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Google’s Epic Settlement Brings Fortnite Back to Google Play, Plus Broad Dev Discounts

​Google moved forward on Wednesday with its agreement to settle a years-long antitrust battle with Epic Games, marking a significant development for Fortnite players. While the settlement still awaits final approval, Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney posted the news on X.. “Fortnite will return to Google Play Store worldwide soon,” Sweeney wrote. “Epic Games Store continues supporting Android worldwide alongside Windows and Mac, and installation on Android will become much easier later in 2026.”. A Google representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.. The Epic Games settlement included an offer from Google to change how the Google Play Store works.. “For new installs (first-time installs from users after the new fees are launched in a region), we are reducing the in-app purchase (IAP) service fee to 20%,” Google reported on its Android Developers Blog.. That’s a significant drop from the previous 30%, which could make buying apps more affordable for customers when the change rolls out to US customers by June 30. Google is also discounting its cut of recurring subscription fees to 10%.. Even more important for long-term Google Play offerings, Google is now adding the ability for developers to offer their third-party app store payment option, sideloaded with Google’s payment method, so users will have new choices regarding the platform on which they pay.. Developers stand to benefit from Google Play’s latest changes, though the impact on customers remains unclear. Google. Keep in mind, Google has only just introduced its program allowing qualified alternative app stores on Android and is still in the process of lowering fees, so changes are unlikely to be felt for several months.. When the updates do roll out, developers on Google Play — including Epic Games — will have new opportunities to save money when selling their apps, and new methods to sell that didn’t exist before. That could attract more developers to the Google Play Store and make apps easier for Android users to access. If there’s an app you’ve been wishing was available on Google Play, it’s now more likely to become available.. The changes may also lead to lower prices for customers, although that’s not guaranteed. Google is lowering its profit share, but developers will have to decide whether to pass those savings along to buyers. Fortnite fans aren’t the only ones who have something to look forward to, but it will take time to see the final effects.  

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Rabbit’s Cyberdeck is a modern take on a netbook

​When you think of an AI-forward PC, you might think of something like NVIDIA’s $3,999 DGX Spark — a computer with enough computing power to run complex large language models locally. That’s not what Rabbit is trying to build with Project Cyberdeck. Instead, the company’s goal is to produce a device tailored for vibe coding, and Engadget was given an exclusive first look at the upcoming PC. Rabbit began working on Project Cyberdeck after the company’s CEO, Jesse Lyu, saw how much his software engineers were using Claude Code. Lyu thought a small form factor PC, like the netbooks that were popular in the late aughts, with a command line interface would be ideal for on-the-go vibe coding, but when he went online to look for something that fit the bill, he was disappointed.”They all come with shitty rubber dome keyboards,” Lyu says of low-cost PCs like the latest Chromebooks, which use flexible silicone sheets under their keys to save on space and cost. “They’re not something you would enjoy typing on for an extended period of time.” So Rabbit decided to build its own device. For inspiration, Lyu and company looked to an unlikely source: the Sony Vaio P. The Cyberdeck takes inspiration from the Sony Vaio P. SonySony’s netbook was only briefly available from the start of 2009 to about the end of 2010. At the time, the 8-inch Vaio P was the world’s lightest netbook, weighing just 1.4 pounds, but it had a host of issues. It was also expensive, costing considerably more than other Intel Atom notebooks of the time. In 2009, the most affordable Vaio P would set you back $900 (about $1,365 adjusted for inflation). With Project Cyberdeck, Rabbit is aiming for a device that costs about $500, and hopefully avoids a similar fate.I saw a few early renders of Project Cyberdeck, which Rabbit isn’t ready to share publicly yet. Imagine a cross between the Rabbit R1, Vaio P and the original Nintendo DS. It looks cute. All the renders had four USB-C ports to allow users to connect the device to external monitors and peripherals, though the actual IO specs are as-yet undecided. The company is in the process of sourcing components and working towards a final design, so details can — and will — change. I saw some of the parts Lyu has been testing in his office, but no final prototype as such. For one, Rabbit still needs to decide on a chipset. The company is aiming for a performance benchmark relative to the Raspberry Pi 5, which has a Broadcom BCM2712 quad-core Arm Cortex A76 processor clocked at 2.4GHz. With 16GB of RAM, the Raspberry Pi 5 can run two external monitors, a capability Rabbit hopes to match with the Cyberdeck. The idea here is to make a device that’s powerful enough it won’t feel slow when it’s communicating with Anthropic and OpenAI’s servers, but affordable enough to make it a no-brainer purchase for developers. The company confirmed Project Cyberdeck will run Linux. Rabbit will allow users to modify the operating system and install any third  

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Yeti’s Durable New Portable Power Station Doubles as an Off-Grid Solar Generator and UPS

​Goal Zero’s newest portable power station comes with a more durable build and additional capabilities.  

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My Favorite Gaming Headphones From SteelSeries Cured My Battery Anxiety

​I’ve used a lot of great wireless gaming headsets, but this pair from SteelSeries helped me stop worrying about battery life, making them worth the high price.  

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When to Stream ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 2’ on Peacock

​The scary movie arrives in April.  

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Nano Banana 2: How Much of an Improvement Is Google’s New AI Image Model?

​I edited photos with the original Nano Banana, the pro model and now Nano Banana 2. Here’s how they stack up.  

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