From PC Mag: One of Google’s first forays into agentic AI for web browsing has been closed without any prior warning. Project Mariner closed on Monday, May 4, according to Google’s website, as spotted by Wired’s Max Zeff.

Google's landing page for the experimental tool now says, “Thank you for using Project Mariner. It was shut down on May 4th, 2026 and its technology voyaged to other Google products.” It tells users to try using Gemini Agent for what it calls “complex tasks.”

Project Mariner tools enabled web browsing via an AI agent you could send to complete tasks for you across the internet, taking the effort of searching out of your hands. The idea is to make deep research tasks easier, such as finding the best-priced flights, planning a hotel stay, or researching a new purchase.

The tool launched in December 2024 before becoming a greater focus during last year's Google I/O. Project Mariner expanded to handle 10 tasks simultaneously, though you needed a $249.99/month Google AI Ultra subscription to access it.

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From PC World: Google hasn’t offered a streaming device for under $50 since it discontinued the Chromecast with Google TV in 2024. That’s turning out to be a problem.

For the past couple years, Google has effectively left Walmart in charge of churning out low-cost Google TV streamers under its in-house Onn brand. Now Walmart is struggling to keep those devices in stock and is raising prices on new ones.

This leaves Google without a clear answer to Roku’s Streaming Sticks and Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks. It’s a shame because Google TV’s interface is pretty good, and because it’s the rare streaming platform that gives you a fair amount of control. All it needs is more affordable hardware on which to run.

Walmart’s Onn streamers have always flown a bit under the radar. New models usually arrive with no fanfare from Walmart or Google, instead trickling gradually into physical stores before making their way online.

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From CNET: Chipmaker Qualcomm launched two new processors meant for lower-cost phones Thursday, adding support for the faster Wi-Fi 7 standard along with higher display refresh rates. The announcement is especially notable as the cost of electronics continues to rise amid the global RAM shortage, putting more focus on what phone buyers can still get at value-focused prices.

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 is the higher-end of the two, and will be the first for its series to include Wi-Fi 7 support. The newer wireless internet standard generally supports faster speeds and improved multitasking for networks powered by a newer Wi-Fi 7 router.

In addition to faster speeds, CNET Senior Writer Joe Supan notes in his Wi-Fi 7 analysis that these routers have also come down in price, making them more accessible to recommend when building out a home internet network (barring separate concerns relating to the recent US ban on foreign-made routers). The new processor also includes Bluetooth 6.0 support, which should improve pairing speed when connecting other devices and audio latency.

Meanwhile, the Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 adds a number of features that could improve gaming on lower-end phones, such as support for 144Hz refresh rates and 90 frames per second. Both of these are among the features I've seen on gaming phones that I've tested, and if something that cost around $300 were to support them, it would be quite the boost for phones in this price range.

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From ADATA Press Release: XPG today announced the launch of its groundbreaking new memory series, NOVAKEY. As the flagship of the series, the NOVAKEY RGB DDR5 features the world’s first patented "Infinity Mirror" design. Delivering speeds up to 6,400 MT/s and capacities up to 32GB per module, it is engineered for mainstream gamers and creators who demand a perfect balance between sophisticated style and rock-solid performance.

A New Era of Identity: Blending Core Technology with Visual Artistry
The launch of NOVAKEY marks a significant milestone in XPG’s brand evolution. The name combines "Nova," representing the brilliant energy and infinite potential of a supernova, with "Key," symbolizing the essential technology that unlocks next-level performance. Its patented "Infinity Mirror" design utilizes a futuristic geometric silhouette to create mesmerizing 3D visual depth. To complement the trend of modern PC builds with large glass panels, the XPG design team applied optical reflection principles to the heat sink, creating an "infinite time tunnel" effect from any viewing angle. The exterior features XPG's signature slanted-cut language, while the matte black metal accents and brushed aluminum finish ensure a premium, refined look even when the RGB lighting is turned off.

Balanced Performance and Stability: 6400 MT/s Optimized for AI and Modern Workloads
To provide a seamless experience for both everyday users and creative professionals, the NOVAKEY RGB DDR5 is optimized at the 6,400 MT/s "sweet spot." It offers flexible configurations in 16GB and 32GB capacities (single and dual kits) with ultra-low latencies as low as CL30. Moving beyond the niche focus of extreme overclocking, NOVAKEY prioritizes "performance through stability," making it an ideal choice for AAA gaming, professional video editing, and on-device AI computing. Equipped with a high-quality 10-layer PCB, an integrated Power Management IC (PMIC), and On-die ECC (Error Correction Code), the module ensures superior data integrity and reliable operation under heavy computational loads.

From PC Mag: Microsoft is removing Copilot features from its Xbox mobile app and has canceled plans to bring its AI chatbot to Xbox Series X and Series S consoles.

According to Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, the previously announced Copilot features no longer align with the gaming brand's recently overhauled plans. It means the end of Copilot integration in the mobile Xbox app, which provided users with advice on how to play, and the end of development for an upcoming console integration.

Sharma said in a post on X, “Xbox needs to move faster, deepen our connection with the community, and address friction for both players and developers.” She also explains how new team members, including executives who previously worked on the Microsoft CoreAI team alongside Sharma in her previous role, have moved over to Xbox.

Sharma said, “As part of this shift, you’ll see us begin to retire features that don’t align with where we’re headed. We will begin winding down Copilot on mobile and will stop development of Copilot on console.”

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From PC World: One reason I took a break from ChatGPT a few months ago (I’m back now) was how sick to death I got of its constant emojis, especially when it came to lists. The brain emoji was my least favorite, along with the green checkmarks, the pointy fingers, and the yellow “hazard” signs.

Well, I’ll believe it when I see it, but with its latest “instant” model, OpenAI promises that we’ll be getting way less of those “gratuitous” emojis in ChatGPT’s responses.

Available now for all ChatGPT users—I haven’t seen it on my account yet, so it must still be rolling out—GPT-5.5 Instant is now the default ChatGPT model, replacing GPT 5.3 Instant.

Among other qualities, OpenAI says GPT-5.5 Instant is more accurate, serving up 52.5 percent fewer hallucinations than GPT-5.3 Instant on “high-stakes” prompts relating to medicine, law, and finance, while cutting “inaccurate claims” by 37.3 percent on “especially challenging” chats. Those are encouraging figures, but we’ll have to wait for independent benchmarks to evaluate its real-world performance.

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From CNET: Apple has settled several legal complaints alleging that it misled people about the capabilities of AI on its iPhones. The company on Tuesday settled a shareholder lawsuit, agreeing to pay $250 million to qualifying consumers who bought iPhone 16 and certain iPhone 15 models within a specified period.

This is another setback for Apple, which has struggled to incorporate generative AI features into its smartphones compared with its Android rivals. The much-hyped Apple Intelligence only partially launched on the iPhone 16 line in September 2024, with some features arriving later and others, like an upgraded Siri, delayed through 2025 and not yet making it to the phones.

This led to class action lawsuits alleging that Apple misrepresented its iPhones' AI capabilities, which are addressed in this settlement. As part of the settlement, however, Apple denied any wrongdoing. When reached for comment, Apple cited the dozens of features that have been introduced since Apple Intelligence launched, including Visual Intelligence, Live Translation, Writing Tools, Genmoji and Clean Up.

"Apple has reached a settlement to resolve claims related to the availability of two additional features. We resolved this matter to stay focused on doing what we do best, delivering the most innovative products and services to our users," an Apple spokesperson said.

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From PC Mag: Even if Valve isn't keen to let slip when we can expect the Steam Machine to launch, it certainly seems to be stockpiling the hardware for it. The Verge reports that over the past few days, Valve has shipped over 45 tons of unspecified "Game Consoles" into the US, following around 90 tons of previous orders since February.

The Steam Machine has been delayed several times due to global memory shortages, but when it does launch, Valve will want lots of stock on hand. Even if the price is high, the Steam Machine is likely to be popular, at least around launch.

To that end, perennial Valve watcher Brad Lynch has been posting X updates on Valve shipments and warehousing over the past few weeks, noting that it has received over 90 tons of "Game Console" units from China. The Verge further reports another 45 tons landed between April 30 and May 1.

With Valve claiming the Steam Machine weighs around 5.7 pounds, this latest 45-ton delivery would equate to fewer than 20,000 Steam Machines, especially if you factor in packaging and any accessories like controllers and power cables that shipped from China too.

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From PC World: According to Microsoft, the issue with security warnings when opening RDP files are due to a bug that’s supposedly been fixed in update KB5083631. That’s an optional Windows 11 update that rolled out on April 30th. If you want to resolve this bug before the next update hits in May, the easiest way is to install KB5083631 via Windows Update.

Following the latest security updates for Windows 11, users are reporting issues with the Remote Desktop feature. Microsoft has now officially confirmed the bug and has outlined some initial workarounds.

Updates KB5083769 and KB5082052, which were released in April 2026, are affected. While these updates were intended to address various security vulnerabilities and introduce improvements, they’re also causing display errors for some users.

With KB5083769, Microsoft introduced additional protection mechanisms for Remote Desktop connections. This was prompted by the CVE-2026-26151 vulnerability, which could allow manipulated RDP files to be exploited.

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From CNET: If you'd been thinking of picking up an Apple Mac Mini anytime soon, think again. Several high-end Apple computers were listed last week as "currently unavailable" on the company's online store, including multiple RAM-intensive configurations of the M4 Mac Mini and Mac Studio.

Now, even the cheapest Mac Mini configuration with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD has been completely removed from Apple's online store. Previously, this configuration was listed as out of stock, and there was an implication that it might return once Apple freed up the necessary components -- now we have confirmation that this product isn't coming back to shelves.

The product removal effectively changes the starting price for the M4 Mac Mini, as the cheapest available configuration is a $799 model with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage space. While RAMageddon is raising computer prices across the board, it's becoming clear that less popular computer configurations just won't be supported as parts get shifted to more important products.

Other affected products include high-end configurations like the 32GB and 64GB RAM options for the Mac Mini and the 128GB and 256GB options for the Mac Studio -- though these products are only listed as being currently unavailable at the moment. Meanwhile, the available configurations for these computers are experiencing shipping delays, with Apple's official listings citing up to 18 weeks.

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From The Verge: The Hisense UR9 — the first RGB LED TV to be released this year — is now available for much less than originally revealed. The 65-inch UR9 is now $1,999, while the 75-inch model is $2,999 and the 85-inch is $3,999. (There’s no updated price yet for the 100-inch.) That’s between $1,500 and $2,000 off, depending on size.

When I reviewed the UR9, my biggest issue was its price. At $3,500 for a 65-inch, both the LG G6 and Samsung S95H — flagship OLED TVs — were less expensive than the UR9, and OLED still outperforms what I’ve seen from RGB LEDs. Then, two days after my review published, Samsung released pricing for its own high-end R95H RGB LED TV, which was $300 less than the Hisense. I suspect this pricing change from Hisense is at least partially in response to the Samsung announcement.

Both Hisense and Samsung are currently the only TV companies that have a 65-inch size available of their top-tier RGB model. LG’s MRGB95 starts at 75 inches, while the smallest TCL RM9L is 85 inches and both are more expensive than Samsung and Hisense — now significantly so. (We’re still waiting for details about Sony’s True RGB offerings later this year.)

All TV companies eventually bring down their prices the longer a TV model has been available, with Hisense and TCL historically lowering prices by a few hundred dollars a month or two after release. This year it took TCL a week to lower its 65-inch QM8L price from $2,500 to $1,800. But a $1,500 cut the day of release is a new level of aggressive pricing from Hisense.

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From PC World: The most powerful AI features, and particularly those involving agents, are a lot more magical when you get to use them for cheap.

That’s what’s been happening with flat-rate AI plans like ChatGPT Plus and Pro, Claude Pro and Max, and Google AI Pro and Max. For $200, $100, or even just $20 a month, AI users–myself included–have been taking a joy ride with OpenAI’s Codex, Anthropic’s Claude Code, Claude Cowork, and Claude Design, not to mention Google’s Antigravity, Nano Banana 2, and NotebookLLM.

From coding tools that build apps with a prompt to desktop AI assistants that create and edit files on their own, these tools deploy teams of agents that can work wonders in seconds, both dazzling us and scaring us (AI can do my job better than me, I’m cooked!) in equal measure.

But a big part of what made these AI-powered feats so heady was that they were so cheap. All this app building, web designing, and image creation for as little than $20? Are you kidding me?

Well, it turns out they were kidding.

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From CNET: AI tools like chatbots are gaining popularity in health care, but tech companies and health experts have been clear: AI shouldn't be your doctor. It's why ChatGPT will usually tell you to check any health and wellness info it gives you with a human doctor. It's good advice.

But a new OpenAI project is just for health care professionals and is designed to help those human experts keep up with the latest in actual medical science.

The tool, introduced on April 22, is called ChatGPT for Clinicians. It's a specialized experience designed to help health care providers with the biggest tasks they were already using ChatGPT for. This is different from consumer-facing AI tools, like Microsoft's Copilot Health and OpenAI's ChatGPT Health.

Millions of clinicians were already visiting ChatGPT weekly, Karan Singhal, OpenAI's head of health, told me. So the company decided to build a better version of its popular chatbot to help providers with the tasks they were most commonly using AI for: care consults, documentation and medical research.

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By: Evan Lange (Guest Editor)
May 1, 2026

My historical relationship with audio devices has mostly been a tale of neglect. I tend to be forgetful, so often my earbuds would find themselves in forgotten places around my house or even get sent through the wash in whatever pocket I had left them in. Because of this, I had always been hesitant to spend money on audio, as there is a significant possibility that anything I purchased would end up left somewhere or water damaged. Over the last couple of years, I have improved in these areas, but old habits die hard, and I continued to use the same pair of Apple EarPods that I had been using from when they were included with my iPhone 6. These worked, but needless to say, after the greater part of a decade in use and numerous tumble cycles, they were ripe for replacement. Thus, when the opportunity to review the Kiwi Ears Belle arrived, I decided it was finally time to trust myself with my first audio upgrade in many years. The Belle is positioned as an affordable entry point into the IEM scene while being suitable for music lovers and everyday casual listeners alike. Kiwi Ears claims that the Belle "combines refined tuning with elegant aesthetics for a beautifully balanced listening experience". Will my experience with the Belle live up to this description? Read on to find out!

Our review unit of the Belle arrived at our location in Calgary, Alberta, traveling from Dongguan, China using DHL Express Worldwide. The cardboard packaging was sealed with orange packing tape, sporting a few dings in the corners as seen in the photo above, but that appears to be the only stress it received during transit.

The Kiwi Ears Belle arrived perfectly protected, with an aesthetically pleasing lavender box sleeve and a slide-out box containing the headphones. The front of the box has a graphic of the product alongside its basic description, and the side of the box displays further details such as the specific model, sensitivity, drivers, impedance, frequency response, cable connectors, and cable length.

Before we continue, I have collected the specifications from the manufacturer's website below for your reading pleasure:

Driver: 10mm DLC Dynamic Driver
Impedance: 32Ω (±1Ω)
Sensitivity: 103 dB (±1 dB) @ 1 kHz
Frequency Response: 20Hz–20kHz
THD: 0.1% @ 1 kHz
Cable options: 3.5mm STD / 3.5mm with mic / Type-C with mic

Out of the box, the Belle is nestled snugly inside a sturdy velveted foam cutout and further protected beneath a clear plastic box top. Besides the Belle itself, the box contained the nicely coiled cable with a removable Velcro tie, six pairs of silicone eartips of varying sizes and colors, a booklet with a wearing diagram with instructions for inserting the two-pin cables, and a warranty card. Overall, I would describe the unboxing of the Belle as simple but elegant. The accessories are all underneath the foam or inside the smaller black box. The effect of this is that when you slide off the cover, the first thing you see are the IEMs, without opaque plastic clutter or shrink-wrap for you to struggle with before you can access the product. The foam insert containing the Belle and the accessory box are both closely fitted into the outer cardboard shell, giving the packaging a sturdy feel. The wearing diagram is simple and effective, and I had the cables successfully inserted and over my ear in less than two minutes.

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Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion

From PC Mag: Microsoft’s full-screen Xbox mode is coming to Windows 11 devices—laptops, desktops, tablets, gaming handhelds, and more—to make the gaming interface feel more like a console.

Xbox mode gives you a full-screen, fast interface to explore your titles, and it's optimized for controllers, making it easier to browse and boot games across any device.

You can view your full game library, including titles from Xbox Game Pass or games from other third-party PC storefronts. For example, titles bought through Steam will appear in Xbox mode alongside those you've bought from Microsoft or downloaded through Game Pass.

You can easily switch between Xbox mode and Windows 11, depending on what you need to do with your device. That may make juggling other projects and a gaming session at the same time easier to handle.

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From PC World: The Asus ROG Xbox Ally is more powerful than the aging Steam Deck, even if you go for the cheaper, non-X variant. But it’s still based on an AMD laptop chip with integrated graphics. Squeezing performance out of these low-power systems is a constant struggle for developers and gamers alike. Microsoft is trying to help with Auto SR, an OS-level tool built into Windows itself.

We’ve heard about Automatic Super Resolution, Microsoft’s alternative to DLSS from Nvidia and FSR from AMD (apologies for the alphabet soup) for the last couple of years. It’s a tuned and, allegedly, AI-enhanced version of resolution upscaling. But as it’s baked in at the OS level, Microsoft claims that it can automatically boost performance for games by leaning on “larger models and the NPU to create stunning visuals.“

Resolution tricks could, indeed, be a big boon to handheld hardware, and the Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip in the ROG Xbox Ally X does feature an integrated NPU. (Notably, the base model Xbox Ally with a Ryzen Z2 does not.) Auto SR is already enabled by default on Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon X processors, which are nowhere near as good at running most games as AMD handhelds.

The early Auto SR test is available via Windows Insider builds, but it’s only explicitly supported for 11 games at launch… which it doesn’t list. Borderlands 3 and Control are given as examples, with 720p upscaled Auto SR showing about a 50 percent boost in framerates versus running the game natively at 1440p.

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From CNET: Apple is expecting "significantly higher memory costs" heading into the remainder of 2026, CEO Tim Cook said Thursday during Apple's second-quarter earnings call, as the tech giant faces down the memory shortage impacting the rest of the industry.

Cook -- who is stepping down as CEO on Sept. 1 and will be replaced by John Ternus, the company's senior vice president of hardware engineering -- said Apple was partially unaffected by the memory shortage during this quarter, as it already had a lot of devices in stock. But beyond June, costs will rise.

"We believe memory cost will drive an increasing impact on our business, and we'll continue to evaluate this," Cook said. "We'll look at a range of options."

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From PC Mag: Apple has reportedly stopped work on its Vision Pro headset and shifted staff to other teams within the company, MacRumors reports.

The Vision Pro was unveiled in 2023 and launched in early 2024. The headset, powered by the M2 chip, had a slow start, with many complaining about its weight and scoffing at the $3,500 price tag. That year, suppliers reportedly produced enough components for about 600,000 Vision Pros, but sources tell MacRumors that the product had a high return rate.

Apple upgraded the device with an M5 chip in October, while also introducing new headbands for better weight distribution. Still, it was a hard sell, especially since Meta's popular Quest VR headsets start at just $350.

According to MacRumors, some employees who worked on the Vision Pro have been transferred to the company’s Siri team, while others are being moved elsewhere. Former Vision Pro lead, Mike Rockwell, has been leading the Siri team since March 2025.

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From PC World: Like it or not, Amazon is starting to phase out the Fire TV operating system it’s been using for more than a decade.

On both the new Fire TV Stick HD and the Fire TV Stick 4K Select that launched last fall, Amazon is shipping a new operating system called Vega. Going forward, the company says it won’t launch any new Fire TV Stick models based on its former Android OS, as it’s sticking with Vega going forward.

That’s a problem, because right now Vega is worse than the Android operating system it’s replacing, with a smaller app selection, missing features, and more restrictions. Vega might suit Amazon’s business goals, but there’s little in it for Amazon’s users.

Because Vega isn’t based on Android anymore, streaming services must release entirely new apps to support it.

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