Tech Boys

Legendary video game designer Vince Zampella, who co-created the Call of Duty series, was killed Sunday in a car crash in southern California. Zampella, 55, most recently led the Battlefield shooter series at EA Games, but also had his hand in many successful franchises, including Medal of Honor , Titanfall , and Apex Legends . Along with Grant Collier and Jason West, Zampella co-founded the Infinity Ward studio in 2002, which led to the creation of the iconic first-person shooter Call of Duty in 2003. After Infinity Ward was fully acquired by Activision, Zampella was later dismissed and went on to successfully sue the company for tens of millions of dollars in unpaid royalties and bonuses. SEE ALSO: Electronic Arts nears $50 billion buyout by Saudi Arabia and Jared Kushner's firm Zampella was integral in some of Call of Duty 's most acclaimed entries, according to the Guardian , including 2007’s Modern Warfare and 2009’s Modern Warfare 2 . The Call of Duty series...

Nintendo is in a giving state of mind this season, offering some holiday deals on games in the eShop, including a few recent Switch 2 titles. For instance, the Switch 2 version of Ball x Pit , which was one of our staff's favorite games of 2025 , is 20 percent off at $12. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is $40, down from the usual $50 on Switch 2, which is about as good a deal as you’ll get for a current-year game release. There are also a few older games that have gotten even steeper discounts. Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition for the Nintendo Switch 2 is a whopping 75 percent off, so load it onto your new console for less than $18. At about $33, Cult of the Lamb: Unholy Edition is half off for the original Switch. No Man's Sky is also 50 percent off, so you can grab it for either Switch console for just $24. Star Wars: Outlaws is down to $40, which is $20 off, and Nier: Automata is $16, compared with its usual $40 price tag. Those are just a few that ca...

Game developer Vince Zampella, known for his work on many popular first-person shooter franchises, has died. According to Los Angeles news channel NBC4 , Zampella was killed in a single-vehicle car crash on Sunday along with one other unnamed person. He was 55. Zampella has helmed several well-known first-person shooter titles. He was a founder of Infinity Ward, where he was a creator of the Call of Duty series. Zampella remained at the company for the launch of the hugely popular franchise's first few installments. In 2010, he co-founded Respawn Entertainment, the studio behind Titanfall , Titanfall 2 and Apex Legends . Respawn was acquired by EA, and most recently, Zampella was leading DICE's studio in Los Angeles and headed up the Battlefield franchise, another FPS series that just saw the launch of Battlefield 6 earlier this year. EA shared the following statement about Zampella's death: “This is an unimaginable loss, and our hearts are with Vince’s family, his love...

When it comes to tackling the inevitable spills and messes of modern life, the convenience and power of a wet/dry vacuum cleaner are unparalleled. This category has completely revolutionised the way we approach general cleaning, allowing users to handle everything from dust to thick liquids in one go. Rendering the traditional mop obsolete, one machine that can clean up any household accident is the way of the future. So, if you are searching for a high-performance cleaning tool, a hybrid vacuum should be at the top of your list. And when it comes to leading the pack with next-generation cleaning technology, you can’t go past the Eureka Floorshine 880 . Opens in a new window Credit: Eureka Eureka FloorShine 880 AU$799 at Amazon Australia AU$1,099 Save AU$300   Get Deal Key Specs Industry-Exclusive Odour Removal The feature that sets the Floorshine 880 apart is its Industry-Exclusive Odour Removal Technology. Anyone who has used a hybrid vacuum before, know...

OpenAI gave its AI chatbot a professional makeover with the latest GPT-5.2 release , and some users are already complaining about its tone. For anyone who's finding ChatGPT rude or sassy, OpenAI has some welcome news since it's letting users further customize its personality with extra warmth or enthusiasm.  You can now adjust specific characteristics in ChatGPT, like warmth, enthusiasm, and emoji use. Now available in your "Personalization" settings. pic.twitter.com/7WSkOQVTKU — OpenAI (@OpenAI) December 19, 2025 In a post on X , OpenAI revealed that users can adjust characteristics under new Warm, Enthusiastic, Header & Lists and Emoji options found in the Personalization settings. Between the four options, you can choose between more, less or default to fine-tune exactly how you want ChatGPT to sound in its responses. These new characteristics come about a month after OpenAI added Professional, Candid and Quirky options to GPT-5.1 under the "Bas...

Grocery delivery service Instacart will pay $60 million in consumer refunds to settle a lawsuit over unlawful tactics, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shared on Thursday. The FTC lawsuit claimed that Instacart engaged in several deceptive methods, including: Falsely advertising "free delivery" to customers' first order when they actually needed to pay a service fee as much as 15 percent Falsely advertising a "100 percent satisfaction guarantee," implying full refunds that Instacart didn't offer Failing to disclose the terms of Instacart+ membership enrollment, such as that consumers would be charged at the end of their free trials SEE ALSO: You can now buy groceries in ChatGPT "Instacart misled consumers by advertising free delivery services — and then charging consumers to have groceries delivered — and failing to disclose to consumers that signed up for a free trial that they would be automatically enrolled into its subscriptio...

TL;DR: Secure 20TB of storage with this Internxt Cloud Storage Lifetime Subscription on sale now for just $399.97 (reg. $4,900) through Dec. 21. Opens in a new window Credit: Internxt Internxt Cloud Storage Lifetime Subscription (20TB) $399.97 $4,900 Save $4,500.03   Get Deal Do you rent your cloud storage? Not only is that a hefty expense every month, but it just keeps rising as you need more space. If you’re looking for a more cost-effective way to store your important files safely, it’s time to check out Internxt Cloud Storage . Right now, you can pay once and lock in 20TB of cloud storage for only $399.97 (reg. $4,900) through Dec. 21. Mashable Deals Be the first to know! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Loading... Sign Me Up By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg a...

New York governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation on Friday aimed at holding large AI developers accountable for the safety of their models. The RAISE Act establishes rules for greater transparency, requiring these companies to publish information about their safety protocols and report any incidents within 72 hours of their occurrence. It comes a few months after California adopted similar legislation.  But, the penalties aren't going to be nearly as steep as they were initially presented when the bill passed back in June. While that version included fines of up to $10 million dollars for a company's first violation and up to $30 million for subsequent violations, according to Politico , Hochul's version sets the fines at up to $1 million for the first violation, and $3 million for any violations after that. In addition to the new reporting rules, a new oversight office dedicated to AI safety and transparency is being born out of the RAISE Act. This office will be part ...

Faraway road trips just got a lot easier, at least for the passengers. Sony Honda Mobility , the joint venture between the two Japanese conglomerates created to produce electric vehicles, announced that its Afeela EV will come with PS Remote Play. While playing video games in a car may be a niche feature, it means drivers will have something to do when parked, and passengers can chip away at their favorite RPGs during long drives. According to the announcement, the Afeela will be able to run your PS5 and PS4 consoles remotely through the infotainment system's integrated display. You can even grab your DualSense controller from home and get right back into the game after jumping in your Afeela. Sony Honda Mobility said a 5Mbps broadband connection is required to play, and a 15Mbps rate will deliver a smoother experience. It's not the first time we're hearing about PS Remote Play in an EV. The joint venture previously showed off the Afeela 1, which is set for its first d...

The data center market is booming with little indication it'll be slowing down anytime soon — despite efforts to halt the processing sprawl. According to a new report by S&P Global , the global data center market ballooned to $61 billion in 2025, a half billion dollar increase from last year and another record high for the industry. The money is trying to keep pace with expanding infrastructure projects needed to funnel more data processing power to generative AI and its makers. SEE ALSO: NVIDIA earnings report: Why the AI bubble will bounce into 2026 Despite concerns that interest in AI will wane and render projects moot, S&P experts told CNBC that they predict demand for AI applications will stay strong in 2026, and skepticism of major AI players is unlikely to change the market trends. Still, the numbers may not be as positive as they appear. S&P Global found that a majority of the financing surge came from private equity financing, a precarious debt model t...