Microsoft had a lot to prove with its Xbox Games Showcase on Sunday. The Xbox maker has faced big concerns over the past year, with reports that console sales have fallen short of expectations, especially after multiple price increases. Adding to the pressure, its portfolio of studios isn’t selling as many games as expected, while Xbox Game Pass is costing it a ton of sales.

However, with recent high-profile leadership changes and a business reset following an Xbox Game Pass price increase, it seems like Microsoft is course correcting before a next-gen console is announced. And this showcase was another step in the right direction. 

More than 25 trailers were shown in Sunday’s showcase. While there were updates for several live service games, such as Fallout 76 and Sea of Thieves (a tactic that Sony avoided with its State of Play), Microsoft showed off a number of major titles. Some were exclusive, such as Gear of War: E-Day, but others were revealed for the first time at the show and will be available on day one for Game Pass, including Persona 6. 

Microsoft didn’t have a reveal on the scale of Sony’s God of War: Laufey, but it’s clear the company is leaning into its strengths: big titles that’ll also be available on Xbox Game Pass at launch. Will that help Microsoft move more consoles or attract more Xbox Game Pass subscribers? It’s hard to say, but at least the company doesn’t appear to be fading anytime soon.

Gears of War: D-Day game trailer

Fable game trailer

Halo: Campaign Evolved game trailer

Resonance: A Plague Legacy game trailer

Persona 4 Revival game trailer

State of Decay 3 game trailer

Sea of Thieves: Season 20 game trailer 

Metro 2039 game trailer

Bad Magpie game trailer

Wo Long 2 game trailer

Join Us game trailer

Senua game trailer

Doom: The Dark Ages | Revelations game trailer

Crazy Taxi: World Tour game trailer

 Age of Empires 4 game trailer

Minecraft Dungeons 2 game trailer

 Magicians: The Devil’s Deal game trailer

Valor Mortis game trailer

The Elder Scrolls Online: Return of the Thieves Guild game trailer

Fallout 76: Infestations game trailer 

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, World Update 22 game trailer 

Where Winds Meet: Hidden Mountain game trailer 

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse game trailer

Vivarium game trailer

Persona 6 game trailer

Spyro: A Realm Beyond game trailer

Clockwork Revolution: The Heist game trailer

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 | DMZ game trailer 

(All times ET)

GROUP STAGE

Thursday, June 11
3pm – Mexico vs South Africa
10pm – South Korea vs Czech Republic

Friday, June 12
3pm – Canada vs Bosnia & Herzegovina
9pm – USA vs Paraguay

Saturday, June 13
3pm – Qatar vs Switzerland
6pm – Brazil vs Morocco
9pm – Haiti vs Scotland

Sunday, June 14
12am – Australia vs Turkey
1pm – Germany vs Curacao
4pm – Netherlands vs Japan
7pm – Ivory Coast vs Ecuador
10pm – Sweden vs Tunisia

Monday, June 15
12pm – Spain vs Cape Verde
3pm – Belgium vs Egypt
6pm – Saudi Arabia vs Uruguay
9pm – Iran vs New Zealand

Tuesday, June 16
3pm – France vs Senegal
6pm – Iraq vs Norway
9pm – Argentina vs Algeria

Wednesday, June 17
12am – Austria vs Jordan
1pm – Portugal vs DR Congo
4pm – England vs Croatia
7pm – Ghana vs Panama
10pm – Uzbekistan vs Colombia

Thursday, June 18
12pm – Czech Republic vs South Africa
3pm – Switzerland vs Bosnia & Herzegovina
6pm – Canada vs Qatar
9pm – Mexico vs South Korea

Friday, June 19
3pm – USA vs Australia
6pm – Scotland vs Morocco
9pm – Brazil vs Haiti

Saturday, June 20
12am – Turkey vs Paraguay
1pm – Netherlands vs Sweden
4pm – Germany vs Ivory Coast
8pm – Ecuador vs Curacao

Sunday, June 21
12am – Tunisia vs Japan
12pm – Spain vs Saudi Arabia
3pm – Belgium vs Iran
6pm – Uruguay vs Cape Verde
9pm – New Zealand vs Egypt

Monday, June 22
1pm – Argentina vs Austria
5pm – France vs Iraq
8pm – Norway vs Senegal
11pm – Jordan vs Algeria

Tuesday, June 23
1pm – Portugal vs Uzbekistan
4pm – England vs Ghana
7pm – Panama vs Croatia
10pm – Colombia vs DR Congo

Wednesday, June 24
3pm – Switzerland vs Canada
3pm – Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Qatar
6pm – Morocco vs Haiti
6pm – Scotland vs Brazil
9pm – South Africa vs South Korea
9pm – Czech Republic vs Mexico

Thursday, June 25
4pm – Curacao vs Ivory Coast
4pm – Ecuador vs Germany
7pm – Tunisia vs Netherlands
7pm – Japan vs Sweden
10pm – Turkey vs USA
10pm – Paraguay vs Australia

Friday, June 26
3pm – Norway vs France
3pm – Senegal vs Iraq
8pm – Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia
8pm – Uruguay vs Spain
11pm – New Zealand vs Belgium
11pm – Egypt vs Iran

Saturday, June 27
5pm – Panama vs England
5pm – Croatia vs Ghana
7.30pm – Colombia vs Portugal
7.30pm – DR Congo vs Uzbekistan
10pm – Algeria vs Austria
10pm – Jordan vs Argentina

KNOCKOUT STAGE

ROUND OF 32

Sunday, June 28
3pm – A2 vs B2

Monday, June 29
1pm – C1 vs F2
4.30pm – E1 vs A/B/C/D/F3
9pm – F1 vs C2

Tuesday, June 30
1pm – E2 vs I2
5pm – I1 vs C/D/F/G/H3
9pm – A1 vs C/E/F/H/I3

Wednesday, July 1
12pm – L1 vs E/H/I/J/K3
4pm – G1 vs A/E/H/I/J3
8pm – D1 vs B/E/F/I/J3

Thursday, July 2
3pm – H1 vs J2
7pm – K2 vs L2
11pm – B1 vs E/F/G/I/J3

Friday, July 3
2pm – D2 vs G2
6pm – J1 vs H2
9.30pm – K1 vs D/E/I/J/L3

ROUND OF 16

Saturday, July 4
1pm – Round of 16 game 1
5pm – Round of 16 game 2

Sunday, July 5
4pm – Round of 16 game 3
8pm – Round of 16 game 4

Monday, July 6
3pm – Round of 16 game 5
8pm – Round of 16 game 6

Tuesday, July 7
12pm – Round of 16 game 7
4pm – Round of 16 game 8

QUARTER-FINALS

Thursday, July 9
4pm – Quarter-final 1

Friday, July 10
3pm – Quarter-final 2

Saturday, July 11
5pm – Quarter-final 3
9pm – Quarter-final 4

SEMI-FINALS

Tuesday, July 14
3pm – Semi-final 1

Wednesday, July 15
3pm – Semi-final 2

FINALS

Saturday, July 18
5pm – Third-place playoff

Sunday, July 19
3pm – 2026 FIFA World Cup final

Sriram Krishnan, the White House’s senior policy adviser on artificial intelligence, is stepping down. The former Andreessen Horowitz partner was tapped by President Donald Trump to help shape the administration’s AI strategy during his second term. He will leave at the end of June, according to the Washington Post.

Krishnan played a central role in the administration’s AI action plan. In May, he helped broker an agreement with Google, Microsoft, and xAI to give the US government early access to their AI models before public release. The arrangement lets the government assess capabilities and security risks during a 30-day review window.

White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks credited Krishnan with work on “policy initiatives and international diplomacy” as part of efforts to ensure “American AI dominance.” White House spokesperson Kush Desai called him “a critical asset for President Trump’s push to cement American dominance in technology and innovation.”

Krishnan said he plans to continue working with the White House as an outside adviser. He is reportedly starting a new institution focused on AI policy. “After a break, I’ll be working on helping tackle some of the large challenges facing America on AI,” he wrote on X.

The departure follows a busy stretch of AI policymaking. On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order outlining a voluntary framework for cybersecurity threats posed by AI, stopping short of mandatory testing. On Friday, he directed national security agencies to work with more than one AI provider, a move that followed the Pentagon’s feud with Anthropic over contract terms.

Anthropic had been the only vendor approved for classified military use until the Defence Department blacklisted it as a supply chain risk after the company refused to allow its models to be used for autonomous weapons or mass surveillance. The administration has since signed classified AI deals with Nvidia, Microsoft, and AWS.

Krishnan’s exit also raises questions about Andreessen Horowitz’s influence on AI policy. The firm has been a significant force in shaping the administration’s approach, with Bloomberg previously reporting on its rising role in Trump-era AI decisions. Whether Krishnan’s new institution maintains that pipeline remains to be seen.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one. If you’re struggling with the puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Hoops roles.

Green group hint: Think Tom Brady.

Blue group hint: They excel in beam and floor exercise.

Purple group hint: The Big Apple.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: First words of basketball positions.

Green group: Things a QB does with the football.

Blue group: Women’s gymnastics all-around gold medal winners.

Purple group: Ends in a New York team, in singular form.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is first words of basketball positions. The four answers are point, power, shooting and small.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is things a QB does with the football. The four answers are hand off, pass, spike and tuck.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is women’s gymnastics all-around gold medal winners. The four answers are Biles, Douglas, Lee and Liukin.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ends in a New York team, in singular form. The four answers are Allegiant, Chalamet, Granger and inkjet.

New dummy unit photos shared by leaker Sonny Dickson on X offer the clearest look yet at Apple’s first foldable iPhone, expected to launch later this year alongside the iPhone 18 lineup. The images confirm several design details that have been circulating in the rumor mill for months, and one that is more surprising.

What the dummy unit reveals

The iPhone Fold dummy shows a book-style foldable with a roughly 7.8-inch inner display when open, putting its screen real estate close to an iPad mini. The front camera sits in the top-left corner of that inner screen. The outer display measures around 5.5 inches, and the closed phone takes on a short and wide form factor, closer to a passport than a standard iPhone.

Two rear cameras are visible on the outside of the device. Face ID is notably absent, which aligns with rumors suggesting that the device will use Touch ID through the side button for both unlocking and Apple Pay.

Only one color?

The more eyebrow-raising detail from Dickson is the color situation. Although earlier leaks have claimed the Fold would come in black and white, Dickson now suggests white may be the only option at launch. Apple has launched new product lines in limited colorways before, gradually expanding the palette with later generations, so this isn’t completely out of the question.

iOS 27, expected to be unveiled shortly at WWDC 2026, could reveal more about how Apple is building the software experience around the foldable form factor. Foldable-specific features like split-screen multitasking and an iPad-style UI have been reported as part of the update, and the keynote may include additional cues about the device itself.

The opening keynote of WWDC has been presented by Tim Cook every year since 2012, but as his time as CEO draws to an end, there is speculation over whether he’ll make one last appearance.

Tim Cook does appear, unsurprisingly, to have already handed over the reins to the incoming CEO John Ternus for Apple’s future planning. But Cook remains CEO until September, so the first time we’ll see Ternus hosting an event will be the iPhone launch later that month.

Speculation by Bloomberg backs up the idea that Cook will have one last hurrah. However, it argues that Cook will quickly hand over to Apple’s Craig Federighi for the majority of the keynote video. This is fairly typical of WWDC, though.

Federighi is always prominent at the annual software developer conference, as he’s Apple’s Senior Vie President of Software Engineering. But he is now also effectively leading the company’s moves in AI, and this year Apple Intelligence is expected to be featured prominently.

Beyond that, Bloomberg maintains that whether we do or not, we should see Mike Rockwell introducing the new Siri. He was behind the Apple Vision Pro and in April 2025 moved over to managing the AI team.

There will also be multiple people presenting various segments of the keynote video. The report says Jeff Norris should present about visionOS, and David Clark should do the watchOS portion.

Separately, if this video follows the format of previous ones, it will include at least a nod toward Apple’s health features. That means Dr Sumbul Desai is likely to appear too.

Apple doesn’t tend to speak about personnel changes at WWDC, but then it’s been 15 years since there was one as big as a new CEO. It’s conceivable, then, that Tim Cook will open the event and John Ternus will close it.

But it’s more likely that, at least in terms of presenters, WWDC 2026 will follow its familiar form and be book-ended by Tim Cook.

Dual used High End Vienna 2026 to preview the CS 629Q, a fully automatic direct-drive turntable that looks backward and forward at the same time. That is not always a good thing in hi-fi. Sometimes it means “heritage-inspired” wood trim slapped on something that might be too clever for its own good. In this case, Dual might have come up with something that actually inspires users to actually want to listen more.

The CS 629Q is still a prototype, with global availability expected in mid-2027 and pricing expected around €1,800. That means nobody should treat this as a finished retail product just yet. But the concept is interesting because Dual is returning to one of the things it historically did rather well: automatic turntables that were genuinely useful, not disposable convenience machines.

A Fully Automatic Direct-Drive Turntable

The Dual CS 629Q is a fully automatic turntable built around a newly developed direct-drive motor. According to the manufacturer, the motor has been engineered specifically to work with Dual’s automatic mechanism, with the goal of delivering smooth operation and stable speed control.

The automatic functions include start, stop, repeat, and electronic speed selection for 33, 45, and 75 RPM playback. The new model also adds a pause function, which is not exactly revolutionary in consumer electronics, but in the world of high-end turntables may cause some people to clutch their felt mats in horror.

That is part of the appeal. The CS 629Q is aimed at listeners who want vinyl playback without pretending that manually cueing a tonearm is some sacred religious ceremony. Ever tried putting on a record after one drink too many? That stylus suddenly looks very expensive, and your hands start negotiating with gravity.

Bluetooth Remote App Control

The CS 629Q also includes Bluetooth connectivity and app control, allowing users to operate the turntable remotely. That follows the direction Dual has already taken with the CS 529, which includes Bluetooth for audio and remote-control functions, but the CS 629Q pushes the idea into a more premium direct-drive platform.

There is always a risk with app-controlled hi-fi products: the app becomes the product’s weakest link. But Dual’s approach makes sense if the core mechanical platform is solid. Automatic operation is not new for the brand. Remote-controlled automatic operation is not completely new either. The CS 629Q appears to bring that history into a more modern control environment.

Dual’s Automatic Turntable Legacy Still Matters

Dual’s first fully automatic direct-drive turntable, the CS 701, arrived in 1973. The CS 650 RC followed in 1979/80 with remote-control functionality. That history gives the CS 629Q more credibility than it would have coming from a brand with no automatic-turntable lineage.

This is not Dual chasing a gimmick because someone in marketing discovered Bluetooth. The company has a real history with fully automatic and remotely controlled record players. The CS 629Q looks like an attempt to modernize that idea for listeners who want convenience without buying a flimsy plastic deck with a ceramic cartridge and all the dignity of a hotel ice machine.

The Bottom Line

The Dual CS 629Q could become one of the more interesting turntables to watch heading into 2027. It is fully automatic, direct-drive, app-controllable, and expected to land around €1,800. That gives it a very specific lane: high-end vinyl playback for people who still appreciate convenience.

The risk is obvious. If the app experience is clunky, the automatic mechanism is noisy, or the direct-drive platform does not deliver the expected speed stability, the CS 629Q becomes an expensive novelty.

Because the CS 629Q remains a prototype, Dual has not yet published the deeper specifications, including cartridge, tonearm, platter construction, dimensions, weight, output options, or final pricing. For now, the story is the concept: a fully automatic direct-drive turntable with app-based control, aimed at bringing Dual’s automatic turntable heritage into a more modern platform.

Not every vinyl listener wants to perform a small ceremony every time they play Side B. Some just want the record to spin correctly, the arm to behave itself, and the music to start without drama. Radical stuff, apparently.

Price & Availability

The upcoming Dual CS 629Q will join the existing range of automatic turntables.

For more information: dual.de

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