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After the tremendous three hours of spice, sandworms, and Sardaukar that is Dune: Part Two, you may find yourself with some questions. Given the film's cataclysmic ending, your biggest one might just be, "What in the world comes next?" Or, "When will director Denis Villeneuve start shooting a third Dune movie, because I need it pronto?"

Unlike Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), I cannot see through the storms of time and give you any foresight on the timeline of Villeneuve's next moves. (Although he has said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that the script for a third Dune is almost done.) As Mashable's resident Dune-head, what I can do is offer up some insight as to why Paul goes full space despot, clarify any of the more granular questions you may have, and dig into what we can expect from an adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune Messiah.

From Paul's fight against Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler) to Chani's (Zendaya) game-changing final decision, let's get into the ending of Dune: Part Two.

SEE ALSO: 'Dune: Part Two' review: Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi masterpiece soars, then screams to a halt Paul embraces the role of Lisan al-Gaib. Timothée Chalamet in "Dune: Part Two." Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

The Bene Gesserit propaganda about the Lisan al-Gaib, a messianic figure who will free the Fremen, haunts Paul throughout Dune: Part Two. If he takes on the title, he could have a better chance at getting revenge on Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV (Christopher Walken) for sanctioning the attack that destroyed House Atreides. Yet he would also be taking control of Arrakis's indigenous Fremen people, betraying Chani, and kickstarting the holy war he sees in his visions of the future. Due to these visions, Paul spends most of the film fearing his new worshippers and fighting against the inevitable. He knows that if he goes to the south of Arrakis and meets the fundamentalist Fremen living there (a new addition by Villeneuve and co-writer Jon Spaihts), there will be no stopping the oncoming jihad.

SEE ALSO: Denis Villeneuve breaks down the evolution of sandworms in 'Dune: Part Two'

However, the arrival of the brutal Feyd-Rautha on Arrakis proves catastrophic for the Northern Fremen. When Feyd's forces destroy Sietch Tabr, Paul realizes that victory will only come if he strengthens his prescience. To do that, he must go south and drink the Water of Life — the spice-rich bile of a drowned baby sandworm — that only Reverend Mothers can drink. Upon doing so, he discovers that his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) is the daughter of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), meaning that he shares blood with the mortal enemy of House Atreides. The revelation unlocks a narrow path forward for Paul to triumph over the encroaching Harkonnens and Imperial forces. But as he tells Jessica, the way they win will be by being Harkonnens — in other words, by being monsters themselves.

So, at a meeting of the Fremen leaders, Paul does the monstrous thing he'd always feared and claims the title of Lisan al-Gaib. By doing so, he asserts his dominance over the entire Fremen population and prepares to use them in one last stand against the Emperor and the Harkonnens.

Paul and the Fremen fight the Harkonnens and Imperial Sardaukar for Arrakis. Timothée Chalamet and Austin Butler in "Dune: Part Two." Credit: Niko Tavernise

Emperor Shaddam IV and his daughter Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh) arrive on Arrakis to answer Paul's play for the throne (and to to scold the Harkonnens for mucking up spice production). Thanks to a massive storm, the Atreides family atomics, and the might of sandworms, Paul and his Fremen forces make easy work of the Harkonnens and the Emperor's Sardaukar soldiers. In the fight, Paul kills Baron Harkonnen, while Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin) takes down Rabban Harkonnen (Dave Bautista).

SEE ALSO: 'Dune: Part Two': What does Paul tell Baron Harkonnen?

But Paul isn't just fighting for control of Arrakis. He wants the Emperor to face consequences for his attempts to stamp out House Atreides. He challenges the Emperor for the throne, and Feyd steps up to be Shaddam's champion. The two face off in a knife duel to the death — called Kanly in the books — which Paul narrowly wins. In beating the Emperor's champion, he also beats the Emperor, therefore allowing him to take his place.

What's next for the Harkonnens and the Emperor? Stellan Skarsgård and Austin Butler in "Dune: Part Two." Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Feyd's death marks the end of House Harkonnen as we know it, but the bloodline is preserved by Marie, Feyd's child with Lady Margot Fenring (Léa Seydoux) who is yet to be born. However, since she only appears in Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's novel Paul of Dune, don't expect to see her pop up in Dune Messiah anytime soon. The Harkonnens, with all their bald, freaky villainy, are gone.

Don't think for a second that the good guys have won, though. At this point, Paul is as far from a hero as they come. He takes Princess Irulan as his wife and forces the Emperor to kiss his ring — with a bratty stomp to boot! Despite his show of power, the other Great Houses of the Landsraad aren't happy about Paul's rise. They refuse to accept Paul's ascendancy, at which point Paul utters four chilling words: "Lead them to paradise." Essentially, kill them all. The holy war Paul avoided for months finally begins in earnest.

SEE ALSO: Go behind the scenes of 'Dune: Part Two' with this stunning making-of book

Paul's command to the zealous Fremen is actually a new addition by Villeneuve and Spaihts. In Herbert's work, the jihad begins in the years between Dune and Dune Messiah, unseen by the reader. Here, the choice to have Paul explicitly declare the war himself emphasizes his turn towards exploiting the Fremen and oppressing the Imperium. It's only a shade of what's to come, but it's horrific enough that Chani leaves him and the Fremen and sets outs on her own.

Where is Chani going? Zendaya in "Dune: Part Two." Credit: Niko Tavernise

The final shot of Dune: Part Two is not one of Paul embracing his new power, but rather of a furious, determined Chani preparing to ride a sandworm off into the desert, away from Paul and his conquering forces. Her departure marks a major shift from the original Dune, where she stood by Paul's side through thick and thin.

Even though this ending might be a surprise for book fans, Dune: Part Two does hint at Chani's new path throughout. She's more defiant of Paul and more skeptical of the Lisan al-Gaib prophecy, but that doesn't stop her from loving him. Perhaps most telling is a line shared between them in a romantic moment: "You will never lose me, Paul Atreides," Chani says. "Not as long as you remain who you are." Of course, by the end of Dune: Part Two, Paul is no longer the Paul Atreides Chani came to know and love. He's the Lisan al-Gaib, the Kwisatz Haderach, and her people's newest oppressor. There's nothing for Chani but anguish if she stays with him.

So, where is she going now? Again, in Herbert's work she stays with Paul throughout, so this is a new twist from Villeneuve and Spaihts. Maybe she'll stay true to her warrior roots and work to fight against Paul. However, since he's amplified his prescience, and since he has all the Fremen at his back, it will be the most uphill of uphill battles. Could Chani muster up a resistance force of her own?

What's next for Dune? The sandworms storm the Sardaukar in "Dune: Part Two." Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Chani leaving Paul is the biggest switch between Herbert's books and Villeneuve's films, yet it helps underscore Paul's brutal betrayal of the friends — now followers — he'd made on Arrakis. Other than this shift, most of the pieces are in place for Dune Messiah, the second book in the Dune series and the film Villeneuve has proposed as concluding his Dune trilogy. Without getting too deep into spoilers, here's what you can expect from the rest of Paul's story.

Dune Messiah picks up 12 years after Paul becomes Emperor. The jihad rages on, the Fremen have conquered much of the universe in Paul's name, and 61 billion people are dead. Paul attempts to use his powers to steer humanity down the path of least destruction, but there are forces at play against him. The Bene Gesserit have crafted a plot to dethrone him, one that includes the involvement of Princess Irulan. (If you're annoyed we didn't get much Pugh in this movie, you'll be happy to know she's a major player going forward.) Herbert introduces a new society in the Tleilaxu as well, whose genetic manipulation more or less resurrects a character we lost in the first Dune.

SEE ALSO: Denis Villeneuve breaks down the evolution of sandworms in 'Dune: Part Two'

Paul's sister Alia Atreides (Anya Taylor-Joy) also plays a much larger role in Dune Messiah, especially considering how little we see of her in Dune: Part Two. Thanks to Jessica drinking the Water of Life while pregnant, Alia has all the capabilities of a fully trained Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother, making her a valuable asset to Paul in his attempts to remain in power.

Then there's the matter of Chani. She and Paul are still very much together in Dune Messiah, even though he's married to Princess Irulan. Their relationship, and Paul's attempts to protect her from harm, are at the heart of the novel. Yet their separation at the end of Dune: Part Two complicates this aspect of the story, and could have bigger consequences down the line, adaptation-wise.

Paul does tell Jessica that he's foreseen Chani coming to understand his decisions, so there's a chance they'll reconcile in Villeneuve's take on Dune Messiah. But since Paul's prescience isn't always accurate, is this vision certain to come to pass? Can Chani really forgive Paul after everything he's done? Or will Villeneuve depart further from Herbert's work when it comes to Chani's fate? We won't get the answers to these questions until the release of a potential Dune Messiah, so to that I say: "Let the sequels flow."

Dune: Part Two is now in theaters.

The sandworms we see in Dune: Part Two couldn't be farther from those we see in the first Dune. Yes, they share the same physical characteristics: a circular mouth, crystalline teeth, thick hide perfect for weathering Arrakis' brutal desert conditions. But on a narrative level, they serve a different function, shifting from mysterious entities to well-known allies.

"In part one, [the sandworms] are a threat, an invisible threat," director Denis Villeneuve told Mashable in a video interview. "You hear about them, but you barely see them."

SEE ALSO: 'Dune: Part Two' review: Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi masterpiece soars, then screams to a halt For outsiders to Arrakis, sandworms are a hidden threat. Timothée Chalamet in "Dune: Part Two." Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Indeed, our sandworm interactions in 2021's Dune are mostly limited to flashes of their mouths sucking down spice harvesters, or hints of their bodies surging beneath the sand. Part of this is due to the sandworm behavior Villeneuve worked to bring to the screen. "A sandworm will always try to protect itself from the surface," he said. "It's a very shy creature. I love the idea that it's trying to be as invisible as possible, even if it's a huge being."

The limited glimpses of sandworms in Dune are also a matter of perspective. As seen through the eyes of characters who aren't native to Arrakis, like Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) or Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac), the sandworms are alien unknowns to be feared. Dune's careful withholding of sandworm imagery adheres accordingly to these characters' points of view and to their unfamiliarity with the desert.

SEE ALSO: An ode to 'Dune's sandworms, the coolest creatures you'll see on screen this year

It isn't until Paul and his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) find themselves in the deep desert of Arrakis that we see a sandworm in full for the first time, looming above the pair as they take shelter on a rocky outcropping. The scene marks a major shift in how Dune treats the legendary sci-fi beast. There's no more hiding of the sandworm. We linger on this creature for several beats, the film accustoming us to the sight. The message is clear: Paul, Jessica, and the audience aren't in Arrakeen anymore. They're in Fremen territory now, and that means worms.

Dune: Part Two builds further on that pivotal sandworm scene. There's no more obfuscation or mystery surrounding them. Here, we get up close and personal with their scaly, ridged surfaces. Characters ride them through the desert or into battle. At one point, we even meet a baby sandworm kept in a Fremen sietch in order to make the substance known as the Water of Life.

Sandworm familiarity becomes a form of cultural osmosis. Javier Bardem in "Dune: Part Two." Credit: Niko Tavernise

The new side of sandworms on display in Dune: Part Two is a direct result of Paul's alliance with the Fremen. As we get to better know the indigenous people of Arrakis, we also understand their perspective on aspects of desert living, such as the sandworms. They view the sandworms — whom they call Shai-Hulud — as a physical manifestation of their god, so they treat them with faithful reverence. Yet they've also been able to control sandworms and use them for their own needs, such as transportation. A sandworm can even be a form of garbage disposal: In one darkly funny scene early in Dune: Part Two, the Fremen call a worm to devour the bodies of slaughtered Harkonnen soldiers, leaving no trace of their prior battle.

SEE ALSO: Go behind the scenes of 'Dune: Part Two' with this stunning making-of book

The evolution of the sandworm from frightening beast to a familiar part of everyday life is also present in Frank Herbert's novel. Upon re-encountering Paul after two years apart, Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin) is astonished by the Fremen's ease around the sandworms. "The creature all men on Arrakis fear, you treat it like a riding animal," he tells Paul. The idea of "all men" really only applies to offworlders who view the sandworms as obstacles for spice production. While colonizing forces like the Harkonnens and Atreides run from worms, the Fremen embrace them.

For Villeneuve, Paul's proximity to the Fremen and love of their culture gave him a greater opportunity to explore how the Fremen interact with worms. "The more Paul learns about the Fremen culture, the more he wants to be a part of it," Villeneuve explained. "That really touched me, how Paul wants to immerse himself in a culture and not impose his way, but more become one of them. And one of the aspects of [being a Fremen] is to be able to master a sandworm."

In Dune: Part Two, Paul finally masters a sandworm. Timothée Chalamet in "Dune: Part Two." Credit: Niko Tavernise

That brings us to the sandworm centerpiece of Dune: Part Two: the first time Paul rides a sandworm. Not only is this one of the most memorable scenes from Frank Herbert's original novel, it's also the closest we've gotten physically to a sandworm in this franchise so far. To pull the set piece off, Villeneuve tried to ground it in reality as much as he could.

"All of this was based on my own interpretation of the book, how a Fremen will be able to jump on and harness a worm, and how this could be physically possible," Villeneuve said. "I wanted the sandworm riding sequence to look as real as possible, as edgy as possible. I wanted it to feel like a motorbike race." The result is a tense avalanche of sand and spice, where Villeneuve invites audiences to feel every bump and drop in Paul's ride. We also get to see new details of the worms' physical forms, like bristles and the sensitive inner sections of their segmented rings.

The scene took months to plan, with the creation of a specialized "worm unit" working to perfect the interactions between humans and sandworms. "[They were] like Navy SEALs dedicated to the exploration of the technique that I wanted to develop," Villeneuve said. He played coy about the actual technology developed for the scene, though, saying: "I'm always shy to talk about how we shot things, because it breaks the magic in a way. I love people to believe what we've done."

Still, even after perfecting the art of sandworm riding and giving us a deeper look into how sandworms are integrated into Fremen life, Villeneuve revealed there's more to explore with these iconic inhabitants of Arrakis. After all, we've only seen the outside of a worm — what's going on past those teeth? If Villeneuve gets his way, we'll find out.

"If there's ever a Dune Messiah adaptation, I have a great idea," he said, his face lighting up. "About how you get out of a sandworm."

Dune: Part Two is now in theaters.

With the release of Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve has officially (and successfully!) translated the entirety of Frank Herbert's Dune to the screen.

Just like with 2021's Dune, Dune: Part Two makes some major changes from its source material. Some of these carry over from the first film. For example, since we didn't see any of the storyline where Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac) pretends to think Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) is a traitor in Dune, we don't get any of the in-book fallout from that plot in Dune: Part Two. It's a solid way to streamline a story with an already-massive scale, a tactic Villeneuve and his co-writer Jon Spaihts continue to use throughout Dune: Part Two.

SEE ALSO: 'Dune: Part Two' review: Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi masterpiece soars, then screams to a halt

However, many of the other changes Villeneuve and Spaihts make in Dune: Part Two help better surface the themes at the core of Herbert's work — such as Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) being far from a hero — as opposed to taking any meaning away. From cut characters to an expanded role for Chani (Zendaya), here are the biggest ways Dune: Part Two differs from Herbert's novel.

Characters like Count Fenring get the chop. Léa Seydoux in "Dune: Part Two." Credit: Niko Tavernise

Villeneuve left some major characters out of Dune, including Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV, and Princess Irulan. Turns out he was just saving them for Dune: Part Two, where they're played by Austin Butler, Christopher Walken, and Florence Pugh.

Some characters still didn't make the cut for Part Two, though. Count Hasimir Fenring, a close friend to the Emperor, is completely missing, although his Bene Gesserit wife Margot (Léa Seydoux) pops up on the Harkonnen homeworld of Giedi Prime. We also lose out on Fremen characters like Harah, who becomes Paul's wife after he kills her husband Jamis (Babs Olusanmokun). Dune: Part Two drops a character from its predecessor as well. In the novel, Mentat Thufir Hawat (Stephen McKinley Henderson) originally serves the Harkonnens following their attack on the Atreides. Here, he's completely missing, likely dead by Harkonnen hands. Again, these are all streamlining choices — ones that clear space for the film to dig deeper into Paul's journey to becoming the messianic figure known as Muad'Dib.

SEE ALSO: Go behind the scenes of 'Dune: Part Two' with this stunning making-of book How do you solve a problem like Alia? Rebecca Ferguson in "Dune: Part Two." Credit: Niko Tavernise

The strangest part of Dune isn't the psychotropic space drugs, or the giant sandworms. Instead, it's Jessica and Leto's daughter Alia Atreides. After being exposed to the Water of Life in the womb, Alia is born fully conscious and with all the capabilities of an adult Bene Gesserit like Jessica, making for one spooky smart kiddo.

Naturally, it's a huge challenge to try to bring a toddler who is also a superbeing to a live-action film. Dune: Part Two cheats a bit by never actually having Alia be born. The film opts to keep Alia as a growing fetus who communicates telepathically with Jessica. The only other crumbs of Alia we get come after Paul drinks the Water of Life. He sees Alia all grown up — and played by Anya Taylor-Joy!

SEE ALSO: We tested the Dune 2 Sandworm Popcorn Bucket. It was uncomfortable.

On the one hand, I understand why Dune: Part Two wouldn't want to introduce us to Alia as a child. That's a whole new character to throw at us midway through an already-stuffed movie, and given her unnerving nature, there's a high bar to clear in order to get it right. But as someone who loves the strangeness of Alia — including Alicia Witt's performance in David Lynch's Dune — I'm bummed Dune: Part Two chose to play it safer on this particular storyline. What do you mean we don't get to see a 2-year-old murder Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård)? I guess watching Paul stab him will have to make do.

Alia not being born also accelerates Dune: Part Two's timeline. Given Jessica's pregnancy, the events of the film have to take place over less than nine months. That means that Paul builds a massive following over a span of months instead of the years it takes in the book. (He and Chani have a son during a two-year time jump as well.) He also spends these years fighting through visions of the coming jihad before finally accepting that he is unable to stop it. A more drawn-out timeline may not have translated to film, but it does add to the tragedy that Paul is fighting the inevitable for much, much longer before giving in.

Dune: Part Two ups the religious conflict on Arrakis. Zendaya and Rebecca Ferguson in "Dune: Part Two." Credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

While much of the adaptation changes in Dune involved paring down Herbert's work, Villeneuve and Spaihts actually make some additions of their own in Dune: Part Two. They introduce the completely new concept of an ideological divide between the Fremen in the North and South of Arrakis. The fundamentalists in the South are fervent believers in the prophecy of the Lisan al-Gaib, and they are quicker to follow Paul. Among them is Stilgar (Javier Bardem), who now lives in the North but who carries his deep faith with him. However, many of the Northerners he leads, including Chani, are more skeptical of the legend. They prefer to believe that the Fremen will free themselves from the tyranny of off-world colonizers.

With this divide, Villeneuve and Spaihts smartly and explicitly lay out Herbert's criticism of the meteoric rise of charismatic leaders. Much of this criticism comes from Chani herself, who gets a lot more to do in Dune: Part Two than in Dune. She is unafraid to push back against Paul, unlike in the book, where she and the Fremen are fast followers. Here, she reminds her people that the Lisan al-Gaib prophecy, cultivated by the Bene Gesserit over centuries, is just another way to enslave the Fremen. As she says to Paul, "You tell people a messiah will come to control them."

SEE ALSO: Missing 'Dune: Part Two'? Check out these three 'Dune'-related books.

Chani's understandable mistrust of the Lisan al-Gaib prophecy places her in direct conflict with Jessica as well, even though the two share a more supportive relationship in the book. That conflict comes from Jessica actively fanning the flames of Paul's legend throughout Dune: Part Two. The novel's version of Jessica is apprehensive of the growing fervor surrounding her son, although she'll play into the prophecy if it means she and Paul will survive. The film's version of Jessica also leans into the prophecy for protection, but after her Reverend Mother transformation, she exploits it for power and influence for Paul, hoping it will help him step into the role of Kwisatz Haderach. Up until Paul fully claims the title of Lisan al-Gaib, Jessica is Dune: Part Two's clearest manifestation of how people will manipulate faith in order to get what they want.

Chani rides (a worm) off into the sunset. Zendaya in "Dune: Part Two." Credit: Niko Tavernise

In altering Chani's role from the novel and making her more critical of Paul, Villeneuve and Spaihts step away from Herbert's version of Chani, who is loyal to a fault. That change necessitates a completely different ending for Zendaya's Chani. After all her fighting for her people against oppressors, there's no way this take on the character would be content with being Paul's concubine as he marries Princess Irulan and takes over the Imperium. (In other words, for fans of the book, history won't be calling her a wife.)

Instead, Dune: Part Two ends with Chani leaving Paul as he wages war on the Great Houses. And who can blame her? The man she loves took full control over her people. Worst of all, Chani played a part in helping him get there. Her secret Fremen name Sihaya translates to "desert spring," a name she hates because of "some stupid prophecy." That prophecy turns out to be that of the Lisan al-Gaib, which claims that desert spring tears will revive the legendary prophet. When Paul nearly dies after drinking the Water of Life, Jessica uses the Voice to make Chani give Paul her tears, forcing her into the prophecy that has always been hanging over her head. Villeneuve and Spaihts have tweaked this section from the original book. There, Chani (also named Sihaya) does revive Paul, but it is completely voluntary, doesn't require her tears, and isn't linked to any kind of prophecy. Her forced part in the prophecy in Dune: Part Two makes for a crushing loss of agency and plants the seeds for her eventual departure.

Said departure brings us into uncharted Dune territory. Villeneuve has spoken about wanting to adapt Dune Messiah, the next book in the Dune series, and a huge element of that story is Chani's relationship with Paul. Her final moments in Dune: Part Two raise some big questions for this adaptation going forward. Will she lead a Fremen resistance against Paul? Or will she and Paul somehow find their way back to each other? Paul claims that he has seen Chani coming to understand his decisions in the future, but does that mean she'll rejoin him? And if so, what will Villeneuve do to reconcile that choice with the version of Chani we see in Dune: Part Two? Basically, Chani's departure has opened up a whole new can of sandworms heading into a potential Dune Messiah. But given how much more complicated Chani becomes in this film, and how much her defiance adds to Dune: Part Two's themes and doomed romance, I'm optimistically intrigued to see what comes next for her.

"Lead them to paradise." Timothée Chalamet in "Dune: Part Two." Credit: Niko Tavernise

Speaking of Dune: Part Two's last moments, let's dive into Paul's final choice of the film. After defeating Feyd-Rautha in a duel, Paul takes the throne of the Imperium. However, the Great Houses in orbit above Arrakis refuse to legitimize his ascendancy. Paul's instructions to the Fremen upon hearing this? "Lead them to paradise." And so the holy war he never wanted begins in earnest, by his decree.

The Great Houses' defiance of Paul and his subsequent declaration of war are new. In the novel, the jihad begins off-page, in the time jump between Dune and Dune Messiah. But watching the war kick off in Dune: Part Two proves to be a chilling ending, and a tragedy to boot. In embracing the Fremen as tools of war, Paul has transformed into a cruel leader who may be more Harkonnen than Atreides — and is certainly not a hero.

That transformation is in keeping with Herbert's Dune, which was always a cautionary tale, never a hero's story. The sentiment of caution is present in his original novel, but he really hammers it home in Dune Messiah, putting any misconceptions about Paul as a hero to rest. With Dune: Part Two, Villeneuve is already laying the groundwork for Dune Messiah and addressing many of its core themes earlier on. The result is bleak, bloody, and a perfect encapsulation of Herbert's messaging. (But yes, I still miss Alia.)

Dune: Part Two is now in theaters.

The saga of Coyote vs. Acme is one of the bleakest in entertainment today.

The Looney Tunes-based film, a hybrid of live-action and animation directed by Dave Green and written by Academy Award nominee Samy Burch (May December), is being scrapped by Warner Bros. Discovery for tax purposes, even though it's completed. It's the same fate that has befallen films like Batgirl and Scoob!: Holiday Haunt, and it's the latest in a disturbing trend of entertainment companies removing movies and TV shows from their slates in order to make back a quick buck.

SEE ALSO: 5 wildest things about Max canceling John Cena's Wile E. Coyote movie

As reported by The Wrap, Warner Bros. was looking to sell the canceled Coyote vs. Acme to other companies like Netflix and Amazon. However, it rejected other streamers' offers, as it was seeking $75 million to $80 million. In the same report, sources revealed that the executives who decided to axe the film — including Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav — hadn't even seen a final cut of the flick.

On Feb. 29, Coyote vs. Acme star Will Forte took to social media to tell the cast and crew that he was proud of the film, even if he hated the situation it found itself in. He wrote:

Tweet may have been deleted

To the Cast and Crew of Coyote vs. Acme —

I know that a lot of you haven't gotten a chance to see our movie. And sadly, it's looking like you never will.

When I first heard that our movie was getting "deleted," I hadn't seen it yet. So I was thinking what everyone else must have been thinking: This thing must be a hunk of junk.

But then I saw it.

And it's incredible.

Super funny throughout, visually stunning, sweet, sincere, and emotionally resonant in a very earned way. As the credits rolled, I just sat there thinking how lucky I was to be a part of something so special. That quickly turned to confusion and frustration. This was the movie they're not going to release?

Look, when it comes to Hollywood business stuff, I don't know shit about shit. Even when a movie tests very well (like ours), there's no guarantee that it's gonna be a hit. And at the end of the day, the people who paid for this movie can obviously do whatever they want with it. It's doesn't mean I have to like it (I fucking hate it). Or agree with it. And it doesn't mean that this movie is anything less than magnificent.

You would be so proud of it — a movie that should be seen, but won't. Please know that all the years and years of hard work, dedication and love that you put into this movie shows in every frame.

That's all folks,

Will Forte

Will Forte isn't the only Coyote vs. Acme star to speak out about the choice to shelve the film. Eric Bauza, the voice of Wile E. Coyote, demanded that Warner Bros. "release Coyote vs. Acme!" during a speech at the 2024 Annie Awards.

In response to Forte's letter, Bauza tweeted:

Tweet may have been deleted

Alibaba wants you to compare its new AI video generator to OpenAI's Sora. Otherwise, why use it to make Sora's most famous creation belt out a Dua Lipa song?

On Tuesday, an organization called the "Institute for Intelligent Computing" within the Chinese e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba released a paper about an intriguing new AI video generator it has developed that's shockingly good at turning still images of faces into passable actors and charismatic singers. The system is called EMO, a fun backronym supposedly drawn from the words "Emotive Portrait Alive" (though, in that case, why is it not called "EPO"?).

EMO is a peek into a future where a system like Sora makes video worlds, and rather than being populated by attractive mute people just kinda looking at each other, the "actors" in these AI creations say stuff — or even sing.

Alibaba put demo videos on GitHub to show off its new video-generating framework. These include a video of the Sora lady — famous for walking around AI-generated Tokyo just after a rainstorm — singing "Don't Start Now" by Dua Lipa and getting pretty funky with it.

The demos also reveal how EMO can, to cite one example, make Audrey Hepburn speak the audio from a viral clip of Riverdale's Lili Reinhart talking about how much she loves crying. In that clip, Hepburn's head maintains a rather soldier-like upright position, but her whole face — not just her mouth — really does seem to emote the words in the audio. 

SEE ALSO: What was Sora trained on? Creatives demand answers.

In contrast to this uncanny version of Hepburn, Reinhart in the original clip moves her head a whole lot, and she also emotes quite differently, so EMO doesn't seem to be a riff on the sort of AI face-swapping that went viral back in the mid-2010s and led to the rise of deepfakes in 2017.  

Over the past few years, applications designed to generate facial animation from audio have cropped up, but they haven't been all that inspiring. For instance, the NVIDIA Omniverse software package touts an app with an audio-to-facial-animation framework called "Audio2Face" — which relies on 3D animation for its outputs rather than simply generating photorealistic video like EMO.

Despite Audio2Face only being two years old, the EMO demo makes it look like an antique. In a video that purports to show off its ability to mimic emotions while talking, the 3D face it depicts looks more like a puppet in a facial expression mask, while EMO's characters seem to express the shades of complex emotion that come across in each audio clip.

It's worth noting at this point that, like with Sora, we're assessing this AI framework based on a demo provided by its creators, and we don't actually have our hands on a usable version that we can test. So it's tough to imagine that right out of the gate this piece of software can churn out such convincingly human facial performances based on audio without significant trial and error, or task-specific fine-tuning. 

The characters in the demos mostly aren't expressing speech that calls for extreme emotions — faces screwed up in rage, or melting down in tears, for instance — so it remains to be seen how EMO would handle heavy emotion with audio alone as its guide. What's more, despite being made in China, it's depicted as a total polyglot, capable of picking up on the phonics of English and Korean, and making the faces form the appropriate phonemes with decent — though far from perfect — fidelity. So in other words, it would be nice to see what would happen if you put audio of a very angry person speaking a lesser-known language into EMO to see how well it performed.

Also fascinating are the little embellishments between phrases — pursed lips or a downward glance — that insert emotion into the pauses rather than just the times when the lips are moving. These are examples of how a real human face emotes, and it's tantalizing to see EMO get them so right, even in such a limited demo.  

According to the paper, EMO's model relies on a large dataset of audio and video (once again: from where?) to give it the reference points necessary to emote so realistically. And its diffusion-based approach apparently doesn't involve an intermediate step in which 3D models do part of the work. A reference-attention mechanism and a separate audio-attention mechanism are paired by EMO's model to provide animated characters whose facial animations match what comes across in the audio while remaining true to the facial characteristics of the provided base image. 

It's an impressive collection of demos, and after watching them it's impossible not to imagine what's coming next. But if you make your money as an actor, try not to imagine too hard, because things get pretty disturbing pretty quick.  

Featured Video For You Sora Explainer

After months of rumors, we may have just gotten our eyes (sort of) on Apple's newest iPad Pro.

The device showed up in some CAD (computer-aided design) drawings that popped up online, per MacRumors, which pointed out that these things tend to leak out of China-based actories from time to time.

This shouldn't surprise anyone, but it looks an awful lot like an iPad.

SEE ALSO: Don't buy a new MacBook Air, iPad – updates are reportedly around the corner Tweet may have been deleted

There are a couple of rumored major changes for the next-generation iPad Pro — and one of them is quite clear in the renders: a thinner, slimmer profile. The device's dimensions suggest that there will be 11-inch and 13-inch models; both will be substantially thinner than the iPad Pro models currently on the market.

Credit: Stan Schroeder / Mashable

The 13-inch model, in particular, could be more than 1mm thinner than the current 12.9-inch version.

Another possible big change is the addition of an OLED display, something Apple has been using on smaller devices like iPhones for years, but has been slow to adopt for bigger displays. OLED panels can emanate deeper blacks and an overall richer image than what Apple has used on iPads before.

It may also lead to a price increase, but we'll have to wait and see on that front. Given that the rumors point to a possible March announcement, we may not have to wait long.

The next Windows 11 update will introduce a gaggle of new features, including enhancements to sharing photos and documents, tweaks to Snap Layouts, and changes to Widgets.

Microsoft has also made some changes to Copilot and two creator-focused, preinstalled apps (i.e., Photos app and Clipchamp). But here, we'll be focusing on how the Redmond-based tech giant improved the Windows 11 experience at large.

7 new Windows 11 features coming to your PC soon

What's in store for your Windows 11 workflow? Check out seven new features coming your way.

• Use your phone as your webcam. According to Microsoft, Windows 11 users will soon have the option to use their Android phone as a webcam for all video-conferencing apps.

• Snap Layouts is smarter. Snap Layouts, a beloved feature that lets Windows 11 users "snap" several windows into a layout of their choice, now has "personalized layout suggestions." This should allow users to organize their apps in a quicker manner.

• More 'focused' Widgets. The next Windows 11 update will let you create a more 'focused' Widgets board, Microsoft said, allowing you to organize them into different, specific categories.

• Share content with third-party apps. Windows 11 extended its file-sharing options to apps like Snapchat and Instagram.

• Voice Access enhancements. Voice Access, a Windows 11 feature that lets you vocally control your PC, now supports more languages (e.g., French, German and Spanish). Plus, you can create custom voice shortcuts to access oft-used voice commands.

• Changes to Narrator. Narrator, Windows 11's built-in screen reader, will now allow you to preview natural voice profiles before committing to downloading them. Plus, Microsoft claims that Narrator's text dectection for images has improved. Finally, Narrator can announce the presence of Microsoft Word comments and bookmarks.

• New-and-improved Casting. Casting lets you "beam" content from your device to another nearby display. It now suggests the use of Cast while you're multitasking via notifications. Plus, the Cast menu provides users with better help for finding adjacent displays.

Many of these new experiences should have broad availability by April 2024, but some may be accessible via a preview build in the coming weeks.

Windows 11 Copilot, a ChatGPT rival, can respond to a new batch of commands for changing your PC settings, and accessing apps and tools, in seconds.

Curious about the new prompts you can use with Copilot? Here are 16 new commands you can use with the Windows 11 AI assistant.

SEE ALSO: In case you missed it, ChatGPT rival 'Copilot' is now on iOS and Android Windows 11 Copilot: 16 new commands

Windows 11 Copilot has a new set of skills. Check out the following new prompts you can use to change your PC settings, launch accessibility tools, and access device information.

Settings and device information prompts

• Show device information

• Show system information

• Show battery information

• Open storage page

• Turn on/off battery saver

• Show available WiFi network

• Display IP address

• Show available storage space

• Empty Recycle Bin

Accessibility prompts

• Launch live captions

• Launch Narrator

• Launch Screen Narrator

• Open Voice Access page

• Open Text Size page

• Open Contrast Themes page

• Launch Voice Input

Microsoft says that these new-and-improved Copilot skills will start rolling in "late March," allowing users to input these prompts for a more convenient, seamless Windows 11 experience.

Windows 11 Photos has gotten a lot of love from Microsoft lately. Last fall, the Redmond-based tech giant introduced new AI-based features for the picture-focused app, including background blur and photo-identifying search.

On Wednesday, however, Microsoft announced a new perk for the Windows 11 Photos app that will likely elicit envy from macOS and Chromebook users.

SEE ALSO: Galaxy AI: Any Android, iOS phone can try it now. Here’s how. Windows 11 Photos app gets an object eraser

We’ve all been there. We look back at our photos with nostalgic pleasure, but suddenly, we notice an intrusive object that ruins the photo. 

If an unsightly object appears in a photo of your pet, you can remove it in seconds. Credit: Microsoft

For example, let’s you’re standing in front of a stunning mural in a photo, but some distracting bits and bobs are strewn across the ground. To get rid of them, you’d likely have to rely on some third-party photo-editing app.

Not anymore.

The Windows 11 Photos app now lets users remove unwanted objects and other flaws from their images, thanks to the new Generative Erase feature. You can simply select the undesirable imperfection and eliminate it from the picture.

The Windows 11 Photos app isn’t the only creativity-based, pre-installed app getting an upgrade. Clipchamp is getting a new AI-enhanced feature, too. The video-editing app now has a Silence Removal tool that lets you remove awkward, unwanted silences on audio tracks.

Generative Erase will be coming to Windows 11 soon (though it's worth noting it already rolled out to the Windows Insider Program last Thursday). Clipchamp's Silence Removal feature is rolling out to consumers with the latest Windows 11 update today.

UPDATE: Feb. 29, 2024, 12:46 p.m. EST And now there are six. A day after we published this article, we got news about Electronic Arts' layoffs, adding to the growing list of gaming companies cutting jobs in 2024.

You may have heard about massive layoffs hitting the tech space this year, but let's talk about employees within the gaming industry who are facing similar challenges.

Whether it's game developers or people who work at companies that help shape the online gaming culture, 2024 has been a painful year for the gaming realm.

The big headline-maker this week is PlayStation, which let go of 900 staffers despite having the best-selling console with some of the most popular games on the market. They join more than 6,000 workers who have been laid off in the gaming space already this year, per Kotaku's ongoing roundup.

But PlayStation isn't alone.

SEE ALSO: PlayStation will lay off 900 employees, including 'Marvel's Spider-Man' and 'The Last of Us' developers 6 gaming companies with layoffs in 2024Xbox

First up is Microsoft Gaming, one of PlayStation's rival console manufacturers. The folks who make the Xbox console and all of its games had to say goodbye to 1,900 colleagues in late January.

"The people who are directly impacted by these reductions have all played an important part in the success of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax and the Xbox teams, and they should be proud of everything they’ve accomplished here," Microsoft Gaming head Phil Spencer wrote in an internal email at the time. "We are grateful for all of the creativity, passion and dedication they have brought to our games, our players and our colleagues."

While it's true that the Xbox Series X and S consoles haven't been massive hits in terms of raw unit sales numbers, it's still disheartening to see Microsoft cut so many jobs fewer than six months after completing its $70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

SEE ALSO: 'Final Fantasy VII Rebirth' is everything you could want it to be Twitch

Twitch doesn't develop games, but one can argue that the streaming platform makes games by virtue of giving exposure to titles that may not get massive followings without leveraging the influential powers of popular streamers.

"Over the last year, we’ve been working to build a more sustainable business so that Twitch will be here for the long run and throughout the year we have cut costs and made many decisions to be more efficient," CEO Dan Clancy said in a blog post at the time. "Unfortunately, despite these efforts, it has become clear that our organization is still meaningfully larger than it needs to be given the size of our business."

Twitch terminated about 500 workers in early January.

Unity

Unity is another company that doesn't directly develop games. Instead, it makes foundational software for game developers. The Unity engine has been popular with independent (and otherwise) developers for years, acting as the technical basis for huge games like Among Us and Beat Saber.

"We are … reducing the number of things we are doing in order to focus on our core business and drive our long-term success and profitability,” CEO Jim Whitehurt told employees when the layoffs were announced, per Reuters.

About 1,800 Unity workers lost their jobs in January.

Riot

Riot makes some of the most popular games on the planet, including League of Legends and Valorant. It even just announced an exciting-looking new fighting game called 2XKO.

"We asked leaders to make tradeoffs in the things their teams are working on. We rolled out hiring slowdowns, and in some cases hiring freezes. We put an emphasis on controlling costs while strengthening our revenue growth. All of which has without a doubt been tough for our teams," CEO Dylan Jadeja wrote in the blog post. "As I’ve dug in with leaders across Riot, it’s become clear to all of us that these changes aren’t enough."

In company blog post published in January, Riot confirmed that more than 500 employees would lose their jobs as part of a cost-cutting effort.

Discord

Discord is responsible for the more-or-less default text and voice chat client for gamers. Xbox and PlayStation consoles have Discord support and pretty much anyone who plays games has an account with the service.

Still, in January, Discord laid off 17 percent of its staff, or around 170 people.

"This is what largely drove the decision to reduce the size of our workforce," Discord CEO Jason Citron said. "While difficult, I am confident this will put us in the best position to continue building a strong and profitable business that delivers amazing products for our users and supports our mission for years to come."

Electronic Arts

Being one of the biggest and most successful publishers in gaming apparently didn't help Electronic Arts avoid the same fate as these other companies.

EA announced a reduction of about five percent of its employees, or 700 people, on Wednesday. It was EA's second mass layoff in 12 months, as the company cut 800 jobs last March. In an email sent to employees, CEO Andrew Wilson gave the usual spiel about how this is meant to make EA more efficient and cost-effective.

"[W]e are streamlining our company operations to deliver deeper, more connected experiences for fans everywhere that build community, shape culture, and grow fandom," Wilson said.

As part of these cuts, EA also announced it would be stepping back from developing games using outside licenses, at least partially. The biggest known casualty of this decision was a previously unannounced Star Wars first-person shooter being developed by Respawn, the studio behind Titanfall, Apex Legends, and last year's well-regarded and financially successful Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. According to EA, that game is no longer happening.

Welcome to leap day 2024. Maybe you're not thrilled to have an extra day in February, but the upside is that many brands are treating us to special savings for today only. Here's a peek at some of the best leap day deals to score some impressive discounts today.

Best leap day deals of 2024 Best travel deal Priceline bundles (hotel + flight) save 29% or more with code LEAPDAY29 Get Deal Best home deal Brooklinen bedding bundles save up to 29% Get Deal Best flight deal Play airlines leap year sale flights to Europe as low as $99 one-way Get Deal

Leap day only happens once every four years, and 2024 marks the latest "anything is possible" extra day, which means this year has a whopping 366 days. To celebrate leap day, plenty of top brands are offering discounts like 29% off or a savings of $29. If you're in the mood for a leap day deal, you're in luck. Here are the best deals we're shopping today.

Best travel deal Opens in a new window Credit: Priceline Priceline bundles (hotel + flight) save 29% or more with code LEAPDAY29 Get Deal Why we like it

Since 2024 has an extra day, why not spend it traveling? Today's sale at Priceline takes 29% or more off bundle deals that include both your flight and hotel stay. Explore new-to-you cities like Nashville, Atlanta, San Diego, or Seattle thanks to this deal. You'll need to book a vacation between today and June 30, 2024 to cash in on the savings.

You can also snag an extra $29 in savings on bookings of hotels, rental cars, or flight Express Deals with the coupon code LEAPDAY29. Priceline's leap day celebration sale ends tonight at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Best home deal Opens in a new window Credit: Brooklinen Brooklinen sheet bundles save up to 29% Get Deal Why we like it

We all deserve to get great rest, and thanks to the leap day sale at Brooklinen, we can all tuck into bed for less. Today only, take up to 29% off Brooklinen's sheet bundles which include the Luxe Sateen Hardcore Bundle, the Classic Percale Hardcore Bundle, and the Organic Cotton Hardcore Bundle, to list a few. You could also treat yourself to some serious luxury with the Heathered Cashmere Bundle because why not? A queen-size Hardcore bundle includes a fitted sheet, flat sheet, four pillowcases, and a duvet cover.

We all know the pain of walking around sleep-deprived and your sheets are a big part of getting a good night's rest, so now's a great time to upgrade. The Brooklinen sale ends at 6:59 a.m. PT on March 1.

Best flight deal Opens in a new window Credit: Play Play airlines leap year sale Get Deal Why we like it

Does flying across the ocean to Europe for $99 sound appealing? We think so, too. Iceland's Play airlines is celebrating the leap year by offering flights to Reykjavik, Iceland for as low as $99 one way and $129 to other European destinations like Paris, Amsterdam, London, and Berlin. You'll need to select travel days between April and May or between September and December of this year to cash in on the savings. Some December flights could even offer you the opportunity to pop into a few European Christmas markets. The Play sale ends at midnight ET on March 1.

More leap day deals:

• Sugarfina: save up to 70% on select candy

• Girlfriend Collective: take 29% off sitewide with code LEAPDAY

• Ampere: take $29 off a purchase of $50 or more with code LEAPDAY (first 29 orders)

• Steelcase: save 25% on all Leap office chairs with code LEAPDAY

• The Company Store: take 25% off sitewide with code FAMILY24

• Carnival Cruises: cruise prices start at $259 per person

• World Market: members take 25% off a regularly priced item

• Jet Blue: save up to $629 on vacation packages with code LEAP629

• Southwest Airlines: save up to 30% on flights with code SPLASH

Nicole Kidman is back to deliver more movie magic and heartbreak at the theaters.

No, the world-famous actress wasn't announced as the star of a big film. Rather, she'll appear in three new ads for AMC, the movie theater chain.

If you're not a regular moviegoer, then you might not know how big of a deal this is to some folks. Kidman currently appears in an ad that runs before every film screening at AMC theaters, and it has since gone very viral. (Saturday Night Live has even spoofed it.) In the ad, Kidman delivers a monologue about the magic of movies, earnestly rattling off lines like, "We come to this place for magic" and "Somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this."

The ad quickly became a meme, with people both loving and lightly mocking the campy sincerity of Kidman's monologue. Her sparkly pinstripe suit was even a popular Halloween costume.

Now, AMC is coming back with three new Kidman ads, Variety reported. One ad is timed to drop on March 1, alongside the highly anticipated Dune: Part Two . The other two ads will debut soon after, meaning moviegoers will get a surprise Kidman ad at each film for a little variation. But the new ads are expected to be similar to the first spot, so don't expect something radically different.

SEE ALSO: 'Dune: Part Two' demand crashes AMC's website and app

"The main theme of the campaign remains the same: With state-of-the-art technology, luxurious amenities, and an unwavering commitment to excellence, AMC Theatres is the ultimate destination for moviegoers seeking unparalleled cinematic experiences. Quite simply, We Make Movies Better," the company said in a statement, via Variety.

Here's hoping the new Kidman ads catch on like the first... Because we need that, all of us.

SEE ALSO: AMC's 'Dune' sandworm popcorn bucket goes viral because it looks very NSFW

Add more copyright lawsuits levied against OpenAI to the growing pile.

On Wednesday, news organizations the Intercept, Raw Story, and AlterNet filed lawsuits against OpenAI for copyright infringement in the Southern District of New York. The Intercept also includes Microsoft in the lawsuit, whose tool Copilot uses OpenAI's model GPT-4. The lawsuits allege OpenAI (and Microsoft in the case of The Intercept) violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which prohibits online service providers from removing copyright information from digital content.

SEE ALSO: What was Sora trained on? Creatives demand answers.

ChatGPT's ability to provide informed, conversational responses was built on the backs of human-created content scraped from the web through datasets like Common Crawl and OpenAI's WebText and WebText 2. A December lawsuit by the New York Times against OpenAI and Microsoft claimed ChatGPT plagiarized verbatim texts from its stories, without credit or compensation. Similarly, in August 2023, class-action lawsuits were filed against Google and OpenAI for using individuals' personal data to train the model.

The complaints accuse OpenAI of removing copyright information like authorship and titles, and avoiding paying licensing fees for work created by journalists. The Raw Story and AlterNet suit also claims OpenAI knowingly used copyrighted works because OpenAI created tools for publishers to block their works from being scraped for training data.

"When they populated their training sets with works of journalism, Defendants had a choice: they could train ChatGPT using works of journalism with the copyright management information protected by the DMCA intact, or they could strip it away," said the lawsuits. "Defendants chose the latter, and in the process, trained ChatGPT not to acknowledge or respect copyright, not to notify ChatGPT users when the responses they received were protected by journalists' copyrights, and not to provide attribution when using the works of human journalists."

This is likely not the last copyright infringement lawsuit case against OpenAI or other makers of generative AI tools. Soon after ChatGPT's release, questions emerged about the training data that was used. And the proliferation of AI models and new tools like OpenAI's video generator Sora.

Other news organizations are taking a different approach by negotiating licensing deals with OpenAI. The Associated Press and German media company Axel Springer both have deals with the ChatGPT maker.

However it all shakes out, the great AI copyright battle is in full swing.

SAVE $50: As of Feb. 29, get the Apple Watch Series 9 (45mm, GPS) for just $379 at Amazon, which is $50 off its normal price of $429. That's a 12% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Apple Watch Series 9 (45mm, GPS) $379.00
$429.00 Save $50.00 Get Deal

When it comes to fitness trackers, we stay on top of the game to find you the best of the best. Your health is important, and you want the tech you use to track your stats and progress to be reliable. One of our favorite smartwatches is the Apple Watch Series 9, which we named the best fitness tracker for Apple users. If you haven't decided on which piece of tech to pick up, we suggest grabbing the Apple Watch Series 9 on sale right now at Amazon.

As of Feb. 29, you can get the Apple Watch Series 9 (45mm, GPS) for just $379 at Amazon. That's $50 off its normal price of $429 and a discount of 12%. This sale only applies to the Midnight Aluminum Case with Midnight Sport Loop, but if you're not a fan of this colorway, you can always use an Apple Watch case and a different watchband to transform its look.

SEE ALSO: The best fitness trackers of 2024: Tested and reviewed

We named the Apple Watch Series 9 one of our favorite fitness trackers of 2024, especially if you're already using products in the Apple ecosystem. It offers marked improvements from the Apple Watch Series 8, including a larger screen so you can see all the data you need for your workouts from its full suite of sensors. It comes with the new A15 bionic chip as well as a 64-bit dual-core processor and four-core Neural Engine, which boasts a 30% performance boost over the previous model.

It's important to note, however, that while this fitness tracker smartwatch does come with plenty of ways to track your health, including heart monitoring, sleep sensors, and a wealth of other options, it's currently without the blood oxygen sensor after a ruling in an ongoing patent dispute.

If you plan to invest in a new smartwatch, this Apple deal is definitely worth considering.

Apple's Vision Pro launched this month, to the delight of Apple devotees everywhere. While issues with the Vision Pro have already begun circulating, it's not stopping owners from wearing the $3,500 piece any chance they get. Case in point: A man wore his Vision Pro at his wedding.

Software engineer Jacob Wright donned his headset during his February 10 wedding in Utah. Don't worry — he didn't wear it for the ceremony — but according to SFGate, he slipped it on for post-ceremony photos and dancing during the reception.

Tweet may have been deleted

Wright told SFGate that playing with new tech is his hobby, and he picked up the headset a couple days after Apple released it. In an interview with Futurism, Wright said that he carried the Vision Pro around in his backpack, which he always has on him. So when the bridal party was taking photos, he jogged to his car and grabbed it.

In a photo posted to X, formerly Twitter, Wright wears the headset, pinching something only he can see. His bride, Cambree Wright, looks incredulous.

SEE ALSO: Vision Pro returns are happening, but is it actually a problem for Apple yet?

"I was like, 'No, no, no, we have to wait, we have to wait,'" Cambree, a student at Brigham Young University, told SFGate. "And then I turn around one minute and he has it on."

While she looks "pissed" in the photo that Wright posted, though, she said she wasn't. "I wasn't really mad," she said in an interview with Futurism. "I just thought it was funny."

In the weeks since their nuptials, Cambree told SFGate that she lets her husband "do his thing" when he has the headset on. "I try not to look because it's a little creepy," she said, "it's a little uncanny."

FREEBIE ALERT: As of Feb. 29, Best Buy is giving away free gift cards worth up to $200 with the purchase of a new Samsung Galaxy Book4 series laptop (starting at $1,349.99).

Quick links: Entry-level convertible Samsung Galaxy Book4 360 $1,349.99 + free $200 Best Buy gift card Get Deal Portable productivity Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro Starting at $1,449.99 + free $100 Best Buy gift card Get Deal High-end 2-in-1 Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro 360 $1,899.99 + free $200 Best Buy gift card Get Deal Premium power Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra Starting at $2,399.99 + free $200 Best Buy gift card Get Deal

Samsung's all-new Galaxy Book4 series laptops finally hit the U.S. market this week, and Best Buy wants to give you some free money for upgrading your PC.

For a limited time, you'll receive a free Best Buy gift card worth up to $200 when you purchase a Galaxy Book4 series laptop from the electronics store — that includes the Galaxy Book4 360 ($1,349.99), the Galaxy Book4 Pro (starting at $1,449.99), the Galaxy Book4 Pro 360 ($1,899.99), and the Galaxy Book4 Ultra (starting at $2,399.99). The gift card will be sent to you via email after you place your order and can be used on almost anything Best Buy sells, aside from other gift cards.

SEE ALSO: Four of Samsung's new Galaxy Book4 series laptops are finally available for purchase

Samsung has outfitted its new machines with touchscreens (even the non-convertible models) as well as a new hotkey for Microsoft's Copilot AI chatbot that enhances their connectivity with Galaxy smartphones. (You can recap and send texts right on the laptops when they're linked up.) The Pro and Ultra models have been upgraded with Intel Core Ultra CPUs, 3K AMOLED displays, AKG Quad speakers, a new Samsung Knox security chip, and a new Moonstone Gray finish. The top-shelf Galaxy Book4 Ultra takes things one step further with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40-Series graphics.

Galaxy Book4 360 (non-Pro) skips out on those premium features — it's powered by an Intel Core U-Series processor, has a Full HD AMOLED touchscreen display, and comes in plain Gray — though it does offer the best battery life of the lineup at up to 22 hours per charge. It's the series' entry-level model, but only for the next few weeks: The Galaxy Book4 lineup will grow by one additional laptop on March 28 with the release of the Samsung Galaxy Book4, which will start at just $899.

We'll be keeping a close eye out in case Best Buy offers a similar gift card promotion for that upcoming model; stay tuned if the current quartet is out of your budget.

SAVE $196: As of Feb. 29, get an open box Asus ROG Ally handheld gaming system in excellent condition for just $503.99. That's $200 off its regular price of $699.99 and a discount of 32%.

Opens in a new window Credit: Best Buy Asus ROG Ally (Open Box, Excellent Condition) $503.99
$699.99 Save $196.00 Get Deal

Handheld gaming PCs are a lifesaver if you have a long list of games you want to complete, but little time to sit at your gaming rig and play them. There's a reason Valve's Steam Deck is so popular, after all. But if you aren't so sure you want a Steam Deck and feel like shopping around, there are other handheld gaming PCs to choose from – like the Asus ROG Ally. It's an affordable way to enjoy resource-heavy games like Baldur's Gate 3 or casual titles like Stardew Valley while away from your computer. And right now, you can get one for a great price.

As of Feb. 29, you can get an open box version of the Asus ROG Ally in excellent condition for just $503.99. That's $196 off, or a 32% discount, on a new version's price of $699.99. Tech in this condition looks "brand new", according to Best Buy, and includes all its original parts and accessories as well as packaging.

This portable handheld is more than just a game player that runs your favorite titles. It's a whole miniature PC. It runs Windows 11 and is powered by a Ryzen Z1 CPU for a boost of power that can tackle most games you want to take on the go. It has a crisp 7-inch 1080p LED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, and 16GB of RAM as well as 512GB of storage.

You can take it with you on your daily commute or out and about, but if you plan on playing resource-heavy games, you'll want to keep it at home. It offers about three hours of game time on normal mode and on standby, but when you switch to Turbo or Performance Mode, you'll get 1.5-2 hours. That makes it ideal for gaming on the sofa or in bed, all cozied up. Wherever you decide to play, this is a deal you shouldn't miss.

Tesla's upcoming Roadster is going to blow your mind, CEO Elon Musk says.

No. That's not enough. He did say it was going to be "mind-blowing," but in order to fully convey the man's excitement for this vehicle, we have to quote some of Musk's tweets, which he shared on Wednesday in rapid succession.

"Tonight, we radically increased the design goals for the new Tesla Roadster. There will never be another car like this, if you could even call it a car," wrote Musk.

Tweet may have been deleted

He also said the car will actually be a Tesla/SpaceX collaboration, perhaps in line with his previous comments that the Roadster will "actually be able to fly very briefly."

So what about performance? Musk claims that the 0-60mph time will be under one second. "And that is the least interesting part," he tweeted.

Once this thing is unveiled, it has a "shot at being the most mind-blowing product demo of all time," wrote Musk.

MIND-BLOWING, the man said. If you're not literally jumping up and down with excitement, are you even alive?

Well, it also might be that you remember that this car — a successor to the original Tesla Roadster from 2008 — was originally announced in 2017, and production was scheduled to start in 2020. That was then pushed forward into 2022, then to 2023. It's now 2024, and Musk claims that production design is complete, with plans to unveil the new, new, new Roadster at the end of 2024, and the goal to ship next year. That's 2025, if you're keeping count.

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk confirms: Tesla to build new, cheap model in 2025

The specs for the Roadster have also changed over time; for example, it was originally supposed to go from 0-60mph in 1.1 seconds. It's not that hard to shave those seconds on a car that's not available yet. In fact, I have a car that achieves supersonic speeds. IN MY MIND.

Wild predictions and hyperbole (which we we would never, ever resort to) aside, reading between the lines you'll probably notice that this might basically be an Elon way of saying that they've essentially scrapped the new, new, old Roadster, and they're (once again) building a completely new one. We're still very interested to see the Roadster on the road, or in the sky; we're just not holding our breaths for the launch.

At this year’s MWC in Barcelona, chip maker MediaTek showed off the SDXL Turbo. The AI image generator can dynamically create images in real time based on text prompt.