Xbox Cloud Gaming’s beta now lets you play your own games, even outside the catalogue
Xbox Cloud Gaming’s beta now lets you play your own games, even outside the catalogue
Xbox Game Pass has moved to let players stream releases from outside their catalogue
It means titles not in the Game Pass catalogue can be streamed via your phone or tablet
Witcher 3, Space Marine 3, Baldur’s Gate 3 and more are all available
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members will soon be able to stream titles they own, even ones that are not included in the usual Game Pass catalogue, via a number of new devices. The newest update to the Xbox Cloud Gaming beta currently supports 28 countries, and the addition of 50 new releases means you can stream even more via your chosen device.
Previously only regular Game Pass releases that were available through their catalogue were available for the cloud gaming feature, which has itself been in beta for a while. So the move to allow you to play your own catalogue is a key one in expanding the available releases on streaming.
It also means that some amazing titles like Baldur’s Gate 3, Space Marine 2, Balatro and more will be available to stream via your phone or tablet! A pretty amazing, if not totally unprecedented new feature for streaming like this.
The Cloud’s the limit
Personally speaking, I feel like as a feature this is long overdue. One of the many issues with cloud gaming for me is the amount of hoops you have to go through to play through titles outside of a very limited selection in a service. So the ability to actually stream games that would otherwise be unavailable just makes sense.
I also reckon it’ll be very crucial to see how well streaming can do competing with classic mobile gaming. After all, this is something that’s been bouncing around for a long time, but a new feature like this is sure to push the envelope even further.
If you need some basic pointers on how to get set up for console streaming, we’ve got a guide for just that. Not to mention another guide for streaming from your PC to boot! So you can play wherever and whenever you want.
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Mayors are the leaders we need to help ****** climate change
Mayors are the leaders we need to help ****** climate change
It hasn’t been a good year for people who care about climate change. A hoped-for peak in carbon emissions has ******* to emerge, meaning we continue to warm the planet at an accelerating rate (see “Humanity has warmed the planet by 1.5°C since 1700”). Meanwhile, the election of Donald Trump for a second term as US president is likely to see the country retreat on climate action, with his pledge to “drill, baby, drill” for new oil and gas supplies.
Similar sentiments towards fossil fuels come from Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, who has called the natural resources of his oil-rich nation a “gift from ****”. Aliyev made the comments at the COP29 climate summit, hosted in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku. Ironically, this “gift” will become increasingly inaccessible as the Caspian Sea dries up in a warming world, stranding billions of dollars of fossil fuel infrastructure (see “COP29 host Azerbaijan faces climate disaster as Caspian Sea dries up”).
In light of this ******** by politicians on the international stage to get to grips with the reality of climate change, other leaders need to step up – and, surprisingly, city mayors may be best placed to do so.
Adapting cities to cope with the specific effects of urban heat will be essential
While mayors can’t be expected to influence the global climate, they oversee the well-being of the more than 50 per cent of the world’s population who live in urban centres – a figure expected to grow to 70 per cent by 2050, at which point temperatures will have risen by 2.5°C under current projections. Adapting cities to cope with the specific effects of urban heat will be essential, from promoting green spaces to investing in buildings that can be cooled without air conditioning (see “Extreme heat is now making cities unlivable. How can we survive it?”).
The good news is many mayors are already aware of their responsibilities. London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, is aiming for the city to reach net zero by 2030. Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, France, has planted trees and banned cars in certain areas. And Karen Bass, mayor of Los Angeles, has promised a green transformation ahead of the city hosting the Olympics in 2028. Organisations like C40 and Climate Mayors are helping unite local politicians across the world in action. This won’t solve climate change, but it will make living in a warming world more bearable for many.
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Snowflake (SNOW) Q3 earnings report 2025
Snowflake (SNOW) Q3 earnings report 2025
The New York Stock Exchange welcomes Snowflake to usher in the first day of winter on Dec. 21, 2021.
NYSE
Snowflake shares on Wednesday spiked 19% in extended trading after the data analytics software maker reported fiscal third-quarter earnings that beat estimates.
Here’s how the company did, compared to LSEG analyst expectations:
Earnings per share: 20 cents, adjusted vs. 15 cents expectedRevenue: $942 million vs. $897 million expected
Snowflake’s total revenue rose 28% year over year in the quarter, which ended on Oct. 31, according to a statement. The company’s net loss of $324.3 million, or 98 cents per share, widened from $214.3 million, or 65 cents per share, in the same quarter a year earlier.
Product revenue, at $900.3 million, represented around 96% of total revenue. Snowflake called for $3.43 billion in fiscal 2025 product revenue, implying 29% growth. That’s up from the $3.36 billion forecast management gave three months ago, which suggested 26% growth.
The full-year view also includes an adjusted operating margin of 5%, up from the 3% guidance in August.
Snowflake is focusing more on saving money, CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy told analysts on a conference call.
“We’ve been creating centralized, more efficient teams for some areas and removing redundant management layers, which enables us to make decisions faster,” he said.
Snowflake had 10,618 customers at the end of October, having added 369 in the fiscal third quarter. Analysts polled by StreetAccount had expected 10,601.
Separately, Snowflake announced a multi-year partnership with Anthropic, the Amazon-backed artificial intelligence startup and OpenAI competitor. And it said it had agreed to buy startup Datavolo for undisclosed terms.
As of Wednesday’s close, the stock was down 35% so far in 2024, while the S&P 500 index was up 24%.
Executives will discuss the results with analysts on a conference call starting at 5 p.m. ET.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
WATCH: Q3 is one of Snowflake’s ‘best quarters we’ve seen in a long time’, says Jefferies Brent Thill
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Ray Lewis wants FAU head-coaching job, but Charlie Weis Jr. still the frontrunner: Sources
Ray Lewis wants FAU head-coaching job, but Charlie Weis Jr. still the frontrunner: Sources
FAU football, which rose to national relevance under Lane Kiffin, has backslid over the last five seasons under ******* Taggart and the recently fired Tom Herman. The Owls’ new coaching search, though, might be the most interesting one of this year’s coaching carousel.
And it got a little more interesting this week, as Miami great Ray Lewis has made it known that he really wants to be the Owls’ next coach, a source briefed on Lewis’ thinking said Wednesday.
The 49-year-old Lewis, a 13-time Pro Bowl linebacker, has observed the model of what Deion Sanders has done transforming Colorado football in the past two years and is expected to present a plan to the Owls’ leadership in the next week for how he’d do something similar at FAU.
Lewis’ old buddy, fellow Pro Football Hall of Famer Cris Carter, is the Owls’ executive director of player engagement and is expected to be a good resource for Lewis. A big hurdle for Lewis is, unlike Sanders, he doesn’t have any previous college coaching experience.
“Ray wants it bad,” the source briefed on Lewis’ thinking said. Lewis lives five minutes from the FAU campus. “He really wants it.”
Lewis, however, is not considered a serious candidate at this point, according to a source involved in the coaching search.
The frontrunner for the FAU vacancy, according to multiple sources involved in the search, is Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. The 31-year-old son of former Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, who lives a half-hour from Boca ******, is the play caller at a hot Rebels program and runs the nation’s No. 2 offense, putting up 7.58 yards per play.
GO DEEPER
FAU coaching job profile: What will Tom Herman’s replacement inherit?
The younger Weis was Kiffin’s former offensive coordinator at FAU and knows the program well. He has a lot of support from some key FAU people, according to sources involved in the search. Kiffin has strong influence back at FAU and will push Weis for the job, those sources said. Financially, Weis — who makes $1.65 million at Ole Miss — might have to take a pay cut to go back to FAU but a source briefed on the matter said he doubted that would stop Weis from wanting this job.
Other expected candidates for the FAU job
Georgia Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner might make more sense for the Owls. The 43-year-old helped turn Tech from the ACC’s No. 11 offense to No. 3 last year. In 2022, the year before he was hired in Atlanta, Georgia Tech ranked last in the ACC in red zone offense. His offense is No. 2 in the ACC in red zone TD percentage.
Penn State assistant head coach/co-OC Ja’Juan Seider is a well-regarded coach with deep local ties and is expected to get some consideration. The 47-year-old Belle Glade, Fla., product was a star quarterback at Florida A&M and is well-connected around South Florida. Players really respond to him. He also has been a key assistant in Happy Valley, at Marshall and West Virginia.
UCF offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr. has spent his whole coaching career in the state. He was a four-time NCAA All-********* in track at Miami and then spent five years as a successful high school coach in South Florida at Miami’s Booker T. Washington High before spending seven seasons at FIU. Since then, he’s coached at Miami and UCF, where he has produced the Big 12’s most prolific offense at 6.76 yards per play.
UNLV offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, a former Miami Dolphins wideout who lived in Boynton Beach, not far from the Owls’ campus, might be an intriguing option. He has proven to be a terrific offensive coordinator in two stops at the FCS level before an excellent two-season run of transforming the Rebels into a winning program. Last year he led the Rebels to No. 6 in the country in third down offense and No. 8 in red zone offense despite his starting QB going down early and having to turn to an unproven freshman in Jayden Maiava, who went on to win Mountain West Freshman of the Year honors. This year, the Rebels, with Maiava having left for USC, are No. 6 in the nation in scoring at 39.9 points per game.
GO DEEPER
What’s on Feldman’s radar: Everyone’s terrified of Ole Miss, and everyone wants an old coach
FSU defensive backs coach Pat Surtain could be in play at his alma mater Southern Miss, but he also has strong ties here. He played a decade in the NFL before becoming a top high school coach in South Florida. The 48-year-old spent one season with the Miami Dolphins as an NFL assistant before joining FSU’s staff in 2023.
Georgia assistant head coach Todd Hartley, 39, spent three years coaching in South Florida on the Canes’ staff. He is someone Kirby Smart has leaned on in elevating the program since Hartley’s return to Athens in 2019. Southern Miss also has a lot of interest in Hartley for its head coaching vacancy.
Duke defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke, a Manny Diaz protege who was on the staff at Miami, is a rising star at defensive coordinator. He’s had a strong debut season in Durham and also could be in play.
Miami defensive ends coach Jason Taylor. The Pro Football Hall of Famer, who had been a high school assistant for five seasons at powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas, is a legendary figure around South Florida. In 2007, Taylor won the NFL’s prestigious Walter Payton Man of the Year honors and has been an excellent addition to the Canes staff the past two seasons.
— Chris Vannini contributed to this report
Required reading
(Photo: Rob Carr / Getty Images)
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Threads rolls out its custom feeds tool after a quick testing phase
Threads rolls out its custom feeds tool after a quick testing phase
The battle over who will get all of X’s users now that it’s an utter cesspool continues. Threads just began rolling out its own custom feeds feature to compete with rival Bluesky. Custom feeds have long been a hallmark of Bluesky and now Threads users can get in on the action. Meta announced it was testing custom feeds just last week, so those tests must have been successful. It’s either that or they want to stall Bluesky’s continuing momentum.
Simply put, the feature allows users to pin topic-based feeds to the home screen of the app. This gives people the option to scroll through additional feeds beyond the algorithmic “for you” feed. This is a very good thing, as Thread’s current “for you” algorithm can be easily manipulated by just posting stuff like “who likes cats?” I have seen quite literally 400 posts like that in my feed, all looking for engagement. I like cats but, come on.
In any event, users can create a custom feed by searching for keywords and taping the “…” menu to get started. A feed will be created based on the keyword, though the toolset allows for more granular adjustments. For instance, users can add specific profiles to customize each feed. Threads aficionados can create up to 128 custom feeds.
Threads has one significant advantage over Bluesky when it comes to custom feeds. Making one on Bluesky is something of a process. It took me around two seconds to make a Star Trek feed on Threads.
Lawrence Bonk / Threads
Despite Bluesky’s continued growth, it’s still a minor player when compared to Threads. Bluesky just announced 20 million users, which is great, but Threads has more than 275 million users. Threads has also been growing by around a million users a day, according to a recent post from Instagram chief Adam Mosseri.
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US blocks Security Council ceasefire resolution
US blocks Security Council ceasefire resolution
The US has blocked a Gaza ceasefire draft resolution at the ******* Nations Security Council – the fourth time it has used its veto power during the conflict to shield its ally, *******.
Fourteen of the 15 Council members voted in favour of the draft, which demanded that the war in Gaza “must end immediately, unconditionally and permanently and all remaining hostages must be immediately and unconditionally released”.
Deputy US ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, said the document “abandoned” the necessity for there to be “a linkage between a ceasefire and the release of hostages”.
Wood said the proposed resolution would have sent a “dangerous message” to ******.
The UNSC is composed of five permanent members which have veto power – and 10 which are elected.
This group proposed the draft resolution which also “rejected any effort to starve Palestinians”.
The vote was held as the UN warned that Palestinians were “facing diminishing conditions for survival” in parts of northern Gaza under siege by ******** forces because virtually no aid has been delivered in 40 days.
Earlier this month, a UN-backed assessment said there was a strong likelihood that famine was imminent in areas of northern Gaza.
The ******** military has said its six-week-long offensive targets regrouping ****** fighters, and that it is facilitating civilian evacuations and supply deliveries to hospitals.
After the US veto, China’s ambassador said people could not help but ask: “Do ************ lives mean nothing?”
France said international humanitarian law was being trampled and the only response should have been an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
The *** said it wanted to end the war, stop the suffering in Gaza and secure the immediate release of all hostages.
But the harshest criticism of the US came from outside the Council doors.
Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) UN director, Louis Charbonneau, accused Washington of “once again” using its veto power “to ensure impunity for ******* as its forces continue to commit ******* against Palestinians in Gaza”.
******* rejects the accusations. It says it has substantially increased the amount of aid getting into Gaza, and accuses aid agencies of failing to adequately distribute it.
The current war broke out after ****** gunmen burst through the border and attacked ******** communities, ******** about 1,200 people, according to ******** tallies, and taking 253 into Gaza as hostages.
More than 43,920 people have been ******* in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.
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Cyberpunk 2077 PS5 Pro Patch Not Happening, Dev Confirms
Cyberpunk 2077 PS5 Pro Patch Not Happening, Dev Confirms
A lot of big games are getting patches to take advantage of the PS5 Pro’s power, but CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 is not among them. The Polish developer confirmed this on social media in response to a question from a fan.
“We currently have no plans for [a] PS5 Pro patch,” the studio said (via Eurogamer). The wording here leaves the door open for these plans to change at some point down the line, but for now, no one should expect a PS5 Pro patch.
CD Projekt Red did not go into any further detail as to why it won’t release a PS5 Pro patch for Cyberpunk 2077. However, it might have something to do with how there is no one at CD Projekt Red working on Cyberpunk 2077, and that’s been the case for months now. These staffers have moved on to other projects, including the next Cyberpunk and Witcher games.
When the PS5 Pro launched in early November, a number of high-profile games were patched to support the console, including Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6, Hogwarts Legacy, and Spider-Man 2. However, some PS5 Pro users reported that for games like Silent Hill 2, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, the PS5 Pro patches actually made these games look worse. For its part, EA acknowledged the issues with Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and said its teams were investigating the issue.
The PS5 Pro is available now, priced at $700 USD. It’s still early days, but Sony reported that the system’s price tag didn’t negatively impact sales. In other PlayStation news, the next wave of the 30th-anniversary limited-edition slim PS5 model goes on ***** via PlayStation Direct on November 21, starting at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET.
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Ukraine fires ***-made Storm Shadow missiles at Russia for first time
Ukraine fires ***-made Storm Shadow missiles at Russia for first time
Getty Images
Kyiv has previously only been able to use the missiles within its own borders
Ukraine has fired ***-supplied Storm Shadow missiles at targets inside Russia for the first time, the BBC understands.
The war-torn country was previously restricted to using the long-range missiles within its own borders.
Reports of the strikes come after Ukraine was given permission from Washington to ***** US-supplied missiles at Russian territory.
The government has refused to comment on the reports for operational reasons, but officials confirmed Defence Secretary John Healey spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart on Tuesday night.
Ministers are likely to exercise caution in their response to the reports due to concerns over Russia’s reaction, as well as to ensure the move is not seen as being led by the ***.
In the Commons earlier, Healey said: “Ukraine’s action on the battlefield speaks for itself.”
Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umerov has also declined to confirm that his country has used the Storm Shadow missiles within Russian territory, but said it was “using all the means to defend our country”.
Matthew Miller, the US State Department’s spokesman, would also not comment on the use of the ***-supplied missile or whether the US was providing navigational assistance for their use.
When asked by the BBC if Ukraine was consulting with or informing the US about the use of missiles provided by the ***, Mr Miller said he would not “speak publicly to the use of another country’s weapons”.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called on Kyiv’s western allies to authorise the use of long-range missiles against targets inside Russia, saying it is the only way to bring about an end to the war.
Storm Shadow is considered an ideal ******* for penetrating hardened bunkers and ammunition stores, such as those used by Russia in its war against Ukraine.
The US and *** had previously not given permission, with suggestions this was related to not wanting to escalate the war.
But at the weekend, US President Joe Biden gave the green light for Ukraine to use the Army Tactical Missile System (Atacms) supplied by the US to strike Russia.
On Sunday Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted to the news – which came via briefings from US officials – saying “such things are not announced, missiles speak for themselves”.
The Atacms was then used by Ukraine to target the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine on Tuesday.
The US has also approved sending landmines to Ukraine, in an attempt to slow down Russian troops.
Speaking at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, *** Prime Minister Sir Starmer said the *** would “ensure Ukraine has what is needed for as long as needed”.
Storm Shadow is an Anglo-French cruise missile with a maximum range of around 250km (155 miles). The French call it Scalp.
It is launched from aircraft then flies at close to the speed of sound, hugging the terrain, before dropping down and detonating its high explosive warhead.
BBC Verify showed images on Telegram claiming to show fragments of a Storm Shadow missile in Kursk to weapons experts.
Amael Kotlarski, Weapons Team manager at Janes, said: “We can confirm that the large, rectangular piece of debris, featuring a ***** in the centre, does indeed match part of the mounting interface of the Storm Shadow / SCALP EG missile.”
Another expert could not reach a judgement based on the images.
Additional reporting by Rebecca Hartmann in Washington and Rupert Carey in London.
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Xbox Cloud Streaming Of Own Games Launches Today
Xbox Cloud Streaming Of Own Games Launches Today
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November 20, 2024
Xbox has officially launched, in beta form at least, its Cloud Streaming feature the lets players stream the games they own on a variety of devices.
Before the update, cloud gaming was only available for games included in the Xbox Game Pass library. This new feature expands that option to games that may not be a part of the service.
The feature is launching with 50 games available with more to come as the weeks and months continue. For the game’s listed, players are able to stream any version of the game they own. Microsoft used the example of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition and Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can access the feature in a number of ways such as through a browser at Xbox.com/Play or via the Xbox app on supported TV’s and the Meta Quest headset.
The full list of owned games you can now stream via the Xbox Cloud are:
Animal Well
*********’s Creed Mirage
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Balatro
Baldur’s Gate 3
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
The Casting of Frank Stone
Cyberpunk 2077
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake
Dredge
Dying Light 2 Stay Human
Farming Simulator 25
***** the Spotlight
Final Fantasy XIV Online
Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy VI
Hades
Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions
High On Life
Hitman World of **************
Hogwarts Legacy
House Flipper 2
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Lego Harry Potter Collection
Life is Strange: Double Exposure
Metro Exodus
Mortal Kombat 1
NBA 2K25
PGA TOUR 2K23
Phasmaphobia
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Rust Console Edition
7 Days to ****
Star Wars Outlaws
Stray
The Crew Motorfest
The Outlast Trials
The Plucky Squire
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
TopSpin 2K25
Undertale
Visions of Mana
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
WWE 2K24
For more Insider Gaming, check out our in-depth review of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl. And don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
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Shoppers face ‘bare shelves’ as Woolworths warehouse strike begins
Shoppers face ‘bare shelves’ as Woolworths warehouse strike begins
More than 1500 Woolworths warehouse workers will walk off the job on Thursday over a pay dispute, threatening bare shelves for shoppers.
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PS5 Slim 30th Anniversary console restock is coming in the US this Thursday
PS5 Slim 30th Anniversary console restock is coming in the US this Thursday
Sony will be selling another batch of PS5 Slim 30th Anniversary Limited Edition console bundles in the US this week.
Fresh stock will be made available on Thursday morning through the company’s online store, PlayStation Direct.
“Not in stock? Please check back on Thursday 21st November from 9am PST,” reads an update on the bundle’s store page.
The 30th Anniversary Edition Bundle comes with a grey PS5 Slim Digital Edition console and DualSense controller, as well as various extras also designed to pay homage to the original PlayStation.
Price at $499.99, it’s set for release on November 21. There’s currently no official word on plans for a restock in Europe.
PlayStation’s 30th Anniversary Collection, which also includes a grey PS5 Pro console, was announced in September.
Initial pre-orders for the sought-after consoles were snapped up quickly, and many are now being listed by resellers at huge mark-ups ahead of their launch tomorrow.
PS5 Pro launched on November 7 with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $699.99 / £699.99.
PlayStation’s ****** Friday ***** will run from November 22 until December 2, Sony announced today.
It will include savings on hardware, games and subscriptions across PlayStation Store, PlayStation Direct, PlayStation Gear and participating retailers.
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Rumored Steam Controller Could ******** PS5, Xbox Sales
Rumored Steam Controller Could ******** PS5, Xbox Sales
Many might remember how, back in late 2015, Valve essentially tried to revolutionize conventional gaming controllers with its Steam Controller, which featured some standout features for its time, such as a trackpad for aiming and rear paddles.
The Steam Controller and its touchpad – Image Credit: Valve.
But, instead of making waves within the market, it was a ship that, unfortunately, sank too quickly, leaving Microsoft and Sony’s utter dominance in the area. Since then, Valve found success in other areas, such as its VR Headset and, more recently, the Steam Deck. But the controllers? That was a closed chapter—at least until now.
The Steam Controller’s Second Coming Couldn’t Have Happened at a More Perfect Time
The rear paddles of Steam Controller – Image Credit: Valve.
We all know the original Steam Controller was a weird piece of tech. Its design ditched the traditional right-side joystick for a customizable track page. It offered an insane level of customization via Steam, but it also had an unconventional layout that divided people’s opinions.
For most of its life, it just couldn’t generate enough sales, so Valve pulled the plug on the whole thing in 2019, not before giving Corsair and SCUF a massive middle finger for being patent trolls by slashing the controller’s price to $5 per unit and liquidating its entire stock—a pretty bold move, something that you just wouldn’t see today.
But since its untimely demise, the controller market hasn’t had a shakeup of any sort, being dominated by Microsoft and Sony’s controllers. Many may refuse to believe it, but there’s a problem with these two offerings.
While the Xbox Series controller is arguably one of the most comfortable devices to hold for long hours, the fact ******** that it has largely remained unchanged for two generations now, three if you take a stretch and include the 360 controller too, with little innovation in between.
While boasting an insane level of features, the Dualsense controller has proven to be a rather delicate piece of hardware, with many reports of people experiencing stick drift and battery issues a short while after using it.
There are smaller companies, too, like 8BitDO, GameSir, Gulikit, and Anbernic, offering enough features at a competitive price point. These, however, have yet to be able to achieve the kind of mainstream success required to bring some change. That’s why, in this current landscape of cautious evolution, only Valve’s return could shake things up in a way only GabeN knows how.
Valve’s Steam Controller 2 Might Just Be Nearing the End of Its Testing Stage
Xbox Elite Wireless Controller product image – Image Credit: Microsoft
As rumors from Insider Brad ****** have pointed out, the company’s next attempt at a controller—codenamed Ibex—is already “being tooled” for mass production. The details are, admittedly, a little thin at the moment, but the fact ******** that, yes, GabeN’s company is indeed giving the controller market a second shot.
When you think about it, it’s just the perfect time to get back in the game, too. Both Microsoft and Sony have already played their hands in this market and are busy working on other things, like getting their platforms in check, building a solid competitor to the Steam Deck, releasing good games, etc.
There’s clearly a gap in the market now for a controller that can innovate in a way that feels both reliable and functional. Imagine Hall Effect joysticks to eliminate drift, revamped trackpad (inspired by the Deck) for better precision, modular attachments such as a mini-keyboard for added functionality, and robust build quality that outlasts the competition.
If the Steam Controller 2 can deliver on even half of those things, it’ll already be a massive win for PC gamers. That said, price is going to play a critical role too.
To truly get a strike against all the other Market players, Valve needs to position the controller between between the $20-$30 offerings from budget brands and the $70 Xbox/DualSense models.
If the company plays its cards right, as it continues to do with the Steam Deck, we might just be in for a significant change within the controller space, and we, for one, can’t wait to see when that happens.
But with all that said, what are your thoughts on this? Would you be willing to give Valve’s new controller a shot? Let us know in the comments below!
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Ethics Committee deadlocks on releasing Matt Gaetz ****, ***** probe report
Ethics Committee deadlocks on releasing Matt Gaetz ****, ***** probe report
Vice President-elect, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) (L) and former Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) leave the U.S. Capitol after meeting with *********** members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on November 20, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
The bipartisan House Ethics Committee deadlocked Wednesday on whether to release a report on its investigation into allegations of ******* misconduct and other wrongdoing by former *********** Rep. Matt Gaetz.
The outcome of the vote means that the report on Gaetz, who is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the next U.S. attorney general, will not be released for the time being.
Ethics Chair Michael Guest, R-Miss., told reporters after the closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill, “There has been no agreement to release the report.”
But Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, the panel’s ranking Democrat, pushed back on that characterization.
“The chairman has essentially suggested that there was agreement of the members of the committee, which there most definitely was not,” she said.
She stressed that the vote in the 10-member committee, which is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, fell along partisan lines.
“There was no consensus on this issue,” Wild said.
She noted that the panel did agree to reconvene on Dec. 5 to “further consider this matter.”
When asked if she agreed with Guest’s prior remark that the panel’s report is unfinished, Wild paused before saying, “I really don’t care to comment on the status of the report, except to say that we were in a position to vote today.”
The ethics probe centered on whether Gaetz engaged in ******* misconduct or illicit ***** use, as well as whether he accepted improper gifts, gave special favors to personal contacts or sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.
The committee had paused its probe in May 2023 at the request of the Department of Justice, which was conducting its own investigation into allegations that Gaetz ****-trafficked a minor girl.
The DOJ ended that probe without filing charges. The committee reauthorized its investigation in May 2023.
It was investigating Gaetz until he resigned from Congress last week, shortly after Trump tapped him to become the nation’s top law enforcement officer. His resignation removes him from the committee’s jurisdiction, Guest has said.
This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.
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U.S. Vetoes U.N. Resolution Calling for Gaza Cease-*****
U.S. Vetoes U.N. Resolution Calling for Gaza Cease-*****
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U.S. Vetoes U.N. Resolution Calling for Gaza Cease-FireThe ******* States said it vetoed the ******* Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cease-***** between ******* and ******, because it did not make the cease-***** contingent on the release of the hostages held in Gaza.
We made clear throughout negotiations we could not support an unconditional cease-***** that ******* to release the hostages. Because as this council has previously called for, a durable end to the war must come with the release of the hostages. These two urgent goals are inextricably linked. This resolution abandoned that necessity, and for that reason, the ******* States could not support it. Simply put, this resolution would have sent a dangerous message to ******. There’s no need to come back to the negotiating table. There are still seven ********* citizens in the hands of ******. We will not forget them. For our part, we will continue to pursue a diplomatic solution that brings peace, security and freedom to Palestinians in Gaza.
Recent episodes in *******-****** War
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Spellagis review – Games Asylum
Spellagis review – Games Asylum
Games Asylum: “The popularity of the auto-********* genre doesn’t seem to be on the wane, with 2-3 typically launching weekly. With stiff competition in mind, it definitely helps to have a unique selling point or at least attempt to incorporate something new. Simply being a cheap download offering similar thrills to Vampire Survivors no longer cuts it. This is where Spellagis stumbles the most, being one of the most ordinary auto-shooters we’ve seen this year.”
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North Carolina Republicans Push to Seize Power From Top Democrats
North Carolina Republicans Push to Seize Power From Top Democrats
The ***********-controlled legislature in North Carolina passed a bill on Wednesday that would strip key powers from the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general in addition to giving the G.O.P. more control over elections and judicial appointments.
The changes, included in a 131-page bill that was designed to deliver much-needed disaster relief for areas of the state devastated by Hurricane Helene, come as Republicans are likely to lose their supermajority in the legislature after defeats in this month’s elections. Josh Stein, a Democrat, will be the next governor, succeeding Roy Cooper, another Democrat.
The bill would significantly restructure the state election board, the top authority over voting in North Carolina, wresting appointment power away from the governor’s office and handing it to the state auditor, who will be a *********** next year. The change would be likely to put the board, which currently has three Democrats and two Republicans, under G.O.P. control.
The legislation would also significantly restrict the governor’s ability to fill vacancies on state courts, including the Supreme Court, by limiting the options to candidates offered by the political party of the judge leaving the seat. And it would curtail the ability of the attorney general — currently Mr. Stein, and next year Jeff Jackson, another Democrat — to challenge laws passed by the legislature.
Beyond those proposals, the bill would make major changes to state election procedures. It would significantly shorten the time voters have after Election Day to address problems with their mail and absentee ballots — a process known as curing — and would require local election officials to finish counting provisional ballots within three days of the election.
The State Senate’s passage of the bill on Wednesday sends it to Mr. Cooper, who has 10 days to sign or veto the legislation before it becomes law automatically. North Carolina does not allow its governors to veto parts of a bill, so he would have to ******* the entire measure, including the hurricane relief provisions.
Adding to the drama, Mr. Cooper was in Washington on Wednesday, seeking more federal hurricane relief — which under North Carolina law meant that Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the controversy-prone *********** who lost the governor’s race to Mr. Stein, was serving as the acting governor. But Mr. Cooper’s office said it did not expect the bill to reach the lieutenant governor on Wednesday.
The *********** supermajority in the legislature means that the party could override a veto by Mr. Cooper if its lawmakers all vote together. But they could face some intraparty headwinds: On Tuesday night, three House Republicans from the western counties hit hardest by the hurricane voted against the bill, only 13 pages of which ultimately included storm relief measures.
One of those Republicans, State Representative Mike Clampitt, said in a brief interview on Wednesday that he had been deeply disappointed and surprised by the bill, particularly because it did not provide sufficient money for disaster aid.
“There was stuff that should be in next year’s budget that was in there,” he said. “That shouldn’t have been in there.”
Asked if he would vote to override a potential veto from Mr. Cooper, Mr. Clampitt said: “I’ll have to cross that bridge when I get to it. We’re not there yet.”
The gallery in the State Senate was packed on Wednesday as the chamber debated the bill. Onlookers hissed and flashed a thumbs-down as State Senator Ralph Hise, a ***********, discussed the bill’s details, and cheered Democratic lawmakers who stood in opposition. Mr. Robinson, agitated at the applause for the Democrats, ordered the gallery to be cleared less than 20 minutes into the debate, saying they were “immature people.”
“You are overturning the will of the people!” one person yelled. “You’re a fascist,” another screamed as the crowd exited the building to chants of “shame! shame!”
Mr. Hise, rising in defense of the bill, ignored the criticisms of provisions that would erode the authority of the governor and others, and instead defended the bill as a necessary first step in recovery from the hurricane.
“This is not a quick recovery for western North Carolina; this will be a yearslong process,” he said, adding that he still could not drink the water in his home. He criticized those making “a whole bunch of crazy claims that were not doing anything for the people of western North Carolina.”
Earlier in the debate, Mr. Hise said the reason for shortening the timeline for counting provisional ballots was to achieve a “timelier resolution of election outcomes.” Provisional ballots have tended to favor Democrats in recent elections, including in North Carolina’s State Supreme Court race this year. The Democratic incumbent, Allison Riggs, led the race by about 600 votes after provisional ballots and outstanding absentee ballots were counted; it is now heading to a recount.
The first state senator to rise in opposition to the bill was Julie Mayfield, a Democrat who represents western North Carolina.
“This bill does not meet the spirit of the moment, and I will not be able to vote for it,” she said. “It would have been easy to break out the Helene relief portions from this bill from the rest of a bill that takes purely partisan aim at some of the foundational pillars of our democracy,” she said.
Republicans have had a stranglehold on the North Carolina legislature since 2011, and they have pursued similar power grabs in recent years. After Mr. Cooper was elected in 2016, the legislature sought to limit the number of state employees the governor could hire, shift some of his responsibilities to the lieutenant governor and require Senate confirmation for cabinet positions.
During the 2021 redistricting process, the legislature drew a congressional map with 11 of the state’s 14 House seats favoring Republicans — a striking advantage in a state that is almost evenly divided politically.
Despite its long history of partisan fights, North Carolina had recently come together in response to Hurricane Helene, which ravaged western areas of the state. Asheville, a fast-growing city tucked in the Blue Ridge Mountains, was hit by unrelenting flooding, which left tens of thousands of residents without drinkable water or power for weeks.
Mr. Stein, the incoming governor, criticized the legislature for tethering hurricane relief to the measures targeting Democratic power.
“Many people and communities are hurting and need our help,” Mr. Stein wrote on social media on Tuesday. “But instead of stepping up, the Republicans in the General Assembly are grabbing power and exacting political retribution.”
Mr. Jackson, the next attorney general, said in an interview on Wednesday that the bill “should be focused on Helene response to help people — it really shouldn’t be used to sneak through major policy changes,” including some that would “undermine the independence of the attorney general.”
Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of the State Board of Elections, said in a statement that the board had not been consulted about the legislation. She added that the bill “may make it impossible for the county boards of elections to adequately ensure every eligible ballot cast is counted, especially in high turnout elections.”
This is not the first time Republicans have tried to give their party control of the state election board.
Last year, G.O.P. lawmakers passed a bill to allow the legislature to make appointments to the board. Mr. Cooper challenged the law, arguing that it was an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers. A three-judge state panel agreed with him, and the effort was in legal purgatory during the 2024 general election.
By shifting authority over the election board to the state auditor, the legislature appears to be working around the legal concerns about separation of powers, because the auditor is part of the executive branch.
The effort to tighten election laws in North Carolina also follows a yearslong push by Republicans in battleground states to exert more influence over how elections are run.
After the 2020 election and ahead of the 2022 midterms, right-wing activists backed by the election-denial movement organized a coalition of candidates to run for secretary of state, the top role overseeing elections in most battleground states other than North Carolina and Wisconsin. But those candidates were defeated in every competitive state in 2022.
Dave Boliek, the incoming *********** auditor, ran a campaign promising to rein in spending, especially at the state’s division of motor vehicles. He often pledged to “audit” the board of elections, but offered little detail.
In August, he earned the endorsement of Donald J. Trump, who called out Mr. Boliek by name during a speech about the economy, recalling that the candidate for auditor had told him, “I’m only in politics for you, sir.”
“Where is Dave?” Mr. Trump said from the stage, scanning the audience. Spotting Mr. Boliek, he asked, “Do you mean that?”
Mr. Boliek shouted back, “I mean it!”
“If you mean that, I’m for you all the way,” Mr. Trump replied. “He has my endorsement. Thank you, Dave.”
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Billionaire Gautam Adani charged ******, bribery in New York
Billionaire Gautam Adani charged ******, bribery in New York
Gautam Adani, chair of Indian conglomerate Adani Group, addresses a gathering during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India, Jan. 10, 2024.
Punit Paranjpe | AFP | Getty Images
Gautam Adani, chair of India’s Adani Group and one of the world’s richest people, was indicted in New York with others for an alleged multi-billion-dollar ****** scheme, authorities said Wednesday.
Adani and seven other defendants are accused of agreeing to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain “lucrative solar energy supply contracts with the Indian government,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn said.
Those contracts were projected to generate more than $2 billion in post-tax profits over two decades.
Adani allegedly met in person with an Indian government official on several occasions as part of the bribery scheme, prosecutors said.
Adani and two other defendants, his nephew Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain, who are executives of Adani Green Energy Limited, are also accused of conspiracies related to allegedly lying to U.S. and international investors about the bribery scheme as they sought to raise capital from those investors.
A worker walks past rows of solar panels at the Adani Group- owned Khavda Renewable Energy Park in Khavda, India, Jan. 12, 2024.
Punit Paranjpe | Afp | Getty Images
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Dragon Mania Legends spreads awareness on proper battery disposal at the Green Game Jam 2024
Dragon Mania Legends spreads awareness on proper battery disposal at the Green Game Jam 2024
Winner of the UNEP’s Choice and Google’s Choice awards
Cool AR feature to help with disposing of batteries in the house
Learn more about Playing for the Planet
It seems that Gameloft has plenty of reasons to celebrate this year as Dragon Mania Legends has just bagged first place at the UNEP’s Choice and Google’s Choice awards, particularly for the Green Game Jam 2024. Environmental awareness is always a good thing, and it does appear that Gameloft’s commitment to that is very much reflected in the concepts of sustainability and recycling within the family-friendly mobile adventure.
Just in case you’re not familiar with it, Dragon Mania Legends lets you breed all manner of dragon species, nurturing them and playing with them as you go along. You can also build your very own dragon-themed haven – there even looks to be an adorable robo-dragon you can hatch, for crying out loud.
Specifically, the Runner Event will have you gathering batteries that have been disposed of improperly with the Battery Dragon – you can even use AR to spot batteries around your house. This should help players stay privy to disposing of them in the right way.
If you’re curious about the initiative, you can take a gander at the official Playing for the Planet website to learn more. Or, if you’re on the hunt for more family-friendly experiences on mobile, why not take a look at our list of the best educational games on Android to get your fill?
In the meantime, if you’re eager to join in on all the fun, you can do so by checking out Dragon Mania Legends on the App Store and on Google Play. It’s free-to-play with in-app purchases.
You can also join the community of followers on the official Facebook page to stay updated on all the latest developments, visit the official website for more info, or take a little peek at the embedded clip above to get a feel of the vibes and visuals.
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Reddit is down – live updates on the huge outage
Reddit is down – live updates on the huge outage
Reddit suffered a major outage on Wednesday, plunging its millions of devoted users into discussion darkness, with no place to drop their hot takes, memes, and AMA.
As of 4PM ET, the popular website was returning a mostly blank page with an upstream error at the top
Down Detector put Reddit at the top of its outage list.
(Image credit: Future)
Reddit appeared to be recovering by 4:13PM but the instability ********.
(Image credit: Future)
Some pages, like the all-important Popular, remain blank.
(Image credit: Future)
On the bright side, you can still peruse some of Reddit’s homepage.
Today, perhaps coincidentally, was also the day of US News Anchor Katie Couric’s first-ever Reddit AMA. It launched at 2PM ET, though we’re not pointing any fingers.
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Nvidia (NVDA) earnings report Q3 2025
Nvidia (NVDA) earnings report Q3 2025
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang arrives at the launch of the supercomputer Gefion, at the Vilhelm Lauritzen Terminal in Kastrup, Denmark, Oct. 23, 2024.
Ritzau Scanpix | Mads Claus Rasmussen | Via Reuters
Nvidia reported earnings that beat expectations for sales and earnings, while delivering a strong forecast for the current quarter.
Here are the results.
Revenue: $35.08 billion vs. $33.16 billion expected by LSEGEarnings per share: 81 cents adjusted vs. 75 cents adjusted expected by LSEG
Nvidia said it expects about $37.5 billion in current quarter sales, versus $37.08 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG.
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The best laptop power banks for 2024
The best laptop power banks for 2024
Smaller battery packs are great for refiling phones and tablets, but if you need to keep a laptop juiced up while you’re far from an outlet, you’ll need something larger. For this guide, we tested portable chargers with at least a 20,000mAh (74Wh) capacity, but kept the upper limit below 27,000mAh (99Wh), since that’s about the maximum size allowed by the TSA in carry-on luggage. Some laptop power banks sport extra features like wireless charging or an AC plug so you can power small devices such as a travel printer or an LED lamp. But what all of them have in common is a larger size and higher price tag than standard battery packs. So if you don’t want to play a guessing game, these are the best laptop power banks we tested.
Table of contents
Best laptop power banks for 2024
Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget
Capacity: 27,000 mAh, 99.9 Wh | Ports: One USB-C in/out, two USB-A out and three wireless pads | Cable included: USB-C to USB-C and wall adapter | Charge time iPhone 15: 5 to 100% in 2h 56m (wireless) 5 – 100% 2h 22m (wired) | Remaining charge after iPhone: ~ 81% | Charge time Galaxy S23 Ultra: 5 to 100% in 1h 20m | Remaining charge after S23 Ultra: ~ 77% | Charge time iPad Air: 5 to 100% in 1h 55m | Remaining charge after iPad: ~ 64% | Charge time MacBook Pro: 10% to 89% in 1h 18m
Traveling is one of the top reasons people need to use a portable laptop charger — planes, trains, buses and airports aren’t exactly the easiest places to find a power source. Lion Energy’s Eclipse Mag battery pack has a big 27,000 capacity, which is enough to power a laptop through a couple days of use. I also like how its three wireless charging pads cut down on cable chaos, letting you charge a Qi-enabled phone, earbuds case and Apple Watch at the same time.
You certainly could charge all three of those accessories and a laptop at one time, but as with all batteries, that increased drain will quickly empty it and your charge times will slow down quite a bit. From what I’ve seen, the unit works best as an as-needed power supply when you’re out and about, then, after a recharge, it can moonlight as a three-in-one wireless charger in your hotel room. You can even power up the battery while using the wireless pads, making it a sort of travel-ready multi-device charger.
At two pounds, no one would call this light, but the angled corners and narrow design make it feel more compact than other big batteries. There’s no display to tell you how much charge is left, just four lighted pips at one edge, but I found them to provide a fairly accurate estimate. One thing to note is that the wireless watch pad only works with Apple Watches. Since Pixel watches don’t support wireless charging and Samsung only recommends its own chargers for Galaxy Watches, that’s not surprising. The only other drawback is the single USB-C port. The three wireless pads and the two USB-A ports will likely be enough for a days’ work, but one more type-C port would be ideal.
Compared to other 27,000 maAh battery packs, the $149 price tag on the Eclipse Mag is a good deal. Anker’s biggest (27,650 mAh) Anker Prime battery paired with the charging base is also an excellent travel companion. The battery itself has two USB-C and one USB-A ports and a handy display to indicate remaining charge and output. Plus the base provides two more type-C and one more type-A ports for charging other devices when you’re back at the hotel — and plonking the battery on the base makes for the easiest power bank recharge I’ve tried. But at $235 for the set, it’s a bit of a luxury buy.
*****
Wireless charging is convenient for travel
Compact design for such a large battery
Delivers a fast, 79 percent charge to a large laptop
*****
Heavy
No display
Could use one more USB-C port
$149 at Lion Energy
Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget
Capacity: 20,000 mAh, 74 Wh | Ports: Two USB-C in/out and two USB-A out | Cable: USB-C to USB-C | Charge time iPhone 15: 0 to 100% in 1h 54m | Remaining charge after iPhone: 73% | Charge time Galaxy S23 Ultra: 5 to 100% in 1h 11m | Remaining charge after S23 Ultra: 66% | Charge time iPad Air: 3 to 100% in 2h 13m | Remaining charge after iPad: 42% | Charge time MacBook Pro: 10% to 62% in 1h 6m
I hadn’t even heard of Baseus before I started testing products for these guides. But after reading the many positive reviews, I gave a few of the brand’s offerings a try and have been repeatedly impressed by their value-to-performance ratio. The Baseus Blade is a compact and flat battery that weighs just over a pound. The shape is more tablet-like than the standard block of most power banks, which makes it easier to slide into a backpack or messenger bag alongside a laptop.
The display underestimates the amount of charge left, which is always better than the alternative. When the Blade was down to just one percent, it gave my laptop a few more percentage points before giving up the ghost. It has two USB-C and two USB-A ports along with little feet at the bottom that keep from moving around as you plug cables into it. The speeds were admirable, clocking in just a few minutes longer than batteries with larger capacities.
That’s the main trade off here: At 20,000 mAh, it’s not going to deliver the same amount of charge as a ******* bank. It boosted my 16-inch MacBook Pro from 10 percent to 62 percent, which is about 20 percentage points lower than the ******* batteries could do. But for $100, it’s still a speedy portable charger with a convenient shape and a good number of ports.
*****
Great value
Charges devices quickly
Sleek design is easy to carry along with your laptop
Two USB-C ports
*****
Lower capacity than other laptop power banks
$100 at Amazon
Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget
Capacity: 25,600 mAh, 95Wh | Ports: One USB-C in/out, one USB-C out, one USB-C in, two USB-A, one AC port, one solar input and one wireless pad | Cable: USB-C to USB-C | Charge time iPhone 15: 0 to 100% in 1h 49m | Remaining charge after iPhone: 83% | Charge time Galaxy S23 Ultra: 5 to 100% in 1h 3m | Remaining charge after S23 Ultra: 77% | Charge time iPad Air: 4 to 100% in 2h 11m | Remaining charge after iPad: 62% | Charge time MacBook Pro: 6% to 72% in 1h 21m
Let’s get the bad news out of the way first: Goal Zero’s Sherpa 100AC costs $300. That makes it the most expensive power bank I’ve tested so far. But it’s a high-quality unit that gives you what you pay for. There’s a wireless charging pad up top, three USB-C ports (though one is input only), plus a couple of USB-A ports, an AC port and an 8mm port that can pair up with a Goal Zero solar panel or 12V adapter cable to recharge from your car. There’s even an internal fan to keep everything cool as it deals with all the output and a status display you can turn on or off.
Goal Zero is probably best known for its outdoor-focused power products — power stations for camping, portable solar panels and camping lights, to name a few. The Sherpa has the same rugged/industrial aluminum unibody design, which would make it an ideal productivity companion for field work. I could see this coming in handy for outdoor photo shoots, job-site projects or just snagging some nature-side office hours.
The ability to recharge from a car’s 12V port or even from solar panels is another nice-to-have, but of course, you’ll need extra equipment. In the case of the car charger, that’s another $40, but the solar panels will add another $250 to your mobile set up. If you find yourself working out in the field relatively often you might appreciate the flexibility.
*****
Wireless charging pad and an AC port
Can recharge from solar or a car’s 12V port (with accessories)
Accurate status display
Rugged design
$250 at Amazon
Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget
Capacity: 27,000mAh, 99.9 Wh | Ports: One USB-C in/out, one USB-C out, USB-A, 100W AC | Cable: USB-C to USB-C | Charge time iPhone 11: 0 to 100% in 1h 40m | Remaining charge after iPhone: ~ 73% | Charge time iPad: 0 to 100% in 1h 56m | Remaining charge after iPad: ~ 53% | Charge time MBP: 10% to 75% in 1h 29m
Mophie’s is a bit of a ******, weighing over two pounds and hitting the upper limit of the TSA’s 100-watt-hour battery limit (I flew with it twice and never had any issue, though). It even has a handle strap to help lug it around. There’s one USB-A port and two USB-C connections, one with a lower 20W rating and one that can deliver 60W. Then there’s the AC port.
The AC port on any portable charger is a novel thing to have; as mentioned previously, it’s the USB-C port that should power your laptop because it makes no sense to convert a portable battery’s charge twice. That said, if you need to power a light, a portable printer or some other appliance that only has a standard two-prong plug, this port will come in handy. Just be sure to hold down the status button to enable the AC function.
Mophie’s pack has enough juice to give a smartphone three to four charges, fill an iPad twice with a charge left over and it can charge a 16-inch MacBook Pro from 10 percent to 75 percent in under 90 minutes, while in use. The four lighted LED indicators aren’t the best: I found it cycled through the last two dots far quicker than the first two, which might make you think you have more charge left than you actually do.
*****
Massive 27,000mAh capacity
Has an AC outlet and two USB-C ports
*****
Expensive
No status display
Lighted pips don’t accurately indicate remaining charge
$170 at Amazon
What to look for in a laptop power bank
Capacity
If you just need to keep a smartphone from dying before you can make it home, just about any power bank will do. But if you need to revive multiple devices or the substantial battery of a laptop, you’ll want something with a high milliamp-hour (mAh) capacity. A power bank capable of delivering enough power to a laptop will have a capacity between 20,000 and 27,000 mAh.
Go higher than 27,000mAh and you won’t be able to take it on an airplane, which is why most portable chargers top out around that number. Since the voltage for most portable power banks is around 3.7 volts, a 27,000mAh battery translates to 99.9 watt hours — which is the maximum capacity the TSA will allow for carry-on luggage. (And note that these batteries can’t be checked, regardless of size).
If you want something even ******* than a laptop power bank, and don’t need to fly with it, you’ll likely want to look into portable power stations. These can be the size of a car battery or larger and can potentially fuel an entire weekend away.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the capacity listed in a power bank’s specs is not what will be delivered to your devices. As I mentioned, the capacity of these banks is around 25,000mAh. Even the huge battery on a MacBook Pro has a mAh rating of around 5,000 – 6,000mAh, so you might think you’d get five full charges but in reality, you only get about a single 70-percent charge. The voltage is different (typically 3.7V for the power bank and 11.4V for a laptop) which makes the watt-hours, or the amount of energy each battery can hold, different (working out to 92Wh for the battery and 72Wh for the laptop). On top of that, in order to feed a charge from a power bank to a laptop, a voltage conversion takes place and that dissipates a decent amount of energy.
Without turning this into a physics lesson, this all means that a power bank with a 25,000mAh (or 92Wh) capacity will typically fill a 5,000mAh (or 72Wh) laptop battery to about 75 percent. In my tests, I averaged about a 60-percent efficiency rate between a power bank’s listed capacity and the actual charge delivered.
Ports
Every large power bank I’ve tested has at least three USB ports, with a mix of USB-C and USB-A, which should cover nearly any portable device you need to recharge — earbuds, phones, tablets, laptops, you name it. In addition to the different plug formats, some ports supply power at different wattages. For example, one USB-C port might be rated for 60 watts, while the one next to it is rated for 100 watts. So if you’ve got a device that’s capable of 70W fast charging, such as the new MacBook Air, you’d want to opt for the 100W port to get the best charging speeds possible. Note that devices with a smaller wattage draw won’t be negatively affected by connecting to ports with high ratings. For example, a Galaxy S24 Ultra, capable of 45W super fast charging, can happily plug into the 100W port. A device will only draw what it can take, regardless of what a port can supply. Just remember that the port, device and cable need to be at or above the desired wattage rating to achieve maximum charging rates.
Some of these larger batteries also have AC ports. It might seem like a natural fit to plug in your laptop’s power adapter for a recharge. But really, the AC port should only be for devices that can’t use USB — such as a lamp or a printer. Plugging a power adapter into the AC port only wastes energy through conversion. First, the battery converts its DC power to supply the port with AC power, then the power adapter converts that AC power back to DC so your laptop can take it in. And as you’ll remember from physics class, each time energy is converted, some is lost to heat and other dissipations. Better to cut out the middleman and just send that DC power straight from the battery to the device.
Also, you can use more than one port at a time with these devices; just remember that the speed of whatever you’re charging will likely go down, and of course, the battery is going to drain proportionally to what you’re refilling.
Wireless charging
Just in the last year and a half that I’ve been testing portable power banks, wireless charging capabilities have noticeably improved. The first few I tried were painfully slow and not worth recommending. Now the wireless pads built into power banks are impressively fast — particularly, in my experience, when charging Samsung Galaxy phones (though the lack of a stabilizing magnetic connection like Apple’s MagSafe means they only work when rested flat on a pad). Most wireless charging connections can be used while other ports are also being employed, making them convenient for some mobile battlestation setups.
Of course, wireless charging is always less efficient than wired, and recharging from an external battery is less efficient in general. If you want to waste as little energy as possible, you’re better off sticking to wired connections.
Design
All power banks are designed to be portable, but there’s a big difference between a pocket-friendly 5,000mAh battery and one of these laptop-compatible bruisers. Most of the latter weigh between a pound and a half to two pounds, which is a considerable addition to a backpack. Many of the options listed here have a display to tell you how much charge ******** in the battery, which is helpful when you’re trying to judiciously meet out charges to your devices. If a bank has a wireless connection, the pad is usually on the flat top and any available AC connection is usually at one end. Both may require you to engage those charging methods. Don’t be like me and grumble loudly that you got a **** unit without pressing (and sometimes double pressing) all the buttons first.
How we test portable laptop chargers
For the past year and a half, I’ve been testing and using dozens of portable batteries for our other battery guide. Some of those batteries include the higher-capacity power banks you see here. I also got a hold of a few extra banks just for this guide to make sure we covered what’s available. I went for brands I’m already familiar with, as well as battery packs from well-received manufacturers I hadn’t tried before (like UGREEN and Lion Energy). I only considered banks with at least a 20,000mAh capacity and mostly stuck with those that rated 25,000mAh and higher.
Here’s everything we tested:
Due to shipping and travel issues, I wasn’t able to test two of the batteries I had slated: the HyperJuice 245W and the UGREEN Power Bank 25,000mAh. Once I’ve had a chance to see how these two perform — as well as any new worthy contenders that hit the market — I’ll update this guide accordingly.
I tested each power bank with an iPhone 15, a Galaxy S23 Ultra, an iPad Air (M1) and a 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro chip. Even though these banks can charge multiple devices at once, I refilled one at a time, to make side-by-side comparisons more straightforward. I drained the batteries of the phones and tablets to between zero and five percent and then didn’t use any device as it refilled.
For the MacBook, I let it run down to 10 percent before plugging in the power bank. That’s when most laptops give display a “connect to power” warning, as draining any battery to empty will compromise the battery life. I then used it as one might in a mobile office, with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, while connected to Wi-Fi and a VPN.
For each test, I noted how long a completely charged battery took to get a device back to full and how much of the battery’s capacity was used up in one charge. I also noted things like portability, apparent durability, helpful features and overall design.
For reference, here are the battery capacities of the devices I used:
iPhone 15: 3,349mAh
Galaxy S23 Ultra: 4,855mAh
iPad Air (5th gen): 7,729mAh
16-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro: 27,027mAh
Laptop power bank FAQs
How do laptop power banks differ from phone power banks?
The main difference is size. Phone power banks tend to have a capacity ranging from 5,000mAh to 20,000mAh and laptop powerbanks are typically rated between 20,000mAh and 27,000mAh. There’s no official definition, however. Laptop batteries are simply larger and need a ******* supply of power to give them a meaningful charge.
How do you fast charge a power bank?
You can charge a power bank exactly as fast as the power bank’s internal mechanisms will allow. Most batteries are limited in how quickly they can accept and deliver a charge to avoid dangerously overheating. But to make sure you’re charging a bank as quickly as possible, make sure the wall adapter and the USB-C cable you are using have a high wattage rating — using a 5W power brick and a 10W cable will take a lot longer to refill your bank than a 65W wall charger and a 100W cord.
What size power bank do I need for a laptop?
Look for a power bank with a rating of at least 20,000mAh. Slightly smaller batteries may work, but they won’t deliver a significant charge to your laptop.
How many mAh to charge a laptop?
A milliamp hour (mAh) is how much a battery can hold, and most portable batteries list their capacity using mAh. If you get a battery rated at 20,000mAh or above, it should be able to charge your laptop.
Using mAh to discuss laptop batteries can be confusing. Due to differing voltages, you can’t directly compare the mAh ratings of a power bank battery to a laptop battery. Using watt-hours is a better gauge, as that calculation takes voltage into account.
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Snowflake partners with Anthropic to improve AI development
Snowflake partners with Anthropic to improve AI development
Eight months after a CEO change marked a newfound commitment to fostering AI development, Snowflake on Wednesday continued its aggressive push to enable customers to develop trusted AI tools by unveiling a multi-year partnership with Anthropic.
Based in San Francisco, Anthropic is an AI startup founded in 2021 that develops the Claude line of large language models (LLMs).
Snowflake, meanwhile, is a data platform vendor based in Bozeman, Mont., but with no central headquarters. It specialized in data management before making AI development a focal point as well over the past couple of years.
However, despite unveiling generative AI capabilities of its own and features aimed at enabling customers to build their own AI tools as far back as June 2023, Snowflake did not embrace AI development with the same vigor as rival Databricks and tech giants such as Google and Microsoft.
That has changed since late February when CEO Frank Slootman, who guided Snowflake through a record-breaking initial public stock offering in September 2020, stepped down and Sridhar Ramaswamy was named his successor.
Just days after Ramaswamy became CEO, Snowflake unveiled a partnership with Mistral AI to provide access to Mistral AI’s line LLMs. Since then, the vendor has unveiled tools to enable customers to develop chatbots and containerization capabilities for deploying AI models and applications, among other features to aid AI development.
Now, its partnership with Anthropic further advances its AI development capabilities and brings its AI development capabilities more in line with those of its competition, according to Donald Farmer, founder and principal of TreeHive Strategy.
“Snowflake appears to be catching up,” he said. “They can build on their solid data warehousing foundation.”
However, there’s more to be done before Snowflake has fully caught up, Farmer continued.
Databricks has more mature AI capabilities and has made features generally available faster than Snowflake, he said. AWS offers a wider range of models through the Bedrock platform than Snowflake does through service, Google Cloud has more extensive AI development tools via Vertex AI, and Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI may be more attractive to customers than Snowflake’s with Anthropic, he added.
Likewise, Andy Thurai, an analyst at Constellation Research, noted that Snowflake lost ground to competitors when enterprise interest in generative AI first surged. Recent product developments and integrations have helped it close the gap, but a disparity ********.
“Snowflake has been losing its mojo to Databricks and other [competitors] for the past couple of years on the AI front [and] they still have to catch up with the dominant player in this area — Databricks,” Thurai said. “This is a good step, but there’s a long way to go.”
The introduction of Snowflake’s new partnership with Anthropic comes just a day after Microsoft unveiled a spate of new capabilities during its annual Ignite user conference in Chicago aimed at helping customers develop AI tools.
The partnership
By enabling non-technical employees to use natural language to query and analyze data, generative AI has the potential to expand the use of analytics beyond a small percentage of technical experts, thus making businesses smarter.
In addition, generative AI has the potential to make businesses more efficient by enabling organizations to automate processes that previously needed to be performed by humans.
As a result, enterprise interest in developing generative AI tools that could transform their operations has surged in the two years since OpenAI’s launch of ChatGPT marked a significant improvement in generative AI technology and began the modern age of generative AI.
To develop generative AI tools that understand their operations, enterprises must combine two basic ingredients: proprietary data and generative AI technology from foundation models.
Data management and analytics vendors have responded en masse due to the need for proprietary data to train models. Most have developed AI tools, such as chatbots and agents, that enable users to interact with their platforms using natural language. Many others, however, have gone further and built environments for their customers to develop their own generative AI tools.
They’ve added capabilities such as vector search and retrieval-augmented generation so that developers can train models with trusted data. And to provide the actual generative AI — the second ingredient — they’ve provided integrations with LLMs such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Meta’s Llama so that customers can combine their data with the LLM of their choice.
Snowflake’s partnership with Anthropic addresses that second part of the generative AI development recipe, providing access to LLMs.
Under the partnership, Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 models are available in Cortex AI, where they can be used without developers having to move data out of Snowflake’s secure environment and risk the data’s accidental exposure.
With Anthropic’s models available in Cortex AI, it gives users more LLMs to choose from as they build their enterprise’s generative AI tools, joining models from Google, Meta and Mistral, among others.
The partnership, however, goes deeper than simply providing Snowflake customers with more choice as they develop generative AI models and applications.
Snowflake will now use Anthropic’s Claude as one of the models powering the semi-autonomous and autonomous generative AI agents it provides to customers. The prebuilt agents, which can be customized with an enterprise’s proprietary data, will be optimized for Claude from the outset.
With the added security provided by the partnership and tighter alignment than an integration would represent, Snowflake’s agreement with Anthropic is valuable, according to Farmer.
“The partnership is highly significant for Snowflake customers,” he said. “It brings Claude directly into Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud while maintaining their security-first approach. This is a good approach, enabling processing of a customer’s entire knowledge base within a secure environment.”
Mike Leone, an analyst at TechTarget’s Enterprise Strategy Group, likewise said that the partnership is important for Snowflake customers.
Anthropic’s Claude models are among the highest performing LLMs, he noted. Optimizing prebuilt agents for Claude and providing access to Claude through Cortex AI is therefore important.
“This is a huge win for Snowflake customers as they look to leverage the power of generative AI underpinned by trusted LLMs like Anthropic’s latest, market-leading Claude models,” Leone said.
In addition, the nature of the relationship between Snowflake and Anthropic carries weight, he continued.
The partnership, unlike a common connector, enables Snowflake customers to combine their data with generative AI without having to move their data away from the security and governance measures of the Snowflake data cloud.
“Knowing that governance, security, privacy and compliance are so critical — and often seen as challenges to quickly see value from generative AI — Snowflake is enabling customers to extend their trust and safety frameworks to encompass Claude,” Leone said.
As for choosing to optimize its agents for Claude rather than another LLM, Snowflake is aligning itself with some of the best LLMs, according to Thurai.
Like Leone, he noted that Claude is doing well in benchmark testing, though he added that benchmark testing of LLMs should be taken with skepticism because LLMs from the big generative AI vendors continually leapfrog each other in size, capabilities and other attributes.
“Based on my conversations with enterprises, Anthropic seems to be the best performing model among the LLMs to date,” Thurai said.
Anthropic was founded by seven former OpenAI employees, including some of the leaders of OpenAI’s research, safety and policy initiatives who left because they didn’t like the way Open AI was building its models, he noted.
“They promised to build something better,” Thurai said. “And they’ve been able to build a similar or better model family. The results seem to be equal or better than other models and at a much cheaper cost. As of now, their Claude 3.5 Sonnet is one of the top performing models in the market.”
Snowflake’s partnership with Anthropic is its seventh with an LLM provider, including Mistral in March and Meta, developer of the Llama line of LLMs, in July.
However, Snowflake’s partnership with Anthropic is different from the others, according to Harshal Pimpalkhute, Snowflake’s principal product manager. Unlike its partnerships with other LLM providers which simply provided Snowflake customers with access to an array of LLMs through integrations, Snowflake’s partnership with Anthropic includes Snowflake’s use of Claude in its own agentic tools.
Pimpalkhute added that as Snowflake partners with LLM providers, it follows strict guidelines.
“Our goal is to make generative AI easy, efficient and trusted for our users,” he said. “This means prioritizing models that offer high performance and efficiency, while optimizing costs for our customers. As the AI landscape rapidly advances, we are committed to bringing the best … models to Cortex AI.
Next steps
Following the formation of its partnership with Anthropic, Snowflake would be wise to continue adding partnerships with AI developers to provide its customers with more choices as they develop AI tools, according to Leone.
Some LLMs are better at certain things than others, so given the application, one LLM may be more appropriate than another.
“Organizations want flexibility in what models they can choose to support their use cases, so expanding their model provider partnerships continues to be a big deal for Snowflake,” Leone said.
Farmer likewise suggested that Snowflake should enable more model choice as it builds its AI development environment.
“[Snowflake should] continue adding diverse model options beyond current partnerships,” he said. “The range of models is becoming as important as the depth of integration with any one model.”
In addition, he stressed that Snowflake needs to make features generally available more quickly. Typically, the vendor takes at least six months between introducing capabilities and making them generally available.
For example, Cortex AI was first unveiled in November 2023 and access to LLMs on Cortex was made generally available in May 2024. Meanwhile, other capabilities such as Snowpark Container Services, which enables secure deployment of models and applications, took 14 months to go from preview to general availability.
“Move faster,” Farmer said regarding what Snowflake should do next to better enable AI development. “[It needs to] move more AI capabilities from preview to GA to match competitors.”
Eric Avidon is a senior news writer for TechTarget Editorial and a journalist with more than 25 years of experience. He covers analytics and data management.
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Russia and US battle for advantage in Ukraine war ahead of Trump’s return
Russia and US battle for advantage in Ukraine war ahead of Trump’s return
Getty Images
Russia has resumed large-scale missile strikes on Ukraine as it seeks to maximise its military advantage
In a matter of days US President Joe Biden’s administration and Russia have made separate – but significant – moves aimed at influencing the outcome of the war in Ukraine, two months ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
There is a sense of Moscow maximising its gains and of Biden abandoning long-held red lines before Trump seeks to deliver on his claim to end the war in 24 hours.
Ukraine has already acted on Biden’s decision to let Kyiv ***** first long-range ATACMS missiles deep into Russian territory. As Kyiv struggles to hold on to its territory in the east, Biden has promised to send anti-personnel landmines, too.
What prompted Biden’s change of heart appears to have been the arrival of thousands of North Koreans deployed to the front line, which the US sees as a “massive escalation”.
But Russia’s President Vladimir ****** has ratcheted up the tension still further by loosening the conditions of use for Russia’s nuclear weapons. That “effectively eliminates” defeat on the battlefield, claims Moscow.
One Russia commentator suggested ****** might view the current situation as an “in-between” moment that gives him the sense he has the upper hand in Ukraine.
South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images
The US Atacms missile system can hit targets at a distance of 190 miles (300km)
At the start of this week, Russia launched its biggest aerial ******* on Ukraine for almost three months. Amid fears of a renewed strike on Wednesday, several Western embassies closed their doors.
“It’s all connected,” says Mykhaylo Samus, head of the New Geopolitics Research Network in Ukraine. He argues Russia has been stockpiling hundreds of Iskander and Kinzhal missiles for weeks to enable it to carry out strikes and thus send a psychological message ahead of the transfer of power in Washington DC.
Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, may have spared on Wednesday, but the message got through.
“Everything is about preparing for a strong position for talks with Trump, to understand Russia is not going to make compromise and everything depends on [Ukraine’s President Volodymyr] Zelensky.”
“There’s clearly an effort ahead of Trump to maximise their standings,” agrees ***** McGlynn, from the war studies department at King’s College London. She is highly sceptical that a deal with Vladimir ****** is possible – and that ultimately his aim is to subjugate Russia’s southern neighbour.
Ukraine marked 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion on Tuesday with Russian forces waging relentless attacks in a bid to seize key hubs in the east of Ukraine.
The mood in Moscow appears to be that it is only a matter of time before Ukraine is in its hands, says Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.
From January, however, ****** will have to consider other factors, she says: “He will have to deal with the fact that Trump now is responsible for the situation. If ****** escalates, it can worsen the chances for a deal. He will have to be more flexible, more open to different options.”
Biden’s decision to allow Kyiv to begin ******* ATACMS into Russian territory was clearly directed at helping Kyiv, but it was felt by the Trump entourage, too.
Although Trump has so far said nothing, his pick for National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz, spoke of “another step up the escalation ladder and nobody knows where this is going”.
He did not go as far as some on the Trump team. Donald Trump Jr complained Biden was trying to “get World War Three” going before his father could even return to the White House.
“There’s one president at a time,” said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller “When the next president takes office, he can make his own decisions.”
Some Republicans have backed Biden’s move, although Sen Lindsay Graham said he should have done it “to help Ukraine and he’s playing politics with it”.
Russia’s reaction may or may not be an empty threat.
Under its revised nuclear doctrine, Moscow will now be able to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear countries that are backed by nuclear powers, and if it comes under “massive” air *******, too.
Alexander Ermakov from the Russian International Affairs Council says the change is not so much as an operational manual for using nuclear weapons, but “primarily it serves as a declaration to potential adversaries, outlining the scenarios in which such measures could be considered”.
Another message from ****** to the West, then.
Tatiana Stanovaya believes it is not that he wants to start World War Three, but because “he believes he must scare the Western elites to show they are playing with *****”.
What happens beyond January is anyone’s guess.
Kremlin insiders have already begun briefing about their minimal demands from any Trump initiative to end the war, and Volodymyr Zelensky has begun making his position clear too.
Asked in a US TV interview what would happen to Ukraine if Washington slashed military aid, he was clear: “If they will cut, I think we will lose. Of course, anyway, we will stay and we will ******. We have production, but it’s not enough to prevail.”
****** insists Ukraine will have to remain neutral for any relations to work, even though it is now part of Ukraine’s constitution to join both Nato and the ********* Union.
A Reuters news agency report on Wednesday cited Russian officials saying ****** might be open to pulling out from relatively small patches of territory but nothing *******.
Zelensky on Tuesday presented his 10-point “resilience plan” to parliament, and one defiant message rang out in the Verkhovna Rada more than most.
“Maybe Ukraine will have to outlive someone in Moscow in order to achieve all its goals… to restore the full integrity of Ukraine.”
One day Russia would be without ******, in other words, but Ukraine would be going nowhere.
For Ukrainians that wait could take years, says Mykhaylo Samus, but they would never consent to abandoning Crimea or any other territory under Russian occupation.
The most Zelensky might be prepared to sign would be a ceasefire without commitments, he believes. Anything else would lead to internal conflict as many would view it as a betrayal.
Ahead of any talks Mykola Bielieskov of the National Institute for Strategic Studies in Kyiv believes the key is to prevent any major Russian breakthrough in the east.
“For us it’s just necessary to localise [Russian] advances… using Atacms, anti-personnel landmines or whatever. Because if the Russians are successful they would try to dictate terms.”
Speaking to the BBC from Kharkiv, ***** McGlynn said few Ukrainians believed Trump would be able to engineer any kind of lasting peace deal.
Any kind of settlement that left Ukraine in a much worse position would lead to political chaos, she said.
“Europe needs to step up,” she said, “and ultimately we know that the Scandinavians, Baltic states and Poland are not enough.”
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Saquon Barkley’s No-Look Hurdle Has Been Added To Madden NFL 25
Saquon Barkley’s No-Look Hurdle Has Been Added To Madden NFL 25
In the NFL, when players pull off something special on the field, fans occasionally refer to it as a “video-game move.” But Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley took that to another level earlier this season when he evaded a defender by jumping over him while looking the other way. EA couldn’t resist adding that no-look hurdle to the latest update for Madden NFL 25, but Barkley is the only player who can use it and it’s not easy to pull off.
As part of the notes for the new Madden NFL 25 update, EA explained that the development team immediately decided to put Barkley’s “once-in-a-lifetime move” in the game by combing through hours of motion-capture footage. From there, they determined which animations could be modified to recreate Barkley’s leap, with some additional help from “animator magic” to complete the move.
While that move would be incredibly useful for any player, the developers have put some restrictions on it beyond limiting to Barkley’s in-game avatar. In order to perform a Saquon spin hurdle, the defender has to approach the front of the player at a 45-degree angle. The move also requires very precise timing, as well as close proximity between the player and the defender. So it’s possible, but it may not be the guaranteed outcome of every play under those circumstances.
Later this month, Amazon’s Prime Video will debut It’s in the Game, a four-part documentary series about the history and development of the Madden NFL games. That show will hit Prime Video on November 26. Further into the future, Nicolas Cage will play John Madden in a new biopic from writer and director David O. Russell.
The complete list of changes and notes for Madden NFL 25’s new update is below:
Gameplay
Triggering the Saquon Spin Hurdle – To trigger the spin hurdle the ball-carrier must be Saquon Barkley, the defender must be incoming from a 45 degree angle in front of the ball carrier, the defender must be within a close proximity to the ball carrier, and the user must press the hurdle button with the right timing.
Addressed an issue where users were able to create ******** formations by motioning the tight end after an audible
DEV NOTE: This tactic was most effective when having the offense audible into formations like Trips TE or Bunch TE. Users could motion the tight end over to the same side as the trips receivers and create offensive overloads. The formations created were not legal formations and this functionality has been removed.
Fixed the QB walking through the center on QB Kneel plays. The QB now is in the correct position to start and walks into the correct position behind the center
Fixed the defensive end lining up in the same spot as the defensive tackle in the 4-3 Over Solid formation
Addressed an issue where no power kicks would land at spots in the front of the landing zone that were difficult for the kicking team to recover
DEV NOTE: There has been a change made to kick power and ball placement so no power kicks will now fall short of the landing zone. There will need to be at 25% power for the ball to make it to the landing zone
Fixed an issue with outside deep fourth defenders biting down on return routes instead of staying deep
Fixed an issue where deep zone defenders would not keep depth when they had no receiving threat in their zone and would allow Post Routes from the other side of the formation to get behind them
Fixed an issue where deep third defenders in Prevent defense were not all staying deeper than the deepest across the field
Fixed an issue where the inside deep fourth safety would leave the slot receiver unguarded, going vertical in the Empty Bunch Verticals play
Fixed an issue where the inside deep fourth safety allowed the slot receiver in bunch formations on a streak to run past him for a TD
Fixed an issue where Seam Flat defenders in the Dime 1-4 FS Zone Blitz play were not covering the correct sides of the field against the **** Bunch Str ******: MTN Curls play
Alignment improvements in Cover 4 Quarters, Palms, and Cover 6 where the outside Deep Fourth, Quarter Flat, and 3 Rec ***** triangulate their positioning against Bunch Receivers to handle first inside, and first to flat, and deep threat
Fixed an alignment issue where defenders were lining up in the wrong position on Nickel 3-3 Odd Pinch 0 allowing the middle slot receiver to be left unguarded in Empty sets
Fixed an issue where outside cornerbacks and inside cornerbacks would align side by side against a nub-set tight end (TE aligned next to the OT with no WRs outside of the TE)
Superstar X-Factor Updates:
New X-Factor Players
C.J. Stroud
Nico Collins
Aidan Hutchinson
Antoine Winfield Jr.
Quinnen Williams
New Superstar Players
Jayden Daniels
Baker Mayfield
Alvin Kamara
Malik Nabers
Xavier McKinney
Chris Olave
Nnamdi Maduibike
Jaylon Johnson
L’Jarius Sneed
********** Darrisaw
Joe Thuney
Alex Highsmith
Chavarius Ward
Rashawn Slater
Trey Smith
C.J. Mosley
Jordan Mailata
Trent McDuffie
Brandon Aubrey
Garrett Wilson
Tariq Woolen
Downgraded Players
Tre’Davious White
Jalen Hurts
Darius Slay
Mark Andrews
Keenan Allen
Mike Williams
Jordan Poyer
Trevor Lawrence
Za’Darius Smith
D’Andre Swift
Kyren Williams
Raheem Mostert
Aaron Rodgers
Josh Jacobs
Tyron Smith
Chase Young
Stephon Gilmore
Austin Ekeler
New Face Scans
Charvarius Ward
Rhamondre Stevenson
Jake Ferguson
Tyson Campbell
Paulson Adebo
Martin Emerson Jr.
Nick Bellore
Jaylen Warren
Tee Higgins
Joey Porter Sr.
Quinnen Williams
Charles Woodson
Ryan Kelly
Playbooks
Added plays to Nickel Over in the following playbooks: 4-3, 46, Cover 2, Multiple D, 49ers, Bears, Bengals, Browns, Chiefs, Colts, Commanders, Jaguars, Jets, Packers, Saints, and Texans
Nickel Over – Edge Blitz 0
Nickel Over – Edge Blitz 3
Nickel Over – FS Will Blitz 0
Nickel Over – Cover 3 Buzz Mable
Nickel Over – Sim Pressure 3
Added plays to Nickel 2-4 in the following playbooks: 3-4, Broncos, Buccaneers, Cardinals, Chargers, Dolphins, Falcons, Giants, Lions, Patriots, Raiders, Rams, Ravens, Seahawks, Titans, and Vikings
Nickel 2-4 – Edge Blitz 0
Nickel 2-4 – Edge Blitz 3
Nickel 2-4 – FS Will Blitz 0
Nickel 2-4 – Cover 3 Buzz Mable
Nickel 2-4 – Sim Pressure 3
Nickel 2-4 – Double Bracket
Nickel 2-4 – 1 Double WR1
Nickel 2-4 – 1 Double WR2
DEV NOTE: We unintentionally omitted some new plays from the previous gridiron notes; these plays were added to Nickel 3-3 Odd in the previous update.
Hot Blitz Bail
Double Bracket
Cover 6 *******
1 Double WR1
Cover 4 Palms
1 Double WR2
Tampa Sim Pressure
Tampa 2 Drop
Cover 9
Added New plays to the Run & ****** playbook
******* Spread – Speed Option, Wide Zone, Wide Zone Wk
******* Trips Open – Houston, Houston Mesh
**** Spread – 90 Cube, RPO Alert WR Screens, RPO Alert Bubble
**** Trips Slots Close – Blast, Georgia, Georgia Mesh, Speed Option
**** Trips – Blast, Georgia, Georgia Mesh
Franchise Mode
Addressed a ****** when users are creating a new offline league using the Active Roster entry point
Fixed an issue where the Hub Timeline doesn’t display final scores during the Playoffs
Resolved mismatches between Player Traits on the Player Card and Edit Player screen
Corrected commentary errors and presentation issues when using a Teambuilder team that referred to an incorrect Bears vs. Bears matchup
Addressed Franchise settings issues with the Draft Timer and Adjusting Depth Charts when both settings were set to “OFF”/“Manual.”
Superstar Mode (PS5, Xbox Series X|S & PC only)
Fixed an issue where the CAP would not be present in some plays.
Updated default difficulty settings
Vanity
Snowman Helmets (3)
Candy Cane Capsule
NFL Authenticity
Gear
Xenith Orbit Helmet and Masks
Light Gladiator Helmet and Masks
Vapor Edge 360 Untouchable Cleat
Nike Vapor Knit 4 gloves
Jordan Vapor Knit 4 gloves
Nike DTack FG gloves
C Patch updates for multiple teams
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