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Melania Trump welcomes you into the AI audiobook era with memoir Melania

Melania Trump announced on Friday that she is releasing an AI audiobook version of her memoir, Melania . In an X post, the first lady welcomed followers into "a new era in publishing" and announced that an audiobook featuring an AI-generated version of her voice will be released in the ElevenReader app. "I am honored to bring you Melania — The AI Audiobook — narrated entirely using artificial intelligence in my own voice. Let the future of publishing begin." This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. The First Lady's book, Melania , was published in October 2024, and it's part memoir, part coffee table book. The Melania AI audiobook was released on May 22 through the ElevenReader app, a text-to-voice AI app that also lets authors create audiobooks from their work. Variety reports that the AI audiobook will soon be available in additional languages, from Spanish to Hindi. “Writing this memoir has been a deeply person...

Valve adds official SteamOS support for non-Steam Deck handhelds in huge update

Planning on picking up a Lenovo Legion Go S and don't like Windows? Valve has a solution for you. A big new update to SteamOS , the operating system powering handheld Steam Deck gaming devices around the world, dropped this week, and it brought with it the ability to install the specialized OS on competing devices. Valve notes on its support website that right now the only non-Steam Deck device with official support is the Legion Go S, launching later this month, but the company is "working on broadening support." SEE ALSO: Nintendo Switch 2 preorder guide: Track latest restocks, see our first-hand impressions It's worth pointing out that you could technically install SteamOS on alternative devices before, but it required some awkward workarounds. This more than likely wouldn't have been a smooth, seamless experience like it should be now for Legion Go S users. Interestingly, Valve pointed out in the patch notes that it has "improved support...

Nintendo Switch 2 will support regular USB mice in at least one game

The Switch 2's Joy-Con "mouse" has some competition. At least one launch game for Nintendo's new console includes USB mouse support. Nobunga's Ambition: Awakening CE lets you plug in a traditional pointing device and get down to business. According to developer Koei Tecmo, the mouse will "work seamlessly." Nobunga's Ambition will let you switch between controller and USB mouse on the fly. "Once you connect the USB mouse, a message will appear in the top left indicating that the mouse is connected," Michi Ryu said in a video (translated from Japanese). "When the USB mouse is connected, it takes priority over the Joy-Con 2. As you can see, you can switch instantly. It's very smooth." So, what does that mean for other mouse-friendly Switch 2 games? Civilization VII , another launch title, comes to mind. We emailed 2K Games to ask and will update this story if we hear back. To be fair, the Switch 2's Joy-Con mouse sup...

X is experiencing a data center outage

If you had trouble using X today, you're not alone. DownDetector reports that over 5,000 people have reported issues accessing the social media platform as of 4PM ET. X's official Engineering account claims the issue is due to a data center outage. "X is aware some of our users are experiencing performance issues on the platform today," X's Engineering account writes. "We are experiencing a data center outage and the team is actively working to remediate the issue." The platform last experienced a major outage in March 2025. At the time, X CEO Elon Musk blamed the outage on a "massive cyberattack." Security researchers who looked into the issue later said it was poor security on X's part that left the company's servers vulnerable to attack. X is aware some of our users are experiencing performance issues on the platform today. We are experiencing a data center outage and the team is actively working to remediate the issue. — ...

Tesla just lost another major benchmark, this time in Europe

China is officially eating Elon Musk's lunch in Europe. Market research firm JATO Dynamics said in a report on Thursday (via Reuters ) that Tesla fell behind Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD in EV sales in Europe in April. The lead isn't a huge one, per Reuters; BYD sold 7,231 EVs, while Tesla sold 7,165 vehicles. That said, this is apparently the first time this has happened, and it could potentially mark a turn in the global EV market away from Tesla and toward alternative manufacturers like BYD. SEE ALSO: Tesla Cybertruck loses top-selling EV truck crown Another factor that makes this impressive is that BYD's vehicles haven't been widely available in Europe for all that long, while Tesla has been a household name in the EV space for many years. JATO Dynamics analyst Felipe Munoz, quoted by Reuters, noted that BYD didn't expand outside of Norway and the Netherlands until late 2022. While there are likely several factors at play here, it seems ...

GeoGuessr community maps go dark in protest of EWC ties to human rights abuses

A group of GeoGuessr map creators have pulled their contributions from the game to protest its participation in the Esports World Cup 2025, calling the tournament "a sportswashing tool used by the government of Saudi Arabia to distract from and conceal its horrific human rights record." The protestors say the blackout will hold until the game's publisher, GeoGuessr AB, cancels its planned Last Chance Wildcard tournament at the EWC in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from July 21 to 27. GeoGuessr   is a browser game where players try to pinpoint locations using only Google Street View images, and it relies on community mapmakers to stay relevant. The blackout, which began on May 21, includes "dozens of creators and their maps, including a supermajority of the most popular competitively relevant world maps," according to a statement the group shared on Reddit . The removed maps have been played tens of millions of times. One of the largest GeoGuessr communities, Plonk ...

Android 16 includes a desktop interface Google built from Samsung DeX

Devices running Android 16 will pick up a new trick when the software update rolls out later this year: The ability to run a desktop-style interface while connected to an external display. An early version of the idea was spotted for phones in betas of Android 16, but as 9to5Google noticed , Google made the feature official during its developer keynote . According to the presentation, the new windowing and external display feature was created in collaboration with Samsung, "building on the foundation of Samsung DeX, to bring enhanced desktop windowing capabilities in Android 16." Prior to this official support, Samsung DeX was a custom feature Samsung built into One UI that allowed certain Samsung phones and tablets to display a desktop-style interface while connected to a display. Google's implementation seems to be aiming for the same thing, with resizable windows and a dock for your most used apps. The company also appears open to the feature working on tablets an...

How are Asian Americans affected by online misinformation?

Like the vast majority of people, my smartphone is often the first thing I look at in the morning and the last thing I look at before falling asleep. My iPhone serves as my alarm, my GPS, and my music player. Most importantly, it's the primary way I communicate with loved ones and stay on top of an evolving and overwhelming news cycle. I’m not alone in this regard.  A recent Pew study indicates 86 percent of American adults say they “at least sometimes” get news from a smartphone. Another study found that 20 percent of Americans feel “overloaded by information.” While these numbers provide some useful insights, many existing studies of American media consumption and social media use fail to closely analyze — or omit entirely — a key segment of the population: Asian Americans. Compared to the average American, Asian Americans have drastically different media consumption habits. For first-generation and limited-English proficient individuals, these contrasts are even greater....

Is the $450 Nintendo Switch 2 too expensive?

It seems fitting that Nintendo didn’t reveal the Switch 2’s $450 price during its Direct stream this morning — it would have just bummed everyone out. After spending an hour hearing about how the Switch 2 practically fixes almost every problem we had with the original console, and seeing teasers for exciting games like Mario Kart World , why spoil the good vibes with the harsh reality of market economics? Instead, Nintendo revealed the console’s price in the lowliest of media communications: A simple press release. My first reaction was shock. $450 for a mostly portable console? That’s the same retail price as the PlayStation 5, a system that’s also currently on sale for $400 together with Astro-Bot . Sure, the Switch 2 is vastly superior to the original Switch, but it likely doesn’t have PS5-level hardware. The price jump is also surprising since the original Switch launched at $300 in 2017. Can you imagine we thought the $350 Switch OLED was too high-priced? Unfortunately, it’s...

An animated Clash of Clans series is coming to Netflix

The latest video game to be getting the TV show treatment is a pair of hugely popular mobile titles. Developer Supercell is partnering with Netflix for an animated series based on the world of its games Clash of Clans and Clash Royale . Fletcher Moules, who directed the original Clash of Clans animated videos on YouTube, will be the showrunner for the Netflix project and Ron Weiner, who has worked on Silicon Valley , 30 Rock , Futurama and Arrested Development , will be the head writer. Clash of Clans debuted in 2012 and the casual strategy game got a deck battler sequel in Clash Royale , which launched in 2016. According to the show announcement , the pair of games have more than 4 billion downloads and more than 180 billion gameplay hours logged by players. The Netflix show will center on the Barbarian character from this game universe as he tries to "rally a band of misfits to defend their village and navigate the comically absurd politics of war." The series is in p...