Something to look forward to: Intel's years-long struggle to stay competitive in the semiconductor market worsened last year as the company lost billions, forcing out CEO Pat Gelsinger. While the strategic direction of his successor remains unclear, early statements suggest that Intel will maintain its commitment to foundries, even as rivals propose partnerships and others question whether Intel should stay in the foundry market. Intel's board has appointed former Cadence CEO Lip-Bu Tan as its new leader. An industry veteran, Tan has vowed to restore the fortunes of the once-dominant chip giant.Tan previously served as the CEO of Cadence Design Systems, a major electronic systems design company, from 2009 to 2021, and was a board member from 2004 to 2023. He will also rejoin Intel's board of directors after stepping down last August.Tan served as the CEO of Cadence Design Systems, a major electronic systems design company, from 2009 to 2021 and served on its board from 2004 to 2023. He will rejoin Intel's board of directors after stepping down last August.In a statement, Tan reaffirmed Intel's ambition to re-establish itself as a world-class foundry, signaling that the company does not intend to abandon the business, despite losing ground to TSMC and Samsung. Former CEO Pat Gelsinger had launched an ambitious plan to close the gap with competitors but resigned suddenly last year after multiple consecutive quarters of steep losses.Intel lost over $18 billion in 2024 its first annual loss since 1986. Meanwhile, TSMC, which dominates the cutting-edge semiconductor market, reported an operating profit of $41 billion during the same period. // Related StoriesSince Intel's struggles became apparent, various entities have proposed either buying Intel or assuming partial control over it. Recently, TSMC proposed a joint venture with Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom, and Qualcomm to help manage Intel's foundries while keeping the majority of the company under U.S. ownership.It remains unclear whether the Trump administration, which aims to keep Intel competitive against its Taiwan- and South Korea-based rivals, will support the deal.Intel is pinning much of its future on its new 18A semiconductor process node, designed to compete with TSMC's upcoming N2. With tape-outs scheduled for the first half of this year, 18A will introduce backside power delivery and a gate-all-around architecture ahead of TSMC, which plans to implement these technologies starting in 2026.Early analysis suggests that 18A could outperform N2, but real-world comparisons will have to wait until tangible products using the two nodes emerge. Nvidia and Broadcom are currently testing 18A, though there is no evidence yet that they plan to adopt it.

If youve been looking for a brand new 4K TV to be the centerpiece of your home theater, you wont want to miss this incredible offer. Samsung has knocked a ridiculous $820 off its 75-inch QE1D QLED TV. That drops the price from $1,800 to $980. A 75-inch QLED display from a quality brand like Samsung for under $1,000? Thats a deal you dont want to miss.We love Samsung TV deals like this one, but we wouldnt wait much longer to take advantage of the offer!The Samsung QE1D Series delivers a bright and colorful picture and supports 4K resolution at up to 60Hz. If you do a lot of TV watching during the day, the QE1D does an excellent job at fighting glare in brightly lit rooms. And thanks to top-notch HDR support, this QLED delivers strong specular highlights and ultra-lifelike colors! While the native refresh rate is on the low side, Samsungs Motion Xcelerator kicks in to pick up whatever slack the 60Hz panel cant handle on its own.RelatedThe Samsung QE1D contains three HDMI ports and two USB-A connections. Should you want to hook up a soundbar (check out our list of the best soundbar deals!), the TV has a digital optical port, too. Access to apps, casting, and smart home controls is made possible by the Tizen OS UI and smart hub.Its hard to say how long we can expect this sale to hang around, but we could wake up tomorrow to find the promo has disappeared. That being said, right now is always the best time to buy.Take $820 off the Samsung 75-inch QE1D 4K QLED when you purchase today. You may also want to check out our list of the best QLED TV deals for additional discounts on top TVs!Editors Recommendations

crash landing Cockpit voice recorder survived fiery Philly crashbut stopped taping years ago Heroic work to recover and repair a CVR. Nate Anderson Mar 12, 2025 5:39 pm | 15 A cockpit voice recorder, in pristine condition. Credit: NTSB Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreCottman Avenue in northern Philadelphia is a busy but slightly down-on-its-luck urban thoroughfare that has had a strange couple of years.You might remember the truly bizarre 2020 press conference heldfor no discernible reasonat Four Seasons Total Landscaping, a half block off Cottman Avenue, where a not-yet-disbarred Rudy Giuliani led an farcical ensemble of characters in an event so weird it has been immortalized in its own, quite lengthy, Wikipedia article.Then in 2023, a truck carrying gasoline caught fire just a block away, right where Cottman passes under I-95. The resulting fire damaged I-95 in both directions, bringing down several lanes and closing I-95 completely for some time. (This also generated a Wikipedia article.)This year, on January 31, a little further west on Cottman, a Learjet 55 medevac flight crashed one minute after takeoff from Northeast Philadelphia Airport. The plane, fully loaded with fuel for a trip to Springfield, Missouri, came down near a local mall, clipped a commercial sign, and exploded in a fireball when it hit the ground. The crash generated a debris field 1,410 feet long and 840 feet wide, according to the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB), and it killed six people on the plane and one person on the ground.The crash was important enough to attract the attention of Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. (The airplane crew and passengers were all Mexican citizens; they were transporting a young patient who had just wrapped up treatment at a Philadelphia hospital.) And yes, it too generated a Wikipedia article.NTSB has been investigating ever since, hoping to determine the cause of the accident. Tracking data showed that the flight reached an altitude of 1,650 feet before plunging to earth, but the plane's pilots never conveyed any distress to the local air traffic control tower.Investigators searched for the plane's cockpit voice recorder, which might provide clues as to what was happening in the cockpit during the crash. The Learjet did have such a recorder, though it was an older, tape-based model. (Newer ones are solid-state, with fewer moving parts.) Still, even this older tech should have recorded the last 30 minutes of audio, and these units are rated to withstand impacts of 3,400 Gs and to survive fires of 1,100 Celsius (2,012 F) for a half hour. Which was important, given that the plane had both burst into flames and crashed directly into the ground.Cockpit voice recorders are amazingly hardened bits of tech. They are often kept in the back of the plane, so as to better survive a crash, but their audio comes from a microphone usually found on the instrument panel above and between the two pilot stations. The utility of this recording does not come just from what the pilots might say; the sound of a stall warning indicator or landing gear retraction or engine noise could each allow investigators to infer things about the flight's last moments.The NTSB eventually found the cockpit voice recorder of the Learjet 55, which was inside the impact crater and buried "under 8 ft of soil and debris." The unit was pretty beat upor, as the government puts it, displayed "significant impact-related damage as well as liquid ingress." So NTSB sent the device to its Vehicle Recorders Laboratory in Washington, DC, hoping to salvage some of the audio. The CVR after recovery from the north Philly crash site. After "extensive repair and cleaning," technicians were able to listen to the tape... and they found to their chagrin that it contained nothing related to the accident. In a preliminary report on the plane crash, released last week, NTSB investigators said that "the CVR did not record the accident flight and during the audition it was determined that the CVR had likely not been recording audio for several years." Even the most hardened, comically over-specced devices can failand sometimes it's not even the fire, the impact, or the "liquid ingress" that brings them down.Still, NTSB is not out of options. The Learjet contained another important piece of tech: an Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) computer. The device may contain crash data in nonvolatile memory, and it has been shipped off to its manufacturer to see what, if anything, can be recovered.Nate AndersonDeputy EditorNate AndersonDeputy Editor Nate is the deputy editor at Ars Technica. His most recent book is In Emergency, Break Glass: What Nietzsche Can Teach Us About Joyful Living in a Tech-Saturated World, which is much funnier than it sounds. 15 Comments

"Vindictive" EPA accused of faking criminal investigation to claw back climate funds EPA faces a lawsuit seeking to unfreeze funds supporting low-income Americans. Ashley Belanger Mar 12, 2025 5:21 pm | 8 Credit: pijama61 | DigitalVision Vectors Credit: pijama61 | DigitalVision Vectors Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreOn Wednesday, a ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee accused the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of "misusing law enforcement" to claw back climate funds and "humor" Donald Trumps "vindictive political whims."In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) requested information about a supposed criminal investigation into the EPA's $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF).Whitehouse alleged that there was no basis to freeze the funding. He claimed that Bondi and Patel "reverted to a pretextual criminal investigation to provide an alternative excuse to interfere" after "EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced via social media that he had 'found' $20 billion in EPA funds at Citibank and falsely suggested that the use of a financial agent agreementa commonly used financial tool that presidential administrations have used for centurieswas improper.""If DOJ and the FBI are aiding and abetting this unlawful plot, it crosses very significant redlines for the agency and its personnel," Whitehouse wrote.Far from a deal struck in the dark as Zeldin alleged, the terms of the agreement were announced publicly in April 2024, Whitehouse said. He also suggested the Trump administration was overstepping by "pursuing false allegations of criminal conduct, with the improper purpose to wrongfully freeze assets appropriated by Congress."Whitehouse requested responses from Bondi and Kash to his biggest questions by March 25. Critically, he's demanded "all evidence predicating a criminal investigation of the administration of and distribution of funds from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, including any seizure warrant applications and accompanying affidavits and exhibits."The senator is also hoping to better understand the timelineincluding asking officials to confirm if their investigation began before the Treasury terminated its agreement with Citibank or after. And he wants to know if Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency played any role in the efforts to freeze funding.Citibank revealed details of funding freezeBecause Citibank "holds accounts for grant recipients who receive funds from two GGRF programs, the National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF) and the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator," Whitehouse also sent a letter to Citibank about the supposedly "sham investigations."Citibank has until March 15 to provide more information on orders to freeze funding. More details on that front were shared today, however, in a court filing in a lawsuit raised by Climate Unitedone of eight NCIF awardees whose funding was suddenly frozen.In a motion opposing a request for a temporary restraining order forcing Citibank to unfreeze the funds, Citibank argued that it plays only an administrative role in managing accounts.According to Citibank, it cannot be liable for freezing the funds because it's legally required to follow instructions from the EPA and the Department of Treasury, and those agencies ordered Citibank "to pause all further disbursements from GGRF accounts, including those held by Climate United, until further notice."Citibank told the US district court that orders came to freeze the funding after "the government informed Citibank that the GGRF program was subject to an ongoing criminal investigation."Supposedly, the FBI received "credible information" that Climate United's Citibank account was "involved in possible criminal violations," allegedly including conspiracy to defraud the United States and wire fraud, Citibank's filing said. In a footnote, Citibank said that it also "learned" that the EPA was "deeply" concerned about "matters of financial mismanagement, conflicts of interest, and oversight failures."So, freezing the funds was viewed as necessary, the filing alleged, to prevent "misuse of funds." And Citibank claimed it had no authority to dispute "lawful" orders."Citibank is not vested with discretion to second-guess the governments concerns regarding the 'misconduct, waste, conflicts of interest, and potential fraud' that the government has stated is occurring," Citibank's filing said.Climate United, which describes itself as "a public-private investment fund that removes financial barriers to clean technologies," said in a press release that freezing the funds had already harmed "hard-working Americans who are struggling to pay for groceries and keep the lights on.""Small businesses and developers are unable to draw committed funds for project expenses, critical programs are delayed or paused, and Climate Uniteds reputation as a lender is impacted," Climate United said, rounding up stories from stakeholders already struggling through the freeze and urging, "this isnt about politics; its about economics."Apparently, Climate United felt deceived when the EPA asked for a 24-hour extension in the litigation that delayed Climate United's timeline for its request for a temporary restraining order. Seemingly the EPA took that time to allegedly illegally terminate Climate United's grant agreement, another Climate United court filing responding to the grant termination said. Had Climate United not granted the extension, the group suggested, an order may have blocked the termination.Regardless, Climate United told the court, the grant termination should have "no effect" on the court's ruling on a temporary restraining order."Such an order would be appropriate because the purported 'Notice of Grant Termination' is unlawful," Climate United's filing said."This is the EPAs latest attempt to unlawfully dismantle the congressionally appropriated National Clean Investment Fund," a Climate United spokesperson told Ars. "We remain focused on investing in projects that save Americans money, create jobs, and strengthen local communities. Our legally binding contract with the EPA cannot be lawfully terminated based on unsupported claims and misinformation, and we will continue to pursue legal action to protect the communities we serve."Citibank has suggested that "Climate United is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its claim against Citibank" and should be denied an emergency restraining order.But Climate United, like Whitehouse, wants to see evidence of alleged "waste, fraud, or abuse" that could possibly be grounds to terminate their grant. All parties met at a hearing Wednesday afternoon that could finally reveal what specific alleged misconduct led to the EPA's termination of Climate United's grant.Climate United insists that so far, the EPA has provided no evidence that Climate United violated any terms of the grant or even alleged that Climate United failed to comply with any terms or committed any misconduct otherwise."Waste, Fraud, and Abuse is a defined term," Climate United said. "It means 'credible evidence of the commission of a violation of federal criminal law involving fraud, conflict of interest, bribery, or gratuity violations.'" Rather than provide such evidence, the EPA's notice "contains no reference to Climate United at all," the group said.Ashley BelangerSenior Policy ReporterAshley BelangerSenior Policy Reporter Ashley is a senior policy reporter for Ars Technica, dedicated to tracking social impacts of emerging policies and new technologies. She is a Chicago-based journalist with 20 years of experience. 8 Comments

2025-03-13T02:07:32Z Read in app D-Wave on March 12 announced it had achieved quantum supremacy with its annealing chip. D-Wave This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? D-Wave on Wednesday announced it had achieved quantum supremacy with its annealing chip.Quantum stocks spiked after the news, which suggests quantum machines can outperform classical tech.Wednesday's gains helped the industry rebound from a dip spurred by skepticism from Jensen Huang.Quantum stocks spiked on Wednesday after Canadian company D-Wave said it had achieved the elusive industry benchmark of "quantum supremacy," suggesting its"It's the holy grail for quantum computing. It's what everybody aspires to and is the reason there's so much confusion around quantum supremacy versus quantum advantage versus quantum utility because supremacy true supremacy hadn't been achieved yet," Alan Barrett, D-Wave's CEO, told Business Insider. "And so the industry was coming up with terms that were easier to achieve, but this is that demonstration of true supremacy, and we're very excited."The corresponding market surge which saw D-Wave's stock spike over 8% by market close and sent other quantum companies like IonQ up over 16% helped the industry recover from a dip following recent skepticism from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.In January, Huang suggested the industry is at least 20 years away from quantum computing being "very useful," sending quantum stocks tumbling.While D-Wave's announcement didn't fully claw back the losses that followed Huang's remarks, it sent a jolt through the market and made waves in the industry surrounding the burgeoning technology.Quantum computing is rapidly evolving, with Big Tech players like IBM and Google racing to scale up the devices enough to be commercially useful. While advancement has long been slowed by deeply technical problems involving error correction and scalability,break encryption methods, among other outcomes.That is why D-Wave's announcement, which follows new quantum chip debuts from Amazon Web Services and Microsoft,is such a big deal. The Canadian company says its annealingThe company says its quantum computer performed a magnetic materials simulation in just minutes one that would take a classical supercomputer built with GPU clusters nearly one million years and more than the world's annual electricity consumption to solve.Quantum annealing vs. gate-based approachesD-Wave's approach is not without its skeptics. The research paper published by the company's researchers in the journal Science stopped short of describing its findings as "quantum supremacy," instead using the milder term "quantum advantage" to outline its findings.Eric Chitambar, a researcher of quantum information science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said D-Wave's annealing approach has drawbacks like narrower practical applications and reduced fault tolerance, meaning it's not likely to produce a full-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer.The narrow scope of the annealing"But even if they don't have something that is going to be a universal, scalable quantum computer, that doesn't mean there isn't value there," Chitambar said of D-Wave's announcement.Harley Johnson, the chief executive for Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, told Business Insider that certain types of computers are better at solving specific problems. D-Wave's announcement is a prime example of a narrowly tailored machine proving its utility.But now that quantum computing is moving beyond proving its commercial value, Johnson said, it's time to focus on maximizing the return on the massive investment that has brought the quantum industry this far."The thinking about quantum advantage, or quantum supremacy, needs to take into account the additional information about economic advantage," Johnson said. "What does it cost me to get to a solution on a conventional computer versus on a quantum computer? Can I solve it more cheaply than I could solve it on a conventional computer? I think that's the next really important way to think about quantum advantage."

2025-03-13T01:51:31Z Read in app Meta won an emergency arbitration decision that bars the author of "Careless People" from promoting it. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? Meta won an emergency arbitration decision regarding the book "Careless People."The decision, in part, bars Sarah Wynn-Williams from promoting the book.A Meta spokesperson said the "false and defamatory book should never have been published."Meta just scored a win against a new memoir written by a former Facebook executive."Careless People," which was published Tuesday, was written by Sarah Wynn-Williams, who worked at Facebook from 2011 to 2017.Meta on Wednesday shared an emergency arbitrator's decision that bars the author from promoting the book, which has already generated headlines. The ruling was issued by the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, which is the international division of the American Arbitration Association.The arbitrator also wrote that the decision bars Wynn-Williams from making disparaging comments about Meta or from further publishing the book to the extent she has control over it."This ruling affirms that Sarah Wynn Williams' false and defamatory book should never have been published," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to Business Insider.At the time of writing, the book was still available for purchase from retailers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble.Wynn-Williams and the publisher Macmillan did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider outside regular business hours.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Beyond The Ice Palace 2 it wasnt worth the wait (PQube)After 37 years, a sequel to Commodore 64 title Beyond The Ice Palace finally arrives, but what is the game and why has the follow-up taken so long?If youre wondering what Beyond The Ice Palace 1 was then dont worry, youre not going to be the only one. We did a double take when we first heard about this sequel, because not only is the original nearly four decades old but even at the time it was not regarded as a particularly good game. It wasnt a notable sales success either and seemed destined to be almost instantly forgotten. And yet here we are.The name Beyond The Ice Palace is a meta reference to the 8-bit computer conversions of Ghosts N Goblins, by British publisher Elite, which were heavily truncated and, on the Commodore 64 and other formats, ended abruptly with an ice level instead of including everything from the original arcade game.At the time, Elite supposedly pitched a Ghosts N Goblins sequel to Capcom but when they were told no, they released Beyond The Ice Palace as a blatant knock-off, with a generic barbarian character and none of the cartoonish charm of the original. Surprisingly, Elite is still around today, making mobile games of various 8-bit British games, but they dont seem to be involved in this at all. Which makes the whole situation even stranger.If we had to guess, we imagine whats happened here is that French developer Storybird Studio completed the game and realised it didnt really have much of a hook (or maybe they just couldnt think of a name) and then found out that the Beyond The Ice Palace licence was available and that promoting this as the most belated sequel ever would help to get it noticed. Which we guess worked, because here we are reviewing it.It certainly has little in common with Beyond The Ice Palace (or Ghosts N Goblins) in terms of gameplay and the only real connection, which wouldve been very easy to add late in the process, is that the McGuffin youre after is shards of a sacred arrow. Storybird also got British composer Allister Brimble, who was active in the 8-bit era, to do the music although it was actually David Whittaker who worked on the original game.The games much more obvious inspiration is Castlevania, with some sections looking almost identical to iconic locations from Konamis increasingly neglected franchise. Nevertheless, it is not a Metroidvania, as its linear, with no backtracking, and with only a small number of additional abilities to acquire. But not all Castlevania games are Metroidvanias and Beyond The Ice Palace 2 clearly venerates Super Castlevania 4 on the SNES above all others.The original Beyond The Ice Palace had barely any plot but here youre cast as the Cursed King, whos been shackled up in captivity for (37?) years and now wields his chains like a whip and a short range grappling hook like a cross between Simon Belmont and Kratos. You can also use the chains to block projectiles, pull the shields away from enemies (and doors from their hinges), and perform powered-up attacks.Strangely, you dont get any extra weapons, its just the chains. Both the original game and Castlevania have multiple different weapons for you to switch between and their absence is keenly felt here, not because anyone cares about authenticity to the original but because its sorely needed in terms of variety.You can upgrade your stats but thats not terribly exciting and instead the most interesting use for the chains is using them to interact with the environment, swinging across gaps, pulling switches, and activating traps. Nothing that happens is genuinely new or unexpected, but the level design is generally competent.Instead, the games major problems are its difficultly level and its clunky controls. The main character is painfully slow and the controls unresponsive and imprecise. In terms of the platforming this makes everything much more difficult than it should be, especially given the unsatisfyingly floaty jumping movement. Likewise, combat feels awkward and slow and while nothing is terrible, none of the action is very good either.More TrendingYou increasingly get the impression that the developers ran out of time, as while the game starts off with an impressive array of giant-sized bosses and mini-bosses, their scale and complexity tails off noticeably by the halfway mark. The difficultly of the bosses is even less consistent, with major difficulty spikes that quickly drain your will to continue.In its favour, Beyond The Ice Palace has decent pixel art graphics, somewhere north of what the SNES could comfortably achieve. But because everything is so derivative of Castlevania the visuals struggle to impress, even with some interestingly strange boss designs.As peculiar as this is in terms of its name, viewed solely as a game theres very little of interest here. There are dozens upon dozens of other similar titles, including all the games it so obviously cribs from, that are considerably more entertaining than this. Given that even at its best this is just a mediocre Castlevania clone, there really seems no reason that Beyond The Ice Palace should have been thawed out for a sequel.Beyond The Ice Palace 2 review summaryIn Short: In terms of gameplay, it has little in common with the 37-year-old original but the fact that this is a generic and unremarkable copy of other, better games unfortunately makes this a very authentic sequel.Pros: The pixel art graphics are often quite good, and the chains are a versatile weapon and movement system. Some of the boss battles are impressive.Cons: Awkward, imprecise controls and dull combat and platforming. Everything it does has been done better many times before over the last several decades.Score: 4/10Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and PCPrice: 15.99Publisher: PQube and PixelheartDeveloper: Storybird StudioRelease Date: 11th March 2024Age Rating: 12 What a strange sequel concept (PQube)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Microsoft has been annoyingly hesitant to offer a version of Windows that pairs well with an 8-inch screen. Now, the latest rumors suggest we may finally get cross-integration between Xbox and Windows built specifically for handhelds, and none other than Asus could act as a torchbearer for a new generation of console-like handheld gaming akin to the Steam Deck. Earlier this week, Windows Central reported that Microsoft plans to unveil its gaming handheld this year. On Wednesday, The Verge confirmed some aspects of WCs reporting but also offered its own conjecture about Microsofts future plans. According to the report based on unnamed sources close to Microsoft, the Xbox handheld is called Project Kennan (Windows Central called it Keenan), but instead of being manufactured by Microsoft itself, its being made by Asus. The new Asus handheld will have Xbox branding, and Windows Central mentioned that such a handheld could even include a built-in X button, which you would find on the Series X console. As for ergonomics, we imagine it could bear a semblance to the companys current ROG Ally design. We can also expect it to use a new chip like the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme. We caught our first glimpse of that new handheld-centric APU back at CES in January. Asus is the company that made the ROG Ally and ROG Ally Xthe latter being our favorite big-budget handheld. Do you know who is also a fan of the Ally? Xbox CEO Phil Spencer. He said as much last year in an interview with IGN. It only makes sense for the two companies to partner up. Its a similar situation with Valve and Lenovo. Steams owners opened its SteamOS platform for the upcoming Lenovo Legion Go S. Theres a version with Windows already available,but the SteamOS rendition should be includedlater this year. This supposed Asus handheld will still be Windows-based but with an Xbox UI papered over it. The Verge noted this would be a common Xbox UI across multiple types of devices. We can assume this would be similar to the current Xbox app, which did receive a slight redesign last year to better work on handheld. The real question is whether it would also play nice with the variety of other game launchers, like Steam or Epic Games Store. Since its still Windows, we can assume youll also be able to access any other apps for your game emulation needs.According to The Verge, that new UX, dubbed Project Bayside, is supposed to create a more console-like experience for handhelds or any other devices with the combo Xbox-Windows framework. That could include an app store specific to its games. If Microsoft wants to have a storefront as popular as Steam, it could be looking to make Xbox the default experience you get across the variety of OEM handhelds from the likes of Lenovo, Asus, MSI, and more. Windows Centrals report also noted Microsofts plans for a console follow-up from the Xbox Series X/S. The next-gen hardware may arrive in 2027 and might be more like a PC than a traditional Xbox. That would make sense, as Microsoft would only have to use its new UX. The outlet mentioned that the console could even incorporate third-party game storefronts, including Steam.If you want to imagine the possibilities of an Xbox handheld, you could look at this DIY design, which cuts down an original Xbox board to fit inside a handheld shell along with a screen. We hope Microsofts eventual design isnt as chunky, but you know what would really get nostalgic gamers going? Bring back the black-and-whitebuttons.

Perhaps the most boots the house down of Disney villain songs, Get Lost introduces Matangi, the badass bat goddess of Moana 2. If you havent watched the film yet, it just hit Disney+ today and will be released on physical media on the 18thbut trust, youll want to stay trapped in Matangis clam for a spell, as the trickster folklore figure seduces Moana (Aulii Cravalho) in one of the best sequences of the film to get lost instead of journeying in a straight line. io9 recently talked to Moana 2 composers Abigail Barlow and Emily Beartogether known as Barlow & Bearabout writing Get Lost, and broke down the track along with voice actress Awhimai Fraser, who sings the instant classic baddie song. Barlow, who is the singing, co-lyricist powerhouse of Barlow & Bear, described the process: We knew we wanted it to be like a big pop anthem. But we didnt really know what she was singing about until we got the script. And it said that she was a goddess that was stuck in a giant clam and she was giving Moana some non-advice. Bear, a young prodigy composer and pianist who co-created the viral Bridgerton musicial on TikTok with Barlow, and who tours as Beyoncs keyboard player (even while making Moana 2), added, I think she started out a little bit more evil or less good-intentioned. But the thing about Matangi is that she serves herself and serving Moana happens to help her in this case. She continuted. But shes very mysterious and I feel like at any point, one thing could change her. And I like that we also were told that Awhimai can sing her ass off. So we knew that we wanted to have this show-stopping song that really showcased her vocal ability. And shes a new character. So [Disney] got to kind of branch out a little bit from the existing world of Moana.For Fraser, the process of finding Matangi was both on the page and in the music. Shes got this older sister vibe about her to an extent. And I think that that was a really fun thing to play, she said. She genuinely wanted Moana to succeed, but also when youve been stuck in a certain place and time for a very long amount of time, I think she was also learning sort of how to be sociable again. I think she was really surprised also by Moana, [and] that she was a bit thrown by her. The lyrics to Get Lost encourage taking paths less traveled to find your way and Matangi embodies the nature of alluring unpredictability. Bear shared how even with the characters heel turn at the end, you never quite know what side shes on. I mean, ultimately, we didnt even really what her agenda was. Is she good? Is she bad?That evolved as the film evolved. I think at one point she was a little too evil. And were like, why the hell would Moana even remotely trust her? And were like, ok, we need that bridge. We need that bridge that kind of opens the curtain a little bit: Read between the lines. Listen to what Im saying, Moana.' Dont you know how good you have it? Youre all thats stopping you For me, Im stuck like static Can you imagine A life this tragic in the gloom? Youve got a chance, so take it I know youre scared, but lifes unfair Its full of choices, big and small But trust the fall and you can have it all Fraser loved the spontaneous twists and turns of the character even in her big song, which encourages rule-breaking on Moanas part and is reflectively self-aware for the not-so-clean-cut villain: Hopefully the performance showed that journey of, she arrives super sassy, mysterious, kind of playing around with Maui, and then at the end, you know, she genuinely hopes that shell see Tau Tai Moana againeven if its as a challenger to the youngest of the demi-gods. Walt Disney Animation But before they get there, Moana had to embrace jumping into the unknown. Even the line Get Lost was inspired by a conversation with real life Wayfinders, who said getting lost was the pathway to magic, Barlow shared. And we said, write that down. Because Moanas making a bunch of mistakes, and she doesnt know how to get out. Shes stuck.Bear agreed that Moana had to reach a point where she had to toss out the rule book. Her bag of tricks is used up. She keeps making mistakes, relying on what she already knows, she explained, and described Matangi as an essential foil. Weve all had that figure in our lives who shakes things up and gets us to make unpredictable choices. Here, its in the form of an alarmingly persuasive and charismatic flying demi-god with a legion of bats, saying the point of this journey is you cant take the path thats already traveled. You have to find a new one. But I think the fact that the lyrics are a little vague until we get to the bridge is intentional. Matangi can easily shift from friend to foe, but always with the intention of helping Moana grow out of what she knows to be good or bad. Fraser hopes to return to the role, and its teased in Moana 2s post-credits scenes that it wont be the last time we see Mantangi. I hope to kind of delve a little bit more into Moanas journey and also how Matangi can keep playing with her and keep pushing her into spaces that maybe shes not so comfortable with, she said.Along with fans of the newest baddie among the Disney Villains, she also hopes to discover more about her. It would be really fascinating to find out how on earthwhat did she do to get put into this giant clam and have to be there for a very long amount of time? She must have really annoyed Nalo. Were seated for more Matangi content and cant wait to see more of her already. Fingers crossed Moana 3 gets announced soon. Moana 2 is out now on Disney+ and will be available on 4K and Blu-ray March 18 at retailers, with a special steelbook edition from Walmart. Want more io9 news? 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Nature, Published online: 12 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00735-7The immune molecule TGF has been found to weaken immune defences against latent viruses, triggering reactivation of the EpsteinBarr virus. This mechanism links TGF release in SARS-CoV-2 infection to multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, and could inform the development of therapies for managing this serious condition.