plenty of groundwork to be able to produce pharmaceutical psilocybin on an industrial, FDA-approved scale. Thats why Optimi is keen to get a head start.A nascent industryMarshall is at the cutting edge of the nascent psychedelics industry. Psilocybin mushroom production was not legally permitted in Canada until 2022, when the country established its limited compassionate-access program. Our work is pioneering large-scale, legal cultivation of psilocybin mushrooms, ensuring the highest standards of safety, quality, and consistency, he says.Backed by more than $22 million in investment, Optimi received a drug establishment license in 2024 from Canadian regulators to export pharmaceutical-grade psilocybin to psychiatrists abroad in the limited number of places that have legal avenues for its use. Oregon has legalized supervised mushroom journeys, Australia has approved psilocybin therapy for PTSD and depression, and an increasing number of governmentsnational, state, and localare considering removing legal barriers to psychedelic mushrooms on a medical basis as the amount of research supporting their use grows. There are also suggestions that the Trump administration may be more likely to support federal reform in the US.But the legal market, medical or otherwise, remains tiny. So for now, almost all of Marshalls mushroomshe has grown more than 500 pounds since joining Optimi in 2022stay in the companys vault. By setting the bar for production and [compliance with] regulation, he says, were helping to expand scientific understanding and accessibility of psychedelics for therapeutic use.Learning the craftBefore Marshall, 40, began cultivating mushrooms, he was working in property management. But that changed in 2014, when a friend who was an experienced grower gave him a copy of the book Mushroom Cultivator: A Practical Guide to Growing Mushrooms at Home (1983). That friend also gave him a spore print, effectively the seeds of a mushroom, from which Marshall grew three Psilocybin cubensis mushrooms from the golden teacher variety, his first foray into the field. I kept growing and growing and growingfor my own health and well-beingand then got to a point where I wanted to help other people, he says.In 2018, he established his own company, Ra Mushrooms, selling cultivation kits for several varieties, including illegal psilocybin, and he was regularly posting photos on Instagram of mushrooms he had grown. In 2022, he was hired by Optimi, marking his journey from underground grower to legal market cultivatoran unbelievable dream of mine.Mattha Busby is a journalist specializing in drug policy and psychedelic culture.

Tourists to Odense, Denmark, come for the citys rich history and culture: Its where King Canute, Denmarks last Viking king, was murdered during the 11th century, and the renowned fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen was born there some 700 years later. But today, Odense (with a population just over 210,000) is also home to more than 150 robotics, automation, and drone companies. Its particularly renowned for collaborative robots, or cobotsthose designed to work alongside humans, often in an industrial setting. Robotics is a darling industry for the city, says Mayor Peter Rahbk Juel, and one its citizens are proud of.Odenses robotics success has its roots in the more traditional industry of shipbuilding. In the 1980s, the Lind shipyard, owned by the Mrsk Group, faced increasing competition from Asia and approached the nearby University of Southern Denmark for help developing welding robots to improve the efficiency of the shipbuilding process. Niels Jul Jacobsen, then a student, recalls jumping at the chance to join the project; hed wanted to work with robots ever since seeing Star Wars as a teenager. But in Denmark [it] didnt seem like a possibility, he says. There was no sort of activity going on.That began to change with the partnership between the shipyard and the university. In the 90s, that relationship got a big boost when the foundation behind the Mrsk shipping company funded the creation of the Mrsk Mc-Kinney Mller Institute (MMMI), a center dedicated to studying autonomous systems. The Lind shipyard eventually wound down its robotics program, but research continued at the MMMI. Students flocked to the institute to study robotics. And it was there that three researchers had the idea for a more lightweight, flexible, and easy-to-use industrial robot arm. That idea would become a startup called Universal Robots, Odenses first big robotics success story. In 2015, the US semiconductor testing giant Teradyne acquired Universal Robots for $285 million. That was a significant turning point for robotics in the city. It was proof, says cofounder Kristian Kassow, that an Odense robotics company could make it without being tied to a specific project, like the previous shipyard work. It was a signal of legitimacy that attracted more recognition, talent, and investment to the local robotics scene.Kim Povlsen, president and CEO of Universal Robots, says it was critical that Teradyne kept the companys main base in Odense and maintained the Danish work culture, which he describes as nonhierarchical and highly collaborative. This extends beyond company walls, with workers generally happy to share their expertise with others in the local industry. Its like this symbiotic thing, and it works really well, he says. Universal Robots positions itself as a platform company rather than just a manufacturer, inviting others to work with its tech to create robotic solutions for different sectors; the companys robot arms can be found in car-part factories, on construction sites, in pharmaceutical laboratories, and on wine-bottling lines. Its a growth play for the company, but it also offers opportunities to startups in the vicinity.In 2018 Teradyne bought a second Odense robotics startup, Mobile Industrial Robots, which was founded by Jacobsen, the Star Wars fan who worked on the ship-welding robots in his university days. The company makes robots for internal transportationfor example, to carry pallets or tow carts in a warehouse. The sale has allowed Jacobsen to invest in other robotics projects, including Capra, a maker of outdoor mobile robots, where he is now CEO.The success of these two large robotics companies, which together employ around 800 people in Odense, created a ripple effect, bringing both funding and business acumen into the robotics cluster, says Sren Elmer Kristensen, CEO of the government-funded organization Odense Robotics.There are challenges to being based in a city that, though the third-largest in Denmark, is undeniably small on the global scale. Attracting funding is one issue. Most investment still comes from within the countrys borders. Sourcing talent is another; demand outstrips supply for highly qualified tech workers. Kasper Hallenborg, director of the MMMI, says the institute feels an obligation to produce enough graduates to support the local industrys needs. Even now, too few women and girls enter STEM fields, he adds; the MMMI supports programs aimed at primary schoolers to try to strengthen the pipeline. As the Odense robotics cluster expands, however, it has become easier to attract international talent. Its less of a risk for people to move, because plenty of companies are hiring if one job doesnt work out.And Odenses small size can have advantages. Juel, the mayor, points to drone-testing facilities established at the nearby Hans Christian Andersen Airport, which, thanks to relatively low air traffic, is able to offer plenty of flying time. The airport is one of the few that allow drones to fly beyond the visual line of sight.The shipyard, once the citys main employer, closed down completely shortly after the 20072008 financial crisis but has recently become an industrial park aimed at manufacturing particularly large structures like massive steel monopiles. The university is currently building a center to develop automation and robotics for use in such work. Visit today and you may see not ships but gigantic offshore wind turbinesassembled, of course, with the help of robots. Victoria Turk is a technology journalist based in London.

Reliable sources are finally talking about an iPhone 17 camera bar, so let's break down why Apple might want to make this radical design change.Apple's iPhone 17 could use a camera bar similar to Google Pixel. Image source: GoogleThe camera bar rumor began with a Weibo account named "Digital Chat Station" and an X account named Jukanlosreve sharing in December 2024. Then Majin Bu shared likely fake sketches and some odd supply chain images referencing a camera bar, which was then repeated by Jon Prosser with claims of accuracy.This gaggle of rare leakers and people with poor (recent) track records didn't give us at AppleInsider much faith in the camera bar rumor. It wasn't until more reliable Sonny Dickson shared case renders that featured the new camera bar that things felt real. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Quantic Dream, the studio known for cinematic titles like Detroit: Become Human and the upcoming Star Wars: Eclipse, has released its own statement regarding its partnership with NetEase in light of the latter reportedly slowing down its international investments and closing down studios. In a post on LinkedIn, studio CEO and head of publishing Guillaume de Fondaumire spoke about the current state of affairs.In his statement, de Fondaumire revealed that Quantic Dreams itself has been unaffected by NetEases more recent moves, with both of its studios in Paris and Montreal working on their projects at full pace. de Fondaumire also said that he was deeply saddened about the recent layoffs and studio closures under NetEase.[Quantic president] David Cage and I would like to express our gratitude to the fans and friends who have reached out to us in recent days regarding Quantic Dream, de Fondaumire wrote. We want to reassure everyone that our studios in Paris and Montreal remain unaffected. We are continuing to develop our projects at full pace, with several open positions available in both locations.de Fondaumire has also referred to NetEase as a dedicated partner that has allowed Quantic Dream to pursue its projects with the creative freedom and financial backing it has needed. After having initially partnered up with NetEase back in 2019 where the firm acquired a minority stake in Quantic Dream, the studio was fully acquired by NetEase in 2022.Interestingly, de Fondaumire also refers to 2024 as a period with the highest revenue in Quantic Dreams history, thanks to high sales of titles like Detroit: Become Human. The title had sold 11 million copies globally across both PC and PlayStation, which was a 2 million rise year-on-year.The developments of our current projects are progressing as planned, and we are fully committed to delivering and launching these innovative, high-quality titles in the future, wrote de Fondaumire to cap things off.Rebel Wolves co-owner and chief publishing officer Tomasz Tinc posted a similar statement earlier this week, revealing that NetEases actions havent affected the studio yet, and development on The Blood of Dawnwalker was fully funded and was going on as expected.First and foremost, thank you for all the warm messages and wishes, wrote Tinc in his statement. The development of our game is progressing steadily and were facing no financial issues.The Blood of Dawnwalkers production is fully funded, and we work alongside our partners and friends from Bandai Namco, our games global publisher, to bring the first chapter of the Dawnwalker saga to life.Similarly, Anchor Point Studios boss Paul Ehreth also spoke about the relatively new studio being unaffected by NetEases studio closures. Ehreth said that the studio was still full steam ahead building our game.So far, NetEase has been a great partner for us, giving us creative control and development support, and we look forward to the prospect of shipping an exceptional game together in the future, he wrote. While it may be stormy seas at the moment for the industry, we are very much still growing, and we have several positions open for anyone looking for a safe harbor.

The ever quirky and refined Two Point series goes back to its roots a bit with some heightened urgency and a nice helping of man-eating plants. Yet, its the perfect jumping-on point for newcomers to the management sim genre, and its tough to put down considering its high skill ceiling. Two Point Museum manages to take the consequence gameplay of Two Point Hospital and pair it with Campuss more creative toolbox to good effect.At first I was a bit surprised with the kind of urgency required to keep your museum afloat. But in hindsight, management sims tend to get the trickiest when entertainment and finances intermingle. Museums, with their expensive world wonders housed within, can lay waste to the bank account or reward it handsomely in equal measure. So, its rather accurate how Two Point Museum balances challenge and creativity here. Exhibits fall apart and lose their luster over time, causing customers to leave or even potentially get injured from the toxic waste. This is where staff come in. A healthy supply of janitors and exhibit experts are crucial for a cleanly and well-maintained museum.I like how its possible to still accomplish objectives and stars without going super in-depth with the various systems. Yet, the toughest objectives more or less require that kind of in-depth micromanagement, providing a high skill ceiling for veterans. For example, you can set detailed patrol areas for each employee, adjust individual salaries, name various staffers, and even change the colors of their outfits. But if you just want to get by, assigning them a ticket stand to work and occasionally training them with new skills when needed will keep you afloat."assigning staff to a gift shop and occasionally training them with new skills when needed will keep you afloat"I chose not to name any staff or color anything because there was enough to keep me occupied as is. Turns out museum curators have a lot of plates to spin. Just obtaining exhibits in the first place is an adventure in itself. Instead of an exhibit menu housing an infinite stock of, say, Lone Henges (yes, the game is punny), you have to go on expeditions to procure one. This makes each exhibit feel substantive and valuable since you cant just buy them from a menu. Each expedition requires staff members specialized in a particular field and trained in the required qualifications, or skills as I like to think of them. The way the campaign eases you through these expeditions is smooth and balanced. You never quite feel like you dont have the staff resources to send out, yet always could train and hire more for the riskier, higher quality exhibits. The riskier the expedition, the more outlandish and popular the exhibit, requiring a large group of highly trained staff to unearth.Part of the urgency of Two Point Museum lies in the many threats that expeditions pose for staff. Untrained and underleveled staff can go MIA or even eaten alive by wild plant life. Theres a marginal amount of randomness involved in these events, but the game always lets you know when your staff is trained enough to invalidate injuries and possible losses. Each point of interest has a set of possible exhibits to obtain, and the quality of the exhibit depends on collective staff level and amount of training, adding a nice role-playing element to the game."Untrained and underleveled staff can get MIA or even eaten alive by wild plant life."Your hard-won exhibits have three core conditions which increase their value and popularity with visitors. Buzz defines an exhibits popularity and rate at which visitors donate money. Multi-part dinosaur exhibits require all parts for full Buzz, which if accomplished, result in a heap of cash and prospective visitors. Knowledge is the trickiest exhibit attribute to raise, and youll want to raise it considering the amount of special guests and fanatic visitors who thirst for high knowledge exhibits. Knowledge also opens up perks for exhibits, which range from slowing the rate of decay to some old fossils managing to energizing guests more.I also like how theres always a use for duplicate exhibits. Throwing these duplicate exhibits in the analysis machine generates higher knowledge for that particular exhibit while bestowing some perks. Selling is also viable, or you keep duplicates in your inventory when an old exhibit decays. But a decaying exhibit isnt all you have to worry about. Thieves like to bag expensive exhibits to sell on the black market, and the more popular the museum, the more attracted they get. In these situations, its necessary to fit the museum with a security room and plenty of cameras. A wonderful little wrinkle with security is how customers feel more anxious with lots of cameras and patrols about."Multi-part dinosaur exhibits require all parts for full Buzz, but if accomplished, result in a heap of cash and prospective visitors."And so its within this gameplay loop of managing expeditions to acquire exhibits and maintaining how the museum is run that sits at the core of Two Point Museum. You always feel pressured to take care of something if youre not setting up an expedition team to nab your museums newest oddity. Its balanced just right so that management of these systems doesnt feel too overwhelming, which is admittedly helped by the pause and slow-down features.So, the game has a lot of intertwined systems and its fun juggling them, but how is the overall progression? Like previous Two Point games, earning stars is a primary objective with the campaign mode. Earning curator stars for one of your museums involves completing dozens of objectives and requirements, giving this game a healthy amount of playtime. And theres always a hefty batch of rewards upon gaining a star, from epic new exhibits to upgraded staff facilities. Unlike past games, museums arent limited to just three stars, allowing for endless advancement of a museum."Unlike past games, museums arent limited to just three stars, allowing for endless advancement of a museum"Oh and yes, I said museums with a plural because you can put your prehistoric museum progress on hold while managing your haunted house one, and with no penalty. Each museum has its own unique theme, complete with oodles of unique exhibits and decorations all its own, and their star objectives vary as well. Of course, you can mix and match different themed exhibits together into a single museum if you wish too, but thats best demonstrated within the vast sandbox mode.Sandbox allows you to determine how much cash you start with, how fast exhibits decay, and so on, tailoring your difficulty and restrictions however you want. Access to different themes is pretty much unrestricted, but you still have to obtain the exhibits themselves through expeditions. A lot of the same building tools are here from Two Point Campus, allowing ample freedom regarding the placement of walls and floors and the like. If you have the guts, go and build a super museum containing every theme. Im looking forward to what the fandom creates within Two Point Museums sandbox mode."Sandbox allows you to determine how much cash you start with, how fast exhibits decay, and so on, tailoring your difficulty and restrictions however you want."This brings me to the UI and menu design. As usual, Two Point Studios makes some consistently clean menus. Theres a lot of info to keep track of but its all generally available without congesting the screen too much. The collapsible menus at the bottom help declutter things a bit too. However, on console, things arent as clean as they could be. Menu build description panels got on my nerves with how often they block other build options. And on console, its impossible to collapse these info panels, making me spend more time than Id like trying to see what decoration or object is hidden behind the description panel. What makes this even more laborious is the control pad responsiveness on controllers, of which there isnt much. The game often neglects your control pad inputs, making for a janky and inconsistent menu scrolling experience; Im thankful for control sticks because input delay doesnt affect them.The general interface on consoles is acceptable and clean, sure, but it just isnt as convenient and smooth as mouse and keyboard. Every menu action requires you to press the specific menu button to navigate between one of multiple panels. While on PC, you just slide and click exactly where you want to go effortlessly.That said, every object, room, and NPC type is distinctly outlined and color-coordinated to give the player all the info they need right away. When placing heaters and coolers, for example, an environmental heat map overlays the screen to let you know the temperature of every area, which is useful for frozen exhibits or their hot botanic opposites. Barring the console-specific irritants, Two Point Museum controls wonderfully well, sporting efficiently clean UI."I spend more time than Id like trying to see what decoration or object is hidden behind the menus description panel."Of course, what really separates Two Point games from the other management titles is its quirky tone, something which Museum proudly puts on display. Tourists get eaten by man-eating plant exhibits, kids climb and fall off stuff constantly, and theres no shortage of ridiculous yeti guests and the occasional ghost hovering in the ticket queue.The radio station banter is particularly brilliant, referencing past Two Point games and making fun of itself regularly. Best of all, the Two Point Radio doesnt outstay its welcome or feel repetitive even after dozens of hours of play. I find Two Point Hospital a bit more clever with its gameplay puns though. Who can forget the lightheaded patients with actual light bulbs for heads?All and all, Two Point Museum offers a familiar gameplay loop and general fun factor to previous games in the series. It blends the urgency of Hospital with the creative tools of Campus to create an addicting and satisfying management sim experience. Theres a lot of replayability here and its tone and content manage to stay fresh, just like any well maintained museum. While its true that this title doesnt really do much new or invigorating for the series besides the museum structure, it manages to balance the best aspects of past games together into a satisfying experience. Two Point Museum is a must-play for fans of the series and a solid game to dig into for management sim players in general.This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

Room 8 Group announces two appointments in executive rolesServices provider is reshaping its business structure with expansions in technology and game development offeringsImage credit: Room 8 Group News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on Feb. 26, 2025 Services provider Room 8 Group has announced the appointment of two executive roles following an expansion in its technology and game development offerings.Guillaume Carmona has been promoted from VP of productions to VP of game development. Carmona will focus on leading Room 8's "creative offering, enhancing production quality, and driving [its] strategic initiative to ensure exceptional project outcomes."Carmona previously worked at Ubisoft for 14 years, and was studio director at Ubisoft Montpellier for four years.Yann Le Tensorer has been appointed VP of technology, a role in which he will focus on "optimising production pipelines, fostering creativity, and advancing the company's R&D efforts."Tensorer also worked at Ubisoft for almost two decades in various positions, and co-founded the French developer Tiwak which was acquired by Ubisoft in 2004."As the industry evolves, we're strengthening both our leadership and operational structures to better serve our partners," said Room 8 CCO Julien Proux."With Guillaume as VP of game production and Yann as VP of technology, we're reinforcing our commitment to excellence in both creative execution and technical innovation."As for Room 8's expansion of its technology and game development offerings, it has moved from focusing on mobile, PC and console development to a "partner-centric one" in which it will "prioritise tailored solutions to address specific challenges."The firm also announced it will be consolidating its Solid Bash and Dragons Lake brands under the Room 8 Group name."For 13 years, we've been bringing our creative and technical expertise to game development, technology, art, and QA for some of the biggest AAA and AA titles out there," said Room 8 CEO Anna Kozlova."This shift isn't just about expanding our offering; it's about ensuring we deliver seamless, end-to-end solutions that truly support our partners at every stage of development."

Careful, Sim fans... The Burglar is back.The Burglar, a familiar sight for those of us who've spent time with any of the older Sims games, is sneaking back into your life as part of the latest update for The Sims 4.Rolling out across PC and console, the update (re)introduces Robin Banks, which means it's time to hide your valuables well out of sight. She only strikes at night, usually only sneaking into homes when everyone's asleep, but she has been known to attempt a daring heist even when Sims are awake... so be alert.To combat the thief, Sims can make use of the handy burglar alarm. If Banks trips it, the police are guaranteed to turn up in time to arrest her and recover your goods. But even homes without an alarm can call the police, you just have to be quick about it. Or there's vigilante justice, of course. It's your call.The Burglar is finally in The Sims 4, over 10 years after it came out. Image credit: EA.By design, burglar events are fairly unusual, but if you live for chaos, activate Lot Challenge Heist Havoc to boost your odds. "We are so thrilled to finally bring the Burglar back into The Sims universe," The Sims' team wrote. "Sending a special shout out to our full team for making this a reality. Robin Banks isnt just ready to rob your Sims houses shes here to steal your hearts too! What better way to celebrate The Sims 25th Birthday than with this nostalgic yet fresh addition? We hope youre as excited as we are to see what kind of chaos Robin Banks will bring to your households."The Sims 4 may be 10 years old and the series itself 25 years old but last year, it attracted over 15 million new players.In EA's Q2 earning report, published towards the end of last year, we learned that The Sims 4, then a premium game, took four years to reach 20 million unique players. When it first went free-to-play in 2022, however, it gained a whopping 31 million new players out of the gate and reached a total of 85 million as of May 2024. And no, there's currently still no plans for The Sims 5 at this time Plum!Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.