New FPGA-powered retro console re-creates the PlayStation, CD-ROM drive optional
Retro game enthusiasts may already be acquainted with Analogue, a company that designs and manufactures updated versions of classic consoles that can play original games but also be hooked up to modern...
View ArticlePebble’s founder wants to relaunch the e-paper smartwatch for its fans
"We're making new Pebble watches," writes original Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky on the "rePebble" launch page. Eight years after Pebble's time as an upstart watchmaker came to an end, Migicovsky says...
View ArticleFor the first time, a privately developed aircraft has flown faster than sound
High above a barren California desert on Tuesday, a privately developed aircraft broke the sound barrier for the first time when Boom Supersonic's XB-1 demonstrator reached Mach 1.122. Piloted by a...
View ArticleStreaming prices climb in 2025 after already surpassing inflation rates
If you were hoping for a respite from rising streaming subscription fees in 2025, you’re out of luck. Several streaming providers have already increased monthly and/or annual subscription rates,...
View ArticleReview: Nvidia’s $999 GeForce RTX 5080 falls disappointingly short of the 4090
Nvidia's GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card was faster than the RTX 3080 card it replaced. But it was also faster than the RTX 3080 Ti, 3090, and 3090 Ti. One of the good things about a new graphics card...
View ArticleMicrosoft updates Intel-based Surface PCs, if you can pay for them
Microsoft switched the Surface Pro tablet and both sizes of Surface Laptop from Intel and AMD's processors to Qualcomm's Arm-based processors last summer, part of a renewed hardware and software push...
View ArticleIn Apple’s first-quarter earnings, the Mac leads the way in sales growth
Apple fell slightly short of investor expectations when it reported its first-quarter earnings today. While sales were up 4 percent overall, the iPhone showed signs of weakness, and sales in the...
View ArticleGoogle Pixel 4a’s ruinous “Battery Performance” update is a bewildering mess
What exactly is wrong with the batteries in some of Google's Pixel 4a phones still out there? Google has not really said. Now that many Pixel 4a owners are experiencing drastically reduced battery life...
View ArticleMicrosoft 365’s VPN feature will be shut off at the end of the month
Last month, Microsoft announced that it was increasing the prices for consumer Microsoft 365 plans for the first time since introducing them as Office 365 plans more than a decade ago. Microsoft is...
View ArticlePopular Linux orgs Freedesktop and Alpine Linux are scrambling for new web...
In what is becoming a sadly regular occurrence, two popular free software projects, X.org/Freedesktop.org and Alpine Linux, need to rally some of their millions of users so that they can continue...
View ArticleFramework Laptop’s RISC-V board for open source diehards is available for $199
We've covered the Framework Laptop 13 primarily as a consumer Windows laptop, reviewing versions with multiple Intel and AMD processors. But the system's modular nature makes it possible to expand it...
View ArticleMany Americans still don’t understand how easily IoT devices can get bricked
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but your connected gadgets need software updates to retain not just their security but also, frequently, key features. If you read Ars Technica regularly, you...
View ArticleAs Internet enshittification marches on, here are some of the worst offenders
Two years ago, a Canadian writer named Cory Doctorow coined the phrase "enshittification" to describe the decay of online platforms. The word immediately set the Internet ablaze, as it captured the...
View ArticleLet’s Encrypt is ending expiration notice emails—for some very good reasons
Let's Encrypt has been providing free "wildcard" certificates for websites for nearly seven years, enabling HTTPS connections for millions of domains and doing the whole Internet a real solid. Now the...
View ArticleAMD promises “mainstream” 4K gaming with next-gen GPUs as current-gen GPU...
AMD announced its fourth-quarter earnings yesterday, and the numbers were mostly rosy: $7.7 billion in revenue and a 51 percent profit margin, compared to $6.2 billion and 47 percent a year ago. The...
View ArticleReport: iPhone SE could shed its 10-year-old design “as early as next week”
The rumor mill's most reliable sources have been pointing to a refresh for Apple's low-end $429 iPhone SE to land early this year, and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that the launch could be coming...
View ArticleDeveloper creates endless Wikipedia feed to fight algorithm addiction
On Wednesday, a New York-based app developer named Isaac Gemal debuted a new site called WikiTok, where users can vertically swipe through an endless stream of Wikipedia article stubs in a manner...
View ArticleHandful of users claim new Nvidia GPUs are melting power cables again
Here we (maybe) go again: Reports from a handful of early adopters of Nvidia's new GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card are reporting that their power cables are melting (so far, there's at least one report...
View ArticleWhat you need to know about the T-Mobile Starlink mobile service
T-Mobile yesterday announced more details of its new service powered by Starlink and said Verizon and AT&T customers can use the satellite offering, too. The standard price will be $15 a month as...
View ArticleiOS 18.3.1 update fixes security flaw used in “extremely sophisticated attack”
Apple has released new security fixes for iPhones and iPads in the form of iOS 18.3.1 and iPadOS 18.3.1. According to Apple's release notes, these updates patch an actively exploited security flaw in...
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