The Metroidvania genre takes cues from the two namesakes for which it is called: Matroid and Castlevania. Specifically, one of the best SNES games, Super Metroid, and one of the best PS1 games, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It describes a kind of game where the player explores an open map with multiple paths and areas locked off until they acquire some item or power with which to unlock and further explore. That formula has become so popular that dozens of current and upcoming video games have iterated on that style with new mechanics, perspectives, art styles, and more. Some of the best PS5 games…
Author: Olsi
Google has expanded NotebookLM Plus, a paid version of its AI-based note-taking and research assistant, to individual users subscribed to the Google One AI Premium plan — almost two months after its debut for enterprises on Google Cloud and via Google Workspace. First announced in December after an earlier pilot, NotebookLM Plus offers higher usage limits and premium features. This includes 5 times more usage than the free version of NotebookLM, or 500 notebooks and 300 sources per notebook as well as up to 500 chat querie, and 20 audio generations per day. Individual subscribers can now access all these features…
Cloud communication service Bird has cut 120 jobs — roughly one-third of its total workforce. The Amsterdam-based firm — formerly known as MessageBird — plans to realign its global operations amid the ongoing AI boom, The Tech Spot has exclusively learned. Bird has since confirmed the news. The Dutch startup contacted impacted employees on Friday. The move comes just a year after Bird cut 90 employees following its rebrand. The company also slashed prices at the time in an effort to take on the likes of Twilio, Klaviyo, and Attentive. The startup offers a CRM (customer relationship management) platform for…
Honor’s Yoyo Assistant, an AI agent designed to learn its users preferences, is combining with DeepSeek-R1 to up its language processing and performance. The planned result is a more capable assistant that better understands requests and context. There’s no global launch date for this upgrade yet, but it MagicOS 8.0+ users began to see it roll out on February 8. Honor says more than 130 million people already use the Yoyo Assistant on a monthly basis, and the company only expects that number to go up as the DeepSeek upgrade becomes available. DeepSeek is one of the most advanced AI…
If you interact with Google Assistant through the JBL Link Drive or Anker Roav Bolt, we have bad news: the microphones might be shutting down soon, if the code found in the Google app beta is any indication. The folks at 9to5Google stumbled across the code strings in an APK teardown that provided insight into the future of Google Assistant in cars. The string is titled “assistant_car_accessory_deprecation” and reads: “By the way, Google Assistant on your car accessory will be discontinued in coming weeks. To keep using Assistant, invoke queries either on your Mobile or via Android Auto.” These accessories…
Over a month after the initial announcement at CES 2025 (if you can even call it an announcement), we still don’t know much about the future of AMD’s RDNA 4 lineup. We know the cards are set to launch sometime in March, but their specs remain a mystery. However, there’s an even bigger secret that’s still yet to be revealed: The pricing. After a bumpy lead-up to the launch of the RX 9000 series, pricing is the one thing that AMD needs to get right. The latest leaks imply that AMD will price the cards “very aggressively,” which could be…
We’re getting further and further away from the days of TVs costing well over $1,000 for even the most basic features. Now that brands like LG have been producing industry-lauded TVs for many years, the prices are fairly low for some of the company’s entry-level models. Throw in a solid sale (like this one) and you could be saving hundreds of dollars on your next TV purchase. Right now, when you purchase the LG 65-inch NanoCell Series 4K LED through Best Buy, you’ll only pay $500. The full MSRP on this model is $900. This is one of the best…
The Gboard Assistant Voice Typing toolbar is rolling out to Google Pixel phones in the latest beta test. According to a report from Android Authority, Google is testing out the new voice typing UI in version 15.0 of the Gboard app within its phones after the company implemented it to the Pixel Tablet last year. The Assistant Voice Typing toolbar shows up as a new bar above the keyboard, complete with a microphone, a backspace key, and buttons to open the keyboard, minimize it, return to the previous toolbar page, change the language, and more. Tapping the microphone on the…
Microsoft has added a new share button to Copilot in Edge, allowing users to share AI chat conversations with others more easily by creating a shareable link, as MSPowerUser reports. The update, available now, also expands the “Think Deeper” feature to all users, enhancing AI responses with deeper reasoning. With this addition, Microsoft is making Copilot on Edge more like its website and mobile apps for a more consistent experience. For instance, on copilot.microsoft.com, you can chat with AI without signing up, similar to ChatGPT’s web search. However, unlike Edge’s side panel, the web version doesn’t yet support sharing AI…
The notion that video games are a hobby people do alone has never been true. Even the early console generations encouraged people to play together. Today, some of the best PS5 games, best Xbox Series X games, and best Switch games are multiplayer titles. Playing games together as a couple is a fantastic way to strengthen your bond, develop your communication skills, teamwork, and just have fun sharing a hobby. A great game for couples doesn’t have to be a co-op game or a split-screen game, but those tend to be the best options. Whether your partner is a veteran…
