Ever since I've gone Bluetooth with my headphones, I've freed myself from the tyranny of my office chair's wheels. Beforehand, I would eventually lose audio clarity as the wheels rolled over the cables over time, until it was so rough that I'd have to get a new one.

Samsung smart TVs appear to be functioning normally again after experiencing a global outage yesterday. Users across Reddit and Samsung’s community forum started reporting issues with their TVs at around 5PM ET on Thursday, finding themselves unable to open apps like YouTube, Apple TV, Hulu, and Prime Video.While apps were still visible on the Samsung TV menu, attempting to open them would display a variety of error messages, such as those related to server maintenance, certification errors, and lost connectivity. Many users found that Netflix was unaffected by the outages, which uses its own content delivery network — suggesting that the issues were connected to the servers used by other streaming apps.The cause of the outage is currently unclear, however, and Samsung has not publicly acknowledged the issues on its website or social channels. We have reached out to Samsung for more information. One Redditor claimed to get a response from Samsung support, saying the company was “aware of a potential disruption of service on your Samsung TV,” and that its engineers were attempting to restore service “as soon as possible.” The issues appeared to be widespread, with Samsung TV users across multiple countries reporting that they were locked out of their apps.Whatever caused it, several users are now seeing a return to normal operation. For anyone still experiencing issues, some users have reportedly managed to regain access to their apps by pressing the power button on their Samsung TV remote until the device restarts.

Doom: The Dark Ages definitely left its mark on us. When we reviewed it back in mid-May, we gave it a shining 9/10 score, praising the new Shield Saw weapon and how brutal the combat can get. In fact, given how the review was written under three months ago, the digital dust hasn't even begun to settle on it.

The many characters within the Star Wars galaxy often find themselves on crazy adventures that take them to different planets. But in the middle of those crazy times, you might find them taking a break to engage with some of the local entertainment, which might involve some form of game and hard-earned credits on the line. These kinds of things are often included in different Star Wars games as mini-games for players to check out and enjoy, even though they're not as important as the main story or quest line. In the movies and other media outside of games, there are even more side games that characters will reference or engage with that draw out our curiosity about them.

Far be it from me to anthropomorphize AI, but my singular experience with Google's new Gemini CLI appeared to give it an existential crisis, caused it to crash out, and proclaim its embarrassment at failing to solve the task appropriately. Given the nature of the task, I'm not all too surprised, yet I will proudly wear the badge of causing an LLM to completely crash out when dealing with my code.

Nintendo’s financial year is off to a bumper start thanks to explosive sales of its Switch 2 console. Following its launch in June, the Switch 2 console has now sold 5.82 million units according to Nintendo’s Q1 earnings report, more than double the 2.7 million unit sales achieved by the original Switch in its first month.“Currently, demand for Nintendo Switch 2 is exceeding supply in many countries, and we regret the inconvenience this is causing our consumers,” Nintendo said in its report, pledging to strengthen production. While Switch 2 preorders sold out across major retailers in the US ahead of the launch, some limited stock was still available on launch day, likely because Nintendo had built up enough inventory to meet initial demand.That success is driving a 132 percent surge in quarterly revenue, which increased to ¥572.3 billion (around $3.8 billion) between April-June, compared to ¥246.6 billion (around $1.6 billion) for the same period last year. Nintendo says it’s still forecasting to hit 15 million Switch 2 sales by the end of its 2026 financial year, despite uncertainties like Trump’s tariffs. Yesterday, the White House announced that a 20 percent tariff on goods from Vietnam — where Nintendo produces its Switch 2 consoles — will begin next week. That’s double the 10 percent baseline tariff introduced in April that Nintendo used to forecast earnings for the current fiscal year.“While there have been changes in the market environment since we announced our initial forecast for the fiscal year, such as the US tariff measures, at this time there is no significant impact on our earnings forecast for this fiscal year,” Nintendo said.The Switch 2’s popularity at launch has made it the fastest-selling game console of all time. Meanwhile, people are still purchasing the first Switch console, which has now hit 153.1 million units in lifetime sales — inching closer to dethroning the DS as Nintendo’s most successful console, which sold 154.02 million units. The Wii U sold just 13.7 million units over its entire lifetime.

People love to play a good fighting game with their friends. The genre has always had a foothold in the hearts of players for its drive towards competitiveness and hard-hitting action. But while a number of great fighting game series continuously release new games over time, they also try to attempt something new for their audience. These offshoot games are often viewed as spin-offs from the main series which they come from, not being fully representative of the core aspects of their franchises. Unfortunately, not all of them are winners and usually fade into obscurity.

I've been exploring what useful self-hosted services are out there and have been pleasantly surprised by just how many types of tools you can self-host. Many of the current containers I've set up are mostly for personal projects and tasks. However, while researching resource management software, I discovered some self-hosted invoice software that I could try out.

The LeapMove could make gaming a more active pastime. | Image: LeapFrog LeapFrog has announced a new electronic learning system that swaps controllers for a camera. In fact, the LeapMove looks like an oversized, kid-friendly webcam, but is designed to connect to TVs like a console and get kids off the couch using educational games that require full-body movements to play. It’s reminiscent of the Xbox Kinect or the PlayStation 2’s EyeToy, but simpler and much cheaper than competitors’ products like the $249 Nex Playground.The LeapMove will be available through retailers including Target, Walmart, and Amazon for $69.99, and comes with 25 motion-based games designed for kids aged 4 to 7. It might be hard to pull the older end of that demographic away from games like Roblox, Among Us, and even Fortnite, but in addition to motion detection, the LeapMove uses its camera to make players appear as themselves or “whimsical characters” in several games, which may appeal to younger kids.The games cover “foundational school subjects” including math, reading, and spelling, and require players to do everything from dancing around to waving their arms and even attempting to catch on-screen objects. The LeapMove connects to a TV over HDMI, and instead of rechargeable batteries it needs access to a power outlet. It can be used either sitting beneath a TV or perched atop it like a webcam using a fold-out support.LeapFrog says additional games will be made available for the LeapMove at a later date, which can be loaded by connecting the device to a computer and using the company’s LeapFrog Connect desktop app. They won’t be free, but unlike the Nex Playground, the LeapMove doesn’t come with any subscription fees.Parents concerned about privacy, particularly with devices that rely heavily on a camera, may appreciate that the LeapMove has no wireless connectivity. In 2018, VTech, LeapFrog’s parent company, agreed to settle for a $650,000 fine after the FTC alleged it collected kids’ personal information, including names, emails, and genders, through its KidiConnect mobile app. The LeapMove is completely standalone and keeps track of up to three players’ progress locally.

One thing digital libraries lack that physical ones don't is the freedom to customise how your games are sorted. If you don't like the box a game came in, you could easily move it to another one; for a digital title, you're pretty much just stuck with whatever the developer bestowed upon you.

Performance rules the roost when it comes to a gaming PC, despite the fact that it only contributes to one part of your overall gaming experience. Performance is extremely important, no doubt, but you can still level-up your gaming experience overall with a few upgrades under $100, even if they don't increase your frame rate in games.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wanted to make Google dance two years ago, with an AI overhaul of Bing that was designed to steal Google's all-important search market share. Now, there are plenty of signs that Microsoft has successfully taken search share off Google, both in the US and worldwide.Earlier this week Microsoft reported that its search and news advertising revenue had grown by $1.6 billion, or 13 percent, over the last fiscal year. Excluding traffic acquisition costs, revenue had increased by 20 percent thanks to "higher search volume and higher revenue per search."That higher search volume has been persistent for more than a yea …Read the full story at The Verge.