The US government could impose hefty tariffs on automobile, chip and pharmaceutical imports. According to Reuters and CBS News, President Donald Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate that the tariffs on auto imports, specifically, will be "in the neighborhood of 25 percent" and that he'll reveal more details about them on April 2. That's the day he's bound to get reports from members of his cabinet outlining options on duties for different imports across industries. When the president was asked how he could ensure that the European Union wouldn't retaliate by imposing the same levies on US imports, the president reportedly reiterated that the bloc signaled it would lower tariffs on US cars.
During the press briefing, the president also said that he's imposing similar tariffs on imported semiconductors and pharmaceutical goods. He said the government could collect 25 percent in taxes, or higher, for those imports and that they will "go very substantially higher over course of a year." It doesn't sound like the president will announce new taxes on chip and pharmaceutical imports in April, though. He said he wants to give companies in those industries "a little bit of chance" to build factories in the US so that they can avoid the new tariffs.
To note, Reuters previously reported that the US government is looking to renegotiate the CHIPS and Science Act deals closed by the Biden administration. The program seeks to give semiconductor manufacturing a boost in the US by awarding grants to companies building foundries on US soil. But Trump previously criticized the initiative and argued that increasing tariffs would compel chip companies to build factories in the US without the government having to shell out any money. Trump admitted that prices could go up in the US due to the higher tariffs on foreign goods, but the president believes it'll only be a short-term problem and that they will benefit the country's economy in the future.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/trump-plans-to-impose-25-percent-tariffs-on-automobile-and-semiconductor-imports-130044480.html?src=rss
A new party concept in Montreal is reimagining nightlife by moving it to the morning hours, blending coffee culture with dance music. Croissound, launching this week, transforms local cafes into daytime dance venues where DJs spin tracks from 11 AM to 2 PM, taking inspiration from similar parties in Los Angeles and other cities.The format represents a significant shift in how people engage with music and club culture. By hosting events in neighborhood cafes rather than traditional nightlife venues, Croissound wants to create an accessible and inclusive atmosphere while spotlighting local DJs and hidden-gem venues. The concept taps into people's changing attitudes towards alcohol-centric socializing, driven by health consciousness, budgetary constraints and after-dark safety concerns. Habits are evolving, and more consumers particularly Gen Z are seeking alternatives to late-night partying. The first Croissound event will take place on 22 February 2025 at Cass Café, with its organizers using a pop-up model to explore cafe spaces across Montreal.
AI hardware startup Humane has given its users just ten (10!) days notice that their Pins will be disconnected. In a note to its customers, the company said AI Pins will continue to function normally until 12PM PT on February 28. On that date, users will lose access to essentially all of their devices features, including but not limited to calling, messaging, AI queries and cloud access. The FAQ does note that you'll still be able to check on your battery life, though.
Humane is encouraging its users to download any stored data before February 28, as it plans on permanently deleting all remaining customer data at the same time as switching its servers off.
The company says it will refund customers who are still within the 90-day return window, so long as they submit by February 27. It also notes that users who opted to wait for a replacement for the devices combo fire hazard and Charge Case will now be refunded the portion of [their] original purchase price that was allocated to the Charge Case. In the original recall note, that amount was $149 if ordered separately or $129 if ordered as part of the Complete System bundle.
Todays discontinuation announcement was brought about by the acquisition of Humane by HP, which is buying the companys intellectual property for $116 million but clearly has no interest in its current hardware business. The AI Pin was famously panned at launch by a broad section of reviewers, including our own Cherlynn Low, who called it, the solution to none of technologys problems.
HP says the acquisition will bring Humane's "engineers, architects and product innovators" to a new team called HP IQ, which it describes as an "AI innovation lab focused on building an intelligent ecosystem across HPs products and services for the future of work." Good luck with that!
The New York Times reported last June that Humane was seeking a $1 billion buyout after only receiving 10,000 orders, and cited HP as an interested company. Another seven months of reality has apparently persuaded Humanes founders to settle for a far lower figure.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/all-of-humanes-ai-pins-will-stop-working-in-10-days-225643798.html?src=rss
While it may seem like social media is dominated by filtered reality and AI-generated perfection, Avne and We Are Social tapped into a cultural counter-shift to promote a new product promising to reduce pimples by 92% in two weeks. The brand invited people to test its Cleanance Comedomed Peeling for 15 days and post daily selfies on BeReal, where filters aren't an option. The result? A transparent and real-time demonstration of the peeling's effectiveness.But #TheRealestAd did more than showcase a product. By documenting real skin transformations on real people, Avne acknowledges that Gen Z's skepticism of traditional beauty advertising isn't just about mistrusting overhyped claims; it's also rooted in a fundamental desire to reclaim human authenticity in digital spaces.
Annapurna Interactive is holding a games showcase on February 24. It streams live at 12PM ET via the companys YouTube page. The publisher has released a short teaser video to hold us over until Monday.
This is the first event Annapurna Interactive has held since the entire staff, including the executives, resigned from the company last year. That mass walkout occurred after a failed attempt to spin off the games division from the remainder of the company.
"All 25 members of the Annapurna Interactive team collectively resigned," the team said in a joint statement. "This was one of the hardest decisions we have ever had to make and we did not take this action lightly."
Annapurna hired new people to replace those who left, which was pretty much everyone. This is the first time well get to see what the revamped publishing house has been working on.
So what can we expect? The company says the showcase will be 30 minutes long and will focus on its 2025 lineup of releases. These include titles like Wanderstop, Skin Deep, Wheel World, Faraway, Lushfoil, To a T and Morsels, among others. We are especially excited for Wheel World, which was formerly called Ghost Bike. Faraway also looks pretty cool. Annapurna promises a few more surprises in addition to the aforementioned games.
The publisher is primarily known for games like Stray, which recently launched for Nintendo Switch, and What Remains of Edith Finch. It also published Cocoon, Outer Wilds and the absolutely fantastic Lorelei and the Laser Eyes.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/how-to-watch-annapurnas-publisher-showcase-on-february-24-193539718.html?src=rss
Meta just announced its first-ever LlamaCon, a dev conference dedicated to generative AI. Its scheduled for April 29. Why the llama-based naming convention? The company titled the event after its family of generative AI models.
Meta promises to share the latest on our open source AI developments to help developers do what they do best: build amazing apps and products. Beyond that vague description, we dont know much. Theres no information regarding speakers or potential products being shown. We know that the companys working on Llama 4, with an early 2025 release window, so well most likely get a sizzle reel of some kind.
The company notes itll have more to share about LlamaCon in the coming weeks. Meta also says that 2025 is shaping up to be another banger of a year. To that end, it has scheduled the next major Connect event for September 17. It promises plenty of reveals that should please virtual and mixed reality developers, content creators, metaverse mavens and AI glasses enthusiasts. Meta Connect 2024 gave us the Quest 3S and the fancy-pants Orion prototype AR glasses.
According to TechCrunch, Meta has been scrambling to figure out how AI rival DeepSeek has managed to create tech that rivals its own at a fraction of the development cost. The report suggests that DeepSeeks upcoming models could outperform the aforementioned Llama 4. The companys also currently embroiled in a lawsuit that accuses it of training Llama models on copyrighted book materials without permission.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/meta-just-scheduled-a-generative-ai-conference-called-llamacon-for-april-29-181351134.html?src=rss
Acer laptops are getting a price hike in the US come March. In an interview with The Telegraph, Acer's chief executive and chairman Jason Chen announced a 10 percent increased cost for all products due to President Trump's tariffs on China.
His straightforward statement is one of the first clear cause and effects of Trump's import taxes. "We will have to adjust the end user price to reflect the tariff," Chen stated. "We think 10 percent probably will be the default price increase because of the import tax. Its very straightforward." Acer's most expensive laptop, the 17-inch Acer Predator Triton gaming laptop, could go up to $4,178 from $3,799.
Trump introduced a ten percent tariff to China this month, the country responsible for about 80 percent of laptop imports to the US. While he had claimed tariffs wouldn't impact consumer prices, he changed his tune last week, admitting that, surprise, surprise, they could.
Time will tell if all items increase in price next month or only recently imported devices. Chen also shared that the company is considering moving some of its manufacturing to other countries, including the US. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/acer-to-raise-prices-by-10-percent-following-president-trumps-tariffs-165351758.html?src=rss
The Nokia Lumia 1020 is back, well, sort of. An enterprising tech enthusiast (and Redditor) has stuffed the innards of an Apple iPhone SE 3 into a Lumia 1020 case to create something called the NokiApple LumiPhone 1020 SE." This is a fully-functioning smartphone that, more importantly, looks really awesome.
It's more than just an iPhone SE wrapped in a Lumia case. Redditor OceanDepth95028 kicked the project up a few notches by ensuring that the iPhone internals work with a fingerprint reader on the back of the device. They also added a custom SIM card slot and made the Lightning port look like a micro-USB port, as originally reported by 9to5Mac.
Modder fits a 2022 iPhone into a 2013 Lumia 1020 body. Everything inside the device is from the 2022 iPhone SE 3, the last iPhone with rounded edges and a physical home button. "The only aspect from the 1020 is the outer shell and display glass." https://t.co/jdMcf7LjCK pic.twitter.com/9FfPixbmsz Antonio Vieira Santos (@AkwyZ) February 17, 2025
Not only does this phone function, it even supports 5G. It also receives OTA updates, which makes sense considering that its, essentially, a working iPhone SE 3. The maker had to move some buttons around to get everything to fit and they took liberties with the camera button, which can now act as a volume key switch or a shutter button.
The iPhone SE 3 uses the A15 Bionic chip, so this frankenphone is capable of running modern apps. The gadgets designer says, despite being a one-off project, this device could be used as an everyday smartphone. The only caveats? The Redditor couldnt get Apple Pay or wireless charging to work. But still, look at this thing! Its very pretty, thanks to the design of the original Lumia 1020.
after all these years, the nokia lumia 1020 remains one of the most beautifully designed phones ever pic.twitter.com/mez6eXFDbM keshav (@keshavchan) January 27, 2025
For the uninitiated, the Nokia Lumia 1020 came out in the latter half of 2013. It was one of the more popular phones that ran the now-defunct Windows Phone OS, thanks to its signature look and the fantastic camera system. The iPhone SE is Apples budget smartphone and, lo and behold, a new entry is reportedly headed our way in the near future.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/someone-squeezed-an-iphone-se-3-into-a-nokia-lumia-1020-and-it-looks-amazing-162705983.html?src=rss
In 2018, Nintendo introduced Gold Points, which were earned when you purchased Switch games, either physical cartridges or digitally from the Nintendo eShop. While you needed many purchases to redeem something substantial, you still saved a few dollars regardless if you get a cheaper title or something more expensive. Unfortunately, Nintendo announced that you wont be able to earn Gold Points after 9:30 PM PDT on March 24 if you buy digital copies of games.
All eShop purchases made after that time wont earn Gold Points anymore, though pre-orders for content made before then will still earn Gold Points as long as the pre-order is put in before the deadline. The points will be awarded within the day after each processed transaction.
Its more tricky for physical releases. If you buy a game released on or before March 24, you still earn Gold Points even after that day, but only for games bought within a year of their release dates. Naturally, physical versions of games released after March 24, 2025, wont let you earn any Gold Points. Its also worth noting that Nintendo awards significantly fewer Gold points for physical purchases.
Most people are likely unaware, but you can earn Gold Points by shopping at the Nintendo New York store. This will remain the case until March 24, and the rules for physical releases mentioned above apply after checkout.
Nintendos decision to end the Gold Points loyalty program is possibly due to the Switch 2s upcoming announcement and release. Its unknown whether Nintendo will have a new loyalty program, but well probably find out after the April 2 Nintendo Direct where well finally get more details on the long-awaited console.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-is-killing-its-gold-points-loyalty-program-161123232.html?src=rss
Owners of a Volvo EX90 or Polestar 3 may soon be able to unlock and start their electric vehicle with a Samsung Galaxy phone. Samsung is rolling out Digital Key support for Polestar's SUV in North America, Europe and Asia starting this month. EX90 drivers in those regions and Latin America will get access to the feature in the coming days too. Samsung says it will support more models from each automaker in the future.
You can use the Digital Key to lock, unlock and start a paired car using a supported Galaxy device (S20, Z Fold 2, Z Flip 5G and later). It's possible to share a key with family and friends if they need access to your car, and you can remotely lock or delete a Digital Key from a lost or stolen Galaxy phone. Samsung uses biometric and PIN-based authorization to help make Digital Key use secure.
The company started rolling out Digital Key in 2021 (a similar function is available on recent Google Pixel devices and Android phones). BMW, Genesis, Hyundai, Kia and Mini are among the other brands that support the feature.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/samsungs-digital-key-technology-now-works-with-volvo-and-polestar-evs-160357150.html?src=rss
