Windows 11 setup has undergone significant changes over the last few years, though not all those tweaks have gone in favor of the consumers. For example, Microsoft's internet requirement during setup irked a lot of users. While you can bypass this by using some hacks, Microsoft still hasn't changed its stance on this. Instead, the software giant has been focusing on another key aspect of the Windows 11 setup: OOBE (Out-of-box Experience).

Dish's parent company, EchoStar, is selling a broad swath of its 5G spectrum licenses to AT&T for $23 billion. Under the deal, the Dish-owned Boost Mobile will primarily operate using AT&T's growing network - a move that marks "the end of the road for the fourth carrier," says Roger Entner, founder and lead analyst at Recon Analytics.As part of T-Mobile's deal to acquire Sprint in 2019, the Department of Justice stipulated that another company must replace it as the fourth major wireless carrier. Dish came forward to acquire Boost Mobile from Sprint, paying $1.4 billion to purchase the budget carrier and other prepaid assets. Since then, D …Read the full story at The Verge.

I've stated multiple times that I believe the seventh generation of gaming, with PS3s and Xbox 360s, were the best era for gaming. Heck, I could go on about the why and how of it for hours. The '90s, however, aren't far behind in that 'best-era-for-gaming' race. We went from the NES to the SNES and then to the N64, while seeing the PlayStation change gaming forever, all before the final decade of the century was over.

A lot has been said about the PC vs. console debate, and frankly, most of it is irrelevant. No single gaming platform is perfect; it all depends on what works for you. With PC gaming handhelds entering the fray, the PC vs. "everything else" debate has gathered renewed interest. While I believe in different strokes for different folks, the record needs to be set straight, as far as the objective benefits of PC gaming are concerned. In a few key areas, consoles and, especially, handhelds can't hope to compete with gaming PCs. Let's refresh what some people seem to have forgotten.

After a D&D session, one of my friends told me that they sometimes fired up Copilot while at work and played D&D with it. I was curious as to how Copilot would handle D&D's rules, so I played the popular TTRPG with Microsoft's artificial intelligence. However, I wanted to do more than that; I wanted to see how good it was at making a dungeon, and then guide me through its own creations while I play a hapless barbarian. So, here are the D&D-based adventures that Copilot set for me and how each one went.

Each handheld pocket features adequate room on the sides, and a layer of padding covering the screen area. Embracer Group-owned CRKD recently launched a backpack, the $99.99 Vortex 1.0. During a recent vacation, I swapped it in place of my go-to for the past eight or so years, the 20-liter Peak Design Everyday backpack, which CRKD has thoroughly cribbed the look of. However, the Vortex has handheld gaming pockets, which helps it stand out, especially at this price.I generally like using the Peak Design backpack, except that bringing it on vacations means that I have to leave my handheld(s) at home. It's not wide enough to accommodate even the original Switch once things are stuffed into its side pockets. The Vortex 1.0, on the other hand, let m …Read the full story at The Verge.

After canceling my Adobe subscriptions, the app that was the most difficult to replace was After Effects. DaVinci Resolve’s Fusion tab became a temporary stand-in, but it doesn’t hit the same. I also discovered Pikimov, a free app built to mimic AE, but it’s still in its infancy and leaves a lot to be desired. Then I discovered Natron.

Spotify’s new messaging feature can even be used by free accounts. Spotify is introducing a direct messaging feature that allows users to share music, podcast, and audiobook recommendations with each other without leaving the app. Messages is rolling out in “select markets” this week, according to Spotify’s press release, and will be available on mobile devices for Free and Premium users aged 16 years and older.The messaging feature can be accessed by tapping the share icon when listening to a song, podcast, or audiobook in the Now Playing view, and selecting a friend to send it to. Spotify users can share content and start messages with people they share a Spotify plan with, or other users they’ve interacted with through Spotify before, such as via Jams, Blends, and Collaborative Playlists. The feature aims to consolidate content recommendations that already happen over texts, social media, and third-party messaging services into a single location where Spotify users can more easily track their shared content. Any audio content shared with or by the user will be stored in the Messages inbox that’s accessed under the profile picture in the top-left corner of the app, making it easier to find again in the future. Spotify says the user-to-user messages are 1:1, support text conversations and emoji reactions, and are protected by “industry-standard encryption” — which will hopefully prevent any embarrassing data leaks.Users can choose to accept or reject message requests, block other users, or opt out of Messages entirely. Users can also report any shared content and text messages, or the account that sent them, by holding down on the message to flag anything nefarious. Spotify says it will proactively scan Messages for “certain unlawful and harmful content” and review chats that get reported by users.It’s unclear if artist accounts will also be able to use the feature to interact with fans. Spotify says that Messages was created to “complement” how content is shared through platforms like Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and TikTok, rather than replace those interactions. It’s an intriguing social feature for Spotify to add, especially since it’s available to free users, given the hefty limitations on those accounts, and could perhaps pave the way for more direct user-to-user interaction features in the future if it’s received well.

We've spent most of the year talking about gadgets getting more expensive. Thanks to US tariffs, prices are rising every few months, and even small upgrades have come with big price hikes. So I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the new Hasselblad X2D 100C II will actually be cheaper than its predecessor, coming in at "just" $7,400 for the body. Don't get me wrong. It's far from cheap. But Hasselblad is trying to get this camera in the hands of a wider audience. I've been looking at my account balance ever since I started this review, trying to figure out if I can justify buying one for myself. I probably can't - but not because I d …Read the full story at The Verge.

2026 is a major year for the first-person shooter genre, because the two most titanic names in the space, Call of Duty and Battlefield, are both coming out in the holiday season. Call of Duty is continuing after last year's Black Ops 6, while Battlefield, having learnt from everything that went wrong with 2042, is back in stride with Battlefield 6.

The Hasselblad X2D II 100C comes with some notable upgrades. Hasselblad has just launched the X2D II 100C, the first medium format camera capable of taking true HDR photos. Those HDR images can be instantly reviewed on the new 3.6-inch OLED touchscreen at up to 1,400 nits of peak brightness, which Hasselblad says is 75 percent brighter than the original X2D 100C. Other notable upgrades include using LiDAR to assist with autofocus, a 10-stop in-body stabilization system, an additional customizable button, and a new joystick for controlling camera functions instead of using touchscreen commands.At $7,399, it’s cheaper than its three-year-old predecessor, and still shares some similarities: it takes 100 megapixel photos, comes with 1TB of internal SSD storage, offers similar dynamic range, and the shape is largely unchanged. These don’t overshadow the improvements on the latest model, however, which my colleague Vjeran describes as “one of the greatest cameras I have ever used.”For full specs and a detailed overview of what the Hasselblad X2D II 100C is like to use, check out Vjeran’s review of the camera here.

Even if you’re not as much of a tech lover as I am, there are plenty of reasons to deploy your home lab. By letting you self-host a plethora of cool services, a centralized server can help you save money you’d otherwise spend on recurring subscriptions – all while keeping your private data away from the prying eyes of huge corporations. Likewise, you can use your home lab as a testing ground for your favorite computing projects, and gain some experience when things go wrong.