Late last year, Nintendo hosted a mysterious Switch Online playtest, and on Thursday, the company announced that it would be doing another test as part of the “Nintendo Switch Online: Playtest Program” and that it will be opening applications soon. This second round will be a test of the “same service” as before.Last time, Nintendo asked participants not to share details about the playtest, but leaks appeared anyway indicating that the test was for some kind of MMO-style game. Applications for this next playtest will be open to users 18 or older with an active Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack as of Thursday at 6PM ET and with a Nintendo Account registered in Japan, United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, Brazil, or Mexico. Users can apply as individuals or as a group of up to four people “if everyone in the group meets the Application Qualifications,” according to Nintendo.We will perform another test in the #NintendoSwitchOnline: Playtest Program. From 8:00 AM PT on July 21st, Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack members can apply to participate on a first-come, first-served basis.Find out more: https://t.co/xed7zzwzBb pic.twitter.com/JfnMRd9eoH— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) July 17, 2025You can prepare your application on Nintendo’s website from Friday, July 18th at 6PM ET to Monday, July 21st at 10:59AM ET.You can actually submit your application from Monday, July 21st at 11AM ET to Wednesday, July 23rd at 10:59AM ET, though Nintendo says applications will be accepted “on a first-come, first-served basis.”Nintendo expects to accept “as many as 40,000 participants worldwide,” a big jump from the 10,000 participants allowed for the October test. If you participated in that playtest, you can participate in this next one, too, Nintendo says.The playtest itself will run from Monday, July 28th at 9PM ET to Sunday, August 10th at 8:59PM ET.

Prosser is accused of stealing trade secrets to leak details of iOS 26’s design before its announcement at WWDC. Apple has sued the well-known leaker Jon Prosser for the alleged theft of trade secrets related to iOS 26. Prosser has been accused of tasking another man, Michael Ramacciotti, with secretly accessing an Apple employee’s development iPhone and using that information to report on Apple’s planned changes in the then-unannounced iOS 26.According to the lawsuit, Apple claims that Prosser offered Ramacciotti “money or a future job opportunity” in exchange for access to a company phone belonging to his friend Ethan Lipnik, an Apple software engineer working on iOS. Ramacciotti allegedly learnt Lipnik’s iPhone passcode, used “location-tracking” to determine when he’d be away from home for an extended period, and then accessed the iPhone running a development version of the mobile OS. Apple says that Ramacciotti showed the software to Prosser over a video call, which Prosser recorded, shared with others, and used to create renders of the new designs.Apple says it found out the details of what happened in April from an anonymous email from someone who claimed to have seen Prosser’s recording of the call and recognized Lipnik’s apartment. The company also claims to have a voice note sent by Ramacciotti to Lipnik, apologizing for the incident and claiming that the subterfuge was Prosser’s idea, which Lipnik in turn provided to Apple. Lipnik was fired by Apple for failing to properly follow its policies around securing unreleased software.Prosser released several videos on his Front Page Tech and Genius Bar Podcast YouTube channels covering leaked features in the new version of iOS, which was then expected to be called iOS 19. In January 2025 he released “your very first look at iOS 19,” revealing a redesign to the camera app. In March came a look at the redesigned Messages app, and in April he published “the biggest iOS leak ever,” with a first look at Apple’s new Liquid Glass design language.Prosser has responded to the lawsuit on X, insisting that Apple’s account is “not how the situation played out on my end,” and claiming to have evidence to that effect. “I did not ‘plot’ to access anyone’s phone. I did not have any passwords. I was unaware of how the information was obtained.”In its legal filing, Apple asks for both damages and a court order preventing Prosser from disclosing Apple’s trade secrets again. The company adds that while iOS 26 has since been announced to the public, its secrets are still at risk because the development phone “contained other unannounced design elements.”

If you've been looking to go in a different direction, a Mini PC could be just the thing, providing plenty of power in a compact size. Kamrui produces some of the more popular models found on Amazon, with a range of different options. This particular model is going to provide tons of power, and also comes in at a great price right now, thanks to a sizable discount that drops it down to just $141.

I've had my PlayStation 5 since 2021, and boy, did it take a lot of saving petty cash. Now, the lack of a steady stream of exclusive titles has been one of my major gripes with the current console generation, but there's really nothing like kicking back into the recliner with the controller at the end of the week and putting on a game until my eyes droop.

Matter is a smart home connectivity standard that launched with the promise of unifying disparate devices and ecosystems. Backed by tech giants like Apple, Amazon, Google, and others, Matter was heralded as the solution to smart home fragmentation; a single solution that would "just work" locally and securely across brands. In theory, a smart bulb, lock, or sensor with the Matter logo could be controlled from any platform (such as Home Assistant, Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa, and others) without needing separate hubs or cloud services. It was essentially touted as the future of smart homes.

Random number generation is difficult, and by definition, computers are deterministic. Anything "random" is derived from real values using an algorithm, and as such, the security of these numbers depends on seeding them with data an attacker can't predict. A computer needs data to base the creation of something "random" off of, and if you can predict the original data it uses, it's not random anymore. Modern operating systems include well-vetted entropy collectors and cryptographically secure pseudorandom number generators, otherwise known as CSPRNGs; for most use cases, that's enough.

A little over halfway through 2025, I was searching for any well-received games I might have missed, especially one that I could play on my Nintendo Switch 2. I've already played most of the best-reviewed games, but there was one game that I hadn't seen discussed by many people, yet those who had had nothing but glowing praise for it. That game is The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, the first major release from Too Kyo Games, co-directed by two massive developers. Having now played a few dozen hours on my Switch 2, I can confirm that The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is worthy of the hype.

If you’ve got access to a 3D printer and a bit of creativity, there’s no reason to spend money on small household parts you can design and print yourself. Everyday fixtures, such as hooks, brackets, or covers, are simple to model and require very little filament. Most of them can be done in under an hour of design time, and many prints finish in just a few hours. With a bit of measuring and a basic understanding of your slicer, you’ll be surprised how fast these custom pieces come together.

When it comes to the operating systems you can actually use on your computer, there are really only three main ones that are ever brought up. You have Windows 11, macOS, and Linux (or, more accurately, Linux-based operating systems). Most people wouldn't ever think there's anything beyond that, especially because so many operating systems are based on Linux, whether it's Ubuntu, NixOS, or even Android.

When was the last time you used Windows XP? For some of us, it's likely the last time we booted it in a virtual machine, while others may not have touched it ever since they upgraded to Vista. Either way, hearing that nostalgic login jingle is enough to send me back a few decades.

Delta wants AI to set 20 percent of its ticket prices by the end of 2025. | Image: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images Delta Air Lines is leaning into dynamic ticket pricing that uses artificial intelligence to individually determine the highest fee you’d willingly pay for flights, according to comments Fortune spotted in the company’s latest earnings call. Following a limited test of the technology last year, Delta is planning to shift away from static ticket prices entirely after seeing “amazingly favorable” results.“We will have a price that’s available on that flight, on that time, to you, the individual,” Delta president Glen Hauenstein told investors in November, having started to test the technology on one percent of its ticket prices. Delta currently uses AI to influence three percent of its ticket prices, according to last week’s earnings call, and is aiming to increase that to 20 percent by the end of this year. “We’re in a heavy testing phase,” said Hauenstein. “We like what we see. We like it a lot, and we’re continuing to roll it out.”While personalized pricing isn’t unique to Delta, the airline has been particularly candid about embracing it. During that November call, Hauenstein said the AI ticketing system is “a full reengineering of how we price and how we will be pricing in the future,” and described the rollout as “a multiyear, multi-step process.” Hauenstein acknowledged that Delta was excited about the initial revenue results it saw in testing, but noted the shift to AI-determined pricing could “be very dangerous, if it’s not controlled and it’s not done correctly.”Delta’s personalized AI pricing tech is provided by travel firm Fetcherr, which also partners with Virgin Atlantic, Azul, WestJet, and VivaAerobus. In Delta’s case, the AI will act as a “super analyst” that operates 24/7 to determine custom ticket prices that should be offered to individual customers in real-time, per specific flights and times.Airlines have varied their ticket prices for customers on the same routes for many years, depending on a range of factors, including how far in advance the booking is made, what website or service it’s being booked with, and even the web browser the customer is using. Delta is no exception, but AI pricing looks set to supercharge the approach.Delta has taken heat for charging customers different prices for flights, having rolled back the decision to price tickets higher for solo-travelers compared to groups in May. It’s not entirely clear how invasive Delta’s AI ticketing will be when it analyzes customers to figure out prices, but Fortune notes that it has privacy advocates concerned.“They are trying to see into people’s heads to see how much they’re willing to pay,” Justin Kloczko of Consumer Watchdog told the publication. “They are basically hacking our brains.” Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego described it as “predatory pricing” that’s designed to “squeeze you for every penny.”

NotebookLM, which is Google's AI-powered research assistant, is one of the few AI tools that has earned a permanent spot in my daily routine. Though I do use the tool for my work-related tasks here and there, I'd be lying if I said my main use isn’t still studying. Given how often I use NotebookLM, and the fact that work makes up a significant chunk of my day, it only makes sense to find ways to fit it into my professional workflow too.