Elon Musk is taking aim at federal workers and organizations, through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Now, Musk-owned X (formerly Twitter) is blocking Signal.me links, a URL used by encrypted messaging service Signal that allows people to quickly contact others directly, the blog Disruptionist reports. Federal workers have used Signal to covertly report relevant and dangerous activities.
Anyone who attempts to post a Signal.me link in a DM, public post or on their profile page receives error messages such as, "This request looks like it might be automated. To protect our users from spam and other malicious activity, we cant complete this action right now. Please try again later." Other responses include, "We cant complete this request because this link has been identified by X or our partners as being potentially harmful." Engadget confirmed the block in a test.
Users who try to click existing Signal.me links get a message stating, "Warning: this link may be unsafe. The link you are trying to access has been identified by X or our partners as being potentially spammy or unsafe, in accordance with X's URL Policy." They can choose to ignore the warning and proceed to the link.
Musk is working with President Trump to cut federal workers across the board. Over 9,500 employees were fired on Friday, February 14, alone. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/x-blocks-users-from-sharing-links-to-signal-170642686.html?src=rss
DeepSeek, the massively popular Chinese AI assistant, has been temporarily unavailable from app stores in South Korea since February 15. A press release from the countrys data protection authority, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), stated that downloads will resume once the Chinese AI company complies with local data protection laws, while those with the app can still use it. DeepSeek is also blocked on South Korean government and military devices.
DeepSeek only established a local presence in South Korea on February 10. The company also acknowledged that it didnt fully consider South Koreas data protection laws when launching the service globally. Fortunately for South Korean users, the new AI powerhouse intends to cooperate with the PIPC.
The PIPC says that inspecting DeepSeek will take some time. On-site inspections of six AI services from Google, OpenAI, Microsoft and others took around five months. This inspection should take less time because it only involves DeepSeek.
In a statement to TechCrunch, the PIPC revealed that it discovered DeepSeek was transferring Korean users' data to ByteDance, TikToks parent company. Local users were warned against entering personal information into the app.
Last month, the Italian Data Protection Authority or Garante, sent DeepSeek an information request asking what type of data the models were trained on and several other questions. Other countries like Australia and Taiwan have also banned the app on government devices due to security concerns.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun responded to South Koreas DeepSeek ban, claiming Beijing would never ask any company or individual to store or collect data illicitly.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/south-korea-pauses-downloads-of-deepseek-ai-over-privacy-concerns-163302959.html?src=rss
Tired of losing stuff? Chipolo is selling a four-pack of its One Bluetooth trackers for $67.50. This represents a discount of 32 percent. Just remember to pop in the code ENGADGET10 at checkout. That brings the sale price of $75 down to $67.50. The discount applies to all colorways, and there are a bunch to choose from. There are also combo packs that include multiple colors.
This gadget not only made our list of the best Bluetooth trackers, but its our very favorite release in the product category. The One is a near-perfect tracker. The battery lasts two full years, it works great with both Android and iOS devices and the ringer is incredibly loud. This is great news for those who tend to misplace items under mountains of linens or between couch cushions.
Theres also no perceptible lag between pressing the Ring to Find button and hearing the trill. This isnt true of many rival trackers. It even has a handy hole for attaching to keychains and the like. This may seem like an obvious design element, but Apple AirTags lack this hole.
The only downside involves the finding network. Chipolo isnt a big name like Apple or Samsung, so there are fewer people on the network. This could be an issue if you dont live in a major metropolitan area. Basically, the One is perfect for looking for lost items in or near the home, but not as useful when searching for misplaced stuff (like luggage at an airport) out in the wild.
One last thing. Remember that coupon code from before? It works across the entire site, so feel free to grab a ten percent discount on everything else Chipolo makes. This includes wallet trackers that are shaped like credit cards and smaller tracking rings.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/get-a-four-pack-of-chipolo-one-bluetooth-trackers-for-32-percent-off-130015886.html?src=rss
Viktor Antonov, best known for his work as art lead on Half-Life 2 and Dishonored, has reportedly died at age 52. Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw broke the news in an Instagram Story, and other colleagues have since taken to social media to pay tribute as well. I didnt want to say much till I felt it was confirmed, but I learned today that Viktor Antonov, our visionary art lead on HL2, has died, Laidla wrote in the now-expired post, which was reshared by LambdaGeneration on Saturday night.
Antonov got his start in video games working on Redneck Rampage, and in addition to serving as art director for Half-Life 2 and Dishonored, he went on to consult on titles including Doom (2016) and Fallout 4. The Bulgarian artist just recently appeared in a documentary celebrating the 20th anniversary of Half-life 2 this past November.
RIP Viktor Antonov. I wish I told you how much admiration I had for you but we get caught in our lives until a surprise like this hits us, Raphael Colantonio, founder of Arkane Studios and Wolfeye Studios, wrote on Bluesky. You were instrumental to the success of Arkane Studios and an inspiration to many of us, also a friend with whom I have many fond memories. In another post, game designer Harvey Smith added, All this about his impact and talent is true, but I will also always remember how much he made me laugh, with his dry, devastating wit. RIP.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/viktor-antonov-art-director-for-half-life-2-and-dishonored-has-died-according-to-colleagues-203219167.html?src=rss
Apple Vision Pro may soon get an update bringing Apple Intelligence to the headset, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The first Apple Intelligence features started rolling out to iPhone, iPad and Mac in the fall, bringing features like notification summaries, ChatGPT integration for Siri and Genmoji over the last few months. But Apples AI hasnt yet made it to the Vision Pro. According to Mark Gurman, that may change with the visionOS 2.4 update, which sources said may arrive in April with Apple Intelligence and a new app for viewing spatial media like 3D images and panoramas.
The first Apple Intelligence features to come to Vision Pro will reportedly include Writing Tools, Genmoji and Image Playground. Gurman reports that developers may get access to these features in beta as soon as this week. Dont expect any major changes to Siri on Vision Pro just yet, though. According to Gurman, a major AI overhaul the company had been planning for the assistant has been delayed.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/vision-pro-will-reportedly-get-apple-intelligence-as-soon-as-april-180751381.html?src=rss
YouTube TV has reached a deal with Paramount to avoid cutting off subscribers access to certain channels, including CBS, CBS Sports and Nickelodeon. Earlier this week, YouTube TV announced in a blog post that Paramount content would be removed from its platform after February 13 because the two had failed to reach a fair agreement that would keep those channels available. On Friday, that deadline was extended, and YouTube TV said in an update on Saturday night that a deal had been reached and access would now go on uninterrupted.
Were happy to share that weve reached a deal to continue carrying Paramount channels, including CBS, CBS Sports, Nickelodeon and more, YouTube TV wrote in a blog post and on X. With this agreement, YouTube TV will continue to offer 100+ channels and add-ons including Paramount+ with SHOWTIME and will enable more user choice in the future. To our subscribers, we appreciate your patience while we negotiated on your behalf. BET+ will also remain available.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/youtube-tv-has-reached-a-deal-with-paramount-to-keep-carrying-cbs-cbs-sports-and-other-channels-154245757.html?src=rss
In a blog post on Friday, Perplexity introduced a new tool called Deep Research that it says can conduct in-depth research and analysis to deliver detailed reports in response to your questions, and its free for limited use. It comes just a couple of weeks after OpenAI announced its own Deep Research feature for ChatGPT Pro users which itself followed Googles December announcement of Deep Research for Gemini. Perplexitys tool is available only on the web to start, but it will hit the iOS, Android and Mac apps soon too.
Introducing Deep Research on Perplexity.Deep Research lets you generate in-depth research reports on any topic.Available to everyone for freeup to 5 queries per day for non-subscribers and 500 queries per day for Pro users. pic.twitter.com/obovx7YEUF Perplexity (@perplexity_ai) February 14, 2025
Perplexity says its Deep Research excels at a range of expert-level tasks from finance and marketing to product research and takes about 2-4 minutes to come up with an answer, during which it performs dozens of searches, reads hundreds of sources, and reasons through the material. Once finished, its reports can be shared or exported as a PDF. The company claims it outperforms competitors like OpenAIs o3-mini and o1, and DeepSeek-R1 on the Humanitys Last Exam benchmark, earning a 21.1 percent accuracy score (though this is lower than OpenAIs Deep Research scored).
Free users will be limited to five queries per day, while Pro subscribers will get 500, according to a tweet from the company.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/perplexity-has-its-own-deep-research-tool-now-too-224653030.html?src=rss
Nintendo of America announced that it's opened purchases of the game-themed alarm clock, Alarmo, to the public so anyone can snag one, with or without a Switch Online membership. The bright red alarm clock comes with a handful of built-in themes to choose from at the start Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 3, Pikmin 4 and Ring Fit Adventure and Nintendo says others, including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, will be available for free down the line. Alarmo will also be sold in select stores starting in March, as well as online in other regions.
Alarmo first went on sale back in October, but only for Nintendo Switch Online members. That changed on Friday, when the company announced, Nintendo Sound Clock: #Alarmo is now available on My Nintendo store, no Nintendo Switch Online membership required.
Nintendo Sound Clock: #Alarmo is now available on My Nintendo store, no Nintendo Switch Online membership required. Available while supplies last. Learn more: https://t.co/0EkqZJ9X5A pic.twitter.com/1Wwd96hQyx Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 14, 2025
Alarmo can wake you up and put you to sleep with sounds and animations from your chosen title, and it has a motion sensor for sleep tracking (though Engadgets review found the latter to be pretty useless). Theres an undeniable charm to it all; the characters will even celebrate when you finally drag yourself out of bed. The downside is that it costs $100. Still, I cant say the idea of having a troupe of Pikmin greet me first thing every morning isnt extremely tempting.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/anyone-in-the-us-can-now-buy-nintendos-alarmo-clock-from-the-online-store-171945008.html?src=rss
New releases we picked up this week that belong on your reading list.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/what-to-read-ali-smith-gliff-dystopian-fiction-horror-comics-creepshow-160016239.html?src=rss
Uber is suing DoorDash, accusing the biggest food delivery provider in the US of putting pressure on restaurants to exclusively use its services. According to The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times, Uber filed the lawsuit in California on February 14. Uber said it filed the lawsuit after hearing from "restaurants across the country" that were left with no choice but to "cave to [DoorDash's] demands or pay the price."
Both DoorDash and Uber Eats offer their delivery services to restaurants, even for customers who buy from an establishment's own website or app. At the same time, they also offer advertising within their apps for those that want to promote their businesses. DoorDash has a significantly larger share of the market than Uber Eats and had previously said that 90 percent of major restaurants in the US is available on its platform.
DoorDash allegedly threatened to charge higher commission rates for handling orders made through its marketplace if the restaurant is also on Uber Eats. In its complaint, Uber said that that in one instance, the company threatened to raise a restaurant's commission rate by 30 percent per order placed. The lawsuit stated another instance wherein DoorDash allegedly told a restaurant that it would cost them millions of dollars in additional fees if it also teamed up with Uber. In 2024, a large restaurant group scrapped long-running plans to launch on Uber after threats from DoorDash to increase its commission rates, Uber said. In addition, DoorDash allegedly threatened to demote restaurants also available on Uber within its app.
Uber is now asking the court to compel DoorDash to change its business practices. Meanwhile, DoorDash denied all accusations. "Ubers case has no merit," the company said in a statement. "Their claims are unfounded and based on their inability to offer merchants, consumers, or couriers a quality alternative."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/uber-accuses-doordash-of-anti-competitive-practices-in-a-lawsuit-130032964.html?src=rss
