Software

Garmin has introduced another beta update for the Enduro 3, Fenix E and Fenix 8. Arriving on a completely different development branch to recent stable updates, Beta Version 13.28 is said to resolve various bugs relating to turn guidance alerts and background downloads.

Garmin has released a new stable update for the Fenix 7 and Fenix 7 Pro. The first in over two months, System Software 20.16 contains over 20 changes, including the addition of CIQ System 8. Plenty of bug fixes can be found too, with five focused on resolving widget and app crashes.

Microsoft rolled out the Windows 11 24H2 update in October last year, but just recently, the company has made some changes to the compatible CPU list. Many previously eligible Intel CPUs aren't officially supported anymore, but this only affects OEMs wishing to roll out a new Windows 11 laptop or computer.

CheckMag Sega finally showed exciting new details for the new Sonic Racing game, CrossWorlds. This is how those interested can join the Closed Network Test later this month.

Deep Research allows the Perplexity chatbot to search the Internet for information and think through solving prompts step-by-step, resulting in more accurate answers to complex questions.

Project Starlight leverages the power of generative AI technologies to upscale low-resolution videos to higher resolutions. The AI can add details to objects that are not present in the original video from its understanding of what those objects ought to look like.

A new report claims that Samsung may skip the leaked One UI 7.1 update, in addition to delaying the rollout of the long-awaited One UI 7 OTA to eligible Galaxy devices.

In addition to day-one support for Avowed, Sid Meier's Civilization VII, the DLSS Frame Generation updates for Wuthering Waves and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the latest GeForce Game Ready Driver package also sports support for five new G-Sync Compatible displays and four optimal settings presets.

The AstoCAD development team has announced the first release of the FreeCAD soft fork, which aims to drastically redesign the UI of the free, open-source 3D design software to "make FreeCAD sexy."

Released back in 2016, Hearts of Iron IV has been continuously updated ever since. A new country pack expansion, "Graveyard of Empires," is on the verge of release on March 4th. The countries this update focuses on are Iran, India, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Built on top of the 6.13.2 Linux kernel, the latest update of the Arch-based German distro Bluestar Linux comes with Firefox 135, LibreOffice 25.2, GTK 4.16.12, and many other updated packages. However, Thunderbird only moves up to 128.6, although version 135 has been recently released, while KDE Plasma is stuck at 6.2.5.

The current CEO has laid out the roadmap for OpenAI's AI LLM development for GPT-4.5 and GPT 5, with the goal of simplifying model selection for users and developers.

Motorola has already begun the Android 15 rollout to eligible devices, however some users have reported issues with their phones after updating. The issue primarily affects the default Moto launcher but seems to not affect some who use a custom launcher.

Earlier this month, Microsoft put up a misleading guide about uninstalling Edge. After facing a backlash, however, the company quietly removed the page and redirected it to something that doesn't pretend to be an uninstall guide.

Mobvoi has announced the chance to buy one of a range of wearables with most of the same features as the upcoming, premium OnePlus Watch 3 for less than $200 over the next few days. They boast the same power-efficient AMOLED + ultra-low-power dual display, augmented by sapphire crystal glass and stainless-steel bezels in the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro and Atlas.

With 65 "very positive" reviews so far, Aethermancer is off to a great start. Unleashed yesterday on Steam in a public demo, this title from German indie developer moi rai games brings together monster taming and the roguelite formula in strategic 3v3 turn-based battles. The full game will hit Windows, macOS, and SteamOS+Linux.

EndeavourOS Neo's successor, Mercury, arrived yesterday with the Linux kernel 6.13, Xfce 4.20, Firefox 135.0, Nvidia 570.86.16-3, a memory test for EFI, a default dark theme in KDE, Gnome, Xfce, Mate, Budgie, and Cinnamon, as well as many other tweaks and fixes. The version number of the update is 2025.02.08.

The EaseUS YouTube Transcript Generator provides an AI-generated transcript of the entire video that can be copied and used for free with one click. The service supports over 100 languages and provides millisecond-accurate timestamps.

The experimental Gemini 2.0 Pro AI has an enormous two-million-token input window, allowing the AI to ingest enormous amounts of text for analysis and summary. The AI is tuned for handling complex prompts and coding requests.

The Garmin Fenix 7 and its peers are now eligible for a new beta update. Available as Beta Version 20.15, the update brings the total number of changes planned for a future stable update to almost 20.

The Nord 4 is one of the most distinctive devices in its ~$500 tier of the Android smartphone market thanks to its metal unibody design. Now, it is more up-to-date with a new version of OxygenOS 15. It is rated to confer improved AI tools as well as OnePlus' Share to iOS feature on the Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3-powered handset.

Google is not expected to begin issuing a major new Android 15 update until next month. In the meantime, the company has begun issuing the February 2025 security patch with a few useful bug fixes in tow.

The iQoo 12 became a last-gen smartphone in October 2024; however, it remains a powerful device with its 144Hz OLED display driven by the nearly top-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. Now, it will stay more usable for longer with the announcement of an extension to its software support.

Project ARC, a somewhat mysterious new project from the developers and publishers behind PUBG: Battlegrounds, has officially been added to the growing PUBG spin-off family, now renamed as PUBG: Blindspot. The new installment to the PUBG universe is a 5v5 tactical shooter that will blend strategy, tactical gunplay, and tight indoor environments.

Nvidia has pushed a new update to all its Shield TV and Shield TV Pro devices, including those released a decade ago. Arriving as Shield Experience 9.2, the new update not only adds fresh features but also resolves a whole host of outstanding bugs that have been present for the last year or two.

The latest version of the IKEA Home Smart app for iOS appears to bring a new Apple Watch app. These wearable controls have not been officially announced by IKEA. However, user reports and App Store images reveal that users of some IKEA smart home products can now remotely control these devices directly from the wearable.

Released in 2005 for Japanese arcades, Under Defeat became available for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles in 2012. Last year, an enhanced version arrived on modern consoles in Japan. Now, it is finally coming to Windows and consoles globally, packing three game modes and a rearranged soundtrack.

Garmin is still slowly working towards offering a new stable software update for the likes of the Fenix 6 and Fenix 6 Pro later this year. The changes that have been included with recent beta builds suggest that a replacement for Software Version 27.00 could be their last major update, though.

Home Assistant has announced the 2025.2 software release. It builds on the backup system refresh, which launched in January, with further improvements for users, including new integrations with Google Drive and OneDrive. On top of this, there are enhancements for Voice, the private voice assistant.

The Manjaro-based Mabox Linux is back with update 25.02, which includes the barely released Firefox 135 and various package updates. The Linux kernel used is now 6.6.65, up from the 6.6.47 release, which was present in the 24.12 Mabox update. The Nvidia driver also got updated, as well as Samba, GTK, and a few others.

OpenAI has opened access to ChatGPT search to all without annoying log-in requirements. The chatbot can search the web for real-time information to provide timely answers.

After an admittedly rough launch, the re-releases of The Sims 1 and The Sims 2 received what EA and Maxis claim will be the first of many patches. This initial patch fixes some actions that result in crashes and other odd bugs.

The move aims to create a workforce with AI skills while allowing students, faculty, and staff to benefit from a more personalized, effective college education. Free AI training and certifications will be provided, along with access to apprenticeships.

In addition to smaller changes such as credit card information autofill, certificate transparency enforcement, or additional language support for Firefox Translations, the latest version of Mozilla's web browser comes with AI chatbot access. This optional feature rolls out progressively, so it might not be available for many users yet.

In a world where online news and notifications often become overwhelming, Opera Air comes to help its users slow everything down and focus on their well-being instead. The list of features includes breathing and neck exercises, meditation sessions, guided full body scans, and more.

The new feature allows ChatGPT to search the Internet for information, gather all the information it needs for complex analysis, and produce well-written reports.

A controversial new app, available only in third-party app stores, has Apple spitting fire. The company cites the app, which allows users to browse adult content, as an example of harmful software it is forced to allow under the EU's Digital Markets Act.

Xiaomi has announced the end of support for several phones. This isn’t just unfortunate for their functionality but also puts their security at risk.

RPG Maker VX Ace is a powerful RPG creation tool. Originally priced at $69.99, it is now free to claim on Steam until February 10. Using this, you can build classic RPGs without any coding experience.

It seems Microsoft has indeed changed its stance about running Windows 11 on unsupported PCs. Just recently, it removed the official TPM bypass guide, and now, it's flagging a free system requirements bypass tool as a potential malware.

Hugging Face engineer Matthew Carrigan recently revealed on X a method to locally run DeepSeek's advanced R1 model with 8-bit quantization, eliminating the need for expensive GPUs, for a reported cost of $6,000. The key? Having a lot of memory as opposed to vast computing power reserves.

Reports of the RTX 5090 and the China-only RTX 5090D variant facing driver issues have surfaced online. The key issue seems to be faulty drivers that result in a system not recognizing the RTX 5090/5090D.

Apple will reportedly augment its Services arm with a new feature called Confetti soon. It is slated to help users issue invitations to parties, meetings and other functions. It might be integrated into iCloud, and is also apparently intended to be compatible with the latest update to iOS for the iPhone.

Available with the same generous selection of desktop environments as before, PorteuX 1.9 comes with the 6.13.1 Linux kernel, CUPS support for GTK3, as well as multiple fixes. The list of updated packages includes Cinnamon 6.4.6, GNOME 47.3, the Nvidia driver 570.86.16, and many others.

Born in 2008 and developed by a former NetBSD developer as a testbed for the XBPS package manager, Void Linux received a new update yesterday. Labeled 20250202, this release introduces support for Apple Silicon, Lenovo ThinkPad X13s, and Pinebook Pro, alongside optimized Raspberry Pi images, several fixes, and more.

In addition to supporting the new GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 GPUs, GeForce Game Ready 572.16 comes with DLSS 4 optimizations for roughly 75 games and apps, including Cyberpunk 2077 and Hogwarts Legacy, as well as support for 19 G-Sync Compatible displays alongside one-click optimal settings for six more titles.

With the release of Windows 11 21H2, Microsoft offered an official workaround to bypass the TPM and CPU requirement of the OS. This guide has now been removed.

CheckMag The impending end of Windows 10 support (October 2025) means that many users may have to switch to a different OS. Alternative operating systems such as Linux and ChromeOS Flex can be tested on your own PC without affecting the existing Windows installation.

Apple CEO Tim Cook now hails the company's last three months as "our best quarter ever", with global net sales of a record-breaking $124.3 billion. iPhones (somewhat unsurprisingly) accounted for nearly 56% of that revenue, while iPads contributed the least. Apple's earnings per share (EPS) also hit all-time highs for the quarter.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone are under siege from sophisticated hacking tools. Even with Activision updating its Ricochet anti-cheat protection for Season 2, hackers are effortlessly booting players from matches.