Photo Credit: iQOO iQOO Neo 10 Pro+ will come in Shi Guang White, Shadow Black and Super Pixel shades Highlights iQOO Neo 10 Pro+ will launch alongside the Pad 5 series, Watch 5 and more It is confirmed to pack a 7K “Ice Vault” vapour cooling chamber The iQOO Neo 10 Pro+ will have a 2K display with 1.5mm side bezels Advertisement iQOO Neo 10 Pro+ will launch in China on May 20 alongside the iQOO Pad 5 series, iQOO Watch 5, iQOO TWS Air 3 and more devices. It is expected to join the standard iQOO Neo 10 and the Neo 10 Pro variants in the country, which were unveiled in November 2024. The upcoming Neo 10 Pro+ smartphone will be equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC and a 2K display. Now, the company has revealed the RAM, storage and a few key other details about the phone.iQOO Neo 10 Pro+ Key SpecificationsThe company previously confirmed that the iQOO Neo 10 Pro+ willl be powered by an octa core Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC. The company revealed in a Weibo post that the chipset will be optimised with iQOO's Blue Crystal technology. The post added that the handset will support LPDDR5x Ultra RAM and UFS 4.1 storage. The phone is claimed to have scored 3,311,557 points on the AnTuTu benchmark test.In another post, the brand said that the iQOO Neo 10 Pro+ will boast its largest yet 7K “Ice Vault” vapour cooling chamber for thermal management and heat dissipation, claiming to improve cooling efficiency by 15 percent.Previously, iQOO revealed that the upcoming Neo 10 Pro+ will sport a 2K display with 1.5mm side bezels and a glass back panel. It will be offered in Shi Guang White, Shadow Black, and Super Pixel (translated from Chinese) colourways. The "prism pixel design" of the latter option has been developed in collaboration with BMW M Motorsport. Older reports have suggested that the iQOO Neo 10 Pro+ will likely come with a 6.82-inch flat OLED screen. It is expected to house two 50-megapixel cameras at the back. It could pack a 7,000mAh battery with 120W fast wired charging support. The handset may feature 16GB of RAM and ship with Android 15-based OriginOS 5. KEY SPECSNEWSDisplay 6.78-inchProcessor Snapdragon 8 Gen 3Front Camera 16-megapixel Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 8-megapixel RAM 12GBStorage 256GBBattery Capacity 6100mAhOS Android 15Resolution 1260x2800 pixelsKEY SPECSNEWSDisplay 6.78-inchProcessor MediaTek Dimensity 9400Front Camera 16-megapixel Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 50-megapixel RAM 12GBStorage 256GBBattery Capacity 6100mAhOS Android 15Resolution 1260x2800 pixels For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube. Sucharita Ganguly Sucharita is a writer with Gadgets 360 and is mostly found playing with her cat in her free time. She has previously worked at breaking news desks across organizations. Powered by coffee, The Beatles, Bowie, and her newfound love for BTS, she aims to work towards contributing to a better media environment for women and queer folk. More Related Stories

Published May 14, 2025 10:00am EDT close ‘CyberGuy’ explains dark side of PayPal, how to stay safe Kurt Knutsson has advice to protect information from cybercriminals who are seeking new ways to gain login credentials and full control of computers and bank accounts. Online scams are becoming more dangerous and convincing every day. Cybercriminals are finding new ways to gain not just your login credentials but full control of your computer and your bank accounts.Take John from King George, Virginia, for example. He recently shared his alarming experience with us. His story is a powerful warning about how quickly things can escalate if you respond to suspicious emails.Here is what happened to John in his own words: "I mistakenly responded to a false PayPal email notifying me of a laptop purchase. The message looked real, and I called the number listed. The person on the phone gave me a strange number to enter into my browser, which installed an app that took control of my PC. A warning popped up saying 'software updating – do not turn off PC,' and I could see my entire file system being scanned. The scammer accessed my bank account and transferred money between accounts. He told me to leave my PC running and go to the bank, keeping him on the phone without telling anyone what was happening. I shut everything down, contacted my bank, and changed my passwords."John’s quick thinking in shutting down his computer and alerting his bank helped minimize the damage. However, not everyone is as lucky. Fake PayPal scam email (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)How this scam worksThis type of scam is known as a remote access scam. It often begins with a fake email that appears to come from a trusted company like PayPal. The message claims there is an issue, such as an unauthorized charge, and urges the victim to call a phone number or click a link. WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?Once the scammer makes contact, they guide the victim to enter a code into their browser or install a program, claiming it will fix the problem. In reality, this grants the scammer full control of the victim’s computer. Once inside, scammers often search for sensitive files, access banking websites, steal login credentials or install malware to maintain long-term access. Even if the immediate scam is stopped, hidden malware can allow scammers to reenter the system later. A hacker at work (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Key takeaways from John's experienceJohn’s close call highlights several important lessons.Fake emails are harder to spot than ever: Scammers create emails that look almost identical to real ones from trusted companies like PayPal. They copy logos, formatting and even fake customer support numbers. Always double-check the sender’s email address and verify communications by visiting the official website or app directly instead of clicking links inside emails.Remote access scams can escalate fast: Once scammers gain control of your device, they can steal sensitive data, move funds between accounts and install hidden malware that stays behind even after the scammer disconnects. It often takes only minutes for serious damage to be done, making fast recognition critical.Psychological pressure plays a big role: Scammers rely on creating a sense of urgency and fear. By keeping you on the phone and urging secrecy, they isolate you from help and rush you into making bad decisions. Recognizing when you are being pressured is key to breaking the scammer’s control.Fast action can make all the difference: By quickly disconnecting his computer and contacting his bank, John limited the scammer’s access to his accounts. Acting within minutes rather than hours can stop further theft, block fraudulent transactions and protect your sensitive information from being fully compromised.GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE A warning on a laptop home screen (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)How to protect yourself from remote access scamsTaking simple but strong security steps can protect you from falling victim.1. Never call a number listed in a suspicious email: Scammers often set up fake phone numbers that sound professional but are designed to manipulate you into handing over control or information. Always find verified contact information through a company's official website or app, not links/numbers provided in suspicious messages.2. Be skeptical of unusual instructions: No legitimate company will ask you to install software or enter strange codes to protect your account. If anything seems unusual, trust your instincts and stop the communication immediately.3. Install strong antivirus software on all devices: Antivirus programs can detect suspicious downloads, block remote access attempts and help prevent hackers from taking over your system. Having strong antivirus protection installed across all your devices is the best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware and attempt to access your private information. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe. Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.4. Use identity theft protection: These services monitor financial accounts, credit reports and online activity for signs of fraud, alerting you to suspicious transactions. See my tips and best picks on how to protect yourself from identity theft.5. React immediately if you suspect a scam: Disconnect your device from the internet, contact your bank or credit card company immediately and change your passwords, especially for banking and email accounts. Monitor your accounts closely for unauthorized activity and report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission as well as the company that was impersonated. Acting quickly can prevent further access and limit the damage scammers can cause.6. Use multifactor authentication (MFA): MFA adds a critical layer of security beyond passwords, blocking unauthorized logins even if credentials are stolen. Enable MFA on all accounts, especially banking, email and payment platforms, to stop scammers from bypassing stolen passwords.7. Update devices and software immediately: Regular updates patch security flaws that scammers exploit to install malware or hijack systems. Turn on automatic updates wherever possible to ensure you’re always protected against newly discovered vulnerabilities.8. Employ a password manager with strong, unique passwords: Avoid password reuse and use complex passphrases to minimize credential-stuffing attacks. A password manager generates and stores uncrackable passwords, eliminating the risk of weak or repeated credentials. Get more details about my best expert-reviewed password managers of 2025 here.9. Never share screen access or grant remote control: Scammers exploit screen-sharing tools to steal passwords and manipulate transactions in real time. Legitimate tech support will never demand unsolicited screen access; terminate the call immediately if pressured.10. Invest in personal data removal services: These services automate requests to delete your personal information from data brokers and people-search sites, reducing publicly available details scammers could exploit for phishing or impersonation. While no service promises to remove all your data from the internet, having a removal service is great if you want to constantly monitor and automate the process of removing your information from hundreds of sites continuously over a longer period of time. Check out my top picks for data removal services here.Kurt’s key takeawaysJohn’s story is a reminder that online scams are evolving quickly and becoming more aggressive. Staying skeptical, verifying all suspicious messages and acting quickly if something feels wrong can make the difference between staying safe and losing sensitive information. Protect your devices, trust your instincts and remember it is always better to be cautious than to take a risk with your security.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPHave you or someone you know been targeted by a scam like this? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.Ask Kurt a question or let us know what stories you'd like us to cover.Follow Kurt on his social channels:Answers to the most-asked CyberGuy questions:New from Kurt:Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on "FOX & Friends." Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Steam, the most popular marketplace for PC games, has reportedly seen a major breach via another company this week and millions of users' personal data could be at risk on the dark webTech13:49, 14 May 2025Updated 13:49, 14 May 2025Save big in the Steam Sales later today(Image: AFP via Getty Images)If there's one thing PC gamers can all agree on, it's that Steam rules the roost when it comes to buying and playing games.It's packed with deep discounts in regular sales, works flawlessly with Valve's own Steam Deck, and has a huge library of games. That popularity has seemingly painted a target on the service, however, as one account has suggested that a company Valve has worked with has allegedly suffered a data breach.‌A company named in some reports, Twilio, has denied it was breached. Underdark.ai on LinkedIn has suggested Twilio's Two-Factor Authentication data (2FA) was found in samples of the leaked data.‌The Steam sale is backAccording to the Underdark post, "a threat actor going by Machine1337 posted on a well-known dark web forum claiming to have breached Steam, offering a dataset of over 89 million user records for $5,000.""The implications here are serious — Steam isn’t just a game platform; it's a treasure trove of personal and financial data tied to users worldwide. If this breach is verified, it could lead to widespread phishing, account takeovers, and targeted attacks across the gaming community."Article continues belowThe post urges users to enable 2FA if they haven't already, update their passwords, and monitor their emails for suspicious activity.It's worth stressing that Valve's own service has not been breached, but that wherever the leak has come from, it could lead to phishing attempts that could have big consequences for users.If the breach is from a 2FA service, it could allow a bad actor to hijack those requests and gain access to a user's Steam account.‌It's common practice for these kinds of data purchasers to try the same login details on multiple accounts, meaning they could gain access to your email, shopping, or even banking accounts.As a result, we'd suggest changing your Steam account password, while also ensuring it isn't reused elsewhere.Password manager apps can be an ideal tool in these kinds of situations, letting you see at a glance how often you've reused a string of characters.Article continues belowA Twilio spokesperson said: "There is no evidence to suggest that Twilio was breached. We have reviewed a sampling of the data found online, and see no indication that this data was obtained from Twilio."For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.‌‌‌

Illumi-nother One? Helldivers 2's upcoming battle for Super Earth might be part of another big update, alleged PlayStation leak suggests, but Arrowhead's CEO is keeping his lips sealed May 20 could be another seismic day in the Galactic War, if this apparent leak turns out to be accurate. Image credit: Arrowhead News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on May 14, 2025 Yesterday was a big day in Helldivers 2, with Arrowhead finally pulling the trigger on the massive Illuminate invasion it'd spent days building to with teases. However, it looks like there's a chance yet another big update could be just around the corner, if an alleged PlayStation leak proves on the money. If you were living under a super rock on May 12, Arrowhead deployed this fresh Illuminate push towards Super Earth alongside a bunch of new enemies and mechanics like weapon customisation. There was also a whole patch full of weapon balancing, just in case you didn't already have enough change to be getting to grips with. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Naturally, this meant the social media accounts of both the studio and its backer PlayStation were pretty busy posting about all this stuff, and some players are claiming that they spotted one of them accidentally revealing that another update is set to drop on May 20. A player with the handle xTekshi has posted an alleged screenshot of PlayStation's official Threads account for the Czech Republic sharing the game's latest trailer with a caption that a big update dubbed "Heart of Democracy" will be dropping on May 20. We've checked the timeline of the Threads account in question, and if it existed, this post has seemingly been scrubbed - which to be fair doesn't mean much as you'd expect such a move to be taken if the update had been accidentally blabbed about. NEW MAJOR UPDATE LEAKED? by u/xTekshi in Helldivers To see this content please enable targeting cookies. We've also reached out to both PlayStation and Arrowhead for comment. Naturally, players have been quick to question Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani via the game's Discord server. "SHAMS JORJANI TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT THE NEXT UPDATE AND MY LIFE IS YOURS" one of the demanded of the exec, who stood firm and simply replied: "Never!" Image credit: VG247 On a slightly tangential note, Jorjani did reply to another player asking if there's any information about a "performance update" to the game by saying: "Blog post will come on this." Potentially lending some credence to the alleged update leak is the fact that, as xTekshi points out, Helldivers 2's current major order to defend Widow's Harbor, Pilen V, and New Haven is set to finish in six days time, which would be May 20. Plus, Arrowhead's briefing about it ended with the line "battle on Super Earth is inevitable". Meanwhile, Arrowhead has tweeted as I was writing this: "Attention, Citizens of Super Earth: Remain calm. Do not spread panic. The Illuminate, in their desperation, have launched their final assault. Rest assured, our brave Helldivers are fully prepared to neutralize this threat. Stay safe, stay vigilant, and await further updates. Victory and liberty are within our grasp." No confirmation, but an advisory to look out for more updates...hmmmm. Do you think May 20 will bring a fresh update as the battle for Super Earth kicks off? Let us know below!

This article contains spoilers for Andor season 2 episodes 10-12 and Rogue One. The final three episodes of Andor may not pack quite the same emotional punch as the Ghorman arc, but they definitely bring this story together in an impactful way. It was revealed fairly early on that this season was going to lead up to the events of Rogue One, but how it did so was still very much a surprise. From the reveal of Krennic’s secret weapon program, to Bail’s arrival on Yavin 4, and so much more – the last three episodes have lined things up perfectly and added new context to the events of Rogue One in the process. Here’s everything you need to know about the Andor finale and how it connects to Rogue One. Luthen and Lonni’s Sacrifice This arc begins a year after the last, as all the others have, in 1 BBY. Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau) and Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård) receive an urgent message from Lonni (Robert Emms) asking to meet. For the first time, Luthen and Lonni meet in public rather than in their secret elevator hideout in the depths of Coruscant.  Lonni begs for safe passage for him and his family in exchange for the information he has, claiming that he’s been burned and that the Empire will likely be after him soon. Luthen agrees to take them to Yavin, giving Lonni just enough hope to spill what he knows. Lonni starts by warning Luthen that Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) knows he’s Axis and is trying to covertly assemble a team to apprehend him.  Then Lonni reveals what really has him shaken up – the truth about the Emperor’s Energy program. After holding on to Dedra’s code cert for a year, he finally dug through her files and found out about Krennic’s (Ben Mendelsohn) secret weapon program a.k.a. the Death Star. He says that the massacre on Ghorman, and the Imperial occupation of Jedha and Scarif are all connected. He tells Luthen all about the Kyber crystals on Jedha, Galen Erso’s involvement, everything that the Rebel Alliance needs to start looking into this. Luthen kills Lonni after he shares this information, presumably paranoid about the Empire finding out what he now knows. He relays all of this to Kleya and urges her to flee and get this information to the others as quickly as possible. He stays behind and starts destroying their comms relay when Dedra appears. She comes alone, cocky and confident that she has him on the ropes, but Luthen isn’t going to go out so easily. While Dedra is waxing poetic about how she finally has him, Luthen stabs himself with a nearby relic. Dedra attempts to keep him alive by transporting him to a hospital, but Kleya is able to sneak in and take him off life support, as she knows he would want. Dedra’s Folly Even though Dedra is finally successful at capturing Luthen, we find out that her “victory” came at a cost. As soon as she gets Luthen to the hospital, she’s arrested by the ISB and Krennic is brought in to interrogate her. He asks who she told about the secret project and how she heard about Galen Erso’s involvement. He also assumes that she gave Lonni her code cert. She denies this, but also admits that there were intel bundles that were forwarded to her office by mistake. Instead of reporting them, she sifted through them for information that could lead her to Axis. But that also left the information readily available for Lonni to steal. In the final moments of episode 12, we see Dedra is now a prisoner in an Imperial prison like Cassian once was. We don’t know for sure that this is Narkina 5, the Empire is a fan of uniformity after all, but it’s pretty safe to assume that it’s at least a similar work camp environment. The Empire turned on her as soon as she outlived her usefulness and because her desire to capture Axis put the Death Star plans at risk. Rescuing Kleya and Knowledge of the Death Star Meanwhile, Cassian (Diego Luna), Melshi (Duncan Pow), and K-2SO (Alan Tudyk) are bonding on Yavin when Wilmon (Muhannad Bhaier) hears a mysterious transmission that Cassian recognizes from his time with Luthen. Cassian, Melshi, and K-2SO immediately set off for Coruscant despite the protocols on Yavin forbidding them from doing so. Wilmon tells Draven (Alistair Petrie) why Cassian left, and he isn’t too thrilled about it. Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! On Coruscant, Supervisor Heert (Jacob James Beswick) is put in charge of finding and capturing Kleya. He seeks advice from Dedra, which she begrudgingly gives from behind bars. The ISB is able to get Kleya’s comm table functioning enough to track her distress signal, arriving at the Coruscant safe house right after Cassian and Melshi do. At first it seems like the ISB might have them cornered, but K-2SO puts his brute force to work taking out the Imperial agents and helping them get Kleya out of Coruscant. A Meeting On Kafrene When Cassian returns to Yavin, he relays the information about Krennic’s program and the Death Star that Kleya and Luthen got from Lonni to Rebel leadership. Kleya was injured in the ISB attack and is still recovering, and Cassian knows that they need to act on this information as soon as possible. Luthen died for it, after all. The Rebel council isn’t sure if they can trust this information, but Mon wants to believe Cassian. One of Saw’s men, Tivik, has put out word that he has information, but will only speak to Cassian about it if he comes to Kafrene. Mon and Draven try to convince Bail to let Cassian follow this lead even though he’s currently being reprimanded for sneaking off Yavin to go rescue Kleya. He relents, sending Cassian and K-2SO off to Kafrene, which is where we first meet them in Rogue One. What Happened to Bix? In the final moments of the finale, we return to Mina-Rau, the planet that Bix, Brasso, and Wilmon sought refuge on after Ferrix. B2-EMO is still there, playing with the children. Finally we see Bix, standing in a field holding a child that we can probably assume is Cassian’s, and part of the reason she left a year ago. She knew that he would leave the rebellion for both of them, and she didn’t want him to do that. But now she and their child look out into the distance, at a sunrise that Cassian is currently fighting for, but will never see for himself. Both full seasons of Andor are available to stream on Disney+ now.

Menu Home News Hardware Gaming Mobile Finance Deals Reviews How To Wccftech MobileSemiconductor Huawei’s Chipmaking Partner SiCarrier Reportedly Seeks $2.8 Billion In Funding As It Attempts To Compete With ASML; Most Products Have Yet To Enter Production Omar Sohail • May 14, 2025 at 01:07am EDT SiCarrier was previously reported to have a trade link with Huawei, with the Chinese firm said to be developing next-generation chip manufacturing tools that would allow it and the region to compete with ASML and severely reduce dependency on overseas firms. Unfortunately, realizing these goals is going to be a costly venture, and even with financial backing from China, it appears that SiCarrier’s plans cannot reach fruition without some funding to catalyze its plans, which is why the company is said to acquire capital of a whopping $2.8 billion to make this possible. The funds will be used for research purposes, with various entities interested in investing in SiCarrier During SEMICON, SiCarrier unveiled a host of cutting-edge chipmaking machines aimed at breaking ASML’s monopoly and giving China the edge in this highly competitive industry. Unfortunately, Reuters reports that most of the products showcased by the Huawei partner have yet to enter production, and the lack of funds could be a major indicator. This is likely why the company is apparently looking to raise capital, with sources familiar with the matter claiming that SiCarrier wants $2.8 billion, with the firm valued at $11 billion.. The fundraising could conclude in a few weeks, with multiple entities such as domestic venture capital companies interested in investing in SiCarrier. Interestingly enough, the report mentions that the required funding did not include the chipmaker’s lithography assets, but there is a possibility that interested parties will want a piece of this pie. After all, the entire goal for China, and by extension, Huawei, is to stop relying on the older DUV equipment and focus on building ‘state of the art’ EUV machinery so that a host of companies can move past the 7nm barrier. Currently, China’s largest semiconductor manufacturing company, SMIC, is limited to mass manufacturing 7nm wafers because transitioning to the 5nm technology requires multiple patterning steps, which increases costs and lowers yields. SMIC was previously mentioned to have successfully developed its 5nm node, but plans to mass producing wafers on this lithography is still a distant dream. China was also said to be developing in-house EUV machines that would enter trial production in Q3 2025, but there are no follow-ups regarding these plans, which only means that the majority of China’s ambitions could rest on SiCarrier’s shoulders. News Source: Reuters Deal of the Day Subscribe to get an everyday digest of the latest technology news in your inbox Follow us on Topics Sections Company Some posts on wccftech.com may contain affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com © 2025 WCCF TECH INC. 700 - 401 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Tesla has shared a new video showing its Optimus humanoid robot pulling some rather impressive dance moves. While the nifty footwork might not be much use for the industrial settings that the robot is destined for, the 60-second clip effectively showcases its increasing agility and lifelike range of motion. The clip comes a day after Optimus boss Milan Kovac said in an online post that his robotics team “has been working very hard in the background.” Recommended Videos Kovac added that for the dancing, Optimus, also known as the Tesla Bot, was trained entirely in simulation, with reinforcement learning. He also noted that the cable in the second clip was in place “in case of a fall” and was not actually holding the robot. Related The third generation of the Tesla Bot was unveiled in March 2025. It features significant design and functional upgrades that include a 22-degree-of-freedom hand (up from 11 in previous versions), self-recharging capability, and advanced AI that allows the robot to learn tasks like a human rather than relying on traditional programming. Tesla chief Elon Musk has previously said that “thousands” of the robots could one day work alongside human staff at Tesla factories in the next year or two, taking care of “dangerous, repetitive, [and] boring tasks.” There are also plans for a commercial launch, with Musk claiming that Optimus could one day potter around the home as a household helper, or even “babysit your kid, walk your dog, mow your lawn, get the groceries, just be your friend, serve drinks.” At $20,000 a pop, it won’t come cheap, though there’s also been talk of offering a more affordable rental service. For decades we’ve been promised advanced, intelligent, and truly useful humanoid robots, and now the technology appears to be finally delivering. Tesla is now in a rapidly developing global race to build a practical humanoid robot, with major players such as Tesla, Figure AI, Apptronik, and Boston Dynamics competing alongside a string of impressive Chinese rivals.  Companies in the sector are keen to move toward mass production in a bid to address labor shortages and automate repetitive or dangerous tasks. While challenges like cost, safety, and real-world complexity remain, there’s a growing possibility that in the next few years, humanoid robots could enter the workplace — and even everyday life — at an unprecedented scale.

Sorry, Affordable, Evenly Deployed Fiber Optic Broadband Is Illegal Now Under Our Shitty, Ignorant Government from the The-U.S.-is-an-ignorant-embarrassment,-part-7000 dept Tue, May 13th 2025 05:28am - Karl Bode The Trump administration has illegally declared the Digital Equity Act of 2021 “racist and unconstitutional,” and called for it to be dismantled. The grant program had been helping push affordable fiber optic broadband into communities long neglected regions by regional telecom monopolies, be they minority, low-income, rural, suburban, or urban. It’s the latest effort by the administration to destroy whatever was left of U.S. consumer protection, and any and all efforts to address our sagging, uncompetitive broadband markets. Trump, who, I’d guarantee, has no idea how the program worked or what it does, took to his personal propaganda platform to whine about the program: The Digital Equity Act provides $2.75 billion for three beneficial grant programs aimed at bringing affordable broadband access to rural communities, disadvantaged urban communities, schools, and anchor institutions. Much of this money still hadn’t been doled out yet, but in many instances the money was funding affordable fiber to long-neglected communities. These kinds of investments usually have significant downstream economic benefits thanks to expanded access to education, health care, and remote employment opportunities. Republicans also recently killed the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provided $30 broadband discount for low-income users. Republicans also claimed they killed that program for cost savings, but a follow up study found the program generated three times the economic benefits ($29.5 billion) than the program cost. Just not to the sort of people Republicans like. Consumer groups like Public Knowledge were quick to note that Trump lacks any authority to kill the Digital Equity Act (passed by Congress as part of the infrastructure bill, which is the dictionary definition of legal), and that its destruction will heavily harm many of his own constituents, including red state veterans. Republican FCC boss Brendan Carr is also destroying FCC efforts to finally acknowledge longstanding racial discrimination in broadband deployment. Data clearly illustrates how many big ISPs have refused to upgrade or repair service in minority neighborhoods, and in many places actually charge low income and minority residents more money for slower service than in less diverse, more affluent neighborhoods. The FCC under Biden had only just started doing something about these problems. Those efforts are dead now under Trumpism. Republicans are also attempting to destroy the FCC’s Universal Service Fund (USF), which also helps bring affordable broadband to disadvantaged schools. And they’re destroying a program that helped disadvantaged school kids obtain Wi-Fi access via remote hotspots provided by schools. More broadly, they’re also destroying the FCC’s ability to hold telecom giants accountable for any bad behavior. In the case of the Digital Equity Act of 2021, Republican Senator Ted Cruz falsely claimed it is “impermissible race-based discrimination under the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.” That’s gibberish by racist imbeciles who aren’t bright enough to even understand what they’re destroying. In many of these examples, Republicans are claiming that efforts to prevent discrimination are in fact discriminatory, an argument that will struggle to gain traction in anything other than our most rightward-lurching court (which, unfortunately for those of us with empathy, is a growing part of our legal system). The Digital Equity Act barely mentions race; simply including some vague language stating that deployments must be even and non-discriminatory. That was enough to set ignorant racists off. This program was hugely beneficial to red states, and veterans, and rural and urban dwellers alike. Its destruction, assuming it stands, is immeasurably ignorant and yet another broad policy embarrassment. Republican policies are directly making your broadband access shittier and more expensive. But in most press coverage Republicans never have to take true or consistent ownership of said shitty policies. Republicans will be allowed to pretend this sort of destruction is about cost savings, but it’s usually either about bigotry, ignorance, or coddling terrible, unpopular telecom giants like AT&T and Comcast. U.S. education and journalism (especially local) is so shitty, most of the electorate will then never tether their shitty and expensive broadband access to their own electoral choices. Wash, rinse, repeat.

VPNSecure’s lifetime plan didn’t survive after new ownership took over. Now customers are hopping mad.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Google's new Android design language, called 'feminine' by some, has finally dropped David Uzondu Neowin · May 13, 2025 14:50 EDT Last week, we reported that elements of Google's next design direction had leaked. Now, the company has officially announced Material 3 Expressive, its updated design system for Android and Wear OS. Material 3 Expressive builds on Material You by adding what Google calls a daring use of shape and color. It emphasizes delightful, springy animations and tactile haptic feedback to create a more engaging and emotional connection with your device. For example, dismissing a notification now causes the others to react subtly, and flinging something off-screen triggers a "satisfying" little buzz. The shade background also gets a soft blur, adding a sense of depth. The company says it's rolling out a refreshed design that includes new dynamic color options, responsive components, and more prominent typography. These design changes are also coming to Google apps like Photos, Fitbit, and Gmail. When the initial designs linked to this new language surfaced last week, Neowin readers had some strong reactions. Comments widely described the aesthetic as unappealing and overly simplistic or childlike, with one commenter calling it "feminine." Another commenter felt it looked like "Gen Z (kindergarten edition) design." Another thought was that Google had "managed to make it look even worse than the current material design" and questioned if "there's going to be an adult version without all the overly rounded corners and the silly fonts?" Despite this early, critical feedback, Google has stated extensive research backs Expressive's design choices, claiming improvements in finding key information faster. Beyond the controversial look, Google has included some usability tweaks. Quick Settings are now more customizable, allowing you to add more toggles. A new Live Updates feature surfaces real-time progress notifications, keeping things like food deliveries or rideshares visible without being buried in your standard notification list. The design updates also extend to watches. Material 3 Expressive for Wear OS focuses on the round display, with scrolling animations that trace the screen's curvature and shape-shifting elements to adapt to the smaller size. You get glanceable buttons that wrap around the display's edge and more engaging Tiles for quick information access. Google reports that this update delivers up to 10% more battery life on Wear OS 6 devices. Google plans to roll out Material 3 Expressive to Android 16 and Wear OS 6 devices later this year, with Pixel devices receiving these updates first. Tags Report a problem with article Follow @NeowinFeed