After the massive success of Stray, the world has been crying out for another big game about cats. Well, our pleas have been answered. The cozy cat sim Little Kitty, Big City will be available for download on May 9 for multiple platforms, including the Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC via Steam. It costs $25 and preorders are available now, with Switch owners getting 10 percent off for the time being. It’s also a Game Pass day one release.

There’s a new trailer, which was revealed at Nintendo’s latest Indie World Showcase event. It looks very cute. You play as a, duh, cat and explore a Japan-inspired city, getting into mischief and wearing a bunch of costumes. It’s a cozy game, so don’t expect any bloodthirsty cyberpunk ruffians to chase you around town.

The cel-shaded visuals are adorable and the “mini-open-world” looks like its filled with stuff to do, people to annoy and sun-soaked spots to take a good nap. We’ll never fully understand what goes on in the brains of our favorite felines, they are aliens after all, but this game will at least give us some time in their shoes/paws.

The developer is a company called Double Dagger Studio, which was started by veteran game designer Matt T. Wood, who spent nearly two decades honing his craft at Valve. He worked on a whole bunch of games that seem to be the polar opposite of a cat sim, like Left 4 Dead, Portal 2 and CS:GO. Despite this pedigree, Little Kitty, Big City features no combat and has been likened to classic stories like Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz.

TVs might have gotten much less bulky in recent years, but most are still just big black screens. If you've been holding out for something a bit prettier, check out Amazon's sale on Samsung's QLED 4K The Frame LS03B Series. Most of the sizes are down to record lows, but the 75-inch model has the best deal thanks to a 37 percent discount. It's still going to cost you a pretty penny, but the framed TV is down to $1,895 from $2,998 — a $1,103 savings. 

We've been big fans of Samsung's frame TVs for some time and love not having to stare at a blank screen. This model has features such as an anti-reflection and matte display, so it doesn't give itself away as a TV hiding along your actual artwork. You can display one of over 2,000 beautiful works from across the world, ranging from The Starry Night to The Kiss by Gustav Klimt. However, on top of the money you shelled out on the TV, there's also a $6 monthly subscription to the Samsung Art Store. You can opt to add your own photos instead (just make sure they're prepped for such a large format and don't get all pixelated). 

The Samsung Frame TV does include a slim wall mount and lets you customize the bezel's type and color. Quality-wise, it's a QLED 4K TV with Quantum HDR. If the size — or price — feels like too much, then check out other sizes, such as the 55-inch Samsung Frame TV. This model is down to $998 from $1,498 — a 33 percent discount and an all-time low price. 

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Modern iPhone cameras are extremely capable video recorders, but typically require accessories like lights and microphones to ensure professional results. Audio gear manufacturer Rode just announced a pair of gadgets intended to simplify this process, so streamers won’t have to build a cumbersome rig in the computer room or haul one to an outdoor space. 

The Rode Magnetic Mount is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a MagSafe mount with a pair of connection points for accessories like the aforementioned lights and microphones. There are two adjustable cold shoe arms that allow people to use the phone in portrait or landscape mode. For the uninitiated, “cold shoe” refers to metal connection brackets that lack power, whereas “hot shoe” would refer to metal connection brackets that feature electronic contacts.

It’s not just for iPhones, as any smartphone snuggled into a MagSafe-compatible case should work. The Rode Magnetic Mount is made from high-grade aluminum, so it’s on the pricier side when compared to the endless barrage of similar products on Amazon. It costs $90 and begins shipping on April 24.

Rode

Rode also announced the Phone Cage, which promises to “turn your smartphone into a professional filmmaking rig.” This is basically a beefier version of the aforementioned accessory, with five cold shoe mounts for attaching anything a budding filmmaker could possibly need, all while keeping the phone safe and snug inside its cage.

To that end, the mounts integrate with an array of thread sizes for attaching accessories like tripods and handles. There are also cable management slots, as five accessories could mean five cables snaking about and threatening to ruin that perfect shot. Again, this is for MagSafe models, which start with the iPhone 12. It’ll also work with another brand of smartphone inside of a MagSafe-compatible case. The Phone Cage starts shipping on April 24 and costs $120.

Rode recently purchased rival audio gear company Mackie and announced a renewed effort to design and release products for content creators. It looks like these mounts are part of that push. The company also just launched a new dual-receiver wireless lapel microphone for multi-mic setups.

It's been a few months since we've heard any details about Samsung's latest 98-inch TV, which we learned about back at CES in January. Now, the company has offered up more information about the 98" Class Crystal UHD (DU9000), which is available starting today for $4,000 from its own webstore and select retailers.

Samsung previously revealed that this model uses an AI-powered feature to optimize picture quality for the larger screen. Typically, as screens get bigger so do their pixels. However, with Supersize Picture Enhancer (which the company's other current 98-inch models boast), Samsung says it can increase sharpness and reduce visible noise to ensure there's no pixel distortion.

Other features of the DU9000 include 4K upscaling, PurColor (which adds another layer of image processing to improve the picture quality) and HDR. The Motion Xcelerator function and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz should help ensure smooth gameplay — you'll be able to stream games from the likes of Xbox Cloud Gaming and Amazon Luna through the Gaming Hub. Other gaming features include AI Auto Game Mode, Mini Map Auto Detection and Virtual Aim Point.

If you're wary that a 98-inch TV might be too much screen for your small living room, Samsung doesn't want you to worry about that. The company claims that the recommended viewing distance for a 98-inch TV is between six and 12 feet. The DU9000 joins other 98-inch TVs in Samsung's portfolio, including ones with Neo QLED 8K, Neo QLED 4K and QLED 4K panels.

After being briefly overtaken by Apple in 2023, Samsung once again holds the title for most global smartphone shipments. The International Data Corporation (IDC) Mobile Phone Tracker's preliminary data for 2024's first quarter showed Samsung reclaiming the lead it has held since 2010. 

Samsung has reportedly shipped 60.1 million units worldwide in quarter one, representing 20.8 percent of the market share. Apple shipped 50.1 million units for 17.3 percent of the market share. Both companies saw a decrease from 2023's quarter one, though Apple's was much more significant (-9.6 percent) than Samsung's (-0.7 percent). The top five brands remained the same in quarter one as all of 2023, rounded out by Xiaomi with 40.8 million units, Transsion with 28.5 million units and OPPO with 25.2 million units shipped. Transsion overtook OPPO to enter fourth place. 

The IDC points to these numbers as an indication that the smartphone market is strengthening. "Firstly, we continue to see growth in value and average selling prices (ASPs) as consumers opt for more expensive devices knowing they will hold onto their devices longer. Secondly, there is a shift in power among the Top 5 companies, which will likely continue as market players adjust their strategies in a post-recovery world," said Nabila Popal, research director with IDC's Worldwide Tracker team in a statement. "Xiaomi is coming back strong from the large declines experienced over the past two years and Transsion is becoming a stable presence in the Top 5 with aggressive growth in international markets. In contrast, while the Top 2 players both saw negative growth in the first quarter, it seems Samsung is in a stronger position overall than they were in recent quarters."

If you’ve been eyeing Sony’s WF-1000XM5 earbuds but were put off by the steep price tag, now would be the perfect time to pick up a set. The premium earbuds, normally $300, are down to a record low price of $230 on Amazon, for a savings of $70. This deal only applies to the earbuds in black. The Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds were released in summer 2023 and brought major upgrades over the previous model. They boast the best noise cancellation and call quality of Sony’s earbuds lineup, and have built-in Alexa support.

The Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds are our top pick for the best earbuds for this year. They’re more comfortable than the WF-1000XM4s, being 25 percent smaller and 20 percent lighter for a much better fit. The charging case, too, is more compact than its predecessor. In terms of sound quality, they further improve upon the already impressive capabilities of the 1000X line. The speakers are slightly larger than the previous model’s, and their Dynamic Driver X drivers make for rich, clear sound and bassier bass. Sony WF-1000XM5 scored an 87 in our review last year.

The earbuds offer Adaptive Sound Control, which will automatically adjust your noise cancellation settings to work best for the environment you’re in or activity you’re doing. You may want active noise cancellation on when you’re working from home, but switch to transparency mode when you’re going out for a run. You’ll need to enable location services for this feature using Sony’s Headphones Connect app.

The app allows for other types of customization as well, like changing the controls assigned to the touch sensors on the earbuds. Sony’s WF-1000XM5 earbuds also support multipoint Bluetooth connections, which means you can pair them with two devices at the same time. There’s a Speak-to-Chat mode that pauses audio when it senses you’ve started a conversation, and an equalizer in the app where you can adjust your sound settings.

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Ubisoft’s online-only racing game The Crew stopped being operable on April 1. Some users are reporting, however, that things have gone a bit further. They say that the company actually reached into Ubisoft Connect accounts and revoked the license to access the game, according to reports by Game Rant and others.

Some of these users liken this move to theft, as they had purchased the game with their own money and received no warning that Ubisoft would be deleting the license. When attempting to launch the game, these players say they received a message stating that access was no longer possible.

On its face, this sounds pretty bad. People paid for something that was snatched away. However, there’s one major caveat. The Crew is an online-only racing game, so there really isn’t anything to do without the servers. Those servers went down on April 1 and the game was delisted from digital store fronts. Also, this move only impacts the original game. The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest are both still going.

When Ubisoft announced that the servers would be taken offline, it offered refunds to those who recently purchased the The Crew. The game’s been around a decade, so this refund likely didn’t apply to the vast majority of players. Some of these people said they had planned to set up private servers to play the game, an option that is now impossible.

This isn’t the biggest deal in the world, being as how The Crew is not operable, but it does highlight a major problem with the purchase and use of digital goods. We pay money for these products. We think we own them, but we don’t own a damned thing. Read the terms of service from Ubisoft or any other major games publisher for proof of that. Philippe Tremblay, Ubisoft's director of subscriptions, recently told Gamesindustry.biz that players will become “comfortable with not owning” their games. I’m not so sure we’ll ever be comfortable with the idea that stuff we paid for can disappear on a dime, even if it becomes standard practice.

Sometimes even the most die-hard coffee enthusiasts just want a quick cup of joe. Unfortunately, that often leaves people with sipping less-than-satisfactory java from traditional drip brewers. But now after years of customer requests, Fellow is finally releasing a machine that it claims can deliver a pour-over experience at the touch of a button. And after seeing it in action, there’s a lot to like.

Starting at $365, the Aiden certainly isn’t cheap. That said, compared to the $500 grinders and pricey accessories that so many aficionados lust after, this might seem like a bargain to some. But the big difference between the Aiden and traditional coffee machines is that unlike a typical drip-based brewer, it features an adjustable showerhead that mimics the process of a traditional pour-over. Fellow also uses a thick film Ferro Techniek heating element which is said to deliver exact water temperatures (down to a single degree and up to 210F). When combined with the ability to adjust things like bloom time, the amount of water used and more, you get a ton of control over the brewing process. Fellow even includes two different baskets: a single-serve option that delivers a slightly more nuanced product or a batch filter to accommodate big crowds (up to 10 cups at a time).

Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget

The Aiden also features a guided brew process that walks you through various settings, though you can always create your own profiles or download instructions directly from participating roasters via a QR code and Fellow’s free companion app. That said, I appreciate that if you don’t want to break out your phone just to make a cup of coffee, you can still set programs, start a brew and input data directly into the machine via its bright color LCD screen and large control dial.

But the best thing about the Aiden is how easy and convenient it is to use. It features a 1.5L reservoir and its heating element is completely silent so you can brew a cup in the morning without disturbing the peace. Once you have your favorite brews dialed in, starting a batch is as simple as dumping in some grounds and hitting start (and adding water to the tank if you haven’t done that already). The machine will remind you when you need to run a clean cycle or descale it. Because its showerhead is super precise, if you schedule it to run in the morning before you wake up, it will be ready exactly when you tell it. Not a minute too early or late. There’s even a cold brew setting that will slowly drip water through the grounds throughout the day (and of course you can set how long or short this takes) instead of relying on a prolonged immersion like you would otherwise.

Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget

However, one feature the Aiden doesn’t have is a keep warm function, but that’s because most coffee lovers tend to stay away from machines with built-in hotplates that can result in scorched joe. Instead, Fellow relies on a thermal double-walled carafe to keep things warm until you can get to it (which probably won’t be long if you’re in need of caffeine).

Finally, while your tastes may vary, I like the Aiden’s minimalist design. It’s short enough that it should fit under most kitchen cabinets and its sleek lines and boxy shape make it a cinch to clean. And while I only got to sample a single cup, the Scandinavian light roast I tried retained a lot of the subtle vanilla and hickory notes that would normally be stamped out by traditional drip brewers.

That said, it’s important to remember that the Aiden isn’t meant to replace your V60 or Aeropress or whatever your preferred brewing method is. It’s simply meant to provide a higher quality joe than what your standard drip brewer can make for situations where you don't have the time or energy to make a cup yourself. From what I’ve seen so far, it does just that.

Pre-sale for the Aiden is live today, with shipments expected to begin sometime this September. Additionally, anyone who pre-orders will get a bag of coffee each from Onyx Coffee Lab, La Cabra and Verve Coffee Roasters specifically designed for this machine along with scannable brewing profiles.

Fallout games are having a moment in the wake of glowing reviews for the new TV series adaptation on Prime Video. Amazon has added two of the series’ best games as freebies for Prime members on Luna, its cloud streaming service. Fallout 4 is also getting some love, as Bethesda said it will drop the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S update for the 2015 game on April 25.

Amazon Prime members can play Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas on Amazon Luna for the next six months at no extra charge. Like other cloud streaming services, Luna requires a stable and low-latency internet connection since the games you play are processed on remote servers. Amazon recommends a network that can sustain at least 10Mbps for 1080p quality. An ethernet connection works best, but if you’re on Wi-Fi, using the 5GHz band is preferable if your router supports it.

They join Fallout 76, already announced as an Amazon Prime Gaming free game for April. As long as you claim it this month, you can download and keep it forever. It’s redeemable for both Xbox and PC. In addition, the game has a free-play week for all platforms. From Thursday through April 18, you can play Fallout 76 for free on PlayStation, Xbox and Steam. You only need to download the game and sign in with a Bethesda account.

Bethesda

The long-delayed big console update for Fallout 4 finally arrives for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on April 25. The “next-gen” (now current-gen, if we’re being technical) version lets you choose between Performance and Quality modes for prioritizing speed or spectacle. It also supports 60fps and higher resolutions alongside stability improvements and bug fixes. The stability fixes will also arrive in a Fallout 4 update for PS4 and Xbox One consoles to provide a more dependable experience for older hardware users.

The Fallout TV series is damn good — and possibly the second-best gaming adaptation behind The Last of Us. The show starts with a bang and reels you in with magnetic characters and alluring visuals. “Fallout is more than just a video game adaptation,” Engadget’s Sam Rutherford wrote in his review. “It’s a really good show in its own right — an apocalyptically good one at that.”

Fallout is now streaming on Prime Video. It stars Ella Purnell (Yellowjackets) as Lucy, Aaron Clifton Moten (Father Stu) as Maximums, Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks) as Hank and the scene-stealing master of ornery characters, Walton Goggins (Justified), as The Ghoul.

Sony’s Extra Bass line of headphones has given listeners an added dose of low-end tone for years, and was generally cheaper than its high-end 1000X cans. The company is still keen on offering brain-rattling bass to those who want it, but the Extra Bass moniker and its confusing alpha-numeric product names are gone (more to come on that change). Today, Sony is introducing ULT Power Sound, a feature it’s calling the “ultimate step into the evolution” of its portable audio gear. 

ULT Power Sound will also be available on Bluetooth speakers of various sizes, but the first headphones to feature the new audio direction are the ULT Wear ($200). A direct replacement for the WH-B910, the ULT Wear contains 40mm drivers that Sony says are specifically designed for deeper bass. If the stock tuning isn’t enough, there’s a ULT button for two more levels of low-end boost. Plus, the company crammed in some of its best features from more-expensive headphones: the V1 audio chip, 30-hour battery life, Quick Attention mode, 360 Reality Audio with head tracking and more.

The first thing I noticed about the ULT Wear is its design. These headphones don’t immediately strike me as less-than-premium cans. The matte white finish on my review unit helps mask the mostly plastic construction which looked cheap on previous products like the WH-CH720N. It’s definitely a more refined aesthetic than the WH-XB910 that’s being replaced. There are certainly some nods to the premium 1000X line in a few areas, like the curves of the ear cups and headband.

Sony decided on a mix of physical and touch controls for the ULT Wear, which is another way it’s bridging the gap between its most affordable and most expensive headphones. On the edge of the left ear cup is a power/pairing button and a control for cycling between active noise cancellation (ANC) and ambient sound modes. Further up along the bottom is a third button for ULT bass boost. This item switches between off, ULT 1 (deep bass) and ULT 2 (more powerful sound with deep bass). Over on the right, the outside of the ear cup has a touch panel that you can tap and swipe on for playback controls, volume adjustments and calls.

As the ULT Wear sits in the middle of Sony’s headphone lineup, it has a few of the handy features from the 1000X line that the company’s cheaper options don’t employ. For example, placing your open hand over the right ear cup activates Quick Attention mode that lowers the volume so you can respond to a co-worker or grab your cortado without pausing your tunes. Adaptive Sound Control is here as well: Sony’s long-standing tool that automatically adjusts the headphone’s settings based on your activity or location. General niceties like multipoint Bluetooth and wear detection are present too. The convenient Speak-to-Chat function from more-recent 1000X headphones isn’t available though, which is a considerable omission in terms of overall utility.

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

Bass reigns supreme for the ULT Wear’s tuning and you certainly get a heavy dose of it. Those new specifically tuned drivers muster a lot of low-end thump before you even start exploring the ULT boosts. The out-of-the-box level was good enough for me for most genres, although the overall sound can get muddy with more chaotic styles like metal and some synth-heavy electronic tracks. For the most part though, the stock bass provides depth and range that complements full mids and cutting highs.

On Bayside’s There Are Worse Things Than Being Alive, there’s a thundering kick drum to drive the punk-tinged indie rock tunes, but the texture of the crunchy distorted guitars stands out and vocals cut through clearly. Plus, you can add Sony’s DSEE upscaling through its app, a software trick that’s designed to recover sonic elements lost to compression. And if you have access to 360 Reality Audio content, the ULT Wear supports head-tracking so that sounds stay put when you move. This offers a more realistic experience since the immersive audio in this format would otherwise move with your head.

When you hop into the ULT boost modes, things are a mixed bag. Sony has done bass boost better than most other companies here, as songs are still actually listenable across musical styles rather than just becoming a muffled mess. ULT 1, the option for deeper bass, is the best in my opinion. You don’t lose much detail using it and things like kick drums are still punchy throughout. Hip-hop tracks are a better canvas, with songs like Killer Mike’s “Down By Law” blasting bombastic, yet finessed, amplified bass. His album Michael is one of the better-sounding selections I tested with ULT 1 enabled.

ULT 2, a setting for more powerful sound alongside even deeper bass, isn’t great. During my tests, I didn’t find a single track where I thought it sounded good across driving low-end styles like hip-hop and EDM. It sounds like you’re standing in front of the subwoofer at a concert where bass is most prominent and everything else gets drowned out. And while I’m sure some people enjoy that extent of brain rattling, it’s not what I’m looking for.

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

Sony improved ANC from the WH-XB910 by installing its V1 audio processor from the 1000X series in the ULT Wear. The result is noticeably improved noise-canceling performance for a set of $200 headphones, but you shouldn’t expect distraction-blocking as robust as what the WH-1000XM5 offers. It’s good in most situations, but in some scenarios it simply dulls the roar. The ULT Wear does, however, do a decent job with human voices – much better than the Sennheiser Accentum Plus I recently reviewed.

The company didn’t go out of its way to discuss call quality on the ULT Wear, but the performance here is slightly above average. It’s not pristine, but it also doesn’t have the obvious speaker phone sound most headphones do. Low-to-mid-volume background noise is also dealt with nicely. Ambient sound mode on the ULT Wear is more natural that what most headphones offer, save for the AirPods Max. You can hear a good amount of your own voice, so you’re free to speak at a normal volume during calls. And any sounds from your surroundings come through clear, so you don’t have to worry about not hearing alerts or announcements.

Sony says you can expect up to 30 hours of battery life with ANC on or up to 50 hours with it off. The company doesn’t specify if either of the ULT modes impact longevity, and I didn’t have them on long enough to tell. After 20 hours of use with mostly ANC and several instances of ambient sound for calls, both used at around 50-60 percent volume (trust me that’s plenty loud here), Sony’s app was showing 44 percent battery left. This is more efficient than the stated figure, but I’ll update this review when the full rundown is complete.

If you crave a deep bassy thump that most headphones haven't been able to deliver, the ULT Wear does a much better job boosting low-end tone than Sony’s previous efforts. The sound out of the box is certainly boomy, but not at the cost of any detail, and the company gives you the option to add two more servings of bass when you crave it. These won’t be for everyone as a lot of people will prefer the more even-handed tuning of Sennheiser’s Accentum Plus in the $200 range. However, Sony has done well to dress up a more affordable set of headphones as a premium product, in terms of both looks and features.

The ULT Wear headphones are available in black, white and green color options for $200. Sony says they'll start shipping sometime this spring.