Skoda has introduced the DuoBell, a mechanical bicycle bell created to be heard even through active noise-canceling (ANC) headphones.
SkodaWorking with acoustic experts from the University of Salford, the car manufacturer developed this new bell to tackle a growing urban hazard: pedestrians who are so isolated by ANC technology that standard bells are ineffective.
Skoda
If you’ve ever plugged in a controller to your Android phone, jumped into a game, and immediately fumbled a button because the layout felt off, you’re not alone. Android has supported a wide range of gamepads for years now, which is great for flexibility, but not always great for consistency. Muscle memory is a stubborn thing. With Android 17, Google is finally fixing this.
Android 17 introduces system-level controller remapping, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. It can now tweak your controller layout at the system level. That means your preferences stick, no matter what game you’re playing. Using the new Game Controller settings menu, you can reassign buttons, triggers, and even thumbsticks. So if pressing down on a thumbstick feels awkward (because it usually does), you can move that action to a face button that’s easier to reach. And the best part is that your settings are saved on the device.
This isn’t just about convenience; it’s also a big step forward for accessibility. Not everyone interacts with a controller the same way, and having the ability to remap inputs can make games far more comfortable, and in some cases, actually playable. It also solves the classic cross-platform confusion. Switching between consoles, PC, and mobile often means retraining your fingers to adapt to different layouts. With remapping, you can bring a sense of familiarity wherever you play.
Before you rush to try it, there’s a small catch. This feature is currently available only in the Android 17 Beta, specifically Beta 2 and later. So you’ll need a supported device enrolled in the beta program to access it. Once you’re in, here’s how to find it:
Head to Settings > System > Game Controller, then select your connected device
Go to Settings > Connected devices, tap the menu next to your controller, and open Game Controller settings.
Head to Settings > System > Game Controller, then select your connected device
Go to Settings > Connected devices, tap the menu next to your controller, and open Game Controller settings.
Inside, you’ll see two main sections. One for button inputs like face buttons and triggers, and another for directional controls like sticks and the D-pad. You can swap functions around however you like, whether it’s reassigning a jump button in a platformer or tweaking camera controls in a 3D game. Since this is still in beta, there are a few rough edges. For instance, the on-screen button icons (glyphs) might not always match your controller. Thankfully, the remapping itself still works as intended, even if the visuals are a bit confused. And of course, things could change before the final release.
This might not be the flashiest Android feature, but it’s one of those updates that makes a real difference the moment you use it. It removes friction, gives you control, and makes mobile gaming feel just a bit more polished. It’s definitely the kind of feature that makes you wonder why it wasn’t here all along.
There was a time when your car was just for driving. Over the years, many things have changed. However, until now, there wasn’t full support for WhatsApp on CarPlay. Now, WhatsApp has officially landed on Apple CarPlay, and it is definitely a big deal for many CarPlay users.
After quietly hanging out in beta for a while (and being spotted by the ever-watchful folks at WABetaInfo), the standalone WhatsApp app for CarPlay is finally here. It arrives as part of the WhatsApp for iOS version 26.13.74 update. The feature is already rolling out across India and other global markets, bringing WhatsApp directly to your car’s infotainment system, as long as your iPhone is plugged in and ready to go.
The CarPlay version of WhatsApp isn’t just a stretched-out version of your phone screen. It’s been rethought for driving, which means fewer distractions. You can view recent chats and call history in neatly separated sections, make WhatsApp calls directly from your car’s dashboard, and reply to messages using voice dictation. That last one is key. Earlier, you had to rely on Siri to read and respond to messages, which worked but not always smoothly. Now, WhatsApp cuts out the extra step, making replies feel more immediate.
Before you get too excited, there’s a catch — and it’s a sensible one. You can’t open chat threads directly on the CarPlay screen while driving. If you want to actually read a conversation, you’ll need to stop and check your phone. It’s a deliberate move to reduce distractions, and honestly, it’s hard to argue with that logic.
If you ask me, this feels like a genuinely well-thought-out update. It knows exactly where to draw the line, keeping distractions in check while still making things conveniently accessible. You can fire off quick replies using voice dictation, take calls without fumbling for your phone, and stay in touch without your eyes leaving the road for too long. It does not try to do everything, and that is precisely why it works. Instead, it focuses on doing the essentials well, just enough to make your everyday drives feel a little more connected, without turning your dashboard into yet another distraction.
Getting a genuinely capable 85-inch TV under $1,000 used to mean accepting serious compromises on picture quality or smart TV performance. The TCL T7 changes that. It’s down to $999.99 at Amazon, a $400 saving off its $1,399.99 list price, and it brings QLED picture quality, a 144Hz panel, and Google TV to a screen size that most living rooms can accommodate and most budgets previously couldn’t.
QLED is the right starting point here. Quantum dot color technology pushes brightness and color volume higher than standard LED panels at this price, which makes a meaningful difference on a screen this large, where picture quality inconsistencies are much harder to overlook. HDR support adds further depth to the image, and the high-brightness panel keeps things visible in rooms that get a fair amount of ambient light.
The 120Hz to 144Hz refresh rate is a welcome addition for a TV at this price point, covering both smooth motion handling in movies and sports and low-latency gaming performance for current-generation consoles. Most TVs at this size and price are still shipping with 60Hz panels, so the T7’s refresh rate capability is a genuine differentiator worth factoring into the decision.
Dolby Atmos audio support means compatible content delivers spatial sound without needing a separate decoder, and while the built-in speakers won’t replace a soundbar, they’re a solid baseline for a TV in this category. Google TV handles the smart platform duties with a clean interface, broad app support, and Alexa voice control for hands-free navigation and smart home management.
The TCL T7 sits in a part of the market where size usually comes at the expense of spec. A 144Hz QLED at 85 inches for $999 is a configuration that competing brands typically price closer to $1,300 or above, and the $400 saving here brings it to a point where the math is straightforwardly good for anyone who has been waiting to make the jump to a genuinely large screen.
The TCL 85-inch T7 QLED at $999.99 is the large-format TV deal I’d point most people toward if screen size is the priority. The QLED panel, 144Hz refresh rate, and Google TV platform add up to a well-rounded package that punches above its price, and the $400 saving makes it one of the more clear-cut TV purchases available at this screen size right now.
Google is giving Chrome users two pretty meaningful desktop upgrades, and one of them feels long overdue. Chrome is now rolling out support for vertical tabs alongside a new fullscreen mode on desktop.
These changes were announced by Google as features built to make tab-heavy browsing more convenient to manage, while also offering a cleaner way to read cluttered webpages.
Just as the name would suggest, vertical tabs work by vertically stacking your open Chrome tabs. So rather than keeping all your tabs crammed into the usual strip across the top, Chrome can now show them in a neat list along the left side of the Window. Google says this makes full page titles easier to read, especially once your open tab count starts getting out of hand. It even makes Tab Groups easier to organize.
Chrome also lets users collapse that left-hand panel down to a slimmer row of favicons, which should help if you want the cleaner look without giving up too much screen space. To enable this feature, simply right-click the top of any Chrome window and choose “Show Tabs Vertically”, with the option to switch back whenever you want.
The second addition is an updated immersive reading mode. Instead of opening in a side panel, the feature now takes over the full page by creating a more text-focused view that strips away distractions from busy websites. Google also describes it as a way to turn cluttered pages into a cleaner reading experience.
To access this feature, just right-click a page and select “Open in reading mode,” or by tapping the “Reading Mode” button in the address bar. This feature is already live now. Though availability may vary a bit at first.
A growing number of older workers are being forced to adapt to artificial intelligence as job insecurity rises, with many turning to AI-related roles or training just to stay afloat. A recent report by The Guardian highlights how experienced professionals, some with decades of expertise, are struggling to find stable employment and are instead entering the emerging world of AI training and gig-based tech work.
Many of these workers are not choosing AI careers out of passion, but out of necessity. Stories from the report include individuals who, despite strong qualifications, faced unemployment, age discrimination, or career disruptions and were pushed into roles like data annotation and AI model training. These jobs, while providing income, are often unstable, contract-based, and lack long-term security.
This trend matters because it highlights how AI is reshaping not just industries, but entire career paths – especially for older workers. While AI is often associated with future opportunities, it is already displacing or transforming existing roles. As a result, workers who fail to adapt risk being left behind, while those who upskill are often funneled into lower-paying or less secure work. Some experts describe this emerging segment as part of a “gig-style” AI economy, raising concerns about job quality and sustainability.
The pressure to learn new AI tools and skills is no longer optional, even for those nearing retirement or established in their careers. Many workers are now investing time and resources into upskilling simply to remain employable. At the same time, the emotional toll is significant, with some describing the experience as driven by desperation rather than ambition.
The broader labour market is also feeling the impact. Research suggests that technological disruption, including AI, can lead to long-term earnings declines and slower career recovery for displaced workers. In some cases, individuals are forced into lower-paying roles or entirely different industries, a phenomenon known as occupational downgrading.
As AI adoption expands across industries, demand for AI-related skills is expected to grow, but so will competition and uncertainty. Policymakers and companies are increasingly being urged to invest in training programs and support systems that help workers transition more effectively.
At the same time, experts warn that upskilling alone may not be enough. Without structural changes to job quality, wages, and worker protections, the rise of AI could deepen inequalities rather than resolve them. For now, many older workers are navigating this shift in real time – learning new skills, adapting to new roles, and trying to stay relevant in a rapidly changing job market.
The Artemis II astronauts have completed their lunar orbit, captured stunning visuals (above), established several new milestones, and are now returning to Earth.
The 10-day journey will culminate on Friday, April 10, with a high-stakes homecoming as the Orion spacecraft hits the atmosphere at speeds approaching 25,000 miles per hour.
During this phase, crew members Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen will endure a 16-minute, intense ride as the vehicle faces the most extreme physical forces of the mission.
Following the uncrewed Artemis I flight in 2022, where the spacecraft experienced some unforeseen heat shield erosion, engineers have made structural improvements. However, the final descent through Earth’s atmosphere this week remains the most dangerous part of the trip for the four astronauts and the mission team.
NASA will broadcast the return live via NASA+ and its official YouTube channel. You can also use the embedded video player above to follow the event.
NASA’s current itinerary for Friday is listed below. We will provide updates if any schedule changes occur. All times are listed in Eastern Time.
6:30 p.m.: NASA starts its live coverage of the return flight.
7:33 p.m.: The Orion service module and crew module detach.
7:37 p.m.: Orion performs a short thruster burn to prepare for atmospheric entry.
7:53 p.m.: A critical moment as Orion enters Earth’s atmosphere. The heat shield must withstand temperatures of roughly 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit—about half the heat of the sun’s surface. The spacecraft will slow down at a rate of up to 4G, making the astronauts feel four times their normal weight.
8:07 p.m.: After the parachutes deploy to reduce speed, Orion will splash down in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 50 miles off the California coast. This marks the end of a historic voyage that prepares the way for a crewed moon landing by 2028.
10 p.m.: A news conference will be held at the Johnson Space Center following the splashdown.
X is finally fixing one of the more annoying parts of posting images on the platform. The company’s head of product Nikita Bier announced that X is launching a “brand new Photo Editor” inside the post composer.
Bier said the update adds “long-overdue features like drawing and texting,” bringing a more functional built-in editing experience instead of the barebones image tools users have been stuck with so far.
The big new update on the photo editor is the tools it provides. X users can now draw on images, add text overlays, and blur or redact parts of a picture before posting. While all of this sounds basic in 2026, it is a pretty meaningful quality-of-life upgrade. Users have long had to rely on other apps just to do simple edits before uploading screenshots, memes, or annotated images.
So the updated photo editor feels less like a new feature and more like X finally catching up on something that probably should have existed a while ago.
Bier has been more public about small but practical feature updates, and this one falls squarely into this category. Instead of reinventing the image poster, X is just making it more capable. For people who tweet frequently, especially creators, reporters, and anyone sharing screenshots, having access to these tools directly in the composer is quite useful.
That’s not all, users can even edit images with words, as the photo editor is powered by Grok. So users can modify images using natural language prompts that go beyond simple editing and into lightweight AI image editing. It also gives X a more direct way to fold Grok into the posting workflow itself, instead of keeping it limited to a separate chatbot-style experience.
This is not the kind of feature that will radically change how people use X. But it is the kind of upgrade that makes the app feel more polished. For now, the rollout is live on iOS, while Android users will have to wait a bit longer. Bier did not provide a specific Android release date in the post, only saying it is coming soon.
Video games have gotten better film and TV adaptations these days. Since 2020, we’ve gotten hits like the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, HBO’s The Last of Us, and Netflix’s Arcane. Now, indie film distributor NEON (Parasite, Anora) has joined in on this modern trend by screening one of the best video game movies ever, Exit 8. Directed and co-written by Genki Kawamura, this liminal horror film is based on the walking simulator, The Exit 8, by indie developer Kotake Create.
Exit 8 follows “The Lost Man” (Kazunari Ninomiya) as he tries to find his way out of a Tokyo subway tunnel that constantly repeats itself. To escape, he must follow these rules: “Do not overlook anything out of the ordinary. If you discover an anomaly, turn back immediately. If you don’t, carry on. Then leave from Exit 8.” Even the slightest mistake sends the protagonist back to the beginning, and the anomalies range from small to immensely terrifying.
In an interview with Digital Trends, Kawamura discusses how he was inspired to take a simple video game and transform it into an ingenious and profound nightmare.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Digital Trends: Now, to get started… how are you feeling today?
Kawamura: I’m really excited by how the U.S. audience is going to respond to this movie. I know it’s a very bizarre, probably not like your standard, movie. So with the U.S. release around the corner. I’m excited to see how the response is going to be.
Digital Trends: Well, as a U.S. citizen who saw an early screening, I think they’re really going to love it. Now Exit 8 is based on a popular video game. Could you tell me how you approached adapting it into a feature-length film?
Kawamura: As soon as The Exit 8 came out[I] played the game right away, and then went on to watch a lot of different streamers and their archives, and it dawned on me that there were as many stories as there were people playing this game.
There were as many instances of drama as there were players. And I go back to a panel that I did with Miyamoto Shigeru from Nintendo, where he said, “Truly great games. It not only has to entertain the player, but it has to entertain the people watching the player play the game as well.”
So with this movie, I set out to capture that phenomenon that’s happening within the video game industry itself where there are players, there are streamers, and there are viewers watching the streamers.
Digital Trends: Right. And personally, I think the movie is incredible. I was truly amazed by the camerawork and how you were able to perform so many long takes in this hallway that’s constantly changing. Could you tell me more about how you filmed the scenes on that set?
Kawamura: Well, I wanted to keep the secret, but I’ll give you a peek. We actually made two identical corridors. So it was like a copy-and-paste. There were two physical corridors back-to-back, and that’s what enabled us to do the single-cut looping shots physically.
So the Walking Man, Kochi Yamato, the actor, he would, for example, walk down the corridor once, and as soon as he walked past the camera, would run to the exit, get on a bicycle, bike to the beginning of the other corridor, catch his breath, and begin walking again.
So our filming methods were very practical and analog because I didn’t want to use CG if at all possible. And because we had two identical corridors, the casting crew would get lost oftentimes. So we had to name the corridors. We named one corridor “Hitchcock” and the other one “Kubrick.”
Digital Trends: Amazing. Now, I’ve seen videos of The Exit 8 game, and [the film] really captures the look and feel of the source material. I know you had to build the film story from the ground up, as the game had no story. One of the biggest differences I noticed was that the protagonist…he’s about to be a father. Why did you decide to make a story about that?
Kawamura: I commute on the subway system in Tokyo to get to work every day, and there are many people I share the subway with, but we’re all on our smartphones. So it feels very isolated, and to the point where I’m sure a lot of people won’t even notice a crying baby on the train. And even with our smartphones, on our timelines, there are instances of war, of violence that we’ll scroll right past.
So I don’t think anyone on the train is responsible for directly killing anyone else, but I think there are a lot of anomalies happening that we just scroll right past and ignore, and we’re all guilty of this. So what if that guilt manifested itself in this white, sanitized corridor as anomalies and were reflected back on the people who scroll past them? I think that is what might truly be terrifying.
Likewise, our main character and I think [that] our society at large has become more and more selfish. So this idea of taking responsibility for a brand-new life is something that I don’t think a lot of consideration is given to, especially from the main character.
Digital Trends: Yeah, I picked up a lot of those themes from the story. Now, since the movie shows the characters going down the same hallway over and over again, did you fear that the film would get too repetitive for the audience as a feature-length film? How did you keep the film engaging and surprising to your audience?
Kawamura: How I did that part of it was the characters. So I wanted to capture the idea of you’re watching different livestreams of different players, and by switching the point of view or the characters that were following, I think we’re able to keep the audiences engaged.
And at the same time, as we were developing the film, the corridor itself began to take on this characteristic of its own, and I would even argue that the corridor could be the main character of this film.
The corridor is almost like this monster that takes on a will of its own as it sort of toys with the humans that enter it, and this sign, “Exit No. 8.” This yellow sign it oversees all of it is almost this divine creature, this God that’s watching humans within the corridor. So it feels like how from 2001: A Space Odyssey, if we can get the corridor and the sign to have that kind of projection. I thought that would be really interesting.
Digital Trends: Yeah, it’s funny you mentioned that because I did see the hallway as a sort of a sentient entity, but I was getting more of the hotel from Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Was that one of your influences in making the story?
Kawasura: It was a very big influence, and I’m glad that you were able to pick up on that reference.
Digital Trends: Thank you. Now, I read online that there have been talks about an English remake of Exit 8 getting made, as well as remakes being made by filmmakers and many other countries. Have there been any updates about where the franchise is going to go going forward?
Kawamura: I’m currently touring in the United States, and we’re also taking meetings for different potential remakes, but I think to myself that it’d be really cool to see different cities and their own subway and underground networks and systems because I think each Exit 8 is going to have its own drama.
Each city will have its own Exit 8, which will have its own drama. So if there’s this larger Exit 8 universe where all the different stories are kind of part of the universe, that would be really, really cool.
Digital Trends: Yeah, I’m really looking forward to seeing where the franchise takes you. Do you have any other films or TV shows in development at the moment?
Kawamura: My latest novel is coming out this autumn. It’s titled The Horse and I, based on a true story, where a woman embezzles $10 million and spends it all on her riding horses. It’s going to be a thriller. So that’s what I’m working on at the moment.
Digital Trends: That sounds pretty exciting. And now, on the topic of thrillers, I’ve seen from your past filmography that you haven’t done a lot of scary movies…Can you tell me how you approach creating horror and terrifying your audience in film?
Kawamura: I have a lot of history producing animation in Japan, and there are a lot of legends that precede me, Kon Satoshi, Oshii Momoru. These legendary animation directors are really good at taking what’s happening within the human mind and within the human head and sort of putting that out, like projecting it outside into the world and different visual expression.
And I thought if I could somehow do that using the live-action medium, that would create a different kind of moviegoing experience. And for me personally, I find what happens within the human mind much more terrifying than monsters or ghosts.
Exit 8 is in U.S. theaters on April 10.
Crimson Desert has a new late-game problem, and it is a pretty funny one. The true warriors among the players are not happy with the peaceful quiet time after finishing the game.
Some people who have spent hundreds of hours in Pearl Abyss’ sprawling open-world RPG are starting to complain that the world has become “too peaceful” because they have effectively wiped out most of the enemies in certain areas. One player cited by IGN said that more than 100 hours in, certain zones were becoming too peaceful to properly test endgame builds and upgraded gear.
This looks like a strange complaint at first, but it says a lot about how people are playing Crimson Desert right now. It has only been a few weeks since the game came out, yet some of its most dedicated players have already sunk enough time into its work to start running into the limits of enemy density and persistence. This appears to be the result of players finishing missions and clearing out large parts of the map so thoroughly that the world begins to feel unusually quiet.
All of this isn’t happening in a tiny RPG, either. Despite how enormous Crimson Desert is, many players are still stuck in the first region even after more than 100 hours. So these “nothing left to kill” complaints feel bizarre and a little impressive at the same time.
This does not sound like an issue for the average player. Rather, this is more like a side effect of the most committed fans who have exhausted certain pockets of the large open world faster than most people ever will. However, it still raises an interesting question about how Pearl Abyss wants its world to behave long-term.
If players are building stronger endgame loadouts, they also need enough worthwhile enemies to actually use them on. While most open-world games get criticized for throwing too many enemies at players, this seems like an issue where the studio needs to throw in a few more.