The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is tucked away in an idyllic, 134-acre campus in Bentonville, Arkansas, the same town where Gensler and SWA recently completed a new global headquarters for Walmart. At the heart of the campus, founded in 2011 by the Walton family, is a museum by Safdie Architects. Its expansive terrain affords much room for growth. Since opening, Crystal Bridges acquired and relocated the BachmanWilson House by Frank Lloyd Wright to its grounds. It also ascertained artworks by Georgia OKeeffe, Mark Rothko, James Turrell, and others. Now, a new building for the Heartland Whole Health Institute designed by Marlon Blackwell Architects joins the illustrious works on view. Heartland Whole Health Institute, from Alice Walton of the Walmart dynasty, was founded in 2019. It focuses on developing holistic approaches to healthcare, wellness, and disease prevention.The buildings form and materials take cues from nearby bluffs, caves, rivers, forests, and fields from the northwest region of Arkansas. (Tim Hursley)The Heartland Whole Health Institute will formally open to the public on May 1. The 85,000-square-foot, 3-story building is inspired by the Ozarks, and its curvilinear natural landscape, MBA shared.The buildings form and materials take cues from nearby bluffs, caves, rivers, forests, and fields from the northwest region of Arkansas, the designers shared. The ensemble uses a mix of weathered brass fins, glass, and stone cladding. It also incorporates Giraffe stone, a vernacular building method common in Arkansas. Marlon Blackwell also designed the Ledger building nearby, the building notable for its bikeable facade was also influenced by the geography and landscape of the Ozarks region.The angular facade harkens to the mountainous landscape beyond. (Tim Hursley)Designed from the inside out and the outside in, Heartland Whole Health Institute is both a platform for and physical realization of the Institutes mission to move health beyond illness treatment and into wholistic well-being, Ati and Marlon Blackwell, MBAs founders, said in a statement. Its spaces, materials, and forms, drawn from the sites karst topography and Ozark forests, enhance the connection to nature and place, and create an atmosphere to nurture the whole self, the architects added.Guests enter the Heartland Whole Health Institute through a passageway that runs through the buildings center. From there, visitors can enjoy a gallery space, cafe, and event spaces. They then pour out to a generous lawn with a forest beyond. The buildings two upper-levels are dedicated to offices and administrative space. Wood applications inside mimic the exterior materiality and texture.The interiors mimic the exterior materiality. (Tim Hursley)Marlon Blackwell Architects has worked with Crystal Bridges Museum before. The Arkansas office recently completed a new 6-story parking garage and a museum store there. The parking garage has a cafe and retail on the ground floor, and an upper level terrace.The 800-car parking garage by Marlon Blackwell Architects has a cafe and retail space on the ground floor, and an upper level terrace. (Tim Hursley)The goal of Crystal Bridges Campus Parking was to transform a utilitarian feature into a welcoming entrance, Blackwell added. By including Sky Terrace performance and gathering space and a cafe, visitors can begin their day with friendly amenities that demonstrate the culture and character of a world-class destination.In 2026, a new, 114,000-square-foot expansion by Safdie Architects will complete at Crystal Bridges.

All images Jinjoo Jo, shared with permissionUneasy Interactions Signify a Response to Tragedy in Jinjoo Jos Blue IllustrationsMarch 10, 2025IllustrationKate MothesTreading the boundary between cuteness and discomfortinnocence and harmSouth Korean artist Jinjoo Jos illustrations express the tenuous relationship humans conjure with nature and a personal response to a widely publicized tragedy.Blue Anger, a series Jo began in 2020, portrays young girls interacting with insects, which are unsettlingly large and imposing. I have always loved nature, but in this series, I chose to use insects as a metaphor for predators, she says. The young girls in the illustrations stare straight ahead as insects endlessly swarm around them. At times, I see myself as a passive witness to their suffering; at other times, I step into the artwork and become one of them.Most of the works seen here belong to Blue Anger, which continues to evolve. Rendered in black, white, and a cerulean blue hue, the first piece was made in direct response to the so-caled Nth Room case, a horrific cybersex crime that took place between 2018 and 2020. At the time, I was overwhelmed by anger and despair, the artist tells Colossal. The case involved the sexual exploitation of at least 70 underage victims, who were subjected to abuse both online and offline.Blue Anger serves as a way to process the energy-draining emotion, in a sense creating a kind of tribute to the young people who were victimized. Recent works diverge from the theme of insect-as-predator, reverting control to the young girls who instead commune in a pond with a larger-than-life moth or coexist in an illuminated space with fluttering insects drawn to the light. Jo primarily employs colored pencils and graphite, occasionally incorporating black ballpoint pens for darker details. She then scans her drawings in order to complete them digitally using Procreate and Photoshop. Jo has been working for several years on a graphic novel related to ongoing scientific research, which is currently in pre-production. She has also been working on an essay detailing her experiences of pregnancy, which she hopes to eventually compile into a small book. Find more on the artists website and Instagram.Next article

Chris Conway, Co-op Foods e-commerce director, promised on 11 February that a rebranded business-to-business (B2B) quick commerce app from the organisation was imminent.Talking at Retail Week and The Grocers Live 2025 event in North London, Conway said Co-ops Nisa to You app helping more than 30 of the independent retailers in its network to deliver groceries speedily to customers was set for relaunch. It was initially unveiled in trial form last summer, enabled by Co-ops tech stack and with integrations into the same couriers used by the Co-op Food stores.Well be able to commercialise and operationalise it and go at huge scale, Conway said at Live 2025.On 27 February, it all became clear. Co-op announced the launch of Peckish, describing it as a million-pound rapid delivery grocery app offering a technologically advanced service to thousands of independent retailers looking to serve their customers and communities online.The new name is incidental its what the tech can help individual stores to achieve thats important. The has Co-op said Peckish will give small, often family-owned, independent grocery businesses, shops and other co-operative retail societies the chance to provide an online grocery shopping and delivery service using their stores as fulfilment centres.The retailer stated that it helps these businesses overcome barriers that independent retailers face when moving to sell online, which typically relate to cost, scale and resource. In some cases, it means independents will be able to get goods delivered to their local customers in under 30 minutes.Co-op, which has rapidly built its own quick commerce proposition in the past five years, with the aim of being a leading grocer in that space, already works with Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats nationwide, as well as Starship Technologies for autonomous robot delivery in some regions. The new Peckish app will mean the independents it owns thanks to its acquisition of symbol group Nisa in 2018 can also offer many of these delivery courier partner options to their customers.Co-op is making an initial 1m investment for year one on Peckish, and is targeting a sign-up rate of more than 1,000 stores in year one, with potential to treble that by year three.Peckish will be linked with a retailers electronic point of sale (PoS) system, meaning it saves the individual store manual tasks such as pricing and stock control and management. Retailers who sign up to the service have also been promised a range of support including data and insight from Co-ops quick commerce team, as well as PoS material, window stickers, leaflets, shelf talkers, digital assets, posters and banners.Matt Hood, Co-op Food managing director, said consumers appetite for a convenient grocery delivery service in as little as 30 minutes from ordering increases almost weekly.Hood announced major plans for Co-op growth in January, saying 75 new stores would be opening in 2025, with 80 undergoing refurbishment. A central cog of the work is to maximise the potential of Co-ops existing portfolio of properties, and part of that means strengthening shops role in the retailers online proposition.Co-op calls its stores micro-distribution hubs for its online home delivery operation, with orders picked fresh in local stores and delivered quickly to ensure its high street shops benefit from online orders.The retailer said in January that it wants to grow its share of the quick commerce market to over 30%, which is one of the motivating factors behind Peckish.It has been incrementally reinforcing its tech stack to support this strategy, with a SAP migration completing in June 2024. Eight years previous, Co-op started implementing SAPs Retail ECC Suite on HANA to drive improvements in product ranging, stock visibility and forecasting across its stores.More recently, RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud has been put in place which brings Co-ops ERP into the cloud and streamlines its finance and procurement functions. In addition, an ongoing project with Manhattan Associates is seeing Co-ops warehouse management systems (WMS) switching over to the suppliers cloud-based Manhattan Active WMS as part of a move away from datacentre reliance.Meanwhile, in July 2024, Co-op started work withWalmart Commerce Technologiesto implement the US grocery giants online fulfilment technology, Store Assist.The official jargon surrounding the tool is that it digitises and streamlines online order fulfilment workflows. What that means in practice is that Co-op can integrate all its third-party delivery partnerships on one platform and device, which is then put in the hands of store staff so they can understand, organise and manage a complex network of couriers turning up at shops to collect online orders throughout the day.Co-op even announced in September 2024 that some of its city centre stores will offer a 24-hour service, meaning consumers can order goods online for instant delivery at any time of day. The service, it said, could be ideal for shift workers, young families and late-night partygoers.Co-ops quick commerce investment and focus is not unique, albeit it is more comprehensive in its offering compared to the wider UK grocery industry.Tesco has doubled down on its Whoosh rapid delivery service in the last year, with it featuring heavily in the retailers national advertising campaigns. Former Deliveroo global head of strategy Francesca Jones arrived in January to lead Whoosh, which contributed significantly to a 10.8% year-over-year (YoY) Tesco online sales rise over Christmas 2024.Some 1.2 million customers placed orders on this instant delivery offering during the peak period, supported by the expansion of the service which meant it was more accessible at Christmas than before and available up until 24 December. I speak to my team and say, Dont worry about the other grocers, see what McDonalds is doing Chris Conway, Co-op FoodElsewhere, Ocado ramped up its Express It offering in August 2024, allowing its customers to book for same-day delivery up until 11am. One month before, Morrisons expanded its partnership with Just Eat to include on-demand grocery deliveries from its groceries from its supermarkets in addition to the service from its cafs and Morrisons Daily convenience stores that had been in place since 2022.And as Co-op launches its B2B app, its worth remembering Snappy Shopper is already making waves in this space supporting convenience stores with an online delivery service. In January, it said its weekly trading volumes surged by 42% YOY at the end of 2024, with the platform facilitating more than 14m in monthly transactions during the final quarter.In December, Snappy Shopper said it was increasing the number of Tesco-owned One Stop stores served by its network to 530, further highlighting the consumer demand for rapid fulfilment from local stores.Talking at Live 2025, Conway gave some deep insight into Co-ops innovation strategy and how it monitors its competition in the quick commerce space.Our competitor set is amazing its a privilege to be in that competitor set, he said, adding that many of its competitors follow the Co-op with innovation. Our competitor set in grocery is fantastic at supply chain, getting thousands of products to thousands of locations in the most efficient way possible.Intriguingly, its an adjacent industry where Conway encourages his team to look for inspiration: I speak to my team and say, Dont worry about the other grocers, see what McDonalds is doing. Go to some of their new sites and you see theyve made space for riders, and the way they operate is effectively as a mini fulfilment centre as well as a restaurant. Thats fascinating and the way I see the future of Co-op going.When looking at how the Co-op embraces digital and tech-enabled transformation, Conway said the organisation has gotten better over time. In particular, he said the Co-op has approved investment and funding in the past 18 months to do discovery work rather than waiting for a detailed business case.Once youve done discovery, youre almost in and its too late to back out, he said, reflecting on the previous methods used by the retailer. Now were prepared to throw some money away and do discovery to realise if its something we want to do. And what we realise is that, 95 times out of 100, once weve done discovery, its the right idea and we go ahead.He talked of Co-op now having a fail-fast mentality, adding: Its been refreshing to be around that mentality; it wasnt like that when I joined. How weve grown up and how the culture has changed is really infectious.Conway stated that the Co-op is already benefiting from the SAP migration in terms of how quickly it can introduce new ideas and drive efficiency.It seems that having a thought-out approach to transformation can also be beneficial in dealing with unexpected burdens. With most retailers voicing concerns about the impact of the October 2024 Budget, which will result in increased employment costs from April in the form of greater National Insurance Contributions (NIC), Conway offered a pragmatic response.In business, you have to expect the unexpected, he said of the budget announcements. Of course, the incremental costs are always a challenge, but its about realising the country is in quite a dilemma in terms of where to get the funding, so something had to give.Whats more important is looking at your innovation transformation programme. As long as you have that constant balance of transformation where youre driving efficiency but driving new business and growth doing that equally I think youre able to ensure youre able to cope with things like NIC.Offering a personal viewpoint, Conway said that he envisions a growth agenda from the UK government coming into force in the second half of the year: For now, its about continuing innovation, doubling down on cost savings, doing the right thing for colleagues and communities, and then hopefully we can put our foot down and support the governments growth agenda.Read more about retail technologyReal-life pilot projects show the potential, but industry mindset change is required to help retail and wholesale fleets drive major decarbonisation gains in the year ahead.Retailers and carriers met for the annual Delivery Conference in February 24, discussing how to use tech and data to drive improvements in e-commerce.

Pawel Pajor - stock.adobe.comNewsPeter Kyle sets stage for making tech workDuring his speech at the Tech Policy conference, Kyle announced a number of initiatives to support AI and other new technologiesByCliff Saran,Managing EditorPublished: 10 Mar 2025 16:28 During his presentation at TechUKs Tech Policy conference in London, science and technology minister Peter Kyle unveiled investments, reforms and appointments to drive innovation and boost the economy.Technology is set to play a pivotal role in the governments industrial strategy called Invest 2035. The governments greenpaper on a 10-year industrial strategy notes that the economy has faced significant shocks in recent years and has had a poor productivity record over the past decade and a half, consistently investing less than its international peers, and lagging on the performance of city regions outside London and the South-East.Kyle said: Everywhere you see, there is an imbalance of power in this country which has for too long made it impossible to imagine a better future for Britain. To deliver our Plan for Change, we have to shift the balance of power away from stagnation and old ideas towards innovation and opportunity, and to the bold people building a new future for Britain.AI, semiconductors, cyber security and quantum technologies are among the promising technology developments that could drive growth in the UK economy. But direct support, which includes public sector funding, is likely to be needed to stimulate these sectors.The governments greenpaper on its industrial strategy, published in October 2024, calls for a targeted strategy where the government takes a deliberate and targeted approach towards growth-driving sectors and places. The approach requires temporary government support to scale up industries, particularly those with potential for global competitiveness.The greenpaper urges the government to focus on a range of technologies and their commercialisation, with a portfolio approach that backs smaller, less proven and more disruptive businesses alongside larger, well-established businesses.The aim of such support is to provide a stimulus to enable innovative businesses and startups to get the funding they require to scale up. Direct government intervention is seen as a way to reduce uncertainty and support the development of critical sector-specific knowledge, and crowd in private capital to growth-driving sectors.Direct government support, according to the greenpaper, also encourages competitive and innovative business ecosystems, particularly in industries with low market dynamism and high barriers to entry, and can be used to identify the importance of strong supply chain linkages between sectors.One example of such direct support is the Quantum Missions Pilot, which aims to accelerate quantum computing and quantum networking technologies. During his TechUK speech, Kyle announced winners of Innovate UKs Quantum Missions Pilot, each of whom is set to receive a share of 12m to help accelerate the real-world impact of quantum computing and quantum networking technologies.The government also said it will be investing 23m in edge telecoms research and deployment to expand mobile coverage for people and businesses across Britain.As Computer Weekly has previously reported, during his TechUK speech, Kyle announced an overhaul in how AI experiments and other digital projects are funded in the public sector. The government hopes the overhaul will simplify the process to cut down waste in taxpayer funding.He also named David Willetts, who served as science minister from 2010 to 2014, as the first chair of the Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO). The RIOs goal is to ensure the UKs regulatory regime can keep pace with innovation.Read more about UK tech fundingGovernment funding to help businesses discover AI value: The government is betting the bank on the power of artificial intelligence to fix the public sector, mend roads and boost the UK economy.Government launches 100m innovation fund for public service reform: Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster calls on Whitehall to adopt a test-and-learn culture and pledges to make government more like a startup.In The Current Issue:DeepSeek-R1: Budgeting challenges for on-premise deploymentsInterview: Why Samsung put a UK startup centre stageDownload Current IssueSLM series - OurCrowd: Are domain-specific LLMs just as good (or better)? CW Developer NetworkSUSE Edge for Telco 3.2 dials into disaggregated network architectures Open Source InsiderView All Blogs

Apple/ZDNETIt's been a busy few weeks for Apple, and a busy time for the wallets and purses of Apple fans. We didn't get an updated iPhone SE, but we did get the brand-new iPhone 16e, Apple's newest "budget" handset. Apple's decision to include "16" in the name of the new affordable economy linesuggests yearly updates from now on (otherwise, that 16 is going to look mighty old in a couple of years).But wait, there's more! The iPad and iPad Air received a much-needed update, with the former getting the A16 chip and starting with 128GB of storage, while the latter gets the M3 chip and also starts with 128GB of storage. Both are available for pre-order and will begin shipping this week. But wait, there's even more! The 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air receive an upgrade to the M4 chip, while the pro-oriented Mac Studio receives an M4 Max and M3 Ultra upgrade. This is quite the update for Apple, and it refreshes much of the lineup on offer. Tariffs and trade wars The biggest elephant in the room right now is tariffs. While the trade war between the US, Canada, and Mexico seems to oscillate between being on and off (keeping in mind that Canada ranks fourth in Apple markets by revenue share, behind the United States, Japan, and China), it's very much ongoing where China is concerned. Also: Is this the end of multi-year AppleCare+ plans? What's replacing them and whyWhen asked about any potential tariff impacts during Apple's last earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook had this to say: "We are monitoring the situation and don't have anything more to add than that." It's unclear what effect this will have on prices (both overall and specific to Apple), but since the smart money is betting that costs are unlikely to fall, given the uncertainty, it might be better to make your Apple purchases now rather than later. Future Apple product launches (near and far) 1. Apple TV It's coming; we're just not sure when! It's rumored to make use of Apple's new networking chip, adding support for Wi-Fi 6E, and will be powered by the A15 chip, which opens the door to Apple Intelligence features. 2. AirTag update The new AirTags are expected to use a new Ultra Wideband chip, bringing improved range and accuracy. Apparently, the speaker will also be more difficult to disable, serving as a countermeasure to prevent tags from being used to stalk people. Given how trivial it is to modify AirTags, and how you can even buy them already modified, this will be a welcomed change. 3. Hypertension Detection for Apple Watch The Apple Watch can already do a lot, uncovering hidden medical conditions such as atrial fibrillation and sleep apnea. Adding the ability to detect high blood pressure would reinforce its place as a personal, wrist-mounted physician. Also: Your next Apple Watch or smart ring could have a feature that transforms healthcareNow, let's look at Apple tech that you might want to wait on. The 'Naughty' listGive these Apple devices a hard pass: Apple TV: Last updated in October 2022, this device is due for a refresh. When? Rumors suggest a fourth-gen Apple TV 4K will be announced during the first half of this year.HomePod Mini: Released in October 2020, this is officially Apple's oldest product. While there's nothing wrong with it technically, it's hard to recommend dropping full price for such old hardware.Vision Pro: It's hard to bet against Apple, and it's difficult to put something with so much potential on the naughty list, but if the rumors are true that Apple has pulled the plug on production because sales have slumped, it's hard to have faith in the product. I'd hold out and see what Apple has planned.The 'Nice' list1. iPad Air Apple/ZDNETThe newly refreshed iPad Air is kitted out with the M3 chip, and prices start at $599 for the 11-inch version and $799 for the 13-inch version. 2. MacBook Air AppleBoth the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air laptops get an upgrade to the 10-core CPU/10-core GPU M4 processor and also see battery life boosted to as much as 18 hours. Prices start at $999, but throw enough upgrades at the system, and you can get it up to $2,399. 3. Mac Studio AppleApple's pro-grade alternative to the Mac Mini gets a serious processing boost, with the M4 Max and the M3 chips offered in a range of configurations. Prices start at $1,999, but can go as high as $14,099 for a fully tricked-out system. 4. Apple iMac 2024 iMac Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETThe iMac got a refresh to bring it up to speed with Apple Intelligence. With specs ranging from 8 CPU and GPU cores, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage priced at $1,299, all the way up to 10 CPU and GPU cores, 24GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage for $1,899, there's an iMac to suit most workloads and budgets. 5. Apple Mac Mini Jason Hiner/ZDNETApple's smallest Mac got an upgrade to the M4 and M4 Pro processors. It's also the cheapest Mac you can buy, as a Mac Mini with the 10-core CPU and GPU model, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage costing only $599. 6. Apple iPad Mini 2024 iPad Mini Prakhar Khanna/ZDNETThe all-new 2024 iPad Mini replaced the three-year-old model with one powered by an A17 Pro chip that's Apple Intelligence-ready and comes in a range of colors (blue, purple, starlight, and space gray) and storage capacities (128GB, 256GB, and 512GB) to suit everyone. Prices range from $499 to $799. 7. Apple iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Kerry Wan/ZDNETFrom a Camera Control button, an Action button, and the new A18 chipset, the iPhone 16 has been built from the ground up to handle AI workloads. 8. Apple Watch Series 10 Apple Watch Series 10 Kerry Wan/ZDNETThe Apple Watch Series 10 starts at $399 for GPS and $499 for cellular. It comes in three colors: jet black, rose gold, and silver aluminum. The new black Apple Watch Ultra 2 starts at $799. 9. Apple M4 MacBook Pro Apple MacBook Pro M4 Kerry Wan/ZDNETNeed a Mac that combines portability with power? You need a MacBook Pro. Also: Is your iPhone rebooting after being inactive? It's a feature, not a bugBut it's less a case of how fast a laptop you need and more a case of how much you want to spend. With prices for the 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro starting at $1,599, and the 16-inch version starting at $900 more (and going all the way up to a whopping $7,349 for the 40-core, 128GB RAM, 8TB storage behemoth), these systems represent some serious processing power, but power that comes at a price. 10. Apple AirTag Kayla Solino/ZDNETApple's AirTags are the perfect gift for someone who constantly loses things. You can add them to your luggage, attach them to your bike, your remote, or even your moving boxes -- the possibilities are endless. Well-made, robust, and with a replaceable battery, these will make misplaced keys or lost wallets things of the past. FAQs Show more What is Apple Intelligence?Apple Intelligence -- technology that leverages the processing power of Apple silicon to understand and generate language, providing personalized assistance and insights -- has been driving the latest wave of Apple hardware upgrades, with the new iMac and new Mac Mini joining the new iPad Mini, the iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Pro and a swath of newer products that are being promoted as the hardware to buy if you want access to Apple's vision for AI. Older hardware offers access to some of the features, but the experience will be somewhat patchy. What's happening with Vision Pro?It's been a year since the release of the Vision Pro, and it hasn't been the success that Apple -- and many pundits -- expected it to be. While the hardware itself has benefitted from numerous software updates, sales have been lackluster. After all, it doesn't matter how high-tech and sci-fi something is; a three-and-a-half-thousand-dollar price tag is an impossible barrier for most. Apple has allegedly discontinued production of Vision Pro headsets because they're piling up and not selling. That's not a great sign for the product's future. Apple is still selling them, but it's now hard to recommend someone spend thousands of dollars on a product that is on the ropes. Also: Apple Vision Pro's killer feature is finally here -- and made my $3,500 investment more worth itThis is in addition to rumors suggesting that a cheaper unit -- with a more modest $2,000 price tag -- would land toward the end of this year, but indications now suggest this has been pushed back to 2027. But the Vision Pro rumors don't end there. There are whispers that suggest the Vision Pro will be superseded by the Vision Pro 2, a new headset -- sorry, Apple calls it a spatial computer -- powered by the M4 chip and Apple Intelligence support. ZDNET Recommends

ZDNET's key takeaways The Asus Zenbook Duo is on sale now for $1,499 at Best Buy. This laptop is a creator's dream machine, with dual-OLED touchscreens, a highly configurable form factor, and a great battery. It takes time and effort to get the most out of this laptop, and you'll need lots of desk space to utilize the different form factors. $1,699.99 at Best Buy Upon first glance, Asus' Zenbook Duo looks like a standard laptop. The first thing you'll probably notice is the brilliant 3K OLED display, but there's more than meets the eye here. The entire keyboard comes off to reveal a second -- just as flashy -- display beneath.The Zenbook Duo is designed to challenge the laptop status quo in every way. Its dual-touchscreen form factor allows for a myriad of configurations that would otherwise not be possible with a traditional clamshell, and when paired with Asus' rich customization features, makes for an exceptionally versatile device.Also: How to clear the cache on your Windows 11 PC (and why it's important to do so)That being said, this is a laptop designed specifically for creatives, as the dual displays steal the show and fuel its visual-first use case. Its sheer flexibility allows it to adjust to work as a mobile workstation for content creators, a sketchpad for visual artists with the included stylus, or a business device that can fold down flat to display one of the two screens to a client. details View at Best Buy This laptop has a lot going on, so let's look at the specs. In terms of hardware, the Zenbook Duo is pretty stacked. It comes with 32GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, an Intel Arc GPU, and an Intel Core Ultra 9 (Series 2) processor, one of this device's biggest call-outs.Also: This is one of the best affordable OLED laptops I've tested - and it's on sale for $668Intel's Series 2 chips have proven to be battery-efficient and high-performing enough to set themselves apart, and I noted as such in my review of the Asus' Zenbook S 14 with the Core Ultra 7 200V (Series 2) processor last year. Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETThe chip on that laptop enabled a thinner, lighter form factor, ran cooler, and had a fantastic battery life, so I was excited to test out the new Zenbook Duo. My initial conclusions prove that the performance is just as good; the Duo runs quiet and cool (considering the hardware), and the battery life is solid -- especially for a laptop with two OLED screens.Also:I tested Asus' new ultraportable laptop, and it's worth the hype. Here's why it stands outThe dual 14-inch 3K (2880 x 1800) Lumina OLED touch displays light up to 500 nits of brightness and communicates everything you need to know about this laptop. They both feature 120Hz refresh rates and the thin bezels on both make for a dramatic look, especially when the device is fully extended.In laptop mode, the detachable keyboard covers the second screen, which has an auto-positioning magnet and pogo pins on the bottom. I appreciate that no special action is required to attach or remove the keyboard; it just snaps in place without any matching up of components.The same goes for swapping configurations. Turning the laptop on its side flips the display orientation, and removing the keyboard activates its Bluetooth connectivity. This is a big plus, in my opinion, as users will appreciate how the laptop "understands" what you're trying to do and adjust accordingly.Also: I recommend this high-end laptop to creative pros over MacBooks - and it's on sale at Best BuyThe kickstand on the back of the device enables this variety of configurations. It's solid and sturdy, snaps into place without any fuss, and slides back down to lay flat when not needed. The only thing is that its degree of extension is rather high, meaning you won't be able to get just a slight elevation; the Duo wants to be propped up at a 40-70-degree angle.The Duo's touchscreens are responsive whether you're using your finger or the included stylus, although I personally prefer the latter to avoid fingerprint smudges. Similarly, the virtual keyboard is quite responsive, even though I tend to avoid using these any further than I must; there's always a bit of a learning curve in how fast you can type on it. Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETAsus has been focusing on customizability for its creative-oriented laptops, and the Zenbook Duo is no exception. In addition to the ability to set custom gestures, users can configure the buttons on the stylus, set task groups, pin apps to different displays, and arrange their apps' windows in the display.Instead of manually dragging apps from one window to the next, you can "flick" the top of the window to snap it in place in the desired window. This takes a minute to get used to, as dragging windows around can result in apps that are half in one display and half in the other.Also: An RGB monitor stand sounds outrageous, but it's transformed my desk for the betterAs with any device with a complex range of customizations, there are certainly quirks and adjustments regarding how to best use it, especially if you're not fully familiar with how to navigate all the options. Windows or apps can frequently be banished to another window, get lost behind other apps, or get stuck halfway.I also had some concerns with the logistics of putting an OLED display on the same part of the laptop's body that houses the CPU and memory. Conventional wisdom would imply that this would be a recipe for extreme heat, but Asus designed the device with this in mind, avoiding any direct contact with the components and separating them with a heat spreader. Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETThis means the CPU is located on the motherboard's opposite side, with gaps in between to facilitate airflow. In my testing, I couldn't get the laptop to heat up to any notable degree, but it can run warm if you push it over a sustained period of time, especially if it's plugged in. Luckily, this only happens if both displays are in use, and if that's the case, it necessarily won't be on your lap.I also wish there were an option to upgrade the GPU beyond the Intel Arc it comes with, but the Intel Core Ultra 9 does so much of the heavy lifting here that it might not be necessary. Also, the design logistics probably inhibit the addition of a graphics card in what is already a packed chassis.Also: This Microsoft laptop lives rent-free in my head for its sleek design - and it's $700 off right nowAsus advertises over 13 hours on one charge, and I found this to be more or less accurate in my testing, assuming you're talking about video playback or normal, intermittent use throughout the day. Remember that this device will give you extreme variation in battery lifetimes, depending on how you use it. Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETHowever, the battery didn't burn itself into the ground the way I assumed it would in my testing, even when I really pushed it, running some demanding video editing tasks, using both displays with full brightness while connected to an external monitor. Yes, I got much less juice out of it, but I still managed over five hours.ZDNET's buying adviceThe Asus Zenbook Duo is a laptop for creatives who crave something different and want to shake up the status quo. The myriad of configurations requires a learning curve to activate and use regularly, but they are rewarding in their ability to push creative tasks to new productivity levels.Even better is the fact that the hardware on board is solid, regardless of its physical form. The cherry on top is that it comes with a stylus and carrying case, rounding out the package for a very accessible sale price of $1,299.I would recommend this laptop to creatives who are committed to using it the way it is designed: activating the dual displays, switching up the configurations, grabbing the stylus, and exploring new avenues of productivity. If these things don't excite you, I would recommend a creative-minded laptop with a more traditional form factor, like the Asus ProArt P16 or the MacBook Pro M4.Featured reviews

The Artemis I lunar rocket lifts off from launch pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape ... [+] Canaveral, Florida, on November 16, 2022. (Photo by Gregg Newton/AFP)AFP via Getty ImagesThe next major goal of NASAs Artemis moon program is to send astronauts around the moon and bring them back safely. The crewed Artemis II test flight is set to launch in 2026, and you have a shot at creating one of the items that will fly inside the Orion capsule.NASA wants global creators to design a zero gravity indicator. Zero gravity indicators are small, plush items carried aboard spacecraft to provide a visual indication of when the spacecraft and its crew reach space, NASA said in its call for creators on March 7. These little toys are tethered in a way that allows them to float, but not float away.NASA Moon Mascot ChallengeNASA has partnered with crowdsourcing company Freelancer for the Moon Mascot design challenge. The space agency is seeking original designs representing the significance of NASAs Artemis campaign, the mission, or exploration and discovery. Thats a pretty broad brief, but there are some specific requirements for materials and size. The indicator has a limit of 6 inches and a weight limit of three-quarters of a pound.Theres more. Only limited types of material will be available, including flame-resistant thread, faux fur, polyester fiberfill and certain types of fabric. That means you shouldnt submit a creation that needs to be made out of dried oranges, steel, paper or other materials that arent on the approved list. Think soft stuffies.The submission deadline is May 27. Finalists will be announced by July 31, 2025. There are four categories for kids and adults with monetary prizes for each. NASA will make the call on the winning design that gets to go to space.Snoopy As Moon MascotArtemis 1 launched in late 2022 with no humans on board. The test mission involved an Orion spacecraft traveling around the moon and returning to Earth. The Artemis I zero-gravity indicator was a little stuffed Snoopy wearing an orange spacesuit.Snoopy stands out in an orange suit against the rest of this black-and-white NASA image from the ... [+] Artemis I mission.NASANASA has a long history with cartoonist Charles Schulzs Peanuts character dating back to the Apollo moon program era. Snoopy was selected as the zero-gravity indicator for the flight because of the inspiration and excitement the character has provided for human spaceflight for more than 50 years, NASA said in 2022. The crowdsourced Artemis II mascot represents a move in a new direction for the space agency.Four astronauts are slated to ride on Orion for Artemis II. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch will be joined by Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Timing, however, is up in the air. NASA announced a delay in late 2024 with a new anticipated launch date in April 2026. Thats a seven-month pushback from the previous target of September 2025.Space missions are often saddled with delays, especially when newer hardware and humans are involved. The Artemis II delay traces to an issue with the heat shield on the Orion space capsule during its inaugural uncrewed test flight. The heat shield cracked during Orions return to Earth. The interior of the capsule remained safe and it made a successful splashdown, but NASA wants to correct the issue before astronauts are inside.A lot will need to go right for Artemis II to launch in 2026. Its about Orion being ready and about NASA having the budget, the personnel and the will for the Artemis program to continue. The space agency is forging ahead despite uncertainty and its looking for ways to get the public excited and involved. The mascot challenge is one way to bring space fans into the fold.What will your mascot design look like? A rocket? A piece of cheese? An astronaut? Its wide open.

Update, Monday Mar 10, 2025: This article has been updated with further details on Samsungs benchmarks that will define success for the Exynos 2600.Samsung Galaxy S25 UltraEwan SpenceSamsung lauds the Galaxy S handsets as some of the most powerful smartphones on the planet. But that power comes at a cost. Balancing the need for top-tier performance against the cost of the silicon in the heart of the handsets has seen the South Korean company working alongside Qualcomm and its Snapdragon chipsets alongside Samsung Foundry's Exynos brand. What does that mean for the upcoming Galaxy S26?Samsung Galaxy S26 And ExynosThe current S25 family all run Snapdragon hardware, but will Qualcomms exclusivity continue, or can Samsung bring Exynos back for the Galaxy S26? Writing for FN News, Kim Jun-seok and Im Su-bin report on the company's hopes for the Exynos 2600 chipset.One point stands out and could significantly impact the Galaxy S26 family in 2026; the increased yield of the Exynos 2600 compared to the current Exynos 2500. The lower yield on the latter forced Samsungs hand to make the Glaaxy S25 range exclusively Qualcomm-powered. There has been a mix of Eynos and Qualcomm in previous years in the flagship brand, with the chipset choice being geographically decided.Given the lower cost of the home-grown Exynos chipset compared to Qualcomms Snapdragon option, Samsung will be hoping it can return to the split inventory it had before. Exynos is widely regarded as being less powerful than the equivalent Snapdragon, but it can have better battery life. For those looking for a good Samsung phone that gravitates towards that years S25 and S25+ equivalent, the slight loss in benchmarking on the Exynos is nowhere close to being a dealbreaker.Samsung Galaxy S26 And QualcommThe Galaxy S Ultra is the handset of choice for those looking for maximum power with the highest benchmark. It has generally been powered by a Qualcomm chip around the world, no matter if the lower handsets offer split specs. Qualcomm even helped this pitch by offering an overclocked chipset to Samsungthis year, it is called the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 For Galaxy.With that, the Samsung community returns to one of its age-old questions. Will the next Galaxy S family have the more powerful (but more expensive) Snapdragon chipsets across the range, or will Samsung use its own Exynos chipsets in lower specced models to keep costs down?Samsungs Exynos 2600 GoalsUpdate, Monday Mar 10, 2025: More details have emerged on Samsungs goals for the Exynos 2600. NotebookChecks Alex Alderson picks out some of the key targets around yields that need to be achieved.The reference point is around the seventy percent mark. Reaching that level will make mass production a viable option for Samsung Foundry. The overriding issue at the moment is the yield rate on its 2nm node process; its reaching between twenty and thirty percent at best. In contrast, TSMC is reaching sixty percent on similar 2nm nodes.Qualcomm and Nvidia are using TSMC and a side goal for Samsung Foundry must be to get some of that business in the future. This requires a clear demonstration of the prowess that would be found in the return of Exynos to Samsung's flagship Galaxy S handsets.The Exynos 2500 is not forgotten; expect to see that power this summers Galaxy Z Flip 7 foldable, but the big prize will be January 2026.Samsung Galaxy S26 Decision TimeThe FN News team suggest that the first mass production of the prototypes will begin in May. That will give Samsung the data it needs to make the call on the Galaxy S26 specifications.Now read the latest Samsung Galaxy S26, Pixel 9a, and Android world headlines in Forbes weekly Android news digest...

What just happened? Kojima Productions has published a pre-order trailer for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, the highly anticipated sequel to the 2019 action game starring Norman Reedus. Studio founder Hideo Kojima shared the new trailer at the South by Southwest festival over the weekend. As the trailer reveals, the events in the game take place 11 months after the creation of the United Cities of America. The sequel sees Reedus reprise his role as Sam Porter Bridges, who is joined by other big names including Elle Fanning, La Seydoux, and Jonathan Roumie.The Internet is abuzz about a character near the end of the trailer that's said to look a lot like Snake from Metal Gear Solid. Kojima himself also seemed to agree with this in a 2020 Instagram post. What are your thoughts?The original Death Stranding arrived in 2019 for the PlayStation 4 and was Kojima's first game after leaving Konami a few years earlier. The game starred Reedus as Bridges, a courier that delivers cargo to isolated cities and helps connect them to a communications network. It was ported to the PC in the summer of 2020 before making its way to the PlayStation 5 in September 2021.Kojima announced the sequel during The Game Awards in December 2022. At Sony's PlayStation State of Play event in early 2024, we got a nearly 10-minute trailer to chew on. A movie based on the series is also in the works, but plot details have been kept under wraps thus far.Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is due out on June 26, 2025, for PlayStation 5. Pre-orders open March 17 at 10 a.m. local time starting at $69.99 for the standard digital edition. An $89.99 digital deluxe edition will also be available, which includes a handful of extras and access to the game two days early.The collector's edition, priced at $229.99, comes with a 15-inch Magellan Man statue, a three-inch Dollman figurine, a letter from Kojima, and more.

A hot potato: Mark Zuckerberg is a vocal proponent of free speech, especially since Donald Trump was re-elected, but it seems the Meta CEO hasn't always been so anti-censorship. There have long been reports that Facebook developed a content suppression tool for the Chinese market. Now, new details about the system have surfaced. Last April, Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former Facebook global policy director who was fired in 2017, revealed in a complaint filed with the SEC that Facebook sought a foothold in the Chinese social media market. It hoped to achieve this by creating a version of its platform that complied with China's strict censorship laws.The company formed a team to work on the China-specific version of Facebook, codenamed Project Aldrin, in 2014. Wynn-Williams says (via The Washington Post) that some of the concessions Facebook agreed to with local authorities included hosting Chinese and Hong Kong user data on servers in China, making it easier for the government to access the personal information of these citizens.It was also proposed that a Chinese private-equity firm be allowed to review content posted by Chinese users, and that hundreds of moderators be hired to remove restricted content.Wynn-Williams alleged that Facebook built a censorship system that automatically detected and removed restricted terms in 2015. She also claims Facebook was ready to appoint a chief editor who would oversee the content that could appear on Chinese Facebook. They would be able to remove anything not aligned with the CCP's policies and could even shut down the site entirely if the country experienced social unrest.The whistleblower report claims that Facebook restricted the account of Chinese businessman Guo Wengui in 2017 in the hope of winning favor from Chinese officials. Wengui regularly posted about the alleged corruption within the Chinese government, though Facebook claimed his account was removed because he was sharing "personal information of others without their consent." The report alleges that this action was encouraged by a Chinese internet regulator to prove that Facebook was willing to "address mutual interests." // Related StoriesMeta spokesperson Andy Stone said the company's interest in the Chinese market was "no secret," and that Zuckerberg announced it was moving away from these efforts in 2019."This is all pushed by an employee terminated eight years ago for poor performance. We do not operate our services in China today. It is no secret we were once interested in doing so as part of Facebook's effort to connect the world," Stone said. "This was widely reported beginning a decade ago. We ultimately opted not to go through with the ideas we'd explored."View this post on InstagramA post shared by Mark Zuckerberg (@zuck)In 2019, Zuckerberg, apparently having given up on the prospect of a Chinese version of Facebook, spoke about the importance of freedom of expression while criticizing China's censorship laws in a speech at Georgetown.In January, Zuckerberg announced that Meta was prioritizing free speech following the recent US elections. This involved the replacement of third-party fact checkers with community notes, removing restrictions on topics such as immigration and gender, and focusing only on high-severity policy violations such as terrorism, child sexual exploitation, drugs, fraud, and scams. Meta is also reinstating civic content, which was removed in 2021 due to political misinformation concerns.