Punjab Times

The future of local TV news has taken a Trumpian turn

And image of the US Constitution through TV static.

This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more stories on Big Tech versus politics in Washington, DC, follow Tina Nguyen and read Regulator. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here.

How it started

A long time ago, in 2004, the Federal Communications Commission laid down a rule designed to prevent a monopoly: No one company could broadcast to more than 39 percent of all the TV households in the United States. But then Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025. Brendan Carr became FCC chairman and immediately kicked off a deregu …

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Marathon battery life makes Keychron’s Ultra 8K keyboards its best yet

Keychron Q1 Ultra 8K and V5 Ultra 8K mechanical keyboards on a desk mat with an anime mecha illustration.
The Keychron Q1 Ultra 8K in white (left) and the V5 Ultra 8K in black (right). | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

Keychron’s expansive keyboard catalog covers everything from basic full-size mechanical boards to niche layouts like southpaw Alice or a one-handed half-keyboard for gaming. Its Q and V series are among our go-to recommendations for off-the-shelf keyboards, and the latest iterations – the Q and V Ultra models – are a straightforward upgrade to the lineup, with benefits for regular users and deep-in-the-weeds keyboard nerds alike.

I’ve been testing two Ultra keyboards: the Keychron V5 Ultra 8K and Keychron Q1 Ultra 8K. The $119.99 V5 Ultra is a near-full-size 1800-layout board with a number pad in a plastic case, while the $229.99 Q1 Ultra i …

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The RAM shortage could last years

Circuitboard with error message.

According to Nikkei Asia, even as suppliers ramp up DRAM production, manufacturers are only expected to meet 60 percent of demand by the end of 2027. SK Group chairman has even said that shortages could last until 2030.

The world’s largest memory makers – Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron – are all working to add new fabrication capacity, but almost none of it will be online until at least 2027, if not 2028. SK opened a fab in Cheongju in February, but that is the only increase in production among the three for 2026.

Nikkei says that production would need to increase by 12 percent a year in 2026 and 2027 to meet demand. But according to Counte …

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SNK’s Neo Geo console remake works with original cartridges and HDMI

Not everyone had the money for the original Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System when it released in the ’90s, but there’s still a chance to experience it as an adult with disposable income. SNK and Plaion Replai, who is also behind the all-black remake of the Commodore 64, announced a faithful remake of the high-end retro console, called the Neo Geo AES+.

To bring the original console into the modern day, the collaborating companies added HDMI compatibility for resolutions up to 1080p and DIP switches on the bottom of the console to allow for language selection, overclocking and switching display modes. Rounding out the upgrades, SNK and Plaion Replai included a permanent way to retain high scores on a memory card and a low-power usage mode. For the purists out there, the Neo Geo AES+ still works on those chunky CRT displays since it has the original AV output.

Preorders are currently open for two versions of the Neo Geo AES+, including an all-white 35th anniversary edition bundle that includes an Arcade Stick, a limited-edition Metal Slug game cartridge and a memory card, for …read more

Judge sides with creators of banned ICE trackers who allege DHS and DOJ violated their First Amendment rights

A judge has granted the makers of the “ICE Sightings – Chicagoland” Facebook group and the Eyes Up app a preliminary injunction to stop the Trump administration from coercing platforms to take these projects down. Judge Jorge L. Alonso of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois found that the plaintiffs, Kassandra Rosado and Kreisau Group, are likely to succeed in their case, which alleges that the government suppressed protected speech under the First Amendment by strong-arming Facebook and Apple into removing ICE monitoring efforts. 

Both Eyes Up and ICE Sightings – Chicagoland use publicly available information to keep tabs on ICE activity. But after pressure from Trump officials, they were removed from Apple’s App Store and Facebook, respectively. Similar apps including ICEBlock and Red Dot were also taken down from the App Store and Google Play. The lawsuit cites social media posts by former US Attorney General Pam Bondi and former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem that demanded and took credit for the removal of these apps. In a document filed on Friday, Alonso …read more