Business Articles

Ubisoft is sending fresh signals that it may be placing a stronger focus on AI. Current job listings suggest that generative AI could play a larger role at the French publisher going forward – and that is already sparking debate within the gaming community.

Turtle WoW, one of the longest-running World of Warcraft Classic private servers, is shutting down after Blizzard won a broad copyright infringement case and the parties reached a private settlement, ending the project’s nearly eight-year run. The team has pushed all realms to the final progression patch ahead of a May 14 sunset (with full shutdown at midnight May 15), while its website and community channels are slated to go offline on October 16.

Former PlayStation Studios head Shuhei Yoshida revealed at the Alt:Games festival that he was fired from his role in 2019 by the former CEO. Yoshida claims he was removed for refusing "ridiculous" orders before moving on to lead indie projects.

The US International Trade Commission declined to review a ruling that Apple’s redesigned blood-oxygen feature in the Apple Watch does not infringe Masimo’s patents, effectively ending the case and averting a US ban. The decision caps a six-year dispute that previously led to an import exclusion order and prompted Apple to rework the pulse-oximetry system to keep the feature available.

No fewer than six My Neighbor Totoro set concepts have crossed the 10,000-supporter threshold on LEGO Ideas. Past examples suggest, however, that even strong interest offers no guarantee they will ever become official sets.

Snap has cut 1,000 jobs, or 16% of its workforce, citing AI efficiency gains as CEO Evan Spiegel targets over $500 million in annualized cost savings by late 2026.

Samsung is reportedly planning to transition its existing LPDDR4 memory production lines to LPDDR5 by the end of 2026. Anyone who uses LPDDR4 modules in their products will have to transition to the newer standard.

In Q1 2026, PC manufacturers enjoyed a boom in shipments as the memory shortage intensified. Customers dreaded higher memory costs and stockpiled laptops and desktops. Lenovo and Asus could see fewer new orders as 2026 progresses if DRAM becomes even more expensive.

The Japanese government has greenlit a 60 billion yen subsidy for Sony Group to expand its domestic image sensor production. This funding will support a new 180 billion yen facility in Kumamoto Prefecture.

Amazon is responding to mounting pressure from Temu and Shein with a new Smart Warehouse in Shenzhen. The concept is intended to make storage, customs handling and shipping via Amazon easier for Chinese retailers, while also lowering costs and speeding up supply chains.

TechEpiphany has released Mindfactory's CPU sales for weeks 14 and 15 of 2026. The data shows that AMD continues to dominate the overall sales. However, Intel CPU sales seem to have improved. That said, TechEpiphany claims that the decline in CPU sales is unprecedented.

Samsung has raised Galaxy S26 production from 2.4 million to 3 million units in April 2026, driven by stronger-than-expected demand for the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which now accounts for up to 80% of total series sales.

After months in beta, Google is now rolling out its desktop app globally. The app functions as a kind of control center, allowing users to search both the web and their own PC, as well as ask Gemini questions directly – all from a single search bar.

Google Wallet is getting a major redesign: instead of the old list view, the app will now show cards and passes in a clearer grid layout. Favorites, search and new sorting options are also being added – features many users have wanted for a long time.

With CUE7, Toyota is introducing a new basketball robot said to offer more accurate shooting, smoother dribbling and successful shots from as far as 25 meters (82 feet). Footage of the presentation is available on the WELT News Channel on YouTube.

While others his age are busy playing video games, Malte Schröder is already planning to launch his own IT company. The 14-year-old from Rostock, Germany, wants to offer businesses a local alternative to external providers with a compact AI box, but says he cannot wait until he turns 18 because of how quickly technology is evolving. To make that happen, he is now taking the matter to court.

VW is refreshing the ID.3 Neo with updated styling as well as new comfort and software features as part of a broader EV push. Most notably, fully electric GTI production models are now on the horizon.

Unitree’s humanoid H1 robot sprinted at 10.1 m/s, which at first glance puts it surprisingly close to elite human speeds. The catch is that this figure refers only to its measured top speed, not the decisive total time over 100 meters. Even so, the run is impressive and suggests that Usain Bolt’s world record may not remain untouchable forever.

Amid an ongoing lawsuit between Unknown Worlds and Krafton, Subnautica 2’s store pages on Steam, Epic Games Store, and Xbox now list Unknown Worlds as both developer and publisher, with SteamDB showing the change was made on April 7, 2026. Neither company has commented, leaving it unclear whether this reflects an official publishing shift or a strategic move to distance the sequel from Krafton as Early Access reportedly approaches in May.

New GTA Online financial leaks reveal how much more profitable the service is on consoles. While a GTA 6 PC port seems inevitable, there are far more PS5 and Xbox players waiting to upgrade. Rockstar won’t suffer from a delay, but rumors hint that a Windows version could arrive in February 2027.

OpenAI is expanding ChatGPT with a new Pro tier priced at $100 per month, targeting one group above all: Codex users with moderate usage needs.

The Mercedes EQS is set to receive what is likely its most significant update since launch in 2026. The electric luxury sedan is moving to an 800-volt system, while the EQS 450+ is expected to deliver up to 926 kilometers of WLTP range and charging speeds of up to 350 kW. At the same time, one key question remains: can this major technical upgrade also solve the model’s bigger problem so far – its lukewarm reception in the luxury segment?

GuppyLM is a tiny open-source language model with a fish personality that shows that training AI does not have to be complicated. With a prepared Colab notebook, this mini AI can be trained in just a few minutes.

NZXT and its billing partner Fragile Inc. have agreed to a $3.45 million preliminary settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit alleging the NZXT Flex “Rent-a-PC” program misled nearly 20,000 customers with deceptive rent-to-own claims, component bait-and-switching, and aggressive collections that prompted RICO allegations. If approved in September 2026, the deal would cancel qualifying subscriptions, forgive about $923k in debt, provide $1.21 million toward transferring PC ownership to eligible long-term payers, and offer $450–$500 in cash payments to certain former subscribers.

Nvidia is said to be planning the largest takeover in the history of the PC market, and could thus change the laptop, PC and server market forever - and bundle a market power that comes close to a monopoly.

Apple is apparently working on a new device category: smart glasses that are meant to function as an AI wearable rather than true AR glasses. The concept does not include image overlays, but is said to be closely linked to the iPhone. Four different designs are currently being tested.

Apple has reportedly decided to produce more MacBook Neo than initially planned. The move comes after reports of exceptional demand for MacBook Neo emerged. Apple's alleged decision to increase the production target of the MacBook Neo will make it easier to satisfy demand for the low-cost laptop.

A new Financial Times report says Meta is testing an AI “character” based on Mark Zuckerberg for employee interactions, extending the company’s wider AI-first workplace strategy.

Ronald Wayne helped found Apple with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak on April 1, 1976, then left the company just 12 days later in one of tech history’s most famous early turning points.

Threat group ShinyHunters has listed Rockstar Games on its leak site, alleging a data breach through an Anodot-Snowflake integration. The group has set an April 14 deadline for the studio to respond to these claims.

Snap has signed a multi-year deal with Qualcomm to power future Specs AR glasses with Snapdragon XR chips ahead of the consumer launch later in 2026.

A trip to one U.S. retailer may dismiss any notion that memory prices are falling. Costs for DDR5 RAM and SSDs at Micro Center keep rising, even as consumer demand fades. With DRAM makers signing new lucrative contracts with AI data centers, the outlook for buyers looks grim.

CheckMag 2025 may go down as a year of rather poor decisions for PC manufacturer Dell. In 2026, Dell course corrects, with new models and new designs - not just with Dell XPS, but also with their Dell Pro laptops for the enterprise.

Tesla may soon be targeting the mass market again: according to Reuters, the company is developing a compact, affordable electric SUV. The new model is expected to be priced below the entry-level Model 3.

Valve is reportedly developing an internal AI tool called SteamGPT. New code discoveries suggest that the system could process support cases in the background, detect suspicious Trust Score patterns, and possibly even assist with anti-cheat measures in Counter-Strike 2.

YouTube’s US pricing pages now list Premium at $15.99 per month, with Family at $26.99, Annual at $159.99, Student at $8.99, and Premium Lite also moving higher.

Firefox appears to be heading toward one of its biggest updates in years. With the internal “Project Nova”, Mozilla is working on a broad modernization of the browser that is intended not only to refresh the design, but also to bring more customization, new convenience features and greater user control over AI. The basis for this is an interview by PCWorld with Firefox chief Ajit Varma.

Michael Dell is painting a bleak picture of the memory market: compared with 2022, AI-related demand could reportedly be 625 times higher by 2028. Many observers, however, are skeptical of these claims and suspect vested interests behind them.

The storage crisis is becoming an increasing burden for consumers. South Korea is now responding with a package of measures that includes free PCs for people in need and stricter market regulation.

Apple is killing it in the laptop market, as the MacBook Air 13 M5, MacBook Neo, and MacBook Air 15 M5 currently dominate Amazon's best-selling list. The MacBook Neo's success is not surprising, as it is an excellent $599 laptop and is practically unmatched in the Windows space.

Microsoft says Copilot isn’t just for “entertainment” after users publicized its own terms, warning against relying on AI. The company says it will update its documentation around Copilot, after calling the old documentation outdated.

If Japan is any indication, buyers worldwide are avoiding PlayStation consoles. Following the latest PS5 and PS5 Pro price increase, the systems experienced a dramatic decline in weekly sales. With the Xbox Series X making up ground, only the region-locked digital option remains appealing.

CheckMag When HP invited us to their event in New York, we naturally took a look at complete their 2026 business lineup. The expensive HP EliteBook X is the standout, but every model in this lineup is interesting.

The new fellowship will fund external researchers working on AI safety, alignment, robustness, privacy, and misuse prevention, with the pilot program scheduled to run from September 2026 to February 2027.

Counterpoint's new report says that the notebook display market faces a 5 percent decline in 2026 due to memory inflation, but OLED shipments will surge 33 percent as Apple will unveil the MacBook Pro line with the newer panel tech by next year - 2027.

Computex 2026 is going to be an AI fest if a claim from Hardware Canucks is to be believed. The media outlet has alleged that the organizers of Computex 2026 are demoting companies without AI products to secondary venues, even companies that have been going to Computex for a decade.

With a combination of Chinese hardware and German software, Tesvolt aims to impress with its recently introduced battery storage system. This is intended to ensure low prices and high safety standards while enabling a rapid payback period.

The most affordable enterprise ThinkPads are the L series laptops. The new Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 7 and L16 Gen 3 are coming to the market with AMD Ryzen AI 400 and Intel Panther Lake.

Apple’s latest developer roundup points to WWDC26 prep, new sample code, design resources, and expanded App Store Connect analytics with more than 100 new metrics.

Lenovo Japan has announced the update of the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 line. The new Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 7 laptop is a refresh of last year's X13 Gen 6, adopting Intel Panther Lake and AMD Ryzen 400.