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Updating to Android 16 gives you 2 useful security features - but you need to enable them

Jack Wallen / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET Google released Android 16 a bit earlier than expected, and although it was missing some crucial features, there are key additions to the platform that go a long way to improve security. This was an important step forward, as the need for improved security grows every year. Without companies like Google, Apple, and others upping the ante on security, the mobile space would wind up the wild west of the technological landscape, with ne'er-do-wells poppi

What’s inside Genspark? A new vibe working approach that ditches rigid workflows for autonomous agents

Join the event trusted by enterprise leaders for nearly two decades. VB Transform brings together the people building real enterprise AI strategy. Learn more Vibe coding has been all the rage in recent months as a simple way for anyone to build applications with generative AI. But what if that same easy-going, natural language approach was extended to other enterprise workflows? That’s the promise of an emerging category of agentic AI applications. At VB Transform 2025 today, one such applicat

Few Americans pay for news when they encounter paywalls

Compilation of major news outlets’ paywalls prompting readers to become paid subscribers to view their content. (Pew Research Center collage) Newspaper revenue has been in decline for decades, and most Americans now prefer to get news from digital devices. In this environment, many news organizations – and not just newspapers – put paywalls on their websites or apps, blocking access to articles or other content unless news consumers pay or subscribe. The vast majority of Americans (83%) say th

‘Andor’ Star Stellan Skarsgård Was the Ultimate ‘Star Wars’ Script Rulebreaker

The level of secrecy on Disney’s prized franchises is known to be on another level. Between Marvel and Star Wars, script and set leaks are something the studio wants to keep the spigot closed on. But it turns out that sometimes tight security makes the work challenging for its stars, including certain cast members of the hit Disney+ show Andor. The nugget of behind the scenes lore was revealed while Andor star Diego Luna, who is currently doing a stint hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live, had own his Sta

‘Ironheart’ Has Kinks to Work Out, But Flies High Enough

Since Avengers: Endgame, the MCU has examined which heroes will step up now that most of the original characters have bowed out. In the case of Iron Man, this question has mostly been answered in Spider-Man, but fans of the armored Avenger’s comics know his actual successor comes in Riri “Ironheart” Williams, introduced in 2016 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato, Jr. Marvel brought Riri into the cinematic fold with 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, with the promise of her eventually

'Ironheart' Review: Marvel Series Is Not Too Heavy, but It's Not Too Light, Either

The first time Riri Williams' solo TV show was mentioned was in 2020 when Kevin Feige announced Ironheart and Secret Invasion along with a few other Marvel Phase 5 releases. He said both series would tie in with Marvel's feature films. It's true: Ironheart is connected to the larger MCU -- aside from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever -- and for that reason alone, you should watch all six episodes of the series to the end. All the way to the very end. Ironheart is streaming its first three episodes

Ironheart believes the children are the future

Before the multiverse, magic, or any of Marvel’s streaming series were important parts of the studio’s cinematic universe, there was Iron Man. After years of so-so movies, Iron Man reminded everyone that Marvel’s big-screen adaptations could be amazing with the right creative teams and stars attached. Robert Downey Jr.‘s Tony Stark was the MCU’s centerpiece and a prime example of how the House of Ideas could make box office record-breaking icons out of its lower-profile characters. A couple of t

'Fast tech' warning as demand for cheap gadgets heats up

'Fast tech' warning as demand for cheap gadgets heats up 59 minutes ago Share Save Chris Vallance Senior Technology Reporter Share Save Getty Images Demand for so-called "fast tech" - cheap electronic items often quickly binned or abandoned in drawers - is growing, a not-for-profit that works to reduce electronic waste has warned. Material Focus singled out heatwave-fuelled demand for battery powered mini-fans as an example of the problem, suggesting over seven million were purchased last yea

Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan throws cold water on 1-person, billion-dollar startup idea at VB Transform: ‘more people allow you to grow faster’

Join the event trusted by enterprise leaders for nearly two decades. VB Transform brings together the people building real enterprise AI strategy. Learn more As AI-powered tools spread through enterprise software stacks, AI coding platform Windsurf’s rapid growth is becoming a case study in what happens when developers adopt agentic tooling at scale. In a session at this week’s VentureBeat Transform 2025 conference, CEO and co-founder Varun Mohan discussed how Windsurf’s integrated development

How to use your iPhone as a digital driver's license - but only in these states

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean? ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or

How Synthflow AI is cutting through the noise in a loud AI voice category

The conversational AI market has exploded since ChatGPT was released in November 2022 and is predicted to grow into a nearly $50 billion global industry by 2031, according to MarketsAndMarkets. Synthflow AI is just one of many companies building in this space that hopes to stand out from the pack because of its focus on being enterprise-grade and easy to set up. Berlin-based Synthflow is a no-code platform that lets enterprises build and deploy customized white-labeled voice AI customer servic

Apple fires back at court’s ‘punitive’ App Store order in Epic Games case

After a couple of weeks of radio silence in the Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple Inc. case, Apple’s lawyers are now back with a vengeance in the Ninth Circuit. And this time, they’re not just pushing back on the original outcome, but also asking the Ninth Circuit to assign the case to a different judge if it is sent back to the district court. As reported by Law360, in a new appeals brief filed Monday, Apple challenges the district court order that bars it from charging any commission on in-app purcha

The economics behind "Basic Economy" – A masterclass in price discrimination

Basic Economy fares are ultra-restricted airline tickets that offer a lower base price in exchange for fewer benefits than standard economy class. Introduced by major U.S. carriers in the 2010s, these fares have become a widespread strategy for market segmentation - a textbook example of price discrimination in practice. By design, Basic Economy compels travelers to self-select based on their willingness to pay and tolerate restrictions, thus allowing airlines to maximize revenue from different

‘Witcher’ Author Understands Why George R.R. Martin Is Taking So Long on ‘Winds of Winter’

It’s been over a decade since the last Witcher book was released—2013’s Season of Storms, which got an English translation in 2018—but there’s a new title coming very soon from Andrzej Sapkowski: September’s Crossroads of Ravens. In between books, Netflix launched its hit Witcher series, which still has a fourth and fifth season yet to share. That puts Sapkowski on a different sort of timeline from another author whose fans have been waiting awhile for a new book to arrive in his adapted-for-TV

This Star Wars Galactic Map Clears Up Confusion About a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Have you ever wondered about the distance between Tatooine and Naboo? How about Obi-Wan Kenobi's accumulated mileage during the Clone Wars? The good news is that the force is with you: All of your questions are answered by the new Star Wars Galactic Map. The map divvies up the Star Wars galaxy into important regions. Movie fans might be familiar with the core worlds (where Coruscant is) and the outer rim (where you can find Tatooine), but the deep core, colony worlds, inner rim, expansion regio

Topics: core map rim star wars

‘Sandbox first’: Andrew Ng’s blueprint for accelerating enterprise AI innovation

Join the event trusted by enterprise leaders for nearly two decades. VB Transform brings together the people building real enterprise AI strategy. Learn more Enterprises may be concerned about the impact of AI applications when put into production, but hampering these projects with guardrails at the onset could slow innovation. Andrew Ng, founder of DeepLearning AI and one of the most prominent figures in AI development, emphasized the importance of observability and guardrails in AI developme

Crop signals

Bacteria can be engineered to sense a variety of molecules, such as pollutants or soil nutrients, but usually these signals must be detected microscopically. Now Christopher Voigt, head of MIT’s Department of Bio­logical Engineering, and colleagues have triggered bacterial cells to produce signals that can be read from as far as 90 meters away. Their work could lead to the development of sensors for agricultural and other applications, which could be monitored by drones or satellites. The resea

An intelligent, practical path to reindustrialization

Then, a little over a decade ago, MIT’s “Production in the Innovation Economy” initiative highlighted the opportunities we miss if design and manufacturing teams are miles or even oceans apart—and played a significant role in shaping the nation’s Advanced Manufacturing Initiative. Building on this legacy, and in response to an urgent national interest in restoring America’s manufacturing strength, an inspired group of MIT faculty came together in 2022 to found the Manufacturing@MIT Working Grou

The ‘GQuuuuuuX’ Finale Might Be One of the Most Hopeful ‘Gundam’ Endings in Years

So much of Gundam GQuuuuuuX‘s riffing on the legacy of the 1979 original across its 12 episodes has been almost about a yearning sense of inevitability that it could only end in one way—a retread of what came before narratively, and a continuation of the cycle of conflict that has broadly defined the franchise at large and the Universal Century setting that GQuuuuuuX played with in particular. But in its final episode, GQuuuuuuX played with its nostalgic sensibilities one last time to imagine fo

Forget the Mac Mini, This HP Mini PC with Windows 11 Pro Is 70% Off in Early Prime Day Deals

HP is competing directly with Apple’s Mac Mini in the world of compact desktops. The HP Pro Mini 400 G9 Mini PC is currently available at a record low price on Amazon and makes it a great chance to get a high-end machine at a much lower cost. The price is the big news: this model (32GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD, Intel 6-Core i5-12500T) is now just $699 which is 70% off its usual price of $2,339. On HP’s own website, a similar setup would cost close to the original price. See at Amazon Build for

Topics: mini pc price type usb

Minecraft Competitor Hytale Shuts Down After a Decade of Development

Hypixel Studios is shutting down development of Hytale, its Minecraft-like sandbox creator game. The studio, a subsidiary of Riot Games, posted a blog post explaining that financial support wasn't enough to buoy the long development time. The game will not be released to the public. Hypixel Studios has long struggled with delivering on the initial vision for Hytale, and Riot Games' investment in the developer couldn't change the fact that the game had a troubled production. A blog post from Hy

Microsoft Offers Free Windows 10 Extended Security Updates -- Under One Condition

Microsoft is closing the door on Windows 10 in October 2025, and will be ceasing security support for that operating system unless users pay $30 for a one-year extended security update. On Tuesday, with less than four months on the clock until support expires, Microsoft has added a free option. Users need to turn on cloud backup and connect it to their OneDrive account. The ability to get free updates on Windows 10 is a pretty big deal because it is still the most widely used Windows OS, accoun

Discovery of HMS Endeavour wreck confirmed

Back in 2022, we reported on the Australian National Maritime Museum's (ANMM) announcement that its researchers had confirmed that a shipwreck proposed as a likely candidate in 2018 is indeed the remains of the HMS Endeavour. However, the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP)—the museum's research partner in the project—promptly released a statement calling the announcement premature. RIMAP insisted that more evidence was needed. The final report is now available, and both RIMAP and A

The US is stripping its forests of decades-old protections

is a senior science reporter covering energy and the environment with more than a decade of experience. She is also the host of Hell or High Water: When Disaster Hits Home , a podcast from Vox Media and Audible Originals. The Trump administration wants to open up tens of millions of acres of national forest to development. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced yesterday that it’s rescinding a landmark rule that prevents road construction and timber harvesting in the last unfragmente

You’ve got one week to stock up on Philips Hue gear before a tariff-fueled price hike

We’d usually advise most shoppers to wait until Prime Day to get the best prices on tech, but smart home buyers in the US may want to consider stocking up in the next week. Philips Hue devices are already on the costly side, but it has now been confirmed that prices will increase from July 1. The unsurprising reason is the impact of US tariffs. After alluding to the price hike in a marketing email, Hue’s parent company, Signify, confirmed the increases in a statement to HueBlog. No further deta

Topics: home hue july price smart

Save $25 on the Anker Laptop Power Bank and keep all your devices juiced up

Dave Carr So yoy keep running out of juice mid-day? The best solution is to get a power bank, and this one is one of our favorite ones right now. The Anker Laptop Power Bank is very portable, well-built, and plenty capable. It’s also $25.01 off today! Buy the Anker Laptop Power Bank for just $109.98 ($25.01 off) This offer is available from Amazon. You can get the same discount on both the Black and Silver color models. The Anker Laptop Power Bank seems to have suffered from the recent market

Generative AI and privacy are best frenemies - a new study ranks the best and worst offenders

TU IS/Getty Most generative AI companies rely on user data to train their chatbots. For that, they may turn to public or private data. Some services are less invasive and more flexible at scooping up data from their users. Others, not so much. A new report from data removal service Incogni looks at the best and the worst of AI when it comes to respecting your personal data and privacy. For its report "Gen AI and LLM Data Privacy Ranking 2025," Incogni examined nine popular generative AI servic

The Economics Behind "Basic Economy" – A Masterclass in Price Discrimination

Basic Economy fares are ultra-restricted airline tickets that offer a lower base price in exchange for fewer benefits than standard economy class. Introduced by major U.S. carriers in the 2010s, these fares have become a widespread strategy for market segmentation - a textbook example of price discrimination in practice. By design, Basic Economy compels travelers to self-select based on their willingness to pay and tolerate restrictions, thus allowing airlines to maximize revenue from different

The 15 Best Nonalcoholic Drinks That Your Party Guests Will Fight Over

CNET staff -- not advertisers, partners or business interests -- determine how we review products and services. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. If you're sober, sober curious or simply looking to cut back on alcohol, you might be planning to enjoy nonalcoholic drinks all year round. For folks who like to host, these beverages are great alcohol alternatives to serve to people who don't want to drink booze. Fortunately, nonalcoholic drinks have come a long way, and many br