Tech Boys

ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is reportedly working on mixed reality goggles, The Information reports . The in-development device is designed to layer digital objects over your view of the real world, and is supposed to compete directly with Meta's upcoming mixed reality products. The goggles are being built by ByteDance's virtual reality startup Pico, the creators of the Pico 4 VR headset . Pico's past products have attempted to match Meta's Quest headsets in terms of features, but these new goggles apparently represent a different approach (albeit one still positioned as an alternative to Meta). Rather than a bulky headset, the goggles are supposed to be small and light, about the size of the Bigscreen Beyond VR headset , which weighs 0.28 pounds. Pico is keeping the device lightweight by offloading most of the computing work to a puck that's connected to the goggles over a wire. Meta's prototype Orion AR glasses used a wireless puck for a similar...

The new Xbox gaming handheld might be even more of a premium product than initially expected. That's the fear emanating from a new leak that originated in a Spanish online Asus marketplace (via Tom's Guide ), anyway. If you type "xbox ally" into the search field, it will actually show supposed prices for both the base ROG Xbox Ally console and the more powerful Xbox Ally X. The "cheaper" one is the equivalent of $699 USD, while the Ally X comes out to around $1,050 after currency conversion. I tried this and can confirm that it still works at the time of publication. Whoops. Credit: Screenshot: Alex Perry Of course, there are some caveats here. One is that this could simply be a technical error on the part of this one specific Spanish Asus store. Perhaps those numbers are just placeholder figures that were never meant to be seen by the public. After all, they haven't appeared anywhere else yet, as far we know. Another is that a leaker named eX...

Meta is going after creators who rip off other users' content as part of a broader effort to fix Facebook's feed. In its latest update , the company laid out new steps it's taking to penalize accounts that lift work from others. In a blog post for creators, Meta says that accounts that "repeatedly" and "improperly" reuse other accounts' text posts, photos or videos will have their pages demonetized "for a period of time." Meta willa also throttle all of their posts, not just the ones with the offending content. The company notes that the change is meant to target "repeated reposting of content from other creators without permission or meaningful enhancements" and not content like reaction videos. Meta has previously taken similar steps to reward original content on Instagram , where the company has actively replaced reposted Reels with the original clip. The company now says it's looking into a similar move on Facebook by a...

Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle . As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer. If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you. SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: Hints and answers for July 14 Where did Wordle come from? Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble , music identification game Heardle , and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once .  Word...

NASA's Parker Solar Probe made history with the closest-ever approach to the sun last December , and we're finally getting a look at some of the images it captured. The space agency released a timelapse of observations made using Parker's Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR) while it passed through the sun's corona (the outer atmosphere) on December 25, 2024, revealing up close how solar wind acts soon after it's released. The probe captured these images at just 3.8 million miles from the solar surface. To put that into perspective, a NASA video explains, "If Earth and the sun were one foot apart, Parker Solar Probe was about half an inch from the sun." The probe got an unprecedented view of solar wind and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) during the approach, which could be invaluable for our understanding of space weather. "We are witnessing where space weather threats to Earth begin, with our eyes, not just with models," said Nicky Fox, a...

Just a day after the xAI team issued a comprehensive apology and explanation about why its chatbot was spreading antisemitic rhetoric , Tesla updated its software for its cars to include the supposedly fixed Grok. According to Tesla, all new vehicles delivered on or after July 12 will have Grok available in-car. There's no additional subscription cost, but Tesla is limiting Grok's availability to models in the US for now. For older models to run Grok, it requires a Tesla with an AMD processor, the latest software update of 2025.26, and either a stable Wi-Fi connection or Tesla's $9.99 Premium Connectivity subscription. It's worth noting that Grok will simply be an AI chatbot you can ask questions to, but won't be able to interface with the car itself. In other words, Grok can't help you set up directions to your destination, lower the music's volume or control the car's temperature. Instead, it can offer excruciatingly cringe-inducing responses under ...

Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle . As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer. If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you. SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: Hints and answers for July 13 Where did Wordle come from? Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble , music identification game Heardle , and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once .  Word...

We're officially getting more of the Cult of the Lamb comic expansion. Following last year's miniseries, which built on the game's existing lore and injected some real emotional depth, writer Alex Paknadel and artist Troy Little are returning to the story of the Lamb and their followers in a one-shot 48-page issue that's due out in the fall from Oni Press. Cult of the Lamb: Schism Special #1 will be available on October 29 for $8, with covers by Troy Little and Peach Momoko, alongside a foil variant for $10. Schism Special picks up after the emotional events at the end of the first story arc. Per Oni Press: In the aftermath of their first and closest follower’s sacrifice, Lamb continues the bloody quest to defeat the Bishops of the Old Faith, but they lack the conviction to tend their growing flock back at the cult. More potential followers are rescued by the day, but with no one to indoctrinate them, Lamb’s power stagnates and The One Who Waits becomes weary of ...

French officials have launched a criminal investigation into Elon Musk 's social media platform, X , following a probe exploring whether or not the platform's algorithm was manipulated for the purposes of "foreign interference." The platform is accused of altering its algorithms and fraudulently extracting data from users, said Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau. The investigation will look into possible " organized data system manipulation ," or what is considered under French law to be criminal hacking , a crime that carries a sentence of 10 years in prison and a $350,000 fine. French officials are investigating the platform itself, a legal entity related to the company, and several unnamed individuals. The case was brought forth by a lawmaker and a civil servant, reported Politico , joining other members of the French Parliament who have raised issue with Musk's X, including recent antisemitic comments by AI chatbot Grok . SEE ALSO: Linda Yaccarino is...

Target is holding its Target Circle Week sale during the exact same week as Prime Day (of course) and offers many of the same deals that Amazon has . Not all of the deals overlap perfectly, but Target's price match policy is actually a pretty solid backup plan — especially if you're not a Prime member . If you stumble across an item that's cheaper at Amazon than Target, there's a decent chance that Target will match it. SEE ALSO: Yes, there's a Grubhub Prime Day deal: Get 50% off a delivery with this code Target will match a Prime Day price as long as the item in question is identical to the one listed at Amazon — down to the model number and color. Target will ask for proof of the lower price at Amazon in the form of a direct listing or ad. No, screenshots and pictures don't count. You have a 14-day window after buying your item at Target to request a price match. The item also must be in stock at Amazon, so unfortunately, you're out of luck if th...