Someone used ByteDance's Seedance 2.0 generative AI video platform to depict Tom Cruise fighting Brad Pitt, and no one in the film industry is happy about it.
The MG S5 is built on the same underpinnings as its award-winning hatchback counterpart, but it unfortunately lacks some of its predecessor’s excitement.
President Trump’s reversal of the landmark ‘endangerment findings’ will cause major upset in the automotive industry – here’s what it could mean for electric vehicles.
Airbnb was poised to introduce an app that doesn't just search for you, but one that "knows you." CEO Brian Chesky said, "It will help guests plan their entire trip, help hosts better run their businesses, and help the company operate more efficiently at scale."
The Gnome Project has officially announced the Gnome 50 public beta testing phase and API, feature, and UI freeze ahead of the desktop environment's official launch later this year. The freeze effectively means that the features that are part of the new public beta version will be part of the official release when that lands on March 18, 2026. The Gnome 50 beta brings with it a number of features that should make living with Gnome significantly easier, especially if you have gaming-grade hardware. Gnome 50 public beta can be downloaded as a live image or installed via Flatpak using the 50beta branch from Flathub Beta. The biggest changes coming to Gnome 50 and the public beta include making VRR and fractional scaling non-experimental in Mutter, Gnome's Wayland compositor library, where the aforementioned features were previously experimental and needed to be enabled in the terminal. Gnome 50 will also complete Gnome's transition to a Wayland-only desktop environment, a move that has been in the works since mid-2025—Gnome 49 was shipped with X11 disabled, while Gnome 50 will feature no X11 code.
There are also myriad changes to screencasting—namely HiDPI and monitor mode emulation—and improved support for multi-monitor setups. Many of Gnome's default apps will also move to the 50.beta version, bringing along with them bug fixes and an overall increased level of polish. Nautilus, the default file manager, gets case-insensitive path completion; Gnome's symbolic icons are more crisp; GDM gets bug fixes and initial support for unified authentication; Gnome Control Center gets a text size slider and a few extra options to tweak; the Gnome Shell gets the option for parents to extend screen time limits; Gnome software will also get a progress bar when installing or removing add-ons as well as a few bug fixes and translation updates. The list goes on, but in general, it looks like Gnome 50 is shaping up to deliver a more cohesive desktop experience when it eventually launches in stable form.
One of PC gaming's greatest shooters has been given a free second life. Unreal Tournament 2004 is now available at no cost with Epic Games' blessing. The community-led revival preserves everything that made UT2004 a multiplayer legend: lightning-fast gunplay, large vehicle-filled maps, and deep mod support, while adding support for modern operating systems.
The breakthrough builds on neuromorphic engineering, a field that designs hardware modeled after the human brain. Unlike traditional processors, which separate memory and computation, neuromorphic chips integrate both functions, enabling faster and more energy-efficient data handling. This biologically inspired approach has long been considered a promising way to narrow the...
TextSlaps helps you write tough messages you’ve been avoiding. Describe your situation, pick a tone like Cold & Professional, HR-Safe Nuclear, or Burn the Bridge, and receive ready-to-send versions for SMS, email, and Slack with an escalation ladder when needed.
Sign up to try five free messages, then choose a plan with credits or unlimited use, save history, access templates, and get priority generation and support.
Samsung opted for an iterative refresh for the upcoming Galaxy S26 series after Apple instituted a major design change for its iPhone 17 lineup. And, as a result, the South Korean tech behemoth is now reportedly paying the price for its inertia, if the latest tidbits about the series' pre-order cadence are anything to go by. The current pre-order trajectory for the Galaxy S26 series would make it nearly impossible for Samsung to meet the lineup's annual sales target According to the tipster Jason C, there is a "perceived lack of interest in the Samsung Galaxy S26 series." Also, as […]
Two banger games from Capcom are going to launch in a span of three months, starting with Resident Evil Requiem, which will arrive this month, followed by PRAGMATA, which is scheduled to release on April 24. While PC gamers have had the privilege of trying out the demo, which delivers a polished finish, you can begin preparing things in advance if you’re a console owner by pre-ordering the game on Amazon. Best of all, the listings are available for the PS5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch 2. PRAGMATA offers a unique sci-fi experience, with the initial gameplay bringing in […]
It's no secret that user-submitted Steam Reviews have often been quite controversial, especially during so-called "review bombings". In these instances, specific games have been targeted with a deluge of negative reviews, thus crashing the overall user review score on Valve's platform. One of the earliest scenarios was the review bombing of Firewatch, Campo Santo's acclaimed adventure game released in 2016. The following year, YouTuber PewDiePie racially insulted a player during a livestream in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), and Campo Santo's founder Sean Vanaman asked YouTube to remove all of PewDiePie's videos from the platform. However, in retaliation, PewDiePie's legion of followers […]
This is what it means to be living in AI Time and, based on a new essay by Matt Shumer, CEO and Co-Founder of Otherside, potentially how to survive it.
OM System has announced the entry of Chinese budget camera manufacturer Sonida into the Micro Four Thirds System, but the expected new Songdian-branded camera probably won't take on offerings from OM System or Lumix
The company said hackers downloaded “a limited number of files” after breaking into an employee’s account. The hacking group ShinyHunters took responsibility for the breach.
AI companies have been hemorrhaging talent the past few weeks. Half of xAI’s founding team has left the company — some on their own, others through “restructuring” — while OpenAI is facing its own shakeups, from the disbanding of its mission alignment team to the firing of a policy exec who opposed its “adult mode” feature. Watch as TechCrunch’s Equity podcast hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony […]
The Japanese sex toy maker said a hacker broke into an employee's inbox and stole customer names, email addresses, and correspondence, including order details and customer service inquiries.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance stands as one of the best RPGs of the last generation, and now it's on Xbox Game Pass — and with a free next-gen update, too.
Xbox is shutting down Social Clubs on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S in April 2026. Here is what is changing, what happens to existing clubs, and how players can stay connected using other features.
Wavlink's Thunderlight docking station proves that Thunderbolt 5 docks don't have to cost an arm and a leg. This limited-time deal is indeed very limited, so don't wait too long.
The latest catalyst for the sell-off is an FTC letter sent to Apple CEO Tim Cook, alleging that Apple News promotes liberal media outlets while suppressing conservative ones. According to the agency, this alleged left-wing bias violates federal consumer protection laws and raises "serious questions" about whether the company is...
MyVibe is the instant publishing platform for AI-generated creations. Anyone can build with Claude, Lovable, v0, or Bolt, but sharing typically involves DNS, hosting, and CI/CD headaches. MyVibe removes the barrier between "I made this" and "here's the link." Drop code from any AI tool or use the MyVibe skill to publish instantly without needing a developer.
MyVibe offers instant publishing, true ownership with self-hosting options, and living documents that allow readers to explore insights interactively. Blogs publish thoughts, videos publish voice, and MyVibe publishes executable understanding. Free to use.
Highguard is the latest free-to-play first-person shooter to hit the market, and if things keep going the way they are now, it'll also be the latest free-to-play first-person shooter that was shut down after being unable to break through as a massive hit right at launch. After its trailer at The Game Awards failed to land with players, and the weeks of silence that followed did nothing to help, when it arrived, before players even made it through the tutorial, they were leaving negative reviews on Steam. Even though it had over 97K concurrent players on Steam when it launched, […]
On episode 341 of PPC Live The Podcast, I speak to Andrea Cruz, Head of B2B at Tinuiti, to unpack a mistake many senior marketers quietly struggle with: freezing when clients demand answers you don’t immediately have.
The conversation explored how communication missteps can escalate client tension — and how the right mindset, preparation, and culture can turn those moments into career-defining growth.
From hands-on marketer to team leader
As Cruz advanced in her career, she shifted from managing campaigns directly to leading teams running large, complex accounts. That transition introduced a new challenge: representing work she didn’t personally execute day to day.
When clients pushed back — questioning performance or expectations — Cruz sometimes froze. Saying “I don’t know” or delaying a response could quickly erode trust and escalate frustration.
Her key realization: senior leaders are expected to provide perspective in the moment. Even without every detail, they must guide the conversation confidently.
How to buy time without losing trust
Through mentorship and experience, Cruz developed a practical technique: asking clarifying questions to gain thinking time while deepening understanding.
Examples include:
Asking clients to clarify expectations or timelines
Requesting additional context around their concerns
Confirming what the client already knows about the situation
These questions serve two purposes: they slow down emotionally charged moments and ensure responses address the real issue, not just the surface complaint.
For Cruz, this approach was especially important as a non-native English speaker, giving her space to process complex conversations and respond clearly.
A solutions-first culture beats blame
Cruz emphasized that mistakes are inevitable — but how teams respond defines long-term success.
At Tinuiti, the focus is not on assigning blame but on answering two questions:
Where are we now?
How do we get to where we want to be?
This solutions-oriented mindset creates psychological safety. Teams can openly acknowledge errors, run post-mortems, and identify patterns without fear. Cruz argues that leaders must model this behavior by sharing their own mistakes, not just scrutinizing others’.
That transparency builds trust internally and with clients.
Proactive communication builds stronger client relationship
Rather than waiting for clients to surface problems, Cruz encourages teams to raise issues first. Acknowledging underperformance — even when clients haven’t noticed — demonstrates accountability and strengthens partnerships.
She also recommends tailoring communication styles to each client. Some prefer concise updates; others want detailed explanations. Documenting these preferences helps teams deliver information in ways that resonate.
Regular check-ins about business roadblocks — not just campaign metrics — position agencies as strategic partners, not just media operators.
Common agency mistakes in B2B advertising
Cruz didn’t hold back on recurring issues she sees in audits:
Budgets spread too thin: Running too many channels with insufficient spend leads to meaningless data and weak performance.
Underfunded campaigns: B2B CPCs are inherently high. Campaigns generating only a few clicks per day rarely produce actionable results.
Her advice is blunt: if the budget can’t support a channel properly, it’s better not to run it.
AI is more than a summarization tool
On AI, Cruz cautioned against shallow usage. Treating AI as a simple spreadsheet summarizer misses its broader potential.
Her team is experimenting with advanced applications — automated audits, workflow integrations, and operational efficiencies. She compares AI’s role to medical diagnostics: a powerful assistant that augments expert judgment, not a replacement for it.
For marketers, that means staying curious and continuously exploring new use cases.
The takeaway: preparation and passion drive resilience
Cruz’s central message is simple: mistakes will happen. What matters is preparation, adaptability, and maintaining a solutions-first mindset.
By anticipating client needs, personalizing communication, and embracing experimentation, marketers can transform stressful moments into opportunities to build credibility.
Looking to take the next step in your search marketing career?
Below, you will find the latest SEO, PPC, and digital marketing jobs at brands and agencies. We also include positions from previous weeks that are still open.
Digital Marketing Manager The Digital Marketing Manager will be expected to lead a team that effectively crafts and implements digital marketing initiatives including search marketing, social media, email marketing and lead management for clients in a variety of industries. Candidates should expect to be engaged in managing multiple team members, clients and simultaneous projects, assisting […]
About Us HighLevel is a cloud-based, all-in-one white-label marketing and sales platform that empowers marketing agencies, entrepreneurs, and businesses to elevate their digital presence and drive growth. We are proud to support a global and growing community of over 2 million businesses, from marketing agencies to entrepreneurs to small businesses and beyond. Our platform empowers […]
Omniscient Digital is an organic growth agency that partners with ambitious B2B SaaS companies like SAP, Adobe, Loom, and Hotjar to turn SEO and content into growth engines. About this role We’re hiring an SEO Outreach Specialist to partner with high-authority brands and build high-quality backlinks to support our clients’ growth and authority. You will […]
SUMMARY The Digital Marketing Manager is a growth-oriented role that will evolve into a strategic marketing leadership position. You will work closely with the CCO and leadership team to shape our go-to-market strategy while executing high-impact marketing programs today. JOB RESPONSIBILITIES ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS: Strategic Marketing & Positioning Collaborate with CCO and commercial leadership to evolve […]
Job Description We are a highly motivated bunch who seek to create a space where you know you are going to have a good time. We are known for our art-inspired spaces that are great for social gatherings. Our restaurants are wall to wall with lights, murals, and vignettes. We are the marinara-muddled minds behind […]
Benefits: Bonus based on performance Competitive salary Training & development Fischetti Law Group, a fast-growing Personal Injury and Estate Planning law firm, is seeking a creative, results-driven Digital Marketing Manager to lead our digital presence and community outreach efforts. This is a full-time, in-office position working directly with our Management team to expand our brand […]
Who We Are Oncourse Home Solutions (OHS) is a people-centric, $500M organization that is owned by private equity firm, Apax Partners operating under the brands American Water Resources, Pivotal Home Solutions and American Home Solutions. We do what is right for our people so they can do their best when serving our 1.9+ million customers […]
AppFolio is more than a company. We’re a community of dreamers, big thinkers, problem solvers, active listeners, and multipliers. At every opportunity, we set the pace while delivering innovation built to carry real estate into the future. One in which every experience feels effortless, yet meaningful. Where customers are empowered to take on any opportunity. […]
The Company: VeSync is a portfolio company with brands that cover different categories of health & wellness products. We wouldn’t be surprised if you have one of our Levoit air purifiers in your living room or a COSORI air fryer whipping up healthy and delicious meals for you every night. We’re a young and energetic […]
We’re looking for a Senior SEO Strategist to lead enterprise-level organic growth strategies across traditional search and modern discovery channels, including AI-powered SERPs, Google AI Overviews, and large language models (LLMs). In this role, you’ll own both strategy and execution for a portfolio of enterprise and high-growth clients. You’ll act as a trusted, client-facing advisor—translating complex technical […]
Benefits 401(k) 401(k) matching Company parties Competitive salary introduce open tags Dental insurance Imageno duplicate details Free food & snacks Health insurance Opportunity for advancement Paid time off Parental leave Vision insurance Wellness resources Buzz Franchise Brands i s a fast-growing, multi-brand franchise company headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA. We’re seeking a Digital Paid Media […]
WHY DEPT®? We are pioneers at heart. What this means, is that we are always leaning forward, thinking of what we can create tomorrow that does not exist today. We were born digital and we are a new model of agency, with a deep skillset in tech and marketing. That’s why we hire curious, self-driven, […]
Overview Nutricost is a leading supplement brand known for high-quality nutrition at affordable prices. We proudly partner with Shaquille O’Neal, the Utah Jazz, BYU Athletics, and US Speedskating to promote health and performance nationwide. Job Overview We are seeking a highly experienced and results-driven Paid Search Manager to lead Nutricost’s paid search strategy and execution […]
Paid Search Manager Location: Round Rock, TX – Onsite (5 days a week) Responsibilities Implement and optimize paid search campaigns to meet KPIs and business objectives. Supervise a team of paid search specialists to ensure operational rigor, budget pacing, and campaign quality. Collaborate with creative teams, vendors, and internal stakeholders to develop and execute effective […]
Overview Sam’s Club is hiring a Senior Manager, Marketing Planning & Strategy (Paid Search + Measurement Enablement) to strengthen one of our largest growth engines: paid search and paid channels performance. This role sits in Marketing, but operates at the intersection of paid media, analytics, and technical enablement—ensuring our campaigns are executed flawlessly, measured accurately, […]
You’ll own high-visibility SEO and AI initiatives, architect strategies that drive explosive organic and social visibility, and push the boundaries of what’s possible with search-powered performance.
Every day, you’ll experiment, analyze, and optimize-elevating rankings, boosting conversions across the customer journey, and delivering insights that influence decisions at the highest level.
4K Blu-ray provides the sort of quality streaming could never live up to – and these starter packs are all you need to experience the joy of UHD discs.
After Helldivers 2 cheaters used "in-game exploits" to try and get an easy Major Order win, the Battle for Cyberstan just became harder. Thanks, "dissidents."
We have found a massive 33% discount on the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge, one of the first laptops ever made with Copilot+ AI that still holds up today with its Snapdragon X Elite CPU, vibrant AMOLED display, and other rich features.
Microsoft has warned of a new tactic called AI Recommendation Poisoning, where hidden instructions inside links can manipulate an assistant’s memory and bias future recommendations. The company advises users to review and clear saved AI memories to reduce risk.
Shift Up has stated it is reviewing platform expansion beyond PS5 and PC for Stellar Blade, positioning 2026 as a transitional year for the franchise and sparking speculation about a possible Xbox release.
Experience terrifying survival horror with FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft, and dive into pulse-pounding action with legendary agent Leon S. Kennedy. Both of their journeys and unique gameplay styles intertwine into a heart-stopping, emotional experience that will chill you to your core. The clock's ticking as we draw closer and closer to the arrival of Resident Evil Requiem. The latest trailer is packed with details about key characters, the mysterious threats that stand in their way, and new gameplay footage.
The story begins with a string of mysterious deaths throughout the United States with all roads returning to the city of disaster and despair, Raccoon City. As Grace and Leon's paths converge, they must face their pasts and uncover the truth. Watch it if you dare...
Last month, Scythe started to promote two Mugen 6 ASUS TUF ALLIANCE edition models. A handful of social media posts provided an early look at the Japanese PC cooling hardware specialist's slight reworkings of the existing Dual Fan ARGB designs. Throughout mid-to-late January, the staggered release of promotional renders showcased newly co-branded white and black units. Scythe's social media accounts teased the latest Mugen 6 revisions leveraging a few improvements. The powerful proprietary Wonder Tornado 120 mm ARGB fans have been updated with anti-vibration pads, and the main block's aluminium fin-stack sports a different type of coating.
Scythe's Q1 2026 revamp of premium-tier single-tower air coolers has just launched in Taiwan, according to an ITHome news article. Yesterday's report outlines a day one release price tag of NT$1790 (~$57.10 USD). Apart from Scythe's typo-laden online marketing of improved features, the newer SKUs are decorated with familiar military themed TUF Gaming patterns and logos/text. Oddly, there is no actual Scythe branding present on the heatsink or Wonder Tornado fans—we hope that they get a shout-out on the finalized Mugen 6 X ASUS TUF ALLIANCE retail packaging, at least.
Ubisoft recently started a massive overhaul, which would see, among other measures, the company split into five so-called creative houses, each responsible for the funding, creative direction, marketing, and publishing strategies of its own games. While the actual structure and split of each creative house's IPs was previously decided, not much else has been revealed about how the new plan is coming along. Now, however, it has been revealed in recent financial filings that Ubisoft plans to hire external talent to lead some of the creative houses, with the first official hire being Charles Guillemot, the son of Ubisoft CEO, Yves Guillemot. This hire is technically a carryover from before the restructure, but Charles has seemingly been grandfathered in as lead for Creative House 1, which is just Vantage Studios and is in charge of Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six—some of Ubisoft's biggest franchises.
According to the financial report, Ubisoft will start implementing its new operating model in April, which is likely when we will hear more about who is running the other creative houses. Additionally, Ubisoft says it has seen "the return of numerous skilled former Ubisoft employees in our studios over the recent years." Ubisoft's recent actions, specifically the cessation of its work from home policy, budget cuts, and recent executive and management priorities, have not been met favorably by Ubisoft employees, with thousands of Ubisoft workers arranging a strike and calling for the resignation of Yves Guillemot and for management to take responsibility for their part in the company's recent performance, which will apparently result in up to 18% of the company's staff being laid off.
It's good to be back! After releasing Kena: Bridge of Spirits, we took some time to figure out what we wanted to create next. We explored ideas that could capture the heart of what made Kena special while building on everything we'd learned along the way. When we began thinking about returning to her world, we were drawn to the idea of Kena as a more experienced Spirit Guide who could use her skills to help the living, not just those who had passed on.
In Kena: Scars of Kosmora, Kena is older and renowned as a Spirit Guide. In hopes of finding answers to the affliction she has endured all her life, Kena travels to the mysterious island of Kosmora. Home to distinct cultures and regions, Kosmora is full of buried secrets from a tragic past. On Kosmora, Kena is confronted by a powerful spirit that fractures her staff. A spirit guide's staff is their identity - their tool to help and commune with spirits. Kena's staff was also keeping her alive. To survive, Kena must accept Kosmora's forgotten form of Spirit Guiding which uses Alchemy to manipulate the power of the elements.
Last May, insiders alleged that the US Government Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) was eyeing up a handful of Chinese tech companies. At the time, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) was considered for inclusion within an extensive "export blacklist." With the regional exit of more mainstream computer memory manufacturing companies, the likes of CXMT and Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation (YMTC) are being tracked as the native Chinese industry's leading lights. Earlier today, a revised Pentagon Section 1260H document seemed to no longer feature the aforementioned duo of memory and storage makers. Hours later, industry observers and journalists noticed that the updated list had been removed from public view. A fresh Reuters news article mentions the adding of Alibaba and Baidu to the latest edition of the US administration's trade blacklist. Across the past few years, these gigantic tech players are best known for unprecedented large-scale purchases of AI-crunching hardware, mostly supplied by NVIDIA.
The US Department of War's (DOW) Section 1260H document designates Chinese companies with (alleged) military or communist party connections. Last year's addition of CXMT caused plenty of head scratching—the Hefei, Anhui-based memory chip manufacturer largely specializes in consumer-grade products. Earlier this month, Nikkei Asia divulged inside track information about ASUS, Acer, Dell, and HP's supposed consideration of CXMT DDR5 and DDR4 lines. The apparent lifting of blacklist status could make it easier for Western OEMs to acquire DRAM from CXMT, and NAND from YMTC, although the latter still remains within the US Commerce Department's sights (considered a threat to the region's supply chain). CXMT's recent advancement into mass production of HBM3 will (inevitably) elevate its local profile, but a reported collaboration with Huawei—involving the next-gen Ascend 950 AI accelerator—could attract extra Pentagon scrutiny.
A newly unveiled patent confirms Sony's commitment to making extra-large video games far more manageable in size. The patent, recently added to the World Intellectual Property Organization's database, describes an "asset streaming" technology that relies heavily on internet connectivity, but Sony emphasizes that this is not related to cloud gaming...
You can only make one first impression. It takes a lifetime to build a reputation, and moments to ruin it. These are things we've grown up hearing, but have we been preparing properly? You won't get another chance at walking up to someone for the first time. You can't ask your boss to disregard the fact that you got upset during a meeting. But here's the good news: you can practice. Social Gym is a platform for setting up scenarios that would be difficult or awkward to navigate in real life and working through them with anonymous, vetted people who provide feedback. Learn how to communicate the way you wish you could.
Gramtra is a free Instagram downloader that lets you save Reels, Stories, and Posts in original HD quality. Simply paste any Instagram URL and download instantly—no login required and no watermarks added.
What sets Gramtra apart is its bulk download feature for carousel posts. Instead of saving each photo or video one by one, you can download all media from a single post with one click. The tool works on any device and generates shareable download links for easy sharing.
Micron has commenced mass production of its 9650 SSD, the world's first PCIe Gen6 storage solution with up to 28 GB/s transfer rates. Micron 9650 - The World's First PCIe Gen6 SSD With 28 GB/s Read Speeds With Both Air & Liquid-Cooled Models Two years ago, Micron announced the development of its first PCIe Gen6 SSDs. These SSDs were rated at 26 GB/s at the time, but today marks the first official announcement of an actual Gen6-based product that is under production, the Micron 9650. With 9650 SSDs, Micron is promising a 2x speedup in Sequential Read and 40% speedup […]
Cerebras' AI chips have seen their first mainstream adoption by none other than OpenAI, as the AI lab reveals that their latest Codex model has another compute provider alongside NVIDIA. OpenAI Has Managed to Achieve a Shocking 1,000 TPS Output, With Cerebras' Blazing-Fast Bandwidth Well, there has been an NVIDIA-OpenAI saga on the financing front, but it appears that, in the race for compute, OpenAI has taken an interesting route through its earlier partnership with Cerebras. In the company's recent Codex release, it is disclosed that the GPT‑5.3‑Codex‑Spark is powered by Cerebras' AI chips and, more specifically, that the benefit […]
Leaked earlier in the week by Dealabs and confirmed at yesterday's State of Play, the latest web-swinging adventure from Insomniac Games, 2023's Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is the headlining title for the February 2026 batch of PS Plus Extra games entering the Game Catalog. It enters the library of games that players have access to through their subscription, alongside eight other games, including several of the more notable indie releases from the last few years. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 wasn't the only game that was leaked ahead of this batch's official confirmation. Neva and Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown were also part […]
Lenovo’s Legion Go S undercuts its original price with a limited-time deal, making it an appealing option for gamers who want better performance without Windows overhead.
Cloudflare yesterday announced its new Markdown for Agents feature, which serves machine-friendly versions of web content alongside traditional human-facing pages.
Cloudflare described the update as a response to the rise of AI crawlers and agentic browsing.
When a client requests text/markdown, Cloudflare fetches the HTML from the origin server, converts it at the edge, and returns a Markdown version.
The response also includes a token estimate header intended to help developers manage context windows.
Early reactions focused on the efficiency gains, as well as the broader implications of serving alternate representations of web content.
What’s happening. Cloudflare, which powers roughly 20% of the web, said Markdown for Agents uses standard HTTP content negotiation. If a client sends an Accept: text/markdown header, Cloudflare converts the HTML response on the fly and returns Markdown. The response includes Vary: accept, so caches store separate variants.
Cloudflare positioned the opt-in feature as part of a shift in how content is discovered and consumed, with AI crawlers and agents benefiting from structured, lower-overhead text.
Markdown can cut token usage by up to 80% compared to HTML, Cloudflare said.
Security concern. SEO consultant David McSweeney said Cloudflare’s Markdown for Agents feature could make AI cloaking trivial because the Accept: text/markdown header is forwarded to origin servers, effectively signaling that the request is from an AI agent.
A standard request returns normal content, while a Markdown request can trigger a different HTML response that Cloudflare then converts and delivers to the AI, McSweeney showed on LinkedIn.
The concern: sites could inject hidden instructions, altered product data, or other machine-only content, creating a “shadow web” for bots unless the header is stripped before reaching the origin.
Google and Bing’s markdown smackdown. Recent comments from Google and Microsoft representatives discourage publishers from creating separate markdown pages for large language models. Google’s John Mueller said:
“In my POV, LLMs have trained on – read & parsed – normal web pages since the beginning, it seems a given that they have no problems dealing with HTML. Why would they want to see a page that no user sees? And, if they check for equivalence, why not use HTML?”
And Microsoft’s Fabrice Canel said:
“Really want to double crawl load? We’ll crawl anyway to check similarity. Non-user versions (crawlable AJAX and like) are often neglected, broken. Humans eyes help fixing people and bot-viewed content. We like Schema in pages. AI makes us great at understanding web pages. Less is more in SEO !”
Cloudflare’s feature doesn’t create a second URL. However, it generates different representations based on request headers.
The case against markdown. Technical SEO consultant Jono Alderson said that once a machine-specific representation exists, platforms must decide whether to trust it, verify it against the human-facing version, or ignore it:
“When you flatten a page into markdown, you don’t just remove clutter. You remove judgment, and you remove context.”
“The moment you publish a machine-only representation of a page, you’ve created a second candidate version of reality. It doesn’t matter if you promise it’s generated from the same source or swear that it’s ‘the same content’. From the outside, a system now sees two representations and has to decide which one actually reflects the page.”
Why we care. Cloudflare’s move could make AI ingestion cheaper and cleaner. But could it be considered cloaking if you’re serving different content to humans and crawlers? To be continued…
Google Ads is rolling out a feature that lets advertisers calculate conversion value for new customers based on a target return on ad spend (ROAS), automatically generating a suggested value instead of relying on manual estimates.
The update is designed for campaigns using new customer acquisition goals, where advertisers want to bid more aggressively to attract first-time buyers.
How it works. Advertisers enter their desired ROAS target for new customers, and Google Ads proposes a conversion value aligned with that goal. The system removes some of the guesswork involved in estimating how much a new customer should be worth in bidding models.
The feature doesn’t yet adjust dynamically at the auction, campaign, or product level. Advertisers still apply the value at a broader setting rather than letting the system vary bids based on context.
Why we care. Assigning the right value to a new customer is a weak spot in performance bidding. Many advertisers manually set a flat value that doesn’t always reflect profitability or long-term goals.
By tying suggested conversion values to a target ROAS, advertisers can now optimise towards a more strategy-driven bidding, potentially improving how acquisition campaigns balance growth and efficiency.
What advertisers are saying. Early reactions suggest the feature is a meaningful improvement over static manual inputs. Founder of Savvy Revenue, Andrew Lolk argues the next step would be auction-level intelligence that adjusts values depending on campaign or product performance.
What to watch. If Google expands the feature to support more granular adjustments, it could further reshape how advertisers structure acquisition strategies and value lifetime customer growth.
For now, the tool offers a more structured way to calculate new customer value.
First seen. This update was first spotted by Founder and Digital Marketer Andrew Lolk who showed the new setting on LinkedIn.
A previously undocumented threat actor has been attributed to attacks targeting Ukrainian organizations with malware known as CANFAIL.
Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) described the hack group as possibly affiliated with Russian intelligence services. The threat actor is assessed to have targeted defense, military, government, and energy organizations within the Ukrainian regional and
Several state-sponsored actors, hacktivist entities, and criminal groups from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia have trained their sights on the defense industrial base (DIB) sector, according to findings from Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG).
The tech giant's threat intelligence division said the adversarial targeting of the sector is centered around four key themes: striking defense
We've not had a horror series on Netflix for a good while, but the streamer is about to change that with the terrifying Something Very Bad is Going to Happen.
The 2026 Lowe's Presidents' Day sale is finally live, and I'm sharing the top deals, plus everything that I'm buying for my backyard and home to prepare for spring.
IO Interactive has released a new story trailer for 007 First Light, offering a deeper look at the Hitman studio's re-imagining of James Bond's origin story.
The numbers suggest that Anthropic's Super Bowl commercials, combined with Anthropic's recent release of its new Opus 4.6 model, worked to drive attention to Claude's app and its key differentiator from ChatGPT.
Kingdom Come Deliverance receives next-generation console updates alongside a fresh PC patch Warhorse Studios has officially released its next-gen update for Kingdom Come: Deliverance. This update adds native Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 support, upgrading the game to 60 FPS with improved graphics. Visually, PS5/Xbox Series X/S players can expect “ultra-quality settings” and “improved […]
Coding doesn't have to be boring; you can spice it up a little bit and work work like a Peon! Add PeonPing to your AI coding app, and you'll never be held back by a silent terminal again.
Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, the latest game in the Castlevania series was revealed as a 2026 game release currently in development as a collaborative project between Konami, Evil Empire, and Motion Twin—the latter two being behind The Rogue Prince of Persia and Dead Cells, respectively. Belmont's Curse is a 2D action-adventure game that follows Trevor Belmont's successor through 1499 Paris as she wields the classic holy whip for both combat and traversal through the looming castle and eerie Parisian streets. Based on the Steam Store page, Belmont's Curse will feature fast-paced combat, a variety of weapons and abilities to wield and develop, challenging environmental puzzles, and plenty of enemies to keep things fresh.
Castlevania: Belmont's Curse will see the return of a number of classic Castlevania tropes and mechanics, like secret chambers, buried items, and challenging boss battles, but the game also switches things up with colorful twist on the series's gothic art style, seemingly blending some of the Dead Cells aesthetic with that of the famous vampire-killing franchise. Belmont's Curse doesn't have a fixed release date just yet, but it is slated to launch in 2026 for PC via Steam, the PlayStation 5, and the Xbox Series consoles via the Microsoft Store.
Coordinate or collapse in this new 1-4 player co-op shooter from Crowbar Collective and Team17! Join forces with your friends and fight through intense missions with evolving objectives and map layouts! Squad up and play Rogue Point, now with our 15% OFF Launch Discount running for two weeks!
What is Rogue Point?
From the creators of Black Mesa: Definitive Edition, Rogue Point is a 1-4 player co-operative first-person shooter where teamwork is everything! Fight through a dynamic campaign and master 20+ weapons and 40+ tactical items and attachments. Plan, adapt, and overcome. Your squad's survival depends on it.
Corsair published a low-key blog entry earlier this month (February 2), that described their recent updating of DRAM packaging that is "security and transparency"-focused. As depicted in a lone preview shot, the new container is plastic, but Corsair insists that this change—that ditches signature yellow cardboard boxes—will still retain "environmental responsibility." Interestingly, this move was implemented at the start of the year, so recent customers could be the first to receive revised retail packaging. The company's recycled plastic clamshell-style container, reminiscent of Kingston's present-day efforts, is adorned with a yellow sleeve. A familiar set of minimal text and branding is visible, but Corsair has not included product renders on the new design, at least not printed on front/top sections. The new design offers Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) protection. So far, the North American gaming hardware/accessory firm has implemented a shift from cardboard to plastic for the VENGEANCE DDR5 (non-RGB, RGB and RGB RS) product range, specifically in two module configurations.
The official blog states that the new packaging design: "allows customers to see the actual memory modules before opening the package. Making it easier to confirm the exact product and helping ensure genuine CORSAIR DRAM is being returned when applicable...To further improve protection, the packaging includes a tamper-evident belly label that tears when opened, making any attempt to reseal the package immediately visible. With the current value of DRAM kits, this added layer of security helps protect customers and retailers from return fraud involving non-genuine modules, or Light Enhancement Kits being passed off as real RAM." Additionally, Corsair's still-in-rotation paper box format is due to receive a small update—the company intends to reintroduce a security label system that aims to provide a higher level of protection. Given the current street value of four module kits, this is a wise decision.
In a rather unfortunate throwback to the early days of the Hall effect gaming keyboard boom, it seems as though the new Haptic Inductive Trigger System in the Logitech G Pro X2 Superstrike gaming mouse is resulting in players getting permanently banned from Apex Legends for cheating. This is according to a new post on X by Iaroslav Mamalat, who shared a screenshot of an Apex Legends ban report that claims the player used gameplay enhancements.
An email received by the same player reads: "We observed: Gameplay enhancement. This means using unauthorized methods to enhance in-game performance by removing gameplay constraints or improving in-game abilities (e.g. weapon, movement, or item enhancements)." This potentially refers to the use of rapid trigger technology in the Logitech G Pro X2 Superstrike, but there are other reports in the replies to the X post that suggest it may simply have been a false ban, since similar has happened to other players who weren't using the new Logitech gaming mouse. Curiously, EA doesn't actually ordinarily ban rapid trigger keyboards in Apex Legends, but it isn't uncommon for game studios to ban SOCD, especially in competitive FPS games. Some theories online suggest that EA's anti-cheat may be using timing as a way to detect macro inputs, and that rapid trigger on the Superstrike may be resulting in click spamming that exceeds that timing threshold, resulting in a ban.
Micron announced its 9650 NVMe SSD has entered mass production, making it the first PCIe Gen 6 data center drive to reach this milestone. The series was first unveiled in July 2025, and it features Micron G9 TLC NAND, including Micron designed SSD controller ASIC, DRAM, and Micron produced and validated firmware. The Micron 9650 delivers up to 28 GB/s in sequential reads, double that of PCIe Gen 5 drives. The drive's sequential write speed reaches 14 GB/s, while its random read performance hits 5.5 million IOPS and its random write achieves 900,000 IOPS. These numbers show 100%, 40%, 67%, and 22% gains over Gen 5. At a 25-watt power state, the drive offers double the performance of PCIe Gen 5 options. It has a sequential read efficiency of 1,120 MB/s per watt (2× better than Gen 5), and its sequential write efficiency is 560 MB/s per watt (1.4 times better). The random read efficiency stands at 220 KIOPS per watt (1.7 times higher) and random write at 36 KIOPS per watt (1.2 times improved).
The Micron 9650 supports both air-cooled and liquid-cooled configurations to handle higher performance densities in modern data centers. Micron conducted 18 months of interoperability testing across the PCIe Gen 6 ecosystem, including validation with high-port switches, retimers, and demonstrations at industry events. The drive is now being qualified by OEM and AI data center customers for deployment in AI training and inference workloads, particularly those requiring high-throughput data access for large language models and retrieval-augmented generation pipelines. The Micron 9650 is available in E1.S and E3.S form factors with E1.S available for liquid cooling.
"The REANIMAL experience is a clear reflection of who Tarsier is—a group of individuals with a shared sensibility that feel privileged to have been able to work together on a game like this," said Oliver Merlöv, Managing Director, Tarsier Studios. "We believe the more personal the art, the more attention poured into every detail, the more worthy a game is of player's time. We can't wait for them to play REANIMAL!" And since many of you have asked about friend's pass we will let you know as soon as possible!
The game has already received a strong and positive critical reception worldwide, earning generally favorable reviews across all platforms on Metacritic. Additionally, fans can check out the IGN REANIMAL store for some cool official REANIMAL merchandise! Check out the IGN REANIMAL store here.
Back in January, Congatec briefly outlined a "launch of five new modules featuring the new Intel Core Ultra Series 3" processor series. Over a month later, their "Panther Lake-H"-powered range has appeared online in COM-HPC and COM Express module forms. An introductory YouTube video, with a publication date of January 5, advertises a significant new generation leap for embedded computing and accelerated edge AI workloads. The best of these modules can deliver up to 180 TOPS of AI performance, presumably enabled by Team Blue's flagship Core Ultra X9 388H APU. The credit card-sized (55 x 84 mm/COM Express Type 10) MC1000 model can be configured with a maximum of 32 GB LPDDR5X (up to) 8533 MT/s "soldered down" system memory. A soldered LPDDR5X arrangement is detailed in the HPC/mPTL's spec sheet, up to 96 GB/8533 MT/s, on a SWaP-C optimized framework (95 x 70 mm/COM-HPC mini).
The ruggedized TC1000 and TC1000r models share the same overall dimensions (95 x 95 mm), that conforms to Congatec's COM Express compact format. The TC1000 board design sports dual SODIMM sockets, that can accept up to 64 GB DDR5/7200 MT/s memory modules, with total system capacity reaching 128 GB. The TC1000r's dram spec is described as: "96 GB LPCAMM2 memory based on LPDDR5x with up to 8533 MT/s" transfer rates. The largest "Panther Lake"-based option—HPC/cPTL (95 x 120 mm/COM-HPC Client Size A)—features an LPCAMM2 socket that accepts up to 96 GB of LPDDR5X memory, with max. transfer rates of 7466 MT/s. At the time of writing, Congatec's PR department has not issued a comprehensive PR piece. In the meantime, curious customers can peruse the manufacturer's detailed product pages, select various memory configs, and request quotes.
Valve has been on a roll, delivering handy UI changes and tweaks to the Steam experience in the name of a more cohesive user experience. The latest in the series of updates comes by way of a Steam client beta update that allows users to include their system specs when leaving a review. PC specs are already commonly mentioned in reviews where performance or optimization are a chief complaint, but the new Steam UI change would offer a standardized approach to leaving those specifications. Theoretically, it could also allow other Steam users with similar hardware to offer optimization tips in response to reviews with performance complaints, and it may help developers who don't collect user system information to optimize their games when performance problems become obvious.
In addition to the PC specs, the February 12 Steam Beta client update also includes the option to allow Steam to collect anonymized framerate data "without connection to your Steam account," but with hardware information included. Valve says it will use this data to "learn about compatibility and improve Steam," but the feature is still in beta and will focus on devices running SteamOS for the time being. This data could conceivably be used in the development of Proton and to optimize games and hardware for the upcoming Steam Machine and existing Steam Deck machines. Valve will also now allow Steam Deck users to optionally submit a reason for why they disagree with a Deck Verified rating when submitting such feedback.
Graphene is a two-dimensional lattice of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal pattern, renowned for its exceptional electrical conductivity, thermal transport, and mechanical strength. Turbostratic graphene is a stacked variant in which the layers are rotated and misaligned, weakening interlayer coupling and making the material easier to process at scale.
The journey takes Aurora's autonomous trucks roughly 15 hours, or about half the time a human operator could legally drive under federal hours-of-service rules. Existing regulations limit truck drivers to 11 hours of driving within a 14-hour window, require a 30-minute break after eight hours, and mandate a 10-hour rest...
SEGA has just released its third-quarter financials for its current fiscal year, and while some of its numbers don't look as strong as the company may have hoped, like having to incur $200 million impairment by devaluing Rovio, the Angry Birds maker that it acquired back in 2023, its future outlook has a lot for players to look forward to. In the segment of its presentation regarding its initiatives for the next fiscal year, SEGA lists that it plans "to release four major new titles for mainstay IPs." The next fiscal year will take us all the way to March […]
Although a little rough around the edges, the original Kingdom Come: Deliverance managed to carve out its niche with one of the most immersive medieval open-world role-playing games ever, making it easy for many fans of the genre to look past its technical shortcomings, especially on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. From today, however, even console players will be able to enjoy the first entry in the series by Warhorse Studios at its best, thanks to the previously rumored Next-Gen Update, now out on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Announced during today's Warhorse Studios Anniversary Celebration Stream, the Next-Gen […]
The battery sizes in the latest iPhones are slowly increasing in capacity, with the eSIM version of the iPhone 17 Pro Max getting treated to the biggest cell at 5,088mAh. The iPhone 18 Pro Max is expected to cross this ceiling, and for the longest time, it was assumed that Apple ran into space problems, preventing it from adding bigger batteries. However, that myth has been debunked thanks to the latest video, which shows an iPhone 11 Pro, which is almost seven years old, getting treated to a massive 12,000mAh battery swap. To remind you, the dated flagship shipped with a […]
[Update - February 13 - 10:54 AM] The long-rumored 2.5.D entry in the God of War series, God of War Sons of Sparta, has been officially announced during a State of Play presentation. However, it is not a multiplatform release. If there are still multiplatform plans, they will be rolled out in the future. Original story follows. [Original Story] The God of War series is one of the tentpole PlayStation franchises, and one that represents the brand's identity best. Moving from the character-action experiences of the first three entries in the series, the franchise starring Kratos has evolved into a […]
Among the many games announced during yesterday's PlayStation State of Play presentation were also plenty of remasters that will soon give players the opportunity to enjoy now classic games on modern consoles and PC. Although teased in the past few months, the announcement of the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 2 was a welcome surprise, as are the undemanding PC system requirements revealed today. Revealed on the game's Steam Store page that went live shortly after Sony's presentation, the minimum and recommended requirements suggest that all players with a relatively modern CPU system should have no trouble enjoying the […]
Japan’s state-backed foundry Rapidus plans to begin production of 2nm-class semiconductors in the second half of its fiscal year 2027, with full-scale production expected in 2028.
A previously unknown threat actor tracked as UAT-9921 has been observed leveraging a new modular framework called VoidLink in its campaigns targeting the technology and financial services sectors, according to findings from Cisco Talos.
"This threat actor seems to have been active since 2019, although they have not necessarily used VoidLink over the duration of their activity," researchers Nick
The God of War trilogy remake is coming, and jumping into the Sons of Sparta 2D action game to see Kratos' real beginning brings a new perspective to the series.
Remedy Entertainment has released the first full gameplay trailer for Control Resonant, showcasing a "paranatural" warped Manhattan, new abilities, and zones to explore.
The best romance dramas aren't releasing this Valentine's Day — my most-anticipated BBC iPlayer show of the year just got its first look, and it's outright disturbing.
The Dutch phone giant Odido is the latest phone and internet company to be hacked in recent months, as governments and financially motivated hackers continue to steal highly confidential information about phone customers.
Steam beta allows gamers to add their hardware specifications to game reviews Valve has released a new Steam Client Beta that allows PC gamers to add their hardware specifications to game reviews. This update should increase the usefulness of user reviews, as gamers will be able to see whether reviewers use systems similar to theirs. […]
Laptop and Mini-PC maker Framework is sharing another update with the community about the company's cost base for acquiring DRAM, such as DDR5 memory. In its latest February update, the company notes that the cost for DDR5 memory in its systems is now priced at $12-16 per GB of capacity, depending on the kit size and total capacity. This means that for a 16 GB kit, customers are expected to pay anywhere between $192-256, and as much as about $400 for 32 GB of DDR5 memory in its Laptop 12/13/16 models. According to the company blog post, this represents an average price that Framework is charging depending on the kit, as there is different pricing for a single higher-capacity sticks or dual lower-capacity DIMMs going into the system.
In late December 2025, we reported that Framework's pricing was $10 per GB for 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB modules, and a bit higher for dual rank non-binary 48 GB modules. However, just two months later, the situation is now much worse, as we are seeing Framework's suppliers increasing memory costs anywhere from 20-60%, depending on the configuration.
Netmarble, a leading developer and publisher of high-quality games, announced today the official launch schedule for its new open world RPG The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin. Players on PlayStation 5 and Steam will be granted to play earlier beginning March 16, 2026. The game's grand launch follows on March 23, expanding to mobile so more players can experience The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin across platforms.
This staged rollout reflects a platform-first approach designed to support stable service and an optimized play experience. Based on Closed Beta Test feedback, the game is applying upgrades to controls, combat pacing, and overall UI/UX, with a more polished version set to roll out across all platforms at the March 23 grand launch.
Euro-Q-Exa, the first EuroHPC Joint Undertaking quantum computer deployed in Germany, has been unveiled at the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ) in Garching, Munich. The deployment marks a significant step in Europe's effort to build long-term quantum capability as part of its sovereign digital infrastructure, alongside world-leading high-performance computing (HPC).
Installed, hosted, and operated at LRZ, Euro-Q-Exa is designed not merely to provide access to quantum computing, but to enable European researchers to build, operate, and scale quantum capabilities locally. By embedding the system within an established HPC environment, the system supports the development of hands-on expertise, operational know-how, and sustainable research capacity within Europe.
Prepare to unravel the mysteries of the lost colony of Tau Ceti IV: Marathon is hosting a Server Slam where players worldwide can jump into Marathon and earn rewards for launch. The Bungie team has shared more details about the upcoming open preview weekend, which will run from February 26 to March 2 on PlayStation 5 and other platforms. The weekend will feature an introduction to Marathon's gameplay, with additional maps, factions, contracts, and more to come at launch and during Season 1.
Marathon is the upcoming survival extraction FPS from Bungie, the studio behind Halo and Destiny. In Marathon, you'll scavenge the lost colony of Tau Ceti as a bio-cybernetic Runner. Play with your crew, as a solo Runner, or form uneasy alliances with proximity chat as you take on hostile security forces, rival Runners, and unpredictable environments. Complete contracts, craft new builds, and take on greater challenges—culminating with the derelict Marathon ship in orbit.
Online detectives continue to sift through various Team Blue repositories, in search of any hint of new "Big Battlemage" GPU developments. Late last month, the somewhat mysterious Arc Pro "B70 and B65" workstation cards were rumored as supplanting the "BMG-G31"-based Arc B770 16 GB consumer-grade/gaming model. Mid-way through this week (February 11), Intel released its "Graphics Driver 32.0.101.8314 WHQL (Q4.25) for Intel Arc Pro Series Graphics" generic driver. VideoCardz has pored over the latest update information, and found no utterances next-gen hardware; most notably the "B70." A compatibility list only reaches the upper levels of familiar Arc Pro B60 24 GB and Pro B50 16 GB desktop GPUs—both utilizing the "BMG-G21" GPU die.
The "leaked" Intel Arc Pro "B70 32 GB" model could arrive at retail within the first quarter of this year, so web detectives are anticipating an increase of pre-launch activities in February and March. Members of the Intel Arc subreddit were not discouraged by VideoCardz's slightly disappointing investigation of patch notes—one member, WizardlyBump17, suggested that interested parties check out "the binary for mentions of G31." They themselves had found an official yet accidental "B70 commit" within Team Blue's ai-containers 0.14.1 changelog. Days later, this promising "validation" information was scrubbed and replaced with a cleaned up description. Additionally, WizardlyBump17 observed the non-professional "B770" model being wiped from an official GitHub commit—appropriately, yesterday's modification was titled "Cleanup Unwanted BMG Codenames."
Crystal Dynamics is excited to reveal two new video game titles in the Legacy of Kain franchise! Debuted today at Sony's State of Play, Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered modernizes the iconic 2003 action-adventure game with new graphic upgrades, modernized controls, and extensive bonus content. Published by Crystal Dynamics and developed by Crystal Dynamics and PlayEveryWare, this definitive edition of the classic adventure launches for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store on March 3, 2026, and is available to pre-order today. Customers who pre-order will receive Kain and Raziel character skins inspired by the "Shifter" game concept, the inspiration for the entire Soul Reaver saga. (If you know, you know).
Also announced today is Legacy of Kain: Ascendance, a fast-paced 2D action platformer published by Crystal Dynamics and developed by Bit Bot Media in association with FreakZone Games (A Bit Bot Company) that introduces a brand-new gameplay style to the franchise, and features original voice actors reprising their iconic roles: Simon Templeman as Kain, Michael Bell as Raziel, Anna Gunn as Ariel and Richard Doyle as Moebius, plus a soundtrack from hit recording artist Klayton (Celldweller), releasing for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store on March 31, 2026.
Meet the all-new YUNZII B98 PRO, our latest 1800-style (96%) mechanical keyboard designed to elevate every desk setup. With a wide range of colorways to match different aesthetics, seamless tri-mode connectivity for ultimate convenience, and an irresistibly cute silicone cat knob that melts hearts at first glance—this keyboard is more than just a tool, it's a personality piece. The matching cat-themed LED logo adds a playful touch, while full QMK/VIA support unlocks deep customization possibilities. From productivity to gaming, from minimal office setups to cozy pastel battlestations—the B98 PRO is built to impress at every glance and every click.
Tri-Mode Connectivity & Powerful Battery
The B98 PRO supports Bluetooth 5.0, 2.4 GHz wireless, and USB-C wired connections, allowing seamless switching across up to 5 devices and multiple systems including Windows, Mac, and Android.
The Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP) and the Illinois Economic Development Corporation announced that Quantum Machines will establish a flagship hub at the Park. Quantum Machines, the leading provider of hybrid control solutions, will operate a state-of-the-art lab at the IQMP, for research and development on a hardware-control co-design approach to align quantum processors, classical infrastructure, and control software. While the Park is under development, Quantum Machines will be situated at the IQMP's On-Ramp facilities in Chicago. On-Ramp is supported by grant funding from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
"Illinois is building the future of quantum technology, and Quantum Machines' decision to establish a presence at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park is further proof that our state is the premier destination for next-generation innovation," said Governor JB Pritzker. "Quantum Machines is a global leader in quantum control technology, providing the critical systems that enable quantum computers to operate at scale. They will join a growing roster of companies that will be housed at the IQMP and strengthen Illinois' position as a global leader in this cutting-edge industry."
Lenovo seems to be returning to new-gen ThinkPad Detachable pastures this year, according to a major leak. Windows Latest has managed to acquire a set of promotional renders of the speculative "ThinkPad X13 Detachable Gen 1" model, finished in "Eclipse Black." As implied by the "X13" designation, early conjecture points to a 13-inch display surrounded by thinner bezels—clearly a size/design upgrade over Lenovo's second-gen ThinkPad X12 Detachable SKU. The latter has been surpassed—technologically—by various rival device ranges; namely Microsoft's Surface Pro 11 and 12 lines, in x86 and Arm flavors. When analyzing the watermarked ThinkPad X13 Detachable Gen 1 image set, web sleuths have focused on the presence of USB-C ports labelled with lighting bolt symbols. Thunderbolt 4 capabilities would imply that the unreleased device has some sort of modern Intel APU onboard.
Windows Latest's exclusive report envisions Lenovo's selection of a Core Ultra 3 "Panther Lake-H" mobile processor. Upon launch back in 2024, the ThinkPad X12 Detachable Gen 2's Core Ultra 100U "Meteor Lake" series processors were considered to be underpowered, even with the Core Ultra 7 164U (with vPro)-powered option. It is anticipated that the slightly larger successor will be introduced at next month's Mobile World Congress event, in Barcelona (MWC 2026, March 2 to 5). ThinkPad enthusiasts will be pleased to see the brand's familiar keyboard layout, a TrackPoint nub, physical right and left click buttons, and a circular fingerprint reader. So far, Lenovo's ThinkPad Detachable products have not sacrificed these major fan favorite features; normally reserved for traditional professional laptop/notebook designs.
Lightning is MSI's highest-end GPU series, with the Z suffix indicating the top-tier variant of the lineup, aimed at extreme overclockers and enthusiasts.
There's a new game bundle on Steam that lets you pick up what are arguably two of the best RPGs in the last few years on one discount. Developers Sandfall Interactive and ATLUS have joined together to form a bundle including both Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Metaphor: ReFantazio. Both games are currently on sale separately, but you can grab them together in a bundle for 10% off their combined price, and it's a bundle that both sides are proud to be a part of. Metaphor: ReFantazio creative director and writer Katsura Hashino said that he was "very pleased" to […]
Marathon is set to arrive on PC and PS5 on March 5, 2026, and just ahead of its arrival, Bungie is looking to stress-test its servers with a Server Slam Test that'll run from February 26 to March 2. The test was announced with a new gameplay trailer at yesterday's State of Play, after which game director Joe Ziegler showed off more of the game by streaming it with popular Twitch streamers TheBurntPeanut and Gingy. The new trailer was another showing of Marathon's narrative elements with a few more snippets of gameplay, before Ziegler began narrating and announcing the server […]
One of the major barriers to the adoption of China's DRAM and NAND products was the inclusion of CXMT and YMTC in the Pentagon's Section 1260H list, but in a new update, they have now been moved out. YMTC & CXMT Can Now Participate In US DoW Contracts, But Business With OEMs Isn't Entirely Risk-Free [Update]: The Pentagon has withdrawn the document that suggested updates to Section 1260H, and we haven't seen any updates from the Department of War (DoW) on it yet. [Original]: Well, it appears the prospect of manufacturers sourcing Chinese memory and NAND products has become much […]
Apple used a specific aluminum alloy within the iPhone 17 Pro Max to ensure the model's beefed-up heat dissipation capacity. However, that alloy is now leading to worrying cases of people's phones being dented even when secured by a case, negating the entire raison d'être for encasing your iPhone 17 Pro Max in the first place. Apple uses a 5080-series aluminum alloy for the iPhone 17 Pro Max and a 6000-series one for the base iPhone 17, leading to very different denting outcomes Erica Griffin recently posted images of her dented Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max, clearly showing the frame […]
The U.S. and Taiwan finally signed a trade deal that saw the island get a lower 15% tariff on its goods compared to the previous 20%. In exchange for this, Taiwanese companies will invest $250 billion in the American tech industry, while Taipei will guarantee an additional $250 in loans, bringing the total invested amount to $500 billion.
Steam revealed in its Client Beta patch notes that it will let users show the specifications of their hardware when leaving reviews. This should help other players considering a title see if the feedback was affected by the reviewer's hardware, although Valve says that this feature remains optional.
Framework said that it's releasing a monthly update to monitor the memory chip situation and also announced that it will try to keep its RAM pricing as close as possible to the weighted average of its costs.
Hackers from Russian, China, India, North Korea, and elsewhere are using Google's Gemini AI to augment their attacks, Google says. From generating phishing lures, to translating text, coding, and vulnerability testing, Gemini is a core component of their hack attempts.
SEO is moving out of the marketing silo into organizational design. Visibility now depends on how information is structured, validated, and aligned across the business.
When information is fragmented or contradictory, visibility becomes unstable. The risk isn’t just ranking volatility – it’s losing control of how your brand is interpreted and cited.
For SEO leaders, the choice is unavoidable: remain a channel optimizer or shape the systems that govern how your organization is understood and cited. That shift isn’t happening in a vacuum. AI systems now interpret, reconcile, and assemble information at scale.
The visibility shift beyond rankings
The future of organic search will be shaped by LLMs alongside traditional algorithms. Optimizing for rankings alone is no longer enough. Brands must optimize for how they are interpreted, cited, and synthesized across AI systems.
Clicks may fluctuate and traffic patterns may shift, but the larger change is this: visibility is becoming an interpretation problem, not just a positioning problem. AI systems assemble answers from structured data, brand narratives, third-party mentions, and product signals. When those inputs conflict, inconsistency becomes the output.
In the AI era, collaboration can’t be informal or personality-driven. LLMs reflect the clarity, consistency, and structure of the information they ingest. When messaging, entity signals, or product data are fragmented, visibility fragments with them.
This is a leadership challenge. Visibility can’t be achieved in a silo. It requires redesigning the systems that govern how information is created, validated, and distributed across the organization. That’s how visibility becomes structural, not situational.
If visibility is structural, it needs a system.
Building the visibility supply chain
Collaboration shouldn’t depend on whether the SEO manager and PR manager get along. It must be built into the content supply chain.
To move from a marketing silo to an operational design, we must treat content like an industrial product that requires specific refinement before it’s released into the ecosystem.
This is where visibility gates come in: a series of nonnegotiable checkpoints that filter brand data for machine consumption.
Implementing visibility gates
Think of your content moving through a high-pressure pipe. At each joint, a gate filters out noise and ensures the output is pure:
The technical gate (parsing)
The filter: Does the new product page template use valid schema.org markup (product, FAQ, review)?
The goal: Ensuring the raw material is structured so LLMs can ingest the data without friction.
The brand signal gate (clustering)
The filter: Does the PR copy align with our core entities? Are we using terminology that helps LLMs cluster our brand correctly?
The goal: Removing linguistic drift that confuses an LLM’s understanding of who we are.
The accessibility/readability gate (chunking)
The filter: Is the content structured for RAG (retrieval-augmented generation) systems?
The goal: Moving away from fluff and towards high-information-density prose that can be easily chunked and retrieved by an AI.
The authority and de-duplication gate (governance)
The filter: Does this asset create “knowledge cannibalization” or internal noise?
The goal: Acting as a final sieve to remove conflicting information, ensuring the LLM sees only one single source of truth.
The localization gate (verification)
The filter: Is the entity information consistent across global regions?
The goal: Ensuring cross-referenced data points align perfectly to build model trust.
If gates protect what enters the ecosystem, accountability ensures that behavior changes.
Embedding visibility into cross-functional OKRs
But alignment without visibility into results won’t sustain change.
The most sophisticated infrastructure will fail if it relies on the SEO team’s influence alone.
To move beyond polite collaboration, visibility must be codified into the organization’s performance DNA.
We need to shift from SEO-specific goals to shared visibility OKRs.
When a product owner is measured on the machine-readability of a new feature, or a PR lead is incentivised by entity citation growth, SEO requirements suddenly migrate from the bottom of the backlog to the top of the sprint.
What shared OKRs look like in an operational design:
For product teams: “Achieve 100% schema validation and <100ms time-to-first-byte for all top-tier entity pages.”
For PR and communications: “Increase ‘brand-as-a-source’ citations in LLM responses by 15% through high-authority, entity-aligned placements.”
For content teams: “Ensure 90% of new assets meet the ‘high information density’ threshold for RAG retrieval.”
When stakeholders’ KPIs are tied to the brand’s digital footprint, visibility is no longer “the SEO team’s job.” Instead, it becomes a collective business imperative.
This is where the magic happens: the organizational structure finally aligns with the way modern search engines actually work.
Measuring visibility across the organization
The gates ensure the quality of what we put into the digital ecosystem; the unified visibility dashboard measures what we get out. Breaking down silos starts with transparent data.
If the PR team can see which mentions drive AI citations and source links in AI Overviews, they’re more likely to shift toward high-authority, contextually relevant publications instead of chasing any media outlet.
We need to shift from reporting rankings to reporting entity health and Share of Model (SoM). This dashboard is the organization’s single source of truth, showing that when we pass the visibility gates correctly, our brand authority grows with humans and machines.
Systems and incentives matter, but they don’t operate on their own.
Having the right infrastructure isn’t enough. We need a specific set of qualities in the workforce to drive this model. To navigate the visibility transformation, we need to move away from hiring generalists and start hiring for the two distinct pillars of an operational search strategy.
In my experience, this requires a strategic duo: the hacker and the convincer.
Feature
The hacker (technical architect)
The convincer (visibility advocate)
Core mission
Ensuring the brand is discoverable by machines.
Ensuring the brand is supported by humans.
Primary domain
RAG architecture, schema, vector databases, and LLM testing.
Cross-departmental OKRs, C-suite buy-in, and PR/brand alignment.
Success metric
Share of model (SoM) and information density.
Resource allocation and budget growth.
The gate focus
Technical, accessibility, and authority gates.
Brand signal and localization gates.
The hacker: The engine room
Deeply technical, driven, and a relentless early adopter. They don’t just “do SEO.” They reverse-engineer how Perplexity attributes trust and how Google’s knowledge vault weighs brand entities.
They find the “how.” They aren’t just optimizing for a search bar, but are optimizing for agentic discovery, ensuring your brand is the path of least resistance for an LLM’s reasoning engine.
The convincer: The social butterfly of data
This is the visionary who brings people together and talks the language of business results. They act as the social glue, ensuring the hacker’s technical insights are actually implemented by the brand, tech, and PR teams. They translate schema validation into executive visibility, ensuring that the budget flows where it’s needed most.
How AI visibility reshapes in-house and agency roles
As roles evolve, the brand-agency relationship shifts with them. If you’re an in-house SEO manager today, you’re likely evolving into a chief visibility officer, focusing on the “convincer” role of internal politics and resource allocation.
Historically, agencies were the training ground for talent, and brands hired them for execution. That dynamic may flip. In this new era, brands could become training grounds for junior specialists who need to understand a single entity deeply and manage its internal gates.
Meanwhile, agencies may evolve into elite strategic partners staffed by seasoned visibility hackers who help brands navigate high-level visibility transformation that in-house teams are often too siloed or time-constrained to see.
To prepare your team for the shift to SEO as an operational approach, take these steps:
Set the vision: Do you want to be part of the change? Define what visibility-first looks like for your business.
Take stock of talent: Do you have hackers and convincers? Audit your team not just for skills, but for mindset.
Audit the gaps: Where does communication break down? Find friction points between SEO and PR, or SEO and product, and fix them quickly.
Shift the KPIs: Move away from rankings and toward channel authority, impressions, sentiment share, and, most importantly, revenue and leads.
Be radically transparent: Clarity is key. You’ll need new templates, job descriptions, and responsibilities. Data should be shared in real time. There’s no room for siloed thinking.
What the first 90 days should look like:
Days 1-30 (Audit): Map your brand’s entity footprint. Where does your brand data live, and where is it conflicting?
Days 31-60 (Infrastructure): Embed visibility gates into your CMS or project management tool, such as Jira or Asana.
Days 61-90 (Incentives): Tie 10% of the PR and product teams’ bonuses to information integrity or AI citation growth.
The SEO leader as a systems architect
As we move further into the age of AI, the successful SEO leader will no longer be the person who simply moves a page from position four to position one. They’ll be the systems architect who builds the infrastructure that allows a brand to be seen, understood, and recommended by machines and humans alike.
This transition is messy. It requires challenging old thought patterns and communicating transparently and directly to secure buy-in. But by redesigning the structures that create silos, we don’t just “do SEO.” We build a resilient organization that is visible by default, regardless of what the next algorithm or LLM brings.
The future of search isn’t just about keywords. It’s about how your organization’s information flows through the digital ecosystem. It’s time to stop optimizing pages and start optimizing organizations.
For a long time, PPC performance conversations inside agencies have centered on bidding – manual versus automated, Target CPA versus Maximize Conversions, incrementality debates, budget pacing and efficiency thresholds.
But in 2026, that focus is increasingly misplaced. Across Google Ads, Meta Ads, and other major platforms, bidding has largely been solved by automation.
What’s now holding performance back in most accounts isn’t how bids are set, but the quality, volume, and diversity of creative being fed into those systems. Recent platform updates, particularly Meta’s Andromeda system, make this shift impossible to ignore.
Bidding has been commoditized by automation
Most advertisers today are using broadly similar bidding frameworks.
Google Smart Bidding uses real-time signals across device, location, behavior, and intent that humans can’t practically manage at scale. Meta’s delivery system works in much the same way, optimizing toward predicted outcomes rather than static audience definitions.
In practice, this means most advertisers are now competing with broadly the same optimization engines.
Google has been clear that Smart Bidding evaluates millions of contextual signals per auction to optimize toward conversion outcomes. Meta has likewise stated that its ad system prioritizes predicted action rates and ad quality over manual bid manipulation.
The implication is simple. If most advertisers are using the same optimization engines, bidding is no longer a sustainable competitive advantage. It’s table stakes.
What differentiates performance now is what you give those algorithms to work with – and the most influential input is creative.
Andromeda makes creative a delivery gate
Meta’s Andromeda update is the clearest evidence yet that creative is no longer just a performance lever. It’s now a delivery prerequisite. This matters because it changes what gets shown, not just what performs best once shown.
Meta published a technical deep dive explaining Andromeda, its next-generation ads retrieval and ranking system, which fundamentally changes how ads are selected.
Instead of evaluating every eligible ad equally, Meta now filters and ranks ads earlier in the process using AI models trained heavily on creative signals, improving ad quality by more than 8% while increasing retrieval efficiency.
What this means in practice is critical for marketers. Ads that don’t generate strong engagement signals may never meaningfully enter the auction, regardless of targeting, budget, or bid strategy.
If your creative doesn’t perform, the platform doesn’t just charge you more. It limits your reach altogether.
Creative is now the primary optimization input on Meta
Meta has repeatedly stated that creative quality is one of the strongest drivers of auction outcomes.
In its own advertiser guidance, Meta highlights creative as a core factor in delivery efficiency and cost control. Independent analysis has reached the same conclusion.
A widely cited Meta partnered study showed that campaigns using a higher volume of creative variants saw a 34% reduction in cost per acquisition, despite lower impression volume.
The reason is straightforward. More creative gives the system more signals. More signals improve matching. Better matching improves outcomes.
Andromeda accelerates this effect by learning faster and filtering harder. This is why many advertisers are experiencing plateaus even with stable bidding and budgets. Their creative inputs are not keeping pace with the system’s learning requirements.
While Google has not branded its changes as dramatically as Meta, the direction is the same. Performance Max, Demand Gen, Responsive Search Ads, and YouTube Shorts all rely heavily on creative assets to unlock inventory.
Google has explicitly stated that asset quality and diversity influence campaign performance. Accounts with limited creative assets consistently underperform those with strong asset coverage, even when bidding strategies and budgets are otherwise identical.
Google has reinforced this by introducing creative-focused tools such as Asset Studio and Performance Max experiments that allow advertisers to test creative variants directly. As with Meta, the algorithm can only optimize what it is given.
Strong creative expands reach and efficiency. Weak creative constrains both.
Many agencies are seeing the same pattern across accounts. Performance improves after structural fixes or bidding changes. Then it flattens.
Scaling spend leads to diminishing returns. The instinct is often to revisit bids or efficiency targets. But in most cases, the real constraint is creative fatigue.
Audiences have seen the same hooks, visuals, and messages too many times. Engagement drops. Estimated action rates fall. Delivery becomes more expensive.
This isn’t a platform issue. It’s a creative cadence issue. Creative testing is the missing optimization lever in mature accounts.
Most agencies are structurally set up to optimize bids, budgets, and structure faster than they can produce new creative.
Creative takes time. It requires strategy, copy, design, video, approvals, and iteration. Many retainers still treat creative as a one-off or an add-on rather than a core performance input. The result is predictable. Accounts are technically sound but creatively starved.
If your account has had the same core ads running for three months or more, performance is almost certainly being limited by creative volume, not optimization skill.
High-performing accounts today look messy on the surface with dozens of ads, multiple hooks, frequent refreshes, and constant testing. That isn’t inefficiency. That’s how modern PPC works.
Creative testing is a process, not a campaign
One of the biggest mistakes agencies make is treating creative testing as episodic. Launch new ads. Wait four weeks. Review results. Declare winners and losers. That approach is too slow for how fast platforms learn and audiences fatigue.
High-performing teams treat creative like a product roadmap. There’s always something new in development. Always something learning. Always something being retired.
Effective creative testing focuses on one variable at a time: hook, opening line, visual style, offer framing, social proof, or call to action.
It’s not about finding “the best ad.” It’s about building a library of messages the algorithm can deploy to the right people at the right time.
Once you accept that creative is the constraint, the operational implications are unavoidable. If creative is the main constraint, agency processes need to change.
Creative should be planned alongside media, not after it. Retainers should include ongoing creative production, not just optimization time. Testing frameworks should be explicit and documented.
At a minimum, agencies should be asking:
How often are we refreshing creative by platform?
Are we testing new hooks or just new designs?
Do we have enough volume for the algorithm to learn?
Are we feeding performance insights back into creative strategy?
The best agencies now operate closer to content studios than optimization factories. That’s where the value is.
Creative is the performance lever
Bidding, tracking, and structure still matter. But in 2026, those are table stakes.
If your PPC performance is stuck, the answer is rarely another bidding tweak. It’s almost always better creative. More of it. Faster iteration. Smarter testing.
The platforms have told us this. The data supports it. The accounts prove it.
Creative is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s the performance lever. The agencies that recognize that will be the ones that continue to grow.
I've searched through the Best Buy Presidents' Day sale and rounded up 50 of the best deals this weekend on TVs, appliances, laptops, and more top-rated tech.
Star Wars Galactic Racer looks like the most unhinged game the franchise has ever seen, and I'm thrilled it'll feature one of Episode 1's weirdest little guys.
Cohere surpassed $240 million in annual recurring revenue in 2025, highlighting strong enterprise AI demand as the Canadian startup positions itself for a potential IPO amid intensifying competition from OpenAI and Anthropic.
The feature, internally known as “Name Tag,” would allow smart glasses wearers to identify people and get information about them via Meta's AI assistant.
Two years ago, a controversial dating app was launched and quickly shuttered: for people with good-to-excellent credit. Now, the founder is relaunching it, open to anyone.
Corsair takes action to combat “return fraud” amid DRAM pricing surge Corsair has confirmed that it is making changes to its memory packaging, replacing the cardboard boxes of its DDR5 Vengeance memory kits to increase security and combat “return fraud”. With DRAM pricing skyrocketing over the past quarter, it has become more profitable for fraudsters […]
Lenovo's IdeaCentre Mini x is a compact PC with some impressive specs, including a Snapdragon SoC and 32GB of RAM. We loved it enough to give it a Best Award, and we know you'll love this massive 34% discount available for a limited time.
A developer has successfully ported a playable version of Minecraft to the Sega Saturn. While currently limited in features, the homebrew project allows players to place and destroy blocks.
Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ: RMBS), a premier chip and silicon IP provider making data faster and safer, today announced the appointment of Victor Peng to its Board of Directors, effective Thursday, February 12, 2026.
Mr. Peng is an accomplished executive with more than 40 years of leadership experience at top semiconductor companies. Most recently, Mr. Peng served as president of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), leading AMD's embedded and data center GPU businesses, AI software, and the research and advanced development group. Prior to AMD, Mr. Peng served 14 years at Xilinx, holding senior level positions including president and chief executive officer, board member, chief operating officer, executive vice president, and general manager of products. Mr. Peng currently serves on the Boards of KLA Corporation and Microchip Technology Inc.
We are excited to share that a demo of Planet of Lana II is live now! Return to Novo and play as Lana and Mui in this curated preview of their upcoming journey. This demo features atmospheric glimpses across five different points in the game, offering a deep dive into the expanded gameplay and breathtaking world-building, with just a whisper of the story yet to unfold.
Embark on an unforgettable cinematic puzzle journey with Lana and her loyal companion Mui. Whether you're a returning hero or a new adventurer, step into a world where a new, ancient mystery emerges from Novo's hidden depths. But as they scour these depths, a new threat will put their unbreakable bond to the ultimate test, guiding Lana to confront her destiny amidst encroaching shadows. Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf is a cinematic puzzle adventure framed by an epic sci-fi saga that stretches across centuries and galaxies. You do not need to have played the first Planet of Lana to enjoy the demo, but the original game is available if you would like to discover where their story began.
A Lenovo product manager on Chinese social media held up what is possibly the highest capacity and highest speed LPCAMM2 module. An LPCAMM2 is a SOCAMM2 module that uses LPDDR5 or LPDDR5X DRAM. It is replaceable, unlike traditional LPDDR implementations that see the DRAM chips hardwired to the notebook's mainboard. Pictured here, is a new Samsung LPCAMM2 that offers 96 GB of density with a speed of LPDDR5X-9600. This speed is natively supported by Core Ultra Series 3 "Panther Lake" mobile processors, or at least the Core Ultra X7 and X9 brand extensions. It not for the acute DRAM supply crisis, the mid-2020s were expected to see a rise in PC mainstream memory densities.
Pulsar Gaming Gears (AplusX Inc.), a leading developer of high-performance esports peripherals, and VAXEE Corporation, a respected innovator in gaming hardware, today announced the official launch schedule of the new Pulsar eS series of esports equipment. This highly-anticipated product line is the result of the strategic exclusive partnership and joint development work between the two companies, aimed at delivering unparalleled innovation and performance to the esports community.
The initial launch wave includes the Pulsar eS FS-1 Mouse, the Pulsar eS PD170 Mousepads, and the Pulsar eS Armsleeve (Arm Long XL, L, M). All products are in running production and are not limited editions, confirming Pulsar's commitment to making this reference-standard equipment widely available.
Start-stop is a relatively small feature with a dense engineering stack behind it. Modern systems tie together the engine control unit, starter-alternator hardware, beefed-up 12-volt or dual-battery architectures, and climate-control logic to shut the engine off during idle while keeping steering assist, brake boosting, and cabin comfort online.
According to the February 12 Steam beta patch notes, users can now automatically include hardware specs in game reviews and provide Valve with anonymized frame rate data. The features appear to be in the early stages of development but could eventually provide helpful performance metrics.
This behavior is known in research circles as sycophancy, Olson explains, referring to the well-documented tendency of large language models to agree with users rather than assert correct but potentially unpopular answers.
My Tutoro transforms your study materials into an active learning experience with podcasts, adaptive quizzes, flashcards, smart notes, and a 24/7 tutor chat. Upload syllabi, textbooks, or lecture notes, and it builds a personalized study pack from your actual curriculum.
It adapts as you learn with spaced repetition, practice exams, and progress tracking, targeting weak spots so you retain more and walk into exams confident.
Bardo helps families preserve life stories, memories, and wisdom in a secure, interactive legacy platform. You can organize photos, videos, and narratives on a timeline, store guidance in a Knowledge Center, and keep everything safe in a private Data Vault with end-to-end encryption. An AI-powered Avatar lets loved ones connect with your voice and insights when they need them. Designed for families, memory care, and palliative care, Bardo gives you control over access and honors ethical standards so your legacy endures.
Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, a brand new 2D game in KONAMI's revered series, was announced yesterday during the State of Play. This year, the franchise celebrates its 40th anniversary, and fans are thrilled not only because of the new game (the first since 2014's Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2) but also because KONAMI has confirmed it's just the first in a series of new projects. Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is set more than two decades after the events of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse and the recent animated series on Netflix. It takes place in the streets of 15th-century Paris, where a new […]
A European chip lab based in Barcelona has developed a computing architecture featuring RISC-V and an Intel process, marking it the first step towards "sovereign infrastructure". BZL's Latest Chip Features "Tenary" Architectures Onboard, To Refine Workload-Specific Performance There's always a debate in the mainstream technology industry about Europe's role in the AI revolution, given that the region has few "independent" ventures that have contributed to the computing race. While we won't go into this debate for now, the Barcelona Zettascale Lab (BZL) has completed an "experimental" build of its Cinco Ranch TC1 chip. According to the lab's report, this marks […]
In what is a testament to the power of the emerging LLM-based coding tools, such as Claude Code, a group of teenagers recently spent the better part of a birthday bash building over ten games, and that too without any prior coding experience. Claude Code just enabled a group of teenagers to "go from consuming dopamine to producing it" by using LLM prompts to produce the code for as many as ten games The Chief Information Security Officer at Sysdig, Sergej Epp, recently penned a very interesting LinkedIn post detailing how he was able to show a group of teenagers […]
Intel gets in trouble as CCI fines it heavily for failing to honor the warranty for CPUs that were bought from abroad. Competition Commission of India Fines Intel a $30 Million for the Discriminatory Nature of its Warranty Policy in India Apart from losing ground to AMD in the desktop CPU market, Intel is now facing serious charges under Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2002, in India, which prohibits the abuse of dominant market position. Intel, a dominant desktop CPU seller in the country, is now facing legal consequences for enforcing a discriminatory warranty policy that has reportedly denied […]
USA-based independent developer ProbablyMonsters (which we recently interviewed about the launch of Storm Lancers on Nintendo Switch 2) was featured on the State of Play broadcast with an interesting new game called Crimson Moon. It's an action/adventure roleplaying game with optional co-op with another player. The setting is "Gothic High Renaissance"; the protagonist is a half-human, half-angel Nephilim born of a forbidden union and sworn to protect humanity as a Knight of the Crimson Moon. The game takes place in Gildenarch, a once grand metropolis now overrun by the Infernal Legion and a corruption known as "Hellgrowth". As players reclaim […]
Asus’ ROG Crosshair X870E Dark Hero swoops into the market as a high-end AMD motherboard with premium features, solid performance in our testing, and a fantastic all-black aesthetic.
We’re in a new era where web content visibility is fragmenting across a wide range of search and social platforms.
While still a dominant force, Google is no longer the default search experience. Video-based social media platforms like TikTok and community-based sites like Reddit are becoming popular search engines with dedicated audiences.
This trend is impacting how news content is consumed. Google’s current news SERP evolution is directly influenced by the personalization of query responses offered by LLMs and the rise in influencer authority enabled by social media platforms.
Google has responded by creating its own AI-powered SERP features, such as AI Overviews and AI Mode, and surfacing more content from social media platforms that provide the “helpful, reliable, people-first content” that Google’s ranking systems prioritize.
Now that search and social are more intertwined than ever, a new paradigm is needed – one in which newsroom audience teams made up of social media, SEO, and AI specialists work holistically on a daily basis toward a cohesive content visibility goal.
When optimizing news content for social platforms, publishers should also consider how those posts may perform in the Google SERP. I’ll cover optimizing for specific SERP features below, but first, you’ll want to think about making your news content social-friendly.
Optimize news content for social media platforms
First, a dose of sanity. Publishers should resist the temptation to optimize content for every social media platform.
It’s better to pick one or two social platforms – where an audience is already established and that offer the best opportunity for growth – than to create accounts on every social platform and let them languish.
Review analytics and conduct audience surveys to gain insights into which platforms your audience already consumes news content.
Here’s a breakdown by platform of which content types work best and how content from each platform can appear on Google.
YouTube
If you’re producing YouTube video content, make sure to follow video SEO best practices. This comprehensive YouTube SEO guide will help you develop a successful video strategy and ensure video titles align with your content.
Per Google, YouTube’s search ranking system prioritizes three elements:
Relevance: Metadata needs to accurately represent video content to be surfaced as relevant for a search query.
Engagement: Includes factors such as a video’s watch time for a specific user query.
Quality: Video content should show topic expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
One trend I’ve noticed in YouTube videos on the Google SERP is that older event content can continue to drive visibility rankings long after the event has ended and well after the related article has faded in search rankings.
Explainer videos also demonstrate longevity on the Google SERP. In this government shutdown explainer video, Yahoo Finance includes the expert’s credentials in the description box, further emphasizing the topic expertise element that YouTube’s ranking system prioritizes.
YouTube can also help your visibility in AI Overviews. Nearly 30% of Google AI Overviews cite YouTube, according to BrightEdge. YouTube was cited most often for tutorials, reviews, and shopping-related queries.
While Facebook may not be the cool kid on the block anymore, the social platform has served a diverse set of users over its long history, from its initial audience of college kids to now attracting an older, majority female audience, per Pew Research Center data.
Community-based content and entertainment news that sparks conversation is key to engagement success on Facebook.
While Meta removed the dedicated news tab on Facebook in 2023-2024, leading to cratering Facebook referrals for news publishers, it’s worth noting that Facebook posts have been rising in Google SERP visibility over the last year, so it may be time to reconsider the platform from a search perspective.
In my review of Google search visibility, Facebook posts about holidays and the full moon appear consistently, and the short-form video format is popular.
Since Elon Musk took over the platform in 2022, the audience has shifted to the political right. While the left’s exodus made headlines, usage of X for news is stable or increasing, especially in the U.S., according to the 2025 Digital News Report from the Reuters Institute.
Breaking news, live updates, and political news dominate X feeds and Google visibility, but don’t overlook sports content, where X posts perform well on both the Google SERPs and Discover.
Instagram
This platform emphasizes stylish, visually driven stories and topics, such as red-carpet fashion at award shows. Health topics, especially nutrition and self-care, are also popular.
Sports posts from Instagram, especially game highlights, often surface on the Google SERP as part of a dedicated publisher carousel or in “What people are saying.”
Reddit
A unique aspect of Reddit is that its user base is often not on other social platforms. For news publishers, this can mean a golden opportunity for niche community engagement, but also requires a dedicated strategy that may not translate well to other platforms.
A wide range of news content can perform well on Reddit, from trending topics to health explainers to live sports coverage, but having a deep understanding of the platform’s audience is critical, as is following the Reddit rules of conduct.
Publishers should spend time studying the types of news articles and conversations that drive strong engagement on subreddits before posting anything. Per Reddit, the platform’s largest audiences gravitate toward the following topics:
Technology.
Health.
Direct to consumer (DTC).
Gaming.
Parenting.
The community discussion forum content from Reddit makes it a natural to appear in the Google SERP as part of the “What people are saying” carousel. The Reddit posts I see most often surfaced by Google are related to sports, entertainment, and business.
The TikTok user base leans female and has a greater share of people of color. Approximately half of 18- to 29-year-olds in the U.S. self-report going on TikTok at least once daily, per Pew Research data.
Visual, conversational, and opinion-based content for younger audiences performs best on TikTok. Niche community content also works well; think fashion, #BookTok, etc.
Remember that short-form video requires a dedicated strategy to maximize engagement and reach, and it’s important to keep in mind that TikTok audiences value authenticity over the polish of a professional newsroom production.
Entertainment and shopping content (sales, product reviews) are the categories in which TikTok demonstrates the most Google visibility.
Pinterest
While Pinterest may feel like an old-school social platform, Gen Z is its fastest-growing audience. That being said, Pinterest attracts users from across a wide range of age groups. According to Pinterest’s global data, its audience is 70% women and 30% men.
Don’t overlook the power of Pinterest for lifestyle content niches. Trends around fashion, home decor, DIY, crafts, recipes, and celebrity content are top performers on this visual social platform.
News publishers interested in this platform should have robust lifestyle content that is actionable and delivered with a motivational tone.
How-to and before/after formats are popular. Excellent quality visuals in a vertical format with a 2:3 aspect ratio and text overlays are recommended. Pinterest supports a more relaxed posting schedule compared to other social platforms. Weekly posting is ideal, since much of the content on Pinterest is evergreen.
Similar to Google Trends, Pinterest Trends can help news publishers stay on top of trending topics on the platform.
Social content opportunities by Google SERP feature
If you’re looking to appear in a particular SERP feature, it’s helpful to know how social platform content appears in each type.
Top Stories (or News Box)
The crown jewel of the Google SERP for news publishers, this feature is dedicated to breaking news and developing news stories as well as capturing updates for the big news stories and trends of the moment.
Thumbnail selection is critical for Top Stories. Publishers should pay close attention to the News Box descriptive labels to ensure content is optimized to match the specific intent or angle Google is seeking.
While historically a SERP feature that showcased traditional news publishers, Google is now including relevant social media content in the mix. The Instagram post in Top Stories below is an Instagram Reel from the Detroit Free Press.
Live update articles are often featured in the News Box and are a great format to embed social media posts.
It helps break up walls of texts and serves as a showcase for a news publisher’s live, original reporting from the scene, eyewitness accounts, and related social content that demonstrates a publisher’s subject expertise.
What people are saying
This Google SERP feature is ideal for capturing audience reaction and user-generated content from a variety of social platforms. Short-form video is often featured in this space.
It’s a showcase for any story or topic that drives emotional engagement, including reactions to everything from a celebrity death to a sporting event outcome to a viral trend. Severe weather is also a recurring topic.
Knowledge Panel
There’s a growing interest in this Google SERP feature among news publishers, especially those publishers who produce entertainment content.
Depending on the configuration, publishers have the opportunity to earn a ranking for an image, social post, or article, such as a celebrity biography.
While content opportunities are limited in the Knowledge Panel, they offer more exclusivity, which can increase CTR. YouTube and Instagram are commonly cited here, but X and TikTok have also been growing in visibility.
Google Discover
This social-search hybrid product, which features trending, emotionally engaging content based on a user’s web and app activity, requires a separate optimization strategy.
The keys to Discover visibility are identifying topics that spark curiosity and ensuring articles are formatted for frictionless consumption.
Discover has been considered a “black box” when it comes to content optimization, but there are several basic elements to implement that can increase visibility.
Viral hits may spike a news publisher’s Discover performance temporarily, but as Harry Clarkson-Bennett outlines, publishers need to analyze their Discover performance over time at the entity level to build a smart optimization strategy.
Google’s official Discover optimization tips discourage clickbait practices that actually work quite well on the platform, such as salacious quotes in headlines and content about controversial topics and strong opinion perspectives.
I would never recommend a publisher produce clickbait, but for tabloid publishers, content with a strong, contentious perspective overperforms on Discover, regardless of the official Google guidance.
Headlines and images require serious consideration. While Google is running an experiment in which their AI tool rewrites headlines for Discover, direct, action-oriented, and emotion-driven headlines traditionally perform best. There’s no specific character count recommendation, but at a certain point (typically 100+ characters), the headline will get truncated and an ellipsis will be used.
Images must be formatted to Discover specifications (at least 1,200 pixels wide) and should be eye-catching to make people stop and click. Keep articles short or include a summary box at the top of longer articles. Format articles for scanability.
This Forbes X post featured on my Discover feed nails the elements essential for inclusion.
Politics, sports, and entertainment topics that favor an opinion-driven perspective can drive strong engagement on Discover. For YMYL (Your Money Your Life) content, which can also perform well on Discover, focus on accuracy, expert sources, and lean into the curiosity gap.
YouTube and X are the dominant social platforms featured on Discover, according to a Marfeel study.
This was further confirmed by Clara Soteras, who shared insights from Andy Almeida of Google’s Trust and Safety team as presented at Google Search Central Live in Zurich in December 2025.
Almeida noted that Discover’s algorithm has been updated to “include content from YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, or X published by content creators.”
Instead of feeling dismayed by the increased competition from social media platform content appearing on Google’s SERPs and Discover, news publishers should welcome the additional opportunities for their content to be seen.
In a social and AI-powered search landscape, brand visibility is the key metric. Whether that visibility comes from a news publisher article, video, or social post, it still counts toward brand engagement.
While search strategies have long focused on algorithms, optimizing content for a social-forward SERP requires a different focus. The merging of social and search will spark a holistic audience team revolution in newsrooms, reduce redundant practices, and inspire a content strategy powered by people over algorithms.
Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a malicious Google Chrome extension that's designed to steal data associated with Meta Business Suite and Facebook Business Manager.
The extension, named CL Suite by @CLMasters (ID: jkphinfhmfkckkcnifhjiplhfoiefffl), is marketed as a way to scrape Meta Business Suite data, remove verification pop-ups, and generate two-factor authentication (2FA) codes.
The best noise-cancelling earbuds block out the world without the bulk of over-ear headphones –here are our top recommendations based on in-house testing
After using it to track my sleep for months, I’m happy to say the Oura Ring 3’s sleep tracking still holds up – and that it’s been slashed down to this bargain price.
HP’s 16-inch Omen Max laptop comes with an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, 32GB RAM, and a 1TB SSD, and it’s currently on sale for Presidents Day with a huge 39% discount.
After a few hours with the game's opening chapters, I've found Monster Hunter Stories 3 has a lot to offer fans of the series who want to dig into a massive monster-growing and monster-battling sandbox, if you can gel with some of the repetition and its often grating tone.
A powerful business-focused 16-inch laptop that provides plenty of direct connectivity options, making it ideal for use both in the office and out in the field.
Konami has announced Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, a new entry in the long-running 2D-action series co-developed by the Dead Cells and the Rogue Prince of Persia creators.
TC Carson will be returning as Kratos in the new God of War Trilogy Remake Sony Santa Monica has confirmed that it is remaking the original God of War Trilogy. The studio is currently in the early stages of rebuilding God of War, God of War II, and God of War III for modern platforms. […]
We chat about everything endgame and progression with the Diablo 4 developers ahead of the Lord of Hatred expansion, which will be the biggest overhaul of Diablo systems to date.
Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman predicts most white-collar tasks will be automated within 18 months, potentially reshaping the future of work as we know it.
I'm of the opinion that AI tools can be useful, but also need to get out of the way and not command all your attention. Which is exactly what this third-party GitHub Copilot app does, while still looking like it's part of Windows 11.
The classic survival horror game Dino Crisis and its action game sequel, Dino Crisis 2, have been re-released on Steam out of nowhere by Capcom, each with a 50% discount.
Pearl Abyss releases the final gameplay overview for Crimson Desert, this time highlighting its more down-to-earth features like developing the Greymanes' base camp, talking with NPCs, mini-games, customizing your character's cosmetic looks, and more.
Find the best Presidents' Day deals on everything in Microsoft's ecosystem in my curated list, including Windows PCs, new laptops, and Xbox gaming accessories.
TechPowerUp today released version 2.69.0 of GPU-Z, the lightweight graphics subsystem information, monitoring, and diagnostic utility. The update adds support for new NVIDIA GPUs, including the GeForce RTX 5090 D V2, RTX 3050 A Mobile, and multiple RTX Pro Blackwell models (5000, 4500, 4000, 4000 SFF, 5000 Mobile, 5000 Embedded, 2000, 1000, and 500). It also updated device ID support for the Quadro P1000, P2000, and RTX 6000. On the AMD side, support has been introduced for the Radeon RX 7400, Radeon 820M iGPU found in Ryzen AI 5 330 processors, Radeon Pro W6600X, Radeon Pro W7800, and Radeon Pro V710. Improvements were also made for AMD Strix Halo platforms.
New Intel support includes Arrow Lake H as well as Arc A380E and A310E graphics. Support for Moore Threads S30 has also been added. This release fixes shader count detection on some unknown AMD and Intel APUs, resolves incorrect clock speed reporting and ReBAR detection on Intel DG1, and addresses OpenCL detection issues on certain AMD devices. It also resolved crashes on unknown AMD GPUs, and overall kernel-mode driver stability has been improved. Grab TechPowerUp GPU-Z from the link below.
The new command-line interface for the Microsoft Store is designed to provide developers with a novel approach to app management. Officially named Store CLI, the tool includes several options for both discovering and deploying apps and software, with no need to use the cumbersome, ever-evolving GUI of Windows 11.
Set during the New Republic Era after the events of Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Galactic Racer looks like it could finally satisfy demand for a modern WipeOut-style racer.
Sony and Kojima Productions have confirmed that the sequel to 2019's well-regarded post-apocalyptic delivery simulator will be available on Steam and the Epic Games Store starting March 19. Unsurprisingly, the PC port will add various performance-enhancing and quality-of-life features.
Samsung and its next-generation chipset, the Exynos 2700, have started to get included in a lot of reports, hinting at its development under the Korean giant’s second-generation 2nm GAA process, also known as SF2P. Where the Exynos 2600 provided the necessary stepping-stones, its successor will take the reins and solidify Samsung’s position as a worthy player in the chipset space, but more importantly, the silicon’s arrival is expected to boost the firm financially too. According to the latest report, the company’s non-memory business will receive a nice bump with the Exynos 2700’s launch. The latest estimate claims that the Exynos 2700 […]
One of the biggest surprises of yesterday's State of Play broadcast was undoubtedly the announcement of Project Windless. An open world action RPG in development at KRAFTON Montréal, it is based on the "The Bird That Drinks Tears" fantasy universe created by the Korean novelist Lee Youngdo, which has been described as "The Korean Lord of the Rings". Patrik Méthé, Head of KRAFTON Montréal Studio and Creative Director, said in a statement: From the start, we asked ourselves what it really means to play a legendary figure in a fantasy world. For us, that meant giving players real agency, not […]
Due to an increase in reports of fake RAM kits, Corsair has begun packaging its Vengeance DDR5 RAM modules in a new packaging to combat counterfeits. Corsair Officially Announces Transparent Vengeance DDR5 Packaging, Making it Easier for Verifying the Authenticity You may have already read reports of fake DDR5 kits being circulated in the market. While fake hardware scams are well-known, the rise in fake DDR5 RAM kits began at the end of 2025 as a result of higher prices. Some users got DDR4 RAM modules inside DDR5 shells, while some received DDR4 modules inside DDR5 packaging. This was one […]
The preliminary power limits of Intel's Nova Lake "Dual Compute Tile" CPUs have been revealed, with up to 150W PL1 & 500W PL2. Intel Nova Lake CPUs Could Boast Up To 500W PL2 & Over 800W PL4 Power Limits In Dual Compute Tile Configurations A few days ago, we got to learn that Intel's Nova Lake-S Desktop CPUs with dual compute tiles could feature power consumption of 700W+, which was a bit shocking, but it looks like the power limits for Nova Lake-S Desktop CPUs have been further explained. According to Kopite7kimi, the number was based on a chip with […]
During yesterday's State of Play broadcast, KONAMI and Annapurna Interactive have unveiled the first gameplay trailer for Silent Hill: Townfall. The spin-off psychological horror game was announced back in 2022, and this is the first time we learn anything concrete about it. Meanwhile, the development team, originally known as No Code (the same ones behind Stories Untold and Observation), has rebranded to Screen Burn. More information was revealed in the subsequent Silent Hill Transmission, where the game was described as a full-length, self-contained adventure set in cold Scotland and played entirely in first-person, marking a significant shift from the series' […]
China's SMIC has recently said that memory shortages are affecting broader supply chains, and the CEO said many customers are looking to scale back chip orders. SMIC Claims That Ditching Chip Orders in Light of DRAM Shortages Isn't the Wise Move For Customers DRAM has become one of the most important commodities in the AI world, given its rapid integration across AI architectures and end products. We have been witnessing shortages for several quarters now, and, apart from their impact on the client segment, large-scale foundries like SMIC are also seeing the effects. Talking about quarterly earnings, SMIC's co-CEO, Zhao […]
Seeing a 65W CPU dying is surely rare, but once again, we are seeing the CPU deaths continue on ASRock motherboards. Redditor Reports Dead Ryzen 5 7500F on ASRock Motherboard; A 65W CPU That Reportedly Ran Normally for 7 Months In a rare incident, we are seeing deaths of power-efficient Ryzen CPUs. This is probably not the first time such an incident happened, but this is definitely one of the first times we are seeing such a report surfacing on Reddit. The Redditor u/External-Wear-1515 reported that his AMD Ryzen 5 7500F died on the ASRock B850 RS PRO WiFi motherboard. […]
OpenAI on Thursday released GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark, its first AI model served on chips from Cerebras Systems, marking the ChatGPT maker’s first production deployment on non-Nvidia silicon.
In December 2025, in response to the Sha1-Hulud incident, npm completed a major authentication overhaul intended to reduce supply-chain attacks. While the overhaul is a solid step forward, the changes don’t make npm projects immune from supply-chain attacks. npm is still susceptible to malware attacks – here’s what you need to know for a safer Node community.
Let’s start with the original
QuitGPT is a viral grassroots campaign encouraging users to cancel ChatGPT over political and ethical concerns, highlighting rising tensions between AI platforms and their users.
ExpressVPN has announced the acquisition of four ISO certifications alongside a new transparency report revealing zero data disclosures, reinforcing its position as a privacy leader.
Death Stranding 2 is coming to PC this year PlayStation Studios has announced that Death Stranding 2 is coming to PC on March 19th, with Kojima Productions and Nixxes Software working on the new version. On PC, Death Stranding will gain support for new graphical settings, modern upscaling, frame generation, and more. The game will […]
MSI announced today it is strengthening its strategic partnership with Samsung Display. Following Samsung Display's reveal of the QD-OLED Penta Tandem technology brand, MSI confirms it had already begun integrating this exclusive 5-Layer Tandem QD-OLED into its monitor lineup in early 2025 to deliver the industry's premier visual experience for gamers.
Penta Tandem Technology: MSI's Core Advantage
The newly launched Penta Tandem brand from Samsung Display represents a significant breakthrough in QD-OLED technology. By utilizing a 5-layer stack structure in the blue emitting layer and optimizing organic materials, this technology effectively disperses energy to improve brightness, lifespan, and luminous efficiency.
KRAFTON today unveiled Project Windless, a new open-world action RPG set in the fantasy universe of The Bird That Drinks Tears novel series, with the debut of its first-ever trailer during today's Sony PlayStation's State of Play. This marks the first public reveal of the single-player title, currently in development at KRAFTON Montréal Studio, and introduces players to a vast world shaped by myth, war, and legendary heroes.
A New Premium Open-World Action RPG
Designed as a player-driven open-world experience, Project Windless centers on a continent-spanning conflict, combining epic storytelling with visceral, mastery-driven combat and massive real-time battles. Built with Unreal Engine 5, the game features a non-linear structure where player decisions shape alliances and the broader conflict unfolding across the world through exploration, combat, and interaction with key factions.
TrendForce's latest analysis of the HBM industry reveals that as the ongoing expansion of AI infrastructure continues to fuel GPU demand, NVIDIA's upcoming Rubin platform is expected to become a major catalyst for HBM4 adoption once mass production begins. The three leading memory suppliers—Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron—are now in the final stages of HBM4 validation, with completion anticipated by 2Q26.
Samsung, supported by its strong product stability, is projected to secure certification first. SK hynix and Micron are expected to follow shortly thereafter, forming a three-supplier ecosystem for NVIDIA's HBM4.
Spotify co-CEO Gustav Söderström made the admission during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call. Like every other chief executive, Söderström was praising AI's ability to accelerate development at the company.
Data from the UC system show that 12,652 undergraduates are majoring in computer science this year, a 6% decline from 2024 and down 9% over two years. That figure still represents nearly double the number of CS majors from a decade ago, but the reversal marks the first sustained retreat...
50 Feet Away is a proximity-based social discovery app that shows you who’s physically nearby in real life. Instead of swiping on strangers miles away, you can see who’s at the same bar, restaurant, event, hotel, or venue as you.
The goal isn’t online chatting; it’s real-world interaction. Users can create “Hot Zones” at locations, see activity levels, connect with people who are open to meeting, and decide why they’re out (social, networking, exploring, etc.). It’s designed to make going out more intentional and less random.
Faster LPCAMM2 LPDDR5X memory featuring up to 96 GB capacities and 9600 MT/s transfer rates is entering mass production soon. LPCAMM2 "LPDDR5X" Memory Modules Feature Up To 96 GB Capacities & 9600 MT/s Speeds In Compact Form Factor The LPCAMM2 form factor is designed to reduce PCB sizes on mobile and notebook form factors. So far, LPCAMM2 memory has featured LPDDR5 memory and also supports faster LPDDR5X memory. While the standard has been gaining traction, it looks like Samsung has yet to begin mass production of its fastest LPCAMM2 modules. Lenovo China's manager, @思考未来啊, has posted a picture of a […]
The M5 Pro and M5 Max are expected to be Apple’s first SoCs to offer separate CPU and GPU blocks, thanks to TSMC’s new ‘Small Outline Integrated Circuit’ packaging (SoIC), unlocking more possibilities on its portable Macs. From lowering manufacturing costs by improving yields to obtaining new performance levels, these are a few benefits that companies can witness by moving to a chiplet design, but if that’s the case, why has Qualcomm yet to adopt it? We’ve discussed some possibilities below, but we also believe that it will be necessary for the company to eventually make the transition. If bringing chipsets […]
Threat actors have started to exploit a recently disclosed critical security flaw impacting BeyondTrust Remote Support (RS) and Privileged Remote Access (PRA) products, according to watchTowr.
"Overnight we observed first in-the-wild exploitation of BeyondTrust across our global sensors," Ryan Dewhurst, head of threat intelligence at watchTowr, said in a post on X. "Attackers are abusing
Helion's Polaris device hit 150 million degrees C recently, a milestone that nudges the company toward its commercial power plant that will sell electricity to Microsoft.
Console gamers might not necessarily become console owners, as Sony's PlayStation UK division is experimenting with leasing the PlayStation 5. The lease starts at £9.95 per month and varies depending on the console version. This plan involves a 36-month lease for a PlayStation 5 Digital Edition with 825 GB of storage. Opting for a shorter lease, such as 24 months or 12 months, increases the monthly cost to £10.49 and £14.59, respectively. Other versions of the PlayStation 5, like the PlayStation 5 Pro, as well as accessories such as the DualSense Edge Wireless Controller, PlayStation VR2, and PlayStation Portal Remote Player, can also be leased for an additional cost per month, based on your lease choice. There is also a "rolling" lease option where users pay £19.49 monthly and can cancel at any time, provided they return the console.
A quick calculation shows that the 36-month lease is the most expensive, totaling £358.20 by the end of the term. Afterward, users have several options: upgrade the console by returning the old one, continue with the monthly subscription, or exit the Flex plan by returning the console. For the 24-month and 12-month plans, users pay £251.76 and £175.08, respectively, by the end of the lease period. These plans also offer the same options: return the console, upgrade the hardware and return, or continue paying the monthly fee for a while longer. The only flexible plan is the monthly rolling option, which allows users to pay £19.49 per month without any long-term commitment, and they can cancel at any time. This plan doesn't require any upfront payment for the console.
Hello, everyone! We just revealed Crimson Moon to the world in today's State of Play! In this PS Blog post, we're excited to share more details about this gothic action-adventure coming to PS5 in 2026.
A dark, gothic world
Crimson Moon is an action-adventure RPG set in a gothic world full of angels, demons, and ancient gods. Players will embody the Nephilim, a human-angel hybrid serving the Order of the Crimson Moon tasked with reclaiming the cursed city of Gildenarch from the evil that infests it. Mankind once stood on the precipice of extermination by the Infernal Legion's charge. Born from a forbidden union between man and angel, the Nephilim emerged and rallied humanity to victory, banishing the forces of darkness from their world. Now, you have been called upon once more to the city of Gildenarch, where a foul darkness has claimed the city. District by district and ward by ward, players must fight their way through the ancient, cursed metropolis, all the while facing down hordes of the undead, vampires, and the demonic Infernal Legion's return. Each cleared district pushes back the Legion's Hellgrowth and unlocks new challenges, culminating in a winner-take-all confrontation with the sinister vampire lord, Solomon Moore, the architect of Gildenarch's demise.
KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS, in collaboration with Nixxes Software, is proud to announce that DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH will be coming to PC on March 19th, 2026, with pre-purchase starting today on Steam and Epic Games Store. In this standalone sequel, DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH offers a new range of tools, weapons and vehicles at Sam's disposal. With his companions from DRAWBRIDGE by his side, Sam takes on a new adventure to connect Australia to the Chiral network. Beset on all sides by enemies, Sam will have to shoot, sneak, and sprint his way out of trouble, as well as survive natural disasters such as earthquakes, sandstorms and forest fires, and brave the ruinous Timefall as he strives to save humanity from extinction once again. The Social Strand System returns, connecting players from around the globe allowing you to shape someone else's world, and have their actions shape yours.
Immerse yourself in the world of DEATH STRANDING like never before with added Ultrawide monitor support including 21:9 UltraWidescreen for both gameplay and in-game cutscenes for both PC and PS5 and 32:9 Super UltraWidescreen for PC, all in 4K resolution. The PC edition of DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH offers players flexibility, whether you want to make use of the complete mouse and keyboard support by personalising their gameplay and mapping custom keybinds or feel the action with full DualSense controller integration with haptic feedback and adaptive trigger functionality, the choice is yours. Players have all sorts of audio support options as well including 3D Audio via Dolby Access, DTS Sound Unbound support, or Windows Sonic for Headphones.
Attention all racers! Sony's State of Play broadcast has revealed an exclusive look at Star Wars: Galactic Racer - with one of the galaxy's most beloved podracer pilots revving up his engines. Take a look! Resolute repulsorcraft racers streak across the volcanic surface of Sentinel One, the dusty sands of Jakku, the treacherous ice of Ando Prime, and the lush jungle of Lantaana - our first look at the verdant planet - in this breathtaking new gameplay trailer, a follow-up to the reveal trailer that accompanied the announcement at the 2025 Game Awards.
"Our goal with Galactic Racer is to deliver a racing experience that's cinematic, skill-driven, and unmistakably Star Wars, and this gameplay reveal is a major step toward that vision," says Craig Derrick, an executive producer with Lucasfilm Games.
Thermal Grizzly is pleased to announce the official launch of the first public software suite for the GPU power monitoring tool WireView Pro II, as well as the release of the first official firmware update. Both the software and the firmware update are optional. However, when used together, they enable full functionality of the WireView Pro II, including data logging and device configuration via PC.
The software primarily allows additional functions to be configured on the WireView Pro II:
Revealed during today's Sony PlayStation State of Play, the story trailer sets the stage for a global intrigue, as Bond is recruited into MI6 and enters the world of espionage, full of hidden agendas and unseen threats. The trailer offers early glimpses of Bond's exploits in Iceland, showcasing his decisive judgment, nerve, and resourcefulness that draw the attention of MI6, propelling him into the grueling training of the newly revived 00 programme. Still inexperienced and sometimes reckless, Bond (portrayed by Patrick Gibson) will have to confront his instincts with the structure and discipline of his new world, where initiative is not always rewarded, and obedience is often the expectation.
As he enters the world of espionage, Bond discovers an unexpected advocate in M (portrayed by Priyanga Burford), who recognizes his potential as an agent able to take control of desperate situations and complete his objectives, following his own judgment. John Greenway (portrayed by Lennie James), a former 00 agent and the programme's training instructor, stands in contrast to Bond. A disciplined, by-the-book operative, Greenway's strict philosophy quickly clashes with Bond's instinctive and improvisational approach in the field.
Yeah. We're thinking he's back. Today at the Sony State of Play Showcase, global content leader Lionsgate and best-selling video game publisher and developer Saber Interactive announced a new AAA video game based on Lionsgate's billion-dollar John Wick franchise. Tailored for mature audiences and currently in development for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, the new single-player third-person action game will combine John Wick's unparalleled, adrenaline-fueled "gun-fu" fighting style with Saber's proven reputation for creating thrilling gaming experiences that leave players craving more. John Wick franchise director Chad Stahelski and star Keanu Reeves are both involved in the game's production, with Reeves signed on to reprise his iconic character's look, voice and more. Watch the brand-new reveal trailer for the "Untitled John Wick Game" now and get ready to feel the hard-hitting, cinematic action of John Wick like never before.
"I can't wait for fans to step into the shoes of John Wick and explore the multi-dimensional world of The High Table," stated Jenefer Brown, President of Global Products & Experiences at Lionsgate. "We are collaborating closely with Saber's dedicated team to develop a game that captures the unparalleled action, brand-defining fight choreography, immersive world-building, and authenticity of the films." "John Wick is one of the most iconic characters in action film history. Saber is honored to be working alongside Chad, Keanu and the Lionsgate team in a true collaboration to bring the world of Wick to life in a AAA game," said Matthew Karch, CEO at Saber Interactive.
ASUS Republic of Gamers today announced ROG Kithara - the first ROG high-fidelity planar magnetic gaming headset. ROG partnered with HIFIMAN, a world-renowned planar headphone innovator, to develop ROG Kithara, giving gamers incredibly immersive, audiophile-grade in-game audio. The headset features special ROG-customized 100 mm HIFIMAN planar magnetic drivers to offer excellent frequency extension at both ends of the spectrum with minimal distortion, delivering sounds that stay true to the original source. The bass is deep yet smooth, while the treble is crisp and well-extended, providing clearer and more refined audio experiences to give gamers a competitive edge.
The ROG Kithara has an open-back design for an extremely wide and dimensional sound stage with clear sound separation of balanced bass, mids, and treble. This offers precise imaging and enhances gamers' spatial awareness, enabling them to pinpoint the exact source and location of in-game sounds. In addition, an on-cable full-band MEMS boom microphone ensures clean, distortion-free voice pickup across an ultrawide 20 Hz-20 kHz frequency range. Separate signal channels help prevent crosstalk, while the high SNR provides detailed and natural voice reproduction with minimal background noise. In addition, the Kithara includes a headphone cable with a balanced 4.4 mm plug and a 3.5/6.3 mm single-ended plug for compatibility with most DACs, amplifiers, PCs and gaming consoles. For laptops and mobile users, the Kithara includes a USB-C-to-dual-3.5 mm adapter for greater flexibility.
It's been three years since the AMD AM5 motherboard platform and the 600-series motherboards launched. Since its launch, the platform has seen the launch of several CPUs in the Ryzen 7000, Ryzen 8000, and Ryzen 9000 families. While the 600-series motherboards provide great features & compatibility with newer Zen 5 CPUs, motherboard makers are always looking to enhance user experiences through the latest technologies, so AMD has introduced a new chipset line called the 800-series. Now, AMD has introduced both X870 and B850 series chipsets for high-end and mainstream AM5 motherboards. Both of these chips provide brand-new designs and brand-new […]
The Game Awards might have the words 'awards' in the title, but anyone who has seen Geoff Keighley's annual show knows that it's more about the announcements than the awards. The DICE Awards, however, are the absolute opposite. It's all about the awards, and it's all about the people who make the games that win those awards. With the nominees and winners selected by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS), it's arguably the closest thing the video game industry has to The Oscars, if only because every winner gives thanks to "the academy." Leading into this year's show, […]
The METAL GEAR SOLID: MASTER COLLECTION Vol.2 has been unveiled for PC and consoles Konami has officially unveiled Vol. 2 of its Metal Gear Solid Master Collection, which will deliver “first-ever” ports of Metal Gear Solid 4 to new platforms. To date, Metal Gear Solid 4 has been available only on Sony’s PlayStation 3, a […]
ASUS today announced ASUS ExpertBook B5 G2, a compact yet powerful Copilot+ PC designed to elevate business productivity with AI-driven intelligence, enterprise-grade security, and premium professional design. Powered by the latest up to Intel Core Ultra 7 Series 3 processor and weighing just 1.38kgi with an aluminium build and a 180° lay-flat hinge, ASUS ExpertBook B5 G2 is engineered for mobility, durability, and seamless collaboration.
Superb AI performance
ASUS ExpertBook B5 G2 delivers exceptional productivity with the latest Intel Core Ultra 7 Series 3 processor, up to 50 TOPS NPU, and Intel graphics. Designed for professionals, it handles demanding multitasking, data-intensive applications, and AI-driven workflows with ease. Coupled with up to 19 hours of battery life, this business laptop supports all-day efficiency, making it a reliable companion for modern challenges.
Today at the PlayStation State of Play, Remedy Entertainment unveiled new gameplay details and features for CONTROL Resonant, the highly-anticipated sequel to Remedy's critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning CONTROL. The first full gameplay footage running on PlayStation 5 Pro Console offers a glimpse of the main character Dylan Faden in action as he hunts a powerful Resonant enemy within the shifting landscape of the West Incursion Zone in Manhattan, reshaped by otherworldly forces actively breaking reality apart.
CONTROL Resonant will be published by Remedy Entertainment. Annapurna Pictures are co-financing and co-producing the game as part of a strategic partnership with Remedy Entertainment. CONTROL Resonant is scheduled to be released in 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, and Mac via Steam and the App Store.
Both Client and Server x86 CPU segments saw shipments grow in Q4 2025, with servers leading the charge with a 6.5% increase. Client & Server CPU Segments Saw Shipments Increase In Q4 2025: Client-Side With 2.7% & Server Side With 6.5% Growth The latest CPU market report is out by JPR and is inline with what we reported in our Mercury Research data. As per JPR, the global client CPU market expanded in Q4 2025, following a growth trajectory for 4 quarters straight in a row. As per the latest figures, the client CPU shipments increased by 2.7% versus the […]
Intel's Panther Lake "Core Ultra Series 3" CPUs are now available in compact modules for Edge AI & Embedded platforms. Intel Panther Lake CPUs With LPCAMM2 Featured On Compact Modules For Edge AI & Embedded Systems During the Intel Tech Tour 2025, the blue team showcased its brand-new Panther Lake modules designed for Edge AI and Embedded systems. Now, a few weeks after launch, we are seeing the first of these Edge computing systems being announced. Congatec has announced its new COM-HPC and COM Express modules with Intel Core Ultra Series 3 "Panther Lake" CPUs. The modules come in various […]
Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is an upcoming team fighting game that recently showed up in leaks ahead of its official launch. Most recently, however, Fighting Souls shown up at the Sony State of Play, where Arc System Works, the developer behind the game, announced its official launch date aand revealed some information about the game's narrative, characters, and team dynamics. First off, it has been announced that Marvel Token: Fighting Souls will launch on August 6, 2026 for both PC and PS5, and pre-orders will start on February 19, 2026.
The announcement also came with a team announcement trailer for the Unbreakable X-Men, which is comprised of Storm, Magik, Wolverine, and Danger. In the trailer, we got a small taste of each character's personality and fighting style, with characters like Magik and Wolverine getting up close and personal with a combination of melee and maneuverability, while Storm and Danger lean more into slightly more ranged attacks and abilities. The trailer also showed off a team-based finisher attack, which saw all four characters jump into the fray with a flurry of attacks.
Nova tracks your net worth in real-time across banking, investments, real estate, vehicles, cryptocurrency, and manual assets. It connects to over 20,000 institutions via Plaid to sync balances and transactions. The app offers AI-driven budgets, spending analytics, subscription detection, cash flow forecasts, and debt payoff strategies. Nova ensures security with AES‑256 encryption, TLS, and zero‑knowledge practices, and offers a 30-day free trial with plans starting at $9.99 per month.
Google Deepmind co-founder and Microsoft AI lead Mustafa Suleyman suggests that the big tech firm is moving away from OpenAI reliance, as the latter's financials look increasingly dire.
ScratchTrack is a multi-track DAW for macOS that brings version control to audio production. You can create branches to try new arrangements or mixes and then merge the best ideas without overwriting your main session.
With Google officially confirming the Pixel 10a will be coming soon, Optus is clearing out its stock of the 9a via this two-for-one deal, with plans starting at AU$92.46 per month.
If you've read my 'Wuthering Heights' review, you'll know why I won't be rushing to rewatch it this Valentine's Day. So may I suggest this sexier, and completely free, movie instead?
Tvist is more than a social network—it’s a vibrant community where creatives and authentic voices connect and step away from the algorithms and AI. Build your profile, forge new friendships, share your latest work, and spark genuine conversations with real people. Support fellow creators with comments and become part of groups that share your passion. Tvist empowers you with integrated tools; open your own shop, share your craft, and use the community to build trust and engagement. Paid membership will provide access to additional tools, limit fake profiles, and support an ad-free environment.
Though not a universally recognized name like Resident Evil or Silent Hill, Koei Tecmo's Fatal Frame series carved out its niche with unique features, namely a distinct Japanese horror feel in its story and setting, and the Camera Obscura, a very peculiar camera that enables regular people to see ghosts. The end results haven't always been perfect, but the series' unique vibe has made it a darling among many survival horror fans looking for something beyond the most celebrated series. Following the release of Maiden of Black Water in 2015, the Fatal Frame series returned in 2021 with a remake of the […]
Today's PlayStation State of Play has already seen a handful of exciting announcements, like the release date for Game Freak's upcoming Souls-like RPG, but fans of the God of War franchise are likely having an extra-special day, with two announcements coming out of the event. Firstly, God of War: Sons of Sparta, a 2.5D Metroidvania telling Kratos's origin story, has officially launched and is available for the PlayStation 5. Sons of Sparta follows Kratos during his days training as a warrior at the Agoge with his brother Deimos. Sons of Sparta was written by the same Santa Monica Studio team that was responsible for God of War 2018 and God of War Ragnarök, while the development was handled by Mega Cat Studios, a studio packed with experienced developers who have by now worked on a slew of Metroidvanias. The game promises dynamic combat with the classic Spartan sword and shield as well as a variety of "Gifts of Olympus," to spice things up.
Gini Talent provides global recruitment, staffing, employer of record, and business setup services across 100+ countries. It helps enterprises and high-growth teams hire, onboard, and stay compliant while scaling into new markets. Powered by proprietary tech and AI, it screens and shortlists thousands of candidates in hours, supports mass hiring, and connects you with IT consultants worldwide. From payroll and contracts to entity formation, it streamlines cross-border operations in one place.
Sony hosted its hour-long February 2026 State of Play today, and while plenty of the announcements were surprises, some of them, like the new Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls reveal, we had a heads up on. After its Steam page was accidentally updated to include additional information, like how the game will feature 20 characters at launch, it seemed like a safe bet that it would be featured during today's event. Not only was it shown off, but we got another look at more gameplay with this trailer, specifically featuring the Unbreakable X-Men, with Storm, Magik, Wolverine, and Danger all joining […]
With Saros getting an April 30, 2026, release date confirmation during The Game Awards 2025, it seemed like a lock to be included during today's February 2026 State of Play, and it was. Housemarque did not disappoint, making a major show of more gameplay from Saros as we get closer to its release. Today's trailer dug deeper into the game's systems and focused more on what Housemarque means by its "come back stronger" mantra for Saros' gameplay style. We got a look at how you'll upgrade your armor via the Armor Matrix with resources you gather on your runs, and […]
It has been some time since we last saw Kratos in action in God of War Ragnarok, and it will likely be longer before we see how his and Atreus' story continues. However, fans of the series now have one more game to look forward to: a remake of the first three entries in the series. Announced at the end of today's State of Play presentation with a brief teaser trailer, the God of War Trilogy Remake will deliver a modernized version of the Greek Saga in which Kratos is at his most violent. Unfortunately, details are scarce at the moment, as the […]
Out of all the announcements included in today's February 2026 State of Play, the one that will potentially be the most remembered is Saber Interactive's reveal of a AAA John Wick game, featuring Keanu Reeves in the titular role, and the confirmation that the game is being made in collaboration with Chad Stahelski, director of the recent films and one of the key visonaries behind their success (who is also directing a Ghost of Tsushima film). You might recall that last month, almost right at the beginning of the year, Lionsgate teased that it was working on a major John […]
TechRadar exclusively reveals Hasbro’s new Star Wars: The Vintage Collection wave inspired by The Mandalorian & Grogu, including a deluxe Mandalorian & Grogu figure, Imperial Remnant AT-RT and troopers, and IG-11 ahead of the film's 2026 premiere.
Brigada Games and Devolver Digital’s zombie apocalypse checkpoint simulator puts you in control of your very own checkpoint. Check survivors, weed out the infected, and research the disease, and you just might survive in this viral indie game available now on Xbox PC and Game Pass.
Beast of Reincarnation is an upcoming story-driven Souls-like RPG from Game Freak that was previously shown off at an Xbox Developer_Direct earlier this year, with a cross-platform launch slated for late 2026. Now, thanks to a new PlayStation State of Play release date announcement trailer, the game date has an official PlayStation 5 release date of August 4, 2026. Previously, it was revealed that the game would launch cross-platform on day-one, so PC and Xbox Series players can expect to see the game on Steam and the Microsoft Store on August 4, as well. The release date announcement trailer also gave us a better look at the protagonist, Emma, her abilities as Purifier, and the various monsters gamers can look forward to facing off against in Beast of Reincarnation.
As was suggested in the previous announcement, it looks as though mobility and verticality will be an important part of both combat and traversal in the world—especially Emma's grapple ability, which features several times throughout the trailer. Similarly, coordinating attacks with your in-game companion, Koo, who seems to operate more or less independently during fights, also appears to be a central mechanic. It was also revealed that some monster fights will feature mid-fight evolutions—hardly surprising from Game Freak, a studio known for Pokémon.
The ASUS ROG Ally series is no stranger to issues, with early models of the ROG Ally suffering from issued with the microSD slot, due to its placement near the exhaust vent. Now, according to an automated message sent to a writer at Windows Central, ASUS is "experiencing high repair volumes" not too long after shipments started for the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally. This was discovered when Jennifer Young attempted to send in her five-month-old ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X for warranty repair after it spontaneously gave up the ghost, but was told that repairs could not be completed in the country of purchase, the UK, due to high repair volumes. Instead, select repairs will be processed in overseas repair centers, likely adding extra delays to the repair process.
High repair volumes aren't necessarily an indication of an issue with a device or any hardware at all—it could also indicate that the company sold far more devices than it had anticipated in a short timeframe. ASUS has previously had well-documented issues with its RMA and repair processes, however, and anecdotal Reddit reports also appear to indicate that the Xbox Ally X may have issues with the USB port, sticky buttons, and seemingly random motherboard issues. The reports of high repair volume come shortly after reports of software issues with the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally, although these seem to have been mostly caused by Microsoft itself, not ASUS.
Asine is an Android testing AI agent. Input natural language prompts (e.g., "Test login for crashes"), and the agent runs tests on cloud emulators, self-heals issues automatically, and delivers GIFs of executions along with reasoning logs. You can manage test cases and steps effortlessly in one dashboard. It is fast, smart, and script-free, saving you time and sanity!
After years of almost complete silence following Hideo Kojima's departure from Konami, the Metal Gear Solid series has finally returned to the spotlight with Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 and last year's Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, a remake of the third entry in the series. While it's unknown if the remake developed by Virtuos and Konami will be followed by any other series' remake or new entry in the series, we have learned during today's State of Play presentation that fans will soon get the chance to experienceMetal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Metal Gear Solid: Peace […]
Star Wars: Galactic Racer made its gameplay debut during the February 2026 State of Play, with a short trailer from Fuse Games to showcase its podracing in action after the developer confirmed we'd have podracers alongside speeders and other vehicles from the Star Wars universe. The gameplay shown did its best to showcase how Fuse is trying to convey how insanely fast these vehicles are going. As much as the studio needs to hit the mark on the look of the world, the track design, and the handling for each of the vehicles, it'll all be for nought if it […]
Besides providing new looks at PlayStation Studios titles, the February 12 State of Play presentation showcased some of the biggest third-party games launching this year. Among them is Control Resonant, the second entry in Remedy Entertainment's series, and the studio's most ambitious game to date. An ambition that was made evident by the first gameplay showcase. The gameplay reveal, which can be watched below, shows how Dylan Faden, brother of Control's protagonist Jesse, takes on a wide range of paranatural threats using the environment and his shapeshifting weapon called Aberrant. Though only around 3 minutes long, the gameplay trailer does […]
As we predicted when Sony announced the State of Play, one of the PlayStation Studios reveals for tonight's showcase was the gameplay and release date reveal for Ghost of Yotei Legends, after it was initially announced during Gamescom 2025. Just like Ghost of Tsushima Legends, this new co-op multiplayer mode will be available as free DLC for players who already own Ghost of Yotei, and it'll arrive on March 10, 2026. Showcased with gameplay captured on a PS5 Pro, the new trailer showed a bit of the kinds of missions you'll get to play in Ghost of Yotei Legends, which […]
Around eight months after its debut on PlayStation 5, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is launching on PC on March 19, complete with some PC-exclusive features. The game's release date on PC was confirmed with a new trailer shared during today's State of Play presentation, which also provided the first look at this new version of the game and some of its exclusive features, which include unlocked framerates (with the exception of cutscenes that will be locked at 60 FPS), ultrawide resolutions support, DualSense support, upscaling and frame generation, although the trailer did not specify if all current upscaling […]
Cursor claims Nvidia engineers produce three times more code using AI tools, yet industry observers remain skeptical about the quality and stability of the code.
Corsair Gaming, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRSR) ("Corsair" or the "Company"), a leading global provider and innovator of high-performance products for gamers, streamers, content-creators, gaming PC builders, and sim racing enthusiasts, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025, as well as guidance for the first quarter and full year 2026.
The Company also announced that its Board of Directors authorized the Company to repurchase up to $50 million of its outstanding common stock. This represents Corsair's first repurchase authorization. The repurchase program is effective immediately, does not have an expiration date and is subject to market conditions, applicable laws and regulatory guidelines.
Didero functions as an agentic AI layer that sits on top of a company’s existing ERP, acting as a coordinator that reads incoming communications and automatically executes the necessary updates and tasks.
Any consumer electronic that features DRAM will get expensive to the point that its affordability will be out of your range. Soon, 8GB RAM configurations will become common, but here’s something you don’t see every day. The Acer Aspire 14 AI, a 14-inch Windows 11 notebook that’s equipped with 16GB RAM and up to a 1TB SSD, is available for as low as $459.99. How? Well, Amazon is giving you an incredible opportunity to own a decent portable computer, but you’ll have to hurry because these deals don’t stay active for long. The Acer Aspire 14 AI is also marketed […]
Applied Materials must pay a $252 million civil penalty to settle allegations that it illegally exported semiconductor manufacturing equipment to SMIC subsidiaries.
Xbox plans to prepare developers for the future at GDC 2026 Microsoft has confirmed that it will be at GDC 2026 in full force, with plans to discuss the “future of Xbox”, implying that we will hear about the company’s “next-generation” plans at the event. While Microsoft’s statements are somewhat vague, a talk from their […]
Hello to all bikers out there! The wait is finally over: Ride 6 is out tomorrow (February 12), and it's time to rev up and start a new adventure. Over the past two years, we've poured our hearts into creating an experience that celebrates every aspect of motorcycle culture. Today, we're excited to pull back the curtain on one of the pillars of this new chapter: how we brought over 40 tracks to life in the game. As you know, Ride 6 features both real-world and fictional tracks, each crafted with utmost care. Our teams worked hard to recreate iconic locations that have shaped motorcycling history, while also designing completely original tracks that are just as memorable and fun to ride.
For real tracks, the process starts on location. We map the entire circuit from above using drones, capturing anywhere from 2,000 to 2,500 photos depending on the size and complexity of the track. Before flying, we set up 20-25 Ground Control Points (GCPs). These are PVC panels marked with an "X," and we record their exact positions with high-precision GPS antennas. Once the photos are taken, we link each GCP to every image it appears in, attaching the corresponding GPS coordinates. This method allows us to generate point clouds with an impressive margin of error of just 2.5 cm.
Late last October, Qualcomm revealed its AI200 and AI250 chip-based accelerator cards, and racks. Oddly, the company's press material mentioned the utilization of Low-Power DRAM (LPDDR) memory rather than in vogue High Bandwidth tech (HBM)—the latter has quickly become the de facto choice for cutting-edge AI-crunching enterprise platforms. Modern types of LPDDR memory are normally found in portable devices powered by Qualcomm chipsets, but the San Diego-headquartered fabless semiconductor firm seems to be exploring the deployment of LPDDR6X modules in server-grade equipment. According to inside track information—published by The Bell South Korea—Samsung Electronics has reportedly sent prototype LPDDR6X samples of to the House of Snapdragon chips.
One of The Bell's anonymous industry sources opined that this move was a little bit out of the ordinary; given that the LPDDR6 (non-X) standard received official JEDEC certification not that long ago (Q3 2025). The still in-progress Samsung LPDDR6X development project has been linked to Qualcomm's 2027 launch of the AI250 inference-focused server platform. The publication's official contact believes that a tight AI200-series release roadmap has prompted the very early supply of LPDDR6X modules. Last month, rumors emerged about the AI200 and AI250 inference accelerators being sized up with SOCAMM2 in mind. In December, the Samsung Memory Product Planning Team divulged forthcoming branches of non-X tech—most notably that "low-power DRAM technologies such as SOCAMM" are being spun-off from "AI-focused module solution(s) leveraging LPDDR6 architecture."
Just few more days until the horrors begin! REANIMAL, the highly anticipated co-op horror game from Tarsier Studios, creators of Little Nightmares and Little Nightmares II, launches this Friday, February 13. Pre-ordering the Deluxe Edition now secures 10% savings and grants access to the REANIMAL Season Pass, which includes all three DLCs in The Expanded World campaign—delivering all-new horrors for players to survive.
There are three upcoming chapters in The Expanded World, the first of which is scheduled to release in summer 2026. The Expanded World will weave a completely original story around new child protagonists, thrusting players into chilling new environments and monstrous horrors across the war-torn REANIMAL island.
Mid-way through the week, computer game hardware observers started to notice the dwindling availability of Valve's Steam Deck OLED handheld. The popular portable gaming PC first launched almost three years ago, first releasing as the LCD screen-based version. The 256 GB LCD model was discontinued last December, leaving the more expensive OLED options—in 512 GB and 1 TB configured forms—in charge of keeping Valve's handheld legacy alive. Unfortunately, prospective buyers—in North America, Japan (via Komodo—Valve's regional distribution partner), Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong—are unable to acquire new OLED stock. Initial reportage has highlighted a "plentiful" supply for UK and Australia-based customers, but several key market territories are seemingly affected by a sudden shortage. At the time of writing, Valve has not commented on this head scratching situation.
A lack of official announcements has driven online community speculation; mainly about possible dry spells of Steam Deck-related component shipments. Presently, the two OLED SKUs utilize 16 GB of unified LPDDR5-6500 RAM, paired with 512 GB or 1 TB NVMe SSDs. The ongoing computer memory and storage crisis has caused plenty of price fluctuation chaos throughout late 2025 and early 2026. Coinciding with troubled times (November 2025), Valve unveiled a new wave of Steam products. As of this month, the Bellevue, Washington-based corporation has remained schtum about the launch MSRP of its Steam Machine. In a worst case scenario, fearful portable and SFF gaming hardware enthusiasts are imagining forthcoming price hikes of Steam Deck OLED hardware, and $1000+ cost of ownership for Valve's second attempt at breaking the mini PC market.
This early implementation is purely experimental. 3mdeb describes it as a proof of concept rather than a stable release, noting that it's not suitable for production systems. Yet the project gives firmware developers a rare opportunity to see how AMD's next-generation silicon initialization layer operates in practice before it replaces...
Allumeria is a voxel-based sandbox game centered on exploration, boss fights, and dungeon raids. Although it is expected to enter early access soon, the indie title nearly disappeared from Steam due to what appears to be an overzealous AI bot.
MasterIt.AI delivers cognitive technical assessments that evaluate how developers reason and collaborate with AI, not just whether their code compiles. It places candidates in AI-assisted scenarios and measures metacognition, handling ambiguity, and contradiction detection. The platform captures problem-solving approaches, validates how candidates use AI tools, and produces clear reports that help teams hire faster with better fit. Use realistic case studies, coding with Copilot, and AI PM/EM discussions to see how candidates think.
Squanch Games CEO Mike Fridley has said releasing High on Life 2 simultaneously on Xbox and PlayStation was a "no-brainer" following the first game's long Xbox exclusivity window.
Emails published by the Justice Department revealed cybersecurity veteran Vincenzo Iozzo emailed, and arranged to meet, Jeffrey Epstein multiple times between 2014 and 2018.
Ubisoft has just reported its third-quarter financial results for its 2025 fiscal year, which covers the last three months of 2025, ending right at the end of the year on December 31, 2025. This is an important distinction to make, only because these results do not include all of the layoffs and restructuring that happened at the start of this year when the company announced its "major reset." This means that Ubisoft went forward with its plan to reorganize the entire structure of the company and layoff hundreds of workers across multiple of its global branches and its own headquarters […]
Smartphones and PCs were going to be the obvious casualties of the DRAM shortage, but this global problem has also begun affecting routers, with the latest data revealing that companies mass producing networking equipment that don’t have a secure supply chain or strong negotiation power have been struck the hardest. With demand for memory increasing for AI server segments, both DRAM and NAND flash prices have jumped by more than 600 percent, meaning that if you want to upgrade your home or work network, you’d better upgrade fast. Around 20 percent of low-to-mid routers’ Bill Of Materials (BOM) accounts for […]
Earlier today, Pearl Abyss published its Q4 2025 earnings report, and in the subsequent earnings call, the South Korean company revealed interesting tidbits about what it will focus on after the imminent launch of Crimson Desert. The executives revealed that, depending on market demand (that is to say, depending on how well the game sells), Pearl Abyss already has plans to potentially add downloadable content and even multiplayer. As you probably remember, the game was actually supposed to be an MMO at first. Then it shifted to an open world game with multiplayer elements, but in the last few years, Pearl Abyss hasn't […]
Three years ago this coming April, Wccftech's Alessio Palumbo caught up with Kwalee Labs (formerly Bonsai Collective) to talk about their debut game, Luna Abyss. A UK-based game studio co-founded by Harry Corr, Benni Hill, and former Team17 producer, Hollie Emery, they started working together in 2019, setting out to create what would become a story-driven, first-person bullet-hell shooter (FPBHS) set in a dystopian world where you play as Fawkes, a prisoner stuck not just in the dreary prison of Luna, but in the middle of a mysterious prophecy. While we still don't have an exact release date, back in […]
As the SaaS market reels from a sell-off sparked by autonomous AI agents like Claude Cowork, new data shows a 53% drop in AI-driven discovery sessions. Wall Street dubbed it the “SaaSpocalypse.”
Whether AI agents will replace SaaS products is a bigger question than this dataset can answer. But the panic is already distorting interpretation, and this data cuts through the noise to show what SEO teams should actually watch.
Copilot went from 0.3% to 9.6% of SaaS AI traffic in 14 months
From November 2024 to December 2025, SaaS sites logged 774,331 LLM sessions. ChatGPT drove 82.3% of that traffic, but Copilot’s growth tells a different story:
SaaS AI Traffic by Source (Nov 2024 – Dec 2025)
Source
Sessions
Share
ChatGPT
637,551
82.3%
Copilot
74,625
9.6%
Claude
40,363
5.2%
Gemini
15,759
2.0%
Perplexity
6,033
0.8%
Starting with just 148 sessions in late 2024, Copilot grew more than 20x by May 2025. From May through December, it averaged 3,822 sessions per month, making it the second-largest AI referrer to SaaS sites by year-end 2025.
Investors erased $300 billion from SaaS market caps over fears that AI agents will replace enterprise software. But this data points to a less dramatic force: proximity.
Copilot thrives because it captures intent inside the workflow. Standalone tools saw a 53% traffic drop while workplace-embedded AI grew 20x.
Software evaluation is work, and Copilot sits where that work happens.
When someone asks, “What CRM should we use for a 20-person sales team?” while building a business case in Excel, that moment is captured—one ChatGPT never sees. The May surge reflects that activation: Microsoft 365 users realizing they could research software without opening a new tab.
41.4% of SaaS AI traffic lands on internal search pages
SaaS AI discovery sends users to internal search results first, not product pages.
Top SaaS Landing Pages by LLM Volume
Page Type
LLM Sessions
% of AI Traffic
Penetration vs Site Avg
Search
320,615
41.4%
8.7x
Blog
127,291
16.4%
8.1x
Pricing
40,503
5.2%
3.2x
Product
39,864
5.1%
2.0x
Support
34,599
4.5%
2.1x
Despite capturing 320,615 sessions — more than blog, pricing, and product pages combined — this dominance likely reflects LLM limitations, not superior content. LLMs route users to search when they lack a specific answer.
For SaaS companies watching their stock crater, that’s useful news: there’s a concrete technical fix. The 41.4% isn’t an existential threat. It’s a crawlability problem.
When an LLM can’t find a direct answer, it defaults to the site’s internal search. The AI treats your search bar as a trusted backup, assuming the search schema will generate a relevant page even if a specific product page isn’t indexed.
At 1.22%, search page penetration is 8.7x the site average. The cause is a “safety net” effect, not optimization.
When more specific pages — like Product or Pricing — lack the data an LLM needs, it falls back to broader search results. LLMs recognize the search URL structure and trust it will return something relevant, even if they can’t predict what.
Blog pages follow with 127,291 sessions and 1.13% penetration. These are structured comparison posts — “best CRM for small teams” or “Salesforce alternatives” — that LLMs cite when they have specific recommendations.
Pricing pages show 0.45% penetration; product pages, 0.28%. When users ask about software selection, LLMs route to comparison surfaces — search and blog — first. Direct product or pricing pages get cited only when the query is already vendor-specific.
The July peak and Q4 decline reflect corporate work cycles
SaaS AI traffic peaked in July at 146,512 sessions, then declined steadily through Q4:
Month
Sessions
Change
July 2025
146,512
Peak
August 2025
120,802
-17.5%
September 2025
134,162
+11.1%
October 2025
135,397
+0.9%
November 2025
107,257
-20.8%
December 2025
68,896
-35.8%
Every platform declined. ChatGPT’s volume was cut in half, dropping from 127,510 sessions in July to 56,786 by year-end. Copilot fell from 4,737 to 2,351. Perplexity dropped from 7,475 to 3,752.
Two factors drove the slide:
People weren’t working. August is vacation season, November includes Thanksgiving, and December is the holidays. Software research happens during work hours; when offices close, discovery drops.
Q4 ends the fiscal “buying window.” Most teams have spent their annual budgets or are deferring contracts until Q1 funding opens. Even teams still working aren’t evaluating tools because there’s no budget left until the new fiscal year.
The July peak reflects midyear momentum: people are working, and Q3 budgets are still available. The Q4 decline reflects both fewer researchers and fewer active buying cycles.
This is where the sell-off narrative breaks down.
Investors treat a 53% traffic drop as proof that AI discovery is stalling. But the data aligns with standard B2B fiscal cycles.
AI isn’t failing as a discovery channel. It’s settling into the same seasonal rhythms as every other B2B buying behavior.
What this data means for SEO teams
Raw traffic numbers don’t show where to invest. Penetration rates and landing page distribution reveal what matters.
Track penetration by page type, not site-wide averages
SaaS shows 0.41% sitewide AI penetration, but that average hides concentration. Search pages reach 1.22%—8.7x higher. Blog pages hit 1.13%. Pricing pages are at 0.45%. Product pages lag at 0.28%.
If you’re only tracking total AI sessions, you’re measuring the wrong metric. AI traffic could grow 50% while penetration on high-value pages declines. Volume hides what matters: where AI users concentrate when they arrive with intent.
Action:
Segment AI traffic by page type in GA4 or your analytics platform.
Track penetration (AI sessions ÷ total sessions) by page category monthly.
Identify pages with elevated concentration, then optimize those surfaces first.
Search results pages are now a primary discovery surface
Internal search captures 41.4% of SaaS AI traffic. If those results aren’t crawlable, indexable, or structured for comparison, you’re invisible to the largest segment of AI-driven buyers.
Most SaaS sites treat internal search as navigation, not content. Results return paginated lists with minimal product detail, no filter signals in URLs, and JavaScript-rendered content LLMs can’t parse.
Action:
With 41.4% of traffic hitting internal search, treat your search bar as an API for AI agents.
Make search pages crawlable (check robots.txt and indexability).
Add structured data using SoftwareApplication or Product schema.
Surface comparison data — pricing, key features, user count — directly in results, not just product names.
Make your data legible to LLMs — pricing and content both
The sell-off is pricing in obsolescence, but for most SaaS companies the real risk is invisibility. Pricing pages show 0.45% AI penetration—below the 0.46% cross-industry average. Blog pages captured 127,291 sessions at 1.13% penetration, but only when content directly answered selection queries. The pattern is clear: LLMs cite what they can read and parse. They skip what they can’t.
Many SaaS sites still gate pricing behind contact forms. If pricing requires a sales conversation, AI won’t recommend you for “tools under $100/month” queries. The same applies to blog content. When someone asks, “What CRM should I use?” the LLM looks for posts that compare options, define criteria, and explain tradeoffs. Generic thought leadership on CRM trends doesn’t get cited.
Action:
Publish pricing on a dedicated, crawlable page. Include representative examples, seat minimums, contract terms, and exclusions.
Keep pricing transparent. Transparent pages get cited; gated pages don’t.
Replace generic blog posts with structured comparison pages. Use tables and clear data points.
Remove fluff. Provide grounding data that lets AI verify compliance and integration capabilities in seconds, not minutes.
Workplace-embedded AI is growing 10x faster than standalone LLMs
Copilot grew 15.89x year over year. Claude grew 7.79x. ChatGPT grew 1.42x. The fastest growth is in tools embedded in existing workflows.
Workplace AI shifts discovery context. In ChatGPT, users are explicitly researching. In Copilot, they’re asking questions mid-task—drafting a proposal, building a comparison spreadsheet, or reviewing vendor options with their team.
Action:
Track Copilot and Claude referrals separately from ChatGPT. Monitor which pages these sources favor.
Recognize intent: these users aren’t browsing — they’re mid-task, deeper in evaluation, and closer to a purchase decision.
Show up in workplace AI discovery to support real-time purchase justification.
Survival favors the findable
The 53% drop from July to December reflects AI usage settling into the software buying process. Buyers are learning which decisions benefit from AI synthesis and which don’t. The remaining traffic is more deliberate, concentrated on complex evaluations where comparison matters.
For SaaS companies, the window for early positioning is closing. The $300 billion sell-off is hitting the sector broadly, but the companies that survive the repricing will be those buyers can find when they ask an AI agent, “Should we renew this contract?”
Teams investing now in transparent pricing, crawlable data, and comparison-focused content are building that findability while competitors debate whether AI discovery matters.
Overclockers UK is currently offering 40% off one of its best value gaming chairs Let’s be honest, every desk setup needs a good chair. While we often focus on the technical aspects of our PCs here, it cannot be denied that good seating matters. Overclockers UK is currently offering enthusiasts up to 40% off TX3 […]
Xbox’s GDC 2026 lineup, led by Jason Ronald, reinforces a clear ecosystem first strategy with a strong Play Anywhere and PC development push, but no confirmed new hardware announcements.
AMD enables Hollywood's most demanding creators as they stretch the boundaries of visual storytelling. On Feb. 9, 2026, the Advanced Imaging Society (AIS) presented AMD with its Production Technology Lumiere Award to recognize the capabilities of its latest generation of "Zen 5"-based EPYC Server and Ryzen Threadripper Pro workstation processors. During the ceremony, the award presenter, Evan Jacobs, Vice Chair of AIS from Marvel Studios, underscored how dramatically computing technology has reshaped filmmaking. "Using a 2005 vintage workstation to render next year's "Toy Story 5," the team at Pixar would need 131 years to get Woody and Buzz Lightyear to the screen." Today, that same level of work can be completed in hours thanks to the newest architecture from AMD.
AMD Current-gen Processors Power a New Era of Filmmaking
AMD processors deliver compute‑dense architecture, exceptional throughput, and leadership energy efficiency. With up to 192 cores on EPYC and up to 96 cores on Threadripper Pro, AMD processors give studios the power to consolidate demanding workloads, accelerate creative iteration, and keep production timelines on track. Studios are increasingly turning to high-density, energy-efficient compute to meet the demands of real-time rendering, complex simulations, and AI-driven workflows. AMD EPYC and Threadripper Pro platforms enable that shift, giving directors and artists the power to hit their creative and production goals without compromise.
This week, South Korean semiconductor industry news outlets have mentioned an imminent unveiling of cutting-edge memory-making equipment at this month's Semicon Korea 2026 exhibition. This important trade event kicked off yesterday (February 11)—soon after start time, a Heraldcorp article appeared online; predicting Hanmi Semiconductor's presenting of a brand-new Wide TC Bonder. A photo of the company's freshly established booth shows printed promotional material that showcases the latest production hardware. Reportedly, the newest tech is being positioned as an "alternative to Hybrid Bonder (HB) for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) mass manufacturing." Local experts believe that the commercialization of Hybrid Bonders has been delayed numerous times, due to widespread technical difficulties. Apparently, Wide TC Bonder equipment—due for launch within the latter half of 2026—offers many advantages over the older design.
Chosun Biz managed to extract early comments from a Hanmi representative, ahead of a full product introduction—the newer standard: "applies advanced precision (and fluxless) bonding technology that can improve HBM production yield, quality and completeness." These pleasing enhancements can affect incoming lines (e.g. HBM4), but Hanmi foresees Wide TC Bonder factory tech being crucial in the making of futuristic HBM5 and HBM6 products. Last summer, a joint venture presentation theorized further HBM roadmaps—extending into 2038. At the time, KAIST and TERA outlined a journey that will start with HBM4 debut on NVIDIA "Rubin"-based AI accelerators (in 2026). By the end of the 2030s, they predict the arrival of HBM7.
Optical mouse switches have become all the rage in gaming mice these days, thanks to reduced latency and improved durability, but unless you're buying from Razer or Logitech, the only options for optical switches have been Kailh and Omron. Now, budget keyboard and mouse switch maker, Huano, looks to be entering the fray with the Huano Nuo optical switch, which has shown up in a Bilibili video review of the Xinmeng Zero 1 Pro gaming mouse.
According to the mouse's spec sheet, shared by @PhalangesCo on X, the Huano Nuo optical switches have a rated lifespan of 100 million clicks, which is higher than many Huano mechanical switch options but only on-par with the company's options typically found in budget high-performance gaming mice. The Zero 1 Pro gaming mouse the Huano Nuo optical switches are featured in is a hyper-budget gaming mouse, coming in at just RMB 39, or USD 5.65 converted, which is a good sign that the optical switches will also make it to other more affordable gaming mice in the global market.
Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today unveiled the BlackShark V3 for Xbox - White Edition, expanding the lineup with a crisp new finish that complements any Xbox setup. Already celebrated for its comfort, isolation, and competitive clarity, the BlackShark V3 now offers players a bold new way to elevate their console battlestation.
Trusted Performance. Now in White.
The BlackShark V3 series has earned its reputation among console competitors for delivering precise audio, long‑lasting comfort, and proven tournament-grade performance. The new White Edition enhances that legacy with a clean, modern aesthetic designed to shine in any environment.
The time has finally come! Are you ready to Forge Your Legend? From the team at MercurySteam and 505 Games comes Blades of Fire, launching May 14th, 2026, on Steam. Play as Aran de Lira, the last warrior able to forge true steel in a world where metal turns to stone. Survival depends on patience, understanding, and commitment to the weapons you choose to create. Combat is deliberate, weighty, and unforgiving. Weapons are forged with intent and permanently shaped by your choices. Progress comes from understanding your enemy and the blade you forged to face them.
DEMO AVAILABLE NOW!
To celebrate today's announcement, our community can jump into Blades of Fire starting today with a dedicated demo. Launching as part of the upcoming Steam Next Fest, our demo offers several hours of gameplay, letting you experience the art of forging your own weapons, our unique combat system, and a face-to-face encounter with a big troll. What's not to love?! What's more, your progress from the demo will carry over to the full game at launch.
NVIDIA continues to gingerly navigate trade restrictions that affect shipments of high-end graphics cards and AI accelerators into China. Over the past couple of years, region-specific "nerfed" GPU specifications and reduced allocations of VRAM have produced a good number of "lesser" gaming and professional components. For example, a November 2025 leak suggested the readying of an appropriately "reduced" RTX 6000D Blackwell model—seemingly based on Team Green's "unpasteurized" Western market variant. Despite recently arriving without a "PRO" designation, Chinese AI companies and well-heeled PC enthusiasts will be receiving a highly capable bit of hardware. The passively-cooled NVIDIA RTX 6000D card carries 84 GB of GDDR7 video memory; representing a slight downgrade over its non-nerfed sibling's provision of 96 GB (on a 512-bit bus). A video teardown—courtesy of the GINNSOD Bilibili channel—shows an incredibly dense module layout on the card's PCB, consisting of 28 individual 3 GB chips.
This clever clamshell layout surrounds a Team Green "GB202-891-KA-A1" GPU die. Aptly, GINNSOD's presenter refers to the TechPowerUp GPU database for key points of interest—notably, the card's 448-bit memory bus, 19968 shader unit count, and 2430 MHz boost clock. The reference board design is listed as having a 600 W TDP rating, but yesterday's presentation shows only a maximum of 419 watts being sipped by the lab's test subject. International observers have noted that the gory teardown shows a PCB design reminiscent of the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell model's internal setup, though the latter enjoys having all of its VRAM module bays filled up (with thirty-two 3 GB chips). By contrast, the RTX 6000D's board features four unoccupied spaces. As a system integrator, GINNSOD offers aftermarket liquid-cooled modifications/upgrades—the latter half of the teardown vid delves into the fitting of a custom-made solution. VideoCardz noted that the company has listed a ~$26,000 workstation system armed with twin RTX 6000D cards and an AMD Threadripper Pro CPU. Said pre-built computer can be seen at various points in GINNSOD's showcase.
PowerFox is one of the few actively maintained browsers still supporting macOS 10.5 Leopard and 10.6 Snow Leopard. Built for both PowerPC and early Intel Macs, it delivers features long thought impossible on these systems, including TLS 1.3 support, up-to-date certificate handling, and regular security fixes.
In a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, more than two dozen advocacy organizations – including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Imperial Valley Equity and Justice – urged California officials to revoke permits for the installation of these covert sensors. The groups said the devices are part of an extensive domestic...
Morni aggregates hundreds of international media outlets in real time. Its AI cross-references sources, synthesizes, and enriches each article to provide a clear and comprehensive feed. You can customize your coverage with categories and lists, and access a daily summary in text or audio with the Pro plan. The ad-free service respects your time and offers an AI chat assistant to delve deeper into the topics that interest you.
Google on Thursday said it observed the North Korea-linked threat actor known as UNC2970 using its generative artificial intelligence (AI) model Gemini to conduct reconnaissance on its targets, as various hacking groups continue to weaponize the tool for accelerating various phases of the cyber attack life cycle, enabling information operations, and even conducting model extraction attacks.
"The
Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a fresh set of malicious packages across npm and the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository linked to a fake recruitment-themed campaign orchestrated by the North Korea-linked Lazarus Group.
The coordinated campaign has been codenamed graphalgo in reference to the first package published in the npm registry. It's assessed to be active since May 2025.
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YouTube has finally launched a native app for Apple Vision Pro, eliminating the Safari workaround and bringing the world’s largest video platform fully into visionOS.
I'm terrible for having multiple apps and websites open at once while I work, so it's about time I get a new laptop - and the Asus Vivobook 16 could be perfect.
Pixel VPN by Google is rolling out a usability-focused update that adds live connection status to its Quick Settings tile, making it easier to check whether your VPN is connected, paused, or having issues at a glance.
CEO Chris Urmson called it a “superhuman” moment, adding that Aurora’s trucks can now carry freight 1,000 miles in 15 hours — faster than what a human driver can legally accomplish.
Two new budget gaming laptops have been launched by Colorful, featuring the RTX 5050 and RTX 5060 GPUs. Colorful Unveils EVOL P15 Gaming Laptops, Featuring Core i7 14650HX-RTX 5060 and Core i5 13420H-RTX 5050 Configurations Hardware manufacturer Colorful has today introduced two new gaming laptops for the budget segment. These are equipped with affordable hardware to cater to the demands of gamers and professionals. These are the Colorful EVOL P15 gaming laptops, featuring two different configurations that bring the budget NVIDIA RTX 50 series GPUs as well as Intel's mid-range/high-end CPUs from the previous generations. The Colorful EVOL P15 marks […]
While 1,200 Ubisoft employees are on strike this week in response to the company's recent "major reset," yet another piece of evidence regarding the heavily rumoured Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag remaster has appeared online. Spotted by IGN, an Amazon UK listing for an Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Remastered art book is up and available for pre-orders. It also, interestingly, has a March 24, 2026, release date attached to it. What makes the art book seem legit, beyond the fact that Ubisoft is listed as the book's author, is that Titan, the publisher behind several Assassin's Creed artbooks, is […]
Samsung's return to the HBM market is a sight to see, and according to the latest announcement, its HBM4 process offers blazing-fast speeds and is now commercially deployed. Samsung's HBM4 Reaches Up to 13 Gbps, Making It Ideal For Integration With Vera Rubin The HBM industry is certainly seeing a shift in market dynamics, mainly in the distribution of market share among SK hynix, Samsung, and Micron. In particular, the race with the HBM4 technology has become much more competitive, and the Korean giant has improved its offerings by a huge margin. In the company's latest post, Samsung has revealed […]
NVIDIA's Blackwell platform has brought new levels of token optimization to AI inference workloads, as the company reveals a massive milestone in the realm of tokenomics. NVIDIA's GB200 NVL72 Achieves 10x Better Tokenomics Than Hopper, Credited "Expert-Level" Parallelism While NVIDIA has been racing to build new infrastructure in the AI world, one of the company's biggest focuses has been improving the efficiency of the hardware it deploys. And, with the Blackwell-trained frontier AI models dropping in the industry, we have seen how NVIDIA has progressed with token output and costs, and now, in a new blog post, the company has […]
The latest and greatest QD-OLED panels from Samsung are now "Penta Tandem," signaling the move to a five-layer OLED stack from the previous 4-layer one. Three panel classes — 4K 27" (2025), 31.5" 4K (2026), and 34" ultrawide (2026) — are already using this tech, while the 49" is next in line for the upgrade.
Lunar New Year is approaching, and 2026 is the Year of the Horse. Whether you’re traveling for the holiday or connecting with loved ones overseas, language barriers shou…
It has been leaked on multiple occasions that Ubisoft is working on an Assassin's Creed Black Flag remake, and the game was said to be as soon as March 2026, although this was called into question when Ubisoft cancelled and delayed a slew of games earlier in 2026 over concerns of quality. Assassin's Creed Black Flag was thought to be pushed back as well, but a new Amazon listing suggests that this may not be the case.
An Amazon listing for a hardcover Assassin's Creed Black Flag Remake art book by Ubisoft currently shows list pricing of $54.48, with a 25% pre-order discount, but more interestingly, it also lists a release date of March 24, 2026. This is ahead of the previous assumed March 31 launch date for the game itself, so the launch date may just be a placeholder—after all, there is no cover art for the book on the site either—but it may suggest that the Black Flag Remake may still launch towards the end of March.
Pulsar is known for its high-performance, lightweight gaming mice, but also for having about a million colorways and special edition patterns for the aforementioned mice. In a new post on X, Pulsar has revealed six new colorways coming to a variety of CrazyLight gaming mice and confirmed the release date of the previously leaked Pulsar X2N gaming mouse. The X2N looks to be a tweaked version of the X2 and X2H with a slightly narrower front and a lower, slightly more forward hump design.
As for the rest of the Wildscape colorways, they are all exclusive to their respective mice: X2H gets the burnt red Volcano colorway; the X3 gets the sandy-brown Desert color; the X2 gets the green and yellow Forest; and the Xlite gets the gray and blue Rock. The X2N Ocean colorway will launch later in February, with the other new Wildscape colors launching throughout April. Pulsar previously revealed that the X2N will be available in both mini and medium sizes when it launches on February 24, 2026.
Our favorite time of the year is nearly upon us: the annual (and newly renamed) GDC Festival of Gaming is next month! We're looking forward to seeing old friends, making new ones, and sharing our vision for empowering developers today and into the future. This year, GDC takes place from March 9-13 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California. We'll host partner meetings, participate in conference sessions, and sponsor events like the IGF Awards and the ESA Foundation's Nite to Unite. Attendees that come by the Xbox Lounge in Moscone South Lobby can journey through our exhibit featuring key moments across 25 years of Xbox history, meet Xbox Subject Matter Experts, learn what steps they can take to begin building for the future, and sign up for our newsletter to receive a community pin.
At GDC, we'll share how we're giving developers the freedom to create and play on any device, with anyone, anywhere. We want to make it easier for developers to build and ship games, provide more ways to reach players, and offer more freedom to bring their bold creative ideas to life. Our goal is to empower creators of every size by providing cutting‑edge tools, services, and opportunities that accelerate innovation, reduce barriers, and help developers bring their games to players everywhere. This year, for the first time, we are hosting the Xbox Dev Summit, where we'll be presenting six sponsored sessions to help prepare attendees to build for what's next. The Xbox Dev Summit is in West Hall Room 3001/3003 and will be kicking off with Jason Ronald, VP of Next Gen, at 10:10am on Wednesday, March 11.
Last autumn, AMD provided an update regarding developmental progress of its openSIL open-source project. According to Raj Kapoor's presentation at last year's OCP Global Summit, the Red Team intends to publish its sixth-generation "Zen 6"-based EPYC "Venice" CPU openSIL sources at some point in 2026. The company's lead firmware architect reiterated that the newer silicon-initialization stack will eventually replace the familiar legacy AGESA firmware line. As of last summer, only one section of AMD's "Zen 5" family has received openSIL support—the EPYC 9005 "Turin" server processor product range. Earlier this week, a 3mbdeb blog entry detailed a compelling experiment that involved the initial "enabling (of) AMD AM5 'Phoenix' support in Coreboot." In the past, this Polish open-source consulting company has experimented with unusual ports of OpenSIL and Coreboot (via the Dasharo distribution). NLnet Foundation funding provided a secure base to start 3mbdeb's Gigabyte MZ33-AR1 porting project, leading to present-day tinkering with MSI's PRO B850-P consumer-grade mainboard design.
Mid-way through their post, they detail a handful of problems, including: "some issues may arise when parsing combo images for AM5 desktop platforms. The desktop images are more complex than server ones. A single PSP (Platform Security Processor) directory may support multiple CPU families, whereas on servers, each CPU family required separate PSP directory. This adds complexity, a need to distinguish PSP directories from each other, and determine the supported CPUs by given directory." So far, the MSI B850-P Pro-based tests have reached a phase of development that is "just enough to (achieve) boot." When outlining a next major milestone, 3mbdeb intends to: "add basic support for desktop AM5 'Phoenix' platform to distinguish mobile CPUs from desktop CPUs in Coreboot. This will serve as a base to cover the differences between the mobile and desktop Phoenix SoCs/APUs." They stress that their 'Phoenix' OpenSIL project is still in a "Proof of Concept" stage, so "not intended for production use." In summary, 3mbdeb's firmware engineer (Michał Żygowski) recommends that external testers wait for the arrival of "exciting" future releases.
Sony Electronics Inc. today is introducing the next generation of its critically acclaimed 1000X series with the WF-1000XM6 truly wireless noise-canceling earbuds. Building on the legacy of the 1000X series, the WF-1000XM6 achieves outstanding sound quality with the best noise-canceling precision, enhanced call quality, and improved connectivity compared to the WF-1000XM5 predecessor model, as well as an ergonomic design which has been optimized for a comfortable fit.
In addition, Sony is also introducing a Sand Pink version of its industry-leading WH-1000XM6 over ear wireless noise-canceling headphones.
Highguard, the new free-to-play raid shooter from Wildlight Entertainment, launched in late January to high player counts that quickly dwindled after a lukewarm reception, despite bringing some unique concepts to the table. Since its launch, daily concurrent player counts have fallen from a peak of 97,249 players on Steam to around 2,000-3,000 concurrent players on a daily basis. According to an announcement from the official Wildlight account on X, the game studio has officially started laying off developers who were working to develop and support Highguard.
Another post on LinkedIn by Alex Graner, now-former level designer at Wildlight, confirmed that "most of the team" at Wildlight has been laid off, adding that there was a lot of unreleased content that the development team had been working on, which also makes it seem as though the layoffs were unexpected. Many attribute the game's surprise launch and lack of play testing and community feedback ahead of launch for the game's commercial failure. At launch, aside from performance problems, Highguard was widely criticized for poor pacing and a dearth of content in matches, largely owing to the oversized maps and small teams. Wildlight did attempt to address these complaints with a 5v5 game mode in a recent update, and, according to reviews, that helped make things feel more energetic, but it seems like it was too little too late. Wildlight will supposedly keep working on Highguard with "a core group of developers," although it's unclear what the studio's plans are for content in the long term.
EnGenius Technologies Inc., a global leader in advanced connectivity and cloud-managed networking solutions, today announces the ECW515 Wi-Fi 7 dual-band 2x2:2 wall-plate access point, designed to deliver seamless in-room wireless and wired connectivity in multifamily units, student housing, senior living, hotels, and resorts.
Wi-Fi 7 In-Room Connectivity for MDU and Hospitality
The EnGenius ECW515 Wi-Fi 7 wall-plate access point delivers enterprise-grade wireless and wired connectivity directly inside the room, enabling fast, reliable in-room communication for streaming, voice, IoT, and productivity devices—while supporting VLAN-based per-user traffic segmentation to help maintain privacy and network control.
LG Electronics (LG) and nine-time Grammy winner will.i.am have reunited to launch the latest edition of the xboom Buds lineup with the introduction of Buds Plus and Buds Lite. The LG xboom Buds Plus, the line's most advanced earbuds with superior sound and easy usability, are now available on LG.com for $179.99. The LG xboom Buds Lite, with long-lasting battery life, are also available now for $69.99. LG xboom Buds Lite and Buds Plus are now available at LG.com and at LG authorized retailers nationwide.
Expertly tuned, tested and approved by one of pop culture's most tech-savvy musical acts, the xboom Buds series delivers unique sound, characterized by will.i.am's signature use of balanced warm tones. Guided by his belief that sound enriches experiences, will.i.am hosted the recent FYI Visionaries event to debut the new xboom lineup, which he developed as the "experiential architect" of the company's "xboom by will.i.am" brand.
Discord's new age-verification requirements have pushed some users to explore alternative chat platforms, and Stoat is emerging as a popular option. The open-source app emphasizes privacy and strong user control. Stoat (formerly Revolt) is available on the web, Windows, macOS, and Linux, with an Android beta now rolling out.
The delays represent the latest setback in Apple's multi-year effort to rebuild Siri's intelligence layer using Apple Foundation Models, the company's in-house large language model platform. Announced in mid-2024, the update promised a far more context-aware assistant capable of leveraging personal data and on-screen content to handle nuanced requests.
Fueled by the AI boom, the global foundry and memory sectors are expected to hit record highs in 2026. However, the memory market is projected to grow much faster than the foundry industry, generating roughly 2.5 times more revenue.
The new design retains Edison's choice of metals while incorporating 21st-century nanotechnology and bioengineering. The UCLA-led study, published in Small, describes a battery capable of recharging in seconds rather than hours and withstanding more than 12,000 full charge-discharge cycles – equivalent to over 30 years of daily use.
CityScroller delivers instant self-guided tours that turn any trip into an engaging journey. Use interactive maps, real-time navigation, and curated points of interest to explore at your own pace with personalized routes tailored to your interests.
Available on iOS and Android, CityScroller helps you discover local highlights as it rolls out to new destinations. Join the newsletter to get notified when it arrives in your city.
Presidents' Day is the perfect time to buy a new TV, and as TechRadar's deals editor, I've rounded up 11 TVs that I recommend from Samsung, LG, and TCL.
Proton VPN and Windscribe have both recorded spikes starting from Monday (February 9). This coincides with the decision to block two major pirated streaming sites in the country.
Sony's WF-1000XM6 are smaller again and the sound is admirable, but while there's an extra mic per bud, I'm not sure it's being perfectly utilised here
The Galaxy S26 series is coming, but here's why you may want to consider the still-excellent Google Pixel 10 series (Hint: they're super cheap right now).
The FBI found previously "inaccessible' Nest Cam video of the possible Nancy Guthrie abductors, but questions remain about Google's role and what this means for your Nest Cam video data
Amazon's best-selling appliances are on sale for Presidents' Day, and I'm rounding up my favorite deals from Ninja, Shark, Dyson, and more starting at just $19.99.
Google clarifies campaign consolidation guidance, saying performance and business logic matter more than legacy granularity in AI-driven Google Ads accounts.
FromSoftware's The Duskbloods was a standout reveal during the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal event, though its continued absence from the spotlight has led to speculation regarding its launch timeline. Despite the title not appearing during this month's Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase, the project remains on track to release before the end of the year. Kadokawa, FromSoftware's parent company, reiterated this window today in its Q3 fiscal year earnings report, confirming a generic 2026 schedule for the title. In the report, Kadokawa also addressed the game's platform status, stating it will "only be available for the Nintendo Switch 2". While this […]
After a bombastic launch that saw Battlefield 6 become the best-selling shooter of 2025 and the best-selling game in the US overall in 2025, enthusiasm waned around EA's successful Call of Duty-killer as the assembled team of developers known as Battlefield Studios was unable to keep up with players' thirst for new content. It went from a game that had a chance of cracking 1 million concurrent players on Steam alone to one that has been struggling to hit 100K concurrent players. Thankfully, though, after an unwelcome delay, EA and Battlefield Studios may finally start to have better luck, as […]
Nexon has just reported its fourth-quarter 2025 financials, and, unsurprisingly, the company recorded "record-high Q4 and full-year revenue." The thing that makes it no surprise is the fact that Nexon is the parent company of Embark Studios, the team behind the hottest new extraction shooter, ARC Raiders. Which we now know has officially sold 14 million copies since it launched in October 2025. This official sales update comes after a recent report that ARC Raiders was the top-selling game across Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation for a third consecutive month. It also means that the game sold just under 2M copies […]
The MSI RTX 5090 Lightning Z unleashes a surprising amount of extra performance from Nvidia’s highest-end gaming GPU, thanks to dual power connectors and much higher power limits than the RTX 5090 Founders Edition. We’d go so far as to call it the best RTX 5090 yet made.
“We’re easily going to get over a trillion transistors… in the package, by the end of the decade,” Cadence Senior Vice President Paul Cunningham claims.
In Google AI Overviews and LLM-driven retrieval, credibility isn’t enough. Content must be structured, reinforced, and clear enough for machines to evaluate and reuse confidently.
Many SEO strategies still optimize for recognition. But AI systems prioritize utility. If your authority can’t be located, verified, and extracted within a semantic system, it won’t shape retrieval.
This article explains how authority works in AI search, why familiar SEO practices fall short, and what it takes to build entity strength that drives visibility.
Why traditional authority signals worked – until they didn’t
For years, SEOs liked to believe that “doing E-E-A-T” would make sites authoritative.
Author bios were optimized, credentials showcased, outbound links added, and About pages polished, all in hopes that those signals would translate into authority.
In practice, we all knew what actually moved the needle: links.
E-E-A-T never really replaced external validation. Authority was still conferred primarily through links and third-party references.
E-E-A-T helped sites appear coherent as entities, while links supplied the real gravitas behind the scenes. That arrangement worked as long as authority could be vague and still rewarded.
It stops working when systems need to use authority, not just acknowledge it. In AI-driven retrieval, being recognized as authoritative isn’t enough. Authority still has to be specific, independently reinforced, and machine-verifiable, or it doesn’t get used.
Being authoritative but not used is like being “paid” with experience. It doesn’t pay the bills.
Search no longer operates on a flat plane of keywords and pages. AI-driven systems rely on a multi-dimensional semantic space that models entities, relationships, and topical proximity.
In that semantic space, entities function much like celestial bodies in physical space, discrete objects whose influence is defined by mass, distance, and interaction with others.
E-E-A-T still matters, but the framework version is no longer a differentiator. Authority is now evaluated in a broader context that can’t be optimized with a handful of on-page tasks.
In AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Claude, and similar systems, visibility doesn’t hinge on prestige or brand recognition. Those are symptoms of entity strength, not its source.
What matters is whether a model can locate your entity within its semantic environment and whether that entity has accumulated enough mass to exert influence.
That mass isn’t decorative. It’s built through third-party citations, mentions, and corroboration, then made machine-legible through consistent authorship, structure, and explicit entity relationships.
Models don’t trust authority. They calculate it by measuring how densely and consistently an entity is reinforced across the broader corpus.
Smaller brands don’t need to shine like legacy publishers. In a semantic system, apparent size and visibility don’t determine influence. Density does.
In astrophysics, some planets appear enormous yet exert surprisingly weak gravity because their mass is spread thinly. Others are much smaller, but dense enough to exert stronger pull.
AI visibility works the same way. What matters isn’t how large your brand appears to humans, but how concentrated and reinforced your authority is in machine-readable form.
The problem with E-E-A-T was never the concept itself. It was the assumption that trustworthiness could be meaningfully demonstrated in isolation, primarily through signals a site applied to itself.
Over time, E-E-A-T became operationalized as visible, on-page indicators: author bios, credentials, About pages, and lightweight citations.
These signals were easy to implement and easy to audit, which made them attractive. They created the appearance of rigor, even when they did little to change how authority was actually conferred.
That compromise held when search systems were willing to infer authority from proxies. It breaks down in AI-driven retrieval, where authority must be explicitly reinforced, independently corroborated, and machine-verifiable to carry weight.
Surface-level trust markers don’t fail because models ignore them. They fail because they don’t supply the external reinforcement required to give an entity real mass.
In a semantic system, entities gain influence through repeated confirmation across the broader corpus. On-site signals can help make an entity legible, but they don’t generate density on their own. Compliance isn’t comprehension, and E-E-A-T as a checklist doesn’t create gravitational pull.
In human-centered search, these visible trust cues acted as reasonable stand-ins. In LLM retrieval, they don’t translate. Models aren’t evaluating presentation or intent. They’re evaluating semantic consistency, entity alignment, and whether claims can be cross-verified elsewhere.
Applying E-E-A-T principles only within your own site won’t create the mass that machines need to recognize, align with, and prioritize your entity in a retrieval system.
AI doesn’t trust, it calculates
Human trust is emotional. Machine trust is statistical.
They reward clean extraction. Lists, tables, and focused paragraphs are easiest to reuse.
They cross-verify facts. Redundant, consistent statements across multiple sources appear more reliable than a single sprawling narrative.
Retrieval models evaluate confidence, not charisma. Structural decisions such as headings, paragraph boundaries, markup, and lists directly affect how accurately a model can map content to a query.
This is why ChatGPT and AI Overview citations often come from unfamiliar brands.
It’s also why brand-specific queries behave differently. When a query explicitly names a brand or entity, the model isn’t navigating the galaxy broadly. It’s plotting a short, precise trajectory to a known body.
With intent tightly constrained and only one plausible source of truth, there’s far less risk of drifting toward adjacent entities.
In those cases, the system can rely directly on the entity’s own content because the destination is already fixed. The models aren’t “discovering” hidden experts. They’re rewarding content whose structure reduces uncertainty.
The semantic galaxy: How entities behave like bodies
LLMs don’t experience topics, entities, or websites. They model relationships between representations in a high-dimensional semantic space.
That’s why AI retrieval is better understood as plotting a course through a system of interacting gravitational bodies rather than “finding” an answer. Influence comes from mass, not intention.
Over time, citations, mentions, and third-party reinforcement increase an entity’s semantic mass. Each independent reference adds weight, making that entity increasingly difficult for the system to ignore.
Queries move through this space as vectors shaped by intent. As they pass near sufficiently massive entities, they bend. The strongest entities exert the greatest gravitational pull, not because they are trusted in a human sense, but because they are repeatedly reinforced across the broader corpus.
Extractability doesn’t create that gravity. It determines what happens after attraction occurs. An entity can be massive enough to warp trajectories and still be unusable if its signals aren’t machine-legible, like a planet with enough gravity to draw a spacecraft in but no viable way to land.
Authority, in this context, isn’t belief. It’s gravity, the cumulative pull created by repeated, independent reinforcement across the wider semantic system.
Entity strength vs. extractability
Classic SEO emphasized backlinks and brand reputation. AI search desires entity strength for discovery, but demands clarity and semantic extractability to be included.
Entity strength – your connections across the Knowledge Graph, Wikidata, and trusted domains – still matters and arguably matters more now. Unfortunately, no amount of entity strength helps if your content isn’t machine-parsable.
Consider two sites featuring recognized experts:
One uses clean headings, explicit definitions, and consistent links to verified profiles.
The other buries its expertise inside dense, unstructured paragraphs.
Only one will earn citations.
LLMs need:
One entity per paragraph or section.
Explicit, unambiguous mentions.
Repetition that reinforces relationships (“Dr. Jane Smith, cardiologist at XYZ Clinic”).
Precision makes authority extractable. Extractability determines whether existing gravitational pull can be acted on once attraction has occurred, not whether that pull exists in the first place.
Structure like you mean it: Abstract first, then detail
LLM retrieval is constrained by context windows and truncation limits, as outlined by Lewis et al. in their 2020 NeurIPS paper on retrieval-augmented generation. Models rarely process or reuse long-form content in its entirety.
If you want to be cited, you can’t bury the lede.
LLMs read the beginning, but then they skim. After a certain number of tokens, they truncate. Basically, if your core insight is buried in paragraph 12, it’s invisible.
To optimize for retrieval:
Open with a paragraph that functions as its own TL;DR.
State your stance, the core insight, and what follows.
Expand below the fold with depth and nuance.
Don’t save your best material for the finale. Neither users nor models will reach it.
Stop ‘linking out,’ start citing like a researcher
The difference between a citation and a link isn’t subtle, but it’s routinely misunderstood. Part of that confusion comes from how E-E-A-T was operationalized in practice.
In many traditional E-E-A-T playbooks, adding outbound links became a checkbox, a visible, easy-to-execute task that stood in for the harder work of substantiating claims. Over time, “cite sources” quietly degraded into “link out a few times.”
A bad citation looks like this:
A generic outbound link to a blog post or company homepage offered as vague “support,” often with language like “according to industry experts” or “SEO best practices say.”
The source may be tangentially related, self-promotional, or simply restating opinion, but it does nothing to reinforce your entity’s factual position in the broader semantic system.
A good citation behaves more like academic referencing. It points to:
Primary research.
Original reporting.
Standards bodies.
Widely recognized authorities in that domain.
It’s also tied directly to a specific claim in your content. The model can independently verify the statement, cross-reference it elsewhere, and reinforce the association.
The point was never to just “link out.” The point was to cite sources.
Engineering retrieval authority without falling back into a checklist
The patterns below aren’t tasks to complete or boxes to tick. They describe the recurring structural signals that, over time, allow an entity to accumulate mass and express gravity across systems.
This is where many SEOs slip back into old habits. Once you say “E-E-A-T isn’t a checklist,” the instinct is to immediately ask, “Okay, so what’s the checklist?”
But engineering retrieval authority isn’t a list of tasks. It’s a way of structuring your entire semantic footprint so your entity gains mass in the galaxy the models navigate.
Authority isn’t something you sprinkle into content. It’s something you construct systematically across everything tied to your entity.
Make authorship machine-legible: Use consistent naming. Link to canonical profiles. Add author and sameAs schema. Inconsistent bylines fragment your entity mass.
Strengthen your internal entity web: Use descriptive anchor text. Connect related topics the way a knowledge graph would. Strong internal linking increases gravitational coherence.
Write with semantic clarity: One idea per paragraph. Minimize rhetorical detours. LLMs reward explicitness, not flourish.
Use schema and LLMS.txt as amplifiers: They don’t create authority. They expose it.
Audit your “invisible” content: If critical information is hidden in pop-ups, accordions, or rendered outside the DOM, the model can’t see it. Invisible authority is no authority.
E-E-A-T taught us to signal trust to humans. AI search demands more: understanding the forces that determine how information is pulled into view.
Rocket science gets something into orbit. Astrophysics navigates and understands the systems it moves through once there.
Traditional SEO focused on launching pages—optimizing, publishing, promoting. AI SEO is about mass, gravity, and interaction: how often your entity is cited, corroborated, and reinforced across the broader semantic system, and how strongly that accumulated mass influences retrieval.
The brands that win won’t shine brightest or claim authority loudest, nor will they be no-name sites simulating credibility with artificial corroboration and junk links.
They’ll be entities that are dense, coherent, and repeatedly confirmed by independent sources—entities with enough gravity to bend queries toward them.
In an AI-driven search landscape, authority isn’t declared. It’s built, reinforced, and made impossible for machines to ignore.
MSI’s RTX 5090 Lightning Z is now available in the UK, and it’s SUPER expensive MSI’s Uber-tier GeForce RTX 5090 Lightning Z graphics card is now available, and its pricing makes a regular RTX 5090 look cheap. At Scan Computers UK and Overclockers UK, this GPU is priced at £4,999.99. Is this the most expensive […]
I was given the privilege to check out the first 20 hours of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, and I’m already blown away by how much it’s evolving the gameplay and presentation of Monster Hunter’s JRPG spin-off series.
OpenAI researcher sounds the alarm over ChatGPT's ads, which could exploit users' psychology and most intimate secrets to bombard them with turbo-manipulative ads.
High on Life 2 reviews have landed ahead of its February 13, 2026 release, with the sequel earning a 75 on Metacritic. Critics praise its humor, expanded scope, and chaotic style, though some note bugs and limited evolution over the original.
Diablo 2 just got its biggest content update of the past couple of decades, and the outpouring of joy from the community is a thing to behold. The beloved game was just re-resurrected, and I couldn't be happier.
Microsoft is planning to bring back the ability to move and resize the Taskbar on Windows 11 as part of its effort to improve sentiment around the OS this year.
Wacom today announced the Wacom MovinkPad Pro EVA Edition, a limited-edition package created in collaboration with EVANGELION, the Japanese animated series. The Wacom MovinkPad Pro 14 is an all-in-one creative pad designed for professional-grade drawing and design on the go, without the need to connect to a computer.
The EVA Edition was planned as a collaboration model based on the Wacom MovinkPad Pro 14 and inspired by the distinctive aesthetic of the EVANGELION series, while retaining the original model's practicality as a professional creative tool.
The GeForce NOW sixth-anniversary festivities roll on this February, continuing a monthlong celebration of NVIDIA's cloud gaming service. This week brings even more reasons to join the party, as GeForce NOW launches on a new platform with support for Amazon Fire TV devices, and eight new games to keep the streaming going strong. The new app brings GeForce NOW directly to select Amazon Fire TV devices, so members can jump into their PC game libraries on the biggest screen in the house using a compatible controller.
The Cloud Turns Up the Heat
GeForce NOW continues to expand access across devices, supporting multiple platforms with the latest additions of Linux. From PCs and Macs to smartphones, browsers and smart TVs, the cloud delivers high-performance gaming to nearly any screen, on more devices than ever. Members tap into GeForce RTX power on the screens they already own, extending the value of their membership without extra hardware or complexity. That reach expands again with the launch of the GeForce NOW app on Amazon Fire TV. GeForce NOW is powering up the living room with the launch of the GeForce NOW app on Amazon Fire TV streaming sticks, leveling up big-screen gaming with PC-quality performance.
Samsung Display unveiled 'QD-OLED Penta Tandem,' a new premium technology brand built on its proprietary five-layer organic light-emitting structure, a core innovation unique to its QD-OLED panels. Samsung Display announced that it has completed trademark registration for the new brand, created to highlight the distinctive value of its five-layer organic light-emitting structure applied to QD-OLED panels for premium monitors and TVs. "Penta" comes from the Greek word for the number five.
QD-OLED expresses color using quantum dots that respond to light, with the blue emitting layer serving as the light source due to its high energy within the visible spectrum. Beginning last year, Samsung Display advanced the blue emitting layer stack from four layers to five, and applied the latest organic materials, completing a new generation of QD-OLED that delivers superior picture quality, efficiency, and peak brightness.
After a short period of teasing a Crimson Desert collaboration product, Sapphire recently revealed a fantasy adventure themed spin-off of its RDNA 4 flagship NITRO+ Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB custom graphics card. The sudden appearance of this special edition model roughly coincided with the launch of an AMD Ryzen/Radeon hardware + Pearl Abyss software promotional campaign. So far, Sapphire's marketing campaign—of the NITRO+ RX 9070 XT OC Crimson Desert Edition SKU—has not set a firm release date or confirmed day one pricing, although a (February 10) VideoCardz report proposed a "within February" window. The freshly-introduced card's EAN code (4895106297623) and manufacturing number (11348-10-20G) turned up online not long ago, and web searches—as of today—involving this info leads to several fresh e-tail listings in Germany and Austria.
Surprisingly, a couple of these shops state that they have Sapphire's latest top-end product "in stock," although the remainder outline about a week's worth of lead time. According to a regional price aggregator, Alternate.de offers the best deal—€919.99 (including VAT and delivery), which converts to ~$1093 USD. The additional Crimson Desert livery—consisting of an elaborate backplate print and distinctive fan stickers—seems to demand a significant premium, when compared to the vanilla Nitro+ design. For reference, Alternate has the standard SKU stocked for a total of €842.99 (~$1002 USD). The least appealing Crimson Desert Edition price tag comes in at €1109.40, via Kaufland.de's marketplace. Alternate GmbH's eBay store advertises stock at €773.10 (per unit), but this initial figure is deceptive—VAT gets added on in the checkout process, aligning with the aforementioned "best" €919.99 price point.
Lenovo Group Limited (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY), together with its subsidiaries ('the Group'), today reported results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2025/26, a quarter that delivered record revenues, accelerated profitability, and continued AI revenue expansion. During the quarter, overall group revenue reached an all-time fiscal quarter high of US$22.2 billion, up 18% year-on-year, with revenue from all business groups growing double-digit year-on-year. Excluding non-operating non-cash items and one-time gains and charges in Q3 FY24/25 and Q3 FY25/26, adjusted net income (profit attributable to equity holders - non-HKFRS) increased by 36% year-on-year to US$589 million, with adjusted net income margin expanding to 2.7%.
The results demonstrate the Group's ability to deliver on its promise of double-digit growth and sustained profitability, while proving its ability to manage through cycles by leveraging innovation to drive growth and operational excellence to navigate volatility. AI has become a leading multi-year growth engine for the Group, with AI-related revenue growing 72 percent year-on-year to represent nearly a third (32%) of overall Group revenue, driven by strong demand across AI devices, infrastructure, services, and solutions. The quarter was marked by strong topline growth, driven by expanding market leadership in PCs and Smart Devices, record volume and activation in smartphones, and all-time-high revenue from both the Infrastructure Solutions Group, and Services and Solutions Group.
Fosi Audio is keeping discrete sound cards alive by outperforming onboard audio solutions using premium components and professional tuning. The new Fosi Audio C3 is their latest external sound card (DAC + headphones AMP) targeted at PC gamers, bringing not just audio quality and richness that beats motherboard onboard audio solutions, but also AI-powered DSP effects, and physical controls on your desk.
To celebrate this launch, TechPowerUp and Fosi Audio are bringing our readers from around the world a unique opportunity to win one of this. Up for grabs are 10 Fosi Audio C3 AI-powered gaming sound cards (DAC + headphones amp). To participate, simply fill up a short form to help us get back to you if you've won. The giveaway is open from today until February 26th 2026.
It is official: AMD is now capturing 40% of the entire server CPU market revenue share, according to data from Mercury Research. In the final quarter of 2025, AMD EPYC server CPUs managed to capture 41.3% of the revenue in the server/data center market that hyperscalers are spending on. This is a 1.8% increase from Q3 2025 and an impressive 4.9% year-over-year growth in a multi-billion USD data center market. For unit share shipment, AMD now stands at 28.8%, meaning the company is actually selling more SKUs at a higher average selling price. Intel, on the other hand, now holds 71.2% of the unit share while capturing 58.7% of the revenue share, indicating that Intel Xeon processors are now selling for a lower ASP with more units needed to reach this revenue.
The situation in the desktop segment looks interesting as well, with AMD's revenue share in the desktop CPU market now at 42.6%, while the unit share is at 36.4%. Again, this means that AMD's Ryzen processors sell at a higher ASP, nearly capturing half of the desktop CPU revenue with a bit more than a third of the unit sales. This sector also grew 1.6% sequentially, while Ryzen CPUs won the hearts of 14.6% more gamers for a yearly revenue share increase.
Avalue Technology Inc. (TPEx: 3479.TWO), a provider specializing in industrial computer solutions, provides innovative, value-based motherboards that empower industries to enhance operational efficiency. In today's competitive landscape, choosing the right industrial motherboard can significantly boost productivity, streamline operations, and enable faster, more efficient outcomes across various industries. Avalue continues to lead the way in providing cutting-edge motherboard solutions by introducing Intel Panther Lake H Core Ultra (Series 3) H Series Processors motherboard.
Avalue's EMX-PTLP supports up to 64 GB of DDR5 7200 MHz SoDIMM/CSoDIMM max. memory, delivering a significant leap in data processing speeds. Optimized for the burgeoning AI market, the board delivers up to 180 TOPS of AI performance. With the integration of PCIe 5.0, users benefit from doubled bandwidth and ultra-low latency, providing the essential foundation for AI acceleration and high-performance computing (HPC) in embedded applications.
Hey everyone! We—at Sad Cat Studios and Thunderful Publishing—are beyond excited to share that the REPLACED demo is now officially out. It's been a long journey to get here, and we're so incredibly grateful for the support you've shown us - it means the world to us. This is the first time we're putting the game into your hands, and we are so excited to hear what you think—although a little nervous, of course! Thanks for sticking with us. Hope you enjoy your first trip into this world.
In the demo, you will play as R.E.A.C.H., an artificial intelligence trapped in a human body. In an alternate 1980s America reshaped by nuclear catastrophe, Phoenix-City has become one of the Corporation's strongholds - a haven for corruption where outlaws thrive, and human life is traded like currency. Expose the Corporation's hidden agenda and the truth behind your own creation in a journey that blends action-packed rebellion with an intimate exploration of what defines us as humans.
GMKtec has introduced the NucBox G3 Pro mini PC built around Intel's 10th Gen Core i3-10110U processor. The system targets everyday productivity and home use in a small 114 × 106 × 44 mm chassis weighing around 280 grams. The Core i3-10110U features 2 cores and 4 threads, with a base clock of 2.1 GHz and up to 4.1 GHz boost, alongside 4 MB of cache, and is suited for light everyday tasks or for a home NAS device. GMKtec lists configurable power profiles ranging from 8 W (silent mode) to 15 W (performance mode), cooled by a single-fan, single heat pipe design. Graphics are handled by Intel UHD Graphics. For memory, the device features two SO-DIMM slots for up to 64 GB DDR4 (32 GB ×2). The GMKtec NucBox G3 Pro offers dual M.2 slots supporting up to 8 TB. Pre-configured models are available with up to 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD.
For connectivity, the NucBox G3 Pro offers dual HDMI 1.4 outputs supporting dual-display operation (up to 4K at 24 Hz), Wi-Fi 6 (RTL8852BE), Bluetooth 5.2, and a 2.5 GbE LAN port based on Intel's i226 controller. I/O includes four USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, a 3.5 mm audio jack, DC input, a reset button, and a security lock slot. Pricing starts at $169.99 for the barebone configuration (no memory, storage, or OS), down from a listed MSRP of $309.99. An 8 GB + 256 GB model is available for $239.99, while the 16 GB + 512 GB variant is priced at $299.99.
Over the past few days, several gamers trying to buy a new Steam Deck have been unable to purchase the machine. Valve's increasingly popular handheld is nowhere to be found on the company's US store, with all three models listed as "out of stock" since Thursday.
Speaking in an interview with the Financial Times, Suleyman talked about "professional-grade AGI" and how Microsoft expects it to capture a large share of the enterprise market.
Wikipedia relies heavily on Archive.today because it is more effective than conventional alternatives, such as the Internet Archive. However, the properties that have made Archive.today so useful have also drawn the attention of the FBI, likely because the site circumvents the paywalls of numerous prominent media outlets.
Loxalize helps e-commerce brands and agencies translate and localize product images in seconds. Instead of redesigning visuals or relying on slow, manual workflows, Loxalize automatically detects text embedded inside images, translates it, and replaces it while preserving the original layout, fonts, and branding.
Built for scale, Loxalize lets teams localize thousands of product images in minutes, from promo banners and PDP visuals to ads and social creatives. During early access, we localized over 10,000 product images for a Spotify-related brand in under 5 days, without redesigning a single asset. Our goal is simple: remove friction from image localization.
All the ways to watch Pebble Beach Pro-Am 2026 live streams online from anywhere, as Rory McIlroy attempts to defend his title against a stacked field.
In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, FTC chair Andrew Ferguson cited reports from Media Research Center, a right-leaning think tank, which accused Apple of excluding right-leaning outlets from the top 20 articles in the Apple News feed.
As GeForce NOW continues to celebrate its sixth anniversary, NVIDIA's cloud gaming platform is arriving on more platforms to turn "every screen into a gaming machine." The GeForce NOW app is officially live on Amazon Fire TV devices, and eight games join the cloud gaming library. Including Warhorse Studio's medieval RPG, Kingdom Come: Deliverance and REANIMAL, the latest release from the original team behind the Little Nightmares games, Tarsier Studios. The news comes as part of yet another GFN Thursday, with a Capcom-dominated batch of games entering the cloud streaming service this week. Half of the eight games joining the […]
Apple was the only major smartphone OEM to record a meaningful year-over-year growth in China-related sales for the month of January 2026, with the rest of the OEMs having to contend with a veritable bevy of adverse base effects. Counterpoint Research: Apple recorded a year-over-year sales growth of 8 percent in China for January 2026, while other major OEMs recorded a double-digit percent decline As is evident from the above tabulation by Counterpoint Research, Apple recorded year-over-year sales growth of 8 percent in China for January 2026. However, all other major Chinese smartphone OEMs recorded double-digit-percent declines, largely due to […]
NVIDIA launched its flagship GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card based on the Blackwell GPU architecture last year in January. The graphics card took the performance capabilities to new heights, and also added various new technologies, including support for next-gen AI capabilities such as Neural Rendering, Neural Shaders, DLSS 4, and DLSS MFG. The latter two technologies have been updated to DLSS 4.5 and MFG6X modes, offering even better image quality and smoother gameplay. As the software side for Blackwell RTX 50 GPUs continues to improve, so does the hardware, but not from NVIDIA but rather its partners. At CES 2026, […]
Peter Molyneux, the original creator of the Fable franchise at Lionhead Studios, shared his first impressions on the upcoming reboot after watching the recent presentation at the Xbox Developer Direct 2026. Speaking with IGN, Molyneux revealed that he got emotional at the idea that the Fable IP, which he and the rest of Lionhead spent so much time on, would return. He also pointed out that it was a good idea for Playground to reboot the series, and added that he agreed with the twist of the protagonist's village inhabitants turning to stone at the beginning of the game. When […]
The most premium GeForce RTX 5090 has been officially priced at $5090, but you will have to enter a draw to win the chance to purchase it from MSI's website. However, many Indian retailers have started listing it for direct purchase. MSI RTX 5090 32G Lightning Z Officially Priced at $5090; MSI Starts Open Draw, but Several Indian Retailers List it at $9000-$9700 I am finally at peace seeing the RTX 5090 now costs $5090, but it's the most premium edition ever made. The MSI RTX 5090 32G Lightning Z, which has been officially listed on the MSI store, costs […]
The Snapdragon X Elite could achieve decent gaming performance in AAA games, but it was clear that there was a ton of improvement required, with one of the biggest hurdles being compatibility and optimization. Fortunately, Qualcomm has addressed the majority of those problems with its Snapdragon X2 Elite, with an initial gaming performance comparison showing that the latest SoC records a massive difference in the framerate. Unfortunately, that’s when our praises end because the chipset has immense difficulty against Apple’s M5, which registered up to a 69 percent performance improvement over its newest rival. Against the Snapdragon X Elite, the Snapdragon X2 […]
T-Mobile has just taken a significant step towards rolling out AI-powered services on its network, starting with a Live Translation feature with support for over 50 languages. T-Mobile is now embedding real-time AI services into its network, starting with a Live Translation feature for phone calls T-Mobile appears to be taking a lead in rolling out AI-powered services on its network, as illustrated by its just-announced Live Translation feature for phone calls. T-Mobile intends to officially launch this service in the spring of 2026 and is currently accepting registrations for the beta service from its postpaid members. Critically, T-Mobile notes […]
The open-source Mesa 3D graphics stack has reached a major milestone with the official release of Mesa 26.0, which brings significant improvements for AMD GPUs. Mesa 26.0 Officially Released, Offering Enhanced Vulkan Ray-Tracing Performance on AMD Radeon GPUs Mesa, which is the foundational open-source graphics library for hardware acceleration on Linux systems, has hit its next major milestone with the release of Mesa 26.0. With the release of Mesa 26.0, significant performance improvements, API support expansions, and driver improvements for Linux can be expected on platforms that rely on Mesa's OpenGL, Vulkan, and Gallium3D implementations. One of the major highlights […]
Asus brings bar-raising performance and extreme pixel density to its ROG Strix line with the XG27JCG. It’s a 27-inch 5K IPS screen with 5120x2880 pixels, 218ppi, 180 Hz, 330 Hz at QHD resolution, Adaptive-Sync, HDR600 and wide gamut color.
AI search visibility in beauty is increasingly shaped before a prompt is ever entered.
Brands that appear in generative answers are often those already discussed, validated, and reinforced across social platforms. By the time a user turns to AI search, much of the groundwork has been laid.
Using the beauty category as a lens, this article examines how social discovery influences brand visibility – and why AI search ultimately reflects those signals.
Discovery didn’t move to AI – it fragmented
Brand discovery has fragmented across platforms. AI tools influence mid-funnel consideration, but much discovery happens before a user enters a prompt.
The signals that determine AI visibility are formed upstream. By the time a user reaches generative search, preferences and perceptions may already be set. If brands wait until AI search to influence demand, the window to shape consideration has narrowed.
That upstream influence is increasingly social. Roughly two-thirds of U.S. consumers now use social platforms as search engines, per eMarketer research.
This shift extends beyond Gen Z and reflects how people validate information and discover brands. These same platforms consistently appear among the top citation sources in AI results. The dynamic is especially visible in the beauty category.
In a study our agency conducted with a beauty brand partner, we found that Reddit, YouTube, and Facebook ranked among the top cited domains in both AI Overviews and ChatGPT.
While Reddit is often viewed as an anti-brand environment, YouTube appears nearly as frequently in citation data, making it a logical and underutilized target for citation optimization.
The volume reality: Social behavior still outpaces AI
It’s easy to focus on headline figures around AI usage, including the billions of prompts processed daily. But when measured against business outcomes such as traffic and transactions, the scale looks different.
Social platforms are already embedded in mainstream search behavior. For many users, search-like activity on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube is habitual. Nearly 40% of TikTok users search the platform multiple times per day, and 73% search at least once daily.
Referral data reinforces the contrast. ChatGPT referral traffic accounted for roughly 0.2% of total sessions in a 12-month analysis of 973 ecommerce sites, a University of Hamburg and Frankfurt School working paper found. In the same dataset, Google’s organic search traffic was approximately 200 times larger than organic LLM referrals.
AI search is growing and strategically important. But in terms of repeat behavior, measurable sessions, and downstream transactions, social platforms and traditional search continue to operate at a substantially larger scale.
The validation loop: Why AI needs social
The most critical contrarian point for 2026 is that optimizing for social is also optimizing for AI. Large language models are not primary sources of truth. They function as mirrors, reflecting the consensus formed through human conversations in the data they are trained on.
AI systems also demonstrate skepticism toward brand-owned properties. One study found that only 25% of sources cited in AI-generated answers were brand-managed websites.
At the same time, AI engines prioritize third-party validation. Up to 6.4% of citation links in AI responses originated from Reddit, an analysis by OtterlyAI found. This outpaces many traditional publishers.
There’s also a measurable relationship between sentiment and visibility. Research shows a moderate positive correlation between positive brand sentiment on social media and visibility in AI search results.
Treating video as a “brand channel” or a social-first effort rather than a search surface is a strategic failure.
On platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, ranking signals are shaped by spoken language, on-screen text, and captions – signals AI crawlers increasingly use to “triangulate trust.”
In the beauty category, for example, ChatGPT accounts for about 4.3% of searches, while Google processes roughly 14 billion searches per day. However, for “how-to” and technique-based queries, consumers favor the detailed, personalized guidance of social-first video content.
Science-backed brands such as Paula’s Choice and CeraVe dominate AI-generated results because they publish deep, structured educational content. Meanwhile, more traditional marketing-led brands are significantly less visible.
The phrase “dermatologist recommended” correlates with high visibility in AI results because large language models treat expert social proof as a primary ranking signal, according to the same report.
Breaking the high-production barrier: Creating content at scale
One of the biggest hurdles brands cite is budget. Many believe they need a Hollywood production crew to compete in video environments. That is a legacy mindset.
In today’s environment, high-gloss production can be a deterrent. The current landscape rewards authenticity over polish. Consumers are looking for real people with real skin concerns, not highly filtered commercials.
Optimizing for video discovery doesn’t require filmmaking expertise. Brands can leverage internal talent without adding headcount.
Partner with creator platforms: Platforms such as Billow or Social Native allow brands to work with creators for as little as $500 per video. When mapped to a high-intent query, that investment can drive measurable search visibility outcomes.
Leverage social natives on staff: Often, the strongest asset is internal. Identify team members who are active on platforms such as TikTok and understand platform dynamics. Creating internal incentives or challenges to produce content can generate a steady stream of authentic assets while contributing to culture.
Make strategy the differentiator: A large following is not a prerequisite for visibility. In one case, a TikTok profile built from scratch with one part-time creator at $2,500 per month generated hundreds of thousands of views within 90 days. The focus was not on viral trends, but on meaningful transactional terms that drive revenue.
If a new profile can reach more than 100,000 views per video within three months on a limited budget, the barrier isn’t equipment. It’s clarity on the business case and disciplined execution.
The data is clear. Brands can’t win the generative engine if they’re losing the social conversation.
AI models function as mirrors, reflecting web consensus. If real users on Reddit, YouTube, and TikTok aren’t discussing a brand, AI systems have little to surface.
If marketers wait until a user reaches a ChatGPT prompt to shape perception, the opportunity has already narrowed.
Discovery happens upstream. Validation occurs in the loop between social proof and algorithmic citation.
Translating this into action requires rethinking team structure and priorities:
Stop the silos: Your SEO and social teams shouldn’t speak different languages. Both must focus on search surfaces.
Prioritize the “why” before the “what”: Don’t just fix a technical tag. Build the business case for how social sentiment and expert validation drive market share.
Embrace scrappy execution: Whether through $500 creator partnerships or internal social-native talent, start building authentic assets now.
We’re witnessing a shift from algorithm-driven discovery to community-driven discovery.
It’s agile and multidisciplinary, and when executed well, it can meaningfully impact the bottom line.
Local search remains one of the strongest drivers of consistent lead flow for service businesses.
Outdated SEO tactics are losing impact as Google’s algorithm updates reshape local visibility. Success now depends on disciplined tracking and consistent execution.
This 90-day sprint plan shows how to do both.
Why local visibility is more volatile in 2026
Many service businesses aren’t current on how local search has changed or how Google Maps now determines visibility. They have a Google Business Profile (GBP) and a website, yet the phone is quiet.
If a GBP isn’t visible, local prospects won’t find the business when they search for its services. That may sound obvious, but the rules behind that visibility have changed.
Much of that shift traces back to Google’s 2025 spam updates, which significantly cleaned up map results and tightened enforcement.
Review spam, keyword-stuffed business names, fake addresses, and profiles that don’t match real-world details are being filtered more aggressively. At the same time, Google is testing sponsored placements in the map pack, and AI-driven features are shaping how results appear.
The result? Volatility.
Rankings move even when nothing obvious has changed on the site. Business owners and SEOs regularly report drops in GBP impressions and map visibility in public forums. One thread doesn’t prove causation, but it reinforces a broader pattern: local search is less stable than many assume.
Shortcuts that once produced temporary lifts now carry long-term risk. Buying reviews, stuffing keywords into a business name, or stretching service areas beyond reality can lead to suspensions or lost visibility — often just as momentum begins to build.
If local visibility feels unstable, one of three core levers is usually weak. These levers form the foundation of any effective sprint plan and must work together.
Fix only one, and results will be inconsistent. Strengthen all three, and you create stability and sustained lead flow.
Lead lever
What it means
What it changes
Relevance
Google clearly understands your services and service area.
More map pack visibility.
Prominence
Reviews, links, mentions, and local trust signals.
More stability, more clicks.
Conversion
Your site and GBP make contacting you frictionless.
More leads from the same traffic.
Google evaluates local businesses across multiple signals, from proximity and service clarity to reputation and user behavior.
Durable relevance comes from real local authority – accurate categories, consistent citations, strong service pages, and steady review growth.
The 90-day sprint plan
Here’s a structured way to strengthen each of the three lead levers.
Sprint warm-up (Days 1-3): Establish your measurement baseline
If you don’t track from day one, local SEO becomes guesswork — and guesswork doesn’t generate consistent leads. Without clear attribution, you can’t fix what’s broken or scale what’s working.
When you begin working with a service business, start with attribution. Can you trace every call, form fill, and booking to its source? If not, optimization becomes trial and error.
Use the table below as a stop sign. If the core tracking elements aren’t in place, pause and fix them before moving forward.
Tracking checklist: Mark “yes” or “no.” This is your baseline.
Item
What “done” means
Yes / No
Notes
GA4 setup
GA4 installed and collecting data.
Search Console
Verified and connected.
GBP Insights
Baseline saved.
UTM on GBP link
UTM added in GBP website field.
Call tracking
Tracking number. Source known.
CallRail is a solid option
Form tracking
Form submit tracked. Source captured.
Booking tracking
Bookings tracked and attributed.
Weekly numbers
Weekly tracking routine set.
Monthly numbers
Monthly summary routine set.
Baseline snapshot: Complete the table below before making any changes. Save a monthly screenshot as a clear baseline as you run your 90-day sprint.
Metric
Last 7 days
Last 28 days
GBP calls
GBP website clicks
Form submissions
Booked jobs
GSC impressions
GSC clicks
Phase 1 (Days 4-10): Fix GBP fundamentals
Start by fixing issues with your GBP. It’s where Google gathers local signals and evaluates what your business offers. If your profile lacks clarity, even a strong website won’t compensate.
One basic element people often get wrong is the primary category. If you’re an HVAC contractor, your primary category should be “HVAC contractor,” not “Furnace repair service” or “Contractor.” Be exact.
Secondary categories should reflect allied services only. Many businesses add long lists of secondary categories, believing it will generate more calls. In reality, it can dilute relevance and weaken the primary category.
What about posts, geotagged images, inflated service areas, or keyword-stuffed business names? These tactics create activity, not impact.
GBP area
What to do
What to avoid
Primary category
Pick the closest match to your main money service
Picking a vague category “because it ranks”
Secondary categories
Only true supporting services
Adding everything under the sun
Services
Add real services you sell
Made up services to chase traffic
Description
Keep it simple. Service + areas + proof
Keyword soup
Photos
Real photos. Real jobs
Stock images and fake “before after”
Address and service area reality
Don’t try to cover an entire metro area if you can’t serve it. Set service areas based on reality and Google’s rules. If you’re not compliant, your profile faces a higher risk of suspension and video verification.
If you’re a service area business, be conservative. Focus on the radius you can serve well. It’s better to rank and convert strongly within your true radius than to look “bigger” on paper and struggle to build real signals.
Phase 2 (Days 11-35): Build service and location pages
This is core relevance work. Your GBP can be perfect, but if your website is thin, you’ll struggle to hold positions long term.
Many businesses have only a homepage and a contact page, yet expect Google to understand everything about what they offer.
Google needs clear service pages, and so do customers. Each page should focus on one service and explain the process, benefits, and expectations in depth. These pages aren’t just for rankings—they answer questions, reduce hesitation, and drive calls.
Start with your highest-value pages:
Top 2-3 services you sell most.
Top 2-4 areas you truly serve within a two-hour drive.
Focus on your actual location and radius. That’s where you can build the right signals.
For example, if you’re a plumber in Mississauga, Ontario, and you create thin location pages for every city in the Greater Toronto Area, you may get impressions. But without real proof, real jobs, and real conversion strength, those pages rarely hold. You end up with a bloated site that’s hard to maintain and easy for Google to ignore.
What a money service page must include: This isn’t “SEO copy.” This is how you win calls.
Block
What to include
Pricing range
A range. Not “call for quote.” Explain why your pricing differs.
Process
How do you do the service, step-by-step?
Proof
Licenses. Accreditations. Awards. Local reviews.
FAQs
Real answers to real questions customers ask.
CTA
Call. Form. Booking. Make it easy for your potential customers.
On pricing, don’t overthink it. You don’t need a perfect quote on the page — just a range and a reason for that range.
Why is your pricing different?
What is included?
What changes the price?
What does “emergency” mean?
These details turn tire-kicking visitors into qualified calls.
Location pages: Do them right or don’t do them at all
Copy-paste location pages are a common mistake. You can’t just swap the city name and call it a strategy.
Use this checklist to ensure each location page is unique and robust:
Location page element
What makes it real
Local proof
Photos. Projects. Neighborhood references you actually serve
Service fit
Only services you provide in that area
Local FAQs
“Do you serve X.” “What’s the travel fee.” “Same-day service”
Contact
Phone and booking paths that work on mobile
A simple and effective internal linking structure
Build internal links on your site like they are a map. Because they are, for both site visitors as well as Google. If you leave pages disconnected, you waste the work you put into them. Check that:
Service pages link to relevant location pages.
Location pages link to top services.
Relevant blog posts link to money pages.
Phase 3 (Days 36-70): Strengthen reviews and local authority
Phase 3 is about cadence. Continuity beats bursts. At this point, many feel tempted to “go hard for two weeks” and then move on to something else.
That’s the wrong pattern for reviews and trust signals. A steady flow is safer and more believable.
Reviews. Weekly. Forever.
Collect reviews every week, not all at once and then radio silence. Put into place practices that regularly solicit reviews from recent customers.
Also, make customers aware of what they can mention in reviews.
The service you provided.
Their location (neighborhood/city).
Joy Hawkins has published case studies on review recency and performance, and continues to reinforce the idea that fresh reviews matter. But the bigger point is that this means utilizing a complete review strategy, not just a one-time push.
Clear, consistent citations won’t fix a bad business. But they reduce confusion and strengthen local trust signals. The goal here is not “more listings.” The goal is “no contradictions.”
Your name, address, and phone number (NAP) should match across:
GBP.
Website.
Local citations.
Local links that make sense
Don’t buy backlinks. Build local authority that is real. What might this look like?
Your City’s Chamber of Commerce membership and listing.
Supplier and partner pages (real ones).
Sponsoring local teams and events.
Local causes.
PR-worthy local stories.
Partner pages built through real value.
Spammy link tactics might give your site a short boost. But they’re harmful in the long run.
Also, make certain that links are geographically sensible. If you’re a business in Canada, focus on links from Canada and not from random overseas sites. Relevance matters, and locality matters the most.
Phase 4 (Days 71-90): Scale what’s working and report results
By the end of Month 3, your GSC queries should start to look up. Higher impressions. Better clicks.
If not, take a look at your pages that are in Positions 6-20. That’s where you’re getting impressions, but you’re not getting clicks.
This is where many businesses make mistakes. A big one is that they keep publishing new pages instead of improving pages that are already close to winning.
When you see queries and pages with Positions 6-20 in GSC
If you have pages that are ranking in these positions, here are some things you can fix to help them move up:
Update page titles to make certain that are relevant.
Add answers on those pages to the questions your customers usually ask.
Chunk the Q&A so that it’s easier for the crawler to scan.
This matches how people consume information today: fast, on mobile, and looking for direct answers.
Simple reporting dashboard
Here’s a simple dashboard to help you keep track of how you’re doing during the 90-day sprint and beyond. Use it consistently to track growth.
An ongoing local SEO plan outperforms one-time optimization
Local SEO is no longer something you “set up” and revisit later. Rankings shift. Reviews age. Competitors publish new pages. Google adjusts the map pack. One-time optimization fades faster than most teams expect.
A 90-day sprint enforces consistency—tracking before changing anything, fixing core GBP issues, building real service pages, collecting reviews weekly, and improving pages already close to ranking instead of chasing new ones. The gains compound.
IIt also keeps you away from the shortcuts that create problems in the first place. No:
Keyword-stuffed business names.
Fake addresses.
Bought reviews.
Copy-paste location pages.
Random secondary categories.
Purchased backlinks.
Just as important, no operational gaps. If calls go unanswered or booking paths break, prospects move to the next listing. Over time, that lost engagement shows up in performance.
Local SEO in 2026 rewards businesses that operate like real businesses—clear, consistent, responsive. A 90-day sprint builds that rhythm. One-time optimization doesn’t.
The Freezer 4U Series delivers cooling performance for modern data centers with diverse processor architectures and high-performance server CPUs. With its newest addition, the Freezer 4U-OneX, the series is now also fully compatible with AmpereOne processors on the LGA5964 socket. The Freezer 4U-OneX not only includes MX-7 thermal paste which will be applied to the die, but also thermal pads that are placed on the IHS to ensure full thermal coverage.
Thanks to its push-pull fan configuration and large surface, the Freezer 4U-OneX delivers highly efficient heat dissipation. This ensures maximum performance even under heavy workloads. With a compact height of just 151 mm, the single-tower cooler fits seamlessly into standard 4U server cases and larger.
Alphacool International GmbH from Braunschweig is a pioneer in PC water-cooling technology. With one of the most comprehensive product portfolios in the industry and over 20 years of experience, Alphacool is now expanding its portfolio with the Core Distro Plates V.2.
The Core Distro Plate V.2 is the ideal solution for custom water-cooling systems, featuring a revised design that provides greater installation flexibility and simplifies the planning, setup, and maintenance of even complex cooling loops. Chrome-plated brass G1/4" fittings, directly embedded into the acrylic, ensure maximum leak protection and a premium appearance. The reduced depth, optimized port arrangement, and integrated drain port enable short, clean tubing runs and convenient system draining.
Colorful Technology Company Limited, a leading brand in gaming PC components, gaming laptops, and Hi-fi audio products, announces the upcoming launch of its new COLORFUL EVOL P15 gaming laptops, expanding the EVOL lineup with next-generation NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50-series graphics. Designed for gamers, creators, and performance-focused users, the EVOL P15 series combines modern processors, high-refresh-rate displays, and refined industrial styling in a versatile 15.6-inch form factor.
The EVOL P15 series will be available in two configurations, featuring NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 and RTX 5050 Laptop GPUs. Both models emphasize smooth gameplay, responsive multitasking, and color-accurate displays, supported by DDR5 memory, PCIe SSD storage, and advanced cooling solutions. With Windows 11 Home pre-installed alongside WPS productivity software, the EVOL P15 laptops are built to deliver balanced performance for gaming, content creation, and everyday computing.
In Win Development Inc. (InWin), an award-winning innovator in PC chassis design and engineering, today announces the launch of the W50, a new mid-tower panoramic chassis. The W50 combines InWin's signature architectural aesthetic in the shape of a "W" with an expansive interior capacity and advanced thermal management, appealing to a variety of builds.
Iconic W-Shaped Panoramic Glass
The W50 features three tempered glass panels arranged in InWin's distinctive W-shaped split-line configuration, delivering an uninterrupted panoramic view of internal components. Dual-way mirrored glass reveals system hardware when illuminated and while transforming into a refined mirror finish when powered off.
The thought experiment began with a number. Single-mode fiber optics can now transmit data at 256 terabits per second over 200 kilometers. Based on that capacity, Carmack estimated that about 32 gigabytes of information are stored in the cable at any given moment.
The "Penta" part in the new branding is literal. Samsung Display says the blue OLED light source inside its QD-OLED panels has moved from a four-layer structure to a five-layer, tandem-style stack.
After Discord announced plans to require age verification for all users, a free, HTML-based tool emerged that aims to bypass facial scans on the platform and potentially other services. Responses from facial scan developers could launch a cat-and-mouse game between age verification services and users.
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