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Tech

KYBER open beta launches for Battlefront II with expanded mods and features

Kotaku reports that after four years of development the open beta for KYBER, a community-hosted multiplayer launcher for EA’s Star Wars Battlefront II, launched on December 20 and has proved popular with longtime fans. KYBER adds features such as proximity voice chat, a spectator mode, integrated Discord support, expanded

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Turn any Roku-connected TV into an art display with Roku Backdrops

Roku Backdrops lets a Roku TV or a TV with a Roku streaming device display art or photos when idle, creating a Frame-like experience without extra cost. The feature, introduced in late 2024, shows curated artwork, photography or your own images instead of a blank screen. To get Backdrops you

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Hytale's refund policy described as better than Steam's

Pcgamer reports that Hytale, which is not available on Steam, has a refund policy the outlet says is better than Valve's. The article's author says they're "pretty heavily Steam-pilled" and describes the friction of using non‑Steam launchers: downloading or updating a

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Microsoft pledges to cover electricity costs for US data centers

Businessinsider reports Microsoft pledged to cover the electricity costs of its rapidly growing US data-center fleet, President and vice chair Brad Smith said in a speech on Tuesday that the company will "pay utility rates that are high enough to cover our electricity costs." President Trump endorsed the

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Disco Elysium's script overwhelmed Articy, writers say

Pcgamer reports that the third episode of Noclip's Disco Elysium documentary reveals the game's writers produced so much text that Articy, the branching narrative tool Za/um used, struggled to handle it. Helen Hindpere, writer on the original game and lead writer on the Final Cut,

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Engineers build Pokédex that identifies Pokémon and provides game data

Kotaku reports that BigRig Creates and Mr. Volt have built what they call the "World's Smartest" Pokédex, a device that recognizes Pokémon, supplies game data and functions as a voice assistant. BigRig Creates has released a 13-minute rundown detailing how he implemented the image recognition and

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Roam Network turns human movement into live digital terrain for machines

Beincrypto spoke with Roam’s co-founder and CEO, Topi Siniketo, about Roam Network, a system designed to give machines live awareness of the digital conditions they depend on by turning everyday human movement into user-owned intelligence. Siniketo said Roam is not a map but a navigation layer that shows where

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California opens investigation into xAI over sexualized Grok images

California’s attorney general said on Wednesday that the state has opened an investigation into Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, after sexualized images of women and children were generated by its chatbot, Grok. xAI owns the social media platform X and created Grok. The inquiry will examine whether

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Digg relaunches public beta with Kevin Rose and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian

Digg has launched a public beta at Digg.com, with founder Kevin Rose teaming up with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian to relaunch the crowdsourced content platform; interested users can sign up for the beta now. Ohanian left Reddit in 2020. The new Digg opened with 21 general communities covering topics

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Grok barred from making sexualized AI images of real people

Businessinsider: X's safety account said on Wednesday that Grok will no longer generate AI images of real people in sexualized or revealing clothing. The company said it had implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing

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Verizon outage affects over 2 million users; some iPhones show SOS icon

Verizon is experiencing a major cellular outage across the US that generated over 2 million reports in the past 24 hours, affecting major cities including New York City, Atlanta, Charlotte and Houston and preventing users from making phone calls or browsing on cellular networks. Verizon has categorized the impact as

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Resident Evil Village and Like a Dragon Added to PS Plus Extra in January 2026

Kotaku reports Sony revealed the latest games joining PS Plus Extra in January 2026, headlined by Resident Evil Village alongside eight other titles, with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth serving as a second major addition. The games joining Extra and Premium this month include Resident Evil Village (PS5, PS4), Like

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Haylou S40 review: $51.99 headphones with long battery life and clear sound

ZDNET reviewed the Haylou S40 headphones, which are available on Amazon for $51.99, and found them a strong budget option that surprised the reviewer. The reviewer said pairing over Bluetooth took about 15 seconds and that the out-of-box EQ was fairly flat, delivering music closer to how artists intended.

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Istanbul studio Talemonster raises $30 million for Match Valley

Businessinsider reports that Istanbul-based Talemonster Games, led by CEO and cofounder Irem Sumer, has raised $30 million in a Series A round led by Arcadia Gaming Partners and Andreessen Horowitz to support its mobile puzzle game Match Valley. The five cofounders quit their jobs to build Match Valley and previously

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T-Mobile led in 5G coverage on Midwest road trip, ZDNET tests find

ZDNET reporter Adam Doud drove from Chicago to Nashville, testing Verizon, T‑Mobile and AT&T 5G coverage across central Indiana and Illinois and parts of Kentucky and Tennessee, and found T‑Mobile had the most extensive 5G coverage on the route. For the tests Doud used three Google

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Luna’s Slumber Islands let players redecorate blank-canvas islands in ACNH 3.0

Polygon reports that the Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0 update adds Luna’s Slumber Islands, a mode accessed by choosing to sleep in bed that lets players visit blank-canvas islands to redecorate. Slumber Islands require a Nintendo Switch Online subscription and an internet connection while you’re on your

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Verizon Wireless outage leaves US customers offline; cause not yet disclosed

Verizon Wireless customers across the United States experienced a major service disruption beginning around noon ET on Jan. 14, with many users reporting phones stuck in SOS mode and venting frustration on social media. The outage was ongoing as of this writing. Monitoring platform Downdetector logged a surge in error

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Microsoft says it will cover data-center power costs to avoid higher bills

Businessinsider reports Microsoft's president, Brad Smith, said the company will ensure its data-center electricity costs are not passed on to residential customers. In a blog post Smith wrote, "We'll pay our way to ensure our datacenters don't increase your electricity prices," a

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Copilot.cx unveils Copilot Star to let brands offer one smart‑home app

Copilot.cx has introduced Copilot Star, a framework that lets smart‑home manufacturers build a single branded mobile app to control devices across different platforms, ZDNET reported after a demo at CES 2026 in Las Vegas. Copilot Star is designed so users can access each brand’s platform through one

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Xbox Veteran Larry Hryb Departs Unity

Kotaku reports that gaming executive Larry Hryb, known as Major Nelson, is out at game engine maker Unity, where he served as Director of Community and Advocacy. Hryb said on LinkedIn that after nearly three decades at Microsoft he joined Unity in 2024 and "rebuilt their Community and Advocacy

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Verizon wireless outage affects tens of thousands across US

Businessinsider reports a service outage on Monday hit tens of thousands of Verizon users across the US. Verizon said the outage is affecting its wireless voice and data services. Downdetector showed customers began reporting issues at about 12 p.m., with reports reaching almost 180,000 by 12:39 p.

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Verizon mobile and data outage affects over 170,000 users, tracking site shows

Verizon said on Wednesday it was working to restore mobile and data services after more than 170,000 users reported outages to the tracking website Downdetector. Users reported disruptions early Wednesday afternoon, and some said their mobile devices displayed “SOS” in the status bar where their network signal normally appeared.

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UK police chief says Copilot hallucination influenced ban on visiting fans

Businessinsider reports West Midlands Police chief constable Craig Guildford told a Parliamentary committee that officers failed to spot a hallucination from Microsoft's Copilot while preparing security advice for the November 6 Europa League match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Aston Villa, and he apologised after initially saying AI

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Chinese DIY PC builders turn to DDR3 as memory prices rise

Pcgamer reports that members of China's DIY PC community are reverting to older DDR3 motherboards as DDR4 and DDR5 memory prices climb. The piece said DDR5-7200 prices have surged and sales have dipped. Citing TrendForce, it noted the average spot price of mainstream DDR4 chips (DDR4 1Gx8 3200

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SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Gen 2 is a modest refresh with louder audio and clearer mic

Gamesradar says the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Gen 2 is a modest refresh of the Arctis Nova 7, keeping the same $179.99 / £179.99 price while offering clearer microphone quality and louder, more power-efficient audio. The headset retains the same core design and 40mm neodymium drivers with a 20–