• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered has been announced
• The free upgrade arrives on September 29 for all platforms
• This remastered version features up to 40 new visual and gameplay improvements

CD Projekt Red has announced The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered, a free upgrade featuring all-new improvements and revamped gameplay features for its blockbuster RPG game.

Revealed during Opening Night Live at Gamescom 2026, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered will arrive next month on September 29 for all available platforms and is free for current owners of the game. On top of that, players who own only the base game can claim the two included expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, at no extra cost.

The news came as a shock to fans, and the gameplay trailer is filled with too many brand-new features to count; even from the footage, you can tell there are some big visual and technical differences, and I can't wait to start another playthrough.

To make everything easier, I've put together a list below of every single new improvement mentioned in the trailer, whether it's upgraded visuals, a revamped combat system, new monster behaviour, or PlayStation 5 Pro support. Seriously, there's a lot!

What's included in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered?

• Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions (at no extra cost if you don't own them)
• Upgraded visuals
• Enhanced combat
• Improved traversal and movement
• New witcher Signs FX
• Revamped mount handling
• Enhanced monster behaviours
• A skill tree revamp
• Transmogrification
• Expanded photo mode
• New finishers
• Cross-platform mod support
• Immersive meditation
• Refined animations
• New quest tracking
• UI improvements
• Looting rework
• Refreshed motion blur
• New accessibility features
• Updated textures
• Foliage shading rework
• Tutorial modernization
• HDR improvements
• GTAO
• Improved menu navigation
• Global lighting rework
• New shading model
• Subsurface scattering
• New tone mapper
• PlayStation 5 Pro support
• Xbox Play Anywhere support
• Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive features
• Nvdia DLSS 4.5
• AMD FSR 4
• Intel XESS 2.0
• Path tracing on PC
• Ray reconstruction on PC
• Raytraced hair
• Native DX12
• Rendering parallelization

The announcement also came right before CDPR showcased the game's third and final major expansion, Songs of the Past, which is due to launch in 2027.

Elsewhere, fans can also look forward to The Witcher 4, which CDPR has confirmed is targeting a 2028 release window.

• GTA VI leak hunters now face fake downloads designed to compromise their computers
• The suspicious ISO reportedly disables Windows security tools after execution on affected systems
• A tiny 50KB payload allegedly sits inside a gigantic 113GB file

Keen Grand Theft Auto VI fans searching for leaked copies now face another risk: a huge ISO file is reportedly circulating across torrent sites.

The file is said to measure 113GB, yet online testers claim almost all that space consists of empty data rather than genuine game assets.

Their analysis reportedly found a small malicious program hidden inside the file, making the download appear far more dangerous than it normally would.

The huge size made it feel genuine

The suspicious file reportedly began circulating on torrent sites after renewed interest in leaked GTA VI material and claims of a complete game build.

However, testers who examined the ISO reportedly found that it contains 99.99% empty zeroes, leaving only about 50KB of data identified as malicious code.

“I did some reverse engineering and confirmed that it is fully fake and full of viruses,” said @Aidas29506493, an online researcher on X.

The 113GB figure was created to make the file resemble a legitimate game release while concealing a much smaller payload, which could be ransomware.

Yet file size alone provides no evidence that an alleged copy contains authentic game assets or executable code from Rockstar.

The alleged code reportedly includes commands designed to weaken Windows Defender and interfere with other security tools on affected computers.

Such behaviour would allow the malware to operate with fewer protections after someone launches the downloaded file on Windows.

The analysis also reportedly found a PowerShell command that adds the system drive to Windows Defender's exclusion list for scanning.

Another command was said to terminate security software, although independent verification of those findings remains limited at this time.

Malware risk rises alongside GTA VI leak interest

The alleged ISO follows a series of GTA VI leak claims that have generated substantial interest across gaming communities online.

A leaker known as Cyberleek has reportedly shared gameplay material and the game's fictional Leonidas map, while demanding changes from Rockstar.

Take-Two Interactive has also sought information from Microsoft that could help identify users connected with three Discord servers reportedly linked to leaks.

Those developments have increased attention around unofficial GTA VI files, creating conditions that criminals can exploit with convincing fake downloads.

This situation also shows why unreleased game files can carry greater security risks than ordinary pirated software already available publicly.

Gamers downloading such files may expose passwords, personal files, browser data, or other information if malicious code gains access without warning.

Rockstar has scheduled the official release of Grand Theft Auto VI for November, giving players a legitimate alternative to unofficial copies elsewhere.

Until then, claims surrounding leaked builds and supposed ISOs should be treated cautiously because the files cannot be independently verified as genuine.

This case provides a strong warning, but further independent testing would be needed to establish every technical claim about the file itself.

Via Toms Hardware

Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 has officially concluded, and the two-hour-long show was jam-packed with a deluge of game announcements and reveals.

From an official release date for the upcoming free-to-play open-world action game Ananta to our very first look at the highly anticipated The Witcher 3 Songs of the Past DLC, it offered a solid set of trailers — especially compared to some previous years.

If you weren't able to catch the show live, there's no need to worry about missing out. Here are the major announcements in the order that they happened to get you fully up to date.

Everything announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026

• Nodus Fall — a new co-operative action game from Genshin Impact maker Hoyoverse
• Rainbow Six Tactics — new strategy spinoff launching in 2027
• Gears of War: E-Day — our first look at the villain in new cinematic story trailer
• Ananta — the free-to-play open world RPG is launching January 15, 2027
• Silent Hill Townfall got a new story trailer showing some creepy enemies
• Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy got another gameplay trailer ahead of release this week
• Sea of Remnants got a new gameplay trailer showing cute puppets and naval action
• Crimson Desert Enhanced announced with new content
• Tides of Annihilation trailer revealed new story details and gameplay
• Lofsong — announced for console and PC
• Megaman Dual Overdrive launches in 2027, and a crossover Pragmata skin is on the way
• Rayman Legends Retold launches on October 1
• PUBG Ded Net announced with a new gameplay trailer
• Control Resonant got an awesome new gameplay trailer
• The Blood of the Dawnwalker trailer revealed new story details and third-person action gameplay
• Game of Thrones: War for Westeros got a new gameplay trailer showing Daenerys and Jon Snow — launches in early 2027
• Dust Origins — a new isometric action game from Airship Syndicate
• Exodus got a new gameplay trailer showcasing a new character, a talking octopus named Salt — out April 7, 2027
• Warlock revealed as a new D&D game launching in 2027 for PC and console
• 1001 Threads of Mizan revealed — new narrative game
• Silver Palace: House of Greed got a new gameplay trailer
• Monster Hunter Outlanders — mobile spinoff got a new trailer
• Metro 2039 got a cinematic story trailer ahead of its February 2027 release
• Hitman World of Assassination - The Herbalist ft. rap legend Snoop Dogg DLC launching for free on August 27
• Aion 2 got a new trailer
• Afterworld, a new strategy game from Paradox Interactive, announced
• Petit Planet — life sim got an adorable new trailer

• Mewgenics — comes to consoles on September 8
• Alien Fireteam 2 got a new gameplay trailer
• 1666: Amsterdam got a new trailer ahead of its early access release today
• Showa American Story got a wacky new gameplay trailer, launching on PS5 and PC this year
• Road Kings got a new trailer showing off plenty of trucking action
• Stage Tour — upcoming Guitar-Hero-like music title got a brand new look showcasing setlists and ways to play ahead of December 10 launch
• Crazy Taxi multiplayer reveal trailer
• Turok Origins got a new cinematic trailer
• Gravehounds, furry shooter, got a gameplay trailer ahead of 2026 launch
• Lego Skylines — reveal trailer for bricky city builder game
• Transport Fever 3 got a new trailer, launches September 26
• Exterminauts announced
• Path of Exile full 1.0 release on December 11, will be free-to-play
• Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Remake revealed in cinematic trailer showing the reimagined strategy title

• No Law announced for 2027
• Project Zeta revealed as a new team-based MOBA
• Cinder City announced with a new trailer, available wishlist now
• Ontos announced with a creepy first-person trailer, launching 2027
• Pony Island 2: Panda Circus launches April 27, 2027
• Zoopunk gameplay reveal trailer shown
• There are no Ghosts at the Grand got a new trailer and is launching December 2026
• Roco Kingdom trailer confirmed closed beta test for October 27
• The Defiant announced
• Tarae the Unbound announced with a gameplay trailer
• Like or Die — quirky social media battle royale announced
• Final Fantasy 7 Revelation gets a new cinematic trailer

Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 final announcement

• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered — announced as free upgrade with loads of new content
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Songs of the Past new cinematic footage shown

What did you think of this year's Opening Night Live show? Let us know in the comments or by voting in the poll below.

I’ve played about an hour of the Gears of War: E-Day campaign, which is shaping up to be a brilliant Xbox 360 throwback. Does E-Day reinvent the wheel? No, at least if the two missions that I’ve played are anything to go by, but everything that makes Gears of War good is present and accounted for.

My hands-on kicked off at the start of Act 2 of the campaign, with the fictional city of Kalona still grappling with the early stages of the mutant Locust invasion. Series hero Marcus Fenix and his rag-tag team of survivors, which includes long-time ally Dominic Santiago along with newcomers Mags Carter and Lucas Reyes, are holed up in the besieged city hall.

There are murmurings of a gigantic creature the group has just taken down — presumably a boss fight at the end of the previous chapter — and you’re quickly drafted into the military effort to take back the city.

Duck and cover

Your first goal is to head to a nearby Thrashball stadium (a familiar in-universe sport that looks like a weird hybrid of football and rugby), which involves traversing the crumbling streets and crossing a giant mechanical bridge. Obviously, things aren’t so simple — with countless Emergence Holes (or E-holes for short) opening and spewing out waves of foes as you make your way over.

Locust enemies are aggressive and, while they don’t pose much threat in isolation, can employ some pretty formidable tactics. The basic rifle-wielding drones will stick to cover like glue, popping up intermittently to spray your team with bullets. They can be hard to keep track of in large numbers, so be careful that those armed with shotguns don’t manage to flank you, as a few close-range hits will shred your health bar in seconds.

Tossed grenades and groups of fast-moving, dog-like Feral Wretches keep the pressure up by forcing you to change cover frequently, preventing fights from devolving into opposing sides taking pot shots at each other across the battlefield.

The steady introduction of new enemy types, from lethal snipers to giant bazooka-equipped brutes, kept the handful of encounters I experienced fresh with some interesting scenarios, like covering another squad located on the other side of the bridge, thrown in there too.

It’s classic Gears of War action, elevated by meaty gunplay.

Chipping away at enemies from a distance is relatively ineffective and awkward (unless you manage to scoop up one of the powerful Breechshot rifles from a fallen enemy sniper to pop a few heads), but the up-close action is beautifully slick. The Gnasher Shotgun remains an absolute beast, with blowing an enemy in half a wonderfully satisfying reward for pulling off the perfect flank.

Once Fenix gets his hands on a prototype chainsaw bayonet, you know that I was sawing practically anything in my path to pieces in a glorious explosion of gore and viscera.

Free roam

The latter portions of my hands-on had me tackling one of the game’s new ‘open district’ missions, and it’s about what you would expect from the name. You’re dropped into a large chunk of the city and granted the ability to explore it freely with a little map to guide you. It doesn’t feel like a true open world as you’re very much guided towards the next objective, though there are some optional side missions to discover and plenty of collectibles to scoop up.

The mission in my preview was a basic wave survival challenge that had me hunkered down in a car dealership with some non-player character (NPC) soldiers. It’s not the most exciting concept, and I’m hoping some of the side content available in the full game is more adventurous. I didn’t feel like my time was wasted, however, as completing it unlocked some powerful weapon mods.

Modding your guns is a new feature introduced in E-Day (presumably somewhat inspired by the similar upgrade system in strategy spinoff Gears Tactics) that lets you customize your gear by improving stats such as magazine size or fire rate. It can sometimes even change how an entire gun operates, for example, having your pistol fire in a two-bullet burst at the cost of long-range accuracy.

The whole formula feels a bit retro, which is far from a bad thing. You don’t really get decent story-driven shooters these days, and the promise of a roughly 14-hour campaign alongside a suite of multiplayer modes to dive into afterwards is the kind of experience I crave as a palate cleanser between mega live-service releases.

It definitely helps that E-Day looks simply amazing from a technical perspective. Xbox has developed a bit of a reputation for delivering some visually stunning titles this generation (look at the borderline photorealistic fidelity of Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2), and E-Day is shaping up to be the best-looking yet. Its art direction blends 1980s retro charm with grand Gothic architecture and a distinctly alien, unfamiliar edge, all presented with ray-traced lighting, geometrically complex models, and flawless texture work.

I found myself poring over every detail, soaking in the signs and posters advertising services, the little notices stuck to the front of shops, the names of all the train lines in a subway station; it’s a lovingly crafted world that truly feels lived in.

If I had one complaint, it’s that it all doesn’t really look much like the world of the first Gears of War. That game is admittedly set more than a decade later, on a different part of the planet, but its cars and buildings in particular seem so much more modern than those of E-Day that it just doesn’t line up in my head. Were companies still making new vehicles and updating their storefronts while hundreds of vicious creatures were pouring out of the ground?

This is nitpicking, of course, and it’s not hard to suspend your disbelief when it’s in the service of some truly beautiful design. I’m excited to see even more when Gears of War: E-Day releases for PC and Xbox Series X and Series S on October 6, 2026.

• Paradox Interactive has revealed the upcoming grand strategy game Afterworld
• It's set in a post-apocalyptic America that players can attempt to rebuild
• It's intended to be the studio's most "easy to learn" and "approachable" title yet

Paradox Interactive has revealed Afterworld, an upcoming post-apocalyptic title that looks like the perfect cross between franchises like Fallout or Mad Max and the company's popular grand strategy games.

Created by Paradox Development Studio, the same team behind Crusader Kings 3 and Hearts of Iron 4, Afterworld takes place in an entirely original vision of post-apocalyptic North America filled with resources to exploit, territory to conquer, and rival groups to trade resources, ally with, or wage war against.

Initially, the game is all about building up some semblance of civilization by creating a home and choosing the laws and ethics of your tribe, with the scale gradually developing until you're going head-to-head with other emerging powers to decide the fate of the continent.

Different playable factions let you start your story as everything from apocalypse survivors that have just emerged from a hidden vault to fanatical zealots already familiar with the brutal new world.

“This is the first world we’ve gotten to build from scratch in a long time, and the first one we've had the pleasure of destroying before the game starts," explained game director Dan Lind.

"The old world is still out there in fragments, waiting to be found. What comes after it is entirely up to the players.”

With its "small-scale" starting hours, Afterworld is intended to be the studio's most "easy to learn" and "approachable" title yet — which is good news given the complex systems of games like Hearts of Iron 4 can be incredibly tricky to pick up.

This doesn't mean that surviving is going to be easy, though: the world is full of dangerous old technology and unknown horrors. It's also home to the Ancients, immortal leaders that survived the apocalypse and now dominate the wasteland.

It also sounds like there is going to be a lot of depth, with the developer promising that the experience "as rich and complex" as fans have "come to expect" from its games.

Afterworld doesn't have a release date yet, but can wishlist it on Steam today.

• Brain chemistry may contribute to memory beyond ordinary electrical signalling
• AI systems process information without the living cellular environment found inside brains
• Astrocytes could play an important role in processing cognitive information

A new scientific model argues that binary code, the 0s and 1s underlying every computer, cannot fully explain how memory works.

Researchers Gerard Marx of MX Biotech Ltd. and Chaim Gilon of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem base their model on molecular and cellular evidence.

Their theory, called the Tripartite Mechanism of Memory, proposes that three biological components, not binary switches, are what generate genuine memory.

A chemical basis for how memory actually forms

Unlike a silicon chip storing information as binary states, the tripartite model proposes that memory arises through three separate biological elements interacting.

These elements include brain cells, particularly astrocytes, interacting with neurons, along with the molecular environment surrounding those individual cells directly.

A third component involves specific chemicals, such as metal ions, neurotransmitters, and gliotransmitters, circulating continuously throughout the brain's living tissue.

The researchers suggest that living brains may do more than simply transmit electrical signals between individual neurons scattered across tissue.

They may also write and read certain kinds of information chemically, a process with no clear equivalent inside a silicon processor.

Astrocytes, abundant brain cells that interact closely with neurons, occupy a particularly important place within this newly proposed scientific model.

Marx and Gilon propose that clusters of astrocytes participate in processing cognitive information alongside neurons and the surrounding cellular environment.

A central part of their argument holds that biological memories are never simply pieces of stored logical information by themselves.

They argue that biological memory carries an emotional dimension that no binary code stored inside a computer's memory bank can replicate.

Their model treats chemical messengers, including neurotransmitters, as essential parts of the mechanism by which cognitive information becomes fully encoded.

What the chemistry of memory means for AI

Both computers and biological brains can store and retrieve information, though their underlying mechanisms may differ in fundamental ways.

In a computer, information ultimately carries a physical aspect that is encoded directly into its silicon hardware and internal circuitry.

Marx and Gilon ask whether biological memory also carries a physical aspect, though one rooted in living cells and organic chemistry.

That distinction grows increasingly relevant as AI systems become more capable of performing tasks tied closely to human logical reasoning.

Their paper directly challenges the assumption that greater computational power and complexity alone would necessarily produce biological-like consciousness in machines.

The researchers argue that purely electronic systems lack the biological infrastructure and emotional processes characteristic of living, breathing organisms entirely.

Their argument is not that AI cannot perform increasingly sophisticated intellectual tasks as computing power keeps expanding rapidly each year.

Rather, it raises a more fundamental question about whether intelligent behaviour equals the biological processes producing memory, emotion, and thought.

• Grand Theft Auto 6 gameplay leaks have been appearing online since mid-August
• More and more footage is being posted every day by the leaker known as 'Cyberleek'
• Here's a full timeline featuring every gameplay leak so far

Grand Theft Auto 6 is just three months out from launch, and the game is set to get a special extended look premiering on Netflix this week. However, an unknown individual or group known as 'Cyberleek' has put a spanner in Rockstar Games' plan and has been posting leaked gameplay footage for over a week.

Cyberleek has since claimed the leaks stem from a goal to stop the end of physical game discs, which Sony plans to do starting January 2028, and Rockstar, which confirmed that the physical version of GTA 6 won't have a disc, but a digital code in the box instead.

While all alleged gameplay footage being posted shows an advertisement for Cyberleek's cryptocurrency scheme, which brings into question the leaker's true motivation, they've also released a manifesto protesting Rockstar's decision and threatened to "disrupt their operations" by leaking game material until the studio issues a public statement and apologizes.

Well, it's another day, and more alleged gameplay footage has been posted online. A lot has happened over the past week, but if you haven't caught up, here's a summary of everything that's leaked so far.

August 18

The very first GTA 6 leak was posted on August 18 and shows co-protagonist Jason Duval playing basketball outside his house in the southern part of Leonida, in an area called Key Lento.

We've seen this area and Jason's house in past trailers, but Rockstar hadn't shared any gameplay. In the clip, Jason is wandering around before picking up a basketball; it looks like the player can dribble and use an aiming mechanic to shoot the ball into the net. There's also a focus meter that gradually increases, with a level system.

The second clip was posted the same day and gave fans a first look at what it's like driving around in GTA 6. Jason can be seen speeding along the roads before getting into a fight with a non-player character (NPC).

Cyberleek also posted a look at the game's Leonida map, which showed areas like Lummox County, Leonard County, Kelly County, Vice Dale County, and Mariana County.

August 19

More gameplay footage, this time two minutes long, was posted the following day, showing Jason breaking into a gated area, killing security guards, before taking their tasers. He then steals a semitruck and drives off, and you can see vehicle health and fuel gauges on the HUD.

Then there's a short cutscene showing Jason and his friend Cal Hampton on a boat, which some suggest is a scene from the beginning of the game.

Another gameplay clip was posted shortly after, showing Jason stabbing a police officer and stealing his motorcycle, as well as what looks like six "Wanted" stars, which is one more than GTA 5. The footage continues, and Jason can then be seen using what looks like pain medication called "Zombix."

August 20

The next clip features Jason flying a small plane over the map, presumably Vice City, and it looks highly detailed. The render distance looks impressive, and you can see lots of buildings, roads, traffic, and more. The player can also be seen browsing radio stations.

Afterward, a second clip shows the player spelling the word "LEEK" on the side of a building using bullets, leading many fans to believe Cyberleek has at least some sort of playable build and the footage isn't stolen from Rockstar's servers.

August 21

The gameplay leaks continued the following day, with the next showing Jason driving a hypercar, specifically, the Truffade Thrax from GTA Online.

August 22

The GTA 6 leaks continued into this past weekend, with longer footage showing a variety of activities, including Jason driving around, pulling into a gas station, physically refueling his car, and then going inside the shop to rob the clerk. When Jason punches him, you can see the hair tech in action, his hat flying off, and Jason taking money from the register.

The clip cuts after he drives away and crashes his car, then Jason can be seen entering a strip club. However, the footage ends with Cyberleek asking for "3mil marketcap = stripclub" in a message on screen for their cryptocurrency scheme.

Well, the leaker delivered, and the next clip shows a deeper look at the strip club, showing neon lights and dancers, as well as highly detailed NPCs in conversation.

August 23

The following day, another clip was posted showing Jason driving to another gas station, stealing someone's truck, and running down the owner. When he crashes the car, the iconic "Wasted" screen pops up, and shortly after, it cuts to Jason having what appears to be an unscripted conversation with an NPC while they both pee in urinals.

Another notable feature of the clip is the mission marker that reads "Return to Lucia", suggesting the leaker could be in the middle of a mission that requires Jason to meet back up with his girlfriend.

More gameplay was posted later, showing Jason flying over Vice City at night.

August 24

On August 24, new gameplay showed Jason walking around a nudist town in Leonida; he enters a party, where there's a pool and lots of naked people standing around or dancing, or ordering drinks at a bar. The player also zooms in on these NPCs using binoculars, and yeah... the bodies are very realistic.

When Jason focuses on another woman, she attacks him, and he kills her before firing his pistol at the rest of the surrounding NPCs.

August 25

The latest leaks got posted today, and it is the first time we see Rockstar's impressive crowd tech at work, seemingly running in-game. The first clip is similar to a shot from the first GTA 6 trailer, but has Jason cycling along Vice City beach instead.

There are a ton of NPCs packed together, showcasing the density the developer's tech allows, and you can see them lounging around, playing in the water, or walking around; the water physics also look remarkable, as do the sand effects.

The next clip shows Jason visiting a shopping plaza and a used video game store that sells physical games, which is ironic given Rockstar's decision to not release a disc version of GTA 6.

The player zooms in on the shelves using binoculars, and every game and movie is named.

It's a bit blurry, but one game title looks like it reads "We Came Together I, II, & III Remasters of the Remakes" (or "Remixes," it's hard to tell), which seems like a little nod to Naughty Dog's multiple editions of The Last of Us Part 1 and Part 2.

Signs also state that electronics, consoles, and collectibles can be traded in before Jason walks up to the counter and cycles through a selection of purchasable and wearable earbuds.

That's every alleged gameplay leak that Cyberleek has shared as of today, but we'll keep you updated if more details are posted.

Fans can also look forward to the Grand Theft Auto 6: An Extended Look ahead of the game's launch on November 19, which is set to premiere on Netflix on August 27 at 3PM ET / 12PM PT / 8PM BST and later launch on the studio's YouTube channel at 9PM ET / 6PM PT / 2AM BST.

It's speculated that the extended look will finally reveal official gameplay and Trailer 3.

While Labor Day is less than two weeks away, Lowe's summer clearance sale has some of the lowest prices of the year that you can shop right now.

• Shop Lowe's full summer sale

You can save up to 50% off on this summer's hottest products at Lowe's, including best-selling patio furniture, grills, and outdoor tools. August is the perfect month to score outdoor items for cheap, as retailers try to clear stock to make room for fall items. That makes it a great time to score record-low prices on seasonal items.

Lowe's is also offering up to 35% off major appliances, plus additional savings when you buy two or more appliances. That's similar to offers that I expect to see on Labor Day, as appliances are one of the most popular categories during the holiday event.

Below are links to Lowe's most popular sale categories, followed by the top deals on patio furniture, appliances, grills, bathroom products, lawnmowers and power tools. You can also find more of today's best early Labor Day sales further down the page.

Lowe's pre-Labor Day sale – quick links

• Appliances: 35% off washing machines, refrigerators & dishwashers
• Bathroom: 40% off vanities, faucets, shower heads & more
• Grills: grills & cooking accessories from $24.99
• Halloween: inflatables, indoor & outdoor decor from $30
• Lawn & Garden: landscaping, flowers & plants from $3
• Lawnmowers: up to $1,000 off lawnmowers, trimmers & blowers
• Patio furniture: 50% off chairs, sets, sofas & umbrellas
• Storage & organization: home & garage storage from $45
• Tools: up to 40% off DeWalt, Craftsman & Kobalt

Today's best Lowe's pre-Labor Day deals

More of today's best sales ahead of Labor Day

• Amazon: 45% off TVs, AirPods, air fryers & vacuums
• Apple: iPads, AirPods & MacBooks from $99
• Appliances: up to $1,200 at Samsung
• Best Buy: 60% off appliances, TVs, laptops & more
• Casper: up to 30% off mattresses
• Dell: laptop deals from $249.99
• DreamCloud: up to 60% off mattresses, 66% off bundles
• Home Depot: 40% off appliances, furniture, grills & tools
• Lowe's: $1,000 off appliances, patio & tools
• Nectar: up to 50% off mattresses, deals from $349
• Saatva: up to $625 off luxury mattresses
• Samsung: up to $2,000 off 4K, QLED & OLED TVs
• Target: 45% off clothing, tech & furniture
• Walmart: 58% off back-to-school, furniture, & clothing

• The US government has issued a revision to its National Security Science & Technology Strategy
• Among various changes is the reduced focus on high-performance data storage and data centers
• Instead, emerging technologies are given greater prominence, while data storage and data centers feature within the document’s information management priorities

The US government has updated its National Security Science & Technology Strategy (NSSTS), an annual directive that ensures the United States’ national security strategy is supported across various dimensions. This time, however, a curious revision has been made, one that appears to relegate the significance of high-performance data storage and datacenters.

Previously, these installations have been highly regarded and appeared on the document’s list of "Critical and Emerging Technologies." With the latest revision, however, other technologies appear to have supplanted data centers.

Traditionally, the National Security Strategy (NSS), published annually, includes the science and technology element. Under the Trump administration, however, the NSSTS has been released as a companion to the NSS report.

Relegated data centers?

An initial reading of the NSSTS suggests the relevance of data centers and high-performance data storage has been reduced.

The document, which provides information to support “the nation’s economic security, science, research, and innovation to support the national security strategy,” focuses on “S&T competition as it relates to military capabilities, homeland defense and resilience, and other direct intersections with national security.”

This assists in decision-making surrounding federal funding, informs partnerships in the private sector, and joint projects with allies. Significantly, it also underpins US policies on exports of critical technology.

While the importance of data centers and high-performance data storage appears to have been demoted, it appears that the NSSTS is simply refocusing. The updated document’s information management and cybersecurity list includes “data management, including storage and security,” which seems to cover the apparent omission.

Instead, the document focuses on "transformative emerging technologies," which include artificial intelligence, autonomy, biotechnology, and quantum information technologies.

"Foreign adversaries"

The NSS and NSSTS are by definition documents that outline a roadmap for economic security. Shifts in priorities are not unusual, such as an aim to “keep foreign adversaries out of critical technology systems and supply chains.”

This would seem to refer mainly to China, and the challenges that some Chinese-manufactured wireless communications hardware has brought, something that has seen the FCC apparently working overtime.

Within the NSSTS we can see a reaction to some of this, notably an ambition of “Prioritizing homeshoring and domestic product development, which the Trump Administration is advancing by promoting balanced trade, facilitating reindustrialization, unleashing energy dominance, advancing novel material substitution for critical components, and working with suppliers from trusted partners.”

Data centers and high-performance data storage easily fit within those aims—they're just less specific than in previous editions of the NSSTS.

Bulk storage prices rarely move much on a single drive, so a genuine discount on an 8TB internal hard drive is worth flagging if you're looking for extra storage for your desktop or DAS setup.

Currently, the Seagate BarraCuda 8TB Internal Hard Drive has dropped to $250 (was $280) at Best Buy. Operating at 5400 RPM, it's built for sheer storage capacity over peak performance, while delivering read and write speeds of up to 190MB/s.

Why we recommend it

An 8TB internal hard drive is one of the more practical ways to add bulk storage to a desktop or DAS setup without spending SSD money, and the Barracuda line has a long track record as a reliable, no-frills option in that space.

While it's not built for speed, the 190MB/s read and write speeds are enough for a media library, archives, backups, or overflow storage from a smaller primary drive, without the added cost of a faster but pricier 7200 RPM model. For a secondary or tertiary drive in a desktop build, that is a sensible trade-off.

Price Context & Historical Value

A $30 drop from $279.99 to $249.99 is a modest 11 percent discount. It is not a dramatic markdown, and large-capacity hard drives tend to move in smaller increments than most tech categories, so this is a reasonable price rather than a standout deal.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Seagate BarraCuda 8TB if...

You need a large amount of internal storage at a low cost per terabyte, you are building or upgrading a desktop and want a straightforward SATA drive, or your use case is bulk storage rather than fast load times.

❌ Skip the Seagate BarraCuda 8TB if...

You're building a NAS or RAID array, you want SSD-level operating speeds, or a plug-and-play portable drive.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

The savings here are modest, and shoppers who can wait for a larger sale event may see a bigger discount later. This drive has not been reviewed by TechRadar or a Future sister site, so this recommendation is based on Seagate's established reputation and this drive's specifications rather than hands-on testing. It is also worth remembering this is a mechanical hard drive, not an SSD, so it prioritizes capacity and cost per terabyte over speed.

• See all hard drive deals at Best Buy.

MSI's monitor range has consistently impressed us in tests, whether you're looking for an office upgrade, a new gaming set-up, or a back-to-school display for pulling double-duty. With that in mind, I found a great budget monitor deal on the MSI Pro MP272LE for $90 (was $120) at Amazon.

Now, a 27-inch monitor for under $90 is easy to find. One that adds a genuinely fast panel and proper mounting options without leaning on gaming branding is less common. Which I why I like this budget monitor built to handle spreadsheets, browser tabs, and video calls with room to spare.

Why we recommend it

Most budget monitors in this price range cut corners somewhere, whether that is a narrow viewing angle, a slow response time, or a bare-bones port selection.

MSI's Pro MP272LE avoids most of that by pairing an IPS panel with a wide connectivity spread that covers HDMI, DisplayPort, and VGA, which matters if you are connecting an older desktop tower or a laptop dock alongside a newer machine.

The panel itself is fast for what is fundamentally an office monitor, with a 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time. That is more than most productivity work needs, but it makes for noticeably smoother scrolling and window dragging, which adds up over a full workday.

Physical adjustability is often the first thing cut on a budget display, and MSI has kept tilt adjustment and VESA mount compatibility here. That means it can go on a monitor arm or stand if your desk setup calls for it, rather than being locked to a fixed height.

For more top picks, see our guide to the best business monitors.

Price Context & Historical Value

A $30 drop from $119.99 to $89.99 works out to a 25 percent discount, a solid markdown for a 27-inch IPS monitor with this port selection. It puts the MP273 E14A comfortably below most 27-inch IPS monitors at full price, and it is a fair price even without factoring in the discount.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the MSI PRO MP273 E14A if...

You want a 27-inch IPS panel for office work at a low price, need HDMI, DisplayPort, and VGA inputs to support an older or mixed setup, or want VESA mounting and tilt adjustment for a proper desk setup.

❌ Skip the MSI PRO MP273 E14A if...

You specifically want a monitor marketed and optimized for gaming, you need a higher resolution than Full HD for detailed spreadsheet or design work, or you are looking for USB-C connectivity for a single-cable laptop setup.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

We haven't reviewed this exact configuration, so this recommendation is based on the monitor's specifications and MSI's general track record in the monitor category rather than hands-on testing. MSI markets this model with gaming-oriented features like a 144Hz refresh rate, even though the panel and port selection make it just as suitable, if not more so, for office use. If you want a monitor built and marketed purely for productivity, it is worth comparing against MSI's non-gaming office lineup before buying.

• See all monitor deals at Amazon.

• LASK vs Celtic: Tuesday, August 25 at 8pm BST / 3pm ET
• Streams: Paramount+ (US) / Prime Video (UK)
• Outside Ireland? Use NordVPN to unblock your free stream

Watch LASK vs Celtic live streams to see whether the home team can deliver a remarkable comeback and book their place in the league phase of the Champions League. The Austrian champions lost the first leg 3-0, and manager Dietmar Kühbauer has admitted his side will “take risks” and “fight to the very end.”

LASK travelled to Scotland in a confident mood after winning their opening four games of the season, scoring 16 goals in the process. At Celtic Park, they had no problem carving out chances, registering 20 shots and having two goals chalked off for offside. That will give them hope that they can get back into the tie, as will the fact that they have an excellent home record and are unbeaten in their last eight competitive fixtures at the Raiffeisen Arena.

For Celtic, it has been an idyllic start to the season, with the Hoops winning all four of their games, including last Wednesday’s 3-0 victory against tonight’s opponents. Martin O’Neill’s side will no doubt come under plenty of pressure, but with a 3-0 advantage, the Bhoys will be big favourites to make a reappearance in the UCL for 2026/27.

Here's how to watch LASK vs Celtic in the 2026/27 Champions League play-offs from anywhere in the world.

LASK vs Celtic: Team news

LASK: XI Jungwirth, Mbuyamba, Tornich, Andrade, Jorgensen, Ljubicic, Bogarde, Horvath, Bello, Usor, Adeniran.

Subs: Schutzenauer, Schillinger, Freckleton, Smakaj, Danek, Schopf, Verhaeghe, Dibango, Lang, Flecker.

Celtic XI: Sinisalo, Donovan, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Tierney, McGregor, Baur, Nygren, Yang, Duran, Hogh.

Subs: Doohan, Scales, Balikwisha, McCowan, Tounekti, Osmand, Hassan, Kenny, Hatate, Murray, Forrest, Ralston.

How to watch LASK vs Celtic from anywhere

A VPN is handy piece of software that can make your device appear as if it's back in your home country, so you can unlock your usual service. The best VPN right now? We recommend NordVPN – it does everything and comes with a 75% discount and and extra three months for free...

How to watch LASK vs Celtic live streams in the USA

Soccer fans in the US can watch LASK vs Celtic in the UCL qualifiers on Paramount+.

Paramount+ subscriptions start at $8.99/month, rising to $13.99 to remove ads. You can also get a Paramount Plus trial with Walmart+ for $1 as with this sneaky trick we found.

Outside of the US? Use a VPN whilst you're traveling away from home to unlock your stream.

How to watch LASK vs Celtic live streams in the UK

In the UK, LASK vs Celtic is being broadcast on Prime Video.

A full membership costs £8.99 per month or £95 per year, however, you can also sign up for Prime Video on its own for £7.99 per month. This standalone plan gives you access to the streaming library.

If you're out of the UK but still want to tune in, explore the VPN route set out above, which will help you access your accounts from anywhere.

How to watch LASK vs Celtic live streams in Canada

In Canada, DAZN is broadcasting LASK vs Celtic in the Champions League qualifiers.

You'll need DAZN's soccer package, which starts at CA$24.99/month.

Not in Canada? Use NordVPN if you're away from home, in order to tap into your preferred Celtic vs LASK coverage from anywhere.

How to watch LASK vs Celtic live streams in Australia

A LASK vs Celtic live stream is available in Australia on Stan Sport.

You can pick up a Stan Sport subscription for as little as AU$29.99 per month for the basic plan containing adds. That price consists of the AU$9.99 Stan subscription fee plus the Sport add-on for AU$20.

Outside of Oz? You can use NordVPN to access your usual Champions League coverage.

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Just behind Taylor Sheridan, Guy Ritchie is the King of the streaming services. Scattered in between a slew of near-annual movie releases, we've had The Gentlemen on Netflix, MobLand on Paramount+, and Young Sherlock on Prime Video.

While Ritchie is the main creator of The Gentlemen and only the executive producer of MobLand, I've thought of the pair as two twin branches on the same tree since MobLand was released in 2025. Both deal with British crime families, violence, and secrets in abundance — each is a Ritchie story through and through.

With The Gentlemen season 2 set to be released on September 3, season 3 has secured an early renewal before we've even seen what the second installment has in store for us (though no Meghan Markle casting, despite many rumors). If anything perilous happens in the season finale, we've got the assurance of more episodes to fall back on.

But what does this mean for the other projects Ritchie has on the go? Young Sherlock season 2 was renewed shortly after season 1 and is currently in production, so we can let that be. However, MobLand is another story.

MobLand season 3 is allegedly in jeopardy already — it wouldn't take much for it to be cancelled

MobLand season 2 is set to hit Paramount+ on September 18, just weeks after The Gentlemen season 2 lands on Netflix. If Paramount surprised us all by matching Netflix's early season 3 renewal, we'd probably all feel a lot more confident about what's to come... but there's good reason why this won't happen.

In June 2026, it was claimed that Tom Hardy would not return for a potential MobLand season 3 due to "career suicide" behavior. As a source alleged to The Hollywood Reporter, “He refused to come out of his trailer for hours at a time. He kept the cast waiting, [which is] a power play. Keeping Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren and others waiting is career suicide, I would wager."

However, a separate source later told Variety, “Tom was not fired, the door is not closed for season 3, and things are being worked through creatively."

But other projects now taking precedence in Ritchie's busy calendar are putting me on edge. Logically, Paramount+ would not want to lose a show with such a high level of viewership, and Hardy's role could change shape or size to accommodate whatever has allegedly gone on behind the scenes.

Clearly, there's not the same level of confidence in MobLand that Netflix has in The Gentlemen, which also has very high viewership figures. Doubling down on its investment is the biggest sign of trust and conviction possible, with even Ritchie telling Netflix in a press statement that a third season felt "inevitable."

There is one thing to remember before we get too despondent, though: The Gentlemen drops in one go, whereas MobLand is a weekly release. Paramount+ tends to renew its big hitters partway through the current season's release schedule. With season 2 made up of 10 episodes, I'd say news by episode 8's release would seem appropriate.

Could this early renewal have thrown Paramount off its game, given everything that has allegedly happened? Perhaps. Does that mean MobLand season 3 is down and out? Absolutely not.

Anker's 14-in-1 docking station was one of those desk accessories we didn't know we needed so much until we tested it. This fast-charging desktop dock lets you charge a laptop, run two monitors, and move files at full speed. And right now, the Anker Prime 14-in-1 charging docking station is down to $170 (was $270) at Amazon.

Ideal for home offices and dorm rooms, this is one of those devices I recommend whether it's for back-to-school prep or upgrading your workspace. It's just so useful, and we called it a practical, well-equipped solution when we tested it. In the UK, the Anker Prime 14-in-1 dock is now £150 (was £175) at Amazon.

Why we recommend it

We tested the Anker Prime Charging Docking Station, and it proved a genuinely practical way to consolidate a busy desk setup into one connection. The dual HDMI outputs supporting 4K at 60Hz cover a two-monitor setup cleanly, and the pair of 10Gbps USB-C data ports made transferring large files noticeably faster than the more common 480Mbps USB-A ports found on cheaper docks.

Charging performance stood out during testing too. With three dedicated charging ports capable of 100W each and a 160W total budget, the dock handled multiple devices at once without meaningfully slowing any of them down, and fast charging kicked in reliably for phones plugged in alongside a laptop.

The one real omission is a card reader, which is a minor gap given how comprehensive the rest of the port selection is. An external reader plugged into one of the USB-C ports covers that gap easily enough if you need it regularly.

Price Context & Historical Value

A $100 drop from $269.99 to $169.99 is a substantial 37 percent discount, and it puts this dock within a few dollars of its all-time low. Deal trackers have only seen it dip meaningfully lower during major sale events like Prime Day, so this is a strong price outside of those windows rather than a routine markdown.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Anker Prime Docking Station if...

You regularly connect a laptop to two external monitors and want a single-cable setup, you need fast 10Gbps data transfer for external drives, or you want to charge multiple devices at once without a tangle of separate chargers.

❌ Skip the Anker Prime Docking Station if...

You only need basic charging without the display or data features, you specifically need an SD or microSD card reader built in, or the attached, non-removable power cable would be a problem for your setup.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

The power cable is permanently attached, which is a minor inconvenience if you travel with the dock or need to swap cables for any reason. At $169.99, it is still a premium accessory, and if your needs are limited to basic charging, a simpler and cheaper hub would cover that without the added cost of the display, dual monitor support, and faster data ports this model is built around.

• See more docking station deals at Amazon.

Just a quick PSA, folks. Amazon's excellent opening promotion on the new Google Pixel 11 series is still available this week, but it likely won't be for much longer now that the initial preorders phase has passed.

For those who don't know, you can currently get a gift card of up to $200 in value when you pick up one of the latest devices. That's eligible for all sizes and colors, but the value of the card may differ depending on what model you go for.

For example, the Pixel 11 Pro and 11 Pro XL both have a $200 gift card, whereas the standard Pixel 11 is available with a $100 gift card. That's still a very handy bonus, however.

If you've got an older phone ready to hand over, you could also consider trading it in for an additional discount. Right now, the rebates are capped at $600 off, which isn't bad considering this Amazon listing is for an unlocked device. Unlike with carrier promotions, there's no plan or other criteria needed to be eligible for a discount.

Get a $200 gift card with the Pixel 11 Pro at Amazon

• See more: check out all of today's phone deals at Amazon

Amazon has offered similar discounts on previous releases from Google and Samsung recently, but the gift cards have tended to disappear pretty quickly after the initial pre-order phase. I don't expect this promotion to be any different on the Pixel 11 series, so it's definitely worth considering getting a gift card 'while stocks last', so to speak.

It's also worth mentioning that Amazon could host another Prime Day event for 2026 later this year. Previously, the retailer has tended to host one event in the Summer and one in the Fall, usually around mid-October. If that's the case again this year (and I expect it will be), then the $200 gift card here could be very handy indeed for some pre-Black Friday shopping.

If you're interested, I've also rounded up a few more of this week's best Pixel 11 deals just down below.

More of this week's best Google Pixel 11 deals

Wi-Fi 7 has been notoriously expensive for home offices and small businesses looking to take advantage of faster speeds and better coverage. But one of the cheapest methods that we've tested is the TP-Link Archer BE230 Wi-Fi 7 router, currently $80 (was $120) at Amazon.

This entry-level dual-band router is, to my mind, one of the best you can get for the price, offering BE3600 class speeds, two 2.5Gbps LAN ports, and three 1Gbps ports for wired connections. Scoring 4 stars in our review, we found it offered everything except 6GHz for most home office and small business users.

Why we recommend it

Price is the main attraction for this router, which we awarded 4 stars in our review. While many Wi-Fi 7 setups attract costs in the hundreds of dollars, this one clocks in at $120 even without the current discount right now. During tests, our networking whizz Mark called it "amazing value for money."

He noted that "this router offers the 2.5GbE LAN ports that make it incredibly useful even without the 6GHz band," and through performance testing, he was "able to get full speed from 5GHz connections with the BE3600 easily, at short range. With the potential for 2882 Mbps over 5GHz."

Wi-Fi 7 routers have generally launched at prices well above what most home office setups need to spend, so an entry-level model like the Archer BE230 matters for anyone who wants the standard's efficiency and interference-handling improvements without paying flagship prices. It skips the 6GHz band, so you are getting Wi-Fi 7's underlying gains rather than its highest headline speeds, and for most single-office setups that is a reasonable trade-off.

The two 2.5Gbps ports are the more practical upgrade for a lot of home offices right now, especially if your internet provider has recently pushed connection speeds above the standard gigabit ceiling. Pairing a fast wired connection to a desktop or NAS device with a modern wireless standard for laptops and phones covers most of what a small office network needs.

EasyMesh support means you can expand later if a single unit doesn't cover your space, without replacing the whole system. That flexibility is worth having even if you do not need it on day one.

Price Context & Historical Value

This is the lowest price we've seen TP-Link's router on Amazon since November 2025. Our trackers show the Archer BE230 has mostly held between roughly $80 and $87 over the past several weeks, which puts this deal at or near the low end of its recent range rather than an inflated one-time markdown.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the TP-Link Archer BE230 if...

Your home office internet plan runs faster than 1 Gbps, and your current router is capping it; you want Wi-Fi 7 efficiency gains without paying for a flagship router; or you need multiple 2.5Gbps wired ports for a desktop and NAS setup.

❌ Skip the TP-Link Archer BE230 if...

You specifically want 6GHz band support for the fastest possible Wi-Fi 7 speeds, you have a large home that needs mesh coverage out of the box, or your internet plan is well under 1Gbps and would not benefit from the faster wired ports.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

The big caveat here is that the router doesn't cover the 6GHz band, as it's a dual-band model. It's also worth noting that coverage is designed for a single unit rather than a larger multi-room mesh setup. For a typical home office or small business premises, neither should be a dealbreaker, but it is worth knowing going in.

• Check out other network deals at Amazon

Shared hosting can only go so far. Complex web apps, automated workflows, and AI stacks that combine tools like n8n and OpenClaw will hit resource limits quickly. So you’re left to choose between VPS providers, which give you the option to go for managed or unmanaged options.

It feels like a simple enough trade-off. Pay more if you want direct access to the provider’s support team to troubleshoot and maintain your setup. Pay less if you think you can handle everything yourself. But the reality is much more complicated.

VPS providers each have a different definition of what constitutes a “managed” service. Some of them will actively work with you to install your applications, set up workflows, and perform ongoing maintenance and troubleshooting as needed. Others will offer the same level of support as an unmanaged VPS plan, but with improved availability throughout the day.

Here’s how I advise my colleagues and friends to choose between managed and unmanaged VPS, situation by situation. Read till the end for a clear understanding of what constitutes a proper managed service, where the trade-offs are, and what to check for in the fine print.

What is managed VPS hosting? How is it different from other hosting solutions?

A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is a digitally walled-off section of a physical server with its own allotment of CPU cores, RAM, storage space, and GPU power. Unlike shared hosting, it doesn’t scale your resources up or down during busy hours, which leads to better performance and reduced downtime concerns.

Of course, we’re talking about managed VPS, which is a bit different from the usual setup. Your hosting provider pretty much takes over the day-to-day maintenance of your server and applications, so you can just focus on running the tools to get the intended results, instead of getting stuck in configuration woes.

The flip side of this is that many VPS providers will not give you root access to your server if you opt for a managed plan, which takes away your ability to build really custom solutions. That is unless your hosting provider is technically proficient enough. Managed hosting is not always like-for-like, because there’s no industry-standard criteria for the level of management or support a host needs to offer. For example, they could literally help you set up a containerized Docker instance with n8n or OpenClaw step by step, or they could just give you access to more support channels but leave you on your own when it comes to apps and setup.

The pros and cons of managed VPS hosting

Pros

• Dedicated resources: VPS hosting services set aside an agreed-upon amount of CPU, RAM, and storage space for you and you alone. This is essential for AI apps, databases, and automated workflows that rely on powerful hardware.
• Expert support: If you’re switching to VPS hosting from a shared server plan, you may not be prepared to deal with the complexity of managing a VPS server with a command-line interface. Installing an operating system, setting up firewalls, and adding security patches on top of configuring the apps and services necessary for your workflows can be a lot. Most managed VPS plans come with 24/7 technical support to address this issue.
• Faster incident response: What happens when your server goes down? Troubleshooting can take hours, if not days, without the requisite training to navigate server-level issues. Your hosting provider’s support team can help you get your server back online faster, a promise which is often legally backed by a Service-Level Agreement (SLA).
• Outsourced admin: VPS providers give you direct access to IT experts who can handle all your server’s day-to-day admin tasks, like keeping your operating system, firewalls, applications, and databases all patched up. Even the cheaper managed plans have automated tools and workflows to minimize your admin time, which is useful for smaller teams and solo business owners.
• Easier compliance: Complying with regional and industry-specific data protection regulations like the GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, or GLBA can be an ongoing challenge unless you have dedicated legal and technical support built into your team. Managed hosting providers take away a lot of this legwork by offering advice and tooling to improve and maintain your compliance posture.

Cons

• Higher monthly cost: VPS servers can be expensive as-is, but a managed server plan typically comes with a premium on top of your base plan that can add to your ongoing costs. A basic self-managed VPS server can be rented for as low as $10-$20 per month, whereas managed plans normally range from $40-$120.
• Limited control: Managed hosting providers may not offer you root access to your VPS server, since they assume you want them to take care of server administration themselves. It also helps limit the number of issues their support team has to troubleshoot, but limits your level of access for extensive reconfiguration.
• Vendor lock-in concerns: Even when hosting providers are generous with cancellation requests, the use of proprietary software to manage and maintain your server makes it harder to migrate to a different platform that won’t have access to the same tools. Sometimes, it may even mean configuring all your services and workflows from scratch.
• Slower customization: Anything that isn’t part of your starter toolkit has to go through a support ticket to be implemented, which means custom workflows and applications can take weeks to build and launch since you don’t have root access yourself.
• Oversight: While a managed plan takes a lot of hassle off your plate, many VPS providers don’t offer enough to fully replace having your own IT experts if your organization exceeds a certain size. Granular application-level changes and workflow customization, depending on the level of support offered by your provider, might still fall to you.

What level of support can I expect from a managed VPS?

Support level fluctuates widely among managed VPS providers, so it’s worth being clear on exactly what is included before you sign up for a long-term subscription.

At the minimum, make sure your VPS provider includes 24/7 technical support and look for an SLA-backed uptime guarantee of at least 99.9%. Check to see which support channels are available; whether there’s a phone hotline or online contact options like live chat and ticketing only. Finally, look for standard inclusions like OS security patching, automated backups, DDoS protection, etc.

Another trick that I personally like to use is going through the provider’s customer reviews. Go beyond the aggregated rating and see what the reviews are actually saying, what the weakest links are, and whether they will be a problem for you.

When it comes to the SLA, you shouldn’t rely on the uptime percentage alone, which is often generalized. Review the actual terms of the SLA contract and see if they offer actual uptime figures from the last 3-5 years. Also, check what kind of compensation you can expect if an SLA guarantee isn’t upheld. Most decent VPS hosts offer free usage credits to your account as compensation, while the best ones also back it with financial compensation if uptime falls below a certain threshold.

• Surfshark found that Meta's apps declared the most data types on average
• The seven hungriest apps in the study were all Meta-owned
• The figures come from developers' own App Store privacy labels

A new study from Surfshark has put a hard number on something privacy watchers have long suspected: among the biggest names in tech, Meta's apps are the hungriest for your personal data.

Of the 12 Meta apps included in the study, an average of 25 out of the possible 35 data types were collected.

That is more than three times as much as Microsoft and Apple gather on average, according to the research. The company's apps sit far ahead of the pack, and the gap is stark enough that Surfshark's team argues it reflects a purposeful choice rather than a technical necessity.

No amount of privacy tooling, not even the best VPN, can claw back information you consent to hand over when signing into a service. This makes knowing which apps take the most a useful first step in guarding your privacy.

Meta leads the pack, but Google is everywhere

Surfshark's researchers examined 171 apps in the Apple App Store, split across Google (44), Apple (41), Microsoft (40), Amazon (34), and Meta (12), and counted how many of the 35 data categories each developer self-reports collecting.

Meta came out on top by a distance. Its apps collect 25 data types on average, ahead of Google (17), Amazon (12), Microsoft (8), and Apple (7).

The gap widens at the extremes: the seven most data-hungry apps all belong to Meta, led by Meta AI on 33 data types, followed by Meta Horizon, Meta Business Suite, Meta Ads Manager, Messenger, Forum, and Facebook on 32 each.

This echoes an earlier finding that Meta's Messenger collects 32 of a possible 35 data types, nearly double the messaging-app average.

Google's story is about scale rather than intensity. It accounted for 29 of the 40 apps declaring the broadest data collection, though it was also overrepresented in the sample with 44 apps.

Even where individual Google apps collect less than Meta's, their sheer spread paints a wide picture of your activity.

At the other end, Microsoft and Apple were consistently the tamest, with Safari the only Apple app in the study to log browsing history.

What it means for your privacy

The concern is not any single app, but what happens when the data is stitched together.

Surfshark research lead Dr Luis Costa said the Big Tech business model is often built on an "insatiable appetite" for user information, weaving search history, purchases, and location into a detailed map of your life. Crucially, Meta ties this data directly to your identity, fuelling hyper-targeted ads.

Costa argues that collecting triple the data for the same tasks proves that this level of tracking is deliberate, not required. Meta's tracking has drawn scrutiny before, from WhatsApp's metadata trail to Facebook's Link History feature.

If you would rather not feed the machine, disabling precise location and your device advertising ID is a sensible place to start.

How to stay safe

As Costa puts it, "awareness is the only effective defense when a familiar voice or face can no longer be trusted implicitly".

For personal calls and messages, he suggests setting up a family "safe word" you can use with loved ones to confirm identity when a request feels urgent or out of character.

On video calls, a "glitch test" can help too. Ask the other person to wave a hand in front of their face, as deepfakes often blur or distort when facial features are obscured.

TechRadar has more advice on catching convincing AI images and deepfakes if you want to sharpen your eye.

• Fiio unveils EA13 analog stereo amplifier, featuring six vacuum tubes with push-pull Class A circuitry
• Develops 28W + 28W into 8 ohms, enough for bookshelves and many floorstanders
• Available now for $769 / £769 (about AU$1,464)

Sometimes the latest tech isn't always the best, especially in audio: many of the highest quality elite amplifiers use vacuum tubes because of their famed warmth and engaging presentation.

Unfortunately many of those amps come with four- or even five-figure price tags, which is why my everyday amp is strictly solid state. But Fiio, which is one of the best budget audiophile brands around right now, may have a solution for tube fans on a budget: the new Fiio EA13 tube amplifier.

The EA13 is a full-sized tube amp that took three years to develop. It features six imported tubes, Class A push-pull circuitry, custom output transformers and a price tag of just $769 / £769 (about AU$1,464), and it's available to buy now.

FiiO EA13 tube amplifier: key features and specifications

The EA13 uses two distinct kinds of tubes. Two Sylvania NOS PCF80 pre-amp tubes handle the amplification, chosen for what Fiio says is a "refined, transparent presentation and an open, natural soundstage". Those pre-amp tubes are then teamed with four JJ Electronic EL34 power tubes.

Fiio apparently took inspiration from the golden age of tube amplification in the 1950s, and the EA13 combines pentode mode with pure Class A push-pull operation, which helps reduce distortion.

The power output here is relatively modest at 28W + 28W at 8 ohms, but that's more than enough to drive a pair of decent bookshelf speakers or normal floorstanders.

The EA13 features a custom high-bandwidth, low-noise output transformer that reduces vibration while also improving electromagnetic shielding, moisture protection, stability and longevity. Fiio says the result is tighter, more weighty bass, refined treble and faithful handling of dynamic shifts.

The front panel of the EA13 is made from CNC-machined, sandblasted aviation-grade aluminum, and the amplifier's solid unibody build delivers "excellent" electromagnetic shielding, the company claims.

The tubes sit beneath a protective cover, and in a nice touch the EA13's illumination can be adjusted so that the mechanical VU meters match the glow of the tubes.

There are four RCA inputs (bring your own phono stage if you have one of the best turntables), gold-plated 4-ohm and 8-ohm speaker binding posts and a 6.35mm single-ended headphone output designed to match the sound signature of the speaker outputs.

There's no streaming here, any digital will need its own DAC, and you'll have to add it on — this is strictly about the analog, and at this price, I think it will tempt a lot of people who've got into the vinyl revival.

• An unknown individual or group named 'Cyberleek' has been leaking Grand Theft Auto 6 footage online for the past week
• Fans theorize that the leaker could be an ex-Rockstar developer or someone with access to a restricted build
• They suggest the leaker is only able to post prologue footage, as gameplay showing Lucia has yet to be shared

Grand Theft Auto 6 fans are convinced the person behind the ongoing leaks doesn't have access to the full game, but a restricted build, which could be why no Lucia gameplay has been revealed.

If you're out of the loop, for the past week, an anonymous individual or group known as 'Cyberleek' has been leaking GTA 6 footage online, mainly showcasing co-protagonist Jason driving around, flying a small plane, robbing a gas station, encountering a nudist town, and mostly recently, cycling along Vice Beach.

But how did Cyberleek obtain this gameplay footage, and who are they? There are a ton of theories flying around, with some fans suggesting they're a disgruntled ex-Rockstar developer, a QA tester who worked on the project, or just a hacker who somehow secured a playable build ahead of launch.

One leak in particular showed the player writing the word "LEEK" into the side of a building with bullets, suggesting that the leaker didn't find these gameplay clips from an unsecured server, but at least has a playable portion of the game.

Considering the content of the leaks, some are convinced Cyberleek doesn't have a full copy of the game, but a restricted build containing only the prologue; they point to the fact that the only footage we've seen is with Jason, and gameplay with Lucia, the other co-protagonist, has yet to be leaked.

"The leaker most likely has a build restricted to just the beginning of the game before you even encounter Lucia," one user wrote on the GTA 6 subreddit.

They also noted that all the footage shows constant tutorial pop-ups, which typically show up at the beginning of a game, and Jason is wearing the same clothes.

"He’s at his starter house, he has hardly any money, has the starter car, and has very beginner weapons," they continued. "Like the [pictured] comment said, sometimes gaming companies give very restricted builds for QA. This is almost certainly what happened. Which is why there hasn’t been any story leaks or lucia gameplay.

"This also makes it even easier for rockstar to ID the leaker. They know exactly what build this by the context and the placeholders."

Another user said, "I assume it's from the very beginning of the game and Lucia hasn't been introduced yet," as another responded, "The answer is literally so simple they haven't played any damn mission and haven't unlocked Lucia yet. Every clip has the same C mission marker tracked."

Cyberleek hasn't been identified yet, and the leaks continue to be posted online. Bloomberg reports that Rockstar Games employees and managers are angry about the leaks and parent company Take-Two has petitioned a federal court under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, alleging copyright infringement.

The leaks come just days before Rockstar's planned Grand Theft Auto 6: An Extended Look, which is set to premiere on Netflix on August 27 at 3PM ET / 12PM PT / 8PM BST and later launch on the studio's YouTube channel at 9PM ET / 6PM PT / 2AM BST.

With three months until launch, it's speculated that the extended look will finally reveal official gameplay and Trailer 3.

• Researcher Dominik Reichel found SLEEPWALKER, a silent malware implant disguised as ESET’s agent
• It contains no malicious code, activates only after receiving crafted network signals
• Likely a nation‑state project targeting specific victims; no active campaigns confirmed yet

Security researchers discovered a new and rather unusual piece of malware.

Most malware come with a built-in, pre-defined set of tools and features: system fingerprinting, network mapping, data exfiltration, keylogging, screenshots, tapping into the camera and microphone. When they infect a machine, they first try to phone home using the device’s internet connection and await instructions on which of the features to use.

But security researcher Dominik Reichel found something entirely different: a piece of malware not having any of the above, designed to remain almost completely silent until being “woken up”. He named it SLEEPWALKER.

No active campaigns

This implant has no malicious code, and therefore nothing that would get flagged by security software. It hides in plain sight, masquerading as a legitimate Windows component for ESET’s Management Agent. This allows it to run from within a trusted app, instead of being a standalone program that could invite scrutiny.

SLEEPWALKER listens to network traffic for a specially crafted signal, waking up only when it is received. That signal also “teaches” the malware what it can do - schedule different activities, communicate with other systems, receive additional programs, and even execute code.

The malware was submitted to VirusTotal sometime last year, Reichel said. It was not found in any active campaigns, and there are no confirmed victims, industries, countries, or organizations associated with the sample. Reichel also stressed that it’s unknown how the malware initially entered the reporter’s environment, who runs it, and what additional tools may have accompanied it.

He also said that the code is somewhat “rough around the edges”. Despite its unusual design, it comes with several weaknesses, which might suggest that SLEEPWALKER was a work in progress. He doesn’t know if there are newer variants in the wild, though.

Still, given the nature of the malware, Reichel doesn’t think it was built for indiscriminate attacks. Instead, it was most likely designed by nation-states with specific targets in mind.

Via The Register

• The BBC is moving to dismiss Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit over a 2024 documentary
• Trump’s amended complaint relies on 34 unauthorized play-starts in Florida accessed via virtual private networks (VPNs)
• The BBC argues that penalizing broadcasters for viewers bypassing geo-blocks could have "massive implications"

Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC may ultimately hinge on how a federal judge views the legal mechanics of virtual private networks (VPNs).

On Monday, the British broadcaster filed a motion in a Florida federal court to dismiss Trump’s amended complaint regarding a 2024 documentary about his reelection campaign. The core of the BBC’s defense tackles a major streaming loophole: the UK broadcaster never broadcast or licensed the program in the United States.

Trump's legal team is arguing that the Florida court has jurisdiction because the documentary was played 34 times in the state. However, those 34 alleged play-starts were initiated by just 10 users employing a VPN to bypass the BBC’s strict geo-blocking measures.

For tech experts and everyday consumers who use the best VPN to protect their privacy or access overseas content, this lawsuit threatens to open a Pandora's box.

If the court sides with Trump, it could mean that any foreign streaming service, news outlet, or online company could be dragged into foreign courts simply because a handful of users spoofed their IP address to circumvent regional blocks.

NEW: Leave No Trace — A weekly newsletter on digital privacy and online surveillance.

Leave No Trace investigates the companies and governments putting our digital freedom at risk — and the people fighting back.

📩 Subscribe now to get every edition delivered to your inbox every Friday, launching this September.

The VPN jurisdiction battle

The dispute centers on a documentary that Trump alleges maliciously edited his January 6, 2021 speech to make it seem as though he was inciting violence, combining phrases spoken nearly 55 minutes apart.

While the BBC later apologized for the edit and pulled the documentary from its streaming platforms, it continues to aggressively fight the defamation claim and the massive $10 billion price tag.

In its motion to dismiss, the BBC took aim at the idea that unauthorized VPN streams represent the broadcaster conducting business in Florida.

The corporation argued that the 34 Florida streams represent just 0.006% of the 570,000 successful requests for the documentary, characterizing them as unconfirmed and completely unauthorized.

To enforce its UK-only streaming rule, the BBC uses third-party cybersecurity services like GeoGuard to perform technical checks and block viewers employing VPNs or proxy servers. The BBC also said it strictly prohibits circumvention in its Terms of Use.

"The unilateral activity of a third party . . . cannot satisfy the requirement of contact with the forum State," the BBC’s legal team noted in the court filing, quoting legal precedent. No court has ever established jurisdiction based on a user forcibly bypassing geographical restrictions with a VPN.

The broadcaster issued a stark warning to the federal judge, stating that validating this legal strategy would have "massive implications for foreign companies with online presences."

A threat to international streaming

If a user bypassing a digital fence is enough to establish legal jurisdiction, the wider impact on the tech and streaming industries could be devastating.

Foreign media companies might be forced to cut off international access entirely or invest heavily in draconian geo-blocking tech to avoid the risk of multi-billion-dollar lawsuits in jurisdictions where their content was never officially offered.

Despite the BBC's warnings about the dangerous legal precedent this could set, Trump's team is pushing forward with the lawsuit. The president is seeking $5 billion for defamation and another $5 billion under Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act — TheWrap reported.

The judge has yet to rule on the motion to dismiss. Unless the Florida court throws out the case based on the BBC's VPN arguments, the defamation suit is slated for a two-week trial in February 2027.

• Meaco has launched two tower fans, standing 19 and 26 inches tall
• Both are very quiet, with eco and night time modes
• The larger model can be controlled via Meaco's smartphone app

Meaco makes some of the best fans we've tested here at TechRadar, and it's just launched two new tower models to help you keep cool during the next heatwave.

Meaco's line of air circulators proved exceptionally popular earlier this summer, and all of its tabletop and pedestal models are completely sold out — with no more stock expected until October. Both of these new tower fans are available to buy right now though, priced under £100 each.

The taller of the two tower fans stands 26 inches tall and costs £99.99, while the smaller model (intended for use on tables, desks, and kitchen counters) is a compact 19 inches and is £69.99. Both are powerful, quiet, and ideal for sleep thanks to their dedicated night time modes that lower the fan speed and turn off sounds, as well as their glow-in-the-dark remote controls that let you control them from the comfort of your bed.

Both offer 12 fan speeds, with the smaller model providing a maximum flow rate of 17.27m³ per minute, and the larger fan an impressive 34.41m³ per minute. There are also four oscillation angles (45 degrees, 90 degrees, 135 degrees and 180 degrees) so you can focus the cooling on just one person, or spread the airflow across a larger area.

The larger fan offers app connectivity, letting you operate it from anywhere using your phone, and set cooling schedules (ideal for pet owners).

Cool comfort

Our reviewers awarded both the Meaco Sefte 8in Portable Air Circulator and Meaco Sefte Pro 10in Table Air Circulator four and a half stars out of five, praising their quiet operation, ability to move a large volume of air, and rechargeable batteries that allow you to use them anywhere in your home.

I bought the eight-inch model myself, and it proved invaluable on uncomfortably warm nights, effectively pulling in cooler air from outside when placed near an open window. I have high expectations for the two tower fans, and hope to bring you full reviews of both very soon.

Back in June, Rockstar Games announced that Grand Theft Auto 6 — perhaps the most anticipated game of all time — would only be available as a digital download, with physical boxes containing redemption codes rather than discs.

Days later, Sony sent shockwaves through the gaming community by announcing that it would cease production of all PlayStation discs in January 2028. With Xbox on unsteady ground and Nintendo already relying on controversial game-key cards for many of its releases, Sony’s decision felt like the beginning of the end for physical gaming media.

Still, as someone who grew up buying games at brick-and-mortar stores, it's a real shame to just let physical games fade away — especially when physical media has made such a comeback in other industries.

On top of being a lifelong gamer, I’m also a DJ and huge music nerd — so the recent news has made me think about vinyl’s return to popularity in the music industry. With that in mind, I spoke to four experts from across the worlds of gaming and music to find out whether a similar revival could be on the cards for physical games.

Preservation and profit

Sony’s decision to stop making physical game discs hasn’t come out of nowhere. Physical game sales have been in decline for years, with Gamespot reporting that 80 per cent of all PlayStation software sales in the latest fiscal year were digital.

John O’Shea is co-CEO and creative director at the National Videogame Museum in Sheffield, UK. He tells me that Sony’s decision will have wider impacts on how we preserve and share games going forward: “What we’re hearing from communities is that people are worried that some of the games they care about deeply might become less accessible to them as a consequence of being digital only.

“It’s brilliant [at first] because you can access whatever you want,” he continues, “but what’s tricky is if it gets taken down or delisted from the catalogue.”

O’Shea adds that, in the UK, video games are not archived with as much care as other forms of media: “The wider challenge is that there is not currently an integrated framework for video game conservation. Individual companies should, and rightly do, pursue their own business focus, but where something exists in a digital format, copies can’t easily be made within a legal framework.”

The decline in physical game sales has tracked with a decline in brick-and-mortar gaming stores. Leading US retailer GameStop has closed more than 700 of its domestic stores since early 2025, and the once-mighty UK retailer Game has been reduced to a section in sporting goods store Sports Direct.

Khalil Madim is assistant manager of London independent game store Game On. He tells me that the business is preparing to shift away from selling games altogether: “We might change the entire business to electronic maintenance and parts for PCs. We want to do something that you really need a person for.”

Game On already does most of its trade through its repair service. The store opened in 2009 as a combination game and repair shop, but the latter has taken priority due in part to low margins on new boxed games.

“When it all becomes digital, we might be out of the business,” he continues, “it will impact us so badly. The customers aren’t happy as well – when they buy a game for, say, £10, they can sell it back to us for £5, or they can hand it over to friends or family. But when it’s a digital copy, they can’t do anything.”

The vinyl comeback

Gaming retail finds itself in a similar tricky situation to the vinyl industry at the advent of digital downloads and music streaming.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America, LP and EP vinyl sales in the US fell from more than $1.5 billion in 1978 to just $6 million in 1993 – a fall of more than 99 per cent. However, in 2025 LP and EP sales crossed the $1 billion mark for the first time in more than 40 years. Vinyl has also surged in popularity in the UK, with the BBC reporting in 2023 that the industry was at its healthiest since 1990.

Tom Durston runs record store Inverted Audio in south London, as an extension of his blog of the same name: “I’ve been buying records since I was 13 years old, and I used to buy video games as well. Back in the 90s you had to buy a game [in person]. You’d have the little box, and the artwork – it’s the same as a record.”

Durston tells me that his store succeeds because of the curation that physical media requires: “I’ve essentially built a platform for my music taste – over the years an international community of readers has trusted me to filter out good music. We’re a record store, but we’re also an editorial platform.”

He adds that physical media requires more investment from producers, which engenders more investment from consumers: “If you have a physical format, you’re introducing quality control – is it worth pressing 500 records, for example? If not, there’s no point.”

The community Durston mentions is about more than where you buy your media. For DJ and artist manager Madison True, physical media gives people something to connect over in a world of fleeting digital interactions.

True’s ‘Vinyl Bitch’ workshops bring beginner female, non-binary, queer and trans DJs together over a pair of turntables: “The thing we try to cultivate is that community, that love, and that discussion. It’s so cool to see people that I know or those that have never met each other become homies by the end of the night, and it’s because they’ve come together over this piece of physical media.”

True continues: “How cool is it that people can come together no matter their sexual identity, or gender, or religion, and come together and talk about how cool something looks and sounds? You wouldn’t get that if it wasn’t physical.”

Could physical games have a comeback?

Before setting out to write this article, I thought that the best hope for gaming was to mirror record labels’ investment in nostalgic special editions – even without a disc, gatefold covers with new artwork and box sets with bonus goodies and collectibles could be enough to make owning a game feel worthwhile.

The issue is that the games industry is more centralised than the music industry. Sony licenses the creation of PlayStation discs and is the sole manufacturer of PlayStation consoles, meaning indie developers can’t just opt out of working within their system.

As such, John O’Shea says that gamers are keen to hold on to anything that gives them a sense of ownership: “In the fan community, there’s a subjectivity of stories that’s really important. Anything that feels like it’s allowing less of a sense of ownership for the game’s players in the communities is going to have an emotional response.

“With video games, it’s the players that bring games to life, and the players want to have a sense of ownership in return.”

I'm not a gamer. It's not that I've never gamed. In fact, I've frenetically mashed game controller buttons on every conceivable console and platform. It's just that I don't think about it when I'm not gaming and, if you ask my adult children, I am terrible at it.

My youngest, now 28, is an avid gamer, and, in fact, a gaming writer. Having written multiple lengthy features for a wide range of gaming publications and played more hours of more games than I've spent trying to draw or learn guitar, they are a true gaming expert.

"It won't matter," they told me as they examined a PS5 game I handed them, curious if Kena: Bridge of Spirits was any good and if they thought it was worth playing. The comment was not related to the game. They were talking about the PlayStation Blackout.

Starting this week, games preservation site DoesItPlay launched an online grassroots campaign, PlayStation Blackout Week (August 23 to 30), to protest Sony's decision to cease all physical game media production in January 2028. As part of the protest, which is under the hashtag # PlayStationBlackout, DoesItPlay called for "No logins, no play sessions, no purchases on any of Sony’s platforms.”

This X post pretty much captures DoesItPlay's core argument:

'One more time: EVERYONE will be negatively impacted if we let Sony erase physical media. Not just physical buyers. Digital will get more expensive and you will have no form of ownership anymore. Physical going away doesn't mean the rest gains something. Quite the opposite!"

Big Boss potential

The potential economic impact of such a protest is massive. After all, PlayStation Network alone has a reported 125 million monthly active users, paying anywhere from $10.99 to $19.99 a month, not to mention whatever they pay for additional games and in-game purchases.

And yet, my own gaming expert was telling me it won't matter (echoing sentiment I've found across social media). Part of the problem, my expert told me, is that the hardcore gamers, the ones who might rally the pro-physical media troops, are all at Gamescon. That's right — a site deeply enmeshed in gaming culture may have chosen the exact wrong week for its protest.

Still, I think there's something larger at work here. Yes, the outcry when Sony announced the change was loud and lusty, but just because some people with a platform are making noises, that doesn't mean everyone is upset or willing to protest the impending change.

Had Sony proposed this change 20 years ago, I could understand the concern. In 2006, Sony's PlayStation network was brand new. Most people bought games on disc, and for many years after, they also bought pre-owned games at GameStop. Discs were part of gaming culture. Since then, though, we've had the rise of the networks, including PSN, Xbox Live (now Xbox Network), and perhaps more important, Steam, which probably did more than any other platform to move games off physical media.

There's another reason my gaming pro might've said the blackout won't matter: Gamers have moved on. A recent report noted the lowest physical game sales since 1995 (there's also a huge gaming console sales slump).

People's game libraries are mostly in the cloud these days.

Getting owned

Regardless, a vocal minority complains that the loss of physical media means the end of game ownership. Except that's not true, either. We don't own the games we buy, no more than we own any of the software we purchase. It's all nothing but licenses to use the games and software.

Here's how Sony describes the agreement between it and its customers when it comes to the games they buy:

“The Software is licensed to you, not sold. You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and personal license to play or use the Software for your private, non-commercial use on the system or device it was intended for.”

It's a license to play, not own.

It's not that I don't understand the frustration or even sadness at the loss of physical media. I have literal shelves of classic software boxes. They're fun to look at, though almost entirely useless, since all the platforms and hardware have moved on. Gamers might be a different breed, holding onto old consoles and the games they bought to play on them for decades, but in my house, that's not the case. Our Nintendo Wii and GameCube are stuffed onto shelves gathering dust. No one has touched them in years.

The most avid gamers, ones who play at near-competitive levels, are most interested in the next big thing. Take, for instance, the upcoming GTA 6 launch. My games expert mentioned that, and how the insane leaks tie to this protest.

Again, they're not interested in the protest, and are instead fixated on the leak and how messed up it is. They've even avoided looking at the GTA 6 clips, so as not to spoil the big game reveal in November.

This plan is broken

Put another way, it seems all the efforts to make Sony relent are having, if not the opposite effect, basically no effect at all. DoesItPlay is talking to a devoted few who still clutch their physical media like water canteens in a desert. The GTA 6 leaker, Cyberleek, who has implored Sony to "do better," is drawing attention mostly to his shenanigans, and I don't think he's inspiring people as much as he's making some think he might be ruining the fun of the most important game launch in 15 years.

There is, in all this, a fundamental truth about physical media: it always has its season, and then that season inevitably passes. Storage media is the perfect analog, because every time we think we have a physical storage medium for the ages, it's supplanted by a new, better, and higher-capacity alternative. I have drawers full of dead media, including Zip Drives, Jaz Drives, 3.5-inch floppies, 5-inch floppies, and more.

Even if Sony was to relent, and continue making physical game media for a few more years — and it won't — the hardware to play it will age out. We'll end up with something better or, more likely, the last physical gaming media holdouts will switch over to the cloud, and that will truly mark the end of physical media.

As my own gaming expert said, #PlayStationBlackout doesn't matter. People's attention is elsewhere, and all true gamers really care about is how quickly the GTA 6 teaser will shift from an exclusive Netflix launch to YouTube. Talking and thinking about anything else is pointless.

Remember that big leak about Microsoft having begun developing a version of Windows that was built around AI, before eventually abandoning the project? Well, it's surfaced again, this time with some interesting new information on just how focused Microsoft was on Copilot, which I think is quite telling — or indeed worrying for those who believe Microsoft might be backtracking on AI somehow.

Windows Latest has gone back over the leak (which was first reported by our sister site Windows Central last month) with a fine-tooth comb, and the tech site flagged up some fresh details that flew under the radar at the time.

To recap briefly, the concept of the OS shown, codenamed 'Project Aion' — with the leaked material dating back to 2024 — was a lightweight web-based version of a Windows operating system that streamed apps to the desktop (as opposed to running them natively on the PC) and put Copilot at the heart of the experience.

This was a horror show of an idea for many, of course, and what Windows Latest starkly highlights here is the extent to which Microsoft was building Aion around AI. In a SharePoint site in the leak, it's described as a "Copilot OS" and a cross-platform system that can span all devices and is generically known as an "Agent OS".

The broader idea, is said to be of an operating system fashioned around "an agent that marshals and organizes all the capabilities of our computers and our clouds on our behalf", and that this is known as an "agent of agents" or the "outside agent".

"The version that Microsoft will build should be known as Copilot OS or the Outside Copilot," the top-level description on the SharePoint site observes. Another term mentioned is a "self-driving OS", which hints at the desire to build an autonomous platform powered by AI here.

Copilot is envisioned as being the "primary way people express, entertain, and educate themselves, and complete tasks across all aspects of their lives".

But Aion is dead, right? Yes… but hold up a minute

So, what's the big deal here? Windows Latest breathes a sigh of relief that the "odds are already in favor" of this abandoned Aion concept staying dead and buried, arguing that Microsoft is clearly backtracking on AI features these days. And that's very true — there's no denying that Microsoft has reversed course on pushing AI quite so hard as it did in 2025.

But I don't think we can declare that 'Aion is dead' quite so readily. Yes, that exact concept may be buried, but there are nuances here. For me, what Windows Latest has surfaced shows just how serious Microsoft was about exploring the idea of a fully AI-driven desktop. More to the point, an operating system that was effectively an 'agent of agents', or an overseeing AI pulling the strings of a collection of smaller dedicated agents working within the framework of that system.

Here's the thing: Microsoft's efforts to rein in AI within Windows 11 certainly exist (although I wonder about how much of this is for show, frankly). The software giant is currently delivering its best effort to please the disgruntled masses, and a big part of that is fixing Windows 11 — but another hefty piece of the puzzle is to place less emphasis on AI and shoveling more Copilot features into the desktop OS.

But don't be mistaken here: Microsoft still very much sees AI as the future. The company just realizes that it can't be vocal about that right now, especially given that the RAM crisis has forced 8GB laptops back onto the scene, as notebook makers, including Microsoft itself, try to cope with hefty spikes in the cost of manufacturing these devices.

It's a bit embarrassing to be talking about Copilot+ PCs needing 16GB of RAM for AI features when Surface models have had to be reintroduced packing 8GB to get their price down to a vaguely palatable level. Indeed, talk of Copilot+ devices seems to have evaporated this year, as if Microsoft feels this is best brushed under the carpet for now. While a recent leak from Lenovo talked about 'Non-Copilot' laptops with less than 16GB of memory (as flagged by Windows Latest), this kind of spec talk isn't something you'll hear from Microsoft.

Downplaying AI is the tactic for now, but not forever

For me, it's clear enough that Microsoft is downplaying AI in a strategic manner for the time being, and likely through to next year. The next big thing, however, remains AI agents in Windows, even if Windows 11 isn't going to be transformed into next-gen Windows Copilot (or whatever a more AI-centric desktop platform might be called).

Microsoft is still very busy working on those agents. These entities will begin the shift towards an operating system that's built around AI, with smaller-scale agents executing dedicated tasks on the local PC (with the user's permission, of course, to access stuff). This will be a gradual ramping up of AI usage within Windows 11 (and while folks who hate AI and everything it stands for won't have to go anywhere near these agents, doubtless the idea is that minds will be changed eventually).

I think it's also telling that in Microsoft's recent roundup of the progress it's made in fixing Windows 11, the company talked about future improvements for the OS later this year, and a central aim was to streamline resource usage so the operating system runs better with 8GB of RAM. Interestingly, a few other goals were listed alongside that, and one of them was to make "voice more natural and fluid to interact across the apps you use every day". If you recall, part of the initial sales pitch for AI in Windows 11 was Copilot Voice (and Vision), so I think the importance placed on voice functionality here reflects a broader AI goal that's still in the background.

Ultimately, I think Microsoft is still pushing towards an operating system that's built around AI; it's just that the timeline to reach this end-game objective has been pushed further out. While Project Aion as leaked before was too big a concept, it clearly shows how Microsoft ranks the importance of AI for the future — and I think it's a mistake to think this idea is somehow 'dead' or derailed.

As far as I'm concerned, this remains the destination where Microsoft is heading with next-gen Windows: a lightweight (possibly modular) OS focused on AI, and one that leverages the cloud and streamed apps, too. I think the leaked Project Aion shows us the future as Microsoft wants to realize it, but what it doesn't mention at all is what I think will be another key driver for the software giant: subscription charges.

The golden ticket for Microsoft is to get consumers subscribing to the Windows platform (as businesses do – well, enterprises anyway). AI agents as Windows add-ons with a small monthly (or yearly) fee attached seems a likely way to bring this monetization method into play while making minimal waves (and I recently discussed how there are signs that this is already happening).

That will eventually turn into a grander scheme, and Windows could, over time, end up getting a lot closer to the Aion or Copilot OS concept than some might imagine — although admittedly, that could still be a long way off.

At next month's September Apple Event, we expect the tech giant to introduce the Apple Watch 12 alongside the new iPhone.

While rumors are sparse about what new additions the Series 12 will have, we've had a year with the Apple Watch Series 11, and we think it's an excellent smartwatch that's packed with insightful features — and it's currently on sale.

Amazon has the Apple Watch 11 on sale for $299 (was $399), which is a $100 discount from its original price and only $20 more than the record low.

• Shop more daily deals at Amazon

The Apple Watch Series 11 was released at last year's September Event and is the thinnest and most durable Apple smartwatch, and is 2x more scratch-resistant than its predecessor. The smartwatch uses 5G connectivity for improved connectivity, while still offering an impressive battery life of up to 24 hours. Health features include hypertension detection and advanced sleep monitoring, which provide a personalized Sleep Score with helpful insights to help you sleep better.

Get the Apple Watch 11 on sale for $299

The Apple Watch 12 is expected to launch at the same price as the Series 11, which is $399. While it's guaranteed to have new features, most people will be satisfied with everything that the Apple Watch 11 has to offer, and it's $100 cheaper.

Is Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls one of the best fighting games of recent times? Yes, I would say so. Given its developer is Arc System Works — creators of Guilty Gear, Blazblue, and the excellent Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising — it was a pretty safe bet that we'd be served a high quality fighting game with mountainous respect and reverence for Marvel and its roster of supers, mutants, and weirdos.

I love fighting games, but I'm not usually one for tag fighters — often because I find learning more than one character intimidating and time-consuming. So, when Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls was first revealed last year as a 4v4 tag fighter, I'd already resigned myself to thinking: 'well, that's probably not for me.'

Not two, not three, but four? You're having a laugh.

I needn't have worried so much. Arc System Works has designed Fighting Souls such that learning a quartet of fighters inside and out is absolutely not necessary. It's possible to play that way at a higher level, of course. But as your team only has a single health bar, you can rock one character as your main, while relying on the remaining three as assist moves to help you out in a pinch.

It helps, too, that Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls has a fantastic onboarding process for new players. The game's story mode is broken into five episodes — each focused on a group of heroes (the Avengers, X-Men, etc.) or the villainous Knights of Doom. Episode chapters are structured to introduce you to fighters and their strengths, or otherwise various important system mechanics. Training tools are similarly great, with a fully-featured training mode, combo trials, and an ingenious 'level-up missions' category that tasks you with creating your own combos to reach a damage threshold.

All good so far, but I unfortunately have to stress that Tokon's immediate future looks perilous. The PC version of the game is currently facing myriad issues, many of which seem to be a direct result of corporate interference.

At the time of writing, Arc System Works is hard at work deploying patches to improve PC matchmaking and performance, but I'm not sure there's a fix for intrusive anti-cheat bloatware and forcing PlayStation Network account creation to access its online features.

Absolutely champion

Enough doom and gloom for now. I'd rather chat about all the elements that I feel make Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls such a wonderful game for a bit. For me, it started with its single-player story mode.

Titled 'Episodes', Tokon's story is broken into five distinct, well, episodes. Each is centered around one of the game's five main teams. The Fighting Avengers, for example, are your stalwart heroes like Captain America and Black Panther.

The Samurai Outriders are made up of anti-heroes and tricksters like Deadpool and Loki. Meanwhile, the Knights of Doom bring a more villainous flavor, stacked with evildoers like Doctor Doom, Green Goblin, and Carnage.

The premise is simple. An intergalactic fighter called the Champion is holding Earth hostage, and the aforementioned five teams have been selected to participate in a tournament to decide the planet's future. Each episode culminates in a fight with the Champion, and individual chapters are bookended with stunning comic book cutscenes, with each episode even featuring a unique artist and colorist.

This lends all of them a unique sense of identity, and helps to keep things feeling fresh as you progress. Each episode is about an hour long, and all are worth playing through as you'll not only get a feel for each individual character, you will also unlock colors for a bit of added flair for your faves. Oh, and as a bonus, you'll also unlock the Champion as a playable character upon clearing your first episode.

There are a lot of fun character moments, too. Ms. Marvel is often adorably starstruck by the heroes she encounters. The X-Men are flabberghasted that Magneto would team up with an egotistical maniac like Doctor Doom. There's a cute running gag between episodes where everyone gives Loki the side eye, despite a seeming earnestness from the God of Lies to genuinely turn over a new leaf in the search for his brother Thor (who is currently mysteriously absent from the game's playable roster).

Overall, Episodes are a great way to kick off your Tokon journey. It'll help you find characters you enjoy playing, and present a charming story that's well worth playing through just to experience its wonderful artwork and voiced performances.

Assist me

Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is remarkably easy to just pick up and play, and I reckon you'll have a blast in local play with friends for casual couch bouts. Movement, special moves, assists, and supers are all straightforward to execute. For specials in particular, you have options for simple or motion inputs with the d-pad. Motion-inputted special moves (such as quarter-circle-forward) do around 10% more damage on average, so you'll have a bit of an edge if you can master weaving them into your gameplan.

The 4v4 setup can be wonderfully chaotic; there's no limit to the number of characters that can appear on-screen, so it's very possible to spam the assist button to throw the kitchen sink at your opponent in a pinch.

Characters you place in your assist slots are highly versatile, and can be individually called upon by pressing the assist button and the corresponding direction on the d-pad. One assist slot is for projectile, for example, while another is a vertical for anti-airs. This is universal across the cast, so you don't have to be precious about which characters you choose if you're only planning on maining one or two.

Elsewhere, you can perform an assist counter while guarding to get your opponent off of you, or even swap to one of your assists to directly control them. There's a ton you can do with assists, and learning to incorporate them in your playstyle is a huge part of the learning process. It sounds like a lot, and it is, and there's much more assists can do, like extending your combos and taking part in a massively damaging last round super. It might take a bit to wrap your head around, but thankfully, the tools are there to help you get to grips with assists and more besides.

Trained to perfection

Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls has some of the best tutorialization I've ever seen in a fighting game. You of course have a fully fleshed out training mode, where you can freely practice combos and setups against a dummy. There is also a comprehensive tutorial section known as the Battle Guide, that'll walk you through basics like movement all the way to advanced techniques like wakeup options and blocking cross-ups.

Of particular note is Character Lessons, which includes primers on every character playable in the game. These start off with basic move introductions, as well as the properties of each characters' unique button. For example, Storm's Tempest unique lets her control the wind to push herself and her opponent around. Magik's unique has her placing a portal that she can instantly warp to and perform attack out of to surprise the opponent.

Lessons then offer a selection of combos for you to try out for each character, many weaving in assists, special moves, and supers. Finally, the highlight of Character Lessons for me are the Level-Up Missions, which task you with performing a combo to meet a certain amount of damage. These don't hold your hand much, with little guidance outside of telling you which button to start your combo with, or to include a special move at some point. They're great fun to experiment with, and even unlock colors for your characters, too.

Once you feel sufficiently warmed up, I highly recommend jumping into Arena mode for some offline quickplay. This is essentially the game's Arcade mode, in which you play through a series of five matches. You'll get to choose your route as you go through, unlocking some lovely concept art for your efforts.

There's also Survival mode; a 100-match gauntlet with some light roguelite elements. Between matches in Survival mode, you'll get to choose and upgrade Support Souls — cards that offer various benefits like increased movement speed or attack power. Getting through all 100 is no easy task, though, with several significant difficulty spikes on your way to the top. But again, your efforts will be rewarded with unique character colors if you make it to the end.

True believers

If you're familiar with Arc System Works' back catalog, it should come as no surprise that Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is a mind-bendingly gorgeous fighting game.

The developer is the master of modern cel-shading, and the roster of Marvel icons look even sharper here than characters do in Guilty Gear Strive and Dragonball FighterZ. Not that those games are slouches at all in the visual department, but Tokon by comparison looks impressively pristine at all times.

There aren't a ton of characters or stages at launch (I personally think 21 characters is a bit slim given the 4v4 setup), but when they look and animate as well as they do, I can forgive the base roster being as svelte as it is by tag fighter standards.

Every character is brimming with personality and charming little touches. Doom's cartoonish aptitude for evil is perfectly captured in his intimidating slow walk and thousand-yard stare. Ms. Marvel's attacks feel peppy, snappy, and excitable. And Deadpool? Well, almost every move in his arsenal is a loving reference to other iconic fighting games, and there are some impressively deep cuts therein.

The game's background stages are a real draw, too. The New York City stage is teeming with detail and references to the wider world of Marvel. The X-Mansion tends to populate the further a match progresses, with iconic X-Men like Psylocke, Colossus, and Gambit appearing in the background. If you're a Marvel head, you'll likely love the amount of respect and admiration Arc System Works has for the brand.

Pride before a fall

Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is another slam-dunk for Arc System Works, then. With it and the recent Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics compilation, I'm ecstatic to see Marvel active again in the realm of fighting games. But every story has its villain, and for Tokon, it's not the Champion. It's Sony.

I hate to admit that I'm concerned for Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls' future. On PC, the game's anti-cheat DRM worsens performance. Furthermore, Linux and mod support are non-starters, and because online play requires a PlayStation Network account, countries where the service isn't supported (there are well over 100 of them) can't access network features at all. Throw in lopsided netcode that discourages crossplay between PS5 and PC, and you have a recipe for an exceptionally messy launch month largely thanks to publisher meddling.

For these reasons, I can't give Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls a glowing recommendation, as much as I would like to. At least if you were planning to pick up the game on PC. I want Tokon to have a long, bright future, but I worry that too much damage has already been done. Now, the state of the game has improved since launch in regards to performance and matchmaking quality, thanks to a small handful of fixes deployed by Arc System Works.

I just can't help but feel anxious about this rocky PC launch. Especially with the recent news that Riot Games is shuttering development on its League of Legends fighting game, 2XKO. It shows that huge companies absolutely aren't afraid to completely tear down a good thing if it isn't generating satisfactory revenue or player count. If folks walk away from Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls because of the issues it's facing on PC, then what's stopping Sony from doing the same?

I hope I'm just overthinking it. Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is one of the most fun and unique fighting games I've played in some time, and I hope its candle won't be snuffed out before it truly gets the chance to shine its brightest.

Should I play Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

At launch, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls has a small handful of accessibility features, largely utilizing text-to-speech options.

You can enable text-to-speech and adjust its volume and speed. You can also choose to enable or disable subtitles that display during battle entrances and conclusions.

How I reviewed Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls

I played Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls on PC for approximately 15 hours for this review. I completed the episodic story mode in its entirety, cleared most Arcade mode routes, and put a good chunk of hours into training mode, character lesson guides, and casual online play.

I tested the game with the GameSir G7 Pro controller, as well as the leverless Razer Kitsune. I also hooked up my RIG 900 Max HS gaming headset to experience the game's excellent audio and wonderfully upbeat soundtrack.

First reviewed August 2026

On its own, an air fryer is a low-effort, efficient kitchen appliance. But add the right accessories and you can take things to another level, enabling your trusty fryer to tackle a wider range of cooking tasks, and deliver even more delicious results. Plus, if you're armed with the right kit, there'll be even less effort required from you.

As a former TechRadar Homes Editor — and proud owner of two air fryers — I have a good idea of the accessories worth investing in. Well, I say 'investing' but most of my picks are under a tenner, so it's more an investment in terms of cupboard space than cash. I've rounded up my top recommendations below, with sections for air fryer liners (wave goodbye to messy cleanup), utensils (including a £5 pick for extra-crispy results) and inserts (to increase capacity without buying a bigger air fryer).

If you don't already have an air fryer, head to our general best air fryer guide for our top recommendations.

Air fryer liners

Good silicone basket liners are an excellent investment for any air fryer-owner, mainly because they're much easier to clean (and especially if you have a dishwasher). I use these all the time — in fact, the only time I wouldn't use one of these would be if I was cooking something I want to get really crispy underneath. I avoid them for cheese on toast, for instance, to avoid a soggy bottom.

Choose from solid or collapsible liners — the latter is a win when it comes to storage, but the fold lines are a potential weak point, so be prepared for them to break more quickly than a solid option. To avoid disaster when trying to remove your hot food from its basket, seek out liners with sturdy handles.

You can also use basket liners to add versatility to what you can cook. For instance, there are brownie trays, cupcake cases and waffle trays in the mix here. I've also included a disposable liner option, for situations where washing up is going to be too tricky.

Air fryer inserts

A genius trick to to increase your usable cooking space is by adding an insert that creates a second tier within your air fryer basket. If you have a relatively large basket in the first place, you can even stack multiple racks to cook several layers of food at once. Hot air should still circulate efficiently — and especially so if you use a rack with vent holes — to deliver crispier, more evenly cooked food than you'd get if you piled everything up inside.

Below are a few options. I've also included a mesh basket — this is designed to be used in a similar way to the liners above; to make cleaning easier. However, the more open structure should help deliver crispier results. Some even have divots into which skewers can rest, for 360-degree cooking. Before purchasing, it's vital to measure the inside of your cooking basket(s) and check the product dimensions carefully, to ensure the inserts will fit in there.

Air fryer utensils

Finally, there are a number of utensils that'll make cooking with an air fryer simpler and less messy — not to mention lowering the chance of burning yourself or your kitchen surfaces. If you don't already have one, I'd suggest investing in a heatproof mat or trivet. It doesn't need to be anything special; it just gives you somewhere to put your fryer basket down when you're removing the hot food. I've had too many accidents when trying to do this one-handed, or with the basket balancing precariously on the hob top.

Silicone utensils including tongs, scoops and spatulas allow you to remove food efficiently without risking scratches on the non-stick surface. I've also included a pastry brush — I use one of these to lightly coat food in oil before cooking, so it goes extra-crispy, but without using too much oil.

Finally, there's a meat thermometer that'll help you ensure your cuts of meat are cooked through before serving — this is especially handy if you're still getting used to the different timings compared to a full-sized cooker. And because air fryers really shine when it comes to chips, I've thrown in a potato chipper so you can make your own.

With a bank holiday weekend almost here in the UK, Currys has launched another of its Epic Deals events, featuring savings of up to 40% on loads of top tech products. I've done my usual thing of searching through the sale and picked out 12 of the best deals I'd recommend on TVs, laptops, appliances, headphones, and more.

• View the full Currys Epic Deals sale

As the back-to-school sales are still ongoing, it's no surprise that laptops make up a large part of this sale. If there's one offer that stands out amongst everything, though, it's this Acer Aspire 14 for £549 (was £699).

It's a great price for a modern, powerful laptop that features one of the newer, more efficient Snapdragon X processors, plus 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD — excellent specs for college, university, or everyday use. As well as high levels of performance for work and productivity needs, it also boasts an amazing 28 hours of battery life, which is great if you're always on the move.

Other deals I like the look of in the Currys Epic Deals sale include this five-star LG C6 48-inch OLED TV for £1,199 (was £1,399), these great value Bose QuietComfort Earbuds for £119 (was £179), and the popular Dyson V8 Vacuum Cleaner for £239 (was £349).

You can check out all of my top picks below, or have a browse through all the major categories from the sale to see if anything else looks good to you. Expect these offers to be available for at least a week, so you've got a bit of time before you need to hit that buy button.

Currys bank holiday sale — quick links

• Appliances: up to 40% off Bosch & Beko
• Headphones: JBL & Bose from £39.99
• Health & Beauty: up to £150 off Philips & Braun
• Kitchen: up to £550 off Tefal & De'Longhi
• Laptops: from £179
• Outdoors: up to 40% off DIY & tools
• Phones: up to £100 off Apple & Samsung
• Tablets: Lenovo & Samsung from £159
• TVs: from £109.99
• Vacuums: up to £150 off Dyson & Vax

Currys Epic Deals sale — my top 12 picks

Maybe money does not explain everything, but it explains a lot. Goldman Sachs estimates the AI build-out will require roughly $7.6 trillion in capital over the next five years across compute, data centers and power. It’s unlikely that subscriptions alone will cover the bill, which is why ads are coming to AI.

OpenAI started rolling out ads in some ChatGPT tiers this year and forecasts $2.5 billion in ad revenue in 2026 and $100 billion by 2030. At an ad tech event this summer, OpenAI's chief revenue officer Denise Dresser dropped the hedging and said the company is "clearly in the advertising business now."

Perplexity, on the other hand, shut down its ad business entirely over user trust. Similar products, same opportunity, opposite conclusions.

This conflict is not new and the open web fought this battle 15 years ago, when ad blocking became mainstream.

Now, the AI industry is on track to repeat every mistake of the so-called ad blocking wars, unless it studies them instead.

Lesson one: users revolt faster than big platforms think

When ad formats became more intrusive - because again, money! - the industry assumed users would just accept a bad experience. Instead, users fought back and installed software to get rid of aggressive online ads. In what technology commentator Doc Searls called “the biggest boycott in world history”, ad blocking went from being a niche tool to a mainstream product.

And we see the same dynamic playing out again. Within weeks of sponsored ads appearing in ChatGPT, purpose-built extensions popped up to specifically block ads there. Existing ad blocking tools made sure to block those ads as well. It took hours and days, not weeks or months, for users to act.

Lesson two: the arms race is unwinnable, both legal and technical

The predictable response is, of course, to sue ad blockers. For some publishers, the idea that users take agency over their own screens was not acceptable, so they took ad blocker developers to court. Almost all of the legal attempts failed. With one case still pending at the German courts, China is the only country in the world that bans ad blockers.

Another tactic is technology to fight ad blockers. Platforms tried different circumvention methods to deliver ads to users with ad blockers installed. This prompted their developers to update their techniques to prevent websites from bypassing. Every technical escalation met a counter-escalation and the sum of a lot of engineering efforts on both sides is that, today, over a billion people still block ads.

AI platforms hold one card their predecessors didn't, though: integrating advertising directly into the generated answers, instead of showing labelled ads. Researchers from the University of Michigan tried exactly this and the results should worry everyone involved: users largely don't expect advertising inside a generated answer and frequently fail to notice it.

At the same time, 63% of consumers say ads decrease their trust in AI outputs, according to Ipsos. The format that works best technically is the one users are least equipped to detect, and least willing to trust. Which brings us to the most important lesson.

Lesson three: trust is the actual product

Search results pages survived the ad blocking wars because users had ten blue links to compare with the sponsored content and two decades of learning what’s paid and what’s organic. AI assistants, on the other hand, offer one authoritative answer, with no other content or adjacent organic results to check against.

As soon as users suspect that answers might be influenced by a sponsor, these doubts are attached to all answers and trust erodes.

Cory Doctorow coined the term “enshittification”, which the American Dialect Society crowned as its Word of the Year in 2023. Platforms start out by doing good to their users and then degrade their experience to make advertisers happy.

And compared to tracking-based advertising in the open web, AI assistants know so much more about you that they can sell to advertisers: your health worries, your finances, your political view, your job struggles and everything else these tools picked up from you, stitched into one persistent memory of who you are.

It’s the most revealing personal record people have ever handed to software, combined with the drive from digital advertising to always collect more data and more data for targeting. The table is set for the next wave of enshittification.

Lesson four: the ad blocking wars ended in a treaty, not a victory

There was no final winner and not one technical solution that settled ad blocking in the open web. There was a rough settlement: standards for ad formats many users tolerate, transparency about what is paid for, meaningful user control.

Not everyone loves that settlement and we still see platforms trying to circumvent ad blockers and vice versa. But the open web still has a functioning ad economy and users still have, mostly, a functioning veto.

Getting there took more than a decade and the lessons are written down. Which road to take is now a genuine choice and it sits with the AI companies themselves.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

When you spend much of the day at a desk, investing in an ergonomic office chair can be money well spent. And one of our favorites is the Doro C300 Pro V2, currently $400 (was $500) at Sihoo in the Labor Day sale when you combine codes BTS20 and WELCOME10.

Testing this desk chair, we found it comfortable, highly adjustable, and very well built. Yes, it's still a considerable investment, but you're getting a high-end ergonomic design with adjustable seat depth, 8D armrests, adaptive lumbar support and a 135-degree recline.

The breathable mesh construction will also help keep you comfortable, and the wide adjustable headrest and weight-responsive recline system provide additional ways to tailor the chair to how you prefer to sit. In the UK, the Doro C300 V2 is down to £410 (was £460) at Sihoo with code Sale20 as part of the back-to-school sale.

Why we recommend it

One of the more interesting things about Sihoo's Doro C300 Pro V2 is that many of its ergonomic features aren't simply fixed supports that you adjust once and forget about. The backrest and lumbar support are designed to respond as you lean forward, recline or otherwise change position.

In his 4-star review, our chair expert Collin called it a "robust ergonomic office chair with more features than you probably know what to do with."

He added: "This is a spectacular chair when you sit in it. It doesn't blend in and takes up a lot of space. So, if you’re the kind of person who likes that, this may be a dream come true."

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Sihoo Doro C300 Pro V2 if...

If you spend much of your working day sitting at a computer, the Doro C300 Pro V2 has an impressive range of ergonomic features. Adaptive lumbar and back support, adjustable seat depth and a weight-responsive recline system allow the chair to respond to your position rather than relying entirely on fixed settings.

The 8D armrests, wide 3D headrest and three recline positions give you plenty of scope to find the perfect setup.

❌ Skip the Sihoo Doro C300 Pro V2 if...

If you only spend a few hours a week at a desk, it's hard to justify paying $400 for features you may rarely appreciate. A simpler ergonomic chair could provide everything you need while costing considerably less.

The Doro C300 Pro V2 is also relatively large and relies heavily on supportive mesh rather than the thick padding found on more traditional executive-style chairs.

Price context & historical value

The Sihoo Doro C300 Pro V2 is currently $409.99 at Sihoo, down from the usual $499.99. That's a pretty good deal, but if you use coupon codes BTS20 and WELCOME10 you can slash the price down to a penny under $400.

The chair is also on sale at Amazon at the moment, but it's $449.98 there.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

The obvious drawback is the price. $399.99 is still a lot to spend on an office chair. There's also an important point about highly adjustable ergonomic chairs: more adjustment doesn't automatically mean greater comfort for everyone. The Doro C300 Pro V2 offers plenty of ways to tailor your seating position, but personal preference, height and body shape can make a considerable difference to how comfortable any chair feels.

Its 28.74-inch width also means this chair might be a bit large for anyone working in a more compact office space.

• US: Save up to 50% in Sihoo's Labor Day sale
• UK: Get up to 50% off in the back-to-school sale at Sihoo

When you run AI agents like ChatGPT Work or Microsoft Copilot, your files and prompts all pass through third-party servers that you’re not in control of. Essentially, you’re paying a subscription fee for the privilege of letting someone else handle your data, when you could be running the same tasks locally from your own hardware.

For professionals and teams that work in regulated industries or need to ensure strict local compliance, this can be an ongoing challenge. Even when you’re opting out of model training in ChatGPT or Claude, you’re trusting them to honor that agreement with very little legal recourse in case they don’t.

However, self-hosting your own agents is not as complicated as it used to be. You can easily set up a private OpenClaw environment on your local workstation, VPS, or NAS. Then if you want, you can go the extra mile by layering your OpenClaw setup with Open WebUI’s polished visual interface. I’ve run this setup myself on my home computer, and I’ll show you how easily you can do it too.

What you'll need before we start

• A local desktop, virtual machine, VPS, or NAS device running Linux. It should have at least 4GB of RAM and 20GB of free storage space.
• Sudo access to your Linux operating system.
• Node.js 22 or later installed on your OS (Node.js 24 is the recommended version).
• An API key for your preferred LLM vendor, such as OpenAI or Anthropic.
• Or if you have the GPU for it, you can run an open-weight LLM like Llama 3.3 locally on your system with Ollama (optional).

Step-by-step installation guide for self-hosting your own AI agent

Step 1: Install OpenClaw

OpenClaw is an open-source autonomous agent framework that can run shell commands, browse the web, read/write files, and connect to messaging apps using your local infrastructure. You can install it using the official script.

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

Once installed, run the onboarding wizard. This is where you'll connect your model provider's API key and give your OpenClaw agent a name.

openclaw onboard

Follow the on-screen instructions to configure a default AI model and paste in your API key after picking. You can also choose to run an open-weight AI model like Llama 3.3 or Qwen 3.7 locally on your hardware, by downloading the model repo from an online database like Hugging Face. The wizard writes its output to a configuration file at ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json, which you'll need to edit again in the next step.

Step 2: Enable the API endpoint

Open WebUI talks to OpenClaw through an OpenAI-compatible endpoint, but that endpoint is switched off by default for security reasons. Open the configuration file in a text editor using the nano command.

nano ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

Now add or update the following block so the API endpoint is enabled.

json{  "gateway": {    "http": {      "endpoints": {        "chatCompletions": {          "enabled": true             }          }       }    } }

Save the file and close the editor. If the gateway is already running, you'll need to restart it for the change to take effect.

Step 3: Start the gateway

With the endpoint enabled, we need to start the gateway process.

openclaw gateway

The gateway starts on port 18789 by default. Confirm it's running with the built-in status check.

openclaw gateway status

Step 4: Install Docker and run Open WebUI

Open WebUI offers a polished visual interface that makes it easier to create and run OpenClaw agents without interacting with the CLI in terminal every time. Open WebUI recommends installing it as a containerized Docker application, so we first need to install Docker Engine and Docker Compose.

Before we do anything else, open a terminal window and update your package index.

sudo apt-get updatesudo apt-get install -y ca-certificates curl

Add Docker's official GPG key, which lets your system verify that the packages actually came from Docker.

sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyringssudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.ascsudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

Now register Docker's repository with apt.

echo \  "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \  $(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME") stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/nullsudo apt-get update

Install Docker Engine and Docker Compose.

sudo apt-get install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

Now run Open WebUI as a container.

docker run -d \  --name open-webui \  --restart unless-stopped \  -p 3000:8080 \  --add-host=host.docker.internal:host-gateway \  -v open-webui-data:/app/backend/data \  ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:main

Note: Because Open WebUI runs in a container and OpenClaw runs directly on the host, Open WebUI can't reach the gateway using localhost. Using the --add-host flag here lets it reach the host machine instead, where the OpenClaw gateway is listening on port 18789.

Step 5: Connect Open WebUI to your OpenClaw agent

Open a browser and navigate to http://your-server-ip:3000. Create an admin account on first launch, since the very first user to sign up becomes the administrator.

Once you're logged in, head to the connections settings.

• Go to Admin Settings > Connections > OpenAI.
• Click Add Connection.
• For the URL, enter http://host.docker.internal:18789/v1.
• For the API key, paste your OpenClaw gateway bearer token, which you'll find in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json under the gateway authentication section.
• Click the checkmark to verify the connection, then save.

Your OpenClaw agent should now appear as a selectable model in Open WebUI's chat window. Pick it from the dropdown and send a test message to confirm everything is wired up correctly.

What to do now that you’re all set up?

With your OpenClaw setup complete and the UI functional, you can now start exploring the kind of automated workflows you can run with this system. If you’re flummoxed by all the options, here are some pointers on what you could look into first:

• OpenClaw has a community-driven Skills library that features tons of working automations for everything from GitHub repo maintenance to data visualization to vibe coding. Take a look at the ClawHub to get started.
• Apart from Open WebUI, OpenClaw can also be integrated with your favorite communication apps like Slack, Telegram, Discord, or WhatsApp. Or better yet, you can use the built-in integration tools offered by OpenWebUI to set up a chatbot for Telegram, WhatsApp, Signal, and others. Just navigate to Settings > Admin > Bots in Open WebUI to configure chatbots using API tokens.
• If you want to run automated workflows on repeat, OpenClaw lets you set up cron jobs that trigger automatically according to a set frequency. View the OpenClaw documentation for details on how to set these up.
• If you’re running this setup on a personal workstation, make sure to back up all your important files and log out of active online accounts that you don’t want your agents to have access to. OpenClaw has system-wide privileges enabled by default, so it can read and write any file or execute tasks on its own, which can be a problem if you have sensitive data on the device. This is also why setting up OpenClaw on a VPS server is the recommended method for data isolation.

FAQs

• Dutch investigation and French complaint accuse Uber of banning drivers via algorithms
• 171 drivers affected on the basis of driver behavior and customer feedback
• Uber says humans were involved in permanent account deactivations

The Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) has issued Uber with a hefty €825 million ($962 million) fine over the way it used automated systems to suspend driver accounts within Europe.

Because losing access to Uber can immediately prevent drivers from earning money through the platform, regulators deemed that the case should fall under Article 22 of the EU GDPR, which restricts automated-only decision-making when it comes to having significant effects on individuals.

Ultimately, it means this is now the second-largest GDPR fine ever to have been issued, falling short of Meta's 2023 €1.2 billion fine.

Uber hit with €825 million GDPR fine

Though the company was finally hit with the fine in 2026, it relates to business practices between 2018 and 2022 when Uber used software to assess driver behavior and customer feedback before automatically restricting suspicious accounts.

Uber's systems reportedly flagged drivers for taking unnecessary detours to inflate customer prices, and accepting journeys without intending to complete them – perfectly reasonable reasons to be flagged.

But Dutch regulators were more concerned with the fact that decisions were being made entirely by computers and algorithms without human approval, leading drivers to potentially lose their livelihoods. "A computer should not make decisions on its own that have (such) major consequences," regulators said.

Netherlands led the investigation because Uber's main European establishment is based in the country, but the case stems back to an earlier 2020 complaint by French human rights organization La Ligue des Droits de l'Homme (LDH), representing 171 Uber drivers.

Uber argues that fraud-related suspensions were generally short-lived, and that permanent account deactivations were not made without human review, thus it intends to appeal. "We strongly disagree with this decision and disproportionate fine," the company said in a statement (via Reuters).

There is a point in many endpoint projects when the new environment appears to be ready.

Devices are enrolled, policies are in place and physical endpoints and virtual desktops—including Cloud PCs—can be provisioned.

From an infrastructure perspective, most of the difficult work seems to have been done.

The applications often tell a different story.

Moving an older application onto a new platform does not alter its underlying behavior.

It may still rely on ageing components and expect administrator access to write files and registry entries across the device. Its update process may also be largely manual or poorly documented.

A well-managed endpoint is valuable, but it cannot make a difficult application easier to maintain simply by hosting it.

A successful deployment can hide the real work

Modern management platforms have made it much quicker to enroll devices, assign software and apply policies across an organization.

Cloud services and virtual desktops have also taken much of the effort out of provisioning the underlying environment. These are genuine advances, but they can create a false sense of completion. An application may open in the new environment and appear ready for production.

The problems tend to emerge later. An update arrives and the packaging process has to be recreated. An operating system change exposes a dependency that was never recorded. A certificate expires, or a new release behaves differently from the version originally tested.

None of these issues are solved by the fact that the application was delivered through a modern platform. Deployment gets an application to the user; modernization determines whether IT can continue to manage it once the project team has moved on.

Old assumptions follow applications into new environments

Enterprise application estates tend to grow gradually. Software is added over many years, often under different teams and different versions of Windows. Some applications expect access to folders or registry locations that would not be considered appropriate today. Others rely on old runtimes, fixed paths or components installed so long ago that nobody is entirely sure why they are there. Accompanying IT documentation is rarely complete.

The original installer may have disappeared and the person who understood the application may no longer work for the organization, yet the software itself may remain essential to a finance team, production line or clinical process.

Moving to modern endpoint management such as Intune, a Cloud PC or a new virtual desktop environment does not remove those assumptions. In some cases, it exposes them because modern environments place tighter limits on what software is allowed to change. A launch test will reveal only part of the picture.

IT management also needs to know how the application installs, what it depends on, which parts of the system it expects to access and how it is updated and removed. Age alone is not a reason to replace an application. Many older line-of-business tools remain useful and business-critical. The aim should be to understand the software well enough to manage it properly, rather than carrying its old behavior into a new environment without examining it.

Modernization does not have to mean rewriting software

Rewriting every legacy application would be impractical for most businesses and may deliver little value where the existing software still performs its function well. A better test is whether the application can be supported throughout the rest of its working life. That requires a clear view of its files, services, dependencies and interaction with Windows. Once those details are known, compatibility problems can be addressed deliberately rather than discovered by users after deployment.

Packaging is part of that work, although it is not the whole answer. On Windows, formats such as MSIX can give an application a clearer identity, require digital signing and separate more of its activity from the underlying operating system. They can also support cleaner removal and more controlled updates. MSIX can provide a more secure and manageable foundation, although applications with legacy middleware, undocumented dependencies or highly specialized configurations may still require additional work.

This is why organizations need to identify complex applications early. Testing must also reflect real use: opening the main window does not show whether employees can complete the tasks they rely on, whether the next update will install successfully or whether the application will continue working when another part of the environment changes.

The scope becomes clearer when organizations view the modern endpoint as a set of interconnected components. A desktop comprises three core elements: the operating system, the user profile, and applications. Hardware is the fourth component, but the same principles apply whether the machine is physical or virtual.

The applications work is therefore a project in its own right. Applications must be brought under control, secured, and kept up to date and delivered to the right users, with the control and compliance an organization requires.

Bring applications into the project sooner

Applications are often treated as the last stage of an endpoint program. The platform is selected, the environment is built and only then does the organization begin working through the software estate. By that point, timelines have been agreed and assumptions about compatibility may already be built into the plan. Difficult applications emerge as late exceptions, when there is the least room to deal with them.

Bringing application assessment forward gives IT a clearer view of what it is migrating. Teams can establish which applications are in use, which are business-critical and which depend on technology that may not be available in the new environment. They can also separate routine applications from those requiring deeper technical or business knowledge.

I have worked in this industry since the late 1990s and have seen enterprise desktops move from early thin-client systems to virtual desktops and, more recently, cloud-hosted PCs. The infrastructure has improved enormously, but the questions around applications have barely changed.

A modern endpoint is an important step, but the real measure of modernization is whether the organization can understand, update and support the applications running on it.

We've rounded up the best endpoint protection software suites.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

• Philips Hue could be launching a light module that lets you connect your Nanoleaf Shapes to the Hue app
• You'll be able to integrate Nanoleaf lights into your Hue schedules and automations
• It's not Matter-over-Thread, but you might be able to use a Hue Bridge for third-party connectivity

We’re just one week from IFA 2026, and we already have our ears to the ground for all the pre-event announcements and rumors — and this latest Philips Hue leak is bound to make Nanoleaf users very happy.

As spotted by the outlet Smartlights, Philips is reportedly launching the Hue Wall Light Module next week, meaning that users will be able to integrate their Nanoleaf lights into the Philips Hue ecosystem — which would be a huge win, especially since Nanoleaf is an affordable alternative to the Philips Hue range of best smart lights.

The Hue Wall Light Module is said to support the Nanoleaf Shapes LED panels, including Mini Triangles, Triangles, and Hexagons, while older panels (formerly known as Aurora) won’t be supported. Philips’ new module is also expected to be announced on September 3, and will go on sale for 39.99 euros, with international prices expected to follow.

Essentially, the rumored Hue module is a small white adapter around 8cm that you can plug directly into the connectors in your Nanoleaf panels, allowing you to integrate up to 100 Nanoleaf Shapes panels into your Hue system. That said, the Hue Wall Light Module shouldn’t be confused with the existing Philips Hue Wall Switch Module, which is installed behind a standard wall switch.

Once your Nanoleaf panels are connected via Philips’ new module, you’ll be able to include them in automations, Hue scenes, and schedules in the Hue app — but whether Nanoleaf’s flagship lighting tools will be carried over is unclear.

Similar to Philips Hue, Nanoleaf offers customizable color scenes and animations, but as far as the leaks go, the product images show the Nanoleaf integration working primarily with Hue scenes and effects. The leak shows at least five points in the color selection wheel, suggesting that there’ll be some kind of multicolor control function regardless, but we’ll have to see how this will work after the launch.

The other catch is that the Philips Hue Wall Light Module isn’t Matter-over-Thread, which, considering Nanoleaf’s devices are mainly Thread- and Matter-supported, is a bit of a departure. Instead, the module uses Zigbee and Bluetooth, the main connectivity protocols Philips has used for some time.

That said, using a Hue Bridge allows you to connect Philips Hue devices that are non-Matter to hubs such as the Apple HomePod, which is helpful if you use the best smart speakers to control your home lighting system — though we’ll have to wait and see how the new Philips Hue module handles third-party connectivity once it’s launched.

Despite these gray areas, the Nanoleaf-Hue integration is an unexpected yet possibly beneficial upgrade. When it comes to smart lighting brands, their respective devices tend to keep you locked into one ecosystem or the other, so having a simple but effective connectivity tool would give users much more flexibility.

Logitech is behind some of our favorite productivity peripherals and desk accessories - and right now, the company is running a big office upgrade sale as part of Amazon for Business Brand Week.

Two accessories catching my eye, that pair perfectly, are the Logitech MX Ergo S Advanced Wireless Trackball Mouse for $102 (was $120) and the Logitech Ergo K860 Wireless Ergonomic Split Keyboard for $128 (was $150) at Amazon.

Driving the deals for business users is Logitech's desire to highlight that 'bargain' office equipment comes with hidden costs for corporate buying teams.

Why we recommend them

The MX Ergo S mouse and Ergo K860 keyboard make sense together because they're both designed around making long periods at a computer more comfortable, but they approach the problem very differently.

The MX Ergo S keeps your hand largely stationary, with your thumb controlling the trackball instead of moving the mouse around your desk. Its 20-degree tilt, sculpted shape and quieter clicks make it an interesting alternative to a conventional mouse, while six programmable buttons add useful productivity options.

In his 4.5-star review of the older but very similar MX Ergo Wireless trackball, our expert Jon called it: "an exceptionally designed product that’s a joy to use. It might not have re-invented the wheel, but when it works this well it’s hard to ask for much more."

The Ergo K860 uses a curved, split design that places your hands at a more natural angle, backed by a substantial memory-foam wrist rest.

In her 4-star review, our expert Rosario said the "K860 keyboard does its job of providing support, comfort and reducing physical strain." She added it "has great features like its curved, split design, and a double-layered soft foam wrist rest with front end tilt legs. While initially awkward to use, you soon get used to it."

Both devices can connect wirelessly through Bluetooth or their included USB receivers, and Logitech's software provides additional customization.

Price context & historical value

The Logitech MX Ergo S is currently $101.99 at Amazon, down from $119.99, and the Ergo K860 is $127.49, down from $149.99, a 15% saving on both. We have seen the mouse cheaper in the past — it was briefly $84 earlier in the year — and the keyboard has been as low as $102. It's possible you might be able to pick up either or both devices for less in the future, but this is still a decent offer for office buying teams upgrading business gear for multiple staff.

Should you buy them?

✅ Buy the MX Ergo S and Ergo K860 if...

The Logitech MX Ergo S is worth considering if you spend long hours working and want to reduce how much you move your arm. Its thumb-controlled trackball, 20-degree tilt, six customizable buttons and up to 120-day battery life make it particularly well suited to productivity.

The Logitech Ergo K860 is good if typing comfort is your priority. Its curved split layout, pillowed wrist rest and adjustable palm lift are designed to encourage a more natural position.

❌ Skip the MX Ergo S and Ergo K860 if...

Give the MX Ergo S a miss if you've never got along with trackballs or prefer the speed and familiarity of moving a conventional mouse. It's also designed primarily for medium- to large-sized hands.

The Ergo K860 won't suit everyone either. Its split curved layout takes some adjustment. It's also a large keyboard at 17.95 x 9.17 inches so occupies a lot of desk space.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

It's worth noting that you need to be comfortable adapting to this keyboard and mouse set up. The MX Ergo S uses a thumb-operated trackball rather than traditional mouse movement and it's not one for left-handed users. The Ergo K860's curved split layout will initially also feel unusual if you've spent years typing on conventional keyboards.

• Shop all Logitech for Business deals Amazon

• Stream The Airport Chaplain free on SBS On Demand (Aus)
• Unblock SBS with NordVPN (Try 100% risk-free)
• Hugo Weaving and Shabana Azeez star in this tension-filled drama series

Veteran actor Hugo Weaving, who played iconic bad guys in The Matrix and in the MCU, takes on a more serious, dramatic role in The Airport Chaplain, starring opposite up-and-comer Shabana Azeez, who plays his boss as the two clash over their approach to customer service.

There's eight episodes of this gripping drama to dive into, dropping in pairs over four weeks. Or, if you prefer the binge method, you'll have options to take one long-haul flight and watch The Airport Chaplain in one go.

But how can you watch The Airport Chaplain on SBS from anywhere? Can you stream the show in the US, UK and Canada too? And what devices is SBS On Demand available on?

Below, we'll reveal how to watch The Airport Chaplain on SBS for free and on streaming elsewhere.

How to watch The Airport Chaplain on SBS

SBS are streaming The Airport Chaplain for free to Australian residents.

To watch SBS: visit the SBS On Demand website or download the SBS On Demand App (iOS / Android ).

SBS is free – but you will need to register for an account with an an Australian postcode (e.g. NSW 2000)

Register – sign up with your Gmail (we tried it and the quality was superb)

OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA? ACCESS SBS FROM ANYWHERE WITH NORDVPN

How to watch The Airport Chaplain on SBS from anywhere

Although SBS is a brilliant streaming platform, it is only available in Australia.

If you're keen to watch The Airport Chaplain but you're traveling or working outside Oz will need to use a VPN to access SBS's free TV stream.

There are lots of VPN's but NordVPN is our pick to unblock SBS and stream The Airport Chaplain like a pro.... and you can save 74% right now.

It's really easy to use a VPN to watch The Airport Chaplain free on SBS.

1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, NordVPN is the best choice.

2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance, if you're visiting USA and want to watch your free Australian SBS stream - you'd select Australia from the options.

3. Sit back and binge. Head to the SBS website, sign in, and watch The Airport Chaplain for free.

Which devices can I watch The Airport Chaplain on SBS with?

• Amazon Fire (Tablets, Cube, Stick, TVs)
• Android TV (please note: some models aren’t supported)
• Android (Mobile & Tablet) - Android 7.0 and above
• Apple TV (tvOS 14 or later)
• Google TV (Chromecast with Google TV and NVIDIA Shield)
• Freely
• Freesat (please note: some models aren’t supported)
• Freeview Play (TVs and set-top boxes) (some models aren’t supported)
• iOS (iPhone & iPad) - iOS 14 and above
• LG Smart TVs (2016–2024)
• NOW Smart Sticks and Boxes (minimum firmware v11.5.0)
• PlayStation (PS4 and PS5)
• Roku (Stick & Roku-OS powered TVs, minimum firmware v11.5.0)
• Samsung Smart TVs (2017 and above)
• Sky Q, Sky Glass and Sky Stream puck
• Virgin Media (360, Stream, TiVo)
• YouView (BT, Humax, Sony, TalkTalk)
• Xbox (One, Series X, Series S)

How to watch The Airport Chaplain globally

If you live outside Australia, you can still watch The Airport Chaplain fairly easily, though it will require you to have a Netflix subscription.

The series is landing on the platform on August 26 globally.

Netflix has varying prices depending where you live and what package you want:

- US: $8.99 per month with ads / $19.99 per month ad-free
- CAN: $7.99 per month with ads / $18.99 per month ad-free
- UK: £5.99 per month with ads / £18.99 per month ad-free

The Airport Chaplain trailer

The Airport Chaplain cast

• Hugo Weaving as Tobias Wallace
• Shabana Azeez as Mira
• Claudia Karvan
• Thomas Weatherall
• Arka Das
• Jackson Tozer
• Erroll Shand
• George Mason
• Brenna Harding
• Echo Palo

You may also be interested in...

• How to watch The Five-Star Weekend from anywhere in the world
• How to watch M.I.A. from anywhere in the world
• There's a sneaky way to watch YouTube ad-free without paying for Premium

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

The Creality K2 Pro Combo, one of our absolute favorite 3D printers, is a serious step up from an entry-level model, combining a large enclosed build area with fast printing, and active chamber heating.

The K2 Pro Combo is now down to $799 (was $1099) from Creality's online store. A massive $300 off a package that includes both the K2 Pro and one four-slot CFS (Creality Filament System) for automatic multi-material and multi-color printing.

For anyone looking to move beyond basic single-color PLA printing, there's a lot here to like, including multi-color capabilities, carbon-fiber-reinforced filament support and AI-assisted monitoring. In the UK, the K2 Pro is down to £649 (was £949) at Creality.

Why we recommend it

The combination of size, speed and material support makes the K2 Pro much more versatile than a basic 3D printer, and its 300mm-cubed build volume offers plenty of room for large models and prototypes.

The Combo package is especially handy because the included CFS has four filament slots and automatically manages filament changes, letting you create multi-color or multi-material prints without manually swapping spools.

In his 4.5-star review, our 3D printing expert Alastair called it: "'An exceptional machine capable of producing some of the best 3D prints," adding, "It looks great, and the overall build quality and mechanics, as well as the serviceability of the machine, mean that it should give you many years of use."

For more options, check out our roundup of the best 3D printers you can buy.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Creality K2 Pro Combo 3D if...

The K2 Pro Combo makes sense if want more than a basic 3D printer, including more room, faster printing and support for a greater range of materials. The heated chamber, 300°C nozzle, full-auto leveling and dual AI cameras promise plenty of capabilities to grow into.

The included CFS means four-color printing is available without buying another accessory, and the ability to add additional CFS units leaves a route to 16-color projects later.

❌ Skip the Creality K2 Pro Combo 3D if...

If most of your projects are relatively small, single-color PLA prints, much of what makes the K2 Pro interesting won't be used. There are considerably cheaper printers capable of handling straightforward everyday printing.

Price context & historical value

At $799, the Creality K2 Pro Combo is $300 below its $1,099 regular price. For context, the same model is on sale at Amazon, but it's $848.99 there, which is more expensive than this deal.

This is the Combo rather than the standalone K2 Pro, so one four-slot CFS is included and you also get three months of Creality Cloud Premium which offers access to additional models, cloud storage and faster downloads.

For more savings, we track the best 3D printer deals with updates every week.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

The K2 Pro Combo includes one four-slot CFS, so can manage four colors out of the box. Reaching 16 requires four CFS units in total, with the additional three sold separately.

There's also an important distinction between maximum and typical printing speed. The K2 Pro can reach 600mm/s, but Creality lists 300mm/s as the typical printing speed, so don't expect every model and filament to run at the headline maximum.

Finally, the printer weighs 23.7kg and its 300mm build volume comes with a much larger physical footprint, so you'll want a workspace with plenty of room.

• US: Save up to 50% in Creality's back-to-school sale
• UK: See the full back-to-school sale at Creality UK

The Shards episodes 6 and 7 are streaming on Hulu for US viewers and Disney+ internationally soon, and you won't want to miss them.

This is our second double bill, after the dramatic ending last episode that saw Rhonda arrive on the scene alive, and Cha Cha found dead in the bathroom of a television set. Moments like these are why I gave the show such a great rating in my The Shards review.

So far, Rhonda is the only kidnapped teen The Trawler kept alive, but nobody knows why, so hopefully this week's double bill will answer some big questions.

Here's what you need to know about the dual release of The Shards episodes 6 and 7.

What time can I watch The Shards episodes 6 and 7 on Hulu?

For US viewers, The Shards episodes 6 and 7 will drop on Wednesday, August 26 at 6pm PT/ 9pm ET.

Here's when you can stream the new episodes in other countries.

• US – Wednesday, August 26 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET
• Canada – Wednesday, August 26 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET
• UK – Thursday, August 27 at 2am BST
• India – Thursday, August 27 at 6:30am IST
• Singapore – Thursday, August 27 at 9am SGT
• Australia – Thursday, August 27 at 11am AEDT
• New Zealand – Thursday, August 27 at 12pm NZDT

When do new episodes of The Shards come out?

This is our last double-bill of the series as we build towards the thrilling finale on September 9.

For dates as well as the episode titles for the upcoming The Shards releases, take a look below.

• The Shards Episode 1 “Pilot”: Out now
• The Shards Episode 2 “Don’t You Want Me”: Out now
• The Shards Episode 3 “Help Me! Rhonda!”: Out now
• The Shards Episode 4 “Robert’s Party”: Out now
• The Shards Episode 5 “Murder on the Dancefloor”: Out now
• The Shards Episode 6 “Homecoming Part One”: Wednesday, August 26
• The Shards Episode 7 “Homecoming Part Two”: Wednesday, August 26
• The Shards Episode 8 “Hamlet”: Wednesday, September 2
• The Shards Episode 9 “Stairway to Heaven”: Wednesday, September 9

• Kaspersky found Android malware abusing DoFun car head units via TWCore updates
• Multi‑stage attack installs loaders and reverse proxy, aiming to build a botnet of connected cars
• Campaign attributed to MoYu Group; DoFun patched vulnerabilities after disclosure

We’ve seen botnets comprising cameras and DVRs, we’ve even seen botnets comprising smart fridges and digital frames, but we’ve never seen botnets comprising automobile infotainment systems. First time for everything.

Earlier this week, security researchers Kaspersky warned about finding a brand new Android malware targeting the car’s head unit. The victim seems to be a Chinese manufacturer called DoFun. Head units from this manufacturer, built on Android, are running an app for analytics and software updates called TWCore.

According to Kaspersky, the attackers abused TWCore’s update mechanisms, instructing it to download a malicious APK. This malware is then placed in the app’s cache directory and installed by the legitimate com.tw.core package.

No active campaigns

The researchers said this was a multi-stage attack. In the first stage, a tiny dropper with no user interface gets deployed. It decrypts embedded data, and extracts the information it needs for stage two. In the next stage, the loader contacts the attackers’ server and gets instructions about stage 3, which can be different things, from deploying additional malware, to running the “zhima” reverse proxy.

Despite its multifunctional nature, Kaspersky believes that the true goal of the campaign is to assimilate the cars into a botnet. Some cars come with a SIM slot and are connected to the internet 24/7. It is probably not an exaggeration to say that cars just might be the perfect devices for a malicious botnet.

Kaspersky attributed the campaign to MoYu Group, a threat actor known for building malicious botnets based on Android devices. In the past, this group was observed building the BadBox botnet out of Android smartphones, tablets, streaming devices, and other internet-connected hardware.

The researchers notified DoFun of their findings, and the vulnerability was quickly fixed: "We notified the vendor about the distribution scheme, and they subsequently reported fixing the security issues," the researchers said.

Via The Record

I've now spent a month with Samsung's two recent folding phones. I've used them as my daily phones, worked and played with them, and even taken hundreds of pictures between them to test the cameras (650 when I wrote that article; nearly 1,000 now).

Through that time, I've used the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 most, and that's for purely practical purposes. It's a brand-new form factor, so as a tech journalist, my time is better spent testing it out.

Despite enjoying my time with the Z Fold 8, I've been wavering back and forth on whether I prefer it to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. The two handsets have a lot in common, but that includes a really high price. And so the smaller display, reduced camera count, and lack of features in the Fold 8 mean I've been struggling to claim it as the overall winner.

That was until I took the Galaxy Z Fold 8 on vacation to France; it got a nice dose of real-world testing, and the trip helped me appreciate elements of the phone that I hadn't noticed, or had taken for granted, before. I took the Z Fold 8 Ultra with me, too, which helped underline how much better the new-form phone is.

And with another vacation coming up, I'm glad I've discovered just how useful the Fold 8 is when on the go.

This is the perfect shape for a phone

When I wrote about my Galaxy Z Fold camera test, I mentioned that the smaller-body Fold 8 felt like the instinctive camera device to use, as it was easy to remove from my pocket without endless maneuvering. The long, thin Fold 8 Ultra doesn't fully fit in my pocket, and digs into my hip when I walk.

The more I used both phones, the more I realized that's not only true for picture-taking, but basically everything else too. When I needed to navigate around an unfamiliar city, use Translate to understand a menu, or get contactless ready for public transport, the readily removable Fold 8 was a much more convenient choice.

It's not just trouser pockets that show the benefit. The Fold 8 is the perfect shape to fit in the side pockets of my backpack, or the small inner pockets for valuables. That's all unlike the Ultra, which sticks out awkwardly.

And that awkward design isn't just bad for looks or utility. It's pretty normal to be worried about losing your possessions while travelling, either from nifty pickpockets who identify you as a tourist, or from them falling out when you leave your bag somewhere. When I was walking around with the Ultra sticking its camera bump out of my jeans, those fears were multiplied — not so with the standard model, which could disappear from view.

Many people have referred to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 as the 'passport'-style foldable. In the above image, you can see the phone alongside my battered-looking passport: they're very similar sizes (the document is thinner but taller). Given that this document was designed to be easily portable for travellers, it makes sense that Samsung has taken inspiration from the shape of the booklet.

All my holiday experiences aren't just true abroad, though. A svelte form factor that keeps the phone secure but ready to remove is just as useful at home as away.

The wide screen keeps getting better and better

I forgot something, didn't I? This is a folding phone, and I've yet to metaphorically unpack it to discuss the inner display. And yet, the Z Fold 8's 7.6-inch, 4:3 aspect ratio main display is one of its main differences from the Z Fold 8 Ultra's 8-inch 1:0.9 aspect ratio primary panel.

I'm an iPad user, and so I was already primed for the Z Fold 8's main screen, since Apple's tablets also use that aspect ratio. But with how popular the previous Z Fold phones are (which share dimensions with the new Ultra), I was expecting the new screen shape to really need to prove itself.

And there are certainly some tasks for which the Z Fold 8 Ultra is better. I prefer it for grid-based tasks like seeing my calendar, checking out pictures I've taken, and calculator use. The user interface feels more spacious, with extra space at the bottom for a web browser search bar, and I appreciate that my apps and widgets are in the same place if I rotate the phone.

When I was on my holiday, the Ultra was relegated to my gaming and camera phone — that result is what convinced me of this article's thesis statement in the first place — but I can see its more square-shaped main display being the right shape for certain users, who have specific use cases.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8's display proves itself as especially useful for many, many other tasks. And I'm not just talking about entertainment; video-watching is one of the main tasks Samsung used to justify the wider 4:3 aspect ratio, but there's a lot more to the phone than that.

The pictures above show two types of phone use that are common on holidays (and that I used the phone for on my trip): reading using the Kindle app, and navigating with Google Maps. As regards the former, you can see that the wide aspect ratio does a better job of resembling a book than a Kindle would, and as for the latter, you can see that the UI overlay and maps sit together just as well as on a squarish display (as on the Ultra). In fact, when I used Google Maps on the Ultra, the search bar and options being higher made it a little more annoying to use.

Speaking more generally, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 feels great for multi-tasking, as the two apps feel like they're sized in a more natural way than on a squarish Z Fold 8 Ultra or long, thin Android tablet. It took me going on holiday, when I'd split-view tourist information websites and maps, or my gallery app and Instagram, to really appreciate this kind of use.

It's hard to explain to someone who isn't using the Z Fold 8, but apps just feel right on this wider phone (well, when they're actually optimized for the shape; some, like Strava, just give you their usual vertical scroll). Every day, I find another function which feels great on the wider screen.

There's one glaring omission. Samsung opted not to give the Z Fold 8 Flex Mode, while it's present in the Ultra. This is a tool that identifies when your foldable is part-open and splits the main display in natural ways; it'll give you a camera viewfinder in one half, and controls on the other, for example. It's a useful, though admittedly sparsely implemented, feature. The Z Fold 8 is worse off for its omission, and I'm hoping it gains it in an update.

It's not just a pretty screen

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is smaller and cheaper than its Ultra sibling. Most of the time, when we see phones like that, the smaller one is a Lite handset and is weaker or worse in some ways. And so I had a bias towards the Fold 8, expecting it to be far more inferior than it actually was.

It's great for gaming, especially on the large screen, even if it does get a little hot quicker than I'd like (that's the Snapdragon chipset doing what, in my opinion, Snapdragon chips do best: overheat).

Even down to the specs minutiae, the Z Fold 8 matches the Ultra. Its storage sizes are the same (well, with a few slight region-based variations, but generally, the storage and RAM options are the same). It uses UFS 4.0 flash storage, and it has a mostly quick side-mounted fingerprint sensor, which I love way more than under-display ones.

As I mentioned before, the Z Fold 8 Ultra was my go-to gaming phone. This isn't because it was more powerful, but because I assumed it would be and so downloaded all my games onto it first (and got stuck into various runs, with progress I didn't want to lose). But some time away on my holiday gave me time to play the same titles on the Z Fold 8, and there's no noticeable difference in how games run on either phone (other than the form factor difference).

My trip helped me appreciate the software a lot more too. Both phones have Samsung's One UI, and its implementation is largely the same between the two, other than the aforementioned Flex Mode fiasco. Which means the cheaper phone doesn't give you a worse experience.

The camera quality and suite of photo editing features were all, obviously, tools which I used constantly on my holiday. And I quickly realized that, despite this not being the 'Ultra' phone, its results largely match what you'll get on the pricier phone (mostly, but we'll get more into that later). Despite what you see in the picture above, I mostly used the inner display for editing snaps, as its large size and aspect ratio let me see details in my photos that a smaller screen might have me missing.

Software remains a strong point of Samsung's camera phones, even if I've come to expect the strong stuff to be kept in reserve for the Galaxy S mobiles. I noticed that, after taking photos and checking them out in the Gallery app, the phone would take a few seconds to apply its own filters, optimizations, and fixes. So I could clearly see the 'before and after' of the phone's magic, and it made it apparent that the handset does a great job at fixing my mistakes.

But there's one design consideration I want to flag, which I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't spent a week shoving both phones in pockets and bags while abroad. Both devices collect dust and fluff, but the Z Fold 8 seemed to collect way more inside its body than the Ultra. Maybe it's a side effect of the shape or aspect ratio, or the Ultra's larger display making an equal amount of fluff appear like more, but I always had to give the Z Fold 8 a wipe when using its main display.

Fluff is normal and unavoidable... but it can mess up foldable phones if it gets in the joints or hinges. So I'm curious to discover the longevity of these phones, especially with iFixit revealing just how disastrous dust can be to the devices.

Have Fold, will travel

Despite the myriad reasons to like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that there are several problems with it.

The biggest issue is the battery life: it's not good. I can't pretend to be surprised, given how little space there is in the Fold to fit a power cell, but the reason doesn't detract from the challenge.

I struggle to get the Z Fold 8 to last a day, and find myself having to use it sparingly or engage power-saving mode if I'm going to be away from a charger. While I was on my holiday, I charged it multiple times per day, and afterwards I've found myself ensuring it's fully charged every time I leave the house.

Another weak point of the phone is its camera setup, or more specifically its camera omissions. Generally, pictures taken on the Z Fold 8 are good, but the absence of the Ultra's zoom lens means the premium phone is my go-to photography handset when I have time to stop and choose between the two.

The Ultra is better for holiday shots, product pictures (including the ones accompanying this article), and portrait pictures. As mentioned, I probably take more pictures with the Z Fold 8 given it's the more easily accessible phone, but there's no denying which of the two is the superior shooter.

For the Galaxy Z Fold 9, then, improvements to the camera array and battery life are at the top of my wish list.

• Apple introduces the M6 chip, and it lands first in the new Mac mini
• It’s a bit more expensive than its predecessor, but offers improved performance, with a focus on AI tasks
• It can also be configured with the M5 Pro, while the latest Mac Studio gets the M5 Max or new M5 Ultra

Apple reintroduced the Mac mini in its sportier, more compact design with M4 chips in October 2024, and now, just a few months shy of two years later, we’re getting the next generation.

Apple is sticking with the ultra-tiny build that doesn’t skimp on ports, and it's also using its new entry-level Mac desktop to usher in its next generation of silicon: the M6. While this next-gen Mac mini sports an identical look to its predecessor, it’s built to pack a performance punch with either the M6, which is Apple’s first 2nm chip, or the M5 Pro for those who need an even more substantial setup.

This performance boost comes at the cost of a price increase over the M4-powered Mac mini. The Mac mini with M6 starts at $899 / £899 / AU$1,449 for 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM — that's a $100 increase in the US over the current price of the M4 model — while the M5 Pro starts at $1,699 / £1,699 / AU$TBC with 512GB of storage and 24GB of RAM. You can, of course, pay more for more RAM and storage — we’re waiting to see full pricing.

The Mac mini with M6 will start at $899 — a $100 increase in the US over the $799 MSRP for the M4 model – with 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM, while the mini with M5 Pro will start at $1,699 with 512GB of storage and 24GB of RAM. Of course, you can pay more for more RAM and storage — we’re waiting to see pricing.

The M6 isn’t the only new chip arriving from Apple. The next-gen Mac Studio, which keeps its now-iconic design, is sporting either the M5 Max or the M5 Ultra under the hood for extreme performance, be it creative or professional workflows, or the demands of AI processes. Like the Mac mini, it’s a bit more costly, starting at $2,499 / £2,499 / AU$4,299 for the Mac Studio with M5 Max or $5,499 / £5,499 / AU$TBC for the M5 Ultra.

The reveal timing is a little out of line with the release cycle we’ve gotten used to for the Mac lineup, as it comes just weeks before Apple's rumored September event, at which Apple will likely debut its iPhone 18 lineup and other devices.

Let’s dive into what we know about the M6 and the new Mac mini, its first home, and the even speedier Mac Studio.

The Mac mini pushes forward with M6

While the new Mac mini's design is unchanged — and we're just fine with that — the big change is under the hood. Apple says the M6 delivers up to 40% faster CPU performance and up to four times faster AI performance. Note that latter claim, as AI is a theme that Apple’s going with here, and it makes sense considering how many folks are choosing to run OpenClaw and other models on the Mac mini (if they can get their hands on one — we're hoping Apple has addressed the supply chain issues that have resulted in some customers facing long waits for the previous-gen Mac mini and Mac Studio).

As I noted above, the M6 is Apple’s first 2-nanometer chip, and it boasts some seriously impressive specs on paper. For starters, it’s now a 12-core CPU, the first such Apple silicon, with two super cores, four performance cores, and six efficiency cores. That’s the CPU side of the M6, while the GPU side has 12 cores with Neural Accelerators, support for the FP8 format, and higher overall geometry throughput, which should aid 3D graphics and gaming visuals. One aspect we’re keen to test is a new dual 16-core Neural Engine, which promises up to twice the peak AI compute performance.

There’s also the even more impressively equipped Mac mini with M5 Pro, the same chip that’s currently available in the MacBook Pro. In the Mac mini, it as in the MacBook Pro, the M5 Pro starts with a 15-core CPU, 16-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine.

Whether you opt for the M6 or M5 Pro, the new Mac mini also gets the Apple-made N1 chip for connectivity, specifically support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. There's a 2.5Gb Ethernet port as standard, which you can upgrade to 10Gb, and while the M6 has Thunderbolt 4 ports, the M5 Pro gets Thunderbolt 5, which should make it easy to chain multiple Mac minis together.

Mac Studio levels up with M5 Max and M5 Ultra

We’ve been waiting a while now for Apple to level up the current M4 Max and M3 Ultra Mac Studio, and these are looking like considerably beefy upgrades that’ll ensure that whether you are running advanced professional, creative, AI, or even gaming tasks, the Studio will rise to the occasion.

The M5 Max inside the Mac Studio boasts an 18-core CPU and a 40-core GPU for up to 30% faster compute performance and 40% faster graphics performance compared to the M4 Max, according to Apple. For ultimate performance, meanwhile, the M5 Ultra, the latest chip made using Apple’s next-gen UltraFusion technology, is essentially two M5 Max chips connected together in a quad-die architecture. The result is a chip with a 36-core CPU — made up of 12 Super Cores and 24 Performance Cores — an 80-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine.

As in the Mac mini, Apple is using its own N1 chip to power connectivity in the upgraded Mac Studio, with support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. You’ll also get faster, more efficient RAM and storage to speed things up even more.

Together, these upgrades are all about boosting performance and making these machines better equipped for almost any task, whether professional or creative, with or without AI processes.

Apple's Mac Studio with M5 Max starts with 512GB of storage and 36GB of RAM, while the Studio with M5 Ultra starts at 1TB of storage and 96GB of RAM. Pricing starts at $2,499 / £2,499 / AU$4,299 and $5,499 / £5,499, respectively.

Based on Apple's shared benchmarks and performance numbers, both the Mac mini and Mac Studio are AI performance powerhouses. Whether it's using an app to upscale an image, quickly render out a task, or even run full frontier models on-device, it’s clear that Apple knows what people are using its desktops for, and is offering those users something with even more muscle.

As with the Mac mini, the new Mac Studios arrive with a price hike. In the US, the Mac mini with M6 starts at $100 more than the current prices of the M4 model. The Mac Studio keeps the same starting price at $2,499 for the M5 Max versus the M4 Max, while the M5 Ultra starts at $200 more than the M3 Ultra, at $5,499 compared to $5,299.

Storage increases and RAM upgrades will come at hefty costs, but with 256GB starting storage in the Mac mini and 512GB starting storage in the Studio for the base chips — and both the RAM and SSDs are said to be faster here — Apple is still looking to max out the value proposition, even at the starting prices.

Preorders for these new Macs are open now, and with shipping from September 22. That's a bit of a wait, but it might be that this schedule is timed to coincide with that for other items Apple might reveal in the next few weeks. The Macs will ship with macOS 27, including some new Apple Intelligence features, out of the box.

• The Witcher 4 is officially targeting a 2028 release window
• CD Projekt Red joint-CEO Michal Nowakowski says the game won't be at Gamescom 2026
• He confirms that the game is the studio's "most ambitious game to date"

As CD Projekt Red prepares to showcase The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's next major expansion, the studio has confirmed that The Witcher 4 is officially targeting a 2028 release window.

In a video posted to social media ahead of Gamescom Opening Night Live, CD Projekt Red joint-CEO Michal Nowakowski teased Songs of the Past, The Witcher 3's third expansion launching in 2027, saying, "We've got a lot of the expansion to show off, including a taste of its dark story, and the new continent it will bring."

Songs of the Past will get a full reveal at Gamescom and is rumored to be a prelude to The Witcher 4, which will star Ciri as the titular witcher. Fans have been waiting for another glimpse of the sequel since the technical demo was shared last year; however, Nowakowski has confirmed the studio won't be showcasing the game at Gamescom.

He revealed that more than 500 developers are currently working on The Witcher 4, and the game will feature "a huge and immersive open world, intense and action-packed gameplay, and a deep, impactful story that we hope will stay with you for a long time."

"Simply put, this is our biggest, boldest, and most ambitious game to date," Nowakowski said, before confirming that The Witcher 4 is "targeting" a 2028 launch window, which significantly narrows down its expected release date.

"I know it's a bit of a wait and you'd love to play it sooner," he said, "but let the team cook. It will be worth the wait."

The joint-CEO added that fans can expect Gamescom to be in CD Projekt Red's plans "for the coming years," suggesting The Witcher 4 could be featured at next year's or 2028's showcase.

While we finally have a launch window, this means the game could still slip to 2029 depending on its development status. It's also unclear if the sequel will get a PS5 physical edition, as Sony plans to end production of game discs from January 2028.

• Crooks used Google Sites and stolen Google Ads accounts to push fake OpenAI Codex pages
• macOS users tricked into pasting Terminal commands, leading to AMOS infostealer infection
• Campaign abuses Google’s trust signals; Windows download button was a decoy, only Mac payload worked

Cybercriminals were seen abusing Google Sites, the Google ad network, and OpenAI’s good name, in a campaign that targets macOS users with infostealers.

According to security researchers CATO CTRL, the crooks used Google Sites to create a fake version of the OpenAI Codex download site. To avoid being flagged by Google’s security systems and ultimately removed, the site itself contains no malicious code or download links, whatsoever. Instead, it hosts an iFrame that displays content hosted elsewhere.

Then, they advertised that site on the Google Ads network. Google is usually good at spotting and preventing malicious ads from running on its network, but sometimes threat actors steal legitimate accounts with good standing and use them to bypass automated scans and get the ads listed, while also spending other people’s money on the ad campaign.

Not ClickFix

The ads were displayed to users searching for “codex macos download”, at the very top of the page. Using both Google Sites and Google Ads is a deliberate attempt to appear legitimate and trustworthy since after all, many people trust whatever Google displays as the top result without double-checking or scrutinizing the result.

Those that do click will see a website that, by all accounts, looks like OpenAI’s download site for Codex, the company’s AI coding agent. The site has download buttons for both Windows and Mac, but only the latter works. The download and installation process was designed to look “advanced” - instead of getting an executable, the victims are told to paste a command in Terminal.

Cato’s researchers call this a ClickFix attack, but ClickFix usually displays a fake problem, before offering an equally fake solution. This looks more like another way to appear legitimate because after all, several AI agents are specifically designed to be installed and run from the macOS Terminal, including OpenAI’s Codex CLI.

The end goal of the campaign is to deploy AMOS, a known macOS infostealer capable of grabbing browser data, login credentials, cryptocurrency wallet information, and more.

Via SiliconANGLE

• HMD Global has unveiled the Nokia 300 Charge
• The feature phone can double up as a power bank
• There's also a microSD slot and headphone jack

The Nokia brand lives on, under the stewardship of HMD Global, and following on from four feature phones that debuted in July complete with AI buttons, we now have the Nokia 300 Charge — a handset that's a little different from the norm.

As you can see from the official site (via Notebookcheck), the phone comes with a power bank mode that lets you charge up other gadgets at 10W via the USB-C port on the side. Maybe you could use it to recharge your headphones, or a secondary phone.

While the 3,700 mAh battery in the Nokia 300 Charge isn't huge by power bank standards, it's almost enough to give an Apple iPhone 17 Pro a full charge. It's also a pretty massive capacity for a feature phone, and Nokia says you can get up to 37 hours of talk time and over 40 days of standby time on this device.

Also worth noting is the "high-power" LED flashlight that sits on the top of the device, which is apparently 4x brighter than the one on the Nokia 105. It could well prove handy for finding your way around after dark.

Dimensions, specs, and price

Nokia lists this as being available in green and sandstone, though there's also a black colorway visible on the website. Measuring 136.55 mm x 55 mm x 14.94 mm (5.4 inches x 2.2 inches x 0.59 inches), it tips the scales at 138 grams (0.3 pounds).

The Nokia 300 Charge comes running a 2.4-inch screen with a QVGA resolution and a QVGA camera on the back (though specific resolutions and megapixels aren't listed). A Unisoc SC6531E chipset is paired with 4MB of RAM, and there's 4MB of internal storage.

Retro phone fans will be pleased to know there's a microSD card slot, which lets you expand the storage up to 32GB. There's even a classic 3.5 mm headphone jack for listening to your tunes — though no support for Spotify, obviously. The standard Nokia S30+​ software runs everything on board.

As yet, there's no international pricing for the phone, though it does appear on the global website for HMD. In the Philippines, the handset is available for 1,990 pesos (roughly $32 / £24 / AU$45 with a direct currency conversation).

August's celestial wonders aren't done yet. Following the stunning total solar eclipse and the peak of the Perseid meteor shower a couple of weeks ago, we're set for another extraordinary show this week — a lunar eclipse.

On August 27-28, night sky observers in North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Western Asia are in for a treat, with a 96.2% lunar eclipse and 'blood moon' occurring.

It's not a total lunar eclipse — the next one of those takes place on December 31, 2028 (yes, new year's eve!) But for many, this week's eclipse will be the best until then, so it's well worth staying up late/getting up early for.

Here's exactly when and where the lunar eclipse can be seen — and my pro tips for capturing it with your camera of choice.

When and where to see the August lunar eclipse

The lunar eclipse can be seen on the night side of Earth, which on August 27-28 means that large portions of North America and South America, plus the western half of Europe and Africa, will enjoy the best of the eclipse — its maximum.

Further afield, viewers in eastern Europe and western parts of Asia will catch a glimpse of the eclipse — the penumbral and partial phase, but not the maximum 96.2% — while Australia won't see it at all. In total, 44.4% of the global population can catch a glimpse.

A large portion of the US is ideally placed to see the lunar eclipse, including Washington DC and New York, because it reaches its maximum at 12:12am ET time, and the moon will be relatively high in the night sky.

Across Europe, the maximum eclipse occurs at 6:12am (CEST), which is 5:12am BST. In cities including London, Paris and Madrid, the maximum eclipse is around one hour prior to sunrise and as the moon sets, meaning the moon will be very low in the sky — offering the prospect of superb photography opportunities.

Those timings are for the maximum eclipse, but the 'penumbral' eclipse begins almost three hours before, and ends almost three hours after. Even as much as 90 minutes before maximum, the moon will start turning red as it moves into a partial eclipse phase.

• The timeanddate.com website provides exact times, dates and places for every eclipse, including for August 27-28, wherever you are in the world. It's a comprehensive resource, also covering eclipse FAQs, such as what is a lunar eclipse is, why the color of the moon changes and more.

Planning your photos of the lunar eclipse

The full eclipse cycle will last for about five hours in total, but you don't need to be on the alert for all of it. Let's take New York city as an example.

There, the event kicks off with a penumbral eclipse at 21:23pm ET (August 27), but viewing starts to get interesting from 22:33pm when the partial eclipse begins. This is a good time to set up your camera gear, because the moon will begin to lose its brightness, and will start turning reddish at its edge.

You'll soon see the weird sight of a crescent moon with a blurry straight line between the bright and dark areas. That's the line of Earth's atmosphere being projected onto the lunar surface.

At 00:12am ET (August 28), the eclipse reaches it maximum, and the moon will be at a viewing altitude of 38.3 degrees, which is relatively high in the sky. At 96.2%, a sliver of bright area of the moon surface remains, but the rest should be a reddish color to the naked eye. This is the maximum phase, when you should takes lots of photos.

From then on, the bright area of the moon increases once more during the partial eclipse phase, which finishes at 1:51am ET, and the eclipse is fully finished at 3:02am. You may wish to stay up for the entirety in order to capture key phases of the eclipse — great for a montage — but the main activity will be in the hour around its maximum.

Meanwhile, in London the timings are less favorable, but the components for photography could be ideal. The penumbral eclipse begins at 2:23am BST (August 28), the partial eclipse begins at 3:33am, while the maximum eclipse is 5:12am, at which point the moon is close to the horizon, and it's approximately an hour before moonset/sunrise.

In the UK, you'll need a clear vantage point looking west to southwest to see the moon (and a dose of luck, if the forecast for cloud is accurate), and if you can plan to include landmarks/points of interest in the frame, it should make for dramatic images of the eclipse's maximum phase. The moon will have set below the horizon before the partial eclipse (after maximum) ends.

Camera gear for the lunar eclipse

So, how do you do photograph a lunar eclipse? The good news is that you don't need any filters, as you do with a total solar eclipse. The bad news is that since the moon is so small, you're going to need some magnification for the moon to fill most of the frame. That means either using a telephoto lens, whether that's on a DSLR or a mirrorless camera, or a superzoom compact/bridge camera. Taking decent photos of the moon with your phone is going to be a tougher challenge.

In terms of focal length, a 600mm-equivalent lens (25x zoom on a phone, approx) should fill most of the frame with the moon. You might want to use a slightly wider-angle lens to include landmarks in the frame.

On a smartphone, typically the best optical zoom reach you'll have is 5x. The quality of a digital zoom is poor, and only gets worse the more you zoom in. Some flagship devices such as the Oppo Find X9 Ultra have better telephoto reach — 10x in the case of that phone — and a teleconverter accessory to further extend the maximum reach. My advice for most people is to use a camera with a telephoto lens instead.

Whatever camera you opt for, I recommend attaching it to a sturdy tripod support — especially if you're capturing multiple phases of the eclipse with landmarks in the frame. A tripod minimizes camera shake for sharper shots, and delivers the continuity you need for capturing the phases. Alternatively, find a secure surface to rest your camera on. A self timer or a remote shutter further minimizes camera shake, while shooting in the RAW format rather than JPEG/HEIF gives you more flexibility for editing.

A lunar eclipse isn't easy to capture, but you will have plenty of time to play with various settings of your DSLR/ mirrorless/ superzoom compact camera. As well as a wide range of colors, lunar eclipses bring a lot of changes in brightness. Also bear in mind that when zoomed-in, the moon is a very fast-moving target (blame our rotating planet).

Consequently, I recommend setting the white balance manually — the Tungsten setting will maintain the color accuracy of the bright moon and rich blue of the night sky.

You'll also need a high shutter speed. So, as the moon dims in brightness, increase the ISO (try ISO 200 during the partial phase, and ISO 1600 during the maximum phase) and open the aperture (start at about f/11 and experiment).

However, it's not just about getting a sharp image, because during the partial eclipse, the moon will be part-bright and part-dim, so you have to make a choice about which side of the moon to expose for. The answer, of course, is to try both, many times over.

Take a spare battery out with you, make sure your memory card has plenty of space on it, and prepare for a marathon post-processing session. Most of all, cross your fingers for clear visibility — cloud cover puts paid to the best-laid plans!

• Get more tips on how to photograph the moon

• The PocketBook Q is a new ereader with a 5.84-inch screen
• It's slimmer and lighter than most phone-sized rivals
• However, it doesn't run Android, limiting your access to apps

It seems like there’s a growing hunger for small ereaders, as following in the footsteps of the Boox Palma series, the Viwoods AiPaper Reader, and the even smaller Xteink devices, there’s now the phone-sized PocketBook Q.

This new ereader has a 5.84-inch E Ink Carta 1300 touchscreen with a 788 x 1576 resolution, a front light that lets you adjust both brightness and color temperature, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a 1,550mAh battery which supposedly allows for more than a month of reading on a single charge.

It measures 154 x 75.8 x 6.5mm and 130g, making it even smaller and lighter than the Boox Palma 2 Pro and Viwoods AiPaper Reader, though its screen is smaller too, with both of those having 6.13-inch displays.

So this essentially sits somewhere between those devices and the likes of the Xteink X4 Pro with its 4.3-inch screen.

Apps included but this doesn't run Android

In any case, the PocketBook Q also has physical side buttons that you can use to turn pages, and it works with Libby for borrowing digital library books. It also has broad format support for both ebook and audio files.

Plus, it comes with an IPX4 rating, for resistance to splashes and moisture, and there’s a text-to-speech tool.

There are a handful of pre-installed apps such as a book store, a browser, and a dictionary, among a few others, but this doesn’t run Android. Rather, it runs PocketBook OS — an operating system based on Linux, so you’re not getting access to the wealth of apps you’ll find on Android.

That helps keep the device focused on books so you avoid distractions, but also means you don’t have access to the likes of the Kindle or Kobo apps on there. That limitation is another way this differs from devices from Boox and Viwoods — though it’s in line with Xteink.

If the PocketBook Q sounds appealing, you’ll be able to grab one for $235 / £175 (around AU$330) when it launches in “late fall” — likely meaning sometime in November.

• Report points to AirPods 5 launching in September, in two models
• A cheaper version and a pricier option with noise cancellation
• We're expecting the big iPhone 18 Pro event to happen in early September

Despite all these news stories about AirPods with cameras, we've been hearing that 'normal' AirPods are set to release before the end of the year — and a brand-new report paints a much clearer picture of what we're about to see.

According to a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, a prolific Apple tipster, the brand is teeing up to release AirPods 5, consisting of a standard pair of buds and an ANC-toting model.

It's suggested that these buds could come in early September — Apple's regular late-year launch is expected to bring iPhone 18 Pro models, Apple Watch 12 and a folding iPhone Ultra — but, by the sounds of it, there's wiggle room for them to release a little later. Still, it's often Apple's style to have one big event with lots of products.

Back in 2024, Apple expanded its non-Pro AirPods line two have two versions. We received the standard AirPods 4, and also the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation, the latter of which received a slightly more positive review from us. It was a similar model, but with a slightly higher price and ANC. It seems that Apple is continuing that trend.

AirPods that are really 'new'

Apple's standard AirPods see fewer leaks and rumors than the Pro model, and so there aren't any serious reports as to what we could expect. But we weren't glowing in our review, and there are a few tweaks Apple could make to improve them.

The main thing is simply the value. The AirPods 4 weren't expensive, but they just didn't offer as good value for money as the competition — the likes of the Nothing Ear (a) were cheaper, offered features such as ANC, and sounded better.

They stood in contrast to the AirPods Pro 2 (which were current when AirPods 4 launched) and later the AirPods Pro 3. The premium buds are excellent value compared to the competition, packing in more features, impressive sound, and a comfortable and light design.

Apple had the same problem I saw in Samsung's Galaxy Buds 4: a brand not making its cheaper options cheap enough. I'd like to see AirPods 5 either cost less (unlikely in today's tech world…) or have more features to give them a reason to cost more than the rest of the budget earbuds world.

I also think fit reliability is an area that needs to see changes too. It's a common problem in semi-open buds like the AirPods, that they don't grip in your ears as well as those with in-ear tips — I've lost count of how many AirPods runners I've seen lose their buds mid-jog. Apple's done good design work in this area, but I want to see improvements still.

Apple improved the battery life of its earbuds last time, and I hope it can do that again — they actually outperformed Apple's claimed figures, but it's normal to see earbuds hit close to 10 hours without ANC on, so it'd be great to see Apple get closer to that.

When it comes to audio, I hope they'll improve the way they handle detail. As we said in our AirPods 4 review, they lose fine resolution, which can affect the enjoyment of some tracks. Of all the upgrades I've listed, I'd imagine sonic tweaks are the ones most likely to come to fruition.

If Apple wanted to make some serious changes, it could make AirPods truly accessible to Android users (at the moment, most AirPods features require an iPhone, though they will function for basic audio with any Bluetooth device). I don't see the brand making this change, but it'd certainly shine a needed light on Apple's lesser-bought buds — however, Android support seems to be Beats' role in Apple's portfolio.

It's hard not to treat 2026 as a fallow year for AirPods. The fifth-generation models will likely be iterative updates, as the AirPods Max 2 were, and the camera-toting AirPods are expected to launch next year. But a few tweaks could help make the AirPods 5 feel like more than water-treading from Apple, even just two years after the previous models.