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We’ll soon get a closer look at a bunch of features and updates Google has planned for Android and its other services. The company has confirmed that Google I/O 2026 will take place on May 19 and 20. As always, Google will stream some of the keynotes and sessions for free, including the opening keynote (during which the company makes the bulk of its major I/O announcements).

Although I/O is primarily a conference for developers, it’s typically where we first learn about major upcoming Android changes, which of course affect tens of millions of people. Expect a lot of news about Google’s AI efforts as well, such as what’s next for Gemini.

As has been the case for several years, Google revealed the conference’s dates for 2026 after enough folks completed a puzzle on the I/O website. This year’s puzzle has multiple “builds” to play through, all of which use Gemini.

They start with a mini-golf game in which a virtual caddy that’s powered by Gemini offers some of the most anodyne advice imaginable. The second build is a nonogram. If you’ve ever played a Picross game, you’ll know what to do here. It’s about using logic to place tiles on a grid in order to create an image. Here, Google is using Gemini to generate “endless game boards.”

The other three minigames are Word Wheel (which “leverages Gemini 3 to automate level design”), Super Sonicbot (which “uses Gemini to introduce microphone mechanics where noise controls the Android Bot’s altitude”) and Stretchy Cat. The latter “uses Gemini 3 as a stage designer balancing game mechanics and difficulty to create endless play.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/google-io-2026-is-set-for-may-19-and-20-200805024.html?src=rss 

Texas is suing Wi-Fi router maker TP-Link for deceptively marketing the security of its products and allowing Chinese hacking groups to access Americans’ devices, Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced. Paxton originally started looking into TP-Link in October 2025. Texas Governor Greg Abbott later prohibited state employees from using TP-Link products in January of this year.

TP-Link is no longer owned by a Chinese company and its products are assembled in Vietnam, but Paxton’s lawsuit claims that because the company’s “ownership and supply-chain are tied to China” it’s subject to the country’s data laws, which require companies to comply with requests from Chinese intelligence agencies. The lawsuit also says that firmware vulnerabilities in TP-Link’s hardware have already “exposed millions of consumers to severe cybersecurity risks.”

TP-Link provided the following statement to Engadget in response to the lawsuit:

The claims made by the Texas Attorney General’s office are without merit and will be proven false. TP-Link Systems Inc. is an independent American company. Neither the Chinese government nor the CCP exercises any form of ownership or control over TP-Link, its products, or its user data. TP-Link’s founder and CEO, Jeffrey Chao, resides in Irvine, CA, and is not and never has been a member of the CCP. To ensure the highest level of security, our core operations and infrastructure are located entirely within the United States, and all U.S. users’ networking data is stored securely on Amazon Web Services servers. We will continue to vigorously defend our reputation as a trusted provider of secure connectivity for American families.

TP-Link was reportedly being investigated at the federal level in 2024 after its devices were connected to the massive “Salt Typhoon” hack that accessed data from multiple US telecom companies. Despite all signs pointing to the federal government getting ready to ban TP-Link in 2025, Reuters reports that the Trump administration paused plans to ban the company’s routers in early February, ahead of a meeting between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping.

Update, February 17, 3:38PM ET: Added statement from TP-Link.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/texas-ag-sues-tp-link-over-purported-connection-to-china-193802258.html?src=rss 

Netflix has been in the game adaptation business for a while now, but until recently most of its attention had been on adapting video games. That’s still very much happening, but the streaming giant is also now buying up rights for board game IP too, with the latest being Asmodee’s Ticket to Ride.

Netflix will look to greenlight a number of projects spanning TV, film and “additional formats,” it wrote in a press release. The first of these will be a feature film written by Ben Mekler and Chris Amick. Ticket to Ride creator Alan R. Moon will serve as an executive producer on the project, which will be the game’s first on-screen adaptation. Exactly what it will look like is not yet clear, but the internet already has plenty of theories.

Ticket to Ride is a train-themed turn-based strategy and route-building game first released over 20 years ago. Since then it has gone on to ship more than 20 million copies and has been translated into over 30 languages. It’s also been given the video game adaptation treatment before.

This is actually the second of Asmodee’s IP that Netflix has acquired the rights to, after announcing last year that Catan will also be making its way to screens in various forms. And it isn’t just interested in scripted TV and movie opportunities. In early 2025, the company also signed a deal with Hasbro to adapt Monopoly into a TV game show.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/netflix-is-adapting-the-board-game-ticket-to-ride-180505164.html?src=rss 

Fans of The Mandalorian and his tiny green apprentice Grogu are getting their best look yet at the duo’s upcoming theatrical adventure, set for release this spring. It’s hard to believe that it’s been just over six years since the last Star Wars movie was released in theaters, followed by wall-to-wall coverage of so-called Star Wars Fatigue.

The newest trailer, released today, clocks in at just over two minutes long and offers some new footage and details to sink our teeth into. Picking up after the events of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, the Empire has collapsed and Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu are tasked with taking out a bevy of baddies from gangsters to war criminals for the New Republic. Colonel Ward, new to the Star Wars universe and played by Sigourney Weaver, tells Djarin, “This isn’t about revenge, it’s about preventing another war.”

Jeremy Allen White will also star in the film, as Rotta the Hutt, Jabba’s son, who we briefly see battling Din Djarin in a colosseum of sorts. Notably, at one point we see Djarin on his knees before Jabba sans helmet, so we’ll definitely be getting some moments of Pedro Pascal unfiltered by Beskar. Like any Star Wars adventure, we see flashes of some new creatures that our heroes will face. Most importantly, we see Grogu being downright adorable, playing with buttons on the ship, commandeering a flying bassinet, and snacking on a cookie.

The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters on May 22 and, according to the trailer, was shot at least in part for IMAX.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-first-full-trailer-for-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-is-here-164244117.html?src=rss 

Netflix is streaming its very first live MMA fight on May 16. The combatants are one-time phenom Ronda Rousey and one-time actor Gina Carano. Both women have retired from the sport. Rousey left in 2016 and Carano left all the way back in 2009. In any event, they are both back for one night only.

The featherweight bout will take place inside a hexagon cage and will stream globally. It’s likely Netflix had to choose two retired fighters because current stars are under contracts with various promotional entities. This fight is co-hosted by Most Valuable Productions, a promotional company started by Jake Paul.

Netflix has already been streaming boxing matches, so MMA seems like a natural next step. The platform has also aired live talk shows, golf events and awards ceremonies.

If you’re unfamiliar with the aforementioned fighters, Rousey is a UFC champion and Olympic medalist who has a fantastic 12-2 record in MMA. Carano is a pioneer in the sport, starting her career all the way back in 2006.

She also played Cara Dune in The Mandalorian before getting into hot water after social media posts that mocked mask wearing during the pandemic, alleged voter fraud during the 2020 election and denigrated transgender people. However, it really came to a head when she doubled down on her comments, likening the social media blowback conservatives receive to what Jewish people experienced during the holocaust. That’s when she was fired from the hit Star Wars show.

Carano has since teamed up with Elon Musk to sue Disney over the firing. In related news, there’s a fresh trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu movie and it’s pretty darned fun.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/netflix-is-streaming-its-first-mma-fight-on-may-16-165702479.html?src=rss