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Samsung announces several updates to its SmartThings smart home platform.

Ahead of Galaxy Unpacked this week, Samsung is announcing several new features coming to its smart home platform, SmartThings, including the ability to create routines using natural language. That means you’ll be able to simply tell SmartThings what you want your smart home to do, and it’ll take care of all the complicated details for you. Samsung also announced updates to its Apple Watch app, a new dark mode for the SmartThings app on iOS, and more features coming to SmartThings Find, its location-tracking service.

One of the barriers to home automation is how complicated and time-consuming it can be to set up automations, especially if you want to do anything even slightly advanced. SmartThings’ latest update is designed to address this with a feature called Routine Creation Assistant.

According to Samsung, this lets you type a phrase describing what you want your home to do in the SmartThings app — like “turn off all the lights whenever I leave the house” — and it will set it up without you needing to configure each device or setting. SmartThings is one of the more powerful home automation platforms, so this should make it easier to tap into its features.

You’ll be able to just tell SmartThings what you want to do, and it’ll take care of all the complicated details for you

This type of AI-powered automation creation tool is also available in Google Home, through its Gemini integration, and is part of Amazon’s new Alexa Plus. All three platforms claim that the features are powered by large language models and are designed to make it easier to use your smart home, which could potentially spur broader adoption of home automation.

While Google and Amazon’s natural language routine features are still in beta / early access phases, Samsung’s Routine Creation Assistant is apparently available now to users in Korea and the US, on both Android and iOS.

Another update to SmartThings routines is the option to schedule multiple timed steps using a Delay Actions feature. For example, Samsung says, “Users can now create a ‘Good Morning’ routine that turns on bedroom lights at 7:00 a.m., starts the coffee maker 15 minutes later, and opens curtains while playing music after 30 minutes all within a single routine.” This is available now in the SmartThings app.

A new Confirm to Run Actions feature lets you add an extra step to a routine in the form of a notification confirming that you want to run it. This is designed to prevent a routine from triggering when you might not want it to. According to Samsung, “This helps avoid accidental actions in shared households, such as a security mode that is set to activate upon exit, but another family member is still at home.”

The SmartThings app on Apple Watch is getting a new widget that should make controlling devices faster, and an update to the app now lets you switch between locations and control individual devices on your watch. Smart home controls on your wrist can make it faster to do things like unlock the door or turn on the lights while you’re moving around your home without having to pull out your phone.

Samsung also announced that its Virtual Home feature is now live for all users. This lets you play with a smart home without actually having one, so you can see how SmartThings’s capabilities could work in your home or explore how a routine could be improved by adding new devices, without having to buy them first. Virtual Home is accessible now in the SmartThings app.

Samsung’s Calm Onboarding program now includes the Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Buds

The SmartThings Find service is getting an upgrade with a new URL sharing option designed to make it easier to rope your friends and family into helping you find lost items. You can now share the location of a Galaxy SmartTag with any internet-connected device just by sending a URL. Samsung says the URL can only be created by a Galaxy phone but can be viewed on any device, including iPhones.

Finally, Samsung is making it simpler to set up your devices in more countries. The company says its Calm Onboarding program is expanding from 14 to 58 countries, and now includes the Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Buds.

If you buy a compatible device directly from Samsung, Calm Onboarding allows SmartThings to “automatically detect, register, and connect the product to the app.” Along with the watch and buds, Samsung says the process works with 2025 Samsung appliances, 2024 TVs, air conditioners, air purifiers, vacuum cleaners, ovens, and Family Hub refrigerators. You need to opt in to the feature by enabling “Add My Device Automatically” in the SmartThings app.

Some of these updates are live now, with others coming soon to the SmartThings app on iOS and Android. We’ve reached out to Samsung to clarify timings.

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Destiny: Rising, the mobile-exclusive sci-fi RPG shooter set in Bungie’s Destiny universe, will be released for iOS and Android on August 28th. The launch date was announced by Chinese developer NetEase Games alongside the release of a new gameplay trailer that shows off some of the missions, strikes, PvP battles, and PvE features that players can expect to encounter.

The game was announced in October last year, spawning from the $100 million Bungie investment that NetEase (the developer behind Marvel Rivals and Diablo Immortal) made in  2018. NetEase says that Destiny: Rising is “set in an alternate timeline before the events of the original game,” allowing players who are new to the franchise to jump in without needing to experience previous Destiny titles.

Players can choose to take on the role of a “fully customisable” Lightbearer named Wolf, or play as established Destiny characters like Ikora Rey and Iron Lord Jolder. Game features include single, co-op, and competitive multiplayer modes, customisable Primary and Power Weapons, the ability to share weapons across character arsenals, and a new weapon type and “Mythic” rarity gear tier.

The Destiny: Rising release date announcement follows a limited-access playtest that was launched in November, with preorders for the game now available on Google Play and the App Store. NetEase is also holding a pre-launch event that allows players to register to receive special in-game bonuses, with more rewards being unlocked when registration milestones are crossed.

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Microsoft has finally crossed an important milestone for Windows 11, months ahead of Windows 10’s end of support cutoff date. Stat Counter, spotted by Windows Central, now lists Windows 11 as the most used desktop operating system nearly four years after its release, with 52 percent of the market, compared to 44.59 percent for Windows 10.

Windows 11 became the most popular OS for PC gaming in September, but overall adoption had still been lagging behind Windows 10 until now. Leaked data in October 2023 also revealed Windows 11 was used by more than 400 million devices at the time, a slower adoption pace than Windows 10 — which took just a year to reach 400 million devices compared to Windows 11’s two year period.

Part of the slow adoption is down to Windows 11’s hardware requirements. While Microsoft offered a free upgrade to Windows 10 users, millions of machines have been left behind due to stricter CPU and security requirements. Microsoft has been trying to convince the owners of these machines to upgrade their hardware in order to get Windows 11, sometimes with a full-screen prompt.

Windows 10 is due to reach end of support on October 14th, and Microsoft recently revealed it would give away a free year of extra security updates to consumers if they were willing to enable Windows Backup and sync their Documents folder to OneDrive. If you don’t want to do this, you’ll have to pay $30 for a year of updates, or redeem 1,000 Microsoft Reward points.

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The upcoming Blender 5.0 release is set to bring a notable improvement for Linux: experimental support for High Dynamic Range (HDR) rendering when using the Wayland display server with the Vulkan graphics backend.

This is a big step towards expanding Blender’s rendering capabilities on Linux, offering a more accurate visual preview for artists working in areas like animation, visual effects, and game development.

HDR Support on Blender: Why Does it Matter?

Source: Blender

If you're working in 3D art, animation, or visual effects, HDR can make a noticeable difference. It lets you use displays that support higher brightness, deeper contrast, and a wider range of colors, so what you see in your Blender viewport will be closer to what you’ll see on other HDR screens or in final renders.

This comes at a time when many Linux distributions are transitioning away from the older Xorg display server in favor of Wayland, which is being adopted as the new default display protocol. Wayland offers a more modern architecture designed to improve security, performance, and support for advanced graphical features.

Want to Try it Out?

🚧HDR support in Blender 5.0 is still experimental and under active development. It isn't stable, and is not recommended for production use at this time.

If you’d like to test the feature and explore its capabilities, follow these steps:

Download the Blender 5.0 alpha build Get the latest alpha version from the Blender Builds page.Ensure HDR is enabled on your system Use an HDR-capable monitorRun a Wayland session (e.g., GNOME or KDE Plasma)Enable HDR output in your system’s display settingsConfigure Blender for Vulkan and HDR Launch Blender and go to Preferences > System > Display GraphicsSelect Vulkan as the graphics backendGo to Preferences > Interface and enable Developer ExtrasNavigate to Preferences > Experimental and enable Vulkan HDR support Linux/Wayland.Restart Blender to apply changes

You can learn more about this addition in the original post by Jeroen Bakker from the Blender team.

Blender 5.0 Alpha

Via: Phoronix

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With two days until the official launch, more details have leaked about the trio of foldable phones Samsung is about to reveal. The latest leak details the screens, storage, batteries, and other core specs of the Galaxy Z Fold 7, Z Flip 7, and new Z Flip 7 FE.

The new information comes from WinFuture’s Roland Quandt, who claims to have obtained official Samsung promotional materials for the new phones, which will be officially revealed at a Galaxy Unpacked event this Wednesday, July 9th.

The Fold 7 is expected to be substantially thinner than its predecessors, and Quandt quotes marketing materials that say it will measure 4.2mm thick when unfolded, and 8.9mm folded. That would make it the same thickness as the Oppo Find N5, and just 0.1mm thicker than Honor’s Magic V5, though at 216g it would actually be the lightest book-style foldable phone yet.

It cuts the weight despite having bigger screens than the Fold 6 — 6.5 inches on the outside, and 8 inches on the inside — and squeezing in the exact same battery capacity of 4,400mAh. As expected it’ll be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, with either 256GB or 512GB of storage. This may vary by market however, as in a previous post Quandt reported on a 1TB version of the Fold 7, in line with what it offers for the current Fold 6. The only camera detail listed is a resolution of 200 megapixels, presumably for the main camera, and it will apparently launch in blue, black, and silver.

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The smaller Flip 7 is just as interesting. Quandt claims that it will have a substantially larger 4.1-inch cover screen, sharing an image that shows this will wrap right around the two camera lenses, just like on Motorola’s recent Razr flip phones. That design appeared over the weekend in an alleged hands-on video of the new Z Flip, and has been seen in renders since March.

The Flip 7 is also tipped to be substantially thinner than older models despite its bigger 4,300mAh battery, only a little smaller than the Fold 7’s. Storage options and colors are the same as the bigger phone too, though the Flip sticks to a 50-megapixel main camera.

Quandt also has a few details on the long-rumored Z Flip 7 FE, expected to be a cheaper take on the flip phone. It drops to 128GB and 256GB storage, along with a smaller 4,000mAh battery. It has the same screen sizes as the main Flip 7, suggesting that it too will use the wrap-around cover display design, though that contradicts earlier reports that it will reuse the Flip 6’s design. It’s apparently only launching in black and white versions.

Alongside leaks of the new phones, Quandt shared what appear to be official marketing images of the Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic, which have apparently adopted the squircle body design Samsung introduced in the Galaxy Watch Ultra. His latest leaks make no mention of the rumored Samsung trifold, which the company may tease this week but is unlikely to reveal in full.

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Michael Tiller, the mayor of the Newfoundland town of New-Wes-Valley, is thankful the doors of his community’s only emergency room have largely stayed open through the national health care staffing crisis of the past few years.

He just wishes there was a doctor behind those doors more often.

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For the best listening experience and to never miss an episode, subscribe to The Decibel on your favourite podcast app or platform: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts and Youtube.

Ever since the pandemic, emergency-room closures have become more common in Canada, especially in rural communities. This can leave people in dangerous situations that can require them to drive an hour or more to access emergency medical care. When time is of the essence, emergency-room closures can be deadly.

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Obtaining a DMCA subpoena to identify an alleged infringer is relatively easy, fairly cheap, and doesn’t require a judge to get involved.

A case in California has already stomped all over that general theory, but how far it will be allowed to progress and where any effects will be felt, currently hang in the balance.

Subpoena Application Considered Sufficient

In an application dated June 2, 2025, the pro se applicant systematically ticks the required boxes. The aim was to obtain a DMCA subpoena under 17 U.S. Code § 512(h) to compel domain registrar Dynadot Inc. to hand over information sufficient to identify one or more alleged infringers.

To meet the requirement at 2(A), the applicant provided a DMCA takedown notice sent to an email address at the domain MyPornvid.fun. The takedown notice references four original copyright works on YouTube, and corresponding URLs on MyPornvid.fun where the applicant alleges his videos could be viewed without authorization.

This wasn’t the full scale of the alleged infringement; the notice mentions that since “numerous” other videos from the applicant’s YouTube channel were also present on the site without permission, all should be removed for breach of copyright.

Note: a) The DMCA takedown notice sent to MyPornvid.fun is dated August 21, 2023 b) Nothing appears in the application to show whether the content was taken down or not c) Out of an abundance of caution, any redactions are for reasons that will soon become clear

Information to Be Disclosed According to the Subpoena

The disclosure requests concern a single period that starts three years ago and ends at the date of the current subpoena. They relate to potential identifying information connected to Dynadot accounts (only one account is identified) used in connection with the domain mypornvid.fun, specifically:

The application concludes with the usual DMCA declarations and with that, the California court granted the subpoena. Deadline for production: June 30, 2025.

Dynadot Partially Complies

In a filing dated June 30, 2025, the applicant informs the court that Dynadot provided registration data for the person who held the domain during the period when the alleged infringement occurred (June through December 2023).

Those details include a full name, an email address, a phone number, and a physical address in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Apparently in response to the specific request to supply “last known” address and “last known” telephone number, Dynadot handed over the details of an entity/company called Name Management Group, which appears to be the current owner of the domain.

According to public records NMG has connections to around 78,000 domains. In a recently concluded dispute with Charter Communications (pdf), the entity was represented by an agent in India and described as a ‘domain investor’.

Dynadot Declines to Disclose IP Address Logs

Whether the obtained information will prove useful is unknown, but Dynadot’s reported refusal to fully comply with disclosure of IP address logs is an issue, the applicant writes.

Dynadot is reportedly claiming protection under the “transitory communications safe harbor under the DMCA” and has stated that they “will not provide any other user data absent an applicable court order.”

The applicant does note, however, that Dynadot “will not object to this order so long as no amounts are sought against Dynadot.”

Other than that, the registrar is said to have declined to engage in any “meaningful discussion.”

Domain Registrars “Are Not Transmission ISPs”

Citing various cases including Visual Supply Company v. Khimji, Recording Indus. Ass’n of Am., Inc. v. Verizon Internet Servs., Inc., and Charter Commc’ns, Inc., Subpoena Enf’t Matter, the applicant arrives at the following conclusions:

“This Court’s explicit finding that those precedents are not applicable when dealing with domain name registrars provides direct support for rejecting Dynadot’s identical safe harbor claim. Multiple federal courts across different circuits have consistently issued and enforced § 512(h) subpoenas against domain name registrars without analyzing claimed transmission safe harbor defenses.”

Court in Illinois Granted DMCA Subpoenas Against ISPs

To emphasize his position that “domain name registrars occupy a different legal position than pure transmission ISPs,” the applicant cites a 2019 case in the Northern District of Illinois.

CME Grp. Inc. v. Nagovskiy was a trademark and copyright action in which the plaintiff reportedly requested a DMCA subpoena pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 512(h). In response, the Court granted one, “compelling Defendants GoDaddy, OVH, and Webzilla to expeditiously disclose..[.]…information sufficient to identify Defendants.”

“If domain name registrars such as GoDaddy ‘enjoy[..] the transitory communications safe harbor under the DMCA,’ the court could not and would not have acceded to such a prayer for relief,” the applicant states.

“A Matter of Public Interest”

With those details established, the applicant asks the Court to enter “as a matter of public interest” the following order :

1. Declare that domain name registrars qualify as providers of “Information Location Tools” under 17 U.S.C. § 512(d) and are therefore subject to identification subpoenas under 17 U.S.C. § 512(h) regardless of any claimed safe harbor protections under other DMCA provisions; and

2. Based upon that determination, grant this unopposed motion and order Dynadot to provide complete compliance with the DMCA subpoena.

“[C]larification would benefit not only the instant matter, but all DMCA subpoenas issued to domain name registrars,” he adds.

Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim’s subsequent order notes the motion to compel but reminds the applicant that Dynadot has yet to file a ‘Consent or Declination’ to Magistrate Judge Jurisdiction. Until then, important matters will presumably have to wait; not so in many other proceedings active elsewhere, however.

DMCA Subpoena Everyone

The applicant in the above matter, Nima Gharavi, is the person behind the Midwest Wrestle channel on YouTube. With over 2,200 videos documenting youth wrestling matches and related content, reportedly filmed by Gharavi himself (hence the copyright claims), MidWest Wrestle has amassed an impressive 120 million views from a base of 171K subscribers.

Since at least 2024, Gharavi’s name- sometimes as an individual, sometimes together with Right Call Officials, Inc. – has appeared on a series of DMCA subpoena applications targeting videos allegedly present on the world’s largest social media platforms. Those cases include the following, all of which have a copyright focus:

Gharavi v. Tumblr, Inc (1:24-cv-12718) Gharavi v. X CORP. (3:25-mc-80004) In re DMCA Subpoena to Reddit, Inc. (4:25-mc-80002) In re DMCA Section 512(h) Subpoena to Google LLC. (4:25-mc-80164) Gharavi v. Meta Platforms (3:25-mc-80003) Gharavi v. Tumblr Inc (2:25-mc-00029) Gharavi v. X Corp. (1:25-mc-00150)

One of the lawsuits is notable for its focus on the videos and related commentary made by third parties, to which Gharavi responded with a lawsuit for libel and slander.

In Gharavi v. Flosports, Inc. (1:24-cv-01969), the defendants were sued for a series of allegations, all of which concern the nature of the youth wrestling videos posted online.

Some of those videos received millions of views, in part due to a ‘different’ audience watching on platforms other than directly on YouTube.com. A judge alludes to the nature of that audience in the introduction of his recent memorandum opinion and order (pdf).

Our coverage on TF focuses purely on copyright; in that respect, the above case mostly lies outside our niche. However, in the context of the DMCA subpoena, Dynadot’s partial refusal to comply, and the request for the court to examine matters concerning service provider safe harbor, the case presents small pieces of information that may punch above their weight.

Technical Matters, Matter

Due to the ongoing matter of the allegedly libelous speech, our focus is on a technical detail that not only transcends that dispute, but may offer guidance in the parallel DMCA subpoena matter.

If content of any kind was posted to YouTube and managed to attract a large audience beyond those who view via the YouTube.com front end, that would usually be achieved by embedding YouTube videos in third party sites. In the lawsuit against Flosports, screenshots of search engine results appear to show the videos embedded in third party sites.

The examples in the DMCA takedown notice clearly show that the URLs for the allegedly unauthorized ‘copies’ of the videos, contain the same YouTube video references contained in the originals.

That raises an important question: were these unauthorized ‘copies’ of videos ripped from YouTube, hosted elsewhere, and viewed in a player other than YouTube’s in clear breach of copyright; or were these the original videos embedded in the third-party site, streamed directly from YouTube?

If the latter is true, that raises the prospect of an admittedly objectionable audience watching fully-licensed content. If proven, the implications for the DMCA subpoena matter could be devastating.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

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AMC Plus’ ongoing adventure series Nautilusis set before the events of Jules Verne’s classic science fiction novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, following a young Nemo shortly after he built his submarine. That gave Star Trek: Discovery’s Shazad Latif the chance to make the mysterious captain his own.

“I had free rein, because we haven’t met this character at this young of an age, so this is the origin story,” Latif told Polygon in a Zoom interview. “It was quite beautiful to explore this over 10 episodes and create this character from the ground up.”

Latif had six months to prepare for his role as Nemo, a character previously played by Omar Sharif, Michael Caine, and (in the 2005 movie Mysterious Island) Patrick Stewart. Latif says he read Verne’s book and was particularly gripped by the description of Nemo having “a somber fire.”

“It gave me something about his voice, which I really liked,” Latif said. “There were just so many images, like the way he stands and folds his arms a lot.”

James Mason’s portrayal of Nemo in Disney’s 1954 adaptation 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea served as another inspiration. Latif saw Stephen Norrington’s 2003 adaptation of Alan Moore’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemenas a teen, and also drew on the film’s version of Nemo, played by Naseeruddin Shah.

“Weirdly, I’ve played Jekyll and Hyde and Nemo, who are both in that movie,” he said. “I read the Alan Moore comics and stuck those pictures all over [my] room like a crazy man. You feel like you’re in True Detectiveor something, just shoving everything on the wall to get inspiration.”

Latif says Nautilus tested his endurance, with an intense 210-day shoot with just a two-week break in the middle.

“Every day, you’re doing something different,” he said. “You’ve got to learn the stunts, you’ve got to do underwater training. As soon as you get home you have about two hours to eat and then learn your lines and you’re completely exhausted. Then you wake up at 5 a.m. again. It was intense, but there’s something nice about getting in the zone. By the end, you’re sort of a well-honed machine.”

Nemo is driven to get vengeance against the British East India Company for killing his wife and daughter, stealing his lands, and forcing him to work on the Nautilus. Latif said it was sometimes tough to balance those dark themes with show’s lighter adventure antics involving saving whales and fighting a giant squid.

“It’s hard to play this lead character in the style of Indiana Jones or Brendan Fraser in The Mummy,” Latif said. “You have to buy into that, but as long as there’s an emotional truth to everything you’re doing, I think the audience buys it.”

New episodes of Nautilus release Sundays on AMC and AMC Plus.

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Grab your grill, your hot dogs, and your sparklers because it's time to celebrate… Summer Games Done Quick 2025. The annual speedrunning charity marathon benefitting Doctors without Borders is back starting July 6th and finishes July 12th. Here's how and most importantly what to watch as you enjoy the reason for the speedrunning season.

Summer Games Done Quick 2025 starts on Sunday July 6th at 1:30 PM ET on Twitch. Games Done Quick's YouTube channel will have VODs up typically within a few short hours after the run completes so don't worry if you miss anything live. There's interesting runs every day during primetime so always check the sc …

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