Listening to Nintendo music isn’t easy. It’s not available on streaming platforms, so I usually end up scouring YouTube for songs from Animal Crossing and Metroid. Because of this, I was hoping that Nintendo Music, a new app that surprise-launched last week, would be my one-stop shop for listening to Nintendo soundtracks. But while it features some clever ideas, there are lots of frustrations and weird choices from Nintendo that mean it isn’t quite what I was hoping for.
Technology
Nintendo’s music app has great ideas and frustrating limitations
Navigating the app, which is available on iOS and Android but only accessible to Switch Online subscribers, feels a lot like other music services like Apple Music or Spotify. You can browse tracks from individual games or hand-curated playlists themed around things like characters, Pokémon battle songs, or tracks you might want to listen to on an extended loop. It’s organized in a thoughtful way on a per-game basis. The fictional bands in Splatoon 3 all get artist pages with bios. The page for Animal Crossing: New Horizons features playlists for K.K. Slider performances and instrumentals, and if you want to listen to a full playlist of Kapp’n’s sea shanties, that’s available, too.
The extended loop feature is my favorite part. For some songs, you can choose to extend them out to 15, 30, or 60 minutes. I’ve already used it quite a bit to work to music from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild; the calming piano sounds of “The Great Plateau” are still exquisite seven years later. I also like that you can add games to a “spoiler prevention” list to hide information about a game you might not have played yet, which could be a good way to keep yourself in the dark about a final boss for a game you might want to play.
There just aren’t many games on the app
But Nintendo Music doesn’t have many game soundtracks to listen to. Nintendo has more than 40 years’ worth of titles it could have included, and right now, there are only 25 games to pick from. There are just two Zelda games: Breath of the Wild and Ocarina of Time. Fire Emblem is the only Game Boy Advance game. There are three NES games, and two of them are Metroid. Technically, one of the “games” is Wii Channels music (which, to be fair, is full of bangers).
I could go on, but the point is that Nintendo Music isn’t a comprehensive collection of the company’s enormous musical history. Given that most of the soundtracks are for Nintendo Switch games, it’s more of a collection of Nintendo’s recent musical history, but it seems like a huge miss that I can’t listen to anything from Super Mario World in the app.
That will start to change, and probably slowly, if the drip-feed of Switch Online retro games is any indication. A day after the service launched, Nintendo added the soundtrack to Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and on Monday, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest became available, too. In the Nintendo Music reveal trailer, the company showed that Wii Sports, Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Splatoon 2, and F-Zero X are all set to arrive on the service, but only on a vague “over time” schedule.
Nintendo Music also doesn’t credit the real humans involved in making a song. That means, curiously enough, that the fictional bands in Splatoon 3 have more prominence in Nintendo Music than the legendary Koji Kondo. (Nintendo has kind of a weird thing about credits at the moment.)
The app has some other issues, too. You can’t extend some songs, and there’s no indication why, which is really annoying. One of the first songs I wanted to try the feature with was Metroid Prime’s soothing “Phendrana Drifts” music, but it’s not possible — which, given that it’s one of the main songs you hear on loop while exploring that area of the game, doesn’t make sense to me. Sure, you can just set the song to repeat, but that’s not quite the same as an hour-long extension. And when you select the duration of how long you want to extend a song, the whole song starts over; it’s a little thing, but I wish the app could just make the extension happen without the brief but jarring halt.
And disappointingly, Nintendo Music is currently only available on iOS and Android — there’s no desktop or web app. I’d really like to listen to Nintendo Music from a Mac app or in my desktop browser; it isn’t compatible with CarPlay or Android Auto, either.
For the songs that are currently available, Nintendo Music is great. But so much is missing that part of me wonders if Nintendo pushed this service out the door ahead of the launch of the successor to the Switch so that it could add to the service later. It’s a similar feeling to the frustrations with other recent not-Switch things from Nintendo, like the Alarmo clock and skin-deep Nintendo Museum; they all have good ideas but also some weird limitations.
Nintendo Music just isn’t as deep as I would like it to be. It means I’m going to have to keep tracking a lot of music down on YouTube.
Technology
Another annoying bug is spoiling the fun in Windows 11 24H2
The latest big update to Windows 11 has already caused its fair share of headaches. This time the trouble is with File Explorer. A new bug makes it difficult to open the File Explorer app as it makes the menu appear outside the screen, Windows Latest reports.
The latest bug impacts the “See more” menu, making it practically impossible to access when you select the ellipses. Instead, it only shows you a few of the available options. This error usually appears when you use File Explorer in full screen. When you’re able to see all the options in the “See more” menu, you’ll see options such as:
- Connect to a media server
- Add a network location
- Map network drive
- Select all
- Select none
- Invert selection
- Properties
- Options
Some users have reported this incomplete view regardless of the viewing mode. In theory, the menu is supposed to appear below the button for easy access to the options. But this bug is making various options inaccessible. To view all the options, ensure that the window is small enough, leaving space for the menu options.
The good news is that Microsoft is aware of the bug and will release a fix in a future cumulative update. There is no official confirmation as to when we might see this update, but it’s nice to know that it’s on its way.
This is far from the first problem Windows 11 24H2 users have faced. One of the most common problems is the update crashing PCs, causing slowdowns and blue screens of death (BSOD).
Windows 11 24H2 is off to a bumpy start, so much so that it forced Microsoft to stop the update on PCs such as Asus and configurations for software like Safe Exam Browser, Voicemeter, and older versions of Easy Anti-Cheat that are used mainly by PC gamers.
Technology
Samsung Galaxy Buds FE drop to $50, an all-time low
Right now you can pick up Samsung’s stellar Galaxy Buds FE true wireless earbuds for $59.99, and that’s a very good price for a pair of true wireless earbuds that are as good as these ones are. Even at their full retail price of $99.99, the Galaxy Buds FE are a pretty good value. So it’s always going to be an incredible value when they’re priced this low.
This is the lowest we’ve ever seen the Galaxy Buds FE cost and it’s also an all-time low price based on price tracking data from Camel Camel Camel.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds FE are Samsung’s budget option of the Galaxy Buds and yet, they come with a lot of the same quality features. During our testing time we found that the earbuds had great battery life and a range of decent EQ options. They also come with balanced sound for an enjoyable, well-rounded listening experience no matter what type of music it is.
These also come with Active Noise Cancellation and that’s probably our favorite feature. Have you ever been on public transit, or on an airplane and you’re surrounded by noisy people? If you had these earbuds with ANC that wouldn’t be an issue. You could just pop them in, turn the ANC on, and block everyone else out. It’s excellent. And it makes a big difference in travel. I personally like to use it while I’m out shopping at the grocery store or other stores and block out the ambient noise of the store and other shoppers.
These come in two colors, Graphite and White, and both colors are on sale for the $59.99 price point.
Technology
Hori’s officially licensed Steam controller comes to the US on December 16
Hori is bringing its to the good ole US of A. The company , with an availability date of December 16. Preorders are open right now and the controller costs $60.
This Steam-focused gamepad was originally released back in October, but only in Japan. It boasts a big button to pull up the Steam menu and touch sensors on the joysticks for motion controls. It also ships with mappable back buttons. The gamepad connects to a computer, or a Steam Deck, via Bluetooth. To that end, it ships with a USB-A Bluetooth receiver.
Hori says the Steam controller will work for around 12 hours on a full charge, though it can operate while charging via USB cable. The controller menu in Steam also allows for making adjustments, like changing stick sensitivity and gyro controls.
There are a couple of slight omissions. The controller has no rumble functionality, nor does it boast a trackpad or a headphone jack. If you can get over those issues, this looks like a mighty fine way to work through that ever-growing Steam collection. Hori .
As for Valve, it discontinued . That gamepad was notable because it could be configured in a myriad of different ways .
Technology
Meet the startup that just won the Pentagon’s first AI defense contract
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The Department of Defense has awarded its first generative AI defense contract to Jericho Security, marking a strategic shift in military cybersecurity. The $1.8 million Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II contract, announced through AFWERX, tasks the New York-based startup with developing advanced cybersecurity solutions for the Department of the Air Force.
“This is one of the first generative AI contracts awarded in defense, marking a major milestone in how seriously our military is addressing AI-based threats,” Sage Wohns, CEO of Jericho Security, told VentureBeat in an exclusive interview
How AI-powered phishing attacks target military personnel
The company’s approach centers on simulating complex, multi-channel phishing attacks that mirror real-world scenarios. “In today’s landscape, phishing campaigns aren’t limited to just emails—they involve coordinated attempts across multiple platforms like text messages, phone calls, and even video calls,” Wohns explained, describing attacks that chain together multiple forms of communication to deceive targets.
What sets Jericho’s technology apart is its focus on human vulnerability — widely considered the weakest link in cybersecurity. The company claims that up to 95% of data breaches stem from human error. Their platform creates personalized security training programs based on individual risk profiles, using generative AI to simulate sophisticated attacks including deepfake impersonations and AI-generated malware.
Deepfake attacks and drone pilot targeting: The new frontier of military cybersecurity
The contract comes at a critical time, as military personnel face increasingly targeted attacks. “There was a highly publicized spear-phishing attack targeting Air Force drone pilots using fake user manuals,” Wohns revealed, highlighting how the company helped evaluate vulnerabilities through attack simulation and specialized training.
For a young company competing in the crowded cybersecurity market, landing a Defense Department contract represents a major validation. The deal positions Jericho Security to expand beyond its commercial roots into the lucrative government sector, where cybersecurity spending continues to grow amid escalating threats.
Military contracts often require stringent security measures. Wohns emphasized that Jericho maintains “military-grade cybersecurity standards” including end-to-end encryption and isolated secure environments for handling sensitive military data.
The next generation of AI defense: Predator and prey model
Unlike traditional cybersecurity approaches that react to known threats, Jericho Security employs what Wohns calls a “predator and prey” model. “We started with attack simulation, giving us a continuous stream of real-time data to enhance both offensive and defensive capabilities,” he said. This dual approach allows their AI systems to evolve alongside emerging threats rather than merely responding to them.
The Air Force contract, executed through AFWERX—the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force—is part of a broader initiative to accelerate military adoption of private sector technology. AFWERX has awarded over 6,200 contracts worth more than $4.7 billion since 2019, working to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and speed up technology deployment.
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Technology
Symbiotic Security helps developers find bugs as they code
Symbiotic Security, which is announcing a $3 million seed round today, watches over developers as they code and points out potential security issues in real time. Other companies do this, but Symbiotic also emphasizes the next step: teaching developers to avoid these bugs in the first place.
Ideally, this means developers will fix security bugs before they ever get into a code repository, which in turn should also speed up the overall development process. And since the developers get to learn on the job and in the environment they are already working in, they are far more likely to correctly implement the required changes. That’s more effective than making them sit through an annual security training in SuccessFactors.
The company, which launched earlier this year, released its MVP about a month ago, with a focus on infrastructure-as-code languages like Terraform. As Symbiotic co-founder and CEO Jerome Robert told me, the company did this to get an MVP out of the door and prove out its vision. Over time, the team plans to expand to the rest of the application stack and support languages like Python and JavaScript.
Robert noted that even the most developer-friendly security tools are still, at their core, tools for the security teams. “They are enabling the security teams to be better cops. They’re not tools that make the developers the good guys,” he said. “They are tools that allow security teams to send hundreds of messages all week long, saying, ‘You’ve made a mistake. You need to fix it.’”
Meanwhile, the developer constantly has to choose between fixing security issues and developing new features.
The idea behind Symbiotic Security is to nudge developers in the right direction, similar to the code completion tools they are already familiar with. Symbiotic, ideally, can help developers fix bugs in the inner loop, while they are still coding, and long before the continuous integration and delivery platforms start scanning the code for issues. Once that happens, the process slows down immediately, with Jira tickets and additional code review processes taking over.
This is also where Symbiotic goes a step further. “It would not be sufficient to just allow them to fix [the issues] and to detect it,” Robert explained. “We also need to train them on security — and developers love to train; it’s an absolute, 100% certain thing. However, security trainings are painful.”
For the developers, Robert argues that doing the training on the spot is something they can relate to. It’s focused on their immediate needs and not something that is abstract — and at just a few minutes, it’s short.
Right now, those training lessons and videos are pre-recorded, but over time, they could become more AI-driven, which would allow Symbiotic to make them even more relevant to the specific issues the developer is working on.
There’s also another interesting twist here. To best train a model to automatically fix security issues, you need a corpus of code with security bugs and the fixed versions of those code snippets. Since Symbiotic is seeing the issue and then telling the developer how to fix it, it could ideally create a high-quality dataset for building a remediation model. For now, that’s a long-term project, though.
Symbiotic is backed by the likes of Lerer Hippeau, Axeleo Capital, and Factorial Capital. “Jerome and co-founder Edouard Viot have a deep understanding of the problems underlying traditional code security and demonstrated remarkable foresight with their approach to addressing the growing demand for shift-left security solutions,” said Graham Brown, managing partner, Lerer Hippeau. “Symbiotic has the potential to transform the industry, empowering developers and security teams alike.”
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