Microsoft’s full screen ‘Xbox Mode’ will roll out to Windows 11 PCs in April

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Microsoft first debuted its full screen Xbox experience for Windows in the ROG Ally Xbox handheld, in a bid to compete with Steam's nearly 15-year-old Big Picture Mode. That Xbox interface eventually made its way to other Windows 11 gaming portables last year. Today at GDC, Microsoft revealed that its big screen Xbox UI is headed to all Windows 11 devices (including laptops and desktops) in April. Oh yah, and it's now simply called "Xbox Mode."

Xbox Mode will only be available in select markets at first, and Microsoft describes it as bringing "a controller-optimized experience to your Windows 11 device, letting players browse their library, launch games, use Game Bar and switch between apps." You know, just like Steam Big Picture mode. Microsoft didn't have much else to share about optimizations in Xbox Mode, but when it debuted the feature for Windows 11 Insiders last fall, the company noted that its task switcher will let people quickly move between games, as well as their apps.

Microsoft plans to reveal more information about the future of Xbox today at GDC. Last week, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma confirmed the company's next hardware is codenamed "Project Helix," and it will play both PC and console games. That likely means it'll just be a Windows gaming PC with Xbox branding, something the company has been hinting at for a while.

Microsoft also has some geekier developer-focused news for the Games Developer Conference. Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD), which first appeared on the Xbox ROG Ally, will be made available to all developers on the Xbox store. ASD allows delivers to pre-compile shaders, so you're not stuck waiting for them to get processed on your system. That should also help to avoid the shader stuttering so common when playing a new title, since shader processing often occurs in the background too.

DirectStorage, Microsoft's technology for speeding up game loading on NVMe SSDs, is also getting support for Zstandard compression, as well as a tool called the "Game Asset Conditional Library." According to Microsoft, that tool enables "improving compression efficiency while simplifying asset conditioning across production pipelines." Microsoft also plans to give developers a glimpse at how next-generation Machine Learning will be implemented in its DirectX gaming API.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/microsofts-full-screen-xbox-mode-will-roll-out-to-windows-11-pcs-in-april-181000289.html?src=rss

Microsoft will start providing game studios with Project Helix consoles in 2027

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Microsoft plans to begin shipping early units of its next generation console, codenamed Project Helix, to game studios starting sometime next year. “We're sending alpha versions of Project Helix to developers starting in 2027,“ said Jason Ronald, vice-president of next generation for Xbox, according to IGN, which was present at the company’s GDC 2026 presentation where it shared early details about the new device. Ronald did not clarify what he meant by “alpha version,” but given the keynote’s developer focus, presumably he meant devkits, which studios could use to start creating games for the new console.

Additionally, Ronald reiterated that the new system would be capable of playing both Xbox console games and PC games, and said it would incorporate a custom AMD-made system-on-a-chip capable of rendering graphics with path tracing. Judging from a slide the company shared, Microsoft and AMD are working on many of the same technologies and capabilities AMD is co-designing with Sony for next PlayStation console. For instance, Ronald said Project Helix would include a technology Neural Texture Compression, which functionally sounds similar to the Universal Compression protocol Sony detailed last year.

Developing…

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/microsoft-will-start-providing-game-studios-with-project-helix-consoles-in-2027-180352458.html?src=rss

Tembo might just be the world’s cutest drum machine

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A new company called Musical Beings has officially unveiled the Tembo, which might be the cutest drum machine ever made. Just look at this thing! It's got a wooden chassis that resembles a standard drum machine, but with one key difference. The sequencer is tactile. Users arrange beats by placing magnetic pucks that trigger samples.

This seems like a really good way to introduce the basics of sequencing and beatmaking to kids and young adults, being that DAWs and grooveboxes can feature a steep learning curve. The sequencer isn't all that different from what's found on a typical groovebox, but the analog nature of it seems novel.

The company says it designed Tembo to "enable everyone to create music from the very first touch." Co-founder David Davidov told MusicRadar that most instruments take "so long to get to the fun part" and that Musical Beings wanted to "help people experience music as something they do, not just something they listen to."

Just because it's accessible to kids and amateurs doesn't mean it's not for seasoned musicians. This is a real-deal drum machine with plenty of nifty features. There's a five-channel, 16-step sequencer that's controlled via the aforementioned circular magnets. The machine includes knobs for swing, tempo, effects and pattern length.

It has two USB-C MIDI connections, so it can easily be hooked up to a DAW or synced with external gear. Sessions can be recorded via USB audio or a stereo output. There's also a dedicated companion app to help with that sort of thing.

The Tembo is battery-powered, making it relatively portable, and there's a built-in speaker. The integrated sampler lets users lay down musical ideas in addition to beats, making it something of a junior groovebox. This is assisted by a built-in microphone. 

The Kickstarter just launched, but has already soared past the initial goal. The price ranges from around $360 to $450 depending on the tier. It's worth noting that Musical Beings is a new company and Kickstarter projects are never guaranteed to come out. However, a number of units have already been built, as some musicians and studios have already gotten their hands on them.

This isn't the first wacky drum machine that has come across our desk. The BeatBox is a cardboard gadget that uses arcade-style buttons to make beats. The OddBall is quite literally a ball that makes beats as it bounces around.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/tembo-might-just-be-the-worlds-cutest-drum-machine-173926914.html?src=rss

Meta will let kids under 13 use WhatsApp with parent-managed accounts

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Meta has announced that it’s introducing parent-managed accounts on WhatsApp. Designed to allow young people under the age of 13 to use the messaging platform more safely, these accounts feature new controls that enable a parent or guardian to restrict who can send them messages. Parent-managed accounts can also only be used for messaging and calling, so additional features like Channels, location sharing and Meta AI integration aren’t included.

To set up an account, you’ll need to put your phone next to the pre-teen’s device to link the two accounts. Once that’s done, the person managing the kids’ account can decide who’s able to contact them and which groups they’re able to join. Step-by-step instructions on how to activate the new accounts can be found here.

They’ll also see message requests from unknown contacts first and can adjust privacy settings from the managed device. Parent-managed accounts are PIN-protected and only the parent or guardian can make changes to privacy settings.

Like all WhatsApp conversations, end-to-end encryption means nobody else can see messages exchanged on parent-managed accounts. By default, only saved contacts can message a managed account, and a child won’t be able to join a group or view group invites from strangers before they’re separately approved by the owner of the parent account. These requests will appear as notifications to the parent.

WhatsApp doesn’t specify a minimum age suitable for a parent-messaged account, but says it’ll roll the new features out gradually in the coming months.

Meta has spent the last few years ramping up its parental controls features across its various platforms. In September it introduced teen accounts — aimed at teens between the age of 13 and 15 — for Facebook and Messenger. A year earlier, Under-16 teen accounts became a requirement on Instagram. Like the new parent-managed accounts on WhatsApp, these allow parents to vet requests and enable stricter privacy settings.

At the start of 2026, Meta put a temporary pause on allowing teens to interact with its AI chatbot characters, following reports that some of these bots had engaged in sexual conversations and other concerning interactions with minors.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-will-let-kids-under-13-use-whatsapp-with-parent-managed-accounts-172023976.html?src=rss

LEGO Gave Away This Record Player Set: Now It Sells for $50

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There’s a certain kind of person who loves the idea of vinyl records without necessarily owning a turntable. They appreciate the artwork, the ritual of flipping a side, the warm analog aesthetic that streaming services have spent years trying to replicate with album art thumbnails and animated soundwave graphics. For that person, and honestly for plenty of actual vinyl collectors too, LEGO quietly released one of its more charming sets of 2024, and a lot of people missed it entirely.

The LEGO 40699 Retro Record Player wasn’t sold in stores. It was a gift-with-purchase exclusive during LEGO Insiders Weekend in November 2024, meaning you had to spend $250 or more on LEGO.com within a two-day window to take one home. That’s a steep entry point for a 310-piece set that fits in the palm of your hand. Unsurprisingly, it’s now showing up on secondary markets for around $50, which tells you more about how people actually feel about it than the promotional circumstances suggest.

Designer: LEGO

What makes it interesting as a design object isn’t the scarcity. It’s the details LEGO chose to include for a freebie that most buyers would have been happy to receive with far less effort. Every single element in the set is printed, no stickers anywhere, including new tile pieces featuring equalizer bars and musical note graphics that were debuted specifically for this set.

The needle swivels and can be tucked behind a small antenna piece when not in use. Flip it around, and there are printed red, white, and grey ports on the back representing stereo channels, details that nobody asked for and that audio enthusiasts will immediately clock. A hidden gear underneath lets the record actually spin, which is either a delightful touch or a reminder that LEGO designers genuinely cannot help themselves.

The set slots into a growing line of brick-built nostalgia objects LEGO has been developing with some consistency. The Retro Radio, the Typewriter, the Polaroid OneStep Camera, each one picks a specific object from cultural memory and asks whether it still means enough to someone to sit on a shelf. The record player fits that pattern, though its scale is more playful than faithful. Closed, it measures about 1.5 inches high and 6 inches wide, so it’s not pretending to be a replica. It’s more like a knowing nod to the thing, compressed into something you can place next to a real turntable or a stack of records and let it be what it is.

The timing of its renewed attention is interesting. Search interest in record players has spiked noticeably in early March 2025, and the LEGO set has moved with it, picking up momentum in trend data well after its promotional window closed. That’s a pattern worth watching with this category of LEGO set. They’re not designed to chase a specific cultural moment. They’re designed around objects durable enough in people’s memories to stay relevant across multiple ones.

Whether a 310-piece brick turntable that doesn’t play music belongs in the same conversation as the real vinyl revival is a fair question. What’s harder to dismiss is that a set distributed as a promotional freebie is generating genuine collector interest months later, and that LEGO apparently left enough room in the design for people to discover details they weren’t expecting to find.

The post LEGO Gave Away This Record Player Set: Now It Sells for $50 first appeared on Yanko Design.

Most AI chatbots will help users plan violent attacks, study finds

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Eight of the 10 most popular AI chatbots were willing to help plan violent attacks when tested by researchers, according to a new study from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), in partnership with CNN. While both Snapchat's My AI and Claude refused to assist with violence the majority of the time, only Anthropic's Claude "reliably discouraged" these hypothetical attackers during testing.

Researchers created accounts posing as 13-year-old boys and tested ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Meta AI, DeepSeek, Perplexity, Snapchat My AI, Character.AI and Replika across 18 scenarios between November and December 2025. The tests simulated users planning school shootings, political assassinations and bombings targeting synagogues. Across all the responses analyzed, the chatbots provided "actionable assistance" roughly 75 percent of the time and discouraged violence in just 12 percent of cases. This was the average across all chatbots, with Claude discouraging violence 76 percent of the time.

Meta AI and Perplexity were the least safe, assisting in 97 and 100 percent of responses. ChatGPT offered campus maps when asked about school violence, and Gemini said metal shrapnel is typically more lethal in a synagogue bombing scenario.

DeepSeek signed off rifle selection advice with "Happy (and safe) shooting!" Character.AI, which the report described as "uniquely unsafe," actively encouraged violence in seven instances, at one point telling a researcher to "use a gun" on a health insurance company CEO. In another scenario, it provided a political party's headquarters address and asked if the user was "planning a little raid."

Meta told CNN it had taken steps to "to fix the issue identified," while Google and Open AI said they had implemented new models since the study was conducted. Sixty-four percent of US teens aged 13 to 17 have used a chatbot, according to Pew Research.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/most-ai-chatbots-will-help-users-plan-violent-attacks-study-finds-163651255.html?src=rss

The PS Plus Games Catalog is getting Space Marine 2 and Persona 5 Royal in March

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Sony has announced its latest additions to the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog. While they might not top last month's introduction of Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Extra and Premium subscribers are still getting access to some notable games.

In March, the new additions include Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (PS5), one of Engadget's picks for the Best Games of 2024, and Persona 5 Royal (PS5 and PS4). The PS4 version of Persona 5 Royal – Ultimate Edition, the complete version of one of Atlus' most popular RPGs, will also be available alongside a collection of other fun additions.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a third-person action game reminiscent of Gears of War, but set in Games Workshop's elaborate Warhammer 40,000 universe. If you're a fan of the larger franchise, Space Marine 2 is well worth a look, especially with a third entry on the way, but the game is also a solid option if you're just looking for a new co-op game to try with friends.

Persona 5 Royal is a known-quantity among fans of Atlus' social simulation/RPG series, and the way it both expands on and streamlines the original Persona 5 also makes it a suitable entry point to the series as a whole. If seeing Japanese teenagers deal with their personal problems while embarking on Inception-style missions into the hearts of the corrupt adults of Tokyo sounds interesting, you'll love Persona 5 Royal.

Alongside those standouts, PS Plus Game Catalog is also getting:

  • EA Sports Madden NFL 26 (PS5)

  • Blasphemous 2 (PS5 and PS4)

  • Metal Eden (PS5)

  • Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria (PS5)

  • Astroneer (PS5 and PS4)

And as promised last month, the PS Plus Classics Catalog is expanding to include Tekken: Dark Resurrection, a revamped and rebalanced version of Tekken 5 that includes expanded character customization options and new stages that weren't in the original 2004 fighting game. This one’s only for PS Plus Premium subscribers on PS4 and PS5.

All of these will be available on the PS Plus Game Catalog on March 17.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/the-ps-plus-games-catalog-is-getting-space-marine-2-and-persona-5-royal-in-march-162716284.html?src=rss

This seahorse-inspired game controller concept is made for smaller hands

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Game controllers have not changed much in shape since the mid-1990s. They’re still two-handed symmetrical slabs built around adult grip dimensions, loaded with enough buttons to pilot a small aircraft. For a 10-year-old just getting into gaming, picking one up for the first time is a bit like being handed a TV remote and told to perform surgery, no sweat.

The concept is called LEVION, and it proposes a split controller: two separate units, one per hand, each sized for a pre-teen’s palm. It was designed as a rethink of the thumb stick from scratch, and the result looks like nothing in the current gaming peripheral market, which is mostly the point. And its inspiration comes from the most unlikely source you can imagine.

Designer: Vedika Bapat

The form comes from a seahorse, specifically its upright posture, curved spine, and ridged body. Those horizontal ridges, translated into a soft frill around the base of each unit, are the structural logic of the grip. A seahorse’s bony plates give it stability without bulk, and LEVION’s ridges do the same thing for a small hand holding a rounded object across an hour of gameplay. It’s biomimicry that connects cause to effect rather than borrowing a shape for decoration.

Each unit carries a joystick, three face buttons, and a shoulder button, arranged on a circular head that sits atop a curved hourglass body. The silhouette is wider at the head and base, pinched at the waist, giving the thumb a natural landing zone and keeping the unit from rotating mid-game. The sketch process started with a seahorse drawing annotated “grip inspiration” before moving through VR console proportions to arrive at this form, so the shape isn’t just decorative shorthand.

The colorways lean into the pre-teen audience: pink, mint green, sky blue, and lavender, all in a soft matte finish that reads more like a toy than a peripheral. That positioning is deliberate. Standard controllers signal seriousness and capability. LEVION signals approachability, which matters when the target user is still sorting out that the left stick moves the character and the right one moves the camera.

The honest question is one of input coverage. A standard PlayStation controller has two joysticks, a D-pad, four face buttons, four shoulder buttons, and several system controls. LEVION offers a joystick, three face buttons, and one shoulder button per hand. For casual and younger audiences, that might be exactly right. For anything more demanding, the math gets uncomfortable, and the concept doesn’t address how that gap closes when the pre-teen turns 13.

That’s worth taking seriously, but it doesn’t diminish what LEVION gets right in the space it occupies. The design’s own research board lists the Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons as a reference point, and the parallel is fair: the Joy-Con also split a standard controller into two smaller units and found an audience that didn’t know it needed that format. LEVION asks the same question one step earlier in the age range, in a form that a kid might actually want to reach for.

The post This seahorse-inspired game controller concept is made for smaller hands first appeared on Yanko Design.

Fortnite’s original Save the World mode will be free to play starting on April 16

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Fortnite's original Save the World game mode will be free to play beginning on April 16. This is not the battle royale mode that went on to take over the world, but rather a PvE co-op campaign that focuses on crafting and survival. It currently costs $9 but that ends soon.

As a matter of fact, Epic Games will stop selling the paid version of the content tonight, March 11, at 8PM ET. If you have $9 burning a hole in your pocket to spend on something that'll be free next month, go for it. Current players will still be able to access the content, so there are no worries there.

Once the free version goes live, pre-existing players will get a bunch of perks as a thank you of sorts. This includes vouchers for V-bucks, gold bars and end-game resources that are used to boost player and item levels.

Save the World will still be a great way to gather V-bucks, for those worried the freemium shift will change things. Epic says players will earn this currency "through Daily Quests, Mission Alerts, Storm Shield Defense Missions and existing Challenges."

Pre-registration for the free mode is already live and there's a welcome bit of news here. For the first time, Save the World will be available on Switch 2. It'll remain unavailable on the original Switch and smartphones. The mode is also playable on PC, PlayStation and Xbox.

Epic promises those who pre-register will get perks when the free version launches, but says the specifics will vary depending on how many people sigh up by April 16. Save the World originally came out in 2017 and was a modest success that was immediately dwarfed by the PUBG-inspired battle royale mode.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/fortnites-original-save-the-world-mode-will-be-free-to-play-starting-on-april-16-160757693.html?src=rss

Pixel 11 Pro Fold Leaks: Google’s New 10.1mm Design Beats the Z Fold 7 in Thickness

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Pixel 11 Pro Fold Leaks: Google’s New 10.1mm Design Beats the Z Fold 7 in Thickness Pixel 11 Pro Fold Leaks

The Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold is set to debut in August 2026, presenting a thinner and lighter design compared to its predecessor, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. These updates aim to enhance portability and usability, but the device’s incremental changes raise questions about its ability to distinguish itself in the increasingly competitive foldable smartphone […]

The post Pixel 11 Pro Fold Leaks: Google’s New 10.1mm Design Beats the Z Fold 7 in Thickness appeared first on Geeky Gadgets.

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