The first reviews of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond are in, and the results are a relief. It's not the best Nintendo Switch game ever made, but Retro Studios' long-in-development latest avoided catastrophe with positive reviews. A day before launch, it sits at an aggregate score of 80 on Metacritic and 82 on OpenCritic. Metroid Prime 4 is the perfect game to cap off the Nintendo Switch era, bookending what was started by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Passwords were never a good solution, and they were simply the solution that was easy to deploy. For decades, users have been expected to memorize dozens of unique strings, change them every so often in case a service had been breached, and avoid reusing them across services, but the data suggests that very few people actually take these steps. The rise of credential-stuffing attacks, phishing campaigns, and massive password leaks shows just how fragile the system is and has been for years. That's why passkeys are now posited as the modern alternative: secure by default, resistant to phishing, and practically impossible to brute-force. On paper, the shift should be an obvious win for both users and developers.

Although keyboards don't go out all that often, it can happen. And when it does happen, you don't want to be left struggling to find a replacement. Now, you could go out and buy your dream keyboard, but most folks will want to stick to something affordable to quickly get back on their feet.

It’s getting harder and harder for the Hubble and other telescopes orbiting Earth to capture pristine images thanks to the sudden surge in satellite launches. Satellite trails could mess up nearly 40 percent of images the Hubble takes and up to 96 percent of those taken by three other telescopes over the next decade, according to a study by NASA researchers published today in the journal Nature. That could jeopardize scientists’ ability to spot worrisome asteroids or discover new planets, they warn. Our view of space just gets fuzzier without efforts to limit light pollution from new megaconstellations of satellites.The scale of the problem is astounding“My career has been focused on trying to make telescopes see better … try to make the telescopes more sensitive, more precise, getting better images,” says Alejandro Borlaff, a NASA research scientist and lead author of the study. “For the first time, we found something that may actually be worse in the future.” The scale of the problem is astounding. Cheaper launch costs and the proliferation of telecommunications satellites like Starlink’s have opened up a Pandora’s box of new challenges in space. Satellite trails, which look like streaks of light, were already detected in 4.3 percent of images taken by the Hubble between 2018 and 2021. The number of satellites orbiting Earth has grown from 5,000 in 2019 to more than 15,800 today, according to the European Space Agency. That number could reach as high as 560,000 if currently planned satellite launches proceed over the next 10 years or so. Borlaff and his colleagues simulated the view that four telescopes are likely to have after all those launches. With that much crowding in space, they project that the Hubble telescope could inadvertently capture an average of 2.14 satellites per exposure. The Chinese Space Station Telescope Xuntian, one of the other telescopes included in the study that’s expected to launch next year, could see an average of 92 satellites per exposure. The Hubble is less likely to catch as many satellites in its images because of its narrower field of view. Fortunately, other powerful telescopes, including the James Webb, orbit far enough from Earth to avoid light contamination from satellites.View LinkThe issue goes beyond accidentally including a satellite (or many) among the visions of swirling nebulae, stars, and distant planets these telescopes capture. The satellites reflect light from the Sun, Moon, or Earth, which can be bright enough to obscure details that might otherwise be captured in an image were it not for that light pollution. Researchers might not be able to detect a change in the brightness of a star that could indicate that there’s an exoplanet there, Borlaff explains. “You will lose that information because a satellite passed in front of you.” Now’s the time to find solutions, he says, before there are so many satellites in orbit. Efforts to design darker, less reflective satellites have posed new problems because they tend to get hotter and shed more infrared light as a result. Researchers have also tried strategizing to take images at times and locations with a lower likelihood of satellites crossing their path, an endeavor that’s harder to do the more crowded it gets out there. It’ll take more coordination on the ground with companies and governments launching satellites, maybe by placing them in orbit lower than where the telescopes are to avoid obstructing their view or regulating where they can be deployed. “There has to be an optimal way to place constellations and space telescopes … so we can coexist in a sustainable way,” Borlaff says.

It's always a challenge to develop for community-led projects such as Home Assistant. The team behind this popular smart home platform finds itself in a tricky position with each major release. Some features may be fully developed and tested, but they can sometimes not be certain if it's the right move for every user. This is where the leading feature of the December update comes into play, and it's called Home Assistant Labs.

We're so enamoured with the big three consoles (the Switch 2, the PS5, and the Xbox Series X) that it's easy to forget that there are other consoles out there. Granted, they don't quite have the same production value, high-quality exclusives, and universal appeal as the big three, but they are consoles, and they are out there. Regardless, as cool as they may be, they don't usually enter the conversation when discussing console sales, as they're usually eclipsed by the bigger fish.

The one game that's getting the most attention in 2025 is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from Sandfall Interactive. For role-playing game fans, it blends together many classic elements from iconic RPGs into a new adventure that feels top notch to play through. And while it definitely feels like a large portion of the gaming audience is overhyping Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to an extreme degree, there's no denying that it's one of the biggest games of the year.

BMW has been peppering us with teasers and bits and pieces about its next-gen EV platform, Neue Klasse, for so long - fully two years now - that I confess I've become a bit numb to the hype. I'd seen the dashboard-filling displays, talked to engineers endlessly about the completely retooled active safety suite, and even got a go behind the wheel of a prototype machine.All this for the launch of a crossover SUV, typically the most milquetoast of all the automotive classifications. But after spending the better part of a day wheeling around the final version of the iX3, I'm surprised to say it was all worth it. This little(ish) SUV really is …Read the full story at The Verge.

I always wanted a working PokéDex as a kid. Something about having a portable computer in your pocket that you could open up and scan things with a moment's notice was really magical to me. Of course, I never actually considered what exactly I would scan with a PokéDex in a world with zero Pokémon in it, but it was the thought that counted. Plus, these days I can whip out my phone and identify stuff using Google Gemini, so I guess I got what I really wanted in the end.

The reality is that building your own PC doesn't really save you a lot of money like it used to. Sure, it's fun being able to pick out all your parts, finding just the right case, and spending a few hours putting it all together. But if you're someone that's not looking to go through all of that and just wants something that works great out of the box, then a prebuilt PC is going to be the way to go.

Gistr is a tool I found by chance when I got curious about what type of NotebookLM alternatives are out there. I didn’t expect much because many AI study helpers tend to be one-note. But I almost instantly liked Gistr for how it combines document organization with note blocks and AI retrieval. Gistr’s most notable feature, however, is how it handles YouTube videos - I’d argue it does a better job than NotebookLM.

The Antigravity A1. With DJI facing an imminent import ban in the US and its flagship drones disappearing from shelves, the new Antigravity A1 didn’t need to be a groundbreaking gadget to make headlines. It just needed to be a competent alternative that you can actually buy in the United States. In August, the Chinese brand couldn’t promise that for sure.But today, it’s happening: the Antigravity A1 is now on sale at Best Buy here in the US, on shelves and shipping this very week. It seems Best Buy jumped the gun ahead of a full reveal tomorrow, December 4th — there’s one for sale at my local store right now!And thankfully, it’s not just a DJI alternative: this $1,599 drone and headset combo is like nothing I’ve tried before. @verge I tried Antigravity, the first drone from Insta360. It’s a flying 360-degree camera with these wild goggles that have a screen on the front, point-to-fly controls, and the ability to film in every direction and piece together dynamic videos afterward! The company says it’s coming to the US for as little as $1,300 or as much as $1,700 if Trump’s tariffs allow and claims it’s standing up a whole Antigravity company to make it happen. #todayimtoyingwith #drone #dronefootage #dronetok #tech ♬ original sound – The Verge As I explained in August and as you can see in my embedded video, this 8K drone isn’t about “piloting a drone” or “shooting aerial footage.” It’s designed to keep you from having to think about flying or filming at all. The 360-degree camera and motion-sensing goggles let you simply turn your head to look in any direction. Inside, you’ll see a line you can move with your arm and point where you want to go. Pull a trigger, and the drone flies there, while your head stays free to take in the sights from above. And because you’re recording video in every direction simultaneously, you can rotate and zoom your recorded video when you’re done.At $1,599 — $1,899 if you want three batteries, a multi-charger, and a carrying case, or $1,999 for three “high-capacity” batteries according to the Best Buy listing — this drone is more expensive than drones with cameras that’ll produce higher-quality traditional rectangular footage.In my early demo, the Antigravity A1 weighs, flies, and folds like a DJI Mini, not the higher-grade Mavic or Air, even though it’s priced closer to where those higher-end drones were priced when they were broadly available in the US.But none of those prosumer DJI drones came with a 360-degree camera system and bundled goggles that make easy flying and filming the priority. (Antigravity’s goggles are more impressive, too.) But that could happen with DJI’s own 360-degree drone, the Avata 360, which just got FCC clearance last week. Maybe it’ll make it to the US before the door closes on future DJI gadgets.The Avata 360 might be a different beast than the Antigravity A1, though. While the A1 is a beginner-friendly Mini-style drone that gently flies around, and is light enough that it shouldn’t need registration, DJI’s Avata line has been heavier cinewhoop-style FPV drones designed for swooping and soaring at high speed.