Author Archives: Anna Washenko

Toyota’s still trying to make hydrogen fuel cells happen

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Toyota is teaming up with Daimler and Volvo to work on fuel cell technology. The Japanese company is signing on to the joint venture cellcentric that Volvo and Daimler launched back in 2020. Once it officially joins, Toyota and cellcentric will collaborate on managing the development and production of fuel cell unit cells. 

"We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to soon be joining Daimler Truck and Volvo Group as partners in building a hydrogen society," Toyota President and CEO Koji Sato said. "cellcentric which possess deep expertise in commercial fields together with Toyota ‘s over 30 years of fuel-cell development in the passenger car sector, can combine their strengths to deliver one of the world-leading fuel cell systems for heavy commercial vehicles."

It's a move that runs counter to where the auto industry has been trending. Last year, Stellantis announced that it would end its hydrogen fuel cell development program. That's the company that owns brands including Chrysler, Citroen, Fiat, Jeep and Peugeot. GM also gave up on hydrogen in 2025. Even Toyota had rethought some of its commitment to hydrogen last year, pivoting to emphasize industrial applications rather than commercial ones.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/toyotas-still-trying-to-make-hydrogen-fuel-cells-happen-202237728.html?src=rss

The UK’s antitrust regulator is looking into Microsoft’s possible monopoly power

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The UK's Competition and Markets Authority is once more turning its lens on Microsoft. The tech company will be the focus of an investigation by the regulator to see if it can be assigned strategic market status (SMS). The CMA already has "a major concern" with Microsoft's alleged limiting of competition in the cloud space via productivity software like Word and Excel, chat app Teams, AI companion Copilot and even Windows itself. The SMS designation "would allow the CMA to act" against the company. The investigation will begin in May.

In addition, the UK regulator is also following up on an inquiry into Microsoft and Amazon from 2025, where it sought to exert more control over the domestic cloud services market. As a result of that action, the CMA said Amazon and Microsoft have agreed to a plan involving egress fees and interoperability around cloud services. "These changes will reduce expense and effort for UK customers when using more than one cloud provider," the CMA bulletin states.

The CMA has frequently had Microsoft in its sights. The company sparked an investigation in 2023 for its relationship with OpenAI and in 2024 for its actions hiring staff from Inflection AI.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/the-uks-antitrust-regulator-is-looking-into-microsofts-possible-monopoly-power-182221704.html?src=rss

Amazon adds dynamic food delivery ordering to Alexa+

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Amazon announced that it is adding new capabilities for ordering food delivery with its Alexa+ artificial intelligence assistant. Users will be able to place orders using natural language on Alexa+ through the GrubHub or Uber Eats platforms, provided they have an Amazon device with a large screen. First, you'll need to connect an account for those delivery services to use the feature. You can ask to see restaurants with a specific cuisine or tell the assistant to go right to a favorite spot. Once you start an order, Alexa+ will also support natural language requests and, if you ask for something generic, the assistant will match it to the most similar item on the menu. It should also support more detailed queries like "what are kid-friendly options?" and be able to submit special requests like "no onions." 

To start, this ordering capability will be available for Alexa+ customers using the Echo Show 8 or larger devices. The screen should reflect your order, with any changes shown in real time. Amazon made the Alexa+ subscription available to all US customers earlier this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/amazon-adds-dynamic-food-delivery-ordering-to-alexa-130000065.html?src=rss

BOXROOM lets you build a cozy game room for your Steam library

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Your game collection says a lot about you. With a cute new game, you can also give your collection a space that's just as personalized. BOXROOM is a building sim where the whole purpose is creating a space to show off your game library. You can select furniture, paint and lighting, then you choose games from your Steam library to display on your virtual shelves. Titles appear in game boxes, giving it a throwback feel to the days where a game collection had to be physical. Once complete, the room serves as a launcher, allowing you to boot up a title from the game box. The demo is available now, and the team said that BOXROOM will launch in early access soon. 

This is a fun idea, although it's unlikely that you'd fit your entire collection into even this virtual space if your Steam library starts to number in the hundreds, or even thousands, of games. As with an IRL space, you'd need a warehouse rather than a cute, cozy room. But if you wanted to have a curated selection of your go-to titles in a customized virtual space, this might be a fun addition to your already sizable collection. Or, if you want a virtual reality take on a similar idea, EmuVR might be worth a look.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/boxroom-lets-you-build-a-cozy-game-room-for-your-steam-library-215349560.html?src=rss

Deus Ex game studio Eidos Montreal cuts 124 jobs

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Another day, another announcement of game industry job cuts. The latest restructuring is happening at Eidos Montreal, which stated that 124 people are being laid off. As with so many similar cuts, the studio's LinkedIn post credited the downsizing to "a result of changing project needs and impacts across production and support teams." The company is also parting ways with its studio head, David Anfossi. 

Eidos Montreal has worked on titles within the Deus Ex and Tomb Raider franchises, as well as Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy and Marvel's Avengers games. It is one of the many companies owned by Embracer Group, which snapped up a bunch of studios but has been stuck in a downsizing in a loop following an expensive restructuring of its own gaming empire during 2023 and 2024. That activity reportedly included axing a planned new Deus Ex game that Eidos Montreal was working on.

The post from Eidos Montreal didn't specify what projects it is currently active on, although it has said it is involved with the upcoming Grounded 2 from Obsidian Entertainment and the reimagined Fable from Playground Games.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/deus-ex-game-studio-eidos-montreal-cuts-124-jobs-205057796.html?src=rss

Google Gemini now lets you import your chats and data from other AI apps

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Google is adding a pair of new features to Gemini aimed at making it easier to switch to the AI chatbot. Personal history and past context are big components to how a chatbot provides customized answers to each user. Gemini now supports importing history from other AI platforms. Both free and paid consumer accounts can use these options. 

With the first option, Gemini can create a prompt asking a competitor's AI chatbot to summarize what it has learned about you. The result might include details such as your typical written communication style, your family members' names or your key preferences. The other AI tool's summary can then be pasted into Gemini, providing Google's platform with a preliminary profile. 

The second option allows users to import their entire chat history with a different AI assistant into Gemini. Doing so allows people to reference earlier conversations or requests made on a different platform after migrating to the Google option. 

Anthropic recently introduced a similar memory import feature, so Google may also be hoping to scoop up some of the people who are dropping OpenAI following its shady-sounding new arrangement with the Department of War. Whatever the motivation, these options should make it easier to have a seamless transition between providers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-gemini-now-lets-you-import-your-chats-and-data-from-other-ai-apps-225711015.html?src=rss

Stalker 2 is getting its first DLC, Cost of Hope, this summer

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Stalker 2 is getting its first DLC, titled Cost of Hope, this summer. The expansion and its general release window was announced during today's Xbox Partner Preview showcase. 

It's been more than a year since the base game finally released, closing a long development cycle that was disrupted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, where the studio GSC Game World was initially based. Stalker 2 was released on PlayStation 5 in the interim, but otherwise, the team has been focused on making this substantial DLC. 

Stalker 2: Cost of Hope will add two new regions and a new story that takes place alongside the events of the base game. You still play as protagonist Skif as you negotiate between two factions, Duty and Freedom, that have opposing views of the Zone and how to approach it. 

The blog post teased that there will be a second expansion on the way to close out the full Stalker 2 story as a trilogy. For now, the survival-horror saga will continue when Cost of Hope drops for the Xbox Series X/S, Xbox Cloud, Xbox on PC, PC and PlayStation 5 this summer.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/stalker-2-is-getting-its-first-dlc-cost-of-hope-this-summer-183009759.html?src=rss

Serious Sam: Shatterverse will hit Xbox platforms this year

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The Serious Sam game franchise is back with a new entry, giving the FPS series a co-op roguelite twist. Basically it's getting the Nightreign treatment in the same way Elden Ring did.

The latest title is Serious Sam: Shatterverse, where teams of up to five players will take on waves of perennial foe Mental's monster goons. Each run will offer the usual roguelite approach of upgrade options to make your team more powerful. And if you're a long-time fan of the series, the trailer has plenty of the same broad, loud humor; for instance, the three upgrade cards shown are all ball jokes. Behavior Interactive, the studio behind Dead by Daylight, is helming the project.

Serious Sam: Shatterverse will arrive on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox on PC and Xbox Cloud some time this year. Considering the first quarter is nearly over, the team is probably targeting the second half of 2026, but that's only a guess.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/serious-sam-shatterverse-will-hit-xbox-platforms-this-year-174620271.html?src=rss

WhatsApp rolls out updates including multiple accounts for iOS

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WhatsApp shared multiple quality of life updates coming to its messaging platform starting today. The first is a long awaited option to have two accounts on a single iOS device. The option has been available for years on Android, and iPhone users can now be logged into two separate accounts at once. The profile photo for the account will be visible in the bottom tab to double-check which persona you're messaging as. 

The other new features allow for easier movement of chat histories, both between platforms and devices in the same ecosystem. This chat transfer should make it easier to retain messages when upgrading to a new phone, especially if you're switching between iOS and Android. There's also a new option to delete large files directly from a WhatsApp chat to avoid storage clutter. It's available under the Manage Storage option when you tap a chat's name. It includes an option to delete just media files from a conversation. 

And of course it wouldn't be a tech news announcement without at least some AI features present. WhatsApp now supports using Meta AI for light photo editing, including removing backgrounds, changing aesthetic styles and deleting elements from the composition. There's also a Writing Help prompt that uses AI to help draft a message, although Meta's blog post states that using this still keeps chats private. The above features should be arriving to all WhatsApp users “soon,” according to the company.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/whatsapp-rolls-out-updates-including-multiple-accounts-for-ios-130000252.html?src=rss

HBO Max’s Harry Potter series premieres this Christmas

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HBO released a teaser trailer and premiere date for its take on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The show will premiere on the HBO Max streaming network this December 25. It's a rare case where a big-ticket project is coming out earlier than anticipated instead of later; the series wasn't expected to arrive until 2027. 

HBO has already proved its bona fides with lush adaptations of fantastical stories several times over, and this trailer looks like more of the same. The team behind the camera includes notable names who have worked on series such as Succession, Game of Thrones, The Last of Us and Killing Eve. Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling, who alienated many fans after outing herself as transphobic, is also one of the show's executive producers.

Engadget's Jess Conditt has already written eloquently on the struggle of when and how to engage with the Harry Potter franchise while rejecting Rowling's worldview, although the author’s involvement at the top level may make this adaptation a harder sell to the disillusioned community than, say, the Hogwarts Legacy video game where Rowling was barely involved and the studios took a more proactive approach toward presenting many types of diversity, including gender expression. If you’re hyped for this particular show, seems you'll have a shorter time to wait for it.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/hbo-maxs-harry-potter-series-premieres-this-christmas-202818238.html?src=rss