Technologies

Marvel Rivals Season 3: New Phoenix Trailer Had Me Screaming ‘What?!’

The new duelist’s first gameplay trailer shows off her explosive abilities and ultimate.

As Marvel Rivals gets ready to kick off season 3 next week, we’re getting our first glimpse at some of the upcoming changes. And, with respect to my poor beleaguered Blade bros, the biggest news for me is that Jean Grey, original member of the X-Men and sometimes terror of the cosmos, is joining the roster as Phoenix.

There’s plenty more coming, including Blade in Season 3.5 next month, but Phoenix is the headliner for me, and here’s our first look at what she can do.

Phoenix’s abilities in Marvel Rivals

Phoenix joins as yet another duelist — an already oversaturated role, but one that feels appropriate for her. She brings a mix of area-of-effect damage that can help chew through groups of enemies as well as mobility that lets her flit around the battlefield to find flank angles.

Phoenix’s primary fire appears to instantly apply damage to enemies with no travel time (also known as hitscan) and apply some kind of flame stacks to opponents, represented by up to three flame icons above their characters. In the trailer, heroes appeared to detonate when hit at full stacks, releasing a burst of additional damage around them.

Her alternate fire sends a rapid-fire burst of flame that creates a series of small explosions, similar to Hela’s alternate fire. In the trailer, we see it used on a group of enemies with maximum flame stacks to detonate everyone and effectively burst down the entire opposing team at once.

Her first ability is a quick dash. In the trailer, Phoenix uses it to jump backward, dodging an enemy Venom looking to crash down on her.

Her second ability appears to be a limited-duration flight, allowing Phoenix to freely fly around the battlefield for a few seconds. The flight is on a resource meter that recharges while Phoenix isn’t flying.

Phoenix’s ultimate is what made me scream. I’ve watched the trailer several times and my best description of how it appears to work is, «You crash to the ground, kill everyone in your way and explode.» And I mean everyone — in the trailer, we see Hela in her ultimate, wherein she flies up into the sky and her health jumps up to 1,000 HP, get erased when Phoenix ults through her. In addition to also killing Rocket and Psylocke in one shot, the ultimate also clears deployables like Rocket’s rez beacon and Peni’s nest while whittling Peni herself and Groot down to a sliver of health in the explosion.

A mobile hitscan hero who with a stacking mechanic and a meteoric ultimate? Yeah, sign me up. Between this and Overwatch 2’s Freja, this longtime support/strategist main may have officially turned into a damage/duelist main.

When does season 3 start?

Marvel Rivals season 3.0 is scheduled to start on Friday, July 11 UTC. Typically, this involves servers going down for a few hours around midnight PT before being turned back on for the new season in the very early morning.

What about Blade? Haven’t we waited enough?

Rivals continues to make Blade fans wait, since that hero won’t be added to the roster until season 3.5. But at least that’s only a month away under the new season structure.

Rivals season 3 balance changes

In the Dev Visions vol. 7 video, Rivals devs gave us a quick breakdown of the upcoming balance changes, though we’re still waiting on full details from official patch notes. Here’s the quick breakdown, with any confirmed details in parentheses.

Buffs:

Venom
Thing (gains a new ability to jump to enemies, possibly knocking down fliers)
Namor (primary fire)
Scarlet Witch (ultimate)
Invisible Woman (healing efficiency)
Mantis (healing and ultimate utility)

Nerfs:

Emma Frost
Iron Man (poke potential)
Punisher (turret)
Mister Fantastic (survivability)
Loki (ultimate charge)
Ultron

Team-up changes

Rivals is adding two new team-ups, tacking heroes onto two existing ones and removing two others (Storming Ignition and ESU Alumnus) from the game. It’s also nerfing another. Here’s the quick rundown:

New — Primal Flame: Phoenix anchors to add damage over time and lifesteal to Wolverine’s attacks after his leap.
New — Ever-Burning Bond: Human Torch anchors to let Spider-Man shoot a burning web with a flaming tracer. (The flaming tracer stacks with Spidey’s regular tracers, devs said.)
Updated — Symbiote Shenanigans: Adds Hela, giving her Soul Drainer Hel Sphere slowing tendrils.
Updated — Stark Protocol: Adds Squirrel Girl, giving her an explosive, homing gauntlet.
Updated — Guardian Revival: Devs said they’d be nerfing some element of the Guardians’ team-up.

Other things coming in season 3

The battle pass is getting some adjustments to account for shorter seasons. Battle passes still offer 10 skins, but you’ll earn tokens at a faster rate to make it easier to progress through the entire battle pass in the shorter time period. Daily missions are also going away, with weekly missions shifting to permanent quests instead of being time-limited. Seasonal missions that offer large batches of tokens are also being added.

Rivals devs also announced a new competitive mode coming in season 3.5 but said we’d have to wait for any details about it.

The game is also adding accessories (which appear to be animated stickers that float above the KO notifications), new chroma options and visual effects for ultimate abilities. Perhaps the nicest quality of life change is the ability to mix & match MVP animations with any skins, instead of having certain MVP animations locked to specific skins.

Rivals needs a win

Season 3 is a major turning point for the hero shooter, marking the start of its new two-month seasons where we’ll be getting new heroes every month — one at the start of the season and one at midseason. The new cadence is an aggressive pace for expanding the game’s roster, and threatens to keep the metagame churning even faster, assuming those new heroes are relevant at launch.

That’s important because Rivals has been bleeding active players since launch. Based on SteamDB data, the start of each new half-season brings in fewer players than the previous. (For example, fewer players joined for season 2.5 than for 2.0.) Most games lose players over time, but for a live-service game, that kind of consistent drop is bad news because it means fewer players coming back each season to spend money on battle passes and cosmetics.

And while Rivals was a hit at launch, the game has struggled with player retention, whether it’s due to in-game toxicity, role-based infighting, frustrating metagames or just generally losing the luster of being a brand-new game.

How do you fix that? Not easily, that’s for certain. But adding an iconic member of the original X-Men and giving her fun gameplay in the form of mobility and unique mechanics can sure help.

I’ll tell you this much: It’s working on me.

Technologies

Stroke Risk Could Be Flagged Early Using Apple Watch Technology, Studies Show

The latest research shows that wearables could soon be a vital part of tracking your heart health.

For millions at risk of stroke, a simple tap on the wrist could one day save lives. New studies from the Amsterdam University Medical Center and St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London showed that wearables, such as the Apple Watch, can improve the detection of atrial fibrillation compared to standard care. Atrial fibrillation, often referred to as A-fib, is a heart arrhythmia, which means an irregular or abnormal heartbeat. The condition can cause blood clots and is one of the leading causes of a stroke.

The Amsterdam study enrolled 437 patients aged 65 or older with elevated stroke risk and required 219 of them to wear an Apple Watch to track their heart rate for 12 hours a day for 6 months. The remaining 218 patients didn’t wear a watch and relied on standard care.

The experiment detected heart arrhythmias four times more frequently in patients wearing an Apple Watch versus those who didn’t. Specific versions of the Apple Watch use photoplethysmography, a heart rate-detecting LED light sensor, and have a built-in single-lead electrocardiogram sensor to read your heart rate.

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Wearables that track heart rate and other health markers aren’t new, and previous studies have shown promise in detecting A-fib. Although wearables are known to track this type of data, no prior research has examined how well they detect potential health risks for A-fib.

«We saw that after six months we diagnosed and treated 21 patients in the group wearing the smartwatch, of whom 57% were asymptomatic,» said Michiel Winter, a cardiologist at Amsterdam UMC, in a statement. «This was against just five diagnoses in the group receiving standard care, all of whom experienced symptoms.»

The second clinical study, conducted by St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, showed that the Apple Watch could also be beneficial for detecting A-fib symptoms earlier and for monitoring patients after a standard treatment, such as a catheter ablation. The hospital found that patients could record clinical-grade ECGs on their Apple Watches at home when experiencing symptoms. Similar to the first study, the hospital found that patients using an Apple Watch detected A-fib earlier and more frequently than those receiving standard care. Catching symptoms earlier also reduces anxiousness and the likelihood that a patient will need to be hospitalized.

The findings from these studies show that wearables such as the Apple Watch could be used for long-term heart screening to detect heart health abnormalities and improve patient care for those in treatment. And it can help diagnose those who don’t know they have the condition.

«Using smartwatches with PPG and ECG functions aids doctors in diagnosing individuals unaware of their arrhythmia, thereby expediting the diagnostic process,» said Winter.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Thursday, Jan. 29

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 29.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s one of those neat, solid grids with no empty squares. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Employees, collectively
Answer: STAFF

6A clue: The «L» of TTYL
Answer: LATER

7A clue: Slowly lessen, as political support
Answer: ERODE

8A clue: Dunkin’ offering
Answer: DONUT

9A clue: Tricky things to navigate with a stroller
Answer: STEPS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Toys that go on the decline in winter?
Answer: SLEDS

2D clue: Set of fortunetelling cards
Answer: TAROT

3D clue: Make amends
Answer: ATONE

4D clue: Out of patience
Answer: FEDUP

5D clue: Guitar bars
Answer: FRETS

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Technologies

Mobile Internet Without Borders: How Verum E-SIM Is Changing the Game for Travelers and Beyond

In an era when flights take just a few hours, but data boundaries remain very real, a solution has emerged that significantly simplifies life for frequent international travelers. The Verum E-SIM app offers a next-generation virtual SIM card — no plastic, no waiting for delivery, and no traditional roaming charges.

While eSIM technology itself is no longer new, Verum takes it further: the internet works in over 150 countries worldwide under clear, uniform conditions. Connection happens through the app in just a couple of minutes — choose a package (or even a global one), pay, and activate. No need to buy local SIM cards at the airport, hunt for carrier shops, or struggle with explanations in a foreign language.

One of the biggest advantages is the complete absence of hidden fees or billing surprises. Plans are fully transparent: you immediately see how many gigabytes you get and for how long. Speed and reliability are provided by partner operators in each specific country — this isn’t a single “averaged” provider for the entire world.

Another key point for many users is that no VPN is required. As long as your device is using Verum E-SIM traffic, all familiar services and websites open directly, without extra layers or speed loss.

For those traveling with a group or family, portable Wi-Fi routers with Verum eSIM support have become a great option. One profile — and the internet is shared simultaneously across multiple smartphones, tablets, and laptops. It’s convenient on the road, in a hotel, or even in a café where the local Wi-Fi is unreliable.

Payment flexibility is also a plus: the service supports regular bank cards, cryptocurrencies, and various alternative methods — so you can choose whatever feels most convenient and cost-effective for you.

In the end, Verum E-SIM is more than just another data app. It’s a way to make mobile internet as natural and hassle-free abroad as it is at home. The difference becomes especially clear when you compare a roaming bill from one of the major operators with your Verum expenses after two or three trips.

The technology is still gaining popularity, but many travelers are already saying: “For the first time in ages, internet abroad stopped being a source of stress.” Solutions like this are shaping the future of mobile connectivity — without extra cables, borders, or unpleasant surprises.

If you travel often or simply value stable internet without unnecessary hassle — it’s worth giving it a try at least once.

https://esim.verum.im

https://esimglobal.world