Google's latest artificial intelligence (AI) feature in Search, AI Mode, is now getting multiple new capabilities. Announced at Google I/O 2025 on Tuesday, the Mountain View-based tech giant is now making the AI-powered end-to-end search experience more capable and useful. The mode is getting new features such as a reasoning mode, Live Search, agentic capabilities to reserve a table at a restaurant, and new shopping tools. The AI Mode in Search and the new features will currently only be available in the US.AI Mode in Search Gets SmarterIn a blog post, the tech giant detailed the new features coming to AI Mode. It is a comprehensive version of AI Overviews, where users can ask complex queries which would otherwise require running multiple searches. AI Mode uses a query fan-out technique, where it breaks down user queries into subtopics and runs multiple search queries simultaneously to find and show the relevant information.Google said that starting this week, AI Mode and AI Overviews in the US will be powered by a custom version of Gemini 2.5. While AI Mode does not require a sign-up process in the US, these new capabilities will only be available to select users via Search Labs. Notably, the company plans to add features and capabilities from AI Mode into the core Search experience.A new Deep Search feature is being added to AI Mode, which will allow users to receive “even more thorough responses.” Using deep research capabilities, it can run hundreds of search queries, collate the information, and create “an expert-level fully-cited report in just minutes.”Another interesting new feature is Search Live. This version of Search lets AI Mode access the camera of a device, and based on what it sees, it can answer queries verbally in real-time. Users can conversationally ask for information about objects, landmarks, and places as long as they appear in the camera feed.Google is also bringing Project Mariner's agentic function to AI Mode. With this, the AI-powered search experience can assist users with purchasing event tickets, making restaurant reservations and booking appointments. For instance, if a user wants to book tickets for a sporting event, the tool will analyse ticket options, look at real-time pricing, fill out forms, and show users relevant ticket options. Users can then confirm the details and manually make the purchase. Google is working with Ticketmaster, StubHub, Resy and Vagaro for this feature.AI Mode in Search is also becoming more personalised. Google said the Gemini-powered tool will soon offer suggestions based on the user's past searches. Users can also connect AI mode with other Google apps to help it gain more context about their preferences. This capability can be turned off at any time.Shopping Features in AI ModeApart from the abovementioned capabilities, AI Mode in Search is also introducing multiple new features to improve the shopping experience of users. It now shows visual search results, helps users virtually try on new clothes, and uses AI agents to help users buy a product when it is retailing at their preferred price.By combining Gemini with Google's Shopping Graph, the new AI mode can sort through 50 billion product listings to find relevant options for users. Whenever users make a product query, it will show a browsable panel of images and product listing, which is personalised to their preferences.The tech giant says that users can make highly specific and complex requests, and the AI Mode will still be able to narrow down the options to find products that fit the description. This means even if users do not know the technical term for the product they're looking for, the AI tool can still pinpoint it using its visual description.Just by uploading a full-length photo of themselves, users can now virtually try on billions of apparel listings. Google says the feature is powered by a custom fashion-based image generation model that understands the human body and how clothes fold, stretch, and drape on different bodies.Finally, AI Mode is also getting a new agentic checkout system that helps users in purchasing products. Whenever a user is on the checkout page of a product (within the AI Mode interface), they will see a “track price” option. Tapping it will allow them to see a slider with the minimum and maximum price of the product and a recommendation for the ideal price. Users can set the slider as per their preference, and the AI will notify them whenever the product is retailing for said price.Then, users can just tap the “buy for me” button in the notification, and AI Mode will automatically add the item to their cart on the merchant's website and complete the checkout process by paying via Google Pay. This agentic checkout feature will be rolling out in the coming months in the US. 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. Further reading: Google IO 2025, AI Mode, Google Search, Google, AI, Artificial intelligence, AI Agent Akash Dutta Akash Dutta is a Senior Sub Editor at Gadgets 360. He is particularly interested in the social impact of technological developments and loves reading about emerging fields such as AI, metaverse, and fediverse. In his free time, he can be seen supporting his favourite football club - Chelsea, watching movies and anime, and sharing passionate opinions on food. More Related Stories

Credit: Image: Mashable composite; Getty Images / izusek When I was a child, computers were a fixture in my home, from the giant Atari on which I learned my ABCs, to the Commodore Amiga that my dad used for his videography business, to the PC towers that facilitated my first forays onto the internet. But tech was still a niche hobby back then. Even in college in the late 1990s and early 2000s, many of my friends got by just fine without computers. For people in college now—namely, my students—things are decidedly different. Gadgets are everywhere, and are increasingly designed to insert themselves into every aspect of our consciousness, colonizing every spare moment of our time and attention. Gen Z and Gen Alpha have never known a world without mini-computers within arm’s reach. They learned to relate to the world through gadgets, to turn to them for everything from entertainment to education to escape. And when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted their lives, it took away even more of their access to the offline world, making tech feel paradoxically both like a lifeline and a prison.It's easy to call young people “screenagers” and blame them for being glued to their devices. But I know better. My students feel conflicted; they know they’re hooked, and they worry for their younger siblings who seem even more in the grip of all-consuming tech. You May Also Like Several years ago, it occurred to me that I could do something to help. I began requiring students to put away all devices, including laptops and tablets, in my classes. It was an experiment both for them and for me: What happens when we remove the barrier tech has put between us and other people, between us and our own thoughts? What does that teach us about how to handle the explosion of hype around generative AI?How I went from gadget geek to tech skepticMy own journey with tech predates our always-on devices, way back to that old Atari. I had always been a little obsessed with gadgets, and when I bought my first iPhone in 2008, it was almost a religious experience.My wife and I were living in New York City, and my entire family drove down from Boston to witness my initiation. Like pilgrims, we journeyed together to the flagship Apple Store on Fifth Avenue. We all stood in reverence at the foot of the spiral staircase, beneath the illuminated glass cube, as I was welcomed into the cult of Apple.From then on, almost without fail, I’ve upgraded my phone annually, a September ritual as cyclical for me as going back to school. And it wasn't just the iPhone; I had the first or second iteration of the iPad, AirPods, and the Apple Watch, too. Back then it felt like Steve Jobs might announce something that would reshape the world every time he stepped on stage.But in the 2010s, something started to change. Underwhelming new tech releases grew increasingly common, and the constant hype around them began to feel empty and manipulative. As both a college professor and a parent, I began to see the benefits of our always-connected devices becoming overshadowed by the negatives. The young people in my life are obsessed with their gadgets, legitimately afraid they’ll be disconnected from society if they aren’t extremely online, and they hate it. Many worry as much as their parents do about their phone use.  Mashable Trend Report: Coming Soon! Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means. Sign up for Mashable’s weekly Trend Report newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up! So, even before the hype that greeted the AI revolution of the last few years, I’d begun to look a lot more skeptically at claims that tech was changing our lives, and that more apps, devices, or wearables were automatically better.What happens when we turn off the tech?One day, near the end of the spring semester in 2019, I looked out at my class to see rows of students focused intently… on their laptop screens. They presumably had their devices out to take notes, but I wasn’t lecturing. I was trying to lead them into a discussion. This moment for me is trapped in time: It was the moment I decided I had to take drastic measures to recapture my students’ attention.The following fall, my syllabus included a new section, which has remained in place since. I call it my in-class technology use policy and it begins, “This class is a laptop/mobile phone/tablet/headphone/AirPods-free zone. Bring a notebook and pens to each class.” I explain my reasoning and, like a good academic, cite my sources. I provide exceptions for emergencies, explaining that if a student has to take an urgent call, they can quietly slip out of the classroom to do so without judgment or penalty. That first fall, I was nervous. Would they go along with it? Would my classes, previously well-loved, suddenly struggle to fill? To my great relief there was no significant pushback, no mass exodus. Going tech-free is still a shock, to be sure.I begin most classes by distributing an article to read—often a recently-published opinion piece—printed on paper. I encourage students to read it with pen in hand, marking it up as they go. As they read quietly, I look around the room at a group of so-called screenagers concentrating, without a device in sight. When they finish reading, they open their notebooks and write a response, by hand. In those first few weeks, I often see students massaging their palms, sore from lack of practice. After they write for five minutes or so, I open a discussion on what we just read and, distraction-free, the students engage. In those discussions, I love that my students are actually paying attention to one another when they speak. Not everyone of course; some look sleepy and bored, but even that is better than distracted. I call this productive boredom: Without a phone or laptop to divert them, there is little left to do other than sit with their thoughts. What a gift. I ask them, “When was the last time your only task was to think?”Lessons for the AI invasionThis experiment with a device-free classroom has also shaped my response to the AI revolution (I sometimes think of it more as an AI invasion)I’m not a luddite: I continue to be as curious about new technologies as ever. As soon as it came out, I peppered ChatGPT with questions to see if it could imitate my writing style. (It kind of can!) And I know there’s no going back; whether we like it or not, AI will be a significant presence in our lives, and I see it as my job to teach students how to use it responsibly. In my long journey with tech, I’ve learned that we can incorporate devices into our work without surrendering to marketing hype and manufactured FOMO. As a writing professor, my job is to convince students that, as William Zinsser wrote, “writing is thinking on paper.” The process of writing — not the final product — is what sharpens our logical reasoning and self-expression. For students who don’t use AI in smart ways, the result is essays that are all product, no process — and no process means no real learning. In my classes, students glimpse a time before they were born, when fewer distractions inhibited learning, when sitting with one’s thoughts—and, yes, being bored—could be productive and creative. I’m reminded, too, of why I love teaching, for the magic that happens when 20 people sit together in a room attending to one another and talking about ideas. When we leave the classroom, we’ll go back to our devices, and even to our new AI tools. But hopefully the time away from them reminds us we have the power to keep tech in its place—and gives us a taste of what only human minds can do. Jonathan D. Fitzgerald Mashable Perspectives Contributor Jonathan D. Fitzgerald ("Fitz") is a Mashable Perspectives contributor, as well as an associate professor of English and the coordinator of the professional writing concentration at Salem State University. He is the author of How the News Feels: The Empathic Power of Literary Journalists. His articles and essays have been published in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. Fitz holds a Ph.D. in English from Northeastern University. For more information, visit https://jonathandfitzgerald.com.

Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2025 is set to take place in June, Apple announced on Tuesday. In line with the previous years, the annual developer conference is set to take place at Apple Park in California, while those around the world can watch all the developments unfolding via an online telecast of the event. WWDC 2025 promises to offer a deep dive into the tools, technologies, and software features that the company is working on for the coming year.WWDC 2025 Date, Time and Expected AnnouncementsApple announced that WWDC 2025 will take place between June 9 and June 13 and will be held at Apple Park in Cupertino, California. It will kick off with an in-person keynote session hosted by Apple CEO Tim Cook at 9 am PT (10 pm IST) on June 9. The keynote will preview all the groundbreaking updates and changes coming to various Apple platforms such as iOS, iPadOS, visionOS, watchOS, and tvOS over the course of the year.The company says enthusiasts and developers can apply to attend the keynote session via the Apple Developer app and the company's website, although seats are limited. Winners of Apple's Swift Student challenge are also eligible to apply for the in-person experience, as per the company.After the keynote, Apple will host a Platforms State of the Union for a deeper dive into the advances made in software and platforms. In total, WWDC 2025 is confirmed to bring over 100 technical sessions with Apple experts, enabling developers to gain information about the latest technologies and frameworks. They will also be able to access guides and documentation which detail the conference's biggest announcements and highlights.The Cupertino-based tech giant says Apple Developer Program members and Apple Developer Enterprise Program members can connect directly with Apple experts through online group labs and also take advantage of one-on-one appointments for guidance on Apple Intelligence, design, developer tools, Swift, and more. Although the company has remained tight-lipped about the announcements, previous editions have given us an idea of what to expect from WWDC 2025. Apple is expected to announce details of its next major operating system updates — iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16, watchOS 12, and tvOS 19. iOS 19 and iPadOS 19 are speculated to receive major design upgrades with a redesigned interface which could bring the experience at par with Apple Vision Pro. This includes a floating tab view, updates to iconography, glass effects in the UI, and new visual system elements for a more cohesive experience across the devices in the company's hardware portfolio. 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. Further reading: WWDC 2025, WWDC 2025 date, WWDC 2025 keynote, Apple, Apple WWDC 2025, iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16, watchOS 12, visionOS 3, tvOS 19, IPhone Shaurya Tomer Shaurya Tomer is a Sub Editor at Gadgets 360 with 2 years of experience across a diverse spectrum of topics. With a particular focus on smartphones, gadgets and the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI), he often likes to explore the industry's intricacies and innovations – whether dissecting the latest smartphone release or exploring the ethical implications of AI advancements. In his free time, he often embarks on impromptu road trips to unwind, recharge, and ...More Related Stories

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons CERN’s LHC briefly produces gold by removing protons from lead atoms Highlights Scientists briefly converted lead into gold at CERN's Large Hadron Coll The ALICE experiment created 89,000 gold atoms per second using near mi Gold atoms formed at LHC lasted only a split second before breaking dow Advertisement Medieval alchemists would have been stunned to see lead turned into gold – but that's what scientists at CERN's Awesomely Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have done. Through near-miss collisions rather than head-on atomic bashes, the team at the ALICE collaboration can convert lead to gold at a rate of 89,000 atoms each second. Although each gold atom survived only a tiny fraction of a second, the experiment is a testament to the precision of modern particle physics. It serves as a testament to the LHC's growing ability to change the very structure of the atom.CERN Scientists Create Gold from Lead Using Proton Removal at LHC—But Only for a Split SecondAs per the report from CERN, three protons are stripped from the lead nuclei, transforming them into gold. These odd metamorphoses occurred when lead atoms barely missed each other, resulting in powerful electric and magnetic fields that could have shuffled the particles. Their detectors would work on both large and small particle-event scales “because it's the small ones that you need to see that those tiny changes would be different,” ALICE project chief Marco Van Leeuwen mentioned.Despite the astonishing atom-per-second count, the total mass of gold created between 2015 and 2018 added up to just 29 picograms — far less than visible to the naked eye. Uliana Dmitrieva, a physicist from the collaboration, highlighted that it represents the first observation of this type of gold production at the LHC and with their sophisticated detectors. Though recent upgrades have almost doubled output, the gold remains more symbolic, scientifically, than economically.The findings have a broader significance than mere novelty. As physicist John Jowett explains, this is fine-tuning of electromagnetic dissociation in theoretical models, and it helps estimate beam losses, which are important for improving the LHC as well as future colliders. While commercial alchemy remains in the realm of science fiction, it helps push forward the understanding of particle manipulation and atomic science.This transient artifice of gold illustrates not only human creativity but the distance technology today has travelled from the desires of the alchemists of old. 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. Further reading: Large Hadron Collider, ALICE collaboration, gold atoms, particle physics, CERN, lead-to-gold Gadgets 360 Staff The resident bot. If you email me, a human will respond. More Related Stories

Published May 20, 2025 10:00am EDT close Google's AI unleashes new powerful scam-busting features for Android The CyberGuy explains steps you can take to protect yourself from scams. Scammers are always coming up with new tricks. Just when you start feeling confident about spotting phishing emails, suspicious links and fake banking apps, they find a new angle. Lately, they have been getting more creative, turning to the built-in features of our phones to pull off their schemes. One of the latest targets is NFC, the technology behind tap-to-pay. It might seem harmless, but a new scam is using it in ways most people would never expect. An Android malware called SuperCard goes beyond just stealing your card details. It gives attackers the ability to use your card remotely for real transactions. And the worst part is that it all begins with something as simple as a text message. An Android phone (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)What makes SuperCard X different?SuperCard X stands out from other Android malware because of how it operates. As reported by researchers at Cleafy, instead of stealing usernames, passwords or verification codes, it uses a method called NFC relay. This allows attackers to copy card data from a victim's device in real time and use it elsewhere to make payments or withdraw cash. The process does not require physical access to the card or knowledge of the PIN.The malware is offered through a Malware-as-a-Service model, which means different cybercriminals can use it in their own regions. This makes the threat more scalable and harder to contain. Unlike most banking trojans, SuperCard X is not focused on one specific institution. It targets any cardholder regardless of which bank issued their card.Another key difference is how stealthy the malware is. It uses minimal permissions and does not include extra features that would make it easier to detect. This lean approach helps it avoid detection by antivirus software and allows it to operate quietly on infected devices. SuperCardX fully undetectable (FUD | Cleafy) (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)How the scam worksThe fraud begins with a message sent through SMS or WhatsApp. It pretends to be from a bank and warns the recipient about a suspicious transaction. The message includes a phone number and urges the person to call to resolve the issue. This is the first step in gaining the victim's trust.Once on the phone, the attacker poses as a bank representative and walks the victim through a fake security process. This may include asking them to confirm personal details or adjust settings in their mobile banking app, such as removing spending limits on their card.Next, the attacker asks the victim to install a mobile app that is described as a tool to verify the account or enhance security. In reality, this app contains the SuperCard X malware. After the installation, the attacker instructs the victim to tap their card against the phone. The malware then captures the NFC data from the card and sends it to a second phone controlled by the attacker.Using the copied data, the attacker can make contactless payments or make ATM withdrawals almost instantly. This method allows them to steal funds quickly and leaves little opportunity for banks or victims to intervene in time. A woman scrolling on her phone (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)8 ways you can stay safe from SuperCard X malware1) Be cautious of suspicious texts and calls. Use strong antivirus software: Fraudulent campaigns often begin with an SMS or call that seems to come from your bank. These messages usually claim there's suspicious activity on your account and urge you to click a link or dial a number to resolve the issue. However, this is a tactic used to gain access to your personal information. Always approach such messages with skepticism.The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices. 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.2) Avoid installing apps from untrusted sources: One of the key ways malware like SuperCard X spreads is through deceptive apps that victims are persuaded to install. These apps often look harmless, posing as tools for security or account verification. If you receive a link to download an app via SMS, email or messaging apps like WhatsApp, do not click on it. Instead, only download apps from trusted sources, such as the Google Play Store. Additionally, carefully review app permissions and avoid granting unnecessary access, particularly to sensitive data like NFC, location or personal contacts.3) Turn off NFC when not in use: NFC, or Near Field Communication, is a useful feature that allows contactless payments and data exchanges. However, it can be exploited by attackers to capture your card information without you even realizing it. To minimize your risk of falling victim to NFC-based malware like SuperCard X, turn off NFC when you're not actively using it. On most Android devices, you can do this by going to "Settings," then "Connected Devices" or "Connection Preferences," where you’ll find the NFC toggle. By disabling NFC, your phone won't transmit data wirelessly, which helps protect your payment card information from being stolen by nearby attackers.4) Keep a close eye on your bank accounts and cards: If your device has come into contact with the SuperCard or anything similar, it’s possible your banking details are already compromised. That’s why it’s important to regularly check your transaction history for anything odd, like a small payment you don’t remember making or a charge from a strange location could be a sign of misuse. If you spot anything suspicious, report it to your bank right away. It’s also worth checking your credit reports every now and then to catch signs of identity theft before they snowball into bigger issues.5) Use a personal data removal service: If scammers have targeted you once, there's a higher chance they’ll try again, especially if your personal details (like your phone number, address or email) are easily found online. Data removal services scan people-search sites and brokers, then request the removal of your info. This reduces your exposure and helps prevent future phishing or social engineering attacks.While no service can guarantee the complete removal of your data from the internet, a data removal service is really a smart choice. They aren’t cheap and neither is your privacy. These services do all the work for you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your personal information from hundreds of websites. It’s what gives me peace of mind and has proven to be the most effective way to erase your personal data from the internet. By limiting the information available, you reduce the risk of scammers cross-referencing data from breaches with information they might find on the dark web, making it harder for them to target you. Check out my top picks for data removal services here.6) Contact your bank and freeze your cards: If you think you’ve tapped or handled a suspicious card, or if your phone acted strangely afterward, don’t brush it off. Call your bank and let them know what happened. They can freeze your card to stop any unauthorized payments and issue a new one for added safety. You should also ask them to monitor your account more closely for a while. On top of that, place a fraud alert with a credit bureau so no one can easily open a new line of credit in your name.7) Consider enrolling in identity theft protection services: If you've been targeted by a sophisticated scam like SuperCard X, there's a chance your personal information, not just your card data, may be at risk. Identity theft companies can monitor personal information, like your Social Security number, phone number and email address, and alert you if it is being sold on the dark web or being used to open an account. They can also assist you in freezing your bank and credit card accounts to prevent further unauthorized use by criminals. See my tips and best picks on how to protect yourself from identity theft.8) Report the scam to your national cybercrime authority: Whether or not you lost money, reporting the scam helps authorities track emerging threats and warn others. You can report such fraud to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center or the Federal Trade Commission. Your report could help catch the people behind the scam or at least shut down their infrastructure.Kurt’s key takeawayThe SuperCard X malware campaign represents a significant shift in how cybercriminals are targeting individuals and financial institutions. By exploiting NFC technology and combining it with social engineering tactics, attackers have found a way to bypass traditional fraud detection systems. What's especially concerning is how quickly these attacks unfold, making them harder to detect before the damage is done. As this threat evolves, it's important for both consumers and institutions to recognize the potential risks of these multilayered fraud strategies.Do you think Google is doing enough to protect you from malware? Let us know by writing us atCyberguy.com/Contact.For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.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.

One of the most momentous developments of the new Trump era is how major billionaires in the tech industry — frequently known as the broligarchs — have thrown their weight behind the president. During the 2024 election, they offered high-profile support and made big donations; after the inauguration, they announced new company policies that aligned them with President Donald Trump’s regressive cultural ideologies. Elon Musk had already turned Twitter into a right-wing echo chamber since purchasing it in 2022, and spent several chaotic months earlier this year as Trump’s government efficiency henchman. Jeff Bezos has revamped the Washington Post’s editorial section to build support for “personal liberties and free markets.” Mark Zuckerberg decided to get rid of fact-checkers at Meta. It was a massive show of power that revealed how possible it is for these wealthy men to remake our culture in their own image, transforming how we speak to each other and what we know to be true. Using that power on Trump’s behalf seems to have paid mixed dividends for Silicon Valley, but it nonetheless makes clear how important it is to understand their worldview and their vision for the future. Which is why it is striking to note that Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg share a favorite author: Iain M. Banks, the Scottish science fiction writer best known for his Culture series. Banks is an odd choice for a bunch of tech billionaires. The author, who died in 2013, was a socialist and avowed hater of the super-rich.“The Culture series is certainly, in terms of more modern science fiction, one of my absolute favorites,” Bezos told GeekWire in 2018, adding, “there’s a utopian element to it that I find very attractive.” Bezos has attempted twice to adapt the series for TV at Amazon, once in 2018 and again in February. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg picked the Culture novel Player of Games for his book club in 2015. Banks is an odd choice for a bunch of tech billionaires. The author, who died in 2013, was a socialist and avowed hater of the super-rich.The most avowed Culture fan among the broligarchs, however, is Musk. Musk has named Space X drone ships after the starships in the Culture books. His original name for the neuralink — a computer chip that can be implanted in human brains, pioneered by his neurotechnology company — was the neural lace, a piece of telepathic technology that Banks came up with in the Culture books. In 2018, Musk declared himself “a utopian anarchist of the kind best described by Iain Banks.” (It’s worth noting that in 2018, Musk was under fire for union busting but had not yet waded so far into national politics or declared public war against the “woke mind virus.”)Plenty of us like and even identify with pieces of pop culture whose politics we don’t entirely agree with, like the libertarian Little House on the Prairie books or the Christian Chronicles of Narnia. Still, the Banks Culture series, which consists of 10 books released between 1987 and 2012, is not politically coded so much as it is downright didactic. “The Culture is hippy commies with hyper-weapons and a deep distrust of both Marketolatry and Greedism,” Banks said in an interview with Strange Horizons in 2010, in a line that’s only barely more explicit than the books themselves.The Culture series takes place in a post-scarcity galactic society known only as the Culture, which strictly values empathy, pluralism, and social cooperation. Most of the volumes of the series see the Culture navigating an altercation with another civilization, usually one with a much less progressive ethos, and figuring out how to handle the resulting tension. Does the Culture intervene in the affairs of another planet to, for instance, stop the spread of a theocratic empire? What does it do about civilizations where slavery is legal?The politics of these books are not subtle, and they are also not compatible with the existence of billionaires. So it’s worth thinking about why the broligarchs have so consistently cited a socialist author as an inspiration. What do they find tantalizing about Banks’ work? Are they missing the point altogether? Nearly every aspect of the Culture seems to be diametrically opposed to the worldview of the tech right.Banks takes as his starting principle for the Culture the idea that a space-faring civilization will have to be socialist to be effective. In the hostile environment of the vacuum of space, he argues, you will need to be able to count on the collective. Banks further reasons that each spaceship or planet in the Culture will have to be reasonably self-sufficient to survive. At the same time, the Culture is stringently non-hierarchical and non-individualistic. There is no money and no want; therefore, there can’t be any billionaires or any economic inequality. There are no laws and almost no crime. This is not a world in which supremely wealthy people who use their power to influence the social fabric make sense. “Succinctly; socialism within, anarchy without,” Banks concluded in a 1994 Usenet post in which he lays out his full theory of the Culture. In the Culture, should someone commit an action that most people agreed was unacceptable, everyone responds with social shaming rather than the rule of law: They stop inviting the person in question to parties. In other words, like a group of proper leftists, they deal with misbehavior by social cancellation, that great threat against which the broligarchs have declared war.Even work-life balance in the Culture exists in opposition to the ethos of Silicon Valley. The Culture’s citizens have invented vastly powerful AIs that take care of governance for them. This delegation frees up the Culture citizens themselves to indulge in what Banks describes as “the things that really mattered in life, such as sports, games, romance, studying dead languages, barbarian societies and impossible problems, and climbing high mountains without the aid of a safety harness.” Those who are burdened with too much ambition to be content in such a soft life take on (unpaid) jobs managing the Culture’s relationships with other civilizations, mostly for the prestige and the adrenaline rush of it all. This vision appears to have influenced Musk’s idea of a future in which AI has rendered work “optional,” so that “if you want to do a job that’s kinda like a hobby, you can do a job.” Musk allows that there would need to be “universal high income” for this plan to work, but outlines no ideas as to how such an ambitious policy could take effect. In the meantime, in our own world, Amazon, Meta, and Tesla are all infamous for requiring employees to work abusively long hours. Elon Musk is one of the most ardent fans of Iain M. Banks’s Culture series. Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesFinally, and perhaps most discordantly given the broligarchs’ current gender politics, the Culture is genderfluid. Anyone can change gender just by thinking about it, and most people do at least once in their lives, a state of affairs Banks argues is responsible for its strict regime of gender equality. Meanwhile, Musk is notoriously anti-trans, Zuckerberg has been leaning into the retrograde gender ideologies of the manosphere as he tweaks Meta’s policies to allow more hate speech, particularly toward LGBTQ+ people, and Amazon has removed LGBTQ+ rights support from its website.But it’s not just that the Culture holds the inverse of the ideology these men stand for. The most detestable villain in Banks’s series is Joiler Veppers, a wealthy man in a civilization less evolved than the Culture, who uses his riches to purchase and influence media outlets, undercut labor unions, and rape his indentured servants. Veppers’s money comes from a family fortune built in the computer game industry, and he compounds that fortune by investing in the servers to a series of virtual reality hellscapes, where unfortunates are horribly tortured for all eternity.If you want to know how Banks views capitalist tech billionaires, you don’t have to hunt very hard. In the Culture series, a capitalist tech billionaire is the literal devil, only he couldn’t be bothered to build hell himself. So why are the broligarchs so into the Culture books?So what’s the appeal of the Culture series if you actually are a capitalist tech billionaire? Probably the tech itself.If politics offer the Culture books their intellectual framing, the tech is what gives them their zing, their spectacle. Throughout the series, Banks lovingly describes spaceships and AIs (and lots of spaceships that are also AIs), and artificial planets and gizmos and gadgets. Generally, at the end of the book, the Culture uses one of those gizmos in an inventive way to win a big, explosive space war. Read through this light, the Culture’s technological prowess offers the brute force that backs up its warm and fuzzy ideology. The Culture can afford to be idealistic and worry about its moral culpability because it has better technology than all the other civilizations it faces off with, which means it will nearly always win in a fight.If you think of yourself as a titan of industry who is making that technology for your own culture — who is providing the brute force that allows for wishy-washy moralizing — there is a certain easy comfort that comes with this alignment. You know you are on the correct side of history because you’re on the side that is building the strongest and most advanced technology. Yet within the larger metaphor Banks is building, the relationship between politics and strength is supposed to be the other way around. The Culture is not good because they are strong. Their strength is a metaphor for their goodness. They have the best technology because that shows that they are rational, that they value intelligence, that they are motivated to give their citizens the best possible quality of life. The Culture is not good because they are strong. Their strength is a metaphor for their goodness.To avoid this idea when reading Banks, you would have to be exquisitely attuned to the pleasurable spectacle of technology and the power that tech offers its users, and then ignore everything else. In that case, what the broligarchs’ love of the Culture series reveals is that they see the world through the lens of power and spectacle first and foremost, and have no particular problem evading the work’s deeper meaning. That’s why this group has a propensity for big, pointless stunts, like trips to almost-space and carting a kitchen sink through Twitter headquarters and threatening to punch one another in a public fight. It’s as though they feel entitled to their power because their favorite book taught them that the side with the best tech always wins, and the most important thing you can do with that tech is put on a show. They seem not to have read deeply enough to understand what the book was really trying to say: that the most important thing powerful people can do is use their power to make the world freer, fairer, and more pleasurable for everyone else.See More:

Five, six... nine? 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 9 first drive: Efficient, for a big one Hyundai's biggest EV is designed for American roads and built in Georgia. Jonathan M. Gitlin – May 20, 2025 9:00 am | 15 Spot the elliptical shapes on the new Hyundai Ioniq 9. Credit: Jonathan Gitlin Spot the elliptical shapes on the new Hyundai Ioniq 9. Credit: Jonathan Gitlin Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more Hyundai provided flights from Washington to Savannah and accommodation so Ars could drive the Ioniq 9. Ars does not accept paid editorial content. SAVANNAH, Georgia—Hyundai's massive new Metaplant factory in Georgia is actually painted a subtle shade of green, not white, but you'd need someone to point that out to you. It's a shining example of the latest in car manufacturing—bright lights and white walls inside, knee-saving wooden floors on the production line, recaptured waste energy and solar—you name it. Hyundai even uses dog-like robots to check some welds. The vast facility is responsible for North American production of the electric Ioniq 5 and, now, the all-new Ioniq 9 SUV as well. That Hyundai would make a three-row SUV with its class-leading electric powertrain was a no-brainer. The E-GMP platform, with its class-leading 800 V powertrain, was designed for medium to large EVs, after all. In 2021 it debuted the Seven concept, which explored the idea of a living room on wheels. I'm not sure why the nameplate skipped a couple of digits, but the production Ioniq 9 tries to keep as true to that theme as possible within the confines of real life. Although they look quite different from one another, a common design language called "parametric pixels" ties together the Ioniq 9 with its smaller siblings the Ioniq 5 SUV and Ioniq 6 sedan. Creases catch the light even with the matte-gold paint of our test car, like the line ahead of the rear wheels that calls back to the collar on a traditional Korean garment. As ever, there are some other wonderful names for the design language: my favorite is "aerosthetic lounge," but when you look at the images, also think of words like "teutonic," "boat tail," and "integrated." When you hear the shape was inspired by a pebble, it makes sense that the drag coefficient is a slippery 0.27. Inspired by a pebble, don't you know? Jonathan Gitlin Inspired by a pebble, don't you know? Jonathan Gitlin I think this is my favorite angle. Jonathan Gitlin I think this is my favorite angle. Jonathan Gitlin Inspired by a pebble, don't you know? Jonathan Gitlin I think this is my favorite angle. Jonathan Gitlin At 199.2 inches (5,060 mm) the Ioniq 9 is couple of inches longer than the gas-powered Hyundai Palisade, but the EV's more space-efficient powertrain means the Ioniq 9 offers 9 inches (230 mm) more wheelbase, which translates into more room on the inside. The primary beneficiaries of that are whoever sits in the middle row, especially if the Ioniq 9 is in the six-seat configuration, which swaps the middle bench for a pair of captains' chairs. These even get ventilation, like the front seats. Space all the way in the back is average for the breed. There's more headroom than a Rivian R1S, but less legroom, and like most three-row SUVs, that third row is really for small children or occasional use. There's no acoustic glass back there, so its a much noisier place to sit, and the space is better utilized as cargo volume. If you need to put two adults in a third row and it must be electric, the Volkswagen ID. Buzz is your best bet, or at least it was until someone noticed the rear bench was too wide for just two seatbelts, sparkling a recall. But I digress. Seven adults could get up to a lot of work in one of these things. That's how many 100 W USB-C ports Hyundai has included, three up front then two for each of the other rows, although by my maths it would be hard to sap more than a couple of miles of range by simultaneously recharging 16-inch MacBook Pros on a road trip. For gadgets needing alternating current, the Ioniq 9 can provide 120 V V2L and is also capable of powering a home (V2H) or even returning energy to the grid (V2G), although those two will require a Hyundai bidirectional charger. The Cylon/Knight Rider effect is mainly an artifact of the digital camera and the LED lights. Jonathan Gitlin The Cylon/Knight Rider effect is mainly an artifact of the digital camera and the LED lights. Jonathan Gitlin I wonder if Hyundai will make an Ioniq 9 N? Jonathan Gitlin I wonder if Hyundai will make an Ioniq 9 N? Jonathan Gitlin This is very Range Rover. Jonathan Gitlin This is very Range Rover. Jonathan Gitlin I wonder if Hyundai will make an Ioniq 9 N? Jonathan Gitlin This is very Range Rover. Jonathan Gitlin With the electrons flowing from grid to car via a level 2 AC charger, expect to take about 9 hours and 40 minutes to charge from 10–100 percent at 11 kW. For best results DC fast charging, seek out a 350 kW fast charger. You'll need the included CCS1 adapter, but you'll charge from 10–80 percent in 24 minutes. The adapter is required because the Ioniq 9 is one of the few non-Tesla EVs to leave the factory with the NACS charging port. Using a Tesla Supercharger to charge an Ioniq 9 doesn't just put more money in Elon Musk's coffers, though, it also takes a while—41 minutes in total. Only the $58,995 Ioniq 9 S is available with a rear-wheel drive powertrain. In this case, one with 215 hp (160 kW) and 258 lb-ft (350 Nm) and a range of 325 miles (539 km) from the 110.3 kWh (gross) battery pack. All other trims feature twin motor all-wheel drive, but you give up little in the way of range. The $62,765 SE and $68,320 SEL offer a combined 303 hp (226 kW) and 446 lb-ft (605 Nm) and 320 miles (515 km) of range, and the $71,250 Performance Limited, $74,990 Performance Calligraphy, and $76,490 Performance Calligraphy Design use a more powerful front motor to generate a total of 442 hp (315 kW) and 516 lb-ft (700 Nm), and a range of 311 miles (500 km). The Ioniq 9's interior loses some of the charm of the concept. Hyundai The Ioniq 9's interior loses some of the charm of the concept. Hyundai Yes, that is a NACS port. Jonathan Gitlin Yes, that is a NACS port. Jonathan Gitlin We were only able to test the Ioniq 9 in six-seat configuration. Hyundai We were only able to test the Ioniq 9 in six-seat configuration. Hyundai Yes, that is a NACS port. Jonathan Gitlin We were only able to test the Ioniq 9 in six-seat configuration. Hyundai This curved panel is common across a lot of Hyundai and Genesis cars now. Hyundai The center console has wireless charging, among other features. Hyundai Lots of storage, and the lid on top opens both ways. Hyundai Leg rests! Hyundai There's 21.9 cubic feet of cargo with the third row in use, or 46.7 cubic feet with it folded flat, and 86.9 cubic feet with both rows flat. Jonathan Gitlin While a short first drive is not the best place to evaluate an EV's range efficiency, driven day to day in Eco mode, I wouldn't be surprised if you were able to easily exceed 3 miles/kWh (20.7 kWh/100 km). Other drive modes include Normal, which uses the front motor much more often and therefore is markedly quicker than Eco; Sport, which has quite a lot of initial throttle tip-in and will head-toss your passengers if you have any; Terrain, first seen on the Ioniq 5 XRT; and Snow. The ride is quite firm on surface streets but less so at highway speeds over seams and expansion gaps. As you start to corner faster you can expect to encounter understeer, but since this is a three-row SUV weighing between 5,507-6,008 lbs (2,498-2,725 kg), one has to wonder what else was expected. At sensible speeds, it's easy to see out of and place it on the road, and if you're stuck in a tailback with a couple of grumpy children in the back, it's a calming enough environment to keep you from being over-stressed. Hyundai has wisely priced the Ioniq 9 between the related Kia EV9 (which also uses the E-GMP platform) and EVs from premium OEMs like the Volvo EX90, Mercedes EQS SUV, or the aforementioned Rivian. Jonathan M. Gitlin Automotive Editor Jonathan M. Gitlin Automotive Editor Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica's automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC. 15 Comments

We never thought we’d utter the phrase RTX 5060 review restrictions, but here we are. From YouTube channels to review sites, independent tech media has always played a huge role in the launch cycle of a new graphics card. With early access to hardware and drivers, these outlets conduct their own, thorough tests and give buyers an objective view on performance – the full picture, so to speak. With the launch of NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5060, that could all change. According to a report from VideoCardz, NVIDIA has switched up its preview model before the card’s launch. Where it used to provide pre-release drivers to media outlets in exchange for comprehensive reviews, it’s instead now limited early access to outlets that agree to publish ‘previews’.  Adding insult to injury, NVIDIA has a set of conditions that these outlets must agree to, meaning they’re in charge of what information consumers receive, rather than the outlets themselves. NVIDIA ‘has apparently handpicked media who are willing to share the preview, and that itself was apparently the only way to obtain the drivers.’ This selective approach could mean we as consumers can expect less diverse perspectives prior to launch. Tom’s Hardware explains that this means day-one impressions ‘will largely be based on NVIDIA’s first-party metrics and the few reviewers who aren’t traveling.’ NVIDIA’s RTX 5060 Review Restrictions Limit Game Choices and Graphics Settings So, what are NVIDIA’s parameters for the early testing and reporting during the ‘previews’? They want to: Limit the games allowed for benchmarking Only permit the RTX 5060 to be compared to specific other graphics cards, and  Specifying individual graphics settings Though we don’t have a full list of the games allowed by NVIDIA, judging from already-published previews from Tom’s Guide and Techradar, the approved titles include Cyberpunk 2077, Avowed, Marvel Rivals, Hogwarts Legacy, and Doom: The Dark Ages – all games which have been optimized for NVIDIA GPUs. According to Tom’s Hardware, NVIDIA won’t allow the RTX 5060 to be compared to the RTX 4060, only permitting comparisons with older cards such as the RTX 2060 Super and RTX 3060.  Speaking to VideoCardz, GameStar Tech explained: “What’s particularly crucial is that we weren’t able to choose which graphics cards and games we would measure and with which settings for this preview.” Should a card’s manufacturer really have such control over this type of content? Anyone who values independent journalism says a resounding ‘No.’  Credit: HardwareLuxx First Party “Tests” Can’t Always Be Trusted Taking control of the testing environment in this way and dictating points for comparison means NVIDIA is steering the narrative. It wants these early previews to highlight the strengths of its latest card, while keeping under wraps any areas where it may fall short or fail to provide significant improvements over the last generation. Cards are typically tested by playing a diverse array of game titles and at different graphical settings and resolutions, with many factors such as thermal performance, power consumption, and more taken into account to provide a balanced overview that should help consumers decide if the latest release is worth an upgrade. NVIDIA has come under suspicion from tech outlets for its shady behavior in the past. During a previous round of reviews, the manufacturer intentionally didn’t launch the RTX 5060 with the 5060XT. It was thought this was to promote and receive positive reviews for the 16GB variant, while quietly putting the 8GB variant onto store shelves. Overly positive early glimpses of the latest NVIDIA products could prompt consumers to purchase if they’re desperate to upgrade, but for those who want more in-depth analysis, the RTX 5060 review restrictions are stifling independent media coverage Consumers Deserve Comprehensive Reviews and Competitor Comparisons Constraints put in place by a manufacturer mean we’re not getting a full, comprehensive review of a product’s pros and cons. The ‘preview’ of the RTX 5060’s capabilities is distorted by these constraints, meaning we’ll never see how the card really compares to competitors from rival AMD, or previous generation cards from NVIDIA itself. Any negatives, like performance bottlenecks when playing specific tiles, also won’t be initially apparent. Furthermore, NVIDIA’s latest move opens up a can of worms surrounding ‘access journalism.’ This is where media outlets feel they need to comply with demands from manufacturers so they can keep receiving samples for future reviews, exclusive interviews, and so on. It’s a valid and growing concern, according to a report by NotebookCheck. NVIDIA seems like it’s trying to turn independent journalism into a PR effort for its own purposes. Controlling reviews in this way has many asking the question: Why doesn’t NVIDIA simply take a more ethical approach by paying for coverage and marking it as sponsored?  Gamers Nexus Raises Ethical Concerns Over NVIDIA Pressure In the NotebookCheck report, Gamers Nexus claims NVIDIA pressured them for over six months to include Multi-Frame Generation 4X (MFG4X) performance figures in their reviews, even when the graphics cards being tested didn’t support this feature. Understandably, Gamers Nexus found the request unethical and misleading for its reviewers and declined to comply. Gamers Nexus then says that NVIDIA threatened to remove access to interviews with its engineers. Since GN isn’t paid by NVIDIA for their coverage, this is the best way to penalize them as this unique, expert content and technical insight helps them stand out from the competition and has proven popular with subscribers. According to the report, ‘their continued availability was apparently made conditional on GN complying with NVIDIA’s editorial demands.’ Stephen Burke of GN spoke about this in more detail on a recent YouTube video, likening NVIDIA’s demands to ‘extortion.’ The alleged behavior is shocking, if true. Manufacturers behaving in this way bring the entire integrity of the review process into question and raises several ethical questions. Should manufacturers be using sanctions to influence how their products are covered? Making this the norm could mean other media outlets are afraid to stray from the approved narrative and may not publish honest analysis, which is the whole point of reviews in the first place. Part of the appeal of independent testing is just that: it’s independent. Some feel that makes it more credible than testing carried out by companies that have a financial stake in the matter. Whatever your views on it, there’s no denying that these controlled previews only benefit the chosen outlets and have the potential to harm the credibility and reputation of others. FTC and Google Would Disagree with Nvidia’s Review Restrictions Not to mention the fact that controlling coverage in this way expressly goes against Google’s EEAT guidelines for publishers. The EEAT guidelines, standing for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, are designed to ensure content is helpful – but most importantly, that it can be trusted. NVIDIA’s move to influence reviews goes directly against this. Moreover, the FTC in the US also has strict guidelines surrounding reviews, prohibiting businesses from “providing compensation or other incentives conditioned on the writing of consumer reviews expressing a particular sentiment, either positive or negative.” This doesn’t have to be monetary – and could apply in the case of NVIDIA only providing outlets that comply with its demands with drivers. It’s not the first time GN has raised questions about the way NVIDIA does business. In May 2024, they posted a video surrounding the manufacturer’s entrenched market dominance and how the ‘mere exposure effect’ could subconsciously influence consumers to buy NVIDIA products.  Consumers May Need to Wait For Trusted, Independent Reviews This move by NVIDIA could mean we all take a more critical view of the first wave of reviews when a new GPU is launched. If other manufacturers follow NVIDIA’s lead, we will likely all need to wait a week – or more – for independent reviews from trusted sources, carried out without any restrictions imposed by manufacturers. It’s that or rely on previews that don’t provide a full picture. This ‘preview paradox’ surrounding the launch of the RTX 5060 is undoubtedly concerning. It’s something new – a dangerous shift towards a less transparent product launch.  Influencing independent coverage at launch raises ethical questions and places a greater onus on consumers to ensure the reporting they’re reading is unbiased and comprehensive.  There’s also pressure on media outlets to remain committed to providing the full, honest picture, even when faced with the risk of losing access to products or interviews in the future. This practice has the potential to harm publishers’ ability to operate – particularly smaller independent outlets. There’s enough evidence available for a consumer to claim an outlet is going against best practices for reviews, as laid out by Google and the US FTC, opening them up to legal ramifications. Ultimately, consumers deserve to be able to make informed choices. This puts that right at risk. Paula has been a writer for over a decade, starting off in the travel industry for brands like Skyscanner and Thomas Cook. She’s written everything from a guide to visiting Lithuania’s top restaurants to how to survive a zombie apocalypse and also worked as an editor/proofreader for indie authors and publishing houses, focusing on mystery, gothic, and crime fiction. She made the move to tech writing in 2019 and has worked as a writer and editor for websites such as Android Authority, Android Central, XDA, Megagames, Online Tech Tips, and Xbox Advisor. These days as well as contributing articles on all-things-tech for Techreport, you’ll find her writing about mobile tech over at Digital Trends. She’s obsessed with gaming, PC hardware, AI, and the latest and greatest gadgets and is never far from a screen of some sort.Her attention to detail, ability to get lost in a rabbit hole of research, and obsessive need to know every fact ensures that the news stories she covers and features she writes are (hopefully) as interesting and engaging to read as they are to write. When she’s not working, you’ll usually find her gaming on her Xbox Series X or PS5. As well as story-driven games like The Last of Us, Firewatch, and South of Midnight she loves anything with a post-apocalyptic setting. She’s also not averse to being absolutely terrified watching the latest horror films, when she feels brave enough! View all articles by Paula Beaton Our editorial process The Tech Report editorial policy is centered on providing helpful, accurate content that offers real value to our readers. We only work with experienced writers who have specific knowledge in the topics they cover, including latest developments in technology, online privacy, cryptocurrencies, software, and more. Our editorial policy ensures that each topic is researched and curated by our in-house editors. We maintain rigorous journalistic standards, and every article is 100% written by real authors.

Photo Credit: YouTube/ Computex Taipei  Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Elite during its Snapdragon Tech Summit in October 2024 Highlights Qualcomm has revealed the dates for its next Snapdragon Summit The chipmaker will hold the event in late September The new chip is likely to support LPDDR5x and LPDDR6 RAM Advertisement Qualcomm announced the schedule for its upcoming Snapdragon Summit during Computex 2025 in Taipei. The annual launch event will take place in late September this year, slightly earlier than Qualcomm's typical launch window. The annual summit is expected to introduce the next-generation chipset, tentatively called the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2. For reference, the current Snapdragon 8 Elite was unveiled during last October's Snapdragon Summit. Devices featuring the new Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 are anticipated to arrive in the market by October.Snapdragon Summit Set to Take Place in SeptemberQualcomm President and CEO Cristiano Amon, during his keynote speech at Computex 2025, revealed that the next Snapdragon Summit will take place between September 23 and September 25 this year in Hawaii. That's ahead of schedule compared to previous years—for instance, last year's Snapdragon Summit was held in late October. The Snapdragon Summit has long served as Qualcomm's platform for unveiling its next-generation flagship smartphone SoCs. We can expect the company to follow suit this year with the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 announcement.Handsets featuring the new chip could land in October. The new launch timeline of the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 could give smartphone companies ample time to integrate the new chipset into their flagship devices.  The chip is rumoured to offer 25 percent improved performance over the Snapdragon 8 Elite. The Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 is said to use TSMC's advanced 3nm (N3P) process node. It is said to come with second-generation Oryon CPU cores and offer a base frequency of 4.4GHz. It is said to support LPDDR5x and LPDDR6 RAM.Xiaomi 16 and Xiaomi 16 Pro are believed to be the first handsets to arrive with the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chipset. The OnePlus 15, Realme GT 8,  iQOO 14, Vivo X300 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S26 series could also be among the first smartphones to feature the new Snapdragon chipset. The Xiaomi 15 series was the first to feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC last year. 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. Further reading: Qualcomm, Snapdragon 8 Elite 2, Snapdragon 8 Elite, Snapdragon Summit Nithya P Nair Nithya P Nair is a journalist with more than five years of experience in digital journalism. She specialises in business and technology beats. A foodie at heart, Nithya loves exploring new places (read cuisines) and sneaking in Malayalam movie dialogues to spice up conversations. More Related Stories

Deliver at All Costs casts you as a delivery driver in the late 1950s, and it looks fantastic in motion. Almost everything on the map can be destroyed, and there is immediate fun to be had from causing merry mayhem with your truck, clattering through deckchairs on the beach or driving straight through the middle of a diner and watching it collapse spectacularly behind you. But there is a void at the heart of this game where the core hook should have been.We get a glimpse of its potential during a mission that sees you racing to catch up with a rival’s delivery truck before it can reach its destination. The aim is to manoeuvre alongside, and hold down a button so the crane on the back of your own truck can sneakily lift the package off their vehicle and on to yours. All the while, rival trucks are attempting to ram you off the road, and after you grab the package, you then have to deliver it while fending off the attentions of these other drivers. It leads to some wonderfully comic scenes in which a hotel owner thanks you profusely for a consignment while standing in front of the ruins of his newly destroyed establishment: a casualty of the violent act of delivery.Keep on truckin’ … Deliver at All Costs. Photograph: KonamiThis one frantic mission is by far the best part of the game, and if the rest of Deliver at All Costs followed a similar path – a Crazy Taxi-style mad dash against the clock between pickup and delivery, with whole neighbourhoods razed in pursuit of logistical efficiency – then there would no doubt be a few more stars stuck to this review. Instead each mission varies wildly in content and quality. Some are passably enjoyable, including one that involves taking photos of a UFO while avoiding its laser beam. Others are simply dull, such as one in which you deliver balloons tied to the back of your truck, which intermittently cause it to rise into the air: more irritating than entertaining. Zany does not equal fun.If all of that kind of thing had been confined to side missions while the main game was about zipping parcels back and forth as quickly as possible, it might have worked. But these hit and miss escapades are all we get, and by the final third, the concept of delivering things is ditched completely. Instead Deliver at All Costs tells a dim-witted story through relentless dull cut scenes, with writing and acting that veer from passable to downright rotten. Protagonist Winston Green is a man with a murky past who ends up at loggerheads with his boss, Donovan, before the game jumps the shark entirely and veers off into po-faced sci-fi nonsense. It doesn’t help that the permanently angry Winston is one of the most unlikable video game protagonists ever created.As in Grand Theft Auto, you can hop out of your car and explore, but here there’s hardly anything to find, save for a few viewpoints (which are just that) and a tiny handful of side missions. These range from fun (race a parachutist down a mountain) to boring (find a man who looks like the mayor). There is the occasional unique car to discover, but as you have to use your delivery truck for most missions, doing so is largely pointless. The novelty of driving around in, say, a hot dog van wears off in seconds. There are crates full of cash to find too, but there’s little of note worth buying. The shop sells spare parts you can use to assemble gadgets for your truck, but apart from the boost-giving jet engine, they’re mostly superfluous.It’s all so frustrating. Deliver at All Costs offers up a beautiful destructible playground, then barely utilises it, instead focusing on a bizarre, half-baked story that somehow ends in a courtroom drama. It feels like being invited to a glittering champagne reception, then getting collared by a conspiracy theorist who insists on describing the plot of his hokey sci-fi novel for the next eight hours. What a criminal waste.