Technologies

How Razer Is Bringing Vibration ‘Soundtracks’ to Tomorrow’s Games and Movies

New software lets developers automatically add vibrations synced to the action on screen.

At GDC 2023, I sat down in gaming accessory company Razer’s office and felt something I’d never experienced before: playing a video game and having my controller and headphones vibrate at different intensities that I could adjust to my liking. Then I watched a blockbuster superhero film with headphone vibration tuned to the action — all powered by the same software.

The software development kit, or SDK, created by tech studio Interhaptics, which was acquired by Razer last year, lets companies easily add vibration to their games, films and other media. Interhaptics founder Eric Vezzoli, now Razer’s general manager of Interhaptics, walked me through a demonstration of what the software can do.

He noted that the software takes just a day to be implemented into a game, and then vibration will be automatically added for any feedback device, be it a controller, smartphone, headphones, haptic vest or other device. Even if a developer is adding peripherals with different vibration frequency ranges, the software can add haptic feedback that’s suited for each device. That simplifies the process when, say, trying to set vibration levels to be similar on iPhones and Android phones, which have very different vibration ranges.

«We take the designer’s intention and we translate it to machine capability,» Vezzoli said.

The haptic composer software, as it’s properly called, also puts vibration control in gamers’ hands. In the game demo I played, I was able to toggle whether vibrations would happen when triggered by my character, enemies or the environment, as well as tone them down if they were too intense. The software put control of vibration feedback in my hands.

The software SDK launched with support for PS4, PS5, Meta Quest 2 and X-input controllers, as well as iOS and Android phones. Developers can set up custom vibrations for potentially any number of different peripherals with haptics, allowing them to pulse or vibrate at different intensities to convey whatever emotion or action fits the game or movie scene.

That list of peripherals includes the Razer Kraken V3 HyperSense headphones, which have haptic motors spread around both earcups and are the headphones I wore for the demo. While I was playing the simple dungeon-crawling game that Vezzoli and his team built to show off the SDK, every sword swing by my character pulsed vibration around my ears, while enemies hitting my character buzzed my ears in a noticeably different way.

Then I watched scenes from films with headphone vibration coinciding with exciting moments — buzzing along while a superhero used their powers, or, during a suspenseful silence, pulsing at a low frequency that subtly alternated between ears, like a heartbeat.

If I’m being honest, it felt weird to have headphones buzzing around my ears with dynamic patterns — the pitter-patter of heartbeats or triumphant vibrating bursts of superheroes clashing, which I’m used to hearing via sound effects, not feeling on my skin.

But I could see how, if I were to get used to dynamic vibrations around my ears — or with future devices, elsewhere on my body — they could make entertainment more immersive. I remember discovering how much listening to footsteps made me better at finding enemies in first-person shooters, and dynamic vibrations about explosions or activity could similarly point me in the right direction. Movies and shows, which rely on visuals and soundscapes to convey tone and mood, could add a new layer with haptics — and the technology seems ideally suited for VR developers to add texture to their immersive worlds.

Razer and Interhaptics’ software is admittedly a bit future-facing, since controllers and smartphones are far more common than vibrating headphones or other peripherals. But the company is sending out developer kits with the Razer Kraken V3 HyperSense headphones for developers to try adding the SDK software to their game.

«It’s a different type of experience, and we believe we can generate enormous value from a user experience playing these games,» said Vezzoli.

Technologies

The Final Supermoon of 2025 Is December’s Cold Moon

It’ll be earning its name as temperatures across the US are expected to be lower than average.

Your last chance to see a supermoon in 2025 is approaching quickly. December’s full moon is scheduled to appear on Dec. 4, exactly one week after Thanksgiving. Even if you don’t make plans to see it, you’ll probably see it anyway, as it’ll be the brightest thing in the night sky.

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December’s Cold Moon is the third of four consecutive supermoons and the last one of 2025. Supermoons tend to come in packs of four thanks to how the moon orbits the Earth. The orbit is elliptical, meaning the moon is closer during some months and farther away in others. When it’s close to Earth, it’s referred to as perigee, and full moons during perigee are considered supermoons.

Since it is closer, the moon will be slightly bigger and brighter in the night sky. According to NASA, a supermoon is 14% larger and 33% brighter than a micro moon, which occurs during full moons when the moon is at its farthest point from Earth, a phenomenon known as apogee. Thus, it is the best time to view a full moon outside of special events like blood moons or lunar eclipses.

When is December’s full moon?

The Farmer’s Almanac reports that December’s full moon will take place on the evening of Dec. 4. It’ll reach peak illumination at 6:14 p.m. ET. Thanks to the recent daylight saving time change, it should be dark enough to see for most of the US, but if it isn’t, it’ll remain full all night. Those who can’t see it due to the weather can see a moon that is more than 90% full from Dec. 2-6.

You won’t need any special equipment to see the moon, as it’ll be the brightest thing in the night sky by a wide margin. Those who want to see more detail can certainly use a telescope or binoculars if they choose, which will make the moon’s various craters and textures easier to see.

December’s full moon is often referred to as the Cold Moon, as it typically occurs when the weather starts to become quite chilly. The moon is earning its name this time around, as a polar vortex is scheduled to hit the US during Thanksgiving and will stick around for a while afterward. The polar vortex will drive down temperatures in much of the US during the week of Dec. 1, so if you do go outside, make sure to bundle up.

Technologies

Anthropic’s New Claude Opus 4.5 AI Model Is Designed for Coding and Office Work

The new reasoning model can also power the Claude for Chrome AI browser extension.

Anthropic’s newest version of its most powerful generative AI model could upend how you manage your spreadsheets. The company said Claude Opus 4.5, announced Monday, is aimed at things you do on the job, like coding and office work.

Google unveiled its powerful new Gemini 3 model last week, and OpenAI released GPT-5.1 the week before. Now it’s Anthropic’s turn. The company, which is popular with businesses and software workers, said Opus 4.5 is focused on getting work done, not generating content.

Claude Opus 4.5 will be available everywhere and will be a default model for Pro (starting at $17/month), Max (starting at $100/month) and Enterprise users.

Opus 4.5 is built to produce documents, spreadsheets and presentations and can automate menial office tasks by using your computer and browser. That includes its deployment in Claude for Chrome, a browser extension that lets Claude do internet tasks for Max users.

This release puts all three Claude models in the 4.5 generation. Anthropic released Sonnet 4.5, its midlevel model, in September and Haiku 4.5, its smallest model, in October.

Advanced reasoning models like Opus are designed to handle complex, demanding tasks. While a smaller, cheaper large language model will provide an answer based on the probabilities in its training data, a reasoning model will rerun and refine its operations to get a better or more complete answer. This takes longer, but it means the AI can handle more difficult operations.

Reasoning models are particularly useful for complicated programming projects or intensive research. The downside is they are slower and more expensive to run, which is why companies often restrict them to paid plans or have strict limits on usage.

Technologies

New Spotify Feature Pulls Playlists Straight From Other Music Services

Moving to Spotify used to mean manually recreating your playlists or relying on third-party tools. Now, it’s seamless.

I use Spotify for hours every single day: on commutes, while cooking, during workouts, when walking my dog. Essentially, whenever life grants me a spare minute, I’m streaming Spotify. But even with all that listening, I’ve always wished the app had an easy way to scoop up the playlists I’d built on other music services. I’d call myself a Spotify loyalist, but there are some songs, such as covers or live versions, that are only available on other platforms.

Spotify finally delivered by recently rolling out a built-in feature that lets you import playlists from rival platforms directly into your library.

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Spotify’s new playlist transfer feature

Spotify announced late last week that it’s launching a new «Import your music» option in its mobile app. This feature, powered by TuneMyMusic, enables listeners to seamlessly import entire playlists from competing services directly into their Spotify library.

At launch, Spotify supports transfers from major platforms including Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, Deezer, Pandora, SoundCloud and more.

The original playlists remain intact. Spotify doesn’t delete or alter them from the source app when it makes a copy in your Spotify account.

Why this matters for Spotify users

No more rebuilding your playlists from scratch: Previously, moving to Spotify meant manually recreating your playlists or relying on third-party tools. With this integration, Spotify handles the heavy lifting.
Unlimited transfers: Unlike some free third-party services that limit the number of songs or playlists you can transfer, Spotify’s in-app solution supports unlimited transfers.
Better personalization: Once your playlists are in Spotify, they feed directly into Spotify’s recommendation algorithms. That means personalized features like Daylist and Release Radar start getting smarter right away.
More to do with your music: After importing, you can remix your playlists by inviting friends to collaborate, designing custom cover art or adding transitions between songs if you’re a Premium user.

How to transfer your playlists to Spotify

Here’s a quick how-to so you can bring your favorite playlists over:

Open the Spotify mobile app on your phone.
Go to Your Library.
Scroll to the bottom. You should see a new option title, «Import your music». Tap that.
Follow the prompts to connect to TuneMyMusic. You’ll need to authenticate your account for the service you’re importing from.
Choose the platform you’re moving from (Apple Music, YouTube Music, SoundCloud, etc.).
Select the playlists you want to import.
From there, Spotify will copy them into your library. Once complete, you’ll find them in your Spotify «Playlists» list.