If you're one of the many who's been playing Baldur's Gate 3 constantly over the last year, a DnD-inspired rival is coming in 2025 to challenge for your time. Solasta 2 is a massive, dice-heavy RPG that offers a bigger world and more strategic depth than its predecessor, all wrapped in familiar systems to those who know the Forgotten Realms. Continue reading DnD inspired RPG Solasta 2 is coming to challenge Baldur’s Gate 3 in 2025

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Image: Chris Welch / The Verge Apple’s rumored combo Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chip might be introduced with some of the company’s home products in 2025, including a new HomePod Mini and Apple TV, reports Mark Gurman for Bloomberg. Apple’s new chip, codenamed “Proxima,” is meant to be a major transitional change for the company’s devices that reduces reliance on Broadcom, which makes Bluetooth and Wi-Fi components for various devices in Apple’s lineup. Sources speaking to Gurman say the chips have been in development for several years and will be produced by TSMC — the same manufacturer that makes Apple Silicon chips. Gurman didn’t specify when the new HomePod Mini and Apple TV might debut next year. The Proxima chip could also appear in iPhones later in 2025 and in the iPad and Mac in 2026, Gurman says. Apple is also working on a standalone security camera, Gurman says. Gurman has previously reported that the company is gearing up to introduce a wall-mounted smart display for controlling your smart home next year as part of a bigger push into the home.

Image: The Game Awards Geoff Keighley’s enormous and expensive video game commercial show celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. It’s that time of the year. The Game Awards 2024 starts December 12th at 7:30 PM ET / 4:30 PM PT on Twitch and YouTube. This year marks the awards’ tenth anniversary so expect some big surprises to celebrate the occasion. We already know Borderlands 4 will make an appearance as well as the next game from Hazelight Studios, the developers behind Game of the Year 2021 It Takes Two. Keighley’s BFF Hideo Kojima will probably show up to show off more of Death Stranding 2 or maybe even his new game / movie hybrid project OD. And with 2025 mere weeks away, the GTA VI hype season will officially start, likely with a new, potentially record busting trailer. Here are all the news, trailers, and surprises for this years Game Awards. As for me, the only thing I’m excited about for TGAs 2024 is the possibility of Flute Guy and Metaphor: ReFantanzio Monk Guy sharing the same stage.

Not a photo of an Nvidia LAN, since I can’t find my old photos of them! | Photo by Julian Stratenschulte/picture alliance via Getty Images It’s been 13 years since Nvidia hosted its last LAN party, inviting hundreds of people to physically haul their gaming PCs onto a decommissioned aircraft carrier and jack them in for networked gaming bliss. Now, the GeForce LAN is finally coming back — and you’re theoretically invited, should you manage to reserve one of the 400 available spaces right here on December 16th at 6AM PT / 9AM ET. The GeForce LAN 50 will run January 4th through January 6th, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada, with satellite events in Berlin, Taipei, and Beijing, and it promises to be a “online & in-person 50 hour gaming marathon” with contests, tournaments, raffles, and swag. It’ll kick off 4:30PM PT on January 4th, and you’ll need to provide a fully refundable $125 deposit to sign up. Nvidia tells me those 400 slots are for everyday gamers, and do not count the influencers who may also show up. If you can’t or don’t want to make it, Nvidia says it’ll offer one small set of rewards online — if you stream Diablo IV, The Elder Scrolls Online, Fallout 76, The Finals, or WoW from its GeForce Now cloud gaming service “continuously for 50 minutes,” there’ll be some kind of in-game reward. Nvidia will also be offering prizes in a marketing celebration it’s calling “GeForce Greats”. The LAN party is happening right before Nvidia’s CES 2025 keynote in Las Vegas, where we’re expecting the company to announce the RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and possibly the RTX 5070 as well, and the fact that this is the “GeForce LAN 50” is probably a tease for those 50-series cards — the last LAN that Nvidia hosted was the “GeForce LAN 6,” not “GeForce LAN 49” or anything like that. Starting in 2004, the GPU company began to host major LAN parties almost every year until it stopped in 2011. Here’s one of my minor claims to nerd fame: I helped set a Guinness World Record for the largest, longest LAN party at one in 2008. Image: Sean Hollister Record scratch, freeze frame, yep that’s me (on the left)... That Nvidia LAN wasn’t held on an aircraft carrier, but rather the San Jose Convention Center, as part an event that Nvidia called “NVISION 08.” The company never held another NVISION, but it rebooted its event the very next year, at the very same location, as the GPU Technology Conference (GTC). There was a time Nvidia would sponsor third-party LANs as well. Apparently Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has a soft spot for LANs, making a surprise visit to a small one in Vietnam last year. While gamers have largely moved online for multiplayer games, the LAN party subculture has been getting a bit of nostalgic attention as of late — there’s even a coffee table book now documenting the era.

Illustration: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Photo: Getty Images The Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing “numerous counts” against Elon Musk, according to a letter from his lawyer that Musk posted to X. It has also “reopened an investigation into Neuralink.” The letter is short on specifics — such as what the charges may be, and how many Musk companies are affected. Instead, Musk’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, complains that “the Commission Staff issued a settlement demand that required Mr. Musk agree within 48 hours to either accept a monetary payment or face charges on numerous accounts.” Even this is somewhat unclear; presumably, Spiro means that Musk would pay a penalty rather than accept money from the SEC. Oh Gary, how could you do this to me? pic.twitter.com/OoooQI77ZS— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 12, 2024 Musk has a long and storied history with the SEC, which he has said he does not respect. In 2018, Musk briefly pretended he’d take Tesla private before admitting two weeks later Tesla would stay public. The SEC then sued him over a tweet saying he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private. Musk reached a settlement with the agency, paying $20 million, stepping down as chair of Tesla’s board and agreeing to a “Twitter sitter,” or a lawyer who’d supervise his tweets. Musk then reneged on the Twitter sitter thing. That particular kerfuffle went all the way to the Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case; Musk was stuck with his Twitter sitter. The letter characterizes this history as “more than six years of harassment.” More recently, the SEC sought to sanction Musk for no-showing on them in a separate investigation over his Twitter takeover. A judge declined to sanction him because he reimbursed the SEC for the airfare of the lawyers he stood up. It is unclear from Spiro’s letter whether the charges the SEC is pursuing have to do with the Twitter matter or something else. Reuters previously reported that the Department of Justice was probing whether Tesla’s self-driving claims were actually securities fraud. In 2023, Reuters reported that lawmakers had asked the SEC to probe Neuralink over Musk’s comments about the safety of the company’s brain device. Musk also asked his AI, Grok, to draw a picture of Gensler. The image depicted a snail in a business suit, seemingly a reference to Gary the Snail from Spongebob Squarepants, a television show for children.

With iOS 18.2 now available, Apple expanded the AirPods Pro 2 hearing test feature to more countries and regions, including Cyprus, Czechia, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. With this feature, you can identify if you have hearing loss by testing your hearing at different frequencies of sound, which are measured in decibels hearing level (dBHL). In addition, some regions already have the ability to use AirPods Pro 2 as a hearing aid device. I recently did Apple's AirPods Pro 2 hearing test, and I wasn't happy with what I discovered. Here's everything you need to know about Apple's AirPods Pro 2 hearing test feature and how to take the most out of it. What do you need to take the AirPods Pro 2 hearing test? There are a few requirements to take the hearing test: AirPods Pro 2 Update them to the latest firmware Have an iPhone or iPad running iOS 18.1/iPadOS 18.1 or later Preparing for the test AirPods Pro 2 next to an iPhone 14 Pro Max. Image source: José Adorno for BGR If you match the requirements above, you need to prepare for your test. To make sure your AirPods have the proper fit, you can take the Ear Tip Fit Test (iPhone or iPad only). The Hearing Test also tests the fit of your AirPods. Your test results might be affected if any of these apply to you: If you've had a cold, a sinus infection, or an ear infection within the last 24 hours. If you're currently suffering from allergies. If you've been in a loud environment, like a concert, within the last 24 hours. Once you found a quiet place to take the hearing test, here's what you need to do It's time to take the hearing test The hearing test feature is intended for people 18 years and older and takes approximately five minutes. Make sure that your AirPods are sufficiently charged and that you are in a quiet room. With your AirPods in your ears and connected to your paired iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > your AirPods. You can also start the Hearing Test from the Health app. Tap Take a Hearing Test, then follow the instructions: If the app asks to run a check, put your AirPods back in their case, close the lid, then tap OK. Tap Take Hearing Test when the check is finished. If prompted to find a quieter space, turn off air conditioning or fans that might be creating noise in your environment, or wait until night when there's less ambient noise, like traffic noise. The test monitors ambient noise and will let you know when it's quiet enough for the test. If the test recommends that you adjust the fit of your AirPods, try a different size of ear tips. If the test recommends that your AirPods Pro needs cleaning, follow AirPods Pro cleaning instructions. When the Hearing Test starts, tap the screen when you hear a tone. During the test, tones are pulsed three times to give you time to respond to the tone played. You only need to tap one time when you hear a tone. It’s OK if you miss a tone. If you remove or adjust your AirPods (or if the environmental noise around you becomes loud), the Hearing Test may pause. The test resumes when you put the AirPods back in your ear or when the environmental noise is quiet again. How to see your results When the test is complete, you can see the results on your device. The results show your overall hearing loss in decibels of hearing level (dBHL), your hearing loss classification, and recommended next steps. To see a detailed audiogram, tap Show Details. Your audiogram is securely stored in the Health app on your device, so you can access the data at any time. Here's what you need to know about the results: Up to 25 dBHL indicates little to no hearing loss. 26-40 dBHL indicates mild hearing loss, where you can hear words spoken in a normal voice from three feet away. 41-60 dBHL indicates moderate hearing loss, where you can hear words spoken in a raised voice from three feet away. 61-80 dBHL indicates severe hearing loss, where you can hear some words when they’re shouted into your ear. Don't Miss: I did Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 hearing test, and I’m doomed The post How to take an AirPods Pro 2 hearing test appeared first on BGR. Today's Top Deals Today’s deals: $719 Black Apple Watch Ultra 2, Bissell Little Green, heated jackets, self-bagging trash can, more Today’s deals: $20 Waterproof Bluetooth speaker, $999 M3 MacBook Air, Duracell batteries, Cosori air fryer, more Best deals: Tech, laptops, TVs, and more sales Cyber Monday blowout: Free AirPods 4, $374 PlayStation 5, Apple sale, $297 Nectar mattress, $60 Keurig, more

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., on Thursday joined growing calls for the drones seen flying over New Jersey and other parts of the northeast to be "shot down, if necessary,"

John Gizzi reports Michigan politics has been flipped on its head, making the governor's race wide open for 2026.