Technology

The next-gen Switch console has many physical changes, but that doesn't mean you'll have to get rid of all your gear for the original Switch.

Buy now, pay later plans could help build your credit history, but missing a payment could hurt your credit score later on.

Viewers who woke up early to watch the Nintendo Direct live missed out on a handful of first-ever looks at new games.

• Pump-and-dump schemes dominate crypto markets, driven by 438 manipulative masterminds
• Telegram’s ease of communication fuels the rise of crypto manipulations
• Advanced tools like Perseus expose crypto scammers, but regulation remains essential

As cybersecurity faces challenges with common internet scams like phishing, advanced fee fraud, and fake lotteries, cryptocurrency pump-and-dump schemes have emerged as a significant issue.

A recent study from researchers at University College London revealed just 438 masterminds are responsible for the majority of pump-and-dump crypto schemes worldwide.

These masterminds manipulate crypto coins by inflating prices through misleading hype, selling them once enough buyers are lured, collectively accounting for $3.2 trillion in artificial trading and earning $250 million annually. According to Google, such "cloaking" scams are the most damaging scams around.

Telegram is the preferred platform for manipulation

The researchers found popular encrypted messaging app Telegram is the primary tool used by crypto coin masterminds to spread false information, with manipulators using channels and chats to create artificial demand for coins.

"On the app, chats are used to communicate between potential buyers and sellers," the researchers note.

With easy communication and limited regulation, manipulators convince others to buy into the hype, leaving many victims unaware of the risks and devastated by the schemes.

As the research team pointed out, the simplicity of executing these scams "should be of concern to those attempting to make money off crypto coin investing."

To track these schemes, the researchers developed Perseus, a tool capable of analyzing the coordination efforts behind these manipulations.

Similar to AI-powered scam detectors like the one developed by McAfee, which stops scammers before they can reach potential victims, Perseus helps identify the masterminds behind the scams and measure their impact.

Perseus consists of three components: a real-time fetcher, a temporal attributed graph generator, and a mastermind detector. These technologies work together to uncover and track the key figures orchestrating these scams.

The researchers suggest that tools like Perseus, along with other scam detection technologies, could be crucial in recognizing harmful schemes within the largely unregulated crypto space.

"At some point, some form of regulation is going to be needed to keep the system running," they concluded.

As cryptocurrencies grow in popularity, the prevalence of scams raises concerns about market stability, with the lack of regulations leaving investors vulnerable to manipulations.

Via Techxplore

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Commentary: Nintendo's next console already has a lot of great games in its future.

While the Nintendo Direct about the Switch 2 was only about an hour long, the accompanying deep dives released offer even more information and peeks at the much-anticipated console, which launches on June 5, 2025.

Now, as spotted in “Ask the Developer Vol. 16, Nintendo Switch 2 – Chapter 4,” we’re getting our first look at the redesigned Nintendo eShop. It not only looks much sleeker and well organized, but it should also allow for better curation of titles and for you to more easily find titles that interest you.

Similar to the Switch 2’s interface compared to that of the original, Lite, and OLED, it’s not night and day with the shop. You’ll still find your primary sidebar on the left-hand side, but it has new options. I’ll list those out below, but what’s catching my eye is the central portion next to it titled “Game Finds For You.”

(Image credit: Nintendo)

The shared image reads, “Hey there, Sarah! Looking to find some games? We’ve got recommendations!” Seemingly, Nintendo will be doing some personalized curation based on your preferences, and it will be refreshed weekly, on Saturdays, in this case.

Kouichi Kawamoto, Producer, Entertainment Planning and Development Department at Nintendo, says in the post “there's a feature on Nintendo eShop called For You, which lets you quickly see screenshots and watch introduction videos for games.” The team believes this will let you more easily find something you like within a title, and decide if you’d like to get it or not.

Additionally, the Nintendo eShop has been optimized and improved to run on the Switch 2’s larger 7.9-inch display. The post details that Nintendo thinks it’s just as important that the browsing experience here for deciding what to play is as good as a game.

The new sidebar for the eShop, reads as:

• Featured Titles
• Product Search
• Game Finds For You
• Wish List
• Great Deals
• Bestselling Software
• Recent Releases
• Coming Soon
• Nintendo Switch Online
• Enter Code

While it’s not a complete redesign, the optimizations shown off here seem to up the fidelity and enhance the recommendation engine a bit further for the eShop. It’s unclear as of yet if there are more changes or if this new look might trickle down to the Switch Lite, Switch, or Switch OLED.

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• Tinder’s new Game Game feature lets users practice flirting with AI personas
• The voice-based encounters provide real-time feedback on your charm
• Users are rated on a three-flame scale to gamify the experience

I'm very happily married, but the memories of excruciating anxiety in attempts to flirt are carved into my brain forever. Just getting up the nerve to start a conversation felt like a victory. Perhaps it would have felt less intense after practicing with someone who has absolutely no chance of rejecting me, like, say, an AI character. That's what Tinder thinks. The dating app has released an AI-powered experiment called 'The Game Game,' which produces artificial conversational partners and fictional situations for you to practice those pick-up lines.

Despite the April 1st release, The Game Game is a no-fooling real voice-based feature built into Tinder’s iOS app. Using OpenAI’s GPT-4o AI model, the feature lets you practice flirting with AI characters. Play out a scenario like you’re at an airport, and your AI-generated love interest has accidentally picked up your identical suitcase. Sparks fly. You charm them. Or at least, you try.

You access it by tapping the Tinder logo in the corner of the app, where you're dealt a stack of virtual cards. Each one contains a random persona, albeit one based on your age and other preferences. That persona is matched to an often cheesy meet-cute scenario in a random location. Whatever it is, the AI initiates the conversation, and you respond with your voice.

And the voices are all different, with accents, cadences, and tones that are unique. You actually talk out loud to your phone, interrupting each other and talking about the scenario as if you're casually bantering with a charming stranger in real life. You can see a couple examples of the scenarios and the 'people' I talked to below.

(Image credit: Tinder Screenshot)

(Image credit: Tinder Screenshot) Flirting AI

I’ll admit, I went in skeptical, but it was actually a pretty smooth interaction that didn't feel stilted at all. I could imagine attempting to work on my initial conversational gambits with it. The real-time feedback doesn’t just tell you whether you “won” the scenario; it nudges you. If you’re too sarcastic, the AI might suggest you dial it down. If your answers are a little flat, it might prompt you to open up. Based on how you handle yourself, the AI scores your "date" using a three-flame rating system, a flirtatious Michelin rating.

That gamification is likely a major draw for some who like the idea of a somewhat objective rating. Of course, the AI isn't perfect. Sometimes, the responses felt canned, repetitive, or just a little off. There are guardrails in place so users can’t veer into wildly inappropriate territory, which might be overly limiting sometimes, though it does keep the vibe light and weird in the right way.

I don't think The Game Game will be universally loved, as it comes off as a somewhat gimmicky concept. And some people may worry it’s another step toward outsourcing genuine human interaction. But I think most people know it's just a simulation with sophisticated technology that lets you rehearse for real people.

The Game Game is only available for a limited time on iOS in the U.S., but I wouldn't be surprised if Tinder brings it back and expands access should it prove popular. Whether the practice translates to real-life success, well let's just say puns are a hit-or-miss tactic with both AI and real people.

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Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 192, for Thursday, April 3.

Hints and answers for Connections for April 3, No. 662.

• Semimetals promise more efficient conductivity, outperforming copper in energy use
• Copper’s limitations drive the search for semimetals like niobium phosphide
• Niobium phosphide conducts electricity better, even at nanometer thicknesses

For nearly two centuries, copper has been the standard for electrical conductivity, used in wiring, microelectronics, and computing - but as electronic devices become portable power stations, it's clear that copper is reaching its physical limits.

To that end, recent research at Stanford University has shown niobium phosphide can outperform copper in ultra-thin films, making it a promising candidate for nanoscale electronics.

Researchers are exploring semimetals as a potential alternative because these materials possess unique electronic properties that could enhance efficiency, minimize energy loss, and improve performance in next-generation technology.

Unlocking new possibilities in conductivity

Unlike traditional metals, semimetals such as niobium phosphide exhibit distinctive band structures and topological properties, allowing for improved electron transport.

Niobium phosphide (NbP) thin films exhibit much lower resistivity than copper at nanometer scales. As the film thickness decreases, the resistivity of NbP decreases as well, reaching just one-sixth of copper's resistivity at a similar thickness.

At approximately 1.5 nanometers, NbP has a resistivity of about 34 microohm-centimeters at room temperature, significantly outperforming copper’s resistivity of around 100 microohm-centimeters at similar scales.

“Better materials could help us spend less energy in small wires and more energy actually doing computation,” said Eric Pop, a professor at Stanford’s School of Engineering.

The problem with copper is that it becomes less effective as it gets thinner, particularly below 50 nanometers, and struggles to handle rapid electrical signals, resulting in energy loss as heat, yet the Stanford team discovered that NbP, even at just five nanometers thick, conducts electricity more efficiently than copper due to its topological nature, where the material’s outer surface is more conductive than its core.

“Now we have another class of materials – these topological semimetals – that could potentially act as a way to reduce energy usage in electronics,” said Akash Ramdas, a doctoral researcher involved in the study.

One of the key advantages of niobium phosphide is its compatibility with existing semiconductor technologies, as it can be deposited at just 400°C, a temperature low enough to avoid damaging silicon chips. This means it could be integrated into current manufacturing processes without requiring expensive redesigns.

The Stanford team is now exploring other topological semimetals that could further improve performance and efficiency.

“This kind of breakthrough in non-crystalline materials could help address power and energy challenges in both current and future electronics,” Pop explained.

However, there are challenges in making NbP a viable commercial material, such as maintaining the correct layer tolerances during production, as variations in the thickness of the seed Nb layer can impact the resistivity and quality of the NbP film.

As the demand for smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient devices grows, semimetals could play a crucial role in shaping the future of microelectronics. If research continues to advance, nanometer-thick semimetal conductors may soon replace copper in high-performance computing, setting a new standard for electrical conductivity.

Via IEEE Spectrum

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Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 396 for April 3.

Following the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, we've got our first glimpse at how Nintendo might make use of its new top-mounted USB-C port.

When Nintendo unveiled the new Switch 2, the secondary USB-C port caught my attention. No, not because I want a more convenient charging port for playing in tabletop mode or because I use wired controllers and can't be bothered to re-plug them into the dock's USB-C ports.

Instead, I was mostly excited by what this new port could represent for the Switch 2's future accessories, and Nintendo delivered with its new Nintendo Switch 2 Camera.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

As part of its latest livestream, Nintendo unveiled GameChat, which utilizes the new Camera for video calls, in-game AR features, and emotes. It'll be available at launch – June 5, 2025 – for $49.99 / £49.99.

As of this writing, we haven't seen any single-player games use the camera, but in time, you may be able to use it for motion-capture games like the good old heyday of EyeToy and Kinect gaming.

My hope, however, is that the Camera is only the beginning. I'd love to see the likes of the Super Scope 6, the Game Boy Camera and Pocket Printer, or even the Wii's Balance Board.

In an otherwise slightly underwhelming Direct with no major first-party launch titles to catch my eye beyond Mario Kart World, this second USB-C port and its peripheral potential remains one of the most interesting developments in the console.

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The Nintendo Switch 2 Direct has been a rollercoaster of emotions with highs like the GameCube game announcements for Switch Online and the Mario Kart World showcase, and then lows like the eye-wateringly high prices.

The Nintendo Switch 2 will cost $449.99 in the US or £395.99 in the UK (AU pricing is TBC), games like Mario Kart will set you back $79.99 / £74.99, and that cute Welcome Tour title that will explain the console’s features to you? You'll have to pay for that as well.

Cue the Michael Scott reaction:

That can’t be true, you must be thinking. I thought the same, but the official Nintendo of Europe account on Twitter – complete with Gold verification checkmark – described it as a “a paid downloadable launch title for Nintendo Switch 2.” There’s no more solid confirmation than hearing it from Nintendo itself.

Discover all the secrets inside your new console with #NintendoSwitch2 Welcome Tour, a paid downloadable launch title for Nintendo Switch 2. pic.twitter.com/X4SqIPDRtJApril 2, 2025

When the Direct’s Welcome Tour trailer showed us a handful of minigames and digital information desks detailing overly in-depth information on the magnets in the new Joy-Cons my initial reaction was that it looks like a harmless interactive manual and eventual bloatware – the sort of software we’ll hop into for a few minutes while we wait for our actual games to finish installing and eventually delete when we run out of Switch 2 storage.

It didn’t once cross my mind that Nintendo would charge anyone to 'play' Welcome Tour. Pricing has yet to be confirmed, but frankly even $1 / £1 feels too high.

I know this title would have taken time to develop and to fill with demos and info, but surely its cost could have been eaten up by the high Switch 2 price? Right?

I was cautiously excited for the Nintendo Switch 2, and the Direct mostly morphed that into true anticipation. June 5, 2025 was marked on my calendar, and as hype grows I could see myself putting in a preorder despite my promise to myself that a new Mario Kart wouldn’t be enough of a draw.

Now, with this Welcome Tour announcement, and several other missteps, I’m just feeling deflated by the whole launch. Hopefully my frustrations will mellow out in the coming days, but in the Switch 2 vs Steam Deck battle, in my mind the Nintendo console is in a losing position for now.

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Commentary: The original Switch rekindled my love of gaming, but Nintendo has done little to entice me to upgrade.

• MediaTek challenges Broadcom in Google's evolving AI hardware strategy
• Next-gen TPU aims for better AI processing and lower costs
• Google diversifies AI chip supply, reducing reliance on Broadcom

MediaTek and Google will collaborate to develop the next-gen tensor processing units (TPUs), a move which means Google will likely be reducing its reliance on Broadcom in its AI tools hardware business strategy.

The aim of this collaboration is to design an affordable and energy-efficient TPU, produced by TSMC and will likely launch as part of Google’s 7th-gen TPU series.

While Google will lead the overall design, MediaTek will handle input/output modules to facilitate communication between the processor and peripherals, marking a shift from Broadcom’s previous role in TPU core development, though Google is not cutting ties with Broadcom entirely.

Developing more efficient AI processors

Google’s TPUs, designed for demanding AI computations and essential for training the best LLMs, will reportedly see improved efficiency and performance, addressing the increasing demand for powerful AI processing.

Google has been developing its own AI server chips for internal use and cloud services to reduce reliance on external providers like Nvidia, whose dominance in AI hardware contrasts with Google’s push for a more self-sufficient ecosystem through TPU investments.

Meanwhile, Mediatek has been expanding its presence in AI chip development, including partnerships in AI supercomputers.

Ine arly 2025, the company announced an AI supercomputer project collaboration, with its latest partnership with Google aligning with its broader strategy to strengthen its position in the AI industry.

If this collaboration is successful, it may influence the development of the best LLM models by making AI processing more efficient.

Via UDN

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