Other than an extra (and much-needed) day off, the other major benefit of three-day weekends seems to be all of the sales and savings that occur, especially on electronics. Memorial Day is no exception, making it a great time to score an amazing deal. If you're shopping for a new top laptop or desktop, here are a bevy of deep price drops on solid performers to check out (with more being added all weekend long). Laptop DealsIf you need an ultra-budget portable for work or school, the Acer Aspire 3 is one of the most cost-effective machines you can pick up, especially when Amazon has it on sale for fifty bucks off its already cheap list price. In our review, we said that this unit was "basic as bricks," but that's not necessarily a bad thing. All of the components are well-tested, and the casing is durable. Battery life is a strong point, testing out at 16 hours on a single charge when we took it into the lab. Compatibility with Wi-Fi 6 featuring 2x2 Mi-Mo is a nice bonus as wellThe Acer Aspire 3 Laptop (Refurbished) is also available at Target for $299.99.We consistently rate Lenovo laptops highly in our reviews, and the previous model of the ThinkPad E14 got an Editors' Choice award from us when we put it through its paces. We haven't been able to tear down the newest model yet, but it looks to continue the same high standards. With extremely long battery life, this is a productivity portable that will get you through an entire day on the go, and the keyboard is a pleasure to use. Durability is also a strong point, and Wi-Fi 6 support means you'll always be able to tap a speedy connection. One year onsite warranty gives you a little extra security and this sale price keeps close to $790 in your wallet. For Memorial Day you can take $100 off of the Editors' Choice-winning 2025 MacBook Air M4. This featherweight portable is one of the most impressive laptops Apple has ever made, featuring blistering speed and luxurious build quality. In our review, we said that the combination of a price drop from the previous generation of Airs coupled with a performance boost from the new M4 processor was a win-win situation, while also lauding the boosted system RAM and near-silent fanless operation. If you're in the market for a MacBook, this is absolutely the best deal you'll find this weekend.The Apple MacBook Air M4 is also available at B&H Photo for $899.Gaming Laptop DealsLet's lead off with a very impressive $400 price drop on a midrange gaming laptop with some nice components for the price. We reviewed the Acer Swift X 14, raving over its absolutely stunning OLED display, which is one of the best screens you'll see on a portable in this bracket. We also loved the light weight, noting that it almost qualified as an ultraportable, coming it at just 3.42 pounds, and it's got plenty of ports and connectivity options. Internally, you've got solid silicon, including a very welcome RTX 4060 graphics card and a 1TB SSD.Recommended by Our EditorsThe Acer Swift X 14 Gaming Laptop is also available for $1099.99 from Acer.At retail price, the MSI Thin gaming laptop is already a good deal, a solid budget model with a nice 144Hz full HD screen, decent build quality and decent components for the price. But after Walmart cuts almost $300 off, it becomes one of the best offers we've seen in a long time. While you're not going to get future-proof performance here with an eight-core processor, it'll easily handle all of today's top games at good settings, and the backlit keyboard feels good. Solid port selection, including USB-C, is just the icing on the cake.Check out the Best Gaming Laptops of 2025 that we reviewed to see how this one stacks up. Desktop DealsApple's Mac Mini is the perfect illustration of "good things come in small packages," a tiny little rectangle that packs a ton of compute power and can be carried anywhere. Weighing in at just a pound and a half, it's a sleek machine that runs off the potent M4 processor. In our review, we lauded its generous port selection on both the front and back of the machine, including a traditional 1/8 inch audio jack, as well as the efficient cooling and workstation-competitive speeds. It's a tremendous achievement in hardware, and you can save $150 on this model right now at Amazon.Have a little cash in your pocket and looking to get the absolute highest-end gaming setup you can? We've got you covered with a $600 discount on the new Alienware Area-51, an impressive tower that comes loaded with Nvidia's new GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card, the most potent performer on the market. In our recent review of this battlestation, we raved about its virtually silent operation thanks to a cutting-edge positive pressure airflow system, sleek design and absolutely unbeatable component loadout. Storage might be a little slim, but with the cash you save it's easy to add an external drive.Want to save even more? Our Deals Page is where it's at.

What if a phone, but on your face? Credit: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images Just a few days after Google unveiled its AR smart glasses, a new report suggests Apple may soon release a similar product.The iPhone maker is apparently planning on launching its long-rumored smart glasses in 2026, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. According to the report, the glasses will have microphones, speakers, and cameras built in, with an emphasis on AI features. This would allow users to ask for directions, do live language translation, and listen to music, among other things. However, one thing to note is that these glasses will more than likely not feature AR support of any kind, unlike Google's recently announced Android XR glasses. It's also unclear if they would allow for a similar level of self-expression via partnerships with different brands, such as Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, like Google is offering. According to Bloomberg, Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses are the closest point of comparison, as they allow users to perform some AI tasks with voice commands, but don't have any kind of mixed reality display built in. Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed 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! You May Also Like This report comes after a pair of different Bloomberg reports earlier this year reshaped user expectations for Apple's next stab at a computer that you wear on your face. Apple was rumored to be working on AR glasses like Google's for some time, but the business publication said back in February that they had been canceled. A couple of months later, prominent Apple reporter Mark Gurman said in Bloomberg that Apple is making glasses, but they won't feature AR. This latest report seems to be consistent with all of that.For those of us who are old enough to remember the big-time failure of Google Glass as a consumer device 10 years ago, all of this is still a little hard to believe. Alex Perry Tech Reporter Alex Perry is a tech reporter at Mashable who primarily covers video games and consumer tech. Alex has spent most of the last decade reviewing games, smartphones, headphones, and laptops, and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. He is also a Pisces, a cat lover, and a Kansas City sports fan. Alex can be found on Bluesky at yelix.bsky.social.

Beurer is a German manufacturer of personal care products. When they needed to update their line of men's grooming devices, they turned to Munich-based industrial design firm Fluid Design.Beurer MenCare The ChallengeCrafting the next generation of a MenCare range that seamlessly embodies the Beurer brand DNA. The SolutionBased on the newly developed Beurer Visual Design Language, we created a destinctive MenCare Line that celebrates newly established design elements. A bold design languageWe have injected a dynamic and confident expression of the Beurer design DNA into the MenCare line, giving a fresh and strong resonance to its audience. The MenCare line includes an all-in-one multi-groomer, beard trimmer, hair clipper and a rotary shaver. While each product serves a distinct function and varies in size, they share a common character that underscores their belonging to the same family. All products feature a unified front contour with a consistent 4-degree tapering angle, creating a cohesive appearance. This design includes a recessed surface on the front that serves as a functional space for ergonomic buttons and the display. On the back, the well-defined gripping ribs have been carefully incorporated to ensure a secure hold, even in situations where hands may be wet, such as in the bathroom. Additionally, the prominent red "Beurer line" serves as a defining element that also contributes to a distinctive and cohesive aesthetic across all products. ?A strategic partnership?As Beurer's strategic partner, we developed the company's newly defined design language and product design guidelines to ensure a consistent company portfolio. The MenCare Line is an excellent example to represent the new aesthetics of Beurer's design language. Highlights & CapabilitiesA pivotal design element?The red "Beurer line" separates the functional from the user interaction area, supporting intuitive handling and usability while also adding to the overall distinctive aesthetics of the product line. Multidisciplinary, full-service design?Starting with early conceptual sketches, followed by in-depth market research, gathering user insights and developing both, low and high-fidelity mockups, we seamlessly progressed to the final product. You can see more of Fluid Design's work here.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown isn’t like most other TMNT games. Usually, in games featuring the famous turtle crimefighters, you punch and kick a ton of goons in real-time, either alone or with some buddies. That’s not the case in TMNT: Tactical Takedown, which is instead a turn-based tactics game. Thankfully, the shift to turn-based mostly works for the Turtles, even if the game is a bit barebones. Suggested ReadingTHPS 3+4 Does Away With The OG 4's Career Mode, Here's Why Share SubtitlesOffEnglishview videoSuggested ReadingTHPS 3+4 Does Away With The OG 4's Career Mode, Here's Why Share SubtitlesOffEnglishIn TMNT: Tactical Takedown, battles play out on small maps covered in grids. Each mission features one turtle fighting his way through these maps turn-by-turn, while enemies spawn throughout, also moving on their own turns across the grid. Your goal is often to clear out the baddies while reaching the end of the level. At first, I was worried that this tactical and slower-paced turn-based gameplay wouldn’t feel TMNT-enough, that it would lack the kinetic excitement of most of the Ninja Turtle games and shows. But, developers Strange Scaffold (of Witch Stranding, El, Paso ElsewhereCreepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 fame) did a great job infusing the strategic gameplay with flourishes and ideas that make it feel plenty exciting and fast-paced. Nickeloedon / Strange ScaffoldOne significant way TMNT: Tactical Takedown makes the action feel exciting is ensuring that you don’t hang out in one area during missions. Instead, you are pushed forward every few turns as the levels grow ahead of you and fall behind you. For example, during one mission, I entered some subway trains and as the train started, the grid outside of the train turned red—a visual warning it was about to vanish—disappearing along with some goons. Then, once the train reached its station, and I had beaten up another dozen or so Foot Clan members, I exited before the carriage itself fell into the void, taking more baddies with it. Having levels change every few turns means I had to keep moving forward, similar to an old-school beat ‘em up. And you can even take advantage of the levels changing by kicking back enemies into the red areas and watching them fall into nothing on your next turn. However, it’s even more fun to kick them off the edge of the maps, something I did a lot. Another design choice I appreciated is that most of the Turtles’ moves encourage you to be aggressive, and then reward it. A lot of times in Tactical Takedown, I was taking out multiple enemies in one turn by chaining attacks in satisfying ways, although given this also means the game is designed around you defeating tons of enemies quickly, it leads to some missions quickly filling up with Foot Clan soldiers who can too often overwhelm your Turtles if you make a mistake. I wonder if, for those hoping for a more arcade-like experience, Tactical Takedown might prove too tactically challenging. Of course, any TMNT game is going to star the Turtles themselves, and this is easily the best part of the Tactical Takedown. The Turtles are separated for the entire game, mostly, and that’s a bit strange—sure, if you do enough cool shit you can pull off a team up move—but most of the time you are playing as each turtle separately. Screenshot: Strange Scaffold / KotakuBut while they don’t fight side by side throughout most of the game, they do talk to each other via cutscenes, and the writing here is excellent. I won’t spoil too much, but the conflict between the brothers is the core of the tale, and it’s shocking how invested I got in the rather simple, but well-delivered story of four mutated turtle warriors dealing with grief, loss, and trying to pick up the pieces together.Sadly, too much of TMNT: Tactical Takedown feels barebones. Levels look fine, but are very simple, rarely featuring varying locations or details. The Turtles all play differently, with various moves that reflect their personality, but so many sound effects are reused. Couple that with simplistic, stiff combat animations and levels that go on for too long, and Tactical Takedown can often feel like a game that is trying to trick you into thinking it’s more than it is.Still, I’m happy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown was made, and that I played it. It’s a unique spin on the franchise, and the turn-based combat is frenetic and fun. I also love the way the Turtles are depicted in cutscenes. It’s a shame that there’s not much else here, but what is there is good and feels like a solid foundation for future DLC or sequels that could add more. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown launched on May 22 for PC. It is available now on Steam and runs great on Steam Deck. .

Game Dev Digest Issue #283 - Retro, Graphics Tricks, Multiplayer, and more posted in GameDevDigest Newsletter Published May 23, 2025 Advertisement This article was originally published on GameDevDigest.comEnjoy!“ZLinq”, a Zero-Allocation LINQ Library for .NET - I’ve released ZLinq v1 last month! By building on structs and generics, it achieves zero allocations. It includes extensions like LINQ to Span, LINQ to SIMD, LINQ to Tree (FileSystem, JSON, GameObject, etc.), a drop-in replacement Source Generator for arbitrary types, and support for multiple platforms including .NET Standard 2.0, Unity, and Godot.neuecc.medium.comPathfinding - I've recently been working on the pathfinding for NPCs in my game, which is something I've been looking forward to for a while now since it's a nice chunky problem to solve. I thought I'd write up this post about how I went about it all.juhrjuhr.itch.ioMy Work at Unity - I worked as a developer at Unity Technologies from 2009 to 2020. When I started, there were around 20 employees worldwide and Unity was still largely unknown. When I left, there were over 3000 employees and Unity had become the most widely used game engine in the industry.runevision.comIndie Game Marketing Examples: Campaigns We Loved - From Crabs to Chess: Creative marketing lessons from indie game campaigns that really worked!impress.gamesMaking Video Games in 2025 (without an engine) - I genuinely believe making games without a big "do everything" engine can be easier, more fun, and often less overhead. I am not making a "do everything" game and I do not need 90% of the features these engines provide. I am very particular about how my games feel and look, and how I interact with my tools.noelberry.caWelcome to Unity Design Patterns - Examples of programming design patterns in Unity C#NaphierPalette lighting tricks on the Nintendo 64 - Below I have some notes on the directional ambient and normal mapping techniques I developed. They are both pretty simple in the end but I haven’t seen them used elsewhere.30fps.netCan Itch.io Success Translate To Steam Success? - In my previous blog I looked at the stats for an itch.io game and what an over performing game looked like. Today I want to deep dive on a couple games that took their early itch.io success and parlayed it onto Steam with varied results.howtomarketagame.comWork with strings efficiently, keep the GC alive - This tip is not meant for everyone. If your code is simple, and not CPU-heavy, this tip might be overkill for your code, as it's about extremely heavy operations, where performance is crucial.old.reddit.comIndie Survival Guide - ProductsThe Indie Survival Guide is your ongoing archive of real talk and hard-won insights from the devs and industry experts making games happen—often against the odds. Whatever tools you’re using, this growing library of Q&As, livestreams, and VODs is here to help. There’s no magic formula, but we believe shared experience—across design, business, and survival—can give you the best shot.Unity VideosMultiplayer Systems in 10 Minutes/1 Hour/1 Day | Clocked and Loaded - Unity Developer Advocate Esteban Maldonado shows us how he scales multiplayer systems based on time constraints and how his approach differs depending on the circumstances.UnityFrom States to Trees: How Behavior Trees Revolutionized Game AI - In this final video of our NPC evolution series, we explore how Behavior Trees transformed game AI. Moving beyond the limitations of Finite State Machines, Behavior Trees introduced hierarchical decision-making that allowed NPCs to evaluate complex situations, prioritize actions, and respond intelligently to player choices.Mindplay with AaronInside Doom: The Dark Ages - Creating id Tech 8 - Interview With id Software - Want to know more about Doom: The Dark Ages and the technical make-up of the new id Tech 8? John Linneman has this extensive interview with id Software's Director of Engine Technology, Billy Khan. Every key aspect of the new technology is discussed here, along with answers to key questions like why The Dark Ages simply isn't possible without hardware accelerated ray tracing.Digital FoundryLet's Fix Unity's Animator - Let's fix the missing animation preview in Unity's Animator!Warped ImaginationWhy Did Older Games Feel So Much Bigger? - The evolution of game design has taken an interesting turn, where modern level design often feels more constrained despite technological advances. While retro games created vast worlds with limited resources, today's AAA games sometimes sacrifice that sense of wonder for visual fidelity.Devin ChaseMind-blowing graphical tricks in classic games - Your questions answered! | White_Pointer Gaming - It's time to answer even more viewer questions about how classic games achieved their graphical tricks! This video includes not just Mega Drive/Genesis and Super Nintendo games, but Neo Geo as well. Plus the big one that you might have been waiting for - Final Fantasy VI / Final Fantasy III! What mindblowing tricks will be unveiled this time?White_Pointer GamingJetBrains AI Assistant Just Got a Lot More Useful (and FREE) - JetBrains AI Assistant, improved in version 2025.1 with enhanced context awareness and deeper IDE integration, brings intelligent code generation, inline prompts, and web-enhanced context directly into our workflow. Together, we’ll explore how it uses these upgrades to incorporate external knowledge into its suggestions as we refactor a simple C# class into a clean and reusable programming pattern—then save that refactoring as a custom prompt for future use.git-amend AssetsLevel Up: 5K World Building Assets Bundle - Build the game of your dreams in any setting or scenario with our Level Up: 5K World Building Assets Bundle.__The Supreme Unreal & Unity Game Dev Bundle - Dive into an asset collection that offers the widest range of stylized towns, buildings, and more with The Supreme Unreal & Unity Game Dev Bundle! Save time and money by accessing this library of 50+ asset sets, ranging from medieval Viking villages to deserted military outposts—specific standouts include Whispering Grove Environment and Asian Dynasty Environment. Get the assets you need to help bring your game to life, and help support the charity of your choice with your purchase!Humble Bundle AffiliatePoiyomiToonShader - A feature rich toon shader for unity and VR Chatpoiyomi Open SourceAPFrameworkUI - A Text Mesh Pro based text only UI system for Unitydklassic Open SourceUnityProcgen - Library of procedural generation code for use in Unitycoryleach Open SourceGeneLit - GeneLit is an alternative to standard shader for Unity built-in pipeline.momoma-null Open Sourcebarelymusician - a real-time music engine.anokta Open SourceColliderMeshTool - Generate custom mesh colliders in Unity with hulls or hand-drawn outlines.SinlessDevil Open SourceGraphlit - Custom node shader editor for Unityz3y Open SourceEasy Peasy First Person Controller (FREE) - Easy Peasy First Person Controller is a user-friendly, ready-to-use first-person controller for Unity. It provides a wide range of customizable features for seamless integration into your game.assetstore.unity.com AffiliateUnityInGameConsole - A powerful Command Line Processor and log viewer for Unity. It can be run in the editor or in a built out player for any platform, allowing you to see your log and callstacks in you final product, without having to search for unity log files.ArtOfSettling Open SourceDescant - An enhanced and user-friendly Unity dialogue system pluginOwmacohe Open Sourceposition-visualizer - Unity editor tool to visualize positions in the scene.mminer Open SourceLua-CSharp - High performance Lua interpreter implemented in C# for .NET and Unitynuskey8 Open SourceUnityNativeFilePicker - A native Unity plugin to import/export files from/to various document providers on Android & iOSyasirkula Open Sourceusyrup - A runtime dependency injection framework for the Unity Game Engine!Jeffan207 Open SourceUnityIngameDebugConsole - A uGUI based console to see debug messages and execute commands during gameplay in Unityyasirkula Open SourceContentManagementSystem - CMS based on XK's realization for unitymegurte Open SourceIsoMesh - IsoMesh is a group of related tools for Unity for converting meshes into signed distance field data, raymarching signed distance fields, and extracting signed distance field data back to meshes via surface nets or dual contouring.EmmetOT Open SourceNavigathena - Scene management framework for Unity. Provides a new generation of scene management.mackysoft Open SourceUI Cursors - UI for Mouse Cursors is a great start for the development journey you are looking for either testing or a finished game it offers a great variety. Animatable and make the game look alive!verzatiledev.itch.io25% Off Unity Asset Store - Get 25% off your next purchase—even on discounted assets! Use code TWXJ982ND at checkout and keep building something amazing. Limited to 5 redemptions.Unity AffiliateShop up to 50% off Kyeoms - Publisher Sale - I'm an individual game VFX artist. I'm interested in Cartoon style and Stylized VFX. PLUS, get New Stylized Explosion Package for FREE with code KYEOMS2025Unity AffiliateUltimate World Building Asset Bundle - Imagine it—build it—love it Elevate your next project with elite 3D assets, textures, references, and more from the Ultimate World Building Asset Bundle by ScansMatter—featuring 300 free commercial credits on ScansMatter.com, Rooftop Asset Kit, Office Environment Kit, and much more. This limited-time partnership with ScansMatter gives Humble Bundle members a unique opportunity to access countless professional-quality assets at a fraction of the price. Get the assets you need to bring your next visual project to life—and help support the World Wildlife Fund with your purchase!Humble Bundle AffiliateUnlock Pro 3D Modeling Skills With Blender - Software Bundle - Unlock awesome 3D tools for Blender__ SpotlightBrine - An upcoming boomer shooter from Studio Whalefall, a 3rd year university team from Falmouth's Games Academy.Slippery fishy enemies are attacking your quaint Cornish town, and it's up to one disgruntled fisherman to save the day. Fight your way through waves of local seafood and paint the town with red.[Get the demo on Itch.io]Studio WhalefalMy game, Call Of Dookie. Demo available on SteamYou can subscribe to the free weekly newsletter on GameDevDigest.comThis post includes affiliate links; I may receive compensation if you purchase products or services from the different links provided in this article. Comments Nobody has left a comment. You can be the first! You must log in to join the conversation. 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Intel still has plans for the desktop GPU segment, as it is reported that the company's next Arc B770 GPU is slated to launch by the fourth quarter of this year. Intel Still Has Plans To Make An Impact In The Gaming GPU Segment, Plans To Unveil Arc B770 In Upcoming Months At Computex, we were hoping for some kind of consumer-oriented release by Intel, since there were rumors that the firm could unveil a new Battlemage variant. Team Blue unveiled GPUs, but they weren't for gaming. Instead, the company expanded its focus towards the professional segment, adding new models to its Arc Pro lineup. However, according to a report by Tweakers, Intel hasn't abandoned the gaming segment at all, and instead plans to unveil the Arc B770 in the upcoming quarters. Intel is working on an Arc B770 video card based on the Battlemage architecture. Tweakers was able to confirm this with multiple sources during Computex. Sources close to Intel confirm the existence of the Arc B770 video card. According to them, the introduction is planned for the second half of this year. The card is expected to appear in the fourth quarter, although the planning can change. - Tweakers Intel hasn't been very vocal about its plans for the dGPU segment, since the last release we saw from the company was the Arc B580 and the Arc B570, which were two Battlemage variants focused on the mid-tier segment. However, Intel has been busy developing a solution around the BMG-G31 silicon, which is expected to power the Arc B770, so it was safe to assume that we would see an announcement at Computex. But this has been pushed ahead, and we might have a showcase at Intel Innovation 2025, which is expected to be held by September. As to what we can expect from it, a variant on this die was said to feature around 24-32 Xe2 cores with a 256-bit memory bus and 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, making it a formidable rival to NVIDIA's 60-class series and AMD's RX 9060 lineup. Considering Intel's track record in the gaming GPU market, the firm should focus on making an impact, especially on the mainstream GPU segment, since the competition is ramping up. Deal of the Day

On Thursday evening, the Supreme Court handed down a brief order, which temporarily permits President Donald Trump to fire two federal officials who, by law, are shielded from being summarily terminated. That, in itself, is not particularly significant because, on April 9, Chief Justice John Roberts acted on his own authority to temporarily permit Trump to fire the same two officials. So the practical effect of Thursday’s order in Trump v. Wilcox is simply to maintain the status quo.That said, the Thursday order does contain some important new information from the Court’s Republican majority. While the Republican justices have signaled for quite some time that they are eager to give the president broad authority to fire officials that Congress intended to insulate from presidential control, the order includes a paragraph signaling that they will not allow Trump to fire members of the Federal Reserve.From a legal perspective, the paragraph is difficult to parse. And, as Justice Elena Kagan writes in a dissenting opinion, is not supported by the legal authority it cites. But it is likely to reassure investors that, while the Supreme Court does appear eager to expand Trump’s authority over previously independent parts of the federal government, it won’t permit him to disrupt the Fed’s ability to make technocratic decisions about interest rates. The immediate stakes in Wilcox involve a former member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which enforces labor laws and adjudicates union-related disputes, along with a former member of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), which hears disputes claiming that a civil servant’s employment protections were violated. Trump fired both shortly after taking office, despite the fact that federal law only permits them to be fired for some sort of neglect or malfeasance.The NLRB and the MSPB, moreover, are just two of an array of “independent” agencies led by multi-member boards, whose members all enjoy similar employment protections – agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Federal Reserve.For at least 15 years, when the Court handed down Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Board (2010), a majority of the justices have signaled that they are eager to strip Congress of its authority to create such independent agencies, and give the president full authority to fire these agencies’ leaders at will. Many economists and investors, meanwhile, have warned that it would be particularly dangerous to strip the Federal Reserve — which is supposed to set interest rates based on delicate economic calculations and not based on what will benefit the sitting president — of its independence, as doing so could throw the US economy into chaos.Thursday’s order is a clear signal that the Court has heard these concerns and does not intend to eliminate the Fed’s independence. It is unlikely to satisfy many constitutional scholars, as its explanation for why Federal Reserve leaders should be treated differently than the leaders of any other independent agency is so baffling that it appears contrived. Regardless of the underlying reasoning, however, the order does strongly suggest that this Court will not give Trump full control over the Fed.The “unitary executive,” briefly explainedTrump v. Wilcox is the culmination of a longstanding grudge many Republican legal elites hold against Humphrey’s Executor v. United States (1935), the Supreme Court case establishing that Congress may create independent agencies whose members may only be fired for cause. Though the leaders of these agencies are typically nominated by the president for a term of several years, and confirmed by the Senate, Humphrey’s Executor explained that laws protecting them from being fired while in office are supposed to ensure that they “act with entire impartiality,” and “exercise the trained judgment of a body of experts.”All six of the Court’s Republicans, however, have made it clear they believe in a theory known as the “unitary executive,” which is incompatible with Humphrey’s Executor.The Constitution provides that “the executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.” In a 1988 dissenting opinion, which many legal conservatives now treat as if it were a holy text, Justice Antonin Scalia argued that “this does not mean some of the executive power, but all of the executive power.” And thus, if a federal official is charged with executing federal laws in some way, they must be fully subject to presidential control.If you take this unitary executive theory seriously, then there should be no doubt that Federal Reserve governors may be fired at will by the president. The Fed’s authority over interest rates, after all, derives from federal statutes instructing it to pursue the dual goals of “maximum employment” and “stable prices.” So the Fed is charged with executing federal laws.But the consequences of stripping the Fed of its independence could be catastrophic. In 1971, President Richard Nixon pressured Fed chair Arthur Burns to lower interest rates in advance of Nixon’s reelection race — the idea was to juice the economy right while voters were weighing Nixon’s record — and Burns complied. In the short term, this worked out great for Nixon. The economy boomed in 1972, and Nixon won reelection by a historic landslide. But Burns’s action is often blamed for years of “stagflation,” slow economic growth combined with high inflation, in the 1970s.The Fed, in other words, has the power to effectively inject cocaine into the US economy – giving it a temporary boost that can be timed to benefit incumbent presidents, at the cost of much greater economic turmoil down the road. It’s not hard to see how presidents could abuse their power if they can fire members of the Federal Reserve who refuse to give the economy such a temporary and costly high.One might think that these risks would be enough to caution the justices against overruling Humphrey’s Executor. But the Republican justices appear quite committed to the unitary executive theory, and they have been that way for quite some time. (If you want to know more about why they feel this way, I can refer you to three separate explainers I’ve written on this subject.)And so those justices spend the bulk of Thursday’s Wilcox order laying out the process they are likely to use to formally overrule Humphrey’s Executor. The order announces that the Trump administration is “likely” to prevail in its bid to fire NLRB and MSPB officials, and it temporarily blocks lower court decisions that reinstated the two officials at issue in this case. But the Court puts off the question of whether to formally repudiate Humphrey’s Executor until after the ordinary appeals process plays out and the justices receive full briefing and oral argument on whether to do so — which could happen as soon as the Court’s next term.The Wilcox order’s language protecting the Fed is gobbledygookEmbedded within all this language laying out the process to challenge Humphrey’s Executor is the paragraph indicating that the Fed is safe. While the two fired officials “contend that arguments in this case necessarily implicate the constitutionality of for-cause removal protections for members of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors or other members of the Federal Open Market Committee,” the order states, “we disagree.”The justices who joined the order then offer a single sentence explaining why: “The Federal Reserve is a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition of the First and Second Banks of the United States.”It’s certainly possible to parse the components of this sentence. The description of the Fed as a “quasi-private entity,” for example, may refer to the fact that much of the Fed’s authority is wielded through regional entities, which are themselves controlled by board members who are mostly selected by commercial banks. But it is hardly unusual for members of the private sector to be given a formal role within government — just ask Elon Musk. Indeed, the Supreme Court heard at least two cases this spring involving the role experts from the private sector may play in setting government policy.The “First and Second Banks of the United States” are 18th- and early 19th-century predecessors to the Fed. The Supreme Court upheld Congress’s power to create national banks in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), but the nation abandoned national banking under President Andrew Jackson, setting off a period of economic turmoil, including an economic depression shortly after Jackson left office.But it’s unclear what any of this has to do with the president’s powers as outlined in the Constitution. If the theory of the unitary executive is correct, then no entity — regardless of whether it is “quasi-private” or is part of a “distinct historical tradition” involving banks — may execute federal laws, unless that entity is controlled by people who are themselves under presidential control. As a legal matter, the Court’s explanation of why the Fed is special is nothing more than word salad.The only legal authority that the Wilcox order cites to support its claim that the Fed is special is a footnote in its pro-unitary executive decision in Seila Law v. CFPB (2020). But nothing in that footnote provides any support for this claim.As Kagan points out in her dissent in Wilcox, the only relevant language in that footnote is a throwaway line responding to her partial dissent in Seila Law. Kagan had argued that “federal regulators” historically have enjoyed some insulation from the president. The footnote dismisses this argument, stating that even “assuming financial institutions like the Second Bank and the Federal Reserve can claim a special historical status,” the agency at issue in Seila Law does not qualify.The Court, in other words, waved away Kagan’s argument that institutions like the Fed should be shielded from presidential control in Seila Law. Now, however, the justices in the majority appear to be signaling they believe there is some merit to Kagan’s argument.If the Court does formally overrule Humphrey’s Executor in the coming months, the justices in the majority will likely elaborate on why a different rule should apply to the Fed. The best reading of the Wilcox order’s one paragraph about the Fed is that a majority of the justices have already decided that they want to protect it, and they would now like some smart lawyers to file briefs coming up with an argument for that position — one that uses terms like “quasi-private” and that refers to the early history of national banking.Of course, this is not how the law is supposed to work — judges are not supposed to start with the outcome that they want and then invite members of the bar to explain how to get there. But this also will hardly be the first time that the Roberts Court started with its intended outcome and reasoned backward to get there. It’s just being more transparent this time around.See More:

Apple CEO Tim Cook oversaw his company's deep investment in China. That was an enormously successful strategy for Apple — but now it's a real problem, argues author Patrick McGee. VCG/VCG via Getty Images 2025-05-23T16:56:30Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Donald Trump wants Apple to make iPhones in America. There's no chance that will happen, says Patrick McGee, a journalist who just published a book on Apple's deep ties to China. McGee also argues that Apple's end-around on Trump's China tariffs — saying that some iPhones and other products are made in India and Vietnam — is misleading. Donald Trump says that iPhones need to be built in the US, or they'll face a 25% tariff.But it doesn't matter what Trump says: iPhones are never going to be built in the US.That's according to Patrick McGee, a journalist who just published "Apple In China: The Capture of the World's Greatest Company" — a detailed look at all of the money and effort Apple spent over decades to enmesh itself in China.McGee, who has covered Apple for the Financial Times, explains why this has been enormously helpful to Apple — because it created an ecosystem that lets it make ultra-complicated devices at vast scale. But he argues that it was even more helpful to China — because Apple gave Chinese engineers access to valuable technology that has let them build other high-value supply chains.And that McGee posits, has created both a problem for Apple CEO Tim Cook — because he can no longer practically extract the company from China — and for the US — because its adversary is now using American know-how to compete with American companies.(I asked Apple if it wanted to weigh in on McGee's book. Via a rep, the company said that "claims in the book are untrue" and "filled with inaccuracies" and that McGee didn't fact-check the book with Apple.)I talked to McGee for the newest episode of my Channels podcast. In the edited excerpt below, we talk about why he thinks it's impossible for Apple to move iPhone production to the US. And why McGee thinks that Apple saying it's moving some production to India and Vietnam, in order to escape some US tariffs on China, is deeply misleading.Peter Kafka: The Trump administration says it wants Apple to move all of its manufacturing to the US. You and anyone else who knows anything about Apple saying that is literally not possible when it comes to the iPhone. Why?Patrick McGee:And then they're moving on to another project. So Apple doesn't bear the cost. It's using the likes of Foxconn to do manufacturing as a service.There's an analyst quoted last month who said it would be like if in the city of Boston, every person dropped what they were doing and just worked on iPhones. And as quotable as that is, that understates the challenge. Because it would like the city of Boston transporting itself to some other place, like Milwaukee, assembling iPhones for a few weeks and then moving on to some other project.China has this floating population — that's literally what it's called — and that workforce alone is greater than America's entire labor force. So we're never going to match them in terms of density of population and, more especially, dynamism of the population.Let alone that it's happening at way lower labor rates. Let alone it's got way better machinery and automation. It's not a matter of willpower and cost — that seems to be what the MAGA dream is based on. It goes so much beyond this.We often say Americans don't want to do these jobs. The Chinese don't want to do these jobs. But there are so many people that would rather be doing that than toiling in the fields for 14 hours a day. We just don't have a base of labor that would do that.One of the other arguments you and others make is that China has people, but there's also just huge infrastructure: a whole series of plants and subplants and subcontractors that all are sort of built around getting Apple the products it needs, at a drop of a hat.Yeah. In the amount of time that it would take China to build a new factory, we would still be doing the environmental paperwork.But in Apple's most recent earnings call, the company said that for the next quarter at least, every iPhone they sell in the US is going to come out of India, and most of the other electronics they sell in the US — AirPods, etc — are going to come out of Vietnam.So what am I missing here? It makes it seem like Apple has gone ahead and figured out how to move this stuff out of China.Not at all. Think of it like this: If there's a thousand steps in making an iPhone and the final one is now in India, you're avoiding tariffs. The final assembly is considered "making it in India."Like if I took every step of baking a cake except for putting the icing on or ...Putting it in the box or something.Honestly, not much is happening in India. That might change in the next five to 10 years, but the idea that there is actual production happening in India is just wrong.If you buy an iPhone next year, it'll say "made in India." I think that's a near-certainty. But that phone will be no less dependent on the China-centric supply chain than any other iPhone you've ever purchased.On that earnings call, Apple also said that the existing tariffs will cost them $900 million in the next quarter. That may sound like a big number, but Apple makes $100 billion in profit a year, so it's not. If that was just the only impact from the tariffs, that seems like a pretty solvable problem for Apple: They have to move final assembly to India, and eat some costs, but they could do it.Yeah, absolutely.Where I think things are much dicier is that the political ties that Apple has with China are unbreakable. I shouldn't say political ties — I really mean the business ties. They are not going to leave China anytime soon.Yet the technological transfer that is engendered by designing cutting-edge products every year and building them in China inherently causes a technology transfer from America to China on a crazy level. And if you think of China as a threat, if you think of them as America's biggest adversary, it is insane that the world's greatest company is equipping China with this technological know-how year in, year out.The Wall Street Journal just reported that Apple is thinking about maybe tacking on some of these additional costs to the next round of iPhones they start selling this fall — passing those costs on to the consumer. Does that sound right to you?Yes, because the other alternative is that you're squeezing out more from your suppliers. Some analysts have suggested that, and it's kind of laughable. Because if there's anything to squeeze out of the supply chain, you damn well better know that Apple's already done it. Apple pays its suppliers very slim margins. There are not a bunch of fat cats out there that they can just be squeezing

That blue bar sure does take me back... That blue bar sure does take me back... If that kind of nostalgia were all there was to Desktop Survivors 98, it would probably not be worth much more than a 15-minute demo. But the underlying game actually takes the developing Survivors-like genre in some interesting directions. As usual for the genre, the gameplay here centers around navigating through throngs of encroaching enemies (and their projectiles), all while herding those enemies together so your auto-firing weapons can take them out. Defeated enemies drop gems that are crucial to gaining new weapons and powers that also lean heavily on nostalgic computing gags—I particularly liked one weapon based on the "flower box" screensaver and another based on the "bouncing cards" at the end of a successful Solitaire game. Theming aside, the main element that sets Desktop Survivors apart from its predecessors in the genre is the mouse-based controls. Your old-school mouse pointer is your character here, meaning you get to precisely dodge and dart around the screen with all the speed and accuracy you'd expect from such a flexible input device. Once you move through these dungeons with a mouse, you won't want to go back to a joystick. Once you move through these dungeons with a mouse, you won't want to go back to a joystick. While there is a serviceable Steam Deck mode designed for analog stick-based movements, it's a hard control paradigm to return to after experiencing the freedom and speed of mouse movements. Decades of mouse use have likely been preparing you for just this moment, training you to weave your pointer through the tight, quickly closing spaces between enemies without really having to think about it. More of the same? Desktop Survivors also sets itself apart by taking place on a series of single-screen battlefields rather than smoothly scrolling maps. These rooms don't feature any significant obstacles or walls to block your movements, either, making each enemy room play kind of similarly to the ones you've seen before it. This also makes it a little easier to avoid many enemies simply by scrubbing your mouse pointer in a wide circle, causing the enemy horde to bunch up in comical blobs.

If it wasn’t already evident, this year’s Google I/O proved that AI is very much the future of Android. The showcase even gave us the first look at Android XR smart glasses, a headset, and even a next-gen video conferencing kit in action. The crucial miss between all the snazzy product announcements? The upcoming Pixel 10 series phones.  Of course, I/O is never about hardware, but the focus on feature announcements this year was geared more towards mobile users than desktop. The Pixel’s absence was conspicuous, as even Google’s demos had executives showing off Gemini AI advancements on a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra on multiple occasions.  Recommended Videos It was pretty surprising to witness. After all, Google sells the Pixel portfolio under the unofficial moniker of an AI phone. So, why was the focus not solely on the Pixel 9 Pro or its foldable sibling, arguably one of the best Android smartphones out there? Why not give a glimpse of the Pixel 10 and hype it a bit?  Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends Well, Google won’t say why, but most likely, the company is saving the excitement for a flashy launch event in the coming months. However, Google I/O gave a clear view of the software experience that you will get on the Pixel 10 series. Android 16, and the whole AI shebang.  Camera enhancements at the center There are predominantly two main reasons for investing in a Pixel phone: a fantastic camera and the latest from Android. Google already laid out the foundations for more creative control in the camera app during the beta testing phase of Android 16. Some of those enhancements include a software-assisted enhancement to low-light capture. Video hue and color temperature settings in Android 16. Google With the Camera2 API upgrade, a new hybrid auto exposure system will let users easily make adjustments to ISO and exposure levels, alongside granular tint and color adjustment controls. If the photographic styles on iPhone 16 Pro and its analog on the Galaxy S25 series, we are getting something of a similar caliber on the Pixel 10 series phones. Interestingly, the camera upgrades will also tag alongside some battery efficiency improvements. Thanks to the new native PCM offloading pipeline, Google notes that the onboard digital signal processor will be able to “handle more audio playback processing, thus conserving user battery.” In a nutshell, your phone will suck up less batery juice during video and audio capture.  Hi-res video capture is quite demanding on phones, and I can’t wait to see what improvements Google has in the pipeline for the Pixel 10. In a separate session targeted at developers, Google also shed some light on the CameraX and Media3 stack.  It seems the vanilla Android experience on the Pixel 10 series phones will offer more flexibility with adjusting aspect ratio and video resolutions. The Media3 effect connector will also open the doors for adding creative filters. Of particular  interest is the concurrent camera system that enables dual camera streams.  Leaks suggest that the Pixel 10 series’ hardware won’t offer any meaningful leg-up over the Pixel 9 family, so it’s highly likely that the focus will be on software-based enhancements. And that brings us to…  AI enhancements  One of the buzziest announcements from I/O 2025 was the release Veo 3 AI model, which can generate photorealistic videos and add a fitting audio, as well. But the more notable change was made to the older Veo 2 model, and these sound tailor-made for smartphones.  Google Users can now give it samples of pictures and videos as a style reference, define the camera movement (rotate, zoom, dolly, etc.), broaden the frame, and add or remove objects from videos. And it is possible on phones, though I’m not sure if it can be handled on-device.  Image-to-video generation has already landed on the Honor 400 series, while Veo video generation is possible in the Gemini mobile app. Meanwhile, the new Imagen 4 model has also improved at photorealism and typography, while increasing image output to 2K resolution.  The next obvious spot for all these AI photo and video upgrades is the native Pixel camera, or the Photos app. Imagine uploading a picture, and having its style picked up to capture photos and video. You can adjust the frame from portrait to landscape, and make specific changes to the objects appearing in the videos. Andy Boxall / Digital Trends These features are already possible with AI image editing for photos, and I won’t be surprised to see Google pushing it as a standout Pixel 10 perk. I am just hoping that Google doesn’t lock these features to the Pro models, especially because all the models will likely rely on the same silicon.  Moving away from apps Google has already created a system called apps, formerly known as extensions, that allows Gemini to interact with connected platforms. For example, it can pull up details from Gmail, add an entry to Tasks, handle WhatsApp, among others. It’s still a work in progress in terms of adoption, but on the Pixel 10, we are going to see agentic capabilities that go beyond apps. Google The secret sauce is Project Mariner, and it comes to life courtesy of AI mode in the Search app. To begin with, it can autonomously handle chores like ticket bookings, reservations, or shopping based on simple text input like “find me three tickets to the Arsenal game on Sunday, and prefer low-cost seats.”  Instead of having users dig through Google search and deal with booking apps, Project Mariner will handle the tedious part. While that is impressive in itself, AI mode queries will also take a look at tickets and reservations in the Gmail inbox  (and Google apps) for tailored responses.  In a nutshell, even Google’s own apps will start losing their charm as the entire user interface shifts increasingly towards a unified AI-first Android experience. Likewise, for tasks that don’t require a Google Search, Gemini Live will take over. Given Google’s historical focus on AI accelerator chips and on-device processing, I am confident that the Pixel 10 will push these as a highlight benefit. Right now, Gemini Live can only hold conversations based on what you say or what it sees through the camera. Soon, you will be able to execute tasks mid-way through voice chats across apps such as Calendar, Maps, and Tasks, among others. This will tie broadly into the Project Astra capabilities, which you can see in action above. More of the same thing The theme of AI was recurring during Google’s developers conference. If you care about the numbers, it was heard 92 times during the I/O keynote. As far as the Pixel 10 series phones go, leaks suggest they would look almost identical to their respective Pixel 9 series counterparts.  Alleged design render of Pixel 10 Pro. Android Headlines That leaves Google in a position where it has to innovate more with software than hardware possibilities. The question is, just how far can Google go with the Android and AI experiences to make the Pixel 10 Pro feel fresh, when it serves essentially the same hardware formular as its predecessor.  Apple is no stranger to this strategy, and neither is Samsung. It’s a meaningful strategy, as it allows engineers to further refine the hardware at hand, and build meaningful software experiences. It remains to be seen whether the Pixel 10 series can make a leap.