Every GPU cluster has dead time. Training jobs finish, workloads shift and hardware sits dark while power and cooling costs keep running. For neocloud operators, those empty cycles are lost margin.
The obvious workaround is spot GPU markets — renting spare capacity to whoever needs it. But spot instances mean the cloud vendor is still the one doing the renting, and engineers buying that capacity are still paying for raw compute with no inference stack attached.
FriendliAI’s answer is different: run inference directly on the unused hardware, optimize for token throughput, and split the revenue with the operator. FriendliAI was founded by Byung-Gon Chun, the researcher whose paper on continuous batching became foundational to vLLM, the open source inference engine used across most production deployments today.
Chun spent over a decade as a professor at Seoul National University studying efficient execution of machine learning models at scale. That research produced a paper calledOrca, which introduced continuous batching. The technique processes inference requests dynamically rather than waiting to fill a fixed batch before executing. It is now industry standard and is the core mechanism inside vLLM.
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This week, FriendliAI is launching a new platform called InferenceSense. Just as publishers use Google AdSense to monetize unsold ad inventory, neocloud operators can use InferenceSense to fill unused GPU cycles with paid AI inference workloads and collect a share of the token revenue. The operator’s own jobs always take priority — the moment a scheduler reclaims a GPU, InferenceSense yields.
“What we are providing is that instead of letting GPUs be idle, by running inferences they can monetize those idle GPUs,” Chun told VentureBeat.
How a Seoul National University lab built the engine inside vLLM
Chun founded FriendliAI in 2021, before most of the industry had shifted attention from training to inference. The company’s primary product is a dedicated inference endpoint service for AI startups and enterprises running open-weight models. FriendliAI also appears as a deployment option on Hugging Face alongside Azure, AWS and GCP, and currently supports more than 500,000 open-weight models from the platform.
InferenceSense now extends that inference engine to the capacity problem GPU operators face between workloads.
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How it works
InferenceSense runs on top of Kubernetes, which most neocloud operators are already using for resource orchestration. An operator allocates a pool of GPUs to a Kubernetes cluster managed by FriendliAI — declaring which nodes are available and under what conditions they can be reclaimed. Idle detection runs through Kubernetes itself.
“We have our own orchestrator that runs on the GPUs of these neocloud — or just cloud — vendors,” Chun said. “We definitely take advantage of Kubernetes, but the software running on top is a really highly optimized inference stack.”
When GPUs are unused, InferenceSense spins up isolated containers serving paid inference workloads on open-weight models including DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi, GLM and MiniMax. When the operator’s scheduler needs hardware back, the inference workloads are preempted and GPUs are returned. FriendliAI says the handoff happens within seconds.
Demand is aggregated through FriendliAI’s direct clients and through inference aggregators like OpenRouter. The operator supplies the capacity; FriendliAI handles the demand pipeline, model optimization and serving stack. There are no upfront fees and no minimum commitments. A real-time dashboard shows operators which models are running, tokens being processed and revenue accrued.
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Why token throughput beats raw capacity rental
Spot GPU markets from providers like CoreWeave, Lambda Labs and RunPod involve the cloud vendor renting out its own hardware to a third party. InferenceSense runs on hardware the neocloud operator already owns, with the operator defining which nodes participate and setting scheduling agreements with FriendliAI in advance. The distinction matters: spot markets monetize capacity, InferenceSense monetizes tokens.
Token throughput per GPU-hour determines how much InferenceSense can actually earn during unused windows. FriendliAI claims its engine delivers two to three times the throughput of a standard vLLM deployment, though Chun notes the figure varies by workload type.
Most competing inference stacks are built on Python-based open source frameworks. FriendliAI’s engine is written in C++ and uses custom GPU kernels rather than Nvidia’s cuDNN library. The company has built its own model representation layer for partitioning and executing models across hardware, with its own implementations of speculative decoding, quantization and KV-cache management.
Since FriendliAI’s engine processes more tokens per GPU-hour than a standard vLLM stack, operators should generate more revenue per unused cycle than they could by standing up their own inference service.
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What AI engineers evaluating inference costs should watch
For AI engineers evaluating where to run inference workloads, the neocloud versus hyperscaler decision has typically come down to price and availability.
InferenceSense adds a new consideration: if neoclouds can monetize idle capacity through inference, they have more economic incentive to keep token prices competitive.
That is not a reason to change infrastructure decisions today — it is still early. But engineers tracking total inference cost should watch whether neocloud adoption of platforms like InferenceSense puts downward pressure on API pricing for models like DeepSeek and Qwen over the next 12 months.
“When we have more efficient suppliers, the overall cost will go down,” Chun said. “With InferenceSense we can contribute to making those models cheaper.”
Instagram has long limited users’ ability to share links, restricting link-sharing to Stories, Reels and user profiles. But that might now be changing. The company has started to test clickable links inside of post captions for subscribers to Meta Verified.
The new feature, which has been a long-requested update from creators, was spotted by blogger Andrea Valeria, who posted screenshots of a clickable Substack link she was able to add to an Instagram post. According to Valeria, an in-app message indicated she could share up to 10 links a month.
Meta confirmed to Engadget that it’s testing links in captions for subscribers to Meta Verified, but didn’t provide details on how many people have access to the feature or if it will be widely available. It does seem to be somewhat limited, however, as the link on Valeria’s post appears on Instagram’s mobile app, but now when viewing the same post on Instagram’s website.
Instagram’s restrictions on link-sharing have been a notable part of the platform since its early days. The limitation helped kickstart an entire industry of “link in bio” platforms like Linktree, which help creators direct followers to off-platform websites based on what they share on Instagram. If Meta begins implementing the feature widely, it could drastically change how creators are able to interact with their followers (although a 10-link per month limit would likely still require “link in bio” solutions).
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The test is also the latest way that Meta has experimented with making link-sharing a paid feature. The company has also recently tested restricting creators’ ability to share links on Facebook by requiring a Meta Verified subscription. Meta Verified for creators starts at $14.99 a month, with the most expensive plans costing $499.99 a month.
In modern working environments, where responsibilities often blend together, it takes a degree of skill to navigate transforming expectations.
Artificial intelligence (AI), automation and technological advancements have certainly changed how we engage with work. In some cases, the burden of heavy work has been alleviated; in others, there is a sense of anxiety around excessive use leading to an atrophying of skills.
But whether you are a firm believer, or an AI sceptic, it remains unlikely, especially if you are working within STEM, that your work has been unaffected by these advancements – particularly in day-to-day expectations for a role.
So, what skills can professionals in 2026 deploy to navigate a workplace undergoing a rebirth of sorts?
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Talk it out
Arguably one of the more important skills at your disposal when navigating a changing working landscape is the ability to communicate well – not just with your employer, but your co-workers and any others affiliated with your place of work. During a period of transition, where you might find that your responsibilities are morphing or merging, it is crucial that you be able to succinctly and accurately communicate any concerns you may have, especially if you are confused about your role and how it is evolving.
In the workplace, much as in regular life, it is an advantage to be able to assess your needs, request necessary resources and confirm what is expected of you. You can’t perform to the best of your ability if you don’t fully understand the job itself – so ask.
All for one
Related to good communication, you need to be able to work with others if you are to develop new skills in an evolving workplace. If you find that more is expected of you and there are elements of your role that exceed your current abilities, then teamwork, mentorship and opportunities to work-shadow can help you get back on track; before long, you could be the one showing others the ropes.
By embracing a collaborative workspace and committing to the exchange of ideas and new processes, you can develop your skills quickly and be part of a team that is diverse in its capabilities. This approach also has the potential to expose you to new opportunities, as you are more likely to be seen as capable of moving between teams and projects.
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Tidy up
Organisation is another soft skill that often lends itself to success in a career in a rapidly changing space. This is for the very simple reason that if you are perhaps balancing too many plates at once, skills in organisation can help you power through.
Like many skills, organisation actually encompasses a range of other abilities – for example, time management, communication, delegation, strategic planning, goal tracking and analytical thinking, to name a few. If you make an effort to be more organised, you may find that you work better under pressure, and have time to learn the new and changing elements of your job without too much disruption to your schedule.
Not everyone is going to be naturally organised. It can take practice, but if you start small – by making lists, becoming more detail-oriented and being more aware of how you are spending your time – you may find yourself better prepared for the larger challenges that crop up along the way.
Open your mind
One important skill that we perhaps don’t hear about enough in a working context has to be the skill of empathy, which is the ability to understand and share how another person feels or views a situation. In the working environment, we can often, be it accidental or purposeful, become siloed, making it more difficult to recognise when another person is struggling, falling behind or needs a dig-out.
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In times of workplace transition, it can be frustrating having to figure out new technology, policies and processes in what feels like a relatively short space of time. So, it’s important that you give yourself and others a little grace, recognising that the chaos that accompanies change is very rarely permanent.
Furthermore, by being empathetic and putting yourself in another person’s shoes, so to speak, you can approach challenges from a new perspective, perhaps even improving your own problem-solving abilities and interpersonal relationships.
Empathy is a powerful soft skill to have in your back pocket, as it can help you create crucial connections, improve the workplace dynamic and further develop your other soft skills. Many employers nowadays expressly recruit those who can show their skills in this area, so it is definitely one for STEM professionals to consider.
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Among the various games we have played, puzzle games have been a part of our childhood, and we all have loved the way such games acted as brain teasers and helped stimulate our nervous system.
As we grow up, we need such mind-teasing games for the healthy working of our brain cells. And as most of our time is spent online, why not make room for online puzzles and keep our brains refreshed? Therefore, my new list will include the best puzzle games you should consider downloading on your device for all the perplexity you need.
15 Best Puzzle Games For Android and iOS
1. Worldle91
The popular NYT word guessing game Wordle isn’t a secret to anyone. In fact, it’s the most popular game today, which has kick-started a whole world of online games, and the latest addition is Worldle91. It’s for geography nerds who need to guess countries from their silhouettes.
The game shows you a country outline, and your job is to guess which country it is. After each guess, the game provides helpful clues such as distance, direction, and proximity to the correct answer. Using those hints, you have six attempts to figure out the right country.
Pros: Unique geography-based puzzle, great learning tool
Cons: Can get tricky if your geography knowledge is limited
If you’ve ever used a Windows PC in the early 2000s, chances are you’ve already played Minesweeper. Minesweeper91 is the modern version of the classic game, where the goal is actually quite simple. You need to reveal all the safe cells without triggering a hidden mine.
Each revealed tile displays a number indicating how many mines are in the surrounding eight cells. Using logic and deduction, you mark suspected mines and clear the rest of the board.
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Pros: Classic logic puzzle, easy to learn but hard to master
Cons: Can feel punishing if you make one wrong guess
Sudoku91 takes the classic Sudoku puzzle and improves it with a cleaner interface and several customization options. The basic rule remains the same: fill the 9×9 grid with numbers from 1 to 9 without repeating them in rows, columns, or 3×3 sections. However, Sudoku91 adds multiple difficulty levels ranging from Easy all the way to Evil for players who want a real challenge.
What makes it stand out is the flexibility. You can customize the theme, highlight conflicts, toggle notes, and even use keyboard shortcuts for faster gameplay.
Hocus is a mind-bending perspective puzzle game. It is currently one of the top-rated puzzle games on the Play Store right now. In this game, your goal is to get a cube to the red finish marker as fast and efficiently as possible. It might look easy to play but can be pretty challenging.
One of the most incredible things about this game is that it lets you create and play other user-created puzzles. With over 100 puzzles, you can easily play this game for a few hours whenever you are bored.
Amid all the available puzzle games online, Threes has a similar concept of sliding tiles to form a particular number, in this case, three and its multiples. When you start playing the game, it will give you a walk-through on how to play it so that it gets easier for you.
It follows a simple drill of sliding the tiles and joining them to add the two titles. Even though it is an easy process, it will still take a while to join the tiles. It starts with making a three, followed by other multiples of three. Each step expects you to make one, and you have to use your brain while sliding to form the desired number.
The game has ease of flow, and once you start playing it often, you will enjoy it, and sliding tiles to form numbers will be your everyday goal.
Mekorama is an adorable 3D puzzle game just like Treasure Tracker and Monument Valley. In this game, you control a cute little robot and navigate it through different puzzle rooms, each with different mechanics. Due to the variety in obstacles, the game keeps being fresh.
Whenever you finish a level, you unlock five more. So you won’t ever feel stuck, and the progression will be pretty open-ended. With over 50 levels to unlock, the game is quite a delight for those who like a challenge but want a laid-back experience.
Pros: Looks quite good considering its a mobile game
Chess light is a puzzle game based on, you guessed it, “Chess!”. The game puts you in over 180 different chess scenarios where you have to find a way to win. The game is free and comes with no ads, which is rare for games these days.
There are even six different difficulty options if you find the game is hard or too easy. You can even receive a hint if you feel like you are stuck. Fans of chess will definitely want to check this game out.
Brain It On is an apt puzzle app to use when you want to challenge your brain. When I used the app, I could not help but scratch my head into how exactly can I play the simplest-looking game. The game works in a horizontal format and has a number of levels to reach.
You have to begin playing without doing much; open up the app, and select the first level (the first few levels are unlocked while others are locked), and start puzzling. Before you start, you have to make any shape of your choice on a plain canvas, beginning the main way of playing the game.
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This means that the app needs you to do something on the canvas to execute a particular task. For instance, there will be a situation wherein you have to make something so that a glass kept on the canvas falls on the ground.
As the levels increase, the difficulty of the puzzle increases, which makes Brain It On one of the best Android puzzle games as well as on iOS. Furthermore, you can upgrade the app to get rid of ads.
Monuments Valley is a puzzle video game wherein you are required to use your brain and help the character reach the destination. Anyone talking about puzzle games ought to mention Monument Valley. Hence, it had to make an entry on my list of best puzzle games.
While in the game, you have to play to puzzle to start playing the actual. The game is interesting as it has a 3D setting, and it is pretty fun to play.
The only drawback of the game is that it is a paid app, which slightly gets disappointing. Nonetheless, if spending money on apps is not a problem for you, Monuments Valley 1 and 2 are must-have puzzle games.
Empty is a puzzle game similar to Monuments Valley, at least in terms of its artistic design. It’s a very zen-like puzzle game with a laid-back approach. Meaning you can play the game and not feel frustrated but rather healed.
The gameplay is quite simple, where you have to clear the room by rotating it. The game aims to teach us the value of simplicity in life with each level. It is entirely free and comes without any ads, which is quite rare for a game nowadays.
The Two Dots Puzzle game moves around the two dots present on the app. You have to connect the dots in a way they meet each other, and a connection between the two is formed.
When you open up the app, the app will give a gist of how to play the game by letting you connect the two dots available on the screen. Once the process gets completed, you can start with the first level of the game, which will eventually take you up the hill of the more and more levels (with new ways of playing).
Keep in mind that you can connect the dots horizontally, vertically, or form a right-angle but can’t connect them diagonally. Additionally, you get limited moves, so you have to hurry up and use your brain before you make a move.
When you are at a particular level, you will be given some targets to make you cross the level. The initial levels are pretty straightforward, and you will feel like a pro until you reach more levels and realize it’s not as easy as it appeared.
Escape Room is one of the puzzle types wherein you have to look for objects smartly. The game has a storyline where a girl introduces you to the game’s concept, following which you can start playing.
With a medieval backdrop, the game also provides you with a limited number of hints so that you move ahead with ease in situations when you get stuck.
The game begins with the first level (and moves up more levels), wherein you have to find a given number of objects and use them in the scene itself. You will have to tap on the various things placed and find the hidden things or combine two things to repair an item — the possibilities of proceeding ahead are many.
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While the Escape Room is intriguing, the difficulty level makes it one of the well-suited puzzles for adults. However, kids can also play it to sharpen their brains.
Move The Block is one of the classic sliding puzzles (among free puzzles) where you are required to slide the objects (in this case, blocks) to win the puzzle. The puzzle game has a number of levels under Basic, Premium, and Old categories (eight to be precise), with each level coming with sub-levels.
When you start with the first level, you will be guided around the game and the options available for you to use and play with ease. The game is an interesting one, and as you move forward, you won’t even realize how addictive the game will get, and you will end up playing it more than the allotted time period.
Of course, as you move up the levels, the levels will get difficult, and you might need the help of the hints available at your disposal. This is where the game’s drawback appears; to get each clue, you have to watch an ad video that makes it annoying.
If you haven’t played a jigsaw puzzle, have you ever played a puzzle at all? One of the classic puzzle games of all time, the game’s name is enough to be one of the best free online jigsaw puzzles.
The game follows the simple process of joining the puzzle pieces and forming a single picture. The app provides you with various options to choose from: be it pictures related to nature, animals, aerial, and many more, and you can pick the ones you like and arrange the jigsaw puzzle.
Before the pieces are spread around, you will be given a small glimpse of the whole picture to start playing. You can further view the image again and again to get a better idea.
The game makes sure it twists your brain and acts as an element of nostalgia when jigsaw puzzles are actual board games.
Skillz is one of the mobile puzzle games that tease your brain and puts your brain to some good use.
The app lets you decide if you want to play as a single-player or play a multi-player game. Upon choosing, there will be a number of levels, and you will be taken to the first level. As a reminder, other levels will be locked until you pass the initial ones. Hence, skipping levels is not an option. In addition to this, there is an option to replay the game if you weren’t satisfied with your previous performance.
The levels include searching for a particular number or letter among the same numbers or letters, thus testing your brainpower and speed. The game proves pretty addictive as the urge to cross all the levels takes over once you start playing it. However, the presence of ads is a problem.
For those who think that puzzles are all about finding the puzzle pieces and completing a jigsaw, you need to know that there are many kinds of puzzles available for us to play with. These include riddles, trivia puzzles, math puzzles, pattern guessing, logic puzzles, and many more. This list contains puzzles such as trivia, sliding, logic, paper-and-pencil puzzles, among its various types. Hence, read on for more:
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Are puzzle games good for you?
Online puzzle games keep your mind sharp. Just as we need a physical workout to maintain our fitness, we need mind exercises (in the form of puzzles and more) for brain fitness. I hope my list of best free Android puzzle games (iOS too) acts as a helping tool to keep you busy in something productive other than just social media.
2. Do puzzle games help with problem solving?
It’s a well-known fact that video games improve problem-solving skills. One research even says that children’s creativity is enhanced by playing any kind of video game, including violent games. However, that’s not the case when the children use other forms of technology, such as a computer or cell phone.
Do let me know which games from our best puzzle games list you liked the most. If you have more suggestions to make, I will take them and add the best ones to my list.
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Until then, keep on puzzling your brain and make it fitter and better!
Much like Frank Costanza, I like to proclaim fiercely “I’m going in fresh!” whenever I watch a movie for the first time, but that approach backfired with Hamnet. Unbeknownst to me, it’s a non-spoiler that the story is a bit of historical fiction about “Will” Shakespeare, his wife Anne Hathaway (“Agnes” here) and their kids, adapted from the book by Maggie O’Farrell. The details are all right there on the back of the disc case, but nowhere on the poster image, and the big reveal in a dialogue name-drop doesn’t arrive until well past the halfway mark.
So, as director Chloe Zhao’s movie played out at her trademark ponderous pace (see her 2020 Oscar-winner Nomadland), I found myself jotting down “WHAT IS THIS MOVIE EVEN ABOUT?” It’s a lot of slice-of-life stuff about a free spirit and suspected witch (Jessie Buckley) and the Latin tutor (Paul Mescal) who falls for her, their ups and downs, his restless soul, and eventually a great personal loss. The raw, visceral, naturalistic acting by the two leads in particular carries us along no doubt, but without the knowledge of who they are and where they’re headed–the creation and debut of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark–I’m not sure why we’re supposed to care.
Cinematographer Łukasz Żal brings us his bold, symmetrical compositions in a native 4K Dolby Vision image that perfectly fills the screen at a 16:9 aspect ratio with no black bars, resplendent with crisp focus that reveals individual blades of grass, countless freckles and the nuanced weave of fabric. The costumes are quite deliberate in their design, and their colors and subtle imperfections tell us much about the characters who wear them. The forest takes on varied shades of green, while the rich shadows are full of life.
While the Dolby Atmos audio is certainly not attempting to impress, it displays a refined brilliance nonetheless, notably in the way it reproduces nature. The wind often sounds like the woods themselves are breathing, a choice that leans into the local legend surrounding the mysterious Agnes. Dialogue is cleanly recorded although I missed the occasional word here and there for the accents.
Zhao’s audio commentary covers a wide range of topics and adds much to our appreciation of the film. So too do the three short featurettes, in which cast and crew discuss the acting, various technical aspects of the production and the prevailing quest for authenticity. Universal’s “collector’s edition” also includes an HD Blu-ray of the movie with the same extras plus a 4K digital copy.
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The awards and nominations for Hamnet have been piling up, so I’d love to know if anyone else experienced the same confusion, or if I’m the only one who missed the boat.
Publishing platform Substack is continuing to invest in video content as it launches the Substack Recording Studio, a built-in mechanism for creators to pre-record and publish videos.
The studio, which is only available on the desktop, can support solo videos as well as conversations with up to two guests. Creators can add custom watermarks to their videos and share their screen with co-hosts. Once the recording is over, Substack auto-generates clips and thumbnails for sharing.
“Until now, creating video on Substack meant going live, or stitching together a separate stack of tools: a recording platform, a way to create and distribute clips, and something to design a thumbnail,” the company shared in a blog post. “Substack Studio brings all of those tools into one place.”
The post also notes that creators who have used audio or video on Substack in the past 90 days have grown revenue 50% faster than creators who haven’t.
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Though Substack is predominantly known as a newsletter platform, the company has been showing a keen interest in video over the last few years, prioritizing updates that position it more like a Patreon competitor, encouraging creators to explore multimedia.
While Substack has allowed creators to upload videos since 2022, it began letting creators livestream and monetize videos last year, then launched a Creator Accelerator Fund of $20 million to help transition creators from other platforms to Substack.
Like Instagram, Substack also recently launched a TV app, which is available on Apple TV and Google TV. The app allows viewers to watch video posts and livestreams on TV and includes a TikTok-like “For You” row that provides further recommendations.
Despite the popularity of watching short-form videos on a phone, people seem to be turning to TV screens to watch longer-form content. Netflix has been making significant investments in bringing video podcasts to TV. On YouTube, viewers watched over 700 million hours of podcasts each month on living room devices (like TVs) in 2025, up from 400 million per month last year.
New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Valve in February, arguing that mystery boxes in Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and Team Fortress 2 constitute “quintessential gambling” because players pay for a chance to obtain rare cosmetic items that can carry significant monetary value and be traded for real money. Read Entire Article Source link
Anthropic updated Claude so it can automatically generate charts, diagrams, and other interactive visualizations directly inside conversations, rather than only in a side panel. The new visualizations are rolling out now to all users. The Verge reports: As an example, Anthropic says a conversation about the periodic table could lead Claude to generate a visualization of it, featuring interactive elements that let you click inside the table for more information. Another example shows how Claude can generate a visual related to a question about how weight travels through a building. Though Claude will automatically determine whether it should generate a visualization in your chat, Anthropic notes that you can also ask the chatbot to generate a diagram, table, or chart directly. […]
Anthropic already allows you to create charts, documents, tools, and apps through Claude’s “artifacts” feature, which opens in a side panel where you can interact, share, and download the AI-generated creation. But, as noted by Anthropic, artifacts are persistent, while the visualizations created within Claude’s conversations will change or disappear as the conversation progresses. You can also ask Claude to make changes to the visualizations it creates.
Looking for a great set of computer speakers that still sound awesome? You can grab a pair of the IK Multimedia iLoud Micro Monitor desktop speakers in either black or white from Amazon for just $250, a $100 discount from their usual price. They’re a perfect pick for aspiring music producers, audiophiles, or anyone who just wants a premium audio experience while scrolling YouTube videos.
IK Multimedia
iLoud Micro Monitor
One thing that both our computer speaker reviewer and audio expert agree on is that these speakers sound awesome, particularly for their size and power. Because they’re intended to work as studio monitors, they have a nice flat midrange that makes it easier to mix or balance, bold bass response, and detailed high-end for getting those little details dialed in. They sound great for just sitting back and listening to music or watching a movie, too, but anyone working on production audio or video might appreciate them more than your average PC gamer.
While they sport both RCA and 3.5-mm TRS inputs for your desktop connections, they also have Bluetooth in case you’d like to hook up your phone for some jams, or even a turntable that has its own phono preamp. The included stands point them up right at your face, and they’re tuned for near field listening, so they’re perfectly setup for sitting at your computer and getting audio work done. If you’ve got a more dedicated setup, there are 3/8-inch 16-threaded inserts on the bottom of each, so you can mount them to dedicated mic stands for even better positioning.
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While the audio capabilities impressed us universally, there are some usability concerns for everyday users that might give you some pause. The onboard controls are all stashed around the back of the left speaker, so you may need to reach a bit depending on where you mount them. These do include a set of three equalizer switches, in case you need to really dial in the audio levels, which is a nice touch for desktop speakers that don’t usually include any kind of EQ.
If you can manage those concerns, we think you’ll be really impressed by the IK Multimedia iLoud Micro Monitors, and the $100 discount makes the deal even sweeter. Amazon has both colors, black and white, on sale for just $250, or you can check out our guides to computer speakers and standalone bookshelf speakers for other options.
The iPhone 17e is one of the best values in a smartphone, and T-Mobile will make it easy to upgrade, no trade-in required. Get the iPhone 17e on T-Mobile, plus Magenta Status and more.
Get an iPhone 17e on T-Mobile – Image credit: Apple
Google Maps is rolling out its biggest update in more than a decade, introducing a Gemini-powered chatbot and a new “Immersive Navigation” interface. “Ask Maps” lets users plan trips, ask questions, and refine travel suggestions conversationally within the app. “The new chatbot will be accessible via a button up near the search bar,” notes Ars Technica. “You can ask it anything you’re likely to find in Google Maps without jumping into another app. You can ask for directions, of course, but it can also plan out road trips and vacations from a single prompt. Ask Maps works like a chatbot, so it accepts follow-up prompts to refine and expand on its suggestions.”
Meanwhile, Google is promising a “complete transformation” of the navigation experience in Maps with what they’re calling “Immersive Navigation.” It brings detailed 3D visuals, smarter route previews, and improved guidance powered by data from Street View and aerial imagery. “You’ll see accurate overpasses, crosswalks, landmarks, and signage in the new navigation experience,” reports Ars. “Google also aims to solve some of the biggest usability issues with turn-by-turn navigation in this update. […] Immersive Navigation tries to show you more of the route as you drive, using smart zoom and transparent buildings to help you plan ahead. Voice guidance will also reference turns after the next one where appropriate.”
Immersive Navigation will also highlights the tradeoffs between different route options, such as longer routes that avoid traffic or tolls. And, as you approach your destination, it will uses Street View imagery, building entrances, and parking information to help you orient yourself. The features are launching on Android and iOS first, with broader platform support coming later.
