Author: admin

  • Qualcomm Slides After Posting Lackluster Growth in Phone Market

    Qualcomm Slides After Posting Lackluster Growth in Phone Market

    (Bloomberg) — Qualcomm Inc., the biggest maker of chips that run smartphones, fell in late trading after reporting lackluster growth in that market, fueling concerns that tariffs will take a toll on the industry.

    Most Read from Bloomberg

    Phone-related sales rose 7% to $6.33 billion in the fiscal third quarter, which ended June 29, Qualcomm said in a statement Wednesday. The average analyst estimate was $6.48 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

    The results add to broader fears that a chip growth resurgence is under threat. In recent days, chipmakers such as Texas Instruments Inc. and Intel Corp. gave cautious outlooks, triggering concern that a sales rebound will be short-lived.

    Qualcomm shares fell about 6% in late trading following Wednesday’s announcement. Heading into the earnings report, the chipmaker’s stock had already lagged a general rally by semiconductor stocks this year.

    Revenue in the quarter ending in September will be $10.3 billion to $11.1 billion, the San Diego-based company said. That compares with an average analyst estimates of $10.6 billion.

    Qualcomm’s third-quarter profit was $2.77 a share, excluding some items. Revenue gained 10% to $10.37 billion. Wall Street had predicted a profit of $2.72 a share and sales of $10.33 billion.

    Revenue from chips used in vehicles rose 21% to $984 million. Connected-device semiconductor sales, meanwhile, climbed 24% to $1.68 billion.

    Qualcomm supplies processors and modems that are the main components of the world’s most advanced smartphones. The chipmaker also collects fees calculated as a percentage of the cost of a handset, regardless of whether the phone maker uses its chips.

    An ongoing challenge for Qualcomm is Apple Inc.’s decision to make its own modem chips for the iPhone. Qualcomm has told investors to expect its supplies in the device to be fully replaced, but delays in the development of an Apple part has lengthened this transition. Apple currently has an in-house modem in one of its iPhones, the low-end 16e.

    Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

    ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

    Continue Reading

  • Columbia Engineers Develop Radiation-Hardened Chips for the Large Hadron Collider – SciTechDaily

    1. Columbia Engineers Develop Radiation-Hardened Chips for the Large Hadron Collider  SciTechDaily
    2. Building electronics that don’t die: Columbia’s breakthrough at CERN  ScienceDaily
    3. ‘Extreme’ Chip Will Help LHC Scientists Explore Fundamental Questions About the Universe  The Debrief
    4. Engineers overcome radiation challenge with custom silicon chips  Phys.org

    Continue Reading

  • IIF/ISDA Response to BoE Consultation on Banks’ and Insurers’ Management of Climate-related Risks > The Institute of International Finance

    IIF/ISDA Response to BoE Consultation on Banks’ and Insurers’ Management of Climate-related Risks > The Institute of International Finance

    On July 30, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) and International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), on behalf of their respective global financial services industry members, submitted comments on the Bank of England’s Consultation Paper 10/25, “Enhancing banks’ and insurers’ approaches to managing climate-related risks – Update to SS3/19”.

    IIF and ISDA members welcome the Bank of England’s thoughtful and iterative approach to climate-related financial risk management over the past several years. We agree that industry practices and global standards have evolved since the release of SS3/19. However, climate risk assessment and management are extremely complex and evolving fields, so it is understandable that many firms across the industry are still working to further develop their understanding and approach.

    Members support the PRA’s stated approach of considering climate-related factors as drivers of potential financial risks; however, there are certain proposals set out in the consultation that appear to deviate from this view and may require revision. More generally, the PRA could better demonstrate that it sees climate-related risk drivers as one component of wider risk management and governance.

    We welcome the PRA’s intention to take a proportionate and risk-based approach, which is based on the materiality of climate-related financial risks to a firm, and provide suggestions on how this can be clearer and more explicit in the revised Supervisory Statement. 

    We observe that the PRA’s draft Supervisory Statement is significantly more detailed than the current SS3/19. In general, our members believe that the PRA’s approach has not become excessively prescriptive, which is welcomed.

    The letter details specific feedback on each chapter of the PRA consultation paper, including on climate scenario analysis expectations, climate targets, data and implementation.

    Continue Reading

  • Query Fan-Out Technique in AI Mode: New Details From Google

    Query Fan-Out Technique in AI Mode: New Details From Google

    In a recent interview, Google’s VP of Product for Search, Robby Stein, shared new information about how query fan-out works in AI Mode.

    Although the existence of query fan-out has been previously detailed in Google’s blog posts, Stein’s comments expand on its mechanics and offer examples that clarify how it works in practice.

    Background On Query Fan-Out Technique

    When a person types a question into Google’s AI Mode, the system uses a large language model to interpret the query and then “fan out” multiple related searches.

    These searches are issued to Google’s infrastructure and may include topics the user never explicitly mentioned.

    Stein said during the interview:

    “If you’re asking a question like things to do in Nashville with a group, it may think of a bunch of questions like great restaurants, great bars, things to do if you have kids, and it’ll start Googling basically.”

    He described the system as using Google Search as a backend tool, executing multiple queries and combining the results into a single response with links.

    This functionality is active in AI Mode, Deep Search, and some AI Overview experiences.

    Scale And Scope

    Stein said AI-powered search experiences, including query fan-out, now serve approximately 1.5 billion users each month. This includes both text-based and multimodal input.

    The underlying data sources include traditional web results as well as real-time systems like Google’s Shopping Graph, which updates 2 billion times per hour.

    He referred to Google Search as “the largest AI product in the world.”

    Deep Search Behavior

    In cases where Google’s systems determine a query requires deeper reasoning, a feature called Deep Search may be triggered.

    Deep Search can issue dozens or even hundreds of background queries and may take several minutes to complete.

    Stein described using it to research home safes, a purchase he said involved unfamiliar factors like fire resistance ratings and insurance implications.

    He explained:

    “It spent, I don’t know, like a few minutes looking up information and it gave me this incredible response. Here are how the ratings would work and here are specific safes you can consider and here’s links and reviews to click on to dig deeper.”

    AI Mode’s Use Of Internal Tools

    Stein mentioned that AI Mode has access to internal Google tools, such as Google Finance and other structured data systems.

    For example, a stock comparison query might involve identifying relevant companies, pulling current market data, and generating a chart.

    Similar processes apply to shopping, restaurant recommendations, and other query types that rely on real-time information.

    Stein stated:

    “We’ve integrated most of the real-time information systems that are within Google… So it can make Google Finance calls, for instance, flight data… movie information… There’s 50 billion products in the shopping catalog… updated I think 2 billion times every hour or so. So all that information is able to be used by these models now.”

    Technical Similarities To Google’s Patent

    Stein described a process similar to a Google patent from December about “thematic search.”

    The patent outlines a system that creates sub-queries based on inferred themes, groups results by topic, and generates summaries using a language model. Each theme can link to source pages, but summaries are compiled from multiple documents.

    This approach differs from traditional search ranking by organizing content around inferred topics rather than specific keywords. While the patent doesn’t confirm implementation, it closely matches Stein’s description of how AI Mode functions.

    Looking Ahead

    With Google explaining how AI Mode generates its own searches, the boundaries of what counts as a “query” are starting to blur.

    This creates challenges not just for optimization, but for attribution and measurement.

    As search behavior becomes more fragmented and AI-driven, marketers may need to focus less on ranking for individual terms and more on being included in the broader context AI pulls from.

    Listen to the full interview below:


    Featured Image: Screenshot from youtube.com/@GoogleDevelopers, July 2025. 

    Continue Reading

  • Jeremy Renner Teases MCU Return, ‘Hawkeye’ Season 2

    Jeremy Renner Teases MCU Return, ‘Hawkeye’ Season 2

    Jeremy Renner is preparing for his return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

    In an interview with Empire magazine, published on Tuesday, the Hawkeye star admitted that he’s “sure we’ll end up doing season two” of the Disney+ series that spotlighted his longtime character Clint Barton (aka Hawkeye). His comments about returning to the MCU come after he previously revealed he turned down another season of Hawkeye after being offered half of his salary for a second season. 

    “I’m always happy to be in that world, man. … I love all those guys, I love the character,” he said of portraying Clint/Hawkeye in the superhero film franchise. “I’m sure we’ll end up doing season two, and do other things. And I’m happy to do it.” 

    When the Oscar nominee revealed his proposed salary cuts for season two of Hawkeye, he clarified that the offer came after his near-fatal snowplow accident. 

    “I’m like, wow, it’s going to take me twice the amount of work for half the amount of money — eight months of my time, essentially, and you do it for half the amount?” he said in May. “I’m like, ‘I’m sorry, why? Did you think I’m only half the Jeremy because I got ran over?’ Is that why want to pay me half of what I made on the first season?”

    Following the 2023 snowplow accident, where he was “pronounced dead on the ice,” Renner added that he’s getting his body prepped for the physical demands that come with portraying Clint/Hawkeye.

    “My body’s getting ready for something like that,” he said. “I don’t know if anybody wants to see me in tights, but my body will look good in the tights.” 

    The My Next Breath author, too, noted that in the wake of the harrowing accident, he’s prioritized having “health and wellness be such a central part of my life,” attributing his lifestyle to his recovery. 

    “I’m more than 150 percent of what I was prior to the incident,” he added. “Having health and wellness be such a central part of my life, that’s what’s gotten me back. And even as I age, I just feel stronger than I’ve been. I have some issues, and tendon issues and certain limitations of flexibility and mobility, but I spent a lot of time on getting better and stronger, and I wouldn’t if I didn’t get crushed.” 

    Renner debuted the character of Clint/Hawkeye in 2012’s The Avengers. He was last seen in the role via archival footage in the 2024 Disney+ series Echo. Season one of Hawkeye aired in 2021.

    Continue Reading

  • Meta Reports Second Quarter 2025 Results – Meta Investor Relations

    1. Meta Reports Second Quarter 2025 Results  Meta Investor Relations
    2. I like Meta as a stock, don’t love it, prefer Google, says Evercore ISI’s Mark Mahaney  MSN
    3. Meta (META) Gives Strong Third-Quarter Forecast Supporting AI Spending  Bloomberg
    4. Will Meta Announce Record CAPEX? What Will the Social Media Giant’s Results Show?  XTB.com
    5. What top Wall Street analysts are watching in Meta’s earnings out Wednesday  CNBC

    Continue Reading

  • Belzutifan Shows Superior Quality-Adjusted Survival in Advanced RCC

    Belzutifan Shows Superior Quality-Adjusted Survival in Advanced RCC

    Data from the LITESPARK-005 Q-TWiST analysis show belzutifan’s improved quality-adjusted survival time and favorable toxicity profile vs everolimus in RCC.

    In a presentation at the 2025 Kidney Cancer Research Summit, Thomas Powles, MBBS, MCRP, MD, spoke with CancerNetwork® about the results of a Quality-Adjusted Time Without Symptoms or Toxicity (Q-TWiST) analysis from the phase 3 LITESPARK-005 trial (NCT04195750) comparing belzutifan (Welireg) with everolimus (Afinitor) in patients who were heavily pretreated with clear cell renal cell carcinoma.1

    LITESPARK-005 was a randomized phase 3 study designed to evaluate belzutifan, a HIF-2 alpha inhibitor, against everolimus in this patient population. Although previous findings from LITESPARK-005 showed a high response rate and improved progression-free survival (PFS) with belzutifan, an overall survival advantage was not demonstrated. However, the Q-TWiST analysis showed that belzutifan exhibited a distinct toxicity profile and correlated with better overall quality of life.

    The rationale behind conducting this Q-TWiST analysis was to gain a more nuanced understanding of patient benefit beyond traditional endpoints like PFS. According to Powles, this analysis is crucial because while PFS indicates the duration patients are progression-free, it does not account for the impact of treatment-related toxicities on their quality of life. By integrating quality-of-life questionnaires, Q-TWiST may provide a valuable perspective on the patient experience by focusing on the period without progression and without toxicity.

    The findings from this analysis showed that belzutifan outperformed everolimus due to a longer time to progression and a longer time without toxicity, which was deemed clinically meaningful.

    Powles is a professor of genitourinary oncology, lead for Solid Tumor Research, and director of Barts Cancer Institute at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital at Queen Mary University of London.

    What was the background for conducting this Q-TWiST analysis among patients who received everolimus or belzutifan in the LITESPARK-005 trial?

    LITESPARK-005 was a big, randomized phase 3 study. It tested belzutifan vs everolimus in patients who were heavily pretreated with advanced clear cell renal cancer. Belzutifan is a HIF-2 alpha inhibitor. It’s well tolerated. It’s an agent that is associated with anemia, some hypoxia, and fatigue. Compared with VEGF tyrosine kinase inhibitors [TKIs], in my clinical experience, it’s well tolerated. [The trial] showed high response and better PFS [with belzutifan]. We didn’t show an overall survival advantage. We showed a distinct toxicity profile, and we also showed better overall quality of life [with belzutifan].

    In this Q-TWiST analysis we performed, what we were looking at was the time that the patients had without progression and without significant toxicity. That’s essentially what it is; PFS just looks at progression and the area of patients who are progression-free, which is great, but if all that time was spent with significant toxicity, that means less than if a patient has the same amount of time without [PFS] with no toxicity. We can construct Kaplan-Meier curves, and within those curves, we can define specific areas: those areas without progression and [with] toxicity, those areas without progression and without toxicity, and those areas after progression. In the Q-TWiST analysis, specifically, we look at that time, that period, and that area without progression and without toxicity, and then we bring in the quality-of-life questionnaires to work out what, in terms of that area, the quality of life is during that period. That’s the Q of Q-TWiST.

    That’s a summary of how it works. Essentially, it’s not a surprise that belzutifan outperformed everolimus in this respect quite significantly. The time to progression was longer, the area was therefore larger, and the time without toxicity was longer. That was clinically meaningful by previous parameters, which had been set to perform Q-TWiST analysis.

    What did findings show about the quality-adjusted survival time in patients who received belzutifan vs everolimus in this population?

    The story behind belzutifan, so far, is an agent that has been developed in 2 areas that are contrasting with each other. No. 1 is Von Hippel-Lindau [VHL]–driven disease, and that disease has shown that renal tumors can be put into remission or regression associated with belzutifan, preventing surgery on primary renal tumors. That’s important for patients. In the other extreme, in metastatic clear cell renal cancer, we go all the way where it’s been developed very late: the third or fourth line, in many cases. Those 2 are very different from each other. The development of the disease—the VHL disease—and how that relates to patients who are very heavily pretreated is quite complicated. It’s probable, or even likely, that if we use belzutifan earlier in the disease process, it will work better. What we’ve shown with this Q-TWiST analysis is not only that it is more active than everolimus, but it appears to be, from a quality-of-life perspective and a time-dependent quality of life analysis, to be better tolerated, making it an attractive [option].

    What are the next steps for researching belzutifan or other therapeutic agents among patients with previously treated advanced renal cell carcinoma?

    The story of belzutifan is a long one, and looking forward into the future, there are several randomized trials [that are ongoing]. There’s the adjuvant [phase 3 LITESPARK-022 study (NCT05239728)], and as I said before, [belzutifan] might work better earlier in the disease.2 Pembrolizumab [Keytruda] plus or minus belzutifan in patients who are high-risk post-surgery is No.1. It’s in the frontline setting….It’s also [being assessed] in a randomized phase 3 trial [NCT04586231] in patients who received 1 prior therapy, essentially second-line treatment, which is lenvatinib plus belzutifan vs cabozantinib [Cabometyx].3 [There is] a plethora of randomized trials earlier in the disease and big randomized studies. Belzutifan has a promising future, and because it’s well tolerated, that makes it an attractive combination.

    What do you hope others take away from your presentation?

    The main goal for them would be to say the analysis confirms our impression and our clinical experience that belzutifan is well tolerated. My personal experience is that it’s true. These data should not come as a surprise to anyone that our Q-TWiST analysis for belzutifan is better than everolimus, and I hope that they also see it as not just an attractive option in patients who are heavily pretreated, which is the case. If you switch away from VEGF TKIs to belzutifan, what you’ll find is that the toxicity profile—the chronic fatigue and diarrhea associated with VEGF TKIs—can be switched off by [choosing belzutifan]. It does have a role to play. I accept it doesn’t have an overall survival signal by itself. The response, the [PFS], the quality of life, and these Q-TWiST data give a compelling argument for this being an attractive agent in patients who are heavily pretreated.

    References

    1. Powles T, de Velasco G, Choueiri TK, et al. Quality-adjusted time without symptoms or toxicity (Q-TWiST) analysis of belzutifan versus everolimus in previously treated advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC): LITESPARK-005 (LS-005). Presented at the 2025 Kidney Cancer Research Summit; July 17-18, 2025; Boston, MA. Abstract 13.
    2. A study of belzutifan (MK-6482) plus pembrolizumab (MK-3475) versus placebo plus pembrolizumab in participants with clear cell renal cell carcinoma post nephrectomy (MK-6482-022). ClinicalTrials.gov. Updated July 17, 2025. Accessed July 22, 2025. https://tinyurl.com/y69wn2xb
    3. A study of belzutifan (MK-6482) in combination with lenvatinib versus cabozantinib for treatment of renal cell carcinoma (MK-6482-011). ClinicalTrials.gov. Updated April 2, 2025. Accessed July 22, 2025. https://tinyurl.com/mtftnfpt

    Continue Reading

  • Biomarkers May Inform Potential Role for Ipilimumab/Nivolumab in Untreated Metastatic Urothelial Cancer After Missing OS End Point

    Biomarkers May Inform Potential Role for Ipilimumab/Nivolumab in Untreated Metastatic Urothelial Cancer After Missing OS End Point

    The combination of ipilimumab (Yervoy) and nivolumab (Opdivo) did not meet the dual primary end points of overall survival (OS) in patients with previously untreated unresectable or metastatic urothelial cancer in the cisplatin-ineligible population and the population of patients with a PD-L1 expression of at least 1% during the phase 3 CheckMate 901 trial (NCT03036098), demonstrating that this regimen will not affect the standard of care, according to Guru P. Sonpavde, MD, who added that additional work may help parse out which subsets of patients could benefit from this regimen.1

    The study evaluated ipilimumab/nivolumab compared with gemcitabine plus cisplatin or carboplatin. Findings presented at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting showed that in cisplatin-ineligible patients, the median OS was 19.1 months (95% CI, 13.5-22.6) for nivolumab plus ipilimumab (n = 221) vs 13.2 months (95% CI, 11.6-15.2) for gemcitabine plus carboplatin (HR, 0.79; 98.27% CI, 0.61-1.01; P = .0245).

    In the population of patients with a PD-L1 expression of at least 1%, the median OS was 17.2 months for nivolumab plus ipilimumab (n = 123) vs 15.2 months (95% CI, 19.9-18.4) for gemcitabine plus platinum-based chemotherapy (n = 127; HR, 0.87; 97.48% CI, 0.61-1.23; P = .364).

    “This is disappointing; however, one of the silver linings here is that there were [patients who had] durable responses, [including] durable complete responders, with ipilimumab/nivolumab,” Sonpavde said during an interview with OncLive®. “Perhaps more work can be done looking at biomarkers to select these patients so that we give them yet another option in the first-line [setting]. Nevertheless, as it stands, [this portion of CheckMate 901] is a negative trial and does not, unfortunately, change or add to the standard of care in the first-line disease space.”

    In the interview, Sonpavde discussed the background and rationale for the CheckMate 901 trial, the efficacy data, and the role of ipilimumab plus nivolumab following the negative trial results.

    Sonpavde is the medical director of Genitourinary Oncology, assistant director of the Clinical Research Unit, and Christopher K. Glanz Chair for Bladder Cancer Research at the AdventHealth Cancer Institute in Orlando, Florida.

    OncLive: What was the background and rationale for the CheckMate 901 trial?

    Sonpavde: CheckMate 901 was a phase 3 trial, which previously had several comparisons. The sub-study that compared gemcitabine/cisplatin vs gemcitabine/cisplatin [plus] nivolumab was presented a couple years ago now, and that was a positive trial that led to approval of gemcitabine/cisplatin plus nivolumab for cisplatin-eligible patients as first-line therapy.

    In the same study, there was also a comparison of ipilimumab plus nivolumab vs gemcitabine/platinum, [where] the platinum could be cisplatin or carboplatin [and patients were stratified by] PD-L1 status. There was also a cisplatin-ineligible cohort, where [patients were treated with] gemcitabine/carboplatin vs ipilimumab/nivolumab, and that was regardless of PD-L1 status with that comparison.

    What we presented at ASCO 2025 were those comparisons of gemcitabine/carboplatin vs ipilimumab/nivolumab. We also presented gemcitabine/platinum vs ipilimumab/nivolumab in the PD-L1–high [population]. [OS] was the primary end point.

    What were the efficacy data?

    The [OS end point] was not met, unfortunately. The median survival was 13.2 months with gemcitabine/carboplatin and 19.1 months for ipilimumab/nivolumab. The P value was .0245; this did not meet the statistical bar for superiority. There were some very interesting signals for efficacy, though. The objective response rate [ORR] was 35.3% for ipilimumab/nivolumab and similar for gemcitabine/carboplatin [at 38.8%]. However, the duration of response [DOR] was very prolonged. With ipilimumab/nivolumab, the median DOR was [25.0 months] vs [7.4 months] for gemcitabine/carboplatin, as you might expect.

    Of the 35.3% ORR, [14.9%] were complete responses [CR], and the duration of complete response has not yet reached the median. We expect, with hopefully longer follow-up, we will see an even more durable CRs. The progression-free survival [PFS] was a secondary end point, and that was not significantly different.

    The other comparison in this study was gemcitabine/platinum, where the platinum could be cisplatin or carboplatin, vs ipilimumab/nivolumab. The OS difference was more modest than the cisplatin-ineligible comparison. [Specifically,] it was 15.2 months for the gemcitabine/platinum group vs 17.2 months for ipilimumab/nivolumab, and the hazard ratio was 0.87. [Ultimately,] ipilimumab/nivolumab could not attain superiority in both the cisplatin-ineligible cohort and the PD-L1–high cohort as first-line therapy in advanced urothelial carcinoma.

    Although the results were not practice-changing, are these data relevant to your practice?

    The short answer to that is no, at this point, given that the phase 3 trial is negative, and the only component of this phase 3 trial that’s positive, of course, is gemcitabine/cisplatin plus nivolumab, which is already [FDA-]approved.

    However, ipilimumab/nivolumab, as it stands, is clearly active, with durable responders, and a 35.3% ORR. It needs more work in terms of developing a biomarker. Remember that the combination of [enfortumab vedotin-ejfv (Padcev)] plus pembrolizumab [Keytruda] is established as the preferred first-line standard of care, and that has set a very high bar. [It has shown an] ORR of 67.7% and the [median] DOR [has not been reached].2 That’s the bar we have to look at when we are also looking at what the value of ipilimumab/nivolumab will be.

    The ipilimumab/nivolumab quality of response has to look across different trials, [and has to be] at least as good, if not better than enfortumab vedotin/pembrolizumab. We need to wait and see—after further maturity—what the duration of CRs will be. Are we curing some patients who have the CRs? The question [about a cure] lingers over the top of all these regimens, including enfortumab vedotin/pembrolizumab, gemcitabine/cisplatin plus nivolumab, and ipilimumab/nivolumab, which, of course, is not approved. However, what is the quality of CR? Are we curing more patients? The money may lie in whether we can identify a biomarker for patients who have these very durable CRs who we might be curing.

    Is there still a role for ipilimumab/nivolumab, and are there future directions for this regimen?

    Yet another point I want to highlight is that there was a treatment-free interval in a small subgroup of patients, which suggested that patients with CRs may continue to be in CR even after completing all therapy. That would be very interesting to tease out. These regimens, enfortumab vedotin/pembrolizumab, gemcitabine/cisplatin plus nivolumab, and ipilimumab/nivolumab, could [potentially] cure some patients, but we don’t know who those patients are.

    References

    1. Van Der Heijden MS, Galsky MD, Powles T, et al. Nivolumab plus ipilimumab (nivo+ipi) vs gemcitabine-carboplatin (gem-carbo) chemotherapy for previously untreated unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC): final results for cisplatin-ineligible patients from the CheckMate 901 trial. J Clin Oncol. 2025;43(suppl 16):4500. doi:10.1200/JCO.2025.43.16_suppl.4500
    2. Powles T, Valderrama BP, Gupta S, et al. Enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab in untreated advanced urothelial cancer. N Engl J Med. 2024;390(10):875-888. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2312117

    Continue Reading

  • 8BitDo’s wireless remake of the Nintendo 64 controller is now available

    8BitDo’s wireless remake of the Nintendo 64 controller is now available

    The Nintendo 64, which launched in 1996, had an unusual three-prong controller design, with a single analog joystick in the center of the gamepad above the middle grip. The 8BitDo 64 offers the same buttons as the N64’s controller in a more traditional layout, but while it’s easier to hold, the lack of a second joystick limits its compatibility with modern games, which generally expect two. The 8BitDo 64 is compatible with the Switch, Switch 2 (after updating the controller’s firmware), Windows, and Android devices and connects to consoles, PCs, and mobile devices using either a Bluetooth connection or a USB cable.

    It also features more durable Hall effect joysticks and shoulder buttons which should help prevent it from developing stick drift over time. But if you’re not planning to use it with the Analogue 3D (someday), the controller will potentially only be useful for playing classic N64 games through an emulator or the Nintendo Switch Online service but your GoldenEye 007 muscle memory may not perfectly transfer over to the updated button layout. Nintendo’s own wireless N64 controller is a more accurate reproduction, but you still need to be a Nintendo Switch Online subscriber to buy one.

    Continue Reading

  • Stock market news for July 30, 2025

    Stock market news for July 30, 2025

    A trader works, as a screen broadcasts a press conference by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell following the Fed rate announcement, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, U.S., July 30, 2025.

    Jeenah Moon | Reuters

    The S&P 500 gave up earlier gains and closed lower on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled the central bank isn’t ready to cut rates, as it assesses the impact of President Donald Trump’s higher tariffs on the inflation picture.

    The broad market index slipped 0.12% and closed at 6,362.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 171.71 points, or 0.38%, closing at 44,461.28. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.15% and ended at 21,129.67. At their session highs, the S&P 500 was up by as much as 0.4%, while the Dow was up 0.2%.

    Investors parsed Powell’s comments at a press conference for insights into the Fed’s next move — after it didn’t budge on rates following its July meeting. Powell said that the central bank has “made no decisions” about a potential policy change in September.

    “Our obligation is to keep longer-term inflation expectations well anchored and to prevent a one-time increase in the price level from becoming an ongoing inflation problem,” Powell said. “Higher tariffs have begun to show through more clearly to prices of some goods, but their overall effects on economic activity and inflation remain to be seen.”

    Stock Chart IconStock chart icon

    S&P 500 intraday

    The comments poured cold water on traders hoping for a rate cut in September and at least another decrease before the year is out. Treasury yields jumped as Powell signaled it may take a bit to assess the effect of tariffs on consumer prices.

    The central bank’s decision to keep rates the same was not unanimous, however, with Fed governors Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller dissenting. Both were in favor of a quarter-point cut at the current policy meeting.

    “Powell isn’t buckling under the political pressure to cut rates, so markets needed to reprice the overall level of the Fed Funds rate going out a few months,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group. “The reaction function wasn’t that bad, largely because it’s clear where rates are headed, despite Powell’s current ability to enforce the wait and see.”

    It was the second day of losses for Wall Street following a streak of six record closes for the S&P 500. Major averages started the day mostly in the green, encouraged by a better-than-expected GDP report that signaled to some that the economy was weathering higher tariff rates.

    The post-Fed losses were led by consumer-focused stocks like Home Depot, which could benefit from lower rates.

    Correction: An earlier version misstated the number of consecutive records the S&P 500 has had in recent days.

    Continue Reading