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Apple has released the first public beta for iOS 26.5, just a few days after the beta for developers came out. One of the biggest changes the new operating system brings is the "Suggested Places" feature in Apple Maps. It will show you trending places to visit, such as restaurants and other establishments, near your location or based on your search history. You can see Suggested Places when you tap on the search bar in the Maps app.
iOS 26.5 beta also will also come with notifications that the company will be putting ads inside Maps. Apple confirmed in March that it was going to expand its ads outside of the App Store and Apple News apps. The ads you see will be based on your location, the search terms you've used and what you're looking up on Maps. They will show up at the top of your search results and in Apple's Suggested Places list. Apple said the ads will be clearly marked and won't be a danger to your privacy. Your current location and the ads you interact with will not be associated with your Apple Account, and your personal data will stay on your iPhone and won't be collected.
In addition, Apple is testing end-to-end encryption for RCS messages on iOS 26.5 beta yet again. However, the company has yet to reveal whether the feature will roll out with the operating system's stable release. To be able to get Apple's public beta releases
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We got to share in a rare moment of collective awe this week as four astronauts blasted off toward the moon, beginning a 10-day journey that will take them farther from Earth than any humans have traveled in the last 50 years. It'll still be a little while before they reach their destination — the Orion spacecraft is expected to loop around the moon on Monday — but they've already seen some pretty incredible stuff on the way there. Here's the latest on the Artemis II mission, and other interesting science stories from this week.
Artemis II crosses the halfway pointAfter years of planning, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, are finally on their way to the moon for the Artemis II mission. This test flight is a crucial step in NASA's plans to send humans to the surface of the moon again for the first time since Apollo 17, and the high-stakes launch went off without a hitch on Wednesday.
The Artemis II crew is now more than halfway to the moon, according to NASA. When Orion reaches the moon on April 6, the astronauts will have a six-hour window of opportunity to observe the partially lit lunar far side, which can't be seen from Earth. If you're curious about where exactly the astronauts are at any given moment, you can track the mission by visiting NASA's Artemis Real-Time Orbit website. And, if you just want to see what space looks like from Orion, here's a
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Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. As ever, we've got a whole bunch of new games for you to dive into this weekend, along with announcements and updates on several others that are coming down the pike.
I love how spoiled we are for game showcases these days, and I'm really looking forward to the latest installment of the indie-focused Triple-i Initiative at noon ET on April 9 as the first two editions were really strong. The trailer for this one features the likes of Cairn, Warhammer Survivors (the Warhammer-themed Vampire Survivors spinoff), the excellent CloverPit, Final Sentence and Far Far West. The organizers are promising to share release dates and gameplay reveals. Expect to see eight game announcements here too.
Summer Game Fest is fast approaching. That means the mid-year edition of Day of the Devs, one of the biggest indie game showcases around, isn't too far away. Developers still have a chance to be featured in the show. Submissions for Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Digital Showcase are open, but you'll need to hurry if you're ready to shoot your shot at being included. The deadline for submissions is this Monday, April 6.
Meanwhile, I'd normally write about notable ports in the new releases section of this roundup, but there was no trailer for this, so I'll mention it here. Before its success with Peak last year, Landfall also scored a hit with Content Warning on PC (making it free for the first 24 hours didn't hurt!). Now, this friend
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The crackdown on foreign-made routers labeled a "national security risk" affects most major router brands. If you plan on buying a router soon, read this first.
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It's shaping up to be a packed year for Apple. Just over three months into 2026, Cupertino has already refreshed several Macs, introduced new devices, and launched updated iPads. But if industry reports are accurate, many more products are still on the way before the year wraps up. Below is a look at what Apple […]
The post Apple's 2026 Product Roadmap: New iPhones, Macs, and Apple Watch Are Coming appeared first on eWEEK.
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NEW RESOURCES Coastal Review: State launches digital exhibit featuring NC's first governor. "The exhibit, ‘Governor Richard Caswell and Revolutionary North Carolina,' contains 337 newly transcribed and searchable documents about Caswell's career, the […]
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The Trump administration's labor board has ordered Amazon to recognize and bargain with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, which represents workers at a warehouse in Staten Island. This is just the latest chapter in a multiyear standoff between Staten Island warehouse workers and Amazon, according to a report by The Washington Post.
The union has been trying to bring Amazon to the bargaining table for years to negotiate pay, benefits and workplace safety. The labor board's proclamation doesn't mean that the battle is over. It's highly likely this will be settled in court.
An Amazon spokesperson maintains that the vote to create the union was "wrong on the facts of the law" and that representatives from the National Labor Relations Board "improperly influenced the election." The company recently stated it is "confident an unbiased court will overturn the original certification."
Despite the eventual outcome, Teamsters President Sean O'Brien is lauding the Staten Island workers for becoming "the first group ever to force the company to recognize their union." Workers at the facility voted to unionize in 2022 and this was the first union victory for Amazon employees in the US.
It was considered a milestone victory for US workers across the board, given that Amazon is the country's second-largest
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New leaks reveal Apple's M5 Mac Studio with major performance upgrades, a shifting release timeline, and rising prices. Here's what we know so far.
The post Mac Studio 2026: Apple's Biggest Desktop Leap Yet Is Coming appeared first on eWEEK.
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 Apple today provided public beta testers with the first releases of upcoming iOS 26.5, iPadOS 26.5, macOS Tahoe 26.5, watchOS 26.5, and tvOS 26.5 updates for testing purposes. The public betas come four days after Apple provided the betas to developers, though Apple seeded updated iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5 betas to developers earlier today.
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 This week was the launch of the AirPods Max 2, and Amazon has the first cash discount on these brand new headphones for launch week. Below, you'll also find great deals on the M5 MacBook Air, 2026 Studio Display, and M4 iPad Air.
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Coachella officially kicks off next Friday, April 10. But for anyone who doesn't want to fly out to the desert or fork over upwards of $650 for a ticket, YouTube is going to livestream the concert for free so you can enjoy it on your own terms. Here's a quick overview of all the programming that will be available in just over a week.
With YouTube planning on providing feeds of seven different stages, there will be no shortage of content. This includes the Quasar stage in both horizontal and vertical formats, so no matter what device you're using, there should be an aspect ratio that works. Furthermore, for the first time, YouTube will also provide 4K streams of the main Coachella stage along with the Outdoor Theatre and Sahara. That's a lot of music and artists to watch at once, so you'll probably want to check out the official lineup or download the app (available on
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 Apple has quietly reduced the price of the Studio Display XDR when configured with the VESA mount adapter, dropping it from $3,299 to $2,899 - a $400 cut. The nano-texture VESA version has also dropped from $3,599 to $3,199.
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NEW RESOURCES Arkansas Tech University: Project to Archive Agricola Yearbooks Completed. "The first edition of the Agricola yearbook at what was then known as the Second District Agricultural School was published in […]
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