EngadgetModify

2026-04-25 20:00:00

Engadget’s hottest review roundup truly has it all this week: a new pocket cam, a 2-in-1 smart grill, a pair of drones and a pricey skinny vac. And that’s before we even get to the highly capable gaming display that will only set you back $350. Read on to catch up on the reviews you might’ve missed over the last two weeks as we prepare for another slate of big events next month.

DJI Osmo Pocket 4

DJI’s Osmo Pocket cameras have become a staple of Engadget’s live event coverage over the last few years. They’re convenient, compact and product high-quality footage when speed matters. Contributing review reporter James Trew recently put the new Osmo Pocket 4 through its paces, concluding that “you’re getting better image quality that will pay you back over time.”

Recteq X-Fire Pro 825

With the X-Fire Pro, Recteq set out to make a pellet grill that would appeal to fans of gas grills. The company has done just that, offering a dual-mode device that imparts wood flavor you don’t inherently get from propane or natural gas. “Recteq has successfully combined the best aspects of pellet grills with a dedicated high-heat mode and separate controls that will be familiar to gas grillers,” I said. “This model offers robust build quality, reliable performance and Wi-Fi connectivity for extended smoking sessions.”

Alienware 27 QD-OLED monitor

Can a $350 gaming monitor offer enough to get the job done? If you’re talking about the Alienware 27 QD-OLED display, that answer is a resounding “yes.”

“The AW2726DM might not have all the fancy features you get on more expensive monitors, but it’s an excellent example of a no frills gadget done right,” senior reporter Sam Rutherford said. “You get just enough ports, a straightforward design and a beautiful QD-OLED panel with a solid resolution and refresh rate — all for just $350.”

DJI Lito drones and a Dyson PencilVac

Like the Osmo Pocket 4, DJI’s latest Drones are unlikely to make it to the US. However, if you live elsewhere, there’s a lot of performance available for under $400. “The Lito series shows that DJI is intent on dominating every drone price range and category, including the bottom end,” contributing reporter Steve Dent said. “Despite their low prices, the new drones don’t skimp on features, offering full obstacle protection, ActiveTrack subject tracking, relatively high speeds and sharp 4K video quality — just like models that cost a lot more.”

If your spring cleaning could still use a jump start, perhaps a fancy, skinny vacuum could do the trick for light duty. “With its minimalist form factor, the PencilVac is still an engineering marvel,” UK bureau chief Mat Smith said. “Its high degree of mobility makes it easy to clean in tight corners and between furniture. I just wish it were slightly more powerful.”

2026-04-25 19:00:00

Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. If you're looking for something new to play this weekend, we've got a bunch of options for you. We've also got some interesting upcoming games to tell you about as well.

In a press release announcing that Playdate Season 3 is coming later this year, Panic included a line that I've been thinking about a lot this week. "Panic is currently relieved and happy that people can make amazing games for Playdate with just 16 megabytes of RAM," it said, a nod toward the ongoing RAM crisis.

The Playdate doesn't exactly have a lot of technical oomph, and I'm frequently delighted by what developers are able to do within its limitations. Restrictions foster creativity — many folks had to get pretty inventive on Twitter back when they only had 140 characters to play with. Here, Panic offered a welcome reminder that you don't necessarily need an ultra-powerful rig or console to have access to more great games than you'll ever actually be able to play.

For instance, my favorite game of the year so far, Titanium Court, works on Macs that are capable of running macOS 11 (the 2020 version of the operating system) or later. On PC, you'll need a graphics card that's compatible with OpenGL or DirectX 9, the latter of which was released in 2002. For what it's worth, the game would also fit on a CD-ROM. 

There are tons of other great indie games new and old that'll run just fine on lower-powered machines. Bear that in mind the next time a current-gen console or other gaming system gets a price increase because of the RAM shortage. The DLSS 5 debacle aside, you probably don't need a 50-series NVIDIA GPU either. Maybe just pick up a Playdate instead.

New releases

While many of the weapons, characters and enemies are the same, Vampire Crawlers is a fresh spin on Vampire Survivors. It's a turn-based roguelite deckbuilder. Instead of automatically firing whatever weapons you have at nearby enemies, you'll play cards to conquer the mob that you face in each fight. You can still modify and evolve your weapons and abilities.

Each card has a casting cost, so you’ll need to consider which ones to play in a given moment and the order in which you do so. As such, it’s a slower-paced, more strategic take on the original game, albeit with a similar level of visual chaos should you put together a particularly powerful build. 

I've played a ton of Vampire Survivors and the Vampire Crawlers demo lured me in too. Its approach to turn-based battles is working for me. I've only played a little of the full game so far, but there's every chance I could lose days of my life to it.

Vampire Crawlers — from Survivors creator Poncle and co-developer Nosebleed Interactive — is available now on Steam (for PC and Mac), Xbox for PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and Nintendo Switch for $10. It's included with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. 

Fable creator Peter Molyneux and his studio 22cans are back with another god game. In Masters of Albion, you can construct and modify settlements as a literal hand of god. You'll design buildings (which are immediately constructed and usable) and manage workers. You can also assume control of a human or animal in the world to take on quests and hunt for treasure.

There's a tower defense element to this as well. You'll need to prepare your towns from nighttime attacks from various creatures. You can fend off these foes as the god or battle them on the ground as a hero. There's a lot going on here, but perhaps my favorite part is this apparent warning in the mature content description section of the Steam page: "Players are also able to use crude, adult hand gestures at will in the game." Yes, that means you can flip the bird while playing as the god hand. Yes, I am very mature.

Masters of Albion is now available in early access on Steam. It typically costs $25, but there's a 10 percent discount until April 29.

Snap & Grab caught our attention at last summer's edition of the Day of the Devs showcase. This is a cartoonish heist game in which you'll carry out your robberies in two parts. You play as Nifty, a famous fashion photographer. In the setup phase, you'll take advantage of your position to take snaps of loot, threats and opportunities and then use those to construct a plan. With the help of some henchman, you'll then try to execute the heist. 

The game’s developer No Goblin is taking an episodic approach to Snap & Grab as it's releasing the game in five parts over the course of this year. The first episode is available now on Steam (usually $8, though there's a 10 percent discount until May 1).

Snow Day Software's follow-up to Indoor Kickball is Indoor Baseball. It's an arcade game in which you play baseball inside buildings, funnily enough. You'll play 1v1 matches against the CPU or a friend in local multiplayer. You can also dive into a 14-game season or check out the story mode, in which you'll try to play your way back onto your school's baseball team (and maybe do some chores to make up for smashing too many things at home).

There are several different levels, each of which has a variety of ways for you to make a home run, from smashing a window to landing the ball in a toilet. It seems light and fun and as a burgeoning baseball guy, I dig the idea of this one.

Indoor Baseball is available now on Steam, Xbox for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and Nintendo Switch. It costs $15.

Upcoming 

I love Another Crab's Treasure very much and so I'll always be interested in whatever Aggro Crab is up to. Given that the studio also co-developed the smash hit Peak (alongside Landfall), I imagine many other folks feel the same way.

Crashout Crew is another multiplayer game from Aggro Crab. This one adopts the chaotic co-op formula of games like Overcooked. As a team of forklift drivers, you and your buds will work together to fill orders in warehouses while dealing with obstacles like blackouts, cacti, fire and bees.

It's coming to Steam, Xbox on PC and Xbox Series X/S on May 28. It'll be available on Game Pass on day one.

I'm very much here for slice-of-life games based around soccer (I still need to play Despelote!). Kick is another such title. This is a side-scrolling, anime-inspired game from solo developer nospacelost and publisher Shoreline Games, in which you dribble a ball as you make your way to school.

There are 23 levels with people to dodge and obstacles to overcome. You'll need to avoid damaging anything as you try to pull off tricks by kicking the ball at the correct angle, all while making sure you get to class on time (you can switch off the timer for a more relaxed experience). It looks pretty, and it never hurts a game's prospects to have a pup accompanying the main character.

No release date for Kick has been announced. It's coming to Steam at some point.

Elfie: A Sand Plan is a cozy sandcastle building game from Pressed Elephant and Sol's Atelier. There are more than 180 levels in which you'll build sand sculptures to match what Elfie, a small elephant, has in mind. There are three difficulty levels too.

It looks cute and I adore elephants (oops, I just started fostering another one), so I'm interested in checking it out. Elfie: A Sand Plan is coming to Steam for PC and Mac on May 12. It'll cost $7, and there'll be a 10 percent launch discount.

It took the team at Realmsoft 14 years to bring Clockwork Ambrosia to fruition and if this latest trailer is any indication, that long development cycle could have well been worthwhile. This is a side-scrolling action platformer in which you can customize half a dozen weapons using more than 150 modifiers. 

You play as an airship engineer who tries to survive on a steampunk island full of aggressive robots and creatures following a crash. I really dig the art direction here, which features lush hand-drawn pixel art and lovely animations. Realmsoft made the game using a custom engine the team built from scratch.

I'm looking forward to checking out Clockwork Ambrosia. It's coming to Steam on May 12.

2026-04-25 05:48:26

XChat, the standalone app for accessing X's messaging feature, is available to download now for iOS. X first suggested it would be stripping direct messaging from X in 2025, but at least for now, XChat is available in the original X app, the web and this new app.

Based on its launch video, the new XChat app offers many of the elements of modern messaging X had already introduced to its chats feature, like the ability to delete and edit messages, block screenshots and send disappearing messages. The new XChat app also supports video and audio calls, and X claims that all messages sent with XChat are end-to-end encrypted.

XChat will also be expected to be the home of any groups that formed around X's Communities feature. The social platform recently announced that it was retiring Communities at the end of May, and suggested that XChat's support for larger group chats could be a worthwhile alternative. XChat's group chats can currently have 350 participants, but X plans to expand that number in the future.

Elon Musk's original pitch after he rebranded Twitter as X, was to turn the platform into an "everything app," where things like an algorithmic feed, messaging, job boards and even payments could exist side-by-side. A standalone messaging app seems like the exact opposite of that, but it might also reflect where X finds itself in 2026. The company is now a subsidiary of xAI, and xAI itself is part of SpaceX. Musk's push into AI appears to be the going concern, and cloning something like WeChat might just be less important.

2026-04-25 05:04:07

The governor of Maine, Janet Mills, has vetoed a bill that halts the construction of large data centers in the state until the fall of 2027. While the bill passed both houses of the Maine's legislature on April 14, and Mills has suggested she'd support a temporary moratorium, the governor wanted a bill that would exempt an existing data center project in Jay, Maine.

The bill specifically blocked the construction of data centers that consume 20 megawatts of power or more and directs state agencies and other entities to not issue permits unless proposed projects fall under those energy needs. Passing the bill would also require the creation of a "Maine Data Center Coordination Council" that would "provide strategic input, facilitate coordinated state planning considerations and evaluate policy tools to address data center opportunities and related benefits and risks to the State."

While Mills killed this attempt at data center regulation, she said she would sign an executive order calling for the creation of a council like the one proposed in the bill. She also signed LD 713, a bill that prohibits data centers from participating in Maine’s business development tax incentive programs.

Maine is far from the only state pursuing data center bans or temporary blocks. There are at least 12 other states exploring similar legislation, like New York, where lawmakers recently introduced a bill that would block the construction of new data centers for at least three years. At the federal level, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) endorsed a bill that would not only create a moratorium on new data center construction, but also any upgrades to existing facilities.

Any desire to slow down AI development or the infrastructure that makes it possible runs counter to the demands of tech companies, and the perspective of the Trump administration, who's actively encouraging faster AI buildout in the US. President Donald Trump's recent AI framework even called for the process of building and powering data centers to be streamlined in March.

2026-04-25 04:19:06

Have you ever noticed how Walgreens and CVS locations often end up across the street from each other? Well, Call of Duty and Battlefield have a similar thing going on. A mere eight days after the upcoming Call of Duty movie got an official premiere date, lo and behold: There's news from The Hollywood Reporter that a Battlefield movie is on the way.

The project has some heavy-artillery star power attached. Oscar winner Michael B. Jordan (Sinners) is slated to produce and possibly star in the film. Meanwhile, Christopher McQuarrie of Mission Impossible fame is set to write, direct and produce. Naturally, EA will also produce, as the company tries to cash in on the recent wave of Hollywood video game adaptations that don't suck.

The movie's creators are reportedly meeting with studios and streamers as we speak, with an expected bidding war to commence. They're said to have met with Apple and Sony on Thursday. The project's team is reportedly prioritizing a deal that includes a theatrical release.

It's understandable why business types would see the time as right for a Battlefield film adaptation. (And not just because Call of Duty is already doing it.) The latest game in the long-running series, Battlefield 6, was the top-selling game of 2025 — outselling Call of Duty for the first time. After selling over 7 million copies in its first three days, it went on to surpass an estimated 20 million sales before the end of the year. Whichever studio pays big bucks for this project will try to ride that wave.

The Call of Duty movie, meanwhile, is scheduled for release on June 30, 2028. The Paramount project has tapped Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone) to co-write the screenplay and produce, with Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) set to direct.

2026-04-25 04:05:00

The Department of Justice has announced that it's intervening on the behalf of xAI in the company's recent lawsuit against the state of Colorado. xAI first filed the suit in early April in response to a recent Colorado law that requires developers of "high-risk" AI systems (for example, ones used in healthcare, employment or housing) to both disclose and mitigate the risk of algorithmic discrimination in their systems. The law is set to go into effect in June, and the DOJ is now asking a Colorado District Court to declare it unconstitutional.

In xAI's original argument, Colorado Bill SB24-205 violated the company's First Amendment rights by forcing its developers to change how they create AI products and compelling them to align their products with Colorado's views on diversity and discrimination. The DOJ acknowledges those concerns in its complaint, but specifically focuses its argument on the idea that the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

According to the DOJ, because the law relies on demographics and "statistical disparities" as evidence of discrimination, it will essentially require developers to distort an AI system's outputs and "discriminate based on race, sex, religion and other protected characteristics," a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The department also positions Colorado's law as a risk to "the United States' position as the global AI leader," a title the current administration is committed to protecting. 

As both an AI cheerleader and enabler, the Trump administration has been particularly sensitive to the notion of diversity, equity and inclusion being incorporated into AI. President Donald Trump signed several executive orders following the announcement of his "AI Action Plan" in 2025 that specifically called for government agencies to use AI tools that avoid "ideological dogmas such as DEI." He also called for the creation of a task force that could challenge state AI regulation in favor of a federal regulatory framework for AI. The irony is that the DOJ's argument, and the administration's stance in general, are equally idealogical, just in a way that's ahistorical, and ignores the downstream effects of discrimination in the US.