What you need to know

• For the first time ever, a Nintendo Switch emulator is available to download from the Google Play Store.
• Eden, a fork of the now-defunct Yuzu emulator, has been slowly garnering popularity in the emulation community.
• We wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not long before Nintendo comes knocking to take it down.

Over the past year and a half, the Nintendo Switch emulation scene has been embroiled in turmoil. It all started when Nintendo itself took down two of the most popular emulators in Yuzu and Ryujinx. Since then, there have been quite a few different forks crop up in an effort to fill the void.

None of those, not even Yuzu or Ryujinx, were ever released onto the Play Store, until now. Eden, a Switch emulator forked from Yuzu, has apparently been on the Play Store since at least August 19. Somehow, it managed to fly under the radar until the someone over on the r/EmulationOnAndroid subreddit spotted it.

Interestingly enough, it seems that the most recent update is based on v0.0.3-rc3, which was released on August 20. Just last week, the Eden team released the stable build of v0.0.3, but this has yet to make its way to the Play Store.

As for the listing itself, in order to run Eden on your Android device, it’ll need to at least be updated to Android 11, and that’s just to even install the emulator. Beyond that, you’ll need to provide your own “prod” keys and firmware, in addition to actually having the necessary ROM files to play. That in and of itself is a rabbit hole that we can’t really help with.

Nevertheless, Eden’s arrival on the Play Store comes at a rather interesting time. Both AYN and AYANEO have introduced an array of Android-powered handhelds. It started with the Pocket DS and Thor, swiftly followed by the Odin 3 and KONKR Pocket FIT.

The Pocket DS and Thor are dual-screen handhelds, aiming to capture the magic that once was the Nintendo DS and 3DS (minus the 3D screen). As for the Odin 3 and Pocket FIT, these are the first two handhelds to be announced powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite.

If that wasn’t exciting enough, both of these upcoming handhelds are the cheapest devices to feature the 8 Elite. Pre-orders for the Odin 3 Base start at $330 and will go up to $360 upon release. Meanwhile, the Pocket FIT comes in at $269 during pre-orders, and will be priced at $329 at launch. The only downside to either of these is that AYN isn’t expecting to begin shipping the Odin 3 until November, while the Pocket FIT likely won’t arrive until December.

Even still, it’s wild to think that we’ll have not one, but two Snapdragon 8 Elite Android handhelds before the end of 2025. And provided that the Eden team can manage to avoid the ire of Nintendo, you can just download a Switch emulator right from the Play Store. Although, if last year is anything to go by, I suspect this won’t be the case for too much longer.

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The Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization market is gaining strength as momentum builds across the crypto sector. With Bitcoin entering price discovery after breaking past $112K and altcoins showing signs of a sustained recovery, RWA tokens are emerging as one of the most promising sectors within the digital asset space. Recent data reveals that the market cap for RWA tokens has reached $60 billion, supported by rising trading volume and growing institutional interest.

This surge comes as investors increasingly seek exposure to blockchain-backed financial instruments that represent tangible assets, such as bonds, real estate, private credit, and commodities. The appeal lies in the ability to bring traditionally illiquid assets on-chain with greater transparency, efficiency, and accessibility.

With macro tailwinds favoring the development of alternative markets and demand for yield-bearing instruments rising, RWAs are poised to play a defining role in the next phase of crypto adoption. As capital rotates across sectors, many investors are watching the RWA sector closely for signs of explosive growth.

RWA Sector Breaks Out

As the digital asset ecosystem matures, RWAs are emerging as a practical and scalable bridge between traditional finance and blockchain innovation. Stablecoins themselves—backed by fiat currency or US treasury bills—can be viewed as the most widely adopted RWA use case, with trillions in annual settlement volume and growing integration across both DeFi and payment platforms.

According to the Real World Asset Watchlist, a leading media publication tracking tokenized assets, the RWA sector has just broken out from a long consolidation phase. A recently shared chart shows that the market cap has surged past the $60 billion mark, marking a clean technical breakout that signals renewed investor confidence and institutional participation. With rising trading volumes and momentum building across key protocols, the next logical target is the $80 billion milestone.

This surge is not only a price-driven movement—it’s underpinned by structural developments, regulatory clarity, and growing on-chain infrastructure that enables secure tokenization, compliance, and real-world adoption.

As capital rotates from highly speculative narratives to more fundamental and yield-generating sectors, RWAs are becoming the centerpiece of the next cycle. The current breakout could serve as a pivotal catalyst, triggering an influx of new products, capital, and participants into the space. If sustained, this could position RWA as one of the primary drivers of crypto’s transition from speculative to institutional-grade finance.

Altcoin Market Cap Surges As Breakout Gains Momentum

The total crypto market cap excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum (TOTAL3) has just posted a decisive weekly breakout, now sitting at $938.6 billion. This move represents an 11.19% gain from the previous week, marking one of the strongest weekly performances of the year for altcoins. Price has convincingly broken above the 50-week moving average (currently at $798B), reclaiming bullish structure and targeting previous cycle highs.

This breakout occurs after months of consolidation above the 200-week and 100-week moving averages, both of which acted as key support levels. The surge in volume further confirms the strength of this move, suggesting growing participation from investors rotating capital into the altcoin space as Bitcoin leads the market into price discovery. The chart structure shows a pattern of higher lows, pointing to a potential macro uptrend resumption.

With key narratives like real-world asset tokenization (RWAs), DePIN, and Solana-based meme coin ecosystems gaining momentum, the TOTAL3 breakout could be signaling the start of a broader altcoin season.

Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView

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TL;DR: Keep all your Joy-Con controllers fully charged thanks to this 4-in-1 Charging Dock for the Nintendo Switch 2, now only $18.99 (reg. $29.99) with free shipping.

When new consoles drop, that means it’s time for a little shopping spree. You need new games, new controllers, and a beverage or two, so you can fully lock in. To game for hours on end with no interruptions, consider adding this charging dock to your shopping cart. This 4-in-1 Charging Dock is designed to power up to four Switch 2 controllers simultaneously, and it’s on sale for $18.99 (reg. $29.99) with free shipping!

There’s nothing worse than a controller dying mid-battle, and with every unblocked hit, you see negative hits to your character’s XP. Instead of scrambling for a charging cable, or worse, one of those cables that’s too short to reach your couch, what if you could trade one dead controller for a fully charged one? 

Slip the Joy-Con into the charging dock where its magnetic alignment system locks onto the control quickly and precisely. With no wrong way to plug in, this dock makes charging so easy, you can do it with your eyes closed.

You don’t have to worry about overcharging or overheating, either. Built with smart chip protection, the device will automatically shut off when the controller is fully charged, ensuring your investment can last for years to come—or at least until the Switch 3 drops.

Elevate the vibe with 9 RGB lighting effects 

When you purchase this Nintendo Switch 2 Charging Dock, you’re not only paying for something practical, but something that adds to the vibes. The dock has not one, not two, but nine different RGB lighting modes to curate a moody vibe to your gaming space.

It’s also equipped with indicator lights. When it’s orange, the controllers are still charging, whereas blue means they’re fully charged and ready for action! 

Now, the question is: are you ready for action? It’s time to save while you can. This Nintendo Switch 2 Charging Dock is on sale for $18.99 (reg. $29.99) with free shipping. No coupon required!

Charging Dock for Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con Controllers

See Deal

StackSocial prices subject to change.

See other items in the shop.

Threat intelligence researchers are warning of hackers breaching multiple U.S. companies in the insurance industry using all the tactics observed with Scattered Spider activity.

Typically, the threat group has a sector-by-sector focus. Previously, they targeted retail organizations in the United Kingdom and then switched to targets in the same sector in the United States.

“Google Threat Intelligence Group is now aware of multiple intrusions in the US which bear all the hallmarks of Scattered Spider activity. We are now seeing incidents in the insurance industry,” John Hultquist, Chief Analyst at Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG), told BleepingComputer.

Hultquist warns that because the group approaches one sector at a time, “the insurance industry should be on high alert.”

GTIG’s chief researcher says that companies should pay particular attention to potential social engineering attempts on help desk and call centers.

Just this month, two insurance companies disclosed that their systems were impacted by cyberattacks.

Philadelphia Insurance Companies (PHLY) announced that on June 9 it discovered unauthorized access on its network and disconnected the affected systems to stop the attack from spreading.

The outage continues as the company’s website still shows the outage notification.

Erie Insurance also suffered business disruptions that started on June 7. A few days later, the company reported in a filing wiht the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the outage was caused “unusual network activity,” which prompted an immediate protection response for systems and data.

Scattered Spider tactics

Scattered Spider is the name given to a fluid coalition of threat actors that employ sophisticated social engineering attacks to bypass mature security programs.

The group is also tracked as 0ktapus, UNC3944, Scatter Swine, Starfraud, and Muddled Libra, and has been linked to breaches at multiple high-profile organizations that mixed phishing, SIM-swapping, and MFA fatigue/MFA bombing for initial access.

In a later stage of the attack, the group has been observed dropping ransomware like RansomHub, Qilin, and DragonForce.

Defending against Scattered Spider attacks

Organizations defending against this type of threat actor should start with gaining complete visibility across the entire infrastructure, identity systems, and critical management services.

GTIG recommends segregating identities and using strong authentication criteria along with rigorous identity controls for password resets and MFA registration.

Since Scattered Spider relies on social engineering, organizations should educate employees and internal security teams on impersonation attempts via various channels (SMS, phone calls, messaging platforms) that may sometimes include aggressive language to scare the target into compliance.

After hackers breached Marks & Spencer, Co-op, and Harrods retailers in the U.K. this year, the country’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) shared tips for organizations to improve their cybersecurity defenses.

In all three attacks, the threat actor used the same social engineering tactics associated with Scattered Spired and dropped DragonForce ransomware in the final stage.

NCSC’s recommendations include activating two-factor or multi-factor authentication, monitoring for unauthorized logins, and checking if access to Domain Admin, Enterprise Admin, and Cloud Admin accounts is legitimate.

Additionally, the U.K. agency advises that organizations review how the helpdesk service authenticates credentials before resetting them, especially for employees with elevated privileges.

The ability to identify logins from unusual sources (e.g. VPN services from residential ranges) could also help identify a potential attack.

Update [June 17]: Added information about cyberattacks on two insurance companies in the United States.

A widely followed analyst believes that altcoins are about to explode while massively outperforming Bitcoin (BTC).

Crypto strategist Michaël van de Poppe tells his 786,000 followers on the social media platform X that he sees altcoins igniting a strong uptrend that could last for many weeks.

According to the analyst, the altcoin market cap versus Bitcoin (TOTAL3/BTC) chart is flashing a bullish divergence, indicating that alts are poised to steal the crypto king’s thunder.

TOTAL3 tracks the total market cap of crypto, excluding Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH) and stablecoins. Meanwhile, a bullish divergence suggests that buying momentum is rising even though prices are moving lower or sideways.

Says Van de Poppe,

“The altcoin market capitalization against Bitcoin is still massively bullish.

The longest bullish divergence in history.” 

Looking at Ethereum, the analyst believes that ETH has finally flipped bullish against Bitcoin (ETH/BTC), further supporting his stance that altcoins will dominate the crypto market.

“The bullish divergence on ETH from three weeks ago indicated a potential reversal.

The higher low was confirmed, and then, a massive breakout took place.

The trend switch is clear.

Now, this is a daily bullish divergence. On multiple altcoins, we see weekly divergences.

Good times.” 

At time of writing, the ETH/BTC pair is trading at 0.0242 BTC worth $2,515.

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Featured Image: Shutterstock/Moksha Labs/Natalia Siiatovskaia

Nick Fernandez / Android Authority

AYANEO brings premium retro vibes

Nick Fernandez / Android Authority

Nick Fernandez / Android Authority

AYANEO devices are premium handhelds that demand a premium price.

Reliable performance from the AYN Odin 2

The Odin 2 lineup can also emulate Xbox and PS3 thanks to Linux support.

Incredible value from Retroid

Retroid gaming handhelds offer the best value for your money.

Budget champions from ANBERNIC

ANBERNIC devices come in all sizes and flavors, but favor the budget end.

Don’t you have a phone?

Nick Fernandez / Android Authority

A telescopic controller turns your phone into a mini Nintendo Switch.

In context: Nintendo has set a new date for Switch 2 pre-orders: April 24. The company initially promised pre-orders would begin on April 9 but backtracked just days before, citing ongoing tariff uncertainty as the reason for the delay. With those trade concerns seemingly resolved or at least accounted for, Nintendo is giving it another shot.

The Switch 2 will still launch on June 5, featuring upgraded internals, improved Joy-Con controllers with magnetic snap-on rails, and backward compatibility for most digital Switch games. Nintendo has been relatively open about the hardware. However, its wishy-washy approach to pre-orders has caused confusion and speculation, particularly regarding its price.

When the company postponed the April 9 date, it issued a brief statement that blamed “evolving global trade conditions” and promised updates soon. That led to conjecture that Nintendo might be waiting for clarity on U.S. import tariffs – especially since the new console, like its predecessor, is manufactured in China, which faces the stiffest tariffs. A few analysts predicted Nintendo would delay the pre-order window by weeks or even months. So, the company’s new April 24 timeline is more optimistic than many expected.

Pre-orders will be available from Nintendo directly and through Amazon, Walmart, GameStop, Best Buy, and Target. Nintendo will offer two SKUs: a $450 standalone Switch 2 and a $500 bundle that includes Mario Kart World. That hasn’t changed. What has changed are the prices of some first-party accessories, including the Pro Controller, Joy-Con sets, and the charging dock, which now cost slightly more than their original announcement. A complete breakdown of products and pricing is available on Nintendo’s website.

With just six weeks left before launch, the new pre-order window gives buyers less time to secure a console – but it could also help Nintendo limit scalping. Scalping has been a hot-button issue for all major consoles. The original Switch was unavailable for over a year because of it. This time, Nintendo has heavily restricted pre-orders through its storefront.

Customers who want to buy directly from Nintendo must be at least 18, sign in with a Nintendo account, and register their interest before pre-orders open on April 24 – a queue for the queue, so to speak. While Nintendo says it will prioritize orders on a first-come, first-served basis, additional eligibility rules apply.

“Registrants who have purchased a Nintendo Switch Online membership with a minimum of 12 months of paid membership and a minimum of 50 total gameplay hours, as of April 2, 2025,” will receive the highest priority, the company says.

Qualifying customers will get email invitations valid for just 72 hours. In effect, Nintendo is offering first dibs to its most dedicated fans, but has put it behind a Switch Online subscription paywall. Casual buyers may have better luck with other retailers.

Since scalpers can and do still list guaranteed pre-order slots on eBay for double or more retail prices, brushing up on strategies to beat them might be wise. Check out how I landed a PlayStation 5 during peak demand – because these pre-orders will go fast.

Google Home and Nest speakers and displays as we know them may be doomed if the company’s recent Google Assistant deprecations are any indication. Google Assistant is rapidly losing features as Google puts more time and effort into Gemini, its AI-based chatbot and assistant. Just this week, Google announced plans to remove seven more features from Google Assistant in the future, following up the 18 features that were lost in early 2024.

As such, it’s not an understatement to call the Google Assistant a shell of its former self. That isn’t as much of an issue on smartphones and tablets, as Gemini serves as a better virtual assistant in many cases. When Gemini falls short, Android phones and tablets can take advantage of Assistant extensions to fill the gap. In fact, rumors point to Gemini replacing the Google Assistant on smartwatches via a future Wear OS update, too.

There’s just one problem — Gemini can’t replace the Google Assistant on the smart home devices that need it most. Google hasn’t refreshed its smart displays, including the second-generation Nest Hub and the Nest Hub Max, since 2021. It hasn’t updated the Google Nest Mini smart speaker since 2019. That reality means that the affordable and aging Nest smart speakers and displays could be left without critical Assistant features and unable to run Gemini effectively.

Google quietly set a precedent for how it plans to get Gemini on smart home products last year, and it’s bad news for fans of Nest hardware. The company completely killed the affordable Chromecast lineup in favor of the $100 Google TV Streamer, which will soon get Gemini Live and other AI features.

With Google seemingly winding down Assistant and putting a greater focus on Gemini, I’m worried that the Nest lineup could share a similar fate. The company could shift toward more expensive (and powerful) smart home controllers, like the Pixel Tablet, which can better handle Gemini. That would be a mistake because Google Assistant is the perfect piece of software to run on affordable and lightweight smart home products.

Google Nest speakers and displays are borderline useless without Assistant features

Due to the age of Google Nest speakers and displays, they’re starting to slow down, and features are beginning not to work as expected. In some instances, the platform has felt like an afterthought. Earlier this year, a bug caused Nest devices to fail to answer basic requests, and it took weeks for users to get a fix.

On top of that, Google is actively killing key Google Assistant features. Aside from the 18 features axed last year, the company recently updated its support document with seven new deprecations. For instance, you won’t be able to change photo frame settings or ambient screen settings with your voice anymore. While you can still do this manually on your Nest display, that kind of defeats the point of having a voice-equipped smart screen.

Some of the more egregious removals include the ability to get daily updates from your Google Assistant, such as requests like “Send me the weather every day.” You also won’t be able to favorite, share, or use your voice to ask about photos that were taken. Put simply, Nest hardware doesn’t just lack new features — it’s also consistently losing basic functionality and features.

It’s understandable that Google doesn’t want to spread itself too thin by working on Assistant and Gemini simultaneously, but it should consider all of the products in its portfolio. While Pixel phones and tablets are getting better by the day with new Gemini features, Nest speakers and displays are seemingly getting worse by the day.

Android Central reached out to Google regarding its plans for current and future Nest devices, as well as the state of Google Assistant, but the company did not get back to us in time for publication.

Gemini won’t solve the problem, it’ll make it worse

If the option to switch to Gemini was available today for Nest hardware, Google’s recent Assistant feature removals would be defensible. However, it isn’t, and I’m skeptical that Gemini is the solution to this problem. It’s unlikely that a Gemini-based assistant could run on older Nest speakers and displays, leaving them stuck with a Google Assistant bleeding basic features.

The transition to Gemini might kill Nest smart home products as we know them. Existing hardware would almost certainly become less useful, as the Google Assistant has lost 25 features since the start of 2024. New hardware, if released, would probably be priced higher than current Nest speakers and displays to accommodate AI processing demands.

Historically, the great thing about the Google Nest family of products was that you could outfit your entire home with speakers, cameras, and displays without breaking the bank. A Nest Mini speaker costs $50 at retail, and a Nest Hub display costs $100 at retail.

Google needs to upgrade Nest smart speakers and displays, like it upgraded the Nest Learning Thermostat and created the Google TV Streamer. Many of the devices in the Nest lineup are half a decade old, or older.

With that being said, it should be careful about creating new Nest speakers and displays that are more premium, more powerful, and more pricey. If the future of Nest hardware is Gemini-powered products sold at a premium price, the brand’s identity would be drastically changed.