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OnePlus ‘Plus Key’ will replace Alert Slider and add AI

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OnePlus ‘Plus Key’ will replace Alert Slider and add AI


As previously announced, OnePlus will be replacing its iconic Alert Slider, with the new “Plus Key” officially coming to “all” of the brand’s new smartphones going forward alongside a major push into AI features.

The Alert Slider has been a staple of most OnePlus smartphones for the better part of a decade now, but it’s being replaced with a customizable new button called the “Plus Key.” This will debut first on the OnePlus 13s in India, the compact flagship that previously launched as the OnePlus 13T in China and will not be expanding to the US or Europe. OnePlus says the Plus Key is “planned to rollout across all OnePlus smartphones launching this year,” meaning the next OnePlus flagship will certainly be making the swap.

While the Key can replicate the Alert Slider’s functionality, OnePlus is making a big push out of its ability to trigger AI features, including “Plus Mind,” a feature that can “save, catalog, and recall key information found on
the screen,” just like Nothing’s Essential Space.

OnePlus explains:

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When users find information that they wish to retain – such as schedules, event details, reservations, or listings – they can capture it by pressing the Plus Key or swiping up with three fingers. AI Plus Mind intelligently saves the relevant on-screen content to a dedicated Mind Space, helping users streamline their experience by capturing precisely what’s needed and keeping it organized in one accessible location.

This feature will be coming to OnePlus 13 and 13R in the future, but obviously without the hardware shortcut.

Beyond this, OnePlus has a host of other AI features in the works, and is adding Gemini integration with its own apps – something Oppo announced earlier this month.

New AI features coming to OnePlus devices include:

  • AI VoiceScribe (coming to India only) Enables users to record, summarize, and
    translate calls and meetings directly within popular messaging, video, and online
    meeting applications.
  • AI Call Assistant (coming to India only) On the OnePlus 13s, the OnePlus Dialer will
    offer options for automatic Call Summaries or real-time Call Translation during
    calls.
  • AI Translation: Consolidates all translation capabilities – text, live voice, camera-
    based, and screen translation – into a single, intuitive app, making it easier to understand foreign languages and connect globally.
  • AI Search: AI Search enables conversational, natural language queries, seamlessly
    searching local files, settings, notes, and calendars for contextually relevant
    results. Integrated with AI Plus Mind, it enhances productivity through intuitive,
    interactive searches.
  • AI Reframe: Intelligently analyzes photo scenes, identifies the subject, and adjusts
    composition, generating multiple creative framing options for users to choose from.
  • AI Best Face 2.0 (coming this summer via OTA): Enhances group photos by
    automatically detecting and correcting issues like closed eyes or suboptimal
    expressions for more polished results. This feature supports images with up to 20
    individuals and works even with photos captured on other devices.

OnePlus notes that it “prioritizes on-device processing within a trusted environment” and leverages a “Private Computing Cloud” for “more intensive” tasks.

There’s no set date for when these added AI features will be launching outside of Best Face’s “Summer” window.

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R&B legend backs out of music festival week before due to health issues

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R&B legend backs out of music festival week before due to health issues



D’Angelo had to cancel what would have been his first full live show in nine years because of health issues.

The R&B singer will no longer perform at the upcoming Roots Picnic in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Saturday, May 31 and Sunday, June 1.

“Due to an unforeseen medical delay regarding surgery (I) had earlier this year, (I’ve) been advised by my team of specialists that the performance this weekend could further complicate matters,” D’Angelo wrote in an Instagram post on Friday, May 23.

“It is nearly impossible to express how disappointed [I am] not to be able to play with my Brothers ‘The Roots.’ And even more disappointed to not see all of you,” the 51-year-old wrote.

D’Angelo ended the post by thanking fans for their support, adding that he is “in the lab” and “can’t wait to serve up what’s in the pot.”

Roots Picnic, which shared the Instagram post, wrote that “we’re sending love and keeping him in our thoughts as he continues to heal!”

D’Angelo was announced as a performer at the music festival back in February. The singer’s appearance would have been his first full set in front of a crowd since his performance at Byron Bay Bluesfest in 2016. D’Angelo’s most recent live performance was at the Netflix “Is A Joke Fest” in 2022 where he played one song with Questlove on drums and Raphael Saadiq on guitar.

Other major acts on Roots Picnic’s lineup include Meek Mill, Lenny Kravitz, GloRilla, Miguel, Tems, Latto and Kaytranada.

The festival takes place at The Mann at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. Tickets for the festival can be purchased online.





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Gridcare thinks more than 100 MW of data center capacity is hiding in the grid

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Gridcare thinks more than 100 MW of data center capacity is hiding in the grid


Hyperscalers and data center developers are in a pickle: They all want to add computing power tomorrow, but utilities frequently play hard to get, citing years-long waits for grid connections.

“All the AI data centers are struggling to get connected,” Amit Narayan, founder and CEO of Gridcare, told TechCrunch. “They’re so desperate. They are looking for solutions, which may or may not happen. Certainly not in the five year timelines they cite.”

That has led many data centers to pursue what’s called “behind the meter” power sources — basically, they build their own power plants, a costly endeavor that hints at just how desperate they are for electricity.

But Narayan knew there was plenty of slack in the system, even if utilities themselves haven’t discovered it yet. He has studied the grid for the last 15 years, first as a Stanford researcher then as a founder of another company. “How do we create more capacity when everyone thinks that there is no capacity on the grid?” he said.

Narayan said that Gridcare, which has been operating in stealth, has already discovered several places where extra capacity exists, and it’s ready to play matchmaker between data centers and utilities.

Gridcare recently closed an oversubscribed $13.5 million seed round, the company told TechCrunch. The round was led by led by Xora, Temasek’s deep tech venture firm, with participation from Acclimate Ventures, Aina Climate AI Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Discovery, Clearvision, Clocktower Ventures, Overture Ventures, Sherpalo Ventures, and WovenEarth.

For Narayan and his colleagues at Gridcare, the first step to finding untapped capacity was to map the existing grid. Then the company used generative AI to help forecast what changes might be implemented in the coming years. It also layers on other details, including the availability of fiber optic connections, natural gas, water, extreme weather, permitting, and community sentiment around data center construction and expansion. 

“There are 200,000-plus scenarios that you have to consider every time you’re running this study,” Narayan said.

To make sure it’s not running afoul of regulations, Gridcare then takes that data and weighs it against federal guidelines that dictate grid usage. Once it finds a spot, it starts talking with the relevant utility to verify the data.

“We’ll find out where the maximum bang for the buck is,” Narayan said.

At the same time, Gridcare works with hyperscalers and data center developers to identify where they are looking to expand operations or build new ones. “They have already told us what they’re willing to do. We know the parameters under which they can operate,” he said.

That’s when the matchmaking begins.

Gridcare sells its services to data center developers, charging them a fee based on how many megawatts of capacity the startup can unlock for them. “That fee is significant for us, but it’s negligible for data centers,” Narayan said.

For some data centers, the price of admission might be forgoing grid power for a few hours here and there, relying on on-site backup power instead. For others, the path might be clearer if their demand helps green light a new grid-scale battery installation nearby. In the future, the winner might be the developer that is willing to pay more. Utilities have already approached Gridcare inquiring about auctioning access to newfound capacity.

Regardless of how it happens, Narayan thinks that Gridcare can unlock more than 100 megawatts of capacity using its approach. “We don’t have to solve nuclear fusion to do this,” he said.



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Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Marcel Ophuls dies at 97 : NPR

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Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Marcel Ophuls dies at 97 : NPR


Marcel Ophuls believed subjectivity was key to filmmaking and saw documentaries as an antidote to the news. He's pictured above on May 5, 1987.

Marcel Ophuls believed subjectivity was key to filmmaking and saw documentaries as an antidote to the news. He’s pictured above on May 5, 1987.

Chip Hires/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images


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Chip Hires/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Marcel Ophuls believed subjectivity was key to filmmaking and saw documentaries as an antidote to the news. He's pictured above on May 5, 1987.

Marcel Ophuls believed subjectivity was key to filmmaking and saw documentaries as an antidote to the news. He’s pictured above on May 5, 1987.

Chip Hires/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Filmmaker Marcel Ophuls has died at the age of 97. Recognized as one of the great documentarians of his era, he died on Saturday, as confirmed by his grandson, Andréas-Benjamin Seyfert.

Ophuls demanded — and commanded — his audience’s attention, in 4 plus hour documentaries like The Sorrow and The Pity and Hôtel Terminus.

Ophuls knew that by creating hours-long documentaries, he ran the danger of “not only seeming pretentious, but being pretentious.” But, as he told NPR in 1978, “there’s a relationship between attention span and morality. I think that, if you shorten people’s attention span a great deal, you are left with only the attraction of power.”

Ophuls was born in Germany and his family fled to France to escape the Nazis. They eventually ended up in Hollywood, where his father, the famed director Max Ophuls, found work. His son started out making fiction films, too, but went on to become one of the foremost chroniclers of the atrocities of the 20th century.

The Sorrow and The Pity is Ophuls’ 1969 epic about the Nazi occupation of France. He interviewed former Nazis, French officials who collaborated, members of the Resistance, and average people who simply found ways to get by. Throughout the film, Ophuls appears on camera—patiently drawing confessions from his subjects. The film faced criticism in France for its depiction of the country’s war efforts.

The Sorrow and The Pity became an art house hit, says Patricia Aufderheide, who teaches communications at American University in Washington, D.C. — and it helped create a new kind of documentary.

“It’s a kind of filmmaking where the filmmaker is very present as an investigator into something about the human condition,” she says.

Ophuls told NPR in 1992 that documentaries function as an antidote to news. Subjectivity is key, he said; the goal is “to juxtapose events and people in such a way that individual destinies and collective destinies make us think and reflect about our own roles in life.”

Ophuls was good at putting old Nazis and retired U.S. intelligence workers at their ease, as he does in his 1988 film Hôtel Terminus, about Klaus Barbie — a notorious Nazi — and the Americans who later protected him. When the film crew arrived to set up for interviews, Ophuls stayed in the back of the room, letting the crew chat up the subject.

Judy Karp, the filmmaker’s U.S. sound recordist, says Ophuls would adapt to make the interviewee comfortable. “He would come in as the person that he needed to be in order to get the story out of them and to get the information that he wanted,” Karp says. “He was never false — but it’s like we never knew which Marcel was going to be there.”

For Hôtel Terminus, which won the best documentary feature Oscar in 1988, Ophuls interviewed French writer and philosopher René Tavernier, who lived through the period the film covers. His son, acclaimed director Bertrand Tavernier, described Ophuls as one of the greatest of all filmmakers, not just documentarians.

“He knew that documentary sometimes has to be built as a fiction film,” Tavernier told NPR in an interview before his own passing in 2021. “You have to have interesting characters. You have to have an interesting angle. You have to work on dramatization, progression. At the same time, he was never manipulating the audience.”

His stories were true, but Ophuls thought of himself as an entertainer nonetheless. In 1978, he told NPR that his greatest hero in show business — and yes, he considered himself in show business — was Fred Astaire. The dancer’s “control and structure and balance is so dignified, and so rarified,” he said.

In 1992, he told NPR that his mission was to make the world a better place through his work, going beyond entertainment. “That’s what we live for, isn’t it?” he said. “To try to make it better.”



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The 2024 Ring Video Doorbell is cheaper than ever in this Memorial Day sale

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The 2024 Ring Video Doorbell is cheaper than ever in this Memorial Day sale


Memorial Day sales are in full swing, and if you’ve been eager to make your home a bit smarter, this deal on the 2024 Ring Video Doorbell is worth considering. It’s down to $55 right now, or $45 off the regular price and a record-low.

This is a battery-powered version of the doorbell, so you won’t have to spend a second figuring out how to hook it up to existing wiring. It’ll be easy to recharge the Video Doorbell too. When you need to top up the battery, all you’ll need to do is detach the device and plug in a USB-C cable for a while.

Image for the large product module

Ring

The latest version of the battery-powered Ring Video Doorbell supports a head-to-toe view. It has dropped to a record low of $55.

$55 at Amazon

This version of the Ring Video Doorbell provides a head-to-toe view of the person who’s on your doorstep, as it offers 66 percent more vertical coverage than the previous model. The live view feature delivers a real-time feed from the camera to your phone, tablet or other compatible device. There’s a two-way talk function as well, so you can chat with the person at your door no matter where you are.

You can receive real-time alerts on your phone whenever the Ring Video Doorbell picks up movement through its motion-detection function. However, you’ll need to pony up for a Ring Home plan (starting at $5 per month) to get more detailed alerts, such as whether the motion alert was due to a person ringing your doorbell, a package delivery and so on. The subscription includes features like access to 180 days of event video history. If you opt for the $20 per month premium tier, you’ll get 24/7 recording for every compatible doorbell and camera in your home.

A few other Ring devices are on sale for Memorial Day as well. The pan-and-tilt Ring Indoor cam is 25 percent off and down to $60, and you can snag a five-piece Ring Alarm Kit for only $150, or 25 percent less than usual.

Image for the mini product module
Image for the mini product module

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.





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Pixel’s VPN by Google ‘unavailable’ & responsible for no internet 

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Pixel’s VPN by Google ‘unavailable’ & responsible for no internet 


Pixel 7 Pro VPN

If your Pixel 7 or newer can’t connect to the internet this evening (PT), “VPN by Google” is most likely responsible, with the security and privacy service “temporarily unavailable.”

Turning off VPN by Google from Quick Settings or the fullscreen controls will immediately restore internet connection on your Pixel.

At around 6 p.m. PT, we first noticed the web and apps not loading. We’re seeing this issue across multiple Pixel phones and tablets running Android 15, 16, and 16 QPR1.

If you were already connected to the VPN, there’s no error message indicating that the service is down. However, attempting to restore the connection returns a “VPN isn’t available” message: “VPN by Google is temporarily unavailable. Try again later” in red.

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The “Try again” button does not work, with Google periodically attempting to restore the connection every so often. 

I’ve been using the VPN for the past several years, and have never had a prolonged issue like this. There are no other issues with Google services this evening.

Updating…

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Powerball: See the winning numbers in Monday’s $177 million drawing

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Powerball: See the winning numbers in Monday’s $177 million drawing



It’s time to grab your tickets and check to see if you’re a big winner! The Powerball lottery jackpot continues to rise after one lucky winner in California won $515 million in the March 29 drawing. Is this your lucky night?

Here are Monday’s winning lottery numbers:

13-47-52-64-67, Powerball: 25, Power Play: 2X

Double Play Winning Numbers

7-13-27-29-67, Powerball: 8

The estimated Powerball jackpot is $177 million. The lump sum payment before taxes would be about $77.8 million.

The Double Play is a feature that gives players in select locations another chance to match their Powerball numbers in a separate drawing. The Double Play drawing is held following the regular drawing and has a top cash prize of $10 million.

Powerball is held in 45 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The Double Play add-on feature is available for purchase in 13 lottery jurisdictions, including Pennsylvania and Michigan.

A $2 ticket gives you a one in 292.2 million chance at joining the hall of Powerball jackpot champions.

The drawings are held at 10:59 p.m. Eastern, Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The deadline to purchase tickets is 9:45 p.m.



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Four VW execs found guilty in trial that transformed Europe’s auto market

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Four VW execs found guilty in trial that transformed Europe’s auto market


Four former Volkswagen executives received prison sentences Monday for their role in the emissions-cheating scandal that fundamentally transformed Europe’s car market. The verdict, delivered after a three-year trial in Braunschweig, Germany, marked the latest chapter in a 10-year-long saga that reshaped the continent’s relationship with diesel technology.

Jens Hadler, who oversaw diesel engine development, received the harshest sentence of four and a half years for orchestrating what judges called “particularly serious” fraud. His team had installed software allowing vehicles to recognize emissions testing, temporarily increasing pollution controls during inspections while running dirty the rest of the time.

The scandal’s impact extended far beyond corporate boardrooms. Before 2015, diesel vehicles commanded over half of Europe’s car market, marketed as environmentally friendly alternatives to gasoline. Today, that figure has collapsed to just 10% of new car sales.

The whole affair also accelerated Europe’s transition toward electrification. Electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids now account for 25% of new car sales, while Volkswagen itself has become Europe’s leading EV manufacturer, selling three times as many battery-powered cars as Tesla in April, reports The New York Times.



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Remembering former Rep. Charles Rangel, who has died at 94 : NPR

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Remembering former Rep. Charles Rangel, who has died at 94 : NPR


The Democrat represented a New York City district including the historically Black neighborhood of Harlem for nearly 50 years.



MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Former Congressman Charles Rangel has died. A Democrat, he represented a New York City district, including the historically Black neighborhood of Harlem, for nearly 50 years. Rangel once joked with voters…

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CHARLES RANGEL: You know, modesty is not really my best trait.

KELLY: Charlie Rangel was born in Harlem. He served in the U.S. Army in the Korean War. He returned to New York and was elected to the House of Representatives in 1970. For decades, he served on the House Ways and Means Committee, which shapes tax law. In 2007, he became the first Black member to chair that committee.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

RANGEL: We have an obligation, whether people are in Mississippi or whether they’re in Las Vegas, to help people. I think that if you’re old and crippled and poor, we should say not in our country.

KELLY: That was Rangel speaking with NPR’s Steve Inskeep as he prepared to take on the position. Rangel often worked to shape tax law for his causes, like affordable housing. He was also a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus. In 2008, then-Senator Barack Obama, accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. Here’s what Rangel had to say about that to NPR.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

RANGEL: To me, it is the most exciting thing that’s happened since the possible exception of the Voting Rights Act. And I’ve been telling everybody that I marched with Dr. King in the ’60s, 54 miles from Selma to Montgomery, and I cussed every step of the way. I said, what a big mistake. What am I doing here? Because I had no idea of the history-making value of that sacrifice and that Lyndon Johnson would be persuaded to sign the Voting Rights Act. So I tell everyone, don’t let that happen to you.

KELLY: Rangel was also the subject of a 2010 House ethics investigation for his own financial transactions. That year, he was reelected by an overwhelming margin, but he was found guilty of ethics violations and censured by his House colleagues. It cost him his committee chairmanship. Still, he told NPR’s Michel Martin the following year…

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

RANGEL: This has been a fascinating experience. It’s like an unending postgraduate course. And to be able to see the changes in your community, the nation and the world, and to be a part of it and to be able to change things, it is something that you really can’t describe.

KELLY: Charles Rangel died today – his family confirmed. He was 94 years old.

(SOUNDBITE OF DARLINGSIDE SONG, “OLD FRIEND”)

Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.



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Apple’s AirPods 4 with ANC drop to $149 for Memorial Day

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Apple’s AirPods 4 with ANC drop to $149 for Memorial Day


Apple‘s AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation (ANC) just became an even more enticing proposition for those who have been on the fence about picking up a pair. They have , which is $30 off the regular price. That’s only about $10 more than the record low and the lowest price we’ve seen for the AirPods 4 with ANC so far this year.

If ANC isn’t such a big deal for you (perhaps, like me, you tend to only wear one earbud at a time), you can snap up a set of AirPods 4 without ANC instead. Those will , a discount of $10.

Image for the large product module

Apple

The ANC-enabled version of Apple’s AirPods 4 have dropped to their lowest price so far this year.

$149 at Amazon

We gave the AirPods 4 with ANC . Apple improved the audio quality compared with the previous version, and the earbuds have a better fit than the AirPods 3. We felt that the ANC was pretty effective too. However, the lack of onboard volume controls remains a disappointment.

The AirPods 4 use the same H2 chip as the AirPods Pro 2, meaning they share some features with the higher-end model. They support Voice Isolation, Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking, Personalized Volume and Adaptive EQ. The ANC-enabled model also has Conversation Awareness, Adaptive Audio and Transparency mode. In addition, the charging case that comes with the ANC version has Qi-compatible wireless charging, as well as a built-in speaker for Find My. However, the AirPods Pro 2’s advanced hearing health features aren’t present here.

Check out our coverage of the best Apple deals for more discounts, and follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.





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