Xbox’s weirdest studio is on a roll
Xbox’s weirdest studio is on a roll

For a while there, it seemed like Double Fine might be struggling under the Microsoft corporate umbrella. The game studio led by Tim Schafer is beloved for offbeat titles like Brütal Legend and Broken Age, but after being acquired by Microsoft in 2019, its only new release for years was a long-awaited sequel to Psychonauts. […]

Sho Miyake answers life’s greatest questions
Sho Miyake answers life’s greatest questions

Acclaimed Japanese director Sho Miyake has arrived in the States. He’s brought with him two feature films: Small, Slow But Steady and Two Seasons, Two Strangers, a pair of naturalistic portraits that deal with the uneasy human desire to relate to other people. Seclusion and unease are bedrocks to Miyake’s growing filmography. “I like these […]

The US gets the worst phones
The US gets the worst phones

Apple and Samsung dominate the US phone market, and they’ve done so for years. Together with Google, they’ve shaped our sense of what a smartphone is and what it can do, pushing the boundaries of mobile photography, software, and processing power. But over the last few years, they’ve sat back, content to iterate rather than […]

360-degree cameras have a new superpower
360-degree cameras have a new superpower

Imagine Google Street View, except you can walk around like it’s a video game. Now imagine you don’t need to wait for Google to come film because it’s completely DIY. Insta360, the leading maker of 360-degree cameras, is now partnered with a 12-person UK startup called Splatica to help creators do just that. Last January, […]

The Trump phone still isn’t real
The Trump phone still isn’t real

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. We’re back to being ignored, and the phone seems no closer to an actual launch. Last week Trump Mobile overhauled its website, in the process officially revealing the updated design […]

A new Republican privacy bill could be ‘worse than no standard at all’
A new Republican privacy bill could be ‘worse than no standard at all’

Congress is once again attempting to pass a national data privacy law. But while it would introduce new protections in some states, it would weaken privacy rights in others – and it’s missing several elements that privacy advocates deem necessary. The SECURE Data Act is the product of a Republican data privacy working group led […]

Musk vs. Altman is here, and it’s going to get messy
Musk vs. Altman is here, and it’s going to get messy

Elon Musk cofounded OpenAI, and then flounced off in a huff when he wasn’t anointed CEO, leaving Sam Altman as the last power-hungry man standing. Now, Musk is back with a lawsuit, and a trial is scheduled to start in Oakland, California, on April 27th. Theoretically, it’s a legal case about whether OpenAI defrauded Musk. […]

Microsoft’s new Xbox chief is ‘reevaluating’ exclusive games
Microsoft’s new Xbox chief is ‘reevaluating’ exclusive games

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma held an all-hands meeting this morning and laid out her strategy for a “return of Xbox” with employees. While rebranding Microsoft Gaming back to Xbox was part of the agenda, Sharma also revealed that Xbox is looking into “reevaluating” Xbox exclusive games and windowed releases of titles. It’s a hot topic […]

Democrats want to ban ICE from turning warehouses into detention centers
Democrats want to ban ICE from turning warehouses into detention centers

A bill introduced by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) would prohibit the Department of Homeland Security from converting warehouses and similar buildings into immigrant detention centers, an attempt to slow President Donald Trump’s mass deportations campaign. The Ban Warehouse Detention Act would also forbid Immigration and Customs Enforcement from developing other “non-traditional” detention facilities. “ICE and […]

Spirit is broken
Spirit is broken

The bright yellow livery of Spirit Airlines may soon disappear from the skies. The country’s seventh-largest airline has been in financial trouble for years: It hasn’t turned a profit since 2019 and filed for bankruptcy twice in the last two years. Despite all that, its leaders predicted that the airline could exit bankruptcy and return […]